Floreat Orielenses

Last night I called in to the bar at the Oxford Union - no great surprise in that - but I did have the unexpected pleasure of finding there three fellow Orielenses.

The young men, as well as the girlfriend of one of them, had been back in Oxford for one of them to receive his degree. I had not seen them for several years and it was good to catch up on what they are doing on London and to share reminiscences and news of mutual friends.

Although they are much younger than I am the fact that we had become friends during our time in Oriel speaks of one of the great strengths of the collegiate system, and particularly of a small college like Oriel with a strong sense of identity. Eating together in Hall, having a drink with them in the bar, simply seeing people in and around the college, builds up contacts and shared experience irrespective of subject, background or age. Oriel is clearly a significant part of all our lives - indeed it emerged in the conversation that one of them was a fifth generation Orielensis.

We continued our discussion over curry in a nearby Indian restaurant before they departed, but not before we had exchanged e-mail addresses an dthe hope of keeping in contact more often.

Floreat Oriel!

The arms of Oriel on a boss in the vault of the entrance

Image: Wikipedia

Doing Extraordinary things

I have attended two Extraordinary Form Masses in the last couple of days.

Last night the Oxford Oratory celebrated the feast of the English Martyrs with a Solemn High Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII. This was, as one would expect of the Oratory, a beautiful liturgy and well attended - considerably more people were present than the usual, good, congregation we are used to seeing on a weekday evening. In recent years this feast has become one on which it is normal for the Mass to be offered in this form at the Oratory - I assume on the basis that this was the Mass the Martyrs and their fellow Catholics knew at the time. This serves as an example of how the two strands in the Roman liturgy can be offered in a parish and appreciated by the people of God.

This afternoon I was asked to help serve at the Latin Mass Society's Pilgrimage Mass at Greyfriars in Oxford. The Pilgrimage was one on foot to Littlemore where they were to end the afternoon with Vespers and Benediction in Newman's chapel at the College.

The feast in the EF calendar was, very fittingly, that of St Pius V, about whom the celebrant, Fr Simon Leworthy FSSP spoke in his homily, and in which he drew attention to the obligations laid on all the succcessors to St Peter to defend the Church, and of our need and obligation as Catholics to pray for the Pope.

I was thurifer and think I managed to produce a fairly decent serving of smoke at the right times. The Scola Abellis provided the music for the Mass. The church at Greyfriars is, as I have observed previously, a handsome building which provides a fine setting for the liturgy, and it is always a pleasure to serve there.

LMS Conference - June 9th

I have been asked to publish details about the conference the Latin Mass Society will be holding on

The Traditional Mass and the Catholic Life

on

Saturday, 9 June 2012


Regent Hall, 275 Oxford Street, London W1C 2DJ
(opposite BHS, less than 5 minutes' walk from Oxford Circus)

This is the first time that the LMS has organised such a one-day conference, and there are some excellent speakers lined up. Designed principally for ordinary LMS members, non-members are very welcome to join them in attending. 

Timetable for the day:
9am Low Mass at St James, Spanish Place.

10am Doors open - Registration until 11am. Stalls in the Conference Hall will be available to browse around


11am - 11.50am Dr John Rao (Roman Forum)
12 noon - 12.50pm  Stuart McCullough (Good Counsel Network)

Lunch

2pm - 2.50pm  Fr John Zuhlsdorf (Fr Z)
3pm - 3.50pm  Fr Tim Finigan (columnist and blogger)
4pm - 4.50pm  John Hunwicke (of the Ordinariate)

5pm - 6pm Panel discussion
6pm Close


BOOKING INFORMATION:
Admission is by ticket only.
Ticket prices:
LMS Members £15
Non-LMS Members £20
(includes morning and afternoon refreshments)
Optional: Buffet lunch, including drinks, £9 supplement


Tickets may be purchased by phoning the LMS office on 020 7404 7284, by sending a cheque (payable to 'LMS') to LMS, 11-13 Macklin Street, London WC2B 5NH or online through the Latin Mass Society website.

St Philip the Apostle

Since 1955 today, rather than May 1st, the traditional day from the sixth century, has been the feast of SS Philip and James the Apostles in the Catholic Church.

Their original cult and many of their relics and depictions, are Eastern rather than Western, although some relics of both have been in Rome since initial construction of the basilica dei Santi Apostoli in the pontificates of Pope Pelagius I (556-561) and Pope John III (561-574).

A portion of what is believed to be St Philip's skull is said to have been brought to Cyprus from Constantinople in 1204 very shortly after that city's capture in the Fourth Crusade. Here is a view of it on display in an eighteenth-century reliquary case in the monastery of the Holy Cross at Omodos in the Limassol prefecture:

The reliquary of St Philip

Image: John Dillon on Medieval religion discussion group

I posted about the discovery of St Philip's original tomb and shrine at Hierapolis in Tomb of St Philip the Apostle last August.

The Dream of Gerontius - a new setting at the Oxford Oratory

On Saturday May 12th there will be another opportunity to hear Julien Chilcott-Monk's new musical setting of Bl. John Henry Newman's Dream of Gerontius in aid of the Oxford Oratory Appeal in the Oratory church at 7.30 p.m. This new presentation of the work follows on from its premiere at Christ Church last autumn.

 

Image:newmanreader.org

The solo voices are those of the distinguished actor Robert Hardy as The Soul/Gerontius and Neil Nisbet as the Guardian Angel. The choir of assistants, angels and demons is provided by Vox Humana.

Tickets are available from the Oxford Playhouse and on the door on the evening at a cost of £10. Every pound buys a brick!

May

Image: Wikipedia

This calendar page is attributed to Jean de Limbourg.

Here is the aristocratic world of Maying, of courtship and high society in the early fifteenth century. The occasion is the May jaunt, a pageant celebrating the "joli mois de Mai" in which one had to wear green garments known as livree de mai. It is an idyllic scene in a world that was far from idyllic, with France beset by internal strife and in 1415 the first invasion by King Henry V culminating in the English victory at Agincourt.

The element of escapism is borne out by the fact that in the background, beyond the woodland, is the Hôtel de Neslé, the Duke of Berry's Paris residence, and situated on the banks of the Seine in the heart of the capital.

Recent archaeological discoveries

The announcement of the discovery of an abbatial crozier and ring in excavations at Furness Abbey has been commented on in several newspaper articles and online posts.

The article in the Independent can be read here and the New Liturgical Movement has the coverage from the Daily Mail in  Medieval Abbot's Grave Uncovered

Fr Blake has also posted about the find in Furness Abbey Crozier Find

The Independent also has this report Sapphire ring 'belonged to Anglo-Saxon or Viking royalty about a significant discovery near York.

Medieval heraldic conical chasubles

The New Liturgical Movement has recently had two photographs of surviving medieval conical chasubles, both handsomely decorated with royal heraldry. There is this spectacular example from Spain:

Chasuble of the Archbishop of Toledo,

 Don Sancho de Aragón (1264-1275)

and from fourteenth century France there is this example from the church at Brienon:

It is decorated with the arms of  Blanche de Navarre Queen of France (c. 1333 - 1398) also known as Blanche d'Evreux, daughter of Philippe of Evreux, King of Navarre who became the second wife of King Philippe VI (1293 - 1350):

The arms are: Party per pale: 1. France. 2. Party per fess: a. Navarre. b. Evreux.

I posted about Queen Blanche in my post The library of a fourteenth century Queen of France in September last year.

Fr Blake has some observations about this form of the vestment in his post Conical Chasubles.