DIOCESAN DIGEST

Mass of Ages quarterly round-up

ARUNDEL & BRIGHTON - Anne-Marie Mackie-Savage 01323 411370

We have recently been lucky enough in the Diocese to have enjoyed Missa Cantata in West Grinstead, Seaford, and Eastbourne in addition to our regular monthly Masses. Thanks to all the priests who give so generously of their time! We sadly lost another member of the LMS recently. Miss Barbara McIlvenna was one of the first members of the LMS, and profoundly knowledgeable regarding all things traditional. A wealth of wisdom and information, she is missed by all her friends. It is also incredibly sad that she did not receive the Requiem Mass she stipulated. In spite of her wishes, her family overruled them. It's an uncomfortable truth that for many of us with lapsed or NO family, this may very well happen to us. Even when clearly spelled out, people are not getting the Requiem Masses they request. Personally, I think I need to be more pro-active, and a re-write of my Will might be in order. Unless I am given the Requiem I ask for, Aid to the Church in Need or another worthy cause will receive any inheritance I might be able to leave. So please, if you want a Requiem, don't assume it's a done deal, not everyone sees its importance.

BIRMINGHAM (City and Black Country) - Louis Maciel; Tel: 07392 232225 louis.maciel@gmail.com birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk

This quarter saw two rather special events at the Birmingham Oratory: firstly, on the spring bank holiday High Mass was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form for the first time on the feast of their patron, St Philip Neri, which was possible because the feast in the Ordinary Form fell during the Octave of Pentecost. On Pentecost itself, Fr Dominic celebrated the weekly 10.30am High Mass as his First Mass, after being ordained the day before during the Royal Wedding, the first time a First Mass has been celebrated in the Extraordinary Form at the Oratory and possibly uniquely outside the exclusively Traditional Orders.

The Sacred Heart was well celebrated, with Low Masses on the Friday at the Oratory, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton and St Mary on the Hill, Wednesbury, and High Masses at St Augustine’s in Solihull and, as an external solemnity on the Sunday, the Birmingham Oratory. The Mass at St Augustine’s could be known as the Mass of three choirs, successfully combining the church choir with a chant group from St Dunstan’s and a Palestrina Mass sung by the choir of St Alphege. St Dunstan’s also celebrated a Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart a week later.

Corpus Christi and SS Peter and Paul saw the now regular pattern in the region of a Low Mass at St Mary on the Hill and a High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory. The former also celebrated Low Masses for the feasts of SS John Fisher and Thomas More, the Transfiguration, and several votive Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturdays during June.

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour celebrated its quarterly High Mass on the Feast of the Visitation. The regular Friday Mass was moved to Saturday morning during the novena.

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. An unusual addition to the Saturday Masses was the celebration of the Mass by an Oratorian brother of Fr Paul’s in July - Fr Richard Bailey, based in Manchester, Fr Paul being a member of the Birmingham Oratory. Fr Bailey brought along confrere Br Gerald, as well as a number of the congregation who attend the weekly EF Mass at St Chad’s in Manchester (Cheetham Hill).

Fr Chris Miller continues to offer the Traditional Mass each First Friday at Sacred Heart, Tunstall in Stoke-inTrent, though, like Fr Paul in recent months, he has medical surgery to undergo in the near future. Nevertheless, he will be celebrating a Requiem Mass in the EF at Sacred Heart Church on the Feast of the Holy Souls. We might pray for the success of the operation Fr Miller has to undergo, and also for a dear friend of the LMS and celebrant of the EF Mass for many years, Fr Joseph Tynan, who is seriously ill.

BIRMINGHAM (Oxford) - Joseph Shaw 01993 812874 oxford@lms.org.uk NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS

The Oxford area has seen many Traditional Masses in the last quarter, including our annual Mass in Milton Manor House and, over the diocesan boundary in Portsmouth Diocese, occasional Sung Masses celebrated by Fr Philip Pennington-Harris in the English Martyrs, Didcot, which are gradually attracting more parishioners.

In the next quarter the annual LMS Oxford Pilgrimage takes place, on Saturday 20th October, in honour of Oxford's Catholic martyrs. There will be a High Mass in the Dominican Rite in Blackfriars at 11am, and other devotions.

All the important feasts will be marked by Sung Masses at SS Gregory & Augustine at 6pm: see the Mass listings.

Regular Masses continue at the Oratory, SS Gregory & Augustine's, St Birinus, and (in Portsmouth Diocese) Holy Rood, Abingdon Road.

At Holy Trinity, Hethe, Sung Masses on the 2nd and Last Sundays are arranged over the Summer, but the situation there is under review, so please check the local website.

