Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Masses this week



Our Christmas Mass at St. Joseph's, Bradford, was well attended and it was very touching that Fr. Hall offered the Mass for Fr. Parfitt who died on December 19th. I sorely missed Midnight Mass at Broughton and not because of any lockdown measures.

This week there will be Mass in the EF as follows:

Wednesday 30th. December ; 6.00 p.m. St. Winefride's, Wibsey, Bradford.

Thursday 31st. December; 9.30 a.m. St. Anthony's, Clayton, Bradford.

Friday 1st January; 7.30 p.m. St. Austin's, Wakefield. 

Sunday 3rd. January 1.00p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford.

Advance notice - future feasts:

Masses for the feasts of The Epiphany and Candlemas will be offered at 5.00 p.m. at St. Joseph's, Bradford.

May I take this opportunity to wish those reading this every joy and peace during this Christmastide and more of the same when we land in 2021.

Oremus pro invicem. 

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Fr. Geoffrey Parfitt

 I regret to announce that Fr. Geoffrey Parfitt of Broughton in Craven died peacefully just after midnight 19th. September at a nursing home in Grassington following a spell in hospital following a fall at home.

Fr. Parfitt was one of the few priests in the nineteen eighties and nineties who continued to offer the old Mass despite restrictions placed upon its celebration and there are many of us who owe him a great debt of gratitude. There was never any pomp or fussing. No ostentation. Father's sermons were usually of the same sort regardless of the feast. The message was prayer, the Mass and the value of going to confession.

In his younger days he ran the scout troop in Yeadon and recalled the camping trips and and other adventures with great fondness especially when he met some of the former scouts in later life. A man who enjoyed his own company with his sheep dog Bobby he was fond of hill walking and his sitting room had pictures of hills and mountains on the walls. He was also unsurprisingly very interested in the liturgy especially the Benedictine monastic tradition and always made his way to Ampleforth at Easter. He had been the MC during his time at the cathedral and had been told by Bishop Wheeler that he had to be a hard taskmaster. He didn't disappoint as things went like clockwork in the sanctuary.

He offered Mass in the Extraordinary Form daily when he retired and up until the first lockdown still sang the Mass on the first Sunday of the month. He also offered Mass at Markenfield Hall, the place where he received his vocation in the chapel there. We also had trips to Bewerley Grange near Pateley Bridge and he enjoyed recalling that place's link with the Cistercians of nearby Fountains Abbey when following Mass he would lead the Angelus and the singing of the Salve Regina. 

Details of his requiem have not been finalised but it seems likely that it will now be in the new year.

Father Parfitt was a good and faithful servant. May he rest in peace.     

   

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Advent IV and Christmas


There will be Mass on Sunday 20th December - the fourth of Advent at St. Joseph's, Pakington Street at 1.00 p.m. Please remember to register for this Mass and to bring your mask. 

Mass for Christmas this year in the EF is reduced to one Mass in the Leeds Diocese:

Again at St Josph's BradfordFriday 25th. December at 1.00 p.m. Please reserve a place only if you can be sure to attend. Due to the regulations numbers are again limited. 



 

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Gaudete! And the Year of St. Joseph.

 


On Saturday 12th December we have our Rorate Mass at 6.30 a.m. at St. Joseph's, Martin Street, Brighouse. This candlelit early morning Mass was a great occasion last Advent.

On Sunday the Gaudete Mass at 1.00 p.m. at St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford will be a missa cantata. 

On Wednesday at 6.00 p.m. there is Mass at St. Winefide's, Bradford and on Thursday there is Mass at 9.30 a.m. at St. Anthony's, Clayton.

I can now confirm that there will be NO Christmas Masses at Broughton Hall as in previous years, but there will be Mass at St. Joseph's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. on Christmas Day.

It has been announced that this coming year is to be in honour of St. Joseph and a plenary indulgence has been attached to this. There are various ways of attaining this indulgence including a spiritual retreat of at least a day which must include a meditation on St. Joseph. We hope to organise such a retreat later in the new year to include, Mass, adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Details when I have them will be published here.

Follow the link for information on the Year of St. Joseph:

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Quick update



Thanks to Fr. Winn for offering this evening's Mass for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. 

Mass at St. Winefides's, Wibsey will be at 5.45 p.m tomorrow Wednesday 9th.  instead of at the usual 6.00 p.m. 

Mass at St. Anthony's, Clayton on Thursday at the usual time of 9.30 a.m.

Rorate Mass at St. Joseph's, Martin Street on Saturday 12th. December at 6.30 a.m. Last year's beautiful candlelit Mass was a truly memorable occasion.  

