Mass of Ages Autumn 2015

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Mass of Ages The quarterly magazine of the Latin Mass Society

Issue 185 – Autumn 2015

JUBILEE YEAR – FREE

How shall I repay the Lord for His goodness to me? CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY Interviews with Michael Voris and Joseph Shaw Roberto de Mattei addresses the LMS Colin Mawby on Plainchant

PLUS: News, Features, Columns, & Comprehensive Traditional Mass Listings, Diary and Events JOIN THE LMS NOW – APPLICATION FORM, BACK PAGE


CONTENTS

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

COMMENT 2

Introduction

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Chairman’s Message

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First time at an Old Rite Mass

10-11

St Walburge’s Shrine: Evangelising Preston

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The Joy of Plainsong: Colin Mawby

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Letters to the Editor

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The Ideal Husband: Mary O’Regan

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Hand Missals: Fr Bede Rowe

24-25

The Law and the Gospel: Revd James Patrick

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Roman Correspondent: Reform of the Reform?

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Politics of the Family: The Lone Veiler

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Promoting the Message: Macklin Street

NEWS & FEATURES 4-5

The Society’s First Year: 50 Years On...

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Raise the Banner of Tradition: Jubilee Weekend with Roberto de Mattei

8-9

Michael Voris in Conversation

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Defending the Liturgy: An In-depth Interview with Joseph Shaw

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In Illo Tempore & Liturgical Calendar

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Crossword

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We Proclaim Beauty: Stefano Mazzeo

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Art & Devotion: The Assumption

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News: New Director of Music & Chartres

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Mass at Sizergh Castle

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Treasure and Tradition: A Guide to the Mass

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Priest Training in Bath

DIOCESAN REPORTS & EVENTS 27-34

MASS LISTINGS 35-41 The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Latin Mass Society. Great care is taken to credit photographs and seek permisison 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 permission.

The Latin Mass Society 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH Tel: 020-7404 7284 editor@lms.org.uk

Consecrators of the World The Second Vatican Council is often referred to as the ‘Council of the Laity’, when the ‘Lay Apostolate’ was given special attention and support. But the Church has always, in one way or another, been aware of, and alive to, the fundamental role of laymen and women in great the work of salvation. As the Venerable Pius XII put it, lay people are the ones called to be ‘consecrators of the world.’ In his Address to the Second World Congress of the Lay Apostolate in 1957, the same Pope said: ‘There has always been a lay apostolate in Christ’s Church. Saints such as Emperor Henry III, Stephen, founder of Catholic Hungary, and Louis IX of France were lay apostles... There were also women [lay apostles], like St Pulcheria, sister of Emperor Theodore II, and Mary Ward.’ He added, ‘The [lay apostolate] assumes a thousand different forms, from the silent sacrifice offered for the salvation of souls, to the kind word and good example which compel the admiration even of the Church’s foes. It also embraces… feats of bravery which are paid for with one’s life, which appear among no statistics, and are known only to God. This hidden apostolate is perhaps the most precious and fruitful of all.’ In the future, those Church historians given to the interesting task of evaluating our age will, I believe, rightly credit the important role of the Latin Mass Society. It is a Society which is, of course, an association of lay faithful. Were it not for the brave men and women who founded the LMS 50 years ago this year, what would have beocme of the Roman Rite’s ‘Mass of Ages’? And today, dedicated laymen and women throughout England and Wales continue to build upon the work of our founders, promoting the Old Rite with great enthusiasm and love. We owe them all an immense debt of gratitude. Talking of gratitude... I am very grateful to Sarah Atkinson, my predecessor, and all the previous editors of Mass of Ages for their hard work in achieving such high standards for this publication. I know how hard Sarah and her predecessors have worked on this magazine, and feel privileged to be allowed to stand on the shoulders of such giants. I am also grateful to the LMS Committee for entrusting me with the care of this much-loved publication. I, in turn, would like to entrust its future to the Queen of Lay Apostles, the ever glorious and most Blessed Virgin Mary. Dylan Parry THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY PATRONS: Sir Adrian Fitzgerald Bt, Lord (Brian) Gill, Dr James MacMillan CBE, Colin Mawby, Charles Moore

Front cover picture: Pontifical High Mass for the Golden Jubilee AGM of the Latin Mass Society. © Daniel Blackman

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Mass of Ages No. 185

COMMITTEE: Dr Joseph Shaw – Chairman; Paul Waddington – Treasurer; David Forster – Secretary; David Lloyd – Vice President; Paul Beardsmore – Vice President; James Bogle; Kevin Jones; Stefano Mazzeo; Roger Wemyss Brooks; Matthew Schellhorn

Of your charity, we ask your understanding of the reality that, due to the considerable volume of e-mail received at Mass of Ages, it is regrettably not always possible to provide a reply.

MASS OF AGES: Managing Editior: Dylan Parry Design: GADS Ltd Printers: Cambrian Printers Ltd


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

Adding to the Life of the Church Dr Joseph Shaw

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he big news as I write is the invitation of the Fraternity of St Peter to the Archdiocese of Liverpool by Archbishop McMahon, to run the fine Pugin church of St Mary in Warrington. This comes less than a year after the Institute of Christ the King were given the impressive church of St Walburge’s in Preston by Bishop Campbell of the Diocese of Lancaster, not far away, and only a few years since the same Institute was given the shrine church of Sts Peter and Paul by Bishop Davies in the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The Fraternity of St Peter already, of course, has two apostolates in the South of England, in Reading and Chesham, which means that five dioceses have officially welcomed one or other of the Traditional Institutes (Liverpool, Lancaster, Shrewsbury, Portsmouth and Northampton). I would like to commend the hard work of the priests and superiors of these Institutes over many years which has made this possible. The result is that their pastoral work in England is no longer a marginal phenomenon: it is part of the mainstream life of the Church. The same is true of the Extraordinary Form as a whole: by contrast with the situation 20 or even ten years ago, it is no longer something done only in marginal, secretive, or exceptional circumstances. Pope Benedict’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum brought the Old Mass back to the mainstream in terms of the Church’s law; in terms of practicalities this has happened more gradually, but it has happened nevertheless. To facilitate this development has been the great work of the Latin Mass Society. What are the Society’s next objectives? Something of vital importance which the Society already contributes, and which we aim to develop further, is a sense of community among those attached to the Traditional Mass. We have specific interests and needs which must be communicated to the Hierarchy; equally we have a unique contribution to make to the life of the Church. Accordingly, we need ways of communicating amongst ourselves, and ways of acting as a group. Pilgrimages to the shrines of England and Wales are surely an obligation for English and Welsh Catholics. We owe it to the saints whose shrines these are, and we owe it to ourselves. If Our Lady came to see St Simon Stock in Aylesford, if St Margaret Clitherow gave her life for the Faith in York, and if St Winefride’s fidelity opened a spring of healing water in Holywell, the least we can do is visit them in these places. As Catholics attached to the Extraordinary Form, we naturally want to do this in the context of the ancient liturgy and traditional devotions, celebrated with appropriate solemnity. The Society makes this happen, and in doing so adds something very special to the life of the Church. These shrines are at the centre of our country’s spiritual life, and we can put the Traditional Mass at that centre. In a different way, it is vital for the Traditional community to have events like the LMS Day of Recollection and the St Catherine’s Trust Family Retreat (which will take place again in 2016, after a short hiatus), which offer us something spiritually over and above our local Sunday Masses.

We also need opportunities to discuss matters of common concern, and hear new ideas about challenges to the Church. This is the role of the biennial One Day Conference in London, which will also take place next year. The Mass of Ages, I believe, has a particularly important role to play, since it can be read by far more people than could attend events. Under the guidance of our new editor, Dylan Parry, whom I welcome in this, his first edition of the magazine, I hope to see Mass of Ages develop both as an expression of our devotional interests, and as a forum for reflection and discussion. It should serve to draw other Catholics into our movement, both by demonstrating the beauty and reverence of the Extraordinary Form, and by addressing the questions and objections they may have.

LMS Pilgrimage to Walsingham

© Joseph Shaw

This is particularly important in the context of the growing hostility the Church faces in secular society. The liturgy may seem irrelevant to this, but that is not so. Pope Pius XI expressed it this way in 1935: ‘The liturgy is a very great thing. It is the principle organ of the Church’s magisterium.’ A much quoted saying of the newly beatified Pope Pius VI, from 1975, is equally pertinent: ‘Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.’ The ancient liturgy is a witness to the Faith, and if we enter into it deeply, it will make us witnesses to the Faith also. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking Sarah Atkinson, who edited Mass of Ages until the last issue, and under whom the magazine became free. As I have mentioned, our new Managing Editor is Dylan Parry, who will continue Sarah’s excellent work, bringing to it his unique experience, creativity, and insights.

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HISTORY

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

1965: The Society’s First Year Fifty Years On... Fr Nicholas Schofield

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the founding of the Latin Mass Society in 1965, we publish here an abridged version of a longer paper on the early history of the LMS. It is hoped that the entire essay will soon be published for the benefit of our Members and others who are interested in our history.

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he liturgical changes of the 1960s were, as it is wellknown, welcomed in some quarters and strongly criticised in others. Many thought that the changes were rushed, poorly explained and had the effect of throwing out the proverbial baby with the bath water.

Dr Borghild Krane, a Norwegian psychologist, encouraged concerned Catholics to group together in defence of the Church’s traditional liturgy. The first national group to be formed, on 19 December 1964, was the French Una Voce (not to be confused with the International Federation formally erected in 1967). The English Latin Mass Society had to wait until the Spring of 1965 before it was founded. Geoffrey Houghton-Brown was one of those unsettled by the liturgical changes of the mid-1960s. He later wrote in a privately circulated memoir:-

It will be impossible for future generations to realise the shock that the announcement of these alterations to the Mass gave to those who had believed the Roman Missal established for all time, that no change could possibly be made to it… The ground seemed to give way beneath the feet as though an earthquake had shaken the Church to her foundations, as indeed it had… On 13 October, the Feast of St Edward the Confessor, he prayed at the shrine in Westminster Abbey:-

It was then and there that I decided to try and defend the customs handed down by our ancestors and in particular the custom of the Latin Mass. I could think of no better way of doing this except by advertising an “appeal” for the retention of the Latin rite of the Mass, in order to find out how many people felt sufficiently strongly about this question to support a petition to the bishops.

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Cardinal Heenan – photo of a portrait that hangs in Allen Hall

An advertisement subsequently appeared in The Times for several months:

LATIN MASS – Will anyone wishing to preserve the ancient Latin liturgy in England and who wishes to join me in an appeal please write Box – By December, Houghton-Brown had gathered 1,500 signatures, which he sent to Cardinal Heenan in regular instalments. Similar appeals were also launched in The Guardian by Kathleen Hindmarsh of Manchester, who told the BBC Today programme that she had 3,000 signatures, and in The Tablet by Gillian Edwards and Ruth McQuillan of Cambridge, who collected 3,446 names. There were vague ideas to start a Society in defence of the Latin Mass and Houghton-Brown met with the Abbé Caillon of the French Una Voce, who was eager to make contact with potential members in England and Wales. The growing group of concerned Catholics were kicked into action by a London banker, Hugh Byrne, whose letter in The Catholic Herald of 22 January 1965 suggested the immediate formation of an organisation:-


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

GOLDEN JUBILEE

This week efforts are being made to start a national Latin Mass Society in Britain. Mr Evelyn Waugh, one of the strongest opponents of the vernacular, has been asked to become President of the Society, which will aim at campaigning for at least one Latin Low Mass in every church on Sundays. Waugh declined the invitation but a meeting for interested parties was held at London’s Rembrandt Hotel, opposite the Oratory, on 10 April. A fortnight later, on 24 April, a Public Meeting was called at the Notre Dame Hall in Leicester Place. In advertising the event in the Catholic papers, the Society’s first Press Officer, Kathleen Hindmarsh, clarified its aims:-

The society will exist to ensure the preservation of the Latin Low, and Sung Mass forms, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, relating to the Latin rite.

At the time Houghton-Brown described him as ‘a martyr to the liturgical reforms.’ In May 1965 diocesan representatives were appointed for the first time and a small office was leased at 43 Blandford Street, which proved far more convenient than using the homes of committee members. Margaret Peckham did much of the clerical work in this early period. The aim of the Latin Mass Society in these early, preNovus Ordo years was to preserve Latin in the Sacred Liturgy, as Sir Arnold explained in a letter of 11 September 1965 to Cardinal Heenan:-

In the first place we must insist that we are not opposed to the vernacular Mass. We fully realise that the vernacular Mass meets a real need, but we are perplexed by the attitude of those Catholics who wish to deny us what we gladly concede to them: the opportunity to hear Mass in the preferred language. We love the Latin Mass for many reasons and above all because we are hearing the actual words which were heard or, in the case of priests, said by the faithful for nearly two thousand years, and by the Saints and our own English martyrs. We know that the Latin Mass has a special appeal to those who are obliged to spend all or part of their lives in foreign countries, particularly foreign workers and political exiles of whom there are so tragically many today. And the Latin Mass has, of course, an obvious advantage in any country in which racial rivalries coincide with linguistic differences…

© Wikipedia

The meeting was attended by over 400. Sir Arnold Lunn, who had agreed to act as the Society’s first President, said, ‘We want the Latin Mass, which we regard as the norm. We see the vernacular as an extra… a melancholy and regrettable concession to human frailty.’ Lunn was an interesting character. In his youth, he had been a distinguished skier and ‘invented’ Slalom racing, which he managed to introduce into the Olympic Games (together with Downhill Racing) in 1936. He made the first ski ascent of As well as ensuring that people the Dom, Switzerland’s highest peak had the opportunity of attending Mass (1908), and the Eiger (1924). However, in Latin, the Society also sought the his skiing career was undermined retention of Gregorian Chant and the by a horrific accident on a Welsh established form of High Mass in the mountain in 1909, which left him Latin Rite. with one leg three inches shorter A petition making these three than the other. Despite having requests was sent to the Hierarchy on previously criticised converts to All Saints 1965, and a copy was also Rome, Sir Arnold was received into sent to the Pope. It was discussed at the Memorial to Sir Arnold Lunn in Switzerland the Church by Mgr Ronald Knox on 13 Bishops’ Meeting held at the English July 1933. He was a prolific writer and College, Rome, on 29 November. wrote sixteen books of apologetics. His correspondence with Archbishop Dwyer of Birmingham said that ‘consultation with Mgr Knox was published in Difficulties (1932) but perhaps priests revealed their reluctance to give such an undertaking his most successful work was Now I See (1933), written a in light of their assessment of the needs of their people.’ fortnight after his conversion which, according to Douglas The Cardinal agreed to reply to the Society in the name of Woodruff, led more people to Catholicism than any other the Hierarchy. book written between the wars. The Low Week Meeting of 1966 produced a statement Several members thought that things were moving too that ‘every encouragement should be given to the reciting or quickly and without proper preparation, but the Society had singing of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin on those occasions been successfully set up. This was largely thanks to the boldness where it is possible, fitting and convenient; definite steps must and vision of Hugh Byrne, who, having effectively founded the be taken to see that knowledge of the Latin Mass is not lost.’ Society, quickly disappears from the Society’s annals. In mid-May 1965, he announced that he was unable to This article concentrates on the events of 1965 only. It is hoped continue his involvement, since juggling his day job with the that a longer paper on the history of the LMS will be published administration of the Society had undermined his health. in full later this year.

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

‘Raise the Banner of Tradition!’ Roberto de Mattei addresses the LMS Clare Stevens

‘John XXIII, like Frankenstein, realised he had given birth to a creature – the Council – that he couldn’t control any more…’ Roberto de Mattei warns of moral collapse at Latin Mass Society events in London, and issues a call to ‘supernatural arms’.

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enowned Catholic historian Professor Roberto de Mattei urged Catholics to ‘take up supernatural arms’ in the face of threats to the integrity and liturgy of the Church.

Speaking at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London, where he delivered the Michael Davies Memorial Lecture, the Rome-based historian endorsed the views of late Catholic writer Michael Davies on the flaws of Vatican II. He also said that lessons must be learnt from this Council as we approach the Synod on the Family. His talk, called ‘From the Second Vatican Council to the Synod: the Teaching of Michael Davies’, focused on Davies’ contribution to the understanding of Second Vatican Council and its aftermath and how that applies today to the upcoming Synod. He explained how Pope St Professor de Mattei at the AGM John XXIII, shortly after his election, convened the Council, intending it to complete the work of Vatican I, which was cut short by war. Intended to confirm the teachings of the Church, Vatican II was hijacked early on by liberal progressives.

Pontifical High Mass, which followed the AGM

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All photos © Daniel Blackman

‘The day after the opening of the Council, John XXIII, like Frankenstein, realized he had given birth to a creature – the Council – that he couldn’t control any more. When he died on 3 June 1963, the Council was firmly in the hands of the progressives.’ Communism and the Media He also condemned the failure of the Council to condemn Communism, ‘the gravest evil of the 20th century’, and cited a strong media narrative as instrumental in creating the ‘so-called “spirit of Vatican II.”’ ‘There were key-words that the journalists of Vatican II used with dramatic skill: “opening”, “dialogue with the world”, “the needs of the modern world”… but above all “the spirit of Vatican II.”’ Looking ahead to the forthcoming Synod on the Family, which will meet this October, de Mattei warned of ‘moral collapse’. ‘Reading Michael Davies’ work can help us understand the present crisis. We are now faced with a Synod of Bishops on the Family that seems to be questioning the indissolubility of marriage…’, he said. He called on traditional Catholics to ‘organise a resistance which doesn’t again catch [us] by surprise.’ ‘Michael Davies would have invited Catholics worthy of this name to take up supernatural arms – the most important certainly being the Traditional Latin Mass,’ he concluded. The importance of Tradition Professor de Mattei spoke on similar themes to the Society’s Annual General Meeting the following day. In his talk entitled ‘The importance of Tradition in the World Today,’ he said that Modernism, ‘the synthesis of all heresies’, condemned by Pope St Pius X, resurfaced during the Second Vatican Council. He also mentioned how Communism, not condemned by the Council, extolled a philosophy of relativism and materialism which dominates Western mentality today. ‘Communist regimes have fallen, but the relativism which is professed and lived by the West is based on the same presuppositions of materialism and relativism, i.e. on the negation of all spiritual reality and of all stable and permanent elements in man and society.’ Not condemning Communism, was, he continued, ‘the most scandalous omission of a Council which said it wanted to consider the problems of the age, but which in fact chose to ignore the gravest one of all.’ ‘Vatican II could have been an excellent occasion to issue a solemn condemnation of Communism… Yet paradoxically, Communism was precisely the evil which Vatican II performed every possible act of acrobatics to avoid condemning.’


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

LMS Jubilee: Marking 50 Years

Professor de Mattei at the Michael Davies Memorial Lecture

Saving the Church He went on to talk about moral values as objective realities which Church councils and synods cannot alter. He also warned that even Popes can fall into heresy. Citing Cardinal Newman, he put the case that it may be the duty of lay people to save the Church. ‘If today the Synod of Bishops tries to deny, even implicitly, on the level of practice, the indissolubility of marriage, then Catholics are duty bound to remind people that the natural and divine law prohibit all kinds of sexual relationship outside legitimate matrimony… The doctrine on sacramental marriage cannot be modified by any ecclesiastical authority, not even by the Sovereign Pontiff.’ Speaking of developments since Vatican II, he argued: ‘The solid, permanent Church with a backbone has been replaced by a “fluid” Church, like the society in which we live. This new Church is based on the primacy of… evolution over Tradition. Against this terrible crisis, we must raise the banner of Tradition. It is the only remedy.’

Bishop Jabalé with Deacon Mawdsley (left) and Fr Hayward (right)

Record numbers attended LMS jubilee events in London on 10-11 July, during which we hosted renowned Catholic historian Professor Roberto de Mattei. Professor de Mattei specialises in 16th and 20th century religious and political history. On 10 July, Professor de Mattei delivered the Michael Davies Memorial lecture after a Requiem Mass for the late Catholic writer, which was celebrated by Fr Tim Finigan. The following day, he gave a talk to the Society’s AGM, after which an estimated 350 people attended a Pontifical High Mass in Westminster Cathedral – a Votive of the Precious Blood. The Mass was celebrated by the Rt Revd Mark Jabalé OSB, Bishop Emeritus of Menevia, who was assisted by the Revd James Mawdsley FSSP, Deacon, and the Revd Fr Patrick Hayward, Subdeacon. It concluded with the singing of a Solemn Te Deum, in thanksgiving for the Society’s 50 years.

