News

Due to unforeseen circumstances Masses at Castleford are again suspended until further notice.

I am delighted to be able announce that there is to be Low Mass, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in term time at 7.00a.m. at St. Mary of the Angels, Batley.

As a result of this there will be no evening Mass on the first Friday of the month, unless otherwise announced, after the first Friday of September (4th.) when the Mass will be a Missa cantata to celebrate the 50th. birthday of Fr. Timothy Wiley, PP and Diocesan co-ordinator for the 1962 Rite of Mass and Sacraments.

Other changes are also on the cards, which I shall make known in the next couple of days.

Happy Feastday!

As I get older, the Feast of the Assumption, which is one of my absolute favourites, seems to come around faster and faster. At Mass this evening in Halifax, Fr. Smith spoke eloquently on the subject and pointed out that the absence of original sin made Her able to be assumed, body and soul, into heaven at the end of Her earthly life. I remember Fr. Charles Doughty drawing the same conclusions at a Traditional Mass he offered on August 15th. 1985. This Mass was a first for many years on that feast in England and at St. John's, Buttershaw, Bradford. I can still remember the delight of people who came from Manchester at the Mass, people with whom I still remain in touch.

Mass on Sunday will be at St Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford at 3.00p.m. Due to Priests' holidays and consequent unavailability, there has been a break in provision in Castleford for a few weeks.

There will be a special First Friday of September Mass at St. Mary of the Angels, Batley at 7.00p.m. (and not now 7.30p.m as advertised in Mass of Ages). This Mass will be a Missa Cantata to mark the 50th. birthday of celebrant Fr. Timothy Wiley who is the the Parish Priest and official Co-ordinator of the TLM in the Diocese of Leeds.

Recently Holy Mass has been offered by Fr. Parfitt at Markenfield Hall, to mark the feast of St. Henry and in June there was a solemn High Mass of Requiem for Father Charles Borromeo Holmes on the 52nd. anniversary of his ordination to the Sacred Priesthood. Father died in April.

Nearly there..

Less than two weeks left of term before we start the summer holidays when I will relish being able to stay in bed till ten o'clock.
The past few weeks have been as interesting as they have been busy if not exhausting, considering the heatwave and there is still a lot to do before the break.
In the meantime a couple of reminders and notices.

No Mass at Heckmondwike on Saturday 11th. July.
Mass at Halifax, Saturday 11th. July. 6.00p.m.
Mass at St. Peter's, Leeds Rd. Bradford, 3.00p.m.
Mass at Markenfield Hall on Wednesday 15th. July 7.00p.m. (Just south of Ripon on the main Ripon - Harrogate Road.)

It was lovely to see Fr. Lister, who celebrates his Golden Jubilee this year, offer Mass again for us at Halifax on Pentecost's fifth Sunday . It has also been great to hear the EF Mass at the Catholic Chaplaincy at the University of Bradford. This means that the Traditional Mass has been offered in the last twelve months at the University chaplaincies of Bradford, Leeds and TASC at Horsforth. High, Sung and Low, in fact!

High Mass of Requiem was offered on Monday 15th June at Halifax for the repose of the soul of Fr. Charlie Holmes who died in April (RIP). This Mass coincided with the 52nd. anniversary of Fr. Holmes' ordination to the Priesthood in Lisbon in 1957.

One little story I would wish to share about Fr. Holmes which got under Fr. David Smith's radar (he preached the panegyric) was the time when Bishop Wheeler went to St. John the Evangelist's in Bradford to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation. Fr. H was then the PP there. As the Bishop was offered the customary lemon juice and bread to cleanse his thumb at the conclusion, the good and kindly bishop turned from the ritual and was heard to remark words to the effect that he had never thought of using a Jif Lemon squeezy, let alone seen it. Charlie was very proud about it all, as he himself sometimes recalled. He heard my confession for years and was always as direct, simple and practical in his approach.

