...and a strange Easter...

....following a Mass on-line from this church in London, at home, in the intervals of hanging out towels and bedding washed in Dettol etc.

My patient is getting better - these have been worrying days - and thanks to a kind neighbour who has been doing our shopping,  I was able to cook a good Easter lunch, with lamb cutlets and roast parsnips and potatoes.  Last year's rich summer  of blackberries and plums is still providing pies and puddings, and I  raided the freezer to make a plum sponge pudding served with cream. And relatives had sent a splendid Easter egg with our names on it!  So we had a lovely Easter day...all in lockdown.

Watched the Pope in Rome - his slow and deliberate way of celebrating Mass is quietly reassuring, and  the use of the Cross that dates back to a former plague era puts things in a wider and deeper perspective.

And all over Britain, Easter was being marked, just as it has been for centuries.  Why don't more of us mark it in some quietly public way like  the family with this window?

The strangest Maundy Thursday...

...as a Church in lockdown sought to  honour these sacred days...

Caring for a very sick relative keeps one busy.

At 6.30pm, I tuned in, if that's the expression, to the on-line Mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood. It was somehow reassuring - the church was the same as ever, and one could even hear the trains rumbled past as they always do. The great crucifix above the high altar was of course draped in its Passiontide cloth.

As Mass began, the feeling changed...it was somehow just like being there...the Mass was real, and I was praying with it.

A powerful moment: usually, at the Chrism Mass, all the priests of the diocese reaffirm their ordination promises, and a great roar of men's voices fills the packed Cathedral. This Holy Week, none of that was possible. Each priest was asked to reaffirm his promises at the Holy Thursday Mass.  So there was this one, clear, firm voice, in the empty church, stating his name and making those solemn promises with conviction and clarity, and it was extraordinarily moving.

A man of honour....

Innocent  Cardinal George Pell has released this statement 

I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice.
This has been remedied today with the High Court's unanimous decision.
I look forward to reading the judgment and reasons for the decision in detail.
I hold no ill will toward my accuser, I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough.
However my trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church.
The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not.
The only basis for long term healing is truth and the only basis for justice is truth, because justice means truth for all.
A special thanks for all the prayers and thousands of letters of support.
I want to thank in particular my family for their love and support and what they had to go through; my small team of advisors; those who spoke up for me and suffered as a result; and all my friends and supporters here and overseas.
Also my deepest thanks and gratitude to my entire legal team for their unwavering resolve to see justice prevail, to throw light on manufactured obscurity and to reveal the truth.
Finally, I am aware of the current health crisis. I am praying for all those affected and our medical frontline personnel.
Cardinal George Pell

DEO GRATIAS

....Cardinal George Pell is free, his conviction overturned.

Thanks be to God.

Now the evil witch-hunt against him must be examined...


An innocent man has spent time in prison for a crime he could not possibly have committed.
Now the investigations must begin

In May, it will be 100 years...

...since the birth of St John Paul II, one of the greatest men of our era.

This film will commemorate him, and looks set to be well worth watching....

THE QUEEN...

...spoke to us this evening, and  was, as always, splendid.

If you didn't watch, you should You can do so here. 

She said she hoped that
"those who come after us will say that the Britons of this generation were as strong as any. That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country"

Talking on a Catholic radio station in the USA....

....from lockdown London....one of life's surreal experiences. I did it last night, at 10pm, on Ave Maria Radio....talking about the re-dedication of England to Our Lady, its history and significance...

Working on the May/June issue of FAITH magazine...if you'd like a sample copy of the magazine (March/April issue)  email me at faithmagazine0@gmail.com

And reorganising various projects for schools, working out ways of enabling children to take part while schools are not open...

And, during long evenings, posting out to clergy across the dioceses of Westminster and Southwark, our annual "Thank you" cards, which would normally have been given out at the Chrism Masses.

Meanwhile, looking beyond the lockdown, and clinging to Prince Charles' words about this thing some day being over,  making some plans for the Autumn...

A piece of history will be slotted into place...

...this Sunday, when an initiative of King Richard II is renewed, at a particularly strange and difficult time in England....

Read here....

and join in...

In the classic WWII film....

...Mrs Miniver, which we watched again the other day, a child asks, as the "all clear" sounds following that first air-raid alarm: "Is the war over now?"
"No, dear" his mother answers "This is only the first day".

SUNDAY in lockdown...

...begins with MASS, live-streamed from Walsingham.   Recommended. 9.30am daily.

Then prayers with next-door neighbours - all keeping the right distance from one another. A lovely Evangelical family. We each chose a psalm - mine was "The Lord is my shepherd".

This afternoon a walk  - meeting some friends but again keeping distance.  Hot coffee and delicious cakes from a German takeaway coffee-shop, eaten on a breezy corner - no eating inside allowed, and everything done at a distance, but very, very much enjoyed.

Bright spring sunshine, and daffodils everywhere.  Yesterday, on a walk along the river at Kingston with a friend, we dropped in to the ancient parish church, where people have worshipped for over a thousand years. It's where our Saxon kings were crowned...and where my father's Regimental colours hang in the regimental chapel. A plaque on the wall recalls the ceremony. I remember it v. well...

For future walks, all all cafes etc have to close, even takeaways, I'll use the excellent backpack picnic set given us by friends for our Silver Wedding some years ago - huge thanks to Alenka and John! - packed with a thermos of coffee and some sandwiches and buns...

Back home for our 6pm rendezvous with neighbours, all greeting one another out in the road. Mood so far is cheery, and everyone is being wonderful...and people boost each other, breaking the sense of isolation.   But, as I returned to the house, I thought of long weeks ahead with  a sense of  the weird unreality to everything.

ONE IDEA....

....organised with a neighbour. We're putting a note through everyone's door suggesting that at 6pm every day, we go to the front of our homes and call out and wave to each other. At least that way we can keep in touch and in addition to greetings people can call out for  help etc...or even break into song, or call out jokes, if that would help!

We are small houses, all terraced, so at least there could be a neighbourly feeling, even if we can't go into one another's homes or hang around chatting properly.

These are neighbours to whom I give jars of home-made jam each summer, and with whom I've celebrated street parties for the Queen's jubilees, and who greet each other and linger to talk on summer evenings coming to and from the shops or the bus....perhaps in this enforced stay-at-home period, we can at least cheer and boost each other....

....and so into grim coronavirus-time...

...on Monday evening I gave a talk at Holy Ghost parish in Balham, about St John Paul. We all obeyed the rules and sat some distance apart. It is a church with which I have many links: I wrote the parish history at the start of this century, a project I very much enjoyed. The parish priest, Fr Richard Whinder, is a good friend, the church looks very beautiful at present, and the parish is thriving. It felt bittersweet to walk home at the end of a lovely evening, and to know that all such pleasant gatherings will shortly be banned.

