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One Foot in the Cloister

by a Monk on the Mission

Category: Liturgy

It’s not really about the lace, of course

10 June 202212 June 2022 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 9 min read

IT IS A FEATURE of the current papacy, in stark contrast to the previous, that the incumbent likes to tell people off in his speeches. Mockery and sarcasm are his chief weapons. It’s all a little infra dig for a pope, and more suited […]

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Francis & the Liturgy: the Elephant in the Room

12 November 202115 November 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 7 min read

YOU DO NOT NEED me to tell you that this year has seen a storm of controversy about the liturgy. Not a naturally-occuring storm, but one manufactured almost ex nihilo. This points to an agenda being served. But it is not the agenda—real or […]

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50 Years Ago: Clarifying the “Agatha Christie” Indult

9 November 20219 November 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 6 min read

IN NOVEMBER 1971 I was only three years of age, and liturgical matters were somewhat supra dig for me. In fact, by then my mother may have already stopped going to Mass, so confused and upset—and unprepared—was she about the changes to the Mass. […]

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Apologetics or Polemics

7 September 20217 September 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 7 min read

THERE IS ALWAYS a little frisson of alarm through my frail flesh whenever Google Alerts tells me my name has appeared afresh on the internet. Thankfully it is rare, and overwhelmingly the mention proves to be benign, often merely incidental. Occasionally it is not. […]

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Pope Francis Doubles Down As He Further Plays His Hand

17 August 202117 August 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 7 min read

A RESPONSE FROM ME to some of the traditionalist critics of the papal motu proprio Traditionis custodes (TC) has been politely requested. Not because I am in any sense an expert, but out of sheer courtesy, I will do so, and I am working […]

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The Problem is not the Mass

14 August 202114 August 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 11 min read

WITH SO MUCH commentary on Traditionis custodes (TC) buzzing around the ether at the moment, it will not be hard for the reader to find examples ranging from those belligerently outraged by TC to those passionately pleased. The large middle ground is composed of […]

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Facing Reality in Liturgy and Authority

3 August 20214 August 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 7 min read

WHATEVER ITS FUNDAMENTAL INTENT, Traditionis custodes (TC) has stirred a storm of comment and controversy as great as any other document issued over the signature of Pope Francis. It has caused both glee and gloom, merriment and mourning, resignation and resistance. Before you read […]

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The Motu Proprio: Two Challenges

26 July 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 4 min read

TO THE EXTENT THAT ONE IS ABLE to establish a little emotional distance from Traditionis costodes, and cast an objective eye over both it and the reactions to it, one may be surprised by what emerges into view. Some of the responses from the […]

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The Motu Proprio: An Opportunity?

23 July 20218 February 2022 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 5 min read

For an audible minority last week’s motu proprio (TC) was a victory; for a louder majority it was at one turn a defeat, at another an outrage, but at every turn a tragedy. The belligerence of a few among the latter is not helping […]

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Mea culpa—A Glaring Omission

18 July 202118 July 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 2 min read

IT HAS BEEN HARD to keep up with things in the last 48 hours; that is, to keep up with the reaction and uncertainty surrounding the motu proprio, Traditionis custodes (TC). In my previous post I set out how the Law of Unintended Consequences […]

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The Motu Proprio & the Law of Unintended Consequences

17 July 202119 July 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 11 min read

FOR THOSE STRUGGLING to remember it, the Law of Unintended Consequences is a sociological maxim, with origins in the thought of John Locke, which holds that a positive, deliberate act of one kind or another may result in unintended or unforeseen outcomes. These outcomes […]

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Traditionis custodes and authority

17 July 20218 February 2022 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 3 min read

This is being typed on my phone, so the spelling may prove interesting. Some of the comments both on the last couple of posts and on their link pages on Facebook have sparked a train of thought in my rather over-taxed brain this evening. […]

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Traditionis custodes: A Few Questions et al

16 July 202116 July 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 4 min read

MY PREVIOUS POST was somewhat along the lines of automatic writing, expressing immediate reaction more than cool analysis. So, now I find myself noting a few other things, and a raising a few questions, Maybe someone wiser than I might address them.

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Traditionis Custodes: a New World of Hurt

16 July 202117 July 2021 — Posted inChurch life, Liturgy — 10 min read

THIS MORNING, being distracted by other things, I was not paying attention to social media. When finally I checked my messages I realised I had been oblivious to an ecclesiastical tempest that had erupted late morning, UK time. The publication of the motu proprio […]

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About me

Sydney-born monk and priest of Douai Abbey in Berkshire (England), serving on the monastery parish at Scarisbrick in Lancashire.

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