...and every year the Festival of Catholic Culture exceeds expectations. This year, the choir of St Philomena's School, Carshalton, sang most beautifully, first Panis Angelicus and then "A Gaelic Blessing". It was greatly enjoyable, as a Philomenian, to be there welcoming them at Westminster Cathedral, and then giving each girl a little thank-you gift (CTS Prayer Books). I asked them "Don't you think that your choir director should receive something special" and they chorused "Yes!" and applauded, and I handed over a gift-wrapped parcel (a gold-edged new Missal plus a book by JB)...
It is always a day mapped out in high-speed moves: arrival at the Cathedral Hall with every group - over 30 take part in the Festival - rushing to claim its table and set it up with books and gifts and posters and decorations...the organising of the refreshments that will be on sale all day (Deo Gratias for Josephine Robinson and the wonderful Association of Catholic Women, who have run this with superb efficiency since the Festival's foundation)...greeting the choir and showing them where to change and rehearse etc...unpacking all the things I have brought for various stalls,...finally also unpacking the books for my own stall, shared with a young relative who is an award-winning author signing copies of her books...and then suddenly, it's time for the doors to open, and people are pouring in...and then at 10.30 the Archbishop arrives, the Chairman (Brian Towler, of the Catenians) makes the opening greetings - and the FESTIVAL BEGINS!
Archbishop Vincent Nichols spoke exceptionally well at the Opening ceremony, lifting our thoughts up to God and setting the tone for the day in exactly the right way. The mood was friendly, bustling, open and cheerful. The speakers, Edmund Adamus of the diocese of Westminster and Sister Hyacinthe of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, were of a high standard. New features included a stall (including some lovely Christmas cards) run by the splendid team at the Sons of Divine Providence at Hampton Wick),and the popular craft stall run by the Ladies Ordinariate Group (I found it fun when a couple of people asked me "Have you met those Ordinariate ladies? They're really nice!")...and it was a joy, as always, to chat to the young team running Magnificat and Second Spring...during the day my only regret is that, as I am hurrying about on errands and making announcements, I am only able to have proper conversations with a small number of the friends and colleagues that I greet with a wave or smile too briefly...
...and then it's over, and I'm hurrying back from chairing Sister Hyacinthe's talk (Hinsley Room) to the main hall (Cathedral Hall) and finding people packing up and cleaning things...
...and then Jamie ( who always loyally arrives with gusto, greeting friends and relatives, hugging nieces, enjoying a good natter with various clergy) joined me for supper with Dan Cooper of the Faith Movement in a restaurant across Victoria Street. I was too tired to eat much and simply began with cup after cup of delicious freshly-brewed TEA, a baffled waitress anxiously bringing a second pot and extra hot water...
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
The funeral of Canon John Redford...
...who was a much-loved lecturer, theologian, and author, took place today at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. The funeral Mass was concelebrated by a great number of priests, and Archbishop Peter Smith preached beautifully, using some of Canon John's own material especially on the need to pray for the dead... the In Paradisum at the end was beautiful...the congregation included so many Maryvale students, and of course the dear Bridgettine nuns...
An angry anti-Christian lobbying group...
...has been trying to get itself publicity by demanding that the annual Remembrance Day service should be stripped of all religious content, and reduced to a series of wreath-laying rituals. So, a century after the deaths of so many young in the Great War , we are meant to sign them up posthumously as members of the National Secular Society? What gives the horrid NSS the right to do that?
All my life, at every church I have ever attended, war memorials have featured lists and lists of the names of members of the congregation...in my childhood and teenage years, the names on the two big War Memorials in our church in Wallington echoed with names still familiar within the parish: men who were uncles, brothers, fathers, husbands, men whose young faces were still imprinted on memories, who had been altar-servers or Scouts or members of different parish groups and sodalities. How DARE the NSS now announce that these men are to be denied Christian commemoration by our nation? How DARE the NSS announce that these men are to be reinvented as 21-century bossy anti-religious campaigners?
All my life, at every church I have ever attended, war memorials have featured lists and lists of the names of members of the congregation...in my childhood and teenage years, the names on the two big War Memorials in our church in Wallington echoed with names still familiar within the parish: men who were uncles, brothers, fathers, husbands, men whose young faces were still imprinted on memories, who had been altar-servers or Scouts or members of different parish groups and sodalities. How DARE the NSS now announce that these men are to be denied Christian commemoration by our nation? How DARE the NSS announce that these men are to be reinvented as 21-century bossy anti-religious campaigners?
St John Payne...
...one of the 40 Martyrs canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970. And today a fine school in Chelmsford bears his name. A warm welcome, and it was an honour to be there and giving out prizes gained in the 2013 Schools Bible Project. Curiously moving to see rows and rows of teenagers sweep to their feet and begin their prayers with the Sign of the Cross. The school uses the daily lectionary as a base for its prayers. The Scriptures were beautifully read out, and one of the main prizewinners, Megan, teamed up with a friend to read aloud her essay about the Raising of Lazarus. Afterwards we all gathered in the chapel for some photographs. All along one wall were stacked a great array of beautifully decorated Christmas boxes, each filled with gifts and goodies, ready to be shipped to places of need - the school does this every year and has sent over 5,000 over the years.
Rather too busy...
...and consequently overtired. Emerging from the Tube at Sloane Square, everything transformed by the most glorious singing...a young girl pouring out "O mio Babbino caro", in a beautiful voice, the music cascading out across the bustle and the traffic. People stopped. I stopped. It was the standard music-student-appealing-for-funds thing, a hat placed on the pavement... I was hauling along an overloaded suitcase topped by two bulging plastic carrier bags, and had been planning to get a taxi. But this girl at least merited a couple of coins...fumbled in my purse...only found a fiver. I wouldn't normally give anything like that. But this is one of Auntie's best-loved pieces of music and it was worth every penny. And I told her so. As she helped me with my bags and whispered "God bless you!" a bus trundled satisfyingly into sight, and soon I was well on my way to a big cup of tea, and a long rest. Bliss.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
A happy morning...
...on Monday at Our Lady's Convent school in Loughborough. Pupils at this school won an outstanding number of prizes in the 2013 Schools Bible Project, and I was invited to present these at Morning Assembly. A quiet, friendly and reverent atmosphere in the school chapel, and one of the young winners read the poem she had written on the theme of Lazarus: this being ideally suited to November, the month when we pray for the dead, the whole assembly had this as its theme, and there were Scripture readings and prayers and a rousing hymn. Afterwards, it was a delight to meet the parents and prizewinners over fresh coffee and pastries: the school emphasises family values and a strong commitment to the Christian message and there was a great sense of common purpose and goodwill, as well as lots of lively talk and laughter.
A highlight came when one of the RE teachers asked me if I'd like to drop into one of the classes. A bright pleasant room, girls busy at their desks. He started a discussion: which incident in the Gospel of St Mark is perhaps the most pivotal? Girls a bit shy to join in at first, but then one raised her hand "Surely it was Caesarea Phillippi? When St Peter answered the question by saying that he was the Christ?" And then another raised her hand "Mmmm...but what about the baptism? In the river Jordan?" Impressive.
We drove back to London through darkening mist and - having risen at 5 am - I was tired, and glad there was no pressing afternoon engagement. But ended up working late on current book, must get it ready by deadline (see entry below). Bliss eventually to rest with big mug of tea.
A highlight came when one of the RE teachers asked me if I'd like to drop into one of the classes. A bright pleasant room, girls busy at their desks. He started a discussion: which incident in the Gospel of St Mark is perhaps the most pivotal? Girls a bit shy to join in at first, but then one raised her hand "Surely it was Caesarea Phillippi? When St Peter answered the question by saying that he was the Christ?" And then another raised her hand "Mmmm...but what about the baptism? In the river Jordan?" Impressive.
We drove back to London through darkening mist and - having risen at 5 am - I was tired, and glad there was no pressing afternoon engagement. But ended up working late on current book, must get it ready by deadline (see entry below). Bliss eventually to rest with big mug of tea.
There is always a long queue...
...for confession at Westminster Cathedral, and they put extra chairs along the aisle that leads from the Lady Chapel down to the main door. In Lent and Advent the people waiting stretch right down the length of the aisle...and even on an ordinary Autumn weekday, there were quite a number of people sitting patiently down as far as the chapel of St Paul...
Question: can one get on with some writing while waiting? Or read a newspaper? I badly needed to check and amend something I had written (and it was about two saints, honestly it was, and I'm working to a deadline...). No one corrected me, but I felt a bit impious. Opinions on this awaited...
Later, some almost-last-minute preparations for the Towards Advent Festival, which takes place on Saturday. Be there! The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will have a stall, and it is your chance to come and find out more about this important development in Church unity, the healing of a 400-year rift...and there will be some glorious music from a girls choir, some 60 voices...and you can meet some of the great workers in many fields of Catholic action, and find out about prayers and pilgrimages, books and big social projects, care for the poor and persecuted, and education for the young in schools and parishes...Don't miss it! Westminster Cathedral Hall, Sat Nov 23rd - doors open 10 am...
Question: can one get on with some writing while waiting? Or read a newspaper? I badly needed to check and amend something I had written (and it was about two saints, honestly it was, and I'm working to a deadline...). No one corrected me, but I felt a bit impious. Opinions on this awaited...
Later, some almost-last-minute preparations for the Towards Advent Festival, which takes place on Saturday. Be there! The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will have a stall, and it is your chance to come and find out more about this important development in Church unity, the healing of a 400-year rift...and there will be some glorious music from a girls choir, some 60 voices...and you can meet some of the great workers in many fields of Catholic action, and find out about prayers and pilgrimages, books and big social projects, care for the poor and persecuted, and education for the young in schools and parishes...Don't miss it! Westminster Cathedral Hall, Sat Nov 23rd - doors open 10 am...
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Autumn days...
...of crisp fresh air and glowing russet and golden leaves. Spent a morning sweeping up and loved it all, the breeze and the beauty, the glory of England at this time of year...
After a journey through countryside of glorious Autumnal beauty, Sunday Mass at St Anselm, Pembury, in the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. They are slowly turning this little hall into a church worthy of its role as a place for worshipping God...and numbers for Mass are steadily growing and growing. Lunch with Fr Ed and the family. I first met them when Fr Ed was vicar of an Anglican church in Tunbridge Wells...now this Anglican Patrimony has found its home in the wider Church, and the future is bright. Auntie's contribution to the brightness was only that of a tapestry hassock - faithful readers of my blog will know that I enjoy making these, and it was fun to hand over to Fr Ed the first of what I hope will be a large number. And more on this in due course...
Tradition, families, children, a great sense of community, hymns, an English village, all combine to make St Anselm's a picture of what a country Ordinariate parish could be like in many places in Britain...
After a journey through countryside of glorious Autumnal beauty, Sunday Mass at St Anselm, Pembury, in the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. They are slowly turning this little hall into a church worthy of its role as a place for worshipping God...and numbers for Mass are steadily growing and growing. Lunch with Fr Ed and the family. I first met them when Fr Ed was vicar of an Anglican church in Tunbridge Wells...now this Anglican Patrimony has found its home in the wider Church, and the future is bright. Auntie's contribution to the brightness was only that of a tapestry hassock - faithful readers of my blog will know that I enjoy making these, and it was fun to hand over to Fr Ed the first of what I hope will be a large number. And more on this in due course...
Tradition, families, children, a great sense of community, hymns, an English village, all combine to make St Anselm's a picture of what a country Ordinariate parish could be like in many places in Britain...
Thursday, November 14, 2013
The American bishops...
...have issued an important statement about freedom and the future, in the light of the current pressure from officialdom in the USA to force Church organisations to fund abortion and contraception for their employees...
Relevant quote in their statement comes from the Holy Father:
"In the context of society, there is only one thing which the Church quite clearly demands: the freedom to proclaim the Gospel in its entirety, even when it runs counter to the world, even when it goes against the tide. In so doing, she defends treasures of which she is merely the custodian, and values which she does not create but rather receives, to which she must remain faithful."
Relevant quote in their statement comes from the Holy Father:
"In the context of society, there is only one thing which the Church quite clearly demands: the freedom to proclaim the Gospel in its entirety, even when it runs counter to the world, even when it goes against the tide. In so doing, she defends treasures of which she is merely the custodian, and values which she does not create but rather receives, to which she must remain faithful."
The "Reform of the reform"...
