Last Sunday's live broadcast of Mass on French Television (France 2), in a programme entitled Le Jour du Seigneur, featured a celebration of Mass held at the parish of St Elizabeth of Hungary, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. The Mass was celebrated by Monsignor Guy Thomazeau, who was until 2011 the Archbishop of Montpellier, and who, much earlier in his priestly life, was the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Paris and Parish Priest of S Pierre de Chaillot (Paris 16th arrondissement), being the parish in which I live during the week, and where I hope to attend Mass tomorrow evening.
St Elizabeth's is an extremely beautiful church, but is slightly unusual, in that it is both a parish church and also the Conventual Church (in France) of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Malta (as well as being the centre of the Catholic Mission to the Chinese of Paris).
If you watch the footage, which at the time of writing you can do by clicking on the link below, you will see that a large number of Maltese Knights and Dames are present, and that one of the Knights, Charles de Boissezon, is interviewed about the Order and about reconciling his being a member of the Order with working in finance. (Apologies to those of you who don't have French.) Liturgy in Paris is sometimes criticised for being at the forefront of 1960's tastes, but this is most definitely a very respectable and respectful offering of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, even including up-to-date features such as the so-called Benedictine Arrangement of a crucifix on the altar during a versus populum celebration (such as was seen during a visit to Holy Ghost, Balham).
The programme also includes a brief reportage on the history of the Order of Malta (in French). Please be aware that if looking at the link after Sunday 26 February 2012, you might find yourself directed to a different edition of the programme... so, hurry up!
Regular readers of this blog will know that the Knights of Malta have a strong presence at St James's, Spanish Place (see this blogpost for example) and have also shown great support to the Ordinariate, both the Marylebone Group in particular and the Ordinariate more widely. Photographic evidence of their support for the Marylebone Group can be seen in our profile picture near the top of the right hand side of this blog. Photographic evidence of their support for the Ordinariate can be found aplenty here and here.
As we approach Lent, when our thoughts turn, amongst other things, to whether we are doing what we can in terms of almsgiving, the French broadcast reminds of of the charitable works performed by the Order of Malta. You can read more about these here and here. While the visible presence and practical assistance of the Knights is much appreciated, including at public events such as the annual Rosary Crusade of Reparation, this is only a part of their role: their active charitable works in the fields of medical work, humanitarian activities and emergency relief are most definitely no less vital. The Paris métro has, for example, recently been covered in Ordre de Malte posters intended to bring the 59th Annual Leprosy Day to the attention of the public.
At a more individual level, each of us can put some thought into our charitable giving during Lent, in order to comply, to the extent we can according to our situation, with the encouragement to almsgiving given in the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy.
No doubt good causes such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul and Malteser International are ready to accept any financial support we might wish to provide. Do have a look at the websites of both groups and at the good work that they do, both in the UK and around the world. As part of your Lenten programme this year, think about whether there is something you could do to help them to continue to assist those in need.
The set of pictures that can be found through this link are stunning, and as Fr Colven remarked in his Rector's Parish Notes for St James's last week, make the church seem even more beautiful and even larger than it is. Fr Edwin Barnes has posted some photos taken from his vantage point at the front of church that night which are also very much worth looking at. We still hope that we will be able to put up some further photos of the service itself, and of the reception that followed, and will keep you posted.
Lovely as all of these pictures are, they all focus on the admittedly rather stunning chancel and on the main body of the church. There are of course other parts of this fine building that merit a closer look, not least the very beautiful Lady Chapel.
Described as being " without a peer in the land " the chapel contains a reredos of the highest artistic merit. Designed by J.F. Bentley, the architect of Westminster Cathedral, the delicately carved and gilded wood with its angels and their musical instruments, its vine plants and grapes, provided the perfect setting for the painting of the Immaculate Conception. This painting, a copy of the Murillo, was presented to the church by the Count de Torre Diaz. Beneath it the nine panels contain representations of outstanding Old Testament figures.
On the right of the entrance is a statue of St Anne bearing on her arm the Virgin Mother and Child. This wooden statue is 15th century German.
