Chairman's Blog

03/04/2024 - 14:54

Traditional Triduum Services restricted: in the Catholic Herald

Easter Vigil at St Mary Moorfields in 2023

On Maundy Thursday the Catholic Herald published an article by me about the disappearance of the long-standing Traditioinal Easter Triduum in the Archdiocese of Westminster.

It begins:

The liturgical celebrations of the Easter Triduum – spanning Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday – according to the ancient (Traditional Latin) rite will not take place in the Diocese of Westminster this year.

The changes follows the decision of Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of the diocese, and the head of Catholics in England and Wales, to discontinue the custom of featuring liturgy over the Easter weekend in the traditional form – something which had taken place annually since the 1990s.

Cardinal Nichols acknowledged in correspondence to Fr Michael Cullinan denying the latter’s request to host this year’s triduum at St Mary Moorfields – the only Catholic church in The Square Mile of the City of London – that he was aware the decision would cause disappointment.

“I realise that this will disappoint some people,” he revealed, “but I have to keep the wider picture in view”, in an email which has been shown to the Herald.

Read the whole thing there.

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01/04/2024 - 12:15

Easter Vigil in Bedford: photos

I attended the Easter Vigil in Bedford, which was well attended in the church of SS Philip & James in the north of the city. The celebrant was Fr Miguel Coelho, who is assisting the Fraternity of St Peter apostolate. Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP was deacon at the Missa Cantata (that is, he sang the Exultet, the Epistle and so on).

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25/03/2024 - 20:07

Mass of the Ages film, Part 3: Guardians of Tradition

In which I appear, among other people. They've put together a very interesting film, combining history, commentary, and personal stories. I hope it is watched by many people: please spread the word.

Parts 1 and 2, and other things, can be seen on their YouTube channel, here.

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09/03/2024 - 09:30

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers needed, 5: First Aiders and photographers

A photo by a professional photographer, John Aron.
See what he's done with the depth of field?

Booking is now open for the LMS Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham, which takes place from Thursday 22nd August to Sunday 25th August. But before we can welcome 200+ pilgrims, we need to be able to look after them. This is the last of these appeals, for two more categories of volunteers: First Aiders and photographers.

First Aiders need (at least) a certificate showing they have done a short course about it. These courses can be done in a single day and if you do one specially then the LMS will repay you the cost of the fee. (We'll pay for a First Aid bag for you as well of course.) Courses are done by St John's Ambulance and others and certificates last for three years. This is an opportunity to learn something useful and make yourself useful on the pilgrimage, and we'll even waive the pilgrimage fee.

We waive the fee because being a First Aider will change your pilgrimage experience. In breaks and at the end, your time is not your own: you'll have to make yourself available to the needs of others. On the road you may need to drop out to minister to a twisted ankle or a pilgrim with sun stroke. We'll get you a lift back to the column of course, but you will have a duty to your fellow-pilgrims first and foremost. It is a burden, and also a privilege.

Very few First Aid needs on the pilgrimage go beyond the very basic -- stinging nettles, blisters and (when it is hot) sun stroke cover about 90% of them -- but we absolutely need to have people to help with these, and less experienced First Aiders will be backed up by more experienced as required, with the support drivers available to get injured pilgrims to where they need to be.

Taken by me.

On photography, if we are to promote the pilgrimage from year to year we need photographs of it. We have a system of pilgrims' snaps being gathered up for social media but we do also need someone with a proper camera willing to take time out at regular intervals to take high-quality photos. This makes a huge difference to public perceptions of the event.

You might think: who cares what people can or can't see online? Actually, it is important. We walk down lanes and through villages, and passers' by see us, bearing witness to the Faith and to the significance of Walsingham as a sacred place. Photography magnifies this witness and extends it to people who are not physically there at 9am or whatever in some tiny Norfolk village. Photography is part of the apostolate.

So if you have a decent digital camera and know how to use it; if you are fit enough to get ahead of the column from time to time; if you understand the liturgy enough to get decent photographs of that: then let us know and we'll give you a big discount on your booking fee. And you can make some beautiful images of a truly remarkable event.

If you wish to be considered for these roles, please email walsinghampilgrimage@lms.org.uk

Another by John Aron.

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08/03/2024 - 10:00

Walsingham Pilgrimage volunteers needed, 4: marshals and campsite volunteers

Booking is now open for the LMS Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham, which takes place from Thursday 22nd August to Sunday 25th August. But before we can welcome 200+ pilgrims, we need to be able to look after them. Today I appeasing for two more categories of volunteers: marshals for the walking part of the pilgrimage, and volunteers to assemble and dismantle things like gazebos at the campsites.

