Wishing you peace and joy this Christmas

In these somewhat depressing days in the Church it is sometimes difficult to find things about which to rejoice. I mentioned this in confession a while ago and was told that the Lord never gives us a cross which is too hard to carry. We don't always see this, but as another priest told me in confession - every Lent has its Easter, just as every Advent has its Christmas. And here we are on this holy night of Christmas 2023.

May I take this opportunity to wish everybody a very peaceful and joyful Christmas. Those who should know better seem hell bent on destroying the Church from within but we have our Lord's divine assurance that the gates of hell will not prevail against that Church founded by Him. We should be people of hope.

Mass on Christmas Day  is at 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's, Westgate Bradford. And on every Sunday at the same time and place.

Confessions available before Mass.

Holydays of Obligation and High days which do not fall on Sundays will now be offered at 7.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's instead of 5.00 p.m. (which is a legacy time from our time at St. Joseph's over two years ago.) Our first such Mass will be the Feast of Ash Wednesday on 14th. February 2024.

Remembrance Sunday

 Tomorrow’s 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick’s, Bradford will be a Low Mass of Requiem for the war dead. 

Pentecost XXIII

 Sunday's 1.00 p.m. Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford,  marks the twenty-third Sunday of Pentecost and will be a Low Mass. Next week is the annual requiem Mass for the war dead.

Christ the King. All Saints and All Souls.

God is King of all the earth.

Time and time again, men of violence have risen up, like Goliath of old, and have challenged the People of God. The Israelites were paralysed with fear. But David knew: 'The Lord will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.' How often has the Church seen Goliath advancing upon her with sword and armour and overwhelming supremacy! Today too there is no shortage of tyrants, filled with proud confidence in their armoured divisions and atomic weapons. Today too those who challenge God fill us with terror. But God is King of all nations. He created them across the face of the earth.

Has anyone ever challenged God in the manner of a Goliath as Hitler did? How impressive it was to see him drawing up his plans, high up in his 'Eagle's Nest' with a view of the Alpine scenery as wide and splendid as that shown by Satan to Christ from the top of a great mountain. Did the Devil stand beside him there and whisper: 'All of this will I give you if you fall down and worship me?' But the visitor, wandering among the ruins of the Thousand-Year Reich a few years later, would wonder what had gone wrong with Hitler's plans. And the only answer he would find would be that of the Magnificat: 'He has shown might in his arm; He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts; He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the humble.' How often mankind has experienced this! Therefore we must not be discouraged by any danger, any threat of war, any onslaught against God's Kingdom on earth.

Once the immeasurable might of the Roman Empire confronted the the young Church. Blood flowed in streams. Murderers, henchmen and traitors were at work among the tiny flock. But it grew in spite of all tribulation. And all that remains of Imperial Rome is ruins. Since then the powers of darkness have joined forces against the Church time and time again. But she is invincible.

Fr. Werenfried van Straaten. (Feasts and Seasons, ACN, 1999)

This final Sunday of October is the Feast of Christ the King. Fr. Driver will offer a Low Mass at the usual time of 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's, Bradford.  Confessions before Mass.

There will also be Masses for the feasts of All Saints and All Souls on Wednesday and Thursday at St. Patrick's.

Wednesday November 1st. All Saints  5.00 p.m.

Thursday November 2nd. All Souls  5.00 p.m.

Please don't forget that we return to GMT on Sunday Morning and that the clocks go back an hour as British Summer Time comes to an end.  They will go forward again on Easter Sunday 2024. Advent will soon be upon us.

Ecce Lux Mundi! Ecce Christus Rex!

Pentecost XX

Father Driver will be the celebrant at tomorrow's Mass at St. Patrick's for the twentieth Sunday of Pentecost at 1.00 p.m.

Confessions available.

Pentecost XIX

Tomorrow's Mass at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford at 1.00p.m. for the nineteenth Sunday of Pentecost will be a missa cantata.

Confessions available before Mass.

Pentecost XVIII

 Today’s Mass for the 18th. Sunday of Pentecost at 1.30 p.m. at St. Patrick’s, Bradford is a Low Mass.

Pentecost XVI

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

Confession at call.

Pentecost XV

Mass for the fifteenth Sunday of Pentecost at St.Patrick’s will be a Missa Cantata. Usual time of 1.00 p.m.

Pentecost XIV

 Mass for the fourteenth Sunday of Pentecost at St. Patrick’s. Westgate, Bradford at 1.00 p.m. Low Mass.

Pentecost XIII

Thank you to those people who said they were encouraged to see that our albeit weekly Mass was being advertised here again and I have one or two ideas about supplementing these bulletins.

Mass this Sunday - 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick’s, Westgate, Bradford - is a Low Mass and the final hymn will be O Mother blest, as we near the end of August. 

