Update

I have had one of those weeks. A busy and at times a very trying week. My e-mail inbox has had in it some vile correspondence which I have had to deal with and this has taken its emotional toll on me. It was lovely for me to be able to go go to Mass and Holy Communion last night for the First Friday Mass and again tonight at Halifax.

Torchlight Procession.

On Monday evening there will be the great opportunity to publicly profess our Faith and give witness to it at the Batley Torchlight procession. Starting at 7.30p.m. in the market place at Batley following a short service and sermon, this year to be preached by the Bishop of Middlesbrough the people then process reciting the Holy Rosary and singing Immaculate Mary with the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes held aloft to the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, Crossbank Road, where His Lordship Bishop Roche will give Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The P.P. Fr. Wiley (who is diocesan co-ordinator for the TLM) has arranged for a huge screen in the church grounds to relay the events in the church to those unable to squeeze into this large church which last year saw standing room only and many forced to remain outside.

Batley has a large population of non-Christians and such a witness is as extraordinary as it is touching. I hope to get a few pictures to put on this blog. If you are unable to attend please pray for the success of this occasion which takes a year to prepare and involves a lot of hard work. St. Mary's Batley is a beautiful church with fine mosaics showing pivotal occasions in the life of our Blessed Mother.

An extra Mass

Father Parfitt will offer Mass again, later this month at Bewerley Grange Chapel, Pateley Bridge on Tuesday 28th. October at 11.30a.m. We expect this to be a Missa Cantata. This is half-term week so if you are on holiday in the area make a detour. It will be well worth it.

Bewerley has strong links with Fountains Abbey and although no longer in Catholic hands lends itself perfectly to the celebration of the TLM.

Reminders

Mass tomorrow (Sunday) at Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall (Missa Cantata) at 11.30 a.m. and Low Mass at St. Joseph's, Pontefract Rd., Castleford at 3.00p.m.

Low Mass at Holy Name, Oxford Road, Manchester at 4.00p.m. and at English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace, York at 6.00p.m.

A good Sabbath

I rarely get a chance to have a lie-in. This morning was a lovely exception, from about 9.00a.m. to 11.00a.m. I was able to listen to the digital wireless and read the first few chapters of Stella Rimmington's latest spy novel, now in paperback which I picked up at Borders yesterday. This was the first weekend I have been able to this for well over two months. The lovely weather and good moods convinced us that a trip to the coast for tea after Mass was well in order. So after Mass we set off to Whitby.

The Mass in Leeds attracts quite a large group of members, I saw at least fourteen. I was also able to meet and thank the new P.P. Fr. Jackson who is happy for us to continue to have use of the church on the last Sunday of the month.

A reminder from Fr. Smith in his sermon last night that October is the month of the Holy Rosary - and that saying even one decade a day is a worthy way to celebrate this month (and I would add the victory at Lepanto).

Father Abberton will be in Lourdes next week and so there will be no Mass at Heckmondwike next Sunday (5th. October)

Reminder that there is Mass every Sunday at Castleford, St. Joseph's at 3.00p.m. and at Manchester's Holy Name, directly opposite the University in Oxford Rd. at 4.00p.m.

Stunning picture

I came across this beautiful picture on the FFSP website advertising their American workshops in the rubrics of the Extraordinary Mass.

The Catholic Times.....now up

Having retired to bed taking LAST week's Catholic Times I spotted Mgr. Basil Loftus's latest diatribe against the Old Mass. I have been having trouble lately with my newsagent's unreliability. I suddenly asked myself, having read Basil's Vatican Counsel article, why should I be wasting a pound a week on this drivel. Meanwhile for £38 a year I can get and then keep copies of The Catholic Herald electronically. So I shall now e-mail the Catholic Times to say that I am cancelling my order because Basil's articles make it an increasingly drab and faded effort. It reminds me of the Universe in the 1970s. I shall then sign up with the Herald. This will save a further £14 a year. Total saved £66.
In the morning when my annoyance has passed I shall go to the newsagent's to see if THIS week's papers have come. Regardless of whether or not they have I shall cancel my order with them. Problems solved.
After Mass tomorrow afternoon at Batley, I expect a trip to Borders at Birstall for coffee and browsing. A school trip to Cologne before Christmas is now in the offing so I shall also be preparing the necessary documentation for this at some point tomorrow and I have to establish links with possible partner schools in Germany.

My tiredness has now passed!

Masses this weekend

This has been a hectic week at school. Thursday was our all singing all dancing open evening, which took what seemed like eternity to prepare for. As the kids settle in to the brand new school they are getting choppier and more difficult to deal with and of course the books need marking.

Mass tomorrow at St. Mary's, Crossbank Rd., Batley is at 3.00p.m.
and at St. Marie's, Gibbet Street, Halifax at 6.00pm.
And on Sunday at Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Rd., Leeds at 3.00p.m.
and at St. Joseph's, Pontefract Rd., Castleford also at 3.00p.m

Next Friday is First Friday. Mass preceded by Confessions at St. Mary's, Batley at 7.30p.m.
October is the month of the Holy Rosary, please remember to offer a decade or two for the Holy Father.

8.15p.m. and I'm ready for bed.

Training and Mass in Halifax

After a last minute slight change of plan at 10.40a.m. we decided, having waited until after 11.00a.m, to go down to St. Alban's, the chapel of ease, which was warmer, brighter and had a smaller and more functional organ to introduce, intone and accompany the chant. Singing in this very tasteful little church also helped acoustically and created a cosy but not stifling atmosphere in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. 17 out of an originally expected 24 people came to learn to sing the Mass Cum Jubilo, with psalm-toned propers, Credo III, the Asperges and Adoro te devote. The programme was really quite exhausting. At 5.00p.m. we headed back to St. Marie's to run through things once again and to set up the Sanctuary for the Missa Cantata. St. Marie's is one of those churches where everything seems to run like clockwork. On popping into church at about 10.45 a.m. I was greeted by the sight of a beautiful rosy faced blushing bride and her proud new husband, along with their friends and relatives, and Father Smith waiting patiently in procession for the photographer to open the second half of the door, which I duly did, allowing for the well proportioned photo flicker to start snapping.
Five minutes later Father Smith was engaged in attending to the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament to the strains of O Salutaris, before heading to the confessional for 40 minutes. At 11.05 I took the milk and music scores down to St. Alban's. Back at St. Marie's for 11.25a.m. I went to Confession and then headed back to St. Alban's having checked that there were no late-comers.
St. Marie's is a Parish where the Sacraments predominate. As well as welcoming and encouraging the Traditional Latin Mass each week there are Masses offered regularly in Polish and of course in English. The parishioners are warm-hearted people and Bridget and Tony who act as sacristans are wonderfully efficient and devoted people.
Mike Murphy worked us very hard - and himself even more so. At lunch he was able to recall his fond memories of Dr. Mary Berry at whose Requiem he sang in May at St. Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames, where our old friend Fr. John Osman is P.P. .
Fr. Smith joined us immediately after lunch and sang his parts - namely the Asperges, intoning of the Gloria and Credo and the Ite missa est. We decided we would sing Faith of our Fathers after the prayer for the Queen.
The Mass itself was very uplifting and the newly formed little choir sang confidently and with expression under the direction of Mike Murphy.
Mike has agreed to lead another day probably in early 2009 - this time for the Mass Orbis factor, with Credo I and the Christus Vincit. Something in honour of our Blessed Lady will also be included. As the saying goes, please watch this space. This event will be in a different deanery. It has been suggested to me today that we take a different Mass setting to a different deanery each quarter - what could we do at the Cathedral's deanery Mass?
It was wonderful to hear the relatively large congregation raising the roof in singing Faith of our
Fathers at the end of Mass and thereby sounding the end of a busy and rewarding day. The day was initially financed by a bequest from the late Dorothy Simpson of York, who had strong links with Bradford, speaking both architecturally and clerically. But, without wishing to sound over-parochial, I must thank Angela and Jim for supplying the excellent snacks and nibbles and Joan's great organizational skills. I felt I was putting on weight looking at the coffee cake. Friday's lentil curry had (quite naturally) left me feeling somewhat full, but the coffee cake was too much of a temptation. I shall request a Mass be offered by Fr. Smith for the intentions of all those who made the day such a worthwhile experience.

