Congratulations to Bishop Robert Byrne

I was quite sure what Pope Francis was saying about the appointment of new Bishops, he wants them to be pastors and evangelists, to go out to the peripheries, to care for the poor, to be sons of the Church etc. etc. etc.

Well, I didn't expect the appointment of  Fr Robert but actually he is precisely what the Holy Father has been calling for.
I remember going for the first time to St Aloysius, Oxford, what is now to Oxford Oratory 25 years ago, it was in the hands of the Jesuits, it was unloved and was obviously failing. The congregation was quite tiny, then a year later Fr Byrne arrived from Birmingham with a few Oratorians and gradually, well actually rather quickly the Oratory became an important player in the life of the city of Oxford. The Oratory was unapologetically Catholic, the liturgy was careful and precise, the preaching clear and demanding, Oratorians in their habits were seen on the streets of Oxford, not only that there were processions in the streets, the church filled, people came.
The Oratory itself grew like topsy and vocations came and the big headache became space for more Oratorians. Oxford Oratory is a success, now it has a daughter, York Oratory.
I am pleased the new Bishop has had lots of parish experience and has spent time as prison chaplain, as well as hours in the Confessional and celebrates happily both forms of the Roman Rite.

Fr Robert Byrne - Auxiliary Bishop-elect for the Archdiocese of Birmingham from Catholic Church (England/Wales) on Vimeo.

Sons and Brothers

Several people have asked me about the silencing of 'Protect the Pope'. I have no inside knowledge and I must confess that I haven't kept up with all Deacon Nick's posts of late.

However, what does concern me greatly is that an issue between a deacon and his bishop is placed in the public forum. Again, I don't know who is to blame for this, but it seems unfortunate and contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. The relationship between any cleric and his bishop should be that of father and son, it is certainly not one of employer and employee or master and servant, and what goes on in that relationship should not appear in the gossip columns of the Tablet which appears to have inside information.

All relationships within the Church are based on charity, it is the bond that holds the Church together, it is the bond that unites the bishop and his clergy under Christ. Pope Francis has spoken of a priest smelling of his sheep, well a bishop should positively reek of his priests and deacons.

This year I hope Pope Francis rather than being photographed washing the feet of those 'on the peripheries' gets down on his hands and knees to wash the feet of the priests and deacons of the diocese of Rome who should be at the very centre of his pastoral concern. It is an important sign for the world's bishops, it is sign not of a renaissance prince, who were much given to public footwashing, replete with rosewater and nosegays, but of a servant-father.

The Bishop is above all the 'Father in God' of his clergy, it is a great scandal if he cannot find time to spend visiting and caring for them, not just because he has a function to perform in the parish but because he actually has a deep love for his priests and deacons. It is obviously a scandal if he does not show love for the elderly, the tired, the mad and the plain bad or even the irritating. If they are sick or dying, or in trouble, yes even in prison, above all clergy in trouble, even those who make trouble for their bishop, should be his chief pastoral concern.

I really do welcome Pope Francis' demand that bishops should above all be Pastors. The Pope is an excellent example of a caring Pastor, who as Archbishop took into his apartment an elderly priest to cook for, care for and eventually nurse, apparently he would do the same in parishes of his diocese for other sick priests. The Vatican Council reminds us of the Bishop's role as the exemplary pastor, and no-one needs more pastoring than the 'co-workers' of the Bishop, his priests and deacons.

I am sure that one of the fall outs of the clerical abuse scandals is that Bishops started to see their clergy, not as sons, but as liabilities, who can cost their dioceses a great deal of money and do their own reputations a great deal of damage. It is easy for a bishop to retreat from them, to put a wall between them and himself but the model we are confronted with is the easy relationship of Jesus and his apostles.


When a bishop complains publicly about members of his clergy, especially in the religious or even secular media, he is behaving in a way that would be unacceptable amongst secular employers, their employees have legislation, unions and tribunals to look after them, the clergy do not. There are many things which clergy endure that would be unacceptable 'in the world' but seem quite acceptable in the Church. The feudal relationship between a Bishop and his clergy means that a priest is entirely in the Bishop's hands, if he is petty enough  he can send a young priest to a curate-breaker or move an older priest away from a place where he has put down roots and is surrounded by friends, if he likes a priest he can appoint him to a wealthy comfortable parish or if he dislikes him or disagrees with him he can do the opposite, or else he can brief against him or deal harshly and cruelly with him or just ignore him.

