‘Keep the Flame of the Christian Faith Burning’: Ordinariate Catholics Acquire Old Methodist Church

by Joanna Bogle, Register Correspondent 

Sunday, Mar 01, 2015

Welcome to the west of England. The railway line from Exeter St. David’s in Devon runs along the Exe Estuary — dozens of little sailing boats scurrying about on the water, with a green sweep of hills on the opposite bank — and then, somewhere around Dawlish Warren, it’s suddenly alongside the open sea, the waves occasionally  splashing against the side of the train.

Father David Lashbrooke is a priest in the nearby town of Torquay, and he is making history. He is a priest of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham (overseeing the flock of Anglicans who have come into full communion with the Catholic Church, thanks to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI). He and his flock — with the goodwill of the local Methodists — have taken over a local Methodist church and are turning it into the home of their flourishing Catholic community and a center for mission outreach.

“Keep the flame of the Christian faith burning in this place,” said the Methodist minister, as he handed a lighted candle to Father Lashbrooke at the Methodists’ last service in the church.

And the flame is indeed burning brightly. The former Chelston Methodist Church is about to be renamed as the Church of Our Lady of Walsingham and St. Cuthbert Mayne (a local man and one of the 40 English martyrs who died for their Catholic faith between 1535 and 1679), and it is already home to a good-sized congregation at a sung Mass each Sunday...

Read the rest at the web site of the National Catholic Register.

Hat tip to Shane Schaetzel via Facebook.

Ex-Anglicans break out of the ghetto

Thanks to Pope Francis the ordinariate is no longer only for former Anglicans
By William Oddie
Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Recently it was, for various reasons, not possible for my wife and me to get to Mass on Sunday, so we looked around for a Saturday evening vigil Mass. Our nearest happened to be the weekly Sunday Mass of the Oxford area ordinariate.

We went to that. I had never attended an ordinariate Mass and was looking forward to experiencing the new ordinariate liturgy. I was therefore a little disappointed that, since the newly authorised liturgy was still being carefully rolled out, what was actually still being celebrated was the Novus Ordo in English. I sometimes have a certain sense of being flattened by this liturgy, even in the new translation. I know the Mass is the Mass; all the same, I am used to the Novus Ordo in the form of the Latin High Mass at the Oxford Oratory: enough said.

One of the things that often irritates me about the Novus Ordo in English as a sung Mass is the way so many parishes sing it to a setting cooked up by some member of the congregation (who has often written nothing else), rather than to a more widely used and recognisable setting. This seems to me to be (literally) the most blatant congregationalism; it’s a most un-Catholic practice. Why not to a plainsong setting? Cradle Catholics have the extraordinary notion that plainsong can only be sung in Latin, that only Latin fits the notes. But there are plenty of notes, and Anglo-Catholics have known for years that most plainsong settings can be fitted to English translations perfectly well.

Anyway, the new ordinariate liturgy is being gradually introduced, I learned, during the week, and in Oxford the first Sunday Mass for which it will be used will be Advent Sunday. I will certainly be there: not only because the new liturgy itself (of which more anon) seems to me potentially thrilling. It is because of the way I know it will be celebrated: with the same care and reverence and great beauty that the Novus Ordo was celebrated when I went to the ordinariate Mass earlier this month...

Read the entire post in The Catholic Herald.

Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller.

In London, the Ordinariate Begins to Bear Fruit

by Joanna Bogle
October 30, 2012

The children from the Sunday School fill up the first couple of benches, and when the rector leads the singing of the Angelus, their young voices pipe up eagerly in the response: “The angel of the Lord brought tidings to Mary/And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.”  As things finish, there is the usual crowded gathering in the big Parish Room for coffee and tea. There is lots of talk. The Harvest Thanksgiving produced a groaning table of gifts, with bulging bags stacked under and around it, too – all will go to the local project for the homeless. Somebody is asking about the confirmation class. And is the parish ladies’ group meeting as usual this Monday? If all this has a faintly Anglican sound to it, that’s fine. Anglican patrimony: that’s what Pope Benedict XVI said could be brought along when he made the offer to clergy and laity within the Church of England in 2011: come into full Communion—come and be made welcome in the Catholic Church, and bring with you all that you can of your traditions, your heritage, your patrimony.... Read the full story in Catholic World Report. Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller.

