Thursday, December 29, 2016

Cardinal Paul Cordes...

...has an interesting feature article in the latest issue of FAITH magazine.

Send a Comment to this blog WHICH I WILL NOT PUBLISH, giving your full name, and postal address, and I will arrange for a copy of the magazine to be sent to you.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Travelling home...

...I took the delightful West Somerset Railway as far as Bishop Lydeard, Most enjoyable.

Monday, December 26, 2016

A traditional Christmas Midnight Mass...

... preceded with carols, all by candlelight, in a country church. Young people doing the readings with clear strong voices. The Creed always seems to mean so much more at Christmas. And at the Acclamation we sang "Venite adoremus..."

Then a traditional Christmas Day with family: affection and fun and gifts and a delicious dinner and a lovely walk down across the weir and along the river...and then we listened to the Queen's traditional Christmas speech, which was exceptionally good this year. How lovely that she mentioned Mother Teresa - and noted that it is now SAINT Teresa. And how lovely that, talking about Christians she stated clearly "I am one of them".


Friday, December 23, 2016

FREEDOM AT CHRISTMAS...

is an issue....read here...

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

...and God is very near to us...

...as noted by Cardinal Jospeph Ratzinger at the beginning of this new millenium...a new analysis of this is here

and the Bishop of Shrewsbury...

...has a ringing Christmas  message for us...

Monday, December 19, 2016

Tradition...

...established over several years, has seen Auntie with various friends from Wallington, singing carols at the beautiful Home where my mother lived. Today we kept up the tradition, to a loving welcome. I am glad we did it, and the true message of Christmas has a greater meaning than ever this year.

Distributing prizes...

...is always a most agreeable way of spending a winter afternoon. It was a delight to go to the St John Bosco College in Battersea to present prizes to three students whose work was of special merit in the St Nicholas essay project organised as party of the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival.  We had two joint First Prize winners this year, one from St Edmund's College, Ware, and one from St John Bosco College - and two runner-up prizes from the latter. I was warmly welcomed to a special Assembly in order to present these to the students...they each received a book prize, and the winner a modest cash prize, and all were wrapped up with Christmas ribbons and some chocolate coins...

St John Bosco College is a vast brand-new building, and the school cherishes its Salesian roots and style alongside a sense of starting afresh on new premises. I liked the bass-reliefs on the walls featuring St John Bosco and other saints - and was also impressed with the smart new technology,  which meant that minutes after the presentation of prizes, pictures of the event were up on the website, visible on the screen in the main entrance. All this plus a very friendly atmosphere, students in smart blue uniforms, a sense of order and courtesy...I enormously enjoyed my visit.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

with the four candles glowing on the wreath...

... and after enjoying some mince pies and ginger wine, we sang together "O come O come Emmanuel..." as we do every Sunday evening in Advent...




...and for a solemn, but beautiful and somehow encouraging read...

...try this   (I have had the book for some while and have already blogged about it. An excellent read, and a book to keep and re-read)...

And this seems rather touching...

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Children tugging...

...a great Christmas Tree up the aisle, while others in the choir practise  glorious chant for the Christmas Masses. Cassocked parish priest organising the creation of a massive Nativity scene at a side altar with a team of parishioners. Relays of people bringing assorted shepherds and angels out from the big cupboard  behind the sacristy...

I absolutely love the preparation of the church for Christmas...

And here at home, the writing of many, many Christmas cards, the pleasure of connecting with old friends.  Ann is a penfriend from Girl Guiding days  almost half a century ago - we have been faithful correspondents over the years and this year we finally met, and had a lovely, lovely day together...our exchange of cards and emails this Christmas gave a special joy and satisfaction and, yes, we'll be meeting again 2017!

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Traditional carols...

...rang out across London's Victoria station for two hours this evening, and it was glorious. Circumstances didn't seem ideal - a noisy rally connected with the ghastly rail strike was happening across the other side of the concourse, and it was a relief when they finally marched away, shouting slogans and blowing whistles. As they marched off, we were just finishing a carol, so we paused to let them pass before starting the next one. (Having looked up the pay and conditions connected w. this dispute, I am underwhelmed by the claims of the strikers and their bullying tone).

The carolling team, led by the excellent Yvonne Windsor, were under the banner of  St Joseph's, Roehampton, but  included volunteers from different parishes. We all sang with relish and a number of people came to join us, some just staying for a carol or two, some for half an hour or more of singing. We got lots and lots of donations - all funds raised will go to charities helping children  - and lots of people took selfies with us, , or brought their children to watch us, or stopped to applaud. It was lovely.

Singing carols at railway stations is for me one of the best bits of Christmas. Next week it'll be London Bridge, organised by the Ladies Ordinariate Group.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Let's stop being intimidated...

...by people who think Nativity plays are no longer allowed...read here

Read THE PORTAL...

...the on-line magazine of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham here

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

London Catholic History Walks...

...for January and February 2017:

TUESDAY January 17th, For King and Country, a look at Westminster and St James. Meet 2pm, steps of Westminster Cathedral. Nearest tube: VICTORIA

TUESDAY Jan 24th Smells and Bells, exploring London’s Catholic culture over centuries. Meet 2pm steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. Nearest tube: CHARING CROSS

TUESDAY Jan 31st The King’s Good Servant, walking in the footsteps of St Thomas More. Meet 2pm, steps of the Church of Opur Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Cheyne Row, Chelsea. Nearest tube: SLOANE SQUARE, then walk/bus along the Kings Road.

TUESDAY February 7th Lift up your heads, O gates! A City walk. Meet 2pm on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral. Nearest tube: ST PAUL'S


More information here


We invite a donation of £5 per person, £3 for the shorter St Thomas More walk.
Students, Unemployed, Senior Citizens: contribution according to your means. Children (under 16) accompanied by a full-paying adult: free. (Max 3 children per adult). Priests, Religious, Seminarians: free. (However, to keep numbers manageable please do not turn up in groups of more than three).




Grateful thanks...

...to all who have sent such kind and prayerful messages following my mother's death. These are all most warmly appreciated.

Normal service at this Blog will follow in due course.

Thursday, December 01, 2016

Announcement

My dear mother, Ursula Mary Nash, went to God on November 30th, fortified by the sacraments of the Church and surrounded by the love and care of her family.

Wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was greatly loved.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her...
May she rest in peace.

There will be no entries on this Blog for the next two weeks.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Mario czy ty wiesz...

..."Mary, did you know?"  A choir of enchanting Polish children, the Schola Swiatio from St Andrew Bobola Church, Hammersmith,  sang at the opening of the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival at Westminster Cathedral Hall. They sang new and old Polish carols, with a lovely violin accompaniment, and then led us all in "O come O come Emmanuel..."   Bishop Nicholas Hudson spoke beautifully as he welcomed everyone and declared the Festival open. The day's events included the De Satge Music Workshop, honouring Jeremy de Satge who did so much for Church music in Britain and played a major role in getting the whole Festival flourishing - and we invited Catherine de Satge to come and it was lovely to give her a bouquet and commemorative gift.  We also had a special guest, Mgr John Armitage from Walsingham, who  attracted a good-sized audience to hear the news of the great developments at the Shrine. We announced the winners of the St Nicholas essay competition - from St John Bosco College Battersea, and St Edmund's College, Ware. And the Cathedral Hall was thronged with people visiting the stalls and displays from a vast range of Catholic groups and organisations while the Association of Catholic Women  did a roaring trade in freshly-brewed tea and coffee and excellent sandwiches and cakes...

The Festival began at the Millenium and is now an established part of Catholic London life...

Friday, November 25, 2016

The Catholic Union of Great Britain...

...founded in the 19th century and with plenty to do in the 21st, held its annual meeting at Westminster on Thursday. The sung evening Mass  was dedicated to the work of the Union, and afterwards members gathered in Vaughan House nearby to hear reports and tackle plans for the year ahead. Sir Edward Leigh, President, spoke about religious freedom, alluding to the Red Wednesday witness of the previous day, and a major gathering in Parliament that had followed that very morning. Christians are being persecuted on a significant scale in various parts of the world, and the importance of true religious freedom needs to be promoted with vigour...

