Cardinal Pell and St John Paul the Great, and the great Tradition...

...of the Church. The Synod this October will not and cannot change the Church's teaching on marriage. Read here.

We began in the Mary Garden...walked along the riverside...saying the Rosary...

...on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady  at Hampton Wick.

This is an annual walking pilgrimage, begun after discovering a story about St John Paul the Great.

In the 1970s, concerned about finding enough priests - in the difficult years under Communism - for his diocese of Krakow, he made a promise to our Lady that he would walk to every  Marian shrine within walking distance  of the city, if she would grant him one new young priest for each such pilgrimage. Soon his seminary was full...

So we've started a walking pilhgrimage... an adapted form of the Krakow idea.  Rather than go to various Marian shrines, a walking group starts in the Mary garden at this church, and  walks into Kingston,  crosses the Thames there, and then follows the river down to Hampton Wick,

We prayed the Rosary along the way, and sang the Regina Caeli at the shrine, and were given splendid refreshments and a happy social time  before departing to our homes...

English spiritual writers, and a great tradition...

...are combined in the CALLED TO BE HOLY Novena of Prayer. Find out more about it all here...

Auntie writing about...

...London and recent events...see here...

ASCENSION DAY...

...PLEASE PLEASE

Dear Bishops

Please may we have Ascension Day back to its proper day??

I don't want - or need - to be told that I can go to an Extraordinary Form Mass or  Byzantine Rite or something. WE NEED TO HAVE  OUR ORDINARY CALENDAR BACK. We need to have the feast days on their proper days. We want our  feast days! We want our Sundays!

ASCENSION DAY IS A MOST IMPORTANT FEAST DAY...and it just doesn't work to move it to the nearest Sunday.

Today, I went to a midday Mass at a London church. It was well attended. This was partly because several people there thought they were celebrating Ascension day. All were regular Massgoers. All were conscious that some feast days had been moved. BUT THEY ALL ASSUMED THAT ASCENSION DAY WAS...ASCENSION DAY!!! So they came to Mass.

In the evening J. and I  had an invitation to the Ascension day service at the Guild Church of St Margaret Pattens, with the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers.  The Worshipful Company marks Ascension Day each year with this special service - members wearing robes etc.

Pattens are those high blocks that for many years women wore beneath their shoes when walking in the sloppy mud - especially on the banks of the Thames. As I hurried across London Bridge in driving rain to the City, up Pudding Lane and along Eastcheap, I was walking where thousands and thousands and thousands of Londoners have gone before me...many of them, along ago, wearing pattens...

Today the Worshipful Company keeps up the footwear link by providing, among other things, orthopedic shoes for soldiers injured in battle,  and scholarshps for young people engaged in the shoe trade....

It was beautiful to be welcomed into the warm church and to sing glorious old hymns and  be inspired by a superb choir. Afterwards, a drinks reception in the City Library by the Guildhall, with a feast of history:  letters, seals, photographs, telling the story of the  public meetings and Parliamentary debates and  massive work that led to the Penny Post and a proper postal service, with  lots of original letters from Sir Rowland Hill, and splendid proclamations to postmasters couched in forthright Victorian language.

It is a very satisfying thing to celebrate a feast day in style. It lends itself to all sorts of traditions, celebrations, and trimmings. If the Church of England can do it, why can't Catholics?

The election, the new government, the things that matter...

...you might be interested in this overview...

Cardinal Vincent Nichols...

...had just finished celebrating Mass at westminster Cathedral when I arrived to meet my fellow History Walkers on the steps. He greeted me very cheerily and wished us a good walk, adding that he hoped I wouldn't make everyone go too fast...a weeks back I bumped into him when I was hurrying across the piazza.  It's true that I do walk v.v. quickly - more than once I've had Walkers begging me to slow down a bit...but I always feel so keen to show everything that is along the route, as London as so much fabulous history!

It was a beautiful May evening, and our Walk took us into St James Park, and on down to Horseguards. The Houses of Parliament were bathed in a sunset glow and then slowly the darkness fell and the lamps came on.

So much of London is ugly now: the revolting "walkie talkie" in the City, the blank, faceless soaring Shard, the horrible concrete and glass slabs destroying any possibilty of a pleasant walk down Victoria Street (always a dull road, and available for some imaginative changes, but no...)

But things move and change...one day the vile ugly buildings will come down, to be replaced by something different again. London once had slums where cholera festered, and a public executiuon site where people crowded to view the hangman and his butcher assistants.  And those things seemed normal at the time.

More Walks planned...meet Sunday June 7th, 2.30pm  at Holy Redeemer Church, Chelsea, for a walk in the footsteps of St Thomas More....Sunday June 21st for the big Martyrs Walk starting 1.30pm Stepulchre's churchyard, near the OLD BAILEY...Monday July 6th, meet 6pm (after Evening Prayer) at St Patrick's, Soho....

ON A TOPIC OF SOME IMPORTANCE...

...the Catholic Union is organising an evening lecture and discussion. All are welcome - especially parents, teachers, and clergy. Schools governors and local councillors should come along too.

Teaching Sexuality Following the Mind of the Church: 

a lecture by Louise Kirk

a lecture by

Louise Kirk

on Thursday, 18th June, 2015 at 6.30 pm

at Trafalgar Hall, Notre Dame University

1 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG

more info here....

CALLED TO BE...

HOLY.

Under this title, there is a Novena of Prayer, starting on Friday (May 15th) to Saturday May 23rd, organised by the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and focusing on  some of the great Eng;lish spiritual writings.

A booklet has been produced. It's a feast: The Cloud of the Unknowing..., The DREAM OF THE ROOD...some lovely pieces by Bl John Henry Newman and by Julian of Norwich...Thomas Ken...Lancelot Andrews...

Some of  my readers are not Catholics, or even practising Christians. But you will still love this booklet, because it has some of the most beautiful Eng;lish writing.  Enjoy it: you can get a copy of the booklet by contacting the Ordinariate (24 Golden Square London W1F 9JR tel 020 7 440 5750 ), collecting a copy from the stack at Precious Blood Church (O'Meara St, London SEI - nearest tube The Borough or London Bridge). Or by contacting the Called to Be Holy website...

An important issue....

..for our times.

One of the main things that people know about the Catholic Church - in fact for lots of people it is virtually the only thing they know about the Church - is that the Church opposes abortion, contraception, and same-sex unions.   It is  good that people know this. But they need to know more.

 It is routine in many Catholic schools for a speaker to come in to talk about why abortion is wrong, but it seems more rare to have in a guest speaker to tackle Confession, daily prayer, Sunday Mass... or some aspect of  Church history, or the glories of Christian achievements in art, medicine, science, architecture, exploration...or the Church's teaching on marriage, or the priesthood, or what Baptism is all about, or why we anoint the sick...

 Church history, in particular, is important. I have met Catholic students who have received very little information on, for example, the Crusades, Church/State relations, or the Medieval Church. In general, they get - via the media and everyday culture, from folklore and from pub-gossip - what might be called the "Wolf Hall" version on such things.

Result:  many young Catholics find that they know a lot about the Church being opposed to abortion - and they are glad to support the Church on this.  But they don't quite know how to go on from there. They don't know how to share the message of repentance, forgiveness, and mercy.They havn't had a deep formation in the Christian faith that makes it possible to teach these things, and are left rather stranded when their Church is accused of being pitiless and negative. They know they should be able to offer a message of Christian hope and mercy, but  lack the specifics.

A "Wolf Hall" version of how the Church operates, plus inadequate formation in the nature of Christ and the sacraments makes for a lethal mix.

Pope Francis' announcement about the Jubilee Year of Mercy is thus of crucial importance: will pro-life groups take this up and start promoting it?  It could be one of the most important things to happen in the struggles to promote an authentic culture of life: a breakthrough with lasting consequences. Over to the pro-life groups.

post-election thoughts...

