...with members of the Association of Catholic Women and the Catholic History Walkers! On Wednesday September 21st we are going on pilgrimage to MINSTER, to visit the sisters at St Mildred's Abbey.
We meet at Westminster Cathedral at 7.45am. Bring a packed lunch. We'll be travelling by train. On arrival at Minster, there'll be coffee and a chance to enjoy the lovely grounds and gardens, and then we'll join the Sisters for the Office of Sext in the Abbey's chapel. This will be followed by Mass - we are bringing our own chaplain. Then a picnic lunch - or, if you like, you can explore the village and enjoy a pub lunch there. Then there will be a talk about the Abbey's history, with a DVD, and a sister will tell us about the Benedictine life...and then we will have tea and make our way home.
During the day we'll be saying the Rosary and we'll learn something of the history of this part of Kent, with its links to St Augustine etc. We plan to be back in London by 6pm.
Minster Abbey is a beautiful place with lovely grounds and a warm welcome - and good accomodation for pilgrims if the weather is rainy too.
No need to book - just turn up. But you will find it useful to BUY YOUR RAILWAY TICKET BEFOREHAND. We plan to catch the 08.33 train from CHARING CROSS.
I went to Minster today with the Chairman of the Assn of Catholic Women to make arrangements for this pilgrimage and it was a most lovely day...glorious Kent countryside, warm September sun, the peace of the convent chapel, the beauty of the abbey gardens with their flowers in great profusion...
Thursday, September 01, 2011
A meeting...
...of those involved with St Clare Media, which is the British group associated with EWTN. It's so encouraging to see how EWTN has grown and how it is now a mainstream part of Catholic life and appreciated by so many families. And EWTN is now associated with this good Catholic newspaper too...
Tomorrow I am off to Minster-in-Thanet where there is a beautiful convent which dates back to Saxon times. There's a gently Autumnal feel to the air as Septermber arrives...read more about Auntie and LOndon and so on here...
Tomorrow I am off to Minster-in-Thanet where there is a beautiful convent which dates back to Saxon times. There's a gently Autumnal feel to the air as Septermber arrives...read more about Auntie and LOndon and so on here...
Sunday, August 28, 2011
A particularly interesting insight on Spain's World Youth Day...
...can be found here and is well worth reading...
A London Sunday...
...beginning with Mass at Westminster Cathedral: even with the full choir away,the High Mass is glorious with chant. Had arranged to meet a young relative there and we had a happy day, spent partly in Chelsea at a friend's house where, following tea and cake,she helped me stack and store essays from the 2011 Schools Bible Project (prizewinners have been notified and names and schools will appear on the wesbite as soon as the school term begins). There is a hint of Autumn in the air, delicious coolness after the heat of Spain...I spent a lot of time enthusing about World Youth Day but young M. was expecting this,her sister L. having taken part in the Cologne WYD and loving it. We talked about Catholic things: M. very down-to-earth "The thing I like is that, whereever you are going, you just find out where the local Catholic church is, and check the Mass times, and you go there, and you know what you're going to, and what it's all about."
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
I expect...
..that I'll stop writing about World Youth Day shortly. But endure it a little longer. It has a number of important implications for the future and it's worth pondering.
There are some good highlights here. And Papa B., who obviously loved it all, has been speaking about it at length and describing it as a "cascade of light" and "a precious gift which gives hope for the future of the Church".
One reason why I was keen to go to Madrid was that, a little while ago, I recieved a passionate and angry denunciation of WYD as a pagan counterfeit modernist evil event, together with repeated denunciations of (Blessed)John Paul II. Probably now following the success of Madrid, which followed the success of Sydney,which followed the success of Cologne, which followed the success of Paris and Rome and all the others, this line will change. An apology from the denouncers would be decent and honourable.
There are some good highlights here. And Papa B., who obviously loved it all, has been speaking about it at length and describing it as a "cascade of light" and "a precious gift which gives hope for the future of the Church".
One reason why I was keen to go to Madrid was that, a little while ago, I recieved a passionate and angry denunciation of WYD as a pagan counterfeit modernist evil event, together with repeated denunciations of (Blessed)John Paul II. Probably now following the success of Madrid, which followed the success of Sydney,which followed the success of Cologne, which followed the success of Paris and Rome and all the others, this line will change. An apology from the denouncers would be decent and honourable.
...and more from Auntie on Madrid...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
"We are the youth of the Pope"....
...the cry of young people at the 2011 World Youth Day. And it sort of has two meanings: that the young people stand with the Pope, and are affirming their full loyalty to him, but also - an extra and unintended meaning - that the young share their youthful energy with the Holy Father and rejuvenate him with their joy and their affection and good humour.
You'll get something of the feel of that unforgettable Saturday night vigil if you watch here. The Pope was so splendid and joyful and amused by the sudden turn of events, undeterred by storm and wind. Enjoy.
You'll get something of the feel of that unforgettable Saturday night vigil if you watch here. The Pope was so splendid and joyful and amused by the sudden turn of events, undeterred by storm and wind. Enjoy.
Two million people...
