London...

...was looking magnificent today - the view from the train as we chugged into Cannon Street station showed the dome of St Paul's against a clear blue sky, Canaletto-like and glorious. It felt all wrong getting the Tube on such a day, so I walked down Ludgate Hill. They still run real Routemaster buses along some routes and I caught one. It felt like 1979 and was wonderful. Then I had to transfer to a no. 11 as I needed to get to Chelsea. As we went down Whitehall, all eyes turned instinctively to the Cenotaph, where the blood-red poppy wreaths lie against the whiteness of the monument in memory of our war dead, "their memory hallowed in the land they loved."

Following that solidarity that follows such the silence of such a moment, I got talking to the lady sitting next to me. We shared brief comments about Remembrance Day, and about its importance, and so on, and the talk moved from there to linked things...she mentioned the church in Wimbledon which she attends...and then came an extraordinary coincidence/piece of Providence. Read on.

Some months ago, I left my bicycle padlocked at a local station for a few days while away. On my return I found an anguished note in the front basket:"Dear Cyclist - you have padlocked your bicycle to mine! I have been unable to access my bike for several days. Please telephone..." I quickly dialled the number to offer huge apologies, and discovered that I had inadvertently padlocked my bike to that of a local Anglican clergyman! We arranged to meet and when I'd completed my heartfelt apologies, got chatting over some coffee. His church turned out to be an enthusiastically Evangelical one, already known to me through an ecumenical discussion group. I wondered...might he be prepared to get involved with the Schools Bible Project with which I am involved? We badly needed an Evangelical on our committee...

Well, to make a longish story short: he subsequently sent me the name of a lady in the congregation, and a couple of weeks ago I cycled over to her house to drop her a note. We met, got on extremely well, and she kindly agreed to help with the Bible Project.

And today, on a number 11 bus on London I meet another lady from that same church, and they are close friends! We were both so amazed to discover this - after all, there are some 12 million people in London on any given day, so it seems quite astonishing that we should meet in this way!

And in a rather lovely way, it feels as though it's a nice sign of Providence for the Schools Bible Project...

This week...

...I was in Canterbury, speaking at the Catholic chaplaincy of the University of Kent. A good attendance for weekday Mass, the chapel full on this ordinary, dark and cold November evening. Afterwards, a wonderful welcome and a happy evening as I led a discussion on the Holy Father's visit. Lots of enthusiasm, a warm and friendly atmosphere, much swapping of anecdotes and much lively talk over a delicious and hearty supper, the chaplain, Fr Peter Geldard presiding over things and indeed cooking the (excellent) spaghetti carbonara...

It was a very interesting time to be in Canterbury, as news had just broken about the five Anglican Bishops and the new chapter opening as plans for the Ordinariate unfold. Fr Peter was a leading figure, when an Anglican, in the debates over women's ordination. It was fascinating to talk all this over with him.

The chaplaincy at UKC is a modern building, dedicated to the English Martyr, St John Stone. Fr Peter is having to expand it and showed me the new extension - which includes v. smart loos with tiles showing Chaucerian pilgrims en route to Canterbury...

I stayed overnight - still a great buzz of talk beneath me as I lay in bed upstairs - and was able to raid part of Fr P's excellent library and do some useful reading for my Maryvale studies, got deep into the Council of Chalcedon and Nestorius, and more...

The next morning I caught the train back to London, and on arrival at Victoria needed to hurry off to a bank, Post Office and other errands. I got caught behind a small group of young people led by one with a placard which simply said "NO FUTURE". That seemed a rather ghastly notion so, intrigued, I followed them down Victoria street. Turned out that they were about to join a massive demonstration which was pounding its way down from Whitehall past the Houses of Parliament. It was students, all shouting about the education budget... I needed to cross the street at this point to reach the bridge to get to Waterloo. The police suggested I simply find a gap in the crowd and slip through, and this I was able to do...but the crowd now seemed a lot more menacing. There was the beating of a great drum, and much fevered rhythmic chanting. It felt nasty, suddenly wild and slightly hysterical. As I hurried on and looked back, I felt glad to have got away.

The evening news and the next day's papers were full of scenes of mayhem as a mob from the students' demo had broken out and crashed its way into the Conservative Party HQ, breaking windows, grabbing furniture and equipment and bashing its way up on to the roof, in sheer anarchic anger. Not clear what message they were trying to send to the rest of us by doing that.

Have you heard...

the Mustard Seed communities? If you are thinking - and you should be! - of a charity to support this Christmas, this is one that has been specially recommended to me. Do look it up and give it your support.

In general - I'm not neccesarily just talking about this particular venture now - I have become v. conscious, over the past two or three years, that charity-giving is changing. In the future it's not going to be dominated by the big charities. Now, with the Internet and so on making the world shrink, links between nations are on a fresh scale. A young man or woman from a Catholic family in Britain gets involved - during a Gap Year or whatever - with some good project in India or Africa or the West Indies - and tells everyone at home about it, and they get interested and want to help. A small charity Trust can be established, and funds sent very easily - no need for anything very grand, and a smallish amount of money can go a very long way. A website, some fund-raising events, contacts with family and friends who want to help.

This also happens in Catholic parishes. Our local parish here in the London suburbs has forged a strong friendship with the people of L'Aquila in Italy, whose homes were destroyed by an earthquake. A couple from our local parish went there, got involved, and since then have done a magnificent job in taking lorry-loads of goods to assist them. The parish has raised thousands of pounds and been immensely generous. And the young people from L'Aquila have done exchange-visits with young people from our parish, to mutual benefit. Lots of good friendships, and fun, and so much goodwill...you can read all about it here, and that's another good venture for you to support this Christmas...

News breaks...

concerning the Anglican Ordinariate. You may find this website helpful. And this blog.

Magnificent searing lights, sparks and explosions...

...tore through the sky as J. and I made our way home last night: Bonfire Night, which many had feared was in danger of vanishing under the all-encompassing plastic pumpkins and ghoulish outfits of Hallowe'en, seems to be flourishing. The old days of a bonfire in the garden at home, and Daddy letting off a few fireworks as children cheered and held sparklers, have given way to the most magnificent and awesome displays run as gigantic public events. We stopped as we got off the train at the local railway station and just stood there along with others enjoying the fantastic whooshes and explosions of stars and flashing lights that ripped through the sky, from a display a couple of miles away up near the Common.

And today, for the first time, it feels that winter is approaching: crisp cold air as I cycled off to return toys kindly lent by friends for the Play Corner at Towards Advent, and then hurried on to Mass. We have a team of seminarians in the parish over the next weeks, helping out with Confirmation classes and so on and were all invited to meet them after Mass - impressive young men, and most cheering and interesting in conversation. Numbers at the seminary are slowly climbing too, and there is an upbeat mood...

Some happy emails re Towards Advent though as always we must discuss the future logically. Some booksellers were absent this year - the trend is away from book sales at present, which is a depressing thought. And although the hall was v. crowded during the morning, things got slack during the early afternoon. The Cathedral tours and workshops were popular and although these do take people out of the main hall and thus away from the sales area, they are a major attraction...already there have been some good suggestions for next year's speakers...

At the Towards Advent Festival...

The choir sang a lovely version of the Londonderry Air, with these words:

I would be true, for there are those that trust me.
I would be pure, for there are those that care.
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer.
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.
I would be friend of all, the foe, the friendless.
I would be giving, and forget the gift,
I would be humble, for I know my weakness,
I would look up, and laugh, and love and live.

A most successful...

...happy day as the Towards Advent Festival of Catholic Culture celebrated its 10th anniversary. We had a full hall for the opening ceremony, with Archbishop Vincent Nichols, and the beautiful singing of the choir of Coloma Convent Girls' School. The Westminster Cathedral Hall is perfect for this event: we had displays and stalls from every sort of Catholic group and guild and organisation - books and Christmas cards and Advent calendars and more, beautiful jewellery on sale in aid of various good causes, hand-crafted Nativity sets and Christmas gifts from the Holy Land, CDs and books and pamphlets,honey and beeswax candles and other monastic produce...we had the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and Youth 2000, the St Francis Leprosy Guild and the Society of Catholic Artists, the Friends of Westminster Cathedral and The Music Makers, EWTN Catholic TV, the FAITH Movement, and more, and more, and more...

Teas and sandwiches and home-made cakes were provided by the Association of Catholic Women, along with a play corner for children. The Catenians and the Knights of St Columba did sterling work handing out leaflets to everyone coming and going from Masses at Westminster Cathedral. We had a tour of the Cathedral - which attracted a large group - and a popular workshop on Gregorian chant by The Music Makers, and a splendid reprise of the glorious Papal Visit by Niamh Maloney and her young team, the group that produced those wonderful placards "We love you Papa more than beans on toast" and "Give it some welly for the Pope in the Park". Oh, it was all joy...

Read Auntie on...

The "Benedict bounce" here.

Off through the Autumn dusk...

