The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) is a Roman Catholic priestly community, canonically established in the Archdioceses of Liverpool, of St Andrews & Edinburgh, and in the Dioceses of Portsmouth and of Northampton.
Rector: Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP: malleray@fssp.org
Assistant: Fr Ian Verrier, FSSP: iverrier@fssp.org
Assistant: Fr Henry Whisenant: henrywhiz@hotmail.com
In residence: Fr Alex Stewart, FSSP: astewart@olgseminary.org
With precautions taken, we are available on request for the sacraments. Call or email us for an appointment, or simply if you feel like talking with one of the priests.
Full schedule available on LiveMass.net (during lockdown):
Sunday 11:00am Sung/Solemn holy Mass
Mon-Sat 12:10pm Holy Mass (often Sung) with daily homily
Every Sunday 5pm Sung Vespers & Benediction;
Every Wednesday 8pm Men’s Talk & Sung Compline
Mass intentions:
Sun 26
Second Sunday after Easter Sung Vespers & Benediction
11:00am 5:00pm
Haig & Lomzik Families
Mon 27
St Maughold
12:10pm
St Mary’s LiveMass worshippers and benefactors
Tue 28
St Paul of the Cross
12:10pm
Martha Keenan
Wed 29
St Peter Martyr
Men’s Talk, Litany of St Joseph & Sung Compline
12:10pm 8:00pm
The Good of the Nation
Thu 30
St Catherine of Siena
12:10pm
Annie Doyle RIP
Fri 1
St Joseph the Worker
12:10pm
John & Simone Sunderland (Wedd Anniv)
Sat 2
St Athanasius (Votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)
12:10pm
John Sunderland
Sun 3
Third Sunday after Easter Sung Vespers & Benediction
11:00am 5:00pm
Kate Gately RIP
Mon 4
Martyrs of England & Wales Men’s Talk, Litany of St Joseph & Sung Compline
12:10pm
St Mary’s LiveMass worshippers and benefactors
Tue 5
St Pius V
12:10pm
Fr Peter Sibert RIP
Wed 6
Feria (Votive Mass in Times of Pestilence)
Men’s Talk, Litany of St Joseph & Sung Compline
12.10pm 8:00pm
Baby Jack Parkinson
Thu 7
St Stanislaus
12:10pm
Joseph Parkinson
Fri 8
Feria (Votive Mass for priestly Vocations)
12:10
Fr Oliver O’Connor
Sat 9
St Gregory Nazianzen
12:10
Our Lady’s Intentions
Sun 10
Fourth Sunday after Easter
Sung Vespers & Benediction
11:00am
5:00pm
St Mary’s LiveMass worshippers and benefactors
Our Education Information Day scheduled for Sunday 26 April 2020 in Warrington is postponed until further notice. Please do continue to pray for this essential intention. While most families in the UK experience some sort of home education due to the virus lockdown, and with the Government’s plans to enforce questionable sex education on very young children in nearly every school from September, we are in the best of times to ask God for assistance to find alternative and safe ways to teach our children holiness.
INTERCESSORESS: The Servant of God Elizabeth Prout (1820-1864), Mother Mary Joseph, Foundress of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion, the female branch of Bl. Dominic Barberi’s Passionists in England. Elizabeth Prout spent her life in the North West of England (Shrewsbury, Stone, Manchester, St Helen’s), caring for poor families and children. In 1899, her community opened St Mary’s school in Warrington where they taught until 1964. Our current Priory Court building stands on its very footprint of the original St Mary’s School. Her order asks us to inform them of any favour received through her intercession. Let us ardently ask her for success for this initiative as we prepare for the bicentenary of her birth on 2nd September 2020. CONTACT Shrine Rector: malleray@fssp.org
PRAYER
O God, source of all life,
Your servant, Elizabeth Prout, responded to your call by bringing together a new family to welcome the poor and the abandoned, and to keep alive the memory of your love for all our children, shown to us in the passion of Jesus, your Son.
Give us the courage to follow her example of living faith and untiring love.
Through her intercession, grant us the favour for which we pray.
Novena for the Safe Re-opening of the Churches and the Restoration of Public Mass as soon as possible
The following Litany of the Sacred Heart will be said by Catholics across the UK from Sunday, 26th April, until the following week Monday, 4th May, the Feast of the English Martyrs.
Please join us. If you hear about it later than those dates, please join anyway. This novena petitions Our Lord, the Good Shepherd, that it may be safe to re-open Churches and restore public Masses as soon as possible.
Musical chairs at St Mary’s:
The acquisition of Priory Court allowed us to move the Music Room into the new building, with the very many boxes of music sheets on brand new shelves.
This freed up the original sacristy, which was returned to its natural purpose, giving the 4 priests and servers sufficient space to spread the vestments and display liturgical items.
The former only sacristy became the Servers’ Vesting Room.
The former temporary Servers’ Vesting Room will become a confessional again.
The Memorial Chapel, currently used as confessional, may become a chapel only, e.g. for Mothers’ prayer group.
Please continue to pray for the remaining £135,000.00 to be raised by October for us to complete the purchase of Unit 1 of Priory Court.
Support St Mary’s Shrine: Even with empty pews, we need £1,700.00 per week all included.
