Belfast bakery ruling and the feast of Christ the King

In the traditional liturgical calendar, tomorrow is the feast of Christ the King. Preparing for it it, and specifically re-reading the encyclical Quas Primas of Pope Pius XI, put me in mind of the appalling decision of the court of appeal in Belfast in the case of the Ashers Baking Company. I found the above video on various news websites, then tracked it down on YouTube for embedding here. Daniel McArthur gives a fine speech which is moderate, sensible and balanced. At the end he gives powerful witness to his faith, thanking God for His faithfulness. He concludes with vigour (2'04"):

"He is still on the throne, He is the ruler of heaven and of earth, and He is our God and we worship and we honour Him."

Not a bad way to end a statement for the press, and an ecumenical inspiration on the eve of the feast of Christ the King. May God bless Daniel and his family! Viva Cristo Rey!

Rosary at sunset low tide and communicatio in sacris

One of the great things about living in Margate is being able to walk on the beach and say the Rosary when there is an evening low tide. If this coincides with sunset, so much the better. The above photo was taken in mid September when it was warm enough for people to mess around in the sea at that time of the evening.

We have now just passed a significant point of the year: the beach motocross weekend. This happens in spring and autumn and marks the change of seasons. The sand on the beach is shoved around by heavy machinery to make jumps and obstacles for the two-stroke motorbikes and the quad bikes that young lads race around for a couple of days. Then the beach is tidied up and a berm is built up in the autumn to act as a secondary defence against flood tides. In the spring it is bulldozed down for the bikes and the summer season.

Just by way of putting photos on the blog that I am pleased with, let me mention also that living in Margate means that it is only half an hour on the train for a day off in Canterbury. The photo below is of the Cathedral from the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey. (You don't need me to tell you who ruined it.) I usually bring the day off to a pleasant close with a little communicatio in sacris by attending Evensong at the Cathedral.

A made-up Luther

After the traditional Mass yesterday, some children from one of our families gave me an early Halloween present: the Playmobil model of Martin Luther. This is a best-seller, apparently, having been issued in advance of next year's celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Martin's publishing his 95 theses and starting the Reformation.

Here are the contents of the box:

There is a rich learning opportunity here. The cloak could stand for the cloak of righteousness as in imputed justification: it clips on externally without changing Martin interiorly. You could discuss whether Martin should take off the clerical hat when he decides that the priesthood of the baptised is not distinct from the ministerial priesthood, or indeed whether the hat can be put on any other Playmobil figure that has been baptised. Then the scriptures could be taken away from Martin and made to stand on their own. Hours of fun.

Here's Martin made up with all his props:

Included in the box is a helpful map of places associated with Martin's life and legacy so that you can arrange a pilgrimage.

As far as I know, you can't get an indulgence for a pilgrimage to the holy sites of Martin yet, but who knows what surprises might await us in the great centenary?

By way of broadening the historical perspective, I got out my model of Martin's friend, John.

Unfortunately, they had some misunderstandings over the Eucharist, the priesthood, justification, indulgences, relics and other technical questions, but we know, boys and girls, that there won't be any misunderstandings for either of them now!

Byrd 3 at Margate for Christ the King

Next Sunday 30 October, at St Austin and St Gregory, Margate, we have a schola visiting to sing William Byrd's Mass for Three Voices at our 11.30am Missa Cantata. They will also sing Mariano Garau's O Bone Jesu, and Claudio Casciolini's Tantum Ergo. The group is led by Gregory Treloar, a music student at Canterbury Christ Church University. This is an opportunity for a group of young people to sing some beautiful sacred music in the liturgical setting for which it was composed, as well as for my parishioners to benefit from the same - and indeed our visitors.

Many thanks to the Latin Mass Society for a grant which has enabled us to plan this and a couple of other polyphonic Masses this year.

If you want some extra reasons to make a day trip to Margate next week, it is always worth seeing our lovely Church with its Edward Pugin Lady chapel. At the Turner Contemporary, there is currently a splendid exhibition of over 100 Turners on the theme of "Adventures in Colour." There are some excellent places for lunch, and a wealth of micropubs if you want to find good real ale. Naturally, after either, there is the possibility of a bracing walk on the beach (low tide will be at 6pm.) Margate is an hour and a half from St Pancras.

