Weigel's The Truth of Catholicism. Recommended.
Are you coming to the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival on Sat Nov 24th? Westminster Cathedral Hall. Official opening 10.30am. Among the speakers: former Olympic speed skater now a Franciscan Sister of the Renewal. Plus a team celebrating Blessed John Henry Newman and the "Second Spring". Come and join in....
Been busy giving talks on journalism and the media to young people on half-term courses at a youth centre. The BIG gap in their education is in history and general knowledge. They are aware of this and find it frustrating. I ask them some general history questions: does anyone know who Gladstone was? Disraeli? Can they name the king who followed Queen Victoria? Then I go back a bit: Who won the Battle of Waterloo? Battle of Trafalgar?
It's ghastly to be left in ignorance. And actually discovering your own history can be fun and satisfying. I compile a history chart, explain about the Roman Empire, Saxons, Norman invasion, Middle Ages...Henry VIII (he's about the only one they know, because of his wives: "divorced,beheaded, died/Divorced,beheaded,survived"...), Mary Tudor, Elizabeth...
We keep hearing that the Govt is going to "do something" about the disgraceful betrayal of young people and the way they have been banned from knowing about their country's history. Meanwhile, the thing to do is get on and teach history whenever you can.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
for pure pleasure....
....click on to this site of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph and scroll down to where Sister Mary Catherine plays Mozart. Enjoy. Just enchanting.
The Sisters do lots of good things, and initiated the John Paul Walk for the New Evangelisation, which last weekend took a grand crowd of us along the Thames.
The Sisters do lots of good things, and initiated the John Paul Walk for the New Evangelisation, which last weekend took a grand crowd of us along the Thames.
The young team...
...of the St Patrick's Evangelisation School in Soho Square are a great bunch. Today and yesterday I was with them, and I'm impressed with their energy and dedication. Prayer, study, service to the local community especially those in need of a meal and friendship...there are special initiatives such as this one...
The church is of course beautiful, and people hurry in for a lunchtime Mass...you think there are not very many, but then you suddenly realise there are a good number filling up the pews towards the back...and then during the afternoon people come in quietly to pray before the Blessed Sacrament...
It was good to be part of the community for a little while, and I enjoyed the Rosary in the small downstairs chapel, the lively chat as we all sat at a long table for a community lunch, the celebration of a SPES member's 21st birthday, and the laughter as we recalled highlights of that Thames Pilgrimage on Sunday, especially the last bit in the mud and dark with the rain starting...
Poor Ambrose, Fr Alexander's dog, who walked the whole route with us, has spent the past two decades chiefly in exhausted slumber.
The church is of course beautiful, and people hurry in for a lunchtime Mass...you think there are not very many, but then you suddenly realise there are a good number filling up the pews towards the back...and then during the afternoon people come in quietly to pray before the Blessed Sacrament...
It was good to be part of the community for a little while, and I enjoyed the Rosary in the small downstairs chapel, the lively chat as we all sat at a long table for a community lunch, the celebration of a SPES member's 21st birthday, and the laughter as we recalled highlights of that Thames Pilgrimage on Sunday, especially the last bit in the mud and dark with the rain starting...
Poor Ambrose, Fr Alexander's dog, who walked the whole route with us, has spent the past two decades chiefly in exhausted slumber.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Twenty miles along the Thames...
...is a looooooong walk. But we did it, and a grand team of John Paul II Walkers packed out the chapel the Shrine of Our Lady of Westminster at Hampton Wick, in good voice for Evening Prayer and Benediction, and then did full justice to splendid supper laid on by the Sons of Divine Providence and their team of helpers.
A wonderful day: the Thames Pilgrimage, praying for the New Evangelisation. This was planned partly as a Reunion for the young people who took part in the Summer's Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham, but it turned out to be much, much more than that.
Arriving at Westminster Cathedral for Mass, I met D., who a couple of weeks earlier had walked a long part of the route with me, helping to plan the day. The Cathedral is always full for the Sunday Masses, so we were glad to find two places near the front. A glorious Mass - as always at the Cathedral, magnificent music - and Fr Simon Heans, our chaplain for the day, concelebrated. Then out into the piazza - to be confrontd by a grand crowd of people, far more than I had hoped or imagined, all ready and eager for the Pilgrimage Walk along the Thames!
Down Buckingham Palace Road and along to Chelsea Bridge, across the river and into Battersea Park, where, now free of traffic noise, we were able to start praying the Rosary, led by Sister Hyacinthe. Before leaving the park, we settled for a pleasant lunch, Fr Simon saying Grace, and by now we felt like a real community together. On down the Thames Path, Sister Hyacinthe giving us some excellent talks along the way, all equipped with microphone and notes: Vatican II, the Scriptures...
The weather was just right, the river rippled peacefully, golden leaves were strewn at our feet. Joggers and walkers passed us and we exchanged greetings: they asked about our banner (Our Lady of Walsingham) and gave good wishes when we told them we had walked from Westminster Cathedral. Kindly people at a Boat Club let us use the loos. Wandsworth, Putney, Barnes...we broke into hymns, we prayed the Rosary, we walked and chatted...
Dusk was falling by now. We cut along the Upper Richmond Road so as to avoid the big loop of the river by Kew, and at Richmond an advance party caught the bus to Kingston. The rest of us rejoined the river and walked , in darkness now... the line of walkers became straggly, well spaced out along the dark towpath. I went back and forth with my torch calling out in reassurance. We had children and parents, and young people and middle-aged and elderly among us. A family of children walked happily together, the girls telling me with enthusiasm about their school (St Catherine's) as we passed it on the opposite side of the river: I was able to tell them that my mother was at that same school, more than seventy years ago, and was happy there just as they were. A group of girls from various countries at a London hostel, led by a delightful nun, walked cheerily along swapping laughter and chat, oblivious to discomforts even though one was wearing beautiful blue shoes more suitable for dancing than a 20-mile hike. Deacon Henry, who joined us from Oscott seminary, walked with vigour, unconcerned by the fact that this long day was the prelude to an early start on the morrow when he'd be flying to Rome on pilgrimage. A team from St Patrick's Soho Square had brought Ambrose, Fr Alexander's dog, who seemed, like them, to be of inexhaustible energy.
The very last bit, once we had crossed the river just beyond Teddington Lock, was the only bit that felt really tiring: by now we were walking past ordinary houses and were nearly at our destination. And then, finally, we were there - a wonderful welcome, a true sense of homecoming, and the Sons of Divine Providence, accompanied by the Herald of the Gospels (a splendid group with the most magnificent religious habits I have ever seen!) literally welcoming us with open arms.
A chapel filled with prayer, a table laid with delicious food...a time to give thanks and there were speeches and cheers and applause. Then relaxing, much talk, thoughtful conversations about hopes for the New Evangelisation, the worries about the future of our country and of Europe...
Vocations to the priesthood are up, there is a sense of great seriousness about prayer for the years ahead, the Year of Faith has been launched...this is a time for commitment and for courage.
A wonderful day: the Thames Pilgrimage, praying for the New Evangelisation. This was planned partly as a Reunion for the young people who took part in the Summer's Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham, but it turned out to be much, much more than that.
Arriving at Westminster Cathedral for Mass, I met D., who a couple of weeks earlier had walked a long part of the route with me, helping to plan the day. The Cathedral is always full for the Sunday Masses, so we were glad to find two places near the front. A glorious Mass - as always at the Cathedral, magnificent music - and Fr Simon Heans, our chaplain for the day, concelebrated. Then out into the piazza - to be confrontd by a grand crowd of people, far more than I had hoped or imagined, all ready and eager for the Pilgrimage Walk along the Thames!
Down Buckingham Palace Road and along to Chelsea Bridge, across the river and into Battersea Park, where, now free of traffic noise, we were able to start praying the Rosary, led by Sister Hyacinthe. Before leaving the park, we settled for a pleasant lunch, Fr Simon saying Grace, and by now we felt like a real community together. On down the Thames Path, Sister Hyacinthe giving us some excellent talks along the way, all equipped with microphone and notes: Vatican II, the Scriptures...
The weather was just right, the river rippled peacefully, golden leaves were strewn at our feet. Joggers and walkers passed us and we exchanged greetings: they asked about our banner (Our Lady of Walsingham) and gave good wishes when we told them we had walked from Westminster Cathedral. Kindly people at a Boat Club let us use the loos. Wandsworth, Putney, Barnes...we broke into hymns, we prayed the Rosary, we walked and chatted...
Dusk was falling by now. We cut along the Upper Richmond Road so as to avoid the big loop of the river by Kew, and at Richmond an advance party caught the bus to Kingston. The rest of us rejoined the river and walked , in darkness now... the line of walkers became straggly, well spaced out along the dark towpath. I went back and forth with my torch calling out in reassurance. We had children and parents, and young people and middle-aged and elderly among us. A family of children walked happily together, the girls telling me with enthusiasm about their school (St Catherine's) as we passed it on the opposite side of the river: I was able to tell them that my mother was at that same school, more than seventy years ago, and was happy there just as they were. A group of girls from various countries at a London hostel, led by a delightful nun, walked cheerily along swapping laughter and chat, oblivious to discomforts even though one was wearing beautiful blue shoes more suitable for dancing than a 20-mile hike. Deacon Henry, who joined us from Oscott seminary, walked with vigour, unconcerned by the fact that this long day was the prelude to an early start on the morrow when he'd be flying to Rome on pilgrimage. A team from St Patrick's Soho Square had brought Ambrose, Fr Alexander's dog, who seemed, like them, to be of inexhaustible energy.