So............ what went wrong?
I remembered the camera - but the batteries were flat (I have since found more pictures of our mental parsnip eating dog and the boys than I could shake a stick at on the camera - all taken before 7.00 a.m. this morning!); I remembered I had a cotta in the car, but forgot that my cassock and 25 new red Mass booklets and my cheque book were in a carrier bag under my desk as we breezed out of the door at 9.40 a.m. this morning. During Mass it occurred to me that my daughter could use her mobile 'phone to snap a few pictures - but as I was Master of Ceremonies it was impossible to even think of getting a message to her.
So what? It was a beautiful Mass.

Thanks be to Almighty God for such another busy and productive day.


Sorry about the absence of photos again.

God bless Pope Benedict XVI.

To update you: a busy day is a happy day :)

This week I have been busy preparing to send out letters to the Salford members. Having received details of the members upon my official appointment last week I have been engaged in typing up the labels and writing the letter itself. With a combined membership of over 300 in Leeds and Salford an up to date database is now even more essential. A very kind colleague at school spent a good deal of his time showing me how to manipulate spreadsheets to filter required information earlier today. I shall have to play with a mock spreadsheet over the weekend. This means that eventually I shall be able to group members deanery by deanery or parish by parish etc to alert those without access to the internet/e-mail by post.

Meanwhile I have again been in contact with several people in Salford and I have discussed the Ushaw Training Conference with Mr. Waddington at length. On Thursday evening I attended the first Leeds Diocesan co-ordination meeting for the Extraordinary form. Interest has already been expressed by a number of parties about the Ushaw Conference. There is to be extended training of altar servers and plans for another chant workshop day even before we gauge the success of tomorrow's chant day in Halifax. There will be a Missa cantata at 6.00p.m. at St. Marie's, Gibbet Street, (behind PC World), Halifax.

I pray that the Leeds diocesan pilgrimage to Walsingham tomorrow (a glance at the clock tells me that tomorrow is already today) will win our Blessed Lady's favour and help those reading this blog to pray that this country be returned to her.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

God bless the Pope!

Looking to the weekend

This coming Saturday sees the Leeds Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham, as well as our Gregorian chant workshop day concluding with the Vigil Mass at St. Marie's, Halifax at 6.00p.m.

As Father Abberton is joining the Pilgrimage to Walsingham there will be no Saturday morning Mass at Holy Spirit, Heckmondwike.

On Sunday there will be Mass at St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford at 3.00p.m.

ALSO:

Holy Name, Oxford Road, Manchester at 4.00p.m.

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

Reading one or two blogs this evening I came away with the impression that some people in the South do believe that Masses in the 1962 Rite are thin on the ground in these parts. Untrue.

I was speaking to Mrs Rutherford after the Mass in Bradford yesterday and we commented again, as we often do, how different things are since the early days. Her early days began before I was born, but when I joined the LMS in 1982 before even having done my O Levels we were fortunate to have Bishop Wheeler who was always sympathetic to requests for the Mass (under the Heenan Indult and the 1984 instruction).

Broughton Hall was a regular monthly Mass - always the first Sunday, and continues to this day

and there was the second Saturday Mass at Ss. John Fisher & Thomas More at Burley-in- Wharfedale. We were also fortunate enough to be one of only two dioceses in the country with access to regular traditional pilgrimages to Knaresborough and Hazlewood and the Easter Vigil and Midnight Mass. There was also a yearly Mass at the Cathedral. Apart from this any other Masses involved endless preparations which as rep, Mrs. Rutherford tirelessly made.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since those earlier days and a look at the right hand strip on this blog showing regular Masses will show how much. Lasting and fruitful change is not best served by knee-jerk reforms and overnight changes as we have learned to our dismay since those "early" days had to begin over four decades ago.

A Feast to remember

This afternoon saw the first Mass of our regular second Sunday of the month Masses at St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford. It was a Missa Cantata for Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and celebrated by Father Hall. Fr. Wiley sat in choir. We were made to feel very welcome by the sacristans who are both already looking forward to the next Mass, which will be a Missa Cantata. Fr. Wiley took the photo above before Mass began. Not visible in the photograph is the painted coat of arms of Pope John Paul I high above the tabernacle. I think this is the only church in England with such a painting. Incidently this church received a direct hit from a nazi bomb during the war. It dropped through the roof but failed to explode. In more recent times it has survived attempts to burn it down by local youths.

I shall be spending valuable time and resources to promote this regular Mass over the next couple of weeks especially in the local press.

Fr. Hall will be glad to offer the next Mass and we are most grateful to him. One lady told me she thought he was a right grand priest. In Yorkshire praise seldom comes better than that.

Missa cantata in Ashton-under-

Fr. Wadsworth preached a very thought-provoking sermon this evening about the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary to nearly forty others of us who braved the grotty weather. This was a Missa Cantata and I am sure that it filled those there with a sense of joy. Father Wadsworth has done some fine work in the sanctuary in this very fine little church which saw some nasty business in the anti-Catholic riots of the 19th. century.

Ushaw 2009

The Northern Priest's Training Conference about which I blogged a couple of days will take place at St. Cuthbert's Seminary, Ushaw near Durham from Tuesday 17th. - Friday 20th. February 2009. Further information and registration details to follow. Please pray for the success of this initiative which, like the Oxford Summer Conferences, would just a few years ago have been a mere fantasy. As Mr. Dylan sang many years ago - "The times they are a changin' ". How true. Deo gratias!

Reminder that there is a Missa Cantata this coming Friday at St. Ann's, Burlington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, near Oldham at 7.30p.m.

Mass on Sunday - Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a Missa Cantata, to celebrate the anniversary of the coming into force of the Motu Proprio. This Mass will be at St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford at 3.00p.m. It is to be the first of our regular second Sunday Masses at this church. Please do all you can to join us and raise the roof at the end of the Mass singing Faith of our Fathers! Clergy wishing to join us, please bring choir dress.

Diocese of Salford - Missa Cantata

On this coming Friday, 12th. September there will be a Missa Cantata at St. Ann's Church, Burlington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne at 7.30p.m. If this as as beautiful as the Mass there on the Feast of the transfiguration of our Lord, then it will be an occasion to remember.

At this point I would like to thank Mrs. Hartley, my predecessor, who has, over recent years done a great deal to keep the traditional Mass alive in the Salford Diocese. It will be a hard act to follow. I shall be at the Mass on Friday - so please make yourself known to me. I shall shortly be writing to all members in Salford to introduce myself - the office in London has just sent me the members' details, so when I have created the necessary mailing list in the next few days from the spreadsheet I shall get the letters out. Please continue to be patient and pray for the work of the Society and the reforms of His Holiness, the Pope especially in the Northern dioceses of England.

A lady from Sheffield telephoned me on Monday evening to say that she had just attended a traditional Mass at the Cathedral of St. Marie, in Sheffield. Again this was wonderful positive news. Let us pray that this too continues. The lady who telephoned me has been in regular correspondence over the years without actually having spoken to me. Her joy was positively tangible. Things like this make a rep's difficult job so much more worthwhile.

There is no doubt in my mind that our prayers over recent years have not gone unheard and this fills me with joy.

God bless the Pope and please remember to pray for him as he heads off to France shortly. One or two blogs have referred to the news that he is to wear vestments belonging to a traditional French order. I wonder how long it will be before he offers the extraordinary form?

Note

Please note that there will be no Mass in the Extraordinary form this coming Saturday (September 13th.) at Heckmondwike. Next Mass 11.30 a.m. on Saturday 20th. September which is the same day as the Gregorian chant workshop day at St. Marie's, Halifax (10.45 - 6.00p.m. Mass). Places still available please e-mail lmsleeds@gmail.com for details or to reserve a place.

Reminder that this coming Sunday sees our first Mass at St. Peter's, Leeds Rd., Laisterdyke, Bradford. This Mass also marks the coming into force of the Holy Father's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. The Mass will be a Missa cantata (sung Mass).

God bless His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI!

NORTHERN PRIESTS' TRAINING CONFERENCE 2009

Here's a scoop!

