...prayers for peace.
If young men from Britain join an army and announce their allegiance to a state that seeks to attack us, surely the right thing to do is relieve them of their British citizenship?
And all sane people must pray for peace...
This past week, Auntie's main work has been mailing out prizes for a major ecumenical Christian project for schools.
This weekend: gathering apples and blackberries to make Bramble Jelly, and plums for Damson Cheese...and if you want to sample some of these, come to the Towards Advent Festival, Sat November 22nd, Westminster Cathedral Hall, any time from 10am.
On Saturday I took a cake in to the local Fire Brigade, to thank the firemen for rescuing me when I was stuck in the lift on Thursday.
On Sunday, after Mass a long and enjoyable lunch...a sense of reconnecting after the summer. On the way home, I saw with pleasure that the crab apple tree in the garden of an empty house along the route is, as always, laden with fruit. I went along to gather some...the house is odd and neglected, ancient faded grubby curtains at grimy windows, the garden tangled and overgrown. I didn't venture in - crab apples cover the ground outside the gate and fence, and I gathered a great boxful leaving masses still to lie beside the silent neglected property. Back at home, fresh gleaming jars await the golden apple jelly that will be fun to make and good to enjoy...
My diary is filling up with Autumn events, of which the first is the launch of the new School of the Annunciation at Buckfast Abbey...September, the month of harvest, is also always a month of new beginnings...
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Friday, August 29, 2014
WORLD YOUTH DAY...
...in London, 2022? Read here...
Oh I know, I know...years and years ahead. Auntie will be v. old by then etc etc etc. But think about it: WYD is going to grow and thrive, and it's worth thinking ahead from time to time and having large ideas.
Oh I know, I know...years and years ahead. Auntie will be v. old by then etc etc etc. But think about it: WYD is going to grow and thrive, and it's worth thinking ahead from time to time and having large ideas.
St Clare Media...
...is the British branch of EWTN, the international Catholic TV network. A meeting today of the directing committee. Funds are coming in, there is no shortage of good ideas for features and projects, the whole thing is humming with creativity...but the harder thing is getting the message across that this is all available. It is tough persuading people to watch something specific when there is such a vast range of stuff on the internet, from all over the world, all the time, and all available on a mobile phone...some years back, when we were a TV channel among TV channels, it was easy to say "Try this one!" but it's much messier now...
However, the EWTN news is general is good, and in America is superb - high viewing figures, and the whole EWTN project is embedded into the growing ventures of the Church in the USA... read about Christ Cathedral in Orange, California: EWTN will have a media centre there. And there is also an EWTN news studio and office in Washington with its own chapel, overlooking the Capitol...and at the headquarters in Alabama, new studios (badly needed - we were back-to-back in a crammed timetable when I was working there last Jan, huge pressure on workspace) and everything humming with hard work and prayer.
The Church in America has a sense of hope and confidence now that is tangible.
However, the EWTN news is general is good, and in America is superb - high viewing figures, and the whole EWTN project is embedded into the growing ventures of the Church in the USA... read about Christ Cathedral in Orange, California: EWTN will have a media centre there. And there is also an EWTN news studio and office in Washington with its own chapel, overlooking the Capitol...and at the headquarters in Alabama, new studios (badly needed - we were back-to-back in a crammed timetable when I was working there last Jan, huge pressure on workspace) and everything humming with hard work and prayer.
The Church in America has a sense of hope and confidence now that is tangible.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
If you want an adventure...
...I don't recommend getting stuck in a lift. It's v. disagreeable. We'd spent a very busy day in the parish centre, packing and posting the prizes for a big schools project, and finally, hot and tired but pleased that the work was done, we tidied the room. Amanda set off to pack the car. I collected various things and headed for the lift...I was hot and thirsty and thought of getting a quick gulp of water but, - well - why not wait until the kitchen on the lower floor?
We'd used the lift several times before, and it always worked normally. Dunno why it suddenly refused lateish on a hot afternoon, with Auntie, a suitcase full of children's essays, and no water.
The worst thing about setting off an alarm and hearing it ringing and ringing is the recognition that it sounds like dozens of other alarms and might be ignored. I shouted and shouted "Help me! HELP ME!".
A blessing: it was Thursday. So there were people in the church, praying silently before the Blessed Sacrament. And one of them decided that the siren alarm didn't seem to be coming from the road outside...seeing his face through the glass door of the lift, part of which was visible to me, was SUCH A RELIEF! And then things began to happen... he reassured me, had a mobile in his hand...made telephone calls...the Fire Brigade...