A new initiative in the last quarter was a Mass of Reparation for abortion, and in particular the Irish Referendum, which was celebrated in SS Gregory & Augustine: the Votive Mass pro remissione peccatorum. On November 28th a Votive Mass in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be celebrated there for the same intention (Sung Mass at 6pm).

BIRMINGHAM (Worcester) - Margaret Parffrey

Tridentine Rite Masses continue at our Mass centres in Kidderminster & Evesham, both have their own priests Fr Lamb & Fr Christopher.

At Redditch we depend on visiting priests, we are grateful to Fr Lamb & Fr Christopher who have helped.

Our future at Redditch depends on finding that person who can save our Mass Centre on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 6pm. Our Lady of Fatima save us.

Mass at Kidderminster 1st Sunday of the month at 3pm. Mass at Evesham every Tuesday at 7 pm.

CLIFTON - James Belt & Monika Paplaczyk 07890 687453 lmsclifton@gmail.com lmsclifton.blogspot.co.uk

Sunday 1 July saw the return of the Traditional Mass to Bristol. Fr Rupert Allen, Chaplain to Bristol University and the University of the West of England, now celebrates a Low Mass every Sunday at 12:30pm, in the University Chaplaincy.

This was the first time the Old Mass had been celebrated in a Diocesan church or chapel in Bristol since the closure of Holy Cross, Bedminster, in February last year. Around 25 faithful were present, some of whom had not attended the Latin Mass since before the changes of the 1970s. We are grateful to Fr Allen, and to Bishop Declan Lang, for this new initiative.

Fr Allen also led a day of recollection at the Chaplaincy the following Saturday, 7 July, focusing on the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The day began with Low Mass and the Rosary, after which Father gave some talks. We finished the day with Exposition, devotions to the Precious Blood and Benediction.

The newly-ordained Fr Seth Phipps, FSSP, celebrated two First Masses in Clifton, his home diocese, during the week following his ordination. The first of these was a Low Mass in his parish church, St John the Evangelist, Bath, followed two days later by a High Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, WestonSuper-Mare.

The annual LMS pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury will be on Saturday 8 September this year. There will be a High Mass in the Shrine Church at 11:30am, followed by lunch. We will pray the Rosary at 2pm, then finish with Exposition, Confessions and Benediction.

EAST ANGLIA (West) - Alisa and Gregor Dick 01223 322401

The Masses at Blackfriars continue as usual. We recently had a Missa Cantata at Pentecost; thank you to everyone involved. Our congregation continues to grow, especially with families and a good number of students. We are, however, still in need of more choir members and servers. The children learning Latin and Greek are progressing steadily as well, with three earning the Omega Medal, two the Epsilon Badge, and one the Beta Badge.

HEXHAM & NEWCASTLE - Keith McAllister 01325 308968 07966 235329 k_mcallister@ymail.com

Latin Mass provision has continued as before, with the exception of St Mary’s Barnard Castle, where, sadly, the deteriorating health of Fr Wilfrid Elkin has halted the Sunday & Tuesday Masses.

For Corpus Christi we had Low Mass and Benediction celebrated at Coxhoe by Fr Shaun Swales. There was also a Sung Mass with the Durham Juventutem group, celebrated by Fr Michael Brown at St Cuthbert’s in the city. In the absence of an organist the student choir sang acapella enthusiastically.

Following the withdrawal of English Heritage permission for the annual Brinkburn Priory Mass, Fr Michael Brown is trying to arrange a Mass in Ushaw College chapel instead.

LANCASTER - Bob & Jane Latin 01524 412987 lancasterlms@gmail.com latinmasslancaster.blogspot.com - John Rogan 01524 858832 john_rogan@yahoo.co.uk

We had a record turnout of 34 people at our first Mass at Sizergh Castle this summer, which nearly filled the chapel. Many thanks to Canon Cristofoli ICKSP for offering this Mass and for encouraging some of his flock from St Walburge's to come along. We were very pleased to see him after his absence from his difficult illness. One more Mass will have taken place in July and a third is scheduled for 7 September.

Thank you also to Canon Ruscillo for continuing to say a monthly Mass for us at Hornby. The small congregation is very appreciative of this. There will not be a Mass in August but it will resume in September (see Mass Listings for autumn dates).

Fr Etienne continues to say two Masses a week at St John Vianney, Blackpool, please note that the Friday evening Mass is now at 6.30 pm. There has also been a change in Carlisle: the First Sunday Mass now takes place at St Margaret Mary, Scalegate Road, but is still at 6.00 pm.

St Benedict's Academy in Preston is now in its second term and “is a sign of hope for young families and for those who care deeply about the formation of their children”. For further information and to make a donation to this wonderful initiative go to www.saintbenedicts.org.uk.

