Mills and Boon goes Latin

"Samantha had been looking forward to Sunday all week.

As the parish choreographer she had led her small group of 'maidens' in creating a special dance in honour of the patron saint of the parish, St Knobbly, and they had been practising their twerk routine for what seemed like ages.

Arriving at the church Samantha felt her heart miss a beat.

Something was wrong, very wrong.
Someone had reversed the altar so that Fr Reg would have his back to the people. Samantha let out a gasp; there was smoke coming from the sacristy, could the church be about to be engulfed in flames?

And then, he appeared and Samantha instinctively knew that she would be safe in this man's hands.

He moved from the hips up and Sam felt a sudden surge of blood to her face as she blushed uncontrollably.

Who was this tall stranger with grey flecked eyes and lean jawed features?

 And why was he wearing a cassock and cotta?

"Hi" he said casually. "Are you looking for somebody?"

"I think I have found him" said Samantha, looking at him from lowered eyes and feeling very pleased that she had put on that new foundation make-up delivered by Pickfords, the day before.

"I'm the thurifer" continued the broad shouldered server, "sorry if the smoke alarmed you".

"Not at all" cooed Samantha. "I like a man who smokes but I thought that Lucifer was supposed to be bad?"

He threw back his head and laughed showing a set of even, white teeth.

"That's very good" he said. "But excuse me while I arrange the sanctuary for the Missa Cantata"

"Th-th-the Missa whatta?" stuttered Samantha, her mind racing as she thought that she knew all of the latino dances but this one did not ring a bell (or, did it?).

"We are having a Solemn High Mass" this morning, said the server. "With three priests, Fr Blogfinegan, Fr Sexton and Fr Harry from 'oop north'".

Samantha felt as if a cold hand was clutching at her heart. "B-but where are you from" she managed to gasp out.

"Me?" said the server, "I'm LMS".

"What?" "Does that mean Lean, Manly and Strong?" asked Samantha hopefully.

"No, you little fool. It stands for Latin Mass Society.
Today is the day that the Latin Mass returns to St Knobbly's, on his great feast".

"You brute!" exclaimed Samantha as she ripped the thin, flimsy lace from his broad, manly chest.
"Does this mean no dancing on the sanctuary and no more Special Holy Aunties of the Eucharist?"

'Fraid so" said the server, your twerking days are over, there's a whole world out there just waiting to be rediscovered. Why don't we step into the future together, who knows, you might even come to love Latin".

"That's true" thought Samantha as she snuggled into the coarse black cloth of his cassock.

"Maybe the Latin Mass does have something to offer that is bigger than both of us".

With apologies to Mills and Boon.




 

A new order is needed for the seminaries

                                Every seminarian should be taught this

Not a new monastic order but a new order with regard to teaching how to celebrate the Extraordinary Form of Mass.

It is of no use looking to the parish priests to change their ways.
There is no way that the bulk of current parish priests will undertake to learn how to celebrate the old Mass and it would be a fruitless and divisive exercise to compel them to do so.

An attitude of mind is as necessary as an awareness of the actions and tone of the Latin Mass - so, write off the old guard.

But, in the seminaries it is a nonsense that a six or seven year programme designed to equip young men for the priesthood, deliberately omits one half of the Mass content; the EF Mass.

It is clearly a nonsense to have two forms of the Mass but only to teach the Ordinary Form.

Could you imagine a syllabus for the priesthood that omits philosophy or theology?

No, of course not. It would be ludicrous.

To only offer the Ordinary Form of Mass was surely not in Pope Benedict XVI's mind when he issued  Summorum Pontificum.

The Pope Emeritus never issued a statement or made an address without the concept and the consequences being clearly thought through.

While many castigate him for his Regensberg address on Islam it had the effect of lancing the politically correct boil that would not admit a discussion on Islam let alone any form of criticism.

Summorum Pontificum was clearly designed to right the wrong and to set free the Latin Mass that had been enshrined in the realm of forbidden territory for 50 years - so why is it not part of the training programme?

