Notices/Mass Schedule
October 30, 2023
All Saints Day (1 Nov.) is a Holy Day of Obligation – all Catholics must attend Mass on pain of mortal sin, and to the extent possible, abstain from servile works. Masses in Reading will be at 10am (Low Mass), and 7pm (Sung).
After the morning Mass, there will be a children’s All Saints party – come dressed as your favourite saint! Please bring a packed lunch and something to share.
All Souls Day is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but it is strongly encouraged that you attend Mass and pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Priests have the privilege this day of offering three Requiem Masses – three different formularies are provided in the missal. In Reading, there will be two consecutive Low Masses at 10am, and a Sung Mass at 7pm.
Indulgences
A reminder of the indulgences available in November, applicable only to the poor souls in purgatory:
1-8 November: a plenary indulgence is granted for visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead, if only mentally. Partial indulgences are granted to those who recite Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead, and to those who recite the prayer Requiem æternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis (‘eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them’).
On 2 November, a plenary indulgence (applicable only for the dead) is granted to the faithful who devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite there an Our Father and the Creed.
Only one indulgence may be gained per day. To gain the indulgence, one must be in the state of grace at the time of performing the work, and fulfil the following three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion (both within a few days), and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff.
by Fr SP
October 27, 2023
The latest parish bulletin is available to read here.
by Fr SP
June 13, 2023
Great Catholic holiday for Boys, and Girls, in the Peak District. Organised and staffed by our Fraternity, with the help of lay staff.
Please tell your friends urgently as the deadline is looming ahead! Spread the word now!
- The St Peter’s Summer Camp for Boys runs 7-12 August (see pics here and Facebook Event here)
- The St Petronilla Summer Camp for Girls runs 14-19 August (see pics here and Facebook Event here)
The cost is £200 for the first child of a family attending each camp, and then £100 for subsequent children from that family.
No children to send? But can you sponsor a child? Your generosity will help us provide unforgettable holidays for more children.
There is an online booking form here. (NB this form does not include a facility for online payment. Please either send a cheque in the post to Fr Phipps, or use bank transfer as below).
Alternatively, please print off a booking form here and send to Fr Phipps, either by post or by email to fsspcamps.uk@gmail.com. A place will be reserved on receipt on the £30 deposit. NOTE there is a deadline of 1st July to receive the booking form and deposit.
Postal address:
Fr Seth Phipps FSSP
St John Fisher House
17 Eastern Avenue
Reading
RG1 5RU
Cheques should be made payable to FSSP England
Bank Transfer: please use reference S/CAMP23
Bank Name: Lloyds Bank
Sort Code: 30-93-04
Account number: 02027225
Account name: FSSP England
For international transfers, you may also need:
Bank Branch: Palmerston Rd Southsea
Bank Address: Ariel House, 2138 Coventry Road, Sheldon, B26 3JW
IBAN: GB09LOYD30930402027225
SWIFT code: LOYDGB21361
by Fr SP
March 27, 2023
by Fr SP
February 18, 2023
19th February 2023—Quinquagesima
MASS INTENTIONS
Sunday 19th February
8.30 am Stephen Carroll RIP
12.30 pm Private intention
CONFESSIONS Saturdays 3 pm—5 pm
ASH WEDNESDAY AND LENT
Low Mass and Imposition of Ashes on Wednesday 22nd February at 7.30 pm. There are some hints for
keeping a good Lent below.
FEAST OF THE CHAIR OF ST PETER AND CONFRATERNITY
Our prayers are with all our FSSP priests and seminarians on Thursday 23rd February, the transferred Feast of
the Chair of St Peter, which is celebrated as a First Class Feast in apostolates of the Fraternity. Members of the
Confraternity of St Peter pray daily for the priests and seminarians and have a Mass offered for them once a
year. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Confraternity, please contact Fr Phipps
(sphipps@fssp.org) for further information and to apply.
