Happy Feast Day, St MM's!

Today is the feast of St Mary Magdalene, one of my favourite saints and also patron saint of St Mary Magdalene's church in Upper North Street here in Brighton. The church also celebrated it's 150th anniversary this year and has a strong history of traditional worship.

A very Happy Feast Day to Father Ray Blake (a formidable blogger) and his parishioners!

http://marymagdalen.blogspot.co.uk/

The Lady in Red is wearing well at 150

For a collective of villages that calls itself a city but is really a town, Brighton and Hove boasts 11 Catholic churches. Some of them are prettier than others, some are more impressive than others. St Mary Magdalen's Catholic church, situated in what used to be called the Montpelier area, is both, as well as being a Grade II listed building, although it's restoration is ongoing. This year, the church is also 150 years old. Built by the ecclesiastical architect Gilbert Blount, contemporary of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the church stands on Upper North street, which connects Brighton with "upmarket" Hove. Until 1861, Brighton had only one Roman Catholic church; St John the Baptist in Kemptown, built in the 1830s and also very impressive.

St Mary Magdalen's was commissioned when a "mission district" of West Brighton was established in 1860. The sanctuary was completed in 1861, with the naive added a year later. The red brick church has an elegant spire and gorgeous stained glass windows. There are several beautiful statues of "favourite" saints, including St Mary Magdalen herself, a poignant figure in a scarlet robe. There are 3 masses on Sundays, including a sung mass and one in Polish, in recognition of the cultural mix of the area. There is currently a Latin mass every Friday.

The parish of St Mary Magdalen was already in a mood of anticipation, following the progress of Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough. The Brighton nun was baptised at the church and is now on the road to sainthood, in recognition of the bravery she demonstrated offering sanctuary to Jews and others during World War II. (More of Mother Riccarda's story can be found in an earlier post). Now, the second oldest church in Brighton is celebrating it's 150th anniversary with a fine programme of events organised by the redoubtable parish priest, Father Ray Blake. He's the author of an eponymously named and recommended Catholic blog and is reassuringly vocal about many, many things. He's chosen to open the 150th anniversary celebrations with a Traditional High Mass to commemorate the first mass, held when the naive was opened. He points out that the naive was built to accommodate not only the growing number of Catholics in Brighton, but also to draw in and encourage non-Catholics. In 1862, Father Ray's predecessors employed an orchestra and professional singers to perform the Hayden Imperial Mass with the intention of creating a spectacle of Catholic worship. He points out that "They simply wanted people to come, to take pleasure in what was happening, to be moved, to find others were praying around them and experiencing (our first) High Mass as a profound spiritual but also cultural and sensual experience".

His programme of events kick-starts an evangelisation initiative. Father Ray has emphasised that his passion throughout the celebrations is to welcome people back to the church or into the church for the first time; initially engaging the senses through the music and ritual of High Mass. The parish has been asked to invite non-Catholic friends and in particular younger people along to the anniversary mass: the Traditional Mass is intended to be "approached on many different levels by different types of people".

The mass, on Monday 27th February at 7.3opm, should be pretty rousing all round. The preacher will be Father Tim Finigan, Catholic commentator and author of the blog "The Hermeneutic of Continuity". St Mary Magdalen's church has it's own renowned choir; they will be boosted by local semi-professionals as well as young Oxford based professionals.
On Sunday 4th March around midday, Father Ray will be blessing the number 7 bus which Brighton and Hove's bus company has named after Mother Riccarda - wonderfully, only in Brighton!

On Friday 9th March at 7.30pm, internally acclaimed classical composer Dr James MacMillan introduces a series of talks with the “The Future of Music, Modernity and the Sacred; a composers perspective”. His Catholicism has inspired much of his work. Lectures by notable speakers continue in May and June, focusing on the future and direction of the Catholic church. Sadly for me, I won't be in Brighton for Monday's mass or the blessing of Mother Riccarda's bus due to family commitments around my own birthday: I'm not actually 150 years old although it feels quite like it... I do hope to attend some of the other events and the programme is still being added to: Monsignor Keith Newton of the Ordinariate has agreed to come and speak about "The Future of Ecumenism". Apparently, there has been talk of a street party and even a blessing of the sea! This may sound ambitious for an aged red brick church, but this is Brighton, and St Mary Magdalen's. If you're in Brighton on Monday, or on any of the other dates, you'll be very welcome.

Martha Gunn, Max Miller and Mother Riccarda...

When I first moved to Brighton, my mother was upset by the reported comments of one Reverend Archie Coates, an Evangelical priest from London. He dubbed Brighton " the most Godless city in Britain", citing the problems of unemployment and homelessness, vagrancy and substance abuse. Personally, I've found the city to be far from Godless; it seems to me to be a place of faith, hope and charity. In fact, a record number of new Catholics have been received into the Arundel & Brighton Roman Catholic Diocese over recent years. In 2009, the diocese saw an increase of over 50% in the number of men and women received into the Catholic church. I obviously disagree with Reverend Coates; I think that financial difficulty and social hardship can make people revaluate what's really important.

My mother was more encouraged by news coverage in the summer of 2010, concerning a nun from Brighton who was being fast tracked to sainthood. Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough was born in the town in 1887. Her parents converted to the Catholic faith when she was four, and she was then baptised in the Roman Catholic church of St Mary Magdalen in Upper North Street. As a young girl, she attended mass and prayed there and her vocation was inspired. At the age of 24, she travelled to Rome to join a convent.

Mother Riccarda eventually joined a revived order of Bridgettine sisters in Rome, nicknamed “the hot cross bun nuns” because of the distinctive crosses covering the tops of their wimples. During World War II, this unassuming nun made her mark as a bold and committed woman. In 1943, the Nazis took control of Rome and began transporting their tragic human cargo out to Auschwitz. Mother Riccarda and the Abess of the order, the now Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hasselblad, smuggled scores of Italian Jews, Communists and Poles into their convent at Casa di Santa Brigida and hid them there. Many jews later testified to Mother Riccarda's particular kindness: she was known to them simply as "Mama".

Mother Riccarda became head of her order and later died in her beloved Rome in 1966. Her cause for sainthood was opened in July 2010 by the Diocese of Rome. Significantly, her file was quickly referred to the Holy See's Congregation of Causes for Sainthood. Last month, it was reported that the Pope is considering the case for Mother Riccarda to be declared "Venerable". The quest will then begin for two miracles in order to declare her "Blessed". The conclusive step will be sainthood. Her progress is being followed avidly at St Mary Magdalen's; Catholic Brightonians already feel she is the "local saint".

In a typically quirky Brighton move, the city's bus company has now named a bus after Mother Riccarda: a number 7 to be exact, travelling from Seven Dials to the railway station and on to Brighton Marina. Since 1999, every new bus entering the Brighton and Hove fleet has been named after a person notable for their significant contribution or strong connection to the area. It's undeniably charming and quite a talking point. Most of the names have an obvious relevance: the Prince Regent, Maria Fitzherbert, Martha Gunn, Thomas Paine, Kitty O'Shea. Max Miller, of course, has an open-top sightseeing bus named after him. Other choices seem to have more tenuous links: Chopin, really? There was even a bus inexplicably named after Santa Claus; sadly now out of service.

Apparently, the very nice Father Blake from St Mary Magdalen's has been asked to bless Mother Riccarda's number 7; he'll probably end up blessing the entire fleet, which can only be a good thing. The Catholic church is watching for signs of acts of Divine Intervention to speed Mother Riccarda to sainthood. I've seen many strange and wonderful things on the number 7 route since I moved here; not sure I would use the term "divine"...