Trinity Sunday 1863

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31 TRINITY SUNDAY and First Sunday after Pentecost. double of the second class. Commemoration and Last Gospel of the Sunday. Third prayers in Low Mass only of St Petronilla, Virgin. Preface of the Trinity, as also on subsequent Sundays.  White. First Vespers of St Augustine (in hymn Meruit Supremos) with commemoration of the Sunday only. [In Diocese of Westminster collection for Church-building Fund. In Diocese of Shrewsbury Second Vespers of Trinity Sunday with Commemoration of St Angela Merici and of the Sunday.]

1 Monday. St Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop Confessor, Apostle of England, double of the First Class with an Octave (transferred from 26 May). White. [In Diocese of Shrewsbury St Angela Merici, Virgin, double. White.]

2 Tuesday. Mass of the Octave of St Augustine, double. Second prayers of Sts Marcellinus, Peter and Erasmus, Martyrs.  White. [In Diocese of  Shrewsbury St Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop Confessor, Apostle of England, double of the First Class with an Octave. White.]

3 Wednesday. St Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, Virgin. Double. White.

4 Thursday. CORPUS CHRISTI, double of the First Class, with an Octave during which Commemoration of the Octave, Creed, and Preface of Christmas. White. Second Vespers of the feast, with Commemoration of St Boniface. Plenary Indulgence.

5 Friday. St Boniface, Bishop Martyr, double. Red. Abstinence. [In Diocese of Plymouth patron of the Diocese, double of the First Class with an Octave, during which Commemoration of the Octave and Creed. Plenary Indulgence throughout the Octave for some work of mercy.]

6 Saturday. St Norbert, Bishop Confessor, double. White.

The word you will look for in June and never find, in this series at least, is Green. Regular, weekly, daily Green is so twentieth century!

Competing Octaves: the whole of England celebrates an Octave for the feast of St Augustine of Canterbury, the English Apostle (even if Shrewsbury, for reasons I cannot work out (she isn't a diocesan patron) ranks St Angela Merici higher).  But this Octave is inferior to the Octave of Corpus Christi, and so this year, at least, St Augustine's Octave will end up mainly overtaken, not least in the diocese of Plymouth where St Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, originally from Crediton, is the local boy done good, and consequently the principle Patron of the Diocese: his Octave will be observed, along with the major Octave, celebrated throughout the Church, of Corpus Christi, which falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.

The Octaves compete because the Ordo has to take into account the Universal calendar, the National calendar for England and Wales, and the diocesan particulars: the diocesan shares the same priority as the universal, while the national gives way.  You can see why, purely from a calendar point of view, it's lucky that there were no national Bishops' Conferences in 1863, trying to impose national standardisation across the dioceses.

Even though the Indulgence of Pentecost runs through to the Octave of Corpus Christi (this is one of the eight indulgences which invite Catholics to Communion), there is an Indulgence available on Corpus Christi itself (it is a feast of the Lord) as well as one in Plymouth for St Boniface, available on each day of his Octave.  NB the rules for these two Indulgences, have an extra element to those in force today: as well as sacramental Confession, Communion, and prayers for the Pope's intentions, there is a requirement for a work of mercy as well. For the Pentecost Indulgence (like that of the first week of Lent, or that of All Saints), the conditions are Confession, reception of Holy Communion, almsgiving on the eve or day of Holy Communion (for those who can afford to give alms), and on the day of Holy Communion, that the recipient offer prayers to God for the state of the Catholic Church in the world, for bringing back straying souls to the fold of Christ, for the general peace of Christendom, and for the blessing of God upon England and Wales.

In the Parish of St John the Evangelist, Prince George-street Portsea, (what will eventually be the Cathedral Church of the yet-to-be-formed Diocese of Portsmouth) the Rev Henry S Philips is the Missionary Rector.  On Sundays, Mass for civilians is at 8.00, with Mass exclusively for the military at 9.00.  High Mass is at 11.00.  Rosary and Catechism is at 4.00 pm.  Vespers and Benediction are at 7.00.   On Holydays Mass is at 8.00 and High Mass at 9.30. Mass on weekdays is at 8.30.  The Royal Naval Chaplain is the Rev W L Woollett.  He celebrates Mass on Sundays at 10.00 on board HMF Thalia (a fifth rate frigate). The Military Chaplain is the Rev D Donovan.  The Rev B Doran ministers to the Convict Prison, Portsmouth.