...of the liturgy in the Catholic Church has been a matter of much work and care and debate for the past couple of decades. Some, of course, don't want it: they see liturgy as a sort of flexible mess that simply celebrates people-all-being-together and should have no form at all. Others are obsessed with the notion that nothing, absolutely nothing, should ever be changed from the form that was used in 1962. But the "reform of the reform" has nevertheless flourished - a decent translation of the Mass into English (DEO GRATIAS!) which some tried to oppose but which caused no problems whatever and is working beautifully, and a steady insistent revival of Latin chant and use of some good English musical settings. Papa Benedict, in allowing the use of the 1962 form by anyone that wants it, expressed the hope that this Extraordinary Form of the Mass would work well alongside the Ordinary Form and that the two would influence each other. This too is happening. But the most interesting development so far has been the Ordinariate liturgy. This is essentially a mix of the 1962 Missal, the reformed Missal (ie the Ordinary Form) and the old Book of Common Prayer from 400-odd years ago. This liturgy will be in (optional) use in churches run by the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham from this Advent onwards. I think that, although it will not be widespread, it will again influence other parish liturgies. Dignity, structure, formal language, and above all the emphasis on all participating in a great sacred action drawing all things to God - this is the essence of the thing, and it is catching.
I joined the Ordinariate although I am a "cradle Catholic" - I was able to do so as my husband was raised an Anglican and so both of us, as a family, qualify to belong.
I am happy with the beautiful handy Magnificat which I use all the time and carry in my bag. But if and when there is a modestly-priced, handy new Ordinariate prayer-book, I would like a copy and will use it with great joy and with a sense of sharing at an important chapter of the Church's long story...
I joined the Ordinariate although I am a "cradle Catholic" - I was able to do so as my husband was raised an Anglican and so both of us, as a family, qualify to belong.
I am happy with the beautiful handy Magnificat which I use all the time and carry in my bag. But if and when there is a modestly-priced, handy new Ordinariate prayer-book, I would like a copy and will use it with great joy and with a sense of sharing at an important chapter of the Church's long story...
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Ghastly news...
..from the Philippines....thousands dead and dying in the wake of a ferocious hurricane...towns reduced to rubble, bodies stacked in the streets, survivors unable to get food or water...
This morning I was due to visit the offices of Aid to the Church in Need, to collect some books. This excellent international Catholic charity will be helping with relief work...news here, and you can donate at that website too...
I was for several years chairman of the British section of this charity and still maintain close links...it was good to be given swift information on what's happening in the Phillippines, and to catch up on news generally.
I had gone to the ACN office to collect some copies of YOUCAT for a talk I am giving shortly. YOUCAT, originally designed for young people and supported by ACN worldwide, is also superb for adult Catholics too...it works well for enquirers about the Faith, for parents of First Communion children, for parents who seek baptism for their children, etc. Its question-and-answer format, with straightforward explanations, is matched by an attractive format, good reference materials, and opportunities to learn about prayer and to think things through in depth.
This morning I was due to visit the offices of Aid to the Church in Need, to collect some books. This excellent international Catholic charity will be helping with relief work...news here, and you can donate at that website too...
I was for several years chairman of the British section of this charity and still maintain close links...it was good to be given swift information on what's happening in the Phillippines, and to catch up on news generally.
I had gone to the ACN office to collect some copies of YOUCAT for a talk I am giving shortly. YOUCAT, originally designed for young people and supported by ACN worldwide, is also superb for adult Catholics too...it works well for enquirers about the Faith, for parents of First Communion children, for parents who seek baptism for their children, etc. Its question-and-answer format, with straightforward explanations, is matched by an attractive format, good reference materials, and opportunities to learn about prayer and to think things through in depth.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Today, in the rain alongside Big Ben...
...on the green, across the road from Parliament. I recorded some promotional material for EWTN. A light fizzy rain was falling. We had to do the takes again and again as it's so easy to get things wrong - emphasis on the wrong word, too much smiling, not enough smiling...finally, each one came right. By which time the rain was beginning in earnest. We plodded damply, carrying the heavy equipment, across the bridge to St Thomas' Hospital where the camera team had left their car in the car park...and from there I got home, carrying books I'd bought at the CTS bookshop near the Cathedral, ready for the Towards Advent Festival in a couple of weeks time...
The absurd thing about TV is its mix of reality and utter unreality. My hair looked a bit messy, but got smoothed down by the rain as if planned that way. My coat, brown in colour, looked a bit drab against the brown of the trees and the brown/honey colour of Parliament and the grey sky, so we cheered it up with a bright yellow scarf...well, actually not a scarf but a yellow World Youth Day teeshirt that I happened to have in my bag...
Home to a great pile of work: a book due to be with the publisher in mid-Jan (gulp) and another due for Feb...
The absurd thing about TV is its mix of reality and utter unreality. My hair looked a bit messy, but got smoothed down by the rain as if planned that way. My coat, brown in colour, looked a bit drab against the brown of the trees and the brown/honey colour of Parliament and the grey sky, so we cheered it up with a bright yellow scarf...well, actually not a scarf but a yellow World Youth Day teeshirt that I happened to have in my bag...
Home to a great pile of work: a book due to be with the publisher in mid-Jan (gulp) and another due for Feb...
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The traditional Mass and ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday...
...starting at the local War memorial, led for the first time by an Ordinariate priest. This was the Borough High Street, by London Bridge, and the Civic Remembrance Day Service, attended by the Mayor, the Lord Lieutenant, the local Members of Parliament, and representatives of the various community groups and organisations and of course a crowd of local people. It was the standard traditional service, with "O God our help in ages past", and the laying of wreaths, and prayers...and because there was a good crowd from the Precious Blood parish the singing was strong, as were the voices saying the Lord's Prayer. As we left, the Memorial - which features a fine statue of a soldier of the Great War, puttees and old-fashioned uniform, etc - was stacked with scarlet poppy wreaths in the bright Autumn sunshine...a November scene that will have a special poignancy next year when we mark the 100th anniversary of that war...
And the parish group from Precious Blood then made its way, behind the processional Cross, back to the church for the traditional Remembrance Sunday Mass, a solemn one (no Gloria, purple vestments) with Bidding Prayers for the war dead, and finishing with "God Save the Queen". As this was the final hymn, the Sunday school children, who occupy the first couple of pews, automatically turned towards the Lady Altar, as they do every Sunday in readiness for the Angelus, sung every Sunday at noon...I found myself wondering if some might be a bit confused as to which Queen was the one being mentioned in the hymn...and then we sang the Angelus as usual, and then there was coffee in the parish room, and all the usual buzz of chat and news and so on...
A wreath of poppies on the big War memorial in the church, which you pass as you make your way to the parish room for coffee...two great panels, with two long columns of names on each...
And the parish group from Precious Blood then made its way, behind the processional Cross, back to the church for the traditional Remembrance Sunday Mass, a solemn one (no Gloria, purple vestments) with Bidding Prayers for the war dead, and finishing with "God Save the Queen". As this was the final hymn, the Sunday school children, who occupy the first couple of pews, automatically turned towards the Lady Altar, as they do every Sunday in readiness for the Angelus, sung every Sunday at noon...I found myself wondering if some might be a bit confused as to which Queen was the one being mentioned in the hymn...and then we sang the Angelus as usual, and then there was coffee in the parish room, and all the usual buzz of chat and news and so on...
A wreath of poppies on the big War memorial in the church, which you pass as you make your way to the parish room for coffee...two great panels, with two long columns of names on each...
Saturday, November 09, 2013
After a memporable day...
...in Birmingham, at the Degree Ceremony...a couple of v. busy days and no time to blog...but my EWTN blog keeps you posted on Ordinariate activities here...
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
...and tomorrow...
...in a ceremony at at St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham, I will receive my degree (BA, Honours, First Division of the Second Class, as the official announcement puts it) from the Apostolic Nuncio.
This is the culmination of five years' work and it will be a joy to be with my fellow graduates and celebrating along with my family....
This is the culmination of five years' work and it will be a joy to be with my fellow graduates and celebrating along with my family....
Spread the word...
...about the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival, Saturday November 23rd at Westminster Cathedral Hall. More info here.
Don't miss this. Come and say "hello" to Auntie, who'll be there with books and things. Come and hear our inspiring speakers, join in the beautiful choral opening ceremony, browse the stalls, enjoy some home-made refreshments.
All welcome: tell your parish, your family and your friends...
Doors open 10am. The Festival runs all day...
Don't miss this. Come and say "hello" to Auntie, who'll be there with books and things. Come and hear our inspiring speakers, join in the beautiful choral opening ceremony, browse the stalls, enjoy some home-made refreshments.
All welcome: tell your parish, your family and your friends...
Doors open 10am. The Festival runs all day...
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Sunday at...
...Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. The new floor has given the whole church a different feel: the heating will be fully functioning by Tuesday, but already the warm colour of the tiles gives the church a sort of glow...and the acoustics have improved so the music and singing is splendid.
The parish newsletter carries an intriguing item: Eurostar came to London to film some interesting random sights, one of which turned out to be the parish's May Procession through the streets of The Borough. A statue of Mary, carried by hefty parishioners, and followed by the parish priest in cope, and some lovely Missionaries of Charity...all are now shown on the Eurostar's promotional advert in France with its "Why not come to London?"message.. you can.read all about it in the link just given. So there we are, part of the London sights, along with the red buses and Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and Parliament...
The parish newsletter carries an intriguing item: Eurostar came to London to film some interesting random sights, one of which turned out to be the parish's May Procession through the streets of The Borough. A statue of Mary, carried by hefty parishioners, and followed by the parish priest in cope, and some lovely Missionaries of Charity...all are now shown on the Eurostar's promotional advert in France with its "Why not come to London?"message.. you can.read all about it in the link just given. So there we are, part of the London sights, along with the red buses and Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and Parliament...
All Souls Day...
... a busy Autumn Saturday...but the church in the excellent parish of St Joseph's, New Malden, was full for the All Souls Mass. The Mass here is always beautiful. Today, even though it was just an ordinary Mass, no music, just the solemn commemoration of All Souls, followed by a time of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, it was special. Vestments in black trimmed in gold. Strong voices saying the prayers. Outside, golden leaves falling on to rainy pavements...
All Souls. Grandparents: memories of happy afternoons and lovely teas. My dear father. Dear Auntie S. in America. And more, and more...as you get older, the All Souls list gets longer, and the whole thing means more...
All Souls. Grandparents: memories of happy afternoons and lovely teas. My dear father. Dear Auntie S. in America. And more, and more...as you get older, the All Souls list gets longer, and the whole thing means more...
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Latest issue of...
THE PORTAL, the on-line magazine of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, is now available. You can read it here... Auntie has a feature about the Night Walk through Oxford, and there is also news of the Ordinariate nuns...
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Want to read more about...
...Auntie's inside-story on the Ordinariate parish in South London? Read here...
A golden day, the New Evangelisation...
...and a biggish team of people walking through London, praying the Rosary, singing, handing out little messages of goodwill and copies of the Gospel. We gathered at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge, and acquired a number of new followers as a short talk was given on the historical significance of various points along the way...London Bridge itself (Saxon/Viking battle there over a thousand years ago), The Clink Prison, the Globe Theatre, Blackfriars...Among members of the public who joined us was a young Russian, working for a tourist agency and interested in all such history-walks. He was very comfortable indeed with a religious procession of this kind, explaining that they happen all the time in big Russian cities. There is, of course, a massive Christian revival happening in Russia - and to him it all just seems normal, because it began in the 1980s and is an accepted part of life.
Back here in Britain: the John Paul Walk for the New Evangelisation is a project of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, and the main annual Walk is to Walsingham. But, starting last year, there is now a Reunion Walk, in London, for the Walsingham walkers plus anyone and everyone. This year, as last year, the numbers were good. We walked along the banks of the Thames to Westminster, crossed at Westminster Bridge, and then all down along the river to the Tower of London, finishing with prayers at the site of the martyrdom of St's Fisher and More. Then across Tower Bridge and back for Benediction and Tea.
London was glorious with golden leaves scattering down along the Embankment, great crowds packing out the bars and restaurants, some pleasure boats chugging by, the sky a piercing blue. That evening the great rainstorm, predicted by the Met Office, hurtled in and railway lines were closed as trees crashed on to the tracks. By the morning, in a London messy with leaves and sparkling in sunshine after rain, I squeezed on to crowded buses and arrived late but triumphant at St Patrick's, Soho, to give a planned lecture on the Acts of the Apostles. Then on to Newman House (London University chaplaincy) to talk on "Catholic Culture"...a particularly happy evening because my nephew studied there and met his future bride there...cheery memories flooding back...and today's young students were a joy and we sat talking until terribly late...then one walked me safely to the Tube station where I caught the very last train back to the suburbs...
Golden Autumn days and the New Evangelisation...
Back here in Britain: the John Paul Walk for the New Evangelisation is a project of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, and the main annual Walk is to Walsingham. But, starting last year, there is now a Reunion Walk, in London, for the Walsingham walkers plus anyone and everyone. This year, as last year, the numbers were good. We walked along the banks of the Thames to Westminster, crossed at Westminster Bridge, and then all down along the river to the Tower of London, finishing with prayers at the site of the martyrdom of St's Fisher and More. Then across Tower Bridge and back for Benediction and Tea.
