CIEL International Colloquium

The Colloquium took place from 13th to 16th September, in Merton College, Oxford. Masses will take place in Merton College Chapel.

"We are pleased to report that the CIEL 2006 colloquium held in Oxford this past September 13th-16th, 2006, was a great success in all regards, with more than 160 delegates in attendance (excluding those who solely attended the liturgies), a significant number of clergy and religious, and a wide representation of nations present.

The various liturgies and papers presented at the colloquium present a manifest and evident excellence in the celebration and study of the Roman liturgical tradition."

Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by Bishop David McGough, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Fr Anton Guziel was Assistant Priest.

See the CIEL website.

See report and pictures from the 'Cornell Society' blog.

Here's a long report from the New Liturgical Movement blog (with lots more pictures): Part 1 and Part 2.

Left: Dr. Laurence Hemming delivering his Paper in the Sheldonian Theatre

Here's a short video from Fr Tim Finigan.

Status of the Traditional Mass

In response to continuing confusion over whether the Traditional Mass should be allowed only as an exception, in special circumstances, I have put together some quotations on the subject from authoritative sources.


Ecclesia Dei Adflicta, John Paul II, 1988:

To all those Catholic faithful who feel attached to some previous liturgical and disciplinary forms of the Latin tradition, I wish to manifest my will to facilitate their ecclesial communion by means of the necessary measures to guarantee respect for their rightful aspirations. In this matter I ask for the support of the bishops and of all those engaged in the pastoral ministry in the church.
...
Moreover, respect must everywhere by shown for the feelings of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition by a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See for the use of the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962.

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Letter from Cardinal Mayer to the Bishops of the US: (1990)

Consequently, Your Excellency, we wish to encourage you to facilitate the proper and reverent celebration of the liturgical rites according to the Roman Missal of 1962 wherever there is a genuine desire for this on the part of the priests and faithful. This should not be construed as a promotion of that Missal in prejudice to the one promulgated eight years later, but simply a pastoral provision to meet the "rightful aspirations" of those who wish to worship according to the Latin liturgical tradition as celebrated for centuries.


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Cardinal Stikler, commenting on the report made by the 1986 commission of cardinals to John Paul II on the legal status of the Traditional Mass, (May 20, 1995 at the Christi Fidelis conference in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA):

"I can answer because I was one of the Cardinals."

He continued, "the answers given by the nine Cardinals in 1986 was 'No, the Mass of Saint Pius V has never been suppressed'."

"the nine Cardinals unanimously agreed that no bishop may forbid a Catholic priest from saying the Tridentine Mass."

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Cardinal Ratzinger, A lecture given at the Ergife Palace Hotel, Rome on Saturday 24th October 1998.

It is good to recall here what Cardinal Newman observed, that the Church, throughout her history, has never abolished nor forbidden orthodox liturgical forms, which would be quite alien to the Spirit of the Church. ... The authority of the Church has the power to define and limit the use of such rites in different historical situations, but she never just purely and simply forbids them! Thus the Council ordered a reform of the liturgical books, but it did not prohibit the former books.
...

We must now examine the other argument, which claims that the existence of the two rites can damage unity. Here a distinction must be made between the theological aspect and the practical aspect of the question. As regards what is theoretical and basic, it must be stated that several forms of the Latin rite have always existed, and were only slowly withdrawn, as a result of the coming together of the different parts of Europe. Before the Council there existed side by side with the Roman rite, the Ambrosian rite, the Mozarabic rite of Toledo, the rite of Braga, the Carthusian rite, the Carmelite rite, and best known of all, the Dominican rite, and perhaps still other rites of which I am not aware. No one was ever scandalized that the Dominicans, often present in our parishes, did not celebrate like diocesan priests but had their own rite. We did not have any doubt that their rite was as Catholic as the Roman rite, and we were proud of the richness inherent in these various traditions. Moreover, one must say this: that the freedom which the new order of Mass gives to creativity is often taken to excessive lengths. The difference between the liturgy according to the new books, how it is actually practiced and celebrated in different places, is often greater than the difference between an old Mass and a new Mass, when both these are celebrated according to the prescribed liturgical books.

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Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, interview with the Latin Mass Magazine: (May 2004)

...this celebration [at Mary Major] has reassured many of the faithful that the venerable Rite of St Pius V, which in enjoys in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church a "right of citizenship", as I said in my homily. There can be no doubt about the fact that this Rite has not been extinguished. The event at St Mary Major has, in itself, assisted in clarifying this issue, where any doubt might have previously existed because of certain misinformation.