...to Coloma Convent Girls' School, where there was a Parents' Evening for parents of girls "Eleven and upwards", ie new arrivals at the school this term. This is an initiative of a couple of parents who had the idea - drawn from Pope John Paul's Familiaris Consortio - that families should help and support each other in the task of raising Christian children. Mutual swapping of ideas, information, and encouragement...pitfalls to avoid, things that work well, and so on.

It was a lovely evening - a large group of delightful parents, an atmosphere of great cordiality, common sense, and goodwill. Much to discuss. I had been invited to speak about the mass media, especially the Internet. Wow, this is a minefield for families today - access via mobile phones and laptops mean that parents are robbed of all technical control, and the rules that could be applied even a couple of years ago can now be thwarted by adolescents: the computer in the family room, no individual computers in bedrooms etc. Today, tumbling prices of technology mean that teenagers can simply save up and buy equipment that can be used anywhere...and they are also wise to going to friends' houses, going to the local library, etc etc...so parents have to be especially vigilant, and above create a family atmosphere in which values are accepted and shared...there was a lot of good discussion, and swapping of useful ideas, and a sense of solidarity among those present. What make the evening work, however, was that the next talk, by Mrs Mary Grey, was on family prayer. This excellent talk, centred on everyday wisdom, practicalities, and the truth of what it is like raising today's teenagers, lifted hearts and showed the way ahead. A family praying together - in the car, before or after a meal, celebrating special days, etc etc - is a bastion that evil cannot smash. We really got a message of hope, and it was a grand message to take home.

Coloma is a very popular school,and doing a grand job. BTW, the choir will be singing at Towards Advent this Saturday. Come and hear them!

Thwarting the Tube strike....

...I made my way to Uxbridge, where I was giving at a talk at the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael. What a lovely parish! Evening Mass for All Souls Day - a large congregation (even though this was the third Mass of the day), and it was so beautiful, somehow, on this November evening, candles glowing, people praying together...when Fr Nicholas, the parish priest, read out the names of those in the parish who had died and been buried from the church in the past year,there was a sense of quiet history...

Afterwards, a gathering in the parish hall, tea and cakes and I gave a talk on "Feasts and Seasons". A very warm and friendly atmosphere - much goodwill and lively conversation over questions. And afterwards, much cheery talk over supper in the presbytery...and the talk continued as a kindly parishioner drove me to West Drayton station - we were still chatting and laughing until the last goodbye. Home via Paddington,a bus to Victoria (Tube stations all bleak and sealed) and I bought some hot chocolate there and enjoyed it on the last lap home via Clapham Junction and Wimbledon...

Roses, and wine, and good company...

...at the launch of a new DVD, celebrated in a small party at the St Paul's Bookshop next to Westminster Cathedral.

The CD is called A Parish Rosary. It contains all twenty mysteries, accompanied by glorious music, Ave Marias by Schubert and Caccini...it has been produced by the Cathedral's Rosary Group. The group has been meeting faithfully for some 8 years at the Cathedral, and, as Canon Christopher Tuckwell, the Cathedral's Administrator, said in his speech this evening, is central to the Cathedral's spiritual life.

This is a double-CD, very attractively produced, and would make a perfect present for some one who is housebound and wants to pray but often feels alone. Its tone has a warmth that communicates a real sense of prayer - and this is because , as group leader Anna Johnston explained this evening, it was all recorded in the Cathedral.You can order it here.Anna is herself a professional singer, and the music really is a delight.

We had a very happy party, and were all given roses as we left...

I walked back down to Westminster Abbey and across Waterloo Bridge with Josephine Siedlecka of the Independent Catholic News Service. The Houses of Parliament look magnificent illuminated against the night sky. We had been talking about the H. Father's historic address in Westminster Hall, and now as we walked there, we stopped and recalled it. Our Parliamentary tradition is rooted in Christianity, is nourished by it, and is imperilled where it is marginalised or crushed...he did well to make us understand this, and the thought is a solemn one...

At church today...

...we sang a rousing "For all the saints..." and it brought back sudden wonderful sweeping memories of singing it with thousands and thousands of others on a great hillside at the conclusion of that glorious Mass with the Holy Father...and then I thought "Why are we singing it today?" and it was because, under the silly new system we are obliged to mark All Saints Day on the nearest Sunday instead of the day itself. So today was officially the Mass for All Saints. Well, it was - as always in our parish - a most beautiful Mass, and with splendid music and so on but....PLEASE CAN WE HAVE OUR FEAST-DAYS BACK? It's so confusing muddling along like this!

Auntie has won...

...an apron, in a national poetry project!

I bought an excellent pie the other day for my lunch. It really was delicious, and it was made by a company of which I had never heard - Higgity Pies. And on the box was an invitation to send in a poem about the pie! It might get chosen for publication on the Higgity website, and one might even win an apron...So I got writing, and you can read my poem here..

This is very exciting, and is the first verse I have written for publication since I was nine years old and won ten shillings in a competition run by Princess magazine...

And Higgity pies truly are delicious! Lovely, lovely buttery pastry, and delicious fillings with mushrooms and different creamy cheeses,and all sorts of good things. And properly made by a real, independent, enterprising company run by a friendly team. Go and find some.

The Number 11 bus...

...which as London readers will know, ploughs its way from Victoria along up Whitehall and down the Strand, was unbearably s...l...o...w this evening: I simply hadn't allowed for the fact of the constant bottlenecks in London traffic. As I normally cycle everywhere, or take the Tube, the crawling pace of a bus was infuriating! It was a mistake to travel this way, and I should have brought my bike as usual...however, one learns from such mistakes, and it was with huge apologies that I finally sprinted up the steps of St Paul's to greet the - rather worried - group of Catholic History Walkers gathered there awaiting my arrival. They were visibly relieved. One chap had already given up and left! Oh dear...apologies, apologies...I will not let this happen again.

However, after this bad start, the Walk went well, and we tackled St Paul's, and then the gloriously named St Vedast-alias-Foster, and thence down Gresham Street to St Laurence Jewry and the Guildhall. Then on down to St Margaret's in Lothbury and so on round to the surprise bit at the end - the birthplace of Blessed John Henry Newman, round at the back of the Bank of England! Most gratifying to see all the surprised faces when I revealed this fact, and showed them the plaque...
Next History Walk is Nov 18th, 6.30pm on the steps of Westinster Cathedral. All welcome. No need to book - just turn up. I promise, promise that I will not be late...

This week...

...the Catholic Union held its annual Craigmyle Lecture in Parliament. This commemorates Lord Craigmyle, who was a courageous and dedicated Parliamentary spokesman for the Christian cause for many years, and a leading figure in the Catholic Union. It was he who helped to shape the Catholic Union in its present form and we all owe him a great deal. Members of his family were present for the lecture, which was held in the Boothroyd Room at Portcullis House in Westminster. Jamie is currently chairman of the Catholic Union, and chaired the meeting. There was a large attendance, reflecting well on the interest and concern felt by Catholics on issues of concern in public life.

The lecture was given by Dr Philip Howard, a consultant at St George's Hospital. His subject was "Euthanasia and the Christian Understanding of suffering" and he brought insights and much wisdom to this, speaking with great seriousness. It is not just a question of opposing legislation that seeks to introduce euthanasia - it is a matter of opposing attempts to introduce it into hospital practice now...

To a meeting...

...of the Women's Institute to give a talk on "Britain's feasts and seasons". The WI is one of Britain's great institutions, and the ladies are most welcoming and do everything in a most traditional style with minutes-of-the-previous-meeting and reports-from-the-crafts-and-handwork-section and so on. Slightly Joyce Grenfell and all rather delightful...

Travelling around on dark evenings by train means I can get a lot of reading done - am currently deep in BXVI's Jesus of Nazareth, which I have read before but am now devouring anew because of studying his Christology (see earlier posts re Maryvale...)

Golden and russet leaves...

...scatter down as I cycle through the suburbs. Mother and I enjoy a quiet walk together, chatting over family news...when I cycle back and forth between her place and mine I pass an empty house and overgrown garden where huge quantities of fallen crab-apples have created a scarlet carpet along the pavement. Gathering these I can fill my whole bicycle basket. At home, washed and checked and chopped and cooked, they can eventually be drained through muslin to create a glorious crab-apple jelly. Several jars of this are now going on sale at church bazaars and so on for various causes...you can get some if you come to the Towards Advent Festival on Nov 6th...

Auntie's latest publication...

...arrived this weekend: a small booklet on "ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS - Catholic customs and traditions". You can get a copy here. Or, if you like, you can send a Comment to this Blog, marked NOT FOR PUBLICATION and including in the text an email address to which I can reply to you. and I'll send further info...

Every time we do a weekend course at Maryvale...

...we have to write up a sort of review, showing what we have learned from the lectures and so on. This time, it was all so interesting and even exciting, tackling Christology and the Gospel of St John, that writing up the review was a matter of showing restraint and not putting in all the things I really wanted, so as to save them for the essays that we'll be doing over the next weeks and months...