I am grateful to the editor of the diocesan Catholic Post who has published the address of this blog site in the paper along with details of many of the regular venues of the TLM and who published such a fine obituary for Fr. Holmes.

The year of St. Paul has drawn to its end and we now celebrate the year of the Priesthood, as instituted by His Holiness the Pope. Firstly let us pray for the Pope and for all those good men who have offered their lives to the service of the Church by their priestly ministry. We should also ask God for an increase in vocations to the Priesthood. There is little doubt that there is great vibrancy in the Church at large with regard to restoring the Traditional Mass. The Pope desires that both Rites co-exist within the context of one Faith, one Truth, one Church, one Pontiff and that none of these should be out of harmony with each other.

Masses over the next few days

Saturday; Broughton Hall, 9.30 a.m.
Holy Spirit, Bath Road Heckmondwike, 11.30a.m.
St. Marie's, Gibbett Street, Halifax, 6.00p.m.
Sunday; St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford, Missa cantata, 3.00p.m.
St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford, 3.00p.m.
Monday; Broughton Hall, 9.30a.m.
St. Marie's, Gibbett Street, Halifax, 7.30p.m. Solemn Requiem for Fr. Holmes.

A very busy week

Most of this week has been taken up marking GCSE German speaking tests. The central heating and hot water system has conked out, the burglar alarm has died, the satellite television hasn't worked since a recent storm, my desktop computer now even refuses to boot up and the brakes on the car have started to squeak and squeal, just a month after the car sailed through the MOT.

On Tuesday it was lovely to be back at Bewerley Grange chapel, Pateley Bridge for a missa cantata for the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury. Fr. Parfitt offered the Mass and the Parish Priest joined the congregation once again.

Masses on Sunday for the Feast of Pentecost are at Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Road, Leeds at 3.00p.m. The celebrant will be Canon McCreadie, former Dean of the the Cathedral and now Parish Priest of St. Paul's, Leeds.
At the same time Fr. Durcan will be offering Mass at St. Joseph's, Pontefract Rd., Castleford.

Next Friday is the First Friday of June - the Month of the Sacred Heart.
Masses at Seacroft, 9.15a.m., Broughton, 9.30a.m. and Batley, 7.30p.m. (preceded by confessions).

Reminder of the forthcoming Solemn High Mass of Requiem at St. Marie's, Halifax on Monday 15th. June, for the Repose of the soul of Fr. Charles Holmes, at 7.30p.m.

Please pray for the young men ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in Nebraska, America for the Society of St. Peter today. One of them, an Englishman, Fr. Goddard will be offering his first Mass in England later in June. Ad multos annos!

Correction

A sharp sighted reader of this blog rang me at lunchtime to tell me that yesterday's posting was wrong - there is NO Mass tomorrow at Cardigan Road. It is of course NEXT week (Pentecost). Apologies for this error.

Mass at Batley this afternoon was well attended as was the Missa Cantata at Halifaxthis evening. Many thanks to Mr. Forbester and his Rudgate singers for a magnificent contribution to the dignity and solemnity of the occasion.

Holiday treats

On Saturday there will be Mass at Batley at 3.00p.m. and a sung Mass at Halifax at 6.00p.m. Both these Masses fulfil the Sunday obligation. On Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary form will be offered at Castleford at 3.00p.m. and also at Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardigan Road, Leeds at
3.00p.m.
Missa cantata on Tuesday, 26th. May, 11.30a.m. at Bewerley Grange chapel, Pateley Bridge.