Of course, we all know why, but what to do?

Perhaps we need a lobby group to organise Rosary sessions outside the Diocesan HQs much in the style that the 40 Days for Life people pray outside abortuaries.

A group that will ginger up the Bishops and embarass them into action (they fear adverse media coverage more than they fear old Nick).

Who will undertake this role?  Would the Latin Mass Society get to grips with this initiative?

It might give them a much needed raison d'etre - they must have a function other than arranging Mass schedules and publishing unreadable magazines.

Pilgrimage qualifies for Guinness Book of Records

Yesterday's Latin Mass Society's Annual Pilgrimage was a real record breaker - except that...it was a record in the wrong direction.

                                      Cardigan, less  than 100 miles from the capital of Wales

Only 17 souls attended (18 if you include the church cat) and, if anyone so inclined had fired a shotgun during Mass, I am sure that none of the congregation would have been injured.

If you project this decline in numbers (roughly 50% down on last year), by my reckoning, in the year 2017, only the church cat will be in attendance and there's some speculation that he may be Church of Wales!

It was, a great occasion, nonetheless; the Newcastle Emlyn Schola sang the Mass beautifully and the servers served well.

After Mass came a break for tea and cake and then devotions in front of the Blessed Sacrament led by Paul, deacon of Menevia, and many thanks to him.

However, 17 people at a national pilgrimage is something of an insult to Our Lady of the Taper. Despite the valiant efforts of our LMS representative, it just did not cut the mustard.

What to do?

I do not know how much publicity and promotional activity LMS HQ put behind the day, it would be interesting to be able to see a breakdown of pilgrimage support costs broken down by pilgrimage.

Will there be another pilgrimage next year? I hope so. There is no shortage of would be helpers on standby.

I have two constructive suggestions to make.

First, be aware of Catholic etiquette and good manners when planning such an important event.

And, second, start the planning process for 2013 now, yes, now!

Traditional Catholics and self inflicted wounds

I have been mulling on this post for some months and it took some sound comments from Parapedimos (regarding my last post on Hot Dogs and Homilies) to put thoughts into words.

I am heartily sick of traditionalists who, once they achieve the victory of having a Latin Mass celebrated in their parish, then proceed to snipe at minor 'irregularities'. "The priest turned the page with the wrong hand", "the altar server forgot to genuflect as he passed the tabernacle", and, "my dear, did you hear his latin pronunciation?"

"Look at that altar server Carrutthers. He placed the
 missal at a 20 degree angle doncha know?"

Of course, those are all errors but priests and servers are on a steep learning curve and it will come right, in time.

What they do not need, after Mass, is some pompous twit poking them in the chest with their index finger telling them how to do it.

As Parapedimos wrote:

"Some time ago, I attended an EF Mass in a neighbouring parish; it was being celebrating by a sympathetic young curate (Fr D) for the first time and the plan was that he would do so every fortnight. The PP was supportive. Afterwards, at coffee, I was disheartened to see various 'experts' gather around Fr D in order to patronisingly point out his mistakes and offer their 'guidance'. I did not attend any of the other EF Masses he celebrated (I prefer a well celebrated Ordinary Form Mass). After 4-5 times, he decided not to continue. When I asked an elderly priest friend (Fr M) why this was the case, he replied that Fr D was simply tired of the continuous bickering and criticism aimed at him and the servers who, in the minds of the 'experts', couldn't get things right".

A sad tale but one that takes place across the land all too frequently.

Worse still is when those who should know better, completely foul up and turn off the laity in their desire to attend the EF Mass.

Some years ago I attended the first Mass ever to be held in a parish church (it had been built in the 70s).

It was a sung Mass, courtesy of a visiting choir and, at the Credo, the congregation, ignorant or forgetful of the fact that it is customary for choir and people to alternate, joined in with gusto. and who could blame them? For many it was a revelation, seeing and hearing the Mass that they once believed was banned, back in strength and with the wonderful Missa de Angelis Credo to inspire and excite them.

