Monday Night Requiem Masses at the Oratory

Fr Anton celebrates Mass at Holy Souls Altar

I managed to attend the 6.00pm Monday Low Mass of Requiem at the Oratory last Monday which they are holding throughout the month of November followed by Sung Vespers of the Dead. The numbers were very good: I counted around forty people present. Perhaps in part, this was because the Mass was celebrated just before the opening talk of Jeff Cavins UK Bible Tour, where he talked about how he left the Catholic Church to become a successful protestant pastor before being drawn back to the church by researching the history of early Christianity: as Newman once said, to be steeped in history is to cease to be protestant. In part of his story, he was told by his Bishop he would one day come back to the Catholic Church and was labelled "little Newman". In the end, four things in particular drew him back to the Catholic Church: 1) the Eucharist, which is rarely celebrated or is often sidelined in protestant churches, 2) the veneration of Mary by the early Christians 3) the papacy, which is attested to by the Church Fathers and has a scriptural basis in the Old Testament in Isaiah 22 and 4) the fact the early Christians held onto Tradition as well as Scripture. Just as with Newman, Cavins realised that the Church today that most closely followed what the early Christians believed was the Catholic Church and after making peace with his father, who he had fallen out with after leaving the church, he came home and now spends his time opening up the Bible to Catholics. Unsurprisingly, bad catechesis was part of the reason he left the Catholic Church in the first place.

Part of the problem with the organising Traditional Masses is there is a danger that only the same small coterie of people attend. It is important that we open up the beauty of the Traditional Mass to people who have not had the chance to experience it before, and may have a negative image of it from what they have been told previously. I am sure that some people who came to listen to Jeff Cavins talk came to the Mass beforehand and would never have attended an Extraordinary Form Mass before. What did they make of it? How do we address the questions they would have?

As we come to the end of the liturgical year, I am pondering how I can increase provision of the Extraordinary Form Mass and how I can get more people to experience it in the West Midland area. I have a priest who is willing to give and advent reflection including Mass, probably on a Saturday in December, if there is enough interest. Could people please let me know if they would be interested in such an event by the end of the week so I can look at putting it on. If anyone has an idea for a good location that would also be welcome as our preferred choice was unavailable on the dates required.

Eight EF Masses in Twenty-Four Hours

Picture courtesy of the Birmingham Oratory Gallery

November is traditionally the month where we pray for the souls of the dead and Birmingham saw eight Extraordinary Form Masses celebrated within twenty-four hours on the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, seven of which took place at the Oratory, one of which was a High Mass, and one at St John Fisher in West Heath. For the remainder of November, there will be a weekly 6.00pm Monday Low Mass of Requiem at the Oratory followed by Sung Vespers of the Dead, and Stations of the Cross, which attract a plenary indulgence under the normal conditions, will follow the regular Friday Mass at 6.00pm.

Tonight there is also the first Monday Mass at 6.30pm at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Redditch.

All Saints and All Souls Masses

There are two Extraordinary Form Low Masses available in the Birmingham area for the Feast of All Saints: both the Oratory and St John Fisher in West Heath will be celebrating their usual Friday evening Masses which will satisfy the obligation to hear Mass on that day. The latter is a rare opportunity to attend an EF Mass on a Holyday of Obligation in a local parish church and may well attract some first timers - please be gentle with them so that they are encouraged to come back! St John Fisher does have some small missalettes to help those who attend follow the Mass, so if you have never been before I do encourage you to go.

For All Souls on Saturday, there will be an High Mass of Requiem at 11am in the Oratory to the setting by Maurice Durufle:


Please note, this replaces the regular 9.30am Low Mass. If you are unable to attend this Mass, a list of further further EF (and OF) Masses that will be said on All Souls day will be available from the Oratory later in the week (Update 31/10/2013 - there will be an EF Low Mass starting every half hour between 7.30am and 9.30am - please see Fr Richard's comment below on this article).

Bishop Philip Egan presides from the throne at EF High Mass in Portsmouth Cathedral

Rt Rev Philip Egan, Bishop of Portsmouth, presided from the throne at a High Mass in the Extraordinary Form, organised by the Latin Mass Society, at Portsmouth Cathedral on Sunday, 27th October.

The Traditional High Mass was the first at the cathedral for four years and joins the weekly Sunday morning Low Mass that has begun at Portsmouth’s mother church in recent weeks. Despite warnings of dire weather conditions, the Mass was well attended.

The celebrant was Fr Phillip Pennington Harris, and the deacon was Rev Stephen Morgan, both of Portsmouth Diocese. The sub-deacon was Fr John Maunder of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, based at St Agatha’s, Portsmouth. Music was provided by the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, directed by Christopher Hodkinson.

