Interesting northern events

I reproduce the following because I heartily recommend it and hope to attend myself. Even the thought of such an event to be taking place in Newcastle would have brought sneers or laughter just a few years ago. The rolling snowball is gathering speed. I think this is a wonderful initiative hot on the heels of the Pope’s visit.

News from St. Joseph’s, Gateshead. Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

“In October we have arranged a 2-day Recollection on Friday (29th October) for clergy and on Saturday (30th October) for laity. The Saturday programme will be:

10.00 First Conference
10.40 Confessions
11.00 Second Conference
12.00 Solemn High Mass

The conferences for both clergy & laity will be given by Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP in St Joseph's Church, High West Street, Gateshead NE8 1LX.

The church is situated immediately opposite the Metro Interchange where Metro trains and buses from Newcastle and south of the Tyne arrive frequently.

Please make every effort to attend as Fr de Malleray is putting himself out greatly to make himself available.”

Meanwhile....

Back here in Leeds Diocese I am delighted to learn that St. Mary’s, Halifax is to have a Parish Mission from Saturday 25^th. September to Sunday 3^rd October, to be preached by Fr. John Edwards of the Society of Jesus. As part of the Parish Mission Father Edwards, a formidable preacher and apologist, whom I remember warmly from my days at university, will preach on Confession at the 6.00p.m. Mass on Saturday 26^th. September and there will be Mass with commentary on Saturday 2^nd. October. The daily themes, between these Masses are:

Can we be sure in what we believe?, Conversion - a daily duty, How can God allow evil? And Our dead and Christ’s life in us.

A superb day and a reflection

Having been on the road since 1.30a.m. this morning I am tired to say the least.

It has been a long but worthwhile day. Having seats just a few feet away from the Sanctuary, my eldest daughter and I found it just as easy to watch the Pontiff as to look at the big screens as his facial expressions were quite discernible. The Holy Father looked tired but remained strong throughout the two and a half hour long liturgy.

I was very moved by the Holy Father's very disarming humility, stamina and personal holiness. The sanctuary was filled with cardinals, archbishops and bishops, priests, deacons, altar servers, lay people, religious, readers and television and security people, but all eyes were on the Pope who commanded an incredible and awesome silence when he was speaking and celebrating the Mass. The Pope spoke to my heart and stirred and moved me in a way I seldom experience. My daughter was moved to tears 6 times during the papal liturgy.

The liturgy itself wasn't the sort of thing I would normally go for but it was, as one would expect, very dignified and there were no shocking gimmicks or dancing youngsters in leotards waving smoking dishes and bits of cloth, which seemed to be such a feature of previous papal liturgies.

What was very refreshing and inspiring was that those selected to receive Jesus in Holy Communion from the Servant of the Servants of God again did so kneeling and on the tongue. If this is not a clear message then I do not know what is. Let us take note!

As we were the first to get onto the bus back to the car park in Wythell we were amongst the first to get out of the car park and were home by 3.30p.m. An hour's snooze on the couch took away the groginess as did another hour after dinner! It had been a round trip of about 270 miles.

Sheer joy.

Praise to the Holiest in the height!

God bless and keep our Pope!

Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Exaudi, Christe!

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Exaudi, Christe. Ecclesiae Sanctae Dei salus perpetua. Redemptor mundi, Tu illam adjuva!

Exaudi, Christe. Benedicto summo Pontifici et universali Papae vita! Salvator mundi, Tu illum adjuva!

Sancte Petre, Tu illum adjuva!  Rex regum!  

Sancte Paule, Tu illum adjuva!  Rex noster!

Christe, spes noster! Tu illam adjuva!

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Exaudi, Christe. Ecclesiae Sanctae Dei salus perpetua. Redemptor mundi, Tu illam adjuva!

Exaudi, Christe. Benedicto summo Pontifici et universali Papae vita! Salvator mundi, Tu illum adjuva!

(adapted)

The invited pilgrim

I am looking forward to the visit to Cofton Park next week to witness the Pope beatifying Cardinal John Henry Newman. I received my information pack yesterday and was interested to see the above "helpful terms", which I didn't feel were particularly helpful. Indeed I thought that they were positively unhelpful.

What was interesting was the request to concelebrating clergy to bring alb, amice and cincture, something which also surprised one or two priests I know to whom I've spoken this weekend.

This said the papal flag is now fluttering gently outside the bedroom window, where it will remain until Pope Benedict is safely back in Vatican territory.

God bless the Pope!

Masses this weekend

Saturday (Vigil Mass) St. Mary's, Halifax, 6.00p.m.

Sunday (Low Mass) St. Joseph's, Pontefract, 3.00p.m.

Sunday (Missa Cantata) St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford, 3.00p.m.

NEXT WEEK DUE TO THE VISIT OF THE HOLY FATHER THERE WILL BE NO MASS AT LEEDS, ST. AUGUSTINE'S.

This last week has been my first full week back at school. Again my department's results were very good and I have enjoyed teaching all my classes.

At home I am also in the process of a huge sort out of books and papers. I have already filled 8 black rubbish bags for recycling and have selected a lot of things to take to the charity shop. The shredder was red hot.

Feeling shredded myself I am taking my sons and their friend to the National Railway Museum at York tomorrow morning. I'm already looking forward to an extra couple of hours in bed on Sunday, which I shall be denied next week as I shall, God willing, be at the Pope's Mass in Cofton Park.

Needless to say my prayers at Mass this weekend will be for a wonderfully successful Papal visit. I am now really looking forward to the visit and to listening to what the Pope says.

God bless the Pope!

It's not just me....I knew it wasn't!

An Anglican clergyman and scholar from Oxford notes on his blog* about Basil Loftus...

"The man is a complete charlatan in the way he uses misinformation to deceive. I have just read a piece about how Rome subverts the desire of Vatican II for a vernacular liturgy. In this he fails to mention what V2 actually says ... and supports this assertion by a rhetorical trope of Paul VI, the word Dammit, and a claim that V2 is all about ecclesia semper reformanda."

I have long held the view that Basil knows only too well the dangers posed by the EF and the hermeneutic of continuity to his cosy but gaga ideas about "Church".

People like Basil were ten a penny in the seventies and eighties and are now an ageing breed. Do these people serve a purpose (like the doddering gang in charge of Catholics for a changing Church) in so much as anything they say can be taken with a large pinch of salt and ignored, given that what they call for is not the mandate of Christ or His Church?