Mass on Sunday at St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford for Gaudete Sunday. 

Confessions at call.

In your prayers please remember Fr. Parfitt of Broughton Hall who is not well. 

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Advent - post lockdown.



The weeks leading up to the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord are upon us now as we have gone from lockdown to Tier 3 and celebration of public Masses is resumed.

Masses this week:

Wednesday 2nd. December - 6.00 p.m. St. Winefride's,  Wibsey, Bradford

Thursday 3rd. December - 9.30 a.m. St. Anthony's, Clayton, Bradford

Friday 4th. December - 6.00 p.m. St. John the Evangelist, Buttershaw, Bradford

                                      7.30 p.m. St. Austin's, Wentworth Terrace, Wakefield

Sunday 6th. December - 1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

and

Tuesday 8th. December - 5.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

Saturday 12th. December - 6.30 a.m. St. Joseph's, Martin Street, Brighouse, Rorate Mass. 

Please remember to register for Mass at St. Joseph's on Sunday and to bring your mask.

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Lockdown 2

I must confess to feeling dejected by today's vote in the Commons today which prevents public acts of worship for all those of faith communities. 

Our own Bishop Stock has added his voice to that of the Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop McMahon in a letter to Boris Johnson.  The Leeds diocesan website reports the following:  

"The global spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a fast-evolving situation. From Thursday, 5 November to Wednesday, 2 December, the Government has said that places of worship in England, including Catholic churches, will only be permitted to open for private individual prayer and funerals.

Bishop Marcus has contacted the Prime Minister, adding his personal request to the statement made on behalf of all the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales by the CBCEW President and Vice-President, Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop McMahon, that churches be allowed to stay open for worship and religious services throughout the forthcoming period of national ‘lock-down’.

In the letter, the Bishop told Mr Johnson:

‘Our human nature is comprised of body and spirit, and the spirit is sustained by hope. It is in the heart that hope is born and builds within us the resilience we need to face the challenges in our lives. What I ask you is, please help places of worship to sustain hope in the hearts of a great many people of our country.’ 

Bishop Marcus has asked that both lay faithful and clergy circulate his letter and the CBCEW statement and contact their MPs with all speed to request that the Government’s guidance be amended to allow places of worship to remain open for acts of worship and religious services. 

This means that there will be no public Masses in the the EF or OF for a month in our Diocese.

Oremus pro invicem.

Friday, October 30, 2020

All Saints and All Souls



Sunday is the Feast of All Saints.  Monday is the Feast of All Souls.

Mass on Sunday at 1.00 p.m. at St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford and again  on Monday at 5.00 p.m. Confessions at call. 

Please remember the indulgences which can be obtained at this time of year for the Holy Souls in purgatory. 

The annual Mass of Requiem at Leeds Cathedral will go ahead this year on Saturday 21st. November at the main altar at 3.00 p.m. We hope that it will be a missa cantata.  

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Christ the King

This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King - the eternal high Priest. 

This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI in his 1925 encyclical Quas Primus.

While the encyclical that established this feast was addressed to Catholic bishops, Pope Pius XI wanted this feast to impact the laity.
“The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.”

Holy Mass at 1.00 p.m. at St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford. Please remember to bring a mask. Confession available before Mass at request.

Reminder that there is Mass on Wednesday evenings at 6.00 p.m. at St. Winefride's church, Wibsey, Bradford and on Thursday mornings at 9.30 a.m. at St. Anthony's, Clayton, also in Bradford. 

I am hoping to arrange a Mass of Requiem for Bishop Wheeler at Leeds Cathedral in November. Details to follow.

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Pentecost XIX -Missa cantata

I'm pleased to announce that we are going to attempt a covidtime sung Mass this Sunday at St. Joseph's, Bradford. This will be the first public sung Mass since March. Holy Communion is distributed on the tongue. l have received some very encouraging comments recently about the EF Mass at St. Joseph's from priests and people. l hope it isn't too long before the Bishop is able to offer Mass and administer the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the books in use in 1962. 

It is pleasing to see the sustained good numbers at Mass. Please remember to register and to bring your masks. It will be good to leave church with the smell of freshly burned incense in the nostrils.

Friday, October 2, 2020

Pentecost XVIII etc

Friday October 2nd - First Friday

Mass - Feast of the Guardian Angels

St. John the Evangelist - Cooper Lane, Bradford  6.00 p.m.

St. Austin's  - Wentworth Terrace, Wakefield  7.30 p.m.