Thank you very much to all of you who gave money to us since the beginning of the lockdown, including all of you members of our virtual Shrine community via LiveMass.
Please give via PayPal on this our UK FSSP England page https://fssp.co.uk/donate/, mentioning ‘Warrington’ in your order.
Or give by bank transfer to our Warrington account: Bank details: FSSP LTD – Warrington Current. Account number: 30993368. Sort Code 30-80-27. Lloyds Bank, Palmerston Road Branch.
For international transfers to the same Warrington account, you may also need:
Bank Branch: Palmerston Rd Southsea
Bank Address: Ariel House, 2138 Coventry Road, Sheldon, B26 3JW
IBAN: GB97LOYD30802730993368
SWIFT code: LOYDGB21721
Ask us for Gift Aid forms and envelopes: warrington@fssp.org
Presentation given on the National Consecration of England to the Blessed Virgin – March 29th 2020, by Fr Henry Whisenant, Assistant Priest at St Mary’s Shrine, Warrington, England
What a blessing that because of the LiveMass facilities in this church, those of you watching at home can join us in these devotions for the national consecration of England to Our Lady, even if we cannot be united in person.
This consecration, taking place across our country today, is to renew the offering of England to the Blessed Virgin under its privileged title of Dos Mariae, the Dowry of Mary.
It’s difficult to know when such a title was first in use – perhaps by the time of St Edward the Confessor – but there are at least clear, indisputable references to it by the 14th century. Already in 1350, one preacher was able to state: “it is commonly said that the land of England is the Virgin’s Dowry”. And on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, priests in England prayed to Our Lady under the title, “Protectress of her dower”.
What does the term mean: Our Lady’s Dowry or Our Lady’s Dower? It refers to the custom in marriages of old, that when a woman was married, the bride’s family provided certain possessions or property to be given with her to her husband. This property, this “dowry”, could not simply be liquidated by the husband – rather it was a conditional gift that was still in some way attached to the bride, so that if the husband were to die, the widow would have some financial security for herself and her children. It was also customary in certain cultures for the husband himself to provide a “dower”, a gift of wealth of property to his bride upon their wedding, for this same purpose.
England then was seen to be Our Lady’s Dowry, or Our Lady’s Dower, in this sense: that the Lord God, the Divine Spouse of her immaculate soul, entrusted to her this small island country to be her portion, to be under her custody and at her disposal. Throughout the centuries, from its evangelisation until the wanton destruction of the country’s faith under the Protestant revolution, the people of this land felt a great affection for the Mother of Christ as their mistress and protector, and they had a devotion to her that was famed in Europe.
At the height of this devotion, in 1381, around the Feast of Corpus Christi, King Richard II took the step of formally consecrating the country to Our Lady, in front of her image in Westminster Abbey, an event which is famously commemorated in the Wilton Diptych, which you can go see (but not right now, alas!) in the National Gallery in London.
On this Passion Sunday, in 2020, we gather, if not in body then in spirit, to renew this same consecration to Our Lady once again.
We might be forgiven for regretting the timing of this renewal, with all this happening around us. We might be forgiven for hankering after the solemn ceremony of 1381, and for thinking that – with the current virus doing the rounds, and everything cancelled and everyone in lockdown – we are, by contrast, in the very worst possible circumstances – the most dispiriting, the most underwhelming – for a renewal of that national consecration today!
But I suggest we look again at that first consecration of 1381… For we will find that, in reality, even more than ours today, that historic event took place in the midst of terrible pestilence and disease, social disruption and national anxiety.
To see this, we must go back 33 years before that consecration to the Black Death. The Black Death, the Plague, was a disease that also began in China, and was carried to Europe in 1348 by infected rats along prominent trade routes from East to West.
Between 1348 to 1349, the Black Death swept through England, and wiped out as much as 40-60% of the population. To get a sense of the magnitude of this, compare it to the coronavirus today. To this date, roughly 20,000 people in the UK are said to have tested positive with the virus: that’s 0.3% of the population. And just over 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus: that’s less than 0.002% of the current population… And now imagine a disease that claimed 40-60% of the populace! Not only this, but the plague returned every dozen years or so until the end of the century… For example, from autumn 1379 to 1380, it carried off up to another20% of England’s population!
The country, in terror, came to a standstill. Parliament was postponed. The King’s court was dismissed from Easter until midsummer. The London Guildhall was closed.
Keep in mind that this was less than a year before King Richard’s consecration of the country to Our Lady. The consecration took place in a country that was struggling to function normally after such a great atrocity – a plague significantly more crippling than anything we are yet facing today.
And not only this…
Because of the dramatic and sudden loss of life, England under Richard II was also experiencing profound social unrest. With the drastic shortage of labourers, those who were left to do the work demanded a greater salary for the increased work that was left to them. But the landowners, the employers, were reluctant to do this, and the ongoing tension led finally to the Peasants’ Revolt in June of 1381, when thousands of workers marched on London, killed anyone they found connected to the Royal Court (including the chancellor and the treasurer), and forced King Richard to meet with them and accede to their demands. It wasn’t until the end of June that this riot was largely quelled, and the rebels killed or dispersed.