And so it has come to pass: I spent today answering email after email announcing the cancellation of various talks, events, and conferences. A Women's Institute in Surrey, a St John Paul conference in Scotland, a lecture about St John Henry Newman...and all sorts of get-togethers connected with different projects. The Schools Bible Project will be affected: few schools will be thinking about such things at present but simply dealing with special arrangements for exams etc as closures are planned. The LOGS project for primary schools will also fade away...and with it our planned cheery afternoons of reading the entries and packing and posting the prizes. And of course the launch of my book on the history of St Mary's University has been postponed. We must hope things return to something approaching normality in the Autumn....but....

But the worst thing about this crisis is not being able to do anything useful. Cancelling everything wouldn't be so bad if we were all busy out scrubbing down bus shelters or collecting litter from the streets, or something. The really horrible thing is being told to go home and do nothing. Of course we have contacted elderly neighbours to ensure help with shopping etc...but we can't offer to sit with them or have a big neighbourly gathering to cheer us all up...it all horrible.

The bogus propaganda about so-called...

..."International women's day" is simply horrible. It was invented in the Soviet Union in the 1930s - to tell lies about Soviet life when women  and their children were being starved to death in Soviet-dominated Ukraine,  when labour camps were established for women to be in forced-labour in mines and factories - and today is being imposed on us here in Britain by unelected lobbyists using public funds. Read here...

A wonderful walk with children...

...across London Bridge, learning the story of St Olaf, and the Viking  battle, and finishing at The Monument with the story of the Great Fire...and the song...

Want to join in the fun of this sort of thing?

COME ON A CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK!!!

Lots of Walks planned for March.  Read here...

Well, it was quite amusing, wasn't it?

There had been quite a lot of plotting....much  internet  chatter...preparation, one suspects, of joint letters of indignation with hints of  necessary schism...emails and phone calls and texts and worry... slightly gleeful anticipation of exciting times with stand-offs and so on.

And in the end the Pope affirmed orthodox Catholic teaching and the noises wafted away and became silent.  So it was all a bit disappointing, perhaps, for some. Some wistful hopes among Lefebvrists  who had half-believed in renewed zeal for schismatic opportunities? All gone.

Worth reading Pope Francis' Exhortation  Querida Amazonia.   And this commentary is useful.   But there will be plenty of people who are  unhappy,  both among those who think the Church can have priestesses, and those whose dislike of the Pope is so deep-rooted that it will be annoying to discover that they can't justify it with his latest action.

There's still the German bishops and their synodical aspirations to come, which won't be enjoyable.  They are being very tiresome,  and will achieve nothing useful.

Meanwhile the real tasks are to worship God (and give him thanks, as with Humanae Vitae), to evangelise, and to help the poor.

Affirming traditional Catholic teaching....

...who said this?

This summons us to broaden our vision, lest we restrict our understanding of the Church to her functional structures. Such a reductionism would lead us to believe that women would be granted a greater status and participation in the Church only if they were admitted to Holy Orders. But that approach would in fact narrow our vision; it would lead us to clericalize women, diminish the great value of what they have already accomplished, and subtly make their indispensable contribution less effective.

 Jesus Christ appears as the Spouse of the community that celebrates the Eucharist through the figure of a man who presides as a sign of the one Priest. This dialogue between the Spouse and his Bride, which arises in adoration and sanctifies the community, should not trap us in partial conceptions of power in the Church. The Lord chose to reveal his power and his love through two human faces: the face of his divine Son made man and the face of a creature, a woman, Mary. Women make their contribution to the Church in a way that is properly theirs, by making present the tender strength of Mary, the Mother. As a result, we do not limit ourselves to a functional approach, but enter instead into the inmost structure of the Church.

When the Church of England...

....issued guidelines stating that marriage between a man and a woman was the only proper place for sexual union, I thought "Well, at least they've made the right stand, at last!"

But no. Poor Dr Justin Welby and his counterpart of York have now apologised for the statement and announced that the CofE is still...er...finding its way forward. Or something.

Oh dear.

Have you signed this petition?

It's important...a matter of freedom

https://www.change.org/p/itv-get-alastair-stewart-reinstated-back-on-itv

The Candlemas lantern-lit Walk across London Bridge...

was a great success...a cheery group and we finished at St John Henry Newman's birthplace, round at the back of the Bank of England.

DO COME on one of the next HISTORY WALKS...

Friday 21st February 2020 NEWMAN WALK:  to mark the Birthday of St John Henry Newman. 

We will walk to Newman's birthplace near the Bank of England. 

5.00 pm at the Newman Shrine, Church of the Most Precious Blood, OMeara Street London SE1 1TE 

Nearest tube: LONDON BRIDGE  

Saturday 22nd February  LONDON BRIDGE:  Viking battles, and the City.    HALF TERM SPECIAL 

Families specially welcome,  this walk includes information and fun for any children who come along.

2.00 pm,  Church of Our Lady of La Salette and St Joseph,  Melior Street, London SE1 3QP 

Nearest tube: LONDON BRIDGE 

MARCH

FRIDAY March 13th, 11am (note time, there is Mass at 10am) St Elizabeth's RC Church, The Vineyard, Richmond. Nearest tube and main line train RICHMOND.  We will explore the Old Palace (Henry VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I) and then walk along the river to St John Henry Newman's family home at Ham

SUNDAY March 15th, 3.30pm at St John the Divine, Islington, London N1 (nearest tube ANGEL). We will learn about the ancient shrine of Our Lady of the Oak, and a modern Catholic heroine.

Thursday March 19th, 7.30pm at Ham Library. A lecture on St John Henry Newman, organised by the Ham amenities society. Nearest stations RICHMOND or KINGSTON, then 65 bus. Check map for details. All welcome. Admission £3.00p

SUNDAY March 22nd. 3.30pm History Walk RICHMOND. Meet St Elzabeth's RC Church, Richmond

MONDAY March 30th, 6.30pm (after 5.30pm Mass) meet steps of Westminster Cathedral.  We will explore Westminster, the Abbey, Parliament etc.

STAND UP TO THE BULLIES....

...who are trying to impose beliefs, Soviet-style. Read here...

...and there are HISTORY WALKS....

...through February and into March, with a special one for families at half-term, focusing on London Bridge and the Viking battle....


Read here: HISTORY WALKS

NEXT HISTORY WALK...

...is on

TUESDAY JANUARY 14th, starts 3pm, steps of WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL.

Come and join us!!

Hic est consilium meum...

de  eventorum:

Praeses Americae  debere conari ut attingamus in virtute prudentiae 

And today...

... more Epiphany celebrations, with a  traditional London Tea, hosted by Stephen de la Bedoyere - longtime friend and wonderful worker for many good causes. We had mince pies, and  a delicious Galette, with a silver sixpence for the King.. We had each been asked to bring something amusing or poignant to read or recite. John Pontifex - who works for Aid to the Church in Need and has his own share of adventures to tell - had recently rediscovered the wartime diary of an uncle who served as a chaplain with the Army in France and was killed at Dunkirk...moving and powerful.

