.... to see it fulfilled in the loving union between a man and a woman, rejoicing in their shared journey, fruitful in their mutual gift of self."
The words of Pope Francis, preaching at the opening of the Synod on the Family in Rome today.
All in God's Providence: today's Gospel exactly fitted the theme of the Synod.
Sunday, October 04, 2015
Saturday, October 03, 2015
ACROSS LAMBETH BRIDGE...
...we went, singing hymns and led by a great Processional Cross, acolytes with candles, and a great papal flag...
The Procession of the Blessed Sacrament linking London's two Cathedrals - Westminster and St George's, Southwark - has a traditional feel to it, but is actually something fairly new. It was begun just four years ago, to mark the first anniversary of the State Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain. His visit was at the end of September, and its climax was the beatification of Bl. John Henry Newman, whose feast is on October 8th. So the Procession is timed for early October.
It's very much a London thing. We had Sisters from various London convents, Knights of Our Lady in white cloaks, a good many people who are regulars at Westminster Cathedral, families from south of the river, and...well...just a great concourse of the faithful. The Blessed Sacrament was carried by Bishop Nicholas Hudson, flanked of course by acolytes with candles and incense....the whole route was marshalled by Knights of St Columba (wearing impressive blue sashes and medals of office) and Catenians. As the head of the procession was turning off down to Rochester Row, the Blessed Sacrament was just leaving the Cathedral piazza. The rear of the procession was marked by another flag-bearer with the golden and white Papal flag.
In traditional style, one part of the procession was singing one hymn while a section further back had embarked on another, and a couple of groups in the middle were at differenmt stages of the Rosary....but all went well, and the singing was hearty, helped by excellent booklets produced by
Westminster Cathedral and handed out to all. We had to make a detour near St George's as there are massive roadworks there - but this had all been carefully planned in advance, and in fact the last stretch, walking up alongside the Cathedral worked rather well, with a final surge of singing. Then a glorious Benediction...
The Procession of the Blessed Sacrament linking London's two Cathedrals - Westminster and St George's, Southwark - has a traditional feel to it, but is actually something fairly new. It was begun just four years ago, to mark the first anniversary of the State Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain. His visit was at the end of September, and its climax was the beatification of Bl. John Henry Newman, whose feast is on October 8th. So the Procession is timed for early October.
It's very much a London thing. We had Sisters from various London convents, Knights of Our Lady in white cloaks, a good many people who are regulars at Westminster Cathedral, families from south of the river, and...well...just a great concourse of the faithful. The Blessed Sacrament was carried by Bishop Nicholas Hudson, flanked of course by acolytes with candles and incense....the whole route was marshalled by Knights of St Columba (wearing impressive blue sashes and medals of office) and Catenians. As the head of the procession was turning off down to Rochester Row, the Blessed Sacrament was just leaving the Cathedral piazza. The rear of the procession was marked by another flag-bearer with the golden and white Papal flag.
In traditional style, one part of the procession was singing one hymn while a section further back had embarked on another, and a couple of groups in the middle were at differenmt stages of the Rosary....but all went well, and the singing was hearty, helped by excellent booklets produced by
Westminster Cathedral and handed out to all. We had to make a detour near St George's as there are massive roadworks there - but this had all been carefully planned in advance, and in fact the last stretch, walking up alongside the Cathedral worked rather well, with a final surge of singing. Then a glorious Benediction...
At Brompton Oratory...
...a gathering of teachers and parents keen to train for Teen Star, a programme for schools that teaches about human relationships and the beauty and dignity of the gift of fertility...it's working well in a number of countries but is as yet undeveloped in Britain, and that looks set to change.
Afterwards, J. joined me for a wonderful, joyful lunch with Angela de Malherbe, the lady who has pioneered this across France....we are friends of many years standing, and it was absolutely lovely to catch up on family news, excahnge ideas and thoughts on a whole range of things...then J. had to return to work and so the rest of us went to the nearby Rembrandt Hotel and carried on chatting....and suddenly it was 5 o'clock and I had to rush to my next engagement, which was the annual Mass and Dinner for members of Papal Orders...
