I am slowly recovering from the trip to
Cofton Park in Birmingham, and a day that I will never forget. In the very early hours of Sunday morning, 19
th September, I joined a coach in Selby and with a group of pilgrims travelled to the outskirts of Birmingham, arriving around 03.30. Our coach was one of the first to arrive, which meant that, after a quick security check and a mile walk, we were able to take up positions in the very front row of the enclosure in
Cofton Park. Only the VIPs had a better place.
Although it drizzled on and off during the six hour wait for the Mass of Beatification, the time seemed to pass very quickly. From around 7am, things began to happen, with the two massed choirs (one of schoolchildren and the other of adults) rehearsing various parts of the Mass. Soon after 8am there was a
truly dreadful ecumenical service which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The less said about that the better.
From 9am
helicopters were flying overhead, which many people mistakenly took as the arrival of the Holy Father. In fact, I think they were carrying camera crews for the television coverage. After several passes, and dashed expectations, it was a great surprise to see the screens showing a landed
helicopter with His Holiness emerging over a red carpet. The crowd went wild with cheering and flag waving. It turned out that the landing site was some distance away, because the screens showed the Holy Father being driven by car through residential areas.
On arrival at the site there was the usual hand shaking with mayors and other dignitaries before the Pope climbed into the
popemobile for a quick traverse of the site. Again the crowd went wild, especially when babies were presented for blessing and kissing.
The Beatification Mass was
novus ordo with the preface and canon in Latin. The
kyrie was a version of the
orbis factor kyrie and Credo III was sung. The Gloria,
Sanctus and
Agnus Dei were in English and taken from James Macmillan's Mass, specially composed for the beatification. The choirs sang very well, considering that they had only come together a few hours before. I was a little disappointed with the selection of music. To my mind, Macmillan's Mass was not as wonderful as many had made out, and I suppose it was inevitable that some
Taize chant would have been included. However Elgar's
Ave Verum was much welcomed, as were other motets; and
Praise to the Holiest was sung with great gusto.
I was very heartened to see how well the altar servers had been trained and how well they presented themselves. I could not say the same for all the numerous
concelebrants, many of whom
seemed not to have their attention fully focused on the actions on the sanctuary. Despite one or two criticisms, it must be said that the Mass was a wonderful experience, and credit for this largely rests with Mgr
Marini who has the ability to control things whilst hardly being noticed.
At the end of Mass, and before the final blessing, the Holy Father delivered his
Angelus address, normally given in St Peter's Square. Then the
Angelus was recited in Latin. After a final hymn, an English version of the
Te Deum was sung to a setting by Haydn. I would have much preferred it in Latin and plainchant.
The actual beatification ceremony was early in the Mass, just after the
kyrie. It took the form of Archbishop
Longley presenting the cause to the Holy Father, and the Holy Father giving his assent and declaring that the feast day would be 9
th October. Then the relics of Cardinal Newman were presented to the Holy Father. Later
Beatus Joannus Hinricus was invoked in the canon of the Mass.
After Mass, Pope Benedict was immediately taken to his next engagement. In the two hours that remained before our coach was due to depart, I walked through the crowd in the hope of spotting people I knew; and then purchased a sweatshirt as a memento of the occasion. We arrived back in Selby at 5.15, which was just nice time to get to York for Mass at 6.30.
The thing that impressed me most was the behaviour of the 50,000 or so people in the crowd. Before and during the Pope's arrival, the atmosphere was electric with wild shouting and cheering. As soon as Mass began, there was perfect silence. This is despite the congregation including mothers with babies, young families, youth groups and pensioners. It is a measure of the power of the Holy Father's presence, that he can engender such euphoria one moment and such prayerful attention the next. I doubt whether there is another man living who could do the same.
GOD BLESS OUR POPE