Corpus Christi

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi, to my mind the greatest feast day in the whole Christian calandar.  It is a great pity that the bishops of England and Wales decided in 2006 to transfer the celebration of this feast to the following Sunday, thus in effect depriving it of ita status as a Holyday of Obligation.

In times gone by, it would be the occasion of many outdoor processions, and there was a particularly prominent one in Midsdlesbrough.  When I was at school, it was a holiday as well as a holyday.  Nowadays the feast passes almost unnoticed.  For anyone who is lucky enough to live in a part of the country where there is a Corpus Christi procession, taking part would be a rewarding way of professing the faith in a public way.

Corpus Christi

This is a reminder that Thursday 30th May is the Feast of Corpus Christi, and until 2006 this was a Holiday of Obligation.  In that year, the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales decided to transfer the feast to the following Sunday, a practice that had already been established many European countries.  In my view, this is a great pity, and has resulted in this very important feast being downgraded in the eyes of most people to be the same status as an ordinary Sunday.

With the very few priests that we have in the Middlesbrough Diocese able to celebrate Mass in the forma extraordinaria, it is difficult for us to make any special arrangements for the keeping of this feast on its traditional date.  However, there is an opportunity to celebrate Corpus Christi, albeit on the following Sunday, in a rather special way at New Brighton on the Wirrel.  Here are the details:

Sunday 2nd June

11.30     Sung Mass

12.45     Outdoor Procession

13.30     Benediction  (using the great monstrance)

Followed by social event   -   bring food to share

The great monstrance has to be seen to be believed.  It is six feet tall, and is winched into its position in a throne above the altar.

Sunday 19th May

As this Sunday is the third Sunday of the month, there will be Benediction after the 4pm Mass at English Martyrs' Church in York.

Missa Cantata in Darlington

There will a Missa Cantata in Darlington on 15th May.  The details are:

               Place            St Augustine's Church

              Time             7pm

              Date             Wed  15th May

              Setting          Byrd   Mass for Four Voices

Try to get there if yiou can

Holydays

The coming of Ascension Day, tomorrow, reminds me that we are still waiting for the Conference of Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to make a statement transferred Holydays.  One might have expected them to have something to say following their recent meeting in Rome.

The bishops were taken a little bit by surprise when there was widespread opposition to Holydays being transferred.  It was widely rumoured that there was agreement that the matter should be reviewed, but the years pass by with no public statement.  Maybe the bishops need a gentle reminder.

Statistics

I have had another look at where our readers are located.  In the last week, the top six countries are:

            UK            143
            USA            57
            China          23
            India           16
            Ukraine      12
            Russia         10

The York pilgrimage probably accounts for a spike in UK figures, and USA is generally at or near the top.  However, the showing of China, India, Ukraine and Russia would seem to suggest continuing interest in traditional Catholicism in Asiatic and former communist countries.  All good news for the Church.

More on St Margaret Clitherow

Here is the procession passing through The Shambles , where St Margaret Clitherow lived.

Margaret Clitherow honoured in York

The procession setting out from St Wilfrid's Church



You will see that the statue of St Margaret Clitherow was carried along with a couple of banners, one for the Latin Mass Society and th other for St Margaret Clitherow.  The procession continues off the edge of the picture.

Here is the elevation at the Mass celebrated by Canon Montjean.