Father Thomas Wood has been parish priest there for nearly 19 years and has provided a regular Traditional Mass in this beautiful setting since 2009.
Father Wood is to become Parish Priest of the churches of Our Lady and of Saint Gregory the Great, both in Lydiate during November and so the future of the ‘forma antiquior’ at Seaforth is now overcast with the shadow of 'Blackfenesque' doubt.
Please pray that the stable group who are enthused by the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and who have been pastorally well cared for Father Wood for all these years are catered for in the future.
The church of Our Lady Star of the Sea opened for official worship on Sunday, 10 February 1901 and most celebrations of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass take place at the splendid high altar.
I remember helping move the Novus Ordo altar out of the way on the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Innocents last December. A deft little operation which involves sliding the forward facing altar to one side using the carpet it rests upon and hey presto an unimpeded the view of the beautiful high altar!
This altar houses the relics of many Franciscan - mainly Capuchin - Saints and Blesseds. However, little known perhaps is that also sealed within the high altar is a reliquary containing the ashes of St Francis of Assisi.
The exact reason that a church close to the banks of the River Mersey was selected to possess some of the ashes of St Francis is not clear, suffice to say that in 1818, Pope Pius VII gave permission for the excavations to proceed under the Assisi basilica and when St Francis’s tomb and coffin containing both bones and ashes were found, portions were reserved and Our Lady Star of the Sea was blessed with receiving a quantity of his ashes.
Next Saturday, the church will host a Requiem Mass, potentially (and I pray for the contrary) this could be one of the last Old Rite Masses at Seaforth.
I’m off to London for the LMS National Requiem and so am disappointed that I cannot be there. But I commend the event to you : a visit to a wonderful church, to experience the classical Roman Rite supported by fitting music on what maybe one of the final Traditional Masses for sometime at the venue. Finally, and by no means last you will be assisting at a Mass for the Holy Souls!
Details of the Mass can seen below.
Our Lady Star of the Sea, pray for us!