Pentecost V

                              

This Sunday's Mass at 1.00 p.m., at St. Patrick's will be a sung Mass and as I posted last week,  the preacher will be Deacon James Baxter of the Institute of Christ the King, where he was ordained last week to the diaconate.

Confessions before Mass.

18 years ago

July 7th marks the 18th anniversary of the publication of Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

Please pray for its resurrection and for the sweet repose of the soul of its author.

Pentecost IV

This Sunday's 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford marks the fourth Sunday of Pentecost. It will be livestreamed.

Apologies for the late post; we have just returned from a scorching week in Berlin. 

Once again I visited the newly reordered Cathedral of St. Hedwig in Berlin, on which no expense has been spared. 

In the crypt of the cathedral there are fourteen side chapels representing the Stations of the Cross (no images). There are no Stations in the main body of the cathedral. I was concerned to see that whilst twelve of the stations are the same as in most other churches, the fourth and sixth stations had been replaced with some scriptural verse which I couldn't photograph because my phone was dead. Normally these stations refer to Our Lord meeting his afflicted mother and having his face wiped by St. Veronica respectively. 

The entire building which was the first Catholic church to have been built in Germany since the Reformation (but razed at the end of the Second World War) has the sterility of an operating theatre. 

Little wonder that there are more seminarians in the two traditional seminaries in Germany, FFSP at Wigratzbad and SSPX at Zaitzkofen than in all the diocesan seminaries in the Federal Republic put together. Little wonder that people are still asking where the fruits of the promised New Pentecost are.  Cries of "We are the Easter People and Alleluia is our song", have withered and died and are as dated as the clay chalices and tawdry vestments beloved of so many of the clergy when I was growing up in the seventies and eighties. 

Only this week documents leaked by Rome journalist Diana Montagna seem to suggest that contrary to what we were told in the document Traditiones Custodes, many of the world's bishops were in fact content with the liturgical peace which Pope Benedict's Summorum Pontificum had brought about. This explains why relatively few of the bishops used Tradititiones Custodes to extirpate the Extraordinary Form in their dioceses following its publication. It seems that because many bishops chose to ignore or sideline Traditiones Custodes, a more stringent application of it was introduced by Rome and as we know these saw further petty and vindictive restrictions such as forbidding the EF Mass being advertised on parish bulletins. 

These leaked documents raise questions not only about the honesty of TC but also of justice.

Sunday's Mass can by seen here:

 https://www.youtube.com/@LMSLeeds

If you have not already done so, please can you subscribe to this site (it is free) and even add a like. I am hoping that problems with the sound will now be overcome with the use of a microphone attached to the priest's chasuble. 

This last Wednesday James Baxter from this diocese was ordained to the diaconate at the Institute of Christ the King's seminary in Gricigliano in Italy. Deacon Baxter will preach at the sung Mass at St. Patrick's next Sunday. 

We wish Deacon Baxter every joy as he prepares for ordination to the priesthood next year and wish him a long and fruitful ministry in the vineyard of the Lord.

St Francis of Sales, pray for us.

St John Vianney, pray for us.

Our Lady Queen of Saints, pray for us.

                                        

Saints Peter and Paul

 

This Sunday's  Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford is back to its regular 1.00 p.m. slot  for the Feast of the Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul. 

Many thanks to Fr. Frantisek for stepping in as it was clear Fr. Driver is not yet sufficiently recovered to offer the Mass. 

Corpus Christi Sunday

 

On Sunday we celebrate the transferred feast of Corpus Christi. 

The Mass at Saint Patrick's, Bradford will start at the later time of 1.30 p.m. because the celebrant has First Holy Communions and a Corpus Christi procession in his own parish as I announced last Sunday after Mass. 

Father will give Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday after the Low Mass and I am most grateful to him for this.

Please remember Fr. Driver in your prayers as he continues to recover from scheduled surgery last Tuesday. I am hoping he is well enough to offer Mass for us on the Feast of Ss Peter and Paul on June 29th. If he is well enough I have offered to pick him up and take him home afterwards.

Also in your prayers, will you remember the vote to legalise euthanasia which comes before Parliament on Friday. 

The atrocious Bill to decriminalise abortion up to birth sailed through this week in the Commons and now the Lords must  be lobbied to prevent this iniquitous and diabolical wickedness from becoming law. 

The Conference of Catholic Bishops for England and Wales published this on their website following the vote:

 “New Clause 1 lifts any criminal liability for women performing their abortions for any reason, at any time, including up to and during birth. This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women. Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced and forced abortions. This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely."

I think that the decision results in even graver harm for the unborn child. Words cannot describe my revulsion at what this vote means. 

We are living in the culture of death.

The Blessed Trinity

 

Fr Driver will offer the 1.00 p.m. Mass on Trinity Sunday at St. Patrick's, Bradford.

Confessions at call before Mass.

June, the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

 

I have just seen this new prayer from Pope Leo to the Sacred Heart:

Pope Leo XIV's Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Lord, I come to your tender heart today,
to you who have words that set my heart ablaze,
to you who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor,
on those who suffer, and on all human miseries. 

I desire to know you more, to contemplate you in the Gospel, to be with you

 and learn from you and from the charity with which you allowed yourself to be touched by all forms of poverty.

You showed us the Father’s love by loving us without measure
with your divine and human heart.

Grant all your children the grace of encountering you.
Change, shape, and transform our plans,
so that we seek only you in every circumstance:
in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in our daily routine. From this encounter, send us out on mission, a mission of compassion for the world in which you are the source from which all consolation flows. Amen.

