Association for Latin Liturgy
Under the patronage of the Bishops' Conference of England
and Wales.
Founded in 1969 to encourage and extend the use of Latin in the liturgy of the
Catholic Church.
The Roman Church has special obligations towards Latin . . . and she must manifest them whenever the opportunity presents itself.
EVENTS
Forthcoming Events
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Saturday 23rd October 2010 - St. George's Cathedral, Southwark All are welcome to to the talk "DOES A NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION MAKE THE LATIN OBSOLETE?" to be given by Mgr Bruce Harbert, former Executive Secretary of ICEL. The provisional programme consists of Solemn Mass in Latin at about noon, followed by lunch. In the afternoon Mgr Harbert will give his talk, and this will be followed by the Association's AGM. The day will conclude with solemn First Vespers of the Thirtieth Sunday per annum and Benediction. All are welcome to join us for the day, and if you wish to have lunch, this will need to be booked. A booking form will be available nearer the time.
Recent Meetings
The Association has continued its policy of holding two meetings each year for members and others who may be interested in our work. In addition to the formal Annual General Meeting which is normally held in October, we try to arrange an interesting Spring Meeting in a less familiar part of the country with interesting historical associations. One of the objectives is to provide an opportunity to make available well celebrated Latin liturgy in the new rite for those who are rarely if ever able to experience it. All our meetings begin with Solemn Latin Mass followed by a relaxed lunch and conclude with Latin Vespers and Benediction. Recent events have included:
Spring 2010 - at Farnborough Abbey. Solemn Mass was celebrated by Dom Cuthbert Brogan OSB for the feast of St Joseph the Worker, particularly apt as the abbey houses the National Shrine to St Joseph. A small schola sang the Mass Propers and led the congregation in Mass no I, Lux et Origo. The famous Cavaillé-Coll organ was played by the abbey's organist, Neil Wright. After lunch we were given a talk on the history of the abbey by the abbot, including a visit to the crypt to see the tombs of Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie. Refreshments were taken in the guesthouse on the abbey's farm where we were delighted to see a couple of lambs born only hours before our arrival. This most interesting day concluded with First Vespers of the Fifth Sunday of Easter
AGM - Saturday 10 October 2009, the feast of St Paulinus of York - at Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1JR. A splendid day was spent in Cambridge marking the AGM at the end of our fortieth year, and it was a great pleasure to be back in the city after an interval of eleven years. We were at the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs and received a particularly warm welcome from Mgr Tony Rogers, the parish priest, and who was a curate there at the time Dick Richens founded the Association, and Fr Christopher Back who assists at the church and is a regular celebrant of the Sunday evening solemn Mass. Our Chairman's last two visits to the church were the funerals of Ruth Richens in 2002 and Mary Berry in 2008, so he was much moved by the occasion and the associations we have with the church. The church is one of the largest Catholic churches in the country, and its 65-metre spire is a landmark which can been seen for miles around Cambridge.
Solemn Latin Mass for the feast of St Paulinus of York was celebrated by Mgr Bruce Harbert, assisted as deacons by Fr Christopher Back and Fr Guy Nicholls. The ministers wore the beautiful vestments of the High Mass set first used at the opening of the church in 1890 (at a Mass celebrated in the presence of all the bishops of England and Wales except Cardinal Manning and Bishop Vaughan who were unable to attend for reasons of health). Fr Guy's singing at Our Lady's as a student was his introduction to the Association. A schola, conducted by Christopher Hodkinson sang Byrd's Mass for Five Voices, and the motet O Sacrum Convivium from his Gradualia of 1605. After Mass, Nigel Kerry, Director of Music, played the Hymne d'Action de Grace 'Te Deum' from the Trois Paraphrases Gregoriennes Op.5 No 3 by Jean Langlais.
After lunch, Joanna Bogle gave a captivating hour's talk on 'Celebrating our Catholic Heritage - the glories of the Catholic Calendar', also covering some of the secular connections with our Catholic past in things as diverse as pub names like the Lamb and Flag, and Angel (hence the Underground station of that name), and celebrations like Hallowe'en (including its word-connection, hallowed, in the Lord's Prayer). This was a talk Joanna has given to many different groups, but was geared entirely to our particular interests.
