A blog I often enjoy...

is Cranmer, who currently has some common-sense things to say about the discussion on Members of Parliament. I share his view that having "professional politicians" is a ghastly idea.

Whenever I talk...

...to Catholic teachers, parish priests, or simply to active lay Catholics, there is unanimity on one particular subject - a great disappointment about the Bishops' current abolition of Holy Days. Moving a feast day to the nearest Sunday just doesn't work. The feast gets effectively lost - it all just feels like a Sunday Mass. .Schools, in particular, now miss out. They have been robbed of opportunities to celebrate together, teach the children about the particular feast, have a glorious Mass with special music prepared by the choir etc, and enjoy some special treat to mark the day. The Bishops' scheme has made it just that bit harder to bring the calendar alive for children - and show us all that being a Catholic isn't "just for Sundays".

Time for a re-think. There is no shame in announcing that an experiment has been tried and a fresh decision made in the light of its experience.

In terrific heat...

...to Guildford to present prizes at Rydes Hill School to young winners in the Association of Catholic Women's Schools RE Project. The school is absolutely delightful, lots of little girls bright and cheerful in very charming uniform frocks - and boater hats with ribbons! It is all set in a most beautiful old house, with a rocking-horse and old-style Dolls House in the panelled hall as you enter. A statue of Mary at the head of the stairs. A splendid library with beautiful paintings depicting the life of St Joan of Arc, In the hall,each prizewinner came up on to the stage to shake hands and receive her Catechism or Simple Prayer Book or Merit Certificate,. and every child who took part was given a holy picture. An utterly happy afternoon.

Do you share...

...my concern about the Govt's new Equality Bill, now going through Parliament? Read here for more...

When I'm busy...

...with the round of family and domestic duties...which this week has ranged from time spent in a hospital out-patient waiting-room to time on trains, queuing in a supermarket and at the Post Office...I currently invariably take books for my Maryvale studies ( exams looming in 2 weeks! AAAArgh!!)

Last night, on a late and packed train, filled with cheerful young people returning from the cricket (they got on at Vauxhall, having spent the day at the Oval and thence, very evidently, various pubs and parties...), some one asked me what I was reading. Two of them had already been discussing Christianity (at the tops of their voices, and rather earnestly!) so I took a deep breath, and held up my book to show the cover. Catechism of the Catholic Church. "Great!" said one young man, plumping himself down beside me at once "I'm a Catholic too." "And I like Pope John Paul" chorused a cheery girl alongside, picking up my bookmark, which had fallen out, and is a pic of JPII from Aid to the Church in Need... "I'm an Anglican" said a nice young man, sitting on the floor between seats. We got talking. By the time the outer suburbs were reached, in a mood of great goodwill, there was a warm and rather marvellous conversation going on...broken only by my having to get out at my station, and their united assistance with my bicycle...

Sometimes one is reminded that Britain can still be a lovely country in which to live.

Festivals, traditions, the calendar...

...and the young people at Brompton Oratory. The Oratory runs a really good "Call to Youth" which meets regularly...last night's gathering was a very cheery one, and it was a joy to be invited as a speaker. There is wine, and snacks, and lively talk, and a great atmosphere...Auntie was speaking on "Feasts and Seasons of the Year", telling of traditions, the calendar, and how the Church's round of feasts and seasons works...want to know more? You could read here...

The Oratory group is open to any young Catholic within reach of London. Keep in touch via the Oratory link given and find out about the Autumn programme...

A drama team...

...in Oxford is putting on a play about St Therese of Lisieux. Read here for more details. I think it looks good and hope to attend.,.

A happy day...

...at Westminster Cathedral yesterday, when young teachers from Catholic primary schools in London met for a Day of Art and Music, organised by the Association of Catholic Women with magnificent help and support from the Cathedral Choir School. We are hugely grateful to the latter - their help and encouragement made the day so special. We had a wonderful illustrated talk on Christianity in Art by Lionel Gracey who lectures at Maryvale - with some of the world's most magnificent paintings thrown up on a screen in the Cathedral crypt, and a rapt audience listening to a wonderful exposition of the details and small points...did you know, for instance, that depictions of weddings (eg at Cana) often show a small dog, as a symbol of faithfulness? Or that pine cones (because evergreen) represent eternity and resurrection?

Thanks to the kindness of the Choir School, we were able to use the room where the choristers practice, and took our places at their music-desks to learn Gregorian chant. Jeremy de Satge of The Music Makers led us in a glorious session of music - we learned a Kyrie, psalm setting, Sanctus and Agnus Dei as well as a beautiful Ave Maria...and the day finished with a Mass at which we sang, honouring the Birthday of St John the Baptist in great style.