Over meals and coffee-breaks and evening chats, much glowing talk of the Papal visit, which of course v. much made its mark on Birmingham. I learned that, as the crowds arrived at Cofton, local people came to their doorways to welcome them and join in the happy mood. This weekend, Maryvale still had its Papal Visit banners, featuring Newman, on display in the hall. There is a "Benedict bounce" in many aspects of the Church at present...

If you missed....

...the really excellent presentation on "Who was John Henry Newman?" at St Joseph's, New Malden, recently, you have another chance to hear this talk. It's at the Sacred Heart Parish Centre,Edge Hill, Wimbledon London SW19, on Nov 10th at 7.30pm. Entry £3.00, proceeds to Maryvale. There will be coffee and marmalade cake: in one letter from the newly-founded Birmingham Oratory, Fr Newman wrote to thank some kind ladies for the gift of several jars of marmalade, so we are commemorating this in our refreshments! All are welcome.
(Incidentally that parish website has some nice memories of the Papal visit from parishioners - the Pope was living in Wimbledon for those four days, and everyone loved it!)

I have earlier mentioned...

...the book Fatherless, which is a gripping read. You can now get it in Britain. One reviewer has written: "A meticulously researched and brilliantly crafted story of flesh and blood characters struggling to achieve the American Dream … discovering instead a uniquely American nightmare. How each confronts the reality of ethical and moral dilemmas – while struggling to balance faith, family, and career – goes to the very heart of the Catholic experience in America in the late 20th and early 21st centuries." The author, Brian J Gail, gave the 2010 Annual Theology of the Body Lecture hosted by the Dept of Pastoral Affairs, Diocese of Westminster. The book is available from: Available from cathmacgillivray@rcdow.org.uk 020 7931 6064 price £10 plus postage. For more information about Fatherless and its author, go here.

The Monument...

...in the City of London commemorates the Great Fire of 1666 and I climbed up all its 311 steps with a young niece and enjoyed the wide views from the top...it is years since I last did this, and we also visited St Paul's Cathedral, and the church of St Clement (as in "Oranges and Lemons") and ate cakes and lemonade in a teashop, and generally enjoyed ourselves. I like half-term.

A Newman evening...

...in the local parish, with an excellent illustrated talk on John Henry Newman's life and message. Beautifully presented, and it had everyone gripped. There was a good atmosphere as people came into the parish centre after the evening Mass: the evening was planned as part of a whole series of events aimed at following up the visit of the Holy Father. Newman's life makes for a wonderful unfolding story, and there were elements I had not thought about before as we learned the drama of his working through the implications of the message of the early Fathers...

Next event to continue the follow-up is the premiere of the new film about the Papacy. Come and join us! Friday 22nd Oct - details here...

For years and years...

...many prayed for Russia, for the Christians there who were suffering under an atheistic regime, for those in the Gulag, for those receiving the grisly attentions of the KGB in indescribable conditions in brutal prisons...

We prayed for the coversiuon of Russia. It's happening. Today, in Westminster Cathedral Hall, we heard from a priest who is now working in Siberia, helping the survivors of the brutal labour-camps, collecting together their pitiful memories, bringing people together the and building up a Christian community...in his new church a chapel is dedicated to those who suffered and died, with a icon honouring the Christian martyrs of the 20th century. You can read about some of this in his book "Martyrs of Magadan" - info here.

It was an extraordinary experience to sit in a packed, hushed hall as Fr Michael Shields spoke. He is an American priest who after a 40-day retreat felt a special call to go to Siberia.

In this very hall, some 35 years ago, I heard speakers rallying us to the cause of what we then the "Church of Silence" in the USSR. We were told then that some day we would learn of the martyrs and heroes who had perished in the grim labour-camps of the Soviet Union. We knew that in some way, somehow, under God's providence, the Church would break through. And now the old Soviet Communist era has gone...and the Church sends new missionaries, gathers the fragments, starts to bind the wounds, looks out for the poor and disposessed and confused and muddled, tackles the new and emerging problems even as she honours the sacrifices and valour of those who suffered under the old...

And while all that happens, the CHurch must also face other problems, other issues elsewhere in the world.Today's meeting also heard from the courageous Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala from Sudan. Christians in southern Sudan have been persecuted for years and the country in its present form has never known peace. He reminded us of Britain's historic commitments in Sudan - we left in the 1950s. That jolted me. Are we Catholics in Britain doing now to help Catholics there? He begged for our prayers and for our support for the work of the Church - which is the only institution offering a hope of education, decent medical care, and basic welfare for the Christian people of the south.

And there was more. We heard about the revival of the Church in Ukraine - again, once dominated by an atheistic Communist government, with crushing penalties for infringing its cruel antiu-Church laws. Now, 50 per cent of the population attends Church at Easter...

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the Church faces the new/old problems of militant Islam...

This meeting, organised by Aid to the Church in Need, was taking place on a day when various other major Catholic events were happening in London,including a popular Rosary Rally, offering attractive alternatives for a sunny October Saturday. But the Hall was packed and more people crammed in during the afternoon, filling every available chair, standing at the back, hurrying into the gallery. Over 450 tickets were sold before the day, and more people arrived seeking entrance at the door.

Much of what we heard was solemn and challenging - but the day was inspirational and hugely uplifting. What was impressive too, was the massive support and concern for the persecuted Church around the world, at a time when we seem to have plenty to think about with regard to the Church in our own country. With this sort of commitment, there is cause for hope...

Oh, just because I like it...

Papal Visit Day 3: Hyde Park Vigil from Catholic Church (England/Wales) on Vimeo.

Plans, plans...

...tomorrow (Saturday) is the annual general meeting of the Association of Catholic Women. It's been a good year, with our highly successful Schools RE Project linked to the Visit of the Holy Father (do click on to that link and read some of their letters to the Pope...), our Study Day on Art and Music for primary-school teachers, our involvement in the great Hyde Park Prayer Vigil, and more...

We have great plans for 2011...

Tomorrow I will also be at the HOPE WITHOUT FEAR event at Westminster Cathedral organised by Aid to the Church in Need. I am especially keen to hear from the young American priest who has been working in Siberia, where once the horror of the Gulag dominated the land...

Yesterday evening, a meeting of The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild. Mary Kenny is currently Master of the Guild and doing an excellent job. Our meetings are hugely enjoyable, talkative, lively: yesterday's guest speaker was Ed Stourton of the BBC...

I've noticed...

...that over the past couple of weeks, when Catholics in Britain met one another, the standard greeting tended not to be "Hello - how are you?" but "Wasn't it all wonderful?", meaning the Papal Visit. We are still glowing. Any speaker at any Catholic event now starts with some joyful reference to those four days, and any and every Catholic event seems touched by them. Truly, Peter did "confirm the brethren", and we now could do so much...

Still lots to read...

...concerning the Pope's visit. There is a feast of good reading in this commentary on the whole four days, written by Jean Mercier, a French journalist with whom I spent some time in London - we shared a memorable midnight soup-and-snacks with a London family after the HYde Park Vigil and before hurrying to catch a 1.20am parish bus to Birmingham...

For some reason, reading about English things in a French journal always seems hilarious, as in Jean's description of some children studying at "l'école catholique de Walthamstow, une banlieue du nord de Londres". Never thought of Walthamstow as a banlieue...

This week...

...has been a busy one, and a highlight was a visit to Lewes in Sussex. Object was to talk to the parish priest of St Pancras church, with a view to doing some TV filming re Catholic history etc...Lewes is a beautiful town, and I was made most welcome - Fr Richard Biggerstaff gave generously of his time, and it was a delight to visit his lovely church, which recently won an award for its new, beautifully designed, entrance hall...

To Epsom...

...to St Joseph's church, to speak to a gathering of the Co-workers of Mother Teresa. I wasn't sure of what to expect, but it turned out to be a good-sized gathering preceded by a well-attended Mass in this large modern church. There was Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass. The church has some beautiful Stations of the Cross. It's a busy and thriving parish, which I have had the pleasure of visiting before - memorably in 2005 when I dropped in on my sponsored Cycle Ride in aid of World Youth Day, and was given a welcome and a donation and a rest and cold drinks, and people were v.kind...

Today, a very happy gathering: the Co-workers are a lovely bunch of women and it was a very happy morning in a most wonderful and friendly atmosphere. We began by praying together the lovely prayer by John Henry Newman "Let me spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go..." which M. Teresa helped to popularise.

The mood at Catholic gatherings at present is notably upbeat and joyful, following the Holy Father's visit. Several women mentioned parish activities planned as follow-up events inspired by the wonderful days with Papa B...

A talk...

...yesterday at a gathering of local Catholics, by Mgr Stark, who worked for many years on the cause of the beatification of Cardinal Newman...at one point there were 74 boxes of Newman's letters and published writing, and officials in Rome were insisting that these all be translated into Latin or Italian before the cause could proceed...fortunately this ruling was changed in the late 1970s, and things began to go ahead...

