FSSP Year of Faith Retreat

The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) is holding a retreat for the Year of Faith, on 31st May to 2nd June. The title is 'You shall be my witnesses'. The retreat will explore how to bear more fruitful witness to our faith in our everyday lives. 

Traditional retreats in the UK are extremely rare, and for those without regular access to the sacraments offered in the Extraordinary Form, this is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with like-minded people and to attend Holy Mass on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. There will also be the chance of Confession or a private talk with Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP or Fr Matthew Goddard FSSP. 

There are still some places left, so book now! Details of prices and booking information can be found below.

Year of Faith retreat for all:

31 May-2 June 2013

'You shall be My witnesses' (Acts 1:8):

In the prayerful and relaxing setting of Douai Abbey, come and reflect with us on how to bear a more fruitful witness to Our Blessed Lord Jesus in our everyday lives.

Upper Woolhampton, Reading, West Berks. RG7 5TQ.

Starts Friday 5pm, ends Sunday 3pm.

Led by Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP, assisted by Fr Matthew Goddard FSSP.

(Picture: The Calling of Apostles, by Domenico Ghirlandaio)

Spiritual conferences and direction, Holy Masses, Eucharistic adoration.

Cost full board 2 days including VAT: £140 single room with ensuite bathroom, £110 shared room with ensuite bathroom or £90 without. 

Low income/Unwaged: contact us for significant discounts. 

Bookings/info: FSSP, 17 Eastern Avenue, Reading RG1 5RU, Berks. malleray@fssp.org. www.fssp.org.uk/england

Booking : please send us your £20 deposit (per person), made payable to FSSP ENGLAND. Remainder to be paid at the Abbey during the retreat.

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Read online the latest edition of our quarterly magazine Dowry N°17 (Winter 2013).

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Please pray for our 7 English seminarians and for 3 more applying for next autumn.

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To contact us:

Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England, 17 Eastern Avenue, Reading RG1 5RU, Berkshire, England

Telephone: 0118 966 5284;

Fr de Malleray: malleray@fssp.org;

Fr Goddard: goddard@fssp.org

Community: www.fssp.org.uk/england

One Weekend in April - a new video from the LMS

The LMS has produced a short, informative video about the annual St Catherine's Trust family retreat.

Here is the link: http://vimeo.com/65679307

Do have a look at the video, and if you have not been on the retreat before, book your place for 2014!

For more details, go to The St Catherine's Trust Website

Masses in May

The month of May, Our Lady's month, is nearly here, and there are many Latin Masses being celebrated in the diocese. Below is a list of the most notable dates. Please note that this does not include all the parish Latin Masses that take place regularly each month: these can be seen in the sidebar on the right.

Wednesday 1st May - 6pm Mass at St Gregory's, Cheltenham for the feast of St Joseph the Worker.

Wednesday 1st May - 6.30pm Missa Cantata followed by a social for 18-30s at Holy Cross, Bedminster.

Saturday 4th May - 11am Solemn High Mass at Downside Abbey, for the feast of the Holy Martyrs of England and Wales.

Sunday 5th May - 5.30pm Missa Cantata at St Dominic's Dursley, followed by refreshments in the church hall.

Tuesday 7th May - 12.30pm Requiem Mass at the Eyre Chantry chapel, Perrymead Cemetery, Bath.

Thursday 9th May - 12 noon Low Mass for the feast of the Ascension at Our Lady and St Alphege, Bath.

Thursday 9th May - 7.30pm Missa Cantata for the feast of the Ascension at SS Joseph and Teresa, Wells.

Sunday 19th May - Pentecost:

12 noon at Our Lady and St Alphege, Bath

12.30pm at Holy Cross, Bedminster

12.30pm at Our Lady of Glastonbury

Thursday 30th May - Corpus Christi

8 am at St Dominic's, Dursley

10 am at Our Lady and St Kenelm, Stow-on-the-Wold

11 am at Prinknash Abbey, Cranham, Glos

12 noon at Our Lady and St Alphege, Bath

7.30pm Solemn High Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, Weston-super-Mare

LMS training conference - report

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

Students ‘blown away’ by spirituality and symbolism of Traditional  Latin Mass as Bishop opens Latin Mass Society’s latest training conference

Students attending the Latin Mass Society’s ninth training conference in the Extraordinary Form for priests and servers, have said they were ‘blown away’ by the depth and richness of the Traditional Latin Mass. About 60 people attended for all or part of the week-long course, which took place at Ratcliffe College in Leicestershire during Low Week.

Above: Bishop Malcolm McMahon celebrates Pontifical High Mass to open the 

LMS training conference

Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon, Bishop of Nottingham, opened the conference with a Pontifical Mass of the Annunciation. Afterwards, Bishop McMahon addressed all the participants, putting forward some suggestions of ways to heal the rift that exists between enthusiasts for the older form of the Mass and some of those who oppose its widespread use.  This led to a lively discussion.