Sir Edward also spoke of the popularity and value of Church schools - noted recently by the Government which is giving encouragement to their development and removing restrictions on their growth.  It seems likely that we will see more new Catholic schools opening as demand for places is so high...

Among other reports and discussions, I was invited to report on the Catholic Young Writer Award and the "Our Father" project  in schools - both have been very popular this year and are planned again for 2017.

The Young Writer Award was initially run by The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild, but it grew  and flourished and the Catholic Union stepped in to help and now runs it every year, with Catholic schools across Britain taking part...

The Catholic Union's AGM is always an enjoyable gathering - J. and I have been members for years and been involved with  so many of its campaigns and projects  and we enjoyed the evening and its sense of solidarity, being among  so many friends  and with much lively discussion...

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

FLOODLIT for Red Wednesday...

... and I have just come from Westminster Cathedral, where it's all happening...

Major Cathedrals, plus other places of worship, will be floodlit in red at dusk today, as people are asked to think of all who are persecuted for their faith across the world. It's Red Wednesday, and in London, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Westminster Cathedral, will all be floodlit in blood-red. Organisers are the great international charity Aid to the Church in Need   and the message is MAKE A STAND FOR FAITH AND FREEDOM.

I spoke to John Pontifex, ACN's spokesman, on Westminster Cathedral piazza.  He has spent the past several years travelling to various places where ACN's help is needed...countries where Christians have been attacked, their churches torched, their homes destroyed...Floodlighting our major buildings and places of worship in red is a rallying-call to prayer and solidarity...

In Rome, the Tevi fountain will flow red today..  Catholic groups including Communion and Liberation, Focolare, and the Christian Workers Movement are all taking part in special services, vigils, and acts of public witness.

You can be part of it too: let's all join in with prayer...


Monday, November 21, 2016

...and it's just as well I was enjoying Devon, because...

...when I got to the railway station at Newton Abbot, I found I couldn't leave.

The line to London has been flooded in several places...all trains to Paddington cancelled. A phone call home, the glad discovery of a pub with bed-and-breakfast, and I'm sitting here with a glass of sherry, a comfortable room, a book of CS Lewis' essays bought at the excellent Abbey bookshop, and a pleasant evening ahead. A cheery chat in the bar downstairs - not many people around on this rainy night, and everyone was friendly - and a feeling of a bonus holiday evening.

...and then a glorious Abbey, and a splendid ceremony...

... in the Medieval hall at Buckfast ,  where amid formal academic robes and speeches,  the Bishop of Plymouth presented certificates gained at the School of the Annunciation. . Guest lecture by Francis Campbell, vice-chancellor of St Mary's University, Twickenham. A magnificent academic Mass in the great Abbey Church - wonderful music - and then a grand Lunch in the Grange...

The Abbey  will be a thousand years old in 2018. Destroyed under Henry VIII, rebuilt and flourishing...as the ceremonies were taking place in the Medieval Hall, the magnificent bells were ringing out glorious peals.  It was a wonderful day, and it was hard to leave...

A traditional...

...church on a green, along by the Devon coast, and hymns on a Sunday morning.  But this church has a special story. It was built in the 19th century as a Wesleyan Methodist chapel, and is today a Catholic Church dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham and St Cuthbert Mayne, in the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. It's at Chelston in Torquay.   After Mass, a delicious, talkative  and enjoyable lunch with the rector and parishioners in the well-equipped  parish centre. Fr David and his family have now moved into part of converted living quarters in  old church offices and cloakrooms behind the church:  stairs lead up to what is a slightly gothic but cosy sitting-room, and what was once a gents' loo now houses the family washing machine...

The church is charming and is being turned into a very lovely place of worship - all the work being done by the parish. There is much local goodwill, with the Methodists glad that the building has gone into good hands: at a farewell service the minister formally lit a ceremonial candle and passed it to Fr David with a prayer that "The light of Christ  may keep burning in this place". It is indeed burning, bright. with daily Mass and  a busy parish life. The weekend had seen a cheery bazaar (I  bought up the last two jars of marmalade for  J. as he is partial to it) and there are plans for an outdoor Nativity scene on the green, and all the usual Christmas events...

Saturday, November 19, 2016

On Amoris Laetitia...

...the most practical response is given here...

When the document was published, there was a flurry of comment and disappointment because it failed to announce a change in the teaching of Christ and the Church on divorce, remarriage, and Holy Communion.

People had sort of wanted a row about this. Some believed that Pope Francis would "liberalise" Christ's laws...he can't and won't.

But people tried to find ways to pretend that he could. So there have been attempts to read something into  a footnote here or there -"ooh look, surely here we can, um, interpret something that sort of might say that, um, somehow you can sort of have more than one spouse and still announce that you are in good faith, and receive Holy Communion,..er...um..."

The document doesn't allow for that interpretation, and attempts to get the Pope to "clarify" it won't change Church teaching either. The Church's teaching is not changeable: it is rooted in the clear teaching of Christ.Stirring things up will make no difference.

Marriage binds a man and a woman for life: it establishes a new family, it is as binding as the union of Christ and his Church, it is a sacrament, it was planned by God from "the beginning". Going through a civil divorce procedure does not release anyone from the lifelong bond of  marriage: it does not that mean that either spouse can take a new partner, and none of this is ever going to change because it is not a random rule but the very core of God's plan for men and women.

Orthodox Catholics should teach about marriage, and Amoris Laetitia  will often be useful in doing so.Other documents to which it refers, including Familiaris Consortio and Deus Caritas est, will also be extremely useful.

Amoris Laetitia hasn't, can't, and won't change the Church's teaching or discipline on marriage, divorce, and Holy Communion and nor does it suggest that any individual bishop, priest or canon lawyer can do so either.








in bright sunshine...

...an afternoon History Walk.  A good number of people were waiting on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, and we set off for a glorious ramble through the streets:  golden  and russet leaves cascading into the churchyard, history around our footsteps as we ventured into St Vedast-alias-Foster and then down to Guildhall and on to Lothbury...we always finish these City walks  by the site of Bl John Henry Newman's birth, around the back of the Bank - a modest plaque marks where once the house stood...

Time for a quick cup of tea back across the river at Precious Blood church. Bright illuminated children's calligraphy is on display in the Lord's Prayer project  at the back of the church. On to Westminster for a useful chat at the Cathedral Hall, plans for the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival well in hand. A prayer group was gathering - they get some 150 each Friday evening for prayer and a guest speaker. A bonus to meet them  - I was able to pass on a couple of prayer requests...

Late train to the West Country for a family visit.Somerset  enchanting in glowing Autumn colours. Everywhere, posters announcing various Christmas events, carol services, concerts.  "Come and join the Minehead lifeboat crew and Minehead Street choir for some festive community singing...mulled cider, apple juice and mince pies provided...."    "Christmas Fayre, St John's Church"  "Santa charity fun run..."


Thursday, November 17, 2016

...and London in rain...

...and St Paul's Cathedral on a November evening. It was absurd really: I had to be there on the steps at 6.30pm, even tho'  I knew that no one was likely to turn up for the History Walk...and, sure enough, no one did. But it was actually rather enjoyable standing there, with Ludgate Hill and cheery red buses and people hurrying about, all in splashy rain and lamplight, pondering all the history of this enormous building and this great city...

I was warm and dry because that vast  pillared portico provides excellent shelter, and there were various stray people there, a canoodling couple, a tourist or two...and I had a sudden memory from over  thirty years ago, and that Royal bride and groom emerging to cheers from these great doors and coming down these steps...and the vast crowds...and among the latter a group of  young Army cadets from Sandhurst including a young J. Bogle and his young wife...

And the rain turned to a drizzle and I ventured out into it, and caught a cheery red bus via Aldwych to Piccadilly,  and thence to Farm Street for a meeting of the Catholic Writers' Guild, and then to our cosy home.

parish life...