Pentecost

 

Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost and is the birthday of the Church. Mass at St. Patrick's at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass. There will be a red frontal on the altar in the lady chapel for the octave of Pentecost.

Last week after Mass, our server Paddy was able to send £350 (equivalent to 400 Euros) to the seminary in Griciliagno where Abbe James Baxter will be ordained to the diaconate in early July. I hope Deacon James will be able to join us at Mass in July. Thank you to all who contributed. the seminary gratefully acknowledged receipt of the donation.

Confessions available before Mass on Sunday.

Sunday after the Ascension

 Sunday's 1.00 p.m. Mass this week will be livestreamed. It will be a Low Mass. 

There will be a retiring collection for one of our three traditional seminarians who will be ordained to the diaconate in Griciliagno, Italy in June The cheque will be forwarded to the seminary to pay for his clerical garb. Thanks to one of our servers, Dr Paddy Spencer, for undertaking this.

UPDATE - Our camera operative is unwell today and so the Mass will not now be livestreamed today. We hope to be up and running again on the first Sunday of July. 

The Ascension

 

Thursday is a holy day of obligation to mark the ascension of Christ back to the Father in heaven. The paschal candle is extinguished immediately after the Gospel and hails the start of Ascensiontide.

Mass at St. Patrick's at 7.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass.

Easter V

This Sunday's Mass - the fifth after Easter is at the usual time of 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's. It will be a Low Mass.

Confessions at call.

Easter IV

The 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's on Sunday will be a Low Mass. Fr Hall has to leave smartly after Mass for another engagement so there will be no confessions available after Mass. 

Habemus Papam!

 

Pope Leo XIV

American Cardinal Robert Prevost emerged yesterday as the 267th successor of St. Peter. 

May Christ guide, protect and preserve him.

Conclave & Easter III

 

The conclave to elect a successor to St. Peter is now well underway. The first ballot saw black smoke. The results of that secret ballot are known only to God and those men in the Sistine Chapel. Its results will have undoubtably fuelled much anxiety, joy or need simply for prayerful reflection. I found this prayer while surfing the web:

Lord, as the Church enters this time of transition, we ask for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. Pour forth Your wisdom upon the College of Cardinals as they gather to discern Your will for the successor to the Chair of St. Peter.

Grant them clarity of mind, purity of heart, and courage of spirit, that they may choose a shepherd after Your own heart, one who will lead Your flock with wisdom, holiness, and love.      Amen

Sunday's regular 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's in Bradford will be a Low Mass. I hope that by then we will have a pope. 

Each failed ballot until the appearance of white smoke will continue to cause joy or anxiety in increasing measure and therefore increased prayerful reflection. 

Oremus pro invicem.

Mother of the Church, pray for us.

Easter II

This Sunday's Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass and will be livestreamed. 

With the death of my mother-in-law, I have not yet thanked all those who made the Sacred Triduum such a resounding success. The servers, Fr. Frantisek and our cantatrix, Madeleine all contributed to make the whole thing a very smooth and extremely moving event. Likewise, the visit of the relic of the Holy Cross on Low Sunday with Benediction, after Mgr. Grogan's Low Mass was executed very smoothly. 

As the conclave now approaches, we must pray that a pontiff with the humility of Pope Francis will emerge and who will unify the Church and help heal those so unnecessarily re-opened wounds of division, especially in the field of liturgy, inflicted over recent years. 

My prayer is for a unifier Pope who is not afraid to promote orthodoxy and orthopraxis.

The link for this Sunday's Mass:

https://www.youtube.com/@LMSLeeds

Low Sunday

 

The funeral Mass of the Holy Father will take place on Saturday in Rome followed by his burial at St. Mary Major, in a break with tradition. May he rest in peace.

On Sunday, which is Low Sunday (also known as Quasimodo Sunday or Divine Mercy Sunday) we shall have Low Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and then veneration of a relic of the Holy Cross, which is being taken to every diocese in the country thanks to the Latin Mass Society as part of the Jubilee Year. Thanks to Mr Waddington for facilitating the visit in this diocese.

The relic was authenticated for public veneration in 1945 by Archbishop Peter Amigo.

Prayer for the election of a new pope

O God, eternal shepherd,
who govern Thy flock with unfailing care,
grant in Thy boundless fatherly love
a pastor for Thy Church
who will please Thee by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Please also remember the soul of the late Pope Francis in your prayers. 

 

Easter Vigil

The Mass on Holy Thursday and the Liturgy of Good Friday were well attended and were very smooth in their execution and beautifully accompanied. 

Saturday at 7.30 p.m. sees the start of the Easter Vigil. 

At the Vigil the Easter fire is blessed and then the flames from it light the blessed paschal candle. The candle has been studded with five grains of incense and is carried by the deacon/priest to a central point before the altar to sing the Praeconium. 

.After this follow the 4 readings from the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Isiah and Deuteronomy.

The first part of the Litany of the Saints follows and then there is the renewal of Baptismal promises. with the sprinkling of the people thereafter.

The second part of the Litany takes place as the altar is being prepared for the first Mass of the Resurrection. 

The bells will again tinkle and chime during the Gloria.

The altar party will stand towards the lady altar to sing the Regina Caeli at the end of Mass.

Sacred Triduum

Thank you to those of you who have contacted me about my mother-in-law, who died very peacefully on Sunday morning. 

The Triduum at St. Patrick's, Bradford is as follows:

Maundy Thursday 6.00 p.m.

