St Simon Stock - Parish Solemnity - Missa Cantata

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.

My homily for the Mass follows:
Homily for the feast of St Simon Stock 2009

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The best gift a parishioner could offer

On my return from Wonersh today, I found a Mass request for the following intention: Thanksgiving and for Welfare of Our Parish Priest, with an offering too! Thank you kind parishioner. I could find out who you are as your Gift Aid number is on the envelope, but I prefer not to check up on who's giving what - I leave that up to Mark Madsen, our Gift Aid co-ordinator. But your kind thought has buoyed me up no end. God bless you.