...were at Mass with Papa Benedict XVI, on a great airfield of scorched Spanish earth after a night of storm and wind that gave way to starlit peace.
Did you see it on TV? Can you imagine what it was like to be part of it?
On Saturday night, after that electric storm, when the rain came down and the sky was lit up with dramatic streaks of lightning, there was a momentary loss of power for the great screens and we didn't quite know what was happening. People were sheltering from the rain (others, like Auntie, were relishing it and stood with joyful arms outstretched in thanksgiving!)and checking on younger friends and drawing people together. And as power was restored and the drama abated, we heard Papa B's voice, calm and reassurring. "Well, the LOrd has been generous with his blessings" And he led us in the great vigil of prayer, just as planned...
The drama did not prevent us from sleeping out, as planned,although some must have had a most uncomfortable night simply due to pressure of space because of the the huge numbers, rising to some two million the next day and already heading that way by Saturday evening. In our sector we had adequate if limited space, and pulled together our mats and settled down to several hours of slumber...I woke in the early hours while all was still dark, and was struck by how curiously serene and safe it all looked, somehow. There were tents and humps of makeshift shelter, and hundreds of thousands of sleeping people. Earlier panics about the ghastly heat had given way to the stillness and cool of the night - healthcare had coped with anyone who found the heat too much, stacks and stacks of fresh water had arrived, and now even the chatting and singing and laughter had died away and there was this extrordinary scene of a great vast swathe of humanity at rest.
And the rain had brought a fresher day for our Sunday Mass. Not without drama: the great tent where the Blessed Sacrament was reserved and where adoration was taking place was ripped down in the storm. Nearby had been stored vast quantities of Communion hosts, to be consecrated at the morning Mass, and these were caught up in the wreckage and could not be used. So when the sun came up and we were all getting organised for the day ahead, announcements were made telling us that we would not be able to recieve Holy Communion at Mass but should make a Spiritual Communion and then, if possible, go to one of Madrid's churches later in the day where HOly Communion would be given to us...
It was touching to see the many, many priests and nuns and friars with the various groups in that vast crowd busy saying their office faithfully throughout our time on the airfield. You would see a friar deep in the Psalm or or a priest opening up his book with its ribbon markers. And as Mass began, this gigantic gathering of humanity slowly turned into a Sunday congregation at prayer, led by a choir and with the Pope concelebrating with Bishops and priests at the altar.
How stupid the sections of the British media that focused on the ranting of some anti-Church demonstrators, thus massively missing the central story. Get real. Here is a new generation of young Catholics, all gathered from the four corners of the earth, affirming their full, enthusiastic and loving commitment to Jesus Christ and taking part in the ancient rites of the Catholic Church with a fullness of devotion that speaks of a great reality for the future. Think about it. This has massive implications for the next decade's shaping of social and community ideas and policies: these people are dedicated, alert, and extremely active. They travelled to Madrid as enthusiastic pilgrims, and their strumming guitars and waving flags and whooping shouts of "Viva el Papa!" are all part of a Catholicism which is rooted in real personal involvement and not in any way imposed by the State or even encouraged by it. This is a movement. If there were two million Greenies, or two million enthusiastic socialists, or two million fans of a particular pop star, it would all be regarded as rather significant and the media would not focus on some (statistically insignificant) opposing demonstrators.
The Pope's message included a strong call that he had also made in his Introduction to the new Youth Catechism with which every young pilgrim has been provided: this new generation must know and understand the Faith better than their parents have done. There are new challenges ahead and great hearts and deep prayer are needed...
After Mass, we ate lunch (packs of food for all of yesterday and today had been provided, complete with delicious ham and bread and olive oil and yoghurts and more) all slowly packed things up and made ready to go...no point in hurrying, as it takes hours and hours for such a crowd - effectively the population of a great city - to disperse and find its way home, as Papa B. was also doing, having found a special place in youthful hearts because he stayed throughout that storm when some of his accompanying monsignori seemed to indicate that he ought to leave...
We were exhausted and very grimy with dust and sweat when we finally got back to our home-base of the church of St Mary of Cana: the bliss of a shower was just indescribably delightful. Then in the evening we all gathered to relax together, to talk over what had been - and suddenly the dust and vicious thorns and thistles and the horrible insects ("mutant grasshoppers" was the favoured expression...although, ugh, the huge ants in their horrid teeming anthills were worse!) were simply part of something that had been so much bigger and more glorious...I wish I could convey the joy and the friendship and the many small kindnesses of the lovely Quo Vadis group with which I have been priviledged to be linked in these Madrid days. The core of the group includes young men training for the priesthood or considering a religious vocation - but for this WYD pilgrimage it has been opened up for large numbers of young people who simply wanted to come alonmg to be part of this unforgettable event. And now with all sorts of shared experiences, and times of prayer, and complicated in-jokes, and hours and hours of friendship and talk and laughter and more, there is of course that sense of unity that is one of the really delightful things that emerges from a time such as this...
Did you see it on TV? Can you imagine what it was like to be part of it?