FINANCIAL GIVING
Our Offertory collection money is shared between the Parish of Christ the King and the FSSP whose priests
minister to the Latin Mass faithful. The FSSP is reliant on regular supplementary financial giving in order to
maintain their apostolate in Bedford. If you have not done so already, please consider setting up a standing
order to them. These need to be set up by you through your own bank using the following details: account
name: FSSP England (Reading); sort code 30-93-04; account number 02027330. If you are a UK tax
payer, Gift Aid forms are also available. Thank you for your generosity.
ACCESS TO THE SACRAMENTS
If there is the need for sacraments — baptism, confirmation, sick calls etc — please contact Fr Goddard on
telephone number 0118 966 5284 or by email: goddard@fssp.org.
Practical Suggestions for Lent – Fr Matthew Goddard
Try to get to Mass more often during Lent.
Try to get to Confession at least once during Lent.
If you are not already saying a daily Rosary then Lent would be a good time to start. If you do already,
then why not take a second Rosary during Lent for the needs of others.
The Stations of the Cross is a popular devotion which focusses us on the direction Lent leads us, namely
salvation won for us through Christ’s Passion and Death.
Why not take up a particular prayer intention for Lent. This could be personal or for others in your life,
and/or
o For the needs and development of our FSSP Latin Mass Chaplaincy in Bedford.
o For the FSSP (the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter) and all those entrusted to its care.
o For our Regina Caeli Academy.
o For an end to abortion clinic buffer zones.
Lent would be a good time to make an effort in spiritual reading.
Only take on things which you think you can manage for 40 days – don’t overstretch yourself.
Don’t choose something that will make you “crabby”, thus leading you and those around you into sin.
Don’t give up if you slip up in your resolve, but keep starting again for the 40 days.
If charity towards a challenging person in your life is particularly difficult, refraining from a lack of charity
and trying to get on with that person can be a greater penance and mortification than, for example,
giving up chocolate or the internet
Consider supporting a pro-life charity, such as SPUC or The Good Counsel Network.
Consider supporting a charity which supports persecuted Christians, such as Aid to the Church in Need.
by Justin B
May 10, 2018
Today is a Holyday of Obligation! Mass tonight will be at 7:30.
Bi þon se witga song:
“He wæs upp hafen engla fæðmum
in his þa miclan meahta spede,
heah ond halig, ofer heofona þrym.
Of this the prophet sang:
“He was lifted up in the arms of angels
in the great abundance of his powers,
high and holy, above the glory of the heavens
More beautiful poetry here:
https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2014/06/christ-bird-and-play-of-hope-anglo.html
by fsspuk
March 18, 2018
(Mass times for Bedford/Reading here)
The Latin Mass Society will be celebrating the Sacred Triduum in St Mary Moorfields Church, Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LS, by kind invitation of Fr Christopher Vipers, the Parish Priest. Music will be supplied by Cantus Magnus, directed by Matthew Schellhorn.
WEDNESDAY 28 MARCH – Spy Wednesday
21:00 Tenebrae
Hieremiæ prophetæ lamentationes a 5, Lassus
Responsoria pro Triduo Sacro in
Nocturno II et III a 4, Lassus
THURSDAY 29 MARCH – Maundy Thursday
18:00 High Mass
Missa super l’Homme Armé Anerio
Christus factus est Pitoni
Pater noster Lassus
21:00 Tenebrae
Hieremiæ prophetæ lamentationes a 5, Lassus
Responsoria pro Triduo Sacro in
Nocturno II et III a 4, Lassus
FRIDAY 30 MARCH – Good Friday
18:00 Solemn Liturgy
Passio secundum Joannem, Byrd
Popule meus, Richardson
Caligaverunt oculi mei, Lassus
21:00 Tenebrae
Hieremiæ prophetæ lamentationes a 5, Lassus
Responsoria pro Triduo Sacro in
Nocturno II et III a 4, Lassus
SATURDAY 31 MARCH – Holy Saturday
18:00 Solemn Vigil
Petite messe solennelle, Battmann
Tantum ergo O salutaris hostia, Dubois
The cost to the LMS of celebrating the full Triduum is quite considerable, if you would like to make a donation towards the cost, please do by visiting www.lms.org.uk
by fsspuk
October 22, 2017
Today was the first Mass in Bedford of Father Patrick O’Donohue, a young priest who has recently joined the FSSP in Reading to test his vocation. 75 people were at Christ the King; a record for a Sunday morning. We thank God for such a wonderful blessing and pray that it may continue. Many of us had the pleasure of meeting Fr. O’Donohue in the church hall afterwards and learning more about his background. We look forward to seeing him again soon!