The Cathedral/choir school/crypt complex is simply wonderful: there are splendid great marbly corridors with doors that lead in a most satisfactory way to unexpected bits of the Cathedral or its sacristies, lovely panelled rooms and antechambers that exude an air of discreet ecclesiastical bustle and the scent of incense and candle...and these interconnect with delicious staircases - some spiral - and it all has a solid Victorian feel which jostles agreeably with the shouts and laughter of the children from the Choir School jumping about in the playground far below, and glorious music wafting from practice-rooms and choir-rooms and from the Cathedral itself. I would love to be given a couple of hours, and a torch - and perhaps a packet of sandwiches and a mobile phone in case of getting lost - and be allowed to explore it all at random.

I had begun the day at the CTS, completing the mailing of the prizes for the ACW's Schools RE Project, a cheery way to start the day. As I hurried to the train to get across the river to Westminster, a crocodile of cheerful children from the nearby church's primary schoo went by. It all made one feel that, in spite of the ghastly Govt, the scary possibilities for the future (rise of BNP? Govt's sinister Equality Bill? Continuing worrisome political scene with cynical appt of new Speaker...etc...) we should just pray and work...

I am planning to go...

...to the Chesterton Conference in Oxford on Saturday July 4th. It looks simply wonderful, and you can read about it here. It's extremely cheap (only £15!) and there are some excellent speakers including Dr William Oddie - if you haven't read his latest book on Chesterton you really must! - Fr John Saward, Fr Ian Ker...

DO COME!!!!

You simply must be there!!!

The Evangelium event this year is Aug 7th-9th at a fabulous venue in a glorious part of England. Visit this link to find out more. Auntie will be there, so for all those people who write saying they'd like to meet...well, here's your chance!!

Look, last year's event was one of the best Catholic conferences I've attended - and that's saying a good deal. Don't miss this year's. Link up and book in. Don't worry about coming alone - you won't be. Turn up and join in.

And to Birmingham...

...for the annual summer gathering of the Catholic Union. A most stimulating and useful day. A very good talk by the Chaplain to Birmingham University, drawing inspiration from John Henry Newman's Idea of a University and applying them to challenges facing us today... A tour of the Birmingham Oratory led by Fr Paul Chavasse, with a most interesting talk about Newman, and news that the final decision on his beatification is now with Papa Benedict in Rome...

The Catholic Union was established in the 19th century as a forum for Catholics in public life, through which a strong Christian voice can be brought to the fore in public debate. Current President is Lord Brennan and the Union is active in many fields - recently in Parliament and the media in defence of marriage, family, and the protection of life especially in the face of the threat from euthanasia...today a new development was the arrival at this summer gathering of numbers of young people, drawn via a a new initiative specifically aimed at students. An excellent lunch, lively talk, and much useful networking...I came away with two major new projects on which to work, of which you'll be hearing more on this Blog in due course...

I remember going to my first Catholic Union event back in the 70s. It was at Arundel Castle and seemed very grand. A lot of grown-ups. Today, a different feel - somehow more active, more engaged, a greater sense of urgency. When discussing, eg, the Govt's new Equality Bill, and the threats to Catholic schools, a sense of battles ahead and a quiet determination not to walk away...

Mass at Westminster Cathedral...

...on Friday evening to launch the "Year of Priests" announced by the Pope. And there were vast numbers of them there, filling the sanctuary and filing out. on and on, in two long columns in white vestments. An enormous congregation - the place was absolutely full , which was impressive as this wasn't a much-publicised event, more a parishnewsletter-and-word-of-mouth sort of thing. Afterwards, to Archbishop's House for the launch of a new book on priesthood published by St Paul Publications. Got chatting to an Army chaplain, not long back from Afghanistan...

We are all urged to pray for priests, and this makes me realise that it's not something I do often enough, so here's a resolution for the year ahead...

A celebratory evening...

...at St Patrick's, Soho Square, for the launch of an excellent new paperback, A Pure Heart Create for me, on the Theology of the Body. It's a very good read, and much recommended. Young Robert Colquhoun, who edits it, ran the day conference on the subject - mentioned on this Blog - in London a few days back.All this is evidence of many good creative new things being done by the younger generation in the Church in Britain. The launch of the book included some excellent talks on Humanae Vitae and related topics, ending on a challenging note with a call to raise awareness of the Govt's ghastly scheme - meant to start in 2011 - for compulsory "sex education" for children from the age of 5...

St Patrick's is a wonderful church - beautiful and crowded and peaceful and prayerful and active all at the same time. It never seems to be empty, but even when there are lots of young people around, it's never just chatty. Upstairs, supper in a packed room after the talks in the church. Bishop Peter Elliott is visiting London from Australia - he's a friend of JandJBogle going back 30 years...

