Empty

Total: £0.00
items
0
Total: £0.00
My Basket
Latin Mass Society
  1. About Us
  2. Chairman's Blog

Chairman's Blog

    03/05/2023 - 11:32

    Feast of St Joseph in Maiden Lane: Mass for the Catholic Police Guild

    IMG_2297

    With the support of the Latin Mass Society, the first Monday Mass of each month in Corpus Christi Maiden Lane is being celebrated for the intentions of the Catholic Police Guild. Last Monday, which was the Feast of St Joseph the Workman, the Guild dedicated themselves to the Sacred Heart, and their processional banner was blessed.
    IMG_2301

    The remarkable banner was made in 1939. With the post-Conciliar decline in processions (and indeed guilds) it was in storage for many years. Now it is on the wall in Corpus Christi (above the confessional at the back, if you know the church), and emphasises the connection now established between this church and the Guild.

    IMG_2362

    The church was nearly full for this occasion, and the Southwell Consort excelled themselves with Palestrina, Byrd, and L'Heritier.

    IMG_2287

    We have another great musical programme for Mass on Monday 8th, which will be a Mass of thanksgiving for the Coronation (a Votive Mass of the Holy Ghost). The Southwell Consort will sing music by Tye, Taverner, and Sheppard.

    IMG_2316

    These Masses, organised by the Latin Mass Society, take place every Monday at 6:30pm, in Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7NB, between Covent Garden and the Strand, continuing an unbroken tradition going back to before the liturgical reform.

    IMG_2329

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    26/04/2023 - 12:59

    LMS Residential Latin Course 2023
    IMG_1286
    I'm delighted to announce that booking is open for the Latin Mass Society's annual residential Latin and New Testament Greek course.

    It will run Monday 14th August - Saturday 19th August 2023, 

    at Park Place Pastoral Centre, Wickham, Fareham, Hampshire PO17 5HA.

    You can get there by train or car; it's set in very pleasant grounds, not far from Southampton.
    The tutors are the same as last year: Fr John Hunwicke, who will also be celebrating Mass each day; Nathan Freeman; and, for the Greek, Matthew Spencer.
    The fees are very low and there are generous discounts for clergy, seminarians, and students.
    IMG_1290
    There is some very interesting advice on learning Latin without a teacher by a Latinist called Carla Hurt; this can be read in full here. She says some interesting things about some of the well-known learning techniques which have acquired a cult-like following, but her positive suggestions are also important. A key passage:
    As a language teacher, I have found that my students’ scores in grammar tests have had little to no correlation to their scores in broader interpretive skills such as translation. This suggests that explicit knowledge of parts of the language is a separate beast from the actual ability to use and understand the language.
    ... meaningful activity is essential to language learning, because making form-meaning connections is the basis of learning a language. Any activity which does not genuinely engage with meaning is missing a crucial element. In order to associate all the various words, phrases, grammar, and syntax with their meaning, we need to encounter them many times in contexts where their meaning matters.
    On the first claim what she actually shows, with a rather small sample, is that knowledge of grammar is less highly correlated to outcomes than knowledge of vocabulary, which I'm sure we could all have told her in advance. Nevertheless, the only way anyone is going to tell the difference between 

    Marcus Sextum oppugnat
    and
    Marcum Sextus oppugnat
    or, heaven help us,
    Marcus Sextum oppugnet
    is by the kind of knowledge tested in those boring grammar tests. It's not the be-all and end-all, but this knowledge can't simply be left out.
    However, she is certainly correct that meaningful activity is a huge boon in all language learning. If you are interested in the Latin of the Mass you can't do better than use the texts of the Mass to learn it. 
    The Latin Mass Society's Simplicissimus book does this: many of the examples it uses are familiar, interesting, or memorable. The book works up to tackling passages from the Lectionary, the Propers of Corpus Christi, the Roman Canon, and similar texts. The same spirit animates the Residential Course.
    Support the Latin Mass Society
    19/04/2023 - 16:29

    Continental Synodal Reports and the TLM
    The 'Continental Stage' of the Synod on Synodality has concluded, with the publication of the 'Continental Reports': they can be seen here.
    Since the FIUV and the LMS asked people to contribute to the consultation process, it is interesting to see whether our voices have actually made it through to these reports. I discussed the national reports here.
    The voice of Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass do emerge in two of the reports: not surprisingly, those of Europe and North America. This is not because Traditional Catholics are absent from Oceania, Asia, Africa, and South America, but because the bishops of those regions have been unwilling to allow celebrations or to acknowledge their point of view. It is worth reminding ourselves that the Traditional movement is well-established in Australia and New Zealand; there are many apostolates of the Traditional priestly institutes in Africa, notably the ICKSP in Gabon; and South America is home to the Apostolic Administration of St Jean Vianney in Campos, Brazil, the one place in the world where one can find a bishop exercising ordinary jurisdiction over a community of traditional faithful.
    The reports are a reflection not only of the inputs, of course, but of the process of selection. The reports as a whole have very little to say about the liturgy.
    This is what got through in the European and North American reports: emphasis mine.

