Friday June 8th

A HOT DAY...
...and off to the cool of St James, Spanish Place, where we hold the committee meetings of the Association of Catholic Women. We always start by going to the lunchtime Mass - which incidentally is invariably very well attended,it seems there are lots of people who make weekday Mass a part of their lives in London - and it's also a handy church for confession as this is available every weekday from 12 noon to about 1pm. We hold our ACW committee meetings in the large parish room which is in the semi-basement of this massive Victorian pile, and the meetings are always talkative (well, obviously...but truly, truly it isn't just me that talks...)and teeming with ideas.

We've just reached the climax of our 2008 Religious Education Project for primary schools, and will be announcing the winners. The children who have produced the best work get copies of the new mini-Catechism, plus certificates and other prizes, and a trophy which the school keeps for a year. And every child who takes part gets a holy picture, and some of the best work is displayed on the ACW website. We do get some evidence of really good work done in Catholic primnary schools. But frankly, some of the work that gets sent in is very, very poor. It is a fact that Catholic primary schools are crippled by the poor Religious Education syllabus they are obliged to follow and the silly books they are made to use. In spite of this, some schools do manage to teach the Faith and do very well. Others sink into the mire of soggy rubbish and cliches that passes for Catholic instruction in the minds of catechetical "experts".

The winning schools this year have produced really excellent work and I will be revealing their names in due course and you can see the work on the ACW website.

CHERIE BLAIR....

According to a report in the Evening Standard, Cherie Blair is to attend the Civil Union (ie a same-sex marriage, or "gay wedding") of a friend, and play an active role by "giving away" this friend - ie sort of like the father of a bride does in a real marriage - as part of the ceremony.

If this is true, this is serious. No Catholic can in good conscience take part in such a ceremony, and a Catholic in public life has the extra responsibility of giving scandal by celebrating the "gay lifestyle", ie active homosexual lifestyle, in this way. Any sort of legal ceremony between two people of the same sex which masquerades as a marriage is a mockery of the great reality of matrimony which is the unique lifelong bond between a man and a woman which establishes a new family. The Church teaches this plainly, it was spelled out in some detail in a special document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith because of the importance of this matter, and the Holy father has made it the subject of specific teachings in recent weeks.

Thursday June 7th

LONDON ON A JUNE EVENING

Yesterday I worked all day with Patti F. on a project of the Association of Catholic Women - we have a committee meeting tomorrow, so more on this then. Patti's flat is near the Oratory Primary School, and the children were walking two-by-two to nearby St Luke's Gardens for playtime. The scene looked postively villagey. The little girls wear traditional candy-striped cotton dresses and look summery and bright, and the school has a lovely image of Our Lady over its main door overlooking the London street.

Today I was back in London again for a meeting of the Tamezin magazine team to discuss next year's Young Journalist project. Bess Twiston Davies is on the team, and we have a young trainee journalist with us for a few weeks...a really good discussion today and we've come up with some excellent ideas, and will now be working on the brochure, which will go out to schools in September... I cycled on to Mass at Westminster Cathedral for Mass (do visit their website, it has a taste of some of the gloprious music you get there) and picked up a copy of the Catholic Herald (always a good read) and also the diocesan paper, the Westminster Record. This latter was of interest because it has a lovely pic of the winners of the 2007 Tamezin Young Journalist Awards....Tamezin isn't a Catholic venture, but it does have its origins in a girls' club which has Catholic links, hence the interest of the diocesan paper, and it was good to see the cheery faces looking out from the page.

Cycled on to Waterloo. Parliament Square is increasingly acquiring the appearance of a semi-permanent urban campsite, with the tents and belongings of the anti-war protesters pitched on the green below Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and their occupants settled on chairs in viigil or standing about engaging in discussions. As their banners and placards get smudged and battered by the rain, and their loud-hailers often distort the shouts and cries they call out, it's not immediately clear - except to regular passers-by, who have had time to study it - why they are there, and it all looks rather messy.

Here at home, preparations for the weekend: we are invited to a First Holy Communion (younger son of some family friends) at Brompton Oratory on Saturday, and then I take the train to Preston, as I'm due to speak at a Family Day at Fernyhalgh. The day will include a picnic, and a Corpus Christi procession and Benediction. I'm looking forward to it, though sorry to be missing our own local procession, in the grounds of the local Marymount School on Sunday afternoon. Incidentally, at Westminster Cathedral there will be one on Saturday evening, it was announced at Mass this evening...it will follow the 5.30pm Mass and would be worth attending, as it will be an act of witness in central London...

Thursday June 7th

CORPUS CHRISTI will be celebrated in style at Arundel Cathedral today with an evening Mass and procession, with the traditional glorious Carpet of Flowers on the Cathedral floor, Bishop presiding, lots of candles, Knights of Malta in robes, all the trimmings...yes, that's right. This evening, Thursday.

So we can have the feast on its proper day, then? Well, I hope so - and please, Bishops, next year and the year after that, and all the years to come, can we PLEASE HAVE OUR FEAST DAYS BACK so that we can enjoy and honour them, as people will be enjoying today at Arundel?

Tuesday

CYCLING ROUND LONDON...

...in bright sunshine today, I saw there were flags in the Mall and much activity with military bands in Horseguards: it's fun to get glimpses of pageantry as you whizz about on an ordinary day. After spending part of the afternoon working on details of the MIles Jesu Walk on June 23rd (see below) there was time for a cup of coffee with a young relative F. who works for the pro-life movement. She's great fun and we had a happy chatty time. Got talking,however, at one point about the various new laws that seem to be restricting freedom of speech especially on religious/moral ideas and values. It's worrying how often this crops up in conversations among Catholics - and all Christians - these days. Talk turned to other things: her latest novel, out soon, family news. We parted at Victoria Station and I decided to cycle on down to Waterloos. As I paused for the traffic lights at Westminster Bridge, by Big Ben, I thought: it's just silly. This is Britain - of course we are free, and our freedom of speech is a part of our heritage, something passed on to us. Of course it will be all right.

Tuesday

TOWER HILL

...by the site of the execution block where, long ago, St John Fisher and St Thomas MOre met their deaths, is the starting-point on Saturday June 23rd for the MARTYRS WALK organised by the Miles Jesu/Continuity Movement. We'll be walking through London, stopping at Greyfriars (site of former Franciscan monastery) for a talk and a lunch-break and at St Patrick's, Soho Square, for Benediction, and things will finish at Tyburn, site of the heroic martyrdom of many of our greatest English saints including St Edmund Campion. The aim is to pray, evangelise, and witness to the Faith. This morning some of the organising team met at Tower Hill to check details. JOIN US THERE ON JUNE 23rd!! Just turn up! Nearest tube: Tower Hill, then walk to the Memorial Gardens (the tube station virtually opens out on to them) and at the far end you'll see the place where we're gathering.

If you can't come, you could help with a donation: Continuity Movement, 20 Fairview Rd London SW16 5PY.

The first part of the walk will take us past some of the famous London City churches like All-Hallows-by-the-Tower, St Olave's, St Lawrence Jewry and St Peter's Cornhill - I've been researching their history...

The LONDON FAITH FORUM....

...at which I spoke recently is running its next series of meetings. This is a friendly and lively group, and I do recommend it for any young Catholic living or working in London. Next meeting is Father Tim Finigan - so if you read his blog this is your chance to hear him in person (and he's a v. good speaker). June 18th, 7.30pm, St Vincent's Centre, Carlisle Place, London SW1 - nearest station VICTORIA. Topic: The Sexual Orientation Regulations: proving Humanae Vitae right. You can find out more about the London Faith Forum and the Faith MOvement generall from this link.

Sunday

RADIO FIVE LIVE

Late last night - after I'd written this Blog - the BBC phoned again, and this time it was for a radio discussion, once more on the subject of the Church, Holy Communion, and abortion. So at a quarter to midnight, there was a debate on Radio 5 about this, with an unusually ignorant Labour MP, whose name escapes me, saying of course he was a Catholic, and who thought that "Vatican 11" had said that everything was basically different now "and this is really important, there have only ever been two Councils in the history of the Church and this was one of them"...oh dear....and that the Church "should change its teaching on contraception" and that the problem was people like me. So there we are. I held my own, and explained as patiently as I could - which probably wasn't patiently enough - that he was not well informed ( er...in its 2,000 years of history the Church has had a good many Councils of which the Second Vatican Council was the most recent and reafformed the teachings of the others) but he claimed he had "read Vatican 11 that very afternoon" and knew all about it. To him "conscience" didn't mean a tool for examining what is right and wrong, in the light of objective moral truths and informed by Christ and the Church, but merely acting by your own feelings and making your own decisions. No wonder we so lack moral strength and goodness in public life if this is the commonly-held view.

There is something surreal about standing in the house late at night, broadcasting into a telephone in a deep debate, with bath and cocoa waiting, as it were...afterwards a nice Irish lady telephoned the BBC to express support and the Beeb arranged for me to phone her back and we chatted. I said I found these debates rather scary and she said that "Well, the fact is, God makes the waves of our lives and we just ride in on the crest of them" which is a grand way of looking at it.

Saturday

FAMILY...

was the theme of a packed and extremely interesting meeting organised by Family and Youth Concern in London today. Speakers included Professor Brenda Almond, author of The Fragmenting Family (Oxford University Press, £12.99p) who shattered some popular myths, including the idea that cohabitation is at least as good as marriage, that genetic relationships don't matter, and that what adults do in their personal lives cannot seriously harm their children. She spoke in a quiet, almost hesitant, academic way and was thoughtful and powerfully convincing - no ranting or moralising. Her essential message was that legal and social structures have been erected that are fracturing the family unit and tipping the balance in favour of the state - a scenario that is having devastating consequences. There was a bookstall at the meeting with a range of extremely interesting books and other materials: Patricia Morgan's book on marriage and cohabitation challenging the fashionable cliches is particularly interesting, as is her report on the realities of "gay" adoption

LONDON SUMMER....