Fr. Aidan Nichols' published book on the UK Ordinariate

From the prolific pen/word processor of Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP comes a new book:
Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham: Catholics of the Anglican Patrimony

The description from Amazon.co.uk

When in 1993 Aidan Nichols revived the long-dormant idea of an Anglican Uniate Church, united with the See of Peter but not absorbed, the reaction of many was incredulity. The ideal of modern Ecumenism was, surely, the corporate reunification of entire Communions. This he roundly declared to be unrealistic, for the Protestant and Liberal elements in Anglican history (and Anglicanism's present reality) could never be digested by Roman stomachs. What was feasible was, rather, the reconciliation of a select body Catholic enough to be united, and Anglican enough not to be absorbed. Just over a dozen years later Pope Benedict XVI, responding to the petitions of various Anglican bishops, promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Apostolorum coetibus and the deed was done. The three 'Ordinariates' now established for 'Catholics of the Anglican Patrimony' in Britain, Australia and North America have been described as the first tangible fruit of Catholic Ecumenism. In this short book Nichols reflects on the historical, theological, and liturgical issues involved. He also shows the congruence of the new development with Benedict's wider thinking, and outlines a specific missionary vocation for reconciled Anglicans in England.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0852448171/

Bishop Alan Hopes appointed bishop of East Anglia

from the Vatican News Service

Vatican City, 11 June 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Alan Stephen Hopes as bishop of East Anglia (area 12,570, population 2,855,000, Catholics 99,200, priests 118, permanent deacons 36, religious 131), England. Bishop Hopes, previously auxiliary of Westminster, England, and titular of Cuncacestre, serves as chairman of the Liturgy Committee on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Bishop Hopes is a former Anglican, and was instrumental in helping implement Anglicanorum coetibus in England. Our congratulations to him. Multos Annos!

The Ordinariate has finally arrived

By Damian Thompson  
Last updated: April 2nd, 2013

Here's a photo, taken by Lorna Muffat for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, that shows Mgr Keith Newton celebrating Easter Sunday Mass in the organisation's magnificent new London home, Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street. And here's Mgr Newton with the priests and servers:

There's plenty of scepticism about the Ordinariate – especially since the careful circulation of a quote attributed to former Cardinal Bergoglio saying he didn't see the need for it. Well, we shall see. Pope Francis – who would never have encountered Anglicans in the Catholic tradition in Latin America – now finds himself head of the Ordinariate in three continents; his spokesman has said that this will be a permanent structure of the Catholic Church.

Will it be? That's up to the Ordinariate. Its leader in this country, Mgr Newton, has the jurisdiction if not the sacramental powers of a bishop – hence the mitre. The Warwick Street congregation is still small – the group didn't move into the church until Palm Sunday (and hasn't yet started using its own liturgy).
But there's an energy and sense of imagination here that promises great things. Essentially, the Ordinariate finds itself in the same position as most of the great orders and religious communities of the Church in their early days...

Read the rest of Mr. Thompson's post at The Telegraph's blogsite

William Oddie on the Sisters from Wantage

William Oddie writes in today's Catholic Herald:

...This is a moment of some historical significance, for the Community of St Mary the Virgin was one of the earliest religious communities to be founded in the Church of England since the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. The community was founded, its website tells us, by William John Butler, the vicar of Wantage, and he, together with Mother Harriet, the first Mother, left their mark on the community. From the beginning, there was an emphasis on simplicity of life; one of the earliest sisters had an hour-glass to time her hour of prayer, as she felt that owning a watch was incompatible with a vow of poverty. As a community dedicated under the patronage of Mary, they set themselves to obey her words, “Whatever he says to you, do it”, and the community motto, engraved in Latin on each sister’s cross, is “Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” – “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to Your word.”

The community has been a faithful concrete manifestation of what John Henry Newman called for in his Tractarian period, in order to bring about the revitalisation of the Church of England...

