Mass of Ages The quarterly magazine of the Latin Mass Society
Issue 198 – Winter 2018
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A priest in the First World War Warrington’s martyr: Blessed James Bell Catholics in healthcare
Plus: news, views, Mass listings and nationwide reports
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WINTER 2018
Contents
CONTENTS
5 Chairman’s Message Joseph Shaw on Joining and Supporting the LMS 6 LMS Year Planner – Notable events 7 Liturgical calendar 8 Pilgrimage in Pictures LMS photographers John Aron and Kevin Jones have been out and about covering the recent Holywell Pilgrimage and the Wrexham Cathedral Pilgrimage… 9 A priest in the First World War Fr David Smith RAChD Priest of East Anglia Diocese and serving Army Chaplain remembers Fr Francis Gleeson 10 Blessed James Bell Warrington is distinguished by having its own priest martyr, with descendants here and in the USA, as Alan Frost explains 12 Unlocking the Church: The Lost Secrets of Victorian Sacred Space Book review by Joseph Shaw 14 easyfundraising Alastair Tocher on a great way to raise money for charity 15 Roman report Alberto Carosa 16 Reports from around the country What’s happening where you are 24 Art and Devotion Caroline Shaw on The Madonna del Parto by Piero della Francesca 26 Comment Mary O’Regan finds solace in Solanus 27 Obituary: Father Peter Lessiter 28 Architecture Paul Waddington visits The Church of Corpus Christi Maiden Lane 30 Christ the King The FSSP celebrates thirty years of existence, and one year in Bedford, as Barbara Kay explains 31 Do we still believe in the Latin Mass Society? Asks Fr Bede Rowe 32 We all have to stop accepting abusive behaviour… By James Preece 33 Mass listings 40 Obituary: Peter Kiely 40 An appeal for the Little Sisters of the Poor 41 Letters Readers have their say 42 Catholics in Healthcare. Building a Culture of Life (29 September 2018) A report by a young medical student 43 Interesting times Lone Veiler 44 The Greatest Love Stories Ever Told Dr Stuart Blackie KCHS 46 Crossword and classified advertisements 47 Macklin Street The Latin Mass Society 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH Tel: 020 7404 7284 editor@lms.org.uk Mass of Ages No. 198 Cover image: The Blessed Emperor Charles and the Empress Zita, King & Queen of Hungary, at an impromptu field Mass.
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Due to the considerable volume of emails and letters received at Mass of Ages it is regrettably not always possible to reply to all correspondents.
8 29 PATRONS: Sir Adrian Fitzgerald Bt, Lord (Brian) Gill, Sir James MacMillan CBE, Colin Mawby KSG, Charles Moore COMMITTEE: Dr Joseph Shaw – Chairman; Kevin Jones – Secretary; David Forster – Treasurer; Paul Beardsmore – Vice President; Paul Waddington – Vice President; Eric Friar; Alisa Kunitz-Dick; Antonia Robinson; Alastair Tocher; Roger Wemyss Brooks. Registered UK Charity No. 248388 MASS OF AGES: Editor: Tom Quinn Design: GADS Ltd Printers: Cambrian DISCLAIMER: Please note that the views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Latin Mass Society or the Editorial Board. Great care is taken to credit photographs and seek permission before publishing, though this is not always possible. If you have a query regarding copyright, please contact the Editor. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission.
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SUMMER 2018
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
New Subscription Rates: Joining and Supporting the LMS By Joseph Shaw
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ike every organisation relying in whole or part on subscriptions, the Latin Mass Society has to increase its rates from time to time, and we are doing so this year, effective from 1st December. The rates are set out in the membership application form in this issue of Mass of Ages. Readers may ask what is the point of joining the Society, especially as in many places you can pick up a copy of the magazine for free at the back of church. However, the Latin Mass Society is not a commercial company offering people goods or services for a fee. It is a group of activists for a particular cause: the restoration of the ancient Catholic liturgy to the altars of our churches. We are fortunate that in England and Wales so many people over so many years have devoted themselves to this cause, and grouped themselves together in the Society. The benefits of this grouping together, of mutual support, of coordination, and of shared expertise and other resources, have been immense. The Latin Mass Society, with its office, paid staff, and this magazine, has been very successful in facilitating and amplifying the work of these activists, who include everyone from Officers (Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer), Committee members, and Local Representatives, to members who may assist only by their presence at Masses and their prayers and donations. The fruits of our work, including Mass of Ages, the Ordo used by priests all over the country, the Masses we assist with, our Pilgrimages and our training courses, can be used by everyone. If you appreciate any of these things, why would you not want to support the Society? Our gratitude to our members is reflected in the discount they receive in our online shop and when booking things such as the Walsingham Pilgrimage and the Latin Course. The real benefit of membership, however, is having a stake in the Society.
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Over the past year or so two very longstanding memberships of mine have been cancelled: of the Folio Society, and of the Catholic Truth Society. It wasn’t anything I’d done: both organisations have abolished the concept of membership. One might say that they were not really membership organisations in the first place: members had no role in their governance. Even so, I can’t help feeling somewhat alienated from these organisations now. I am no longer a willing part of a project: I am simply a customer. It is very different with the Latin Mass Society. The Society belongs to its members. We don’t simply rely on them for a portion of our income, but exist because of them, and are answerable to them. Members alone can be nominated for the Committee, whose members are the Society’s Trustees, and ordinary members’ votes decide contested elections. They must approve any changes to our Constitution, which makes them the ultimate guarantors of the Society’s fidelity to its mission. By joining the Society, you are coming inside this movement: you are no longer just a customer.
What if you don’t want to pay the exact sum of our membership fee? One disadvantage of the traditional membership model is that it can create the impression that we only want regular donations of a specific size, and that joining the organisation is almost a condition of supporting it. We recognise that not every supporter wishes to be a member. Some people might be happy to contribute a sum smaller than the annual subscription; others may want to donate more. With the new rates we want to encourage our supporters to give exactly what they want, and to do so either annually or monthly, and, if this support equals or exceeds the membership fee, to be added to our list of members if, and only if, they wish. The new flexibility offered by monthly Direct Debits is the result of the development of our office systems. It is another, and very prosaic, example of the advantage of having a relatively large and well-organised Society supporting the cause of Tradition. We need to keep up with technology and present a professional front to today’s world. We can continue to do so only with your support.
'In spite of ecumenism and the changes it is unlikely we shall ever hear:'
"I call it pretty decent on the part of the liturgists, scripture scholars, speculative theologians to admit that all along they had been talking complete bosh." From 'Cracks in the Curia' by Br Choleric (aka Fr Hubert van Zeller OSB), 1972
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EVENTS
LMS Year Planner – Notable Events Mass of Reparation for the Abortion Referendum in Ireland: Saturday, 10 November By kind invitation of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bedford, there will be a High Mass offered in reparation for the outcome of the recent referendum on abortion in Ireland. The Shrine of the Miraculous Relic Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is housed in the church of Holy Child and St Joseph, 2 Brereton Road, Bedford MK40 1HU, Mass is at 12 noon. Confirmations in the Traditional Rite: Saturday, 17 November Bishop John Sherrington will confer the Sacrament in St James’s, Spanish Place at 11.30am. To register your child or yourself for Confirmation, please complete the registration form on our website. The deadline for registering and submitting the required documentation is Friday 19 October. Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat: Thursday, 23 – Sunday, 25 November Following the success of their Retreat in Oxford, the Guild has organised a second retreat to take place in Douai Abbey, in Berkshire. For more information please contact Lucy Shaw on lucyashaw@gmail.com Mass in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Wednesday, 28 November The Mass, at SS Gregory & St Augustine, 322 Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 7NS is at 6pm and will be accompanied with Chant by the Schola Abelis of Oxford under Dominic Bevan. High Mass for Christmas: Monday 24 December High Mass of Midnight will be celebrated in St Mary Moorfields, London at 6pm on Christmas Eve. The celebrant will be Rev. Dr M.P.F.Cullinan. Music, by Cantus Magnus, directed by Matthew Schellhorn.
Looking ahead to 2019 Friday, 1 to Sunday, 3 February: Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill, Oxfordshire. Saturday, 2 February: Gregorian Chant Network Training Day at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill, Oxfordshire. Friday, 5 to Sunday, 7 April: St Catherine’s Trust Family Retreat and Gregorian Chant Network Weekend, the Oratory School, Reading. Holy Week: Sacred Triduum at St Mary Moorfields, London
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Please pray for the souls of all members who have died recently Requiescant in Pace Departed: Dennis Allen Bob Bradley John Chase Andrew D’Arcy George Dangerfield (Priest) Henry Grant Michael Griffiths Sarah Hughes Peter Kiely David Mayers Joan Rainford Corey Sharpling Maud Sutton Mary Thornton Every effort is made to ensure that this list is accurate and upto-date. However, if you know of a recently deceased member whose name has not, so far, appeared on our prayer memorial, then please contact the LMS, see page 3 for contact details. The LMS relies heavily on legacies to support its income. We are very grateful to the following who remembered the Society in their Will: Dennis Allen, Barbara McIlvenna and Keith Pratt
NEWS Write for us! If you enjoy reading Mass of Ages and feel there is an article you would like to write for us do let us know. In the first instance contact the Editor with an outline of your proposed article letting us know why you are the person to write it and with details of any photographs or illustrations you are able to supply. Contact our Editor Tom Quinn at editor@lms.org.uk
FACTFILE Details of all our events can be found on our website, together with booking and payment facilities where applicable. Go to lms.org.uk WINTER 2018
LITURGICAL CALENDAR
Liturgical calendar NOVEMBER 2018 Sun 11 V SUNDAY remaining after EPIPHANY II Cl G Mon 12 S MARTIN I P M III Cl R Tue 13 S DIDACUS C III CI W Wed 14 S JOSAPHAT B M III Cl R Thu 15 S ALBERT the GREAT B C D III Cl W Fri 16 S GERTRUDE V III Cl W Sat 17 S GREGORY THAUMATURGUS B C III Cl W Sun 18 VI SUNDAY remaining after EPIPHANY II Cl G Mon 19 S ELIZABETH W III Cl W Tue 20 S FELIX de VALOIS C III CI W Wed 21 PRESENTATION of the BVM III Cl W Thu 22 S CECILIA V M III Cl R Fri 23 S CLEMENT I P M III Cl R Sat 24 S JOHN of the CROSS C D III Cl W Sun 25 XXIV & LAST SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 26 S SILVESTER Ab III Cl W Tue 27 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 28 FERIA IV Cl G Thu 29 FERIA IV Cl G Fri 30 S ANDREW Ap II Cl R DECEMBER 2018 Sat 1 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 2 I SUNDAY of ADVENT I Cl V Mon 3 S FRANCIS XAVIER C III Cl W Tue 4 S PETER CHRYSOLOGUS B C D III Cl W Wed 5 FERIA III Cl V Thu 6 S NICHOLAS B C III Cl W 7 S AMBROSE B C D III Cl W Fri Sat 8 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION of the BVM I Cl W Sun 9 II SUNDAY of ADVENT I Cl V Mon 10 FERIA III Cl V Tue 11 S DAMASUS I P C III Cl W Wed 12 FERIA III Cl V Thu 13 S LUCY V M III Cl R Fri 14 FERIA III Cl V Sat 15 FERIA III Cl V Sun 16 III SUNDAY of ADVENT (Gaudete Sunday) I Cl V/ROSE Mon 17 FERIA II Cl V Tue 18 FERIA II Cl V Wed 19 EMBER DAY II Cl V Thu 20 FERIA II Cl II Cl V Fri 21 S THOMAS Ap II Cl R Sat 22 EMBER DAY II Cl V Sun 23 IV SUNDAY of ADVENT I Cl V Mon 24 VIGIL of the NATIVITY of OLJC I Cl V Tue 25 NATIVITY of OLJC I Cl W Wed 26 S STEPHEN Protomartyr II Cl R Thu 27 S JOHN Ap Evangelist II Cl W Fri 28 HOLY INNOCENTS MM II Cl R Sat 29 V DAY in the OCTAVE of the NATIVITY II Cl W Sun 30 SUNDAY in the OCTAVE of the NATIVITY II Cl W Mon 31 VII DAY in the OCTAVE of the NATIVITY II Cl W JANUARY 2019 Tue 1 OCTAVE DAY of the NATIVITY of the LORD I Cl W Wed 2 MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS II Cl W Thu 3 FERIA IV Cl W Fri 4 FERIA IV Cl W Sat 5 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 6 EPIPHANY of the LORD I Cl W Mon 7 FERIA IV Cl W Tue 8 FERIA IV Cl W Wed 9 FERIA IV Cl W Thu 10 FERIA IV Cl W Fri 11 FERIA IV Cl W Sat 12 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 13 HOLY FAMILY JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH II Cl W Mon 14 S HILARY B C D III Cl W Tue 15 S PAUL the FIRST HERMIT C III Cl W Wed 16 S MARCELLUS I P M III Cl R Thu 17 S ANTONY Ab III Cl W Fri 18 FERIA IV Cl G Sat 19 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 20 II SUNDAY after EPIPHANY II Cl G Mon 21 S AGNES V M III Cl R Tue 22 SS VINCENT & ANASTASIUS MM III Cl R Wed 23 S RAYMUND of PENAFORT C III Cl W Thu 24 S TIMOTHY B M III Cl R Fri 25 CONVERSION of S PAUL Ap III Cl W Sat 26 S POLYCARP B M III Cl R Sun 27 III SUNDAY after EPIPHANY II Cl G Mon 28 S PETER NOLASCO C III Cl W Tue 29 S FRANCIS de SALES B C D III Cl W Wed 30 S MARTINA V M III Cl R Thu 31 S JOHN BOSCO C III Cl W FEBRUARY 2019 1 S IGNATIUS B M III Cl R Fri Sat 2 PURIFICATION of the BVM II Cl W Sun 3 IV SUNDAY after EPIPHANY II Cl G Mon 4 S ANDREW CORSINI B C III Cl W Tue 5 S AGATHA V M III Cl R Wed 6 S TITUS B C III Cl W Thu 7 S ROMUALD Ab III Cl W Fri 8 S JOHN of MATHA C III Cl W Sat 9 S CYRIL of ALEXANDRIA B C D III Cl W
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The Newman Colloquium - IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH -
“I want a laity… who know their religion” - Blessed John Henry Newman Once a month The Newman Colloquium will be presenting a ‘conversation’ before an audience on a matter of Catholic interest. These events are taking place in the newly refurbished parish hall at the Catholic Church of Ss Gregory and Augustine, 322 Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 7NS. This exciting new initiative is under the spiritual patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman, who called for an educated laity, and Servant of God Jerome Le Jeune, a Catholic doctor who courageously proclaimed his Catholic Faith. The aim of these events is to learn about the Catholic Faith; to show that the Catholic Faith is relevant to all areas of life (in the spirit of the manner in which Newman was a polymath); and to bring people together to meet one another. The ‘conversation’ is not intended to be antagonistic or ‘disputatious’ (cf Newman), but Socratic: it is IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH. For more information, to find out future dates and to sign up to attend, visit: newmancolloquium.eventbrite.com. For enquiries email newman.colloquium@gmail.com
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IN PICTURES
Pilgrimage in Pictures LMS photographers John Aron and Kevin Jones have been out and about covering the recent Holywell Pilgrimage and the Wrexham Cathedral Pilgrimage
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FEATURE
A priest in the First World War Fr David Smith RAChD Priest of East Anglia Diocese and serving Army Chaplain remembers Fr Francis Gleeson
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hen I joined the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department in 2002, just before the Second Iraq War (2003 - 2011), I was given a framed picture of one of our heroes in the faith – one Fr Francis Gleeson (18841959) – astride his horse with his hand raised in General Absolution over the Officers and Men of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Munster Fusiliers. The picture was commissioned by the widow of Lt Col. Rickard (the Battalion’s Commanding Officer, killed in that battle along with more than 150 of his officers and men, together with nearly 240 wounded) when the Battalion faced the Germans at Rue du Bois on the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915. The painter was the official War Artist, Fortunino Matania. The picture captures well both the horrible anticipation of battle and the simple devotion of the Munsters as they received sacramental absolution the evening before so many of them were to give their lives in the service of their country. Fr Gleeson was one of the many Catholic Priests who selflessly went with their flock through unimaginable privations and danger to bring the comfort of our Holy Catholic Faith to the wounded and dying, always at great personal risk. “The scenes of enthusiasm are extraordinary,” wrote Fr Gleeson on 8 May, 1915, the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge. “I ride on my horse. Give absolution to [the] battalion during rest in [the] road...The men all sing hymns, ‘Hail Glorious St Patrick’. I go further up — near the trenches and bid goodbye to all. So sad.” In his diary of 9 May 1915, Fr Gleeson recalls how he “spent all night trying to console, aid, and remove the wounded. It was ghastly to see them lying there in the cold, cheerless outhouses, on bare stretchers with no blankets to cover their freezing limbs... Hundreds lying out in cold air all night at Windy Corner. No ambulances coming. They came at last — at daylight.” Fr Gleeson’s courage was legendary even during his life. In his biography, Goodbye to All That, the War Poet
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' To those Catholic Priests who have served in the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department... Fr Gleeson remains one of our dearest and most powerful role-models...' Robert Graves noted that “Jovial Father Gleeson of the Munsters, when all the officers were killed and wounded at the first battle of Ypres, had stripped off his black badges and, taking command of the survivors, held the line”. There may be slight poetic-license on the part of Graves here - but it captures the huge respect in which the Munsters held their Chaplain! War was (and remains) a dirty business. Fr Gleeson surely speaks for all British Toms and their chaplains when he reflects on how seemingly easy it is for our political masters to send other peoples’ young men and women to their deaths: “these militants”, he wrote, “should be made to undergo a few nights in cheerless billets [and] mud-river trenches to teach them a lesson. What is it all for at all?” Fr Gleeson left the Munsters in
February 1918. He died in June 1959 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. To those Catholic Priests who have served in the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department since, Fr Gleeson remains one of our dearest and most powerful role-models of what it means to serve the People of God in HM Forces. Whether it is at the Rue du Bois in 1915 or in a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan in 2012, Catholic Priests have done their best to bring the love of Christ to their flock through the Sacraments of our Holy Church and the care and compassion of one human being to another. As we mark the Centenary of the end of the Great War, please pray for all military chaplains, whether alive or already gone to God – and pray too for the soldiers, sailors and airmen whose lives have been touched by Christ through their ministry. Requiescant in aeternam.