...on a winter evening. Rain splashing down outside...the parish room warm and welcoming... over freshly-brewed tea and some good cakes, a talkative gathering of ladies, organising carol singing, projects for children, stall at TOWARDS ADVENT Festival, plans for 2017 with a pilgrimage to Walsingham...and the Rector hurries in to get tea and some food for some one at the door who needs help...and then there is chatter and laughter as we work to put up a display of some of the (really excellent) work produced by children in the 2016 "Our Father" project to make a display...

And  the evening drew to a close, and we went through to the church, carrying the display-boards down to the back and arranging everything quietly.  In the sanctuary there was a candle by the box carrying the names of those who will be remembered in All Souls prayers throughout November, and of course the sanctuary lamp glowed above the altar, and the ordinary London brick church has its own beauty and atmosphere...and  we had had a busy and pleasant evening and some one said "I love it when it's like this..."

Monday, November 14, 2016

Commentators...

...in the USA and here in Britain  are still trying to analyse the American election.   Obviously there's a lot to discuss and a lot to ponder and digest.

But the one thing that shouldn't really puzzle anyone is the fact that a lot of women voted against Mrs Clinton.  Why is anyone surprised?  Poor Mrs C. had become a dedicated - almost fanatical - supporter of abortion.  And the reality is that, for most people, aborting a baby is a tragic thing, not to be seen as something healthy or good, much less as something that is a "right".  Even among those who would hesitate to link themselves with the ProLife lobby, there is a sense of sadness and better-not-to-do-this over the whole idea of aborting a child.   At one stage the USA's Democratic Party used a slogan about making abortion "safe, legal, and rare"...then it morphed into somehow celebrating abortion as something that every American woman deserved. And then they wonder why women said "Ugh"  and voted against it.


Saturday, November 12, 2016

Every day...

...I pick up at least one piece of litter, and place it in a litter-bin. That's the commitment.  At least one. Every day.

I know...I know...one piece of litter is nothing, it's unimportant, it's trivial. But this is an action that at least minimally fulfils the "one good deed every day" commitment into which I entered as a Girl Guide many decades ago: I have several years of non-compliance so catching up will take a long while.

Picking up one piece obviously sometimes leads to gathering up a good deal more and leaving a railway station/bus-stop/walkway/corner of a park  at least temporarily improved. It not infrequently involves a conversation with others who offer encouragement and/or join in to help. It is sometimes horrid (I carry tissue-wipes, and also a plastic bag into which to put the litter until it can be placed in a bin). It probably makes me look daft, but that's too bad.

One piece of  litter. Every day.

Join in?

On the American election...

...we can be glad that the country's Supreme Court now seems less likely to be handed over to the adherents of a dedicated secularist ideology. And we can certainly rejoice that the ghastly "I'm a celebrity - you must think and vote as I do" parade has been snubbed.

Beyond that...it is difficult to see where things are going. The President-elect has held no public office of service to the community, and his general track record is, well, mixed: some bankruptcies,  two failed marriages, a certain inability to steer a steady course...

Thoughtful commentary here...


Am reading...

...and loving, Last Testament,  the  just-published book by beloved Papa Emeritus  Benedict XVI with Peter Seewald. It's a frank, fresh,wide-ranging and penetrating interview in which BXVI discusses some of the major events of his pontificate - many of which were misrepresented by the mass media at the time, and much more...

As always, BXVI is concise, reflective and expresses himself with accuracy and precision. It is immensely readable.  This is one of the greatest thinkers of the modern era at his very best - and,as always, he is humourous, and self-deprecating.

Want to know more about his working relationship with St JPII?  His resignation?  Views on World Youth Day?  The how and why of  so many events of the past three or four decades?  Get this book and devour...it's a really good read. It also leaves you pondering on the nature of the priesthood, the Church and the office of St Peter as never before.   BXVI sees things in the rich theological perspective which is the only true perspective - and  in  this book, as throughout his life as a priest, he is a magnificent teacher.

History Walks during this coming week....

...come and join us!

#WED Nov 16th, meet 6.30pm on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. We'll be looking around the City, glimpses of Roman London, also various churches, the story of the 1666  Great Fire etc. Shortish walk - the City looks rather good on an Autumn evening, but it will be chilly and damp...the walk will last less than an hour.

#FRIDAY 18th, meet 2pm on the steps of St Paul's.  Same route but slightly extended because in daylight.

More info on these and other Walks  here ...

Friday, November 11, 2016

...and while pondering the valour of soldiers, giving their lives in service...

... we could also note  today's news reports describing how students in America are asking for special time in which to cry and ask for cuddles because the candidate they favoured in the election didn't win, and the rival candidate is President.

Can this really be true?  Can the spoilt  and priviledged youth of America really be that ghastly? Apparently so... they were offered dolls, play-dough and colouring books (I am not making this up), along with counselling, and "therapy dogs".





Armistice Day...

...and shops, and the London buses carried notices inviting people to join in the Two Minutes' silence at 11 o'clock...and crosses were planted in the Field of Remembrance at Westminster, and crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square to honour those who have died in the service of our country.






Thursday, November 10, 2016

History...

...and I have spent the past few days taking an American group around London, a mix of ages and professions, and with children too....we've been looking at Westminster, Churchill War Rooms, the Tower...

On Tuesday there was a moment when we were all together waiting for a boat along by London Bridge, and to keep us entertained some one asked one of the smallest children to sing us a couple of songs, which she did  shyly but very delightfully. Then, standing looking serious for a moment, she announced, very solemnly, something else that she had learned by heart. "I pledge allegiance" she said "to the flag of the United States of America and to the union for which it stands..."  and so on, carefully, through to the end with "liberty and justice for all". It was quite unexpected and  rather touching, the small voice falling into the room with a startling clarity. She goes to a small church-based school, and had been taught the Pledge there...

Looking back, it is a moment to capture, just as, across the Atlantic, the USA was going through one of its most momentous experiences.

The Election had not been much discussed among us, and although  there was unanimity in the group in disliking the Clinton ideological agenda there was no passionate affirmation of the alternative candidate.  They had all cast their votes by postal ballot before flying to Britain for this gathering, and I didn't interrogate them about their choices.

There is a lot of genuine patriotism in America and I do hope that poor Mr Trump turns out to be worthy of the office to which he has now been called.

Monday, November 07, 2016

Some wisdom...

...from a Dutch Cardinal. Read here...

Sunday, November 06, 2016

Discussion and planning...

...with the young director of the Polish children's choir that will be coming to sing at this year's TOWARDS ADVENT Festival...come and hear them!  ALL WELCOME. Admission FREE. Westminster Cathedral Hall, Saturday Novembver 26th, doors open 10 am, official Opening ceremony with Bishop Nicholas Hudson, 10.30am...

Tradition...

... fireworks and a bonfire for November 5th at Bogle Towers. We cooked steak on the fire, and baked potatoes in the ashes, and then set off fireworks at the front of the house, inviting Joe, who lives opposite, and various people stopped by to enjoy it all...

We had wine, and Jamie and Joe enjoyed cigars as things drew to an end...all around us were the pops and bangs as rockets from various bonfire-parties whooshed up into the night sky scattering glittering red and green and golden stars...

Bonfire Night is much older than the Gunpowder Plot -  people had them for All Saints Day, and probably for pagan festivals back before that  .I have long been unconvinced about poor old Guy Fawkes as there was so much intrigue around the whole story caught up in the cruelties of the 17th century.  But bonfires in November have a long long history and here we are in the 21st century still doing it all...

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

All Souls...

...and the All Souls Chapel at Westminster Cathedral, writing names of  beloved family members and friends, to be commemorated...


...and to the anonymous correspondent...

...who called me a "silly billy" (rude, but rather tame compared to most of the insults I've received over the years...) please read here...

Pope Francis has...

...a "dangerous, untheological blind spot"...read here...

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

The internet...