After the disastrous and discouraging abortion vote in Ireland, it was heartening to see it reported that whilst there are currently no diocesan seminarians, there are over 20 from the traditional institutes. As Fr Z would say, “brick by brick”.

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. The St Anthony’s Mass continues to attract locals and visitors, rather than our LMS members, with new faces appearing most weeks, though the congregation is never huge – generally twenty to thirty.

Several of our members attended the overnight vigil before the Blessed Sacrament on 24 to 25 May at St Mary’s in Warrington, to pray for a good outcome of the Irish 8th Amendment referendum. Sad to say, the outcome was not as we hoped, but no prayer is wasted; God’s will shall be done in His own time.

On 12 July, Fr O’Shea offered the first of his planned Thursday Traditional Rite Masses at 7.30 pm at his church of St John’s, Standishgate, Wigan. Father was one of our regular celebrants at St Anthony's until the duties of his new appointment made it no longer possible.

It is quite some time since we had a Traditional Rite Mass in Wigan, when Fr Johnson occasionally used to offer the Mass at St Mary's, further up Standishgate; and it was encouraging to see a good attendance at this first Mass at St John’s. It is a joy to see a regular Old Rite Mass in Wigan again, so if you can possibly attend Fr O'Shea's Mass, please do. We need to give all the support we can to priests who reintroduce the Traditional Mass in their parishes.

We plan to have Traditional Rite Masses at St Anthony’s at 9 am on the Friday and Saturday of the forthcoming ‘Adoremus’ Eucharistic Congress in Liverpool in September. This should give traditionally-minded visitors the opportunity to attend the Mass of their choice before the Congress events. Sunday Mass will be at the usual 3 pm time, and will be a Missa Cantata followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

LIVERPOOL (Warrington) - Alan Frost 01270 768144

The major event in recent times at the Warrington Shrine was the Ordination in the Traditional Rite of Fr Seth Phipps on the 9 June by the Archbishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev. Malcolm McMahon O.P. (photos of the Ordination Mass can be seen on-line at www.flickr.com/photos/138056205@N08/ albums.) The Dominican Archbishop also administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to eight candidates on 20 June at St Mary’s Shrine.

The following Monday a Requiem Mass was held for Fr Michael Murphy, a former member of St Mary’s Choir. In a busy month, members of the Shrine Church joined in an Annual Walk with other Christians to the Warrington Town Hall as witnesses to the belief in the Person and teaching of Jesus Christ on 29 June. The daily Holy Mass at St Mary’s can be watched for 24 hours, and the Sunday Mass for the whole week, on www.livemass.org.

One of the priests at St Mary’s, Fr Lowenstein, as representative of the Warrington Shrine, attended the ordinations of five new priests at the FSSP European seminary. Joining Rector Fr de Malleray and the priests at St Mary’s, is the recently ordained Fr Phipps, and the presence of several priests at the Shrine now means the daily availability of the Traditional Mass and the Sacrament of Confession, makes the proximity of the Shrine a desirable place to live for the traditional faithful. Permanent accommodation for those who would wish to live close by can now be arranged by administrators for St Mary’s.

MIDDLESBROUGH - Paul Waddington 01757 638027 paul@gooleboathouse.co.uk

The noon Mass every Sunday at St Wilfrid’s Church in York continues to be well attended. Choral scholars from York University sing a polyphonic setting of the Mass most Sundays during term time. When they are not available, the parish’s own schola sing a plainsong setting. During the summer months at least half the congregation is made up of visitors, many being from abroad. So a wide spectrum of people are being introduced to the Traditional Mass, although it would be difficult to assess how well it is received.

Regrettably, the monthly Sunday evening Mass at Hedon, near Hull, only attracts a very small congregation. I think this is due both to the location and the timing. Unfortunately, with the shortage of priests in the diocese, there is little that can be done to make the Mass more popular.

The northern part of the diocese remains without any provision for Latin Masses, and, again, I can see no remedy with the present resources of the diocese

NORTHAMPTON (South) - Barbara Kay 01234 340759 mbky3@outlook.com Nick Ross 07951 145240 nick@efmass.co.uk

Just a reminder of the Latin Masses in the Northampton Diocese: Christ the King, Bedford (weekly on Sunday at 8.30 am), Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Chesham Bois (weekly on Sunday at 8 am) and St Francis of Assisi, Shefford (3rd Friday of the month at 7.30pm).