The Community of St Mary the Virgin, one has to say, has over the years been one of the most admirable manifestations of the Anglo-Catholic tradition which sprang from the movement whose greatest and most inspirational leader the Anglican Newman had been; and the fact that the Community is, in its Anglican manifestation, now in its closing years (for it can be said with some certainty that the Anglican community will have come to an end with the death of its last sister, and that any new vocations will be to the Catholic community now crossing the Tiber) mirrors exactly the historical situation of that part of the Anglo-Catholic movement which remains within the Church of England. This will become progressively more enfeebled as the Church of England itself becomes more and more secularised: and it is now, surely, time for those within it still trying to live their lives within the Catholic tradition to come home to the place that has been prepared for them.

Read the whole story at the Herald.

Members of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin Ordinariate-bound

The Reverend Mother of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin, writing on the web site of the community, has shared the process of discernment that members of the community have undertaken in light of Anglicanorum Coetibus. Of special note is the mutual charity of the sisters whether they have decided to enter the Ordinariate or not.

I am writing to share with you some developments within the Community. Since 2009, when Pope Benedict issued an invitation for groups of Anglicans to come into full communion with the Catholic Church, sisters have come to speak to me privately and in strictest confidence as Mother, about their individual sense of call to take this route into full communion; to become Catholics as part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham (‘the Ordinariate') whilst also remaining members of the Community. I allowed each sister time to explore her growing and deepening sense of calling. When it became clear that there was a critical mass of sisters across the board, in more than one house, who were experiencing the same call, I sought the permission of each to share this with the whole Community.

CSMV was born in the Oxford Movement and has always been an Anglican community within that tradition. Some sisters were experiencing a call to remain Anglicans within this tradition, whilst others were experiencing a call to come into full communion with the Catholic Church whilst also continuing this tradition.

What is important is that sisters were experiencing this call as part of a Community - a family - sisters were not simply responding as individuals. There is inherent within this sense of call to full communion, the call to remain together. This is the reason that a number of us, me included, are being drawn into the Catholic Church by this particular route. The Ordinariate has opened the possibility for groups of Anglicans to remain together, and the structures have been specifically created to welcome Religious, Priests, and laity in groups. As a group, we believe that this is the way we are being called to live out our vocation to the Religious Life, that is within the Anglican tradition and united to the Catholic Church.

Naturally, this is broader than the Church of England's decision to ordain women either to the priesthood or the episcopate, and indeed one sister who has received ordination in the Church of England is part of this group. It will be possible to retain much of our Anglican heritage and traditions within the Ordinariate and the Sisters' Anglican roots have been welcomed in this provision. In fact some of what CSMV traditionally do best, our Divine Office and our English Plainchant, is precisely what is being welcomed by Pope Benedict as - in his words - ‘a treasure to be shared' with the whole of the Catholic Church.

The Community as a whole discerned a movement of the Holy Spirit and so decided that it wanted each sister to respond to her calling, but for sisters to stay together as a Christian family sharing a common heritage and, in effect, living together as one Community, helping to set all ‘our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion' (cf. Pope Benedict, Oscott College, 19 September 2010). At this point the Community involved the ecclesiastical authorities of both the Church of England and the Personal Ordinariate to explore how this might be made possible...

However, it has become clear that two self-governing communities will be required and it has been agreed the Ordinariate Community will eventually relocate from Wantage; a painful decision for the whole of CSMV.

Of the twenty two sisters who currently live at the Convent at Wantage, eleven of us believe that we are being called into the full communion of the Catholic Church as part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. This discernment has been reached after constant prayer and in discussion with spiritual advisers. These eleven sisters are in the main, but not exclusively, the able bodied members who provide the work and management to keep the Community going, so, since the Ordinariate Community do have to relocate, considerable time has been spent and will continue to be devoted to ensure that the remaining members of CSMV will be well cared for: spiritually, physically, emotionally as well as financially.

The sisters who are seeking to enter the Catholic Church, including myself, will be received into full communion on 1 January 2013 by Monsignor Keith Newton, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and will form a new Religious Community under the auspices of the Ordinariate. This new Community will be known as the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Following reception into the Catholic Church, we will temporarily leave Wantage to stay for six weeks with a Catholic Convent for the opportunity for formation together as this newly formed Community. It is planned that after this we would return to Wantage, temporarily and as guests, whilst we seek out a new permanent home. Even whilst away we will continue to provide support of every kind for those sisters who remain.

