De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

From Patrick Coffin : As the Irish used to put it, “it’s the Mass that matters.” The holy sacrifice of the Mass is the “source and summit of the Christian life” according to Vatican II. In the short years following the Council, the reformation of the Mass, replacing the pre-1962 Missal with the Mass of Paul VI (aka the Novus Ordo Missae ), has unfortunately led to what amounts to a two-track Church. The 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum by Pope Benedict XVI lifted the need for episcopal permission to celebrate the Extraordinary Form (the Traditional Latin Mass) so any priest could celebrate it. This in turn led to a resurgent interest in the Mass that nurtured saints and sinners alike for over 500 years. Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, OR, taught himself how to say the Latin Mass, and has nuggets of wisdom as to why the Church benefits from its celebration and the sense of balance needed to avoid extremist attitudes. He’s also an expert in sacred music, which is a...

On Saturday morning, Mike & I jumped on a train and headed into London to attend the first Mass of Fr. Ian Verrier FSSP . I asked Mike a couple of days ago if he fancied joining me and he jumped at the chance. Will had another commitment & Louise & I decided it would probably be more sensible to leave her back at the ranch with John & Mary. Mike was Confirmed in St. James' by Archbishop George Stack, about five years ago and he hasn't been back since. He loves the EF and was eager to have an opportunity to be at Mass and in a place with some history for him. Father Ian is a newly ordained Priest of the Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri — The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. They are a Clerical Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical right, that is, a community of Roman Catholic priests who do not take religious vows, but who work together for a common mission in the world. The mission of the Fraternity is two-fold: first, the formation and...

Alternatively, and somewhat bewilderdly entitled Why is the EF so Hated? Look at this flagrant display of Catholic worship- how awful! Tear it down!! (Picture by Mulier Fortis). Looking at CC Father's restrained and thoughtful breakdown of the recent sad events at Blackfen, it really is hard to see what exactly is behind what has happened. Is Fr. Steven acting unilaterally or is this a strategy from above? If so, what on earth are the powers that be thinking? One things is for sure, Fr. Steven's actions are very, very odd. Just a few years ago Fr Steven Fisher was the hero of the Latin Mass Society. And he denounced the cowardice of his Diocese in changing the terms of reference of the Catholic Children's Society to accommodate gay/lesbian adoptions. It was also reported on Forest Murmers that he argued against the censorship of priest-bloggers on his own blog. But now his blog has closed. He was in his previous parish for just two years and has not been r...

Fr. Kevin Hale saying Mass at the Altar of Our Lady. Dr. Joseph Shaw has a really fascinating post on his blog from yesterday. It is entitled The Old Mass and the Workers and immediately caught my attention in the first paragraph with the sentence: "the working class were betrayed by the changes to the liturgy, spirituality, and what we might call the general orientation of the Church, following the Second Vatican Council." In our post Vatican II world, it seems to me (and I am happy to be corrected if this is not the case) many consider that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is elitist, and EF Masses are populated by snobs and intellectuals who like to pretend they know more about being Catholic than the rest of us. Despite this common perception, my personal experience was very different. Attending my first EF Mass, I found that it was a broad spectrum of people who simply took their faith seriously. I have felt similarly comfortable at all subsequent eve...

Revd. Dominic O'Toole CSsR celebrates the Usus Antiquior There is a wonderful little video here which I think speaks to the heart of the experience of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. I first discovered this only a few years ago, when my Parish Priest began saying it, once a month, in our Church. I was very interested to see it, at first as some sort of historical curiosity I think; because, born in the seventies, I had never experienced the Mass my Mother spoke about growing up with. The Mass which my fore-bearers experienced. My initial reaction was one of almost complete confusion, although I was struck by how much more reverent it was. I was fascinated, and wanted to go back to better understand this part of our history. I found that the music was certainly something I enjoyed. I picked up the Latin really quickly and started to prefer it, to feel more at home with it, more connected to the history of my faith. Now I go whenever it is available...

Fr. Dominic O'Toole CSsR, Parish Priest at the beautiful church of St. Mary's , Clapham, is one of my dearest friends and God Father to my third son John Joseph. Regular readers may recall that he recently celebrated his first Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite ; the Usus Antiquior , Tridentine or 1962 Missal. With the help of my mendacious friend, Ben Travato , I put together some questions about the experience which I thought you, dear reader, might find to your delight and erudition: Me: How did you come up with this idea to celebrate the anniversary by saying the EF Mass? Fr. Dom: We were wondering how to mark our 160th anniversary in a special way. Someone suggested the idea to me, I thought about it, and spoke to the Parish Council about it. They were supportive of the idea. Me: How did you set about learning to say the EF? Who helped you and what was your experience? Fr. Dom: Fr Andrew Southwell, the former Chaplain to LMS, ministered in ...

There are some great pictures over at the New Liturgical Movement website of the beautiful solemn High Mass said by Father Dominic O'Toole C.Ss.R., at Clapham on Saturday to mark the 160th anniversary of the church's consecration as I informed you in my post of 3rd October : Fr. Dominic was assisted by Fr. Peter Gee and Br. Gerry Carroll, C.Ss.R. Music was provided by the St. George's Cathedral Choir, Southwark, under the direction of Nick Gale.  I was a bit worried he'd nicked the curtains to fashion a suitable chasuble, but it does all seem to have been very colour coordinated. I did speak to Fr. Dominic on Sunday afternoon, as I was scrambling from the back of a mini-bus in Westport as part of my cousin's stag party, so I didn't get much of an opportunity to find out how it went. I look forward to sharing a full report with you in due course!

St. Mary's from Clapham Park Road. Fr. Dominic O'Toole is Parish Priest at the beautiful St. Mary's Clapham , the foundation stone of which was laid in 1849. The church was designed in a Gothic style by William Wardell and was solemnly opened and blessed by Cardinal Wiseman on May 14th 1851 during a service beginning at 5.30am to avoid local unrest due to the growing influence of what was deemed the menace of Roman Popery! Fr. Dominic is one of my dearest friends and I have been deeply privileged to have been invited to his first and, some years later, his final profession and his ordination by Cardinal Keith O'Brien. Dominic is God Father to my son John and is the person I have to thank for encouraging me and supporting me to study the faith at Maryvale . On Saturday 13th October 2012, Fr. Dominic is going to say a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form, with some beautiful music, to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the consecration of the Church. ...