On Tuesday 29th there will be Mass in the Ordinary Form at noon to mark the departure of Fr. Columba CFR who is rector at St. Patrick’s and who is taking up a new position in Limerick in his native Ireland. Fr Columba has been amazing in all the time we have been having Mass there each Sunday and Holyday. His patience at my initial incompetence with the digital lights and other domestic matters was as instructive as it was enviable. I shall miss him and wish him every joy in his new post. Some of you will remember that Fr. joined us for the Good Friday liturgy when Fr. Frantisek was the celebrant. Fr Frantisek will replace Fr. Columba as the rector. I am looking forward to working with Fr. Frantisek as much as I did Fr. Columba.

Confessions generally available at call before or after Mass.

  

Pentecost XI

Apologies for the late post, we have just returned from Brussels, where the old Mass is available every weekday evening in at least two churches. It was interesting that in both churches the epistle and Gospel were read in the vernacular from the altar and both churches had the dialogue Mass. The churches were under the control of the FSSP and the SSPX. Definitely worth a visit. The SSPX church (St. Joseph/Sint Josef) dates back to the 1840s and is a magnificent edifice.  

Mass tomorrow for the eleventh Sunday of Pentecost at St. Patrick's, Bradford (1.00 p.m.) will be a missa cantata.

Tuesday is the feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady and there will be Mass at St. Patrick's at 5.00 p.m. 

The Transfiguration

Sunday is the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord and as usual there will be Mass on Sunday at 1.00 p.m. at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford.

Mass at Wakefield chantry chapel.

 Friday 7th July 7.00p.m. Traditional Latin Mass sung by the choir with Monsignor Smith celebrating. Mass to commemorate William Byrd who died 400 years ago this week. Music will be a mixture of plainchant and from William Byrd. 

Saint Peter & Paul

 

Reminder that we have Mass for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul this Thursday, which is a Holy Day of Obligation. Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 5.00 p.m.

A reminder also that Sunday (July 2nd) is the Ruby Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr. Kevin Driver. It would be lovely to see as many people as possible joining Fr. Kevin's friends and family on this very special occasion. Mass at St. Patrick's, Bradford at 1.00 p.m.

Update

I have been taken to task by several good people for the paucity of posts on this blog over the last few months since the rescript issued by Cardinal Roche.  The latest restrictions on the public celebration of Mass according to the books of 1962 have pained me more than I could begin to describe. My life is impoverished without regular access to the Mass in the old Rite. 

There is only so much I can do to "big up" one Sunday Mass per week.

I remain very grateful for the provision at St. Patrick's, Bradford, each Sunday at 1.00 p.m. and on Holydays of Obligation at 5.00 p.m. and for the Friars' continued support and hospitality.

Thursday 29th. June is the feast of Ss Peter and Paul and there will be Mass at St. Patrick's on this Holyday offered by Fr. Kevin Driver. 

The following Sunday (July 2nd) marks the Ruby Jubilee of Fr.  Driver who will also be the celebrant of the Mass at St. Patrick's on that day, exactly forty years after Bishop Wheeler elevated him to the priestly life. He will wear the vestments he was ordained in and we shall have some of the same hymns he had on his ordination day. 

I hope those who have benefited from Fr. Kevin's ministry will join us on that day of jubilation as we say Ad multos annos to him in gratitude for all he does for us. 

Thank you also to Mr. George Watson who has played the organ for us regularly on the third Sunday of the month at St Patrick's and before that at St. Joseph's who is officially bowing out and  retiring at the grand age of 82 on that day.

Thank you Fr. Driver and thank you George.

Corpus Christi & Update

This Thursday is marked as the Feat of Corpus Christi in the Roman Missal but in England and Wales will be celebrated on Sunday as an external solemnity, which means there will be no Mass on Thursday at St. Patrick's.

Our Mass on Sunday at St. Patrick's will be a missa cantata to celebrate this wonderful feast and will be different in two ways to our regular sung Mass.  Firstly it will serve as a First Holy Communion Mass for one of our younger people and secondly there will be a procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Mass. Please do consider lending your support to attend this Mass and procession. Last year's procession was very moving.

I am also very pleased to report that David Adolph is now out of hospital and is now being well looked after in a local nursing home. He is in much higher spirits than he was in hospital. Thank you for your prayers.

The Ascension of the Lord

 

Thursday is the feast of the Ascension. It is a holyday of obligation. 

Mass at St. Patrick's, Westgate, Bradford at 5.00 p.m.

May - the month of our Blessed Lady

 

May is the month we set aside to honour our Blessed Lady. This Sunday's Mass at St. Patrick's (1.00 p.m.) is our regular Missa Cantata and will be concluded with the Litany of Our Lady of Loreto.

Thursday is the feast of the Ascension of our Lord into glory and there will be Mass at St. Patrick's at 5.00 p.m.

Friday is the Requiem Mass of Michael Rutherford at 12.30 p.m. at Ss Peter & Paul's, Yeadon.

Please continue to remember in your prayers David Adolph who is still in hospital. He has asked me to thank everyone who has remembered him in their prayers.

Michael Rutherford - Requiem

Michael Rutherford's Requiem Mass details have now been finalised. It will take place at 12.30 p.m. on Friday 19th. May at the church of Saints Peter & Paul, Yeadon,  Leeds, LS19 7HW followed by interment at Guiseley cemetery.