The very last bit, once we had crossed the river just beyond Teddington Lock, was the only bit that felt really tiring: by now we were walking past ordinary houses and were nearly at our destination. And then, finally, we were there - a wonderful welcome, a true sense of homecoming, and the Sons of Divine Providence, accompanied by the Herald of the Gospels (a splendid group with the most magnificent religious habits I have ever seen!) literally welcoming us with open arms.
A chapel filled with prayer, a table laid with delicious food...a time to give thanks and there were speeches and cheers and applause. Then relaxing, much talk, thoughtful conversations about hopes for the New Evangelisation, the worries about the future of our country and of Europe...
Vocations to the priesthood are up, there is a sense of great seriousness about prayer for the years ahead, the Year of Faith has been launched...this is a time for commitment and for courage.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
A rallying call...
...to evangelise. Read here. The Bishops have come up trumps: it's a stirring call.
We shall be following the call tomorrow, as the John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation starts at Westminster Cathedral and heads off along the Thames to the Shrine of Our Lady of Westminster, some 20 miles up-river at Kingston. Along the way, we'll be passing some of the places that hold a huge part of our country's history - Chelsea where St Thomas More lived with his family, Syon where once stood the great Brigettine house - but also the homes and churches and schools and workshops and offices where the people of our great city and its suburbs live and work and pray, the parks and gardens where they relax and enjoy themselves, the sports fields, the boatyards, the pubs, the shops and restaurants. And we'll be praying for God's blessing on everyone, asking that hearts be opened to the glorious message of the Gospel, and that in a spirit of goodwill and neighbourliness the truths of the Christian faith will be communicated and become clear, with a bright hope for this new century...
To participants reading this: it will be COLD, so dress warmly. Hats. Gloves. Scarves. It will be DARK towards the end of our journey so bring a TORCH or a lantern. Bring a good sandwich lunch, and something to drink. Be prepared to obey instructions: we will cross a couple of busy London roads, and be walking alongside a deep and potentially dangerous river, so it will be neccessary at times to be well disciplined.
We'll be hearing some talks along the way, and praying the Rosary, and singing some hymns. There will be a good Tea waiting for us at Hampton Wick.
All readers: please pray for us.
We shall be following the call tomorrow, as the John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation starts at Westminster Cathedral and heads off along the Thames to the Shrine of Our Lady of Westminster, some 20 miles up-river at Kingston. Along the way, we'll be passing some of the places that hold a huge part of our country's history - Chelsea where St Thomas More lived with his family, Syon where once stood the great Brigettine house - but also the homes and churches and schools and workshops and offices where the people of our great city and its suburbs live and work and pray, the parks and gardens where they relax and enjoy themselves, the sports fields, the boatyards, the pubs, the shops and restaurants. And we'll be praying for God's blessing on everyone, asking that hearts be opened to the glorious message of the Gospel, and that in a spirit of goodwill and neighbourliness the truths of the Christian faith will be communicated and become clear, with a bright hope for this new century...
To participants reading this: it will be COLD, so dress warmly. Hats. Gloves. Scarves. It will be DARK towards the end of our journey so bring a TORCH or a lantern. Bring a good sandwich lunch, and something to drink. Be prepared to obey instructions: we will cross a couple of busy London roads, and be walking alongside a deep and potentially dangerous river, so it will be neccessary at times to be well disciplined.
We'll be hearing some talks along the way, and praying the Rosary, and singing some hymns. There will be a good Tea waiting for us at Hampton Wick.
All readers: please pray for us.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Glorious...
...music from the Cardinal Vaughan Schola, in concert at the Carmelite Church, Kensington, with funds raised going to Aid to the Church in Need. The magnificent singing was interspersed with Scripture readings and other meditations, all honouring Mary, read by Fr Dominic Allain, the school Chaplain. It was a theological as well as a music feast. I have known and loved this Carmelite Church all my adult life - J. and I went there sometimes when we were engaged, and then many years later I found myself there giving Marriage Preparation talks to young couples...
The Schola, which has become famous over recent years for its superb singing, is in really magnbificent voice at the moment, and offers one of London's finest musical experiences.
The Schola, which has become famous over recent years for its superb singing, is in really magnbificent voice at the moment, and offers one of London's finest musical experiences.
The BBC...
...was one of the first big organisations that was the reciever of indignant letters and protests from the author of this Blog and her friends and colleagues, years and years ago in the 1970s...that was in the days when we were young campaigners and sickened by its bias against Christian and moral values. It was so frustrating that protests against the display of sexually explicit material were dismissed, and that vulgarity and sexual crudity were assumed to be wholly acceptable and rather clever. It was rare, on the Beeb, to have a fair discussion of the great social issues of the day: instead there always seemed to be an assumption that it was neccessary to promote a particular secular, political skewed world-view which reflected a sort Guardian-reading-London-dinner-party pomposity. This was especially true of any programme that discussed sexual morality, or even news programmes covering related topics (eg a pro-life march or rally, and there were a number of huge pro-life events in Britain in those days).
And now...the sordid everyday reality of life at the Beeb in those days is emerging: staff being subjected to sexual overtures, paedophile activities quietly ignored, a culture of acceptance of horrible behaviour. What we all long suspected turns out to be true: this was an organisation where immoral and even gross behaviour was regarded as normal, and opposition to it as merely narrow-minded and absurd.
Mary Whitehouse, the leader of the "Clean Up TV" campaign, which became the National Viewers and Listeners Association, was widely derided as a prude.. For years, she was deemed to be a "non person" at the Beeb, even though she became a national figure as her campaign gathered strength. I was and am very proud to be have been one of her young supporters and, as the years went by, a friend. She was brave, dedicated, and loyal - a woman of great faith who spent time in prayer each day, reading the Bible each morning and night with devotion. Mary and Ernest had a happy home life and were a real example to younger people
The NVALA organised excellent meetings and conferences discussing the role of the media, morality, education, and family and community life. It sponsored awards for good programmes, ran events for schools and youth groups, trained people for TV and radio work. It was a voice for thousands of people who saw the massive influence of TV, and knew that the mass media would expand further and further and be a gigantic influence on all our lives. Evidence was mounting that Britain's tragic rates of divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, and youth crime were going to cause gigantic problems, and that the influence of the mass media was a major factor in determining people's lifestyles.
Campaigning had its dangers: Mary Whitehouse recieved death threats from pornographers and from promoters of paedophilia, was sent vile things through the post, was physically threatened and abused , and sometimes needed police protection. But her work of NVALA, and associated groups grew and flourished, and ideas and values and hopes were passed on.
And back then, lots of people used to say "One day, Mary Whitehouse will be proved right."
And now...the sordid everyday reality of life at the Beeb in those days is emerging: staff being subjected to sexual overtures, paedophile activities quietly ignored, a culture of acceptance of horrible behaviour. What we all long suspected turns out to be true: this was an organisation where immoral and even gross behaviour was regarded as normal, and opposition to it as merely narrow-minded and absurd.
Mary Whitehouse, the leader of the "Clean Up TV" campaign, which became the National Viewers and Listeners Association, was widely derided as a prude.. For years, she was deemed to be a "non person" at the Beeb, even though she became a national figure as her campaign gathered strength. I was and am very proud to be have been one of her young supporters and, as the years went by, a friend. She was brave, dedicated, and loyal - a woman of great faith who spent time in prayer each day, reading the Bible each morning and night with devotion. Mary and Ernest had a happy home life and were a real example to younger people
The NVALA organised excellent meetings and conferences discussing the role of the media, morality, education, and family and community life. It sponsored awards for good programmes, ran events for schools and youth groups, trained people for TV and radio work. It was a voice for thousands of people who saw the massive influence of TV, and knew that the mass media would expand further and further and be a gigantic influence on all our lives. Evidence was mounting that Britain's tragic rates of divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, and youth crime were going to cause gigantic problems, and that the influence of the mass media was a major factor in determining people's lifestyles.
Campaigning had its dangers: Mary Whitehouse recieved death threats from pornographers and from promoters of paedophilia, was sent vile things through the post, was physically threatened and abused , and sometimes needed police protection. But her work of NVALA, and associated groups grew and flourished, and ideas and values and hopes were passed on.
And back then, lots of people used to say "One day, Mary Whitehouse will be proved right."
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Church and state, Bishops, the Economy, and Catholic social teaching...