To read both papers given by Professor Roberto de Mattei during his visit to London, please visit the LMS website: www.lms.org.uk

Bishop Mark Jabalé with LMS Chairman, Dr Joseph Shaw, Treasurer, Paul Waddington, and Secretary, David Forster

Fr Tim Finigan celebrates a Requiem Mass for Michael Davies

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Michael Voris

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

Getting Catholics to ‘Wake Up’ Michael Voris in Conversation

Photo courtesy of John Rodger

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n early May, the well-known Catholic broadcaster Michael Voris visited London to give a series of talks in central London. The event was organised by John Rodger and the first talk was attended by many LMS members. Afterwards, some of those at the talk attended a local hostelry, where Dylan Parry held the following conversation with the broadcaster…

In recent years you’ve become an unofficial spokesman for many orthodox Catholics who feel their voices aren’t being heard by some Church leaders. This must place upon you a huge sense of responsibility. Do you see yourself in this way? Well, I guess the first thing I would say is that I don’t really want to be seen in that way. I can understand how some people might see it that way and speak in those terms. As for a ‘pressure’, there is no pressure as in a laborious thing, there’s a sense that you always need to say the truth. You always need to talk about Catholic truth, and so in that sense there’s a wondering in terms of ‘Could we have said that better?’ or ‘Might it have been better to have done this as opposed to that?’ But at the end of the day you just have to do what you have to do. What about the need to live up to the message that you yourself are proclaiming, the need to ensure that you don’t become a scandal to others? One has to think what horrible thing would happen to just one [person] if they had come back to the faith after something I had said, and then, all of a sudden, I fall myself. So in that sense there’s a responsibility; a responsibility over the sense of salvation. If you’re worrying over your salvation then everything else is taken care of. So I don’t really think of it in terms of ‘I have to make sure that I don’t do something wrong so that someone else isn’t affected by it.’ Rather, ‘I don’t want to do something wrong so that I’m not affected by it!’ Then, hopefully, that brings other people along as well. In that sense do you see your work as part of the ‘New Evangelisation’? Yes, I do. The term ‘New Evangelisation’ comes as a secondary line from Pope St John Paul in one of his encyclicals when he said that the peoples of former Christian nations are

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in need of a re-evenaglisation, or ‘new’ evangelisation. So, it’s ‘new’ in the sense that it would be ‘new’ for them. So I guess, sure. I try and get Catholics to wake up to their faith. But it’s not just for them, it’s for anybody who hears the message. In that sense, is it difficult sometimes when people in the Church, especially ordained ministers, show hostility towards your work? You know, I have a pretty thick skin. That stuff doesn’t really affect me personally. It makes me sad for a) what their motives are, and b) if they were doing their jobs I wouldn’t have to be doing this: ‘So do your job!’ Their job is to get out there and announce the Faith. As Cardinal Ouellet said when he was appointed head of the Congregation for Bishops, too many bishops hesitate to preach the Gospel because they worry what the political or cultural effect will be of what they’re saying. They don’t get to do that. Bishops don’t get to weigh what the effect of preaching the truth is going to be. They’re commissioned to preach the truth and if they have to die for it, they die for it. I think too many of them forget that they wear red, and why they wear it. Why do you think the Church seems as if it’s lost its way in recent years? It is as simple as the ‘spirit of Vatican II’, or was there something deeper going on in the decades or centuries leading up to that point of crisis? Also, do you think that the traditional Latin Mass is a natural guarantor of orthodoxy? The interesting thing about that is that I think a lot of people want to pin everything on the Latin Mass. So, I think it’s important to remember that all of this happened on the watch of the Latin Mass. People want to say, ‘Oh, Vatican II, Vatican II’, but every single one of those bishops at Vatican II was appointed by Pope St Pius X, Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XI or Venerable Pius XII. All those bishops there were saying the Latin Mass, were ordained in the Latin Mass, raised in the Latin Mass. So I understand why people want to say, ‘Ah-ha, look at that: Vatican II ends and everything falls to pieces.’ But nothing just ‘falls to pieces’. There’s always a lot of prep work behind all of that. There are an awful lot of things already in process of falling apart, behind the scenes. I mean Catholic theology was coming under attack in seminaries a hundred years before. There was the whole, ‘Let’s figure a better way to talk about St Thomas Aquinas’ and the whole Liturgical Movement, so a lot of this stuff had its footings really much earlier – in Luther’s revolt. And then it found different ways to branch out, politically, theologically, educationally – it got its ability to take off once the Industrial Revolution hit, because then you had great pockets of people being able to be relatively anonymous with each other, soaking in this humanist philosophy that all that really matters is ‘me’. So, I think all of that eventually worked its way into the Church, because people weren’t being safeguarded. That’s why Pope St Pius X had to write an encyclical over 100 years ago warning us about all this [rubbish] coming in to the Church; you know, the Modernist heresy, and so on. All of this was going on behind the scenes, away from the view of the people in the pews. Then in the late ’60s and early ’70s, it just surfaced in the


pews as well, and the precipitating cause was quite easily the sexual revolution. So, people were already being prepared to be weak Catholics by a clergy that were already somewhat weaker in the faith, probably considerably weaker in the faith than 200 or 300 years ago. So, the clergy being weak in the faith and slowly preparing the people to be weaker in the faith, and then comes along the thing that pushes the domino, and that’s the sexual revolution. You mentioned in your talk earlier that 54% of Catholics in the US support same-sex marriage and you’ve just highlighted the way Modernism has weakened the Church, how do you think orthodox lay Catholics can do something positive to change this ecclesiastical culture – while being loyal to the hierarchy? That’s a big question! On an individual level, how you can change something always comes down to a question of first of all ‘How can I change myself?’ The only person we are responsible to ensure to get to heaven is ‘myself’, because that’s the only one I have full control over. If something is not going right, I’m at least partially responsible. I may be a very small ‘partial’, but I am at least partially responsible. You know the saints had people who rejected them, Our Lord was killed, so it’s not a question of ‘If you’re holy everyone will follow you’, but ‘It is almost assuredly guaranteed that if you’re not holy everyone will follow you!’ Apart from St Michael, do you then have a favourite saint? Boy. Yeah, there are a few… I’d say St Catherine of Siena, Thomas More, Pope St Pius X, Louis de Montfort, Francis de Sales. Notice that for the most part they’re all post-Reformation characters. Also, Robert Bellermine is good. It’s a hard question. I have a statue of Louis de Montfort in my office… Is there a quote from a saint or scripture that inspires you? That’s another tough question. The thing that’s ‘dangerous’ about the saints is that the kind of accepted practice we’ve come to have of the saints is one of them being up in the stained glass windows. I think we tend to sanitise the saints a little too much. You know, these were human beings. They had bad tempers, they had people they didn’t like, and all of that – not that that’s what you’re emulating. It’s hard to look up to somebody who is already perfect and enjoying the beatific vision and use that as your starting point – that’s the end point! Many of them had such singular graces from Our Lord. St Catherine was having visions when she was only five or six. St Teresa of Avila walked around as a little girl, unaware of the fact that others didn’t see their guardian angels as she did. So, when you leave the mystics in another category, and look at the everyday run of the mill saints, who weren’t necessarily being given visions, like St Ignatius and St Francis de Sales, I think it’s easier to become like them when you find a common starting point. You know, there are wonderful stories that make you chuckle and say ‘Ah, I get that!’ I was ecstatic to hear that St Jerome had a nasty personality! Of course, we have to venerate the saints and ask for their help and everything because of the level they’ve attained, they’ve co-operated in attaining, but I’d would just caution people against thinking, ‘Oh, gosh, I’m never going to get there.’ Because that’s how they were once, and that’s where you want to start – start with where they once were!

To watch Michael Voris on Church Militant TV, please visit www.churchmilitant.com

Maiden Lane

Peace and Reverence

First time at the Old Rite Maile Hanson

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y first experience of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass was at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, London. One Monday afternoon, I had finished shopping in Covent Garden and decided to attend Mass at Corpus Christi. I was aware that the evening Mass would be in Latin and in the Extraordinary Form, and was somewhat apprehensive as I did not know what to expect, and did not know the meaning behind the rituals. As I entered the church, I was struck by how peaceful it was. People were sitting in quiet prayer and no one was talking. I found my place in the pew and settled down for Mass. I had heard so many arguments about Mass said in Latin, a language that most people do not understand. I also heard phrases such as ‘priest facing away from the people’, and wondered about the supposed lack of congregational participation and the wearing of mantillas. At first, I struggled to keep up with the various stages of the Mass, but instead of getting frustrated I felt the urge to learn some key Latin prayers. I also thought that not keeping up with the stages was all right, as I know the Ordinary Form of the Mass and was keeping up at my own pace. Rightly or wrongly, it gave me time to concentrate on the Mass without fully understanding what was going on. I took more notice of what the priest was doing, which surprised me. His facing away from us was refreshing, because I liked the fact that he is one of us, looking towards God, representing us. As I am used to a different kind of participation, common to the Ordinary Form, I would have liked more recitation (or singing) of the people’s parts of the Mass. At Holy Communion, I was acutely aware that I did not have a mantilla. I was glad, though, that I had a shawl on that day, and promptly raised it to my head. Used to receiving Holy Communion without a head covering, I was surprised at how reverent I felt when using one. I have since purchased a mantilla, but have only worn it at such Masses, and am conflicted as to whether I should wear it to all Masses. I enjoyed my Mass that Monday evening and left spiritually lifted. The smell of the incense, kneeling for Communion, wearing of the mantilla, quiet prayer… all focused on God with reverence and humility, and I was not distracted by the priest or altar servers.

Maile Hanson lives and works in central London.

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© Joseph Shaw

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015


ST WALBURGE’S

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

All photos © St Walburge’s

Evangelising Preston Canon Francis Altiere

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t is hard to believe that almost a year has passed since Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster established a traditional ‘shrine’ at the monumental St Walburge’s church in Preston. Previously only open one hour a week, St Walburge’s is now open every day with daily Mass and Divine Office in the traditional rite, as well as Confessions, devotions and Eucharistic Adoration. Bishop Campbell, who has been most supportive and fatherly in welcoming us into his diocese, will be joining us on Sunday 27 September to celebrate this first anniversary by offering a Pontifical Low Mass and confirming 25 candidates who have been receiving their formation at the Shrine. A recently ordained priest for the Institute of Christ the King, I have had the great honour this year to serve at St Walburge’s. Although not a parish church in the territorial sense, we have the privilege of keeping the same sacramental registers as a parish would have. Some members of our congregation already knew this liturgy, but what is striking is how many of them – both cradle Catholics and converts – have come to discover this liturgy, only this year. As we hear more and more about the importance of a new evangelisation, our experiences at St Walburge’s have convinced me of the important contribution that traditional communities can make to the Church’s missionary efforts, especially when supported by creative initiatives like that of Bishop Campbell, and by the prayers and generosity of the faithful. First of all, missionary zeal depends on having a clear sense of the purpose of evangelisation. Evangelisation concretely means helping practicing Catholics to grow in holiness and become apostles; helping lapsed or non-practicing Catholics to return to the sacraments; and helping non-Catholics to become Catholics. If anything is ‘new’ about the evangelisation the Church must undertake today it is certainly not in the goal proposed – the missionary conquest of all men – but is merely the acknowledgment that we now live in a society that is not simply non-Christian, but one that is, as the pessimistic label has it, ‘post-Christian.’ The banality and desacralisation of modern life is an important ‘sign of the times’ for evangelisation to address today. ‘The Church evangelises and is herself

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evangelised through the beauty of the liturgy, which is both a celebration of the task of evangelisation and the source of her renewed self-giving’ (Pope Francis, Evangelii gaudium, 24). Secondly, since apologetics remains necessary in every age, Catholic evangelisers need to be at ease with the ‘motives of credibility’: providential facts like miracles and prophecies that make it reasonable to embrace the Catholic faith. The Church has always held that she herself ‘by reason of her… unconquerable stability, is a kind of great and perpetual motive of credibility and an incontrovertible evidence of her own divine mission’ (Vatican Council I, Dei Filius, ch 3). A Church that appears to be cut off from the past presents much less of a motive of credibility than a Church that manifests her essential continuity. In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen: ‘The Church has put to bed all the errors of the past for she knows that to marry the passing fads of any age is to be a widow in the next. She is therefore not behind the times, but beyond the times, always fresh while the age is dying.’ Having a permanent ‘base’ as we have at St Walburge’s allows us to establish initiatives for evangelisation and to participate fully in the life of the Diocese. The fortnightly adult doctrine classes and seasonal retreats we host are attended by members of our own congregation as well as those from other churches. The four adult converts baptised this year are all new-comers to the traditional Mass and sacraments: far from being an obstacle to evangelisation, the traditional liturgy communicates a sense of the sacred that the open-minded are happy to discover. The first year at St Walburge’s has offered many joys – and a few challenges, as is to be expected in such a mammoth building, in need of constant maintenance and restoration. One of the greatest joys is being able to serve as a centre from which the saving truths of our Catholic faith can radiate into a city and a world so desperately in need of conversion. The liturgy is a reminder that as always, it is the altar – and not our own human efforts – that is the living heart of the Church’s life and work!

For news from St Walburge’s or to sign up for the newsletter please visit: www.stwalburge.org


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

TRADITIONAL EVANGELISATION

St Walburge’s: Views from the pew... Having lived in Preston for 25 years, I was a parishioner of Sacred Heart parish which eventually merged with St Walburge’s parish. I used to attend the parish Mass (Ordinary Form) at St Walburge’s and became more familiar with this architectural gem and its distinguished history. When the Institute came to St Walburge’s I attended the opening High Mass in September 2014 with great anticipation and delight. I have come to love the beauty of the Extraordinary Form. I have also enjoyed the various social events, adult catechism classes and retreat days that have taken place at St Walburge’s .

Coming from an atheist background, my fiancé and I have been attracted to the Catholic faith this year through the beauty of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. We were taken in by the liturgical music, tradition and reverence of everyone that attended. It sparked a curiosity in the faith that lead to us being received into the Catholic Church. As young converts, we are excited to be getting married at St Walburge’s this October and will be moving to Preston to be closer to the church. We hope other young families will do the same!

– Michael Durnan

– Richard Harris & Sarah Lawler

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JOSEPH SHAW

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

Defending the Liturgy To mark the Golden Jubilee of the Latin Mass Society, which was founded in 1965, the new managing editor of Mass of Ages speaks with our Chairman, Joseph Shaw, reflecting on his role, as well as the Society’s work.

Could you tell us a little of your background and how you became an active member of the traditional Catholic movement, if I can call it that? I was doing my degrees in Oxford, when I started thinking about the Mass and the liturgy in a way that finally led me into the traditional movement. I became rather frustrated by liturgical abuses in particular and found out more about them and realised that the situation was actually worse than it appeared at first sight. I was already a member of the Latin Mass Society, but nothing had been advertised in Oxford. That was the era in which Masses couldn’t be advertised and all sorts of arbitrary restrictions were applied. Finally, though, the situation changed and I found in my LMS newsletter that a Mass was taking place in, of all places, the West Oxford Community Centre! It happened at the right time for me personally, so I went along. Although I had been to the traditional Mass before, this time it struck me that this was the answer.

Looking back at your six years as Chairman, what do you count as your greatest achievements and disappointments? The things I look back on with greatest satisfaction are things like the tours of the country we had with Bishop Schneider and Bishop Rifan, which were appreciated by everyone. Also, the things which I personally initiated, like the one-day conferences. We’ve had two of those now and we’re planning a third. We hope that they will take place biennially. One of the great successes of the Society over these years has been the priest training conferences, which I can’t claim any responsibility for myself, but we’ve carried on doing them through thick and thin. I think the thing that is perhaps the most disappointing phenomenon is what happens when a priest who says the traditional Mass and who has established himself in a parish for a number of years is moved. What he’s built up then disappears. That’s happened a number of times. The most obvious example is Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen, when Fr Timothy Finigan moved. It’s very sad to see that, as it takes a long time for these things to be established – a community benefitting from the Mass, and all the things that go on to support it, such as the groups of servers and choirs. This is going to happen until we get to the stage where it’s straightforward to replace one priest who’s being saying the traditional Mass with another.

This year the Society celebrates its 50th anniversary. What do you think its greatest achievement has been?

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One thing we need to mention are the traditional institutes that have arrived. The LMS can’t claim direct responsibility for that, but we’ve certainly prepared the way for it. Bishops who’ve invited them in are responding to our needs and the needs of our supporters. This has been relatively recent in the history of the Society. But it’s been very impressive. One of the most heartening aspects of the situation today is the number of vocations these institutes are getting, including from here. This augurs well. As we speak, we’re just about to welcome Fr Ian Verrier, an English born priest of the Fraternity back to these shores to do apostolic work here, which is wonderful!

One of the most striking facts about the LMS is that it’s an association of lay faithful. It seems that when the need arose to ‘save’ the traditional Liturgy of the Roman Rite, many of the prime movers were laypeople. Why do you think this was? I think it was extremely difficult for priests to do anything about it. Thinking about this question, I am reminded of two priests who were determined to do something about it. One was Fr Bryan Houghton, who actually resigned from his position as a parish priest in East Anglia, rather than say the new Mass. He left the country and essentially went into


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retirement in the south of France, saying the traditional Mass privately and writing books. He wrote some very good books, in fact! So his talents weren’t wasted, but there wasn’t much else he could do in the 1970s. The other priest was Fr Oswald Baker. Again, he refused to say the reformed Mass, but rather than leaving, he stayed and carried on saying the traditional Mass in his own church in Downham Market. When he was chucked out from there, he carried on living in the presbytery. In fact, it was an extraordinary situation, which was, in many ways, a nightmare. He created huge problems with the bishops and ended up personally suffering and becoming a sedevacantist. His example serves to remind us why most priests thought about what they could do and why they concluded, ‘Actually, there is nothing I can do.’ At best, they could stay in their parish, stay close to the people and try to explain to them what was going on and not preach heresy from the pulpit. I don’t think we should be too hard on those priests who allowed themselves to be rolled into this liturgical revolution. Actually, it was very difficult and very few of them had the resources of Fr Bryan Houghton, who had his own money. Even if they had, would it have been a good thing if all the priests had stopped saying Mass? The Latin Mass Society, composed as it is by laity, could do things that most priests could not do. A number of times, priests have said that they’re pleased that the LMS exists and can say the things that they cannot. Of course, we’re not always going to agree with each other on what to say and how to say it. There is also a danger that we put those priests who are our supporters and who support the traditional Mass in a difficult situation. Though, we do our best not to do that, and I think the Society has always erred on the side of being diplomatic – even in extraordinarily difficult situations. As laity, under Canon Law, we can make our concerns known, if necessary in public, but nearly always, in fact, in private. We can also campaign and develop networks of likeminded people and do the necessary research about the legal situation in the Church and on every aspect of the liturgy. That’s been hugely helpful.

Do you think the LMS can sometimes be viewed with suspicion by some clergy? Certainly, there is an old fashioned clericalist attitude that the priest should be in charge – the laity are the infantry and clergy are the officers. If you look at it in historical terms, this doesn’t make sense. It arose in a situation where the lay leadership of the Church was weak. If we had a Catholic state or a Catholic monarch, it would be much more difficult to suggest that the bishops or clergy were in charge of the ‘Catholic society.’ Obviously, clergy can step into that role if the lay involvement is lacking. You see this most obviously in a place like Ireland, where the ruling class was historically Protestant. When Ireland became independent, many left the country. Who was there to think about things like education and health care but the Church? I think it’s always going to be a temptation for priests to think that in relation to the government of the Church and the liturgy, these are their areas of responsibility, so what are these lay people doing making a fuss about it? Well, it’s our spiritual

CHAIRMAN

lives that are at stake, and we have a responsibility towards our own children and communities and to defend the Church and her liturgy, when necessary. In fact, this is something that the laity have done many times over the centuries, not least in England…

Maybe we can develop this theme? St Thomas More was questioned by clergymen who had taken the Oath of Supremacy and who thought him arrogant in lecturing them on matters of faith and morals. He said that he was bound not by what then appeared to be the Church within the realm of England, but by ‘the general counsel of Christendom.’ It seems that traditional Catholics also try to see the Church through a wider lens. Maybe that’s why it’s sometimes easier for a layperson to remain loyal to the ‘general counsel of Christendom’? That it’s easier for the laity to see the wood for the trees do you mean? The laity at the time of the liturgical reforms asked a rather naïve question in a way, which was, ‘We’ve always worshipped in this way, but now you’re asking us to do something completely, or apparently, different. Surely that’s wrong?’ Actually, this is a very profound question. The supersophisticated answer, ‘Oh we’re now using the Anaphora of Hippolytus, which is terribly old, and actually there is nothing in the Church’s tradition to stop us translating the liturgy into the vernacular’, was a superficial response. We now know that many of the arguments used were historically misguided – like the claim that the Early Church had invariably worshipped facing the people. The Anaphora of Hippolytus is now very much up for debate, too. But what the faithful understood was something profound about the continuity of the Church and fidelity to tradition. The naïve question which the faithful were asking was the right one and their reaction was a justified reaction, which Pope Benedict eventually said in vindication of this feeling: ‘What was sacred then, must be sacred now.’