They were able to remove some panelling and start a hand-cranking mechanism which slowly, slowly, drew the lift down to the ground floor. And then I was walking out into the cool air, and there were big firemen, and Amanda with a bottle of water...handshakes and thanks all round...
Firemen in their clumpy boots and read teeshirts and carrying equipment are a very, very reassuring sight.
We'd used the lift several times before, and it always worked normally. Dunno why it suddenly refused lateish on a hot afternoon, with Auntie, a suitcase full of children's essays, and no water.
The worst thing about setting off an alarm and hearing it ringing and ringing is the recognition that it sounds like dozens of other alarms and might be ignored. I shouted and shouted "Help me! HELP ME!".
A blessing: it was Thursday. So there were people in the church, praying silently before the Blessed Sacrament. And one of them decided that the siren alarm didn't seem to be coming from the road outside...seeing his face through the glass door of the lift, part of which was visible to me, was SUCH A RELIEF! And then things began to happen... he reassured me, had a mobile in his hand...made telephone calls...the Fire Brigade...
They were able to remove some panelling and start a hand-cranking mechanism which slowly, slowly, drew the lift down to the ground floor. And then I was walking out into the cool air, and there were big firemen, and Amanda with a bottle of water...handshakes and thanks all round...
Firemen in their clumpy boots and read teeshirts and carrying equipment are a very, very reassuring sight.
Leonie Caldecott...
...Catholic writer, co-editor of Magnificat, is a Catholic Woman of the Year for 2014. Read more about it here...
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Calling all JOHN PAUL WALKERS...
...and anyone and everyone who enjoys a Sunday walk along the Thames in the heart of London...
Come to the John Paul II Reunion Walk on Sunday October 26th. This is a reunion walk for all who have taken part in the John Paul II Walk to Walsingham in recent years. The Reunion Walk will start with 11 am MASS at the Church of the Most Precious Blood at London Bridge, and then after a sandwich lunch (BRING SANDWICHES - fresh coffee and biccies etc provided) we will walk along the Thames, arriving back at Pr Bl for Benediction and TEA (with lovely cakes...all provided) at about 3.15pm.
Come and join in! For pictures of the 2014 John Paul Walk to Walsingham see here (scroll down)...the pic of everyone arriving at the shrine in pouring rain is too good to miss, and there are also some pics of the sunshine and the fun and the joy of it all...
Come to the John Paul II Reunion Walk on Sunday October 26th. This is a reunion walk for all who have taken part in the John Paul II Walk to Walsingham in recent years. The Reunion Walk will start with 11 am MASS at the Church of the Most Precious Blood at London Bridge, and then after a sandwich lunch (BRING SANDWICHES - fresh coffee and biccies etc provided) we will walk along the Thames, arriving back at Pr Bl for Benediction and TEA (with lovely cakes...all provided) at about 3.15pm.
Come and join in! For pictures of the 2014 John Paul Walk to Walsingham see here (scroll down)...the pic of everyone arriving at the shrine in pouring rain is too good to miss, and there are also some pics of the sunshine and the fun and the joy of it all...
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Peaceful countryside...
...on a glorious day with just a hint of Autumn in the cool air. A long and enjoyable walk with friends in Oxfordshire, dipping into a fine old church, sipping tea while enjoying a particularly lovely view, mooing in a friendly way at cattle, picking blackberries, and talking over many things...
To have a sense of place is an interesting thing. John Paul II, for instance, was a man of place: he loved Poland and above all Krakow "where every stone and brick is dear to me". This did not prevent him from seeing things from a much, much wider perspective, and being able to communicate deep things to men and women of quite different places and with worldviews centred on a vastly different sense of geography and history.
A sense of place can help, rather than hinder, a sense of fellowship with one's fellowmen.
Can a young man reared on computer-screens and TV and hanging-out-with-friends and some football have a sense of place? Of identification with some bits of cityscape or townscape or countryside that evoke affection and loyalty and a desire to know more of the wider world? If not, would a passionate ideology perhaps replace it?
If a sense of place is useful and important, how can we help to foster it? Do local loyalties matter? How can, for example, our schools, help to foster such loyalty?
