Solemn Vespers for the Order of Malta with Cardinal Burke

Last Wednesday, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Patronus of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, was present for Vespers in the Oxford Oratory church for the Order. 

His Eminence entered the church wearing his cappa magna over his choir dress.

His Eminence had earlier in the day met members of the Companions of the Order of Malta, who do wonderful work in Oxford with their homeless Shower Project, soup runs, visiting the sick and elderly and other corporal works of mercy. Cardinal Burke was greatly impressed by the Companions and warmly encouraged them in the twofold ministry of the Order of Malta: the care of the poor and the defence of the Faith.

The Vespers was that of the Octave of Pentecost, and the four coped cantors were an Oratorian, a Jesuit, a Benedictine and a Dominican - which sounds like the beginning of a joke about going into a bar, but here is a manifestation of the rich variety of Catholic life in this city. 

After Vespers, the Cardinal gave Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, before going on to deliver a lecture at the University Chaplaincy on "The Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI".
 

 

Text and Images: Oxford oratory/Photographs courtesy of the Oxford Companions of the Order of Malta.

St Philip's Day with HE Cardinal Burke

Last Wednesday evening the Oxford Oratory was honoured to welcome His Eminence Cardinal Burke to our Church to celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass for the feast of Our Holy Father St Philip, in the fifth centenary of his birth. These images are all from the Oratory website, with a few additional comments which I have added.

We were joined by many friends and visitors, including the Rt Rev. Hugh Allan O.Praem., Prior of the Norbertine community in Chelmsford, and many local clergy and Knights of Malta.

The Cardinal entered the Oratory church in his cappa magna :

After praying before the Blessed Sacrament the Cardinal went to vest for Mass in the Sacristy:

 

 

In the procession was a new banner of St Philip, commissioned to mark his fifth centenary:

 

 

 

 

 

In his sermon, the Cardinal encouraged each one of us to take St Philip as an example of how to transform the world in Christ. His full sermon can be read here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Archbishop of Birmingham very kindly leant us Bishop Ullathorne's crozier for the Cardinal to use:

On Wednesday, Fr Daniel took the Cardinal on a tour of Oxford. Here he is pictured next to the bust of Blessed John Henry Newman in Trinity College. He also visited Christ Church where he was able to view what is believed to be Cardinal Wolsey's red hat, which he received in 1515, the year of St Philip's birth.

Images: Oxford Oratory

Cardinal Burke to visit Oxford

2015 is the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of St Philip Neri in Florence in 1515. On St Philip's Day this year, Tuesday 26th May at 6pm, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the Oxford Oratory.

Image and text: Oxford Oratory

Creating Cardinals

I was interested to read this piece on Zenit:

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 10, 2012 (Zenit.org).- When those to be made cardinals gather for the consistory on Feb. 18, the ceremony will be different than it has been in recent decades.

The Vatican announced that there will be a number of changes in the rite, which was last modified in the post-Vatican II changes to the liturgy.

Pope Benedict XVI confers the red biretta on Archbishop Dziwisz of Cracow

Image: 30giorni.it

According to the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff the rite will be simpler, in part to avoid the impression that the ceremony of creating cardinals has any kind of sacramental meaning.

Instead of having the consistory and then the following day a Mass celebrated by the Pope in which he consigns a ring to each new cardinal, there will be just one ceremony in which the traditional three elements -- the imposition of the biretta, the consignment of the ring and the assignation of their titular churches -- will take place.

As well, both the collect and the concluding prayer have been modified, returning to the texts used prior to Vatican II: The two prayers speak of the powers the Lord gave to the Church, in particular that of Peter. The Pope also prays directly for himself, that he may carry out his duties well.

Insofar as the Scripture texts used, there will only be a Gospel reading, omitting the first reading. The Gospel text used will be that of Mark 10: 32-45, in which Jesus announces his death and subsequent resurrection to the disciples and also tells them they must not seek to dominate others, but to be servants to all.

The following day the new cardinals will still concelebrate Mass with the Pope.

