Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Season of Septuagesima
The abolition of the Season of Septuagesima in the revised calendar not only removes a welcome opporunity to prepare for Lent, but creates a problem for churches where both the old and the new Mass are celebrated. In the Oxford Oratory (pictured), the celebrant is vested in purple (for Quinquagesima Sunday), while the altar and tabernacle are in green for an 'Ordinary Sunday of the Year'.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Pro-Life Conference for Students in Oxford
SPUC UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
CONFERENCE DETAILS
Venue: Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy
Time: Registration: 6.00 – 7.00pm 2nd March
Finish: 4.00pm 3rd March
CONFERENCE DETAILS
Venue: Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy
Time: Registration: 6.00 – 7.00pm 2nd March
Finish: 4.00pm 3rd March
Conference fees*:
£ 25.00 (including meals and accommodation)
£ 15.00 (Friday and Saturday sessions only, without accommodation)
* if fees or travel costs are an obstacle for you, and you are not funded by your local SPUC branch or uni pro-life society or other source, please contact us and ask about sponsorship.
Friday Evening: Conference introduction and keynote
Saturday AM: Guest speakers:
Fr Tim Finigan (Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life)
Alison Davis (Co-ordinator of No Less Human)
Anthony McCarthy (Linacre Centre for healthcare ethics)
Saturday PM: Workshops, interaction, planning
For further information on the conference please contact Rab Macdonald on (07957) 844 790 or email unistudent@spuc.org.uk .
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Screening of 'Into Great Silence'
an instant classic, this is a beautifully made fly-on-the-wall documentary of the life of the Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse.
Sunday, 18th March, 2pm, at the Oxford Oratory, in the 'Social Club'.
Sunday, 18th March, 2pm, at the Oxford Oratory, in the 'Social Club'.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Lent: prayer, almsgiving and fasting
The Church asks us to do works of prayer, almsgiving and fasting during Lent.
Prayer: anyone looking for extra devotions in Lent would do well to consider the Holy Hours at SS Gregory and Augustine, when Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is followed by Traditional Benediction. These take place every Thursday 10.00 am - 5.00 pm; every Saturday 10.00 - 11.00 am. Confession is available during Exposition on Saturdays, and 4.30-5pm on Thursdays.
Another possibility is Traditional Vespers and Benediction on Sundays at the Oxford Oratory: Vespers at 5.30pm, Benediction at 6pm.
Also recommended is the veneration of the relic of St Philip, at the Oxford Oratory, on Mondays after the 6pm Novus Ordo Mass (ie at about 6.40pm), and Stations of the Cross at the Oxford Oratory on Fridays at 5.30.
Almsgiving. Not all charities are worthy of our donations; here are some which support the Traditional Mass:
St Catherine's Trust: runs an annual Traditional Catholic Summer School.
The Traditional Priests Support Trust: supports priests who say the Traditional Mass exclusively, who have no regular income from a diocese or order.
The Good Counsel Network: a pro-life charity, which gives counseling and practical support for women with crisis pregnancies, and campaigns against abortion. The Good Counsel Network is spiritually supported by special celebrations of the Traditional Mass.
Fasting. The obligation to fast in Lent under the new Code of Canon Law is very limited; to make more of this traditional means of penance it is a good idea to look at the obligations under the older rules. These varied from country to country, but here is a summary from Fisheaters:
Prayer: anyone looking for extra devotions in Lent would do well to consider the Holy Hours at SS Gregory and Augustine, when Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is followed by Traditional Benediction. These take place every Thursday 10.00 am - 5.00 pm; every Saturday 10.00 - 11.00 am. Confession is available during Exposition on Saturdays, and 4.30-5pm on Thursdays.
Another possibility is Traditional Vespers and Benediction on Sundays at the Oxford Oratory: Vespers at 5.30pm, Benediction at 6pm.
Also recommended is the veneration of the relic of St Philip, at the Oxford Oratory, on Mondays after the 6pm Novus Ordo Mass (ie at about 6.40pm), and Stations of the Cross at the Oxford Oratory on Fridays at 5.30.
