Glory to God...

...in the highest...

and Christmas good wishes to my readers. Off to visit extended family in this holy season.

The Holy Father has spoken magnificently in his Christmas message: read here and, interestingly and supportively, here...

...and has been the subject of vile and vicious attacks by lobbyists for same-sex marriage, who badly need our prayers and love.

Pray for peace and goodwill for 2013.

Tradition and glorious music...

...at Westminster Cathedral, with the annual Carol Service. Magnificent. As the choir sang  "Away in a manger" and  "L'Adieu des bergers" I sat letting it all soak in...and my gaze went up into the great sky-like darkness of the rounded domes, and those huge cavernous galleries, vast and bleak above us on this winter's evening, contrasting with the glowing light and comfortably packed congregation below....I remembered that the Cathedral was built on the site of a prison in what was for many years a rather grim corner of Westminster, in an impoverished loop of the Thames out beyond the old horse-ferry.  Was suddenly visited by the thought of grim times to come, and facing possible imprisonment for the Faith. Dismissed the thought, but it wouldn't go away. Suppose we are told that  pronouncing some of the Church's basic moral teachings conflicts with socially-acceptable norms and is to be criminalised? How do such things start? Perhaps with some one being dismissed from his job for opposing ame-sex marriage? Something like that?

Afterwards, a cheery gathering over mulled wine and mince-pies in the Cathedral Hall, familiar to me from many a meeting and social gathering, and of course from the annual Towards Advent Festival. Lots and lots of people, lots of talk and noise, mulled wine being ladled out into good-sized vessels.

Afterwards, chat continued in the piazza, the big Papal flag and our country's Union Jack flapping lazily and damply in the December breeze as we exchanged Christmas greetings...

GOOD NEWS...

...a formal announcement today:

Archbishop Peter Smith has entrusted the pastoral care of the Precious Blood parish, Borough, to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Monsignor Keith Newton, in agreement with Archbishop Peter, is appointing Father Christopher Pearson as Priest in Charge with effect from 7th January 2013.

This  is cause for great rejoicing!

The South London Ordinariate has been worshipping at Precious Blood Church for the past several months, with weekly Evensong and Mass in addition to the Sunday liturgy, and is is a great, great joy that this fine church, right near London Bridge in an historic corner of London, will now be in the care of the Ordinariate and with Father Christopher as Priest in Charge. A new chapter of London's long Christian story now begins as the Ordinariate - bringing the Anglican patrimony into full communion with Rome and the worldwide Church - tackles its mission in this place with joy and dedication.

DEO GRATIAS!

A well- deserved...

...honour for Dan Cooper, dedicated teacher and leader of youth, strong supporter of the FAITH Movement, and stalwart defender of the Catholic Church. He has been awarded the Bene Merenti medal, presented to him in the chapel of the John Fisher School Purley, the school that he has served with such dedication over many years.

I met Dan this morning at Mass at Westminster Cathedral...where, incidentally, he features in the forthcoming (January) edition of OREMUS, the Cathedral magazine, pictured at the Towards Advent Festival where he ran the FAITH stall...

The Cathedral is always full for Sunday Masses, but as Christmas approached it is even fuller. A long, long queue of people for confession - all the extra chairs that had been set out were filled,and there were  people patiently standing...somehow this is a rather special and touching sign of the great reality of Christmas...

...and courage from a Bishop...

...
"This, we recognise, is our moment, our unique time to stand up for what is right and true as previous generations have done before us: to give witness to the value and dignity of every human life, to the truth of marriage as the lasting union of man and woman, the foundation of the family!" 

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury has issued an advance statement of the sermon he is to give in his Cathedral this coming Christmas night, from which the above is an extract.

Bishop Mark:  WE ARE ALL WITH YOU and will defend marriage: the lifelong  union of a man and a woman, the foundation of the family, in the year ahead , with full commitment, asking God for the courage and tenacity we need.

Wisdom from Pope and Rabbi...

...read here...

France will rally on Jan 13th to call for sanity and truth. Cardinal Vingt-Trois is joined by Jewish, Moslem, and non-religious leaders in calling for human dignity and the common good to be defended against the French govt's grim scheme to redefine marriage. The govt's supporters held a rally the other day which the media hyped up, but it seems likely that the defenders of matrimony will draw far higher numbers. But will the French govt listen? 

Here in Britain, the debate will heat up savagely in the early weeks of 2013. Keep up the campaign.

News...

...that Pope Paul VI has been named as "Venerable" the first step towards beatification and canonisation.

