The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross falls on Saturday and the Oratory have made a late change to the schedule: there will now be High Mass at 11am instead of the usual low Mass at 9am. There will also be a low Mass at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury. Directions to these churches are available in the sidebar.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thursday is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holyday of obligation. As usual, there will be High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at 7.30pm, replacing the usual 5.45pm low Mass. However, there will be a low Mass at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury at 5.30pm. Directions for both of these Masses are available in the sidebar.

Please note there will be no second Wednesday Mass at the Maryvale Institute tomorrow and it is hoped these Masses will resume in September after last month's Mass was cancelled as well.

The August music list for the Oratory, including for the Mass on the Assumption, is available below.

Votive High Mass of the Precious Blood

This Friday, there will be a High Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton as detailed in the poster below - directions are available in the sidebar.

St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury has also released its Masses for the next quarter, available at the bottom of the page on the following link:

https://www.saintmaryswednesbury.org.uk/traditional-latin-mass.html

Please note there is a low Mass at 6pm for the Feast of St John Fisher and St Thomas More tomorrow (9th July 2019). Again, directions can be found in the sidebar.

SS Peter & Paul on Saturday

Please note there is no 11am High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory on Saturday on the proper date of the Feast of SS Peter and Paul as was advertised in the most recent Mass of Ages - there will instead by a Missa Cantata at 9am with High Mass celebrated at the usual time of 10.30am on Sunday as an external solemnity.

There is, however, a low Mass at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury at 11am. Directions are in the sidebar.

Corpus Christi 2019

There are two Masses in the region tomorrow for Corpus Christi: a High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at 7.30pm, and a low Mass at St Mary-on-the-Hill, Wednesbury at 12.30pm. The Oratory Music list for June, including the music for the Mass tomorrow, is below.

Ascension Thursday Masses

The Bishops of England and Wales have returned the celebration of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ to Thursday as a Holyday of Obligation. There will be a High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at 7.30pm (replacing the usual 5.45pm low Mass) and a low Mass at 8am in Wednesbury. Directions are available in the sidebar.

The Translation of St Chad and Wednesbury Masses

The Tuesday after the fourth Sunday after Easter is the Feast of the Translation of St Chad in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, which is unique to the Extraodinary Form. Five years ago we held a High Mass at St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham on the closest Saturday (see photo below). This year Fr Anthony Dykes will be celebrating a low/ sung Mass at Holy Cross Church in Upper Saint John Street Lichfield starting at 7pm on the feast itself (Tuesday 21st May 2019).

The following ad-hoc Masses will be celebrated at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury over the next few months and were advertised in the most recent copy of Mass of Ages:

High Mass at St Chad's Cathedral, 2014

Wednesbury 
Friday, 24th May Our Lady Help of Christians Low Mass 6.30pm
Saturday, 25th May St Gregory Low Mass 11am
Thursday 30th May Ascension Day Low Mass 8am (note time)
Friday, 31st May Queenship of Our Lady Low Mass 12.30
Sunday, 16th June Trinity Sunday Low Mass 8.30am (3rd Sunday)
Thursday, 20th June Corpus Christi Low Mass 12.30pm
Friday, 28th June Sacred Heart Low Mass 12.30pm
Saturday 29th June SS Peter& Paul Low Mass 11am
Tuesday, 2nd July Visitation of the BVM Low Mass 12.30pm

Oratory May Music List

The Oratory has released its music list for May. Please note that the daily low Mass tomorrow will take place at 9am rather than the usual time of 5.45pm because of the Bank Holiday.

Please also note there will be a votive sung Mass of Our Lady at St Dunstan's this Friday (10th May) because the third Friday this month coincides with the patronal feast of the parish.

EF Liturgies over the Easter Period

The Oratory has released the Music list for the month of April which includes the liturgies for Holy Week and Easter.

Listed below are the changes and additions to EF liturgies in the Birmingham and Black Country area over Holy Week and Easter - no Masses take place on Good Friday and Holy Saturday so the third Friday Mass at Kings Heath has been brought forward to the second Friday. There will be a low Mass at Wednesbury this Saturday and the Mass that would be at 8.30am on the third Sunday of the month moves to 12 noon and may be sung because it falls on Easter . There will be a High Mass at Wolverhampton on Easter Friday at the later time of 7.30pm replacing the usual low Mass at 6.30pm. The Mass at the Oratory on Bank Holiday Monday will be a 9am rather than the usual daily time of 5.45pm. The Mass at Halesowen on Spy Wednesday is usually cancelled so that Fr Bruce can attend the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral.