The day ended with First Vespers of the 28th Sunday per annum celebrated by Fr William Young, with Frs Guy Nicholls and Anton Webb as Cantors. This was followed by Benediction and the singing of the Salve Regina. Organ Music after Benediction was Nigel Kerry's own improvisation on the 'Benedicamus Domino'.
In Joanna Bogle's words in her blog a day or two later: "A GLORIOUS MASS...in the magnificent church in Cambridge. I was last here some three years ago for the baptism of a young relative. This weekend it was a splendid setting for the Mass celebrated for the annual meeting of the Association for Latin Liturgy. A good choir, a glory of timeless worship. A grand meeting and the delight of meeting various friends. A warm, open, friendly atmosphere with an upbeat feel. The day ended with a beautiful sung Vespers and Benediction..."
| Spring 2009
- at St Joseph's, Burslem.
Solemn Mass in Latin was celebrated by Fr Anton Webb, Cong Orat, assisted
by Fr Guy Nicholls, Cong Orat, and Fr Jan Nowotnik. The church,
designed by Sidney Brocklesby, has a splendid interior, and was
decorated by local people at the suggestion of Burslem's MP in 1927,
Andrew MacLaren. They called upon Gordon Forsyth, the Art Director of the
Potteries, who designed stained glass windows and the ceiling, and who ran
Saturday morning classes at the Wedgwood Institute, Burslem, attended by
about 50 young parishioners, where the windows were made, similar in
colour and texture to the glass in Chartres Cathedral. Forsyth's daughter,
Moira, was commissioned to paint the inside of the dome above the apse.
After lunch, Ian Wells gave a fascinating illustrated talk on the life and work of Sidney Brocklesby, and the day concluded with solemn Vespers and Benediction, celebrated by Fr Julian Booth. The choir was the Choir of St Mary's, Moseley, Birmingham, directed by Michael Perrier, and it was a particular pleasure to have this large group with many young singers enhancing the day's liturgy. |
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| October 2008 AGM at the Cathedral of St Barnabas, Nottingham. Solemn Mass was celebrated in Latin by Fr Adrian Tomlinson of St Theresa's, Sheffield, assisted by Fr Guy Nicholls of the Birmingham Oratory and Rev James Anthony, a Deacon at the Cathedral. The Cathedral choir provided the music for the day, which consisted of Byrd Mass for four voices, Palestrina Exultate Deo, Stanford Justorum Animae, Hymn to St Ignatius arr John Driscoll SJ. Improvisations before, during and after Mass and Vespers by assistant organist Graeme Vernon; Choral Scholars of St Barnabas's Cathedral directed by the Assistant Director of Music Chris Burton. |  |
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After lunch members enjoyed an illustrated talk on the history of Catholicism in Nottingham given by Ian Wells, one of the Association's Council members who also organised the day's events. The Business Meeting followed, beginning with the Chairman’s annual report from Bernard Marriott. The liturgy continued with Sung Latin Vespers, of the 30th Sunday of the Year, at which the celebrant was Fr Thomas Crean, OP, of Holy Cross Priory, Leicester, and the cantors Fr Nicholls and Fr Anton Guziel of the Birmingham Oratory. The day concluded with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
Spring 2008 at Gloucester Cathedral. Solemn Latin Mass was celebrated in the Lady Chapel by the Abbot of Downside, Dom Aidan Bellenger OSB, assisted by Fathers Guy Nicholls, Cong Orat and Anton Guziel. The Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, directed by Philip Duffy, sang the Gregorian Proper for the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Ordinary was sung to Cum jubilo.
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Following lunch, members enjoyed a talk by Dom Aidan on the Benedictines in Gloucestershire.
The day concluded with Solemn Latin Vespers, in the Choir, at which the celebrant was Dom Aidan and the cantors Fr Nicholls and Fr Guziel. The organist for the “Dupré” Vespers was David Cowen with the chant accompaniment provided by Nigel Kerry. (The Schola Gregoriana had recorded the Dupré Vespers at Notre Dame (Paris) in 1995 under its founder, Dr Mary Berry, at whose Requiem the Schola sang only three weeks before our Gloucester meeting.)
