Saturday, February 13, 2010

Ushaw Conference

I received this notice from the LMS regarding the forthcoming Ushaw training conference. I`m sorry to hear that there have not been so many applications so far. It was a marvellous week last year and I hope we can repeat it this year. Even if many priests learnt how to celebrate Low Mass last year, surely there must be still quite a few who would enjoy learning how to celebrate Missa Cantata or how to be a subdeacon or deacon at High Mass.Apart from anything there was the company of good priests and wonderful liturgies and the splendid architecture of Ushaw. There is also a notice about training for Masters of Ceremonies.

Latin Mass Society
Priests’ Training Conference
Ushaw College
12th to 16th April 2010

The Latin Mass Society has announced that, although a good number of bookings have been received for the Priests’ Training Conference to be held at Ushaw College in Co Durham during Low Week, about 12 places are still available; and it is expected that these will be taken in the next few weeks.

The conference will provide tuition for priests wishing to learn to celebrate Mass in the usus antiquior, or traditional form, with classes for beginners and more advanced students, as well as those wishing to learn to sing at a Missa Cantata or to celebrate a Solemn Mass. The conference will also include a range of liturgies which will be examples of best practice in the traditional rites. There will also be a spiritual lecture.

Ushaw College is an ideal location for this conference because of the range of facilities it offers, including numerous chapels and side altars for practice Masses. A schola and polyphonic choir will be in attendance to provide the music at all services which will take place in the magnificent St Cuthbert’s Chapel.

As an innovation this year, a simultaneous course will be run for servers wishing to learn how to be an MC at a Missa Cantata or Solemn Mass. Applications are invited from men or boys who already have a basic knowledge of how to serve at Low Mass.

The conference fee is £115 inclusive of full board and lodging. Further information and application forms can be obtained from:
The Latin Mass Society
11 -13 Macklin Street
London WC2B 5NH
020 7404 7284
thelatinmasssociety@snmail.co.uk


Latin Mass Society
Training for Masters of Ceremonies


The Latin Mass Society will be providing training for men and boys who wish to learn to be Masters of Ceremonies at Sung and Solemn Masses. The first training course will take place during the Priests’ Training Conference which will be held at Ushaw College in Co Durham from 12th to 16th April 2010. A further training opportunity is planned for later in the year in a more southerly location.

The rubrics of the Roman Rite require that there is a Master of Ceremonies at a Missa Cantata and at a Missa Solemnis. It is his job to take charge of all that happens on the sanctuary, including giving discreet directions to the priest. In the case of a Solemn Mass, there is also a deacon and a sub-deacon and generally more servers who may require some supervision. This requires a level of knowledge of the rubrics far in excess of that needed to serve at a Low Mass. It also requires a degree of confidence beyond that of ordinary servers.

As more priests are being trained in the usus antiquior, and more Masses are occurring in the traditional rite, the shortage of servers is becoming more acute. This is especially so in the case of Sung Masses which require a greater number of servers, and also servers with greater skills. At present, it is very difficult to find a well qualified and experienced MC in most parts of the country.

Men and boys who have already mastered the art of serving at Low Mass, and who think they may be able to cope with the job of MC, are invited to attend one of the training sessions. In the case of the one at Ushaw College, which is residential, there would normally be a fee; although in cases of hardship, this may be waived.

Contact: The Latin Mass Society
Tel 020 7404 7484

13 comments:

Mark said...

Good news about the MCs! I am coming to sing anyway, but some tips and tricks about MC-ing would be gratefully received...

kenneth said...

Slight correction Father, the telephone number of the LMS should be 020 7404 7284

Anonymous said...

"The conference will provide tuition for priests wishing to learn to celebrate Mass in the usus antiquior, or traditional form"
Father, the Holy See does not speak of "usus antiquior or traditional form".
When will obedience take precedence over ignorance.

Mark said...

Anonymous:
what on earth are you talking about? I'm sure I've heard Cardinal Castrillón-Hoyos, in person, amongst others, use such terms.

Discreet Observer said...

Pope Benedict XVI, in Summorum Pontificum does indeed mention the 'various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior'.
And, although he does not mention the 'traditional form' specifically, he does mention 'the ancient Latin liturgical tradition'.

I'm afraid the charge of ignorance is unfounded.

Ttony said...

Is there any way some thought can be given to training MCs who are unable to cope with a night away, never mind a week!

This is a splendid idea and needs to be spread further!

Fr said...

But at Ushaw? Hardly a thurible of sanctity.

It might have plenty of chapels with altars that somehow survived the wrecking instinct of the 70's and 80's but, sorry, I haven't been back to that playground of Satan in over 20 years and I'm not going to start now - not for anything! From what I hear, it hasn't changed that much.

Also, the video of last year's conference participants lustily singing "Full in the panting heart of Rome" in what was the Professors' Parlour gave me nightmares for a few days.

I'll get the DVD.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Fr, I suspect we must have been contemporaries at Ushaw. I share your misgivings but having been there last year I can assure you that seeing High Mass being celebrated in St Cuthbert`s chapel is very cathartic.

Sorry to have given you nightmares with the video of singing in the Profs parlour. Maybe it was different if you were there.

gemoftheocean said...

Hey, I know how you can potentially increase the server pool by 50%--oh, wait, it's an "all boys club" and the Powers that be are still mentally 11....

Anonymous said...

@Fr
"I haven't been back to that playground of Satan in over 20 years and I'm not going to start now - not for anything! From what I hear, it hasn't changed that much."

As a current student at Ushaw i can assure you that things have changed for the better, we no longer use the Profs parlour - strictly the domain of the conference centre... so i'm sorry to hear that you've been hearing from the wrong people!

Fr Michael Brown said...

Anonymous seminarian, glad to hear from you. It would take a lot more than not using the profs parlour to convince me that Ushaw is any better than it was in the 1980`s. Unfortunately seminarians are such a rare species these days it is hard to get any real information about what is going on nowadays. Whenever I go to Ushaw I meet alsorts of exotic types of people but rarely see anyone who could be thought to be a seminarian.

Could you maybe tell us whether Latin is now compulsory at Ushaw and is there a positive reaction to Summorum Pontificum so that students are proficent in both forms of the Roman Rite by the time they are ordained?

Anonymous said...

As you say Fr. Brown - Seminarians are a rare species and to avoid becoming more so, maybe here is not the best place to speak about what goes on currently at 'Mother Russia'...

However I shall find some other way of letting you know very shortly.

If i may be so bold as to ask you (and all you readers) to remember in your prayers all those currently in formation.

Anonymous Seminarian

Sadie Vacantist said...

I continue to hear bad stories about the place. It should have been shut down 10 years ago and sold off.