Praise for the Norbertines - and others

Fr Blake has an illustrated account on his blog of what was clearly a very successful Passiontide retreat at his parish in Brighton. He is full of praise for the two Norbertines who conducted it - Fr Stephen Morrison and Br Gregory Davies. 

I commented on his post that they are young men I know well - Fr Stephen was at Oriel, and Br Gregory assists at the Oratory in Oxford in term time whilst he studies at Blackfriars. I would agree that they are excellent men, and good indicators of the vitality of their community in Chelmsford.

I also added the point that St Mary Magdalen's Brighton is a splendid parish - and a splendid church too I should add - and, most importantly, that it has an equally splendid parish priest in Fr Blake himself. 

His post can be seen at Hope.

My own visits to both Brighton and Chelmsford have indeed filled me with hope for the pastoral and liturgical life of the Church, and I pray that both communities continue to be blessed by such faithful ministry.

Norbertine Priest celebrates his first EF Mass

Earlier this month, on St Nicholas Day, December 6th, my friend and fellow Orielensis, Fr Stephen Morrison O.Praem. was ordained priest by the Bishop of Brentwood at the Premonstratensian parish of Our Lady Immaculate, which is served by the Order's Priory of St Philip in Chelmsford. Very unfortunately I was not, despite earlier hopes and plans to do so, able to attend on the day. Since then no photographs have appeared on the internet until I spotted a post from Mark Lambert of De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

This specifically refers to Fr Stephen's first celebration in the Extraordinary Form on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception two days after his Ordination. It has some excellent photographs of the liturgy and a general introduction to this lively and positive parish, and can be viewed at Father Stephen Morrison's First EF.

Ordination in Chelmsford

Yesterday evening I went over to Chelmsford to attend the Ordination of a Norbertine friend from as a priest. I got to know him whilst he was a student here in Oxford. The service was held at the Church of Our Lady Immaculate, which is served by the Norbertine community from St Philip's Priory. Being a medievalist I always tend to refer to them by their other name as Premonstatenians, but that’s just me.

The Ordination was conducted by H.E.Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, and was attended by two mitred abbots, other Premonstratensians from England and Belgium and Australia, plus Oratorians, Dominicans, secular diocesan clergy and also nuns from the Ordinariate, and by many parishioners and friends of the candidate from Oxford - most of the usual suspects were there and some others - and from elsewhere, and, not least noteworthy, a uniformed Honour Guard armed with swords and their flag from a Fraternity to which he belonged whilst studying at the University of Louvain.

The Cardinal lays his hands on the candidate’s head in the Ordination rite

Image: Norbertine Vocations

A set of photographs of the Ordination on can be found on this Facebook page, and another set from his First Mass, which he celebrated this morning, can be seen on this Facebook page.