During his homily, Bishop Egan said that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass was welcome in Portsmouth Diocese where people wished it to be celebrated, and should have a place amongst the liturgical diversity of the diocese. He also highlighted the importance to the Church’s liturgy in both forms of the Roman Rite of Gregorian Chant and the Latin language. The bishop then spoke on the subject of the feast of Christ the King, celebrated on that Sunday in the 1962 Calendar. When Pope Pius XI had instituted it, it had been intended as a corrective to the rampant nationalism seen in inter-war Italy. Today, said the bishop, it still has great relevance as a corrective to the rise of secularism in our society.

After Mass, tea had been organised by the LMS in the cathedral centre and Bishop Egan stayed to talk with very many members of the congregation.

LMS General Manager, Mike Lord, said: ‘We were delighted that Bishop Egan was able to join us on this great occasion and were heartened by his words of welcome to those of us who are attached to the Traditional Latin liturgy and by the bishop’s affirmation of its legitimate place within the life of the Catholic Church. The annual High Mass at Portsmouth Cathedral has been revived after several years and today’s event has proved a great success and a very joyful occasion for all who attended.’

Review of the ICKSP Retreat at Pantasaph

Photo courtesy of Wrexham LMS blog

Last weekend I was lucky to take part in a retreat on the Theology and Spirtuality of the Traditional Mass, run by the ICKSP at the Franciscan Retreat Centre in Pantasaph, the usual venue of the LMS Latin Course and Summer School. Amongst the usual retreat fare of Mass, adoration, rosary and confessions (I think this was the first time I took part in a confession where I was absolved in Latin), there were five talks on mainly the theology of the Traditional Mass, but also on the spirituality of the Traditional Mass. There was a particularly good talk on the Saturday evening on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which demonstrated that it is not merely a devotion that came about in the Middle Ages but was part of the tradition of the Church from the beginning and indeed has a basis in the Mass.

The symbolism of much of the Mass was explained such as the purpose of the all the signs of the cross the priest makes during the Canon. There was some very useful information on the symbolism of the Epistle, Gospel and Creed in the Mass, on how they are read and by whom: the Subdeacon reads the Epistle on the side representing the Jews, and then symbolically transfers the Gospels to the Deacon, representing the transferring of the covenant to the gentiles. The Deacon proclaims the Gospel to the North, the direction which the pagan dwell, and it is then passed back to the Subdeacon, representing the conversion of the Jewish people at the end of time. The Creed is then recited for the believers. This is all very pertinent information for those of us in Birmingham who have the rare opportunity of attending a weekly Solemn High Mass at the Oratory!

It is a pity more people were not able to benefit from this retreat - there were around ten people attending in total and we had three people from the Birmingham and Black Country region present. A write-up from the Wrexham LMS representative, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the retreat, is available here.

Forty Hours' Devotion EF Masses

Above is a picture from the High Mass of Exposition at the Birmingham Oratory for the Forty Hours' Devotion that took place on Tuesday. I understand Fr Richard will be celebrating a Low Mass at the Martyrs altar in the Birmingham Oratory at 8am tomorrow (Thursday 17th October).

Traditional Catholic Weekends Away

LMS General Manager Mike Lord  has produced another video, this time on the Walking Pilgrimage from Ely to Walsingham that took place in August:

If you are interested in getting away from it all with a traditional Catholic retreat, there are two options available this weekend. Firstly, there is a retreat on the Theology and Spirituality of the Traditional Mass run by the ICKSP at Pantasaph which I think may still have some places available. There is also a Young Catholic Adults National Weekend taking place at the Cold Ash Retreat Centre. Further details are available on the Young Catholic Adults events page.

High Mass of Exposition at the Birmingham Oratory

It is the Quarant' Ore devotion at the Birmingham Oratory this week, beginning with High Mass of Exposition in the Extraordinary Form at 7pm on Tuesday 15th October. It ends with Extraordinary Form Sung Vespers of the Blessed Sacrament (Mozart Vesperae Solennes de Confessore K 339) at 7pm on Thursday 16th October concluding with procession and Benediction. Of course, EF Sung Vespers and Benediction also happens every Sunday at the Oratory at 4.30pm before the 5.30pm Mass in English.

