Mystery in Munich

Last weekend, I dragged myself from my sick bed (I`d had `flu and still seem to have something wrong) and went on a long-planned break to Munich with Graham`s Tours. It had been planned in November when I had failed to realise that it was the first weekend of Lent. I discovered in January that we were also scheduled to have the parish visitation to be conducted by the bishop that weekend. (The only one of the twelve parishes in the deanery to have the bishop for visitation as opposed to the episcopal vicar or vicar general!) The bishop graciously changed his appointments and will be with us on March 10th. This was beginning to look like a trip that was not meant to happen. It was planned as an opera trip and the thought of Cavalli`s La Callisto on stage was too good to miss. The final obstacle was overcome on the morning of departure. I had set my mobile phone and alarm clock to wake me at 4.15 am but in the event neither went off and by a stroke of good fortune, or the prompting of my guardian angel, I woke mysteriously at 4.45am and just managed to get to Newcastle airport by 5.20am!

The music was very enjoyable and the food great. However the ecclesiastical side to the trip was also very interesting. On Saturday morning we visited the churches of the Holy Spirit and St Peter`s ( Munich`s oldest church) just off the Marienplatz. What was striking was that neither church appeared to have a forward facing altar. Mass had just finished in St Peter`s and the server could be seen removing a veiled chalice from the high altar. In both churches (and in the cathedral) the side altars were properly dressed but in St Peter`s all of them were also equipped with altar cards for the traditional Mass. Here is a picture of one of them.

What was going on? Had I gone through some vortex into a parallel world where the liturgical changes of the 1960`s had not happened? A visit to the Theatinerkirche soon brought reality crashing back as the high altar appeared to have been completely removed and replaced with this!

I had noticed that the Damenstift was host to a 1962 Mass on Sundays and so off we went. It is a small church but was full which meant a congregation of about 60. We had a Missa Cantata. A one man choir struggled manfully on. The only really odd thing about the Mass was that at the Gospel instead of forming up at the Gospel side, the priest and servers assembled at the lectern, on the epistle side, where the priest read the Gospel in German. Instead of a sermon we had a pastoral letter which went on for about fifteen minutes!

Museums occupied other parts of the trip and worthy of note was the basement of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum much of which was completely given over to crib sets. Some of these were absolutely amazing. One that sticks in the memory was an Epiphany scene where the Wise Men had brought with them, amongst other things, a forty-piece military band! The figures were about a foot tall. Some of these sets had been made in Naples and most were eighteenth or nineteenth century but were more focused on the Nativity than the possibly even more remarkable cribs to be found in Italian churches which can feature volcanoes, ports and other improbabilities.

So back to the parish and Lent.

Interview with Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith

I realise many people will have read this elsewhere but there may be some who have not. This interview with the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship is very heartening and, I imagine, quite important. Many things are said here which I have long felt to be true. The archbishop`s assessment that the post-conciliar reform of the liturgy has not been able to achieve the expected goals of spiritual and missionary renewal in the Church is a striking admission from a senior Vatican official and a departure from the more common assertion that the reforms in the liturgy since the Council have ushered in a period of wonderful renewal. This is an `Inside the Vatican` magazine interview.

"IT IS THE HOLY FATHER WHO WILL DECIDE"