The warm weather has begun. Cycled back from the meeting - which was in Piccadily - via Green Park and The Mall, busy with tourists. Out in the suburbs, the big stacks of litter have begun to fill the sides of main roads, including lots of bottles which shatter into broken shards to pierce cycle-tyres. I average eight to ten punctures each summer, and it's quicker (though more expensive) to fit a new inner-tube than to spend ages struggling to get the tyre off, repair the split (which is easy) and then replace tube and tyre (which is not).

The gooseberries are ripening in the garden, and soon I'll be picking them to make jam: I make lots of it (most satisfying) and sell it in jars with gingham tops and printed labels (done on computer, with bits of poetry or other agreeable quotes) to sell at the "Towards Advent" Festival at Westminster Cathedral Hall in the Autumn (Nov 3rd, mark your diaries)....

On summer evenings it's lovely to sit out with a gin-and-tonic, and talk and eat, bring out the lantern as it gets dark and brewing coffee... It's quiet at the back and we usually can't hear too many of the Saturday-night shrieks and curses from the main road nearby unless there are more than usually large gangs of drunks...though each of the past few summers has brought its share of fights and police sirens - once police asked us all if they could search our front gardens for a murder weapon (stabbing incident) and once Jamie was attacked and badly bashed on his way home from work (thugs wanted his mobile phone but picked the wrong chap, and didn't get it - he gave chase instead, called the police and eventually one got caught).

Outside my window here where I work, the tall rose-bush is blooming and beyond it is a small but agreeable lush patch of grass. Next door, the little girl, who is extremely bright and friendly, waves and grins as she comes out to play. They are an Indian family and her mother sometimes sends her over to us with a taster of spicy snacks when they're having a family party: I return the compliment with home-made biscuits or cakes. Joe, who lives opposite, is surveying his pride-and-joy garden: he has lavender bushes from which he always allows me to pick generously. Summer in suburbia.

VIEW PAPA BENEDETTO

I have discovered a German website that has lots of videos of the Holy Father, including scenes of his recent visit to Brazil. Well worth watching.

And there is also this website which has a lovely snippet showing the Pope with First Communion children (click on to the video marked "Pope Benedict loves the children").

His new book Jesus of Nazareth is absolutely fantastic: opens up whole areas of thought about Christ that I had never explored before. I got my copy from the CTS Bookshop in Westminster Cathedral Piazza, but lots of bookshops have it on display in their windows.

YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP

I thought this was a spoof at first. A lady Anglican-bishopess in America has written to an African Anglican bishop telling him not to come for an ordination to America because this would "violate the ancient customs of the church" and would "display to the world division and disunity that are not mind of the mind of Christ".

Er...creating priestesses didn't do that?

NEVER MIND,HERE'S SOME MORE...

A group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement in Canada has announced it has "ordained" three ladies as priests. Performing the ceremony was a lady called Patricia Fresen, who says she was made a Catholic bishop in 2005.

Thursday

BBC NEWS 24...
....telephoned just as I was finishing work on a feature for an American magazine and congratulating myself on having a quiet day to get on with such things.

Apparently Cardinal Keith O'Brien had said some strong things against abortion at a special event in Scotland to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragic 1967 Abortion Act. Would I take part in a TV discussion about this? Yes, definitely - especially when I discovered that they were also having some one from the bogus "Catholics for a Free Choice" organisation.

I expect I did not do as well as I could and should have done in the discussion but the chap from CFFC certainly got all muddled up. He went on about needing more contraception if we genuinely wanted to stop abortions (more??? They teach children about it every school, fund vast advertising and promotional campaigns with taxpayers' money, have contraceptives on sale at every motorway service station and High Street chemist's shop and supermarket, distribute them in youth clubs, promote them at every health centre and doctors' surgery...and the abortion rate has gone steadily UP, especially among teenagers who are now using contraceptivces on a vast scale) and he also said that a politician's job was simply to say what the majority of his electors wanted - which is surely a most ghastly idea that could only suit some one bereft of any moral conscience. Suppose a majority of people wanted to introduce public lynchings of alleged criminals without due trial?

Anyway, I don't know if one can watch the thing on the Internet, so if any readers of this blog are interested, perhaps they would do so and tell me their opinion.

One Anonymous correspondent always writes in, incidentally, whenever I report some media activity or speaking engagement, and tells me I am ghastly and should not bother to do such things - so I know he will favour me with a comment this time too....but I'd value hearing from others too....

Wednesday

VOICES

...is the name of a quarterly magazine produced by Women for Faith and Family in the USA. You can read the current issue o-line if you click on their website, and please do, as I have a feature in it....and there is also a very good piece about World Youth Day written by a young British WYD fan who is known to me.

Today, in heavy rain, I cycled out to drop a couple of copies of the magazine (which had just arrived by post from the USA) to the neighbouring parish where the priest is organising the World Youth Day local group. Home to dry out and get on with some work, but when I was ready to set out again for London, my blue waterproof was still soaked and clammy and dripping. Rain still relentless outside. Rummaged among Jamie's Army things...found a magnificent camoulflage-jacket, gloriously waterproof. Much too large, so had to turn back the sleeves. Removed badges of rank, and cycled off in it. Extremely comfortable. I remember that the Army improved all its wet-weather equipment after the Falkalnds War, when the soldiers found their boots and other gear weren't too efficient. A new style of boot was introduced, and also a new helmet. They came with instructions on how to wear them, and the helmet - I think Jamie still has his - had a large sticker inside which read "WARNING:DO NOT MAKE TEA IN THIS HELMET.

Long pleasant chatty supper with friend, catching up on news and views. Headlines and pix in the evening papers showing the Holy Father meeting the tragic couple who are searching for their lost little girl...

I LIKE RAIN

Yesterday evening, in gentle rain, to Bayswater for a supper-party. Some of the people there were involved with KIds Net which is a Catholic prorgramme for children involving a monthly pack of materials covering doctrine, ideas for activities celebrating the feasts of the season, information on saints and Christian traditions...lots of nice things. I liked it.

All the forecasters say we are in for a hot summer, so I am frankly enjoying this rain. Cycled past Buckingham Palace, Royal Standard hanging damply against flagpole. Swished through puddles gleefully. And Hyde Park rather glorious at night, trees uniting overhead to make a dark avenue and cyclists exchanging the briefest of greetings-in-silent-solidarity as we pass each other in silence along the designated paths.

WHIT MONDAY:WET MONDAY

On Saturday evening I cycled to Brompton Oratory for the evening Mass, at which I was due to hand out leaflets about the Martyrs' Walk planned for June 23rd, organised by Miles Jesu. I arrived early, so dried off a bit in the Hotel Rembrandt opposite. Then into that big solid reassuring church. I used to be a regular at this Mass, as a godson used to sing with the London Oratory Schola...years whizz by and he's now grown up (Hi! if you're reading this!)... the memories are very cheery ones. This Saturday evening, it being Half term, the Mass was without music, but the rhythmic back-and-forth responses, and mixed crowd, and the warm rumble of voices saying the Creed and the Our Father, gave a sense of welcome. The Canon of the Mass in the Oratory is always said "facing God", which feels just right. Being there, on a rainy evening, in the London I love, I had one of those moments of being so glad to have all this...

It was still raining as I cycled home, and still raining again on Sunday morning when I set out for the morning Masses. I didn't make the early ones, but got there for the 10 am - this has a lovely children's choir and is attended by lots of young families. They sang "Jesu, joy of man's desiring" at Communion and it was so beautiful...Then the famous main Mass at 11, followed by a quick one at 12.30. The high Mass is done in splendid style with glorious music - if they change it to a Tridentine one when permission for this comes from Rome, few people will actually notice. There's a sense of continuity here, a sort of Oratory hallmark. For London Catholics, this is a great meeting-point. Giving out leaflets was a chatty business. There were lots of people I hadn't seen for a while, and lots I'd seen just recently, and lots who just wanted to talk....it was all v. agreeable, but complicated because I was also trying to keep the door open as people poured out, and hand out leaflets without missing anyone.

It was still raining as I made my way home again....

AND STILL RAINING

....when I woke this morning, and still again when I met Mother by pre-arrangement in Carshalton Village for what we had planned as a leisurely walk in May sunshine. Instead, we fled to the very agreeable Greyhound hotel and enjoyed mugs of hot coffee, then went back to her flat for Scrabble (she won, with a clear lead of over 30 points)and in the early evening I cycled back, through rain of course, home. The suburban streets were absolutely deserted.

Saturday

Jamie off to France on a pilgrimage. He is among a large group walking from Paris to Chartres, and hurried off after rummaging among his Army kit etc for the neccessary equipment, sleeping-bag, etc.

Yesterday I had a slightly frustrating day, travelling to give a journalism workshop (Tamezin magazine) in a school in great heat, hurrying to various meetings in London, feeling hot and bothered...but then spent yesterday evening at Mother's, where we began by watching a DVD sent from New Zealand - awesome scenery, vast blue seas, people in boats with billowing sails scooping along under clear skies, fabulous Maori carvings, beach barbeques...we were transported away from London suburbia and loved it! We followed this with a DVD given me the other day when we visited my nephew and his wife and baby - scenes from baby H's first year, great fun. I had forgotten how noisy and dramatic a baptism is - lots of splashing of water over a font, and the baby yelling.

