Requiem Mass Tuesday 6th March.

The Requiem Mass of Francis (Frank) Shepherd will take place at the Church of St Mary and St Joseph, Hedon, on Tuesday 6th March at 12 noon.

Frank Shepherd, who lived in Hedon, has been attending the the Sunday Latin Masses in York and Hedon.

Ash Wednesday

There will be a Mass in the Extraordinary Form, preceded by the blessing and distribution of Ashes at St Wilfrid's Church in York on Wednesday 14th February.  Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinaece.

Bishop of Lancaster Appointed

Canon Paul Swarbrick , a priest of the Lancaster Diocese, has been named as the next Bishop of Lancaster.  Canon Swarbrick (59) trained for the priesthood at Ushaw College, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1982.  He has served in various parishes in the Lancaster Diocese as well as spending a spell in Zambia.

It will be of particular interest to readers of this blog that Fr Swarbrick has, in the past, served at both the churches in Preston now run by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.  On his return from Africa, he was briefly Assistant Priest at English Martyrs.  Later he was Parish Priest of the Sacred Heart Church, a parish that included St Walburge's Church.  In fact, an article in the Lancaster Evening Press announcing Canon Swarbrick's appointment has a picture of him inside St Walburge's Church. 

Title Page

I have to ask readers to ignore the information at the top of this blog. The Masses in Redcar no longer take place, neither do the Wednesday evening Masses in Hull.  However, the information concerning activities in York are correct, and we now have a regular monthly Sunday Mass in Hedon.  It is at 5pm on the second Sunday of the month at the Church of St Mary and St Joseph.

Unfortunately. I am unable to change that part of the blog.

Sunday 11th February

On Sunday 11th February, being the second Sunday of the Month, there will be a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Church of St Mary & St Joseph in Hedon.  It will be at 5pm and celebrated by Fr Mark Drew, who is Parish Priest there. 

The church is in Baxtergate and the postcode is HU12 8JN.  Baxter ate is part of a one way system in Hedon, so most people will have to approach via St Augustinegate, which is the main street.  The church is hard to spot, because it is behind the presbytery.  The most noticeable thing is a large crucifix in the garden, but by the time you have noticed that, you will probably have passed the entrance, and may have to go round the one way system again.  It is best to look for the Shakespeare Inn.  The entrance to the church is next to the pub's car park.

Candlemas

Yesterday morning, the Feast of the Purification, I noticed on Fr Z's blog a poem for Candlemas written by John Henry Newman.

 THE Angel-lights of Christmas morn,

Which shot across the sky,
Away they pass at Candlemas,
They sparkle and they die.

Comfort of earth is brief at best,
Although it be divine;
Like funeral lights for Christmas gone,
Old Simeon’s tapers shine.

And then for eight long weeks and more,
We wait in twilight grey,
Till the high candle sheds a beam
On Holy Saturday.

We wait along the penance-tide
Of solemn fast and prayer;
While song is hush’d, and lights grow dim
In the sin-laden air. 

And while the sword in Mary’s soul
Is driven home, we hide
In our own hearts, and count the wounds
Of passion and of pride.

And still, though Candlemas be spent
And Alleluias o’er,
Mary is music in our need,
And Jesus light in store.

In the evening, I went to Mass at St Wilfrid's in York , where there was blessing of candles and a procession.  The poem was sung as a hymn at the end of Mass.   I had not heard it before.