Thursday, April 15, 2010

Thursday at Ushaw

Requiem today. Yes I know the albs have lace and there are no unbleached candles on the altar. The Rudgate Singers sang the Victoria Requiem.

14 comments:

Tom said...

Great pictures, Father. Many thanks.

Just a question - why the 'little' six candles lit on the altar rather than the 'big' six at the back?

Anonymous said...

Why is it that these people go in for lace and the effeminate liturgy?
Was Cardinal Bertone right after all?

Rubricarius said...

Have the choir stalls been re-arranged? It seems strange to have returned stalls at the East end.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Rubricarius, the stalls were indeed altered when the chapel was re-ordered so that the ones you refer to could be used by concelebrating clergy.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Tom, I`ve no idea why they decided only to light the small set of six. I thought I`d get more complaints about the candles not being unbleached.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Anonymous, I suppose lace is thhe contribution of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was not unknown for lace to be worn by men then. I`m not a great fan of lace myself but it is part of the tradition. As for Cardinal Bertone, I`m not gay but I don`t think I`ve met a gay man who was wearing lace.

Not sure what you mean by `effeminate liturgy`.

Richard Hawker said...

We lit the smaller (or lower) six for the "simpler" litrugies, i.e. the two Missa Cantata, and the Solemn Requiem (in theory the simplest form of the EF, due to what is taken away from it, such as the lack of the humeral veil, and the absence of the kiss of peace, and the censing of the clergy, and the Altar at the Introit). Therefore it seemed to make sense to use the lower six for this High Mass as well, though we used the Taller 6 for the other two High Masses. Another factor is that they are VERY difficult to light- they can sometimes take 20 minutes!

Thomas More said...

Anonymous might like to note that lace is also part of the full formal dress of Queen's Counsel and Her Majesty's Circuit Judges in England and Wales.

Rubricarius said...

Fr. Brown,

Perhaps next time someone could take a saw and screwdriver and return the returned stalls to their proper place.

Do you know if Ushaw followed the norms for a Collegial foundation? Were the senior members of the faculty the 'dignataries' when in choir?

1569 Rising said...

It is wonderful the way some people really get to the heart of the matter, nothing is more important than lace, pews and the colour of the candles.

Let's have a discusion on precisely how many angels can stand on the end of a pin. Rivetting stuff!

Richard S Rainbow said...

17,000,000?
Yes, the idea of bringing people to Christ seldom seems to figure in these discussions. Its as though some (many?) Tradionalists live in (and enjoy living in) a private world of their own. From my own perspective these 'discussions' ('rants'?) tempt me to look elsewhere!

1569 Rising said...

Richard is, of course, correct. Too many Traditionalists seem to hold the view that they are the sole bearers of Truth, and that the rest of the Church is badly heretical. It is this attitude that cannot see beyond lace and candles...Sorry, I am being too serious.

As far as the vitally important issue of how many angels can stand on a pin - it depends,a) How big the pin is, they come in various sizes; b) how fat or thin the angels are; c) will the angels need to sit at any stage, and c)why are we wasting Fr B's blog discussing this.

There are more important topics to discuss, eg the Cure of Ars' attitude to dancing, and how long does it take a boiled potato to turn black. We still don't know what the Sisters were doing at the Milvain Club in the sixties.

Rubricarius said...

Personally, I believe the re-establishment of Collegiate structures in this country would contribute enormously to the appreciation of the old Roman liturgy.

The Roman rite, in comparison to say the Byzantine, is almost 'Monastic' in its Office structure, and the only places where it has ever, as far as I am aware, been celebrated in its entirety with real appreciation were Westminster and Nottingham (for a short period) Cathedrals.

To see the Roman rite 'work' there has to be the complete cursus of the rite, which in parish settings, is quite understandably impossible. However in a Collegial foundation possibilites such as rotation of duties etc make it possible hence my interest of whether or not Ushaw was ever a Collegiate foundation.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Rubricarius, I have never heard of Ushaw being a collegiate foundation. Canon 503 mentions collegaite churchs so they can still exist.