Today I'm off to give a talk at Holy Ghost parish in Balham, to young engaged couples. . Incidentally, I have just discovered that HG has a rather good parish blog.

Friday

Yesterday (Thursday) a most enjoyable evening at a book launch for a new work on education published by Communion and Liberation. I knew very little about this group, except that it's Italian-based and is one of the new movements in the Church...well, it's impressive. The hall was packed, and everyone (er...except Auntie Joanna and a few other cronies) was young. Atmosphere light and friendly, and some first-rate talks, notably by Professor John Millbank and Professor Peter Hodson. Read more about all this here.

The theme was education, and we got some wholly fresh insights - light years away from the current Govt-backed obsession with exams and social manipulation - there was a zest and freedom of spirit here which was just a delight.

Many of the young people present were Italian, and one could tell this because the girls, in particular, looked so ..oh, I don't know, just sort of more chic than their British equivalents. Over drinks and (very good) canapes, it emerged that there is a whole C-L network of groups across London, mostly I think founded by Italian young ex-pats. I would like to get to know more about this very delightful group.

Cycled home across Westminster Bridge (the C-L event was in Great George St, just off Parliament Square) feeling rather good about life.

READ ME....

Interested in my views on fashion, on silence and noise, and more....??? Read me on this website MercatorNet If you enjoy Auntie Joanna's blog, you will definitely enjoy Mercator.

Wed May 23rd

OOOPS....

Woke to a sudden realisation that I had forgotten a niece's birthday. Felt awful. Rushed to shops and bought gift, wrapped it quickly as it looked v. inviting and I wanted to try some of it myself, rushed to Post Office.

PLANS...

...for the Sponsored Cycle Ride are going ahead!! Spoke yesterday to Fr Peter, our super parish priest - he was enthusiastic and helpful. Funds can be collected through the parish office. Spoke to the excellent young priest who is organising the deanery's gathering of young people who hope to go to World Youth Day. He was thrilled too. Lots of plans now going ahead...am planning to spread the trip over 3 days and have contacted friends who live on the route (New Malden to Brighton) who might put me up overnight on the way...

In due course I'll be posting more details of all this, including arrangements for anyone wishing to sponsor me via this blog.

HOT

If today's heat is a sample of what is to come through the summer then a sponsored cycle ride will be quite a trial. I'm glad I'm spreading it over 3 days...and that on arrival at Brighton there's the sea...

Monday May 21st 2007

A GOOD READ....

In the post comes a copy of New Directions, magazine produced by traditional Anglicans. It's a v. good read. The current edition isn't available on-line, but some archive editions are. There is a lot of very amusing stuff, especially when quoting silly jargon and the absurdity of Church bureaucracy. I took it with me as I cycled off on various errands this morning, and was very glad when pouring rain drove me to a coffee-shop and a good excuse to sit and read for ten minutes...oh, I could perhaps add coyly that the reason I was sent a copy is that I have a feature - on the subject of marriage and horrible new Sexual Orientation Regulations and how they may crush religious freedom to speak on this issue - in the current edition (and if you want to see what I look like, it has my pic too). You can get a copy by sending £3 to New Directions at 2a The Cloisters, Gordon Square London WC1H 0AG

RAIN

I actually love rain and find it daft that weather forecasters always seem to treat the arrival of this absolutely neccessary item - water - as a source of gloom and apprehension. For goodness' sake, where would we be without it? Some of the most terrible places on earth are those bereft of water, where people and animals die of hunger. To live in a well-watered land is a great blessing...


WORLD YOUTH DAY

I have been toying with the idea of doing a sponsored cycle ride in aid of World Youth Day. A neighbouring parish, where the priest has been a fellow-writer in the Catholic press, is acting as the focal point for young people in our diocese who want to attend, and I'd love to help...It is going to cost a good deal for young people to attend, but judging from the experiences of those who went in 2005, it will be a great experience. The prospect of cycling around a (rural) bit of England with people sponsoring me at so much a mile is pleasing. Do you think it would be worth my trying to organise this?

Saturday May 19th

PAPA B. TEACHES

Spent part of today dealing with letters etc and couldn't resist some internet browsing. If you haven't read the Holy Father's speech to Brazil's bishops then you really should, as it's applicable to a much wider audience than just chaps in mitres in Brazil.

PARTY

And in the evening, a most enjoyable drinks party given by (noted liturgist and author!), Dr Alcuin Reid. I arrived well before Jamie as I travelled by bike and the HUGE roaring football crowds were no worry to me...roads were cleared by police to accomodate them and cars were banned but a bicycle was allowed everywhere...Excellent food, drink, and conversation, a good party. Afterwards, I put by bike on the Tube to get it home. Football crowds were rowdy but genial on the whole, and the mood cheery. Horrible, gross, sexual expletives, however, are now just a normal part of standard football songs and rants. It was not always so.

Saturday May 19th

UTTERLY LOVELY BABY

Spent yesterday in Cambridge with young relations E. and F. and their enchanting baby, Hugh. This was a trip with my mother so that she could enjoy an afternoon with her great-grandson, and it was lovely to see them together. He had been unwell (very very messily!) before we arrived and there had been a lot of frantic cleaning-up, but...well...that's family life, and soon we were all happily together and he was snuggling the small fluffy dog from his great-granny, and then sleeping while we nattered over a pub lunch. Later more cuddles and fun with him. He found the sight of me frankly hilarious and simply laughed - I too find the notion of being a great-aunt deliciously absurd. A happy day.

Saturday May 19th 2007

World Youth Day....

I got very interested in World Youth Day as a young relative went to the 2005 event and talked non-stop about it on coming home, subsequently giving a lively report to a Catholic women's group describing it all...and the 2008 event is to be in Australia, we have a number of friends who are involved, and it looks set to be a big success.

So I was concerned when some one sent me a link to a website with quotes from the Australian pop star who is to sing the 2008 WYD song. He's Guy Sebastian and the song is on the theme of the Holy Spirit and spreading the Gospel across the world:"Recieve the power". But it seems that, back in 2006, in response to some comments - he was offended by some one using a vulgar expression to insult homosexuals - he was asked to expand on his views and he said he didn't oppose gay marriage as he wasn't "anti-anything",thinks we shouldn't be "fundamentalist" etc. His remarks are decidedly confused. But the website that was sent to me quotes some of what he says - slightly out of context - and suggests that it's quite wrong that his song should have been chosen for the Sydney event.I think this is going to be made into something of a campaign, and would like to know a bit more. There's good background material on this Catholic News Agency website, which gives some flavour of his muddled thinking, in a quoite from him posted in the comments section. So far I'm unconvinced that this means he's a dedicated gay-rights campaigner, but perhaps it would be useful if he could be urged to clarify his understanding of the Church's teaching...

The website that was sent to me seems to be run by a crusader of whom I am slightly wary as it seems that his main concern is in denouncing the whole of World Youth Day and advertising "a new DVD set - only $19.99" which offers to expose the whole thing as an appalling corruption and which shows - oh, horrors! - pop singers at the 2002 event on a stage waving their arms about. On the DVD the presenter offers offers to show secenes of "rioutous charismatic sessions" and in italics "much more". He says that on attending a World Youth Day he searched in vain for "something, anything that Popes Pius 1X, Leo X111, Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius X1 or Pius X11 would recognize as Catholic" and found nothing at all. So he evidently missed the million young people at night adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Cologne 2005, the Pope's sermon focussing on the importance of Sunday Mass and prayer, the long lines of people going to confession...

Friday May 18th

Yesterday at Westminster Cathedral, evening Mass was a glory of Latin, glittering candles, flowers...larger numbers than usual for a weekday Mass so probably quite a number of people assumed they were celebrating Ascension Day....what a great pity we weren't!

I met a number of friends there, and afterwards lingered agreeably over coffee in one of the innumerable eating-places on the new Cardinal Place opposite the piazza. You get the most fabulous view of the cathedral from there. The buildings near Victoria station have now all been ripped down, revealing the pleasing facade of the station, and this too is to become part of the whole new look for the area. It's all about time: for decades this was such a shabby part of London, for all its nearness to Parliament and the Abbey and so on.

I spent the morning with members of the Catholic Women of the Year committee - the Luncheon is in October and plans are well under way. We have had a huge number of nominations for the Women of the Year, and there are so many magnificent stories of service, courage, neighbourly service, and goodwill. Many letters say something like "She'd be appalled if she knew she was being nominated..." "She would be so embarrassed to be thought of as special...." etc. The CWOY project began in 1968 and has gone from strength to strength - in the past couple of years we have had a number of new young members on the committee which has proved a great boon.

EWTN.....

Home late, and then sat up watching a preview of a new EWTN programme which I made with a team a few months back and has now been beautifully edited and put together with the right music etc etc...it brought back memories of the week we spent on location, the hard work and the rain and the great fun and the laughter, the planning and the researching and the re-takes and the utter enjoyment of the whole thing. I am actually thrilled with the results...But I won't give the details on this Blog until I know when it is all to be broadcast.

Thursday May 17th

BIG SUCCESS

A really successful Summer Drinks Party yesterday at the home of a kind friend in Chelsea - to raise funds for the Association of Catholic Women's education work (of which more later) and Nicole Parker's excellent London Fertility Care Centre. Wine, nice sausages rolls and savoury things to eat (we had to rush out and get more, as so many people came), lots and LOTS of lively talk, a packed room of young people simply enjoying each other's company. There are a number of Catholic groups in London that meet to pray, hear talks on the Faith, and also help with various projects, and they all seem to link with one another by e-mail and social contact, so the result when you run some Catholic event is that LARGE numbers turn up and the buzz is just splendid. It was fun opening the door to one group of newcomers after another - "Emma sent me an email" "I heard about this through the Adoration group...."