...including a look at the hideous display of screeching anger by spoilt youngsters waving banners with filthy words on them, in a demonstration  organised by an extreme-left group in Westminster the other day. They belong to the "deserving rich" who like to shriek with socialist placards and express hatred for the country that has given them a comfortable home throughout their lives. And if you don't believe me about the posh middle-classness of it all, take a look: scroll down to the young ladies with the banner with the F-word...

Some in the crowd  defaced a memorial to women who served in WW2...I suppose they weren't able (DG!) to get to the Cenotaph itself.

Perhaps we may charitably assume that others - including those who got their pix in the newspapers - felt that such a defacement was wrong, and would like to say so. We are waiting.

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL...

...Australia's great Archbishop, now heading up an important office in Rome, spoke powerfully and movingly  at a significant gathering ithis week.

Read about it here...

and he has reaffirmed the message that the Synod this Autumn won't change the Church's teaching on marriage and family...

David Cameron...

..once spoke to a Pope about the “new culture of social responsibility that we want to build in Britain”.

“People of faith are great architects of that culture,” he said. “For many faith is a spur to action… Faith is part of the fabric of our country: it always has been and it always will be.”

As Cameron now returns to his responsibilties as Prime Minister,we must ensure that he keeps true to that, and to his shared belief with the Pope that “faith is not a problem for legislators to solve but rather a vital part of our national conversation”.

As it happens, events from seven decades earlier meant that his first public act after accepting office from HM and reeturning to Downing Street to announce the fact, was to take part in a public televised Christian service. 

The Scriptures remind us to pray for all who hold public office, so let's do so.

The VE Day anniversary...

..and Auntie's analysis as one grateful for a freedom dearly bought...read here

MAY PRAYERS...

at this university.   We gathered at the Chapel-in-the-Woods in pale May sunshine, students and staff, young  voices singing  " Virgin Mary, by God's decree... Ave, Ave, Maria..." .  The chapel (18th century) is tiny, and we gathered outside by its open door, the candelit interior sending out a welcome.  Prayers for those facing exams and dissertations,  for the whole University community,  for our country on this Election day, for the repose of former students who died in the two World Wars (VE Day anniversary tomorrow)...The students  had brought lanterns to light the little old chapel - the big candle-lanterns that are used for NightFever, and glowing votive candles in blue glass, honouring Mary.  Afterwards, freshly-brewed coffee and cake and lots of lively chat...a lovely May morning celebration celebrating a special heritage.

A booklet arrives...

...in the post from the Catholic Truth Society. It's Everyday Evangelising with Pope Francis  and is rather good. It offers a thoughtful and practical approach the the whole idea of spreading the Gospel, emphasising prayer and deeds of kindness. It quotes Pope Benedict "We impose nothing, yet we propose ceaselessly...And everyone, in the end, asks this of us, even those who seem not to. From personal ands communual experience, we know well that it is Jesus whom everyone awaits."

The booklet is readable and attractive, with a powerful message. Recommended.

Ooooh, the Pope's gonna say...

...except that he isn't going to say what people seem to think he's going to say...

Read here for some common sense on the forthcoming "green" encyclical.

Papa Benedict was the "green Pope" and it seems likely that papa Francis will follow the same approach...

and...

...the NEXT CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK

is on

Monday May 11th, starting at 6.30pm on the steps of Westminster Cathedral, after the 5.30pm Mass. All welcome.

There are more pix...

...of that May procession through the streets of The Borough, London Bridge, here

The Brigettine sisters...

...at Maryvale in Birmingham  invited me to the Silver Jubilee of Mother Giacomina. It was a real delight to be at Maryvale again - I have not been through those gates since I gained my degree a couple of years ago, receiving it in due course from Archbishop Bernard Longley in St Chad's Cathedral.

In all the years I studied at Maryvale, praying the daily Offices and attending Mass in that lovely chapel, I never went into the gallery. So today was a first - I was ushered up there because I arrived a bit late, and the rest of the chapel was packed full. So was the gallery, but a space was made for me, and  as I joined in the Mass I felt the years slipping away and remembered the many Maryvale days that began with Mass here...and then a breakfast (you had to "tick for an egg" on the notice-board) followed by a morning of lectures...During the Mass Mother C. renewed her vows in a strong clear voice, a moving moment. She had several members of her family with her from India - the ladies in the most beautiful saris.

And then there was a delicious buffet lunch and the pleasure of meeting many friends...

An odd link with my very first visit to Maryvale, back in 2008: I had forgotten my spectacles and that first weekend of lectures and introductions and discovering the layout of the place etc proved a bit more of a challenge than I had planned. On this visit, some half-dozen years later, my spectacles snapped in half as I made a grab for them while sharing a hymn-sheet. So again, I was operating under slight difficulties all day...

Oh, but it was a happy day and a joy to be with the Brigettine sisters. It was through meeting them at Maryvale that I came to write the book  which was in due course presented to the Pope and which tells of the heroic Mother Riccarda Hambrough and her care for Jews in Rome in WWII...

London ...

...with helicopters clattering overhead (lots of crowds,media activity around Kensington Palace because of the Royal baby) our Catholic History Walk through Chelsea in bright sunshine culminated in a warm welcome at Allen Hall for a Tea (excellent walnut cake!), tours led by the students, and a most beautiful Vespers and Benediction.

 Allen Hall is the diocesan seminary for Westminster and is named for Cardinal William Allen who founded it in Douai in the years when the Catholic faith was banned in England. It is now operating at full capacity, and has also recently had some refurbishment . The library looks beautiful, with some graceful ceiling detail showing mulberry leaves - a reference to the famous mulberry tree in the garden, where St Thomas More is said to have relaxed with his family. The Chapel now has some proper heating - badly needed because of its height - and is about to get a new reredos. Vespers, with the strong young male voices singing the psalms was moving. There is a sense of confidence in the future here, inspired by the courage of the past...

The morning showed a different but also encouraging aspect of Catholic life in London, with the annual May Procession through the streets of The Borough, London Bridge, organised by the Church of the Most Precious Blood.. Four men carried the big statue of Our Lady aloft on its special platform, all decorated with flowers and ribbons, and in front of them walked the children of the parish, scattering flowers from ribboned boxes. The congregation surged behind, and people on buses along Southwark Street  took pictures on their mobile phones, and a long line of people queuing at a popular restaurant gawped in silence. All very traditional: we sang "Ave, Ave..." with the front part of the procession singing one verse while the end had started on another, and people in the middle got muddled and struck out with a verse of their own...

A good day.

You can read the latest issue...

...of The Portal, the magazine of the Ordinariate of O.L. of Walsingham, here.

A Saxon princess and a day in Kent...

...at Minster Abbey., named for St Mildred and originally founded in the wake of St Augustine's arrival...

A fabulous, quiet day there. I went with D., who is secretary of the Catholic Writers' Guild, and on the evening before she gave an excellent dinner party at her London flat, lots of laughter and lively talk over a delicious meal. The next morning we were up early, to get to Minster in time for the morning office at 8.30am (the nuns get up even earlier and sing while all is still dark and the birds are just beginning to wake up...but we had to drive from London...).

Minster is glorious - the nuns singing, the familiar words of the psalms going back and forth,  bluebells in the garden, lots of books  to enjoy in a comfortable guest-house. There is a sort of farm-ish area they call Parkminster where there are ducks and a big barn they use for welcoming large groups of visitors, pilgrims, and groups studying crafts etc. The village has a couple of good pubs and we lunched there...

We  agreed to be silent during the day, except for lunch, attended the  nuns' Offices, enjoyed the grounds, read, wrote, sewed, rested.   The final Office,Compline, was sung in Latin and followed by a time of silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The chapel is very simple and attractive,  the altar centred on a big chunk of glossy wood, the big windows beyond the altar clear glass giving views of the glorious trees and wide Kent sky. We drove back through a dusk still glowing with the remains of a pink sunset.

...and the latest on sex-ed in a Catholic school...

...read here...

Does the Church oppress women? What about same-sex "marriage"? and more...

