Eric Hester meeting with Bishop McMahon

Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham is the new Chairman of the Catholic Education Service

Eric Hester writes : 'Bishop McMahon is the bishop in charge of education for the Bishops' Conference. I recently went to see him after he and I had exchanged letters on the subject of the government's plans to make sex education compulsory for all children in state schools and the support this has received from the CES (Catholic Education Service). The first thing to say is that the bishop very readily agreed to meet me, arranged a time to suit my travelling to Nottingham and treated me most courteously, allowing our talk to go on beyond the hour arranged. In fact, it all went beyond courtesy: the bishop listened most carefully and sympathetically and allowed me to make all the points that I wanted and to produce the relevant evidence. He discussed things with me, raised some questions and was most willing to answer all my questions to him. And the result? Well, I had hoped to persuade the bishop there and then to renounce any support for the government. This he did not do. However, he agreed to consider carefully all that I had said to reconsider his position especially when the government announces the results of its 'consultation' and to talk the matter over with others.

'One thing the bishop said surprised me: he said that he was not aware that there was any special alarm among Catholic parents and others about the government's proposals. I think that we all need to consider what we do here. Perhaps we look at supportive websites, read our own publications and assume that the case for or against something will be obvious and does not need stating. It could be, too, that Catholics have been so badly treated in the past that they feel it is a waste of time writing to the bishops. I do not believe that this is the case with Bishop McMahon. We need to do more, I think. I do not want to shower the bishop with sudden letters, but it would be a good thing if those who do feel strongly ensured that they wrote to him, mentioning perhaps who they are 'Writing as a parent, grandparent, former teacher, school governor, etc' and making simple points in their own way to show their concern. At the same time, they could send a copy of the letter to their own bishop or write another letter to him.

The address is: His Lordship the Bishop of Nottingham, Bishop's House, 27 Cavendish Road East, The Park, Nottingham. NG7 1BB. Finally, I made it clear to the bishop that if the CES continued its support for the government, it, and the bishops, could expect the greatest opposition ever seen by lay Catholics in England since the rights of parents on sex education are 'inalienable' and may not be usurped by anyone, not even a bishop, let alone the members of the present government.

(h/t to Jackie Parkes)

Traditionalists of all churches: unite!

“Traditionalists of all churches, unite under the dome of St. Peter’s!” Father Kung wrote in an editorial Oct. 28 in the Rome daily La Repubblica.

“Look: The fisherman is fishing above all on the ‘right’ side of the lake. But the water is muddy,” he said.

(The Holy Father is committing the unforgivable act of bringing traditional Anglicans into the one true fold, where they may be united to the chief shepherd, vicar of Our Lady's son.)

So Hans Kung writes about the latest move of our present Holy Father to send a life raft to the sinking ship of Anglicanism. Yes, Fr. Kung, we all know how bitter you feel now that you are a nobody, a laughing stock and a dinosaur from the sixties that some young catholics have not even heard about, let alone take seriously! And while you are now rapidly being forgotten about and becoming history, every work and word of your contemporary and colleague Joseph Ratzinger is listened to, studied and broadcast all over the web and blogosphere. For he has been given the power of the keys, as Pope Benedict XVI! Yet you have said that you do not in any way feel bitter...

While you gained popularity and support from the world's media by your attacks on the church's teaching and magisterium, in particular Humanae Vitae, Joseph Ratzinger was universally hated and vilified for defending it. But now the tables have been turned, and divine justice has been done. Our Lord will always reward obedience and fidelity to the teachings of his mystical bride the Church. For he who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Dr. Rowan Williams....

"I christen this ship C of E!"
Thus proclaimed Rowan Williams with glee;
Now he paddles around
Trying not to get drowned
On his archiepiscopal see.

A pastoral provision for dissaffected Anglicans

This news has just come in from Damian Thompson. This could have effects as far reaching as Summorum Pontificem! Also here is a statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.



This is astonishing news. Pope Benedict XVI has created an entirely new Church structure for disaffected Anglicans that will allow them to worship together – using elements of Anglican liturgy – under the pastoral supervision of their own specially appointed bishop or senior priest.

The Pope is now offering Anglicans worldwide “corporate reunion” on terms that will delight Anglo-Catholics. In theory, they can have their own married priests, parishes and bishops – and they will be free of liturgical interference by liberal Catholic bishops who are unsympathetic to their conservative stance.

There is even the possibility that married Anglican laymen could be accepted for ordination on a case-by-case basis – a remarkable concession.

Both Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Rowan Williams are surprised by this dramatic move. Cardinal Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was in Lambeth Palace only yesterday to spell out to Dr Williams what it means. This decision has, in effect, been taken over their heads – though there is no suggestion that Archbishop Nichols does not fully support this historic move.

Incidentally, I suspect that Rome waited until Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor’s retirement before unveiling this plan: the cardinal is an old-style ecumenist who represents the old way of doing things. His allies in Rome, and many former participants in Anglican-Catholic dialogue, are dismayed by today’s news, which clears away the wreckage of the ARCIC process.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is unlikely to be pleased, though he was vigorously concealing any displeasure at a press conference this morning. (There was a lot of spin about this decision “arising out of dialogue”.) The truth is that Rome has given up on the Anglican Communion. With one announcement, the Pope has given conservative Anglicans a protected route to union with Rome – and promised that, even once they are members of the Catholic Church, they will be offered a permanent structure that allows them to retain an Anglican ethos.

Thousands of Anglicans who reject women bishops and priests and liberal teaching on homosexuality are certain to avail themselves of this provision. Within a few years, there will probably be “Anglican ethos” Catholic parishes in England and Wales (and one wonders how many conservative cradle Catholics will gratefully start attending Mass there).

Under the supervision of a “Personal Ordinary”, who can be a priest or unmarried bishop, ex-Anglicans will be able to put forward their own candidates for ordination. In the short term, there will be no difficulty in ordaining married former Anglican clergy.

