A full hall of...

...First Communion parents, at St Joseph's, Epsom. A most happy and heartening evening: this is a large and thriving parish, and every year when I am invited to talk to the First Communion parents, there is such a wonderful welcome...it is partly because this is all not far from my home, and also the home in which I grew up, and so there are all sorts of links, friendships, shared knowledge of schools and parishes and so on.  But it's mostly simply because this is a wonderful parish where good things are happening. This time, I had brought along copies of YOUCAT which had been specifically (and generously!) donated so that every parent could have a copy. I cannot recommend YOUCAT too highly...if you haven't got a copy. hurry and get one.

Yesterday was a strange day, in that it began in Willesden, at the Shrine of Our Lady, where I met members of the SPES team from St Patrick's for a pilgrimage. An early Mass, a short talk about the shrine, which is well worth a visit and then we set off on a Rosary Walk along the canal. It ought to be a lovely walk - and in lots of ways it was, a beautiful Autumn morning, a good spirit between us, and the voices saying the Rosary back and forth - but the path along the canal is spoilt by litter and horrible manic graffiti, and it somehow has a bleak feel to it. We were all perfectly safe, but it would be no place to go for an evening walk....

However...we finished at Tyburn convent, where we paid tribute to the martyrs, and prayed, and then went on to the site of the Tyburn gallows and said some more of the Rosary there (suitably, we were now at the Sorrowful Mysteries).  And so on to St Patrick's.  Here, Auntie acknowledged her age and was given an opportunity for a good rest. Then lunch, and a talk to the SPES team.  Then home, and a rush to pack things up and hurry to Epsom...

...and there is a rather delightful...

report from Rome describing  what it was like being one of the people selected to meet the Holy Father at the publication (good analysis of the thing, too...)

Papa Francis...

...who is of course simply splendid, has come up with a new Apostolic Exhortation, and it's excellent - warm, vigourous, challenging, orientated towards active lay apostles and not diocesan bureaucrats, and with an upbeat 21st-century feel. Full text here.  It tackles greed, the current obsessions with money and the sinister use of unjust power in unbridled money-making, our longing for truth and for beauty, the urgency of teaching the glorious message of the Faith...

At the start of this pontificate, a nasty Blog (USA-based, I think)  which asserts itself as being "traditional", said a number of horrible things about the Holy Father. Never apologised. Never posted a proper correction. Then the Lefebvrists weighed in with their nasty rants, as did a couple of quasi-Lefebvrist lobby groups. Ugh.  Meanwhile, there was a  grand turn-out for World Youth Day, some wonderful encounters in St Peter's Square, and more...

My only worry is that the joyful call for an invigorated evangelisation will fall, as did Papa Benedict's, on deaf ears.  For too many people, Catholicism is seen as a sort of tribal tradition, in which a passionate search for truth and a joyful discovery of God's huge love for us do not really feature.  Papa Benedict's message was centred on the love that God has for each one of us, and the life-changing things that can happen when we discover that love. To help people make that discovery, we must evangelise - and doing so is itself a joyful adventure.

Oh, and a memo to those who don't get what Christ's love is all about: it doesn't mean that the Church ever can, or should, or wants to, or seeks to,  change the deep meaning and purpose in God's plan for human life and love, as taught "from the beginning."  (Bet  they don't listen. While all sorts of great and good things happen, they'll still be moaning about why the Church is oppressive in saying that marriage is between a man and a woman...it must be so dreary for them).

And they never learn from  their mistakes, even the blatant and embarrassing ones. Remember all that talk about John Paul being a Polish peasant whose influence on world events was going to be fairly minimal? About how Communism, while it had irritating aspects,  was basically an economic success story which hadn't been allowed a fair chance to prosper?   About how an elderly Pole couldn't possibly talk to youth in the late 20th century?   And, for good measure, about how Benedict's visit to Britain wasn't going to be a success?   Their idiotic comments flashed through my mind as we stood in Hyde Park and heard the cheers and cheers of the vast crowd as he made his way towards us, and we saw on the TV screens mothers holding up their babies for him to bless, and people holding up placards of affectionate greetings...