Picture courtesy of Oratory website

The full schedule is as follows:

Tuesday 15th October
7.00pm High Mass of Exposition Procession and Benediction
11.00pm Deposition

Wednesday 16th October
7.30am Mass
8.00am Exposition
12.30pm Mass
8.00pm Conducted Holy Hour
9.00pm Sung Compline
11.00pm Deposition 

Thursday 16th October 
7.30am Mass
8.00am Exposition
12.30pm Mass
7.00pm Sung Vespers of the Blessed Sacrament 

Please note that all other Masses (at 7.30am and 12.30pm on Wednesday and Thursday) will be in English. If you do manage to spend some time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, could I please request that you keep the activities of the Birmingham and Black Country Latin Mass Society in your prayers.

October Mass Changes

The view towards Halewsowen from outside Our Lady and St Kenelm

There are several temporary changes to the Masses in October. Firstly, Fr George is away which means that the first Monday Mass in Redditch in neighbouring Worcestershire and the Friday Masses scheduled for the 11th and 18th October at West Heath have been cancelled. I was hoping to get some cover for the latter Masses, but unfortunately this was not possible. Alternative Friday provision is available at the Birmingham Oratory and Wolverhampton. The 18th also sees the beginning of the Retreat on the Theology and Spirituality of the Traditional Mass in Pantasaph, which may be an alternative if you are able to attend for the whole weekend.

Towards the end of the month there are also some amendments to the Masses at Halesowen: the Mass on the 23rd is cancelled, and the Mass on the 30th has been moved to 8am in the morning. I am now getting quarterly updates on the Halesowen Masses and will be updating the calendar in the sidebar with any changes of which I am aware. However, I would still recommend you ring up beforehand (telephone number 0121 602 1972) if you plan to attend because there can be some last minute changes and I myself was caught out earlier this year when I travelled to Halesowen for the noon Mass only to find out that it had been moved at the last minute to 8am. I took the opportunity to take the photo above.

Changing Times

The above is a photo I came across via Twitter, from a 1942 LIFE magazine, showing a priest taking Holy Communion to the sick. He is being led by an altar boy carrying a candle; a sight we are unlikely to see nowadays. H/T The Deacons Bench.

Another post I came across via Twitter was an article entitled Why I'm Not a Traditionalist (But We're Going to Latin Mass Anyways...). I offer it here merely as a prompt for discussion. It strikes me that as we end the month where we celebrated the sixth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, and with the ongoing and neverending discussions about the liturgical tastes of Pope Francis, one of the things we seem to have lost is how Pope Benedict's Motu Proprio on the Latin Mass introduced the EF to a generation who would never have experienced it otherwise and would not necessarily describe themselves as "Traditionalists". I know people influenced by the charismatic movements who are increasingly becoming liturgically more "traditional" when it comes to the Mass, often as a result of an opportunity to experience the Extraordinary Form made possible by Summorum Pontificum over the last few years. A Pope may lead by example indeed, but are we underestimating the impact of more local efforts to improve the liturgy?

Don't sit on the sidelines and moan - do your bit and join the Latin Mass Society today.

Pictures from Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

More available at the following link:

http://www.birminghamoratory.org.uk/photo-gallery/exaltation-of-the-holy-cross/

High Mass for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

On Saturday, the Oratory will be having a High Mass at 12 noon for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, followed by a procession and veneration of the Relic of the True Cross. This is of course the sixth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum and so is an excellent opportunity to give thanks for the document which makes so much of the work of the LMS possible. Please note that the 12 noon Mass replaces the Saturday Low Mass at 9.30am.

Saturday also coincides with the Day of Reconciliation: Archbishop Bernard Longley has requested that every parish make confession available between 11am and 12 noon this Saturday so that people can rediscover the beauty of this wonderful sacrament. Interestingly, recent reports suggest that there has been a boom in confessions since the election of Pope Francis. The Oratory will be providing an opportunity for confession between 10am and 12 noon, and 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

'Private' Masses

A 'private' Mass at the Birmingham Oratory

Last week Dr Joseph Shaw, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society, wrote a blogpost on a document recently released in German and Italian on the importance of priests celebrating Mass daily, even if that means it is celebrated without a congregation, sometimes known as 'private' Masses. The term 'private' Mass of course is no longer used as it is a bit of a misnomer: every Mass is in some sense an act of public celebration of the Church. Coincidentally, the excellent Chasubles and Chalices blog posted some photographs of private Masses that take place at the Birmingham Oratory, including the photograph included on this blogpost. Go to the blog to view the rest.

The Birmingham Oratory sometimes has a 'private' EF Mass on Saturday's at the Altar of Our Lady at around 8-8.30am if you are unable to make the more widely publicised 9.30am EF Mass, but please phone up to check it is on beforehand to avoid a wasted journey.

