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Solemn Mass in Oxford
A friend of mine in the Oxford Newman Society alerted me to pics online of their Mass for the term. It was the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This Mass was in the chapel of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
Check them out!
The Abbot of Downside, Aidan Bellenger, is celebrant. The altarpiece is by Rubens. The music was Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis.
This was in the Ordinary Form, btw.
“The altarpiece is by Rubens. The music was Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis.” And the chasuble was a fiddleback.
In other words, there was nothing remotely British about this Mass…sigh…
Comment by Oneros — 23 November 2009 @ 12:30 pmFascinating. I didn’t know that the OF rubrics allowed for a sub-deacon. Is that because the celebrant is a prelate?
In Christ,
Comment by Nathan — 23 November 2009 @ 1:08 pmOooo-that’s sooo beautiful!
Comment by irishgirl — 23 November 2009 @ 2:46 pmA perfect example of what the OF can be.
Comment by Jayna — 23 November 2009 @ 3:09 pmSo sad it wasn’t the “Solemn High Mass”. Solemn: sacred, marked by ceremony or majesty.
Comment by ssoldie — 23 November 2009 @ 3:49 pmJayna, my thought exactly. This is what the OF could be…
Comment by Clinton — 23 November 2009 @ 3:56 pmBeautiful. It is hard to argue discontinuity when you see such inspiring events like these.
However, I think that most people who are into this type of stuff would just rather go to an EF Mass than an OF Mass that looks traditional.
The one advantage to a Latin OF that I can see is, from the priest’s POV, the rubrics are easier and more familiar (even when done ad orientem). In fact, I would encourage any priest toying with the idea of an EF Mass to “test the waters” with something like this Latin, ad orientem OF Mass. It requires little extra training (assuming you already can read Latin words out loud), no extra furnishings, and no major disorientation. You might try the “Mass of Vatican II” worship aid from Ignatius Press for the people to follow along in. Also, have a small choir to lead the chants and sing some communion meditaitonal hymns. If people like it, great! If they don’t, you haven’t spent tons of time and money in training an preparing for an EF Mass.
Comment by RichR — 23 November 2009 @ 4:06 pmIf only the OF were always like this.
I actually like hearing the Canon of the Mass; and that is something that I miss in the EF, given that in the EF the Canon is only said audibly in Ordination Masses. I know, I know, it is not about personal preferences, and we can’t pick and choose.
Still, if the OF were celebrated more like this, more like the EF, in continuity with the EF and in perfect accordance with the rubrics, and always following the liturgical tradition of the EF when the OF rubrics are silent, it would be great.
Jayna said it: that is a perfect example of what the OF can be. Thank God that we have freedom to have the EF celebrated now, so that it can positively enrich the OF too. That’s part of the Holy Father’s desire, according to his own letter issued with Summorum Pontificum, and it is a great and worthy enterprise.
Comment by Prof. Basto — 23 November 2009 @ 8:16 pmIt is hard to argue for dicontinuity when the OF is celebrated like this. Until one compares the texts (the Black) of the two forms. Then it’s, um, less hard. I wonder if the abuses so common to the OF are God’s way of making sure that we don’t settle for Bugnini’s impoverishments.
Comment by boko fittleworth — 23 November 2009 @ 9:19 pmYou know, the really important thing is that the abbot of DOWNSIDE is the celebrant!
Pray for vocations!
Comment by MichaelTinkler — 23 November 2009 @ 10:01 pmHow does one have a Solemn Mass in the new rite?
Comment by dcs — 24 November 2009 @ 10:02 am“Mass with a Deacon” is the new Solemn Mass.
Comment by jbas — 24 November 2009 @ 7:24 pm