...while at Maryvale. We are having a magnificent week of lectures and talks, covering all sorts of topics. On Church history, Michael Hodgett leads a trip to Tewkesbury Abbey - history all bound up with the Wars of the Roses, Prince of Wales buried in the chancel, etc. Then on to Harvington Hall, fascinating recusant house...one of our number clambers into one of the priest-hides (accessed by clever hinged beam hidden behind loose panel, only discovered in 19th-century...) and we linger in the beautifully restored house, exploring the attics where the priests stayed, praying in the later Georgian chapel, finally gathering on the lawn for late picnic tea as the afternoon slips gently into evening...
It is interesting to be at Maryvale - the house where John Henry Newman lived - in this particular week in history. It is announced from Rome that the Pope has approved the miracle attributed to Newman's intercession. I am contacted by an American newspaper wanting a feature about this...rather pleasing to be able to write it in this place. I am now writing this Blog in this same library...
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Have been meaning to take the second half of the family to Harvington..last time we went with older ones with Fr Guy & the NACF/Oratory family group..
That hinged beam is pure genius. St Nicholas Owen (Little John to his friends) should be patron saint of DIY!
The wallpaper in the chapel - drops of red blood and white water in regular chevrons is what I recall making an impression when I visited with my RC primary classmates 40 years ago! There's nothing quite like history in the UK to stimulate one's spiritual reflections, eh? Here in Pennsylvania it's not as easy, the artefacts not as prominent or striking in age. Today we remember Blessed Katheri Tekawitha from four centuries ago in what is now New York (who was native Iroquois I believe) no church or teepee to evoke the hard times of the faithful. The site is also quite remote not as easily accessible for modern pilgrims as so much of British heritage is for those who cherish it.
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