Here Is Love

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Loving kindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

HAPPY PALM SUNDAY!!

Pueri Hebræorum, portantes ramos olivarum, obviaverunt Dominus, clamantes et dicentes: Hosanna in excelsis.
The Hebrew children bearing olive branches, went forth to meet the Lord, crying out, and saying, Hosanna in the highest.

Cum angelis et pueris fideles inveneramur triumphatori mortis clamantes: Hosanna !
We shall find the faithfuls in the company of angels and children

Oremus.

Bless, + we beseech Thee, O Lord, these branches of palm (or olive or other trees): and grant that what Thy people today bodily perform for Thy honor, they may perfect spiritually with the utmost devotion, by gaining the victory over the enemy, and ardently loving every work of mercy. Through our Lord.

Vincent Cardinal Nichols

In the news today, the announcement that our own Archbishop, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, will soon be set up as 'primate' of our country in the See of Westminster. I have always liked Vince, and every time I met him he was gracious in his time and very gentlemanly. Unfortunately there has been a lot of controversy recently about his inability to follow Rome's example in the Catholic education stakes, and to everyone's bewilderment the Archbishop is supporting the government's initiative to thrust sex education of the youngest and most innocent of our children. Since it is the inalienable right of every parent to educate their child, we are keeping Maddy out of the education system.

My prayers go to His Excellency, that he will effectively execute his new Bishopric by the blessing of God and for the greater glory of Catholicism in this country.

New Blog

Please go to:
http://birmingham-lms-rep.blogspot.com/
For my new site which is like a frontpage to any of the Latin Mass Society stuff I do. Enjoy!

Extraordinary Triduums

The Triduum has to be the high point in the liturgical year of the Church. It consists of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Saturday Evening. There have been many changes over the years with the exact ceremony, including during Pope Pius XII's reign. But as far as the 1962 Rite, please see the following Press Release from The Latin Mass Society:

The Sacred Triduum in the Extraordinary Form Will be Celebrated at 8 Locations for 2009

In a sign that the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) has returned to the heart of the Church, the Latin Mass Society has announced that the Sacred Triduum in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated at 8 locations within England and Wales.

In recent years the LMS has organised 2-3 celebrations of the Sacred Triduum each year so 2009 is proving a bumper year – clearly Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio, ‘Summorum Pontificum’ is having a powerful effect. The full Holy Week ceremonies will be celebrated at Lanherne (Cornwall), Reading, South London, Central London, NW London, Brentwood, Leeds, Shrewsbury. A partial Triduum will be celebrated at Ham, Surrey. A full list is available on the LMS website (http://www.latin-mass-society.org/) or from the LMS office.

IMPORTANT
For many years, the LMS has celebrated the Sacred Triduum at Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, London WC2. Because the Triduum was also celebrated there in the Ordinary Form, the LMS had to arrange its celebrations at unusual times. However, this year, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, has graciously arranged that the Ordinary Form congregation of Corpus Christi Church will join the congregation at nearby St Anselm & St Cecilia’s Church in Kingsway for their Ordinary Form Triduum so allowing the Sacred Triduum in the Extraordinary Form to be celebrated at Corpus Christi Church at the usual times (e.g. 3.00 pm on Good Friday).

In a further gesture of reconciliation, Cardinal Cormac has asked one of his priests, Fr Andrew Wadsworth, to celebrate the Corpus Christi Triduum – in previous years the LMS had to make its own arrangements.

John Medlin, General Manager of the LMS said, “We are very grateful to the congregation of Corpus Christi and the parish priest, Fr Chris Vipers, for giving free use of Corpus Christi Church for the Triduum in the Extraordinary Form. We are particularly grateful to Cardinal Cormac for proposing this arrangement and to Fr Wadsworth for coming to join us. Fr Wadsworth knows the Extraordinary Form well and we are looking forward to a wonderful celebration of these Mysteries of our salvation.”

New Chairman and Treasurer Appointed

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

23 March 2009

Latin Mass Society Appoints New Chairman and Treasurer

At its meeting on Saturday 21 March 2009 the Committee of the Latin Mass Society made the following appointments:

Dr the Hon. Joseph Shaw (LMS Representative for Oxford) was elected Chairman;

Mr Paul Waddington (LMS Representative for Middlesbrough) was elected Treasurer.