Not all Convents run schools:

Whit Sunday 1863

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24 WHIT SUNDAY or PENTECOST. Double of the First Class with an Octave. Red. Vespers of the Feast.

25 Whitsun-Monday. Double of the First Class. Creed during the week. Red.

26 Whitsun-Tuesday. Double of the First Class. Red. [In Dioceses of  Westminster, Hexham and Newcastle, Liverpool and Southwark Plenary Indulgence for St Augustine.]

27 Ember-Wednesday. Of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers of St John, Pope Martyr. Red. FAST.

28 Thursday. Of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers for the Church or the Pope. Red.

29 Ember-Friday. Of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers for the Church or the Pope. Red. FAST

30 Ember-Saturday. Of the Octave, semidouble. Second prayers of St Felix, Pope Martyr. Red. FAST.

Here ends the Paschal Time

Just as happens in Easter Week, Pentecost obliterates the week. Every day is Pentecost Sunday: there are a couple of commemorations in the week, and the fasts of the Ember Days are upon us, but it is Pentecost, and the Holy Ghost has descended upon the apostles who have gone out to make disciples of all the nations: Parthians and Medes and Elamites and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappodocia, Pontus and Asia, Phyrgia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians: and the English and Welsh too.  (Personal digression: was it this reading that stirred up the wanderlust which has been part of me ever since I can remember?)  Pentecost is an explosion of joy, just as Easter is and is celebrated by a serious Octave.

Except it isn't any more.  Probably the most dishonest of all of the things done by Bugnini and his crew was to abolish the Octave of Pentecost.  They said that it was too modern - only a thousand years old - and therefore not something which belonged to the Primitive Church.  They said that it was merely an Octave itself, eight Sundays after Easter.  They were desperate to get rid of this Octave because it spoke only to Catholics: there was no ecumenical expression of the feast of Pentecost to which an Octave could be attached, or at least explained away, so the Octave had to go. 

To me at least, the removal of this Octave sums up everything that is wrong about the post-Vatican II Calendar.  Something that neither Pius X or Pius XII had changed is being done away with, and without any sensible reason: it would be mere archaeologism to say that a thousand years of tradition wasn't long enough to establish a tradition, but the real problem is deeper.  The "experts" charged with renewing the Liturgy didn't understand where Pentecost had come from, or what it meant in the East, and they had the authority and used it.  It is a cliche to talk about the idiots being in charge of the asylum, but most cliches are cliches because they tell a truth in a stale and outmoded manner, not because they aren't true.  

Poor Pope Paul! who finding green vestments put out for him on Whit Monday asked why they weren't red for the Octave, and, on being told that it was because he had abolished the Octave, wept.  If only he had imitated Pope John, faced with a similar situation, and had demanded red instead of green; if only he had trusted his heart instead of his intellect; if only he had listened to (almost) anybody instead of to Bugnini.

The irony, of course, is that the Holy Ghost (anglice novo the Holy Spirit) ended up becoming a "Spirit of Vatican II" shibboleth, and an Octave of Pentecost could have become a weapon for greater change.  This really is one of the small mercies for which we genuinely ought to thank God.

As far as I can tell, there was no Parish of the Holy Ghost in England and Wales in 1863.  