Now bear in mind that this was the very same month when the Dowry Consecration took place. In other words, the King was not consecrating England to Our Lady simply as a nice and pleasant thing to do…! He was consecrating it to her, as her Dowry, as a way of saying: “Help! I don’t know what to do about all this! I don’t know how to manage all this chaos in my country! Come and be the mistress and protector and ruler of this land, your possession.” The consecration of 1381 was a plea to Our Lady in a time of great confusion and need.
It is in that same spirit that we present England to Our Lady on this day. “Mary, come to the aid of this country! Protect us from calamity, but protect us also from fear!” Let us not be paralysed by the daily media updates of new cases and hypothetical outcomes calculated to keep us in constant suspense and anxiety. Let us not have that fickle spirit of the world, that one day appears so confident and secure, even invincible, in its emancipation from God and in its freedom to sin, and then when the first threat comes along is paralysed by a terror mixed with morbid fascination. Such is not the spirit of the followers of Jesus Christ, who are called, rather, to live by the words of the Psalmist: “Those who put their trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion – they shall never be moved”.
We ask Mary, the mistress of her Dowry, to protect us also in these times from a spirit of bitterness and frustration…
Perhaps many of you watching these ceremonies today are frustrated that you cannot be here in the church. You might think, “What kind of consecration is it if I have to do it in the obscurity of my own home?” You may have had plans to be here, to be in your local cathedral, to be in the national shrine in Walsingham, before the lockdown made that impossible.
But let’s remember what the message of that particular shrine is about. Let’s move our focus for the last part of this reflection from the Richard II’s consecration in Westminster Abbey in 1381, to the vision of Richeldis de Faverche in Walsingham in 1061. When Our Lady appeared to Richeldis, what did she ask? She asked for a copy of the Holy House of Nazareth to be built in that place – the house where the angel announced to Our Lady herself the Incarnation of the Lord, and her vocation as the Virginal Mother of God.
Recall that event as it happened in the Scriptures. Recall that in the first chapter of St Luke’s Gospel that mystery of the Annunciation is paralleled with another announcement: to Zechariah, the father of St John the Baptist. Zechariah, a priest of Israel, was in the sanctuary of the Temple, offering incense to the Lord, and the Angel Gabriel appeared to him to tell him that his wife Elisabeth would, in her old age, conceive a son. Zechariah doubted the angel’s message, and as punishment for his doubt was struck dumb, until the birth of the Baptist…
Notice this… Zechariah is a priest… he is in the Temple… but he is not by virtue of these things alone at one with God. Rather, he is found wanting.
Then St Luke recounts the angel’s announcement to Mary. She is called full of grace, she is told that the Lord is with her, and that she will conceive the Son of the Most High by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost! And all this took place, where? Not the Temple in Jerusalem, where Our Lady had spent her girlhood, but in the obscurity of her parents’ home, in the unremarkable, unimportant town of Nazareth. It was in the isolation of her own home that Our Lady, by her Fiat, consecrated herself to the service of Jesus Christ as His mother.
At the same time, it was in in her womb, under the roof of that ordinary house, and not in a great stone temple, that Christ was consecrated High Priest of the Human Race. For at His conception in the womb, the Eternal Son of God took to Himself a human soul, and flesh and blood, and thereby the priestly power to offer sacrifice.
Again, it was not in a Temple, but on a hill of execution, outside the city walls, that the Lord offered that most sublime priestly sacrifice of Himself to save us from our sins – not on a richly carved altar, but on a rough wooden cross – a wonder that we are preparing in this Passiontide soon to commemorate.
And you too, in whatever place you are, are not hindered from acting under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and performing a supernatural and meritorious act, in consecrating England to Our Lady today. Because, by virtue of our Baptism, each one of us has become a Temple of the Holy Ghost. Whatever we do, whatever action we perform and wherever we are, if we are in a state of grace, and perform our actions for the love of God… then everything we do has a supernatural character, and becomes a pleasing offering in God’s sight. St Paul says, “Whether you eat of drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God”. So within the walls of your home today you can offer to God a prayer for this country that will pierce through to the sanctuary of Heaven itself, and that will increase, in a sense, the glory of God in this land.
So let’s be undaunted and encouraged as we make this collective consecration of our nation today. Let’s put England squarely in the hands of Our Lady, and ask her in the midst of these trying times to be the protectress of her Dowry…
May she protect England’s people from fear and anxiety, by leading them to place their security not in temporal prosperity and health, but in the saving sacrifice of her Son Jesus Christ, and in the eternal life He won for us.
And may she, the Virgin of the Annunciation, speak to us the words that echo still in her heart from the announcement of the angel: …the words, “Do not be afraid!”… and the angel’s greeting: Kaire! Which we translate as Ave, “Hail”, but which means – more than this – Rejoice! Be happy! Rejoice… for we are giving England back to her who is the Cause of our Joy, and whose Son ever harries and destroys the sadness of the Fall.
Announcements: Thank you for your support through prayer and gifts over the past weeks of lockdown.
Lockdown continues. It is painful for us clergy and servers to celebrate the sacred mysteries with no one in the pews, since only those residing at St Mary’s Shrine can take part in our liturgical celebrations.
Please support this Shrine financially: bank transfer to WARRINGTON and PayPal on https://fssp.co.uk/donate/ .
Easter Sunday Homily, by Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP
Dear friends,
How do you explain Easter to modern man? How do you bear witness of the resurrection when asked by men whose souls have been allowed to thirst and so far never tasted the true water of life? They simply don’t know what Easter is about.
