As published in Mass of Ages
January 2020
Our annual Oxford Pilgrimage was well supported this year; we had a splendid High Mass in the Dominican Rite in Oxford Blackfriars (the Priory of the Holy Spirit), followed by a procession through the streets to the site of the martyrdom of Bl George Napier in 1610, which is marked with a steel plaque in the Castle quarter, followed by Benediction. I should like to record my thanks to Fr Bruno Clifton OP, the celebrant, and the other members of the community who assisted, and to Alex Lloyd of the Newman Consort who provided some lovely polyphony to set off the Dominican chant sung by Oxford’s Schola Abelis.
Quarterly Sung Masses on Sundays in Holy Trinity, Hethe, have worked well in 2019 and will continue in 2020. The dates (tbc) this year will be 22nd March (Laetare Sunday), 7th June (Trinity Sunday), 4th October (Our Lady of the Rosary), and 13th December (Gaudete Sunday). These will be at 11am, not 12 noon as previously; I hope this will prove convenient for people. This beautiful historic church is well worth a visit.
Over the diocesan boundary in south Oxford, Sunday Masses at 5pm in Holy Rood continue, thanks to the generosity of Fr Daniel Lloyd. Sung Masses have proved harder to arrange than expected and so these Masses have usually been Low.
The occasional series of Sung Masses in the English Martyrs, Didcot, continues. The next one will be for the Ember Friday of Lent, at 7:30pm.
Regular Masses at the Oratory and SS Gregory & Augustine’s also continue, covering Sundays and feast days.
The big event for the quarter is the annual LMS Pilgrimage to Caversham. This year it will take place on Saturday 21st March, at 11:30am as usual; it will be a Votive Mass of Our Lady, and lunch is provided for pilgrims in the very comfortable parish room. Mass will be celebrated by one of the priests of the Fraternity of St Peter based in Reading, and will be accompanied by polyphony from the Newman Consort, as well as chant.
Joseph Shaw
oxford@lms.org.uk
