The Schola Abelis

Welcome to the website of the Schola Abelis.

We are no longer registered as a student society but we are still active. We sing on Sundays in Holy Rood in the Abingdon Road at 5pm, on Holy Days at SS Gregory & Augustine's in the Woodstock Road at 6pm, and on other occasions.

If you wish to join us, please drop us an email. We accept singers of all levels of experience.

oxfordgregorianchant@gmail.com

Trinity Term 2021

It seems we will be able to sing this term, Deo gratias.

Every Sunday: 4:30 rehearsal for 5pm Mass, Holy Rood, Abingdon Road

Feast days at SS Gregory & Augustine's, Woodstock Road (5:15 for Mass at 6pm)

3rd Week: Ascension, Thursday 13th May

6th Week: Corpus Christi, Thursday 3rd June

7th Week: Sacred Heart, Friday 11th June

Long Vacation

SS Peter & Paul, Tuesday 29th June

Most Precious Blood, Thursday 1st July

Email if you want to take part!

Term Card Michaelmas 2020: Singing and the Coronavirus

Singing and the Coronavirus

We can sing again! With some limitations, however.

First, the Schola exists to support liturgical events. While these are limited, so is our activity.

Second, the number of singers at a particular event is going to be limited by the capacity of the venues.

So we do want to hear from potential singers and we do have opportunities for singing. How this works in practice will depend on how many people want to join us. Committement ahead of a performance will be particularly important.

We will need to feel our way in terms of the ever-evolving official guidlines, the events we are called on to support, and the number of people wishing to sing. 

• We will be singing on Sundays at 5pm at Holy Rood, Abingdon Road (though not Sunday 18th October)

We will be singing for occasional Masses at SS Gregory & Augustine's, Woodstock Road:

• Monday 2nd November (4th Week): All Souls, 6pm
• Monday 2nd December (8th Week), Feast of the Martyrs of Oxford University, 6pm

Time committment is minimal: we rehearse on the day immediatel before the service. 

Email us on oxfordgregorianchant@gmail.com if you would like to join us on these dates.

Term Card Hillary 2020

Sadly, from 20th March our events have had to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus epidemic.

February

Wed 26th: Ash Wednesday

6pm Sung Mass, SS Gregory & Augustine's

March

Fri 6th, Ember Friday, 7:30pm Sung Mass, English Martyrs, Didcot

Sunday 15th, 12 noon Sung Mass, SS Gregory & Augustine's

Saturday 21st, 11:30am High Mass, Our Lady and St Anne, Caversham

Sunday 22nd, 11am Sung Mass, Holy Trinity, Hethe

Wednesday 25th: Annunciation of the BVM

6pm Sung Mass, SS Gregory & Augustine's

Welcome to the OUGCS: Michaelmas Term 2019

Here is our Term Card

Regular opportunities to sing:

Sundays, 5pm, Holy Rood,

Abingdon Road

1st Week

Dominican Chant

Saturday 19th Oct 11am

Oxford Blackfriars

3rd Week

All Saints

Friday 1st Nov 6pm

SS Gregory & Augustine’s Woodstock Rd

4th Week

Annual Requiem

Saturday 9th Nov 10:30am

St Benet's Hall

6th Week

St Cecelia

Friday 22nd Nov 7:30pm

English Martyrs Church, Didcot

9th Week

St Lucy

Friday 13th Dec 6pm

SS Gregory & Augustine’s, Oxford

Trinity and Summer Vacation Term Card

Note: Masses in bold are Schola Masses where student singer may receive a stipend; other Masses are those at which we are invited to participate.

4th Week

Sunday 19th May

12 noon, Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

5th Week

Thurs 30th May: Ascension

6pm Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

7th Week

Sunday 9th June: Whitsun

12 noon Sung Mass, Holy Trinity, Hethe

Saturday 15th June: Whit Saturday (Ember Sat of Pentecost)

10:30am Sung or High Mass, Holy Rood Church, Abingdon Road, Oxford

8th Week

Sunday 16th June: Trinity Sunday

12 noon Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Thurs 20th June: Corpus Christi

6pm Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Long Vacation

Friday 28th June: Sacred Heart

6pm Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Saturday 29th June: SS Peter & Paul

10:30am Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Tuesday 2nd July: Visitation

7:30pm English Martyrs, Didcot

Sun 28th July

12 noon Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Tues 6th August: Transfiguration

6pm Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Thurs 15th August: Assumption

6pm Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Sunday 18th August

12 noon Sung Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine's

Hillary & Easter Vacation 2019 Term Card

Schola Masses plus, in italics, other Masses where we are invited to join the singers.

Times refer to services, nor rehearsals.

