26 August 2017

Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost 1865

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27 SUNDAY, twelfth after Pentecost. St Joseph Calasanctius, Confessor, double. Second prayers and last Gospel of Sunday. White. Second Vespers of the Feast to the Little Chapter, thence of St Augustine (antiphon O Doctor), commemoration of the preceding, the Sunday and St Hermes, Martyr. [In Diocese of Nottingham, Dedication of the Cathedral, double of the First Class (with an Octave in the city of Nottingham, during which commemoration of the Octave and Creed). Second prayers and last Gospel of Sunday. White. Second Vespers of the Feast, commemoration of St Augustine and of the Sunday.]

28 Monday St Augustine, Bishop Confessor Doctor, double. Second prayers of St Hermes, Martyr. Creed. White. [In the city of Newcastle, Octave of the Dedication of the Cathedral, double. Second prayers of St Hermes, Martyr. White.]

29 Tuesday The Beheading of St John the Baptist, greater double. Second prayers of St Sabina, Martyr. Red.

30 Wednesday St Rose of Lima, Virgin, double. Second prayers of Sts Felix and Adauctus, Martyrs. White.

31 Thursday St Aidan, Bishop Confessor, double. White. [In Diocese of Liverpool Plenary Indulgence.]

1 Friday St Raymond Nonnatus, Confessor, double. Second prayers of St Giles, Abbot, third prayers of the Twelve Holy Brothers, Martyrs. White. Abstinence.

2 Saturday St Stephen, King Confessor, semidouble. Second prayers A cunctis, Third prayers free. White.

The parish of St Mary in Brewood is served by the Rev John Grenside. Mass on Sunday is at 8.45 and 10.30, Evening service at 3.00 in winter and 6.00 in summer. Mass on Holydays at 9.00 and on weekdays at 8.00. Confessions on Saturdays at 3.00 and 7.00 pm.


In 2017 the parish is served by Fr Paul Smith, supported by the Parish Deacon, the Rev Stephen Gee. On Sunday Mass at St Mary’s is at 11.00, while a 9.00 am Mass is said at St Michael’s C of E church in Penkridge.  Mass on Holydays at 9.00 and at 7.00 pm.  Weekday Mass at 9.00 am as advertised in the parish bulletin. Confessions on Saturday 2.00 to 2.15. The parish priest also serves HMP Brinsfad, HMP Featherstone and HMP Oakwood.

19 August 2017

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost 1965

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20 SUNDAY, eleventh after Pentecost. St Joachim, Father of the BVM, greater double. Second prayers and last Gospel of the Sunday, third prayers of the Octave, Preface of the BVM. White. Second Vespers of the Feast, commemoration of St Jane Frances de Chantal, the Sunday and the Octave. [In Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, First Vespers of St Jane without any commemoration.]

21 Monday St Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow, double. White. [In In Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, the Dedication of the Pro-Cathe­dral, double of the First Class (with an Octave in the city of Newcastle, during which commemoration of the Octave and Creed). White.]

22 Tuesday The Octave of the Assumption of the BVM, double. Second prayers of Sts Timothy and Companions, Martyrs. White.

The Indulgence ends.

23 Wednesday Vigil. St Philip Benizi, Confessor, doube. Second prayers and last Gospel of the Vigil. White.

24 Thursday (Feasday of Devotion) St BARTHOLEMEW, Apostle, double of the second class. Creed, Preface of the Apostles. Red. [In Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, second prayers for the Bishop.]

25 Friday St Louis, King, Confessor, semidouble. Second prayers A cunctis, thirs prayers at choice of priest. White. Abstinence.

26 Saturday St Bernard, Confessor Doctor, double (transferred from 20 August). Second prayers of St Zephyrinus, Pope Martyr. Creed. White. [In Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle St Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow, double (transferred from 21 August). Second prayers of St Zephyrinus, Pope Martyr. White.]