Exciting developments are taking place at Christ the King, Bedford: Matthew Schellhorn, a professional musician well known in Traditional circles, has made an agreement with our FSSP apostolate to sing Mass for us twice a month. Matthew both plays the organ and sings and the experience is highly uplifting. He started this in May and after a summer break, is resuming in September. He will be singing on the third Sunday of each month and one other Sunday, which will vary; details can be found on https://www.facebook.com/ bedfordlatinmass/. The schola will continue to sing on the first Sunday of each month. This means there will normally be three sung Masses a month at Bedford. The Mass is also sung at Chesham Bois, usually on the first Sunday of each month.

We have now completed the five First Saturdays of Family Catechism and Fatima Devotions at Bedford. Although much appreciated by those who attended, numbers were not great enough to justify a priest coming from Reading for an extra day, and so we are running a survey to see how catechism, and possibly other devotions, will be delivered from September onwards. This is likely to be on Sunday mornings after Mass. Similarly, there is a survey for Chesham. Details of all this, and much more, can be found under the Bedford and Chesham pages on the FSSP website: https://fssp.co.uk/.

Looking back over recent months, Bishop Peter Doyle both celebrated and preached at the Bedford Mass on 13 May; the preaching was scheduled but the celebration was not and came about due to unforeseen circumstances. We are very grateful to Bishop Doyle for helping in this way. Another bishop, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, confirmed one of our adult altar servers, Francis Wanjiru, at the FSSP’s apostolate in Reading on 12 June; some of the Bedford congregation were present and were delighted to see a Traditional Confirmation and the beautiful liturgy surrounding it. We also had a Traditional Baptism in Bedford on 8 July; receiving this Sacrament was Sebastian Bozzino, the fourth son of Grace and Justin.

Looking to the future, plans to set up the UK’s first ‘Regina Caeli’ Traditional Catholic home schooling academy are well in hand; a Board of Directors has been formed and a venue found. God willing, this will open this academic year. Please see our Facebook page as above if you are interested.

NOTTINGHAM - Jeremy Boot 07462-018386

Masses continue at 6.15pm on the third Wednesday of the month (followed by a Juventutem meeting) at the Cathedral; Mass on the Saturday before the 2nd Sunday of the month (4.45pm) at The Good Shepherd Church, Arnold, Nottingham –fulfils the Sunday obligation - and at Our Lady and St Patrick, Nottingham, for the 3rd and 4th Sundays of the month at 2pm (sung/said).

We were very pleased to have a Missa Cantata at St Mary’s Loughborough for the feast of the Sacred Heart on Friday 8 June with Fr Paul Gillham as celebrant. Servers and others kindly lent their services for serving, singing and the organ, which all were much appreciated. Attendance was good and the Mass well received, it is reported. (See photos for more). We look forward to another such Mass at the same venue for the feast of the Transfiguration on 6 August 7.30pm.

As I write we have a priest who has kindly substituted for us at Nottingham but who will be shortly posted elsewhere, but in wishing him well, we still hope occasionally to be using his good offices.

Thanks as usual to our celebrants of all Masses as well as to those who selflessly give their time in whatever way to maintain these Masses.

PLYMOUTH (Devon) - Maurice Quinn 07555 536579 mq018q1057@blueyonder.co.uk

Once again, the Traditional Latin Mass scene in Devon has borne good fruit over the Summer months, and this is especially true in the Exeter area. Our regular third Sunday of the month Sung Mass at Blessed Sacrament (Heavitree, Exeter), for example, although being well attended by regulars and summer visitors, was facing major problems due to having only one server. This precarious situation was remedied, however, by the welcome addition of three men offering themselves to participate on the sanctuary. John Tristram, who kindly stepped in to serve a ‘one off’ Mass in March (see previous issue of Mass of Ages) has become a regular, and has since been joined by two others, Joseph Jones and Kevin Burgess. We have to thank the three of them for helping us to ensure that our Missa Cantata celebrations are reverent, dignified, and properly served. Joseph and Kevin attended a couple of training sessions locally (Sacred Heart), so we have to thank Fr Harry Heijveld for getting involved with this and for making it happen in the first place.

The Blessed Sacrament (Exeter) third Sunday of the month Missa Cantata, preceded by Asperges, has been celebrated by Monsignor Adrian Toffolo and by Fr Harry Heijveld, both of whom are on the rota and deserve our thanks. After some of these monthly celebrations, Benediction has become a feature (Fr Harry), something which is much appreciated by those attending. We are also blessed with our organist, Tegwyn Harris, and the choir members without whom we could not have a Missa Cantata. Also deserving of our thanks are the two ladies, Shelagh Jess and Joan Ware, both of whom regularly provide genuine smiles along with refreshments after Mass in the well-equipped and spacious adjacent church rooms. If you are new to the area or if you are a visitor, we will be pleased to meet you over tea.