Good Friday 3.00 p.m.

Holy Saturday 7.30 p.m.

Easter Sunday 1.00 p.m.

Palm Sunday &c

On Laetare Sunday there was a pastoral letter from Bishop Stock about the Assisted Suicide Bill. His Lordship drew our attention to the very short time the Committee had spent reviewing the evidence and arguments about this matter. (Since then Kim Leadbeater has delayed her pernicious Bill's next reading in Parliament.)  The bishop's message was very clear in his letter,

 "...I appeal to you: even if you have written before,

please make contact now with your MP∗ and ask them to vote against this Bill, not only on

grounds of principle but because of the failure of Parliament to approach this issue in an

adequate and responsible manner..."

The footnote to the letter was the following:

∗ The charity Right to Life UK has a simple online mechanism to help you contact your MP. It takes little more than a few minutes to input your postcode, make sure the suggested text suits your viewpoint and submit your message to ask your MP to stop assisted suicide being rushed into law.

Go to the Right to Life UK website: https://righttolife.org.uk/

If this becomes enshrined in law I have no doubt it will not be long before we have "suicide" on demand. It tells its own story that the original suggested judges are now to be social workers.

A similar path has been trodden with David Steel's Abortion Act. 

Please do as the bishop asks.

Palm Sunday:

The 1.00 p.m. Low Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford will be be preceded by the blessing of palms and the customary surrounding the church procession round the block. 

As always, we will be using the 1962 missal for the whole of Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum.

It will be Father's third Mass, so we will again have the short Gospel.

Confession at call.

In your prayers, please remember my wife's mother. The hospital has said that she is not now strong enough to fight off the double pneumonia she contracted last week. 

Triduum Times:

Holy Thursday 6.00 p.m.

Good Friday 3.00 p.m.

Holy Saturday 7.30 p.m.

The Sacred Triduum

 

Times of Masses for the Sacred Triduum at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford.

Maundy Thursday: 6.00 p.m.

Good Friday: 3.00 p.m. (Day of fast and abstinence)

Holy Saturday: 7.30 p.m.

Lent V (Passion Sunday)

Sunday's 1.00p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford will be a Low Mass. 

Fr. Driver will hear confessions before Mass. 

Passion Sunday is often mistaken for Palm Sunday. It is normal to veil the crucifix and statues from Passion Sunday until the Gloria at the  Easter Vigil to recall Christ hiding Himself and then emerging from the shattered tomb.  

The liturgy is now pruned and omits the Judica me (Psalm 42) at the start of  Mass and is not unlike a requiem. The Judica is next heard on Easter Sunday.

Next week, when it is Palm Sunday, we shall be processing around the streets near the church again, singing All Glory, Praise and Honour. A couple of years ago it touched my heart to see an old Muslim man stop and remove his hat in respect as we processed  back to the church.

I hope to be able to  advertise times of the Triduum's liturgies very shortly. 

 

Laetare Sunday

We are now half way to Easter Sunday. The liturgy relaxes a little and we are encouraged by seeing rose coloured vestments. The introit calls for  rejoicing, just as it does on the third Sunday of Advent. Salvation is at hand. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Mass at St. Patrick's at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass with confessions beforehand.

I hope to be able to publish times of the Masses for the Sacred Triduum very soon.

PLEASE REMEMBER THE CLOCKS GO FORWARD THIS WEEKEND.

Lent III

The 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's on Sunday marking the third Sunday of Lent will be a Low Mass and it will be livestreamed. Thanks again to the crew and to Fr. Winn for giving so kindly of their time. 

I received a lot of positive comments after the last occasion and we have also decided on some changes,  now that we realise that only the nose of the altar server with the biggest nose could be seen. Chalk marks on the sanctuary floor will have to mark where the servers should kneel.

Please follow the link and subscribe to the You Tube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@LMSLeeds

Lent II

 

This Sunday is the second Sunday of Lent and the 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's will be a sung Mass.

 

Lent I

Mass for the first Sunday of Lent at St. Patrick's on Sunday is at the usual time of 1.00 p.m. The Gospel recalls the temptation of Jesus after his own retreat.

There was a good attendance at Mass on Ash Wednesday and Fr. Driver said he is looking forward to coming back on Sunday.

Confessions at call.

Memento homo, quia pulvis est et pulverem reverteris

The Ash Wednesday Mass at St Patrick's, Bradford,  tomorrow will be a Low Mass preceded by the distribution of ashes at 7.00 p.m.

Confessions available before Mass.

Quinquagesima

This Sunday is Quinquagesima and the Mass at Patrick's will be a Low Mass at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

Last Sunday's filming of the Mass went really well - thanks to Fr. Simon and the wonderful crew who gave freely of their time to ensure a smooth transmission. I've had various suggestions as to how to improve it next month (March 23rd.) Fr. Simon is more than very proficient in Latin and I admire his talent at it.

Next week is Ash Wednesday. Mass at St. Patrick's will be at 7.00 p.m. Confessions before Mass.

A reminder that we have the Sacred Triduum again this year thanks the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

My daughter and I and two of my grandchildren will be walking in the footsteps of Monsignor John O'Connor and GK Chesterton from St. Anne's, Keighley to the  Myddleton Calvary at via Sacred Heart, Ilkley on  Saturday 29th. March whilst praying for vocations to the priesthood. 

In your prayers please remember Monsieur Jean Pierre Barriere who used to attend Mass at St. Patrick's with his wife, Pat. Jean Pierre is now seriously ill and receiving palliative care. 