To have a sense of place is an interesting thing. John Paul II, for instance, was a man of place: he loved Poland and above all Krakow "where every stone and brick is dear to me". This did not prevent him from seeing things from a much, much wider perspective, and being able to communicate deep things to men and women of quite different places and with worldviews centred on a vastly different sense of geography and history.
A sense of place can help, rather than hinder, a sense of fellowship with one's fellowmen.
Can a young man reared on computer-screens and TV and hanging-out-with-friends and some football have a sense of place? Of identification with some bits of cityscape or townscape or countryside that evoke affection and loyalty and a desire to know more of the wider world? If not, would a passionate ideology perhaps replace it?
If a sense of place is useful and important, how can we help to foster it? Do local loyalties matter? How can, for example, our schools, help to foster such loyalty?
Friday, August 22, 2014
I'm reading...
...JPII: access all areas, a good read, with contributions from a range of good writers of the John Paul generation. I was intrigued by the title, then worried that I might be disappointed. I'm not. Writers include Dr William Newton of the International Theological Institute and Hannah Vaughan Spruce of the diocese of Portsmouth...there are sections on Veritatis Splendor, World Youth Day, John Paul's poetry, his vision for Europe...and more...and more...
CALLED TO BE ONE...
...an exploration of the possibilities for the reunion of Christians in Britain...
Come to CALLED TO BE ONE at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge, London SEI, on Saturday September 6th. Starts 2.30pm with an illustrated presentation from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Questions-and-answers with a panel. Then Tea, cakes, sandwiches, in the Rectory, followed by Evensong.
Pope Francis has sent his special blessing, and his "good wishes and prayers for a successful and inspiring event". Come and be part of it...
Come to CALLED TO BE ONE at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge, London SEI, on Saturday September 6th. Starts 2.30pm with an illustrated presentation from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Questions-and-answers with a panel. Then Tea, cakes, sandwiches, in the Rectory, followed by Evensong.
Pope Francis has sent his special blessing, and his "good wishes and prayers for a successful and inspiring event". Come and be part of it...
After leaving the prison...
...where I visit, I was still thinking about the young man to whom I had been talking, who is preparing for baptism (prayers for him, please). The one common factor with the men is that they come from homes without fathers...
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
...and still with thoughts of America...
...I came across this feature and this one, both giving different insights into the Church in the USA at the present time.
Hurrying around on errands...
...including a visit to the office of Aid to the Church in Need in Sutton, Surrey. A slightly nostalgic trip for me, because I was chairman of the organisation in Britain for some years, and sat on the Board for over three decades...
A warm welcome at the office: I had gone there to collect some copies of YOUCAT which ACN is generously giving for a Catholic youth venture sponsored by the Catholic Union and The Keys, the Catholic Writers Guild. But I didn't want to take up people's time...there was an air of quiet urgency, as plans for rushing aid to the beleaguered Christians and refugees from Iraq were going ahead, and more news was coming in all the time...so a quick chat, an assurance of prayers, and as we stacked the books and packed them for transport, an awareness that at least through the work of this organisation, people here in Britain can give some help and show solidarity...
A warm welcome at the office: I had gone there to collect some copies of YOUCAT which ACN is generously giving for a Catholic youth venture sponsored by the Catholic Union and The Keys, the Catholic Writers Guild. But I didn't want to take up people's time...there was an air of quiet urgency, as plans for rushing aid to the beleaguered Christians and refugees from Iraq were going ahead, and more news was coming in all the time...so a quick chat, an assurance of prayers, and as we stacked the books and packed them for transport, an awareness that at least through the work of this organisation, people here in Britain can give some help and show solidarity...
Best one-liner...
...at the EWTN conference came from Fr Mitch Pacwa during the evening televised discussion, with a packed conference hall. Anyone could ask a question, and one young woman, citing the events in the Middle East, and mentioning various visions and prophecies asked if we knew when the End Times would come. Fr Mitch :"That's for management. I'm in sales."
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
At Heathrow airport...
...a multi-faith prayer room. Used to be called a chapel. No cross marks it now. It is divided into three: two rooms (male and females) for Muslims, one for Christians. I went in. The Christian space had a table, with a cloth on it and a couple of Bibles, and some Christian leaflets. No cross. I prayed the Lord's Prayer aloud, and could sense the silence descending in the adjoining rooms where there had been voices. I took up one of the Bibles (attractive, a gift from the Gideons) and read aloud from St Paul's letter to the Corinthians. I prayed silently for a while, made the Sign of the Cross aloud, and left.