London was glorious with golden leaves scattering down along the Embankment, great crowds packing out the bars and restaurants, some pleasure boats chugging by, the sky a piercing blue. That evening the great rainstorm, predicted by the Met Office, hurtled in and railway lines were closed as trees crashed on to the tracks. By the morning, in a London messy with leaves and sparkling in sunshine after rain, I squeezed on to crowded buses and arrived late but triumphant at St Patrick's, Soho, to give a planned lecture on the Acts of the Apostles. Then on to Newman House (London University chaplaincy) to talk on "Catholic Culture"...a particularly happy evening because my nephew studied there and met his future bride there...cheery memories flooding back...and today's young students were a joy and we sat talking until terribly late...then one walked me safely to the Tube station where I caught the very last train back to the suburbs...
Golden Autumn days and the New Evangelisation...
Saturday, October 26, 2013
EXCITING....
REALLY EXCITING!!!
This is Pope Francis, meeting a group of distinguished Jewish leaders...among them Shimon Samuel, of the Simon Wiesenthal Institute, who is handing the Holy Father a copy of my book! The book is "Courage and Conviction" and it tells the story of brave Brigettine nuns, who hid Jewish people in their convent in Rome during World War II.
I am really thrilled that my book should be given to the Pope.
There is an excellent...
...parish newsletter, called Our Faith on Sunday, which is produced by a Catholic firm in Farnworth, Lancs. It is printed in full colour, a page of useful and interesting material, on one side, and the other side if left blank for the parish to print its own news...
I most warmly recommend this newsletter. One of the latest issues has an excellent insight on marriage:
"if some one were to say 'by a triangle I mean a shape of three or four sides' then he would no longer be thinking about triangles, even if he carried on using the word. Likewise, when the law says 'by marriage we mean a conjunction of two adults. whatever their sex', it is no longer speaking about marriage...In such times, what does God ask of us? Of married people, that they love each other and keep their marriages undefiled and open to life. Of all of us, that we pray, and speak the truth. The present darkness will pass, and Jesus will refute all false doctrines."
I most warmly recommend this newsletter. One of the latest issues has an excellent insight on marriage:
"if some one were to say 'by a triangle I mean a shape of three or four sides' then he would no longer be thinking about triangles, even if he carried on using the word. Likewise, when the law says 'by marriage we mean a conjunction of two adults. whatever their sex', it is no longer speaking about marriage...In such times, what does God ask of us? Of married people, that they love each other and keep their marriages undefiled and open to life. Of all of us, that we pray, and speak the truth. The present darkness will pass, and Jesus will refute all false doctrines."
Friday, October 25, 2013
A very important...
...new Guide for schools on the subject of marriage, has just been produced. You can read it here...
Parents, teachers, clergy, school governors: take note and recognise that you do not have to teach that children must believe that same-sex marriage is necessarily right, and you do not have to sit idly by when people try to force that belief on children. Get informed....more info on this and related matters here...
Parents, teachers, clergy, school governors: take note and recognise that you do not have to teach that children must believe that same-sex marriage is necessarily right, and you do not have to sit idly by when people try to force that belief on children. Get informed....more info on this and related matters here...
The Catholic Union...
...of Great Britain teams up with the Catholic Writers' Guild to run the annual Catholic Young Writer Award. This year's winner went to a Writers' Guild meeting recently to collect her award. Pic and report here...
Students at a number of schools gained runner-up prizes, winning copies of YOUCAT, the excellent Youth Catechism and other books.
Students at a number of schools gained runner-up prizes, winning copies of YOUCAT, the excellent Youth Catechism and other books.
Deep in the latest book project...inevitably
...interrupted by phone calls from TV and radio people when there is something in the news about the Church, or morals and values in community life, or related issues...
But these days I am able to send them on to the excellent CATHOLIC VOICES where there is a team of informed, lively, committed young Catholics trained and energised for work in the media. While I'm glad to be of use when I can, I am increasingly conscious that there are so many good young speakers out there, and I don't need to hurry off to a TV studio while there is a book humming away to be written here at home...And Catholic Voices is going from strength to strength. It took courage and initiative to get it going, but it was an idea that was absolutely right and absolutely necessary - and it has been blessed with fine people and a sense of direction and purpose, and tasks that need to be done. Deo gratias.
BTW, this website often has good insights on the news: see recent report about Archbishop Nichols speaking out well on a recent radio interview...
But these days I am able to send them on to the excellent CATHOLIC VOICES where there is a team of informed, lively, committed young Catholics trained and energised for work in the media. While I'm glad to be of use when I can, I am increasingly conscious that there are so many good young speakers out there, and I don't need to hurry off to a TV studio while there is a book humming away to be written here at home...And Catholic Voices is going from strength to strength. It took courage and initiative to get it going, but it was an idea that was absolutely right and absolutely necessary - and it has been blessed with fine people and a sense of direction and purpose, and tasks that need to be done. Deo gratias.
BTW, this website often has good insights on the news: see recent report about Archbishop Nichols speaking out well on a recent radio interview...
The Holy Father...
...today met members of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. This is of interest to Auntie, because one of the leaders of the Centre contacted me, interested in my book Courage and Conviction, about the Brigettine nuns who hid Jewish people in their convent during the Second World War. I was glad to be able to send him copies of my book, and we had some good conversations...I am hoping that perhaps my book was among the gifts presented to the Holy Father at the meeting...
Thursday, October 24, 2013
A correspondent to this Blog...
...asks about the children's book that I wrote a while back. Yes, it's still in print, and available from Gracewing Books. It's "We didn't mean to start a school" and I wrote it under the pen-name "Julia Blythe". I loved writing it, and a sequel is in preparation...
Excellent series...
...of talks sponsored by the FAITH Movement and held at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. After each meeting, discussions continued in a local pub until a late hour: evolution, Genesis, the relationship between science and religion, the Scotist understanding of the Incarnation...and more...and more...
I stayed behind from this evening's pub discussion, enjoying instead an equally lively chat in the Rectory about the Ordinariate, and the Church, and Vatican II, and the Faith Movement, and more...
We plan to continue the series of talks, probably in the New Year, and at another London Catholic venue. Pr. Blood has been hugely welcoming and generous. BTW, you will find both the Faith Movement and the Ordinariate at the Towards Advent Festival of Catholic Culture on Saturday November 23rd at Westminster Cathedral Hall. Be there! Admission free...a feast of Catholic talk, ideas, books, organisations, movements, DVDs, music...doors open 10am. All welcome.
I stayed behind from this evening's pub discussion, enjoying instead an equally lively chat in the Rectory about the Ordinariate, and the Church, and Vatican II, and the Faith Movement, and more...
We plan to continue the series of talks, probably in the New Year, and at another London Catholic venue. Pr. Blood has been hugely welcoming and generous. BTW, you will find both the Faith Movement and the Ordinariate at the Towards Advent Festival of Catholic Culture on Saturday November 23rd at Westminster Cathedral Hall. Be there! Admission free...a feast of Catholic talk, ideas, books, organisations, movements, DVDs, music...doors open 10am. All welcome.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS...
...take place over the next weeks and months:
THIS SUNDAY (Oct 27th): the John Paul II Walk through London, led by Sister Hyacinthe of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph. Starts with 11 am MASS at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. BRING SANDWICHES. We will have coffee and sandwiches in the Rectory after Mass, then set off - with the banner that the John Paul Walkers carried to Walsingham this summer! - on a walk that will take us to, among other places, Blackfriars, St Paul's, and the Tower of London...we will finish with Benediction back at Precious Blood.
Tuesday November 26th - an afternoon walk, starting from Precious Blood Church after the 1.05pm Mass. Meet at the church door approx. 1.30pm. We will be visiting the Bishop of Winchester's Palace, the Clink Prison, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre....
Tuesday Dec 17th, 3pm, a tour INSIDE Westminster Cathedral. Come and see the glories of this Cathedral, including the two new mosaics, and the special memorial stone, recently laid and blessed, commemorating the State Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain...
....and here are some dates to book into your 2014 diary:
Sunday June 22nd 2014, The Martyrs Walk, starts 1.30pm at St Sepulchre's Churchyard, near the Old Bailey.
Saturday, October 18th 2014, the "Two Cathedrals" Blessed Sacrament Procession, starts 1.30pm Westminster Cathedral, finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
THIS SUNDAY (Oct 27th): the John Paul II Walk through London, led by Sister Hyacinthe of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph. Starts with 11 am MASS at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. BRING SANDWICHES. We will have coffee and sandwiches in the Rectory after Mass, then set off - with the banner that the John Paul Walkers carried to Walsingham this summer! - on a walk that will take us to, among other places, Blackfriars, St Paul's, and the Tower of London...we will finish with Benediction back at Precious Blood.
Tuesday November 26th - an afternoon walk, starting from Precious Blood Church after the 1.05pm Mass. Meet at the church door approx. 1.30pm. We will be visiting the Bishop of Winchester's Palace, the Clink Prison, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre....
Tuesday Dec 17th, 3pm, a tour INSIDE Westminster Cathedral. Come and see the glories of this Cathedral, including the two new mosaics, and the special memorial stone, recently laid and blessed, commemorating the State Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain...
....and here are some dates to book into your 2014 diary:
Sunday June 22nd 2014, The Martyrs Walk, starts 1.30pm at St Sepulchre's Churchyard, near the Old Bailey.
Saturday, October 18th 2014, the "Two Cathedrals" Blessed Sacrament Procession, starts 1.30pm Westminster Cathedral, finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Giving out prizes...
...to school pupils who produced good work in the Schools Bible Project, is a satisfying way of spending a morning, and also gives opportunities to talk things through with RE teachers, learn what's happening in schools' RE, and so on. Here is Auntie at a school in Essex...
Feast day of...
...Blessed John Paul. And yesterday a meeting to discuss a new project connected with his canonisation. It is a useful and attractive little project with which Auntie is very glad indeed to be involved.
While doing some research about him, I needed to re-read this encyclical, and this one, and realised just how prophetic and important they are.
While doing some research about him, I needed to re-read this encyclical, and this one, and realised just how prophetic and important they are.
Where was Auntie last Saturday?
At the Ordinations in the Ordinariate church...read about it all here . (Auntie helped with compiling this news report).
The splendid Cardinal Burke...
...of whom Auntie is a fan, recently gave an interview to an American Catholic newspaper. You can read it here...
Cardinal Burke is a great supporter of the "reform of the reform" of the liturgy, and emphasises that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and the Ordinary Form should enrich each other. And he emphasises continuity - no rupture: "The renewed reformed rite of the Mass is not a new Mass, but is in continuity with the holy Mass as it has always been celebrated."
A number of correspondents to this Blog have brought up questions relating to the prophesies and visions of Fatima: I urge them to read Cardinal Burke on the subject. As Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, he does know what he is saying, and he measures his words carefully. I suppose that some of my correspondents will always yearn for the Great Conspiracy Thing: secrets-not-yet--revealed and plots-to-hide-the-Real-Truth. But the reality is what matters. Cardinal Burke: "With regard to Our Lady of Fatima, we know well the prophecies that were given to the three seers at Fatima which have all now been published and what they indicate with regard to the attacks of Satan upon the Roman Pontiff. I am sure that Pope Francis has this clearly in mind and is invoking the intercession of Our Lady for her protection even as she protected Blessed John Paul II from an assassin’s bullet. It was on Our Lady of Fatima’s feast day that the dreadful attempt occurred, and John Paul was fully convinced that she interceded to save his life. I believe that Pope Francis is imploring that same intercession and protection from her at this time."
Cardinal Burke is a great supporter of the "reform of the reform" of the liturgy, and emphasises that the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and the Ordinary Form should enrich each other. And he emphasises continuity - no rupture: "The renewed reformed rite of the Mass is not a new Mass, but is in continuity with the holy Mass as it has always been celebrated."
A number of correspondents to this Blog have brought up questions relating to the prophesies and visions of Fatima: I urge them to read Cardinal Burke on the subject. As Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, he does know what he is saying, and he measures his words carefully. I suppose that some of my correspondents will always yearn for the Great Conspiracy Thing: secrets-not-yet--revealed and plots-to-hide-the-Real-Truth. But the reality is what matters. Cardinal Burke: "With regard to Our Lady of Fatima, we know well the prophecies that were given to the three seers at Fatima which have all now been published and what they indicate with regard to the attacks of Satan upon the Roman Pontiff. I am sure that Pope Francis has this clearly in mind and is invoking the intercession of Our Lady for her protection even as she protected Blessed John Paul II from an assassin’s bullet. It was on Our Lady of Fatima’s feast day that the dreadful attempt occurred, and John Paul was fully convinced that she interceded to save his life. I believe that Pope Francis is imploring that same intercession and protection from her at this time."
Monday, October 21, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Teaching a Confirmation class...
...is not a totally new experience for Auntie. I have given talks to a number of Confirmation groups in the past, including the large class (usually at least 40 teenagers) in this excellent parish, which is where I learned so much about how to do it, and what to teach, and received so much help and encouragement in starting my Maryvale course...
