Bad Church Architecture

 

The website, Eccles is Saved, is having a contest for the worst church architecture.  Here are some of the entries.

Comments invited.

Feast of All Souls

The Feast of All Souls (2nd November) is on a Monday this year.  There will be a Low Mass at 8.15 in the morning at St Wilfrid's Church in York.  This is the normal scheduled Mass.  Additionally there will be a Solemn Requiem Mass at 6pm at St Wilfrid's Church.

Since the Feast of All Saints is a Sunday, There will be the usual Missa Cantata at 12noon.

Forty Days for Life

For the past five weeks, People have been reciting the Rosary outside the Unity Heath Centre in York.  Usually there are two people at a time, and the organisers fry to get two or three hour long sessions each day.  The reason is that the Unity Health Centre is a clinic that facilitates abortions.

I generally fill a mid day slot on Fridays, and up to today it has been uneventful.  However, today we were heckled by two separate residents of the street.  One was extremely uncivil,using foul language.  The other was less so, but still unpleasant.

More interestingly, an elderly lady came out of the clinic and came up to us to commend us on our bravery.  After chatting for a bit, this lady decided she would like to join us in prayer and took out of her handbag a rosary.  She stayed for five decades.  It was this lady who took the brunt of the abuse from the more uncivil of the protesters. 

A few days ago there was another unexpected incident.  A member of the staff of the clinic who must have been going off shift came up to the group praying and said: "God Bless You".  I was not present on that occasion, but was surprised to hear the story related.

There is just one more week left in the forty days.

Archdiocese of Liverpool Synod

 

The Archdiocese of Liverpool has been conducting a form of local synod process.  Although it has been impeded by Covid related restrictions, it has produced some recommendations.  Fr Henry has some comments on his Offerimus tibi Domine blog.

Mostly the recommendations are pretty generalised, and lacking in originality.  However, the following items in the Liturgy section are fairly encouraging.

3.4 The Synod proposes that across the Archdiocese there is access to a variety of liturgical styles and celebrations.

3.5 The Synod proposes that the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite be more widely available.

3.6 The Synod proposes that we use the opportunities the liturgy provides for silence.

3.7 The Synod proposes that resources be found to promote good liturgical music.

3.8 The Synod proposes that more value be placed on the need for beauty in our liturgy, in the way it is celebrated and in the liturgical environment.

Institute of Christ the King Set to Expand.

 

I reported earlier that the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest had taken on 23 new seminarians at their Gricigliano seminary.  I understand now that the figure is actually 24, and that it includes three from England and two from Ireland.

The ICKSP also has Houses of Formation, where young men are able to spend a preparatory year discerning their vocation.  We have one at Preston, and I understand that there are currently four candidates, including one Irishman, living there at the present time.  I have also learned that in the United States, there is a House of Formation with 17 candidates doing a preparatory year.  I have been unable to find information about Houses of Formation in other countries, but there must be many more discerning their vocation with a view to joining the Institute in other countries, such as France, Belgium,Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.  The Institute is active in all these countries.

The ICKSP seems to be doing particularly well in Ireland at the present time.  Their church in Limerick is attracting such large congregations that an additional Sunday Mass has been provided.  They have recently opened a church in Belfast, which has also added a second Sunday Mass.  Mass is also offered in a school chapel in Galway, and there are ambitions to have a further church of their own there.  Readers will know that priestly vocations are very few in Ireland.  It seems that the ICKSP is getting more than its fair share of them.

We can conclude that the Institute is set to grow at an accelerating rate in the coming years.

Communion in the Hand

This picture is taken from the Rorate Caeli website.

Apparently it was photographed alongside a road in Poland.  Translated into English, it reads Stop Communion in the Hand.

Wonersh

 

It has been announced that the Seminary at Wonersh in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton is to close.  The reason given is that it is taking on no new students this year.

However the cause goes deeper than this.  It is clear that bishops have stopped sending students there, and this is for a reason.  There have been reports of scandalous behavior there, and the Rector was much involved.  He was recently sacked by the Archbishop of Southwark who is Chairman of the Governors.

A lot of people are saying that closure is the best thing that could happen to Wonersh.  I wonder whether, once closed, it could reopen as a a completely reformed seminary.  Perhaps even a traditional one.  Just a suggestion.

 

Another Oratory for the Institute of Christ the King

The Institute of Christ The King Sovereign Priest has taken over another church in the United States.  It is the Church of St Leo in Columbus, Ohio.  It is a very nice church that has been closed since 1999 because, it is in an area that has become depopulated, and the Diocese felt it could not justify supplying it with a priest.  It has been maintained for the past 20 years by the St Leo Preservation Society, a group that opposed the closure of the church.

Here is the sanctuary.

The original altar has been preserved behind a forward altar, and has beautiful statues of angels, as well as a circular tempietto. 

You can find out a lot more by going to the American website of the ICKSP

Thursday 15th October

 

Thursday 15th October is the Feast of St Teresa, and there are two opportunities to attend a Latin Mass in the Diocese of Middlesbrough.  There is Mass at noon at Catterick Barracks (see below)and Mass at 7.30pm at the Church of Our Lady & St Peter Chanel at Hull.

