Mass in a hidden chapel

Today we attended a Latin Mass in a tiny chapel one mile off the main road and set half way up the side of a combe in glorious Devon.
What, in Wales would be called a Cwm, a valley, in other words.

The celebrant was an elderly, frail and venerable priest.

A man bent almost double with paralysis and to whom every movement is an immense effort.

A November Mass for the Dead

Yet, the Mass that he offered had a wonderful, translucent quality about it, it was not quite of this earth.

That is partly because this priest celebrated the Mass with great dignity despite his physical restrictions.

And partly because pure goodness emanates from him.
He is also, one might say, 'untainted' by the modern Mass.

He elected, in 1970, not to continue with the incoming changes of offering the Mass in the vernacular (as we called it then) and wrote his Bishop a letter stating that: "The changes that you are implementing are aimed at destroying the Church".

Strong words from such a mild mannered man.

Since then he has tirelessly travelled Wales and England, celebrating the Mass of Ages for those who requested it.

Hearing confessions, catechizing the children, anointing the dying.

He ministers, today, to a tiny flock who attend Mass in his private chapel and he counsels seminarians and priests who are troubled by the continuing storms that affect the orthodoxy of the Faith.

While we were there he received a phone call from a very prominent priest who wished to visit him.

This is the 50th year of his priesthood and he maintains that he will continue in his ministry as long as he has the strength to do God's work.

As the Mass proceeded it seemed to me that we were transported back to the time of the Recusants and that, at any moment, we would hear the thunder of approaching hooves swiftly followed by sword hilts hammering on the door.

Such events would not have phased this priest.

After Mass we chatted over cups of tea and he mourned the fact that young priests are not following the path that he chose, the lonely one of only offering the Tridentine Latin Mass.

"They lack Faith" said Father.

"And courage, Father" we replied. "You need both Faith and courage to leave all and follow Him".

Sadly, those two qualities appear to be lacking today.

Perhaps the prospect of losing one's pension scheme overrides the prospect of losing one's soul.

A small victory for Catholic blogging

Coughton Court - a haven for Recusant Catholics but not assassins!

Some weeks back I posted on the National Trust property and Recusant house of Coughton Court in Warwickshire. I was concerned that one guide in particular was claiming that the Pope issued a decree to all English Catholics "to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I".


Also, other guides were 'dumbing down' the effects of the Dissolution of the Monasteries by using terms such as "Henry VIII closed the monasteries" - some closure!
Well, a stout hearted blogger, one, Umblepie, decided to take the matter up with the National Trust and, as a result, has received a letter promising a review of the interpretational literature and a promise that the issue will be discussed at the next team meeting of the guides. 
A good result I would say and a not insignificant victory for Catholic bloggers. Next issue.......more EF Masses! 

Here is the Trust's response:

Dear Mr ...............

Thank you for your letter dated 6 April and your interest in Coughton Court.  Our Administrator has passed your letter to me so that I may reply to you, as I lead the team who support our room guides.

We are keen to provide an accurate and balanced interpretation of the house, the people who have lived here or who have been associated with it, together with the times in which they lived. Your comments regarding the 'Reformation' and the comments made by my colleagues will be presented at our next interpretation work group meeting. I have also passed a copy of your letter to our Interpretation Officer who is responsible for the presentation material for the house.

We always welcome discussion about our presentation and thank you for taking the time to share your views.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Brunton,

Volunteer Support and Development Team Leader,

Coughton Court.

THE CABINET OF DECEIT

It constitutes a lie, sitting there under the massive stairwell, unobtrusive despite its size. Most if not all, pass it by without a second glance. It's a nice piece of furniture but there is nothing special about it to attract attention, it's just a sideboard, cabinet, call it what you will.

No flash photography allowed so apologies for the quality here

You may be somewhat astonished, therefore that Fine Art auctioneers, Christie's has placed an insurance value of £3 million on it.....that's $488 million in USA currency.
Not something to be sneezed at perhaps?

Why so special? You could pick up a  look-alike model for under £1000 at any half decent auction house. The clue lies in its name......in Warwickshire's Coughton Court, family seat of the Catholic Throckmorton family, it is known as "The Mass Cabinet".

Aha....the penny/dime is dropping....this has links with the Reformation, Catholic recusancy, undercover priests and the rest. If you speak kindly to one of the guides they may consider opening the doors for you but, after careful consideration they say: "No". So then if you speak particularly obsequiously in a wheedling fashion to the top guide (no, not Arkela) she may relent and yield to your flattery by carefully, oh so carefully, opening the cabinet doors.