...so useful in so many ways...("whatdidweeverdowithoutit"etc etc etc...)...

...has a very dark side. Lots of ghastly things, from vile pornography to the ability to hack into people's privacy/bank accounts/medical records/travel plans.  From the horrific opportunities it offers daily to terrorists and criminals, to the addiction it brings to children and others with hours of lonely time-wasting...

...and rumours. Catholics seem to be among the worst at spreading these. ..."Have you heard...?"  "Did you know...?  And prophecies: "Our Lady said in a vision..."  And conspiracies: "They've been trying to hush it up since 1743..." "Then years later, the Freemasons..."  And fantasies announced as research: "If you add up the numbers, they come to ..." "The initials, if you think about it, actually spell out..."  And nasty stuff, calumny and detraction:  "The Pope..."  "That Bishop..."  and more...and more...

Last week it was "The Pope is going to receive Communion from a Lutheran". OOOooo...er.... Except that he wasn't and didn't.  Then: "He's  opening the way for women priests"  No again. "He's already committed to women deacons." No.  

I'm tempted to start my own rumour :"Joanna has been personally informed by Pope Francis that she will be made a Bishop on her next birthday."  Let's see if it spreads.

Women priests...Pope Francis...

...read here...and here...


All Saints...

...and I went to a mid-morning Mass at Westminster Cathedral. I somehow wasn't expecting to see many people there at that time of day, but it was well-attended. At the front were serried ranks of children from the adjoining primary school.  They behaved beautifully, hands together, heads bowed reverently at the Consecration...it was so impressive that I spoke to a teacher afterwards and asked that a nice message be passed on to the head teacher - and later got chatting to another member of the congregation, who said she had done the same...

I was back at the Cathedral later on for a midday engagament, and even larger crowds were pouring in...people from nearby offices, mostly male (though I know it is old-fashioned to point this out. But there are still, DG, a lot of men in office jobs in London).  The Cathedral was absolutely full, and more Masses to follow...

Next year's gathering of our Bishops would be a very good time for a simple, tactful move towards HAVING OUR FEAST-DAYS BACK.  Today's crowds celebrating All Saints indicate that it would be a popular move...


Monday, October 31, 2016

Right on cue...

...just as I'd been writing about Hallowe'en, there was a knock n the door, and I was greeted by a group of children from further up the road...

They had buckets (!) for sweets, and were all in quite cheery costumes. I asked them if they knew what "All Hallows" meant. Mild puzzlement, shared by Mum who was with them, but hovering in the background (an understandable  precaution, alas,  these days, for mum to be around if children are chatting away to strangers...) .  I beamed and explained: All Hallows -  All Saints, and that we hoped, didn't we, that one day we'd all be saint in Heaven!   And did they know the lovely prayer "Our Father, who art in Heaven..."  Did they know the bit about "Hallowed be thy name"?   And here were sweets...(I was given an enormous bag of delucious chocs with peanut-butter centres, in the USA, so had them to hand)  - and they enjoyed catching them in their buckets...and shouted "Saints!".  I don't know if they knew the point at all, but Mum beamed and said "God bless you!"

Not all is gloomy on Hallowe'en...

Bid...

...from Maryvale.  Many thanks for your Comment to my Blog.  But I can't reply to you unless I have an actual email address...please do write again, this time with an email address embedded in the text of your Comment...which I will not of course publish...

The Eve of All Saints...

...All Hallows Eve...

I spent it collecting crab-apples from the pavement outside a (rather odd!) empty house, its blank windows and peeling paint looking weird alongside all the cheerful homes in the busy suburban street...and then washing them carefully, and chopping them up, cutting away any mushy or bad bits, and turning them into crab-apple jam.  While chopping and stirring, I watched, on my computer, Hercule Poirot in a deep Hallowe'en murder mystery. Excellent stuff...it ends w. Poirot noting that the real way to mark Hallowe'en is to look ahead to All Souls and to pray for the dead in a Christian way...all that spooky stuff has no control over us.

Tomorrow I shall be at Westminster Cathedral for Mass for All Saints' Day...and there  too and elsewhere on the next day, All Souls, I shall remember too all those I have loved and who have died, and will light candles and commit them to God.

Children who enjoy sweets and dressing-up and pumpkin lanterns on All Hallows Eve should be taught what All Hallows really means... and the lovely prayer in which we honour our loving God, with loving hearts:"Hallowed be thy name..."






Friday, October 28, 2016

Catholic women celebrated...

...at the 2016 Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon, a tradition established in 1968 and thriving joyously....and guest speaker Clare Asquith gave us a magnificent description of  brave Catholic women of the 16th century who upheld the Faith and inspired William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale  with its theme of honour finally vindicated and truth rediscovered...a  reminder to us all of the heritage that has come down to us, the valour needed to uphold it, the moral and spiritual needs of our country today...

Every year, nonminations for Britain's "unsung Catholic heroines"  are invited, and they flow in from across the country: a committee drawn from representatives of Catholic lay organisations votes for four of them, and they attend  a Luncheon where they recieve flowers and where large numbers of Catholic ladies meet to celebrate, network, and honour the Faith.

This year's four women include a Sister in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a doctor specialising in natural fertility awareness and marriage preparation, an academic pioneering training for catechists, and a young musician campaigning on behalf of unborn and disabled children.  You can read about them all here...

The atmosphere at this annual gathering is one of shared faith and values. Among much else, it's a joyful, talkative place with lots of useful networking and swapping of ideas and news on plans and projects. It's also an astonishingly moving event: it's amazing to discover how much good work, neighbourly help, and useful enterprising activities are initiated by Britain's Catholic women...

It's a very traditional event: Grace, a letter from the Holy Father (this year's referred, of course to the Jubilee of Mercy and its importance), the Loyal Toast to HM the Queen...my happy task was to give the vote of thanks to our speakers, which I did with a glad heart...


Wednesday, October 26, 2016

So, what did Auntie Joanna do in America?

In New York, I stayed with the excellent Sisters of Life, and I am very impressed with their work and mission.  They offer accomodation, practical help, and care to pregnant women who might otherwise be tempted to abort their babies. The whole approach is one of friendship, love and neighbourly service.. I stayed in one of their convents in the city, which can house up to a dozen young women and their babies...each woman lovingly welcomed and made to feel warmly at home..  When I arrived the whole community had just been celebrating a "baby shower" for the latest new baby, with decorations and cards and gifts in the large pleasant room where the women spend their evenings...

I had first encountered the Sisters of Life at World Youth in Madrid in 2011, where they were running the great "Love and Life Centre" with talks and meetings....it was teeming with young people and the sisters were (and are) young, lively, and with a fresh, open and joyful approach which is immensely attractive...the Order is 25 years young and is large and flourishing and I loved every moment of my time with them...

....And so on to Tennessee, where the Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia - better known as the Nashville Dominicans - welcomed me joyfully and where I once again felt warmly at home and surrounded by affection. It wasn't until the next morning (Mass at 6.15am!) that I saw them all, and just gulped in astonishment....here was this vast chapel, with over two hundred white-robed  Sisters, their voices ringing out confidently with the Mass responses and  sung chants. Nashville loves them: there is a large girls' high school, a popular kindergarten and primary school, plus Aquinas College...and I  spoke at the College and at the school, and also at the nearby Father Ryan High School...

The sisters have convents in various places in addition to this Motherhouse, and the newest venture is at Elgin in Scotland...they have great numbers of novices and postulants, the latter despite the fact that the girls wear a most hideous semi-habit for their first year or so, quite unlike the lovely full robes worn once they  make their first vows.

The Montessori Good Shepherd programme is used with the small children, and it was a sweet sight to be a sister on the floor surrounded by little ones all busy with a small, beautiflly-made minature altar and set of vessels, or drawing some bright pictures...all with a sense of cheerful, quiet, creative .purpose..that rare combination of peace and activity that is somehow the essence of a happy day.