* http://liturgicalnotes.blogspot.com/2010/08/some-priestling-called-loftus.html

Masses this weekend and other news

Masses will be offered fulfilling the Sunday obligation this weekend as follows:

Saturday 3.00p.m. St. Mary of the Angels, Crossbank Road, Batley.

Saturday 6.00p.m. St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax.

Sunday 3.00p.m. St. Joseph, Pontefract Road, Castleford.

Sunday 6.00p.m. Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Road, Leeds. N.B. This will be the LAST Mass at Cardigan Road, as we will be relocating shortly. Details to follow.

The experiment with regular monthly Sunday evening Masses in suburban Leeds has been judged unsuccessful and with the dark nights to be shortly upon us again a new time and venue have been found, this also has to do with the fact that the church is to eventually close as part of the new pastoral provision in Leeds. Thanks to the PP Father Jackson (and his predecessor Fr. Kravos) who has been very kind to us - since he is to move shortly to St Augustine's in Leeds where we have already have one of our our third Sunday Masses, it is not even a case of au revoir let alone adieu!

Occasional EF celebrant and PP of St. Augustine's Fr. Kelly is to go to St. Austin's, Wakefield as curate. We already have a sung Requiem Mass "booked" at the chantry chapel in December to be sung by Fr. Smith, the Episcopal Vicar for Clergy and a regular celebrant of the EF.

We also bid a fond farewell to the PP of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Seacroft, Fr. Billington who is taking up a full time position at Ushaw. This means that there will be no more Friday Masses at Seacroft. Every good wish to Fr. Billington.

Father Wiley is to move to the newly formed Parish of St. John Vianney, which incorporates the former parishes of Immaculate Heart, Moortown and St. Paul's, Alwoodly.

He has already asked me to pencil in a couple of dates, as he did when he was at St. Columba's, Bradford.

I have also several priests to contact who have asked me to discuss the possibility of future Masses with them or other priests.

This morning (Friday) I was delighted to receive a cordial invitation from the Conference of Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland to attend the Beatification Mass of the Venerable John Henry Newman by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at Cofton Park, with my eldest daughter.

I saw the last Pope several times both here and in Italy years later. I have seen Cardinal Ratzinger before, having even translated something written in his own hand from his native German into English.

But I have never attended a beatification Mass and I haven't seen the present Pope since he accepted the throne of Peter.

Delighted to accept the invitation.

God bless the Pope!

Who attacks the EF these days?

I have only ever bought the Tablet once and I long ago dispensed with taking the Catholic Times.

The reason for this is that I hate the attacks on the EF by Basil Loftus who is a retired priest of this diocese now living in Scotland.

Mgr Basil, whose father was a leading light in the early days of the very existence of the Latin Mass Society, will use any opportunity to criticize and downplay the vital role the EF has to play in the future identity of the Church, as seen by the tired and painful nonsense he churns out on a regular basis. Is this real hatred or is he overawed by the power of it?

Does the editor of the Catholic Times really "Follow Peter" by giving space to somebody who appears to worship V2 as something more than a pastoral council, the spirit of which still deludes itself into thinking that there was something new under the sun and that V2 was it? If so which Peter are we being exhorted to follow?

Surely the Catechism is enough for us as Catholics to accept and if we put the horrors of the past behind us, including the ever increasingly obvious erroneous spirit of V2 which seems to give the impression you can do what you like really, then the future's bright. It can't be anything but bright.

God bless the Pope! God bless Benedict XVI!

Important note - Masses this weekend

The 3.00p.m. Mass at Batley has been postponed until next Saturday, but Mass is due to recommence at Halifax at 6.00p.m.

On Sunday there will be Mass at Castleford at 3.00pm.

I have been very busy meeting and contacting clergy this week and have arranged to meet with the Bishop after the Papal visit.

It is very interesting that at least three of the priests invited to meet the Holy Father in some capacity in September are celebrants of the EF in this diocese and all ordained since 1970.

Some of you may remember that under a former bishop no priest was permitted to offer the EF if he had been ordained after 1970 in this diocese. Mass in parish churches was discouraged.

Thankfully there were always faithful and generous priests who never said no to us and our legal requests. Some of these good men have now gone to their eternal repose but Mass is regularly offered for them. These include Cardinal Heenan, Bishop Wheeler, Fathers Cooke (OMI), Pepper, Holmes, Doughty, Woodward, Brooke, Cresswell, Scannell, and the many others who said yes whenever they could.

Today we have a new generation of priests as well as the older (but not necessarily elderly) stalwarts who are ready, willing and able to offer Mass in both forms. Even three years ago this would have been unthinkable.

One thing I have learned as a parent, teacher and moreover as lms rep is the virtue of patience! Some things take a long time to come to fruition. This last couple of weeks have seen quite a lot of fruition.

Details to follow.

God bless the Pope!

Back from holiday

Two weeks off and away have made me feel much refreshed. This Sunday is the feast of the Assumption, the Holyday which comes round faster and faster every year .
Mass at Halifax has been suspended until next Saturday but on Sunday there will be Mass at Castleford, St. Joseph's Pontefract Road at 3.00p.m. and at Leeds, St.Augustine's, Harehills Road at 5.00p.m.
There is no Mass at Halifaxthe language of worship. Their Church utilizes every means of taking people beyond everyday interests; the language of commerce and of everyday occupation is left outside, and the people are taught the language of worship. That shows a shrewd, deep insight into the human mind."

--The Mass by Fr. Joseph Dunney.

Impressed

It was a great pleasure to talk to a chap not much older than me who was a "first timer" for many years, after Mass at Castleford today.

He was clearly impressed and moved by what he had re-experienced and he was able to well articulate what he thought had been disastrous within the Church over the last four decades or so.

If that good man comes across this blog please feel free to attend any more of our Masses, listed on the right hand side of this posting.

No Mass at Halifax for the next two weeks

There will be no Mass at St. Mary's Halifax for the next two weeks and so the next Traditional Mass will be Saturday 22nd. August at 6.00p.m.

LMS press release

The LMS recently announced that Bishop Athanasius Schneider ORC, will attend the forthcoming priests' training conference.

