Looking back at the Feast of Corpus Christi

Last Thursday I attended a Missa Cantata for the Feast of Corpus Christi at the York Oratory.  After Mass, there was Benediction with a Blessed Sacrament procession.  This took place mostly within the church, although the procession did exit through the side door and re-enter through the main door.  Both the Mass and the Benediction were accompanied by excellent singing provided by the choral scholars the and assisted by the parish schola.

On Sunday, I travelled to Warrington to attend a Solemn Mass at the FSSP-run Church of St Mary.  The Mass was followed by a Eucharistic Procession which progressed through the streets of central Warrington to end up at the Church of St Alban, where Benediction was given.  Again there was some wonderful music, with a particularly beautiful polyphonic setting of the Tantum Ergo.

I thought that it was wonderful that the procession passed through the town centre, and was seen by so many people.  How good it is to see some of these older practices revived.

Feast of the Sacred Heart

Friday 24th June is the Feast of the Sacred Heart.  There will be two Latin Masses at the York Oratory.  At 8.15am there will be a Low Mass, and at 6pm there will be a Solemn Mass followed by Exposition.  This will form the start of the Forty Hours Devotions.

Forty Hours Devotion at York Oratory

Starting with a Solemn Mass at 6pm on Friday 24th June, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, there will be Forty Hours of Devotion at the York Oratory. The full programme is below.

Corpus Christi

Thursday 16th June is the Feast of Corpus Christi, traditionally a Holyday of Obligation.  There will be two Latin Masses that day at the Church of St Wilfrid in York - a Low Mass at 8.15am, and a Missa Cantata at 6pm.  The 6pm Mass will be followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. 

The Choral Scholars will be singing Missa Secunda by Hassler as well as motets at 6pm Mass.  This comes highly recommended, as does the music at the Benediction.

Please note that there will be no Latin Mass in Hull on the Feast of Corpus Christi, as Fr Massie is away.  Neither will there be a Latin Mass the following Thursday, for the same reason.

Ascension Day

Thursday 26th May is Ascension Day and a Holyday of Obligation.  Latin Masses in the traditional form will be offered in the diocese as follows:

     York Oratory         08.15    Low Mass

                                   18.00    Sung Mass

     Our Lady, Hull     7.30pm    low mass

Manchester Oratory

It has been announced that the Holy See has given permission for the Manchester Oratory to continue to offer Mass according to the 1962 books on Sundays for a period of two years.

Church of St Chad, home of the Manchester Oratory

At first it seemed curious that there was a need to apply to Rome for this permission, as Traditionis Custodes appears to give responsibility for granting such permissions to local bishops.  However, the reason is that St Chad's Church is a Parish Church as well as an Oratory.  TC includes a clause that the Latin Mass cannot be celebrated in Parish Churches, a stipulation that has been ignored by all other bishops of England and Wales.     

It seems that Bishop Arnold (of Salford) stipulated that a condition of the Manchester Oratory continuing their regular Latin Mass on Sundays, was that the Oratory applied to Rome for permission for this particular Mass to be held in a Parish Church.  This permission has now been granted by the Congregation for Devine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, which is headed by Archbishop Roche.  The permission is limited to two years, after which the Oratory would presumably be expected to reapply.

Although it is regrettable that it has been necessary to go through the process of applying to Rome, the outcome is not unsatisfactory.  One would presume that permission to offer the Latin Mass in a Parish Church would be similarly granted if applied for elsewhere in England and Wales.

Pilgrimage to Honour English Martyrs

With apologies for short notice.

English Martyrs' church, Preston

After a lapse of two years due to COVID, a pilgrimage in honour of the English Martyrs is to take place at Preston on Saturday 7th May.  

The programme is as follows:

     11.45am           Assemble at St Walburge's Church.   

      12 noon           Procession to Church of the English Martyrs' starts

      1pm (approx)  Sung Mass at English Martyrs' begins, followed by tea in the hall.

The pilgrimage will be led by the canons of the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest, which has custody of both of these spectacular Preston churches.

The Church of St Walburge was designed by Joseph Hansom and opened in 1854.  It boasts the third highest steeple in England, only being surpassed by Salisbury and Norwich Cathedrals.  The Institute of Christ the King has begun a restoration scheme, which will take many years, and is estimated to cost £3.5 million.  Currently, the first stage of the roof renewal is in hand.

The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and the English Martyrs was designed by Edward Welby Pugin, and was opened four years after St Walburge's in 1867.  Unlike St Walburge's which was built by the Jesuits, English Martyrs' Church was staffed by diocesan clergy.

Key Addresses

St Walberge            Weston St, Preston.   PR2 2QE

English Martyrs      Garston Road, Preston.   PR1 1NA

Preserve the Latin Mass

 Someone by the name of Mark Rome, whom I take to be American, is collecting signatures worldwide for a petition to Pope Francis urging an end to restrictions on the Latin Mass.  He is hoping for 1,000,000 signatures and at present has "tens of thousands".

Below is a link to a podcast.

https://preservethelatinmass.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Marc_Rome_On_MyCatholicFaith_podcast.mp3

Fr Quirke

Back in October, I published a post about a young priest celebrating Mass at a Rock Altar on Achill Island in Ireland.  Here is the picture:

I was a bit worried that it might be a photoshopped picture, and that the story might be fake.  However, I need not have worried.  It turns out that the priest is Fr Gerard Quirke, a priest of the Irish Diocese of Tuam.  It has recently been announced that Fr Quirke is now a postulant with the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, and is resident at Warrington.  It looks as if the FSSP may gain another good young priest.  If this happens, Fr Quirke will be the second Irish diocesan priest to join the FSSP in recent years.

Confirmations in the Old Rite

 Most readers will probably know that Archbishop Roche, the Prefect of the Congregation for Devine Worship, issued a document entitled Responsa ad Dubia just before Christmas.  The document supplied answers to some questions that had purportedly been raised by bishops from around the world about the implementation of Traditionis Custodes, the motu proprio that that had been issued by Pope Francis earlier in the year.  Amongst the matters covered by Responsa ad Dubia was the use of liturgical books that relate to the older rites, and the use of the Pontificale Romanum was specifically banned except in canonically erected personal parishes.  

The Pontificale Romanum contains the texts to be used in conferring the sacraments that are reserved to bishops.  As a result, it would seem that the Responsa ad Dubia outlawed confirmations in the older rite in all places other than personal parishes.  This interpretation was adopted by the Archdiocese of Westminster which cancelled the traditional confirmations that were due to take place this summer in the church of St James, Spanish Place.

It has now emerged that Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of the Liverpool Archdiocese will be conferring confirmations in the traditional rite at the FSSP church in Warrington on Saturday 2nd July.  It is likely that there will be large numbers of confirmands because of the cancellation in Westminster.  Anyone wishing to be confirmed at Warrington (or their parents) is invited to conduct Fr Quirke who is dealing with the preparation of candidates for the FSSP.  His email is:   

frquirke@outlook.com.

A course of preparation will begin in Warrington after Easter.  It is possible that courses of preparation,  organised at other locations may be accepted so it would be wise to contact Fr Quirke at an early date.

St Mary's Church, Warrington.