Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Visitors to EWTN...
... come to morning Mass, then tour the whole place, including the studios, and it's great fun to meet and talk...
When John Paul II and John XXIII are canonised...
... on April 27th, EWTN will be giving the thing full coverage. Among the material to be broadcast that weekend will be a feature about John Paul's life, filmed in Poland, and featuring Auntie and co-author Clare Anderson. You can read about it here to whet your appetite. Clare and I watched a preview a month ago, and although we thought we'd sit squirming at the sight of ourselves scurrying around Krakow and Wadowice, we actually found it quite bearable to watch and we realised what a rich story is the life of John Paul II, and how much more there is to discover in his legacy to the Church...
Pius XII...
...and, slowly, the tide is turning so that the truth is being revealed about the Vatican and the war years.
I've been re-reading Hitler, The War and the Pope: a must-read for anyone who wants to take this whole discussion to any relevant level. It's important to talk - while we still can - to those who lived through those years in Rome, to get a flavour of what it was all like. I found it gripping to talk to a Jewish Holocaust survivor when researching my book on the nuns who hid him and members of his family.
EWTN has done an honourable job of getting a truthful discussion going on this topic in recent years. Catholic groups and parishes could help. I would love more Catholic groups in Britain to know the story of Mother Riccarda Hambrough, the brave British nun who risked her own life to save a Jewish family...anyone interested need only send a Comment to this blog, with an email address included in the text, so that I can make contact...
I've been re-reading Hitler, The War and the Pope: a must-read for anyone who wants to take this whole discussion to any relevant level. It's important to talk - while we still can - to those who lived through those years in Rome, to get a flavour of what it was all like. I found it gripping to talk to a Jewish Holocaust survivor when researching my book on the nuns who hid him and members of his family.
EWTN has done an honourable job of getting a truthful discussion going on this topic in recent years. Catholic groups and parishes could help. I would love more Catholic groups in Britain to know the story of Mother Riccarda Hambrough, the brave British nun who risked her own life to save a Jewish family...anyone interested need only send a Comment to this blog, with an email address included in the text, so that I can make contact...
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Mornings at EWTN...
...begin early, with a full sung Mass at 7 am. Then, if you are working on a TV series or linked project, there is breakfast - a good one, with scrambled eggs and toast and something called grits which is a form of porridge and tastes of finely minced cardboard - and then one hurries to the studio. A morning's work (I'm not giving away too much about the new series...it's about Marian feasts and will, I think, work quite well) and then lunch, and if you missed Mass, there's a midday one. Afternoon work finishes at 5pm, but there are evening things happening including the programme with Father Mitch Pacwa: Auntie will be on that this week. The guest houses all have Marian names and are comfortable and well-equipped. For Americans well-equipped includes a kitchen with packets of popcorn that you can cook in a microwave, and huge quantities of ice (the weather is already HOT here in Alabama, and in high summer it can be quite ghastly). Sitting here, working on tomorrow's projects, under the benevolent gaze of an icon and with Our Lady looking gently down from a picture in the adjoining kitchen, things feel peaceful...
Discussion over supper, however, had ranged from the moral collapse of the West to the rise of Islam, the future of Europe, the realities that face young Catholics in Britain, the European mainland, and America over the next years...
Discussion over supper, however, had ranged from the moral collapse of the West to the rise of Islam, the future of Europe, the realities that face young Catholics in Britain, the European mainland, and America over the next years...
Monday, March 10, 2014
Sunday, March 09, 2014
Tradition...
...and its importance in the life of Catholics, and all Christians. I have been making programmes celebrating the traditional feasts and seasons of the Church for some while now, but there is always more to explore. I am set to make a new series, which you'll be able to watch on EWTN in due course. At a time when our culture is impoverished and children are fed a diet of TV soaps and computer games, families and schools and parish communities are doing a service to humanity in fostering community activities and genuine local traditions that mark the great events of the Christian year and can be shared by everyone.
I was particularly struck this year by being asked - along with other parishioners - to bring along the palm cross from last year's Palm Sunday, to be burned to make ashes for Ash Wednesday. Of course I knew that this is how the ashes are made, but it was made so much more significant by actually bringing my palms along. And I can't have been the only parishioner to bring along quite a few, accumulated over the years - some had been used as bookmarks (one in a Catechism, another in a biography of JPII), two or three had been tucked up behind a picture or crucifix and simply become a fixture...
Some priests go to their Catholic primary school to show the children how the ashes are made: children enjoy the drama of a brazier in the playground and being able to bring along their own palm crosses to burn.
Another important part of Lent is Laetare Sunday, Mothering Sunday. It's NOT just a commercial invention called "Mothers' Day" and its origins are much MUCH older than the 19th century: it irritates me when people repeat the silly idea that it was invented to give servant-girls a day off. It all dates back much longer than that: why did girls want to go home on that particular day? What are its links with Lent, Christian motherhood, springtime, and the dignity of women? (If you want the answers, you should read my book...)
I was particularly struck this year by being asked - along with other parishioners - to bring along the palm cross from last year's Palm Sunday, to be burned to make ashes for Ash Wednesday. Of course I knew that this is how the ashes are made, but it was made so much more significant by actually bringing my palms along. And I can't have been the only parishioner to bring along quite a few, accumulated over the years - some had been used as bookmarks (one in a Catechism, another in a biography of JPII), two or three had been tucked up behind a picture or crucifix and simply become a fixture...
Some priests go to their Catholic primary school to show the children how the ashes are made: children enjoy the drama of a brazier in the playground and being able to bring along their own palm crosses to burn.
Another important part of Lent is Laetare Sunday, Mothering Sunday. It's NOT just a commercial invention called "Mothers' Day" and its origins are much MUCH older than the 19th century: it irritates me when people repeat the silly idea that it was invented to give servant-girls a day off. It all dates back much longer than that: why did girls want to go home on that particular day? What are its links with Lent, Christian motherhood, springtime, and the dignity of women? (If you want the answers, you should read my book...)
...and just to get some more dates...
...into your diaries: Sunday May 18th, Catholic History Walk in Chelsea, including a visit to the seminary at Allen Hall. Sunday June 22nd: The Martyrs' Walk in London, starts 1.30pm at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate (Nearest tube: St Pauls).
Reading...
...Jacques Maritain, Christianity and Democracy and The Rights of Man and the Natural Law. I have read lengthy extracts from his works, but this evening am settling to read both these essays at leisure.
I dropped in to the bookshop here at EWTN to browse...saw this book on the bargain-books counter and picked it up, then realised w. some embarrassment that I had no American money on me, so explained to the lady at the cash desk and went to move off. But another customer said "Allow me.." and insisted on buying the book for me! He hadn't even looked at the book or noticed its title or price or anything - he was making an immediate and spontaneous generous gesture. "You can't do that!" I said with embarassment. "Yes I can" he said, and after a further bit of "Honestly, you really mustn't..." from me, he did. Five dollars. He and his wife were so kind - we stood and chatted for a good while, and they signed the book for me. And now, having spent the afternoon working on letters and features and emails and plans for the week's activities here at EWTN, I am about to make myself some coffee and settle down to a long-awaited encounter with a thinker whose work I have long wanted to explore...
I do think Americans are nice. I am not sure that would have happened in any other country in quite that way.
I dropped in to the bookshop here at EWTN to browse...saw this book on the bargain-books counter and picked it up, then realised w. some embarrassment that I had no American money on me, so explained to the lady at the cash desk and went to move off. But another customer said "Allow me.." and insisted on buying the book for me! He hadn't even looked at the book or noticed its title or price or anything - he was making an immediate and spontaneous generous gesture. "You can't do that!" I said with embarassment. "Yes I can" he said, and after a further bit of "Honestly, you really mustn't..." from me, he did. Five dollars. He and his wife were so kind - we stood and chatted for a good while, and they signed the book for me. And now, having spent the afternoon working on letters and features and emails and plans for the week's activities here at EWTN, I am about to make myself some coffee and settle down to a long-awaited encounter with a thinker whose work I have long wanted to explore...
I do think Americans are nice. I am not sure that would have happened in any other country in quite that way.
Saturday, March 08, 2014
...and meanwhile...
...back in Blighty...the FAITH Movement's popular Evenings of Faith are now drawing good numbers to Warwick St on Wednesdays. Forthcoming topics include "The Church as a Field Hospital" and "The Eucharist: fulfilling human nature"... More info here... You don't need to book. Just check the date on the link given, and turn up. The Faith Movement always attracts large numbers of young people to its events, and runs conferences and retreats especially for the young, but to this series of talks ALL ages are welcome.
Alabama...
...and birds carolling in the mild balmy weather as I sit at a kitchen table in a pleasant house on the EWTN campus. Staying here is something between a retreat and a busy-Catholic-action time. On weekday mornings the bells of the chapel chime out for Mass at 7am (you can check to see if I am there by simply watching the Mass, which is broadcast worldwide). The guest houses are in a neighbouring road, and you can to the chapel, studios etc through the rear gardens. Each house is comfortable and well-furnished.- at weekends, there is food provided in the 'fridge, a well-equipped kitchen, and lots of good coffee. My only complaint on previous visits was a lack of reading material...I would have to borrow books from the book review office. On this trip, I arrived to find a row of good things set out for me (Benedict Groeschel, Joseph Pearce, Mark Shea, plus Chesterton and other classics, plus biogs of Pius XIII, Mother Teresa...).
I have plenty to do, and when I am not doing it, I have started work on a new book by way of fresh intellectual exercise. Emails from home tell me that Britain is having a sudden heatwave.
I have plenty to do, and when I am not doing it, I have started work on a new book by way of fresh intellectual exercise. Emails from home tell me that Britain is having a sudden heatwave.
Friday, March 07, 2014
Divorce? remarriage?...
...and too much media-driven speculation that "Pope Francis will change the rules". He won't and can't. It's not about "rules". the Church is not a private club.