...all discussed in an excellent talk given by Philip Booth of the Institute of Economic Affairs, at the Catholic Writers' Guild this evening. Drawing on Pope Benedict's Caritas in Veritate Bl. John Paul's Centesimus Annus and Vatican II's Dignitatis Humanae along with Leo XII's Rerum Novarum, he gave us a thoughtful and challenging exploration of current economic and social problems. He was scathing about the way in which much of what has passed for Catholic social teaching in recent years has omitted the truths contained in the documents mentioned, and has thus massively missed its mark. May we hope for better in the years to come? General opinion seems to be "yes" , as a younger generation of clergy is taking a fresh approach and is less wedded to the economic ideas of the 1960s and the notion that the State should be the main provider and organiser of social welfare.
Over supper, general talk of Catholic matters....I'm underwhelmed by the (belated?) departure of Williamson from the Lefebvrists: the reasons for his having to leave seem to be that that he was disobedient and disruptive to the Society, rather than that he announced horrible opinions about Jewish people, and about the Church and the Second Vatican Council. And, alas, from Comments recieved (but not published) on this Blog, nasty anti-Jewish statements seem to be acceptable among supporters of the SSPX, in a way that I did not know about until recently.
Also discussed: worries about religious freedom, hopes for the Ordinariate, thoughts on the future of the C. of E. On that last point, I am quite genuinely sad about the fate of the Anglican Church as it pushes itself into absurdity by its apparent ambivalence on the issue of same-sex marriage, and its tortuous discussions about lady bishops. I'm not being patronising: it really is horrid watching it all happen. Please, Anglican readers: there is a great and noble home awaiting you in the Ordinariate: God is calling you, and you are needed, and you could do large and exciting things for our poor country...
Over supper, general talk of Catholic matters....I'm underwhelmed by the (belated?) departure of Williamson from the Lefebvrists: the reasons for his having to leave seem to be that that he was disobedient and disruptive to the Society, rather than that he announced horrible opinions about Jewish people, and about the Church and the Second Vatican Council. And, alas, from Comments recieved (but not published) on this Blog, nasty anti-Jewish statements seem to be acceptable among supporters of the SSPX, in a way that I did not know about until recently.
Also discussed: worries about religious freedom, hopes for the Ordinariate, thoughts on the future of the C. of E. On that last point, I am quite genuinely sad about the fate of the Anglican Church as it pushes itself into absurdity by its apparent ambivalence on the issue of same-sex marriage, and its tortuous discussions about lady bishops. I'm not being patronising: it really is horrid watching it all happen. Please, Anglican readers: there is a great and noble home awaiting you in the Ordinariate: God is calling you, and you are needed, and you could do large and exciting things for our poor country...
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Remember...
...Saturday November 24th, the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival, Westminster Cathedral hall. Official Opening 10.30am with Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Music from the choir of St Benedict's school, Ealing. Come and celebrate in this YEAR OF FAITH!
Among the speakers during the day: Sister Catherine Holum, former Olympic speed skater, now a sister with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal.
Also: a celebration of Blessed John Henry Newman, honouring the anniversary of his "Second Spring" sermon.
And: a glorious art gallery featuring work by the Society of Catholic Artists.
And: come and meet the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Catenians, the Catholic Truth Society, the Association of Catholic Women, the Knights of St Columba, and more, and more...plus Catholic books, statues, devotional items, craft goods...plus delicious refreshments, opportunities to chat and network, meet old friends and make new ones...
Admission free. Small charge for the main talks.
Among the speakers during the day: Sister Catherine Holum, former Olympic speed skater, now a sister with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal.
Also: a celebration of Blessed John Henry Newman, honouring the anniversary of his "Second Spring" sermon.
And: a glorious art gallery featuring work by the Society of Catholic Artists.
And: come and meet the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Catenians, the Catholic Truth Society, the Association of Catholic Women, the Knights of St Columba, and more, and more...plus Catholic books, statues, devotional items, craft goods...plus delicious refreshments, opportunities to chat and network, meet old friends and make new ones...
Admission free. Small charge for the main talks.
To St Mary's College,
...Strawberry Hill, Twickenham. Gave a talk to a group a the Benedict XVI Community House, on Faith, Culture and the New Evangelisation. I am interested in the point made by Weigel in his biography on Bl John Paul: "Culture is what drives history over the long haul." Not politics or economics. The Church does not impose herself by statecraft: she preaches the message of the Gospel - and sings it, and draws it, and paints it, and walks it, and celebrates it, and lives it in serve to the poor and sick and imprisoned.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
My old school...
...St Philomena's, Carshalton. Last night, I was due there for a radio show: Heart Gives Unto Heart Radio, a new internet-based Catholic radio station, is making some programmes and will start to air next month. As I walked there from Sutton, I realised that the main gates (very grand ones - the school buildings are centred on a fine Queen Anne Mansion and its lovely grounds) would be shut. So I turned down Shorts Road and reminisced about using this back entrance very often as a Sixth-former, hurrying out to buy sweets and snacks...and the first gate I came across was also locked, so for a moment I worried that, as of old, I might have to clamber in over a wall (we used a route right down at the end of the lacrosse field...remember?). But there is a new entrance further down, so I entered as a grown-up. Posh new Hall where the old Margaret Clitheroe Dining Room used to be. Felt odd sitting there doing a radio show.
We talked about Catholic education, Catholic schools popular and over-subscribed...but are the children practising the Faith?...how to teach the Faith...the importance of beautiful liturgy...how to encourage young people to go to Mass...
A major issue is that of children of other faiths or none, who seek to attend Catholic schools. There are so many Catholic families who seek places it seems unjust to exclude some in order to offer places to children of other faiths. And what happens when parents get annoyed that their offspring are being taught Catholic doctrine and morals to which they object? That is a bit like insisting on your chuld being given a place at a dancing-school and then objecting when she is taught to dance!
The school grounds, which are beautiful, looked ghostly in the dark and I remembered all those school legends about the Grey Lady, and the footman who fell down the stairs in the 1780s or thereabouts, in the days of Sir John Fellowes...
And the chapel, and the Quad, and that slithery Marble Passage where we weren't allowed to run...
We talked about Catholic education, Catholic schools popular and over-subscribed...but are the children practising the Faith?...how to teach the Faith...the importance of beautiful liturgy...how to encourage young people to go to Mass...
A major issue is that of children of other faiths or none, who seek to attend Catholic schools. There are so many Catholic families who seek places it seems unjust to exclude some in order to offer places to children of other faiths. And what happens when parents get annoyed that their offspring are being taught Catholic doctrine and morals to which they object? That is a bit like insisting on your chuld being given a place at a dancing-school and then objecting when she is taught to dance!
The school grounds, which are beautiful, looked ghostly in the dark and I remembered all those school legends about the Grey Lady, and the footman who fell down the stairs in the 1780s or thereabouts, in the days of Sir John Fellowes...
And the chapel, and the Quad, and that slithery Marble Passage where we weren't allowed to run...
Bit worried...
...about the great Pilgrimage Along the Thames on Sunday (see various posts on this Blog in recent days/weeks). Spent today sorting out various arrangements. What if it simply pours and pours w. rain and we just can't struggle along the towpath by the Thames any longer? I started to worry about this and then realised: we stop, and walk inland and catch a bus or two. The whole route, although it gets fairly rural at times (Kew Gardens, Old Deer Park) is in the London suburbs, and nowehere is far from civilisation and buses and indeed tubes and trains. Our final destination at Hampton Wick - just across the river from Kingston - is half an hour from central London by public transport.
But I'd still be v. grateful for the prayers of faithful readers of this Blog - this is a young people's Pilgrimage, and the aim is to the pray for the New Evangelisation...may I ask, in particular, my American readers - especially those who love London and enjoy reading about it - to pray for us?
But I'd still be v. grateful for the prayers of faithful readers of this Blog - this is a young people's Pilgrimage, and the aim is to the pray for the New Evangelisation...may I ask, in particular, my American readers - especially those who love London and enjoy reading about it - to pray for us?
Monday, October 22, 2012
Worth watching...
...this video
and, while you're about it: have you signed the petition? Have people in your church signed it? Have you written to your MP? And to David Cameron?
and, while you're about it: have you signed the petition? Have people in your church signed it? Have you written to your MP? And to David Cameron?
Today is...
..the feast of Blessed John Paul. Once a person is declared Blessed by the Church, the feast-day can be celebrated - but only in the place(s) with which he or she has been associated, unless or until Bishops elsewhere make a special request. Thus today is a feast-day in Rome and in Poland. But the Bishops of the USA voted to ask the Church to have the feast celebrated in America and so today, it will be!
I think it would be great if it could be celebrated in England and Wales, too, so I am going to write to my Archbishop to suggest this. Why not join me, by writing a note to your Bishop, too?
There are a lot of plans for honouring Bl John Paul the Great, which will develop over the next years, and celebrating his feast-day will be an annual joy...let's get it well established in the calendar...
I think it would be great if it could be celebrated in England and Wales, too, so I am going to write to my Archbishop to suggest this. Why not join me, by writing a note to your Bishop, too?
There are a lot of plans for honouring Bl John Paul the Great, which will develop over the next years, and celebrating his feast-day will be an annual joy...let's get it well established in the calendar...
Saturday, October 20, 2012
The Blessed Sacrament in procession...
