Thanks to Terry for these pictures from the Dilston Mass. As you will see the space for Mass is very limited thanks to the addition of choirs stalls when the Anglicans took it over in the 18th century. The altar is only a small table so I took advantage of only needing to have four candles for a sung Mas without ministers. Our MC decreed that there would not be room for acolytes which is quite true so we only had two servers. We only had one singer until the Jarrow men arrived who had heard that Mass was at 7.30 and so arrived during the Gospel. Mass was offered for the deceased members of the Radcliffe family. We have booked in for July 22nd next year at 7.30pm
This last one is of me and the Jarrow Schola
10 comments:
Father Michael, you say that the final picture was taken by Leo. Is there another Leo that takes photographs in H and N? I was disappointed not to get to Dilston but I was in London for a couple of days.
Leo D, that picture was taken by the only other Leo I know: Leo Gooch.
Was that four candles on the altar?
Or fork handles?
Radcliffe?
Any connection with Sister Alethea?
Your MC is brilliant in deciding what space is needed (Whoops! I should have waited for someone else to say that but they didn't so I did!)
Whilst the pics look fuzzy it is only the incense (another freebie lot Fr?) but Mary Rose tells me that it quietens The Grey Lady & there is a great feeling of peace the morning following Mass
Forest Murmurs is becoming so other-worldly. The Late lamented Ronnie Barker has returned to relive his greatest sketch, El Presidente claims to be the only Photograper Leo in the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle, and the Pastor in Valle introduces yet another nun that not even Google has heard of.
We need a return to sanity, and an answer to some pressing questions which Murmurers consistently refuse to put their collective minds to:
1.Who were Sts Bassus and Fabius?
2.Who is the small person St Gaudentius lying in a glass coffin in Austria?
3.How do we hijack a statue?
4.How many nuns did Sceptical believer dance with in the Milvain Club?
5.Why would trolley buses only slow down outside the said Club, and refuse to stop?
6.Did the Holy Cure boil only King Edwards on Sundays?
7.Can the Pastor in Valle explain who his nunnerley friend Sister Alethea is?
8.How long will Fr Brown tolerate this surreal blogging?
Is the brilliantly talented MC connected in any way with Mr David O'Neill? I only ask because I was so overwhelmed with admiration for the MC's undoubted talent at Dilston that I was left speechless (and almost chantless). The anonymous thurifer also deserves the highest praise for his ability to envelop the gallery in the chapel in clouds of sweet smelling Oriental Essences - so much so that the Liber Usualis disappeared from view at critical points in the proceedings.
A Methodist friend of mine, seeing the photographs, asked what Fr Brown kept in his handbag. There then followed a 15 minute explanation of the role of the Maniple.
Pastor in Valle, I never knew Sr Alethea that well. Sr Katie was the Canmore nun I got on best with. I have wondered whether Timothy Radcliffe is connected in any way.
As the person in the role of thurifer at Dilston (so far unpraised)and in view of the comments being made I must say that before Mass began I asked the M.C. (the talented Mr O'Neil)how much smoke he wanted. His reply, in the prescence of Fr Brown, was:'Lots' and thats what he (and everyone else) got.
I have to say that 1569 seems to have forgotten Mr O'Neil's efforts at being thurifer at a Midnight Mass a year or two back when for some time during the Mass the altar, priest and servers could not be seen because of the amount of smoke Mr O'Neil managed to conjure up. Quite magnificent.
Crikey, we have upset the Sceptical Believer. Had he read a previous entry on this blog, he would have seen that "the thurifer deserves the highest praise for his ability to envelop the gallery in clouds of sweet smelling Oriental Essences..."
It was truly a performance of incredibly effective smoke screening, and is deserving of the humble appreciation of those of us who became swathed in the supernatural clouds. It was an evening never to be forgotten - with the light streaming in from the windows, there was a quite ethereal rainbow effect.
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