REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
DIOCESAN DIGEST Mass of Ages quarterly round-up Summer Reports Arundel & Brighton Huw Davies aandb@lms.org.uk 07954 253284 The past quarter has seen some welcome Sung Masses in the Vetus Ordo in the diocese, for the Feast of the Purification of Our Lady at St Hugh of Lincoln in Knaphill, on the first Sunday of Lent at Our Lady of Consolation in West Grinstead and on the Feast of the Annunciation at Our Lady of Ransom in Eastbourne - aside from at West Grinstead, this was the first time in living memory a Missa Cantata had been celebrated at these churches, so a wonderful achievement for those involved, particularly in the current climate. The Lenten season got underway with Ash Wednesday Masses at Knaphill and at Sacred Heart in Caterham, and during the Sacred Triduum at Knaphill we were also blessed to have a Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday and a Solemn Liturgy on Good Friday (in the manner as reformed in 1955). Thank you to Fr Hatton for adding this to his schedule for this year and to the group of boys and men who pulled together to serve these complex yet beautiful ceremonies. Easter Day saw the usual Sunday Masses at Knaphill and St Pancras, Lewes, plus a Mass at St Barnabas, Molesey, which attracted a congregation of 50 - good going for 8 o’clock in the morning. As last year, you are encouraged to view the beautiful hand-painted Paschal candle here if you are passing - a worthy tribute to our risen Lord. Looking ahead, the Pilgrimage Mass to West Grinstead will again be happening on the Summer Bank Holiday, Monday 29 August, at 2pm with a Sung Mass, followed by refreshments and then Rosary and Benediction. This year, with the lifting of government restrictions, we will also be able to have tours of the historic house, so please mark this date in your diaries. Birmingham & Black Country Louis Maciel 07392 232225 birmingham@lms.org.uk birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk/ The Oratory celebrated a full Triduum using the Missal of 1962, including Tenebrae at 8pm every day on top of the Mass of Maundy Thursday, the Liturgy of the Passion and the Easter Vigil. The usual two Sunday Masses took place on the day itself, supplemented by the usual Sunday Mass At St Maryon-the-Hill in Wednesbury and an additional Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton. The latter had an additional Mass on the Monday of Holy Week to make up for the one that could not be celebrated on Good Friday. The third Friday Mass at St Dustan’s in Kings Heath could not take place in April for this reason. Easter concluded a strong Lenten schedule which began with a High Mass at the Oratory and a Low Mass at St Maryon-the-Hill on Ash Wednesday. A well-attended High Mass at 11am for the Feast of St Joseph, which fell on a Saturday this year, was followed by a High Mass of Exposition on Tuesday for the Quarat’ore devotion, moved to Lent this year, before the
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week concluded with High Mass for the Annunciation, one of two in the region in fact, with OLPS in Wolverhampton also celebrating one on the same day! The addition of Stations of the Cross before Mass during Lent saw larger than usual turnouts at the March and April First Friday Masses at Sacred Heart and All Souls in Acocks Green. Birmingham (Oxford) Joseph Shaw oxford@lms.org.uk oxfordlmsrep.blogspot.com Masses continue as normal, except for Holy Trinity, Hethe which I have been unable to arrange. Birmingham (North Staffs) Alan Frost Further to the pamphlet he produced explaining ‘Traditional Mass of the Catholic Church’, for his parishioners at St Augustine’s, Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, last autumn, Fr Kazimierz Stefek put together a booklet for the approach of Lent. Under the series titled ‘Return to Tradition’, he explains Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, and how the Church keeps these feasts, as well as reminding people about the need to fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. More Sung Masses are planned for the weekly Wednesday celebration during the coming weeks. Two boys from a family enormously supportive of the Traditional Latin Mass for a number of years, the Cottons, began training to serve the Low Mass at Our Lady’s, Swynnerton, on the Feast of St Joseph, with the encouragement of the parish priest, Fr Paul Chavasse. Fr Paul has had a busier time than usual with various calls upon his services, including marriages and baptisms and the preparation for these sacred events. Birmingham (Worcestershire) Alastair J Tocher 01684 893332 malvern@lms.org.uk extraordinarymalvern.uk Facebook: Extraordinary Malvern Masses across Worcestershire – in Kidderminster and Redditch – continue as normal, as do weekly Sunday Masses just across the border in Ledbury, Herefordshire. Sadly, the restrictions imposed by the Archbishop of Cardiff meant however that there were no Traditional Latin Masses in Ledbury for the Sacred Triduum this year. Absent the opportunity to sing locally at Ledbury, the Schola has found itself recently in the unforeseen position of being able to accept a number of invitations to sing Mass elsewhere. Most recently this included at Lanherne Carmelite Convent in Cornwall, where a handful of singers were privileged to join the local Schola and the Carmelite Sisters in singing the Masses for Palm Sunday, the Sacred Triduum, and Easter
SUMMER 2022
