Urgent Message Latin Masses next week and beyond...

Next week, Tues 29th July, it will be the holy day of obligation St Peter & Paul Feast. Fr George Grynowski will be offering a

Low Mass 1pm
St John Fisher
West Heath


I CAN CONFIRM A MASS AT THE ORATORY @ 11am ! ! Also at back of Church for tickets to the Papal beatification (which Valero says, is "just a Mass and a 1min proclamation that he's going to heaven"!)

Also at the West Heath Catholic Parish on July 9th, their patronal feast will be high Mass celebrated with a new 3 piece red Mass Set, and 3 parish priests all serving the same deanery (Birmingham South) which includes the site of Newman's burial and site of Papal Mass on Sept 19th at 10am in Cofton Park. I hope we get a ticket.


7pm High Mass
1962 Missal
Fr G Grynowski (middle of above photo) celebrates in his parish Church of St John Fisher for it's Patrons;
Ss JOHN FISHER & THOMAS MORE

Cloister Chapel Singers
Missa de Angelis
Credo III
Plainchant propers for Ss John Fisher & Thomas More

Please do support this wonderful parish event. It will be followed by a blessing of a new garden at the Parish, in the traditional Rite, followed by tea wine and refreshments cakes etc.

We are a witness to the Traditional Movement just in attendance, and with the 3 year report of Summorum Pontificum and the Pope's visit coinciding with the anniversary on the 14th. Maybe His Holiness should celebrate a Mass in EF to celebrate!

P.s. Clarification from the Oratory: "Jack Valero is strictly correct about the beatification Mass although
I think the declaration of beatification is timed for about 70 seconds! Strictly speaking, beatification is nothing more than a permission for local or limited cult. It does not, unlike canonisation, make any theological claim that the beatus is, in fact, in heaven. It is not (again, unlike canonisation) an infallible act of the Church. Having JHN beatified does mean a great deal to us, of course! This distinction might seem insignificant, but it is important. For example, it makes it possible to accept the second miracle for canonisation, even though it happened before the beatification. JHN either is in heaven or he isn't, there is no question of more or less! The important thing is that the second miracle took place as a result of the public cult, and that it took place after the Pope's declaration of an intention to beatify. All we have to do is get a dispensation for that public cult because it took place before it had been formally and publicly announced i.e. at a beatification ceremony."

Pope coming to Birmingham!

© Copyright Roger A Smith

The news channels are abuzz with the confirmation that the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman on Sunday September 19th 2010 will be held at Cofton Park near Rednall (the burial site of Newman at the Oratory Retreat House) just south of Birmingham. It seems like an obvious choice with clear historical links to the Oratory Community and Newman himself.

On the way to work this morning the local radio station BBC WM (West Midlands) had picked up on the story that Cofton Park was being considered (it turned out the Archdiocese was just waiting for the final decision to be made by Birmingham City Council before announcing it). Listeners were ringing in, with some complaining that the tax payers shouldn't have to foot the bill for such an event. I was able to ring in and point out that it is not part of the State Visit, and therefore funded entirely by the Catholic Church and the donations from the Faithful. I didn't expect to be asked a question involving the 'paedophile controversy' and tried to avoid it!

Gravesite at Rednal

Then on the way home from work BBC WM had Peter Jennings on the line, who is the spokesman for the Archdiocese, who explained that the venue is smaller than Coventry Airport, accommodating about 70,000 people rather than nearly 200,000. This point I think should not take precedence when we are considering the dignity of the Mass and the event itself of a Beatification ceremony, not a concert. According to Jennings the Vatican had a delegation who looked around Cofton Park yesterday afternoon, and promptly asked the council permission to have the Beatification here. I know that some will express horror that all the money and planning that went into the Coventry Airport venue was wasted, but Jennings expressed the hope that Coventry council will provide their planning framework to Birmingham so that things aren't starting from scratch.

Peter Jennings also went on to say that the Vatican will be officially announcing the Pope's Itinerary on July 5th. Anna Arco on her blog has even suggested the Pope wants to make a private visit to Birmingham Oratory to see Newman's rooms. What an exciting turn of events, and how nice to see the Oratory in a positive light after all the negative media attention in recent weeks.

Bl John Henry Newman, Priest

The Congregation for Divine Worship has published the text for the Divine Office of the prospective Bl John Henry Newman, Priest of the Birmingham Oratory. More info, with the complete text in Latin and English, has been published on the site for the Holy Name of Jesus (I'm not sure of the original source). The Feast Day will be October 9th, the date when Newman was received into the Church by Bl Dominic Barbari at Littlemore in 1845.

Let us Pray:
O God, who bestowed on the Priest John Henry Newman
the grace to follow your kindly light
and find peace in your Church;
graciously grant that,
through his intercession and example,
we may be led out of shadows and images
into the fulness of your truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever
Amen

Sacred Heart Rebuff

Where were we? The Sacred Heart. A Protestant reader once asked me to explain this devotion, which may be seen as a novelty, and in particular what it means to 'make reparation' to it.

I have never got around to answering this, mea culpa, but as often happens in life, someone else I found has gone to the trouble. H/T Roman Christendom

Hipstamatic Day 2

Relaxin on the Beeeeach!

