Bank Holiday Mass/ Holiday Mass Reports

There will be an additional 9.30am EF Mass at the Birmingham Oratory on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Redditch Masses at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in neighbouring Worcestershire now take place on the second Monday of the month. In September, this will coincide with the eighth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum coming into force, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. There was a good turnout at this Mass in August, with around fourteen people turning up despite the fact it was in the middle of the holidays and some regulars were not able to make it.

Due to the holidays, the August  2nd Wednesday Maryvale Mass took place away from the usual location of the Maryvale Chapel and was celebrated at the neighbouring parish church of Our Lady of the Assumption instead. This is the second time the parish church has held the Mass: we also celebrated Mass there in April we could not contact the Bridgettines to let us into the chapel! It was perhaps apt, given it fell in the same week of the Feast of the Assumption, traditionally celebrated on the 15th August but transferred to the Sunday this year.

The EF being celebrated at Our Lady of the Assumption in April

Assumption of BVM

There will be two EF Masses for the Assumption at the Birmingham Oratory: you can either celebrate a Missa Cantata at the regular 9.30am Saturday Mass on the traditional date, or attend the High Mass as an external solemnity on the Sunday to which the feast has been transferred by the Bishops of England and Wales.

Summer Mass Cancellations

There will be no last Friday Mass at St Augustine's, Solihull tomorrow. Also the weekly Wednesday 12 noon Masses at Our Lady and St Kenelm will not take place on the 5th and 26th of August. The Mass should take place on the 12th and 19th as usual. These cancellations are reflected in the calendar in the sidebar.

SS Peter and Paul and the Most Precious Blood

The 10.30am High Mass today was a celebration of the External Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul. There will be a Missa Cantata tomorrow at 6pm for those who wish to celebrate the feast on the traditional date.

There will also be a Missa Cantata at 6pm on Wednesday for the Old Rite Feast of the Most Precious Blood.

I was lucky enough to be present for the ordination of Kevin O'Connor to the permanent diaconate today at St Chad's Cathedral. Kevin set up the monthly last Friday Mass in his parish of St Augustine's in Solihull, and has been a great help in keeping the 2nd Wednesday Mass at Maryvale going after the departure of Fr Paul Lester. There will be a thanksgiving Mass (OF) at St Augustine's tomorrow at 7pm if you missed the ordination.

Please note, due to holidays, there will  no last Friday Mass in Solihull in July, but it should return in August.

Fr Ian Verrier FSSP at the Birmingham Oratory

Fr (then Mr) Ian Verrier (Credit: Path Less Taken)

Earlier today Fr Ian Verrier FSSP celebrated his first High Mass at St James, Spanish Place in London. Fr Verrier is a former Anglican convert who was born in Birmingham - Mary O'Reagan of the Catholic Herald wrote an excellent article about him here.

I was pleased to hear earlier today (hence the late notice!) that tomorrow he will be celebrating High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at 10.30am, and first blessings will be administered in the Newman Shrine afterwards. Another FSSP priest and two seminarians will also be in attendance. As Fr Ian is a former Music student, I am sure it will be a very beautiful celebration so do try and attend if you are able.

Corpus Christi 2015

Corpus Christi can be celebrated on the traditional day this Thursday with High Mass at 7.00pm at the Birmingham Oratory. The External Solemnity can be celebrated at 10.30am on Sunday. In neighbouring Worcestershire, there will also be a Mass at 10.45am on Sunday followed by a Corpus Christi procession at Spetchley Park.

The Octave of Pentecost 2015

There will be a daily Mass for the Octave of Pentecost at the Birmingham Oratory as follows:

Mon 25/05/15 9.30am Low Mass (Bank Holiday)
Tue 26/05/15 10.30am Low Mass
Wed 27/05/15-29/05/15 6pm Low Mass

As usual, there will be a 9.30am Low Mass on Saturday, and a 10.30am High Mass on Trinity Sunday.

There will also be a Mass on Friday at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton and St Augustine's in Solihull (both at 6.30pm - directions available in the sidebar). The Halesowen Mass has been cancelled this week, but you will be able to avail yourself to the extra Oratory Mass detailed above.

There will be an extra EF Mass for the (transferred) Feast of St Philip Neri at 6pm on 01/06/2015 at the Birmingham Oratory. Edited 26/06/2015 21.51: The usual first Monday Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Redditch will instead take place on the 15th June this month at 6pm.

