CIEL Conference, London

Featuring Fr Bertram of the Oxford Oratory!

TOTA PULCHRA ES MARIA

CIEL UK MASS AND CONFERENCE 2007
The theme of this year's conference is the liturgical devotions to Our
Lady

Saturday 19th May

London Oratory

Solemn Mass in the traditional Roman Rite, London Oratory church, 10.30am.

Conference, St Wilfrid's Hall, 2pm.

Speakers:
Msgr Michael Schmitz, Institute of Christ the King
Fr Jerome Bertram, Oxford Oratory

Tickets for the conference cost £6.50 and will be sold on the door.

Cardinal Murphy O'Conner: generosity to the Old Mass 'rather important'

A surprising passage in his interview in The Spectator:

A fortnight ago the Pope issued an apostolic exhortation calling for greater use of Gregorian chant and Latin in the liturgy, and any minute now he is expected to lift most of the remaining restrictions on the old Mass. Cardinal Cormac welcomes these developments. ‘I think it is rather important that we are generous in that respect, in terms of the use of the Tridentine rite.’

Hat-tip to Valle Adurni, where there is more commentary.

Correspondance in the Catholic Herald

Those opposed to the liberalisation of the Traditional Mass never seem to tire of writing letters to the Catholic press, although they seem less inclined to read them. Despite Mr Goddard's excellent letter a few weeks ago, reported in my previous post here, more letters have appeared suggesting that any reasoned preference for the Traditional Mass is impossible for a faithful Catholic, and also that the Traditional Mass should be said with elements taken from post-1962 missals and the new calender. This week, a letter rebutting these claims has appeared; the letters editor is to be commended for allowing both sides of the debate so much space, at this crucial juncture in the history of the Church:

Sir,

Vincent Ritchley (Letters, March 23rd) is not the first correspondent to suggest that the strict observance of the 1962 rules by priests saying the Traditional Mass under the existing Indult is in some way problematic, or even disloyal to the Church. It is worth pointing out, therefore, that mixing the 1962 Missal with features taken from later Missals has been strictly forbidden by Rome, notably in the wording of the 1988 Indult.

Rome’s wisdom in insisting on this is evident. Were priests to adopt Mr Ritchley’s suggestions, and say the Traditional Mass using the new lectionary and calendar, the result would be a complete Horlicks. The 1962 lectionary and calendar are beautifully coordinated with the prayers and ceremonies of each Mass, in a way, perhaps, hard for those unfamiliar with the Traditional Mass to understand. They are rightly regarded as integral to the 1962 Missal.

Mr Ritchley also remarks that the Second Vatican Council demanded that Catholics ‘hold the vernacular Mass in equal dignity to their preferred Latin celebrations.’ If true, this would have been prophetic indeed, since the ‘vernacular Mass’ did not exist at the time of the Council, and nor was the existence of a purely vernacular Mass even anticipated. In fact, of course, the
Council’s demand for equal dignity referred to the different Rites already existing, the Roman, Byzantine, Ambrosian and so on. What kind of criticism it is permissible for faithful Catholics to make of the post-Conciliar liturgy has been clarified by the words of one of the Church’s foremost theologians: ‘I am convinced that the ecclesial crisis in which we find ourselves today depends in great part upon the collapse of the liturgy.’ The theologian’s name? Joseph,
Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

Yours faithfully,

Joseph Shaw (Dr)

Who can this writer be?

Pro-Life Witness

This took place earlier this afternoon. It was a great occasion, attended by 24 people, including three Catholic priests. Fr John Saward led the recitation of the fifteen decades of the Rosary, and the Salve Regina.

In future we hope to have expostion of the Blessed Sacrament in the Church of St Anthony of Padua (which is right behind where we were standing), during the Witness.

Thanks to Amanda Lewin for organising it!

The next one will be on Saturday 28th April, 3-4pm.

New University Chaplain

The Universe tells us: "Crispian Hollis, the chairman of the Oxford Chaplaincy Board, has announced that Fr John Moffat SJ will succeed Fr Jeremy Fairhead as Roman Catholic Chaplain at Oxford University from September 2007.
Fr Fairhead has been appointed to Rome to oversee the department for the pastoral care of students within the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerants.
Fr Moffat studied Classics at Oxford University before entering the Society of Jesus in 1982.
He studied Theology at Campion Hall, Oxford, and the Jesuit College in Innsbruck, and has been Chaplain at St Ignatius College in Middlesex since 2000."

Welcome back to Oxford, Fr Moffat! Good luck with the new job, Fr Fairhead!

More on Fr Moffat here.

Historic pictures of SS Gregory and Augustine

Fr John Saward, priest in charge of the church of SS Gregory and Augustine, has found some marvellous pictures of his church from the 1940s. Although the church was never thoroughly wrecked, it is interesting to see the things which have changed, and the splendour of a Corpus Christi procession from those days. See here and scroll down.

Easter Triduum in Reading

Times have been confirmed:

Maundy Thursday (5th April) Mass 6pm

Good Friday (6th April) Tenebrae 10am; Stations of the Cross 5pm; Liturgy 6pm

Holy Saturday (7th April) Easter Vigil Mass 10.30pm

Easter Sunday (8th April) Mass 12 noon.

All in the Church of Christ the King, Northumberland Avenue, Reading RG2 8NR