The release states:

Bishop Athanasius Schneider to attend conference

The Latin Mass Society has announced that Bishop Athanasius Schneider ORC, Auxiliary Bishop of Karaganga in Kazakhstan, will be attending the forthcoming priests' training conference held at Downside Abbey from Tuesday 10th to Friday 13th August. Bishop Schneider will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the Abbey Church at Downside on Thursday 12th August at 11.00 am. He will also deliver a lecture as part of the conference.
Around 30 priests are expected to attend the conference where tuition will be given in the celebration of Mass in the older form. Some will be beginners, and will be studying Low Mass; whilst others with more experience will be expanding their skills to include Missa Cantata and Missa Solemnis. Tuition will also be provided for altar servers.
Bishop Schneider is best known for his defence of the traditional practice of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue and kneeling. His book, Dominus Est, originally written in Italian but now available in English, deals with the subject in some detail. The public will be able to attend the 11.00am Mass in the Abbey Church each day of the conference, but will be particularly welcome at the Pontifical Mass on the Thursday.
There are a few last minute places available at the Downside conference. Priests and potential servers interestedshould contact the Latin Mass Society by telephoning 020 7404 7284 for further information and an application form.

This will be the 6th conference to be organised by the LMS during the last 3 years. Earlier ones have been held at Merton College in Oxford, Ushaw College in Co Durham and All Saints Pastoral Centre in London Colney, Herts.
Over 100 priests have attended these conferences, of whom about 85 now regularly celebrate Mass in the Usus Antiquior.
Practically all restrictions on the use of the Usus Antiquior or Extraordinary Form were lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in his motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, published in July 2007. Since then the number of both Sunday and weekday Masses celebrated in the Usus Antiquior has increased in all dioceses of England and Wales.
The website of the Latin Mass Society includes listings of Masses celebrated in this form. See www.latin-mass-society.org

Blog comments

Since establishing this blogsite I have never needed or wanted to moderate any comments made by anybody. Recently I have started to receive several "comments" on a regular basis which turn out to be a link to some oriental pornographic web pages - something a Priest blogger also reported happening to him a while ago.

However, I have always maintained, this blogsite is primarily an informative effort with personal observations and not designed as a forum for discussion, as there are plenty of other blogsites which encourage this and whose editors can devote more time to it.

Thanks to our oriental friends, who I'm sure could employ their hands and minds far more productively, I have decided to cease allowing blog comments at least until speaking to a more advanced and experienced blogger who can show me how to prevent this happening. I shall be in no immediate rush to do this. I have tired of deleting the comments/links from this nasty and creepy source.

First Holy Communion

Tomorrow is our son's First Confession and First Holy Communion Mass. The Mass will be at St. Mary of the Angels, Batley at 3.00p.m. and will be a Missa Cantata.

Pentecost VIII

Masses on Sunday.

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

Leeds, St. Augustine's, Harehills Rd. 5.00p.m. Mass will be offered by the Parish Priest, Fr. Michael Kelly.

What a blessing

On a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is good, my week at school was hovering around minus 5, when I left at 5.00p.m. this evening. Thinking that things couldn't get worse I arrived home half an hour later to discover that my youngest son had thrown a stone and broken a neighbour's (large) front window.

I immediately went over to offer to pay for any damage. The lady was very nice and the first thing she said was that as soon as he had done it, he went and told her what had happened and to apologise before telling his Mum. I felt proud that he had done the right thing - next week is First Confession and Holy Communion for him.

Later he admitted that the whole thing could have been avoided if he had done as he had been taught- to only throw stones into the sea.

Small stones cast long ripples!

Busy, busy

Since the Bishop's latest round of new appointments I have been busy contacting clergy to continue existing provision, whilst discussing with the Rev Co-ordinator for the Extraordinary Form of Mass, possible future openings. I do receive letters requesting Mass in various parishes from people who do not know how to go about it or are too afraid to ask, for lots of reasons.

Fortunately the majority of clergy in this diocese are more than happy to help me if asked, even if the old Mass is not to their own taste. It is the occasional contact with these Priests which I enjoy, because they see that we are not out to do anything seditious and we often share concerns about how difficult it is to reach out to people in an out of control secular state.

Bishop Roche's support, in appointing priests to teach the rubrics (pre Summorum Pontificum) and to co-ordinate the old Mass (post Summorum Pontificum) were and still possibly are, unprecedented, as far as I am aware.

There are some unsatisfactory things which need to be addressed, and again I hear far more of these than anything.

So as things change over the next few weeks I shall take the recent changes and information received into consideration.

Today marks the third anniversary of Summorum Pontificum and we must give thanks to God for all the positive benefits this has brought, but there is a lot more to do.

God bless the Pope!

All change!

It is that time of the year again when the Bishop invites priests to visit him. Some such invitations mean that the Bishop wishes to implement changes by moving clergy to perform a different task in a new place. This is the case in many dioceses. Recently Bishop Roche announced a restructuring of the parishes in Leeds. This combination of clergy moves and reorganisation in Leeds will affect the provision of the Traditional Mass.

For example, the Diocesan Co-ordinator for the Extraordinary Form and PP of Batley's St. Mary of the Angels, Fr. Tim Wiley, has been appointed as Parish Priest of the newly formed parish of St. John Vianney, which will incorporate the former parishes of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Moortown and St. Paul's, Allwoodly in Leeds. The church of Our Lady of Lourdes at Cardigan Road is to be closed this summer and some more priests who allow us use of the church and others who either regularly or occasionally celebrate the EF Rite are also to move.

I shall now request a formal meeting with Fr. Wiley as soon as possible to discuss the immediate practical implications of these moves. Certain changes will have to be made fairly smartly and I am sure that this will be for the better

Many parishioners at Batley were shocked and saddened to hear that Fr. Wiley would be leaving

and concerned that they would lose their "Latin Mass". Two of my daughters were at the Mass and overheard the sentiments of the people afterwards and even during the announcement itself!

With my rep's hat on I need to ensure that as long as the demand is there we will be able to continue provision at Batley, especially given the Pope's wishes in his Motu Proprio and subsequent clarifications made by the Vatican about numbers of those who request the Mass.

Our Lady of Victories, pray for us.

Masses this weekend

Masses this weekend:

Saturday

Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, near Skipton, 9.30a.m,

English Martyrs, Alexandra Road South, Manchester, 10.00a.m.

Holy Spirit, Heckmondwike, 11.30a.m.

St. Mary of the Angels, Batley, 3.00p.m. (vigil)

St. Marie's, Halifax, 6.00p.m. (vigil)

Sunday

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

Holy Name, Manchester, 4.00p.m.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Road, Leeds, 6.00p.m.