Thursday May 17th

ACROSS AMERICA, AND MUCH OF EUROPE, IT'S ASCENSION DAY TODAY

Weekday Mass at 10 am in our parish is always well attended anyway,so anyone attending specially because it's Ascension Day will feel perfectly comfortable.

One of the arguments that has been used to defend the idea of moving Ascension Day to a Sunday is that people find it hard to get to Mass on a weekday. They don't. It's easier than ever. If you are elderly and live in a country village with limited transport, then getting to Mass might be difficult - but for most Catholics in Britain, in suburban churches with morning and plenty of evening Masses, in busy city churches with plenty of lunchtimes Masses, getting to Mass on a feast-day has never been easier. City-centre churches are always packed for several Masses on Holy Days, often with people in the porch or round the door as every space inside has been taken...and, of course, figures for Mass attendance in Britain have been rising (all those Poles? Well, for whatever reason, numbers are up) so why not ride on the crest of that wave and enjoy the rising morale and sense of hope?

Another thing: unity. By accident or design, our Bishops have emphasised by their actions that of course one can still mark Ascension Day by attending a Tridentine Rite Mass, and presumably a number of people will. But should the Bishops be deliberately fostering the idea that some thus celebrate a feast on one day, and some on another? Until now, this has not been an issue - why create one? It runs absolutely contrary to the need to live out a "hermeneutic of continuity".And this at a time when, with the new Motu-thingummy from the Holy Father, the T. Rite is - or I thought this was the plan - going to become a normal option and part of Catholic parish life.

One of the best things about the Church is that normal, muddly,look-we-are-just-Catholic-and-go-to-Mass families are part of the same Church as the seriously-devout-I-know-how-to-find-a-special-Mass types. Why drive a wedge between them?

Wed May 16th

CATHOLIC WRITERS' GUILD

Last night Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe addressed a meeting of The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild of England and Wales, at our Guild Church of St Mary Moorfields in London. Mass first in the church, then an agreeable and very talkative supper in the crypt.

At the start of her talk, Ann presented the 2007 Catholic Young Writer Award to Bernadette Pfang, of South London, whose essay on St Thomas More was judged the best of this year's field of entries - Bernadette wins a shield which she will keep for one year, a cash prize, and a stack of books. These are traditionally presented by Catholic writers and publishers, and this year they include the beautiful illustrated book on the Rosary,just produced by St Omers Press at Stonyhurst.Second prizewinner is Thomas Carver of Durham, and joint third prizes go to Elizabeth Parkes of Birmingham and Elena Cahill of Nottingham. A number of certificates of merit were also awarded, notably to pupils at the Sacred Heart School in Camberwell and Oaklands Catholic School in Hampshire, and to an entrant from the USA and one from Australia!

It was fitting that the young prizewinner had wriiten about St Thomas More as Ann Widdecombe's talk was on "Law and Conscience". It tackled specifically the ways in which recent legislation has restricted the rights of us all to live and work according to our deepest beliefs and convictions, and cited, specifically, ways in which the Government's (horrible!) new Sexual Orientation regulations will work. She read aloud an exchange of correspondence with the Secretary of State Ruth Kelly - who had replied to the letter only after the new laws were introduced: it is clear that some one who, for example, runs a printing firm and would rather not print publicity material for a homosexual-lobby rally would face serious legal penalties for refusing. This is scary. And it is up to the Church to speak out and stand up for what is right.

Incidentally I note that in Italy families have held a big rally to stand up for marriage and family values - in the face of planned new legislation which will effectively create a form of "civil partnerships" for various sorts of relationships including homosexual ones. In Britain, we seem to have been able to produce rallies n issues such as hunting...

ASCENSION....

What will you be doing on Thursday? I shall be doing what Catholics across Europe will be doing - attending Mass. True, our Bishops have announced that in England the Mass for Ascension Day is not to be celebrated on its proper day, but arbitrarily and bleakly switched to Sunday. But there is nothing to stop me - or you , or all your friends - attending Mass on what most of the rest of the world, and notably our nearest Catholic neighbours, will be enjoying as Ascension Day.

And no, I don't mean that you have to seek out a Tridentine Rite Mass and go there - though generally I'd be in favour of people going to that if they want to do so. But not on Thursday. That will only serve to let our Bishops claim that Ascension Day, or any other special and important feast-day, is now for people who have specific tastes, WHICH COMPLETELY MISSES THE POINT. The whole point is that we want to celebrate with the whole Church, with people in - for example - Poland and Germany, Switzerland and Spain (who even get a holiday from work on this day).

Go to Mass on Ascension Day - preferably at your nearest Cathedral. I'll be at mine. Pass the word, and join in. And while you're about it, mark your diary: June 7th, Feast of Corpus Christi.

Saturday May 12th 2007

MARRIAGE

To Brompton Oratory, where couples from various central London parishes were gathered for a day of talks etc as part of Marriage Preparation. My task is to speak from the perspective of a married Catholic...then there's a time for discussion which is guided to explore issues like the values and virtues that should guide our lives, and how these relate to our hopes and plans for marriage. The day is part of a full programme which includes talks week by week on topics ranging from the place of prayer in our lives to the discovery of Natural Family Planning.

It was pouring with rain, and Father Charles Dilke, who was there to be part of the discussion and lead a prayer at the end, hurried off to lend me a large cycle cape - - which was immensely useful as I cycled off to Kenington High Street to a rather grand hotel where the

TAMEZIN YOUNG JOURNALIST AWARDS

were taking place. I have mentioned Tamezin elsewhere on this blog - an excellent initiative, it is a magazine for teenage girls, written by and for young people. Its readership is growing rapidly - you could join in by simply taking out a subscription - and the Young Journalist Awards ceremony was the culmination of the various talks and Journalism Workshops I and others have been giving in schools. A team of top journalists were there to hand out the Awards and certificates, led by Cassandra Jardine of the Daily Telegraph. The young writers had been invited to do an interview with "some one inspirational" and there was an excellent field of entries which gave the judges a good deal of work. Prizes included a week's work experience at a TV station, including a chance to watch the News being broadcast live, and a week with a national newspaper. Looking out at the sea of faces in a packed room - with a delicious tea to follow, and an atmosphere of great celebration - made all the work of running those workshops in schools worthwhile. Among the schools that I have visited which produced winners and certificate-winners for the Award were Babington School in Kent, Wilmington School in Kent, and Prior Park College in Bath.

I cycled back along past Kensington Gardens and the Albert Memorial - which on this cool spring/summer evening looked simply splendid, glittering in gold. It's one of my favourite London landmarks. Have just been reading - and have reviewed for the current issue of the Catholic Times - the excellent biography of one of Victoria and Albert's granddaughters, Grand Duchess Ella of Russia, who was slaughtered by the Bolsheviks and is honoured by the Orthodox Church, and rightly, as a saint (new biography by Christopher Warwick, Wiley books £16.95p, hugely recommended).

RELAXING
at home with emails and trawling through the Internet I looked up the latest on the Holy Father's visit to Brazil and came across this lovely picture (connect and then scroll down) which shows him in a wonderful hug with four happy children...and they are clutching COPIES OF THE CHILDREN'S BIBLE DONATED BY AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED!! For years, people have been generously giving money so that children could have copies, of their very own, of this delightful children's Bible with its bright red cover and lovely illustrations, produced in innumerable languages and distributed across the globe. It's very, very satisfying to know that the Holy Father was himself giving out this little gift, and the small recipients were responding with a glorious hug. Supporters of ACN across BRitain, please, please do take a look at this pic! Launched initially as part of the International Year of the Child, and expanded year on year from there, this project has meant that many, many children who have never owned a book and had had no prospect of owning one, have recieved this most important book of all....and all through the simple system of encouraging people to give one to a child in Britain (where children also need Bibles!) and make a donation to fund a couple of books overseas...

Next time you hear a grumble about charities being over-bureaucratic and the whole thing getting too complicated, remember ACN and this simple but magnificent project, and those children in Brazil (pic taken, incidentally, at a drug rehabilitation project also partly funded by ACN....)

Wednesday May 9th

EDUCATION ISSUES

Newsletter of the Campaign for Real Education - excellent organisation which promotes and defends educational standards in Britain. Depressing news - one result of the new arrangements in Northern Ireland looks like being the demise of the 69 grammar schools. Govt regulations threatened the end of these fine schools, and now their fate is in the hands of the new system in the province, which has handed over the education department to the Sinn Fein party which is committed to their destruction. Also depressing news about the merger of schools in Kent and in Lincolnshire, two places where grammar schools have been doing good work. And there's something called "Personalised Learning" which is being foisted on teachers and pupils, funded by top banks, and is committed to "deep learning" (????) which is "the transformation of full personalisation". It's all a gloomy picture. Looks as though the only children who will get a fair chance of a decent education in the immediate future in Britain are those whose parents can afford to make private arrangements. It's as though all the gains made by the 1944 Education Act are being undone. It's all so thoroughly unfair.

ST PATRICK'S SOHO SQUARE
A happy morning atthe School of Evangelisation at St Patrick's. Cycling through the streets of Soho and meeting this lively and delightful group of young people in the basement, ready for me as the guest lecturer, gave one something of the feeling of a Roman Christian meeting a group in the catacombs! I spoke on the Church's calendar of feasts and seasons - they were lively, attentive, and engaging. AS we finished, they invited me to join them for the Rosary in their small day-chapel. Then they went up to Mass in the main church, while I had to cycle off to deal with various other tasks....St Patrick's is a centre of good Catholic activity and lots of prayer - a church with a fine history and a magnificent presence in London. But it desperately needs funds - damp and with massive need for repairs and redecoration - everything from basement up needs attention, some of it urgent. There are lots of American readers to this blog - if you really want to help the Church here in Britain, look up the St P's website and give it some thought. Incidentally, Archbishop Fulton Sheen had this church as his base when in London and the parish is proud of its links with him.

