A very productive meeting

Last night I attended a co-ordination meeting with our diocesan EF co-ordinator, Fr. Wiley.

We made a great deal of progress in less than two hours over coffee and cake at the presbytery.

Forthcoming events include;

An afternoon retreat with traditional Catholic devotion, including Mass, Rosary, Benediction, talks on the Rosary and the spirituality of the Mass and opportunity for confession. Planned for October.

Server training session in late August.

Clergy training in singing at a mutually convenient time.

Solemn High Mass and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament for Corpus Christi in June.

Mass at the Cathedral in November and other occasions.

We both now have a lot of letters/e-mails to compose and send as well as receiving training in the 1962 rubrics for the Solemn Mass with Fr. Parfitt and checking things by telephone.

Fr. Michael O'Reilly who used to offer Mass for us at Killingbeck Cemetery chapel called this sort of activity in one of his very practical sermons as celebrating the sacrament of the moment which I equated (and still do) with the little way of St. Therese and the desire to sanctify laborious daily activity as a work of God as prescribed by many orders and especially Opus Dei.

The word training appears a lot in this post. I do think this augurs well for the future and thank God daily for our opportunity to attend the traditional Mass so frequently in different places in the diocese.

God bless our Pope!

Mary, Help of Christians pray for us!

Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Epiphany IV

FOURTH SUNDAY after EPIPHANY II Cl G
Gl Cr Pr of the Holy Trinity

Saturday Masses

NEW VENUE ; Notre Dame, Leeds University RC Chaplaincy. St. Mark's Avenue Leeds. 4.00p.m.

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

Sunday Mass

St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford. 3.00p.m. THIS WILL BE A SUNG MASS.

Epiphany III

THIRD SUNDAY after EPIPHANY II Cl G
Gl Cr Pr of the Holy Trinity

Mass tomorrow (Saturday)

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

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

Sunday

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

Masses this weekend

Sun 16 SECOND SUNDAY after EPIPHANY II Cl G
Gl Cr Pr of the Holy Trinity

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

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

Sunday, St. Augustine's, Harehills Road, Leeds. 5.00p.m.

Bishop Tom Williams auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool will attend the 9.00a.m. Mass at St. Mary Magdalen, Penwortham near Preston on Sunday. This follows hot on the heels of his visit to Farrington near Wigan where he attended a Missa cantata in December.

Bishop McMahon of Nottingham offered a Pontifical Mass in Leicester at the Priory of the Holy Cross Dominican Church on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and earlier in November one of the London Auxiliary Bishops administered the Sacrament of Confirmation at Spanish Place in London, where our own three daughters were confirmed several years ago by the late Bishop James O'Brien.

If you are near Preston on Sunday, please consider showing up and demonstrating the demand for the EF Mass if you are able.

NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE IN YORK

NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE IN HONOUR OF

ST. MARGARET CLITHEROW (Patroness of the LMS)

SATURDAY 26TH. MARCH

MISSA CANTATA YORK MINSTER 1.30P.M.

TO BE FOLLOWED BY PROCESSION AND BENEDICTION AT 4.00P.M.

*************

UPDATE; Benediction and veneration of the relic of St. Margaret Clitherow will take place at the Bar Convent

Server training

Before Christmas I mentioned that there would be a training day for men and boys wishing to learn how to serve the Low Mass and Missa cantata. This will take place at English Martyrs Dalton Terrace, York on Saturday 12th. February. There has been a good amount of interest shown in this by several people from Leeds, Middlesbrough and Hexham & Newcastle Dioceses.

If you are interested please contact me to get further details or to register at infolmleeds AT gmail DOT com.

Feast of the Holy Family

Masses on Sunday for the Feast of the Holy Family:

Missa cantata - St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Laisterdyke, Bradford at 3.00p.m.

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

Epiphany

Mass on the traditional day of January 6th. for the Feast of the Epiphany will be on Thursday at 6.45a.m. at St. Mary of the Angels, Crossbank Road, Batley.

Update

Thursday evening saw a beautiful sung Requiem at Wakefield's medieval chantry chapel and marked the exact date of the death of the Duke of York in 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield.

Fr. D. Smith was celebrant and Fathers Hall and Kravos attended in choro.

The Parish Priest, Fr. Swinglehurst was in the congregation which filled the chapel to capacity.

St. Austin's choir and members of the Leeds Schola Gregoriana sang excellently.

Fr. Smith preached about the occasion and about the relevance of prayer for the dead, the efficacy of the Holy Sacrifice and the timelessness of Almighty God.

Absolutions at the catafalque followed the Mass.

New Year's Day will see three public EF Masses:

Sat 1 OCTAVE DAY of the NATIVITY of OUR LORD I Cl W

+ Gl Cr Pr of the Nativity
Pl Ind Proper Communic diem sacratissimum

9.30a.m at Broughton Hall

NOON at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Harrogate Road, Moortown, Leeds.

and

6.00p.m. St. Mary's, Halifax - Vigil for observation of the external solemnity of the Epiphany.

Happy New Year.

God Bless the Pope!