...if you missed the talk at the Amigo Hall, Southwark, recently, you have a second chance to hear it and to join in the discussion:

The Centre for Catholic Formation  is organising a repeat on THURSDAY JUNE 25th at the Catholic Church in Faversham, Kent. The whole series of talks on "Answering common objections to Catholicism"  is  being repeated, tackling subjects like "Does science disprove religion" and  "The  Catholic Church is stuck in the past". Admission is free, but it would be useful to book a place in advance. The parish is run by the Carmelites: more info here,  or contact thre Centre for Catholic Formation.

A very jolly evening...

...at the launch of a new edition of Lynette Burrows' book "GOOD CHILDREN". Lots of young people, young parents with babies...lots of prosecco, delicious nibbles, jazz, talk, and laughter. It all happened at the Cable Cafe in the Brixton Road...it was full of friends and it was enormous fun to be in good company, for a good party, on a Spring evening.

The book is a practical, don't let's-panic-about-it guide to raising children. It has a positive and joyful message about family life...Lynette and her husband raised six children, and there are now lots of grandchildren, and both the book and the party celebrate all of this...

The book tackles all sorts of things, from how to avoid producing spoilt children (she gives specific examples, eg the child who refuses food because it's on the wrong colour plate) to the joys and challenges that a handicapped child brings...it's a good read, with an upbeat message. The chief thing she urged is "don't listen to too many experts". They are so often wrong, and often make parents feel scared and inadequate.. it is not really hard to achieve happy, disciplined children in a happy home where there is love and security, and parental instincts and common sense are central in all of this.

You can order the book at

 tyler@fisher-press.fsnet.co.uk

and it is £20 plus £3.00 postage...

On marriage, truth, and the freedom to speak of these things...

...and with the Election focusing thoughts on what the next Government will be like, and what might happen over the next years....read here...

CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK...

TODAY , Monday April 27th. Starts at this church...Mass 1.05pm. Nearest tube: LONDON BRIDGE

Papa Francis giving good advice...

...and a heart-warming sight as new priests are ordained. See here...

Reading up on the debates over whether the weather is changing...

...I found this of interest...

While at a care home for elderly people...

...one of the residents kept gently reminding everyone that "Songs of Praise", the popular BBC Sunday programme of hymns, would shortly be on the TV. Part of me thought "Oh, dear...I suppose that's the sort of thing people here like...." But the cheery nurse turned on the TV and we heard some of the most enchanting, beautiful singing from children's school choirs. DO LISTEN, especially to the choir of  Ysgol lau Llangennech - and watch the young faces. And there's lots more: enjoy. Here...

And share this with friends.

A  particularly wonderful moment this afternoon was the staff and residents of the home - yes, and Auntie Joanna too - joining in with "What a friend we have in Jesus" with the choir of St Peter's CofE school,   Go on. Listen, watch, and join in too.

An important read...

...about an important dialogue. Read here...

London...

...very crowded indeed on a sunny April Saturday.  The London Marathon tomorrow, various Gallipoli commemorations today...the bells of St Paul's Cathedral were ringing a most glorious peal  (??Evensong? It was just before 5pm) and helicopters were chattering overhead at intervals throughout the day.  I was lunching with Ciara, who works at St Patrick's, Soho - good to catch up on news and ideas...she was due to spend the evening in street evangelisation (they give out  holy medals, get chatting to people)...

Yesterday evening, I attended, with a fellow student, a fund-raising event for one of our MA team, Fr Bala, who later this year will be returning to India to work with disadvantaged youth in a scheme run by the Jesuits...a group of his friends and parishioners here in London had organised a splendid fund-raising dinner-dance  and H. and I were glad to support it. We went along in our best dresses and enjoyed being part of it all!  Delicious food, beautiful candlelit tables, lots of talk and music, a very happy atmosphere, a really splendid evening...Fr Bala gave a short presentation about the work he hopes to do in India and you can get a flavour of it here...

Shock sex eduation in a Catholic school....

...yes, I thought that would get you reading.

More info here

There is evident fear about what might happen if pupils become influenced. And the organisation involved is active, apparently, in giving talks to other schools and to youth groups. Info here...

If you do not know...

...why  thousands of Australians and New Zealanders , young and old, will be getting up at dawn tomorrow morning, then you must find out.

This is a day that never goes uncommemorated in the Bogle family (Australian, and grateful and proud of it)  because, as for so many other families, it resonants with family names, family history.

An Australian friend sent me an ANZAC link which includes the words from Ataturk on the Gallipoli memorial: 
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

St George's Day...

...and  Mass and celebration supper at this London cathedral,

I was due to give a lecture in the cathedral hall, as part of a whole series of talks on the Catholic faith, organised by the Catholic Formation Centre, and  it drew good numbers, extra chairs brought in etc. Topic was a suitable one for the feast of St George, who is patron of chivalry...we were tackling male/female relationships, marriage, family...

St John Paul the Great gave us a rich new way of teaching all this, with the Theology of the Body, and there are now some good resources on this to enable useful discussions, especially with the young.

University Chaplain...

...Fr Mark Vickers of Hatfield, spoke at LOGS.  As  Catholic Chaplain to students at  the University of Hertfordshire, he welcomes students from all over the world, many of whom are baffled by the (often ugly, sordid, and drunken!) lifestyle of modern Britain. African and Asian Christians find a home-from-home in the Church. It was fascinating to get a picture of what the Church can offer to students at a modern university and to realise the creative part played by things like the FAITH Movement, World Youth Day, and the whole vision of the New Evangelisation...and the day-to-day life of a welcoming Catholic community.

A useful, upbeat and informative evening - and we also had a lot of planning and discussion because the LOGS activities are endlessly increasing as the Ordinariate activities expand and our own evangelistic outreach grows...projects for primary schools, meetings, pilgrimages, and we've got to look ahead and book our slot for carol singing in December (yes, I know that sounds daft but the big London railway stations get booked by dozens of groups each year!) and we're thinking of  our programme for 2016 too...

...and meanwhile in San Francisco...

...a major on-line secular newspaper ran a questionaire on the topic of the Archbishop's upholding of Catholic moral teachings in Catholic schools.

The thing began because the San Francisco Chronicle ran an advertisment paid for by rich Catholics demanding that the Archbishop be sacked: they are angry because he is upholding the teaching that Catholic teachers in  Catholic schools should abide by Catholic moral teaching on sex and marriage. The rich-team think that as "prominent Catholics" they must tell him to stop doing that.

Here's the latest, reported by the CWR Blog,  and you can read more here...

The San Francisco Chronicle, the newspaper that published the appeal, is the largest circulation daily in northern California, owned by the Hearst group. Its online twin is SFGate, with 22 million visitors monthly.

To reinforce the impact of the appeal’s publication, SFGate also launched a questionnaire with four pre-determined answers—two pro and two con—to this question: Should Pope Francis remove Archbishop Cordileone from the San Francisco archdiocese?

And what came of it? The overwhelming majority lined up not to fire the archbishop, but to defend him.

For the sake of accuracy, at noon on Sunday, April 19th, here are the results of the questionnaire:

77% answered: “No, the archbishop is upholding the values of the Catholic Church.”

11%: “Yes, the archbishop is fostering a climate of intolerance.”

10%: “No, the archbishop is right to oppose same-sex marriage.”

2%: “Yes, his morality clauses for teachers in parochial schools defies the law.”

Evidently, the signatories of the appeal are “prominent Catholics”, but they have neither the pulse nor the following of bulk of the faithful, not even in the U.S. city depicted by the media as the most “liberal”.

Privacy...

...a couple of correspondents have written in demanding that I give out more information about my family - and especially about my closest elderly relatives.  I deliberately protect their privacy by not revealing any information: not their names, not the specific relationship, not their address, not any information that will reveal the address. So please stop seeking it. We have discussed this in the family and agreed to protect our privacy.

Like many other writers, I will often want to refer to personal anecdotes and will continue doing so, and will tend to refer simply to "a relation" or "a young friend" etc. Get used to it.

