The Hermeneutic of Continuity

Any visit to Oxford fills me with joy and nostalgia. My three years there as a young man were genuinely happy. It was there that I shared with John Hayes the excitement of the election of Pope John Paul II. John was probably one of the few people in the world who heard the word "Carolus" and said immediately "Wojtyla!". Apparently at the election of Pope Benedict he hesitated at the name Joseph, knowing that there was another Cardinal by that name. I was at Corpus Christi College from 1977-1980. My two elder sisters both married men from Merton which is next door. Here is a view of the Chapel from the Grove at Merton College. And here is a view of Mob Quad. Oxford abounds with stories of tourists. Apparently, an American visitor to Merton asked one of the servants how the lawns came to be so perfect. The servant answered in his Oxford twang "Well you plants the seed, you waters it, then you scythes it. The you waters it again and they you scythes it. You do tha...

Fr Michael Lang from the London Oratory, sends the following notice about the forthcoming CIEL Colloquium at Oxford. The line-up of speakers is very impressive and it is great that Cardinal Hoyos is coming to the conference. CIEL2006 COLLOQUIUM, OXFORD Planning is well underway for the 11th International CIEL Colloquium which will take place in MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD, from Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th SEPTEMBER 2006. The Colloquium will take place in the presence of His Eminence Dario CARDINAL CASTRILLON HOYOS who, as well as attending the talks, will celebrate the closing Pontifical High Mass on Saturday in Merton Chapel. The title of the Colloquium is THE GENIUS OF THE ROMAN LITURGY: HISTORICAL DIVERSITY AND SPIRITUAL REACH. Papers will study the various Rites existing in Europe until the II Vatican Council reforms, and the spiritual influences of these liturgies. There will also be papers upon the place of music in the development and practice of the liturgies. The speakers are ...

In the car from Blackfen to Wonersh yesterday and from Wonersh to Parkminster, from Parkminster to Blackfen today, I have listened to two lectures from the new downloads available from Keep the Faith . They were both very moderate and balanced treatments of controversial topics. The first was "The Seven Storied Thomas Merton" by Dr Robert Royal. A Trappist Monk, Merton became a celebrity with the publication of "The Seven Storey Mountain." Later in his life, he became very interested in Eastern Mysticism as well as promoting various "right on" causes in the 60s and 70s which have led to him being dismissed by many. Dr Royal is quite frank in his criticism of some of Merton's views but retains a respect for him as an outstanding writer and, with caution, a guide to mysticism. The second lecture was by William Coulson, entitled "Full Hearts, Empty Heads." Coulson worked with the influential psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1960s and has since re...

One or two people have commented that UK Catholic priest blogging was a bit quiet last week. Here you can see the reason: several of us were at Merton. Above, left to right, are: Frs Paul Harrison ( Thoughts from Walney Island ), John Boyle ( South Ashford Priest ), Ray Blake ( St Mary Magdalen, Brighton ), Sean Finnegan ( Valle Adurni ) and myself. Mac McLernon ( Mulier Fortis ) and Damien Thompson ( Holy Smoke ) came for the Thursday Solemn Mass and Pontifical Vespers. (Apologies for the poor quality of the photo.) Fr Hunwicke of the ( Liturgical Notes ) was also there, and so were the Anglican Seminarians of massinformation . One of them has posted this video in their article Latin Mass Society - Merton 2008 . It shows the procession at the beginning of the Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Rt Rev Emmanuel Marie de St Jean, Abbot of St Mary's Abbey, Lagrasse . Near the beginning of the procession is Fr George Mary Roth of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. He says Mass ev...

I was hoping to post some photos that I took today but the one piece of equipment I forgot to bring was a mini-USB lead so I'll have to pick one of those up later. (Actually I also forgot to bring a cotta but Richard Luzar has kindly lent me one from his fine collection.) Above is an older photo that I have of the Merton College Chapel where the conference began with Solemn High Mass. Celebrant was Fr Anthony Conlon, Deacon was Dr Laurence Hemming, and subdeacon was Fr Andrew Wadsworth. The Schola Sainte Cecile sang Mass XI ( Stelliferi Conditor Orbis ) and the propers partly in simple Gregorian chant and partly in the wonderful faux-bourdon which is a trademark of theirs. The Latin Mass Society has not only arranged the course but have arranged provided each priest with a copy of the new Libreria Editrice Vaticana edition of the 1962 missal. The texts and chants for all the liturgical functions are printed in a hardbound book with ribbon markers, a copy being given to each prie...