The tea party was in a flat high over South London and talk turned to local history. A book A Parish in wartime has been produced by St Anselm's, Tooting Bec and on the way home I dropped in to the church to get a copy. It's fascinating - warmly recommended.

Traditional...

...Twelfth Night celebrations with Polish friends, hosted by Gosia Bryzinska and family. Gosia is a talented writer and also an artist -  her lovely sketches illustrate my book on Newman's London.. Delicious food (barsch, bigos, a buffet of cheeses and pate and salads...).  The sharing of the oplatek with hugs and blessings all round. The Fourth King was chosen via a tray of gingerbread covered with silver sugar: whoever got the Star was the King and was duly crowned, and a box went round for charity which the King will send to Aid to the Church in Need.  And  we sang carols. By turn Polish and English, with young voices providing descants, and some really glorious music soaring.... It was absolutely wonderful - the cosy room, people seated on sofas or chairs or the floor, candles glowing, wine and coffee going the rounds...joy.

AND IT'S STILL CHRISTMAS....

...so come and celebrate on Monday January 6th at 6pm  with a lantern-lit Walk a cross London Bridge.

Meet 6pm at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, Omeara Street, London SE1. Nearest tube: BOROUGH or LONDON BRIDGE.

We'll have a couple of lanterns - or bring your own!

We'll sing an Epiphany hymn as we begin, and on the way we'll hear about the history of the Bridge (Romans, Saxons, an important Viking battle, St Olaf, the Great Fire, and more...).

All welcome - no need to book, just turn up!!

We invite a modest donation for these History Walks, but this is a special Epiphany Walk...just come and join in!

LONDON ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT, 2019...

...and  after Midnight Mass at a much-loved church  I walked back along the Thames with a lantern, singing Christmas hymns and carols, from London Bridge to Tower Bridge,  the river glittering alongside, and HMS Belfast looming sturdily up in the dark. Very few people about and all the places  familiar to me in the daytime ...the Borough Market and the streets around there - Clink Street and the Borough High Street and Tooley Street - were almost deserted  although there were some small groups of revellers, one or two lone folk hurrying, a watchman in a lit-up office, with whom  a "Merry Christmas" was exchanged. The accoustics under railway bridges are magnificent: it felt strange to be singing alone beneath arches where I have often sung with parish processions.

And so finally along Tower Bridge Road and to our room in our Christmas  hideaway.. .

...and there is a report...

...of our carol-singing here...

GOD BLESS THE PRINCE OF WALES!!

He has recorded a special Christmas message for persecuted Christians....you can listen to it here.

And thank God for the splendid international charity Aid to the Church in Need, and its message of hope and freedom for all.

Traditional...

...carol-singing. First at a care home for elderly people: great fun and in a cheery atmosphere.  This was with LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group. We were received with warmth: freshly-brewed coffee, lovely chocolate cake, and cheery chat as the residents were gathered together. There was some joking about our name, and what the initials stood for: one chap decided it was Ladies On Gin.  Lots of enthusiasm and and carols went well. We'll be back - there's a plan for us to return for a further singing session, with old songs that stir memories and have stories....a plan for the New Year....

Then the following day, with a group organised by a splendid friend, around the wards of a big London hospital. It brings everyone together: staff and patients joining in, elderly patients remembering tunes that echo from their childhood, and everyone in a spirit of goodwill. Incidentally, it's a myth that our traditional Christ mas carols offend people of non-Christian faiths: one of the nicest moments was a group of Moslem ladies clapping and tapping their feet in time with the words...

Carol singing is one of the things I most enjoy at Christmas.

What were the best books you read in 2019?

...it was a joy to be invited to list mine.  You can read all about them here.

Have you heard of GUCA?

It's the Glasgow University Catholic Association and they are running a series of talks on "The Pen is mightier than the Sword". I'm due to speak there on the topic of CS Lewis on Jan 30th and am v. much looking forward to it...

CHRISTMAS IS IN THE AIR...

...come on a Candlelit History Walk in London.

Meet:

3pm Wednesday December 18th, steps of Westminster Cathedral

6pm main door of the Church of the Precious Blood, 6pm Monday January 6th 2020

TRADITION DICTATES....

...that the first thing that must be done when the results of an election are announced, is that the person whose party can command a clear majority in the House of Commons should go to the Queen, who will invite him to form a government. It was with relief, rather than any other emotion,  that many of us watched Boris Johnson make that journey, and return to applause at Downing Street.

I am actually appalled that the Labour party managed to garner as many votes as it did, given the horrible anti-semitic message that had become central to its ideological stance, together  its commitment to the Leninist views of the rich bossy people who are now in charge of its policies. It's worrying that numbers of people would vote for all of that...and it cannot be that they were wholly ignorant, as it has all been widely discussed on-line, on TV, and so on. And as for the commitment of both Labour and the Liberals-Dems to advancing the proliferation of abortion...why would anyone want that? Surely there is at least a human recognition that abortion is a ghastly thing to do...there should be common ground that even it is considered acceptable (and I don't accept it), this could only be for the most limited of reasons. The present law is horrible enough:  the notion of positively encouraging abortion is surely one of the weirdest and nastiest any politician could offer..

Advent...

...and on every Advent Sunday this year we have Evensong and Benediction here. Absolutely beautiful...today, as last week, I lit my lantern from one of the votive lights before the shrine of St John Henry Newman, and walked across the bridge to get the train home. London on a cold but clear winter evening is glorious, and if you walk with a lantern people smile and sometimes make a comment like   "how lovely!".

This evening I shared the walk with a friend as far as Cannon Street station, talking about London, and the election, and our country...

I was at London Bridge today...

...for the lunchtime Mass here,  chatted for a bit in the Rectory office, and then  went for a sandwich.  On opening the door into the street - drama!  Helicopters overhead, clattering loudly....police sirens wailing...people hurrying...some one told me to get into shelter quickly... so without delay I headed for my usual cafe...

At the Pret a Manger in the Borough High Street, information coming in, and a sudden request - "We have to lock the doors. If you want to leave - do so now, but the way towards the bridge is closed...."  Apparently  there was  police concern that the terrorists - by now everyone was talking about a terrorist attack - might be trying to make a getaway down the street. The young staff were excellent. They served us all free tea and coffee - wouldn't take any money for my lunch either - and while obviously excited by what was happening in the street outside, remained calm and organised.  Of course, like lots of other people I took to my laptop to find out what was going on. "Oh, it probably isn't a terrorist attack" I said "it's just another of these ghastly fights...gangs..."  But no: it turns out it was indeed terrorists, and as the drama unfolded I was drinking tea and finishing emails ... while the young staff went from table to table asking if we were all right.