Reading this will help you untie the knots...
Reading this will help you untie the knots...
Thursday, March 06, 2014
On Paul VI:"His genius proved prophetic..."
In a wide-ranging interview to an Italian newspaper, Pope Francis made clear the Church's commitment to upholding the moral law and his support for the teaching in Humanae Vitae that artificial contraception is wrong. Speaking of that encyclical, and of Paul VI, he said "his genius proved prophetic: he had the courage to stand against the majority, to defend moral discipline, to exercise a ‘brake’ on the culture..." . He praised Paul VI for opposing the promoters of "neo Malthusianism", ie the followers of the Rev Malthus who two centuries ago was urging that the poor should be restricted in having children.
Humanae Vitae was indeed prophetic. Paul VI seemed to be a lone voice in 1968, but we can now see the wisdom of that encyclical and its upholding of the truth about the transmission of human life.
Artificial contraception breaks the unitive bond of marital love. Today, marriage is held in contempt by many in officialdom, and the stability of family life has been undermined. Cruel policies are now imposed by public authorities, in our own country among others: you and I have to pay for contraceptive drugs and devices pushed at young teenagers, and children at school are taught that the world is "over-populated" (when in fact the reverse is true and in Europe, in particular, we are suffering a "birth dearth" with too few young people to support the greying continent). Teenage abortions and births have soared, as have sexually-transmitted diseases. Half of all births are now outside of marriage. Most unmarried cohabiting couples break up before their oldest child reaches the age of nine.
No Pope has the power or authority to change the moral law. What is good about Pope Francis is that he has the courage not only to uphold it, but also to affirm his support for the Pope who upheld it in 1968 in the face of so much pressure to change.
And, yes, I did read the part where Pope Francis speaks about mercy and the need for confessors to get this right. And, no, it doesn't mean that confessors should tell penitents that contraception is OK.
Humanae Vitae was indeed prophetic. Paul VI seemed to be a lone voice in 1968, but we can now see the wisdom of that encyclical and its upholding of the truth about the transmission of human life.
Artificial contraception breaks the unitive bond of marital love. Today, marriage is held in contempt by many in officialdom, and the stability of family life has been undermined. Cruel policies are now imposed by public authorities, in our own country among others: you and I have to pay for contraceptive drugs and devices pushed at young teenagers, and children at school are taught that the world is "over-populated" (when in fact the reverse is true and in Europe, in particular, we are suffering a "birth dearth" with too few young people to support the greying continent). Teenage abortions and births have soared, as have sexually-transmitted diseases. Half of all births are now outside of marriage. Most unmarried cohabiting couples break up before their oldest child reaches the age of nine.
No Pope has the power or authority to change the moral law. What is good about Pope Francis is that he has the courage not only to uphold it, but also to affirm his support for the Pope who upheld it in 1968 in the face of so much pressure to change.
And, yes, I did read the part where Pope Francis speaks about mercy and the need for confessors to get this right. And, no, it doesn't mean that confessors should tell penitents that contraception is OK.
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Have you read...
the latest issue of The Portal? Among much else, Auntie has written an account of the recent visit to Littlemore...
Hairdo and ashes...
...a mixture of activities in London. Mass and receiving ashes at Westminster Cathedral. Great crowds, and long long lines of people trooping up to receive ashes...also a long, long line, steadily lengthening, of people waiting patiently to go to confession. The Cathedral newsletter includes a plea for more priests to volunteer to help out at the Cathedral with this...
A question, discussed annually: should one rub off the ashes from one's forehead, on the grounds that this is what we are asked to do: to anoint one's head with oil, as it were, and be cheerful, and not let anyone know about the fact that one is fasting etc? Or should one leave it there, on the grounds that this is an act of witness, reminding others that this is Ash Wednesday, an opportunity to evangelise, etc? The latter course risks turning into a smug look-at-me-I'm-a-good-Catholic, and frankly can be very annoying.
Auntie solved the issue this year anyway: hairdresser appointment prior to departure to the USA to make a new EWTN series. Shampooing, snipping, shaping...head anointed with oil, etc. No trace of ashes when I emerged into Victoria Street.
A question, discussed annually: should one rub off the ashes from one's forehead, on the grounds that this is what we are asked to do: to anoint one's head with oil, as it were, and be cheerful, and not let anyone know about the fact that one is fasting etc? Or should one leave it there, on the grounds that this is an act of witness, reminding others that this is Ash Wednesday, an opportunity to evangelise, etc? The latter course risks turning into a smug look-at-me-I'm-a-good-Catholic, and frankly can be very annoying.
Auntie solved the issue this year anyway: hairdresser appointment prior to departure to the USA to make a new EWTN series. Shampooing, snipping, shaping...head anointed with oil, etc. No trace of ashes when I emerged into Victoria Street.
Pancakes...
...thus, on Shrove Tuesday, co-author Clare Anderson and I celebrated the completion of our book on John Paul II with a pancake lunch at Paddington station (convenient meeting-place from our respective homes). Watch for our EWTN special on JPII marking his canonisation (date when it will be broadcast is not yet known - contact EWTN - but obviously it will be around the time of the Great Event, ie end of April). Meanwhile, we discussed all sorts of plans for the future...books...Catholic activities...John Paul's legacy...
An email with the final checking of details - page numbering etc - with the publisher's Editor (who is a priest, working in Rome) and a "YES" to his question :"Can I take it that you are now happy for this to go to the printer?"
An email with the final checking of details - page numbering etc - with the publisher's Editor (who is a priest, working in Rome) and a "YES" to his question :"Can I take it that you are now happy for this to go to the printer?"
Sunday, March 02, 2014
Cardinal Vincent Nichols...
...celebrated Mass at Westminster Cathedral this morning following his return from Rome after receiving the red hat. Knights and Dames of St Gregory gathered to join the procession. We robed in the library of Archbishop's House - the Knights wear a splendid military uniform complete with swords, and the Dames a green cloak with the great Cross of the Order, and a mantilla. No mirror, so I peered into my reflection in the glossy shine of the piano and hope I looked all right. The procession formed up in the sacristy where the Cardinal led us in prayer, and then we set off, led by that superb choir. A measured pace, with soaring music, out into the packed cathedral. A most beautiful Mass. The Papal Nuncio was present, along with various bishops and other clergy. Guests included the Lord Lieutenant and the Lord Mayor of Westminster, and I noticed former PM Blair and Mrs Blair with their son...
Afterwards a reception in the Cathedral Hall, everyone greeting friends, a great sense of a community celebrating a landmark event...
Afterwards a reception in the Cathedral Hall, everyone greeting friends, a great sense of a community celebrating a landmark event...
Saturday, March 01, 2014
Jeremy de Satge...
... founder of The Music Makers, composer, teacher, writer, has died. He made an enormous contribution to the revival of good liturgical music in Britain: to see him teach Gregorian chant to a group of people of all ages and different skills and backgrounds, was an inspiration. His beautiful Mass for Boys' Voices was sung recently at Westminster Cathedral. He taught with joy, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He had a fine singing voice and was an excellent director of music: equally enjoyable was his gift of friendship, shared with, among many others, members of the Catholic Writers' Guild of which he was a valued member. He had a deep and sincere faith and his music conveyed that. And he was a much-loved husband and father...may God reward him for all the joy he brought to so many people.
The FAITH Movement...
...had a general meeting in London today. Brompton Oratory: Mass in the Little Oratory, concelebrated by lots of FAITH priests, main celebrant Father Roger Nesbitt. We all renewed our Act of Dedication, which includes a commitment: "I am ready to bear public witness to all that the Faith Movement professes - Jesus Christ; His Divine Plan of Creation, Salvation and Redemption; His Church, her Sacraments and her Teaching..."
A cheery lunch, good to meet old friends: people had come from across Britain, from Scotland and from Cornwall.
The Evenings of Faith being held at the Church of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick St are proving v. popular: the next is on Wed March 12th, 7.30pm...
A cheery lunch, good to meet old friends: people had come from across Britain, from Scotland and from Cornwall.
The Evenings of Faith being held at the Church of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick St are proving v. popular: the next is on Wed March 12th, 7.30pm...
A direct reproof...
...to the conspiracy-campaigners (Gruner and team, the "Fatimists" and their allies) from Papa Emeritus Benedict. The conspiracy team (unrevealed secrets, coded messages,we-know-what's-really-going-on-in the-Church etc etc) has been getting a bit desperate and has been rambling its way round a new set of fantasies in which Papa B. didn't really resign (evidence: um...well...he still wears a white cassock, doesn't he?) and It's All A Very Complicated Plot... and so on and so on and so on...
Papa B. has now sent a letter establishing that yes, he did resign and yes, he did know what he was doing and no, there is nothing secret or sensational to discover. Which is what we all knew and understood. We love and honour him. It is horrible that self-appointed campaigners, lacking good standing in the Church, seek to wreck the serenity of his final years.
Papa B. has now sent a letter establishing that yes, he did resign and yes, he did know what he was doing and no, there is nothing secret or sensational to discover. Which is what we all knew and understood. We love and honour him. It is horrible that self-appointed campaigners, lacking good standing in the Church, seek to wreck the serenity of his final years.
"And what are you doing for Lent...?"
...er...um...I hadn't thought about it, and the question challenged me. Easter eggs have been in the shops since January, the newspapers have been telling us that the rain will be followed by a spring heatwave, I've been busy with work and family and writing to deadlines and so on...and next week it will be Ash Wednesday, and a time to think about larger and deeper things...
Off to the USA shortly...
...to make a new series for EWTN. As always, much emailing to and fro, with lists of props required (just to tantalise you, this new series involves the use of some garden tools and some herbs, some people singing a nursery rhyme, an omelette, a library, and Auntie doing some sewing...)
A conversation...