Glorious...

....to be on an Austrian mountain-top, Sonntagberg, with a celebratory crowd gathered to mark the newest chapter in the long Christian history of the area. If you want to go on a retreat in this glorious place, find out more by clicking on the link given below (Foyers de Charite). But nothing can prepare you for the magnificence of the adjoining Basilica, or the great breadth of the views...

Austria...

...and a glorious weekend visit to friends. A beautiful wedding, a candlelit Abbey on a warm summer evening, a radiant bride and beaming groom, speeches, delicious food, sachertorte, flowers, hugs, and fun...

And, earlier, a memorable gathering at the Haus am Sonntagberg, which is now to be a Foyer de Charite. Sonntagberg is a magnificent place, a beautiful baroque church on top of a mountain, with this lovely house alongside, which has been lovingly restored by Joseph Doblhoff, who this weekend handed it over to the Foyers. A glorious place for a retreat - the wide sweep of the panoramic views, the sense of space and of being near to God... to mark the handing over of the house to the Foyers, there was a Mass celebrated by the local Bishop, and a lovely lunch...

We stayed for some days with friends nearby...a barbeque in their garden beneath the great sweep of the mountains, a splash in a local river...and a wonderful local Corpus Christi procession with band, and First Communicants in white dresses throwing flowers before the Blessed Sacrament, and candles and flowers in the windows of all the houses along the way...and this was only one of many local processions taking place in honour of the Feast...and a visit to the great monastery at Seitenstetten and the fabulous nearby garden - which has a maze forming a living Rosary ( sets of ten pink rose bushes, then a green bush for the Our Father, all leading to a central Cross...)

And this...

...comes from a newsletter from the Faith Movement, just arrived:

"...we proclaim Jesus of Nazareth Lord and Christ, Crucified and Risen, Sovereign of time and of history, in the glad certainty that this truth coincides with the deepest expectations of the human heart..." (Benedict XVI)

Young winners...

...of the Schools RE Project organised by the Association of Catholic Women are listed on ACW's website. .

If you are concerned about children learning the Faith, please help us. This Project is a practical way to ensure that the Catholic Faith is passed on to the next generation, and it is proving popular with schools. But we need help. A donation to ACW would enable this work to flourish. Donations can be sent to:ACW, 22 Surbiton Hill Park, Surbiton Surrey KT5 8ET.

What am I taking...

...to read while travelling this weekend? Maryvale material, for my Divinity studies (exams in July). Also Peter Seewald's Benedict XVI, an intimate portrait which is a really excellent read (Ignatius press). I'd love to meet the author, who while keeping to a good journalistic pace, manages to unite the story of his own journey of faith into the descriptions of his interviews with Cardinal Ratzinger and the subsequent developments, without once descending into the cloying or sentimental...

Tradition, Edmund Burke, Dorothy L. Sayers, and more...

...do dip into this website, it really is very good. Interesting on morals and the economy, the dangers of traditionalists seeing morals only in terms of sexual ethics...also v. good on Edmund Burke (and BTW have you read him on the French Revolution? V. sound. I've just been brushing up on the subject while researching St John Vianney).

Whew!

I began the day at Mother's...ran out of the front of the house to see her safely off on a lunch outing, and then realised. as I turned back, that I'd locked myself out. Ooops. Fortunately my bedroom window was open - the small one, at the top - so was able to scramble up and stick an arm in and open the larger window and clamber in...

This evening, a lecture sponsored by the Institute of Economic Affairs, by Prof James Tooley, talking about how small low-cost independent schools are helping the world's poorest people. He began his teaching career in a tax-funded school in Zimbabwe. His insights into the reality of education in poor areas in China, Africa and India were fascinating, and well-researched, and challenge many fashionable assumptions. His book The Beautiful Tree will be worth reading (click on that link to find out more). Info distributed about how we can help with scholarships, donating books, etc, look here.

I had parked my bike in a nearby street, and slipped away as the lecture ended, was due to meet J. and an old family friend at the Lansdowne Club. As I unlocked the bike's padlock, my hand slipped and the key clattered down and vanished into the basement area of the dark empty house, sealed off from me by railings and a locked gate. Gulp. Cycled off through St James' Park, filled with people returning from Beating Retreat at nearby Horseguards. Thought all the time about how to get that key back...

Delicious dinner with J. and Uncle B., family reminiscences,a happy time. Lateish, back to the house in Queen Anne Street and with J's help I clambered up over the high railings and used the bike lamp to hunt for the keys. Found them. Clambered back. Home through the warm summer night. We are going to a wedding in Austria this weekend.

