Worcester Cathedral

Further to my post on Edward Elgar (memorial stained glass window, left, based on his composition of Newman's Dream of Gerontius) I thought I would elaborate on this great Anglican Cathedral in Worcester. There was first a Cathedral here, on the banks of the river Severn, as early as 680 when Bosel was consecrated as first Archbishop. Since then the great St Oswald (925-992) built a second larger Abbey Church with a Monastery. Another noteworthy Saint was Wulfstan (1009-1095) who was prior of the Monastery before becoming Bishop in 1062. The crypt is all that remains of St Wulfstan's Cathedral, which was started in 1082. The current building dates from the 12th and 13th Centuries.

It is striking on entering this building; the vastness of the roof vault, the great gothic arches, the sheer distance from one end to the other. Indeed, there is a darkness and mystery to the Cathedral, which must have seemed quite overwhelming as Mass was being said at the distant High Altar (right). It is important to remember that High Masses would have been enriched with music, several ministers, choir members in copes, incense etc etc which all serve to engage the senses. The distance from laity to clergy would have not been a major issue, especially as Low Masses would have been at people's altars where views were unobstructed. One can see where Pugin would have got his great gothic inspiration; the Rood Screen is beautiful!




The long history of the Cathedral once attracted a great many pilgrims, to the shrines of Ss Oswald and Wulfstan, throughout the middle ages. Our own pilgrimage led us to Wulfstan's crypt (left), there being nowhere else to pay our veneration. By the time of the English 'Reformation' the Cathedral was actually a Benedictine Priory, and it was only the monastery which was torn down by Henry VIII (the ruins are still visible by the river). The Abbey Church was preserved and converted into a Cathedral for Secular Clergy, although the Tomb Shrines of Oswald and Wulfstan were destroyed. Between them still lies the tomb and effigy of King John (1167-1216), who is surely most famous from the fables of Robin Hood!? (Which reminds me - I really should write a rant about the ridiculous Islamic portrayal of my Nottingham hero in recent years, resulting in the great Catholic Friar Tuck being eradicated from the story in the latest BBC dramatisation!!!) It is likely that this royal connection, along with Prince Arthur's Chantry (who was Henry VIII's older brother, and first husband of Catherine of Aragon) were the features which preserved the Cathedral from destruction.

Benediction

O Divine Redeemer, Who in Thy infinite goodness hast been pleased to leave us Thy precious body and blood in the Blessed Eucharist, we adore Thee with the most profound respect, and return Thee our most humble thanks for all the favours Thou hast bestowed upon us, especially for the institution of this most holy sacrament. As Thou art the source of every blessing, we entreat Thee to pour upon us and our relations, and upon all those for whom we offer our prayers. And that nothing may interrupt the course of Thy blessing, take from our hearts whatever is displeasing to Thee. Pardon our sins, O my God, which, for the love of Thee, we sincerely detest; purify our hearts, sanctify our souls and bestow a blessing on us like that which Thou didst grant to Thy disciples at Thy ascension into heaven; grant us a blessing that may change us, consecrate us, unite us perfectly to Thee, fill us with Thy spirit, and be to us in this life a foretaste of those blessings which Thou hast prepared for Thy elect in Thy heavenly kingdom. Amen.

Corpus Christi Procession

It was quite an exciting day today, with the Oratory children receiving their first Holy Communion (including Jackie's very pious little Andrew Jr) coinciding with the Corpus Christi Mass. Some good could be said for this transferral of the Great Feast; our regular Sunday's Solemn Vespers became Vespers for this Solemn Feast, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, which was a real treat we wouldn't have otherwise had. It was lovely to notice that so many of these prayers and hymns are repeated every time we have Benediction (the Responsory, Collect, Salutaris Hostia and Tantum Ergo). Then we had the annual outdoor Blessed Sacrament Procession, which is always the following Sunday, but now this year fell on the feast day itself. It is a venerable tradition to take the Blessed Sacrament out into the streets, reminding us that the natural fruit of adoration and the Mass is to evangelise and bear witness to the Truth we set our Hope in. Without further commentary on this wonderful celebration of Our Faith, enjoy the photos!