But actually running a course from scratch is a new experience and one that I am (so far!) enjoying. I'm doing it in this parish and we began last week. This is a special class for people who for one reason or another missed out on Confirmation and responded to an invitation to start a course. The parish priest started us off with a prayer and a blessing, and the atmosphere has somehow been just right. With a Catechism to hand, and a Simple Prayer Book for each person round the table, we began work. There is a wide age-range (youngest a just-teenager, while another member of the group is a busy mum who brought her two small children along, who were given cheerful and kindly care by a wonderful volunteer, with books and crayons etc from the Sunday school). But there is interest, attention, and a great goodwill, and it is a real privilege to be involved...
While we were in the parish room, getting to grips with God and the Covenant, and the Ten Commandments, another parish team was busy in the church itself, lifting all the pews and stacking them away, filling the sacristy with all the statues and candle-stands and so on...to get the entire floor area clear for a brand-new heating system to be installed. And once the floor was cleared, it was ruthlessly scrubbed by enthusiasts with brushes and soap suds and is now the cleanest church floor in England...The church is going to be warm and welcoming for Masses this winter.
But actually running a course from scratch is a new experience and one that I am (so far!) enjoying. I'm doing it in this parish and we began last week. This is a special class for people who for one reason or another missed out on Confirmation and responded to an invitation to start a course. The parish priest started us off with a prayer and a blessing, and the atmosphere has somehow been just right. With a Catechism to hand, and a Simple Prayer Book for each person round the table, we began work. There is a wide age-range (youngest a just-teenager, while another member of the group is a busy mum who brought her two small children along, who were given cheerful and kindly care by a wonderful volunteer, with books and crayons etc from the Sunday school). But there is interest, attention, and a great goodwill, and it is a real privilege to be involved...
While we were in the parish room, getting to grips with God and the Covenant, and the Ten Commandments, another parish team was busy in the church itself, lifting all the pews and stacking them away, filling the sacristy with all the statues and candle-stands and so on...to get the entire floor area clear for a brand-new heating system to be installed. And once the floor was cleared, it was ruthlessly scrubbed by enthusiasts with brushes and soap suds and is now the cleanest church floor in England...The church is going to be warm and welcoming for Masses this winter.
Friday, October 18, 2013
The TenTen Theatre...
...is really excellent. In a packed theatre at Leicester Square we were taken to Poland in the 1940s and the drama of Maximillian Kolbe. The full poignancy of this haunting story of courage and extraordinary heroism is brought out fully in Kolbe's Gift, a most powerful bit of theatre. We are made to ponder the fullness of the thing: Kolbe stepped forward at Auschwitz when prisoners were being picked out to suffer the horror and torture of death by thirst in an underground starvation bunker. When one such prisoner blurted out "My wife! My children!" Kolbe offered himself to go in his place, saying calmly to the supervising officer: "I am a Catholic priest", and explaining that he had no family and was prepared to go forward.
What is especially poignant in the story is that the man whose life Kolbe saved went on to live in a very ordinary way, and not without sorrow. His two sons, having survived the Warsaw Uprising and other wartime horrors were both killed by random fire of the Russians in the last days of the fighting. He worked as a minor town hall official in the drab and difficult years of post-war Communism, suffering as did all other Catholic Poles from all the petty restrictions and practical hardships and miseries of those years...there was no dramatic reason, humanly speaking, why his life should have been saved.
And that, the drama seems to be saying, is all part of the importance of Kolbe's gift. It was a pure gift, an act of pure generosity. The man whose life he saved didn't have to "earn" the honour by going on to do something hugely significant. The message is about love, and about the law of giving, of being some one for others...Kolbe's gift, not only in his final heroism but by many acts of heroic kindness in Auschwitz where he shared his bread and gave hope and faith to men in desperate misery, is a gift we have to ponder and ask ourselves about...
TenTen has done some powerful work in schools, exploring in drama - really superb drama - issues concerning crime, killing, hatred, sacrifice, and truth. They also work in prisons.The plays - like Kolbe's Gift - are not comfortable or cosy in their message, but powerful and important. If you get the chance to see one of their plays, don't miss it. If you are working with young people, connect to the website and get information.
What is especially poignant in the story is that the man whose life Kolbe saved went on to live in a very ordinary way, and not without sorrow. His two sons, having survived the Warsaw Uprising and other wartime horrors were both killed by random fire of the Russians in the last days of the fighting. He worked as a minor town hall official in the drab and difficult years of post-war Communism, suffering as did all other Catholic Poles from all the petty restrictions and practical hardships and miseries of those years...there was no dramatic reason, humanly speaking, why his life should have been saved.
And that, the drama seems to be saying, is all part of the importance of Kolbe's gift. It was a pure gift, an act of pure generosity. The man whose life he saved didn't have to "earn" the honour by going on to do something hugely significant. The message is about love, and about the law of giving, of being some one for others...Kolbe's gift, not only in his final heroism but by many acts of heroic kindness in Auschwitz where he shared his bread and gave hope and faith to men in desperate misery, is a gift we have to ponder and ask ourselves about...
TenTen has done some powerful work in schools, exploring in drama - really superb drama - issues concerning crime, killing, hatred, sacrifice, and truth. They also work in prisons.The plays - like Kolbe's Gift - are not comfortable or cosy in their message, but powerful and important. If you get the chance to see one of their plays, don't miss it. If you are working with young people, connect to the website and get information.
A Surrey town in Autumn...
...and a friendly group awaiting me at the Leatherhead Community Association. I was speaking to them about Caroline Chisholm, the Australian pioneer heroine.
This is the part of the world that has so many echoes from my childhood...family expeditions to the river Mole where my father fished and we'd have a picnic...walks in the Surrey countryside...and although so much has changed, so much hasn't and it's easy to feel at home.
The Britain of today is a place where, suddenly, and with great depth of understanding, one can have a sense of great alienation, of not belonging. So perhaps it's good just sometimes to relax into familiarity, memories and the joy of shared references to history, to children's books, and more...
This is the part of the world that has so many echoes from my childhood...family expeditions to the river Mole where my father fished and we'd have a picnic...walks in the Surrey countryside...and although so much has changed, so much hasn't and it's easy to feel at home.
The Britain of today is a place where, suddenly, and with great depth of understanding, one can have a sense of great alienation, of not belonging. So perhaps it's good just sometimes to relax into familiarity, memories and the joy of shared references to history, to children's books, and more...
Walking through London...
...with the young team from the SPES group. SPES is the St Patrick's Evangelisation School, based at St Patrick's, Soho. My job was to lead them in the first of a couple of History Walks. Their daily regime is challenging, starting early with prayers and breakfast and continuing through the day with lectures, Adoration of the Bl. Sacrament, Mass, Rosary, and a whole range of activities including a Maryvale course - gaining certificates by the end of the year - street evangelisation, meals for the homeless, etc etc.
So things began with a talk in their lecture-room at St P's, then Mass and a hearty lunch, at which we were joined by the parish priest Fr Alexander Sherbrook, and then we set off...visiting St Giles-in-the-Fields and learning the history of this area, its leper hospital etc, then on to Holborn and Lincoln Inn Fields (martyrs, Sardinian Embassy chapel, etc), and then the Temple Church (Crusades, Templars) and Fleet Street, and so on to St Paul's. We finished with big cups of tea near St Paul's...these young people are the World Youth Day, BXVI generation, very enthusiastic about evangelisation, with a sense of mission. They love to swap stories of WYD - "I celebrated my 16th birthday at World Youth Day at Cologne" "At Rio, praying together on the beach was just so amazing". They want to share their faith, conscious of the sense of loss and confusion among many of their peers who have never encountered Christ or who have been given only a vague distorted image of him...
It was now nearly 6pm, so as they went back to St Patrick's, I walked across the Millenium Bridge, for Evensong at Pr. Blood Church on the opposite bank. The sunset was extraordinarily beautiful, staining the sky pink beyond the done of St Paul's, long strands of glowing light trailing across the London skyline. It was low tide, with the rocky muddy shoreline making the river look more "homely" somehow, showing evidence of the years and years and years of human activities and homes and livelihoods that have been happening along its banks. People were beginning to pack into pubs and into the Globe, and teeming along to Waterloo or London Bridge stations. And so on to Precious Blood...Evensong, and the Psalms going back and forth. Deacon Scott was leading the service, and will be ordained on Saturday.
So things began with a talk in their lecture-room at St P's, then Mass and a hearty lunch, at which we were joined by the parish priest Fr Alexander Sherbrook, and then we set off...visiting St Giles-in-the-Fields and learning the history of this area, its leper hospital etc, then on to Holborn and Lincoln Inn Fields (martyrs, Sardinian Embassy chapel, etc), and then the Temple Church (Crusades, Templars) and Fleet Street, and so on to St Paul's. We finished with big cups of tea near St Paul's...these young people are the World Youth Day, BXVI generation, very enthusiastic about evangelisation, with a sense of mission. They love to swap stories of WYD - "I celebrated my 16th birthday at World Youth Day at Cologne" "At Rio, praying together on the beach was just so amazing". They want to share their faith, conscious of the sense of loss and confusion among many of their peers who have never encountered Christ or who have been given only a vague distorted image of him...
It was now nearly 6pm, so as they went back to St Patrick's, I walked across the Millenium Bridge, for Evensong at Pr. Blood Church on the opposite bank. The sunset was extraordinarily beautiful, staining the sky pink beyond the done of St Paul's, long strands of glowing light trailing across the London skyline. It was low tide, with the rocky muddy shoreline making the river look more "homely" somehow, showing evidence of the years and years and years of human activities and homes and livelihoods that have been happening along its banks. People were beginning to pack into pubs and into the Globe, and teeming along to Waterloo or London Bridge stations. And so on to Precious Blood...Evensong, and the Psalms going back and forth. Deacon Scott was leading the service, and will be ordained on Saturday.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
To Lancaster...
...to present prizes won by pupils at Ripley St Thomas CE Academy, in the 2013 Schools Bible Project. This excellent school is set in magnificent surroundings - a glorious Victorian building, with a great tower, a sense of welcome, some wonderful stained glass, and a splendid sense of reassurance and confidence about it, set in fine grounds. And the grounds include a farm - yes, a farm, and pupils relish it, spending part of their time in wellies, digging and planting, and eating the results, as great stacks of fresh produce is taken to the school kitchens for lunch. I loved my visit: a friendly gathering in the staff-room with an inspirational start to the day, a warm welcome at morning assembly in the magnificent chapel, where it was a pleasure to hand over the Bible prizes one by one, and to join the pupils at prayer...coffee and talk with the Principal and head of RE and chaplain...and then a couple of pupils showed me round the school. They were so obviously proud to be part of it all - everything from the great entrance hall with its fine staircase, to the sheep and ponies and rabbits in the farm, and on to to the big hall where a dance class was in progress, and the sports field and the science labs and the classrooms...and all the students looking smart in brought blue blazers, and a great sense of friendliness everywhere. The school is rooted in a deep tradition of Evangelical Christianity and it shows. I was impressed, and cheered.
The Catholic Young Writer Award...
...is presented every year, organised by the Catholic Writers' Guild and the Catholic Union of Great Britain. Auntie has been involved with this Award from its inception, and you can read about the 2013 Award here...
Monday, October 14, 2013
At the Catholic Women of the Year...
...event, held on Friday, there was a special tribute paid to the wives of Ordinariate clergy. More about this on the Ordinariate website here...
Red faces among the Grunerites...
...and if you don't know who they are, be grateful, as they are a tiresome bunch who are doing harm.
Their leader, Rev Nicholas Gruner, took them to Rome this past weekend, with banners and placards, thousands of brochures, and large lorries with big slogans on the side - all ordering the Pope to "consecrate Russia".
Of course the Holy Father was not going to do that, because it has already been done, by Blessed John Paul in 1984.
But Gruner and his followers have built up a whole organisation on the basis that there is a dark sinister plot, in which both John Paul and Benedict were deeply implicated,the Real Secrets of Fatima Haven't Been Told, the past two Popes have been liars and deceivers, and Gruner is to be followed when he orders the new Pope to do things. Oh, and his Fatimist team put it about that Gruner was already in touch with the Pope, and great things were to be expected, and it's All Going To Happen Soon...
Reality:
On Sunday, Pope Francis, in a prayerful ceremony shared by vast crowds in St Peter's square, entrusted the world to Mary's immaculate heart, and her maternal care. It was a peaceful and beautiful thing to do.
And no, of course it didn't involve Russia, Gruner's nonsense, or anything else.
Gruner and his team - who have been collecting large sums of money from gullible people for years on the grounds that they are some sort of Fatima mission - have been made to look more than usually stupid and wrong.
Now - and this is important: Catholics need to know the truth about things. Cardinal Raymond Leo Buke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, wrote to me on September 24th:
"You are correct that there is much confusion about the message of Our Lady of Fatima, caused especially by Father Nicholas Gruner, a priest who is not in good standing in the Church, and that this confusion is harmful to many good people who are being led astray about the important message of Our Lady of Fatima.".