On Saturday night, after that electric storm, when the rain came down and the sky was lit up with dramatic streaks of lightning, there was a momentary loss of power for the great screens and we didn't quite know what was happening. People were sheltering from the rain (others, like Auntie, were relishing it and stood with joyful arms outstretched in thanksgiving!)and checking on younger friends and drawing people together. And as power was restored and the drama abated, we heard Papa B's voice, calm and reassurring. "Well, the LOrd has been generous with his blessings" And he led us in the great vigil of prayer, just as planned...
The drama did not prevent us from sleeping out, as planned,although some must have had a most uncomfortable night simply due to pressure of space because of the the huge numbers, rising to some two million the next day and already heading that way by Saturday evening. In our sector we had adequate if limited space, and pulled together our mats and settled down to several hours of slumber...I woke in the early hours while all was still dark, and was struck by how curiously serene and safe it all looked, somehow. There were tents and humps of makeshift shelter, and hundreds of thousands of sleeping people. Earlier panics about the ghastly heat had given way to the stillness and cool of the night - healthcare had coped with anyone who found the heat too much, stacks and stacks of fresh water had arrived, and now even the chatting and singing and laughter had died away and there was this extrordinary scene of a great vast swathe of humanity at rest.
And the rain had brought a fresher day for our Sunday Mass. Not without drama: the great tent where the Blessed Sacrament was reserved and where adoration was taking place was ripped down in the storm. Nearby had been stored vast quantities of Communion hosts, to be consecrated at the morning Mass, and these were caught up in the wreckage and could not be used. So when the sun came up and we were all getting organised for the day ahead, announcements were made telling us that we would not be able to recieve Holy Communion at Mass but should make a Spiritual Communion and then, if possible, go to one of Madrid's churches later in the day where HOly Communion would be given to us...
It was touching to see the many, many priests and nuns and friars with the various groups in that vast crowd busy saying their office faithfully throughout our time on the airfield. You would see a friar deep in the Psalm or or a priest opening up his book with its ribbon markers. And as Mass began, this gigantic gathering of humanity slowly turned into a Sunday congregation at prayer, led by a choir and with the Pope concelebrating with Bishops and priests at the altar.
How stupid the sections of the British media that focused on the ranting of some anti-Church demonstrators, thus massively missing the central story. Get real. Here is a new generation of young Catholics, all gathered from the four corners of the earth, affirming their full, enthusiastic and loving commitment to Jesus Christ and taking part in the ancient rites of the Catholic Church with a fullness of devotion that speaks of a great reality for the future. Think about it. This has massive implications for the next decade's shaping of social and community ideas and policies: these people are dedicated, alert, and extremely active. They travelled to Madrid as enthusiastic pilgrims, and their strumming guitars and waving flags and whooping shouts of "Viva el Papa!" are all part of a Catholicism which is rooted in real personal involvement and not in any way imposed by the State or even encouraged by it. This is a movement. If there were two million Greenies, or two million enthusiastic socialists, or two million fans of a particular pop star, it would all be regarded as rather significant and the media would not focus on some (statistically insignificant) opposing demonstrators.
The Pope's message included a strong call that he had also made in his Introduction to the new Youth Catechism with which every young pilgrim has been provided: this new generation must know and understand the Faith better than their parents have done. There are new challenges ahead and great hearts and deep prayer are needed...
After Mass, we ate lunch (packs of food for all of yesterday and today had been provided, complete with delicious ham and bread and olive oil and yoghurts and more) all slowly packed things up and made ready to go...no point in hurrying, as it takes hours and hours for such a crowd - effectively the population of a great city - to disperse and find its way home, as Papa B. was also doing, having found a special place in youthful hearts because he stayed throughout that storm when some of his accompanying monsignori seemed to indicate that he ought to leave...
We were exhausted and very grimy with dust and sweat when we finally got back to our home-base of the church of St Mary of Cana: the bliss of a shower was just indescribably delightful. Then in the evening we all gathered to relax together, to talk over what had been - and suddenly the dust and vicious thorns and thistles and the horrible insects ("mutant grasshoppers" was the favoured expression...although, ugh, the huge ants in their horrid teeming anthills were worse!) were simply part of something that had been so much bigger and more glorious...I wish I could convey the joy and the friendship and the many small kindnesses of the lovely Quo Vadis group with which I have been priviledged to be linked in these Madrid days. The core of the group includes young men training for the priesthood or considering a religious vocation - but for this WYD pilgrimage it has been opened up for large numbers of young people who simply wanted to come alonmg to be part of this unforgettable event. And now with all sorts of shared experiences, and times of prayer, and complicated in-jokes, and hours and hours of friendship and talk and laughter and more, there is of course that sense of unity that is one of the really delightful things that emerges from a time such as this...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
We have shared an adventure together...
...said Papa Benedict to roars and roars of applause, after the electric storm and the thunder and lightening, and the evening prayer vigil interrupted by this dramatic intervention of nature following a day of intense and burning heat and shortages of water among some actions of the million strong crowd.