Dr Joseph Shaw said: “I am greatly honoured to be asked by the LMS Committee to take over as Chairman. There is much work to be done in furthering the cause of Traditional Catholicism in England and Wales, in loyalty to the Holy See and in accordance with the provisions of Summorum Pontificum. The emphases of my Chairmanship will be on supporting our hard-working diocesan representatives, and on priests’ training, families and the young. These three categories in particular represent the future both of the LMS and the Church.

“I am pleased to say that our Priests’ Training Conference at Ushaw College, Durham during Low Week is almost fully booked. The LMS will shortly make an announcement confirming our southern-based priests’ training conference in August.

“Further it is now confirmed that Bishop John Arnold of Westminster will celebrate the LMS’s High Mass in Westminster Cathedral at 2.00 pm on Saturday 20 June; that Bishop Fernando Rifan of Campos, Brazil, will lead the LMS National Pilgrimage to Holywell on Saturday/Sunday 11/12 July; that Bishop George Stack of Westminster will confer Confirmations in the Traditional Rite at St James’ Church, Spanish Place, London W1 at 11.00 am on Saturday 7 November; and that Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster will celebrate the LMS’s High Mass of Requiem in Westminster Cathedral at 2.00 pm on Saturday 14 November.

“It is evident that the LMS is responding to the Holy Father’s request that Catholics give an account ‘of the hope that is in us’.”

I hope you will unite your prayers with mine for the success of the Latin Mass Society at this crucial time. Dr Joseph Shaw's vision for the Society sounds wholly attractive to me, and may it bear forth much fruit, for the greater glory of God and the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sung Mass in Milton Manor

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to attend a Sung Mass at Milton Manor House just south of Oxford. This house was bought by the Barrett family in 1763 and remodelled to include a chapel. Being in recusant times, it is quite hidden inside but complete with a choir loft and beautiful stained glass windows. It was a votive Mass for Our Lady (Salve Sancte Parens) with a Gregorian Chant Schola, but not a full complement of servers. I had not been to such a Mass, but it made perfect sense with the size of the chapel, and the risk of suffocation had incense been used! For more go here.

Bishop Richard Challoner consecrated the chapel in 1771, and many of his Mass endowments are still kept, and indeed used. Fr John Saward wore his vestments at this Mass (above) and read from the same altar cards that Bishop Challoner would have. It is magnificent that such a place is preserved and used for its original intention. We are much indebted to Mr & Mrs Mocklet-Barrett for their kind hospitality, and to their ancestors who helped keep the Catholic faith alive in this part of the country.

Prayer for the Beatification of Richard Challoner:

O God who made your servant Richard a true and faithful pastor of your little flock in England, raise him, we beseech you, to the altars of thy Church, that we who have been taught by his word and example may invoke his name in heaven, for the return of our country to belief in the Gospel, and to the unity of all Christians in the one Church of Jesus Christ. We ask this through the same Christ our Lord.

Requiem for Fr David Higham

Oulton Abbey, Stone
Wednesday, March 11th 2009
7pm
(Sung Mass in Traditional Rite)

Father David Higham died at Oulton Abbey on Saturday 22nd November 2008. When I wrote a eulogy about him, I was overwhelmed by the response from people who knew Fr Higham, especially his old novices from Farnborough.

I only knew Fr Higham in his last couple of years in the context of his support for the Latin Mass Society in Worcestershire (my wife's birthplace), but I daresay that Oulton Abbey had great significance in his life. It was to this community that Fr Higham 'fled' both in the early 90s upon leaving Farnborough, and in 2008 upon being struck down by a Stroke. He must have cared compassionately for the sisters there as chaplain, and it was there he was compassionately cared for in his final days.

He was a testament to the fatherly love a Priest should have for his flock, and his consideration in providing the traditional Rites of the Church for his faithful was truly moving. When asked, he even gave Wendy her 'Churching' upon returning to Mass for the first time after giving birth, despite never having performed such a ceremony, understandably, in his many pre-conciliar years as Monk-priest!

We were very sorry to have been prevented from attending Fr Higham's funeral due to freak traffic conditions (although over 150 managed to attend), and hope to be able to pay our respects in this simple way.

Above: Fr Higham saying a Requiem Mass on Sunday, November 5th 2006

Hard Work

I am on a brief respite during a gruelling fortnight of 'on-call' medical duties. I find 12 hour shifts very difficult, and especially when one is feeling ill (I have succumbed to several colds and viruses this winter). It is our Christian duty to carry on in the midst of trials:

For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly.