We also have to thank Fr Harry for celebrating an extra Low Mass for us at a different venue - Sacred Heart, Exeter - as he did last year on the Feast of St Boniface. It was fitting that this Mass was celebrated at midday on the beautiful St Boniface side altar, below stunning stained glass windows that recount the story of the Saint’s fruitful life.

I am happy to report that the excellent serving team at St Edward the Confessor is still going strong, but Andrew Proctor, the organist, ‘solo choir’ and Musical Director, is still looking for singers to help out on Sundays. If any reader is able to help with the choir please feel free to speak to Andrew before Mass, and know that your much needed help will be appreciated. If you are thinking of attending a Latin celebration at this venue, you may be pleased to know that before every Sunday Mass, Fr Pillari allows time for individual confessions in the pre-Vatican II format. Fr Pillari had to be away for quite a number of weeks during the Summer months, but the regular Sunday morning Missa Cantata went ahead as usual due to an impressive list of priests willing to stand in for him. These priests are Fr Peter Cox, Fr Thomas Crean O.P., Fr Anselm Gribben, Fr Reginald O.P. and Fr Harry Heijveld, all of whom are deserving of our thanks.

The happy, family oriented nature of the St Edward’s congregation was seen once again with the First Holy Communion of Anna Fernandes – seen here resplendent in her beautiful white dress and veil - on the Third Sunday of Pentecost

For this wonderful occasion, Fr Pillari was able to celebrate the beautiful Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, (although the feast itself was on the previous Friday). In addition to the usual 11.30am Sunday Missa Cantata, Mass is also offered on Holy Days of Obligation in the evenings at this venue, the Feast of SS Peter and Paul being no exception, when Fr Peter Cox was the celebrant. Do check out these extra usus antiquior celebrations at St Edward’s on www.tlmplymouth. co.uk before travelling so as not to be disappointed.

Although this year has been packed with special events marking the 1000th anniversary of monastic life on the site of St Mary’s Abbey, Buckfastleigh, our monthly mid-week Vetus Ordo has taken place as usual with no interruptions. We are fortunate that this Mass is still alternately celebrated by Fr Guy de Gaynesford (Rector of the School of the Annunciation), and by Fr Tom Regan OSB in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel with the beautiful eye-catching stained glass window that dominates the East wall.

Fr Guy (see above) celebrates our fourth Sunday of the month Missa Cantata at St Cyprian’s Chapel, Ugbrooke House, Chudleigh. Being without organist and choir members on more than one occasion, it is thanks to Dr Andrew Beards (School of the Annunciation) singing all the choral parts himself that the usual Sung Mass went ahead as planned, and as such his efforts have been very much appreciated, especially by our visitors, some of whom were from as far afield as New Zealand and Canada. We were also pleased to see Colin Harte at the May Mass; Colin had travelled up from Blandford Forum where he regularly serves the Old Rite for Mgr Francis Jamieson. St Cyprian’s Chapel at Ugbrooke House is one of Devon’s ‘hidden gems’, so attending a usus antiquior here has to be highly recommended to everybody, where in the Summer months tea can be had in the Orangery after Mass.

PLYMOUTH (Dorset) - Maurice Quinn 07555 536579 mq018q1057@blueyonder.co.uk.

It was a joy for me to be present once again at the Low Mass celebrated by Mgr Francis Jamieson at Our Lady of Lourdes and St Cecelia in Blandford Forum, Mass being served by Colin Harte. Colin was recruited and trained this year by Mgr Francis specifically for the purpose of serving at Blandford Forum on a regular basis, which he does with great reverence and dignity, and as such he is greatly appreciated.

Mgr Francis has long been trying to get people to stay for a little social lunch after this Mass - as happens successfully at Marnhull - so it was particularly pleasing to see that this happened for the first time on the Feast of the Ascension. Lunch is free, and a number of ladies had soon spread out a fine table of goodies to be shared, during which ensued lively conversation in a convivial atmosphere. If you do manage to attend the usus antiquior at Blandford Forum – which is to be highly recommended - please remember that Mgr Francis would be pleased to meet you afterwards at the social lunch.

