The Assumption of the BVM 2025

 The Solemnity of the Assumption falls on a Friday this year: as a holy day of obligation, the usual Friday Low Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton has been switched to Thursday (the Vigil of the Assumption) at the same time of 6.30pm. High Mass will be offered at the Birmingham Oratory at 7.30pm on Friday in place of the usual 5.45pm Low Mass. Directions to these churches are available in the sidebar.

The Oratory Music List for August, including the Music for the Mass on Friday, is available in the graphic below.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ

High Mass will be offered for the Transfiguration of Our Lord on Wednesday 6th August at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton at 7.30pm. Directions are available in the sidebar.

Additional High Masses at the Birmingham Oratory

The Birmingham Oratory will offer High Mass tonight (Thursday 19th June) on the Traditional date of Corpus Christi. Please note there will also be High Masses Wednesday 25th June and Friday 27th June to open and close the Qurant'ore devotion, the latter on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. All of these Masses replace the usual 5.45pm daily Low Mass.

Please note that due to the annual Novena in honour of the Patronal Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, there will be no Mass on Friday in Wolverhampton: it is instead transferred to 8am on Saturday morning

High Mass on the Friday during the Octave of Pentecost

There will be a High Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour tomorrow on the Friday during the Octave of Pentecost. More details are available in the poster below; directions to the church are available in the sidebar.

St Philip Neri and the Ascension

 I did not get a chance to advertise it in time but the Spring Bank Holiday this year fell on the Birmingham Oratory Patronal Feast of St Philip Neri where High Mass was celebrated at 11am on 26th May. Thursday saw High Mass celebrated for the Solemnity of the Ascension, marking 40 days since the resurrection and the beginning of the Pentecost Novena.

Below is a record of the music list used in these Masses and the Masses during May.

Missa pro Eligendo Summo Pontifice

I heard about the death of Pope Francis just as I left the 9am Low Mass at the Birmingham Oratory on Easter Monday.

Ahead of the conclave tomorrow, there will be a High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory tonight at 7.30 pro Eligendo Summo Pontifice, replacing the usual 5.45pm High Mass.

May God grant us a Holy Pope.

Holy Week and Easter 2025

Below is the Holy Week and Easter schedule at the Birmingham Oratory. Please note there will also be a Low Mass at 8am at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton on Easter Day.

The Solemnity of St Joseph 2025

There are two 1962 Missal Masses for the Solemnity of St Joseph in the region tomorrow, Wednesday 19th March 2025.

As usual, there will be High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at 7.30pm, replacing the usual 5.45pm Low Mass.

There will also be a Low Mass at 7.30am (in the morning) at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton.

Directions to both churches are available in the sidebar.

Midweek High Masses during March at the Birmingham Oratory

The Birmingham Oratory will celebrate High Mass at 7.30pm on Ash Wednesday (5th March 2025). Please note this replaces the usual 5.45pm Low Mass. There will also be High Masses in midweek during March at the same time for the Solemnity of St Joseph (19th March) and the Annunciation (25th March). The Music List for March is available below.

Candlemas 2025

Please note that the High Mass tomorrow (2nd February 2025) at the Birmingham Oratory will start half an hour earlier at 10am to accommodate the additional ceremonies required for Candlemas. The 7.30am Low Mass remains at the same time. The Music List for February is available below.

Epiphany 2025

There will be two High Masses celebrating the Epiphany tomorrow, both at 7.30pm. One will be at the Birmingham Oratory (replacing the usual 5.45pm Low Mass) and the other at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Wolverhampton. Directions to both are available in the sidebar.

The High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory today celebrated the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, as per the 1962 Missal.

The Birmingham Oratory's Music List is below:

Christmas Masses 2024/5

 Wednesday 25th December 2024

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Oratory 12 midnight High Mass (n.b. no 7.30 a.m. Mass)

Wolverhampton (OLPS*) 8 a.m. Low Mass of Dawn
Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass of the Day

Thursday 26th December 2024 to Saturday 28th December 2024

Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass (no Mass at 5.45pm)

Friday 27th December 2024

Wolverhampton (OLPS*) 6.30 p.m. Low Mass

Sunday 29th December 2024
Octave Day of Christmas

Oratory 7.30 a.m. Low Mass
Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass

Monday 30th December 2024 to Tuesday 31st December 2024

Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass (no Mass at 5.45pm)

Wednesday 1st January 2025
Oratory 12.00 midday High Mass (no Mass at 5.45pm)

Normal service resumes from Tuesday 2nd January 2025

*OLPS - Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Cannock Road, Wolverhampton, WV10 8PG

Directions to the Oratory and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour are available in the sidebar

I wish all readers of this blog a happy and holy Christmas and New Year!

All Hallowtide 2024

Birmingham Oratory

First Vespers of All Saints                            6.30pm 31st October 2024

High Mass for the Solemnity of All Saints  7.30pm 1st November 2024

Requiem Mass for All Souls                        11am 2nd November 2024

The Requiem Mass for All Souls will be the Annual LMS Requiem Mass, following the withdrawal of permission for this to be celebrated at Westminster Cathedral in London. Throughout the rest of the day, private Masses will be offered at the Altars in the Birmingham Oratory

The Music List for November is available below.

As the Solemnity of All Saints falls on a Friday and is a holyday of obligation, the usual Friday Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour will take place on Saturday at 11.30am for All Souls.

The Feast of St John Henry Cardinal Newman 2024

 

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross 2024

Please note the celebration of Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross according to the 1962 MR at the Birmingham Oratory will be a Missa Cantata at 9am on Saturday 14th September 2024 and not an 11am High Mass which may have been advertised on some channels. 

The Solemnity of the Assumption 2024

High Mass will be celebrated at 7.30pm on Thursday 15th August at the Birmingham Oratory for the Solemnity of the Assumption, replacing the usual 5.45pm Low Mass. Directions are available in the sidebar.

Latin Mass Society AGM 2024 in Birmingham

 The Latin Mass Society AGM comes to Birmingham on Saturday and I hope you can join us. The schedule for the day is below. It is too late to book lunch now but there are a few pubs, a Subway and a chip shop nearby. Directions to the Oratory are available in the sidebar - there have been some roadworks on Monument Lane from the Hagley Road direction so it may be best to approach via Ladywood Middleway if you are coming by car. For those coming by public transport, the Tram which can be caught outside Birmingham New Street Station is probably the simplest way to get to the Birmingham Oratory which is close to the Terminus at Edgbaston Village.

Quarant'ore Devotion 2024

The Quarant'ore devotion starts tonight at the Birmingham Oratory with High Mass of Exposition at 7.30pm. There will be a Missa Cantata on Thursday at the same time, and the Forty Hours' Devotion will end with High Mass for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at 7.30pm on Friday. All these Masses will replace the usual 5.45pm Mass. Directions to the Oratory are available in the sidebar.

Corpus Christ 2024

There will be High Mass tonight on the traditional date of Corpus Christi at 7.30pm at the Birmingham Oratory, replacing the usual 5.45pm Low Mas, followed by an indoor Eucharistic procession. Corpus Christi will be celebrated as an External Solemnity on Sunday at 10.30am, with the outdoor procession taking place after the English Mass at 12.15pm. 

The Transferred Feast of St Philip Neri

As the 26th May fell on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity this year, the Birmingham Oratory will celebrate the founder of the Oratorian movement on Monday 27th May with High Mass at 11am. The music is detailed in the poster below.