We who were there will never be able to convey adequately how extraordinary it was, how stunning that mixture of fear and panic and heat and thirst and sudden splashing water...the relentless heat of afternoon giving way to darkness, and the blessed relief as the sun finally, finally went down, and we began to know that the Pope would soon be with us, and also that supplies of extra water were on their way and that this world Youth day was going to be something glorious after all...
Saturday began with groups of young pilgrims gathering all over Madrid and walking,walking, walking, with flags and banners, and snatches of song, out from the city to the vast airfield where we were to pray together and spend the night in vigil. It was hot. All were in good spirits and the route was clear ...ahead of us as we marched was a great wide winding column of young people, with flags from every continent on the earth, all heading for the Cuatro Viente airfield through the dust and scrub and sudden bits of pleasant suburbia. The heat was intense, the sun scorching ...as we passed some blocks of flats there was a sudden glorious relief as people poured out buckets and buckets of cool water on us from their windows. Some had hoses...oh the joy of the cool water on our heads and bodies and feet....
On arrival at the airfield there was of course no shade, the numbers pouring in were larger - much, much larger - than had been thought and great crowds pressed around the water taps. The prospect of spending the night in this chaos seemed grim. But gradually things were worked out, young people running to shriek their joy as the Fire brigade drove up and down showering great powerful jets of water at the various sectors, and announcements being made about water supplies arriving for us all shortly. I prayed for rain...as lots and lots of others must have done, because as dusk arrived so did the clouds and as the Prayrt vigil got under way, Heaven opened on us with wind and lightning and rain and drama...
Papa Benedict had by now arrived too and was hailed with cheers and then started to talk to us and open our prayer vigil,... At one stage things had to break off but they restarted as the storm abated and suddenly there was peace, and I will never, ever forget the silence as something between one and a one and a half million young people knelt before the Blessed Sacrament with the successor of St Peter and prayed...his firm, reassuring and gentle voice guided us into the prayer and then he knelt and the silence slowly, slowly spread out from him in the sanctuary across the wide airfield through crowds and crowds right out to the perimeter where at first the were still people talking and sorting out supper and water and bedding and so on...and in that great silence there was peace and stillness and after that the whole World Youth Day project made complete sense after all, and we shared this great adventure of storm and prayer together...
We who were there will never be able to convey adequately how extraordinary it was, how stunning that mixture of fear and panic and heat and thirst and sudden splashing water...the relentless heat of afternoon giving way to darkness, and the blessed relief as the sun finally, finally went down, and we began to know that the Pope would soon be with us, and also that supplies of extra water were on their way and that this world Youth day was going to be something glorious after all...
Saturday began with groups of young pilgrims gathering all over Madrid and walking,walking, walking, with flags and banners, and snatches of song, out from the city to the vast airfield where we were to pray together and spend the night in vigil. It was hot. All were in good spirits and the route was clear ...ahead of us as we marched was a great wide winding column of young people, with flags from every continent on the earth, all heading for the Cuatro Viente airfield through the dust and scrub and sudden bits of pleasant suburbia. The heat was intense, the sun scorching ...as we passed some blocks of flats there was a sudden glorious relief as people poured out buckets and buckets of cool water on us from their windows. Some had hoses...oh the joy of the cool water on our heads and bodies and feet....
On arrival at the airfield there was of course no shade, the numbers pouring in were larger - much, much larger - than had been thought and great crowds pressed around the water taps. The prospect of spending the night in this chaos seemed grim. But gradually things were worked out, young people running to shriek their joy as the Fire brigade drove up and down showering great powerful jets of water at the various sectors, and announcements being made about water supplies arriving for us all shortly. I prayed for rain...as lots and lots of others must have done, because as dusk arrived so did the clouds and as the Prayrt vigil got under way, Heaven opened on us with wind and lightning and rain and drama...
Papa Benedict had by now arrived too and was hailed with cheers and then started to talk to us and open our prayer vigil,... At one stage things had to break off but they restarted as the storm abated and suddenly there was peace, and I will never, ever forget the silence as something between one and a one and a half million young people knelt before the Blessed Sacrament with the successor of St Peter and prayed...his firm, reassuring and gentle voice guided us into the prayer and then he knelt and the silence slowly, slowly spread out from him in the sanctuary across the wide airfield through crowds and crowds right out to the perimeter where at first the were still people talking and sorting out supper and water and bedding and so on...and in that great silence there was peace and stillness and after that the whole World Youth Day project made complete sense after all, and we shared this great adventure of storm and prayer together...
Friday, August 19, 2011
...and more....
...the Spanish newspapers have been reporting the arrival of the Pope, his greeting the King and the local bishops, his strong and hope-filled message to the young. Papa B. is realistic; he talks about the hopes and beliefs of today´s young, the way in which they struggle to seek God and the fact that many of those here at World Youth day have already seen what, for example, drugs,and a hedonistic lifestyle, and high-pressure secularism and anti-Christian prejudice, can do to the lives and hopes of this generation. His tone is warm and filled with faith: it meets exactly and at a deep level the tone of the yuoung people gathered here, which is one of openess and a willingness to engage and to listen, with a desire to heal and unite and show solidarity and neighbourliness.
