...and for a fuller description of Auntie's time in the USA...

...read my EWTN blog here...

There is more...

...about Auntie's book on  the Brigettine nuns who hid Jewish refugees in WWII in Rome here.

The latest...

issue of FAITH magazine has a feature by Auntie on Fatima and Russia etc...

It feels strange to be living in a world where Russia's confident Christians speak out boldly on topical issues, while Christians in the West face increasing hostility and feel that the government and bureaucracy of their countries is increasingly antagonistic towards Christianity. The conversion of Russia has presented us all with starling changes. The officially-imposed atheism of the old USSR was a fixed part of the world scene for most of the 20th century: we are now living in a n entirely new and different world.

...and so...

...Auntie's trip around Australia continued...a good crowd at Wagga Wagga, where I met some delightful Dominican Sisters.  This is a thriving Catholic diocese, with its own seminary, founded in the 1990s. There is an upbeat feel to the Church here, and I hugely enjoyed my visit.   Sunday Mass at the Cathedral, which was packed with lots of young families(but had quite the most dreadful music I have heard in any church for some while...dreary little dog-eared booklets in the pews with sad American ditties from the 1970s...oh dear. Surely a Cathedral from a fine diocese like this should have a choir and some music that all can sing together? )  Then on to Melborne,, where I stayed with relatives and was given a warm welcome...more talks, all organised by Freedom Publishing.

News in Australia was dominated by the forthcoming general election. The current Labour Prime Minister is standing again and has pledged himself to introduce male-male   and female-female "marriage", which is a good reason to ensure that he isn't re-elected. 

And we must all pray that our govt here does NOT start bombing Syria...PM Cameron's attempt to involve our country in the dreadful events there is just all wrong and no good will come of it.

The Mustard Seed...

...is the name of a bookshop in Sydney, associated with the Catholic Adult Education Centre. Last night, Auntie spoke there at the launching of a new book Courage and Conviction . Among the guests attending were some good friends, including theologian Father Peter Joseph, lecturer at Vianney College and parish priest at Flemington. We last met some years back when he was visiting London and joined us for family picnic at Hampton Court...

On to Wagga Wagga, where I'm speaking tonight at the St Mary McKillop College.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure and privilege of a meeting with HE Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney. Talk ranged over many things including the great John Paul II, World Youth Day, current trends in the Church, and more...

...and on to Australia...

...where I am writing this from Sydney. Lecture tour begins tomorrow. Info here: Aussie readers...if you are in Sydney, Melbourne, Wagga Wagga or Perth, check the relevant dates and come and meet Auntie!

Main topic of talks: Pius XII, WWII, rescue of Jews, the story of an heroic British nun in Rome...

On the long flight from the USA, I read a selection of books, borrowed from EWTN. Hugely recommended is Cardinal Francis George's  The Difference God Makes: A Catholic vision of faith, communion and culture.   This is a challenging, informative and readable book with a message of hope for the Church in the USA and much/most of what he says applies to Britain too. The Cardinal is realistic about the current state of things, both in the Church and in society. What he offers is a practical handbook from which Catholics can draw useful material and ideas for the way ahead. The book was published in 2009 and the message has been reinforced by the events of the past couple of years.

I was inspired and hugely moved by a biography of  Fr Emil Kapaun, hero of the Korean War.  I had read about the ghastly conditions endured by American and British soldiers in the prisoner-of-war camps in that war, but reading about Fr Kapaun brought it all home very powerfully...this is a story that our young men in seminaries need to read.

And  in a quite different way  Fr Donald Calloway's book No Turning Back giving an account of his conversion from a lifestyle of  heavy metal/sexndrugs/lounging around/theft/vandalism  is a truly moving story with a deep, haunting message. It's very much a book that speaks to, for, and on behalf of a generation. This is the generation that JPII and BXVI sought to reach, and his conversion story owes a great deal to them...and the work must go on...

