Birmingham's Extraordinary Cathedral

I have written previously about St Chad's Cathedral, the mother church of the huge archdiocese of Birmingham. It was about four years ago that Wendy and I discovered this Cathedral, at a time when we were excitedly discovering the Catholic Faith. Pugin designed this church with grand, sweeping 'Sarum' liturgies in mind; the likes of which are probably never going to be seen again owing to the political and heretical problems of the 16th century. The Mass, or any public worship of the Church, is there to reflect and embody the teaching of the Faith. When attacks are made on the integrity of the Faith, it is often the Mass which suffers. Pugin's dream was to recapture a quintessentially English Catholicism, at a time in the nineteenth century when Catholicism was permitted and revived.

St Chad's Cathedral was the product of this way of thinking, and in a rare way outdoes the Anglican Cathedral of the city (in my humble opinion). The old English style of liturgy was never re-employed again, mainly because it had been killed off. Now the familiar form of liturgy to Catholics living in this country was the form promulgated following the Council of Trent: the so-called 'Tridentine' Mass. It was thus this barrack against Protestantism, this perfect and timely missal, which was uttered under the great gothic arches of St Chad's.

Since the reform of the liturgy in 1969, the traditional missal had only been employed sparingly; it was as long ago as 1982 that a Mass was said in the Tridentine Rite at St Chad's Cathedral (a Requiem as a dying man's wish). Last year under my suggestion the Brother's of the Little Oratory had a low mass in St Edward's side chapel (a 1930s addition) with the kind permission of the then-Dean, Fr Brian Doolan.

Now today, with the kind assistance of Canon Patrick Brown (the Cathedral Dean), a Low Mass was said in the sanctuary. The occasion was a Latin Mass Society meeting for the diocesan representatives, about 100 faithful were in attendance. It was a modest and prayerful affair, and gave us a chance to reflect on the symbolism of this great building, and the connotations it has for us today. Fr Paul gave us a very thought provoking homily (right), remarking "it's good to be back!" which, I'm sure, reflected the sentiments of everyone present. It is always a joy to go to St Chad's Cathedral, and even more so when the aspirations and desires of this group of faithful are met in such a wonderful way. As you can see from the photos, the Mass was said by Fr Paul Chavasse at the newly installed low altar which is commonly used for Masses versus populum. Although not designed for this, I thought Columb Howell did very well to serve in quite a tricky space (below); one false move and he would have been tumbling down 7 steps! Such an altar enables everyone to see much closer, although for a Solemn High Mass the original High Altar would really be necessary (still in place below St Chad's relics in a fabulous reredos).

The roadworks outside the Cathedral is now finally finished, which has opened up the concrete roundabout atop Birmingham's inner ring road, with a lovely open space. Hopefully this much neglected gem of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter will now be rediscovered! I would urge you to contribute to the proposed crypt redevelopment programme, which will open up this side of the Cathedral to a new audience for the greater glory of our Catholic Faith.