TYBURN

Last night (Tues) to Tyburn for the annual Tyburn lecture. This convent is a shrine honouring the memory of the English Martyrs, and stands near to the site of the great Tyburn Gallows where many of them, including St Edmund Campion, gave their lives. The annual Tyburn Lecture is part of the sisters' commitment to being a part of Catholic and community life in London, and attracts a large invited crowd each year.There is always a guest speaker, usually a man or woman prominent in public life, who speaks on his or her chosen topic - to honour the idea of genuine debate and free speech in a spirit of courtesy and open enquiry. But I think people mostly go simply because of the nuns - their serenity, their joy, their hospitality, their faith. The Blessed Sacrament is a centre of veneration and prayer here hour after hour - even while we were all at the lecture in the main chapel, the sisters took it in turns, as always, to pray with Our Lord in a temporary chapel specially set aside for that purpose. Later - while of course some of the sisters still prayed, the routine unbroken - we were all entertained to wine and refreshments and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet old friends, to chat, to engage with all sorts of people. BTW, a note for readers who are not Catholic, the sisters, wile having the Catholic Faith at the centre of their lives, always pay due tribute to all of sincere conviction who lost their lives in a tragedies of the Reformation in our country, and the message of the shrine is one of reconciliation and hope, not of point-scoring or any sort of religious bigotry.

I am always touched, at Tyburn events, to see the way in which the sisters, always beaming and welcoming, arrange for everyone to have lovely things to eat and drink but quietly never have anything themselves. And I love their traditional habits, white veils for novices etc, and the quiet purposeful feel of their convent.

If you ever have toothache, or heartache, or exhaustion with a wakeful baby, or something, in the middle of the night, there's a sort of solidarity in knowing that nuns are praying and praying, there at Tyburn.

Monday May 7th

SPRING SUNDAY

The fine spring weather was much too good to waste, so with Jamie spending the day playing cricket, I packed some sandwiches and walked all the way to Carshalton (bike has puncture, so couldn't use it). Stopped at a local parish for Mass on the way. Packed church, lots of young families - much very well-intentioned and extremely noisy music led by a hearty dad with a guitar...This is the sort of style that seems to work well for young married couples and their children, but isn't terribly appealing to young singles (although of course, in the London suburbs, these do have the option of going elsewhere, esp to one of the big London churches with a v. different style). These families are exactly the sort with whom I get on best - they're the ones whose values I share, whom I meet at Catholic events, to whom I give talks and who buy my books. They support the pro-life movement and are active in lots of good things in the local and wider community. They are there in force at big events like "Celebrate!" where they enjoy family-based activities, inspiring talks, calls to evangelise neighbours, and a sense of mission. The church notice-boards were crammed with items promoting EWTN, Days with Mary, a retreat at a traditional-style monastery, information on vocations to the priesthood, pro-life material. But the guitar throbbing, the microphones, the beat, the sheer noise....Can't we get something going in the spirit of Sacramentum Caritatis, to get people singing some Latin, and enjoying something of a great heritage of music that belongs to the Church and us all? Is this guitar-beat enough to sustain a generation's faith in what could be very tough times ahead?

CARSHALTON HOUSE
I met Mother as planned outside Carshalton's old church (where there was a wedding going on, which was nice) and we enjoyed an afternoon looking round Carshalton House. THis is an 18th century house with some lovely rooms, open to the public on guided tours from time to time - and I was at school here, St Philomena's. As we passed the swimming-bath, I rushed to see if my name was still there, carved into one of the bricks and it is, it is!!! It took me some while to do it, one summer term when I was in the Lower V1, and we used to spend lunchtimes sitting and talking on the steps in the sunshine.

We visited the Hermitage in the grounds - which we girls used to call the Grotto, a lovely 18th century folly, set into the rise of the hill overlooking what used to be the lake (I have a picture of my sister posing as a saint in one of the niches there!). This corner of the grounds is badly in need of some care - massively overgrown and if water did start to return to the lake, which is sometimes does depending on the water-table, it would just be a mess because it's all filled with grass and trees and tangled growth. Difficult to get funds to enable maintenance work to be done on the scale needed - and in its wildness it was all rather glorious anyway.

The tour finished in the Water Tower, which M. and I had visited last week. We had tea there and I got chatting to the Chairman of the Friends of Carshlton Water Tower - would like to help with their fund-raising etc.

Friday May 4th 2007

A HAPPY EVENING

To the parish of Our Lady and St Joseph In London N1, nearest tube: Highbury and Islington. I arrived as Father Nicholas Schofield was preaching at the evening Mass, honouring the English Martyrs. It was something of a rallying-call to us all to think about our country...then followed a Holy Hour as it was the First Friday. Glowing candles on the altar, people praying the Rosary, a good number of people with a wide range of ages and races, a sense that being a Catholic means belonging to something that goes on from century to century...

After this, the meeting at which I was to speak. The parish has regular gatherings with guest speakers, under the title of the "William Lockhart Society", Fr Lockhart being a contemporary of Newman, and a convert shortly before him, later a Rosminian priest. He worked here at O.L. and St Joseph's, before going on to St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, then newly re-acquired as a Catholic church after centuries of other use.

Theme of my talk was "Celebrating Traditional Feasts and Seasons", explaining the Christian calendar and how it all fits together (Lady Day is 9 months before Christmas, St John the Baptist's Birthday at midsummer, Lent and Easter, fasting and feasting, etc etc etc). It's the quirky bits of information that people enjoy - the Tube Station that commemorates the Annunciation (The Angel, Islington - named after a pub of that name which dates back to Medieval times and depicts the Angel greeting Mary); the flowers and herbs named after Our Lady (marigolds, rosemary); the traditions for Maundy Thursday; the origins of words and their links with one another (eg simnel cake from the Latin similia, same word as the modern Italian semolina)...etc....etc....

(Interested? There's LOTS more in my "Book of Feasts and Seasons" (send me £7.95p or equivalent in US dollars, plus say £1 for postage: Mrs J.Bogle, c/o 34 Barnard Gardens New Malden Surrey KT3 6QG).

The meeting was well-attended and the atmosphere was great: friendly, chatty, talkative, neighbourly. This must be a v. good parish. Afterwards a hugely enjoyable supper with Fr Nicholas and friends.

Home v. late, happy after a lovely evening...waiting at local bus stop, the joy rather evaporated as hordes of adolescent children streamed out, shouting, vomiting, swearing. One lad sat next to me eating chips and drinking from a can: he looked about 14, but presumably must have been older as he and his mates had clearly spent the evening in the pub. None of these young people looked at all as if they had been having a happy time. Police hover about, and there is an air of menace. No, nothing special - just a Friday night in a prosperous London suburb. Depressing.

SPRINGTIME AND THE POPE

A glorious spring day and a train trip out of London, alighting at Bicester North...my destination was the extremely agreeable book club run each month by Breff and Jill Kelly at which I was to be this month's guest speaker. Topic: Pope Benedict XV1 and if you haven't bought my book on him, simply send me an immediate comment to this blog INCLUDING AN EMAIL ADDRESS WHERE I CAN REACH YOU and I'll arrange for you to get one...

The room filled up in a friendly atmosphere, freshly-brewed coffee was served,and it was a delight to speak in this pleasant sunny room to an eager audience. I hugely enjoy talking about Papa Benedict, dispelling the media-myths, explaining about his books, his teaching work, life in post-war Germany, and more...afterwards I was entertained to a delicious lunch out on the terrace, seated next to an adorable Kelly baby grandson, lots of talk and laughter...oh, the best, best possible way to spend a day...

Breff K. has a delightful story about Papa B: when, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he came to speak in Cambridge, Breff attended and found it basolutely fascinating. He later wrote to the Cardinal to say so, adding that it had happened to be his birthday and the talk had been a perfect way to mark the day. He didn't expect a reply but....the next year, on his birthday, he recieved a card from Cardinal Ratzinger!

THE POPE'S BAVARIA

And then, in the evening, a meeting of my Catholic Cultural Group, at which the guest speaker was Fr Nicholas Schofield,: I had invited him to speak on "The Pope's Bavaria" as he has made several trips to that land, and indeed has just returned from one. He really made it all come alive for us - glorious baroque churches, and tasty sausages, and all. He spoke at some length about the heroic priests of Dachau - about young Karl Leisner, secretly ordained in this concentration camp and now beatified by the Church - surely a patron saint for today's young men training for the priesthood...If you want to catch some of the flavour of Fr Nicholas' talk, visit his own blog which has pictures and lots of descriptions of his travels...

As it happens, on Friday I am guest speaker at Fr N's parish, which rounds things off rather nicely.

Tuesday May 1st

HURRAH!

Some happy news from Australia. A longstanding family friend, Mgr Peter Elliott, has just been appointed auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne. This is very good news for the Church and for Australia. Father Peter is the author of several books - his first was in the early 1970s when he produced a delightful "Thoughts of Jesus Christ" to counter the "Thoughts of Chairman Mao". He has long experience of parish life, and also of work in Rome where he was for some while at the Pontifical Council for the Family. While in Rome, he'd often visit Britain, and stayed with us amid cheerful chaos when we were just moving in to our present house - sleeping on a put-you-up bed next to a not-yet-fully-unpacked refrigerator. I remember some happy days out to all sorts of places, including an unforgettable day with Malcolm and Kitty Muggeridge in their Sussex cottage...memorable talks, walks, exchanges of ideas, laughter...