Now: let's all make a commitment. Next time you are in an airport, find the prayer-room and go there and pray aloud. Alone or with others. It is good to pray before you travel, it is an opportunity to praise God and ask his blessing, and it is an act of witness. Claim the space for Christ.
LATER NOTE:
I've been corrected - see COMMENT to this blog. There is indeed a proper chapel at Heathrow. The one I encountered was simply a Prayer Room at terminal 4. Thank God for the work and witness of all involved with St George's Chapel at Heathrow, where a Cross stands tall, and where Mass is regularly celebrated.
Now: let's all make a commitment. Next time you are in an airport, find the prayer-room and go there and pray aloud. Alone or with others. It is good to pray before you travel, it is an opportunity to praise God and ask his blessing, and it is an act of witness. Claim the space for Christ.
LATER NOTE:
I've been corrected - see COMMENT to this blog. There is indeed a proper chapel at Heathrow. The one I encountered was simply a Prayer Room at terminal 4. Thank God for the work and witness of all involved with St George's Chapel at Heathrow, where a Cross stands tall, and where Mass is regularly celebrated.
grim news...
...continues from Iraq.
And if you want to help send some aid, you can do so via this charity...
What will happen to the young Islamic jihadists from Britain who have gone out to join in the slaughter? They have been bragging on the internet about their exploits, posing with the bodies of their victims and so on. If, on their return to Britain, they are arrested and sent to prison, they will start to recruit other young men to their cause. Islam is very strong on British prisons, and declaring oneself a Moslem brings a number of advantages, from special arrangements for meals and times of prayer-chanting, to a strong sense of mission and identity, bonding with a group, feeling strong and important, etc...
And if you want to help send some aid, you can do so via this charity...
What will happen to the young Islamic jihadists from Britain who have gone out to join in the slaughter? They have been bragging on the internet about their exploits, posing with the bodies of their victims and so on. If, on their return to Britain, they are arrested and sent to prison, they will start to recruit other young men to their cause. Islam is very strong on British prisons, and declaring oneself a Moslem brings a number of advantages, from special arrangements for meals and times of prayer-chanting, to a strong sense of mission and identity, bonding with a group, feeling strong and important, etc...
...and one of the topics...
...that came up, inevitably in our discussions during the EWTN weekend, was the ghastly imposition of same-sex marriage laws and the way this is all being used to restrict our freedom to speak publicly about the Christian teaching on marriage. On same-sex marriage, this is a good read.
In Birmingham, Alabama...
...at the conference hotel where I was staying, there was also a large group of lovely people from one of the big Black Churches, the ladies all looking absolutely superb in the most beautiful outfits, of a sort I've only ever seen at Buckingham Palace garden parties, elegant suits and the most glorious hats. They were extremely friendly and so delightful to meet, and they were Primitive Baptists, and faith-filled and joyful. When I asked about what made them different from other Baptists they explained that they wash each other's feet, like Our Lord at the Last Supper...talking to them was a joy and we promised to pray for each other and for a great revival of Christianity in both America and Britain...
Monday, August 18, 2014
Magnificent...
...great gathering in Birmingham, Alabama,: EWTN's annual Family Festival. Large crowds, daily Mass celebrated with glorious music and great dignity, some fabulous talks, a feast of good books and DVDs on sale, children romping about in a lovely play area, long interesting discussions over meals...
Father Robert Barron gave a superb lecture, taking in Irenaeus, Augustine, and Aquinas, explaining about the Gnostics and how this heresy is a major problem today... how to counter it...St John Paul ...Benedict XVI....it was a feast for the mind and heart.
It was a delight to meet so many enthusiastic EWTN viewers...and indeed readers of this Blog. You can find out a lot more about the Festival - including something about Auntie's talk. on this link...
Father Robert Barron gave a superb lecture, taking in Irenaeus, Augustine, and Aquinas, explaining about the Gnostics and how this heresy is a major problem today... how to counter it...St John Paul ...Benedict XVI....it was a feast for the mind and heart.
It was a delight to meet so many enthusiastic EWTN viewers...and indeed readers of this Blog. You can find out a lot more about the Festival - including something about Auntie's talk. on this link...
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
A Bishop speaks...
...read here for a fine, uplifting, and important piece of teaching, from a shepherd who is unafraid.