This Sunday -  October 3rd is the Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost 

Mass

St. Joseph's - Pakington Street, Bradford 1.00 p.m. 

Please remember masks and to make your reservation. Increasing numbers at this Mass suggest we may need to adopt an extra usher even as the darkening evenings of autumn approach. 

We owe Bishop Stock a great deal of gratitude for permitting reception of Holy Communion on the tongue at both Forms of the Mass in this diocese. This privilege has sadly not been afforded to other places.

I hope that traditional missals and prayer books will shortly be available in the repository at St. Joseph's, Bradford. I am going to arrange for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament after a Sunday Mass in the next few weeks and will post details shortly.  

I am pleased to announce the birth of our sixth grandchild - Felicity May Stephens, who weighed in at 8lb 6oz on Tuesday. Mum and baby both doing fine. 

Friday, September 25, 2020

Pentecost XVII

Mass at 1.00 p.m. on Sunday at St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford. Please register beforehand and remember facemasks.

Today (Friday) saw the first public Mass in many years at St Robert's, Harrogate. The occasion was the Requiem Mass of Austin Jennings who had been a loyal attendee at the EF Mass for many years. RIP.  His nephew, Mgr Grogan offered the Mass. 

Mgr Grogan offers Mass at 6.00 p.m. at St. Winefride's, Wibsey, Bradford.

The Thursday morning Masses at St. Anthony's, Clayton continue at 9.30 a.m. 

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Pentecost XV

Mass on Sunday at St. Joseph's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. Holy Communion distributed on the tongue.

I have been in Krakow this week in an attempt to improve my execrable Polish and to enjoy the wonderful culture. Again I was able to hear Mass every day. Tuesday's Mass for the feast of our Lady's birthday was a sung Mass and I was moved to be able to join in with missa viii  - de angelis . The hymn to our Lady at the offertory brought a lump to my throat. I have not attended a sung Mass in England since March. 

Reminder that there is Mass on Wednesday evenings at St. Winefride's, Wibsey at 6.00 p.m. and on Thursday mornings at St. Anthony's, Clayton at 9.30 a.m.  


Sunday, September 6, 2020

Pentecost XIV - updated

There will be Mass on Sunday at 1.00 p.m. for the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost at St. Joseph's, Bradford. Please remember your mask! Holy Communion is distributed on the tongue.

From Wednesday 9th. September there will be a weekly evening Mass at St. Winefride's, Wibsey. (This will replace the pre-lockdown Mass there on Tuesday lunchtimes.) These Masses will be at 6.00p.m. now confirmed. Thanks to Mgr. Grogan for his time and patience.

Weekly Thursday Masses at St. Anthony's, Clayton continue with thanks to Fr. Winn.

Of your charity please  pray for the repose of the soul of Austin Jennings who died on suddenly on Monday. Austin was a regular attendee at the EF for many years. RIP.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

August 24th and purgatory.

 August 24th is our wedding anniversary and has nothing to do with purgatory! It is also the feast of St. Barthlomew who according to legends was skinned alive and beheaded so he is often pictured holding the knife he was skinned with or holding his own skin. An Apostle and Martyr he must have died an agonising death. This saint's memory is venerated in the Catholic Church and Orthodox and Anglican Communities.

The extremely admirable convert priest, aplogist and writer, Monsignor Ronald Knox died on this day in 1957. In time to come I hope he will be made essential compulsory reading to seminarians. In the meantime I was very pleased to hear Mgr Knox's name mentioned in a beautifully crafted sermon on a sad occasion. The occasion was the requiem Mass for Fr. Hall's own wife, Liz (to whom reference is made in the sermon) who died a few weeks ago in lockdown. May she rest in peace.
I hope Liz is rejoicing in the bus ride and eventual promised destination. (See sermon)

The sermon is reproduced here in full:

