Ordinariate Chrism Mass 2012

The Apostolic Nuncio celebrated the Ordinariate's first ever Chrism Mass yesterday, a great event that was held at St James's Spanish Place.  People certainly came in large numbers, not only the 60+ Ordinariate priests who had travelled from across the country, but also many lay members of the Ordinariate, other Catholics encouraged by Fr Colven's announcement at Mass on Palm Sunday morning of what was to happen the following day, and no doubt a number of people who happened to be passing by and came across something rather bigger than they expected to see happening in church.  The photo below shows the reception held afterwards in the St James's Social Centre, with the Nuncio and Msgr Newton in cheerful conversation.

The St James's choir was on its usual excellent form, and a number of servers from the regular St James's team kindly gave up their time to help the Ordinariate celebrate this great occasion.  Thanks are due to them and to the Rector for all that they do to help the Ordinariate, in line with the Holy Father's wishes.

Monsignor Newton pointed out in his homily that since his authority as Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is vicarious on behalf of the Roman Pontiff, it was wonderful and entirely appropriate that the Apostolic Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Mennini, had come to celebrate the Ordinariate's first Chrism Mass.  In this year when we mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Court of St James, there was an added feeling of this just being exactly right. 

Archbishop Mennini's presence and obvious delight at being able to participate were a clear sign, if any were necessary, that the Ordinariate is a project that the Holy Father very actively supports.  Fr Ed Tomlinson, in his blogpost last night, wrote of the Archbishop's very warm words at the end of Mass.

Something that seems to have struck a lot of people present is the total sense of Unity of the event.  In theory, this ought not to be anything new, but for former Anglo-Catholics, it most certainly is.  Chrism Masses are a unifying event for a particular church with its Ordinary, but since the early 1990s Anglo-Catholics never really had that.  They faced the choice of attending diocesan celebrations alongside people of whose orders they were not entirely sure, or there was the option of a Forward in Faith / PEV Chrism Mass.  Those latter occasions were certainly joyful, encouraging and full of enthusiasm when they began, and I remember clearly attending such an event in Reading c.1995 (the first time I had the chance to sing the hymn below, yes any excuse to include Frank Patterson.....), but even then there was a knowledge at the back of everyone's mind that the ecclesiology of a separate arrangement, out of communion with those with whom we were technically in communion, was not obviously catholic.  As priests have left to join the Ordinariate, and as this trend continues, one wonders how long these PEV events will survive, particularly after the likely changes in legislation affecting the Church of England.  While people are on friendly terms, having the local Anglican diocesan bishop present and involved in a PEV Chrism Mass may be a sign of hospitality and indeed even of communion, but if the future is less rosey than that, a diocesan bishop insisting on joining in might be rather political.



One member of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group summed it up like this :

..... I overheard a priest say exactly what I had said to myself at Mass, it was the first time I had been at a Chrism Mass where I felt myself fully in union with Bishop, priests and people, and that was the most joyful and moving experience of the day.

Fr Ed Tomlinson, in the blogpost mentioned above, put it this way :

It was a happy day. But above all it was a day that underlined a thrilling truth. In previous years I would always feel a pang of sorrow during the Chrism Mass because Anglo-Catholics felt unable to attend the main diocesan event and held a separate service. It was a visible sign of the disunity with which we had to live. But today there was no sorrow only joy. For this was the main event- there was only unity. A unity that exists between all Catholics the world over. It is good to be home.

As Monsignor Newton said in his homily, we have gone forward in faith together, into an environment where we are part of that Unity to which we are all called.  In this respect, it was pleasing to see so many familiar faces amongst the clergy and people, with whom we are once again united. 

It is also worth commenting on the enthusiastic singing from the congregation, both in the hymns and in the responses.  This is one aspect of Anglican Patrimony that is immediate and audible, and which sounds wonderful in a stunning building such as St James's.  It was also striking (as you can see in this photo) that the unkind rumours spread by some of the modern day deniers about all the Ordinariate clergy being pensioners is manifestly untrue. 

We have posted a set of photos on our Flickr site, a few of which are reproduced below.  The Ordinariate has also produced a very good set of photos on their Flickr site. 

All said, a very joyous occasion, and one that brought home that we are truly part of the Church, all in the same communion.

Just to conclude, Msgr Newton quite righly pointed out that there are many in the Catholic Church whom we thank regularly, justly so.  However, we also owe a sincere debt of thanks to those very brave men (and in many cases their families) who gave up not only the Church of England as a spiritual home, but also took a far greater risk in material terms by leaving behind housing, employment and future pension accrual.  We thank Fr Colven and the clergy at St James's regularly here on this blog, but we are also very pleased to take this opportunity to thank Fr Christopher Pearson publicly, Fr Pearson being the nearest that the Marylebone Ordinariate Group has to its own priest.

A Perfect Setting

In much of the internet traffic we have spotted encouraging people to attend the Ordinariate's "first birthday party", taking the form of Solemn Evensong, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction at St James's, Spanish Place this Sunday (15th January) at 5pm, we have noted a good number of comments about how lovely St James's is.  You would hardly expect us to disagree: it is indeed a spectacular and most lovely place in which to attend mass. 