...with a priest, some wise counsel, some practical projects to discuss. But in the course of the conversation, something which increasing occurs - the thoughtful assumption that we may, as Catholics, be facing tough times with the authorities in our country. It's becoming more and more usual...something which only a short while ago would have seemed unlikely now seems horribly possible. To disagree, publicly and sincerely, with the Government's imposition of same-sex marriage, for instance, is certainly likely to cost you your job or any advancement in your career if you hold any sort of public office (magistrate, local government official, possibly even just teacher or school governor). And to discuss things like the need for heroism, a recognition of the spiritual strength needed for tough times, for all active Catholics, is not to be weird or fanatical, but just to be realistic. Gulp.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Good News for the New Evangelisation...
...as this news item sparkled in Auntie's in-box this morning:
A Centre of Formation for the New Evangelisation has been established by leading experts in Catholic education. Dr Petroc Willey, Dr Andrew Beards, Dr Caroline Farey and others, have established this centre, called the School of the Annunciation, in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, UK, thanks to the generosity and collaboration of the Abbot of Buckfast, the Rt. Rev. David Charlesworth and the monastic community.
Dr Petroc Willey was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation in 2012. The Holy Father also appointed Dr Petroc Willey and Dr Caroline Farey as advisors to the Synod on ‘New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Faith’ held in the Vatican.
The School of the Annunciation will begin by offering a Diploma in the New Evangelisation delivered by experts in this exciting and newly emerging field of activity and reflection in the life of the Church. As well as the Diploma in the New Evangelisation, the School of the Annunciation is offering short Summer Schools. These provide a unique opportunity to study the Catholic Faith in the beautiful setting of Buckfast Abbey, sharing the monastic community’s life and prayer over long summer weekends in August.
More info here...
A Centre of Formation for the New Evangelisation has been established by leading experts in Catholic education. Dr Petroc Willey, Dr Andrew Beards, Dr Caroline Farey and others, have established this centre, called the School of the Annunciation, in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, UK, thanks to the generosity and collaboration of the Abbot of Buckfast, the Rt. Rev. David Charlesworth and the monastic community.
Dr Petroc Willey was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation in 2012. The Holy Father also appointed Dr Petroc Willey and Dr Caroline Farey as advisors to the Synod on ‘New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Faith’ held in the Vatican.
The School of the Annunciation will begin by offering a Diploma in the New Evangelisation delivered by experts in this exciting and newly emerging field of activity and reflection in the life of the Church. As well as the Diploma in the New Evangelisation, the School of the Annunciation is offering short Summer Schools. These provide a unique opportunity to study the Catholic Faith in the beautiful setting of Buckfast Abbey, sharing the monastic community’s life and prayer over long summer weekends in August.
More info here...
Allen Hall...
...is the seminary for the diocese of Westminster, and stands on the site of what was once St Thomas More's garden at Chelsea...in May I will be leading a group of Catholic History Walkers there, and in what has now become an annual tradition, we are given tea and then shown round by teams of students, after which we join them for Adoration in the chapel, and then Evening Prayer...
When I dropped in today to make arrangements, I was made most welcome. After the meeting, I asked if I could possibly make use of their wi-fi, as I had an urgent email to send...they could not have been more helpful, and so the final corrections to the proofs of my new book on JPII were sent from Allen Hall, on the site where St Thomas More once lived...
When I dropped in today to make arrangements, I was made most welcome. After the meeting, I asked if I could possibly make use of their wi-fi, as I had an urgent email to send...they could not have been more helpful, and so the final corrections to the proofs of my new book on JPII were sent from Allen Hall, on the site where St Thomas More once lived...
To Manchester...
...to speak to the North West branch of the Catholic Writers Guild. It meets at the Catholic Chaplaincy of Manchester University, where there was a lot going on, as a Catholic Medical Group was also meeting, and of course in any case the place was teeming with students... the chapel was full for Evening Mass. Afterwards in a crowded room we struggled to get the projector etc working for the power-point I had prepared. To no avail - and in the end I did the talk without it, and no one seemed to mind. Topic: John Paul the Great. It really is fascinating to explore his extraordinary life - working in a stone quarry, having lost both parents and his only brother, studying secretly for the priesthood under the noses of the Nazi authorities with all colleges and universities closed, his country occupied by a ruthless power in a savage war...and then the grim years under Communism, the long-drawn-out battles to build the church at Nowa Huta, the young people in solidarity with their Archbishop...then Rome, and that magnificent "Do not be Afraid!" and the great missionary journeys...World Youth Day...Veritatis Splendor...the Theology of the Body...
Monday, February 24, 2014
Exmoor...
...looking enchanting, Porlock village in a fold of the hills, the sea a sturdy blue, meadows lush and green, and while I work at my computer in front of a wide window on to a lovely garden, there is birdsong, and two pigeons cooing.
Correcting proofs of forthcoming book, and working on a power-point for a talk to the NW Catholic Writers' Guild,to be held at the University Chaplaincy in Manchester. How extraordinary to be doing this while nourishing the eyes and heart by looking out on to a Medieval church, great hills with cloud and sunshine gently altering their colours moment by moment, and the sound of a rushing river - a reminder of those recent floods which soaked so much of the neighbouring parts of Somerset - mingling with the trilling of the birds.
Correcting proofs of forthcoming book, and working on a power-point for a talk to the NW Catholic Writers' Guild,to be held at the University Chaplaincy in Manchester. How extraordinary to be doing this while nourishing the eyes and heart by looking out on to a Medieval church, great hills with cloud and sunshine gently altering their colours moment by moment, and the sound of a rushing river - a reminder of those recent floods which soaked so much of the neighbouring parts of Somerset - mingling with the trilling of the birds.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Clifton Cathedral...
....is a truly dreadful lump of concrete, and Sunday Mass there a most depressing experience. The place leaks - plastic buckets stacked in a row - and it was more than half empty. I counted just over 130 people at the 11 am main Sunday Mass. There are horrid chairs with soft seats and spindly legs, and it's arranged like a theatre, and several people sat through Canon of the Mass. For the psalm, a lady got up at the microphone and waved her arms at us, in that infuriating way that they do when assuming that we won't know how to sing the response unless they indicate it to us. So I waved back. A guest choir sang Panis Angelicus at Communion much, much too fast. The Stations of the Cross are ugly and the whole place feels bleak.
To Bristol...
...and an excellent production of The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Redgrave Theatre. Hugely enjoyable, a richly talented young cast, a glorious set and costumes - all Edwardiana which perfectly matches the mood of the play - a great sense of fun...a perfect evening.
Beloved Papa Emeritus Benedict...
...joined Papa Francis in Rome for the ceremony creating new cardinals. Watch here...
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
John Henry Newman...
...and Littlemore. We had a wonderful pilgrimage there this week. You'll be reading about it shortly in The PORTAL...
Thursday, February 20, 2014
A MUST event...
Message from St Patrick's, Soho: In just over a week St. Patrick's church in Soho is hosting an exciting international conference called Choose Life: Choose Love! Speakers from across the Canada, the U.S and Australia will be there for this weekend conference on 'Beauty, Freedom and the Family'. Students can attend all the talks for FREE, or, if they wish to enjoy meals can pay half price. Advance booking is necessary. For more information and to book please visitwww.chooselifechooselove-rcdow.eventbrite.co.u
For full details of programme please look at here: www.stpatricksoho.org
"From the beginning...
...the Creator blessed man and woman so that they would be fruitful and multiply..."
Papa Francis on marriage and family. Read more here...
Papa Francis on marriage and family. Read more here...
JOYFUL EVANGELISTS...
We are looking for joyful evangelists!
Nominations are invited for the 2014 Catholic Women of the Year. Every year, four women are honoured, chosen by ballot from nominations sent in from across Britain. Any Catholic woman can be nominated – and the aim is especially to honour those who are living out their faith publicly, in service and in witness, as part of the New Evangelisation in our country.
Pope Francis has emphasised joy – Evangelii Gaudium – the Joy of the Faith. We are looking for joyful women who teach the Faith, serve their local community, and share Catholic values with the next generation.
“In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance or fear. The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded”. (Pope Francis: Evangelii Gaudium)
How to nominate some one as a Catholic Woman of the Year
It’s simple. You can use the form here: http://catholicwomenoftheyear.wordpress.com/nomination-form/
or a letter to: Catholic Women of the Year 2014, 22 Milton Road, WARE, Herts SG12 0PZ
All we need from you to nominate some one is the lady’s name and information on why why she is being nominated: a few paragraphs setting out what she does, and where she does it, and the spirit in which she does it! The nomination can be from a friend, family member, or parish priest. It does not have to be long, but it must give relevant information – and must give the writer’s name and contact details. It is not necessary to obtain permission from the lady being nominated – for most of our Catholic Women of the Year, the honour comes as a complete surprise, and perhaps that’s the way it should be!
Closing date for nomination is April 30th 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
t!...
...yes, I know that looks a bit odd. But t! is the name of a girls' magazine, now distributed FREE through Sainsbury's. It's run by a young team, which also organises courses on journalism for students...and I was invited to be part of the course running this half-term. A grand group of young people, and it was great fun...info here...
Sunday, February 16, 2014
...and if you want to read...
...Auntie on the subject of the Ordinariate (recent feature in the CATHOLIC HERALD) you can do so here , with thanks to the Ordinariate Expat blog.
A splendid traditional Sunday Mass...
...at St Anselm's Church at Pembury in Kent. Well, two splendid Masses: I went to the 9.15, with a fine choir singing some glorious music, and a troop of children trotting off to Sunday School, and a rousing hymn to finish, and then there was a gathering outside (no church hall as yet...they are raising funds for a development project to create one) for coffee and orange juice and biscuits and children running about and making a cheery noise...and then I went in again for part of the 11 o'clock Mass. This was all because I was giving a short appeal at the end of each Mass, to invite people to get stitching for the Great Hassocks Project. Thanks to a modest donation, we are able to make some proper church kneelers (hassocks) for this church, and we need volunteers...I have several people already working away, and Fr Ed invited me to the parish to explain the project in detail. And also to get the parish involved in the big "Our Father" project, which is for children at RC and CofE primary schools, and involves them writing out the Lord's Prayer, and answering some short questions to show their understanding of it. We have a number of local groups running this project across Britain...and now Kent is to be involved, too, and it was WONDERFUL to meet local volunteers from this excellent parish who will be taking it all on.
