In an 18th-century folly...

...in the grounds of my old school, I was giving a lecture on Friday evening. The Carshalton Water Tower Trust cares for this superb building, which is available for local events and celebrations, and commands an enchanting view of Carshalton House, the grounds, and what is now called The hermitage (we called it The Grotto, and were slightly scared of the big statue of St Joseph there).

It was fun giving a talk on "Britain's traditional feasts and seasons" in agreeable company in this setting. I stood on the very spot where I had begun my education at the age of four - the building was then used as the kindergarten of St Philomena's junior school...

A very, very early start...

...on Saturday morning, cycling to east Croydon station at 5am in order to make it to London to catch the train to Birmingham. I was off to Maryvale, to begin a degree in Theology! I'll let you know how things progress. This first weekend of lectures was simply terrific and I am feeling very enthusiastic indeed.

The young people...

...at St Patrick's, Soho Square, are having a special Vigil of Prayer on Oct 1st from 6pm to 9pm, and are asking you to join them. If you're in London, just turn up! If you are further away, unite yourself in prayer with them for a few minutes. This is important - they are praying for the future of the work there. The St Patrick's Evangelisation School (SPES) has a group of new students for the new academic year, and there is so much to be done...

One of the young people from St P's came to speak at the Association of Catholic Women meeting the other day (see Blog for last weekend) and gave us such a wonderful and vivid account of the glorious World Youth Day events in Sydney. You can get a tiny flavour of WYD here and here and here ....and if you would like to see something of the WYD spirit alive in London, then supporting SPES and St Patrick's is one way of doing it...

On the radio today...

... comes news of Ruth Kelly's resignation from the Cabinet. In her speech to the Labour party conference, Miss Kelly said she was proud to have been part of a Labour Government which had "made life better for people" in Britain.

No, it hasn't made life better. In a number of hugely significant areas, life is immeasurably worse than it was before Labour took power in 1997. So far this year some 30 young people have been stabbed to death in London alone. Violent crime is now such a standard part of life that people have standard advice to cope with normal journeys down ordinary streets at night ("Hide your mobile phone!" "Don't look as though you are carrying money!" "Just hand your wallet over if you're asked!"). Violence against teachers is now not considered abnormal in schools. The destruction of family life has gathered pace with extraordinary speed - helped by Miss Kelly who didn't resign over acceptance of "same sex" unions by her Govt and steered forward legislation to ensure the removal of the rights of people to speak out freely against the wrongfulness of homosexual activity. Aborting babies is now considered so normal that it doesn't even get the debate it merits, and is routinely assumed to be a standard "right" that must not only be funded by taxpayers but taught as a central doctrine of the British health care system. Gross forms of sex education are imposed on schools. An unjust divorce system robs fathers of regular contact with their children. Academic standards in schools have plummeted: annually, more and more teenagers leave school unable to read and robbed of opportunities for learning and enjoying great things.

Poor Ruth Kelly. She could with honour have resigned over all sorts of issues of issue of morality and human dignity in recent years. She is a Catholic: we all longed for her to put her beliefs into action. She didn't. She' has now resigned because she wants to spend more time with her family. She's still praising the Government which has dumped cruel anti-family policies on Britain. There were so many opportunities, large and small, where she could have done good or, at the very least, mitigated great evil, by publicly renouncing her position with the Government and Party. Hers has been a political career of opportunities missed.

If you share...

..the frustration of many of us at the loopy and sometimes sinister ideological commitment of many who rule our lives today, you may enjoy this.

For priests...

and deacons, and those training for the priesthood: I've been asked to mention this conference - it's on Oct 29th at St Wilfrid's Hall, Brompton Oratory, starts 11.15 am. "Pius XII and preaching the Gospel of Life". Organised by the Assn of Priests for the Gospel of Life. Speaker is Fr John Saward. Buffet lunch. The day includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, opportunities for confession.

More info from 0208 300 2697

At the weekend...

...I went to an excellent meeting of the Association of Catholic Women at St James' church, Spanish Place.

It's been a great year for the ACW, fittingly in our 20th anniversary. Our biggest-ever Schools RE Project, reaching Catholic primary schools across England and Wales, the continuing success of our "Catholic Identification cards", (go on, look at the website), a range of new booklets on various subjects, great plans for 2009 including a Day Conference (Feb 9th) for teachers, on Art and Music featuring Gregorian chant, with a workshop on how to sing it and teach it...