Be warned, this is a jaw dropping event. What is revealed within is not what one would expect to find in a cabinet; instead the eye is treated to a display of drawers and doors all crafted exquisitely by some Tudor craftsman or men in a manner that would be hard to reproduce  even using computer aided technology today. It is, of course, not a cabinet but an altar, hidden from prying eyes.

As I am a person who has difficulty in even nailing together a bird nesting box for the garden, I am impressed beyond words. Each minute set of drawers, intended to house patens, palls, purificators and other small altar items. The cupboards perhaps to house amices, chalices and the like.

But glory of glories, the centrepiece is worth a post just to itself. Behold a small tabernacle with a glass front, again precision crafted: just imagine exposition taking place with a 12" high monstrance behind the glass.

The centrepiece, a tabernacle in miniature

The wood used in the construction (that seems too clumsy a word for such a divine object) is, so we are told, a Caribbean softwood that requires carving immediately, more or less. It then hardens to a mahogany type density. I am not sure that this rings true. For my money, carving in fine detail requires a hard wood to start with in order to achieve sharp delineation. My guess is that it is teak or, more likely, mahogany.
It does not really matter.
What does matter is that this cabinet duped the pursuivants, those who would spy and track down our priests and their supporters. It is better really than a priests' hole which were built to totally deceive the eye by their very invisibility.
The Mass Cabinet is a shade, dare I say, magical as first you see it and then you don't.
It is Father Brown's postman; so commonly seen and such an accepted part of the scenery that he escapes notice altogether.
How the Throckmorton family must have held back their chortles as the pursuivants marched to and fro within the house, tapping on the panelling, peering up the fireplaces and looking behind the portraits hanging on the wall.

If they only knew it, what they were seeking was under their very noses - there is a metaphor lurking there somewhere!

Coughton Court (pronounced Co-ton) is a National Trust property in the English Midlands. It is well worth a visit. Many members of the Throckmorton family emigrated to Boston, Virginia and other parts of the USA to escape the persecutions...but more of that in a post to come.

Another comment on the lie debate - it is not a lie to conceal a truth for a good reason!

October 1591 and the Pursuivants are on the hunt! The time 5am, the place, a small country manor in Warwickshire called Baddesley Clinton, home to the Catholic Ferrers family, now living as recusants under Queen Elizabeth I.

Baddesley Clinton - house of lies but also of safety for the priests

A hammering on the door alerts the household; Fr Robert Southwell was about to celebrate the first Mass of the day, in secret for fear of Elizabeth's men who hunted priests as dogs hunt their prey. Seven other priests are in the house which was used as a planning meeting place for priests on the run. All is uproar as the priest hunters (Pursuivants) hammer on the door demanding entry with a string of foul oaths. The servants at the door employ delaying tactics but the Pursuivants are enraged at the time taken to unlock the door, meanwhile Fr Southwell has dis-robed and the other priests are busy hiding their clothes, satchels and swords (yes, swords, not so much for assault as for disguise, a man in Elizabethan times who walked the highways sans sword would have stood out like a sore thumb).



A Priest's hiding hole is hidden in the ceiling
above this fireplace

 Finally, all is stashed away and the priests hurry to the various priest holes dotted around the house. The Vaux sisters are in residence and one of them has her two young children with her. These too must be hidden lest childish answers to inquisitors' questioning gives the game and the lives of the priests away.
At last the door is opened and the hunters fall through it like "leopards" and rush frantically around the house.

The servants are mustered and questioned one by one:

"Are there priests hidden in this house?" "No"

"Have you seen any Popish priests here recently?" "No"

"Do you know where we may find these priests who are guilty of treason?" "No"

Eventually, the Pursuivants give up and leave the property without discovering any of the hidden priests who included, Fathers  Gerard, Southwell, Garnet, Stanney, Oldcorne, two others and, quite possibly, Nicholas Owen, master carpenter and creator of most of the priests' holes in country houses of the time.

Did the servants lie? Of course they did. If they had given up the priests about a quarter of the English Mission would have been wiped out instantly and their lives made forfeit after torture and final hanging, drawing and quartering.
Was the lie a sin? No, most definitely not!

Did the priests lie when they disguised themselves in secular dress? Yes

Did Nicholas Owen lie when he constructed priests' holes to deceive the Pursuivants? Yes

Did the craftsmen who created hiding places for the Blessed Sacrament out of everyday objects lie? Yes

But no sins were committed by these deceptions. It would be unthinkable for any man or woman to have owned up to the deceit of concealing the Sacrament or the Priests and so give up good men and women to evil.