Vigil of Pentecost

The 9.30am Saturday morning low Mass at the Birmingham Oratory will be a Missa Cantata to celebrate the Vigil of Pentecost. Pentecost itself can be celebrated at the usual 10.30am High Mass. Directions are available in the sidebar.

Ascension Thursday/ Sunday

Ascension Thursday can be celebrated at 7pm on the day itself, or the external solemnity at 10.30pm on Sunday at the Birmingham Oratory (both High Masses). Neighbouring Worcestershire will have a Low Mass at 5.30pm at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Redditch, celebrated by Fr George Grynowski.

St George's Day

St George the Dragon Slayer by nun Agathe at the Benaki Museum, Athens

There will be a Missa Cantata at the Birmingham Oratory for St George's Day, 23rd April at 6pm.

Please note there is no Halesowen Mass tomorrow, and the last monthly last Friday Mass at Solihull is this week - details and directions are in the sidebar.

The Feast of the Annunciation, Passion Week, Holy Week and Easter

There will be no Mass at Halesowen for the next two weeks. However, there will be a 7pm High Mass on Wednesday at the Birmingham Oratory for the Feast of the Annunciation, with First Vespers in Latin on the 24th at 6pm.

The Last Friday Solihull Mass also takes place this week.

There will obviously be no Friday or Saturday Masses the week after next because this falls during the Triduum; however, there will be an additional Mass at Wolverhampton on Monday 30th March at 6.30pm.

There are two Masses, on Easter Sunday in the area, the 10.30am High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory and the 8am Low Mass at Wolverhampton - see sidebar for directions. There will also be a 3pm Mass at St Ambrose, Kidderminster in neighbouring Worcestershire, which will probably be Sung.

High Mass for the Solemnity of St Joseph

St Joseph's Altar, Birmingham Oratory (source)

There will be a High Mass at 7pm on Thursday 19th March at the Birmingham Oratory for the Solemnity of St Joseph. The Oratorian community invites you to their celebration of Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, particularly if you are a father, to honour the Patron of the Universal Church and implore his intercession for the Church today.

Changes to First Monday Mass in Redditch

Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Redditch (source: parish website)

It has been decided that the monthly Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Redditch will move from its current time to 6pm in future. The times on the calendar in the sidebar have been amended to reflect this.

The next first Monday Redditch Mass coincides with the Feast of St Chad on Monday 2nd March.

The next two coincide with the Easter Monday and May Day Bank Holidays; therefore, it has been decided to move these two Masses to the second Monday of the Month, i.e. Monday 13th April and Monday 11th May.

Please pass this information on to anyone who may be interested in attending - the times and dates published in the new issue of Mass of Ages are incorrect.

Ash Wednesday High Mass

The imposition of Ashes at a Latin Mass in West Bromwich, 2011

The Birmingham Oratory will be celebrating High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite on Ash Wednesday (18th February 2015) at 7pm. According to the Latin Mass Society Ash Wednesday Mass listings, this will be the only EF High Mass on Ash Wednesday in the country - all the more reason to go!

The Halesowen Mass this week is cancelled.

Perhaps as our minds turn towards Lent suggestions for appropriate seasonal reading could be added as a comment to this blogpost?

Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Next Monday is the traditional end of Christmastide with the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is also the anniversary of the founding of the Oratorian family in England. The Oratory will celebrate a High Mass in the Extraordinary Form at 7pm. There will also a first Monday Mass in Redditch at 6.30pm.

This Friday 30th January, the regular Friday Mass at the Oratory will be a Missa Cantata in honour of Blessed Sebastian Valfre C.O. of the Turin Oratory. It is also the last Friday of the month, so the monthly Solihull Mass will also be taking place at 6.30pm.

Please also note there will be no Halesowen Mass for the next two weeks.

First Monday Redditch Mass Reminder

Just a reminder that the first Monday Mass in Redditch is this coming Monday. Numbers at this Mass are down partly due to the two servers leaving to become seminarians and another young member leaving for university, so your attendance would be appreciated if you have ever thought of attending. Directions are available on the parish website here.