St John Paul - Doctor of the Church?

...The idea has been raised and certainly has merit. Read some thoughts here...

One suggestion is that he should be honoured as the "Doctor of Mercy"  but that title really belongs  also to St Faustina...

St John Paul's teachings on marriage, family, the male/female sacranmental bond, the "nuptial meaning" of the Eucharist, and the "theology of the body", along with his work on freedom, inter-religious dialogue, and the centrality of truth, are all of huge importance. His Trinitarian emphasis, at the core of all his teachings, is of significance.

...and when at St Patrick's. Soho the other day...

...I picked up info about SPIRIT IN THE CITY, which happens in June. Events include drama, a street party, and a great Blessed Sacrament Procession through Soho. More about it all here...

A sudden gift...

... of a happy evening after a slightly frustrating day.

This is a nice story, so enjoy it.

Our washing-machine having finally given up the ghost, we spent a busy but eventually unsuccessful day trying to sort out a new machine and various other neccessary things for the house...

In the evening, I set off to visit a beloved elderly relative in a residential care home...with a big suitcase of  sheets and towels, to take to a launderette on the way back, plus some embroidery to do while the washing whirred.

I started sewing on the bus, and another passenger got chatting, noticing that I was embroidering the words "Our Lady of Walsingham". I felt that I vaguely her.We got off at the same stop, and I mentioned that I was on my way to St W's.  care home, and she said that she knew the lovely nuns who run it...and then we suddenly both remembered that we'd met some years ago, when I'd brought a group of carol singers around all the local houses - and that this lady had welcomed us in and given us wine and mince pies...  "Are you staying overnight somewhere? she asked, indicating the suitcase, and I admitted that no, it was just some washing for the launderette...

"Why not leave it in my machine while you go to St W's?   And so I ended up, after a lovely visit with my relative, back at  this kind lady's  lovely house, and a glass of wine, and lots of chat discovering mutual friends in the local Catholic parish etc etc... and at her suggestion my husband joined us and we all had a very pleasant time, and trundled back home with freshly washed sheets and towels...

A happy evening.

...

Hidden gem...

...see here...

THE FAITH MOVEMENT...

...is holding SUMMER TALKS, following the success of the winter and spring series. Venue:  crypt hall at 24 Golden Square London W1 (nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus) on alternate Tuesdays at 7.30pm.  Aimed at young people, but all are welcome:

Tuesday 5 May
The Church’s teaching on sex; time for change? Ryan Day

Tuesday 19th May
Why a male priesthood? Fr. Roger Nesbitt

Tuesday 2nd June
Clerical celibacy; should priests be married? Fr. Stephen Brown

Tuesday 16th June
The Four Last Things; truth or fiction? Fr. Philip Miller

Tuesday 30th June
Holy Communion; who can receive and why? Fr. Tim Finigan

Tuesday 7th July
Is St John Paul relevant to the Family Synod's discernment? Joanna Bogle

7:30pm @ basement of 24 Golden Square, London, W1F 9JR All welcome

Come and join in the debate...

"Is the Catholic Church anti-women and anti-gay?"

Amigo Hall, St George's Cathedral, Southwark, this coming Thursday, April 23rd, 7.30pm. Admission free. More info here...

NEWMAN on Vatican II...

...read here...

YES!!!!! And a big THANK YOU to Papa Francis....

...for common sense and wisdom on a topic on which today's muddled Western thinking has become more and more absurd. Read here

...and the NEXT Catholic History Walk is...

...on MONDAY APRIL 27th, a lunchtime walk,  starting with the 1.05pm Mass at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge.  (Nearest tube: London Bridge, or Borough).

We'll enjoy the river, the story of a Viking Battle at London Bridge, a  glimpse of the Tower, and links with Geoffrey Chaucer, John Harvard, and Charles Dickens...

All welcomre. No need to book. Come for as little or as long as you like...

...and make sure this date is in your diary: SUNDAY JUNE 21st, 1.30pm for 2pm, meet at ST SEPULCHRE's CHURCHYARD near the OLD BAILEY (nearest tube: St Paul's) for the annual MARTYRS WALK to Tyburn.

LOGS at the seaside...

Read here...

Gathering on the steps...

...of Westminster Cathedral on a glorious spring evening, the History Walk started with a good look at the  Cathedral, its Byzantine red brick glowing in the April sunshine, and memories of the visit of St John Paul the Great in 1982 and of beloved Papa Benedict XVI more recently...

...And then on down Ambrosden Avenue, with some stories of Cardinals Wiseman and Manning and Vaughan...and so on to the Horseferry Road. A ferry with a platform on which you could stand your horse  was an importrant feature of London's transport system in the old days, when there were were fewer bridges over the Thames and no buses or Tubes (or cars or bicycles). Most of London's bridges are fairly new, although London Bridge goes back to the days of Viking battles, and there were bridges at various points such as Kingston (where my father's regimental colours are laid up in the great parish church, where long ago Saxon kings were crowned...).

Down along Great Peter Street - named for our first Pope - on on to the Abbey and Parliament. We went into the gardens alongside the Victoria Tower, and a park keeper came up to tell us the gates were closing...but allowed us to continue our walk and unlocked the rear gate for us. He was nice, and we chatted as we walked along - he enjoys his job working in one of the most famous places in the world, though he  said it gets v. cold in winter...and so on to the Sovreign's entrance where we sheltered from the wind and talked of Lords and Commons and Parliamentary democracy...and thence to the Great Hall where Benedict XVI spoke so superbly back in 2010 and reminded us that democracy rests on spiritual and moral values and needs to be constantly nourished by them...

There is always a great atmosphere on these History Walks, and people are friendly and we finish with prayers for our country...

NEXT WALK: April 27th, a lunchtime walk. Meet at the 1.05pm Mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, London Bridge.

There's a overview of the History Walks here...

and you can find out about the John Paul walk to Walsingham here...

And book SUNDAY JUNE 21st in your diary: meet at 1.30pm for 2pm at St Sepulchre's Churchyard, near the OLD BAILEY (nearest tube: St pauls) for the annual MATYRS' WALK to Tyburn. All welcome: no need to book, just turn up - bring your friends, your family, people from your parish...

OBJECTIONS....

...to the Catholic faith. Come and join in the discussion. Auntie J. is among the speakers. Series starts  this week, on Thursday April 16th, 7.30pm at the AMIGO HALL, St George's Cathedral, Southwark, topic "Doesn't science disprove religion?".  Auntie speaks on Thursday April 23rd: "Isn't the Church anti-women and anti-gay?"

All welcome - admission free, but you are asked to register: info here.

St George's Cathedral is opposite the Imperial War Museum: nearest tube: WATERLOO or LAMBETH NORTH.  Amigo Hall is right alongside the Cathedral.

The Myrrh Bearer...

...an icon that was given to me some years ago on a special Birthday hangs over my desk. It is of St Joanna the Myrrh Bearer.

"I don't think I've heard of her..." I said tentatively when it was placed in my hands "Oh, yes you have", I was told, and I was sent to look up the Bible's account of the Resurrection.

And there she is: Luke 24: 1-10. Joanna was one of the women who came  "on the first day of the week, at early dawn" with spices to anoint Christ's body.  And Joanna went  with Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and the other women, to tell the Apostles what they had seen and heard at the tomb...

...and here's the latest on Divine Mercy...

...the Extraordinary Jubilee Year, set to begin on the feast of the Immaculate Conception...read here

Divine Mercy...

...and on visiting young relatives, I noticed that in the latest edition of the Sunday Missal this Sunday is  of course officially listed as Divine Mercy Sunday. It felt rather splendid to look back and remember St John Paul and that encyclical on Divine Mercy, and all of us asking "What's all this about? Of course God is merciful...", and then the story of St Faustina becomg better and better known...

But it made me feel sort of old, too...the young First Communicant whose beautiful white-and-gold missal I was perusing will always see Divine Mercy Sunday as a normal part of the Calendar, and St John Paul the Great as simply one of the saints of the Church, a figure in Heaven and in history...while some of us remember him as the Pope, met him, talked to him...