2nd Week

Sun 20th Jan: 2nd After Epiphany

Mass at 12 noon, SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

3rd Week

Sat 2nd Feb: Candlemas (Purification)

Mass at 10:30am, SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

4th Week

Sat 9th Feb: St Cyril of Alexandria (Dominican Chant)

Mass at 11:30am, St Dominic's, Haverstock Hill, London

6th Week

Sun 17th Feb: Septuagesima Sunday

Mass at 12 noon, SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

8th Week

Wed 6th March: Ash Wednesday

Mass at 6pm, SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

Easter Vacation

Sat 16th March: Ember Sat of Lent, LMS Pilgrimage to Caversham

Mass at 11:30am, Our Lady and St Anne, Caversham, Reading

Sun 17th March: 2nd Sunday in Lent

Mass at 12 noon, SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

Tues 19th March: St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mass at 7:30pm, English Martyrs, Didcot

Masses in Michaelmas 2019

The Schola sang at some beautiful Masses this term, in a number of different places: Blackfriars, St Benet's Hall, SS Gregory & Augustine's in the Woodstock Road and as far away as Bedford.

Above is Dominic Bevan, who led most of these Masses; below is our guest director, Prof Peter Kwasniewski.

Term Card for Michaelmas 2018

Michaelmas Term 2018

(times refer to services, not rehearsals)

2nd Week

Advance rehearsal/audition: Thursday 18th Oct, 6:30pm

Saturday 20th Oct

Oxford Pilgrimage: Votive Mass of the Martyrs of Oxford University

11am, Blackfriars, St Giles Oxford

3rd Week

Friday 26th Oct

Votive Mass of St Gregory the Great

6pm SS Gregory & Augustine's, Woodstock Road, Oxford

Guest director: Prof Peter Kwasniewski

5th Week
Advance rehearsal: Thursday 8th Oct, 6:30pm

Saturday 10th Nov

Bedford Pilgrimage

Votive Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe

St Joseph's, Bedford

Guest Director: Matthew Schellhorn

7th Week

Saturday 24th Nov
Annual Requiem, St Benet's Hall
11am, 38 St Benet's Hall, St Giles, Oxford

8th Week

Wednesday 28th Nov

Votive Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe

6pm SS Gregory & Augustine's, Woodstock Road, Oxford

Last Masses of Term

The final Masses of term included an annual celebration in the historic chapel of Milton Manor House, where the schola sings in an unusual loft with windows opening into the chapel: below.

The last one of all was an unusual Mass of Reparation, a Votive Mass 'for the remission of sin', celebrated in SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford: above. Both of these Masses were led by Dominic Bevan.



And so another academic year comes to an end. This year the Schola Abelis has sung at a larger number of churches than in recent years. We now have a regular termly slot in the English Martyrs, Didcot, in Holy Rood, Abingdon Road, in Blackfriars in Oxford, and in SS Gregory & Augustine's, as well as annual events in Milton Manor, Caversham, St Benet's Hall, and Long Crendon.

The Schola also plays a major part in the general availability of singers with experience of Chant to come along and sing at other Masses taking place in Oxford.

In both ways we are fulfilling the purposes for which we were established: to make chant available for the celebration of the traditional Catholic liturgy in the Oxford area. We have also had a lot of fun along the way.

If you are reading this and are interested in singing Gregorian Chant in the 2018/19 academic year, contact us using the email address on the sidebar. We can also tell you about opportunities to sing, or hear chant sung, in Oxford over the Long Vacation.

Successful Masses this term

 

The Masses we have accompanied this term so far have been exceptionally interesting: notably, the Vigil of Pentecost in the Dominican Rite (above), and the Emeber Saturday of Pentecost (below), each with more chants than the standard Mass formulary, with Alleluia verses between the Prophecies in the 'vigil' part of the service. We provided relatively large scholas, of eight, for each of these occasions, which is particularly good going for the exam season.

Term Card for Trinity Term 2018

2nd Week

4th May, English Martyrs: 7:30pm

Church of the English Martyrs, Didcot

4th Week

19th May, Vigil of Pentecost, 10:30am

Blackfriars, Oxford

5th Week

26th May, Ember Saturday of Pentecost (Whit Saturday), 11:30am

Holy Rood, Abingdon Road, Oxford

7th Week

9th June, Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 11:30am

Milton Manor House, Milton, near Didcot

8th Week
Friday 15th June Votive Mass pro remissione peccatorum
6pm Sung Mass SS Gregory & Augustine’s

Holy Trinity, Hethe: the Traditional Mass returns

Archbishop Longley celebrating EF Pontifical Low Mass in January 2017, in Holy Trinty

I am pleased to be able to announce that thanks to the good will and hospitality of the Archdiocese and of the Parish Priest, Canon John Batthula, the Traditional Mass will once again be celebrated on Sundays at Holy Trinity, Hethe.