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Adoro te devote, latens Deitas, Quae sub his figuris vere latitas: Tibi se cor meum totum subiicit, Quia te contemplans totum deficit.							Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more, See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur, Sed auditu solo tuto creditur. Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius: Nil hoc verbo Veritatis verius.							Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived: How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed; What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do; Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
In cruce latebat sola Deitas, At hic latet simul et humanitas; Ambo tamen credens atque confitens, Peto quod petivit latro paenitens.							On the cross thy godhead made no sign to men, Here thy very manhood steals from human ken: Both are my confession, both are my belief, And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.
Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor; Deum tamen meum te confiteor. Fac me tibi semper magis credere, In te spem habere, te diligere.							I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see, But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he; Let me to a deeper faith daily nearer move, Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.
O memoriale mortis Domini! Panis vivus, vitam praestans homini! Praesta meae menti de te vivere Et te illi semper dulce sapere.							O thou our reminder of Christ crucified, Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died, Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind, There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.
Pie pellicane, Iesu Domine, Me immundum munda tuo sanguine. Cuius una stilla salvum facere Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.							Bring the tender tale true of the Pelican; Bathe me, Jesu Lord, in what thy bosom ran--- Blood whereof a single drop has power to win All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.
Iesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio, Oro fiat illud quod tam sitio; Ut te revelata cernens facie, Visu sim beatus tuae gloriae. Amen.							Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below, I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so, Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light And be blest for ever with thy glory's sight. Amen.

Maddy loves it when I sing her this song to send her to sleep in my arms. She has built up several associations to specific songs, and I hope this is one which will always call to her mind love and contentment (and not necessarily sleepiness!)

Riding along on the Crest of a Wave!

Fridays are "Nana's Days"! This video speaks for itself: Maddy really enjoys the special times she has seeing her Nana (my mum)
This song is particularly appropriate as Maddy looks forward to her first seaside holiday very soon!!

Corpus Christi

This feast was a spectacular treat. Not only was it the Solemn High Mass practised for centuries to nourish the Saints, but was concluded with Solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and a procession around the church singing Pange Lingua to which we are familiar from its closing verses, Tantum Ergo, sung at regular Benediction. St Thomas Aquinas provided us with such wonderful hymns, including the sequence Lauda Sion also sung as part of today's Mass.

The purpose of today is clear; to celebrate the wonderful gift of our salvation, present under the simple appearance of bread and wine. This is a similar mystery to that of our own life; our simple flesh and bones, and our humble works and labours, are divinised by God and transformed into beautiful channels of grace and charity. Wendy was particularly moved by reading, again and again, the translation of the words of consecration said by the Priest over the chalice:

TAKE AND DRINK YE ALL OF THIS, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL TESTAMENT: THE MYSTERY OF FAITH: WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY UNTO THE REMISSION OF SINS.

This 'mystery of faith', the transubstantiation, has been carefully safeguarded and expounded throughout the centuries in the vehicle Christ established: The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The mystery of the Mass, the partaking of Christ's Body and Blood, is one of the hardest mysteries to grasp and believe by others. In fact, when sects break away from the Church it is often this tenet of the Faith which is disregarded and cast away. During the English 'Reformation', the whole practice of the faith, particularly the Missal, was rewritten to eradicate this overarching influence. It is not surprising then, that one of the most controversial things Jesus said was concerning his identity as the Bread of Life (St. John 6:56-67):

"For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever."
Many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: "This saying is hard, and who can hear it?"
But Jesus, knowing in himself, that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: "Doth this scandalize you? If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life. But there are some of you that believe not."
After this many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him.

The Church joyfully proclaims this teaching of Christ on this feast day. It is set on a Thursday to recall the day of its institution, during Our Lord's Last Supper. Free from the purple robes of mourning present on Maundy Thursday, this day the Oratory was resplendent with candles, organ music, and golden vestments. The Choir treated us with Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, which struck me as a wonderful balance between the more symphonic, operatic Mass settings of its period, and the noble simplicity of Gregorian Chant.

The Epistle is well worth a mention (Corinthians 11:23-29), since the Novus Ordo lectionary only has it once every 3 years (correct me if I'm wrong), and cuts it distinctly short before St. Paul's stronger admonition:

Brethren, I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.

Quite why the last portion is left out of the new lectionary I will leave to the imagination. But surely this is an important part to note? With regards to apologetics, St. Paul would never have spoken this strongly about a merely symbolic act. He is implying sacrilege, which is a worthy consideration in offering fitting worship to the True God, present Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. In the wider context of what St. Paul was writing to the Corinthian church; their degradation of the Lord's Supper into a common feast put them in a dangerous position before God, resulting in curses such as weakness, infirmity and even death.