Stuck in the Mud

 

Fr Henry Whisenant and Franciscan Friars helping to extricate a vehicle from the mud at the Church of Our Lady Immaculate & St Edmund, Withermarsh Green.

I hope they did not get their habits too dirty.

Masses at Catterick Barracks

 

This is a reminder that Father David Smith, who is an Army Chaplain, will be saying a Latin Mass on Thursdays at noon in the Church of St Joan of Arc, Hipswell Road, DL9 3BP, within the complex of Catterick Barracks.  I understand that it is easy to gain access.

The first Mass is on Thursday 15th October.  Fr smith is looking for a server.

More about the Institute of Christ the King

Canon Scot Smith of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest has moved from Shrewsbury  to Plymouth Diocese.  He will be chaplain to the Carmalite Sisters at Lanherne as well as saying a Sunday Mass at the Church of Saint Edward the Confessor in Plymouth.  Canon Smith's place at Shrewsbury has been taken by CanonWiener.

The Institute now has seven priests serving in England with a presence in three dioceses.  In Shrewsbury Diocese they are at New Brighton as well as at the Cathedral.  They have two churches at Preston in the Lancaster Diocese, and now they are in the Plymouth Diocese. 

Institute of Christ the King

 

A few days ago I reported that, this autumn, 46 young men had joined the two seminaries of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter to begin their preparation for the priesthood.  It is also great news that 23 young men have begun their studies for the priesthood at the seminary of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest at Gricigliano near Florence in Italy.  I think that this is also a record for the number to enter their seminary in a year.

Adding the two figures together, gives a potential for 69 new priests for the two Orders in seven years time.  I do not have any information about admissions to the seminary of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, but it would be unusual if there were not at least eight.

The traditional Orders are certainly growing rapidly, and becoming a major force within the universal Church.

Hull University

 

Last night I attended the regular Thursday evening Latin Mass in Hull.  There were about 25 in the congregation, far more than the usual ten.  It turned out that the increase was due to the presence of University students.  I spoke to a few of them after the Mass, and they are all very keen, one having joined the LMS earlier in the day.  Another said that he was about to join.

The LMS has been promoting Latin Masses among University students on its facebook page, and this seems to have been successful, at least in Hull.  It has also set up a database of students interested in the Latin Mass, so that they can get in touch with one another.  I shall have to find out exactly how this works.

In order to prosper, the Traditional Mass movement needs to mobilise young people, and the Universities provide a good place to do this  It seems to be working in Hull. 

Priestly Fraternity of St Peter

,

I have just read that a total of 46 young men have joined the two seminaries of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter as first year seminarians this autumn.  They divide equally between the Seminary of St Peter at Wigratzbad in Bavaria, and the Seminary of Our lady of Guadalupe  at Denton, Nebraska.  

The Widratzbad contingent includes nine Frenchmen, two Spaniards, two Portuguese, two Germans, two Czech, one Englishman, two Brazilians,one Mexican one Swiss, and one Austrian. Some of these will be undertaking their studies in German but most will be studying in French.

I understand that among the seminarians starting their studies in Denton are two further Englishmen. 

 I believe that the FSSP has never before had such a large intake of seminarians in a single year.

Church of St Stanislaus, Milwaukee

 

Take a look at this Video:

https://youtu.be/Mr8WwHvqPxs

It shows what can be done in a church that was in danger of being closed.  It seems that it is the Latin Mass that makes the difference.

Scottish Household Survey

 According to the 2019 Scottish Household Survey, whose findings have just been released by the Scottish Government, 56% of the 9,780 Scottish adults interviewed professed no religion, five points more than in 2018 and 16% more than in 2009. Affiliates of the Church of Scotland, who numbered 34% in 2009, have now reduced to 20%, but the figures for Roman Catholics (13% in 2019, reduced from 15% in 2009), other Christians (8%), and non-Christians (3%) have been relatively stable over recent years.

So the proportion of the Scottish population who describe themselves as Catholic has declined by two percentage points over the nine years 2009 to 2018.  The equivalent figure for the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) is 14 percentage points.  The Scottish Episcopal Church (Anglican) is now so small that it does not merit separate figures but is included in the 8% of other Christians. 

Forty Days for Life

 

The picture below shows the premises of Unity Health at Wenlock Terrace in York.  Is is a clinic where abortions are carried out, although I understand that that none are taking place there at the present due to difficulties caused by the COVID pandemic. 

For a period of 40 days, people, usually in groups of two or three, are gathering outside the clinic to pray for those considering abortions. Usually, the group will stay for an hour and recite the Rosary and other prayers.

A roster has been worked out, with most people attending for one hour per week.  Some attend more frequently.  Currently, there are not enough people to pray outside the clinic throughout each day, although there is a presence for some time every morning and afternoon.

Anyone able to put in a shift is invited to contact Sabastian at york40daysforlife@gmail.com