Fifth Sunday After Easter 1863

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10 SUNDAY. Fifth after Easter. St Antoninus, Bishop Confessor, double. Second prayers and Last Gospel of Sunday. Third prayers of SS Gordius and Epimachus, Martyrs. White. Second Vespers of the Feast until the little Chapter, thence of St Pius V, Pope Confessor (in hymn Meruit supremos) with commemoration of SS Gordius and Epimachus and of the Sunday.  [In Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, Plenary Indulgence.]

11 Rogation-Monday. St Pius V, Pope Confessor, double. Second prayers and last Gospel of Rogation-day. White. LITANIES. Violet.

12 Rogation-Tuesday. SS Nereus, Achilleus, and Companions, Martyrs, semidouble. Second prayers of Rogation-day.  Third prayer Concede. Red. LITANIES. Violet.

13 Rogation-Wednesday. Vigil of the Ascension. White. LITANIES. Violet. [In Diocese of Plymouth, St Walburga, Virgin, double. Second prayers of the Vigil. Third prayers of Rogation-day. White.]

14 Thursday. ASCENSION-DAY, double of the first class with an Octave, during which commemoration of the Octave, Creed and Preface of the Ascension. White. Plenary Indulgence. [In Pro-Cathedral of Northampton at High Mass, second prayers for the Bishop.]

15 Friday. Of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers Concede. Third prayers for the Church or Pope. Creed. White. Abstention.

16 Saturday. St John Nepomucene, Martyr, double. White.

This is a small example of the shape of things to come between now and Advent.  Even on Ascension Thursday, a double of the first class, one of the dioceses will do things its own way.  Sunday will be overtaken by the precedence of the Saint on whose feast it falls.  And the Rogation Days will mean processions and litanies.  Pope St Pius V is at his original feast day, and SS Robert Bellarmine and John Baptist de la Salle haven't been canonised yet.

At the core of this series is a question: I want to ask you to think about what the week would be like for the average Catholic who went to church on Sundays and Holydays, and maybe turned up for confraternities or such like, or at odd times during the week if he or she wasn't engaged in normal business.  How different would your ordinary engagement with your parish have been then, compared with now? Please think a bit about this, as I would like to open up a discussion later this year.

The parish of All Souls in Hastings and St Leonard's is served by the Rev John Foy. Mass on Sunday is at 8.15, with High Mass at 11.00. Catechism, Instruction, vespers and Benediction is at 3.30 pm.  On weekdays Mass is at 8.00. On Thursdays Benediction is at 4.00 pm. Stations of the Cross during Lent on Fridays at 4.00 pm.

I uploaded this picture on Election night. I simply cannot imagine what it was like to live in a country with no welfare state beyond the workhouse, which was a prison for the indigent.