All who are interested in the Church’s liturgy are wondering if the Pope will soon issue a motu proprio allowing the celebration of the "Old Mass," and (if he does), what it will say. One of the Vatican’s liturgists sheds light on the Pope’s plans
ANTHONY VALLE: Your Excellency, you have been generous in giving several interviews to the international press regarding liturgy since becoming the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Some of your statements have been misinterpreted and aroused controversy rather than providing the intended clarity. Would you care to clarify anything?
ARCHBISHOP MALCOM RANJITH: What I wished to insist on in those interviews was that the post-conciliar reform of the liturgy has not been able to achieve the expected goals of spiritual and missionary renewal in the Church so that today we could be truly happy about it.
Undoubtedly there have been positive results too; but the negative effects seem to have been greater, causing much disorientation in our ranks.
The churches have become empty, liturgical free-wheeling has become the order of the day, and the true meaning and significance of that which is celebrated has been obscured.
One has to, then, begin wondering if the reform process had in fact been handled correctly. Thus, we need to take a good look at what had happened, pray and reflect about its causes and with the help of the Lord move on to make the necessary corrections.
VALLE: It seems as if Pope Benedict XVI will release a motu proprio to liberalize the use of the traditional or Tridentine Mass. Some hope that the Pope’s motu proprio will institute a juridical structure enabling priests to celebrate the traditional Mass without being unjustly harassed and persistently thwarted by, ironically, not people of other faiths or secular authorities, but by their own pastors and bishops. Is this hope for a new juridical apparatus realistic? Is such an apparatus necessary?
RANJITH: Well, there is this rising call for a restoration of the Tridentine Mass. And even certain leading figures of the elite have made public appeals for this Mass in some newspapers recently.
The Holy Father will, I am sure, take note of this and decide what is best for the Church.
You speak of the possible realization of new juridical structures for the implementation of such decisions. I do not think that this would be so much of a problem. Rather what is more important in all of this is a pastoral attitude.
Will the bishops and priests reject requests for the Tridentine Mass and so create a need for juridical structures to ensure the enforcement of a decision of the Pope? Should it go that way?
I sincerely do not hope so.
The appropriate question the shepherds have to ask themselves is: How can I as a bishop or priest bring even one person closer to Christ and to His Church?
It is not so much a matter of the Tridentine Mass or of the Novus Ordo. It is just a question of pastoral responsibility and sensitivity.
Thus, if the Tridentine Mass is the way to achieve an even better level of spiritual enrichment for the faithful, then the shepherds should allow it.
The important concern is not so much the "what" as much as the "how." The Church should always seek to help our faithful to come closer to the Lord, to feel challenged by His message and to respond to His call generously. And if that can be achieved through the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass or the Pius V Mass, well, then space should be provided for whatever is best instead of getting down to unnecessary and divisive theological hair-splitting. Such things need to be decided through the heart and not so much through the head.
After all, Pope John Paul II did make a personal appeal in Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of 1988 to the bishops, calling upon them to be generous in this matter with those who wish to celebrate or participate in the Tridentine Mass. Besides, we should remember that the Tridentine Mass is not something that belongs to the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre only. It is part of our own heritage as members of the Catholic Church.
The Second Vatican Council, as Pope Benedict so clearly stated in his speech to the members of the Curia in December 2005, did not envisage a totally new beginning, but one of continuity with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and a new outlook that better responds to the missionary needs of the time.
Besides, we also have the serious question of the diminishing number of faithful in some of the churches in the Western world. We have to ask ourselves what happened in these churches and then take corrective steps as may be necessary. I do not think that this situation is attributable to secularization only. A deep crisis of faith coupled with a drive for meaningless liturgical experimentation and novelty have had their own impact in this matter. There is much formalism and insipidity visible at times.
Thus, we need to recover a true sense of the sacred and mystical in worship.
And if the faithful feel that the Tridentine Mass offers them that sense of the sacred and mystical more than anything else, then we should have the courage to accept their request.
With regard to the timing and nature of the motu proprio, nothing yet is known. It is the Holy Father who will decide.
And when he does, we should in all obedience accept what he indicates to us and with a genuine love for the Church strive to help him. Any counter attitude would only harm the spiritual mission of the Church and thwart the Lord’s own will.
VALLE: Like many Catholics today, my wife and I have found that we leave the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass on Sunday exasperated and perplexed rather than spiritually invigorated. Why?
RANJITH: In the celebration of the Novus Ordo we have to be very serious about what we do on the altar. I cannot be a priest who dreams in his sleep about what I will do at the Mass the following day, walk up to the altar and start celebrating with all kinds of novel self-created rubrics and actions.
The Holy Eucharist belongs to the Church. Hence, it has a meaning of its own which cannot be left to the idiosyncrasies of the single celebrant.
Every element in the liturgy of the Church has its own long history of development and significance. It is certainly not a matter of private "traditions" and so cannot be the object of manipulation by all and sundry.
In fact, Sacrosanctum Concilium does state that other than the Apostolic See and the bishops, where this is allowed to the latter by the former, "absolutely no other person, not even a priest, may add or remove or change anything on his own authority" (SC 22). Even then, we note much free-wheeling in liturgical matters in some areas of the Church today, basically due to an incorrect understanding of liturgical theology.
For example, the mystery of the Holy Eucharist has often been misunderstood or partially understood, leaving thus the door open to all kinds of liturgical abuses.
In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, some place too much accent on the presidential role of the priest. But we know that the priest is really not the main agent of what happens on the altar.
It is Jesus Himself.
Besides, every liturgical celebration has also a heavenly dimension "which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem towards which we journey as pilgrims" (SC 8).
Others explain the Eucharist in a way that places the accent on its banquet/meal dimension, linking it to "communion." This too is an important consideration, but we should remember that it is not so much a communion created by those taking part in the Eucharist as much as by the Lord Himself.
Through the Eucharist, the Lord assumes us unto Himself and in Him we are placed in communion with all the others who unite themselves to Him. It is thus not so much a sociological experience as much as a mystical one. Hence even as "communion" the Eucharist is a heavenly experience.
What is more important is the sacrificial dimension of the Eucharist. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist we relive the sacrifice of Calvary, celebrating it as the moment of our salvation.
And this very fact also constitutes the unique dignity and font of identity of the priest. He has been instituted by Christ to celebrate the wonderful mystery of turning this corruptible piece of bread into the very glorified Body of Christ and this little bit of wine into the Blood of Christ, enacting the sacrifice of Calvary for the salvation of the world. And this has to be lived, understood and believed by the priest each time he celebrates the Eucharist.
Indeed, Sacrosanctum Concilium placed accent on the sacrificial and salvific effectivity of the Mass. The priest thus becomes another Christ, so to say. What a great vocation! And so, if we celebrate the Eucharist devoutly, then the faithful will reap immense spiritual benefit and return again and again in search of that heavenly nourishment.
VALLE: Some have contended that the solution to the liturgical crisis -- and at bottom the crisis of faith -- afflicting the Catholic Church today would be to implement the exclusive use of the Tridentine Mass, while others maintain that all we really need is a "reform of the reform," in other words, a reform of the Novus Ordo. What do you think?
RANJITH: An "either-or" attitude would unnecessarily polarize the Church, whereas charity and pastoral concern should be the motivating factors.
If the Holy Father so desires, both could co-exist.
That would not mean that we would have to give up the Novus Ordo. But in the interaction of the two Roman traditions, it is possible that the one may influence the other eventually.
We can’t say everything is completed and finished, that nothing new could happen. In fact, Vatican II never advocated immediate change in the liturgy. Rather it preferred change to "grow organically from forms already existing" (SC 23). As Cardinal Antonelli, a much revered member of the Concilium that undertook the revision of the liturgy after the Council, noted in his diaries, some of the liturgical changes after the Council had been introduced without much reflection, haphazardly, and made later to become accepted practice.
For example, Communion in the hand had not been something that was first properly studied and reflected upon before its acceptance by the Holy See. It had been haphazardly introduced in some countries of Northern Europe and later become accepted practice, eventually spreading into many other places. Now that is a situation that should have been avoided. The Second Vatican Council never advocated such an approach to liturgical reform.
VALLE: Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi ("The law of praying (is) the law of believing, (is) the law of living"). Is it true that how we worship and pray influences what we believe, and that what we believe influences how we live? In other words, liturgy ultimately influences our moral life, does it not?
RANJITH: Yes. How can we convince the faithful to make sacrifices in their ethical and moral options, unless they are first touched and inspired by the grace of God profoundly? And such happens especially in worship when the human soul is made to experience the salvific grace of God most intimately. In worship, faith becomes interiorized and brims over with inspiration and strength, enabling one to take the moral options that are in consonance with that faith. In the liturgy, we should experience the closeness of God to our heart so intensely that we in turn begin to believe fervently and are compelled to act justly.
VALLE: What are some contemporary liturgical trends or problems that need correction?
RANJITH: One of these, as I see, is the trend to go for ecumenical liturgies in replacement of the Sunday Mass in some countries, during which Catholic lay leaders and Protestant ministers celebrate together and the latter are invited to preach the homily. Sunday Liturgies of the Word with the distribution of Holy Communion, which form is allowed in cases where a priest cannot be present, if turned into ecumenical events can give the faithful the wrong signal. They may get used to the idea of the Sunday without the Eucharist.
The Eucharist, as you know, makes the Church (Ed E. 21) and this is central to us Catholics. If it is so easily replaced by Liturgies of the Word, or worse still by so-called ecumenical prayer services, the very identity of the Catholic Church would be in question. Unfortunately, we hear also of cases whereby the Eucharist itself is being celebrated under various guises along with the Protestant pastors. This is totally unacceptable and constitutes a graviora delicta ("more grave offense") (RM 172).
Ecumenism is not something left to the ad hoc choice of individual priests. True ecumenism, such as the one espoused by Vatican II, comes from the heart of the Church. For example, the path to true ecumenism begins with serious reflection on the part of those who are deemed competent to engage in that type of reflection, such as the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Holy Father himself. Not everyone has the competence to know in what way this delicate search for unity is to be perceived. It needs much reflection and prayer. Hence, liturgical novelty in the name of ecumenism should not be tried out individually.
A second disturbing trend is the gradual replacement of the Mass celebrated by a priest with a paraliturgical service conducted by a lay person. This of course can legitimately happen when no priest is available and facilities for the fulfillment of Sunday obligation are scarce. However, this is an exception, not the rule. What is dangerous is to marginalize the priest even when he is available and some lay pastoral leader team arrogates to itself tasks that are reserved for the priests. I mean by this the trend to get the lay leader to preach the homily instead of the priest, even when he is present, or to distribute Holy Communion, leaving the priest to sit idle at the altar.
We have to stress here that, as the Second Vatican Council affirmed, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood "differ from one another in essence and not only in degree" (LG 10). And so it is gravely abusive to relegate to the laity the sacred obligations reserved to the priest.
What is unfortunate is the increasing tendency worldwide to laicize the priest and to clericalize the laity. This too is contra mentem ("against the mind" or "against the intention") of the Council.
There is also an increasing trend to shift the Sunday Mass to Saturdays almost as a "normal" practice. Rather than Sunday being the true day of the Lord, and so a day of spiritual and physical rest, there is a move to reduce its importance, making it become a day of worldly distractions. In Dies Domini, Pope John Paul II warned against this disturbing trend.
A final point I wish to make here concerns some practices introduced in mission territories, for example, in Asia, in the name of change, which are counter to its cultural heritage.
In some Asian countries we see a trend to introduce Communion in the hand which is received standing. This is not at all consonant with Asian culture. The Buddhists worship prostrate on the floor with their forehead touching the ground. Moslems take off their shoes and wash their feet before entering the mosque for worship. The Hindus enter the temple bare-chested as a sign of submission. When people approach the king of Thailand or the emperor of Japan, they do so on their knees as a sign of respect. But in many Asian countries the Church has introduced practices like just a simple bow to the Blessed Sacrament instead of kneeling, standing while receiving Holy Communion, and receiving Communion on the hand. And we know that these cannot be considered practices congruent with Asian culture.
Besides, the laity whose role today is being enhanced in the Church are not even consulted when such decisions are made.
All these situations do not augur well for the Church and we need to correct these trends, if the Eucharist we celebrate is to become, as St. Ignatius of Antioch affirmed, "medicine of immortality and antidote against death" (Eph. 20).
Anthony Valle is a theologian and writer who lives in Rome

Quinquagesima

Today has been a beautiful spring-like day. I had a more relaxed start than on a normal Sunday as it is the weekend for the parish visitation at St Aidan`s, Benton and the episcopal vicar, Fr Jim O`Keefe, said the 9.30 Mass there, so my first Mass was the 10.30 at St Mary`s. After that I jumped in the car to go back to my old parish of St Joseph`s Gateshead as the parish priest had asked me to say the midday Tridentine Mass which I was more than glad to do. It was a low Mass and there was an element of urgency as I had asked Fr Jim O`Keefe for lunch after the visitation but I was back here by 12.55 in time for lunch at the New Coach Inn. We were joined by Fr David Milburn and as both had been many years at Ushaw there was some conversation about the origin of the game of cat which alas was only the stuff of legend by the time I turned up at Ushaw, despite the modern recreation in the picture.

