Our Spirituality
A Focus on Prayer
At Saint Theo's there will be a strong emphasis on the Liturgical, Devotional, and Prayer Life as expressed in the service books and devotionals of the Personal Ordinariate.
Mattins and Evensong, glories not just of a structured prayer life, but of the English language itself, will be the hinges of the school day, beginning with sung Mattins, at 7:30am, and with sung Evensong, concluding at 5:30pm. Mass according to the Ordinariate's special Divine Worship Form of the Roman Rite will be available as much as possible, hopefully each day depending on the availability of priests.
Mattins and Evensong, glories not just of a structured prayer life, but of the English language itself, will be the hinges of the school day, beginning with sung Mattins, at 7:30am, and with sung Evensong, concluding at 5:30pm. Mass according to the Ordinariate's special Divine Worship Form of the Roman Rite will be available as much as possible, hopefully each day depending on the availability of priests.
Our English Patrimony
In the Personal Ordinariate, we frequently use the term, English Patrimony, when talking about our heritage. This is meant to refer to the fact that much of our tradition, our language, our history, our pastoral approach, emanates from the English context, from both pre-Reformation and post-Reformation eras.
Our Liturgical Tradition
Saint Paul teaches us in his First Letter to the Corinthians that all things in church should be done "decently and in order." The Ordinariates have a very special approach to liturgy following this injunction. Our liturgical tradition is quite formal with prescribed movements and gestures and with a stress on decorum. We believe in fidelity to the liturgical tradition as not being our own, but something which we are given and which it is our duty to foster and to pass on.
Pope Francis gave us our own Missal in 2015 which is called Divine Worship: The Missal. We were given approval for our Daily Office (Commonwealth Edition), equivalent to the Liturgy of the Hours, in 2021 for use in the United Kingdom and Australia. These are both very rich resources.
Our Form of the Mass uses elements which would be familiar to those who attend the Tridentine Mass of Saint Pius V, such as the ad orientem position for the priest during the Eucharistic Prayer, and the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar at the beginning of Mass, as well as the occasional use of the Last Gospel (John 1:1-18), as well as option to use the Tridentine Offertory Prayers.
There are also elements from the new Mass of Saint Paul VI, such as the option to use Eucharistic Prayer II on Weekdays (Ferias) and Memorials. Our Lectionary also uses the same Three-Year Cycle of Readings, and our calendar is very similar to the new Calendar, but we retain many more of the British Saints and observe such things as the Ember Days, the Rogation Days, Ascension Day and Corpus Christi on the proper Thursday, and the Octave of Pentecost.
Approved for use by Rome, we have our own ritual books for Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick, as well as a more traditional ceremonial for funerals.
The language of the Missal, the Daily Office, and our other Sacramental books is what might be termed, "sacral English", that is an English which is more formal, poetic, elevated and which uses older grammatical forms and pronouns, such as found in Shakespeare and the King James Bible. It is designed to be both beautiful and memorable, with a classic timelessness.
The translation approved and used for all readings at Mass and in the Office is the Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition of the Bible.
Our liturgical prayer life centres around the Mass and the two daily Services called, Mattins (Morning Prayer), and Evensong (Evening Prayer). We use mostly traditional-type hymns, use a particular form of Gregorian Chant called Sarum Chant, and promote solid congregational as well as choral singing, accompanied usually by a pipe organ.
Our devotional life has the usual elements familiar to any Latin Catholic, chiefly the Rosary, the Angelus, Stations of the Cross, processions, Adoration, Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Grace at Meals, the Friday Penance, and so on, but it also incorporates some older Medieval devotions such as the Five Wounds of Christ, the Prayers from the Sarum Primer and some more fun traditions such as the beating of the bounds in Rogationtide, the eating of Simnel Cake on Mothering Sunday, as well as a strong emphasis on contemplative prayer and lectio divina. The laity of the Ordinariate are also very much encouraged to take part in the Daily Office or to say it at home or in the family.
Pope Francis gave us our own Missal in 2015 which is called Divine Worship: The Missal. We were given approval for our Daily Office (Commonwealth Edition), equivalent to the Liturgy of the Hours, in 2021 for use in the United Kingdom and Australia. These are both very rich resources.
Our Form of the Mass uses elements which would be familiar to those who attend the Tridentine Mass of Saint Pius V, such as the ad orientem position for the priest during the Eucharistic Prayer, and the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar at the beginning of Mass, as well as the occasional use of the Last Gospel (John 1:1-18), as well as option to use the Tridentine Offertory Prayers.
There are also elements from the new Mass of Saint Paul VI, such as the option to use Eucharistic Prayer II on Weekdays (Ferias) and Memorials. Our Lectionary also uses the same Three-Year Cycle of Readings, and our calendar is very similar to the new Calendar, but we retain many more of the British Saints and observe such things as the Ember Days, the Rogation Days, Ascension Day and Corpus Christi on the proper Thursday, and the Octave of Pentecost.
Approved for use by Rome, we have our own ritual books for Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick, as well as a more traditional ceremonial for funerals.
The language of the Missal, the Daily Office, and our other Sacramental books is what might be termed, "sacral English", that is an English which is more formal, poetic, elevated and which uses older grammatical forms and pronouns, such as found in Shakespeare and the King James Bible. It is designed to be both beautiful and memorable, with a classic timelessness.
The translation approved and used for all readings at Mass and in the Office is the Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition of the Bible.
Our liturgical prayer life centres around the Mass and the two daily Services called, Mattins (Morning Prayer), and Evensong (Evening Prayer). We use mostly traditional-type hymns, use a particular form of Gregorian Chant called Sarum Chant, and promote solid congregational as well as choral singing, accompanied usually by a pipe organ.
Our devotional life has the usual elements familiar to any Latin Catholic, chiefly the Rosary, the Angelus, Stations of the Cross, processions, Adoration, Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Grace at Meals, the Friday Penance, and so on, but it also incorporates some older Medieval devotions such as the Five Wounds of Christ, the Prayers from the Sarum Primer and some more fun traditions such as the beating of the bounds in Rogationtide, the eating of Simnel Cake on Mothering Sunday, as well as a strong emphasis on contemplative prayer and lectio divina. The laity of the Ordinariate are also very much encouraged to take part in the Daily Office or to say it at home or in the family.
Our Spiritual Tradition
Our spiritual tradition, very strongly Biblical, is forged through the ages of the great medieval English mystics and the insights of the more Catholic of the Anglican divines. We value moderation, but also excellence in language, in worship and in living. Our liturgical prayer is expressed in beautiful and poetic English so that it is more easily memorised and also that it gives more dignity and splendour to the worship of God. We have a magnificent thousand-year-old choral music tradition, which beautifies our liturgies and nurtures our hearts.
Our Pastoral Tradition
Our pastoral life centres on lay engagement, small group study, contemplative prayer groups, social outreach, and on a perhaps more egalitarian approach to our relationships with our clergy.