LONDON...

...is horrid in hot weather, and one can feel things warming up for the long stretch of summer heat ahead. Current fashion rules dictate very tight, black trousers, or of course tight denim jeans, for women and girls - they all look dreadfully hot. Waiting at Clapham Junction today I surveyed the crowded platform opposite. How same-ish and dreary we all look, compared to the way things used to be when there was a much greater variety in dress: today black or blue trousers are the rule for virtually everyone, except for a few, very very few, men in suits (but most men who wear suits at work leave them at the office and travel home in jeans). A woman in a dress is a rarity in a London crowd - some do wear skrts and shirts (as I do) but the summery look of a light-coloured dress is very rare. Will people still feel obliged to be in black and dark blue trousers throughout June, July, and August?

Monday April 30th
Young people from the School of Evangelisation at St Patrick's, Soho Square, were at Westminster Cathedral for the Chrism Mass in Holy Week with the idea of showing support for priests - and a team of us from the Association of Catholic Women had had the same idea and we joined forces with great joy : at last week's ACW committee meeting we enjoyed pix of the event and we will certainly be returning next year. Henry from The School of Evangelisation has now sent me a nice note (see COMMENTS to this blog) asking that I publicise their blog, which I gladly do. I have been invited to give a talk at St Patrick's later this term and am looking forward to it.

OLD SCHOOL....

Yesterday a delightful visit to my old school, St Philomena's in Carshalton. Well, not officially a visit to the school....in the grounds is a magnificent and unique water-tower, built by a former owner of the property, Sir John Fellowes, in the early 18th century. (He made a great deal of money from the South Sea Bubble scheme, bought Carshalton House and lived there in some style...much later, it was bought by the Daughters of the Cross, and they founded a school there in the 1890s). Cycling past the Tower, on my way to meet Mother for a walk and cup of tea, I saw a notice announcing that it was Open to the Public (admission 75p!)...so of course we went there.

Oh, nostalgia...the main room, which was originally an orangery, was the room where I first attended school: oh, I remember a rocking-horse, and little blue tables and chairs...and dear Miss Gibbons, who presided over the Kingergarten...and next door was the next class, called Transition, with Sister Mary Kevin in charge...

But what I hadn't known was that this unique building housed a magnificent water-pumping system, used to pipe the clear fresh water from one of Carshalton's many springs. There is a superb tiled bathroom, each tile hand-painted, and with steps going down to a glorious deep bath - it would be so enjoyable to have a swim in it! Of course all this was boarded over when we children ate our (horrid, horrid) lunches in that room years ago.

The nice volunteers in charge invited me to contribute memories for their Newsletter, which I'll do with pleasure. My memories of the Tower are, apart from the nasty meals, very happy ones. There is now a group called the Friends of Carshalton Water Tower (136 West St, Carshalton SM5 2NR tel 020 8 647 0984). The whole building has been beautifully restored - the Orangery is not unlike the one at Kensington Palace and it really is well worth seeing and the whole place be hired out for sociual functions etc. I do most warmly recommend it.

Sunday April 29th

In hot sunshine yesterday, to Fulham, where I got caught up in the massive football crowds. It was good to escape and settle down at my destination, the pleasant study where I handed over the entries for the judging of the Catholic Young Writer Award, sponsored by The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild of England and Wales. A winner and two runners-up will finally be chosen - no, I'm not giving their names until they have been personally notified - and the winner will come to the Writers' Guild meeting in a couple of weeks' time, to recieve the shield, cheque, and certificate. A number of Certificates of Merit were also awarded, including several to one particular school which sent in a good number of entries. In fact, the enthusiasm shown by this particular school, was such that it was decided to award the school itself a certificate - the first time we have done this.

Discussion on this blog re home-education, ie families not sending their children to school but teaching them at home. Of course this is an excellent thing for families that want to do it - and was standard for daughters in middle-class and upper-class homes throughout the 19th and well into the early part of the 20th century. And the families that do it today tend to be those who tackle it with great dedication, and produce superb results. But it would be terribly cruel for the Church to announce this as the norm: it's like suggesting that because some families can cope well with ill or frail elderly relatives, there is no need for any care-homes or visiting nurses, or day centres! I know a number of families who educate their own children at home - they tend to be highly committed, and if they are Catholic they tend to be v. devout, keen on lots of Latin etc etc. All very delightful and splendid. But what about all the other children in Britain? Are we meant to mumble that "it's up to the parents" and ignore their needs?

SALVE REGINA

...is the title of a beautiful new hardback illustrated book of traditional Catholic prayers, produced by Stonyhurst College. It was an initiative of two pupils and is the result of research among some of the College's fabulous collection of old manuscripts. The result is a feast of medieval artwork, together with a collection of prayers, some taken from the Sarum Primer. It also has the whole Rosary - including the new Mysteries of Light - and an explanation of how illuminated manuscripts were made (did you know that the thick ink was made by boiling oak-apples, and that the bright blue colours came from lapis lazuli from Afghanistan?). Warmly recommended: £12.95p from St Omers Press. Contact www.stomerspress.co.uk or phone 01254 836345 Jan Graffius.

WORRIED....

The Family Bulletin of the useful organisation Family and Youth Concern arrives in the post. It includes a detailed analysis of the Govt's new Sexual Orientation Regulations. The full implications of these, and especially the restrictions they carry on the teaching of religious and moral; values to children, have not yet been fully graped by many (most?) Christian organisations or other community groups. It looks as though even the giving of private advice might be subject to the possibility of legal action, for example a priest urging people to uphold the principle of male/female marriage and not to do anything which blurs the distinction between this and a homosexual union.

I think a lot of people are simply hoping that these Regulations will be largely ignored or will simply go away. Hmmmm. They come into force on April 30th.

SEA AND HISTORY

I got up early to walk by the sea and explore the town. It was bliss to be running along the seashore on the edge of Scotland on an April morning. The ruined hulk of castle and cathedral that stand up starkly against the sky and sea tell a grim story of Scotland's religious battles of long ago , and then as you turn inland there is the pleasant town and friendly people greeting you with "good morning" and freshly-brewed coffee at a cafe, and shops selling all those Scottish things like marmalade in nice jars and tins of shortbread with Bonniee Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald.

A group of young people - organisers of last night's meeting - joined me for breakfast and were very good company. They took me for a proper tour (story of St Regulus, bringing of St Andrew's relics to Scotland, etc) and we skimmed stones into the sea and talked about university life, and plans for the CathSoc barbeque and the success of their recent celigh (sp??)and more.... I hugely enjoyed it all, and it was just such a great pleasure to be with this delightful group of young people with their laughter and enthusiasm....Finally, they went off to lectures and to write dissertations and things (end-of-term pressures loominmg) and we said our goodbyes and I was off in a taxi to Leuchars station and thence to Ednburgh and the flight home.

Every time I talk to a group of young Catholics like this I recognise what the H. Father meant when he said at his inauguration "The Church is alive - and the Church is young!"

St ANDREW'S UNIVERSITY

A wonderful visit to St Andrew's, in Scotland, where I gave a talk to the Catholic Society at the University. Great fun, and a delightful bunch of young people. Mass first in the chapel - as we prayed, a glorious evening sun played on the silvery sea beyond the window and dusk fell gently...this really is a most beautiful corner of the world.

My talk was on "The Church and Women", looked at what Christianity has done for women, the role played by remarkable Catholic women down the centuries etc etc. We looked at the whole idea of the Church as the Bride of Christ, the meaning of the Cana miracle, Christ as the Bridegroom....and the Mass as having a "nuptial meaning" and that is why the Church is now Mother Church and we are all children of that union...it all gets v. interesting. There is a useful Catholic Truth Society leaflet about why the Church doesn't have women priests, and I was glad to see copies of this - and other excellent CTS material - at the Chaplaincy.

As evening ended, we had Compline in the chapel, by candlelight, with the sea now a gleaming vision of beaten silver in the distance. The young voices sang an evening hymn and said Compline beautifully, and it reminded me of evenings at summer youth gatherings of the FAITH Movement years ago, the same sense of youthful unity, of friends praying together at the end of the day.

Tuesday April 24th

AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED

To Brompton Oratory for a Board meeting of the UK section of the international charity Aid to the Church in Need. As always, lots to plan and discuss. All sorts of good things happening: a recent wonderful pilgrimage to Walsingham, sales of v. popular Easter cards (the office actually ran out of all stocks and there'll have to be a massive printing next year. This is great for fund-raising...but my heart sinks slightly. Does this mean that sending Easter cards is going to be like the Great Christmas Card Hassle each year, with days and days spent over address-book and lists???. Oh dear...) Over lunch, a discussion on, among other things, the situation of the Church in Pakistan (where ACN is giving help to a number of churches), the plans for future activities of the charity in Britain.

Much discussion, too, about the Internet. I sometimes think that what is being cosily termed the "Catholic blogosphere" is a good deal smaller than it seems: I get a lot of hits on to this blog but I suspect that many are from people who simply like cruising from Catholic blog to Catholic blog within a limited frame of reference and they visit a rather small number of blogs but very frequently.. That doesn't mean I'm reaching many people: it means that a smallish number visit me - and a smallish group of other blogs - a lot! One can see the emergence of a group-culture within this (friendly and pleasant, but nevertheless rather inward-looking?) group: in-jokes,chatty references, etc within a limited network. No,no...I'm not objecting. But it's not quite the wide-ranging readership I had imagined might be out there...

So if you are a new reader, and/or you are some one who doesn't just like reading Catholic blogs, do drop me a comment! I'd like to know about you!

