12 June 2010

E L Mascall

Have I got this right? That today we are commemorating the S John of San Fagondez who was Titular of the Servers' fraternity in Eric Mascall's wicked poem? The servers wouldn't come to weekday Mass at seven, But turned up looking wonderful on Sondez at eleven.

Since we moved, I haven't been able to discover which box my Mascall books are in, so I have to go by memory (the ultra-Catholic priest, as all his friends expected, would have gone last Thursday week had not his wife objected).

On a more devout note ... a lovely video via NLM of the Vigil in Rome for the Year of the Priesthood; Evensong and Benediction. Immensely moving. There was a time when we Anglican Catholics felt that we were the only people left doing such things, and our enemies derisively assured us "Even the Romans have given up all that sort of stuff nowadays". Viva il Papa Anglicano.
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Anonymous said...

The Ultra-Catholic

(By the Revd Dr. E. L. Mascall)

I am an Ultra-Catholic-No ‘Anglo-,’ I beseech you,

You’ll find no trace of heresy in anything I teach you.

The clergyman across the road has whiskers and a bowler,

But I wear buckles on my shoes and sport a feriola.



My alb is edged with deepest lace, spread over rich black satin;

The Psalms of David I recite in heaven’s own native Latin,

And, though I don’t quite understand those awkward moods and tenses,

My ordo recitandi’s strict Westmonasteriensis.



I teach the children in my school the Penny Catechism,

Explaining how the C. of E.’s in heresy and schism.

The truths of Trent and Vatican I bate not one iota.

I have not met the Rural Dean. I do not pay my quota.



The Bishop’s put me under his ‘profoundest disapproval’

And, though he cannot bring about my actual removal,

He will not come and visit me or take my confirmations.

Colonial prelates I employ from far-off mission-stations.



The music we perform at Mass is Verdi and Scarlatti.

Assorted females form the choir; I wish they weren’t so catty.

Two flutes, a fiddle and a harp assist them in the gallery.

The organist left years ago, and so we save his salary.



We’ve started a ‘Sodality of John of San Fagondez,’

Consisting of the five young men who serve High Mass on Sundays;

And though they simply will not come to weekday Mass at seven,

They turn out looking wonderful on Sundays at eleven.



The Holy Father I extol in fervid perorations,

The Cardinals in Curia, the Sacred Congregations;

And, though I’ve not submitted yet, as all my friends expected,

I should have gone last Tuesday week, had not my wife objected.

12 June, 2010

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