This little church at Pembury is thriving under the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Fr Ed and Hayley and their cheery family welcomed me to a very jolly lunch, and it was so good to relax and talk over so many things.
This little church at Pembury is thriving under the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Fr Ed and Hayley and their cheery family welcomed me to a very jolly lunch, and it was so good to relax and talk over so many things.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
...and thence to Kent...
..also rainwashed, and the trains delayed. But I made it, am writing this from a damp Tunbridge Wells, and tomorrow (Sunday) will be at Pembury, to talk about church kneelers, and an education project. More on this later.
Meanwhile, of you want to know more about the Confirmation last Sunday at Precious Blood Church in London, read here...
Meanwhile, of you want to know more about the Confirmation last Sunday at Precious Blood Church in London, read here...
Friday, February 14, 2014
Writing this...
...in Somerset, where I've been visiting an elderly relative, and am marooned overnight because of the weather. Early bus back to London tomorrow...
Rain and winds lashed the small seaside town where I was visiting, and lashed the windows of the comfortable room where we were sitting chatting and sewing - fortunately high up, on the edge of Exmoor, so flood-free - and lashed the country bus as it went along the lanes and made its usual stops in the villages...
With laptop and mobile phone, and plenty of work to do, I am comfortable in a pleasant b-and-b...too many in Somerset and elsewhere in Britain are not comfortable tonight, and it's still raining...
Rain and winds lashed the small seaside town where I was visiting, and lashed the windows of the comfortable room where we were sitting chatting and sewing - fortunately high up, on the edge of Exmoor, so flood-free - and lashed the country bus as it went along the lanes and made its usual stops in the villages...
With laptop and mobile phone, and plenty of work to do, I am comfortable in a pleasant b-and-b...too many in Somerset and elsewhere in Britain are not comfortable tonight, and it's still raining...
Life and love...
...a conference that promises to look at this theme in depth, and with some wonderful speakers.
Dana Rosemary Scallon, plus the Family Life team from Holy Trinity Brompton, plus a beautiful setting at St Patrick's, Soho Square...this is a weekend event not to be missed.
Marriage is so much under attack today, and simply hoping that things will get better isn't good enough...we need to explore and celebrate the good, the true and the beautiful, and do so with wisdom and knowledge and in good company...
It's Feb 28th-March 2nd, and there's more info here...
Dana Rosemary Scallon, plus the Family Life team from Holy Trinity Brompton, plus a beautiful setting at St Patrick's, Soho Square...this is a weekend event not to be missed.
Marriage is so much under attack today, and simply hoping that things will get better isn't good enough...we need to explore and celebrate the good, the true and the beautiful, and do so with wisdom and knowledge and in good company...
It's Feb 28th-March 2nd, and there's more info here...
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
The river...
...at Kingston was lapping up against the verandas and swishing over the banks, as the train chugged across the bridge this afternoon, taking me to a meeting at Strawberry Hill. Elsewhere, homes are flooded and people are being evacuated.
The weather matches the sense of solemnity felt today: the anniversary of the resignation of dear Papa Benedict...it is good that he is still with us, praying with serenity, close to Papa Francis, and presumably still working quietly away on the books that will be part of the rich theology that he is contributing to the Church and which will illuminate minds and hearts for generations. We are grateful for so much...for that wonderful visit to Britain in 2010, for his joy, his teaching...
Rain falling, and an icy wind cutting into faces.
Like vast numbers of other people, I can't travel by rail to the West Country later this week...the coaches to Taunton are still running, so I've booked a seat on one, but the western rail route down through Reading from Paddington is disrupted by flooding. A planned visit to Cornwall has had to be postponed indefinitely as the railway line along by Dawlish has been swept to pieces and is partly in the sea...
Spent the day partly working on a piece for the Catholic Herald (for a couple of weeks ahead: first anniversary of Papa Francis election), and partly mulling over plans for some possible further academic work...all this interspersed with work for Christian Projects (25th anniversary of Schools Bible Project) and EWTN (I fly off to the USA - weather permitting! - in a couple of weeks' time to make a new series).
The weather matches the sense of solemnity felt today: the anniversary of the resignation of dear Papa Benedict...it is good that he is still with us, praying with serenity, close to Papa Francis, and presumably still working quietly away on the books that will be part of the rich theology that he is contributing to the Church and which will illuminate minds and hearts for generations. We are grateful for so much...for that wonderful visit to Britain in 2010, for his joy, his teaching...
Rain falling, and an icy wind cutting into faces.
Like vast numbers of other people, I can't travel by rail to the West Country later this week...the coaches to Taunton are still running, so I've booked a seat on one, but the western rail route down through Reading from Paddington is disrupted by flooding. A planned visit to Cornwall has had to be postponed indefinitely as the railway line along by Dawlish has been swept to pieces and is partly in the sea...
Spent the day partly working on a piece for the Catholic Herald (for a couple of weeks ahead: first anniversary of Papa Francis election), and partly mulling over plans for some possible further academic work...all this interspersed with work for Christian Projects (25th anniversary of Schools Bible Project) and EWTN (I fly off to the USA - weather permitting! - in a couple of weeks' time to make a new series).
Saturday, February 08, 2014
Worth signing...
...this, and getting your friends and neighbours to do so, too. With a certain urgency. Things are a bit grim.
Confirmation...
...tomorrow (Sunday) and the class met today for a run-through with Father C. Their catechist found it gratifying - and was relieved - that the group was able to answer up in response to questions about knowledge of the Sacrament and what it means and so on...Explanation of the various parts of the ceremony, including the anointing (oil...strengthening...) touch on the cheek ("It's a sign of his authority"). Some are first being baptised - explanation of the signing with the Cross ("claimed for Christ") etc...
Oddly moving to sit in the church as the group held a practice session and each candidate went to kneel before Fr C., seated in the Bishop's chair.
Home in pouring rain. News of more to come.
I find it difficult to think with great seriousness about the issue of Scotland breaking the union that has been the United Kingdom for these past centuries...such a break is obviously a very bad and rather stupid idea. But with the government having imposed a law destroying the legal framework of marriage, and obliging public officials to tell lies about the fundamental relationship between a man and a woman, somehow breaking apart a state seems of less long-term importance.
Rain against the windows, under a darkening sky. Working on material for next EWTN series, exploring Marian themes and lives of saints. List of names of Confirmation candidates carefully typed out for tomorrow: the catechist has to present them.
Oddly moving to sit in the church as the group held a practice session and each candidate went to kneel before Fr C., seated in the Bishop's chair.
Home in pouring rain. News of more to come.
I find it difficult to think with great seriousness about the issue of Scotland breaking the union that has been the United Kingdom for these past centuries...such a break is obviously a very bad and rather stupid idea. But with the government having imposed a law destroying the legal framework of marriage, and obliging public officials to tell lies about the fundamental relationship between a man and a woman, somehow breaking apart a state seems of less long-term importance.
Rain against the windows, under a darkening sky. Working on material for next EWTN series, exploring Marian themes and lives of saints. List of names of Confirmation candidates carefully typed out for tomorrow: the catechist has to present them.
Thursday, February 06, 2014
To Coventry...
...to meet the Coventry Ordinariate Group and discuss a schools project with them. Young Father Paul met me at Coventry station, and the meeting was in his house, with his young family evidently happy and familiar with parish events, tucking in with us to the bring-and-share supper...( quantities of the most delicious food, including two different sorts of lasagne, and a most great array of puddings). Everyone had made enough for twelve...
A most useful meeting, talkative and friendly, and the schools project looks set to be under way shortly...all rather exciting (details to follow in due course).
I'd spent much of the earlier part of the day au Euston station, as I was worried that with the Tube strike I might not get there on time...in the end I arrived by bus with two hours to spare, so got out my laptop and finished doing the footnotes etc for the new Prayer Book to be published by the CTS, to mark the canonisation of Pope John XXIII and John Paul II. Working on this book has brought me into greater contact with John XXIII. I'd read his Journal of a Soul, of course, and studied his other writings and encyclicals, but there is more. An impressive and extraordinary life: Bulgaria and Turkey in wartime, with so many conflicting groups and tensions,Nuncio to Paris in the days immediately following WWII...and then, as Pope, a joyful and humble certainty that the Church can face the future with confidence and hope. I've become a fan...
After the meeting in Coventry I stayed the night at the home of Ronald and Jenny Crane, and we talked Ordinariate news and The Portal, and so on. I do wish the Archbishop of Birmingham - who is an old friend whom I have known since his seminary days - would show more strong and positive support and encouragement for the Ordinariate: it's going to be a big part of the Church of the future in this country, and it could bring him and the diocese a much-needed boost...
Travel is going to be restricted over the next weeks because of the rain and floods...I was due to go to Cornwall, but the railway line linking it to the rest of the country has been swept away, and it is just a mangled mess of metal and shingles along by the beach at Dawlish...
A most useful meeting, talkative and friendly, and the schools project looks set to be under way shortly...all rather exciting (details to follow in due course).
I'd spent much of the earlier part of the day au Euston station, as I was worried that with the Tube strike I might not get there on time...in the end I arrived by bus with two hours to spare, so got out my laptop and finished doing the footnotes etc for the new Prayer Book to be published by the CTS, to mark the canonisation of Pope John XXIII and John Paul II. Working on this book has brought me into greater contact with John XXIII. I'd read his Journal of a Soul, of course, and studied his other writings and encyclicals, but there is more. An impressive and extraordinary life: Bulgaria and Turkey in wartime, with so many conflicting groups and tensions,Nuncio to Paris in the days immediately following WWII...and then, as Pope, a joyful and humble certainty that the Church can face the future with confidence and hope. I've become a fan...
