REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
DIOCESAN DIGEST Mass of Ages quarterly round-up Arundel & Brighton Anne-Marie Mackie-Savage 01323 411370 aandb@lms.org.uk Masses in Arundel and Brighton currently remain stable, if thinner on the ground than they have been. However, with the return to health of Fr Gerard Hatton - Deo gratias - and his return to his parish of St Hugh’s, Knaphill, youth Masses (let the reader understand) have resumed on Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm. The Masses in the Diocese that are available have congregation numbers that are steady at the least, and growing at best: 8.00 am Sunday in particular seem to draw a wider cross section of parishioners than mid-afternoon slots ever have, but that’s not surprising. Extra feast day Masses have been extremely well attended and it’s amazing how many people can sing, unaccompanied, traditional Latin responses with no trouble at all; the volume that can be achieved during a Salve Regina can be quite awe inspiring. As usual, thanks to all our supporters and the wonderful priests who make this report possible. If anyone has any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Birmingham & Black Country Louis Maciel 07392 232225 birmingham@lms.org.uk birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk Several Feast Day Masses were celebrated at St Maryon-the Hill in Wednesbury in this quarter, including for St Bernard, St Bartholomew, St Pius X, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Guardian Angels, as well as the Assumption and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in addition to the usual third Sunday Low Mass. Please remember that this church is close to junction 9 of the M6, which can be useful if you are looking for a Mass on a particular Feast day. From September, the first Friday Mass at Acocks Green was preceded by Sacred Heart devotions, including a brief period of Adoration and Benediction. The third Friday Mass at St Dunstan’s took place in the conference centre while the main church is being refurbished. We look forward to moving back to the main church with its new centrally positioned altar and altar rails by the end of the year. Fr Eamonn has now left Kingstanding parish, but is planning to travel back to celebrate the second Wednesday Mass at Maryvale. However, coverage has been patchy please check the Mass is on before travelling. At the time of writing, the Pontifical High Mass in honour of the canonisation of St John Henry Cardinal Newman
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has not taken place. Preparation for this did somewhat impact the opportunities at the Oratory to celebrate other High Masses, including the cancellation of the annual Quarant’ore. However, the Feast of the Assumption and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross were celebrated with a High Mass, the latter at rather late notice. Birmingham (Little Malvern) Alastair J Tocher 01684 893332 malvern@lms.org.uk extraordinarymalvern.uk Facebook: Extraordinary Malvern I am delighted to confirm that Sung Sunday Masses at St Wulstan’s increased from twice-monthly to weekly from September. Broadly speaking, Masses on 2nd and 4th Sundays will continue to be celebrated by Dom Jonathan Rollinson OSB whilst the additional Masses will be celebrated by Canon Scott Smith ICKSP and Fr Anselm Gribbin, who are based at St Winifride’s, Shrewsbury, a mere 65 miles away! Our thanks to them and to Canon Amaury Montjean of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest for helping make the additional Masses at St Wulstan’s possible. With the increase in the number of Masses there is naturally a corresponding increased demand for refreshments afterwards so those will now be available every Sunday too. We thank those who have kindly volunteered to organise this and who clear up afterwards. Although, as I write this report, we are still short of available servers we are nevertheless hoping to celebrate what is most likely the first Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form at St Wulstan’s in the past 50 or so years on the feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday in October. God willing, it will be the first of many in the years ahead. That will be followed two weeks later by our annual Sung Requiem Mass on Remembrance Sunday. Finally, our thanks to Fr George Grynowski who has kindly supplied on a couple of occasions over the past quarter and to our faithful servers and singers for their invaluable contributions. Birmingham (North Staffordshire) Alan Frost At the time of writing, the celebrant of the weekly Mass at Our Lady’s, Swynnerton, Fr Chavasse, will be in Rome on 13 October for the canonisation of Cardinal Newman. Over the years, Fr Chavasse has been very involved in the promotion of Blessed John Henry Newman’s cause. We are
WINTER 2019