Those of us who will now enter into the Ordinariate have always had the care of our elderly and frail sisters uppermost in our minds. It has never been our desire or intention that our fellow sisters who choose to remain in the Church of England should be neglected in any way; quite the contrary. We have been working ceaselessly to ensure that in our absence there will be continuing care for those sisters who remain and who need it and that suitable trustees of the CSMV's charity will be appointed in place of myself and my co-trustees. This has now been put in place. When we return temporarily, we will be able to help provide support and assistance for the remaining CSMV sisters as they make decisions about their longer term future.

Read the entire letter at the web site of The Community of St. Mary the Virgin. Please pray for all the sisters who are part of CSMV as they move forward.

HT to Felipe Gasper

Another Review of the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham

This review is from the just published November issue of The Portal magazine:

As an Anglican I, along with many others, rarely used Anglican devotional material. The Church I attended was a “Roman Rite” Parish. We spurned Anglican material for fear of liberal or Calvinist contamination. However, now we are members of the Ordinariate the position is totally different.

As Anglicans we obeyed the rules from choice, because the rules we obeyed were Catholic rules. We chose to obey them. Now we are in full communion with the Catholic Church, we obey the rules because good Catholics obey the teaching of the Church. Rebels no longer, we are Catholics, and we obey the rules of the Catholic Church.

It was with great interest then, that I opened my copy of the new Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham, with the sub-title Daily Prayer for the Ordinariate. It arrived last month. It is the Prayer Book of the Ordinariate.

Published under the Imprimatur of the Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, the book contains the Calendar, the Divine Office with traditional Office hymns, Litany, together with material for times and seasons including saints and holy days, with an Introduction by Mgr Andrew Burnham and Dr Aidan Nichols OP. The language is traditional (thee and thou) the feel is in accordance with our Anglican patrimony and the psalms are in the beloved Coverdale translation. But the gem of the book is the series of hagiographical readings for the saints and holy days.

There will be those who prefer the Roman Divine Office, but as members of the Ordinariate, we have a loyalty to uphold. This is our book. It is true that most of us would never have thought of using it when we were Anglicans. However, now we are Catholics and the Holy Father has made this wonderful offer to us. The offer is to join the Ordinariate - united yet not absorbed. If we spurn the Holy Father’s generosity and, in effect, become Diocesan Catholics, we shall have failed Benedict XVI and his prophetic vision.

The Customary bridges that most difficult of gulfs between the Anglican and the Catholic. It unites these two traditions, yet makes important distinctions. The Divine Office is the Prayer Book one of Morning and Evening Prayer shape, augmented by Prayer through the Day and a beautifully traditional Compline. The Litany will be familiar to users of the 1662 Prayer Book, and the Calendar is specific to the Ordinariate, with many particularly British Saints.

In the future there will be a Eucharistic Rite for the Ordinariate, also in traditional language. For the time being we have this book. It is good, although there are one or two glaring mistakes. Nevertheless, the compilers are to be congratulated on its production. The mistakes may be corrected if it is re-printed or if there is a second edition. I have used it every day since its publication and see no reason why this should not continue. It fulfils the Holy Father’s wish - truly Catholic and also distinctively Anglican. After all this project of the Ordinariate is an Ecumenical one. We must never forget that.

Finally you may purchase the Customary on-line through Amazon for £39.93 - click on BOOKS on The Portal website - www.portalmag.co.uk/books.html.

Anglican Use Liturgy in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

The Personal Ordinariate in the United Kingdom has posted updated information and regulations about the use of the Anglican Use Liturgies for use in the Personal Ordinariate. As it relates to the use of the Book of Divine Worship, the following is found:

The Book of Divine Worship
The Book of Divine Worship (PDF) adapts the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It was approved for the use of clergy and faithful of the Pastoral Provision in 1983, by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Committee for the Liturgy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Elements of The Book of Divine Worship are permitted for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham under the provision of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus (cf. AC III), subject to the following alterations:

The Daily Office: The provision for the Daily Office as found in the Book of Divine Worship is replaced by the Liturgy of the Hours as found in the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham within the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. This applies to all public and private celebrations of the Liturgy of the Hours. Furthermore, the contemporary language psalter of the Book of Divine Worship is not permitted for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

The Litany: Within the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Litany as found in the Book of Divine Worship is replaced by the version found in the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham. This applies to all public and private celebrations.

