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CATHOLIC LIFE

NOVEMBER 23, 2007 THE CATHOLIC HERALD

Please e-mail photos and press releases to catholiclife@catholicherald.co.uk

Auxiliary Bishop John Arnold of Westminster kneels before the magnificent altar of St James’s, Spanish Place

Bishop Arnold administers Confirmation in the Traditional Rite to one of 50 children

Bishop Arnold administers Confirmation in the Traditional Rite at London church

AUXILIARYBishop John Arnold of Westminster administered Confirmation in the Traditional Rite at St James’s Church, Spanish Place, London on Saturday, November 3 at the request of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.

A record 54 candidates – 50 children and four adults – received the sacrament. A congregation of 600 family and friends packed out St James’s. They were led by St James’s choir, singing the Veni Creator Spiritus and other traditional hymns.

During the anointing, the choir sang polyphony and plain chant. After the anointing, Bishop Arnold led the congregation in the Divine Praises and then conferred Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. When the confirmations

were over, Bishop Arnold talked with members of the congregation and cut the special Confirmation cake as parents took photographs. John Medlin of the Latin Mass Society (LMS) said: “This is the fifth consecutive year that confirmations

in the Traditional Rite have been arranged by the LMS with the permission of Cardinal CormacMurphyO’Connor. Our numbers are increasing every year and I expect this trend to continue after Pope Benedict’s recent Motu Proprio.”

In another encouraging development for English traditionalists, the LMSalso announced that Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton administered Confirmation in the Traditional Rite to seven candidates during a pastoral visit to Our Lady

of Perpetual Succour church, in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, on November 18. Bishop Doyle also celebrated Sunday Mass in the Traditional Rite. Mr Medlin said: “This is a very welcome develop

ment. We hope it will not be long before bishops all over England and Wales respond to pastoral demand for Mass and the Sacraments in the Traditional Rite. “The parishioners of Chesham Bois are very grateful to Bishop Doyle.”

‘Cathedral of the East End’ marks 150 years of vibrant parish life

ONEof the most famous Catholic parish churches in the country will mark its 150th anniversary next month. On December 9 the faithful of St Mary and St Michael, in Commercial Road, East London, will celebrate a century and a half of parish life. The church, known as “the cathedral of the East end”, was designed by William Wilkinson Wardell who went on to design St Patrick’s Cathedral Melbourne and St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney. A history of the parish has been produced. The book was researched by local historian Jean Maynard and edited by current St Mary & St Michael’s parish priest, Fr

Jim Mulligan. Many of the priests of the parish have been recognised as men of remarkable zeal and tenacity, as have the Sisters of Mercy, the nuns who have worked in the parish since the middle of the 19th century. Two former parish priests went on to become archbishops: Archbishop Peter Amigo of Southwark and Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool. Another former parish priest, Canon Timothy Ring, who led the parish from 1904 until 1941, was known as a champion of the poor and he became a legend in the East End. He fought against both Communism and fascism in the 1930s. At his funeral, in August 1941,

the East End was brought to a standstill and Clement Attlee attended. The church and the parish have survived though all the struggles of London’s East End: poverty, the cholera outbreaks, the dock strikes, the wartime evacuation, the Blitz, the rebuilding after World War II. There will be an anniversary Mass at 11.00am on December 9. Cardinal Cormac MurphyO’Connor will be chief celebrant and many priests formerly associated with the parish will return along with many of the Sisters of Mercy. Local MPs George Galloway and Jim Fitzpatrick are also expected to attend.