From Rorate Caeli

I had to copy and paste this from the Rorate Caeli blogsite:

A majestic address (main excerpts):
What happened here in Nazareth, far from the gaze of the world, was a singular act of God, a powerful intervention in history, through which a child was conceived who was to bring salvation to the whole world. The wonder of the Incarnation continues to challenge us to open up our understanding to the limitless possibilities of God’s transforming power, of his love for us, his desire to be united with us. Here the eternally begotten Son of God became man, and so made it possible for us, his brothers and sisters, to share in his divine sonship. That downward movement of self-emptying love made possible the upward movement of exaltation in which we too are raised to share in the life of God himself (cf. Phil 2:6-11).
The Spirit who “came upon Mary” (cf. Lk 1:35) is the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at the dawn of Creation (cf. Gen 1:2). We are reminded that the Incarnation was a new creative act. When our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived in Mary’s virginal womb through the power of the Holy Spirit, God united himself with our created humanity, entering into a permanent new relationship with us and ushering in a new Creation.
The narrative of the Annunciation illustrates God’s extraordinary courtesy (cf. Mother Julian of Norwich, Revelations 77-79). He does not impose himself, he does not simply pre-determine the part that Mary will play in his plan for our salvation: he first seeks her consent. In the original Creation there was clearly no question of God seeking the consent of his creatures, but in this new Creation he does so. Mary stands in the place of all humanity. She speaks for us all when she responds to the angel’s invitation. Saint Bernard describes how the whole court of heaven was waiting with eager anticipation for her word of consent that consummated the nuptial union between God and humanity. The attention of all the choirs of angels was riveted on this spot, where a dialogue took place that would launch a new and definitive chapter in world history.
Mary said, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” And the Word of God became flesh.
When we reflect on this joyful mystery, it gives us hope, the sure hope that God will continue to reach into our history, to act with creative power so as to achieve goals which by human reckoning seem impossible. It challenges us to open ourselves to the transforming action of the Creator Spirit who makes us new, makes us one with him, and fills us with his life. It invites us, with exquisite courtesy, to consent to his dwelling within us, to welcome the Word of God into our hearts, enabling us to respond to him in love and to reach out in love towards one another.
Benedict XVI
Vespers (Nazareth)
May 14, 2009

God bless the Pope!

Exams

I can't promise very much by way of posts, other than odd reminders, as I will be engaged in marking GCSE Modern Language exams for the next month.

Sunday sung Mass in Bradford.

Just a reminder that there is a sung Mass tomorrow (Sunday) at St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford at 3.00p.m. The setting will be Lux et origo, with the Regina Caeli and Adoro te devote.

Blessed English Martyrs, pray for us

Tomorrow (Monday) is the Feast of the Blessed English Martyrs.

Who could deny that the inspiration of these heroic victims has been a bedrock to so many in recent years as we have seen the Church attacked from within and without?

As a result of a conversation with Fr. Abberton at Ushaw I have been doing some very enjoyable internet research on St Edmund Arrowsmith.

Mass at Broughton Hall at 9.30a.m.

St. Joseph the worker, pray for us.

My eldest son Joe, delighted to learn it was his feast day (again) today, served Mass at Batley this evening. Before Mass we went to confession. I was suddenly shocked when offering my penance I heard Joe's high pitched voice starting his confession. Humming loudly in my head I made my way over to St. Joseph's altar, where the Mass was to be fittingly offered, and I encouraged my youngest son to light some candles and safely out of earshot of that shrill little voice shooting into the air immediately around the "box".

I mused over this during the nicely attended Mass; why I acted as I did. Had it been anybody else I would have moved immediately and thought nothing of it. But was it because it was my son, who could have been innocently "dropping me in it" in the box, or relaying something which would grieve me, etc., which were obvious factors, those which made me move away? I think not. That little penitent, my son, just like those before and after him (me included) entered into that box in the belief that he could say anything that could not be repeated outside of it. Inside I instinctively know that my son made a simple and sincere confession, probably forgotten about by supper time. What I conclude is that me and my boy, dad and lad, spoke to our heavenly Father. It just wasn't for me to hear what my son was saying to the Lord, to whom I had just spoken at exactly the same level.