Catholic schools...

Read some thoughts by Auntie here...

Whitstable...

...and the Vocations Centre there, now very much up-and-running, with young men at prayer in the chapel and busy at various tasks, good numbers expected at various planned events and conferences, a little Jack Russell dog keeping everyone lively, and a warm welcome for this guest...

Discussion of a school project, piloted a couple of years ago and now about to swing into action for Jan 2014.  A walk by the sea with the sun saying its farewell to the Autumn day in a glow of gold and silver.  Much talk and laughter, and news...

Read more...

...about the Procession here...

A Traditional procession for the Feast of Christ the King...

...to round off the Year of Faith.  The  Blessed Sacrament carried aloft beneath a canopy held up by four very study young men, who responded to an appeal at the end of Mass and tackled the task of getting the whole thing through the church door with vigour...a large flock of people, Sunday School children  wearing brightly coloured crowns studded with glitter etc and with hand-written messages like "Jesus in our king"...all preceded by a loud ringing of the bell and a great Cross and  much swirling of incense, and candles held in those useful glass thingummys on poles, so they don't putter out.   We sang "Hail Redeemer King Divine - all eight (or it is ten? haven't got the sheet with me) verses again and again...this actually worked better than trying to cope with different hymns, and the volunteer stewards in day-glow jackets kept us moving...down the Borough High Street...Workmen at the War Memorial (being dismantled for repairs) stared a bit but none removed their helmets or showed any interest...

Only a few years ago,  a religious procession with servers and a cross and loud singing, would have meant some passers-by pulling off their hats and/or crossing themselves. Now, at least in The Borough High Street, you get indifference, except for lots of people snapping on mobile phones. It's as if people can't enjoy reality, only a picture of reality...

After Benediction, a gathering in the Parish Room with some delicious snacks and fizz...

An afternoon visit to a beloved elderly relation.  Yesterday at Towards Advent I was given a copy of Johnann Christoph Arnold's new book "Rich in Years" which has some wise and helpful thoughts on this subject. The Alliance of Pro-Life Students is distributing it around...warmly recommended...

TOWARDS ADVENT....

...and every year the Festival of Catholic Culture exceeds expectations.  This year, the choir of St Philomena's School, Carshalton,  sang most beautifully, first Panis Angelicus and then "A Gaelic Blessing". It was greatly enjoyable, as a Philomenian, to be there welcoming them at Westminster Cathedral, and then giving each girl a little thank-you gift (CTS Prayer Books). I asked them "Don't you think that your choir director should receive something special" and they chorused "Yes!" and applauded, and I handed over a gift-wrapped parcel (a gold-edged new Missal plus a book by JB)...

It is always a day mapped out in high-speed moves: arrival at the Cathedral Hall with every group - over 30 take part in the Festival - rushing to claim its table and set it up with books and gifts and posters and decorations...the organising of the refreshments that will be on sale all day (Deo Gratias for Josephine Robinson and the wonderful Association of Catholic Women, who have run this with superb efficiency since the Festival's foundation)...greeting the choir and showing them where to change and rehearse etc...unpacking all the things I have brought for various stalls,...finally also unpacking the books for my own stall, shared with a young relative who is an award-winning author  signing copies of her books...and then suddenly, it's time for the doors to open, and people are pouring in...and then at 10.30 the Archbishop arrives, the Chairman (Brian Towler, of the Catenians) makes the opening greetings - and the FESTIVAL BEGINS!

