Birmingham and Worcestershire Mass and Pilgrimage News

Updates on Masses in the Birmingham and Black Country and Worcestershire areas from July onwards:

1) Masses at Halesowen will continue weekly at 12 noon on Wednesday's except for the following dates: there will be no Mass on 9th July and 27th August and Mass on 6th August will be at 8.00am. If you are planning to attend please ring in advance (number available in the sidebar) because Masses are subject to late changes.

Side Altar prepared for Low Mass at Halesown

2) The First Monday Mass at Redditch in July has been cancelled because it is parish retreat week to prepare for the consecration of the church later in July. Please keep the parish in you prayers at this important time

3) The weekly Spetchley Low Masses outlined in the last post now take place at their new time of 10.45am, not 11am as previously stated. There will be no Mass on 10th and 17th August and 14 and 21st of September.

4) There will be a High Mass for the Old Rite Feast of St John Fisher and St Thomas More at 7pm on 9th July in West Heath. I will post further details about this separately.

I am also now taking bookings for the pilgrimage to the Dome of Home in New Brighton, Wirral. The coach will leave the Birmingham Oratory at 7.45am and return by 6.30pm. The cost is £20 - £15 for LMS members/ students/ unwaged. You can book by leaving a comment on the webpage (it won't be published - please leave contact details), or by phoning 07855 723455. Alternatively my contact details are available on the LMS website or in Mass of Ages. The itinerary of the day is as follows:

Saturday 2nd August

11.30am Solemn Mass

1pm break for lunch

1.45 Talk

2.30 Tour of the Shrine

3.00 Benediction

and Veneration of a Relic of St Philomena

Please book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment - I have had many enquiries about this already.

I plan to write to all local LMS members about this soon.

Corpus Christi and Spetchley Park

As usual, there will be a High Mass on the traditional Thursday date (this year 19th June 2014) for Corpus Christi at the Birmingham Oratory as well as an external celebration of the Solemnity at the 10.30 EF High Mass on Sunday.

Alternatively, in neighbouring Worcestershire, there will be a Missa Cantata and procession from the Catholic chapel in Spetchley Park to the nearby disused medieval church. A report from last year is available at the following link:

http://birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/corpus-christi-sunday-in-spetchley.html

Spetchley Park Corpus Christi Procession 2013

After Mass at 11am there will be the opportunity to have a picnic in the beautiful grounds. It normally costs £6.50 to enter Spetchley Park gardens so this is an opportunity to fulfill your Sunday obligation with and Extraordinary Form Mass, have a lovely day out and save money all at the same time!

Spetchley Park House and Gardens

Spetchley Park now has a Low Mass every Sunday at 11am. There will, however, be no Mass on the 10th and 17th of August, and the 14th and 21st of September.

The Kiss of Peace and Pentecost

The Kiss of Peace during the Milton Manor High Mass

In the Gospel for Pentecost today we hear the words: "Pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis: non quomodo mundus dat, ego do vobis". Perhaps it was with these words ringing in his mind that Dr Joseph Shaw launched Position Paper 19 on the Kiss of Peace which is well worth a read and explains why the sign of peace appears at this point in the Mass, which does seem particularly odd in the Novus Ordo.

The picture above show me receiving the Pax Tecum from the Master of Ceremonies at the Milton Manor High Mass last weekend. A report is available on the Chairman's blog here.

The Birmingham Oratory will be holding two extra Masses for the Octave of Pentecost on Monday and Tuesday at 6pm.  Including the Maryvale Mass this Wednesday at 7pm, it means that Thursday will be the only day it is not possible to attend an Extraordinary Form Mass during the Octave of Pentecost in the Birmingham and Black Country region.