The Vatican would not use the phrase, but this is very close to the setting up of a “Church within a Church”. Yet that is not as unusual as it might seem: Eastern-rite Catholics have their own liturgy and church structures, and in America a small number of ex-Anglicans use service books that borrow from the Book of Common Prayer.

Anglicans will have to request their own “Personal Ordinariate”, to use the Vatican’s clunky term. How might that play out in England? This is just a guess, but the most pro-Roman C of E bishop, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, could submit a request to Rome. He would be ordained a Catholic priest, and might himself be made “ordinary” (bishop in all but name) of ex-Anglican clergy and lay people who have been received into the Catholic Church together.

This unprecedented canonical structure will affect different countries and dioceses in different ways. But we are not talking about the creation of an “Anglican-Rite” Catholic Church. Although some parishes will want to use the Anglican-usage liturgy, in England many ex-Anglican congregations will be only too happy to avail themselves of the new English translation of the Roman Rite, to be introduced next year.

This is a decision of supreme boldness and generosity by Pope Benedict XVI, comparable to his liberation of the Traditional Latin Mass. The implications of this announcement will take a long time to sink in, but I suspect that this will be a day of rejoicing for conservative Anglo-Catholics and their Roman Catholic friends all over the world.

Ordination of Br. Lewis Berry to the diaconate

Please pray for Br. Lewis Berry of the Birmingham Oratory, who was yesterday evening ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Philip Pargeter. May he be blessed in his vocation as an Oratorian, and please God, as a future priest.

St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, pray for us

The relics of St. Therese at the Knights of Malta conventual chapel

Yesterday evening the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux made a stop over at the Knights of Malta conventual chapel at St. John's and St. Elizabeth's hospital, St. John's Wood, London. I was asked to come down and sing for the pontifical English high mass and veneration by a friend of mine, where we sang Missa Surge Propera by Victoria and Surge Amica Mea by Guerrero.

The place as to be expected was packed out, as you can see above as the relics arrive. Naturally the sick were given priority for veneration, but in the chaos everyone managed it in the end. For us singers, we had to rehearse outside the chapel in the hospital corridors, as patients were being wheeled in and out!

We sang from what were very cramped balconies, and had to put up with several on - duty nurses barging their way through us singers to get a glimpse of the relics during the mass. Such is the popularity of this saint! When we had a few spare moments we all took some photos.

At the end there was slight hiatus, and then the relics were borne off to the sound of a piper, a most poignant moment, and very quickly the throng dispersed and went their separate ways. As for me, I stopped over on the way at a pub to Marylebone station to have dinner, and then catch the late train home to Birmingham.

Request for prayer

In this month of the rosary please do remember in your prayers, for things are going somewhat pear shaped for me at the moment. My gastric complaints have returned with a vengeance and I have had to leave work today, and I also have other issues on my hands....

It's just not going to happen...

For those that hold the notion that reunion between the Catholic and Orthodox churches could happen in a few years time, here is yet another reality check from Interfax Religion, the news agency of the Moscow Patriarchate, on the Feast of the Holy Rosary:

Moscow, October 7, Interfax - Head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk has denied reports that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia might visit the Vatican in the near future.

"No preparations are being made for the Patriarch's trip to the Vatican and his meeting with the Pope at any particular place or at any particular time," Archbishop Hilarion said while taking questions from journalists in Moscow.

The possibility of the Pope's visit to Russia in the near future is not being discussed, either, he said.

"The matter may imply a meeting on neutral ground, as they say now," he said.

Archbishop Hilarion insisted that the main purpose of a dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church is not so much a meeting between their heads as such as "radical improvement in our relations and the overcoming of the existing problems."

He mentioned among such problems proselytism, a too aggressive missionary policy on the part of the Roman Catholic Church in the traditional Orthodox territory in the 1990s, and the expansion of the Uniates in Ukraine.

Quite bluntly, reunion is just not going to happen! And this comes clearly apparent should anyone take into account the human reality of the split between East and West. You are not going to overturn a millenia of schism and doctrinal, spiritual and institutional divergence in just a few years. Both churches have gone their separate ways for a long time. And not are you going to overturn the legacy of state and political domination (among the Russians) or that of Islamic influence from Ottoman rule (among the Greeks, where they have the slogan: Orthodoxy or death!). Consequently there are strong undercurrents of deep, visceral hostility towards Catholicism and the papacy. At best, we can hope for greatly improved relations, but not alas for reunion.

Equal opportunities double standards

We hear constantly that we must show greater consideration for persons from ethnic minorities, particularly those of African and West Indian origin. Therefore according to this principle the secularist liberal establishment should be more sympathetic and understanding towards you if you are black. But, as Denise Haye, a Christian worker for Lewisham council was to discover, this only really applies if you hold the 'correct' liberal views and opinions. She has been wrongfully dismissed, for equal opportunities does not apply if you are a black Christian.


Her crime? She posted unfavourable comments about gays on the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) website using her work computer. She wrote that Sharon Ferguson (its head) should be "ashamed" of herself and that homosexuality was "not normal" and a sin. Citing the importance of repenting in the "last days", Haye added, in capitals, "the wages of sin is death". She at first unaware of what this site was, and had come across it while looking for church information online. The full story can be found on The Voice.

H/T to Fr. Tim

Forty hours

The Birmingham Oratory holds its annual Forty Hours festival from the first Tuesday of October to the following Thursday, with an all night vigil from 10pm on Wednesday evening to 6.30am the following morning. We start off with a votive high mass of Corpus Christi, and finish off with a votive high mass of the Sacred Heart, with a procession of the Sacrament around the church. This year I was unable to make the all night vigil as I was too tired, but I managed to fit in a few hours before the sacrament, and take some pictures:

ADORO te devote, latens Deitas,
quae sub his figuris vere latitas:
tibi se cor meum totum subiicit,
quia te contemplans totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
sed auditu solo tuto creditur;
credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius:
nil hoc verbo Veritatis verius.

