Mass of Ages Autumn 2019

Mass of Ages The quarterly magazine of the Latin Mass Society

Issue 201 – Autumn 2019 – FREE

Portsmouth Ordinations Holywell High Mass Catholic Masculinity Plus: news, views, Mass listings and nationwide reports

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AUTUMN 2019

Contents

CONTENTS

5 Chairman’s Message Joseph Shaw on a new religious community, a new book and a ten-year anniversary 6 LMS Year Planner – Notable events 7 Liturgical calendar 8 Portsmouth Ordinations A photographic celebration by Joseph Shaw 10 The Confirmation Slap Joseph Shaw explains the liturgical version

of the ‘colée’, the blow on the cheek given to new knights 12 Review Fr John Saward reviews a new book, The Case for Liturgical Restoration 12 Sponsor a Catholic education By Canon Ryan Post, Principal

of St Benedict’s Academy 13 Holywell Pilgrimage Kevin Jones reports from North Wales 14 Roman report Vatican expert Aurelio Porfiri believes the church has

lost its way. Alberto Carosa talked to him 15 Viewpoint Charles A. Coulombe recalls that indefatigable

propagandist for Anglo-Catholicism, Doctor Lee of Lambeth

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16 Reports from around the country What’s happening where you are 24 The Chideock Martyrs Maurice Quinn remembers the Dorset men

who died for the Faith 26 Serpent on the Rock Mary O’Regan remembers the Catholic writer,

Alice Thomas Ellis 27 O tempora, O mores! Lone Veiler on the trials and tribulations

of being ‘woke’ 28 Architecture – Sacred Heart, Bournemouth Paul Waddington on how

three architects contributed to the making of this south coast church 30 Obituaries Maurice Quinn remembers three Latin Mass stalwarts 31 Weathering the storm Polish Catholics rally to their Church

undeterred by a new crisis, as Jonathan Luxmoore explains 33 Mass listings 40 Winning ways The first sponsored place on the Royal School of

Needlework Certificate course has been awarded to James Sharpe.

Lucy Shaw reports 41 Book review The Spirit and the Flesh

Anne-Marie Mackie-Savage reviews a novel reminiscent of Victorian

Improving Fiction 42 Becoming men of virtue Fr Lawrence Lew on the Traditional Liturgy

and Catholic masculinity 44 Traces remain Joseph Shaw explains how Catholic Linguistic Survivals

from the Ancient Liturgy are embedded in the fabric of our lives 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. 201 Cover: Portsmouth Ordinations Photo by Joseph Shaw

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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.

31 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; Alisa Kunitz-Dick; Antonia Robinson; Nicholas Ross; 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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CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

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SUMMER 2019

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

Significant developments Joseph Shaw on a new religious community, a new book and a ten-year anniversary

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am writing the day after witnessing the priestly ordination of four men, in the Traditional Rite, by Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth.

Since the Chairman’s Message is one of the last things to go into Mass of Ages as it prepared for publication, this is my chance to mention something which is one of the most significant developments for Tradition in recent years.

We have become almost used to the annual ordinations of men from England and Wales for the Traditional Institutes, particularly for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. The young men ordained last evening, however, are members of a new religious community, based near Portsmouth in Gosport: the Family of Mary Immaculate and St Francis.

This is an institute of diocesan right established by Bishop Egan; the superior is Fr Serafino Lanzetta. At their parish in Gosport, which comprises St Mary’s and St Columba’s churches, they celebrate both Forms of the Roman Rite. The new priests are Fr Philomeno and Fr Rosario, who will be familiar to readers who have attended the LMS Walsingham Pilgrimage, and Fr Faustino and Fr Michele.

The community is ‘bi-ritual’, celebrating both the new and old Mass, not as a matter of personal preference among the priest members, but as a matter of policy. It has been a long and complicated process to establish the community with proper canonical status, and Bishop Egan deserves our thanks for his courage and perseverance in seeing this process to its conclusion, as well as for carrying out the ordinations. These ordinations were, I believe, the first time he has himself celebrated Traditional Mass in public, although he has ‘presided’ at it in the past.

So, congratulations to the new priests, and to their superior Fr Lanzetta, whose book, Vatican II: A Pastoral Council, can incidentally be purchased from the LMS online shop.

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These ordinations increase the number of priests in the community from three to seven. The Family of Mary Immaculate and St Francis is now firmly established, and I look forward to hearing more about their work. For more on this see our special feature on pages 8-9.

Liturgical restoration Also available to buy is a book edited by me: a collection of the thirty-three ‘Position Papers’ I prepared, with the help of many others, for Una Voce International (Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce).

The Case for Liturgical Restoration, which sets out a sort of executive summary of the arguments about specific aspects of the Mass which need explaining or defending, and the ways in which the ancient Mass can be of service to the Church in her evangelisation of the world. Although the discussions are concise, it is very carefully researched and footnoted. I certainly learnt a great deal in preparing this volume; I hope it will form a solid basis for further, well-informed and charitable discussion of these important issues.

A great honour Earlier this year was the 10th anniversary of my becoming Chairman of the Latin Mass Society. Having completed my predecessor’s term of office, I will complete my third threeyear term at this year’s Annual General Meeting.

After two consecutive terms of office, the Society’s Constitution allows an officer, including the Chairman, to stand for another term at the request of the Committee. The Committee have made this request, and in the absence of other nominations I have been reelected unopposed.

I am very happy to continue as Chairman. I regard it as a great honour to hold this office, which is also something I find very interesting, and, despite the inevitable difficulties, a source of great satisfaction. I am conscious of my limitations, however, and continue in office at the Society’s pleasure. If I can make myself useful to this great Society in its invaluable work, I regard my time as well spent.

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EVENTS

LMS Year Planner – Notable Events LMS Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham, Thursday, 22 to Sunday, 25 August Our annual Walking Pilgrimage from Ely to Walsingham takes place over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The pilgrimage starts with registration in Ely on the evening of Thursday 22 August, and concludes with devotions in Walsingham on Sunday 25 August. There is an additional Mass for those staying Sunday night in the Slipper Chapel on Monday 26 August. A coach will travel from London on the Sunday for a day pilgrimage. Sign up today!

LMS Pilgrimage in honour of St Margaret Clitherow and the York Martyrs, Saturday, 31 August PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE We thank the Fathers of the York Oratory in Formation for kindly organising a pilgrimage to honour St Margaret Clitherow and the York Martyrs. Please see the full-page advertisement elsewhere in this edition of Mass of Ages for details.

Society of St Tarcisius Server Training Day, Saturday, 14 September

The walls in the priest’s sacristy at Chideock. See Chideock Martyrs Pilgrimage

Annual Missa Cantata in St Augustine’s, Snave, Saturday, 28 September At the kind invitation of The Romney Marsh Historical Churches Trust, there will be a Missa Cantata in St Augustine’s at 12 noon, the celebrant will be Fr Marcus Holden, with music by The Victoria Consort.

This is another opportunity for men and boys to learn to serve the Traditional Mass. To be held in St Mary Moorfield, Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LS from 10.30am. Booking is required, so the organisers have an accurate idea of numbers attending and what they wish to learn; there is no fee. To book, email tarcisius@lms.org.uk The Guild of St Clare will also be meeting in the basement hall for a vestment mending day.

Iota Unum Talk in London, Friday 4 October

HE Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, Monday, 16 September

Each year members of the LMS Committee and Local and Assistant Representatives meet to discuss the work we do around the country, share ideas and take the opportunity to get to know each other. This year the meeting will be held at St John the Baptist, King Edward’s Road, Hackney, London E9 7SF. It starts at 11am, Mass will be celebrated at 12 noon followed by a buffet lunch (supplied by the LMS).

The meeting resumes after lunch and should be finished by about 3.30pm. We would like to encourage all our Reps to be with us.

Cardinal Burke will celebrate Mass at 6.30pm, music will be supplied by Cantus Magnus (dir. Matthew Schellhorn).

Iota Unum Talk in London, Friday, 27 September The next in our series of talks continue in the basement of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street, London 7pm (doors open 6pm, please use Golden Square entrance). The speaker will be Fr Marcus Holden on ‘The Benedict Option Parish - Traditional Catholicism and Evangelisation’. As usual, there will be a charge of £5 on the door to cover refreshments and other expenses.

Chideock Martyrs Pilgrimage, Saturday, 28 September Our first pilgrimage in honour of the Chideock Martyrs to the Church of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs & St Ignatius, North Road, Chideock, Bridport DT6 6LF, which is the Shrine of the Dorset Martyrs. 10.30am Missa Cantata and venerations of the Relics. 12.15 Tour/history of the Chideock Martyrs, 1 pm lunch (please bring your own packed lunch).

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In the basement of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street, London 7pm (doors open 6pm, please use Golden Square entrance), the speaker will be Peter D. Williams, Executive Consultant at Right to Life UK, on ‘Catholic Apologetics and the Usus Antiquior’.

Annual Meeting of Committee Members and Local and Assistant Representatives, Saturday, 5 October

LMS Pilgrimage to St Mary’s Cathedral, Wrexham, Saturday, 12 October During the pilgrimage, in association with the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, there will be a Sung Mass at 11.30am followed by veneration of the Relic of the Martyr and LMS co-patron, St Richard Gwyn.

LMS Pilgrimage to Oxford, Saturday, 19 October Priory of the Holy Spirit (Blackfriars), St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LY. 11am High Mass in the Dominican Rite with polyphony, followed by procession and Benediction. TBC

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LITURGICAL CALENDAR

Liturgical calendar LMS Pilgrimage to Aylesford, Saturday, 26 October Details to be confirmed, please check our website for information.

Iota Unum Talk in London, Friday, 1 November In the basement of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street, London 7pm (doors open 6pm, please use Golden Square entrance), the speaker will be Prof. Stephen Bullivant, Director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society, on 'Mass Exodus and the Revival of Tradition'.

Annual Requiem Mass, Saturday, 2 November The Rt Rev. Michael Campbell OSA, Bishop Emeritus of Lancaster will celebrate our Annual Requiem at the High Altar of Westminster Cathedral at 2.30pm. Please do come along to pray for our departed members and benefactors.

Catholic Medical Association Annual Requiem, Saturday, 9 November Mass in the Dominican Rite, at 11.30am, in The Rosary Shrine, St Dominic's Catholic Church, London NW5 4LB. Confirmations 16 November

in

the

Traditional

Rite,

Saturday,

Once again, the Rt Rev. John Sherrington, Auxiliary of Westminster, 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, 18 October.

Mass in Honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saturday, 23 November For the second year running, the LMS has been invited to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is in The Holy Child & St Joseph's, 2 Brereton Road, Bedford MK40 1HU, where High Mass will be celebrated at 12 noon for the intention of reparation for abortion.

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

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

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AUGUST 2019 Sun 11 IX SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 12 S CLARE V III Cl W Tue 13 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 14 VIGIL of the ASSUMPTION of the BVM II CI V Thu 15 ASSUMPTION of the BVM I Cl W Fri 16 S JOACHIM FATHER of the BVM II CI W Sat 17 S HYACINTH C III Cl W Sun 18 X SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 19 S JOHN EUDES C III Cl W Tue 20 S BERNARD Ab C D III Cl W Wed 21 S JANE FRANCES FRÉMIOT de CHANTAL W III CI W Thu 22 IMMACULATE HEART of the BVM II Cl W Fri 23 S PHILIP BENIZI C III Cl W Sat 24 S BARTHOLOMEW Ap II Cl R Sun 25 XI SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 26 FERIA IV Cl G Tue 27 S JOSEPH CALASANCTIUS C III Cl W Wed 28 S AUGUSTINE B C D III CI W Thu 29 BEHEADING of S JOHN the BAPTIST III Cl R Fri 30 S ROSE OF LIMA V III Cl W Sat 31 S RAYMUND NONNATUS C III Cl W SEPTEMBER 2019 Sun 1 XII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 2 S STEPHEN K C lll Cl W Tue 3 S PIUS X P C III Cl W Wed 4 FERIA IV CI G Thu 5 S LAURENCE JUSTINIAN B C III Cl W Fri 6 FERIA IV Cl G Sat 7 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 8 XIII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 9 FERIA lV Cl G Tue 10 S NICHOLAS of TOLENTINO C III Cl W Wed 11 FERIA IV Cl G Thu 12 MOST HOLY NAME of MARY III Cl W Fri 13 FERIA IV Cl G Sat 14 EXALTATION of the HOLY CROSS II Cl R Sun 15 XIV SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 16 SS CORNELIUS P & CYPRIAN B MM lll Cl R Tue 17 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 18 EMBER DAY II Cl V Thu 19 SS JANUARIUS B & COMPS MM III Cl R Fri 20 EMBER DAY II Cl V Sat 21 S MATTHEW Ap Evangelist II Cl R Sun 22 XV SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 23 S LINUS P M lll Cl R Tue 24 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 25 FERIA IV Cl G Thu 26 FERIA IV Cl G Fri 27 SS COSMAS & DAMIAN MM III Cl R Sat 28 S WENCELAUS Duke M III Cl R Sun 29 DEDICATION of S MICHAEL ARCHANGEL I Cl W Mon 30 S JEROME Priest C D lll Cl W OCTOBER 2019 Tue 1 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 2 HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS III Cl W Thu 3 S TERESA of the CHILD JESUS V III Cl W Fri 4 S FRANCIS C III Cl W Sat 5 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 6 XVII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 7 BVM of the ROSARY II Cl W Tue 8 S BRIDGET W III Cl W Wed 9 S JOHN LEONARDI C III Cl W Thu 10 S FRANCIS BORGIA C III Cl W Fri 11 MOTHERHOOD of the BVM II Cl W Sat 12 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 13 XVIII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 14 S CALLISTUS I P M III CI R Tue 15 S TERESA V III Cl W Wed 16 S HEDWIG W III CI W Thu 17 S MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE V III Cl W Fri 18 S LUKE Evangelist II Cl R Sat 19 S PETER of ALCANTARA C III Cl W Sun 20 XIX SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 21 FERIA IV CI G Tue 22 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 23 S ANTHONY MARY CLARET B C III Cl W Thu 24 S RAPHAEL ARCHANGEL III Cl W Fri 25 FERIA IV Cl G Sat 26 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 27 OLJC the KING I Cl W Mon 28 SS SIMON & JUDE Aps II Cl R Tue 29 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 30 FERIA IV Cl G Thu 31 FERIA IV Cl G

NOVEMBER 2019 Fri 1 ALL SAINTS I Cl W Sat 2 COMMEMORATION of all the FAITHFUL DEPARTED I Cl B Sun 3 XXI SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 4 S CHARLES B C lll Cl W Tue 5 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 6 FERIA IV CI G Thu 7 FERIA IV Cl G Fri 8 FERIA IV Cl G Sat 9 DEDICATION of the ARCHBASILICA of the SAVIOUR II Cl W

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FEATURE

Portsmouth Ordinations A photographic celebration by Joseph Shaw

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our friars of the Gosport Franciscan community were ordained by Bishop Philip Egan in St John's Cathedral, Portsmouth on 5 July. Fr Serafino Lanzetta, Superior of the community, was Assistant Priest, Fr James Bradley Deacon and Fr Pio Mary Idowu Subdeacon. Mass was accompanied by Cantus Magnus under the direction of Matthew Schellhorn.

The music was sponsored by the Latin Mass Society.