The LMS Committee agreed today to sponsoring its first Northern Conference to train Priests in offering the 1962 Rite of Mass. Mr. Waddington, who acknowledged my own input in the proposal presented the paper which was received enthusiastically for a variety of diverse reasons.

The Conference is scheduled to take place in February in one of the most northerly English Dioceses. Issues and suggestions raised by the clergy who attended Merton in the Summer will be addressed at this Conference as good practice demands.

This Conference is not instead of the Oxford Conference but in addition to it.

There is in other northern dioceses, other than Leeds, renewed interest in the traditional Rite amongst the laity and clergy. This is very fertile soil in terms of the Faith. How many of the Saints of the Church came from these parts? Saints Cuthbert, Bede, Hilda, Wilfred, Robert of Newminster (born in Gargrave), Margaret Clitherow, John Fisher (born in Beverley), Edmund Arrowsmith, Ambrose Barlow and the martyrs of Padley and all the other wonderful Blessed Lancashire and Yorkshire Martyrs.

I shall request Fr. Parfitt offer a Votive Mass for the propagation of the Faith in recognition of that same Faith for which our English Martyrs shed their blood.

In my absence (due to a delayed train) the Committee appointed me as LMS Representative for

the Diocese of Salford. I shall now have to think of ways to integrate the 1962 Rite into the life of that Diocese, as has been achieved in Leeds over recent years thanks initially to Mrs. Agnes Rutherford. Watch this space!

I am meeting Mr. Waddington before Mass in York tomorrow afternoon, I shall then be able to give further details about the Northern Conference.

God bless the Pope!

Update

The first week back to a brand new school, even without any sign of a child, has already taken its toll on many. Many have lost patience with the literally thousands of snags noted by staff alone - and that's before 1600 children arrive next week. For two nights this week I have literally dropped off to sleep having sat down when I got home, but I am hopeful that this new building will bring new opportunities for the children in an area of mixed fortunes and aspirations.

This evening saw over a dozen at the First Friday evening Mass at Batley in the most atrocious weather I have seen for a long time. There were several confessions before Mass and I was later approached by a nineteen year old member of the congregation asking about how she might go about becoming a Catholic. Prayers for her, please.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I have to attend a Latin Mass Society Committee meeting in London and so will not be at the Halifax Mass at 6.00p.m. (Thanks to Fr. Hall for offering last week's Halifax Mass - Fr. Smith is back this week and asks me to remind everybody about the Gregorian Chant training day at St. Marie's on September 20th. Please see previous postings.) It is so gratifying to see people attending the Halifax Masses in increasing numbers - LMS members and parishioners alike. I hope that the Chant Day will give extra impetus to the liturgical life of this wonderful parish, where the Consecration is sounded by bells not only from the altar but also from the hand pulled bells in the bell tower which also call the faithful to Holy Mass in this very decent little town.

On Sunday local Masses according to the 1962 Rite include;

11.30a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, nr. Skipton

2.30p.m. Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike ( sanctuary before Vat II shown in photo above)

3.00p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford

4.00p.m. Holy Name, Oxford Road, Manchester

6.00p.m. English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace, York

I have also received requests for "further information" from three more priests wishing to offer the 1962 Rite of Mass.

God bless Pope Benedict!

MOTU PROPRIO CELEBRATION MASS

Sunday 14th. September, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, sees the first anniversary of the implementation of the Holy Father's Motu Proprio and also sees our first Mass at St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Laisterdyke, Bradford at 3.00p.m. This will be a Missa Cantata. Please do all you can to attend this Mass to show your support for the Holy Father's initiative and to support our new regular monthly venue. Thanks again to Father Francis Smith's for his readiness in welcoming us to the church and for allowing a regular monthly Mass in Bradford again.

God bless Pope Benedict XVI!

Holiday's over

Back to school tomorrow with an easy transition - the children aren't going to be there for another week !

On a totally different matter are we the only family in England with a dog which eats raw parsnips?

Reminder that Friday is the First Friday of the month; Mass at Broughton at 9.30 a.m. and at St. Mary of the Angels, Batley at 7.30p.m.

Masses this weekend

Mass will be offered this weekend as follows:

Saturday 30th. August 9.30a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton, near Skipton.

Saturday 30th. August 3.00p.m. (Vigil) St. Mary of the Angels, Cross Bank Road Batley.

Saturday 30th. August 6.00p.m. (Vigil) St. Marie's, Gibbet Street, Halifax.

Sunday 31st. August 3.00p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Road, Leeds.

Sunday 31st. August 3.00p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford.

Photographic evidence

Following the last posting - the picture to prove it.!

News from Sydney

Fr. Aladics of this diocese who recently took up residence in Sydney, Australia as chaplain to Campion College reports that he is now offering the Extraordinary Mass each Wednesday and that the students there love it. Please pray for Father Richard and that his work will see an increase in vocations to the religious life.

God bless Pope Benedict!

Remembering Mgr Ronald Knox

Today, feast of St. Bartholemew, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Mgr Ronald Knox. Knox was a convert whose father was the Anglican Bishop of Manchester. I have written before on my profound joy when reading Knox, be it his detective stories, reflections, meditations, sermons, essays, or translations - most notably of the Bible.

On this day I would also ask your prayers for a priest friend of mine who is retiring from official priestly ministry today after over 5 decades of priestly service. Always a good friend to the LMS, and to our family it was he who offered our Nuptual Mass and assisted at our traditional Rite wedding.

Reminder that today (Pentecost XV) sees the first of our regular Sunday Masses at St. Joseph's Church, Pontefract Rd., Castleford at 3.00p.m.

The Chesterton link(s)

I have failed to reach even my own goal of publishing a copy of G.K. Chesterton' s musings about Heckmondwike (much maligned in my opinion). Not, I hasten to add through sloth, but to the fact I was alerted to this http://www.holyspiritchurch.org.uk/Site_files/History%20Page.htm , which has saved me a lot of time. If the link doesn't work please google the Website of Holy Spirit, Heckmondwike. (or try http://www.holyspiritchurch.org.uk/ and follow the history section).

Mass in the Extraordinary form is offered here on the first Sunday of the month at 2.30p.m. and on the second, third and fourth Saturdays of the month at 11.30a.m.

I must confess to being totally fascinated by the G.K.Chesterton links with Heckmondwike, Mgr. O'Connor (who was responsible for building an ovalish sort of round church in Bradford long before Vat II), the Father Brown stories, Cardinal Hinsley (and the school named after him), and St. Bede's Grammar School, Bradford.

G.K.C's Orthodoxy arrived through the letterbox from the excellent Southwell Books (http://www.southwellbooks.com/) a few weeks ago, which I had determined to read after doing the decorating. It is now next on the bedside book pile.

Vive la famille!

I am delighted to say that I have just about finished the decorating and short of getting the carpet people tomorrow the job is now done. A bit of decorating usually means moving the statues around, to give us a fresh face. After nine years the Sacred Heart, St. Therese and the crucifix I rescued from a burning confessional box need a change of scene too! Love of St. Edmund Campion and all he stood for has grown following visits to Oxford, and so we are going to put the statue of him at the foot of the ground floor staircase. The kids can decide the rest. This is sure to cause a row and lots of huffing and puffing for ten minutes. Vive la famille!

Masses this Saturday

Low Mass at Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall near Skipton at 9.30a.m.

Sung Requiem Mass at 11.00a.m. at Markenfield Hall. Mass will be offered by Fr. Ronald Creighton-Jobe of the London Oratory. Some of the monks of Ampleforth will be chanting the Requiem Mass for the members of the Markenfield family.

Mass at 11.30a.m., Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike.

THE 3.00p.m. MASS AT ST. MARY OF THE ANGELS, BATLEY, HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO NEXT SATURDAY BECAUSE OF A WEDDING. APOLOGIES FOR THIS. (Sincere best wishes to the couple.)

Vigil Mass at St. Marie's, Halifax at 6.00p.m. (Pentecost XV).

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Patroness of the Diocese of Leeds, Queen and Mother, pray for us.

God bless the Pope!