ST GEORGE'S DAY

The London suburbs are all apple blossom and cherry blossom at the moment, and sometimes there is an enchanting delicate little shower of it, like confetti at a wedding, which catches you as you cycle past.

The bells of Westminster Abbey were ringing out, crashing peal on peal, as I rounded Parliament Square on my way to the City for the St George's Day meeting of the Catholic Writers' Guild. We now meet at St Mary Moorfields, after many happy years at St Etheldreda's, Ely Place. (Fr Kit Cunningham, of St E's, recently retired - I was honoured to be invited to write the tribute to him in the diocesan newspaper, the Westminster Record). It's easy to miss St Mary's - which is intentional, because when it was built, Catholics still had to be rather private (oh, well, all right, secret) so it has a hidden, semi-underground feel. This also makes the church - which is beautiful, and enormously popular as a venue for weekday Masses among the younger City workers - rather hot. Even on this mild evening, it felt very warm: there are no windows giving access to the outside air. But it was a beautiful St George's Day Mass and Fr Peter Newby, our Chaplain, spoke about St George as England's patron saint, reminding us that the very identity of our country is bound up with the traditional Christian faith, and we must pray and work for the revival of this Faith in England today.

Speaker at the meeting - held in the lower crypt after the usual delicious and talkative supper - was Maggie Fergusson, author of the much-acclaimed biography of the poet George Mackay Brown. Her book is warmly recommended. His poetry is glorious, and his story - a convert to the Catholic faith, growing ip in Orkney - an extraordinary one.

Meetings of the Writers' Guild are always so enjoyable. I sat next to David Twiston Davies of the Daily Telegraph - his daughter Bess, also a journalist, was with me on Friday afternoon as we worked on the "Young Journalist" project for Tamezin magazine.(excellent magazine for teenage girls - recommended). The vote of thanks was given by novelist Piers Paul Read, who is a former Master of the GUild and helped to shape it in its prent form. Others present included Lynette Brurrows, whose excellent book on raising children Good Children, is still popular and who is always so courageous and refreshing in sticking up for family values in debates on TV and radio.

It was good cycling home in the cool breeze along by the river, which glitters at night with all the lit-up buildings and city activity alongside.

HURRAH FOR PAPA B!!

A major part of our Easter is watching the Holy Father on TV giving the Urbi et Orbi blessing. One can now watch all the beautiful Holy Week ceremonies on TV on one's computer: you just tap in "Television Catholique" into Google and then choose from various Papal events....

I have also enjoyed reading the text of the what the H>Father actually said in his Easter words. Read here for example.

BTW, the way the way Papa Benedict celebrates Mass is a model for others to note: measured, dignified, noit drawing attention to himself but to what is taking place at the altar.

Thursday April 19th 2007

YOUTH AT THE ORATORY

A beautiful and packed room at Brompton Oratory, where young people arrived for one of the regular monthly evening gatherings - well over 100 of them, with a friendly atmosphere and a sense of life and vibrancy. I was speaking on "Women and the Church" and the evening was really encouraging - good questions and discussion, a glorious buzz of talk over sandwiches and wine afterwards. One of the young priests got me a plate of sandwiches, as I was surrounded by a big circle of young people wanting to chat and follow up on the talk I had given.Things went on until a late hour, and when I finally got away, I found I was on almost the last Tube getting out to Wimbledon.

The Oratory is famous for being very traditional in its style of Catholicism, for its glorious music, and for being in a smart part of London and associated with beautiful weddings and great liturgy and so on and so on....and all these things make it very attractive. To have regular evenings like this, with vast numbers of intelligent, committed, interested young men and women, is a sign of life and hope in today's Church.

THE CHURCH....

Off to London for a meeting of the small working team that organises the Towards Advent Festival every year at Westminster Cathedral Hall......yes, yes, I know....but to get this biggish event happening every year, we have to plan well ahead. (The date's Nov 3rd. Some brilliant speakers and a lovely choir. Lots of displays by Catholic organisations etc. Go on, put the date in your diary now, then you won't get into a muddle later on).

As we talked about the arrangements for promoting the Festival via parishes etc I found myself reflecting on the various Holy Week and Easter devotions this year....all those that I attended were absolutely packed, whether it was the Maundy Mass at Westminster Cathedral, or our own suburban parish on Good Friday, or the Oratory (St Aloysius) at Oxford for the Easter Vigil. Good Friday was especially memorable - it's always so moving to see the priest there, prostrate before the sanctuary - and the crowds spread from the church and porch right out into the street outside.......

I know we keep hearing that the Church is in a mess, Christianity fading out of everyone's lives etc etc etc....but it simply didn't feel that way this season.

Tuesday April 17th 2007

AUSTRIA!!!

Sonntagberg: a conference on the theme "Children are a blessing". Sonntagberg is the most glorious place, a great pilgrimage church on top of a mountain, with a welcoming pilgrimage-house next door, run by our friends the Doblhof family who had organised this conference. An excellent gathering of people from a number of Catholic groups, focused on the idea of the family as the "domestic church". Not a conference of plastic folders and name-badges and self-importance, but a large-minded, friendly gathering, plenty of children joining us all for meals and spending the day in the lovely mountain-top park or in a room set aside for them with toys and with the most heavenly views in all directions....friendly Bishop opened the events with an excellent talk. Everyone very realistic about the problems facing Europe, and the Church in Europe, atmosphere well-informed, thoughtful, talkative.

Jamie and I were the first speakers on Saturday morning. For most of the weekend we all spoke German, but I was able to give my speech in English: it was about childhood, and the way the culture of childhood is being attacked in Britain and in the West (regular readers of this Blog will know about my indignation re filthy teenage mags, removal of good books from children's libraries, etc etc etc.....). Jamie followed on with information about some of the anti-family antics at the United Nations and elsewhere....including alas our latest nasty lesgilsation here at home which will force Catholic adoption agencies to hand children over to homosexual couples for adoption....

The whole tragedy of Europe's sense of losing contact with its authentic roots, and of course of the falling birthrate with all that this means, was a theme echoing through all the talks and discussions. It was so good to be able to talk in a frank, open and genuine way. Excellent bookstall (with a number of excellent new books about the Holy Father plus of course, lots by him), good conversations, useful contacts....

READ ON!!

We hear about the problems of the Church in Austria, but on Sunday morning, at 8 am the great church (and I do mean great - think Brompton Oratory, but larger) was FULL for Mass, with lots of singing. And that wasn't the main Mass of the day - that came later, and the church was packed again, and with more music. Then, it being Divine Mercy Sunday, the whole place was full - very, very full - of pilgrims all afternoon, families with children, older people, and the church was overflowing for a big service, led by young people with songs and readings, and two looooooong lines of penitents approaching each confessional.

AND MORE.....

We spent our last evening with friends on a glorious walk through the woods and out along the mountain-path to the inn where a big jug of most was waiting (local cider, made with pears) and delicious speck and cheeses and so on....We stopped at the Turkish Chapel, site of the place where a Turkish soldier was halted en route to burn and sack Sonntagberg, his horse sinking into the ground, and the village being saved (the great basilica was built in thanksgiving - see the full story on the Sonntagberg website. Then we took the path along the line of the hill, past farms and with snow-topped mountains in the distance, each turn lovelier than the last, and all the time soft April air, and good talk with good friends,and a senser of Easttertide and of Divine Mercy.... A glowing sunset turned all the edges of the world red in the west. The old Austrian name for the West is Abendland - the evening land.....


AND THEN SALZBURG.....
On Monday, as a treat, J. and I gave ourselves a full day together exploring the city of music and Mozart and churches and more...a swift train to Salzburg, lots of wurzel at a pleasant restaurant, then churches galore....in this city, you can, on an ordinary Sunday, choose from a feast of fabulous liturgical music in the Cathedral, or the church of St Peter, or the Franciscan church - all offering the glories of the Mass with music of the sort most people in Britain are only likely to get on Classi FM. Here, it's all there in the setting for which it was intended, ie the Mass!, and it's free, and is simply part of the city's life! We found the convent where Maria von Trapp tried her vocation, and I found its dark Medieval chapel a great contrast to the baroque glories of the city's churches, no wonder she went running to the hills just to get a feeling of space and width and joy...of course there are now "Sound of Music" tours and special buses and so on...meanwhile we found churches and fountains, cafes and street-stalls, pony-and-trap rides and lines of fat teenagers on school-trips with, all bare-middled and in tight low-slung jeans and looking rather glum as the fashion is....

As we enjoyed our final coffee-and- thick-cream (me) and beer (J), the bell of the cathedral pealed out for the solemn Mass that was being held to celebrate the Pope's birthday, with a promise of a feast of joyful music. His picture dominated the newspapers, and special stamps commissioned to mark the anniversary, and he's visiting Austria later this year, leading pilgrims to the great shrine at Mariazell....

And then finally to the airport and the last flight out of the city at night-time, and first sight of a British newspaper for some days: the Independent, with a vicious story denouncing young doctors for refusing to do abortions and hinting that more coercive laws might be neccessary in order to crush this sort of moral and Christian tendency...

A feeling of the holiday coming to an end....British drunks shouting on the plane, and then the foul-mouthed youth next to me looked suddenly all pale and vulnerable as the descent into London was announced and he confided that he simply hated flying and was scared, and I found myself wanting to offer him a rosary to hold....

And then home, and a great pile of letters, and much bustle to get clothes washed and things organised for a busy morning start to a new week and everyday work....

Thursday April 13th 2007

GLORIOUS EASTER

After a beautiful Holy Week, a glorious Easter, celebrated with the family and beginning with the Easter Vigil at the Oxford Oratory. Then chocolate eggs,country walks, family meals...and on to J's family in Somerset for more of the same, plus a day on the beach with the creation of a magnificent sandcastle...