No Tube at London Bridge, so  in due course I made my way home via Waterloo. No sense of panic as dusk fell...commuter crowds seemed as usual, and if terrorists are trying to make Londoners freak out they aren't succeeding so far. The Prime Minister  struck the right note in his statement...

and Red Wednesday really was a powerful experience...

...in London, with great public buildings buildings (notably the Foreign and Commonwealth Office  in Whitehall ), lit up, and a kilted piper  playing a lament leading a procession up the aisle of Westminster Cathedral  with a great heavy wooden Cross carried by a team from Aid to the Church in Need.  Govt spokesman noted that 80 per cent of the people in the world being persecuted for their faith are Christians..  The prayers and messages also reflected the importance of religious freedom for all.  A powerful speech from a leading Jewish spokesman, who as a child was one of the last Jews in Baghdad, forced with his family to leave a city where a large Jewish community had thrived for centuries along with people of other religions and none...

The Cathedral was packed, and there was  music from the Schola of the Cardinal Vaughan School, and from pupils from St John Bosco Academy...and prayers and readings....and more...and a final Blessing given by Fr Dominic, chaplain to ACN... an evening to remember.

Reports here...and here...

...and a newer tradition...

...will be honoured in London today: RED WEDNESDAY.,  honouring religious freedom.Come and join in!  Come and make a stand for faith and freedom. Follow that link for more info...

The traditional Mass...

...and Dinner to mark the Feast Day of St Mary's University is on Dec 9th, as the Univ. is under the patronage of  Mary in her Immaculate Conception. Having spent much of the past two years researching and writing the history, I think I will find it  be rather moving to be attending this Mass and celebrations. The Univ was founded as St Mary's College in 1850 - next year, 2020, marks its 170th anniversary...

Today's young students, gathering in the chapel,  doing the readings and singing in the choir, hearing about the College's  story, celebrating over a formal meal, are in a great tradition...especially those who are training to be teachers, as the College was founded precisely for that.  In the unimaginably different world of Victoria's reign, the College pioneered teacher-training for men (there were already colleges for women) and was turning out teachers who ran popular schools and brought education to some of the poorest children in the land... decades before state education began.Without the schools run and funded by the Church, the poor would have had no schools at all. The Church still runs some of the best and most popular schools in Britain.  The National Secular Society has never run any schools  - or indeed hospitals, care homes, clinics, holiday schemes, youth clubs, or anything else - for anyone. Remember that, when they demand a ban on the Church's schools.

Chelsea...

...rather attractive in the dusk of a November afternoon, and a cheery History Walk with a friendly group. We ended up at Allen Hall, and a warm greeting from the Rector....

On to Birmingham by train...to Maryvale where I was to lecture as part of the BA (Div) course. Another warm welcome, a sense of belonging...and then followed a tiring but immensely enjoyable weekend, with lectures and discussion and more...

One is woken in the morning by the gentle sound of the Brigettine Sisters singing their morning prayers: the chapel is just beneath the bedroom area where I sleep. Mass will follow in half an hour, and there is just time to wash and dress etc...then a good breakfast. They used to have instant coffee but much pleading and the acquisition of a cafetiere have resulted in good coffee as we gather at the breakfast tables...

Letters and notes from St John Henry Newman are on display in the hall, and there was of  course a large Maryvale presence at the canonisation in Rome...

The Birmingham that JHN knew has of course largely vanished beneath concrete and steel. The city is, alas, in general very ugly and especially so in the case of the area around New Street station with the odd "steel bubble-wrap" building looming in a vaguely menacing way. A bus ride away,    Maryvale still holds its atmosphere along with its lawns and reassuring trees - an odd, comfortable, solid old house with its sloping stairs and hidden chapel and its own special chapters of English history...

A return...

...to my old school, which despite many changes is in its essence so much the school I knew...

The beautiful Queen Anne mansion, approached across the frosty playing-fields. Did we really appreciate being in such a lovely setting? Actually, I think we did...and that's partly why I carried away many good memories...

The girls today wear a much nicer uniform - sort of tartan-pattern skirts, worn rather long. I am sure they all moan about them, but they look much nicer than we did in our brown mini-skirts.

The school is vast now, well over 1,000 pupils. Huge new science labs etc. Lots of hi-tech equipment. Vast new hall where the old dining-room used to be.  The  new hall is named after the foundress of the Order that established the school, and there is a statue of her outside...we didn't hear much about her in our day, but she's now much honoured as her role in history is increasingly recognised...

Spoke about St John Paul. The girls knew about the Cold War, USSR cruel domination of Eastern Europe etc  but the name Soldarity didn't mean much to them....it felt strange talking about the adventures of those days, taking  books and materials into Poland for Solidarity activists etc...it doesn't really seem so long ago but of course to them it is as remote as WWII was to us, or even more so...

On to London by train....committee meeting to review the Catholic Women Praying Together event and to plan for 2020...

...and after an overnight journey on the Caledonian sleeper...

...another History Walk at Westminster. We walked from Westminster Cathedral  exploring the story of Horseferry Road, the Greencoat and Greycoat and Blewcoat schools,  Mary Sumner House, the Church Union, and more...(and if you want to know about any or all of these, book in for a History Walk in due course! We are now planning Walks for the New Year...).

We finished at the crosses and wreaths in the Garden of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, the scarlet poppies bright against the showers of golden and russet leaves, and just as I finished the Walk and we were all shaking hands and so on,  the glorious bells began to peal out,  adding their own message to the  London Autumn day...

TO GLASGOW...

...for a meeting re FAITH magazine. Always great to connect with the beautiful work being done  by the Sisters of the Gospel of Life.

The day finished with an invitation to a magnificent ice-hockey match. It began with a passionate singing of  what was announced as the  Scottish national anthem.  Written in the 70s, but with older echoes,  it  carries deep resonances - Battle of Flodden etc...

An Act of Remembrance...

...yesterday at the University where I have spent the past two years as Visiting Research Fellow. A goodish number of staff and students gathered, and the service was traditional, reverent, and moving. It is sad to see that large numbers of young people do not know the Lord's Prayer -  or perhaps are shy and uncertain about saying it -  and are unfamiliar with traditional hymns.  But there was solemnity, silence, and  - attendance at such events being voluntary - something touching about the gathering.

With ecumenical goodwill...

...and in a spirit of real friendship and co-operation, the Schools Bible Project has thrived for 30 years. In a couple of weeks' time we will have our 2019 Prizegiving, with pupils from schools across Britain arriving at WESTMINSTER ABBEY to receive their prizes for essays on  New Testament themes. The  project is simple: pupils are invited to imagine themselves present at a major event in the life of Christ - we offer a choice of six events, including some of his great miracles etc - and to write about it. Some choose to be, for example, a bridesmaid at the Wedding at Cana, or a Roman soldier  at the Crucifixion, or one of the Apostles during the storm at sea. They can invent a character  or be some one who is actually recorded in the Scriptures as being present. The aim is simply to offer the opportunity to encounter Christ and to understand the significance of it all. The Project fulfils the requirements of the standard RE curriculum, and  has proved popular with pupils and teachers alike.

