(Published in
Mass of Ages, the quarterly magazine of the Latin Mass Society)
Autumn 2009Our regular Low Masses continue: on Sundays at 8am in the Oratory; Wednesdays at 6pm in SS Gregory & Augustine, Woodstock Road; and on Saturdays at 9.30am at St Birinus, Dorchester on Thames. Numbers at the Sunday Mass continue to increase, which is very encouraging. At the time of writing the relics of St Therese are on their way to Oxford, and will be honoured with a special Sung Mass in the Oratory.
There are a number of special Sung Masses coming up. The Oxford Pilgrimage is on Saturday 24th, with Solemn Mass at Blackfriars (in St Giles, in the centre of Oxford) at 11am followed by a procession and Benediction, in honour of the Catholics martyred in Oxford in 1589. For the first time the celebrant will be a Dominican, Fr Simon Gaine, the Prior.
The next two First Fridays at 6pm in SS Gregory & Augustine will be Sung. There will be a Sung Mass for All Souls (2nd November) at 12.15 in the Oratory. The series of occasional Traditional Sung Masses on Sundays at SS Gregory & Augustine will continue on Remembrance Sunday (8th November) at 10.30am. There will be a Sung Mass on Saturday 21st November (Presentation of Our Lady) in St Anthony of Padua (another first) at 11am, and the following Saturday a Sung Requiem in Milton Manor for the late Michael Eyston, also at 11am. I am grateful to the University-based
Schola Abelis for providing the singers for these Masses.
Anyone wishing to sing or serve should get in touch with me; there is always need for more.
Summer 2009Our regular Masses continue: on Sundays (8am) at the Oxford Oratory, and on Wednesdays and First Fridays at SS Gregory and Augustine (6pm), and on Saturdays (9.30am) at St Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames.
Our annual Gregorian Chant Training Day took place as planned on Saturday 23rd May and was as usual very successful. Our sung Masses in Mapledurham and Milton Manor were very well attended; these are a wonderful opportunity to see these historic Catholic chapels with the Mass for which they were built. Thanks are due to our celebrants, Fr John Saward, Fr Simon Leworthy, and Fr Andrew Southwell.
In the coming quarter readers of the Mass listings will see the increasing number of Masses taking place in the Oxford area. Particularly to be noted are the Masses for the Assumption, 15th August (Sung Mass in St Birinus at 11am; Low Mass in the Oxford Oratory at 12.15pm), and a special Sung Mass for the visit of the relics of St Teresa of the Child Jesus at the Oxford Oratory, Thursday 8th October at 8.30am.
The next Oxford Pilgrimage, with Solemn Mass in Blackfriars and procession, is planned for Saturday 24th June, with Mass at 11am; please note this in your diaries.
Spring 2009Our regular Low Masses continue: on Sundays (8am) at the Oxford Oratory, and on Wednesdays and First Fridays at SS Gregory and Augustine (6pm), and on Saturdays (9.30am) at St Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames.
St Joseph the Worker, 1st May, will see Low Mass at the Oratory at 12.15pm and Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine at 6pm; Ascension, 21st May, will see a Sung Mass at the Oratory at 12.15 and a Low Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine at 6pm. As usual there will be a Sung Mass in the Oratory for Corpus Christi, 11th June, at 12.15.
There are two special events this quarter. The annual Chant Training Day will take place on Saturday 23rd May at SS Gregory & Augustine; please get in touch with me for the full details. There will be Sung Mass at 3.30pm to which all are welcome. And there will be a Sung Mass in Mapledurham House, the historic Catholic house outside Reading, on Sat 30th May at 11am. Please support these Masses!
Winter 2008Our regular Low Masses continue: on Sundays (8am) at the Oxford Oratory, and on Wednesdays and First Fridays at SS Gregory and Augustine (6pm), and on Saturdays (9.30am) at St Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames.