...across the Thames, with about 1,000 people surging along in a great crowd...
We gathered at Westminster Cathedral and then, singing "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" processed out into the piazza and down Ambrosden Avenue and Horseferry Road to the river. Knights of St Columba - all wearing their formal ribbons of office and other insignia - guided us as we crossed Lambeth Bridge and walked on down through Southwark to St George's Cathedral. We sang "Sweet Sacrament Divine" and "How great thou art!" and other hymns, and said the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The Blessed Sacrament was carried aloft under a canopy by Bishop John Sherrington, with accompanying clergy and altar servers, and Knights of Our Lady in splendid cloaks were in attendance.
At St George's Cathedral we all knelt in prayer - it took quite a while for everyone to pour in - and then there was a most glorious Benediction, a great roar of voices responding to the Divine Praises: "Blessed be God" "Blessed be his holy Name"... and things ended with a great singing of the Salve Regina, the sound surging up to the great arches and filling the whole cathedral...
It's now an established tradition: the Procession took place for the first time last year, marking the first anniversary of visit of Pope Benedict, and the new feast of Blessed John Henry Newman, and now it's definitely here to stay. Numbers seemed to me to be a bit lower than last year, but others said they were higher.We had nuns, priests, seminarians, the SPES team from Soho Square, and lots and lots of ordinary faithful people...there is a report, with lots of pix, on it all .here...and another here...
Pointers for the future: we need more unity in the singing - a good choir at the front and back of the procession? Some one suggested that we could all carry lighted candles (the sort that come in special procesional holders, as at Lourdes and elsewhere), which I would love, but it's difficult if there is a high wind.
As is traditional, the singing was a bit muddled - one half of the procession singing one hymn, others, further back, already embarked on another, while another set of voices had begun another Rosary...with large numbers, some incoherence is I suppose inevitable... Otherwise, no real hassles, oh, except that we also had, as we all departed:, some protesters (this time, from the Lefebvrists!) handing out leaflets denouncing the Church...
We gathered at Westminster Cathedral and then, singing "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" processed out into the piazza and down Ambrosden Avenue and Horseferry Road to the river. Knights of St Columba - all wearing their formal ribbons of office and other insignia - guided us as we crossed Lambeth Bridge and walked on down through Southwark to St George's Cathedral. We sang "Sweet Sacrament Divine" and "How great thou art!" and other hymns, and said the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The Blessed Sacrament was carried aloft under a canopy by Bishop John Sherrington, with accompanying clergy and altar servers, and Knights of Our Lady in splendid cloaks were in attendance.
At St George's Cathedral we all knelt in prayer - it took quite a while for everyone to pour in - and then there was a most glorious Benediction, a great roar of voices responding to the Divine Praises: "Blessed be God" "Blessed be his holy Name"... and things ended with a great singing of the Salve Regina, the sound surging up to the great arches and filling the whole cathedral...
It's now an established tradition: the Procession took place for the first time last year, marking the first anniversary of visit of Pope Benedict, and the new feast of Blessed John Henry Newman, and now it's definitely here to stay. Numbers seemed to me to be a bit lower than last year, but others said they were higher.We had nuns, priests, seminarians, the SPES team from Soho Square, and lots and lots of ordinary faithful people...there is a report, with lots of pix, on it all .here...and another here...
Pointers for the future: we need more unity in the singing - a good choir at the front and back of the procession? Some one suggested that we could all carry lighted candles (the sort that come in special procesional holders, as at Lourdes and elsewhere), which I would love, but it's difficult if there is a high wind.
As is traditional, the singing was a bit muddled - one half of the procession singing one hymn, others, further back, already embarked on another, while another set of voices had begun another Rosary...with large numbers, some incoherence is I suppose inevitable... Otherwise, no real hassles, oh, except that we also had, as we all departed:, some protesters (this time, from the Lefebvrists!) handing out leaflets denouncing the Church...
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Pope Paul VI: to be declared Blessed...
...says a news story from Rome and I for one will be glad to have it confirmed, and to see the ceremony take place in Rome in this Year of Faith. Paul VI was a truly good and holy man, and one who suffered: his years fulfilling Peter's task were a sort of crucifixion for him. After the widespread opposition and denouncing of Humanae Vitae he must have felt horribly alone. And yet how true and prophetic and courageous that Encyclical was: today, we are watching Europe destroying itself: whole nations threatened with quiet, miserable, drawn-out disappearance, a refusal of new life, a big "No!" to the future by the simple and ghastly refusal to have children. Paul VI spoke with wisdom and dignity and valour. I remember, some time in the mid-1970s, recieving a letter from a priest who ended "...pray for the Holy Father in his Gethsemane."
Monday, October 15, 2012
Today...
...I hurried to the weekday 10am Mass at my local parish and arrived a bit late. The priest was just finishing his homily and saying "...and there are lots of ways in which we can witness to our Faith in modern London. For example, why not join the big Blessed Sacrament Procession next Saturday, October 20th, starting at Westminster Cathedral....". Which was Providential, because I had brought along with me a handbill, which I was seeking to photocopy in the parish office so that I could hand out copies all week. Perfect. After Mass, and various domestic chores, hurried up to London. You will see me handing out leaflets in and around Westminster Cathedral piazza all week.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Been reading...
...."The Secret Life of John Paul II" by Lino Zani. The title aims to get the book sold, and sounds tabloid-ish. But the reality is the thoughtful, vivid and rather piognant tale of Bl. JP's skiing trips in the mountains - he stayed at the ski-hut run by the author's family, went skiing with joy, prayed long and silently in the breathtaking beauty, came to know the family and to share in their joys and sorrows. And there is more: it was in this place that some of the most terrible battles of World War I were fought, soldiers suffering and dying in the bitter cold - JPII's father was among those who battled there.....there is a great significance in all this and in the great rugged Cross marking the battlefield: but do get the book and read for yourself. It's not great literature: the author is a mountaineer and ski instructor. But it's a good read and will get you thinking a bit.
The Year of Faith...
...is about seeking the truth in freedom. Pope Benedict, at Loreto this week, entrusted the project to Our Lady, and spoke about her "yes" to the Incarnation.
The Christian way is not to coerce or impose. Freedom is the key.
"God asks for mankind's 'yes.' He has created a free partner in dialogue, one from whom he requests a reply in complete liberty."
The Christian way is not to coerce or impose. Freedom is the key.
"God asks for mankind's 'yes.' He has created a free partner in dialogue, one from whom he requests a reply in complete liberty."
The Thames...
...with its choppy waters, winding its way in a series of great loops through London and Southwark, Middlesex and Surrey. Today a friend joined me to walk from Putney Bridge to Hampton Wick, checking out the route for the big John Paul II Walk on Oct 28th. It was a longish walk, over 15 miles, and we stopped for lunch at Richmond, dropping into a pleasant pub at the end of the lane where my mother lived as a child...
The full walk, from Westminster Cathedral to the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster at Hampton Wick, will be well over 20 miles and will take all day. Walkers need to know that much of the route is muddy: wear sensible boots or walking shoes. But it is a most glorious walk - trees meet overhead like a gothic cathedral's soaring arches, teams of rowers pass on the water with rhythmic splashes and with coxes calling out sharp instructions, there are families with children and dogs, and you pass places that echo with history: Kew Palace and Kew Gardens, Syon House, the Star and Garter Home on Richmond Hill.
Along the way, we sought to work out any hassles that might emerge on the JPIII Walk, but actually the route is simple and it is just a case of "keep on". Hampton Wick is just across the river from Kingston, and as our walk today finished, D. caught the train back to London from there, and I caught a bus home.
Meanwhile, for those who want to take part in an act of witness, but aren't up for a 20-mile river hike: come to the Blessed Sacrament Procession through London NEXT Saturday (Oct 20th) starts 3pm Westminster Cathedral. We need you: come and pray for the New Evangelisation.
The full walk, from Westminster Cathedral to the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster at Hampton Wick, will be well over 20 miles and will take all day. Walkers need to know that much of the route is muddy: wear sensible boots or walking shoes. But it is a most glorious walk - trees meet overhead like a gothic cathedral's soaring arches, teams of rowers pass on the water with rhythmic splashes and with coxes calling out sharp instructions, there are families with children and dogs, and you pass places that echo with history: Kew Palace and Kew Gardens, Syon House, the Star and Garter Home on Richmond Hill.
Along the way, we sought to work out any hassles that might emerge on the JPIII Walk, but actually the route is simple and it is just a case of "keep on". Hampton Wick is just across the river from Kingston, and as our walk today finished, D. caught the train back to London from there, and I caught a bus home.
Meanwhile, for those who want to take part in an act of witness, but aren't up for a 20-mile river hike: come to the Blessed Sacrament Procession through London NEXT Saturday (Oct 20th) starts 3pm Westminster Cathedral. We need you: come and pray for the New Evangelisation.
Friday, October 12, 2012
The light of hope...