Archbishop Vincent Nichols spoke exceptionally well at the Opening ceremony, lifting our thoughts up to God and setting the tone for the day in exactly the right way.  The mood was friendly, bustling, open and cheerful. The speakers, Edmund Adamus of the diocese of Westminster and Sister Hyacinthe of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, were of a high standard. New features included  a stall (including some lovely Christmas cards) run by the splendid team at the Sons of Divine Providence at Hampton Wick),and the popular  craft stall run by the Ladies Ordinariate Group (I found it fun when a couple of people asked me "Have you met those Ordinariate ladies? They're really nice!")...and it was a joy, as always, to chat to the young team running Magnificat and Second Spring...during the day my only regret is that, as I am hurrying about on errands and making announcements, I am only able to have proper conversations with a small number of the friends and colleagues that I greet with a wave or smile too briefly...

...and then it's over, and I'm hurrying back from chairing Sister Hyacinthe's talk (Hinsley Room) to the main hall (Cathedral Hall) and finding people packing up and cleaning things...

...and then Jamie ( who always loyally arrives with gusto, greeting friends and relatives, hugging nieces, enjoying a good natter with various clergy)   joined me for supper with Dan Cooper of the Faith Movement in a restaurant across Victoria Street. I was too tired to eat much and simply began with cup after cup of delicious freshly-brewed TEA, a baffled waitress anxiously bringing a second pot and extra hot water...

The funeral of Canon John Redford...

...who was a much-loved lecturer, theologian, and author, took place today at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. The funeral Mass was concelebrated by a great number of priests, and Archbishop Peter Smith preached beautifully, using some of Canon John's own material especially on the need to pray for the dead... the In Paradisum at the end was beautiful...the congregation included so many Maryvale students, and of course the dear Bridgettine nuns...

An angry anti-Christian lobbying group...

...has been trying to get itself publicity by demanding that the annual Remembrance Day service should be stripped of all religious content, and reduced to a series of wreath-laying rituals. So, a century after the  deaths of so many young in the Great War , we are meant to sign them up posthumously as members of the National Secular Society? What gives the horrid NSS the right to do that?

All my life, at every church I have ever attended, war memorials have featured lists and lists of the names of members of the congregation...in my childhood and teenage years, the names on the  two big War Memorials in our church in Wallington echoed with names still familiar within the parish: men who were uncles, brothers, fathers, husbands, men whose young faces were still imprinted on memories, who had been altar-servers or Scouts or members of different parish groups and sodalities. How DARE the NSS now announce that these men are to be denied Christian commemoration by our nation? How DARE the NSS announce that these men are to be reinvented as 21-century bossy anti-religious campaigners?

St John Payne...

...one of the 40 Martyrs canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970. And today a fine school in Chelmsford bears his name.  A warm welcome, and it was an honour to be there and giving out prizes gained in the 2013 Schools Bible Project. Curiously moving to see rows and rows of teenagers sweep to their feet and begin their prayers with the Sign of the Cross. The school uses the daily lectionary as a base for its prayers. The Scriptures were beautifully read out, and one of the main prizewinners, Megan, teamed up with a friend to read aloud her essay about the Raising of Lazarus. Afterwards we all gathered in the chapel for some photographs. All along one wall were stacked a great array of beautifully decorated Christmas boxes, each filled with gifts and goodies, ready to be shipped to places of need - the school does this every year and has sent over 5,000 over the years.

Rather too busy...

...and consequently overtired. Emerging from the Tube at Sloane Square, everything transformed by the most glorious singing...a young girl pouring out  "O mio Babbino caro", in a beautiful voice, the music cascading out across the bustle and the traffic. People stopped. I stopped. It was the standard music-student-appealing-for-funds thing, a hat placed on the pavement... I was hauling along an overloaded suitcase topped by two  bulging plastic carrier bags, and had been planning to get a taxi. But this girl at least  merited a couple of coins...fumbled in my purse...only found a fiver.  I wouldn't normally give anything like that. But this is one of Auntie's best-loved pieces of music and it was worth every penny. And I told her so. As she helped me with my bags and whispered "God bless you!" a bus trundled satisfyingly into sight, and soon I was well on my way to a big cup of tea, and a long rest. Bliss.

A happy morning...