Next immediate project for us is our involvement in the Towards Advent Festival, Sat Nov 8th at Westminster Cathedral Hall. We are one of the sponsoring organisations. Admission free. Some terrific speakers including Fr Aidan Nicholls on his new book "The Realm", an unfsahionable essay on the Conversion of England." Be there. Doors open 10 am, official opening 10.30 am with music, speech by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, etc. Displays by a whole range of Catholic groups and organisations, with books, DVDs etc on sale...

A delightful...

...booklet just out from the CTS: "100 Books you really must read"

This is compiled from ideas sent to the CTS from a range of people...and the result is a terrific collection, an enjoyable read in its own right, of recommendations: biographies, fiction, history...books that are funny, poignant, fascinating, memorable.

You can get this excellent booklet from the CTS - it's just £1.95p and worth every penny.

From Paris...

...via my Big Sis, who has been visiting there, a copy of Paris Match, with splendid coverage of the Pope's visit to France. Wonderful pix, excellent commentary.

The most interesting thing is the cartoon, which depicts an old grandpa - wearing a Che Guevara teeshirt,and his teenage granddaughter, wearing a teeshirt affirming that she loves Jesus. That's the new situation. That's the reality of France in 2008.

September...

...has long been my favourite month, and today in wonderful mellow sunshine we were at a cheerful family gathering in a house near the Thames....Mass at the enchanting church of St Birinus in Dorchester, a place of happy family associations. Glorious singing, beautiful liturgy (ad orientem, rousing voices for the Gloria and Pater Noster, a Marian hymn to finish). St Birinus baptised, in the river at this place, the king of the West Saxons, Cynegils, in 635...and the same river flows, and this land still holds the Faith and oh, golly, let's never, ever, let it go from us...


A long and talkative family lunch, a large crowd of us round the table...a walk to the lock on the river, ice-creams, children playing, cousins talking and laughing, Uncle Jamie pushing a small great-niece in a swing...

This island...

(see below, previous post) has faint echoes of the England of my childhood...skinny-legged eager children running about on beaches, solitary men fishing, real pubs, boats, people being friendly on buses. Church yesterday evening was well-attended. There are tea-shops. Holiday brochures from the summer advertise walks and treasure-hunts and competitions.

Today's papers bring news of a dreary Govt initiative - I'm not making this up: British Day, an official public holiday on which we celebrate being British. After years of telling us we must be multi-cultural, teaching children a muddled version of our history - or practically none at all - sneering at our Christian traditions, attempting to crush our moral values, and remake the fabric of our everyday lives in things as fundamental as male/female marriage and begetting of children...do the Socialists really think they can invent a British Day and make us celebrate the version of things they have left? Probably they don't think they can...it's just a squelch from the last-ditch efforts of this hoples Govt and would be mildly funny if it wasn't so insulting.

I am currently...

visiting the Isle of Wight, which is extraordinarily lovely in September sunshine. Mass yesterday evening here - lovely church with an interesting history.

One hundred and fifteen...

...years ago, a group of nuns, the Daughters of the Cross, founded a school at Carshalton House in Surrey, dedicated to St Philomema. And today, a large crowd of women, all of whom had been educated at this school, met for a glorious lunch and celebration on this anniversary.

I have always been proud of being a Philomenian, and it was great fun to be lunching in style and meeting with people - teachers, nuns, people who had been in my year at school - and celebrating this special link that bound us together. A room had been set aside with tables of memorabilia - photographs, old copies of the school magazine, brochures from various events - and everyone gathered to pore over these and exclaim and swap memories...

The school has a website, which can be viewed here.

Have you written...

...to the Royal Mail about the truly revolting decision to honour Marie Stopes with a special commemorative postage stamp? She's been chosen as one of various British women to be so honoured. This is a gross and offensive thing to have done: she was anti-semitic, sent a book of poems to Hitler as a gift with a gushing letter, and believed that people she considered "defective" (poor eyesight, physically handicapped, ill) should be prevented from having children...

This truly dreadful person should be regarded with contempt and horror. Write and explain to the Royal Mail that the stamps must be withdrawn.

I thought at first that the story about the commemorative stamp was a spoof - but apparently it isn't. Write now. You might find this link helpful.

I am jealous...