Tragedy was to strike as afterwards, before the wax had cooled on the candles, an irate Latin Mass Society representative took to the pulpit and berated them for not observing the choral niceties.

The next month, that congregation of 60 plus souls had reduced to 30. And, bless them, if they didn't fall into the same trap yet again. It was as if they were just carried away by the enthusiasm and beauty of the Credo.
They belted it out and enjoyed every second of it.

Again, after the Mass an even more irate LMS chappie got on his soapbox and told them to get their act together.

The following month, the numbers in the congregation were down to 15 and they have remained at that level (so I am assured) ever since.

As well as witnessing this saga the PP also related the story to me at a much later date (not realising that I had been in the congregation). He, too was disheartened and, I suspect, will not continue saying the Latin Mass much longer.

It is tragic that, whilst some priests and people are steadily undertaking the brick by brick process, others are following behind equally steadily removing them.

I suspect that nothing will change their attitudes except for one thing.....death. You see, those who make snide comments are all the old brigade. What I call the "Knightsbridge Catholics". You will see them in any parish of the land, waiting to pounce on any poor server who holds the wine cruet in his left hand instead of the right or any poor cleric who forgets to keep index finger and thumb together.

Their days are numbered; in ten or fifteen years the problem will have gone....trouble is....will the TLM have gone also?

"When England returns to Walsingham Our Lady will return to England" ~ Pope Leo XIII

This from the Latin Mass Society.......

You are invited to the third Latin Mass Society walking pilgrimage for the conversion of England. We will be walking from Ely to Walsingham from 24 to 26 August 2012. This is a bank-holiday weekend. Pilgrims will meet by 7pm on the evening of Thursday 23 August at the Guide Hall, St. Johns Road, Ely, CB6 3BW. The pilgrimage will begin with the Traditional Mass in St Ethelreda's Catholic Church 19 Egremont Street, Ely, CB6 1AE on Friday morning (Mass at 6.15am).

There will be a sung Traditional Latin Mass each day and Confession will be available throughout the pilgrimage.

Mass on the second day will be in the private chapel at Oxburgh Hall. This is a c15th moated manor house which is still the home of the Bedingfield family who built it nearly six hundred years ago. Oxburgh Hall was a recusant house in penal times and has a priest hole.

During the pilgrimage there will be recitation of the Rosary, the singing of traditional hymns, periods of silence and quiet reflection, and the chance to chat with other pilgrims and to renew friendships, or extablish new ones.

See our promotional video: http://en.gloria.tv/?media=275498 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibaxStQFP5U

Accommodation en route

This pilgrimage is open to all ages and to families.

We want to encourage as many families to attend this pilgrimage as possible. For that reason we have secured indoor accommodation for each night. The indoor accommodation is for use by women and children. Women and children are also free to camp if they wish. Camping is compulsory for men, although this will be indoors on the Thursday night. Please note that children under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.

Daily Mass open to everyone - not just pilgrims

If, for any reason, you are unable to take part in the pilgrimage itself, you are more than welcome to attend any or all of the Masses along the way. The details are as follows:

Friday, 24 August: St Etheldreda’s Catholic Church, 19 Egremont Street, Ely, CB6 1AE 6.15am

Saturday, 25 August: Oxburgh Hall, Oxborough, near Swaffham, Norfolk PE33 9PS 8am

Sunday, 26 August: Chapel of Reconciliation, Catholic National Shrine, Walsingham, 2pm  

The Final Day of the Pilgrimage

The pilgrimage will conclude on Sunday afternoon starting at 2pm at the National Shrine in Walsingham (in the Chapel of Reconciliation next to the Slipper Chapel). Pilgrims will have the chance to visit the Slipper Chapel as well. This will be followed by a procession along the Holy Mile from the Slipper Chapel to the ruins of the Abbey in the centre of Walsingham itself. The Abbey grounds have been booked from 4pm and there will be prayers of thanksgiving offered there. The gate to the grounds closes at 5pm, so pilgrims will have the chance to spend some time there, after the conclusion of the pilgrimage.