...among the experiences of this Easter...

...perhaps the most unusual was standing in a meadow on the edge of Exmoor with sheep baa-ing nearby, and the sun lifting the mist off the tops of the hills, and broadcasting via a radio network in Alabama about an inspirational French priest!  I was interviewed by the Son Rise Morning Show  following the feature on Cardinal Jean Danielou in this week's Catholic Herald.

The Danielou story is a fascinating one, and I plan to read more of his work, and help to get it better known...

I have been asked...

...the question "What is your next book?" a lot just recently.  Although I usually give only a vague answer, I do in fact have a specific idea in mind, and this evening I discussed it a bit with a young relative who is a fellow-writer.  She was enthusiastic and encouraged me to go ahead. So...this week the project will begin with the usual mapping out of the idea, correspondence with publisher, etc etc...

The Easter holiday provided peace and beauty in good measure, a grace-filled opportunity for pondering a new project.

Our Easter travels finished with a journey home via a joyful family gathering with children running about and demanding to be carried on shoulders, a talkative family supper, family prayers...

...and read Auntie on this forgotten hero whose work inspired Vatican II...

...see here...

I found...

...this a thought-provoking Eastertide read...

Moslem youth from Britain's cities...

...are flocking to join the Moslem armies in the Middle East...and this Easter the Church around the world has been praying for the Christians fleeing from the Moslem onslaught...

The West of England in Springtime -  all along the grassy lanes are bright starry celandines and clumps of pale primroses. I walked this morning to this tiny chapel, accompanied by birdsong and the baa-ing of sheep as their lambs frolicked with wobbly legs...the chapel is open and is evidently in the care of people who cherish it: a posy of fresh primroses on the altar, everything clean and welcoming: an invitation to prayer.

Followinga family gathering in Oxfordshire for Easter, we are now continuing Eastertide with further family visits, this time on Exmoor...

I'm working on essays for the Catechist course (School of the Annunciation: warmly recommended) looking up from time to time to relish the most glorious views.  I'm interspersing the work with tackling some envelopes to primary schools for this year's Schools RE Project run by the Association of Catholic Women. You can read about some of the previous Projects here...we always get good numbers of entries, and are glad to be supporting the work of Catholic schools in this way. This year's Project is on the Rosary, and the aim is to help children understand the value and importance of this prayer, learning about the four sets of Mysteries: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious.  They have to study the Joyful Mysteries, and learn about them:"Each of these Mysteries describes an event. Choose three of them and tell us the story of each in yur own words. Tell us why each of these is important. You can illustrate your work, too, if you like."

In the Thames Valley...

...with Easter eggs and daffodils, roast lamb and simnel cake,  and a big family house-party, long talkative meals, long walks.

A strange, and rather touching, thing happened to me on Good Friday. I hurried off the Tube at Oxford Circus and happened to look down. At my feet lay a small silver cross. I have it before me as I write - a slim, simple cross about one inch long and half an inch across. It is in perfect condition.

It felt strange, as I was just on my way to walk the Stations of the Cross through the streets of Soho with a group from a local church. So the Cross was very much in my mind.

I didn't know what to do.  I'd love to find the owner of this cross. But thyere are about eight million people in Greater London at any one time.   Did anyone lose a small silver cross in London on Good Friday?

Stations of the Cross through the streets and lanes of Soho, kneeling on the street "We adore you O Christ and we praise you/Because by your holy Cross you have redeeedmed the world..."

Before going on to the Good Fiday liturgy, I wet to Trafalgar Square to watch the Passion Play. It was  moving: the whole story coming alive before massive crowds in the heart of London. Going from there to the 3pm liturgy all fitted...

Rail travel out of London  a bit complicated because of all sorts of engineering works at Paddington etc...but I made it to the family gathering, and to the glorious Easter Vigil at the Church of St Birinus in Dorchester-on-Thames. 

Holy Week and Easter...

...began for me with Tenebrae at this church, which is famous for its beautiful Mary Garden featured on an EWTN history series...

There'll be the Mandatum, then the solemnities of Good Friday, the waiting-time on Holy Saturday, then the glorious fire of Easter...and for the Bogles a round of family visits...

...and good wishes for this holy season to my faithful Blog readers...

Today is Maundy Thursday...

...and there will be the Mandatum in churches up and down the land...

It is also the 10th anniversary of a great saint's death: you can read Auntie on that subject here...

The latest issue of THE PORTAL...

...is now on-line. You can read it here...

Southwark diocese Chrism Mass...

...at St George's Cathedral. It is always rather moving to see priests that I have known for years  - including the parish priest of  Wallington, where I grew up - plus many other friends, at the Chrism Mass at Southwark. The Cathedral was packed, people sitting and standing on the floor in the side chapels and at the back...

The Chrism Liturgy is beautiful, and it was touching to see the oil for anointing the sick being brought up accompanied by two nurses in uniform, and the Oil of Catechumens being accompanied by candidates for baptism, etc.

But oh,at Southwark the music is always ghastly. The Cathedral has a fine organ, but some of the hymns were instead accompanied by a tinkling piano. And the words were beyond banal. During the Offertory we were meant to sing: "We place upon your table, a gleaming cloth oif white/The weaving of our stories, the fabric of our lives/the dreams of those before us, the ancient hopeful cries/the promise of our future/our needing and our nurture lie here before our eyes".  Does any reader of this blog have any idea of what this drivel could possibly mean? I think it is simply tripe.

It is unfair on the priests, deacons and seminarians, whose special day it is, to have this nonsense foisted on them.And people who have brought their children to this sacred liturgy - there were a good many young families there - deserve the best. This is a day on which to teach something of the beauty and mystery that is at the heart of the priestly sacramental ministry.

The Cathedral has a splendid choir, which for some reason is banned from the Chrism Mass. There are some superb school choirs in the diocese, and it would be splendid to have one sing for the Chrism Mass: a Missa de Angelis, or some special Mass learned for the occasion,  something beautiful for the Offertory and again at Communion, a couple of good hymns for the  long priests' procession in at the beginning...this is a day for glorious music...

Pope St John Paul and a coincidence of dates...

...see my post here...

The Ordinariate Chrism Mass...

and more info here...

An anniversay coming up this week...

...read on...

...and...

...the diocese of WESTMINSTER has its traditional Chrism Mass tomorrow (Tuesday) and the diocese of SOUTHWARK on Wednesday. And at both of these, there will be groups of us welcoming the priests and thanking them for their dedication and service to the Church.  We have a big placard that says:

THANK YOU TO OUR PRIESTS

and we give them small holy cards with our thanks....

We began this some years ago and it is has flourished and flourished, with new people joining in each year and a sense of a strong tradition having been established.  And a particular pleasure is being able to greet so many priest friends and exchange greetings and good wishes...

Attending the different Chrism Masses  is also a good introduction to Holy Week. Somehow, it sets the tone - the reality of the Church and an ability to "see" the events of  two thousand years ago, and the hugeness of it all...

Warwick Street...

...is the home of this church, in the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Today, Ordinariate priests from across Britain came there to concelebrate the Chrism Mass. The chief celebrant was the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Mennini.  It was all very splendid, and the large crowd of priests just about fitted in to the church, using up both the side sections and all around the back. The congregation was in the main seating area in the middle...and when the priests made their public re-affirmation of theirvows, it was rather splendid to hear the voices in a deep roar all around us...

The oils were brought up to the altar for hallowing with great solemnity, there was glorious music, and the prayers of the Chrism Mass are so beautiful,..

"...For in the beginning you commanded the earth
to produce fruit-bearing plants,
and among them the olive tree,
to bring forth the great richness of this Oil,
that its fruit might serve
for the making of sacred Chrism.