...on Monday at Our Lady's Convent school in Loughborough.  Pupils at this school won an outstanding number of prizes in the 2013 Schools Bible Project, and I was invited to present these at Morning Assembly. A quiet, friendly and reverent atmosphere in the school chapel, and one of the young winners read the poem she had written on the theme of Lazarus: this being ideally suited to November, the month when we pray for the dead, the whole assembly had this as its theme, and there were Scripture readings and prayers and a rousing hymn. Afterwards,  it was a delight to meet the parents and prizewinners over fresh coffee and pastries: the school emphasises family values and a strong commitment to the Christian message and there was a great sense of common purpose and goodwill, as well as lots of lively talk and laughter.

A highlight came when one of the RE teachers asked me if I'd like to drop into one of the classes. A bright pleasant room, girls busy at their desks. He started a discussion: which incident in the Gospel of St Mark is perhaps the most pivotal? Girls a bit shy to join in at first, but then one raised her hand "Surely it was Caesarea Phillippi? When St Peter answered the question by saying that he was the Christ?" And then another raised her hand "Mmmm...but what about the baptism? In the river Jordan?"   Impressive.

We drove back to London through darkening mist and - having risen at 5 am - I was tired, and glad there was no pressing afternoon engagement. But ended up working late on current book, must get it ready by deadline (see entry below). Bliss eventually to rest with big mug of tea.

There is always a long queue...

...for confession at Westminster Cathedral, and they put extra chairs along the aisle that leads from the Lady Chapel down to the main door. In Lent and Advent the people waiting stretch right down the length of the aisle...and even on an ordinary Autumn weekday, there were quite a number of people sitting patiently down as far as the chapel of St Paul...

Question: can one get on with some writing while waiting?  Or read a newspaper? I badly needed to check and amend something I had written (and it was about two saints, honestly it was, and I'm working to a deadline...). No one corrected me, but I felt a bit impious. Opinions on this awaited...

Later, some almost-last-minute preparations for the Towards Advent Festival, which takes place on Saturday. Be there!  The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will have a stall, and it is your chance to come and find out more about this important development in Church unity, the healing of a 400-year rift...and there will be some glorious music from a girls choir, some 60 voices...and you can meet some of the great workers in many fields of Catholic action, and find out about prayers and pilgrimages, books and big social projects, care for the poor and persecuted, and education for the young in schools and parishes...Don't miss it! Westminster Cathedral Hall, Sat Nov 23rd - doors open 10 am...

Autumn days...

...of crisp fresh air and glowing russet and golden leaves. Spent a morning sweeping up and loved it all, the breeze and the beauty,  the glory of England at this time of year...

After a journey through countryside of  glorious Autumnal beauty, Sunday Mass at St Anselm, Pembury, in the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. They are slowly turning this little hall into a church worthy of its role as a place for worshipping God...and numbers for Mass are steadily growing and growing. Lunch with Fr Ed and the family. I first met them when Fr Ed was vicar of an Anglican church in Tunbridge Wells...now this Anglican Patrimony has found its home in the wider Church, and the future is bright.  Auntie's contribution to the brightness was only that of a tapestry hassock - faithful readers of my blog will know that I enjoy making these, and it was fun to hand over to Fr Ed  the first of what I hope will be a large number. And more on this in due course...

Tradition, families, children, a great sense of community, hymns, an English village, all combine to make St Anselm's a picture of what a country Ordinariate parish could be like in many places in Britain...

The American bishops...

...have issued an important statement about freedom and the future, in the light of the current pressure from officialdom in the USA to force Church organisations to fund abortion and contraception for their employees...

Relevant quote in their statement comes from the Holy Father:

"In the context of society, there is only one thing which the Church quite clearly demands: the freedom to proclaim the Gospel in its entirety, even when it runs counter to the world, even when it goes against the tide.  In so doing, she defends treasures of which she is merely the custodian, and values which she does not create but rather receives, to which she must remain faithful."