There is a story about Archbishop Amigo, the legendary Archbishop of Southwark, sending a troublesome priest off to be a military chaplain during one of the World Wars, with the words, '... and I hope you get shot', but then I have heard stories from Liverpool priests of being visited by the dying Archbishop Worlock, too weak even to get out of the back of his car but concerned enough to visit his sons. In a age when priests often complain their letters go unanswered by their bishops, I remember being told at the beginning of his ministry in Westminster that Cardinal Hume told his clergy they were his principle concern and giving his personal telephone out to them, telling them to ring him night or day if the needed to talk. When he was my Bishop, I was always touched by Corrmac Murphy O'Connor's kindness, he always found time for his sick and dying clergy. When, with his agreement, I went off to try my vocation as a monk he simply came to make a retreat and spend time with me, it was a deeply appreciated gesture by a concerned father, who in the diocese of Arundel and Brighton was a kind and caring pastor.

Pray for Bishops who find fatherhood difficult.

Happy St Patrick's Day

I have never been too comfortable with the shamrock as a way of teaching the Trinity, I suspect it is not really from St Patrick but is an illustration of his desire to teach true dogma.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Revealing bones and sinews

Those of you 'traddies' following a traddie Lent have probably already got boils, mouth ulcers, headaches, possibly migraine, at the very least have a constant sense of giddiness are maybe having difficulty focussing whilst saying the office or Mass, and all the time there is that constant sense of hunger, you are tired all the time and your limbs are heavy and you tend to pick up any illness that is going the rounds. You become tetchy and irritable.

Fr Z had a fascinating post presenting the regulations for Lent from an American diocese of 1873, it is severe but several things are mitigations (was quite normal in the pre-Concilliar Church), dairy products are allowed and meat is permitted not just on Sundays but Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

In some places Lent was even more severe, without the mitigations. The severity ended generally in the Church with the Second World War, when no food was available for feasts, fasting made little sense. I remember an Italian women telling me of children going on a wartime hunt for cats for the Easter breakfast but all the cats in the village had already been eaten! Severe fasting made soldiers useless for fighting and labourers useless for heavy labour.

Patristic and medieval writers speak of 'subduing the flesh' with fasting, suggesting that fasting was severe enough that that it lowered the libido. Therefore Dante places certain sexual sinners in the same circle of hell as gluttons.

Coptic friends boast of their 210 fast days a year and I am told that McDonalds in Athens faced financial disaster in Lent until they came up with the McLent Bean Burger.

Fasting and corporal penance were very much part of 'the Tradition', it was seen as offering great spiritual advantages not only for the individual Christian but for the Church as a whole. Fasting lays bare the bones and sinews of the soul.

God is Not a Public Meeting

I don't do flowery words when I pray, a simple plea. "Have Mercy!", "Give him her/strength", "Forgive me", "Heal them", "Be with them", I think it is enough, the Lord knows better than me what I want, or better still what I or anyone else needs. Perfect prayer is saying and meaning,"Into your hands ...", "Thy will be done ...", "Be it done to me according thy word", that is 'holiness', perfect 'communion'.

I hate praying with Protestant clergy or Catholic charismatics who go on for hours as if God needs a lecture. God is not daft, yes sometimes it is necessary to reason through our prayers, sometimes to actually remind oneself of what has already done. Repetition in prayer is good but God actually hears the first time, the repetition, is any words are about us touching base with God, not the like the priests of Baal trying to attract God's attention.
If I am talking to God to there is reason why anyone else should overhear, unless one is in a sense trying to teach through one's prayer as Jesus does in S John's Gospel. What we call prayer is above all about placing ourselves in God's. It is worth asking why S Paul can identify the number of times he has prayed to be delivered from his 'thorn in the flesh'. I am always struck that in the Divine Office there are a whole series of Collects but psalms, canticles and hymns which praise God reminding us of his goodness followed by the Pater and then a single collect. The life of a monk or nun is not spent in endless cries of "God help Mabel ..." but simple an attempt to dwell in God's presence and to contemplate his beauty. Actual prayer in the Catholic Tradition is short and to the point.

Joe Shaw has an interesting post on the silent Canon, I must say I ask myself what purpose is there in its being said aloud has, except to turn the most sacred prayer of the Mass into a time to edify the the people who are for the most part not edified but distracted or bored by it and to turn the priest into someone responsible for engaging the faithful with not very exciting material, when he should be engaged with God, (if prayers real function is about God and communion with him). In the Canon I speak to God on behalf of the whole Church, not to edify anyone.

