The Octave of Christmas 2019/20

For the first time since I have been representative of the area, and probably since the reforms, there will be Midnight Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Birmingham Oratory in addition to the Mass of the day at 10.30am. These form two of four Masses in the region on Christmas Day itself, along with Masses at Wolverhampton at 8.00am and Wednesbury at 11.30am. As usual, during the Christmas Octave, and this year also on Christmas Eve, the weekday evening 5.45pm Mass at the Oratory moves to 9am in the morning. There are also several additional Masses in Wednesbury as detailed in the schedule below. I wish all readers of this blog a happy and holy Christmas 2019 and New Year 2020!

The crib at St Austine's, Solihull last year

Tuesday 24th December 2019

Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass

Wednesday 25th December 2019
Christmas Day
Oratory 12 midnight High Mass
Wolverhampton (OLPS*) 8 a.m. Low Mass
Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 11.30 a.m. Low Mass

Thursday 26th December 2019
St Stephen
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 16.00 noon Low Mass

Friday 27th December 2019
St John the Evangelist
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 12.00 a.m. Low Mass
Wolverhampton (OLPS*) 6.30 p.m.  Low Mass

Saturday 28th December 2019
Holy Innocents 
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass
Wednesbury (SMH#) 11.00 a.m. Low Mass

Sunday 29th December 2019
St Thomas Becket
Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass

Monday 30th December 2019
Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass

Tuesday 31st December 2019
Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Oratory 9.00 a.m. Low Mass

Wednesday 1st January 2020
Octave Day of Christmas
Oratory 12.00 noon High 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
Oratory directions in sidebar

Advent Rorate Masses and Forty Hours

During Advent, Rorate Masses will be taking place at the Birmingham Oratory on Saturday mornings at 7.30am (this replaces the usual 9am Mass) and on Thursdays at 7am at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton - directions to both of these are available in the sidebar of this blog. The Oratory will also be holding a shortened Forty Hours devotion beginning with High Mass in the Extraordinary Form next Friday 13th December at 7.30pm.

All Saints and All Souls 2019

As usual, there will be High Mass at the Oratory for All Saints (7.30pm 1st November) and All Souls (11am 2nd November) replacing the usual 5.45pm/ 9am low Masses respectively. The Oratory has released the music list these two Masses as well as all other Masses taking place in November; these are detailed in the graphic below:

In addition to the Masses at the Oratory, the holy day of obligation of All Saints can be satisfied with the usual First Friday Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Redditch (6pm) and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton (6.30pm), which will both be taking place. The first Friday Mass at Sacred Heart and All Souls in Acocks Green has however been postponed to the 8th November 2019.

There is also an additional 12 noon Mass at St Mary on the Hill in Wednesbury for All Saints, and one at 11am on Saturday for All Souls.

There will also be a High Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton at 12 noon for All Souls.

Pontifical High Mass in honour of St John Henry Newman

Just a reminder that on Friday, Archbishop Bernard Longley will celebrate Pontifical High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory following St John Henry Newman's canonization in Rome over the weekend. The Mass is at 7.30pm, which may be later than previously advertised (at the time the Autumn edition of Mass of Ages was printed the time was 7pm). I don't believe the usual 5.45pm low Mass will be taking place on the day but have not been able to confirm this.

Please also note that the usual third Friday Mass at St Dunstan's will not be taking place and lifts will be offered to the Oratory for this special occasion instead. Please do your best to attend to thank the Archbishop for his interest in administering to the traditional Catholic community and also to show the strength of numbers there are in the traditional Catholic movement.

The Feast of St Wilfred at Lichfield

With all the excitement of the Newman canonization on Sunday, I have forgotten to advertise an extra Mass at 10 am tomorrow (12th October) at Holy Cross, Upper Saint John Street in the centre of Lichfield for the Diocesan feast of St Wilfred.

Cardinal Newman's Feast and Canonisation

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman will be canonised by Pope Francis in a ceremony in Rome on Sunday. It goes without saying that many of the community of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Birmingham, which was founded by Newman himself, will be in Rome to witness the first Englishman canonistion since the Forty Maryrs' by Pope Paul VI in 1970. The following events will take place to celebrate Blessed John Henry Newman's canonisation:

On 9th October, Blessed John Henry Newman's Feast, there will be low Mass as usual at 5.45pm the Birmingham Oratory. Please note there is no High Mass at 7.30 as there was last year. The date coincides with the second Wednesday of the month, so there will be low Mass at the Maryvale Institute Chapel, which was his first home in Birmingham. 

The 10.30am Mass at the Birmingham Oratory on 13th October will be a Missa Cantata and not a High Mass. The canonisation will be shown live and repeated at 2.30pm in the Upper Cloister Hall. There will be no Vespers and Benediction on this date, but Solemn Vespers, Benediction and Te Deum will be said a week later at the usual time of 4.30pm on 20th October at the Birmingham Oratory.

Most importantly, Archbishop Bernard Longley will celebrate his third Pontifical High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory on Friday 18th October at 7.30pm. Please do your best to attend one or all of these events being held to celebrate the canonisation of Cardinal Newman.

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