Preparing the arrangements for the 2019 prizegiving, my mind goes back to the very first,  with the then-chairman of the whole venture, Bishop Maurice Wood, the retired  Anglican bishop of Norwich...I remember him reading from his pocket New Testament, a battered volume which he had carried with him on the Normandy landings...and I remember, too, a splendid Tea given to us all at the headquarters of the Salvation Army at a later prizegiving, and the gentle, thoughtful words of Cardinal Basil Hume at Archbishops House in Westminster on a further occasion, and the wonderful welcome at Lambeth Palace with Dr George Carey...

The project is open to all secondary school pupils in Britain, and a brochure goes to every school. More info here...

GREAT CELEBRATIONS...

...to mark the 10th anniversary of Anglicanorum Coetibus,  the call  to groups of Anglicans to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. Cardinal Vincent Nichols preached at a splendid Mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood at The Borough, London Bridge, and you can see it all in pictures here...

....and a Mass to launch....

...the new initiative Catholic Women Praying Together.   This has grown out of the splendid Catholic Women of the Year event which reached its Golden Jubilee last year. All the main Catholic women's groups - Union of Catholic Mothers, Catholic Women's League, Assn of Catholic Women, LOGS etc - are represented on the committee and it was agreed to have an annual Mass, the inaugural theme being prayer for our young people. With so many young people in our country losing their lives and their happiness through drugs, knife crime, suicide and addiction to social media etc, we felt that one thing we could do was to pray together. Mass was celebrated at London's Farm Street church  by Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and there was glorious singing from the choir of Coloma Girls School.  Their young voices were so beautiful: many of the older ladies were moved to tears.

A  talkative lunch afterwards in Farm Street's panelled parish hall - familiar to me as the current home of the Catholic Writers' Guild. Each member of the choir was given a bag with a holy card and a medal.  We had a raffle and funds raised will go youth projects run by the Salesians.

Chairman of the event, Anne Emblem of the UCM is to be warmly congratulated for taking on the running of this major new project.  We have a committee meeting next week to evaluate it and plan ahead. I think this is a venture which holds real promise...

Graduation...

...of students at the Maryvale Institute. The traditional ceremony  at St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham. There is now a sense of familiarity as I walk in the academic procession. The teaching staff come from a variety of universities and I enjoy wearing my Challoner-rose MA hood from St Mary's, Twickenham.   There is a special joy at Maryvale this year  because of  St John Henry Newman's canonisation:  Maryvale was his home after leaving Littlemore, and it was he who gave the house its name...

The graduation  ceremony concludes, as usual, with Vespers, led by Fr Guy Nichols Cong.Orat.  and we sing Newman's Praise to the Holiest  with the music surging up to the  great gothic arches

EVERY YEAR....

....the Schools Bible Project organised by Christian Projects, of which I am Chairman, invites the young authors of the best essays to a prizegiving in London, held at the Houses of Parliament. the prizes - books, and a cash prize for the schools - are presented by our Trustee, Baroness Cox. It's always a very happy day, with a tour of Parliament, and a happy gathering of the young people with their parents and teachers.

All was arranged for December 2nd....and then the General Election was announced, and the Chairman of Christian Projects had to reorganise things quickly. Parliament will close from this week. No events, no meetings, nothing happening in  the Palace of Westminster until the people have elected some new Members of Parliament and Her Majesty invites the leader of the majority group to Buckingham Palace and urges him to form a government...

What to do? All the invitations to the schools had gone out, everything was arranged.  I fled to Westminster Abbey, where the splendid team in the Education Office  rescued the situation. They organise wonderful tours for schools and will make this a very special day...

Then on  to Mary Sumner House nearby, owned by the Mothers' Union, which  has attractive meeting-rooms which can be rented out...

And so the annual prizegiving will happen as usual.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR....

....and I love rain and cold, and buses looking cheerful through the evening gloom, and the joy of everyday things that have sudden value in Autumn: mugs of tea, buttered toast, a house with a warm kitchen.

History Walks are satisfying: the Thames grey and surging, and sudden shafts of sunlight dappling the water. Come and join us!

CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS

Join in a Catholic History Walk!

Friday Nov 8th ISLINGTON: meet at St John's church, Duncan Terrace 3.30pm

Tues Nov 12th WESTMINSTER Meet on steps of Westminster Cathedral 3.30pm

Thurs Nov 14th WESTMINSTER Meet on steps of Westminster Cathedral 11am

Sun Nov 17th  ISLINGTON   meet St John's church, Duncan Terrace 3.30pm

Wed Nov 20th THE CITY Meet at The Monument  EC3R 8AF 3.30pm

Each Walk last about one and a half hours. More information:07495205568

-Suggested donation: £10.

---

The weekend...

...described below, with a wonderful Newman conference, began for me with a busy Friday. I  spent the afternoon helping to fold and pack letters for the Friends of the Ordinariate, inviting people to the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Ordinariate at the Church of the Most Precious Blood on November 9th. We were a cheery group of volunteers, enlivened by fresh brews of tea and lively conversation.

On to Euston station for the trip north, with enough time to check some emails and do some proof-correcting, using my laptop in a station bar,....and then as it got more and more crowded, and news began to spread, came a growing mood of dismay....the whole station was closed, no trains were running at all, because some people (???we don't know who, or why, or what happened to them) had been trespassing on the railway track some miles up, and so all journeys were cancelled.

A vast trail of refugees began to make its way to nearby Kings Cross/St Pancras, as some journeys could perhaps be made from there, depending on the destination. And so, after various delays and the inevitable difficulty of obtaining information (St Pancras also serves the Channel Tunnel so most notice-boards seemed to be directing people for trains to Paris) I found I could reach Stoke-on-Trent via Derby...thanks to a mobile 'phone I could contact my hosts who met me at a small station at a late hour, and all was well...

To a fascinating Newman conference...

...at Thornycroft Hall, with speakers  examining aspects of  St JHN's  message on education.  Paul Shrimpton spoke extremely  well on  the Idea of a University which he noted was published in 1873 and written some twenty years earlier, but remains "a defining text to this day". He emphasised that Newman saw university education not as the acquisition of knowledge but the cultivation of the mind", and that a university is a secular institution "yet partaking of a religious character".  Roy Peachey, a teacher at The Cedars School   spoke about Dorothy L. Sayers ' Lost Tools of Learning in which she showed how the Medieval trivium - grammar, dialectic, rhetoric - could and should be rediscovered today. He mentioned the "pedagogy of place" which echoes Newman's  emphasis on the genius loci  which hands on "a tradition, a bond of union, an ethical atmosphere". And Mrs Lynch \Kelly of St Martin's Academy  Stoke Goulding spoke about how to do it all: the school aims to teach  pupils "the best that has been thought and said" and that they are loved by their teachers and by God...