English Martyrs, York, 6.30p.m.

St. Peter & Paul's Day Masses

Updated - with thanks to a sharp eyed reader, who spotted yesterday's deliberate error. The feast of Ss Peter and Paul is one of our few remaining Holy Days of obligation.

Mass at 7.00a.m. at St. Mary of the Angels, Batley and

at 11.30a.m. at Sacred Heart, Broughton.

A wonderful opportunity to celebrate the Primacy of Peter and so ideally situated in this time of Pentecost. The Church shows us the earthly head of the family, which God has drawn to Himself.

Instead of Peter we have Benedict, gloriously reigning, on earth.

One of our regular celebrants has been invited to offer Mass with the Holy Father in Westminster Cathedral, during the Pontiff's September visit.

4th. Sunday after Pentecost

It is refreshing to see the green of the liturgical post-Pentecost season again, from acidic pea-green to creamy olive shades, the sense of new life and growth is clear and the Gospel of today starts to chart the beginnings of the early Church and foreshadowing the primacy of Peter and the Petrine Office. Cast your nets deep recalls our own Bishop's motto. Duc in altum.

The recent output of the Holy Father concerning the nature of the Priesthood and the need to re-catechize the faithful about the centrality of the Blessed Sacrament has been relentless.

Father Wiley, EF co-ordinator and PP has kindly agreed to allow our youngest son to make his first Holy Communion at St. Mary of the Angels, Batley on Saturday July 24th. at 3.00p.m. This will be a Missa cantata and our son will receive the Blessed Sacrament for the first time, just a few feet away from where he was baptized seven years ago by the hand of the same priest.

Confirmation is the next Sacrament on the list after our youngest's First Holy Communion. All three girls were confirmed at St. James, Spanish Place, London by the late Bishop O'Brien in the EF, pre-Summorum Pontificum and with the blessing of Cardinal Cormac. I do hope that travelling so far will not be necessary for our eldest boy.

This week's Sunday Masses are at Castleford, St. Joseph's at 3.00p.m. and at Leeds, St. Augustine's at 5.00p.m.

Mass at 4.00p.m. at Holy Name, Manchester and English Martyrs, York at 6.30p.m.

The photo above shows the original interior of St Augustine's, Leeds. Our Mass takes place in the Lady Chapel.

God bless the Pope!

No Mass on Sunday at Bradford

The annual Parish Blessed Sacrament Procession (a real experience of expressing our Faith in a heavily populated Muslim area of Bradford in Leeds Road) will take place on Sunday afternoon and so there will be no Mass at St. Peter's on Sunday in the EF.

Mass will be at Halifax on Saturday at 6.00p.m. and at Castleford on Sunday at 3.00p.m.

Various sources suggest that plans for the Holy Father's visit are not quite on track. Let us pray for the success of the Pope's visit. Perhaps Bishops could authorise skeleton services in their dioceses to allow parish priests and their parishioners to attend the Papal event on the Sunday if the organisers could think bigger.

Training conference announcement

The LMS office has just issued this press release.

10 June 2010

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

For Immediate Release

LMS Residential Training Conference for Priests Wishing to Learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at Downside Abbey, Somerset.

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales (LMS) is organising a residential training conference for priests wishing to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at Downside Abbey, one of England’s most prestigious monasteries.

The conference will run from Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 August 2010 and will feature Traditional liturgies in Downside’s beautiful chapel together with a Gregorian Chant schola and polyphonic choir.

Expert tuition in the celebration of Mass in the Usus Antiquior will be provided on a small group basis. There will be tuition in Low Mass, Missa Cantata and Missa Solemnis and there will be streams for beginners and more advanced students. Tuition will also be given in the other sacraments and in Latin.

There will be opening and closing High Masses, daily Mass, Offices and Rosary. There will also be a closing Conference dinner with guest speaker.

The subsidised fee to participants is only £115.00 which includes all accommodation, meals and training materials. There are limited places and priests are asked to register as soon as possible.

Further details and registration forms can be obtained from the LMS office (Tel: 020 7404 7284, e mail: info@latin-mass-society.org) or from the conference organiser, Mr Paul Waddington (Tel: 01757 638027, e mail: paul@gooleboathouse.co.uk).

Running alongside the training for priests, the Society of St Tarcisius (the LMS’s newly-formed sodality for Traditional altar servers) will organise a residential training course for servers and MCs. Further details can be obtained as above.

Paul Waddington said, “This is the sixth training conference the LMS has organised and we are delighted to be going to Downside Abbey. The Pontifical Commission ‘Ecclesia Dei’ has recently praised our work which makes us more determined than ever to provide training to every priest in England and Wales who seeks to learn the Usus Antiquior.”

Latin Mass Society, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH
Tel: 020 7404 7284
E mail: info@latin-mass-society.org
Website: latin-mass-society.org

Corpus Christi

Mass at Pateley Bridge's Bewerley Grange Chapel on Thursday was a memorable occasion, with a schola of six and a pleasing turnout. In true monastic style we sang the Salve Regina at the end of Mass and as usual were graced with the presence of the local PP, Canon Vincent O'Hara whose melodic voice was again in perfect harmony with the schola.

Many thanks to Fr. Parfitt and the authorities at Bewerley for such a truly memorable Mass.

God bless the Pope!

June

June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I hope that I will be given some quiet time to meditate upon the Litany of the Sacred Heart in this month. A personal daily prayer of mine from this Litany has long been, "Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offences and negligences, have mercy on us".

The Feast (but not Holyday of Obligation) of Corpus Christi will be offered at the beautifully renovated chapel at Bewerley Grange, which was once an outpost of Fountains Abbey. This will be a missa cantata on Thursday at 11.30a.m..

There will be a missa cantata again for the Feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday at Broughton Hall at 11.30a.m. in line with the instruction of the Bishops of E&W

Saturday there is a Vigil Mass at Halifax St. Marie's at 6.00p.m. and on Sunday at St. Joseph's, Castleford at 3.00p.m.

York, English Martyrs at 6.30p.m.

Manchester, Holy Name at 4.00p.m.

God bless the Pope!

Umwelt

Die Umwelt is German for the environment. I am in the process of marking German speaking tests for nearly twenty schools, ranging from a couple to over fifty candidates.