Homily for Requiem
What do you think will happen to you when you die?  Not your body - you've probably watched enough episodes of Silent Witness to be quite an expert on that.  I mean your soul - your self?
You may be surprised to know that the New Testament does not go into great detail about this.  St John tells us, "Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when Jesus Christ is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is."  When Jesus is revealed we shall be like him - but does that mean when we die?
St Paul speaks to the Corinthians of a time of testing: "Now people build on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, but also with wood, hay, and straw. The work of each builder will become visible, for the Day of the Lord will disclose it, because the fire will test what sort of work each has done.  If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward.  If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire."  The problem here is that he is talking about the Church, not about us as individuals.
It's in this light that I'd like to talk to you about one of Liz and my favourite books.  I don't know how many we've bought over the years to lend or give to people.
It's "The Great Divorce" by C S Lewis.  The title is Lewis's response to the rather strange poem by William Blake called "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell".  No marriage, says Lewis in his foreword, but a Great Divorce.
The book takes the form of a dream, in which Lewis finds himself in a dismal street, in a grey town, just as the light is failing on a winter's afternoon.  Suddenly, a resplendently shining double-decker bus arrives, and he joins others climbing aboard.  The bus takes him out of the town, in fact out of the world, and to the outskirts of heaven.
They land in a pleasant flower-strewn meadow, and Lewis has a series of surprises.
First, his fellow passengers, who had seemed so real on the bus, now seem transparent, ghost-like, mere smudges on the air.
Secondly, the grass on which he is standing does not bend under his weight - in fact its solidity hurts his feet.
Then, when he tries to pick a flower or a fallen leaf, he finds them far too heavy to lift.  It is as if this new world is much more real than he is.
A further surprise comes when he notices that each visitor from the bus has someone to meet them.  His own welcomer - guide, you might say -  is a Scottish author whom Lewis had admired throughout his life, whose writing, along with that of G K Chesterton, had begun to turn  him as a young man from being an atheist into a believer in God.
You really need to read this short book yourself, but suffice it to say that most of the rest of it is formed of two things: Lewis questioning his guide about the world in which he is in, but also the encounters between other passengers and their guides.
For each one of the visitors to the outskirts of heaven has some thing that is chaining them to the grey town - some thing that is preventing them from moving further into the heavenly land.
It is the guides' job to help the visitors receive freedom and solidity.  Some visitors need healing from spiritual and emotional wounds.  Some need to repent of attitudes that still turn them in on themselves. Some need to receive forgiveness from those they have wronged; others need to forgive those who have wronged them.



Lewis watches as many, many of these visitors lose their chains and move "further in and higher up".  But with great sadness he also sees some who are so turned inwards, so attached to their current state, that they refuse the healing and freedom they are offered, and make their way back to the bus.
Liz and I, from our earliest days as Christians and even more as we began to discover the treasures of the Catholic Church, were confident that heaven would one day be our destination.
But moved by C S Lewis, and by reflecting on the misplaced attachments in our own lives, we both realised that we would need a time of healing, of penance, of purification before we were ready to come into the awesome presence of God.
You will recognise, of course, that what C S Lewis is describing in his book, what Liz and I both anticipated, is what the Church has traditionally called purgatory.  While the Church has given, and still gives, teaching about this intermediary state, answers to the question "but what is it like?" have been left to poets like Dante and authors like Lewis.  Lewis, the Northern Irish Protestant, has been praised by Pope Benedict and by at least one other major Catholic theologian for his fictional depiction of the Last Things.
If that's the case, then what is happening to Liz now, in as much as we can say "now" about the heavenly lands?  Liz died strong in the faith and fortified by the sacraments of the Church.  But using the language of the Great Divorce, she will be growing more solid as she faces up to the things that hold her back, lays down her burdens, and receives healing and forgiveness.
And that it why it is such an important work of mercy for us to pray for Liz and all the departed.  Our prayers, our penance, even perhaps our forgiveness, can help in that solidifying process. 
Let me close by referring to another dream - one written down by St John Henry Newman 20 years after his reception into the Catholic Church, and later set to music by Edward Elgar.
In the Dream of Gerontius an old man approaches his death, strong in faith and hope, and fortified by the prayers and sacraments of the Church.
Knowing that he will have to spend time in purgatory, nevertheless it is his great wish that he might see the face of God first.  Carried up to the highest heaven by his guardian angel, he is granted that vision.
"Now he lies, " says Newman, "Passive and still before the awful Throne.  O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe, Consumed, yet quicken'd, by the glance of God."
Gerontius himself then says,
"Take me away, and in the lowest deep there let me be.  There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast, that sooner I may rise, and go above, and see him in the truth of everlasting day"
Newman's poem ends with words that describe exactly what we are doing tonight.  The Guardian Angel says,

Angels shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee as thou liest
And Masses on earth and prayers in heaven
Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest.





Saturday, August 22, 2020

Pentecost xii

Mass on Sunday at St. Joseph's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. for the twelfth Sunday of Pentecost. Please remember your mask. Communion will be distributed on the tongue.

Reminder that there is Mass on Thursdays at 9.30 a.m. at St. Anthony's, Clayton in Bradford. More regular Masses will resume in September and I shall post about these nearer the time.

 

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Update

After worrying about how numbers would pick up after such a long period of lockdown I was delighted to see numbers exceeding those which were pre lockdown in the middle of March today at St. Joseph's. Please remember there are no public Masses at Broughton yet but I have been speaking to Fr. Parfitt this evening and he remains in good spirits.


