Monday, September 24, 2012

Forthcoming Masses

Delighted to announce 2 upcoming Masses.

On Friday October 12th we are planning a Missa Solemnis in St Mary's Church in Hexham.  This will be a first as our previous request to celebrate Mass in Hexham Abbey was refused.  We are grateful to Fr Christopher Warren, the parish priest, for the opportunity.  The time has not yet been finalised so watch this space.

The second Mass will be a Solemn Requiem Mass to be celebrated at St Mary's Church, Forest Hall on Friday 2nd November.  Once again final details are still being discussed but we are hopeful that Faure's Requiem will be sung. 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Nous retournons!!!!!

What a wonderful 4 days in Lourdes with the LMS Pilgrimage!

We (Theresa, Fr Michael Brown & myself) left Newcastle at 4.10am on Monday 17th September for the long drive to Stansted Airport where we joined the other 20 pilgrims.  Our flight was by Ryanair which meant an absolute minimum of baggage but, thanks to reversible vestments, we managed.  Our outward flight was to Biarritz then on to Lourdes by coach.

The weather was scorching when we arrived and it was a mad scatter to book into our hotel then immediately to leave for St Gabriel's Chapel for our first Mass.  The chapel was tiny and when Fr Brown leaned on the altar for the consecration it threatened to topple.  No regimentation so back to Hotel Beau Site for dinner then, if one wished down to the Domain for the procession.

Tuesday began in the rain with Mass in the Sacred Heart Chapel (much bigger) of the St Frei Centre.  Free time before lunch then Blessed Sacrament procession indoors.

Wednesday we had a visit to Bartres with Mass in the parish church followed by a picnic lunch at Lac du Lourdes. We had Missa Cantata here.

Thursday's Mass was also a Missa Cantata celebrated in the beautiful Ukranian Catholic Chapel with the most unusual thurible with bells on!!

Friday was our last day and again we celebrated Missa Cantata in the Sacred Heart Chapel at St Frei - no thurible.  After an early lunch we boarded a coach for the short trip to Tarbes Airport for the journey home with Titan Airways (little baggage restriction).  We 3 left Stansted just after 4pm & arrived back on 'Canny Tyneside' just before 11pm.

Thanks must go to Tangney Tours for the arrangements, to Paul Waddington for the English organisation but mostly to Fr Brown for his tireless efforts to keep us spiritually aware at all times.  Paul Waddington, Alan Frost & I served all Masses but the publishers of Fortescue need to update their servers instructions as I discovered a new role, that of MC/Cantor.  No extra pay of course.

The LMS must provide a banner which can be taken on such pilgrimages rather than be retained solely for English events, our name must be better known.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

The Nativity of BVM celebrated with Missa Solemnis at Brinkburn Priory

It was a delightful sunny day at Brinkburn Priory - former home of Augustinian canons - on Saturday 8th September 2012 for the 11th celebration of Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.  It was a Solemn High Mass

The celebrant was Fr Michael Brown - Northern Chaplain of the LMS and Parish Priest of St Mary's, Forest Hall - deacon was Fr David Phillips - Parish Priest of St Mary & St Thomas, Stella - while sub-deacon was Rev Andrew Bunce - transitional deacon.  Our usual visiting choir was The Rudgate Singers from York who sang the Ordinary of the Mass to Monteverdi's setting Messa a 4 Da Capella.  During Mass they sang Victoria's Ave Maria at the Offertory, Guerrero's O Domine Jesu Christe at the Communion and Michael Praetorius' setting of Salve Regina immediately after Mass.  The Schola Sancti Baedae sang the Proper of the Mass in Gregorian Chant from the Liber Usualis.  The serving team was comprised of servers from Barnard Castle, Gateshead, Morpeth and Forest Hall.

After the poor turnout in 2011 (largely, we feel, due to dreadful weather) it was touch & go whether today's Mass went on.  Our faith was rewarded with a congregation of about 40.  It was a great pleasure and priviledge to have in the congregation Fra Matthew Festing - Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta - accompanied by one of his Australian chaplains.  Also supporting today's Mass was Neil Walker - our fellow LMS Representative from Leeds & Salford dioceses. 

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Bishop Mark Davies attends Solemn Mass to mark end of LMS Pilgrimage to Walsingham

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury preached at the Solemn Mass offered to mark the end of the Latin Mass Society's 3rd Annual Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham on Sunday 26th August. The Mass was celebrated by Canon Olivier Meney ICKSP with Fr Bede Rowe (the pilgrimage chaplain) as Deacon and Fr John Cahill as Sub-Deacon. Gregorian chant was provided throughout the pilgrimage by a schola assembled from among the walking pilgrims and directed by Matthew Schellhorn, who is our Local Representative for Southwark North.

Around 70 people took part in the three-day, 55 mile walk from Ely in Cambridgeshire to the Slipper Chapel in Walsingham, which was offered for the conversion of England.

The pilgrimage began with Sung Mass, celebrated by Fr Cahill, offered on the Friday morning at St Ethelreda's Catholic Church , Ely.  The MC was Rev James Mawdsley, one of the English seminarians studying with the FSSP. Mass was followed by the traditional Pilgrims' Blessing given by Fr Rowe. A visit was then paid to Ely Anglican Cathedral to pray for the conversion of our separated brethren. By the end of the afternoon, the pilgrims had been blessed with beautiful sunshine and had reached their first billet at Stoke Ferry, near King's Lynn.

Sung Mass on Saturday morning was in the family chapel at Oxburgh Hall, a fifteenth century moated manor house, which, although now owned by the National Trust, is still lived in by the Bedingfield family whose ancestors built it. Oxburgh has a long history as a centre of recusancy and boasts its own priest's hole, which pilgrims were given the chance to visit after Mass.

The pilgrims continued through Saturday, praying the Rosary, singing hymns and songs, and getting absolutely soaked through as the heavens opened and thunder and lightning let loose on the Norfolk landscape. By the time the pilgrims reached Harpley village, their Saturday evening stop, spirits had recovered somewhat, which was further aided by a visit to the Rose and Crown pub in the village.

Sunday saw the last  leg of the pilgrimage and the tired pilgrims reached their destination of the Slipper Chapel. They were joined by a coach full of people who had travelled from London for the day to attend the final Mass in the Chapel of Reconciliation at the National Catholic Shrine. Following Mass, Bishop Davies gave his blessing (in Latin) to the pilgrims.

The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, which had been carried throughout the final day of the pilgrimage, led the procession of well over a hundred people along the Holy Mile to the grounds and ruins of Walsingham Abbey, the site of the Holy House of Nazareth, built by the Lady Richeldis in 1061 and which, like the abbey, was destroyed under Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. Prayers of thanksgiving were offered by Fr Bede Rowe followed by veneration of the statue of Our Lady.

LMS General Manager, Mike Lord, said: 'This year's pilgrimage was the most successful yet, with the number of participants rising to 70 from last year's total of 30. This is very encouraging. Several family groups joined us, which we were delighted about, and, although most pilgrims were young people, there was a good spread of ages. Everyone was most impressed by two ladies aged 84 and 86 who completed the walk.'

'We are grateful to Bishop Davies for agreeing to attend in choro for the Solemn Mass and for preaching. There are many other people who put in many hours of work to make this event the great success it turned out to be and we would like to thank them all.'

'We hope that our pilgrimage, with the many prayers and personal sacrifices of the pilgrims, and the Masses offered up during the three days, will bring many graces upon England and assist in its conversion.'