...as crowds in vast numbers throng St Peter's Square in a torchlit procession to mark the Year of Faith, echoing that great vigil 50 years ago at the opening of the Second Vatican Council. And the Holy Father, like his predecessor Bl John XXIII, sends the children a kiss...read about it all here...
Is the Tory party is self-destruct mode?
...because at the moment it looks that way. Here we are in an immense economic mess, and with very considerable social dfficulties (massive crime rate, large numbers of school-leavers unable to read and write properly, households where no one has any experience whatever of having worked and earned a wage, a birth-rate that is below replacement level) coupled with a desperately worrying international situation (tensions - to use a mild word - in the Middle East, our Army stuck in a mess in Afghanistan)...and the Conservative Party, at its annual conference, gets a Minister to stand at the podium and talk about same-sex marriage.
...and for sane people...
...over 16 who care about the future, here's news and a petition to sign...
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson...
...is talking nonsense, which he does from time to time. It's often quite fun to read him, but not this time. He thinks - or does he? I'm actually wondering if this is a spoof - that marriage can be redefined legally to include two people of the same sex, and that it will all be terribly jolly to do this.
Dear Boris: a joke's a joke, but this one isn't that funny. The boy Cameron's daft plan to redefine marriage carries with it real dangers, especially to human freedom. Think about it. Under the proposed new law, a teacher who openly stated that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman could lose her job. Ditto a magistrate, or a police offcier. Do you really want that? And, if you do, do you think you are respecting people's freedom?
London has, within living memory, been a city famed for championing the cause of freedom. Boris: that heritage is yours to honour, not destroy.
Dear Boris: a joke's a joke, but this one isn't that funny. The boy Cameron's daft plan to redefine marriage carries with it real dangers, especially to human freedom. Think about it. Under the proposed new law, a teacher who openly stated that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman could lose her job. Ditto a magistrate, or a police offcier. Do you really want that? And, if you do, do you think you are respecting people's freedom?
London has, within living memory, been a city famed for championing the cause of freedom. Boris: that heritage is yours to honour, not destroy.
Brompton Oratory...
...and the funeral of Alexandra Eversole, large-hearted, generous, a much-loved teacher, a wonderful hostess, a tireless worker for many good causes, fund-raiser for charities ranging from leprosy-sufferers around the world to disabled ex-servicemen in Britain...the Mass was beautiful, the church full, and in tribute to Alexandra's life of care and service to the community, the Lord Mayor of Westminster led the congregation.
It was a gathering of so many people who knew Alexandra and know each other, and it was both moving and beautiful to be there at prayer together...Catholic and Anglican, friends and family. In a fine sermon, we were reminded to pray for her and were given a rich perspective on what it means to be a child of God with eternity awaiting...
Like so many others, I am grateful to Alexandra for her hospitality (she hosted meetings of the Catholic Cultural Group which we founded back in the 1990s), for her example of faith (so many Sundays when we'd meet at the Oratory) for her loyalty and great love of Britain (her never-failing organisation of poppy-sales for Remembrance Day). I knew she had been a teacher, but only recently discovered how much she was loved and honoured by the pupils she helped and inspired.
And with her passing a chapter of Catholic London life goes, too...
It was a gathering of so many people who knew Alexandra and know each other, and it was both moving and beautiful to be there at prayer together...Catholic and Anglican, friends and family. In a fine sermon, we were reminded to pray for her and were given a rich perspective on what it means to be a child of God with eternity awaiting...
Like so many others, I am grateful to Alexandra for her hospitality (she hosted meetings of the Catholic Cultural Group which we founded back in the 1990s), for her example of faith (so many Sundays when we'd meet at the Oratory) for her loyalty and great love of Britain (her never-failing organisation of poppy-sales for Remembrance Day). I knew she had been a teacher, but only recently discovered how much she was loved and honoured by the pupils she helped and inspired.
And with her passing a chapter of Catholic London life goes, too...
...and the next...
...Catholic History Walks are:
Sat Oct 20th the Blessed Sacrament Procession, starts Westminster Cathedral 3pm, crosses Lambeth Bridge, finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
Thursday Oct 25th - tour of Westminster Cathedral. Starts 2pm INSIDE Westminster Cathedral. No need to book - just turn up.
Sunday Oct 28th - a BIG 20-mile walk along the Thames: the John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation. Bring packed lunch and dress suitably. Starts with 10.30am MASS at Westminster Cathedral. Finishes at the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster, Hampton Wick, approx 7pm.It would be useful to know if you plan to join us. Send a COMMENT to this Blog marked NOT FOR PUBLICATION, and include your email address.
Thursday Nov 15th. Meet 6.30pm at St Mary Moorfields, Eldon St London EC2. A City walk. No need to book, just turn up.
Sat Oct 20th the Blessed Sacrament Procession, starts Westminster Cathedral 3pm, crosses Lambeth Bridge, finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
Thursday Oct 25th - tour of Westminster Cathedral. Starts 2pm INSIDE Westminster Cathedral. No need to book - just turn up.
Sunday Oct 28th - a BIG 20-mile walk along the Thames: the John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation. Bring packed lunch and dress suitably. Starts with 10.30am MASS at Westminster Cathedral. Finishes at the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster, Hampton Wick, approx 7pm.It would be useful to know if you plan to join us. Send a COMMENT to this Blog marked NOT FOR PUBLICATION, and include your email address.
Thursday Nov 15th. Meet 6.30pm at St Mary Moorfields, Eldon St London EC2. A City walk. No need to book, just turn up.
The YEAR OF FAITH...
...has begun, and Westminster Cathedral was packed with people and glorious music and great wafts of incense and a great, great procession of priests, for a special Mass that was celebrated in union with the Holy Father in Rome and bishops in cathedrals around the world.
In fact, I had forgotten that today marked the launch of the Year of Faith, and had simply planned to be at the 5.30pm Mass as usual before leading a Catholic History Walk. En route I fell in behind some young men, one of whom was saying "...so I got the von Balthasar book, but have only read four pages so far..." and I said "Golly I find von Balthasar simply terrific, couldn't wait to go on reading! " and they swivelled round: they are a group from the seminary whom I have come to know well, and it was fun to be talking and laughing with them as we crossed the rainy piazza. I dropped in to the bookshop (St Paul's) and found it unusually crowded: some one else noticed too and asked why, and then I felt rather daft when it was pointed out that the Year of Faith was about to be launched next door. I just managed to find a seat - next to some Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and behind some Maltese sisters - and the cathedral filled and filled, and the seminarians were among lots of others taking a special part in the ceremonies, which were headed by Bishop John Arnold as the Archbishop was in Rome with the H. Father...
We had Newman's "Firmly I believe..." at Communion: the words are splendid.
As the crowds slowly spilled out at the end of Mass a group gathered on the steps for the History Walk, despite teeming rain. And it turned out to be a particularly agreeable Walk: first the Cathedral itself, that great illuminated front facing on to the splashy piazza, then Ambrosden Avenue, and Archbishop's House (tales of Wiseman, Manning, Vaughan etc), and then down Great St Peter Street to the Abbey and Parliament, passing Abbey Orchard Street and the Grey Coat Hospital (girls still wearing grey uniforms, albeit blazers and miniskirts) and finally to Whitehall, and the Cenotaph (where we keep silence as we walk past) and Charles I...
At the core of this particular History Walk were young people from the SPES team at St Patrick's, Soho Square - undeterred by rain, cheerful, interested, enthusiastic: when I asked, on reaching Parliament, if they wanted to stop there or go on to Whitehall, they opted for the latter without hesitation. A great bunch: their year's work includes tackling a Maryvale diploma while active with evangelism, outreach, social projects, and more...
In fact, I had forgotten that today marked the launch of the Year of Faith, and had simply planned to be at the 5.30pm Mass as usual before leading a Catholic History Walk. En route I fell in behind some young men, one of whom was saying "...so I got the von Balthasar book, but have only read four pages so far..." and I said "Golly I find von Balthasar simply terrific, couldn't wait to go on reading! " and they swivelled round: they are a group from the seminary whom I have come to know well, and it was fun to be talking and laughing with them as we crossed the rainy piazza. I dropped in to the bookshop (St Paul's) and found it unusually crowded: some one else noticed too and asked why, and then I felt rather daft when it was pointed out that the Year of Faith was about to be launched next door. I just managed to find a seat - next to some Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and behind some Maltese sisters - and the cathedral filled and filled, and the seminarians were among lots of others taking a special part in the ceremonies, which were headed by Bishop John Arnold as the Archbishop was in Rome with the H. Father...
We had Newman's "Firmly I believe..." at Communion: the words are splendid.
As the crowds slowly spilled out at the end of Mass a group gathered on the steps for the History Walk, despite teeming rain. And it turned out to be a particularly agreeable Walk: first the Cathedral itself, that great illuminated front facing on to the splashy piazza, then Ambrosden Avenue, and Archbishop's House (tales of Wiseman, Manning, Vaughan etc), and then down Great St Peter Street to the Abbey and Parliament, passing Abbey Orchard Street and the Grey Coat Hospital (girls still wearing grey uniforms, albeit blazers and miniskirts) and finally to Whitehall, and the Cenotaph (where we keep silence as we walk past) and Charles I...