Home now, but only briefly as we are off to a conference in Austria.

Note to the young correspondent who wants to send in an essay for the Catholic Young Writer Award. All you have to do is choose a hero or heroine FROM AMONG THE CANONISED SAINTS OF THE CHURCH and write about him/her - no more than four A4 pages, explaining why you admire him/her, the message of his/her life, etc. Send the entry to: Catholic Young Writer Award, 34 Barnard Gardens New Malden KT3 6QG to arrive before April 30th. Can be typed on a computer or ahndwritten. You must be of secondary school age (ie 11-18). Make sure you put your full name and full postal address on the entry.

HOLY WEEK....DOMESTICITY....

Leafing through cookery books to get necessary recipes for Easter goodies, I found myself browsing one given to me by my sister on my engagement over 25 years ago... on the flyleaf she wrote:"If you cook with love, he'll always eat with pleasure...Always enjoy cooking and don't resort to tins. Much love...". She now lives on the other side of the world, but felt suddenly near. Sent her a mental hug.

Am planning a Simnel Cake but had to tackle some work first. Got a good deal of writing done, interrupted by bits of cooking. Discussion yesterday evening with friends about Hot Cross Buns. Is it worth making one's own? Useful kitchen activity with children/friends for Holy Week or too jolly messy what with yeast and leaving-to-rise and making pastry crosses?

Would value ideas/opinions. The query is not just a personal whim: I'm doing another TV series for EWTN in due course, re Lent and Easter traditions, to match the series I did on Advent and Christmas. This new Lent/Easter series will be broadcast next year, 2008, but we are busy planning it now...I am not short on ideas for things to make, do, eat, pray and sing for this whole season but don't want to offer ideas that are just impractical or silly. (For those who didn't see the Advent/Christmas series, it's all set in a kitchen, and is meant to show ideas for ways of marking all the seasons...)

MAUNDY MATTERS

Tomorrow sees the Chrism Mass at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. I plan to go along to be part of the "Thank you to our priests" which greets the clergy as they process into the Cathedral - excellent initiative of Mulier Fortis which, as you will have read in yesterday's posting, has now spread to Westminster and been a great success. I won't be able to stay for the Mass itself, however because I'm due at the BBC for a radio programme. Later I'll be at the evening Maundy Mass in a London church, always a central point of the whole year. "Ubi caritas...."

AND SO ON....

I don't think one blogs on Good Friday. Then on Holy Saturday I'm meeting Mother in London and we're off to a family gathering for Easter, where Jamie will join us. Later in Easter week, J. and I will go on to Bogle relations in Somerset. What with family and country walks and chocolate eggs and nieces and nephews and talkative meals and being by the sea and relishing every moment I can't see an aunt spending much time blogging. And is there any point, since it would only encourage people to be at home reading it instead of being out in the Easter springtime?

Tuesday April 3rd


"THANK YOU" AT THE CATHEDRAL

We gathered in front of Westminster Cathedral with our big new placard saying "Thank you to our priests", so that we could greet them all as they arrived for the Chrism Mass....and found that a splendid group of young people from St Patrick's, Soho Square, had had the same idea and were there with their placard too! So we joined forces, and were able to give the priests a good and sustained round of applause as they walked, in white vestments, in procession up from Ambroseden Avenue and round through the great doors. They were, it has to be said, hugely appreciative and there was a wonderful atmosphere of friendship so it was really well worth doing. We gave each priest a card saying "Thank you for the service you give as a Catholic priest" and with a quotation about Melchisidech...

And the Chrism Mass was beautiful. I had not realised what glorious prayers there are for the blessing of the oils...I closed my eyes to listen better: all about the dove returning to Noah with an olive branch, and King David, and all sorts of other references to the fruits of the olive tree....and the choir sang some Monteverdi and the cathedral was packed - absolutely packed, so its whole vastness was filled, even to the side-chapels, and with people sitting on the floor and on any convenient set of marble steps. I ended up in St Patrick's chapel - though of course St P couldn't be seen, as all the statues were covered up with purple cloth for Holy Week.

Cardinal Cormac preached about the Holy Father's new Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis! And at the end of the Mass he announced that there was a copy for each priest to take home...

I should perhaps add that the priestess-lobbyists were outside the cathedral too, poor dears, with their banner. They didn't come in to the Chrism Mass.

Tuesday April 3rd

IN RESPONSE TO NEED.....

I am extending the deadline for entries to the Catholic Writers' Guild CATHOLIC YOUNG WRITER AWARD. New deadline is April 30th. Send me an email WITH YOUR FULL EMAIL ADDRESS IN IT for more information.

There is a £100 cash prize, plus other prizes. We seek essays from young people of secondary school age on the theme "Heroes and Heroines of the Faith" - choose a hero from among the canonised saints of the RC Church and write to us about him. We want evidence that you have studied his life, work, and message. MAKE SURE YOU PUT YOUR FULL NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS, also your date of birth, on your entry. Max length - 4 sides of A4. Entries cannot be emailed and must be sent by post to:

Catholic Young Writer Award
34 Barnard Bardens
New Malden Surrey KT3 6QG

That's all the information you really need, but email me for full details.

Monday April 2nd

BISCUITS AND ANCENT GREECE

I was halfway through making some Easter biscuits - hands all covered with pastry - when the doorbell rang. Small girl from next door: had we got any books on ancient Greece? Mmm, yes. Several, as it happens. Washed hands, found large book on ancient Greece plus Greek New Testament. Scrambled over low fence (we never use gates and paths as all the houses are stuck together) to pass them over. Showed Greek lettering in Nt, explained ancient Greek v.like NT Greek. Short discussion re ancient Greece. Wooden horse of Troy? Blank looks. Sparta? "Oh yes - they were brave. It was a separate city and they were Spartans". Told her about the heroes of Thermopolae (sp?):"Go stranger, tell Sparta..etc..." Scrambled back to biscuits and kitchen thinking heroic thoughts. Have always admired Sparta, and at school our classes were named after ancient peoples, and we were Spartans - our parallel class were Athenians, not a patch on us. Chuntered Spartan epitaph as I worked the next batch of pastry. ("Go, Bogle, tell biscuits....")

Monday April 2nd

"CARING" RUBBISH

Entries arrive for the 2007 "Catholic Young Writer" Award sponsored by The Keys, The Catholic Writers' Guild. This annual Award was my idea, and it's been going for several years now, but unless we get some better entries than these, we won't be awarding the shield this year. These are hopeless: ill-written and with little or no punctuation, but also, and much more worryingly, devoid of any content whatever. Pupils had been asked to choose a hero or heoine from among the saints of the Church, and write about that person, with a note about why he or she had appealed to them. In this batch of entries, all we get is "Mary Magdalen was a caring person" and "St Anne was a caring person", plus, in a couple of cases, a sudden change of style and a couple of sentences copied down from the Internet, so there is a sudden muddled statement about Mary Magdalen's links with Provence or St Anne's appearance in Christian art. Er....copying things directly from another source without attribution used to be called cheating, no? And one child has got St Anne, the mother of the Virgin, mixed up with St Anne Line, giving us the hilarious information that St Anne was born in the 16th century and was the mother of Our Lady...

I know that most Catholic schools don't teach much in the way of the Catholic Faith, but this latest evidence of how bad things are is very, very depressing.

I am particularly struck by the endless repetition of the cliche about being a "caring person". This is mantra that pupils are evidently taught, as it crops up too in the essays from small children that we get in the Reliogious Education Project run by ther Association of Catholic Women. Memo to any Catholic teacher reading this blog: if you want to give children anything of value connected with the Faith, don't give them cliches. Ditch any reference to some one bing "caring". Saints can be courageous, loving, tender, heroic, eccentric, noble, repentant, loyal, and more. To slither into saying that St Mary Magdalen was a "caring person", and to make dozens of teenagers copy out such glop, is to fail utterly in any attempt to communicate anything of value at all.

Monday April 2nd

PALM SUNDAY IN LONDON

A glorious Palm Sunday. Procession of palms at Brompton Oratory: fabulous singing in the church with both the children's choir and the professional choir, prayers and the blessing of great palm branches and hundreds and hundreds of lesser leaves held aloft, then the great doors were flung open and we went out into the sunshine, round through past the Oratory House, with the processional Cross leading, and the choirs singing, and members of the Confratenity of something-or-other (Jamie is a member and looked splendid in his red-hooded robe). A great concourse of people, out though the gates and down that short stretch of road, just into busy London for a moment as Christ went into Jerusalem...and then back into the great church and the solmen chanting of Christ's Passion and then the Mass.

Afterwards, much milling about and greeting of friends - people flock to the Oratory for Holy Week. We had already made plans to meet the E. family there, and over refreshments with them in the parish hall we made plans: the men went off to get supplies of picnic food while we organised the children and soon we were all off to Kensington Gardens. The Princess Diana Memorial playing-ground is excellent, with its pirate ship and (my personal favourite) its musical paving-stones and quiet corner where you can stand by some magic posts and hear the sounds of the sea (yes, really! Recordings hidden in the posts, I suppose, but it's a lovely corner, all planted with sea-grass and drifting with sand and pebbles). We had a delicious picnic, the four children (the oldest, T. is my godson),scrambled about in bare feet and disappeared into the glories of the playground (did I also mention that it has Indian wigwams, innumerable places to climb,and a village of wooden Goldilock-style houses?)and we all sat and talked and relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

Home late, palm branches and all, and supper on laps while we watched a borrowed DVD "The Winslow Boy" (v. good)