I will venture a comparison for their sakes. Do you have special hobbies, skills? When you learn to drive, learn to play the piano, learn watercolour painting; learn to swim; learn mountain climbing… It takes a coach; it takes someone who knows; someone who’s done it before and who knows the technique perfectly. At first, when our coach tells us that he can make us proficient within six months, or six years, we think we will never make it. We fear that we won’t have what it takes; or that our coach could get fed up with us and might let us down.
So, what are we Christians doing this morning? What are we training for? Oil painting? Scuba diving? Wine tasting? None of that. Better than that. This morning we train for eternity. We listen to the One – Jesus Christ – Who is much more than a coach. He is our guide into eternity. He is truly a man, like we are human beings. We will die; and Jesus died. Jesus rose from the dead and we… Well, this is what it is all about it. We can rise from the dead – if… We can enter blissful eternity – if …. If what? We can enter blissful eternity if we follow the only One who walked through death successfully. Really, is Jesus the only One who can take us through death and beyond, to blissful eternity? Did not other people die and rise again? Like, Lazarus, the friend of Jesus. Or the young man, the only son of the widow, outside the town of Nain. Or the young daughter of Jairus? Yes, those were dead, and yes, they came back to life. But no, they did not rise by themselves. They were raised by another one, mightier than them. The Lord Jesus raised these dead people and brought them back to life. Furthermore, after these miracles, they died again some years later. Not so with the Lord Jesus. He rose from the dead of his own power, because He is not only man, but God incarnate. Also, He will never die again. The Lord Jesus is alive forever. No one else every achieved this. Jesus is the only one.
But we need a witness, don’t we? We need clues.
A significant clue is the sacred relic of the Holy Shroud of Turin. What does the Holy Shroud look like? It is a depiction of Our Lord’s tortured Body (both back and front), spread across a 14.5-feet-long by 1.4-foot-wide linen cloth, with such accuracy that this sacred relic has been termed ‘The Fifth Gospel’. The Holy Shroud – presently kept in Turin, Italy – is the most tested object in the world. The scientific findings, due to their number and complexity, now constitute a distinct branch of science called sindonology, after the word ‘sindon’, the Greek word for ‘shroud’.
Let us recall a few sindonological discoveries. It took nineteen centuries to realise that the Shroud is a photographic negative: inversing paler and darker areas reveals the actual picture. Further analysis established that the depiction results from irradiation, not from the application of pigments upon the linen material. Later on, the image was found to be three-dimensional, allowing the shaping of a resin model of Our Lord’s Body as when it was lying wrapped in the Shroud. Anomalies such as the absence of thumbs on either hand were explained, while microscopic examination found diverse pollens from the Middle-East stuck in the fibres of the cloth. The Holy Shroud is a very powerful incentive for our faith in the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And yet, the Shroud is not necessary for us to believe. We have billions of witnesses: these countless men, women and children who professed their faith in Christ, who followed his teaching, imitated his virtues, and often died for his love. They bear witness to the historical reality of the resurrection of Christ.
If you need witnesses, read the lives of the saints. If you need witnesses, start with St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. St Paul never met Christ until after his resurrection. But he met the Lord once risen, as he affirms: “if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain: for you are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep” (1 Co 15: 17-20).
If you need witnesses, look around you for those Catholics in whose lives the virtues of Christ shine with utmost fidelity, truth, gentleness, firmness, compassion, purity, piety. Look carefully, because the souls closest to Christ might not know it themselves, and surely they would not boast of it, so that the world would normally take no notice of them.
But dear friends, if you need witnesses, perhaps other people need them even more urgently than you do. So, why not becoming a witness yourself? Why not bearing witness of the resurrection of the Lord? I know, we think ourselves too lazy, too selfish, too incredulous, too heavy, too tired… But witnessing Christ is not about our own capacity. It is all about His divine power performing wonders through our emptiness. Becoming a witness of the resurrection takes a while. It does not happen in one instant. It is like unfolding the Holy Shroud. We know the full picture of Christ is impressed upon the cloth, but it takes our entire lives to unfold it in our mind and in our souls.
Let us fly back to Jerusalem. This Easter morning, St Peter, St John and St Mary Magdalene found the empty linens wrapped together in the empty tomb. Some time on that day, they took with them the precious relic. Back home in the Upper Room, with what emotion they slowly unfolded the linens, gradually displaying the Master’s silhouette: first his shoulder, then his elbow, now his foot and then his Head… Everywhere, their eyes would meet so many wounds, all endured for their redemption. For my redemption. For your redemption. For the redemption of all men.
I imagine St Peter alone at last in the Upper Room. Simon had unfolded the long strip of cloth, nowhere more fittingly than across the trestles of the Last Supper table. Three nights earlier, upon another cloth, the Lord had made Himself truly present under the Eucharistic species at the first holy Mass. The apostles had walked with the Lord to Gethsemane. Before cockcrow, Simon had thrice denied his Lord. Since then Jesus had died and was risen.
Back in the Upper Room on Easter day, today, Simon was on his knees at the far end of the long narrow linen rectangle. His eyes slightly higher than the level of the cloth swollen in successive waves upon the trestles, the fisherman would look at the maculated Shroud as a seaman looks at a vast archipelago spread across a limitless map. Wide or tiny, each bloodstain was an island, mystically bearing the name of each and every sinner, redeemed through the wounds of the Lamb.