A lecture tour intersperses much busy activity with sudden long gulps of spare time ( away from home, no housework, etc). I have brought a big piece of cross-stitch to tackle: a hassock for church, my first attempt at such a project. It is simple and satisfying stitchery. One annoyance is that it is impossible to do this work on an aeroplane: post 9/11 a needle and wool is regarded as equipment suited to terrorists and banned.

...and if you want to hear...

...Auntie on Register Radio, part of EWTN, you can get info here...

Something over a thousand...

...supporters of EWTN converged on a big conference-centre in Alabama for a massive Family Festival...

A whirlwind of activity for  all of us involved in EWTN, and lots of people coming up to say  "I watch your programmes..."  "I've been following your series..." and so on.  On Saturday evening, a big presentation by a group of us  talking about different aspects of the mission of  a Catholic women today: lively, open, wide-ranging, and great to be with women who share convictions and want to celebrate the great and glorious truths of the Faith....

There were all sorts of talks and opportunities to discuss things during the day, of which the most interesting was an excellent presentation on religious freedom and the implications of the obligatory funding of abortion that the Obama administration seeks to impose on employers. This, plus laws imposing same-sex "marriage", and the restrictions on  opposition to it, and the enforcement of the obligation to teach its acceptability to children in schools, dominated many conversations as people gathered to chat.  There is an underlying seriousness that makes Catholic events of this sort different from the way they were  a few years ago.

A glorious Mass this morning, celebrated by the Bishop of Birmingham, Alabama. For this, the stage was transformed into a sanctuary by bringing on an altar, flowers, tall candles, etc. There was a fine choir, and a most beautiful solo at Communion sung by a young girl, her clear voice filling the great auditorium with a sweet sound.

EWTN viewers include many young families, of  a dedicated kind who are prepared to bring their children for a whole weekend of Catholic activities, and who all attend Mass with great devotion. There is a great sense of zeal, with people volunteering to be "media missionaries" promoting EWTN in their parishes. A sales area dedicated to books, DVDs, statues, and devotional items of all sorts drew good numbers. People queued up to meet EWTN presenters such as Fr Mitch Pacwa.

EWTN is shaping the future of the Church in the USA. You can watch the main events of the Festival  - info here

...and now here I am in Alabama...

...which is great, except that my luggage is in Dallas, Texas.  But I expect the airline people will arrange to get it here in due course - at least that is what they have promised - and so meanwhile I am catching up on work and being made v. welcome by colleagues here at EWTN.

Fortunately the v. comfortable hotel where I stayed last night was able to provide toothbrush, comb etc, and I have long learned about washing clothes overnight, drying them with an hotel hairdryer and so on.

Took part in a discussion on Register Radio this morning, along with Joan Lewis, EWTN's Rome correspondent.  It is depressing that the main news I needed to report from Britain was the Govt's ghastly imposition of  same-sex "marriage" and the subsequent threats to freedom of debate and discussion, the rights of Catholic schools and educators, etc. And there is no point in just making cheerful noises or hoping that somehow things will be all right: things are not going to be all right, and we are all going to need courage in the years ahead.

Mass at EWTN, crowded, prayerful. An upbeat feel about the whole place,. Normally when I am here I am v. busy, working on programmes.  Today, various meetings, plus time spent organising the safe return of my luggage.

The role played by EWTN in the fight for the soul of America has been a remarkable one.  There have been some remarkable achievements,  some crucial gains have been made, and it's still a work in progress, "but westward, look! the land is bright..."

...and if you want more...

...about England, and pilgrimage, and praying for the New Evangelisation, you can read Auntie's thoughts here, with some historical info...

The Feast of the Assumption

...is one of the few that we are still allowed to celebrate properly, on its correct day.

DEAR BISHOPS
PLEASE MAY WE HAVE OUR FEAST-DAYS BACK??

SOON??

I went to a Vigil Mass at a local church, with bags packed and everything ready for the trip to the USA (where I am taking part in EWTN's big summer festival).   The church was much fuller than I expected. YOU SEE, PEOPLE DO LIKE TO GO TO MASS ON A FEAST DAY.