I really am at a loss to know why we do it aloud, when it is said silently the people can get on with their chief function as a holy, priestly people, and intercede, bringing the world to the altar, joining Christ his great work of atonement and communion.

Queen Victoria complained Gladstone addressed her as though she were a public meeting, the relationship of the priest with God at Mass is the intimate relationship of Son with the Father, whispering an eternal "Abba".

Lent in a mug

 This Lent I shall be drinking my black coffee, or even sipping my gruel from a mug like this, courtesy of Richard Collins.

Thank you Richard a very welcome pre-Lent gift.

Gruel recipe from an 19th Century Workhouse
1lb of oatmeal
1 gallon of water
a little salt
Mix the oatmeal with a little cold water to make a paste
Put the rest of the water in a pan
Add the mixture and boil for 10 minutes
Add the salt 

Ideal for Lenten parish parties. On feast days a chopped carrot, turnip or even both maybe added but be careful of undue luxury and self indulgence! The unmortified have been known to even add an onion; such wanton extravagance!

Ashes and Annointings

I have been having inter-net problems! Sorry for not being in touch recently.


Yesterday I burnt last years palms for this years ashes. The symbolism is about triumph turned into tragedy, or outward vanities salted by fire. It is worth meditating on the ashes of the palms. They are are imprecise symbol as all good symbols should be. What is turned to ashes? Is it the popular understanding of the Kingdom, the one the disciples had, the one that solicited the cries of 'Hosanna' that would soon be replaced by 'Crucify him'.
We begin Lent with ashes but the Paschal Mystery actually ends with the coming of the fire of Pentecost, is the ash of Lent supposed to remind us of how we reduce his Divine gifts of the Spirit. It is what we are without Christ.

The name 'Christ' means anointed, when left to us the 'new man' made by God becomes primal dust and ash: which is really what man is without the breath of God. Ash is the symbol of non-Christ or even 'anti-Christ. A symbol of coldness and the dead, of mourners.

It is significant that the place where we were Chrismated is the place where we are 'ashed'. There is that statue of a presumably pagan soldier with a cross branded or cut into his forehead as a sign of his imperial 'sacramentum' or oath to to the Emperor, if the ashes are applied in that 'traddie' form of a cross on the forehead, it reminds us of how we have transformed the graces we received at Confirmation when we were anointed there is turned into the emptiness of dust and ashes, which when left to us, is what happens to the sacred anointing.
In Christian coronation rites, the crown is only important in so far as it demonstrates the outward sign of the quasi-sacramental act of the anointing of the head, it is an anointing similar to that given at baptism, which symbolises our becoming priest, prophet and king, without grace even that becomes ash, the burnt out vestige of Divine Grace.

Pancakes and Excess

I suppose if we took Lent seriously we would need a period before hand just to empty the larder and to plot and plan our Lenten penance as well as our spiritual growth towards the Paschal Mystery, rather than just giving up chocolate or sugar or saying an extra decade. For our forefathers Lent meant getting rid of a great deal of the preserved food that had been put aside for the winter and was likely to go to waste as the weather suddenly warmed; all those preserved meat products, and not just bacon and preserved foods but also cheese and dairy products. It was literally a time for saying carne vale, farewell to meat.
It was a period of conspicuous consumption of which our English pancakes and 'Shrove Tuesday' are just the flat remnant, I don't know if pancakes were originally filled with all types of good things or if they really resembled a Spanish omelet. We know from the records of Italian cities but also from English documentation that this pre-Lent season involved a great deal of partying, music, theatre, street entertainment. I remember reading an account of the huge difference between Carnival and Lent recounted by 18th century traveller to Venice, partying, drunkenness and gaiety one day, sombre sobriety from Ash Wednesday onwards.

Septuagessima, was a way in the Church hauled up the violet banner, saying 'now is the time to begin to get ready, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you fast'. The Church seems everywhere to have opposed the excesses of Septuagessima, until under Bunini it itself was abolished, in a characteristic gesture.

Its proper character is perhaps revealed in the English name 'Shrovetide' the when people went to Confession before Lent so that they might keep this Holy Season in a state of Grace.

Follower of Fashion

Esquire Magazine, not a regular read, voted Pope Francis the best dressed man of 2013. For those outside or edge of the edge of the Church he will most probably be remembered for what he wore, Benedict of course wore the same thing but then of course he was, 'the leering old man in a dress".