I scrambled swiftly into an evening dress, rushed to the Tube...and as it trundleda long I made a mental check: green cloak, badge...aaaargh, forgot to bring mantilla! Hopped off Tube at Victoria, rushed to CTS bookshop which hasd just closed...made a pleading face at the door, and they let me in..."mantilla: small, black cheap?" and they swiftly sold me one. As I already have two or three at home, this makes for something of a surplus. However...taxi from Victoria Street to Kingsway....traffic unbearably slow around Trafalgar Square, but I made it to the Church of SS Anselm and Caecilia in plenty of time. I put on my cloak and mantilla, and joined other Dames and Knights. In fact as it turned out, some of the other Dames weren't wearing mantillas, but almost all had white gloves. Golly, I didn't know that was part of it all too. I don't think I'll bother anyway - too hot and uncomfortable.
A beautiful Mass, with the Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan School in splendid voice. Chief celebrant was Archbishop McMahon of Liverpool. To calm myself while waiting for Mass to begin, I read from the lovely new CTS Psalms and Canticles for Morning and Evening Prayer of which I was given a copy last week. It is a pleasing book to use, beautully bound and with gold lettering. Meditations and teachings by Pope St John paul and Pope Benedict XVI.
The dinner was fun - lots of old friends, all the traditions faithfully observed, prayer for the Pope, Loyal Toast to the Queen, report on the year's activities, a cheery speech from the Archbishop, a sense of common ideas and purpose. Some useful conversations and ideas for actoivities - one always ends up writing down email addresses and notes on those small place-cards or on the back of the menu...
A walk back across Wzaterloo Bridge - perhaps the best of all views of London.
Afterwards, J. joined me for a wonderful, joyful lunch with Angela de Malherbe, the lady who has pioneered this across France....we are friends of many years standing, and it was absolutely lovely to catch up on family news, excahnge ideas and thoughts on a whole range of things...then J. had to return to work and so the rest of us went to the nearby Rembrandt Hotel and carried on chatting....and suddenly it was 5 o'clock and I had to rush to my next engagement, which was the annual Mass and Dinner for members of Papal Orders...
I scrambled swiftly into an evening dress, rushed to the Tube...and as it trundleda long I made a mental check: green cloak, badge...aaaargh, forgot to bring mantilla! Hopped off Tube at Victoria, rushed to CTS bookshop which hasd just closed...made a pleading face at the door, and they let me in..."mantilla: small, black cheap?" and they swiftly sold me one. As I already have two or three at home, this makes for something of a surplus. However...taxi from Victoria Street to Kingsway....traffic unbearably slow around Trafalgar Square, but I made it to the Church of SS Anselm and Caecilia in plenty of time. I put on my cloak and mantilla, and joined other Dames and Knights. In fact as it turned out, some of the other Dames weren't wearing mantillas, but almost all had white gloves. Golly, I didn't know that was part of it all too. I don't think I'll bother anyway - too hot and uncomfortable.
A beautiful Mass, with the Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan School in splendid voice. Chief celebrant was Archbishop McMahon of Liverpool. To calm myself while waiting for Mass to begin, I read from the lovely new CTS Psalms and Canticles for Morning and Evening Prayer of which I was given a copy last week. It is a pleasing book to use, beautully bound and with gold lettering. Meditations and teachings by Pope St John paul and Pope Benedict XVI.
The dinner was fun - lots of old friends, all the traditions faithfully observed, prayer for the Pope, Loyal Toast to the Queen, report on the year's activities, a cheery speech from the Archbishop, a sense of common ideas and purpose. Some useful conversations and ideas for actoivities - one always ends up writing down email addresses and notes on those small place-cards or on the back of the menu...
A walk back across Wzaterloo Bridge - perhaps the best of all views of London.
Friday, October 02, 2015
Why are we male and female?.
...and does it have any significance?
There will be a course on St John Paul's Theology of the Body in London January, led by Christopher West. More info here...
We badly - almost desperately - need this wisdom. There is a sort of insanity going around on this subject...all part of the cult-like obsession that seeks the end of all that we have ever known and honoured.
There are weird and tragic things happening concerning boys and girls. A case recently emerged at a school: a troubled boy announced that he wanted to be a girl, and his parents, instead of getting him help, assented to this and will be getting him drugs and in due course arranging to have him mutilated. And this is all being celebrated at the school - the boy addressed a school assembly and talked about why he wanted to be a girl...and everyone was expected to applaud...
