St Margaret Clitherow Pilgrimage and Procession
St Margaret Clitherow was martyred in York on 25th March, 1586. It was both Good Friday and the date of the Annunciation. St Margaret witnessed to Christ and his Church on a day that represents the whole of Our Lord's life from its beginning to its end. She followed her Lord by giving all that she had.
We will celebrate that great act of witness with Solemn Mass, Procession and Benediction on the nearest Saturday, 29th March.
Singers and Servers
We are still looking for singers in all voices for the 11am Mass on Sunday.
From Sunday, 23rd February the 5pm Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be a Missa Cantata every Sunday. We need more singers and servers for that Mass too
If you can help, please contact Fr Richard
SPUC - March for Life
York SPUC is organising a coach to this event from central York. Cost will be between £10 and £20 (depending on numbers). For further information and to book a place on the coach please contact either Jim Quinn 01904 708658 or Sue Whitaker 01904 762559 suemwhitaker@btinternet.com
City Council Plans for Duncombe Place
Day of Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking
The Bishops of England and Wales have asked us to pray for the victims of human trafficking on the feast day of St Josephine Bakhita, February 8th. We might also pray for her homeland, Sudan.
Josephine Bakhita, was born in 1869 in Darfur, Sudan. When she was seven, she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders and over the next eight years was re-sold five times. She was so traumatised by the brutality of her captors, she could not remember her birth name. Her kidnappers gave her the name "Bakhita"- which means ‘Fortunate’.
Her final owner, the Italian Consul brought her to Italy to be a nanny for his daughter. When the family had to go away on business, they left Bakhita and the child in the care of the Canossian Sisters of the institute of Catechumens in Venice. It was there she came to know and experience God’s love.
In 1890 Bakhita asked to be baptised and received the name Josephine. When the family returned to reclaim their daughter and Bakhita, Josephine resisted and her case went to court which upheld her freedom, since slavery was not recognised in Italian law.
In 1896 she took her vows as a Canossian Sister and for the next fifty years she led a life of simplicity, prayer and service (especially as the doorkeeper in the convent) always showing kindness to everyone especially the children in the street.
In her final years she suffered from sickness and the haunting memories of the flogging and beatings she received whilst in slavery. Josephine Bakhita died in 1947 and in 2000 she was canonised - the first Sudanese ever to be proclaimed a saint.
O God, who led Saint Josephine Bahkita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ, grant, we pray, that by her example we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified, remaining steadfast in charity and prompt to show compassion. Through Christ our Lord.
Forthcoming Masses
There will be a Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form on Sunday, 26th January at 5pm with the Gregorian Propers. It is hoped to have a Sung Mass on the last Sunday of every month.
The 11am Mass on Sunday, 2nd February, the Feast of Candlemas, will begin with the Blessing of Candles and a Procession.
If you are interested in singing at the 11am Mass or at the 5pm Mass, please contact Fr Richard.
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is at 6pm on Sundays, following on from the 5pm Extraordinary Form Mass. There is Exposition with the Rosary and the service ends with the seasonal Marian Antiphon in the Lady Chapel.
Mass of Induction
Fr Richard was inducted as Parish Priest of St Wilfrid's on Friday evening, 20th December. The Mass was celebrated by the Vicar General of the Middlesbrough Diocese, Rt. Revd Mgr Gerry Dasey, and the Preacher was the Dean, Very Revd Canon Alan Sheridan. Priests from the Diocese of Middlesbrough concelebrated with Fr Daniel Seward, the Provost of the Oxford Oratory and other Oxford Fathers.
Fr Richard makes the Profession of Faith
In his sermon the Dean referred to the fact that this occasion was also the inauguration of the ministry of the Oratory in York and a time of great change for the Parish and the City. Please keep us all in your prayers!
There was a good crowd of parishioners in spite of the difficult day close to Christmas, and a coach came from the Oxford Oratory. Afterwards there were refreshments in the Rectory.
Fr Richard is led to the font where he was himself baptised fifty years ago!
It was good to welcome the Very Revd Christopher Collingwood, the Canon Chancellor of York Minster, representing the Dean of York. Fr Richard was at Primary School in the shadow of York Minster; and the Revd Chris Humble, Minister of Central Methodist Church where his mother was a regular worshipper.
Ecumenical guests
Christmas Mass and Service Times
Saturday, 21st December
Rorate Mass by Candlelight at 7.30am
(Early Morning Mass of Our Lady for Advent)
Monday, 23rd December
Children’s Crib Service at 2.30pm
Christmas Eve
Tuesday, 24th December
Mass in the Extraordinary Form at 5pm
Readings and Carols from 7.30pm
First Mass of Christmas at 8.00pm.
Christmas Day
Wednesday 25th December
Mass at 8.30am and 11am
St Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day)
Thursday, 26th December
Mass at 12.10pm
St John’s Day
Friday 28th December
Mass at 12.10pm
New Year’s Day
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Mass at 12.10pm
Confessions
Saturday, 21st December
10am until 2pm
and for twenty minutes before each Mass
Our Lady of York
Twenty-three years ago the statue of Our Lady of York was stolen from St Wilfrid's. The sad loss was reported in the Catholic Herald.
The statue had a long history of popular devotion in Flanders before being brought to York after the closure of religious houses in the wake of the French Revolution. Fr Richard Vandepitte built a shrine for the statue in his parish at Market Harborough. When he moved to York he brought the image with him in the hope that York's place at the centre of the railway network would bring more devotees to the shrine. Permission for the move was given by the Oratorian Bishop of Nottingham, Bishop Bagshawe.
There is a reference to Our Lady of York in the Latin inscriptions in St Wilfrid's Church and evidence of real devotion in times past. If anyone knows any more about the history of this title of Our Blessed Lady, or about the earlier history of the statue in Flanders, where the image was venerated under the title of Our Lady of Mercy or of the Ramparts - read about it here - we would love to know more. Please let Fr Richard know.