April's Solihull Mass tomorrow

Pugin Altar, St Augustine's. Solihull

I have just been informed that the usual first Friday Mass at Solihull last week did not take place because Fr Daniel Horgan was away and will instead take place tomorrow at 6.30pm.

The Pugin altar above is sadly not the one that is used - there is not enough room around it so Mass is celebrated at the newer main altar. Bizarrely, this older altar faced south west, and no-one is sure why it was built this way. St Augustine's is described as Pugin's first church and it is certainly the oldest of Pugin's existing churches, even though the church has been modernised several times to accomodate greater numbers, For more on the history of the church, please see this link.

Wolverhampton High Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation

The Annunciation by Edward Burne-Jones

There will be a 7.30pm High Mass tomorrow at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton (Cannock Road, WV10 8PG - directions in the sidebar) in honour of the Feast of the Annunciation. It will be celebrated by Fr George Grynowski, formerly of St John Fisher in West Heath and Fr Douglas Lamb, who celebrates EF Masses in Kidderminster, will deliver the homily.

I have had no word from the Oratory but I assume there will be a low Mass, possibly a Missa Cantata, at the normal time of 5.45pm.

The painting of the Annunciation on the left is by Edward Burne-Jones and is located at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Holy Week and Easter 2016

For the first time that I am aware of at least, the Mass of the Last Supper will be available in the Extraordinary Form in Birmingham at the Oratory at 7pm. The services on Good Friday and Holy Saturday continue to be Ordinary Form. On Easter Sunday, there will be a High Mass at the usual time of 10.30am at the Oratory, and also an 8am low Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Wolverhampton - directions are available in the sidebar. Please remember that the clocks go forward on Sunday and therefore these services will be an hour earlier - do not miss Mass! As you will probably be aware, the regular Masses on Friday or Saturday morning will not be celebrated.

May I take this opportunity to wish all my readers a happy and holy Easter!

Extraordinary Form Nightfever

Well - more accurately Nightfever following the First Friday Mass at St Augustine's Church in Solihull.

If you have not heard of Nightfever before, it is basically about inviting people into Church to light a candle in front of the Blessed Sacrament.In response to Pope Francis' call for 24 hour for the Lord, the Birmingham Catholic Youth Service is running Nightfever in seven churches tomorrow across the Archdiocese.

Please do come if you are able to join in - I have been to a couple of Nightfever events before and they have seen them lead to some powerful encounters with the Lord.

More information is available here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1696557947249218/
https://nightfever.org/us/location/england/

Reps Report Mass of Ages Spring 2016

For some reason my rep's report for the Spring 2016 Mass of Ages was missed out. You will find it below, covering the period from the 15th November 2015 to 13th February 2016.

Another breathtaking quarter in the Birmingham area – I write this having returned from witnessing Pontifical High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory, presided over by Archbishop Bernard Longley as part of his visitation to the parish. This was the second Pontifical High Mass at the Oratory this quarter, with Bishop Robert Byrne celebrating Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. A daily EF Mass was said as part of a novena in advance of this Feast and there has been a daily low Mass at 5.45pm on weekdays since, with confessions available, as part of the Year of Mercy.

Our regular Mass centres at the Oratory, St Augustine’s in Solihull and the Maryvale chapel have all been designated places of pilgrimage or Jubilee churches for the Year of Mercy – a good excuse to attend one of the EF Masses available there. Details are available in the Mass Listings.

Around forty people attended the first High Mass at St Augustine’s since 1939 (when Archbishop Williams celebrated Mass for the hundredth anniversary of the church) and a couple more are planned for 2016, the first of which is in February. The regular Mass has moved from the last Friday of the month to the first Friday to accommodate this.

There were also more ‘routine’ well-attended High Masses at the Oratory for Christmas, the Octave of Christmas and the Epiphany.

Pontifical High Mass at the Oratory with Archbishop Longley

Ash Wednesday 2016

The only EF Mass in the area on Wednesday will be at 7pm at the Birmingham Oratory. Due to parish commitments, the regular Wednesday Masses at Our Lady and St Kenelm in Halesowen and the Maryvale Institute have been cancelled this week.