I am reminded of the Society’s patrons, St Richard Gwyn and St Margaret Clitherow. Can they provide a model for Catholics living in modern Britain? I think they provide a wonderful model of lay Catholics living in a time of adversity. What did they do? Well, they maintained family life, especially Margaret Clitherow. Richard Gwyn was a teacher, so he maintained the basic intellectual life of the Church. Both maintained the domestic Church at a very intimate and personal level. They protected the clergy and the Mass, making it possible for the sacramental life of the Church to go on. Without being ordained themselves, they were absolutely necessary if the sacramental life was to be maintained by priests. They were also examples of holiness, who have inspired many people – both at the time, and since.

In another interview in this issue of the magazine, Michael Voris says that many of the experiments that flowed out of the ‘spirit of Vatican II’ had their genesis on the ‘watch of the old Mass.’ What do you make of that? Continued on page 17

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COLIN MAWBY

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

The Joy of Plainsong Glimpsing the face of God Colin Mawby

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ope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote: ‘Liturgical music is at the heart of Divine Worship. When human beings come into contact with God mere speech is not enough.’ My first encounter with plainchant came in 1946, when I entered Westminster Cathedral Choir School at its post-war reopening. My previous experience of church music had been restricted to two hymns: Like the Dawning of the Morning and Sleep Holy Babe, both of which I still love. Our first Cathedral service was greeting Cardinal Griffin on his return from Rome with his Red Hat. We, new and inexperienced choristers, had six weeks in which to learn the plainchant Te Deum, and I was bowled over by its magnificence. That wonderful experience began my love affair with chant and led to similar feelings for polyphony. My young mind understood that both are essential to liturgical worship and my old mind (I am now 79) feels in exactly the same way. Chant is a profound revelation of the mystery and beauty of Almighty God: it expresses that which is far beyond ‘mere speech’ and forms a direct line of communication with our Saviour. The ancient tone of the Lamentations is based upon a Jewish chant that pre-dates Christ. He would have heard it and may even have sung it in the Temple. This living connection with our Saviour should be revered but how widely is it known among the faithful? The effects of the ‘spirit of Vatican II’ This lamentable failure to appreciate our heritage is a result of poor teaching in both music and liturgy. I have a close friend who in the 1960s was educated at a valued convent school in Dublin, with a fine musical tradition. All the postVatican II hymns were performed, but she was never educated to sing one piece of chant. Her experience underlines the main reason for its disappearance from most of our churches. One of my more bizarre experiences was eating at an excellent restaurant in Ireland listening to a CD of chant being used as background music. I asked my parish priest why it was necessary to visit an eating-house to hear chant; why couldn’t I hear it in church? Needless to say there was no satisfactory reply! The infamous euphemism ‘spirit of Vatican II’ did great damage to liturgical worship and its effects are still felt. (Another which used to annoy Heenan was ‘The People of God.’ He would ask, ‘Who are the People not of God?’) Those who love the traditional liturgy owe much to Pope Benedict. He had rare vision, a deep grasp of the purpose of liturgy and stressed that the traditional and the new could co-exist and complement each other. He also understood the profound spirituality of liturgical music and underlined this when he created Monsignor Domenico Bartolucci, Director

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Emeritus of the Sistine Choir, a Cardinal. He also gave him the ring he used to wear when he himself was a Prince of the Church. Why is chant so eminently suitable? This leads to a fundamental question: why is chant so eminently suitable for divine worship? The main reason is that it portrays a feeling of timelessness and spirituality and in doing so, opens minds to a world beyond human comprehension; it leads people to glimpse the face of God. Modern technology enables music to be heard at the flick of a switch or the touch of a screen, there can be very few who go through a day without hearing popular music in its many forms. However, most pop music is noisy, excessively rhythmic and sensual. It contains little spirituality and is not in any way God-centred. A silent whisper, not rap Music is one of our Creator’s greatest gifts, a perfect channel of communication between humanity and Almighty God but how often is this understood? Do people thank God or indeed even acknowledge that it is one of his gifts? Contemporary music is transient but chant isn’t. Pop hits are usually popular for a few months but the chant has lived for thousands of years. It towers like an old and magnificent oak tree over a plantation of diseased shrubs. One recalls that Elijah recognised the word of God in a gentle whisper. He certainly wouldn’t have heard it in the latest ‘rap’! Elijah’s ‘silent whisper’ is one of chant’s greatest qualities. How tragic that its liturgical use is so restricted. Why do I have to go to restaurants or concert halls to enjoy it? Why is this superb instrument of evangelisation ignored, sidelined or belittled? Fight the good fight Pope Benedict sees the revised and traditional liturgy as complementary but this must also apply to liturgical music. Although much dross has surfaced since Vatican II, some very fine music has been composed and it has added to our musical heritage: the DNA of the Holy Spirit is imprinted upon it. However, if our traditional music remains largely unknown there is no way in which it can complement the new. As lovers of the traditional we must strive and fight to ensure that its power and magnificence is ever more appreciated. In the words of the famous hymn: ‘Fight the good fight with all thy might.’ I was Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral at the conclusion of Vatican II. The whirlwind that rampaged through the Church blew with equal ferocity through the Cathedral’s musical traditions. I consider it one of my greatest achievements that with the unswerving support of the great


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Cardinal Heenan, I was able to preserve the heritage of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan and Sir Richard Terry. Serious attempts were made in the ‘spirit of Vatican II’ to disband the choir and close the choir school. The author, Christopher Derrick wrote that when all the animals stampede to one side of the ark, it is essential that some go to the other side, otherwise the craft will capsize, and this is precisely what I did. I remember hearing Cardinal William Godfrey discussing Christopher Derrick’s views and it became obvious that he was totally correct. I am proud that the tradition of England’s premier Cathedral remains intact and that its standards are higher than ever. My first experience of polyphony was in the Cathedral choir when, as an 11-year-old, I sang Palestrina’s Missa Brevis conducted by the Cathedral’s legendary choirmaster George Malcolm. The music thrilled me, in particular the second Agnus Dei with its superb Canon – how we loved singing it! Recently, I experienced a great sense of joy when making a programme for EWTN during which I was able to hold manuscripts of Palestrina’s work copied in his own neat hand. I was in contact with one of the Church’s greatest musicians whose work is the template for our finest liturgical music. I experienced similar feelings while staying at the Venerable English College and standing in its chapel, rebuilt on exactly the same spot as the one destroyed by Napoleon, in which the great Spanish composer Victoria was ordained. Interestingly, it was in this same chapel that Palestrina received his tonsure although he did not proceed to the priesthood. As my experience of polyphony grew I became slowly aware that it is much more than mere music, it is the very essence of our liturgical worship. Who can fail to be deeply spiritually moved when listening to Allegri’s Miserere.

LETTERS

Letters Facing the Lord is not ‘exclusive’ Sir, I was surprised to read the article on the Extraordinary Form of the Mass by Ann Widdecombe. I was not convinced by her argument about ‘exclusion’ based on the priest facing ad orientem. For most of her life (and mine too) an Anglican, the priest would have faced the altar during the Communion Service (in recent years Anglican priests usually follow Catholic practice and face the congregation.) I assume she did not feel ‘excluded’ then? It can be a significant distraction when the priest faces the congregation. The priest and the congregation together take part in the worship of God. Facing the altar (and the tabernacle) is therefore more natural than for the priest to stand with his back to the tabernacle. Perhaps the silent canon of the Mass was more of a problem? If one has a thorough knowledge of the Mass (either the Ordinary or Extraordinary Form) this should not pose too much of a problem. However, I agree that for former Anglicans the Old Rite is more difficult to adapt to. The Novus Ordo in English is much easier to follow. However, I would urge Ms Widdecombe not to give up on the Old Rite after only one Mass! Fr Lindlar, a former Anglican priest now in the Ordinariate, has learnt to say it and would, I am sure, be willing to introduce Ms Widdecombe to its beauty. Nicolas Ollivant Chairman, Friends of the Ordinariate London, SW1

Don’t cast aside our musical heritage Our musical heritage is sublime and must never be cast aside. Liturgical music didn’t begin in 1964, it is thousands of years old and encapsulates the deepest feelings of both musicians and worshippers. An attack on our heritage damages the very history of the Church – if we deny our ancestry we cut down the very tree from which our roots spring. This must never be allowed to happen. Those who love traditional music face a great challenge: how to preserve and foster it in a culture that questions its validity? The answer lies emphatically in education. The Missa de Angelis and Credo III should be taught in all our schools and training colleges. Young people should be educated to love our musical heritage. Unfortunately, many educational establishments seem to prefer fashion to quality, however, this situation is beginning to change and a balance between old and new is being developed. Many people now appreciate what has been lost and seek a period of restoration. Pope Benedict gave a most positive lead when he wrote about the old complementing the new but this can only happen when the old is widely known and appreciated. It is not the preserve of ‘Old Fogeys’: it is the very life-blood of our worship. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in our work.

Colin Mawby KSG is an acclaimed composer, conductor and organist. He is a Patron of the Latin Mass Society and, among many other things, is a former Westminster Cathedral Master of Music.

Innuendoes, or light-heartedness? Sir,

The cover and editorial of the last edition of Mass of Ages makes me very uncomfortable, and in fact I’ve removed the outer page of our copy altogether. I’m talking about the innuendoes in the slogan on the cover and in the phrase ‘a look under the mantilla,’ with the accompanying cover photograph of a young girl (full face, close up, direct stare.) It seems to me, this content is not appropriate to a magazine titled for Catholic tradition and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Forgive me if I’m being over-sensitive about this. At Fatima Our Lady mourned the deluge of impurity that was coming on the world, and thank you for promoting her message by including the TFP flyers. Please, let’s do everything we can to avoid every taint of this scourge. Peter Allington Hemel Hempstead, HP2

The above letters are representative of many we received in light of the last issue of Mass of Ages. Most correspondents were disappointed by Ann Widdecombe’s article, while a small number expressed concerns regarding the cover. We hope to expand the Letters page in the next edition. To write to the Editor, please see our contact details on page 2.

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CALENDAR

In Illo Tempore Reports from LMS Chairmen, given during their addresses to the Society’s Annual General Meetings over the 20 years from 1975-1995, and recorded in the Society’s newsletter or magazine, offer an interesting insight into the recent history of the Church. The confusion and pain of the early years of the reformed Mass eventually gave way to a more hopeful future… 1975: ‘No wonder the Holy Father weeps!’

Pope Paul’s Missal, far from being universally accepted, let alone honoured by those for whom it was presumably and particularly intended, has not even lasted unscathed through the Pontiff ’s lifetime, nay, not even ten years, before the first signs of erosion have appeared. Also, simultaneously, the use of the old Roman Missal has been outlawed by national hierarchies (though not by our Holy Father)... No wonder the Holy Father weeps! Paul VI must be the saddest pontiff ever to occupy the chair of St Peter. We must indeed pray that he will yet find the strength to restore the Church to her former piety and greatness. 1980: ‘High hopes… were not fulfilled.’

…We started this year with high hopes. These hopes were not fulfilled. Parity between the old and the new rite of Mass has still not been granted. Nor have the various de facto schisms within the Church been dealt with… This is the way in which we now live within the house of the Church. There was, however, a glimmer of light in all this darkness. The Holy Father’s Epistle on the subject of the Holy Eucharist. It was a heartbreaking – in many ways shocking – document and no less than a recognition of the truth of what we have been saying about the post-Conciliar abuses all these years… He makes it painfully clear that there is a dividing line, however faint it may appear, between the sacred and the profane, between Faith and heresy. When that dividing line is crossed, Rite becomes farce; vestments, fancy dress; the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass something that it is not. To quote the Holy Father: ‘If separated from its distinctive sacrificial and sacramental nature, the Eucharistic mystery simply ceases to be.’ 1995: ‘Bit by bit we are making headway.’

In a brief review of the year [the Chairman] said that in respect of Masses being celebrated on Sundays we had made further considerable progress. The number of regular Masses over the past year was approaching an extra 600. If we considered the time before Ecclesia Dei in 1988 we only had about 140 Masses per year in England and Wales and now we are approaching 3,000. Bit by bit we are making headway.

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LITURGICAL CALENDAR AUGUST 2015 Sat 8 S JOHN MARY VIANNEY C III Cl W Sun 9 XI SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 10 S LAWRENCE § M II Cl R Tue 11 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 12 S CLARE V III Cl W Thu 13 FERIA IV Cl G Fri 14 VIGIL of the ASSUMPTION of the BVM II Cl V Sat 15 ASSUMPTION of the BVM I Cl W Sun 16 XII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 17 S HYACINTH C III Cl W Tue 18 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 19 S JOHN EUDES C III Cl W Thu 20 S BERNARD Ab C D III Cl W Fri 21 S JANE FRANCES FRÉMIOT de CHANTAL W III Cl W Sat 22 IMMACULATE HEART of the BVM II Cl W Sun 23 XIII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 24 S BARTHOLOMEW § Ap II Cl R Tue 25 S LOUIS K C III Cl W Wed 26 FERIA IV Cl G Thu 27 S JOSEPH CALASANCTIUS C III Cl W Fri 28 S AUGUSTINE B C D III Cl W Sat 29 BEHEADING of S JOHN the BAPTIST § III Cl R Sun 30 XIV SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G Mon 31 S RAYMUND NONNATUS C III Cl W SEPTEMBER 2015 Tue 1 Wed 2 Thu 3 Fri 4 Sat 5 Sun 6 Mon 7 Tue 8 Wed 9 Thu 10 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sun 13 Mon 14 Tue 15 Wed 16 Thu 17 Fri 18 Sat 19 Sun 20 Mon 21 Tue 22 Wed 23 Thu 24 Fri 25 Sat 26 Sun 27 Mon 28 Tue 29 Wed 30

FERIA IV Cl G S STEPHEN K C III Cl W S PIUS X P C III Cl W FERIA IV Cl G S LAURENCE JUSTINIAN B C III Cl W XV SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G FERIA IV Cl G NATIVITY OF BVM II Cl W FERIA IV Cl G S NICHOLAS of TOLENTINO C III Cl W FERIA IV Cl G MOST HOLY NAME of MARY III Cl W XVI SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G EXALTATION of the HOLY CROSS II Cl R SEVEN SORROWS of the BVM II Cl W SS CORNELIUS § P & CYPRIAN § B MM III Cl R FERIA IV Cl G S JOSEPH of CUPERTINO C III Cl W SS JANUARIUS B & COMPS MM III Cl R XVII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G S MATTHEW § Ap Evangelist II Cl R S THOMAS of VILLANOVA B C III Cl W EMBER DAY II Cl V FERIA IV Cl V EMBER DAY II Cl V EMBER DAY II Cl V XVIII SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G S WENCELAUS Duke M III Cl W DEDICATION of S MICHAEL ARCHANGEL I Cl W S JEROME Priest C D III Cl W

OCTOBER 2015 Thu 1 Fri 2 Sat 3 Sun 4 Mon 5 Tue 6 Wed 7 Thu 8 Fri 9 Sat 10 Sun 11 Mon 12 Tue 13 Wed 14 Thu 15 Fri 16 Sat 17 Sun 18 Mon 19 Tue 20 Wed 21 Thu 22 Fri 23 Sat 24 Sun 25 Mon 26 Tue 27 Wed 28 Thu 29 Fri 30 Sat 31

FERIA IV Cl G HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS III Cl W S TERESA of the CHILD JESUS V III Cl W XIX SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G FERIA IV Cl G S BRUNO C III Cl W BVM of the ROSARY II Cl W S BRIDGET W III Cl W S JOHN LEONARDI C III Cl W S FRANCIS BORGIA C III Cl W XX SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G FERIA IV Cl G S EDWARD K C III Cl W S CALLISTUS I P M III Cl R S TERESA V III Cl W S HEDWIG W III Cl W S MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE V III Cl W XXI SUNDAY after PENTECOST II Cl G S PETER of ALCANTARA C III Cl W S JOHN CANTIUS III Cl W FERIA IV Cl G FERIA IV Cl G S ANTHONY MARY CLARET B C III Cl W S RAPHAEL ARCHANGEL III Cl W OLJC the KING I Cl W FERIA IV Cl G FERIA IV Cl G SS SIMON § & JUDE § Aps II Cl R FERIA IV Cl G FERIA IV Cl G OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W

NOVEMBER 2015 Sun 1 ALL SAINTS I Cl W Mon 2 COMMEMORATION of all the FAITHFUL DEPARTED I Cl B Tue 3 FERIA IV Cl G Wed 4 S CHARLES BORROMEO B C III Cl W Thu 5 FERIA IV Cl G Fri 6 FERIA IV Cl G Sat 7 OUR LADY’S SATURDAY IV Cl W Sun 8 V SUNDAY remaining after EPIPHANY II Cl G Mon 9 DEDICATION of the ARCHBASILICA of the SAVIOUR II Cl W Tue 10 S ANDREW AVELLINO C III Cl W Wed 11 S MARTIN B C III Cl W Thu 12 S MARTIN I P M III Cl R Fri 13 S DIDACUS C III Cl W Sat 14 S JOSAPHAT B M III Cl R


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

CROSSWORD

Continued from pages 12 & 13 Well, it’s quite easy to show that he’s making a mistake, because the liberals who merged from that era were itching to get rid of the traditional Mass. We can take it on their authority that the traditional Mass was a barrier and an impediment to their project.  In fact, Cardinal Ratzinger, as he was then, made this point at a famous conference talk that he gave on the theology of sacrifice, when he said that it’s because of the fashion for an essentially Lutheran theology of the Eucharist that one can understand the opposition to the traditional Mass. Otherwise, opposition to the traditional Mass is incomprehensible. The other thing to say is that when people go back to the traditional Mass now, it’s different from just being given it by default in the 1940s and ’50s. Now they are developing a liturgical and theological orientation, which is orthodox in a more or less conscious contrast to the heterodoxy that surrounds us. You’ll occasionally get the odd person who likes it only for the ‘smells and bells’ and is not theologically orthodox at all – but they are very rare. The traditional Mass is almost invariably associated with orthodoxy, and Michael Voris has said this himself.

Apart from your work, family commitments and your commitments to the LMS, how do you enjoy spending your spare time? Spare time! What’s that? I suspect that, like many people who have been drawn in to the traditional milieu, I find that many of my pastimes have been drawn in as well. So, I have always had an interest in history, but I am now particularly interested in the Catholic aspect of the Reformation. I have always had an interest in music, though I don’t have any music training, but I now found myself singing Gregorian chant, which is very satisfying! I have an interest in drama: plays and opera. I haven’t been to very much for a number of years, having small children. But in the last couple of years, I’ve got to the stage where I can start taking my older children. One of the things I’ve learnt from all of this is the way children absorb, appreciate and enjoy things that they can’t fully understand. I took my oldest children to a performance of the Barber of Seville in Italian. They had subtitles, but they couldn’t read them – one of the children couldn’t read at all! But, they really enjoyed it. There’s a lesson there for the liturgy. We can appreciate something that we don’t fully understand, and that’s fortunate for we cannot fully understand the mystery that is the Mass.

ACCOMMODATION WANTED A 25 year-old Traditional Catholic postgraduate student from Germany (fluent in English) is seeking accommodation in London from 1 October 2015 for one year. If you have, or know of, a modest room in a family home, a flatshare with other students, or any other type of reasonably priced accommodation in central London, please write to Nikolaus at nikolauskarlson@gmail.com. Otherwise, please feel free to contact the Editor (editor@lms.org.uk) for more details. Good references available.