Across the aisle, I saw a friend and as Mass ended, we had a whisper-chat. Others of his family were elsewhere in the church - teenagers (one of whom is my godson), small children, wife with new baby. Would I like to go back for supper?  I pondered - but only for a moment. I was already booked into a room at an hotel  Heathrow airport - but had no reason to arrive there early.  We had a glorious, hearty, talkative supper,  I wasn't the only guest - a couple of friends from Australia had also arrived, bringing a third with them. This is one of those wonderful families who love to welcome guests, and always seem to find room for one more around the large family table. A happy, happy evening.

Late, to the hotel.  It has wifi, so I picked up emails and bits of news. This morning, I was reading an amusing piece in the Daily Telegraph about children's names and how they reflect social class: all those Chardonnays and Jaydens contrasting with Jemimas and Olivers...

But the real news is in the bald fact that the second most popular name for boys born in Britain in 2012 was: Mohammed.

And so to EWTN, and the project of the New Evangelisation...

The pilgrimage to Walsingham...

...described below, was a most wonderful experience, and the memory of the beauty of the countryside, and the sound of the young people singing, will stay with me...

Each evening, we sang Evening Prayer together, and then had supper and a time of chatting and preparing for the next day's walking. Then Night Prayer, which was especially beautiful with the candles glowing...we used the Dominican form of the Office, which has some special things like a slightly different Confiteor, mentioning "our father Dominic"...and we were blessed with holy water and then went off to our sleeping quarters...

Walking each day, we kept up a steady pace: the pilgrimage is very well organised, with heavy luggage (sleeping-bags etc, along with all the food) going ahead of us by van. At Castle Acre, where we had Mass in the ruins of the old Priory,  there is a gift shop and office, all run by English Heritage with a pleasant lady in charge.  There are books about castles and knights and abbeys and monks and so on. Given how little history children are taught in schools in Britain at the moment I think these touristy places do rather a useful job. It's heartbreaking - bright, intelligent young people can't tell you when the Napoleonic wars took place, or who won at Waterloo or Trafalgar, or who Gladstone was, or Disraeli, or why English is used as a common language in India, or when the English Civil war took place...let alone anything about Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Wars of the Roses, or the Princes in the Tower. They do odd bits of "theme history" - "medicine through the ages" or whatever - but they are mainly made to study the 20th century and the Second World War over and over again.

The young people on this pilgrimage were enthusiastic about their faith, and quite well informed about it. They are involved with groups like Youth 2000  (and some will be returning to Walsingham for the big annual Y2000 event held there later this month) and with World Youth Day and its associated activities. Several expressed interest in following a religious vocation - the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal were mentioned, and also the Dominicans. They are the "Generation Benedict" and they will bring much vigour and hope to the Church. But they are conscious that things are going to be tough - affirming the Christian understanding of marriage in a country which has just legalised same-sex unions means being prepared to be strong-minded. But they perhaps do not know how much they have been deprived of  a sound grasp of their own country's history, and of a rich heritage shared by previous generations.

ARE YOU COMING...

...to the Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon in October?

It's always a great event, and this year the funds raised will go towards the training of parish catechists, through the Maryvale Institute. This is your chance to support effective evangelisation of our youth in this Year of Faith.

You can find out more about the Catholic Women of the Year here...

The ancient abbeys...

...of Suffolk and Norfolk, destroyed under Henry VIII, rang again with the timeless chants of the Mass, as young pilgrims on the 50-mile John Paul II Walk  to Walsingham made their way across the countryside.

It was glorious, beautiful, unforgettable.  We began at Bury St Edmunds - where, long long ago in the reign of King John, the abbots of England's monasteries gathered to pledge themselves to insist on the rights and freedom of the Church, and to draw up what was to become Magna Carta...here, in warm evening sunshine, on the Feast of St Dominic, the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph  had gathered a big crowd for Mass to launch the pilgrimage. We were welcomed by the Chairman of the Town Council, wearing his chain of office, and speaking about the great tradition of Bury St Edmunds, which has been welcoming pilgrims for something like a thousand years.  The wealth of this town was built on its Abbey, and throughout the Middle Ages people thronged here from across the country.