To Mother's...

...and an evening of talk and an old film Reach for the Sky...oh dear, what an utterly vanished Britain, not so much in its wartime valour - I was expecting all that, of course - but in its values, ideas, relationships. The love story and the way it is played out now seems to belong to a different sort of humanity, a different way of being. It's a way of being that I still see among some of the young people I meet at Catholic and other Christian groups, but it's no longer the norm for society. And this reality, this sense of 'living differently' in the deepest and most important of relationships, is what marks the young who gather in such groups. They don't want to talk and talk about it, would rather tackle other topics, but there it is...

Will you be at...

...the Evangelium weekend conference in August? It's for young Catholic adults aged 18-35 and promises to be a terrific gathering., Last year's event was so successful that a 2009 weekend had to be held, by huge popular request...speakers include a diocesan exorcist, a young novelist, historians, philosophers...it's in a glorious setting at The Oratory School (founded by Cardinal John Henry Newman)...

I spent a couple of busy days at the Catholic Truth Society offices in London last week, helping to mail out the prizes for this year's Schools RE Project organised by the Association of Catholic Women and sponsored by the CTS. The winners will be announced on the ACW website. There were some really excellent essays sent in by children at Catholic schools around Britain, as well as some poorer ones. They had to write about "What I see in church") and were given a list of things (The Tabernacle, the altar, confessionals, etc) from which they had to choose three to describe and explain. Many included detailed drawings - including several of Confession, showing a kneeling child penitent (bubble coming out of mouth:"I fought with my brother..."). Some amusing howlers, of course: "The Tabernacle is a respectable for holding the Host". Among many interesting insights gained is the fact that, for many children, going to confession is something associated with school rather than family ("We go to Confession with our Year Group.") and rarely ("We go to Confession once a year."). Many essays were written with rather touching comments about Christ, and about Mary, though occasionally one wondered about the influence of a parental hand:"I love Mary. She is just like my mummy - always loving and patient and kind." Some children revealed poor teaching on the Eucharist ("In the Tabernacle is the blessed bread") but others had clearly been very well taught, and were able to explain about the Mass,and the Real Presence with reverence and understanding. There was interest in the details of some local churches: my personal favourite is the church with a statue of Our Lady originally intended to have a local dedication. But its arrival coincided with the outbreak of the Second World War, and a concern that naming the suburb might be useful to enemy parachutists, so the statue was named "Our Lady of Hereabouts" and is still honoured under that title...

To Blackfen...

...and an evening gathering at Our Lady of the Rosary Church (Prop. Rev T. Finigan, blogger).The Rosary was just starting as I arrived, so I slipped in to a side pew to join in - unfortunately making a massive crashing noise with the kneeler as I did so. But the rest of the evening went all right: it was a real delight to be a guest speaker in Fr Tim's parish, with memories of him that go back to Faith Movement gatherings in the 70s...and his being among the servers at Jamie's and my wedding...and his first Mass on a hot summer's day 25 years ago...and his celebration of our Silver Wedding Mass three years ago...

On Saturday, a packed gathering in London for a day conference on the Theology of the Body. A large attendance, mostly young people, a great atmosphere. Organiser Robert Colquhoun is to be hugely congratulated on this initiative. A number of speakers, Auntie among them, and it was a real privilege to be there. Venue was the Cardinal Hume Centre in Arneway Street, not far from the Cathedral - we were in a large pleasant room normally used as a children's play area, thus with large bright posters, artwork, toys etc all around...

An extraordinary week...

...with no time to blog until now. Some snippets...arriving at a meeting of the Choose Life committee on Monday, I noticed a small pencilled note tucked into my bicycle basket. "Dear Cyclist, You have locked your bike through mine. I can't release my bike. I haven't been able to use it for nearly a week..." I telephoned the number given. Turned out to be an extremely nice clergyman from a local Anglican church! I apologised profusely for the inconvenience I had brought him, and we ended up chatting about lots of things...and then, when I related this to committee members, one of them turned out to know him and suggested that he join our committee!!

There are eight million people in Greater London. Imagine that this contact was established out of all of them...

The meeting ended with drinks and lovely snacks on the roof-garden of the Chelsea home of the Chairman. Some glorious old roses in their first summer bloom, their scent the very essence of England.

I cycled on to what I was thought was another meeting, in Wimbledon. But no....I had got the wrong evening! Much laughter, and I was warmly to the family table to join them for supper.Hugely embarrassed, protesting,but...absolutely delicious pudding, sons and cousins gathered round this agreeable family table, discovery of mutual friends and further coincidences....