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Thanks are due to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral for their generous hospitality and to the Cathedral staff for the willing and unstinting assistance which we received.
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October 2007 AGM at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, Mayfair. Solemn Latin Mass was celebrated by the Parish Priest, Fr William Pearsall SJ, assisted by Fathers Anton Webb and Guy Nicholls of the Oxford and Birmingham Oratories. The Farm Street Choir, conducted by David Graham, the Director of Music, sang the Gregorian Proper and Byrd’s setting of Mass for Three Voices.
After lunch
members enjoyed an illustrated talk on Catholic Church Architecture by Fr
Anthony Symondson SJ. The Business Meeting followed, beginning with
the Chairman’s annual report from Bernard Marriott. The liturgy continued
with Sung Latin Vespers, of the 27th Sunday of the Year, at which the
celebrant was Fr Webb and the cantor Fr Nicholls. The schola comprised of
ALL members was directed by Jeremy de Satgé. The day concluded with
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and singing of the Salve Regina.
Spring
2007 Yorkshire, at
St Austin’s, Wakefield. Sung
Latin Mass for the feast of St Anselm was celebrated by Fr Matthew Habron of
St Austin’s, assisted by Fr Guy Nicholls. The choir led the congregation
in Mass I Lux et Origo and sang the Gregorian proper. In the afternoon, the
Yorkshire Catholic historian, Dr James Hagerty gave an informative talk on
“Religion in Ruins”, describing the amazing concentration of religious
houses that once existed in the county, only partly revealed by the evidence
of the ruins that remain today. The day concluded in the fine setting of
Wakefield’s Anglican Cathedral with the singing of Latin Vespers by ALL
members led by Mary Halloran for the Third Sunday of Easter, at which Fr
Nicholls officiated in the presence of the Bishop of Pontefract who extended
a warm welcome to the Association.
October
2006 AGM at the
Sacred Heart, Wimbledon. Solemn Latin Mass was celebrated by Fr Kevin
Donovan SJ, assisted by Deacon Anton Webb of the Oxford Oratory and Fr Guy
Nicholls, Parish Priest of the Birmingham Oratory. Music was provided by the
Parish Choir. After lunch Ian Wells, an Old Wimbledonian who had organised
the meeting, found himself having to deliver a talk about the founding of
the church by Edith Arendrup written by the much respected teacher and
historian Richard Milward who was unfortunately too ill to attend and sadly
died two months later. After the Business Meeting and tea break, Fr Nicholls
celebrated Vespers and Benediction in Wimbledon College Chapel.
Spring 2006 Derbyshire, at locations associated with the Derbyshire martyrs, with Mass at All Saints, Hassop where Derby Cathedral Voluntary Choir sang a Mozart Mass and Mary Halloran conducted the Gregorian Schola. Vespers and Benediction followed at the ancient Padley Chapel. Ian Wells gave a talk on Robert Hugh Benson and his novel "Come Rack, Come Rope" which concerns the Derbyshire martyrs and set in the area we were visiting.
October
2005 AGM at Our
Lady of Dolours, Leigh on Sea, with Mass of St Teresa of Avila. Anthony
Bevan directed the Gregorian choir of ALL members who sang the proper and
led the congregation in Mass IX Cum jubilo. There followed an interesting
talk by Fr Stewart Foster, Diocesan Archivist.
Spring
2005 Gloucestershire, with Solemn Mass for St George’s day in the Church of the
Annunciation, Woodchester, a visit to Woodchester Mansion and a drive to
Prinknash Abbey for Latin Vespers.
October 2004 AGM at St Mary’s, Chelsea, with Pontifical Mass of the Holy Guardian Angels celebrated by Bishop Alan Hopes. St Mary’s Latin Choir sang Hassler’s Missa Secunda with motets by Michael Haydn and Palestrina. Mike Withers gave a fascinating talk on the development of Church music entitled ‘Lawmakers and Lawbreakers’.
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