...it is my impression that those who are attached to the old Rite are involved in expressing a legitimate religious, liturgical and spiritual sentiment that is particularly rooted in the ancient Tradition and therefore, when this is lived in full communion with the Church, represents something that is truly an enrichment.
I don't like, indeed, those views that would like to reduce the traditionalist 'phenomenon' to only the celebration of the ancient rite, as if it were a stubborn and nostalgic attachment to the past. ... In reality, what we fequently find is a Christian view of the life of faith and of devotion - shared by so many Catholic families that frequently are enriched by many children - that has special characteristics, and we can mention as examples: a strong sense of belonging to the Mystical Body of Christ, a desire to maintain strong links with the past - that wishes to be seen, not in contrast with the present, but in a line of continuity with the Church - to present the principal teachings of the Faith, a profound desire for spirituality and the sacred etc..

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LMS Press release, referring to two interviews given by Card. Hoyos: (2004)

1. In an interview with The Latin Mass [May 04], the main traditionalist magazine in the USA, and published in the current issue, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos confirms that the traditional rite of Mass has not been abrogated and points to his own celebration of that rite in St Mary Major, Rome in May 2003 as proof. He goes on to confirm that the traditional rite is now celebrated again in St Peter’s on the instructions of John Paul II.
...

2. In an interview with the Italian newspaper, Il Giornale, published 31 May, Cardinal Hoyos confirms that traditionalists are not to be seen as ‘second class’ citizens in the Church.

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Cardinal Mayer, May 2004 (Letter to Mr Dante Pastorelli, re Una Voce newsletter)
(Reprinted in Mass of Ages Nov 2005)

I reaffirm my personal opinion that the abrogation of the Missal of Pius V is not proven and I can add that the decree that I signed promulgating the third typical edition of the Roman Missal does not contain any clause that abrogates the ancient form of the Roman Rite. ... And I can also add that the absence of any abrogation clause whatsoever did not happen by chance, nor was it caused by inadvertence, but was intentional.

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In a July 13th interview with I Media news agency in Rome, Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, the newly appointed Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship:

If the Church fails to curb liturgical abuses, "people will attend the Tridentine Mass, and our churches will be empty."

Penny Renold's Funeral

Penelope Renold's Requiem and Burial took place, in the Traditional Rite, on Tuesday 4th July, starting at 12 noon. Fr Andrew Southwell celebrated the Missa Cantata at the Church of SS Gregory & Augustine, assisted by Gordon Dimon as MC. Fr John Saward, Priest in Charge of SS Gregory & Augustine, and Fr Richard Duffield, Parish Priest of St Aloysius (the Oxford Oratory), were in choir. Fr Southwell preached a moving eulogy to the large congregation, recounting Miss Renold's remarkable and long life, intimately involved as it was with the struggle to preserve the Traditional Catholic liturgy.

Fr Southwell then conducted the Burial Service in Wolvercote Cemetery. This was followed by a reception and lunch at which three friends and relations spoke about different aspects of Penny's life.

The previous evening, the body had been solemnly received into the Church by Fr Saward. The Miserere and other psalms were chanted as the coffin was carried in procession into the church, placed between six unbleached candles, and covered with a black pall.

All the liturgy and singing was done to the highest and most correct standards. Thanks are particularly due to Fr John Saward, who has successfully re-equipped his church with the necessary vestments, candles and so on, and the kindness of Gordon Dimon, the Latin Mass Society MC, and Dr John Tennant, the singer, in coming from London to assist us.

For Penny Renold's obituary, see here.

Corpus Christi Procession 2006

Oxford Deanery Corpus Christi Procession 2006

This regular event attracted 300 participants this year. The Blessed Sacrament, under a canopy and proceded by a thurifer, was carried in procession from the Oxford Oratory, via Blackfriars, to the Catholic Chaplaincy. The faithful sang hymns accompanied by a brass band. There was a sermon at Blackfriars and Benediction at the Chaplaincy.

Oxford Pilgrimage 2006

On Saturday 3rd June, the second Latin Mass Society Pilgrimage to Oxford took place, in honour of the Catholic Martyrs who were executed in the city. In 2005 we processed to the place where the four martyrs of 1589 were hanged, drawn and quartered; in 2006 we processed to the site of the Castle gallows, outside Nuffield College, where Blessed George Napper (or Napier), was similarly hanged, drawn and quartered in 1610.