For more on the Ordinations, see this issue’s Chairman’s Message on page 5

Please pray for the souls of all members who have died recently Requiescant in Pace Departed: John East Bernard Hamilton Jeremy Hooper Alan Jennison Andrew Kennedy Terry Middleton Celeste Mitchell-Gotell Beryl Terry Olive Trewick John Turner Brenda Warltire Lydia Winter 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: Joan Bird

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AUTUMN 2019

FEATURE

AUTUMN 2019

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FEATURE

The Confirmation Slap Joseph Shaw explains the liturgical version of the ‘colée’, the blow on the cheek given to new knights. For Catholics it symbolizes the candidate’s willingness to suffer for the Faith

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he Sacrament of Confirmation completes the initiation begun

by Baptism: in the customary words of the catechisms, it makes the candidate a ‘perfect’ Christian, not in the sense of being sinless, but in the sense of ‘complete’. The significance of this is that the candidate becomes a ‘soldier of Christ’.

All the baptized, and for that matter those preparing for baptism, are obliged to engage in the unceasing war which

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the devil wages to capture human souls.

The stages of initiation indicate stages of readiness for the more dangerous sections of the front line. Catholics must be confirmed in order to be ordained, or to make religious vows. They are earnestly exhorted to be confirmed before getting married, even if this is not an absolute requirement (see Canon 1065.1).

One way this aspect of Confirmation is made clear in the Traditional Rite is

that, after signing the candidate on the forehead with oil of chrism, the bishop (or a priest with special faculties) gives the candidate a slight blow on the cheek—a ‘slap’, as it is sometimes called.

At the ceremony organized by the Latin Mass Society in St James’, Spanish Place, last year, Bishop John Sherrington explained that this symbolizes the candidate’s willingness to suffer for the Faith.

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FEATURE

Bishop John Sherrington, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, confirms a candidate in St James’, Spanish Place, November 2018, in a ceremony organized by the Latin Mass Society

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© Joseph Shaw

The slap was removed from the reformed ceremony in 1971, although it seems that it is sometimes still done in the Ordinary Form.

Being slapped on the cheek might seem an odd way to symbolize a willingness to suffer, and there is of course more to it than that. The blow on the cheek after the anointing appears in liturgical books in the Middle Ages, and is a liturgical version of the ‘colée’, the blow on the cheek given to new knights in many versions of the knighting ceremony. This is the equivalent to the blow (or touch) to the shoulders with a sword which The Queen uses to ‘dub’ a new knight to this day.

The connection with knighting was made explicit by a Church spokesman at the time the slap was removed from the Confirmation rite. The New York Times reported on 14 September 1971: At a news conference, the Very Rev. Aime-Georges Martimort, an official

of the Vatican department in charge of divine worship, said that the reform also dropped the comparatively modern usage of giving the person being confirmed a slight blow on the cheek. He explained that the ritual recalled the conferring of knighthood by a symbolic stroke with a sword.

Martimort was in fact a serious liturgical scholar, but we might quibble with his description of the ritual blow as ‘comparatively modern’: it appears in liturgical books edited by William Durandus, who died in 1296.

What, then, does the blow on the cheek mean in the context of the knighting ceremony? The common interpretation of it is this: a blow on the cheek is an insult, and this is the last insult which the new knight will receive without defending his honour.

In other words, the blow symbolizes a knight’s induction into the knightly code of honour. From then on, his honour, his reputation, is more important to him than anything. Although the honour code could be misused, at its best it meant that the knightly ideals of defending the innocent and upholding truth weighed more heavily for the knight than any considerations of titles, wealth, or personal safety. The Duke of Norfolk explains it to the King in Shakespeare’s play, Richard II: Myself I throw, dread sovereign, at thy foot.

My life thou shalt command, but not my shame: The one my duty owes; but my fair name, Despite of death that lives upon my grave, To dark dishonour’s use thou shalt not have.

The Duke would die for his king: but not be disgraced for his king.

What, then, is the significance of importing the colée into the ritual of the Sacrament of Confirmation? It means two things. First, the confirmand is understood to be taking up an officer’s rank, so to speak, in Christ’s spiritual army.

Second, this rank implies a special obligation. A civilian who flees an invading army is not thereby dishonoured; an officer, commanded to resist it, would be. In the case of Catholics, the special obligation is not the use of violence, but the profession of the Faith.

An articulated, verbal profession of the Faith may be required of us from time to time, when we are faced with a sincere inquirer or, by contrast, with an attack on the Faith which we cannot allow

‘A different kind of profession, however, is more fundamental, and is required throughout our lives: that of living the Faith. We are called to live a public lifestyle in accordance with the Faith: even if it is, inevitably, marred by sin, it should not be a lifestyle shaped by compromise with sin’ to go unanswered. A different kind of profession, however, is more fundamental, and is required throughout our lives: that of living the Faith. We are called to live a public lifestyle in accordance with the Faith: even if it is, inevitably, marred by sin, it should not be a lifestyle shaped by compromise with sin.

This is not always an easy matter.

Doing a job involving formal (willed) cooperation with sin, living a life of public scandal, failing as a married person to be open to life, failing to frequent the sacraments, failing to undertake good works: such lifestyles are incompatible with the honour of a knight in Christ’s army. Such public failures go beyond private sins in their effects on others, both other Catholics, who are disheartened, and to non-Catholics, who can get the impression that Catholics are hollow hypocrites. In living in these ways, we turn tail and flee the difficulties demanded of us as soldiers of Christ.

The Sacrament of Confirmation, if received with the proper dispositions, gives us the graces we need to profess the Faith by our lives, in the face of all kinds of temptation and pressure. No Catholic should go to the front-line of modern life without it.

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REVIEW

Sponsor a Catholic education

By Canon Ryan Post, Principal of St Benedict’s Academy

S Pondering a great gift Fr John Saward reviews The Case for Liturgical Restoration

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could get away with simply placing an enthusiastic ditto underneath the endorsements written for this book by such great and good men as Cardinal Burke, Bishop Schneider, and Professor de Mattei. I agree with everything they say. The ‘case for liturgical restoration’ is, in my opinion, eloquently and convincingly made. (But then, I didn’t need convincing.)

If I’m to add anything, let it be this: I think I’m authorized to bring you an endorsement from St Thomas Aquinas, his teacher St Albert, too, and his friend St Bonaventure. You see, each of these saints, like many of the Doctors who preceded and followed them, composed expositions of the rites and ceremonies of the Mass, including much of what is discussed in this new book. The actions of the priest at the altar, says St Thomas in a deliciously easy bit of Latin, are not ridiculosae gesticulationes: they all have a purpose and a meaning; they are performed to express reverence and to symbolize something. So, the many signs of the Cross made by the priest during the Canon of the Mass represent the various stages of our Lord’s Passion. For example, the five signs at hostiam pura, hostiam sanctam, hostiam immaculatam, panem sanctum vitae aeternae et calicem salutis perpetuae stand for the five wounds.

There is this difference, of course, in historical context between the Patristic and Medieval expositiones and The Case for Liturgical Restoration. Without the pressure of controversy, the Fathers and Doctors were concerned, simply and serenely, with deepening understanding of the Eucharistic mystery, and with increasing devotion to it, through a study of the rite. By contrast, the Una Voce authors are responding to six decades of liturgical revolution, a revolution beyond the imagining of the holy Doctors. However, despite the difference in context, the principal purpose of The Case remains close in spirit to the meditations of the Fathers and Doctors. In the words of Cardinal Burke: this collection of studies is ‘a defence of the usus antiquior of the Roman rite, not in the sense of a polemic … but as an invitation to ponder and to plumb the great gift of the usus antiquior … [It is directed at] enrich[ing] and deepen[ing] the knowledge and love of Christ alive for us in the Church, His Mystical Body – alive, above all, in the sacred liturgy.’ There you are. His Eminence has said it all for me. Buy this book!

The Case for Liturgical Restoration, edited by Joseph Shaw, is available from the LMS online shop: paperback £16.50, hardback £24 + p&p.

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t Benedict’s Academy is a part-time academy based in Preston, Lancashire, looked after by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. We welcome children from age 5 to 18. In September, the academy will be entering its third academic year.

The education provided at St Benedict’s is all deeply rooted in the Catholic faith, as all subjects lead back to Our Lord. Whether in the study of History, with the Incarnation as its centre-piece, learning about and admiring the wonderful creation of God through the sciences, or in the study of the sacred language of the Church, Latin, through looking at the texts of the Mass, as well as passages from the Vulgate, Christ is always at the centre.

It is a great privilege for us as priests to be able to teach the children, and to pass on the faith to them. The Sisters Adorers teach Catechism and French, as well as Gregorian Chant and Polyphony. It is wonderful to have religious at the school, as an example and inspiration to the children!

Every Friday, at 12 noon, there is a Sung Mass at English Martyrs, at which some of the boys from St Benedict’s serve, and the rest of the children sing the Kyriale of the Mass, as well as some of the Ordinary, along with one or two polyphonic motets.

While the majority of the teachers at St Benedict’s are volunteers, there are in fact many other essential costs, including heating the building, electricity and water bills, textbooks, insurance and maintenance of the academy.

As the academy is a charity, we never wish to turn a family away if they are not able to afford the fees and at present the majority of families do not pay fees. To keep the Academy running and provide a strong Catholic education to as many children as possible, we rely on the donations of generous benefactors.

As we read in our dearly-beloved Missal at Christmas time, “Thine almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven”.

Priests must always imitate Christ in all things. Therefore, Canon Vianney Poucin, accompanied by Philip Russell (a trustee) and Kevin Russell-Young (a parent of three of the children) will also be leaping from the heavens (1500ft), but by means of an aeroplane and a parachute in order to raise funds for St Benedict’s! The planned date is the 4 September.

Will you help make Catholic education great again? Will you sponsor them? If you feel able, visit https://www.gofundme. com/f/parachuting-priest

Teaching at St Benedict’s Academy

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FEATURE

Holywell Pilgrimage Kevin Jones reports from North Wales

The clergy, servers and pilgrims say the Rosary en route to the Well

S

unday, 7 July saw the annual LMS National Pilgrimage take place to Holywell in Flintshire. A Votive High Mass in honour of St Winefride was offered by celebrant, Father Gribben for the repose of the soul of Edmund Waddelove, who instigated this pilgrimage 30 years ago. He would have been 100 years old this year and now enjoys his eternal rest.

Deacon Canon Scott Tanner, sings the Holy Gospel

Canon Tanner ICKSP was deacon and Father Riley subdeacon.

The ordinary was polyphonic and was sung by a small choir under the direction of Anthony Dickinson. The chosen setting was Missa Aeterna Christi Munera – Palestrina. With motets at the Offertory (Diffusa est gratia – Nanino) and Communion (Ave verum - Mozart).

Gregorian Chant was provided by the Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus. One of the Sisters is a violinist and the beautiful use of the violin was well received. Master of Ceremonies was Mr Phillip G. Russell. I am very grateful to all those who assisted at this Mass.

Father Gribben blesses the faithful with the relic

All photos by Michael Durnan

Celebrant Father Gribben

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The Communion of the Faithful

The Sacred Ministers and Servers leave following the Final Gospel

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ROMAN REPORT

Uprooted Vatican expert Aurelio Porfiri believes the church has lost its way. Alberto Carosa talked to him published some 40 books and a thousand articles. His musical works, published in France, Italy, Germany, the United States and China, were also used for the liturgies in the annual Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage to Rome.

Maestro Porfiri was kind enough to grant an interview to Mass of Ages.

Q. Why did you write your book?

A. Aldo Maria Valli and I do not feel comfortable as Catholics in the present situation of the Church and we feel as if we are being removed from our roots. The current disdain for the Church’s tradition and heritage is inexplicable.

Q. What are the main topics you deal with in the book?

A. Everything, from the crisis of the priesthood to the problem with homosexuality in the clergy, from misinterpretation of Vatican II to liturgical crisis.

A

urelio Porfiri and Aldo Maria Valli are two leading Catholic figures who decided to join forces and publicly voice their uneasiness with the present state of affairs in the Catholic Church. “Uprooted: Dialogues on the Liquid Church” (Chorabooks, Hong Kong 2019) was the result of their effort. It is a passionate book written in the form of a series of dialogues between them on the most pressing and burning issues facing the Church today.

Aldo Maria Valli is a veteran “Vaticanista” (a journalist expert on Vatican affairs) and the first journalist to whom the former Vatican Nuncio in the US, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, gave a copy of his memorial on the scandal of homosexuality within the clergy. Aurelio Porfiri is a composer, choirmaster, writer and teacher living between Rome and Hong Kong. He has

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Q. Due to our special interest in the liturgy, could you elaborate on this?

A. We feel very uncomfortable with the present state of liturgical life in the Church, a liturgy where all sense of sacredness and adoration has been removed. I believe there is now an almost unanimous chorus saying that liturgical reform has not brought us a more beautiful and dignified liturgy but rather a formless thing which can be modified at will in every sacristy.

Music and liturgy go hand in hand and as a musician of the Church, I believe current sacred music is an abomination; it is the recycling of commercial music or effeminate and sentimental outbursts.

One of the strongest indicators of the crisis in the Church is the colossal descent of the dignity of the liturgical celebration.

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium of Vatican II, which everyone invokes, was in favour of Latin, Gregorian chant, organ, polyphony.

There are liturgists, priests, and laypeople who have honestly tried to apply the

directives of the Council but they find themselves marginalized, isolated, derided. Now, if things don’t go well for those who try to do what the Council asks, how can it go well for anyone else?

Q. Do you think these problems have surfaced only in the past few years?

A. Of course not! This goes back a long way, but it has taken on an increasing momentum. As a cradle Catholic, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I never realized that the church was passing through a truly difficult period, which has actually never ended. The silly songs I sang at Mass, seemed to be a normal thing to me, because nobody told me the music which should be sung in church was something different. I discovered this on my own, and after this I became discouraged by priests who were opposed to the fact that I had rediscovered my liturgical and musical roots.

Q. And then you started to be labeled as a “traditionalist”.

A. Exactly! There are always those who use that word as if it was the gravest insult. At worst we are called ultra-traditionalists!

Now, being a traditionalist is not a crime, but above all I don’t think of myself as being a traditionalist. I share most of the same convictions with those held by traditionalist groups, but in reality, they too ought to simply call themselves Catholics. The progressivist simply is not Catholic, because he has embraced the principles of modernism which are contrary to those of the Church. True, the Tradition of the Church can deepen, but not by losing its very identity.

Q. Do you have any possible solutions in mind?

A. I am not sure what is the solution. You need to remove so many problems. But I know I am just a human person and with a limited view. I can only hope in God and in his supernatural intervention to restore sanity to our Church.

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VIEWPOINT

A man of advanced views

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orn to a Church of England cleric and his wife, at Thame, Oxfordshire, Frederick George Lee (1832-1902) went up to Oxford in 1851, matriculating at St Edmund’s Hall in 1851. He did not graduate, however, but transferred to Cuddesdon College and was ordained priest by the Bishop of Oxford in 1856. The newly minted cleric was assigned to Berkeley Chapel in London’s Mayfair. He was a man of advanced views and in the following year he joined the noted Catholic layman, Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle in forming the Association for the Promotion of the Union of Christendom (APUC). The aim of the Union was to pray and work for the reunion of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism, as well as prayer for Kaiser Franz Josef, Tsar Alexander II, and Queen Victoria, as the leading layfolk of their respective Communions.

The young Reverend was not afraid of more controversial efforts.

In London’s East End the church of St George’s in the East was presided over by a High Church-minded rector, the Rev. Bryan King. He brought in a number of similarly-minded clerics. These began doing then unheard-of things – such as wearing chasubles. This earned the ire of the Vestry, and the results were the Ritualist Riots of 1859; mobs whipped up by the vestrymen attempted to disrupt the services. To show his support, Lee would take services there at the height of the controversy.