    Europe (pdf)

    67. From a fundamental point of view, it is possible to detect the link between Church and liturgy, between ecclesiology and the theology of liturgy: The liturgical dimension in the Church is a place of strong tensions. These tensions are part of a deeper tension of an ecclesiological nature. Ecclesiological tension often arises from a vision of the Church based on one’s own expectations (Italian language working group). In this context, the tensions and sufferings concerning the ancient form of the Roman liturgy should be understood, with explicit references by France, England and Wales, and Nordic countries to the pre-conciliar liturgy according to the Missal of 1962.

    North America (pdf)

    27. Some participants in the synodal process reported on the profound sense of suffering of those prevented from receiving the Eucharist. While there are a variety of reasons for this reality, perhaps preeminent among them is Catholics who are divorced and remarried without an annulment, and others whose objective situation in life contradicts the beliefs and teachings of the Church. Additionally, some delegates spoke of those wounded by the limitations placed on the pre-conciliar Latin rite. Unfortunately, liturgy is not always experienced as unifying. “We could find our unity in common prayer, but liturgy is one of the things that is divisive in the Church and we must break through that” (Session X Group 18).

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    13/04/2023 - 12:33

    Walsingham Pilgrimage: booking open

    IMG_5831

    You can now book your place on the Latin Mass Society's annual walking pilgrimage from Ely to Walsingham. The dates are 24-27 August (Thursday evening in Ely to Sunday afternoon in Walsingham). For those staying overnight there will be a Mass in the Slipper Chapel at the Catholic Shrine in Walsingham on the Monday.
    For the first time, a limited number of places are available to walk on Thursday from Cambridge to Ely.
    There is a 10% discount for early booking until the Ascension. Make sure you are a member of the LMS for a further discount: you can join while booking and still save money.
    Note the new venue to meet on Thursday evening!
    IMG_1315


    _MG_2259

    _MG_2352

    IMG_2354

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    10/04/2023 - 10:00

    Easter Triduum Photos from St Mary Moorfields
    This celebration of the Easter Triduum liturgy is organised by the Latin Mass Society. The services were celebrated by Fr Michael Cullinan, who was assisted by Fr Thomas Crean as deacon and, on Friday, by Fr Mark Elliot-Smith, and on Saturday by Fr John Hemer. Lovely music was provided by Cantores Missae directed by Charles Finch.
    IMG_1964
    IMG_1979

    IMG_2007
    IMG_2014
    IMG_2027
    IMG_2044
    IMG_2071
    IMG_2073
    IMG_2098
    IMG_2118
    IMG_2153
    IMG_2194

    IMG_2241

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    09/04/2023 - 14:26

    On Good Friday: for Catholic Answers
    My latest for Catholic Answers. It begins:

    One of the markers of the utter desolation of the Chosen People at certain points of their history was the cessation of the daily sacrifice in the Temple: when Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, when its replacement was defiled by the Seleucid Empire in the time of the Maccabees, and finally when it was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. The profound grief of these moments found expression in the biblical book of Jeremiah’s Lamentations.

    A similar note of grief afflicts the Church in contemplating the crucifixion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, commemorated most solemnly on Good Friday. The Lamentations form a major element in the traditional services of Matins and Lauds celebrated over the Triduum, called Tenebrae.

    We know that the story does not end there: Jesus rose again. Nevertheless, his death was real, and the grief of his mother and disciples was real. The grief of Our Lady was not based on a misunderstanding or a failure to accept God’s will. It was natural, and it was demanded by the occasion: the suffering and death of her Son. The sorrowful stage of the journey was a necessary one: Christ had to suffer through it, and Our Lady, our model, kept him company in that suffering. We must not succumb to the temptation of flipping the pages of the story too quickly to get to the happy ending.

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    01/04/2023 - 15:21

    Una Voce International: new edition of Gregorius Magnus magazine
    Gregorius Magnus is the twice-yearly magazine of the FIUV, Una Voce International.

    Gregorius Magnus 15, Summer 2023, is now available as a PDF. 

    and on ISSUU, optimised for mobile devices.

    This issue has two appreciations of Pope Benedict XVI and a report of the most recent Summorum Pontificum 'Ad Sedem Petri' Pilgrimage in Rome, and meeting of CIEL in Rome.

    Would you like to advertise? Or to contribute to future editions? Click on the links.

