October Family Day
At our meeting this month we had a First Communion at Mass.
It was well attended; here we are having lunch.
It was well attended; here we are having lunch.
St Catherine's Trust Summer School 2009
This has now taken place, and here are some pictures. It was great fun as always; I have already posted on it on my Oxford Events blog.
Our Chaplain at the Summer School is the Chaplain for the TCFA in Ware: Fr Andrew Southwell. Here he is at the end of our Sung Mass at the Church of St Pancras, Lewes, where we had a day outing.
Some of the boys playing football.
The Summer School is subsidised by generous benefactors, including the Latin Mass Society, making it possible for us to accept students regardless of their ability to pay. We ask merely for a donation in accordance with parents' means; these contributions usually ammount to about a third of the cost of the school. The staff are all volunteers; the main cost is the accomodation.
We would welcome any donations for our work, which can be made on-line though the St Catherine's Trust website; any enquiries about next year's Summer School can be made to info@stcatherinestrust.org
Photos of June Meeting
June was our last meeting before the Summer break, and I took some photos.
Mass was Sung, and as it was within the octave of Corpus Christi we had the same chants, including the Sequence. The celebrant was Fr Andrew Southwell. The chapel of St Edmund's College is by Pugin; as you can see it has never been 'reordered'. The photographs are taken from the choir loft, which is in fact the Rood Loft. The chapel you can see is, in Pugin's original conception, the choir of a much larger church.
Among other activities and talks (which always include Catechism by Fr Andrew Southwell for all age groups) we had a demonstration of how to make sugar roses from Lucy Shaw Cakes.
Here is one of the smaller children's activities.
For more photographs see here.
Some Good News! Young Catholic Adults Douai Abbey Retreat Gets Bigger and Better
During the weekend of the 18-20 September 2009. Young Catholic Adults (YCA are part of the international Juventutem Federation) will be running a Traditional Retreat at Douai Abbey in the south of England, the weekend will be led by Juventutem Ecclesiastical Assistant Fr de Malleray. Summorum Pontificum must be working - at least in a "brick by brick" fashion, just look at the following:-
-For the first time Young Catholic Adults will be using the main Abbey Church for Mass
-For the first time YCA will be organising a Missa Cantata, sung by the Douai Singers; this will be followed by a Marian Procession
- YCA has booked out the whole of the retreat complex this year, on the advice of Douai Abbey itself, as the monks were so pleased with the YCA retreat last year
Places are limited so please book early
-YCA will have the retreat centre to itself
-There will be a social in the evening
- Fr.. de Malleray FSSP head of Juventutem will preach the retreat, all Masses will be in the Extraordinary form
- There will be a Sung Mass (Missa Canta) on Saturday 19th September 09’ at 10am. The choir will be the Douai Singers, in the main Abbey Church, followed by a Marian Procession at 11am (starting from the main Abbey Church) around the extensive grounds of the Abbey (weather permitting, if the weather is poor there will be Marian devotions in the main Abbey Church )
-The weekend will be full-board (except for the Sunday lunch)
How to book
The cost of the weekend will be from as little as 25 pounds for students (or 48-88 pounds for non students) for more details, please see http://www.
Events Open to the Public
The Sung Mass (Missa Canta) on Saturday 19th September 09’ at 10am followed by a Marian Procession around the extensive grounds of the Abbey at 11am (starting from the main Abbey Church) are open to the public.
There are also a few rooms allocated for all age groups (not just YCA) so please book soon.
There are limited places so please reserve your place early!
Message to a Catholic Bishop...any Bishop!!!!!
Please please please excommunicate Cherie Blair!....and her husband whilst you are at it. (Let's face it, what was H.E. CMO'C thinking when he baptised this anti-family, anti-life, "messiah to the middle east" wannanbe?)
St Catherine's Trust Family Retreat and Chant Courses
St Catherine's Trust is having its annual Family Retreat 26th-29th March (Friday to Sunday); the prices and the schedule are designed to make it possible for parents to attend with children of all ages.
See the St Catherine's Trust website for full details. I put a report about last year's here.
This year, for the first time, there will be a Chant course running alongside the Retreat. Nick Gale, Director of Music at St George's Cathedral in Southwark, will be leading the course, which will work with the music of the liturgies taking place during the Retreat: Sung Mass each day, Vespers, Compline etc.. This is open to men and boys over 16 who have 'at least some' experience of chant. There are details on the SCT site and also on my Oxford blog here. To my knowledge there has never been anything like this in the UK in recent years; please help to make it a success.
See the same post on my Oxford blog for details of a one-day Chant Training Day with Philip Duffy, for Saturday 25th May, in Oxford.
Chesterton Academy
A wonder new high school in the classical christian style has opened in the states. Chesterton Academy wants to create well reasoned and saintly children....Can we start one here please?
Lily Allen was taught solid Catholic principles
"One hit wonder" Lily Allen has recently said that when she was at Catholic school, she was taught that "Gays were bad (not completely accurate), drugs were bad and adultry was bad".