There is more, but that was essentially what I was doing in America, and I flew home the better for it all. There is a sense of a flourishing Church there. And America is going to need that in the years ahead. The political scene looks grim, and uncertainty beckons for the future of religious freedom and for the right to give legal protection to unborn children...




Tuesday, October 25, 2016

...and, with the recent feast-day of St John Paul the Great...

...you might enjoy this post...

Autumn...

...the most glorious, the most enchanting, of all English seasons. And emblematic of our country, with its beauty and its sense of time passing, its vague feeling of nostalgic sadness,  its lack of heat and drama, its deep connection with homely things...

Autumn is a season of crisp fresh mornings,and sudden awareness of forgotten city trees as their leaves come cascading down, and the cosiness of buses glowing in twilight, and the value of everyday blessings like mugs of tea and pieces of buttered toast.

Why is it so short? In Heaven, obviously it will mostly be England - probably Sussex and near the sea -  and almost always teatime.    But I think it will also be Autumn, for great swathes  of time, and for whole eras and epochs... with the great harvest of everything all completed...

Saturday, October 22, 2016

After a wonderful week...

...in America - of which much more later - I hurried from Heathrow into London by train and tube, fretting over delays  with luggage at Heathrow ansd the sloooooowness of trains on the Circle Line...

But all was well. My wonderful husband - following an urgent email message from me at Chicago airport - had taken by Dame of St Gregory Cloak and badge to Westminster Cathedral and left it, by arrangement, in the sacristy. Kind Cathedral staff  unlocked the sacristy door - all of us trying to be as quiet as possible as there was a lovely wedding taking place in the adjacent Lady Chapel - and I got the cloak, and trailed my luggage out into the piazza, thence into a taxi...and caught the great annual Procession of the Blessed Sacrament just after it crossed Lambeth Bridge. I scrambled into my cloak, which mercifully covered much of my luggage, and a kind volunteer took my other case - and there we all were, singing "Tell out my soul" and "Sweet sacrament Divine" along the streets of Southwark to St george's.  For more about the Procession read here...

Friday, October 14, 2016

Off to New York...

...and thence to Tennessee for various lectures ....

Sunday, October 09, 2016

Saturday, October 08, 2016

Knights and Dames of the Order of St Gregory the Great...

...together with other papal Knights and Dames, gathered at the Church of SS Anselm and Caecilia in Kingsway, London, for the annual Mass yesterday. Superb music from the Schola of the Cardinal Vaughan School. Knights in splendid uniforms, Dames in cloaks...

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor spoke at dinner. This year marks the 60th anniversary of his ordination.  He spoke  rather well, telling of the different Popes he had known during his years of priesthood....and then at the end he spoke about  going home, and the final Homecoming  of us all...and as he is rather famous for inviting people to sing together, we all ended up singing "Keep the home fires burning"....

Friday, October 07, 2016

The Catholic Young Writer Award...

...is sponsored by the Catholic Union Charitable Trust, and I am one of the organising team. I spent part of this week packing and posting prizes to the various winners. Info here...

Evensong....Evensong....

...I've become mildly addicted.  The evening light slowly fading behind the high windows, the church glowing with  candles on the altar and a choir singing the psalms back and forth up by the Chancel. The day's work  doesn't dither into a rushed muddle, it goes gently and firmly into evening with reassurances of God's care.

We have Evensong every Thursday here. Of course one can  - clergy must, lay people  are encouraged to  - say the Liturgy of the Hours every day. Reading the evening office in a train has its quiet joy. One can use the excellent daily  Magnificat booklet  specifically designed for the busy person.   And it is glorious to sing Vespers and Compline when in a monastery or convent or simply with a group of friends....

But there is something lovely about Evensong: a gift to the Catholic Church from the Ordinariate.

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

In the October evening...

...A Thomas More Walk around Chelsea, part of the Catholic History Walks.  We began at the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More. then headed down towards the river, and along through Roper's Garden to Chelsea Old Church and the More statue...ands then on down Beaufort Street to Allen Hall...

I had spent the day working on wrapping and posting prizes won by young people at Catholic schools in the 2016 Catholic Young Writer award, sponsored by the Catholic Union Charitable Trust.   Topic for this year was "Saints of the British Isles"  so after taking the batch of prizes to the Post Office at London Bridge, it was somehow suitable to head for a walk in the footsteps of Thomas More.

American readers of this Blog might like to know that I will be speaking at Aquinas College, Nashville, Tennessee in a few days' time...

...and while on the subject...

...of Weigel, this is worth reading...

George Weigel...

...author and columnist, best known for his biography of St John Paul and for his Evangelical Catholicism   spoke at St Patrick's. Soho, on Monday, on St Francis of Assisi,  as part of a series of lectures marking the Year of Mercy. It was superb, a well-researched exploration of the life and message of this most popular of saints, drawing out the profound and challenging messages of his life. A really good evening. The hall - in the crypt beneath the church - was full. Father Alexander Sherbrooke, in welcoming us, noted that it was five years since the church and halls were all removated and restored....Weigel had been a guest speaker during the various celebrations. And the chief guest during those celebrations, Cardinal George Pell, will be another speaker during this nw series of lectures...info here...




Monday, October 03, 2016

The Alliance of Pro-Life Students...

...has sent me a note about a forthcoming event which I am glad to promote:

Celebration & Fundraiser event on Thursday 20th October in a stunning central London location. We are pleased to welcome Dr Peter Saunders, CEO the Christian Medical Fellowship, as our Keynote Speaker. Attendees will also hear from Niall OCoinleain, Chairman of APS, who will share an exciting announcement you won't want to miss about the future of APS and its mission. Spaces are limited, and our RSVP deadline is 12th October!You can get your ticket at www.allianceofprolifestudents.org.uk/fundraiser2016 

Saturday, October 01, 2016

This has been a Dominican week...

...culminating in  joyful afternoon in Portsmouth Cathedral today with Sister Mary Catherine of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph  making her vows at a glorious Mass  celebrated by Bishop Philip Egan. 

Earlier, on Wednesday, I was in Oxford, visiting some young friends and their enchanting new baby, Joseph....recently baptised by Fr Richard Conrad of Blackfriars. It was a happy afternoon over tea and gingerbread, with the baby giggling and enjoying life, and all of us reminiscing and talking over lots of things...and then later I was myself at Blackfriars for Vespers.  The strong young voices singing the psalms back and forth, a sense of reassurance, of confidence in the Church and the future...and then a warm welcome and a  hearty supper in the Refectory , preceded by Dominican grace said in the Cloister. Over supper, a wonderful mixture of banter and good theological conversation...and then more good talk over wine  afterwards, ranging over St John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, evangelisation, academic work, the nature and purpose of post-graduate study, cookery, and the importance of ceremonial cakes ....home on a late train to London with a sense of a very well-spent day...

Then today, a cathedral filled with joy - glorious singing by a young girls' choir, fruit of the Sisters' wonderful work with young people through "Fanning the Flame"  and other youth gatherings. The moving and impressive sight of Sister Mary Catherine kneeling before the Bishop to make her final vows.Then a delicious tea with lots of cakes, and the great joy of meeting lots of friends...

While in Oxford I had been impressed by the youth of the Friars...but now today a group of novices were among the guests,  from  Blackriars, Cambridge - the newest and youngest of the Dominicans in England. Golly...the Dominican Order, in this 800th anniversary year, is thriving and is going to be a big part of the New Evangelisation of our country...

Read about...

...a Birthday, the "Our Father", carol singing, and a celebratory lunch...

All in Auntie's page in The Portal, on-line magazine of thre Ordinariate... Read here

Friday, September 30, 2016

Come on a Catholic History Walk....



The King's Good Servant
Meet: on the steps of the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More (Cheyne Row, Chelsea, SW3 5HS).
Nearest tube station: Sloane Square.