Which stain bore Simon’s name? It could not be less than three, one for each denial – and so many more… Dear friends, which stain bears my name, your name? In St Peter’s soul, contrition connected the reddish shapes of various sizes like the stars under which he was reborn, as in a new constellation named Absolution. It was probably no surprise to Simon then, when he became aware of Christ’s bodily presence, standing at the other end of his unfolded Shroud. The contrite Vicar had opened his soul to the Saviour already. Christ confirmed his pardon and left, until they met again by the Sea of Galilee.
His Vicar remained on his knees looking across the bloodied sheet, while on either side of the table of redemption, hundreds of men, of women, of children materialised, imitating his posture. Billions of them. Billions of us. All the way down to us, my friends, and beyond, and further. All those who would believe in this extraordinary event are gathered in faith around this sacred cloth and bear witness to the One who lay in it no more, because He is risen, forever alive! Such is our glorious training for eternity.
May the Immaculate Mother of the Risen One, the Blessed Virgin Mary whose Sorrowful heart begot us to grace in union with Our Lord on Calvary two days ago, may she lead us to Jesus, our Resurrection and our Life, into bliss eternal.
24 April 2020, Canada
Greetings in Christ, Father.
This is just a quick note to thank you for this morning's Mass. In the passing weeks, it has become abundantly obvious to me how devoted you and your fellow priests are to your parishioners. Having to offer Mass completely alone this morning must have been even more difficult than usual. Right now, we in N. S. are hit with a double sorrow (Covid-19 and ...) to bear, so it was easy to sense the 'loneliness' that must have filled your soul as you took your place at the foot of the cross to offer the Holy Sacrifice in that quiet Cathedral. In hopes of providing a small measure of solace to you for the bearing of this sadness, please know how grateful and 'present' your LiveMass 'parishioners' are despite their apparent absence from the pews. Everyday, I offer a rosary for all of you at St. Mary's. I am confident that Our Blessed Mother will give each of you the consolation and strength needed to bear this trial of isolation for the conversion and salvation of countless unknown souls in this world.
23 April 2020 St Georges Day, England National Feast
Dear Fathers,
Just to thank you for the beautiful High Mass for St George's Day and for the excellent and pertinent sermon.
Your live-streamed Masses have been a true blessing and a lifeline for many people during this "lockdown".
21 April, 2020.
Thank you a thousand times for the streamed masses from Warrington! I'm not sure whether to kneel for the consecration, because the reality is that I'm not in the Real Presence and it seems wrong to kneel to a computer! On the other hand, genuflecting at the Et incarnatus and the Verbum Caro seems right.
Ps I have just donated £100, for which I already have a gift aid in place from previous donations
Monday 20 April 2020, California
A most BLESSED EASTER to you all the way from California, USA. Thank God for your vocation, and thank you for answering to it! Your virtual Masses have quenched many spiritual thirsts here in California, USA. May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire you, and may Our Lady's Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart protect you now and always!
Sunday 19 April 2020, Europe
Message: Dear Fathers, You have given me so much spiritual strength and support through the live mass broadcasts. I think of Tudor and Stuart and penal times when people and priests died, and most horribly, rather than do without the Mass. The sermons have given me so much food for thought and meditation, especially today, about our fragility and doubt and the great strength that is waiting for us. How wonderful that the Mass of Ages lives on, ! Very proud that the Mass comes from own old home county of Lancashire and your beautiful church of Saint Mary (i now live abroad in …, so I have even more reason to be moved, especially memories of how we all learned plainchant at our school, Notre Dame in Manchester, now sadly no more....God bless you all and thank you, A.
Monday 20 April 2020, England
Dear Father
Once again I felt I must write to thank you for all the wonderful Solemn High Masses during the week since Easter Sunday and today, and for Solemn Vespers and Benediction for Divine Mercy. I've gained much spiritual nourishment and feel very privileged to have this opportunity. I have seen some requests on the web site for you to publish your homily … and I also found that very beautiful as well as all the other uplifting daily homilies which I wish I could make into a file for spiritual reading. It must feel so strange to pray such majestic liturgy in an empty church but it is much appreciated by so many people so thank you once again Father and God bless.
Sat 18-Apr-20 12:03 PM, England
Dear Father De Mallerey
It is now 4 weeks since Churches were ordered to close.
On behalf of members of L., I am writing to thank you and your fellow Priests in the FSSP for all you have done in continuing to provide us with access to the Mass and other services and devotions. In a difficult situation the FSSP has been a source of strength for us all. In addition judging from your viewing figures you are obviously attracting many people from outside the Archdiocese and quite possibly many people who had not previously experienced the Traditional Rite.
Please pass on to your fellow Priests our thanks and continued best wishes.
Thu 16-Apr-20
Dear Fr.,
Thank you all so very much for a beautiful Holy Week! For the beautiful flowers on the altar to the uplifting music of organ and chants, to the scriptural insight of each day’s gospel, blessings to you all. I am still with you each day and have to say how special it feels to watch online. It is as if I have a deeper focus than I have been able to before. I know we are all participating in the mass together for the praise and glory of God. I just want you to know what a great service you are doing for many.