Friday 12th April 2019
Our Lady of Sorrows
Kings Heath 7pm Sung Mass

Saturday 13th April 2019
Wednesbury 11am Low Mass

Wednesday 17th April 2019
Spy Wednesday
Oratory 7.30pm Tenebrae

Thursday 18th April 2019
Maundy Thursday
Oratory 7.30pm High Mass

Friday 19th April 2019
Good Friday
Oratory 9am Tenebrae
Oratory 3pm Liturgy of the Passion (EF)

Saturday 20th April
Holy Saturday
Oratory 9am Tenebrae
Oratory 7.30pm Easter Vigil and High Mass

Sunday 21st April
Easter Sunday
Wolverhampton 8am Low Mass
Oratory 10.30pm High Mass
Wednesbury 12 noon Low/ Sung Mass

Monday 22nd April
Easter Monday
Oratory 9am Low Mass

Friday 26th April
Easter Friday
Wolverhampton 7.30pm High Mass

Directions to all these Masses are available in the sidebar.

Holy Week at the Birmingham Oratory in the Extraordinary Form

Following on from my previous blogpost, the details of Holy Week at the Birmingham Oratory are as follows:

For the first time since the reforms, the Liturgy of the Passion and the Easter Vigil will be in the Extraordinary Form - the Maudy Thursday Mass has been in the Extraordinary Form for a couple of years now. This will probably be the only Extraordinary Form Liturgy for the Easter Triduum in between the ICKSP base in Preston and the FSSP base near Reading, so please do your best to support this.

In other slightly less dramatic news, Fr Paul Lester has announced two short notice Masses at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury:
5.00pm Friday 22nd March 2019
10.30am Saturday 23rd March 2019

St Joseph and the Annunciation

The Feast of St Joseph (19th March) and the Annunciation (25th March) will be upon us in the next week and the schedule of Latin Masses for both will be the same:

St Mary-on-the-Hill, Wednesbury - Low Mass 12.30pm

The Birmingham Oratory - High Mass 7.30pm (instead of the usual 5.45pm low Mass)

The Birmingham Oratory also made a very important announcement this weekend:

I will publish further details on the blog in the near future.

Ash Wednesday 2019

Lent starts tomorrow and as usual there will be High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at 7.30pm replacing the usual 5.45pm daily low Mass. The music is detailed in the poster below.

The 12 noon low Mass at Halesowen has been cancelled, but there is a 12.15 Mass at St-Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury instead. Directions are in the sidebar.

High Mass for the Feast of the Chair of St Peter

It was announced this week that Pope Francis has authorised the promulgation of a decree confirming a miracle through the intercession of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, the founder of the English Congregation of Oratories, paving the way for his canonisation. By coincidence, the Provost of the Birmingham Oratory is preaching at the High Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour this Friday in Wolverhampton for the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. The poster included in this blogpost above gives further details.

There are also some additional Masses at St Mary-on-the-Hill in Wednesbury this week as detailed below:

4pm Tuesday 19th February 2019 Votive Mass of the Holy Angels

4pm Thursday 21st February 2019 Votive Mass of Our Lord Jesus Christ, High Priest

10am Saturday 23rd February 2019 Low Mass - St Peter Damien

The fourth Friday Mass at Sacred Heart and All Souls in Acocks Green will take place this week. However, from March, this will be moved to the first Friday of the month effectively replacing the first Friday Mass at St Augustines in Solihull which is in the same deanery and was discontinued last month. The first First Friday Mass will take place next Friday at 7pm, slightly later than the Mass used to be at Solihull.

Please note there is no Mass this Wednesday at Our Lady and St Kenelm in Halesowen.

Candlemas 2019

The only High Mass in the country for Candlemas will take place at the Birmingham Oratory on 2nd February at 11am. The music is listed in the photo on this post. There will also be a Sung Mass and procession (weather permitting) at St Mary-on-the-Hill, Wednesbury at 10.30am.

Just a reminder that the final Solihull first Friday Mass will take place on 1st February at 6.30pm.

East Birmingham & Solihull Deanery Mass Changes

Today is the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, the last day of the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. It is also the occasion of the first fourth Friday EF Mass at Sacred Heart and All Souls Catholic Church (1151 Warwick Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, B27 6RG), which will take place at 7pm.

This is fortuitous for the traditional Catholics who live in the East Birmingham and Solihull deanery because the first Friday Mass at St Augustine's in Solihull will be discontinued from March, with the last Mass taking place on the 1st February. As you may be aware, Fr Daniel Horgan who used to celebrate the Mass moved to Ireland in September and the Mass had been covered by neighbouring priests until now.

Crib at St Augustine's, Solihull

Wednesbury Christmastide Masses

As the Octave of Christmas comes to an end, below are the details of additional Masses at St Mary-on-the-Hill inWednesbury until Candlemas - these are also noted in the calendar in the sidebar.

