Saturday, 28 June 2014

Centenary of the deaths of HRIH the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and HH the Duchess of Hohenberg


Pray for the repose of the souls of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife the Duchess of Hohenberg who were killed at the hand of an atheist anarchist terrorist at about this hour 100 years ago.

Requiem aeternam dona eis domine et lux perpetua luceat eis

Saturday, 7 June 2014

Traditional Banner Making

Last year I was asked if I would make a banner for The Sodality of Our Lady in Dublin. A few brief sketches on the back of some scraps of paper accompanied the request and I found myself agreeing to take on the task. Exciting yes, but something that perhaps given my lack of knowledge of banners and experience of this type of sewing, somewhat rash to agree to! Work started in earnest in early 2011 and it took around six months to complete, working as and when I had the time. In terms of hours it took approximately 80 working hours.

Deciding on the design proved to be surprisingly problematic. A quick search on google provided much research material with banners ranging from large ornate, hand stitched, heavily embroidered designs costing many hundreds or sometimes even thousands of Euros to more simple designs though all coming in at a significant cost. Throughout the project, the banner design changed quite often as new ideas emerged, with pelmets being added and removed, the shape of the bottom edge changing and even the whole thing increasing in size!

The fabric chosen for the banner was a white ‘moiré’, a form of synthetic ‘water marked’ taffeta-style fabric purchased after a lot of searching by special order from a store in England. This type of fabric is often used for Roman vestments.

The basic layout of the front of the banner was one thing that remained the same from the begining, with a central panel to feature an image of Our Lady and wording to be set round it. These, it was decided, would be stitched out using machine embroidery and hand embellishment - a decision on the letters I was later to much regret! There are many on-line stores selling machine embroidery designs and many hours went into searching through them. In the end, three different designs for the central image were purchased and stitched out before the current one was selected and I think it is by far the best.



Once the image of Our Lady had been chosen and the thread colour decided on, it was stitched out by the machine onto the final fabric. The basic design was completed, the fabric was then hooped, interfacing placed behind it to support the weight and some areas were filled in with hand stitching (shown in the final pictures). I felt that beads would add some depth to the design. I used longer beads sewn into Our Lord’s halo. For Our Lady’s hundreds of tiny beads were strung and two rows were sewn along the top edge of her halo, each one being caught individually into place in order to get the shape. This beading alone was the work of several evenings, and was probably the most fiddly element.


In January we visited Rome to purchase items for the banner and acquired from Serpone the banner pole, finial and the gold trim, beautiful but not cheap! The fringing was purchased more inexpensively from a market stall providing fringing and trim largely for upholstery work.



The designs for the back of the banner were chosen and stitched out on the embroidery machine. The emblem of the sodality, a fleur de lys in a crown of thorns was combined on the computer specially for the project. In order to keep the banner against the pole a strip of fabric was stitched between the emblems with a velco fastening to hold it around the pole.

The lettering on the front of the banner proved much more time consuming. It had to be stitched in four parts and took quite a number of goes and a lot of planning to line it up. This was probably the most frustrating part of the whole thing and I think despite the time that would have been involved in hand stitching this it would probably have been a quicker option! The central panel was surrounded with trim and then hand stitched in place with several layers of wadding behind it to make it stand out from the fabric.

The trim was hand stitched in place round the outsides of the front and back panels of the banner and on the pelmet. It was quite thick trim and not easy to work with in forming the various shapes to go round the bottom of the banner and gathering it to go round the curves proved tricky. Much of the putting together the banner was done through hand stitching rather than machine because, in my experience, this makes finished pieces hang better and the recent retreat in Mount Melleray provided lots of opportunity for sewing on the trim whilst listening to the various talks.

Once the trim was in place the various layers were machine stitched together, the back panel, a layer of interfacing designed for shirt collars and cuffs, the front panel, the tabs to hold to banner over the horizontal pole and the pelmet the later two also with layers of interfacing. The interfacing was needed to help the banner to hang correctly, strengthen the fabric and so the decoration on the front did not show through from the back and vice versa. Once secured at the top the banner was hand stitched together along all the other edges..

The banner was blessed by Father Larkin during a Latin Mass held at a recent Sodality meeting in Blessed Cardinal Newman's University Church in Dublin. It has also been carried on two processions already, Corpus Christi in Cork and St Oliver Punkett at Drogheda. Amongst the other banners of the different groups attending these events I was pleased to say that it looked the part.

When asked to make the banner I did not realise what a big task it was going to be. Whilst I can sew I wouldn’t claim any particular skill, just a determination to complete things once I have decided on them! This later trait played a big role in its completion and there was certainly much to 'offer up' throughout! Into the banner has gone many evenings, much frustration and many pricked fingers, so yes, blood, sweat, toil and tears! Whilst I am largely pleased with the results, having now learnt much that I didn’t know about making a banner, there is a part of me that would like to do it again. This time I could do a really good job! It is nice to think that one has made something that will be used for years to come and that people are proud to walk behind.

Saturday, 31 May 2014

St. Pius X - Part XVI



On this day sixty years ago, Pope Pius XII delivered the address Si Diligis at the Canonisation of Pope St. Pius X.

Sancte Pie Decime, Gloriose Patrone, ora pro nobis!