The Holy Eucharist: Rite One for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is permitted for celebration in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Following the publication of the English translation of Missale Romanum 2002, the text for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist according to the Book of Divine Worship is to be updated. Rite Two (in contemporary language) is not permitted for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Holy Baptism: Rite One for the celebration of Holy Baptism as found in the Book of Divine Worship is permitted for celebration in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Rite Two (in contemporary language) is not permitted for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Holy Matrimony: The provision for the celebration of Holy Matrimony as found in the Book of Divine Worship is not permitted for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. See details of The Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony, below.

The Burial of the Dead: The provision for The Burial of the Dead as found in the Book of Divine Worship is not permitted for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. It is replaced by The Order for Funerals (see below).

The Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony
The Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony is awaiting final approval for use in England and Wales and in Scotland. It is not, therefore, permitted for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham at this time. The Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony can be viewed here (PDF). An explanation of The Order for the Celebration of Holy Matrimony by Mgr Andrew Burnham can be viewed here (Video).

The Order for Funerals
The Order for Funerals is the proper liturgical provision for funeral rites in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. It replaces the provision of The Burial of the Dead in the The Book of Divine Worship. The Order for Funerals can viewed here (PDF). An explanation of The Order for Funerals by Mgr Andrew Burnham can be viewed here (Video).

Lectionary
The sole Lectionary authorised for use in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is the Revised Standard Version, Catholic 2nd Edition.

"The New Evangellization" is the theme for weekend conference for UK Ordinariate

Father James Bradley writes:

Something For The Weekend

This Saturday the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham welcomes Professor Tracey Rowland to lead our thoughts on the New Evangelisation in the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, with a particular attention to the role we have in that important work from our unique place in the life of the Church.

Professor Rowland is the Dean and Permanent Fellow of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, Australia, and the author of numerous articles and several excellent books (including two works on Pope Benedict XVI). She is an engaging speaker and holds a passion for the New Evangelisation, and also for the Ordinariate project, about which she has spoken previously...

Read the whole post at his blog Thine Own Service.

UK ordinariate adapts Anglican prayers for Catholic use

By Benjamin Mann

Msgr Jeffrey Steenson saying Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey,
with deacons Oliver Vietor and James Barnett on June 11, 2010. (Photo by Steve Cavanaugh)

London, England, Jun 6, 2012 / 01:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is preparing to publish its daily liturgical prayer book, as part of its mission to incorporate Anglican traditions within the Catholic Church.

Father James Bradley, communications officer for the jurisdiction, told CNA on June 5 that the “Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham,” which contains the order of daily prayer and readings, “shows a deep respect for the Anglican tradition, and gives it space to flourish” in the Catholic Church.

Announced in the ordinariate's “Portal” publication on June 1, the book is due out “in a month or two” according to Monsignor Andrew Burnham, Assistant to the Ordinary.

The new prayer book draws heavily from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for its services of Morning and Evening Prayer. It also contains the traditional litany of intercession, along with the “minor hours” of the daily prayer cycle and the traditional night service of Compline.

In keeping with a decision of the Holy See, the text generally maintains the traditional language of Anglican worship – an older, more poetic English dialect that is widely regarded as both aesthetically rich, and spiritually valuable...

Read the rest of this story at the web site of the Catholic News Agency.

Hat tip to Fr. Stephen Smuts.

P.S. Previously we noted that the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham is available for pre-order from amazon.co.uk. It is also available from the US site of Amazon.com.

Rev (Fr-soon-to-be) John Hunwicke

Fr. Smuts reports on his blog about the soon to accomplished priesting of John Hunwicke. Fr. Hunwicke, in my estimation, is a wonderful example of an important part of the Anglican Patrimony: the priest-scholar represented by so many notables, starting with George Herbert and continuing on through John Henry Newman, John Mason Neale, Charles Winfred Douglas and Dom Gregory Dix. It is an aspect of the patrimony that should be continued.