The Church of St Mary Loughborough is served by the Revs Andrew Egan and Robert Smith who are Rosminians. Mass on Sunday is at 8.00 and 10.30.  Cathechism at 3.30 and evening service at 6.30.  Mass on Holydays at 5.30 and 8.00. Sermon and Benediction at 8.00 pm. Weekday Mass at 7.30.


In 2017 the parish is still served by Rosminians: Fr Philip Sainter is Parish Priest and he is assisted by Fr Paul Gillham.  Frs Charles Sormany and Simon Giles also live in the parish.  Anticipated Mass is at 6.00 on Saturday, with Mass on Sunday at 9.00, 11.00, 12.45 (Polish) and 4.00 pm (Italian).  Weekday Mass is at 9.15. On Friday at 5.30 pm, Novena for Filipinos followed at 6.00 by Mass. Confessions 10.00-11.00 and 5.30-5.55 on Saturday, 10.30-10.55 on Sunday and by appointment. Parish groups include:   CAFOD, The Carpenter’s Arms & Joseph's Storehouse, Christian Aid, Contact Group, Exaireo Trust, The Kwediboma Mission in Tanzania, Loughborough Churches Partnership, Loughborough University Chaplaincy, the Lourdes Fund, Operation Christmas Child (Christmas Shoebox Appeal), Parish Archives & History Group, Senior Citizens' Group, Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC), Catechesis, Preparation for Baptism Group, Children's Liturgy, RCIA, Scripture & Tradition Study Group, Ascribed Members of the Institute of Charity, Rosmini Centre, 101 Club, Finance Group.

14 August 2017

The Bishops ...

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A few weeks ago I was part of a discussion about the use by Catholic Voices (CV) of the term "Catholic" in their title and whether they present (or could or should present) themselves as voices of the Church when they aren't a Church-sponsored organisation.  Are they "Catholic" in the way the "Catholic" Bishop of Portsmouth is, or in the way the "Catholic" Herald is?

CV was set up by Jack Valero and Austen Ivereigh in advance of the Pope's visit to the UK to train mainly young articulate Catholics to be able to present a Catholic point of view in the media.  This was - is - a thoroughly laudable aim: anybody who has appeared on live TV or radio knows how difficult it is to make their point without some sort of preparation. In the sort of hostile bearpit most people trying to argue for a Catholic position will find themselves, only professional training will give them the technical skills they need. At CV's inception there was a degree of hostility to the project, not just from those who were suspicious of the Catholicity that might emerge from the organisation but also from those who were suspicious of a group independent of the Bishops being trotted out as the voice of Catholicism.  But since the Pope's visit, these potential problems seemed not to surface in CV.

CV's website today says:

Catholic Voices does not represent the bishops' conference of England and Wales in the media (contact the CCN) but has its blessing.

In other words, the authoritative source about Catholicism in the UK is the Catholic Communications Network (CCN) of the CBCEW, and Catholic Voices is simply a way for a media outlet to find a "Catholic on the Clapham Omnibus" when it needs somebody who isn't an official spokesman for the Church.

And yet ... I have heard recently from a journalist that any call to the CCN asking for a Catholic comment on an issue of the moment gets forwarded routinely to CV and that, furthermore, requests to discuss current Catholic views on difficult sexual matters (the new frontline: not sex, or contraception, or the "remarriage" of the divorced, but gay rights, gender etc - the letters that come after LGB) were getting no results: that beyond "compassion for all" there didn't seem to be a willingness to put forward an identifiable Catholic viewpoint.

I heard separately that the Catholic Education Service (CES), led by Paul Barber, had recently hosted a study day for CV which was aimed a coming up with a definitive "line to take" on transgenderism.  It worries me that CV, as well as seeming to have become an organisation which speaks for the CBCEW, appears to be looking for a moral lead from the CES.  The doubts which were raised about CV when it was set up are manifest in the CES, most recently in the case of their including material from Stonewall in a tendentious document about homophobic bullying in schools: doubts about the Catholicity of the advice, and of the appropriateness of its coming from a lay-run and -managed agency of the CBCEW, rather from the Bishops themselves.