The LMS Pilgrimage to Oxford will take place on Saturday 25th October. It will include the unveiling of a plaque to the four Catholic martyrs of 1589 by Bishop William Kenney, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese. The pilgrimage will begin with Solemn High Mass at 11am in Blackfriars. Please join us for this historic occasion.
Other events this quarter include a Sung Requiem Mass for Cardinal Pole, on Monday 17th November, in the chapel of Magdalen College, at 7pm. This is the 450th anniversary of his death. All are welcome; there will be a drinks reception afterwards. The celebrant will be Fr John Osman.
Fr Osman is also celebrating the patronal feast of his church, St Birinus in Dorchester on Thames, with a Solemn High Mass (7pm, Friday 5th December).
There will be Low Masses for All Saints, on Saturday 1st November, at 9.30am in Dorchester and at 12.15pm in the Oxford Oratory. There will be a Sung Mass for All Souls on Monday 3rd November at 12.15pm in the Oratory.
There will be Low Mass at 8am in the Oratory on Christmas Day.
Autumn 2008Our regular Masses continue: on Sundays (8am) at the Oxford Oratory, and on Wednesdays and First Fridays at SS Gregory and Augustine (6pm), and on Saturdays (9.30am) at St Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames.
Our annual Gregorian Chant Training Day took place on Saturday 24
th May and was as usual very successful. As well as the usual interested laity four priests attended and had special coaching in the priest's parts of the
missa cantata. Our coach for the day, Mr Phillip Duffy, former Director of Music at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, proved to be an inspirational teacher, for both the priests and the laity.
The date of the LMS Pilgrimage to
Oxford has been moved to Saturday 25th October. It will include the unveiling of a plaque to the four Catholic martyrs of 1589 by Bishop William Kenney, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese. The pilgrimage will begin with Solemn High Mass at 11am in Blackfriars. Please join us for for this historic occasion.
Summer 2008
Our regular Masses on Sundays (8am) and Holy Days (including Ascension and Corpus Christi on the traditional days, 12.15pm) at the Oxford Oratory, and on Wednesdays and First Fridays at SS Gregory and Augustine (6pm), continue. In addition to these there is now a weekly Low Mass on Saturdays at 9.30am in the beautiful church of St Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames, said by the Parish Priest, Fr John Osman.
The annual Gregorian Chant Training Day is taking place on Saturday 24th May in the Church of SS Gregory and Augustine. Mr Phillip Duffy, former Director of Music at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, proved to be an inspirational teacher last year, and has agreed to come back again this year. Please get in touch with me if you would like to attend; places are limited and booking is essential.
The LMS Pilgrimage to Oxford will take place this summer; please look out for an anncouncemtn of the date. It will include the unveiling of a plaque to the four Catholic martyrs of 1589. The procession through the streets of Oxford is always a great opportunity to give witness to the Faith, and the unveiling will be a very special event, so please support this.
Another special event this year is Sung Mass in Mapledurham, the historic Catholic house outside Reading. This will take place on Saturday 31st May 11.30am.
Spring 2008Our regular Masses continue: Low Mass on Sundays at 8am in the Oratory; First Fridays and every Wednesday in SS Gregory and Augustine at 6pm (some Sung). To these can now be added Low Mass every Saturday at St Birinus, thanks to the Parish Priest, Fr John Osman, who is saying these Masses. On Ash Wednesday there will be Low Mass at the Oratory at 12.15.
The most important development in Oxford in recent months has been the establishment of an all-male schola to sing at our Masses. Anyone interested in this should contact me. Our popular annual Gregorian Chant Training Day will take place on Saturday 24th May, and will be led by Mr Phillip Duffy; those interested in attending should contact me to book a place. The fee is £15 (£7.50 for students).
Please note that I have moved house and will be moving again, so use my email address and beware of snail mail and land line numbers.
Autumn 2007Our regular Masses continue: Low Mass on Sundays at 8am in the Oratory; First Fridays and every Wednesday in SS Gregory and Augustine at 6pm (some Sung); Holy Days at 12.15 in the Oratory. These last include All Saints (1st Novermber, Low) and All Souls (2nd November, Sung).