The "Reform of the reform"...

...of the liturgy in the Catholic Church has been a matter of much work and care and debate for the past couple of decades.  Some, of course, don't want it: they see liturgy as a sort of flexible mess that simply celebrates people-all-being-together and should have no form at all. Others are obsessed with the notion that nothing, absolutely nothing,  should ever be changed from the form that was used in 1962.  But the "reform of the reform" has nevertheless flourished  - a decent translation of the Mass into English (DEO GRATIAS!) which some tried to oppose but which caused no problems whatever and is working beautifully, and a steady insistent revival of Latin chant and use of some good English musical settings. Papa Benedict, in allowing the use of the 1962 form by anyone that wants it, expressed the hope that this Extraordinary Form of the Mass would work well alongside the Ordinary Form and that the two would influence each other. This too is happening.  But the most interesting development so far has been the Ordinariate liturgy. This is essentially a mix of the 1962 Missal, the reformed Missal (ie the Ordinary Form) and the old Book of Common Prayer from 400-odd years ago.  This liturgy will be in (optional) use in churches run by the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham from this Advent onwards. I think that, although it will not be widespread,  it will again influence other parish liturgies.  Dignity, structure, formal language, and above all the emphasis on all participating in a great sacred action drawing all things to God - this is the essence of the thing, and it is catching.

I joined the Ordinariate although I am a "cradle Catholic" - I was able to do so as my husband was raised an Anglican and so both of us, as a family, qualify to belong.

I am happy with the beautiful handy Magnificat which I use all the time and carry in my bag. But if and when there is a modestly-priced, handy new Ordinariate prayer-book, I would like a copy and will use it with great joy and with a sense of sharing at an important chapter of the Church's long story...

Ghastly news...

..from the Philippines....thousands dead and dying in the wake of a ferocious hurricane...towns reduced to rubble, bodies stacked in the streets, survivors unable to get food or water...

This morning I was due to visit the offices of Aid to the Church in Need, to collect some books. This excellent international Catholic charity will be helping with relief work...news here, and you can donate at that website too...

I  was for several years chairman of the British section of this charity and still maintain close links...it was good to be given swift information on what's happening in the Phillippines, and to catch up on news generally.

I had gone to the ACN office to collect some copies of YOUCAT for a talk I am giving shortly. YOUCAT, originally designed for young people and supported by ACN worldwide, is also superb for adult Catholics too...it works well for enquirers about the Faith, for parents of First Communion children, for parents who seek baptism for their children, etc.  Its question-and-answer format, with straightforward explanations, is matched by an attractive format, good reference materials, and opportunities to learn about prayer and to think things through in depth.

Today, in the rain alongside Big Ben...

...on the green, across the road from Parliament. I recorded some promotional material for EWTN. A light fizzy rain was falling. We had to do the takes again and again as it's so easy to get things wrong - emphasis on the wrong word, too much smiling,  not enough smiling...finally, each one came right.  By which time the rain was beginning in earnest. We plodded damply, carrying the heavy equipment, across the bridge to St Thomas' Hospital where the camera team had left their car in the car park...and from there I got home, carrying books I'd bought at the CTS bookshop near the Cathedral, ready for the Towards Advent Festival in a couple of weeks time...

The absurd thing about TV is its mix of reality and utter unreality. My hair looked a bit messy, but got smoothed down by the rain as if planned that way.  My coat, brown in colour, looked a bit drab against the brown of the trees and the brown/honey colour of Parliament and the grey sky, so we cheered it up with a bright yellow scarf...well, actually not a scarf but  a yellow World Youth Day teeshirt that I happened to have in my bag...

Home to a great pile of work: a book due to be with the publisher in mid-Jan (gulp) and another due for Feb...

The traditional Mass and ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday...

