Sunday, January 07, 2018

A GLORIOUS TRADITIONAL EPIPHANY CELEBRATION...

...with the distribution of blessed chalk to mark our homes, and the singing of  splendid Epiphany carols...

...and then champagne  to mark the 5th anniversary of the Church of the Most Precious Blood being given into the care of the Ordinariate.

Then a large gathering of those original Ordinariate pioneers, plus others, for a splendid Lunch, with and excellent hearty menu, speeches and toasts...

3 comments:

J Derry said...

Hi Joanna. Why wasn't the Epiphany held yesterday on its proper date 6th January? I thought the dioceses of England and Wales were allowing certain feasts to be celebrated on their proper days and not moved to the nearest Sunday? In Ireland they celebrated Epiphany on Saturday 6th January with morning masses, then followed by the usual evening vigil masses for the Baptism of the Lord which was celebrated across Ireland today. Best wishes, and a Happy New Year to you and your family.

Joanna Bogle said...

The Bishops of England and Wales announced the return of the Feast of the Epiphany to January 6th, unless it falls on a Saturday or a Monday, when it should be observed on the Sunday. Thus, twice in every 6 years Epiphany will be celebrated on Jan 7th or 5th. I don't quite see the need for this mild confusion every four years.

They have returned Ascension Day to its proper day - always a Thursday - without any such limitation.

Info here: http://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Calendar/Holydays.shtml

Your New Year greetings are warmly reciprocated. Many thanks!

very best wishes

Joanna

Malcolm said...

We now have "vigil" and "evening" Masses. The idea of a vigil Mass is actually biblical because Jewish days always go from sunset to sunset. So the sabbath starts on Friday evening and Shabbat dinner - which for us arguably becomes the Mass - is Friday dinner. Evening mass is the mass for Sunday held Sunday evening, and it's possible because the requirement to fast from midnight before receiving Holy Communion was relaxed to an hour. Evening Mass is useful for those who have to work Sundays.

However when you've got a holy day on Saturday or Monday, and evening or vigil Masses, the timings can get confused, especially for people who aren't very diligent Mass attenders anyway. It's arguably better to merge the celebration in with the now expanded Sunday.