Window image - The Fourth Joyful Mystery
About
Information about the Chapel of the Good Shepherd and some history about the Latin Mass.
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Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Kelmscott
Tridentine Latin Mass (TLM) is celebrated on Sunday mornings at 8.30am in the original church of the Good Shepherd parish. The TLM has been celebrated here every Sunday since its inception on Palm Sunday, 2008. The only exception has been the mid-March to early June 2020 closure due to coronavirus.
We are a congregation dedicated to the reverence and beauty of the Latin Mass. As there is no resident TLM priest, Holy Mass is celebrated by Clerical Supply: priests who travel to the Chapel. These include the Most Reverend Emeritus Archbishop Barry Hickey, Monsignor Michael Keating and Father Alfonsas. Three qualified Junior Altar Servers aid the priest. The Mass that we celebrate is a Missa Cantata. This is a sung Mass and not a High Mass, which would include Deacons, a Master of Ceremonies and the use of thuribles.
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Charity within our community deserves a special mention. We have an innovative loose change donation system that supports the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Missionary and their work in Benin, Africa. We also have a member of our Latin congregation who works in Kolkata (Calcutta), India for three months of every year where he helps the poorest of the poor improve their lives.
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The Chapel of the Good Shepherd is dedicated to TLM community celebrations courtesy of the Good Shepherd Parish.
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Visiting priests are always welcome to celebrate the Holy Mass for us in our tradition. Please contact TLM Co-ordinator: Mobile 0428 966 916.
What is the Latin Mass?
Tridentine Latin Mass (TLM), also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, has been celebrated for thousands of years, since Christ Himself. It was a liturgy that varied according to local traditions, so in 1570, Pope Pius V decreed that it should be celebrated in the form we have today.
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It is different from the Ordinary Form of the Mass that most Catholics know, as most of the Mass is said in Latin (plus a few words in Greek and Hebrew) by a priest who often faces the altar and has his back turned to the congregation. The most crucial parts of the Mass are said too quietly to hear and singing at other times obscures the spoken word.
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However, there is great beauty and reverence in this form of the Mass. When the priest faces the altar, he faces the tabernacle and the crucifix. Much of the Mass is silent because the priest prays on behalf of everyone. The priest kisses the altar each time before turning to face the people, as if to apologize for turning his back to God. He mostly speaks Latin, which is the language of God. We know it to be the language of God because in The Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin, the Holy Trinity spoke these words at the creation of man, and later again at the creation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 'Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram,' - 'Let Us make man to Our image and likeness.' Not all of the Mass is in another language though: the Reading (Epistle), Gospel and Homily are all in English.
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Regardless of whether the Mass is Extraordinary or Ordinary, we all experience the privilege of being in Christ's presence.
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References:
Lisa Bergman. 2014. Treasure and Tradition: The ultimate guide to the Latin Mass. St. Augustine Academy Press, Homer Glen, Illinois, pp ix, xi.
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Fr. Bonaventure Amedeo de Caesarea, M.C. 1997. The Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin. (An abridgement of the Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda). Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford, Illinois, p11.
What happens at the Sacrifice of the Mass?
This stunning image is the Sacrifice of the Mass (Holy Trinity and Saints). It comes from Corpus Christi Watershed's series of images of Catholic line art and colour drawings and features in the St. Edmund Campion Missal & Hymnal for the Traditional Latin Mass.
It shows the presence of the Holy Trinity in the Sacrifice at the altar. Through the will of the Father and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, the Son offers Himself for our redemption. The Mass honours the Trinity but it also honours the Saints who owe their graces to Sacrifice of Calvary and the Eucharist.
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References:
St. Josemaria Escriva. 2016. The Blessed Trinity: Present in the Sacrifice of the Altar.
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The Catholic Liturgical Library. 2019. What is the Holy Sacrifice.