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FEATURE
Blessed James Bell As well as a now established shrine at St Mary’s Church, run by the FSSP, Warrington is also is distinguished by having its own priest martyr, with descendants here and in the USA, as Alan Frost explains
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ames Bell was born in 1524 in Warrington. He would eventually become a man of great importance to Warrington, both spiritually and historically, for he would become a martyr of the Catholic faith. We do not, it would seem, have an actual day for his birth, but records in numerous sources tell us of the day of his death, a day he was martyred along with another devout, though lay, Catholic, John Finch from Eccleston: two martyrs from the county of Lancashire (Warrington having been a Lancashire town from its earliest days until 1974 boundary changes), a county which figured greatly in the 16th Century for its commitment to the true Faith in a time of cruel persecution. Bell must have been born into a reasonably well off family for he was educated at Oxford, and from a Catholic family with strong Anglican influence. Even so, shortly after his graduation he was ordained a Catholic priest, this being in the time of the reign of Queen Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII: Mary reigned from 1553-8. However, the succession of her half-sister Elizabeth marked the return to heavy and widespread persecution of Catholics, and recusants seeking to worship God in the true and traditional Mass suffered much hardship, both financially and physically. As the major text on the life of James Bell, Lives of the English Martyrs by Burton and Pollen, Longmans 1914, comments, “after the change of religion, he had not the courage to become a confessor of the faith”, and continued as a priest in the Anglican order in different parts of the country. It is to be remembered of course that at this time fellow Lancastrian William (later Cardinal) Allen had to go abroad to promote the Faith and establish a seminary (at Douay), and that Pope Saint Pius V issued his Bull Regnans in excelsis declaring Elizabeth deposed and her subjects free of obedience to
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her, which hardly made life comfortable for Catholics. However, the authors also note that it was strange James Bell never had a benefice in the twenty or so years he practised as an Anglican minister, speculating that he retained, “some scruples of conscience…being in part a Catholic”. For whatever reason he did not obtain or accept a safe means of financial livelihood. He was nearly 60 and in failing health. The opportunity of a small stipend arose simply for reading the Mass in English, but the wife of the beneficiary was a Catholic who persuaded him to return to practising as a Catholic priest, which he was allowed to do in 1581, after "spending some months devoting himself to penance and spiritual exercises, and duties of the priesthood”. He laboured zealously as a missionary priest for two years among the poorer Catholics, in nearly all of the Catholic houses and Mass-centres in Lancashire. The fact that there were numerous such venues for the celebration of the true Mass reflected the fact that the strongest of the Catholic minorities was in Lancashire: 20% of its recusants were from the gentry. An even higher percentage came from the yeoman and farming families. At this time Lancashire was divided into deaneries, and the real Catholic heartland was in the southwestern deanery of Warrington, with a recorded 465 recusants, the largest of the numerous concentrations of the faithful in the county. During January 1584, James was travelling on foot from one Catholic house to another when he asked directions of a man who turned out to be a spy. Bell was subsequently apprehended in the town of Golborne, tried at the Manchester quarter sessions on 17 January, and imprisoned in Salford Gaol.
While in this prison in January and February 1584, he was questioned frequently about his reconciliation with Rome, the supremacy of the Pope, the Bull of Excommunication, the spiritual position of the Queen, and related matters. Whatever his unrecorded answers were, he was subsequently brought to trial at the Lent Assizes at Lancaster "on horseback with his arms being pinioned and his legs bound under the horse", a very painful form of transportation for an old man. There he was brought before Justices Huddleston and Parker. Arraigned with him were two priests, Thomas Williamson and Richard Hutton, and a layman of yeoman stock, John Finch, a convert to the Catholic faith in his early twenties.
“ He laboured zealously as a missionary priest for two years among the poorer Catholics, in nearly all of the Catholic houses and Mass-centres in Lancashire” WINTER 2018
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A stained-glass window depicting Finch’s farming background can be seen in St Mary’s Church in Chorley. Descendants of his, including from the well-established Bowling and Speak families of Lancashire, are to be found today, including in the USA, several having emigrated after his death to Maryland. Finch was a young man, only 36, arrested and cruelly tortured over three years for harbouring priests and being a catechist. He was tried along with James Bell, who was now hard of hearing and did not pick up all the questions. Both were convicted, Bell, being a priest, of high treason. In response he behaved with great courage, asking Judge Huddleston to add to his sentence the cutting off of his lips and fingertips “for having sworn and subscribed to the articles of heretics, contrary both to my conscience and God’s truth”. Both he and Finch were condemned to be executed the following day, 20 April 1584, by hanging and quartering. Bell was made to watch Finch’s disemboweling, but rather than being terrified into any retraction by this, he said: “Oh, why do I tarry so long behind my sweet brother, let me make haste after him. This is a most happy day.” These were the first two of sixteen executions of Catholic martyrs at Lancaster Castle between 1584 and 1646. Blessed James Bell and Blessed John Finch were beatified in 1929. They are remembered and honoured, along with many others who died for their Faith during the Reformation, on 4 May, the Feast of the English Martyrs. Blessed James Bell, whose own personal Feast Day is 20 April, has now been remembered and further honoured by giving his name to the new merged parish of Warrington, canonically established by Archbishop McMahon of Liverpool from 1 May this year. As well as being commemorated on a stained glass window in St Mary's Church, Warrington, James’s name is included on the Martyrs' Plaque in Lancaster Cathedral and there is a statue of him in the Lady Chapel of St Werburgh's Church, Birkenhead.
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Blessed James Bell
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REVIEW
Unlocking the Church: The Lost Secrets of Victorian Sacred Space by William Whyte. Oxford University Press 2017; £12.87
Review by Joseph Shaw
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he central idea of this fascinating and entertaining book is that the explosion of church building and restoration, by all denominations, from about 1830, was accompanied by a strikingly new understanding of what church architecture was all about. Churches built or adapted in the 18th century were about the facilitation of preaching; Victorian ecclesiastical architects took it upon themselves to create churches which conveyed a sacred message to the congregation through symbols, and not just words. This was a revolutionary idea and lead to a revolution in how churches were designed and understood. Whyte is careful to distinguish what concerns him from the fashion for the Gothic style, which came earlier, and from the ‘Cambridge Ecclesiologists’, who represented the new approach but appeared on the scene when the trend was already underway. He also wishes to include Catholics, who were building plainly furnished churches in the 18th century for aesthetic as well as for economic reasons (the chapel at Wardour Castle being an example), and Low-Church communities, at least some of whom built churches of the new type as the 19th century wore on. It is nevertheless true that this change in the understanding of churches was a change from a more Protestant to a more Catholic view. This was well understood at the time, and the new churches aroused strong opposition from evangelical writers as Popish, resembling as they did the great Gothic and Baroque Catholic churches of the Continent, and the churches of England’s own Catholic past. It would be wrong to say that a plainly decorated 18th century ‘preaching box’ type church is theologically problematic in itself, but the attitude of mind which rejects in principle the use of architectural and decorative symbolism and devotional art is contrary to
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the whole spirit of Catholic art and sacramental theology: of the use of beautiful created things in the service of God. This attitude was decisively rejected in the 19th century, and this undermined an important aspect of the Protestant critique of Catholicism. The 17th and 18th centuries had witnessed attempts even by European Catholics, under the influence of the Enlightenment, to clear out the sacred clutter of devotional objects, Rood Screens, and stained glass. The results can be seen in many continental churches to this day. Part of the story of a revival of interest in the glories of medieval churches was a reaction by French Catholics to the vandalism of the Revolution, as well as the Romanticism of Schleiermacher and Coleridge, which shifted the emphasis from reason to the emotions. The plainness of 18th century churches was not simply negative. It was designed to starve all the senses but hearing, in order to accentuate the latter, for preaching and the proclamation of Scripture. Galleries were built in every available space in order to bring as many people as close as possible to the preacher, ensconced in a towering pulpit with a ‘sounding board’ above it. False ceilings were installed to bounce the sound back to listeners, while matting on the floor, cushions, and curtains around box pews muffled the sound of fidgeting and people coming and going. These box pews, which represent the extreme of this tendency, and few of which survive today, enclosed a family on four sides, giving them a high degree of privacy, but not only impeded the view of the liturgy, but actually had people sitting with their backs to the east end of the church. Medieval Catholic churches, of course, did not always have ideal sightlines to the High Altar, which stood behind a Rood Screen. But as has been demonstrated by Eamonn Duffy and others, these screens were designed
to frame and accentuate, not hide, the Elevation; on weekdays, Masses would have taken place at side altars and nave altars with no such protection. The Protestant poet George Herbert refers to a Catholic when he writes of the ‘Sweet rose, whose hue, angry and brave, /bids the rash gazer wipe his eye’: Catholics were people who wanted to look; Protestants wanted to hear. Victorian church restoration stripped out box pews, false ceilings, and many if not all of the galleries; newly built churches never had these features. The result was a transformation of what church interiors looked like. They became far less suited to lengthy sermons, the pews being less comfortable and less private than before. The acoustics of churches were also transformed: not only were the words of preachers lost in the vaulted ceilings, but the cave-like spaces favoured Gregorian Chant over most forms of music. Contemporary writers were also delighted to note the greater discipline of congregations, including children, whose every wriggle on their hardwood pews would be visible to the people behind them, sitting in serried ranks facing the same way, and whose whispers would be echoed by encaustic tiles below and granite vaults above. One issue Whyte neglects in this book is that of the liturgy. He notes that pre-Victorian High Church Anglicans favoured church decoration which gave the liturgy a suitably dignified setting, but were still far from taking the view, expressed at the consecration of Littlemore church by John Henry Newman, that a church should be so filled with symbolic detail that it could be read like a book. This apparently makes Whyte think that the liturgy is more or less irrelevant to the 19th century change of attitude to sacred space. But even if Congregationalists and Presbyterians came to accept that a church only looks
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like a church if it exhibits Gothic arches directing the people’s gaze heavenward, the idea of a church as a sacred space only really makes sense if it is the locus of sacred activity. This question came to centre stage in the 1960s. A reaction against all things Victorian itself engendered a reaction, leading to a civil war within Anglicanism, between proponents of conservation and those eager to chuck out anything more than twenty years old. Whyte points out that even the latter party appears to admit that the churches they dislike can house highly successful worshipping communities (to use the modern jargon), and suggests that this may be because, and not despite, of their architectural heritage. The progressives’ demand for bland, flexible spaces occupied by stackable chairs, Whyte suggests, seems to be an end in itself. This is surely unfair. Progressives in Anglicanism, as in Catholicism, have a distinct liturgical vision, a vision flowing out of a distinct understanding of God and how to engage with Him. They want a worshipping community sitting in a circle on comfy chairs and with warm feelings of community, rather than a column facing the Lord, represented by Altar, Crucifix, and Tabernacle, accompanied by images of the Saints, and serving God with the best available music and art, with order and beauty. Progressive theology and liturgy are implicitly opposed and practically hindered by traditional church architecture which evokes hierarchy, ritual, and self-effacement, and it is no surprise that progressives should be implacably opposed to it. The restoration or destruction of stenciled walls and devotional statues, of decorated tiled floors rather than carpets, of altar rails, of centrally located tabernacles, and above all of ad orientem altars, are skirmishes in a theological war in which there can be no stable compromise.
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EASYFUNDRAISING
What is easyfundraising? Alastair Tocher on a great way to raise money for charity easyfundraising is the UK’s biggest charity fundraising site. It’s simple to use, and it’s free. Since 2005, good causes and charities across the UK have raised over £24 million with easyfundraising. How does easyfundraising work? easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into donations for your favourite good cause, at no cost to you. How? Just visit your favourite retailers via the easyfundraising website and then shop as normal. Once you’ve made a purchase the retailer will then make a small donation to your chosen cause to say “thank you”. There are over 3,300 retailers to choose from, so you’ll be spoilt for choice! How much could I raise? The donation per purchase is generally be between 0.5% and 10%. Some retailers - including insurance and broadband providers - donate a flat fee which can be in the £100s. How can easyfundraising help the Latin Mass Society? Using easyfundraising means that we would have a steady stream of donations coming throughout the year. It’s an effortless way of steadily raising funds alongside our other fundraising initiatives. Once signed up, you will raise a donation for us every time you shop online via easyfundraising - whether you’re doing your weekly grocery shop, buying car insurance, booking a holiday, or even switching energy provider. Is it really free? Yes! You won’t spend a penny more than normal when shopping with these retailers online. Can I buy everything online that I would normally? easyfundraising’s huge range of online retailers includes big names such as John
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Lewis, M&S, Boden, Expedia, Amazon, eBay, all the major supermarkets, holiday operators, insurance providers, plus a wide range of smaller and more niche online shops and stores. You name it, they’ve got it covered. What if I might forget to shop through easyfundraising? Not a problem! easyfundraising has designed two handy tools to help you remember. You can: • Install the Donation Reminder widget onto your desktop in just a couple of clicks, which will then automatically highlight retailers from whom a donation is available while you’re browsing; or • Download the easyfundraising app. You’ll be able to use the app whenever you shop from your mobile or tablet and know that you’ll never miss out on a donation. The more the merrier An average online shopper can apparently raise £50-£100 per year with easyfundraising. Multiply that by the number of people who might sign up, and the potential benefit is quite significant. Just think how much we could raise in total, and how we could use the funds to our benefit.