LMS Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham ‘Best Yet’

The Latin Mass Society’s annual walking pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Walsingham took place over August Bank Holiday weekend. The fourth consecutive year of this event saw 90 people (a 25% per cent rise on last year) undertaking the three-day journey on foot to ‘England’s Nazareth’. The intention of the 55-mile walk, which started in the cathedral city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, was the conversion of England. Pilgrims slept in tents or on the floors of school and village halls along the way and clearly many found it more challenging than they had expected, but all managed to reach the Shrine in time for Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form on the afternoon of Sunday, 25 August.

The pilgrimage procession in Walsingham High Street

Four priests accompanied the pilgrimage. Fr Bede Rowe of Clifton Diocese, presently based at Chavagnes College in France, was chaplain of the pilgrimage. He was joined by Fr Thomas Crean, OP, of Holy Cross Priory, Leicester, Fr John Cahill of Northampton Diocese, and Fr Michael Rowe (no kin) from Australia. In addition, three English seminarians from the Fraternity of St Peter joined the event as well as member of the Dominican community at Blackfriars, Cambridge. Traditional Solemn Mass was celebrated every day of the pilgrimage, most notably at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, a fifteenth century moated manor house and former recusant home, still lived in by the Bedingfeld family.

LMS General Manager, Mike Lord, said: ‘By common consent, this has been the best year for this

The pilgrimage concludes by the Abbey ruins in Walsingham

pilgrimage so far. The overwhelming majority of walkers are young families and young people, showing the continuing vitality of the Traditional Mass and Faith. Many are encountering the Old Rite for the first time and have found the experience of the traditional spirituality of the Roman Rite and the spiritual and physical discipline of a walking pilgrimage an inspiring and transforming experience. Our entrance into Walsingham itself was memorable. On other public pilgrimages organised by the LMS, it is common to encounter hostility in the street, but as we approached the gates of the Abbey grounds to the former site of Lady Richeldis’s Holy House, the response of bystanders was very positive, even awed.’

The LMS plans to release a short film documentary in the early autumn about this year’s pilgrimage to inform and inspire others to join them for next year’s event.

Retreat on the Theology and Spirituality of the Traditional Mass

I have recently added a couple of regional LMS websites to my sidebar. If I am missing any, please leave a comment on this post.

One of the sites I have added, for LMS Wrexham, highlighted a retreat at Pantasaph organised by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest on the Theology and Spirituality of the Traditional Mass, which will take place between the 18th and 20th October. I believe this had been planned before but was cancelled due to a lack of interest, so please think about supporting it if you are able. The cost for the weekend is £90, and it takes place at the Franciscan retreat centre at Pantasaph, a fine setting where I attended the LMS Latin Course last year. For more information, download a flyer and/or booking form.

The ICKSP have recently received a heritage lottery grant for the restoration of their church in the Wirral. A report by the BBC can be found here.

Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham

There will be a Low Mass tomorrow at the Birmingham Oratory at 6pm for the Feast of the Assumption.

If you have not got any plans for the Bank Holiday weekend, perhaps you would consider joining the LMS pilgrimage to Walsingham? Unfortunately, work commitments means I am unable to participate, but I was able to join the Blessed John Paul II pilgrimage organised by the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph last weekend after being informed about it by Joanna Bogle, who writes about her experience here. Having experienced it, I can thoroughly recommend it, although I would suggest you are equipped with a good pair of walking shoes! Above is a picture taken by Sr Theresa of the Community of Our Lady of Walsingham soon after the pilgrims arrived at the Slipper Chapel.

Our Lady of the Snows

Fr George celebrating Mass in Redditch

Due to Fr George's pastoral commitments, this week's Friday Mass (9th August) at West Heath has been cancelled. However, no doubt in part due to the first Friday devotion, we are blessed in the West Midlands with two other regular Friday evening EF Masses at the Oratory at 6pm and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton at 6.30pm. Perhaps if you usually go to West Heath or were thinking of going this week you might consider one of these alternatives instead - more details are available in the sidebar.

It was, however, possible to satisfy the weekly fix of a Fr George EF Mass tonight as he celebrated the first Monday Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Redditch (pictured above), a satellite town of Birmingham which strictly speaking falls under Worcestershire but has obvious links with our area. In the Novus Ordo, the Optional Memoria today is the Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major. Until 1969 though and therefore in the 1962 Missal, it was known as Dedicatio Sanctæ Mariæ ad Nives (Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows), based on the following (probably) mythical story:

There lived in the Eternal City a nobleman, John and his childless wife, who had been blessed with much of this world’s goods. They chose the Mother of God as the heir to their fortune, and at the suggestion of Pope Liberius, prayed that she might make known to them how to do this by a particular sign.