Lee accepted a call to the newly built church of St John’s, Aberdeen – the Scottish Episcopal Church with its Nonjuring tradition being friendlier as a rule to Anglo-Catholics. But he fell foul of a large segment of his new parish, and he and his supporters founded a new church, St Mary’s, Carden Place in 1863.

Lee bankrupted himself constructing the church. But the Anglican Bishop of Aberdeen refused to consecrate it so long as Lee was at the helm. On a happier note, he had been made Secretary of

SUMMER 2019

APUC; that doubtless played a part in his decision to return to London, where he would remain for almost the rest of his life as Rector of another slum parish, All Saints, Lambeth. In the meantime, his friend Squire de Lisle had been appointed High Sheriff of Leicestershire, and in 1868 appointed Lee his chaplain.

But the following year Cardinal Wiseman – who had always taken a dim view of the APUC – was able to have it condemned by the authorities in Rome. The Catholic members withdrew, and some of the Anglicans went on to form the Catholic League.

The Rev. Lee continued to minister to his Lambeth flock and continued to write; from then until his last few years an avalanche of historical, theological, and liturgical works came from his pen, but as he continued his researches, he came to doubt his position. That led to his involvement in one of the most peculiar ecclesiastical adventures Britain has seen.

Bl. Pius IX was possibly the most eirenically minded Pontiff the Church had had since Eugene IV. He had invited the Orthodox Patriarchs as full participants to Vatican I, in hopes of ending the Eastern Schism. The Pope had also made it clear when reviving the hierarchy in England that he would be willing to have our bishops resign in favour of theirs, should the Church of England re-enter the Church as a body. Although the details are foggy, we do know a few things for sure.

In 1877, Lee and another similarlyminded cleric travelled to Italy. There, they were consecrated as bishops. The Rev. Brandreth, in his book Episcopi Vagantes and the Anglican Church, (p.

124) declares: “Certain facts are beyond dispute, namely that a consecration did take place in the summer of 1877; that it took place in Italy; that the bishops consecrated were Lee and Mossman; that the consecrating prelates held Orders accepted as valid at Rome. It is probable

© St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

Charles A. Coulombe recalls that indefatigable propagandist for Anglo-Catholicism, Doctor Lee of Lambeth

Frederick George Lee: ‘indefatigable’

that the prelates were in communion with Rome. The remainder of the story is open to question. ..... The whole business was so shrouded in secrecy that it is probably impossible today to arrive at any certainty as to the facts of the case.” Supposedly, the consecrators were one Latin, one Greek, and one Armenian – one particularly Romantic account places the site at sea, so as to avoid being within anyone’s jurisdiction.

Whether or not Bl. Pius IX was aware of the scheme is something we are unlikely to ever know.

Lee, Mossman, and a few collaborators formed the “Order of Corporate Reunion,” and began “validating” the ordinations of whichever Anglican clerics came to them – thus anticipating the “Dutch Touch”. The idea was that eventually there would be enough of these to bring about the longed-for reunion with Rome. But in the end, Lee lost faith in the scheme. His parish sold for demolition to a railroad, he retired in 1899, and came into the Church at last with his wife.

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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY

DIOCESAN DIGEST Mass of Ages quarterly round-up Arundel and Brighton Anne-Marie Mackie-Savage 01323411370 aandb@lms.org.uk Sadly, there are no more Masses at St Thomas More, Seaford. Fr Bruno Witchalls, who has been most generous with his time, is moving on. I would like to take this opportunity to say on behalf of everyone how much he is appreciated and shall be missed, to thank him for his support and assure him of our ongoing prayers for him. Masses continue in Lewes and Eastbourne.

We lost a great supporter of the Mass in Eastbourne recently, and I would ask your prayers for Mrs Helga Edwards. Her devotion to Our Lady was inspirational, and she is greatly missed.

Once more, chaps, I would ask for anyone who is willing to learn how to serve the Mass to have a go! Email me if you would like to find someone who can show you the ropes.

All updates and cancellations of which I am apprised go up on the A and B Latin Mass blog. If you can’t find it, it pops up on any browser if you just type in the blog name.

Thanks to everyone who supports the Masses and to the priests who make them possible.

Birmingham (City and Black Country) Louis Maciel Tel: 07392 232225 birmingham@lms.org.uk Archbishop Bernard Longley will celebrate Pontifical High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at 7pm on 18 October following the canonisation of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman in Rome a few days before.

A relatively quiet quarter saw High Masses at the Birmingham Oratory for the Ascension and Corpus Christi Thursday, with Sung Masses at the usual times for the Sacred Heart and SS Peter and Paul. Low Masses were also celebrated on these days at St Mary on the Hill in Wednesbury, as well as several other feast days, including the patronal feast day of Our Lady Help of Christians in addition to the monthly third Sunday Mass.

There was a votive High Mass of the Precious Blood at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton on the 12 of July, which, along with the annual Novena, was the only break in the Friday Low Mass schedule.

The long-awaited renovations at St Dunstan’s in Kings Heath have finally started, which include returning the tabernacle to the centre of the church from the Adoration chapel, a more centralised altar from which Mass can be celebrated ad orientem and the installation of altar rails. The church will be closed until November, and the third Friday Mass will take place in the community centre until then.

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Birmingham (Little Malvern) Alastair J. Tocher 01684 893332 malvern@lms.org.uk extraordinarymalvern.uk Facebook: Extraordinary Malvern Sung Sunday Mass at St Wulstan’s continues twice monthly for the present but discussions are now in progress regarding extending Mass provision to every Sunday. Please pray for our success … and watch this space!

This quarter saw the introduction of refreshments after Mass on fourth Sundays. This was initially generously provided by Emma and William Edwards – complete with fine home-made Simnel Cake – but the early arrival of their second daughter, Cecilia, has temporarily curtailed their involvement, allowing others an opportunity to offer their services. The new service is proving popular, especially with our regular celebrant, Fr Jonathan.

A recent poll of Mass-goers has identified one new volunteer altar server and it is hoped that his training can begin soon. If anyone else would like to offer their services, even as an occasional backup, then please get in touch.

The Schola Gregoriana Malverniensis was privileged to sing the Solemn Liturgy in the pre-1955 form on Good Friday at St Winifride’s in Shrewsbury, at the kind invitation of Fr Scott Smith ICKSP. Unfortunately, owing to unforeseen circumstances the Schola was unable to sing for the LMS Pilgrimage to Holywell on Sunday 7 July as planned, but fortunately the organisers were able to find a replacement Schola.

Lastly our thanks as usual to Dom Jonathan Rollinson OSB for his unfailing support and also to Fr Paul Lester CO for celebrating Mass for us on the 3rd Sunday after Easter.

Thanks also to our servers, singers, and tea-makers for their invaluable contribution.

Birmingham (Oxford) Joseph Shaw oxford@lms.org.uk The big news this quarter is the establishment of a new every-Sunday Traditional Mass in Oxford: at 5pm in Holy Rood, Abingdon Road, thanks to the parish priest, Fr Daniel Lloyd. This is in Portsmouth Diocese, a stone’s throw from the diocesan boundary, which is the River Thames, and easily accessible from the centre of the city. Holy Rood has a car park, and I hope this new Mass will prove convenient for many. It is currently Low, but will become Sung in September.

Other Sunday Masses, in the Oratory and (monthly) in SS Gregory and Augustine, continue as before.

In the coming quarter, as well as the usual Sunday and holy day Masses, there will be a Missa Cantata at Holy Trinity

AUTUMN 2019

REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Hethe on Sunday 6 October, for Our Lady of the Rosary; the annual LMS Oxford Pilgrimage on Saturday 19 October in Blackfriars; and the annual Requiem in St Benet’s Hall, 38 St Giles in the centre of Oxford, on Saturday 9 November. See Mass listings for full details.

I would particularly encourage supporters to join the Pilgrimage on 19 October. As well as a very beautiful High Mass in the Dominican Rite, with polyphony, we always have a procession through the streets to honour the five men who died for the Faith in our city, and to honour God who infused them with invincible courage. This year we will be visiting the place of martyrdom of Bl George Napier, who was hanged, drawn and quartered on the Castle Gallows in 1610, having minstered in the Oxford area as a priest for a decade.

Finally, we are planning server training for Saturday 10 August in SS Gregory & Augustine’s, Woodstock Road, Oxford: contact me for more details.

Brentwood (East) Alan Gardner alanmdgardner@gmail.com In the extended ‘country’ region of the diocese our regular Traditional Masses continue in Chelmsford, Kelvedon and Leigh; we are so lucky in our priests who give us these Masses in addition to their normal busy parish duties.

Mea culpa, the deadline was missed for the previous issue of MoA, when it would have been possible to wax lyrical about additional Masses at Chelmsford on Ash Wednesday, and an uplifting Missa Cantata on Easter Sunday in a Chapel that was even more overcrowded than usual; together with (as might be expected!) the normal ‘stonking’ sermons from Fr Stephen Morrison. It was good also to celebrate Ascension Thursday there in traditional style…

We mentioned previously a joyful new addition, and subsequently Quinn Joseph Nickson was baptised at St Thomas of Canterbury in Woodford Green. Fr Stephen officiated at the ceremony on Saturday, 9 March with Godparents Kyle Owen and Emily Panayitou in attendance, along with two proud elder brothers, parents, family and friends.

It has been a delight to see Masses celebrated with increasing regularity at Old Hall Green (thank you, Fr Crean!), at Saffron Walden, and at Epping (please note this last is on the fourth Sunday of each month). If we are in those areas, we should of course endeavour to give these our support; if you aren’t being kept ‘in the loop’ about them, do please make contact.

As always, if we can add our mite as servers or singers, experienced or learning, we must step forward; again, please get in touch.

Cardiff Andrew Butcher Cardiff Representative 07905 609770 cardiff@lms.org.uk www.lmscardiff.org.uk All Mass times and locations within the Archdiocese remain unchanged. Masses, in particular, Sung or High Masses, may be announced at short notice due to the availability of the priests. I will do my very best to keep you informed, but if you have the internet, checking our website weekly is likely to be the best way to stay informed.

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A reminder that for all those in Cardiff, Holy Mass is offered daily at the Oratory (except Sunday). See the website or Mass of Ages for more information.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact either Shaun Bennett (Hereford) or myself. The latest Mass listings have been included in this edition of Mass of Ages.

Our website has just received its spring clean (later than usual) and should now be up to date. If you notice anything untoward or incorrect, please let me know.

Congratulations to Father Sebastian Jones Cong. Orat. on the 25th anniversary of his ordination and to Father Laurence Bryce on his ordination to the priesthood in June.

Ad multos annos!

Clifton James Belt & Monika Paplaczyk 07890 687453 clifton@lms.org.uk lmsclifton.blogspot.co.uk Fr Seth Phipps, FSSP, who was ordained to the Priesthood last June in Warrington, returned to his home diocese of Clifton on Saturday, 25 May. He celebrated a High Mass of Requiem at Prinknash Abbey, with Fr Bede Rowe as Deacon and Fr Alex Redman as Subdeacon.

Our annual Solemn High Mass was held at Downside Abbey on Saturday, 22 June, the Feast of St Alban, Protomartyr of England. As usual, Dom Boniface Hill was the celebrant.

We are grateful to the clergy and servers who assisted with the Mass, and the St John’s Festival Choir, from Bath, who sang works including Monteverdi’s Missa a quattro voci da cappella. The regular monthly Low Masses continue, on the first Sunday of the month at 11:15am in the Crypt Chapel.

On the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, August 15, at 7:30pm, a High Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes, Weston-Super-Mare. All are welcome.

The annual LMS pilgrimage to Glastonbury will be held this year on Saturday, 7 September, with High Mass in the Shrine Church at 11:30am. All are welcome.

East Anglia (West) Gregor Dick In addition to the usual Sunday Masses, which continue at Blackfriars, on Ascension Thursday a Sung Mass was celebrated in Cambridge at the parish church of Our Lady of the Assumption and the English Martyrs by Fr Simon Leworthy, who since last year has been Assistant Priest at the parish. We would like to express our gratitude both to Fr Leworthy and to the Parish Priest, Mgr Canon Eugène Harkness, who assisted in choir.

There are plans for further Masses in the Traditional Rite to be celebrated here. Although at the time of printing no times had been established firmly, details will be posted to the LMS website when they are available.

Hallam Nick Ross hallam@lms.org.uk I am delighted to have been appointed the representative for Hallam and I look forward to making progress in this diocese now that we have settled into our new home, just south of the diocesan border.

The response from members has been encouraging; people have already contacted me offering their support and giving me some valuable background.

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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY It seems there have been sporadic Masses in the past, but priest-moves and such broke any stability. I look forward to building my connections in the diocese and build towards some sort of consistency. Finding this, building on it, and replicating it. This is my goal, Deo volente. Thank you again for your support.

Hexham and Newcastle Keith McAllister 01325 308968 07966 235329 k_mcallister@ymail.com Our Mass provision listing continues as before. After the installation of our new Bishop, Robert Byrne, at St Mary’s Cathedral on the Feast of the Annunciation, Father Michael Brown rounded off the glorious day with a Low Mass at St Joseph’s, Gateshead, attended by a congregation of 22; unusually good for a Monday evening.

We note with sadness the death of Terry Middleton, age 74, whose Requiem Mass was held at St Joseph’s Gateshead on 13 May. He was an historian, genealogist and Latin Mass chorister, who will be greatly missed.

Corpus Christi was, as usual, celebrated at Gateshead with a High Mass, procession and Benediction. At Coxhoe, Fr Shaun Swales celebrated Low Mass.

We have appreciated the presence of young James Baxter (a current year linguistics Graduate of Newcastle University) a talented musician, who has been invited to commence studies at the ICKSP Gricigliano Seminary from September.

James is originally from Yorkshire and his diocesan friends here wish him every blessing.

We recently lost our experienced server and M.C., young Andrew McDowell, to Portsmouth diocese, where he married Stephanie Hogan ahead of a Nuptial Solemn High Mass in Bournemouth Oratory. Our Fr Michael Brown was sub-deacon.

May they be blessed with every joy in the coming years.

Lancaster Bob & Jane Latin 01524 412987 lancaster@lms.org.uk latinmasslancaster.blogspot.com John Rogan 01524 858832 lancasterassistant@lms.org.uk To date we have only managed to arrange two Masses at Sizergh Castle this summer as it hasn't been possible to tie in the availability of both priests and the Strickland family, but it is hoped that we may be able to have one in the autumn: please keep an eye on the website for further news.

The other news is that September will possibly see the last EF Mass in the Lancaster area until next May as Canon Ruscillo will be taking a Sabbatical in Jerusalem from October to April inclusive. However, we are living in hope that something else may be arranged; please say a prayer that this will be possible.

On 20 July the Institute of Christ the King hosted, at the request of the LMS, a training day for those who wished to learn or improve the serving of the EF Mass, which we hope will have been of great benefit to those who are not able to get to the days further south.

By the time this goes to print we will have been present at the First Mass & First Blessings of Canon Ryan Post from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, who will

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have been ordained on 4 July. We will also have been to the ordination of Fr Stephen Talbutt from this Diocese on 6 July; before he went to seminary Stephen was quite a regular server at the EF Masses at Lancaster Cathedral. Please keep both these new priests in your prayers.

Liverpool Jim Pennington liverpool@lms.org.uk All the regular Sunday and Holyday EF Masses in the Archdiocese continue, as do the weekday Masses at Holy Spirit, Ford, and St John’s, Wigan.

We were unable to have Mass on Corpus Christi at St Anthony’s, as the Canons of the Institute of Christ the King were unable to be with us, and I was unable to find another celebrant at short notice. There are at present only two diocesan priests able to offer Sunday Mass for us, and this situation will worsen in September, when Fr Sean Riley leaves to further his studies. We continue to look out for willing and able priests.

