Friday 11 January 2008

Centenary Congress Mass 1950

High Mass in the cathedral to celebrate the centenary of the re-establishment of the Catholic Hierarchy in England and Wales. Archbishop Godfrey (later to be Archbishop of Westminster) was the Apostolic Delegate to great Britain, and here he is being officially received. On the right are four visiting Cardinals: Cardinal van Roey (Archbishop of Malines), Cardinal Gerlier (Archbishop of Lyons), Cardinal McGuigan (Archbishop of Toronto) and Cardinal von Preysing (Bishop of Berlin).

It looks to me as though the server behind Archbishop Godfrey is caught in a huge yawn!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those were the days! What happened to those thrones, on which the Cardinals appear to be very comfortable?

Anonymous said...

Now that is Catholic. Cappa Magnas and everything.

Anonymous said...

I see the acolytes used at that mass are still in use today! It is great to see things still in use. Is there anything else in the cathedral that is still used often today?

Unknown said...

The moment in the Mass is surely the Incarnatus. The four (choir?) boys are their Eminences trainbearers. I am vastly impressed by the size of the Chalice Veil. I imagine the Mass is coram archiepiscopo, though it would be interesting to see if His Eminence of Westminster at the time is presiding in Cappa Magna or Cope and Mitre. No doubt the Canons were in attendance in their (lately removed) glory.