The Slipper Chapel is so called because pilgrims would traditionally leave their shoes there before walking the Holy Mile to the Holy House of Walsingham, where in the eleventh century Our Lady appeared in a dream to the Lady Richeldis de Faverches and asked her to build a house like the Holy House of Nazareth. The house contained a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary with the child Jesus seated on her lap. A priory was later built beside the Holy House. During the reign of King Henry VIII the priory was closed as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the statue was taken to London and burnt.

Coach from London on the Sunday

For those wishing just to attend the final Mass in Walsingham, there is a coach leaving London on Sunday, 26 August for the final Mass at Walsingham. If you wish to book a place, please phone the LMS office (020 7404 7284).

Can You Lend a Hand? Volunteers Needed!

As the pilgrimage grows from year to year, we need more volunteers to help things run smoothly. We especially need people to help drive support vehicles. All your expenses (petrol etc) will be covered and you will be offered a reduced rate to attend the pilgrimage. We also need people willing to help with stewarding and others to help with the preparation of food. Phone the LMS office on 020 7404 7284 or email us on info@lms.org.uk if you can help. Thank you.

Getting to and from the pilgrimage

The Guide Hall in Ely is a short walk from Ely train station. At the conclusion of the pilgrimage we can take you back to Ely. Please note that the pilgrimage will end at c.5pm on Sunday and it takes approximately an hour and a half to get from Walsingham to Ely.

Should you have any queries about driving to the pilgrimage please contact the LMS office on 020 7404 7284 or email us on info@lms.org.uk

C'mon LMS give us a Mass for Christmas!

A Latin Mass on The Feast of the Nativity, in the country's largest Diocese, with the most churches and priests, headed up by the leader of all Catholics in England and Wales - not too much to ask for is it?

Give us a Mass Guv'nor!

There have to be a few retired priests who would have a burning desire to say the UA Mass on the anniversary of Our Saviour's birth?

Maybe the LMS might know one or two? No?

Ah well, if anyone knows of a Mass within, say, 20 miles of Welwyn Garden City, please let me know.

The northern outpost of the Archdiocese of Westminster
in 1650 - the only change is that they had more Masses
in those days!

In honour of Our Lady of the Taper and the LMS Welsh National Pilgrimage today

Our Lady of the Taper- Ora pro nobis!

Ave Maria.............................please endow this pilgrimage and those taking part with spiritual comfort and succour. Amen.

Commencing at 12 noon with the Angelus, Sung Mass at 3pm.

Shrine of Our Lady of the Taper, North Street, Cardigan.

Father, Father, wherefore art thou?

We are looking for a priest and, get this, he must be a modern priest, not one who celebrates the Tridentine Latin Mass.



Sorry Romeo, I was actually
looking for a Catholic priest!


The poor old boy has finally cracked I hear you say: He's a few beads short of a decade, but please hear me out.

Here in dry old Menevialand we only have two brace (or less) of priests who are able to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Now, I don't know the square mileage of the Diocese but it must run into something like a modest 5,000 square miles...that means we only have .00001 of a Latin Mass priest per acre (don't try to check the maths!).

So, in the aftermath of our good Bishop Thomas Burns appointing Fr Jason Jones as EF Mass Coordinator for the Diocese, a most wise move, we now have a lay group called The Confraternity of the Holy Cross whose aim it is in life to support the few priests we have, pray on behalf of the Bishop and to aid the development of the Latin Mass in the Diocese.

Some in the CHC have been very busy and aided the recent and magnificent Corpus Christi Mass and procession, others support with the daily Fraternity prayer (We adore Thee O Christ and we praise Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World) and some, great souls have even chipped in a few pounds (quite a few in some instances) to a special fund to help priests in the Diocese learn how to celebrate the EF Mass. This does not cut across Latin Mass Society work, in fact, it complements it as we plan to assign priests on to the LMS Training Programme. In fact, LMS members might be more forthcoming with donations to the training fund if they knew that the money they raised would go towards supporting a priest from their own Diocese, but I digress.