Fr. O’Donohue gave a wonderful sermon in which he mentioned the Sacred Heart, the Eucharist and the little girl who inspired Venerable Fulton Sheen to make a daily Holy Hour. He also talked about the immense act of charity of inviting someone to Mass.
Next week, Fr. Goddard will be saying Mass – the clocks go back on Sunday and so 8:30am is a little more comfortable for those of us who aren’t “morning people”. So, if you are thinking of coming, or haven’t been in a while, you’ll have an extra hour in bed before the 8:30 Mass next week! And if you know someone who might be interested, next week is a good time to bring them along to Mass!
by fsspuk
October 1, 2017
Latin Masses at Bedford will, from next week (8th October), be celebrated by priests from the international Catholic order the Fraternity of St. Peter from their base in Reading. They also anticipate celebrating Mass on most Holydays of Obligation at 7:30pm.
Fr. Matthew Goddard FSSP, the Superior in Reading, will celebrate the first Mass of the regular FSSP apostolate next week, at 8:30am. All are welcome and he would love to meet you afterwards over tea and coffee in the hall.
We are extremely appreciative of the FSSP’s support, both supplying priests on a one off basis when holiday season struck down our regular celebrants, and now making a longer term commitment to the area through regular Masses. But it’s not just looking forward to exciting times ahead – we are tremendously grateful to the priests who have said Mass in Bedford over the last 26 months; some making six hour round trips three weekends in a row, others cutting short holidays to be able to make the Mass, still others getting up at 5am for an early morning taxi or train in the middle of winter. Secular culture seems solely able to find priests they can portray in a bad light (see here for why), but our experience in Bedford could not have been more different. We are lucky to have met many wonderful priests and begun to understand different approaches to the Latin Mass, all of which have enriched our faith.
Finally, none of this would have been possible without the openness and hospitality of Fr. Patrick and his wife Rita. Their wisdom and experience has made the integration of a Latin Mass into the thriving Bedford parish much easier than it might have been, and they, along with the parishioners attending the English Mass, have made us feel welcome at every moment of our time in Bedford.
Deo Gratias! Please do come to the Masses if you are within range of Bedford and if you aren’t please pray for us and consider supporting the FSSP’s apostolate in the UK.
by fsspuk
August 4, 2017
This Sunday’s Mass coincides with the Feast of the Transfiguration, one of the Luminous Mysteries. Here is a sermon of St Leo the Great, from the excellent New Advent website http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360351.htm :
I. Peter’s confession shown to lead up to the Transfiguration
The Gospel lesson, dearly-beloved, which has reached the inner hearing of our minds through our bodily ears, calls us to the understanding of a great mystery, to which we shall by the help of God’s grace the better attain, if we turn our attention to what is narrated just before.
The Saviour of mankind, Jesus Christ, in founding that faith, which recalls the wicked to righteousness and the dead to life, used to instruct His disciples by admonitory teaching and by miraculous acts to the end that He, the Christ, might be believed to be at once the Only-begotten of God and the Son of Man. For the one without the other was of no avail to salvation, and it was equally dangerous to have believed the Lord Jesus Christ to be either only God without manhood, or only man without Godhead , since both had equally to be confessed, because just as true manhood existed in His Godhead, so true Godhead existed in His Manhood. To strengthen, therefore, their most wholesome knowledge of this belief, the Lord had asked His disciples, among the various opinions of others, what they themselves believed, or thought about Him: whereat the Apostle Peter, by the revelation of the most High Father passing beyond things corporeal and surmounting things human by the eyes of his mind, saw Him to be Son of the living God, and acknowledged the glory of the Godhead, because he looked not at the substance of His flesh and blood alone; and with this lofty faith Christ was so well pleased that he received the fullness of blessing, and was endued with the holy firmness of the inviolable Rock on which the Church should be built and conquer the gates of hell and the laws of death, so that, in loosing or binding the petitions of any whatsoever, only that should be ratified in heaven which had been settled by the judgment of Peter.