▪	The Holy Name of Jesus – Low Mass 8am Wednesday 2nd January 2019

▪	St Egwin – Low Mass 8am Thursday 3rd January 2019

▪	Our Lady’s Saturday – Low Mass 11am Saturday 5th January 2019

▪	Epiphany – Low Mass 8.30am Sunday 6th January 2019

▪	Mass of the Epiphany – Low Mass 8am Friday 11th January 2019

▪	Our Lady’s Saturday – Low Mass 11am Saturday 12th January 2019

▪	St Antony, abbot – Low Mass 8am Thursday 17th January 2019

▪	St Wulstan – Low Mass 11am Saturday 19th January 2019

▪	St Agnes – Low Mass 8am Monday 21st January 2019

▪	St Polycarp – Low Mass 11am Saturday 26th January 2019

▪	Purification of the BVM – Sung Mass and procession 10.30am Sat 2nd February 2019

Christmas Mass Times 2018

Our Lady's Altar at the Birmingham Oratory
set up for a Rorate Mass

Over the Christmas period, there is inevitably a change to the Mass schedule which is detailed below. On Christmas day itself, there is a choice of three Masses in the region, all at different times and one each in the form of low Mass, Missa Cantata and High Mass! In summary, there is no Mass on Christmas Eve and the Wednesday Halesowen Mass is cancelled. The weekday evening 5.45pm Mass at the Oratory moves to 9am in the morning and there is at least one other low Mass every day during the Octave except on Sunday.

Monday 24th December 2018

No Mass at the Oratory

Tuesday 25th December 2018
Christmas Day
Wolverhampton (OLPS*) 8 a.m.
Low Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 9.30 a.m.
Sung Mass
Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass


Wednesday 26th December 2018
St Stephen
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 12.00 noon Low Mass
No Mass at Halesowen

Thursday 27th December 2018
St John the Evangelist
Wednesbury (SMH#) 8.00 a.m. Low Mass
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass

Friday 28th December 2018
Holy Innocents 
Wednesbury (SMH#) 8.00 a.m. Low Mass
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass
Wolverhampton (OLPS*) 6.30 p.m.  Low Mass

Saturday 29th December 2018
St Thomas Becket
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 11.00 a.m. Low Mass

Sunday 30th December 2018
Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass

Monday 31st December 2018
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass
Lichfield(HC+) 11.00 a.m. Low Mass

Tuesday 1st January 2019
Octave Day of Christmas
Oratory 12.00 noon High Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 12.00 noon Low Mass

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

#SMH - St Mary on the Hill, St Mary's Road, Wednesbury, WS10 9DL

+HC - Holy Cross, Upper St John Street, Lichfield, WS14 9DX

Oratory directions in sidebar

I wish all readers of this blog a happy and holy Christmas 2018 and New Year 2019

Rorate Masses and the Immaculate Conception

Due to the Immaculate Conception and the Feast of Oratorian Blessed Antony Grassi falling on a Saturday this year, there will only be one Rorate Mass at the Birmingham Oratory during Advent at 7.30am on the 22nd December. Instead, on 8th December, High Mass will be celebrated at 11am. There will additionally be a low Mass at the same time in Wednesbury at St Mary-on-the-Hill. On the 15th December, the Feast of the Oratorian Blessed will be celebrated with a Missa Cantata at the usual time of the Saturday Latin Mass of 9am.

Pontifical High Mass 2016 (c) Jozef Lopuszynski

The Immaculate Conception is the patronal feast of the Oratory in Birmingham and so first Vespers will also be celebrated on 7th December at 7.30pm. The music list is as follows:

First Vespers - Friday 7th December 2018

Deus in Adjutorium Padilla

Magnificat I Palestrina

Ave Maria a 5 Morales

High Mass - Saturday 8th December 2018

Missa Alma Redemptoris Victoria

Ave Maris Stella Monteverdi

Alma Redemptoris Victoria

This year, Rorate Masses will also be taking place at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton every Thursday in Advent (6th, 13th and 20th December) at 7am. This is in addition to the weekly 6.30pm Friday Mass.

Directions to these churches are available in the sidebar.

NB This post has been amended to say there will be a Missa Cantata at 9am on the Feast of Blessed Antony Grassi (15th December). This replaces a Rorate Mass at 7.30am that was previously advertised here and in Mass of Ages.

December Lichfield Masses

Fr Anthony Dykes is planning to celebrate two low Masses at Holy Cross, Upper Saint John Street, Lichfield, WS14 9DX in December, on the first and last day of the month:

10am Sat 1st December 2018 - Diocesan Feast of the Blessed Martyrs of Oxford University
11am Mon 31st December 2018 - Transferred Feast of St Thomas of Canterbury

High Mass for Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

There will be a Solemn High Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton at 7.30pm on Friday 9th November for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. This replaces the usual weekly 6.30pm low Mass

News on other Masses this week:

Tuesday 6th November - the usual 5.45pm low Mass at the Birmingham Oratory will be a Missa Cantanta for the Feast of the Oratorian Blessed Salvio Huix

Wednesday- no Mass at Halesowen. There will be a Mass for the dead at St Mary-on-the-Hill, Wednesbury at 6pm