After the meeting in Coventry I stayed the night at the home of Ronald and Jenny Crane, and we talked Ordinariate news and The Portal, and so on. I do wish the Archbishop of Birmingham - who is an old friend whom I have known since his seminary days - would show more strong and positive support and encouragement for the Ordinariate: it's going to be a big part of the Church of the future in this country, and it could bring him and the diocese a much-needed boost...
Travel is going to be restricted over the next weeks because of the rain and floods...I was due to go to Cornwall, but the railway line linking it to the rest of the country has been swept away, and it is just a mangled mess of metal and shingles along by the beach at Dawlish...
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Ooops...
...in an earlier post - some 2-3 weeks ago, I advertised a Catholic History Walk as being on Feb 14th. But it isn't. It's TODAY, Tuesday FEB 4th. Sorry about that: misprint unnoticed and resulting from too-hasty typing.
CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK TODAY Feb 4th, 6.30pm, meet on the steps of Westminster Cathedral after the 5.30pm Mass...
CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK TODAY Feb 4th, 6.30pm, meet on the steps of Westminster Cathedral after the 5.30pm Mass...
On Monday Feb 10th...
...an important meeting about sex-ed in schools, and how to cherish family values...sponsored by the Catholic Union Charitable Trust...read more here...
En route to...
...a meeting to plan the 2014 TOWARDS ADVENT Festival, which is always held at Westminster Cathedral Hall, I ran into Archbishop (soon to be Cardinal) Vincent Nichols. I was hurrying across the piazza in front of the Cathedral, and so was he...we greeted each other, and I explained, a bit breathlessly, that I was on my way to a meeting and he laughed and said "Off you go then!" and I hurried on...he will open the Festival, and we have some fine speakers booked...details in due course...
Evening: meeting of LOGS (Ladies Ordinariate Group) at St Mary's, West Croydon. An excellent - really rather gripping - talk by Father James Clark, about his work as a chaplain in a Young Offenders Unit. The plight of young, usually fatherless, men caught in a trap of re-offending and friendlessness...there were some poignant descriptions of the way things are and the work of a chaplain...it was all very down-to-earth and makes for a lot of prayerful reflection, and a commitment to do what we can...one of our number, a lawyer who has worked in prisons also spoke up at the general discussion...
Our Schools Project is now under way, we have various speakers planned for meetings through the rest of this year, we will be studying a new teaching scheme for possible Sunday School use, and there is more...but we have also long had the idea of adding some form of prison work and this will now be on the agenda...lots to pray about...
Evening: meeting of LOGS (Ladies Ordinariate Group) at St Mary's, West Croydon. An excellent - really rather gripping - talk by Father James Clark, about his work as a chaplain in a Young Offenders Unit. The plight of young, usually fatherless, men caught in a trap of re-offending and friendlessness...there were some poignant descriptions of the way things are and the work of a chaplain...it was all very down-to-earth and makes for a lot of prayerful reflection, and a commitment to do what we can...one of our number, a lawyer who has worked in prisons also spoke up at the general discussion...
Our Schools Project is now under way, we have various speakers planned for meetings through the rest of this year, we will be studying a new teaching scheme for possible Sunday School use, and there is more...but we have also long had the idea of adding some form of prison work and this will now be on the agenda...lots to pray about...
Sunday, February 02, 2014
Candlemas...
...and last night as I walked home from visiting a beloved elderly relative, I realised I was seeing something not seen for weeks...stars glittering in the night sky. A clear night, no thick layer of cloud! No rain! And Candlemas Day dawned bright, clear, and with crisp cold air and a blue sky.
The church was full for the CandleMass, and there were great stacked boxes of candles to the side of the sanctuary, blessed by Fr Chris to be used for sanctuary lamps etc throughout the coming year. The Sunday School children paraded off to their class behind their processional cross, holding their lighted candles as we all sung the Gloria (Missa de Angelis) each of us with lighted candle too and the whole congregation drawn together, and drawn up to the sanctuary and to God...
Next Sunday will also be a special one for this church, as Mgr Keith Newton is coming to administer Baptism and Confirmation. The catechist - you can guess who it is - is a little nervous, hoping that all the candidates are confident and knowledgeable (well...and prayerful, of course...and their catechist too) ...we have one final session of preparation, which will probably focus on the details of the ceremonies... Much discussion at the previous session, about Confirmation names: some have still to choose one. On the other hand, there was evidence of considerable knowledge when it came to some of the doctrine, Scripture etc we have been discussing over recent weeks. The ANCHOR programme is warmly recommended...
In the afternoon, to St Anne Line Church in South Woodford, Essex, for a most interesting lecture about this heroic woman, and about Shakespeare and the hidden messages in his plays, about Catholicism and persecution, and the feeling among the people at that time...The speaker made a good case for Anne Line being the inspiration for more than one of his female characters...
The church was full for the CandleMass, and there were great stacked boxes of candles to the side of the sanctuary, blessed by Fr Chris to be used for sanctuary lamps etc throughout the coming year. The Sunday School children paraded off to their class behind their processional cross, holding their lighted candles as we all sung the Gloria (Missa de Angelis) each of us with lighted candle too and the whole congregation drawn together, and drawn up to the sanctuary and to God...
Next Sunday will also be a special one for this church, as Mgr Keith Newton is coming to administer Baptism and Confirmation. The catechist - you can guess who it is - is a little nervous, hoping that all the candidates are confident and knowledgeable (well...and prayerful, of course...and their catechist too) ...we have one final session of preparation, which will probably focus on the details of the ceremonies... Much discussion at the previous session, about Confirmation names: some have still to choose one. On the other hand, there was evidence of considerable knowledge when it came to some of the doctrine, Scripture etc we have been discussing over recent weeks. The ANCHOR programme is warmly recommended...
In the afternoon, to St Anne Line Church in South Woodford, Essex, for a most interesting lecture about this heroic woman, and about Shakespeare and the hidden messages in his plays, about Catholicism and persecution, and the feeling among the people at that time...The speaker made a good case for Anne Line being the inspiration for more than one of his female characters...
A visit...
...to a friend of many years Professor Dennis O'Keefe, confined to a hospice following a serious spinal injury and enduring this with courage. His wonderful family, including an enchanting small granddaughter, bring him joy, strength, and comfort: it was a privilege to see. Dennis, author and academic, was active, along with Roger Scruton and others, in supporting Solidarity in Poland during the grim years of martial law, and I have been writing down some of his memories of that time...
Saturday, February 01, 2014
...and you can read Auntie in...
...The Portal, the on-line magazine of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Read the Feb edition here...
Friday, January 31, 2014
On Feb 10th...
...at 6.30pm at Precious Blood Church (22 Redcross Street London SEI - nearest tube: London Bridge) a meeting, sponsored by the Catholic Union, looking at issues relating to marriage, the family, and the education of children...info here. Admission free. Do come!
Theology of the Body...
the 10th in a series of annual lectures honouring Bl John Paul's Theology of the Body, organised by the diocese of Westminster.
Tuesday March 4th 2014
Jonothan Doyle "Beyond the Digital Prison".
"Jonathan Doyle offers hope to all who are concerned about the rising tide of internet pornography. Explaining the science and psychology of addiction, he argues that, in the midst of shame and despair, the human heart still longs for intimacy, love and deep connection. Applying insights from theology of the body, he reveals what we can do to create a counter-culture of life and love"
Contact Catherine MacGillivray
cathmacgillivray@rcdow.org.uk
020 7931 6064
£5 entry fee will be collected on the door
Registration essential
A Catholic heroine...
Anne Line: Shakespeare’s Tragic Muse
A new biography has just been written on St Anne Line, the English martyr, by Martin Dodswell. He will be giving a talk on his new book at 3.30pm in the Parish Hall of St Anne Line Parish, South Woodford this Sunday 2 February – followed by Benediction in the church at 4.30pm.
The Parish Hall is at the back of the Church - entrance via the car park.
St Anne Line Parish is in Grove Crescent, South Woodford, London, E18 2JR.
There is ample parking at the church. It is close to South Woodford Station (Central Line) and to both the MII and the A406.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Regular readers of this blog...
...will be familiar with the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and with the Church of the Most Precious Blood at London Bridge. But they, and others, might be interested to get a flavour of the thing from this post..
...and to Bicester...
...where I was met at the station by the splendid Breff Kelly who with his wife Jill hosts a Catholic Reading Circle. Tables set out with books to borrow or buy...lots of Ignatius Press, Gracewing Books, CTS, and more...the smell of good coffee, a buzz of talk, a warm welcome. A packed room - not a spare seat anywhere - and it was a joy to give a talk to such an audience. Afterwards, a talkative lunch with Breff and Jill, and a visit to the beautiful local church...
A train back to London through rainy countryside: in the evening, the FAITH meeting at Warwick Street: Speaker, Father Chris Findlay-Wilson, speaking on God as man's natural environment. Excellent talk. Father Chris had travelled from Cornwall - his parish is the farthest west in England - and drew on images from nature, and the birds and plants of Cornwall and how each has its own developed form and needs...
Human beings are part of all creation, but are unique in it,: we alone have spiritual souls. We find our environment in God: birds, fly, fish swim in water, humans pray.
A train back to London through rainy countryside: in the evening, the FAITH meeting at Warwick Street: Speaker, Father Chris Findlay-Wilson, speaking on God as man's natural environment. Excellent talk. Father Chris had travelled from Cornwall - his parish is the farthest west in England - and drew on images from nature, and the birds and plants of Cornwall and how each has its own developed form and needs...
Human beings are part of all creation, but are unique in it,: we alone have spiritual souls. We find our environment in God: birds, fly, fish swim in water, humans pray.
