The Latin Mass Society of the UK has announced that a service of Vespers and Benediction for the repose of the soul of Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) will be celebrated tomorrow, Friday, 8 June 2016, in South London. The service will be held at the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary Magdalene in Wandsworth SW18 at 5:30pm and will be conducted by Archbishop Thomas Gullickson. Musical accompaniment will be provided by Cantus Magnus under the direction of Matthew Schellhorn.
UPDATE (8 June 2016): As explained in today’s issue of The Catholic Herald, Evelyn Waugh was among those instrumental in forming the Latin Mass Society in 1965 and was asked to be its first president:
In 1965, several attempts were made to create an organisation in England and Wales in defence of the Latin Mass. After a letter was published in the Catholic Herald of January 22, 1965 by a banker called Hugh Byrne suggesting the immediate formation of an organisation, a group was formed to put the wheels in motion.
It was recorded in the Herald in 1965: “This week efforts are being made to start a national Latin Mass Society in Britain. Mr Evelyn Waugh, one of the strongest opponents of the vernacular, has been asked to become President of the Society, which will aim at campaigning for at least one Latin Low Mass in every church on Sundays.”
Waugh declined the invitation to be the society’s first president due to ill health but
…until his death in 1966, Waugh acted as an unofficial spokesman for the conservatives, expressing their growing disenchantment to Cardinal Heenan and in the press. He was also instrumental, with Sir Arnold Lunn and Hugh Ross Williamson, in founding the Latin Mass Society at Easter 1965.
Waugh’s involvement in this movement is described in a recent book entitled A Bitter Trial, edited by Alcuin Reid.