A common presentation and discussion theme, as well as something which frequently crops up in the general conversation, is the environment and quite frankly I am sick to death of hearing kids trotting out the German for I help the environment by putting on a jumper, turning out the lights and going to the recycling centre with promises of never driving a car or flying anywhere again.

This topic bores me to tears, although I enjoy awarding marks for the use of good German, regardless of what I hear. Years ago 124 children described the film Titanic. I have never wanted to watch this film since.

I have heard two good sermons this weekend about the Blessed Trinity. Fr. Lister focused on the Sign of the Cross and Father Wiley concentrated on the question of who, as opposed to what, God is. That the Feast of the Trinity appears where it does is no accident, given last week's Gospel which foreshadows the Feast and which together allow us an insight into the nature of God, the Blessed three in one.

Blessed be the Holy and Undivided Trinity now and forever more. Amen.

Half term

I'm almost half way through my GCSE marking (German speaking) and half term has just begun. Apart from Mass and Confession my only self imposed obligations this weekend involve marking at least 50 scripts before lunchtime on Monday.

Father Lister will be offering Mass at Halifax on Saturday as Father Smith is away.

Fr. Lister was recently revered for his fast bowling skills in Father Elkin of Hexham and Newcastle's blog Let the Welkin Ring, wherein Fr. Elkin recounts their days at the College and on the cricket pitch.

I shall add Fr. Elkin's blog to this blog's links in the sidebar.

On Sunday there will be Mass at St. Joseph's, Castleford at 3.00p.m and at Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Road, Leeds at 6.00p.m.

Blessed be the Holy and Undivided Trinity, now and forever more. Amen.

Dinosaurs

Over the last few weeks I seem to have heard or read the word dinosaur more than I usually might expect to. This is because I do not like the thought of dinosaurs. I saw the first twenty minutes of Jurassic Park and fell asleep (a bit like at a school leavers' Mass).

Years ago I read Mgr. Lefebvre's Open Letter to confused Catholics. One of the chapters of this book, which was translated by Fr Michael Crowdie, is entitled It's a dinosaur, or something close to this. I was able to question this venerable old priest about this and what the Archbishop had written.

At that time the Modernists were claiming that most of that which had gone before was to be consigned to the dustbin forever, likening much of what they were systematically destroying to some sort of never to be repeated horror now extinct.

Many of those who were "in" are now voices from the past, as insipid as their folk Masses, others realise that the revolution in their hearts can never stop, because there is no end for them and the more outrageous their conflict with the Magisterium of the Church the better it gets, albeit often under the banner of Peace and Justice which to many (but by no means all) has come to mean that you can do just as you please.

Alas, for them, they are now the breed entering extinction. After forty years in the wilderness the homeland is becoming increasingly more visible.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

God bless the Pope!

Pentecost

The Birthday of the Church is upon us again, when she celebrates the Apostles receiving the tongues of fire.

I think that this evening at Mass was the first time I have ever actively listened to the Gospel of this Mass, being so preoccupied with the Epistle and Sequence which precede it. Even today I felt it was overshadowed by what had gone before it, but that that it seamlessly links to next week's feast of the Blessed Trinity.

Trinity Sunday only makes sense in light of the events of today's Mass, which in turn make the events of the Ascension, Resurrection, Passion, Baptism, Infancy, Birth and Incarnation of our Blessed Lord, which plot our liturgy, mean so much more.

Reciting the Credo a few minutes later I realised that this great prayer, wherein I was personally reciting aloud what I believe, is the "bigger picture" from which we base our calendar.

As at every Mass the Incarnation, Birth, Death and Resurrection unfold in an unbloody way and become real before our eyes, but Pentecost which is the start end / end start point of the Church's cycle also heralds the celebration of the Feast of the triune God, Father, Son and Spirit. The purple, white and red vestments of the Passion, Death and Resurrection will soon give way to the fresh green colours of the post Pentecost Sundays, at the end of which we will eventually come to welcome the opportunity of self renewal which the Advent purple offers us.

Please remember to pray for our Holy Father and for the Papal Nuncio to Great Britain who recently suffered a serious stroke and remains in hospital.

A thought

A retired priest of this diocese, who shall go nameless, is often found attacking the Traditional Mass in some of the (nominally) Catholic publications of this country.

This is nothing new and I cancelled my subscription to one paper because of this priest's views a couple of years ago.

It is only now, I think I understand why he is so opposed to this Rite of Mass and has been for many years.

I think once it was given a foot in the door again he realised that it would be impossible to get the genie of the spirit of Vat2 back into the vinegar bottle, if the Traditional Mass were to be re-introduced. Not only was it re-introduced but we were told that it was never abrogated!

A look at the many trad/orthodox blogs shows ever increasing and ongoing expansion of the Extraordinary Rite, at all levels of the Church militant. From an ordinary little parish in freezing Glasgow to St. Peter's in scorching Rome this Mass is offered regularly.

It is interesting that suppliers of traditional vestments and liturgical books and equally important resources for an informed and more discerning laity fruitful in vocations are doing a roaring trade. Paying big money in bad times shows not only sacrifice but demand, with the desire to fill a big hole.

None of this means that the liturgical abuses will stop and alternative versions of the Catholic Faith will be embraced by priests and people alike, but it has set the Roman cat lover and the cat amongst the pigeons and the mess they have left everywhere after 40 years in the wilderness.

God bless the Pope!

Ss Joseph and Michael, pray for us!

From the Young Catholic Adults

Young Catholic Adults Host International Juventutem Weekend at Douai Abbey
During the weekend of the 10-12 September 2010

During the weekend of the 10-12 September . For the first time, Young Catholic
Adults will be running the 2010 Juventutem International Conference at Douai
Abbey(before the Douai weekend was aimed at the UK), the weekend will be led
by Juventutem Ecclesiastical Assistant Fr de Malleray . The weekend will be
full-board

Places are limited so please book early

* There will be Sung Mass, Low Mass, Rosary, Adoration, Confession, a Marian
Procession in honour of Our Lady of Fatima and socials

* Fr. de Malleray FSSP head of Juventutem will preach the retreat, Masses will
be in the Extraordinary form.

THE MAIN GUEST HOUSE

Saturday 11th – Sunday 12th September (full board)*

51 pounds full-board (except Sunday lunch) PER PERSON PER NIGHT

25 pounds for students/low waged/unwaged (or whatever you can afford)

THE COTTAGES

£35 per person per night (full board). Self catering £25 per person
per night (reductions for students:- or whatever you can afford) .