At Marnhull (St Mary) in June (St Basil the Great) the Low Mass was celebrated as usual by Fr Martin Budge immediately after the Angelus at 12 noon. For some reason, the last few months has seen a reduction in the number of people attending this Mass, a situation that we hope will soon improve. We must thank Suzzette Glover and Mary Quinn for the social lunch after Mass, where we discovered that Dominic Predergast, our server at Marnhull, had only just returned from taking part in the Chartres Pilgrimage for the 22nd time. We were also pleased to see that Ronnie Bird was able to be present for the first time this year and was in good health. In the last issue of Mass of Ages I briefly mentioned the death of Ronnie’s wife, Joan, a well-respected former LMS Rep for Dorset. Joan’s Traditional Rite Requiem was celebrated by Fr Martin Budge in All Saints Chapel, New Wardour Castle in Wiltshire. With a full congregation, Fr David Lacy - a relative of the deceased - sat in choir, whereas the parish priest of Wardour Castle, Fr Robert Miller, gave the homily. The Mass was served by myself and Dominic Prendergast, along with Sebastian Orr (grandson of the deceased) as Cross Bearer. We have to thank Fr Peter Cox for the loan of Plymouth Cathedral’s beautiful new black pall to drape over Joan’s coffin, which was much appreciated by Joan’s family. After Joan’s interment at Wardour Castle’s cemetery, and at the request of family members, Latin Marian hymns were sung by the graveside, reflecting the deceased’s great devotion to Our Lady.

PORTSMOUTH - Peter Cullinane 02392 471324 pmcullinane@hotmail.com

I am delighted to report that numbers have grown steadily this year- 50 or even 60 on average now attend 8 am Sunday Mass.

I am always pleasantly surprised to meet quite a few travellers, often students, who somehow or other manage to find their way from the Continental ferryport, through the brutalist architecture and confusing waste land down to the Cathedral.

Recently we had a family of American visitors whose obviously well-instructed three-year-old was racing between the statues at the end of the Cathedral after Mass, “looking for Jesus” I was told.

We met at the enchanting painted wooden life-size statue of a seated St Peter, dating from about 1850 and probably installed in the Portsea chapel before St John’s Cathedral was opened in the 1880s. How fitting that they came from Peterburg in Virginia - we did comment on this!

A little later I met a visiting American lady and her teenage son who had quite simply dropped in hoping to hear Mass and who had never experienced the Old Rite before.

They were captivated by the reverence and dignity and I reflected that this is the same rite which a regular correspondent in one of the Catholic weeklies never misses an opportunity to caricature and denigrate if he can.

We have just heard some rather sad news: Fr Joe McNerney is leaving us shortly to exchange his hospital chaplaincy at Portsmouth for Southampton but we have been assured that one of the Gosport Friars will continue his ministry to us. More of this next time.

PORTSMOUTH (Bournemouth) - Tim Fawkes 01202 730200

Our regular first Friday Masses continue at the time of 6 pm and it is usual for vigil Masses to be offered on the eve of Holydays of Obligation and major feasts. In the last quarter there were Masses on the feast of the Annunciation, and a Vigil Mass for the feasts of the Ascension and of the Sacred Heart.

Fr Dominic Jacob was also pleased to offer a Funeral Mass in the Extraordinary Form for Richard Lovesey RIP at the church of St Anthony of Padua in Broadstone on 9 July at the request of his family. A further funeral Mass is arranged at St Mary’s church in Poole on 27 July for Hugh Fitzgibbon RIP.

SHREWSBURY (Chester) - Andrew Nielsen

Third Sunday sung monthly Masses are continuing at St Clare's, celebrated by priests of the Institute of Christ the King. The Institute are also leading a procession on Saturday 21 July through Chester in honour of St John Plessington who was martyred in Chester in 1679. The procession will be preceded by Mass and veneration of St John’s Relics and will end at the site of the Saint's martyrdom.

SHREWSBURY (The Wirral) - Stefano Mazzeo 0151 638 6822

It is clear that our congregation has increased by about 20% over the last 4 years, during which time there has also been an increase in churches that are solely dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass, especially at Warrington and in Preston in the North West. It is heartening that these Masses have not impacted on our congregation numbers, this show the need for even more Latin Mass churches. There have been three priests who have been ordained from our church during these years, this year we offer our congratulation to Canon Piaggio. He will offer his first Solemn High Mass on Sunday 2 September at 10.30 am at the Dome.

We are an active church with many events and initiatives going on all the time. We are aware of the pressures that the modern world is creating for Traditional Catholics, so a large number of our congregation took part in Rosary on the Coast. One of our great successes has be the audio tour which I was asked to direct, we were very pleased that this has won the Marsh award for innovation in Christian outreach. I would like to say well done to everyone involved, especially to Anne and John.

