MACKLIN STREET
Early days
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our eyes do not deceive you - the 'Macklin Street' column is still here... and the LMS is still in Macklin Street! Negotiations on a lease on another office collapsed at the last minute as we were – literally - signing documents, when the landlord insisted on an unreasonable and wholly unacceptable change to the break clause in the lease. Had we accepted the change, we would be forced to look for yet another office within two years. Fortunately for us, our present landlord came to the rescue and offered a twelve month extension to our current lease, which the LMS Officers accepted. Therefore, it is business as usual in Macklin Street! Roger Wemyss Brooks (a member of the LMS Committee and Local Representative for St James's, Spanish Place) has spent a great deal of time in the Office sorting the many boxes, bags, files and folders which contained our archives. The papers are now in some semblance of order, although more sorting and cataloguing needs to be done. Some of the material dates back to the very early days of the Society, and before. Roger's work has brought to light many very interesting documents from the likes of Geoffrey Houghton-Brown, Alfred Marnau, Sue Coote and Antony Roper, to whom, among others, the Society owes its existence. The Society is very grateful to Roger for the time he has spent, and continues to spend, on preserving our archives. If any of our readers has anything that could be added to our collection, we would be very grateful to receive it. We do not necessarily
WINTER 2019
ask for original documents, if you would rather keep them, but a photocopy or scan would enrich our archives. Please contact Stephen Moseling, the General Manager, if you have material to submit. Elsewhere in this edition of Mass of Ages you will see we have available our 2020 Ordo, 2020 Wall Calendar and our selection of Christmas cards for this year. Orders for these may be placed online or by telephoning the Office. While you are on our website, please do peruse (and purchase from) the 'Advent & Christmas' section, where you will see a selection of books and other items for these seasons. For those readers without internet access, we have highlighted a few of these on the insert stapled to the centre of this magazine. The LMS has a very good and long-standing relationship with Westminster Cathedral. Our Annual Requiem and the High Mass on the day of our AGM are both celebrated at the High Altar of the Cathedral. In addition to these, there has been a monthly Low Mass in the Cathedral for many years. Following requests from some who attend it, from January 2020 the monthly Saturday Mass in the Lady Chapel will move to the first Saturday of each month, at 4pm. We urge readers to support this Mass where possible. The LMS Office will be closed for the Christmas holiday from Monday, 23 December and will re-open on Thursday, 2 January. The staff in Macklin Street wish readers a very blessed Advent and a happy and holy Christmas.
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