A new DVD...

...about the Papacy, Keys of the Kingdom - Understanding the Papacy, just out from St Anthony Communications. I think this would be useful for school RE classes and also for Confirmation groups in parishes. It's a good time now to tackle this subject, in the wake of the Papal Visit. Incidentally, there's an American take on the Visit here...

A happy, golden day...

...in Sussex. A Catholic History Walk around Arundel. We met at Westminster Cathedral in bright early-morning sunshine, with knapsacks and picnics... the 8am Mass there is well-attended, and a kind London friend had put me up for the night so that I was able to be at the Cathedral on time.

Arundel was glorious in golden Autumn sunshine, and our route took us across a glorious sweep of hillside, and down to a lake and then along the Arun...the Castle and Cathedral are magnificent on the skyline as you see the town from the river...

It was a wonderful day, which ended with a Cream Tea at a proper teashop...

Jamie went to the birthday party of a small relative, and I was sorry to be missing it. "Never mind, he'll bring you back a big slice of pink cake" said one of my fellow-walkers...and when I got home, sure enough, he greeted me with a hug, and there was a lovely big wedge of pink cake, waiting to be enjoyed as we swapped stories of our happy day...

Lamplight in the Mall...

...where I walked after catching the Tube from Brixton (see below). Buckingham Palace looks splendid in the glow of an Autumn evening: it was flying the Union Flag not the R. Standard, so HM obviously still in Scotland. As I walked down the Mall with golden and russet leaves falling, I was thinking of the triumphant Papal ride along this route just a couple of weeks before...our own Union Flag intertwined with the golden and white Papal one, and a kindly white-haired grandfatherly figure bestowing blessings left and right, and scooping up babies to kiss, and responding to the cheers and joyful geetings, and the happiness of it all...

Dinner at Brooks's with an old friend, much talk until a late hour. Settled with brandies and those comfortable leather armnchairs, the men started to tackle the whole question of Al Gore's nonsense about climate change, and also the ghastliness of the European bureaucracy, and more...I left them to it, and enjoyed the excellent library, was soon deep in books. They have a superb range on modern and 19th century history. I found myself absorbed by Gen. de Gaulle's WWII memoirs, which for various reasons I have been wanting to read for some while...

Home very late, catching a last Tube trundling out of London to the suburbs...

The chapel at HM Prison, Brixton...

...is a fine building, Victorian gothic, great carved beams, hugh arched windows. A number of us were brought there - via massive security, much unlocking of doors and guiding through courtyards along walls crowned with rolls of barbed wire - for a presentation by PACT, which is seeking volunteers to help with its (excellent) scheme for assisting and befriending prisoners on completion of their sentence. There was a generous buffet lunch,and then we gathered for hymns and prayers and a talk from Archbishop Vincent Nichols. I often despair of my country, but it is something to live in a land where the governor of a prison can pray and sing "Praise to the Holiest..." and "Amazing grace" with a group of his prisoners, an Archbishop, sundry clergy from all denominations, and a wide range of people from all sorts of charitable and volunteer organisations. A team of young prisoners led prayers, and we chatted to them afterwards over tea and a good range of excellent cakes.

The chapel has been carefully adapted so that it can now be used by all denominations. From the Catholic point of view, it is really good - a great Crucifix over the main sanctuary, with Stations of the Cross on the wall behind it, and a statue of Our Lady All these could be covered with a curtain if required, but are clearly generally on view. The main part of the church is now carpeted and has soft-seated chairs and the walls are painted white, and a side wing is devoted to a music-area for choirs and bands, with a table full of Christian literature. It's all very obviously in regular use, and the prisoners to whom I chatted were part of a team of men involved in a range of Chapel-based activities. Another side wing is sectioned off with panelling and does not form part of the chapel - it is set aside for Moslem worship.

I met members of the ACW who are already active with support for prisoners and ex-prisoners and I think we should seek to expand this. A valuable and thought-provoking afternoon.

In warm October sunshine...

...to the Thames Valley, to address a Wives Fellowship group. Topic was "Celebrating traditional feasts and seasons".Very friendly and charming women - delicious tea. General agreemnent re. the worrying trend of families no longer eating together, crucial need to revive and renew traditions, celebrations of the calendar etc. People love discovering origins of pub signs, nursery rhymes, songs etc, and enjoy swapping info on local customs and recipe idea...

The river was sparkling in the sunshine, and although the day had started wet I soon discarded - and wished I hadn't brought - my too-warm padded jacket. Gardens cool and green, late Autumn flowers blooming.

With half an hour to spare before I was due at the meeting, I nipped into a bank to make enquiries about something that has been bothering me - and bothering lots of others - re. abolition of cheques. Yes, this has indeed been threatened by all the major banks, who confidently announced the eventual demise of the cheque-book in three or four years' time. But they haven't thought it out, and there is still time for them to change their minds.

Look. When I go to local group to give a talk, people want to buy my books, and they do so by using cash or writing a cheque. They can also order books from me by post. And they pay for other things in the same way - eg money is collected for a forthcoming outing or event, with everyone making a modest contribution.

"How will this work if cheques are abolished?" I askd. The man was v. nice and trying to be helpful - I had been ushered into a formal office, given every courtesy. "Well, they could go home and make a payment transfer to your bank account by email." That sounds possible: I could write down my bank account details, and they could then also give me a note of theirs, and also of their name and address just in case the payment never reached me...um...wouldn't it be easier if the pieces of paper we exchanged could just be used on their own, without the need to go home and do things all over again via a computer? We could even give the bits of paper a name...er..."cheques" might be suitable.

Another alternative is for me to give my bank details to all and sundry, urging people to publicise them far and wide so that people could then send me money via computer without the need for me to give the information to each person individually. Maybe I should put my account details on a big website and urge people to pay me that way? That would be a great idea, wouldn't it - as I'd have to make sure the details of my account were full and accurate, name, code-number, accout number, everything...

"Well, there is still time for the big banks to have some fresh thinking and change their minds" he said. Quite. Get writing, everyone. Google for the name and address of the HQ of your bank, and write TODAY.

A wonderful party...

...at an hotel with a stunning view over the Thames, to raise funds for the Amar Jyoti trust to help care for and educate blind and visually-impaired children in India. This is all the brainchild of a lovely family, whose daughter has been to India to live and work with these children....There are some fine young people in Britain, and it was a joy to meet some of them at this party. People had been urged to "dress Bollywood" and there were young girls looking absolutely lovely in beautiful saris - some fabulous materials and the girls, wearing these beautiful gowns, were obviously enjoying the unusual feel,and carried themselves with a grace that would never be achieved in micro-minis or jeans...

The latest issue of ....

...the Catholic Times has a feature about the Beans on Toast girl. You don't know who she is? You do, actually, if you've been following the Papal Visit. Remember that wonderful placard which said cheerily "We love U, Papa, more than beans on toast!" and the other one that said "Give it some welly for the Pope in the Park"? The media loved it...so did we. And various newspapers and TV tracked down the young lady and her chums who produced these particular placards, and found they were delightful - pick up a copy of the Cath. Times in your local RC church and read more (but hurry - new edition of the paper comes out on Friday and this is in the current one). The young people would like, they said, to go to Rome and explain to the H. Father about beans-on-toast (and, presumably wellies - he could have done with some at Cofton where it was so damp)...

There's definitely a feeling...

...of a "Benedict bounce" among Catholics in London. Lots going on, and a new mood of hope and faith. Already, there are a number of plans for follow-up events, all very much rooted in prayer...

At the weekend...

...we had a lovely walk, in gentle rain, at Hampton Court. The river is very high at the moment. The conkers are spectacularly good this year, but the horse-chestnut trees seem to have a problem - their leaves have turned rusty and odd, and started doing so in the summer,well before there was any question of these being Autumn colours. Oh dear...
Tea at Hampton Court, in the Tiltyard. Jamie buying me some lovely lavender-scented presents at the gift shop. The riverside, rain plopping on to the water, lots of swans preening themselves.Then dusk falling and the Palace glorious in the twilight.

Auntie likes the idea...

...of NOT ASHAMED Day, on December 1st, when Christians are urged to wear a Cross and witness to their commitment to their Faith.

The latest issue...

...of the Westminster Cathedral magazine OREMUS is a glorious celebration of Papa Benedict's visit...and also has a number of other articles, including Auntie's regular feature, which now includes a monthly recipe. You can get the magazine by dropping into the Cathedral and buying it from the display rack there...

...and on October 16th, the Cathedral hosts the HOPE WITHOUT FEAR event organised by Aid to the Church in Need. Come and be inspired!

I'm reading...

the new book The End and the Beginning by George Weigel. It's a good read. The first part is a fine analysis is the events leading up to the overturning of Communist rule in Eastern and central Europe in 1989.

This book was a birthday present from Jamie, and I am hugely enjoying it, carrying it around to read on the train, in supermarket queues, etc. Recommended.

I've been sent...

this link, from the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with some good insights into the recent visit of the Holy Father...