Catholic Herald

In this weekend`s Catholic Herald, there is an inspiring article about the development of liturgical music at the parish of St Wulstan’s in Wolstanton, Staffordshire under the direction of the husband-and-wife musical team, David and April West. They now have children singing Gregorian chant and polyphony. It shows what can be done with enthusiasm and knowledge. The parish priest is Fr Anthony Dykes, to whom I once spoke on the phone as we were both working on Phd`s on Prudentius at the same time. I`ll be going into our primary schools after half-term armed with the music of Mass XVIII!

Today`s Times

The front page of today`s Times announced in an article by Ruth Gledhill, the Religion Correspondent: `Catholics set to pass Anglicans as leading UK church`. The gist of the story is that attendance at the Catholic Church in this country has exploded with recent immigration. It makes the claim:

From being an Irish-English church in a mindset of managing steady decline, the Church has within the space of 12 months found itself having to countenance an unprecedented expansion and change in its ethnic make-up.

One comment on Ruth Gledhill`s blog, which seems to have disappeared now I have gone back to look for it, pointed out, with the figures, that for quite a while now the number of practising Catholics has exceeded the numbers of practising Anglicans in this country. I have spoken to priests in other parts of the country whose congregations have increased dramatically through Polish immigrants but, so far as I am aware, they haven`t showed up here. St Aidan`s and St Mary`s are pretty full anyway at a weekend, but we could do with some Polish newcomers at SS Peter and Paul`s! A priest friend tells me that the future of the Catholic church in this country lies with immigration. I just hope that after a generation or two, our new arrivals have kept the faith and haven`t fallen prey to the high lapsation rates prevalent among Catholics today.

Many thanks to Ruth for the mention of Forest Murmurs on her blog.

Many Thanks

It was quite a surprise to see this blog in the nominations for the category of Best New Catholic blog in the Catholic Blog Awards for 2007! Many thanks to whoever submitted the nomination!

UPDATE 16.02.07 Thanks to both of people who voted for this blog! The results are now available. Glad to see Rorate Caeli and the Hermeneutic of Continuity did well.

Interview

There is an interview with Dr Joseph Shaw, the Latin Mass Society representative for Oxford on the Cornell Society for a Good Time blog which is very interesting regarding the situation of the indult Mass in the UK.

St Aidan`s, Benton

Half a mile away from SS Peter and Paul`s is St Aidan`s Benton. I am also responsible for this church as moderator of the cluster which also includes St Teresa`s, Heaton where, mercifully, the church is looked after by Fr Kellett, the parish priest. Father shares the weekend Masses at St Aidan`s with me. St Aidan`s is the oldest of the parishes I run, being founded in 1906. The area is middle class. For many years there was a temporary church until the present building was put up in the early 1960`s. It was built as the church hall but for reasons I don`t yet understand the church was never built and the hall was converted a church. It is a building of little charm. Recently I had occasion to show the church to two local Anglican clergymen. The younger said " Oh you Romans do things so well!. This confused me somewhat and I wondered whether he was being serious! The other expressed an interest in the sanctuary bells and the newly-acquired gong in such a way that I thought here was someone who talked the same language!

The parish has a good attendance. The previous, very popular, parish priest, Fr Kennedy, established a 5pm Saturday vigil Mass which is always packed with people standing who can`t get a seat. When he took over the parish the Mass attendance was very low whereas Ss Peter and Paul`s was a thriving parish. Whether it was the introduction of the 5pm Mass or the stability of tenure by Fr Kennedy while Ss Peter and Paul had a rapid turn over of parish priests, St Aidan`s has now become a well attended parish while Ss Peter and Paul`s languishes with a small congregation. St Aidan`s has no school. It suffers from a lack of young people: on a Sunday there are no altar servers although there are three at the vigil. In the picture on the right of the sanctuary is a fairly new statue of St Aidan installed for Fr Kennedy`s 40th anniversary of ordination. I only say Mass here twice a week and only since September so nothing has changed yet in the liturgy except that I bought the Luzar starter kit of Gothic chasubles as the vestments on offer did not appeal very much. There is potential for improved music as at present Masses consist of four hymns. The Sunday organist used to run a good choir at St Teresa`s Heaton until 1993 when it was axed but he unfortunately appears very reluctant to try any Gregorian chant now.

SS Peter and Paul`s Longbenton

When I was moved from St Wilfrid`s, Gateshead in 2005, as well as St Mary`s in Forest Hall I was also asked to look after the parish of SS Peter and Paul, Longbenton. This is in an area of Newcastle that has had its fair share of social problems but which has been the recipient of much regeneration planning recently. The parish probably saw its heyday in the 1970`s and 1980`s when it was a centre for charismatic renewal. In recent years there has been quite a rapid turn over of parish priests and the parish has gone into something of a decline. At present there is one Sunday Mass at 9.15 attended by about 80 people, most of whom are elderly. At least SS Peter and Paul`s looks more like a church than the other two venues in which I say Mass at the weekend although the large black marble altar is rather daunting. As I only say Mass there on a Friday night apart from the Sunday I haven`t applied myself much to thinking what could be done with the sanctuary. I hope to have some tabernacle veils made soon. The altar might benefit from a frontal and some different candlesticks. What I like about the parish is that it reminds me in many ways of St Wilfrid`s in Gateshead where I had ten relatively happy years in that the congregation and area is quite similar, although they do not have the traditional devotions ( such as the Forty Hours and May Processions) that were a normal part of life at St Wilfrid`s and which are so hard to re-introduce once it has been decided to scrap them. I have introduced weekly exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour before the Friday evening Mass. The presbytery is the home of the remarkable Fr David Milburn, author of the History of Ushaw College and president of the North East Catholic history society, who provides valuable help in both parishes. Here are some pictures of the sanctuary. The figure above the altar I find hard to love but haven`t come up with a replacement as yet.

Good News continued

Hebdomadary asks whether they really built the horrific Westgate house next to the Victorian Union Rooms ( currently a Wetherspoons pub). Indeed they did. The first picture gives another view. The next building to the west of the Union building is one of the medieval churches of Newcastle, St John`s, Grainger Street. The second picture of the church gives a glimpse of Westgate house looming in the background

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Now its our turn

After recent petitions from people in public life in Germany, Italy, Poland and France, there appeared today one from the UK organised by Una Voce. Let`s hope it has as much success as the petition of 1971.

Here it is:

Catholics in the U.K. Appeal to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in Support of the Traditional Latin Mass

There has been much speculation in the media in recent months about the expectation from Rome of a document that will grant greater freedom for the celebration of the traditional (‘Tridentine’) Roman rite of Mass. There have been some highly critical comments from certain quarters, especially from the French and German bishops, who do not agree with the prospect of loosening the very tight restrictions imposed by most bishops around the world. It is a fact, for whatever reason, that these bishops oppose greater freedom for the celebration of the traditional Mass and have no interest in the opinions of the laity or even of many of their own priests who long to celebrate this ancient rite; a rite that has never been abolished and is still valid.
In an effort to counter the negative and uninformed attitudes of the bishops a number of public manifestos have been published by lay people in France, Italy, Poland, Germany, and including one from English-speaking people from around the world. A number of people in the UK wish to publicly declare their support for Pope Benedict XVI and his intention to grant greater freedom for the celebration of the ancient classical Roman rite of Mass.

Leo Darroch – Secretary, Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce.

