Prayer requests

Of your charity please pray for a number of people I have been asked or promised to remember on this blogspot including several sick priests and vocations to the religious life.

For almost a year I have been taking a former popular traditional Catholic blogger to Masses in Halifax and on occasion to Broughton on a weekly basis. On her own blog, now defunct, she charted her (amongst many other things) process of falling in love with the Traditional Rite of Mass, which never precluded her attendance at the novus ordo Mass. JT is now in Italy at the house for the many postulants her chosen order receive each year. I hope she can now focus her previously restless heart and do beautiful things for God.

Please remember to pray for those for whom nobody prays and the suffering souls in purgatory in these closing days of November.

Mother of the sick and our refuge in grief, Pray for us.

Reminder - Mass at Leeds Cathedral

A reminder that there will be a sung Mass of Requiem at the Cathedral on Saturday 28th. November at 3.00p.m. This Mass will be for the repose of the soul of Bishop Wheeler. At my request in the past Masses have been offered for Cardinals Hinsley and Heenan, but not on this scale.

I have fielded a number of telephone calls on this subject and hope it will be a memorable occasion. There will be absolution at the catafalque following the Mass.

Missa cantata in candlelight

I hope everybody enjoyed yesterday's Feast. All three Masses I attended (sorry Fr. Abberton that yours wasn't one of them) were all joyful occasions.

This evening I acted as MC at the sung Mass at Batley. It was a moving occasion. The schola sounded excellent, the young severs managed to concentrate very well for the entirety of the Mass and absolution at the catafalque.
The sanctuary and high altar were alight with flickering red candles, in dimmed light.
The other candles providing the light in church were from the altar and around the catafalque and the flickering votives at the side altars.
I was (even as MC), able to concentrate more on the Mass itself than actually serving it.

Please remember the suffering souls in purgatory and that on Sunday there is a sung Mass of Requiem for our war dead at St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford, at 3.00p.m.

Today's Mass at Bewerley

A very gloomy day weather wise was brightened by the sung Mass in Upper Nidderdale in honour of our Lady of the Rosary today. A schola of four sang the Mass and Fr. Parfitt preached eloquently on the power of the Rosary drawing comparisons from the time of the Reformation when rosary beads had to be put out of sight, rather redolent of today's attacks on wearing crosses and crucifixes at work. As Fr. Parfitt has said before, there is nothing new under the sun. I suppose what goes round comes round. We were given food for thought.
It was very nice to see Canon O'Hara the PP in attendance and four servers. One lady had come from Pocklington and a couple from south Manchester.

Christ the King

All Masses offered this weekend include the indulgenced prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus from the Ritus Servandus.

Extra All Souls Mass

Fr. Abberton will be offering Mass on All Souls at 7.30p.m. but will be unavailable on Saturday 31st. October for his regular Saturday morning Mass.
The All Souls Mass is one of a growing list in this Diocese.

God bless the Pope!

Busy weekend ahead

Masses this weekend:

Saturday 9.30a.m. Broughton Hall
Saturday 11.30a.m. Holy Spirit, Heckmondwike

Saturday 3.00p.m. St. Mary's, Batley
Saturday 6.00p.m. St. Marie's, Halifax

Sunday 3.00p.m. St. Joseph's, Castleford
Sunday 6.00p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Rd. Leeds.


News of further planned Masses to follow.

Mass (sung) on Tuesday at 11.30a.m. Bewerley Grange Chapel, Pateley Bridge.

LEEDS CATHEDRAL MASS

I am writing this post on my new computer. Both my old laptop and desktop have recently died on me and internet connection has been a bit of a hit and miss business. And still is!

The good news is that I can now confirm that the Traditional Mass is again welcome in Leeds Cathedral and that a sung Mass of Requiem for the repose of the soul of Bishop Wheeler will take place at the Cathedral on Saturday 28th. November at 3.00p.m.

Clergy reading this are welcome to attend in choir dress.
Photo above is simply for illustrative purpose and has nothing to do with Leeds Diocese or Latin Masses offered there.

God bless the Pope!

Quick reminder

Mass tomorrow at 3.00p.m at St. Joseph's, Pontefract Rd. Castleford.

Mass tomorrow at 4.00p.m. at Holy Name, Oxford Rd. Manchester

Mass tomorrow at 5.00p.m. at St. Augustine's, Harehills Rd., Harehills, Leeds.

Mass tomorrow at 6.00p.m. at English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace, York.

Deo gratias.

Deo gratias!

Not instantly recognizable as one of life's biggest optimists, even I felt the feel-good factor throughout the entire inspection over the last couple of days. Having received "outstanding" twice in the last two inspections, but under the old rules, I expected to be seen this time, to see if I had adapted to the new rules. (Not something I'm normally given to! Meat....on Friday?) I was, however, not one of the chosen many.

In all honesty I felt quite cheated that they did not see the lessons I taught and moreover the learning that took place . I wasn't observed once. I have not been to bed before 3.00a.m. since Thursday night, nor have I been up after 6.50a.m. since Saturday. I am very tired. Yet, I have not really delivered anything different to what I would normally deliver. Paperwork was eventually in place and at least my limited interest in this boring part of the job was focused for the time I had and I was happy to think anybody could inspect it.

Thank you very much to those of you who offered me your prayers and more particularly to St. Anthony and St. Joseph for prayers answered.

Please pray for a friend of mine who is trying to discern a vocation to the religious life and also to a young lad who has put himself forward as a candidate for the Priesthood.

Of you charity please pray for the repose of the soul of a 16 year old girl from my school who died tragically a few days ago and for her family and friends. At her parents' request any mention of this tragedy must go with the request that we should always wear a seatbelt.

May she rest in peace.