This isn't a question of those who are responsible for Catholicism in the public square working out just how to implement a CBCEW agreed policy on transgenderism: the Bishops have never studied, never mind agreed, a new or distinctive view on the subject. It is a question of authority: more precisely of a crisis in authority.  We know that the English and Welsh Bishops are divided on both sides of the argument created by Amoris Laetitia: effectively, there are those who think that the Church's approach to the sixth and ninth commandments is conditioned to and by the era in which we live, and those who think that what the Church has consistently taught that Jesus himself taught is still as valid as it always has been. They will not tell us publicly that they are in disagreement of course, but this also means that they cannot control agencies of their Conference deciding what should be said: if only some of the Bishops contradict the CES, then by implication the others are in favour of it, and the disagreement will have surfaced. Even worse, as time passes the truth is trickling out anyway, and there is an articulate Catholic laity who are bound together in the Internet.  The opposition to the Stonewall document, and the way the Internet was used to spread the opposition, was a major surprise to people who had thought that it was still possible to control absolutely the information flow from the CBCEW.

The Bishops are the problem. It is they who should be telling us what Amoris Laetitia means, not a bunch of laypeople.  And, anyway, it shouldn't be a problem of whether or not the CBCEW can agree. Episcopal Conferences are useful for coordinating national strategies when the Church has to operate at the supra-diocesan level for non-ecclesiastical matters, but have no other use. The annual Low Week meeting was instituted precisely to do that in the era before the invention of Episcopal Conferences.

Each of our Bishops should be on his cathedra, telling us what Amoris Laetitia means.  Not to do so is a dereliction. It is little short of a scandal that our pastors are not shepherding us.  If they think that the proclamation of orthodoxy by some is less valuable than silence and a pretence of unity, then there is a serious crisis of episcopal identity. Bishops don't exist to be silently united in their national conferences: they are there to confirm the brethren.

(There is a silver lining to this dark cloud: Catholic Voices has produced a cadre of Catholic voices who are in the address book of TV and radio producers and who are out there commenting in an authentically Catholic voice on matters of faith and morals without any affiliation other than to the Church.)

12 August 2017

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost 1865

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The Indulgence begins

13 SUNDAY tenth after Pentecost, semidouble. Second preface of the Oc­tave, third prayers of Sts Hippolytus and Cassian, Martyrs. Red. Vespers of the Sunday, commemoration of the Octave and of St Eusebius, Confessor. [In Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, Plenary Indulgence. In dioceses of Northampton, Salford, and Shrewsbury, first Vespers of St William (Meruit supremos), commemoration of the Sunday, the Oc­tave, and of St Eusebius, Confessor (antiphon Euge v Justum). White.]

14 Monday Vigil. Second prayers of the Octave, third prayers of St Eusebius, Confessor. Violet. FAST. [In dioceses of Northampton, Salford, and Shrewsbury, St William, Abbot Confessor, double (transferred from 25th June). Second prayers and last Gospel of Vigil, third prayers of St Eusebius, Confessor. White.]

15 Tuesday The ASSUMPTION of the BVM, double of the First Class with an Octave, during which commemoration of the Octave, Creed, and Preface of the BVM. White. Second Vespers of the Feast, commemoration of St Hyacinth only. Plenary Indulgence.

16 Wednesday St Hyacinth, Confessor, double. White.

17 Thursday The Octave of St Laurence, Martyr, double. Red.

18 Friday Of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers of St Agapitus, Martyr, Third prayers of the Holy Ghost. White. Abstinence.

19 Saturday Of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers Deus qui corda, third prayers for the Church or the Pope. White.

St Peter’s Priory in Hinckley is served by ts Vicar, the Very Rev Fr Dominic Trenow OP and the Rev Fr Francis O’Brien OP. Mass on Sundays and Holydays at 8.00 and 10.30.  Evening service at 6.30.  Weekday Mass at 6.30 and 7.00.