In answer, the Virgin Mother during the night of August 5, appeared to John and his wife and also to the Holy Father, Pope Liberius, directing them to build a church in her honor on the crown of the Esquiline Hill. And what would be the sign that John and his wife had requested?

“Snow will cover the crest of the hill.”

Snow rarely falls in Rome, but the flakes fell silently during that night, blanketing the peak of the historic hill. In the morning the news quickly spread and crowds gathered to throng up the hill and behold the white splendor. The snow had fallen in a particular pattern, showing the outline of the future church. When it became known that the snow was a sign from Mary, the people spontaneously added another to her long list of titles, Our Lady of the Snows.

The doctrine of Theotokos, Mary as the Mother of God, was defined dogmatically at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Pope Sixtus III (432-440) erected a basilica at Rome on the Esquiline Hill in honour of the Mother of God which later became know as St Mary Major, the oldest church in the west dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.

The New Evangelisation

Sunday High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory, Advent 2011

Fr Z picks up on the theme of the New Evangelisation by drawing on an article from the Archdiocese of Miami which shows how, ironically, the Old Rite is drawing young people back to the Church and even attracting converts. Of particular interest to our area is the following:

Likewise, his girlfriend, Vida Tavakoli, knew she had found her home in the Catholic Church when she first attended Latin Mass in England.

Formerly an atheist, her aversion toward religion changed at the end of her college career, when she became a Protestant. During her post-collegiate travels she became resolute in converting to Catholicism after attending a Missa Cantata, or sung Mass, in the parish of her favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien, a devout Catholic who penned the “Lord of the Rings” series.

The parish of J.R.R Tolkien which celebrates an Old Rite Missa Cantata? Surely it can only be our very own Birmingham Oratory, which appears to be sowing the seeds of Traditional Catholicism not only in our area but across the world?

As one of the younger generation who is attracted to the Traditional Mass, I am under no illusion about the challenges we face in our changing society over the next few years and decades. As a recent article in the New Statesman puts it:

Take, for example, the results of a YouGov poll of "Generation Y" released yesterday. Only 25 per cent say that they believe in God, as opposed 38 per cent who definitely don't. It may not be surprising that fewer than ten per cent attend religious worship on anything like a regular basis (at least once a month) but one finding stands out starkly. 41 per cent thought that religion was the cause of more harm than good in the world. Only 14 per cent (a considerably smaller figure than that for belief in God) thought that religion was, on balance, a good thing. Richard Dawkins and the other "New Atheists" would seem to have got their message across.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the experiments of the last forty years, under the cover of but not necessarily mandated by the Second Vatican Council, have spectacularly failed in attracting new people to the Church and if anything, have helped push those already in the Church away from her. If we are going to win the culture wars with the aggressively anti-religious secularists, we are going to have to draw on the treasures that have served us well for hundreds if not thousands of years.

The Birmingham Oratory has a High Mass every Sunday at 10.30am, and Low Masses on Friday at 6.30pm and Saturday at 9.30am. See the sidebar for further details.

Recent Mass Reports

I forgot to take my camera but here is a photograph taken with my mobile phone of the Annual High Mass on the Old Rite Feast for St John Fisher and St Thomas More at St John Fisher Church in West Heath. Around 25 people were in attendance, with around eight in the choir and seven on the sanctuary. I managed to meet Columb and Merryn Howell, the longstanding reps for Worcestershire, at the buffet after.

I also managed to attend the weekly 6pm EF Mass at the Birmingham Oratory last night which was attended by around fourteen people.

After several problems, a calendar of local EF Masses has been added to the sidebar and now contains the correct times, but particularly for the Halesowen Mass and for Masses at all churches over the summer, please check with the parish before travelling.

Annual High Mass for St John Fisher and St Thomas More

West Heath High Mass 2010

Fr George welcomes us once again to St John Fisher at West Heath on Tuesday 9th July 2013 at 7pm for  High Mass in honour of the patron saint of the parish and his fellow English martyr St Thomas More. The photo above is from the same Mass in 2010 - there are better pictures but I chose this one because it includes me as the server at the back on the right, the only time I have attended this Mass and indeed served in the Extraordinary Form.

Mass will be celebrated by Fr Richard Duncan of the Birmingham Oratory with Fr Jan Nowotnik acting as Deacon and Brother Andrew of the Oratory as Subdeacon. Music will be provided by the Oratory, ably led by Oliver Hayes, and refreshments will be provided in the parish hall after Mass. A High Mass organised by a parish is a rare thing so I do hope you will be able to support this endeavour. Low Mass takes place here every Friday at 6.30pm - see the sidebar for further details and directions.

Speaking of the Oratory - I believe there will be a Low Mass at 6pm tonight for the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.