One thing which I can seen is widely recognised here is that high-pressure arguments, or angry denunciations, are not the way to spread the Faith. The message was summed up by Blessed John Paul ' the Church proposes, she does not impose'. Anyone in Madrid today would want to know what motivates these young people, the priests who are leading groups through the city with joy and music, the young friars with ropes round their waists sitting talking and laughing over a picnic meal with a team of young people in a grassy spot, the sisters with shady hats topping their veils as against a relentless sun, cheerful and chatty. The joy and enthusiasm is catching, it´s delightful.
A crowd of young French pilgrims gathers at a church already filled to overflowing. Their lovely singing fills the air, the local square, the nearby streets, as they perch on the low walls and kneel in the gardens around the Church to pray together.
A vast crowd is around the entrance to a busy Metro station. No one shoves or pushes, a Brazilian group quietly starts praying together. The atmosphere is calm. Heads are bowed. People cross themselves and the voices rise and fall in a murmur of familiar prayers...
Young people march enthusiastically behind their national flag, pausing to stop and shout "Viva il Papa!" and to cheer as an echoing "Viva!" comes from groups across the street and around a neighbouring square.
It´s all like that.
One thing which I can seen is widely recognised here is that high-pressure arguments, or angry denunciations, are not the way to spread the Faith. The message was summed up by Blessed John Paul ' the Church proposes, she does not impose'. Anyone in Madrid today would want to know what motivates these young people, the priests who are leading groups through the city with joy and music, the young friars with ropes round their waists sitting talking and laughing over a picnic meal with a team of young people in a grassy spot, the sisters with shady hats topping their veils as against a relentless sun, cheerful and chatty. The joy and enthusiasm is catching, it´s delightful.
A crowd of young French pilgrims gathers at a church already filled to overflowing. Their lovely singing fills the air, the local square, the nearby streets, as they perch on the low walls and kneel in the gardens around the Church to pray together.
A vast crowd is around the entrance to a busy Metro station. No one shoves or pushes, a Brazilian group quietly starts praying together. The atmosphere is calm. Heads are bowed. People cross themselves and the voices rise and fall in a murmur of familiar prayers...
Young people march enthusiastically behind their national flag, pausing to stop and shout "Viva il Papa!" and to cheer as an echoing "Viva!" comes from groups across the street and around a neighbouring square.
It´s all like that.
Springtime in August....
...in the heat and sunshine of Madrid. Thousands and thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of young people teeming in this city, singing, waving flags, praying, and cheering their hearts out as they gather to geet the Pope...World Youth Day is much (MUCH!) more crowded, more enthusiastic, and more prayeful and devout than I had imagined it would be, and the experience of being here is magnificent.
A few snapshots to give you some idea of what is´s like...
Young people from the QUO VADIS group based in South London, are staying at the church of St Maria del Cana, and every morning they gather for Mass and breakfast and have a rota for tidying up etc and then go off for catechesis in various places. I went with them to the ´LOVE AND LIFÉ" centre, excellent talks from Archbishop Chaput (great cheers from a large group from Philadelphia - there are lots of Americans here) and from a priest who runs the Salt and Light Tv in Canada and from the head of the Kts of Columbus in the USA...some very relevant and powerful stuff on religious freedom and the call to Catholics to speak up for the truths of the Faith and the beauty of Christian teachings...
A great Festival of Forgiveness in a large central park, with white confessionals - looking like a great encampment of tepees - set out in rows and priests hearing confessions all day, a rather tender scene as people gather and are given small booklets showing Rembrant´s Prodigal Son and sit or kneel in prayer and preparation and then go to one of the priests and kneel, either directly with the priest or with a screen, depending on choice...
The crowds greeting the H. Father yesterday evening were good natured, exuberant, cheery, prayerful, but slightly scary in their vast numbers - most had waited all day in the heat, singing, chanting, praying, waving flags, swapping badges and greetings with people from different countries, being sprayed with great cooling jets of water from Madrid´s fire brigade. I rested, with a great crowd all around me and squeezing in, against a wall, and at one point was so pressed in that I could not even bend to reach my specs when they fell, and had no possibility of getting into my backpack....but didn´t mind a bit, everyone so helpful, water passed around, greetings exchanged,laughter, friendship, conversations in my limited French and hopeless German, so much goodwill, so many interesting encounters with Africans (esp French speaking), and people from Latin America and from all parts of Asia, from every corner of Europe, from Britain (! one voice suddenly in a restaurant - "Auntie Joanna! Hello!"), from the USA, from India, from Hong Kong... The Holy Father´s warm, kindly voice, speaking with great affection, like a grandpa. No sign of frailty: his arms wide in gesture after gesture of greeting,a friendly talk with each young person coming forward with a message from each continent...A moment of great pride for the British as OUR Deacon James, of the ORDINARIATE, chanted the Gospel in beautiful English...Out in the crowd Union Jacks waved and bobbed...
The speeches of welcome to the H. Father by young people from different continents were so touching, somehow. eg "We have young people here from the great land masses of Oceania and from the islands scattered across the ocean ...all have brought their national flags. Do you see them, Holy Father?" The young voices, clear and sincere reaching out across the vast (VAST!!) crowds, and then the choir singing....the ceremony finished with a magnificent Hallelujah Chorus...
