The purpose of this blog is to provide an open forum for discussion of the aims of the society; news from the wider Church and details of Masses and events of interest in the diocese. The Latin Mass Society in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough expresses its full filial devotion and loyalty to Holy Mother Church, Pope Francis and Bishop Drainey.



REGULAR TRADITIONAL MASSES IN THE DIOCESE OF MIDDLESBROUGH

12 Noon. Every Sunday Missa Cantata
York Oratory (
Church of St Wilfrid)
Duncombe Place, York. YO1 7EF

8:15am Monday-Friday
9:15am Saturday

Feast Days (as advertised) usually at 6pm.

Church of St Andrew, Fabian Road, Teesville. TS6 9BA

3pm Sunday.

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Peter Chanel
119 Cottingham Road, Hull. HU5 2DH
7.30pm Every Thursday. Low Mass.

VESPERS AND BENEDICTION

4pm. Every Sunday
York Oratory (
Church of St Wilfrid)
Duncombe Place, York. YO1 7EF

Compline and Vespers (as advertised)
(see link to the Rudgate Singers Calendar below)
St Mary's Church, Bishophill Junior. YO1 6EN


27 March 2013

Easter Triduum

The Easter Triduum will be celebrated in the full traditional form at Notre Dame Chapel, Leeds University Chaplaincy, St Marks Avenue, Leeds.

7.30pm          Maunday Thursday        Mass of the Last Supper
3pm               Good Friday                  Liturgy of the Passion
7.30pm          Holy Saturday                Easter Vigil and Mass

There is convenient parking outside the chaplaincy, which is just to the north of the city centre.

26 March 2013

A Recommendation

In recent years, I have followed many blogs.  I find with most of them that they may include very interesting information for a while, and then tail off.  One that I have found to be consistently good for a long time now is Protect the Pope.  It contains original and well researched material which is always presented concisely.

I recommend it to you.

22 March 2013

Priest and Server Training

So far, nine priests, one  transitional deacon, one prospective permanent deacon and fourteen laymen have booked in to join the training conference that will take place from 8th to 12th April at Ratcliffe college in Leicestershire.  In addition, there will be in attendence seven tutors, five of whom will be priests, and a choir of about sixteen.  That is a total of forty eight and bookings are still coming in.

On the opening day, the transferred feast of the Annunciation, Bishop Malcolm McMahon will be celebrating a pontifical solemn Mass.  On subsequent days, there will be a sung Mass at 11am. There will also be daily lauds, vespers and compline.

The music is being provided by the Rudgate Singers and will include both plainsong and polyphony.

16 March 2013

Just for the Sake of Comparison

On 16th March 2012, Rowan Williams announced his intention to retire as Archbishop of Canterbury, the retirement taking efect 290 days later on 31st December.  On 4th February 2013, Justin Welby took up office as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and will be enthroned on 21st March.  The whole process from the announcement of retirement to enthronement of the new Archbishop will take a total of 370 days.

Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement on 11th February 2013 and retired on 28th February.  Pope Francis was elected 13 days later and will be enthroned on on 19th March, the whole process taking 36 days.

So the complete sequence of events from resignation to enthronement takes more than 10 times as long in the Church of England as it does with the Roman Church.  This difference is also marked if one compares the time from resignation to enthronement.  In the Roman case, it has taken 13 days compared with 80 days in the Church of England.

There is much in the press about the need for reform in the Roman Curia; but, when it comes to organising elections, they seem to be pretty slick.

13 March 2013

Habemus Papam

Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio from Buenes Aires is now Pope Francis I.

God bless our Pope.

11 March 2013

Consultation over York Parishes

The Diocese of Middlesbrough has engaged the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University to conduct consultation about the future shape of parishes in York.  The diocese forsees that the number of priests serving the Catholic population of York may have to reduce to four, or possibly three, and is considering how these can best be deployed.

One aspect of this is the affect of any proposed reorganisation is the affect on the provision of Latin Masses in the city.   I understand that Bishop Drainey wishes these Masses to continue, for which we must be grateful.  However, with a declining number of priests, the bishop is going to find this increasingly difficult.

The solution that I would advocate is to invite one of the Societies of Apostolic Life that specialises in training priests to celebrate Mass in the older form, to establish a base in the city.  I am talking of either the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest or the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter.  Both these societies  are continuing to attract good numbers of vocations and are esxpanding.  They would, of course, require the use of a presbytery and of one of the churches in York.  With fewer diocesan priests, this should be possible.

Any readers with an interest in the provision of Latin Masses in York are invited to send their thoughts to Dr Kath Smith who is conducting the consultation.

The contact details are:-
Dr Kath Smith
Centre for Catholic Studies
Durham University.

E-Mail       k.m.smith@durham.ac.uk

Please ensure that your comments are headed:

YORK PARISHES CONSULTATION RESPONSE.

07 March 2013

Progress in Westminster Diocese

The Latin Mass Society has announced that regular weekly Masses in the Extraordinary Form are to be offered at two new venues in the Westminster Archdiocese.  These are the Church of St Bartholomew in St Albans, and the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Willesden in north west London.

In both cases, the parish priest is having to learn to celebrate Mass in the older form, so it may be a few months before these Masses begin. 

These two iniatives in the Westminster Archdiocese have come about following a series of meetings at which the LMS has made representations to Bishop Hopes for better provision of  traditional Masses in the diocese.  Currently, Sunday Masses are offered in London at the Brompton Oratory and at Spanish Place, but there is no provision in the west or the north west of our capital city.  Hertfordshire, which is also part of the Westminster Diocese, has been having traditional Sunday Masses, although these have become problematical following the death of Fr Davernport, on whom much has depended.

Provision of Latin Masses in the Westminster Archdiocese, which is by far the biggest diocese in England and Wales, has been poor up to now, with none at all in the densely populated suburban areas.  The establishment of four centres where Sunday Masses will be offered regularly is a great improvement, although it will still compare unfavourably with the very much smaller Middlesbrough, where we have two. 



04 March 2013

BBC is Biassed

No doubt many readers have been infuriated by the coverage given by the BBC in recent days and weeks about the Catholic Church, the resignation of Pope Emeritus Benedict, the prospective conclave etc.  In my view, the reporting has been very biassed.  The BBC's religious affairs correspondent, Robert Pigott, has not only shown bias, but also ignorance about Catholic matters.  Perhaps even worse have been the features on the Today Programme and on Sunday, where they only seem to want to interview dissenters and critics of the Catholic Church.

I would urge anyone who feels strongly about this bias to make a formal complaint.  This can be done very easily through the BBC website.  By searching for BBC Complaints, the relevant page can be found easily, aqnd it is simplicity itself to file a complaint.  However, for a complaint to be noticed, it needs to be specific and you should quote the programme and its date, as well as stating the complaint clearly.

01 March 2013

Sede Vacante

Now that His Holiness the Pope Emeritus is safely at Castel Gandolfo, I am sure that all our readers would like to wish him a long, peaceful and happy retirement.  Many posts are being made on the internet and elsewhere that review the achievements and disappointments of his papacy.  Some include pictures of Benedict XVI at important occasions duting the last eight years.

The thing that has struck me about all these pictures is that, without exception, they show a smiling pope.  It seems that, despite all the difficulties that he has had to endure,  Benedict remained cheerful and serene throughout.  I, for one, would be very happy if this is how he is remembered.