Second Sunday of Lent 1863

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1 SUNDAY. Second of Lent, semidouble. Violet. First Vespers of St Chad, commemoration of the Sunday. White. [In the Diocese of St David's and Newport Feast of St David, Bishop Confessor, Patron of Wales, double of the First Class, second prayers and Last Gospel of the Sunday. White. Second Vespers of the feast, commemoration of St Chad and of the Sunday. In the Dioceses of Liverpool, Northampton and Salford, collection for Ecclesiastical Education. In the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Plenary Indulgence.]

2 Monday. St Chad, Bishop Confessor, double. Second prayers of the second Monday in Lent. White. [In the Diocese of Birmingham St Chad, Bishop Confessor, Titular of the Cathedral, double of the first class. In the Diocese of Beverley Plenary Indulgence.]

3 Tuesday. St David, Bishop Confessor, double of the first class (transferred from 1 March). White. [In the Diocese of St David's and Newport Feria. Violet.]

4 Wednesday. St Casimir, Confessor,  semidouble. Third prayers of St Lucius, Pope Martyr. White.

5 Thursday. Feria. Second prayers A Cunctis. Third prayers Omnipotens.  Violet.

6 Friday. The Holy Winding Sheet of OUR LORD, greater double. Second prayers and last Gospel of the feria. Creed. Preface of the Cross. Red. Plenary Indulgence.

7 Saturday. St Thomas Aquinas. Confessor Doctor, double. Third prayers of SS Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs. Creed. White.

Even though we are in Lent, this week shows just how the calendar can vary from one diocese to another.  1 March is of course St David's Day but that feast, a double, is displaced by the Sunday, and as the feast of St Chad on 2 March is a double, St David has to move to 3 March instead. Except, of course, in Wales, where St David is the Patron Saint of the country, and the feast therefore outranks the Sunday (the prayers of which are nevertheless said, and the Gospel of which comes at the end of Mass).  In the modern calendar, as far as I can tell, St David is celebrated on 2 March, but only in Wales, and St Chad, also on 2 March, but only in Birmingham.

But then lots of other things have changed too. SS Perpetua and Felicity coexisted on 7 March quite happily with St Thomas Aquinas for nearly 700 years before Pius X decided to move them to 6 March.  They are back on 7 March now in the new calendar (though, as an optional memorial on a Saturday, probably not celebrated anywhere in England and Wales in the Novus Ordo) and St Thomas Aquinas has been shifted to January.

Friday's focus on the Holy Winding Sheet—this is the Holy Shroud of course—provides a respite from our focusing on the sufferings of Our Lord and reminds us that He died as a man and was buried as a man, receiving exactly the same burial as we shall receive. The Gospel is from Mark and tells of Joseph of Arimathea buying a shroud of fine linen for the Body of Jesus. 

The parish of Our Immaculate Lady of Victories in Clapham is served by the Redemptorist Fathers.  Fr Robert A Coffin is Vice-Principal and Rector, and the other priests are Frs John Baptist Lans, John Van Rooy, Donald Cameron, Francis Hall, Thomas Doyle, Peter Burke, and John Lalor. Masses on Sunday are at 5.30, 7.00, at 9.00 with Instruction, and High Mass and Sermon is at 11.00  Catechism is at 3.00 pm. Rosary, Sermon and Benediction at 6.30. The Way of the Cross is followed on the First Sunday at 6.30. On the Fourth Sunday, at 6.30 the faithful can follow the Exercise for a Happy Death. Masses on Holydays are at 5.30, 7.00, 8.30 and 11.00.  The 11.00 Holyday Mass is High Mass on Christmas Day, the Immaculate Conception, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, and the feast of St Alphonsus.  On weekdays, Mass is at 5.30, 7.00 and 8.30. Rosary and Benediction on Wednesday evenings at 7.00 October to April, and at 7.30 from May to September.  On Saturday evenings, the Little Rosary of the Immaculate Conception at 7.00 is followed by Benediction.  Devotions to the Infant Jesus are on the 25th of each month at 7.00 pm in winter and 7.30 pm in summer. The 40 Hours is celebrated on Quinquagesima Sunday. The Church is open daily from 5.30 am to 8.30 pm, except from 12.00 to 2.00 on weekdays, and from 1.00 to 3.00 on Sundays. The Redemptorist Fathers, besides giving public Missions and Retreats, also receive in their house those of the clergy or laity who wish to make the spiritual exercises in private.  The Confraternity of the Holy Family is established in this Church. The Division for Men meets in Church every Monday evening at 8.00.

Click on the picture to see this weeks advertisement for Messrs Hardman and Company. I wonder how much of their 1863 handiwork is still in use?