And here is the programme...
of talks for the Evenings of Faith, starting in September. All held in the parish room, 24 Golden Square, London WI, at 7.30pm. Nearest tube: Piccadilly Circus. Drinks and nibbles. No need to book - just turn up.
Tuesday 23rd September 2014
Tuesday 23rd September 2014
Dealing with our wound of original sin. Mary Gray
Tuesday 7th October 2014
The Old Testament: Preparation for a Saviour. Fr Ian Vane
Tuesday 21st October 2014
Jesus Christ: Saviour and Redeemer. Fr Michael Dolman
Tuesday 4th November 2014
The synod on marriage: The deeper issues. David Kerr
Tuesday 18th November 2014
The mission of the Church in secular Britain. Speaker TBC
Tuesday 2nd December 2014
Loving life in a culture of death. Sr Roseann Reddy
On Sept 10th...
...the new season of CATHOLIC HISTORY WALKS begins. Meet at 6.30pm on the steps of Westminster Cathedral - we'll be walking to Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
See these pix...
...of the FAITH Movement Summer Session - and have a good roam around that site, which has lots and LOTS of good things....
As the grim news...
...from Iraq and Syria continues...this organisation is doing good work. It was a privilege to meet one of its leaders, Benedict Rogers, at the Evangelium conference a couple of weeks ago and I'll be visiting their London HQ in September...
Monday, August 11, 2014
A useful meeting...
...of the Ladies Ordinariate Group (LOGS) at Walsingham, held in an atmosphere of great goodwill and sealed with prayer...we had major decisions to make about some long-term projects and also the next year's programme to plan, and all this at a time when we are aware of the rather urgent need to foster, cherish and pass on the truths of our Christian faith in an increasingly uncertain world...
After our talking, planning, and organising, we went to the shrine of Mary, and prayed together there, putting our hopes and our work, our plans and our personal commitment, to God through the intercession of Mary and under her special protection...
On Sunday morning, a pilgrim walk along the Holy Mile, splashing barefoot through puddles...it was like being a child on the seashore and I loved it. Cars stopped to offer me a lift and at one point I thought it rude not to accept, so tentatively got into the car. But on enquiring about the time, it emerged that I still had a clear half-hour before Mass began, so I gently excused myself, and returned to the splashy road and the green hedgerows and my Rosary.
After our talking, planning, and organising, we went to the shrine of Mary, and prayed together there, putting our hopes and our work, our plans and our personal commitment, to God through the intercession of Mary and under her special protection...
On Sunday morning, a pilgrim walk along the Holy Mile, splashing barefoot through puddles...it was like being a child on the seashore and I loved it. Cars stopped to offer me a lift and at one point I thought it rude not to accept, so tentatively got into the car. But on enquiring about the time, it emerged that I still had a clear half-hour before Mass began, so I gently excused myself, and returned to the splashy road and the green hedgerows and my Rosary.
Saturday, August 09, 2014
...and sunshine and storm...
...and prayer and singing and fun. Along the pilgrim way to Walsingham, Auntie was invited to give a talk about St John Paul, and it was an extraordinary experience to be doing this to the line of pilgrims as we made our way along by great fields of sugar beet and banks of fern and bramble. People picked the lovely blackberries - they are so huge and juicy this year, and have arrived so early - as we walked along.
A good number of seminarians among the pilgrims - some for various English dioceses, some for France, one already in the white robes of a Dominican friar. The pilgrim walk on this first day is 20 miles, and finishes at Swaffham. Here, we rested at the convent school in the town centre - buckets of cold water for sore feet, a young Dominican sister opening a great box of ice-creams for us all, much talk and laughter. Evening Prayer, and then a hearty supper of pasta-n-cheese. One of the pilgrims was marking a birthday, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and then the French pilgrims struck up again in French, and then followed Polish, Czech...
As we finished singing, the rain fell. Then it came in torrents, and TORRENTS. We had been sitting under the wide porch of the school sports hall, and fled inside as the storm arrived. I was due to be taken on to Walsingham, for a meeting of the Ladies Ordinariate Group (LOGS), and the indefatigable Wayne, organiser of the travel/maps/etc for the pilgrim group, saw no reason to change the plan, so off we set in his jeep, water bucketing from the sky. A jeep is a great vehicle for weather like this. I arrived as the rain was lessening, and the LOGS were there, in the lovely peaceful shrine, with wine and a welcome.