Earlier this year, we were invited by the Synod 2020 coordinator, Matt Jeziorski, to form a ‘Listening group’ to present our views as lovers of the Traditional Rite Mass, for consideration by the Synod next year. In June a group of twelve of us met with Matt at St Anthony’s, and each member had the opportunity to speak in response to the four Synod questions. Various perspectives were presented, and will be reported by Matt to the Synod. I have asked him to copy his report to me. He has since said that he thought we raised many important points, and I look forward to his report.

We also put forward a written submission, prepared for the group by LMS member Neil Addison, and requested that this be presented for consideration by the Synod. Our thanks to Neil for his excellent paper.

It is very encouraging to be invited by them to take part in the consultation process, and a sign, I hope, of sympathetic regard by the Synod co-ordinator for the Traditional Rite.

Let us hope that the formal Synod proceedings will be as amenable.

Northampton North (Northamptonshire) northampton@lms.org.uk Paul Beardsmore Fr Byrne, at St Brendan's in Corby, offered additional Masses for the feasts of the Ascension and Corpus Christi.

The regular Saturday Masses continue.

Northampton (South) Barbara Kay mbky3@outlook.com 01234 340759 I am delighted to report that Sunday Masses at Bedford now attract around 100 people each week. The first Sunday in the month is usually a Sung Mass with the schola, which is small in number but determined! Rehearsals are held at Christ the King on the Saturday before the First Sunday at 11.30 am and new singers would be most welcome. Our Director of Music, Matthew Schellhorn, plays and sings on two other Sundays each month. Another Sung Mass in the Northampton diocese takes place at Chesham Bois, normally on the first Sunday, at 8 am, and there is a Low Mass there at the same time on the other Sundays.

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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Fr Matthew Goddard, FSSP, one of the priests based at Reading who says the Mass at Bedford, celebrated the 10th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on 30 May. We at Christ the King sent him a greetings card, designed and stitched by one of our members, on the actual day, and when he next visited Bedford to say Mass at Bedford on 9 June, we surprised him with a cake in the hall afterwards.

We are very grateful to the FSSP for providing celebrants from Reading each Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation since October 2017.

Our series of First Sunday Family Catechism Days at Bedford finished on 2 June, but we are hoping that there will be more in future. Meanwhile, a new group, the Patricians, started on 15 June under the auspices of our active Legion of Mary group; the topic was ‘The Role of Men and Women in Catholic Marriage’. The Patricians met again on 13 July and discussed the topic ‘Are All Religions Equal?’ We will be continuing with other such ‘hot topics’ in the coming months.

We had the joy of four of the children in the Bedford congregation, Anna, Clara, Gabriel and Matthias, making their First Holy Communion on Sunday, 23 June, which was

celebrated as a Sung Mass for Corpus Christi. One of the mothers had made a beautiful celebration cake.

On 29 June we launched the “Friends of the FSSP Bedford”, which will bring together and promote our various activities and enable members of our congregation to play a more active role through prayer, involvement with events and financial support.

Regina Caeli, the new Bedfordshire-based homeschooling academy, will open its doors on 16 September. Full details can be found at https://www.rcahybrid.org.uk/.

Looking further ahead, the Latin Mass Society will, for the second time, visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Church of the Holy Child and St Joseph, Bedford; on Saturday, 23 November at 12 noon, there will be a Solemn High Mass of Reparation for Abortion. One of the priests of the FSSP will be the celebrant and Fr Gabriel Diaz, well known for his previous Masses at Bedford in the past, will be returning to the town as Deacon. Br Albert Robertson OP completes the trio of Sacred Ministers as Sub-Deacon.

We are a vibrant and growing community; our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/bedfordlatinmass/ and perhaps you will feel inspired to visit us in person one day.

We promise a warm welcome.

Fr Goddard cutting his cake

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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Nottingham Jeremy Boot 07462-018386 It is heartening for our celebrants, as I said in the last report, to see increases in attendance at most Masses. Our congregations have increased and are stable.

At The Good Shepherd, Nottingham, on Saturdays anticipating the Sunday Mass (4.45 Sat before 2nd Sunday of the month), the two Masses at Our Lady and St Patrick, Nottingham (2pm 3rd and 4th Sundays), we are now able to sing the chant. Our Cathedral (Low) Mass continues also at 6.15pm on 3rd Wednesdays. We shall lose some of our students with the close of the academic year. I hope their successors will quickly become interested in our Masses too.

Another reminder: that as usual, because of holidays and other absences, there will be no Masses throughout August. Masses resume at all venues in September.

Nottingham South (Leicestershire and Rutland) Paul Beardsmore In addition to the scheduled cycle of Masses Canon Cahill, at St Peter's in Leicester, offered a Low Mass on the feast of the Sacred Heart, and Sung Masses for the Ascension and Corpus Christi; the scheduled Mass on the feast of SS Peter and Paul was also sung.

Sunday and weekday Masses continue in the Dominican Rite at Holy Cross Priory. There was also a Sung Nuptial Mass on 2 May for the wedding of Annie van Kroonenburg and Edmund Waddelove.

Fr Dye continues to offer Mass at St Joseph's, Oakham, on Friday evenings.

Plymouth (Devon) Maurice Quinn 07555 536579 devon@lms.org.uk I am pleased to report that there have been no changes to the weekly Sunday 11.30am Latin Mass at St Edward the Confessor in Peverell, Plymouth, where Fr Tony Pillari still has full pastoral care of the congregation. This latter was shown recently when the congregation was treated to another Baptism, this time the daughter of the MC, Matthew Villa Real and his wife Theresa. Baby Mary-Grace Margaret takes her rightful place in a largely young congregation where the children almost outnumber the adults. Mr Andrew Proctor, who provides the music every Sunday, is still looking for more choir members, so if any reader is able to offer some help it would be much appreciated - just have a word with Andrew either before or after Holy Mass, or contact me for more details Our monthly Sunday afternoon Traditional Rite Mass at Blessed Sacrament, Heavitree, Exeter, continued as usual with Mgr Adrian Toffolo, along with Fr Peter Coxe taking turns to celebrate. Unfortunately, we lose Mgr Toffolo due to his impending retirement, and as such he celebrated his last Latin Mass for us on the Third Sunday of June - we heartily thank the Monsignor and wish him well for the future. It has been noticed that there are many new faces among the congregation, and that, overall, numbers are increasing at this venue, including students of the university. Due to

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increased interest in the Old Latin Rite among the latter, Fr Michael Wheaton, the Roman Catholic chaplain, celebrates the usus antiquior for them during term time. For more details on this, prospective students may contact Fr Michael via email on the following: m.t.wheaton@exeter.ac.uk At St Cyprian’s, Ugbrooke House, Chudleigh, I am pleased to report that Fr Guy de Gaynesford still manages to celebrate a Missa Cantata for us in the afternoon of the fourth Sunday of every month. We were pleased to have Dr Andrew Beards in the choir, along with Timothy TindalRobertson and Michael Crawford, with Dr Andrew’s son, Jerome, serving on the sanctuary while at home from university during the summer break. Although we had to cancel Mass at this venue during May, things are back to normal for the rest of the year. During the Summer months tea is available after Mass in the Orangery, where visitors can meet and greet some of the regulars.

We had our last Latin Mass at Buckfast Abbey during March with Fr Guy de Gaynesford as celebrant, and since then I have been contacted by people from around the country wanting to know if there is a chance that this can be resumed in order that they may plan a visit to coincide with a Latin Mass. As disappointing as this is, I can now confirm that this particular facility is no longer open to us, but we thank the Benedictine Community of Buckfast for helping us in the past. I might just add that as the pastoral need in the diocese for the usus antiquior is growing, I am still looking for more venues to help alleviate this, and I hope to have more good news on this in the near future.

Plymouth (Dorset) Maurice Quinn 07555 536579 devon@lms.org.uk I am very pleased to report that in response to a number of requests for a Latin Mass to be celebrated at Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs and St Ignatius in Chideock to honour the Chideock Martyrs, I have managed to obtain permission from the Trustees of this beautiful and historic church to go ahead. The date has been fixed for Saturday, 28 September with Fr Anthony Pillari of Lanherne as celebrant, and the event promises to be well worth putting in the diary. If this is as successful as I think it will be, we will be looking at including something similar at Chideock each year if possible. A full programme has now been worked out, which includes a Missa Cantata and veneration of the relics, full details of which can be found elsewhere in this issue of Mass of Ages and on the LMS website. Thanks to the Arundell and Weld families, the faith survived in Chideock throughout penal times, and continues to this day (full information/ artefacts can be viewed on the day in the museum attached to the church). Although well-advertised by the LMS, do contact me if you have any questions.

At Our Lady of Lourdes and St Cecilia in Blandford Forum, the12 noon Latin Mass continues to be celebrated by Mgr Francis Jamieson with his regular server, Colin Harte.

Please remember that Mgr Francis at Blandford celebrates the usus antiquior in alternate months with Fr Martin Budge at St Mary’s Marnhull (usually on weekdays and always at 12 noon), so always check the Mass Listings before travelling to either of these venues. Take note also that at both these

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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY venues, there is a free social lunch after Mass in the church rooms to which those attending – both regulars and visitors – are invited. If you have any questions regarding any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Portsmouth (Bournemouth) Tim Fawkes t.fawkes136@btinternet.com Regular first Friday Low Masses have continued at the Bournemouth Oratory and there were additional Low Masses on 4 May (English and Welsh Martyrs) and on 29 May (Vigil of the Ascension).

On Saturday, 22 June two parishioners, Stephanie Hogan and Andrew McDowell were married at a Nuptial High Mass by Fr Stephen Brown. Fr Dominic Jacob was Deacon and Fr Michael Brown was Sub-Deacon. The Marian Friars of Gosport sang beautifully at the first High Mass in the Bournemouth area since the liturgical changes, to the best of my knowledge.

The next High Mass took place a week later on 29 June, the feast of SS Peter and Paul. After being ordained priest as recently as 8 June by Bishop Robert Byrne of Hexham and Newcastle diocese, Fr Andrew Wagstaff of the Bournemouth Oratory was celebrant, assisted by Fr Tim Finigan as Deacon and Brother Francisco Hintikka as Sub-Deacon. Again, a wonderful occasion for those present and surely a reason to give thanks in that a new priest is keen to offer the Traditional Latin Mass.

Portsmouth (Isle of Wight) Peter Clarke 01983 566740 or 07790892592 E. F. Masses continue on the Isle of Wight. Usually they are weekly on a Thursday at 12 noon; with Exposition and Confessions from 11-30am. The Masses are offered mainly

by Fr Jonathan Redvers Harris (Ordinariate and parish priest of Cowes and East Cowes). The venues vary from St Thomas’s, Cowes, St David’s, East Cowes and St Mary’s, Ryde.

We were pleased to have a small Corpus Christi Procession once again at St Mary’s, Ryde. In his sermon at the Corpus Christi Mass, Fr Jonathan Redvers Harris reminded the congregation of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. “Calvary marked the bloodied sacrifice of Christ. The Mass is the unbloodied Sacrifice of Christ. We are conscious, especially on this great feast, of the reassuring presence of Christ in all the tabernacles in the Catholic churches of the world”.

Please ring for confirmation of these Masses if you are coming from the mainland.

Shrewsbury (Chester) Andrew Nielsen Traditional Sung Masses were celebrated at St Clare's for Easter Sunday, Fourth Sunday after Easter and Trinity Sunday. Easter Sunday Mass was delayed as Canon Montjean had to come straight from the celebration of Easter Sunday High Mass at New Brighton. It is the norm that priests celebrating Mass at Chester will either celebrate or assist at Mass at another church on the same day. There is a loyal core of regular congregants but numbers are still low, more would be welcome.

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Shrewsbury (The Wirral) Stefano Mazzeo 0151 638 6822 wirral@lms.org.uk At the Shrine church of SS Peter & Paul and St Philomena, or Dome of Home, we continue to make progress with the restoration of this great church. Eight months ago, we received a Development Grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for the team to prepare our application to restore the dome and main sanctuary, which is the most expensive part of the restoration project.

NLHF require us to engage the wider community with the church and, of course, this gives us a great excuse to explain Tradition and the Catholic Church to a wider public and it is paying off as our congregation has been rising. We also need to do a certain amount of match funding, and also anyone who helps the Dome and the project in anyway should send in their volunteer hours to the Project Manager Anne Archer at contactus@domeofhome.org. Also, you may wish to join the Friends of the Shrine group.

The recent Latin Mass Society pilgrimage to Holywell in honour of St Winefride was a great success and much thanks is due to our Wrexham LMS Rep, Kevin Jones, for all his hard work and organisation. It was celebrated this year by Fr Gribbin from the shrine. It was wonderful to see so many young families attend with about a quarter of the congregation being 18 or under.

The priests at the Dome have been offering 30 Consecutive Masses for Catholic Education, as the government has decided to implement the new Relationship and Sex Education in all schools from September 2020, despite the consultation being against it. Perhaps this initiative could be encouraged at other Catholic Churches, where reason has failed the supernatural will not.

The Masses at Birkenhead Carmel continue at 7:45am on Thursdays. During July, the Carmel had a resident priest who offered a daily Latin Mass for the sisters.

For more information on the Dome and our projects please contact Canon Montjean or Canon Poucin and Fr Gribbin on 0151 638 6822, email: newbrighton@icrsp.org Southwark (Kent) Marygold Turner 01580 291372 Not much to report, but we have Masses on the Feasts of the Ascension and Corpus Christi at Headcorn, and the rest of the holy days of obligation are all arranged. Great news that Fr Richard Whinder will be well enough to celebrate Mass on the Feast of All Saints for us.

I went to “The Sound of Music” recently at Canon Hudson’s hugely successful International School in Brussels. It was very professionally produced, sung, and acted - rather warm at 35°C. Monsignor Coulon came to stay with me in mid-July, and he celebrated Mass in Maidstone.

What a hero he has been for our beloved Holy Mass.

Southwark (St. Bede's, Clapham Park) Thomas Windsor This quarter began with Holy Week and we would like to thank Fr Andrew Southwell for coming to celebrate the Liturgy during one of the busier weeks of the year. On Palm Sunday we had our usual Sung Mass and procession,

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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY with the choir singing the wonderful setting by Victoria of the Passion, and the Issac setting of the Communion. This year we also had Sung Masses on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week. Our choir once again provided some wonderful polyphony and chant for the Mass and procession of Maundy Thursday, and on Good Friday we once again had Victoria’s setting of the Passion. Our Easter began with our Vigil Mass, with the lighting of the new fire, Exsultet, all the Prophecies, blessing of the Font, with the choir singing the beautiful setting of the Sicut Cervus

by Palestrina. It was especially good to see so many of our boys serving, and the church so full of young families for these long services over Holy Week. With the Vigil over our excellent serving team and choir could not yet have a welldeserved break, with Easter Sunday Mass and Vespers and another Sung Mass on Easter Monday.

Once again, we celebrated Vespers on all the Sundays of Easter, with goodly numbers of singers and servers returning to St Bede’s after their Sunday lunch.

Our choir and servers gave up their Bank Holiday to sing Mass on 6 May, and 27, the Feast of St Bede. A few days later we had another Sung Mass for the Feast of the Ascension. Serves and choir once again gave up their Saturday morning to celebrate the Vigil of Pentecost, Sung Masses followed for the Feasts of Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, and SS Peter and Paul.

We have continued singing Mass on Saturdays as well as Sunday. The Guild of St Clare, with Servers and children choir practice, has continued on the 3rd Saturday of the Month.