Last but not least please remember Pope Francis in your prayers as he fights double pneumonia in Rome's Gemelli hospital. 

Sexagesima and important new initiative

This Sunday is Sexagesima Sunday and Lent will soon be upon us.

Tomorrow's Mass from St. Patrick's at 1.00 p.m. will be livestreamed on this blog's new YouTube channel. We are taking baby steps and for the next couple of months we will be livestreaming once a month (from tomorrow) until my confidence and expertise in this area increases. 

Please be assured that members of the congregation will not be identifiable as the camera will be focused on the action at the altar and I've told my daughter that she needn't put on her best coat! 

I hope in time to increase the number of livestreamed Masses which will be also available as catchups after the event. 

Please take a look at the link and "subscribe" - it is, of course, free to do this.

https://www.youtube.com/@LMSLeeds

Septuagesima

The pre-Lent season starts on Sunday with the feast of Septuagesima announcing, in the colour of the vestments, that Ash Wednesday and Lent will soon be upon us.  

It's like a warning light to tell us to prepare for 40 days of penance and not to decide to give up chocolate biscuits or alcohol or meat until Shrove Tuesday. 

I always emphasise to my teacher trainees that preparation prevents poor performance and instils us with positive confidence. I think this applies to the spiritual life.

We also need to prepare to make our Easter duties - Confession and Holy Communion from Ash Wednesday until Trinity Sunday.

The Mass on Sunday at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass with confessions at call.

I am delighted to be able to report that again we will celebrate the Sacred Triduum this year at St. Patrick's  and that each of the ceremonies will be sung. The times will be announced nearer to Holy Week. 

Please remember Gloria Malone in your prayers. Gloria is often at at Mass at St. Patrick's but is suffering from pneumonia in the Infirmary at the moment. 

Update: I understand that her condition is improving.

Epiphany V

Confessions will be available before Sunday's Low Mass for the fifth Sunday of the Epiphany at 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's, Bradford.

Next Sunday is Septuagesima Sunday which means we are soon to be on the countdown to Lent.

Candlemas

 

Candles feature widely over the next few days. On Saturday there is the procession through Bradford to mark the feast of St. Blaise which will culminate in the blessing of throats  at St. Patrick's Mission church where we have our regular Sunday Mass. Candles are used for this blessing. 

Sunday is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, or the Purification of Our Lady, otherwise known as Candlemas. This Sunday's Mass will be a missa cantata and after the blessing of candles there will be a short procession around the church.

Confessions before Mass.

Epiphany III

 Mass for the third Sunday of Pentecost (Jan 26th.) at St. Patrick's at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass.

As you will see from the previous post, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in Bradford are organising a procession next Saturday (Feb 1st.) in honour of the patron Saint of Bradford, St. Blaise. It will culminate at St. Patrick's where blessings of the throat will be given.

The day after we will have a missa cantata for the feast of Candlemas. There will be the blessing of candles before Mass and the indoor procession which traditionally follows. 

St. Blaise - Patron Saint of Bradford - City Procession

 

Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebastea and a doctor. The first known record of the saint's life comes from the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus, where he is recorded as helping with patients suffering from objects stuck in their throat. Many of the miraculous aspects of St. Blaise's life are written of 400 years after his martyrdom in the "Acts of St. Blaise."

Saint Blaise is believed to begin as a healer then, eventually, became a "physician of souls." He then retired to a cave, where he remained in prayer. People often turned to Saint Blaise for healing miracles.

In 316, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, Agricola, arrested then-bishop Blaise for being a Christian. On their way to the gaol, a woman set her only son, who was choking to death on a fish bone, at his feet.

Blaise cured the child, and though Agricola was amazed, he could not get Blaise to renounce his faith. Therefore, Agricola beat Blaise with a stick and tore at his flesh with iron combs before beheading him.

He is the patron saint of Bradford on account of his links to the iron combs used to help to kill him. Blaise is also the patron saint of woolcombers for the same reason.

Bradford once had a secondary school named after him. Ironically it burned down - long after I'd left. 

St. Blaise now has a parish dedicated to him in Bradford.

Epiphany II

This Sunday's 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's, is a Low Mass. 

The Gregorian chant tuition sessions will resume after Mass for about 50 minutes. 

Feast of the Holy Family

Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family on Sunday at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass. 

Epiphany Sunday

 

This Sunday's Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany at St. Patrick's, Bradford, will be at the usual time of 1.00 p.m. It will be a Low Mass.

Our next Solemn High Mass has now been organised and will be for the Feast of the Presentation, Purification or Candlemas on 2nd February. 

We are also planning an event later in the year to mark the Year of Pilgrimage. Bishop Stock has designated St. Patrick's a mission church to this end. Details in due course.

Sunday within the Octave of Christmas

This Sunday's Mass within the Octave of Christmas at St Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m.  is a Low Mass. 

As 1st January is not a Holy Day of Obligation in England,  there will be no TLM  at St. Patrick's on Wednesday.  

The Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany will be celebrated next Sunday on 5th January in accordance with the Bishops of  E&W 's directives. 

 

 

Masses for Christmas Day at St. Patrick's, Bradford

7.30 a.m. Dawn Mass

1.00 p.m. Third Mass of Christmas 

Confession at call.

May you all enjoy a very merry Christmas and new year free from anxiety.

Advent IV

Mass for the fourth Sunday of Advent at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford, will be at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

Confessions at call.

