REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
DIOCESAN DIGEST Mass of Ages quarterly round-up Arundel & Brighton Annie-Marie Mackie-Savage 01323 411370 aandb@lms.org.uk Regular Masses are continuing on each Sunday in A&B for the foreseeable future, supplemented by occasional Sung Masses, thanks to Tom Hagger and the Seaford Schola. We are also lucky to have extra Low Masses when possible. We have been especially grateful to Fr Thomas Mason from the Ordinariate who is very happy to say the Latin Mass, with a regular Tuesday morning Mass, as well as a fourth Sunday at Christ the King, Eastbourne. It was awful to learn of Fr Gerard Hatton’s terrible illness, and we thank God that his recovery has been so miraculously fast. Thanks to everyone who supports the Masses in the Diocese, and the priests who give their time to make them possible. All regular Masses are listed on the blog sidebar, news, cancellations, and extras can be found as separate posts. Birmingham & Black Country Louis Maciel 0739 223 2225 birmingham@lms.org.uk http://birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk/ For the first time since the reforms, an Easter Triduum in the region was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form at the Birmingham Oratory. Summorum Pontificum does not apply to the Triduum, but it took place with the blessing of the Archbishop. Ash Wednesday, the Feast of St Joseph, and the Annunciation all had a High Mass at the Oratory and a Low Mass at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury, with several other ad-hoc Low Masses celebrated at the latter in addition to the regular third Sunday Low Mass. I am pleased to say the discontinued first Friday Mass at St Augustine’s in Solihull has been replaced in the same deanery at Sacred Heart and All Souls in Acocks Green, which moved its short-lived fourth Friday Mass to a more traditional monthly date. There was a very good turnout for the High Mass celebrated on the Feast of the Chair of St Peter in Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Wolverhampton, with another High Mass celebrated on Easter Friday. The second Wednesday Mass at Maryvale in February was said for the repose of a soul whose friends and colleagues turned out in large numbers, leading to a record attendance. Despite being from the charismatic tradition, they naturally (without being told) took communion kneeling and on the tongue, showing that the Mass of Ages has an appeal beyond stereotypical supporters.
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Confirmation in the Extraordinary Form will take place at the Birmingham Oratory at 7pm on Monday 15th July, to be administered by Bishop McGough. Please contact parishpriest@birminghamoratory.org.uk before the end of May if you would like to register yourself or your child for confirmation. Birmingham (Little Malvern) Alastair J Tocher 01684 893332 malvern@lms.org.uk extraordinarymalvern.uk Facebook: Extraordinary Malvern Sung Sunday Mass at St Wulstan’s continues twice monthly and, although attendance has declined since the surge towards the end of last year, it is nevertheless still higher than last year’s average and includes several very welcome new faces. The Schola Gregoriana Malverniensis, in addition to providing music for us locally was invited by Canon Scott Smith to sing Mass on the Feast of the Purification at the new ICKSP mission at St Winefride’s, Shrewsbury. Four singers sang a mixture of chant and polyphony and the Procession and Mass were well attended. The Schola has subsequently been invited back to Shrewsbury to sing the Solemn Liturgy in the pre-1955 form on Good Friday and has also been invited to sing for the LMS Annual Pilgrimage to Holywell on Sunday 7 July. Two of our singers attended the recent LMS Chant Weekend at the Oratory School near Reading, expertly led this year by Fr Guy Nichols CO and Dominic Bevan. It was a delight to sing not only daily Mass, but also Vespers and especially Compline: a beautiful way to end the day. This quarter also saw the first enrolment of one of our servers in the newly re-launched Society of St Tarcisius. It is hoped that our other servers might be enrolled soon. Lastly our thanks as ever to Dom Jonathan Rollinson OSB for his faithful support and to Fr George Grynowski for celebrating Mass for us on Sexagesima. Also, to our servers and singers for their invaluable contribution. Birmingham (North Staffordshire) Alan Frost A Missa Cantata was offered at the Third Sunday Mass of Lent at Our Lady’s, Swynnerton, by Fr Stephen Goodman from Wolverhampton. He kindly stood in (as he has done on several occasions) for Fr Paul Chavasse who had travelled up to the North East for the enthronement of Bishop Byrne at Newcastle Cathedral on the Feast of the Annunciation. Long-
SUMMER 2019