Spread the word If you get your place of work to sign up too we could raise donations on bulk business purchases such as stationery and other office essentials, travel and accommodation, and more. Don’t forget to reach out to family, friends and colleagues and ask them to get on board too. Plus, easyfundraising offers bonus donations for successful referrals. What support does easyfundraising offer online shoppers? Once you’re signed up, you’ll receive occasional emails packed with fundraising advice and tips on where to find the best deals and donations, plus a periodic update so you can track your fundraising progress. How do I sign up? Either go directly to: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/ latinmasssociety/ or alternatively go to easyfundraising. org.uk, sign up, and select Latin Mass Society – London as your cause. Then bookmark the website, install the Donation Reminder, and/or download the app and you’re good to go! After that every single time you make an eligible purchase via easyfundraising the Latin Mass Society will receive a donation. Simple!
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ROMAN REPORT
The Traditional Mass in Sardinia By Alberto Carosa
F
riday, 14 September 2018, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, was a landmark date for the celebration of the Mass in its Extraordinary Form: the creation of a traditionalist Personal Parish in Cagliari, the capital city of Sardinia. As a journalist covering traditional liturgy and related issues, I was stunned by the silence on a development which is highly likely to produce far-reaching consequences in the not too distant future. If this silence does not come as a surprise with regard to the mainstream secular media, much less so for Catholic media outlets, which almost completely ignored the news, with the exception of some traditionalist portals. Yet, the wideranging implications of this initiative cannot be overestimated. Especially for the precedent set by His Excellency the Most Reverend Mgr Arrigo Miglio, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cagliari and Primate of Sardinia and Corsica, following his announcement last July that a personal parish in the capital of the island would be created for the pastoral care of the faithful linked to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The Basilica of Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) – from which the parish takes its name – is the seat of the new personal parish church in the old Castello district, in the historic centre, near the Duomo. The Basilica is located in the ancient Jewish ghetto, where the synagogue stood centuries ago, until 1492, the year of the expulsion of the Jews from the Kingdom by Ferdinand II of Aragon. Once the Church was built, it was entrusted first to the Arciconfraternita del Santo Monte di Pietà (Archconfraternity of the Holy Pawnshop) and in 1564 to the Jesuit fathers. Since 1809 it has belonged to the Order of Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro. By archiepiscopal decree the Traditional
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Interior of the Basilica of the Holy Cross Rass has been celebrated since 2008, on Sundays and days of obligation, initially by the Rev. Canons of the Metropolitan Chapter and, for the past three years, by the chaplain Mgr Gianfranco Zuncheddu. Father Gianluca Pretta has been appointed parish priest, a recognition of his having so generously spread and encouraged the celebration of the Traditional Mass since 2007, in his previous parish of Santa Giusta in Gesico. The new personal parish sets a somewhat significant precedent, although it is merely the second personal parish church after that of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome, whose erection was mandated by Benedict XVI with a decree dated 23 March 2008, to the then Rome Cardinal Vicar Camillo Ruini “for the pastoral care of the faithful of the Diocese of Rome who wish to have the Mass and
all the Sacraments according to the ancient form of the Roman Rite”. But there is a fundamental difference: whereas the personal parish church in Rome does not depend on territorial boundaries and was, and still is, entrusted to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP), an international Clerical Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right under the aegis of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, the parish in Cagliari has been entrusted to the local diocesan clergy. We have other examples, more notably in the US and UK, of parishes and churches entrusted to the FSSP and other Ecclesia Dei Institutes, but as far as is known, there are no other examples of parish churches specifically devoted to the celebration of the ancient rite by local diocesan clergy for the local faithful. On the occasion of the official taking possession of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini on 8 June 2008, the then newly appointed rector, Fr Joseph Kramer, an Australian priest of the FSSP, was interviewed by Radio Vaticana. This parish, he was quoted as saying, “is open to all the faithful who wish to attend the sacraments and the Holy Mass in the ancient form of the Roman Rite... The idea is to have not only the Mass, but all the Sacraments - baptisms, weddings - in addition to Lent and the Easter Triduum.” Fr Kramer agreed with the late Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos when he said the creation of this parish had an exemplary value for other dioceses, both in Italy and worldwide. “Yes, because Rome is always an example, a city that is central to the whole of Catholicism and other bishops have already decided to open parishes following the example given here in Rome, and that is very important”, the Rector was quoted as saying. The example set by Rome was followed by Mgr Arrigo Miglio ten years later.
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
DIOCESAN DIGEST Mass of Ages quarterly round-up
Arundel & Brighton Annie-Marie Mackie-Savage 01323 411370 In A&B I am glad to report that we have had an increasing number of Sung Masses, along with Vespers and Benediction. At Our Lady of Ransom, Eastbourne, a Missa Cantata, celebrated by Fr Gerard Hatton, with music led by Matthew Ward, for the Vigil of the Feast of the Assumption was followed by an early morning Low Mass on the Feast Day, and Vespers and Benediction in the afternoon. Seaford and Lewes Masses continue. There was also a Sung Mass on Romney Marsh, and there is the possibility that more regular sung Masses, possibly quarterly, might be scheduled for West Grinstead in the future, so watch this space. Fr Gerard Hatton is moving from Eastbourne to Knaphill, and we are so grateful for all the Masses he has said, and all the salt blessings. He really will be greatly missed. While usually the departure of a priest means the loss of the Mass in a parish, it may well be the start of something good for Knaphill, and I am delighted to say that second Sunday Masses are continuing in Eastbourne thanks to the arrival of two priests who are able and willing to say it. We are still extremely short of servers, and need volunteers, so please chaps, have a pray and a think, then volunteer! Full training is available. All Mass updates I receive are put up on the blog, so, please check there for any extras or cancellations. Thanks to all those supporting us, and to all the priests who give of their time so generously. Birmingham (City & Black Country) LR: Louis Maciel; Tel: 0739 223 2225 E: louis.maciel@gmail.com W: http://birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk/ Bishop Robert Byrne celebrated another Pontifical High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory, but the for the first time on the Feast of founder Blessed John Henry Newman. Other High Masses at the Oratory this quarter included the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the opening Mass for the Forty Hours devotion in October and the Assumption. The latter was complemented by a Low Mass at St Maryon-the Hill in Wednesbury where several Masses were also celebrated on Saturday for feasts, including St Michael, St Giles and St Edward. Fr Anthony Dykes also celebrated Low Mass for the latter two feasts in his new parish of Holy Cross in Lichfield, having worked in North Staffordshire previously. The Oratory will remember the dead in November with Requiem Masses at 5.45pm each Monday, followed by Sung Vespers for the dead. Similarly, a Votive Mass of the dead takes place on the first and last Wednesday in November at 6pm in Wednesbury. St Dunstan’s in Kings Heath had its first two Low Masses this quarter, having had Sung Masses previously. The parish
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priest gradually introduced to the Traditional Mass by way of Gregorian chant in the Novus Ordo before moving to Sung Mass in the Extraordinary Form. At the time of writing All Saints and All Souls have not taken place yet but given the latter is on a Friday there is a good chance there will be a plethora of Masses in the region for these, particularly given the latter is falling on a first Friday. BIRMINGHAM (Little Malvern) Alastair J Tocher 01684 893332 extraordinarymalvern.uk@btinternet.com extraordinarymalvern.uk Facebook: Extraordinary Malvern As we approach the end of our first twelve months at our new home at St Wulstan’s, I am pleased to report that both congregation and schola continue to grow. With almost 60 now signed up to our monthly newsletter, average Mass attendance has grown slowly but steadily and will, Deo volente, continue on this trajectory. We now have regulars travelling from as far afield as Wednesbury, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Abergavenny! Saturday 22 September saw our first baptism – of Isabel Barker – in the Extraordinary Form at Sacred Heart, Cheltenham with the Litany etc. sung by the Schola in their recently acquired choir robes. There will be a Sung Requiem Mass on Sunday 11 November, the centenary of the Armistice at the end of the Great War. A little ecclesiastical archaeology has unearthed the original parish catafalque and funeral pall in an upstairs store room; it is hoped to restore the six wrought iron catafalque candle stands; requiem altar cards, missal, and antique black vestments have been acquired; and our parish candle-maker has offered to make unbleached candles for altar and catafalque. Two of our members attended the LMS Latin Course near Oxford in early August and a couple will be attending the Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat in November. Our regular chaplain, Dom Jonathan Rollinson OSB, has been temporarily unavailable on Abbey duties recently. We are grateful therefore also to Fr Paul Lester, Fr George Grynowski, and Canon Amaury Montjean ICKSP for celebrating Mass during his absence. Thanks also to our faithful servers and singers without whom we would not have Mass. Birmingham (North Staffordshire) Alan Frost 01270 768144 Masses continue each Sunday and Saturday (fortnightly) at Our Lady’s, Swynnerton, courtesy of Fr Paul Chavasse, Cong. Orat. However, there is disappointing news about Fr Chris Miller, a keen supporter of the Traditional Rite. Impending surgery and other pressures have finally forced him to resign as Parish Priest at Tunstall and Burslem in Stoke. Our prayers for a successful operation and recovery.
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY On a happy note, by accident really, Fr Dominic Edwards of the Birmingham Oratory, covering for Fr Chavasse recently, celebrated his first public Missa Cantata at Our Lady’s, Swynnerton. Expecting to offer the usual Sunday evening EF Mass, the altar boys (four lads of the Scorey family) persuaded him to celebrate a Missa Cantata, and none of us knew until after it was his debut! There was a splendid Mass at Swynnerton on 15 August, the church being dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. BIRMINGHAM (Oxford) Joseph Shaw 01993 812874 oxford@lms.org.uk I am pleased to announce that the Oxford University Chaplain, Fr Matthew Power SJ, has agreed to the celebration of a Requiem for deceased members and staff of the University in the Chaplaincy. This will take place on Saturday, 3 November at 10am. As usual, the feast days of the quarter - All Saints and All Souls, the Immaculate Conception, and so on - are marked with celebrations of the Traditional Mass in either the Oxford Oratory or in SS Gregory & Augustine's in Oxford, or both. The situation on Sundays, currently served with Low Mass at 8am in the Oratory and monthly Masses in SS Gregory & Augustine's and at Hethe, is currently under review. In particular, it is proving very difficult to find celebrants able to travel to Hethe to celebrate Masses there, following a number of clergy moves over the summer. BRENTWOOD (East) Alan Gardner alanmdgardner@gmail.com In the ‘country’ region of the diocese we see Traditional Masses in various areas. In Chelmsford we are so blessed with the vibrant Norbertine Priory led by Abbot Hugh, and we have Low Masses in the Priory Chapel regularly on Sundays. Similarly, Low Masses are regularly celebrated in the Kelvedon area by Monsignor Read (many members will know of his long and loyal support of the LMS). In Leigh-on-Sea, it has been a delight for many years to attend the Missa Cantata on first Sundays celebrated by Monsignor Kevin Hale; please pray for all these priests for whom these Masses are an ‘extra’ to their busy parish duties. If there is a need for Masses in other areas, please let me know. In terms of keeping members informed, Carol Smith has for very many years worked extremely hard to keep us all up to date. If you would like to be kept ‘in the loop’, please email me. Our valiant and loyal servers at Chelmsford and Kelvedon would welcome support – can you help? Similarly, with the exception of Leigh, we don’t hear much music – any closet singers out there, whom we could help to become enthusiastic singers of the chant?! If you know of any, please do get in touch. Please pray for the soul of Maud Sutton who, on 5 October in her one-hundred-and-second year, and fortified by the rites of the Church, passed peacefully into the arms of Our Lord. Maud was a staunch supporter of the Traditional Mass, valiant in her attendance to her last days, despite her infirmity. Please also pray for her son Michael who has lavished tender love and care on her for many years.
In Paradisum deducant te Angeli…
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Cardiff Andrew Butcher Masses are continuing to be offered around the Archdiocese. A Missa Cantata was offered by the Fr Sebastian on the feast of Blessed John Henry Newman at the University Chaplaincy Cardiff. Byrd’s Mass for four voices was sung and the hymn to Blessed John Henry was sung for the first time. Of your charity please pray for the soul of Corey Sharpling, the son of Tom and Elaine (the LMS Representatives for Menevia) and the brother of Louise Sharpling. Corey was a great young man who regularly served the Traditional Latin Mass for Canon Jason Jones in Morriston. Corey will be missed by those who knew him. Please pray for the repose of this soul and for his family. Requiescant in Pace. There will be a Missa Cantata for Christmas Eve / Day, but this will be confirmed within the coming weeks. Please check the website for more information or contact me on 07905 609770 or andrew.butcher@lmscardiff.org.uk
From Fr Sebastian On Saturday 21st July, Fr Sebastian offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the dungeon at Cardiff Castle. It was here that St John Lloyd and St Philip Evans were imprisoned until their execution on the outskirts of the town in 1679. However, because of the dungeon's size only a server, Br Ambrose and two members of the Chaplaincy community were admitted. The relic of St David Lewis, the last of the Welsh Martyrs was placed upon the altar. It is not known whether the martyrs were themselves able to offer the Mass during their imprisonment. The Castle curator, Matthew Williams, gave permission for the Mass to be offered. He said there was no record of the Mass having been offered in the dungeon prior to the request of the University Chaplain. Clifton James Belt & Monika Paplaczyk 07890 687453 lmsclifton@gmail.com lmsclifton.blogspot.co.uk Our main event this quarter was the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury, on Saturday, 8 October. The highlight of the day was a Solemn High Mass, celebrated by Fr Bede Rowe, the Rector of the Shrine. Fr Philip Thomas was Deacon, and Sebastian Crawford, of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, was Subdeacon. The Mass was sung by the Rupert Bevan Singers. Thanks to Fr Rowe for welcoming us to his parish, and to Kim Woolmer, the Shrine Manager, for her help and support on the day.
Glastonbury Pilgrimage High Mass
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Another High Mass was celebrated the following week, at the Church of the Holy Ghost, Yeovil, for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The parish priest, Fr Jean-Patrice Coulon, was celebrant. The regular Sunday Masses at Bristol University chaplaincy continue to be well-attended. We are grateful to Fr Rupert Allen for providing this opportunity each week for the Catholics of Bristol to worship in the Traditional Rite. Fr Allen will be leading another day of recollection at the Chaplaincy on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Saturday 8 December, beginning with a Missa Cantata for the Feast. Please see our blog (address above) for details if you would like to attend. East Anglia (West) Alisa and Gregor Dick 01223 322401 Sunday Masses continue at Blackfriars in Cambridge. Two of the friars who celebrated the Dominican Rite here have moved on to other houses, but two more have arrived who have also begun to say it, so the availability of priests has remained stable. The return of the students for Michaelmas term has helped with the availability of servers, but further new volunteers to serve would, as always, be welcome, as would singers for sung Masses. Hexham & Newcastle Keith McAllister 01325 308968 07966 235329 K_mcallister@ymail.Com There are no changes in the Mass schedules, except that following the transfer of Fr David Phillips from Berwick to St Mary Immaculate Parish, Whittingham Nr Alnwick, his weekly Mass is on Tuesdays at 6.30pm in his new posting. Fr Paul Tully (Hospital Chaplain) is in the process of moving to the Spennymoor area, but intends to continue with the Sunday Masses at Thornley. There was a sung Requiem at St Joseph’s, North Shields on the feast of St Francis Borgia, celebrated by Fr Shaun Swales, the first such Mass in the area for many years. This followed the death of Mrs Patsy O’Callaghan and we are grateful to Fr Christopher Hughes (PP), M.C. Leo Darroch and the choir for their assistance. As ever, we need more young servers (any males under 60 qualify!), as some of us septuagenarian and octogenarian semi-geriatrics can kneel / genuflect but are not able to get up unassisted! Comprehensive and patient training is on offer. Lancaster Bob & Jane Latin 01524 412987 lancasterlms@gmail.com latinmasslancaster.blogspot.com John Rogan 01524 858832 john_rogan@yahoo.co.uk We have been very pleased to welcome each of the three Canons from St Walburge, Preston to offer Mass for us at Sizergh Castle this summer, and on the last occasion in September we had the extra treat of the three Sisters from English Martyrs who sang the parts of a Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart.