Almsgiving. Not all charities are worthy of our donations; here are some which support the Traditional Mass:
St Catherine's Trust: runs an annual Traditional Catholic Summer School.
The Traditional Priests Support Trust: supports priests who say the Traditional Mass exclusively, who have no regular income from a diocese or order.
The Good Counsel Network: a pro-life charity, which gives counseling and practical support for women with crisis pregnancies, and campaigns against abortion. The Good Counsel Network is spiritually supported by special celebrations of the Traditional Mass.
Fasting. The obligation to fast in Lent under the new Code of Canon Law is very limited; to make more of this traditional means of penance it is a good idea to look at the obligations under the older rules. These varied from country to country, but here is a summary from Fisheaters:
According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the rule for the universal Church during Lent is abstain on all Fridays (inside or outside of Lent) and to both fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Some traditional Catholics might follow the older pattern of fasting and abstinence during this time, which for the universal Church required:
- Ash Wednesday, all Fridays, and all Saturdays: fasting and total abstinence. This means 3 meatless meals -- with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day -- and no snacking.
- Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (except Ash Wednesday), and Thursdays: fasting and partial abstinence from meat. This means three meals -- with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day -- and no snacking, but meat can be eaten at the principle meal.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Criticism of the Novus Ordo
Can we criticise the Novus Ordo? The following letter to the Catholic Herald illuminates this question.
'Sir,
Bishop Lindsay calls the description of the Novus Ordo by Fr Gary Dickson as "a new rite manufactured by a committee" as "nothing less than gross irreverence". I wonder what he would make of its description by another priest as "fabricated liturgy...a banal on-the-spot product".
Who was this priest who dared so to categorise the new liturgy? None other than Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now better known as Pope Benedict XVI.
Yours faithfully,
Philip Goddard.'
The quotation from the Holy Father is taken from his excellent book 'The Spirit of the Liturgy'.
'Sir,
Bishop Lindsay calls the description of the Novus Ordo by Fr Gary Dickson as "a new rite manufactured by a committee" as "nothing less than gross irreverence". I wonder what he would make of its description by another priest as "fabricated liturgy...a banal on-the-spot product".
Who was this priest who dared so to categorise the new liturgy? None other than Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now better known as Pope Benedict XVI.
Yours faithfully,
Philip Goddard.'
The quotation from the Holy Father is taken from his excellent book 'The Spirit of the Liturgy'.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
The Traditional Mass: Pastoral advantages
Fr Tim Finigan has written a very interesting post on the reactions of his congregation to a recent Missa Cantata he sang. He writes, in part:
Those who have come to the Church out of interest and are unfamiliar with the [Novus Ordo] Liturgy, and those who are coming back to the practice of the faith which they lapsed from in their teens are actually disadvantaged by a heavily didactic liturgy in which finding your place in the book or "worship aid" is given great importance.
By contrast, the Classical Rite allows people to participate in different ways without being self-conscious or feeling that they are not "joining in" properly. Most especially, there is a very dramatic silence surrounding the consecration. Everyone can understand this without the need to read anything or hear anything except the sacring bell. The elevation of the sacred host in the midst of this silence, and the genuflection of the priest (which can be more clearly seen if he is turned ad orientem) cries out without words that this is the mysterium tremendum et fascinans.
For the whole post, see here.
Those who have come to the Church out of interest and are unfamiliar with the [Novus Ordo] Liturgy, and those who are coming back to the practice of the faith which they lapsed from in their teens are actually disadvantaged by a heavily didactic liturgy in which finding your place in the book or "worship aid" is given great importance.
By contrast, the Classical Rite allows people to participate in different ways without being self-conscious or feeling that they are not "joining in" properly. Most especially, there is a very dramatic silence surrounding the consecration. Everyone can understand this without the need to read anything or hear anything except the sacring bell. The elevation of the sacred host in the midst of this silence, and the genuflection of the priest (which can be more clearly seen if he is turned ad orientem) cries out without words that this is the mysterium tremendum et fascinans.
For the whole post, see here.
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