Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Thursday, 3 March 2011

Mass with Juventutum Oxford


Yesterday evening I served as thurifer at the Mass for the feast of St Chad at SS Gregory and Augustine which marked the inauguration of Juventutem Oxford.

The celebrant was Fr John Saward, and the Mass was accompanied by a polyphonic setting sung by students and others from Oxford.

The congregation included a good number of young people who had travelled to the northern suburbs for the occasion, and then returned to the city centre and the University Catholic Chaplaincy for a pizza supper.

How things change - I can recall a time not that long ago, with a different chaplaincy team, when the thought of open supporters of the TLM being so welcome there would have been unimaginable.

I wish the Oxford branch well in their endeavours,
and hope that they can continue to grow spiritually within the usus antiquior and to share their enthusiasm with others.

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1 comment:

rosalind said...

I too can recall the time of the persecution of Tradition. It was not long ago that open supporters of the Latin Mass not only found themselves subject to snide remarks and mocking gestures, but were even excluded from positions of high rank in Oxford's most ancient and prestigious student society.

6 March 2011 at 22:40

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