In cruce latebat sola Deitas,
at hic latet simul et humanitas;
ambo tamen credens atque confitens,
peto quod petivit latro paenitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor;
Deum tamen meum te confiteor;
fac me tibi semper magis credere,
in te spem habere, te diligere.

O memoriale mortis Domini!
panis vivus, vitam praestans homini!
praesta meae menti de te vivere
et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie pellicane, Iesu Domine,
me immundum munda tuo sanguine;
cuius una stilla salvum facere
totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Iesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
oro fiat illud quod tam sitio;
ut te revelata cernens facie,
visu sim beatus tuae gloriae. Amen.


Tonight we finish with high mass of the Sacred Heart.

Two reality checks for ecumenism

There has been much talk of immanent reunion between Rome and Orthodoxy on some of the blogs, and there are also those in England who still believe that 'reunion' is still possible between what remains of the Anglican 'communion' and the Holy See. But the two following articles courtesy of Rorate Caeli and Fr. Dwight Longenecker should bring some of these professional ecumenists to their senses.

The first is an extract from a letter of Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, the Ecumenical Patriarchate's most prominent exponent of ecumenical dialogue to the Metropolitans of the Orthodox Church of Greece, denouncing the vehement opposition within that Church to dialogue with Rome:

3. It is being propagated very falsely and conspiringly that the signing of the union of the Churches is imminent! A professor emeritus of Theology, who is well known for his ill-will towards my person, had visited a Hierarch of the Church of Greece and had told him that he knew with certainty (!) that the union had already been signed (in Ravenna!) and that the relative announcement was a matter of time!!! Clergy and laity have approached me and asked me if it is true that the union is to be signed in Cyprus, in October!

Obviously, a feeling of unrest is being attempted among the people of God through this behaviour, with unpredictable consequences for the unity of the Church. However, those who are disseminating these things are fully aware (as long as they have not been blinded by empathy, fanaticism or a mania for self-projection), firstly, that the ongoing theological Dialogue has yet to span an extremely long course, because the theological differences that have accumulated during the one thousand years of division are many; and secondly, that the Committee for the Dialogue is entirely unqualified for the "signing" of a union, given that this right belongs to the Synods of the Churches.

Therefore, why all the misinformation? Can't the disseminators of these false "updates" think of what the consequences will be for the unity of the Church? «He who agitates (God's people) shall bear the blame, whoever he may be» (Galatians 5:10)

The second from Fr. Dwight is more pithy, concerning reports that the queen is extremely concerned (and rightly so) about the state the Church of England has fallen into:

Let's face it, the Church of England is never going to roll over and submit to the Holy Father, but it would be rather nice if a conservative group were to split off, join the Catholics and have Her Majesty come long for the ride. She could repudiate her role as the head of the Church of England, and the Anglicans could elect Elton John to take her place. That way they could have everything they really want: homosexual marriage and an old English queen as the head of their religion.

Eucharistic miracle in Poland and forthcoming 40 hours devotion

Reports have just got out about a miracle concerning a host that was dropped at a mass in Saint Anthony’s Church in Sokółka, Diocese of Białystok, Poland. I was first informed about this at high mass in the Oratory this morning by our superior who had just returned from Poland. Here is the news article from News Poland which I found on the web.

A special commission from diocese in Białystok is being checked if there occurred a miracle in Saint Anthony’s Church in Sokółka. Dissolved Host looks like a part of human heart. This interesting miracle has been kept in secret since six months.

“We are not sure that it is true. We must investigate this case and be sure that a real miracle occurred in this church” – said priest Andrzej Dębski who is a spokesman of the Curia.

The miracle happened during the mass. One of local priests was giving the Holy Communion when suddenly it fell down on the floor. So he took it and put into a chalice. After several days the chalice was filled with red water which was poured out on a special ceremonial tablecloth. As it turned out, there was also a strange things examined by the doctors. According to them it was a part of human heart at the point of death condition. The commission will try to investigate truthfulness of the miracle.

Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano

This miracle is a most welcome incentive for us to participate in the Oratory Forty Hours devotion which begins this next Tuesday evening at 8.00pm with high mass of the Blessed Sacrament, with all night vigil the following Wednesday to Thursday and closing with Votive High Mass of the Sacred Heart. This will be good opportunity to pray for the conversion of left wing heretics and right wing schismatics: in particular for the Russian Orthodox church, the Pius X society in their negotiations with the Holy See, and some of the Bishops of England and Wales....

Benedict XVI to come to Brum, and beatify Newman?

There is some reason to hope that our Holy Father may come and visit us at the Birmingham Oratory, if these extracts from this Catholic Herald editorial prove to be right:

It has been suggested that the Pope will be present at the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Church sources say London, Birmingham and Edinburgh would be likely destinations, as well as Oxford.

Some Catholics are hoping the Pope will break with convention and beatify Cardinal Newman himself.

Fr Federico Lombardi, the Pope's spokesman, said such a trip would be an "obvious occasion" to beatify Cardinal Newman. A journalist in the Czech Republic noted that Benedict XVI had previously expressed a preference to allow beatifications to be carried out by the local Church rather than by the Pope. In response, Fr Lombardi said: "We have a year to figure that out."

A Church insider said: "Cardinal Newman is the major event. It wouldn't be ridiculous to suggest that it's a possibility. The Pope has said it's his rule not to preside at beatifications but it's his rule to break.

"Pope Benedict is a great admirer of Newman and this visit is about Newman, and about what it says about the Church. It's not as simple as him turning up to bash politicians on the head. He always comes to boost those countries he visits, and England and Wales will benefit."

It seems that despite hysterical bigotry to the contrary from the National Secular Society, a papal visit will be almost universally welcomed in this country. But, please God, may he come to us! Now that will give the secularists and Tabletistas something to whinge and cry about...