Wednesday 5th October 2016 6:30pm

Friday 7th October
2016 2pm
--------------------------------------------------

For King and Country

Meet: on the steps of Westminster Cathedral (SW1P 1QW)
Nearest tube station: Victoria or St James’ Park

Wednesday 2nd November, 2016 6:30pm

Friday 4th November
2016 2pm
--------------------------------------------------

Lift Up Your Heads O Gates!
Meet: on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral (EC4M 8AD).
Nearest tube station: St Paul's.

Wednesday16th November 2016 6:30pm

Friday18th November
2016 2pm
--------------------------------------------------

Smells and Bells - London's Catholic Culture
Meet: on the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square, WC2N 4JJ)
Nearest tube station:Charing Cross

Wednesday 7th December 2016 6:30pm

Friday 9th December
2016 2pm

NOTES

The price for the three main walks is £5 per person (The shorter walk, 'The King's Good Servant', is £3 per person) Please note that all walks are subject to last-minute cancellation if sufficient numbers do not turn up. However, we will do all that we can to ensure that this does not occur.

Students, Unemployed, Senior Citizens: contribution according to your means.
Children (U16) accompanied by a full-paying adult: free. (Maximum of three children per adult, please).Priests, Religious, Seminarians: free. (However, to keep numbers manageable please do not turn up in groups of more than three).


More info here

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

....and a meeting in London ...

.... with Catherine Hynes, to hear about plans for a new religious community, which will focus on evangelisation. You can read more about it here.

I find the whole project rather exciting and will be following it with huge interest...

This has been a summer...

...of weddings.  All have been lovely. The most recent was this past weekend, in France. The Loire, and a village church. A choir of enchanting small boys sang "The Lord bless you and keep. you..." as the bride entered, and  lovely motet at Communion, and  a rousing Alleluia Chorus at the end of Mass. A village band played splendidy as the couple emerged from church.  There was the most delicious food and lots of celebrating until a late hour in excellent company...

A happy weekend, with a splendid brunch on Sunday, and then we trravelled home via Tours, stopping in the Cathedral (shrine to St Martin, splendid picture of him sliicing his cloak in half for a shivering Christ-beggar), and a walk along the river where we pondered Charles Martel and the decisive battle that secured Europe's freedom from Islamic domination.for centuries...

Saturday, September 24, 2016

EVENINGS OF FAITH in London....



Tuesdays 7:30pm @ Back Room, St Mary's, Moorhouse Rd Bayswater, W2 5DJ

Tube: Notting Hill Gate Buses: Artesian Road: 7, 28, 31, 70, 328; Westbourne Grove: 23, 27

Followed by wine and pizza.

Tuesday 4th October
The Church and war: Is it ever justified? Fr. Roger Nesbitt
Tuesday 18 October
The Church and the family: A review of Amoris Laetitia. Fr. Philip Cunnah
Tuesday 1st November
The Church and life: The dignity of the human embryo. Pia Matthews
Tuesday 15 November
The Church and the poor: A sign of love and hope. Fr. Thomas Lynch
Tuesday 29 November
The Church and evangelisation: A vision. Fr. Christopher Findlay-Wilson
Tuesday 13 December
The Church and Politics what is her role? Peter Williams

Thursday, September 22, 2016

...and if you love Catholic history and traditions...

...you might enjoy this...

The 2016 Catholic Women of the Year...


THE  2016 CATHOLIC WOMEN OF THE YEAR LUNCHEON
will be held on Friday 28th October 2016 at
the Amba Hotel, Marble Arch, London W1
to honour
- Catherine McMillan, musician and writer, whose powerful story of how she battled for her unborn child  has  moved so many people
- Sister Jane Louise of the Sisters of Reconciliation, Walsingham
- Dr Olive Duddy, teacher of NFP and Marriage Preparation
- Dr Caroline Farey, of the School of the Annunciation
Tickets available at £45 each, from Catholic Women of the Year,
33 Ashburnham Tower, Worlds End Estate, London SW10 0EE
Proceeds from the Luncheon will support Grief to Grace, offering healing for victims of abuse.

Some followers...

...of this Blog have asked about a feature on prisons that appeared in the Catholic Herald a few weeks back   You can read it here...

CATHOLIC WRITERS...

...gathered for a meeting of The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild, last night, at the new venue: Farm Street, London's famous Jesuit church.  Superb evening.  Speaker was Jessie Childs, on her new book God's Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England.

The Keys was for many decades based in or around Fleet Street, meeting at various Fleet Street pubs, and then with great success for a long while at our Guild Church, St Etheldreda's, Ely Place.  The demise of Fleet Street as the HQ of Britain's newspaper industry sent us to St Mary Moorfields, again a popular home where we flourished.  I wasn't sure that we would feel so conmfortable in Mayfair...but we cerainly are, and it was a wonderful. Mass in the magnificent church, a talkative and convivial dinner in a local restaurant, and then we gathered in Farm Street's comfortable panelled hall with coffee and chocs.

Jessie Childs' lecture was a tour de force - packed with facts, superb delivery, and a great sense of vigour and enthusiasm. A young and talented writer and researcher, with a careful attention to truth and to detail, with a most engaginbg and refreshing style. An evening to remember. The story of Lord Vaux ( "a sort of  Lord Emsworth in a ruff") and his daughters and grandddaughter, was particularly fascinating.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Edinburgh...

...and a most useful and lively meeting of the FAITH magazine editorial board.

Much discussion over current issues in society...the practicalities of writing for a lively and thoughtful magazine at a time when comment on issues of marriage, family and the dignity of the human person is liable to be denounced as "hate crime". A few months back, stating that men and women are different would not have brought howls of disapproval but would have been recognised as a statement of truth making a useful, if blindingly obvious, contribution to any discussion of the human condition.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, Catholics in Poland found a way of running magazines and periodicals in the face of (much nastier and more ruthless) official disapproval. It is rather odd that one should be looking to their experience for ideas and encouragement.  Some of Karol Wojtyla's poetry was published, under a pseudonym, in such publications in those days.

As Archbishop and as Pope he reminded the world again and again that "there is no freedom without truth".  The two go together.  FAITH magazine will continue to operate in that spirit...

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,  whatsoever things are pure, whatseoever things are lovely and of good report...think on these things." (Phil. 4:8)


Sunday, September 18, 2016

St Edith's Well...

...at Kemsing in Kent  has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries. I always love to go there for her feast-day. This year, I went to Mass In London, and then caught the train from London Bridge to Otford, picnic-lunching on the way as we whooshed down through the suburbs and out into the countryside... and then I walked the last two miles to Kemsing along the Pilgrim Way.  There is a more pleasant route through the woods but I thought I had better stick to the road - which was by no means the safer decision, as the cars whizz along these country troads and of course there is no pavement or pathway except where people have made one in front of their garden...

I prayed the Rosary, and at times in a slightly panicky way as cars roared along...and then turned gratefully down towards the village itself, picking some blackberries to finish off my lunch as I went.

The Well is at the end of the High Street, right by the pub. The War Memorial stands alongside, and all is lovingly tended.  The well has a mesh cover, but you can still bath your eyes (people invoke the prayers of St Edith against eye infections) in the clear running water of the little stream.

As always, a good crowd gathered: we sang the St Edith hymn, prayed the Rosary and recieved a blessing. A cool September afternoon, trees rustling, and the Well bright with posies of flowers brought there by the village children that morning.   Then off to a splendid Tea in the pub, with delicious cake provided by the people who have recently bought up the old Post Office and are turning it into a family restaurant. Over tea, we watched some clips from the really excellent new DVD which features Frs Marcus Holden and Nicholas Schofield walking the pilgrim route to Canterbury - with of course a stop at ke msing on the way. Hugely recommended.

St Edith of Kemsing was a Saxon princess who renounced the possibility of the throne - she could have been England's first Queen Regnant - for a life of prayer and service to the poor and sick...


Thursday, September 15, 2016

Archbishop Charles Chaput...

...of Philadelphia  has just given a most important lecture...read here

St John's Cathedral...

...in Portsmouth is a rather fine building, noble and grand but with a certain simplicity, everything with a quality of  solid worth as well as beauty, a sense of having been created to give glory to God.

