Marian
Franciscans
OUTREACH
MARIAN OUTREACH
First Five Saturday Devotion
In honour of our Lady’s message at Fatima, on the first five Saturdays of the month, starting from July 13th, the Friars come together in Gosport for Holy Mass, Rosary, Benediction and Confessions. This monthly devotion stems from Mary’s message to Sister Lucia:
“I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
The offences against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and her Divine Son have caused her so much pain that we must make reparation for them.
Mariology Weekend in Walsingham
From the 9th – 11th October 2020, the friars from Portsmouth travelled to Walsingham for a Mariology weekend. Fr Serafino and Fr Philomeno gave a number of talks accompanied by meals with the faithful and visits to the Marian shrine. We prayed the Rosary, walked the Walsingham Holy Mile and the Holy Mass was celebrated each morning for the attendees. The three-day course provided the faithful with a deep study of our Lady, focusing mainly on the Church’s four Marian dogmas: Mother of God, Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, and the Assumption. These events are a good way to reach out to the laity and to educate them on the wonders of our Blessed Mother. The friars aim to hold more of these Mariology Weekends.
Symposium: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th 2020), the friars held a symposium in St Mary's Hall in Gosport. This comprised of three talks given by Father Serafino Lanzetta, Father Pio Idowu and Father Philomeno James. This symposium was organised to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Dogma of the Assumption.
The faithful were able to participate both in person and via live stream online. After each talk questions were welcomed from the audience and there was also a Q&A session where all three speakers answered any other questions from the faithful.
The day was rounded off with the recitation of the Holy Rosary and a Solemn High Mass to celebrate the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother Mary. During the Mass, one friar also made his Solemn Profession.
GREGORIAN CHANT COURSE
Gregorian chant is an important part of the Traditional Liturgy. This beautiful form of ancient Latin chant, which was developed as early as the 9th and 10th centuries, aids the souls of the faithful and of the priest to be lifted into the beautiful mystery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is a means of glorifying God with the highest form of reverence and it helps to focus the minds of the faithful on our Lord’s redemptive sacrifice. St. Augustine, the great fifth century Doctor of the Church, says, “To sing is to pray twice”.
We are setting up an eight month Scola Cantorum course, coordinated by Neville McNally, for the faithful so that they can better learn to magnify our Lord through song during the beautiful Tridentine form of the Mass.
If you would like to sign up please do not hesitate to get in touch at stjosephsmarianhouse@gmail.com
PRO LIFE
Abortion takes 56 million innocent lives globally every year. That is more than six times the population of London. The killing of an unborn child is one of the most inhumane acts imaginable and, though society has the moral responsibility of taking care of its weakest members, today this act is promoted worldwide as a means of bodily liberation.
Being Marian, we especially seek to spread the example of our Lady’s Motherhood. She is the perfect model of virtue and the most caring and compassionate Mother imaginable. We pray that she may give light to the conscience of many young women who have been mislead into thinking that abortion is the correct decision.
The most powerful weapon to fight this calamity is prayer and apostolate. The Friars partake in various Pro-Life campaigns working alongside some wonderful organisations whose aim is to reinstate the mother's womb as a place of safety and nourishment for the children of God. Below are some details on the Friars' involvement in various Pro-Life campaigns.
The friars help to lead local 40 Days for Life campaigns to take Our Lady onto the streets with the Holy Rosary, in defence of life. We also make Appeals in the Churches around the country to help the faithful have this zeal for the “Sanctity of Life”.
Radio Immaculata broadcasts each year the conferences from the Annual and Youth SPUC Retreat. Annually the White Flower Appeal is coordinated.
The friars each year around May, organise a Parish Pilgrimage to London to participate in the witness for life. This is where Abortion on a mass scale started globally in Parliament in 1967, so we return here to pray and beg for the end of this barbarism.
Many people forget about the mothers who are need of healing after abortion. The friars encourage mothers to go on a Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat to confront their past and start the healing process to return to Jesus Christ our Saviour.
The friars celebrate Holy Mass in London at the Crisis Centre or Good Counsel Network and keep close contact with all the latest initiatives to save lives including the annual Solemn consecration of all the UK Pro-Life Apostolates to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The friars participate in this beautiful witness. From the Holy Mass, the procession headed by Our Lady, walks to the Modern Day Calvary – the abortion centre – praying the Rosary en route and at the “Foot of the Cross” for the conversion of hearts.
ART AND DESIGN
Those friars who are artistically gifted use their skills to reach out to the local community by attracting people to the beauty of the Catholic Faith. Below are some examples of the friars' art and design projects.
Our Lady Queen of Milton Road
The Marian Franciscans, with the generous help of Mr Len Edwards, constructed a Grotto for Our Lady outside St. Joseph's Presbytery in Portsmouth. This Grotto was inaugurated on 7th October 2020, the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. A little procession was held from St. Joseph’s Church to the Grotto by the friars and some of the faithful, after a sung Mass.
The Grotto is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima, for the glory of God, the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for the salvation of souls, especially for those passers-by who - as it already happens - may be caught up by surprise and awe to see there the Mother of God and therefore might also say a prayer. A 'Hail Mary' said, no doubt, may win a soul for God. The presence of Our Lady of Fatima is therefore made visible to everyone. She is now crowned Queen of all Milton Road to help establish also a culture of life in Portsmouth. In fact, this road leads down to St Mary's Hospital, where abortions are carried out almost every day!
Upcoming Comic on St. Veronica Giuliani
The friars are currently creating a comic on St. Veronica Giuliani who was an Italian Capuchin Poor Clare nun and mystic who was born in 1660 and died in 1727.
Like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina she received the stigmata. She had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a model for those who want to belong totally to the Blessed Virgin. Our Lady called St. Veronica 'Heart of my Heart' and her Marian devotion would arrive at a mystical union with Our Lady.
The Marian Franciscans are embarking on this comic project (a picture book), to make this Saint better known as there is little knowledge of her in the English speaking world.
Please keep this project in your prayers and the friars' outreach apostolate through art and design.
Check out the images below to see how this project is coming along!