...of the Americans, having an election. I WISH WE COULD HAVE ONE. We have had this dreadful Govt for quite long enough. Latest gruesome plan is to extend the Abortion Act to Northern Ireland...something which is opposed by the Northern Irish across all religious divides, but that isn't something to deter the present ideologues who rule us...

A meeting...

at St James Church, Spanish Place (surely one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in England, and with interesting links with the Spanish Royal family, Queen Victoria's granddaughter Queen Ena etc etc)...it is the home-church of the Association of Catholic Women and this first committee-session of the Assn after the summer saw us busy with many plans. After the success of our annual Schools RE Project, which was hugely expanded this year after we teamed up with the CTS, we are now embarking on another schools venture. This will take place on Feb 9th next year and is a Day of Art and Music for teachers at Catholic Primary Schools...more news on this in due course...we have a top team involved, including Dr Lionel Gracey on art, and Jeremy de Satge of The Music Makers ......

I walked back through Green Park for the pleasure of it on this September/just-starting-Autumn day. There are still tourists around Buckingham Palace and the marquee arrangements to house the queues were just closing for the day. The headlines were all of the fire in the Channel Tunnel and the stranded passengers left by the sudden closure of an airline company - an abrupt end to summer and a horrid one for so many people.

Life is complicated...

...at present as both my computer and Jamie's are out of action. I am taking them both to a nephew tomorrow to mend. (Nephews are among the most wonderful things that life has so far brought me).

It gets v. exhausting working without a computer at home. Yesterday I cycled to the local Library, got some work done on the computer there and then had to leave as they Closed for Lunch. Had a sandwich, went to Post Office, got on with various letters etc in cafe over cup of coffee. Returned to library, hurried through as much work as I could before the computer timed-out. Library staff had v. kindly allowed me a bit of extra time but that was all. Got back on bike, cycled to neighbouring Borough (fortunately, we live near the boundary of two London Boroughs...well, to be accurate, one London Borough and one Royal Borough). Joined Library there. Started work again. Managed to get quite a lot done. Pondered cycling to third Borough - where Mother lives. Was tired, came home and tackled housework, ironing etc instead.

Our DVD player has chosen to be out of action, too, just to show solidarity with the computers, or something. It's annoying as the Daily Telegraph is giving away a DVD series about the life of the Queen, with lots of old newsreel etc, and I am collecting the discs every day and can't watch any of them...

However, one cheering aspect of life at present is that my Big Sister has arrived from New Zealand on a family visit. It is rather fun having her around. On Sunday we had a big Family Gathering at Mother's as it was my birthday, and then Mother's later in the week. My brother A., sister-in-law D. and their family arrived, complete with delicious Tea, cake with Candles etc. It was exactly the sort of day that aunties most enjoy. Big Sis gave me a most beautiful necklace which I am wearing as I write this. I look v. elegant.

Busy...

...with arrangements for the Towards Advent Festival at Westminster Cathedral Hall on sat Nov 8th. Put it in your diary! Admission free. Lots of displays from Catholic groups and organisations, books, DVDs, Catholic items on sale. Talks with excellent speakers including Fr Aidan Nichols...music...refreshments available all day...tours of the Cathedral...

The Westminster diocesan archives...

...are kept at Kensington, so I parked my bike at the nearby church of Our Lady of Victories in Kensington High Street, and found my way to the archive office. The materials are housed in a huge basement sort of area, very well organised and in the charge of the Archivist, Fr Nicholas Schofield. Gosh, what a treasure-trove! Some fascinating material here, including a lot relating to the English Martyrs, and to Catherine of Aragon's marriage, and more...

My current research involves seeking material about a priest working in Southwark in the 1780s and 1790s...and behold, I discovered a letter from him, carefully kept and preserved in a big folder along with much other correspondence.It is awesome to be handling a letter written some 200 years ago.I could hardly wait to get home to email my findings to Marcus Grodi of EWTN/Coming Home Network, as whose behest I am doing this research...it feels really exciting when you piece together bits of history, and this particular project is becoming most interesting.

London has a delicious Autumnal feel. The horse-chestnut trees are dropping their conkers, and children are hurrying to and from school in their new uniforms. The Albert Memorial glistens with its over-the-top gold as I cycle past. Not everything is attractive: the russet glow from the leaves of the horse-chesnut trees speaks not of Autumn colours but of some sad disease with which they are afflicted, which is ghastly as they are a landmark of England and it would be tragic if they were to disappear as our lovely elm trees did in the 1970s...