Habemus Episcopum!

Today on the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux it has been announced that Bishop Bernard Longley, Auxiliary in Westminster, has been appointed by our Holy Father to the metropolitan see of Birmingham. He seems to be a reasonably safe appointment, and thankfully at least we have not been given one of those episcopal horrors from the dioceses of the south coast!

Please do remember to pray for him that he will be a wise and holy pastor, who will feed the flock entrusted to his care well, and will courageously uphold the faith and magisterium of the church both in and out of season. Of all the dioceses in England and Wales, Birmingham has been among those that have withstood the assault on the church in the last forty years better. May it continue to do so, and also follow the program of renewal of Benedict XVI.

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.

St. Chad of Mercia, pray for us.

Ven. John Henry Newman, pray for us.

Michaelmas

Today is the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, traditionally known in England as Michaelmas. This is a feast which has marked the beginning of autumn and of the new academic year in universities, as well as the end of the summer holidays (and the beginning of the grim long winter's nights...). There is also as far as I'm aware a superstition that it is bad luck to pick blackberries after this feast. If this is true, it does not bode well for me, as I have yet to harvest the considerable crop that appears in Birmingham for jam and puddings!

Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio;
contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:
tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis,
satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,
divina virtute in infernum detrude.
Amen.

Absolutely shocking!

The Bishops of England and Wales have commissioned two songs from Mike Stanley of CJM Music fame for the visit of the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux. They have been brought to my attention recently as examples of 'Catholic' music that really takes the biscuit for sheer awfulness and saccharine sentimentality.

The MP3 files can be downloaded here: Child of Grace (Therese) and My Song of Today. Being an amateur composer, organist and singer myself (go to my CPDL site for what I have written), I thought I might listen and give my opinion. They are exactly as I have heard others describe them, and let me tell you, they require considerable stamina and guts to listen to. I must say, I take back all my harsh words against Maria Parkinson's As I kneel Before You. It sounds like Bach and Palestrina in comparison to this! And a word of warning: DO NOT LISTEN to the downloads without having a sick bucket handy.



I feel sorry for the Little Flower that such appalling music should have been written in her honour. Even I could do a better job than this shocking and embarrassing attempt! Why the hell couldn't the Bishops of England and Wales commission Britain's leading Catholic composer James MacMillan for the task? Now that would have indeed been a genuine and real act of devotion, for one of twentieth century's greatest saints.

Grant Roberts R.I.P.

Of your charity please pray for the repose of the soul of Grant Roberts, a long time stalwart of the Oratory parish community, the Latin Mass Society and one of the founding members of the Birmingham branch of the Walsingham Association. He died in hospital of a heart attack on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, following on severe cancer of the liver. This was just short of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the branch.

This morning an extraordinary form requiem was celebrated for his repose in St. Philip's chapel. May he and all the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace, Amen.

Walsingham Association Birmingham branch 40th anniversary mass

Yesterday the Birmingham branch of the Walsingham Association celebrated its fortieth anniversary with the mass of the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham celebrated by Bishop Philip Pargeter,Auxiliary of Birmingham. It was a very joyful occasion, but it was also overshadowed by the death of one of the founding members, Grant Roberts, yesterday. Please remember to pray for the repose of his soul.

Above is Bishop Pargeter delivering the homily: he celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination this year. For those of you wondering, this is a concelebrated English novus ordo mass celebrated ad orientem! Below is Anne Roebuck leading the bidding prayers: the national Walsingham association chairman and stalwart of the Oratory parish.

Unfortunately due to the lighting in the Oratory unless you have professional equipment photographs come out with a red tinge! But that can't be helped. The mass continues with the offertory:

Bishop Pargeter leads the final prayer and blessing:

And then we have the procession of the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham around the church to the hymn, 'Sing the praises of Mary, the Mother of God.' The Walsingham mass is an annual event in September which is an integral part of the devotional life of the parish. There is a great tradition of devotion and pilgrimages to Our Lady of Walsingham here which was begun by the late Fr. Humphrey Crookenden, one of the Oratory fathers who died in 1978.

And finally, we had a buffet in the parish hall afterwards, where Bishop Pargeter was presented with a gift for his golden jubilee of ordination on behalf of the Walsingham Association members.

Pope to visit England next year

Just recently news has come from unofficial sources that Pope Benedict XVI will visit England next year, at a time that could well coincide with the upcoming beatification of Cardinal Newman. If this is true, let us hope he will come to visit us in the Oratory in Birmingham. If that does happen, it will be one of biggest news stories of the English church in years. And what a snub it will be to our enemies and critics! I would love to see the reaction of the Tablet and some of the Bishops of England and Wales to a papal high mass in the Oratory...

For nearly forty years, particularly during the church's grim Babylonian captivity in the 70's and 80's, we were an embattled ghetto holding fast to the doctrinal, liturgical and devotional traditions of the church often by the skin of our teeth. Now those days are well and truly over and we are seen as the model for the Benedictine reforms, particularly on the web. The combination of the beatification of our founder, with a visit from the Holy Father will be the vindication of our efforts and what we have stood for.

Public health warning!

Bones has issued an urgent health warning of a terrible new disease that has broken out across England and Wales. He explains in great detail the symptoms, potential remedies and what to do if you think that you have caught it.

It seems that I have caught a very mild form of it, but if you are a militant secularist suffering serious convulsions about what I have posted on in the last three days, please follow the link!

The veneration of Saint Thérèse's relics

In Birmingham there is a great tradition of devotion to St. Thérèse of Lisieux and the Oratory is no exception. So deep is this that there are several parishes dedicated to her, almost every Catholic church has a shrine to her and Teresa is a very common name for Catholic girls in the city. So it was be expected there would be a big response to the visit of her relics, but not as great as I imagined!