Read, digest, and note for action...

The fundamental questions at stake in Thomas More’s trial continue to present themselves in ever-changing terms as new social conditions emerge. Each generation, as it seeks to advance the common good, must ask anew: what are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend? By appeal to what authority can moral dilemmas be resolved? These questions take us directly to the ethical foundations of civil discourse. If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident - herein lies the real challenge for democracy.

words of Pope Benedict XVI in Westminster Hall, 2010.

London in gentle rain...

...for a meeting of the Association of Catholic Women, at St James' Church,Spanish Place. MUCH to discuss. Our Schools Project this year was the bigggest ever - unsurprisingly, as it was all connected with the visit of the Holy Father. We now plan a booklet with snippets from the children's essays and messages to the Pope (sample:"Thank you, Pope Benedict, for having such lovely manners"). We will be working on the 2011 Project over the next weeks. Also on the Towards Advent Festival, at which we organise the Refreshments (come and buy some of our excellent cakes - and indeed some of Auntie's jam and Apple Jelly)...and we plan another Day of Art and Music for teachers, and then there are the events for 2011 including our annual Day of Recollection...

Auntie is busy...

...working on a new TV series for EWTN, due to be filmed in January. It involved quite a lot of research, many emails back and forth about subjects as diverse as ground oatmeal and the purchase of a haggis, and filming in a country town in Sussex, a meadow near Wimbledon, and - we hope - a house with priest-holes and an ancient Dole tradition.

And if you don't know what a Dole tradition is, you'll have to watch the series to find out, won't you?

Meantime, do read the chatty and descriptive blog from EWTN's Joan Lewis, who brilliantly caught the mood of Papa B's visit to Britain, and is also able to interpret various things for an American audience.(She's able to convey just why that reference to "beans on toast" was one of the biggest compliments that could be paid to a much-loved Papa...)

Do read...

Auntie's account, written for the Association of Catholic Women, of the great Vigil of Prayer in Hyde Park with the Holy Father...

The committee of the ACW meets tomorrow (Friday) to plan follow-up activities from the H. Father's visit...

Meanwhile, over in America...

...they seem to have heard very little about the extraordinary success and significance of the H.Father's visit to Britain...read here for an anaylsis of this.

Want to know more about Cardinal Newman?

Come along to St Joseph's Church, New Malden, on Sunday October 17th, at 6.30pm (ie after the evening Mass) to hear an illustrated talk by Newman scholar Dr Andrew Nash. Come and discover about the life and work of Newman: his childhood, his days at Oxford, the dramatic events of 1845, the foundation of the Oratory in Birmingham...

Everyone is welcome. This is a follow-up to the Papal Visit and Newman's Beatification. Come and join in the celebrations! There will be coffee and marmalade cake (among John Henry Newman's correspondence is a letter thanking some kind ladies for a gift of jars of marmalade for his small community - so we felt that this would be a suitable way to celebrate his beatification!). Donations invited for Maryvale.

St Joseph's church is easily reached by rail (New Malden station is 20 minutes from London Waterloo) and by road (follow the A3 and look for the New Malden exit). Bus 131 from Wimbledon stops outside St Joseph's church on Kingston Road.

To Oxford...

...for a wonderful celebration at Blackfriars marking the Silver Jubilee of two priests, Fr Richard Conrad, OP, and Fr Robert Letellier. Both are lecturers at Maryvale. There was a glorious concelebrated Mass, lots of Latin chant, large congregation in the Blackfriars chapel. Then a delicious buffet lunch in the Refectory, much talk and generous quantities of food and wine. Joyful atmosphere, old friends meeting and much lively talk. Most Catholic conversations over these past days have tended to open with "Wasn't it all marvellous?" as people swap stories about the Papal Visit... everyone has an anecdote, a special memory, something moving or enjoyable or hilarious or just awe-inspiring that they want to share and enjoy with others...

Yesterday, a family trip with friends to Arundel. We were planning the next Catholic History Walk, which takes place on Oct 10th - come and join us! Arundel was enchanting in Autumn sunshine - and even better, somehow, in soft misty rain as we walked by the river before a delicious Cream Tea...

What are YOU doing...

...to follow up the Papal visit and the opportunities it has opened up for bringing the Good News of Christ to Britain?

Any and every Catholic event ought to benefit. This year's TOWARDS ADVENT Festival has includes a reprise of the Visit, with Mgr Vincent Brady from the Nunciature telling us all about it and giving us an opportunity to swap joyful reflections and memories.

And come to the big event organised by Aid to the Church in Need "HOPE WITHOUT FEAR" at Westminster Cathedral on October 16th. Details here...

You might like to obtain the official souvenir of the Papal Visit, with text of all the speeches etc: available here.

And enjoy various commentaries on the visit such as this one and lengthier reflections such as those to be found here...

It is not given to everyone...

...to cycle through the London suburbs with an apple crumble wrapped in a Papal Visit commemorative knapsack in the bicycle-basket.

The apples have been so good this year, and I thought the E. Family would enjoy the crumble...and they did, which was jolly.

Life is gradually coming back to normal after the Papal Visit, but it's a slow and enjoyable process.

Much work at home on the computer: book making slow progress. Lunch at the Inner Temple, v. agreeable. The Chambers in which Jamie was in pupillage have since become famous as the chambers of Rumpole, and carries the fictional names of all conerned.

And relish this...with glorious singing from the Westminster Cathedral choir:

And this,..

And you might enjoy...

this analysis of Papa B's visit, too....

Just to enjoy again...

There are lots and lots...

...of websites with lovely pictures showing aspects of the Holy Father's visit that you may have missed.

Look at this one, for example, with a lovely pic. of the Holy Father and the Chief Rabbi, just before the start of Yom Kippur. Pope Benedict gave special greetings to the Jewish community for this holy celebration, and his words about mutual support and help and co-operation are worth repeating...

NEXT CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK....

...is on Sunday October 10th, and is at ARUNDEL in Sussex. A lovely country walk in this most beautiful part of England. Castle, Cathedral, river, Autumn, good companionship...what more could anyone want? Only some nice teashops and pubs, and you'll find those in Arundel, too...

Meet at 9.45 am on the steps of Westminster Cathedral,

OR

be on the 10.17am train from Victoria Station to Arundel

OR

join us at Arundel Cathedral at approx 12.30pm.

BRING A PACKED LUNCH!

No need to book - just turn up! Wear comfortable shoes and suitable clothing - we'll be walking whatever the weather.

Note: the Walk does not specifically include Mass, so it's best to go to Mass beforehand. There is an 8 am Mass at Westminster Cathedral.

MOre information about the Catholic History Walks: click here.

Getting back to work...

...and, specifically, for my next series on EWTN, due to be filmed in January. I'm research the historical background to various Autumnal/Christmas/Epiphany/Candlemas/etc etc etc traditions, and also working in recipes. It is fun and there is a lot to do...

Some lovely books for children, about saints, have just been produced by St Paul's. There's a delightful one on Blessed (!) John Henry Newman and there are also lovely books on St Therese of Lisieux and St John Vianney. The books are charmingly illustrated, hardback, lovely to use and handle, and are just £5.95p each. Warmly recommended.

Latest issue of VOICES, magazine of Women for Faith and Family in the USA, arrives. Auntie has a feature in it...

Latest FAITH magazine...

arrives. Auntie has a book review in it, of Amy Wellborn's delightful children's book Friendship with Jesus.

want still more...

...from Auntie about the Papal visit? Read my EWTN blog here...

And to get a flavour of how the tabloids are now viewing Papa B., read here...

Cofton Park, near Birmingham ...

..and a damp hillside in the darkness, and groups hurrying forward to claim places for the great Mass that was a few hours ahead. People made encampments and unpacked flasks of coffee and packets of sandwiches. It was all very British - people had brought rainwear and for those who hadn't, there were plastic macs in our Pilgrim Packs, and the latter could also double as waterproof mats on which to sit. As the dawn came up, the hillsides and valley were filled with people, and the altar at the heart of this natural amphitheatre was being made ready for Mass.

Few present had slept. Like many others, I'd travelled from London with a parish group. After the Vigil of Prayer (see below) I went to the house of friends and we swapped stories over hot soup and a lot of wine, and there was a lot of laughter and chatter and it was all hugely agreeable, and no one wanted to waste time sleeping. Straight on to the parish bus that was to drive through the night to Birmingham. People talked a bit at first but gradually succumbed to slumber - I recall a muddled dream about Cardinal Newman going ice-skating, and then woke as the rhythm of the bus changed after we left the motorway and trundled down side roads towards Cofton.

The Mass was glorious. Music surged,and Papa Benedict's voice - which had seemed hoarse at some earlier events but was now strong and confident, though still with that gentle tone - led us in the prayers. When he preached, he began with a touching reference to the Battle of Britain, and paid tribute to the heroes who had defended the country from the Nazis...and then in this most English of settings, in the heart of England, he pronounced a great Englishman on his way to sainthood...