May God bless you and keep you all safe, C.J.
16 April 2020, New York
Dear Fathers,
Sincerest thanks for your beautiful daily Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, during this past month in quarantine. Streaming from suburban New York City, USA, twenty-five miles from our second ground zero. I have tried to imagine the smell of the incense, since my Missal has long lost that scent. I currently only have access to a very beautiful Sunday Low Mass. Deo Gratias! Praying for greater access to all our beautiful ancient traditions, a chance to grow in holiness, and a return to the sacraments for all those fallen away Catholics. A most perfect outcome to this pandemic. May God bless you and keep you safe.
Tuesday 14 April 2020, USA
Dear Father:
A Happy and blessed Easter to you and all the clergy and staff at St. Mary's. I live in N., T., in the US and I wanted to express my immense gratitude for the incredible effort you all are making with the Live Mass initiative. Even though we have our own Parish here in town (R. C. with Fr. V. FSSP), as you may be aware, there is a lockdown here as well, hence having the opportunity to hear the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in such a magnificent Church, along with the enriching sermons, it has been, without a doubt very uplifting during the Holy Triduum.
I can tell you that during last week, even my own kids when trying to find masses at other parishes of the Fraternity here in the US, they insisted on watching Warrington. We feel now that we're part of your community, although virtually, rest assured, in my next trip to England I will make sure to pay you a visit at Warrington.
God bless and be assured of our daily prayers, as members of the Confraternity, we pray for all of you every day.
Best regards, J.
13 April 2020, UK
Dear Father
I was able to tune into most of the Sacred Triduum from St Mary's and would like to thank you, the priests and servers for very beautiful and edifying liturgies. I know how demanding Holy Week and Easter can be in 'normal ' circumstances, but in these strange times the extra efforts are truly appreciated.
Wishing you and all at St Mary's a very blessed Easter
Tuesday 14 April 2020, USA
Subject: Your Masses via video live-stream are a true treasure.
Message: I have been viewing your Holy Masses online via LiveMass.net every day during this current pandemic lockdown when all of our churches are closed. It is such a blessing and treasure to virtually attend the Tridentine Mass everyday at your beautiful shrine. Thank you so very much and may God Bless You and the FSSP. B.(IL, USA)
Tuesday 14 April 2020, USA
Dear Fathers, I want to thank you for having live masses from St. Mary's Priory in Warrington. They have sustained me through Holy Week and continue to do so. I love the FSSP and all of you priests, and you are ever in my prayers. I would like to send a donation to Warrington.
Thank you again so, so much! I will be forever grateful for your sermons and the privilege of being able to attend your masses online.
God bless you today and always!
C. (M., USA)
Monday 13 April, Italy
I just wanted to add my message of thanks to those you have already received. It has been a joy to follow your Triduum from here in Italy and your livemass.net coverage has been of great comfort to me in these difficult times. God bless you all.
Monday 13 April, Florida
A treasure of St. Mary's is found because of a worldly virus! My husband and I love participating in the uploaded livestreams of your Masses!
We are viewing from M., Florida. We are territorial parishioners at C. in N., Florida where we are fundraising for our own Church.
The FSSP Priests and seminarians are exactly the world cries out for...Truth, Beauty and timeless reverence for the Holy sacrifice of the Mass. The homilies are rich jewels of catechesis from which we are equipped to share the Faith with others.
Our summer vacation is planned around attending other FSSP Masses across the Western US.
Thank you and God bless you & keep you
Easter Sunday 12 April 2020, England
Dear Father
Happy Easter to all our pastors at St Mary's and I hope you have had a good day with lots of Easter treats after the Lenten observances. Thank you most sincerely for the wonderful liturgy we have been blessed to unite ourselves with on LiveMass, it has made the loss of our freedom to worship so much easier to bear, although it is very sad to see the empty pews in our beautiful church. I have seen some very appreciative comments on line about the live services Father, so praying that many more people will continue to watch long after the pandemic is over and that the shrine will receive much support.
God bless Father … Praying that these dreadful times will soon be over and we can all be together again to praise God. Laudetur Jesus Christus, N.
Easter Sunday 12 April 2020, South Africa
Subject: Easter vigil
Message: I would like to thank everyone involved with the Easter vigil mass on LiveMass.org it was absolutely beautiful. Thank you. Regards, C., South Africa.
Easter Sunday 12 April 2020
Dear Father, I attended the live streamed Easter Vigil Mass celebrated at St. Mary’s in Warrington last night, as my FSSP parish in the U.S. was not permitted to celebrate public Masses and referred us to LiveMass.net. It was the first traditional Vigil Mass I have attended, and I wanted to tell you how, even though streamed into my home, and not being able to be physically present, it was so edifying, so beautiful, so fulfilling, and when the candles were extinguished and the lights came on and those bells were rung - oh the bells! - I literally had tears streaming down my face at how they so exuberantly expressed “He is Risen!!”
I wanted to thank you for sharing your Masses during this trying time, and may God abundantly bless you and all of the FSSP priests who so faithfully celebrate the Mass of the ages.
Your daughter in Christ, J.
Holy Saturday 11 April 2020
Thank you for the beautiful and heavenly mass and the majestic organ music of Holy Saturday.
