The purpose of this blog is to provide an open forum for discussion of the aims of the society; news from the wider Church and details of Masses and events of interest in the diocese. The Latin Mass Society in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough expresses its full filial devotion and loyalty to Holy Mother Church, Pope Leo and Bishop Drainey.



REGULAR TRADITIONAL MASSES IN THE DIOCESE OF MIDDLESBROUGH

12 Noon. Every Sunday Missa Cantata
York Oratory (
Church of St Wilfrid)
Duncombe Place, York. YO1 7EF

8:15am Monday-Friday
9:15am Saturday

Feast Days (as advertised) usually at 6pm.

Church of St Mary & St Romuald, High Street, Yarm. TS15 9AA

2pm Sunday.

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Peter Chanel
119 Cottingham Road, Hull. HU5 2DH
7.30pm Every Thursday. Low Mass.

VESPERS AND BENEDICTION

4pm. Every Sunday
York Oratory (
Church of St Wilfrid)
Duncombe Place, York. YO1 7EF

Compline and Vespers (as advertised)
(see link to the Rudgate Singers Calendar below)


23 September 2009

Pope to visit Britain in September 2010

The fantastic news is on the BBC here.

John Paul II visited York in 1982 so it's not out of the question that His Holiness may decide to do so next year...

Resumption of Masses in York

Starting on Sunday 11th October, there will be a regular weekly Sunday Mass in the usus antiquior at the Church of the English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace in York. It will be at 6.30pm, not 6pm as previously. For the time being, it will be a Low Mass. The celebrant will be Fr Stephen Maughan.

Please pass this information on to anyone who might be interested.

20 September 2009

Coming shortly to York

The Sunday Latin Mass in York that was suspended last January is to resume. The target date is Sunday 11th October, although we cannot be sure of this at the moment. Neither can we be sure of the timing or venue. What we do know is that for the time being, it will be a Low Mass.

The celebrant will be Fr Stephen Maughan, who has had to learn the ars celebrandi of the usus antiquior, and readers will understand that we cannot proceed until he has satisfied himself that he is proficient.

Full details will be posted here as soon as they are available.

01 September 2009

Mass at Howden

There will be a Mass in the usus antiquior at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Knedlington Road, Howden at 7.30pm on Tuesday 29th September, which is the Feast of St Michael the Archangel. Fr David Smith of St Marie's, Halifax will be the celebrant.

It is proposed that it should be a Missa Cantata, and in view of the the feast, Missa de Angelis is appropriate. Of course, this is only practical if enough people turn up to sing.

The church is very close to the M62 motorway so is easy to get to. Leave the M62 at junction 37. When you reach a roundabout, turn left; and, after 100 yards, just before a pertol station take a very minor road on your right. At the next junction, turn right, follow this road around a curve. You will find the church on your left just before you reach a crossroads junction.

29 August 2009

Priests' Training

I have just returned from London Colney in Hertfordshire, where the Archdiocese of Westminster has its Pastoral Centre. All Saints Pastoral Centre is an impressive range of buildings in extensive grounds which, until 1973, was a convent for Anglican nuns. It has cloisters arranged round central courtyard and a sizable chapel in the gothic style designed by Sir Ninian Compar. Although the buildings were conceived on a grand scale, with elegant parlours and a spacious great hall, the bedrooms, being the former nuns' cells, are small and make few concessions to the modern age. Throughout the five days that I was there, I found the food good and the staff helpful.

More than 20 priests attended with the intention learning to celebrate Mass in the usus antiquior. Some were beginners and studied Low Mass; others, who had attended previous conferences, studied the rubrics of Missa Cantata or Solumn Mass. Tuition was given by six experienced priests who regularly celebrate in the older form. During the course of the week, at least five priests offered their first Mass in the extraordinary form.

Besides tuition in the ars celebrandi, there were spiritual lectures and a range of liturgies which were designed to be examples of best practice. These included Vespers, Compline and Benediction, as well as daily public Mass. Plainsong and polyphonic settings were provided by the Charles Finch Singers who also lead the singing of the office.

Private Masses began at 6.15am and and took place at various side altars, providing plenty of early morning work for the team of servers, who were on duty later in the day at the public liturgies.

01 August 2009

Masses in the Usus Antiquior in the Middlesbrough Diocese

A reminder that Fr William Charlton celebrates a Mass in the traditional rite every Sunday at 6pm at the Church of St Alphonsus in North Ormsby in Middlesbrough. It is usually a Low Mass and is preceded by Rosary and Benediction at 5.30.

The Mass that was formerly held twice each month at the Church of the English Martyrs in York is temporarily suspended, due to the transfer of Fr Charlton to Middlesbrough. It is hoped that it will be resumed in September. News will be posted on this site as soon as information becomes available.

27 June 2009

Straight Talking from Swiss Bishop

Fr Zulsdorf on his blog, What Does the prayer Really Say, has a very good piece written by the Bishop of Basel.