We have also been running Catechism classes fortnightly on Sundays after Mass for the large numbers of children, over 50 at the last count. Our special Sundays with polyphonic Mass followed by shared lunch, talk for adults, activities for children ending with Benediction continue monthly.

We have had some difficulty finding priests to celebrate our week day Masses, so do check the parish website for last minute changes, and if you know of any priests available to celebrate Masses at St Bede’s do get in touch.

St Augustine & National Pugin Centre, who kept the Sunday Missa Cantata at St Augustine’s going during the threemonth interregnum. Readers unfamiliar with the wonderful Fr Basden need only know that he is a long-term friend of Tradition and is a sound and holy priest as well as a real dynamo. We are delighted to welcome him to Thanet and excited to see his plans unfold. When I asked him if there was anything he would like added to the report in Mass of Ages, he replied with the following: “We had Fr Gabriel Diaz Patri who came from St Bede’s in Clapham Park and did the entire Holy Week at the Shrine.

Every week we have a Missa Cantata but need some help with singers! This summer we have had a brief visit from Dom Benedict Andersen OSB from Silverstream and we look forward to the visit of Fr Andrew Southwell from Rome with the young people attending the LMS Summer School.

We hope to welcome the newly ordained Fr Rupert Bevan to offer a first Mass, as his family has been involved here with music in the past. We were not badly represented at the Chartres pilgrimage - our former PP walked the entire way while our present PP attended in a geriatric capacity! We very much miss our great supporter Fr Tim Finigan who has retired through ill health from Margate and rejoice at his recovery of health. We have a few good servers and an excellent 17-year-old MC - Hugo Robinson - who was well able to negotiate the intricacies of the Triduum! We will miss Jamie Wheadon (pray for his vocation!) and John from Tonga, both of whom have been a great support to the altar staff but have now graduated from the University of Kent in Canterbury. There is much to do but we hope to build up the Tradition in Thanet and commend ourselves to Our Lady Conquerer of Heresies!”

So, despite a bumpy start to 2019, things in Thanet are definitely looking rosier, at least in Ramsgate. The Wednesday morning Low Mass continues at St Ethelbert’s, Ramsgate and the main Sunday Mass at the Shrine of St Augustine is a Missa Cantata with sung Vespers and Benediction every first Sunday afternoon.

Southwark (Thanet) Antonia Robinson thanet@lms.org.uk Much has changed in Thanet over the past few months.

As many readers will be aware, Fr Timothy Finigan, Parish Priest of St Austin and St Gregory, Margate offered his resignation due to ill health at the beginning of 2019. Notable for his astute sermons, superb pastoral abilities, liturgical exactitude and great piety, Fr Finigan was an exemplary and much-loved priest who is greatly missed. Our prayers and good wishes for his convalescence follow him. Sadly, the Traditional Latin Mass will no longer be celebrated in Margate and while many parishioners have turned to the Shrine Church at St Augustine in Ramsgate for spiritual solace, for some this is neither practical nor possible and a good number of faithful families and individuals attached to the Extraordinary Form have been left without provision.

Ramsgate too has seen enormous changes, but here, at least, there is more positive news. Fr Marcus Holden the previous Parish Priest of Ramsgate and Fr Christopher Basden, Parish Priest of St Bede’s, Clapham Park arranged a ‘parish swap’ and Fr Basden was inducted as Parish Priest of Ramsgate in April. We are very grateful to Fr Simon Heans, Administrator of the beautifully restored Shrine of

Westminster (Spanish Place) Roger Wemyss Brooks wemyssbrooks@outlook.com spanishplace@lms.org.uk Attendance at Sunday Masses continues consistently high. On feast days the size of congregation is inevitably less due, to some extent, to competing Masses elsewhere.

Fr Michael Cullinan continues to provide us with devoutly celebrated Masses and clear and instructive homilies. He was also very helpful with the ceremonies of Holy Week at Moorfields. On occasions when Fr Michael’s duties at Maryvale prevent him, we have had Masses offered

by Fr Mark Elliott Smith, now resident in the Rectory at Spanish Place. Fr Joe Hamilton from Oxford has also been a welcome visitor.

On Sunday, 7 July we had the great joy of Fr Rosario Joseph Mary offering one of his first London Masses and give First Blessings. He was ordained priest in the Traditional Rite at Portsmouth Cathedral on Friday 5 July (for more on this see pages 5, 8 and 9). He is the second son of Mary Ebank a regular member of our congregation.

A recent servers’ training day was very well attended – we shall soon benefit from having some new recruits. The next training day will be in September.

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FEATURE

The May Procession of Our Lady of Willesden

Westminster (Willesden) Anna Grayson-Morley willesden@lms.org.uk 07710 472295 The parish’s annual May Procession of Our Lady of Willesden saw a large turnout, followed by Benediction and culminating with Mass in the EF. We usually have a good turnout for the Latin Mass on this day, but this year it was the largest so far, with over 70 attendees with standing room only.

This May we were honoured and very pleased to have Fr John Scott, Westminster Cathedral Chaplain, celebrate the Latin Mass on one of our regular 5:30 pm Sunday Masses, when Fr Stephen was away on holiday. Fr John’s schedule does not allow for much travel, so we were especially grateful to him for making the effort for us.

Fr George Roth from the Franciscan Community in Gosport holds Days of Recollection here roughly every 6 to 8 weeks, beginning with Mass in the EF at 10am. If you are interested in attending one of these days, please contact me for further information.

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Wrexham Kevin Jones 07803 248170 wrexham@lms.org.uk Bar one, all regular Masses took place as scheduled in the past quarter. There have been some pleasing attendances at the first Saturday Masses at Our Lady of the Rosary, Buckley, with the other two Masses at St Francis of Assisi, Llay and St Winefride’s, Holywell attracting roughly the same numbers on average.

What is pleasing is that some new faces have appeared at all three venues.

Regretfully, we had to cancel the April (Low Sunday) Mass at Holywell due to no priest being available. Regular celebrant, Canon Doyle was supplying in Mold and in addition to his own parochial duties at Buckley, he simply did not have the capacity to get to Holywell.

In May, Canon made a diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes and I was fortunate to be able to call upon the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) at New Brighton and we appreciated Canon Poucin de Wouilt’s attendance.

With the ICKSP having an increasing Sunday commitment (as was the case in April), they will not always be available to assist. The prognostication could be reasonably formed that as time presses on and given the current crisis in priestly numbers in Wrexham Diocese, arranging cover will be no less a challenge in the future.

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FEATURE

The Chideock Martyrs Maurice Quinn remembers the Dorset men who died for the Faith

The Church of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and St Ignatius

S

even Chideock men – three priests and four laymen – were cruelly put to death for their Catholic faith between 1587 and 1642, whereas an eighth, John Jessop, died in prison.

The church of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, and St Ignatius, is a memorial to them and to all those who kept the faith throughout the times of bloody repression.

Chideock Castle was built by John de Chideocke in 1380. In the late Middle Ages, it passed into the hands of the Arundells of Lanherne, a powerful West Country family. When the old religion was banned, the Arundells remained loyal to their faith, and the castle became a refuge for priests where local Catholics could attend Mass.

The Arundells left Chideock when the castle was destroyed in the Civil War, but the local people kept the faith and worshipped in secret in the loft of a barn next to the site of the present Manor House.

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The martyrs are commemorated at their place of execution in South Walks Road, Dorchester, by a life-size bronze monument in memory of all the Dorset Martyrs.

The first to suffer martyrdom, in 1587, was the Jesuit, Thomas Pilchard, who was concealed at Chideock Castle.

While at the castle, Fr Pilchard SJ made

many converts, including Thomas Pike, a Chideock carpenter. Pilchard was arrested along with Pike and another companion, John Jessop, described as a gentleman. Pilchard was hanged, drawn and quartered in Dorchester in 1587, whereas Pike remained in prison until being butchered in 1594, and John Jessop died in 1588 in Dorchester prison.

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FEATURE John Conor O’Mahoney, later known as John Cornelius, became a priest and ministered to Lady Arundell at Chideock Castle, where he also made a number of converts. In 1594 Cornelius was betrayed and arrested in Chideock Castle with his two servants, Patrick Salmon and John Cary, and a kinsman of Lady Arundell, Thomas Bosgrove.

Fr Cornelius became a Jesuit while in prison, and all three martyred together that same year. The last of the Chideock Martyrs was Hugh Green, a Protestant convert who became a Catholic priest and chaplain to the Arundell family.

He was arrested, and, while in prison, converted two criminals, and was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1649.

In 1802, Thomas Weld, a relation of the Arundells and from an old Catholic family, bought the Chideock estate for his son Humphrey, who built the present Manor House, and turned the barn into a chapel. It was Humphrey’s son, Charles, who then transformed the chapel into the beautiful church we know today. The church, one of the gems of English Catholicism, is dedicated to Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, and to St Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus. It was built by Charles Weld in the grounds of Chideock Manor – home to the Weld family for 200 years – and finished in 1872.

Weld designed the church in the Italian Romanesque style and did much of the work himself, including the wall decorations, the high altar and the side chapels, and the sculpted capitals of the nave pillars. The earlier chapel became

Chideock showing the dome the transepts of the new church, the nave and aisles were brought out at right angles, and the high altar was moved to its present position.

The front of the church recalls the early churches of Tuscany. A stunning roundel in painted terracotta above the entrance features a statue of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, encircled by her Seven Sorrows.

Above the high altar is a very fine gilded statue of Our Lady in the Baroque style, dramatically lit from the dome above. The portraits over the arches on each side of the nave depict the English

Martyrs and were painted by members of the Weld family. Parts of the original barn chapel, which were also painted by the Weld family, can be seen in the current sacristy, and there is access from here to the barn’s loft where Mass was held in secret. The sacristy and loft can be visited by arrangement.

The barrel-vaulted roof is decorated to Charles Weld’s designs, and the reredos behind the altar was decorated

by Charles’s family, and represents the Weld patrons, St Edmund, St Lucy, St Humphrey, and St Apollonia. Two Italian marble statues of Our Lady and St Joseph stand in the sanctuary. A gallery overlooking the sanctuary was used by the Weld family, and had direct access from the manor.

The church has relics of the True Cross and of fragments of Our Lady’s veil from Chartres, a piece of St Thomas More’s hair shirt and relics of St Cuthbert Mayne. Underneath the altar are the relics of St Mecius, a boy martyred in ancient Rome. The side altars are dedicated to the Sacred Heart and St Ignatius of Loyola respectively.

With thanks to Mrs Gaby Martelli

Looking toward the Sanctuary

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Chideock Pilgrimage Holy Mass, Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and St Ignatius is on Saturday 28 September. For more information see page 6

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COMMENT

Serpent on the Rock Mary O’Regan remembers the Catholic writer, Alice Thomas Ellis

I

n early March, I was about to leave the house for Mass when suddenly I was presented in my mind’s eye with a vision of my late friend Richard Collins standing next to the noted Catholic author, Alice Thomas Ellis. At the time I was ignorant of Ellis, but it was as if Richard was introducing her to me and bidding me to acquaint myself with her impressive catalogue of books.

Ellis died in March 2005 with 21 fiction and non-fiction titles to her name. In recent months I have steeped myself in her writing and can confidently say she had the talents of three Catholic writers and she deserves three accolades that recognize her accomplishments.

Firstly, I wish to honour Ellis as the historian of Our Lady of Good Success.

What Our Lady foretold at Quito, Ecuador, to Mother Mariana, about the sordid state of society towards the end of the 20th century was chronicled

by Ellis in her book Serpent on the Rock. This greatly concerns Millennials like me who were born in the last decades of the 20th Century.

When I read Serpent I felt I was revisiting my childhood because the cornerstone of the book is an account Ellis made of her tour around Ireland in 1992 after the Bishop Eamonn Casey scandal. At the time I was making my First Holy Communion and Ireland was learning of Bishop Casey's torrid affair with Annie Murphy, with whom he fathered a son. I remember hearing

so much about the Bishop Casey saga that I thought it was usual for bishops to be in secret sexual relationships. Our Lady of Good Success had prophesied that children of my generation would be overly sexualised and that there would be exceedingly few virgin souls.

As Ellis unflinchingly recorded, the media in Ireland had something of an obsession with the Casey affair and gave Annie Murphy a platform to poke fun at Bishop Casey: "He was in his 40s and a virgin. I can see the humorous side now."

In Serpent Ellis made lacerating critiques of post Vatican II Catholicism, and with this in mind I wish to honour her as a courageous Cassandra who would not be cowed. Ellis described a landscape of, “new or reordered churches of Lutheran barrenness, all Catholic culture, all tradition lost.

Clown-like priests vainly trying to be ‘with it’, women flitting round the altar, lay Ministers of the Eucharist handing out the Host, guitars twanging in the aisles, clapping, hugs and handshakes and never a hint of awe or reverence.”

Her work was lightened with witticisms which were nonetheless loaded with truth: “There were a number of Protestants involved in Vatican II…they do not apparently find the New Mass offensive: a terrible indictment.”

She was heroic because she was often a lonely figure, writing in a climate of deepest denial, and relentlessly she was met with, "that smiling determination to deny that there is anything awry in the Church.” And on at least one occasion her criticisms of the shepherds who led the changes meant Ellis was punished by a prelate.

In her time, it was often a joust between the reformers and Ellis. Time, however, has proved her right as we see plummeting baptism rates, and dismal rates of Mass attendance. Ellis bemoaned the brand of Vatican II Catholicism that I and many people younger than I have rejected in favour of her great love: the Tridentine Latin Mass.

If anything, Ellis' writings on the beauty of the Old Mass and her criticisms of Vatican II Catholicism are much more useful to us now than in her time: our peers are ready for it. Serpent on the Rock needs to be rediscovered by the youngest generations of Traditional Catholics so we may give it to our friends and I would urge a publisher to consider reprinting it.

Thirdly, I wish to honour Ellis as a novelist, she was Britain's Flannery O'Connor. Just as O'Connor's works are hailed as classics, many of Ellis's 13 novels are worthy to be deemed classics, too, most especially The Sin Eater. Ellis's novel The 27th Kingdom has as its protagonist a young woman with a vocation to be a nun with something of St Catherine of Siena's gift of levitation. This extraordinary novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Since I had the vision of Richard Collins with Ellis, I have learned from his daughter Catherine that he thought very highly of her, which tells us he was a man of excellent taste.

'She was heroic because she was often a lonely figure, writing in a climate of deepest denial...'

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REVIEW

O tempora, O mores!

Lone Veiler on the trials and tribulations of being ‘woke’

W

hat it is to be woke. It’s exhausting. It’s never ending work. It can also be hilarious.

Being woke, no, not by the alarm clock, but alert to all the perceived injustices about you, social or otherwise, is a full-time job. It takes a huge amount of energy to be constantly railing against everything in full on social justice warrior (SJW) mode. Being a woke SJW means you are exceedingly attentive to that which particularly irks you, and what is and what is not socially relevant to you, and this takes serious effort.

There are some fabulous parodies of the state of wokeness, one going on Twitter for some time is particularly hilarious because it’s so good people have taken it seriously.

So, what have I got against social justice and its warriors as they appear on social media? Not much actually, apart from real justice and truth have been somewhat hijacked and warped by an often utterly banal, yet monstrously loud group of virtue signallers. The warriors value their personal feelings over fact or anybody else’s feelings, and regularly show signs of cognitive dissonance, more of that below. The Wikipedia definition says SJW is a derogatory term used by those who are against multiculturalism, feminism, socially progressive views, civil rights and identity politics. Where does one begin? Multiculturalism, well I’ve got a limited word count and that topic would be a PhD thesis and some, so moving on. Being XX chromosomed, and unashamed, I shall take feminism first.