It was a wonderful weekend, as I stayed with old friends nearby...delicious meals,  long and lively conversations, the warm welcome of an old farmhouse.  Torrential rain flooded parts of some roads so we made our way out to Thornycroft on a roundabout route. The next day we walked muddy lanes in sparkling sunshine, water gurgling in streams alongside.  Sunday Mass at St Wulstan's church , Wolstanton, with a superb choir...

THE FEAST DAY OF ST JOHN PAUL THE GREAT ....

....and an evening of celebration.  Well attended and in a mood of great goodwill and friendship. We heard the story of St John Paul, and had readings from his poetry, by Sarah de Nordwall.  Delicious refreshments provided by LOGS, a good video  reflecting on John Paul's life...all with a great atmosphere...

Things finished late and agreeably, with prosecco and talk...

...and you can listen to Auntie talking about Newman....

....here:

and also in an interview  on Vatican Radio, translated into German for the German Service!  Here

MAGNIFICENT!!!!

...the only way to describe the canonisation of St John Henry Newman in Rome this past weekend....

HRH the Prince of Wales spoke beautifully  and wrote a splendid piece for the press....read here and follow it all here....

And read here ... and here....  with lots of beautiful pics...and watch here...and here...

...and there's more from EWTN here...

and more!!!!

Best report, in my view, is here....

...but there was also the superb Colloquium at the Angelicum, with speakers including George Weigel, Dr Tracey Rowland, Archbishop Bernard Longley....and a glorious Thanksgiving Mass with the Bishops and crowds of priests from across Britain...

...and the fun of being in Rome and waving the Union Jack and meeting friends everywhere...

...and this is beautiful....

...our beloved John Henry Newman is to be canonised in Rome this Sunday, and there is a joyous feeling as pilgrims from Britain begin to converge...

Meetings with friends over the past few days  have tended to conclude with "See you in Rome!".  After evening Mass at Westminster Cathedral I was hailed by a group of ladies with suitcases...they included Kathy Kelly, longstanding proprietor of  a popular London Catholic bookshop and a 2018  Catholic Woman of the Year... We all chatted excitedly - and I unearthed from my suitcase some  paper Union Jacks, which I  ordered this week from a flag shop, specifically to distribute to pilgrims to wave at the celebrations. I  handed these around to the group, and in return  they  gave me a splendid teeshirt with a picture of John Henry Newman on it!  So we are all set...

DO listen to this Vatican Radio broadcast! I won't spoil it by explaining why you may find it amusing...https://www.vaticannews.va/de/welt/news/2019-10/kirche-heiligsprechung-newman-interview.html

This is horrible...

...read here, and  keep praying for true justice.

Thinking about Britain and the future...

...can be rather sobering.


You may find this of interest....

An interview with VATICAN RADIO...

....about John Henry Newman.

Because I am old-fashioned  and don't have a new-style mobile phone with lots of gadgets on it, I contacted young relatives who are much more up to date, and who wisely have the right equipment for their busy lives. So it was in their cosy kitchen that I made use of What's App and was able to be interviewed from Rome, dog jumping around my feet, family info, artwork etc pinned on crowded notice-board...

My last visit  was to join in making jam with the blackberries and rosehips and elderberries of this year's hedgerow harvest. An odd 21st-century experience to be sitting at the same table, this time using the latest technology to broadcast to the world.

To Oscott....

....St Mary's College , for the launch of Fr Guy Nicholls' new book on John Henry Newman.  which sounds a wonderful read, and I am hugely looking forward to getting into it this evening...

Rev Deacon Stephen Morgan gave an excellent address to a large gathering in the rather fine hall at Oscott, and brought out Newman's understanding of the centrality of beauty in the transmission of the Faith. It was an inspiring day and a splendid start to the celebrations for Newman's canonisation.

Oscott is of course where Newman preached his "Second Spring" sermon. It was encouraging to be with such a good crowd, to be celebrating with Fr Guy, to meet so many friends - and make new ones - and to have that sense of unity and continuity with Newman...

There is too much dishonesty among left-wing media-types...

...over Brexit and related matters. Here is a good analysis of a particular example:


Read this...it's important

Newman and the Pope...

...and a very timely analysis of this is here...

Meanwhile, Prince Harry...

...is behaving rather badly. He is a Prince married a popular and beautiful actress, whose fame rested on TV work and much media interest. They live in enormous luxury and media coverage of their various meetings with the public has been hugely supportive and favourable. Of course much of what they do has a faint absurdity about it: flying at enormous expense with substantial staff to various places to tell people not to fly, and taking their own opinions very seriously indeed and so on. And we should be allowed to say so from time to time.  But that doesn't matter very much because the wider significance of royalty matters much more: it has been a stable and even sacred core of our country and our heritage over the centuries  and today unites us as nothing else could ever do.

The Prince's call for curbs on what newspapers are allowed to say is bad behaviour. He needs to think again. He and the Duchess should read this  and perhaps also this...and reflect on the reality of what our monarchy is all about. 

...for trenchant comment and useful analysis....

...of events in Britain, I tend to drop in to the Spectator Coffee House, with its fresh and thoughtfully brewed material.

MUCH recommended. It's a real discussion, not just lotsofpeoplewithnmoreorlessthesameviews. It opens up debate and discussion, challenges cliched opinion.

Come and give this excellent venture your support...

PRAYING FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

Catholic Women Praying Together 2019

A special Mass for Catholic women from across Britain, gathering to pray for the young people of our country.

Wednesday, November 6^th

11.30am

Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, London W1K 3AH.

Celebrant: Rt Rev Mgr Keith Newton, Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

With so many young people losing their lives and their happiness through violence, suicide, drugs or addictions to social media, Catholic women’s organisations have combined to organise this Mass and the opportunity to pray together. This initiative arose following the 50^th and final Catholic Women of the Year event which marked a long tradition of Catholic women gathering to seek ways to serve the common good.

ALL WELCOME. Mass open to all. Buffet lunch following: tickets £25 each from: Catholic women Praying Together, 8 Duloe Road, St Neots, Cambs PE19 8FQ. Email: aemblem@btinternet.com

Sponsored by: Association of Catholic Women, Catholic Women’s League, Life Ascending, Ladies Ordinariate Group, Union of Catholic Mothers

We had planned to walk along the Thames...

...but the Thames had already  made its own plans...and came flooding up over the towpath and harbour at Richmond to greet us.

It had retreated with the evening tide, but for this walk, organised with Fr Nicholas Schofield for his parishioners at St Michael's church, Uxbridge, we decided to be prudent and contented ourselves with  St Elizabeth's 18th century church,  the Tudor palace, a riverside walk  to the White Cross, tales of Henry VIII and the old friary, and a bus ride to Ham where we finished at Cardinal Newman's childhood home.  The rain fell in torrents! We were all drenched, despite brollies and rainwear...and it was a simply wonderful evening!  The laughter and the fun, the sense of solidarity, and the real delight of it all - and its absurdity - made it all a delight.