Cardinal Burke thanked me for the feature about Fatima in FAITH magazine: "May God reward you for working to make known the truth about the message of Fatima!"
I have the letter before me as I write...I am quoting only the relevant parts of it. I will keep and cherish this letter from a great Cardinal holding high office, who incidentally writes in a most beautiful, humble and pleasant way. Thank God for his sanity. Thank God for Pope Francis.Thank God for the Church.
Their leader, Rev Nicholas Gruner, took them to Rome this past weekend, with banners and placards, thousands of brochures, and large lorries with big slogans on the side - all ordering the Pope to "consecrate Russia".
Of course the Holy Father was not going to do that, because it has already been done, by Blessed John Paul in 1984.
But Gruner and his followers have built up a whole organisation on the basis that there is a dark sinister plot, in which both John Paul and Benedict were deeply implicated,the Real Secrets of Fatima Haven't Been Told, the past two Popes have been liars and deceivers, and Gruner is to be followed when he orders the new Pope to do things. Oh, and his Fatimist team put it about that Gruner was already in touch with the Pope, and great things were to be expected, and it's All Going To Happen Soon...
Reality:
On Sunday, Pope Francis, in a prayerful ceremony shared by vast crowds in St Peter's square, entrusted the world to Mary's immaculate heart, and her maternal care. It was a peaceful and beautiful thing to do.
And no, of course it didn't involve Russia, Gruner's nonsense, or anything else.
Gruner and his team - who have been collecting large sums of money from gullible people for years on the grounds that they are some sort of Fatima mission - have been made to look more than usually stupid and wrong.
Now - and this is important: Catholics need to know the truth about things. Cardinal Raymond Leo Buke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, wrote to me on September 24th:
"You are correct that there is much confusion about the message of Our Lady of Fatima, caused especially by Father Nicholas Gruner, a priest who is not in good standing in the Church, and that this confusion is harmful to many good people who are being led astray about the important message of Our Lady of Fatima.".
Cardinal Burke thanked me for the feature about Fatima in FAITH magazine: "May God reward you for working to make known the truth about the message of Fatima!"
I have the letter before me as I write...I am quoting only the relevant parts of it. I will keep and cherish this letter from a great Cardinal holding high office, who incidentally writes in a most beautiful, humble and pleasant way. Thank God for his sanity. Thank God for Pope Francis.Thank God for the Church.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
St Edward the Confessor...
...has his feast-day today. He was our last Saxon king before the Norman Conquest. He reigned at a difficult time - I only realised, via a sermon yesterday evening at Westminster Cathedral, that when he came to the throne, it was only a few decades since the Archbishop of Canterbury (St Elphege) had been martyred by the pagan Danes at Greenwich, and the Danes (Vikings) ruled large parts of England for a long time...
Anyone who thinks we live in uniquely difficult times today knows little of history...
Anyone who thinks we live in uniquely difficult times today knows little of history...
History Walks...
...in London: the Autumn/Winter programme of CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS has now begun. The November Walk will be on Tuesday November 26th, beginning with the 1.05 lunchtime Mass at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. The church is in O'Meara Street: nearest tube is Borough, or London Bridge. We'll go along the river, stopping at the Bishop of Winchester's palace, the Clink Prison, the Globe Theatre, and other places of interest. No need to book - just turn up. Wear suitable clothes and shoes - we'll be walking whatever the weather. This is the first time we have done a weekday lunchtime/afternoon Walk of this sort: you can of course leave the Walk at any stage, and we'll be near bus and tube stops all the way.
The Procession crosses the Thames...
...with Parliament in the background, here is the head of the great "Two Cathedrals" Procession crossing the Thames at Lambeth Bridge. We were led by a great Processional Cross, carried by robed altar server and acolytes, and then followed a great swathe of the crowd, after which came, in due order, various acolytes and the Blessed Sacrament itself, with clergy from Westminster and Southwark cathedrals, followed by another great swathe of people singing and praying. It was very splendid and at the same time somehow very simple, and fitted perfectly well into the London scene.
Come and join us next year! We walk at a measured pace, and the route is not too long - it's only about an hour and a half's walk. And although the crowd is big, there is a friendly feel and, especially as we all spill out of the cathedral at Southwark as Benediction ends, a sense of something good having been done.
More pics etc from the Westminster Cathedral website and its facebook links...see here, scolling down as required...
Saturday, October 12, 2013
The now-traditional procession...
...of the Blessed Sacrament from Westminster Cathedral, across the Thames to St George's Cathedral, Southwark, took place today, with a vast crowd, glorious Autumn sunshine, and some wonderful singing. Every year I am worried that the numbers won't be great, and every year the crowd is huge, and Southwark cathedral is packed, with a great surge of voices singing at Benediction.
This year, the date clashed with a couple of other events, and even as the Procession began to gather on the steps of Westminster Cathedral and Orders of Service were being handed out, an enthusiast for another event was busily trying to recruit, despite my pleas that we be left alone...but once the Bl. Sacrament was brought out, and we began to go down Ambrosden Avenue, everything felt suddenly all right. In traditional style, we inevitably had one part of the great procession singing one hymn, another beginning a fresh one, and people in between singing something else or praying the Rosary...but the overall result was still hugely impressive, as well as being prayerful, sincere, and, I hope, pleasing to God and somehow good for London...
What is most delightful is that, in this third successful year, we can truly say that it is now an established traditional part of the annual London scene. The Procession was begun in thanksgiving for the successful visit of Pope Benedict in 2010, and the idea is to have it on or near the feast of Bl John Henry Newman, beatified by the H. Father on that visit. The Feast on October 9th, so it can be a Saturday near that date... thus Oct 4th suggests itself for 2014...
The most impressive part of the Procession is crossing Lambeth Bridge, with the Houses of Parliament in the background. Incidentally, along the whole route, we get no opposition, no signs of disrespect, and the whole thing always goes peacefully and beautifully.
Deo Gratias.
This year, the date clashed with a couple of other events, and even as the Procession began to gather on the steps of Westminster Cathedral and Orders of Service were being handed out, an enthusiast for another event was busily trying to recruit, despite my pleas that we be left alone...but once the Bl. Sacrament was brought out, and we began to go down Ambrosden Avenue, everything felt suddenly all right. In traditional style, we inevitably had one part of the great procession singing one hymn, another beginning a fresh one, and people in between singing something else or praying the Rosary...but the overall result was still hugely impressive, as well as being prayerful, sincere, and, I hope, pleasing to God and somehow good for London...
What is most delightful is that, in this third successful year, we can truly say that it is now an established traditional part of the annual London scene. The Procession was begun in thanksgiving for the successful visit of Pope Benedict in 2010, and the idea is to have it on or near the feast of Bl John Henry Newman, beatified by the H. Father on that visit. The Feast on October 9th, so it can be a Saturday near that date... thus Oct 4th suggests itself for 2014...
The most impressive part of the Procession is crossing Lambeth Bridge, with the Houses of Parliament in the background. Incidentally, along the whole route, we get no opposition, no signs of disrespect, and the whole thing always goes peacefully and beautifully.
Deo Gratias.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Working for much of this year, and last...
...on a book about Brigettine nuns who helped to shelter Jewish people in Rome in WWII, I naturally got interested in the whole tragic story...was touched to read today's news item about the H. Father and his meeting today with Jewish people in Rome...
The Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon...
...is always a very cheerful event, and this year was a bit special because, in addition to the four Catholic Women of the Year, a special award was given to the wives of the Ordinariate clergy. This was a really lovely idea, and the Award - in the form of a framed certificate with a message honouring them - was accepted on their behalf by Mrs Jill Newton, wife of the Ordinary.
There was an excellent talk by Dr Caroline Fairey, of the Maryvale Institute. She spoke of the significance of the date - Oct 11th, anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and of the Council of Ephesus many centuries before. It was at Ephesus that the Church's doctrine on Christ's true divinity was firmly upheld, through the statement that Mary was truly Mother of God, and not merely the mother of a man called Jesus Christ. Caroline's talk combined erudition with a lively account of recent gatherings in Rome to support the work of teaching and passing on the Faith, and ended on a quiet meditative note and a prayer in which we all joined...
I was at the table with the Ordinariate ladies, and it was talkative and fun. They are a dedicated and courageous lot, and I warmly agree with the citation honouring them. They have “bravely supported their husbands on the path to Christians unity: in the process they have surrendered financial security and family homes while having to support their families at a time of great stress and uncertainty. They are an often forgotten but nevertheless vital part of fulfilling the vision of the Ordinariate.”
The mood at the Luncheon was friendly and there is always a great sense of community, and of energy and commitment in supporting the Church.
There was an excellent talk by Dr Caroline Fairey, of the Maryvale Institute. She spoke of the significance of the date - Oct 11th, anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and of the Council of Ephesus many centuries before. It was at Ephesus that the Church's doctrine on Christ's true divinity was firmly upheld, through the statement that Mary was truly Mother of God, and not merely the mother of a man called Jesus Christ. Caroline's talk combined erudition with a lively account of recent gatherings in Rome to support the work of teaching and passing on the Faith, and ended on a quiet meditative note and a prayer in which we all joined...
I was at the table with the Ordinariate ladies, and it was talkative and fun. They are a dedicated and courageous lot, and I warmly agree with the citation honouring them. They have “bravely supported their husbands on the path to Christians unity: in the process they have surrendered financial security and family homes while having to support their families at a time of great stress and uncertainty. They are an often forgotten but nevertheless vital part of fulfilling the vision of the Ordinariate.”
The mood at the Luncheon was friendly and there is always a great sense of community, and of energy and commitment in supporting the Church.
Science and religion...
...and a fascinating talk to a packed room. Fr Roger Nesbitt spoke at an evening gathering organised by the Faith Movement, and held at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. Among the points raised were the problems faced by today's fashionable atheists in trying to persuade scientists to stop talking about God...because the great advances made in science in recent decades have produced more and deeper discussions about religion, and the great reality of God and the "unity law" perceived in the universe...
Fr Nesbitt:" Modern science has revealed a simple but profound truth - the physical universe is manifestly one. From the furthest galaxy to the smallest atom or micro-organism it is an interrelated and interdependent unity....It is an ordered and harmonious universe, finely tuned and delicately formed. It is not a chaos but a cosmos. Science has consistently revealed that Law, of differering complexity, operates at all levels and in all areas. The differing sciences now overlap with one another. There are laws of physics, cosmology, chemistry, biochemistry, biology etc which are all interdependent, so much so that many scientists are now searching for a Grand Unified Theory which will bind all the physical laws of the universe into one Law..."
Want to know more? Get info from the Faith Movement, and/or come along to the next meeting, on Oct 16th at Pr. Bl church, 7.30pm.
There is a rather good summary of the approach taken by the Faith Movement here...
Fr Nesbitt:" Modern science has revealed a simple but profound truth - the physical universe is manifestly one. From the furthest galaxy to the smallest atom or micro-organism it is an interrelated and interdependent unity....It is an ordered and harmonious universe, finely tuned and delicately formed. It is not a chaos but a cosmos. Science has consistently revealed that Law, of differering complexity, operates at all levels and in all areas. The differing sciences now overlap with one another. There are laws of physics, cosmology, chemistry, biochemistry, biology etc which are all interdependent, so much so that many scientists are now searching for a Grand Unified Theory which will bind all the physical laws of the universe into one Law..."
Want to know more? Get info from the Faith Movement, and/or come along to the next meeting, on Oct 16th at Pr. Bl church, 7.30pm.
There is a rather good summary of the approach taken by the Faith Movement here...
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
An overnight stay...
... near Oxford, following the Night Walk to Littlemore (see previous blog post), and then the bus to London this morning. This evening, the first of the Evenings of Faith at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. Speaker: Fr Roger Nesbitt. Mass 6.30pm, talk at 7.30pm. Light refreshments.
Bl John Henry Newman's Feast Day...
...is today, October 9th, the day that he was received into the communion of the Catholic Church. This happened at the village of Littlemore, just outside Oxford, and every year there is a Night Walk from Oxford to Littlemore to mark the event. We walk through the city, stopping at places associated with Newman, and praying the 20 decades of the Rosary. At each stopping place, we are told about the link with Newman - it was especially touching to learn about the house where he lived with his mother and sisters - and then a short reading from one of his letters or similar, describing the place in his own words. This year, the first part at each stop was done by Fr Christopher Pearson of the Ordinariate, and the reader from Newman's works was Dr Andrew Nash. The last part of the Walk is by candlelight, and we sing "Lead kindly light". You can find out more about Newman and Littlemore etc here...
Monday, October 07, 2013
A message from...
Premier Radio has just arrived in my in-box and it says:
Hey Joanna
You’ll be on the air next week between 7:15 and 7:30 on Premier’s Inspirational Breakfast show, with Thought Of The Day
Thanks again for coming in!
Chris
Chris Byland is the producer. So if you want to hear Auntie on the radio, tune in to Premier next week at 7.15 am London time...
