Pontifical Latin Mass at Merton College, Oxford

Today, I went to this Tridentine Pontifical Mass, which climaxed a Latin Mass Conference here in Oxford.

I didn’t find out about it until late yesterday. But I’m glad I did. It was better than I expected with excellent music (from Catholics?) and a good sermon (from a Catholic bishop?).

By the way, the celebrant was the Bishop of Tulsa. Kinda funny that this Texan comes to Oxford to attend a service led by a bishop from Oklahoma.

And, oh yes, I did like that big golden mitre he wore.

No, I didn’t receive as that wouldn’t have been right. Sad, but that’s the R. C. rules. Yes, I can definitely make some Protestant criticisms of the service. But I’ll leave those for another day. It was an excellent service in many respects.

There was even some strong bell-ringing before and after the service.

In fact, I was eagerly walking to the service after some fruitful studies at the Bodleian Library, enjoying the bell ringing as I went. And I thought, I like Oxford; I can live like this for a good while.