Oxford LMS Pilgrimage

Last Saturday the Latin Mass Society held its annual Oxford Pilgrimage. This year it commemorated Bl.George Napier, or Napper, a local man, born in the city in 1550, who suffered martyrdom at Oxford Castle for being a priest on November 9th 1610. He was beatified in 1929. The account of his life from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia can be read at Ven. George Napper

We had a Solemn Mass in the traditional Dominican Rite celebrated in the church at Blackfriars. It was rather a pity that the numbers were not, I think, as good as in previous years for this rare occasion to see the Dominican liturgy being celebrated. This is a form of Mass with close similarities to the Use of Sarum, and certainly would have been celebrated in medieval English Dominican houses. I know some regular attenders had other commitments, but such an event should draw in new recruits if the ideals of the LMS are to be diffused more widely.

The Chairman of the LMS was not only organising and singing as part of the schola but was also busy photographing the Mass and the other events of the day.

Images: Joseph Shaw on Flickr

His complete set of pictures are available on Flickr at:

Oxford LMS Pilgrimage 2014

After a break for lunch we reassembled at Carfax with a processional cross, a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham and the Banner of the LMS to go to the remains of the castle and the site of Bl. George's imprisonment and martyrdom. As we went along through the Saturday afternoon shoppers we sang the Great Litany. At the plaque, itself unveiled on a previous Pilgrimage in 2010 by Archbishop Longley, marking the site of the martyrdom, we sang the Te Deum.

On the way back from the castle along Worcester Street (negotiating the roadworks as we went along) we sang Faith of Our Fathers and the Song of the English Zouaves ("Aniraa mia, anima mia, Ama Dio e tira via.") from the 1860s. As this is less well known I have retrieved the text from the Internet and will reproduce it:

Saint George and old England for ever!
Once more her sons arm for the fight,
With the cross on their breasts, to do battle
For God, Holy Church, and the right.
Twine your swords with the palm branch, brave comrades,
For as Pilgrims we march forth to-day ; —
Love God, O my soul, love Him only,
And then with light heart go thy way.

We come from the blue shores of England,
From the mountains of Scotia we come.
From the green, faithful island of Erin, —
Far, far, from our wild northern home.
Place Saint Andrew's red cross in your bonnets.
Saint Patrick's green shamrock display ; —
Love God, O my soul, love Him only.
And then with light heart go thy way.

Dishonour our swords shall not tarnish.
We draw them for Rome and the Pope ;
Victors still, whether living or dying.
For the Martyr's bright crown is our hope ;
If 'tis sweet for our country to perish.
Sweeter far for the cause of to-day ; —
Love God, my soul, love Him only.
And then with light heart go thy way.

Though the odds be against us, what matter ?
While God and Our Lady look down.
And the Saints of our country are near us.
And Angels are holding the crown.
March, march to the combat and fear not,
A light round our weapons will play ; —
Love God, O my soul, love Him only,
And then with light heart go thy way.

From Joseph Powell Two Years in the Pontifical Zouaves 1871

Note: I do not know why this speaks of St Andrew's cross as red - red for martyrdom of course, but the saltire is normally depicted white.

We sang the Litany of Loretto as we processed along Beaumont Street past the Ashmolean and so back to Blackfriars for Benediction.

Image: Joseph Shaw on Flickr

Oxford LMS Pilgrimage

Saturday was the day of the annual Latin Mass Society's Pilgrimage to Oxfordand once again Mass was offered in the traditional Dominican Rite at Blackfriars by Fr Richard Conrad. The Deacon was Fr John Saward, the priest of SS Gregory and Augustine, but who is also a Dominican tertiary, as well as a tutor at Blackfriars so very much at home in the priory.

The Dominican form of the Mass has many similarities to the Sarum Use, and, apart from a few post-Tridentine additions, very much what  a medieval Dominican in Oxford or throughout the breadth of Christendom would have celebrated and known.  It is very beautiful and it is a delight to see it being made available again to the faithful.

After Mass I went off for lunch with an old friend from the Birmingham Ortatory who had come for the Pilgrimage, and after catching up on news and ideas, we rejoined the other pilgrims by the tower of St Michael at the Northgate, and on the site of the Bocardo prison over the city's north gate, for the Procession. Here my friend was commandeered to act as crucifer as we set off towards the site of the martyrdom in July 1589 of Bl. George Nichols, Bl.Richard Yaxley, Bl.Thomas Belson and Bl.Humphrey Pritchard. This took us past the site of their arrest, the Catherine Wheel inn - now covered by an eighteenth century extension of Balliol - and along Broad Street.

 

Now not only was this a Saturday but it was also Matriculation Day, so there were many fresher students around in sub fusc, gown and mortar board, and the tourist and general public just took us all in their stride as part of the Oxford scene -  which of course we are. 

As is our custom on this occasion, awaiting us at the end of Holywell Street was a gallows with four nooses dangling from it - a temporary but striking feature which is set up on these occasions near the site of the martyrdoms in 1589. Looking at a friend who had been assigned the task of looking after this another mutual friend pointed out that the other was, after all, a Daily Mail reader...

We returned along Holywell to Broad Street and Blackfriars, where we concluded with Benediction in the priory church, the incense rising through the afternoon sunbeams in the sanctuary, and sang the Salve Regina in the Dominican Tone.

There are a series of pictures, both of the liturgy and of the procession, together with a report on the Pilgrimage, and a link to more photographs, on the LMS Chairman's blog at Oxford Pilgrimage: Procession and Benediction.

