London...London...

...I took a group of school pupils from a big London comprehensive school round Westminster Cathedral today. They were delightful, well behaved and friendly, and looked nice in their blue blazers. They don't know much history, but get eager and interested once you start to explain it...the key is to get them to answer up and repeat things. "Christ was born in...?" and they are too shy to answer so you repeat the statement and then one shyly mumbles "Jerusalem?" and you say "Not quite..." and you tell them "Bethlehem" and there's a vague murmur of "Oh, yeah...of course" and so you  then start again "Christ was born in...?" and you get a chorus of the right answer...and so it goes on. They knew the name of the first Pope - a big chorus of "Peter" and they eagerly searched for the name of Pope Benedict on the big plaque listing all of them...and they knew about him and about Pope John Paul, and of course about Pope Francis...They didn't know about Pope Gregory and St Augustine and "Non angli sed angeli"  but they liked the story and were able to repeat it back to me in due course. Odd gaps in children's knowledge, though...when I talked about St Paul one of them asked what a shipwreck was.

The main interest arose as we stood at the foot of the nave and I commented that it would be a superb aisle to walk up as a bride...one commented thoughtfully that you'd need a long hymn because the walk would be a long one, another asked how much a wedding like that might cost...(I noted that the cathedral would be free, but it would right to make a donation...and then afterwards, giving champagne and cake to all those people would cost a bit...best to start talking to her dad about it now, so as to get saving...)

And then, after a quick coffee-and-emails break in a nearby café, a change of mood.  I hurried to London Bridge. Here, a couple of us had agreed to meet at Precious Blood Church to do a Rosary Walk. We were doing it all last summer, a little group of women quietly walking around the parish, praying the Rosary. This evening, a Rosary in thanksgiving for many blessings received...

There is so much history in The Borough, along this little bit of the Thames. Borough High Street and Redcross Way... the little garden established by Octavia Hill with its rush-pond and little bridge... Guy's Hospital chapel and a lady came in to pray, and asked if we had any matches as she wanted to light a candle...

We are having a Parish History Walk on July 8th as part of the Patronal Festival. Watch this blog for more on that...