This is one of those important posts that I really want to get right. The Right Reverend Malcolm McMahon, Bishop of Nottingham came to the Merton LMS conference yesterday to celebrate Pontifical Vespers. The above is a photo taken by Br Lawrence Lew OP. There are more at the New Liturgical Movement Vespers was glorious and I really enjoyed being an assistant Deacon. As I explained to the priests at the conference this week, once you have learnt the ceremonies, there is no more to learn at the practical level. You do not need to "make up" the liturgy, all you need to do is observe the rubrics and try to do things properly. Practice makes perfect. After Vespers, Bishop McMahon came to the reception dressed with his purple ferraiuolo . Several priests also pulled out ferraiuoli from somewhere or another and I am now resolved to get one of these things. There followed the banquet for the last evening of the conference and here lies my concern to get things right. After dinner,...

Sorry to have been quiet - the Conference here at Merton College has been quite intensive for me the past couple of days with many participants both in my group and as individuals learning to celebrate the usus antiquior . The conference is also an unparalleled opportunity to meet priest from all over England and further afield to chat about pastoral matters. Just before I go to bed (I will be saying my Mass early then helping someone else) here are a couple of photos from the Solemn High Mass on Monday. I will ask permission to attend as photographer for tomorrow's High Mass so as to take some more photos and perhaps some video. This really is a great conference, full of genuine gaudium et spes .

Along with several other commentators, I mentioned the excellent homily of Archbishop Nichols last Tuesday at the opening Mass for the LMS training conference at Merton College. His words were particularly encouraging for the priests who had gathered to begin learning or deepen their knowledge of the older form of the rite. The Archbishop said: I hope that your study of the Missal of Pope John XXIII will help you to appreciate the history and richness of that form of the Mass. And I trust that you will bring all that you learn to every celebration of the Mass you lead in the future. In the context of this positive appreciation of Archbishop Nichols' words, I would like to take up one question which will, I am sure, be the focus of much discussion in the future. Pope Benedict affirmed clearly that there are not two rites, but two forms of the one Roman Rite. The Archbishop says: Why does the Pope insist that there is one rite of the Mass? Because, whichever form is being used, the ...

I arrived at Oxford for the second half of Alcuin Reid's lecture on Tuesday, in which he expounded on the organic development of the Liturgy and the importance of Summorum Pontificum . I am sure he will publish the text in due course. He allowed himself one irresistible punchline by quoting the Tablet article which said that Pope Benedict was "not a trained liturgist". The ribald mirth generated by quoting this judgement confirmed that it has now firmly achieved legendary status. From the lecture, we went to the College Chapel for solemn Vespers. Thanks to this conference and last year's CIEL conference I am a little more familiar with solemn vespers now and I would love to try to introduce it in the parish. It would provide an opportunity for people to experience the Roman liturgical tradition outside of the context of Mass. After supper, I went to bed fairly smartly since my private Mass at the Oratory in the morning was scheduled for 6.15am. I was in the House Chap...

Tomorrow morning I have a funeral (please pray for the repose of the soul of Maud Nazer). Then I will be off to London again, to catch the bus from Victoria to Oxford for the Conference organised by the Latin Mass Society to introduce priests to the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. Because of the funeral, I will miss the Mass celebrated by Archbishop Nichols in the morning but I hope to be there in time for Alcuin Reid's lecture at 3pm. I am looking forward to a couple of days in a City which brings back many fond memories of three years spent in the company of good friends. My particular role, as well as giving one of the sets of tutorials, is to participate in the discussions with the experience of being a parish priest fostering traditional liturgy in a normal parish. Apparently there are over 50 priests attending. Many lay people will also be coming for the public liturgical celebrations during the conference (at the Merton College Chapel.) Dom Daniel Au...