Feminism, equal pay for equal work, voting rights, no glass ceilings, that sort of thing. No problem with any of that.

That’s right and proper. But biologically, having XX chromosomes as a woman means I am not biologically the same -equal to- a man because they have XY chromosomes. I am different to a man, not the same. Doesn’t make me against equal pay though.

When feminism means the right to murder your un-born daughter because she’s inconvenient, if not for the mother the person/s pressurising

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her, then I am resoundingly not a feminist. Feminism (more likely today to be equated with a perception of female superiority) is for the born, but not the unborn. Just look at cigarette packets that inform the smoker that their smoking harms the baby, yet that child is just clump of cells if the mother is at the abortion clinic. That’s cognitive dissonance with knobs on.

‘The Little Sisters of the Poor.

Where are their civil rights?’

Civil rights and identity politics kind of run together in my head.

Identity politics, that catch-all for any group with similar worldviews, is one of those irritating things that in our Orwellian world really only makes sense if you are one of those minority identifiers who demand their civil rights above everyone else’s, and Jimmy Choo stilettos in a men’s size 12. What do I mean? Well, I’m mainly thinking about cake here. Yes, lovely cake, not shoes. There have been some high-profile court cases where bakers,

yes, bakers, have been targeted for politely declining to make customers cakes that are contrary to their beliefs.

That means not icing particular messages on the top of them, not being able to provide hers and hers cake toppers, that sort of thing. So here we have one set of ‘identifiers’, the customers, deliberately asking another set of ‘identifiers’, the bakers, to do something they know will be against their code, in order to make some kind of civil rights-y/social justice-y point.

One lost her shop and livelihood, another is at the moment preparing for his third law suit – not that either of them were the only bakers in town you understand, there were plenty of others to choose from who ‘identified’ correctly. So not much social justice or acceptance to be found when the louder you shout ‘discrimination’ as the currently fashionable minority, the better you will be heard by the media who fall over themselves to push their brand of socially progressive agenda.

But the non-bakers in this scenario are convinced that they are acting in a socially progressive manner. They allegedly haven’t deliberately targeted anyone specifically, they are not just being bullies, they are showing up prejudice by highlighting their hurt and the perceived injustice of not having their cake and eating it. Except that’s not quite true, is it. Did I mention the bakers are Christians? So are the Little Sisters of the Poor, back in court again to try and force them to provide contraceptive services for employees when they won the first-time round.

California vs The Little Sisters of the Poor. Where are their civil rights? O tempora, o mores!

It’s not even just the secular world that has it in for us. This week the Order of Malta banned all things Latin, and in so doing sounded just like middle aged singer Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, who said recently that rock music is dead, like Latin. Can’t comment on the rock, but Latin? Dead?

They are so not woke.

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Architecture

The Sacred Heart Church occupies a prominent position in Richmond Hill

Sacred Heart, Bournemouth Paul Waddington on how three architects contributed to the making of this south coast church

T

oday, Bournemouth is a sizeable town and popular seaside resort with a population of 180,000 or more; but until 1816, when half a dozen villas were built, there was nothing but barren heathland behind the cliffs that line the coast between Christchurch and Poole. The River Bourne that joins the sea via a gap, or chine, in the cliffs was too small for any form of port, although it is said that it made an ideal haven for smugglers.

Helped by the fashionable pastime of sea bathing, and the perceived healthiness of the sea air, Bournemouth began to develop as a resort for the well-to-do in the middle years of the nineteenth century. Following the arrival of the railway in 1870, Bournemouth expanded rapidly, attracting not only

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summer visitors, but also wealthy yearround residents escaping the polluted air of London.

Amongst these London exiles were some Catholics who prevailed upon the Jesuits at Farm Street to send a priest to Bournemouth. Mass was initially said in one of the hotels, and later in the Assembly Rooms. By 1870, the increasing congregation required a permanent home, and money was found to purchase a burned-out house and several cottages in Richmond Hill for a new church to be built. A temporary wooden chapel was built on the site and one of the cottages was retained as the presbytery. The wooden chapel was short lived, because Fr Dignam S J, who took charge in 1871, engaged Henry Clutton to design a permanent church.

Henry Clutton was a convert from Anglicanism. His early works were mostly concerned with country houses, but he became well known as an architect after he won a competition to design the new cathedral at Lille. Lille had newly been made a diocese, and a new cathedral was required because the town’s principal church had been destroyed in the French Revolution.

The bishop wanted a cathedral that was both large and grand, and launched an international competition for its design. There were 41 submissions, with Clutton taking first prize.

Probably because Clutton was English and Protestant, the execution of his scheme was given to French architects.

Work on the cathedral started in 1854, and continued for 150 years. Even then,

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Architecture the scheme was incomplete, because a plain facade was substituted for Clutton’s elaborate western end in order to bring the scheme to a conclusion.

Clutton converted to Catholicism, and soon picked up several commissions for Catholic churches, including St Mary’s (Douglas, IOM), St Francis (Notting Hill, London), St Mary’s (Worthing) and St Michael’s (Chatham).

He designed the Cloisters at the Birmingham Oratory, and the adjacent St Philip’s School in Hagley Road.

He was also responsible for several Anglican churches. Among Clutton’s students was John Francis Bentley, who later designed Westminster Cathedral.

The Church of the Sacred Heart in Bournemouth opened in stages, starting with a four-bay nave, which opened in 1873. Yellow brick with Bath Stone dressings were used for this initially small church. In 1875, Clutton added a rather squat tower with a steep saddle roof, housing a single bell, as well as aisles, the southern one having transverse gables. The High Altar, brass communion rails and stained-glass windows depicting the four evangelists were donated by prominent parishioners. Clutton’s final contribution was to add a new presbytery, which was attached to the north aisle.

Bournemouth continued to grow as a town, and a larger church was required. The architect A. J. Pilkington was engaged in 1896 (Clutton having died in 1893) to design an extension.

He enlarged the church considerably by taking down the eastern wall, and adding large transepts with associated crossing and a new spacious sanctuary terminating in a blind gable. Each of the transepts contains two side altars.

Opened in 1900, Pilkington’s extension was built in Swanage stone, a material that he also used to reface Clutton’s west end gable. The gradient of Richmond Hill allowed a spacious hall to be provided in a basement beneath the extension.

Besides the work of Clutton and Pilkington, a third architect contributed to the Sacred Heart church. He was Peter Paul Pugin, who designed a large High Altar with intricately carved reredos for the extended church. Pugin’s reredos was spectacular, and featured a very large monstrance throne surmounted by a spire-like canopy that extended almost to the apex of the roof. At each extremity, there were smaller canopies

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over statues of saints, and in between there were even smaller images of saints. It seems that the arrangement was modified at some stage, with a large statue of the Sacred Heart being placed in the monstrance throne, and the smaller images being replaced by carved angels.

The presbytery was extended in the 1920s, and at some point after this, the Jesuits departed. The Church of the Sacred Heart was handed over to the Diocese of Portsmouth, which had been created out of the Diocese of Southwark in 1882.

Post Vatican II reordering was not too radical, but did include the removal of Pugin’s altar, although the reredos survived. The pulpit was also lost, although part of it has been used to form the modern ambo. The replacement forward altar is smaller and of little architectural merit. Marble was used to repair the damage caused by the removal of the altar. Fortunately, the tabernacle was retained at the centre of the reredos. It seems that the marble communion rail (presumably the work of Pilkington) was shortened leaving a wide gap in the middle, with some of the marble incorporated into the new altar. Although the floor plan of the sanctuary does not appear to have been altered greatly, the whole has been covered with an inappropriate

green carpet. One improvement in this period was the addition of a peel of six bells to the tower.

The Sacred Heart Church occupies a prominent position in Richmond Hill, one of the main shopping streets of Bournemouth. It also has frontages onto Albert Street and Post Office Street. Viewed from Richmond Hill, its tower and complex assortment of gables at different heights adds greatly to the streetscape. Viewed from the opposite side, there is an equally interesting view featuring the presbytery. The main entrance is from Albert Street, and leads to a narthex beneath the organ loft which occupies the first bay of Clutton’s original nave.

The south aisle, with its transverse gables is well lit, but the north aisle has no windows. The arcading consists of paired circular columns with capitals beneath chamfered arches.

Although not a lofty church, there being no clerestory, the church has a comfortable feel, with attention being focused beyond the transepts and on to the sanctuary and Pugin’s reredos, which remains the finest feature of the church.

Since 2017, the church has been in the hands of an Oratorian community, which is expanding at an encouraging rate. Currently, Mass is offered in the Extraordinary Form at 6pm on the first Friday of every month.

Sacred Heart interior: Post Vatican II reordering was not too radical

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OBITUARIES

Farewell Maurice Quinn remembers three Latin Mass stalwarts Professor Stephen Bemrose

Frances Curtis: ‘opened up the church’

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t is with a heavy heart that I have to report the death, aged 72, of a stalwart of the Old Rite, Mrs Frances Curtis, a former Latin Mass Society Representative. It was Frances we have to thank for obtaining from our previous bishop, Bishop Christopher Budd, the concession to have the usus antiquior celebrated monthly at Blessed Sacrament, Exeter that continues to this day.

Along with her husband Bernard, Frances opened up the church, looked after the Latin Missals, sorted the collection, and provided tea and cakes for the congregation after Holy Mass.

Due to family considerations, Frances wanted a Novus Ordo Requiem which took place in the Church of St Boniface, Crediton, on Wednesday 19 June.

The Requiem was celebrated with great dignity and reverence by Fr Michael Wheaton, with the deacon, Rev Lester Yeo, reading the Gospel, giving the homily, and afterward conducting the interment at St Andrew’s cemetery in the village of Hittisleigh. Immediately after interment, those present sang the Salve Regina at the graveside in remembrance of Frances, who is survived by her husband Bernard, and their daughters Mary, Rachael, and Ruth. Please remember Frances and her family in your prayers.

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We were saddened also to learn of the death of Professor Stephen Bemrose, aged 68. He was a regular member of the choir at Blessed Sacrament in Exeter, and a true friend of the usus antiquior in the area. Stephen was an erudite and humorous man with a great love of medieval history. His Traditional Rite Requiem took place on Thursday, 23 May at Blessed Sacrament Church where he always attended the Old Rite.

We are grateful to the Oratorian Father and to the MC, both of whom, in an example of true Oratorian charity, travelled from Birmingham in order to officiate at Stephen’s Requiem; myself and Kevin Burgess joined them on the sanctuary as servers.

We also have to thank the choir members, Mary Coghill, Michael Crawford, Timothy TindalRobertson, and the two ladies from the Exeter Bach Society, with Tegwyn Harris providing the organ music and directing the choir. We also have to thank Canon Mark O’Keefe at Plymouth Cathedral – along with the sacristan - for the loan of a beautiful Black Pall for the occasion. Stephen is survived by his wife Gillian and son Timothy, so please offer prayers for the deceased and his family.

Stephen Bemrose: ‘erudite and humorous’

Pat Pope It was with sadness that we learned of the death of Pat Pope aged 88. She was a stalwart of the Traditional Old Rite Latin Mass at St Mary’s Church, Marnhull, Dorset, until old age and failing health prevented her from attending. Born on 28 June 1931, Pat initially trained as a Red Cross Auxiliary Nurse just after WWII, but moved on to become a legal secretary, a profession that she thoroughly enjoyed for many years.

Pat’s usus antiquior Requiem took place at St Mary’s on Monday, 13 May, in the presence of her brother John, other family members and friends. Fr Martin celebrated, with myself serving along with Dominic Prendergast, David Minto, and Peter Wardley as crucifer. In your charity, please remember Pat in your prayers and all surviving members of her family and friends.

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FEATURE

St Mary’s Basilica, Krakow: the Polish Church still provides around a third of all priestly vocations in Europe

Weathering the storm Polish Catholics rally to their Church undeterred by a new crisis, as Jonathan Luxmoore explains

K

arczew, Poland - In this market town southeast of Warsaw, a vast crowd of all ages moves slowly away from the baroque tree-lined St Vitus church along a shopping street festooned with confetti and rose petals, repeating religious refrains chanted over loudspeakers.

Up ahead, watched by white-gloved police and firefighters, a brass band falls quiet, as a priest intones prayers at one of the ornate altars marking the traditional two-hour procession route.

When Corpus Christi was marked this summer with similar ceremonies across Poland, it was a reminder of the vibrancy of popular devotions in this overwhelmingly Catholic country.

Today, that vibrancy has been called into question by a spate of scandals and controversies, which many Polish Catholics fear could damage the Church's authority.

Others are confident, however, that the Church will survive the latest challenges, just as it survived earlier decades of foreign occupation and communist misrule.

"The negative publicity has certainly provoked discussion - but it only affects a small number of clergy, and is unlikely to affect church attendance or seriously erode public loyalties", explained

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Malgorzata Glabisz-Pniewska, a senior Catholic presenter with Polish Radio.

"The most devout Catholics, who were brought up under communist rule, remain deeply unwilling to speak or act against the Church, knowing how this could damage it. It often happens that the hardest blows are answered by the strongest shows of support."

Over the three decades since the peaceful overthrow of communism, the Polish Church has weathered numerous storms over its place in public life, as well as over such issues as abortion and school religion, land and property profiteering, and accusations that its clergy were infiltrated by communist informers.

To this turbulent litany has been added intermittent accusations of clerical sex abuse, which exploded into the open last May when a TV documentary exposed how crimes by priests had been ignored and covered up.

"This film has proved a significant catalyst for a cleansing process - it's no longer enough to seek improper, superficial, communist-style ways out," Fr Adam Zak, a Jesuit priest acting as the Church's national co-ordinator for child protection, admitted to Poland's Catholic Information Agency, KAI. "We have to admit we made mistakes and

failed to follow the right path - we have to stop proudly believing we're better than others and hiding behind our historical experiences of persecution.”

When Fr Zak was appointed in 2013, amid growing media accusations of inaction, Poland's Catholic bishops had already adopted abuse guidelines in line with Vatican directives. By September 2018, all 43 dioceses had child-protection officers, while hundreds of clergy had been trained in prevention and counselling by a special Church centre in Krakow.

This failed to deter a barrage of criticisms, which reached a head when a salacious anti-clerical cinema film, Kler (Clergy), broke box-office records that autumn. In a November 2018 statement, the bishops apologised to "God, the victims, their families and the Church community" for clerical abuse and pledged "illumination, strength and courage" in countering the "moral and spiritual corruption" which had caused it.

And in February, on the eve of a Vatican child protection summit, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, the Bishops Conference President, agreed for the first time to meet abuse survivors.

However, in a report that same month, a victims’ support group, Nie Lekajcie Sie

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FEATURE ("Do Not Be Afraid"), accused 24 serving and retired Church leaders of violating canon law and secular regulations by "concealing clerical crimes".

The report was presented to the Pope in person on 20 February, but bitterly attacked in the Polish Church, with dioceses and religious orders questioning its accuracy.

But pressure was mounting. And at a March plenary, attended in Warsaw

by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, the Bishops Conference appointed Poland's Catholic Primate, Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno, as its first child protection delegate and published its own report, listing abuse claims against 382 priests over a period of three decades.

The document said 44 percent of claims had been investigated by state prosecutors, with around half resulting in convictions, but conceded there had also been "a certain ignorance" when it came to Church rules on abuse, as well as "differences of reliability" between Polish dioceses and orders in responding to enquiries.

Poland's secular media accused the Bishops Conference of selectiveness. And in May, a major blow was struck by the twohour television documentary, Tylko nie mów nikomu (Just Don't Tell Anyone"), by investigative journalist Tomasz Sekielski, which attracted 20 million views within a week of its YouTube posting.