Alan Frost: © July 2015

Clues Across 1 Missionary Saint (6th c) who founded the Abbey on Iona (7) 5 ‘….. Magna’, a ‘great cape’ worn by cardinals or bishops on very formal occasions (5) 8 ‘… kingdom come’, The Our Father (3) 9 ‘The Dream of ………’, Elgar oratorio from Newman’s poem (9) 10 Girl’s name; Duke’s daughter in Shakespeare’s As You Like It (5) 11 Diocese in which is situated the ICKSP Church of St Walburge, Preston (9) 14 Settlement and port that later became Constantinople (9) 18 ‘Croeso i …..’, ‘welcome to Wales’ (5) 21 Female dancer (9) 22 State of India with significant Catholic population (3) 23 ‘Per ardua ad …..’, motto of the RAF (5) 24 Saint founder of the Praemonstratensian Order (7) Clues Down 1 Subterranean burial place for early Christian in Rome (8) 2 Surname of the Saint founder of the Jesuit Order (6) 3 Mary, to whom Christ said ‘noli me tangere’ as He was not yet risen (8) 4 Name (IV) of the only English Pope (6) 5 Place of Christ’s first public miracle (4) 6 Famous detective created by ‘Indult’ author Agatha Christie (6) 7 Semi-circular east end (usually) of a church (4) 12 Comfortable piece of furniture (8) 13 A Catholic who refused to attend Protestant services during the Reformation (8) 15 Fanatical supporter of a cause (6) 16 Islands off the west coast of Greece including Corfu and Ithica (6) 17 Royalist who fled the French Revolution, one leaving his country for another (6) 19 Palindromic father (4) 20 English College in Rome for training priests (4)

CROSSWORD WINNER The winner of the last crossword competition was Mrs Naomi Clear of London. She wins a copy of Tony Reynolds’ book St Nicholas Owen: Priest-hole Maker.

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OPINION

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

The Ideal Husband Mary O’Regan

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hen I was a teenager in Cork in the early noughties, I was interested in hearing the life-stories of some married couples who I grew to know very well when I was passing from girlhood to early womanhood. Particularly, I was fascinated at how they fell in love and why the women had said ‘yes’ when the men asked them to marry them. Nothing succeeds like success, and the reason for my being a nosey-parker into their affairs was because these women had happy marriages. Their marriages had survived the test of time. The women in question had been on the dating scene in the 1950s and early ’60s. Cork is a snug, closely-knit community and Corkonians are famous for commenting sharply on other peoples’ business. In at least one case where the wife was very good-looking, I heard others remark, ‘Oh she could’ve married a better lookin’ fellow.’ Getting to know the wife better, I learned that before marrying her husband, she had ‘done a line’ with a much more handsome man – there had been lots of sparks, lots of fun and romance – but the woman had broken it off. There had been ‘chemistry’ to borrow modern parlance, but the man showed poor judgment, did not respect her enough, and did not have enough maturity. It was like he was a boy. Marriage is not for children. In other cases, I learned that the women had been ‘doing a line’ with men before meeting the man who would be their husbands. These men, though, had made bad decisions, drank too heavily and squandered their wages, lost their jobs due to poor performance: all signs of a lack of self-control. Some of the men showed signs of being very controlling or that they were potentially bullying. These women would draw a lot of scorn and be scoffed at by modern husband hunters, who are given the advice to find a ‘hot’ man who does what the woman tells him to do. What marked these pre-Vatican II women apart from the younger women who had married later in the ’60s and ’70s, though, was that they were looking for a man who they could vow to obey in the Sacrament of Marriage. Bear with me, I know the work ‘obey’ is so loathed by feminists that anyone who used the word post-70s was hung out to dry. Now, the word is only used in dog-training, or Cocker Spaniel show trials. But returning to the happily married women of the early ’60s – whether or not they could respect a man’s will was a big factor in deciding to marry him. This was before some women became puffed up with the mushrooming pride of feminism, which grows in darkness, and teaches them that they are inferior if they are not in charge of the family.

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I’d like to make a case to my fellow women that it is in their best interests to reject feminist credos that argue a woman is effectively a well-trodden on doormat if she follows Ephesians 5:22-24 ‘the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church… Therefore as the Church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands.’ It must be stressed that this does not mean a woman conform to the man’s will in occasions of sin, nor does it mean that the woman must be a mini-slave, catering to the man’s every whim or silly fantasy. I’d like to be clear that I’m not arguing that society will be instantly better if all married women start blindly obeying their husband like automatons. Vowing to obey a husband was a concept that made me uncomfortable for years not least because I’ve seen women who are married to rotters who make their lives a living hell. I’m not agitating for men to be allowed to abuse their power as head of the family. But I have spoken to women married to bullies, and many have told me that if before getting married they had asked themselves hard questions, perhaps the hardest being whether they could abide by the bully’s dictates, then they would never have got hitched to the man in the first place. Feminism teaches women that they are the lesser if they are not going to take control of the family, and often times when a woman falls for a bully, she self-deceives herself into thinking that the marriage will work because she will have power over him, and she may even change him! Here’s the heart of my thesis: if before marriage, a woman filters her suitors on the basis of men who are kind-hearted, have a balanced mindset and who have got what it takes to guide the family, they may well choose a man who would make a good husband and enjoy a much better marriage. Then, with better marriages taking place across the land, it will, with the grace of God, make for a better society. The huge majority of priests that I’ve met are too embarrassed to make a case for St Paul’s teaching. If put on the spot, a priest formed in seminaries where they have been taught never to challenge feminism, will start wringing their hands and their cheeks will go strawberry red and their eyes will be glued to the floor. I’m going to suggest an interesting survey. What if during the second Synod of the Family in October, the Synod Fathers – all those red-capped Cardinals – were asked if they would advise single women to seek a man who is worthy of being head of their household? You see, predominantly, the Synod has been characterised by a duel between two sides: the faction in favour of Communion for the divorced and re-married, and those who are against. More of the Synod Fathers’ time and energy should be spent in learning from the mistakes of the decades since the late ’60s. If young Catholics – especially women in this instance – are not told that following Ephesians is in their best interests, then will we be surprised when more bad marriages are made? As anyone in a failed marriage or sham marriage knows, prevention is a million times better than cure. I have not made a bad marriage, but many, many times I have called off a romantic entanglement because I knew I would never trust the gent enough to obey him. It has been incredibly liberating not to be limited to choosing a man based on chemistry, his good looks, and how much money he has. These things are good in themselves, but more importantly is finding a good’un whose will I respect.


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

DO WE STILL BELIEVE IN...? TAB

Do we still believe in... hand missals?

From Must to Mystery Fr Bede Rowe

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t is highly ironic that as one thing loosens another tightens. When there was only the Latin Mass, priests were constrained in how they said it. Everything is laid down exactly: the space between the hands, the grade of bow, the dimensions of the signs of the cross, etc. Now, of course, go to a new Mass and you will see everything… absolutely everything! Some of these things are allowed by the new liturgical books, others are simply the winds of change elevating the alb of common sense and exposing the bottom of silliness! For Christ’s lay faithful, on the other hand, there used to be genuine freedom. Some said their Rosary, some read their prayers, others followed in their hand missals, still others lit candles. Come the reforms, come the straightjacket of ‘participation’. In the new form you must stand and sit when directed. You must make the responses in unison with the rest. You must sing a communion hymn. You must be gathered into a worshipping community by an entrance song or chant. You must, you must, you must… Uniform Mass The priest’s individuality has been raised, and the people in the pew have been reduced to a uniform mass, in which the individual response is sacrificed. It is so difficult to say a prayer nowadays during Mass, it is so crowded by demands – say this, do that, sing the other… but whatever you do, don’t do anything different from anyone else! It would, then, be a pity if we imposed these things on the Latin Mass. There is a vogue in certain circles that everyone must follow everything that the priest is doing and saying. The informed traddie must know not only the responses (a laudable goal) but also the priest’s silent prayers. They must follow every word, every gesture. And the hand missal is essential in this – or at the very least, the red Mass book and a handout of the readings.

I am not saying that these are not good things. They are. It is excellent that we have the resources for people to follow the Mass, especially now that people have to learn the Mass from the start. And it is excellent that the parts of the Mass that change, readings and prayers and the like, are on hand so that we know that the Mass is not an indistinguishable holy mutter, but is exact and specific. I always provide them whenever I say Mass. Not the only way… But they are not the only way to be at Mass. They never were and we should not make the traditional Mass into a gulag where everyone has to juggle a missal, a sheet, their reading glasses and have a keen ear for Father’s pronunciation of the eternal language. We should chill! Only the priest has strict rules of what to do. Enjoy the glorious liberty of the children of God… and say your prayers. If you want to use a hand missal – go for it! If you want to say the Rosary, and not move from your knees – then the knees are yours! If you have beautiful prayers to say during the different movements of the Mass – then pray them with all your heart! And if your soul is so sorrowful and distressed, even to the point of death – then no one should tell you to stand or sit or speak or sing. Use hand missals when it is profitable for salvation, but do not be limited by them. The point is to pray.

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FILMING THE MASS

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

We Proclaim Beauty! A Catholic filmmaker and the Latin Mass Stefano Mazzeo not only serves as a LMS Representative for the Wirral and a member of the LMS Committee, but he is also a distinguished TV writer and director – having recently produced acclaimed Catholic documentaries and films for EWTN. Here he speaks with the Editor about his work. How did you become a Catholic TV writer and director? I’ve always been in the media. Most of the stuff I have done has been for the military. When I started working for EWTN, though, as a freelance producer, scriptwriter and director I was able to bring my belief in the traditions of the Church and the Latin Mass into the work. What’s your philosophy as a filmmaker? It’s important to me to have the highest production values as possible. We have good and authentic music and well-written scripts. I try and use the ‘tricks’ of the secular media, though in the service of the Catholic Church – a sort of ‘agitational contemporaneity’, which was a maxim used by the television producers of the ’60s. By understanding these techniques and using them, you can make the Faith very exciting for everyone. As they used to say, ‘Why should the devil have all the best tunes?’ Exactly! And he hasn’t. We have the best tunes, it’s just that we don’t use them! Talking of your filmmaking, why did you make Wales: The Golden Thread of Faith? It was while living in Wales that I rediscovered the Latin Mass. I found out where they were being celebrated and started travelling around the country to attend them. I then met Andy Pollock of St Clare Media/EWTN and also Ian Murray, another person who was helping with EWTN. They suggested that I wrote a script about Wales and Our Lady. I ended up writing Wales: The Golden Thread of Faith. It took six years to get off the ground. The Latin Mass Society helped and I think it all worked well in the end. The documentary you made on the Crusades won the St Maximilian Kolbe Award at the Niepokalanow Film Festival... I didn’t enter it. It was entered by EWTN. But we were really pleased to go through to the final stage. When we won the grand prix, which Mel Gibson has actually won for his The Passion of the Christ, we were very pleased. Through winning this award, other secular channels started looking at the film – it’s already been broadcast on the national channel in Slovakia and we’re hoping that the Polish national broadcaster will also broadcast it. The same documentary has its own specially composed and recorded soundtrack. Is music an important part of filmmaking? Music makes up about 20% of the over-all effect of a film or documentary. If you have a good soundtrack, it will stay in people’s minds – look at films like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly or Pirates of the Caribbean. Music can have a great impact and if we use good music in these documentaries, then I think we can do a huge service to the Church. As I said earlier, we Catholics have such a wealth of music, it’s a shame not to use it.

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The title track to Crusades is called Hail Holy Queen of Christendom. What I asked our composer to do was to use the Salve Regina as a text and then amalgamate it with Ravel’s Boléro, for a Middle Eastern feel, and then give it a drumbeat, so as to give it a military feel. In doing this, I’m following a similar pattern to one already established in my other films. The theme tune for Inquisition will be a version of the De Profundis and I’ll be using the Semena Santa [Spanish Holy Week] processions as a backdrop to the whole series. For Crusades I used the Chartres pilgrimage as a backdrop – which meant I was able to make a little off shoot documentary on the Chartres pilgrimage itself, called In Search of Christendom. Why did you choose that title? If you see the documentary, it begins with an original piece of music, Jubilate Deo, for the first minute, before going into a phase shown in quick time that depicts the modern world – cars zooming along, airplanes taking off, all sorts of secular images that cause all sorts of problems for the Church. Then we go to Notre Dame Cathedral and highlight the contrast – all those young people there who are ‘searching for Christendom’. They are searching for something different, for a spirituality that they cannot get from modernity. When interviewing many of the youngsters on the pilgrimage, I was stuck by the fact that the Latin Mass is alive and well among young people. This is what they want. They want the truth, the traditions of Catholicism. They’re not ‘happy-clappy’ – most youngsters that I meet want the traditions of the Church. They’re not stupid. We don’t need to dumb down things for them. It’s wonderful, isn’t it, that the Church is alive with young soldiers for Christ, ready to fight for souls? There’s a poem by Houseman in which he says: ‘The child is father of the man.’ You can see this on the Chartres pilgrimage. These youngsters are telling us how to do it, and what they want. It bodes well for the future... And what projects do you have lined up for the future? Well, as soon as the filming for Inquisition is over, hopefully by mid-Autumn, I’m going to be working on a large project on Fatima. I say ‘large’ as it’s going to be much bigger than anything I’ve done so far – six episodes. And after that, the Reformation… To buy the DVDs mentioned in this interview, please see the advert on the opposite page or visit the St Pauls Bookshop next to Westminster Cathedral.


DVDs from EWTN

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

TAB

Films by Traditional Catholic filmmaker Stefano Mazzeo The Crusades Produced in association with Buckfast Abbey. An original four part docudrama with commentary by leading historians who dispel the myths.

ADRichard the Lionheart, The All the major Crusades,

Knights Templar, Queen Melisende, St Francis of Assisi, Constantinople and the 4th Crusade, St Louis, The Battle of Lepanto, the Reconquista and more. Duration 4 x 30 min - £12.95

Winner of the Grand Prix Niepokalanów, International Film Festival, Poland, for The Crusades. Maximilian Kolbe award as filmmaker. Stefano Mazzeo

In Search of Christendom: The Chartres Pilgrimage Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris draws thousands of young people for a Traditional Latin Mass on the vigil of Pentecost. Spiritually fortified, they set out on a three-day walking pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral. A strong witness that Christianity is still alive in Western Europe especially among the young. Duration: 30min - £9.95

Wales: The Golden Thread of Faith

Beautifully filmed on location with drama sequences. The Golden Thread of Faith follows the history of the Catholic Church in Wales. From Roman times, to the present day. The age of the Celtic saints with their Latin Masses, the Norman Conquest, the Welsh recusants and martyrs. A land of mystery and wonder, Celtic manuscripts, monks, Gregorian chant and Poetry. A coproduction with the Latin Mass Society. Duration 3 x 30 min £12.95

All films contain the Traditional Latin Mass You can order your copies On Line at www.ewtn.co.uk or by telephone 0208 350 2542

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TAB

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

The Assumption of the Virgin Titian, 1518. Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice

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ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

ART & DEVOTION

The Assumption of the Virgin ‘Rejoice on this most beautiful day’ Caroline Shaw

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his magnificent image, which stands nearly 23 feet tall, is perhaps the most famous depiction of Our Lady’s Assumption in art history. It was described by the early 19th century sculptor Canova as ‘the most beautiful painting in the world’, and it is one of Titian’s early masterpieces. He painted it when he was just 28 years old without the help of assistants, and at its unveiling in 1518 it cemented his reputation as the greatest artist in Venice, and one of the greatest in Italy. The painting is divided into three sections: in the lowest part the Apostles, gathered around the tomb of Our Lady, gaze Heavenward with expressions of holy fear, sorrow and wonder. The figure in red with his back to us – perhaps St John – raises his arm in entreaty, almost as if he is trying to catch hold of the edge of Our Lady’s robe, in an attempt to keep her with him on Earth, or else to try and ascend to Heaven with her. His arm creates a bridge between the Earthly realm and the Heavenly, reminding us of the enduring relationship between Mary and the Church, between the Mother of God and her sons and daughters who were bequeathed to her by Our Lord on the Cross. In the central section, Our Lady, surrounded by an otherworldly glow of golden light, is borne upwards on clouds by a sea of cherubim, her eyes firmly fixed upon Heaven. She raises her hands in prayer and looks up with a mixture of trust, longing and awe towards God the Father, Who occupies the top part of the painting, waiting to welcome His Beloved home. Although it is hard to tell from a reproduction, the supernatural light emanating from Heaven is dazzling: it is said that Titian painted it this way as a homage to the golden mosaics of San Marco in Venice, since he himself trained as a mosaicist in his early career. However, there was another more practical reason too: the altarpiece stands above the High Altar of the church, surrounded by vast windows above it and on either side. Natural light spills out from these windows, flooding the painting with blinding sunlight. Titian had to make the celestial light in the painting even brighter and more intense than the natural rays of the sun, and he succeeded. Of course, the light also symbolises the radiance of the Heavenly sphere. In a sermon on the Assumption, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux meditated on this glorious light: ‘The presence of Mary illumines the entire world, so that even the holy city above has now a more dazzling splendour from the light of this virginal Lamp. With good reason, thanksgiving and the voice of praise resound today throughout the courts of Heaven.’ This intense golden light was just one of many reasons why Titian’s great altarpiece was considered radical at the time. With its twisting, swirling energy, the bold drama of the gestures,

the brilliant colours, the sheer scale and the simplicity of the composition, which could be seen even from the back of the nave of this vast church, the painting provided an enormous contrast with the traditional style of Venetian altarpieces, with their cool light and calm figures. It was so unexpected and novel that the Franciscan friars who had commissioned the work were reluctant at first even to accept it. The subject matter – the Assumption – was only declared a dogma of the Church by Venerable Pope Pius XII in 1950, but it is one of the oldest feasts of Our Lady, and traces its roots back to the very earliest times. During the reign of the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, Christians celebrated the Dormition and Assumption of Our Lady at her tomb, which is said to be close to Mount Zion in Jerusalem. In the 6th century, St Gregory of Tours gave a moving description of the Assumption, which contains echoes of the Paschal mystery: ‘When finally the Blessed Virgin had fulfilled the course of this life, and was now to be called out of this world, all the Apostles were gathered together from each region to her house… At the break of day the Apostles lifted the body with the couch and laid it in the sepulchre, and they guarded it, awaiting the coming of the Lord. And behold the Lord stood by them, and commanded that the holy body be taken up and borne on a cloud into paradise, where now, it was reunited with her soul…’ The Assumption completes God’s work in Mary. Her Earthly life over, her work completed, she is carried in glory into eternity. While we can well imagine the sorrow and loss felt by the Apostles who were left behind on Earth, just as we ourselves are, how much more can we reflect on the happiness of Our Lord, as He receives His Blessed Mother to her Heavenly home. We think too of our own lives, and our final destination. As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux wrote: ‘Let us not complain for here we do not have a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come, the same which the blessed Mary entered today.’ Titian’s monumental image celebrates this glorious feast with dazzling energy. The position of the painting above the High Altar places the Assumption of Our Lady very strongly within the context of the Mass. At the moment when Our Lord’s own body, really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, is raised up by the priest at the elevation, the faithful see at the same time, the body of His mother being raised to Heaven. The two are joined by the painting in a visible union that connects the Earthly realm with the Heavenly; the Church Militant with the Church Triumphant. ‘How deservedly do we keep the feast of the Assumption with all solemnity,’ wrote St Bernard. ‘What reasons for rejoicing, what motives for exultation have we on this most beautiful day!’