A reader kindly sent me the following notice from the Latin Mass Society The Latin Mass Society is organising a residential training conference at Merton College, Oxford from Tuesday 28 – Thursday 30 August 2007 for priests ordained within the last ten years to learn the Traditional Latin Rite. Information packs have already been sent to over 400 priests. There will be three days of intensive practical training sessions, guided by priests who regularly celebrate the Traditional Mass, and supported by lectures on the Latin, history and doctrine of the Mass. There will also be a full schedule of daily Traditional Mass, Lauds, Vespers and Benediction. The conference has been designed for priests who have little or no previous experience of the Traditional Rite, and a knowledge of Latin is not essential. Most of the tuition will focus on celebrating the Low Mass. It is planned that a follow up conference in 2008 will focus on the High Mass. The conference will conclude with a magnificent P...

Parish clergy know that the doorbell can often by a wretched thing. I think that there is some kind of electronic interference that means once I have made a cup of tea, sat down and take the first sip, it sets the doorbell off. Today was different - I knew that there were two deliveries that might arrive this morning. One would be a new wireless modem from Tiscali to whom I have now transferred my phone line and who should soon be giving me some faster broadband access. For £20 per month, they are promising me 8Mb broadband, phone line rental and free calls any time in the UK and to places like the USA, Canada and Australia. Now you'll pile in and tell me what terrible problems you have with Tiscali ... It wasn't the Tiscali modem but something better: my order from St Philip's Books . My good friend Christopher Zealley has a bookshop in Oxford very near the Catholic Chaplaincy, and a thriving mail-order business. He had a stall at the Merton Conference which he stocked wi...

The Mulier Fortis has been moved by the photos posted by the Curt Jester of the recent attempted ordination of women and has decided that she wishes to become a Womynpriest. (Cf. I have seen the error of my ways ) However, she wishes to be a traddy Womynpriest and this presents her with a number of dilemmas (e.g. whether the mantilla should be removed when being ordained to the Minor Order of exorcist and whether it is permissible to knit when assisting in choir.) Do have a look at the combox over there which is already replete with helpful suggestions involving hair, lipstick and the crown. Fr Steven Fisher has raised a most helpful point in referring to 1 Corinthians 14.34 where St Paul says that " the women should keep silence in the churches." This is of course much more effectively achieved in the traditional liturgy than in the Novus Ordo . It could be a point of ecumenical dialogue to suggest to our excommunicated and/or interdicted sisters that celebrating the usus...

Nowy Ruch Liturgiczny is a Polish blog dedicated to the traditional liturgy. They have given me the great compliment of offering a serialised translation of my address to the last Merton conference, published by the Latin Mass Society. (See: Summorum Pontificum in the Parish .) For the New Year, the authors put up an English language post: Traditional Latin Mass in Poland — 2008 Summary . It is interesting to read that on the day of the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, there were eight places where the usus antiquior was available (apart from SSPX chapels) and now there are 22. A daily hand-missal has been re-published and there have been old rite Confirmations. Apparently the FSSP is in discussions with Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz concerning the possible erection of a house in Cracow. Regarding relationships with the hierarchy, the blog summarises as follows: Whilst Polish bishops do not particularly favour old Mass , there was no particular open hostility seen last year, either...

Here are a few photos from the solemn Mass on the Friday of the CIEL 2006 conference at Oxford. You can enlarge any of the photos by clicking on them. If you need a version of any of the photos in higher resolution for any good purpose, please contact me by email. Ego volo celebrare Missam iuxta ritum sanctae Romanae ecclesiae, ad laudem omnipotentis Dei, totiusque ecclesiae triumphantis, ad utilitatem meam, totiusque ecclesiae militantis, pro omnibus qui se commendaverunt orationibus meis in genere et in specie, ac pro felici statu sanctae Romanae ecclesiae. "I intend to celebrate Mass according to the rite of the holy Roman Church, to the praise of the almighty God and of the whole Church triumphant, for my benefit and that of the whole Church militant, for all who have commended themselves to my prayers in general and in particular, and for the happy estate of the holy Roman Church." Here is a view of the celebrant and ministers preparing for solemn Mass for the feast of O...