Thursday, August 13, 2020

Further resumption of Masses

I now understand that in addition to the regular resumed Masses at St. Anthony's Clayton and St. Joseph's Bradford that the first Friday Mass at St. John the Evangelist, Bradford will resume in September at 6.00 p.m. with the possibility of a regular Sunday evening Mass at St. Winefride's, Wibsey at 6.00 p.m. in the offing. The third Sunday Mass at the Cathedral in Leeds will similarly resume at 8.00 a.m. on the third Sunday of September. There will also be a regular monthly Mass at St. Joseph's in Pontefract starting in September.

I shall relay confirmation of details at other churches in due course.

We are most fortunate in this diocese to have a bishop who permits the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue albeit with strict conditions for the recipient and priest. 

Saturday is the feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady - translated to Sunday in England and Wales for observance of the external solemnity.

I hope to be able to report on more Masses according to the Rite of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham when Fr. Stafford is able to resume his duties here in Bradford on his monthly Saturday at St. Joseph's. 


Saturday, August 8, 2020

Pentecost X

Mass again tomorrow at 1.00 p.m. at St. Joseph's, Bradford for the tenth Sunday after Pentecost. Please remember to bring a mask. Communion will be distributed on the tongue to those who wish. 

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Sunday 26th July - first Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's, Bradford.

The regular 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Joseph's will resume this Sunday - July 26th.

In order to attend any Sunday Mass it is necessary to register beforehand by telephoning St. Joseph's parish office in working hours on Friday on 01274 720299.

Alternatively you may e-mail office.stjoseph.bradford@dioceseofleeds.org.uk.

Please state that you wish to attend the 1.00 p.m. Mass.

Nobody will be turned away if you are unable to pre-book but you will have to leave contact details which will be securely retained for 21 days.

The obligation to hear Mass on Sunday is still suspended so you are not bound to attend. Reminder that there is Mass at 9.30 a.m. on Thursdays at St. Anthony's in Clayton, Bradford. 


Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Restoration of Masses

The restoration of EF Masses in the diocese will be a slow process. Last Thursday Fr. Winn offered the first public Mass in the diocese for the feast of Ss John Fisher and Thomas More. There will be Mass again at St. Anthony's, Clayton Road, Bradford on Thursday 16th July at 9.30 a.m.

I hope that the first Mass at St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford will be on Sunday 26th July at 1.00 p.m.

The third Sunday Mass at the cathedral will resume in September and I am awaiting news from Mgr Grogan about Masses at St. Winefride's and St. John's in Bradford.
I shall contact Fr. Parfitt, Fr. Aladics and Mgr. Smith shortly.

All Masses will be low Masses until we receive notice to the contrary.
Further news to follow.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Pentecost

Pentecost: not one but 50 days

We celebrate this weekend the feast marking the birthday of the Church.

Veni, Creator Spiritus,
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia,
quae tu creasti pectora.

Qui diceris Paraclitus,
donum Dei altissimi,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas,
et spiritalis unctio.

Tu septiformis munere,
dextrae Dei tu digitus,
tu rite promissum Patris,
sermone ditans guttura.

Accende lumen sensibus,
infunde amorem cordibus,
infirma nostri corporis
virtute firmans perpeti.

Hostem repellas longius,
pacemque dones protinus:
ductore sic te praevio,
vitemus omne noxium.

Per te sciamus, da, Patrem,
noscamus atque Filium,
te utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore.

Deo Patri sit gloria,
et Filio, qui a mortuis
surrexit, ac Paraclito,
in saeculorum saecula.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Of your charity


Please pray for the repose of the soul of Christine Niczyperowicz who died peacefully today surrounded by her family and fortified by the Rites of Holy Mother Church following a valiant battle with cancer. May her soul rest in peace and the good Lord comfort her loving family.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

From the bishop


I recently wrote to Bishop Stock dealing with several matters in these serious times.

He has permitted me to tell those priests who celebrate the EF that he is "very pleased" to give them permission to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the safety of the living in time of pestilence on any suitable weekday.

Moreover he is willing to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the 1962 liturgical norms at St. Joseph's Bradford, again, as soon as the current restrictions on celebration of public liturgies has been lifted.

Oremus pro invicem.


Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Thinking caps on!

Many traditional Catholic blogs and Facebook pages have details of live-stream Masses and other articles of interest and discussion threads.

As a regular pub quizzer I decided to put out something else - specially as our league has now been suspended.