Just occasionally - and often it is exactly when you need it - there comes an unexpected joy, and a time of absurd enjoyment. This was one such....I arrived home soaked and the pleasure of a big mug of tea.  It all felt gloriously British and I loved every moment.

Come and share in your own adventure on a Catholic History Walk!

A cheery morning...

...at Coloma  Convent Girls' School, Croydon, where it was a pleasure to present the 2019 Catholic Young Writer Award.  The young writer's essay on the theme of "pilgrimage" will appear in the Jan/Feb issue of FAITH magazine.

The Award was launched some years ago by The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild, and is now run by the Catholic Union of Great Britain.  Coloma School has some 1,000 pupils and a good setting on the outskirts of Croydon, where the frankly ugly town gives way to pleasant tree-lined roads.  The girls look smart in their blue uniforms and there is a  pleasant sense of of welcome and of a bustling, well-ordered and happy community. Arriving in time for Assembly had meant an early start: it was grand to be welcomed with freshly-brewed tea, and we hugely enjoyed our visit.

HERE IS SOMETHING WORTHWHILE....

...and of real practical use for schools and for families.

The Values Foundation has produced excellent guidelines for schools for the new Relationships Education. You can read them -  and  download them to take to school governors meetings etc - here.

Enjoy discovering history...

...read here...

I have been thinking for some while...

...that the  European young people obsessed with the notion of the extinction of nature and the need to march about it are worryingly like the doomed Children's Crusade of long ago. They have been led into a weird religious fury and feel they must do something...and all the while, the adults feel that they cannot and should not stop them, even though it is apparent that what they are doing is all wrong.

It's not that the cause is wholly without merit - it's just that the religious fervour has been whipped up to create something that is out of all proportion to reality.

Oh dear. The legend of the Pied Piper....

Read here...

and here...

How appropriate...

...was today's Second Reading, at Mass, from St Paul's Epistle to Timothy:W"...first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone - petitions, intercessions, and thanksgiving - and especially for kings and others in authority..."

We are living in worrying times for the stability of our country and its institutions. Let's all remember the exhortation to pray.

The Catenians....

...are a delightful group and yesterday I had the pleasure of leading a group of them from SW London on a Catholic History Walk, starting at Westminster Cathedral. They are excellent company, and we had a good time.

COME ON A CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK!!!

A new round of Walks is just starting. The first is on Monday (Sept 23rd). Read all about them here

SAY NO TO ASSISTED SUICIDE, AND TO EUTHANASIA....

...says Pope Francis, with great emphasis.  And we must all back him.  The "culture of death"  is haunting the Western world. It's vile and terrible, and we must fight it...there is no need, either, to feel despondent about doing so. Life is precious, and people understand that. Medical advances in recent decades have been astonishing. We must not and will not turn away from that and reduce ourselves to nothing better than some ancient pagan culture. Thank God for Papa Francesco's words, and let's heed them.

Rushing...

...on a day that began with a trip to Kent to hand out prizes gained in the 2019 Schools Bible Project at St Columba's  Catholic Boys School. The trains were delayed and I only just made it to the Assembly: they were already gathered in the hall and listening to a Scripture reading. It is always a pleasure to visit this school, which has a well-organised, rather cheering air about it. The boys look smart in their uniforms, and gave generous applause as some of their number came up to receive their book prizes.

Then  off on another train journey, and a Tube to Ealing to this school, where I was due to give a talk about traditional feasts and seasons, how the calendar works,  and the origin of some of our pub signs, old songs, place-names and so on. Again, a warm welcome, and it was an enjoyable session, the children showing an interest and answering up eagerly when I asked questions...there is a fascination among all ages over things like London's forgotten rivers, or why our tax years runs from March to March, or about  a Tube station named from words in the Gospel of St Luke... An excellent lunch - schools meals are so much, MUCH better than in my own schooldays! - and good conversation with the teacher who had arranged this event, and all in a most cordial and happy atmosphere.

AND PUT THIS IN YOUR DIARY...

Celebrate the FEAST OF ST JOHN PAUL: October 22nd

6.30pm,  Parish Room, Church of the Most Precious Blood, London SE1 1TD

October 22nd 6.30pm

with the story of his life, readings from his poetry, discussion of his message

All welcome. Light refreshments. FREE: suggested donation £10.00p

organised by LOGS, the Ladies Ordinariate Group

A Dominican ordination...

...at Haverstock Hill.  A pilgrimage to the shrine of the Saxon princess St Edith - who rejected the crown of England to remain a nun, caring for the sick and poor -  at Kemsing in Kent. An evening with friends who gave me a lovely clematis plant named for St John Paul. And more...it's been a very busy few days.

With the political events of the past few days, I grow increasingly sympathetic to St Edith, rejecting the affairs of state to remain quietly and busily in rural Kent...

...and a warm welcome....

....followed by a wonderful, talkative, informative supper, at the Bruderhof in Peckham. I have visited some of their big rural communities in the USA and, more recently, here in Britain, and was intrigued to see how it could all work in an urban setting.

A  strong family base, with students living in too. |All have made a commitment to live in community, not owning anything . Clothing is bought for the community and they go to the general storekeeper to get something new when needed. Women wear their hair simply, usually with a headscarf tied on top. No make-up.Simple skirts and blouses of a common design in various colours and prints.

They publish a range of books, including material by and about Gerald Manley Hopkins, Dorothy L. Sayers, Hans and Sophie Scholl...info here...

Historically, in the Reformation era etc a - well, let's say tragic - relationship w. the Catholic Church. Friendship now, and notably with Benedict XVI......and read here too

Early Mass in Chelsea...

...at this church, where I met a colleague to sort and post the prizes for the annual schools RE Project organised by the Association of Catholic Women. We wrapped these a few weeks back and arranged to meet to post them when the new term started...

Note the date November 6th: a range of Catholic women's group have joined together to arrange a special Mass to pray for Britain's young people.  11.30am, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street London W1 3AH.   There is a buffet lunch afterwards. Info available - email  catholicwomenprayingtogether@gmail.com

In the evening, another History Walk. We met at The Monument, talked about the Great Fire, looked at some Wren and Hawksmore churches, visited John Henry Newman's birthplace.  Exploring history - we also took a look back at Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans as we walked across London Bridge and paused to enjoy the river in evening light - puts today's political events in perspective...

A long, lively and creative get-together...

...over lunch after Mass, with the team organising the next round of Catholic History Walks. We'll be running them on a new basis, with people booking themselves a place in advance via Eventbrite.  We're distributing leaflets widely too, and promoting the Walks in lots of new ways...This marks quite a big change,  but will also reach a great many more people...and a bigger range of people. Meanwhile, the current set of Walks is  starting tomorrow Tuesday Sept 3rd...come and join us! 6.30pm at The Monument tube station...we'll explore the City, the story of the Fire, discover some churches, and end at John Henry Newman's birthplace...