I have also been informed that the monthly Redditch Mass that should take place on Monday (tomorrow) has been moved to Tuesday. The calendar has been updated accordingly.

Feast of the Purification of the BVM 2016

There will be a 7pm High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory for the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is also the anniversary of the founding of the Birmingham Oratory.

Prayer for the Octave of Christian Unity

The Dome at the Birmingham Oratory
Source: Birmingham Oratory

Ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me et ego in te; ut mundus credat quia tu me misisti.

V. Tu es Petrus.
R. Et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam. 

Oremus: Domine Iesu Christe, qui dixisti Apostolis tuis: pacem relinquo vobis, pacem meam do vobis ne respicias peccata nostra, sed fidem Ecclesie tuae, eamque secundum voluntatem tuam pacificare et coadunare digneris. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.

R. Amen

English translation 

ANTIPHON: That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.

V. I say unto thee, thou art Peter;
R. And upon this rock I will build my Church.

[Here is brought to mind the intention for the day's prayer.]

January 18: For the return of the "other sheep" to the One Fold of our Lord Jesus Christ.

January 19: For the return of the Eastern Orthodox Christians to communion with the Apostolic See.

January 20: For the return of the Anglicans to the authority of the Vicar of Christ.

January 21: For the return of all Protestants throughout the world to the unity of the Catholic Church.

January 22: That Christians in America may be one, in union with the Chair of Saint Peter.

January 23: That lapsed Catholics will return to the Sacraments of the Church.

January 24: That the Jewish people will be converted to the Catholic Faith.

January 25: That missionary zeal will conquer the world for Christ.

[The following prayer is then said.]

Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, who saidst unto Thine Apostles: Peace I leave you, My peace I give to you; regard not our sins, but the faith of Thy Church, and grant unto her that peace and unity which are agreeable to Thy Will; Who livest and reignest ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Source of English Translation

Photos of Pontifical High Mass with the Archbishop

Here are a selection of photos from the Pontifical High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory last week. Pictures courtesy of the Birmingham Oratory website.

Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cancelled

Due to unforeseen circumstances,the Mass scheduled at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in neighbouring Worcestershire tomorrow has been cancelled. An alternative Mass is available at the Oratory at 5.45pm, one of its daily EF Masses being celebrated as part of the Year of Mercy.

Pontifical High Mass with Archbishop Bernard Longley

Pontifical High Mass with Archbishop Longley and Epiphany

Pontifical High Mass with Bishop Robert Byrne for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Source: Birmingham Oratory

The daily EF low Masses at 5.45pm celebrated by the Birmingham Oratory will resume tomorrow except for Wednesday, when there will be High Mass at 7pm for the traditional date of the Epiphany. Please note this will be the only Mass in the region on Wednesday; due to a funeral, the Mass at Halesowen that usually takes place has been cancelled.

On Sunday 10th January, Archbishop Bernard Longley will be celebrating Pontifical High Mass at the Birmingham Oratory at the slightly earlier time of 10.15am as part of his parish visitation. Remember that there is a Door of Mercy available at the Birmingham Oratory for the Year of Mercy, and confessions are usually available before Sunday Masses. Bishop Robert Byrne celebrated Pontifical High Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in December (pictured above) - photos are available here.

Birmingham & Black Country Christmas Masses

The Adoration of the Shepherds by Bonifazio de’Pitati, sometimes called Bonifazio Veronese, c.1520-40.
Source: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

The Birmingham Oratory will celebrate High Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Christmas Day at 10.30am. Directions are in the sidebar.

There will be no 5.45pm Mass at the Birmingham Oratory on Christmas Eve to accomodate the OF Vigil Mass for Christmas. There will, however, be a Low EF Mass on Bank Holiday Monday (28th December) at 9am and High Mass for the Octave of Christmas on the 1st January at 12 noon.

May I take this opportunity to wish all readers a Happy and Holy Christmas.