To Brighton...
...to St Mary Magdalene Church, to speak about Mother Riccarda Hambrough, a nun with a remarkable story, and a special link to Brighton. A local bus now carries her name! (To find out more, read this book). A beautiful Mass and a warm welcome from the splendid parish priest Father Ray Blake. A packed hall, despite a rainy night. Delicious sandwiches and cakes, and freshly-brewed tea. A friendly atmosphere with a sense of great good cheer - what a wonderful parish! Members of the Hambrough family had come along - it was wonderful to chat, and they are arranging for me to talk to a family gathering as they are all keen to learn more about their remarkable great-aunt!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Burns Night...
...and a wonderful party organised by the young people of SPES at St Patrick's, Soho Square. J. wore his kilt and sporran. All done splendidly: haggis-and-neeps, and whisky, and splendid reels. Jamie is a good dancer and led me off for the first reel, great fun. In due course I got v.v. warm, and then the heel whizzed off my shoe, so I was glad to sit out some of the later reels and watch from the side, clapping in time to the music, and enjoying the whole scene. We finished in grand style with Auld Lang Syne, sung properly and loudly in a great circle.
A lot of the young people also go to the FAITH talks - currently at Warwick St - and some also take part in the John Paul Walk to Walsingham in the summer...
Home v. late, having had a grand time.
A lot of the young people also go to the FAITH talks - currently at Warwick St - and some also take part in the John Paul Walk to Walsingham in the summer...
Home v. late, having had a grand time.
Friday, January 24, 2014
from time to time...
...and as an affirmation of religious freedom and human dignity, I post on my Blog a section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church relating to a specific topic which is causing controversy at the present time. So here it is again, an item have posted before and will probably post again:
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. 2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. 2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Pope Francis...
...sent a message to America's March for Life, saying that he was joining the March with his prayers.
As always, large crowds, mostly young people...I took part in the March a couple of years ago, and was impressed by the numbers. The weather is always bitterly cold (Washington in January), and the scenes of the marchers battling snow or icy rain are splendid...
As always, large crowds, mostly young people...I took part in the March a couple of years ago, and was impressed by the numbers. The weather is always bitterly cold (Washington in January), and the scenes of the marchers battling snow or icy rain are splendid...
FAITH Movement...
...new series of talks in London. Fr Dominic Rolls with an excellent presentation of God's salvific plan through the Jewish people...a superb lecture, delivered extremely well.
We'll be expanding the talks, as it's all been so successful, and - possibly after a brief gap when this winter series ends - the programme will run through the Spring, as we have a number of other speakers worth hearing.
The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has been v. supportive, and it is good to be meeting in this historic church, just off Piccadilly Circus...
We'll be expanding the talks, as it's all been so successful, and - possibly after a brief gap when this winter series ends - the programme will run through the Spring, as we have a number of other speakers worth hearing.
The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has been v. supportive, and it is good to be meeting in this historic church, just off Piccadilly Circus...
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Marriage and the Govt's daft plans...
...it's a most depressing subject, and the future is going to be horrid.
The government has imposed a ludicrous and cruel new law which insists that a man can marry another man.
Bureaucrats are now having to work out ways in which this will be imposed on, among much else, the Army and its housing for our soldiers. Imagine: a senior officer decides he is in love with a young soldier, divorces his wife, marries the young now ex-soldier and moves him into the comfortable married quarters (which you and I are subsidising)...do you think it couldn't happen?
Think about a teenage girl, unhappy because her parents' marriage broke up and she doesn't like her mother's latest boyfriend, and confused and cutting herself and so on...and a lesbian teacher decides to take her up, and in due course they announce that they are getting married...when it breaks up, the young girl is told that the baby she dutifully had by artificial means is not hers, as the older woman has custody as she had stayed home to do the babycare sending the young girl out to work...
Meanwhile, a Catholic school has quietly hidden its religious education materials when an official from the education authority calls, because the book on the Sacraments emphasises male/female marriage, and the Catechism is quoted, and so on...
Do you think this couldn't happen?
The government has imposed a ludicrous and cruel new law which insists that a man can marry another man.
Bureaucrats are now having to work out ways in which this will be imposed on, among much else, the Army and its housing for our soldiers. Imagine: a senior officer decides he is in love with a young soldier, divorces his wife, marries the young now ex-soldier and moves him into the comfortable married quarters (which you and I are subsidising)...do you think it couldn't happen?
Think about a teenage girl, unhappy because her parents' marriage broke up and she doesn't like her mother's latest boyfriend, and confused and cutting herself and so on...and a lesbian teacher decides to take her up, and in due course they announce that they are getting married...when it breaks up, the young girl is told that the baby she dutifully had by artificial means is not hers, as the older woman has custody as she had stayed home to do the babycare sending the young girl out to work...
Meanwhile, a Catholic school has quietly hidden its religious education materials when an official from the education authority calls, because the book on the Sacraments emphasises male/female marriage, and the Catechism is quoted, and so on...
Do you think this couldn't happen?
Monday, January 20, 2014
The Schools Bible Project...
...an ecumenical venture which helps pupils at schools across Britain to study the New Testament, is 25 years old this year. Meeting to plan a celebration. This year's Project looks set to be exceptionally good. Some fine teachers, plus loyal volunteers who help with the organising etc, make this whole venture a real gift to Britain's school pupils...pray for its continued flourishing.
A large toad...
...greeted me on the doorstep this morning. Hardly surprising - many suburban roads have small rivers gushing down the sides, and along the main road near us there are tide-marks where great puddles that result from each night's giant downpour ha slowly drained away to await the next...
To Mass at Westminster Cathedral...the 9am, packed, adorned with the cries of many small children, (and the irritating whispered chitchat of elderly ladies behind me: if what they want is a pious gossip, can't it at least wait until after Mass?). Then on to Paddington, and a train to the West Country - the countryside, washed by rain, offering scenes of occasionally heart-breaking beauty - for a family gathering to mark a nephew/godson's birthday. Great fun, again numbers of small children, plus lots of 20-somethings, plus some teens, plus oldies like Auntie, plus party food, fizz, cake, hearty singing of "For he's a jolly good fellow"...
Home late, but the whole journey enlivened by the latest Standpoint magazine, a good read, bought at Paddington to enjoy over some coffee, and I was still reading it on the late train after the party...definitely value for money. But will magazines like this survive? Do people read any more? Few on trains or Tubes are reading: they play with mobile phones, listen to (? music one assumes) with plug-in things to their ears. Some have kindles, but disproportionately few...it used to be normal for people to be deep in newspapers, magazines, books...
To Mass at Westminster Cathedral...the 9am, packed, adorned with the cries of many small children, (and the irritating whispered chitchat of elderly ladies behind me: if what they want is a pious gossip, can't it at least wait until after Mass?). Then on to Paddington, and a train to the West Country - the countryside, washed by rain, offering scenes of occasionally heart-breaking beauty - for a family gathering to mark a nephew/godson's birthday. Great fun, again numbers of small children, plus lots of 20-somethings, plus some teens, plus oldies like Auntie, plus party food, fizz, cake, hearty singing of "For he's a jolly good fellow"...
Home late, but the whole journey enlivened by the latest Standpoint magazine, a good read, bought at Paddington to enjoy over some coffee, and I was still reading it on the late train after the party...definitely value for money. But will magazines like this survive? Do people read any more? Few on trains or Tubes are reading: they play with mobile phones, listen to (? music one assumes) with plug-in things to their ears. Some have kindles, but disproportionately few...it used to be normal for people to be deep in newspapers, magazines, books...
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Planning a visit...
...to St Anselm's Pembury ... discussed travel plans, normally an uninteresting and trivial matter for a trip into Kent, but current situation dominated by floods. Pembury is fine, but the railway line from London has been under water for part of the way...it will doubtless be all cleared up by the time of our planned trip, but meanwhile thoughts turn to the people whose homes have been wrecked, commuters stranded for long hours trying to get home, etc...
And as I write it is still raining.
And as I write it is still raining.
EWTN's Rome correspondent...
Joan Lewis, over at Joan's Rome has some wonderful descriptions, and pictures, of the concert given in honour of Papa Benedict's brother, Mgr Georg Ratzinger. Some good pix of dear Papa Benedict. He looks elderly, but is happily greeting people. The (soon-to be-created Cardinal) Archbishop Muller is in the front row for the concert. (I am a fan) and it all looks rather delightful...
Joan has not been well - had an eye operation - but her blog has continued without a break and she is a continuing fund of news and comment from Rome, an absolute professional.
Joan has not been well - had an eye operation - but her blog has continued without a break and she is a continuing fund of news and comment from Rome, an absolute professional.
Confirmation group...
...and we are using the excellent ANCHOR programme, produced by the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph. It works really well: everyone has a folder and the leader has the same material, plus more, in a v. easy-to-use handbook. There is much use of magnificent art, and as we explore the images, and use the Scriptural references, and the links to the liturgy, the whole thing sort of unfolds and it is very enjoyable to be discovering the story of God's working out of his plan for the human race...
Friday, January 17, 2014
25th anniversary of...
...the Association of Catholic Women comes up later this year. We will be having a special Mass and a party to celebrate, and also launching a new project for young Catholics (18-30)...details announced in due course. It was fun planning all this today, and also working on our more routine tasks, including the big nationwide Schools RE Project which involves all the Catholic primary schools in Britain and this year will be on the theme of "Saints", with children invited to write and do projects on the patron saint of their parish...
...and in a rainy London...
...tea and an afternoon of sewing and chat with a relative in Islington, and then a bus ride through the City and across the river - looking magnificent with lights glittering in the rain and dark, and Tower Bridge making a spectacular landmark - to Evensong and Mass at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. A new series of evenings with the excellent Catholicism DVD has begun - tonight Fr Robert Barron taught about the Eucharist.I was particularly struck by what he said about words. God creates through his Word: it creates, it brings all creation into being. And Christ is the living Word...and his words create...