Yesterday afternoon, after the service of Midday prayer was over for the arrival of Saint Thérèse's relics, seeing the sheer numbers of people present, I thought that it would be better to go away for an hour and wait for the crowds to subside. So after having a pint with some fellow Oratory parishioners, I came back to discover that the throng had not diminished but considerably increased! So much so that there was a long queue stretching right down the street.

Nevertheless, with a little patience I got in to venerate the casket. But very little time was given with only 5 seconds allowed to kneel before it, and then we were moved on. The sick and disabled were given priority, and were allowed to sit in the cathedral: and with just all of them alone the pews were filled to capacity!

Reports from the secularist media about the visit of the relics have ranged from cynicism at best to downright hysteria and bigotry. Most of talked about the usual knee - jerk 'medieval superstition', while some have even made thinly veiled demands that the authorities stop this event! I have seen articles saying, 'religious tolerance is being taken too far!', 'vast crowds being duped and led astray', 'politicians should not kowtow to fundamentalists', etc. etc.

But these people have good reason to react badly. The Little Flower is a saint who means business: the Nemesis of secularism and atheism! Indeed when I came back today, the crowds were even bigger, with the police maintaining a benign supervision of the event. I asked them how many people had come and how did they react to it. They told me they about 5000 - 10000 could have turned up, and yet this has been all very orderly and well organised with no problems whatsoever. Yet to secularist paranoia, Christian fundamentalist terrorists are in the making in this gathering..

Indeed, to give an idea of the scale of the crowds, here is the back of the queue towards the cathedral. It took about quarter of an hour to move through it to venerate.

This event was a real sign of Catholic unity and fellowship. People came from all across Birmingham, the Black Country and beyond, with every parish being represented, and with groups coming from other parts of the diocese in Stoke on Trent, Lichfield, Worcester and Coventry. Almost every nationality and ethnic group was represented, and Catholics whether liberal or traditionalist laid aside their differences to come together in prayer and veneration before the saint. Never once before I have seen such unity in diversity, and such a powerful sense of the mystical body of Christ. How good and how pleasant it is, when brothers live in unity!

The Franciscans of the Immaculate came down for the day from Burslem, Stoke on Trent, where they confirmed to me that five of them have just set up a new friary. They have now settled in well, and so my prayers have been answered. Deo Gratias! Later on they were to join us in the Oratory this evening for vespers.

But this is only the beginning! The relics have another month to tour England and Wales, and what we see here will be nothing compared with what will happen when the relics visit London. Let us hope that the media go wild with fury, for we will then know that the Little Flower has struck England's secularist heart.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us.

St. Thérèse comes to Birmingham

Today this afternoon at two o'clock the relics of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux arrived in St. Chad's cathedral, stopping over in Birmingham over the weekend during their tour of England and Wales. I arrived just in time to the joyous peeling of the cathedral bells, where the procession was just starting up.

Slipping through the crowds, I managed to catch a few pictures. Bishop Philip Pargeter, Auxiliary of Birmingham is leading the procession, while behind him are the nuns of the Carmel of Wolverhampton. For many of them, it may be their first day out in years.

And here is the reliquary, borne in procession to the cathedral:

I expected the cathedral to be busy, but I didn't realise that I would be very fortunate to get inside for the service that was to follow! We were held waiting by the doors while the stewards managed to squeeze in a few extra persons.

And when I got inside, it was standing room only!

Then followed sung Midday Prayer, led by Bishop Pargeter, with the nuns of Wolverhampton Carmel.

At the end of the recessional, we were asked to wait for official photographs of the occasion, before beginning veneration. Seeing the vast crowds, I thought it would be better to go away for an hour for them to subside, and come back later. However, I was in for a surprise when I came back! More later...

A glimmer of hope?

In recent years relations between us and the Russian Orthodox Church have considerably thawed since the election of Benedict XVI to the see of Peter, as will as the election of Patriarch Kyrill. Yesterday Archbishop Hillarion, head of the external affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, met up with the Pope.

There has been much talk of imminent reunion between the two sister churches on the blogs. Personally, I think this is wildly optimistic. There is a very long tradition of bitterness, jealousy and rivalry between Russian Orthodoxy and Polish Catholicism which alas is still alive and kicking in the Ukraine, particularly over the issue of the Uniates. Also in Orthodoxy there are movements that are heavily tied up with Russian nationalism and identity (and Serbian and Greek in the other churches), and who are very violently opposed to any kind of collaboration, let alone reunion.

It is all too easy to forget that although doctrinally Catholicism and Orthodoxy are almost identical, Orthodoxy is otherwise in fact very different to us and in many respects just not the same. Their liturgy, iconography, mystical tradition, spiritual and devotional life, religious orders and brotherhoods are completely different and can be quite a shock to Catholics unfamiliar with them. The Orthodox likewise often strongly object to many Catholic practices such as the Sacred Heart, as they see them as not part of and conflicting with the patristic tradition, and look upon our scholastic tradition with disfavour.

But nevertheless, with God anything is possible. Benedict's theology is greatly admired in Orthodox circles. And what is more his initiatives such as Summorum Pontificem, and his courageous stance in affirming the church's moral teachings in the face of the world media, have been most warmly welcomed by them. There is a genuine feeling among many of the Russians that Orthodoxy and Rome need the support of each other in their witness against the destruction of family life and normalisation of homosexuality. With this in mind, let us ask Our Lady's help to heal an ancient rift, so that they may be one!

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, pray for us.

A message to President Obama

Prolife Catholics at www.catholicvote.com have cribbed together this short Youtube message especially for President Obama and his policies. Enjoy!

H/T to Damian Thompson

The church of St. John Fisher, West Heath

The church of St. John Fisher, West Heath, Birmingham, where we had the solemn high mass two days ago is a most remarkable building and comes as a considerable surprise for several reasons. Firstly, for what is an average outer suburban city parish founded in the mid fifties, it is not a concrete carbuncle but a quite hansom modern brick church built in the shape of a Greek cross. It is totally of the period it was built in idiom and style, yet completely in harmony with ecclesiastical architectural tradition.