Last week, some of us bloggers were wondering why there had not been an article on Damien Thompson's blog Holy Smoke about the Merton Conference. We had rather forgotten about these printed paper thingies that lots of people buy in shops. In fact, Damien had a major article last weekend in the Sunday Times: Let us pray in Latin: priests take on Catholics’ magic circle . He has quite a bit of fun with this, including the bit everyone will remember: A priest who looks barely out of his teens explains what he does when unsolicited copies of The Tablet – a liberal Catholic magazine that opposes the Latin revival – arrive at his church: “I painstakingly remove the staples and feed it into the shredder. It’s time-consuming, but God’s work.” He talks about priestly bloggers and very kindly quotes this blog. I think that it is the first time it has been mentioned in the Sunday Times.

First place at the Latin Mass Society's training Conference is given to the celebration of the sacred Liturgy. Each day, Lauds and Vespers are sung according to the breviary of 1962. Yesterday we also had Compline in the fading light between 8.30pm and 9pm with the choir stall candles lit. This evening, Vespers will be celebrated more solemnly as Pontifical Vespers with Bishop Malcolm McMahon presiding. I have to go to a practice for this as I will be in what seems to be my customary place now, the second assistant deacon. Mass on the Monday was Solemn High Mass ( photos yesterday ). I forgot to mention that the vestments worn were from Richard Luzar's private collection. They belonged to Napoleon III and have never been worn in England before. Tuesday I celebrated the Missa Cantata in the more solemn form, ably assisted by Jack Gunning as MC. This was rather daunting since not only was the editor of the latest edition of "The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described"...

The New Liturgical Movement has published the full text of Archbishop Nichols' Foreword to the booklet for the Merton training conference. They also offer some sensible observations on the Archbishop's words. Having seen the full text, there is nothing I would particularly change in my post Catching up on the latest Tablet nonsense . The Tablet have used the Archbishop's text to attempt to enlist him to their own opposition to the usus antiquior . James Preece disagrees, seeing the Archbishop's words as throwing his weight around and putting the smackdown on traditionalists. He particularly points to the part where the Archbishop says: In both the teaching and law of the Church it is the bishop who has responsibility for the provision and oversight of the Liturgy. But not only is that true, it is actually to be found affirmed in Pope Benedict's letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum which says: In conclusion, dear Brothers, I very much wish to stress that these...

Bishop McMahon OP has been appointed as the new Archbishop of Liverpool. (See the  report in the Catholic Herald .) Damian Thompson has sometimes been ribbed for getting predictions wrong, so it is only fair to point out that this time, he was right . Five years ago, I wrote about bishop McMahon's visit to the Latin Mass Society Conference at Merton College, Oxford. (See: English bishop receives standing ovation at traditional liturgy conference ) In view of the the current interest in the relationship between Bishops and bloggers, it was interesting to be reminded that on that occasion, Bishop McMahon joked with me about my blog at the evening convivium, told me to keep blogging and said light-heartedly "I want my picture on your blog." (The photos in this post and the previous one are from the  Flickr set  of Fr Lawrence Lew OP.) Congratulations to Bishop McMahon. Please keep him in your prayers.

In August 2007, Bishop Edward James Slattery visited Merton College Oxford, to attend the training conference and to celebrate Pontifical High Mass at the close of the proceedings, having humbly accepted some tuition himself. I had the privilege of meeting him at the conference. Last year, he announced that he had returned to the practice of celebrating Mass in his Cathedral in Tulsa, Oklahoma, facing towards the East. In 2004, Eastern Oklahoma Catholic gave a summary of all that Bishop Slattery had done to combat and prevent the scourge of child abuse, leading to praise from the Child Abuse Network in particular for his co-operation with the civil authorities. In addition to these various actions, Bishop Slattery ordered a Holy Hour of Reparation to be held at the same time in all the Churches of his diocese. He was therefore an ideal choice for celebrant of the Solemn High Mass at the National Shrine at Washington DC last Saturday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the elec...