Chairman's Blog
Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat, Spring 2019: photos and report
Cross-posted from the Guild of St Clare blog.
This year's spring Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat, like last year's, took place in the snow: last time it was the 'Beast from the East' in early March. By now we knew the route up Boars Hill which doesn't turn into a toboggan run for cars, so the disruption was manageable. I had even bought the car some 'snow socks' and other widgets for bad weather, which came in handy.
The last day of the Retreat, Sunday, also happened to be St Blaise's feastday, and we had the Blessing of Throats.
Lots of sewing was done, and various large projects for the Latin Mass Society and others were brought closer to completion. The Retreat was sold out--numbers are limited--and much edified by Fr Edward van den Burgh's spiritual conferences, Masses, and other devotions, and also by his joining in the sewing himself! He went home with advice on the repairs of one liturgical item he had brought with him and completed repairs on others.
Support the Latin Mass Society
Children at Mass: against Fr Michael White
 |
| An infant receiving the Blessing of Throats on the Feast of St Blase, during the Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat, at Boars Hill, Oxford. |
I've written a fair amount on this topic on this blog; here is a piece I've done for LifeSiteNews.
It begins:
Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bridal chamber.
And the people being all assembled together, both men and women, children and strangers, that are within thy gates.
Support the Latin Mass Society
Dialogos Institute colloquium 2019: Integralism
14TH - 15TH JUNE 2019, NURSIA, ITALY
The Second Vatican Council spoke of the “traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ”. Over the course of the last seventeen hundred years this his duty has been realised in many different ways. In recent years the concept of Integralism has inspired renewed interest and controversy. This summer eight scholars from around the world will gather in Norcia to consider the vision and the reality of a broad cross section of integrally Christian societies.
SPEAKERS include Prof Tom Pink, Fr Thomas Crean, Dr Alan Fimister and Fr Edmund Waldstein.
Covington: don't blame social media
My latest on LifeSiteNews.
People looking at social media over the first 48 hours of the story were presented with a wall of vituperation directed at the Covington boys, and this very naturally influenced their response. However, social media also speeded up the dissemination of a fuller set of evidence. In the old days of newspapers, steam-trains, and telegraphs, there was still a gap between initial, slanted reports of events, and later, fuller information, and still the urge among commentators to make statements before the fuller information became available: if it ever did.
Read the whole thing there.
St Albert the Great Summer School at Norcia 2019 on the Gospel of John
June 16th – 28th In Norcia, Italy
Full details here.
John Houghton Schola launched at Maiden Lane
 |
| Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, in London, following recent restoration. |
The Latin Mass Society's new London Chant Schola, the Schola Cantorum Ioannis Hougton, has now had its first rehearsal and accompanied its first Mass.
The Masses at 6:30pm on Mondays at Corpus Christi Maiden Lane present a problem from the musical point of view because London-based singers find it difficult to get there in time for an extended rehearsal before Mass starts, after their work day. So the Houghton Schola rehearses on the previous Friday evening, in the Latin Mass Society's Office. I attended the first of these myself, as did the Schola's Chaplain, the usual celebrant at the Maiden Lane Masses, Fr Gabriel Diaz Patri.
The Schola's eight members turned out to have every level of experience--from 'lots' to 'none'--and it will be very interesting to see them develop as a group. The first Mass went extremely well, thanks to the seriousness of the singers and the preparation and leadership of Matthew Schellhorn, its director and the Latin Mass Society's Director of Music for London.
18th Feb; 11th March; 15th April; 13th May; 10th June.
Support the Latin Mass Society
Cafeteria Catholics won't save the Church
My latest on LifeSiteNews
Prof Tom Pink this Friday: talk in London
Friday 25th, 7pm
Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London W1B 5LZ
Click for a map.
Prof Tom Pink: The Church and the World
The first of a series of talks, which will focus on topics connected with the everyday life of traditionally-minded Catholics: the domestic church, homeschooling, traditional catechesis, moral instruction, culture (high, common, and religious), religious history etc., takes place in the basement of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street, London on Friday 25th January at 7pm. The speaker will be Prof. Tom Pink on The Church and the World’
The purpose of the talks is not only to inform but to help traditionally-minded Catholics from across London and beyond to meet, discuss matters of mutual concern, and form a greater sense of community.
Facebook event
Info on the LMS website
Support the Latin Mass Society
Can we believe the bishops?
My latest on LifeSiteNews.
A taster.
CDF absorbs PCED
 |
| Archbishop Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, with members of the Una Voce Federation (FIUV) in 2013. |
Today a decree has been promulgated dissolving the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which has responsibility for issues concerning the Traditional Mass and the reconciliation of groups using that Mass who have been operating outside the structures of the Church, and givings its functions and powers to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Up until now, for a good few years the Prefect of the Congregation for the Faith has been ex officio the President of the Pontifical Commission, which has had its own Secretary (Archbishop Pozzo) and small staff, with offices in the CDF's building. When I write to the PCED (not a daily occurrence), I usually address the letter to the Prefect/President, knowing it would be passed on to appropriate person.
This looks like a bit of house-keeping, a tidying-up, rather than anything with implications for policy or official attitudes towards the Traditional Mass. I was surprised to read that the PCED up until now has had its own budget: well, it won't in the future, the staff will be paid by the CDF.
If there is a change of staff that may, in itself, be significant, but we don't know about that yet.
I have always been sceptical of the view that Pope Francis is planning to crack down on the Traditional Mass. Rumours about the planning for this decree may well have been the source for some of the chatter about that. Now we see the decree, I am confirmed in my opinion. I may live to eat my words: who knows? But if I were asked which department of the Roman Curia in the medium and long term I would most like to see exercise the functions of the PCED, I would not hesitate to nominate the CDF. And if they exercise those functions with the existing staff of the PCED, it is reasonable to assume that normal service will continue.
It is interesting to see the emphasis in reports on discussions with the SSPX. These makes the choice of the CDF the obvious one: they were the reason the PCED was bundled in with the CDF in the first place. And the more straightforward liturgical issues the PCED has been handling can't conveniently be handled by a completely separate department from the department handling the talks.
Here are some links to other discussions:
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/
https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.
http://www.ncregister.com/blog
http://www.newliturgicalmoveme
https://whatisupwiththesynod.c
Support the Latin Mass Society