The Church in Switzerland is extremely liberal, even to the extent that the Bishop of Basel is elected by the laity, with the Vatican having little say in the matter. It seems that the liberals of the Diocese of Basel have elected the wrong man, and have found themselves with an extremely orthodox Bishop who is not afraid to speak his mind. He has recently hit out at his Vatican II obsessed critics, by pointing out that Vatican II requires pride of place to be given to Gregorian Chant and that Latin be retained.

Go over to WDTPRS and read it for yourself. It is really good.

22 June 2009

Reminder. Missa Cantata this Saturday!

For those of you able to go, we have a Missa Cantata this Saturday at 3pm in the church of St Alphonsus, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough for the Patronal Feast of the Diocese, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The Mass will be sung by The Rudgate Singers, who will sing Palestrina's Missa 'Veni Sponsa Christi' with motets by Elgar and Croce. The Gregorian Chant Propers for the feast will be sung, and the Mass will conclude with the singing of the Solemn Salve Regina.

Please do come if you can, and encourage others to do so!

A further note: we desperately need servers for this Mass! Please email me via the Rudgate Singers link if you are able to serve.

Thank you.

LMS AGM & Annual High Mass

The AGM

After all the furore earlier in the year caused by the resignations of Julian Chadwick and John Eidenow there was a great deal of anticipation as to how this would be covered by the AGM. However anyone expecting any detailed explanations will have left sorely disappointed. The issue was not glossed over and to their credit the committee did tackle the issue head on but there is a clear perception that, for whatever reason, the committee is unwilling to explain the issues that caused them to vote for a motion of no confidence in Julian Chadwick. Whilst they may have their reasons and I don't doubt they are genuinely held; I cannot believe this secrecy is in either their interests or those of the society. At the moment, rightly or wrongly, there is still a great deal of discontent over Mr Chadwick's removal as chairman. If the committee felt strongly enough to vote for a motion of no confidence in him then I am prepared to accept their decision but I would still like to know what caused them to make take that course of action. In the absence of a clear statement there are a lot of ridiculous rumours flying around on the blogosphere and elsewhere. There was the absurd 'class divide' nonsense commented on at Holy Smoke and the pro and anti Merton stances on the priests training conferences and then there are the comments about Deacon Hemming's dubious philosophical writings. Clearing this up is in the interests of the society and the new committee. The committee might actually find that we, the members, support their actions but without knowing it's very difficult. There was also no explanation as to why Mgr Conlon decided to resign as the society's chaplain although the AGM did note their thanks by acclamation.

Anyway, onto the good news, despite the controversy surrounding their appointments, the LMS does have an excellent committee in the shape of the new chairman, Joseph Shaw, and the new treasurer, Paul Waddington. They both look set to be an energising force to drive through the changes necessary in the society to enable it to flourish in the post Summorum Pontificum world. Both have excellent ideas on how to take the society forward and to ensure that, as Fr Martin Edwards stated in his address to the AGM, we build on the past successes and ensure that the Mass of Ages spreads throughout the dioceses and parishes so that in time it is celebrated, in the words of Cardinal Hoyos, not just in some of the parishes but all the parishes. The triumph of the priests training conference at Ushaw will be followed by another training conference at London Colney this time with the full approval and support of the Archdiocese of Westminster – who will even be paying for the first Mass, which will be in the Ordinary Form. As the chairman stated, this is not out of place - for when priests return to their parishes they will celebrate both forms. So it is important that they (and one might add the bishops!) can see that both forms can co-exist side by side.

The Mass

After the phenomenal occasion of Cardinal Hoyos' visit last year this was never going to approach the scale or impact of that event and yet even ones decreased expectations were not met. In it's favour we had his Lordship Bishop Arnold as celebrant, the vestments were beautiful, Mass was celebrated at the High Altar (the other Altar seems to have been permanently removed – Deo Gratias) and the schola of the Cathedral Choir sang. On the downside, the music was simply dreadful (Duruffle's Messe Cum Iubilo). Without criticising the singing of the schola, which was as good as one would expect, the choice of music was just awful and sounded as if they were singing Mass IX through a toilet cistern. Why they could not simply sing the original chants I do not know as it would have been far preferable to this. When the LMS is prepared to fund polyphonic choirs at Maiden Lane, where the maximum congregation must be barely 200, it would be hoped that they could manage the same for the premier Mass organised by the Society. Also the Salve Regina was not sung at the end (at a Mass for the BVM!) and there was no pontifical blessing as Bishop Arnold processed down the nave. When large numbers of people had travelled so far to attend this Mass it would be hoped that the LMS could do better.

13 June 2009

Latin Masses in the Diocese of Middlesbrough

Fr Charlton continues to celebrate a Mass in the usus antiquior at 6pm each Sunday at the Church of St Alphonsus in North Ormesby, Middlesbrough. It is preceded by Rosary and Benediction at 5.30pm.

The Sunday Masses at the church of the English Martyrs in York have been suspended since February due to Fr Charlton's removal to Middlesbrough. It is expected that they will resume in September when Fr Stephen Maughan has been fully trained. In the meantime, people living in the York area are advised that there is a Low Mass every Sunday at 3pm at the church of St Joseph in Castleford, which is in the Leeds Diocese.