II. The same continued
But this exalted and highly-praised understanding, dearly-beloved, had also to be instructed on the mystery of Christ’s lower substance, lest the Apostle’s faith, being raised to the glory of confessing the Deity in Christ, should deem the reception of our weakness unworthy of the impassible God, and incongruous, and should believe the human nature to be so glorified in Him as to be incapable of suffering punishment, or being dissolved in death. And, therefore, when the Lord said that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and scribes and chief of the priests, and the third day rise again, the blessed Peter who, being illumined with light from above, was burning with the heat of his confession, rejected their mocking insults and the disgrace of the most cruel death, with, as he thought, a loyal and outspoken contempt, but was checked by a kindly rebuke from Jesus and animated with the desire to share His suffering. For the Saviour’s exhortation that followed, instilled and taught this, that they who wished to follow Him should deny themselves, and count the loss of temporal things as light in the hope of things eternal; because he alone could save his soul that did not fear to lose it for Christ. In order, therefore, that the Apostles might entertain this happy, constant courage with their whole heart, and have no tremblings about the harshness of taking up the cross, and that they might not be ashamed of the punishment of Christ, nor think what He endured disgraceful for themselves (for the bitterness of suffering was to be displayed without despite to His glorious power), Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and ascending a very high mountain with them apart, showed them the brightness of His glory; because, although they had recognised the majesty of God in Him, yet the power of His body, wherein His Deity was contained, they did not know. And, therefore, rightly and significantly, had He promised that certain of the disciples standing by should not taste death till they saw the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom , that is, in the kingly brilliance which, as specially belonging to the nature of His assumed Manhood, He wished to be conspicuous to these three men. For the unspeakable and unapproachable vision of the Godhead Itself which is reserved till eternal life for the pure in heart, they could in no wise look upon and see while still surrounded with mortal flesh. The Lord displays His glory, therefore, before chosen witnesses, and invests that bodily shape which He shared with others with such splendour, that His face was like the sun’s brightness and His garments equalled the whiteness of snow.
III. The object and the meaning of the Transfiguration
And in this Transfiguration the foremost object was to remove the offense of the cross from the disciple’s heart, and to prevent their faith being disturbed by the humiliation of His voluntary Passion by revealing to them the excellence of His hidden dignity. But with no less foresight, the foundation was laid of the Holy Church’s hope, that the whole body of Christ might realize the character of the change which it would have to receive, and that the members might promise themselves a share in that honour which had already shone forth in their Head. About which the Lord had Himself said, when He spoke of the majesty of His coming, Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in their Father’s Kingdom Matthew 13:43, while the blessed Apostle Paul bears witness to the self-same thing, and says: for I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed in us Romans 8:18: and again, for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. For when Christ our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory Colossians 3:3 . But to confirm the Apostles and assist them to all knowledge, still further instruction was conveyed by that miracle.
IV. The significance of the appearance of Moses and Elias
For Moses and Elias, that is the Law and the Prophets, appeared talking with the Lord; that in the presence of those five men might most truly be fulfilled what was said: In two or three witnesses stands every word Deuteronomy 19:15 . What more stable, what more steadfast than this word, in the proclamation of which the trumpet of the Old and of the New Testament joins, and the documentary evidence of the ancient witnesses combine with the teaching of the Gospel? For the pages of both covenants corroborate each other, and He Whom under the veil of mysteries the types that went before had promised, is displayed clearly and conspicuously by the splendour of the present glory. Because, as says the blessed John, the law was given through Moses: but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ John 1:17, in Whom is fulfilled both the promise of prophetic figures and the purpose of the legal ordinances: for He both teaches the truth of prophecy by His presence, and renders the commands possible through grace.
