Catholic Church in England: Mark Dowd on Radio 4

I caught bits and pieces of Mark Dowd`s Radio 4 programme this morning on the state of the Catholic Church in England today. I thought it was very good in that it gave a voice to all the shades of Catholic opinion and let the listener decide what to think. I couldn`t hear it all but it is repeated tonight at 9.30 and I`m sure will be on the iplayer after that. I did manage to hear most of the stuff about Blackfen and to hear Fr Finigan interviewed and I thought he put his points across very well. The young Catholic who said the great thing about being a Catholic is that you can pick and choose what you want to believe made my heart sink the most.

There is a thoughtful review on The Sensible Bond.

Pantokrator for Longbenton

I am glad to say that Sr Petra Clare has completed the large Pantokrator for SS Peter and Paul`s, Longbenton. Unfortunately it is not yet in place as there have been delays with the holidays. It is still in its crate. I`m very keen to see it. Sister has however sent some photos of the completed icon. Here they are. Next item will be the Coronation of the Virgin to go above the Annunciation icon at St Mary`s, Forest Hall.

And here is where it will go (on the centre panel where the outline of the former cross can be seen.

Dominicans at Durham

On Sunday I went through to Durham to celebrate Rosary and Benediction for a group of Catholic famillies who were saying goodbye to the Shogren family who have been part of the group for a number of years (and Paul Shogren has led the band for St Patrick`s night here at Forest hall for the last few years) who are returning to their native Australia. I`d not been inside the church of St Cuthbert`s Durham for about twenty years and forgot that it is one of the more attractive churches of the diocese. However while there I was told that the parish newsletter a couple of weeks ago had announced that the Dominicans would be coming to run the chaplaincy and parish from 2012. At present the parish priest, Fr Currer, is also university chaplain.

Back in November 2008 I said it was a pity that no male religious community had had a presence in the city (although there were a couple of Mill Hill fathers living at Tenter Terrace for a while). I think this is a very exciting development for the university Catholic chaplaincy. It will give an added strength to the Catholic presence which a single priest in his own cannot provide. It may also result in a few more vocations for the Dominicans ( who nonetheless don`t seem to be doing so badly these days compared to others).

While I`m on the topic of university chaplaincies I`m sure the Dominicans would go down well at my old university, St Andrews, too!

More Downside photos

Thanks to Leo for another batch of photos from Downside.

Downside photos

Many thanks to Leo for these photos from this week`s Training Conference at Downside. I see quite a few familiar faces there. I hope all went well and I`m sure we`ll hear more across the blogosphere.

Downside

I`ve been in Rome this week with a pilgrimage but have been checking my email and have heard that the Downside conference has been a great success with over a hundred people at the Pontifical Mass celebrated by bishop Schneider this morning which is excellent for a weekday Mass in a somewhat out of the way place like Downside. I look forward to seeing pictures soon.

Catching up with the LMS

I`ve had quite a few emails with information from the LMS in the last two weeks. The first were about the Downside training course which I`m gald to say has no spare places left. I would very much have liked to go especially as bishop Athanasius Schneider will be there, but unfortunately I can`t make it. The conference runs from August 10th -13th and the Masses are open to the publlic. Other bloggers have been quicker to post the details but for anyone who hasn`t seen them they are as follows:

Latin Mass Society Training Conference for Priests Wishing to Learn the Extraordinary Form of Mass

at Downside Abbey
Stratton on the Fosse, Radstock, Somerset BA3 4RH

Liturgies Open to the Public

Tuesday 10 August at 11.00 am
(St Lawrence Martyr)
Solemn Mass

Wednesday 11 August at 11.15 am
(SS Tibertius & Susanna Martyrs)
Missa Cantata

Thursday 12 August at 11.00 am
(St Clare Virgin)
Pontifical High Mass
Celebrant: Bishop Athanasius Schneider ORC
Auxiliary Bishop of Karaganga, Kazakhstan

Friday 13 August at 11.00 am
(SS Hippolytus & Cassian Martyrs)
Solemn Mass

Details: LMS office on 020 7404 7284


Also I got information about the walking pilgrimage to Walsingham later this month which I have mentioned before. Here it is:

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

For Immediate Release

5 August 2010

* Latin Mass Society Introduces a Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham

The Latin Mass Society is organising a Walking Pilgrimage from Ely to Walsingham from Friday 20 August to Sunday 22 August. There is a noble tradition of walking pilgrimages to Walsingham which the LMS wishes to revive. The pilgrimage is inspired by the great Paris to Chartres Traditional annual walking pilgrimage which attracts thousands of young participants.
The LMS pilgrims will leave Ely on Friday 20 August after a 7.00 am blessing in Ely Cathedral. Accommodation will be in tents. There will be daily Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite concluding with a Traditional Mass in the Chapel of Reconciliation at Walsingham at 2.30 pm on Sunday 22 August. This will be open to all.
The pilgrimage will be restricted to adults for this year whilst any practical problems are ironed out. It is hoped it will be much larger next year.
Dr Joseph Shaw, LMS Chairman, said: “I am very excited by this pilgrimage – it’s the sort of practical and challenging devotion which young people in particular find of great benefit. This is just one of the evangelical activities by which the LMS is responding to Pope Benedict’s call for a fresh presentation of the Faith in Europe”.
For registration and full details potential pilgrims should e mail the organiser, Paul Smeaton, on paulsmeaton@hotmail.co.uk or telephone the LMS office on 020 7404 7284.


For further information, please contact John Medlin, General Manager, or James Murphy, LMS Office Manager, on (T) 020 7404 7284; (F) 020 7831 5585;
(E mail) info@latin-mass-society.org

Good News from Reading

I`ve been away last week and have quite a few things to catch up on but I just thought I should mention the email I had today from Fr de Malleray of the FSSP. The Fraternity recently bought a house near to the church of St William of York where they say Mass. The news is that this house has now been canonically erected. At my talk at the LMS AGM I lamented that although the FSSP is present in England it has no canonically-approved houses and so no stability. I`m delighted to say that that has changed. This means the Fraternity has a permanent, canonical presence in the dioceseof Portsmouth. And once people see that it doesn`t mean that the diocese of Portsmouth has collapsed as a result it may lead to other foundations in England, God willing. Congratulations to Fr de Malleray and the FSSP!

Fr de Malleray wrote:

Sunday 1st August 2010, St John Fisher House, Reading.

Dear Rev Fathers,

It is with great joy that I share with you an important news: the house of the Fraternity of St Peter in England, based in Reading, Portsmouth Diocese, is canonically erected as of today. It has been four years since the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter has started offering Mass here every Sunday. It is almost two years since we have moved our permanent residence to Reading. It is one and a half year since we have started leading communal life here with Fr Leworthy, FSSP. It is one year since we have had our offer accepted for the purchase of our house on Eastern Avenue.

Canonical erections of our houses worldwide are made by the Superior General of our Fraternity, Very Rev Fr John Berg. But by law, canonical erections necessary require prior consent in writing of the diocesan bishop. We are very grateful to Bishop Crispian Hollis who has granted permission for the canonical erection of St John Fisher House in his diocese (Reading). [The quotes below from the Code of Canon Law of the Church will detail for you the meaning of this step.] A precious consequence of this is the permission to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved in our oratory, where we pray the Divine Office daily. Also, there is no limit of time as to the duration of the canonical erection, by itself a permanent status.Many sympathetic clergy and faithful across the country have contributed to this good result through their material and spiritual support. Today’s Solemn High Mass will be offered at all their intentions. Deo gratias.

Can. 609 §1 A house of a religious institute is established, with the prior written consent of the diocesan Bishop, by the authority competent according to the constitutions. Can. 610 §1 In establishing religious houses, the welfare of the Church and of the institute are to be kept in mind, and care must be taken to safeguard everything that is necessary for the members to lead their religious life in accordance with the purposes and spirit proper to the institute. §2 No house is to be established unless it is prudently foreseen that the needs of the members can be suitably provided for.Can. 611 The consent of the diocesan Bishop for the establishment of a religious house carries with it the right: 1° to lead a life according to the character and purposes proper to the institute; 2° to engage in the works which are proper to the institute, in accordance with the law, and subject to any conditions attached to the consent; 3° for clerical religious institutes to have a church, subject to the provisions of can. 1215 §3, and to conduct the sacred ministries, with due observance of the law.