Sekielski's film linked abuse with secretive Church structures, and graphically recorded the evasive behaviour of perpetrators when confronted by victims. It too charged senior Catholic prelates with concealing clergy crimes, and with failing to act when convicted paedophile priests continued celebrating Mass and working with children. It was also well timed, appearing just two days after the Pope's Motu Proprio, "Vos Estis Lux Mundi", established new procedures for holding Church leaders accountable for abuse.

The Bishops Conference responded with a pastoral message, thanking the film's makers for their exposures and lamenting that the Church had "not done everything" to counter child abuse.

"There are no words to express our shame - we thank everyone who had courage to talk about their suffering," the message said. "By presenting the perspective of those harmed, this film has alerted us to the magnitude of their suffering, and everyone with any sensitivity will feel pain, emotion and sadness."

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The bishops promised to appoint a legal team to analyse the causes of abuse and foster awareness in Catholic communities, while several dioceses and religious orders issued their own protection guidelines, and at least one archbishop, Slawoj Glodz of Gdansk, was forced to apologise after initially denouncing the documentary as "garbage”.

None of this satisfied Poland's more ardent anti-clerical groups. Some Catholics vowed to boycott Masses celebrated by implicated Church leaders, while at least one prominent figure, Mgr

‘But with a model of mass religiousness inherited from the communist era, Catholics point out, the Church thrives when under attack, and has a long-proven track record of rallying popular support against opponents’ Andrzej Szostek, formerly Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, called on the whole Bishops Conference to tender its resignation, following the example of Chile's bishops in May 2018.

In the meantime, dire predictions have continued about the impact of Sekielski's film. In two June surveys by the government-controlled CBOS agency, the Polish Church's public approval rating dropped to a 24-year low, while the proportion of youngsters declaring themselves believers plummeted from 81 to 63 percent.

For the first time in a country known for its adulation of St John Paul II, questions have also been asked in the media about the Polish Pope's stance against abuse, forcing Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, his former assistant, to issue statements in his defence. In May, a giant statue of the pontiff was covered over at the Marian Basilica of Lichen because it depicted the basilica's still-living founder, Fr Eugeniusz Makulski, who was branded a paedophile in the film.

"The Church faces a real challenge now - how to learn from its mistakes, and how to reassure society", Fr Zak, the child protection co-ordinator, told the KAI agency. "There must be a change in mentality and action so the faithful are no longer ashamed of their pastors, and so priests can see which skeletons lurk in their cupboards."

Beneath the surface, however, there's confidence the Polish Church will weather the latest storm.

The great majority of ordinary priests and committed parishioners, untainted by any scandals, have suffered by having their service to the Church, in the words of the Polish bishops' pastoral message, "obscured by the sins of individuals through collective responsibility".

But with a model of mass religiousness inherited from the communist era, Catholics point out, the Church thrives when under attack, and has a long-proven track record of rallying popular support against opponents. By penitently thanking Sekielski for his film, the bishops have wrong-footed those who expected reactions of outrage and denial. By encouraging prayers and acts of penance, they've also created conditions for a robust recovery once public opinion moves on.

This may already be happening Despite its closeness to the Catholic Church, Poland's governing centre-right Law and Justice party, PiS, was victorious in crucial May European Parliament elections, and when the fortieth anniversary of John Paul II’s historic first homecoming pilgrimage was marked in June, it drew large enthusiastic crowds.

Within a fortnight, the CBOS agency had recorded a five percent recovery in the Church's approval rating.

With Catholics making up 86 percent of the country's population of 38 million, according to the latest statistical yearbook, the Polish Church still provides around a third of all priestly vocations in Europe, and is needed as an authoritative, articulate, disciplined voice in contemporary moral and religious discourses. It also needs to be a modern Church - open, reliable and trusted: and this will mean rising above the damage inflicted by a tiny corrupt minority.

"If our Church does decline, it won't be because of abuse scandals, but deeper secularising trends", Glabisz-Pniewska, the Polish Radio presenter, told Mass of Ages. "Certainly, contests are being played out discreetly in the ranks of its hierarchy, as younger figures emerge with a different narrative and a firmer grasp of current priorities.

“But for now, at least, the Church is too firmly grounded in Poland's past and present to suffer any lasting damage.

People will stay with it, not because they necessarily admire it, but because it answers their religious needs.”

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FEATURE

Winning ways The first sponsored place on the Royal School of Needlework Certificate course has been awarded to James Sharpe. Lucy Shaw reports

James Sharpe: passion for beauty

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eaders of Mass of Ages will be familiar with the work of the Guild of St Clare, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Our main purpose is to repair and make the liturgical vestments necessary for the celebration of the traditional liturgy of the Catholic Church, and central to our charism is education: learning and passing on the skills necessary for this work. As our workload expands, so our need for people with the knowledge and experience to assist us increases, and it was this need which inspired our new scheme: sponsoring a student on the Royal School of Needlework Certificate course.

We launched the scheme in March this year, and were delighted with the number and quality of the applications: it was heartening to see such gifted candidates with so much dedication to cherishing the Church's patrimony. Making our choice under these circumstances was therefore not easy. We are delighted to announce, however, that our first sponsored place on the RSN Certificate course has been awarded to James Sharpe.

James is a specialist social worker in Hackney who converted to Catholicism

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A design by James based on Celtic knotwork four years ago. He has been a student of the arts since childhood, and studied archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge. He was drawn into the faith through the beauty of the Latin liturgy and theology, traditional Gregorian chant and Benedictine spirituality (he is a regular visitor to Belmont Abbey).

He is interested in many traditional crafts including iconography, calligraphy, illumination, geometry and printing and has dedicated a great deal of time to learning about them. James's passion for beauty and his understanding of its central importance to the mission of the Church greatly impressed and moved the interviewing panel. As he himself expresses it, "the highest good of art is to point to and glorify God".

James describes his progression from the appreciation of art and design, to practising them as a spiritual exercise in itself. This philosophy is at the heart of the work of the Guild of St Clare, and is the reason we are never happy with a bodged repair: in even the most humdrum of our tasks, we try to capture the spirit of those anonymous medieval craftsmen whose devotion to the Faith created such soaring testimonials to the greatness of God.

James's relatively recent interest in embroidery, and his ambition to work eventually in creating and repairing traditional church vestments, led him to apply for the Guild of St Clare sponsorship scheme with a view to pursuing this skill to a professional level. We feel very fortunate to have him on board and very much look forward to having the benefit of his interest and expertise at future Guild of St Clare events.

A design by Sarah Homfray, stitched

by James Sharpe

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BOOK REVIEW

The Spirit and the Flesh Annie Mackie-Savage reviews a novel reminiscent of Victorian Improving Fiction

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y T.J. Dias, The Spirit and the Flesh takes us on a weekend of intended debauchery to Amsterdam in the company of three university flatmates.

We are introduced to Roger, the liberal agnostic, Paul, a lapsed Catholic, and Sean, a practising Catholic. Sean, who has only been asked to join them out of courtesy, being seen as a bit too pious for his own and their good, accompanies them in the hope of being able to show them the error of their ways. Within the first few pages we deduce that Roger is an anti-Christian bigot under the guise of being open-minded, Paul a religious fence sitter, and Sean the quiet good guy party pooper. We learn about Sean’s return to the faith from a longish description of his accident and the miracle enabling his reversion, but don’t have the same background for the other two, other than Roger being a ripped posh boy from London, trying to hide the posh bit. Scene set; the lads’ weekend gets underway with the knowledgeable Roger determined to show them everything the red-light district has to offer.

We are given a brief touristy overview of where they are, hot dogs and waffles are described, Sean leaving them before Roger introduces Paul to the cafes and red-light district. Over the course of the trip, they meet up and debate and discuss the world, the flesh and the devil over beer fuelled pub crawls (except Sean does not drink following the accident) and greasy Chinese. In between, Sean seeks out the Cathedral, Van Gogh, and the Anne Frank Museum, Roger with the tag along Paul, ogle women, drink, watch erotic cabaret, and smoke dope.

After viewing the women in the windows of the red-light district, Roger chooses a prostitute, Paul doesn’t. Throughout the book, Paul, who doesn’t take part in the discussions particularly, but asks the occasional plot moving question, is seen to be warming to Sean’s world view in spite of the unholy encouragement from Roger and the obvious temptations

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around him. He reluctantly accepts a blessed holy card from Sean, and by the end of the book has decided to give Christianity a go for six months, giving his porn video money to the same busker Sean donated to at the beginning of the book. Even Roger is moderately chastened by his experiences enough to confide in Sean before their return to England.

All the topics of Catholicism are couched in blokey points of view, as you would expect, seeing as they are on a trip to the red-light district of Amsterdam and not touring the bulb fields on a cycling holiday. The objectification of women, Darwinism, the Enlightenment, the devil, free will, salvation, secularisation, capitalism, hell, communism, the porn industry, drink, drugs, contraception, abortion, sex, masturbation, and more, is pretty much all covered in some detail.

Yet I feel the impact of the message of this book is actually diminished by the stand-offs between Sean and Roger,

which are mini-lectures masquerading as dialogue, although peppered with ‘cynical’ asides from Roger - and would the bating Roger really use ‘codswallop’ and ‘hogwash’ in conversations? The only women portrayed in the book are bar maids or hookers, which is also rather one dimensional, in spite of Sean’s assertions that the women Roger is after are someone’s daughter or sister.

Paul begins to see the women as individuals as he wanders about on his own; for example, the middle aged woman in the window of the red light district seated on her bed he diagnoses as suffering from clinical depression (she might just have been bored, but at least he did try to empathise).

I was still left with the lasting impression that, in spite of Sean’s attempts to humanise and un-objectify women to Roger, they are left by the author as objects posing behind glass, or handing round the steins, because that’s all we see them do in the book.

It’s a real shame that everything is spelled out. It’s all tell. The characters are points of view with names rather than individuals, and it isn’t so much dialogue, as predictable responses from the opposing point of view. It all seems a bit forced and unrealistic, and somehow stodgy and old-fashioned. Sean is used as a vehicle by which to refute the utilitarian and anthropocentric world, Roger is the liberal secularist world at its worst, Paul is what’s being fought over. In this sense it is reminiscent of Victorian Improving Fiction crossed with a vague idea of Plato’s Symposium. I like the idea of juxtaposing the two radically different world views, and it being short (185 pages in 21chapters), but it’s not a read that I found particularly gripping. Who is the book for? Well, I think it might be useful to give to anyone, male or female, who wants a quick tour of the Catholic Faith in a well-known seedy context.

As for the weekend of debauchery?

Predictably, Sean didn’t, Paul wouldn’t, and Roger couldn’t.

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FEATURE

Becoming men of virtue Fr Lawrence Lew OP on the traditional liturgy and Catholic masculinity

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eginning with what we know by nature and through the Scriptures, men, first of all, are called to fatherhood, and thus to exemplify on earth and through various vocations – as priests, husbands, fathers – the one Fatherhood of God, the God from whom “all paternity in heaven and earth is named”, as St Paul says (Eph 3:15).

The increase in single mothers who are abandoned by irresponsible men; the increase in children who thus do not know their fathers; the perpetuation of the Peter Pan syndrome among men; the clerical abuse crisis; and the refusal of priests to lead people in faith and to teach the Gospel in all its fullness: these are all some of the signs of a sinful failure to exemplify the Fatherhood of God. For the call to fatherhood is a call to lead, care, and protect a household as paterfamilias. There is a crisis of virtuous leadership, of genuine paternity in our society, and thus, also, a crisis of genuine holy masculinity in the world and in the Church. Consequently, the family itself is in crisis today. Like the gender ideology that plagues us, the crises of fatherhood and the family is diabolical.

In 2016, Cardinal Sarah exhorted some two thousand Rover Scouts of Europe in Vézelay to lead the way in virtue, for the Cardinal rightly warned that a more virile people, that is, those who are more manly, more committed to their cause and more willing to suffer for its success, will eliminate Christendom if we remain weak-willed and drunk on ideology and hedonism; if the Christian men of today do not rise to the challenge of being strong Catholic men, and if we do not work now to form our boys to become men of virtue. It is opportune, then, to turn now to the one whom God the Father chose to be father to his incarnate Son: be consecrated to St Joseph, and so receive his paternal love and guidance and leadership to become Christian men of virtue.

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Considering masculine virtues, it may be helpful to look first at contrary vices. St Thomas Aquinas, the Common Doctor of the Church, refers to a vice called mollities, often translated as ‘effeminacy’ but a better, more helpful, translation is ‘softness’ since the vice is not gender-specific. Softness is manifest as an inordinate attachment to pleasure and comfort and ease. Following Aristotle, St Thomas says that softness causes one to “withdraw from good on account of sorrow caused by lack of pleasure” because one is “accustomed to enjoy pleasures” and finds it hard to “endure the lack of them”. The vices of pornography and masturbation, which are endemic in our times, habituates the boy to enjoy pleasures, and leads to softness in the man. For, unwilling to endure the lack of sexual pleasure, he withdraws from the good of chastity and, if unchecked, he withdraws ultimately from the supreme good of wanting to please and obey God, or even wanting to know and serve him. Indeed, St Thomas concludes that “it belongs to mollities to be unable to endure toilsome things, so too it belongs thereto to desire play or any other relaxation inordinately”. Thus, our culture experiences the phenomenon of men remaining in boyhood: perpetuating the university student lifestyle; shirking commitments; avoiding responsibilities and accountability; playing juvenile computer games and wasting time online; living from one hedonistic sensation to the next.

Virtue of fortitude The virtue to which softness is opposed is perseverance, which St Thomas says is “long persistence in any kind of difficult good”. (cf ST IIa IIæ, 137, 1 ad 1) Perseverance is related to the cardinal virtue of fortitude which enables one to endure difficulties and pain for the sake of the good; to endure

‘We’re called to give ourselves even to the very end, with fortitude and perseverance, for the sake of the Truth who is the person of Jesus Christ, who is the Friend we love and serve with integrity of heart and life. As such, we’re called to love chastity, which isn’t just a purity of the body, but also a purity of the soul and of the mind and intellect’ mortifications and suffering, even death, with a view to their redemptive power and for the sake of the final good who is God. St Joseph is thus called a “great lover of God” because he was “afflicted by much suffering which he endured with a wonderful fortitude”. This should give us pause for thought because many of us today, when afflicted by suffering, might pray that it would be taken from us. But the Saint, the lover of God, prays, rather, to manfully endure his sufferings with fortitude and to persevere in virtue for the sake of the Church and the salvation of others. Thus, St Dominic would apply the discipline to himself each evening for the salvation of sinners.

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FEATURE How are we formed in these virtues?

The aforementioned Scouts of Europe are an excellent movement for the formation of boys in manly virtues; Scouting, properly understood, is about the formation of character, as Baden-Powell called the virtues. Much of modern Scouting has become soft because it has abandoned the difficult task of forming boys in Christian virtue in favour of teaching them practical skills; our age tends towards technological and skills-based knowledge rather than moral and practical wisdom.

The Scouts of Europe champion three main virtues that characterise the Scout: namely honesty (or integrity); self-sacrifice; and purity (or chastity), and what applies to them, I would say, applies to all of us as Catholic men.

We’re called to give ourselves even to the very end, with fortitude and perseverance, for the sake of the Truth who is the person of Jesus Christ, who is the Friend we love and serve with integrity of heart and life. As such, we’re called to love chastity, which isn’t just a purity of the body, but also a purity of the soul and of the mind and intellect.

Chastity is thus integral to our primary love of Truth.