It´s dreadfully, dreadfully hot. Fr Stephen provided the Quo Vadis group with useful water-sprays which we gladly share with others as we splash hands and necks and faces with lovely cool water...we have all, in our backpacks, been provided with fans and water bottles and spare teeshirts...oh, and I can´t decribe the fun to being on trains and people breaking out into song, or "Viva el Papa" or dancing...oh, and the friendliness, the joy, and the KINDNESS of everyone, and the devotion of young people even with the heat and sleeping in halls and schools and so on... We have tickets for meals at local resturants, each offering a simple menu and all so welcoming...and a vigil of prayer in "our" church of St Maria del Cana, and the Spanish people saying the Divine Praises and the British youngsters leading the singing, and the priest bringing the Blessed Sacrament aloft through the church and all kneeling in united adoration...
World Youth day is a sign of hope, of peace and of springtime for the Church and for Europe...
A few snapshots to give you some idea of what is´s like...
Young people from the QUO VADIS group based in South London, are staying at the church of St Maria del Cana, and every morning they gather for Mass and breakfast and have a rota for tidying up etc and then go off for catechesis in various places. I went with them to the ´LOVE AND LIFÉ" centre, excellent talks from Archbishop Chaput (great cheers from a large group from Philadelphia - there are lots of Americans here) and from a priest who runs the Salt and Light Tv in Canada and from the head of the Kts of Columbus in the USA...some very relevant and powerful stuff on religious freedom and the call to Catholics to speak up for the truths of the Faith and the beauty of Christian teachings...
A great Festival of Forgiveness in a large central park, with white confessionals - looking like a great encampment of tepees - set out in rows and priests hearing confessions all day, a rather tender scene as people gather and are given small booklets showing Rembrant´s Prodigal Son and sit or kneel in prayer and preparation and then go to one of the priests and kneel, either directly with the priest or with a screen, depending on choice...
The crowds greeting the H. Father yesterday evening were good natured, exuberant, cheery, prayerful, but slightly scary in their vast numbers - most had waited all day in the heat, singing, chanting, praying, waving flags, swapping badges and greetings with people from different countries, being sprayed with great cooling jets of water from Madrid´s fire brigade. I rested, with a great crowd all around me and squeezing in, against a wall, and at one point was so pressed in that I could not even bend to reach my specs when they fell, and had no possibility of getting into my backpack....but didn´t mind a bit, everyone so helpful, water passed around, greetings exchanged,laughter, friendship, conversations in my limited French and hopeless German, so much goodwill, so many interesting encounters with Africans (esp French speaking), and people from Latin America and from all parts of Asia, from every corner of Europe, from Britain (! one voice suddenly in a restaurant - "Auntie Joanna! Hello!"), from the USA, from India, from Hong Kong... The Holy Father´s warm, kindly voice, speaking with great affection, like a grandpa. No sign of frailty: his arms wide in gesture after gesture of greeting,a friendly talk with each young person coming forward with a message from each continent...A moment of great pride for the British as OUR Deacon James, of the ORDINARIATE, chanted the Gospel in beautiful English...Out in the crowd Union Jacks waved and bobbed...
The speeches of welcome to the H. Father by young people from different continents were so touching, somehow. eg "We have young people here from the great land masses of Oceania and from the islands scattered across the ocean ...all have brought their national flags. Do you see them, Holy Father?" The young voices, clear and sincere reaching out across the vast (VAST!!) crowds, and then the choir singing....the ceremony finished with a magnificent Hallelujah Chorus...
It´s dreadfully, dreadfully hot. Fr Stephen provided the Quo Vadis group with useful water-sprays which we gladly share with others as we splash hands and necks and faces with lovely cool water...we have all, in our backpacks, been provided with fans and water bottles and spare teeshirts...oh, and I can´t decribe the fun to being on trains and people breaking out into song, or "Viva el Papa" or dancing...oh, and the friendliness, the joy, and the KINDNESS of everyone, and the devotion of young people even with the heat and sleeping in halls and schools and so on... We have tickets for meals at local resturants, each offering a simple menu and all so welcoming...and a vigil of prayer in "our" church of St Maria del Cana, and the Spanish people saying the Divine Praises and the British youngsters leading the singing, and the priest bringing the Blessed Sacrament aloft through the church and all kneeling in united adoration...
World Youth day is a sign of hope, of peace and of springtime for the Church and for Europe...
Monday, August 15, 2011
Unconvincing...
...lobbying from a "creationist" group denouncing a Catholic booklet which affirms that it is possible to accept some form of evolution and still believe in the Creator. The lobby group seems to me rather panicky, and also confused and angry. They should calm down. A Christian can accept something of the evolutionary theory - it doesn't neccesarily contradict Genesis. This is a point that Pope Benedict has made more than once, and incidentally which Bl.John Henry Newman also made, writing in 1868, “the theory of Darwin, true or not, is not necessarily atheistic; on the contrary, it may simply be suggesting a larger idea of divine providence and skill.”