Fr Gerard sent in the news via e-mail:

I thought you might like to know that John Hunwicke will be ordained priest on 7pm om Wednesday, June 27th at the Oxford Oratory

On his blog, Fr Hunwicke’s Liturgical Notes, he writes himself:

I trust, Deo volente, to be admitted to the Presbyterate of the Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham on Wednesday June 27, at 7.00, in the Oxford Oratory Church. It would help if priests willing to take part in the Laying On of Hands could let me know. I would be pleased if there were many.

Ordination at Westminster Cathedral

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Seventeen men were ordained Deacon today, 26th May 2012, at Westminster Cathedral for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. They were ordained by Bishop Alan Hopes, on behalf of Monsignor Keith Newton. The large congregation included members of their respective Ordinariate Groups and also former parishioners from their time as Anglicans. In the homily, Mgr Andrew Burnham pointed to the candidates' many years of priestly service and the energy, experience and wisdom which they bring to the Catholic Church.
The music included the Mass for five voices by Byrd and motets by Tallis and Victoria. The hymns "Crown him with many crowns" and "Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour" were sung with great zeal, as befits the Anglican patrimony, and Dubois' "Toccata" for organ provided a joyous conclusion to the liturgy.

In the coming days and weeks, they will be ordained to the Priesthood, usually in their local Diocese. Full details are to be found in the Calendar on the website.

Mgr Newton thanked Canon Tuckwell, the Administrator, the staff, servers and choir of the cathedral for their help and support and Bishop Hopes for ordaining these new Deacons.

Hat tip to Deacon Greg Kandra at The Deacon's Bench

How the Ordinariate is healing England’s cultural wounds

Four hundred years after the bitter conflicts of religion, the Church is posthumously reCatholicising Archbishop Cranmer and reclaiming him for our tradition
By FR ALEXANDER LUCIE-SMITH on Friday, 11 May 2012

Yesterday I was in a cathedral city in the south of England, and having time to spare, and because it was raining, I decided to visit the cathedral and stay for Evensong. I am, like so many in this country, familiar with Evensong; I find it both beautiful and alien at the same time. I both love it and hate it. I only go to Evensong to listen to it, never to take part.
...

Thus the experience of Cranmerian English leaves me feeling conflicted. I love it and I hate it, and I feel I ought to love it, as it is so beautiful, and because it has inspired so many of our great poets, not least among whom is T.S. Eliot.

That’s why I am profoundly pleased by something that happened earlier that day in London. I attended a meeting about the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, at which Mgr Burnham, the assistant to the Ordinary, told the assembled guests that a Customary is in preparation.  This is essentially what we might call an office book, with various readings drawn from the English spiritual tradition, such as Newman’s writings from his Anglican days; but it also draws on those fine psalms and prayers used by Cranmer, with some doctrinal alterations. Mgr Burnham also spoke of the growing popularity of Evensong and Benediction amidst Ordinariate congregations.

What this Customary will do, it seems to me, is posthumously reCatholicise Cranmer and reclaim him for our tradition; it will make the Cranmerian liturgy, which I find a cause of division and conflict, into something that will bring about unity. It will mean that from now on, I need not find Evensong alien. Perhaps Dr Cranmer himself would approve. I hope so! It certainly promotes the healing of a cultural and religious wound.
The Ordinariate, which I greatly welcome, is already enriching us in many ways. Long may it continue to grow and flourish.

Read the whole article in the Catholic Herald.

Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham Posts List of Priestly Ordination candidates

The list of candidates to be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in 2012 for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has been posted on the Ordinariate web site. Among the 21 names it is very good to see the name of John Hunwicke. (Soon to be again) Father Hunwicke's erudition, pastoral sense and good humor will be a great boon to the Ordinariate and the Catholic Church.

Pope makes donation to Ordinariate

Pope Benedict XVI has offered a generous donation to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham to help support its clergy and work. The Vatican nuncio to Great Britain, Archbishop Antonio Mennini said the gift "is a clear sign of (the pope's) personal commitment to the work of Christian unity and the special place the ordinariate holds in his heart.”