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    29/03/2023 - 16:31

    Guild of St Clare Sponsorship Scheme for the Royal School of Needlwork
    IMG_2830
    At a Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat
    The Royal School of Needlework is one of the world's great centres of expertise keeping alive the tradition of hand embroidery. They do work for museums and the Royal Family, and they teach new generations of students. These include the skills necessary for making and restoring liturgical vestments, and several members of the Guild of St Clare have been through their rigorous courses, which take one to fours years.
    The courses are very flexible: they can be done at the student's own pace, and there is even a choice of venues.
    Five years ago we decided we needed more of such people: so we found a benefactor to make possible a sponsorship scheme to pay up to half of the fees, for one student a year. 
    If you are interested, don't miss this opportunity. The deadline is 23rd June.
    From the LMS;

    Do you have a passion for hand embroidery and the restoration of fine vestments?

    We are pleased to announce an exciting sponsorship opportunity for those interested in studying Needlework.

    The Guild of St Clare is offering sponsorship for candidates wishing to study The Royal School of Needlework Certificate Course.

    Dealine for applications is the 23rd June 2023

    See HERE for more information and how to apply.

    IMG_0515
    At a Guild of St Clare Vestment Mending Day in London.

     

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    28/03/2023 - 12:53

    Reply to Cardinal Roche on the BBC
    My latest for 1Peter5.
    More on the issue of Catholic being encouraged to see themselves as offering Mass with the priest, with the necessary qualifications to this idea, in traditional liturgical spirituality, has been provided by Peter Kwasniewski here.
    --------------------

    As I recently wrote on Catholic Answers, the confusion surrounding the meaning of Traditionis custodes, and its flotilla of supplementary documents, is beginning to resemble that around Amoris Laetitia. I was talking specifically about the purpose of the document: what vision of the ecclesial landscape inspires it. Here I want to focus on the equally opaque reasoning behind it.

    Last Sunday BBC Radio 4 aired a short report on the Traditional Mass. They talked to the Catholic blogger Maria Jones (do have a look at her channel ‘One of Nine’), a priest who says the TLM, and some Traditional Mass goers they found by chance outside a church. We also heard clips from Austen Ivereigh, papal biographer, and Cardinal Arthur Roche. (Listen here, 5min to 12min.)

    On the subject of why TC had been issued, Ivereigh tells us that people who attend the Traditional Mass constitute a sinister ‘movement’ opposed to Vatican II. This claim is presumably inspired by Pope Francis’ 2021 Letter to Bishops. The difficulty with it is that even the most emotional and unsophisticated supporters of the Traditional Mass that the BBC journalists could find lend absolutely no support to this idea. If the ‘movement’ Ivereigh speaks of is only found in some obscure corner of the internet, then it is hard to know why Pope Francis has caused such heartache by restricting the Traditional Mass all over the world.

    Cardinal Roche, on the other hand, spoke as follows:

    You know the theology of the Church has changed. Whereas before the priest represented, at a distance, all the people. They were channelled, as it were, through this person who alone was celebrating the Mass. It is not only the priest who celebrates the liturgy, but also those who are baptised with him. And that is an enormous statement to make.

    This is completely unrelated to the claims made in the Letter to Bishops, and it is hard to think of such a claim being made by a Curial Cardinal before. 

    Support the Latin Mass Society
    20/03/2023 - 12:35

    On the Rescript: for Catholic Answers
    IMG_1906
    Mass at the most recent Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat

    My latest on Catholic Answers is about the Rescript. I make the point that not only does the set of recent documents--Traditionis custodes, Responsa ad dubia, Rescriptum ex audientia--reverse a policy of making incremental concessions to the Traditional Mass dating back to the English Indult in 1971 and going right up to Christmas Eve 2020, when Pope Francis gave a Roman basilica to the ICKSP to use, but, especially in light of the FSSP Decree of February 2021, it is impossible to know what the goal of the new policy actually is.
    It begins in this way:

    The average Catholic may hear the term Rescriptum ex audientia and suddenly remember a number of pressing engagements he has to get to. But this term has profound and troubling implications for the faith life of everyone looking for authoritative, magisterial guidance in how best to follow and worship Our Lord.

    What is the Rescriptum, or Rescript? It is a document, published on February 21, that doubles down on restricting the availability of the traditional Latin Mass (TLM). It says that bishops may not allow its celebration in parish churches without the agreement of the Dicastery for Divine Worship in Rome. Up to now, when the Dicastery has been involved in such decisions, the number of places where the TLM has been offered has fallen sharply—for example, from seven to three in the Archdiocese of Washington.

    Read it all there.

    Support the Latin Mass Society

    Charity web design by Turtlereality

    © LMS 2016 | Registered Charity Number: 248388 | Terms & Conditions

    Latin Mass Society, 9 Mallow Street, London EC1Y 8RQ | 020 7404 7284 | [email protected]