Saturday, 17 June 2017: Anglican Ordinariate Ceremony at St. James Spanish Place

St. James Catholic Church Spanish Place

Friday was a travel day, from Oxford to Broadbottom by way of Manchester. My plan was to just relax with my friends, Michael and Raven Wenner for a few days before returning to Charleston, but that was not exactly what happened. You'll see.

I do like using BritRail, although it is now a number of regional rail systems linked together in many respects, but independent in other respects. If you plan a trip, be careful to calculate how many trips you will use rail for, and compare the prices of individual tickets to any package deal of a "rail pass". In 2010, an 8-day pass saved me a few hundred dollars, but in both 2016 and 2017, I was much better off paying as I went.

I arrived at the Wenner's mid-afternoon, and had a nice visit for a while. Michael's son, Martin, was there until Raven returned from an afternoon at the local Catholic church. Then we walked to the pub for dinner. It being Friday, we all had fish, and it was very good! We retired early for the night since Raven and I needed to on the 7:15am train from Broadbottom to Manchester Picadilly, where we met Fr. Andrew Starkie and his family for the train to London. I had been in email contact with him for a couple of years, and this would be our first meeting.

Now, this was not in my original plan! Raven sent me an email about a week before I left for Milan, advising me that she had promised Fr. Starkie a year ago that she would accompany him to the Transitional Diaconate Ordination Mass, which just happened to be my Saturday in Broadbottom. I could have sat around the house and had dinner at the pub again, but I certainly wasn't going to pass up the chance to attend such a wonder Liturgy! And at St. James Spanish Place at that! So, back to London I went!

We all walked from Euston Station to the church, in plenty of time before Mass began.

Entrance at the side of the west front.

Nave and Sanctuary

The Altar

The pulpit

Cardinal Pell was scheduled to Ordain ten men to the Transitional Diaconate, but couldn't travel due to health reasons. Instead, Rt. Rev. Robert Byrne (Cong. Orat.), Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, performed the Sacrament. Of the ten men, two were seminarians and eight were former Anglican priests. All will be Ordained to the Catholic Priesthood during the next  year. 

The main organ and choir gallery in the south transept (Epistle side)

Antiphonal organ in the west gallery.

The musicians were from St. James. They sang the Mass setting "Collegium Regale" by Herbert Howells, originally composed for the chapel and choir of King's College Cambridge. The congregation joined in on the hymns:

Procession: "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" (tune: Somervell)

Offertory: "Crown Him with Many Crowns" (tune: Diademata)

Communion: "Soul of My Saviour" (tune: Anima Christi)

Final: "O Jesus, I Have Promised" (tune: Wolvercote)

We also joined in the chanting of the Gradual and Alleluia, both from "The Plainchant Gradual" (Wantage, St. Mary’s Press), which is what most of the Anglican Ordinariates are using for Propers.

The Candidates lying prostrate during the chanting of the Litany of the Saints

The Sacrament

The Recessional

There was a very nice reception in the undercroft, where I had a chance to chat briefly with Monsignor Keith Newton, the Ordinary in the UK. We had met at Sacra Liturgia London in 2016, and been in contact via email.

Then we were all off, walking back to Euston Station for our return train to Manchester.

One parting shot - the entrance door:

Now, that's a hinge!