Saturday, May 29, 2010
Progress on the Pantokrator
Friday, May 28, 2010
What I learnt at Ushaw
However there were a few things I learnt during the week.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Society of St Tarcisius
LATIN MASS SOCIETY LAUNCHES NEW SODALITY FOR TRADITIONAL ALTAR SERVERS
On Saturday 15th May 2010, at Blackfriars, Oxford, the Society of St Tarcisius, a sodality of servers of the Traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form), was founded during a training day for altar servers, arranged by the Latin Mass Society. Thirty servers were present, with the training being delivered by Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP, Br Lawrence Lew OP, Mr David Forster, and Mr Richard Hawker. The day began with an address from Fr de Malleray on the importance of the service of the altar. The servers were divided into two groups of the less and more experienced for training. Some people travelled long distances to attend - one as far as Preston, Lancashire. The two groups each had an experienced MC and a cleric to guide them: the less experienced group was led by Fr de Malleray and David Forster; the more experienced group by Br Lawrence Lew and Mr Richard Hawker. The day was interspersed with prayers and ended with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Society of St Tarcisius has been founded to encourage servers of the Traditional Mass in their work on the altar, to provide training for new servers and the more experienced, to promote a high standard of reverence and accuracy, and to form a network through which servers can stay in touch and share resources.
The Society of St Tarcisius is sponsored by the Latin Mass Society, though membership is open to all who wish to serve the Traditional Mass. Saint Tarcisius was a Roman acolyte who was martyred while defending the Holy Eucharist from profanation during the fierce persecutions of the third century. The sodality has taken “Fidelis usque ad mortem” – Faithful even unto death – as its motto, and seeks to inculcate in servers an intense devotion and reverence for Our Lord in the Eucharist, as well as a precise attention to the ceremonies of the Mass.
The society’s website is www.saint-tarcisius.org.uk. Servers wishing to join the sodality should contact the Secretary, Mr David Forster, at secretary@saint-tarcisius.org.uk.
Photographs of the training event on Saturday 15th May can be seen at www.lmschairman.org/2010/05/server-master-class-report.html
The Latin Mass Society and the Society of St Tarcisius will be holding a residential training course for lay servers at Downside Abbey, Somerset, from Tuesday 10 August to Friday 13 August. This will run alongside the LMS’s Downside training conference for priests to learn the Extraordinary Form. Full details are available from the LMS.
For further information, please contact John Medlin, General Manager, or James Murphy, Office Manager, on (T) 020 7404 7284; (F) 020 7831 5585;
(E mail) info@latin-mass-society.org
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
On using the new translation
UPDATE: 26.05.10 Apparently it was just a one off. Today we returned to the old new Mass.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Deanery Meeting and Our Lady of Fatima
I wish we could consider inviting into the diocese some of the religious communities that don`t have a vocations problem. There are the Ecclesia Dei communities of course but an exclusive use of the EF would not, perhaps, help with plugging the gaps in the parishes although their presence would be a breath of fresh air. Apart from them there are the Franciscans of the Immaculate, Franciscans of the Renewal or the Community of St John. Any of these would be a good thing. Sometimes I think that Catholics are so used to the scenario of decline that that is their comfort zone and the idea that there might be groups who are flourishing is too painful an idea and too difficult to understand.
The same day the Pope was in Fatima. I saw this story on the BBC news website and mused on the difference in attitudes between this lady and many Catholics who find the idea of travelling an extra half mile to another church for Sunday Mass too hard.
Many travelled the last few hundred metres on their knees, as a sign of gratitude to the Virgin.
Maria, a 47-year-old florist, had walked about 220 km (135 miles) from her hometown of Castelo de Paiva.
"I have done this pilgrimage for 22 years because my daughter was at the doors of death and Our Lady granted me the miracle of saving her," she said.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Another new blog
Friday, May 14, 2010
Rosary for the Bishop
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Aid to the Church in Need
Birmingham Oratory Event
The Light of the World
Sunday, 27th June at 2:00pm, followed by Mass at 5:30pm
The Oratory, Hagley Road,
Birmingham B16 8UE
An opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the challenges
facing Christians around the world – and how you are helping.
Talks begin at 2:00pm, followed by Mass at 5:30pm.
We hope that Father Samir Khalil Samir SJ will be our guest of
honour, speaking on Christianity and Islam in the Middle East.
Father Samir is an Islamic scholar, semitologist, orientalist and
Catholic theologian based in Lebanon.
There will be a talk, based on first-hand material, on how your generous support has
helped victims of the earthquake which struck Haiti in January.
Fresh from project trips, UK Director Neville Kyrke-Smith will
speak about the Faith in Ukraine, while Head of Press and
Information John Pontifex will report on Christianity in Pakistan.
This event is free, but please reserve your place at
www.acnuk.org/birmingham or by calling 020 8642 8668
Refreshments will be provided at this event
Thursday, May 06, 2010
May at St Mary of the Rosary
Here`s the garden:
Here`s a view of the front of the church. Whenever I look at it I think it would be so easy to `baroque it` if we had the money and the enthusiasm!
UPDATE: Thanks to Pat who has sent this alteration with the help of Photoshop!
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Fifty Best Catholic Blogs
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Grand Week
After lunch I was glad to have a brief chat with bishop Davies who recognised me of old. He asked for prayers.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Pantokrator for Longbenton
When completed it will go on the wall behind the altar in the panel with the outline of the previous cross.
Photo of Cardinal Newman?
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Back to Ushaw
It was good to see Fr de Malleray again at Ushaw last month. Seeing him reminded me that I never got round to saying anything about the consecration of the new chapel of the FSSP seminary at Denton, Nebraska. While Ushaw is a pale shadow of its former self and struggling to survive here was a completely new seminary chapel being opened in a building with capacity for 100 seminarians. Fr de Malleray told us that the original FSSP seminary at Wigratzbad in Bavaria is building an extension so that it too may house 100 seminarians. What is sad about this is that the FSSP and the IBP have been turned down when they have tried to buy existing redundant seminaries and so the FSSP have had to start from scratch. Here is an extract from the consecration of the Denton seminary. The whole video lasts longer than two hours but an 8 minute extract may be more digestible.
There are a number of places I would like to visit. One is the basilica of Our Lady of Peace in the Ivory Coast, which being bigger than St Peter`s in Rome is the largest church in the world.
I think my chances of getting there are fairly slim but I may give a cheer to the Ivory Coast in the World Cup on its account. ( They also have employed Sven Goran Eriksson as their manager which gives them an interest from an English angle.) However the Denton seminary is now on my list as well and I hope one day to see it.
PS Why does it seem to be impossible to insert video in the new editor on Blogger? I find the spell-checker on the old editor useful too. It is also beyond my technical knowledge to reduce the size of the video to fit the page.