The picture above comes from the parish Twitter feed, and was the sight that met our eyes after the consecration of the church by Archbishop Bernard Longley on 16th July last year. The caption on the image on Twitter quoted a very relevant piece of scripture: God said to Noah "I set my rainbow in the clouds, it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth" Gen 9:13. The Church was opened in 1848 and was originally served by the Benedictine monks of Downside and then Belmont before being taken over by the Archdiocese. The consecration of the church in this case means that the Archdiocese has officially taken charge of the church and the monks are not going to be returning.

LMS Calendar 2015 available from Local Reps

The LMS Office may be closed for the Christmas period, but if you would like an LMS Calendar in time for the New Year there are a limited number available from your Latin Mass Society local representatives. You can find the contact details for your local representative here.

The LMS Calendar has proved very popular in previous years and has sold out. Unfortunately this year we received the calendars rather late which would have caused a problem for those who prefer to purchase one early. Both Benadette and I have a number of calendars and if you can meet us you will not have to pay the postage and packing. I will have a number available to buy at the Oratory High Mass on New Year's day if you are able to make it.

I wish all readers a restful remainder of the Octave of Christmas and all the best for 2015.

Christmas Mass Schedule 2015

There are five High Masses and several amendments and additions to the Low Mass schedule over the Christmas period. These are outlined below and in the calendar in the sidebar. Directions to the churches are available in the sidebar.

Wednesday 24th December 2014  
No Halesowen Mass

Thursday 25th December 2014  
Christmas Day
Wolverhampton 8 a.m. Low Mass of Dawn
Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass of the Day

Friday 26th December 2014
St Stephen Oratory 9 a.m. Low Mass with Carols


Saturday 27th December 2014
St John the Evangelist Oratory 9.30a.m. Low Mass

Sunday 28th December 2014
Sunday of the Octave of the Nativity Oratory 10.30 a.m. High Mass

Monday 29th December & Tuesday 30th December - No EF Masses

Wednesday 31st December Halesowen 12 noon Low Mass

Thursday 1st January 2015 
Octave Day of Christmas Oratory 12 noon High Mass

Friday 2nd January 2015
Oratory 6 p.m. Low Mass
Wolverhampton 6.30 p.m. Low Mass
Solihull 6.30 p.m. Low Mass

Saturday 3rd January 2015 Oratory 9.30a.m. Low Mass

Sunday 4th January 2015 External Solemnity of the Epiphany
Oratory  10.30 a.m. High Mass

Monday 5th January 2015 Redditch 6 p.m. Low Mass
Tuesday 6th January 2015 Epiphany Oratory 7 p.m. High Mass

Blessed Anthony Grassi and Rorate Masses

Rorate Mass, Novena of the Immaculate Conception 2013 (Birmingham Oratory Gallery)

Following on from the last post, the 6.00pm Friday Mass at the Oratory will be a Rorate Mass, as will the Saturday morning Mass which will be moved from its normal time of 9.30am to 7.30am. There will also be an additional Mass tomorrow at 6.00pm for the Feast of Oratorian Blessed Anthony Grassi, with Bp Robert Byrne preaching.

Immaculate Conception High Mass and Rorate Masses

Immaculate Conception High Mass 2013 (Birmingham Oratory Gallery)

It's been a blessed few days at the Birmingham Oratory; it started with Fr Francis Gavin's ordination at 6pm on Friday evening by fellow Oratorian Bishop Robert Byrne - I think we can forgive them cancelling the regular Friday evening EF Mass for this! His first Mass in the Ordinary Form followed at 11am on Saturday morning and earlier today he celebrated his first High Mass in the Extraordinary Form, complete with coped Assistant priest. Each of the three events was followed by the opportunity to receive first blessings, which obtains a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions. Fr Francis may take a well earned rest now, but the events continue apace at the Birmingham Oratory, with an Extraordinary Form High Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception tomorrow at 7pm. The Friday evening Mass will return at its usual time of 6pm this week, but it will be a candlelit Rorate Mass and so will the Saturday morning Mass which moves from its regular time of 9.30am to 7.30am. Last year Rorate Masses at 6pm on Friday evening and 7.30am on Saturday morning were a regular feature of the Oratory's Advent celebrations, so check back here or the Oratory website for further events.

Fr Francis will also be giving his final talk of an excellent autumn series on Thursday evening at 8pm. Having attended many of the previous talks, I can highly recommend it if you are available. The topic of Thursday's talk will be on Euthanasia and Assisted Dying.