The Missionary Rector of the Parish of St John the Evangelist on Duncan-terrace in Islington is the Very Rev Canon Oakeley, and he is assisted by the Revv William Ignatius Dolan, Andrew Mooney and Jean Baptiste Laborie Rey.  Masses on Sundays are at 7.00, 8.00, 9.00 and 10.00, with High Mass at 11.00.  Catechism and Benediction is at 3.00 pm, and Vespers and Benediction are at 7.00.  Weekday Masses are at 7.00 and 9.30.  On Holydays, Masses are at 5.00, 7.00, 9.00 and 10.00, with High Mass at 11.00, and Vespers and Benediction at 7.30.  On Days of Devotion, there is High Mass at 7.00, and Low Masses at 9.00 and 10.00. Vespers and Benediction are at 7.30. Every Thursday, and on all feasts of Our Lord, the BVM and St Francis of Assisi, there is Benediction with Instruction at 8.00 pm.  Sermon and Devotions in French are on Fridays at 8.00 pm. Every other evening there is Rosary or other Devotions at 8.00. Instruction and Devotions for the Confraternity of the Holy and Immaculate Heart are on Wednesday at 8.00 pm, with Benediction on the first Wednesday of the month. Compline is said at 7.30 on Thursdays in Lent except for Holy Thursday or during the Forty Hours Devotion.  Devotions every evening in May for the month of Mary, and every evening in November for the souls in Purgatory.

There are in this Church chapels of the Blessed Sacrament, our Our Blessed Lady, and of St Francis of Assisi, to the last of which the great Indulgence of Portiuncula is attached, and may be gained at each visit made between 6.00 pm on 1 August and sunset on the next evening.  Confraternities of the Most Holy Sacrament od of the Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary; also of the Scapular of Mount Carmel and of the Seven Dolours.  By Rescripts of His present Holiness, a Plenary Indulgence can be gained once a year by visiting the Church any day on the usual conditions; also on the feast of St Francis of Assisi, and of the Stigmata, and on the first Sunday of every month.

The Church is open every day from 6.30 am to 4.30 pm, and from 6.00 to 9.00 pm.  Confessions are on Wednesday and Friday until 11.00, and every other day till 12.00 noon; also on Wednesday and Friday at 7.00 pm, and on Saturday a6t 6.00 pm.  Baptism and Churching on Sundays at 2.00 pm, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10.30 am.

The parish serves the Islington Workhouse, Felix-street, Barnsbury and the Fever Hospital, Liverpool-road.

Its current state is described here. 

The prospect of St Elizabeth's Institute must have been welcome in 1863, however much some of its conditions might seem horrific today.  For "poor and unprotected" girls, this was potentially the only lifeline they would ever have, and being taught anything, even "only to the extent of the requirements of a servant", was still the step up from the absolute depths it is hard even to imagine today, but in which so many of the urban poor lived.

Sunday In The Octave Of The Ascension 1863

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17 SUNDAY. Sunday within the Octave. St Paschal Baylon, Confessor, double. Second prayers and Last Gospel of Sunday. Third prayers of the Octave. White. Second Vespers of the Feast until the little Chapter, thence of St Venantius with commemoration of St John Nepomucene, the Sunday, and the Octave. Red.  [In Diocese of Liverpool, collection for the Episcopal Administration Fund.]

18 Monday. St Venantius, Martyr, double. Red.

19 Tuesday. St Dunstan, Bishop Confessor, double. Second prayers of the Octave.  Third prayers of St Pudentiana, Virgin. White.

20 Wednesday. St Bernadine of Sienna, Confessor, semidouble. Second prayers of the Octave. Third prayers Concede. White.

21 Thursday. The Octave of the Ascension, double, White.

22 Friday. St Ubaldus, Bishop Confessor, semidouble. Second prayers of the feria. Third prayers Concede. Preface of the Ascension. White. Abstinence.

23 Saturday. Whitsun-Eve, semidouble. Preface of Pentecost and during the following week. Red. FAST.

The Indulgence begins

The Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension is particularly rich in commemorations, looking backwards as well as forwards, particularly in the Vespers celebrated in parishes up and down the land on Sunday evening. Our participation in the services of the Church anchors us not only to the Church throughout the world, but to the Church throughout history.  Yes, this is one of the things the Mass is about, but it is also what the Calendar is about, and the Calendar is something we can celebrate outside Church, by ourselves, anywhere.

It is a quiet week, though the Octave of the Ascension means that St Peter Celestine is going to be put back until 17 June.  