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We introduced ourselves to our new Bishop, Paul Swarbrick, after the Mass for the Assumption at the Cathedral, and quite unprompted he said that he would like to meet with us to talk about how he can support the work of the Society. He also ventured that since he was able to learn the Tonga language when he was in Zambia, he ought to be able to learn Latin! At two of the Masses at Sizergh a 'new' server was trained up, or rather had his memory refreshed in the Extraordinary Form, from some 60 years back. We have also heard that two priests have expressed a wish to learn the Mass so we hope this will come to fruition. On Sunday 10 November there was a Requiem High Mass for deceased members and friends of the Order of St Lazarus at English Martyrs, Preston at 12 noon. Also, on that day, being Remembrance Sunday, at both English Martyrs and St Walburge after the normal Sunday Masses there was recitation of the names of the Fallen from the parish. Leading up to Advent and Christmas, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest will be holding their traditional novena to the Immaculate Conception from 30 November to 7 December. This will include a sermon on Our Lady from a guest preacher each day at 6 pm, except Saturday 1st when it will be at 2.45 pm. There will also be an Advent Retreat on Saturday 1 December from 10 am to 3.30 pm which will include Confessions, Mass, Talks, Rosary and Benediction. In addition to the Christmas Masses (see Mass Listings) the Sisters Adorers will sing Matins of Christmas at English Martyrs at 7.30 pm on Christmas Eve. Finally, on New Year's Eve there will be Adoration from 11 pm at St Walburge with Benediction at midnight, followed by mince pies and hot chocolate in the presbytery! For full details of all these events see their website www.stwalburge.org. Liverpool Jim Pennington 0151 4260361 pennington893@btinternet.com The regular Sunday and Holyday EF Masses in the parishes of St Catherine Laboure, Farington, St Mary Magdalen, Penwortham, and St Anthony’s, Scotland Road, Liverpool, continue. Fr O’Shea’s Thursday Traditional Rite Masses continue at St John’s, Standishgate. Wigan, with a good attendance, usually 20 to 30. Several young men are training as servers under the guidance of Arthur Chadwick, a veteran like me. Traditional Rite Masses were offered at St Anthony’s, Scotland Road on the Friday and Saturday of the ‘Adoremus’ Eucharistic Congress. These were intended to give traditionally-minded visitors the opportunity to attend the Mass of their choice before the Congress events. However, the Friday Mass proved to be not very popular: the Saturday Mass, a Missa Cantata, was offered by Fr Michael Lang of the London Oratory, with Anthony Dickinson as Cantor, and attracted a larger congregation, though I do not think many of them were Congress visitors. On Sunday afternoon the conclusion of the Parish Exposition was followed by Missa Cantata with a full choir directed by Anthony, and concluded with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. This also attracted a larger than usual congregation. Sad to say, two of our long-standing members have died – Tom Finch and John Chase, who both faithfully attended our Sunday Masses from the days at St Mary’s, Highfield Street until recent years. John’s Requiem Mass was offered at St Anthony’s by Fr Leo Daley, followed by interment at Anfield Cemetery.
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY August saw the tenth anniversary of the death of Fr Godfrey Carney, a great lover of the old Mass, who offered it each week in the days before we had a regular Sunday Mass. Fr John Hemer of Allen Hall offered Mass for him in the chapel of Ince Blundell Hall, where Fr Carney spent his final years, with a congregation that filled the chapel. For several reasons, the number of diocesan priests we can call upon for our St Anthony’s Masses has been reduced to two. Fr John Harris has been in hospital and is now recovering and back in his parish, but unlikely to be available for St Anthony’s for some time yet. Fr Matthew Jolley is leaving for Rome for three years of further study. Of the remaining two, Fr Sean Riley is on study leave until the end of October, so at the moment, Fr Daley and the ICKSP Canons are on a two-week rota, until Fr Riley becomes available again. Liverpool (Warrington) Alan Frost 01270 768144 The latest main development in the hub of activity that is the Warrington Shrine is the promotion of the ‘Priory Campaign’, to buy back the old school and surrounding buildings next to St Mary’s Church. The hope is to endow St Mary’s with the space urgently needed for a parish hall, music room, clergy offices, and classrooms. In addition, a pro-life office, a publishing company, a catholic bookshop, a vestments-sewing workshop and accommodation for retreatants could be added. £1.5 million is needed in a limited time, but much has already been raised. A promotional video has been made by EWTN film director Stefano Mazzeo of the LMS. Added to which is an endorsement from leading Catholic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg who adds, “I am honoured to support the Priory Campaign for fundraising.” In August Fr Matthew Jolly celebrated his first traditional Latin Mass at St Mary’s, having been ordained there three years earlier in the Ordinary Form, and in time for the Adoremus Conference, Shrine Rector Fr de Malleray had a new book published on the Holy Eucharist. The imprimatur and promoter is Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool. After a brief spell as part of the clergy at St Mary’s, Fr Seth Phipps, ordained here in the Traditional Rite earlier in the year, has moved to St John Fisher House in Reading to join Frs Goddard and O’Donohue. Northampton North (Northamptonshire) Paul Beardsmore In addition to the regular Saturday Mass at St Brendan's, Corby, Fr Byrne offered Mass on the feast of the Assumption, and three Masses on consecutive days in September during the Forty Hours devotions. Northampton (South) Barbara Kay mbky3@outlook.com 01234 340759 Nick Ross nick@efmass.co.uk 07951 145240 On 2 September we launched our new series of First Sunday Family Catechism Days at Christ the King, Bedford which was well attended. The Family Catechism Days in Chesham Bois are planned to resume in October. On 8 September there was a meeting of the ‘Regina Caeli’ Traditional Catholic home-schooling academy at their new base at Barton-Le-Clay. The Academy plans to open in September 2019.
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After a quiet summer, Mass attendance at Bedford is rising again and we reached a new record of 92 on 9 September. On 16 September, Matthew Schellhorn returned to sing the Mass for us and will do so twice a month on various Sundays from now on. 7 October marked the completion of the FSSP’s first year of ministry at Christ the King. The Latin Mass Society comes to Bedford on 10 November for a High Mass of Reparation for the Abortion Referendum in Ireland at the Church of the Holy Child and St Joseph, 2 Brereton Road, Bedford MK40 1HU, a beautiful Victorian church which houses Great Britain’s authenticated copy of the Miraculous Relic Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in whose presence the Mass will be said. Masses at Chesham and Shefford continue respectively at 8 am on Sunday and 7.30 pm on the third Friday of the month. For details of all our activities, please see our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/bedfordlatinmass/ Nottingham Jeremy Boot 07462-018386 A Missa Cantata took place at St Mary’s Loughborough for the feast of the Transfiguration on 6 August, celebrated by the parish priest, Fr Paul Gillham IC. Servers, singers and organist were from that church or from Leicester and Nottingham.
Missa Cantata for the Transfiguration - St Mary's Loughborough. Celebrant Paul Gillham IC The Mass on the Saturday before the 2nd Sunday of the month (4.45pm) at The Good Shepherd Church, Arnold, Nottingham may have to be re-scheduled in the near future. At present nothing has been decided and we are very grateful to Canon Ziomek, who, now without a curate, makes time for these Masses to be available to us. Attendance could be better but has improved over the last twelve months. The other monthly Masses at Our Lady and St Patrick Nottingham remain unchanged (3rd and 4th Sundays of the month at 2pm). Our usual thanks to our celebrants as well as to those who give their time in whatever way to maintain these Masses. Nottingham (Lincoln) M. Carroll mcarroll3@hotmail.co.uk Website - Traditional Latin Mass in Lincolnshire Website - The Lincolnshire Martyrs Facebook - Traditional Latin Mass in Lincolnshire I have great pleasure in announcing that after a year’s break from Latin Masses in Lincolnshire Masses will return, initially on Second Sundays at St Hugh's Catholic Church, 34, Broadgate, Lincoln. LN255AQ. We must thank the resident
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY priest for his support as well as our local Latin Mass priest who is much appreciated and respected by all of us. Both Lincoln and St Hugh's are wonderful settings for the Latin Mass and I ask you to support this new date on the calendar. I am led to believe that there will be more information to follow regarding further Mass dates and please keep an eye out on the website and the Facebook page. I would like to draw the local home schoolers attention to this Mass and to thank them for their help particularly with singing (and cake) in the past. I also wish to thank all those who supported the Latin Masses both in Brigg and Scunthorpe in the past, as we look forward to this new chapter. Nottingham South (Leicestershire and Rutland) Paul Beardsmore Sunday Masses continue at Holy Cross Priory in Leicester, with a congregation stable in numbers at around 70. Masses are sung on the first Sunday of the month, and happily in recent months first Sundays have included the feast of the Precious Blood, and the feast of the Holy Rosary (first class in the Dominican Missal). Sung Mass was celebrated for the feast of the Assumption at St Peter's in Leicester by Canon Cahill. There will be a sung Mass at Holy Cross Priory for the feast of All Saints, and at St Joseph's, Oakham on All Souls' Day, when Fauré's setting of the Requiem Mass will be performed by the St Peter's Singers. The regular schedule of Low Masses continues at Holy Cross, St Peter's and St Joseph's; thanks go to our celebrants and servers. Plymouth (Devon) Maurice Quinn 07555 536579 mauricequinn375@gmail.com Once again, I have many good and positive things to report from Devon. The Plymouth and Exeter venues (St Edward the Confessor and Blessed Sacrament respectively) have seen an increase in the number of new people attending our Traditional Latin Mass celebrations over the last couple of months. At St Edward the Confessor the increase leans more towards young people with children, probably because the Mass is a regular Sunday morning affair, whereas at Blessed Sacrament, where the Mass takes place on Sunday afternoons once a month, the increase is with the more mature as well as students. We also have a smattering of people from further afield (London, Andover and elsewhere) who make a round trip by rail to attend Mass at Blessed Sacrament. Fr Anthony Pillari still looks after the St Edward the Confessor congregation in Plymouth, and it was pleasing to be present at the Mass on the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, when, at the request of Bishop Mark, there was Eucharistic Adoration, and a Blessed Sacrament procession that went around the church and outside in the street giving full public witness to our faith. We have to thank Fr Harry Hiejveld for agreeing to celebrate Mass at St Edward’s on the fourth Sunday of September when Fr Pillari was unable to do so, thus maintaining what has become a regular feature of Catholic life and worship in Plymouth. Fr Harry Heijveld and Mgr Adrian Toffolo alternately share officiating at the Blessed Sacrament (Exeter) Mass
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celebrations on the third Sundays, and Fr Harry still offers Benediction afterwards when it is his turn, something that is much appreciated. On the 17th Sunday after Pentecost there were a few moments of panic when it was discovered that the route to the organ loft was blocked by scaffolding, but our intrepid organist, Tegwyn Harris, along with the equally intrepid choir members, overcame this problem by simply singing the whole Missa Cantata unaccompanied with very pleasing results. Many thanks to you all! Do take note that the usual Missa Cantata at Blessed Sacrament in December is to be celebrated on the Second Sunday and not the Third Sunday. This is because the ever-popular parish Christmas Carol Service takes place in the church every year in the afternoon on that day. We thank Fr Jonathan Stewart, the parish priest, for making Blessed Sacrament available to us on the Second Sunday. I am happy to report that our regular monthly Sunday afternoon Sung Mass at St Cyprian’s Ugbrooke House, Chudleigh, has been running quite smoothly throughout the last quarter. We appreciate Fr Guy de Gaynesford celebrating every Mass for us at this historically important venue (for Catholicism in the South West) situated at the home of Lord Clifford. Two of the advertised usus antiquior celebrations had to be changed at the last moment from Sung to Low due to the lack of a choir, but this did not detract from the dignity and reverence of the Mass, which, as always, was much appreciated by those attending. At St Mary’s Abbey Buckfast, the millennial celebrations have been going on continually all year, and have not impinged negatively on our monthly Vetus Ordo Low Mass. The televised Antiques Road Show took place at the Abbey in September (Most Holy Name of Mary) when the celebrant was Fr Guy de Gaynesford, and although the film crew filmed in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel immediately prior to our Low Mass they were respectful, efficient, and very quick, allowing our Mass to go ahead without interruption. I am pleased to report that at this venue, the Traditional Latin Mass celebrations are still shared alternately between Fr Guy and Fr Tom Regan OSB. Do check the Mass Listings where you will see that there are two changes (day and time) to our Buckfast Abbey Latin celebrations. The first change will be Thursday 11 October (Motherhood of BVM) at the earlier time of 10am, whereas the Mass for December is on Saturday 8 (Immaculate Conception), likewise at 10am. On Friday 2 November (All Souls) at 12 noon Fr Harry Hiejveld celebrated the Mass for the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, which, thanks to Fr Harry (thanks also to the parish priest, Fr Kieron Kirby) has become a regular feature in Devon’s Vetus Ordo calendar. We were all saddened to hear of the death of Peter Kiely (see Obituary, page 40) during August. Peter was a real gentleman of the old school, being an ardent advocate of the Old Rite, who served on the altar in Exeter, Ugbrooke House, and at Buckfast Abbey for many years. Peter’s Traditional Old Rite Requiem took place in the church of The Most Precious Blood, Sidmouth. The Mass was celebrated by Fr Gregory Carey OSB of Farnborough Abbey, being served by Colin Harte. We have to thank Fr Martin Budge of Marnhull, Dorset, for the loan of the Old Rite Requiem booklets used by the congregation at this Mass.
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Plymouth (Dorset) Maurice Quinn 07555536579 mauricequinn375@gmail.com The Church of Our Lady in the village of Marnhull is prettily situated down leafy lanes just a ten-minute walk from the River Stour, and those who seek it out to attend the Old Rite are always rewarded for their efforts. At this beautiful old stone church with its adjoining Catholic cemetery, Fr Martin Budge always offers Confessions beforehand, with the Angelus immediately preceding Holy Mass. Whereas in my last report I mentioned that numbers attending the Thursday 12 noon Mass had dwindled to just a few regular stalwarts, the July celebration saw a pleasing reversal of this trend with some new people in the congregation, some of whom stayed afterwards for the social lunch. I am very happy to report that the refurbishment work that has been going on at Our Lady of Lourdes and St Cecelia in the delightful market town of Blandford Forum is nearing completion. Mgr Francis Jamieson (see photograph) has also managed to procure some altar rails that are to be properly installed soon, which will greatly enhance the dignified and reverent Traditional Low Mass that takes place here every other month. September’s celebration took place on Saturday 8 at 12 noon, the Nativity of the BVM. Colin Harte, the usual server, could not make it this time so we have to thank Dominic Prendergast for kindly agreeing to take his place on the sanctuary. The little free lunch/social that took place after Mass was enjoyed by all present, especially by those attending for the first time. The next usus antiquior to take place at Blandford Forum will be in November (see the Mass listings).
Mgr Francis Jamieson Portsmouth Peter Cullinane. Tel. 02392 471324. Email: pmcullinane@hotmail.com As I mentioned in my previous report, news of Fr Joe McNerney’s move from Portsmouth to Southampton as Hospital Chaplain was received just before copy date. St John’s Cathedral old rite Mass attenders were very sorry to see Father go, but we all understand why and we welcome and thank the Friars from Gosport who replace him. For a period of almost five years Fr Joe said Mass for us every Sunday at 8am and with almost spilt second timing had
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to return swiftly to his own parish some 5 miles away for the 9.30 Mass. Inevitably we could not engage with him socially after Mass but we should all like to say a warm “Thank you, Father and best wishes in your new role!’’ One disappointment recently was the lack of response to the suggestion of a monthly EF Mass at Holy Family in Southampton. Whereas the Thursday evening EF Mass there is quite well attended, very few have indicated their future support or availability for a first Sunday monthly Mass at 8.30 or 9 am, which the parish priest is offering to say. This is a great pity - if you live within a reasonable distance of Southampton and feel you could help, please email or telephone me for a form to return to the parish indicating your interest. Portsmouth (Bournemouth) Tim Fawkes 01202 730200 t.fawkes136@btinternet.com Our regular first Friday Masses have continued at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Bournemouth at 6 pm and there were around 45 in the congregation for Mass on 14 August for the Vigil of the Assumption of Our Lady. Whilst Extraordinary Form Masses have until now been offered in the Lady Chapel, forthcoming work in the main sanctuary will make it possible for Masses to be offered there, which will be a positive and welcome development. Portsmouth (Isle of Wight) Peter Clarke Latin (EF) Masses continue here on the island thanks to Fr Jonathan Redvers Harris, who offers a Mass on most Thursday, mostly at St David’s, East Cowes, with Exposition and Confessions before the Mass. We were pleased to welcome Canon Martin Edwards back to St Mary’s in Ryde again for two recent Masses. He was fresh from a cruise and dressed in his canonical black and red. Consequently, he was taken for a Cardinal. Rumour spread round the ship that a Cardinal was on board. Needless to say, he milked this for all it was worth. We were delighted that Father gave a short sermon at the Mass in St Mary’s, Ryde on the Feast of SS Cosmas and Damian. Father spoke about the Canon of the Mass in the early Church and how Cosmas and Damian’s names were mentioned then. They were doctors who were martyred for their faith. Hence the reference to healing in today’s gospel. He also mentioned how the Church has benefitted greatly from the zeal of convert clergy and what they do (and have done) to provide spiritual nourishment for Catholics, both here on the Island and further afield. Canon Edwards reminded us that with the approach of the month of October – the month of the Holy Rosary - it is important to remind ourselves of the value of two valuable tools to aid our eternal salvation: namely, the Rosary and the Traditional Mass, which has been offered here on the island for thirty years. The LMS group on the island were pleased to meet Fr Christopher Basden in the summer. Both he and Canon Martin Edwards offered Mass at St Thomas’s, Cowes during the “Cowes Week of Catholic Witness”.