A good number of seminarians among the pilgrims - some for various English dioceses, some for France, one already in the white robes of a Dominican friar. The pilgrim walk on this first day is 20 miles, and finishes at Swaffham. Here, we rested at the convent school in the town centre - buckets of cold water for sore feet, a young Dominican sister opening a great box of ice-creams for us all, much talk and laughter. Evening Prayer, and then a hearty supper of pasta-n-cheese. One of the pilgrims was marking a birthday, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and then the French pilgrims struck up again in French, and then followed Polish, Czech...
As we finished singing, the rain fell. Then it came in torrents, and TORRENTS. We had been sitting under the wide porch of the school sports hall, and fled inside as the storm arrived. I was due to be taken on to Walsingham, for a meeting of the Ladies Ordinariate Group (LOGS), and the indefatigable Wayne, organiser of the travel/maps/etc for the pilgrim group, saw no reason to change the plan, so off we set in his jeep, water bucketing from the sky. A jeep is a great vehicle for weather like this. I arrived as the rain was lessening, and the LOGS were there, in the lovely peaceful shrine, with wine and a welcome.
The English countryside...
...so enchanting, so glorious, and with so many layers of history there...
Mass in the ruins of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, people kneeling on the grass, strong young voices singing, reverent lines of communicants...
Then the pilgrim walkers of the John Paul II Pilgrimage for the New Evangelisation gathered in the church hall of St Edmund's church, for a good supper and introductions and instructions for the journey. Sister Hyacinthe is a splendid leader and this is the 9th annual pilgrimage - but the first to be able to carry the word SAINT attached to the name of John Paul...
Night prayer in St Edmund's church, everyone singing the Dominican Office, turn and turn about with the verses of the psalms, already sounding a united group, voices blending together. As we knelt to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, we pulled out kneelers, and I pondered the fact that I hadn't brought a pillow for the night...so...
We made up our beds on the floor of the big hall of the parish school. The church kneeler made an adequate pillow, but a kind young sister, already seeing my plight, had come forward with her soft woollen shawl - not needed in this warm weather, urging me to use it. So with this, and the kneeler, I was perfectly comfortable.
We rose the next day at 5.45, sang Morning Prayer, then were driven in a convoy of minibuses and cars to Brandon, for Mass. The local parishioners there welcome the pilgrims every year and provide a splendid breakfast. It was the feast of St Dominic. Our chaplain, Father Simon Heans (Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham) said Mass, there was splendid singing, and he preached about St Dominic and read from an account of the latter's adventures walking and preaching...and staying in horrid places among the poor and unwashed with the smells and the fleas...
We were in luxury, with a delicious breakfast of fresh hot waffles and fruit and cream, and brioch and croissants, all served with such a joyful sense of welcome...and then we set off, with a processional cross held high, an a great Papal flag, and our banner of Our Lady of Walsingham, and everyone praying the rosary as we rounded our way down the lane and out through the pig farms and I nto the open country...
Mass in the ruins of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, people kneeling on the grass, strong young voices singing, reverent lines of communicants...
Then the pilgrim walkers of the John Paul II Pilgrimage for the New Evangelisation gathered in the church hall of St Edmund's church, for a good supper and introductions and instructions for the journey. Sister Hyacinthe is a splendid leader and this is the 9th annual pilgrimage - but the first to be able to carry the word SAINT attached to the name of John Paul...
Night prayer in St Edmund's church, everyone singing the Dominican Office, turn and turn about with the verses of the psalms, already sounding a united group, voices blending together. As we knelt to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, we pulled out kneelers, and I pondered the fact that I hadn't brought a pillow for the night...so...
We made up our beds on the floor of the big hall of the parish school. The church kneeler made an adequate pillow, but a kind young sister, already seeing my plight, had come forward with her soft woollen shawl - not needed in this warm weather, urging me to use it. So with this, and the kneeler, I was perfectly comfortable.
We rose the next day at 5.45, sang Morning Prayer, then were driven in a convoy of minibuses and cars to Brandon, for Mass. The local parishioners there welcome the pilgrims every year and provide a splendid breakfast. It was the feast of St Dominic. Our chaplain, Father Simon Heans (Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham) said Mass, there was splendid singing, and he preached about St Dominic and read from an account of the latter's adventures walking and preaching...and staying in horrid places among the poor and unwashed with the smells and the fleas...
