Christ the King

The missa cantata yesterday afternoon was celebrated by Fr Hurley at Our Lady of Consolation West Grinstead for the feast of Christ the King. It was one of the most wonderful Masses I think I've ever assisted at.
It managed all at once to be profoundly intimate and mindblowingly cosmic.

The consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the end of Mass was moving, but the Christus vincit at the end of Mass had the hairs standing up on the back of my neck! The Seaford schola, led by Tom Haggar, provided the music, many thanks to them, and of course the exceedingly competent servers made everything go smoothly - well, you know they've done a great job when you don't notice them - no offence, boys!

Here's a taster of Christus vincit on youtube if you've not heard it before:




It was good to catch up after Mass over tea and flapjack, and to see Fr Goddard back on his feet.

All in all a pretty much perfect afternoon!

Masses for All Saints and All Souls

Countrywide Masses for these feasts can be found on pdf here and here.



Please don't forget that St Mary Magdalen, Brighton, has a Mass for the feast of All Souls, details here.

I love these two feasts (is there one she doesn't like?!)

Missa Cantata

Hi folks, there will be a Missa Cantata next Sunday, Feast of Christ the King, 25th October at 3.00pm, Our Lady of Consolation, West Grinstead.

High Mass

It occurred to me when I was at Arundel on Sunday, that it was only the fourth (or is it fifth?) High Mass I've ever been to. If you think Low Masses are a bit thin on the ground, High Masses are even thinner.

So when I opened an email from Mike this morning, it was a bit of a godsend, because he'd sent me this link to a youtube video of High Mass. So for any of you out there who haven't yet experienced the wonder and solemnity and joy of a High Mass here's one to watch. Thanks Mike!

Arundel Cathedral

On Sunday afternoon, still buzzing from the visit to Aylesford, we drove all the way to Arundel for High Mass celebrated by Fr Sean Finnegan, Deacon Revd Alcuin Reid, and Subdeacon Revd Richard Edwards. Dominic Scarborough was the MC.

There was a good turn out. As there was no Mass at West Grinstead because of the cathedral Mass, a few of the regulars from Our Lady of Consolation were there, as well as spouses and families of the servers and choir which came from St Thomas More, Seaford, led by Tom Haggar.

It was also great fun to put some faces to very familiar names afterwards, and then have a really good chat in the pub!

Thanks to everyone who came!

At Aylesford

I'd been looking forward very much to making our trip to venerate the relics of St Thérèse, and we got to Aylesford just after three, and saw this the queue snaking across the grass from the car park, so we joined it...



...and it went on...




...and on...



...and on...



...until we got to the queue which began at the Rosary walk...



...and on it went, past a booth where you could reflect on the childhood of St Thérèse...



...and on...



...to another booth, with photos of the Saint as a Carmelite...



...and on...



...to the last booth,with more photographs of St Thérèse...



...and the last leg...



...almost there!



And here we are.



I never know what to say when I'm put on the spot, and in spite of thinking long and hard before hand, I found being in the chapel a bit overwhelming. So I didn't manage to say all the things I wanted to, although I did get these two wobbly photos.




What's wonderful is that there were so many people there, so many families, so many nationalities, everybody was having such a brilliant time! Over two and a half hours in a queue? So what? I only wish I could do it again.

What a weekend!

Saturday was Aylesford and St Thérèse, today was High Mass at Arundel Cathedral. Wow, what a weekend! I'll put up pics and comments tomorrow, but right now I'm slightly fatigued.

Just in from Clare

St Mary Magdalen's, Brighton has a Missa Solemnis at 7.30pm for the Feast of All Souls. It will feature music from Faure' s Requiem, Stanford, Victoria and lots of wonderful chant.

Please try and make it!


Clare: Are you going to Arundel this weekend?

Rights and Dignity

There is a petition from C-Fam, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute calling for the UN to support the Rights and Dignity
of the Human Person and the Family, specifically these points:

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person (Article 3)

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family (Article 16).

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State (Article 16).

Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance (Article 25).

Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children (Article 26).

So, please click here and add your name to the half a million already there, all these rights are being eroded. Thanks to Mike Telford for letting me know about the petition.

This is good

Whilst up in the metropolis on Saturday, DH spotted this in St Pauls bookshop and bought a copy. It's a fab little book in comic format, called 'Know Your Mass', a reprint of a book from the mid 50s. If you ever come across it, have a browse through. It's great for kids.

Don't forget...

...Arundel on Sunday.

Not that I'm a nag, you understand.

Leaving a comment

If anyone wants to leave a comment, but isn't too familiar with how to do it, here's a bit of help.

Click first on the word 'COMMENTS' at the bottom of the relevant post, don't click on the envelope, that's for email.

If you are looking at a specific post rather than the blog in general, follow the link below the post that says 'Post a Comment'.

Once you've clicked on 'COMMENTS' or 'Post a Comment', a combox should appear on your screen. If there are already comments, scroll to the bottom, or click on the link at the top that says 'jump to comment form' to get to where you type the message.

When you've had your say, you are required to type a series of seriously random letters into a 'WORD VERIFICATION ' box to prove you're not a robot.

Then it's time to 'choose an identity'.

The simplest way to continue, is to click on 'Name/URL'.

Type your name (or pseudonym if you're shy or hiding) in the 'Name' box and IGNORE the 'URL' box, it's optional.

Then you can 'PREVIEW' your comment if you want to.

If you're happy, click 'PUBLISH' and it'll end up ready for me to read in comment moderation, and I can put it up when I've read it.

Countdown to Arundel 2009

Yes, there's a week to go. I mentioned the Solemn Mass at Arundel Cathedral a while ago, and here's the reminder, Solemn Mass on Sunday 11 October at 3.00pm. Fr Finnegan is the celebrant.

There is no Mass at Our Lady of Consolation next Sunday, so please everyone, try and get to the Cathedral, even though I know it's one heck of a haul, not being situated in the most accessible spot if you're in the north and east of the Diocese. It'd be great to have a good turn out.

For drivers, here's a google map. Now the parking isn't special, but there is a pay and display in Mill Road, near the castle, and you might be lucky with on road parking.

See you there!