Saturday, October 05, 2013
The Catholic Young Writer Award for 2013...
...will be presented this week at a meeting of THE KEYS, the Catholic Writers' Guild of England and Wales. The winner this year is Cecile Janssen, of St Mary's School, Ascot. She wins a trophy to be held for one year, plus a cash prize (£50) and a collection of book prizes.
The Award was inaugurated in 1999, when Antony Tyler was Master of the Guild, and it has gone from strength to strength. Antony runs Fisher Press, a very successful small independent publishing company. This year, as always, he will be among those donating a book prize for the winner and meeting her and her parents at Mass and dinner at the Guild meeting. The speaker will be journalist Christopher Howse, whose writings in the Daily Telegraph and elsewhere are always a delight.
Runner-up pries were gained by pupils at a number of Catholic schools, and some will receive YOUCAT, generously donated by Aid to the Church in Need, others a Simple Prayer Book (CTS) and yet others a small pocket catechism produced by Fr John Redford of Maryvale fame.
Theme of the Award for 2013 was mercy and forgiveness, and students were invited to write a letter to a friend who had said "I don't need to go to confession. I don't commit sins", or to write an essay focusing on the theme of the Prodigal Son.
The Award was inaugurated in 1999, when Antony Tyler was Master of the Guild, and it has gone from strength to strength. Antony runs Fisher Press, a very successful small independent publishing company. This year, as always, he will be among those donating a book prize for the winner and meeting her and her parents at Mass and dinner at the Guild meeting. The speaker will be journalist Christopher Howse, whose writings in the Daily Telegraph and elsewhere are always a delight.
Runner-up pries were gained by pupils at a number of Catholic schools, and some will receive YOUCAT, generously donated by Aid to the Church in Need, others a Simple Prayer Book (CTS) and yet others a small pocket catechism produced by Fr John Redford of Maryvale fame.
Theme of the Award for 2013 was mercy and forgiveness, and students were invited to write a letter to a friend who had said "I don't need to go to confession. I don't commit sins", or to write an essay focusing on the theme of the Prodigal Son.
Don't forget...
..the Blessed Sacrament Procession on Sat Oct 12th, starts 1.30pm at Westminster Cathedral, crosses the river at Lambeth Bridge and finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
Also of interest: Big Catholic History Walk, and Walk of Witness, Sunday Oct 27th, starts with 11 am Mass at the Church of the Precious Blood, London Bridge. Bring sandwiches. We will be walking along the Thames, praying at the site of St Thomas More's martyrdom, finishing with Benediction at Pr. Blood at about 5pm.
Also of interest: Big Catholic History Walk, and Walk of Witness, Sunday Oct 27th, starts with 11 am Mass at the Church of the Precious Blood, London Bridge. Bring sandwiches. We will be walking along the Thames, praying at the site of St Thomas More's martyrdom, finishing with Benediction at Pr. Blood at about 5pm.
Traditional Mass for...
...the Knights and Dames of St Gregory, at the Church of SS Anselm and Cecilia, in Holborn, a part of London rich in history: the pub where Bishop Richard Challoner used to meet Catholics to give instruction is just round the corner and carries a commemorative plaque telling all about it.
This evening's Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Mario Conti, and there was glorious singing (Mozart: Missa Brevis in D for the Kyrie and Gloria) from the Scola of the Cardinal Vaughan School. Various Knights did the readings, brought up the Offertory etc. The Agnus Dei and Sanctus were Missa de Angelis and we all joined in heartily, and the hymns included Praise to the Holiest, and Soul of my Saviour... During the Bidding Prayers, we prayed for deceased Knights and Dames and a long list was read out, including names that one recognised as having done all sorts of different things for the Church in Britain...The Knights' formal uniform is in green and silver, a sort of mess-kit, and Dames wear green cloaks. Thanks to the generous and heroic work of a kind friend, designing and stitching, I wore mine for the first time, feeling a tiny share in a big history.
This evening's Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Mario Conti, and there was glorious singing (Mozart: Missa Brevis in D for the Kyrie and Gloria) from the Scola of the Cardinal Vaughan School. Various Knights did the readings, brought up the Offertory etc. The Agnus Dei and Sanctus were Missa de Angelis and we all joined in heartily, and the hymns included Praise to the Holiest, and Soul of my Saviour... During the Bidding Prayers, we prayed for deceased Knights and Dames and a long list was read out, including names that one recognised as having done all sorts of different things for the Church in Britain...The Knights' formal uniform is in green and silver, a sort of mess-kit, and Dames wear green cloaks. Thanks to the generous and heroic work of a kind friend, designing and stitching, I wore mine for the first time, feeling a tiny share in a big history.
Hot, sticky weather...
...travelling on the Tube is Much Too Warm. Hurrying about in the heat, I went to Premier Radio to record some talks (info on this later) and while there linked by telephone to EWTN's Register Radio for a feature on Bl John Paul. Register Radio has since sent me info about how to listen to their programmes:
Register Radio airs Friday at 19:00 hrs./7:00 p.m. BST on Sky Satellite Radio for Europe / and for the U.S. audience: 2:00 p.m. EDT (U.S.)
Register Radio encores twice throughout the weekend:
1. Saturday: 12:00 p.m. BST on Sky Satellite Radio for Europe / and for the U.S. audience: 8:00 p.m. EDT (U.S.)
2. Sunday: 4:00 a.m. BST on Sky Satellite Radio for Europe / and for the U.S. audience: 11:00 a.m. EDT (U.S.)
The show airs on 220 EWTN AM & FM affiliates across the U.S., as well as Sirius Satellite Radio’s channel 130, and on Sky (our European broadcast); and around the world on web stream through www.ewtn.com/radio, via mobile devices (EWTN, iHeart and TuneIn apps,) and of course—what first made EWTN go global 20 years ago—our EWTN Shortwave Radio signal traveling the globe.
We will post the audio of the show Friday evening shortly after it has aired and you can download the audio from the podcast if you wish to listen or post it on your website or for any promotional purposes.
Go to www.ncregister.com and click on the “Radio” tab and then click on the “microphone” icon. Previous shows are also archived there.
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
The news...
that the canonisation of Bl John Paul and Bl John XXIII is to take place on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27th, was not unexpected...but very joyful! You can read Auntie on the subject here....a very personal account. Talking to "Father Stan" was so interesting, and I will long cherish the rosary, blessed by John Paul, that he gave me...
Saturday, September 28, 2013
To Brigg...
in Lincolnshire, to talk to a wonderful group of families in the local Catholic parish, St Mary's. Excellent parish priest, a large and energetic gathering of children on Friday evening, and a most delightful family event on Saturday morning - again teeming with children - which finished with a beautiful Mass and a hearty buffet lunch. Auntie was speaking about Catholic traditions and customs, feasts and seasons, etc...
The family event was held in the parish school, and for Mass an altar was erected and there were small well-trained altar boys, and a fine reader who led us in chanting the Psalm, and we sang the Pater Noster in Latin (I wish more parishes would do this - it's v. important for us all to know this well, not just for Mass but also for general prayers at for the great international gatherings that increasingly play a major role in Catholic life). A really cheery gathering, with such a warm and friendly feel to it - not everyone was Catholic, but all united in friendship and goodwill.
A train ride through England is generally agreeable, and September is such a glorious month...but how horrible, ugly, fearsomely nasty are the great outsize wind machines that now dominate great stretches of our land as you head northwards. It's not fair, no one asked us if we wanted our beautiful country to be made so hideously ugly in this way.
The family event was held in the parish school, and for Mass an altar was erected and there were small well-trained altar boys, and a fine reader who led us in chanting the Psalm, and we sang the Pater Noster in Latin (I wish more parishes would do this - it's v. important for us all to know this well, not just for Mass but also for general prayers at for the great international gatherings that increasingly play a major role in Catholic life). A really cheery gathering, with such a warm and friendly feel to it - not everyone was Catholic, but all united in friendship and goodwill.
A train ride through England is generally agreeable, and September is such a glorious month...but how horrible, ugly, fearsomely nasty are the great outsize wind machines that now dominate great stretches of our land as you head northwards. It's not fair, no one asked us if we wanted our beautiful country to be made so hideously ugly in this way.
...on Cameron and marriage...
...it's all very well for the Prime Minister to try to forestall challenges at the Conservative Party Conference by wittering on about the value of marriage and promising a financial reward to those who marry, but since he's just foisted on us all a ghastly new law which pretends that two men can marry, there isn't much value in it, really.
While in the USA, back in the summer, Auntie had the opportunity to discuss that ghastly new law on Register Radio...
While in the USA, back in the summer, Auntie had the opportunity to discuss that ghastly new law on Register Radio...
Friday, September 27, 2013
and...
...Pope Francis will be announcing, on Monday, the date for the canonisation of Bl John Paul. How much do the children in your parish know about JPII? They might enjoy a book about him...
Evensong...
...with the Ordinariate at the Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. It has now become familiar, the voices going back and forth saying the psalms turn and turn about:" My lips shall speak of thy praise/ when thou hast taught me thy statutes..." "I have longed for thy saving health O Lord/and in thy law is my delight..."
As we prayed and sang, and the trains rumbled by to London Bridge, the evening sky slowly darkened beyond the high windows, and despite the warm evening, there was a feeling of Autumn, and I realised that the Ordinariate has become part of life's cycle in this corner of the world and the new-and-interesting has given way to the pleasant-and-familiar.
As we prayed and sang, and the trains rumbled by to London Bridge, the evening sky slowly darkened beyond the high windows, and despite the warm evening, there was a feeling of Autumn, and I realised that the Ordinariate has become part of life's cycle in this corner of the world and the new-and-interesting has given way to the pleasant-and-familiar.
To Hertfordshire...
...to distribute prizes won in the 2013 Schools Bible Project to pupils at this school. A lovely school and a warm welcome. Pic of the Bible prize presentation here...
Golly...
...it feels almost comic somehow. For those of us who remember the way things were before the events of 1989/90, reading this sort of report from Russia is just so extraordinary.
The conversion of Russia, which has been happening before our eyes since 1984, means that the Russian ruler now regards the country as a Christian one and speaks accordingly.
Putin is not a pleasant ruler. Russia is a grim place in which to live (which is partly why Christianity is so attractive with its message of hope and love).
But the central reality is this: the conversion of Russia, long the focus of so much prayer, is making the world scene unimaginably different from that of the 20th century. All a bit awkward for people who have been complaining for years that "nothing has been done about consecrating Russia" and creating all sorts of conspiracy theories to claim that the Fatima promises aren't working, the secrets haven't been revealed, etc etc etc...
Russia was consecrated to Mary, by Bl John Paul in 1984, and with the conversion happening and Christianity openly honoured by so many Russians, it will probably be normal to mention Russia aloud by name in Fatima consecrations and celebrations in Rome and Russia and elsewhere over the next years...
But will the "Fatimist" campaigners ever admit that they were wrong, and apologise? They have long complained that Pope John Paul was part of a big conspiracy, involved in a network of lying and deceit, and that the "real secret" has never been told, etc etc.
Now his actions have proved themselves, and he is to be canonised. A gracious apology from the Fatimist campaigners would be in order. Some are among the readers of this blog...
The conversion of Russia, which has been happening before our eyes since 1984, means that the Russian ruler now regards the country as a Christian one and speaks accordingly.
Putin is not a pleasant ruler. Russia is a grim place in which to live (which is partly why Christianity is so attractive with its message of hope and love).
But the central reality is this: the conversion of Russia, long the focus of so much prayer, is making the world scene unimaginably different from that of the 20th century. All a bit awkward for people who have been complaining for years that "nothing has been done about consecrating Russia" and creating all sorts of conspiracy theories to claim that the Fatima promises aren't working, the secrets haven't been revealed, etc etc etc...
Russia was consecrated to Mary, by Bl John Paul in 1984, and with the conversion happening and Christianity openly honoured by so many Russians, it will probably be normal to mention Russia aloud by name in Fatima consecrations and celebrations in Rome and Russia and elsewhere over the next years...
But will the "Fatimist" campaigners ever admit that they were wrong, and apologise? They have long complained that Pope John Paul was part of a big conspiracy, involved in a network of lying and deceit, and that the "real secret" has never been told, etc etc.
Now his actions have proved themselves, and he is to be canonised. A gracious apology from the Fatimist campaigners would be in order. Some are among the readers of this blog...
Monday, September 23, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Pope Francis said:
"Things have a price and are saleable, but persons have a dignity, they are worth more than things and they have no price. Because of this, attention to human life in its totality has become in recent times a real and proper priority of the Magisterium of the Church, particularly for life which is largely defenseless, namely, that of the disabled, the sick, the unborn, children, the elderly."
and
"Every unborn child, condemned unjustly to being aborted, has the face of the Lord, who before being born, and then when he was just born, experienced the rejection of the world. And every elderly person, even if he/she is sick or at the end of his/her days, bears in him/herself the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded!"