Mass on Christmas day at 1.00p.m.

Gaudete

 

Many thanks again to all who were involved in last week's missa solemnis which was a truly splendid occasion. Plans are already underway for another solemn Mass early in the new year.

This Sunday's Mass for Gaudete Sunday at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. will be followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Thanks to Fr. Driver for this. 

Confessions at call.

After Mass there will be the first of our chant lessons offered by our cantatrice, Madeleine. This should last between between 50 minutes and an hour.

The Immaculate Conception

This year the second Sunday of Advent is overridden by the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the 1962 liturgical calendar. The feast was inaugurated in 1854 when Pope Pius IX finally promulgated the feast and declared our Lady's Immaculate Conception to be dogma, which we are bound to believe.  To celebrate this wonderful feast we will be celebrating with another missa solemnis.  

Music: Mass is "Missa Cum Jubilo" IX. The Credo is IV (one which I have never knowingly heard before at Mass). The Communion Motet is 'Ave Maria en Sol Mineur' by Cesar Franck. The recessional hymn will be O Purest of Creatures. 

It has been wonderful to see such increased numbers at Mass over recent months, please help to continue this trend and thanks as always to our clergy Revv Hall, Frantisek and Wiley.

Advent I

This Sunday is the first Sunday of  Advent. The regular 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's will be a low Mass.

Please remember that next Sunday is the feast of the Immaculate Conception and we are having a missa solemnis.

Superb quote and another reminder

The former prime minister, Gordon Brown who lost his newborn daughter, Jennifer, at just 11 days old in 2002, said Britain should "do better at assisted living" before trying to legislate on ways to die. 

It is not too late to contact your MP to request they oppose this nefarious bill.

I was pleased to see the following service at the parish church of the Dean of Bradford.

Pro-Life Vigil at St. Walburga’s Church, Kirkgate, Shipley - Wednesday 27th November 8pm –10pm - Assisted suicide legislation is being brought before Parliament on Friday 29th November. You are invited to join in an evening of Adoration, Rosary and private prayer, interceding for the protection of all human life from conception until natural death. Assisted suicide undermines the sanctity and dignity of human life. Please unite in prayer and compassionate action to oppose this legislation.

(Extract from the parish newsletter.)

I hope to get to this event and am very grateful to Canon Walker for this initiative.

Pentecost XXIV - last after Pentecost

Sunday's 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's will be missa cantata. Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent.

It was very heartening to see the number of interested people who want to learn to chant under the eye of our own cantatrice, Madeleine, who will be leaving the country later next year.

The first lesson is to take place after Mass on Sunday 15th December which is Gaudete Sunday. Please ask at Mass if you want to join in. Many thanks to Madeleine, who is a big fan of the ICKSP Sisters in Preston.

One of our seminarians, James Baxter, is due for diaconal ordination next year in Italy with the same Institute in Griciliagno. 

Apologies for the reminder, if you have already contacted your MP about the Assisted Suicide Bill. This Bill receives its second reading next Friday (29th. November). 

Some big names in the Cabinet, including the Health Secretary, have already expressed their reservations about this bill. 

I don't think that this is necessarily a done deal given that it is a free vote. I am, however, alarmed enough to try and encourage people to do something whilst they still can. People were asleep in 1967. Some of my own children have needed to be reminded about this. I'm obliged to keep banging the drum. 

Please follow this link Ask your MP to stop assisted suicide being rushed into law

I followed the link myself and was asked if I really wished to pursue it. I wonder why? Please persevere. 

I can still recall reading Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson's Lord of the World.

Confessions at call on Sunday.

.

Epiphany VI

On Sunday the calendar uses up the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. Next week is the (twenty-fourth and) last Sunday of Pentecost. Translations of the Mass propers will be available at the back of church as usual. Mass at St. Patrick's will be at the usual time of 1.00 p.m. 

Confessions at call.

Thank you to those who have expressed an interest in learning the chant. There will be a short meeting after Mass where Madeleine will explain how this will work and when the lessons will take place. Many thanks to her for this - I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity.

Please may I remind you to contact your local MP to request that he or she reject the proposal to legalise suicide, regardless of how stringent the regulations might initially appear. How long will it be before we have living wills for those afflicted with dementia or even depression,  as has already happened in Holland? 

In German the word for suicide is Selbstmord (self murder) but ever increasingly I am coming across the totally valid word Suizid which I had never encountered in that language in over forty years of learning and teaching German.

Polish has samobójstwo ( also: self murder) - I wonder if engineers of this language have tried to use some other expression which is less explicit. I hope one of our many Polish attendees at Mass will be able to tell me. 

Last time I was in Krakow I was impressed with the number of  people on the streets regularly promoting the pro-life message and stressing the humanity of the unborn child.

Mass on Christmas Day, which is a Wednesday, this year will again  be at 1.00 p.m. Thanks to Fr Driver for being available again for this Mass. 

Many thanks also to Fr Driver for funding a set of rose vestments in memory of his parents which will be used at St. Patrick's on Gaudete and Laetere Sundays. I recently also received some other vestments in memory of David Adolph, who died in May, which will be used at St. Patrick's. 

Totally by chance Fr. Driver will be the celebrant on Gaudete Sunday this year, the week after our High Mass for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. 

I shall ask Father Driver to offer the Mass on Christmas Day for David.