So far we have raised the sum of £305 - Huzzah! That means we can send 1.24 priests for training, although we might wait until we have a round £500 and send two whole ones!

Now we hit the rockface - are there any priests out there who wish to put themselves forward? It would be especially good if we had one from the Western boundaries of the Diocese as this is Indian country (literally) as far as the old Mass is concerned. We have Mass in the Syro-Malabar rite and we have it in Polish, Tagalog and even Welsh (attended by 2 people and one sheepdog) - I jest - please don't burn me out! But we do not have, or at least only on a wobbly once a month basis, the Latin Mass.

It is a big problem......some priests just do not wish to go down that route and I respect their wishes but believe them to be wrong; some are too immersed in their Indian or Phillipino culture and some, I suspect, would like to do it but are a bit concerned about how they will be perceived by their fellow priests, Deans (especially the Deans) and, possibly, the Bish.

That leaves us up whatsit creek without a paddle - so please pray that we find a priest who will shoulder the cross and go forward to be trained.
Would you please offer a Rosary for this cause?

It will, as my mother used to say when one of us had to undertake some chore or other: "Put another jewel in your crown in Heaven"

Raymond Blanc uses internships for his business.....could this be adopted for seminarians?

Good service, acute attention to detail, high levels of competence; the result is perfect front of house service, quality food and expert waitering. I have posted on this before, quality training is a bit of a thing with me. You can walk into any cafe or restaurant and get pretty indifferent service, then you find one where you are welcomed, treated properly, spoken to as if you have brain cells in double figures and generally given a good all round experience.

That takes a lot of effort. Top class establishments such as Raymond Blanc's use "on the job training" - work experience, internships, call it what you will. It blends knowledge based learning with practical skills; it is, in short, vocational training.

In a recent comment on my post of  7th March Anthony S Layne picked me up on a point of slight concern (if I read him correctly). He was not overly comfortable with Priests being trained or developed using commercial methods, and I understand his concern.
But, as well as the academic programme necessary for the formation of a good priest, comes a spiritual one (of course) and a vocational one. Vocational in a double sense inasmuch as the man must have what we call a 'vocation' or a calling for the ministry and a practical programme based on what will confront him in the outside world. He must communicate well, be able to speak publicly effectively, know how to respond when visiting a hospice, be able to walk into a school and strike an instant rapport with the pupils - the list is endless.
So, Directors of seminaries send their trainee priests off into the community to work alongside parish priests and to learn the nuts and bolts of their vocation - all well and good.

But what preparation is given to assessing their placements? Is the PP they will be residing with a strong and competent role model? Does he lead an intensely spiritual inner life as well as a public one, does he gather prospective converts and lapsed Catholics about him like a iron filings to a magnet?

I will not mention our excellent blogger priests by name as I do not wish to embarrass them (and they will not thank me for my next point) but wouldn't it be an excellent move to place seminarians as interns with these beacons of the faith? Not one at a time, that already takes place, but three or four so that their mentor parish priest can use them individually or as a group to aid him in his work.
That's what happens (or should happen in commerce). You seek out the centres of excellence and place your interns with them - no point in placing them in the organisations that wallow in idle incompetence!

And, while I am on the soap box concerning the development of young potential priests I must say a few words in praise of the Latin Mass Society's initiative to train priests in the Extraordinary Form of celebrating Mass. This is the best possible use of funds in my opinion so, if you can support them with a bit of cash, it will reap huge dividends.
They may already do this but if they don't they may like to take it on board and that is, to extend the Mass training scheme to Seminarians.....their website may be found by clicking here. http://www.lms.org.uk/

This is the committee that drafted the Novus Ordo Mass



Pope Paul VI and part of the team that 'designed' the new Mass

I make no apology for bringing this subject up again, it impacts on everything that is taking place in the Church today. The above picture comes from the Last Papist Standing  blog. It shows Pope Paul VI with most of the team that hammered out the wording and actions of the Novus Ordo..........and.....with the exception of Mgr Bugnini, they were all Protestant ministers. I shall repeat that because it is such an extraordinary fact...they were ALL Protestant Ministers! Others missing from the picture include a Rabbi and a number of liberal Catholic priests (the 'periti') who schemed and lobbied to achieve liturgical change, often without the knowledge of the Holy Father. Bugnini was finally exiled in disgrace to Iran amid rumours of his membership of a Masonic lodge but not before the damage was done and the new Mass format laid in place.