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GRACE AND THE LAW

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

Judge Not, Lest Thou Be Judged The Law and the Gospel

© Gary Ilsley

In preparation for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, we reproduce below a paper (slightly abridged) which was first given by James Patrick at Pusey House, Oxford. The author (pictured) is a Circuit Judge, and is also a Deacon in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

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t is said that it was Otto von Bismark who mused that the law is like sausage: it is best to see neither being made. I have spent little time watching laws being made, but I have spent years in the practice of it, firstly a mixture of civil, family and criminal law, then concentrating on criminal law, and then more recently as a judge sitting solely in crime. One judge was recently asked whether it is anything like the programme, Judge John Deed. He said that the sad truth is that it’s not: except for all the sex. So it is from that criminal law perspective that I’d like to reflect a little on the law and the gospel, especially from a practical perspective. You might recently have heard some of Ed Stourton’s programmes marking the anniversary of the Authorised Version of the Bible. In it, he reminded us that the Tudors and the Stuarts saw the nation state, with the sovereign at its head as the source of law and fountain of justice, as reflecting the role of God within the whole of creation: God at its head as its source of all law and the fountain of justice. They saw themselves as like God the lawmaker, from whom the laws of

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the realm descended, and as the just judge from whom all justice derived. No doubt this morning’s gospel passage will have fortified those absolute monarchs in that belief: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law.’ But if they were lawmakers and judges, then surely they were also punishers too. It would seem that it is in the area of punishment that the model breaks down, and that in part I would suggest is because of the role of Jesus. That monarchical image is pyrimidical, with the monarch at the head, and the peers, judges, squires, landowners, serfs and prisoners beneath him, a top-down way ordering society. But that is skewed by Jesus: He came to fulfil the law, not abolish it; He said to give Caesar what was his due, not diminish him; He said that the stone should be cast by the one who has not sinned; He said to turn your cheek, and to give away your cloak. In the Judicial Oath, every Judge, from a justice of the peace to the President of the Supreme Court swears ‘to do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.’ There was one judge I knew, a wily old devil, who would remind himself of that oath every time he walked from his room into court. I try to, but sadly often forget. But what I often do remember as I sit there are other words: judge not lest you be judged. What is actually happening within our criminal justice system? How is it compatible with the Christian gospel? Is it simply an Old Testament construct? As much as my colleagues and I would wish that the good burghers of Haringey, Barnet, Hackney and Enfield, and the members of the ‘N9’ or the ‘Dem Africans’ or any of the other postcode gangs, would render to Caesar what was due to him, would turn the other cheek, would not steal and covet and kill, the sad reality is that they do. As much as you and I would wish that they had heard the gospel, and were living in love and charity with their neighbours, they are not, so of course as a society we are faced with the dilemma of how to deal with it. As we all recognise, the rule of law prevents lawlessness. It prevents – or at least discourages – revenge. It provides a way by which society can regulate itself. And so it is that I sit there trying cases, acting as a cross between an umpire and a minutes secretary, watching, with twelve other people selected at random from all walks of life – and believe me in North London, with a catchment area that includes Hampstead with its sunken basement developments and Highgate on the one extreme and the estate where Baby Peter Donnelly lived his short sad life on the other – they really are from all


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walks of life. An average Wood Green jury will contain at least one person for whom English is not the first language, and there will be an affirmation or two, and amongst the others, oaths on the New Testament, on the Old, and on the Koran. As I do sit there, watching the drama unfold, it often occurs to me that what is unfolding is based on Christian principles, for we are innocent until we are proved guilty; the might of the state must prove the guilt of the subject; the subject is entitled to remain silent; there is a judge independent of the state to oversee the fairness of the proceedings, and to do justice to all manner of people, both prosecution and defence. So, when I sentence, I do so in the knowledge that I am sentencing only those who have admitted their guilt, or who have been found guilty by their peers, ordinary people, who have been made sure of their guilt. In that system, the weak are protected and given a voice which is heard. It is no wonder then that an independent criminal justice system is seen as sign of a civilised society. Before you conclude that I have simply come here to pat the system and myself on the back, there is an area where, it seems to me, that it fails. One of the lovely things that happens when one is appointed a judge is that people find out and write letters. A letter I received, and you’ll forgive me I hope if I name drop, was from the mother of the comedian Julian Clary. Brenda Clary was for some years a probation officer at Swindon Crown Court which is how I met her. She wrote a lovely letter telling me that she was sure that my mother would be very proud – she was right – because mothers are usually proud of their sons, and she was proud of hers. But that’s not what I’m telling you this for. The reason is that she said this: ‘Of course some people have to go to prison. But it seldom does any good.’ She’s right. And yet we live in a society which clammers for people to go to prison. When I started in the law 20 years ago, the maximum sentence for causing death by reckless driving, it was then called, was two years. Now it is 14 years. That is probably right. After all, attitudes have changed. But now, someone causing death by careless driving – so just driving carelessly, and not even dangerously – is liable to go to prison. Is that right? Is that proportionate? Of course it is right that people should be deterred from driving dangerously. But can we deter anyone from causing accidents? How should we punish a careless act, an act that is not deliberate, but which can have devastating tragic consequences? We are all careless. Will the threat of a prison stop us? Of course we need deterrents. In that regard, we can understand why there are minimum terms for those who burgle persistently, for those who carry guns, and for those who deal drugs. ‘Of course, some people have to go to prison, but it seldom does any good.’ So there should be deterrence, but how does that fit with the message of the gospel? Deterrence speaks more of lex talionis: eyes for eyes and teeth for teeth. And if prison seldom does any good, what should we take from the gospel? One of the aspects of my job which people rarely see are the monthly reviews. One man is my age. A man with few previous convictions, he has a long-standing drug addiction, and he sold some drugs to undercover officers. The other is younger. He has a list as long

YEAR OF MERCY

as your arm, and he robbed someone. Once a month, I see them in court for a review. The older knows that if he fails, he will go inside for 18 months, and the younger for two years. Twice a week their urine is tested. There’s a monthly report which sets out the results, and how they are doing with their group work. Then in open court, with them in the witness box, we discuss how it’s going, entering into a dialogue. Sometimes they need to be threatened; sometimes they need to be praised. It is worth it, trying to break that cycle of addiction; trying to address what is often at the root of the offending. Some may think that this is being soft on crime, but to me, it seems entirely consistent with the Christ who hated the sin but loved the sinner. Anything that can help an offender to face up to the consequences of their offending, will help to limit it, and that certainly is the view of those who have experience of restorative justice. Bringing offenders face to face with a victim brings them face to face with the consequences of their actions. It’s shorthand, but most of the people we deal with are mad and sad; very few are bad. In any event, most offences are committed by men under the age of 35 or 40: almost all of them grow out of their offending. Justice can sometimes be tempered with mercy. The call of Christ is for us all to build up the Kingdom of God. That there is crime and injustice is in part our fault, for we have not done enough to show Christ to a waiting world. The Kingdom of God is at hand, yet its fullness is not yet here. Until kerygma, until we cast off our humanity, until we all judge ourselves more harshly than we judge one another, then we will need a law that deters more than it rehabilitates. Yet it is the conversion of hearts and lives that the Lord calls for. That’s the business we are in. That’s what we are called to do: to show what it means to fulfil the law. That’s the Good News.

Please pray for the souls of all members who have died recently

Requiescant in Pace Barbara Judge Edward Michael Barrett James Richard Norton Marsh Alexander O’Sullivan Anne Connaught Therese Richards William Rodway Every effort is made to ensure that this list is accurate and up-to-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 2 for contact details. 25


NEWS

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Promoting Excellence in Sacred Music LMS Appoints First Director of Music London area, in particular, with its flagship celebrations has a greater need for professional music, demanding an intense amount of musical planning and execution at the highest standard. We are therefore delighted to appoint a musician of Matthew Schellhorn’s calibre to take our work in the capital.’ Matthew Schellhorn said: ‘I am delighted to be offered this opportunity to work with the Latin Mass Society in promoting sacred music. The appointment of a Director of Music for London gives the Latin Mass Society an opportunity to underline its commitment to chant and polyphony and is a fitting way to mark its 50th Anniversary as it re-commits itself to maintaining and promoting the highest standards of liturgical celebrations.’ Sir James MacMillan, a Patron of the Latin Mass Society knighted in the recent Birthday Honours, said: ‘Matthew is a consummate musician in both the secular and sacred spheres and I have known and admired his work for many years. He will provide the perfect guidance and leadership for the Society and will inspire its efforts throughout the country too. The LMS has never been more needed, and Matthew Schellhorn’s new position will help the Church and its music go from strength to strength.’

© John Aron

The Latin Mass Society recently appointed Matthew Schellhorn as its first Director of Music. Matthew is a concert pianist of international reputation, an experienced practitioner of polyphony and chant and an enthusiastic advocate of excellence in sacred music. Matthew will oversee the Society’s sponsorship of sacred music in London. He will provide professional support for annual events, such as the high-profile Holy Week services in St Mary Moorfields and the busy schedule of pilgrimages. He will also work with the Gregorian Chant Network in co-ordinating a programme of training conferences. After the appoinment of Matthew Schellhorn was made public, Dr Joseph Shaw, Chairman of the LMS, said: ‘The Greater

Young pilgrims sponsored by the Latin Mass Society joined more than 10,000 people who took part in the Chartres pilgrimage from 22 May to 25 May (Pentecost Monday). Pilgrims walked a three-day 70-mile route from Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Chartres. The British contingent joined pilgrims from more than 20 countries taking part in what is reputed to be the largest pilgrimage in Western Europe. Corinna Bruce, a teacher from Nottingham, was one of 13 young people sponsored by the LMS to go on the pilgrimage. Corinna said: ‘It is physically tough and I hated it at first, but the spiritual side takes over and the atmosphere is

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© John Aron

Young Pilgrims flock to Chartres just amazing, especially with all the singing. You get a sense that all 10,000 people are in it together, like a family. ‘I was grateful for the subsidised ticket from the LMS, as otherwise it works out quite expensive, particularly for those who don’t live in London.’ Pilgrimages are central to Traditional Catholic spirituality, and the Latin Mass Society organises a series of events at holy places in England and Wales throughout the summer – starting with York pilgrimage in May, which saw over 200 pilgrims process through the city streets to honour the York martyrs.


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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY

DIOCESAN DIGEST

© Mike Barnsdall

Mass of Ages quarterly round-up, Autumn 2015

Fr Montgomery sings the Gospel (above), and Fr Bailey censes the Altar (right)

Wrexham Kevin Jones

A

ll Masses took place at the usual venues in the last quarter. Numbers holding steady at each venue. It would be good to see an increase in numbers at the first Saturday Mass at Buckley. Sadly, we had to forego sung Masses in June/July due to our long standing cantor, Monica Faulkner, falling ill. We wish Monica a speedy recovery to full health.

Mass was a Votive Mass of a Virgin Martyr with commemoration of the VI Sunday after Pentecost. This Mass honours our local, and loved, St Winefride. The musical arrangement was Victoria’s Missa Simile est Regnum with chant for the proper. Many complimented the quality of the music and thanks go to Mr Christian Spence and the cantors for their much appreciated efforts. The rain gave way to fragile sunshine (Deo grátias!) for the post Mass Rosary procession, led by Canon Lordan (our regular celebrant at Llay). At the shrine there was an opportunity to venerate the relic of St Winefride.

Clearly, the major event in Wrexham to report on is the Holywell pilgrimage, which took place on Sunday 5 July. Despite persistent heavy rain prior to the High Mass, pilgrims arrived in good number. Estimates taken on the day suggested an increase in those assisting at Mass – my own headcount concluded 235, a similar headcount in 2014 estimated 224. Priest celebrant, Father Richard Bailey of Manchester Oratory preached the homily. With Father Bailey were Father Edmund Montgomery (Deacon) and Father Simon Henry (Sub deacon). Mr Michael Haynes was MC and numerous servers were in attendance. Three priests sat in choir.

Other thanks go to Mr Mike Barnsdall (photography) and Mr David Lloyd and his wife Betty for their unwavering support. Shortly, the Summer School and Wrexham Pilgrimage will take place. Due to these special events, there are a few changes to Mass times – please check www.lmswrexham.weebly.com/masstimes.html for the very latest updates.

Web: www.lmswrexham.weebly.com Twitter twitter.com/LMSWrexham Email: lms.wrexham@outlook.com

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REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY

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Birmingham (Oxford) Joseph Shaw

Things are ticking along well in Arundel and Brighton, and outside Brighton – where there is a Mass every Sunday. We have Masses available on each Sunday somewhere in the east of the Diocese. Masses in Uckfield have been transferred to Bethany chapel, where Fr Michael Clifton has kindly been saying Mass, and giving the most instructive sermons. In June, Fr Churchill celebrated a Mass for the 150th anniversary of the founding of St Richard’s church, Slindon. The Lewes choir sang, and a great time was had by all. A big thank you to all the priests who make all the Masses so reverent and beautiful. In the west of the Diocese there is interest in the Latin Mass. So if you live in the west and thought you were alone, contact me and I can put you in touch with other like-minded people. Servers, that perennial problem… Please come forward if you feel you are able to serve. All Mass changes and updates will appear on the blog as soon as I have the details, so please check the A&B blog. Thank you all for your continuing support!

I regret to announce that the usual Oxford Pilgrimage will not take place this October. This is due to repairs being carried out at Blackfriars which will fill the church with scaffolding. Unfortunately, other venues are not available either. We will come back to the pilgrimage next year. Our usual Masses, on Sundays and Holy Days, continue. Please note the additional weekday Low Masses at Holy Trinity, Hethe, St Birinus, Dorchester, and Sts Gregory and Augustine’s, Oxford, and the opportunities to get to the Traditional Mass on feast days, often in more than one church in the Oxford area. The celebration of the patronal feast of Holy Trinity, Hethe (on Trinity Sunday) was a triumph, with a beautiful High Mass celebrated by Fr Paul Lester, the parish priest. Fine music was arranged by Matthew Schellhorn. There was a large congregation, and a buffet lunch in the church hall. Readers should note that there is a Mass in this exquisite historic church north of Bicester every Sunday at noon, Sung on the second Sunday of each month, and we hope to have more special events like the Trinity Sunday Mass through the year. A particular privilege, arranged at reletively short notice, was the celebration of Low Mass by Cardinal Burke in Sts Gregory and Augustine’s on 27 May. His Eminence was expertly assisted by Fr John Saward and Fr Richard Biggerstaff, and a team of servers; a small polyphonic group sang some motets. It was well attended, and was a very moving experience.

Tel: 01323 411 370 Email: amacsav@sky.com www.arundelbrightonlatinmasssociety.blogspot.com

Birmingham (Black Country) Louis Maciel I was pleased to attend the ordination to the permanent diaconate of Kevin O’Connor on 28 June. He has worked so hard to ensure provision of the Extraordinary Form at the Maryvale Institute on the second Wednesday of every month and St Augustine’s, Solihull, where it is celebrated on the last Friday of every month. As always, we are privileged to live in an area where the Birmingham Oratory delivers such generous provision of the Extraordinary Form with double High Masses for the Ascension and Corpus Christi. There were also extra Low Masses for the Octave of Pentecost, including, particularly generously, on the Tuesday – the Ordinary Form feast day of St Philip Neri, in this the 500th year of his birth. There was even an extra Extraordinary Form Mass for the Old Rite feast day, which was transferred to the day following the Octave – and on the bank holidays, with Sung Masses on the traditional date of Sts Peter and Paul and the Feast of the Most Precious Blood. The regular 10.30am Sunday morning High Mass on 21 June was celebrated by former parishioner, Fr Ian Verrier FSSP. He administered First Blessings in the Newman Shrine after Mass. The weekly Wednesday Halesowen Masses and Friday Wolverhampton Masses continue to serve their dedicated congregations wonderfully well. Tel: 07855 723445 Email: louis.maciel@gmail.com W: www.birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk/

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© Joseph Shaw

Arundel & Brighton Anne-Marie Mackie-Savage

Clifton Ken and Carol Reis We have been very fortunate in having two High Masses celebrated in the Diocese in May and June. The first being celebrated at Downside Abbey on 30 May, the Saturday in Whitsun Week. Including the choir, servers and congregation there were about seventy people participating. The officiating clergy were: Dom Boniface Hill (Celebrant), Fr Philip Thomas (Deacon) and Rev Michael Belt (Sub-deacon). Dom Boniface gave the homily and his theme was based on the English Martyrs. The music was provided by the St John’s Festival Choir, directed by Elizabeth Bates. The Choir were in magnificent voice and filled the Abbey with their singing. The second High Mass was celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes, Weston-Super-Mare, on Corpus Christi. This Mass was very well attended. The officiating clergy were: Fr Andrew Goodman (Celebrant), Fr Philip Thomas (Deacon) and Revd Michael Belt (Sub-deacon). The homily on the origin of the Feast of Corpus Christi was given by the parish priest, Fr Martin Queenan. The Rupert Bevan Singers provided wonderful music.


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Lancaster Bob and Jane Latin Corpus Christi was celebrated in both Carlisle and Preston with Traditional Masses and processions. In Preston, St Walburge’s hosted the Procession for the Deanery; this was well attended and included devotions at outside station altars (see p 10.) Three Masses have been held at Sizergh Castle near Kendal (see separate article on p 43) in May, June and July, and we are grateful to Fathers John Millar and Simon Henry for offering these for us. There have been a number of ordinations of young men to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, some of whom have assisted at the Shrine of St Walburge at various times. In July, one of these, Canon Guillaume Fenoll, offered his First High Mass and First Blessings at St Walburge and we ask God’s blessings on him and all new priests at the start of their ministry. Masses for the Assumption on Saturday 15 August will take place at Our Lady and St Joseph, Carlisle and St Walburge, Preston. The latter will be followed by a Procession with traditional blessing of herbs and flowers. Masses at St Peter’s Cathedral continue on a monthly basis, with the exception of August. We are delighted to report that on Sunday 27 September, Bishop Michael Campbell will offer a Pontifical Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form and administer Confirmations. The Holy Spirit is working hard in our Diocese, as your Local Representatives can claim no credit for this event! There will be Masses for All Souls at Our Lady and St Joseph, Carlisle and St Walburge’s, Preston and also a Requiem High Mass at Our Lady and St Wilfrid’s, Warwick Bridge, Carlisle, for those buried in the churchyard. See Mass listings for full details. As always we are most grateful to all our priests who manage to fit the Extraordinary Form Masses into their very busy schedules; although they quite clearly love offering them, it still requires extra effort from them for which we give much thanks. Tel: 01524 412 987 Email: lancasterlms@gmail.com www.latinmasslancaster.blogspot.com

Liverpool Jim Pennington In addition to the regular Sunday and Holy Day Extraordinary Form Masses in three parishes, there have been a number of ‘occasional’ Masses in the last three months. Father Henry also offered a Missa Cantata at St Catherine Labouré, Farington, on the feast of the English and Welsh Martyrs, 4 May, and also on Ascension Day, Corpus Christi, the feast of the Most Sacred Heart, and the feast of Sts Peter and Paul. Father Harris also offered Mass of the Sacred Heart at his parish of Holy Spirit, Ford. Father Wood, formerly of Star of the Sea, Seaforth, offered Low Mass on Sts Peter and Paul at his

DIOCESAN DIGEST new parish of Our Lady’s, Lydiate, and will also offer Low Mass there on the feast of the Transfiguration. We hope that he will continue to offer occasional weekday Masses there. On 19 July, Archbishop McMahon made his visitation to St Catherine’s and was present in choir and preached at the Sunday Missa Cantata. The news is now well known of Archbishop McMahon’s invitation to the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter to come to the Archdiocese to have responsibility for St Mary’s Church, Warrington, and for it to become a centre for the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of Mass and the Sacraments. This is wonderful news for us in the Northwest. Together with the Institute of Christ the King in New Brighton and in Preston, we now have three churches dedicated to the Mass and Sacraments celebrated in the Traditional Form of the Roman Rite. Truly, we are blessed and privileged beyond my own expectations. We have come a long way from the days of grudging permissions for occasional old rite Masses.

Northampton (South) Eric Friar The weekly Sunday Mass (8.00am), and Masses on Holy Days of Obligation continue at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour under the care of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter. The monthly third Friday Mass at St Francis of Assisi, Shefford, (7.30pm) continues thanks to the enthusiasm of Canon Bennie Noonan and the commitment of Fr Gerard Byrne. God willing, and thanks to the efforts of Justin Bozzino, there will be a new weekly Sunday Mass at Christ the King church in Bedford. Five priests have committed to saying Mass, and there is a provisional start date of 9 August. Many thanks to Paul Rowntree, Eric Caudle, and the Di Falco and Grimer families for all their support in serving and singing at our Masses. At the time of going to press we received the news that Canon Denis McSweeney died peacefully at his home on the evening of 21 July, after several months of illness. We pray for the repose of his soul, and for the people of Flitwick. RIP.

Nottingham Central Jeremy Boot Masses remain unchanged for the moment, with reasonable attendances at Our Lady and St Patrick’s, Nottingham (third Sundays, 2.00pm) and healthy numbers at the Cathedral Masses (third Wednesdays, 6.15pm). Masses at the Good Shepherd, Thackeray’s Lane, Nottingham (Saturday before second Sundays, 4.45pm) remain disappointing in attendance, although these fulfil the Sunday obligation. Some Masses are sung according to resources. As mentioned before, it was intended that all Masses (except the Cathedral Mass) would go to one venue at one time weekly. Alas, with only two priests and both with parish or other duties, this has proved so far impossible to arrange and has become like a Rubik’s cube puzzle. However, there is reasonable hope of an extra Mass in the month soon.

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REPS’ REPORTS Please note that there are no Masses at Our Lady and St Patrick’s nor at the Good Shepherd in August. There will be a Cathedral Mass, however. We are back to normal in September at all venues. As always, many thanks to servers, organist, singers and especially celebrants – without whom no Masses would be possible.

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015 ‘We should take comfort from the fact that these two saints, Peter and Paul, were real men just like us, with as many faults and weaknesses that most people have but they became twin pillars of the Faith. ‘They have influenced the Faith of the Church over the centuries and they continue to do so today. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, we remember for his preaching and his missionary journeys; Peter for his leadership. He was the rock on which the Church was built, and it continues to be built and to grow and develop today. ‘On this solemnity, we should be encouraged in our faith by the apostles’ steadfast love of God and their willingness to suffer martyrdom for Christ.’

Our Lady and St Patrick’s, Nottingham. Celebrant: Fr Antonio Belsito.

