Tridentine Community News - Extraordinary Faith Episode 16: London Part 2 of 4; Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"
Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (May 6, 2018):

May 6, 2018 – Fifth Sunday After Easter

Extraordinary Faith Episode 16: London Part 2 of 4 The second of four episodes of Extraordinary Faith filmed in London, England has aired on EWTN this past week and will surely be re-run, on dates yet to be determined. Because the network scheduled five new episodes to run last week, it was not possible to provide a column about each of the episodes before their air dates. You will be able to view the episode on the Extraordinary Faith YouTube and Vimeo channels and at www.extraordinaryfaith.tv one month after its debut on EWTN.

One of the most impressive churches in the world for traditional liturgy is London’s Oratory of St. Philip Neri, also known as the Brompton Oratory for its location on Brompton Road. At any point in the day, a visitor is likely to stumble in on Masses being offered at Side Altars throughout the church. All Masses are celebrated ad oriéntem, and Latin Masses in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form are offered daily. Fr. Ronald Creighton-Jobe is American by birth and one of the longtime priests of the Oratory. He explains the charism of his order and why his church has become so renowned for its reverent liturgical offerings.


The music program at the Oratory is one of the most ambitious in the world. Four choirs regularly sing there, the first being the adult professional choir which sings at the Sunday 11:00 AM Ordinary Form Latin Mass and at the 3:30 PM Sunday Vespers in the Extraordinary Form. Music Director Patrick Russill explains the reasons for this commitment to sacred music and the exceptional solemn experience that is the Sunday Vespers [the procession to Our Lady’s Side Altar at the end of Vespers is pictured].


Charles Cole is the director of three children’s choirs that sing at the Oratory. He is also one of the highest-profile choir directors in the world and a familiar face at the Sacred Music Colloquia organized by the Church Music Association of America. Charles tells us his background and introduces us to the first of his choirs, the London Oratory Schola, a boys’ choir consisting of students at the affiliated London Oratory School which sings at the 6:00 PM Saturday Vigil Mass, issues recordings, and regularly goes on concert tours of Europe and the U.S. We were allowed to film one of their practice sessions.


We are also introduced to the London Oratory Junior Choir, consisting of boys and girls who do not attend the parish school. The Junior Choir sings at the 10:00 AM Sunday “Family Mass” and at the Tuesday 6:30 PM Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The Tuesday Benediction is an ethereal experience, with a different O Salutáris, Tantum Ergo, and motet sung each week. Our crew was permitted to film the Junior Choir as they sang for one of those Benediction services.


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

• Tue. 05/08 7:00 PM: High Requiem Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (Daily Mass for the Dead)
• Thu. 05/10: 8:00 AM Low Mass & 7:00 PM Solemn High Mass at St. Joseph (Ascension Thursday)
• Thu. 05/10 7:00 PM: High Mass at Our Lady of the Scapular (Ascension Thursday)
• Sat. 05/12 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (Ss. Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, Virgin, & Pancras, Martyrs)

[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for May 6, 2018. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]