SELF CATERING CAMPING

£5 per person per night (or whatever you can afford - please bring your
own tent and food ).

Limited places so please reserve your place early

To reserve your place FOR THE WEEKEND (no deposit needed if you are coming for
the day on Saturday 5th July), please a 20 pound deposit (NON RETURNABLE) to
Damian Barker, Flat 5, 12 St. Catherine Street, Kingsholm, Gloucester, Glos.
GL2 9DU (please make any cheques payable to Damian Barker). For enquiries ring
07908105787.

For more details see:- http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/

Different look

I thought I'd change the blog layout to something like it was originally, the pale blue background commemorates this Month of Our Blessed Lady.

I have introduced a poll (as if we haven't had enough of those!) for the next month or so. Please take at most ten seconds to answer, but only once, however many times you visit the site.

After a technical misfortune (I pressed the wrong button) I erased the "useful links" section of the blog a few months ago. I have now refined and restored this section.

God bless and protect the Pope!

Ascension Day Mass

Mass for Ascension Thursday will be at St. Mary of the Angels, Cross Bank Road, Batley at 7.00a.m.

The weekend Masses at Halifax, Castleford and Leeds St. Augustine's will be Masses for the Ascension.

Some good news

The appalling Dr. Death ex Lib Dem MP, Evan Harris lost his seat in Thursday's election. Even better the new MP is pro-life.

Following that same election we have a lame duck busted flush Prime Minister whose quoting of scripture before polling day made my flesh crawl.

The election looms

I use the word "looms" because none of the parties fielding candidates have a pro life agenda. The present Government has done nothing for the rights of the unborn child, the Prime Minister is proud of his gay friendly policies, a cigarette paper could be held between the views of the leaders of the other two parties on the same moral issues. I do not particularly like much of what any of the other minor parties have to say.

For the first time ever I am unsure whom to vote for (but I shall not be voting for New Labour). Do I tactically vote Lib Dem to get New Labour out, do I vote for the Muslim Tory candidate to show my opposition to the other two, given the Lib Dem opposition to Faith schools and Labour plans to continue to impose their appalling views , or do I vote for a minority party to express my disgust at all three? Do I spoil my paper by voting for none of the above, as my wife often does? I do believe I have the obligation to show up and put something on the ballot papers, but as yet I am decidedly "undecided". I have no idea what the common good is, as far as the General Election is concerned in this case. Not one prospective candidate has knocked at my front door for me to ask the questions I usually ask.

Decisions, decisions!

God help us come Friday morning.

Cardinal Mayer RIP

The first head of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei , Cardinal Paul Augustin Mayer has died just three weeks before his 99th. birthday. A Benedictine Abbot, he will be interred in his Abbey at Metten in Germany where he was professed monk in 1931.

May he rest in peace.

Recent press release

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

Successful Latin Mass Society Priests’ Training Conference at Ushaw College, Durham, 12 – 16 April 2010 (Low Week)


Between Monday 12 and Friday 16 April the Latin Mass Society (LMS) hosted its fifth national residential conference in four years to train priests in the celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The conference was held in Ushaw College, Durham, and twenty priests were trained.

This year, for the first time, the conference included separate tuition for laymen to become proficient MCs for the ceremonies of the Extraordinary Form. Ten laymen attended the course.

Among the clergy present were two young priests from the Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka, who had been sent by Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, ex-Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome. Archbishop Ranjith is actively reintroducing the Extraordinary Form into his diocese.

Apart from the expert small group tuition given by experienced priests, there were Latin classes and lectures, daily Lauds, Compline, Vespers, Rosary and Benediction. Each morning the college’s numerous side chapels were used by the priests to say their private Masses.

Traditional Rite liturgies were offered each day in the seminary’s magnificent St Cuthbert’s chapel and there were impressive opening and closing High Masses at which the Church’s treasury of plainchant and polyphony was heard.

At the conference dinner on the Thursday evening, a letter of support from Archbishop Ranjith was read out. The archbishop encouraged the LMS in its work of implementing the Motu Proprio and helping priests learn the Extraordinary Form of Mass and he congratulated the Society ‘in this beautiful undertaking in the name of the Church’s Tradition and orthodoxy which is our need and the need of the time’.

The LMS has already announced its next residential training conference to be held at Downside Abbey from Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 August. Full details are available from the LMS.

The picture above shows Rev. Fr. S. Brown offering early morning Mass at the recent conference. With thanks to my friend Roydosan over on the LMS Middlesbrough blogsite from whom I've copied this picture.

Mass attendance

Without wishing to appear remotely virtuousI attended four Sunday Masses this weekend in this diocese (three Low and one Missa cantata). As far as I could make out from head counts from the sanctuary there were well over a hundred in attendance in total, something I would have only dreamed of even 5 years ago.

We are fortunate in this diocese in having daily Mass and a choice of venues at the weekends.

We have many priest celebrants (over twenty) who have trained at LMS conferences and with our tutor Father Parfitt or have brushed up with our Reverend co-ordinator, Fr. Wiley, who again acted as sacristan at the conference at Ushaw.

Moreover many clergy are very welcoming to us and who realise we don't have horns and demand long sermons in Latin!

There is still widespread ignorance about the availability of the Extraordinary Form and far less open hostility from those who believe the Pope was wrong to liberate this Rite of Mass.

I notice again that the times of some of the the EF Masses are listed with the wrong times in the diocesan newspaper the Catholic Post. I shall contact the editor about this.

If you are new to this blog and are interested in attending an EF Mass please see details to the left of this posting.

Please note there will be Mass again, this time on the Feast of Corpus Christi at 11.30a.m. at Bewerley Grange chapel near Pateley Bridge on Thursday June 3rd.

(The photograph shows Fr. Geoffrey Parfitt at Bewerley last year)

Pass me a blood pressure tablet

The "Catholic" Education Service has appointed a new Deputy Director. A good Catholic? I wouldn't know.

Greg Pope, a retiring Labour MP, certainly not known for his pro-life, pro-Catholic views is to be Ms Stannard's number two.

Mr. Pope's voting against a reduction in the abortion limit to 16 weeks, was explained away by a spokesperson at the "C"ES, as in the past and who pointed out we are all on a Faith journey.

See also http://spuc-director.blogspot.com/2010/04/catholic-education-service-appoints.html

God help us! I thought it was April 1st. before the absolute disgrace of the situation sank in.

