Mass of Ages Print Edition - Summer 2017
Mass of Ages is the quarterly magazine of the Latin Mass Society. It contains reports on our many activities across the country, national and international news of Traditional Catholic events, feature articles on different aspects of traditional Faith and culture, and opinions and views on developments in the Catholic Church.
The summer 2017 edition is now available. Feature articles include a reflection for Pentecost by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Catholic film making, the last Habsburg Emperor, and St Winefride’s Shrine in Holywell. These, together with the usual features, a wealth of news, reviews and reports all show how love of the Traditional Mass is growing around the country.
“It was 120 years ago, in 1897, when Divinum illud munus, the first Papal Encyclical on the Holy Spirit, was published. With this encyclical, Pope Leo XIII left the Church a real masterwork of Catholic doctrine on the Holy Spirit.” writes Bishop Schneider.
Quoting from this Encyclical and the writings of St Thomas Aquinas, Bishop Schneider shows that true Christian life means authentic love and devotion to the Holy Spirit. As we prepare to celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost, we are told:
“How He [The Holy Spirit] should be invoked is clearly taught by the Church, who addresses Him in humble supplication, calling upon Him by the sweetest of names: “Come, Father of the poor! Come, Giver of gifts! Come, Light of our hearts! O, best of Consolers, sweet Guest of the soul, our refreshment!” (Hymn, Veni Sancte Spiritus).”
Bishop Schneider’s article will help in your preparations for the great Feast of Pentecost.
Stefano Mazzeo, a Producer/Director with EWTN, shows how the Catholic Faith is spread through the medium of film.
“It is against the backdrop of big budget secular documentaries and films that convey a very different picture from what actually happened that EWTN, the world’s largest religious broadcasting network, is making a series of docudramas...
The Crusades (2014) was the first of the Black Legend trilogy, followed by The Inquisition (2016) with The Reformation to follow next year. Episode one of The Reformation, which is called The Truth about Luther, may be broadcast in late October this year provided we can finish it in time.”
Jamie Bogle, LMS Committee member and former President of FIUV, looks at the life of Blessed Emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary, successor to the Holy Roman Emperors. He writes:
“Blessed Emperor Charles of Austria was beatified by Pope St John Paul II on 3 October 2004.
His youngest son, Archduke Rudolf, told me that Pope St John Paul II personally remarked to him that his father, a former officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, had named him “Karol” or “Charles” after the Blessed Emperor.
The Feast Day of the Blessed Emperor Charles had been chosen by St John Paul II, at the request of the Habsburg family, to be 21 October, being not the day of his death but rather the day of his wedding to Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. It comes therefore but 10 days before the Feast of Christ the King in the old calendar.”
Read how Charles, upon his accession, instigated peace talks during the First World War; how he was forced to abdicate and was sent into exile in Switzerland and, at the young age of 34, died uttering the Holy Name of Jesus.
“The Archduke Rudolf also confirmed … that he had been present when the body of his father was exhumed in 1972 from its resting place in the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte, Madeira. The body was incorrupt despite the presence of damp in the tomb.”
In preparation for our forthcoming Pilgrimage to St Winefride’s, Holywell, Kevin Jones, LMS Secretary and Local Representative for Wrexham, provides a fascinating history of the Saint and her Shrine.
“The ancient shrine of Holywell has the distinction of being a place of uninterrupted pilgrimage for 13 centuries. Situated in a beautiful part of North Wales, this special place of spiritual continuity stood up to the torments of the Reformation and the early years of the Protestant schism.
The shrine is dedicated to Gwenfewi or as most will know her Winefride. She lived in the first half of the 7th Century in Treffynnon, North Wales. Treffynnon is better known these days as Holywell. Her father, Thevit, was an affluent Cambrian baron, the possessor of three manors in what is now Flintshire, the county that straddles the English border in the north east of Wales. Her mother, Wenlo, was the sister of St Beuno and she was of regal descent being connected to kings in the south of the principality.”
Read Kevin’s article to find out about the life and martyrdom of Winefride and the miracles that have occurred at her intercession.
Also in this issue of Mass of Ages, Antonia Robinson, LMS Committee Member and Local Representative for Thanet, introduces the LMS Family Contact Register.
Joseph Shaw, LMS Chairman, introduces us to ‘a real devotional object’: the Easter Garden
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP, issues the cry “Muster the Legions!” as he commemorates the tenth anniversary of the international prayer network for vocations: The Confraternity of St Peter.
Paul Waddington, LMS Treasurer and Local Representative for Middlebrough, visits the church of the Sacred Heart in Caterham.
Matthew Schellhorn, LMS Director of Music for London, reveals how he approached planning and selecting the music for the celebration of the Triduum Sacrum this year.
Alberto Carosa reports on the recent gathering of musicians in Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Musicam Sacram.
Our regular columnists:
• The Lone Veiler with some words of wisdom from St Augustine
• Caroline Shaw looks at a pilgrim’s souvenir from the 16th Century: The miraculous bleeding Host of Dijon
• Fr Bede Row asks, “Do we still believe in marriage?”
There are book reviews by Joseph Shaw and Hannah Young.
Thanks to the cooperation of priests in whose parishes the Traditional Mass is celebrated, Mass of Ages is available from more than 100 cathedrals and churches around the country. If you do not live near one of these but would like a copy of the magazine, we would be very happy to send one from the LMS Office. However, due to the high cost of postage, we do ask that you cover the cost of postage.
