Corpus Christi...

Maybe I am being uncharitable, but, when the Bishops of England & Wales decided to cancel (sorry, transfer) the Holydays of Obligation, I'm sure that they didn't realise that this would result in so many Extraordinary Form Masses happening instead...

You see, the usus antiquior follows the traditional calendar, and the various Holydays are therefore celebrated on their proper days... and, since the extra Masses (which would have been held to allow he faithful to fulfil the obligation) are no longer being celebrated, there are plenty of priests around who are only too happy to oblige the more traditionally-inclined members of their flock by offering a TLM.

This is the case in Blackfen. Since the obligation of Corpus Christi has been transferred to the Sunday, we were free to hold an extra Mass on Thursday. And since, in the usus antiquior, Thursday was the Feast of Corpus Christi, we had a Missa Cantata with all the trimmings: and, as the weather was rather fine, that meant an outdoor procession.

I have to confess to a slight trepidation as the procession passed the Parish Club - quite a few people were inside watching the World Cup match between England and Uruguay, and I did wonder what might happen if someone scored...

There are a few more photos over on Flickr...