But secondly, it was built from 1962 - 1964, right during the council, and yet was specifically designed for the traditional liturgy. And thirdly, it has completely escaped the liturgical vandalism of the post conciliar era, to the point where no permanent altar versus populum has been installed, as you can see below. A portable altar is placed in the sanctuary for the parish masses.

Touring the church, we find three side altars completely intact for Our Lady, St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart.

Our Lady

St. Joseph

Sacred Heart

Choir gallery

Alas, the organ, a once very fine electric action instrument, has given up the ghost and been completely vandalised by amateur attempts to repair it. To get it up and running again would cost a small fortune. Hence a dreadful Hammond sounding electric organ has been placed up there (exactly the same kind I once played in the church of St. Birinus, Dorchester on Thames, producing a very ugly sound).

Ceiling

High mass in West Heath for Our Lady of Sorrows

This evening my fellow blogger and local LMS rep Dr. Matthew Doyle had organised a High Mass in the 1962 missal at the church of St. John Fisher, West Heath. At last, things are beginning to move in Birmingham and the Black Country for the extraordinary form. Until Summorum Pontificem Catholic traditionalism here was virtually in a ghetto: a tiny minority of stalwarts confined to a poorly attended Sunday indult low mass in St. Catherine of Siena, Bristol Street, and then later in the cloister chapel in the Birmingham Oratory.


This was only supplemented by the occasional private mass, usually in the Oratory. It was very rare for the 1962 missal to be celebrated in any of the other parishes in the region, mainly because there was a lot of suspicion and bad feeling against it and it’s followers a decade ago. And this was very often from many clergy and laity who were otherwise loyal to the orthodox faith and church’s magisterium. I can remember well the bitter disputes about the ‘Tridentine Mass’ and the untold resentment that they caused 15 years ago. It was seen as ‘schismatic’, ‘right wing’ by some, while some traddies were saying the Novus Ordo was heretical and invalid!

However, those days are at last gone. The former Oratory cloister chapel indult mass has been moved into the main church, and now it is effectively another Sunday mass, like all the others. Numbers attending have considerably increased, attracting many newcomers. But not only that, it is beginning to move out the Oratory into the other parishes in the city. St. Chad’s cathedral had it’s first EF mass for 40 years last year, while an EF mass will hopefully be arranged in St. Michael’s, West Bromwich, in November. The change in atmosphere has been very noticeable on all sides, and vastly better.

Introit

This has been the second High Mass celebrated here this year, with the last of the parish's patronal festival of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More. (See Matt Doyle's report here). Some of us in the Oratory choir as well as our organist came along to provide the music, and we had a Gregorian mass with Mass IX Cum Jubilo as the ordinary. At the end of it, I had the comment from one lady, "It was wonderful, it is like looking into the future". If only Robert Mickens of Tablet fame could have been present to overhear this! Well, here are some photos I took from the choir gallery:

Collect

Epistle

The chants for the mass of Our Lady of Sorrows are notoriously difficult, so for the Gradual and Alleluia we had to default to singing in monotone. The Stabat Mater sequence we made a heroic attempt at, and while it was very beautiful chant, we thought it better to sing it to the Stabat Mater hymn melody. However tonight showed that you do not need major resources for good music for a high mass. With just 4 singers, and our very able Oratory organist with his brilliant improvisations on a poor electric organ, we created a quite impressive sound which was much appreciated afterwards. What a pity the church’s original pipe organ has given up the ghost: it had a excellent sound.

Gospel

Homily

Offertory

Incensation

Canon of Mass

Communion

Recessional

There was a buffet in the parish hall afterwards, and hopefully more high masses will be coming in the future. A low mass has been organised for this parish on the Feast of the Holy Rosary on Wednesday 7th October at 7.00pm.

Summorum Pontificem anniversary: patience is a virtue!

Today is the second anniversary of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificem coming into effect. If anyone should think that it has made little difference in many places, we must bear in mind that two years in the life of the church is a very short time. And yet in those two short years, great deal has already happened.



For us folks in the Birmingham Oratory Summorum Pontificem has made quite a difference, independent of the fact the Oratory fathers have always been very supportive of the extraordinary form. Before SP we had low mass every Sunday in the cloister chapel at 12.45pm. After SP the mass was moved into the main church at 9.30am as part of the usual run of Sunday masses, and it’s numbers have almost trebled.

Not only that, since the holydays in England and Wales were transferred to the nearest Sundays, we have kept the old days in the EF, and we now have high mass on many of them. Also a weekly Saturday mass has started at 9.30am, has been quite well attended. Regular masses at celebrated nearby in Halesowen every Wednesday and also occasional high masses are celebrated in St. John Fisher, West Heath, Birmingham. The next one will be tomorrow for the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows at 7.00pm, which I and some of the Birmingham Oratory choir will be singing at.


The deeply ingrained prejudice against traditional Catholicism among so many of the clergy will take many, many years to overcome, if not decades. Such indeed has been the trauma of the church's Babylonian captivity of the last 40 years, that we cannot expect all to be put right in a year or so! Nevertheless like the bronze serpent in the wilderness, the standard of the cross has been by our Holy Father by the liberation of the 1962 missal. Whoever in the church has been bitten by the poisonous serpent of secularism shall gaze upon it and live. Patience is a virtue!

New music for the Oratory choir library

Two weeks ago a former member of the Oratory choir donated his private choral music collection to us, and since then as choir librarian I have been very busy trying to sort, catalogue and file it all away. I have completed the total inventory: 14 new mass sets, 5 new motet sets, about 150 single copies, and this does not include a great deal of the music which duplicates what we already have. It brings our total of mass sets to nearly 200!