On Saturday 13th October Fr John Saward sang a
Requiem, in SS Gregory and Augustine, for the 10th Anniversary of Damian Coghlan, who had been a student at St Benet’s Hall; the Requiem was organised by Damian’s half-brother, Matthew Doyle. This was the occasion of the first public appearance of the
Oxford Gregorian Chant Society, a new University student society dedicated to providing a schola for the Traditional Mass. Mr Adrian Taylor, well known in Traditional singing circles in London, very kindly came to Oxford to coach the singers. The day was a great success and I look forward to many future collaborations with this group.
Summer 2007Our regular Masses on Sundays (8am) and Holy Days (12.15pm) at the Oxford Oratory, and on First Fridays at SS Gregory and Augustine (6pm), continue, and it is good to see increasing numbers at these Masses now that Spring is here.
The Gregorian Chant Training Day on Saturday 2nd June in the Church of SS Gregory and Augustine, is one highlight of this quarter; please get in touch with me if you would like to attend; see the advert elsewhere in Mass of Ages, and the local website, for full details. For those unable to come to the chant practices, the Mass itself, at 3.30pm, will be well worth making an effort to attend. It will be a Solemn High Mass, the first Traditional Solemn High Mass in this church since the changes.
The LMS Pilgrimage to Oxford, Saturday 23rd June, will also feature a Solemn High Mass, in the Oxford Oratory at 11.30am, a procession through the streets of Oxford to the site of the four martyrdoms of 1589 (2pm, starting at St Michael’s at the North Gate, Cornmarket), and Benediction (4pm). This is a tremendous opportunity to give witness to the Faith: please join us!
As noted in my last Report, the feasts of Ascension and Corpus Christi will be marked by Sung Mass at the Oxford Oratory at 12.15pm on the traditional days (17th May and 7th June). The Feast of the Sacred Heart, 15th June, will also be celebrated with a Sung Mass at 6pm in SS Gregory and Augustine. Please make an effort to support these Masses.
Spring 2007Our regular Masses continue: Sunday at 8am and Holy Days at 12.15pm, at the Oxford Oratory, and First Fridays, at 6pm, at the Church of SS Gregory and Augustine.
In the new liturgical year, there will be four Sung Masses at the Oratory: Epiphany, All Souls, Ascension and Corpus Christi, all at 12.15pm. Since for the New Mass all these feasts except All Souls will be transferred to Sundays, these will be the only Masses for those feasts on the traditional days. This is a great opportunity to introduce Missa Cantata to more people, but if this is to work we need to recruit more singers! If you are willing to join us please contact either me or Br Anton Webb of the Oratory; previous experience is not required. As always I’d like to hear from anyone who wishes to serve.
Following the very successful event last year, there will be another Gregorian Chant Training Day, with Dr Mary Berry, on Saturday 2nd June. As before the venue will be SS Gregory and Augustine’s, thanks to the hospitality of Fr John Saward. The day will start at 9.30 and conclude with Mass at 3.30 (tbc); places are £15 each (£7.50 for students). Booking is essential, and places are limited, so if you would like to attend please get in touch with me sooner rather than later.
I can also give advance notice of the date of the LMS Oxford pilgrimage, which will be Saturday 30th June. This will be its third such pilgrimage, and we will be honouring the four beatified martyrs of 1589, with a Solemn High Mass, a procession with banner, cross and acolytes to the place of martyrdom (marked for the occasion by a gallows), and Benediction. This is a splendid occasion, so please note it in your diaries.