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Portsmouth (Reading) Adrian Dulston As you are probably aware, the FSSP community in Reading have been given a Personal Parish status by Bishop Philip Egan officially from Our Lady’s birthday, 8 September 2018 – this effectively means a newly formed Parish called St John Fisher, albeit awaiting permanent dwelling. More on this can be obtained from the FSSP link below and particularly in the current Dowry Magazine (FSSP official magazine here in the UK). The newly ordained Fr Phipps has joined us from St Mary’s Warrington, with Fr O’Donohue still around but serving Bedford. Fr Goddard continues as Parish Priest, indeed the first of the new Parish arrangement. In the Dowry magazine you will find reports on youth summer camps of which I partook running the football session! Men and Women groups are still running but the Holy Mass on Thursday has been moved to the 10am slot generally (check link for timings) the catechesis has been swallowed up by the new venture via the Guild for home schooling. A reminder to check the following address link for timings of Masses during the week, which can change but generally follow the pattern of Monday 12noon, Tuesday 7am at St John Fisher House, Wednesday 12noon, Thursday 10am, Friday 7.30pm (except First Fridays which start with Mass at 7am followed by devotions), Saturday 8am – do note that after the 8am Mass on first Saturdays there are prayers at BPAS Abortion centre some 10mins away. Further details on all activities can be found at https://fssp.co.uk/reading/ For those in the vicinity of Didcot there is now a regular Wednesday evening (7.30pm) Latin Mass at English Martyrs Catholic Church offered by Philip Pennington Harris with a 1st Sunday 7am Mass, although there are changes so please refer to newsletter (for Didcot) www.thamesisis.org.uk/ community/newsletters/newsletter.htm May Royal St Joseph continue to rebuild Our Lady’s Dowry. Shrewsbury (Chester) Andrew Nielsen Third Sunday Sung Masses are continuing at St Clare's in Chester. We are lucky to have the continued support of a local choir and organist and the priests of the Institute of Christ the King in New Brighton who celebrate the Masses. Unfortunately, numbers for the last few masses have been dipping. For September there were fewer than 20 people in the congregation. Shrewsbury (The Wirral) Stefano Mazzeo 0151 6386822 Life at the Dome of Home, The Shrine Church of SS Peter & Paul and St Philomena is as full as ever. We said a fond farewell to Canon Parant who after celebrating a High Mass on Sunday 16 September left for pastures new in the South of France where he is to take care of the Institute in Beziers and also be chaplain to the school of the Institute at Montpellier. We welcome Fr Gribbin and two seminarians who will be with us for a year and we are very pleased to announce that we have yet another vocation to the priesthood from the Dome, Lee Jones who has now already started his priestly
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formation at Gricigliano near Florence in Italy. Canon Piaggio celebrated his first High Mass at the Dome and conferred the blessings of a newly ordained priest afterwards. There is a full set of activities happening every week at the Dome, Catechism Class, Youth Group, Fatima Family Days, Adult Faith Formation and many more, for further information on our very full programme please email Canon Montjean chn.montjean@icrsp.org or telephone 0151 6386822 Southwark (Kent) Marygold Turner 01580 291372 Fr Neil Brett gave us a beautiful Mass at Headcorn for the Feast of the Assumption. Our main event recently was a Sung Mass in St Augustine’s, Snave on Saturday, 22 September, which was our fourth time there. Fr Marcus Holden celebrated and delivered a magnificent sermon, largely on Our Lady. Dominic Bevan brought five singers to accompany the Mass which, with such superb acoustics, was excellent. Jonathan Hague and David Hurley (now Mayor of Gravesham) provided the serving. It is always a very moving occasion to be in this Pre-Reformation church. John Doyle MBE (President of The Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust) and Peter Anwyl-Harris (Chairman) both spoke, prior to us all enjoying a glass of wine and sandwiches. The provisional date for our visit next year is Saturday, 28 September 2019. I went to hear Fr Ignatius Harrison’s talk on Blessed John Henry Newman on 15 October at Warwick Street. It was a very unusual and thought-provoking talk. This was followed by a question and answers session with Mgr Newton and overseas Ordinaries of the Ordinariate. It was a most successful fundraising event. Southwark (St Bede’s Clapham Park) Thomas Windsor In the last report I mentioned that a new Parish Priest was a possibility, and we are delighted to welcome Fr Holden who started here at the beginning of October. We look forward to working with our new Parish Priest to build on the work of Fr Basden. I must also thank Fr Basden for all he has done to help build and nurture the traditional community here at St Bede’s. We have been truly blest to have him for almost a quarter of a century, and wish him well as he heads down to the Isle of Thanet. Our choir has continued its programme of regular polyphonic Masses singing the Byrd 3-part Mass on the Feast of the Precious Blood, and the Missa Dixit Maria, on Rosary Sunday, including the rarely heard creeds for both Masses. On Rosary Sunday we also sang Hasler’s Ave Maris Stella and the Dixit Maria Motet. For most of this year we have had five servers and up to seven choir members attending our Saturday morning Low Mass. From the Feast of the Nativity of the BVM onwards, this will become a Sung Mass. Finally, some sad news; on 31 July Mgr Leo White, Prefect Apostolic Emeritus of Garissa in Kenya, died at the age of 89. Resident here from 1997 to 2001, returning in 2017, our usual August Bank Holiday Sung Mass was a Requiem for the repose of his soul.
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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Westminster (Hertfordshire) Tom Short Hertfordshire traditionalists have been spoiled for the past five years by Fr Tim Edgar who has shown great commitment providing Masses on days of obligation and some traditional feasts as well as on Sundays. Lovers of the old Mass will be very grateful to Fr Tim and wish him well for the future. Masses at Baldock, Old Hall Green and Hertford continue. Thanks to Ed, one of the regular St Albans servers, for stepping in to help at Hertford in September. Many thanks also to the other priests, Mgr Reed, Canon Noonan, Fr Phipps and Fr Cullinan. One of the last Masses in St Albans was in the Dominican Rite, celebrated by Fr Thomas Crean who was visiting. Thanks also to Tony Nevard who served weekday Masses which Fr Tim said daily for the last three weeks he was in St Albans when he returned early from holiday.
Fr Michael Cullinan, our regular chaplain for these Masses, has duties at Maryvale and has not always been able to be with us. Finding substitute priests on a Sunday is not easy as many have other commitments. Our sacristan, Linda Helm, works tirelessly to make sure that each date is covered. We are most grateful for the help offered recently by the following priests – Fr Mark Higgins who has moved from Ramsgate to Croydon, Fr Gabriel Diaz Patri from Argentina who is now based at Clapham Park, Fr Greg Norman who now is returning to Australia, and our close neighbour from Warwick Street Fr Mark Elliott Smith. As well as offering inspiring Masses they have given some stirring homilies. Please pray for a former member of our Old Rite congregation - Maud Sutton, who has died aged 102. Many will remember her and her son Mike making a long journey to Spanish Place each week and making her way faithfully to the communion rail. Please pray also for Fr George Dangerfield who has died. For many years he offered the Old Rite Mass at Spanish Place before his retirement ten years ago. Westminster (Maiden Lane) After a short break during the summer months, the Monday Missa Cantata at Corpus Christi has resumed. Fr Patrick Hayward requested that another priest be found to celebrate this Mass and Fr Gabriel Diaz has very kindly agreed to do so. The LMS is immensely grateful to Fr Hayward for the many years he has cared for the Traditional Mass congregation at Corpus Christi, not only by offering Mass but also in his pastoral care. As well as Monday and 2nd Friday Masses, there will also be a Traditional Latin Mass on Holy Days of obligation, as part of the parish Mass schedule.
Mass at Spanish Place Westminster (Spanish Place) Roger Wemyss Brooks wemyssbrooks@outlook.com Attendance at Mass has remained steady through the summer and is impressive with many visitors and a high proportion of young people and children. The provision of Mass books and propers is proving popular.
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Wrexham Kevin Jones lms.wrexham@outlook.com 01244 674011 All Masses took place as planned during the last quarter at Our Lady of the Rosary, Buckley (first Saturday), St Francis of Assisi, Llay (second Sunday) and St Winefride’s, Holywell (fourth Sunday). Sadly, this summer we were not able to welcome the St Catherine’s Trust Summer School and LMS Latin Course to Franciscan Friary Retreat Centre at Pantasaph due to its closure last Christmas. However, I know that both events took place in their new homes with great success! On Saturday, 13 October the Latin Mass Society in conjunction with the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, held what has become an annual pilgrimage to the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows at Wrexham. The pilgrimage is in honour of Wrexham Martyr, St Richard Gywn who is also co-patron of the LMS. Our Mass was a Missa Cantata (Gregorian Chant) celebrated by Canon Poucin de Wouilt ICKSP who is assigned to SS Peter & Paul and St Philomena, New Brighton. MC was Mr P Russell and the Schola was led by Mr Christian Spence who also played the organ. Despite the fact that Storm Callum was heavily afflicting Wales both North and South with truly atrocious weather, Mass attendance was on par with last year. I’m grateful to the Bishop of Wrexham, the Rt Rev Peter Brignall and Canon Treloar, Cathedral Dean for allowing us use of the church once again.
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ART AND DEVOTION
Our Lady, Ark of the New Covenant
The Madonna del Parto by Piero della Francesca, c. 1455-60. Museo della Madonna del Parto, Monterchi, Tuscany.
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his beautiful fresco is a wonderful painting to study during Advent, since it is one of the rare depictions of Our Lady in late pregnancy, calm and still as she waits with patient anticipation for the great moment of the birth of Our Lord Jesus. The painting is instantly recognisable, and has over the centuries been the focus of great devotion. It has also given rise to a number of interpretations, all of which complement each other and combine to give the work a rich and deep theological significance. The first elements to notice, as with all paintings by Piero, are the combination of exquisite colours – the soft green of the left-hand angel’s cloak, contrasted with the feathery pink of his wing and the bold red of his hose; the simple yet daring composition, and the indescribable aura of mystery with which the artist imbued every one of his images. Our Lady is silent, dignified and modest. She looks down, deep in contemplation, and every expectant first-time mother will recognise the slightly wistful expression on her face – the question ‘what lies ahead?’ is never very far from her mind. For Our Lady, there is a far more profound knowledge of the magnitude of what is to come, not only for her personally as a mother, but for the whole World. Piero captures beautifully the supernatural knowledge that Our Lady has been granted, of the import and weight of her situation. She whom God has chosen to give redemption to mankind stands here: a seemingly ordinary young woman in a plain blue dress and yet, at the same time, the Mother of God flanked by angels. Her downward glance contains a sadness and solemnity which cannot fail to remind us of the Passion, while she also expresses the innocence and naturalness of a young expectant mother in the final few weeks of pregnancy, with her left hand
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By Caroline Shaw protectively touching her stomach, and her right hand on her hip suggesting physical fatigue. The two angels with their impassive gaze are mirror images of each other. They hold back the heavy red silk curtains that enclose the tent in which Our Lady stands. What does this tent represent? Firstly we could observe that it is a royal structure, lined with white fur, and embroidered with golden pomegranate flowers, which are a symbol of fertility, abundance and marriage, and also a symbol of Our Lord’s Passion. The canopy stands firmly in the medieval tradition of the ‘cloth of estate’, which was held aloft by angels to honour Our Lady as Queen of Heaven. The appearance of the structure in this painting is also reminiscent of the Old Testament tent-sanctuary that God instructed Moses in the book of Exodus to build. It can therefore be understood as a representation of the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant. At Our Lady’s fiat, God entered into a new covenant with mankind, and as Mother of God, with the Christ-child in her womb, Mary represents the vessel, or Ark, of the new alliance. This is echoed in the ancient description of Mary as Foedoris Arca. By placing Our Lady as the Ark of the New Alliance within the Old Testament tabernacle, Piero vividly brings the Old and New Testament promises of God together, while simultaneously honouring Our Lady as Queen of Heaven and powerful intercessor. The tent can furthermore be seen as a representation of the Catholic Church, with Our Lady standing at its doorway. The idea of Mary as Janua Coeli or ‘Gate of Heaven’, was a common theme in the iconography of the time. Our Lady represents a two-way door, by which the divine enters the human, and the human opens to the divine. She stands at the threshold of the tent-church,
indicating with her right hand the child in her womb, and inviting us to come in and worship Him. She is thus the ecclesial figure, the gateway through whom all the faithful must enter. When it was first painted, the fresco would certainly have had a strong Eucharistic significance, since it was placed behind the High Altar of Santa Maria in Silvis, a small, rural church in the hill town of Monterchi. The tent in the painting, shaped like a tabernacle, and the angels solemnly drawing back the curtains, would have called to mind the moment during the Mass when the priest parts the curtains of the actual tabernacle and opens the door to reveal Our Lord Jesus, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. Our Lady’s solid, almost sculptural body undoubtedly also itself evokes the idea of a tabernacle, in which reposes the Son of God. At the same time, the simplicity of the figure of Our Lady, her freshness and youth, strongly conveys her humanity. At the time Piero was painting, there was a tradition in Tuscany of naturalistic images of the ‘Madonna del Parto’, showing her as visibly pregnant. These images served to emphasise the humanity of Christ, as fruit of the Virgin’s womb. Our Lady’s pregnancy was extremely important in establishing that Our Lord was truly born of a woman, at a time when there was still theological debate about the exact nature of Jesus’ humanity. Furthermore, there was a concern during this period about images of the Annunciation, particularly coming into Italy from Byzantium, in which a tiny figure of Christ, already pre-formed, arrives in the womb of Our Lady, ‘as if the body he took on were not of her substance’, as Antonino, Archbishop of Florence, wrote in 1446. By depicting Our Lady as a young, pregnant woman, Piero powerfully promotes the truth of Our Lord’s humanity.
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Sometime during the 16th century, after the Council of Trent had issued its decree on sacred images, the fresco was removed from the high altar of the church in Monterchi and demoted to a small side altar, where Mass could not be celebrated. It is possible that concerns were raised about the overly naturalistic depiction of Our Lady with a swollen abdomen, at a time when bishops were exhorted to ensure that ‘nothing be seen that is unbecomingly or confusedly arranged…nothing indecorous, seeing that holiness becometh the house of
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God.’ In the centuries following the Counter-Reformation, this beautiful image of the Mother of God took on a more maternal significance, and became a focus for devotion and intercessory prayers, particularly for women hoping to conceive and for those who were expecting children. Piero’s Madonna del Parto thus became, over time, a powerful image of maternity, and such was its reputation as an almost miraculous image, that in 1954 the mayor of Monterchi refused to lend it to a prestigious exhibition in Florence, for
fear of the consequences should he allow it to leave the town. Today the painting is encased in glass in a purpose-built museum, preserved from the ravages of the weather but entirely stripped of its original context and purpose. Nevertheless, we can still meditate, as we await the joyful celebration of the birth of Our Lord, upon this beautiful image of Our Lady, who is so still, calm and dignified: she is at one and the same time the Ark of the New Covenant, the Tabernacle of Our Lord, the Mother of God, and the Mother of us all.