As in recent LMS conferences, tuition was given to both priests and servers in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. There were also optional Latin classes.

There was a Sung Mass (either chant or polyphonic) each day, as well as Lauds, Vespers, Benediction and Compline.  Together with private Masses, these services gave ample opportunity for participants to put into practice much of what they had learned.  The musical settings were provided by the Rudgate Singers, with Christian Spence as organist.

LMS Chairman, Dr Joseph Shaw, said: 'The LMS training conferences continue to show their value in giving priests and servers hands-on experience and expert tuition, including the more complex liturgical roles; this year's conference attracted priests from Scotland, Poland, and South Africa, from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. We also welcomed two seminarians: a Dominican, and a transitory Deacon studying at Oscott for the Diocese of East Anglia. The Leicester conference was also a very convivial occasion and a rare opportunity for like-minded priests, servers, and singers to spend time together.'

Above: A priest goes through a dry (practice) Mass at the conference

One of the tutors teaching servers said: ‘Two of the young married men who were in my group and hailed from Glasgow confessed to being "blown away" by the content of some of my talks on the spirituality and symbolism of the simple Low Mass.  The eldest participant was similarly impressed with reading The Mass in Slow Motion by Mgr Knox at his own pace to place the Mass back in context for him.

‘I am unused to suddenly having my photograph taken whilst standing in front of some of my Power Point projections as I work, but this week has been something else. Another young man who had only ever encountered the old Mass once whilst on holiday last summer with his family was similarly moved by his experience of seeing the Mass close up. I was extremely privileged this morning to attend a "private" Mass served near perfectly by this lad.’

Some dates for early April

Looking ahead to after Easter, here are details of Masses taking place in early April in the diocese:


On Tuesday 2nd April at 12.30pm there will be a low Mass at the Eyre Chapel, Perrymead, Bath.

On Wednesday 3rd April at 6pm there will be a Low Mass at St Gregory's, Cheltenham.

On Saturday 6th April at 11am there will be a Low Mass at All Saint's Chapel, Wardour.

On Sunday 7th April there will be NO Mass at St Benedict's, Stratton-on-the-Fosse. Instead, there will be Low Mass at Our Lady and St Alphege, Bath, at 12 noon.

On Sunday 7th April there will be a Missa Cantata at 5.30pm at St Dominic's, Dursley.

On Monday 8th April there will be a Solemn High Mass for the transferred feast of the Annunciation at 7pm at Our Lady the Immaculate Conception, Devizes.

All are most welcome to these Masses.

Spiritual bouquet for Pope Francis

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

A Spiritual Bouquet for Pope Francis

The Latin Mass Society is gathering together a Spiritual Bouquet for our new Holy Father, Pope Francis I.
We are asking you, our members, supporters and friends, to help us with this.

We are encouraging everyone to ask priests that they know to celebrate Masses in the Extraordinary Form for the new Pope, that he may receive the graces necessary to fulfil the duties of his new office (you should pay the priest a stipend for this - suggested minimum offering £10). We are also asking you to offer up rosaries and other prayers and devotions for the Pope. In particular, offer up your Communion for the Pope.

The Pope has asked for our prayers to help him in his new office. Let us respond generously to his call. As Catholics, the Church has always asked us to pray, in charity, for others, living and dead, but one of the people She has always specifically requested the faithful to pray for is the Pope. This is a good and holy Catholic tradition. Let us live up to that tradition. Offer a priest that you know a stipend to celebrate a Traditional Mass for the Pope, or offer your daily rosary for Pope Francis, or add him to your intentions in your daily prayers, or offer a novena for him. The choice is up to you.

Once you have done this, or decided that you will do this, email or write to us at the LMS to tell us how many Masses, Communions, Rosaries or other prayers and devotions you have offered, or will offer, for Pope Francis. Please let us know as soon as possible. In fact, why not do it today?
These will then be gathered together and presented to the Holy Father on behalf of the Latin Mass Society and its supporters and friends. You don't have to be an LMS member to take part in this spiritual initiative.