I do not know how many priests and nuns in Britain left their vocations in the wake of the changes but it ran into thousands. Many prospective vocations drifted away like snow on a hot shovel. The whole episode, for many years, was shambolic, I remember it well. Our Canon stood in the porch after Mass loudly proclaiming in a hectoring voice:
"It's exactly the same Mass you know". Except that it wasn't the same Mass you know.
On holiday in Dulverton, Somerset we went to Mass and a funny old choir sang the Tridentine Latin Mass in English to psalm like chants.
Guitars and washboards (Google the word skiffle if that puzzles you) made their way on to the sanctuaries and good, plainchant choirs were dismissed, not just the odd one here and there but hundreds of them (most parishes had a choir in those days). Kumbaya became the choral currency and Byrd and Purcell disappeared, despite the strictures placed on maintaining both Latin and Plainchant by Vatican II.

Father Oswald Baker of Downham Market took up cudgels and his parishioners (hundreds of them) backed him. They took over the church and maintained the status quo until the time came that 'they' got him out and he spent the rest of his days a sad, Sede Vacantist.
In France, Latin Mass loving Catholics took over and occupied (in good French fashion) St Nicolas du Chardonnay church and there they remain to this day as part of the Society of St Pius X.
Some of the great Catholic academics and Heads of Divinity in seminaries ran off with a woman in tow (this happened increasingly during the 60s and 70s - why remain celibate when the reasons for doing so have been flushed down the drain?) Some of them emigrated and ended up in Canada and Australia, holding folk Masses supported by their 'wives' and administering sliced bread and bottles of plonk in earthenware mugs to a sundry assortment of the unwashed. Others took to drink.
Purges began in the seminaries for anyone that had a hint of the 'Roman' about them. They were outed and then ousted. Most left but some more determined souls gritted their teeth and found a traditional base somewhere that enabled them to achieve their desire.
Father JohnTrigilio in the States writes of his seminary experience:

"If you wore a cassock you were a 'reactionary daughter of Trent'. If you wore women's underwear they'd make you seminarian of the year!

And the laity? They voted with their feet and left the faith by the hundred thousand.  And most of the new wave of priests left within 5 years of being ordained and became probation officers and social workers, that was what they had been trained for.

We moved parishes along with a new job and were shocked (coming from a parish where the Novus Ordo was celebrated very reverently) to find 20 plus children swarming over the priest as he sat down to receive the Offertory gifts from a medley of what appeared to be emigres from the local Socialist Worker group.
Holy Communion was a scrum with lines of folk jostling for position and a team of Extraordinary Ministers distributing the Sacrament. We objected and asked the Canon to administer directly to those who wished to receive from the priest. he refused and, the following week read a statement from the pulpit to the effect that no one was to refuse Communion from an EM, in fact, it was our duty to receive from an EM!
The chaos continued until, thoroughly fed up with the liturgical capers and nonsensical direction from the pulpit (where Ghandi was held up as being the perfect role model for us to follow and we were told that we HAD to vote Labour), we snapped and went "dry" - alone and publicly branded as heretics by the curate who, within 6 months had run off with a mother of four.

That's a very brief snapshot of what it was like when the changes were implemented; and it all reverts back to the deprivation and banning of the Latin Mass - why do they hate it so?
Now, I believe that the Ordinary Form of Mass is valid and I believe that those who wish to attend this Mass are at perfect liberty to do so. But I would like those same rights applied to those of us who want the Extraordinary Form of Mass - parity, equality, fraternity!