Already the new year beckons

Physical preparations for the Mass on Christmas Eve began at the start of last week as did they for this Thursday's sung requiem Mass at Wakefield Chantry Chapel and for the New Year's Day Mass at NOON at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Moortown, Leeds. Mass at Immaculate Heart will be also be missa cantata.

St Austin's Church choir of Wakefield will sing at the Chantry Chapel Mass and our old friend Mr. Mike Murphy will be the main cantor at Immaculate Heart and the celebrant will be Dean Wiley, VF.

I have a couple of tickets available for the Wakefield Mass if you wish to contact me at the address in the left hand bar at the top.

Many thanks to Fr. Kravos for his excellent welcome to us at Notre Dame. His kindness was matched only by that of our celebrant Fr. M. Hall whose kindness and good counsel I value very much.

Please continue to pray for our priests and all those others who continue to help facilitate the Extraordinary Form of Mass in our Diocese.

We are one small piece of a large jigsaw which is getting larger in this, the glorious pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.

Not Father Christmas

No. Not Father Christmas, but Christ.

During all six pregnancies of my wife neither of us could wait until that moment when nature dictated that the baby was on its way into the world.

I saw a blog earlier rejoicing the feast of the birth of salvation. And I rejoiced in my heart, like Mary must have done at the Annunciation. The invisible would become visible and the God man would be amongst us.

First Mass of Christmas at 6.00p.m. at Notre Dame chapel, Leeds University chaplaincy, St. Mark's Avenue, Leeds. PARKING should not be a problem in the spaces outside Notre Dame school and St Anne’s Community Services over the road.

Mass at English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace, York at 8.30a.m.

Mass at noon on Christmas Day at English Martyrs, Alexandra Rd. South, Whalley Range, Manchester.

On the morning of Christmas Eve (Friday) the Holy Father will speak for the first time on the Thought for the Day slot at 7.50a.m. on the BBC Radio 4.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

From the latest FSSP newsletter

First Solemn High Mass back in England of then-Fr Matthew McCarthy, FSSP:

Saturday 28thMay 2011, 3pm;

at St James‘s Church, Spanish Place,

22 George Street, London W1U 3QY -

kindly welcomed by Parish Priest Fr, Christopher Colven.

Followed by First blessings, and refreshments in Parish Hall. Come and pray with and for this newly ordained British priest and for more priestly vocations.

Petition.... and important announcements

A petition has been set up protesting at the manner in which the trustees of Ushaw College have announced its closure. It urges the trustees to defer the closure until such time as proper consultation has taken place and schemes for its survival have been considered.

To sign the petition, go to:

www.ipetitions.com/petition/ushaw/

There is a fair bit of background information about the closure of Ushaw College on Fr Brown's blog, Forest Murmurs and Fr Elkin's blog, Let the Welkin Ring.

(Above courtesy of Middlesbrough LMS Blog)

I have signed the petition and would encourage you to do the same. I would be keen to read the reasons for closure of this place which could, once again, play a pivotal role in restoring the Faith to our isle.

A walk round town today left me shuddering - literally and spiritually. Both involved coldness. Freezing temperatures and horrid, superficial and empty excesses. Christmas is for the children, people say to me. If the way we squander money and debase ourselves during winterval is anything to go by it is little wonder society is how it is.

Moreover Bradford city centre is and for a long time has been redolent of 1980s East Berlin with about as much heart as a plastic pink rocking horse (now with already 20% off at one store).

I bumped in to one of my cousins who told me that she and her husband had both lost their very good jobs at the same time in October, I was really sickened for them, they are both younger than me.

I am looking forward to our First Mass of Christmas at Notre Dame Chapel. Leeds University Chaplaincy, St. Mark's Avenue, Leeds at 6.00p.m. on Friday. This will be a sung Mass.

Much of Monday was spent preparing for the Christmas Mass at Notre Dame, Leeds, the Requiem at Wakefield Chantry Chapel on Thursday 30th. December and for the New Year's day Mass at noon at Immaculate Heart, Moortown, Leeds.

However:

There will be no EF Mass at Batley or Halifax on Christmas Day nor will there be the regular Mass at 3.00p.m. at St. Joseph's, Castleford on Sunday, Boxing Day. Sincere apologies for this.

The nearest EF Masses on Sunday 26th. December (Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus) are at:

Holy Name of Jesus, Oxford Road, Manchester. 4.00p.m. (very apt, given the feast.)

English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace, York. 6.30p.m.

Calendar

There are still copies of the 20011 LMS calendar available at St. Paul's Bookshop opposite the Cathedral in Leeds. I have sold all the ones I had.

Advent IV

Masses on Sunday for the fourth Sunday of Advent;Sun 19 FOURTH SUNDAY of ADVENT 1 Cl V
No Gl. Cr Pr of the Holy Trinity
Sunday Office:
At Vespers Mag Ant O radix Iesse

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

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

The Priesthood

I was delighted to learn that a young man of our acquaintance has put himself forward as a candidate for the Priesthood. He is assured of my prayers and Masses will be offered this coming year for our seminarians, for vocations along with those for the propagation of the Faith . I have met several of our seminarians over recent months and couldn't wish to meet a greater group of dedicated and well balanced men.