No one dares to intervene in such cases: to speak up in defence of the child is to court formal denunciation. We are all meant to accept the orthoodoxy of the new cult.
But in the future people will be scornful of our silence. It is likely that there will be much legal wrangling as people seek to justify themselves: "Everyone accepted it....it was impossible to speak out...if you voiced opposition you lost your job and your good name..." etc.
Bdetter to be a voice of sanity now. If neccessary alone - but in fact there are others who will be brave too. A good start would be to join the group at St Patrick's....
There will be a course on St John Paul's Theology of the Body in London January, led by Christopher West. More info here...
We badly - almost desperately - need this wisdom. There is a sort of insanity going around on this subject...all part of the cult-like obsession that seeks the end of all that we have ever known and honoured.
There are weird and tragic things happening concerning boys and girls. A case recently emerged at a school: a troubled boy announced that he wanted to be a girl, and his parents, instead of getting him help, assented to this and will be getting him drugs and in due course arranging to have him mutilated. And this is all being celebrated at the school - the boy addressed a school assembly and talked about why he wanted to be a girl...and everyone was expected to applaud...
No one dares to intervene in such cases: to speak up in defence of the child is to court formal denunciation. We are all meant to accept the orthoodoxy of the new cult.
But in the future people will be scornful of our silence. It is likely that there will be much legal wrangling as people seek to justify themselves: "Everyone accepted it....it was impossible to speak out...if you voiced opposition you lost your job and your good name..." etc.
Bdetter to be a voice of sanity now. If neccessary alone - but in fact there are others who will be brave too. A good start would be to join the group at St Patrick's....
Thursday, October 01, 2015
And you can read Auntie in ...
...The PORTAL here...discussing the Synod. Auntie is getting a little tired of people running around like Corporal Jones shouting "Don't panic!" Remember, it was Sergeant Wilson, with his detached embarrasment and actual nexperience of recent warfare, who usually managed to see things through...
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
The past few days have seen...
...a lot of happy things in our wider family circle. First, a beloved nephew and niece-in-law presented us with a delicious and enchanting new baby boy...a great-nephew for Auntie!!!
Then another young relative telephoned with news of her engagement to be married. This brings great joy. We first met the young man a little while back and liked him enormously...it's all absolutely delightful, and there is a fizz of happiness and excitement all round...
Family life is the very essence of life itself.
Then another young relative telephoned with news of her engagement to be married. This brings great joy. We first met the young man a little while back and liked him enormously...it's all absolutely delightful, and there is a fizz of happiness and excitement all round...
Family life is the very essence of life itself.
The Franciscan Friars...
...of the Renewal will be at the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival on Sat Nov 28th. Come and meet them!
Off to a school...
...at Bexleyheath in Kent, to present prizes won by pupils in the Schools Bible Project, of which I am chairman. The boys looked very smart in their blazers and the atmosphere was courteous, cheerful and welcoming. It is always moving to hear young men's voices saying the Lord's Prayer.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Because...
...of a notable "blood moon" glowing in the sky, and a lunar eclipse, some people are apparently announcing that there is going to be a Great Catastrophe shortly from which only a remnant of us will survive or - another school of thought - that the world is about to end and no one will survive at all. Or that there will be a sort of middling catastrophe. Or something.
As a Catholic journalist, one gets used to prophesies. My personal favourite among the nonsensicals was the chap in America who announced that high floodwater affecting Lourdes was a sign that Blessed John Paul (the object of his vicious and ill-tempered loathing) should not have been beatified, and that something would happen to prevent the canonisation. Uh? No, I didn't get the connection either - and nor did Heaven, The glorious canonisation took place in Rome with millions watching: beloved John Paul the Great and dear John XXIII, canonised by Pope Francis with Pope Benedict in enthusiastic attendance: two Popes in Heaven and two (one Emeritus) on earth, all in prayer together - a first in history. And Lourdes - which St John paul so loved - contnues to flourish, and treasures his memory.
No apology from the chap in America - he's probably still sulking.
Another chap - this in a paperback sent to me in the mid-1980s - announced a series of natural disasters in Britain from which the Royal Family would seek to escape by flying to Bermuda, only to be killed en route. And all the offshore islands around our coasts (Isle of Wight? Ireland? He didn't specifiy) would suddenly disappear.