Afterwards my friend from Birmingham and I revisited one of our old haunts on St Giles - the Eagle and Child - aka the Bird and Baby - to see if the local ale was still up to standard before he caught his train home.

A fine occasion, pious and beautiful, but also gregarious and cheering.

The Last Gospel in the Dominican Rite

Given that the forthcoming Latin Mass Society Oxford Pilgrimage on October 19th will have a celebration at Blackfriars of the traditional Dominican Mass a post yesterday on the New Liturgical Movement is of interest. It is by Fr Augustine Thompson O.P., and can be read at The Last Gospel in the Dominican Rite, and relates the history of this part of the Order's liturgy.

LMS Pilgrimage Mass and Procession in Oxford

On Saturday I attended the Latin Mass Society's Oxford Pilgrimage, with a Solemn High Mass at Blackfriars in the traditional Dominican Rite, and, in the afternoon, a procession to the site of the martyrdom of Bl.George Napier in Oxford Castle and Benediction, again at Blackfriars.

Dr Joe Shaw, the Chairman of the LMS has now posted on his blog two reports about the day, complete with fine sets of photographs. The first covers the Mass and can be viewed at Oxford Pilgrimage 2012. The photographs show very well the beauty of the Dominican liturgy, which is very similar to the Use of Sarum. The second report covers the procession and Benediction, and can be seen at Oxford Pilgrimage: Procession and Benediction. Those readers who know me should be able to spot me in at least one photograph of the procession.

Here is one of the photographs of the Mass, showing the elevation of the chalice:

Image:LMS Chairman blog

There is also a report from two years ago of the Pilgrimage Mass, also celebrated in Blackfriars, but on that occasion in the Extraordinary Form, and in the presence of the Archbishop of Birmingham. I am partly (but only partly) including the link out of vanity (sic) as I appear as thurifer in some of the pictures - you have been warned... The article can be seen at LMS Pilgrimage to Oxford 2010.

 

 

Dominican Rite in pictures

Dr Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society has very kindly sent me the link to his set of photographs of the LMS Oxford Pilgrimage last Saturday. He appears to have made a comprehensive record of the Mass, and the set repays study. The 143 photographs certainly convey the beauty of the liturgy, as well as something of the Pilgrimage procession.

The elevation of the Host

Image: Joseph Shaw1's photostream on Flickr

Dr Shaw's own account of the day can be read and viewed at Oxford Pilgrimage photos: Mass and Oxford Pilgrimage: Procession

Dominican Rite in Oxford

On Saturday I took part in the annual LMS Oxford Pilgrimage. The High Mass was celebrated at 11 am in the church of Blackfriars on St Giles, and this year was in the traditional Dominican Rite. I do not know when such a Mass was last celebrated in the church, but I suspect it was forty odd years ago, and it was a wonderful and beautiful occasion.

The celebrant was Fr Richard Conrad, the deacon Fr Thomas Crean and the sub-deacon fr Gregory Pearson, with other Dominicans providing the team of acolytes and thurifer. This was the Mass for which the church was designed, and the dignity and solemnity of the occasion was enhanced by the sunlight streaming in through the windows and the clouds of incense within the sanctuary. One could not imagine a more beautiful way of celebrating the Sacrament, and the consequent ability to be drawn into a prayerful relation with the Divine. It is a precious part of the Dominican heritage, and that of the wider church, and I sincerely hope that it will be celebrated again there in the not too distant future and that others may both witness and benefit by it. I do hope that individual Dominicans and Dominican houses avail themselves of their recently confirmed right to celebrate Mass in this form.

It was very moving to attend Mass in a form with a continuous liturgical history and usage from the thirteenth century, and one which closely parallels the Sarum and other Uses of medieval England, as well as of other monastic orders. Thus it would be largely indistingishable from the Mass as celebrated in, for example, the Dominican friaries in Oxford or in my home town of Pontefract before their dissolution in 1538. There was, of course, something of the liturgical train-spotter about some of us, observing the various features specific or unique to the Rite, but, I hasten to add, it was the totality of the offering which really concerned us, not the minutiae.

The Mass offered was one special to the Dominican Missal - the feast of dedication of all Dominican churches which is assigned to October 22nd - and Fr Conrad preached an elegant and eloquent homily linking the dedication of particular church buildings to the dedication of the believer.

The Pilgrimage was well attended, with some travelling up from the south coast or the south-west to attend. When I can find some photographs online I will post them or links to them.

Following the Mass I had a most enjoyable Italian lunch with my good freinds Andrew Wagstaff of The Noise of the Crusade aka The Last Knight and John Hunwicke, before Andrew and I joined the procession commemorating the Oxford martyrs of 1589. Starting from the site of the Bocado prison adjacent to the tower of St Michael att the Northgate we processed with Fr Crean behind the cross and a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham along the route of the martyrs journey to execution, and past the site of their capture at the Catherine Wheel Inn - now covered by part of Balliol. In warm autumnal sunshine we made our way past tourists and shoppers as well as graduands and their families at a degree day, and the animal rights protesters by the Sheldonian, along Broad Street and Holywell Street to the site of the gallows. Returning the same way we sang the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the martyrs' witness (and, yes, we did genuflect at the appropriate point) and concluded with Benediction given by Fr Crean in the church at Blackfriars.

After that Andrew and I had our own nostalgic pilgrimage to the Eagle and Child (aka the Bird and Baby) before joining other pilgrims - including Paul Smeaton of Smeaton's corner and Sean Wright of Juventutem Oxford- in the Lamb and Flag for further refreshment. After this Andrew and I adjourned to the bar of the Oxford Union before heading off for supper and his departure on the London coach. So, all in all, a very pious and a very convivial day.