The new Youth Catechism produced for WYD tackles this rather well, affirming "God created the world out of nothing. He is Lord of history. He guides all things and can do everything. How he uses his omnipotence is of course a mystery...The sentence 'God created the world' is not an outmoded scientific statement. We are dealing here with a theo-logical statement, therefore a statement about the divine meaning and origin of things..."
YouCat has a Foreword by the H.Father and everyone attending WYD gets a copy. It is competently written and doesn't "talk down" to the young or attempt to be super-cool, it doesn't talk in jargon or assume its readers are stupid. It gives the Church's message and does so with confidence. Recommended.
The new Youth Catechism produced for WYD tackles this rather well, affirming "God created the world out of nothing. He is Lord of history. He guides all things and can do everything. How he uses his omnipotence is of course a mystery...The sentence 'God created the world' is not an outmoded scientific statement. We are dealing here with a theo-logical statement, therefore a statement about the divine meaning and origin of things..."
YouCat has a Foreword by the H.Father and everyone attending WYD gets a copy. It is competently written and doesn't "talk down" to the young or attempt to be super-cool, it doesn't talk in jargon or assume its readers are stupid. It gives the Church's message and does so with confidence. Recommended.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
The broom army...
...has cleaned up Battersea and now only the only evidence of the rioting is the boarding that cover the fronts of half a dozen shops. At Debenhams (the big shop that used to be Arding and Hobbs, near Clapham Junction) one section of board is covered with goodwill messages - "God loves Battersea!" "Don't despair!" , hearts, kisses etc - and people gather there to have their photo taken alongside. While pausing to add my own message, I was joined by a couple of men being interviewed for a TV station and several families busy with phone-cameras.
I'd decided, almost at the last minute, to go to Mass at Holy Ghost church, Balham as I had some papers to deliver there for an Autumn schools venture to be run by the parish priest, who is Vocations Director for the diocese (Southwark). I was so glad I went, because friends were there who had brought along a teeshirt that young L. - who departed yesterday with the youth group from the parish for WYD in Madrid - needed. "We hoped you'd come to Mass here, and brought it along on chance - can you give it to her when you go to Madrid?" I'll be joining the group on Wednesday, so am glad to help. And then on a whim they invited me to lunch and we had a long happy afternoon over a delicious meal, much talk and laughter. Last year we were all gathered around the same kitchen table late at night during the Papal Visit, with soup and toast in between the Hyde Park Vigil and the departure of the overnight coach to Cofton Park. A French journalist joined us and young L. arrived fresh from the Vigil and the earlier gathering at Westminster Cathedral where the young people gave the H. Father such a wonderful welcome... A year on, and young L. is in Madrid and I'm off to join her, and see the H. Father again...
I'd decided, almost at the last minute, to go to Mass at Holy Ghost church, Balham as I had some papers to deliver there for an Autumn schools venture to be run by the parish priest, who is Vocations Director for the diocese (Southwark). I was so glad I went, because friends were there who had brought along a teeshirt that young L. - who departed yesterday with the youth group from the parish for WYD in Madrid - needed. "We hoped you'd come to Mass here, and brought it along on chance - can you give it to her when you go to Madrid?" I'll be joining the group on Wednesday, so am glad to help. And then on a whim they invited me to lunch and we had a long happy afternoon over a delicious meal, much talk and laughter. Last year we were all gathered around the same kitchen table late at night during the Papal Visit, with soup and toast in between the Hyde Park Vigil and the departure of the overnight coach to Cofton Park. A French journalist joined us and young L. arrived fresh from the Vigil and the earlier gathering at Westminster Cathedral where the young people gave the H. Father such a wonderful welcome... A year on, and young L. is in Madrid and I'm off to join her, and see the H. Father again...
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Probably...
...a useful way to spend a day in post-riot Britain was to be working on a big project for schools which will, we hope, spread literacy, knowledge of the Bible, communication skills, and a grasp of the need for hard work in order to achieve agreed goals. Anyway, that's what I was doing. Trundled cases of Bible prizes to the Post Office to go to various schools, all carefully labelled and packed. Chose some more books for the finalist prizewinners - who come to London in the Autumn to get their prizes - and planned the 2012 Project. Then tackled more personal tasks: bought a backpack for travelling to World Youth Day, dropped in to Westminster Cathedral, dropped off DVD of a great film at a friend's house, dropped into supermarket to get some fish for supper (mussels, Friday, delicious), dropped onm to the sofa at home for 2 mins to relax before tackling emails and ironing.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
In London today...
...the mood was normal, cheerful, and rain-washed.Yesterday I phoned friends in Battersea to ask how things were going. It had been frightening, C. admitted, but now people were gathering with brooms and brushes to clean things up.
Pics in the Evening Standard of clean-up operations, and of people donating food, clothing, and cash for those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
To St Mary Moorfields for a committee meeting of the Catholic Writers' Guild. We had a great number of entries for our 2011 Catholic Young Writer Award (run jointly w. the Catholic Union): all have now been read and some preliminary selections made ...discussions with the Master of the Guild, Mary Kenny, re this. It's the biggest number of entries ever, and the overall standard is high. (Theme was love, marriage, Cana, Christian teaching on love and family - ref. Papal encyclicals of JPII and BXVI.We chose this becuse of the Royal Wedding, and it seems to have struck a chord.)