REMINDER

Regular Masses on Sunday at St. Joseph's Pontefract Rd. Castleford, resume on Sunday 18th. October at 3.00pm..

ALSO: The first of our regular 3rd. Sunday Masses at St. Augustine's, Harehills Rd. Harehills, Leeds start on Sunday at 5.00p.m.

Following all that great news...

I have a copy of the above in my classroom. It inspires me.

Ofsted has given my school 24 hour notice of inspection to begin on Monday 8.40a.m. until Tuesday 4.10p.m. Totally confident of my ability to teach well, my only worry is that all the mind boggling paperwork on my desk, the sitting room floor, the dining table, my bedroom floor, the car boot and more worryingly, on my lost memory stick, will be in some sort of order before Monday. St. Anthony, pray for me. St. Joseph, inspire me!

Don't expect much by way of posting until at least Wednesday of next week!

God bless the Pope!

Regular Sunday Mass

The regular Sunday afternoon Mass at St. Joseph's, Pontefract Rd., Castleford at 3.00p.m. will resume on Sunday October 18th. This beautiful little church with very fine and devotional stained glass windows is centrally located and with ample parking.

This means that each weekend there will be at least three Sunday Masses per week.

It can only get better.

God bless the Pope!

More good news

I had a very productive telephone conversation this evening with Mgr. Moger and subject to confirmation a sung Mass of Requiem will take place in the Cathedral in November.

This will be the first public Mass in the Extraordinary Form here since the Cathedral re-opened following extensive refurbishment.

I hope this will be the first of many.

Leeds Cathedral. Photograph by Fra Lawrence Lew OP.

Ave, ave, ave Maria

Last night at Batley many hundreds of people turned out to bear witness to the Faith and process from the Market Square to St. Mary's Church for Benediction offered by the Bishop. It is always touching to see the gleeful faces of all the little children illuminated by their candles, last year my youngest son even managed to set his hair on fire, much to the amusement of his older sisters.

Tomorrow is the feast of the Holy Rosary.

Mass at Batley at 7.00a.m. and at Broughton at 9.30a.m.

If you are in Manchester, Mass at English Martyrs, Alexandra Rd. South, Whalley Range at 7.00a.m.

After the torchlight procession I was able to chat with several clergy. All of them are regular or occasional celebrants of the EF and the others are good friends of the EF, allowing their churches to be used for the celebration of the Traditional Rite.

As a result of last night I have learned of extra Masses and finalized details of others, including Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception to be held at Leeds University Chaplaincy, December 8th. at 7.30p.m. You may remember that this was where we had Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation in March and the Easter Triduum.

I have arranged meetings with some priests and will report future regular Masses in due course.

What is becoming very clear is that the Latin Mass Society's role in this Diocese has changed very dramatically over recent years. When I first became rep I had to request permission for each and every Mass, this was having had to negotiate a time and place and to find a priest who, quite frankly was willing to risk the ire or suspicion and even the ridicule of fellow clergy and superiors by agreeing to do it.

Under Bishop Roche no such restrictions as had previously been imposed existed and following the election of Pope Ratzinger and promulgation of his definitive Motu proprio, interest has really intensified among many priests and bishops, locally, nationally and internationally.

The greatest majority of Traditional Masses in Leeds (and Salford) are now a part of regular parish life. As I have stated before, the Extraordinary Form of Mass is not the property of the LMS, the FSSP, the Society of St. Pius X or anybody else. It belongs to the Church and the People of God.

If anything I need to carry on banging the drum that there is nothing suspect about this form of Mass and nothing dotty about participating at it. This means advertising the regular celebrations and persuading others to do the same. There is a lot to do and much to which we can look forward.

Ave Maria!

New venue

Sunday 18th. October at 5.00p.m. sees the first of our new regular Masses at St. Augustine's, Harehills Rd., Leeds. Thereafter Mass will be offered here each third Sunday at 5.00p.m. Many thanks to Fr. Kelly, a longstanding friend of the LMS, the PP.



A reminder that the annual torchlight procession at Batley will take place on Monday (5th. October), starting in Batley Market Square at 7.30p.m. There follows a procession from the Market Place to the church where the Bishop will give Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. If the event proves to be anything like the last two years it will be a wonderful occasion and an outstanding opportunity to bear witness to our Holy Faith in public and give honour to our Heavenly Mother in this month of the Holy Rosary.

The Parish Priest, Fr. Wiley, Diocesan Co-ordinator for the EF, has told me about the incredible amount of work which goes into this event. Please support it.

Update

Next weekend sees the visit of the relics of St. Therese de Lisieux, our Cathedral will become a little Lisieux for the weekend, as Bishop Roche reminds us in his pastoral letter today.

Holy Spirit parishioners from Heckmodwike will be visiting the relics on Sunday and so there will be no Mass at Heckmondwike on that Sunday.

The Masses at the weekend will all be Votive Masses of St. Therese, this is because in the 1962 calendar, her feast is October 3rd. and all Sunday's Masses are to be Votive Masses of St. Therese, this will apply to both the new and old Rites of Mass.

Morning Masses at 7.00a.m. at St. Mary's Batley continue.

On Monday 5th. October there will be the annual torchlight procession at Batley culminating in Solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament by the Bishop. Details later this week.

EXTRA MASSES

Mass at Sacred Heart, Howden, near Goole on Tuesday 29th. September at 7.30p.m. This is a first for us. Thanks to the Middlesbrough rep for organizing this Mass who lives in that area.

Mass will be offered again at Bewerley Grange Chapel on Tuesday 27th. October at 11.3oa.m.

Mass for the feast of All Souls, Monday 2nd. November at 7.30p.m. at St. Mary's, Batley.

Plans are well under way for a new wave of regular Masses and for the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

God bless the Pope.