Letter from Bishop Marcus Stock regarding Government proposals to legalise assisted suicide

PASTORAL LETTER ON ASSISTED SUICIDE SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, 2ND AND 3RD NOVEMBER 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

On Friday 29th November, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25 will be given its Second Reading in the House of Commons. The Bill, tabled by Kim Leadbeater MP, will as its long title states, “allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life; and for connected purposes.” Many of us have experienced the distress of seeing our loved ones endure some degree of pain or suffering when they have been mentally infirm, severely ill or dying. Our natural desire is to try and help alleviate that pain or suffering as quickly as possible. No one wishes those they care for to be in any kind of anguish, particularly when that person is nearing their death. What the Bill before parliament will create is not the relief of that pain or suffering, but the legal right of someone who is terminally ill to intentionally commit suicide and to be assisted by others to do so. The justification for this is that a person’s life has been judged by themselves, or been judged by others, to be not worth living. The better and more compassionate way to assist anyone facing the end of their life is to advocate excellent palliative care for all, so that our loved ones can be assured that their life will end with dignity and their pain be managed. 

Dame Cicely Saunders, considered one of the pioneers of palliative care, stated, “You don’t have to kill the patient in order to kill the pain”. She noted that most requests for assisted suicide recede once patients are given access to appropriate, whole-person care. There have been strong and emotive arguments put for and against such legislative changes in the past. This Bill may appear to promote personal autonomy but cannot negate the fact that an act of assisted suicide is never autonomous in nature; it will always have an impact upon others, an individual’s family, their friends, and indeed the healthcare professionals who will be expected actively and deliberately to assist them in ending their life. 

The Catholic Church affirms the intrinsic value and dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. Our faith teaches us that life is a sacred gift from God; that we are stewards, not owners, of our lives. This faith calls us to protect and care for the most vulnerable amongst us. It is important to understand too, that our Catholic faith does not demand that life be prolonged at all costs. Death is part of our God-given life. The Catholic Church’s tradition affirms that a person does not have to accept treatment for a terminal illness when they judge that this will not be in their best interests. What is perhaps less widely known is that the Church also accepts that some medications which may have the likely effect of hastening death can be administered with the consent of a person or, if they are incapable of expressing a view, their next of kin, when this is done with the primary intention of alleviating their pain or suffering. This does not constitute ‘assisted suicide’ or euthanasia and needs no change to existing legislation.  We now know too, given the developments of such legal provisions in other countries, just how arbitrary and unreliable the eligibility ‘safeguards’ are in similar legislation where assisted suicide has been introduced. Its provision seems inevitably to have been extended beyond the limits given as the basis for its justification, to those with disabilities, those with mental illnesses, and in some jurisdictions even to children. In this Sunday’s Gospel passage, we hear how Our Lord Jesus Christ united into a single precept the commandments ‘To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength’ and to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. We demonstrate our love for God by cherishing the gift of life He has given to us. We demonstrate love for our neighbour by honouring and protecting the gift of life He has given to others. I ask that the clergy, religious and lay faithful of our diocese unite in prayer and compassionate action to oppose the passage of this Bill and the legalisation of assisted suicide. This we should do out of a ‘concern for the good of every person in society, the protection of this good in law, and the spiritual and pastoral care of the sick and dying’. I urge you to consider writing to your MP to express your opposition or concerns about the Bill now before parliament (please see below the online resources which can help you to do this). May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of Unfailing Help intercede for us and be the comforter of all those who suffer and all those afflicted in any way. 

+ Marcus,   Bishop of Leeds 

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales website has been updated with a range of resources to help to be informed regarding the assisted suicide legislation that is currently working its way through Parliament: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/opposing-assisted suicide/ and https://www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk/catholics-oppose-assisted-suicide/ The charity Right to Life UK has a simple online mechanism to help you contact your MP. It takes little more than a few minutes to input your postcode, make sure the suggested text suits your viewpoint and submit your message to ask your MP to stop assisted suicide being rushed into law. Go to the Right to Life UK website: https://righttolife.org.uk/ASthreat

Remembrance Sunday

Mass this Sunday at St. Patrick's will be our traditional Mass of requiem for the War Dead. It is a Low Mass. We are planning to have a short ceremony before Mass in front of the presbytery where the men who fell in the First World War from that parish are remembered in stone. Some of those men were members of my own family and share the surnames of my father's ancestors.

Confessions available before Mass.

If you would like to learn to sing the chant for the Mass - from scratch please let me know after Mass. We have had a wonderful offer of tuition in the chant for the next few months. My daughter and I have signed up already.

Soon, a bill which seeks to allow people to legally terminate their own lives (i.e. kill themselves) receives its second reading before Parliament. If you have not already contacted your MP, to request voting this down, please consider doing so. It is a very slippery slope.

I might as well write to the neighbour's cat about this, as to my MP. But I am making a point!

The fourth remaining Sunday after the Epiphany

Because Easter was so early this year the Church now uses up Sundays which weren't used before Septuagesima after the Epiphany. `The Epistles, Gospels, Secret and Post-Communion prayers are used from these post Epiphany Masses whereas the introits, offertory and Communion prayers are from the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost. As usual there will be a leaflet with the translation available at the back of church. Mass on Sunday at St. Patrick's will be a Low Mass at 1.00 p.m.

There was a very pleasing attendance this evening for the feast of All Saints. Mass tomorrow for All Souls is at the earlier time of 5.30 p.m. The Mass will be the second Mass of All Souls, as it will be Father Driver's second Mass.

