CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
New Subscription Rates: Joining and Supporting the LMS By Joseph Shaw
L
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.
WINTER 2018
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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