In the absence of a resident priest, there will be Sung EF Masses at Hethe at 12 noon on the 2nd Sunday of each month and on the last Sunday of each month. The first of these will be Palm Sunday, Sunday 24th March, to be celebrated, with the blessing of palms, by Fr James Mawdsley FSSP. 

Not having every Sunday covered is not the ideal but two Sundays a month is a very positive step, on which it may be possible to build. It is a very special church, and we have a very loyal schola and congregation which I hope can be preserved and nurtured.

Dominican Mass for St Thomas Aquinas

Accompanying this Mass last Saturday, singing Dominican chant, won our first (as far as I know) Twitter accolade:

Gary Paul H ‏ن

‏ @enternoon Jan 27

The singing was absolutely splendid, btw. Really beautifully done.

Glad you liked it!

Term Card for Hillary Term 2018

2nd Week

Sat 27th Jan Votive of St Thomas Aquinas, 

11am High Mass Blackfriars (Dominican Rite)

4th Week

Sat 10th Feb St Scholastica 

11:30am Sung Mass Holy Rood, Abingdon Rd

6th Week

Thurs 22nd Feb Chair of St Peter
English Martyrs Church, 15 Manor Crescent,
Didcot OX11 7AJ

Sat 24th Feb St Matthias

LMS Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Caversham

High Mass, 11:30amOur Lady & St Anne, 2 South View Avenue,

Reading RG4 5AB

8th Week

Wed 7th March Sung Requiem

6.pm SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

First Mass of the academic year, Blackfriars

The Schola Abelis fielded what I think is the biggest group of singers we have ever had in one service, for the Latin Mass Society's Oxford Pilgrimage: fifteen, including our professional Director, Dominic Bevan, and the photographer of this picture (me).

The Mass was Intret in conspectu for the Martyrs of Oxford University, a feast specific to the Archdiocese of Birmingham, celebrated as a Votive Mass for the occasion of the pilgrimage. We sang the Dominican Rite versions of the chants where possible (the Alleluia does not appear in the 'Suarez' Dominican Graduale), with a Dominican Rite Ordinary.

The Mass itself was a Dominican Rite High Mass, with deacon and subdeacon.

 

Term Card for Michaelmas 2017

This is mostly confirmed.

Term Card for Michaelmas Term 2017

2nd Week

Sat 21st Ocober 11am

LMS Oxford Pilgrimage:
Martyrs of Oxford University

Blackfriars, Oxford
followed by procession and Benediction

3rd Week

Saturday 28th October 11:30am

SS Simon and Jude

Our Lady of Light, Long Crendon 

4 Chearsley Rd, Long Crendon, Aylesbury HP18 9BS

4th Week

Thursday 2nd November 7pm

Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

English Martyrs, Didcot,
15 Manor Cres, Didcot OX11 7A

6th Week

Saturday 18th November, 11:30am TBC

High Mass of Requiem

St Benet's Hall Chapel, 38 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LN

7th Week

Wednesday 22nd November, 6pm

St Cecelia

SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

Christmas Vacation

Saturday 23rd December, 11:30am TBC

Ember Saturday of Advent

Holy Rood, 38 Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4PD

President: Jēkabs Jurdžs (Wycliffe Hall)
Secretary: John Aulis (St Anthony's)

Treasurer: Andrew Auty

Chant Mass this Saturday

Blackfriars is in the centre of Oxford in St Giles; click for a map.

High Mass is at 11am; it will be accompanied by chant from the Schola Abelis.

A successful Hillary Term

For the first time, we sang for the feast day of St Hillary, the saint after whom Hillary Term is named: the 'Athanasius of the West'. We accompanied a beautiful and well-attended Dominican High Mass in Blackfriars.

Term Card for Hilary Term 2017

Term Card for Hilary Term 2017

0th Week

Sat 14th January 11am

St Hilary of Poitiers

Blackfriars, Oxford

3rd Week

Thursday 2nd February 6pm

Purification of Our Lady (Candlemas)

SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

4th Week

Saturday 11th February 11:30am

Apparition of Our Lady (Our Lady of Lourdes)

Chapel of Milton Manor House, near Abingdon

5th Week

Friday 17th February, 6pm

Requiem Mass

SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

7th Week

Wednesday 1st March, 6pm

Ash Wednesday

SS Gregory & Augustine's, Oxford

8th Week

Saturday 11th March, 11:30am

Ember Saturday of Lent

Our Lady and St Anne, Caversham

Easter Vacation

Saturday 25th March, 10:30am

Annunciation of Our Lady

SS Gregory & Augstine's

President: Ben Koons, Oriel

Secretary: Jēkabs Jurdžs

Treasurer: Andrew Auty