Portsmouth Peter Cullinane Attendances at Winchester re-main steady, but at Portsmouth there has been a gradual increase to about three dozen or even 40 each Sunday, despite the relatively early hour. Several young people have recently discovered the Mass. Recently, a lady explained to me that she was too young to have experienced the Old Rite but was delighted to be able to use her father’s old missal which she thought would never again be required. The real piece of news this quarter has happened at Gosport. Bishop Philip Egan installed the Marian Franciscans in the historic parish of St Mary at the end of June. St Mary’s is right in the centre of the High Street. Led by Fr Serafino Lanzetta, the only member of the community who is a priest, they number about five in all. The parish now has both Ordinary and Extraordinary Form Masses. The Old Rite is celebrated on weekdays at 7.00am and on Saturdays at 9.30am. I attended a Saturday Mass, with about 30 other people, shortly after the Franciscans arrived. The Franciscan nuns, who have also joined the parish, provide the choir. As one can imagine, it is a most respectful celebration and, after Mass, a useful informal explanation of the features and history of the Old Rite is given over coffee in the parish room by one or other member of the community. This is a most welcome and totally unexpected development in Gosport, and I shall expand this account in a future report.

Portsmouth (Isle of Wight) Peter Clarke We were pleased to have a Mass and Corpus Christi Procession in St Mary’s Church, Ryde, for the 13th consecutive year. In addition to our regular Masses, we also had an Extraordinary Form Mass on the Feasts of the Ascension and Sts Peter and Paul. On this latter feast, Fr Anthony Glaysher, parish priest, reminded the congregation:-

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Fr Glaysher (parish priest) offering Mass in the Chapel of St Elizabeth of Hungary at St Mary’s church, Ryde, Isle of Wight.

The Island has a more elderly population than the mainland; and, sadly, death, infirmity and old age has rather depleted the numbers attending our Masses. Nevertheless, we remember and recognise that we still have the Old Mass offered regularly here on the Island, thanks to the dedication of Fr Glaysher. Last Summer there was an increasing number of LMS members visiting the Island for day visits. Why not combine a day visit on a Tuesday or Thursday and include a Latin Mass at 12.00pm with a guided tour of our beautiful Victorian church in Ryde? To arrange this contact me. Tel: 0115 913 1592

Portsmouth (Reading) Adrian Dulston Welcome to a new FSSP priest Fr Ian Verrier, who joins St William of York this summer. Of course, that means one of our other two priests has to move somewhere and it looks like a new parish in Warrington. I invite you to check out the latest on that at www.facebook.com/fssp.england. As well as photos of Fr Verrier, please also check out the ordination of James Mawdsley to the diaconate, who will be ordained a priest next year. Deacon Mawdsley is with the St William of York parish at the moment to run the boys Summer Camp later this month. May I draw readers attention to recently begun Latin Masses at English Martyrs church, Didcot. At the time of writing the following dates have been offered by Fr Phillip Pennington Harris: Thursday 6 August at 7.30pm (Transfiguration), Friday 4 September at 7.30pm (Feria), Tuesday 8 September at 7.30pm (Nativity of the BVM), Tuesday 15 September at


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015 7.30pm (Seven Sorrows of the BVM), Friday 25 September at 7.30pm (Ember Day), Wednesday 30 September at 7.30pm (St Jerome), Wednesday 7 October at 7.30pm (Our Lady of the Rosary), Friday 16 October at 7.30pm (St Hedwig), Wednesday 21 October at 7.30pm (Feria), Wednesday 28 October at 7.30pm (Sts Simon & Jude). These are all Low Masses, but I will also try to arrange a Missa Cantata for All Saints on Sunday 1 November (time TBC). It seems the Holy Ghost is working quietly away planting very small seeds but with much more frequency.

Shrewsbury (North Staffordshire) Alan Frost Our Masses continue to be mostly celebrated at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in the village of Swynnerton near Stone. Fr Paul Chavasse, CongOrat, has been celebrating each week since recovering from treatment for problems with his throat, as well as offering a fortnightly Saturday morning Mass. An unusual item of note is indicated in the photo below, taken after a recent Saturday morning Low Mass at Swynnerton. The Church is part of the estate of the Earl of Stafford and later that day his daughter was to be married there. The two blue chairs in the sanctuary were for the bride and groom, and these chairs were used by Lord and Lady Stafford at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. We are happy to offer Silver Jubilee congratulations to Fr Anthony Dykes, PhD, who celebrates the Old Rite each month at St Wulstan’s, Wolstanton, near Newcastle-under-Lyme. His serving for 25 years as a priest of the Catholic Church was marked on 7 July. Earlier this year his first book, about the poetry and contribution to the Faith of the early classical Latin poet Prudentius, Reading Sin in the World, was published in paperback.

Tel: 01270 768 144 Email: Alan.jfrost@btopenworld.com

FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY’

Shrewsbury (The Wirral) Stefano Mazzeo We continue to make progress on all fronts at the shrine church of Sts Peter, Paul and Philomena, affectionately known as the ‘Dome of Home’, New Brighton. There are now two Sunday Masses, a Low Mass at 8.30am and a Sung Mass at 10.30am. Mass from Monday to Thursday is at 9.00am on Friday it is at 7.00pm and on Saturday at 10.00am followed by the St Philomena Devotion. Please check the Dome of Home website for information on Confession times, the offices, Rosary, Adoration and Benediction, etc. There is also a thriving youth group, and young people can contact Canon Montjean if they wish to join. Bishop Davies has requested that once a month we have an all day adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, this usually takes place on the first Thursday of the month – check the website before travelling. The renovation work is proceeding well, thanks to the efforts of Canon Monjean and his staff, we are now into the second phase of the project. The Latin Mass Society was able to make a second donation of £10,000 to help unlock the funds from the National Lottery Heritage trust. Another project I should mention is that we are hoping to illuminate the Dome, so it will become a landmark by night as well as by day. Ever wondered why it’s called the Dome of Home? It’s because seamen during the Second World War knew they were safe once they saw the dome on the horizon.

Southwark (Kent) Marygold Turner Our weekly Masses continue, Deo gratias, as before (for 11 years). We have had many memorable days, supported on occasion by our great friends: the organist Andrew Cesana, and Andrew Bosi, who sings the propers for us. (Do please all pray for Andrew Cesana, who has been in hospital for weeks with a serious leg condition.) In March, I went to Rome for the amazing festivities at the Palazzo Massimo, where this ancient Roman family graciously hosts scores of visitors – open house – and priests celebrate Mass from early in the morning into the evening, non-stop. Cardinal Burke was there again in support, as were priests from the London Oratory. I was so glad to see Fr Andrew Southwell, another old friend of mine, and all of us, who showed me the Vatican Gardens, and other treasures. HE Fra’ Duncan Gallie gave me a tour of the Knights of Malta’s HQ on the Aventine Hill. I also had the privilege of meeting the Prince Grand Master, Fra’ Matthew Festing. Mass at San Pelligrini on the Sunday was well attended. At the end of June, the little church at Headcorn, built 25 years ago by Fr Braithwaite-Young, celebrated those years. How fortunate we have been in Fr Michael Woodgate, who looks after the church, and every Friday celebrates the Old Rite and my rota Mass at least once a month. Mgr Conlon will be celebrating our Mass at Headcorn (12 noon) on the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. A special event on 26 September – we have permission to celebrate Mass in the de-consecrated church on Romney Marsh (12 noon) with Fr Marcus Holden, fittingly – as both his church and the church on the Marsh at Snave are dedicated to St Augustine. There will be a Sung Mass, so do please come in force! We shall provide refreshments afterwards.

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DIOCESAN DIGEST

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

Westminster (Hertfordshire) Nicandro Porcelli

© John Aron

© John Aron

The past few weeks have been busy with preparations for the Ware Day of Recollection. A full report, already published on the LMS website, will be included in the next issue. Thanks to St Edmund’s, all who came, the clergy and to the musicians. Mass for the Feasts of Michaelmas, All Souls and the Immaculate Conception will be said in St Albans – St Bartholomew’s at 7.00pm on the day. We are planning on having a Missa Cantata on feast days, as is appropriate, and also on the Christ the King and All Saints. A traditional Low Mass will be held on Christmas Day at 8:30am. This will be the first time an Old Rite Mass has been said there on the Nativity since the 1960s! We thank and pray for the bishops and priests in our Diocese who support and help Mass provision.

Westminster (St James’, Spanish Place) Roger Wemyss Brooks A highlight was the first Solemn Mass celebrated on 20 June by the recently ordained priest, Fr Ian Verrier FSSP, who also gave first blessings to a large congregation. It is a great privilege to welcome newly ordained priests of this Society. Sunday Masses and Holydays – Ascension, Corpus Christi, Holy Apostles – were said regularly by Fr Michael Cullinan, with cover by Fr Leon Pereira OP (in the Dominican Rite). The Corpus Christi Procession on 7 June from Farm Street

32

Jesuit church to Spanish Place with a station at the Ukranian Catholic Cathedral, organised by the Order of Malta with Cardinal Vincent, was a great event blessed with perfect weather and a huge attendance. This provided a wonderful act of witness in central London, stopping the traffic on Oxford Street at a peak shopping hour. We hope to have a servers’ training day in September – details to be announced.


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

REP’ REPORTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY

Ecclesiastical Latin distance-learning  Deepen your knowledge of Latin  Study Latin liturgical and theological texts of the Catholic tradition  Part-time, one-year, on-line Latin course with two residential weekends  Visit our beautiful campus at the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary at Buckfast, founded in the 11th century. Divine Office sung in Latin each day by the community of monks.  Students follow the Latin Mass Society’s Simplicissimus textbook and the School of the Annunciation’s course-guide.  Beginner or intermediate levels  Dedicated personal academic tutors  Single en-suite accommodation, restaurant, wifi access

in principio erat Verbum

For further details: www.schooloftheannunciation.com enquiries @schooloftheannunciation.com 01364 645660

School of the Annunciation Buckfast Abbey Buckfast Devon, TQ11 0EE

Catholic Institute of Higher Education “Founded by some of the United Kingdom’s leading scholars in theology and evangelization” Vatican Radio on the School of the Annunciation, May 2015

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ROLLING CALENDAR

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

LMS Notable Events Aylesford Pilgrimage Saturday 3 October

Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham Thursday 27 - Sunday 30 August The sixth annual walking pilgrimage to Walsingham for the conversion of England will take place during the August Bank Holiday weekend. Pilgrims meet at Ely on Thursday evening (27 August); Mass takes place early on Friday morning and the three-day walk of 55 miles commences. Sung or High Mass will be celebrated every day and Confessions will be available throughout the pilgrimage. There will be traditional devotions and hymns en route and spiritual talks from our pilgrimage chaplain. Details of the programme are on our website.

Mass at St Augustine’s, Snave Saturday 26 September The church of St Augustine in Snave is one of the medieval churches built to serve very small communities on Romney Marsh in Kent. Now redundant, they are in the care of the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust, who have kindly given permission for us to celebrate Mass. This will be the first time Mass has been celebrated in the church since pre-Reformation times. The celebrant for the Missa Cantata will be Fr Marcus Holden, from Ramsgate and Mass starts at 12 noon. Details of how to get to the church are on our website.

© Michael Ford/Wikipedia

34

Tyburn Martyrs’ Walk Sunday 4 October Tyburn Walk with a Traditional Mass celebrated by Fr Daniel Lloyd of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Please check the LMS website closer to the time for more details.

Willesden Pilgrimage Saturday 31 October The Willesden Pilgrimage will take place on 31 October. Please check the LMS website closer to the time for more details.

Confirmations in the Traditional Rite Saturday 14 November

Our annual Confirmations take place at St James’s Church, Spanish Place, London at 11.00am. The Sacrament will be conferred by HE Raymond Cardinal Burke. If you would like to register your child, or yourself, please see our website or contact the office for further details. The deadline for registration is Friday 23 October.

Annual Requiem Mass Saturday 14 November

High Mass of Requiem in Westminster Cathedral at 2.00pm, celebrated by HE Raymond Cardinal Burke. This Mass is offered for the repose of the souls of all deceased members of the Society. A wreath is laid at the tomb of Cardinal Heenan in grateful thanks for his role in helping to preserve the Traditional Mass in England and Wales.

© Joseph Shaw

© Joseph Shaw

The annual Latin Mass Society pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady at Aylesford, set in the beautiful Kent countryside. St Simon Stock, of the Order of Carmelites, received the brown scapular from the hands of the Blessed Mother at this location. The brown scapular of Mount Carmel has become one of the most common sacramentals in the Church, and is a great Marian devotion. See our website for more details.


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

MASS LISTINGS TAB

The Latin Mass Society

Mass Listings Supplement to Mass of Ages 185 Autumn 2015 The Latin Mass Society makes every effort to ensure that these listings are accurate. We cannot guarantee that they are free of errors or omissions and acknowledge that some Masses can be cancelled at very short notice. Please see our website for updated information.

Westminster Westminster Cathedral, Victoria Street, VICTORIA, London SW1P 1QW The Oratory, Brompton Road, LONDON SW7 2RP

St James's, Spanish Place, LONDON W1U 3QY Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, COVENT GARDEN, London WC2E 7NA St Etheldreda, Ely Place, LONDON EC1N 6RY St John the Baptist, 3 King Edward's Road, HACKNEY, London E9 7SF St Mary Moorfields, Eldon Street, LONDON EC2M 7LS Holy Trinity and St Augustine, London Road, BALDOCK, Herts SG7 6LQ St Edmund of Canterbury & English Martyrs, Farm Lane, Old Hall Green, WARE, Hertfordshire SG11 1DT Our Lady of Lourdes & St Michael, Osborn Rd, UXBRIDGE UB8 1UE St Bartholomew’s, 47 Vesta Avenue, ST ALBANS AL1 2PE

2nd Saturdays (Lady Chapel) Sundays Mon to Sat (St Joseph’s Altar) Saturdays (usually in St Wilfrid’s Chapel)[1] Sundays Holy Days of Obligation Mondays 2nd Fridays 1st Fridays 1st Fridays Sat 15th Aug (Assumption of the BVM) Fridays Last Fridays 1st Sundays 3rd Sundays[2]

4.30pm 9.00am 8.00am 12.15pm

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

9.30am 11.00am 6.30pm 6.30pm 6.00pm 6.00pm 12.00pm

Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

7.45am 7.30pm 3.00pm 3.00pm

Low Mass High Mass Low Mass Low Mass

1st Fridays 7.00pm Sundays 5.00pm Tue 29th Sep (Michaelmas) 7.00pm 5.00pm Sun 1st Nov (All Saints) Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) 7.00pm 7.00pm Tue 8th Dec (Immaculate Conception of the BVM) Friday 25th Dec (Nativity of Our 8.30am Lord) Our Lady of Willesden, Acton Lane, WILLESDEN, London NW10 9AX Sundays 5.30pm th Immaculate Conception and St Joseph, 23 St John’s Street, HERTFORD Sat 19 Sep 11.00am SG14 1RX Sat 31st Oct 11.00am [1] Phone 020 7808 0900 to check before travelling. [2] Check with Rep before travelling – 07810 778160 or 07920 122014.

Sung Mass Low Mass Low / Sung Low / Sung Low / Sung Low / Sung Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

Arundel and Brighton St Pancras, Ireland’s Lane, LEWES, Sussex BN7 1QX St Mary Magdalene, Upper North Street, BRIGHTON BN1 3FH

St Mary, Surrenden Road, BRIGHTON BN1 6PA St Thomas More, Sutton Road, SEAFORD Sussex BN25 1SS Our Lady of Consolation, Park Lane, WEST GRINSTEAD RH13 8LT Sacred Heart, Essendene Road, CATERHAM, Surrey CR3 5PB Bethany Chapel, Diamond Farmhouse, Lewes Road, Easons Green, UCKFIELD TN22 5JH [1] Phone 01825 840305 beforehand to confirm.

1st Sundays Saturdays Sat 15th Aug (Assumption) Sundays Fridays Sun 25th Oct (OLJC the King) Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) Sun 29th Nov (Advent I) Thursdays 3rd Sundays 2nd Sundays Sun 8th Nov Sun 13th Dec Wednesdays 4th & 5th Sundays[1]

12.30pm 10.00am 10.00am 6.30pm 7.00pm 6.30pm 7.30pm 6.30pm 8.00pm 3.00pm 3.00pm 3.00pm 3.00pm 10.00am 10.00am

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass Sung Mass Sung Mass Low Mass Low/Sung Low Mass Sung Mass Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass

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ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

MASS LISTINGS

Birmingham The Oratory, Hagley Road, BIRMINGHAM B16 8UE

St Augustine’s Catholic Church, Herbert Road, SOLIHULL B91 3QE Maryvale Institute Chapel, Old Oscott Hill, BIRMINGHAM B44 9AG Our Lady & St Kenelm Cobham Road, HALESOWEN B63 3JZ Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Cannock Road, WOLVERHAMPTON WV10 8PG The Oratory, Woodstock Road, OXFORD OX2 6HA SS Gregory & Augustine, 322 Woodstock Road, OXFORD OX2 7NS

St Birinus, DORCHESTER-ON-THAMES, Oxfordshire OX10 7JR

Holy Trinity, Hardwick Road, HETHE, nr Bicester, Oxfordshire OX27 8AW St Wulstan, Wolstanton, NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME, Staffordshire ST5 0EF Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Beoley Road West, REDDITCH B98 8LT St Mary & Egwin, High Street, EVESHAM, Worcestershire WR11 4EJ St Ambrose, Birmingham Road, KIDDERMINSTER DY10 2BY

Sundays Fridays Saturdays Weekday Feast Day / Holy Days of Obligation (check newsletter) Last Friday 2nd Wednesdays Wednesdays[1] Fridays

10.30am 6.00pm 9.30am 6.00pm or 7.00pm 6.30pm 7.00pm 12.00pm 6.00pm

High Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass High Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

Sundays 3rd Sundays Wednesdays Fridays 1st Thursdays Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) Wednesdays Saturdays Sat 29th Aug (Beheading of St John the Baptist) Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) Sundays Fridays Saturdays 1st Fridays

8.00am 12.00pm 6.00pm 6.00pm 12.00pm 6.00pm 8.00am 9.30am 12.00pm

Low Mass Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

8.00am 12.00pm 5.00pm 12.00pm 7.00pm

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

2nd Mondays 6.30pm Low Mass Tuesdays 7.00pm Low Mass 1st Sundays 3.00pm Low/Sung Fridays 7.30pm Low Mass St John Baptist, Spetchley Park, WORCESTER WR5 1RS Sundays 10.45am Low Mass Our Lady of the Assumption, 8 Weaver's Walk, Swynnerton, Nr STONE, 1st Sundays 6.00pm Sung Mass ST15 0QZ Saturdays (fortnightly) 10.00am Low Mass Oulton Abbey, Kibblestone Road, Oulton, Nr STONE ST15 8UP 3rd Sundays[2] 3.00pm Sung/Low [1] Phone 0121 602 1972 before travelling. [2] Monthly Masses - check for future dates on http://north-staffs-lms.blogspot.co.uk or call Local LMS Representative, Alan Frost, on 01270 768144. Subject to cancellation, so check blog above before travelling.

Brentwood Our Lady of Lourdes & St Joseph, Leigh Rd, LEIGH-ON-SEA, SS9 1LN 1st Sundays St Philips Priory, 178 New London Road, CHELMSFORD CM2 0AR 2nd & 4th Sundays Our Lady Immaculate, New London Road, CHELMSFORD CM2 0AR 1st Fridays Church of the Assumption, 98 Manford Way, HAINAULT IG7 4DF Most Mondays[1] St Mary Immaculate and the Holy Archangels, KELVEDON CO5 9AH 1st Saturdays St Margaret's Convent Chapel, Bethell Avenue, CANNING TOWN, Sundays London E16 4JU [1] Please telephone 020 8500 3953 to confirm before travelling or email nda.hainault@btinternet.com

4.00pm 10.30am 7.30pm 6.30pm 12.15pm 6.00pm

Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass

Cardiff Poor Clare Convent, Much Birch, HEREFORD HR2 8PS Most Holy Trinity, New Street, Ledbury, HEREFORD HR8 2EE St Francis Xavier, Broad Street, HEREFORD HR4 9AP

Sundays 6.30pm Low Mass 2nd Sundays 5.00pm Low Mass Last Sundays 12.15pm Low/Sung Fridays 6.30pm Low Mass Belmont Abbey, Ruckall Lane, HEREFORD HR2 9RZ Tuesdays 11.00am Low Mass Our Lady & St Michael, Pen-y-Pound, ABERGAVENNY NP7 5UD Fridays 7.00pm Low Mass University Chaplaincy, 62 Park Place, CARDIFF CF10 3AS 1st Thursdays[1] 7.00pm Low Mass 3rd Thursdays[1] 7.00pm Low Mass [1] Until further notice please visit the website www.lmscardiff.org.uk for more information and full listings. For the Herefordshire area contact Shaun Bennett (07917 577127).