Want to come and hear...

...a talk on "Celebrating traditional feasts and seasons in Britain"? Try this website
and click on to the relevant bit for "events". I am giving a talk in the old Carshalton House Water Tower...which is intriguing because in this unusual 18th century building I began my education at the age of four...

I always get a lot...

...from reading this website. I also contribute to it from time to time, which I enjoy too. But it has some exceptionally good reading on it at the moment: note for British readers, useful insights into the American elections, safe from rants and jargon and assumed attitudes.

Rain...

...has always seemed to be a sort of blessing, because water is the one liquid without which man cannot live.

But, goodness, we've been getting an awful, awful lot of it just lately. Last night it was bucketing down so hard that you could barely see through it in the dusk, and J. was soaked through - absolutely through, even his socks were soaked - and I could barely hear his kock on the door against the buffeting of the wind and rain.

I am reading the beautiful book just out from Family Publications: Fr Dominic Allain's delightful Diary of a City Priest, compiled from his delightful weekly columns in the Catholic Herald. It is a joy to read, and a must-buy for Christmas. Accounts of everyday life in a very busy suburban parish and hospital...it's all there, parish Masses and deathbed hospital anointings, baptisms of babies, First confessions and First Communions, a group meeting regularly to prepare for World Youth Day...and all with insights, thoughtful views, a glimpse of the inner man. I'm touched, amused, enchanted and inspired.

I'm touched by...

this report of the meeting between the H.Father and the former hostage Mme Betancourt. She described how she prayed while a captive asking, not to be released, but just for a sign from God. "When I told the pope this, he replied: 'He heard you because you knew how to ask. You didn't ask for a miracle to be freed yourself, instead you asked to understand what was His will.'

Thoughts about this?

There's a v. good weekend event coming up in Oct - Catholic family conference with good speakers looking at different aspects of the Church's message on marriage and family....now, if you are older and are grandparents rather than parents, this doesn't mean it isn't for you... why not consider sponsoring some younger people to go? Or take along a grandchild or two? Contact the organising team at faithandfamily2008@yahoo.co.uk


details: Oct 25th-26th at London Colney.

Read here:http://www.faithandfamily.org.uk/

Oh, for goodness' sake...

...sometimes it's just beyond absurdity.

Here we are in Britain with a number of young people stabbed to death by other youngsters this summer, a steadily rising rate of family break-up, large numbers of boys and girls growing up without fathers, our Army committed to two wars neither of which seems likely to end soon or to be achieving anything at all, worryingly low academic standards - and standards of everyday speech and spelling and grammar and general knowledge and communication and social skills - a drugs habit afflicting our youth, plans to abort more and more of the next generation....

...and the headline in today's newspaper?

'Fall in number of women getting top jobs'.

We're supppsed to be sleepless with worry about that, I suppose?

I'm back...

...after a terrific summer which included, in no particular order, a lot of family time, some time at sea, some time sorting out computer problems, some time writing a chapter of my next book, and some time in St Petersburg!

And more...but people's holiday travels and fun are of limited interest so I'll leave it mostly aside and simply hope to bring to this Blog over the next months any useful ideas and experiences gained...

Here's just one: it was extraordinarily moving to stand in an Orthodox Cathedral in Russia, beside an array of icons, flickering candles, and throngs of - mostly young - people quietly bustling to and fro and praying. Here a young woman, brought up in the Soviet era, told us of her visits to her grandmother and the latter's answers to the child's questions about Christianity and the meaning of the icons in the granny's flat - the start of a journey of faith which resulted, some years later, in baptism. The Christian Faith is alive in Russia. Beautiful modern icons depict bishops and others who perished in the Gulag. The last Tsar and his family are hailed as martyrs and depicted as such, and their remains lie in a place of honour in the great church where their ancestors also lie buried.

Russia has all sorts of problems, but the years of officially-imposed atheism, closed churches, banning of all Christian books, etc etc, are not merely over but regarded as a tragic time in centuries of Russian Christian history.

In one church we visited, a small display showed items from down the years, including a poster from the 1930s advertising a series of atheist lectures held in the building. Today, those years are seen as a period viewed with embarrassment. People tell of prayers said privately at home, of an unbroken chain of faith leading from one era to the next and of a quiet certainty that Christianity will never perish from Russia.


And all this in what was once the Marxist state and the centre of worldwide atheistic Communism.

Deo gratias.