Contact details
Email us at info@lms.org.uk
Write to us at: LMS, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH

Mass listings for Holy Week and Easter

Here is a list of the Masses for Holy Week and Easter in the diocese. All are Low Masses:

St Dominic’s, Jubilee Road, DURSLEY, Gloucestershire GL11 4ES	Palm Sunday	5.30pm
	Monday in Holy Week	9.00am
	Tuesday in Holy Week	8.00am
	Spy Wednesday	8.00am
	Easter Sunday	5.30pm
Holy Cross Church, Dean Lane, Bedminster, BRISTOL BS3 1DB	Palm Sunday  Easter Sunday	12.30pm 12.30pm
SS Joseph & Teresa, 16 Chamberlain Street, WELLS, Somerset BA5 2PF	Easter Sunday	8.00am
Our Lady & St Kenelm, STOW-ON-THE-WOLD, Gloucestershire GL54 1DR Our Lady and St Alphege, BATH  BA2 3NR Our Lady of Lourdes, WESTON-SUPER-MARE	Easter Sunday Palm Sunday Easter Sunday Palm Sunday Easter Sunday	6.30pm 12pm 12pm 11.30am 11.30am

New Sunday Masses in Westminster Archdiocese

We are delighted to announce that there will be weekly Sunday Masses in the Extraordinary Form at two new venues in the Archdiocese of Westminster in the near future.

The Masses will take place in St Albans in the parish of St Bartholomew’s, 47 Vesta Avenue, St Albans, AL1 2PE (pictured above) and in Willesden, north-west London, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden, Nicoll Road, London NW10 9AX (pictured below).

In both cases, the parish priests have been asked by the archdiocese to learn and celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

Neither Fr Tim Edgar of St Albans nor Fr Stephen Willis of Willesden has previously celebrated the Extraordinary Form, but both are approaching the opportunity of offering the ancient form of Mass with a very positive and pastoral attitude. It will obviously take some time for them to reach the necessary level of proficiency to start offering Masses publicly. Nevertheless, training has begun and regular weekly Masses on Sundays will start later this year on dates and at times yet to be announced. Their parishioners have already been consulted and informed about the introduction of the Extraordinary Form in their parishes and the reaction has been positive.

This very good news follows meetings between the LMS and the archdiocese over a period of a year or more, in which LMS Chairman Dr Joseph Shaw, Local Representative for Hertfordshire Mike Mason, and LMS General Manager Mike Lord met with Bishop Alan Hopes and Bishop John Sherrington a number of times to discuss wider provision of the Extraordinary Form.

The LMS would like to thank Bishop Hopes, Bishop Sherrington and Archbishop Vincent Nichols for their work in helping to make the Traditional Mass available in these areas of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

LMS General Manager Mike Lord commented: ‘We are very pleased at this positive response from the archdiocese to what has been something of a pastoral crisis in Hertfordshire and north-west London in recent years for Catholics attached to the Extraordinary Form of Mass.

'It is doubly pleasing that the parish priest in each case has been asked to be the principal celebrant. The Traditional Mass needs to become a full and accepted part of parish life in dioceses across the country with an important role to play in drawing the faithful closer to Christ, especially in this Year of Faith. In the cases of St Albans and Willesden, the Extraordinary Form is set to do just that.’

First Saturday Masses at All Saints, Wardour

On Saturday March 2nd at 11am there will be a Low Mass at All Saints Chapel, New Wardour Castle in Wiltshire. Mass will be followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and an opportunity for Confession.

This will be the start of regular First Saturday Masses held in this beautiful and historic location.

All Saints Chapel in Wardour Castle has served the sizeable Catholic population of this part of the diocese uninterruptedly since the 1770s.

New Wardour castle, together with its chapel, was built by the architect James Paine in the Palladian style popular in 18^th century England. The elegant neo-classical house stands close to the site of the ruined castle of Wardour which was destroyed during the Civil War as a result of the Arundell family’s steadfast support of the Royalist cause. The Arundells remained loyal and unwavering Catholics throughout the Reformation and the ‘Glorious Revolution’, and the history of the family reflects the turbulence of the times.

By the 1770s the family fortunes had revived to such an extent that Henry, the 8^th Baron Arundell, felt secure enough to build not only a magnificent new house, but also a large and elaborate chapel. From the outside, All Saints is not distinguishable as a place of worship: even in the relatively tolerant climate of the 18^th century it was illegal to construct a freestanding Catholic building, so the chapel is set within the west wing of the house, between the bedrooms and the laundry.

Inside, however, the chapel is a jewel, utterly unlike almost any other Catholic church in this country. Pevsner observed: “It is so grand in its decoration that it seems consciously to express the spirit of the Catholic ecclesia triumphans.”

The effect of the exuberant gilded stucco work and Corinthian columns, the ceiling with its succession of domes and ellipses and particularly its magnificent High Altar of polychrome marble, transports one straight to Rome. The sanctuary, with its elegantly curved apse, was designed by the great neo-Classical architect Sir John Soane. 

The High Altar of porphyry, jasper, silver and agate, is the crowning glory of the chapel. It was built by the Roman architect Quarenghi, and contains within it a marble sarcophagus which holds the relics of two early Christian saints, Primus and Secundus, which were a gift to the 3^rd Lord Arundell from Pope Alexander VII earlier in the century. 

In the sacristy are preserved a number of beautiful and historic vestments including the Westminster Chasuble, produced to commemorate the wedding of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon.