At the core of this particular History Walk were young people from the SPES team at St Patrick's, Soho Square - undeterred by rain, cheerful, interested, enthusiastic: when I asked, on reaching Parliament, if they wanted to stop there or go on to Whitehall, they opted for the latter without hesitation. A great bunch: their year's work includes tackling a Maryvale diploma while active with evangelism, outreach, social projects, and more...
Thursday, October 11, 2012
,,,Commentators to this blog...
...need to know the rules. I reserve the right not to publish any comment. Anonymous comments will not be published unless the writer sends a separate note giving his/her name. Coy nicknames count as anonymous.
Oxford...
...in pale Autumn sunshine. The Oxford Oratory Church is having extensive renovation and rebuilding over the next years, linked to its associations with Bl. John Henry Newman.
Lunch w. fellow blogger and friend Francis Phillips.
Walked through the War Memorial Gardens to Christ Church Meadows - with November coming and the evening falling, and the gentle beauty of the evening, thoughts of the young men of the First World War.
Evening with a young relative, sitting agreeably in a big window-seat in a cosy room overlooking the river and talking of many things.
Late bus home, the Oxford Tube, reading von Balthasar (paperback purchased at Oxford Oratory) and Ratzinger, and being much illuminated by both. Meanwhile Pope Benedict has been speaking about Vatican II.
Lunch w. fellow blogger and friend Francis Phillips.
Walked through the War Memorial Gardens to Christ Church Meadows - with November coming and the evening falling, and the gentle beauty of the evening, thoughts of the young men of the First World War.
Evening with a young relative, sitting agreeably in a big window-seat in a cosy room overlooking the river and talking of many things.
Late bus home, the Oxford Tube, reading von Balthasar (paperback purchased at Oxford Oratory) and Ratzinger, and being much illuminated by both. Meanwhile Pope Benedict has been speaking about Vatican II.
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Spent the day...
...doing routine things (Mass, shopping, then to the computer and work, work, snack, work, work) so it wasn't really until evening, en route to an elderly relative, that I appreciated the golden glory of Autumn. Auburn and brown and bright yellow leaves scattering on the pavements along with shining horse-chestnuts. A chill in the air - wore a scarf for the first time and dug cold hands into my pockets to warm them. Glowing windows make homes look welcoming in the suburban dusk, A bus trundles into sight and the driver postively enjoyed seeing people get on board appreciatively after a cold wait. Just occasionally, you get these glimpses of the great beauty of ordinary things. Deo gratias.
The SSPX...
...have a rather horrid booklet that seems to be used for recruiting purposes: some one sent me a copy a couple of weeks ago. It has a section on Jews that is really nasty and various angry tirades which reveal a mixture of bitterness, sneers, anger and confusion over the Church and her teachings. I honestly didn't know that their official line was like this. Ugh.
The biggest meeting at the Tory party conference: ...
... the one supporting marriage. Watch this video - and write and tell David Cameron that this is the central issue of the moment. A country is based on families: attempting to redefine marriage is a project doomed to fester into social disintegration and to bring hardship, sorrow and social problems on a massive scale.
The Catholic Women...
...of the Year Luncheon always begins with a rising crescendo of noise as women gather and greet one another and talk and talk, and then more arrive, and more, and more....AND THE NOISE IS PRACTICALLY DEAFENING! Drinks, and photographs, and much bustling about as people make their way to the dining area and then the Top Table (the elected Cath Women of the Yr, plus chairman and speaker etc) walks in to great applause...it's all done in a very grand style.
Edmund Adamus, of the Department of Pastoral Affairs for the diocese of Westminster was our special guest speaker and was superb. He spoke about the special roles of men and women in the Church, quoting extensively from Bl. John Paul, emphasised the crucial centrality of family life and the sacred core of things in the home, the domestic Church, and ended up with a most moving and inspiring quotation from Mulieris Dignitatem...Auntie's job was to give the Vote of Thanks, and found her task delightful as both he, and Mary Killeen, speaker from the Maryvale Institute (to which funds raised by this year's Luncheon will go), really uplifted us all. Sitting at the high table at such an event enables one to see how the whole thing is going, and every year I am impressed by the lively chatter and the easy interchange of everyone - it really is an excellent event which brings together Catholic women who relish the chance not only to celebrate their shared faith but also to swap news and ideas and information...among the useful contacts Auntie made were a young student pro-life leader, a journalist working for a political website, a Maryvale graduate now planning to do more study and research, and of course friends old and new enjoying the day...
It was a pleasure to be sitting next to Jo Siedlecka, one of the Women of the Year. We have often overlapped at various events working as journalists and she is a talented and hard-working writer who has put her skills at the service of so many good causes: it was a real pleasure to see her recieve a well-merited honour.
After lunch, time for a quick cup of tea with Patti, fellow-member of the Association of Catholic Women, and fellow campaigner and worker for various causes, and a quick consulting of watches...would it be feasible for me to make a dash to Oxford, for the Newman Night Walk? The Luncheon was held at the Thistle Hotel near Marble Arch, so Paddington was do-able...I decided YES, and and s very very glad that I did.
The Night Walk is special. It commemorates the wet and stormy October night in the middle of the 19th century when Dominic Barberi arrived at Littlemore, having travelled there by stage-coach. He had recieved a message that the Rev John Henry Newman would like him to stop by. As he stood by the fire, with his soaking cloak, Newman came into the room and knelt at his feet, begging to be recieved into the Catholic Church...
We gathered at the Oratory in Woodstock Road, and walked to Littlemore, led by a couple of Oratory Fathers. We prayed the twenty decades of the Rosary along the way, and made a series of stops, each marking a significant event in Newman's life - Oriel, the University Church, St Clement's, the cottage at Littlemore where his mother and sisters lived, Littlemore Church which he built and from where he served the local poor people with such love and care...
A wonderful, wonderful walk. It is not far - perhaps four and a half miles. The rain which had fallen steadily all day had ceased. The lanes and meadows of Newman's day have given way, of course, to roads and streets of suburban-style houses, but we walked where he walked, and we prayed prayers he wrote, and sang his "Lead kindly light" as we set off for the final section, carrying lighted candles. The sisters The Work organise all of this, and when we got to St Dominic Barberi Church at Littlemore, they had hurried there ahead of us and we kneeling before the sanctuary, in their beautiful bridal-style Choir robes, with white veils.
Each of us took on that Walk our own special prayer-intentions, our hopes and our worries, and asked for Newman's intercession and laid it all before God...
Edmund Adamus, of the Department of Pastoral Affairs for the diocese of Westminster was our special guest speaker and was superb. He spoke about the special roles of men and women in the Church, quoting extensively from Bl. John Paul, emphasised the crucial centrality of family life and the sacred core of things in the home, the domestic Church, and ended up with a most moving and inspiring quotation from Mulieris Dignitatem...Auntie's job was to give the Vote of Thanks, and found her task delightful as both he, and Mary Killeen, speaker from the Maryvale Institute (to which funds raised by this year's Luncheon will go), really uplifted us all. Sitting at the high table at such an event enables one to see how the whole thing is going, and every year I am impressed by the lively chatter and the easy interchange of everyone - it really is an excellent event which brings together Catholic women who relish the chance not only to celebrate their shared faith but also to swap news and ideas and information...among the useful contacts Auntie made were a young student pro-life leader, a journalist working for a political website, a Maryvale graduate now planning to do more study and research, and of course friends old and new enjoying the day...
It was a pleasure to be sitting next to Jo Siedlecka, one of the Women of the Year. We have often overlapped at various events working as journalists and she is a talented and hard-working writer who has put her skills at the service of so many good causes: it was a real pleasure to see her recieve a well-merited honour.
After lunch, time for a quick cup of tea with Patti, fellow-member of the Association of Catholic Women, and fellow campaigner and worker for various causes, and a quick consulting of watches...would it be feasible for me to make a dash to Oxford, for the Newman Night Walk? The Luncheon was held at the Thistle Hotel near Marble Arch, so Paddington was do-able...I decided YES, and and s very very glad that I did.
The Night Walk is special. It commemorates the wet and stormy October night in the middle of the 19th century when Dominic Barberi arrived at Littlemore, having travelled there by stage-coach. He had recieved a message that the Rev John Henry Newman would like him to stop by. As he stood by the fire, with his soaking cloak, Newman came into the room and knelt at his feet, begging to be recieved into the Catholic Church...
We gathered at the Oratory in Woodstock Road, and walked to Littlemore, led by a couple of Oratory Fathers. We prayed the twenty decades of the Rosary along the way, and made a series of stops, each marking a significant event in Newman's life - Oriel, the University Church, St Clement's, the cottage at Littlemore where his mother and sisters lived, Littlemore Church which he built and from where he served the local poor people with such love and care...
A wonderful, wonderful walk. It is not far - perhaps four and a half miles. The rain which had fallen steadily all day had ceased. The lanes and meadows of Newman's day have given way, of course, to roads and streets of suburban-style houses, but we walked where he walked, and we prayed prayers he wrote, and sang his "Lead kindly light" as we set off for the final section, carrying lighted candles. The sisters The Work organise all of this, and when we got to St Dominic Barberi Church at Littlemore, they had hurried there ahead of us and we kneeling before the sanctuary, in their beautiful bridal-style Choir robes, with white veils.
