Monastery Ceremonies

			The first Wednesday in March: surely a day in honour of St Joseph, when our first concrete foundations were poured and blessed.
After the Liturgy of Good Friday we had evening devotions in memory of the deposition of Our Lord’s body from the Cross and its burial in the tomb. In the picture you see the thurible followed by two brothers bearing symbols of the holy angels who led the way on Good Friday evening; then four priests in cope are Our Lord’s pall bearers, followed by the relic of the Holy Cross and other instruments of the Passion.
The Holy Sepulchre, prepared at some distance from the community chapel.

July 2002

Sr Rafaela crowns the statue of Our Lady of Fatima
on the feast of the Queenship of Mary.

October 2002

		Fr Inocent Marie, prior of the Dominican monastery in Avrille, France preaches at the Mass of Religious Profession on 22 August. Fr Anthony Mary translates his sermon into English.
As Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is held before him, Br Louis Marie vows to God poverty, chastity and obedience. The Redemptorists add an extra vow and oath of perseverance in the Congregation until death.

Br Joseph Mary of the Infant Jesus and the Flight into Egypt, C.SS.R.
1960-1995

Born Vincent Maximillian Grimer in Slough, London, England on 24 December 1960, of devout Catholic parents, Br Joseph Mary made his first profession as a Redemptorist laybrother at the Monastery of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, on 22 August 1993. Br Joseph Mary had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, her Rosary and Brown Scapular. On 19 August 1995, Brother was experiencing chest pains and the doctor was called in, whereupon he declared the situation serious. Brother was given the Last Sacraments and then rushed to hospital. Within three hours, Br Joseph Mary suffered three heart attacks and he died in hospital. His funeral was held at the Monastery of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour in Joinville, France on 22 August 1995, the second anniversary of his religious profession, and he was buried in the local cemetery. After the community moved to Papa Stronsay in 1999, it was decided to bring back Brother’s remains to be buried in the new monastery. The exhumation took place on 28 August 2002, the bones were brought to Scotland, and Br Joseph Mary’ s remains were reinterred in their final resting place on Papa Stronsay on 31 August. Requiescat in pace.

The coffin bearing the remains of Br Joseph Mary were brought across Papa Sound on the Stella Maris. Here, the procession to the chapel begins from the Papay pier. In the foreground are two members of the Stromness Royal British Legion Pipe Band, who accompanied the procession to the cemetery. [Photo: Mrs W. Miller]
Br Joseph Mary, C.SS.R. (1960-1995) is finally laid to rest in the new cemetery on the Corn Graand on Papa Stronsay.

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