Mass was sung by young Father Henry Whisenant, ordained in Norwich Cathedral just a few weeks previously. We chanted a Missa de Angelis, pilgrims did the Scripture readings, and Sister Hyacinthe, organiser of our pilgrimage, led us in the Psalm. We sang rousing hymns.  The  local parish had turned out in good numbers, and with the young pilgrims filled the old ruins with beautiful music and a great atmosphere of devotion and prayer...Father Henry preached, and a long line of people made its way across the lawn for Holy Communion, the slanting sun and lengthening shadows sheltering the scene, with the distant plop-plop of a game of tennis in the nearby courts and the cries of children playing in the Abbey park...

Then a hearty supper - provided by the excellent Sister Julie of the Dominicans - and a general meeting of all the pilgrims to exchange greetings and be given information and directions for the days ahead. Night Prayer in the church of St Edmund King and  Martyr - the walls are lined with  magnificent framed embroidery worked by young people of the town back in 1970 telling his story -  and then we settled for the night's rest, the men in the church hall and the women in the Catholic primary school next door. It is not particularly comfortable sleeping on a floor, and the mat I had brought, which is meant to have a sort of inflating air-thingummy, never works very well. But we had to be up very early the next day, for Morning Prayer in the church before a ride to Barton, and Mass there, and the start of the long walk to Walsingham...

Auntie writing...

...and you might enjoy it. Read here...

The feast of theTransfiguration...

(Aug 6th) is also the day on which the Servant of God  Paul VI died, in 1978.

He was named a Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI, opening up the way for beatification and canonisation.

He saw the Second Vatican Council through to its conclusion, he gave us Humanae Vitae - a prophetic and wise message, the truth and importance of which are daily more and more evident -  he endured consistent vilification and public criticism of a most vociferous and brutal kind, he was a man of faith and real moral courage. Pope Francis has recently spoken of him, and I am sure we will one day see him listed among the saints of the Church.

The Sisters are running out of space...

...because they have new members joining their community.  The Dominican Sisters of St Joseph badly need to expand the accommodation at their convent in the New Forest. They are not a large community, but are thriving and I was talking to one of their newest members the other day. She will be joined by another newcomer shortly. 

There is an abandoned stable-block on their property which could be turned into rooms for the sisters' work, retreats, conferences, youth activities etc, thus freeing up space in the main house for accommodation. The need is getting rather urgent. Can you help?  Read here for more info...

Fatima and Russia...

...and that mysterious promise "Russia will be converted".  Bl. John Paul took it seriously and  became the "Fatima Pope".  And...well...look what's happening.. churches full, Christian traditions and feast-days publicly honoured  with big celebrations...latest development : a relic of "St Andrew's Cross" was brought to St Petersberg  to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Russian fleet, and crowds have lined up in their thousands and thousands to venerate it at cities across Russia and Belarus, some waiting for up to nine hours,  in a massive display of public Christianity...read more here...

For years, people across the world prayed "for the conversion of Russia".  We didn't really imagine what it would be like when it happened...

Life for most Russians is fairly grim:  poor housing, poor healthcare, Mafia crime, high levels of alcohol abuse... Christianity is a message of hope and gives a sense of tradition and a framework in which to rethink Russian history and the ghastly events of the 20th century.  And it is in no small measure all bound up with Russian nationalism.

The promises of Fatima did not suggest that everything would be perfect, but stated that the conversion would occur. And it is occurring.

One irony is that it is now the West that needs conversion...

In the years...

...that I have been gathering blackberries from its hedgerows, our local cemetery has changed. Along the path that I wander, heading for the thick brambles, heavy with their fruit, there are now slanted rows of graves, all pointing towards Mecca. Over the next years, we will see fewer and fewer crosses in our cemeteries.  The newer graves that are non-Muslim sometimes have teddy-bears, footballs, or family mementoes on them, or the remains of floral arrangements spelling out "Our Mum" or similar.

Not many people gather blackberries in the London suburbs now - it tends to be an older-people thing. I take scissors to hack away the long wandering brambles with sharp thorns that rip into my legs, and the tall feathery nettles with their cruel stings. It's worth a few scratches, though, to bring home a bowl of fruit that will shortly be turned into jam.