Monday, 17 March 2014

Exultent filii matris ecclesie - A medieval hymn for the Feast of Saint Patrick



Let the sons of mother church rejoice and let us,
their fellows sing a hymn today.
The glorious feast day of Patrick, a day of light and joy, has come.

While the world held him in the chains of the flesh
he abounded with many miracles.
He was a source of healing for the Irish people
through the nourishment of his holy teaching.

He spread abroad the seeds of the faith
He banished serpents from Ireland.
He gave the lame to walk, the blind to see, and to him the people sing.

The power of a new miracle is revealed.
The goat is recognised in the belly of the thief 
through the sound of its bleating.
People marvel at the virtue of the servant of God.

Honour and devotion to the unbegotten Father,
praise to only begotten Son of God;
equal praise to the Spirit Paraclete
for ages unending.

Amen.

Note: This post was first published at my own blog Trias Thaumaturga, dedicated to the three patron saints of Ireland. 

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

A Prayer to Saint Odhran

February 19 is the commemoration of Saint Odhran, whom tradition remembers as Saint Patrick's charioteer and as a martyr who sacrificed his life for his master. Below is a prayer to Saint Odhran, taken from the 1941 edition of the Catholic prayerbook, Saint Anthony's Treasury. The prayer to Saint Odhran sounds like a product of the 19th-century nationalist revival, there is a strong emphasis on the land of Ireland but combined with an appreciation of the saint's heroism and a desire that his 'noble sacrifice' should not be forgotten:

Prayer to St. Odran

(St. Patrick's Charioteer)


(Who gave his own life to save that of his master)

Blessed Saint Odran, faithful and loyal to God and man! you whose name is almost forgotten by those who owe you an everlasting debt of gratitude, accept our poor thanksgiving, offered in the name of all Ireland, for your noble sacrifice of your life to save that of Ireland's Apostle. You had toiled in his service long and devotedly; you had learned what priceless service he could render to God and the Irish land and, when the moment came when he or you should die, by pagan hands, quickly and resolutely you laid down your life, that your master might live and labour for the Divine Master of all.

By your crown of martyrdom so gloriously won, by your centuries of endless peace and joy, we beseech you to look down on the toiling sons of Ireland and on those who try to guide them to their eternal rest. Look down on us all, O blessed Saint! for the love of him whose heart burned with love for Ireland, and pray that the blessing of the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Ghost - may descend on us and remain with us for ever. Amen.

St. Anthony's Treasury - A Manual of Devotions (Anthonian Press, Dublin, 12th edition, 1941), 285-286.

Sunday, 2 February 2014

St. Brigid's Day Pilgrimage to Limerick

To honour St. Brigid of Kildare, the members and friends of St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Association made a pilgrimage to the former Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart in the Crescent, O'Connell Street, Limerick, for Holy Mass celebrated by Canon Wulfran Lebocq of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest.  Afterwards, we had the great privilege to hear a talk by Canon Lebocq.  We sang the hymns to St. Brigid in Irish, English and Latin (Gabham Molte Bríde, Far Above Enthroned in Glory, and Christus in Nostra Insula.  We were then given a tour of the Church and Residence to see the immense challenges faced by the Community in restoring the fabric of the building.  Afterwards, members of the Institute of Christ the King Community joined us for a late lunch near the banks of the River Shannon.

















The present church, the Sacred Heart church, is situated at the Crescent, on O'Connell Street. It was completed in 1868 and opened to the public on January 27 1869. The architect of this church was William Corbett and the church is in the parish of St Joseph's. According to Murphy, it was originally intended to dedicate the church to St Aloysius but when it was dedicated in 1869 it was called the Church of the Sacred Heart. The façade of the church is Classical/Grecian in design. It was renovated in 1900. There is a statue of the Sacred Heart above the porch. There are no aisles in the church but the nave has two rows of pews. The nave was extended in 1919.

There is a small medallion about 6 inches high of Our Lady and the Child on the front of the gallery, facing the altar.

There is an altar to Our Lady of Lourdes in the right transept. This altar was the first of its type in Ireland. It was designed by Mr. Goldie and was a gift from Thomas E. O'Brien. Above the altar to Our Lady of Lourdes, there is a mosaic of Our Lady and three Jesuit saints. These saints are (from left to right) St Robert Bellarmime, St Alphonsus and St Aloysius Bonzagh. Beside this altar, there is a statue of St Patrick.

In the left transept, there is an altar to St Joseph. A painting of St Joseph and the Infant Jesus forms the centerpiece of this altar. Above the altar, there is a mosaic of St Ignatuis Loyola and his first group of Jesuits. 

The high altar was designed by William Corbett and is made from 22 types of precious marble. On each side of the altar there are statues of kneeling angels. The carving on the front of the high altar depicts a scene from the Last Supper. On the floor around the high altar, there are the symbols of the four writers of the Gospels. The angel represents Matthew, the lion represents Mark while Luke and John are represented by the bull and eagle respectively.

There are nine mosaics above the high altar. The central mosaic is of the Sacred Heart ascending in the presence of St Margaret Mary Alacoque and Blessed Claude la Colombiere. It is surrounded (from left to right) by depictions of St Francis Jerome, St Francis Borgia, St Francis Xavier, St Ignatius, St Stanislaus, St Aloysius, St John Berchmans and St Francis Regis. (From Limerick Diocesan History Project)