A Reminder. Feast of SS Peter and Paul.

Just a reminder for anyone in the area that there is a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form in St. Francis Xavier, Broad Street, Hereford, on tomorrow Sunday, 29th. June at 11.30 a.m.

The Mass setting is Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina and Tu es Petrus by Palestrina will also be sung. The preacher is the Revd. Dr. Laurence Hemming.

(There is a poster on the L.M.S. Society website but try as I might I cannot upload it.)

The timing is excellent, ( i.e. NOT 3.30pm), and I think this is an very good example of how the Extraordinary Form can be regularised into normal parish life. The parish has its Ordinary Form Mass at the usual time of 9.00.a.m.

The Cardinal's Address to the LMS.

The full text of Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos' address to the A.G.M. of the Latin Mass Society which preceded the Mass on Saturday last is now to be found here http://thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/.

Again, as at the Mass, I am struck by the candour and honesty. This man knows exactly what the situation is and gives the lie to those who say that London is outside of the orbit of Rome. Every word is heartwarming sense. Again I am very strongly struck with the fact that this man is a true pastor of souls.

It leaves one with a very strong impression that a plan is being deliberately and carefully set in motion to put things right. He refers to it as delicate work.

From my point of view there is no sense in suddenly mandating that Mass be said Ad Orientem or in Latin or according to the Extraordinary Form. Over and over I have come across commentators on the internet suggesting, demanding even, that this be done. How many good Catholics would this alienate?

(There is probably something in the fact that the Holy Father himself has lived through and indeed experienced two catastrophic tumults in his life, WWII and the aftermath of VII. We know that at the time of the council he was a reformer, and can only speculate the ways in which his views have changed since. His sharp observance of the effects of those changes and how they were put in place would seem to have made him very careful of repeating history.)

High Mass Downside Abbey June 21 at 11.00 am

There will be a High Mass, in the Extraordinary Form, in Downside Abbey on June 21st at 11.00a.m.

The sermon will be given by the Abbot of Downside.

For anyone planning to get to Downside from the Bath side, I've always found it takes me quite considerably longer than I had anticipated from looking on a map, due to the hilly countryside and long stretches of road with no overtaking and some speed restrictions. But it really is just a case of leaving an extra half hour or so. The Abbey is magnificently situated on the Foss Way, the ancient Roman Road running South from Bath, in the centre of Stratton-on-the-Fosse village and the great central tower of the Abbey Church reigns over the surrounding countryside.

If you have't done so already, there's still time to buy those train tickets.