At Holy Communion, priests stood with ciboria beneath large umbrellas in papal colours, held aloft, and people came forward reverently and silently, stepping over sleeping children or stacked backpacks...

We sang Newman's hymns, and Keble's "Love Divine, all loves excelling...and at the very end, standing with friends, filling the whole hillside with music as we poured our hearts into "For all the saints...", I felt that surely Heaven might be something a bit like this.

Extraordinary...

...glorious and moving Vigil of Prayer in Hyde Park. It was great fun to be in the parade of Catholic groups and organisations - along with Patti Fordyce, I was representing the Association of Catholic Women, and we carried our brand-new banner, specially made for the occasion, with great pride. As we made our way through the crowd, there were excited shouts of "Auntie Joanna!" and young relatives hurried through for a joyful greeting. Then off we went, up on to the stage, where we were greeted by all the Bishops...and then we were given seats, and had a superb view of all that followed.

Far and away the most moving and inspiring speakers were the Mizen parents, whose son Jimmy was murdered in a random act of violence and whose prayerful and courageous response to this tragedy has touched everyone. They spoke about faith, and what Christ means when you suffer sorrow, and the need to teach peace and forgiveness. "Be proud of your faith" Mrs Mizen told the young people "Be proud and glad of your Catholic faith."

Earlier, through the afternoon, there had been Irish dancing, and Polish dancing, and African singing, all shown across the Park to the crowds via giant screens. As we waited for the Holy Father, we nopw moved on to various talks and messages - some very good, some less so - and then finally to prayer.

When the Holy Father arrived, there was a terrific outburst of cheering, and an overwhelming surge of joy and enthusiasm...and magnificent music, and a wonderful sense of unity and shared faith...

...and so to the beautiful vigil of prayer, and a deep and reverent silence as the Holy Father lifted high the monstrance and blessed us with the Blessed Sacrament. Young faces glowed in the candlelight, and here in the heart of London 80,000 souls were joining together in prayer...

When things finished, we gathered again with young family members, and walked off through a gloriously quiet London - how enchanting it is when streets are sealed from traffic! Jamie telephoned to say that the BBC wanted me for a discussion with Peter Tatchell and did I want to do that? Certainly not, and there was the joyful recognition that poor Tatchell was becoming less and less relevant in the nation's mind as the joy and true signifoicance of the Papal visit intensified.

At Victoria station, young people with their golden "PIlgrim pack" backpacks were everywhere, and on the packed train to the southern suburbs other passengers caught the mood and all was cheery and talkative and joyful...

Listening...

...via the internet, to the exchange of greetings and the talks given by the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. A good and friendly gathering, and good things said.

This is a time for rejoicing: in Westminster today, history was made.

And great goodwill...

...at Westminster Abbey. I was outside, and hearing the glorious bells ring out, and with people milling about, with goodwill and joy everywhere, it made the heart rejoice.

The BBC wanted to talk to me about women priests, and kept saying "But aren't the Anglican and Catholic churches further apart than ever?" I said NO, emphatically not. There is greater goodwill now than ever before: it is a tragedy that the C. of E. opted for women priests, but it doesn't mean that any doors are closed, and the goodwill continues. Don't know how all that will sound on TV...

I have found a good report on the service in the Abbey here. And you can read the POpe's speech here.

A gathering of history...

...in the magnificent setting of Westminster Hall,at the very heart of Parliament, with centuries of tradition echoing beneath its great hammer-beam roof and its Norman arches. Here, with the Archbishop of Canterbury by his side, a great array of Members of Parliament, several former Prime Ministers, and representatives of every aspect of public life in Britain, Pope Benedict XVI gave an address, touching on the moral realities that lie beneath the great issues of our day.

It was an unforgettable priviledge to be there. Beautiful gilt chairs had been set in rows, the Band of the Coldstream Guards played, and there was a sense of great and almost reverent expectancy. In the last moments before the Pope arrived, there was an absolute and extraordinary silence - it was as if we were in church.

The Pope spoke quietly, and has a gentle, academic style. He was vigorous in his warmth and praise for Britain's tradition of Parliamentary democracy, seeing this as a great achievement and a gift to the wider world. He emphasised that this was grounded in a culture of faith, and that faith and reason work together and complement one another. Attempts to marginalise faith, and in particular Christianity, will do grave harm to the common good, and to the liberty achieved through the great Westminster tradition.

It was a wonderful occasion - something glorious and magnificent in our history. A great sense of joy and goodwill.

I will remember this day as long as I live.

Hurrah for Papa B!

...and this is what he said as he arrived in Scotland, and was greeted by HM the Queen. I've highlighted bits that are of especial interest, and which rouse us today:


"The name of Holyroodhouse, Your Majesty’s official residence in Scotland, recalls the "Holy Cross" and points to the deep Christian roots that are still present in every layer of British life. The monarchs of England and Scotland have been Christians from very early times and include outstanding saints like Edward the Confessor and Margaret of Scotland. As you know, many of them consciously exercised their sovereign duty in the light of the Gospel, and in this way shaped the nation for good at the deepest level. As a result, the Christian message has been an integral part of the language, thought and culture of the peoples of these islands for more than a thousand years. Your forefathers’ respect for truth and justice, for mercy and charity come to you from a faith that remains a mighty force for good in your kingdom, to the great benefit of Christians and non-Christians alike.

We find many examples of this force for good throughout Britain’s long history. Even in comparatively recent times, due to figures like William Wilberforce and David Livingstone, Britain intervened directly to stop the international slave trade. Inspired by faith, women like Florence Nightingale served the poor and the sick and set new standards in healthcare that were subsequently copied everywhere. John Henry Newman, whose beatification I will celebrate shortly, was one of many British Christians of his age whose goodness, eloquence and action were a credit to their countrymen and women. These, and many people like them, were inspired by a deep faith born and nurtured in these islands.

Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live. I also recall the regime’s attitude to Christian pastors and religious who spoke the truth in love, opposed the Nazis and paid for that opposition with their lives. As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a "reductive vision of the person and his destiny" (Caritas in Veritate, 29)."

Last night, I joined a great throng of people from across London who came to welcome the H. Father as he arrived at Wimbledon. The crowd was much, much larger than we had expected - there were lots of families, teams of young people with banners saying "WELCOME HOLY FATHER", young men from the seminary, parish groups. Some people had brought candles and lanterns. I met several old friends, had some wonderful conversations - there was an atmosphere of great goodwill and happiness - and we cheered various policemen who came by, and various vans and cars and then ...here he came!! Flashing blue lights, lots of police outriders - then a car and a small figure, a white-clad arm waving, a great surge of cheers from the crowd, followed by persistent shouting and chanting. People suddenly went Italian and shouted "Viva il Papa!", some broke into song, others raised a hip-hip-hurrah! We went on cheering as he went inside - and then finally some windows opened and he came out and greeted us...

The crowd took a good while to disperse - we'd all been enjoying ourselves. Children were excited by being out of doors in the night on the edge of the Common, all wild and dark behind them. Friends lingered to talk. People enjoyed swapping inconsequential news "They gave him haggis for lunch!" "I hope he's able to get a good rest - he's had an amazing day" "He deserves a good whisky-and-soda". And overall "The crowds in Scotland were great - it's all right. It's going to be all right!"

HE'S HERE! And as Papa B. arrived in Scotland...

... I was rushed to the BBC this morning, in between complicated family commitments, for a discussion on the Jeremy Vine Show with an atheist profesor who said how dreadful the Pope was, how dreadful the Church was,how much harm Mother Teresa had done in Calcutta, how it was all wrong to focus on the Church's charitable work, etc etc. She had signed the letter to the Guardian protesting about the H. Father's visit, but her real quarrel seemed to be with God, His very existence,the possibility that it might all be true...

Hurried home, via local parish, where there is Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament all day on Thursdays. Prayed for the H. Father's visit, and also for a private matter (a young woman who is going into hospital for a major operation today: why not add your prayers to mine on this?).

Home. Domestic matters, then letters, emails, phone calls. The poor anonymous person who has sent me a Comment with filthy things about the Holy Father and the Church need not have bothered: the Comment has been deleted.

A French magazine, La Vie, arrives in the post.It has a big feature on the Papal Visit to Britain, John Henry Newmnan, etc. Has features about, among others, Fr Alexander Sherbrook of St Patrick's, Soho Square. There is also a quote from Auntie, described as "blogeuse reputee et pleine d'humour", which is kind...

BE THERE!!!!

The map showing the H. Father's route through London on Saturday evening has been published. Best place to see him and cheer him is THE MALL - you get there by going to St James' Park or Victoria tube station. Early evening. Bring a flag: you can make a simple Papal flag by simply sticking one white sheet and one yellow sheet of paper together. Bring a friend. Bring the children. BE THERE!!!

Here's the link again:
http://www.rcsouthwark.co.uk/papal_visit_10_popemobile.html

Off to Wimbledon...