Can someone please tell me which school this is as I finally can send my son to a place where the faith is actually taught! Hooray!
Errr, can you just go please?...and take your husband with you.
(my comments)
********************************************
In 2005, Mrs. Blair contributed an essay to the book “Why I am still a Catholic,” (so why are you still a Catholic?) a collection of essays from notorious dissenters from Catholic teaching, including unrepentant active homosexuals. In this essay, she wrote, “Of course, like many Catholics in this country (don't single yourself out now will you?), I have doubts about some of the positions taken by the Church as an institution - for example, on contraception or the role of women (Cherie, it's called 'heresy'). But I am not one of those who believes that the only response is to walk away because you have a different viewpoint. I have been taught that you should stay and try to change things.” (That's the Anglican Church my dear.)
New Blog on the Liturgical Year
I've been asked by a blogger to publicise his new site entitled In the Sight of Angels.
If you have an interest in the liturgical year and specifically on the same named classic by Dom Prosper Guéranger, please check it out and tell others about it. If you spot an error or omission, please tell the author about it!
Next Family Day
The next meeting of the TCFA will be on Saturday 22nd November. The day will commence with Holy Mass at 12pm sharp. Please be in the Chapel in good time and wrap up warm! Brrrrrrr!
Latin Mass Society 2008 Pilgrimage to Lourdes
In October the Latin Mass Society, led by Fr Andrew Southwell, made a pilgrimage to
In the first instance, our group had a long journey to
The daily schedule consisted of Missa Cantata, the praying of the Rosary and sung Compline.
We had two additional outings as part of the pilgrimage.
First, we went to Betharam, a shrine which is older than
Secondly, a trip to Bartres, a small town where St. Bernadette was sent as a baby to be wet nursed and subsequently she worked there, tending sheep. Here, Mass was offered in the beautiful
As with all pilgrimages of tradition, you can trust the shrine authorities to throw a few spanners in the works. Mrs Maria Chang, our gracious organiser, found it an extremely difficult task to obtain chapels in which to celebrate Mass. When her requests were met, the locations provided were unimpressive. "Barely enough room to swing a cat" is a phrase that springs to mind! Even our chapel for Compline on the first full day was being used by another group with no regard for timing.
However, trust in God and he will provide! By his grace, Mrs Chang arranged for Mass to be held in the crypt of the
Since it was impossible to take part in the torchlight procession as a group, Fr Southwell instigated the idea of holding Compline, opposite the grotto, by torchlight instead. This was a wonderful and beautiful setting for the evening office which attracted people to join the group, two of whom were traditional Catholics from
On the penultimate day, we walked the Jubilee Way. This allowed us to gain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, by visiting and praying at 4 specific places in the life of St. Bernadette:
- The parish church where she was baptised;
- The “Cachot”, the abandoned prison, where the Soubirous family lived;
- St Michael’s Gate, the Arches and the Grotto; and
- The Hospital Oratory where Bernadette made her first Holy Communion.
Our allocated guide impressed us with her historical knowledge of
The Holy Hour we had in the Basilica Crypt, proved spiritually nourishing for all. Many pilgrims joined us for the Rosary, a wonderful sermon from Fr. Southwell and Benediction. This proved that the sheep have a desire to be led by the Shepherds!
Other highlights included
- Stations of the Cross opposite the Basilica
- Visit to “Petite
- Visit to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Crypt and Rosary Basilica.
- …..and fresh pancakes :-)
All pilgrims gave their sincerest thanks to Fr. Southwell for spiritually leading us, and to Mrs Chang for physically getting us there!
Pictures
Holy Mass being celebrated in the Crypt of Lourdes Parish Church
The Beautiful Church in Betharam
One of Betharam's wonderful Stations of the Cross
"Onward Christian soldiers!"..as we continue to the next station.
"Que Soy Era Immaculada Concepciou!"
Sung Compline, after discovering another group using our Chapel! (Believe it or not, that is actually an Altar you can see behind us!)
Holy Hour: The Shepherd feeds the sheep
Standing at the foot of the Cross
A wonderful pilgrimage comes to an end with the customary photo!
"Winterlight"???
Maybe Dr Shaw can shed some "light" on this one?
Oxford Council to "rename" Christmas
Pilgrimage and plaque in Oxford: report
I mentioned the LMS pilgrimage to Oxford in an earlier post on this blog; now it has actually taken place. Thanks to the participation of many TCFA supporters, the day was a huge success, with 230 at the Mass, and 180 taking part in the procession. This is a very large procession, and we had trouble at some points negotiating the narrow pavements around bus queues and the like. It was a glorious witness to the faith; I have posted the full details here. But here, at any rate, is the plaque itself, and Bishop Kenney of the Archdiocese of Birmingham blessing it on behalf of Archbishop Vincent Nichols.
Joseph Shaw
Can society make its mind up?