During the course of research for a new book, about Brigettine nuns who saved the lives of Jewish people during World War II,  Auntie was surprised to discover the quietly heroic work of young Monsignor Montini. He was the go-about man for the then Pope, Pius XII, in making secret arrangements for the hiding of Jewish people in convents and monasteries in Rome. This took courage: discovery could mean grisly consequences for all involved. The Nazis might have been squeamish about killing the Pope, given  the probable reaction in Italy and the world, but eliminating an obscure monsignor would not have brought them too many worries. Mgr Montini went in person to meet nuns and monks to make arrangements for the Jewish refugees - it wasn't something that could be done by letter or announced in a public broadcast.  It is an aspect of his life about which I would like to know more, because the story so far is interesting.

As Pope Paul VI, he continued in the tradition of his mentor Pius XII looking very formal and solemn in public - there are some pictures of him smiling, but not many (even fewer than poor Pius XII, who had very little to smile about during the years of WWII and its aftermath), which is a pity because apparently he was a man of good humour and was good company. One of his colleagues described him as "a Pope of joy" even when beset by troubles - and he had plenty of those in the tumultuous years of Vatican II and onwards. He gave us Humanae Vitae and the Credo of the People of God, for which he deserves our gratitude. The former is a clarion call of truth and will be hailed as such by history.  He agonised (I think the word is not too strong) over Communism and felt betrayed when having struggled to obtain concessions from the despots ruling Eastern Europe he found that they had no intention of keeping their word.(It took a magnificent  Polish Pope with a different aproach and a clear understanding of the reality of life in the Eastern bloc to change things, and the change was superb and dramatic and thrilling - but that's another story).

I became a fan of Paul VI after reading a vile attack on him by some  "traditionalist Catholics": it got me studying more about him and I found a good, holy priest whose love of God and the Church and human beings shone brightly, a Pope whose true story deserved telling. I am glad that this is now happening.

Tradition, tradition, tradition...

...Christmas is full of it. We gathered at a local residential home for the elderly. We sang carols. It was all delightful - and the singing was good as some of the group were members of the choir at St Elphege's in Wallington (the parish in which I grew up, and where I was married...). The residents and the staff and all of us, singing together with the Christmas tree glittering, and little golden lights around the Crib...and then a tray with Baileys and mince pies, before our little group set off to go from house to house along the road...

Wrapping up parcels here at home. Organising various family gatherings.

Off to Westminster Cathedral this afternoon to go to confession...amazingly, no queue...usually in Advent there is a long line of people waiting. Later, I went to evening Mass - this was in the Hall as the Cathedral was getting ready for a big carol service later. The Hall is a fine Edwardian building, and they erected an altar and did everything properly. The only odd thing was kneeling on the floor instead of having kneelers...numbers for Mass were good, despite people having to fight torrential rain as they scurried down Ambrosden Avenue...

Tomorrow I will be going to the funeral of Fr John Edwards SJ, a fine priest whose talks and conferences over the years helped so many of us...

Interesting news feature from Rome...Archbishop Muller says wise and good things ...

A rather emotional experience...

...going back to your old school to present prizes.

I have actually been back a good many times over the years, but it's still something very special...today I found myself in the beautiful school chapel, a place of many memories, and the girls were filing in, holding lighted candles, and the prizegiving began with a short carol service.

What can we tell them, the school-leavers of 2012, facing the world of the 21st century?  In so many ways, things among the pupils are much the same as in my schooldays, and in so many ways they aren't. Like them, my generation was obsessed with silly attempts to find secret places in which to smoke, and with complaints about the school uniform ( I remember girls making desperate attempts to turn up the hems of their skirts with Sellotape to make them into crucially-neccesary micro-miniskirts)...and yet we were proud to belong to St Philomena's, and so are today's Philomenians...

What was the most important message that I picked up at school? That there is a God, that we can know him and that he came to share in our human life and has a name and a face: Jesus Christ. And that St Philomena's School was connected with this great reality of God.

We are born for greatness. Life isn't about sex and shopping. We are here to know and love and serve God, who loved us first. And this love involves caring for other people , not putting ourselves first, and not being content with plastic slogans about "being all I can be" or "reaching for the stars" or other cliches of the current educational sloganisers.

Through a Catholic group, I was able to give  these school leavers copies  of the excellent YOUCAT, the Youth Catechism that Papa Benedict has produced for this generation. We didn't have anything like that, we didn't have World Youth Days or the grand example of John Paul, or the new style that he gave to the Church's message and ministry to youth.

I hope some of them read YOUCAT...oh, and I do hope that they listened when their head teacher told them that they will always be in the prayers of the school community, and that they were always welcome to come back if they wanted friendship or advice.  I hope that they find, as I have done, that it is a beautiful thing to have spent years in a happy school where the Faith really means something and where you learn values that are lasting...

WATCH...

...this video...

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor...