(Pope Francis, Vatican City, Sept 20th 2013)
and
"Every unborn child, condemned unjustly to being aborted, has the face of the Lord, who before being born, and then when he was just born, experienced the rejection of the world. And every elderly person, even if he/she is sick or at the end of his/her days, bears in him/herself the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded!"
(Pope Francis, Vatican City, Sept 20th 2013)
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Fatima...
...and the famous Third Secret revealed in 2000 by Bl John Paul, continues to hold an enormous fascination...and as things develop in Russia, there will be more...you might find this feature of interest...
There has long been an assumption that "the conversion of Russia" would be (a) quick, with an immediate impact and (b) enjoyable for us here in the West. But the Fatima promises did not suggest either of these things. We should ponder the Fatima message as Catholics, not as readers of horoscopes or listeners to fortune-tellers.
We have been praying, and rightly, for Russia's conversion: it is happening and, like all conversions, will take some while. But meanwhile, what about the conversion of the West? And what will it be like with Russia a place of growing Christianity - and with the Holy Father in renewed dialogue with the Orthodox and so on - while the Christians in the West are facing immense pressures from the governments, bureaucracy, media and commercial interests of their countries? To grasp this, we need to shift our world-view. The Cold War era of the 1950s-80s is over, and we are in a new era...
The minds of many Catholics have been confused by campaigners who, for whatever reason, have muddled the whole thing up with their own views on the Church, the liturgy, Vatican II, and more. They want conspiracies and plots and ooh-the-Vatican-is-in-the-grip-of-evil-and-Ratzinger-was-a-liar. But the reality is the unfolding of a loving plan: all the secrets have been revealed, and what remains is the age-old gentle call to prayer and penance. And the call to the New Evangelisation...are you ready?
There has long been an assumption that "the conversion of Russia" would be (a) quick, with an immediate impact and (b) enjoyable for us here in the West. But the Fatima promises did not suggest either of these things. We should ponder the Fatima message as Catholics, not as readers of horoscopes or listeners to fortune-tellers.
We have been praying, and rightly, for Russia's conversion: it is happening and, like all conversions, will take some while. But meanwhile, what about the conversion of the West? And what will it be like with Russia a place of growing Christianity - and with the Holy Father in renewed dialogue with the Orthodox and so on - while the Christians in the West are facing immense pressures from the governments, bureaucracy, media and commercial interests of their countries? To grasp this, we need to shift our world-view. The Cold War era of the 1950s-80s is over, and we are in a new era...
The minds of many Catholics have been confused by campaigners who, for whatever reason, have muddled the whole thing up with their own views on the Church, the liturgy, Vatican II, and more. They want conspiracies and plots and ooh-the-Vatican-is-in-the-grip-of-evil-and-Ratzinger-was-a-liar. But the reality is the unfolding of a loving plan: all the secrets have been revealed, and what remains is the age-old gentle call to prayer and penance. And the call to the New Evangelisation...are you ready?
A quiet afternoon...
...with a not-too-well relative, sitting sewing and chatting. Prayers for this relative would be much appreciated: she is facing a grave illness with courage.
Home lateish. As anticipated, phone messages from the BBC etc re the H. Father's latest interview: it is good that we now have Catholic Voices to help with this sort of thing. The Beeb and similar took a sentence from the Pope's interview out of context with glee and delight...oh, but it's useless whingeing about this sort of thing, we just have to ride out the storm...
My EWTN colleague has a wise and thoughtful comment here...and there is also an excellent comment here...
Home lateish. As anticipated, phone messages from the BBC etc re the H. Father's latest interview: it is good that we now have Catholic Voices to help with this sort of thing. The Beeb and similar took a sentence from the Pope's interview out of context with glee and delight...oh, but it's useless whingeing about this sort of thing, we just have to ride out the storm...
My EWTN colleague has a wise and thoughtful comment here...and there is also an excellent comment here...
There are plans for...
...a practical "How to" training weekend in public speaking, in the service of the New Evangelisation, to be held at Maryvale (Birmingham, England) in the early Spring. Date would be Feb 8th/9th.
Interested? Please send a Comment to this Blog INCLUDING, WITHIN THE BODY OF YOUR COMMENT AN EMAIL ADDRESS AT WHICH I CAN CONTACT YOU. The Comment will of course not be published.
The main session would be on the Saturday, with the option to stay over for the Sunday. In addition to training, practical work, etc, we would have an inspirational guest speaker, Mass, and a social time...
A modest fee will be charged: one fee for day-attenders which would also cover lunch, coffee etc, and another fee to cover those who stay for the whole weekend.
Interested? Please send a Comment to this Blog INCLUDING, WITHIN THE BODY OF YOUR COMMENT AN EMAIL ADDRESS AT WHICH I CAN CONTACT YOU. The Comment will of course not be published.
The main session would be on the Saturday, with the option to stay over for the Sunday. In addition to training, practical work, etc, we would have an inspirational guest speaker, Mass, and a social time...
A modest fee will be charged: one fee for day-attenders which would also cover lunch, coffee etc, and another fee to cover those who stay for the whole weekend.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Next weekend...
...I am off to Brigg, to talk to the parish youth group and Family Group...
And over the next few weeks, I will be giving out Bible prizes at schools in Hertfordshire, Essex, and Lancaster, where pupils have won prizes and awards in the Schools Bible Project... (that link tells you about the Project, but doesn't yet have the 2013 winners names on it, as I want to ensure that they all learn about their prizes from their schools first, rather than suddenly discovering their names on the internet....)
And over the next few weeks, I will be giving out Bible prizes at schools in Hertfordshire, Essex, and Lancaster, where pupils have won prizes and awards in the Schools Bible Project... (that link tells you about the Project, but doesn't yet have the 2013 winners names on it, as I want to ensure that they all learn about their prizes from their schools first, rather than suddenly discovering their names on the internet....)
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Come and learn more
about the Catholic Faith!
Church of the Precius Blood, O'Meara Street, London SEI
(nearest Tube: LONDON BRIDGE)
Church of the Precius Blood, O'Meara Street, London SEI
(nearest Tube: LONDON BRIDGE)
WEDNESDAYS at 7.30pm
Mass 6.30pm
Light refreshments
Talk starts 7.30pm
Questions, more refreshments, social time
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 9th
Creation’s witness to the Living God: The path from
science to religion
Fr Roger Nesbitt
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 16th
Jesus Christ:
source and summit of all creation
Fr Hugh MacKenzie
www.preciousblood.org.uk
Thursday, September 19, 2013
and...
...don't forget the next Catholic History Walk: Sept 25th, meet at 6.30pm (after the 5.30pm Mass) on the steps of Westminster Cathedral.
...and if you want...
...a deeper analysis of things in Poland, you can go to Auntie's EWTN Blog here...
LOGS...
the wonderful women's group of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham had a special Mass and celebration this evening to mark its FIRST ANNIVERSARY. We went to the Church of the Assumption in London's Warwick Street where the Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, celebrated Mass for us, and his wife joined us at our meeting and welcomed us into the Rectory...we had chocolate cake and coffee, and sang "Happy Birthday to Us!" and had a most happy and useful meeting with lots of lovely plans for the months ahead and throughout 2014...
Among the plans...a big project for schoolchildren, carol singing at a major London railway station, a pilgrimage to Littlemore, a film evening...
FOR YOUR DIARY: IMPORTANT...Blessed Sacrament Procession on Saturday October 12th, starts 1.30pm at Westminster Cathedral, goes through London and finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral Southwark. BE THERE!! All welcome. Come on your own, or with a group. Bring family and friends...
Among the plans...a big project for schoolchildren, carol singing at a major London railway station, a pilgrimage to Littlemore, a film evening...
FOR YOUR DIARY: IMPORTANT...Blessed Sacrament Procession on Saturday October 12th, starts 1.30pm at Westminster Cathedral, goes through London and finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral Southwark. BE THERE!! All welcome. Come on your own, or with a group. Bring family and friends...
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Still on the subject...
...of Poland, I find that author George Weigel has been in Krakow over these past few weeks too...his comment is worth reading and is here...
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Highlights...
...of this visit to Poland have been many...at Wawel, at Wadowice, at the Shrine of the Black Madonna at Jasna Gora....
But probably the most memorable was joining the crowds pouring in to the great Ark Church at Nowa Huta. We had arranged to go there for Sunday Mass because, as we discovered last Spring, it is a wonderful experience. Nowa Huta was built as the great socialist experiment, on land outside Krakow, with a steelworks dedicated to Lenin and slabs of housing for people taken from villages in other parts of Poland. It was meant to be a great Communist paradise. Working conditions were grim, freedom of speech was banned, and the promises of a dizzily wonderful life remained hollow. It became - and remains - a great centre of opposition to Communism. There were riots here in the 1980s as Communism collapsed. Today the streets and squares are named after anti-Communist heroes - the most notable being Reagan Place - and the statue of Lenin has gone, torn down as thousands watched and rejoiced. A major feature of Nowa Huta, and the thing that ultimately made the place famous, is the Ark Church, built by volunteer labour after years of campaigning for official permission, and opened by Archbishop Karol Woytila, the hero-bishop of Krakow who led his flock with courage and wisdom during the years of Soviet oppressive rule. It stand as a great modern symbol of hope and peace and strength.
There are Masses throughout Sunday and the crowds surge in. I noticed that people are quite formally dressed: lots of the men in jackets-and-ties. We were fortunate to find seats for Mass - people pack in at the back and in the various galleries. Big modern sanctuary, numbers of altar-boys. The singing is heart-warming.
It was so good to be at a big traditional Sunday Mass in this great church. Hearing the Mass in Polish somehow made one sense the universality of the Church - one felt completely at home, while aware of being miles from home. The liturgy was reverent but nothing special: a young boy did the readings, people knelt for Communion, there was the traditional Polish muddle about coming-and-going for the latter. People were silent and prayerful in church after Mass, no immediate outbreak of chatter. As we all surged out, the bells were ringing for the next Mass and people were flowing towards the church from across Nowa Huta...
The Church in Poland faces plenty of challenges. But there is a bond between Church and people that is deep and strong and life-giving.
But probably the most memorable was joining the crowds pouring in to the great Ark Church at Nowa Huta. We had arranged to go there for Sunday Mass because, as we discovered last Spring, it is a wonderful experience. Nowa Huta was built as the great socialist experiment, on land outside Krakow, with a steelworks dedicated to Lenin and slabs of housing for people taken from villages in other parts of Poland. It was meant to be a great Communist paradise. Working conditions were grim, freedom of speech was banned, and the promises of a dizzily wonderful life remained hollow. It became - and remains - a great centre of opposition to Communism. There were riots here in the 1980s as Communism collapsed. Today the streets and squares are named after anti-Communist heroes - the most notable being Reagan Place - and the statue of Lenin has gone, torn down as thousands watched and rejoiced. A major feature of Nowa Huta, and the thing that ultimately made the place famous, is the Ark Church, built by volunteer labour after years of campaigning for official permission, and opened by Archbishop Karol Woytila, the hero-bishop of Krakow who led his flock with courage and wisdom during the years of Soviet oppressive rule. It stand as a great modern symbol of hope and peace and strength.
There are Masses throughout Sunday and the crowds surge in. I noticed that people are quite formally dressed: lots of the men in jackets-and-ties. We were fortunate to find seats for Mass - people pack in at the back and in the various galleries. Big modern sanctuary, numbers of altar-boys. The singing is heart-warming.
It was so good to be at a big traditional Sunday Mass in this great church. Hearing the Mass in Polish somehow made one sense the universality of the Church - one felt completely at home, while aware of being miles from home. The liturgy was reverent but nothing special: a young boy did the readings, people knelt for Communion, there was the traditional Polish muddle about coming-and-going for the latter. People were silent and prayerful in church after Mass, no immediate outbreak of chatter. As we all surged out, the bells were ringing for the next Mass and people were flowing towards the church from across Nowa Huta...
The Church in Poland faces plenty of challenges. But there is a bond between Church and people that is deep and strong and life-giving.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Working, praying...
...Krakow, Kalwaria, Wadowice...
I'd love to go on a proper pilgrimage to Kalwaria some day...I loved the hillside, the big breeziness of it, the woods, the glorious sweep on the hills around, and the fact that you are hiking and praying and "walking with a purpose". Clare and I, sitting here in our Krakow lodgings with coffee, preparing for another day of filming, have been mulling over the places we've visited, and the things we've learned....Kalwaria has been a very big part of it all, and possibly the most memorable...how about a pilgrimage group from Britain? John Paul Walkers - of Walsingham fame - interested? alking around the Kalwaria shrine takes about six hours. But it could be part of a longer pilgrimage, eg walking from Wadowice (no distance) or even from Krakow, taking two or three days...