David, too, foreseeing by the spirit of prophecy
the sacraments of your grace,
sang of oil making our faces radiant with joy;
and when in former days
the world's sins were washed away in the Great Flood,
the dove, showing forth by an olive branch
a figure of the gift to come,
announced that peace had been restored to the earth..."

...Palm Sunday...

...and we gathered on the London street for  the liturgy, much blessing of palms with  holy water, and a sudden sense of unity across the centuries with all those who have commemorated Christ's entry into Jerusalem this way...and then we set off, the crowd surging along the street and under the railway arch (great accoustics), incense wafting from the front, rain clouds gathering overhead...inevitably some were singing one verse of the hymn, and others another, but it was all a grand surge...and so into church and the solemn reading of the Passion....

I had spent the previous afternoon with young relatives, making Easter cards for great-grandparents, and enjoying a ramble through local woodland and plans for the Spring and summer. A local ice-cream van was being mended  and attracted much interest as sparks flew up from the welding and the workmen were amused to explain the technicalities of the door and wheels to two small boys. We explored along a local muddy stream, planned picnics and summer trips. Tangle brambles promised blackberry-picking much later in the year. Trees were climbed.  Clumps of daffodils splashed yellow on the landscape. Spring is here.

Awesome...

...an overworked adjective today..

But it was truly awesome. Nightfever.   A church glittering with candlelight, with some lovely gentle singing and teams of young people, bearing lanterns, fanning out across Soho, inviting people in to pray. The young people each had a few unlit candles in their pockets - those small tea-lights that work well as votive candles - and simply asked "Would you like to come in and light a candle?"

We gathered beforehand in the crypt at St Patrick's, Soho - you guessed that was the church, didn't you? Where so many good things happen  - for a briefing, and I wondered if I wasn't too old to be taking part in such a venture. Nightfever was created by young people, and there was a great crowd of them there, filling the church for Mass, and gathering with a sense of seriousness for the evening of mission. But I was welcomed. A brief explanation...some guidelines and intsructions...some tea and sandwiches on offer...and we were off on the project.

Prayer is the most important thing., You spend part of the night in prayer before the Blessed sacrament, and then go out in shifts into the street...and then as you bring people in to pray (yes, they do come, and in great numbers) you stay  briefly to pray again...and so on...

"I'm an atheist" was a response I got  more than once to my offer of a candle and dropping in to pray "That makes no difference, does it?" I pointed out, and she, shrugged, laughed, accepted a candle and came in. Mostly, they gasp a bit on entrance - the lanterns line the main aisle, on  the sanctuary is stands the great Monstrance where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration, there are lots of silent kneeling figures, and some quietly coming-and-going.  Having accompanied the new arrival  slowly up towards the altar, there is no need to do anyting more. They can find a place for the candle, kneel, write a prayer on one of the slips of paper if they wish, maybe pick up a lttle folded gift of  Scripture verse from the basket...one just finds one's own place to pray, and leaves them to it.

"I'm gay - your lot think I will burn in hell".   We don't argue...the offer to pray is for everyone and we've already made that clear. Some that start by being a bit antagonistic do then come in. Mostly, people stay for longer than expected.

Many people are hurrying to meet a friend and haven't time to stop.Some want to chat. Some say "I haven't been into a church in years..." Several ask why we are doing this - most accept that the idea is attractive. No one seems offended by the offer of a chance to pray.

We finished on the dot of 10.30, strictly to timetable. Compline - sung most beaiutifully - and then Benediction.  It was absolutely unforgettable

I loved Nightfever. I'll be volunteering again.

Cherishing life...

...or do we think we can't and shouldn't?  Was St John Paul right when he warned of a "culture of death"?  Some good reading on this here...

...and here's an idea from Australia that we could easily adopt in Britain...

...read here...

I am aware of some schools that already do this, but not many.So how about it?

Nightfever...

...at St Patrick's, Soho, tomorrow. I thought I might go along and see what it's like. Some info here

Pope Francis...

...on the Feast of the Annunciation, highlighted the importance of St John Paul's Evangelium Vitae, given to the world on this day in 1995. I recently studied this document  anew as part of some academic work, and recognised all over again its foresight, wisdom, and truth. And how he was denounced for it at the time - it was commonplace to sneer at him as a "Polish peasant" who was "trying to impose his morality" on everyone. Today, we can see how things have developed, with a horrible sense of doom hanging over Europe as families disintegrate and the normality of marriage and children gives way to a muddle ofshould-gay-parents-buy-babies-from-surrogate-mothers and similar debates.

The Church is today's great defender of human beings, human dignity, and the common good, in the face of a sense of self-destructiive moral relativism.   Through marriage and family life, human beings have always the hope of renewal and   "The Church as a mother never abandons the family, even when it is disheartened, wounded, and mortified in so many ways: it will always do everything tosee to cure and heal  it, to call it to conversion and to reconcile it to the Lord" (St Peter.s Wednesday)

A splendid academic Mass...

...for the School of the Annunciation, at Buckfast Abbey in Devon.The academic staff,in an impressive array of robes, walked in procession, there was glorious singing, and a good attendance of people from across Britain...and afterwards there was a delicious lunch and lots of lively talk...a most enjoyable day.

Sadly, Archbishop Fisichella from Rome was ill and unable to attend, but his lecture was read by the Rector, and there';ll be a copy on the School's website in due course.

During the afternoon I took along some books for the Library - we've all been invited to make donations. I brought a selection from home, hoping this might relieve the pressure on the groaning bookshelves of the Bogle family...which it has, but only marginally...

The School is flourishing and looks set to play an important role in the Church and in the world of education over the next years. Events in the next months include short courses on Foundations of Philiosophy for Faith, Sacred Art and the New Evangelisation, Media and the New Evangelisation, and Ecclesiastical Latin...and there are Summer Schools on Scripture, Liturgy, and Apologetics, among other topics. Further courses in catechetics start in the Autumn, together with a Diploma course in the New Evangelisation...

Richard III...

...and Auntie was invited to write about him for a Catholic newspaper in the USA...read here...

The new film "Cinderella"...

...and Fr Robert Barron's take on it...well worth reading:  here...

....HISTORY WALKS....

...the next one is Monday April 13th, starts 6.30pm Westminster Cathedral.  All welcome - just turn up, no need to book.


And note the date of the 2015 MARTYRS' WALK: Sunday June 21st, meet 1.30pm for 2pm departure, St Sepulchre's churchyard, near the OLD BAILEY (nearest tube: St Paul's). Come - no need to book. Bring your family, your friends, a group from your parish. We'll be walking the route to Tyburn, and stopping to pray at, among other places, SS Anselm and Cecilia in Holborn, and St Patrick's in Soho.

Encouraging....

....morning at the John Fisher School, Purley. The young chaplain, Fr James Clark, organises guest speakers for the VI form on Mondays. The boys looked smart in their blazers with the golden school emblem, there was a warm and friendly welcome, and it was rather moving to be speaking in the school hall where I have attended receptions following the ordinations of  former pupils.  May there be many more...

Topic was communication, writing, lnguage, truth...told them about smuggling in Christian books, history, social comment, Catholic doctrine, into Eastern Europe under Communism,  about St John Paul's emphasis on truth, about how truth and freedom go together. Talked about today's Britain, need to seek and defend truth.  Find out what the Church teaches, and what is really happening: don't rely on the BBC's version. And how how do we make good use of the internet? The biggest single use is people wasting their lives in porn...

This is a school I have known for over 40 years: there is now a Fawcett Building, named after Fr Fawcett who I remember so well and who taught at the school for so many years...

Chatting in the sunshine with Fr James, we were joined by a number of other priests, who had come to help with hearing confessions (the whole school goes, form by form). They included Fr Ian Vane, at whose church in Sussex I recently took part in a  women's prayer event with a crowd of some 80/90 people on a  midweek afternoon, impressive...

At John Fisher, the sunshine dappled on the lawn by the chapel, , the sky was  clear, boys hurried here and there, a VI-former stopping to chat...everything somehow held promise and hope. Pray for this fine school and its future: it's just marked its 85th anniversary, celebrating a noble heritage.