In 1971 many leading British and international figures, among whose number were Yehudi Menuhin, Agatha Christie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nancy Mitford, Graham Greene, Joan Sutherland, and Ralph Richardson, presented a petition to His Holiness Pope Paul VI asking for the survival of the traditional Roman Catholic Mass on the grounds that it would be a serious loss to western culture. The then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Heenan himself appealed to Pope Paul for the continued celebration of the traditional Mass. The full text of this appeal in 1971 was:
"If some senseless decree were to order the total or partial destruction of basilicas or cathedrals, then obviously it would be the educated - whatever their personal beliefs - who would rise up in horror to oppose such a possibility. Now the fact is that basilicas and cathedrals were built so as to celebrate a rite which, until a few months ago, constituted a living tradition. We are referring to the Roman Catholic Mass. Yet, according to the latest information in Rome, there is a plan to obliterate that Mass by the end of the current year. One of the axioms of contemporary publicity, religious as well as secular, is that modern man in general, and intellectuals in particular, have become intolerant of all forms of tradition and are anxious to suppress them and put something else in their place. But, like many other affirmations of our publicity machines, this axiom is false. Today, as in times gone by, educated people are in the vanguard where recognition of the value of tradition in concerned, and are the first to raise the alarm when it is threatened. We are not at this moment considering the religious or spiritual experience of millions of individuals. The rite in question, in its magnificent Latin text, has also inspired a host of priceless achievements in the arts - not only mystical works, but works by poets, philosophers, musicians, architects, painters and sculptors in all countries and epochs. Thus, it belongs to universal culture as well as to churchmen and formal Christians. In the materialistic and technocratic civilisation that is increasingly threatening the life of mind and spirit in its original creative expression - the word - it seems particularly inhuman to deprive man of word-forms in one of their most grandiose manifestations. The signatories of this appeal, which is entirely ecumenical and non-political, have been drawn from every branch of modern culture in Europe and elsewhere. They wish to call to the attention of the Holy See, the appalling responsibility it would incur in the history of the human spirit were it to refuse to allow the Traditional Mass to survive, even though this survival took place side by side with other liturgical reforms."
This appeal in 1971 came at a crucial time in the history of civilisation when the future of the traditional Latin “Tridentine” Mass was in jeopardy. Pope Paul VI graciously acknowledged this appeal and the traditional Mass was saved, at least in England and Wales. Since this momentous appeal in 1971 the traditional Latin Mass has prospered once again among the faithful worldwide and is now celebrated in almost every country in the world. Now, in 2007, there is great hope and expectation that this treasure of civilisation will be freed from its current restrictions. We, the signatories of this petition, wish to associate ourselves to the sentiments expressed in the petition of 1971 which, perhaps, are even more valid today, and appeal to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 to allow the free celebration of the traditional Roman rite of Mass, the Mass of Ages, the Mass of Antiquity, on the altars of the Church.
Signed:

Rt. Hon. Michael Ancram, QC MP.

Miss Madeleine Beard, M.Litt. (Cantab).

Dr. Mary Berry CBE, Founder of the Schola Gregoriana in Cambridge.

James Bogle, TD, MA, ACIarb, Barrister, Chairman of the Catholic Union of Great Britain.

Count Neri Capponi, Judge of the Tuscan Ecclesiastical Matrimonial Court.

Fr. Antony F.M. Conlon, Chaplain to the Latin Mass Society.

Julian Chadwick, Chairman – The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.

Rev. Fr. Ronald Creighton-Jobe, The Oratory, London.

Fra’ Fredrik Crichton-Stuart, Chairman CIEL UK.

Leo Darroch, Secretary – International Federation Una Voce.

Adrian Davies, Barrister.R.P. Davis, B.Phil., M.A., D.Phil (Oxon), retired senior lecturer in Ancient History, Queen’s University of Belfast; translator/commentator on the Liber Pontificalis of the Roman Church.

John Eidinow, Bodley Fellow and Dean, Merton College, Oxford.

Jonathan Evans MEP, Vice Chairman Catholic Union of Great Britain.

Fra’ Matthew Festing, OBE, TD, DL. Grand Prior of England – Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta.

The Right Honourable Lord Gill, Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland.

Dr. Sheridan Gilley, Emeritus Reader, University of Durham.

Dr. Christopher Gillibrand, MA (Oxon).

The Rt. Hon. John Gummer MP

Rev. Dr. Laurence Paul Hemming, Heythrop College, University of London.

Stephen Hough, Concert Pianist and Composer.

Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director, Aid to the Church in Need UK

Edward Leigh MP, Vice President of the Catholic Union of Great Britian

Prince Rupert zu Loewenstein, President of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. KCSG.

James MacMillan, CBE, Composer and Conductor.

Anthony McCarthy, Research Fellow, Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics.

Mrs. Daphne McLeod, Chairman – Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

Anthony Ozimic, MA (bioethics).

Dr. Susan Frank Parsons, President, Society for the Study of Christian Ethics (UK) and Co-Founder of the Society of St. Catherine of Siena.

Dr. Catherine Pickstock, Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion; Fellow – Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Dr. Thomas Pink, Reader in Philosophy and Director of Philosophical Studies, Kings College, London.

Piers Paul Read, Novelist and Playwright; Vice-President of the Catholic Writers’ Guild of England and Wales.

The Rev’d. Dr. Alcuin Reid, Liturgical Scholar and Author.

Nicholas Richardson, Warden of Greyfriars Hall, Oxford.

Prof. Jonathan Riley-Smith, retired Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Cambridge University.

Fr. John Saward, Lisieux Senior Research Fellow in Theology, Greyfriars, Oxford University.

Dr. Joseph Shaw. Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy, St. Benet’s Hall, Oxford University.

Damien Thompson, Editor-in-Chief, The Catholic Herald.

Good News

As reported on the BBC news website, the ugly Westgate house in Newcastle has been completely demolished after blighting the city for 35 years. It is to be replaced with new buildings which `would fit in with the architecture of the area`. Who knows where this might end? Is this a trend that will spread to the ecclesiastical sphere? I`m sure readers will have their own favourite horror stories of 19th century churches whose interiors have been rendered ridiculous by the insertion of say a huge bare white marble altar or some such item.

Bad News

There is an interview in today`s Sunday Telegraph with Fr Foster, the papal Latinist. In the course of this he reflects on the new indult. :

He (Fr Foster) said reports that Pope Benedict will reintroduce the Tridentine Mass, which dates from 1570 and is largely conducted in Latin, were wrong – not least because of the Pope's desire to avoid more controversies. A speech last year offended Muslims and more recently he gave initial support to a Polish archbishop who was eventually forced to resign, after admitting that he had collaborated with the communist-era secret police.
"He is not going to do it," Fr Foster said. "He had trouble with Regensberg, and then trouble in Warsaw, and if he does this, all hell will break loose." In any case, he added: "It is a useless mass and the whole mentality is stupid. The idea of it is that things were better in the old days. It makes the Vatican look medieval."

This is the first time I`ve seen anyone suggest it`s not going to happen. Not sure what Fr Foster means by saying it`s `a useless Mass`: a strange expression to use.

The Philippines

My brother sent me this picture a few days ago, asking me if I had ever had this many people turn up for a dawn Mass! The only dawn Masses I have had recently were during the summer when I had a 7am Tridentine Mass ( `private` of course given episcopal restrictions and continuing lack of the new indult) which attracted at most 4 people. This is a picture of the Mass last week in Cebu for the feast of the Santo Nino ( the infant Jesus) which attracted a congregation of 700,000. I was fortunate a few years ago to spend time in Cebu when I went to baptise my nephew, James. I found the Philippines to be an absolutely fascinating country. While I enjoyed being in a Catholic country, I was there for two Sundays but on neither of them was I at Mass in a church. The first weekend I concelebrated at a Mass in the open air community centre of the area in which my brother was living while he was working there. The main celebrant was one of the staff from the local seminary: his sermon appeared to be the continuation of a series which was deconstructing the Gospel of Mark and offering an introduction to the joys of form criticism. The next Sunday, Mass was in a rather exclusive sports club where a local Monsignor was the celebrant. He was immaculate in his white cassock and preached about resisting the temptation to fall into the culture of corruption which permeates so much of public life there. He also said that while the Philippines is proud to be Asia`s only Catholic nation, in fact only 20% attend Mass regularly. I wondered whether the somewhat sterile masses I had the opportunity to attend may have had something to do with this given the evidence of popular devotion everywhere you looked. A sad experience was a visit to the island of Bohol which has some of the finest Spanish 17th century Spanish churches in a bad state of decay. One I remember best had a glorious reredos with niches for saints in the Spanish style but which had recently lost a number of the original statues through theft. The attached museum had a display of ancient decaying vestments, church silver and missals.