(1 Peter 2:21-23)

And so I am reminded not to behave downtrodden. After all, junior doctors have it much easier these days.

But it is often when we carry heavy burdens that we resort for the course of least resistance and let our feelings cloud our actions. For instance, when I hear the remark "You're too young to be a Doctor" from the umpteenth person, be it patient or nurse, it is easy to remark "well obviously that's not true!" in a rude and brash fashion. I am also reminded that it is the height of flattery to be called 'young'. Sadly I too often assume a lack of confidence in my medical ability, which I'm sure is not the case.

The truth is, I have never really had to 'take up my cross' in a meaningful or comparable way. Pope Benedict reminded us last August that "In today’s world, where powers that divide and destroy appear to dominate, Christ does not stop making us a clear invitation: who wants to be my disciple, let him forswear his own egoism and carry with me the cross." It is by uniting our own suffering to Christ that we "fill up those things that are lacking in Christ's sufferings" in our flesh, for Christ's body, the Church (Colossians 1:24). St Paul taught eloquently about our own interdependence in the Body of Christ, a mystical concept which points to the great reality of Christian life: That we never suffer in vain.

Perhaps the Holy Father is deeply hurt by the criticism levelled at him all week. It seems that from the very beginning of his Pontificate there has been a desperate attempt from all quarters to undermine his influence, tarry his reputation, and spread untruths about him. But ultimately his divine mission of promoting Christian Unity, of healing Christ's body which has been torn, must suffer these criticisms. (That is not to say that the fiasco with SSPX was unavoidable - surely Vatican PR must take some of the blame)

All this serves to draw into focus where our role and responsibility lies. Internal unity must always come first for the Pope, perhaps at the expense of pandering to so many other political pressures. For myself, my responsibilities lie with my family and with my patients. Which means I MUST work 12-hour shifts even when it hurts my head!

Happy Birthday Damian

Although my brother died over eleven years ago, I will never fail to cross this date without thinking of his birthday. Today he would have been 32 years old.

I have written a great deal about Damian previously, for the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his death. Now it strikes me how close his birthday is to that of Madeleine; a reminder that with life passed there will forever be Life continuing. It is perhaps with the bitter taste of death and grief that I am able to rejoice all the more for Life still to come.

I must stress that grief was so excruciating for me, that it was only by Grace that I managed to hold onto Life. The vision which was etched so deeply in my mind, as a saving thought amidst the Vale of Tears, is that of Family. This concept has many layers, and I am experiencing it most clearly on a day-to-day basis within my own household. But Family, for me, has certainly evolved over the last decade. With a brother gone, my whole experience of Family changed. This also happens painfully when older members of the family are lost, since they act as the cement, holding together different strands of a family.

When I imagine my brother as a 32 year-old, it is difficult to see him any differently from the last day I saw him; I was saying good-night to my big brother, having just watched the entire Star Wars Trilogy into the early hours (just released on video as a Special Edition) before I went back to boarding school, and him to University. He was a figure of wisdom and authority for me. The years after that were certainly dark, and misguided for me. I struggled to find my way perhaps because I didn't have him to look to any longer.

As I passed Damian's final age of twenty, I began a family of my own. I got married, had a baby, and found myself a father. I feel now as if Damian is very much a part of me and what I have become. He was blessed with an innocence that not many 20 year-olds manage to maintain, and one family member recently remarked that he is well placed now to make prayers for the young members of our family.

Damian will be forever young. Which is ironic because in life he suffered from the clutches of ill health and tiredness. Damian tasted death his whole life. He made friends with it, and thus distanced himself from the sort of bitter resentments that many of us feel we can harbour. It was only when he passed away, that I was faced with the same reality:

Which being put out, our body shall be ashes, and our spirit shall be poured abroad as soft air, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud

(Wisdom 2:3)

In time, however, I managed to learn something more of that life which Damian seemed to absord and dissipate through his broken body:

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.
In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery:
And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace.
And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.
Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself.

(Wisdom 3:1-5)

Damian borrowed my pocket Jerusalem Bible whilst studying. I think it was easier for him to carry around. This last passage from the book of Wisdom was underlined boldly in pencil. I hope for some of it to be etched on his gravestone.

Damian would have been a great Uncle to Maddy. He loved kids and was great with my baby brother. If he was still alive I'm sure he would be spreading even more joy. But my heart rests content knowing that the people he did touch, are still spreading that joy today.

Requiescat in Pace