However, as those in the Ordinariate are by definition new Catholics, it is perfectly understandable that the "landmark" Catholic parish buildings in London are not as widely known to us as perhap the "shrine churches" of London Anglo-Catholicism are.  We are all still learning our way around (even those of us who attended mass at Catholic churches on more than a few occasions before joining the Ordinariate).  With that in mind, it seems a good idea to post a youtube video that shows the singing of the Veni Creator Spiritus at St James's on New Year's Day 2011. 



This footage shows very clearly the stunning sanctuary, and gives some idea of what awaits those of you who are planning to be with us in Central London on Sunday to share in this great occasion. 

You can find out much more about the history and architecture of St James's on the parish website, where there are also some rather good photos.  Fr Ed Tomlinson has also posted a good picture here, clearly taken from a similar position in church to the video included above. 

You will also find a couple of "exclusive to this blog" (well, taken by my shaky hand) photos in this blogpost on Remembrance Sunday, and in this blogpost on the subject of the parish procession on the Assumption.  High up on the right hand side of this blog's sidebar, there is a photo of St James's taken as we celebrated St James's day 2011 with the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Mennini, as Celebrant and Homilist.  Finally, for those who haven't seen the pictures already, a Christmas blogpost showed a couple of photos that I took of the external crib at St James's. 

There are many reasons why we hope that Sunday's celebration will be a momentous event, and why we hope that many people will be there to give thanks for the Holy Father's initiative in allowing the creation of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.  We also hope that there will be so many reasons encouraging you all to attend that none will be able to resist : the opportunity to celebrate and to give thanks; the opportunity to be among other Ordinariate friends; the opportunity to be among other Catholics and among Anglicans who wish the Ordinariate well; the opportunity to enjoy the fine Anglican Patrimony of Evensong; the opportunity to hear our Ordinary, Monsignor Newton, speak to us on this great day, and to see him give Benediction; the opportunity to hear a fine choir sing some fine music and.......... (hence the blogpost) the opportunity to do all the above in such a fine and inspirational building.

See you on Sunday.

The Universal Church

The Universal Church is one of the concepts that takes some getting used to when you become a Catholic.  You think you know what it means as an ecclesial concept, but you haven't grasped how it translates into real life.  As ex-Anglicans, for years, like our Catholic brethren, we recited the Nicene Creed, with one translation or another of "Et in unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam."  Yet, while we understood and understand the idea of there being One Church, and in fact are patently rather keen on it, the practical reality of how that single Universal Church manifests itself is something of a revelation.

When we were Anglicans, we had a vague awareness of the concept of there being an Anglican Communion, and indeed we were used to hearing of appointments being made in the component parts of the Anglican Communion, and to welcoming visiting preachers coming from the far flung parts of what was, mostly, once the British Empire.  Part of the Anglo-Catholic ethos is that you consider yourself to be part of the one church, even if in impaired communion.  Yet, the degree to which any of us really had any real encounter with the ecclesial world beyond our own shores (or, to be frank, our own deanery or even parish) was limited to seeing old friends who had new appointments as Anglican clergymen in the USA or Australia, or in a part of Europe where there was a reasonably-sized expat or holiday community.

Coming into the Catholic Church, you realise very quickly that you are in a very different environment. 

One of the first Masses we attended at St James's, Spanish Place after we had left the Church of England was for the Feast of St James, when the Celebrant and Preacher was Archbishop Mennini, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Kingdom.  Although St James's is sometimes jokingly referred to as St James's, English Place, there is good international representation amongst the congregation.  When we attend Mass in Latin, we are conscious that precisely the same words are being said in the same language all around the world.  We read of ordinands and priests, charities and good causes, religious and lay people from every country on God's earth.  We are very aware of being part of one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, with one Vicar of Christ to guide us.

One example of that can be taken from a story connected to the saint of the day, St Francis of Assisi, surely one of the best known of all saints.  The son of a wealthy merchant, he later became known as a man of God, showing his care for the poor and "rebuilding the Church".  In this video, you will see that the Archbishop of San Francisco quotes St Francis as saying "Always preach the Gospel, and when necessary use words", which is to say, if you can, bring others to Christ through your actions, through your living of the Gospel.  A replica of the Porziuncola in Assisi has been built in San Francisco, and was dedicated and blessed in 2008 by Cardinal Levada, formerly Archbishop of San Francisco and now a great supporter of the Ordinariate.  We are now, very clearly and straightforwardly, part of the same Communion as that Italian saint who walked this earth a millenium ago, as those devout Catholics in the USA who are doing such great works with their National Shrine of St Francis, and as that Prince of the Church who comes from the USA, works in the Vatican for a pope of German origin, and who so recently came to lend us his support in London.




Finally, a note to congratulate one of the members of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group and his wife on their wedding anniversary.  The recessional on that day 14 years ago, at St Mary's Bourne St, was the Widor Marche Pontificale.



St Francis, pray for us.