As St Thomas says, “if the human mind delights in the spiritual union [with God] and [so] refrains from delighting in union with other things against the requirements of the order established by God, this may be called a spiritual chastity”. (ST IIa IIæ, 151, 2) To be ready to be formed in virtue, therefore, requires that one, first of all, delights in God, and thus longs for friendship with him, loving what he loves. I suggest that these three virtues can be correlated to three essential strengths in the traditional Liturgy, which thus serves to form them in masculine virtues.

Veiled by silence Firstly, the traditional Liturgy is chaste. Externally, there is a sense of modesty and chastity in the veiling of precious persons and things in the traditional Liturgy. Moreover, the sacred is veiled by silence. St Thomas says that the virtue of chastity makes man capable and ready for contemplation.

So, a chaste liturgy, enveloped in silence, invites contemplation. Indeed, in our sensationalistic age, it fosters a kind of fortitude and patience. We must beware of what Dietrich von Hildebrand called ‘aestheticism’; that is, an excessive love

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We must work now to form our boys to become men of virtue for the pleasures of liturgical beauty, music, vestments, gold accoutrements, and so on, for their own sake. For as Josef Pieper says, “an unchaste man wants above all something for himself; he is distracted by an unobjective ‘interest’; his constantly strained will-to-pleasure prevents him from confronting reality with that selfless detachment which alone makes genuine knowledge possible”.

A certain mortification of the sense pleasures, therefore, is necessary.

There are, of course, the Ember days and the traditional fasts that one can undertake, and the traditional Liturgy has this richness that is lacking in the modern rite. However, there is also the fundamental asceticism of being obedient to the rubrics, of care and moderation with one’s gestures and postures, and, finally, the austerity and discipline of unaccompanied Gregorian chant.

The Church has only one song that she calls her own which she prescribes for her Liturgy. This givenness of the Church’s Liturgy, especially in her music, requires obedience and perseverance and self-denial from us, occasionally sacrificing the melodious tunes of Baroque polyphony in favour of the purity of chant that helps us

order our passions, to discipline our emotions, and so to learn to conform ourselves to Another, and receive his gift of the sacred Liturgy in all its fullness.

Crisis of fatherhood Finally, men, who are called to lead and to be head of the Christian household, are schooled by the Liturgy to acknowledge a divinely-established hierarchy, and thus we’re brought to kneel before the One who is Head.

From such humility, according to the order established by God, comes the grace, then, to become paterfamilias.

Thus, even our Lord, in the Holy Family of Nazareth, learnt to live under the authority of St Joseph, the paterfamilias. The crisis of fatherhood and genuine masculinity in our time, therefore, stems from the crisis of faith, in which God is not acknowledged, let alone worshipped and adored.

The truth of who I am before God, and the truth of my profound metaphysical need of God are, it seems to me, vital lessons that we all need to learn if we’re to advance in virtue at all. For as St Benedict’s Rule tells us, humility is the ladder through which we are “cleansed from vices and sins” and then ascend to a “love for Christ [and a] delight in virtue”.

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FEATURE

Traces remain Joseph Shaw explains how Catholic Linguistic Survivals from the Ancient Liturgy are embedded in the fabric of our lives

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e live in a country with vestiges of Catholic life and culture all around us. Some of these are massive and unmissable, like the ruins of the great Yorkshire monasteries.

Others are harder to discern, like the single remaining archway of the onceimportant Osney Abbey, now in Oxford Marina.

Traces also remain in language. The term used in medicine, placebo, refers to a treatment with no innate power to heal, but which has a psychological effect, the so-called ‘placebo effect’. Anyone with a touch of Latin will know that ‘placebo’ is the Latin for ‘I will please’, which seems to have something to do with the matter in hand, but in a somewhat oblique way.

Why is it in the future tense?

The appropriateness of calling a pleasing medical treatment a ‘placebo’ must have helped the word to stick, but the origin is actually liturgical. As the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology explains, it is the first word of the first antiphon of Vespers for the Dead: Placebo Domino in regione vivorum, ‘I will please the Lord in the regions of the living’. This is itself a quotation from the Gallican Psalter, the ancient Latin psalter used in the Traditional Office, Ps 114:9.

What my Dictionary cannot explain, however, is how the opening word of this antiphon has acquired its current meaning. The answer is that the practice of saying or singing the Vespers of the Dead became established as a way of honouring the deceased, and by extension their living relatives.

One could, in fact, curry favour with an important person by singing ‘Placebo’ in favour of a deceased parent of theirs, for example. This gives an oddly appropriate secondary meaning to the idea of pleasing people in the land of the living.

Even more obscure is the phrase ‘pony up’, with reference to money, although this has more currency (if readers will excuse the pun), in the United States than in England. I first encountered the phrase reading an

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Thomas Tusser: playful article in The Economist, which employs a rather whimsical vocabulary, about dubious websites, saying that some viewers of these will, in the end, ‘pony up a credit card number’.

The idea of carrying money, let alone credit cards, in the saddlebags of a small horse, or perhaps a string of them, has a certain delicious absurdity about it in the modern context. But four-legged ponies do not, in fact, appear to have anything to do with the origin of the phrase.

The Dictionary of Etymology is of no assistance here, but if we take ‘pony’ as ‘pone’, it turns into a Latin imperative: to put, or place. This seems appropriate, and suggests an origin in legal Latin. However, the truth is more complicated. The late Fr Mark Elvins, in his book Catholic Trivia (1992 and 2002), provides a quotation from a verse book, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry (that is, housekeeping) first published in 1557, by a certain Thomas Tusser, which provides a link to something else. Tusser advises us in his twenty-ninth ‘point’. I give the whole stanza: Use legem pone to pay at thy day, But use not Oremus for often delay: Yet praesta quaesumus out of a grate, Of all other collects, the lender doth hate.

Here the reference is to ‘ready money’, as opposed to relying on credit: this is what ‘pony up’ continues to mean, so the connection is convincing. ‘Legem pone’, however, doesn’t mean ‘put down money’ or anything like that. The words are found twice in the Gallican Psalter, 26:11 and 118:33. The imperative is addressed to the Lord, who is to show or teach or set out the law for the benefit of the speaker.

Perhaps, then, as is the case with Placebo, we need to consider the place of this phrase in the Office. Fr Elvins suggests that psalm 118 (119 in the modern numbering), beginning with these words, was sung on the ‘quarter days’, when traditionally rents are due in England: 25 March (Lady Day: the Annunciation), 25 June, 25 September, and 25 December.

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FEATURE

Fr Elvins’ explanation seems, at best, to be simplified to the point of falsity. The Office divides up the psalms by the day of the week, not the day of the month, and ‘Legem pone mihi, Domine, in via tua,’ is not the opening line of Psalm 118, but verse 33.

Psalm 118 is, in fact, a psalm of special significance. It is extremely long, running to 176 verses, and expresses the singer’s zeal for uprightness, with reference also to the sufferings this entails, and to the enemies of God. Its great importance is reflected in the fact that, while the Office covers every psalm in the course of a week, Psalm 118 is traditionally sung every day. Because of its length, it is, however, divided up between the Little Hours: Prime, Terce, Sext, and None, which indeed include little else. Our verse, 33, is the first verse

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of the psalmody of the Office of Terce, the mid-morning Office which precedes the celebration of Mass (except in Lent, when None comes before Mass).

This arrangement of the Psalms is that of the Office of Pope Pius V and many earlier versions; in 1911 Pope Pius X’s rearranged Office confines Psalm 118 to Sundays, removing any connection with the transaction of financial business.

My guess would be that, at least until 1911, a man who paid his debts at the singing of ‘Legem pone’, at the beginning of Terce, on the day debts were due, was a man who kept on top of his affairs.

The rest of Tusser’s stanza seems to me more playful. At the end of the Office of Terce there is, naturally, be a collect, introduced by ‘Oremus’, ‘Let us pray’.

This suggests a debtor begging for more time. Even worse is to come: ‘Praesta,

quaesumus’ is a very common element in collects, meaning ‘Grant, we beseech thee’: spoken ‘out of a grate’, by a debtor now behind bars imploring mercy, it is far from what the lender wishes to hear.

It would appear that Tusser, living and writing at the very moment of the disappearance of the Latin Office from mainstream English life, has with his popular book of aphorisms managed to preserve in the English language a phrase based on a rather obscure aspect of the Old Religion.

I am sure the Latin Mass Society’s Treasurer will agree, at any rate, with the content of Tusser’s advice, and urge members to ‘pony up’ their subscriptions directly they are due!

We may not be aware of it, but commonly used terms used in English often have their origins in Liturgical Latin

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CROSSWORD Clues Across 1 A temptress such as Delilah (7) 5 Simple weapon with which David slew Goliath (5) 8 Place of start of annual 3-Day pilgrimage to Walsingham and St Etheldreda’s Church in London (3) 9 The formal scientific approach to cases concerned with matters of conscience (9) 10 Canine related scavenging wild animal used pejoratively in political exchanges (5) 11 Relating to heretical sect that for a while appealed to St Augustine of Hippo (9) 14 Order to which St Thomas Aquinas belonged (9) 18 ‘----- in my bosom’, someone you have helped who later deceives you (5) 21 Athanasius, Bishop in Kazakhstan, author of Dominus Est, friend of the LMS (9) 22 Christogram on, e.g., the back of a chasuble representing Christ the Saviour (1.1.1) 23 ‘----- Theologica’, monumental and hugely influential work by 14 Saint (5) 24 Complex mythological Princess of titular plays by Sophocles and Euripides (7)

Alan Frost: June 2019

ANSWERS TO SUMMER 2019 CROSSWORD

Across: 1 Vulgate 5 Lucia 8 Rev 9 Gerontius 10 Nobel 11 Instructs 14 Ambrosian 18 Ouija 21 Nestorian 22 Fra 23 Minor 24 Abelard Down: 1 Veronica 2 Lavabo 3 Angelico 4 Errors 5 Line 6 Critic 7 Apse 12 Renounce 13 Saraband* 15 Benson 16 Irmina 17 Biafra 19 Unum 20 Hour (*Also spelt ‘Sarabande’)

Closing Date & Winner

Closing date for crossword entries: Friday 27 September 2019. The winner of the summer 2019 competition is Mrs Bennet of Queensland, Australia, who wins a copy of the CD Praise to the Holiest by Cantores Missae.

Clues Down 1 Leader of a Christian or ovine flock (8) 2 Catholic author of The Hind and the Panther and first Poet Laureate (6) 3 Genus of flowers, whose mediaeval Latin name taken from the round tubers producing the roots and growth (5) 4 Leading Victorian thinker and art critic, founder of the Guild of St George (6) 5 I know it’s Latin! (4) 6 Sing or chant the opening of a liturgical phrase (6) 7 St Richard, martyred in Wrexham in 1584, Patron of the LMS (4) 12 Talk about opposite position? (8) 13 US State where is situated the FSSP Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe (8) 15 Chaos at the edge of Our Lady’s month? (6) 16 It is inserted in a sconce on a nave or sanctuary wall (6) 17 Boost given in the ‘Sursum corda’ in the Mass (6) 19 ---- Antiquior, alternative reference to the Tridentine or Traditional Latin Mass (4) 20 Pontifical College in Rome for those with later calls to the priesthood (4)

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS Society of St Tarcisius: London training days continue, on Sat 14th Sept and Sat 30th Nov. These start at 10:30am at St Mary Moorfields, 4-5 Eldon St, London EC2M 7LS; we aim to finish by 3:30pm.

Please register (for free) on the LMS website. Contact tarcisius@lms.org. uk for more information or to join the email list.

Iota Unum talks continue at Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street.

Doors open at 6:30pm; talk at 7pm. The next dates are 27th Sept (Fr Marcus Holden), 4th Oct (Peter D. Williams), 1st Nov (Stephen Bullivant); 13th Dec (Fr Edward van den Burgh).

Guild of St Clare: Vestment mending day at St Mary Moorfields, London, 14th Sept and 30th Nov: please emaillucyashaw@ gmail.com if you wish to attend.

Sewing Retreat at Douai Abbey, 1st-3rd November 2019: this is now fully booked.

Sewing retreat at Douai Abbey, 28th February-1st March 2020: booking open through the LMS website.

Secondhand Books Wanted The secondhand books section of our website is proving to very popular with our customers. If you have any books you would like to donate, please contact the LMS Office info@lms.org.uk

To rent Villa/Apt. with panoramic views for rent in Saint Lucia. With all amenities, close to the beach, shops, supermarkets etc. From £30 per person per night.

Sleeps 4. Email: casenbas_rentals @yahoo.com

Classified advertisements cost just 50p per word with an additional charge of just £5 if you’d like your advertisement in a box, so whether you run courses, a small hotel, a B&B, a retreat or have something to sell or a service to offer that would be of interest to our readers just contact us on 020 7404 7284.

Categories include: • Property for sale or to rent • Travel • Accommodation • Art • Courses • Gardening • Personal • Books • Jobs

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AUTUMN 2019

MACKLIN STREET

All change!

T

will continue as Chairman for a further three-year term. Our Constitution does permit a person to continue in office beyond a two-term period when asked to do so by the Committee. The ten years of dedicated service Joseph has given as Chairman of the LMS was the motivation for them to request he stood for a further term. Kevin Jones continues as our Secretary, and the vacancy for an elected member has been filled by Nicholas Ross, our Local Representative for the Diocese of Hallam.

Did you notice the wrapper of your copy of Mass of Ages?

Until now, copies of the magazine have been delivered to members in clear plastic bags. The latest issue was sent in a new, environmentally friendly wrapper called ‘Polycomp’.

Polycomp is made from materials that will break down naturally and will fully biodegrade in compost, soil, fresh or salt water. This practical, starch-based material is strong yet effective during use, and in the right environment is gone in just 10 days. It uses biopolymers, consisting mainly of potato or corn starch, both of which are fully sustainable materials, and has been certified as being fully biodegradable and compostable.

Standard clear plastic polywrap (such as we have been using) has become extremely unpopular due to its impact on the environment; we feel swapping to polycomp is a very constructive way to help redress the balance, if only in a very small way.

© John Aron

his will be the last ‘Macklin Street’ column for Mass of Ages, not because we are abolishing it but because the location of the Latin Mass Society’s office is changing.

The owner of our present office has decided to redevelop the building and therefore has not renewed our lease, which expires in November. At the time of writing, we are negotiating a lease on an office on Old Street in London.

As a new address for the part of the building we shall occupy has to be registered with the Post Office, we are unable at this stage to confirm the number or postcode. Furthermore, until the registration has been completed, we cannot confirm the date of the move, but we are hoping it will be sometime in September.

We have enjoyed out time in Macklin Street – more than 25 years – and we would have been happy to stay had the owner not had other plans for the building. However, Old Street is very accessible, being a five minute walk from Old Street Station, which is served by the Bank branch of the Northern Line, and the Northern City Line of the over ground rail system.

At our Annual General Meeting in July, we were honoured to have Bishop Michael Campbell OSA, Bishop Emeritus of Lancaster, address us. The text of his address will be reproduced in the next edition of Mass of Ages. Following the meeting, His Lordship celebrated Pontifical High Mass in the Cathedral.

During the AGM, the Chairman announced the results of nominations for vacancies on the Committee. Dr Joseph Shaw

Pontifical High Mass in Westminster Cathedral, July 2019, following our AGM. Celebrant: Rt Rev. Michael Campbell OSA, Bishop Emeritus of Lancaster; Deacon: Fr Seth Phipps FSSP; Subdeacon: Fr David Evans; AP: Fr Rupert McHardy Cong.Orat.; MCs: Rt Rev. Mgr Gordon Read and Mr Charles Bradshaw.

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