Travel Log - Day 5

Yet another super day, weather wise! I decided it was time to break out the seersucker and white bucks - just a bit chilly in the morning, but perfect by noon.

The talks were good today. The most notably to me was Bishop Alan Hopes who is part of ICEL (International Committee on English in the Liturgy). He explained the process and progress of the new translation of the Divine Office including the Office Hymns.

(All of this year's talks will be available soon on the Conference's website.)

I had a very nice lunch, picnic style in the park behind the Oratory, with my friend, Eve Farren. We had met back in 2010 looking for the Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh to go to Mass, and have been friends since. We had a very nice chat.

Then, after the Mass, Dr. William Mahrt and I had a very nice dinner at the Genting Casino Cromwell Mint. No, we didn't play any roulette, but the dinner was exquisite and the service high class!

Tomorrow's last presentation will be by Msgr. Andrew Burnham, of the UK Anglican Ordinariate. The final Liturgy will be a Solemn Mass using the Divine Worship Missal at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption & St. Gregory, with Msgr. Keith Newton celebrating.

Travel Log - Day 4

Another really nice day in London!  Interesting talks in the morning, but the afternoon included a talk about music in priestly formation at the seminaries by my friend, Jenny (Dr. Jennifer) Donelson. Then there was a panel discussion on sacred music in general, with some emphasis on how to sing the Propers instead of hymnody. I posited from the audience (an American on British soil) that everyone should consider adding Anglican Chant to there repertoire of Psalm singing options.

The closing Liturgy of the day was Pontifical OF Mass (new rite) with Cardinal Sarah. Here are a couple of the published photos that include me - barely!

You can see all the photos here.

Then I had dinner with Mary Jane and Elizabeth again - this time just up Knightsbridge Street from the Oratory at "Bunch of Grapes" pub.

As Scarlet said, "tomorrow is another day." And with that, I'm "Gone with the Wind"!

Travel Log - Day 3

Sacra Liturgia UK 2016 began today! I registered in the morning, but the first session was Solemn Vespers of St. Anthony Maria Zaccaria from the 1961 Breviary at the London (aka Bromptom) Oratory. The Celebrant was Most Reverend Dominique Rey, the Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon. The music was provided by the Oratory Choir. The music was a beautiful mix of Gregorian chant and polyphony, with the congregation singing on some of the chant. Photography is not allowed in the building, so here are a couple of internet photos.

Then we had the official convening of the Conference, with all the introductions, etc., leading up to the opening presentation by His Eminence Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Within his talk he called for a study of the "Reform or the Reform", that virtually no Catholic has really seen, 50 years later, the correct implementation of Vatican II. He also called for priests and bishops to "return to the Lord" by changing their orientation at Mass to the liturgical east - with, of course, sufficient catechization beforehand - this coming Advent Season. You can follow the proceedings on the Conference's FaceBook page.

Then we heard the Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School, directed by Charles Cole, across the street at Holy Trinity, Prince Consort Road.

Finally, I had dinner with a long-time friend, Mary Jane Ballou and her sister (also attending the Conference, as last year as well) at a nice Italian restaurant with a strolling tenor.

A nice day, and I'm ready for another.

Travel Log - Day 2

At the time of my last visit to London, the museum of the Order of St. John was closed for renovation. I went there today. It includes very interesting displays and the history of all of the Order - the origins in the Holy Land, Rhodes, Malta, and the various splits in the Order in modern times. Nearby is the International Headquarters of the Venerable Order. Here are a couple of photos of the museum.

Later I had very nice visit with Alan Hughes at Whitechapel Bell Foundry. We discussed clock bells for Zimbelsterns (pipe organ stop - accessory) and electrical striking of peal bells. We also chatted about history, Brexit, and other things. I did not know that there was, historically, a "White Chapel"! The park just a block away is where it was. It had burned down a couple of times, and finally they decided not to rebuild it. The park includes some of the original stone pieces.

Then I went to Corpus Christi Church for Latin Low Mass. This church is right next to the Covent Garden Market, and you can hear the market noise inside the church. There were about 50 people, 20's -70's there.

Mass was at this side altar since the main sanctuary was under renovation.

Travel Log - Day 1, Evening

I already mentioned seeing my former boss, Jan Rowland, at Temple Church for the opening event of the ISO Congress. This organ was recently refurbished by the organ builder, Harrison & Harrison of Durham. Temple Church was damaged during the Blitz in WWII, including the organ. The owner of a estate in Aberdeenshire had an organ in his ball-room that he wanted sell. The famous 20th century organist, Sir George Thalden-Ball took him up on the offer.

 

When I first visited the UK in 1980, I was most fortunate to have visited Temple Church one Sunday afternoon, only to notice Sir George still there after Evensong, chatting with a lady. When they were finished, I introduced myself. He was so gracious! He took my up to the console and started improvising - demonstrating various stops for me, and talking continuously! That was one the most memorable 30 minutes in my life!

He died only a few years later.


So, having not gotten to Mass yet, I headed for a pretty church nearby - Immaculate Conception, maintained now by Jesuits. It was a regular OF Mass, no music, for mostly 20-something Londoners. It was reverent, but it did contain some things in the Sanctuary that you might expect from Jesuits. The Church is beautiful!

Back to my room for bed, and trying to catch up on sleep.  I'm running a day behind blogging - I'll try to catch up tomorrow.

Travel Log - Day 1, Morning

Well, a fair amount of my internet research hasn't paid off.  It seems many of the churches that were listed as having a weekly Solemn High Mass are only having Low Mass instead.  There are many, many beautiful Catholic churches here in London, as well as beautiful Anglican churches - like the ones I visit when ringing bells.