In his 'sound bite' style the Pope recently described young followers of the Traditional Mass as followers of fashion. I was amused by Ches's take on this, I am not quite sure that you can describe something which has been in existence since at lest the time of Gregory the Great until it seemed to be swept away in1968 as a 'fashion'. I am tempted to think what we have at the moment is the 'fashion', and even that is changing rapidly. I remember young Jesuits of Pope Francis' vintage celebrating Mass on coffee tables with pottery chalices, they left the 'Js' and the priesthood,  most of them are now unhappily married and if they remained in contact with the Church are scheming away to overturn the teaching of the Church, that was fashion! They came out of time when the 'fashion' was to denigrate anything smacked of either tradition (or Tradition); it was the time when destruction was fashionable, everything from town centres to the family was up for grabs.

The Pope seems to surround himself not just with endless consultative companies, Ernst Young et al but also people like Cardinals Maradiaga and Hummes who one really expects to appear wearing flared trousers and paisley shirts.
The real question  is: who is a follower of fashion, the Pope or young people?
Already we have witnessed the persecution of the highly unfashionable and successful Franciscans of the Immaculate.

I agree with Abp Nichol

I agree with Archbishop Nichols in his statement about the plight of the poor, he is to be commended.

Our parish is facing financial difficulties, there has been a serious drop in income over the last few months, it is all too noticeable people have less to give. For many poor people the choice is often between eating or heating. Many of my parishioners have real fears of debt, rent arrears and homelessness Mothers go without so their children can eat.

There are psychological effects; depression, a sense of hopelessness that comes from poverty. Some people, a very few, are masters of the social security system and know precisely what their rights are and how to get them but others simply give up, having neither the inclination to jump through the  hoops set up for them, nor the disposition to cope with the investigation, interrogation, suspicion and possible rejection.

Recently I have been meeting parents who are terrified that there poverty is placing their children in a situation where they fear their children are likely to be taken into care

Too Much Information

I am becoming and Ockhamist! Simplicity, that surely must be the name of the game in the future, move away  from baroque or rococo complexity to the essentials! The trouble with both is that there is just too much information. In a great baroque or rococo house or Church I am left with an overall impression, unless I latch on to a detail, like a winsome cherub or fecund cornucopia.

I was talking to some 8/9 year olds recently about Mass: what did we do at it? The answer, 'we listen to stories about Jesus', ';we gather together', 'we love one another'. After a bit of pressing, 'we pray', it took some digging, some pushing to get to, 'we receive Communion'. We never quite got to a clear understanding of the distinction between gathering for prayers in class, at school, or family prayers and Mass. In fact the dominant idea was that 'we listen to stories about Jesus'. So my next question: what if the readings were in a language you couldn't understand? Slowly we began to get to the idea that Mass was a meeting with God, through Jesus.

+++

Some friends, good Catholic parents, with a good Catholic brood, five under 12s spoke to me a few weeks about their new discovery that makes Sunday less than hellish.
Mary, not her real name, had been a mum who took charge of 'Children's Liturgy' in her parish; taking children out at the beginning if Mass, telling them a Gospel story, then doing some 'colouring in' and bringing them back into Mass. Dad, Jim, not his real name, stayed in the Church with the older ones, trying to keep them quiet, bribing or threatening them, even giving them the occasional bag of crisps, or slightly quieter sweets. For both of them Sunday Mass was far from prayerful. Jim used to sneak off to Mass during the week. I don't think non-parents realise how difficult just bringing smaller children to Mass can be.
Well their new discovery, after a short period of Sunday Mass lapsation, was 'trad Mass'. A friend had a serious conversation with them, suggesting that taking children out during Mass might actually be suggesting to the children 'it was beyond them', in the same way bringing food or toys or 'additional colouring in' was suggesting that children shouldn't or can't participate.
Now, the children begin preparation for Mass during the week before, they make lists of people to pray for or about at the Sunday Mass, they either write or draw them, the older ones watch the news.
Mary and Jim say it is easier to explain to their children about the 'trad' Mass, 'I simply tell them that at Mass God comes down to us and we raise our minds, and everyone we know, to God in prayer. 'They seem to understand that.

+++

I have been reflecting on this, and my experience here where at the Traditional Mass children seem to pray, even younger children, whereas at the Ordinary Form Mass parents seem to be at their wits end. I am sure that it is not as simple as TLM = good children, OF Mass = fraught parents. It could be something to do with preparation of children, diet even, the signs parents give, or even possibly that at the OF Mass congregations are larger and children less able to see, whereas at the TLM children can see, and at low Mass the prevailing mood is one of silence.