Fidelium defunctorum:

Some of you may remember Fr. Danny Harrison who offered Mass regularly for us in the past including singing the Easter Vigil on several occasions. He had been trained to sing as a boy at the cathedral by Gerry Lyons and recalled to Gerry the clouts and clips round the ear he sometimes got off Gerry. It didn't affect his ability to read the chant and deliver it well. Fr. Dan died earlier this month and was buried this week at Killingbeck where he had said and sung so many Masses for us. He was a gentle and kind man. Please remember him in your prayers. 

Others may remember Fr. Michael Gallagher O Praem. formerly of Corpus Christi Bascillica in Miles Platting near Manchester. Father died last month at a great age. For many years he had been a resident at the Little Sisters of the Poor's home in Manchester.  Fr. Gallagher was one of the best preachers I ever heard. Many years ago he travelled to Holy Family church, Chequerfield to be the celebrant at a wonderful solemn Mass sung by the Rudgate Singers. Fr. Gallagher was also an excellent singer. May he rest in peace.

Recitation of the Pater Noster and the Credo in church on the feast of All Souls gains a plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls. 

Masses this week at St. Patrick's

Friday 1st November - All Saints - 6.00 p.m.

Saturday 2nd November - All Souls - 5.30 p.m. 

Christ the King

This Sunday is the feast of Christ the King. Mass at St Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass.

Confessions at call after Mass.

Later this week we have the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls.

Friday1st November (Holyday of Obligation): Mass for All Saints at St. Patrick's will be at 6.00 p.m.

Saturday 2nd November: Mass for All Souls at St. Patrick's will be at 5.30 p.m. 

Confessions before Mass

Pentecost XXII

This Sunday's Mass for the twenty-second Sunday of Pentecost will be a missa cantata at St. Patrick's, Bradford, at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

Confessions available before Mass.

Henceforth, until the end of November we shall be using the readings from the unused Masses after the Epiphany, apart from the feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of October.

Our next missa solemnis will be on the feast of the Immaculate Conception which is also the second Sunday of Advent - December 8th. This Mass will be a Byrd Mass and as such will include polyphony. Clergy, choir and servers have been sorted. 

Pentecost XXI

 Apologies for the late post. I have been in bed!

Despite feeling very unwell I joined part of the Diocesan Camino on Saturday, walking to St. Joseph's church at Bishop Thornton. The aim of the pilgrimage from the cathedral to St. Wilfrid's, Ripon was to pray for vocations to the priesthood. (The pilgrimage started on Friday.) It was, as ever, a gruelling (hence my need for sleep) but rewarding experience and this year I was joined by my eldest daughter and her three children. 

The next pilgrimage will be in March, I expect, as we walk from St. Anne's, Keighley over the moors to the Calvary at Myddleton in Ilkley. 

Mass today for the twenty-first Sunday of Pentecost at 1.00p.m. at St. Patrick's, Bradford will be a Low Mass.

I am delighted to say that plans are again well underway for another Solemn High Mass before the end of the year and I shall post details as soon as I have them. 

Pentecost XX

 The nights are drawing in upon us again and already Advent is on the horizon.

Mass tomorrow for the 20th Sunday of Pentecost will be Low Mass at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

The Feast of Blessed Michael the Archangel

This coming Sunday (29th. September) is the feast of the blessed Archangel, Michael. Fr. Driver is the celebrant and  the Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford will be at 1.00 p.m.

Confessions before Mass.

Thank you

Thank you to our sacred and secular ministers, cantatrice and organist following today's Solemn High Mass at St. Patrick's.  

My son's fancy mobile telephone was able to record the entire Mass.  

It was a privilege to witness a service of betrothal before Mass in the Lady chapel. All good wishes to the faithful couple.

The cantatrice, servers, organist and clergy are all ready, willing and able to participate in another Solemn High Mass.  

I shall be looking at the calendar.

Next Sunday is the feast of Blessed Michael the Archangel which in the books of 1962 ranks higher than the nineteenth Sunday of Pentecost.

MISSA SOLEMNIS

The 1.00 p.m. Mass on Sunday at St. Patrick's, Bradford for the Eighteenth Sunday of Pentecost is a Solemn High Mass. 

Orbis factor (missa xi)  and Credo I.  Motet; Lauda Sion.

Confessions available before and after Mass.

Spes non confundit

Spes non confundit is the name of the Bull of Indiction published by the Pope for the Jubilee Pilgrimage of 2025. Hope does not disappoint is its meaning. The Pope says:  Pilgrimage is of course a fundamental element of every Jubilee event. Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our quest for the meaning of life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life.

Bishop Stock, in response to the Holy Father's encouragement to embrace the historic tradition of pilgrimage and using provisions from the Apostolic Penitentiary has designated 10 places in the Diocese as Jubilee Pilgrimage Churches. One of these is our own St. Patrick's Mission Church, Bradford.

More to follow.

Pentecost XVII (September 15th)

As announced at Mass yesterday, the Low Mass on 15th September will start at 1.30 p.m. instead of 1.00 p.m. due to a last minute change in the rota. Many thanks to Fr Jones for covering this Mass for us as Fr. Frantisek has been called away.

The following week-  22nd. September we will be having a Solemn High Mass for the first time in many months.

Please do all you can to attend this Mass, a great deal of effort in bringing this to fruition has been expended getting all the "players" together. This Mass will be back to the normal time of 1.00 p.m. and Fr. Frantisek will act as the Deacon at this Mass.

Pentecost XVI

 We have recently just returned from our break in Brussels. 