In 2017 the St Dominic’s Community incorporates the parishes of St. Peter's, Hinckley; Sts Peter & Paul, Earl Shilton; and Our Lady and St. Gregory's, Market Bosworth. It is served by Fr. Frank Daly and Fr. Daniel Palmer, and Deacon Rev Robert Pollard. Fr. Terry Fellows and Fr .Geoffrey Hurst live in the parish in retirement. Anticipated Mass is on Saturday at 5.00 in Market Bosworth and 6.30 at St Peter’s.  Sunday Mass at St Peter’s at 8.00 amd 9.45, and at Earl Shilton at 11.30. Weekday Mass at Hinckley Mon, Tuesday Thursday and Saturday at 9.30, Wednesday at 10.00 and Saturday at 9.30.  Mass on Monday at 10.00 in Earl Shilton, and on Wednesday at 10.00 in Market Bosworth.  Confessions in Hinckley on Saturday after the 9,30 Mass.



05 August 2017

Ninth Sunday After Pentecost 1865

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6 SUNDAY ninth after Pentecost. The Transfiguration of OUR LORD, greater double. Second prayers and last Gospel of the Sunday, third prayers of Sts Xystus, Felicissimus, and Agapitus, Martyrs. Creed, Preface of Christmas. White. Second Vespers of the Feast, commemoration of St Cajetan, the Sunday and St Donatus, Bishop Martyr. Plenary Indulgence.

7 Monday St Cajetan, Confessor, double. Second prayers of St Donatus, Bishop Martyr. White.

8 Tues. SS Cvriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, Martyrs, semidouble. Second prayers A cunctis, third prayers at the priest’s choice. Red.

9 Wednesday Vigil. St William, Bishop Confessor, double (transferred from 8 June). Second prayers and last Gospel of Vigil, third prayers of St Romanus, Martyr. White. [In dioceses of Northampton, Salford, and Shrewsbury St Norbert, Bishop Confessor, double (transferred from 6 June). Second prayers and last Gospel of Vigil, third prayers of St Romanus, Martyr. White. In Diocese of Nottingham, St William, Abbot Confessor, double (transferred from 25 June). Second prayers and last Gospel of Vigil, third prayers of St Romanus, Martyr. White. In Diocese of Plymouth, St John of St Facundo, Confessor, double (transferred from 15 June). Second prayers and last Gospel of Vigil, third prayers of St Romanus, Martyr. White.]

10 Thursday (Feast of Devotion) St LAURENCE Martyr, double of the second class with an Octave, during which commemoration of the Octave. Red.

11 Friday St William, Abbot Confessor, double (transferred from 25 June). Third prayers of Sts Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs. White. Abstinence. [In dioceses of Northampton, Salford, and Plymouth, St William, Bishop Confessor, double (transferred from 8 June). Third prayers of Sts Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs. White. In Docese of Nottingham, Mass of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers of Sts Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs, Third prayers Concede. Red.]

12 Saturday St Clare, Virgin, double. White. Abstinence.

The Rev George A Lowe OSB is the priest of St Robert of Newminster, Morpeth.  Mass on Sunday is at 10.15, at 9.00 on Holydays.  Afternoon prayers at 6.30.  Benediction on first Sundays and certain festivals at 6.30. Weekday Mass at 8.30.  Sunday-school at 2.00.  Day-school for boys and girls at 9.00 and 2.00.

In 2017 Fr Peter Stott is the Parish Priest and Fr Jim Doherty resides in the parish.  Sunday Mass is at 9:00, 11:00 and 6:00 pm. Weekday Mass is at 9:15 and on Saturday at 10:00. Sacrament of Reconciliation is usually available between 11:00 and noon on Saturdays. Rosary every Saturday morning at 9:40 and Exposition on the Blessed Sacrament after 10:00 Mass.  The Angelus is said at 9:00 Monday to Friday.