...has a superb message in today's press:

"In the run-up to the last election, David Cameron led us to believe that the strengthening of marriage as an institution was one of his important objectives; and the Conservative Party's manifesto, which made no mention of "gay marriage", included a proposed tax break for married couples. Nothing has been heard of the latter proposal, and instead of action to strengthen marriage we have the proposal to abandon the traditional understanding of marriage on the basis of a "consultation" which explicitly excluded the possibility of a negative result. Protestations that this is all fundamentally "conservative" ring a bit hollow. 

It is difficult not to wonder how far the Prime Minister is someone whose steadiness of purpose can be relied on" 

Just so.

"Dear Mr Cameron...

....I appreciate how politically difficult it can be to undertake a U-turn and to sustain the attendant criticism such would bring. But when it is a matter of the truth, and the reasons are cast-iron clear, a U-turn would be hailed by history only as brave and courageous. This is why, like a Thomas a Becket appealing to Henry II, I do not hesitate to ask you to consider doing what is the right and just thing to do"

Thus  Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, writing to the Prime Minister, on the Government's grim and ghastly plans to redfine marriage, to cause social misery and to threaten religious freedom. You can read the whole letter here.

The feast of St Thomas a Becket comes up soon, in this Christmas season.

Think again, Cameron.

This will be...

...a rather solemn Christmas. Britain is at a tragic and ghastly stage in history. We are dying: fewer children are being born than is neccessary to keep us alive as a nation.  A large number are killed every week as babies in the womb. The government is planning a scheme to redefine marrriage, forcing all public officials to pretend that two men or two women can marry, with penalties for anyone who points out that this is nonsense. The planned law will also threaten religious freedom, with huge implications.

The Catholic Church in Britain is surprisingly strong, given the social climate in which it lives, and Mass attendance figures this Christmas will reflect that. But in general Christianity in our country is not thriving and people increasingly have a sense that they are not allowed to express their Christian faith openly at work  or even in any public place.

Large numbers of children will not spend Christmas with their natural parents. Large numbers of grandparents will not see their grandchildren this Christmas or at any other time during the coming year. Divorce, cohabitation, and the normalising of casual sexual encounters have combined to cause a range of social dislocations which have produced much human misery.

This will be a solemn Christmas.

Carol singing...

...brings enchanting moments. We - a  little troop of cheery Catholic ladies -  met at a tube station, and went from house to house in Chelsea. At one house, the whole family came to the door to listen, and the young mother told us with pride that the little boy had sung the solo "Once in Royal David's city" at his school carol service a  few days earlier. We asked if he might sing it for us. And, after a bit of shyness, he agreed, and  there, on the doorstep, he sang, his clear voice ringing out in perfect tune on to the night air...it was beautiful, enchanting...and as he finished that first verse, we took it up, and all of us together sang the next...

Oh, dear. Auntie finds that moments like that get her all gulpy.

It was a wonderful evening. We sang at house after house, and when we finally had to call a halt from sheer exhaustion, we found ourselves in the Kings Road, and headed for Sloane Square, where Peter Jones was having late-night shopping, with the coffee-shop on the top floor still open. Ideal for a troop of aunties...soon we were settled with coffee and wine and cakes, and once settled we opened up the collecting-jars and counted up the funds we'd raised...over £160, and it will go to St Patrick's Open House to feed the homeless and lonely...

On Cameron's idiotic scheme..

..to redfine marriage, and in doing so to foster a ghastly mess....read this useful comment

A London Sunday...

...starting with Mass in Soho, followed by coffee and pastries in the crypt. A good mix of people there, smart-young-London mixing with just-passing-through, and lonely-and-needing-company, plus, on this occasion, Auntie-from-the-suburbs.  Auntie then indeed took the Tube to the  suburbs, and from there to a delightful lunch given by a wonderful lady who, among other things, offers hope and a home to recovering drug addicts, makes pottery, and supports Mother Teresa's nuns...

Later, and in a power-cut, to visit an elderly relative in a warm welcoming  care-home run by wonderful nuns and a team of  wonderful staff. The road was in darkness as I approached, and it felt strange: we are so used to street-lights and to the glow of electric light from every house.  Inside, the Home was full of good cheer: I sat and chatted with the  elderly relative over sherry by candlelight, while Sister made telephone calls to the Electricity Board or whatever it's called, staff led a group of residents singing, and everyone rather enjoyed themselves. "A bit like the Blitz, isn't it?" said another visitor chattily, and indeed the spirit of unity and coping together was strong and delightful - I think we were all a little sorry when the lights came on again.

Home by bus. Reading this book, which I have wanted to read ever since coming across an attempt to pour scorn on it. It is a good read: honest, refreshing, informative. Recommended.

Do you enjoy Auntie's blog?

...If so, you might enjoy some of her other writings. Try this one, just published...

Rain-washed...

