Tuesday 6 November 2007


The latest edition of Mass of Ages, the magazine of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, arrived a couple of days ago and I've just finished with it. It's the best edition for some time.

I was interested to read about the Brussels International Catholic School, run by the Institute of Christ the King. Is this the only English speaking (actually bi-lingual) school in Europe with the traditional liturgy? Not a massive help for anyone not in Brussels, although they do offer a gap-year or term in the school with children staying in host families (it's not a boarding school).

Elsewhere in the magazine, Fr Bede Rowe prints the text of his letter (sermon?) to his parish explaining why the forma extraordinaria is coming to his Warminster parish. A quite startlingly bold article.

Fr Thomas Crean writes an excellent article on modernism, remembering Pius X's great encyclical Pascendi.

And someone called Fr Tim Finigan explains how he gradually renewed the liturgical life of his parish. Thanks to him for mentioning my blog on his highly esteemed site.

Good bedtime reading.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for you kind comment.

I must say that there has not been much fuss at all in the parish. I have EF Mass at 7.30am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and at 6.00pm on Sunday. All of my OF Masses remain, so no one is forced to change to something that they are not comfortable with.

Attendance is not great at the early morning mass (never more than five so far), and Sunday evening hovers between 25-40.

My dear fellow priests... just do it. It is not the competency of the Bishop, and as long as you don't put the people out, then they don't mind.

What some have found is the quiet of the Mass. Others have had their worst fears confirmed, others are intriuged "but not for me, Father". Through all of this, they have been touched by a sense of the divine (even if they do not like it).

If I can be of any comfort to other priests, then hear this... the fear of introducing the Mass is the first and greatest hurdle.

Fr Bede Rowe

Anonymous said...

Forget to say, the stuff in the LMS mag was a series of articles published on the back of my parish bulleting week by week.

The Holy Office said...

Thank you, Fr Bede. I hope to be able to come to Mass in Warminster sometime before Christmas; my uncle-in-law is a parishioner (initials M. A.!). I'll say hello when I come. Be assured of my prayers for you and your parish.

Anonymous said...

Clifton diocese is really the only place to have embraced the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Since 14th September an additional 520 traditional Latin Masses per year have been established, and those are just in my parish and Fr Rowe's parish. We also sent 3 priests to Merton for training. Seminarians who love the Tradition of the Church: this is the diocese to join. Fr Redman

The Holy Office said...

Hang on, one more Clifton priest in this combox and we can have a High Mass!

Dorothy B said...

The latest LMS magazine is certainly a very good read. Indeed, I have been impressed with all the issues I have seen.

Lovely to have two churches in the Clifton diocese where the Traditional Latin Mass is being offered so regularly and often. It would be wonderful if a similar choice could be available for those in the north of the diocese. My dream is of a location that is accessible on foot, or at a time which makes it reachable by public transport, which is rather limited on Sundays. I hope that, somewhere out there, a priest is beginning to make plans. Perhaps he is reading this ...