Earlier this week, as it were "live from St James's", we spotted some rather good pictures of the Lady Chapel at St James's being posted on Facebook by friend of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group, keen supporter of the Ordinariate, Knight of Malta and parishioner of St James's, Eoghain Murphy. The photos were taken at a Mass on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, one of the Masses held regularly by the Order of Malta (whose help was so gratefully received at the Ordinariate's recent anniversary celebrations) at St James's. Many thanks to Eoghain for his kind permission to reproduce his pictures.
The Celebrant seen in the pictures is Fr David Irwin, one of the St James's parish clergy, who happens to be the former Vicar of the Anglican parish of St Andrew's Willesden. By co-incidence, this week's parish notes at St James's announce the imminent reception of another former Vicar of St Andrew's Willesden into the Catholic Church :
Thursday of this week (2nd February) is the feast of the PRESENTATION ofthe Lord in the Temple, often known as CANDLEMASS. The usual Masses will be celebrated at 7.15am & 12.30pm, and the 6pm will be sung by the choir: candles will be blessed before each Mass (please gather at the back of the church beforehand). During the evening Mass a former Anglican priest will be received into the full communion of the Church: it will be a joy for us to welcome him.
Do please try to come along to support Scott Anderson as he joins the Catholic Church, and if you cannot, please do offer intercession for him, and for all those preparing to to join the Catholic Church in the next few months.
The Ordinariate has started well, and will continue to grow. How blessed we all are to have as Holy Father a man such as Pope Benedict, whose vision for Unity and whose profound knowledge of Newman and of Anglo-Catholicism are helping us all to achieve such great things.
"Happy Birthday" sang the gathered crowds at the reception that followed the service of Solemn Evensong, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction on Sunday night at St James's. There was indeed a feeling of joy and celebration, and the exuberant and spontaneous (if arguably not totally successful) attempt to sing "Happy Birthday, Dear Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham" was proof of that.
One can certainly understand why. The success of Sunday night exceeded all expectations.
Earlier in the week, we made reference to the difficulty of planning for a service when we genuinely had no idea how many people would attend. The number of orders of services printed was based solely on the number of gift aid envelopes we happened to have in stock (281). The quantities of food and wine were decided on the basis of a guess that 200 of the 281 would come downstairs to the St James's Social Centre to join the reception, noting that Tesco on Marylebone High Street was moments away should the bar run dry and Monsignor Newton's powers to replicate the stock management practices at the Wedding at Cana not prove up to the task.
Setting up the sanctuary after the St James's 4pm parish mass, it was very clear to all involved that there were going to be far more people there than we had dared think possible. Our estimations had gone from 100 in pessimistic moments to 300 in what we thought were wildly optimistic moments.
In fact, there were close to 500 people present, filling up the central section of St James's, all the way from the altar rails to the back of church, with some considerable spillover into the side aisles. Fr Colven, the Rector of St James's, watched proceedings from the triforium, and attempted to count the numbers present : he stopped counting sometime after 400, so our estimates seem to be about right.
The beautiful pictures in this Flickr set give some sense of the scale of the event, as well as of the beauty of the liturgy and of St James's church. We intend to post some further pictures of the service, as well of the reception, later in the week.
What was also wonderful was that the congregation was genuinely a mix of people, many Ordinariate members of course, but also a large number of Anglicans and a large number of non-Ordinariate Catholics. In particular, we were delighted to see a good number of people from St James's who had come to learn more about the Ordinariate. One of them had turned up at exactly 5pm expecting to be able to take her pick of seats, not being aware that attendance might be high : she said to me afterwards that on arrival it had felt almost like Christmas Eve, both in terms of the numbers and in terms of the sense of anticipation.
That the congregation was made up of these different groups, all coming together through the Ordinariate, was extremely pleasing. How appropriate that this mix of people should gather to celebrate a movement that is at is heart built on a call to the unity for which Christ prayed on the night that He was betrayed.