...in Whitstable. This enchanting little town on the Channel coast is famous for its oysters, and even in driving December rain its bright  little shops and pleasant streets made it a joy to visit. I hadn't been expecting this: making plans to visit Fr Stephen Langridge at the new Vocations Centre for the diocese of Southwark I kept muttering about the inconvenience and the hassle of going all the way out of London. I was wrong. It was no hassle - train from Victoria, settled with some coffee and some correspondence, and a straight run through to Kent. And the new Vocations Centre is a welcoming place, all bright and attractive thanks to team efforts by young volunteers and generous gifts from various Southwark parishioners, and Fr Stephen showed me around with enthusiasm and quiet pride. It's also a busy place: see programme for the next months/year on the link given.

Southwark diocese is doing quite well for vocations to the priesthood at present - part of a general upward trend - but of course the Church needs more and more priests, and also dedicated religious Brothers and Sisters... and the key is not "recruitment" but evangelisation and helping young people to hear God's call and follow his call in life's great adventure.

I very much enjoyed my day: the Channel was grey and rainswept, the town cheery. Some of the buildings have a faintly French style, as happens along that stretch of the coast. There's a row going on at the moment as rents in the High Street may be raised, thus squeezing out local tradesmen, and that would be a ghastly blight as there are lots of real  shops and it would be so dreary to have them replaces with the usual battery of starbuckstescocaffenero.

Fr Stephen is busy,  but took time to catch up on news and views over lunch. A happy day. Train back to Victoria, quick cup of tea at the station, and then I joined a grand team from St Joseph's Roehampton, who were gathering on the main concourse to sing carols. It was magnificent!  We do it every year - three hearty cheers to Yvonne who organises it all - and this year it was somehow even better than ever before.  We have some lovely Sisters with musical instruments to lead us, and we sing and sing - the sound fills the whole station, right across the whole concourse, and the choir is a cheery sight as some don bright Santa Claus hats (Yvonne again) and we have proper carol sheets, and we are formed up properly as a choir  (not a bleak little embarrased circle, or a spread-out straggly group, which minimises the sound).  People stop and thank us, donate money, join in the singing, take photographs. We started at 5pm, and at 6 o'clock during a split-second break between one carol and the next, Father said "It's six o'clock - how about the Angelus?" and we said it all aloud, then and there...possibly the first time that this great prayer has been prayed aloud on one of Britain's main railway stations. Then we started singing again, and finished on the dot of 7pm when our allotted time was up (you have a licence, and wear badges etc). Then I asked Father if he's give us all a blessing, which he did, precided by a beautiful prayer, and finishing with a hearty "Praised be Jesus Christ!" and then Yvonne offered coffee and bikkies and there was chat and Christmas greetings and we'll all definitely be back again next year. "It's a highlight of my Christmas!" said one lady, and I agree.

I somehow sensed, this year, that there was an extra strength and meaning to our singing - people seemed especially grateful, there was noticeable enthusiasm when we sang the carols that have a "Gloria in excelsis" chorus, or when we sang other old favourites such as "O come all ye faithful" and "Away in a manger"...

I am the conductor - much vigour and waving of arms - and at one stage, I urged everyone on with "Let's dedicate this next carol as a prayer to defend marriage, and pray for David Cameron!" and this got 100% support and much enthusiasm.

Best yet...

I am grateful to a couple of correspondents for pointing me to this feature which is the best thing I have yet read on the subject of the Govt's plans to redefine marriage.

Spent part of this week in wintry rural England...

...visiting an elderly relative in Somerset, trundling by bus through enchanting villages, staying overnight in Taunton...at Minehead I dropped in to the local Catholic church to check times for Christmas Masses. A good number of people there for a  weekday Mass, which was just finishing. The kind priest approached me after Mass, having seen that I had arrived late and missed it, and arranged for me to recieve Communion...it was extraordinarily moving to kneel there at the altar rail in the quiet church as he went to the Tabernacle and then led the prayers ending with the "Lord, I am not worthy...." Suddenly, overwhelmingly, I had a memory of my 1st Communion, years and years and years ago...

A day of family talk, some Christmas shopping and wrapping and labelling of gifts. Exmoor villages in December twilight, with glowing windows. A late, long journey back to London on a bus whizzing along the motorway in darkness. Sad thoughts about Britain...the tenacious nation now threatened with the tearing apart of its family and social bonds: latest statistics published this week show that half of households are not based on marriage, vast numbers of teenagers do not live with their parents, cohabitation increasingly regarded as the norm, cohabiting couples rarely stay together for life or even for half a lifetime. Christianity is still (just) the religion with which a (slim) majority of people identify, but there has been a steep and massive increase in people who affirm that they have no religious belief at all, and numbers of adherents to Islam growing swiftly and substantially.

Prayed, using the lovely prayers in Magnificat...