Time for a Votive Mass for the forgiveness of sins.

I understand that the four Fridays of May are to be put aside as days of Penance for the sins of perverted clerics and their bishops who were complicit in the cover ups.

Perhaps it is high time to reintroduce meat free Fridays, or Vegetarian Fridays or Fish Fridays and offer this up for the victims and perpetrators of these utterly atrocious crimes.

Old sins tend to cast long shadows.

Sunday's Masses

Masses tomorrow are at;

Castleford, St. Joseph's at 3.00p.m.

Leeds, St. Augustine's at 5.00p.m.

The Holy Gospel is about the Good Shepherd, most fitting given the anniversary of the Holy Father's accession to the Pontificate on Monday.

At Mass in Halifax this evening Father Smith spoke of the recent vitriol directed against the Pope by a blood thirsty media and rabid atheists.

God bless the Pope!

Happy Birthday Pope Benedict

Dr. Joseph Shaw, the LMS Chairman, proposed a toast to the Holy Father on the occasion of this the Pontiff's birthday . This was followed by a lively rendition of "Happy Birthday to you Pope Benedict, Holy Father".

The Conference at Ushaw was a great success judging by the comments made by the participants who also had lots of welcome ideas about what they would like to see next time in addition to what was on offer this year.

Contacts were made and friendships were formed, renewed and strengthened.

At many such previous events I have attended much of the conversation has focused on negative things, this time there was an overriding positive exchange of views.

As usual there were many personally inspiring events.

One was a poignant account given by one of the tutors, Fr. Elkin, who was at Ushaw from 1946 until his ordination in 1959. He spoke of the hard times endured by the boys and men at the College. There were four hundred resident students in those days, today there are 26. This said, Father was generally filled with hope about the future of the Church and felt that the efforts of the LMS was playing its part in helping to form the future.

Some of the younger domestic staff at the College were quite mesmerised by the liturgy and a 20 year old student of music who formed part of the excellent schola, who is at the NCM in Manchester gave a few of us an insight into his feelings about how William Byrd must have felt when composing some of his music in penal times and the dangers involved in performing it and how this affected him. Discussion ensued and revealed many other people's experiences for better or worse for allowing themselves to become involved in promoting the 1962 Liturgy.

The best joke I heard this week was:

Q: What was the recessional hymn at Vatican II?

A: Go the Mass is ended!

Sad news

I am sorry to report that Fr. Abberton's mother died this evening. Our prayers go out to him.

Please check his parish website http://www.holyspiritchurch.org.uk/ for times of Masses (OF & EF) as changes are expected over the next few weeks.

Quasimodo Sunday

Low Sunday, Missa in albis, Divine Mercy Sunday...another day of obligation in which the Gospel recounts the way the events of recent days impacted on Thomas when he faced the risen Lord.

Saturday 10th. April Vigil Mass at St. Marie's, Halifax, 6.00p.m.

Missa cantata, Sunday 11th. April, St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Laisterdyke, Bradford, 3.00p.m.

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

Holy Mass, English Martyrs, York at 6.30p.m.

Battle is o'er, hell's armies flee

Jesus, my love, is crucified

Holy week (updated)

Four Masses for Palm Sunday were offered this weekend in the EF, at Batley, Halifax, Castleford and Cardigan Road, Leeds.

Many thanks to our clergy, Revv Abberton, Smith and Wiley who gave of their time so generously to offer the Masses.

Masses on Easter Sunday at Broughton, 11.30a.m. , Castleford, 3.00p.m. and York at 6.30p.m. The Mass at Broughton will be a Missa Cantata. No Mass at Heckmondwike. Please pray for Fr. Abberton's mother who is very ill.

Low Sunday and Divine Mercy Sunday Masses, Vigil at Halifax, 6.30p.m., St. Peter's, Leeds Rd., Bradford (Sung) 3.00p.m. , Castleford, 3.00p.m. and York 6.30p.m.

LOW WEEK TRAINING COURSE AT USHAW - Monday to Friday.

There is no Triduum this year. I hope we will rectify this next year.

Laetare Sunday

Time for the rose coloured vestments to make an appearance again, this time to mark the midpoint of Lent (which was actually on Thursday I think).

There is no Mass at Bradford at St. Peter's this Sunday, because of closure of the church during the installation of the new heating system. Next Mass there will be Low Sunday.

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

Sung Mass at 6.30p.m. at English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace, York.

Rejoice, Jerusalem!

Moment to meditate

As seen on the NLM blogsite, from early Irish sources.

Let your life be completely detached from the world, and follow the teaching of Christ and the gospels...

Have a few devout men who will discuss God and the scriptures with you. Let them visit you on great feast-days, that so they may strengthen your devotion to the words and precepts of God.

Hold no converse with anyone who is given to idle or worldly gossip, or with anyone who grumbles about what he can neither prevent nor rectify...

Be ready in mind for red martyrdom. Be persevering and steadfast for white martyrdom.

Forgive every person from your heart.

Pray constantly for those who annoy [quarrel with] you.

Be very constant in your prayers for the faithful departed as if each dead person were a personal friend of yours...

Your daily occupation should be threefold, namely, prayer, manual labour, and lectio.

-- Excerpts from "The Rule of Colmcille" taken from The Celtic Monk: Rules and Writings of Early Irish Monks, Cistercian Studies Series 162

No Mass in Bradford on 2nd Sunday but...

The next regular Mass at Bradford's St. Peter's has been cancelled, as the church is closed for two weeks to install the new heating system. (St. Peter's is now a chapel of ease in the parish of St. Mary).

Mass will resume there on the 2nd Sunday of April (Low Sunday) at 3.00p.m. This will be a Sung Mass.

Low week sees the Priest and MC Training course at the seminary Conference Centre at USHAW.

Priests reading this who would like to learn the rubrics of the 1962 Rite ab initio or as a refresher for Low, Sung or High Mass should contact the Office.

Also, if you are over 18 and would like to learn how to serve at a Sung or High Mass in the capacity of MC again, please be in touch with the Office.

Mr. Waddington who organises these things tells me today that things are running well to plan and that the music is going to print shortly.

At the Bishop's request Fr. Parfitt is always available to train those Leeds priests wishing to offer the Mass, privately or publicly, in the rubrics of the Low Mass. The wonderful setting of the Sacred Heart chapel at Broughton Hall adds to the experience I'm told.

