Aid to the Church in Need

I`ve received a notice about this event which looks very interesting if you are in the Birmingham area.

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

May at St Mary of the Rosary

While the cherry blossom is out I thought I would take some pictures of the parish garden. A couple of years ago we had a May procession with the children from our primary school. I hope we will do this again although we don`t really have much useful space to walk in. In the meantime I am reading one of Cardinal Newman`s meditations for May every day at the OF Mass to kill two birds with one stone: to celebrate the Mother of God and also to let people hear something from Newman as we prepare for his beatification.

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!

Fifty Best Catholic Blogs

I was sent an email today by Karen Anderson, from the USA, who runs the site `Online Christian Colleges`. She informs me that she has compiled a list of the best 50 Catholic blogs. I was somewhat stunned to see that this blog is placed at number 17 with the description : `One parish priest blogs about the religious life, including insider comments on current news and events that affect the Church`. The list contains Catholic blogs from a wide variety of perspectives. Fr Z is there at number 13 and the Hermeneutic is number 11. Fr Blake is there too but I can`t understand why he is at no 24 as he is normally my first port of call in checking the blogs.

Anyway there are some blogs I`ve never heard of which look worth a try such as `The Recovering Dissident Catholic`and `Acts of the Apostasy` whose titles intrigue me.

There all kinds of other blogs listed on the site, such as the best 50 Buddhist or Mormon blogs!

Many thanks Karen.

Grand Week

As mentioned below, yesterday I went to Ushaw for the Grand Week Mass and lunch. Unfortunately I underestimated how long it takes to get to Ushaw from here and, although I intended to concelebrate, I arrived ten minutes late and so sat in the benches for Mass. There were about eighty lay people attending, mostly of retirement age. I was surprised to see that we had the Missa de Angelis to sing for the ordinary and the hymns were rather good too. The Te Deum was sung at the end of Mass.

The main celebrant was the newly consecrated co-adjutor bishop of Shrewsbury, bishop Mark Davies. I particularly enjoyed his sermon and thinking I might want to remember some of it took some notes. He spoke about the priesthood drawing on the example of St John Vianney and the Douai martyrs. What I enjoyed about his treatment of St John Vianney was that we didn`t get a pre-amble to say that of course St John Vianney lived in a very different world and very different Church so we can`t take him at face-value. Instead bishop Davies recalled some of the saint`s words about the priesthood especially "Oh, how great is a priest! The priest will not understand the greatness of his office till he is in Heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love". The bishop told us that the priest is to be first in faith, first in fidelity and first in service. As for the Douai inheritance, bishop Davies said `The Douai tradition is not a place, not a programme of study nor inherited ball games [i.e.`cat` an ancient form of rounders played at Douai and Ushaw] but faithfulness to something much more and he went on to recall Pope Paul VI`s words at the canonisation of the English Martyrs that what had motivated them was the Holy Eucharist and the prerogatives of the successor of Peter. Bishop Davies reminded us that Douai was founded at a time when the Catholic priesthood was being discredited as much by erroneous scholarship as by the moral failings of priests. He asked us to ask the prayers of St John Vianney that we may be true to the inheritance we have received.

Having heard all that I was somewhat disconcerted when it came to the consecration of the Mass. No-one had knelt after the Sanctus and while this is not the usual practice in England and Wales I was to say the least surprised when no-one knelt at the consecration as required by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. I knelt anyway. After Mass I saw that the Mass booklet told us that it is the custom at Ushaw to stand throughout the Eucharistic prayer. It is so sad that at the heart of the Mass Ushaw should seek to do something different to the custom of the universal Church. It seemed to me to undermine much of what we heard in the homily.

After the Mass there was lunch. My host had already filled her table but I was glad to find `1569 Rising` was there and so I found a place among his contemporaries who would have been the ordination year of 1970. It was an enjoyable lunch. Afterwards the President, Fr John Marsland, made a speech as did the chairman of the St Cuthbert`s Society. We were treated to the singing of the Ushaw song (which I`d never heard before in my life) and there was a toast to the hierarchy and the college (but no mention of the Pope: maybe he just got included with the hierarchy).

After lunch I was glad to have a brief chat with bishop Davies who recognised me of old. He asked for prayers.

Pantokrator for Longbenton

I was glad to see Sr Petra Clare had a mention recently on the NLM blog (even if the Ushaw training conference didn`t). Sister is busy creating a new icon for SS Peter and Paul`s, Longbenton. I thought readers might be interested to see the work in progress.