If your parish hasn't yet done a big presentation of Catholicism then hurry, HURRY, and get one started. It is a superb teaching tool, and a visual feast...
If your parish hasn't yet done a big presentation of Catholicism then hurry, HURRY, and get one started. It is a superb teaching tool, and a visual feast...
Thursday, January 16, 2014
an excellent evening...
...with the FAITH Movement. Speaker: Fr Stephen Dingley, professor of theology at St John's Seminary, Wonersh. He tackled the subject of whether humans are different from animals. Who are we, as human beings? What is our relationship to the rest of creation, to God, to one another? You can find out a lot more about all this by consulting the FAITH website...
The hall was packed...we were at the Ordinariate Church, the historic Church of the Assumption in Warwick St, just off Piccadilly Circus. This church originated as a chapel to the Portugese Embassy, and as such was a place where London Catholics could get to Mass in penal times. It has a crypt which functions as a parish hall, and is approached by steps that go down below the Rectory in Golden Square, at the back of the church. So we were - literally - deep in history.
The FAITH Movement is for anyone and everyone, but the overwhelming majority of those involved are young, and this evening the hall was packed with young people: students from London University, some VI-formers from the suburbs, 20-somethings from across London...
The hall was packed...we were at the Ordinariate Church, the historic Church of the Assumption in Warwick St, just off Piccadilly Circus. This church originated as a chapel to the Portugese Embassy, and as such was a place where London Catholics could get to Mass in penal times. It has a crypt which functions as a parish hall, and is approached by steps that go down below the Rectory in Golden Square, at the back of the church. So we were - literally - deep in history.
The FAITH Movement is for anyone and everyone, but the overwhelming majority of those involved are young, and this evening the hall was packed with young people: students from London University, some VI-formers from the suburbs, 20-somethings from across London...
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Anger at Pope Francis...
...from a lady writing from a mainstream newspaper who fizzes and fumes because he has dared to lament the killing of babies by abortion. Her anger sends her into twirling fury, round and round like a hamster in a wheel. For good measure, she adds fuming bitterness against Pope Benedict too...even though he, like Papa Francis, rarely spoke out on this subject, and, like Francis, always with compassion and restraint...
I'm not putting a link to this lady's furious newspaper feature - why add to her readership? But when I looked up the speech by the H. Father, and saw this brief and poignant mention of abortion, I really did wonder at this lady's wild and furious anger...he was simply giving voice to what we all know is true: that there is something ghastly about a throwaway society, which even throws away precious human lives...
When Pope John Paul first wrote about Divine Mercy, I didn't really attach much importance to it...I remember thinking "Well, of course God is merciful... why the need to devote a whole encyclical to it?" But then when I came to learn about Sister Faustina and so on, it became clear that this was a message urgently needed for our times. People do not know what to do with their anger and their hurt and their sense of being caught up in something that they know is wrong but from which they cannot seem to extricate themselves. In the face of the horrible events of the 20th century, mercy, mercy/....in the face of the horrible things of the 21st, mercy, again and again...
I'm not putting a link to this lady's furious newspaper feature - why add to her readership? But when I looked up the speech by the H. Father, and saw this brief and poignant mention of abortion, I really did wonder at this lady's wild and furious anger...he was simply giving voice to what we all know is true: that there is something ghastly about a throwaway society, which even throws away precious human lives...
When Pope John Paul first wrote about Divine Mercy, I didn't really attach much importance to it...I remember thinking "Well, of course God is merciful... why the need to devote a whole encyclical to it?" But then when I came to learn about Sister Faustina and so on, it became clear that this was a message urgently needed for our times. People do not know what to do with their anger and their hurt and their sense of being caught up in something that they know is wrong but from which they cannot seem to extricate themselves. In the face of the horrible events of the 20th century, mercy, mercy/....in the face of the horrible things of the 21st, mercy, again and again...
Monday, January 13, 2014
Do come to this!! All Welcome!
The Music Makers are delighted to announce the Liturgical Première of the
Westminster Mass for Boys’ Voices
Music by Jeremy de Satgé
to be performed by the
Choristers of Westminster Cathedral Choir
Directed by Martin Baker
at the 5.30pm Mass on Tuesday, 14th January 2014
at Westminster Cathedral
You are warmly invited to attend this premiere
If you know of others who might wish to attend, we should be most grateful if you would forward this email accordingly.
For more information regarding the music please click HERE
Saturday, January 11, 2014
The Catholic Women of the Year event...
not only honours Catholic women who serve God, the Church and the community is all sorts of ways, but also raises funds for good projects. There is a joyful "Thankyou!" from one of the projects we supported in 2103...see here.
You'll be invited soon to nominate women for the 2014 CWOY...news will be on this website...
You'll be invited soon to nominate women for the 2014 CWOY...news will be on this website...
Sheets of shining water...
...as the train trundled through the West Country, taking Auntie to visit a relative in hospital. At Weston-Super-Mare there was an extra amount of inland mare...rather magnificent to see, with wintry trees standing starkly up from the water, and odd stretches of hedge, no long fulfilling their task as boundaries of fields, emerging over lapping wavelets...
We spent Christmas in Somerset, on the edge of Exmoor...Midnight Mass in a well-filled church and with lovely carols, feasting and jollity with family and friends... and this return trip was in a different mood, rather bleaker...but the hospital is giving excellent care, and the visit went well.
Back in London today, a Confirmation class in a busy parish. We are using the excellent ANCHOR programme, much recommended. It uses glorious art to ponder with Scripture references, and it tackles the Catholic faith systematically. Today, we looked at Christ's Baptism, the Trinity, making the Sign of the Cross...then sin, forgiveness, pic. of Christ's betrayal by Judas, discussion of repentance (Peter's denial contrasted w. Judas' action), mercy, confession...
We spent Christmas in Somerset, on the edge of Exmoor...Midnight Mass in a well-filled church and with lovely carols, feasting and jollity with family and friends... and this return trip was in a different mood, rather bleaker...but the hospital is giving excellent care, and the visit went well.
Back in London today, a Confirmation class in a busy parish. We are using the excellent ANCHOR programme, much recommended. It uses glorious art to ponder with Scripture references, and it tackles the Catholic faith systematically. Today, we looked at Christ's Baptism, the Trinity, making the Sign of the Cross...then sin, forgiveness, pic. of Christ's betrayal by Judas, discussion of repentance (Peter's denial contrasted w. Judas' action), mercy, confession...
Friday, January 10, 2014
More on Papa Francis...
..excellent article in The Spectator about him... my feeling is that media won't drop its love affair with him, but will continue to misinterpret him, and deliberately tell us that he is saying something that he isn't saying...this will be the way to save face, and also there is a quite genuine inability among some of them to get any understanding of reality... eg on marriage, family... also on population and how and why the West is dying...
But there will be a turning against him in the Church...especially among ageing Germans and Austrians intent on promoting contraception and divorce/remarriage. The wannabe-Lefebvrist types also seem to hate him, and that will continue.
The Speccy piece is by Luke Coppen, of the Catholic Herald. It's good, but don't just click on the link. Go and buy a copy of the magazine - it has lots of other good stuff in it - and enjoy it, as I have been doing today, on the Tube, the train, at a bus stop, hospital waiting area, and finally in a pub with a gin-and-tonic...You don't need a laptop to enjoy a good read. just a paper and enough light to read by...
But there will be a turning against him in the Church...especially among ageing Germans and Austrians intent on promoting contraception and divorce/remarriage. The wannabe-Lefebvrist types also seem to hate him, and that will continue.
The Speccy piece is by Luke Coppen, of the Catholic Herald. It's good, but don't just click on the link. Go and buy a copy of the magazine - it has lots of other good stuff in it - and enjoy it, as I have been doing today, on the Tube, the train, at a bus stop, hospital waiting area, and finally in a pub with a gin-and-tonic...You don't need a laptop to enjoy a good read. just a paper and enough light to read by...
Meeting...
...at the CTS to discuss a project on which Auntie is working, for the canonisation of John XXIII and John Paul II. More on this in due course...
Corpus Christi....
....Church in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, is the Catholic church serving theatreland. A prayer group meets there regularly, dedicated to St Genesius, the patron saint of actors, and to Blessed John Paul. I went along this evening - a beautiful Mass, then a time of silent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, finishing with the Rosary, and finally Benediction...afterwards a talkative get-together over hot drinks and snacks at a café in The Strand...the group is led by Father John Hogan, who broadcasts regularly with EWTN, and tonight's gathering included people involved with the music industry and radio...topics ranged over Pope Francis(will the pack turn on him when he reaffirms Catholic teachings on marriage? We must pray for him and support him), Pope Emeritus Benedict (general view: he'll be a Doctor of the Church one day), miracles, prayer, soap operas (discussion: could EWTN ever create a successful Catholic-based one? Probably not...) and more...
Home v. late, last Tube pulling out of London on the District Line. At the moment, I carry my cross-stitch work with me to do in odd moments, and have nearly finished another hassock for the church in Pembury...
Home v. late, last Tube pulling out of London on the District Line. At the moment, I carry my cross-stitch work with me to do in odd moments, and have nearly finished another hassock for the church in Pembury...
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Pope Francis...
...blessing a new statue of Our Lady. The statue has a vaguely baroque, as opposed to 19th century or high Medieval look. The very traditional red-and-blue (royal) colours, and the large formal halo, give a formality and dignity, but there is also something "approachable" as Mary presents her Divine Son to us and he stretches out his arms, while she holds a rosary in her other hand...
Auntie will be in Rome...
...for the canonisation of John Paul the Great and the good John XXIII at the end of April.
Just been re-reading the book of an interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone about his meetings with Sister Lucia and the Fatima visions. A fascinating read. To ponder the visions and message of Fatima and the life of Bl John Paul in 2014 is to ponder a deep thing. The canonisation of John Paul will place the whole matter ever more deeply into the tradition of the Church. This is also a relevant read...