We have a growing number of Philippino families here in the Forest and I sometimes wonder what they make of our rather pared-down version of Catholicism, with its bare churches, compared to the flamboyance of the devotional life back home.

Back from holiday

I`m sorry this blog has been rather quiet of late but I`ve been away on holiday recovering from the Christmas season. I spent a week in Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife with Fr Charles Briggs (seen here on the harbour wall) of Chislehurst. Neither of us had ever been there before but I heard the weather can be very good even in January and I reckoned that if the Spanish had been there since the fifteenth century there must be some churches and buildings worth a look. Another attraction is the annual musical festival in Santa Cruz in the new and exciting auditorium which a friend had been to last year but in the event it proved too difficult to get there.
Apart from food and sun there were indeed some ecclesiastical treats. Last Saturday we went to the Mt Teide national park. Any readers who are unaware of the landscape (as I was) of this area are missing something quite extraordinary. I`m sure it`s a geologist`s dream. Suffice to say that the landscape is sufficiently striking for it to have been used in the films `Planet of the Apes` and `Star Wars`. I later discovered that we were very close to an even more extraordinary happening as the episcopal vicar for Newcastle, Fr Jim O`Keefe, was on holiday at the same time and we missed him by a day at Mt Teide!

On the way back down from Mt Teide we took a circular route which took us to the town of Garachico. This was a great find. The town itself had a beautiful square with a large church of St Anne on one side and a former Franciscan house and church on the other. The church of St Anne (seen here) appeared to be closed but it did advertise a museum of sacred art. We went in and found large numbers of seventeenth and eighteenth century high Mass sets (strangely referred to as `triplets`) on display as well as other liturgical items such as missals and chalices. We were then let into the church which instead of the usual Spanish style of a large reredos with statues of saints had a retro choir, behind the high altar. We saw the same arrangement later in the main church on Orotava.

At Mass on Sunday in the main church at Puerto de la Cruz, the main celebrant was a visiting priest from the Birmingham diocese. He endeared himself when after the organ had intoned the chorus of the Battle Hymn of the Republic as a substitue for the Gloria, he then led us in reciting the Gloria: I`ve often wanted to do that in similar situations such as after the `Peruvian Gloria`. The sermon, on the marriage feast of Cana, was excellent. The theme was `Do whatever He tells you` and Father spoke of how we should give our whole lives to Christ from waking to sleeping and that our goal should be to do His will. It was so well-presented, coherent, interesting and engaging that Fr Briggs suspected he was an Anglican convert. On getting home we found Fr Briggs was correct!

I got back to find that nothing much had happened in the universal Church.

A Fight with a Priest

It goes to show that things can always get worse in the parish! Spotted on the Cafeteria is Closed blog

Epiphany

Last night at the clergy dinner one priest assured me that the liturgy office for England and Wales had said that in using the 1962 missal one follows the calendar so it was right to celebrate the Epiphany on the 6th as we did this morning with a Missa Cantata. I was somewhat surprised by this but even if it had been said otherwise there would be nothing to stop a votive Mass of the Epiphany this morning. I`m glad to see I was in good company: there was a 1962 Solemn High Mass of the Epiphany at the Birmingham Oratory this morning. Apparently and surprisingly, this was the first time that such a Mass had been celebrated in the Oratory church since the changes. There is an account on the lacrimarum valle blog.

We talked last night about other aspects of the calendar. The new English calendar has moved the feast of St Cuthbert, our diocesan patron, to September 4th. This is understandable because in Lent, outside of this diocese, it would not be possible to celebrate it as a memorial and so putting it on the feast of the translation of St Cuthbert, means other parts of the country can celebrate him. In this diocese it remains on its traditional day of March 20th and has the rank of a feast. However it was regretted that we here have lost the interesting feast of the translation on September 4th and the day is now a feria. Time for a votive Mass again: that`s what I did last September 4th. However following the 1962 calendar keeps the traditional days. It will be interesting to see if the new indult, when it comes, will have anything to say about the calendar.

It`s not often I say this but...

....there is a good article in the Tablet. Unfortunately I can`t give a link to the article as the Tablet requires a print subscription before the on-line version (apart from a few articles) can be viewed. However, the title of the article is `Jewels snatched from the liturgical crown` and it is by one Mike Knowles, a former lecturer in the philosophy of religion and sociology. The synopsis given is incorrect as it says:

`For the first time this year, the Feast of the Epiphany will be celebrated in England and Wales not on the old established date of 6 January but on the nearest Sunday.`

This is not true as all holydays in England and Wales have been governed by the rule until recently that if they fell on a Saturday or Monday they were transfered to the nearest Sunday. The Epiphany has been moved to a Sunday before when January 6th has been a Saturday or Monday. However the rest of the article makes some very good points. One particularly annoying aspect of the new rules is that Ascension will not, despite what Scripture says, be celebrated forty days after Easter. Mr Knowles writes:

`The fortieth day is not the "nearest Sunday available" but the fortieth day after the Resurrection. That is the tradition. The bishops, as successors to the Apostles, are in office to guard it, not dispose of it.`

Tonight I am going to a clergy dinner at St Cuthbert`s Kenton, hosted by Fr Lawrence Jones. He wants to celebrate the real Twelfth Night. A few years ago he hosted a similar event in defence of the feast of St Thomas Becket, patron of the secular clergy, which had been abolished as a feast day in the shake up of the calendar for England and Wales. This move by the authorities would have warmed the heart of Henry VIII who made the destruction of the saint`s shrine at Canterbury one of his priorities in his break with Rome!

Mr Knowles ends his article:

` The tree of the Church in England and Wales is ageing, stunted and declining but this decision will starve the roots even further.`


Well said Mike Knowles!

Epiphany?

Looking at the website for the bishops` conference of England and Wales, the main article is a piece about the Epiphany. I found this article to be at best confusing. It reads:

The 12 days of Christmas end in the Catholic Church on January 6th with the feast of the Epiphany.
This feast, a Holy day of Obligation, is originally a third century tradition from the Eastern Church. There, it marks the birth of Jesus and his adult baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. In the West, the Epiphany is associated with the Magi, the three Kings who, according to Scripture, brought to the child Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrhh

No mention of the feast this year being celebrated thirteen days after Christmas with its transfer to the nearest Sunday.

UPDATE 5.01.07. The entry has changed and now reads:

On January 6th the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Epiphany.
The feast is a third century Eastern tradition. There, it marks the birth of Jesus and his adult baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. In the West, the Epiphany is associated with the Magi, the three Kings who, according to Scripture, brought to the child Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrhh.

No mention of the Epiphany being a holyday of obligation any more but still the insistence that the feast is celebrated on January 6th!

Merry Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we will place ourselves once again before the Crib to contemplate, astonished, the "Word made flesh." Sentiments of joy and gratitude, like in every year, are renewed in our hearts as we hear the melodies of Christmas carols, which sing of, in so many languages, the same, extraordinary miracle. The Creator of the universe, out of love, came to make his dwelling among men. In the Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul affirms that Christ, "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (2:6). He appeared in human form, adds the Apostle, humbling himself. At holy Christmas we will relive the realization of this sublime mystery of grace and mercy.

Pope Benedict XVI 21.12.06

Full active participation

Today I came across this video of a Missa Cantata from the church of St Nicholas du Chardonet in Paris which is run by the Society of St Pius X. It is one of the most beautifuly produced films of the traditional Mass I have seen (and I`ve seen a lot!). I`m not too keen on the reader for the epistle or the vernacular hymns but it is a wonderful example of what a parish Sunday Mass can be. However the interior of St Mary`s Forest Hall might need a bit of work to come up to this standard! Let`s hope there is some reconciliation with the Society and the Holy See before too long.

Creating a stir

This week on the bulletin I included this item:

Mass Confusion

Father writes: It seems that some people have the idea that attendance at Mass on the morning of December 24th also fulfils the obligation for Christmas. Unfortunately this is not the case. It is also worth mentioning that Catholics are obliged to attend Sunday Mass every week. The Catechism of the Catholic church has this to say: “The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin” thus Catholics who miss Mass through their own fault should not receive Holy Communion until they have confessed this in the Sacrament of Confession.

