...and...

...further to the blog post below, George Weigel's older comment on Archbishop Vigano is also worth a perusal: read here...

And in these worrying days for the Church...

...it has happened that I have been in Walsingham, a good place in which to pray....

It is worth reading this, which has personal insights into the latest developments.

On the ghastly revelations from the USA re Cardinal McCarrick etc......

...READ THIS

A visit...

...to Littlemore, in pursuit of research on Bl John Henry Newman. A wonderful afternoon with the delightful Sisters of The Work, who run the Newman study centre and offer retreats and hospitality...

Now that the hideous heat of a few weeks ago has dissipated, the English countryside shows inits summer beauty. The Thames running along at Henley...the thick wooded lanes of Oxfordshire...a pub lunch by the river...tea at Littlemore with lively chat and a sense of welcome...a happy day...

Come on the next London Catholic History Walks!

The King's Good Servant

Monday 10th September, 6pm. The story of heroic St Thomas More, as we walk around his Chelsea estate. Meet at the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Cheyenne Row. SW3 5HS. Nearest Tube: Sloane Square or South Kensington.

The City and its Wall

Sunday, 16th September, 6pm. Meet at St Etheldreda's Church, Ely Place, London. EC1N 6RY. Nearest Tube: Farringdon.

For King and Country!

Sunday 23rd September, 4pm. Catholics and Politics: St Thomas More, Guy Fawkes, Pugin, Parliament and the Abbey. Meet on the steps of Westminster Cathedral. Nearest Tube: Victoria.

Southwark and the Borough

Sunday 7th October, 4pm. See the 'other side' of London, including St George's, the capital's first post-Reformation Cathedral. Meet at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, O'Meara Street. SE1 1TD.

For King and Country!

Tuesday 9th October, 6.30pm. Catholics and Politics: St Thomas More, Guy Fawkes, Pugin, Parliament and the Abbey. Meet on the steps of Westminster Cathedral. Nearest Tube: Victoria.

The King's Good Servant

Sunday 21st October, 4pm. The story of heroic St Thomas More, as we walk around his Chelsea estate. Meet at the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More, Cheyenne Row. SW3 5HS. Nearest Tube: Sloane Square or South Kensington.

To get a flavour...

...of the message we'll be receiving and spreading at the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress in Liverpool, read this feature by one of the speakers....

Religious Freedom...

...is the basis of all our other freedoms. This is explored in the latest issue of FAITH magazine, now online here...

The NEW DAWN gathering....

...at Walsingham. This is a vast gathering of young Catholic families - lots of children and teenagers - in a meadow at the shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham. In a giant tent, a sort of temporary cathedral,  Mass is celebrated and talks are given - and around the meadow are various other substantial marquees in which there are talks and workshops, with  music, activities for children and more...it has been held annually for just over 30 years and has played a major role in the great revival of Walsingham which began in the first years of the 20th century and is continuing at an expanded rate in these first decades of the 21st.

A great highlight of the week - held on Wednesday at the mid-point of things - is a pilgrimage down the Holy Mile, singing and praying the Rosary, to the ruined Priory where Mass is celebrated. It is a powerful experience to be part of a crowd of more than a thousand people singing "Ave Ave Maria", many walking barefoot in accordance with tradition, walking along the lane in the way that pilgrims have done for centuries.

Auntie Joanna's involvement in New Dawn included a talk on the significance of Mary in the plan of salvation and in the life of the Church: the New Eve, and Daughter of Sion...and part of this is the significance of male/female roles...