Looking back, the 20th century was for so many people a terrible one. The Fatima visions spoke of war and tragedy and horrors to come, and these certainly came. It was as if there was one great chastisement after another, with always the innocent suffering: the Holocaust and the murder of 6 million Jews, the famine forced on the Ukraine under Communism in which millions starved to death, the 1960s similar Communist-created famine in China (people were reduced to trying to eat leaves and tree-bark, and the trees in some cities were stripped bare until there was literally nothing at all), the Baltic deportations to slave labour under Stalin...all centuries have had their horrors, but the sheer numerical scale of the horrors of the 20th century places them in a category of their own.
John Paul saw the start of a new millennium as a time to repent, pray, and make, in a very profound and Christ-centred way, a fresh and humble beginning. I suppose we all instinctively want to "make a fresh start" with each New Year: God puts that longing into our hearts. As a saintly (and heroic!) successor of St Peter, he led the Church across the gateway into the new millennium. The Church, at least, takes seriously the idea of peace, forgiveness, trust, and mercy (especially that last) - all so necessary for attempting to live together. JPII gave voice to this, and with his great sense of how God works in human history, he drew us into some understanding of the need to take things like the Fatima message very seriously...
Just been re-reading the book of an interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone about his meetings with Sister Lucia and the Fatima visions. A fascinating read. To ponder the visions and message of Fatima and the life of Bl John Paul in 2014 is to ponder a deep thing. The canonisation of John Paul will place the whole matter ever more deeply into the tradition of the Church. This is also a relevant read...
Looking back, the 20th century was for so many people a terrible one. The Fatima visions spoke of war and tragedy and horrors to come, and these certainly came. It was as if there was one great chastisement after another, with always the innocent suffering: the Holocaust and the murder of 6 million Jews, the famine forced on the Ukraine under Communism in which millions starved to death, the 1960s similar Communist-created famine in China (people were reduced to trying to eat leaves and tree-bark, and the trees in some cities were stripped bare until there was literally nothing at all), the Baltic deportations to slave labour under Stalin...all centuries have had their horrors, but the sheer numerical scale of the horrors of the 20th century places them in a category of their own.
John Paul saw the start of a new millennium as a time to repent, pray, and make, in a very profound and Christ-centred way, a fresh and humble beginning. I suppose we all instinctively want to "make a fresh start" with each New Year: God puts that longing into our hearts. As a saintly (and heroic!) successor of St Peter, he led the Church across the gateway into the new millennium. The Church, at least, takes seriously the idea of peace, forgiveness, trust, and mercy (especially that last) - all so necessary for attempting to live together. JPII gave voice to this, and with his great sense of how God works in human history, he drew us into some understanding of the need to take things like the Fatima message very seriously...
A lovely pic of...
the Epiphany crib at Precious Blood Church in London, with an account of the Blessing of the Chalk etc...read here.
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Glorious and rather exciting cloudbursts...
...great clattering, rattling, hard-to-talk-above-the-noise rain, driven initially by roaring gusts of wind. Not, somehow, English rain, not the insistent drizzle that has shaped our culture and greened our land over centuries. This is weird and magnificent rain, and in London it is all rather enjoyable. No floods - at least, so far - and plenty of places to shelter...but it has been fairly ghastly for people in various other parts of the country, and the rain shows no sign of stopping tonight.
Meeting of LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group, yesterday evening. We tried, and failed, to get the DVD to work and so we didn't watch the film of Mother Teresa that had been planned. It sits forlornly on the table in the Rectory reproachfully. We did, however, have a good discussion and have planned an excellent year of activities. Tackled a whole lot of envelopes for a big schools project. Arranged our forthcoming trip to Littlemore. Booked a Church Music workshop for the Autumn, and a talk on CS Lewis.
Meeting of LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group, yesterday evening. We tried, and failed, to get the DVD to work and so we didn't watch the film of Mother Teresa that had been planned. It sits forlornly on the table in the Rectory reproachfully. We did, however, have a good discussion and have planned an excellent year of activities. Tackled a whole lot of envelopes for a big schools project. Arranged our forthcoming trip to Littlemore. Booked a Church Music workshop for the Autumn, and a talk on CS Lewis.
Monday, January 06, 2014
We're going to be hearing a lot from campaigning atheists...
... in 2014, as we did in 2013, as they seem to be on a roll at present. I found this useful.
Sunday, January 05, 2014
And you ought to read...
this as it is alas more than possible that you will meet people who will have been taken in by the hoax and will be boring on about it...
Epiphany chalk...
...was blessed and distributed at Mass today. The Wise men had arrived at the Nativity scene, and the small basket of chalk sticks was placed in front of it, the sticks then being blessed and distributed to us all, along with a prayer to use in blessing our homes.
J. and I first discovered this practice in the Tyrol, and loved it. We have for some years had the traditional blessing and chalked up the initials C+M+B and the new date above the front door. So this evening J. read a psalm from Vespers and I did the New Testament reading - from today's Gospel about the Wise Men - and then we went out into the drizzle, and J. rubbed out the 13 from the date and replaced it with 14 above the door while I stood there with a candle-lamp because the hall light isn't working, and we said the Our Father and J. read the little prayer of blessing brought from church, and our home is now blessed for the year ahead.
While also commemorating the Wise Men- traditionally named as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar - the initials stand for Christus Mansionem Benedicat.
"God of Heaven and earth, you revealed your only-begotten One to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who live here. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our concern for others may reflect your love. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen."
J. and I first discovered this practice in the Tyrol, and loved it. We have for some years had the traditional blessing and chalked up the initials C+M+B and the new date above the front door. So this evening J. read a psalm from Vespers and I did the New Testament reading - from today's Gospel about the Wise Men - and then we went out into the drizzle, and J. rubbed out the 13 from the date and replaced it with 14 above the door while I stood there with a candle-lamp because the hall light isn't working, and we said the Our Father and J. read the little prayer of blessing brought from church, and our home is now blessed for the year ahead.
While also commemorating the Wise Men- traditionally named as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar - the initials stand for Christus Mansionem Benedicat.
"God of Heaven and earth, you revealed your only-begotten One to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who live here. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our concern for others may reflect your love. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen."
This could have been written for all Catholic bloggers and debaters:
"From all my lame defeats and oh! much more
From all the victories I seemed to score;
From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;
From all my proofs of Thy divinity
Thou, who would give no sign, deliver me.
Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
Of Thee, their thin-word image of Thy head.
From all my thoughts, even from thoughts of Thee,
O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle's eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die."
CS Lewis
From all the victories I seemed to score;
From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf
At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh;
From all my proofs of Thy divinity
Thou, who would give no sign, deliver me.
Thoughts are but coins. Let me not trust, instead
Of Thee, their thin-word image of Thy head.
From all my thoughts, even from thoughts of Thee,
O thou fair Silence, fall, and set me free.
Lord of the narrow gate and the needle's eye,
Take from me all my trumpery lest I die."
CS Lewis
Friday, January 03, 2014
A casual mention of CS Lewis...
...at a New Year gathering got me thinking about him and, as so often happens, I then found his name cropping up again and again, or seemed to notice books by him on every other shelf I passed. So I am now, with great enjoyment, deep in a book with some wonderful extracts from his letters and essays..."CS Lewis - The authentic Voice" (Lion, paperback, 1986). Recommended.
Have also been reading a lot about Pope Francis - a spate of biographies, of varying quality, on sale this Christmas. But I am about to write some reviews for various publications so can't/won't write about them here...
Was deep in CS Lewis on a bus so got a bit worried when I realised we had crossed Battersea Bridge and passed Prince of Wales Drive and I probably needed the next stop for Clapham Junction and might miss it. I turned to the passenger next to me, who had also been deep in a book - and to our mutual surprise it was a a friend, who just that day had been asked to contact me to invite me to a new John Paul II Prayer Group that meets in London...a piece of Providence! So I hope to go along, and the leaflet with the information is tucked into the Lewis book as a bookmark.
We are getting daily and nightly massive downpours, the Thames Barrier has been lowered, and there is much news of flooding in different places. Darkening skies at midday give a strange atmosphere.
Have also been reading a lot about Pope Francis - a spate of biographies, of varying quality, on sale this Christmas. But I am about to write some reviews for various publications so can't/won't write about them here...
Was deep in CS Lewis on a bus so got a bit worried when I realised we had crossed Battersea Bridge and passed Prince of Wales Drive and I probably needed the next stop for Clapham Junction and might miss it. I turned to the passenger next to me, who had also been deep in a book - and to our mutual surprise it was a a friend, who just that day had been asked to contact me to invite me to a new John Paul II Prayer Group that meets in London...a piece of Providence! So I hope to go along, and the leaflet with the information is tucked into the Lewis book as a bookmark.
We are getting daily and nightly massive downpours, the Thames Barrier has been lowered, and there is much news of flooding in different places. Darkening skies at midday give a strange atmosphere.
History Walks...
TUESDAY....Jan 14th, meet 1.30pm (after the 1.05pm lunchtime Mass) at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, London Bridge. The church is in O'Meara Street SEI. Nearest tube: LONDON BRIDGE or Borough.
TUESDAY Feb 4th. 3pm, An afternoon walk INSIDE Westminster Cathedral. Meet by the main door .
And an evening walk, also on Tuesday Feb 14th: meet 6.30pm - after the 5.30pm Mass - on the Cathedral steps. We will walk around Westminster, Whitehall, St James' Park, finish outside Buckingham Palace.
TUESDAY Feb 4th. 3pm, An afternoon walk INSIDE Westminster Cathedral. Meet by the main door .
And an evening walk, also on Tuesday Feb 14th: meet 6.30pm - after the 5.30pm Mass - on the Cathedral steps. We will walk around Westminster, Whitehall, St James' Park, finish outside Buckingham Palace.
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
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