Mgr Marini speaks out

Mgr Marini is the Papal MC and at a  recent conference spoke out regarding several points relating to how we, as Catholics, should be showing our focus during Holy Mass and Communion.

In the first instance he reminded us of the ancient tradition of focusing on Christ either through eastward orientation during the Eucharistic Prayer or towards a crucifix or other image of Christ which stood in for the eastward orientation.

We are in danger of losing this focus as, in the past, everyone (including the priest) prayed towards the same point - showing that the Lord was coming and that together we all looked towards Him.

He also posited that kneeling before the presence of the Lord makes it all the clearer that it really is Jesus and implies our adoration of Him.  Not just that we receive Him but that we kneel in worship before Him.

Mgr Marini also asked us to listen anew to what the Holy Father says both in his writings and through his example in the Papal liturgies.  The Pope distributes Communion to communicants who are always kneeling and who receive always on the tongue because - Indults and Permissions aside - this remains a law of universal character.  We should look on these examples not as the Pope's personal preference but rather that this is how he intends priests and people to follow his lead.

A Liturgy no longer familiar with kneeling would be sick to the core

 Thus said our Holy Father when still Cardinal Ratzinger. A photograph shows Pope John Paul II, shortly before his death, kneeling to receive Holy Communion from Cardinal Ratzinger.

I have personal experience of a high ranking diocesan priest chastising me for wanting to receive Communion on the tongue. He offered to 'bless' my hands so that they would be like those of a priest or deacon whose hands had been anointed to permit him to touch the Real Presence.

Let us pray that Pope Benedict forbids the reception of the Sacred Species  than on the tongue & kneeling.

Knights of the Holy Sepulchre

I am delighted to announce that on Saturday 4th June 2011 at St George's Cathedral, Southwark I was invested as a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem by Archbishop McDonald the Archbishop Emeritus of Southwark Diocese.

Knight of the Holy Sepulchre

On Saturday 4th June 2011 in St George's Cathedral, Southwark in London I had the great privilege of being invested as a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (KHS) by Archbishop Kevin McDonald KC*HS, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Southwark and Grand Prior of the Lieutenancy of England & Wales.

The Investiture was the culmination of 3 years of examination of my life in the Church as well as a nihil obstat  from my diocesan bishop Seamus Cunningham. On Friday 3rd June I spent the full day with other Postulants and Investees at a seminar on the Order and its work.

Saturday began at 8.00am with a Chapter Meeting at the cathedral followed by the Investiture Mass. Straight after Mass, which ended at 12 noon, we were transported to the Great Hall of Lincolns Inn for a very splendid lunch.

I ask for your prayers that I may be a worthy member of this ancient Order which was formed at the time of the First Crusade in the 11th Century. 

Masses for the Feast of Corpus Christi

Masses in the diocese of Hexham & Newcastle:

Morpeth, St Robert's Low Mass at 7.00pm
Barnard Castle, St Mary's Low Mass at 7.30pm
Coxhoe, SS Joseph, Patrick & Cuthbert Low Mass at 12 noon 

Girl Altar Servers for EF Masses in Cambridge

The Catholic Herald reports (Charterhouse 27/5) that Fr Alban McCoy - the Catholic Chaplain at Cambridge - has allowed young women to serve at EF Masses. It is reported that he has come under "a lot of stick in the past fortnight"!  And rightly so!

Whilst the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae does not mention that female servers are forbidden, it does (in my opinion) clearly state that the rubrics in place in 1962 must be adhered to.  In 1962 female servers were not allowed.  Bishop John Arnold, Chairman of Oxford & Cambridge Catholic Education Board, supports him.  Is that surprising?

Whilst some traditionalists do seek the capitulation of the Ordinary Form, most do not & simply look for those attached to that form of Mass to grant us the same consideration as most of us are prepared to grant them.  I am firmly of the opinion that the Mass is the Mass is the Mass & I do, happily, attend properly celebrated OF Masses.  What I do object to (strongly) are those OF Masses celebrated according to the whims of the celebrant, whether it be changing the words or otherwise defiling the Mass. 

Methodist Ordinations in Liverpool Cathedral cancelled

It seems that Archbishop Kelly has had sense put to him by higher authorities and has withdrawn his permission for ordinations to the Methodist ministry to be carried out in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool.

Many people - including some ecumenists - were shocked that a Catholic cathedral of such standing and importance could conceivably have been put to such use.  While unwilling to use such words as "profanation" it certainly is hardly acceptable that non-Catholic rites should be permitted in the House of God wherein is revered the Body of Christ.  Perhaps if Methodists believed as we do in the Real Presence it might have made sense but surely it cannot be acceptable for their bizarre 'communion' services to be even considered.