So Catholic Quiz 1.   Hymns of our Blessed Lady.  Answers in a couple of days with Quiz 2.

1. Which Catholic priest and historian wrote the very popular hymn - "Hail, Queen of Heaven"?
   
2. The hymn "Mary from thy Sacred Image" is dedicated to Our Lady of  a) Ransom. b) Perpetual Succour/Unfailing Help or c) Czestochowa?
    
3. The composers Jean-Paul Lecot and l'Abbe Paul Decha (RIP) are associated with which Marian Shrine?
    
4. At the close of Compline otherwise The Night Prayer of the Church, which Marian antiphon is sung/said during Eastertide?i
   
5. The hymn "O Mother blest" is attributed to which saint, is it a) St Joan of Arc b) St Alphonsus Liguori or c) St Maximilian Kolbe?
   
6. The Reverend Sabine Baring Gould (1834-1924) translated the Basque Carol "Gabriel's Message" also known as "The Angel Gabriel from heaven came" but what is the title of his best known hymn, now rarely sung?
   
7. "None had ever owned thee, dear Mother but He" is taken from which beloved Marian hymn?
    
8. Which hymn to Our Blessed Lady, written in 1873 by the French priest Jean Gaignet originally contained 8 verses but the good abbé apparently expanded it to 120?
   
9.  Complete - "Magnificat ----- --- Dominum"

10. Which Eucharistic hymn contains these words: " Had I but Mary's sinless heart...…"?
    
11. The tune often called the Sicilian Mariners’ Hymn is a tune to which Marian hymn?
     
12. The Reverend Vincent Stuckey Stratton Coles (1845-1929), an Anglican Divine, wrote a well known hymn to Our Lady (except stanza 4), the last line to every verse being " Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary full of Grace". Name the hymn.
     
13. Which Marian hymn by St Bernard of Cluny was found beneath the right temple of St Casimir's (or Kazimierz) incorrupt body when his grave was opened?
     
14. The above mentioned hymn is better known in English as...……?
     

15. Which hymn sees the sweet flow'rets we have culled?

Monday, March 23, 2020

A prayer to our guardian Angel



O holy angel, at my side,
Go to church for me,
Kneel in my place at Holy Mass
Where I desire to be.
At Offertory, in my stead,
Take all I am and own,
And place it as a sacrifice
Upon the Altar Throne.
At Holy Consecrations bell,
Adore with Seraph's love.
My Jesus hidden in the Host,
Come down from Heaven above.
And when the Priest, communion takes,
Oh, bring my Lord to me,
That His sweet heart may rest on mine,
And I His temple be.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Oremus pro invicem


The wonders of electronic communication allow us to transmit pictures of live and recorded Masses at the touch of a few buttons. I often watch the live Mass from Warrington courtesy of the FSSP, which is accessible from the sidebar.  

Since the closure of churches across the world for reasons of pandemic the number of "livestreamed" Masses has proliferated. 

This one is from my personal favourite church in the world. Its beauty is humbling. The stations of the cross are represented in the windows of the church.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIz1_vK-gfwd26Q3cIvDxPg/playlists







Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Last public Masses


Tomorrow is the feast of St. Joseph - the patron saint of the Universal Church - and there will be Mass at St. Anthony's, Clayton at 9.30 a.m. and at Broughton Hall at 10.00 a.m. Mass again on Friday at Broughton at 10.00 a.m.
After this there will be no more public EF Masses until further notice.

There will be no Sacred Triduum this year.

O God, who willest not the death of the sinner but that he should repent: welcome with pardon Thy people's return to Thee: and so long as they are faithful in Thy service, do Thou in Thy clemency withdraw the scourge of Thy wrath. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Collect of the Mass for deliverance from death in time of pestilence.


Thursday, March 12, 2020

Dominica III in Quadragesima


This weekend is the third Sunday in Lent and we have three Masses:

8.00 a.m. Leeds Cathedral, Cookridge Street, Leeds
11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

Confessions at call.

O God, who willest not the death of the sinner but that he should repent: welcome with pardon Thy people's return to Thee: and so long as they are faithful in Thy service, do Thou in Thy clemency withdraw the scourge of Thy wrath. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Collect of the Mass for deliverance from death in time of pestilence.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Masses this week -update

Monday to Friday, 10.00 a.m.  Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
Tuesday,   8.30 a.m. St Ignatius, Ossett
                 12.00 p.m. St. Winefride's, St. Paul's Avenue, Wibsey, Bradford
                 7.15 p.m. St. Joseph's, Martin Street, Brighouse
Wednesday, 7.30 p.m. St. Joseph's, Back Street, Pontefract
Thursday, 9.30 a.m. St. Anthony's, Bradford Road, Clayton, Bradford



Thursday, March 5, 2020

Dominica II in Quadragesima


This weekend is the second Sunday of Lent and we have two Masses:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

Confessions at call.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Quadragesima


This weekend is the first Sunday of Lent and we have two Masses:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton - missa cantata
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford






Friday, February 28, 2020

Prayer request


Please remember a dear friend of ours in your prayers. She remains very seriously ill in hospital battling an infection on top of a very aggressive cancer.

