Summing up the splendid Ordinariate Festival which left us all in such elevated moods, may I repeat my sense of enthusiasm with regard to what Mgr Newton said about the importance of the the Ordinariate Liturgy. And I recall that, at the end of the day, the Ordinary said that somebody had suggested we repeat the event next year: did we want to: to which he received a loud and enthusiastic response. One questioner had already asked about the possibility of having the Cathedral choir: Cardinal Nichols had replied that if we had our Mass at the time the Cathedral choir was scheduled to sing their Sung Mass, we could. Cardinal Nichols had also intimated that we were very welcome to enjoy again the facilities of the Cathedral Hall. This is all immensely generous.
Curiously, the morning Mass was not the Ordinariate Rite. It seems to me that the obvious thing to do next year is to have a celebration of the Ordinariate Rite at a time when the Cathedral choir can find it convenient to be functioning. And, given the great affection and wild enthusiasm which greeted the Cardinal's presence, to have him presiding from his throne while the Ordinary celebrates the Mass. As either speaker or preacher, how wonderful it would be again to greet Fr Aidan Nichols, who was consistently such a tower of strength to us before we entered into Full Communion. Might Cardinal Burke, or Cardinal Mueller, or Bishop Schneider, have gaps in their diaries? Members of the English hierarchy who are anxious to show affection for us? The Ukrainian eparch, another symbol of the glorious diversity within the Church? A special honoured place in choir for Bishop Lindsay Urwin and any of the PEVs who wanted to come ... after all, we are, are we not, intended to be a bridge and to have an ecumenical role?
A procession of our Lady with the Walsingham Hymn? Special indulgences from the Apostolic Penitentiary?
It could be an even greater event than this year's, and would have the additional merit of showcasing the Ordinariate Rite.
My own comment to a fellow Ordinariate worshipper in the Cathedral was "this is all very low-key". I too had expected the Ordinariate Use Mass, the Cathedral Choir, a schola made up from the various Ordinariate groups' choirs, the groups processing into the Cathedral with banners, the Cardinal presiding or even celebrating (imagine the foremost Catholic prelate in the country leading us in reciting Cranmer's words).
ReplyDeleteThere were apparently a couple of reasons why this year's Mass was as it was: the Cathedral offered us the daily Mass slot of 12.30, which has regular massgoers who expect a particular form. It might get out of hand if all the special interest groups who requested it were offered a Mass slot of their choosing. We were not aware how successful the Festival was going to be - just imagine a full Pontifical High Mass in the Ordinariate Use with the Cardinal presiding and only a hundred or so Ordinariate faithful in that enormous Cathedral - the press echo would have been damning. In fact it was courageous to call this first national meeting a "Festival" at all. (The much larger Anglo-Catholic meetings in the 1920's were called "Congresses".)
But now that we have seen how resounding the response was, we should really push for the kind of liturgical celebration next year which you and I and no doubt many more would long for.