It was a wonderful setting for the annual gathering of Knights and Dames of the Orders of St Gregory the Great and the Holy Sepulchre, the green robes and unforms of the former and the great white cloaks of the latter all fitting togetherr well in the gothic splendour ans we made our way down the aisle beneath those glorious stained-g;lass windows.

Bishop Philip Egan preached well, reminding us of our duty to be witnesses, on this feast of courageous early Roman martyrs...and later over lunch we heard about some  current events that encouraged us in the need to be strong and dedicated in our work for Christ and the Church...

A grand day, and it was good to meet old friends and make new ones. An excellent lunch (a delicious fish pie, since you ask, preceded by a  creamy stilton-and-broccoli soup), some lively and good conversations, and useful contacts made for  various projects.  It was particularly interesting to hear about the new St Richard Reynolds College in Richmond-on-Thames - of personal interest to me since just on Monday I was learning all about this Bridgettine saint from  historian Fr Nicolas Schofield at our Bridgettine Day at Iver, and have long been fascinated by the story of Mother Riccarda, who took his name in religion as one of the first members of the new branch of the Bridgettines in Rome in the early 20th century...

Collecting...

...the entries for the Catholic Young Writer Award from the office of the Catholic Union.  The Award is sponsored by the Catholic Union Charitable Trust. There are a good many entries, packets and packets of them....

A couple of schools have been emailing the Catholic Union anxious to know when the winners of the Award will be announced.  Not for a while yet - every entry is carefully read and evaluated. There will be a number of runners-up as well as the main winner.

On to Chelsea, where I spent the afternoon working withj Patti Fordyce, chairman of the Association of Catholic Women, checking and updatinmg the Association's mailing list. A massive task: we had it all transferred to a new computer system this summer and various anomalies and mistakes emerged which now have to be sorted out...as we wrked, we reminisced about ACW's activities since its foundation over a quarter of a century ago.  It is impossible to try to measure success and wrong to do so...only the dear Lord knows what, if anything, has really been achieved...anyway there is plenty more to do as the Bridgettine Day on Monday reminded us of the great heritage to which Catholic women are heirs...

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

..and as September gathers pace...

...the swallows are gathering in the skies, and although the days are still hot, there is a freshness in the early mornings, and  a gentle darkness slowly draws in around supper-time...

Time to think about the 2016 Towards Advent Festival...info here...

A BRIDGETTINE DAY...

...organised by the Association of Catholic Women, and held at the Bridgettine Guest House at Iver, Bucks.

The Bridgettines were founded by St Birgitta - mystic, energetic worker for the poor, campaigner and organiser of good things in and for the Church...

A new branch was founded by M.Elisabeth Hessleblad - now newly-canonised as a saint - the in the early 20th century.  

 Fr Nicholas Schofield, an excellent historian and speaker, opened our Bridgettine Day with Mass in the Sistrers' simple and prayerful chapel, and then we all  went into the dining-room for a talkative and friendly lunch. It was a bring-and-share thing, and there was a grand buffet spread. Then we moved into the conference room and Fr Nicholas told us about St Birgitta, and about the Bridgettines in England, Syon House, and more.... A fascinating story - St Richard Reynolds, the events of the 16th century, and the tragic demise of the great house with its magnificent chapel...

Then the Rosary in the garden shrine in the warm sunshine. We were a good crowd: a number of people from the nearby parish of Uxbridge had come - Fr N. is their parish priest - along with ACW members from across London and elsewhere.

I then gave a talk about M.Elisabeth Hessleblad, and about Sisters Riccarda Hambrough and Katherine Flanagan who helped her to found a new branch of the Bridgettines. An exciting story, as the nuns hid Jewish people in their convent in the PIazza Farnese in WWII...

We finished the day with tea and cake and it has launched the new season of ACW's activities on a good note.  Next event is on Oct 8th - at Holy Redeemer Church, Chelsea, on the theme of Pilgrimage, with speakers telling us about the Holy Door in Rome,  walking the Camino to Santiago in Spain, and his year's World Youth Day in Krakow. All welcome: come and join in!  Starts 2pm...

If you want...

...a sample copy of the Sept/Oct issue of FAITH magazine, send a Comment to this Blog (which I will not publish) with your full postal address, and you will be sent one.


Monday, September 12, 2016

Make sure you join...

...the Blessed Sacrament Procession through London on Saturday October 22nd. It is the 5th annual Procession. The tradition began in 2011, marking the first anniversary of the State Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain.

Procession starts 1.30pm at Westminster Cathedral, crosses the Thames at lambeth bridge and finishes at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. It's a splendid sight as we cross the Thames with Parliament in full view behind us.  Come and be part of it all...


HISTORY WALKS...

...along the  Strand, and down to the Thames and around the Temple, and more...

There is a lot of enthusiasm and people seem to relish discovering the centuries of London's history, and seeing how the names of streets and pubs resonate with the activities and events of the past. St Giles-in-the-Fields was where sufferers from leprosy lived...you often find a St Giles church on the edge of a city (in Oxford, too, for example). St Martin-in-the-Fields was originally a day-chapel fore the monks of Westminster Abbey for their midday prayers. The Strand, of course,  as its name states, was simply the shore of the Thames...

We simply must return to teaching history properly in schools. Today there is an absurd  idea of teaching "themes"  or of doing a random "experience"  project.  So children are invited to "imagine you lived in a Norman Castle" and they write giggly stuff about not having proper lavatories and so on...but what they need to know is who the Normans were and why they built castles where they did.

Want to come on a Catholic History Walk?  Get the info here.

125 years...

...of St John's seminary Wonersh.

I  was at the seminary for some other work and was invited  to join in the celebrations for the 125th anniversary - a most glorious Vespers in the College chapel, packed and with an overflow of people in the entrance area.  It was moving to hear the young men's strong voices singing the psalms. The new Rector made the Oath of office, saying the Creed  and the solemn declaration of obedience to the Church with great conviction. There was a sense of hope and of faith in the future.  A golden summer evening - and afterwards wine and  much talk and the seminarians serving us delcious canapes...a happy, happy time.


Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Mgr Patrick Burke's Silver Jubilee...

...was an absolutely magnificent celebration. There was a long queue outside St Mary's Cathedral, and even while waiting to get in there was an air of great joy and coinviviality.   Among the guests were  HE Archbishop Charles Brown the Nuncio to Ireland,  Francis Campbell former Britsih Ambassador to the Holy See and now vice-chancellor of St Mary's University at Twickenham, and of course a great number of priests from across Scotland and England, led by Archbishop Leo Cushley...

A beaiutiful Mass with the most glorious music. A packed cathedral - it seats some 800 people - and a fine amd moving homily by Canon Luiz Ruscillo.    At the end of the Mass, Fr Patrick spoke, and in thanking various people, specifically mentioned Fr Roger Nesbitt, whose wonderful example of priesthood has done so much to inspire so many others too...

A happy, happy evening - so much joy, a generous welcome with wine and snacks for the vast crowd of us, a sense of true celebration, some wonderful conversations and the delight of old friends meeting up...and a great sense of Deo Gratias for the years of service that Fr Patrick has given, and more to come...

Friday, September 02, 2016

Edinburgh...

...and I'm writing this in Princes Street, right by the Scott Monument.  Mgr Patrick Burke, vicar-general of the dioceses of Edinburgh and St Andrews,  celebrates the Silver Jubilee of his priesthood today with a special Mass at the Cathedral and a reception afterwards...a joyful gathering of friends.

I am often in Glasgow, where FAITH magazine  is headquartered, and we usually gather in Edinburgh for our Editorial Board meetings: Fr Patrick is, among his many other responsibilities,  a leading member of the Board.  This evening, no work but just joyful celebration. Father Patrick serves the Church with wisdom and with great love and dedication, and today offers a wonderful opportunity to thank him...

Thursday, September 01, 2016

The Catholic Truth Society...