Regina Poloniae, ora pro nobis
Mater amabilis, ora pro nobis
Virgo fidelis, ora pro nobis
Stella matutina, ora pro nobis
Salus infirmorum, ora pro nobis
Consolatrix afflictorum
Regina pacis, ora pro nobis
Ven Stefano Wyszynski, ora pro nobis

If I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death I will fear no evils; for Thou art with me , O Lord. Thy rod and Thy staff they have comforted me. (Ps xxiii gradual of Mass for the grace of a good Death.)



Monday, February 24, 2020

Ash Wednesday


We have two Masses for Ash Wednesday:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
5.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

On Shrove Tuesday we have three Masses -with confessions at call:

10.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
10.30 a.m. St. Joseph's, Martin Street, Brighouse
12.00 p.m. St. Winefride's, St. Paul's Avenue, Wibsey, Bradford




Saturday, February 22, 2020

Quinquagesima


This weekend is the feast of Quinquagesima and we have two Masses:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, BroughtonHall, Skipton.
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford (missa cantata)

On Tuesday we have three Masses:
10.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, BroughtonHall, Skipton
10.30 a.m. St. Joseph's, Martin Street, Brighouse
12.00 p.m. St. Winefride's, Wibsey, Bradford

ASH WEDNESDAY 
11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton with blessing and distribution of ashes
5.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford with blessing and distribution of ashes

Thursday:
9.30 a.m. St. Anthony's, Bradford Road, Clayton
10.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton

Confession at call



Friday, February 14, 2020

Sexagesima


This Sunday is Sexagesima Sunday and we have three Masses: 

8.00 a.m. Leeds Cathedral, Cookridge Street, Leeds
11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

Confessions at call. 

Masses in Bradford this week:

Tuesday: 12.00 p.m. St. Winefride's, St. Paul's Avenue, Wibsey
Thursday: 9.30 a.m. St. Anthony's, Bradford Road, Clayton

Daily Mass at Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall at 10.00 a.m.

For your diary:
Mass on Ash Wednesday will be at Sacred Heart, Broughton at 11.00 a.m. and at St. Joseph's, Bradford at 5.00 p.m.

In your prayers please remember a friend of ours who is very ill.  
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us! Health of the sick, pray for us! Mirror of justice, pray for us!

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Reminders


The weather in this part of God's own county has been abysmal in recent days. It seriously affected attendance at Mass on Sunday with numbers being down by nearly half due to the gales and torrential rain across the diocese. The rain was driven in through the top of the window in my study causing damage some new books. Thank God there has been no loss of life here though.

Please note that Tuesday's Mass at St. Winefride's is at the earlier time of 10.00 a.m. again due to the Bradford Deanery's conference.

On Wednesday we have the first regular second Wednesday Mass at St. Joseph's, Back Street, Pontefract. This church is a little gem and well worth a visit. It didn't take long for Canon Wiley to find original altar cards.

Fr. Winn continues to offer Mass at 9.30 a.m. on Thursdays - this provides those hearing Mass with a inestimable sacred peace for half an hour.


Saturday, February 8, 2020

Septuagesima etc


Sunday marks the start of the pre-Lenten season of Septuagesima. The vestments of the Mass are purple. We have two Masses:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford  missa cantata

Confession at call.

I have just returned from a few days in Berlin. 

The first time I ever went to Germany was Easter 1983 before my O' Level German exam. Because of the nature of the trip (to East Germany then behind the Iron Curtain) I could only hear Mass in a small immaculately kept convent chapel in Dresden on Easter Thursday.  I can still smell the chapel over thirty-six years later.

This week I was able to hear the EF Mass daily at two churches dedicated solely to the celebration in this Rite within a few minutes of where I was staying in the the old East Zone of Berlin. 
The church of St. Afra in West Berlin which is home to the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in formation is only a few metres away from where the wall stood. The church was in the western zone. My hotel was only two streets away but in the East . It was also a stones-throw from the Gethsemane Lutheran church where people gathered in 1989 as a major part of the Silent Revolution which helped to bring an end to the  atrocious Communist regime of the which had existed since the end of WWII in Germany. 
Daily EF Mass attendance in Berlin churches match those in Paris, Krakow and Cologne where I've heard Mass in the last few months. Similar daily Mass attendance figures match those in most of our churches in this diocese. 