Winter 2006
Our Low Mass at 8am on Sundays in the Oxford Oratory continues. After a Summer break for the singers, First Friday Masses at 6pm in St Gregory and Augustine’s will again be Sung, from October. Thanks are due to the Fathers of the Oxford Oratory for providing a number of other Masses at the Oratory at 12.15pm for the upcoming feasts, including a Sung Mass for All Souls, and a Sung Mass for Epiphany; see the Mass Listings, or the Oxford website, for full details. There will be Low Mass at 8am on Christmas morning. Negotiations with Archbishop Nichols over the possibility of having some extra Masses in a new venue are continuing at the time of writing; please pray for a favourable outcome. September saw an important Traditional event in Oxford, the CIEL International Colloquium, which took place in Merton College. More than 160 delegates were in attendance from all over the world. One of the highlights of the Colloquium was Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Bishop David McGough, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, in Merton College Chapel. Fr Anton Guziel was Assistant Priest. (For a fuller report,
see here.) As always I am looking for more servers and singers for our Masses. I can help provide training for both, so no previous experience is required. Please get in touch with me.
Autumn 2006Our usual Masses continue, at 8am on Sundays, 12.15 on Holy Days of Obligation, in the Oxford Oratory, 6pm First Fridays at SS Gregory and Augustine. There have been a large number of Sung Masses recently and thanks are due to our many expert servers, David Forster ous MC, and the tireless leadership of our choir master, Julian Griffiths.
See the separate
report on the Oxford Pilgrimage, which took place on Saturday 3rd June.
Summer 2006
The 8am Low Mass on Sundays at the Oxford Oratory continues, and numbers assisting at these Masses are now up to sixty. First Friday Masses, at 6pm in SS Gregory and Augustine, have also been attracting more people. Most of these Masses are sung, and the standards of the Gregorian Chant is extremely high, thanks to the dedication of our Choir Master, Julian Griffiths. Since many people in Oxford are ultimately just ‘passing through’, I am pleased to see a steady stream of people learning to serve Low and Sung Mass, and to sing Gregorian Chant, while they are here. Anyone who would like to do either of these things should get in touch with me. See also the separate
report on our Gregorian Chant Training Day.
The Fathers of the Oratory are as usual saying the Traditional Mass at 12.15 on Holy Days of Obligation, of which there are a number coming up; there will also be a Mass at that time for St Joseph the Worker (1st May). The Mass for SS Peter and Paul (29th June), at the Oratory, will be Sung, as will a 6pm Mass for the Sacred Heart (23rd June), at SS Gregory & Augustine. See the Mass Listings for full details.
With the agreement of the Vicar General and the Dean of the North Oxford Deanery, I have been sending small posters advertising the Traditional Masses available in this part of the Diocese, to parish priests in the Oxford area. It is very encouraging to see how many parish priests have taken the trouble to put these posters up; they are on display, for example, in five of the seven parish churches in the city of Oxford. I am very grateful to them for this friendly gesture to Traditionalists, and would encourage other LMS reps to see if it might be possible in their areas.
Last year, for the first time, there was a very successful LMS Pilgrimage to Oxford, to honour the four martyrs of 1589, who were hanged, drawn, and quartered in Holywell Street. I can now give advanced warning of this year’s pilgrimage, which will take place on Saturday 3rd June. This year the Fathers of the Oratory have very generously offered not only to host the Pilgrimage, but to celebrate a Solemn High Mass for it, which is a very exciting development. This year’s Mass and Procession will honour the martyrdom of Blessed George Napper, an Oxford man who gave his life for exercising his priestly ministry, in 1610. Please put note this in your diaries.
Spring 2006
The regular Sunday Mass (Low), at 8am at St Aloysius, the Oxford Oratory, continues, as does the First Friday Mass at 6pm at SS Gregory and Augustine, in the Woodstock Road, Oxford. The First Friday Masses are usually Sung. There are Low Masses in the Oratory for Holydays of Obligation, and certain other feasts, including Ash Wednesday, at 12.15pm; please see the Mass listings or the website for details.