...starting at the local War memorial, led for the first time by an Ordinariate priest. This was the Borough High Street, by London Bridge, and the Civic Remembrance Day Service, attended by the Mayor, the Lord Lieutenant, the local Members of Parliament, and representatives of the various community groups and organisations and of course a crowd of local people. It was the standard traditional service, with "O God our help in ages past", and the laying of wreaths, and prayers...and because there was a good crowd from the Precious Blood parish the singing was strong, as were the voices saying the Lord's Prayer.  As we left, the Memorial - which features a fine statue of a soldier of the Great War, puttees and old-fashioned uniform, etc - was stacked with scarlet poppy wreaths in the bright Autumn sunshine...a November scene that will have a special poignancy next year when we mark the 100th anniversary of that war...

And the parish group from Precious Blood then made its way, behind the processional Cross, back to the church for the traditional Remembrance Sunday Mass, a solemn one (no Gloria, purple vestments) with Bidding Prayers for the war dead, and finishing with "God Save the Queen". As this was the final hymn, the Sunday school children, who occupy the first couple of pews, automatically turned towards the Lady Altar, as they do every Sunday in readiness for the Angelus,  sung every Sunday at noon...I found myself wondering if some might be  a bit confused as to which Queen was the one being mentioned in the hymn...and then we sang the Angelus as usual, and then there was coffee in the parish room, and all the usual buzz of chat and news and so on...

A wreath of poppies on the big War memorial in the church, which you pass as you make your way to the parish room for coffee...two great panels, with two long columns of names on each...

Here we are...

...lining up for the graduation picture and raising a cheer...

After a memporable day...

...in Birmingham, at the Degree Ceremony...a couple of v. busy days and no time to blog...but my EWTN blog keeps you posted on Ordinariate activities here...

...and tomorrow...

...in a ceremony at at St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham, I will receive my degree (BA, Honours, First Division of the Second Class, as the official announcement puts it)   from the Apostolic Nuncio.

This is the culmination of five years' work and it will be a joy to be with my fellow graduates and celebrating  along with my family....

Spread the word...

...about the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival, Saturday November 23rd at Westminster Cathedral Hall.  More info  here.

Don't miss this. Come and say "hello" to Auntie, who'll be there with books and things. Come and hear our inspiring speakers, join in the beautiful choral opening ceremony, browse the stalls, enjoy some home-made refreshments.

All welcome: tell your parish, your family and your friends...

Doors open 10am. The Festival runs all day...

Been re-reading...

Blessed  (soon to be saint!) John Paul's Crossing the Threshold of Hope.  Full of good things.

Sunday at...

...Precious Blood Church, London Bridge. The new floor has given the whole church a different feel: the heating will be fully functioning by Tuesday, but already the warm colour of the tiles gives the church a sort of glow...and the acoustics have improved so the music and singing is splendid.

The parish newsletter carries an intriguing item: Eurostar came to London to film some interesting random sights, one of which turned out to be the parish's May Procession through the streets of The Borough. A statue of Mary, carried by hefty parishioners, and followed by the parish priest in cope, and some lovely Missionaries of Charity...all are  now shown on the Eurostar's promotional advert in France with its  "Why not come to London?"message.. you can.read all about it in the link just given.  So there we are, part of the London sights, along with the red buses and Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and Parliament...

All Souls Day...

... a busy Autumn Saturday...but the church in the excellent  parish of St Joseph's, New Malden, was full for the All Souls Mass. The Mass here is always beautiful. Today, even though it was just an ordinary Mass, no music, just the solemn commemoration of All Souls, followed by a time of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, it was special.  Vestments in black trimmed in gold. Strong voices saying the prayers.  Outside, golden leaves falling on to rainy pavements...

All Souls. Grandparents: memories of happy afternoons and lovely teas. My dear father. Dear Auntie S. in America. And more, and more...as you get older, the All Souls list gets longer, and the whole thing means more...

Latest issue of...

THE PORTAL, the on-line magazine of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, is now available. You can read it here...  Auntie has a feature about the Night Walk through Oxford, and there is also news of the Ordinariate nuns...