This led me to muse about the Feast of the Worker, St. Joseph. A foster father with a mandate from God the Father to raise His Divine Son as his own. How touching then was the Gospel - recounting the finding of the Infant Jesus in the Temple. What did St. Joseph think? With what humility must he have approached Jesus? Would his instinct to have been to beat his son, more in relief and thanksgiving than anger? Did St. Joseph realise that this moment was the one he had been expecting since learning of the Incarnation and that Jesus was now an adult? Thereafter we hear nothing more of him in the Gospels.

First Friday

Friday is the first Friday of May. Mass at Broughton at 9.30a.m. at Seacroft at 9.15a.m. and at Batley at 7.30p.m. (preceded by confessions). Mass in Bury at St.Marie's, Manchester Road at 7.30p.m.

A good lead

Fr. Abberton has an excellent little set of posts about veiling at the moment on his Stela maris blogsite. See http://yorkshireshepherd.blogspot.com/.

MAY

May is the month of our Blessed Lady.

Certain pieces of very exciting pieces of information have come my way in the last couple of days which will give me plenty more to pray for during this month dedicated to our Blessed Queen and Mother.

Prayer for England
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother look down in mercy upon England, thy dowry, and upon us who greatly hope and trust in thee.
By thee it was that Jesus, our Saviour and our hope was given unto the world; and He has given thee to us that we might hope still more.
Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the cross, O Sorrowful Mother, Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold, they may be united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son.
Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith, fruitful in good works we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with thee in our heavenly home.
AMEN.

Feels like Heaven?

This picture from another LMS link of the recent Northern Conference should go down in history.

One priest said that the Mass pictured above was like heaven to him. I would love to see this picture on the front of a future edition of Mass of Ages. Another person said it would be a wonderful Christmas card.

There is a traditional pulse beating strongly in the frozen north and the torrid south.

Deo gratias!
God bless the Pope!

SOLEMN HIGH MASS OF REQUIEM

There is to be a solemn sung Requiem on Monday June 15th. at 7.30p.m. at St. Marie's Gibbett Street, Halifax. This will be for the repose of the soul of Fr. Charles Holmes who died in early April. This date was chosen as it also marks the 52nd. anniversary of Fr. Holmes' ordination to the priesthood in Lisbon, Portugal in 1957.

Mass at Bewerley

During half term there will be a Mass for the feast of St. Augustine at Bewerley Grange chapel, Pateley Bridge on Tuesday May 26th. at 11.30a.m. It will be a sung Mass. Thanks to Fr. Parfitt (pictured at our October Mass).

Reminders to follow.

Walking on sunshine

Ushaw was a wonderful success and even during the short time I was there I was able to do a lot of valuable networking and start to arrange several things in this diocese. The clergy who attended seemed to really enjoy themselves and clearly learned a lot.
To see nine altars being used simultaneously for morning private Masses was a wonderful and memorable sight.
A letter was read out from Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos in praise of the LMS's endeavours to offer training in the rubrics of the 1962 Rite of Mass.
The ripples of Ushaw 2009 will be felt for quite a while.

Deo Gratias!
God bless the Pope!

On the road

Tomorrow after school I shall be travelling straight up to Ushaw College in Durham to attend Vespers and Benediction and dinner, to be followed by the Solemn High Mass on Thursday morning, before packing up the twenty sets of red, white and gold vestments along with missals and stands for 10 altars and lots of other things I had to put together and transport to the Sacristan for the week on Sunday, to bring them back home.

Fr. Wiley and Father David Smith are both on the staff with a good number of Leeds priests attending as students. Fr. Wiley e-mailed me earlier today to say how well things were going and said that yesterday's High Mass was as he imagined heaven to be.
I am looking forward to going up to Ushaw and to re-establishing links with clergy who attended the Oxford Conference in the summer, who have returned to learn the next step and to get to know the new faces with a view to providing support in the future as they make the EF of the Mass a part of their regular ministry, as do so many of our clergy now in these post Summorum Pontificum days.

God bless the Pope!