I`m told this has caused a bit of a stir. Three parishioners have spoken to me about it so far and said they didn`t realise there was an obligation to go Mass on a Sunday.

Petitions

You may well have seen on Rorate Caeli, the petitions from French and Italian intellectuals and artists calling for freedom for the traditional Mass. Quite remarkable. They make reference to the 1971 English petition to Paul VI asking for the same thing. It is hard to think today of a similar petition being put forward by British intellectuals and artists. Who would sign it? I can`t think of many: it shows how much British society has changed.

I particularly liked this part from the Italian petition:

........the cultural and spiritual value of the ancient Latin liturgy is a legacy of all, as is the Sistine Chapel, as is the Gregorian [chant], as the great cathedrals, Gothic sculpture, the Basilica of Saint Peter also are. Even more so today, when our entire European Civilization risks to cut off and deny its own roots.

Curiously, even "progressive Catholics", who made the dialogue with the world and with modern culture their banner, did not give any regard and fought for forty years to keep this incredible prohibition.

The `incredible prohibition` is still largely in force. Let`s hope it is lifted after Christmas!

Even more good news

This report from Il Giornale regarding the meeting of the Ecclesia Dei commision yesterday can be found today on the Rorate Caeli blog.

In the order of the day for the meeting was also a discussion on the
juridical framework in which to place the Lefebvrists after their readmission
into full communion with the Holy See.The debated questions were, thus, two.
...Benedict XVI intends to extend the indult of his predecessor, in fact
withdrawing from the bishops discretionary power on the matter: the Missal of
Saint Pius V is no longer abolished, and even if the ordinary Roman Rite is that
originated from the post-conciliar liturgical reform, the old one -- used by
centuries in the Church -- can subsist as an "extraordinary rite".The bishops,
therefore, will not be able to deny the ancient mass anymore, but only regulate
its eventual celebration, together with the parish priests, harmonising it with
the need of the community. The corrections included would have reduced from 50
to 30 the minimal number of faithful who ask for the celebration according to
the old rite. As for the readmission of the Lefebvrists, once the rite of Saint
Pius V is liberalized, the deal should be easier.

I wonder how this will work. At present I have a private Mass on a Saturday morning which attracts about 15 people. If I manage to get 30 there one week can I then start to advertise it as a public Mass? Will it only be a public Mass if the numbers stay above 30? I`m having a private midnight Mass at Christmas. Last year we had about 80 people there. Since I can expect 80 again this year can I then advertise it as a public Mass in advance? Well at least this will be some kind of progress as it will no longer require the permission of the bishop which can be hard to get. I hope the Motu Proprio will actually recommend the traditional Mass as a good thing in itself and that it will be presented as something more than a concession for the liturgically-challenged. As I have three churches in which to say Mass, I hope I can look forward to at least three traditional Masses a week!

Animal Blessing

A few weeks ago I was asked by St Stephen`s primary school, which is the school for SS Peter and Paul`s parish at Longbenton which is also in my care, to go with them for their annual service at the cat and dog shelter which adjoins their playing fields. I didn`t know really what to expect but found the top two classes there and a whole para-liturgy worked out. The service took place in what had been a barn when the site was a farm. Much to my surprise the first animals I came across were sheep and cows in the barn. Apparently they were retired: I didn`t know they got the opportunity to retire! The service included the story of St John Bosco and the dog Grigio, St Francis and the wolf of Gubbio and a dog by the name of Princess who obeyed orders to sit and stay during the floods in New Orleans.. The local press were there to take photos of me blessing a dog. After the service I went around the whole place blessing cats and dogs. I also blessed four retired pit ponies which had worked at Ellington Colliery in Northumberland until it closed in 1995. I was tempted by a couple of the cats but the two I have are enough to be getting on with. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera and so have no pictures of this event. I am also looking for my full edition of the ritual to see what blessings there were for this kind of event.

Getting Nearer

I was sent this today via Una Voce regarding today`s meeting of the Ecclesia Dei commission:

ANSA) - CITTA' DEL VATICANO, 12 dic - ''La pubblicazione del Motu Proprio da parte del Papa che liberalizzera' la celebrazione della messa in latino secondo il messale di San Pio V e' prossima''. Lo ha affermato il cardinale Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, membro della Commissione Ecclesia Dei che stamattina si e' riunita per discutere della liberalizzazione della messa in latino. ''Noi abbiamo studiato il documento con calma'' ha affermato il cardinale. ''Abbiamo discusso assieme per piu' di 4 ore ed effettuato alcune correzioni sul testo del Motu Proprio''. La prossima mossa spetta al cardinale Dario Castrillon Hoyos (presidente della commissione) che presentera' a Benedetto XVI il testo. Forse, ha aggiunto Medina, occorrera' un'altra riunione da parte della Commissione Ecclesia Dei. Un altro membro dell'organismo, il cardinale di Lione, Jean Pierre Ricard non ha voluto fare nessun commento, sottolineando che ''e' tenuto al segreto pontificio''. (ANSA).
Which I translate as

`The publication of the Motu Proprio on the part of the Pope which will liberalise the celebration of the Mass in Latin according to the missal of Saint Pius V is close` Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, member of the Commission Ecclesia Dei which this morning met to discuss the liberalisation of the Mass in Latin confirmed this. " We have studied the document calmly" the cardinal affirmed. " We have discussed together for more than four hours and have made some corrections to the text of the Motu Proprio" The next move belongs to Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos ( president of the commission) who will present the text to Benedict XVI. Perhaps, added Medina, there will be another meeting of the Ecclesia Dei commission. Another member of the body, the Cardinal of Lyon, Jean Pierre Ricard did not want to make any comment, emphasising that he is bound by the pontifical secret"

Bishop Hendricks

I smiled to see this picture of bishop Paul Hendricks, an auxiliary in Southwark, on the Southwark Vocations and Hermeneutic of Continuity blogs. It shows the bishop vested for the Mass to celebrate the centenary of the parish of St Mary Magdalen in Wandsworth East Hill. The parish priest is Fr Martin Edwards. If you can tear your gaze away from the bishop`s splendid vestments and look over his left shoulder, there is a painting of Fr Edwards, vested for Mass, with his dog at his feet.

A clarification

Shortly after posting the last item, I see there has been a rapid clarification by Cardinal Hummes on his arrival in Rome! Here it is on Rorate Caeli.

It`s a funny old world

On November 16th, there was an inter-dicasterial meeting in the Vatican with the Pope to discuss celibacy in the light of the recent actions, and subsequent excommunication, of archbishop Milingo and his championing of the cause of optional celibacy for Latin rite priests. I was surprised that the topic was up for discussion at this top level given that any discussion seemed to have been completely forbidden in previous years. After a whole day`s discussion, a message was released to say that the value of celibacy was re-affirmed and there would be no change in the current discipline. That`s fine, but presumably having the meeting meant that someone somewhere thought there might be a need for some change. Then today there is a report on Whispers in the Loggia, that the new head of the Congregation for Clergy, Cardinal Hummes, has stated that celibacy is a discipline and not a dogma and the discipline could change. It seems curious for him to say this in the light of the recent Vatican statement.

Apart from this there are the never ending rumours about a general permission for the traditional Roman rite. The latest suggestion, reported by Fr Zuhldorf is that the permission will be made public on December 8th. The only evidence that something may be going to happen is the reports of French bishops making clear their opposition to any such move. Meanwhile in this country we are assured that it is all hype and that there is no substance to the stories.

Elsewhere today, Rorate Caeli reports that the Patriarch of Constantinople hints that some kind of re-union might be on the cards, while the `continuing Anglicans` are hopeful of an agreement to give them a kind of uniate status in the Catholic church as reported by Ruth Gledhill.

Meanwhile almost nothing actually seems to happen apart from the recent instruction that pro multis is to be translated as for many in the Mass. The post-Synodal document on last year`s Synod on the Eucharist has still to see the light of day. I wonder if this is a record for the longest time between a synod and its follow-up document?