The Ladies Ordinariate Group is running a stall at the Towards Advent Festival, so I'm busy making jam for that.

Pope Pius XII...

...has been cruelly and shockingly maligned over his wartime role. But the truth is steadily emerging, and no serious historian would now give credence to the lies circulated by the old East German regime. 

I spent a good deal of time researching the story of one particular family of Jewish refugees in Rome, and the results are in my new book Courage and Conviction  describing how the Brigettine sisters successfully hid this group and thus saved their lives.

Sitting in the parlour of the Brigettine sisters, and talking to the elderly Jewish gentleman who had lived there as a teenage boy, and hearing him describe what it was all like, is something I will remember for always...the stories of the atmosphere in the house, of the kindness of the nuns, of listening in secret to the BBC, of the tension of the final days of the war... and it was rather touching to see how the friendship with the sisters had continued down the years, as we sat chatting over drinks and little cakes with the Italian sunshine pouring in, and later joined the sisters and some other guests out in the courtyard...

Incidentally, one aspect of the wider story of how Jewish lives were saved in Rome during those ghastly years is the role of Mgr Montini, later Paul VI.  He worked with zeal and courage to find hiding-places for Jewish families, facing personal danger in doing so.

Want to know more? Get the book.

Australia...

 ...beckons.

Auntie's lecture tour. If you are an Australian reader of this blog you may be interested to come to one of the events in Sydney or Melbourne...info here...

I have been sent...

...an email urging me to join a lobby to intervene in a dispute within a branch of the Franciscan Order. As this dispute involves the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, a campaigner for the Extraordinary Form has decided to interfere.  He is not a Franciscan but a dedicated lobbyist for this particular form of the Mass.

But the dispute involves a situation within the Franciscans and to attempt to use as part of a campaign for the Extraordinary Form is quite wrong. 

The letter urging me to join the campaign  sheds light on why and how the problems within this branch of the Franciscans arose in the first place. It made me realise that the intervention by the Church authorities was probably right.

There is a useful analysis of the situation here.

I shall most certainly not be signing the round-robin letter

The Oratory School...

...at Woodcote, near Reading, is in a superb setting, the cool green cricket pitches surrounded by great sweeps of glorious countryside, the fine old manor house now transformed into the heart of a great array of school buildings approached by a drive from the main road.

Evangelium  now uses this fine setting for its conference every summer - sponsored by the CTS and drawing young Catholics in their 20s and 30s for a weekend of lectures and seminars, talks and workshops, centred of course on daily prayer and Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Some good speakers -  Bishop Mark Davies, who also preached at the Mass on Saturday, concelebrating with some of the many priests ,  Fr John Hemer on the Scriptures,  Sister Hyacinthe from the Dominican sisters (who will shortly  be leading the John Paul II Walk for the New Evangelisation shortly)  Fr Ed Tomlinson of the Ordinariate...

I was touched that Bishop Mark quoted Auntie's book on St John Vianney in his lecture on this dear saint. We chatted briefly later over tea...

The whole conference is well organised, with morning prayer followed by a Proper Breakfast with eggs and bacon and sausages and hash browns and fried bread...there is an Elevenses break and a Good Lunch, and a long afternoon in which to enjoy the grounds, or play some sport, or rest, or linger around talking with friends...

There were First Blessings from two of the newly-ordained priests from this summer's batch of ordinations. It is a special moment to be blessed by a young priest whom one met as a seminarian at World Youth Day...

Lots of workshops from which to choose: I opted for one on "Mary, Star of the New Evangelisation", led by one of the sisters of the Society of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity. I went because of the project "New Evangelisation" which is what the future of the Church in our poor country must be about if there is to be a future for the Church here at all. But part of me worried a bit - no, a lot - that it might just be a rather sentimental and predictable little feverino about Our Lady.  But it was a well presented theologically coherent and profound look at Mary's role in salvation history and in the life of the Church with a message of hope, with reference to  Louis Grignon de Montfort's "Total consecration", insights from Blessed John Paul...lots to ponder...

