Mass of Ages Print Edition Winter 2022
Mass of Ages is the quarterly magazine of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. 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.
There is no charge for the magazine but we do ask for a contribution towards the cost of posting it to you. This cost will be calculated as you proceed through the checkout.
In this issue: • Thirtieth day Requiem for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II • To Walsingham! David Rees-Mogg recalls the joy of this year’s pilgrimage • Charles A. Coulombe remembers the remarkable Charlotte Pearson Boyd • Collette Oliver sets off on a Cornish pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady, St Joseph, the Five Wounds of Christ, and the Holy Martyrs of England
A Traditional Latin Requiem was held at St Mary Moorfields in London on 8 October for the repose of the soul of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to mark a month since the death of the monarch. The Sung Mass, organised by the Latin Mass Society, included music by Tomas Luis da Victoria sung by the Southwell Consort directed by Gareth Wilson, with the unusual accompaniment of sackbuts and cornets. Read the homily given by the Celebrant, The Rev. Dr Michael Cullinan.
“In 1061, in the reign of St Edward the Confessor, Our Lady appeared three times to the English noblewoman Richeldis de Faverches telling her to build “a house dedicated to praising and honouring Me”. Richeldis was given exact measurements by Our Lady, measurements that matched the House of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Walsingham, in Norfolk, where the church was built, became the principal site of pilgrimage in England, until the Martyrdom and canonization of St Thomas of Canterbury. Throughout the middle-ages pilgrims came in their thousands to visit England’s Nazareth..” Writes David Rees-Mogg. Read David’s account of our best-attended pilgrimage.
Charles A. Coulombe writes: “It is easy to forget that ‘England’s green and pleasant land’ was once as Catholic as were Italy, France, and Spain. The country was crisscrossed with a network of shrines and pilgrimage sites, abbeys and convents, as wonderful and wondrous as any in Christendom. Glastonbury and St Alban’s, Canterbury and Westminster, and on and on. Among the most famous was, of course, Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk. Pilgrims came from all over the country and indeed Europe to pray at the shrine and venerate the statue. There was a string of chapels along the way; the last of these, at Houghton St Giles, was and is, of course, the Slipper Chapel. Here the pilgrims left their shoes to walk the last holy mile barefoot to the shrine. Many miracles were recorded; but alas, Walsingham, and its shrine, as we know, was caught up in the great wreck of the Church under Henry VIII. The image has long been believed burned or otherwise destroyed; but in recent years, several art historians have claimed that the so-called Langham Madonna at the Victoria and Albert Museum is in fact the original, hidden by her devotees.” Charles recounts the life of the remarkable Charlotte Pearson Boyd and her part in the restoration of the Shrine.
Continuing the theme of pilgrimage, Collette Oliver recounts how what she considered nothing more than a passing notion about a possible pilgrimage to Lanherne, in Cornwall became a reality. She writes: “The pilgrimage was in honour of Our Lady, St Joseph, the Five Wounds of Christ and the Holy Martyrs of England. We were accompanied by a family friend and pilgrimage chaplain, Fr Gerard Byrne, who travelled down from Corby, Northamptonshire, and Abbe Aaron Zelinski, seminarian of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest based in Torquay. Our destination was Lanherne Convent in St Mawgan, Cornwall, where a High Mass for the Vigil of Pentecost had been arranged at the finish. Lanherne Convent played a central role in the preservation and restoration of the Faith in the Southwest, being associated with many of the saints, particularly St Cuthbert Mayne and others, hence a fitting place to conclude our spiritual journey.”
Andrew Kelly reports of Archbishop John Wilson’s visit to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of St Augustine’s, Ramsgate as a Shrine. Dominic Bevan, Director of the Southwell Consort, writes about the joys of polyphony.
Our regular columnists:
• The Chairman’s Message: On why the Church must find a way of making peace with the Traditional Mass, which is to say, with her own heritage
• Family Matters: timely advice from James Preece on how when times are rough, we need to look out for each other
• Art and Devotion, Caroline Farey looks at a 15th century sculpture from South Germany
• Rome Report, Diane Montagna looks at some controversial appointments
• Architecture: Paul Waddington looks at the delightful church of St Edward the Confessor, Sutton Park in Surrey
• Mary O’Regan explains how to honour and love Our Lord’s Face is to have the gift of youthful beauty
• Wine: Sebastian Morello on the perfect accompaniment to treasured companionship
• World News: Paul Waddington reports on what’s happening around the globe