Pontifical High Mass for the Immaculate Conception

Please do not forget that Pontifical High Mass will be celebrated at 7pm on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception by Bishop Robert Byrne Cong. Orat.at the Birmingham Oratory.

The Year of Mercy at the Birmingham Oratory

You may be aware that Pope Francis' Year of Mercy starts on the 8th December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Well there is some important news with regards to this at the Birmingham Oratory.

Firstly, preceding the Feast day itself, which of course is the patronal feast of both the Oratory and the Birmingham Archdiocese, there will be a novena composed of a daily EF Mass, at 5.45pm on weekdays. On the vigil of the feast, the EF Mass will be followed by Vespers at 6.30pm. Then, on the feast day itself, there will be a Pontifical High Mass presided by oratorian Bishop Robert Byrne at 7pm. For the Year of Mercy itself, starting during the rest of Advent, there will be a daily EF Mass at 5.45pm with confessions available.

In other news, the 9.30am Mass on Saturday will move to 7.30am during Advent and celebrated as a candlelight Rorate Mass. Similarly, the Friday 5.45pm Masses will be Rorate Masses.

Mass in Coventry

Fr Mark Higgins has contacted me to say that he will be celebrating an EF Mass at St Joseph the Worker, De Montfort Way, Cannon Park, Coventry CV4 7DU on Tuesday 1st December at 7.00pm. If you read the most recent copy of Mass of Ages you will be aware that there is currently no regular Mass in the whole of Coventry and Warwickshire and indeed currently there no LMS representative for the area. If you are in the area please try to support this one-off Mass and please inform anyone else who might be interested.

November Devotions for the Dead at the Oratory

With all the excitement over the first High Mass at St Augustine's in over one hundred years, I forgot to mention the additional High Mass for All Souls Day at the Birmingham Oratory. There were also five low Masses held during the day at 8.00am, 8.30am, 9.00am, 9.30am and 5.45pm. The 5.45pm time is significant: the Friday Mass at the Oratory has moved to this time from 6pm - during November this will be followed by Stations of the Cross for the Dead - and there is an additional low Mass at this time every Monday during November followed by Sung Vespers of the Dead. However, the last Monday (30th) will be part of the Novena preceding the Immaculate conception where there will be a daily Mass at 5.45pm followed by Pontifical High Mass presided by oratorian Bishop Robert Byrne at 7pm on the Feast itself. I will post details closer to the time.

Photos from the Solihull High Mass

Below are a few photos from the Solihull High Mass on Friday, believed to be the first High Mass at St Augustine's Church since 1939 when it was celebrated by Archbishop Williams for the hundredth anniversary of the church.

The recently (over the summer) ordained permanent deacon Kevin O'Connor performed the role of Deacon for the first time. St Augustine's is his home parish where he helped introduce a monthly last Friday Low Mass.

The Mass was celebrated by Fr Daniel Horgan, a Columban who is based in Solihull who celebrates the monthly last Friday Mass in the church.

The choir and servers, except for the MC and Subdeacon, were all trained by Deacon Kevin O'Connor from within the parish. The MC and Subdeacon are both from the Oratory parish, which holds a weekly High Mass at 10.30am on Sunday.

A full set of photos is available here. Unfortunately the quality of the photos is not very good- I am going to blame the age of the camera.

Votive High Mass of the Sacred Heart in Solihull

The usual last Friday Solihull Mass is cancelled tomorrow - instead there will be a Votive High Mass of the Sacred Heart in the traditional form on Friday 6th November at 6.30pm. This will be the first solemn High Mass at St Augustine’s since 1939, which was celebrated by Archbishop Williams for the 100 year anniversary of the Church. Many thanks to the recently ordained Deacon Kevin O'Connor for making this possible.

The photo above is from St Augustine's Church in Solihull, but is of the side chapel rather than the main altar.

Forty Hours High Mass of Exposition

The annual Forty Hours devotion starts at the Birmingham Oratory on Thursday with an Extraordinary Form High Mass of Exposition at 7pm.

The Halesowen Mass tomorrow has been cancelled because Fr Bruce is on retreat.