Salford news

I have recently received a lot of e-mails from members and friends in Salford Diocese as word has gone round that I am taking on the role of Rep in this diocese. For the time being I am helping out and will continue to do so.
Still, it has been very gratifying to receive so many suggestions, requests and offers of help from all manner of people. This morning I received notification from the LMS Office in London that five people have recently joined the Society in Leeds and Salford Dioceses, one of them a Priest.
I have since spoken to this Priest who is worried that introducing the TLM, which he has never offered but is keen to learn, will scandalize his parish or upset his fellow priests. He also realizes that an overnight switch would be confusing and looks forward to preparing himself and his parish for a special day in about twelve months with regular Masses in the EF thereafter..
I shall keep you posted, respecting Father's anonymity, until that time comes when everybody is ready and all will be welcome to attend the Masses.

Tomorrow I shall be dispatching a couple of e-mails to help me organize a Mass at Kirkstall Abbey. Please watch this blog.

Later this month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Mgr. Ronald Knox (Aug 24th.). However I might feel I can always find something in the Psalms to raise up my state to Almighty God. This state may be joyful or sorrowful. So too it is with the Pastoral Sermons and Occasional Sermons of Ronald Knox. I have written before in Facing Forward ( newsletter of the LMS in Leeds) about my elation reading Knox's, The Mass in Slow Motion which I notice is now back in print. THIS BOOK IS A MUST.
The times, they are a changing.

Deo gratias!

Thank you Canon McCreadie

Tonight we were able to have our first altar server training session, which involved a total of 8 young men, from age nine to forty plus. The Cathedral was suggested to me because of its central location by Canon McCreadie and its ease of access by public and private transport. So when the Cathedral closed this evening after the 5.30p.m. Mass the training began. The sister sacristan at the Cathedral was her usual delightful self, she also attends some of the Masses at Batley with some of the other sisters. Everything was laid out perfectly for us as requested. Father Wiley joined us and was able to do the "priest" bits for us! The session ended with the celebration of Mass in the beautiful Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

Canon McCreadie popped his head round the sacristy door to welcome everybody and I thanked him for his generosity in allowing us to have our first training session at the Sacred Heart and St. Joseph altars. The 1962 Missal had been laid out in the sacristy.

Further follow up sessions are now being planned. Please e-mail me if you would like some training.

The Bishop has requested that the Extraordinary form of Mass be offered each Sunday from this Sunday onwards at St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford at 3.00p.m. I have just managed to put together a full set of vestments, altar missal, altar cards, Communion plate and other bits and pieces for the Masses at St. Joseph's. (I have only just done the same for the forthcoming regular second Sunday Masses at St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford) I am now running out of vestments.

God bless the Pope!

The ivy has gone

Having struggled into Leeds on Friday afternoon only to find I couldn't get everything I needed I had to get home quickly to take us off to Bolton Breightmet for the evening Mass of the Assumption. The M62 was choked with slow moving traffic and after an hour we turned back. I then had to print off some propers for the next day. Instead of Heckmondwike we went over to Broughton again for morning Mass, the weather was lovely. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and finished off with me going over to Halifax to serve Father Smith's Vigil Mass. There was a good congregation there, to say that the Mass had not been advertised the previous week in the parish newsletter. Father Smith said that they weren't his parishioners so I can only assume that they were members or friends or those who read this blog.

Reminder that there is Mass every Saturday at St. Marie's, Halifax at 6.00p.m.

Mass today was at English Martyrs, York. Mike and John were in top form singing Orbis factor, Credo I and the solemn tone of the Salve Regina. The recent decorations to the church have done a great deal to enhance the celebration of both forms of Mass. Father Charlton, also a fine singer, sang the Mass beautifully this evening and preached about the importance of storing up treasures in heaven instead of being sucked into the ultimate emptiness which the world offers.

To store up these treasures in heaven we have the epistle to give us a few pointers.

One of my daughter's friends, who sometimes reads this blog had recently read about my plight regarding my stiff back and some wild ivy. Yesterday when we got home from Mass he had been round with ladders and the necessary equipment to do a fantastic job and clearing away all the debris. I was very grateful.

I was also grateful this week when my eldest daughter won her place to read Modern Languages at university. Given the choice she opted for Leeds (the other being Manchester). Interestingly I studied at both these universities over a period of seven years. She really wanted to go to Manchester, but God love her, she admitted to thinking about family finances first, she will stay at home. She also said she'd have regular provision of the Gregorian Mass.

Salford and Hallam

I have been busy re-establishing my links with people in the Salford Diocese over the last few days since the Mass for the Feast of the Transfiguration at Ashton-Under-Lyne and Sunday's Mass at Holy Name. It has been really pleasant talking to everybody. I will be in the Salford Diocese (stiff back permitting) at a meeting tomorrow and doubt that I shall be able to get to the Mass at St. Marie's Cathedral, in Sheffield, as I had originally planned.

Reminder that there is Mass on Friday, the Feast of the Assumption, at Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, near Skipton at 11.30a.m.

Extra public Mass and holiday musings

I have just seen on Markenfield Hall's Website that, once again, a Requiem Mass will be offered there on Saturday 23rd. August at 11.00a.m. This Mass will be offered by Fr. Creighton-Jobe of the London Oratory and sung by some of the monks from Ampleforth Abbey, for the repose of the souls of those brave members of the Markenfield family who sacrificed so much in defence of the Faith.

In France a couple of weeks ago we were able to visit two Benedictine establishments at Wisques near St. Omer. Due to time availability I was only able to hear Vespers at the monastery for men and only visit the monastery for women without being able to join the Community in the Prayer of the Church.

The monks at Wisques seemed to number about 15 and all were certainly well into middle age (Father Manion of the USA, at the Oxford Conference, would have referred to them as third and fourth agers.) The monks sang Vespers beautifully in French with a bit of Latin. I was positively moved by the experience. The only other person there, apart from me and the monks, was a lady who spoke no English. I was able to elicit from her the location of the women's Monastery AND (rather savagely, I thought) that they "did" it all in Latin.

Pulling up outside the enormous Abbey church of the women's house and seeing a couple of reassuring "Walk this way and have a look" signs we (the others had woken up) walked that way. Upon entering the chapel, which revealed the railed off west end of the church, the sense of the Sacred was somehow immediately tangible. My two boys (aged 9 and 5 ) known for their crankiness after waking up (unlike their father) were really edified and the silence was broken only when Fabian accused Joe of not joining his hands after he had decided to light some candles (with Fabian's ever diminishing Euros to finance the touching but dubious operation!)

Pictures of that Benedictine Community in all sorts of media from old sepia photos to a modern high-tech digital resources plotted the history of the Community in the very humble visitors' area. We never actually saw a soul there until we left and a middle-aged nun wished us a good evening, as she walked towards visitors' entrance, which we were just leaving. Fabian, the five-year old, came out of the building, strapped himself in in the car and blurted out, "Who was watching us, Dad?"

I could only answer that God's presence there was more easily felt than when we say family prayers, with the kids scowling at each other on account of "borrowed" ghds (which allow them to iron their hair with electrified tongs), mascara, lipstick, clothes, socks, shoes, shorts, bats, bikes, boots, pocket-money, cds, mobiles, laptops and i-pods. And so, minus all these trappings, it was - astonishing tranquility and beautiful silent simplicity. There was nothing at all to to detract from the tabernacle centred above the altar which bore six candles in the "Benedictine" arrangement.

The Community of Dames at Wisques is quite large and I would estimate that well over half of the forty sisters pictured together in their vestibule were less than in their third age, as Fr. Manion might have called them. To me this means they weren't more than in their mid-thirties. It was clearly a very vibrant community, whose vibrancy focused on being still and silent in the presence of the Lord.

Please pray for any young women considering a vocation to the religious life. At Oxford I had the privilege to serve Fr. George's Mass on the last day at the Oratory. Fr. George is a Friar of the Immaculate. Thanks be to God there is a Community of traditional women in this country based in Cornwall which offers the Extraordinary Rite of Mass to its Community. Fr. George is its chaplain.

The Sisters of the Immaculate were present in noticeable numbers at the recent Mass at Westminster Cathedral, celebrated by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos. They wear a large Miraculous medal on the left hand side of their grey habits and are also a thriving community like the Benedictine Dames of Wisques. The Mass offered by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos was, strangely, referred to in Mgr. Loftus's recent article in the Catholic Times in rather negative terms. I wonder why?