Wardour chapel is one of the great architectural treasures of this diocese, and we hope many will make the journey to attend Mass in the rite for which it was built.

The dates of the First Saturday Masses at Wardour are as follows:

Saturday 2nd March - 11am
Saturday 6th April - 11am
(No Mass in May)
Saturday 1st June - 11am
Saturday 6th July - 11am
Saturday 3rd August - 11am

The postcode for New Wardour Castle is: SP3 6RH

Here is a link to a map: http://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/building/new-wardour-castle/#.UR-6_WDVMu0.gmail

No Devizes Mass 2nd Sunday in February

There will be NO Latin Mass on Sunday 10th February at the Church of Our Lady the Immaculate Conception in Devizes.

First Thursday at Weston-super-Mare - date change

Fr Martin Queenan is unable to celebrate the First Thursday Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, Weston-super-Mare, on 7th February. He will be celebrating the Mass instead on Thursday 14th February, at 9.30am.

Epiphany Mass in Bath - report

For the first time since the late 1960s, a Missa Cantata was celebrated on the feast of Epiphany at the beautiful church of Our Lady and St Alphege in Bath. The church, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1920s, in the style of an early Christian basilica, provides a wonderful setting for Mass. With the recent arrival of Fr Kevin Knox-Lecky as parish priest, the Traditional form of the Mass has been restored to St Alphege’s on third Sundays and holy days.

The feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord was celebrated with great beauty and dignity. The music was exquisite: the choir, conducted by Elizabeth Bates, sang Victoria’s O Magnum Mysterium, and the offertory motet was Reges Tarsis by Palestrina. Of the six servers at the altar, three were brand new to serving, and for two of them, including a young man of 13, it was the first Latin Mass they had ever served. It was a great event for all, and we look forward to more musical Masses at 

St Alphege’s in the future.

LMS Launches Sodality of St Augustine of Hippo for the Conversion of Lapsed Catholics and Others

This is a really good idea, and you are warmly encouraged to join...

Introduction to the LMS Sodality of St Augustine of Hippo.

The purpose of the Sodality is to unite the prayers of members for the conversion of those dear to them. There can be few Catholics today who do not have family members or close friends who have either lapsed from the practice of the Faith, or never had it; it is a particular source of grief when parents see children and grandchildren living without the support of the Sacraments. We take heart from the example of St Augustine, converted at last by the prayers and tears of his mother St Monica, and wish to demonstrate our fellowship with others in the same position, by praying not only for our own dear ones, but for those of others who will do the same for ours.

Sodality members undertake to say every day the prayer Pro devotis amicis, taken from the Roman Missal, for the Sodality’s intention; members who are priests undertake to say one Mass a month for this intention. The intention is the conversion or return to the Faith of family and friends of Sodality members. The intended beneficiaries of our prayers are not listed, except in the hearts of Sodality members. The Latin Mass Society, to which the Sodality is affiliated, will arrange and announce in advance at least one public, Traditional Sung (or Solemn) Mass for the Sodality’s intentions a year.

Sodality members, both lay and clerical, may add other Masses, prayers, and devotions, for the Sodality’s intention, and are encouraged to do so. In particular, members will be asked annually if they wish to make a contribution to the costs of the Sodality’s public Mass or Masses, and whether they would like to make a Mass offering for an additional Mass or Masses to be said for the Sodality’s intention, which the Latin Mass Society will arrange, to be celebrated according to the Extraordinary Form. (The customary Mass Offering is £10.)

Membership of the Sodality is free and open to all; members sign up by email (info@lms.org.uk).

The Sodality Prayer: Pro devotis amicis 

(which may be said in Latin or any other language):

language):

D

eus, qui caritátis dona per grátiam Sancti Spíritus tuórum fidélium córdibus infudísti : da fámulis et famulábus tuis, pro quibus tuam deprecámur cleméntiam, salútem mentis et córporis ; ut te tota virtúte díligent, et quæ tibi plácita sunt, tota dilectióne perfíciant. Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte eiúsdem Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia saecula sæculórum. Amen.

O

 God, who, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, hast poured the gifts of charity in the hearts of thy faithful, grant to thy servants and handmaids, for whom we entreat thy mercy, health of mind and body; that they may love thee with all their strength and, by perfect love, may do what is pleasing to thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Masses for the intention of the Sodality should include, when possible, the Commemoration ‘Pro Devotis Amicis’ (Collect, Secret and Postcommunion) found in the Roman Missal. Adding such a Commemoration is possible in the 1962 Missal on Fourth Class Feasts at Low Mass, where no more than one Commemoration is demanded by the Ordo.

 For further information, please contact Mike Lord, General Manager,

on (T) 020 7404 7284; (F) 020 7831 5585; (E mail) michael@lms.org.uk