Filming the Martyrdom of St Margaret Clitherow, with Maria Scott in the lead role

At the moment we have been filming of EWTN's Reformation with members of the Shrine church of SS Peter & Paul and St Philomena's and members from the church have proven themselves to be natural actors. We filmed Martyrdom of St Margaret Clitherow with Maria Scott in the lead role. We also filmed Council of Trent at Chester Cathedral and by the time you read this we will have filmed Council of Nicaea at the Dome itself. Also many thanks to Mother Prioress and the sisters at Carmel Monastery Birkenhead for creating the cell of St Teresa of Avila, with Jo Jones playing St Teresa, as a set for our filming. I would like to say a very big thank you to all involved in filming on the Wirral and Chester.

The Carmelite Monastery celebrates its 100 years of their foundation in Birkenhead, congratulations to Mother and the Sisters. I am hoping to produce another little video for them to commemorate this event.

SOUTHWARK (Kent) - Marygold Turner 01580 291372

Our most recent main event has been a Missa Cantata for Corpus Christi. We were very lucky to entice Charles Finch and his choir Cantores Missae down to Headcorn, and the unlovely little church was filled with the most perfect chant. Many thanks to David Hurley for collecting money towards his fee from his friends, and thanks to them for being so generous. We had a superb thought-provoking sermon from Fr Edward van den Bergh, and Jonathan Hague and David Hurley provided expert serving. I invited 20 back to lunch, largely paid for by a most generous friend, who insisted we had champagne: I needed no pressure! We prayed to Our Lady for a fine day and She answered our prayers when we came back from Holy Mass (She had teased us in the morning with some rain!) and we sang ‘Sweet Sacrament Divine’ before the statue of Our Lady in my garden, which was idyllic.

The Institute continues to inspire and flourish, and I was lucky to be invited by Canon William Hudson to his school’s performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘Patience’, in Brussels, which I had never seen. As ever, it was a triumph and included some spectacular Irish jig dancing. It was all extremely well done, as is everything in which Canon Hudson is involved. The weather was lovely (for once!) and he keeps a wonderful house in Brussels, with 2 young priests, as I write.

Fr Whinder, an old friend, came to celebrate SS Peter & Paul for us – such an inspiring sermon. I find that our Traditional priests always teach and inspire us – Deo gratias. We also thank Fr Neil Brett, who is coming to celebrate Mass on the Feast of the Assumption.

The next important event is on 22 September at Snave (on the Marsh) where we are having another Missa Cantata with the Bevans singing for us. We hope to please once again the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust, to whom we are very grateful for permission to celebrate Mass there. Fr Marcus Holden will be the celebrant.

When our beloved clergy come down to us (sometimes at great trouble and inconvenience) we always give them lunch, which is a pleasure – either in a local pub or here in my house.

Cardinal Burke will be celebrating his 70th birthday at the end of August and I have been invited to Gricigliano for the celebrations. As we all know, he is our great champion.

SOUTHWARK (St Bede’s, Clapham Park) - Thomas Windsor

This quarter started with a very quiet Low Sunday, with half of our Altar boys serving the yearly Mass in Dartford, and half our choir and other servers at the excellent St Catherine’s Trust weekend. Thanks to favourable traffic the minibus back from Reading delivered our choir ready to sing Vespers of Low Sunday later that day. After such a busy weekend many returned the following day for a Sung Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation.

The former Solemnity of St Joseph saw three of our boys make their first Holy Communion, for this occasion our choir sang the Missa Dixit Maria, Hassler including the Credo, Offertory motet, O Sacrum Convivium Pergolesi, Communion, Modicum, Issac and the Ave Verum, Byrd, finishing with the Regina Caeli, Lehmann. After Mass we had a shared lunch followed by our usual Easter Vespers and Benediction.

The following day the Feast of St George saw yet another happy event, the wedding of Joseph & Farzana. This gave our first Holy Communicants their first opportunity to serve a Sung Mass.

The first Bank Holiday in May being a Rogation Day gave us the opportunity to have a Sung Mass and procession around the church grounds. This was very well attended with plenty of servers and singers giving up their holiday, many returned a couple of days later for a Sung Mass for the Feast of the Ascension. The following Sunday our choir sang some more polyphony the Ascendens Christus, Handl and the Regina Caeli, Witt. After another shared lunch we had our annual May Procession on the 13th! with a statue of Our Lady being crowned and carried around the church and grounds. The following week we had our usual Sung Liturgy for the Vigil of Pentecost, special thanks must go to the 14-year-old cantor and a choir member that traveled from Cambridge arriving ready to sing before 9am!

The end of May was just as busy for us as the beginning with Fr Rowe with Australia visiting us for Trinity Sunday and the transferred Feast of St Bede. For the Feast of our Patron we had a Solemn High Mass, with the first use of a pair of dalmatics that have been beautifully remade over the last couple of years by our Guild of St Clare. May ended with yet another Sung Mass and Procession for the Feast of Corpus Christi.