In Bradford in one deanery Mass in the EF is offered at least once a week in three churches by different priests.  Could this be a record?

On Tuesday Mass at St Winefride's will again be at 10.00 a.m. because of the deanery conference on that day. 

On Wednesday there will be Mass at Pontefract, St. Joseph's, Back Street at 7.30 p.m.
Mass as usual at St Anthony's, Clayton on Thursday at 9.30 a.m. 

Friday, January 31, 2020

Candlemas etc



This Sunday is the feast of Candlemas and we have two Masses:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton missa cantata
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford


Tomorrow (1st February) there is Mass in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham Rite at 3.00 p.m. at St. Joseph's and there will be Evensong also at St. Joseph's on Monday at 7.00 p.m.

On Tuesday there will be a funeral at St. Winefride's so the Extraordinary Form Mass will be at the earlier time of 10.00 a.m.

Mass at St. Anthony's as usual at Clayton on Thursday at 9.30 a.m.

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Epiphany III

The human and divine Christ are again manifested to us in the Gospel at this weekend's Mass as we are still in the Christmas season. Yet we will not see green vestments again for many weeks until a Sunday until June. 

A few days in Krakow this week gave me the Christmas tingle of late Advent which I experienced as a child. 
We attended three EF Masses at three different churches at convenient times. At each Mass the altar was decorated with Christmas trees. My wife and I were the oldest people at any of the Masses we went to except on Thursday when we heard Mass at the former Jesuit church of Ss Peter and Paul where Pope Saint John Paul II's parents were married early last century. Here the Polish/American priest was older than we are by about 20 years.  
The joy of Christ's birth and subsequent flight (and survival) of the Holy Family into Egypt are still redolent of the gold, frankincense and myrrh brought by the Magi. 

The Magi followed the light of the star but beyond that light rests the liturgical darkening of the season of Septuagesima which in Rome and the northern hemisphere coincides with the noticeable start of the lengthening of the days. After Candlemas we can more easily visualise the blending of the joyful into the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary and moreover the Passion narrative. Light from light as we look to the glorious mysteries.

We have two Masses on Sunday:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford  missa cantata

This week in Bradford there are Masses at St. Winefride's, Wibsey at noon on Tuesday and at St. Anthony's, Clayton at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday.  

Confession at call.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Epiphany II


This Sunday is the second Sunday after Pentecost with its beautiful epistle and Gospel. We have three Masses:

8.00 a.m. Leeds Cathedral, Cookridge Street, Leeds
11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

Confessions at call.

Reminder that there are Masses in Bradford at St. Winefride's at noon on Tuesday and at 9.30 a.m. at St. Anthony's, Clayton on Thursday. 

The first Mass at St. Winefride's earlier this week saw a decent turnout and Mgr Grogan's first public Mass was a moving experience. As far as I am aware this was the first ever public EF Mass in the "new" St. Winefride's church which opened in the mid 1970s but which has altar rails and lends itself well to ad orientem worship before the tabernacle. 





Thursday, January 9, 2020

Feast of the Holy Family and another regular Mass


This Sunday is the feast of the Holy family and we have two Masses:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford - SUNG MASS

If you are wondering whether to have a look at what goes on at the EF Mass what better opportunity than this wonderful feast? Specially because the traditional family unit is so severely under attack these days not to mention the value of human life from conception to natural death.

Confessions at call.

Reminder that on Tuesday 14th January at noon we will be having the first regular EF Mass at St. Winefride's, St. Paul's Avenue at Wibsey.

Today I finalised details of another regular Mass with Canon Wiley. He will be offering Mass on the second Wednesdays of the month starting in February at 7.30 p.m. at St. Joseph's, Back Street, Pontefract.

This is the third new regular venue of 2020.








Thursday, January 2, 2020

Epiphany


This Sunday we have 2 Masses for the feast of the Epiphany: 

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton - missa cantata
1.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pakington Street, Bradford

Confessions at call.

No first Friday Mass at Wakefield tomorrow (3rd January.)

PLEASE NOTE - the Mass according to the Rite of Our Lady of Walsingham will resume on Saturday 4th. January at 3.00 p.m. at St. Joseph's, Bradford. I hope Fr. Stafford is now fully recovered.