While we were meeting at London Bridge, people across the river were demonstrating against the Prime Minister. Even if I agreed with them, which I don't, I would be put off by their crude and nasty language, and especially by their viciousness. Actors seem to be the worst. One, among them, called Hugh Grant, who acts "posh chaps" in films, used a crude sexually explicit word in an on-line statement. He also claimed that people who fought in WWII would share his views.  Here I have an advantage over this young man. I was brought up by and among WWII veterans, and I knew some of them extremely well.I can assert confidently that they most emphatically did not share poor Mr G's  political opinions and would never have used such language even when roused to anger or indignation.

Piers Morgan...

...now a well-known TV figure, cut his journalistic teeth on the South London News as a junior reporter. I was on that newspaper at the time, having just returned from Berlin where my husband had been serving with his regiment...

It was a friendly team. I remember lots of office banter, and a cheery Shrove Tuesday when all the newsroom came to Bogle Towers for pancakes and wine and much talk and laughter...

Piers was an enthusiastic and energetic cub reporter, and we made him work hard, which seemed to do him good. Not a deep thinker but with humour and commonsense.   I have of course vaguely followed his career, and today  read this with interest.

Now it is time to watch...

...this rather important video.

Watch it and then ponder it.  Then  share it with others.

It is of great importance. For your understanding of freedom and justice.

Watch it here.

I always love...

...packing and posting the prizes for the annual Schools Bible Project, which we have run since 1989.  It's an ecumenical venture, with its origins in a group founded in the 1950s. In its present form the Project involves inviting pupils at secondary schools across Britain to encounter Christ in the New Testament and write essays. The main winners come to London for a prizegiving ceremony at Westminster, and there are a substantial number of runner-up book prizes. These currently include CS Lewis Mere Christianity, plus books by Corrie Ten Boom and Brother Andrew of "Bible smuggling" fame...

This year, despite having to work in the ghastly heat - London has felt like an oven all weekend and continues to do so - it was a happy day. We talk and reminisce, work hard, and have the satisfying task of staggering down the main road to the Post Office in the late afternoon heat with heavy parcels to be sent off to schools across Britain.  Hearty thanks to stalwarts Amanda and Mavis who really slaved away in the heat,  sorting, packing,  writing labels, wrapping, checking, and posting...the big John Paul Room at the parish centre has large windows and the sunlight poured in on to the mess of paper and sticky tape, jiffy-bags, envelopes, and  stacks of essays. We gulped water and brewed tea, took a brief break for a sandwich lunch and blessed the well-equipped parish kitchen with its fridge which had kept our food cool and the milk untainted...

The work continues tomorrow...

On justice, and evidence, and so on...

...read this.

LONDON WITH A GROUP OF YOUNG AMERICANS...

...on pilgrimage.  We had a special visit to the Tower of London, where St Thomas More's tomb is a place of prayer. A Beefeater gave us an excellent talk and showed us round the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. There was also time to view the Crown jewels...

At Westminster, we toured Parliament. Big Ben is still under wraps - even though we have all got used to this over the past months, it's still instinctive to look up to check the time when emerging from the Tube station...

We dropped in to Westminster Abbey to pray: there are now two icons there specifically for this purpose, with votive candles in front of each.  Then Mass at Warwick Street, celebrated by the chaplain of the group - strong voices making the responses, good singing -  and a cheery talkative fish-and-chip pub supper...

These young Americans are an encouraging lot, and with each new group each summer I get a boost and a sense of encouragement.

And the new season of History Walks is starting...

...so do come along.

Information here

FILMING A NEW TV SERIES....

...in rural Norfolk, under wide skies, occasionally criss-crossed with roaring RAF 'planes...

Preceded by further history research, earlier in the week, with a walk along the Thames....we went to this church, where Athelstan, the first king of the whole of England, was crowned. I knew the story, and have been familiar with the place for years, but had not actually been into the church since a ceremony when I was nine years old, when the Colours of my father's regiment were laid up there. It was strange to see the commemorative plaque, and to remember that day.

...and this is worth reading too....

....here...

...and a thoughtful piece, without anger or rhetoric, is here...

...and is well worth reading.

Read here.

The disgrace of a once-decent nation...

...Australia no longer has an independent, functioning legal system worthy of the name.

It is sickening.

The BBC, to its further disgrace, has been pushing same-sex marriage...

...on the once-delightful programme Songs of Praise which was begun in the 1960s and for decades was a popular feature, showing churches hosting gatherings to sing popular hymns.

I am sickened by this BBC using this to push  ssm - something so cruel and destructive, so contemptuous of the human person and human dignity. 

The Coalition for Marriage has issued a relevant statement - see below:

Same-sex marriage remains a highly contentious issue, especially for Christians and those of other faiths. Around 1 in 200 places of worship in England and Wales is registered to hold same-sex weddings. So that's 99.5% that aren't.

When it deals with controversial subjects, the BBC is supposed to “ensure a wide range of significant views and perspectives are given due weight and prominence”.

Yesterday’s Songs of Praise focused on faith and marriage, and celebrated same-sex marriage. Though the presenter briefly mentioned that some people disagree, air time was only given to those who endorse it.

Viewers were even told by one of the gay couple that those who don’t support same-sex marriage “just need to think about it, and they’ll get there one day”.

Will the BBC now allow the alternative view to be aired “in output of a similar type and weight and in an appropriate timeframe”? No, I don’t think so either.

...and London's river...

...on a golden day of wild breezes   A group of LOGS members went by one of London's classic river boats from Westminster to Richmond. This annual  Thames trip is always a joy - but might not continue if new regulations  currently being  presented  to Parliament are introduced. These would impose on the smaller, traditional boats a range of  impractical and extremely expensive alterations which would make it impossible for them to function.

These boats are magnificent, and  have a glorious heritage - one of them is in fact a Dunkirk "little ship" and all are of that style and tradition. They have an unbroken record of safety.  Will Parliament listen and reject the bureaucratic injustice that is being proposed?   More info here...

The big modern wide boats don't go as far as Richmond and Kew and Hampton Court - can't get through Richmond Lock - and in any case are nothing like a proper river experience: they are computerised and with recorded tourist tapes instead of a boatman just giving London history...

At Richmond over a talkative lunch we mulled over ideas and plans for next year's projects and initiatives...so much that could/should be done for children/lonely people/evangelisation...then while some headed back to London for an evening Mass, I headed for St Elizabeth's for the same purpose and a Catholic History Walk to follow.

And so home at a late hour, after a  beautiful Mass and glorious Walk...as darkness fell we were going along the path to Ham, and honouring John Henry Newman's memory, and finishing at a cheery pub.