Please remember that Friday is a Holy Day which we are bound, under pain of mortal sin, to attend without reasonable cause. Mass for the Feast of the Assumption will be offered at Broughton Hall at 11.30a.m. on Friday.

Our Lady of Walsingham, Queen assumed into Heaven, pray for us.

St. Nicholas Owen, pray for us.

Fatigue or sloth?

My back has been giving me grief for the last week. My plan to be up a ladder chopping down the ivy and then indoors, painting the landings have come to nothing, despite my feeling that action is the very next course of action. My misery is enhanced thinking about our Italian relatives who are due to visit shortly. We do however take each other as we are.

Yesterday we were at Mass at Holy Name in Manchester and were privileged to hear Fr. Christopher Hilton's sermon about the meaning of the Epistle.

It was gratifying to be able to talk with people who had read a recent posting about Salford on this blog. Holy Name always has congregations at its 1962 Rite of Mass well in excess of a hundred, which appears to be a microcosm of the Church with many different ages, races, colours and social classes of people.

I always find it very uplifting.

God bless the Pope!

Thank you Father Brown

No, not some reference to Chesterton, but a "hat tip" to Fr. Michael Brown who murmurs from the forest and who has some sort of device on his blog which permits people to see the latest posting on this blog. I am most grateful to Fr. Brown and accept, totally and on the chin, his reference to me as a blogger from down south. Leo Darroch (fellow LMS Committee member who met Pope Benedict in his Una Voce role), who is also more of a northener than I am, is always reminding me of this. Thanks.

Late reminder that there is Mass this Saturday morning at Holy Spirit, Heckmondwike, at 11.30a.m. but that there will be no Mass at Halifax. Normal weekly Vigil Masses will resume there next week.

Now having being charged with the task of decorating our double landing and staircase and ensuring that the new carpet is in place, before our Italian relatives come for dinner next week I have now rediscovered a sense of urgency after three weeks of school holiday. My favourite is always curry - but they invariably prefer....Italian. A tin of ravioli from the corner shop with a dusting of parmisan cheese is not what they expect (or will get), simply because it will be an honour for us, once again, to receive our guests,who visit us in thankfully ever increasing numbers.

Chesterton's poem about Heckmondwike will appear later today.

Any other men or boys wishing to learn to serve the extraordinary Rite of Mass should e-mail me now as I now have to propose a date to the Dean of the Cathedral within the next day. Those who have already responded to this and also the September training day at Halifax for the Gregorian Chant Workshop will receive details in due course.

A quick scan through this week's Catholic Times reveals, once again, another of Mgr. Basil Loftus's insidious attack on the modern Church in another one of his increasingly nostalgic and fantastic views of what the Pastoral Council, that Vat II was; and again seems to totally disregard the hermeneutic of continuity of which the Pope has spoken about.

Father Basil, without doubt a wonderfully talented individual, would do well to think about how society here has changed since the heady days of the 1960s. Empty churches, closed parishes, few vocations, falling birthrate, closed schools, huge divorce rates and grotesque levels of abortion. Can we say that to compensate we do have active parish councils and liturgy commissions?

A helping hand, Salford Diocese and family history

Since her retirement as Rep for Salford Diocese, Mrs. Hartley has continued as acting rep to keep things ticking over there. After a beautiful High Mass at Ashton-under-Lyne near Oldham last night for the magnificent Feast of the Transfiguration, I agreed to do what I can to help the Society to become more pro-active and mainstream, as we are here in Leeds. This means that, at least for the next few weeks, this blog will also focus on matters pertaining to LMS activity in the Salford Diocese. Having attended the Victoria University of Manchester in the mid-1980s and still having good contacts with good people there, the task is, thankfully less daunting. A couple of 'phone calls this evening resulted in the fact that now two priests will be at least asked if they would be prepared to offer the Mass. Prayers please!

When I was at Manchester the Salford Rep was Kevin Cave who did an often thankless but always tireless and ultimately productive job in the pre-1988 Indult days. One occasion I remember was a Solemn High Mass in the Norbertine Rite at Corpus Christi, Varley Street. Walter Atkinson, MC in Leeds at the time, spent months researching the Rite and rubrics. The hall attached to the church was full after the Mass as was the church during the Mass. Some of the people at that Mass are some of the people I still see at Masses in Salford nowadays - doubtless similar die-hards. Thanks be to Almighty God for answering all our collective prayers and sacrifices in years gone by. The challenges do not, however, go away and the implementation of the latest laws of the Church with regard to the 1962 Liturgical books remains a priority for this blogger.

An altar card of the beginning of St. John's Gospel ,beautifully handwritten by Kevin Cave for use at some of the Masses he organized now overlooks our dining table.
But how times have changed; a brand new set of altar cards is now easily available for literally next to nothing over the internet simply by downloading a file from any one of several Websites.

My profile on this blogsite lists family history as one of my interests. Whilst stuck in a traffic jam at 10.30p.m. last night on the M62 on the way back from Mass I thought about some of my ancestors from over the Pennines in Lancashire. Primarily there were the Gornalls who go back nearly a thousand years to northwestern English monastic life and whose name has only one origin (and not to Ireland as I initially imagined). Then there were the Edmundsons of Lancaster who were certainly well established in business and eventually related to some of the Catholic Cunninghams of the north east of England around, if memory serves correctly, Sunderland. I have also discovered that one of my mother's descendants was the very last person in England to be (wait for it..) burned at the stake. This took place at Lichfield in the Market Place and I believe a shield marks the spot. He was a puritan by the name of Wightman. Fr. Wiley hopes that this trend doesn't run in the family.

The Wightman family (which was at one point made up of farmers) has graves immediately in front of the south door of All Saints ancient (C of E) Parish Church, Featherstone, which contains a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Walsingham like the one in the baptistry at Holy Spirit (R.C.), Heckmondwike.

Again, the mere mention of the name of the town of Heckmondwike caused much amusement recently, which as I keep saying to increasing numbers of people is much maligned. Now that I have found my copy of the handwritten poem to Heckie's P.P by G.K. Chesterton about this square-mile town and that I am resolved to post a picture of one of the regular Saturday morning Masses there, I shall also endeavour to post my transcript of this lovely little literary frivolity tomorrow.
Needless to say that Heckie's links with Chesterton, who was a regular visitor and friend of Mgr. John O'Connor on whom the Father Brown's stories were based, does make it a point of interest, not least, in the renewed interest in the works of G.K.C.

Faith of our Fathers!

At the Mass at Heckmondwike on Sunday my son flicked open the incense boat to reveal the words of the prayer of blessing of incense stuck to the lid, whereupon I immediately thought about an earlier posting I made about this "liturgical tip" and the frivolous thought of archrubrician O'Connell inventing a prayer for the blessing of sticky tape. (Archrubrician was a term once used by Mgr. Basil Loftus of this diocese to describe O'Connell.)
Father Abberton has now also incorporated the sung collect and post-Communion prayer into the first Sunday Masses at Holy Spirit. Masses at Broughton and Heckmondwike both concluded with the singing of Faith of our Fathers.
Verse 4 of that hymn, "Faith of our Fathers! we will love/ Both friend and foe in all our strife:/ And preach thee too, as love knows how/ By kindly words and virtuous life.... " summed up perfectly the conclusions reached in the sermons at those two Masses. One lady even asked me if we were now allowed to sing this hymn again. As I gladly assured her tht we are as free as ever to sing this hymn I cringed inside upon realization that good faithful Catholics had been so terribly misled by those who should have known far better. My own grandmother was told many years ago, in the Confessional box, to forget all the "rubbish" she had been taught about the Faith at school.

She was truly scandalized. Her reverend confessor had long left the priesthood before she died in 1986. May she rest in peace.

E-pistles and St. Paul

The priest in charge of tuition in the 1962 Rite of Mass and Sacraments, Father Parfitt of Broughton, is I should think, going to be a very busy man in coming weeks and months with follow up one-to-one tuition sessions for some of the Merton men and others who have expressed the desire to learn. There was a very nice turnout at Broughton on Sunday. Fr. Parfitt's sermon unravelled the meaning of the Epistle, having referred to the Pauline Year and how St. Paul's thoughts often gushed as he wrote, he then (without any such gushing) compared and contrasted it with what the Holy Gospel was saying. I have often said that Fr. Parfitt does with the scriptures what Sr. Wendy does with wonderful paintings, insomuch as they see where they are in relation to what they clearly know, love and understand and are immediately able to make you (sometimes uncomfortably) aware of yourself in all of this expression or account too. You get the bigger picture and at the same time the soul seems to understand their analysis quicker than the mind, I wonder perhaps if St. Paul experienced this sort of thing as he analysed what he heard Almighty God saying to him as he composed his epistles?