V. St. Peter’s suggestion contrary to the Divine order
The Apostle Peter, therefore, being excited by the revelation of these mysteries, despising things mundane and scorning things earthly, was seized with a sort of frenzied craving for the things eternal, and being filled with rapture at the whole vision, desired to make his abode with Jesus in the place where he had been blessed with the manifestation of His glory. Whence also he says, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if you will let us make three tabernacles , one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elias. But to this proposal the Lord made no answer, signifying that what he wanted was not indeed wicked, but contrary to the Divine order: since the world could not be saved, except by Christ’s death, and by the Lord’s example the faithful were called upon to believe that, although there ought not to be any doubt about the promises of happiness, yet we should understand that amidst the trials of this life we must ask for the power of endurance rather than the glory, because the joyousness of reigning cannot precede the times of suffering.
VI. The import of the Father’s voice from the cloud
And so while He was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him. The Father was indeed present in the Son, and in the Lord’s brightness, which He had tempered to the disciples’ sight, the Father’s Essence was not separated from the Only-begotten: but, in order to emphasize the two-fold personality, as the effulgence of the Son’s body displayed the Son to their sight, so the Father’s voice from out the cloud announced the Father to their hearing. And when this voice was heard, the disciples fell upon their faces, and were sore afraid, trembling at the majesty, not only of the Father, but also of the Son: for they now had a deeper insight into the undivided Deity of Both: and in their fear they did not separate the One from the Other, because they doubted not in their faith. That was a wide and manifold testimony, therefore, and contained a fuller meaning than struck the ear. For when the Father said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom, etc., was it not clearly meant, This is My Son, Whose it is to be eternally from Me and with Me? Because the Begetter is not anterior to the Begotten, nor the Begotten posterior to the Begetter. This is My Son, Who is separated from Me, neither by Godhead, nor by power, nor by eternity. This is My Son, not adopted, but true-born, not created from another source, but begotten of Me: nor yet made like Me from another nature, but born equal to Me of My nature. This is My Son, through Whom all things were made, and without Whom was nothing made because all things that I do He does in like manner: and whatever I perform, He performs with Me inseparably and without difference: for the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son , and Our Unity is never divided: and though I am One Who begot, and He the Other Whom I begot, yet is it wrong for you to think anything of Him which is not possible of Me. This is My Son, Who sought not by grasping, and seized not in greediness , that equality with Me which He has, but remaining in the form of My glory, that He might carry out Our common plan for the restoration of mankind, He lowered the unchangeable Godhead even to the form of a slave.
VII. Who it is we have to hear
Hear Him, therefore, unhesitatingly, in Whom I am throughout well pleased, and by Whose preaching I am manifested, by Whose humiliation I am glorified; because He is the Truth and the Life , He is My Power and Wisdom. Hear Him, Whom the mysteries of the Law have foretold, Whom the mouths of prophets have sung. Hear Him, Who redeems the world by His blood, Who binds the devil, and carries off his chattels, Who destroys the bond of sin, and the compact of the transgression. Hear Him, Who opens the way to heaven, and by the punishment of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent to the Kingdom? Why do you tremble at being redeemed? Why do you fear to be healed of your wounds? Let that happen which Christ wills and I will. Cast away all fleshly fear, and arm yourselves with faithful constancy; for it is unworthy that you should fear in the Saviour’s Passion what by His good gift you shall not have to fear even at your own end.
VIII. The Father’s words have a universal application to the whole Church
These things, dearly-beloved, were said not for their profit only, who heard them with their own ears, but in these three Apostles the whole Church has learned all that their eyes saw and their ears heard. Let all men’s faith then be established, according to the preaching of the most holy Gospel, and let no one be ashamed of Christ’s cross, through which the world was redeemed. And let not any one fear to suffer for righteousness’ sake, or doubt of the fulfilment of the promises, for this reason, that through toil we pass to rest and through death to life; since all the weakness of our humility was assumed by Him, in Whom, if we abide in the acknowledgment and love of Him, we conquer as He conquered, and receive what he promised, because, whether to the performance of His commands or to the endurance of adversities, the Father’s fore-announcing voice should always be sounding in our ears, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear Him: Who lives and reigns, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
by fsspuk