So far during Lent I have been reading the Pope's Jesus of Nazareth. Probably also true to say that I have been digesting it, albeit bit by bit. I have been so far moved by the sheer depth of the Pope's incisive thinking and love of the Kingdom of God. His remarks on what true reconciliation means could be the focus of anything from a Holy Hour to a fortnight's retreat.

I have not yet finished reading this book. I am thrilled with my reading and thank Almighty God for our Pope with every page I turn, having digested its content to the best of my ability.

God bless the Pope!

Is there a link?

With thanks to http://thatthebonesyouhavecrushedmaythrill.blogspot.com/

What links the above pictures?

Pope John Paul II's "culture of death" is more than upon us.

I have long feared for the future of Catholic Education under this Government. I have long feared for where we are going. Recent events turn my stomach.

Half term

Time to breathe a quick sigh of relief. A well needed break from school work. This said I'm already (gladly) committed to going in on Monday for the day.

Lent starts on Wednesday, it only seems like yesterday since it was the beginning of Advent. We are just about halfway through the school year.

My sons think last Christmas is an eternity away and the summer more so.

THERE IS NO MASS AT PATELEY BRIDGE ON TUESDAY.

Father Parfitt will be offering Mass at Broughton on Wednesday at 11.30a.m. with imposition of ashes. Please consider the spiritual value of starting Lent with hearing Mass and possibly putting yourself out to do so.

On Sunday evening in York at 6.00p.m . at English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace there will be a Missa Cantata for the Feast of Quinquegesima.

Closer to home Masses on Sunday, both at 3.00p.m. will be at Castleford's St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road and at Bradford's St. Peter's in Leeds Road.

The last Mass at Bradford had to be cancelled because of the atrocious weather.

Vigil Mass at St. Marie's, Gibbett St. Halifax at 6.00p.m.

Discrimination?

My eldest daughter is a student who has worked as a sales assistant for at least eighteen months for a major outlet of greetings cards. Full time in the holidays and part time at weekends.

Increasingly she is experiencing difficulty in getting time off work to hear Mass. I do not approve of servile work on Sundays, I don't suppose that deep down my daughter does either but she invariably puts the obligation to attend Mass before everything else. Her boss is a lapsed Catholic who thinks my daughter is trying to be holier than thou going to a "Latin" Mass instead of going local and fitting it all in with her job.

It is ironic that much of the business generated by the shop is based on the traditional Christian calendar.

Is this discrimination? Where is society leading us?

The Pope speaks to the English and Welsh hierarchy

Dear Brother Bishops,

I welcome all of you on your ad Limina visit to Rome, where you have come to venerate the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. I thank you for the kind words that Archbishop Vincent Nichols has addressed to me on your behalf, and I offer you my warmest good wishes and prayers for yourselves and all the faithful of England and Wales entrusted to your pastoral care. Your visit to Rome strengthens the bonds of communion between the Catholic community in your country and the Apostolic See, a communion that sustained your people’s faith for centuries, and today provides fresh energies for renewal and evangelization. Even amid the pressures of a secular age, there are many signs of living faith and devotion among the Catholics of England and Wales. I am thinking, for example, of the enthusiasm generated by the visit of the relics of Saint Thérèse, the interest aroused by the prospect of Cardinal Newman’s beatification, and the eagerness of young people to take part in pilgrimages and World Youth Days. On the occasion of my forthcoming Apostolic Visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself and, as Successor of Peter, to strengthen and confirm it. During the months of preparation that lie ahead, be sure to encourage the Catholics of England and Wales in their devotion, and assure them that the Pope constantly remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart.

Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed. I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church’s moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others – on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth. Continue to insist upon your right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society. In doing so, you are not only maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion, but you are actually giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them: when so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel’s right to be heard?

If the full saving message of Christ is to be presented effectively and convincingly to the world, the Catholic community in your country needs to speak with a united voice. This requires not only you, the Bishops, but also priests, teachers, catechists, writers – in short all who are engaged in the task of communicating the Gospel – to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit, who guides the whole Church into the truth, gathers her into unity and inspires her with missionary zeal.

Make it your concern, then, to draw on the considerable gifts of the lay faithful in England and Wales and see that they are equipped to hand on the faith to new generations comprehensively, accurately, and with a keen awareness that in so doing they are playing their part in the Church’s mission. In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free. Cardinal Newman realized this, and he left us an outstanding example of faithfulness to revealed truth by following that "kindly light" wherever it led him, even at considerable personal cost. Great writers and communicators of his stature and integrity are needed in the Church today, and it is my hope that devotion to him will inspire many to follow in his footsteps.

Much attention has rightly been given to Newman’s scholarship and to his extensive writings, but it is important to remember that he saw himself first and foremost as a priest. In this Annus Sacerdotalis, I urge you to hold up to your priests his example of dedication to prayer, pastoral sensitivity towards the needs of his flock, and passion for preaching the Gospel. You yourselves should set a similar example. Be close to your priests, and rekindle their sense of the enormous privilege and joy of standing among the people of God as alter Christus. In Newman’s words, "Christ’s priests have no priesthood but His … what they do, He does; when they baptize, He is baptizing; when they bless, He is blessing" (Parochial and Plain Sermons, VI 242). Indeed, since the priest plays an irreplaceable role in the life of the Church, spare no effort in encouraging priestly vocations and emphasizing to the faithful the true meaning and necessity of the priesthood. Encourage the lay faithful to express their appreciation of the priests who serve them, and to recognize the difficulties they sometimes face on account of their declining numbers and increasing pressures. The support and understanding of the faithful is particularly necessary when parishes have to be merged or Mass times adjusted. Help them to avoid any temptation to view the clergy as mere functionaries but rather to rejoice in the gift of priestly ministry, a gift that can never be taken for granted.

Ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue assume great importance in England and Wales, given the varied demographic profile of the population. As well as encouraging you in your important work in these areas, I would ask you to be generous in implementing the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, so as to assist those groups of Anglicans who wish to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. I am convinced that, if given a warm and open-hearted welcome, such groups will be a blessing for the entire Church.

With these thoughts, I commend your apostolic ministry to the intercession of Saint David, Saint George and all the saints and martyrs of England and Wales. May Our Lady of Walsingham guide and protect you always. To all of you, and to the priests, religious and lay faithful of your country, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the blogsite of the LMS chairman Dr. Joseph Shaw.