I think St. Paul, in his special year would make a wonderful patron saint of the Roman Catholic blogosphere!

Summer School report and G.K. Chesterton

My daughter has returned refreshed and re-invogorated in the Faith following another excellent week at the St. Catherine's Summer School held at Ardingly College. As always her impressions were profoundly positive and we cannot enough thank Fr. Southwell, Dr. Joseph Shaw and all the other staff who gave freely of their holiday time to make this event possible.
As well as learning to sing some polyphony, and being thrilled at having the chance to learn some elementary Greek she was visibly moved when telling me that Fr. Southwell said she was welcome to attend next year, when she will be 19. For the first time, the Church's Social Teaching was on the Curriculum and when I immediately referred to Rerum Novarum she gave me a very sideward look, having thought that she might have been able to catch me out on something. Her team was, alas, in third place this year, but she does assure me that got all the Greek right.

As I said in my post last week it was really good to see so many children and teenagers learning about the Faith, moreover less than a hundred miles away in Oxford and at the same time, there were priests who at a far different level, were also learning about the Faith and Liturgy.

We in the North need to get ourselves sorted out to be able to host such events ourselves - for the simple reason that it would be more convenient for the priests and laypeople who live north of Nottingham to attend. Please e-mail me with any ideas you have about this and any offers of financial help. Please let us overcome this sense of northern isolation.

Living in Bradford as I do, where mosques are springing up all the time and Catholic churches and parishes are in decline, it was touching to hear of the young Muslim girl who was attending another event at Ardingly College and who attended recitation of the Rosary in the College chapel on two evenings. Afterwards she told my daughter how much she had enjoyed the prayers; needless to say we now have to pray for this girl to convert. At the same time I would ask you to pray for a young man in the Manchester area who is a described by a a very reliable source as a good Christian man who needs Rome, but doesn't yet see this. Please pray for all those people who are presently considering converting to Roman Catholicism and invoke Our Lady of Walsingham and St. Nicholas Owen when doing this.
A priest in Bradford told me of a young Muslim couple he had instructed, baptized and confirmed, yet before this the couple had already received death threats from their respective families. This couple has since left the UK.

I have just found my copy of the original facsimile of G.K.Chesterton's observations of Heckmondwike in the form of a poem, probably penned on the train on his way to visit his friend Mgr. John O'Connor, who was under Fr. Hinsley in the early days of Bradford's St. Bede's Grammar School. As mentioned before Heckmondwike will be the subject of a future posting. Mgr. O'Connor was responsible for the building of the "Round church" of the First Martyrs in Heights Lane, Bradford. Fr. O'Connor was Chesterton's inspiration for the Father Brown stories.

Bloggers, teachers and....footballers

At Merton I was able to meet with several bloggers. As well as Frs. Boyle, Finigan, Finnegan, Fra Laurence Lew OP and Mac McLernon, I spoke quite often with the very nice Lancaster Priest, Fr. Paul Harrison, of Thoughts from Walney Island fame. Those of you who read the blog will be relieved to know that I could detect no evidence of him eating Walker's excellent crisps or any other crisps for that matter. Father spoke passionately about football, history, music and the liturgy. With all but the football I felt as if we were operating on the same wavelength, he appears to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of Preston North End which is as incomprehensible to me as electrical engineering or biothermics!

Football is something that has never interested me, but this does not keep me looking at the career of one of my ex-pupils Andy O'Brien, who played for Bradford City, Newcastle and now plays for a southern team. According to the Leeds Diocese Website Andy was back in his native Knaresborough recently to open a nature pond at his old primary school, St. Mary's. When I taught Andy his GCSE German at St. John Fisher in Harrogate, and he passed it with flying colours, he was one of the first pupils to personally contact me to thank me for inspiring him in the classroom. His mum was like a dog with two tails at the year 11 parents' evening when I told her he would "walk" the exam.
My handwritten reports could be worth a fortune in years to come if he should ever play for his country!

The good Samaritan

I was able serve at three Masses yesterday, at every one of which I was able to offer up for the same personal intention. The Gospel of the Mass (The good Samaritan) allowed me to hear three different but equally edifying sermons which all came to exactly same conclusion that paramount to our Faith is the Love of God and of others as ourselves. I also spoke with several priests. One priest told me that since the Motu Proprio he has for the first time in his priestly life felt utterly and totally liberated, as if some sort of shackles have been removed. His Priesthood has reached a new level and for this he is truly grateful.

Thanks and apologies

Thanks to those of you who have requested to receive the newsletter by e-mail. Please do not hesitate to e-mail me for a copy of Facing Forward.

Apologies also for the errors which have appeared in the Mass listings. I shall sort this out a.s.a.p.
Sorry also that the Halifax Masses yesterday and next Saturday have had to be cancelled.

Summer School

Before attending the Oxford Conference I dropped off my eldest daughter at the St. Catherine's Trust Summer School at Ardingly College in East Sussex. I was able to attend the first Mass of the Summer School and it was very inspiring to see all the students with their brothers and sisters. There were well over a hundred children at the Mass and the atmosphere was lovely. Father Andrew Southwell was the celebrant. Father is always keen to remind me that he has links with Bradford as his uncle was a doctor here.
Judging by my daughter's telephone calls things have been a great success down there and I am looking forward to catching up on all the news when she gets back later today. I must thank Paul Waddington, rep in neighbouring Middlesbrough and fellow Committee member for so readily agreeing to bring her back from the Summer School. Paul is spending time with his relatives near to Ardingly.

I shall be serving the Mass at English Martyrs, York at 6.00p.m. for Paul as well as at our regular Leeds Masses at Broughton (11.30a.m.) and Heckmondwike (2.30p.m.)

As ever please do what you can to attend our Masses.

Server - training

Partly as a result of the conference I have received several requests from men wishing to learn to serve Low Mass. This will now go ahead in the next few weeks. If you are reading this blog and would like to learn how to serve Mass please e-mail me (lmsleeds@googlemail.com). The location will be central and will include Mass. Hands on tuition will be given.

Back from Merton

I arrived back from Oxford last night just in time to serve the First Friday Mass at Batley, where two of the sisters from the neighbouring convent were again in attendance with several other parishioners who continue to attend in ever increasing numbers. It was good to catch up with Father Wiley again who returned from World Youth Day when I was in France last week. Since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. Merton was an enormous success - the atmosphere was positively electric and after the second day I had lost count how many Masses I had served. I had to rise at 5.30a.m. to take a coach to the Oxford Oratory where Masses were offered at each of the altars in the church, at the altar in the house chapel and at a makeshift altar in the parish hall. In the afternoons I served Masses at makeshift altars at Merton and the stories priests told of their joy at learning to say the traditional Mass were as humbling as they were inspiring. The picture above shows part of the procession before Friday's Solemn Pontifical High Mass offered by the Abbot of Lagrasse. The sermon at this Mass was preached by former Leeds Priest, Father John Osman who was chaplain to the University of Bradford. It was wonderful for me to catch up with him after so many years.


Other Leeds priests at the conference were Canon McCreadie, Father Billington, Father Hall and Father Lawler. Canon McCreadie and Father Billington had previously had only limited exposure to the traditional Mass but I have no doubt that they were impressed with the liturgy they encountered and the training they received. I doubt it will be long before these priests are regularly offering the traditional Mass in their parishes. Father Hall will be our celebrant at the Masses at St. Peter's, Bradford starting in September. Father Hall attended as a beginner last year and this year was on an advanced course.


As well as serving Mass and attending vespers each day and compline on Wednesday evening I had a great opportunity to meet lots of interesting new people and make lots of new contacts, as did everybody else there. The lectures given by Rev. Dr. Hemming and Rev. Dr. Reid were quite outstanding and will be published in due course by the LMS.