May my gratitude be expressed to you and the priests & to the assisting altar servers that offered this mass of this 'Holy Saturday'.
May God bless you and all of us in these times that we now live in.
Sincerely, L.
Holy Saturday 11 April 2020 ENGLAND
Dear Father N.,
Happy Easter for you and all the clergy in St. Mary’s
Congratulations!! Holy Mass this evening was magnificent!
We had a couple of hiccups, with the transmission (no sound, and not image just for a few minutes) but we prayed to St. Michael the Archangel and everything went ok.
The Altar was amazing, the music, all beautiful, lift up my spirit!!
The only thing, we wish we were there!
Viva Cristo Rey! God Bless you Father and all the clergy!
Holy Saturday 11 April 2020
Dear Father,
A Blessed and Joyful Easter to you and all the Fathers and all who helped with the Sacred Triduum. It was a beautiful celebration and we are so grateful to you all for all the hard work and for the wonderfully clear manner in which it was ''televised'' via Live Mass.
Thank the Lord, we also had faultless internet connectivity for the whole Triduum.
Wishing you every grace and blessing of the Holy Easter Season.
In Christ, A.
3/4/2020
Dear Father,
One of the blessings of the current internment is that we have been encouraged to attend Holy Mass vicariously every day in Warrington, although we live in the South of England, many miles away. We're able to benefit from many more sermons than we get going to mass mainly on Sundays in B.
Both are benefits which ordinary traditional Catholic would benefit from. Sometimes we need a crisis to push people like me to take advantage of something which has existed for some time.
God Bless Father & all in the Priory & Keep it up
3 April 2020
Dear Fathers,
I am glad you received my email and that the sound was restored.
Thank you for such a beautiful homily today 3 April on the Stabat Mater Dolorosa.
Your insight on the verses was very meaningful to me. I love your mass as it is a joy to participate in what I consider a higher form of worship than that which is in most Catholic Churches today. (My husband and I normally attend a Latin mass in our area but almost an hour away). I am in my early 70’s and remember Latin masses of my childhood. I studied Latin in high school and remember it well. I want you to know I follow each mass with my missal (1962), praying the Latin with you and responding with the server. I am happy you have made this available to us. It is a great blessing!
I look forward to participating with you all especially through the Easter Holy Week as well.
May God bless you and keep you safe
C. C…, USA
2 April 2020
Dear Fathers,
I write from the United States with gratitude to Our Lord and Our Lady. The greatest blessing of the "pandemic" is to have found your celebrations of Mass. Thank you for the thought-filled and inspired sermons -- you are so clearly "reaching out" to comfort and give the strong spiritual guidance we are craving. I feel so much of a sense of "union and presence" and for the first time I am making a true Spiritual Communion and being sustained by it.
Passion Sunday was moving beyond words... I great hope for a blessed Holy Week, Triduum and joyous Easter in union with you and the Church.
I am with you every morning at 7:10 a.m. EST and when I can once again be present at Mass in person at my own parish I know that St. Mary's Shrine will continue to be part of my days.
01/04/2020, USA
Dear FSSP Fathers:
Thank you so much for the Solemn High Mass broadcast this Passion Sunday. I am marooned here in the US under virtual lockdown, and it was wonderful to see the Holy Sacrifice with full ceremonial in your beautiful shrine. I hope that it will be possible to have sung daily Masses, if your circumstances permit. There's nothing like it available elsewhere that I know of.
31 March 2020, USA
Dear Fathers,
I am writing to tell you how much I value your daily for Catholics to pray the traditional Latin Mass. I attend the Chapel of the … in N., USA. It is under the pastoral care of the FSSP where we have a traditional Latin Mass once a week on Sundays.
Since the lock down started due to the Virus, I have set aside a small part if my day to pray and view your daily Latin Masses. I plan to continue my devotions when we are delivered from the virus. I do have multiple health problems that make me fatigued at times. Knowing that Live Mass.Net and particularly, St. Mary’s is on-line is truly a blessing.
God bless you all. Stay well.
31 March 2020
Hello Fathers!
Greetings from …, Texas! First of all I'd like to thank you for your amazing ministry through LiveMass! In the midst of all the chaos in the world, y'all are truly a light in the darkness, a calm in the storm, to all of us in this difficult time.
As we were waiting for the (virtual) Holy Mass to begin in Sarasota this past Sunday (your 6am Mass is a little early for my 3 little ones!), we were blessed to be able to join you in Warrington for the Litany of Loreto, arranged so beautifully!
“20 March 2020: To our dear priests in Warrington,
Thank you so much for your beautiful liturgical celebrations in the past week, as always. Please be assured that although we are miles apart, we are all united with you in spirit every day. No pressure, but we eagerly await each homily for more spiritual guidance in these extraordinary times! Livemass is an amazing tool for good. And thank you for a beautiful polyphonic litany today for Our Lady! We filled the whole house with it from our little family "altar" where we have rigged up a screen linked to a laptop and speaker.”
29 March 2020, England
Dear Fathers,
I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful opportunity to ‘attend’ Masses at St Mary’s Shrine through livemass.net. You probably don’t remember me, but my wife and I joined you at Liverpool Art Gallery for your talk on the youth in art in 2016. It is great to be able to feel like part of your parish through the internet.
