It’s the First Saturday
and we head off to Fortwilliam
for Latin Mass.

Before Mass
we pray the Rosary.
A lone voice
intoning the prayers,
answered prayerfully,
unhurriedly
and rhythmically
by a large congregation
so that wave after wave
of mighty prayer
fills the church.

Such a sense
of the tremendous strength
of this beautiful prayer!

A Mass conducted
with all of the respect, reverence
and decorum
that is so typical
of a Latin Mass.

Standing in line for Communion
I have such a strong sense
of the physical presence of Jesus
on the altar
that I get goose bumps.

Then,
the icing on the cake –
a blessing at the end of Mass
from a newly-ordained priest.

Time flies by
and as I leave the church
two hours after entering it,
I feel a sense of joy,
a sense of Jesus,
a sense of deep privilege.
Words fail me
and I think to myself,
“Wow!”

Next day I learn
that this First Saturday fell
on the feast of The Transfiguration
and suddenly
it all makes sense.

Isn’t that simply wonderful
and amazing?

Isn’t that simply … God?

© Claire Murray

Lord,
today is the feast day
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and there’s going to be
a special Mass
at Fortwilliam.

Fortwilliam is a real treasure,
something precious
that we have discovered
and we look forward to Mass there
in a way
that we have never
looked forward to Mass
before.

We look forward
to the reverence, respect
and humility
that we see
in our priest.

We look forward
to the wonderful mystery
of the sacrifice of the Mass.

We look forward
to kneeling
in the awesome presence
of Jesus.

And we look forward
to a sense of community,
a sense of belonging,
a sense of having finally found
our spiritual home.

Today is the feast day
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and there’s going to be
a special Mass
at Fortwilliam.

See you there, Lord?

© Claire Murray, 24th June 2022

We are blessed to have organ music
at the Latin Mass
on Sundays.
Today, before the consecration,
the organ begins to play –
and what music we hear!

The church is filled
with light-hearted music
as joyful as little children
at play in the sunshine.

Tears prick my eyes
at this music of happiness and celebration.
This is music to lift the heart
and proclaim great news –
that something wonderful, amazing,
something utterly awesome,
is about to take place
right here
on the altar.

Then – s i l e n c e

The server rings the bell
for the consecration
and we all wait for that moment
when our priest will hold
in his hands
the sacred body and blood
of Jesus.

Almighty God
made present here
for each one of us –
no wonder the organ
was celebrating!

© Claire Murray, 15th February 2022

It’s a First Saturday morning
and I’m at a solemn Latin Mass.
Yet again
what strikes me about the Mass
is the reverence and humility
of the priests and servers
on the sanctuary.

The priests and servers genuflect
every … single … time
that they pass
in front of the altar.
They all kneel in reverence
while the bread and wine
are transformed
into the body and blood
of Our Lord.

The book containing
the Word of God
is carried slowly, carefully
and reverently.
A priest then meekly holds the book
as it rests
on his bowed head
while the Gospel is proclaimed
in song.

On top of all of that
everything and everyone
who is taking part
in the holy sacrifice of the Mass
is blessed
and incensed.

As I stand in line for Communion
I ponder
the respect and reverence,
the meekness and humility,
the blessing and the incense.

I have a sense of being in the presence
of something sacred,
something extraordinary,
something truly mind-blowing.

A sense of being in the presence
of God Almighty.

A sense that
at this Latin Mass
the priests are,
above all else,
simply trying to give God
His place.

© Claire Murray

There was something
about you, Lord,
that drew people
to you.
Something
that attracted them.

People did not always
understand
what you had to say
because you spoke
in parables.

But there was something
about you,
a charisma,
that people found
irrestistible.

People merely had an inkling
of what you were about –
but they wanted more.

Even the disciples,
your closest friends,
didn’t fully understand.
But at the Transfiguration
(which really confused them)
they managed to describe
very simply
how they felt,
“Lord,
it is good for us
to be here.”

The Latin Mass
continues to be
a great mystery to me.
Every week
I struggle to understand
the enormity
of what is taking place
in this sacrifice.

But although I do not
(and, indeed, cannot)
fully understand
this wonderful mystery,
I do not wish to be
anywhere else.

And as I stand in line
to receive Communion
with my husband
and our son,
the words of
Peter, James and John
echo in my mind –
“Lord,
it is good for us
to be here”

And, indeed,
it truly is!

© Claire Murray, 16th January 2022

There’s something about
Latin Mass on a Sunday
that’s very special –
a sense of incense
that I have never experienced
anywhere else.

It seems to me
that everyone
and everything
is being incensed,
you see.

The priest swirls incense
all along the top of the altar,
down both sides of the altar
and along the front.

During the Mass
an altar server incenses
everyone –
the priest and seminarian,
all of the other altar servers,
the visiting Sisters
and the entire congregation
before incensing
the body of Christ
and the blood of Christ
as our priest raises them
on high.

There is a very real sense
that, through this incense,
we are all being blessed,
prepared,
for something mysterious,
something sacred,
something miraculous.

A sense of incense
as we all take our places
and wait for Almighty God
to take His.

And all of this happens
every … single … Sunday.
Wow!

A sense of incense
at Latin Mass
on a Sunday
that I have never experienced
anywhere else –
I feel so blessed
just to be here
and to be a part of this!

© Claire Murray, 30th January 2022

They say that every cloud
has a silver lining
and for us
the silver lining of the Covid chaos
has been our discovery
of the Latin Mass.

All of the Mass is in Latin,
which we don’t understand,
and because of that
it all feels
like a bit of a mystery –
and that’s part of the appeal.

Because Mass is a mystery,
a sacrifice,
where mere bread and wine
are transformed on the altar
into the body and blood of Christ
so that Jesus becomes truly present
among us.

The wonder of God
right before our very eyes,
here, on the altar –
so sacred, so holy,
so mysterious!

The Latin, the incense,
the reverence, the unhurried Mass,
the choir singing like angels
all combine to convey a sense
of mystery, of awe,
a sense of the power
of Almighty God.

And so, in the chaos of Covid,
the three of us take refuge
in the Latin Mass –
my husband, our son and me.
There we find our peace.
It’s our silver lining –
thank you, Lord!

© Claire Murray, 25th November 2021