Given the appalling state of today's Catholic Church in Britain I think the Bishops need to start making rapid moves in the right direction.
There is a definite mood of non acceptance of more crass liberalism by the orthodox
faithful. They have had enough, read the press, Andrew Brown, Ed West, Damian Thompson and others - it is now unacceptable to brand decent, God fearing people with the label of "Lefevbrist",  "Right wing," "Fundamentalist". We are all Catholics; we have been over tolerant for over 40 years, enough is enough! Some of us want the Tridentine Latin Mass, is that bad? Is that evil? Is that fundamentalist? We also like the doctrinal truths that go with the Extraordinary Form, moral clarity - doctrinal certainty. Who would deny us that?
Apparently, the Bishops would.

Breaking news.....SSPX to celebrate Mass in Lisieux Basilica

H/T to Eponymous Flower for reporting on this topic which has reverberations in the Catholic world.

The sarcophagus of St Therese in Lisieux Basilica

Today, the Society comes in from the cold, literally, as, in the past they have had to make do with outdoor Masses behind the Basilica. Now, thanks to the generosity of the encumbent Bishop, Mgr Jean-Claude Exechiel Boulanger, permission has been granted for the Society to celebrate High Mass at the main altar in the Basilica.
The annual SSPX pilgrimage which takes place today will be a symbol for the hopes of positive outcomes to the discussions between Rome and Bishop Fellay on behalf of the Society.
Pray hard for this unity, the Church owes much to the Society of St Pius X who have worked miracles in keeping the Latin Mass alive and available around the world.
And remember - the SSPX are only doing what all Catholics did up until c. 1969 - celebrating Mass in Latin!

The Nagasaki Martyrs live on in chant and prayer

On 15th September 1627, 23 Japanese priests and converts were martyred for their faith. Two years later, three more Portuguese Franciscans were added to the list making up the Twenty Six Martyrs of Nagasaki.

The remaining Catholic population of the region went underground and, even today, Nagasaki has a concentration of Catholics greater than any other area in Japan.

Some of the Crypto-Christians found their way to a small island called Ikitsuki where, in relative isolation they were able to continue as Catholics albeit without priests. Over the intervening period the liturgy and worship of these people became somewhat distorted; they were a peasant community and had little in the way of missals or any guidance as to  how to proceed with their faith, totally cut off, as they were, from the outside world. In the mid to late 19th century, Japan opened up its barriers and freedom of worship began to become acceptable once more.

The liturgical elements became mixed with Shintoism and Buddhism and the latin that they spoke by word of mouth also took on a pidgin, phonetical form.

Today, the remnants of this religious mix still survive and there is even a professional choir called Oratio (Orashio) Kai. I have a CD of their work and I have to admit that, whilst it is fascinating it is definitely for  committed historical tastes.

Sadly, when Catholic Missionaries moved back into the territory in 1865, only a percentage of the islanders returned to the mainstream faith and the rest, the Kakure, continued with their blend of Latin and Japanese Plainchant.

What is relevant is the way in which the faith, once rooted, is impossible to destroy, even over the course of 400 years.



LMS or TPST?....LMS I think

They will be all a flutter in Macklin Street at this but, when it comes to the Extraordinary Form of Mass training programmes for priests, I support the LMS - faint, swoon.
The reason for posting this is that I have just received, through the post, a leaflet from the Traditional Priests' Support Trust, part of the purpose being to elicit funds for the aforesaid purpose of training.
Fine. Nothing wrong with that, maybe it is an offshoot of recalcitrant LMS bods who want to do it their way. I have no problem with that.
The but, (there is always a 'but') is that this group, the TPST, has all the hallmarks of being SSPX.


The LMS Priest training programme



Again, I have absolutely no problem with that, per se. My problem is that they should be clear and unequivocal as to whom they are. I have donated small sums in the past to this organisation without appreciating they were, apparently, SSPX.