Depressing...

....discussion with an academic,  about how history is no longer taught in schools. Having had a number of similar discussions with teenagers and with teachers on the same subject, I find the scene deeply depressing.

The standard secondary school system now teaches chiefly  (1) the Tudors in England  and (2) the rise of the Nazis in Germany, and the Second World War, I started to realise this a few years ago, when a bright teenager told me of her weariness in being made to "do" the Second World War and the Nazis for the fourth time..."I'm so tired of it. I want to find out about the Medieval period. I love history, and I always get good marks - but I'm just so sick of learning about the Nazis again and again and again."  Another said they had been given the opportunity to study Martin Luther King and the American Civil Rights Movement as an extra. "And I thhink we might be doing Margaret Thatchjer and the Miners' Strike".  But that was all.

In primary school children do "themes" such as the Atlantic slave trade, Norman castles,  the Roman empire, the Victorian era and the children in factories, and Suffragettes. Darting about from one era to another across the centuries, with random scrapbook and colouring-in projects.  There is no essential time-line and little attempt to connect anything. No wonder children are confused and bored. I have seen some very attractive work produced by children in schools, and they get them dressing up in Victorian costumes, and imagining what it would have been like to be in a Victorian school, and so on...but they are not given the essential tools for studying history, or much motive for doing so.

In tomorrow's Britain, society will have a very strong Mohammedan input. British history will not be something that is communicated in everyday culture - stories, and  nursery rhymes and jokes and well-known bits of folklore. That sort of culture is being crushed by the overwhelming pressures of the computer/mobile phone/facebook/texting/sexting/soap opera  world where history and family traditions and local community events play no part. Children won't 'absorb' the history and traditions of the country into which they have been born and which in a sense is their heritage...if they are to understand such things, it will have to be through conscious teaching. Will there be teachers willing and able to do it?

At present, teachers tend to emphasise only what is "needed" for exams. "You don't need to look at the section on the 18th century - it's not part of your exam work" etc etc. There is pressure to gain the required number of "passes" for the statistics.

And so we are being robbed of our sense of identity, of belonging, of community.  And then we wonder why the young feel alienated, hurt, and cynical.

...and from St John Paul:

...on March 25th it will be the anniversary of his magnificent document Evangelium Vitae. There will be a special vigil of prayer in Rome  and we are all invited to pray, too...the threats to the sanctity of human life have grown horribly in recent years, along with the destruction of children's dignity and innocence, and the violation of the truth about marriage:  "sexuality too is depersonalized and exploited: from being the sign, place and language of love, that is, of the gift of self and acceptance of another, in all the other's richness as a person, it increasingly becomes the occasion and instrument for self-assertion and the selfish satisfaction of personal desires and instincts".

Wisdom from Archbishop Charles Chaput...

...well worth reading. Here...

A morning...

...with parents of First Communicants at the parish of Our Lady and St George, Walthamstow. I was invited to speak about the Church and women: it's a subject on which it is important to explain about Mother Church, the women saints and heroines, and  the deep truth at the core of it all - the Bridegroom and His Bride, the nuptial meaning of the Eucharist...and more...

It's actually men who are too often marginalised in the Church, and this is something that needs to be addressed. An understanding of the essential complementarity of men and women is of central importance, and this document is useful in grasping this...as is the material produced at this conference...

Discussion...

...should the Pope have gone to confession in public? Lent last year...see here). Was it showing off? Or trying to give an authentic example to others, to get people to go to confession, to show there is nothing embarrassing about it?

The Pope is popular with the  media, but some people are disturbed by what they see as his displays of false humility.

It certainly got people thinking about confession, didn't it?

...and on the Feast of the Annunciation...

...March 25th, I will be in Devon, celebrating this importrant anniversary...

Theology of the Body...

...and this evening I'll be attending this lecture  in London by Dr peter Kahn. All are welcome.

St John Pauls Theology of the Body offers answers to the muddle, misery and heartache that has permeated through people's lives following the sexual confusion of recent years. It's important to be informed on all of this - and this great Pope offers inspiration, hope and a sense of joy in life too.

Come along this evening: 6.45pm, Vaughan House, Francis St, Westminster - nearest tube VICTORIA.

On St Joseph's Day...

special greetings to this wonderful parish...

The Mary Garden at this parish recently featured on an EWTN programme tracing London's history along the Thames. The parish priest, and the wonderful family team who created and now maintain the Garden, were interviewed, and it was a delight.

I personally owe a lot to this parish, and whenever I am in the church there is a sense of somehow being at home.

Prison...

...and the Catholic chaplain had led a well-attended teaching session this morning, and I was busy doing some follow-up this afternoon. Using the ANCHOR programme, and it works well...it has some of the most glorious art and explores Catholic teachings by using this, and opening up the truths revealed, backed by Scripture and the Catechism...

While all this was going on, the Moslems were having a session in a neighbouring room. They have a place for ritual washing and an arrow sign pointing to Mecca.   The chaplaincy area offers space to the various groups, all the chaplains have good facilities, and prisoners help with running it all.  Mass is celebrated in a large room where the Chaplain has  placed a fine large  picture of the Divine Mercy - a print of the original Lthuanian picture, not the later one from Krakow -  Stations of the Cross, a good cruciifix etc. There is a proper and well-equipped sacristy:  for Mass, an altar is erected and everything is brought out, candles, altar cloths, missal, chalice and paten etc etc...there are also vestments and everything neccessary, all of good quality.  The room is large (needed, because numbers for Mass are substantial here) and doesn't feel prison-like...this is a modern prison and although there is a lot of security and locking and unlocking of doors etc, the place isn't as oppressive as older prisons are, and it's clean.

Religion is a big thing in prison. Catholic prisoners - and others - wear rosaries round their necks (often three or more of them). They like to have a Bible because the Moslem prisoners set great store by talking about the Koran, so Christians want to show that they know all about having a sacred book too. They like prayer cards and pictures, and Novenas and prayers to learn by heart.

The  Moslem presence is strong and confident: it offers a forthright, apparently simple, gutsy sort of solution to the why-am-I-here-everything-is-horrible feeling which must be overwhelming in prison. The Christian message soaks through at a different - deeper? - level. Certainly for some Catholic prisoners, meeting the chaplain is an opportunity to reconnect with a faith abandoned or forgotten, and some speak movingly about what it means to rediscover the Church, to go to confession, to learn or re-learn prayers, to study the Faith.

Not sure if my efforts at helping with the programme are useful...but at least a visitor shows that the world of prison hasn't been forgotten by those on the "outside". And I can keep the prisoners in my prayers and would like to think that some readers of this Blog might now do so too...

The Church: defending marriage and family...

...the World Meeting of Families in September, whi ch the Pope will attend, will be of great importance. A bit of preparatory reading here...

To Pembury...

...in Kent, where Fr Ed Tomlinson of the Ordinariate and his team are transforming a rather bleak hall into a real church.  It's a busy place now, with well-attended Sunday Masses. But at present the Sunday school meets in the sacristy, the children jammed in on the floor, under and on the tables, and on any available ledge or worktop. Fun, but sort of impracticable in the long-term as numbers continue to grow.  The tiny weekday chapel - we had a beautiful Mass there - has stacks of  the embroidered kneelers that some of us are making, and which on Sundays are used for Mass in the main hall.  I had brought a further kneeler, just completed: I wanted to deliver it in person as I had dedicated it in memory of a young relative and wanted to hand it over personally: Fr Ed blessed it and we used it as a kneeler for Communion, and now it takes its place with the others...

It was good to be at Mass in this little village on a Spring weekday,and afterwards to talk over news and ideas with Fr Ed. Outside, the land hs been cleared for the new extension that will enable a proper use of the church and halls and include a garden and a shrine. There will be a good entrance and the church, already a local landmark, will be a real presence in the area. There is a large Crucifix with its own roof that will stand as part of the new scheme. It will all have the look and feel of "a little English village church".