The Fridays of June have seen Sung Masses for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, a Requiem for Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, and the Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul. June also saw the third baptism of the year, and yet another boy to further increase the imbalance between numbers of boy and girls.

Members of our choir and servers have continued to make the regular journey over to the neighbouring parish of St Mary Magdalen, Wandsworth, for Sung Masses on Good Shepherd Sunday and the Feasts of St John the Baptist and SS Peter and Paul.

Prayers would be welcome for the growing community here at St Bede’s, with the possibility of a new Parish Priest on the horizon.

SOUTHWARK (Wandsworth) - Julia Ashenden

Sung Masses continue on the first Sunday of each month at 11 am, with a professional choir under the direction of Mr David Guest. In addition, since our last report, we have had extra Sung Masses, once or twice a month, as visiting choirs have been welcomed to our parish. Low Mass is said on Holydays of Obligation at 6.30pm; although Canon Edwards was able to arrange a Missa Cantata for the Feast of SS Peter and Paul.

The presence of a transitional Deacon in our parish has meant that we have been able to arrange a High Mass here for the first time in many years. The external Solemnity of our Patronal Festival was celebrated with a High Mass, at which two young clerics acted, for the first time, as Deacon and Subdeacon at a Traditional Mass.

Please note that Canon Edwards will be away in the first week of September, and consequently the next Sung Mass here will be a High Mass on Sunday 16 September.

SOUTHWARK (Thanet) - Antonia Robinson 01843 845880 07961 153963 robinsonantonia@icloud.com

Things have been fairly quiet in Holy Thanet with the regular Sunday Sung Masses in Margate and Ramsgate continuing with good attendance as well as the Low Masses in Margate (Mondays) and Ramsgate (Tuesdays). There was a beautiful High Mass in St Austin and St Gregory, Margate on the Feast of the Precious Blood with Fr Patrick Hayward (Celebrant), Fr Timothy Finigan (Deacon) and Fr David Phillips (Subdeacon) while music was provided by the parish schola. Both parishes are looking forward to the St Catherine’s Trust Summer School which will be in Ramsgate this year. A large cohort of students will be coming to Sunday Mass at St Austin and St Gregory on the morning of 29 July and the beautiful Pugin church of St Augustine will be used for the Summer School Masses. A number of local families who attend the Traditional Masses in Margate and Ramsgate will be attending the school as well as students from throughout the UK and Europe.

WESTMINSTER (Spanish Place) - Roger Wemyss Brooks wemyssbrooks@outlook.com

Attendances have continued to be strong and growing. The provision of Ordinary Prayers booklets and Propers for the Mass seems to be appreciated. Members are encouraged to help visitors and newcomers to use these aids to the Mass.

The attendance at the Feast of the Holy Apostles was particularly gratifying, especially to hear the excellent homily on St Peter by Fr John Hemer.

We need volunteers for serving, for collections and for providing refreshments. It would be most helpful if members could propose themselves for these functions which are essential for the smooth running of our beloved Rite of Mass.

WREXHAM - Kevin Jones 01244 674011 lms.wrexham@outlook.com @LMS Wrexham

The LMS National Pilgrimage to Holywell took place on Sunday, 1 July. Pilgrims came in good number with approximately 160 present for Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This was an increase on the numbers present in 2017.

It was an extremely hot day with temperatures in the high 20’s being attained.

I am grateful to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest who gave me great support this year by providing the sacred ministers and also the Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus who chanted the proper. I am convinced many came to meet and hear the angelic voices of the Sisters, as many told me so!

A special word of thanks has to go to Alastair Tocher and the Schola Gregoriana Malverniensis. Due to illness of their musical director, the choir of St Mary’s, Warrington were unable to come and so Alastair offered, at late notice, to come and provide polyphony. The 3-part Missa Brevis by Casciolini with Motets was sang. Mr Christian Spence, again at short notice, played was organ. Alastair and Christian, I am grateful.

Canon Tanner ICKSP was celebrant with Canon Montjean ICKSP as deacon and Father Gribben was subdeacon. Canon Montjean preached, drawing parallels in his homily between the Precious Blood of Our Lord and the blood shed by martyrs such as St Winefride.

Mr Philip G. Russell was MC and was supported by boys of the Scorey family and Mr Andrew Neilson. Again, thanks to all the servers.

Given that the following week was Ordinations Week in Florence for the Institute and a busy time, we are very grateful to the priests and sisters for coming to Holywell and supporting the Latin Mass Society.

The remainder of our Masses at Buckley, Holywell and Llay have taken place as planned. It was a pleasure to welcome Canon Cyprien Parant to Holywell for our 4th Sunday in May Mass.