I understand that my old friend from University days at Manchester, Rev Mr M. McCarthy FSSP will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood next year. When times were very much more desperate we attended Mass together in some odd places and met some equally odd people just to hear those sacred words and witness those sacred actions. (I was probably odder than most!)

A consecrated Bishop will lay hands on and anoint Rev. McCarthy who will then be able to administer the Sacraments

At Confession tonight when my confessor gave me absolution, the only part of him I saw was his hand through the grill.

Reflecting on the advice I had received on the way home, I suddenly recalled the words of a little devotional leaflet I discovered in my great grandmother's missal, now long gone.

Two minutes of googling helped me find the words contained on this leaflet ...

The Beautiful Hands of a Priest.

We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek it while tasting life's woes.

When we come to this world we are sinful,
The greatest as well as the least.
And the hands that make us pure as angels
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.

At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness
Their dignity stands alone.

For there in the stillness of morning
Ere the sun has emerged from the east,
There God rests between the pure fingers
Of the beautiful hands of a priest.

When we are tempted and wander
To pathways of shame and sin
'Tis the hand of a priest that absolve us.
Not once but again and again.

And when we are taking life's partner
Other hands may prepare us a feast
But the hands that will bless and unite us,
Are the beautiful hands of a priest.

God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress,
What can a poor sinner do better
Than to ask Him who chose them to bless

When the death dews on our lids are falling,
May our courage and strength be increased
By seeing raised o'er us in blessing
The beautiful hands of a priest.

Deo gratias!

Gaudete! Advent III

This weekend there will be three Gaudete Masses.

Sun 12 THIRD SUNDAY of ADVENT (Gaudete Sunday) 1 Cl V/ROSE
No Gl. Cr Pr of the Holy Trinity
Sunday Office

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

Bradford, Missa Cantata, Sunday at St. Peter's, Leeds Road. 3.00p.m. Confessions available before and after Mass.

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

Reminder - Mass at Holy Spirit, Heckmondwike at 7.30p.m. on Friday and on Saturday morning at Broughton Hall at 9.30a.m.

Advent II

Numbers at Halifax were probably the lowest ever tonight as the weather continued to maintain its feverish grip.

I spoke over the telephone to Fr. Parfitt this evening who lives where temperatures fell to -13 degrees earlier this week. The regular Missa cantata at Broughton at 11.30a.m. will go ahead as usual tomorrow and there will be Mass as usual at 3.00p.m. at Castleford.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Wednesday. Mass at Batley, 6.45a.m. and Broughton at 9.30a.m.

Reminder that there is Mass on Christmas Eve at Notre Dame Chapel, Leeds University R.C. Chaplaincy, St. Mark's Ave, Leeds at 6.00p.m.

December 30th. at 7.00p.m. will see a sung Requiem Mass at Wakefield chantry chapel. Please let me know if you would like a ticket for this Mass and civic event, as the Lord Mayor of Wakefield will be in attendance. Celebrant - Rev Fr. D. Smith, Episcopal Vicar for Clergy.

On 1st January 2011 there will be a Missa cantata at Noon at Immaculate Heart, Moortown, Leeds. Celebrant - PP, Rev Fr. T. Wiley VF. This will be the first public Mass in this church for at least twelve years - the penultimate Mass we attended as a family there saw me locking the car keys in the car with the baby whilst her two sisters looked on highly amused!

That baby is now in her last year of school but I still remember clearly how easily the car was broken into by the rescue man without causing any damage to save the situation and to let us get on our way.

Immaculate Heart church was a "regular" venue for the old Mass especially in the days when the great Bp Wheeler was the Ordinary of the Diocese.

Several young men who went on to study for the Priesthood used to attend Masses here from the very early 1980s. One such lad was the present Parish Priest - well, what goes round comes round.

On Monday I have an appointment with a high ranking member of the local Polish Community. I hope he will be able to help me formulate an advert for Polish migrant workers and residents who would like to attend the TLM in this part of the world.

Missa Cantata

Today's first Vigil Mass at Batley, St. Mary of the Angels, Crossbank Rd. at 3.00p.m will be a Missa Cantata and the celebrant will be Fr. D. Smith, Episcopal Vicar for Clergy.

This will be the first Mass of Advent.

Server training

From Hexham and Newcastle:

"The LMS in the north is arranging training for servers (adults & boys) in York. The suggested date is 12th February 2011 at English Martyrs Church, Dalton Terrace, York. If that dates proves unviable then the alternative will be February 19th.

It is expected to begin at 10.30am and, depending on the attendees, could encompass training for both Low Mass & Missa Cantata. We are looking to attract servers from the northern dioceses.

Anyone interested from Hexham & Newcastle diocese please contact me by email at: david-oneill3@sky.com or by telephone on 0191 264 5771.

Paul Waddington (LMS Treasurer) is setting up the session & anyone else wishing to attend should, in the first instance, contact their LMS Diocesan Representative."

Please contact me (e-mail address in right hand column) if you are interested in attending. I am tutoring one of the sessions and one of my sons will be attending.