When England led the world in vestment making

The Butler-Bowdon Chasuble, 1398 – 1420

Before Henry VIII, England was known as one of the most devoutly Catholic countries of the world where the people's devotion to the Holy Mass, to Our Lady and the Saints, and to the Church was legendary. One spin-off from this culture was a standard of vestment making admired throughout the world.

Yesterday I had intended to visit the British Library at St Pancras, but a friend at the Keys convinced me to take the Piccadilly line in the other direction to one of my favourite places, and view an exhibition which is on at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 5 February 2017: Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery.

Over 100 pieces are gathered for the exhibition, most of them ecclesiastical vestments. The earliest are from the early 12th century, but the period of greatest popularity represented is the first half of the 14th century. Thus the growth of world-renowned expertise and enthusiasm for fine liturgical decoration coincided with the flowering of scholastic culture at, for example, places like Oxford and Cambridge. The overturning of that culture at the English reformation coincided with the physical destruction of the beautiful work that grew alongside it. The exhibition has one or two pitiful examples of work that was preserved by virtue of being disguised for secular use.

The splendid collection includes a rare High Mass set and some interesting chasubles like the Butler-Bowden chasuble above. From a modern bias towards a binary distinction between Roman and Gothic chasubles, they might seem hybrid, but I suppose they were simply a stage in the developing shape.

It is great that the V&A has put on another exhibition which draws on Catholic culture in England, and that it seems to be attracting a healthy number of visitors. As a result of following the course carefully, I now know what underside couching is.

Image credit: Victoria & Albert Museum website

When England led the world in vestment making

The Butler-Bowdon Chasuble, 1398 – 1420

Before Henry VIII, England was known as one of the most devoutly Catholic countries of the world where the people's devotion to the Holy Mass, to Our Lady and the Saints, and to the Church was legendary. One spin-off from this culture was a standard of vestment making admired throughout the world.

Yesterday I had intended to visit the British Library at St Pancras, but a friend at the Keys convinced me to take the Piccadilly line in the other direction to one of my favourite places, and view an exhibition which is on at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 5 February 2017: Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery.

Over 100 pieces are gathered for the exhibition, most of them ecclesiastical vestments. The earliest are from the early 12th century, but the period of greatest popularity represented is the first half of the 14th century. Thus the growth of world-renowned expertise and enthusiasm for fine liturgical decoration coincided with the flowering of scholastic culture at, for example, places like Oxford and Cambridge. The overturning of that culture at the English reformation coincided with the physical destruction of the beautiful work that grew alongside it. The exhibition has one or two pitiful examples of work that was preserved by virtue of being disguised for secular use.

The splendid collection includes a rare High Mass set and some interesting chasubles like the Butler-Bowden chasuble above. From a modern bias to distinguishing between Roman and Gothic chasubles, they might seem hybrid, but I suppose they were simply a stage in the developing shape.

It is great that the V&A has put on another exhibition which draws on Catholic culture in England, and that it seems to be attracting a healthy number of visitors. As a result of following the course carefully, I now know what underside couching is.

Image credit: Victoria & Albert Museum website

Happy feast day to our friends in Chicago

After returning from an overnight stay in London for a meeting of the Keys, I celebrated a quiet Mass in honour of St John Cantius whose feast day it is today in the traditional calendar. A physicist as well as a theologian, he helped gave impetus to the theory of impetus, furthering the scholastic foundations of modern science. He is one of the Polish saints canonised after the Reformation who formed a significant part of the list of saints.

Among traditionalist bloggers, he is known particularly as the patron saint of the fine Church in Chicago where Holy Mass is offered in both the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite every day. Fr Frank Phillips, who became Pastor (Parish Priest) in 1988 began the work of physical restoration of the Church alongside the restoration of the liturgical life of the Church. He founded the Canons Regular of St John Cantius who continue with him to care for the parish today.

This video Saint John Cantius: Restoring the Sacred gives an idea of the amazing life of the parish.



It seemed like a good feast day to re-start the blog after a too-long hiatus. Happy feast day to my friends at St John Cantius!