Very Rev Fr John Berg, FSSP will solemnly inaugurate St John Fisher House on Sunday 3rd October 2010. After the 11am Solemn High Mass (External Solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary) at St William of York Church, the faithful are welcome to come to the house for visit and refreshments.

Clergy (diocesan, religious, seminarians) are cordially invited for a special 'Opening' day at St John Fisher House on Monday 11th October 2010 from 11am to 4pm, on the Feast of the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary (please kindly let us know if you intend to attend, and if you would require accommodation the night before).

Cordially yours in Our Lord,
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP

Favourite Prayers Meme

I`m rather late to this and have been tagged three times but off the top of my head and as the rules exclude prayers from the liturgy I would say:

a) the Rosary,
b) May He support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest and peace at the last. (I always use this at funerals in the OF at the end of the bidding prayers.)
c) My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence; I beg your pardon for my sins and the grace to spend this time of prayer fruitfully. My immaculate Mother, St Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

Dilston Pictures

Thanks to Terry for these pictures from the Dilston Mass. As you will see the space for Mass is very limited thanks to the addition of choirs stalls when the Anglicans took it over in the 18th century. The altar is only a small table so I took advantage of only needing to have four candles for a sung Mas without ministers. Our MC decreed that there would not be room for acolytes which is quite true so we only had two servers. We only had one singer until the Jarrow men arrived who had heard that Mass was at 7.30 and so arrived during the Gospel. Mass was offered for the deceased members of the Radcliffe family. We have booked in for July 22nd next year at 7.30pm

This last one is of me and the Jarrow Schola

Here is a picture taken by Leo of me and a distinguished visitor!

Lanherne Sisters want to open a house in Darlington

I was glad to see this story on Joseph`s Shaw`s blog. I had heard about this a while back but didn`t realise it was now public. The contemplative sisters of the Franciscans of the Immaculate would like to open a new house. They opened their house in Lanherne in Cornwall a few years ago. Now they want to expand and are interested in the Carmelite monastery in Darlington where the nuns are preparing to leave. Problem is they need £1.5m to buy the monastery and, being Franciscans, they don`t have it and would need someone to hold it in trust for them. What a wonderful boost this would be for the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. The sisters use the Extraordinary Form for their liturgy.

Mass at Dilston

On Thursday of this week, being the feast of St Mary Magdalen, I am saying Mass at Dilston once again. St Mary Magdalen is the dedication of this historic Catholic chapel. However there has been some confusion over the time of the start of the Mass. It will in fact start at 7pm and not 6.30 or 7.30 as advertised in other places. I hope this message is seen by most who are intending to be there.

Ushaw decays

Visitors to Ushaw College walking around the grounds soon come across the derelict junior seminary building. It was completed in 1859 to the design of Edward Welby Pugin. In my time as a student it was used for youth employment scheme. It now stands empty. I once had the opportunity of visiting the chapel. I can`t remember how but I stumbled across a site which has pictures of the interior. It is so sad to see the buildings in this state. Pictures courtesy of 28Days Later urban exploration site where more can be found.

Carmel flourishes

Having spent six months on Boar`s Hill outside Oxford as a postulant and novice with the Discalced Carmelites back in 1982 I always have a fondness for Carmel. ( I left as I realised I was having a liturgical crisis.) I imagine readers will be aware of the new community of Carmelites, using the Extraordinary Form, in Wyoming in the USA, but I hadn`t realised how ambitious they are. As you can see they have bought an area in the mountains and plan to build an enormous monastery in the Gothic style. It`s hard to imagine this happening in England! According to the website they are flooded with vocations and have had 500 inquiries in the last few years. It all gives hope for the future: God still send vocations to His Church. At the same time it is strange that a community like this should be doing so well while others with similar aims don`t seem to do as well.