Being a marshal is an unglamorous role, and it can also be quite solitary, since you walk between, behind, or ahead of the chapters. It is nevertheless essential. First, for road safety, managing cars passing sometimes on quite narrow roads. Secondly, to assist pilgrims who need to drop out.

We prefer to have as marshals people who have walked the pilgrimage at least once before. An obvious qualification is being sufficiently fit to do the walk!

Another of taking part in the pilgrimage, that does not involve the walking, but still requires physically active people, is the role of campsite volunteer. As the pilgrimage has grown, the cooking team has outgrown the often tiny kitchens in some of the venues we use, and have to cook outside, under cover. By the same token, it is harder to fit everyone into the halls at these places to eat.

Similarly, we are bursting out of the churches we use along the route, and have to consider the celebration of the liturgy outside.

So we are increasingly using gazebos and the like to keep the rain (or sun) off. This is a new aspect of the pilgrimage, and we need to establish a group of people able to spend time in the afternoon assembling these things, and in the morning taking them down again, while the walking is going on.

Again, unglamorous, and largely hidden from view, but absolutely necessary for the good of the whole pilgrimage, and the glory of God.

If you would like to volunteer for these roles, please email walsinghampilgrimage@lms.org.uk

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07/03/2024 - 10:00

Walsingham Pilgrimage volunteers wanted, 3: singers

Good Music, along with good food, may be said to power the pilgrimage in its natural aspect. But unlike the food, however good, the music has a significance at the supernatural level as well, because it can also be prayer.

It will be no surprise for readers to hear that a lot of prayers are said on the pilgrimage. Pilgrims are divided into 'chapters' which are small enough for people to hear instructions from the front to the back, with the help of megaphones, and also for collective prayer. When we say the Rosary, we sing it: we have settings of the Hail Mary in English, Latin, and French. We also sing the Litanies of Our Lady, of the Saints, of St Joseph, and of the Sacred Heart. In addition, we sing many popular chants, such as the O filii et filiae (though we sing it better than the guys in the link), vernacular hymns, and when the going gets tough, even some patriotic songs.

We believe the singing is very important and go to a lot of trouble over it. We have a book of all the chants and hymns, often with the music (and other useful prayers and information), the Vademecum Peregrini, which everyone has, and every chapter has a cantor.

That's right: every chapter of 20-30 pilgrims has an experienced singer with a megaphone to lead the singing. Someone who can set the pitch, sustain the tune, can sing the litanies while the other pilgrims make the responses, and so on. Otherwise this task falls on the chapter leader, who has a lot of other things to think about.

This has been the practice of the LMS Walking Pilgrimage since the very early years, and it is a huge boon for the pilgrims. It means the singing consistently happens, and is not interrupted every time the chapter leader has to do something or talk to someone. Singing on the road has many challenges, but in the Walsingham Pilgrimage it works very well, is audible, and includes everyone.

Naturally, these cantors also accompany the sung Masses. For these we have an all-male chant schola, supplemented by ladies for the final Mass in the Catholic Shrine to sing polyphony.

What this requires, of course, is a set of 'chapter cantors' who are experienced chant singers, know the repertoire (or can quickly learn it), and have, yes, stamina.

We don't sing all the time. There's no point singing against loud traffic or when the chapter is strung out on a narrow path, and it is in any case good to have breaks for private prayer and, indeed, conversation. Nevertheless, we do a lot of singing, and these cantors have to walk the whole distance with the pilgrims, so this, like other volunteering roles, is pretty demanding. It is also, of course, extremely rewarding.

Cantors able to do this exist, and we have been using them for years. Now, however, we are getting more chapters, and we need more cantors. I am planning to get together with the cantors once or twice before the pilgrimage to cover any gaps in knowledge of the music, but experience of singing chant is necessary in order to grasp the way that chant is sung, its ethos as sacred music.

If you are reasonably fit, and have experience singing chant, you can do it. You'll get a free place on the pilgrimage, and a reward in heaven. So who's up for it? Please email walsinghampilgrimage@lms.org.uk

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06/03/2024 - 10:00

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers wanted 2: drivers

The Pilgrimage has always had 'support drivers', and these have been becoming more and more numerous in recent years. For this year, we are in particular need of a van driver, as we need to have two luggage vans, and not just one. We can't get a lorry down the country lanes, so we hire an 'extra long' Mercedes Sprinter, or the the equivalent.