These are certainly very interesting times.

Episcopal Meme

Fr Sean Finnegan has an entry on his blog inviting a number of priest bloggers to reflect on what they would do if they became bishops. I really don`t envy anyone the job of a Catholic bishop nowadays. His suggestions are:

1) Seminaries. To establish an initial 'spiritual' year in which students would pray a great deal and, study a) the doctrine of the Church (overview) b) 'Great Books'; á la USA, perhaps one of the greatest civilizing tools in the West and c) Latin. In subsequent years to make sure that all students got a thorough, orthodox, formation in which the bishop was closely involved with every student at every level.
2) Schools. To re-establish schools inspections for orthodox catechesis. To provide financial incentives for (practising!) Catholic teachers to teach in Catholic schools (perhaps by regular collections in the diocese).
3) To regularly, often, visit every parish in the diocese. To make friends with the clergy and make them a major concern; their spiritual, ascetic life as well as their well-being.
4) To minimize involvement in the Episcopal Conference and its ramifications; a huge and, really, unnecessary drain on time and energy.
5) To make the liturgy in the Cathedral a worthy model for the whole diocese.
6) To make the traditional liturgy available for all who want it, and simply not to make an issue of it.

I agree with all of this although I might take them in reverse order of priority. I think it a good thing that a bishop actually visits the parishes of his diocese and has a one-to-one with each priest about their well-being every five years or whenever the visitation occurs. I would also add that I am not too convinced that it is a good thing for the bishop to farm out confirmations to the Vicar General or episcopal vicars as it loses the sense of occasion that a visit from the bishop brings. I`m glad to say that for our confirmations next autumn we are having the bishop.

On further reflection I would add:

1) Make a study of those parts of the `Western` world where there is an upsurge in vocations to the diocesan priesthood. These mainly occur in places where there is a bishop who is noted for his orthodoxy and who believes that the priesthood is important. In the light of suggestion 6 above, it is worth noting that the Ecclesia Dei communities don`t seem to have a problem with vocations.
2) Invite into the diocese religious congregations that are on the up, such as the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the Community of St John, the Missionaries of Charity (we do already have them), the Fathers of Mercy etc. Also try to establish a Benedictine house with the classical Roman liturgy.
3) Put money into liturgical music. Our part of the world does not have the pool of professional singers such as can be drawn upon in the London area but I`m sure something could be done to improve standards and repertoire. It would be nice to see courses on plainchant for parishes.
4) Each parish to have instructors for Natural Family Planning.

That`s all I can think of for now.

Return to the Alma Mater by the Tyne

Last Friday night I went to the Mass to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the opening of my old school, St Cuthbert`s Grammar. ( It is, alas, no longer a grammar school and doesn`t even appear to teach Latin anymore.) I enjoyed my time at St Cuthbert`s as a boy. I would often get to school early to serve Mass in the chapel in the priests` house. This Mass was always celebrated ad orientem. Once, in sixth form, we were asked whether we wanted to have a class Mass in the modern, facing the people, chapel or the chapel in the priests` house and the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of the latter. Vox populi, vox Dei! The old central block of classrooms is about to be demolished so this was a last opportunity to see them. I hadn`t been back since I left in 1978 so it was strange to be there again. I feared the worst for the liturgy but was delighted to see that the wooden reredos from the chapel in the priests` house, with its pictures of northern saints had been transferred to the chapel in the main hall. I`m sure that not so long ago it would have been chopped up and thrown out. The new small daily chapel in the former library is also quite tasteful by modern standards and even has a decent altar and centrally placed tabernacle. I took pictures of the reredos on my mobile phone but can`t get the software to work at the minute to transfer them as yet. All in all I was quite encouraged by the whole event. Who knows, one day the school might even get around to updating the list of old boys who have become priests ( which seems to have stopped in 1964) to include the six who concelebrated the Mass together with the bishop and eight other priests.

Planning the future

On Friday I was pleased to get a call from Ian Graham suggesting we go for lunch. Ian is the director of the Schola Gregoriana of Northumbria and we have worked together in matters of liturgy since 1993. Ian has just created a blog for the schola. Lunch was happily at the Black Door restaurant just opposite the cathedral. Fr Charles Briggs was coming to stay with me for the weekend and this afforded me the opportunity to get in some practice for the weekend`s meals.

My links with the schola have not been as strong recently since I left Gateshead and have now very limited opportunity to celebrate sung Mass in the traditional rite. However we have had a few `private` sung Masses at Forest Hall and Ian has tried to introduce Gregorian chant at the main Sunday Mass on three occasions. Participation by the congregation steadily increased with each Mass but we have not had a `chant Sunday` for a few months now.

The purpose of the lunch was to discuss our future plans. We hope to revive the chant Sundays at Forest Hall, starting with very simple Mass settings to get people familiar with what is going on. It is unfortunate that the church organ lies in ruins in the choir loft, but we can manage without it for the time being. So I hope that in the New Year we can start with a regular Sunday each month to get this project up and running again. The two ladies of the parish choir have been keen to be involved and I hope that in time others may make their way upstairs to join the group.

Apart from that Ian suggested that we have Mass in the traditional rite every day during the Octave of Christmas, although probably not on Sunday. We hope to have a couple of sung Masses among them. These Masses will be at 11am each day apart from Saturday when it will be at the usual 10am. I don`t know why I`ve never thought of trying this before.
Maybe by then, if the Holy Father gets back safely from Turkey, we will have the new indult and life will be much easier.

Die Grosse Stille

I`m delighted to be able to report that there was a full house at the Tyneside cinema last night for the North East premier of this film. I met two other priests and a nun from the diocese there too. I suppose in the 1950`s it would have been difficult to see the screen for the rows of nuns wimples, assuming they would have been allowed to go to the cinema! The three hours flew by. This is a beautiful film and an interesting insight into the life of the Carthusians of La Grande Chartreuse. The monastery itself, as the headquarters of the order was more austere than I expected when compared to the Charterhouse of Granada for example. I was interested that no reference was made to the Chartreuse liqueur, which I thought was made there, nor to the motto of the order about never being reformed because never deformed.

One of my favourite scenes was in the first recreation sequence when discussion arose over whether to continue the tradition of the monks washing their hands before entering the refectory. Some were in favour of dropping the practice. Indeed it was remarked that in one monastery they hadn`t washed their hands in twenty years! One monk said that rather than questions the symbols of monastic life they should let the symbols question them. I thought that was good and hoped it was a young monk who said it. (It was impossible to see who was talking at that point.) There were some insights into the interior life of the monk, mostly by the repetition of the quotation from Jeremiah 20.7. The reading of the rule in the refectory was a useful way to explain some aspects of the routine.

All in all if you haven`t seen this film it is well worth going to see.

On the liturgy

If anyone hasn`t yet seen this article by Dr Alcuin Reid on the question of liturgical reform as mentioned on the wonderful New Liturgical Movement blog it is well worth reading. It almost inspires me to introduce an ad orientem celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass now but I`m waiting until we eventually get that post synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist which I hope will encourage a `reform of the reform`.

A Signed Funeral

This week has seen nothing out of the ordinary but has had a couple of very busy days. On one of these I had a funeral at the crematorium on the West Road in Newcastle which was different in that it required the services of person able to interpret the service into sign language for the deaf. Before the funeral I had a conversation with Christine, the signer. She asked me to speak slowly so she could interpret what I was going to say for the benefit of the small group of deaf people who were going to be there. A friend remarked that this would be a most unusual event since one of my faults is that I tend to speak too quickly especially when I am at all nervous. He had visions of the signer`s hands becoming a complete blur as she tried to keep up with the my delivery. I`ve no idea whether I managed to speak slowly enough as I didn`t get to talk to Christine afterwards but I did slow down considerably and to such an extent that I found it difficult to remember whether the end of a sentence had anything to with the beginning. While standing in the car park we spoke about signing and I was able to seek the answer to a problem that has concerned me of late. Recently I have been to a few productions by Opera North which have employed the services of a signer to interpret the opera for the deaf. Unfortunately I have usually found this extremely distracting as the signer is on stage for the whole opera and not only uses her hands but also her face to convey what is happening. I began to wonder how many deaf people are opera fans. Christine said that the problem was that if hearing people were going for a night out to the opera , deaf members of their family would feel excluded and that was why there was a signer. I mentioned that recently I was in Rome at a papal audience at which it was announced by a Monsignor who was responsible for the English version of what was going on that there was a group of hearing-impaired people from the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in the square. I told Christine that I had asked the Monsignor whether it would not have been a good idea to have a signer at papal audiences and she was impressed that I had made the suggestion. I did manage to see the contingent of deaf people after the funeral and they were pleased with the service so I assume I had managed to speak at the required speed after all!