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ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

MASS LISTINGS

Clifton Holy Cross Church, Dean Lane, Bedminster, BRISTOL BS3 1DB

12.30pm Low Mass Sundays 7.30pm High Mass Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) St Dominic’s, Jubilee Road, DURSLEY, Gloucestershire GL11 4ES Sundays[1] 5.30pm Low Mass Mondays & Tuesdays[1] 9.00am Low Mass Wed - Sat (inclusive) [1] 8.00am Low Mass St George’s, Boreham Road, WARMINSTER, Wiltshire BA12 9JP One Saturday per month[2] 9.30am Low Mass SS Joseph & Teresa, 16 Chamberlain Street, WELLS, Somerset Tuesdays [3] 6.00pm Low Mass BA5 2PF Fridays 6.00pm Low Mass Our Lady & St Kenelm, STOW-ON-THE-WOLD, Gloucestershire Saturdays[4] 10.00am Low Mass Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) GL54 1DR 10.00am Low Mass Prinknash Abbey, CRANHAM, Gloucestershire GL4 8EX Saturdays[5] 11.00am Low Mass 11.30am Low Mass Our Lady of Lourdes, 28 Baytree Road, WESTON-SUPER-MARE 4th and 5th Sundays[6] 9.30am Low Mass BS22 8HQ 1st Thursdays[6] St Benedict’s, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, RADSTOCK, Bath BA3 4RH 1st Sundays 11.15am Low Mass Our Lady of Glastonbury, Magdalene Street, GLASTONBURY BA6 9EJ 3rd Sundays 12.30pm Low Mass St Gregory’s, 10 Saint James' Square, CHELTENHAM GL50 3PR 1st Wednesdays 7.00pm Low Mass The Holy Ghost, 73 Higher Kingston, YEOVIL, Somerset BA21 4AR Fridays 6.00pm Low Mass Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) 12.00pm Low Mass All Saints, WARDOUR CASTLE, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6RR Quarterly 3rd Saturdays[7] 11.00am Low Mass Holy Redeemer, Fotherby Crescent, SALISBURY, Wiltshire SP1 3EG Quarterly 3rd Saturdays[8] 11.30am Low Mass [1] Missa Cantata first Sunday of each month. Masses will cease from the beginning of September. [2] Please check with Parish Office on 01985 212329. Masses will cease from the beginning of September. [3] Phone 01749 673183 to confirm before travelling. [4] Phone 01451 830431 to confirm before travelling. [5] Phone Fr Damian on 07742 659106 to confirm before travelling. [6] Masses will cease from the beginning of September. [7] These Masses will continue quarterly (August, November) until further notice. Please call 01373 301691 before travelling. [8] Quarterly (September, December). Please call 01373 301691 before travelling.

East Anglia Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Unthank Rd, NORWICH NR2 2PA Blackfriars, Buckingham Road, CAMBRIDGE CB3 0DD University Chaplaincy, Fisher House, Guildhall Street, CAMBRIDGE CB2 3NH St Peter & All Souls, Park Road, PETERBOROUGH PE1 2RS St Mary Magdalene, 468 Norwich Rd, IPSWICH IP1 6JS St Pancras, Orwell Place, IPSWICH, Suffolk IP4 1BD St Joseph’s, 58 Cromer Road, SHERRINGHAM NR26 8RT

1st Fridays Sundays 1st Fridays Sundays (during term time)

6.00pm 9.15am 6.00pm 8.30am

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

1st Fridays Wednesdays 2nd Sundays 2nd Thursdays Last Sundays

7.00pm 12.00pm 5.30pm 10.30am 6.00pm

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

Hallam St Teresa’s Church, Prince of Wales Road, SHEFFIELD S2 1EY 1st Sundays[1] 12.15pm [1] Please phone 0114 233 2801 for more information or visit our Facebook page (Hallam lms) for updated events.

Low/Sung

Hexham and Newcastle St Joseph’s, High West Street, GATESHEAD NE8 1LX St Mary’s, Barrasford, Swinburne, HEXHAM NE48 4DQ St Mary's Church, Birch Road, BARNARD CASTLE, Co. Durham DL12 8NR

Sundays[1] Saturdays Sundays Sundays[2] Tuesdays[2] Holy Days of Obligation[2] Sundays 3rd Wednesdays Thursdays

12.00pm 11.00am 12.00pm 9.00am 7.30pm 7.30pm 9.30am 7.30pm 12.00pm

Low/Sung Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low/Sung Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass Low Mass

Sacred Heart & English Martyrs, THORNLEY, Co. Durham DH6 3HA St Patrick, Smith Street, Ryhope, SUNDERLAND SR2 0RG SS Joseph, Patrick & Cuthbert, Church Street, COXHOE, Co. Durham DH6 4DA St Augustine’s, 30 Coniscliffe Road, DARLINGTON DL3 7RG 2nd Wednesdays 7.15pm Low Mass st rd [1] Sung Mass on 1 & 3 Sundays. [2] Owing to the ill health of the priest, please confirm with Rep before travelling (0191 264 5771).

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MASS LISTINGS

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

Lancaster St Peter’s Cathedral, Balmoral Road, LANCASTER LA1 3BT

Our Lady & St Joseph, Warwick Square, CARLISLE CA1 1LB

Sun 6th Sep Sun 18th Oct Sun 22nd Nov Sun 13th Dec Sundays Sat 15th Aug (Assumption) Mon 14th Sep (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) Sat 19th Sep[1] Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) Wed 11th Nov[2] Sundays Mon-Fri[3] Saturdays Sat 15th Aug (Assumption) [4] Sun 27th Sep[5]

3.00pm 3.00pm 3.00pm 3.00pm 6.00pm 10.00am 7.30pm

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung/Low Low Mass Low Mass

8.00am 7.30am 7.00pm 10.30am 12.00pm 10.30am 10.30am 10.30am

Low Mass Low Mass Our Lady & St Wilfrid, WARWICK BRIDGE, near Carlisle CA4 8RL High Mass Sung Mass St Walburge's Church, Weston Street, PRESTON PR2 2QE Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass Pontifical Low Mass 8.00am Low Mass Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) 12.00pm Low Mass Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) 7.00pm Sung/High [1] Part of Quarante Ore. [2] Requiem for those buried in the churchyard. [3] Except First Fridays when the Mass will be at 7.00 pm. See www.stwalburge.org for details of all services. [4] Followed by Procession with traditional blessing of herbs & flowers. [5] and confirmations.

Leeds Leeds University RC Chaplaincy, 5–7 St Mark’s Avenue, LEEDS LS2 9BN Immaculate Heart of Mary, Harrogate Road, LEEDS LS17 6LE St Mary’s, Gibbet Street, HALIFAX, Yorkshire HX1 5DH St Joseph's, Pontefract Road, CASTLEFORD, Yorkshire WF10 4JB The Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, SKIPTON, Yorkshire BD23 3AE

5th Saturdays 4.00pm Low Mass 1st Fridays 7.30pm Low Mass Saturdays 6.00pm Low Mass Sundays 3.00pm Low Mass 11.00am Low/Sung Sundays[1] 9.30am Low Mass Monday-Saturday inclusive[2] St Peter’s, Leeds Road, Laisterdyke, BRADFORD, Yorkshire BD3 8EL 2nd Sundays 3.00pm Sung Mass Holy Spirit, Bath Road, HECKMONDWIKE, Yorkshire WF16 9EA 1st & 3rd Sundays 4.00pm Low Mass St Ignatius, Storrs Hill Road, OSSETT WF5 0DQ Last Mondays 7.30pm Low Mass [1] Sung Mass on First Sundays of the Month. Low Mass on other Sundays. [2] Anybody wishing to attend these Masses is advised to ring 01756 793794 or visit www.lmsleeds.blogspot.com.

Liverpool St Anthony’s, Scotland Road, LIVERPOOL L5 5BD

Sundays[1] 3.00pm Low Mass 10.00am Low Mass Sat 15th Aug (Assumption) 12.00pm Low Mass Holy Days of Obligation[1] St Joseph, Bolton Road, ANDERTON PR6 9NA Saturdays[2] 9.10am Low Mass Holy Spirit, 66-68 Poulsom Drive, BOOTLE L30 2NR Tuesdays[3] 7.00pm Low Mass St Mary Magdalene, Leyland Road, PENWORTHAM PR1 9NE Sundays[4] 8.30am Low Mass St Catherine Labouré, Stanifield Lane, Farington, LEYLAND, PR25 4QG Sundays[5] 11.30am Low Mass Tuesdays 12.00pm Low Mass Saturdays 12.00pm Low Mass Sat 15th Aug (Assumption) 12.00pm Sung Mass 7.00pm Low Mass Holydays of Obligation[5] [1] For all Masses, please phone 0151 426 0361 before travelling. [2] Please phone Fr Ian O’Shea 01257 480237 before travelling. [3] Please check with Fr John Harris 0151 928 0040 before travelling. [4] Please phone Jim Aherne 01772 378488 before travelling. [5] Additional Masses may be posted on Fr Henry’s blog (offerimustibidomine.blogspot.com). Please phone Fr Henry 01772 421174 before travelling.

Menevia St Joseph’s Cathedral, Greenhill, SWANSEA SA1 2BX Sacred Heart, School Road, Morriston, SWANSEA SA6 6HZ

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4th Sundays[1][2] Saturday before 1st Sundays[1][3] 3rd & 5th Sundays[1] Sat 15th Aug (Feast of the Assumption) Sun 4th Oct

12.00pm 5.00pm 3.00pm 12.00pm

Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass Low Mass

3.00pm

Low Mass


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

MASS LISTINGS

Sun 25th Oct (OLJC the King) 3.00pm Sung Mass Sun 8th Nov[4] 3.00pm Sung Mass St Benedict, Pontardawe Road, Clydach, SWANSEA SA6 5NS Sun 22nd Nov 12.00pm Low Mass [1] Please check Stabat Mater, Menevia before travelling: www.meneviastabatmater.blogspot.co.uk. Any changes to arrangements will be published on this site. [2] No Mass Sunday 22nd Nov (see St Benedict instead). [3] No Mass on Saturday 3rd Oct (Sunday 4th Oct instead). [4] This will be a Requiem Mass.

Middlesbrough St Wilfrid’s, Duncombe Place, YORK YO1 7EF Sundays Sacred Heart Church, Lobster Road, REDCAR TS10 1SH Sundays[1] St Charles Borromeo, Jarret Street, HULL HU1 3HB 1st Wednesdays [1] This Mass will revert to 11am during the winter months. Please check before travelling (01642 484 047).

12.00pm 6.00pm 6.30pm

Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass

Saturdays Sundays[1]

9.30am 8.00am

Low Mass Low Mass

3rd Fridays

7.30pm

Low Mass

Northampton St Brendan, Beanfield Avenue, CORBY NN18 0AZ Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Amersham Road, CHESHAM BOIS HP6 5PE St Francis of Assisi, 25 High Street, SHEFFORD, Bedfordshire SG17 5DD [1] Sung Mass on 1st Sundays.

Nottingham St Barnabas Cathedral, Derby Road, NOTTINGHAM NG1 5AE The Good Shepherd, 3 Thackeray's Lane, Woodthorpe, NOTTINGHAM NG5 4HT Our Lady and St Patrick, Launder St, Meadows, NOTTINGHAM NG2 1JQ Holy Cross Priory, 45 Wellington Street, LEICESTER LE1 6HW

3rd Wednesdays[1] 6.15pm Low Mass Saturday before 2nd Sundays 4.45pm Low Mass (anticipated Mass of Sunday) [2] 3rd Sundays[3] 2.00pm Low Mass Sundays 12.30pm Low Mass Mon - Sat inclusive 8.00am Low Mass Fri 21st Aug[4] 7.15pm Requiem St Peter's Church, Hinckley Road, LEICESTER LE3 0TA 1st Fridays 6.00pm Low Mass Saturdays 11.00am Low Mass Sat 15 Aug (Assumption of the 11.00am Sung Mass BVM) St Joseph, Station Road, OAKHAM, Rutland LE15 6QU Fridays[5] 7.00pm Low Mass St Mary’s, 12 Barnard Avenue, BRIGG DN20 8AS Sundays[6] 5.00pm Low Mass [1] Cathedral Mass is followed by a social for young Catholic adults (18-35), organised by Juventutem Nottingham. For more details call 07791 041442. [2] No Mass on the 8th August. [3] No Mass on the 16th August. [4] Requiem Mass for Richard III. [5] Check newsletter at www.stjosephsoakham.org. [6] Check newsletter at St Mary's Brigg, or ring 01652 652221.

Plymouth Church of Christ the King, Armada Way, PLYMOUTH PL1 2EN Blessed Sacrament Church, Fore Street, Heavitree, EXETER EX1 2QJ Exeter University Catholic Chaplaincy, Boniface House, Glenthorne Road, EXETER EX4 4QU St Cyprian’s Chapel, Ugbrooke House, CHUDLEIGH, Devon TQ13 0AD Lanherne Convent, St Mawgan, NEWQUAY, Cornwall TR8 4ER Our Lady’s, Old Mill Lane, MARNHULL, Dorset DT10 1JX

1st Sundays 3rd Sundays Fridays

3.00pm 3.00pm 7.30pm

Sung Mass Sung Mass Low Mass

4th Sundays Sundays & Holydays of Obligation Mondays to Saturdays inclusive Thu 13 Aug

3.00pm 10.00am

Sung Mass Sung Mass

7.30am 12.00pm

Sung Mass Low Mass

Sundays Sun 25th Oct (Christ the King) Sundays Mondays[2] Tuesdays to Thursdays[2] Fridays[2] Saturdays[2] Holy Days of Obligation[2]

8.00am 2.00pm 11.00am 12.00pm 7.00am 7.30pm 8.00am 7.30pm

Portsmouth St John’s Catholic Cathedral, Edinburgh Road, PORTSMOUTH PO1 3HG St William of York, Upper Redlands Road, READING RG1 5JT

Low Mass High Mass Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung/Low

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MASS LISTINGS Holy Rood, 38 Abingdon Road, OXFORD OX1 4PD Our Lady Immaculate, Westbourne, BOURNEMOUTH BH4 9AE St Joseph’s Church, St Michael’s Road, BASINGSTOKE RG22 6TY St Peter, Jewry Street, WINCHESTER, Hampshire SO23 8RY

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015 Fridays 3rd Sundays TBA 2nd Sundays

12.30pm 6.00pm TBA 12.15pm

Low Mass Low Mass TBA Low/Sung

St Mary’s, High Street, RYDE, Isle of Wight PO33 2RG

1st Sundays[3] 12.00pm Low Mass 1st Sundays 5.00pm Low/Sung 3rd Sundays 7.45am Low Mass Tuesdays 12.00pm Low Mass Thursdays 12.00pm Low Mass St Michael’s Church, Walls Road, BEMBRIDGE, Isle of Wight PO35 5RA 1st Fridays 10.00am Low Mass St Mary’s, 32 High Street, GOSPORT PO12 1DF Mondays to Fridays 7.00am Sung Mass Saturdays 9.30am Sung Mass [1] Please check our website to confirm the time. [2] Please check before travelling 0118 966 5284 or visit www.fssp.co.uk/england for details. [3] Please check before travelling 07790 892 592.

Salford Oratory Church of St Chad, Cheetham Hill Road, MANCHESTER M8 8GG English Martyrs, Alexandra Road South, Whalley Range, MANCHESTER M16 8QT St Osmund’s, Long Lane, Breightmet, BOLTON BL2 6EB

St Marie’s, Manchester Road, BURY BL9 0DR [1] No Mass 7th, 14th and 21st August.

Sundays Saturdays Tue 8th Sept (Nativity of the BVM) 1st Thursdays Thu 3rd Sept (St Pius X) Thu 1st Oct Mon 12th Oct (St Martin) Fridays[1]

4.45pm 10.00am 7.00pm

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm 7.30pm

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass

Shrewsbury St Winefride’s, Crowmere Road, Monkmoor, SHREWSBURY SY2 5RA St Vincent de Paul’s, 2 Bentinck Road, ALTRINCHAM WA14 2BP SS Peter & Paul and Philomena, Atherton Street, NEW BRIGHTON, Wallasey CH45 9LT

Sundays 2nd Sundays Sundays[1]

12.15pm 3.00pm 8.30am 10.30am 9.00am 7.00pm 10.00am 7.00pm

Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung/Low

Mondays-Thursdays[2] Fridays[2] Saturdays and Bank Holidays[2] Holy Days of Obligation[3] St Thomas Becket, Nantwich Road, TARPORLEY CW6 9UN 3rd Sundays 12.30pm Low Mass [1] Preceded by Confession and Rosary. Sunday Vespers & Benediction at 5.00pm. [2] Confessions are heard and the Rosary is recited half an hour before Mass. In the evening Vespers is said at 5.30pm followed by Adoration. [3] In accordance with the Calendar of the 1962 Missal.

Southwark (North) St Bede’s, 58 Thornton Road, CLAPHAM PARK, London SW12 0LF

St Mary Magdalen (East Hill), 96 North Side, WANDSWORTH COMMON, London SW18 2QU St Mary, 28 Crown Lane, CHISLEHURST, Kent BR7 5PL St Mary Magdalen, 61 North Worple Wy, MORTLAKE, London SW14 8PR Holy Cross, 46 North Street, CARSHALTON, Surrey SM5 2JD [1] Please check before travelling - 020 8874 2724. No Mass during August.

Sundays Mondays – Fridays (inclusive) Thursdays Saturdays Sundays[1]

10.45am 7.00am 12.30pm 9.00am 11.00am

Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low/Sung

1st & 3rd Sundays Fridays 1st Fridays 1st Sundays

11.00am 7.30pm 7.00pm 4.00pm

Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Low/Sung

Sundays Fridays[1] Wednesdays[2] Sundays Mondays

12.00pm 9.30am 9.30am 11.30am 6.30pm

Sung Mass Low Mass Low Mass Sung/High Low Mass

Southwark (Kent) St Augustine’s Church, St Augustine’s Road, RAMSGATE, Kent CT11 9PA St Ethelbert, 72 Hereson Road, RAMSGATE, Kent CT11 7DS St Austin & St Gregory, 38 Charlotte Place, MARGATE, Kent CT9 1LP

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ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

MASS LISTINGS

St John the Evangelist, St Richards Road, DEAL CT14 9LD St Thomas of Canterbury, Station Road, HEADCORN, Kent

1st Thursdays[3] 6.30pm Low Mass 4th Sundays 12.00pm Low Mass Most Fridays[4] 9.30am Low Mass 12.00pm Low Mass Sat 15th Aug (Assumption) Mon 2nd Nov (All Souls) 12.00pm Low Mass St Augustine’s, Crescent Road, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Kent TN1 2LY 1st Wednesdays[5] 7.30pm Low Mass St Francis, Week Street, MAIDSTONE, Kent ME14 1RL 1st Sundays 12.30pm Low Mass Sun 1st Nov (All Saints) 12.30pm Low Mass St Simon Stock, Brookfield Road, ASHFORD SOUTH, Kent TN23 4EU 2nd & 5th Sundays 12.15pm Low Mass St Andrew, Ashford Road, TENTERDEN, Kent TN30 6LL 3rd Sundays 12.30pm Low Mass [1] Followed by Exposition, Confession & Benediction at 10.00am. [2] Preceded at 8.30am by Exposition & Benediction. [3] Please check before travelling – 01304 374 870. [4] Please check before travelling - 01622 752 637. [5] Please check before travelling - 01892 522525.

Wrexham St Francis of Assisi, Llay Chain, Llay, Nr. WREXHAM LL12 0NT Our Lady of the Rosary, Jubilee Road, BUCKLEY CH7 2AF St Winefride’s Catholic Church, Well Street, HOLYWELL CH8 7PL

2nd Sundays 1st Saturdays 4th Sundays

12.30pm 12.30pm 11.30am

Low Mass Low/Sung[1] Low/Sung[1]

[1] Dependent on availability of cantor. Times to be confirmed, please refer to www.lmswrexham.weebly.com/mass-times.html.

LMS Pilgrimage to Glastonbury – Saturday 12 September

There will be a Sung Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Saturday 12 September at 11:00am in the Lady Chapel in the Abbey Grounds, Glastonbury, followed by a Rosary Procession, lunch and then Benediction at 2.00pm in Our Lady of Glastonbury church. Celebrant: Fr Philip Thomas. Music will be provided by The Rupert Bevan Singers. All welcome.