Bishop McMahon of Nottingham came and offered pontifical Vespers on Thursday and joined us for dinner afterwards. He gave an extremely uplifting and hilarious speech after dinner and received a rapturous standing ovation from his mainly clerical listeners.



From my time at the conference I see that after less than a year of its implementation the Motu Proprio is not going to go away. It is now the law of the Church and despite those who would rather wish to see it not being implemented by pretending it doesn't exist I cannot help but think - probably for the first time in my life - that the future is bright. The 60 priests who benefited from the conference would, I'm sure, testify to this.

Deo gratias! God bless the Pope!

Back from holiday and back to work (of a sort)

I returned from holidays early on Saturday morning and was then back on the road to take my eldest daughter to the St. Catherine's Trust Summer School in East Sussex. I then drove up to Oxford to help out at the Priests' Training Conference serving Mass and various other jobs. Yesterday I served 2 private Masses and then attended Solemn Mass and Vespers in the beautiful chapel of Merton College where the conference is being held. There are 60 priests here this year learning different aspects of the traditional Liturgy, including four priests from Leeds Diocese and one former Leeds Diocesan priest. There is also a priest from Middlesbrough and a priest from Lancaster and a couple from Hexham and Newcastle.
The atmosphere really is quite remarkable and it is extremely encouraging to see so many (young) priests learning to offer the Mass and celebrate their priesthood. There has been a lot of opportunities to network and renew old acquaintances.
I have only just found the computer room here and as yet have been unable to download any photographs from my camera to upload to this blog. I shall do this in the next couple of days.
Please pray for the priests here that they may take back to their dioceses and parishes what they have learned and that they encourage their clerical confreres to do likewise.
Saints John Vianney and Therese of Liseaux pray for them!

Advance notice

Please note that there will be no Mass at Halifax this coming Saturday (August 2nd.) and the following Saturday (August 9th.) due to unforeseen circumstances. Normal schedule after this.

Holiday break

If I get a chance to do do any posting from France it will be from an internet cafe.
Au revoir!

Phew!

The newsletter has been posted! After a two hour tour of the new school we are currently feverishly preparing to move into and an extra hour at a meeting this afternoon I got home at 5.00p.m. and printed off nearly 200 labels, 200 double-sided Mass lists and then having stuffed the envelopes, stamped and labeled them, I managed to catch the last post at the central sorting office.

Later I sent out copies by e-mail to those who had requested it after one or two little hitches this too seems to have been a success. If you want a copy of the newsletter please specify if you do not have Windows Office 2007.

Having confirmed the details of the Masses at St. Peter's, Bradford, I received a lovely e-mail from the P.P. Fr. Francis Smith who said that we were welcome to store our things in the sacristy there and that he had arranged for somebody to help us in addition to opening and closing up the church. Many thanks to Fr. Smith and his parishioners. Whilst checking out the Leeds Diocese website for Bishop Roche's blog from Australia, I saw that in June there was a very impressive Corpus Christi procession of the Blessed Sacrament along the mainly Muslim Leeds Road area of Bradford. Had I known about this we would have been there. St. Peter's was my (lapsed) father's parish as a child. My grandmother was a member of the UCM there for many years. My wife's parents were married there (in the sacristy), she, her two brothers and countless aunties, uncles, cousins and nieces and nephews have been baptised, shriven, confirmed, married and buried from this church. I remember appealing there on behalf of SPUC in about 1987-8 and for at least ten years thereafter I regularly continued to go to confession there. The now long gone convent of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion which is now an old people's home saw the likes of the saintly sisters Gemma CP and Attracta CP.

The Sisters of the Cross and Passion have played an enormous role in the education of Catholic children over the last hundred or more years. Many primary and secondary schools have benefited from their presence. St. Joseph's College is a CP foundation and the daughter school, Saint Margaret Clitherow Girls' Grammar School is now Yorkshire Martyrs College.

For the Catholic boys of Bradford, Fr. Arthur Hinsley (later Archbishop and Cardinal) founded St. Bede's Grammar School (originally) near St. Patrick's church. His assistant was Father John O'Connor. Fr. O'Connor was a great friend of G.K. Chesterton who based his famous character, Father Brown, on this real priest.
St. Bede's daughter school was Cardinal Hinsley Grammar School for boys. As far as I am aware, this was always a school with lay staff and under the control of its only Headmaster, the late Walter Earnshaw. In the early 1980s Hinsley/Clitherow amalgamated to form Yorkshire Martyrs Collegiate School.
The link between G.K.Chesterton and Mgr. O'Connor and the much maligned Heckmondwike will be a future feature on this blog.

Last day of term is here and still an enormous amount to do.

New regular venue

I am delighted to announce that Mass will be offered every second Sunday of the month from September at St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Laisterdyke, Bradford at 3.00p.m.(Just down the road from St. Francis church at Eccleshill, where Mass was offered last Sunday.)
September 14th., also marks the first anniversary of the coming into force of the Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum, so the occasion will be one of thanksgiving in more ways than one. The celebrant will be Father Hall who readily agreed to offer the Mass - many thanks to him and to the P.P. Father Francis Smith for so readily agreeing to accommodate these Masses at St. Peter's.
I am hoping that this will be a sung Mass.

UPDATE; I have (at last) today heard from the authorities at Kirkstall Abbey about the procedure for having Mass there. I think I have a celebrant and a donor who wishes to remain anonymous has already told me that finance should pose no problem to organising this Mass.

REMINDER; Mass on Saturday at 6.00p.m. at St. Maries, Gibbett Street, Halifax. THIS IS THE FIRST OF THE HENCEFORTH WEEKLY VIGIL MASSES AT HALIFAX.

Mass at Markenfield

Mass for the Feast of St. Henry was sung tonight in the chapel of the historic Markenfield Hall by Fr. Parfitt. As well as being something of a very interesting history lesson, Father's sermon focused on the role of Catholicism and the Saints of the Age (St. Henry, for example) in forming the very heart and soul of European culture and life, which continue to be under attack by immorality and the forces of paganism and secularism. At the start of the sermon Father Parfitt made reference to the anniversary of the Motu Proprio and said that we should rejoice that Pope Benedict has given any priest who wishes, the right to celebrate the Sacraments according to the Rites of 1962.
Mass concluded with a hymn for the Pope and the Salve Regina.

God bless the Pope!

Newsletter printed

The Summer Newsletter, Facing Forward, is literally hot of the press. Having read it three times and then carrying out the perfunctory grammar and spell check, followed by running off 200 copies to post out by Wednesday I immediately spotted 4 mistakes. Mea culpa.
For LMS work I have invested in a printer (on special offer) which works like a photocopier, by using powder instead of ink to reduce photocopying costs and to enable me to buy value priced paper. Cost of printer and spare cartridge £120 with at least 8000 black and white copies; 1000 sheets of decent paper (on special offer) for £4 at the local supermarket, postage stamps £42.12 for 13 books of 12 second class stamps ( quite a few still left in the stamp box following gifts of stamp books by people often outside of the diocese), envelopes - bought last time round on buy on get one free, envelope labels - bought last time round on buy one get one free
.
If you are reading this blog and wish to receive a now corrected electronic version of the newsletter, please forward your e-mail address to me (lmsleeds@googlemail.com) - this request also appears in the newsletter. These will be sent out on Thursday onwards. It is far more cost effective and much less time consuming. This will also enable me to alert those interested to any extra Masses I receive information about.

Does anybody know who is the patron saint of printers?

A reminder that there is Mass for the Feast of St. Henry on Tuesday evening at Markenfield Hall, at 7.00p.m.

Forgive us our trespasses

The culture of death in which we live is a very frightening thing. Human life is dispensable, a foetus is not safe, less so an embryo. People who work in hospitals might tell of things which would horrify the public about the way people are killed there. Knife, gun and gang culture has recently reared its ugly head with devestating consequences in several murders. Once again we hear those in authority promising "tougher laws" in a country, where only recently the prisons were unable to take any more prisoners. So much of the legislation in this country is rank - it is ubridled putridity - its stench must revolt even the very God who created life itself. How can life be even remotely valued if children are brought up to believe that destroying it at any of its several stages is quite often perfectly acceptable for "social" reasons?

