Ending the Year of Faith

Today's Feast of Christ the King ends the Year of Faith proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI. The closing Mass in St Peter’s Square included exposition, for public veneration, of the bones of St. Peter. Eight bone fragments were in an open bronze reliquary displayed to the side of the altar.

In 1971, Paul VI was given an urn containing the relics, which were kept inside the private papal chapel inside the Apostolic Palace and exhibited for the pope's private veneration each June 29, for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Sunday marked the first time they were shown in public.

During the ceremony, the Pope – the 265th successor of Peter – held the closed reliquary for several minutes in silent prayer while choirs sang the Nicene Creed in Latin. The bones, which were discovered during excavations of the necropolis under St Peter’s Basilica had never been displayed in public.

“When Jesus is at the centre, light shines even the darkest moments of our lives; he gives us hope,” Pope Francis said in his homily.

At St. Columbkille, to mark the end of the Year of Faith we are renewing our Baptismal Promises.

Renewal of Baptismal Promises: (replaces Creed)

Priest:

Brothers and sisters,
through the Paschal Mystery
we have been buried with Christ in Baptism,
so that we may walk with him in newness of life.
And so, as the Year of Faith comes to an end,
let us renew the promises of Holy Baptism,
by which we once renounced Satan and his works
and promised to serve God in the holy Catholic Church.

(Congregation should be standing.)

And so I ask you:

Priest:  Do you renounce sin,
          so as to live in the freedom of the children of God?
ALL:  I do.

Priest: Do you renounce the lure of evil,
          so that sin may have no mastery over you?
ALL:  I do.

Priest:  Do you renounce Satan,
          the author and prince of sin?
ALL:  I do.

Priest: Do you believe in God,
          the Father almighty,
          Creator of heaven and earth?
ALL:  I do.

Priest: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
          who was born of the Virgin Mary,
          suffered death and was buried,
          rose again from the dead
          and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
ALL:  I do.

Priest: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit,
          the holy Catholic Church,
          the forgiveness of sins,
          the resurrection of the body
          and life everlasting?
ALL:  I do.

Priest: And may almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
          who has given us new birth by water and the Holy Spirit
          and bestowed on us forgiveness of our sins,
          keep us by his grace,
          in Christ Jesus our Lord,
          for eternal life.

ALL:  AMEN.

Christ the King - on our tabernacle

[After our current construction] the new tabernacle will sit between the new chapel and the present church. It is being built of the same granite being used in the new altar and ambo. The tabernacle will have doors facing both the church and the chapel.

On the door facing the chapel we will be attempting something quite unique. We are planning on painting an image, taken from the Book of Kells, on a piece of brass. The image is that of Christ enthroned in heaven and may have been originally painted in the 6th or 7th century. The image is on our bulletin today. The interior of the door will have an image of an angel from Fra Angelico.

So, why the image from the Book of Kells you ask? The Book of Kells is Ireland’s greatest national art treasure. It is an illuminated manuscript that presents a Latin translation of the Four Gospels accompanied by a dazzling array of decorative ornamentation, iconography and illustration.

The book is named after the Abbey of Kells in County Meath, Ireland where it is believed that monks from the order of St. Columbkille created its pages. There is a good historical argument that St. Columbkille himself did some of the manuscript and illustration. Which pages and images were done by him is not clear, but it is within the realm of possibility the image of Christ we are painting on the door of the tabernacle was done by Columbkille himself, since similar images began to appear in the fourth century. Most scholars believe the majority of the Book of Kells was done to commemorate the anniversary of St. Columbkille’s death. Most believe, too, that the book was begun at the monastery in Iona and then finished at Kells.

The book has had an interesting history. In the Annals of Ulster from the year 1007, we read, “the great Gospel of Columbkille, the chief relic of the Western Word, was wickedly stolen during the night from the western sacristy of the great stone church at Kells on account of its wrought shrine.” The book was found two months later buried under sod with its gold cover missing. It was transferred to Trinity College in Dublin in the 17th century where it remains to this day.

This image of Christ from the Book of Kells contains peacocks which are a symbol of eternal life because of the ancient belief that dead peacocks did not rot. Plus, there is the dazzling display of color in a peacock’s feathers that speak of majesty. The chalice in the image is a symbol of the Eucharist, the vines are symbols of Christ’s lineage as the Son of Man going back to Adam and the “true Israel,” he seated on a throne to symbolize his role as judge, four angels surround the throne to attest to his divine majesty, he holds the Word of God, and the entire image is framed by coils with three levels to symbolize the Trinity.

- Fr Damian, From his bulletin letter

Christ the King

Today the church was decorated to celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. On this festivity, the Children's Choir made their debut as they will sing the third Sunday of every month.

Christ the King

Above is the largest mosiac of Christ in the world. It is called "Christ in Majesty" and is in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.