There was morning and night prayer in the chapel.  There was an extremely jolly, talkative social on the Saturday evening in a beautiful drawing-room in the old manor, giving out on to the gardens with their glorious great banks of lavender.  And while that was happening, there was also Adoration in the chapel and we were urged to make sure that Christ was never ignored...when I slipped in, there were good numbers of people there quietly praying. That mix of social cheer and deep prayer has something of the essence of Catholicism about it.

The conference ended with an excellent presentation on evangelisation by Frs Andrew Pinsent and Marcus Holden.  And then off to evangelise Britain...

The crucial World Youth Day you may have missed...

...the mainstream media, and alas most of the blogs, don't look at the real thing, only the bits that shout. I found this had some interesting info..

A Blessed Sacrament procession...

...in the beautiful grounds of  the school where the FAITH Movement held its week-long Summer Session this year.  There is a statue of Christ with arms outstretched in blessing on the main lawn, and this is a perfect setting for an outdoor Benediction.  We began, of course, in the chapel - very hot and crowded - and then, with young men carrying the canopy over the Blessed Sacrament, walked through the courtyards and out into the grounds of the school, praying the Mysteries of Light. In the  cool evening, with the great chorus of voices praying the Rosary, and singing "Ave, Ave..." it was all very stirring.. A choir of young FATH members  sang most beautifully as we knelt on the wide lawn for Benediction, and then we prayed the Litany of the Most Holy Eucharist,...."Jesus, the Most High...the Holy One...only Son of the Father...reigning in glory... Lord of all history... Lord of the cosmos... Master Key to the meaning of the universe...manna from Heaven...new and everlasting covenant...food for everlasting life...Holy Banquet...eternal sacrifice...Mediator of the New Covenant..."

The procession led us through the grounds and along the shaded main drive, and back into the chapel, where "Tantum ergo sacramentum..." rang out. After the second Benediction, we prayed Night Prayer. Singing "The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended..." is one of the things that brings back memories of so many FAITH sessions of past years, binding them with today...

THE PORTAL...

...is the on-line magazine of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Auntie writes in it each month...but if you don't want to read Auntie's material, there is a great deal of other good stuff there. Read it here.

Crowded, talkative, teeming with young people...

... in the setting of a large school in glorious countryside, with wide cool lawns dominated by an illuminated statue of Christ with his arms outstretched.  The FAITH Movement Summer Session.  I had booked in as a day visitor - this is an event for the young, and Auntie and others of a certain age tend to arrive for the evening, to join in Night Prayer in the chapel, to talk for long agreeable hours on the terrace with old friends, to swap news and ideas and - in Auntie's case at least - to feel a curious sense of deja-vu as young people surge about and talk and laugh and swap in-jokes and share in an annual summertime gathering which will be part of their memories for years and years...

On arrival, I had no time to greet friends as I was immediately swept into a circle of relatives...very young ones, a baby stretching out hands for a hug, energetic children imploring Auntie to come and see the fish in the pond, the hill where you can clamber up high, the places where you run and jump...

Later, over drinks in the cool evening, much talk, with friends such as Frs Hugh Mackenzie, Tim Finigan...and meeting lots of the young people, some of whom I have met through university Catholic groups, some as fellow pilgrims on the John Paul II Walk, etc.

Night Prayer, with the strong young voices praying the Psalms turn and turn about, and singing the Salve Regina...

There are always a good number of young men from various seminaries at the FAITH events, the priests of tomorrow.

"Russia will be converted..."

...was a central part of the mysterious message given to children at Fatima in Portugal in 1917, the year that an atheistic regime seized power in Russia in the wake of war.  For long years, it didn't seem likely that this would happen - following a further war, Russia's power and domination over its neighbours increased and massive efforts were made to impose atheism on them, too - Poland, Hungary...

Then in 1978 a Polish Pope was elected, who made a consecration of the world to Mary on the Feast of the Assumption in 1984...and the atheistic regimes crumbled,  extraordinary events began to unfold...and now, month after month, news such as this...