I am usually a parishioner of St … in …, a Novus Ordo Parish with a traditional Parish Priest, Fr …, who has introduced a first Friday Latin Mass to our Church.
Below is a picture of the St… branch of FSSP Warrington!
29 March 2020, USA
Thank you for broadcasting the traditional Latin Mass from Warrington, England. When you mentioned a musical rosary in the announcements today, you piqued my interest. Not only did I watch the Mass but followed along for the rosary. The organ accompaniment and chant were beautiful!
29 March 2020
Blessed Passion Sunday, I am a lifelong Catholic senior watching your mass online everyday from USA! I love your church and wish I could visit in person sometime. The Tridentine mass is as important to me as it was to St. Pio. With much gratitude to you all+++Can you tell me how it would be best to donate to your FSSP church in Warrington? I am not sure what method is best.
Thank you
29 March 2020
Deo Gratias! I am writing from Canada during the corona virus pandemic. I thank God for leading me to your church so that I can join in the celebration of the Eucharist! I have wept during the celebration and will always remember your beautiful church and priests in my prayers.
29 March 2020
Dear Dear Fathers,
Sincere thanks to you from the United States for your beautiful celebrations of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and for your profound and stirring homilies. I can’t wait to get up in the morning to hear Mass online!
I live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, so I guess we’re also “Lancashire men!” From what I hear, that is where the Pilgrimage of Grace began.
God bless you and keep you all in good health.
27 March 2020
Dear Priests of St. Mary’s - During the quarantine, I have been attending your daily mass through LiveMass.net. Thank you! And thank you for your beautiful priesthood and witness! You are such a blessing to me and my family. I am lifting you and the FSSP in prayer. Even when public masses aren’t suspended, it is a real hardship and sacrifice to attend the TLM. My family and I drive 2-3 hours round trip every Sunday to attend the TLM and can rarely attend a weekday TLM since the only option is a 4-5 hour drive round trip. My diocese is in apostasy, and I am surrounded by anything-goes NOM. I am very encouraged to know that even when public masses are restored, I can unite myself to the TLM during the week through LiveMass. My husband and I have also made a donation to support LiveMass.
I believe one fruit (among others) of this time will be more people drawn to the tradition of the Church. I have introduced my friends to you through LiveMass and have encouraged them to experience the TLM and the beautiful priests of FSSP. I’m sure others are doing the same. Thank you for maintaining the beauty and tradition, especially during these uncertain times, with excellent homilies, chant, and prayers following mass.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Virgo Potens, Ora pro nobis!
Yours in Christ, X. (MI U.S.A.)
[From a professional media person in the UK, 25 March 2020]:
Btw, having watched all the live streamings on Sunday l was very impressed with the Livemass streaming. It was by far the most professional looking having more than one camera and was clearly filmed by someone who understood the Mass. I think you may have been the only livestream with an organ which was a great joy to hear on such a strange day and of course the day in Lent when normally the organ can be heard.
Keep up the good work because this is a lifeline to many Catholics at the moment and l think for many it will be a revelation to see the Latin Mass celebrated so beautifully.
25 March 2020, Texas USA
I've been watching your Live Mass during the suspension of the Mass here in Dallas. Thank you for providing this service to the world. May God bless you and the other priests at Warrington FSSP for the work that they do.
25/03/2020 England
Thank you so much for providing Mass for us each day on Livemass.net. I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. We lost the last 10 minutes or so today and on Saturday last.....it seemed to move to a live Mass from Florida....presumably because the Mass at Warrington had exceeded its normal time slot. Still we are not complaining. We are so fortunate to have access to it.
From Malaysia, 26/03/2020:
I am very much grateful to the fact that St Mary's Shrine, Warrington streams Masses everyday - and it certainly has allowed me to follow Masses with my Missal, and this has given me encouragement as I am confined at home under these lock-down measures due to the spread of the Coronavirus.
24 March 2020, England
Thankyou for installing the iMass , it's been lovely to attend mass and say a spiritual communion, at this uncertain times.
24/03/2020, England
Dear Father, Just a quick ''Thank You'' from all of us to all of you and also to the Live Mass team for providing this spiritual lifeline.
Sunday was painful without actual attendance at Holy Mass, but it was nevertheless a beautiful grace to pray vie the livestream.
The hard work, including the synchronisation of cameras on stained glass with key points in the splendid sermon was appreciated.
"Dear Fathers, thank you for the Live Mass today [Sunday 22 March] on Internet! I was able to follow the Mass in Warrington from W. this morning. Good to know you've been prepared with this website for a few years. Also happy to see you both, even in such circumstances."
England, 24/03/2020: from a family
"Dear Fathers, I just wanted to thank you for your wonderful initiative in live streaming the Holy Mass. These are difficult times for us all and as your said in your sermon, we should be not satisfied with attending the Mass in this way. However, you are providing great comfort for many families globally in doing so. And what a beautiful church! God Bless, A., M. and ...family."
England, 24/03/2020
"Dear Fr ..., A quick message to thank you for the amazing LiveMass transmissions. I followed for St Joseph, St Benedict and now Laetare - quite surreal (and sad) to see you sprinkling row upon row of empty pews! I must say the quality is superb and it is a wonderful resource to have in these extraordinary times (I’ve sent a small donation to LiveMass.net). God bless, J."
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