I would not do so now. The climate has changed since Summorum Pontificum and the onus is on the SSPX to come back whilst there is still a chance.
Now, a plug for the good old Latin Mass Society; they have organised some excellent programmes for priests and have developed a 'critical mass' of candidates for the Traditional Mass - well done them, they need our support as being the largest and best equipped priest training intiative we have.
That's my view on the issue; you must support whichever of the two you wish.

The LMS have been and gone and done it!

Shock, (not horror) just pleasant surprise. The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales has changed its website design  www.lms.org.uk. The result is a vast improvement but, (sorry to appear as an LMS basher) it could still look a little more professional. The image of the LMS is, I suggest a big problem to priests who fear that, by 'letting them in' they will lose control of what goes on in their church, to young people who see ancient, creaky old MCs chuntering around the sanctuary and to many Catholics who view them as being a bit eccentric (that is the kindest word I could choose). And, if you click on Menevia and Wrexham you do get a page that states:
"As the Holy Father is coming to Britain we would like to say welcome to Pope Benedict XVI....."
Mmmm...
And that is all, nothing more on those two Welsh dioceses.
Ah well, it is a not a bad start and I would not like to pour too much cold water over it (although the home page banner as above, does show a person who appears to be attempting to dance flamenco fashion!)
But, perhaps the biggest boo-boo is the absence of the image of Our Lady of the Taper. The equivalent, in Wales of Our Lady of Walsingham who is beautifully and prominently featured. Surely, in the interest of balance Our Lady's image from the National Shrine of Wales could have been included.

Archbishops Nichols puts the boot in on the LMS!

As reported in the current issue of the Latin Mass Society's magazine, 'Mass of Ages', Archbishop Vincent Nichols declined to give permission for a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Holy Father's visit, scheduled to take place on October 2nd.
The Extraordinary Form Mass (of course) had been carefully planned by LMS officers and members but, just 24 hours before it was due to take place, the Archbishop pulled the rug out from under the Society and all had to be called off.
Now, the LMS has always maintained a dignified silence when faced with opposition from within the Faith, be it at Parish level or Archbishop level, and they are doing precisely that on this occasion.

I have never been a fan of  appeasement policy; it is not good Catholicism to stand by and be trampled over when one has a legitimate claim to something. It has not produced results in terms of development of the Latin Mass over the past 50 or so years; all of that has been due to Pope Benedict XVI.

According to my sources, the reasons given by the Archbishop were that,  a Mass of Thanksgiving would be covered by him at a later date and that Westminster Cathedral, had a previous booking for a Mass on 2nd October. Neither of these are valid reasons; why on earth would anyone block the celebration of a Mass? Followers of the LMS, would not appreciate an Ordinary Form Mass and, in the spirit of Summorum Pontificum, permission should have been granted.

As far as a double booking for the Cathedral is concerned, that smacks of something else. From memory, the Cathedral is a pretty big place with one or two chapels around the sides. Are the Cathedral authorities telling us that there was no room for the LMS, at a side chapel? At another time during the day?

Any organisation, be it secular or religious, that has an ounce of pride in its operation, will always make alternative arrangements when the need arises.

This is another signal from the Archbishop that he does not fully support the Holy Father (remember his recent lack lustre responses on issues of women priests and homosexuality on Radio 4 and BBC Television?). He has does not appear in the media as a strong opposer of such issues.

I am a member of the LMS myself but regard my membership in a passive sense, that is, I broadly support the work that they do; some of their works are truly excellent (St Catherine's Trust and the EF Mass tutorials) but, very often they appear to be stuck in amber. Take a look at their website http://www.latin-mass-society.org/ for a prehistoric and unhelpful website format or Mass of Ages in which illustrations appear as if  potato printing is back in vogue.

However, I plan to write to Archbishop Nichols, as a private individual, expressing my concern for the cancellation and a copy will go to Rome.

for those interested, here's the Archbishop's address:-

Archbishop's House

Ambrosden Avenue

London

SW1P 1QJ