Each of us took on that Walk our own special prayer-intentions, our hopes and our worries, and asked for Newman's intercession and laid it all before God...
Sunday, October 07, 2012
The Year of Faith...
... and prayer-cards being distributed after Mass, and a letter from the Archbishop read aloud. My mind went back fifty years, to the announcement of the Second Vatican Council, and prayer-cards with Pope John XXIII on them. It seemed exciting, back then, to be given something at church - this was in less prosperous times, and before photocopying and cheap printing - and I felt rather important walking home holding this. I stared at the picture: the Pope was plump and wore a fur-edged cape and looked comfortable and cheery. Inside was a long prayer, several paragraphs, asking God's blessing on the big Council that was planned. It was all obviously something that mattered to the grown-ups, but to me it was just something to put in my prayer-book as a sort of souvenir.
And this afternoon, settling down to some Maryvale study, the documents of Vatican II are core materials. The Catechism of the Catholic Church - its 20th anniversary is being celebrated as part of the Year of Faith too - is the central took for evangelisation. John XXXIII is honoured as Blessed, along with John Paul the Great, who was one of the Council Fathers and took a major part in its proceedings. And a young theologian who played an important role is now Pope and calling us to prayer as John XXIII did half a century ago. And I walked home from Mass with another prayer-card in another missal, and the Faith is the same in a changing world.
And this afternoon, settling down to some Maryvale study, the documents of Vatican II are core materials. The Catechism of the Catholic Church - its 20th anniversary is being celebrated as part of the Year of Faith too - is the central took for evangelisation. John XXXIII is honoured as Blessed, along with John Paul the Great, who was one of the Council Fathers and took a major part in its proceedings. And a young theologian who played an important role is now Pope and calling us to prayer as John XXIII did half a century ago. And I walked home from Mass with another prayer-card in another missal, and the Faith is the same in a changing world.
Glorious classical music...
...from talented young people, in a magnificent "Kids Prom" at St James Church, Islington. Among the talented young performers - all in their early teens - was a young relative. Auntie sat glowing with pride. Cello, piano, violin, flute, trumpet, clarinet, voice...some fabulous pieces of music, and all in the beauty of a lovely church on an Autumn evening, with home-made cakes (the young team had done those, too) in the interval. Afterwards, a talkative time at a family gathering, young people munching pizza, parents and grandparents and friends and neighbours enjoying wine and everyone in the afterglow of a wonderful concert...this is Britain at its best.
Home on the Tube. Slithered on the vomit on the floor, but managed toget to a seat. As new passengers arrived, we all - strangers, but united in mild adversity - united to warn them of the need for care. "Ugh!" "Yuk" "How gross..." . One girl, in a hurry, slithered and fell. As I passed tissues and commiserations, we all got talking. They askd me what I was reading. "um...well...theology. I'm doing some study - one of those part-time degrees. Loving it." We got talking about God, the Bible, Christ. "What's your take on it?" a girl asked, with genuine friendly curiosity, as one pondering some odd new information or weird piece of news. "Well...." I thought for a long moment. "I don't think Christ was lying....I think he was who he said he was. And I think it's stunning: that God didn't stay remote from us, but came and joined in...." And as we talked, there was an extraordinary bond., and somehow something beautiful, as we carefully made our way out past the vomit on the floor and the shrieking youngsters at the station, to the bus stop and our various homes.
Home on the Tube. Slithered on the vomit on the floor, but managed toget to a seat. As new passengers arrived, we all - strangers, but united in mild adversity - united to warn them of the need for care. "Ugh!" "Yuk" "How gross..." . One girl, in a hurry, slithered and fell. As I passed tissues and commiserations, we all got talking. They askd me what I was reading. "um...well...theology. I'm doing some study - one of those part-time degrees. Loving it." We got talking about God, the Bible, Christ. "What's your take on it?" a girl asked, with genuine friendly curiosity, as one pondering some odd new information or weird piece of news. "Well...." I thought for a long moment. "I don't think Christ was lying....I think he was who he said he was. And I think it's stunning: that God didn't stay remote from us, but came and joined in...." And as we talked, there was an extraordinary bond., and somehow something beautiful, as we carefully made our way out past the vomit on the floor and the shrieking youngsters at the station, to the bus stop and our various homes.
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Catholic humanism...
"Without God, man ultimately chooses selfishness over solidarity and
love, material things over values, having over being. We must return to
God, so that man may return to being man" Pope Benedict XVI, speaking at the shrine at Loreto, where he went this week to mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John XXIII went there on the eve of that great Council, and Papa B. told the 10,000-strong crowd this week that he was following in the footsteps of that "unforgettable Pope".
Various meetings took me to a suburban shopping centre for much of yesterday. It is a place which has been familiar to me from childhood, and ought to be rather nice now, as the old High Street has been pedestrianised. The shops are all large-scale chain-stores, and the street was filled with stalls selling cheap clothes and fake jewellry, and there was loud rock music blaring...but instead of a sense of friendly bustle, it seemed to be filled with people - among them many who were unusually fat! - with an odd listlessness, eating and shouting, throwing food wrappers on to the street, gazing at shop windows and in a weird way, despite the crowds, somehow disconnected from one another.
Various meetings took me to a suburban shopping centre for much of yesterday. It is a place which has been familiar to me from childhood, and ought to be rather nice now, as the old High Street has been pedestrianised. The shops are all large-scale chain-stores, and the street was filled with stalls selling cheap clothes and fake jewellry, and there was loud rock music blaring...but instead of a sense of friendly bustle, it seemed to be filled with people - among them many who were unusually fat! - with an odd listlessness, eating and shouting, throwing food wrappers on to the street, gazing at shop windows and in a weird way, despite the crowds, somehow disconnected from one another.
Friday, October 05, 2012
Catholic History Walks...
...and the Autumn season is well under way. Note these:
Thursday Oct 11th - Westminster, Parliament, and Whitehall. Meet 6.30pm on the steps of Westmnster Cathedral, after the 5.30pm Mass. No need to book, just turn up. Wear suitable clothing and shoes - we walk whatever the weather.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 20th. THE PROCESSION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT from Westminster Cathedral, across the Thames, to St George's Cathedral, Southwark. Starts 3pm at Westminster Cathedral. Don't miss this! Tell all your friends and family. Make this a great act of witness to the Faith!
Thursday October 25th - a tour of Westminster Cathedral. Meet 3pm inside the Cathedral.
Sunday October 28th - the John Paul II Walk along the Thames. From Westminster to the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster at Hampton Wick - a walk of some 20 miles. Join us: we are walking and praying for the New Evangelisation of our country. Bring your Rosary, a packed lunch, and water to drink. Starts at Westminster Cathedral after the 10.30am Mass.
Thursday October 15th. Meet 6.30pm at St Mary Moorfields, Eldon St, London EC2. We will explore the City and some of its old churches, finishing on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.
Thursday Oct 11th - Westminster, Parliament, and Whitehall. Meet 6.30pm on the steps of Westmnster Cathedral, after the 5.30pm Mass. No need to book, just turn up. Wear suitable clothing and shoes - we walk whatever the weather.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 20th. THE PROCESSION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT from Westminster Cathedral, across the Thames, to St George's Cathedral, Southwark. Starts 3pm at Westminster Cathedral. Don't miss this! Tell all your friends and family. Make this a great act of witness to the Faith!
Thursday October 25th - a tour of Westminster Cathedral. Meet 3pm inside the Cathedral.
Sunday October 28th - the John Paul II Walk along the Thames. From Westminster to the shrine of Our Lady of Westminster at Hampton Wick - a walk of some 20 miles. Join us: we are walking and praying for the New Evangelisation of our country. Bring your Rosary, a packed lunch, and water to drink. Starts at Westminster Cathedral after the 10.30am Mass.
Thursday October 15th. Meet 6.30pm at St Mary Moorfields, Eldon St, London EC2. We will explore the City and some of its old churches, finishing on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.
Prayer and fasting...
...can bring evil things to an end, and can invite God's blessing into places where there was darkness and despair. The Forty Days for Life project is all about this, and you can find out more by following that link. Robert Colquhoun, leading organiser, has gathered numbers of young people to join in this campaign of prayer: It is worthy of support.
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Blessed Sacrament Procession...
...Saturday October 20th 2012, starts 3pm WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL, finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
Come and witness to the Faith!
We will gather in Westminster Cathedral, and then move off down Ambrosden Avenue, and so down through Westminster, crossing the Thames at Lambeth Bridge.
Last year over 1,000 people took part...come and make the 2012 Procession as good or even better! It is a glorious and unforgettable experience to share in this great act of witness in the streets of London. Be there!
Come and witness to the Faith!
We will gather in Westminster Cathedral, and then move off down Ambrosden Avenue, and so down through Westminster, crossing the Thames at Lambeth Bridge.
