A former Tudor mansion is offering visitors the chance to listen to an audio reconstruction of a 16th-century Mass.
The Vyne, a country house near Basingstoke where Henry VIII attended Mass, has worked with historians and musicians to record a Lady Mass as it would have sounded in Tudor England. The website explains: “You’ll hear the subtle change in volume of the priest’s voice as he turns from the altar, the clink of the thurible chain as incense is blessed, even the faint rustle of clothing.”
Visitors can sit in The Vyne’s chapel and witness an immersive experience, with a surround-sound system enabling the priest’s voice, the choir’s singing and other noises to come from the same position in the chapel where they would have in real life. The music is Nicholas Ludford’s setting for a Mass in honour of Our Lady. It is a polyphonic composition for boys’ voices.
The house was originally built for Lord Sandys, Henry VIII’s friend, who was later appointed Lord Chamberlain.
Henry VIII visited The Vyne three times. The first occasion, in 1510, was with his wife Catherine of Aragon. The third time was as part of his 1535 royal progress around the country, on which he was accompanied by Anne Boleyn. In the same year, St John Fisher and St Thomas More were executed.
A year later Henry harshly suppressed the Pilgrimage of Grace, a Yorkshire rising against the King’s break with Rome. One of the leaders of the uprising was Lord Darcy, the brother-in-law of Lord Sandys – though Sandys himself seems to have remained loyal to Henry.
Sharon Jennings, writer and cathedral stalwart, dies aged 66
Sharon Jennings, one of Westminster Cathedral’s most colourful characters, has died aged 66 after a short battle with cancer.
Having read English at Oxford, Jennings spent much of her life teaching children with learning difficulties. She wrote a great many witty poems and plays with a strong Catholic theme, and recently restored the cathedral’s statue of Our Lady of Walsingham.
As hospitable as she was pious, Jennings was renowned for the parties at her house in Battersea, a place often full of friends who needed a place to stay, and adopted dogs.
Jennings managed to find humour in the most depressing situations. She announced from her hospital bed that she “knew 2017 was going to be special for something … but I didn’t know it was going to be this”. She died in the presence of her family including her loving children, Benedict and Anastasia.
Her Requiem Mass will be held at Westminster Cathedral on Match 31 at 10:15am, followed by a reception in the Cathedral Hall. In her memory, the family ask that donations be made to The Smile Train at justgiving.com or The Rose Playhouse: roseplayhouse.org.uk.
Bishops commemorate Reformation
Lutheran and Catholic leaders have jointly commemorated the Reformation’s 500th anniversary at Southwark Cathedral.
Lutheran Bishop Martin Lind preached, as did the Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley. Archbishop Longley said: “Too often we allow ourselves to be identified and characterised by those features of our Christian traditions that distinguish us from one another.”
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