But much to ponder.  While things are going well at Pembury, there is a general feeling of worry in the Church: the Synod this Autumn (prayers needed),the rising official pressures on Church schools with attempts to impose gross forms of propaganda under the guise of "sex education"....

Pray for the Pope. Pray for our Bishops.

Church shools...

...Sir Edward leigh MP has made an excellent intervention in the House of Commons. read here...

Rorate Caeli...

..."Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above..."

I was remembering  those words today when reading about Ukraine.

In the last years of Communism, and especially in the last months, it became possible to make Christian radio broadcasts, and to send Christian literature, into countries which had been starved of good reading material for decades. Prayer books, explanations of Church teachings, devotional materials of all kinds poured into Ukraine and, later, into Russia. It wasn't random stuff. People who listened to various radio broadcasts could write to Aid to the Church in Need, and get a package of materials, and, where possible, specific answers to various questions etc.

ACN's founder, Fr Werenfried van Straaten, the "bacon priest" who had championed the cause of Catholics behind what was then called the Iron Curtain for decades, was in his element. The project was called "Rorate Caeli". He and the team running it were hugely moved by the letters can came pouring in, especially from the young - asking questions about Christian teachings, wanting Catholic books, hungry for information  Many were unhappy, with lives that had been damaged by abortion or alcoholism....the same problems that were then (and now) affecting the young in the West. Many were simply confused, with a limited understanding of the Church but a great desire to know more.

Well, the project flourished, and meanwhile history was rolling on...the collapse of Communism...the end of the USSR... new independence of Ukraine...

I remember Fr Werenfried warning that the collapse of Communism didn't mean that everything would be glorious.  There was going to be an ideological void - not a sudden ability to flourish with bright new hopes, but a confused what-comes-after-communism ugliness in which  over-optimism and unrealistic expectations could jostle with weariness and cyncism, and in which old animosities could flourish and new ones emerge,..

And now it's 2015, and a new era and Russia and Ukraine are fighting and it seems as though the suffering or the Soviet years, with the  starvation famines and the Gulag and the KGB and the horror were not enough,  and now a new generation is barking out nationalistic slogans and the death toll rises.

Back in the 1960s and 70s and 80s, many of us prayed regularly for the people "behind the Iron Ciurtain" who were not free to practice their Christian faith: Communism was a big blanket-style ideological Enemy. Now, in the more confused era, it's harder to know how to direct our prayers. But it feels all wrong that we should ignore it all.

Reminder: let's pray for peace. "Drop dew, yea heavens..."

...and you will also enjoy....

...this description of how things are going.  in the Ordinariate parish along by the Thames..

You might enjoy...

this, which updates you on a good project that will be a morale-boost for all who value Christianity in Britain...

Celebration...

...this weekend (mid-Lent, Laetare, opportunity to take a break and rejoice) with co-author Clare Anderson and her family.  This is a long overdue celebration. When Clare and I produced our book about St John Paul the Great, we dedicated it to our husbands, grateful for their patience and good humour throughout the project. And we told each other that we'd have a lovely just-the-four-of-us dinner party...and meanwhile there were other commitments, with family and (in Clare's case) a house-move and two family weddings, and (in mine) a new academic venture with some post-graduate study, and (for us both) travelling, and work, and more...and finally, some six months after the book's appearance, here we are!  So, armed with chox and wine, Jamie and I are off to the Andersons and a happy time...

St Mary's University...

...at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, has an atmosphere of great friendliness.  Tonight the lively  Cathsoc met, over freshly-brewed coffee in the comfortable coffee-room...lots of pleasant chat as people gathered and were joined by the young chaplain in his Dominican robes...

It was a real delight and pleasure to be their speaker for the evening. Topic was  St John Paul - a figure known to them only from their childhood memories, honoured and venerated but  somewhat mistily, covered by the decade that has passed since his death and by the enormous changes that occurred in and through his pontificate...

Where to start? I began by explaining to them something of what Poland was like under Communism - and as I spoke the memories were suddenly back: the shortages of everyday items, the shop windows with displays of  dusty paper flowers because the proper goods weren't available...it's strange what details one remembers.  I first visited Warsaw in the 1980s under martial law, with a thumping heart,  a suitcase crammed wth books and other materials for the then-banned Solidarity movement, some names and addresses hidden on my person, and detailed instructions about how to circumvent the secret police surveillance and ensure that the whole operation went well. Golly, it's all so long ago...

But St John Paul the Great was - is - about more, much, much more than just the collapse of Communism. More than just World Youth Day, more than just the radical Theology of the Body and the magnificent teaching of the Divine Mercy, more than just a great revival of Eucharistic devotion, more than just the fresh presentation of the Rosary, more than just great missionary journeys, more than just magnificent teaching and leadership . He was a  hero was survived an assaination attempt - and forgave his would-be murderer, from his heart - he was a poet, a playwright, a great preacher,a philosopher, a mystic. He was a sportsman, a man of the mountains, a man of prayer, a priest whose celebration of Mass took him into such deep Communion with the Lord that he seemed oblivious to everything else even when he was with a crowd of millions.

When John Paul gave his first inspiring calls to the young, I was young. But his message still rings true for today's generation in the Church:"Young people: Christ calls you, the Church needs you, and the Pope believes in you, and expects great things of you."

This was a happy and very special evening.

To Whitstable...

...via a lovely train ride through Kent and along by the sea. Whitstable has a PROPER seaside, with a greensward and beach-huts, as well as a little harbour and fish-and-chips and of course oysters...

I lunched with the team that are producing the Made for Glory Youtube films...

Sunday...

...and as I arrived at London Bridge with half an hour to spare before Mass, I walked along by the river.,...the tide was out, and the wide beach revealed so many hints of history, fragments of this and that, an old jetty long soaked in mud, some chunks of masonry that were once part of some dockside structure. A pleasure boat chugged by, with the announcer's voice coming across the water, telling people about Blackfriars and the Oxo Tower, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre...

On to the Church of the Most Precious Blood for Mass.Afterwards, we had the parish Annual Meeting - as per Anglican Patrimony and the Ordinariate and all that...the news is good, the parish is on track for mission,  numbers at Mass are rising (an extra Mass has had to be added during the past year), there was talk of  how we'll  celebrate the feast of the Precious Blood  in July...discussion about encouraging people to come to Adoration on the First Friday of every month and, more prosaically, about the new floor now that the heating has been installed...

Later, over a pub lunch, much talk and other ideas about what could and should be done: Papa Benedict gave the Ordinariate a mission, and there is a great deal of love and enthusiasm in response...

Spent the rest of the afternoon with a beloved elderly relative, comfortably settled back in the (Catholic) care home where she lives, and where her family feel absolutely at home too. I sat sewing and chatting, my elderly relative enjoyed buttered toast and freshly-made soup, and there was a buzz of friendly talk and swapping of news.

On the bus home I finished the cross-stitch work on hassock I've been making, which will join others at this church.

I looked at...

...the website of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph to catch up with their news, and learned that Sister Hyacinthe and Sister Michelle had been leading a retreat in the UAE. "How suitable" I thought "A University...perhaps they mean UEA (University of East Anglia)".  But no. They've been in the United Arab Emirates...where by all accounts the Church is growing rapidly. And it looked so joyful, and somehow exciting and invigorating: lots of young people, lots of joy - and, yes, the obligatory posing with camels...

It's so strange pondering the future: Mohammedans gleefully growing stronger and stronger in Europe, and Christianity on the march in what were once the desert heartlands of the Mohammedan faith.

But the Sisters are renewing the Faith here in England too - there's no stopping them. Want to be part of it? Prepared to do a lot of praying and walking? Click here for getting on to the St John Paul II PIlgrimage for the New Evangelisation. Book yourself in: remember John Paul 's call:"Young people: Christ calls you, the Church needs you, and the Pope believes in you and expects great things of you."  For those who were young when the great JPII made that call - come and show the way to the next generation. And for those who are young today:come, come - there are great things ahead...