Whatever happened to...

.............the Compendium Eucharisticum? You may remember that on March 25th 2009 the CDW published this volume. The first part concerns doctrine and theology of the Eucharist, the second major liturgical texts and the third devotional prayers connected with the Mass and Eucharistic adoration. It was presented to the Pope on October 22nd 2009. The text was in Latin. I just thought vernacular versions might have been available by now. Alciun Reid reviewed it in the Catholic Herald and on the NLM. It is interesting in that it gives the order of Mass for both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms and also the office for Corpus Christi in both forms of the Roman Rite.

It is available in Latin from Pax Books at $48.61. I may look out for it in the Vatican bookshop when I`m in Rome in October but I hope the vernacular versions won`t be much longer in being produced as it sounds like a useful tool for catechesis.

A few dubia you may have missed

The new issue of Canon Law Abstracts arrived in the post this week. I don`t think I`m a natural canon lawyer but I do give a quick browse to see if there is anything that interests me and as always I went first for the section on the Eucharist to see what there was.

There were three responses by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2009 two of which I don`t remember seeing before.

The first regards a priest either choosing to receive Holy Communion after all the congregation have received or distributing the host so that he can receive simultaneously with the congregation. Both these practices are reprobated and the comment is made:" It is not a question of human dignity but expressing his role as presiding minister acting in the person of Christ."

The next considers whether it is correct for a bishop to act as a concelebrant at a priest`s jubilee Mass so that the jubilarian can be main celebrant. I must admit I`ve always been uneasy with bishops concelebrating at a Mass where the main celebrant is a priest. The comment is made: " Theologically the bishop must always preside, even if he does so in choir dress and presides over the Liturgy of the Word but does not concelebrate. This is provided in Caerimoniale Episcoporum no.18."

This was new to me. I looked up the Caerimoniale no. 18 which says:

When a bishop presides at the eucharist but is not the celebrant, he does everything in the liturgy of the word that belongs to the celebrant and he concludes the Mass with the rite of dismissal, following the provisions given in nos 176-185.

176-185 say the bishop is to vest in alb, stole, cope and mitre so this seems to extend the possibility to him presiding over the liturgy of the Word in choir dress.

The third response concerns whether it is correct for concelebrants to elevate chalices at the end of the Eucharistic prayer. This too is reprobated. The comment is : "The purpose of this elevation is not to show the consecrated elements to the people but to express the giving of glory to God. Only the celebrant with the assistance of a deacon for the chalice should do this."

I was under the impression that this`little` elevation in the OF was meant to show the elements to the people and so wondered why very often the ciborium bowl is elevated without the people being able to see the host. However I shall adjust things accordingly. Concelebrants nearest the celebrant are normally invited to elevate the chalice but this is no longer to be done.

Small points of liturgical law for the OF but I thought they might be of interest.

CTS Reviews

Andrew Plasom-Scott, a former member of the Schola Gregoriana of Northumbria, has wrtiten to let me know about his latest blogging project which is a series of reviews of new CTS publications. His latest review is of the CTS pamphlet on Catholic Traditionalism. You can find the blog here.

More on Fr Gary Dickson`s article

Fr Dickson`s article has been very well received, not just by Another Anonymous in the comments on the previous post, but in many places on the blogosphere. Fr Z has commented favourably, the NLM picked it up here and I came across this today on a blog which is new to me, Catholicism Pure, where the author writes of `this impressive article` and concludes:

I wish we had more priests as committed, perceptive and ready to defend Catholic tradition as Father Gary Dickson.

Lost and Found

I have just had a call from Westminster cathedral sacristy to say that my biretta which I discovered I must have left in the sacristy has been found. I can`t say how relieved I am and impressed by the sacristy staff who took time to look for it in the midst of their centenary week.

I imagine in pre-conciliar days there was a constant losing of birettas on occasions at cathedrals.

Hexham and Newcastle LMS blog

I am delighted to say that our new diocesan LMS reps, David and Theresa O`Neill, have started a blog. Many other areas of the country have an LMS blog so I`m glad to see we have one too. You can find it here.