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roman correspondent

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

A Revival of the ‘Reform of the Reform’? Alberto Carosa

D

uring a symposium in Rome on Summorum Pontificum in 2008, a year after its promulgation, the then president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, speaking on its application, was quoted as saying that there were traditionally minded faithful who were ‘insatiable’, demanding ‘incredible’ requests. He specifically mentioned that among the countless requests piling up on his desk, there were those who were even calling for one of the four major basilicas in Rome, Saint Mary Major, to be exclusively reserved to the pre-Vatican II traditional Roman rite. But this concept of continued dissatisfaction could also be applied to another category of traditionalists, those who are inclined to mistrust or even cry foul at any initiatives church leaders might intend to take regarding traditional liturgy and which are seen as an attempt to virtually boycott it and/or ultimately suppress is altogether. A typical case in point was a reaction to Cardinal Sarah’s message to the recent Sacra Liturgia USA Conference in New York. On the occasion the Guinean Cardinal said: ‘When the Holy Father, Pope Francis, asked me to accept the ministry of Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, I asked, “Your Holiness, how do you want me to exercise this ministry? What do you want me to do as Prefect of this Congregation?” The Holy Father’s reply was clear. “I want you to continue to implement the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council,” he said, “and I want you to continue the good work in the liturgy begun by Pope Benedict XVI.”’ Whereas it’s possible to argue that the first part of the Pope’s answer was referring to the promotion of the Novus Ordo, although we ought always to bear in mind that the Second Vatican Council document on liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium provides for the retention of Latin and plain chant among other things, there can be no doubt that the second part of his answer includes the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which can be viewed as the highlight of Benedict XVI’s pontificate in so far as liturgy is concerned. Yet, following the senior Cardinal’s message, the blogosphere contained headlines like, ‘Wake up: Francis despises you and Sarah’s not helping’, followed by comments like ‘Pope Francis is in no way a supporter of Summorum Pontificum; he deplores the Traditional Mass and those who love it, and the man that he appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Sarah, is not going to be our ally.’ But interestingly, in a subsequent article in L’Osservatore Romano (12 June), Cardinal Sarah raised the stakes, so to say, thus showing that if he is not yet ‘our ally’, well, he appears to be certainly proceeding in this direction. This article, entitled ‘The silent action of the heart’, went almost unnoticed in the English speaking world at large, save for the timely translation

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in the blog Rorate Caeli, that spoke of ‘groundbreaking article’, whose ‘respectful attitude towards the Traditional Roman Rite… is noteworthy’, and asked whether the senior prelate was ‘trying to restore the so-called movement of the ‘Reform of the Reform’ of the new Mass of Paul VI, derailed after (actually, even before) the abdication of Benedict XVI.’ Cardinal Sarah does not mince words in decrying distortions in the application of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, calling for a more faithful implementation of its text and lamenting misinterpretations of its teaching on ‘active participation.’ For each deviation Sarah has a precise correction, in particular praising ad orientem worship and suggesting an appendix to the Roman Missal that might better manifest the continuity of the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms. ‘It is entirely consistent with the conciliar constitution, it is indeed opportune that, during the rite of penance, the singing of the Gloria, the orations, and the Eucharistic prayer, everyone, priest and faithful, should turn together towards the East, to express their will to participate in the work of worship and of redemption accomplished by Christ,’ he pointed out. ‘This manner of doing things could opportunely be put into place in cathedrals, where liturgical life must be exemplary.’ He also criticised the ‘contemporary Western mentality’ in which the faithful are to be ‘constantly busy’ and in which the Mass is to be rendered ‘convivial.’ On the contrary, ‘sacred awe’ and ‘joyful fear require our silence in the presence of the divine majesty. It is often forgotten that sacred silence is one of the means set forth by the Council to encourage participation.’ Moreover, he recalled the Council’s teaching that the faithful should ‘be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them,’ and said that the liturgy ‘must stop being a place of disobedience to the requirements of the Church.’ But most of all, ‘it would be wrong to consider the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite as coming from another theology,’ he said. To manifest that the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form are ‘in continuity and without opposition,’ it would be ‘desirable’ that there be an appendix in an upcoming edition of the Roman Missal that would permit celebrants in the Ordinary Form to use the penitential rite and the offertory of the Extraordinary Form. The points made by His Eminence appear to be perfectly in line with a basic tenet of the philosophy underlying the ‘Reform of the Reform’ movement, viz the positive influence that the Vetus Ordo could wield on the Novus Ordo. And not only in terms of a more reverent celebration of the latter, but also for a more faithful reflection of the original Latin language of the liturgy, as was the case with the 1998 English translation of the Roman Missal – rejected by the Vatican and replaced by a revised translation, introduced in November 2011, a development which may well be regarded as another highlight of the Pope Emeritus’ pontificate.


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

SIZERGH CASTLE

Mass at Sizergh Castle Commemorating the Past, looking to the Future John Rogan

D

uring the summer months, the followers of the Extraordinary Form in the Diocese of Lancaster have two or three jaunts away from where we usually meet for Mass. We gather near Kendal at Sizergh Castle, a National Trust property but also home to the Hornyold-Strickland family, and to the Strickland family since 1239. It’s possible that Catherine Parr lived here for a while, and Sir Thomas Strickland was a member of the court of James II in exile. While it’s probable that the pele tower contained an oratory, the current chapel is at the end of one of two wings forming a courtyard. Walking about while serving Mass is always entertaining as the floor is far from level. You can set off intending to walk forwards, and end up heading off to one side, like an errant shopping trolley! The congregation numbers up to 40 people, who travel from the further reaches of our Diocese and even beyond, and we are fortunate to have priests willing to travel some distance to say Mass for us. Why do we do this? It would be easy to dismiss this as an excuse to go and have Mass ‘in a castle’, and it’s true, there is something a little special about the location, and being there after-hours. I’ve visited the gardens many times with my family, and it still feels a little naughty driving in the gate next to the car park to reach the castle itself directly. More than a novelty Until the election of Benedict XVI and what followed, looking backwards at the Mass and its development was rather unfashionable and more than a little frowned upon in many places. This isn’t a good thing, as the Mass didn’t spontaneously appear in 1970, and Pope Benedict was clear that there was no rupture – simply two different forms of the same rite, continuity being maintained. It is, therefore, not a bad thing to have some idea how we got to where we are – in fact it’s actually a very good thing. These days, we’re used to having diocesan bishops. We’ve always had them, and our grandparents always had them,

but before the Restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850, and the establishment of fixed territories, things were a little different, and had been right through penal times when we had no churches. We did, in later times, have bishops in this country, but their sees were in partibus infidelium – they functioned as vicars apostolic. Throughout these trying times, an alternative system of provision had existed, arranged through what is sometimes called the ‘squirearchy’. To celebrate Mass, you needed a priest, and a room large enough to hold the other thing that justified the whole risky business – a congregation. Priests came to this country not to say Mass, but to say Mass for us. To do this, and to keep the priest safe and well, and to help him move around required the help of good Catholics with the necessary resources – generally old families with land and property. Of course, we’re familiar with the priests who ran the ultimate risk and lost all, but it’s important to remember that these families also risked, and sometimes lost, a great deal by doing such a service to the local Catholic faithful. So, meeting a few times during the lighter part of the summer in the chapel of the ancestral home of a long-standing Catholic family is not just a novelty, it’s a reminder of how the Faith was kept alive, and a way of acknowledging that. We remember where we came from, and how we got to where we are, © J S Ackers with the freedom to build public churches on the high street as well as private chapels hidden on estates. For the invitation to say Mass in the chapel, we are grateful to the Hornyold-Strickland family and to the National Trust staff for making the necessary arrangements. We are fortunate to be able to continue using the chapel after the death of Mrs Angela Hornyold-Strickland this spring. Please pray for the repose of her soul; she was always pleased to welcome us to the chapel and accommodate the Extraordinary Form, and also spare a prayer for vocations, and for priests to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

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CULTURE

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

Treasure and Tradition A Guide to the Mass Lisa Bergman

A

ll my life I felt as though something were missing from the Mass. Like a meal without salt, it lacked some essential yet indefinable ingredient to make it fully realised. When I attended the Latin Mass for the first time, I finally experienced this indefinable ingredient, flooding the chapel like a beam of sunlight. There was a reverence, order and beauty that was palpable in every phrase and gesture—one truly befitting the presence of our King and God. At that point in my life, I had not the luxury of being able to simply immerse myself in this new and transcendent experience of Heaven on Earth. My four young children and husband looked to me, wondering why I had plunged them into this unfamiliar and overwhelming experience with no adequate guide to help them understand or even make sense of what was going on. I went through stacks of books trying to fill this need. Nothing seemed to help. I finally decided to make my own guide for them, using English subtitles for the Latin, pictures to help them align each page and prayer with what they saw happening at the altar, and a chart of cues and rubrics to help them find their place when lost. Other families who shared our guide seemed pleased with it, and I thought my job was done. Then a priest showed me several books like Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s This is the Mass, and urged me to expand my vision of what this book could do, transforming it into something that could be proudly displayed on a coffee table. The more I pondered his suggestions, the more I began to see how I wanted this new guide to work. I wanted to be able to: point out cues while they were happening; include highlights from works about the Mass, such as those by Father Meagher and Dom Gueranger; answer the many FAQs posed by those new to the extraordinary form of the Mass; explain the structure of the Mass through the lens of its sister liturgy, the Divine Office; and answer the question ‘why the DouayRheims Bible?’ Above all, I wanted it to be full of illustrations and diagrams, like the books by Dorling Kindersley that my kids loved. And I wanted it to be able to earn the title The Ultimate Guide to the Latin Mass. This was no small task I had set myself, and it took many years to accomplish, with much help and advice along the

44

way. As it neared completion, it became clear that it needed a glossary, a task that proved one of the most arduous, as it required deciding on a moment in time for which the definition would be accurate, in order to avoid becoming the ‘Catholic Encyclopedia’. My husband still teases me to this day that I should have received a doctorate degree for this portion alone. I was ready to submit the book to the local diocese for an imprimatur, but God had not yet answered my prayer and sent me a priest who was able to give us his time (and his church) for a day to shoot the photos. While I besieged St Joseph to help me solve this dilemma, I pressed forward with temporary placeholders where our photos should be, and was relieved to find that the diocesan censor was impressed with the book. I confessed to him this last impediment, and he generously agreed to be part of the solution. His parish seemed to me an ideal location for our photos: it was handsome, old enough to still have its original altar, and yet was simple enough in its decoration for most people to easily relate to. I had not realised that the original altar had been modified to make room for the freestanding altar and was too shallow to be used. Yet God’s will is more perfect than our own, and my initial disappointment melted away as, with patience and creativity, the freestanding altar became a perfect ad orientem altar. Only by looking closely at the photos is it clear that we were working with a freestanding altar, yet they prove that this is no hindrance to saying the Latin Mass. It has been humbling, to say the least, to hear of the hearts and minds that have been transformed by this book since it was completed. I had set out simply to help my children navigate their way through the Mass, yet the Grace of God had transformed my efforts into something valuable even for longtime devotees of the traditional Mass. I gave it the title Treasure and Tradition, because by making the traditions of our Faith both accessible and appealing to all, it has brought many to experience the beauty and reverence of the worship of our forefathers in a way that has enriched their lives and brought them closer to God.

Lisa Bergman is the mother of six children and started her own publishing company when she found that many of her favourite books were out of print. To find out more about the books she has published, please see www.staugustineacademypress.com.


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

TRAINING

‘Priests Flock to Prior Park’ Alan Frost

Priests and seminarians from the UK and abroad gathered in the splendid setting of Prior Park College, Bath, for a training course in the Latin Mass earlier this year. An event covered by the local press...

© Alan Frost

B

ath is a lovely city. Its architecture and its history give it a status that ranks among the best places to visit in Europe, if not the world. It is a lively but gentle metropolis, full of students, tourists and sportsmen and women. The greenery of the rugby and cricket ground, especially on a fine sunny day, add to the distinctive atmosphere and ambience, as do the romantic bridges nearby, the splintered sunlight on the river, the softly moving narrow boats on the canal. Yet even more special for the visitor in a spring half-term this year was to include in this itinerary a visit to the private Catholic school of Prior Park, once a Christian Brothers’ boarding school, and before that the manorial home of a local worthy and practising Catholic. Situated atop a hill, the school, with its large impressive chapel, played host to a party of priests, seminarians and trainee altar servers, which visitors were welcome to witness. Among the visitors were interested journalists including an editor of a well-known American Catholic print and on-line magazine. The purpose of the gathering was to enable priests, and laymen interested in serving at the altar, to learn how to celebrate the traditional Mass in Latin. Among the various bodies internationally that have made the teaching of the Mass available, through CDs, literature and courses, is the Latin Mass Society, who organised the four-day event at Bath. The mid-April course at Bath covered the learning of the Old Rite Mass, from basic introduction to the most involved forms of celebration. It also provided specialist tuition in the Missa Cantata as well as, of interest to all, the celebration (by Fr Mark Morris of Glasgow) of a formal Requiem Mass complete with offices around the catafalque at the end of Mass. This was also good practice and instruction for the schola and trainee choristers who participated in the High Mass held each day. Before breakfast on the last three days, priests would celebrate private Masses at the side chapels. This has been the practice wherever the venue, such as at a poignant time for Ushaw, the year after the bicentenary of its opening. Numerous altars and chapels were built in its early days along labyrinthine corridors, and seeing a priest celebrate such a Mass before sunrise, with the only lighting coming from the two candles at the altars, evoked a scene that would have looked the same well over a hundred years ago. This is not romance or nostalgia, but a reminder that the Church is a continuing unchanging dependable rock, it is Petrine to the end of time, however much the social world may change outside of its altars, however much seminaries are lost or new ones built.

Each day at Prior Park, effectively beginning around 7.00am, was full and quite intense, though not without some flexibility. The day would begin with preparation for private Mass at 7.30am, followed by breakfast in the fine panelled refectory and tuition at whichever level beginning at 9.15am. Solemn Votive Mass would be celebrated at 11.15am, and after lunch at 12.30pm, tuition would resume with a three-quarter hour break before Vespers and Benediction at 5.15pm. For some attenders this meant more witnessing of the holy smoke of the incense and sung chant in three days than they would normally experience in three months or more! Following the evening meal and private time, the Office of Compline would complete the day at 9.00pm. The period of tuition time could include adjustment for individual preferences in availing oneself of opportunities not available in one’s own parish through time, commitments or distance from events. Thus, for example, Fr Linus Clovis from St Lucia was very happy to develop his Missa Cantata and cantor skills through individual tuition. Fr Korczak and Fr Wloch from Poland on the other hand specifically wanted to focus throughout on learning to say the Extraordinary Form Mass in Latin. The arrival of such a diverse group from home and abroad attracted the interest of the local press, which was surely a good thing as the coverage was not the anti-Christian reportage so typical of the mass media in this country for quite some time now. However the Bath Chronicle did exaggerate somewhat with its headline: ‘Catholic priests flock to Prior Park College in Bath for lessons in Latin’! It also attracted Beverly de Soto and colleagues, editor of the mostly on-line American Catholic magazine Regina. Instructing priests, not forgetting the workload of the usual organiser of these events, LMS Treasurer Paul Waddington. There was general agreement that it certainly was a rewarding experience. The Extraordinary Form of the Mass, the celebration of full Benediction and other services, along with the singing of profound liturgical music, provided the experience and sense of a very special spiritual depth.

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ADVENTURES OF THE LONE VEILER

ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

The Politics of the Family

The Lone Veiler

P

olitics gets everywhere. Office politics, family politics, government politics, whether big or small... and don’t get me started on gender politics. ‘Politics’ is one of my all time hate words, and not even the Church is immune. I don’t like politics because it is all about power, and the wielding of it. Family politics used to be who about was spending Christmas Day with which set of in-laws, and who was getting Boxing Day. In the last few years, it has become so much more complicated, and to my mind, sinister. It’s only recently become de rigueur to be frightfully open about how we define families. To say that a mum, dad, and kids, is a family ‘disses’ anyone whose family isn’t rooted in the biologically natural. It’s become socially unacceptable to affirm the primacy of the natural family unit. You can rent wombs, buy sperm, freeze ova and embryos, because this is ultimately not about love, it’s all about power and control, control of fertility, and by extension, the commodification of children. The lobby groups for the redefinition of the family are rich and powerful, most folks in ‘normal’ families are not. I’ve said it before, but wherever there’s a lobby group, follow the funding. It’s not often I find myself agreeing with Germaine Greer, but there really is a ‘deconstruction of motherhood’ going on, and I don’t remember being invited to the debate. For an example of fertility politics, or ‘motherhood’ as I like to call it, we need look no further than the employers at Apple and Facebook. It is such a major concern for these companies that they have ensured the health care benefit of offering their women employees the chance of freezing their eggs until they are at a point where it’s considered acceptable to take maternity leave. Acceptable to whom, exactly? Wake up! In the wonderful world of employment, there is never a ‘good time’ to have a baby. In this brave new world an employer can potentially dictate when to conceive, the method by which you may conceive, as well as imposing a glass ceiling if they feel like it, regardless of how well you have played their game. The misogyny behind this is palpable, and I’m not having a pop at men here – it’s members of my own sex who come across very often as hating themselves for being women, for being fertile. They sterilise themselves for 20 years and then expect nature, which is by and large cruel when it comes to later life fertility, to give up the goods.

46

This erroneous belief that you somehow have control is indoctrinated into kids from a very young age, and leads to nothing but contradiction and confusion. For on the one hand children are being taught in school that anything sexual is normal, natural, and nothing to be ashamed of. On the other hand, any child that goes in for a bit of a practical in the playground is put on a what is effectively a junior sex offenders record. By the time they are in secondary school, sexual harassment and sexual bullying between children is rampant, and having baby-free sex is a recreational activity and an alleged sign of maturity. So, aside from all the sex ed in schools that makes many poor teachers feel like they’re grooming their classes (ask an infant teacher if they feel comfortable showing the C4 Living and Growing DVD, I dare you), we are now told that due to increasing infertility and the demographic time bomb, we should be teaching girls fertility awareness in school. Are they having a laugh? As it’s all sex, sex, sex, from the age of six in PSHE. You would think by the time they’ve left school, our privileged young adults would understand that most of sex ed is about owning (avoiding) their fertility, having undergone all that intensive repetition in their spiral educational experience. Which brings us right back to employers so thoughtfully offering to freeze eggs. As Catholics, we really are swimming up stream, and it’s getting harder. It’s difficult not to want to batten down the hatches and hide, hoping this will all go away. But I don’t think we should be discouraged, because after all, Our Lord chose to be born into a family. We always have the example of the Holy Family to look to for encouragement and inspiration, and as the Catechism tells us:-

The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honour God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.’ (CCC, 2207)


ISSUE 185 - AUTUMN 2015

MACKLIN STREET

Promoting the Message...

Farewell lunch held for George Steven near Macklin Street. George is pictured third from the right wearing white shirt and glasses.

Stephen Moseling

I

t has been good to see an increase in the number of people attending many of our annual events in this our 50th anniversary year. This was particularly the case with the pilgrimage to Holywell, the Annual General Meeting and the Pontifical High Mass in Westminster Cathedral which followed the AGM, where an estimated 350 people gathered to pray and give thanks for the work of the LMS. Whilst numbers, in themselves, may not be important, they are an indication that the all-important work of the Society continues and, in doing so, has the potential to draw people in. None of these events would be possible without the unstinting work of our country-wide network of diocesan representatives and other volunteers. The Society owes each of them an immense vote of thanks for the time and energy they put into working for the LMS. In Macklin Street, we do everything we can to support them in their work. I am confident that recent changes within the office will ensure this continues. George Steven, who has been the Office Coordinator in Macklin Street since 2011, left us at the end of June to take up a new job. George has made a very valuable contribution to the work of the LMS, for which we thank him. He leaves with our prayers and good wishes for the future. Gareth Copping, who has worked part-time in the office as Financial Administrator,

will take on a new full-time role. By the time you read this we hope to have appointed a part-time Office Assistant. One important means by which the Society promotes its message and events is our website. This is currently undergoing a complete redesign and we hope to launch it by the end of the summer. Not only will it be more attractive and professional in presentation, but it is hoped that it will also be a more userfriendly resource for members, diocesan representatives and the public in general. Our presence in other online communities – namely Facebook and Twitter – continue to attract increased interest and followers. These too play an important role in promoting the Society and enable us to communicate with a much wider field of potential supporters. I am aware that not all members have internet access, neither are they on Facebook or Twitter. For those of you who are, please follow us and let your friends see your support for the LMS. www.twitter.com/latimmassuk www.facebook.com/latinmassuk

To contact the General Manager, Stephen Moseling, please email Stephen@lms.org.uk or telephone the office.

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