Goodbye Bishop Budd, a happy retirement....

Mgr Mark O'Toole - new Bishop of Plymouth

Picture: Catholic News

....and welcome Monsignor Mark O'Toole, please the Lord that you will be more charitable to those who love the Latin Mass than your predecessor.

At last Bishop Budd has gone. I wish him well in retirement but he was no friend of traditionalism and appeared to allegedly (cautious, you see) not manage his parishes with a firm hand.

Bishop Mark II, as I shall call him, will inherit one gem of a church from Bishop Budd, that of Our Lady and the English Martyrs at Chideock, a pleasant village on the Dorset coast.

This little church is steeped in the history of the Faith in England and has something like five martyrs associated with it.

During the Reformation it was a barn where Mass was celebrated illegally according to the laws at the time.

If you can gain access to the first floor (the old sacristy) you may still see faded frescoes dating from that period.

After the Reformation, some time after, the barn was converted to a chapel, much of the funding coming from the famous recusant family, the Welds.

Faded glory, frescoes in the sacristy at Chideock

It is now one of the most beautiful churches in the country, rich baroque, statues, an air of piety and reverence so intense that you could almost believe that England was still a Catholic country.

But this little church lies idle for most of the time.

Other than a very healthy trade in tourists, there are few Masses offered here.

It is served, I think, from Beaminster, and therein lies a tale (which I cannot repeat for fear of spreading scandal and of possible litigation) but Bishop Mark would do many a great favour by looking into the management of Chideock to restore the Mass in the Extraordinary Form as have his brother Bishops,  Davies and Egan.

Our Lady and the Martyr's Church should, by rights, be the flagship of those who love the Latin Mass, a place of pilgrimage remembering the martyrs of both England and Wales and, a parish in its own right.

But, back to Bishop Emeritus of Plymouth, Bishop Budd.

The West Country faithful have endured his writ for a long time. I am sure some will be raising a glass or two of fermented apple juice in joy at his retirement.

Here is an extract of a report on Bishop Budd's retirement taken from the Plymouth Herald:-

Re Vatican II....(my comments in red)

".....Some commentators say changes made by the Second Vatican Council went too far – especially in allowing the local language to be used during Mass, rather than the traditional Latin.

Bishop Budd said Plymouth diocese has remained free of such liturgical in-fighting (hardly surprising as this diocese must have the smallest number of Latin Masses in the UK - and I know why) but the rise of conservative priests is a concern (Why so?).

He said: "The reinstatement of the Latin Mass has not been a huge issue here – although I have not been promoting it, I must admit.(But weren't you supposed to be promoting it Bishop? What about Summorum Pontificum?) What is interesting is that a lot of younger priests want to go back to that clerical rite where the participation of the people is minimal. The reformed liturgy we practise now is the one changed by Vatican II – it gives the congregation a vocal and active part to play."(Ah, so that's it, a "vocal and an active part to play" - what tosh).

Father's Day.....3 books, two robins, a bomb and...a nutjob!

Despite the fact that it's origins are horribly commercial, I suspect most Fathers look forward to receiving a gift of sorts from their offspring.

I was providentially fortunate to receive gifts from all four of my sprogs; they all remembered, DG.

Dealing with them in descending order, I received 'Holloway' from my son (we share a love of the writings of Robert Macfarlane (I know not his fellow authors); and the fact that the book is dedicated to the memory of the late Roger Deakin (he who used to swim in every type of stretch of water in the British Isles; from bogs to lochs and canals to salmon rivers, makes it extra special).

The subject matter is the area of Dorset made famous by Geoffrey Household's novel 'Rogue Male' - the patch of land around the parish of Chideock.

In the novel, Household's hero takes refuge in a Catholic Chapel (Our Lady and the English Martyrs at Chideock) while on the run from Nazi agents who want to do rather unpleasant things to him.

                             A section of the wall from the sacristy in Chideock

He then moves from the Chapel to an old drover's lane, so overgrown with trees and brambles that a natural and very private archway (Holloway) is formed and this is where he holes up. 

This disused track is still there today (if you can find it) and thus the subject matter of the book focuses on track and chapel.

If there were Michelin stars awarded for Churches, the Chapel of Our Lady and the English Martyrs would surpass the normal three.

On the first floor, in the old sacristy, you may make out faded frescoes on the walls; the very same that would have been brightly visible to the martyrs of Chideock: among them being, Fr Thomas Pilchard and his lay companion and convert, William Pike (yes, really). Fr Hugh Green (who was beheaded and his head used as a football by the loutish mob) and Fr Cornelius.

But, I digress. Two iron robins and a jar of Fortnum and Mason nuts formed gift number two.

I have never eaten F & M nuts before but can vouch for the fact that they are so good that one may inhale them. 

The robins, as I write, are perched on my shelf watching every move I make, ready to flit down for a meal of a few iron filings.

The third gift was another book but one comprising photographs from a recent family get together; making a memorable record of a memorable day. One that will now stay as clear in my mind as the day itself.

And, finally, a book on Latin. 

Ho hum you may say but this is 'Latin for Gardeners' and it deals with the origins of plant names proving yet again, as in medicine and zoology, Latin is far from dead and in constant use. 

And the bomb?

Well, this is a seed bomb, more hand grenade really, impregnated with seeds of the blue cornflower.

You just remove the firing pin, John Wayne fashion, and lob into the middle of a flower bed.

The rain and nature does the rest.

My sort of gardening.

But.....has a Father been forgotten? A Father overlooked?

Yes, remember that our priests are, of course, our most important Fathers, and, if you have not bought a gift for your priest, remember him in your prayers.

A prayer for Priests

O Jesus, eternal Priest, keep Thy Priests within the shelter

Of Thy Sacred Heart, where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch

Thy Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with

Thy Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unworldly their hearts, sealed with

the sublime mark of the Priesthood.

Let Thy Holy Love surround them

From the world’s contagion.

Bless their labours with abundant fruit,

And, may the souls to whom they minister,

Be their joy here and their everlasting

Crown forever.

Mary, Queen of Priests, pray for us:

Obtain for us numerous and holy Priests.

Amen