We only wish that every one of those, whether Catholics or Anglicans, who do not yet understand the value or purpose of the Ordinariate could have been there to witness the occasion. This truly was an example of Anglican Patrimony meeting Catholic practice, with the most pleasing results on both sides. The wisdom of the Holy Father in launching Anglicanorum Coetibus was perfectly visible on Sunday night.
Fr Edwin Barnes won the prize for being the first of the well-known bloggers to post on the subject of last night. This is all the more impressive as he led a coach trip of Ordinariate members from Bournemouth and Salisbury to be with us, so it must have been a rather tiring day. Here is his report, and I do hope Fr Barnes will not mind if we steal one of his photos to head up this blogpost.
Another of his pictures, which he posted on the Anglo-Catholic blog, shows Mgr Newton in conversation in the sacristy with the Rector of St James's, Fr Christopher Colven, who kindly allowed us the use of his church and was extremely welcoming and patient with us at all times.
Other internet reports are now starting to appear. We note a very positive report on the well known blog A Reluctant Sinner, which has some kind words to say about how Sunday night, among other things, helped to explain to non-Ordinariate Catholics some of the gifts that the Ordinariate, with its Anglican Patrimony, brings with it into the Catholic Church.
The music was, as ever, of the very highest standard. Thanks are due to Dr Terry Worroll (Director of Music) and Iestyn Evans (Organist) for their part in that, thanks also to the choir of St James's, who with Terry and Iestyn were pleased to have had the chance to sing a very different repertoire from their usual fare. Many in the congregation commented on how nice it was to hear Anglican Chant being sung for the psalms, with the opportunity it gives the organ to show off its full tone palette. Although everyone, of course, enjoyed the Introit being Parry's I was Glad, some seemed particularly to like the way that the grand musica anglicana finally gave way in the Tantum Ergo to the beautiful unaccompanied setting of that text by Déodat de Séverac, the perfect prelude to the Benediction that was to follow moments later.
Thanks are also due to John and Paul, of the St James's serving team, who helped us out not only by being acolytes, but by guiding us around the sacristy to make sure we could find all the things we needed.
The format of the liturgy will have been familiar to the many in the congregation who had in the past witnessed similar celebrations at St Mary's Bourne St, with a few variations in the order of Evensong so as to match the order approved by Rome for use in the Ordinariate. The Procession of the Blessed Sacrament involved around 30 people, and managed to weave its way around church in a very dignified manner, with the canopy being carried by Knights of Malta. Working out the order of the procession when the man who wrote the rule book on such things was going to be present (Bishop Peter Elliott) was a daunting task, but I am happy to report that I heard no complaints.
One of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group commented to me that hearing the sacring bell sound in the distance as the procession continued, getting further away and moving round the church was immensely powerful. This was the first time I had heard (well, it was me doing the ringing) a sacring bell being used in procession in a church on St James's scale, and I can quite imagine that the sound could have had quite an impressive effect as the procession moved around.
It was an honour to have Bishop Peter Elliott (the Holy See's Delegate for the Ordinariate being established in Australia) present, as it was to have His Excellency Fra' Duncan Gallie (Chancellor of the Grand Priory of England, Sovereign Military Order of Malta) and Monsignor John Armitage (Vicar-General, Diocese of Brentwood) there. It was equally an honour for members of the Ordinariate to be present together with each other, with our Ordinary, Monsignor Newton, and with so many friends and supporters to mark this great day.
Thanks to Monsignor Newton for leading us through both Sunday night and the past year, to Fr Christopher Colven for his hospitality and forbearance, to Sister Catherine in the St James's Social Centre, to Fr Christopher Pearson for his inspired idea of holding an anniversary Evensong and Benediction, and to all those who helped out on the night (not least those from the London (South) Ordinariate Group, without whose fantastic help the reception would have been far harder work for those of us from the Marylebone Group). This was a great team effort, and it is exactly in this spirit of joyful co-operation that all of us in the Ordinariate intend to carry on, following the Holy Father's call to follow Our Lord's prayer for Unity.