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COMMENT
Finding solace in Solanus By Mary O’Regan
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he winds of a Wisconsin Winter swirled round one Bernard Casey who felt lost. The 26-year-old had been dismissed from a seminary which was dubbed ‘the German Seminary’ because the classes for the seminarians were conducted in German so they could minister to the multitudes of German immigrants. But young Casey had not mastered the Teutonic tongue. Concurrently, newspaper reports posited that the German seminary was ‘inhospitable’ to Irish Catholics such as Casey, who was the sixth child born to Irish immigrants. Next, Casey sampled life in a Capuchin friary only to feel his call confused because of his disgust for the unkempt beards of the friars. Casey was a fastidious young man who did not want to be a priest with a mane of wayward whiskers. Now directionless, young Casey invited his mother and his sister to join him in offering a novena in the days leading to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception hoping he would be inspired to pursue his vocation. He honored this hallowed feast day by making a private vow of chastity and, in silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, he received the divine message that would seal his fate: ‘Go to Detroit’. This meant he was to join the Capuchins there – for Detroit was their base. He would have to offer up his loathing of long beards. So eager was he to follow God’s will he left the warm confines of his loving
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family before Christmas and arrived in Detroit on Christmas Eve. The account of Casey receiving an inner locution may inspire you to your personal vocation on the day which celebrates Our Lady being conceived in her mother’s womb with a stainless soul that sealed her fate as the one worthy of bearing the Messiah. Those who feel that inner locutions and messages from Heaven are the stuff of fantasy or even deceitful invention might consider that the message, ‘Go to Detroit’ was unlikely to be fabrication on the part of Casey who had an aversion to the Capuchin beard. At much the same time in Italy a ten-year-old Padre Pio got to know a friar with a flowing beard and became consumed with the desire to become a bearded Capuchin. Initially I studied Solanus Casey’s life for the book I’m writing on Padre Pio because he was a near contemporary of Pio’s. But Solanus’ role is bigger than that. I have developed a love for Solanus whose intercession has given me much help with personal anxiety. Solanus’ main role was that of porter at his monastery. The faithful flocked to him – he often saw up to 200 people a day. He was a mystic, not a meddler. A young woman came to him who thought she had to become a nun, but Solanus told her that she did not have a vocation to religious life and was to marry a man in the military and have a big family. This happened just as Solanus had said. On
‘Blessed Solanus is like vitamin C for the soul’
another occasion, Solanus was visiting the sick in a Detroit hospital, when a young husband asked him to bless his wife who had just had minor surgery. To the young man’s horror, Solanus told him that his wife was, in fact, about to die and he was to reconcile himself with God’s will. She died that very day, but her husband was prepared for her passing. Another Saint, André Bessette, came to Detroit and sought out Solanus, and when the two men of the cloth were face to face, they found themselves lost for words, for Solanus spoke no French and André spoke no English, but they blessed each other in Latin - the universal language gave these two saintly sons the means to confer on each other a sacred blessing. In Catherine M. Odell’s lovely biography of Fr Solanus, I read an account of Solanus facilitating the reconciliation of a couple on the brink of a nasty divorce. The man had been seeing another woman. He ended it, but the other woman told him she would tell his wife. Preempting this, the man confessed to his wife who was so distraught she wanted to divorce him. The couple were brought to Solanus, but the wife could not bring herself to look at the friar, so embarrassed was she at having a husband who had sought affection with another woman. Solanus said to the husband: ‘I don’t want you to leave anything out. Say everything.’ The husband spoke while his wife cried her heart out. Solanus then turned his attention to the wife and said, ‘Well, that isn’t so bad, the man is repentant. The Lord forgave Mary Magdalene, and you have three lovely children outside waiting for the mother and father to get together again.’ With that Solanus encouraged the wife to kiss her husband and forgive him. The couple saved their marriage and became an especially happy pair. Blessed Solanus is like vitamin C for the soul. Revisiting his life of saintly selflessness is the means of strengthening our soul’s immune system.
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OBITUARY
Obituary: Father Peter Lessiter Editor’s note: during the chaotic years immediately after the Second Vatican Council, an unprecedented number of priests left their vocations, many in order to marry. A few left their parishes for a different reason: in order to minister the sacraments in their traditional form to those of the Catholic faithful who wanted them. During the 1970s and 1980s in particular, when the work of the Latin Mass Society was very restricted, these ‘independent’ priests were found here and there around the country. The best known was Fr Peter Lessiter, based in the South West of England. The author of this obituary, Fr Peter Morgan, was the first District Superior of the SSPX in Great Britain, 1971-1980.
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eter Edward Lessiter was born on 1 May 1934 in Glasgow. After school he trained as a schoolmaster, having received his Diploma in Education from the University of London. He only taught for a short while, as he had been thinking of the priesthood since boyhood. In 1958 Father was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Southwark and spent the next years at St John’s College, Wonersh. He was ordained priest on 12 June 1964 and served as a curate at Chatham. His great friend (who remained a friend for life) was Father Alan Wilders (RIP) who was serving as a curate in the next parish at Rochester.
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After some time, Father Lessiter was transferred to St Osmund’s, Barnes where he served as a curate until 1973. It is interesting to note that Father was a seminarian all through those years, 1958-64, the time of the preparation for Vatican II and the years of the Council itself; he was ordained just before the Council ended. He became increasingly unhappy with the way things were going. The big red light came to him in 1968 when the form of the sacraments was revised and he never came to terms with the reformed rite for the consecration of bishops. The last straw for him was the Novus Ordo Missae, which came about in Advent of 1969. He first visited me in 1973, when I was living in Sanderstead, and continued to visit for about a year, often bringing Father Wilders with him. Very bravely, in 1973, he left Barnes and the conciliar reforms and threw himself into the arms of Divine Providence. There was a time when he thought of joining SSPX, but he was in many ways too independent for that, although he always kept in touch with them and became a regular visitor at Highclere. Over the next years Father was in contact with many people and established a network of small centres all over the UK. He loved people, got on well with them, and had a way of converting people to the Faith. He never let anyone down. He looked after these people spiritually for 40 years! He would, at the drop of a hat, drive to West Wales, the West Country, London, the Midlands the North and to Scotland
and Ireland, to give the last rites, to visit hospitals, to baptise and to officiate at funerals or whatever people needed for their spiritual health. Father was always there. He had a great love of children and young people and helped many while he was living in Leicester and particularly when he went to live in Axminster, where he organised summer camps for the young. Very often there would be 3040 young people who received excellent catechetical instruction. Many, now adults, speak with great fondness of their time at these camps. Some of his children are now priests and religious. His move to Axminster was an important time in his priesthood as he wished to establish a congregation of religious sisters. This never fully happened, although several sisters did establish themselves at Mount Carmel in Axminster and continue to live a form of the religious life. Sadly, Father became ill and his health deteriorated over the last eight or nine years. However, Divine Providence was always there. These sisters were able to look after Father with much love and care until the end of his life. They did a wonderful work. Father received the last rites from a priest who had been ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre, the holy oil used had been blessed by the Archbishop. Father Lessiter died peacefully on the Nativity of Our Lord, 8 September at home, Mount Carmel, surrounded by the Sisters. Following the funeral rites, he was buried in the town cemetery in Axminster. May he rest in peace. Amen.
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© John Aron
ARCHITECTURE
Mass in the restored interior
The Church of Corpus Christi Maiden Lane M
y first encounter with Corpus Christi Church in Maiden Lane was on 15 August 1953. I was aged four, but still remember the occasion well. In those days, my family lived in Surrey, and we took our summer holidays at Southwold in Suffolk. The 140-mile journey used to take most of the day in our elderly Austin car, which rarely completed the journey without breaking down. This particular year, our holiday started on the Feast of the Assumption, so we set off fairly early in the morning, expecting to find a Mass in London, which we did at Maiden Lane. It was a Sung Mass, a completely new experience for me. Even as a four-yearold, I was stunned by the beauty of the polyphonic music, which may well have been Palestrina. The choir was in a gallery to the right of the High Altar, and I remember that, although I could just see the conductor waving his arms, the singers were completely out of sight.
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By Paul Waddington Shafts of Coloured Light I also remember the shafts of coloured light emanating from the stained glass windows above the sanctuary. These were constantly changing, and frequently dulled by clouds of incense smoke, which, from time to time, billowed up from below. Also new to me was seeing rack upon rack of votive candles, all ablaze, and generating light that was almost dazzling. All this was 65 years ago, but the experience made such an impression on me that it remains one of my most vivid childhood memories. I can remember nothing of the remainder of the journey to Southwold, or indeed of the subsequent holiday. At the age of four, I was too young to notice the architectural features of the church. To get an appreciation of these I had to wait more than 60 years till the next time I visited Corpus Christi Church.
Covent Garden In 1872, at the behest of Cardinal Manning, Fr Cornelius Keens set about establishing a church that would serve the numerous, but generally poor, Catholics living and working around Covent Garden. There had been no Catholic church in the area since 1854, when Fr Faber moved his Oratorian community from their temporary premises in King William Street to Brompton. Fr Keens was something of a specialist in creating new parishes in London. He had been responsible for the building of the Sacred Heart Church in Holloway which had opened in 1870, and later went on to open more London churches. For his Maiden Lane church, Fr Keens chose as his architect Frederick Hyde Pownall (1792-1880), the same architect as had designed the Holloway church. It seems that Frederick Pownall designed churches in his spare time, as his day job was County Surveyor for Middlesex, which required that he design
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© John Aron
ARCHITECTURE
The restoration has taken the church back as far as possible to its original appearance many public buildings, including the Middlesex Guildhall, Coldbath Fields Prison and Banstead Lunatic Asylum. He was also responsible for several Anglican churches, including the very High Church of St Peter in Wapping, which was consecrated in 1866. He must have converted to Catholicism soon after this, as by 1868 he was working on the Sacred Heart Convent in Hove (now Cardinal Newman School), which opened in 1870. His other Catholic projects include the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Notting Hill and the church and school of St Thomas of Canterbury at Grays in Essex. To build Corpus Christi Church, a site in Maiden Lane was leased from the Duke of Bedford, who insisted that the church should have an imposing frontage and cost more than £6,000. In fact, the cost was £8,000, and Pownall's frontage, comprising presbytery and church, is indeed impressive, although it is not easily appreciated in such a narrow street. The foundation stone was laid in 1873 and the church, which was dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament, was opened in 1874. It was a restricted site, and Pownall had to use every inch of the available space to achieve even a modest sized church. The Maiden Lane frontage, which is the west end of the church, is mostly taken up with a rather squat tower with a steep pyramidal roof. Within the structure of the tower is a gothic window of four lights with cinquefoil roundel in the tracery above. The adjacent four story presbytery is perhaps more imposing. Alongside the tower, is a modest gothic arch which leads to steps down to the nave of the church.
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After such an unprepossessing entrance, the cosiness of the interior is refreshing. The nave is relatively narrow, with four arch arcades to either side giving onto side aisles. Above the arcading, there are clerestory windows, surprisingly with rounded heads. It seems that, although Pownall chose to build in a generally Early English Gothic style, he was comfortable introducing Romanesque features. Another unexpected feature is Pownall's choice of red brick as a finish for most of the internal walls. The Lady Chapel, now a shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham, is in the left (Gospel side) aisle. An altar dedicated to the Sacred Heart and statues of various saints are fitted in elsewhere. Pownall put his best efforts into the design of the sanctuary, where the High Altar stands before a monumental reredos containing a tall monstrance throne presided over by angels swinging thuribles. Above is an impressive east
window made up of four quatrefoil lights which are arranged so that the plate tracery forms a distinctive cross. Although the sanctuary is narrow, he managed to fit in the usual three altar steps. Few people would describe Frederick Hyde Pownall as a great church architect, especially when compared with the Pugins or the Hansoms; but, in his Maiden Lane building, he did create a church which is much admired and beloved by those who use it. Corpus Christi Church suffered from some rather brutal redecoration in the 1970s. Many of the features were either removed or overpainted, and most surfaces were either whitewashed, or covered with that most horrible invention, artex! The altar belonging to the Lady Chapel was removed and placed at the front of the sanctuary as a forward altar. Recent restoration work has reversed this damage, and done much to beautify the sanctuary, enhancing Pownall's original design. The ubiquitous whitewash and artex has been removed revealing the original brickwork, and the forward altar restored to the Lady Chapel, where it has been given a marble reredos. Much gilt has been used highlighting features in the stonework of the columns and the reredos. In the sanctuary, the walls have been painted gold, and the ceiling blue with stars added. Unsuitable carpet has been removed to reveal a tiled floor, which has been beautifully restored. With communion rails reinstated, the High Altar of Corpus Christi Church is now a perfect setting for the Traditional Mass, which is celebrated there every Monday evening at 6.30pm.
The restricted Corpus Christi site presented a challenge to the architect
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REVIEW
Christ the King The FSSP celebrates thirty years of existence, and one year in Bedford, as Barbara Kay explains
I
t was thirty years ago, on 18 July 1988, that the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) was founded. One of its newest apostolates in this country, Christ the King, Bedford, came into being just one year ago on 8 October 2017. The Traditional Mass came to Christ the King in August 2015, thanks to a number of factors. Firstly, the graciousness of Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton, who allows the Traditional Mass to be celebrated in his diocese. Secondly, the willingness and support of Fr Patrick Hutton, Parish Priest at Christ the King, who not only welcomed the Latin Mass to his church, but who with his wife, Rita, regularly attends it. Thirdly, the faithfulness of visiting priests, who often travel long distances to say the Traditional Mass. And, last but not least, the hard work of several people behind the scenes who set things up in the early days, and now keep them running. All went well for the first two years under a rota of visiting priests, although trying to find a regular celebrant each week was at times challenging. In July 2017 the holiday period with its lack of celebrants threatened to leave Bedford without a Latin Mass. The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, with its southern England apostolate based in Reading, had agreed to help out if necessary, and thus it was, that in July 2017, Fr Matthew Goddard and Fr Ian Verrier celebrated several of the Bedford Masses. Within three months, as from 8 October 2017, the FSSP had agreed to say the Sunday Mass each week, on Holy Days of Obligation, and additionally on Ash Wednesday and All Souls. It is reassuring that we know we will have a celebrant each week; even snow has not prevented the FSSP priests from making the trip from Reading to Bedford to say Mass. To enable them to say the Sunday Masses at Bedford, at Reading and at Chesham Bois, an additional priest, Fr Patrick O’Donohue, joined the Reading apostolate in September 2017. The congregation at Bedford was told that he would need to be funded and
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they responded generously, donating over and above the amount required, much of it by way of standing orders. Numbers steadily grew and congregations are now regularly in the 60s and 70s, with many young families coming from near and far, including one family from near Norwich, a distance of around 100 miles, Bedford being their most convenient regular Sunday Mass. Many friendships have been forged over a cup of coffee in the church hall afterwards. Since the arrival of the FSSP, there have been other developments: Fr Ian Verrier with his musical expertise gathered together a group of singers to train them in Gregorian chant. The schola sung its first Mass in February 2018 and continues to sing one Sunday a month. One Saturday in April, two of our congregation, Justin and Grace Bozzino, arranged for representatives from Rorate Caeli, an American home-schooling academy, to give a presentation in the hope that the first UK academy could be set up. Some 50 people attended the initial meeting. The signs of the academy becoming a reality are looking good, with the hope to open its doors in September 2019, and several families are considering moving into the Bedford area to be part of this.
