Today we had a Sung Latin Mass in honour of our parish patron St Simon Stock. A choir of three led by Mr John Simmonds came to sing the Mass and Mr Andrew Cesana played the organ.
The photos in this post (taken by Cllr David Hurley) are displayed in the order in which they were taken.
We had a good team of servers who did very well. We are not London Oratory by any means but for a small parish in Kent I think we did extremely well.
Parishioners commented on how beautiful the Mass was. One parishioner said how the atmosphere in the church had changed simply in the way the altar had been set up. There was a clear sense of expectancy as people waited for the unfolding drama to commence. They were captivated by the ceremony.
The servers were delighted too and said they would love to serve another sung Mass. So I have decided that next Saturday's Mass in the Day with Mary will also be a sung Mass in the extraordinary form.
UPDATE: The Sisters who organise the Liturgy at the Days with Mary and who love singing the Extraordinary Form Mass have now said they cannot arrange this for next Saturday so Mass will be in the Ordinary Form. Another appropriate opportunity will be found.
A cheeky wink from one of our servers on the way out:
At the end of the Mass I enrolled a number of parishioners into the Brown Scapular. I can't think what I was pointing my finger about but I can assure everyone that, despite the look of fear on Tim's face, I was not telling him off!
My sincere thanks to all who helped organise the Mass and to all who came.
And a word to those who stayed away: The Mass - in whichever form it is validly and legitimately celebrated - is the Sacrifice of the Cross, the Mystery of our Faith. Don't walk away from it. Don't miss the opportunity to be at Mass. It was nice to see a good number of our parishioners present, but I know there were some who decided not to come because the Mass was in the older form. We would all loved to have had you celebrate our parish patronal feast with us. Clearly many appreciate the beauty of the ancient liturgy. By providing it, I am giving these people access to their spiritual birthright. I am therefore giving them something they have a right to. My own growth into love for the 'old Mass' is something that developed, from not being particularly interested to really appreciating its beauty, and this is not to denigrate in any way the 'new Mass'. I would encourage you to allow yourself some time to appreciate the extraordinary form of the Mass and to live by faith in the great Mystery that is accomplished on the altar.
Our young servers loved it, and their parents and sisters possibly had a sense of pride that their son/brother was involved in something so beautiful.
As mentioned in previous posts (1, 2) Raymond visited on Tuesday and gave a powerful, entertaining and thought provoking talk on the Real Presence: Symbol or Reality. People came from Ashford, Rye, Faversham, Hythe, Canterbury to hear him speak. He is currently on a UK tour.
Raymond is one of those Americans (actually, he's 'Brazilian by birth, Australian by choice, Catholic by grace' but lives in the USA) who prays for the conversion of England. It's so moving to know that people in the US are praying for this country - they see it as hugely important.
Tracking back a bit, on Monday 4th May the annual diocesan Altar Servers' Rally took place at Aylesford.
During the Mass new members of the Guild of St Stephen were enrolled by Bishop Paul Hendricks, seen here before the start of Mass:
Three of our current Guild members waiting in St Joseph's chapel for the start of Mass:
New enrollees waiting in the Relic chapel.
Some our the servers' parents and families:
Our servers after the Mass:
Deacon John Greenwood:
Bishop Paul with the servers from Good Shepherd Church, New Addington, who served teh Mass, with their parish priest (my brother) Fr Stephen Boyle, Guild of St Stephen chaplain:
Today I went for a test flight with a fellow priest who proposes that he fly us to Merville, France, in a couple of weeks for the gathering of priests from the diocese of Southwark. So he took me on a flight from Rochester to Ashford and back. Here are a few views of our parish church and school from the air: And the Designer Outlet: It was my first time in a light aircraft. We flew relatively low and it was a somewhat bumpy ride due to the varying temperature of air rising from the ground. When we fly to France we'll be above the clouds so it will be much smoother. So now I'm ready for the flight to Merville.
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