Since St. James Spanish Place was only going to be Low Mass, I decided to go ringing.  I started out at St. Mary Abbots and got to ring some Grandsire Caters (9 bell method).  The ringers were then going to two more churches to ring their bells for services.  Many London churches do not have regular bell ringers, nor any significant numbers of parishioners who are ringers.  The ringing is left to members of three or four groups of hobbyists.

The next church was St. Luke in Chelsea, and I rang a bit more Grandsire Caters.  They are raising money to re-cast and re-hang the bells.  They are a bit difficult to ring.

And then to St. Stephen, Rochester Row, where I rang some Stedman Triples (7 bell method).  Their bells have been rehung, and are very nice to ring.  The pendulum of the steeple clock swings in the middle of the ringing room.

Then I walked back to my room through Kensington Park, behind Kensington Palace.

I stopped at a pub just around the corner from my room for lunch and some wonderful Kopparberg Pear Cider!

Then just a short rest before late afternoon and evening places.

Travel Log - The Beginning of the Adventure

Traveling is an adventure.  I believe that is what is should be.  Sometimes it's a bit more of an adventure than one expects!  I'll get to that.

Traveling internationally also includes "small world" events.  I've had two already.

First, sitting in my assigned seat on Jet Blue headed to JFK, who should come and sit next to me in her assigned seat?  Theodora Simons, from NYC, but her family has a house on Sullivan's Island.  Theodora likes to sing and helps cantor at Stella Maris during the summer.  We had just worked together the previous Sunday!  She was heading to France for a month.  Score one for Jet Blue computers!

Second, I went to Temple Church (yes, the one in "The DaVinci Code") for an organ concert demonstration for the ISO (International Society of Organbuilders) Congress opening event.  I didn't see as many familiar faces as I had expected, having been in organ building for 30+ years.  But I was pleasantly surprised to see my former boss and his wife - Jan and Hannah Rowland!  We chatted about the "good ole days" and sat together for the concert.  That was Sunday evening - and I have skipped a lot.

Back to the USA and Aer Lingus at JFK airport in NYC.  There was a storm front coming through, including a tornado watch.  This meant that the plane could not be fueled at the gate till the watch was ended.  That storm front extended up the east coast in the direction that our flight (and many others) were headed.  In the end, we took off three hours late!  When we arrived in Dublin, I had missed my flight to London, which did not have a "no show" provision.  So I lost on that one.  I had this room in London booked and paid for, and there were no rooms (at least reasonably priced) in Dublin.  Also, the next flight with a vacant seat was going to be Sunday afternoon - and another $400!  Nope!  I made my way down to the Port of Dublin and used "Sail and Rail" - taking the Irish Ferry across to Holyhead in Wales, and then trains to London.

So, instead of getting to London at about 9:00 am Saturday morning, I finally checked into Pembridge Hall at about 11:30 pm.  I had missed out on the tickets waiting for me in will-call at the English National Opera for "Tristan und Isolde", and I was quite tired!  But I had arrived safely and could get some sleep!

More about my first full day in London later.

Brexit - the Aftermath

I posted a reply today on FaceBook to someone else's comment, and I will expand a bit on it here:

I love Europe. I am thankful that the US helped in two world wars so that the nations in the continent of Europe could be free.

As a Catholic, I would like to visit Rome and other parts of Italy - to see the Pope (both of them?) and to attend EF Masses in beautiful, historic churches.  I would also like to see various parts of rolling countryside and historic places and architecture.  But I have no real affinity with Italy, nor do I desire to be Italian.

Having been a pipe organ builder for much of my life, I would like to visit Germany and France to see all sorts of organs and churches, and also to attend EF Masses.  I am also 1/2 German (and that 1/2 Protestant and 1/2 Catholic).  But I feel no affinity with either country, nor do I desire to be German or French.

There are places in Spain and Ireland that I would like to see - both architeture and countryside.  And I am almost 1/2 Irish (and again, that 1/2 Protestant and 1/2 Catholic).  But I feel no affinity with either Ireland or Spain, and even though my AOH brothers might be sad to hear it, I have no desire to be either Irish or Spanish.

There ARE a number of reasons why I do feel an affinity with Great Britain - bell ringing is only one of them.  I would like to be British, but I have no real desire to be European.  It only means as much as being an American citizen makes me a North American.  Sitting here across the Pond and seeing an entire continent of sovereign nations become as powerless as any State in the USA has been painful for me to watch.  I am so proud of the British, including the Monarchy, that the Pound Sterling was kept even when almost all the other countries climbed onto the Euro bandwagon, and that there is still a more than significant military.  I firmly believe that, not just England, but every country that would leave the EU, will be better off as sovereign nations once again.  As human beings we all know that it takes time to fix repercussions from bad decisions we have made in the past.

Memorial Aclamations for the Anglican Ordinariate

As previously promised, here are the three Memorial Acclamations with the Book of Divine Worship Missal translation.

Here is Acclamation A:

Here is Acclamation B:

Here is Acclamation C:

As promised last week, here is the accompaniment:

If you have trouble using these graphics, let me know.  I can supply TIF files for inserting into congregation worship aids and a PDF of the accompaniment page.

Revisiting an old 2007 post - Memorial Acclamation

Some years ago I posted the Memorial Acclamation we used at Our Lady or Walsingham in Houston for many years.  It was the older ICEL text "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again."  Here it is to remind you:

Of course, that text is no longer allowed - we have much better texts since 2011.  So I have composed new acclamations based on this melody.

Here is Acclamation A:

Here is Acclamation B:

Here is Acclamation C:

We will begin singing Acclamation A here at Stella Maris Church next Sunday, 12 June 2016.

These are JPG files. If anyone wishes to use them, go right ahead.  I have them as TIF files as well.

If you would like the TIF files and/or a PDF of the accompaniment, I can send them as attachments to an email.