One of the participants at the initial Rorate Caeli meeting was Matthew Schellhorn, who is well known in Traditional music circles. Matthew expressed a willingness to become involved in the music at Christ the King and offered to play the organ and sing for the Mass the very next day! It was not long before the FSSP had entered into an agreement with Matthew to sing the Mass twice a month, with the schola singing a third Mass each month, giving a total of Sung Mass three Sundays a month as from September 2018. A Women’s Group, a Men’s Group and a Young Adults’ Group have started; we have had a series of five First Saturday Family Catechism days, and catechism continues after Mass on Sunday mornings. Our social event of the year is the Big Catholic Picnic, which includes Mass, and we held a very successful Barn Dance in July which raised funds for the parish and the FSSP. We reached a record number of 82 people attending Mass on Pentecost Sunday 2018; we had started three years earlier with 16. We would never have expected a 400% increase in numbers in this time and are very grateful to both the earlier rota of priests and those from the FSSP for their ministry among us. Deo gratias and Ad multos annos!
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COMMENT
On a mission…
Do we still believe in the Latin Mass Society? Asks Fr Bede Rowe
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his is going to be my last column. I have greatly enjoyed writing for the LMS magazine for the past goodness knows how many years but, as they say, all good things come to an end. So, in order to bow out on an interesting note, let me pose the question: “Do we still believe in the LMS?” We all know that the Latin Mass Society has kept alive both the practice and devotion for the Traditional Form of Holy Mass. For far too many years, the only chance there was to worship God in this rite of the Church was if the LMS had arranged it. The LMS reps were the interlocutors with often truculent and unhelpful bishops. Through these terrible wilderness years after the reforms and the ruthless suppression of the Traditional Rite of Mass, the LMS organised and sustained this offering of the Sacred Liturgy. Without their sterling work, countless Catholics would not have come across the Mass of their parents, and their parents’ parents. They would never have seen or experienced the awesome majesty which spurred on the martyrs of our country to their death, in defence of the bloodless sacrifice of God to God. And, as Priests, we can never forget that many of our number were taught to offer this Mass, not in the place of our formation, but through the generosity and provision of the training courses offered by the LMS. With the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, we entered into a new universe. Now, it was possible for any and every Priest to offer the ‘Extraordinary Form’ of Mass, and indeed, many of us did. What then was the place for the organisation which had fought for the Mass’ preservation, which had bargained with Bishops, which had put its money where its mouth was, which had travelled hundreds of miles, so that the Latin Mass could be offered on our altars? What role was the LMS to have, now that every parish was free to hear the Mass of Ages said and sung in its Churches? This existential question is intriguing, and I know that it was discussed in meetings and social gatherings up and
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down the county. Was the LMS like UKIP – both having to question their existence when the thing they campaigned for came about? It is a valid line of argument. Is the LMS an interesting throwback to a moment in our history when the Old Rite was outlawed at worst, and sidelined at best? In our brave new world, is it just an historical curiosity which points to the bad old days, but which limps on through inertia or nostalgia? In a way I would love that to be the case. I would love it if the LMS had done itself out of a job and was simply not needed, and would never be needed again, but I simply do not believe that we are in a ‘brave new world’. I do not believe that the restoration which we have experienced is safe. I do not believe that at the stroke of a pen, the freedoms that we have been granted could not be reversed. We are fools if we think that we can relax and dismantle the defences with which we preserved the Latin Rite. The LMS’ role may not be current, in the sense of having to preserve the ancient forms of worship, but it must be vigilant… It must constantly be ready to spring into action if and when enemies of right religion try again to suppress and destroy the Latin Mass. I am not a conspiracy theorist (in fact the most paranoid conspiracy theorist could not have come up with the terrible situation in the Church today) but I would say that I am a realist. A suspicious realist perhaps, but a realist nonetheless. Do we still believe in the LMS? Sadly, ever so sadly, yes. We shouldn’t have to, but we must. The LMS is as needed now as it ever was, and cannot be put off its guard. If persecution of the Old Mass comes again, then it must be ready to spring into action with its old fervour and in its old role. How I wish this were not the case, but it is. And so I sign off with a cheery sayonara and goodbye. The next columnist can pose the question that we have all been really asking… ‘Do we believe in Fr Rowe… or was he the figment of someone’s dark imagination’!
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COMMENT
We all have to stop accepting abusive behaviour‌ By James Preece
T
his didn't start with Vigano, it didn't start with the 2001 Nolan Report into Clerical Child Abuse. No, no, no. This goes way back. So I have to confess some degree of perplexity at the recent panic hysteria over the latest crisis. Suddenly everybody is talking as if clerical abuse is a new thing. It is not. This is old news. Wake up already. Back in the day, many of us used to try to explain this to non-Catholic friends and family as the actions of a few bad apples. Occasionally a Priest will fail in his efforts to lead a holy life, but unfortunately that story just didn't cut it. Perpetrators of abuse were not dealt with as soon as their actions came to light, not even close. In many places they were shuffled from one parish to another by Bishops who moved priests away from parishes where they faced accusation to parishes where they were entirely unknown and free to abuse again. When I say "Bishops" I don't mean one or two isolated incidents in one country, I mean a significant number of Bishops across the world. Bishops didn't work alone in this either, secretaries wrote letters, Episcopal Vicars oversaw appointments. Quite a few people on the inside knew what was going on. Most of those people did nothing. That last paragraph is lifted verbatim from a blog post I wrote in 2009, almost ten years ago. This is not news. Why would so many apparently wellmeaning people allow themselves to be complicit in such disgusting behavior? What made them think it was okay? How did they go home and sleep at night? Well, I suspect that many of them didn't think anything of it. You see, they were just following the standard procedure. They handled these complaints the same way they handle all the other complaints.
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Over the years I have read report after report about abuse cover ups and what has struck me again and again is the similarity between the things the victims say and my own experiences trying to make complaints about problems in the Church. I'm fortunate that my complaints were never about sexual abuse, they were about more mundane things like liturgical abuses and bad teaching, but it's interesting to note that the response was the same. How we handle the little things ends up being how we handle the big things. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Catholics at all levels, myself included, have contributed to a culture in which abuse can thrive. Every time we have accepted as true, things which ought to be challenged far more regularly. What follows is a list of everyday abuseenabling attitudes found in every parish that need to stop yesterday. 1. Conceit. We're a nice parish. We're a good Diocese. This is the Church. Everybody here is on the side of the angels. Seriously you would need a really good reason to think there is anything bad going on around here. 2. False Piety. Probably better to leave it be and say a prayer. That's it, say a prayer and leave it up to God. Right? Wrong. 3. Do Not Judge. That's right. You mustn't judge people but you most certainly can judge actions. Abuse is abuse. If Father is doing something wrong then it's not "judging" to do something about it. Note that "but Father was very kind when my mother was ill" is also a form of judgement. I'm not interested in debating the evidence and assessing
his overall character, I'm interested in the thing he's doing wrong and whether he's going to stop. 4. The Log in Your Eye. Are you perfect? How can you criticise others? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Do these verses mean that a child abuser should not be reported to the police? Clearly not. We need to understand that Our Lord's teachings against judgement are not a prohibition on common sense. Matthew 7 says, "Do not judge" but it also says, "by their fruits you will know them." 5. Gossip is bad! Well yes, idle chatter and nasty rumours are clearly off limits. Let's be clear though - asking others for help with a problem is not gossip. Abusive bullies thrive off silence and isolation. Don't give it to them. If you are in a group and somebody says, "I'm not worried about the way Father is behaving", that isn't gossip. That's a plea for help. 6. Nothing to do with you. As I say, bullies like isolation. Show concern about a situation and they soon ask, "what's this got to do with you?" It's not only bullies though, well meaning friends will reassure you that if Father is as bad as you say, somebody will complain. You needn't bother yourself. Besides, you're not anybody important, who would listen to you? Other's may ask who appointed you Bishop. One way or another, it's somebody else's problem. Not yours. 7. Clericalism and False Respect. If you respected the Priesthood, you wouldn't speak badly about a Priest. Really? No. Quite the opposite. If you respected the Priesthood you would not think bad behaviour unworthy of
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COMMENT comment. He's a bully, but he's a Priest. That makes it worse. Do something about it. 8. Relativism. I know you're unhappy about that thing that happened, but really, in the great scheme of things, is it so bad? I once complained about a Priest and was told, no word of a lie, that it's a shame I concern myself with such things when, "there is so much war in the world". Really - I'm supposed to solve world peace before I can expect a Priest to behave himself? 9. Don't Rock The Boat. Think of the harm it will do to the Church if this comes out. Do you really want to cause division and scandal? If you are seen to be a trouble maker, then maybe that important thing you care about won't happen. Probably better to minimise the damage. 10. Burdensome Legalism. Okay, so technically Father might have broken the rules, but come on... Jesus came to free us from burdensome laws. Wrong. Jesus came to fulfil the law. Anyway, laws exist to protect the weak against the strong. Kings who put themselves above the law are called tyrants. When somebody in a position of authority talks about freedom from burdensome laws, what that person means is they plan to do whatever they want and they have the power to do it. 11. Chip on the Shoulder. What is your motive? Why are you bringing this up? You've never liked Father since he stopped you from having Mass in Latin. Are you sure this is really about his behavior - are you sure it's not about your personal vendettas? 12. The Usual Suspects. You heard some troubling reports, but the people you heard them from are always complaining. Genuine complaints should always come from people who have never complained before. Duh. 13. Going About It All Wrong. Sure, you might have a valid complaint, but you got angry during that meeting and you wrote a letter to the Bishop when you really should have gone through the Vicar General first. We'd like to do something about it, but we need the complaint to come from a specific person and be written in a specific tone.
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“ At the very least, making a fuss doesn't seem like a very prudent thing to do. It would take a pretty determined individual to push through all of that over a mere concern that might not be anything anyway� 14. Can't you just forgive? Of course we should always forgive - but forgiveness generally goes with contrition. If a Priest continues to do wrong, especially if he poses a danger to children, then forgive him and do something about it. Now imagine you're a Parish Secretary or a School Governor, you've got concerns but you're reassured that everything is okay. Bad things only happen somewhere else, besides which this is all idle gossip from the usual suspects with chips on their shoulders and we mustn't judge. If you're really worried, why not pray about it. It's not your job to investigate this kind of thing
anyway, leave it to the experts. It's a wall of confusion. At the very least, making a fuss doesn't seem like a very prudent thing to do. It would take a pretty determined individual to push through all of that over a mere concern that might not be anything anyway. That's how it works folks. Not conspiracy, just ordinary people worrying themselves in to inaction. It needs to stop. We need to be clear that none of the above is ever justification for good men to do nothing. Not even over little things. That way, when the big things come along, maybe Catholics will know what to do.
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MASS LISTINGS
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OBITUARY
Obituary: Peter Kiely
An appeal for the Little Sisters of the Poor
D
P
eter Kiely, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, died peacefully aged 89 at his home in Sidmouth, Devon on 7 August. Peter was the definition of a gentleman who, while serving the people of Watford as Mayor (1992-1993) chose Family Life as the theme for his year in office. He was a great advocate for the Old Rite Holy Mass and a lifelong member of the church. He started serving Holy Mass as a seven-year old at St Helen’s Church in Watford, Hertfordshire. As a founder member of Our Lady and St Michael’s Church in Garston, Watford where both he and his late wife Alma received the Bene Merenti medals from Rome for services to the Church, he carried out many roles within the parish until he retired to Devon in 1996.
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At 85, when kneeling became too difficult, he reluctantly gave up serving. Since his retirement to Sidmouth, he had regularly served in Heavitree Exeter, Ugbrook and Buckfast Abbey. His Traditional Old Rite Requiem Mass took place on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, at the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Sidmouth. Father Gregory Carey OSB, from Farnborough Abbey celebrated Holy Mass and was served by Colin Harte. Peter will be missed by all those who had the pleasure of having him as an influence on their life.
Mary Fincham, daughter
ear Friends, Theresa and I, for a number of years, have raised funds for the Little Sisters of the Poor for their home, St Joseph's Home, in Newcastle upon Tyne. No doubt many of you will be aware of the charism of the Sisters and their care for old people of all creeds and none. Most of the residents tend to be Catholic and among the number are three retired diocesan priests and four retired Sisters of other religious Orders. Mass is celebrated in their chapel daily. How do we raise funds? Largely by relying on the help of friends and parishes. What do we collect? Used postage stamps (any age, any country) including unwanted stamp albums, military medals (any conflict, any country), left over or obsolete coins and banknotes (any country, any period) including currency left over after holidays. We know that airlines often ask you to contribute such items on a return flight but do you know that such funds may be given to organisations carrying out procedures repugnant to Catholics, such as abortion etc.? We also need old pieces of gold and silver, such as earring backs or broken chains or links as well as unwanted complete pieces. Bear in mind that the odd earring back or link of chain is worthless in itself but put together with other such items they have some value. To date we have raised in excess of £8,000; the Sisters and residents pray daily for benefactors which could include you! Please send anything you can to us (not to the LMS Office) and we, the Sisters and the residents will be very grateful. David and Theresa O'Neill 34 Morston Drive Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 7RZ Tel: 0191 264 5771 email: david-oneill3@sky.co
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LETTERS
Letters to the Editor The Mass returns to Saffron Walden I was inspired by the Chairman’s autumn Message in the last Mass of Ages: the Catholic Church continues, against all the odds, “to bury her undertakers”. It is a statement that a small market town in Essex can vividly illustrate. Saffron Walden is nestled in a picturesque valley at the very tip of the county. It is adorned with a stunning medieval church that Eamon Duffy, in his Stripping of the Altars, makes note to mention. Even with the recent onslaught of housing development and commuter cacophony, Saffron Walden remains a quaint, bucolic English town. It remains so only because bolted onto the western end, lie the grounds and house of Audley End. On here no planner can lay his new road and no builder his concrete. The house is protected by English Heritage. Audley End received its name from Sir Thomas Audley, who received his land from King Henry VIII. As Speaker of Parliament from 1529 to 1535, he can certainly be categorised as a Catholic Church “undertaker”. It was his persistent questioning that finally forced his predecessor, St Thomas More, to reveal his mind at his trial in Westminster Hall. Not only did he ensure the previous Speaker’s end, but he steered through the Acts for the Suppression of the Monasteries through Parliament. His remuneration was the Benedictine Abbey of Walden. True to his legislative programme, he flattened the monastery, but, if you look closely at the ground floor of the inner court at the rear of the house, a faint print of the cloister arches remains. Along with a one-way road in town called Abbey Lane, this is all that remains of Saffron Walden’s monastic heritage. With the protestant intellectual powerhouse of Cambridge University less than fifteen miles north, this provincial satellite town had little chance. The old faith was wiped out. Over a hundred years later, during the Civil War, General Fairfax made the town the headquarters of the New Model Army. Quakers subsequently emerged and older residents today still proudly refer to this our “Quaker town.” Against this backdrop, it may come as surprise then, that on the feast day of Pope St Pius V in 2018, the sacristy bell was rung and out came a Catholic priest wearing a biretta. After a pause of forty-nine years the Mass, as codified by this saint, was celebrated once again by a Parish Priest in Saffron Walden. When Psalm forty-two was intoned for the first time at the turn of the twentieth century, the preceding pause of 350 years was somewhat longer. But the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was resumed. Not in its stunning original setting of St Mary’s, but in a converted old wooden barn, in the shadow of the ancient church. Every pause impoverishes the Church. Vestments, altar cards and even buildings are lost, but the Mass re-appears. A wooden altar, wooden reredos and decorative Spanish oak altar rails that enriched the barn, were lost with the latest pause. Over the centuries every tactic has been used to suppress the Mass. Everything has been thrown at it. Institutions, such as Parliament, banned it and the Vatican’s current memory lapse of the usus antiquitor continues. But yet it still quietly emerges, even in the most unsuspecting places, like Saffron Walden. Lech Handzel-Bonavia Via email Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Mass of Ages, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH email editor@lms.org.uk Letters may be edited for reasons of space
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FEATURE
Catholics in Healthcare Building a Culture of Life (29 September 2018) A report by a young medical student
H
aving been to Catholic Medical Association (CMA) conferences every year and always learning so much from them, I was very excited to attend this event – and it certainly did not disappoint! This was the Third Annual Catholic Medical Association Youth Conference and was entitled, “Catholics in Healthcare: Building a Culture of Life”. Once again, we were very grateful to be hosted by the parish of St Aloysius in Euston, London, and for the use of their excellent hall and facilities. Fr Stephen Boyle, parish priest of St Anselm’s in Dartford, Kent, opened the conference with a very insightful overview of Humanae Vitae and the impact of the ‘culture of death’ on society as reflected in prevailing trends in abortion and euthanasia. He discussed the impact of this on the family and on healthcare. He was followed by Dr Adrian Treloar, consultant old age psychiatrist and lifelong member of the CMA, who counselled us that as Catholics in healthcare, we must always attest to the fact that every patient is a person “wanted and valued”. We must practice good medicine in every clinical scenario, that is, to practice with knowledge, compassion, humility, and to not be afraid to ask questions when we see practice that fails to uphold the beauty and dignity of each person, in every stage of their life, from conception to natural death. There followed a panel discussion led by clinicians of varying backgrounds (doctors, nurses and midwives) who showed us the practical responses we can give when we encounter situations that pose ethical dilemmas (e.g. being asked to prescribe contraceptive pills or to assist with an abortion etc.).