This appears to be a conservative reform in that it makes the nature of the elevation clear, and the return to the previous Collects is consistent with a return to a traditional understanding of the event and the Papal and cardinalate ministry. This would appear welcome, and very much in the mainstream of the Benedictine reforms.

What would be more welcome still would be a return to the full traditional ceremonial and the full attributes of the dignity of a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. So not just the red biretta, first given by Pope Paul II (1464-71) - and hence its earlier form than that of lesser ranking clergy - but also of the more ancient galero, and instead of its use merely in heraldry and on notepaper, but its official reception and use at the proper times.

Not that some Cardinals at least do not acquire the symbols of their rank:

Cardinal Burke - a recent photograph

Image: Renegade Trad blog

In All Hats Are Silly , which has some rather fine illustrations, the author from Renegade Trad makes good points about the haphazard way in which senior figures wear one item and not another. Like the author, if I read him or her aright, I would be a wholehearted favourer of tradional usage - if you are going to do something, do it properly.

Bring back the galero - now!

Ash Wednesday images

In my post Ash Wednesday I wrote about serving the Mass at SS Gregory and Augustine, and I have now found a set of photographs of the liturgy:

They were taken by the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society, Dr Joseph Shaw, and can be viewed by following the link from his report, which is here.

I have found two other sets of photographs of Ash Wednesday liturgies last week in the usus antiquior online. Fr Blake has pictures on his blog of the Mass he celebrated at St Mary Magdalen Brighton and they can be seen here.

For something really rather more grand than either Oxford or Brighton could do, the New Liturgical Movement has a set of pictures of Cardinal Burke celebrating a pontifical Mass at St Brigid's church, Marrickville, Sydney and they can be seen here.

Rumours about Summorum Pontificum

Laurence England had two posts yesterday on That The Bones You Have Crushed May Thrill about the rumours about the letter of clarification about Summorum Pontificum - rumours that there may be attempts to restrict its application. I copied the links so that you can read his posts, Pray for Pope Benedict XVI, Now Gloriously Reignin... and Help me with this letter...

If these rumours are true, then it is important for all those who are concerned for the success of Summorum Pontificum and for the liturgy of the Church to pray and give voice to their concern. I have said online that I would sign the letter Laurence has drafted as one means of registering that concern. True liturgical renewal, of which Summorum Pontificum is one, if not the, keystone, must not be frustrated or limited.

That said it is worth bearing in mind that these are at the moment only rumours, and the Church seems to be borne aloft on a sea of speculation. So whilst we await developments we should certainly pray and expound the merit of the Extraordinary Form, and its vital importance to the very being of the Church. It is a time to be resolute, and not to panic. There may be those in the Vatican who want to frustrate the Pope's plans, but there are also those, like Cardinal Burke, as in my recent post, who are insiders and who are definitely supportive of the Holy Father's project.

Cardinal Burke ordains at the Institute of Christ the King

The New Liturgical Movement has a post with illustrations of Cardinal Burke leading a pilgrimage to the heart of St Francis de Sales and a diaconal Ordination he celebrated for the Institute of Christ the King in January. You can view it here. From the post there are links to other photographs of both occasions.

Following on from my previous post about the new English translation of the Novus Ordo and its opponants it is so positive to look at the renewed tradition that Cardinal Burke and the Institute both represent and practice.

Almost twenty five years ago I recall looking at the famous photograph from the 1920s of an enthroned Cardinal Mercier of Malines (d.1926) in full pontifical vestments and being told by an Anglican religious that I would never see such a thing in my lifetime (nor, by implication, would anyone else ever do so). Yet here in 2011 is Cardinal Burke in a very similar pose:

Not only that but the whole liturgy was celebrated with the all traditional vestures for the Cardinal and his attendants, as is discussed in the comments on the post. Thus, for example, he wore the winter cappa magna, with the traditional galero, and wore the tunicle was well as the dalmatic under the chasuble. This is what I mean by liturgical renewal - restoring those things that are gone to decay, and making all things new in Christ.