At 4.00p.m. today there will be Mass at St. Francis church, Norman Lane, Eccleshill, Bradford. I shall ask Canon Boyle to offer a Votive Mass for the Forgiveness of sins at his earliest convenience on behalf of the Society. This is probably the last Mass to be held in this church as the P.P. Fr. Stephen Brown, friend and celebrant of the Society is shortly due to take up his new post as chaplain at the University of Bradford. I shall ask Father Brown to offer Mass for the Propagation of the Faith in the traditional Rite at his convenience, again on behalf of the Society.

Novel tip?

I have served a lot of Masses where the priest has had to rely on reading from bits of paper or cards or booklets, when saying the prayer for the blessing of incense at the introit and before the Gospel. For years at Broughton the words of the prayer have been stuck to the inside of the flip top lid of the incense boat. What would archbrubrician Fr. O'Connell have thought? A liturgical blessing for sticky tape?

It never occurred until me recently that others might share this good idea until the priest is able to recite the prayer without reading it.

Just for the record this is the prayer:

Ab illo bene+dicaris in cuius honore cremaberis. Amen.

(From him in whose honour you will burn, receive a blessing)

New schedule

A hectic week at school is now over. The newsletter will be ready to print tomorrow after a couple of slight changes.

The Saturday morning Masses at Heckmondwike continue and it is nice to see numbers into the teens there each time - made up of regular parishioners. After last Sunday I was pleased to hear one of the parishioners say that it would be lovely to have "this Mass" there every Sunday. Father Parfitt will be delighted to learn that his former tutee, Father Abberton, is doing very well and now sings part of the monthly Sunday Mass.

I hope that the good people of St. Marie's, Halifax are rejoicing at the news that their P.P. Fr. David Smith has announced that from next Saturday there will be Mass in the Extraordinary Form every Saturday at 6.00p.m. This will be a Vigil Mass. Those people at the workshop in September will be singing at one of these Masses.

Every fourth Sunday of the month there will now be Mass (again in anticipation of Sunday) at 3.00p.m. at St. Mary of the Angels, Crossbank Road, Batley.

Every last Sunday of the month there will be Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Road, Leeds.

There are other regular Masses in the pipeline, particularly in Bradford and Leeds, including the Cathedral. The recent clerical moves have caused a delay and some changes to the original proposed schedule.

Bit by bit, Mass by Mass, week by week we are growing in numbers and in confidence and one hopes in Faith and holiness.

Thanks be to God.

AND PLEASE REMEMBER MASS ON TUESDAY 15TH. JULY AT MARKENFIELD HALL, 7.00P.M. (JUST SOUTH OF RIPON ON THE MAIN RIPON / HARROGATE ROAD.) DO NOT CONFUSE WITH SIGNS TO MARKINGTON.

This and that

I notice tonight that the Anglican Community has elected to appoint women bishops from 2014.

I have no desire to comment on what this group chooses to do but I do often wonder what the "Church of England" is. It all seems very vague. Even those relatives and friends of mine who are Protestants don't really seem to know. What will be of interest is how many of its followers decide to cut and run and where they will head for.

No long postings for the next couple of days. I am currently preparing my next newsletter which should be ready by the end of this week and sent out before next week.

I have just sent in my report to the LMS Office in London for publication in Mass of Ages along with the next quarter's (incomplete) list of Masses. There is still a bit of behind the scenes work going on arranging other regular Masses. Please watch this blog and the Catholic Post for details of extra Masses.

I shall be in France during the first week of the six week holiday - absolutely by chance we are staying in a small town with not one but two monasteries, one for Doms and the other for Dames. The men have daily sung Mass and the liturgy of hours with Gregorian chant (OF). I shall be interested to visit these places.

The second week I shall be at the Oxford Conference at Merton College whilst my eldest daughter is at the St. Catherine's Summer School near Haywards Heath, down south!

I have now received details from the office in London of nearly 60 people who have joined the LMS over recent weeks - a big welcome to them. It will take me an age to type out mailing labels

to get their copies of the newsletter to them.

Finally a first reminder that we are to have Mass again next Tuesday, July 15th. at Markenfield Hall at 7.oop.m. Markenfield Hall is situated just outside Ripon on the main Harrogate to Ripon Road.

On Sunday there will be Mass at Our Lady and St. Francis, Norman Lane, Bradford, at 4.00p.m. The celebrant will be our old friend Canon Boyle of the Archdiocese of Glasgow who is once again spending his holidays in this area. Thanks to him, it was good to see him at Mass at Broughton yesterday.

Official

Before serving Mass tonight, where once again there were new faces - some people even came from near Haworth, I was shown a letter by Fr. Wiley from the Bishop announcing the new clerical moves, now available on the diocesan website. Our friend and celebrant Fr. Stephen Brown is to be chaplain at Bradford University, although I never studied there, this is where I met my wife, and where we attended SPUC meetings when Fr. Osman was chaplain to the University. I must confess to having somewhat pestered him to offer the "Old" Mass, a request which in my presence he never did. Imagine my joy when I learned that he is now a regular celebrant of the Gregorian Mass at his parish of St. Birinus in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Our friend Father Kravos is going to the chaplaincy at Leeds University, where, he says, the French gothic style chapel lends itself beautifully to the EF.
Father Wiley himself was finally listed as Co-ordinator for the Extraordinary Rite of Mass.
After 40 years, we now have a priest of this diocese, who was not even ten years old when the final version of the new Mass of Pope Paul VI was promulgated. At the same time we are privileged to have Fr. Geoffrey Parfitt of Sacred Heart, Broughton, who celebrated his Ruby Jubilee earlier this year as our clergy trainer and mentor for the 1962 Rite, at the request of Bishop Roche.
At our meeting tonight Fr. Wiley and I were able to not only "chew the fat", but to thrash out a lot of ideas. I shall post about these in due course.

Please, any priests reading this post , if you are interested in learning how to celebrate the Sacraments and offer the Mass according to the Books of 1962 (beginners to advanced level available) consider attending the Oxford Conference and/or get in touch with Fr. Parfitt

Mass will be offered at Sacred Heart, Broughton on Sunday morning at 11.30 (Missa Cantata)and later in the day at 2.30p.m. at Holy Spirit, Bath Road Heckmondwike. Low Mass is also offered in York at 6.00p.m. at English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace each first Sunday of the month.

First Friday

A reminder that Friday is the first Friday of the month and as such there will be Mass at St. Mary of the Angels, Batley at 7.30p.m. I shall be meeting Fr. Wiley after Mass and there is a thick agenda! Fish and chips supper likely!
Confessions before Mass (EF) from 7.00p.m.

For those nearer to Skipton there is Mass at Broughton Hall at 9.30a.m. Confession available at call.

Busy busy

The last few weeks of term are always hectic. These weeks are no exception given that the children at my school will have an extra two weeks summer holiday this year, finishing at the end of next week and not returning till September 8th., on account of us moving to a brand new school building . Planning and preparation are naturally essential. This "Hektik", as the Germans say, is not reduced by the busy time afforded by recent events in the Church and my responsibilities as rep.

I was contacted at 7.00a.m. on Tuesday morning to request that I assist at a Solemn High Mass in a neighbouring diocese as a server that same evening. By noon I had received an e-mail from a reporter from the Tablet asking about developments in this diocese re. the TLM. When I got home there were 26 e-mails and 3 letters from people re. the TLM.

The upshot was that when I got home, after a very tedious departmental meeting, I was no longer needed as a server and it wasn't necessary to grab a sandwich and beetle off. So I had a long sleep, waking up to watch the Solemn High Mass on EWTN of the Solemnity of the Precious Blood, after which I had a cup of cocoa and went back to bed.

After school today I replied to the fellow from the Tablet and will do "the mailing" after school on Thursday.

The News about the Redemptorists in Papa Stronsay, the Orkneys, entering into full communion with Rome is very promising, especially in light of the recent reaction of the Society of St. Pius X. to the letter from Rome.

Let us pray that all non-heterodox believers unite behind Pope Benedict XVI so that when Pope Benedict is no longer here (and distant may that be) his legacy will remain and that it will be impossible to dismiss or disregard that revived orthodoxy or orthopraxis masterfully recreated in light of the true intention of Vatican II instead of its hideous "spirit".

God Bless the Pope!