The luggage van is just one part of the support driver team. We also have a mobile sacristy, dedicated transport for the equipment used by the cooking team, and a special vehicle for portable loos.

We also need cars to ferry volunteers from one place to another, to allow priests who have to say a private Mass to rejoin the walkers, and to pick up pilgrims who are injured or exhausted.

We are particularly keen to hear from drivers with experience driving vans, for the luggage vans, who have the necessary category on their driving license.

Most of our larger vehicles are hired for the occasion; other drivers bring their own, especially if they have people-carriers. Naturally, all expenses can be claimed back from the LMS.

If you would like to take part in the pilgrimage without walking, but in a way crucial to operation of the pilgrimage and indeed to the comfort and safety of walking pilgrims, please consider volunteering as a driver. Please email walsinghampilgrimage@lms.org.uk

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05/03/2024 - 01:30

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers needed, 1: cooks and cleaners

Booking is now open for the LMS Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham, which takes place from Thursday 22nd August to Sunday 25th August. But before we can welcome 200+ pilgrims, we need to be able to look after them. We need volunteers who give up their chance to walk in order to do some quite unglamourous jobs, such as cooking and cleaning.

Each day of the walk there is breakfast and an evening meal. We don't just give pilgrims a paper cup of coffee or an empty milk carton of instant soup (happy though these memories of Chartres are!). While the size of the pilgrimage makes it possible, our cooking team continues to provide real food: bread and jam, porridge and hard boiled eggs for breakfast, and a hot meal made from basic ingredients in the evening.

There is plenty of penance to be had in getting up early to walk 20 miles or so, but our pilgrims don't set off with an empty stomach, and the evenings are convivial. It is another element of Catholic culture which we are aiming to restore, and a reflection of our respect for the walking pilgrims.

Quisquis enim potum dederit vobis calicem aquæ in nomine meo, quia Christi estis : amen dico vobis, non perdet mercedem suam. Mark 9:41

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

The cooking team is led by a professionally qualified cook, and the core team has many years' experience of cooking for the pilgrims in the unique conditions of the Walsingham Pilgrimage. They need help from a wider group of people who would like to participate in the pilgrimage in this special way, both in preparing meals and in preparing venues and cleaning them after the pilgrims have departed.

You do not need to be a highly-skilled cook. What you do need is patience, an even temper, a willingness to do what you are asked even if this is not very interesting, a willingness to work in a team and make yourself as useful as possible, plus commitment and stamina.

Because this is hard work. Being a volunteer in an event like this is not the easy option, and precisely for this reason all the graces of the pilgrimage are available.

It may be impossible for you to attend some of the main Masses, but Masses are celebrated specially for the volunteers, and we hope to have a chaplain just for the volunteers.

If you wish to be considered for this role, email walsinghampilgrimage@lms.org.uk

A concession to mechanisation.

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27/02/2024 - 20:30

Westminster Diocese Triduum cancelled

Cardinal Nichols will not permit the celebration of the Vetus Ordo Triduum in St Mary Moorfields this year. Here is our press release.

------------------------------

Traditional Latin Easter Triduum Services
in the Archdiocese of Westminster cancelled

The Latin Mass Society is grieved to announce that the
Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, will not give permission
for the celebration of the major services of the Sacred Triduum (Maundy
Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday) according to the liturgical books in use
before the Second Vatican Council: the Traditional Latin liturgy or Vetus
Ordo.

There has been a celebration of the Traditional
Triduum in the Archdiocese, with the permission of successive Archbishops,
since the 1990s: first in Corpus Christi Maiden Lane, and then in St Mary
Moorfields in the City of London. In recent years these services have been
attended by up to 200 people.

His Eminence places this decision in the context of
his ongoing dealings with the Dicastery for Divine Worship in Rome, writing ‘My
approach to these matters is to be within the parameters laid down by the Holy
See while waiting for the judgment of the Holy See on which, if any, parish
church may be used for the celebration of Mass according to the Missal
antecedent to the reform of 1970.’[1]

His decision, he explains, was made ‘for the sake of
the wider provision’.

Comment from the Latin Mass Society

The faithful attached to the Vetus Ordo, served
by Sunday celebrations in St James Spanish Place, the London Oratory, and other
locations, will now be denied the chance to attend the most important
liturgical days of the year according to this liturgy within the Archdiocese of
Westminster.

When Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Traditionis custodes,
which restricted the Vetus Ordo, was published in 2021, Cardinal Nichols
summarised the Holy Father’s concerns, adding: ‘In my judgement, these concerns
do not reflect the overall liturgical life of this diocese.’[2]

LMS Chairman Joseph Shaw comments: “In this decision,
as in the earlier ending of the 50-year tradition of two annual Vetus Ordo
Masses at the High Altar of Westminster Cathedral, and the 20-year practice of
the Archdiocese providing the Sacrament of Confirmation according to the Vetus
Ordo, it seems that Catholics attached to the older liturgy are being
punished for misdemeanours that Cardinal Nichols believes they have not
committed.

“We await with concern the decision of the Dicastery
of Divine Worship concerning the current celebrations of the Vetus Ordo on
Sundays and weekdays in the Archdiocese, which have enriched and consoled many
hundreds of Catholics over the decades. This form of the Mass never ceased to
be celebrated regularly in the Archdiocese, thanks to the pastoral solicitude
of Pope Paul VI in 1971, and of successive Archbishops, in allowing it to
continue. It is tragic to see that pastoral attitude now being put aside.

“At the same time, we can reassure Catholics attached
to the ancient Latin liturgy that the Triduum will still be celebrated in
London, outside Westminster Archdiocese, and that the Latin Mass Society will
continue to support these and other celebrations of this venerable liturgy.”

Notes for Editors

The Latin Mass Society was founded in 1965 to support
the continued celebration of the Catholic liturgy in the form it took at the
eve of the Second Vatican Council: the ‘1962 Missal’, the ‘antecedent Missal’,
the Vetus Ordo or Traditional Mass.

The Greater London area is served by three Catholic
dioceses: Westminster, Brentwood, and Southwark.

The “English Indult” granted by Pope Paul VI in 1971
allowed the Vetus Ordo to continue to be celebrated in England and Wales
without a break, even while it was prohibited in the rest of the world.

Services of the Easter Triduum began to be celebrated in
Corpus Christi Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, by the parish priest, Canon McDonald,
in the early 1990s; the full set of major services were celebrated from 1999. Ten
years later these moved to the larger church of St Mary Moorfields in the City
of London. They were not celebrated in 2021 due to COVID restrictions.

Latin Mass Society

Press contacts:

Communications Officer, Portia Berry-Kilby portia@lms.org.uk

Chairman, Joseph Shaw oxford@lms.org.uk

Registered Office: 9 Mallow Street, London EC1Y 8RQ

020 7404 7284

info@lms.org.uk

Registered Charity Number: 248388

[1]

In an email of 23^rd
February to Fr Michael Cullinan, who was to have been the principle celebrant
of the Triduum services. Quoted with permission.

[2]

See the website of the Archdiocese
of Westminster
https://rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/news/cardinals-message-to-clergy-about-tra...

[Photos from last year's services.]

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23/02/2024 - 17:25

Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat: photos

Another successful Sewing Retreat was organised by the Guild of St Clare, for prayer, the traditional Mass, spiritual conferences, and the making and mending of vestments.

The retreat giver was Fr Edward van den Burgh of the London Oratory.

The Guild's National coordinator was live-tweeting the retreat: if you are on Twitter ('X') give her a follow: @guildofstclare and see her thread here.

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Traditional Triduum Services restricted: in the Catholic Herald

Easter Vigil in Bedford: photos

Mass of the Ages film, Part 3: Guardians of Tradition

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers needed, 5: First Aiders and photographers

Walsingham Pilgrimage volunteers needed, 4: marshals and campsite volunteers

Walsingham Pilgrimage volunteers wanted, 3: singers

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers wanted 2: drivers

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers needed, 1: cooks and cleaners

Westminster Diocese Triduum cancelled

Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat: photos

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Chairman's Blog

Traditional Triduum Services restricted: in the Catholic Herald

Easter Vigil in Bedford: photos

Mass of the Ages film, Part 3: Guardians of Tradition

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers needed, 5: First Aiders and photographers

Walsingham Pilgrimage volunteers needed, 4: marshals and campsite volunteers

Walsingham Pilgrimage volunteers wanted, 3: singers

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers wanted 2: drivers

Walsingham Pilgrimage Volunteers needed, 1: cooks and cleaners

Westminster Diocese Triduum cancelled

Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat: photos

Menu

Shop

Resources

About Us