Fr Paul Chavasse, celebrant, touched thoughtfully on this during his sermon. We should be grateful that we live in an age of the Church where we have the privilege of regular and frequent reception of Holy Communion (I think Pope St Pius X did a lot to encourage this during his pontificate at the beginning of last century). But that should not mean that we do so carelessly: we should have frequent recourse also to the sacrament of confession, where we reconcile ourselves to Christ through forgiveness of our sins and receive the special graces we need to reform our lives.

Fr Paul also spoke eloquently about this feast's position in the calender just after Pentecost, when we think carefully about the way the Holy Spirit works not just in our immediate lives but over the course of many centuries in the Church's life. I would say that we cannot expect the Holy Spirit to create a sudden reform of the Church as seen by the pentecostals: such sudden, thoughtless impulses may bring about far worse and open up disastrous consequences. We must trust in prayer, integrity and self sacrifice. Only by living our lives through a child-like faith in the Church can we hope to be led by the Spirit to reform ourselves and others. Such is the example of the Saints and Apostles. When Our Lord asked them "Will you also go away?" Simon-Peter answered "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of God." Let us be one with St. Peter, the Rock on which we build our Faith, and humbly trust that even in those things we do not understand, we can be led to all Truth.

Corpus Christi Traditional High Mass

Traditional Feast of Corpus Christi
The Most Holy Body of Christ
Solemn High Mass in the Classical Roman ('Tridentine') Rite
Birmingham Oratory
(at the High Altar)
8pm - Thursday, June 7th 2007

Mass Setting:
Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli

The Oratory Fathers will once again celebrate a traditional High Mass, appropriate on this day which is the traditional date of Corpus Christi rather than the transferred Sunday.

This exceptional feast was applied to Western Christendom by Urban IV in 1264, to combat the ceaseless attacks of heresy and reawaken the faithful towards the holy Eucharist; ever more important in this day and age. It is desirable to be on a Thursday as originally intended by the bishop of Liége, who instituted the feast in 1246 after a vision by Blessed Juliana of Mount Cornillon in 1208, to reflect the Maundy Thursday on which our Lord instituted the Sacrament. It applies the full solemnity to this event, which is not quite possible on Maundy Thursday itself. This, I feel, is certainly a very fitting feast to be celebrated with the full solemnity of the Traditional Roman Rite.

Tailored Mass books and full translations are provided, which will make it perfect for newcomers to the Tridentine Rite.

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Attack on Popemobile

BBC News has covered a worrying attack by a crazed man in a pink T-shirt upon Pope Benedict XVI's open top jeep during his Wednesday audience today. To watch the video using Windows Media Player, click here.

She's a Star!

(and she's wearing some stars too...)

Yesterday we bought Maddy some new re-usable nappies - Bambino Mio. We really enjoy using cotton nappies; it is good for the environment, comfortable for Maddy, and we prefer using them to disposables. They are great! Look at these wonderful designs:

There are lots of different varieties of re-usable nappies; Pre-folded ones, traditional terry squares, etc. All the information is on the Nappy Lady (in the Resources on the side-bar!) Here is a video showing how we fold ours:

Its Happy Nappy Time!

Edward Elgar

Today is the 150th anniversary of English Romantic Composer Edward Elgar. He died 23 February 1934 leaving a legacy of music, best known of which are his Pomp and Circumstance Marches. Now, I am no expert in classical music; I have only recently acquired an interest through my listening to sacred religious works by well known European composers. However, I have been aware of Elgar for a long time because he was a Midlander born and bred. His mother converted to Catholicism shortly before his birth, so he was also a baptised and raised in the Faith. He is buried in Little Malvern, amongst the great Worcestershire countryside where I proposed to Wendy (a native herself) on the first anniversary of our relationship.

In the year 1900 he produced a choral setting to Cardinal Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius, which was performed in Birmingham. It has been speculated that the early failure of this work led to a crisis in his faith, which was supposedly never that strong. He played the organ at St George's Catholic Church in Worcester (which we visited, left, for Mass some time ago, on the Feast of the Transfiguration; a treat given the huge replica of Raphael's painting against the back wall of the sanctuary), although so did his father William, who was a protestant. William actually converted to Catholicism on his deathbed in 1906, and similarly Edward reaffirmed his Faith whilst dying of cancer in 1934, receiving the Last Rites. There are many other Worcester memorials to him, including a statue at the end of the high street (pictured above right) and a memorial window in the Worcester Cathedral (pictured below), where he attended many services (despite it being an Anglican Cathedral).

He will perhaps be best remembered for the patriotic enthusiasm aroused in our hearts whenever Land of Hope and Glory is played at the Proms. Whether that is what he wanted or not, is a question best left to the historians.