We were in luxury, with a delicious breakfast of fresh hot waffles and fruit and cream, and brioch and croissants, all served with such a joyful sense of welcome...and then we set off, with a processional cross held high, an a great Papal flag, and our banner of Our Lady of Walsingham, and everyone praying the rosary as we rounded our way down the lane and out through the pig farms and I nto the open country...
Thursday, August 07, 2014
The FAITH Movement...
...has been holding its Summer Session this week. You can follow it here...
Today Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury gave us a superb talk, looking at the issues facing the Church in 1914 and in 2014...it was profound, thoughtful, wise and challenging. He himself attended FAITH Summer Sessions back in the 1970s, and is a strong supporter of the movement.
Crowds of young people, lots of talk, Benediction with a young newly-ordained deacon, an evening of laughter with a Talent Show that was in full vigour as I left...the day had been filled with discussions, lectures, prayer, and sports, and more...
Today Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury gave us a superb talk, looking at the issues facing the Church in 1914 and in 2014...it was profound, thoughtful, wise and challenging. He himself attended FAITH Summer Sessions back in the 1970s, and is a strong supporter of the movement.
Crowds of young people, lots of talk, Benediction with a young newly-ordained deacon, an evening of laughter with a Talent Show that was in full vigour as I left...the day had been filled with discussions, lectures, prayer, and sports, and more...
Tuesday, August 05, 2014
Mass at the Magna Carta Abbey...
...on Thursday. The abbey at Bury St Edmunds is the place where the abbots of England gathered to plan the drawing up of Magna Carta, the greater charter of our land, which centres on its opening statement "that the Church in England shall be free." The abbey was destroyed under Henry VIII - a man not known for his commitment to the freedom of the Church - and its ruins still stand, surrounded by lovely gardens, in the centre of the town. Mass in such a place, in the open air, the voices of the congregation raised in song as the afternoon sun begins its descent into evening, is simply glorious. Each year, this Mass marks the start of the John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage, which continues through the lanes and meadows of Norfolk and finishes at Walsingham, with the big midday Mass at the barn church at the shrine. The Pilgrimage is organised by the splendid Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, some of the jolliest nuns in England (do click on that site and see the pic of Cream Teas).
Plenty to pray about on the Pilgrimage this year. Peace in the Middle East...help for the exiled Christians of Iraq...an end to the crisis in Ukraine...and we also need to pray for the Church, and for the Synod taking place this Autumn...
I've been sent some panicky comments about this Synod...the media will be trying to spin things in all sorts of ways. But the Synod will conclude with the beatification of the saintly Pope who gave us Humanae Vitae, the courageous re-stating of the Church's message on the transmission of human life and the wrongfulness of contraception. Paul VI came under such horrible attack for that encyclical, and I remember a letter from a faithful priest, writing towards the end of the pontificate: "Pray for the Pope in his gethsemane". The Church cannot and will not change God's plan for marriage, and the transmission of life. Pray that the Synod will be fruitful and useful and a tool in the hands of all who are working for the New Evangelisation...
Plenty to pray about on the Pilgrimage this year. Peace in the Middle East...help for the exiled Christians of Iraq...an end to the crisis in Ukraine...and we also need to pray for the Church, and for the Synod taking place this Autumn...
I've been sent some panicky comments about this Synod...the media will be trying to spin things in all sorts of ways. But the Synod will conclude with the beatification of the saintly Pope who gave us Humanae Vitae, the courageous re-stating of the Church's message on the transmission of human life and the wrongfulness of contraception. Paul VI came under such horrible attack for that encyclical, and I remember a letter from a faithful priest, writing towards the end of the pontificate: "Pray for the Pope in his gethsemane". The Church cannot and will not change God's plan for marriage, and the transmission of life. Pray that the Synod will be fruitful and useful and a tool in the hands of all who are working for the New Evangelisation...
Monday, August 04, 2014
A single candle...
...stands in our window, and for the past hour the house has been dark.
We were, I think, the only house in the street to do this. I went outside to look, and up and down the road, windows were blazing as usual. Then I got chatting to a neighbour who hadn't known about the initiative, and she went back inside at once and put out all the lights and lit a candle...
Lunchtime Mass at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge, and in place of a sermon we stood for minute in silence to remember the dead of World War I, and then the priest led us in a prayer for them...
Across the river at the Tower of London, the moat is filling with blood-red poppies in commemoration.