...by bike tomorrow evening to greet the H. Father at the Nunciature. Today, a wonderful visit to the Community of Our Lady of Walsingham at the Abbotswick House of Prayer in Brentwood. An excellent place at which to pray and prepare for the Papal Visit. The Sisters wear lovely blue-and-white habits, with hoods...they are sort of goody-hoodies, a new Community and one full of hope and promise. Around the wide lawns and paths there are small shrines and a Way of the Cross. A glorious breezy sunny day with a hint of Autumn, the last blackberries ripening on the hedges. The community began a Novena to Our Lady of Walsingham today as the feast is in nine days' time, and of course were praying for the H. Father and the great events that start tomorrow.

Nasty media stuff, but some good material in the Daily Telegraph

Be on the streets of London to greet the Holy Father!!! DON'T MISS OUT! Click here to get the route:

http://www.rcsouthwark.co.uk/papal_visit_10_popemobile.html

EXCELLENT...

...lecture given by author Brian Gail at Westminster Cathedral Hall, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Westminster in the John Paul II Theology of the Body series, run by Edmund Adamus.

The lecture was challenging, thought-provoking, inspiring. Brian Gail pointed to the grim reality of what has occurred with the destruction of our understanding of the covenant bond of marriage and the awesome sharing in God's gift of new life. He called for a fresh and invigorating look at this whole subject, a wholescale turning to God. It was gripping stuff, and it brought prolonged applause, followed by people milling about to talk, to look at his book (it's a terrific read!)and the discuss what he had said...

Edmund Adamus is doing a superb job in the diocese, and gives practical support, encouragement, information, and help to all who are working for Christian family life. This lecture series is just one of the projects he has launched, and this evening really was splendid.

And these are momentous days as we await the arrival of the successor of St Peter to Britain...

This has been an extraordinary week so far...yesterday I had the experience of walking into Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament with a couple of friends and being able to say that here, in the place where St Thomas More was condemned to death for refusing to support King Henry VIII in breaking the unity of the Church with Rome, a Pope would be addressing the British nation.

Today, I cycled up to Wimbledon to check out the roadside opposite the Apostolic Nunciature, where crowds of us will gather on Thursday night to greet Pope Benedict as he arrives. We'll have candles and lanterns and posters of welcome, and we'll be singing and praying...

It is great to be in...

...a wonderful parish!

Our parish priest at St Joseph's New Malden, responded with enthusiasm to the idea of having a showing of the excellent film about the Holy Father: it was at short notice, but announcements were made at all the Masses this weekend, and placed in the parish newsletter, and we got a full hall, and a memorable evening. The film is powerful and moving: you could have heard a pin drop during the showing.

We invited donations for the work of the Maryvale Institute: the parish is already linked to Maryvale and has catechists who were trained there, and people were generous and enthusiastic with donations.

All this at a busy weekend: many of the young people were hurrying off after evening Mass to a meeting about World Youth Day. It really is just wonderful parish!

BTW, if you want a poster to place in your window to show your support for the Holy Father, there are some at St Joseph's - just drop into the church and you will find some in the entrance area. DO COME AND GET ONE and put it up! (Bus 131 from Wimbledon stops right by the church, just ask for "St Joseph's").

A happy day...

....at St Philomena's School, where I joined lots of others for an Old Girls' Reunion. Several of our year group - we left school 40 years ago this year! - met for lunch beforehand. It was a wonderful, talkative, affectionate gathering, full of laughter and lots and lots of "do-you-remember?" and "what about that time when..."

We were happy at St Phillies. It was (and is) a good school, and we knew it when we were there. A strong message about service and putting other people's needs first, and all that sort of thing...perhaps a rather sheltered environment, but it formed a framework for life, and gave you confidence...a sense that things could be achieved, that wrongs could and should be righted.

A lot of our laughter over lunch concerned school food: easy to gloat over its nastiness when we were enjoying a delicious Italian meal, but the school lunches (provided by the local authority, not the school) really did contain some horrors: "flat meat", of indeterminate grey, revolting liver with elastic tubes in the middle, slimy tapioca pudding with sinister lumps.

Oh, I did enjoy reminiscing...there were some things I remembered quite well, like Bernie eating that daffodil bulb for a dare, and having to be rushed to hospital...but there were others I'd forgotten, like Mary D. breaking her teeth running into one of those great pots of flowers that stood in the Quad. And some things I hadn't known at all: Lizzy D. showed me where she and Monica B. had discovered how to work the laundry shaft and had glorious rides, and I'm rather sorry to have missed out on that.

Only a Philomenian will understand when I add that Spartans and Athenians united for the lunch. Oh, and that Margaret Clitheroe has gone, and there's a v. grand impressive new Hall there now, where we had tea.

Sometimes, one doesn't know whether to be angry, or to weep...

..at the ineptitude of things.

A booklet has been produced for people attending the Papal events, purporting to be for people of non-Christian faiths, so help explain various terms. It is a crass and ghastly example of an attempt to use what the authors think is street-language for sacred things.

In trying to find a suitable term for "Liturgy, Celebration, Mass, Benediction" the authors come up with "Event, show, Gig". For "spiritual, uplifting" they offer "enjoyable, fun, exciting".

AAAAARGH!!!

Do these people honestly believe that non-Christians don't understand what "spiritual" and "uplifting" mean? Do they honestly think that non-Christians don't have any understanding of spiritual things, are never uplifted?

And don't they see that to attempt to use words like "gig" and "show" in describing the Mass is just...well...indescribably gross and wrong?

And don't let's even try to explain just how horribly wrong they are in saying that a similar term for "Blessed Sacramernt" is "Bread and wine".

The booklet opens with a fairly useful section on the Mass, and has a similarly adequate section on Benediction, both written with reverence and understanding. There are helpful guidelines about suitable dress and behaviour (appropriate attire, no shorts, switch off mobile phones, noise and movement to be minimised during Mass, complete silence at the Consecration, etc).

So why the gross and daft attempt at street-speak for the glossary? It's pathetic desire to feel up-to-date and streetwise, and it's cringe-making.

A party...

...given by the Catholic Herald to celebrate the Papal Visit. Great fun, lots of talks with a great many friends, delicious drinks and trays of tasty nibbles, all in the rather impressive surroundings of The Friary in Francis St, round at the back of Westminster Cathedral. This was for many years the Catholic Central Library, but before that,it was connected not with the Church but with the British Army, and was built as a home for orphans of soldiers who served in the Crimean War...

Among the people at the party, I chatted to Canon Christopher Tuckwell of Westminster Cathedral, to Stratford and Leonie Caldecott, who are involved with the excellent Magnificat publication, to Fr Tim Finigan (this month marks 30 years since he served our Wedding Mass at St Elphege's, Wallington), to Neville Kyrke-Smith and the team from Aid to the Church in Need, to Christina of the Cathedral Friends, to Fergal Martin and the team from the CTS , and to a great many more friends. Princess Michael of Kent was among the guests, and very charming and friendly. Herald editor Luke Coppen was a cheery and welcoming host, and I had my photograph taken with him and will put it on this blog as soon as I have worked out how to do so. (Fr Tim took the pic, and has emailed it to me, and will be watching gleefully to see if I manage it...)

After the party, an interview with Jeremy de Satge of The Music Makers for the Heart gives unto Heart radio station.

At the weekend...

...I went to the annual commemoration of St Edith at her Well in Kent.

St Edith was the daughter of King Edgar, one of our last Saxon kings. She was illegitimate, and was born at Kemsing and brought up in a convent. After his wife died, Edgar sought to legitimate Edith, and in due course she was offered the crown of England, but she declined it, preferring to remain in the convent and take her vows as a nun. She ministered to the poor and sick, especially little leper children, and legend says that one day the Christ-child joined them as they gathered round her for their daily meal.

St Edith is honoured at Kemsing, and we gathered at St Edith's well - where she drew water as a child - and prayed the Rosary there, then went on to the lovely home of the Tyler family nearby, for Benediction in the garden, and a delicious tea. A great gathering of local people, Catholics and Anglicans joining together.

Kent was glorious on this September day, and there was a treasure-hunt with Bible quotes to be found in the orchard and meadow, a delicious array of sandwiches and cakes in the cool shady patio (especially welcome for those of us who had walked as pilgrims from nearby Otford), and much talk...the forthcoming Papal visit very much in people's minds, hopes and anxieties being expressed...a happy day.

I will certainly be attending...

this meeting which will feature the work of heroic priests including an American in Siberia. He is bringing new hope to a place marked by hideous suffering, a corner of the former USSR's gulag archipelago.

Join me at this event, organised by Aid to the Church in Need.

A film about the Holy Father...

...produced a hall packed to capacity when it was shown at the Sacred Heart parish, Wimbledon, this week. I hugely recommend this film, which is produced by Rome Reports. It's called A Love Affair with the Truth and you can get it by clicking on to that link.

