On Thursday evening, we went into Hereford to celebrate High Mass at the wonderful Church of St Francis Xavier in Hereford. Fr Michael, the parish priest, is a monk of the Abbey of Belmont and made us very welcome. The Church has been magnificently restored to its original splendour and was a worthy setting for the Sacred Liturgy in the traditional Roman Rite.Fr Ignatius Harrison was celebrant, Dr Laurence Hemming was Deacon and I was Subdeacon. Here are a few photos from the Mass:
After Mass, Fr Michael treated us to a meal, arranged by some of his young parishioners. In the midst of an atmospheric gloom and mist, we returned to the Abbey for an early night in anticipation of the spiritual exercises of the morrow.
5 comments:
Wonderful pictures..
".. the timeless and unaffected ceremonies and chants of the Roman Liturgy as it has been celebrated for centuries."
Looking at the photographs one is struck by the fact that the celebrant is, by my rough calculation, about fifteen years more ancient than the practice of ministers wearing dalmatic and tunicle in Advent.
Blimey! Wonderful Church. The tabernacle reminds me of the one in Blessed Sacrament Chapel in St. Peter's.
Fr., I asked a question a few days ago about whether a layman could deacon at an EF Mass, making the assumption of course that Dr. Hemming is not a deacon, since his title does not indicate so. Could you perhaps clear any misunderstanding I have as to whether someone who is not a deacon can fulfil the liturgical role of a deacon or whether Dr. Hemming is actually a deacon. The question was/is meant in all sincerity, and I am as a result of this rather puzzled as to why my original comment was not published.
PN - Laurence Hemming is a Deacon. (He is often referred to by his title "Dr".) And no, a layman could not fulfil the liturgical role of Deacon. Sorry your comment got missed.
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