...runs an excellent bookshop in the Westminster Cathedral Piazza, and organises lunch-time talks.  Auntie will be the speaker on Wed September 14th, discussing the feasts and seasons of the Church's year, their origins, the traditions and customs associated with them...1pm, all welcome.


The Ordinariate...

...has its annual Festival each October, honouring the feast-day of Blessed John Henry Newman.

And this coming Monday, the Ladies Ordinariate Group will have its annual Birthday celebration, and planning activities for the months ahead. These include carol singing at a major London railway station.

The September issue of The Portal, the Ordinariate's on-line magazine, can be read here...

Saturday, August 27, 2016

...and all next week...

...with a team of volunteers, I will be packing and posting prizes won by young people in the 2016 Schools Bible Project..   This is an ecumenical initiative, and the Project attracts entries from schools across Britain. The number of entries this year is larger than ever, posing quite a problem for our volunteers...but, as last year, we have been given the use of a large room in the parish centre of the local (excellent) Catholic parish, plus storage space for the book prizes etc, and we will work steadily every day until the work is done.

The main winners each year go to the Huse of Lords to receive their prizes (books, plus cash awards for their schools) from one of our Trustees, Baroness Cox. This is always a special and memorable day, and it is a great joy to meet the young people and their families and teachers.

in October...

...Auntie will be in the USA, to speak at a conference at Aquinas College, Nashville, Tennesee.

The latest issue...

...of the Westminster Cathedral magazine OREMUS has a feature about the Blessed Sacrament procession through London  held each Autumn to mark the anniversary of the visit of beloved Pope Benedict XVI to Briatin. The Procession links London's two cathedrals - Westminster, and St George's Cathedral in Southwark.  This year's Procession is on

SATURDAY OCTOBER 22nd, 

Mark the date in your diaryt now!

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

In the local park...

...gathering plump blackberries from the hedge that separates it from the large local cemetery, I was accompanied by raucous shouts and cries from a series of football matches: lots of local teams, girls as well as boys, with massive enthusiastic support from the sidelines...

As things drew to a close, the young people all lined up and there were further shouts and cheers - I think cups and medals were being handed out - and then, across the park, hoarse but enthusiastic voices were raised in the National Anthem:

"...Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen..."

It was somehow rather moving to hear that, coming across the park on the warm afternoon air.

THE FULL RANGE...

...of the new series of Catholic History Walks is now listed on the website. Do take a look...and come join us!

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Mozart...

...at the Proms...following a lovely invitation from  a Mozart enthusiast. "There's Missa in C..."

An afternoon of blackberry-picking.   Jars of jam all sitting nicely on the shelves in the kitchen...
And yesterday I completed some academic work and will submit it on Monday...the summer's work.

A quick change, and then on to a short meeting about the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival: Sat Nov 26th, Westminster Cathedral Hall...put the diate in the diary now!

A sense of  summer reachings its golden final days, Autumn faintly approaching.

The Royal Albert Hall, stunning, filled with awed silence as the concert begins...

Glorious.

Pizza and long talk about Mozart and  more...

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

...and a report from Walsingham...

...read here...

London in summer heat...

...and meetings to organise variuoius Autumn events...plans for the next set of Catholic History Walks...

Put this one in the diary now: Wed September 14th, 6.30pm, meet on the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields. All welcome...

News that...

...some Lutherans have announced that they no longer have any deep issues dividing them from the Catholic Church....which is good news, though I think perhaps they have some things that remain to be pondered, as their spokesman is a lady bishop...

There is also news that the Lefebvrists may be on their way back: this has seemed likely for some time, and my husband visited their HQ a few months back, and talked to the top people, and definitely got the impression they'd be back in the Church fairly soon.  As they have split, and some of the most extreme have definitely left the group, it seems likely that something will be  be worked out...

Today's Gospel is all about the labourers who were brought in later...and those who had been there all day, labouring in the heat, were wrong and mean-spirited when they complained...the message is clear...

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

You can now read...

...the July/August FAITH magazine here...Auntie's editorial,  features on a range of subjects,  book reviews...

Monday, August 15, 2016

MASS at...

...St Patrick's, Soho. Crowded. A fine choir and lovely music.

The Pure in Heart prayer group  had invited me to lead  them in a Catholic History Walk: word had spread and there was a large crowd.  Things started with a lively talkative lunch at a pizza restaurant - lots of tables pulled together, much enjoyable conversation - and then we set off along the Charing Cross Road, meeting further group members at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and heading along the Strand and then down to the river...

We pondered the history of St Giles and the poor sufferers from leprosy who lived there over the years....we looked across at what is now Trafalgar Square and saw it as fields belonging to the monks of Westminster...we walked along the Strand and imagined the river lapping at its edges before the big Embankment was built....and we linked all of this to the great events of the rolling centuries and to monarchs and controvesie and achievements and battles, and more....this was a really enjoyable afternoon, and things lingered agreeably over drinks as the walk finished at Waterloo Bridge and we sauntered across to the South Bank...

More on Catholic History Walks here...

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Invited to speak...

....to a meeting of the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Chichester.

A kind friend gave me a lift. Sussex was enchanting as we drove down from London...cricket on village greens, pubs, the wonderful satisfyingly unchanging  Downs. The spire of Chichester Cathedral soars up. Childhood memories of families holidays stir.

The Bishop's Place at Chichester lives up to its name: it's very grand. It was a great priviledge to address the ESBVM in the ancient chapel, and I was conscious of the centuries of history, and all the different voices that have echoed in those walls.. Topic was Marian theology and insights fromSt John Paul . It's all hugely relevant as there is much to explore ...the whole mystery of God's plan from "the beginning" (Gen 1) with the "Woman" who will crush the serpent's head...and all of this is bound up with the spousal imagery that runs through the whole of the Old Testament and the New...God and Israel, Christ and Church, Bridegroom and Bride...

 Before the lecture, I made a statement about Bishop George Bell, a great and good man whose work I have long admired. Incidentally there is more about him here...

On the way back we stopped to visit the grave of Cardinal Manning's wife...I always mention her in my History Walks around London (also:did you know that an office block near Westminster Cathedral carries a plaque noting that Cardinal Manning lived there?)...and then there was supper in a country pub...





Wednesday, August 03, 2016

It has been so lovely...

...here at Walsingham...

This afternoon I walked, as I have done so many times this week, along the lane from the Pilgrim Bureau in the village,where I have been staying, to the shrine - not easy to do as every passing car stopped to offer me a lift. I had to keep insisting that I would rather walk. It was so glorious, with the wide sky and the wind, and some children gathering poppies...I started to sing...and this hymn seemed appropriate...



...and then a golden evening...

...with children scampering around in the meadow at Walsingham, and good talks with friends old and new. As we chatted, a bell tinkled, and a small procession, led by an altar-boy with a bell, brought the Blessed Sacrament across the meadow to its safe repose back in the chapel at the shrine. As it passed, people quietly fell silent for a moment and knelt - children kicking a football stopped and dropped reverently to their knees without being told, and bowed their heads,  a father gently gathered a toddler close and knelt,  some one hurrying on an errand put down a tray and knelt beside it - and so it went on down through the gate and across the lane, the bell ringing out its gentle message, the faithful greeting the Lord as he passed....all in the most natural way in the sunset glow.

Across the wide Norfolk skies aircraft suddenly roar across - old ones with a vaguely WWII look about them. It adds to the sensation of being somehow very much a part of an England where time and history meet... an ancient Saxon shrine dating back to the years just before the Norman Conquest...loud modern music from a group singing "Praise Jesus, the Saviour!"...golden wheat ripening in a nearby field with scarlet poppies...a family talking and laughing together as a child does handstands... and Auntie walking back down the lane to tackle some emails and write up this Blog...

And  now I'm sitting here, in the village, by the Church of the Annunciation in the lingering twilight, with cheery talk wafting out from the pub next door, and people saying goodnight as they pass.

The shrine at Walsingham will be one thousand years old in 2061, and the children running about in the field this evening will then be in middle-age, and probably playing a part in marking that great millenium.