A five hour flight delay coming back on Thursday/Friday has thrown my weekend out by hours  and so I must apologise for this late notice about this Sunday's Mass. 

Mass for the 16th Sunday of Pentecost at St. Patrick's at 100 p.m. 

Foreword notice: 

Mass on Sunday 22nd September will be missa solemnis. This will be only our third or fourth solemn high Mass in many months. Please note this in your diary. 

Pentecost XV

Mass this Sunday at St. Patrick's for the 15th Sunday of Pentecost at 1.00 p.m. is a Low Mass. 

We shall be in Brussels next week, courtesy of our eldest son. 

As in Berlin there are at least three daily public Masses at a convenient time. The FFSP church is a mere 400 metres from our hotel.. 

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Please note that tomorrow's Mass (25th August) will begin approximately 20 minutes later than usual due to unforeseen circumstances. Apologies for the late notice.

Pentecost XIV

Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford for the Fourteenth Sunday of Pentecost on Sunday at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass.

After a lot of arrangements and rearrangements I have finally been able to organise another Solemn High Mass, which will be in September. Many thanks to Madeleine, who sang a motet at Communion on the feast of the Assumption for us, who has agreed to be the cantor. I shall post details shortly.

Confession at call after Mass.

 

Pentecost XIII

 Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford for the thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Confession at call before Mass.

The Assumption of our Blessed Lady

Thursday is a Holyday of Obligation for the feast of our Lady's Glorious Assumption. Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford is at 7.00 p.m.

Confessions at call before Mass.

Pentecost XII

                                                                             

Sunday's Mass for the twelfth Sunday of Pentecost at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass.

Confessions before Mass.

Pentecost XI

Mass for the 11th. Sunday of Pentecost will be a Low Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford at the usual time of 1.00 p.m,

Pentecost X

This Sunday's Mass for the tenth Sunday of Pentecost at St. Patrick's will be at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

Confessions at call.

Pentecost IX

Mass on Sunday at 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's, Bradford for the ninth Sunday of Pentecost will be a Low Mass. 

Over the last few weeks there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people attending the Mass. Last week we were most fortunate to have the newly ordained subdeacon, Abbe James Baxter, play the organ for us throughout the Mass and at Benediction afterwards. James is well on his way to diaconal and then sacerdotal ordination, so please pray for him. He is on placement in Northern Ireland during the summer with the ICKSP's foundation there. We wish him well and hope to see him again at Christmas when he will be home visiting his family in North Yorkshire

We also have a young woman from this diocese who will be entering the ICKSP's novitiate as a Sister Adorer of the Royal Heart of Jesus in Italy next year, so please remember her in your prayers too.

Confessions at call on Sunday before Mass.

A First Holy Communion

 

Last Sunday saw a beautiful occasion at St. Patrick's, Bradford, as young Thea received her First Holy Communion at a sung Mass with almost seventy others in attendance.  A good number of the congregants joined Thea and her family after Mass for the traditional Communion breakfast - in the early afternoon.

I was pleased to see that, as usual,  there were no Vat II deniers who revel in pushing an anti-Vatican II agenda and distributing seditious propaganda, denying the validity of the papacy of Pope Francis at the Mass. There were no slogans on the toilet walls or leaflets left on car windows as was sometimes the case at St. Joseph's in Bradford.

When, after Thea's mother made her first Holy Communion at Scarthingwell in the mid 1990s, her father (me) was summoned to Cathedral House at the insistence of Bishop Konstant, to be told that this sort of stunt should never happen again. Our non-Catholic relatives were astonished. As were we. 

Thea's little brother, Dominic, is already asking when he can start serving Mass. I have a lot of vestments and paraphernalia for use when celebrating the old Mass but not a cassock and surplice for a six year old. Can anybody help making such an outfit in the Leeds Diocese area or is able to spare such things? Dominic's two uncles were over seven when they began to serve Mass. Their cassocks and surplices are now in a suitcase in the loft.

Mass at St. Patrick's on Sunday (Pentecost viii) at 1.00 p.m. will be a Low Mass followed, I hope, by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament with the Litany of the Precious Blood. 

Confession at call.

The rumours that the Mass is to be supressed again is gaining traction. My prayer continues to be that such a thing will not come to pass. 

Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom and Mirror of Justice, pray for us!  

Pentecost vii

This Sunday's Mass at St. Patrick's is the seventh Sunday of Pentecost and will be a missa cantata at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

Confession at call.

Saints Peter and Paul

This Sunday is the sixth Sunday of Pentecost but as June 29th. is no longer a Holy Day of Obligation in this country the feast is transferred. This Sunday's Mass at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford, at 1.00 p.m. will be Mass for the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul. This is classed as an External Solemnity.

Confession at call.

Pentecost V

Mass for the fifth Sunday of Pentecost at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford, will be at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

At the time of writing speculation and rumours are rife that Rome is preparing to further restrict celebration of the old Mass. Let us invoke Our Lady, Mirror of Justice and Seat of Wisdom that such further restrictions do not come to pass.

David Adolph requiem Mass &c

 David's requiem Mass has now been finalised. It will take place at St. Walburga's church, Kirkgate, Shipley at 12.30 p.m. on Friday 28th. June to be followed by interment at Undercliffe Cemetery in Bradford. May he rest in peace.

Mass this Sunday, 16th June, for the fourth Sunday of Pentecost will be at the usual time of 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford.

Pentecost III

 This Sunday's Mass at St. Patrick's is at the usual time of 1.00 p.m.

Confessions available before Mass.