The Coronation chair...

...is currently on display in Westminster Abbey, in a side chapel near the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior , close to the great west door. A thick band  of blood-red  Flanders poppies surrounds the tomb, and people gather round, falling silent as they read the inscription. Nearby the monuments include one to Lord Shaftesbury, whose great work for the poor including freeing children from work in mines and factories, and one to Winston Churchill.  Then as you turn your gaze to the sanctuary there are gleams of gold, and above you the great arches soar...all this in just a few short minutes taken from a busy morning, and the images linger in the mind throughout the day. We lunched in a pub near St James' Park and then made our good-byes - my sister will shortly be returning to New Zealand after this family visit - and I went on to Charing Cross, and thence to Pembury.

Pembury? It's a village in Kent, reached via a train journey through countryside all green and lush in June sunshine after months and months of rain. In Pembury Fr Ed Tomlinson of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham ministers to a growing flock...the church of St Anselm operates in a hall which functions as a nursery during the week and so has to be transformed for worship, with much unpacking of altar and arranging of chairs and collecting of hassocks etc from cupboards. Hassocks...now there's Anglican patrimony for you. "Couldn't you have proper tapestry hassocks, done by the ladies-of-the-parish?" I asked.  Of course, came the cheery reply, and here's-one-that's-been-done-already, and he showed a fine piece of work commemorating the Queen's diamond jubilee. I badly want to help: I'm currently just finishing a small cross-stitch sampler for a new baby ( enchanting new great-niece arrived just recently)  but when that's done, I hope the parish follows up on the hassocks plan and invites volunteers...

Mass, once the hall was transformed into a church. Then I gave my talk on saints - the latest in a series of talks organised by Fr Ed for the Year of Faith. A good attendance, and a good spirit among them all. The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is a sign of hope in sad and difficult times for our country.  As we sat talking later, we looked at reports and analyses of the tragic House of Lords vote to impose a redefinition of marriage on us all. It's grim: several Anglican bishops actually abstained, apparently unable to bring themselves to oppose this ghastly thing. The Catholic bishops have issued a statement emphasising opposition and saying they will fight for the rights of  conscience etc.

Whenever Christians gather to talk about saints today some one mentions martyrdom, and people start to quote that recent remark by Cardinal George of Chicago...

But there is everything to play for.  We need hope, courage, prayer, wisdom, common sense,  unity with Peter's successor in Rome...and trust in God...