Last year over 1,000 people took part...come and make the 2012 Procession as good or even better! It is a glorious and unforgettable experience to share in this great act of witness in the streets of London. Be there!
Vatican II...
...the theme of a talk given by Bishop Mark Davies to The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild, last night.
He speaks in a measured, low-key way, thoughtful and well-prepared. His talk was Christ-centred, warmly supportive of the Council, reflective: he emphasised the futility of seeing things in a "left/right" "conservatives/liberals" series of battles and conspiracies - what matters is the larger reality, the teachings that emerged, the message of hope and renewal, and the opportunity now offerred, by the forthcoming 50th anniversary, for new evangelisation drawing from the same prayerful faith as that shown by Bl. John XXIII in summoning the Council all those years ago. The Fathers of the Council were gathered, he stressed, not in a sort of Parliament, but in the service of the Church.
The overall message of his talk was that the 50th anniversary is something to celebrate and honour, and that the Council's teachings will serve the Church well in the years ahead. It was a view with a mature perspective: the Council seen in the light of Blessed John Paul and the Catechism.
I first met Bishop Mark years ago through the FAITH Movement, and his general approach very much chimes in with the message that I received through that Movement about Vatican II throughout the 1970s and 80s. He exudes a prayerful and calm sense of competence, and of confidence in the Church.
At the meeting, I was able to announce the winners of the 2012 Catholic Young Writer Award, which is run jointly by The Keys and the Catholic Union. We have joint winners this year - twin girls at a school in Loughborough. Info here. I will be going to the school the present the Award a shield, plus a modest cash prize, and books) in a few weeks' time.
Also: The Keys was one of the founders of the Towards Advent Festival: Sat Nov 24th. Join us there! Opens 10.30am, talks, music, stalls and displays by a wide range of Catholic groups and organisations...
He speaks in a measured, low-key way, thoughtful and well-prepared. His talk was Christ-centred, warmly supportive of the Council, reflective: he emphasised the futility of seeing things in a "left/right" "conservatives/liberals" series of battles and conspiracies - what matters is the larger reality, the teachings that emerged, the message of hope and renewal, and the opportunity now offerred, by the forthcoming 50th anniversary, for new evangelisation drawing from the same prayerful faith as that shown by Bl. John XXIII in summoning the Council all those years ago. The Fathers of the Council were gathered, he stressed, not in a sort of Parliament, but in the service of the Church.
The overall message of his talk was that the 50th anniversary is something to celebrate and honour, and that the Council's teachings will serve the Church well in the years ahead. It was a view with a mature perspective: the Council seen in the light of Blessed John Paul and the Catechism.
I first met Bishop Mark years ago through the FAITH Movement, and his general approach very much chimes in with the message that I received through that Movement about Vatican II throughout the 1970s and 80s. He exudes a prayerful and calm sense of competence, and of confidence in the Church.
At the meeting, I was able to announce the winners of the 2012 Catholic Young Writer Award, which is run jointly by The Keys and the Catholic Union. We have joint winners this year - twin girls at a school in Loughborough. Info here. I will be going to the school the present the Award a shield, plus a modest cash prize, and books) in a few weeks' time.
Also: The Keys was one of the founders of the Towards Advent Festival: Sat Nov 24th. Join us there! Opens 10.30am, talks, music, stalls and displays by a wide range of Catholic groups and organisations...
Monday, October 01, 2012
Vanishing...
...the England where I spent Saturday...
A much-loved regimental padre (C.of E), a who in retirement settled in hunting country, and was a generous host at wonderful lunch parties and dinner parties and tea-parties, died full of years and his funeral was in the village church. It was Michaelmas and the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the Anglican ministry. J. was unable to attend, but village loyalty and regimental loyalty - and ties of friendship - required a presence from us. A golden September day: bus and tube to Paddington, and thence out to the West Country, changing at Bristol Parkway and meandering on that lovely route through rural Somerset to the market-town where I would catch the local bus to the small seaside town where I would collect an elderly relative...and where we would both be met by a kind friends who would take us to the village. Yes, in modern Britain, it is still possible to do journeys like that: motorways are of no use if you don't drive.
The village church was packed. Elderly relative ushered into a suitable front pew. I joined people in the porch...and found myself unexpectedly sitting next to J's former CO. We hadn't met for years...not since Berlin in the 1980s, when J. was a troop commander under him...a vanished Berlin, with The Wall, and regular patrols along it, and East Berlin a strange and alien place with Marxist slogans, and we were in the West, and people could still be shot for trying to flee to us...
We whispered gosh-its-been-years and how-is-Jane? and of-course-little-Anna-must-be-grown-up-now and so on, and then the organ began and a procession of clergy, all white surplices and wide stoles with regimental crests, formed up outside and we rose and sang. How extraordinary, as a middle-aged woman, to be singing "All people that on earth do dwell" in Michaelmas sunshine and thinking back across half a lifetime to Berlin...and all in the village where I came first as a fiancee and then as a bride and daughter-in-law, oh, years and years and years ago...
And here was an afternoon of the old C. of E., the one that is passing and won't be here much longer....and we will all be the poorer. Glorious singing. A grand sermon - some very, very funny anecdotes, and then by gentle changes a move to a message that was stirring, and inspiring, important and worth hearing. Dignified prayers. A final hymn "Glorious things of thee are spoken..." that could be heard in the High Street (shopkeepers all talking of it later). And, as we crowded out into the sunshine the finest sound of all, the funeral-peal of the bells, solemn, beautiful, English, unforgettable.
A splendid Tea - not just proper sandwiches (triangular, no crusts, smoked salmon) and scones with jam and cream, and lemon cake, and eclairs, but also sherry and gin-and-tonic...and a garden of mellow Michaelmas slightly fading beauty, and quantities of Anglican clergy and their wives, and talk of Army things and country things, hunting and gardens.
Much later, booked into a b-and-b for the night, elderly relative safely delivered home, I walked along by the sea. The moonlight made a great silvered pathway out to the horizon over the waves. The small white cottages, once homes to fishermen and the harbour-master and so on, now all holiday-lets or comfortable retirement places, looked cosy with glowing windows.
Lying in bed, the shrieks and shouts of the local teenagers getting drunk and fighting brought me back to modern Britain and that's what life is like.
A much-loved regimental padre (C.of E), a who in retirement settled in hunting country, and was a generous host at wonderful lunch parties and dinner parties and tea-parties, died full of years and his funeral was in the village church. It was Michaelmas and the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the Anglican ministry. J. was unable to attend, but village loyalty and regimental loyalty - and ties of friendship - required a presence from us. A golden September day: bus and tube to Paddington, and thence out to the West Country, changing at Bristol Parkway and meandering on that lovely route through rural Somerset to the market-town where I would catch the local bus to the small seaside town where I would collect an elderly relative...and where we would both be met by a kind friends who would take us to the village. Yes, in modern Britain, it is still possible to do journeys like that: motorways are of no use if you don't drive.
The village church was packed. Elderly relative ushered into a suitable front pew. I joined people in the porch...and found myself unexpectedly sitting next to J's former CO. We hadn't met for years...not since Berlin in the 1980s, when J. was a troop commander under him...a vanished Berlin, with The Wall, and regular patrols along it, and East Berlin a strange and alien place with Marxist slogans, and we were in the West, and people could still be shot for trying to flee to us...
We whispered gosh-its-been-years and how-is-Jane? and of-course-little-Anna-must-be-grown-up-now and so on, and then the organ began and a procession of clergy, all white surplices and wide stoles with regimental crests, formed up outside and we rose and sang. How extraordinary, as a middle-aged woman, to be singing "All people that on earth do dwell" in Michaelmas sunshine and thinking back across half a lifetime to Berlin...and all in the village where I came first as a fiancee and then as a bride and daughter-in-law, oh, years and years and years ago...
And here was an afternoon of the old C. of E., the one that is passing and won't be here much longer....and we will all be the poorer. Glorious singing. A grand sermon - some very, very funny anecdotes, and then by gentle changes a move to a message that was stirring, and inspiring, important and worth hearing. Dignified prayers. A final hymn "Glorious things of thee are spoken..." that could be heard in the High Street (shopkeepers all talking of it later). And, as we crowded out into the sunshine the finest sound of all, the funeral-peal of the bells, solemn, beautiful, English, unforgettable.
A splendid Tea - not just proper sandwiches (triangular, no crusts, smoked salmon) and scones with jam and cream, and lemon cake, and eclairs, but also sherry and gin-and-tonic...and a garden of mellow Michaelmas slightly fading beauty, and quantities of Anglican clergy and their wives, and talk of Army things and country things, hunting and gardens.
Much later, booked into a b-and-b for the night, elderly relative safely delivered home, I walked along by the sea. The moonlight made a great silvered pathway out to the horizon over the waves. The small white cottages, once homes to fishermen and the harbour-master and so on, now all holiday-lets or comfortable retirement places, looked cosy with glowing windows.
Lying in bed, the shrieks and shouts of the local teenagers getting drunk and fighting brought me back to modern Britain and that's what life is like.
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