Then there are the conspiracy types: there is Going to be a Great Catastrophe But They're Keeping the Secret From Us. The last two Popes, in league with all sorts of Secret Societies, conspired to Stop Us Discovering the Secret. Often this comes with a plea to attend a conference/read a publication/support a campaign to ensure that The Hidden Secret Will Be Announced At Last.
And then there's the Rapture...predicted now for several decades, with each prediction passing its sell-by date.
Meanwhile the moon hangs in the sky, and men make errors and wars, and humanity - with its tragedies, achievements, hopes, disapointments and mistakes - muddles on.. No one in the Spring of 1914 predicted the horror that was to unfold in Europe that summer, no one in 1869 predicted that in exactly 100 years Americans would walk on the moon and speak directly from there to people on earth. In the reign of Elizabeth I, no soothsayer foresaw a nobler and greater Elizabeth who would one day welcome a Pope to our shores. In the 18th century no prophet from Grantham announced that a daughter of the town's grocer would become Prime Minister in the 20th.
The certainties for the future are God's continued love, and humanity's continued follies and occasional greatness...and the general unpredictability of things.
Enjoy the glowing moon and don't be afraid.
As I approached...
...Westminster Cathedral for Mass this morning, I was unexpectedly hailed by a friend, Delia, (who is secretary of the Catholic Writers' Guild) so we went in together. It is a good while since I went to the main sung Sunday High Mass at the Cathedral, and it was every bit as glorious as I remembered...choirboys in crisp white surplices walking in procession, filling that vast space with song, sunlight pouring down on the chancel from the windows high up in the apse, candles glittering, incense wafting. And for any Catholic Londoner, there is a sense of being at home here.
Later I met the excellent Daniel Cooper of John Fisher School fame and we lunched together. His magnificent work for the Faith Movement is still bearing fruit...he has invited me to speak to the Faith Club there in October and it will be a joy and privilege to do so.
A golden September day: I spent rhe afternoon with a beloved elderly relative, and the walk home in cool Autumnal air with leaves fluttering down was so beautiful.
Later I met the excellent Daniel Cooper of John Fisher School fame and we lunched together. His magnificent work for the Faith Movement is still bearing fruit...he has invited me to speak to the Faith Club there in October and it will be a joy and privilege to do so.
A golden September day: I spent rhe afternoon with a beloved elderly relative, and the walk home in cool Autumnal air with leaves fluttering down was so beautiful.
Friday, September 25, 2015
A gathering...
...of authors who write for the CTS. Drinks, delicious snacks, an excellent speech by Francis Campbell, lots and lots of lively talk, a wonderful evening...
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
A picture of my husband with...
...Pope, now Saint, John Paul...many pictures of family weddings and christenings...a pic of small Bogle nieces with Auntie Joanna on the London Eye...of my husband in Army uniform alongside me in a taffetta ballgown...of an enthusiastic GREAT Aunt and Uncle with great-nephews and nieces...of Bogles in Berlin and London, in Somerset and Oxfordshire, in Melbourne, in Brisbane...
A beloved niece has been staying and commented on the experience of sleeping in a room crowded with pix of her nearest-and-dearest. Today, whisking through a routine tidy-up, I pause to look at them all....graduations and celebrations, formal portaits and Christmas get-togethers...memories...
At the weekend we celebrated a quietly important Wedding Anniversary. Thank God for marriage and family life.
A beloved niece has been staying and commented on the experience of sleeping in a room crowded with pix of her nearest-and-dearest. Today, whisking through a routine tidy-up, I pause to look at them all....graduations and celebrations, formal portaits and Christmas get-togethers...memories...
At the weekend we celebrated a quietly important Wedding Anniversary. Thank God for marriage and family life.
A busy day at...
...this university where I am involved with post-graduate study. Coffee and theological chat. Library time. Lunchtime Mass in the rather fine chapel, and then sandwiches and pies and tea and talk with young people in the Chaplaincy. More Library time, lots to do...
Meanwhile in America...
...Papa Francis has begun his visit: it's astonishing to note that the sight of an American President warmly greeting the Pope in Washington now just seems a standard scene....yet six or seven decades ago it would have seemed utterly astonishing. Pope Francis has given a rather inspiring address to the Bishops of the USA, with stirring references to America's great plains and vast cities, its blessings of freedom and prosperity... the phrases richer and resonating with a greater depth, than his usual style.