I'd love to go on a proper pilgrimage to Kalwaria some day...I loved the hillside, the big breeziness of it, the woods, the glorious sweep on the hills around, and the fact that you are hiking and praying and "walking with a purpose". Clare and I, sitting here in our Krakow lodgings with coffee, preparing for another day of filming, have been mulling over the places we've visited, and the things we've learned....Kalwaria has been a very big part of it all, and possibly the most memorable...how about a pilgrimage group from Britain? John Paul Walkers - of Walsingham fame - interested? alking around the Kalwaria shrine takes about six hours. But it could be part of a longer pilgrimage, eg walking from Wadowice (no distance) or even from Krakow, taking two or three days...
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Poland...
...and talking to Cardinal Dziwicz about Bl John Paul. It was very splendid walking into the Archbishop's Palace, but also very friendly, and the Cardinal gave us a warm welcome and told us he was simply "Father Stanislaus". Clare and I have been having a simply wonderful time in Krakow. Not only did that interview go superbly well, but so much else has been glorious too...praying in Wawel cathedral, discovering the story of Jan Tyranowski in Debniki, visiting the Divine Mercy shrine, and - a great highlight - going to Kalwaria, where the young Woytila walked the Way of the Cross with his father long years ago, and learned about the Cross and all that it means...
We are working on a programme for EWTN about Bl John Paul...and it is hard work but all joy...and leaving very little time for blogging.
Today, the new Shrine that is being carved out of the hillside beyond Krakow, on great stretches of land adjoining the already massive shrine to the Divine Mercy. It is an extraordinary experience to spend part of the day in a great city of history, and then another part watching lumps of hillside being turned over to create something that will be part of history for years and years to come...
We are working on a programme for EWTN about Bl John Paul...and it is hard work but all joy...and leaving very little time for blogging.
Today, the new Shrine that is being carved out of the hillside beyond Krakow, on great stretches of land adjoining the already massive shrine to the Divine Mercy. It is an extraordinary experience to spend part of the day in a great city of history, and then another part watching lumps of hillside being turned over to create something that will be part of history for years and years to come...
Thursday, September 12, 2013
In the rain...
...a small group of pilgrims on a Catholic History Walk. I hurried to Westminster Cathedral, heavy suitcase already packed for Poland. Rushed to the bookshop next to the Cathedral - but it was already shut with a notice on the door :"CLOSED". I clasped my hands and made pleading signs with the girl at the till counting up the money. She smiled and opened the door and I explained...just one copy of my book on Bl JP II...off to Gatwick that very evening to fly to Poland...wanted so badly to give a copy to Cardinal Dziwicz...and the manager heard me and took mercy, taking one from the shelf for me and it will go on my account..."sort it out later, Joanna"... Into the Cathedral. Mass in progress. An African priest among those concelebrating: Fr J, who has been working at this parish in the suburbs and had expressed interest in walking along the paths of England's Catholic history before returning to Uganda at the end of this week...
As we stood in the wet piazza beneath Fr J's umbrella with me explaining the history of the Cathedral, and beginning on the saga of the English Church (St Augustine...Saxons, Normans and on to Henry VIII and all that) Canon Christopher came out from the Cathedral to greet us and in next to no time he and Fr J were chatting in some African language (Fr C.is former Army)...and a whole lot of history came together, England and armies and Commonwealth and more...
Later, the Walk under way, into the Great Hall at Westminster, and we stood at the plaque marking the trial in that place of St Thomas More, and thought too of St Edmund Campion and the others...and of centuries rolling on and Pope Benedict in 2010 speaking there to a massed gathering of men and women in our national life. Faith and reason, the former illuminating the latter, a message of hope and a promise for a future way...
"But it looks so like a church!" so many people say when they get into the Central Lobby of Parliament. Of course it does: Barry and Pugin and gothic revival, the four saints of the British isles in glittering mosaic...and it all goes back to the Abbey just opposite, and the Faith that shaped this land and you can't understand our history without grasping that...
As we made our farewells at Westminster Tube station, Fr J. prayed and blessed me, invoking God's protection and that of the angels and saints. It felt so right standing there, unembarrassed, receiving a blessing on a London pavement.
And then Victoria station, and the night train to Gatwick, and meeting Clare, my co-worker on the Poland project. The next morning an early start for the flight to Krakow. And there, this afternoon, I gave the book to Cardinal Stanislaus Dziwicz as we sat talking about Blessed John Paul...but that's another story, and one that I'll write up tomorrow.
As we stood in the wet piazza beneath Fr J's umbrella with me explaining the history of the Cathedral, and beginning on the saga of the English Church (St Augustine...Saxons, Normans and on to Henry VIII and all that) Canon Christopher came out from the Cathedral to greet us and in next to no time he and Fr J were chatting in some African language (Fr C.is former Army)...and a whole lot of history came together, England and armies and Commonwealth and more...
Later, the Walk under way, into the Great Hall at Westminster, and we stood at the plaque marking the trial in that place of St Thomas More, and thought too of St Edmund Campion and the others...and of centuries rolling on and Pope Benedict in 2010 speaking there to a massed gathering of men and women in our national life. Faith and reason, the former illuminating the latter, a message of hope and a promise for a future way...
"But it looks so like a church!" so many people say when they get into the Central Lobby of Parliament. Of course it does: Barry and Pugin and gothic revival, the four saints of the British isles in glittering mosaic...and it all goes back to the Abbey just opposite, and the Faith that shaped this land and you can't understand our history without grasping that...
As we made our farewells at Westminster Tube station, Fr J. prayed and blessed me, invoking God's protection and that of the angels and saints. It felt so right standing there, unembarrassed, receiving a blessing on a London pavement.
And then Victoria station, and the night train to Gatwick, and meeting Clare, my co-worker on the Poland project. The next morning an early start for the flight to Krakow. And there, this afternoon, I gave the book to Cardinal Stanislaus Dziwicz as we sat talking about Blessed John Paul...but that's another story, and one that I'll write up tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Off to Poland...
...to work on a TV programme about soon-to-be-canonised Bl John Paul. Trawling the Internet, I came across a piece I wrote about him a couple of years ago and I still stand by every word of it. But I have come to appreciate more deeply the significance of his life and work. I am indebted to various Lefebvre-leaning blogs and blurbs, all very anti-John Paul and some viciously so, for helping me to see him as the truly man and saint that he was. His Marian theology and his Eucharistic devotion are of great importance, although history will probably chiefly note his Theology of the Body and of course his world travels, missionary zeal, and central role in the collapse of atheistic communism. The Church of the next centuries will be studying his writings and following his spiritual path with zeal.
We will be in Krakow and Wadowice, and hope also to visit Kalwaria, Nowa Huta, and the Divine Mercy Shrine. Some of these are already very familiar to me. I am very much looking forward to the work on the programme.
Spent today having Tea with a beloved elderly relative on the occasion of her 90th birthday. Mildly frustrating morning because the vacuum cleaner broke. It made weird loud whirring noises and smelt horrible. I unplugged, dismantled, cleaned...to no avail. Kaput. Bought a new one this afternoon from the local supermarket. We've got used to mass-production and inbuilt obsolescence and all that, but even so the price seemed odd: £18. It seems all wrong for any electrical equipment to be that cheap: am checking to see where such things are made...sounds like horribly low wages to get something produced for that price.
Yesterday: a meeting of LOGS, the thriving and enjoyable Ordinariate group for women. We have a good many projects on hand for the coming weeks and months, including carol-singing at a major London railway station, and a big project for London schoolchildren...
We will be in Krakow and Wadowice, and hope also to visit Kalwaria, Nowa Huta, and the Divine Mercy Shrine. Some of these are already very familiar to me. I am very much looking forward to the work on the programme.
Spent today having Tea with a beloved elderly relative on the occasion of her 90th birthday. Mildly frustrating morning because the vacuum cleaner broke. It made weird loud whirring noises and smelt horrible. I unplugged, dismantled, cleaned...to no avail. Kaput. Bought a new one this afternoon from the local supermarket. We've got used to mass-production and inbuilt obsolescence and all that, but even so the price seemed odd: £18. It seems all wrong for any electrical equipment to be that cheap: am checking to see where such things are made...sounds like horribly low wages to get something produced for that price.
Yesterday: a meeting of LOGS, the thriving and enjoyable Ordinariate group for women. We have a good many projects on hand for the coming weeks and months, including carol-singing at a major London railway station, and a big project for London schoolchildren...
Sunday, September 08, 2013
NOTE...
...that there is a CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK on Wednesday (Sept 11th) starting at 6.30pm - after the 5.30pm Mass - at Westminster Cathedral. Meet on the steps. All welcome. Wear suitable shoes and clothing - we'll be walking whatever the weather.
NOTE these dates, too:
SAT Oct 12th, 1pm BLESSED SACRAMENT PROCESSION, starting at Westminster Cathedral, and finishing at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. Come and give witness to the Faith, and pray for our city and our country at this time...
Sunday Oct 27th - a special History Walk starting with Mass at 11 am at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. This is a Reunion Walk for all the pilgrims who walked to Walsingham this summer with the John Paul Pilgrimage for the New Evangelisation. But anyone and everyone is invited, too. Just turn up at Precious Blood Church, with sandwiches and some good walking-shoes: the walk will be approx. five miles.
NOTE these dates, too:
SAT Oct 12th, 1pm BLESSED SACRAMENT PROCESSION, starting at Westminster Cathedral, and finishing at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. Come and give witness to the Faith, and pray for our city and our country at this time...
Sunday Oct 27th - a special History Walk starting with Mass at 11 am at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. This is a Reunion Walk for all the pilgrims who walked to Walsingham this summer with the John Paul Pilgrimage for the New Evangelisation. But anyone and everyone is invited, too. Just turn up at Precious Blood Church, with sandwiches and some good walking-shoes: the walk will be approx. five miles.
An extraordinarily busy week...
...packing up prizes and arranging prize-presentations for young people in a big schools Religious Education project. Satisfying work. We got extremely warm hurrying to the Post Office with great cases of heavy parcels on the final hot days of the summer...but it was all well worth it.
The Project would not have been possible without the generous support of the wonderful parish of St Joseph's, New Malden: we had the use of a large room in the parish centre, plus storage space for weeks beforehand for the various books and the children's work, plus access to the big and well-equipped kitchen so we could enjoy lunch and coffee...each day we could join the well-attended 10am Mass, and later,and while we worked upstairs, happy sounds from a children's playgroup came from the main hall...on Thursday there was Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament all day, people quietly coming in to pray...
Like so many millions of people worldwide, I've been praying this week for peace in Syria...
Our government's appalling record in foisting gross projects of evil social engineering on our poor country means that it has no moral authority whatever to intervene in any other hapless country at the moment. See here for a useful update on PM Cameron's horrible social legislation.
A happy break for a Birthday, and a very delightful celebration Tea. A lovely parcel from a relative in New Zealand with a most beautiful skirt, so I was able to be elegant for the party. A happy day.
And on Sunday, gentle Autumnal weather set in: off to Mass here, and the lovely team of LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group, gave me a glorious Birthday bunch of flowers.
The Project would not have been possible without the generous support of the wonderful parish of St Joseph's, New Malden: we had the use of a large room in the parish centre, plus storage space for weeks beforehand for the various books and the children's work, plus access to the big and well-equipped kitchen so we could enjoy lunch and coffee...each day we could join the well-attended 10am Mass, and later,and while we worked upstairs, happy sounds from a children's playgroup came from the main hall...on Thursday there was Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament all day, people quietly coming in to pray...
Like so many millions of people worldwide, I've been praying this week for peace in Syria...
Our government's appalling record in foisting gross projects of evil social engineering on our poor country means that it has no moral authority whatever to intervene in any other hapless country at the moment. See here for a useful update on PM Cameron's horrible social legislation.
A happy break for a Birthday, and a very delightful celebration Tea. A lovely parcel from a relative in New Zealand with a most beautiful skirt, so I was able to be elegant for the party. A happy day.
And on Sunday, gentle Autumnal weather set in: off to Mass here, and the lovely team of LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group, gave me a glorious Birthday bunch of flowers.
Thursday, September 05, 2013
On a hot summer's night in London...
...we gathered to mark the Silver Jubilee of Fr Alexander Sherbrook, at St Patrick's Church, Soho Square. The church was so packed that some of us were ushered up to the front to sit in the side-chapel behind the choir. Glorious music. A vast number of priests concelebrating the Mass: it was moving and beautiful. Among those present: Canon Christopher Tuckwell from Westminster Cathedral, Mgr Keith Newton, Fr Hugh Mackenzie, Fr Stephen Langridge... Afterwards, a great gathering with delicious food, the cutting of a ceremonial cake, lots and lots of talk and greetings and friendship... Perhaps the most powerful part of the evening occurred when, after a sudden call for silence, the priests in the room began to sing "ad multos annos...", traditionally sung by students of the English College in Rome when they gather...
On such an evening, in such company, a sense of the quiet resilience and strong faith of the Catholic Church in England.
On such an evening, in such company, a sense of the quiet resilience and strong faith of the Catholic Church in England.
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