Not unnaturally I'm extremely pleased with what has been given us, and we will hopefully be performing two of the works donated in the coming weeks at Sunday high mass: Missa O Magnum Mysterium by Tomas Luis de Victoria, and Messe de Ste. Jeanne d'Arc by Henri Nibelle.

So if anyone has any old Catholic choral music of any kind, era, quality or quantity that they are looking to find a home for, please do get in touch and I will be much obliged! We at the Birmingham Oratory are always looking out for new music, particularly that which is out of print and of historical interest.

The wisdom of Fr. Richard McBrien

Recently Fr. Richard McBrien of Notre Dame University, Indiana, has offered us his great words of wisdom concerning adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: (H/T to Fr. Tim).

Notwithstanding Pope Benedict XVI's personal endorsement of Eucharistic adoration and the sporadic restoration of the practice in the archdiocese of Boston and elsewhere, it is difficult to speak favorably about the devotion today.

Now that most Catholics are literate and even well-educated, the Mass is in the language of the people (i.e, the vernacular), and its rituals are relatively easy to understand and follow, there is little or no need for extraneous Eucharistic devotions. The Mass itself provides all that a Catholic needs sacramentally and spiritually.

Eucharistic adoration, perpetual or not, is a doctrinal, theological, and spiritual step backward, not forward.

What he seems to be implying is that those who love the practice of Eucharistic Adoration (like myself, and the parish and fathers of the Birmingham Oratory) are illiterate, ill - educated, and hankering after obscurantist rituals and dead language. Also that in our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament we are neglecting devotion to the liturgy, to the mass and to Christ, if indeed (God forbid!), we are not practicing devotion to Our Blessed Lady...

In other words, we must be backward, uneducated and superstitious Irish, Italian or Polish peasants who need to be enlightened by learned intellectual American liberals like himself. Bear in mind also that our Holy Father, notwithstanding the fact he is a leading theologian, scholar, liturgist and Vatican II peritus, comes from Bavarian peasant stock, and that Pope John Paul II originated from what must be a backward Eastern Europe. With this in mind, Fr. McBrien has an excellent reason for explaining their advocacy of perpetual Eucharistic adoration.


But as for me, I would like him to explain why I am so backward in my devotions. I have great love of the liturgy and the psalms, pray the Benedictine office daily and was educated by Benedictine monks. And it is almost second nature for me to fall prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the Oratory on Saturday mornings: the Word made flesh, that has dwelt amongst us. I must have a most immature view of the faith, or perhaps I am suffering a complex and trauma that needs to be resolved by intensive psychotherapy.

The Master and Margarita

Over the last few weeks I have been watching the dramatisation of one of my favourite novels, the Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov. This is a series of ten episodes on Youtube with English subtitles that was produced by Russian television 4 years ago. It is a very faithful adaptation of Bulgakov's masterpiece Here is the beginning of the first episode:




The story is set in Stalin's Russia during the purges and mass arrests of the 1930's with three concurring tales that eventually come together that brilliantly satirise Soviet society and totalitarianism. If you have an interest in either Stalin's rule, gnosis or Russian culture and literature this is highly recommended.

The first is the visit of the devil and his angels in the guise of Professor Woland and his retinue to Moscow's literary elite where they cause mayhem and confusion, and confound the omnipresent secret police. The second is the tale of an author marginalised by the literary establishment who writes a Gnostic interpretation of the passion, of Pontius Pilate and of Matthew Levi. The third is the tale of the heroine Margarita who becomes a witch to save the author whom she loves.

Many myths, legends and omens have arisen about around the novel. Those connected with it have often come to a bad end, and previous attempts to film it have thwarted by circumstances half way through. Many Russian Christians regard it as diabolism and Satanist propaganda. I have just completed watching all the episode on Youtube, and after the final one, my computer keyboard went completely haywire, to the point I thought the machine had given up the ghost. Perhaps there is some truth in these superstitions: watch the series at your peril!

Vietnam's regime arrests a Catholic blogger

Fr. Tim writes:

A catechumen of the Archdiocese of Hanoi, Bui Thanh Hieu, who writes under the pen name Nguoi Buon Gio, which means “Wind Trader” has been arrested and detained for criticising the Vietnamese government's distortion of the Pope's speech to the Vietnamese Bishops at their Ad Limina visit. I humbly encourage bloggers to post on this injustice. The Wind Trader needs our support and the Vietnamese government needs to know that its distortion of the Holy Father's message is open to scrutiny from the rest of the world.

I must add a thought that could be the subject of a future blog post: it seems absolutely essential to the success of tyranny, totalitarianism and religious persecution for total control of the means of communication and complete dominance of the media by propaganda and ideology. This is to prevent any rational debate concerning the legitimacy of state power and policy, which is fatal to the totalitarian project.

Our Lady of Lavang, pray for us

The GOBS 40th anniversary Lourdes pilgrimage

This year was the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Grand Order of Babysitters, the GOBS, and here is the group photo. I am on the right holding the banner in rather absent minded fashion. Maggie O'Rourke, our high priestess (the very words of Bishop Mervyn Alexander of Clifton when he awarded her the Bene Merenti for her work!) is third from the left.

And here is me again holding the banner with at the grotto mass with the Diocese of Clonfert, Ireland, pilgrimage.

The Lourdes Rosary Procession

One of the great highlights of Lourdes which even the sixties liturgical vandals could not succeed in wrecking is the evening torchlit rosary procession, which is done in the multiple languages: Latin, French, Italian, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Croatian.

Interspersed with the decades are the Lourdes Ave, and unfortunately as well as that dreadful hymn 'As I kneel before you' (its author should have been shot).

Eventually everyone gathers up in front of the Rosary Basilica, and the evening ends with the Salve Regina, with the final blessing given in Latin. Which is more than you will get in the average French parish, with the exception of those that use the 1962 missal.

