THE P RTAL
April 2017 Page 23
Good News from the USA
Arnold Herron rejoices in news from the USA
Everyone , from the official Ordinariate of OLW web site to Fr Ed Tomlinson ’ s blog , declares their delight in the news from the USA . The highly successful parish of Our Lady of the Atonement along with its flourishing school have been , by decree of the Holy Father , transferred from the Diocese of San Antonio to the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter . The Portal is similarly delighted at this news .
The parish was the first established under the Pastoral Provision provided by Pope St John Paul II in 1980 to allow former Episcopalian ministers to be ordained as Catholic Priests and to retain some elements of their Anglican heritage . Under its founding Pastor , Fr Christopher Phillips , the parish has gone from strength to strength , and grown phenomenally from very humble beginnings . The church has been a centre for the beautiful expression of Anglican Use liturgy and its school is both highly regarded academically and a shining example of a distinctly Catholic school .
The decisive action of the Holy See means that the parish looks forward to the future as an Ordinariate Parish . It not only boosts the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter by bringing to it a flourishing church , school and a fine example of missionary work . It also demonstrates the continuing commitment of Rome to the enduring and independent role of the Ordinariates within the life of the Catholic Church .
Mgr Keith Newton , Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham told The Portal , “ This is wonderful news , and a significant move not only in the USA , but for the whole project of the Ordinariates .”
The Portal has learned that , in the near future , there may well be an Ordinariate Parish set up in the UK . This would be good news indeed . Ordinariate Groups throughout the country have discovered the near impossibility of engaging in any meaningful Evangelisation at the local level without a building of one ’ s own . To put it bluntly , one can say , “ Come to Sacred Heart ”, but it is impossible to say , “ Come to Sacred Heart at 4pm on Sunday .” When there are other celebrations of mass in the same building that are not Ordinariate , it merely confuses the nonmass attending public . This is especially so because the Ordinariate is not only concerned with attracting lapsed Catholics and Anglicans , but those who at present are of no religious persuasion at all .
The Ordinariate in the UK has been blessed in a number of places where the local Catholic Diocese has placed a Parish in its hands . However , these are few in number and by their very nature , have an uncertain future . Having an Ordinariate Parish in the UK , would allow the Ordinariate to create a real , effective , and inspirational strategy for evangelisation at the local level . National strategies are all well and good and not to be despised , but it is at the local level that any evangelisation worth its name will have effect .
Music for the masses ... continued from page 22
Mass in E flat – L J White ( Unison with organ , some optional two-part writing ) Len White was Organist and Choirmaster of St Andrew ’ s , Willesden Green until his death in the 1970s . With its gentle Kyrie , joyful Gloria and colourful organ accompaniments , this gets a celebratory Mass off to a joyous start . The other movements are short and effective .
Missa Parochialis – George Oldroyd ( Unison with organ , some optional two-part writing ) Oldroyd was an English organist and composer of Anglican church music . He was organist of St Alban ’ s Church , Holborn from 1919 to 1920 , and then of St Michael ’ s Church , Croydon from 1920 until his death in 1956 . His very effective Mass of the Quiet Hour for SATB choir and organ is his best-known composition written in what is sometimes called the “ Palm Court ” style with lush
harmonies and sweeping tunes . His Missa Parochialis is in a similar but simpler style . Repeated use of the same melodic elements in different combinations , particularly in the Gloria , make this relatively easy to learn .
Missa Sancta Maria Magdelena – Healey Willan ( Unison with organ ) Willan was born in Balham , South London , in 1880 and became a pupil at the choir school attached to the Church of St Saviour , Eastbourne . From 1903 to 1913 , he was organistchoirmaster of St John the Baptist , Holland Road in London . In 1913 Willan emigrated to Canada and for over 40 years was organist of St Mary Magdalene , Toronto until shortly before his death in 1968 . This is a refined and straightforward setting of the Mass , not perhaps as immediately appealing as , say the White or Oldroyd settings , but still worth doing .