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It is a great reassurance to know that other more senior healthcare professionals have been through such situations. Obtaining tips from them on how you can respond tactfully was invaluable. Additionally, I learnt the importance of disclosing your conscientious objection to abortion, contraception, etc., early on (i.e. before starting work or the placement) so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and to minimize the risk of being put in compromising situations. The last talk of the day was a deep and meaningful reflection given by Friar Gerard Mary OFM Conv. on the importance of prayer in work. I learnt of the role of our Blessed Mother Mary in guiding us through our vocation in attending to the sick. Friar Gerard
Mary led us in singing the Salve Regina in honour of Our Lady, a fitting close to the day. In addition to these amazing talks, we also had the wonderful opportunity to network with other healthcare professionals who are practicing the faith, as well as fellow students from different parts of the UK who might have similar questions. I have a great sense of gratitude for the support network that I am part of. Overall, it was a truly enlightening day of talks and insights from inspirational speakers. This conference clearly laid before us our duties as Catholic healthcare professionals, especially our duty to protect and value the sanctity of human life.
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LONE VEILER
Interesting times By Lone Veiler
W
hat interesting times we are living through. Seismic. The state of the Church has constantly been on my social media feeds, but not all in a 'let's all give up and go home' way, because I am relieved that light is being shone in the darkest of places and I am actually feeling surprisingly positive. It's not as if we haven't been given the heads up by our Lady throughout the past hundred years, and of course before that we were really in for it. It's sobering, and humbling, and it's been hard keeping (how can I put this politely) my equanimity recently. Revelations regarding the frankly depraved and despicable behaviour of Bishops and Archbishops, men who should be walking in the shoes of the apostles, has rendered me speechless on occasion, and that's no mean feat I can tell you. Never have Ember days been so meaningful, and never have they been so difficult. We've seen so much hubris, I am looking forward with trepidation to see what nemesis has in store. What will have transpired before this article sees the next edition? Who can say? I'm sure some folks would very much like to see the scandals all covered up and forgotten. I know what I would like to see by then. If we aren't blessed with Our Lord's return, I'd settle for the resignations and public penance of every man who abused his position and/ or covered up the abuse, followed by lives of utter retirement and even more penance. And not Vatican II retirement and penance, no, proper full-on penance and a much less than Spartan retirement. And possibly a really nice conclave. So, persecution of the faithful being rather to the front of my mind, I put Paul, Apostle of Christ, in the DVD player rather hoping it would cheer me up. I'm not sure it did. The film follows the last few days of St Paul's life in prison in Rome awaiting
his execution, St Luke's visits and writings, and the fear and suffering of Christians living in hiding in the city. Under constant threat of violence and horrible death, the brutality and inhumanity of being a Christian in Rome under Nero is neither glossed nor sensationalised, and neither is the fear and indecision of those wondering whether to stay or flee their home. It brought home how little things have changed for our fellow Christians worldwide; for Rome, insert country of persecution of choice.
inclined, you too could choose ACN as your designated charity. 1 Oh yes, Gormenghast. It's one of those return-to books of mine, where the warping of a castle's traditions over long years into something meaninglessly oppressive and soul destroying, just for the sake of tradition, leads to tragedy. The entire life of everyone in the castle revolves around arcane rituals, the performance of which are entirely dependent on innumerable sets of variables from age to the weather, and which are never-ending. I think it's a fabulous, if a bit unsettling, book and to my mind the best of the three (being the middle one between Titus Groan, and Titus Alone). It is a book about the futility of traditions devoid of meaning, of blind obedience, lip-service and unquestioning duty, and the resentment and abuse of power that the regime instils in the leading protagonists, one determined to run from its suffocation, the other determined to destroy it from within by remaking it to his own design. It has a certain resonance with me at the moment, not only because of the current 'interesting times' within the Church, but because by discarding the beautiful and meaningful and glorious traditions of our Church in the 1960s we are where we are now. Ember days, Rogation days, novenas, pretty much anything that was deeply worthwhile and powerful swept aside, pared down, infantilised. It seems to me that the modernisers of Vatican II viewed the Faith much as Gormenghast, a monolithic thing ripe for deconstruction. The trouble is, the deconstruction hasn't entirely worked, has it? We are not oblivious of Tradition and its deep symbolism and meaning, and it's becoming more visible with each year. Deo gratias, the future lies in returning to the timeless Faith which is growing in spite of scandal. Tradition: it's so hot right now.
‘We are not oblivious of Tradition and its deep symbolism and meaning’
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Which brings me neatly to online shopping. Yes, Amazon, that multibillion-pound love-to-hate-but-it's-soconvenient-isn't-it-how-else-can-we-getreplacement-cello-strings-and-a-copyof-Gormenghast-by-next-day shopping ‘experience’ (I hate that word. I don't want a shopping ‘experience’). Yes, well, back to Amazon, and no I'm not saying it's great, but it is convenient. For some time, it's had a charity facility whereby they said a donation (paltry, but it's still a donation) would be made to your favourite charity upon checkout. For a while it was actually just a drop-down list of Amazon's favourite charities, but now, I can get them to donate to Aid to the Church in Need at the click of a button as my charity of choice. It might just be a little thing, as small as their donation, but there is something immensely satisfying in knowing that ACN is on Amazon's radar. So, if you are
1. Editor’s comment: The LMS is also registered with Amazon to receive donations.
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FEATURE
‘The second most important love story is that between Our Lord and His mother…’
The Greatest Love Stories Dr Stuart Blackie KCHS
T
he title of this article is loosely derived from a Hollywood film. Hollywood epics usually involve a crisis precipitated by a mixture of love, betrayal, money, ambition, power and pressure (both subtle and violent) in various combinations and permutations. In former times the “good guys” usually came out on top in the end but more recently this has not always been the case. Recently I was privileged to attend a talk by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, an expert on Muslim-Christian relations. At his retirement in 2012 he was the Papal Nuncio to Egypt and a delegate to the Arab League. He headed the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue from 2002 to 2006. Among the questions asked afterwards was “Could a Muslim say the Our Father?” His reply was interesting in that he said they could say the whole prayer – with the exception of
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“Our Father”. To the Islamic mind, it is inconceivable that Allah, with his 99 attributes, including Creator of the Universe, could lower – even debase Himself to become man. Humility From a purely human perspective, this is understandable. So is it not truly amazing that that is exactly what He did! Could there be a greater demonstration of humility than that practised by God Himself? And He has provided evidence to back up His claim. This is one area where Islamic and Christian beliefs diverge. The love of the Christian God is so great and the magnitude of His inventiveness and His generosity is such that it beggars belief. For instance, when tempted in the desert, it was suggested that He change stones into bread. Immediately practical – but how mundane! As we know, He did not succumb to this - but
who could have predicted that later He would turn mere bread into His body! Love does not exist in isolation. God is not alone in His heaven. Surely the greatest love story that can exist is that between God the Father and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Though a full explanation of the concept of the Trinity is beyond human comprehension, one theory maintains that Their bond of mutual love is so strong, that the magnitude of its intensity so great, that it begets the Holy Spirit. The infinite The second most important love story is that between Our Lord and His mother. She is the only person in history to have perfectly fulfilled the will of God in her life and served only to magnify the Infinite. She personally exemplified the dignity of humankind and demonstrated the pattern of
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FEATURE our leaders, but He loves us too much to let us stay as we are and leave us to our own devices. It has been said that Satan, in his arrogance, was completely taken by surprise and amazement that, after the Fall, God could love his creation so much and show such great compassion that, rather than abandon it, He was prepared to send a saviour to redeem the human race. This compassion was exemplified and described by Sister Faustina in her diary when she wrote, “I saw a great light with God the Father in the midst of it. Between this light and the earth, I saw Jesus nailed to the Cross and in such a way that God, wanting to look at the earth, had to look through Our Lord’s wounds.”
Ever Told life for which we were designed and created. At the end of her life, such was the mutual love between her and her Son that she was taken up to heaven, body and soul, incorrupt, and crowned Queen of Heaven. Her transformed, transfigured and glorified body has subsequently been witnessed on many occasions. She is the highest honour of our race. Initially mankind was made in the image and likeness of God. Mary has already reached the goal to which the rest of us are striving. What God has achieved in Mary is nothing less than His own cherished hope for each one of us. However, the Fall intervened and, though we still have free will, we now find that we still have a long way to go and much to learn about the consequences of our actions. As we all know, it is an uphill struggle. He knows what we are like. He knows the frailty of each one of us, including those of
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God’s plan Duns Scotus maintained that, despite what is described as a “happy fault” in the Exultet, it was always God’s plan to become incarnate by Mary and, as King, to lead humanity to a hypostatic union with Himself. It was to this plan that Lucifer objected so strongly. Had the Fall not happened, the reception of the Incarnate God would have been triumphal - very different from that which He did, in fact, receive. Maybe our raison d’etre is to ensure that at His second coming, He does receive the appropriate reception. As I understand it, humankind was initially designed as a framework to form a cohesive structure of interdependent people willingly cooperating in an atmosphere of mutual love and trust, and inspired by the grace of God. Love generates good and only good – and that is how it can be unmistakably recognised. God regards the greatness of the love that prompts a man rather than the greatness of his achievement. For when the One Great Scorer comes, To write against your name He marks – not that you won or lost But how you played the game. St John the Evangelist maintains that God is Love. In contrast, of the 99 attributes of Allah, love and kindness only come in at 45. The Christian reality of God consists of unconditional and sacrificial love together with unparalleled generosity, compassion and profligate superabundance.
Good and evil The battle between good and evil is not an evenly matched contest. Though at times he seems to have gained the upper hand, Satan himself knows his time is limited and that he will eventually fail. All he can do in the meantime is spoil. We know, as a result of the apparitions at Fatima in 1917, that we can expect to experience unpleasant periods of trials, tribulations and turbulence, possibly sufficient to shake the very foundations of the Church itself. However, we have been assured that “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it” and have the guarantee that Good, in the form of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, will indeed ultimately triumph. Hopefully when our sojourn here on earth comes to an end, we will ourselves eventually experience the full force of the love of God. Some of it will be channelled not only through our forebears, relations and friends who have preceded us and will welcome us home but also through the cloud of the Church Triumphant which has, largely unacknowledged by us, been continuously encouraging us, interceding for us, and cheering us on. Hollywood cannot match epics of this scale!
‘ The Christian reality of God consists of unconditional and sacrificial love together with unparalleled generosity, compassion and profligate superabundance’
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CROSSWORD
Clues Across
1 Church official formerly in charge of distributing alms to the poor (7) 5 Boy’s name derived from Gaelic meaning a rock (5) 8 Engage in an activity characteristic of mendicant Orders (3) 9 The making of statements against the Eighth Commandment (9) 10 City in whose old market St Joan of Arc was put to death (5) 11 Heroine of Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame (9) 14 Members of a religious organisation founded by St John Bosco (9) 18 ‘----- Lingua’, hymn by St Thomas Aquinas; last verses sung in Benediction (5) 21 Unaccompanied vocal music in unison in ecclesiastical settings (9) 22 ‘den Frauen --- gebenedeit ist die Frucht Deines Leibes Jesu’, Hail Mary in German (3) 23 ‘----- de Guerre’, French military award for bravery in World Wars I and II (5) 24 ‘His wings as ------- snow’, The Angel Gabriel carol (7)
Clues Down
Alan Frost: October 2018
ANSWERS TO AUTUMN 2018 CROSSWORD
Across: 1 Begging 5 Music 8 Deo 9 Salisbury 10 Algum 11 Prémontré 14 Hildegard 18 Irene 21 Apocrypha 22 Eli 23 Tiara 24 Ox Drawn Down: 1 Bad Faith 2 George 3 It Simple 4 Goldie 5 Mise 6 Squint 7 Cuyp 12 Ordinand 13 Ephesian 15 Labora 16 Aleppo 17 Helena 19 Cart 20 Iria
Closing Date & Winner
Closing date for crossword entries: Friday, 14 December 2018. The winner of the autumn 2018 competition is Mrs Geraghty of York, who wins a copy of the LMS Traditional Catholic Calendar 2019 and the booklet Traditional Prayers for Christmastide.
1 & 2 Great Dominican Saint who taught Aquinas, Feast Day 15 Nov. (8,6) 2 See 1 Down 3 Loss of feeling (8) 4 ‘Our Lady of ------‘, Feast Day since the Crusades, now also that of O.L. of Walsingham (6) 5 One of the items heaped upon enemy’s head to show forgiveness (Paul: Rom 12) (4) 6 Wife of King David, mother of Shephatiah (6) 7 St Richard ----, layman, martyred in Wrexham and patron of the LMS (4) 12 Italian composer whose works include The Fountains of Rome and The Pines of Rome (8) 13 Went up to pray a decade of the Rosary? (8) 15 Part of the Mass involving the use of cruets (6) 16 St John ------, priest, and with 7 Down one of the 40 Martyrs, at Tyburn 1612 (6) 17 Personal permission by the Pope for a request, e.g. Quattuor abhinc annos [1984] (6) 19 ‘On ----‘, unplanned action hoping for success of purpose (4) 20 Msgr Ronald ----, prolific writer and theologian, translated the Bible single-handedly (4)
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Guild of St Clare: Sewing Retreat at Douai Abbey, 23-25 November, with Fr John Hunwicke. Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, Reading, RG7 5TQ. Now fully booked: join the waiting list for cancellations through www.lms.org.uk. Guild of St Clare: Sewing Retreat at the Carmelite Retreat Centre at Boars Hill, Oxford: 1-3 February 2019. With Fr Edward van den Burgh of the London Oratory. Carmelite Priory, Chilswell, Boars Hill, Oxford, OX1 5HB. Booking open: see lms. org.uk Guild of St Clare: Advance notice of the 2019 Sewing Retreat at Douai Abbey, 1-3 November. Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, Reading, RG7 5TQ. Guild of St Clare: Bobbin Lace for Beginners. Ongoing course, fortnightly on Thursday evenings. Email for further information: lucyashaw@gmail.com Gregorian Chant Network: Chant
Training Day at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill, Saturday 2nd February 2019, with Dominic Bevan. Booking open: see lms.org.uk St Catherine’s Trust: Advance notice of the Family Retreat 2019, with priests of the Fraternity of St Peter. Dates will be 5-7th April 2019, at the Oratory School, Woodcote, nr Reading, South Oxfordshire RG8 0PJ. Gregorian Chant Network: Advance notice of the Chant Training Weekend 2019. Dates will be 5-7th April, with Thomas Neil and Fr Guy Nichols of the Birmingham Oratory.Oratory School, Woodcote, nr Reading, South Oxfordshire RG8 0PJ. Latin Mass Society: advance notice of the 2019 Latin Course, with Fr John Hunwicke and Dr Jean Van Der Stegen. Dates will be 29th July to 2nd August, at the Carmelite Priory, Chilswell, Boars Hill, Oxford, OX1 5HB.
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MACKLIN STREET
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