There has been much comment and discussion about the visit: this is a perceptive piece. Among more superficial and chatty but relevant comment this is worth a look...
Obviously there'll be plenty of commentators eager to spin things - especially with the Synod on the Family waiting in the wings to take centre-stage as the next big Catholic news story after this one. The inevitable (and now almost ritual) ooh-this-Pope-will-change-Church-teachings-about-sex assertions will be annoying.
There has been much comment and discussion about the visit: this is a perceptive piece. Among more superficial and chatty but relevant comment this is worth a look...
Obviously there'll be plenty of commentators eager to spin things - especially with the Synod on the Family waiting in the wings to take centre-stage as the next big Catholic news story after this one. The inevitable (and now almost ritual) ooh-this-Pope-will-change-Church-teachings-about-sex assertions will be annoying.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Archbishop DiNoia.....
....of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was chief celebrant at a Mass at Westminster Cathedral this morning - and made history. This was the first time that an Archbishop has concelebrated Mass in the Ordinariate Form in the great Cathedral of our capital city, with Ordinariate priests from across Britain, and a great gathering of the faithful And it was glorious. We heard and saw and sang the much discussed "Anglican patrimony", now brought into the Catholic Church, and there was a sense of joy and rightness about it.
This was a full day - in the morning Ordinariate groups gathered in conference in the Cathedral Hall, with speakers tackling a range of subjects...mission, finance, World Youth Day....while children were given a special tour of the Cathedral led by Father Paul Burch from Coventry, and we at the LOGS group were kept busy serving freshly-brewed coffee and tea....
After Mass and lunch Archbishop DiNoia spoke - extremely well - about the whole concept of Anglican patrimony, unity and communion within the Church, and the future. He noted how - as always happens - things evolve and happen in different ways from those planned or expected, and how all this occurs within the scope of the Church...
We were given an opportunity to see the development of the Ordinariate in the context of the vision for unity given at the Second Vatican Council, and to recognise its importance in a new way.
Yesterday evening the conference began with an inspiring talk by Fr Gerald Sheehan, of Opus Dei, at Precious Blood Church at London Bridge, followed by a reception. The numbers were far too large for the Parish room, so we were in the church itself, with wine and (delicious) food served in the narthex. Fr Sheehan's talk set the tone for the whole conference weekend - seeing the Church as a communion, and what this should mean for all its members and the way we work with and for one another...
This was a full day - in the morning Ordinariate groups gathered in conference in the Cathedral Hall, with speakers tackling a range of subjects...mission, finance, World Youth Day....while children were given a special tour of the Cathedral led by Father Paul Burch from Coventry, and we at the LOGS group were kept busy serving freshly-brewed coffee and tea....
After Mass and lunch Archbishop DiNoia spoke - extremely well - about the whole concept of Anglican patrimony, unity and communion within the Church, and the future. He noted how - as always happens - things evolve and happen in different ways from those planned or expected, and how all this occurs within the scope of the Church...
We were given an opportunity to see the development of the Ordinariate in the context of the vision for unity given at the Second Vatican Council, and to recognise its importance in a new way.
Yesterday evening the conference began with an inspiring talk by Fr Gerald Sheehan, of Opus Dei, at Precious Blood Church at London Bridge, followed by a reception. The numbers were far too large for the Parish room, so we were in the church itself, with wine and (delicious) food served in the narthex. Fr Sheehan's talk set the tone for the whole conference weekend - seeing the Church as a communion, and what this should mean for all its members and the way we work with and for one another...
Thursday, September 17, 2015
It's not Jeremy Corbyn that worries me...
...it's his young, posh, spoilt, rich I'm-a-socialist shrieking teen supporters, privately schooled, expensively clad, fussily fed. They think that shouting "Tory scum" is innovative and brave, and they chatter away on the internet making identikit noises...this is a mindset fed on a sort of Guardian/animal rights/NATOisevil/vaguelyvegetarian/feministjargoniscompulsory diet...
The first HISTORY WALK...
...of this new Autumn season. Meet on MONDAY (Sept 21s) 6.3pm, steps of Westminster Cathedral....we'll take a look at St James, Whitehall, and Buckingham palace...
All welcome. No need to book, just turn up.
All welcome. No need to book, just turn up.
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