Mass in the Cite St. Pierre

I had returned home to Birmingham yesterday, and am still recovering from the long 21 hour coach trip. However I still have a few more pictures of Lourdes to show you. Essential to every GOBS pilgrimage is mass in the Cachot for our benefactors, which was offered by Fr. Terence Creech CSSR, built in imitation of the sheepfold of St. Barnardette. Here we are in our yellow dress.

The Rosary Basilica in Lourdes

The Rosary Basilica in Lourdes at the foot of the Immaculate Conception Basilica above was designed by the architect Leopold Hardy and built between 1883 and 1889. It was consecrated in 1901 and has a capacity of 1,500. For the jubilee celebrations in 2009 the basilica was restored and new mosaic panels were made in the workshops of the Vatican on the front depicting the rosary mysteries of light. Above the main doors two mosaic circular panel represent, on the left Pope Leo XIII and, on the right Mgr Schoepfer Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes from 1899 to 1927.

Around the central dome, the arms that are the transept and the sanctuary contain side-altars with mosaic images of the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. The Transept on the left contains altars depicting the joyful mysteries of the rosary (The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Birth of Jesus, The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple). Behind the sanctuary, five altars show the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary (The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, The Crucifixion).

Finally, on the right transept are altars depicting the glorious mysteries of the rosary (The Resurrection, The Ascension, The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven, The Coronation of Our Lady).

I cannot help feeling that if there is one form of art that the French just cannot manage it is that of mosaics: it has to be said that at best this basilica is not a great artistic success. Their other attempts at this in the Sacre Coeur in Paris and the basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux are just as poor. The side altars are of at best indifferent quality, while the image of Our Lady of Lourdes in the apse is shocking! Perhaps it would have been far more effective to use a plainer and more austere style here. However, in fairness it must be said that this church is preferable to that dreadful underground car park better known as the Pius X basilica!

The sheepfold at Bartres

Yesterday we made a day trip to the village of Bartres, were St. Bernadette was fostered for a while by her aunt, and later she came back to look after her aunt's sheep. As a village it is not particularly remarkarble with the exception of the church and the house of Bernadette. While we were there it was quite wet. Here are a few pictures.

House of Bernadette

Bernadette lived in this room with her aunt, and it is open to visitors in the afternoon.

The church of St. John the Baptist is fairly notable and worth seeing. While it has remains of a medieval sanctuary, most of it dates from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, and has quite a remarkable reordos depicting the life of St. John the Baptist. Luckily it has been spared the liturgical vandals and is almost intact, and with a portable table for it's forward altar it is ready for ad orientem worship.

The High Altar

The Lady Altar

The Sanctuary

St. Joseph's Altar

Mass at Lourdes in the 1962 missal

Lourdes has long been a stronghold of the liberal liturgical establishment, and of key strategic importance as a major international shrine. In fact the same could be said about many other major Marian shrines: they tend to have rather liberal rectors and dubious para - liturgies.

Nevertheless, even though it may be among the last liberal bastions to crumble, the extra - ordinary form has gained a foothold, and every Sunday at about 9.30am there is a 1962 missal low mass in the Upper Basilica. Or so it may seem, for I arrived at precisely 9.30am as advertised to find that they were already in the homily.

As far as I'm aware this mass took a lot of in - fighting to get established, but hopefully it will be here to stay!

On the way to Lourdes with the GOBS

I have now managed to find an internet connection here in Lourdes, and so I thought I might share with you a few pictures of the trip there. It is a 21 hour journey by coach all the way from the Oratory to our destination: here is Jackie Parkes seeing off her children, and taking pictures for her blog:

By early evening we arrive at the port of Dover, for the ferry to Calais:


The ferry leaves as we have dinner:

Then it is then long haul up to Paris and down the helter - skelter motorway across Central France to Toulouse and then across to Pau and finally Lourdes, with the occasional toilet break. By the time we arrive we are pretty exausted.

Arrival at the Hotel Santa Lucia, to be greeted by our old friends Alain and Marie - Anne!

Off to Lourdes

Tomorrow I begin the long coach journey from the Oratory to the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes with the Grand Order of Babysitters, and this year will be the 40th anniversary. Hence it is a particularly special year for them. I am much looking forward to this event, and I shall enjoy a long week of rest and recuperation!

Mulier Fortis on biotechnology's immorality

Last year in March 2008 I did a series of posts on the various lobbies and factions behind the culture of death: The Culture of Death Rogues Gallery. One of them was about the biotechnology industry and its infamous research into human cloning and human - animal hybrids. I opined at the time that 'immoral research does not produce cures!', and now, thanks to this news given by the highly esteemed and worthy of respect Mulier Fortis (hopefully that description will not offend her this time...), I have been proven right. Here is an extract from the San Francisco Weekly:

..a teenage boy who had traveled from Israel to Russia... for an implant of neural stem cells to treat a rare degenerative disease. Four years after the procedure, according to the study, the therapy hadn't worked, and the transplanted stem cells had morphed into a brain tumor.


The article continues:

As Kriegstein shuffled through his papers, looking for the report, he explained his fear that current efforts in California to create stem-cell–based cures, which he views as premature, could have similar results. "The likelihood of something going wrong is pretty high," he said. "Something like tumors are probably going to happen. This is an area where the risks are great. The public has to be prepared."

The great Mac McLernon has also demanded that I show forth my seven greatest loves, after agreeing with her on no. 6 (caffeine, in the form of what I call Dr. Tannin: tea). So here they are in full:

1) The Catholic church, the mystical body of Christ (same as Mac).

2) Our Blessed Lady, on whose Feast of the Expectation I was born in the town of Evesham, an old shrine of Our Lady.

3) The sacred liturgy with it's wonderful sacred music.

4) The Birmingham Oratory, my beloved parish church, whose great choir I sing in.

5) Downside Abbey, my old Alma Mater.

6) Tea, as explained before.

7) Alcohol, in copious amounts. If all else fails, then just drink....