On Friday, second prayers are "of the feria".  On the Friday after the Octave of the Ascension, if there is no feast, the Mass of the Sunday within the Octave of Pentecost is said.  Because of St Ubaldus, the prayers from Sunday's Mass will be said as second prayers.  This keeps alive the connection between the Ascension and Pentecost on the day before the Vigil of Pentecost. After the Vigil service, the Indulgence begins, one of the eight periods of the year in which those communicating and fulfilling the conditions set could obtain a plenary indulgence, traditionally marking the eight times a year many Catholics would communicate in the era before frequent communion became more common.

I'll save my thoughts about the intellectual dishonesty of arguments for it of the people who got rid of the Octave of Pentecost for next week, but will simply point out that this week builds up to a Saturday which is a shorter version of the Holy Saturday Vigil.  There aren't as many prophecies, and there is no Paschal fire: but it is still richer and fuller of symbolism than the modern Holy Saturday.  (The Vigil takes place, of course, in the morning.) On the Vigil Catholics will fast in preparation because Pentecost is one of the great feasts.  

Anachronistically, please pray for the Catholic pilgrims we know from the blogosphere who will begin this week to march towards Chartres, before we next explore 1863: they are physically proclaiming and celebrating continuity with our tradition.

The parish of St Thomas of Canterbury at Newport in the Isle of Wight is served by the Rev Thomas W Fryer, the Missionary Rector.  On Sundays there is a Mass for the military at 9.00, and High Mass at 10.45.  Catechism with English prayers is at 2.30.  Vespers, with Night Prayers, Instruction and Benediction, is at 6.30.  On Holydays, High Mass is at 10.00, and Vespers and Bendiction are at 6.30.  Weekday Mass is at 9.00 in winter, and at 7.30 in the rest of the year.  Compline is celebrated on Wednesday evenings in Lent and Advent at 6.30.  Benediction is at 7.00 each Thursday.  Every Friday in lent, on on the first Friday of every month Stations of the Cross are at 7.00 pm.  On feasts of the BVM and on Days of Devotion, thre is Rosary and Benediction at 7.00 pm.  On the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, there is Exposition from the end of High Mass until Vespers.

This is St Thomas', opened in 1791:

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Consecration Of England And Wales To Our Lady And St Peter

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From a Directory published in 1909:

CONSECRATION TO OUR BLESSED LADY AND ST PETER

On June 29, 1893, in obedience to the earnest wish and exhortation of Pope Leo XIII, England and Wales were solemnly dedicated and conscrated, by the Cardinal Archbishop and the Bishops, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and to St Peter, Prince of the Apostles; and this dedication and consecration is to be renewed yearly in every public church - to Our Blessed Lady on Rosary Sunday, to St Peter on the Sunday within the octave of June 29.

The respective entries in the Ordo say:

In omnibus Eccl renovatur Dedicatio S PetroAp   

and


In omnibus Eccl fit renovatio Dedicationis BMV, et apud ejus imaginem offeruntur flores 

From The Tablet 24 June 1893: (I've saved you from many of the verses)

MARY'S DOWRY AND PETER'S THRONE.

For Mary's love and Peter's name, 
Let thankful voices raise 
Glad songs that still unquenched proclaim 
The faith of olden days !

...

   See where they pass, those pilgrim lines 
Along the well-worn way, 
At Walsingham and Willesden shrines 
Their vows of love to pay !

...

 For Mary's love and Peter's name, 
This gladsome song we raise, 
And still with loyal hearts proclaim 
The faith of olden days !

—W. H. KENT, O.S.C.
Written for the Consecration of England to Our Blessed Lady and St. Peter, June 29, 1893.

If I ever knew about this, I have most surely forgotten it; but I think this is the first time I've ever heard of the Consecration, or its annual renewal.  It's definitely the first time I've heard of England (and Wales) referred to as St Peter's Throne.

Sunday 1 July, and Sunday 4 October would have been the relevant dates for this year, though there is no Octave of SS Peter and Paul any more, and the First Sunday of October is no longer the Feast of the Rosary of the BVM (though the Ordo of the Saint Lawrence Press points out that even after the reforms of Pope St Pius X and until the New Mass and Calendar of Pope Paul VI, the Mass of Our Lady's Rosary could replace all Masses on this Sunday except the Conventual).