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?

For the visit of the relics of St Therese, I bought a large photo of the saint from the Carmelite Book Service, had it framed and put in church. I would like to do the same for Cardinal Newman as we prepare for his beatification. Does anyone know where such a thing can be bought? I have looked at the CTS, Pauline books and the websites of the Oratories without success.

Back to Ushaw

Tomorrow I am going to Ushaw for Grand Week. Well it used to be a week but now is essentially two nights with a full day on Monday. Grand Week is a reunion for Ushaw alumni. I`m going for the Mass and lunch. I`ve never been before but have been invited by a committee member of the St Cuthbert`s Society. I`ve never felt any enthusiasm for going before as I don`t have particularly warm memories of my time there as a student in the 80`s. Maybe that`s why I bang on so much about the LMS training conference as I find it such a cathartic experience. So I`m curious to see what it will be like tomorrow.


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.

Longbenton Mass

For those who may be wondering, there will be an Extraordinary Form on Mass on Sunday night at SS Peter and Paul`s at 6pm tomorrow although it will be a Low Mass this time as the schola can`t make it. There will be a Solemn High Mass on June 29th at SS Peter and Paul`s at 7pm.

Moving an archbishop sideways

The Southwark priestly bloggers report that they have a new archbishop, Peter Smith, the archbishop of Cardiff.  For a thoughtful assessment of the appointment see, as always, Fr Blake. I had said I couldn`t think of another such appointment but of course as anonymous has pointed out in the com box there was archbishop Nichols., I suppose this didn`t register as that was a promotion given that he will eventually become a cardinal in the normal run of things.

Ushaw: the LMS report

Just received this today:

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY




Successful Latin Mass Society Priests’ Training Conference at Ushaw College, Durham, 12 – 16 April 2010 (Low Week)


Between Monday 12 and Friday 16 April the Latin Mass Society (LMS) hosted its fifth national residential conference in four years to train priests in the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The conference was held in Ushaw College, Durham, and twenty priests were trained.

This year, for the first time, the conference included separate tuition for laymen to become proficient MCs for the ceremonies of the Extraordinary Form. Ten laymen attended the course.

Among the clergy present were two young priests from the Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka, who had been sent by Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, ex-Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome. Archbishop Ranjith is actively reintroducing the Extraordinary Form into his diocese.

Apart from the expert small group tuition given by experienced priests, there were Latin classes and lectures, daily Lauds, Compline, Vespers, Rosary and Benediction. Each morning the college’s numerous side chapels were used by the priests to say their private Masses.

Traditional Rite liturgies were offered each day in the seminary’s magnificent St Cuthbert’s chapel and there were impressive opening and closing High Masses at which the Church’s treasury of plainchant and polyphony was heard.

At the conference dinner on the Thursday evening, a letter of support from Archbishop Ranjith was read out. The archbishop encouraged the LMS in its work of implementing the Motu Proprio and helping priests learn the Extraordinary Form of Mass and he congratulated the Society ‘in this beautiful undertaking in the name of the Church’s Tradition and orthodoxy which is our need and the need of the time’.

The LMS has already announced its next residential training conference to be held at Downside Abbey from Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 August. Full details are available from the LMS.

Plainchant for Beginners

I am delighted to say that there will be an evening offering an introduction to plainchant at St Bede`s, Catholic Road, Jarrow, (NE32 3LX) on May 18th 7-9pm. This is being run by our diocesan liturgist, Fr Adrian Dixon, parish priest of St Joseph`s and St Wilfrid`s, Gateshead. Fr Dixon took over in 2005 saying the weekly Sunday Mass in the extraordinary form which I had introduced, with the then required permission of bishop Ambrose Griffiths, as parish priest in that parish.

I hope there is a good turn out for this event as it`s encouraging to see such things coming from the diocesan liturgy office. Congratulations also to Fr Dixon who celebrated his silver jubilee of ordination on 20th April.

New Deputy Director of the CES

Sorry but I don`t understand this one at all. Here`s the background.

Historical Background to Anglicanorum Coetibus

During a meal at Ushaw there was a conversation about Scotland and the Reformation as we quizzed one of our Scottish brethren about how it differed from that in England. During this conversation when it came to talking about James I and VI, I mentioned the proposal when he was king of England for reunification of the Church of England with the Catholic Church. No-one had heard of this and so I said I`d provide details here.

