Saturday, November 21, 2009

Missa Cantata in St Anthony of Padua, Headington

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Fr Simon Leworthy FSSP sang Mass for the LMS for the feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, in the church of St Anthony of Padua. We were the guests of Fr Aldo Tapparo, the parish priest, who sat in the nave. Fr Leworthy is wearing one of Fr Tapparo's beautiful chasubles.
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The Mass was accompanied by the Schola Abelis (including me), who sang not only the chant propers but the Missa de Beata Virgine by Josquin des Pres. A video clip can be seen on the Schola's blog.
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The church is one of the most modern in Oxford (of which Headington is a suburb). It used to be dominated by pine but more recently it has been redecorated in the pastel colours you can see in the photos. Although the church was clearly not designed with the traditional liturgy in mind, it does not impede it either - there is plenty of space in front of the altar, for example, and it is possible for people to kneel in a row on a step for communion. The church also boasts a pipe organ.
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More photos here.

3 comments:

  1. Joseph:

    Would you mind if I reposted this on the 'FSSP Vocations Scotland & Ireland' blog?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Please go ahead, Mark!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just have, Joseph; thank you!

    (see here)

    by the way, I would like to rebrand the blog so it is for the whole of the UK. I thought I would mention this to you, in case you knew of anyone who would be interested to help it keep going, particularly in case I am accepted to A Certain Place!

    ReplyDelete