I am pleased to announce a Gregorian Chant Training Day, which is open to anyone interested in singing Gregorian Chant. The chant expert Dr Mary Berry, CBE, is coming to Oxford on Saturday 11th March; the venue will be the Church of SS Gregory and Augustine, Woodstock Road; registration is from 9am, and the day ends with Traditional Sung Mass at 3.30pm, celebrated by Fr John Saward, followed by tea. There is a fee of £10 (£5 for students), which includes lunch. Please get in touch with me for more details or to book a place; places are limited. This event is being sponsored by the Latin Mass Society; thanks are dues also to Fr Saward, Priest in Charge at SS Gregory and Augustine, for his generous hospitality.
Autumn 2005
The regular 8am Sunday Mass at St Aloysius, the Oxford Oratory, continues, now attracting fifty faithful each week; eighty people attended the Sung Mass at 12.15 for the Ascension of Our Lord. With these Masses in Oxford only established for about a year, these encouraging numbers are a good indication of the demand for the Traditional Mass, once regular times are established and word gets around. We also had a good turnout for a Traditional Reception into the Church and Confirmation, followed by Mass, which was also sung. The next sung Mass at the Oratory will be for All Souls (2nd November). Low Mass will mark the Assumption (15th August), All Saints (1st November), and the Immaculate Conception (8th December).
First Friday Masses at Ss Gregory and Augustine, in the Woodstock Road, are now also established; these were sung for the Feasts of the Sacred Heart (3rd June) and of the Precious Blood (1st July). They will continue without a break over the Summer.
Summer 2005
The regular 8am Sunday Mass at St Aloysius, the Oxford Oratory, continues, now attracting fifty faithful each week; eighty people attended the Sung Mass at 12.15 for the Ascension of Our Lord. With these Masses in Oxford only established for about a year, these encouraging numbers are a good indication of the demand for the Traditional Mass, once regular times are established and word gets around. We also had a good turnout for a Traditional Reception into the Church and Confirmation, followed by Mass, which was also sung. The next sung Mass at the Oratory will be for All Souls (2nd November). Low Mass will mark the Assumption (15th August), All Saints (1st November), and the Immaculate Conception (8th December).
First Friday Masses at Ss Gregory and Augustine, in the Woodstock Road, are now also established; these were sung for the Feasts of the Sacred Heart (3rd June) and of the Precious Blood (1st July). They will continue without a break over the Summer.
I am delighted with the progress which has been made in Oxford in recent months, due to the generosity of the Fathers of the Oratory and of Fr John Saward of Ss Gregory and Augustine. The Sung Masses in particular have proved to be extremely rewarding, but also harder work to organise, and I do encourage anyone who would like to be involved in either serving or singing to make themselves known to me; previous experience is not required.
Spring 2004
Recent weeks have seen a number of very positive developments in Oxford.
The Sunday Mass at St Aloysius, the Oxford Oratory, at 8am, is now attracting more than forty faithful each week, despite the earliness of the hour, some coming long distances. There is now tea, coffee and cake served after these Masses, in the ‘Social Club’ next to the church.
The Archdiocese has formally approved the proposal to have Mass on ‘First Fridays’, a devotion in honour of the Sacred Heart. They will take place in the church of Ss Gregory and Augustine, Woodstock Road, starting in May, on the first Friday of each month at 5pm, and will be celebrated by Fr John Saward. I am very grateful to Fr Saward for his support in setting this up, and I hope that members will be able to attend these Masses.
The Fathers of the Oratory are very kindly hosting the first ever LMS pilgrimage to Oxford, in honour of the four heroic Catholic martyrs of 1589, who were hanged, drawn and quartered for their devotion to the Traditional Mass in Oxford itself. This will take place on Saturday, 25th June, with Mass at 11.30 in St Aloysius, a procession at 2pm, and Benediction at 3pm. I hope that many people will be able to attend this unique event.
A number of important ‘Feasts of Devotion’ this quarter, as well as Ascension, which is a Holy Day of Obligation, will be marked with Traditional Masses either at St Aloysius or, falling on ‘first Fridays’, at Ss Gregory and Augustine.