A friend, who lives in the parish, and is a fellow-enthusiast for Maryvale, had the idea of obtaining the film and having a showing in the hall. We offered fresh coffee and Bavarian chocolate cake, suggested a £3.00 donation (proceeds to Maryvale) and advertised the event in the parish newsletter and in neighbouring parishes. We expected a reasonable turnout - the parish is a big one with good numbers for Sunday Masses. We got a magnificent crowd - extra chairs brought in, standing room only at the back, people sitting on the floor. The parish priest gave a wonderful welcome, and as people left they were given copies of the special edition of Magnificat booklet, with all the liturgies for the Papal visit. It was a simply wonderful evening.

On the Theology of the Body...

..there is good reading here, from a London voice looking forward to the visit of the Holy Father...

And I shall certainly be attending this event at Westminster on the eve of the Papal visit.

Under brilliant, glittering stars...

...we pitched our tent in a Somerset meadow, and relished a family holiday: I gathered sea-spinach and blackberries and there was cooking and jam-making, we watched barn-owls fly, wandered over ancient abbey ruins, ate pub lunches, walked across the moors and into deliciously cool woodlands, squeezed into a crowded church with a Sunday Mass congregation swollen with other holidaymakers, had long talkative family meals, and drove home late and slowly savouring the last bits of holiday by having a cheerful wayside supper while telling a detective story.

Didn't want to come home, really, but there is a great deal going on now and being plunged in to it has left small time for blogging. At Mass in the West Country we were all given copies of the special Magnificat produced for the Papal visit with the various liturgies in it. On Monday (Sept 6th) at 7.30pm in the Parish Room at the Sacred Heart Church, Edge Hill, London SW19 we're showing a new 60-minute DVD about the Pope - come and join us! Admission £3.00, proceeds to Maryvale. There'll be coffee and Bavarian chocolate cake (some of us spending much of this weekend baking, nice recipes involved melting coc. oranges, cream...)

We can expect a media onslaught on the Church, the H. Father, etc over the next days. Meanwhile, for thopse who want to use their brains intelligently, there is a fine article by George Weigel about the H. Father in Standpoint magazine, excellent feature about John Henry Newman by Conrad Black here.

Auntie has a feature in the current issue of AD2000 in Australia, and in Oremus, the magazine of Westminster Cathedral.

London...

...always looks its best in light rain. I lunched with an old friend at the Albert pub in Victoria Street, and we talked long and enjoyably over a very good steak-and-ale pie. On to Westminster Cathedral, where evening Mass was said without choir as the boys are away on holiday: there was something solid and downbeat and somehow very attractive about the simple and straightforward Mass, a rumble of London voices making the responses, lines of people coming up for Communion. I went to confession and, as so often happens, met a friend in the queue and we had one of those whispered conversations exchanging news and greetings. On to Parliament - under grey skies and scudding rain the warm sandstone looks warm and weathered and rather marvellous. Parliment Square is still a mess - the encampment of demonstrators (anti-war, anti-capitalism etc etc) has gone but there are hoardings up while the muck and rubbish they left is cleared and the grass allowed to grow again, and there is still a row of tents and banners and placards facing the Houses of Parliament. The Holy Father will be speaking in Westminster Hall in three weeks' time and an invitation to this stands on our mantlepiece, all silvered embossed crest and elegant lettering. I said a quick prayer as I stood by the railings, and dropped a miraculous medal there.

And you must come to...

...this lecture, by author Brian Gail. I interviewed him for a Catholic Herald feature a while back, and he was terrific. Come and hear him speak!

The latest issue...

...of COMMON GROUND, the magazine of the Council of Christians and Jews, has a feature by Auntie in it. Click on that link to find it, it's the Summer 2010 edition...

WHO IS JOSEPH RATZINGER??

Come and find out! A colleague has found a superb new film on the life of Benedict XVI, and we've organised a Papa Benedict Evening!!! Monday September 6th, Parish Lounge, Sacred Heart church, Wimbledon, London SW19. Donation £3.00, coffee and Bavarian chocolate cake. All welcome. Funds raised wil go to the Maryvale Institute.

When the early Christians...

...were persecuted in the Roman empire under Nero and Diocletian, one of the accusations used against them was that of cannibalism - because of the Eucharist. It's surfaced again. Campaigners in the secularist lobby - I've just been trawling some of their blogs and websites to see what they are saying in this run-up to the visit of the H.Father - are now making claims that Christianity is essentially cannibalistic, and referring to Holy Communion...oh, and that it is a religion focused on death, because of the centrality of the Crucifixion.

One commentator is quoted by another journalist as saying that the Holy Father's views are "so disgusting, so repellent, and so hugely damaging to the rest of us, that the only thing to do is to get rid of him". I am assuming that she was misquoted...

I've now learned how to embed videos...

Blackberries...

...and small girls eagerly gathering them. A friend and her daughters contacted me to inform me of a newly-discovered wonderful place, a glorious meadow with hedges simply brimming with blackberry bushes, near a beautiful church (on Sunday evenings the bells peal out for Evensong, and they dropped in to share in the service for a little while)...the essence of English rural life, and all in the heart of Greater London suburbia, not far from a railway station which could whisk you to Waterloo in half an hour...

So I joined them for a happy afternoon, and as I write this there are jars of jam all completed, and a mix of blackberry-and-apple straining through to make jelly, and a delicious blackbverry and apple crumble just enjoyed for supper.

If you want to sample the jam, you must come to the Towards Advent Festival, Nov 6th at Westminster Cathedral Hall. Mark the date in your diary now...

In the news...

...there are reports of another incident at a War Memorial, where a drunken woman used it as a lavatory, and later for a sexual encounter. Recently another War Memorial was sprayed with graffitti with militant Islamiscist slogans. One newspaper suggests that we need a new law making it a specific offence to dishonour a War Memorial in this way. We don't. But the incidents do require some sort of a response. Today I went to our local War Memorial with some flowers and a note which said "Reading media reports of recent incidents involving the desecrating of War Memorials made me want to do so something, so I have placed these flowers here. I invite others to do the same."

A useful meeting...

...with Gerry Coates, who has launched the Heart Gives Unto Heart internet radio station to cover the Papal visit. I'll be helping with some interviews etc - much to plan and discuss.

LOts of emails and messages from people who are coming to London for Papal events, including some Americans. Some are making a longer stay, and arriving some days before the Papal visit to enjoy some sightseeing etc. If you are among these, do join me on the Catholic History Walk on Sept 9th. It starts at 6.30pm (ie after the 5.30pm Mass) on the steps of Westminster Cathedral...no need to book, just turn up. Wear suitable shoes and clothing, we'll be walking whatever the weather. The route wil take in Westminster Abbey, Parliament, St James Park etc...

The Holy Father on Religious Freedom:

He is increasingly stating its importance. At a time when Christians in various places - yes, I'm talking about Britain - sense that their right to work and pray and teach and speak out from the vantage-point of a living faith is being challenged or denied, Pope Benedict XVI has made religious freedom the theme of his 2011 Peace Message. Read here for more...and understand the significance of what is being said.

Addressing the United Nations a couple of years ago the Holy Father said: "Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom, understood as the expression of a dimension that is at once individual and communitarian – a vision that brings out the unity of the person while clearly distinguishing between the dimension of the citizen and that of the believer."

The Church is not asking for priviledges but just for the right of everyone to play a fair part in common life: the Pope noted that asking that some one renounces religious beliefs in order to take part in building up the social order is unjust, and fragments the human person. Of course it also denies to society the benefits brought by all that is being produced through the zeal and commitment of those who work from a position of faith: schools, hospitals, universities, all sorts of provision for the poor and marginalised and so on...

And while on the subject, Vatican II's Declaration on Religious Freedom is authoritative and extraordinarily prophetic and wise...

Having recently met...

...some of the Dominican Sisters from the New Forest, I trawled their website, and was impressed by their range of activities, which included a visit from a school, with a v. charming pic...

A Traditional Wedding...

...in Hampshire. A great gathering in church, a beautiful bride, glorious music, delightful bridesmaids in swishy scarlet dresses matching the red roses, enchanting small page-boys, solemnity as the young couple exchanged their vows...all joyful, memorable, tender. The Nuptial Mass was celebrated by the chaplain of the University where they met, concelebrating with family friends...and in addition to a magnificent Byrd Mass, sung by a choir of friends of the young couple, we had some of my favourite, favourite hymns... Later, over a delicious meal, there were excellent speeches, and laughter and talk and then dancing until a late hour...and the departure of the bride and groom in a car trailing tin cans and balloons...

Favourite hymns? Oh, since you ask...John Henry Newman's Praise to the Holiest, of course, and Soul of my Saviour, and Glorious things of thee are spoken...

And just to make things perfect, this morning as various of us returned to the same church for a packed Sunday Mass, we had Tell out my Soul: wonderful nieces singing fabulously beside me...

And you must MUST watch this...

...click here...I found this extraordinarily moving...

Hurrah for Papa Benedict...

...and you must read this blog if you are a Londoner and want to be part of the Papal visit.