Napper was born in Holywell Manor in 1550, and educated in Corpus Christi College, before being ejected (in 1565) for recusancy. He later spent nine years in prison in London for the same reason (until 1589), before joining the seminary at Douai, being ordained (1596), and coming on the English mission (1603), to bring the Mass and other sacraments to the Catholics of his home county. He was arrested near the village of Kirtlington in July 1610, imprisoned in Oxford Castle, and executed on 19th November 1610. He was beatified in 1929.

The Pilgrimage began with Solemn High Mass in the Church of St Aloysius, the Oxford Oratory, at 11.15. The celebrant was Fr Dominic Jacob of the Oratory, assisted by his confreres Fr Jerome Bertram (deacon) and Br Anton Webb (subdeacon). Mr Gordon Dimon was MC, and led a team of seven servers. This seems to have been the first Traditional Solemn High Mass in Oratory since 1970, and was a truly magnificent occasion, attended by more than 80 people.

The music was provided by the Oratory Choirmaster, Mr Edward de Rivera, and members of the Oratory Choir. The Ordinary of the Mass was the Mass for Five Voices by the great William Byrd, whose music brought so much comfort to Catholics in the period of the Elizabethan persecution. He was born in Lincoln in 1543? and died at Stondon Massey, Essex on 4 July 1623. His output of Latin works: Motets, Gradualia etc was considerable to say nothing of his secular songs and madrigals and English settings for the Reformed Church. Despite his steadfast devotion to his Catholic Faith, he was a great favourite of Queen Elizabeth.

At 2pm, after a break for lunch, Br Anton Webb, assisted by Gordon Dimon and three acolytes with processional cross, silk banner, and megaphone, led a procession from the top of New Road, past the Castle, to the site of Bl George Napper’s execution, approximately where the Memorial Gate of Nuffield College now stands. Forty people came on the procession, which was an impressive witness to the Faith. At Nuffield a large gallows, with a single noose hanging from it, marked the procession’s goal, where we completed chanting the Litany of the Saints. We paused there while a contemporary account of Napper’s execution was read out, and then processed back to the Oratory, singing the Te Deum, the Canticle of the Three Young Men, and vernacular hymns (including Faith of Our Fathers), and reciting five decades of the Rosary.

At 4pm Fr Dominic Jacob celebrated Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the Oratory, bringing the pilgrimage to a close. Thanks are due to all those who came to honour our glorious predecessor in the Faith, and particularly to the Fathers of Oxford Oratory, who gave so much of their time as well as their church for this occasion.

I'm delighted to say that this important local event was covered by the Catholic Herald, and even got a mention in the Oxford Times.

LIFE Walk 2006

The annual 'Walk for Life', organised by the Oxford branch of LIFE, took place in the streets of Oxford on Saturday 13th May, in support of the rights of the unborn. It started at the West end of Broad Street, and ended at the Catholic Chaplaincy, where a hot lunch was laid on.

Gregorian Chant Training Day, 2006

Oxford’s ‘Gregorian Chant Training Day’, with Dr Mary Berry CBE

On Saturday 11^th March, the renowned Gregorian Chant expert Dr Mary Berry prepared a group of more than twenty singers, including the incipient traditional scholas of both Oxford and Reading, to sing at Benediction and Mass, in the church of SS Gregory & Augustine, Oxford. Dr Berry gave a fascinating introduction to the history of the Chant and its notation, and proceeded to explain the principles of interpretation of early manuscripts, and the symbols used in the Liber Usualis. I am sure we all learnt a great many things we never knew we didn’t know, as well as being given very practical help and coaching in singing the chosen pieces. After a hearty hot lunch provided by Lucy Shaw at the Presbytery, we prepared the very beautiful Mass IV, and the propers for the Mass of St Gregory the Great, who, not content with converting the English, gave his name to the Chant and, with St Augustine of Canterbury, is the patron of the church. Mass was expertly MCed by David Forster, and the schola, conducted by Dr Berry, was a credit to the efforts of the singers, who had come from as far away as Powys to attend. Dr Berry’s energy is an example to us all, and we are tremendously grateful for her generosity with her time and expertise. Thanks are also due to Dr John Caldwell, the organist, and above all to Fr John Saward, who not only lent his charming church and Presbytery to us but celebrated the Benediction and Mass we sang at. The day was sponsored by the Latin Mass Society, and was a great boost to the cause of Gregorian Chant in Oxford and far beyond it.