REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
DIOCESAN DIGEST Mass of Ages quarterly round-up Arundel & Brighton Huw Davies aandb@lms.org.uk 07954 253284 Members in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton enter the new calendar year thankful that a healthy schedule of regular and festive Masses has so far weathered the challenges of government Covid restrictions and the implementation of Traditiones custodes. November saw two Sung Masses at the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation and St Francis at West Grinstead, on Remembrance Sunday and Advent Sunday, celebrated by Fr Jim Hurley and Fr Bruno Witchalls respectively. Despite the organ being out of action on both occasions, the choir provided musical accompaniment and there were welcome refreshments after Mass, courtesy of the Shrine administrators. The next Sung Masses here will be on the first Sunday of Lent, 6 March, and then Whit Sunday, 5 June. Please also mark in your diary the Bank Holiday Monday, 29 August, as the date for the annual Pilgrimage - more details will follow in the next edition of the magazine and on the Society’s social media. At St Hugh of Lincoln in Knaphill the Dawn Mass on Christmas morning was celebrated in the Vetus Ordo, followed with joy later in the Octave by a Sung Nuptial Mass for the new Mr and Mrs Moran, who have been attending Masses in Knaphill since March of 2021. Beautiful music was provided by Cantus Magnus, and the parish and the couple are grateful for the serving assistance from St Bede’s in the Archdiocese of Southwark. There will be further occasional Sung Masses at Knaphill this year, starting on Candlemas. Meanwhile, the co-op of St Joseph for home-school families marked Advent with a service in church concluding with Benediction, and Epiphany with a Nativity play. We continue to pray for this wonderful initiative and its organisers. Christmas Day Masses were also celebrated at St Pancras, Lewes and St Barnabas, East Molesey. Looking ahead to Easter and some of the great solemnities along the way, we look forward to more occasional Masses to commemorate these and thank our priests who fit them into their busy Mass schedules. As ever, please do keep an eye on the online listings or individual churches’ social media pages and websites for the latest information. Birmingham & Black Country Louis Maciel 07392 232225 birmingham@lms.org.uk birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk/ All Saints was marked with a Sung Mass at the Birmingham Oratory, a High Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton and a Low Mass at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury. Several private Masses, a \low Mass and a Requiem Mass were celebrated at the Oratory for All Souls, as well as a Low Mass in Wednesbury. During Advent, Rorate Masses were celebrated on Saturday mornings at the Oratory; a couple were also celebrated on weekday mornings in Wolverhampton. I attended the 9pm Sung Mass on Christmas Eve at the Birmingham Oratory, one of a record five Masses to celebrate the birth of our Lord, including Midnight Mass and a 10.30am
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High Mass also at the Oratory, and Low Masses celebrated in Wolverhampton and Wednesbury. The usual 12 noon High Mass marked the Octave of Christmas at the Oratory. The Immaculate Conception, Epiphany and Candlemas were all celebrated with High Masses at the Oratory and Low Masses in Wednesbury. The first and third Friday Masses at Sacred Heart and All Souls in Acocks Green and St Dunstan’s in Kings Heath continue: in short, currently it is business as usual. Birmingham (Oxford) Joseph Shaw oxford@lms.org.uk oxfordlmsrep.blogspot.com/ The usual Sunday and Holyday Masses continue in the Oratory, Holy Rood, and SS Gregory & Augustine's. I will let supporters know by email if other events are arranged: please ensure that you are on my local email list. Birmingham (North Staffs) Alan Frost During the latter weeks of 2021, after a cautious resumption, the fortnightly Saturday morning Low Masses are now reestablished at Our Lady’s, Swynnerton. Several regulars have recovered or are recovering from hospital treatment, though none Covid related. Fr Chavasse soldiers on through his own bouts of ill-health and celebrated a fine Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany adorned by a contribution from a ladies’ schola. Fr Stefek’s Wednesday evening Masses at St Augustine’s, Stoke, are now sometimes sung, including a Missa Cantata on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with Fr Goodman of Wolverhampton guesting as cantor. The Feast of St Thomas of Canterbury was celebrated with a Low Mass. Birmingham (Worcestershire) Alastair J Tocher 01684 893332 malvern@lms.org.uk extraordinarymalvern.uk Facebook: Extraordinary Malvern Following a parish meeting at Most Holy Trinity, Ledbury in late September 2021 called by Archbishop Stack to address disquiet expressed by a small number of local parishioners, the local Traditional Latin Mass arrangements have been somewhat restricted: although weekly Sunday Masses may continue, they must now begin in the afternoon; and Archbishop Stack has expressly prohibited offering the Lord praise either in song or on the organ at those Masses, so that even Low Mass with Music is now precluded. Although attendance dropped a little owing to the less convenient Mass time, we nevertheless continue to see a small but steady stream of new faces in the congregation, some of whom have already begun to attend regularly. Despite having no Masses to prepare for, the Schola continues to meet to maintain and enlarge its repertoire in anticipation of more favourable circumstances ahead. Deprived of the opportunity to worship the Lord in song at Mass, the Schola has instead begun singing Compline each
SPRING 2022