Whatever the degree of my personal ignorance, however,  it feels to me that this is a practice that could bring nothing but good to this country, and it seems to me that it would be open to us to do it ourselves, assuming that we couldn't persuade the Hierarchy, or individual priests, to reinstitute the practice.  We might bring flowers for Our Lady's statue as well.

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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.

Fourth Sunday After Easter 1863

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3 SUNDAY. Fourth after Easter. The INVENTION of the HOLY CROSS, double of the second class. Second prayers and Last Gospel of Sunday. Third prayers (in Low Mass only) of SS Alexander, Eventius, Theodulus, Martyrs, and Juvenal, Bishop Confessor. Preface of the Cross. Red. Second Vespers of the Feast with commemoration of St Monica and of the Sunday.  [In Dioceses of Hexham and Newcastle, and Liverpool Plenary Indulgence.]

4 Monday. St Monica, Widow, double. White.

5 Tuesday. St Catharine of Sienna, Virgin, double. White.

6 Wednesday. St John before the Latin Gate, greater double. Creed. Preface of the Apostles. Red.

7 Thursday. St Stanislaus, Bishop Martyr, double. Red.

8 Friday. The Apparition of St Michael the Archangel, greater double. Creed. White. Abstention.

9 Saturday. St Gregory of Nazianzum, Bishop Confessor Doctor, double. Creed. White.

St Catharine of Siena was shifted a week earlier when Pope St Pius V took her feast day and has been moved subsequently: ironically, her feast day in the modern calendar is on the anniversary of her death.  That date previously was taken by St Peter the Martyr (these are all Dominicans: was the Order of Preachers consulted?) but he seems to have been moved to the previous day.  

The feast of St John before the Latin Gate commemorates St John the Evangelist's being thrown into a pot of boiling oil while on a visit to Rome during the reign of Domitian but being preserved unharmed. It was removed from the Calendar in Pius XII's time.

Each of the three Archangels the Roman Church recognises by name: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael: had separate feasts in 1863, and the Apparition of St Michael in Siponte (in Apulia) to the local Bishop had its own feast as well. It was removed from the Calendar in Pius XII's time. I wonder if the reformers thought that the whole business of St Michael as warrior against Satan was a bit superstitious: did they think that there's nothing modern about saying the prayer to St Michael every time you go to Mass?

That said, the Universal Calendar does have to be pruned back every now and then (I mean once a century or so) as the immediate relevance of the heroic virtues of some saints does change.  It doesn't mean getting rid of saints, or having to pretend like Bugnini and the boys that certain saints were pious legends.  It does mean understanding what the calendar is for.  I think that the balance of the 1962 calendar is pretty good: what might have felt fifty years ago like rather a lot of saints of the Counter Reformation era feels, in the world of 2015 where the Church faces enemies within as well as without, like a lot of good examples of confessors and martyrs who faced a world which is more similar to ours than is the world of the Roman Empire. And, don't forget, the Masses of Saints no longer included on the Universal Calendar can still be said. (This discussion is, of course, completely different from one on the ranking of feasts, or on the precedence of Sundays.)

(By the way, archangelology looks like an interesting rabbit hole to burrow down one day.  Start with Wikipedia here and then start following links.)

The parish of St Mary on the Quay in Bristol is served by Jesuits, the Revv William Johnson, Henry James, Frederick Smyth and Antonito Caradonna SJ.  On Sundays there is Mass at 8.30 and a Sermon at 11.00.  Vespers, another Sermon and Benediction are at 6.30.  Weekday Masses are at 8.00 and 9.00.  Confessions are on Wednesdays from 6.00 to 9.00 pm, on Saturdays from 2.00 to 4.00 pm, then from 6.00 to 9.00 pm; they are also heard before the 8.30 Mass on Sundays and before each weekday Mass.  The Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Mary is established in this Mission in union with that of Notre Dame des Victoires in Paris.

This dates from a few years after 1863 but shows how much altar wine cost in the period. It's as strong as vermouth and costs 50p a gallon. I wonder what sort of martini it would make.