Fr Benedict Groeschel

Much to my surprise Fr Benedict Groeschel was in our diocese on Wednesday to talk about Developments in Pastoral Counselling. His visit had been announced in the Ad Clerum as a private initiative of one of our priests. It was disappointing that he was not giving an official talk to the priests of the diocese in the ongoing formation programme. About fourteen priests were present although only about half from our diocese while others came from Middlesborough, Leeds, Birmingham and even Arundel and Brighton. Most were quite young.

I set off for Stockton although I had some difficulty finding it, not having been to this part of the diocese very often, and so I arrived about fifteen minutes late. The first talk was about recent developments in psychology, a subject about which I know nothing. It appears that there has been something of a revolution in the study of pyschology. Freud is out and many of the leading pyschologists are discovering the concept of virtue and the writings of Plato, Aristotle, St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas! Father gave us some photocopies of writings by the secular and mainly Jewish writers who are advocating these ideas. He was very entertaining on the subject of New York and the crazebetween the 60`s and 80`s for seeing an analyst . Apparently the goal of analysis was to move the patient from misery to unhappiness! Happiness was out of the question and regarded as a form of illness since how could anyone be happy given the mortal condition. His explanations at this point explained a lot about Woody Allan I thought!

In the afternoon Father spoke about types of neurosis and new approaches to counselling. Father seemed to be full of hope about the situation in the Church now. He came with three members of the community of the Franciscan friars of the Renewal, which he founded, from their new friary in Bradford. Father was full of praise for Pope Benedict whom he called a genius and one of the key figures of Vatican II. He didn`t allude to the hypothesis that Ratzinger became somewhat disillusioned after 1968 and the student revolts and changed his mind about things somewhat. At one point Father spoke about how the five greatest figures of the second half of the twentieth century were all religious figures bar one. He named them as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, John Paul II and Einstein. Even Einstein had a fascination with the Blessed Sacrament and loved to talk about it at length if he met a Catholic. I`m never that sure why John Paul II features in this kind of list and wonder whether posterity will still see him as such a colossal figure. One of the Fathers was heard to wonder (in jest) how Diana, Princess of Wales, had been missed out of the list!

All in all this was a very encouraging day and gave the feeling that things are getting back on track. He took pains to say that he did not want to turn the clock back and gave as an example how much better it was to have the office sung in the vernacular rather than as in his day when the `Deus in adjutorium` was sung three times a day in a grim mechanical way. Given that it is still possible to hear the office sung in Latin in the new rite, and that it was recommended that religious houses keep the sung Latin office, after the Council, it seemed the Council simply came down to singing things in a less grim fashion. I`m all in favour of that. I then wondered what he thought about the proposed Motu Proprio to free the classical liturgy. Altogether it was an excellent and most encouraging day.

Purification

On Friday at a priest`s funeral, I bumped into Fr Adrian Dixon, our diocesan liturgist. Fr Dixon is my successor at St Joseph`s and St Wilfrid`s in Gateshead. The Latin Mass continues on a Sunday at St Joseph`s: recently Fr Dixon has learnt how to say it and seems to be the celebrant most Sundays now. While disappointed not to be involved any more myself, I must say that it is a great breakthrough to have the diocesan liturgist celebrating the traditional Mass in his own parish. I have always had respect for Fr Dixon and have consulted him on liturgical matters and he asked me canonical questions at times. A couple of years ago I was concerned as to how I would bless two paschal candles with only one Easter vigil. Unfortunately I can`t remember the answer now but may need to look it up again for next year.

On this occasion I took the opportunity to ask whether we have an indult in England and Wales for lay people to purify the vessels after communion. . This arose because of the indult for lay people to do so in the USA recently not being renewed by the Holy See. He told me we don`t have any such indult. It would be surprising if our bishops were to say anything, I suppose, but maybe it will be raised at the next ad limina. Fr Finigan had an article with a discussion about this matter on his blog which includes a response from the Liturgy office of the English bishops. I am reluctant to make a stand about this in the parish without a lead from the top as they will just think it`s me who has `dragged (them) back in time in the celebration of Mass` ( in the words of the petition I was given a couple of months after arriving in the Forest). Anyway, if the universal indult is coming soon, (here`s the latest rumour) then there will be less to worry about in all kinds of ways!

Mr Luzar comes to town!

On All Souls day Mr Richard Luzar came to Newcastle for his twice yearly visit to Fr Swales at English Martyrs. I was looking forward to this for some time, since taking over at St Aidan`s, Benton, where I felt the need to provide a set of vestments of the kind I am happier with. I bought five of the basic Gothic chasuble sets and a gold one for Christmas and major feasts. I also bought sanctuary gongs for Benton and Longbenton. For St Mary`s, I wanted to get a monstrance stand for benediction as at present I use a chalice box and felt something more designed for the purpose was necessary. The picture shows what I bought and I was surprised to find it also doubles as a missal stand, although for the Novus Ordo, at present, the decorative side is not visible to the congregation. I was very tempted by a black Roman chasuble with a winged coffin and crossed scythes but managed to overcome temptation and settle for a new plain gold Roman vestment which will be useful for many major feasts.

Instead of playing golf

Many priests spend their day off on the golf course and I can see why this is a good way for priests to spend the day but alas despite many opportunities I have never got around to trying it. I was a student at St Andrews where golf was available at student rates. I was a curate at Morpeth where, uniquely in my experience, there was a parish golf club. I expect the nearest I`ll get to golf is if Fr Charles Briggs ever takes me for lunch at the Chislehurst golf club.

Instead of playing golf, I teach Latin at Newcastle university. It`s not a big commitment: only one hour a week in the first semester and two in the second. I do `intermediate` Latin. I used to feature on the department website and may do so again. This year there are nine in the class. In first semester I go through Aeneid book one and in second semester we`ll be doing the second half of Suetonius` life of Nero. I began last week ( I start half way through the term) and was impressed by their grasp of things. About half have come in with A-level ( although this does not always mean they have a firm grasp of the basics nowadays) and half began from scratch last year. I hope I`m doing my bit to keep Latin going in these difficult days. If we get a universal indult for the 1962 missal then maybe Latin studies will revive somewhat. In Gateshead I twice put on a Latin and once a Ancient Greek for beginners course for parishioners using the Peter Jones books which featured in the Daily Telegraph. It aroused a lot of interest with about 14 people beginning the Latin courses although we lost a few along the way.

The Forest is Murmuring

In a few weeks time there will be elections to the parish pastoral council. There are three vacancies and two members of the council will retire after their names are chosen by lot. Shortly nominations for the vacancies will be put forward. Before all this we have a parish open meeting ( a kind of AGM) on November 15th.

Final Profession

On the Paris to Chartres pilgrimage of 2003, I met Sr Hyacinthe of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph. Sister told me that her community gave parish missions and so in 2004 Sr Hyacinthe came to St Joseph`s, Gateshead, with Sr Jordan, to give a week long mission. I have kept in touch since and a few months ago Sr Hyacinthe invited me to her final profession. So today I caught the plane to Southampton ( a journey of 45 minutes) and then after 30 minutes drive I arrived at the convent (at Shirley Holms in the New Forest) for the Mass. The celebrant was Fr Henry Donneaud O.P. In his sermon he spoke of the Church being like a crowd of people on a march in the dark to God`s holy mountain and said that the role of religious was to be guides for God`s people. During most of the Mass Sr Hyacinthe beamed from ear to ear as she gave her life to God in a moving ceremony. Afterwards there were photos. Here is Sister (in the centre of the front row) with her community.