A May 1st press release announcing the donation said that “the gift will help establish the ordinariate as a vibrant part of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.”

Msgr. Keith Newton, who heads the Ordinariate, said, "This gift is a great help and encouragement as we continue to grow and develop our distinctive ecclesial life, whilst seeking to contribute to the wider work of evangelization...

Read the rest at the site of Vatican Radio.

Hat tip to Charles Gilman.

Sacerdotes Domini

Another truly groundbreaking few days for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. This weekend, for the first time in the Ordinariate, we witnessed the ordination to the Sacred Priesthood of former Anglicans who had never been Anglican priests. This was a sign of progress, a sign of continuity and a sign of hope for the future. Below you will see a picture of most of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group with the newly minted Fr James Bradley...

Read the rest of this story at the web site of the Marylebone Ordinariate Group.

Infocatolica: Interview with Fr Edwin Barnes

April 5, 2012

The Spanish-language site Infocatolica carries an interview with Fr Edwin Barnes. It is available in Spanish here. A translation follows below:

- Fr. Barnes, when I interviewed you two years ago, you were an Anglican bishop. Now you are a Catholic priest. Are you happy with the change?

Yes, very happy indeed. No regrets.

- Has your relationship with God, with Our Lady, with the saints changed in any way?

I hope it has deepened, but that is not for me to judge

- Have you felt welcome in the Roman Catholic Church? Any bad experiences?

Thoroughly welcome; and no bad experiences at all.

- Have you received/are you receiving any training as a Catholic priest?

Yes, I attended an initial three-month course with weekly sessions at Allen Hall Seminary in Chelsea. Now, as a former Anglican bishop, I am not required to continue attending, but I do so on a monthly basis and intend to continue for the next two years. I am also receiving great help and support from local priests in developing a certain ‘Romanitas’.

- What are your current tasks in the Ordinariate? Do the priests of the Ordinariate work only with their Anglo-Catholic parishioners or do you also help at diocesan parishes?

I have temporary responsibility for an Ordinariate Group which meets twice each week in Bournemouth, in a Catholic Parish Church. I also assist in our local Catholic parish – I have said Mass there three times this week, and have also heard confessions. Besides this I join with other priests in the Pastoral Area and in the last two weeks have been present at two liturgies of reconciliation, hearing confessions. I have also spoken to groups of priests about the Ordinariate and have joined CCC (the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy).

- Have you petitioned the Holy See to be able to use mitre and crozier, as is your privilege as a former Anglican bishop?

No, nor shall I. I am simply a priest of the Ordinariate and am happy to remain so...

Read the rest of this interview with Fr. Barnes at the Ordinariate Portal.

Former Anglican bishop turned Catholic priest is star of anti-apartheid musical

A former Anglican bishop ordained a Catholic priest is one of the stars of an anti-apartheid musical in South Africa, it emerged today.

Fr Robert Mercer, 77, was deported from South Africa in 1970 for his stand against apartheid, along with several other Anglican priests.

He and other members of the Anglican Community of the Resurrection defied segregation laws by running a multi-racial parish.

They were, says Fr Mercer, “deemed to be a corrupting influence on students” at Stellenbosch University, where they worked as chaplains. One of the Anglican priests was jailed.

Their stand has been dramatised in a multi-media pop musical called Brothers, which ran for five nights at Stellenbosch University, the country’s top Africaans university.

The musical was performed in September 2010 in a mix of Africaans and English and was directed by playwright Peter Krummeck.

Fr Mercer, who grew up in Zimbabwe, went on to become Bishop of Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, in the Anglican Province of Central Africa, in the midst of a civil war.

He was bishop for 11 years before leaving the Anglican Communion to join the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, part of the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion. He served as metropolitan bishop from 1988 to 2005, when he retired to England.

Fr Mercer became a Catholic in January and was ordained a priest for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham on Monday.

He said today that Pope Benedict XVI’s offer of an ordinariate to Anglicans in 2009 was “an answer to our prayers, to our dreams”...

Read the rest at The Catholic Herald.

Hat tip to Fr. Stephen Smuts.