I am grateful to Mgr Gordon Read`s article in the December 2009 issue of the Canon Law Society Newsletter which in itself drew on an article in the Catholic Herald of 6th November 2009 by Fr Michael Rear.

Mgr Read writes:

Early in his reign James I wrote to Pope Paul V offering to recognize the spiritual supremacy of the Pope and to reunite the Church of England to Rome provided the Pope would disclaim political sovereignty over kings. Paul V took a tough line and condemned the oath of loyalty proposed by James I in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot. Urban VIII took a more conciliatory line: "We know that we may declare Protestants excommunicated as Pius V declared Queen Elizabeth and before him Clement VII the King of England Henry VIII....But with what successs? The whole world can tell. We yet bewail it in terms of blood. Wisdom does not teach us to imitate Pius V or Clement VII". Archbishop Laud of Canterbury mentions in his journal that on the day of his appointment he was offered a Cardinal`s hat.

Urban VIII sent a Benedictine monk, Dom Leander, to report on the state of the English Church.[....]

Leander suggested that the following measures might serve to reconcile the moderate Anglicans:

1. Communion under both kinds

2. Marriage of the Clergy

3. Liturgy in English

4. The admittance of English Protestant clergy to benefices (coming to agree in points of faith) either by conditional re-ordination or by way of `commenda`.

5. Permitting Roman Catholics to take the Oath of Allegiance to the monarch.

Later in the 1630`s Gregorio Panzini was sent to England as the Pope`s agent and negotiated for two years with King Charles I and various other parties.

The Jesuits were among those opposed to the plans! The Civil War put an end to negotiations. Charles II tried to establish religious tolerance and again there was a plan for reunification in 1663 which came to nothing. It would have allowed the king to nominate bishops, and for the Mass to be in Latin with English hymns.

I found all this very interesting in terms of how flexible the Holy See was willing to be to achieve reunification. Let`s hope Anglicanorum Coetibus is more successful than these previous attempts to accommodate an Anglican identity within the Catholic Church.

Thursday night and Friday morning at Ushaw

Slowly recovering after a week of thinking most of the time about rubrics at Ushaw.

Here is a picture from the conference dinner last night when Fr Elkin told us about life at Ushaw in the 1950`s. He received prolonged applause for his continued support for the Extraordinary Form.

This mornong we were addressed by Leo Darroch, the president of Una Voce International, who gave us the history of the organisation, and then by Joseph Shaw the chairman of the Latin Mass Society who had arrived the previous night. He spoke about some future projects of the LMS. After this Paul Waddington who had overseen the organisation of the whole event asked the participants for their opinions about what the conference and what could be done in the future.

After this came the final Mass of the conference, a votive Mass of St Cuthbert, celebrated by Fr de Malleray FSSP, with Antiphon singing the Palestrina Mass Aeterna Christi Munera which strangely was the same Mass setting we had for the recent Mass celebrated at Stella for the feast of St Cuthbert.

Thursday at Ushaw

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

Wednesday at Ushaw continued

When I feel less exhausted I may write something about this week. In the meantime here are some more pictures. More can be found on the Middlesbrough LMS blog here.

Wednesday at Ushaw

All still going well. A few pictures from today. It`s been quite an exhausting day as there is a full timeatble. There was a free couple of hours this afternoon but I used it to go back to the parish to pick up a few things we needed and to call in at the North East Catholic History Society talk.

Tuesday at Ushaw

Just a few more pictures from today. Fr Elkin of Let the Welkin Ring was the celebrant of today`s Missa Cantata. Father is writing about the conference on his blog.

Monday At Ushaw

The first day of the LMS training conference has gone well. It`s good to see familiar faces from last year and new ones too. I had a bit of a rush to get here in time this morning and then go straight into High Mass. Here are some pictures that may be of interest.

And so to Ushaw

Tomorrow I will go to Ushaw for the annual LMS training course for priests. I am looking forward to it immensely. Last year it was wonderful: even the weather was fabulous. The weather is looking good again and although things are never as good the second time it is hard to imagine how it would not be a great event. I am to be deacon at the High Mass tomorrow and celebrant of the Missa Cantata on Wednesday.

I would strongly urge priests and people who are not attending but may be interested to turn up for the daily public Masses. I thought I had posted the details but the Mass is either at 11 or 11.15 each day. Ushaw is a bit off the beaten track but it will be worth making the effort to be there.

I would also ask anyone who can to say a prayer for the success of this conference.