A mother was described as "evil" for killing her 4 year old daughter, who suffered from mild celebral palsy.
Joanne Hill, 32, claimed "diminished responsibilities" after drowning her child, as she was "ashamed" of the condition and wanted her adopted or fostered. She will now spend 15 years in jail.
Comment: This mother was labeled as " evil" by the sentencing judge, who said she simply couldn't deal with her daughters disability. But when a pregnant mother finds out her unborn child may have a "disability", it seems she is being "very brave" for wanting to carry out the same end as the afore mentioned unfortunate soul.
How can we be so confused over the issue of life?
Faith & the Family Conference
A conference is being organised by Catholic families for Catholic Families. Please support this if you can.
More details can be found at the Faith & the Family website.
St Catherine's Trust Summer School 2008
The St Catherine's Trust Summer School took place last week, from 27th July to 3rd August, attended by a number of regulars from the TCFA days at Ware, including members of the King, Onyanga, and di Falco families. I report, with pictures, on our trip to Arundel Castle, where we had Mass in the private chapel, in the New Liturgical Movement here; there's some more pictures and commentary here.
It was our biggest Summer School ever, with 53 students and 14 staff. During the week the students were given catechesis by the Chaplain, Fr Andrew Southwell, and were introduced to Catholic history, art, music, Gregorian Chant and Sacred Polyphony, Philosophy, Church Latin and even New Testament Greek. Each day began with the Rosary and ended with sung Latin Compline, and included a Traditional Sung Mass: the picture shows Fr Southwell celebrating Mass in Ardingly College's impressive chapel. Our visiting speakers were Fr Nicholas Schofield and Mr Philip Goddard. In the picture we are relaxing at tea-time; on the right you can see Sr Valery Walker OP and Mrs Daphne McLeod, who were both members of our volunteer teaching staff.
At the end of the week there was the usual high-spirited quiz on the things the students had learnt during the week, and a staged reading of part of Dorothy L. Sayer’s radio play ‘The Man Born to be King’ - the cast, in costumes produced at successive Summer Schools, are pictured below. The final Sung Mass, attended by many parents and other family members, included a Elgar’s Ave Verum Corpus, prepared by the students during the Summer School. Thanks to the dedication of the volunteer staff, the enthusiasm of the students and some providentially fine weather, the Summer School was enormously enjoyable and a unique opportunity for young people to develop their knowledge of the Faith.
So what's next?
Two school boys who refused to take part in a class "Let's worship Allah" educational session, have been disciplined for showing "disrespect".
It seems that what is currently practised in Islamic countries, particularly in the Middle East, is now being practised in Our Lady's dowry.
Our Lady of Walsingham, bring England back to the Faith of our Fathers!
St. Bede's newsletter available for July
Download the St Bede's traditional community newsletter.
You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.
On a separate note, as you will see from the newsletter, congratulations are due to the Leung family on the arrival of baby Gemma.
Leaves you slightly more nourished....
Hat tip to Fr Finigan for doing the leg work on this one!
Produced by Creative Minority Report and H/T to the Curt Jester, where Fr. found the link.
Feast of the Assumption
For those of you who can get to St. Antony's in Forest Gate on the 15th August for 6pm, there will be a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form on this great feast & holy day of obligation.
N.B. The vigil of the feast is traditionally a day of fasting & abstinence.
See Tradition in Brentwood blog for church details
Do you know your "Fanon" from your "Ferraiuolo"?
If you dont, then DappledPhotos is a good place to start.
It has lots of pictures of Catholic vesture and objects so you can identify it the next time Cardinal Hoyos comes to England.... ;-)
Pilgrimage and plaque in honour of Catholic martyrs of Oxford
Since I gave a talk about this at the most recent TCFA meeting at Ware, I thought it might be good to put some information and a link to more here.
The Oxford Pilgrimage will take place on Saturday 25th October.
Solemn High Mass, 11am Blackfriars, St Giles, Oxford.
2pm Procession and unveiling of the plaque, led by Bishop Kenney.
3.30pm Benediction, Blackfriars
More information about the plaque and the martyrs can be seen here.
Joseph Shaw
The Oxford Pilgrimage will take place on Saturday 25th October.
Solemn High Mass, 11am Blackfriars, St Giles, Oxford.
2pm Procession and unveiling of the plaque, led by Bishop Kenney.
3.30pm Benediction, Blackfriars
More information about the plaque and the martyrs can be seen here.
Joseph Shaw
Traditional Redemptorists in full communion with Rome!
Many of you would have heard of the Transalpine Redemptorists of Papa Stronsay, who follow the rule of St Alphonsus.
Recently, Fr. Michael Mary, the Vicar General, announced full communion with Rome!
See the full story at the Papa Stronsay blog
Christian Modesty
There seems to be a renewed interest (due to a certain Mrs Hector & Miss Ebanks!) in a document I found and posted here many moons ago.
It was since deleted but here I attach the link to the document on Christian modesty for your viewing.
You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.
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