Its been a day of intense heat and piercing sunlight. In the sticky evening warmth I pushed my way along the rather mucky lane at the back of the houses, to gather blackberries. When these houses were built in the inter-war years, there were small fenced gardens for each, and the lane was designed for the dustmen to come and empty all the kitchen bins of household rubbish. Today, most of the gardens are overgrown and some fences are broken, and a lot of junk and rubbish gets dumped there...in a strange way, the brambles link us right back to the days before all that, when this was open countryside. Picking the plump fruit and scrambling back with a brimming bowl to turn into jam was a link with that vanished England before 1914...
And the sun went down and I lit a candle in the window...
We were, I think, the only house in the street to do this. I went outside to look, and up and down the road, windows were blazing as usual. Then I got chatting to a neighbour who hadn't known about the initiative, and she went back inside at once and put out all the lights and lit a candle...
Lunchtime Mass at Precious Blood Church, London Bridge, and in place of a sermon we stood for minute in silence to remember the dead of World War I, and then the priest led us in a prayer for them...
Across the river at the Tower of London, the moat is filling with blood-red poppies in commemoration.
Its been a day of intense heat and piercing sunlight. In the sticky evening warmth I pushed my way along the rather mucky lane at the back of the houses, to gather blackberries. When these houses were built in the inter-war years, there were small fenced gardens for each, and the lane was designed for the dustmen to come and empty all the kitchen bins of household rubbish. Today, most of the gardens are overgrown and some fences are broken, and a lot of junk and rubbish gets dumped there...in a strange way, the brambles link us right back to the days before all that, when this was open countryside. Picking the plump fruit and scrambling back with a brimming bowl to turn into jam was a link with that vanished England before 1914...
And the sun went down and I lit a candle in the window...
Sunday, August 03, 2014
The Oratory School....
...near Reading, is a superb place for a conference, and young Catholics from across Britain gathered there this weekend for the annual EVANGELIUM event, organised by the splendid Fathers Marcus Holden and Andrew Pinsent. Bishop Philip Egan came on Sunday to celebrate Mass and preach, there were talks and workshops on a wide range of topics, the splendid Dominican Sisters of St Joseph were there, we had beautiful Masses in the school chapel...
Auntie spoke on Saint John Paul: to young people he is a sort of magnificent legend, and they love to hear about him. It feels strange now to remember what it was all actually like, in the Europe of pre-1989, when the Iron Curtain was a reality...and to realise that they have all grown up with World Youth Day as a great part of Catholic life, and images of Popes flying to all corners of the globe as quite normal...
The weekend finished with a rallying-call to evangelise, by Father Ed Tomlinson: in a lively address he urged that we study the Faith, be active missionaries, show our beliefs by the way we live, attract people to Christ through friendship and example, recognise that it is God who does the work and that we are simply called to help lead people towards truth.
The school grounds lush and green, great banks of gloriously scented lavender along the terrace, sunshine dappling the Georgian manor house which forms the core of the school, lively talk and laughter as groups of young people gathered on Saturday evening after evening prayers for drinks and music.
In the school chapel there are of course War memorials to the boys of the Oratory School who were killed in the two great World Wars. Long lists of names. Especially poignant to look at these as the centenary of the First War is marked tomorrow. We are all being urged to put the lights out at 10pm and light a candle in the window...
Auntie spoke on Saint John Paul: to young people he is a sort of magnificent legend, and they love to hear about him. It feels strange now to remember what it was all actually like, in the Europe of pre-1989, when the Iron Curtain was a reality...and to realise that they have all grown up with World Youth Day as a great part of Catholic life, and images of Popes flying to all corners of the globe as quite normal...
The weekend finished with a rallying-call to evangelise, by Father Ed Tomlinson: in a lively address he urged that we study the Faith, be active missionaries, show our beliefs by the way we live, attract people to Christ through friendship and example, recognise that it is God who does the work and that we are simply called to help lead people towards truth.
The school grounds lush and green, great banks of gloriously scented lavender along the terrace, sunshine dappling the Georgian manor house which forms the core of the school, lively talk and laughter as groups of young people gathered on Saturday evening after evening prayers for drinks and music.
In the school chapel there are of course War memorials to the boys of the Oratory School who were killed in the two great World Wars. Long lists of names. Especially poignant to look at these as the centenary of the First War is marked tomorrow. We are all being urged to put the lights out at 10pm and light a candle in the window...
Friday, August 01, 2014
Read about...
...Walsingham and a forthcoming Pilgrimage, in The Portal, August edition just published...
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