St Philip Neri, the Ascension and Mass News

The relics of St Philip Neri in front of the sanctuary (credit : Birmingham Oratory)

There was an extra EF Low Mass on Bank Holiday Monday this week at 9.30am before the Novus Ordo High Mass for the Feast of St Philip Neri at 11am. It was the first Novus Ordo High Mass I had attended in a while (the majority of High Masses at the Birmingham Oratory are now in the Extraordinary Form) and I must confess that for the first time I found it rather disjointed due to the way things have to be done sequentially - for example, the Canon of the Mass is spoken out loud so the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei have to be completed by the choir before the celebrant can proceed. By pure coincidence, Rorate Caeli's report on the first Traditional High Mass at Birmingham Cathedral in several decades also included a report of the first Traditional Masses held in Split, Croatia in several decades at a Church whose patron is St Philip Neri!

This Thursday is the traditional day of the Feast of the Ascension. There will be a High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory beginning at 7pm.

There will be no Friday Mass at St John Fisher in West Heath this Friday (30th May 2014). The Masses at the Oratory and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton are available as alternatives.

I believe there will be a Mass in Redditch on the coming Monday (2nd June 2014).

Looking further ahead, Fr Paul Lester has confirmed that there will be a Low Mass on the 2nd Wednesday of June (11th June) in the Maryvale chapel. Directions for all these Masses are available in the sidebar.