I think it is probably easier to explain to someone who has never been to Mass what to do at the TLM rather than Ordinary Form, one you can do in broad brush times, the other you have to do on detail. I wonder which form of Mass is easier to approach for someone who is almost completely un-Churched, or someone who comes from a culture where the written word is not the norm, or where the sound-bite, or the gesture, rather than the discourse is the norm.

The new -accurate- translations of the Mass have lead me to a new appreciate of the work of Abp Bugnini and his followers, the vernacularisers who wanted everyone, even a child or the un-Churched or the worker to have the same advantages as a Latin literate cleric or theologian. The problem is that today's readings, for example: why Solomon lost God's favour and Jesus' encounter with the Syro-Phoenecian woman, would go completely over their heads. There is too much detail to the point where even the basic message is lost.

I think this raises some questions about evangelisation, about the loss of faith and practice. Why have the great expectations of Vatican II come to naught? Why have so many given up on the practice of the faith?
Why do so many have so little knowledge of the faith? Why is it that families who have been faithful for a thousand years in this generation no longer practice?
Why do children after 10 years of Catholic formation invariably lapse? Why do the same children have little idea of Catholic practice or belief.

Pray for Paul, Now and At the Hour of His Death

 Tonight Paul, who looks a little like St Paul, came to the door asking for absolution, Normally he comes asking for a few pounds or sees me in town and asks for my blessing, something few of my parishioners ask for. Now, he has lost control of both his bladder and bowels, he is convinced he is dying, he is an alcoholic, he tells me he has sclerosis of the liver. He wanted me to pray he would go to heaven and go soon. He asked me to say that prayer which he couldn't remember but it had, 'pray for me now and the hour of my death'. I told him all that was necessary that he should say the words he remembered, with as much faith as he had.

I went into church for Exposition, he was kneeling there in the pew alongside Ann one of our parishioners. Even on the sanctuary, even with the incense, it was possible to smell his breath, he stayed there kneeling for about half an hour, got up and went to kneel on the sanctuary steps before the Blessed Sacrament where I had knelt, he got up and helped by Ann left as silently as he had prayed, going back to a shop doorway where he normally spends the night.

Pray for him that his prayer might be answered soon and that those words, "pray for me now and at the hour of my death", may indeed gain him heaven.

And give thanks that this priest was able to glimpse the great beauty of the faith of this poor man.

Our Lady, Destroyer of All Heresies

Here is sermon by Fr Marcus Holden, the illustrious Parish Priest of St Augustine's Ramsgate, The sermon is splendid, the sound quality is bit difficult but struggle with it, it is well worth it.
Perhaps in this time when many feel called action, Fr Holden issues a call to faith, Our Lady's great call to us too.

Candles and Candlemas

I get annoyed when candles I have taken a great deal of effort to bless, that are supposed to be an icon of Christ and symbolise our wisdom and burning faith are just left in the pews or at the back of Church, especially as we hand out rather expensive 'altar' candles rather cheap little votive ones.

The problem is of course that Candlemas is a not very important feast in the present liturgy, which in our electrified times is not surprising, candles are not really necessary in church today and no-one spends most of winter making them.

Dr Rock that great nineteenth century Southwark priest, antiquarian and one of the founders of the V&A, makes a point somewhere of the disastrous impact of the Protestant Reformation on bee-keepers. Before the Reformation they were concerned more about the wax than the honey. He tells of great Paschal candles weighing several hundred-weight that that were kept alight from Easter to Ascension, they were so tall that they had to be lit from clerestory.

Wills often contained bequests for candles to be lit before images and shrines, the kings candle burnt at Walsingham, its extinction marked the end of Catholic England, just the same as Bloody Bess' command to the monks of Westminster when they met her on her accession at the Abbey door said, 'Gentlemen, we have day-light enough, there is no need for your lights', gave a clear indication of what was to come.

The use of candles at the Easter Vigil seems to undermine this feast, or at least duplicate one of its important rites but of course in more ancient times, the candle blessed at Candlemas would have been used at the Vigil which occurred on Holy Saturday morning, as well as practically every other procession people took part in, the most important of course, or at least the one most people connected with, was the procession of the dead from the Church to the cemetery after their Requiem as well as either greeting or being part the procession that would accompany the priest bringing Viaticum. The reception therefore of the candle at Candlemas was a sort of ticket to take part in other religious rites.