St Mary and St Michael’s is one of London’s best-known churches

LOCAL NEWS

St Paulʼs bookshop celebrates anniversary

St Paul’s bookshop by Westminster Cathedral has celebrated its 15th anniversary. The celebrations began with a special evening Mass in the Cathedral, celebrated by administrator Mgr Mark Langham. In his homily Mgr Langham said: “Jesus Christ challenges his followers to proclaim the truth of God, however difficult that may be. We have to use every method available to communicate that truth, and the Society of St Paul, with its mission to use the varied modern media, is one such tool. It is good that St Paul’s Bookshop has become a familiar destination in Catholic London, and I know that many people combine a visit to the Cathedral with a visit next door to the bookshop. Congratulations to [the] staff for 15 years of growth, helping to communicate the truth of God to our world.” After the Mass, guests moved from the Cathedral to the bookshop for drinks and food. Stephen Moseling, operations coordinator for the bookshop, said: “The evening was an opportunity for us to say thank you to some of the suppliers and customers who have supported St Paul’s over the past 15 years.” He added: “The success of the evening has given us great encouragement to look ahead to the next 15 years.”

The Latin Mass Society 11–13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH Tel: 020 7404 7284 Fax: 020 7831 5585 E mail: thelatinmasssociety @snmail.co.uk

Membership Benefits • Contact with thousands of Traditional Catholics • Mass of Ages– free quarterly magazine plus listings of Traditional Masses nationwide • Free Traditional Mass Missalette • Access to our used Missal and prayer book service • Details of our fellow organisations, the Traditional Catholic Family Alliance andYoung Catholic Adults

Membership Rates: Individual members £20 p.a.(worldwide); Junior members, students, OAPs £10 p.a. (£20 if possible). Contact the LMS office.

Traditional Catholicism for the 21st Century

CORPUS CHRISTI CHURCH Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2 FORTY HOURS DEVOTION Thursday 29 Nov at 6.30 pm High Mass of Exposition, Procession and Litanies Friday 30 November at 6.30 pm Votive High Mass for Peace Saturday 1 December at 12 noon High Mass of Deposition, Litanies and Procession

Watching before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed until 9.00 pm on Thursday, all day Friday and until 12 noon on Saturday

ST MARY’S CHURCH High Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight

Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 December

Advent Days of Recollection to Include Holy Mass Led by Fr Nicolas du Chaxel FSSP

Details from Peter Clarke on 01983 566740

ST GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL Lambeth Road, Southwark, London Saturday 8 December at 11.00 am High Mass for the Immaculate Conception The Men of the Cathedral Choir will sing

MASSES FOR THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Saturday 8 December St Joseph's, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent 9.30 am Holy Mass St Simon, Brookfield Road, Ashford South, Kent 10.00 am Sung Mass Our Lady of the Rosary, Burnt Oak Lane, Blackfen, Kent 10.30 am Low Mass St Benedict, Pontardwe Road, Clydach, Swansea 11.30 am Sung Mass The Oratory, Woodstock Road, Oxford 12.15 pm Low Mass St Mary of the Angels, Crossbank Road, Batley, W Yorks 3.00 pm Holy Mass Our Lady of Ransom, Victoria Road, Llandrindod Wells 4.00 pm Sung Mass Westminster Cathedral(side chapel) 4.30 pm Low Mass

www.latin-mass-society.org

Sir Peter Westmacott with Bishop Burns and Roger Thorne in Paris

Bishop Burns preaches at Notre Dame

BISHOPTHOMASBurns of the Armed Forces spoke in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, to mark Remembrance Sunday this year. The bishop was invited to France by the British Embassy and the local branch of the British Legion. In his homily he spoke about the camaraderie among sailors, soldiers, airmen and women that leads them to emulate Christ and lay down their lives for their friends. He said: “We see the opposite in society: too many people lay down their

friends for their lives, trampling on others to get ahead, get promoted, get something first.” The bishop moved on to discuss man’s understanding of war in the modern age. He said: “People can become incredulous about the awfulness of war and conflict, the lives lost, and the inhumanities done by one human being to another. “Have we forgotten? Will we ever learn? The Falklands, then Iraq, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Palestine, Afghanistan, and an increasingly threatening

Iran. The yoke still remains to be eased; the burden still remains to be lightened. When will we ever learn? “When will God’s Kingdom come? Why do we go on fighting? Is the price of so many lives worth it? “We remember the soldiers, sailors, and airmen and women of numerous wars and conflicts, because the price they paid with life and limb was indeed worth it. They have contributed to making a better world. “That price continues to be paid by special people in the Forces, in our own time.”