Hipstamatic iPhone

I just love the iPhone App Hipstamatic. It is an emulator which turns your simple 1MPix cameraphone into an 80s Hipstamatic 100 camera. I barely remember the original format, but love the way you can recompense for the iPhone's poor quality digital camera, and turn it into a classic piece of stylish analogue equipment!

Lens: Kaimal Mark II
Film: BlacKeys Ultrachrome B&W
Flash: Off

Recess...

On holiday for the week in Braunton. Posting will be sparse! Like this sanddune! May you have a blessed summer!

Fr Julian Green writes:

Manor House, Northfield (Halls where Wendy & I first knew eachother) now derelict due to change in building standards

University of Birmingham Catholic Chaplaincy

Mass on the Vale & Shared Picnic

Tomorrow (Sunday) our morning Mass will be at the Vale, outside Shackleton Hall. As it means getting people there we will begin at 11am, with some warm up praise and worship leading into Mass. PLEASE BRING SOME FOOD to share with others, and we'll have a picnic after the Mass. Maybe think of bringing someone new to Mass too. The minibus will pick up in Selly Oak at 10.20am, and then we will pick up those who are at Newman House to go to the Vale at 10.40am. If you don't know your way to the Vale then come to Newman House as normal and we'll take you there. It's important that, as we're on public display, we get as many people as possible to Mass in the morning, so please do come if you can. (There will be a simple Mass in the evening at 6.30pm for those who can't make it.) See you tomorrow morning!

Sacred Heart

June is traditionally the month of the Sacred Heart, something I never learnt in 4 years at a Catholic School. Also traditionally there are special First Fridays of every month, which we celebrate at St John Fisher Church in West Heath, with a Low Mass celebrated by the PP Fr George Grynowski at 7pm.

Read more here on my local LMS site. (click "Latin Mass Society" in the header of this page)

Requiescat in Pace

Contented Parenting

This article in the Times demonstates something beautiful about parenting. It is not written by a Catholic Dad, as far as I know, but it advocates a type of natural, relaxed, and down-to-earth parenting which I can largely identify with, but also which I see prevalent in Catholic Homeschooling Families. I think it demonstrates some practical sequelae of being happy with the way parenting changes a couple, and embracing being a new Dad rather than pining after the 'good ol days'!

Here's an extract:

I have a quiet little bet with myself. A hundred years from now, people will look back on us the way we look back on the Victorians and many will find it astonishing that we treated children the way we do. The more extreme parenting strategies appear to deny the fact that we’re parents at all. The aim is to get back to our normal, child-free lifestyles as soon as possible.

Do have a quick read; you may not identify with everything outlined in the article, but it stimulates ideas and makes me realise how much we have in common with hippy-guru parents! Being parents as God intended us to be.

Flat Corpus Christi

5/6/10 2330hrs


On the eve of the great feast of Corpus Christi, on my way to work, I got a flat passenger side front tyre. It was nice to encounter the kindness of a Taxi Driver, who offered to help. Strangely enough I have also been having in depth discussions on Religion, Faith, mental illness and even a bit of Christian Conspiracy theories! A busy day intellectually and practically.

Papal Visit Fundraising

Just now I tried to donate to papal visit online
but a run-time error. And I was feeling generous on this transferred feast of Corpus Christi. No wonder they're way off-target.

I hope that if the Pope won't go to Coventry Airport, then perhaps (flying there en route) to Birmingham or Oxford instead, closer to Newman's site of ministry.


I picture the Cathedral and Oratory filled with huge TV screens and services of Holy Communion. This would be an excellent service, if thought of, and reminicient of the installation of Archbishop Bernard Longley. I thought this a big success.

I would love to see the streets lined with Catholics and Non-Catholics, eager to catch a wave of the Holy Father.

Do continue to pray for the Oratory here in Birmingham.

NHS cuts

Cross posted from Catholic Physicians Blog
"They're starting to get results, [health] Minister!"
"Time to restructure!"

The photo above is from a mug of tea I was drinking at work today. It made me laugh, but also got me thinking about the worrying prospect of NHS cuts in light of the public deficit following the global recession. Quite how our new coalition goverment will handle this I don't know, but my worry is it will impact adversely on Mental Health Services.

Why? Because in this day of public pressure groups and political maneuverings, it is the group of patients with mental health problems who lack a strong and unified voice. It probably stems from stigma, a case which is made worse by the aggressive shift towards community care during '80s conservative days, meaning society has been suddenly and unpreparedly exposed to a fear which they have no idea how to handle or integrate into society. It is a prime target for cuts.

There are very few advocates, people fighting for this vulnerable sector. But politically and socially, think of the huge burden of psychiatric illness: which 1 in 4 people will suffer from sometime in their life. Loss in earnings and taxes. Loss in confidence and stable homes. Worse and untreated physical health. Reduced life expectancy and huge socioeconomic inequalities widening. To not make this a priority, both within specialist services and in primary care when the bulk of illness is treated, would therefore be a huge mistake!

I pray the new goverment can make the correct decisions to cut excess and waste, and prune the health service to make it more efficient, effective, satisfying and above all accessible.