Phone interview w. Relevant Radio Catholic TV station in the USA, talking about the riots...
Stayed on at St MM's for Adoration, the Rosary - it was Thursday, so the Luminous Mysteries, which I love - Evening Prayer, and Benediction. Home, walking through the City, past the Bank of England and then St Paul's churchyard, which is a feast of roses at the moment.
London cool and rainy and pleasant. Madrid next week will be boiling hot, but I am looking forward to being part of World Youth Day. C's daughter is among the big team of young people attending led by a South London priest - teens and 20s, a mix of races, some seminarians, school pupils, college and university students, nuns...
I was gloomy the other day, felt that the Britain I knew was just going to be a distant memory, that things felt alien. "Do you think" said the priest to whom I was chatting "that when St Augustine wrote the City of God in the collapsing Roman empire, he felt that he was at the end of something, or the beginning of something new?"
Pics in the Evening Standard of clean-up operations, and of people donating food, clothing, and cash for those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
To St Mary Moorfields for a committee meeting of the Catholic Writers' Guild. We had a great number of entries for our 2011 Catholic Young Writer Award (run jointly w. the Catholic Union): all have now been read and some preliminary selections made ...discussions with the Master of the Guild, Mary Kenny, re this. It's the biggest number of entries ever, and the overall standard is high. (Theme was love, marriage, Cana, Christian teaching on love and family - ref. Papal encyclicals of JPII and BXVI.We chose this becuse of the Royal Wedding, and it seems to have struck a chord.)
Phone interview w. Relevant Radio Catholic TV station in the USA, talking about the riots...
Stayed on at St MM's for Adoration, the Rosary - it was Thursday, so the Luminous Mysteries, which I love - Evening Prayer, and Benediction. Home, walking through the City, past the Bank of England and then St Paul's churchyard, which is a feast of roses at the moment.
London cool and rainy and pleasant. Madrid next week will be boiling hot, but I am looking forward to being part of World Youth Day. C's daughter is among the big team of young people attending led by a South London priest - teens and 20s, a mix of races, some seminarians, school pupils, college and university students, nuns...
I was gloomy the other day, felt that the Britain I knew was just going to be a distant memory, that things felt alien. "Do you think" said the priest to whom I was chatting "that when St Augustine wrote the City of God in the collapsing Roman empire, he felt that he was at the end of something, or the beginning of something new?"
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Feral youth...
...running riot, homes and shops and businesses destroyed, families losing everything they possess and escaping alive by jumoing from blazing buildings.
Why does the BBC described the looters and robbers as "protesters"? These are looters and robbers. They already have fashion clothing, "hoodies", trainers and all. They have "blackberry" mobiles. They have in many cases bikes or motorbikes. But they want more of these things, and are stealing them.
There are many things they lack. Fathers, family life, moral and spiritual formation, literacy skills, jobs. They have not been allowed to experience adequate discipline at school because the teachers fear physical or legal reprisals if they try to impose normal disciplinary measures. They have not been taught any real history, so they lack any sense of belonging to a nation, a community, a people with a sense of heritage and achievement. They have not been taught how to pray: they do not know of the God who loves them. They have not been taught the Ten Commandments. They have been raised in a culture of computer games - many of them violent - TV soap operas, violent films, and consumerism.
Having more police on the streets, although neccesary, will not solve these problems.
There are solutions: it is possible to teach good values by precept and example in school and community, in church and in the workplace. It is possible to support truths about marriage and family life, in schools and in youth and community organisations. It is possible to allow good ventures for the young - teaching service and neighbourliness, courage and commitment - to flourish and not be blocked by bureaucracy or ideological opposition. It is possible to support reasonable discipline in schools, to encourage good male leadership and to announce a commitment to moral and spiritual truths. It is possible to do all this without slogans and in a humble and hopeful spirit - but it will take courage and quiet faith. I wish I could feel that we had a government willing to tackle things from this basis.
Why does the BBC described the looters and robbers as "protesters"? These are looters and robbers. They already have fashion clothing, "hoodies", trainers and all. They have "blackberry" mobiles. They have in many cases bikes or motorbikes. But they want more of these things, and are stealing them.
There are many things they lack. Fathers, family life, moral and spiritual formation, literacy skills, jobs. They have not been allowed to experience adequate discipline at school because the teachers fear physical or legal reprisals if they try to impose normal disciplinary measures. They have not been taught any real history, so they lack any sense of belonging to a nation, a community, a people with a sense of heritage and achievement. They have not been taught how to pray: they do not know of the God who loves them. They have not been taught the Ten Commandments. They have been raised in a culture of computer games - many of them violent - TV soap operas, violent films, and consumerism.
Having more police on the streets, although neccesary, will not solve these problems.
There are solutions: it is possible to teach good values by precept and example in school and community, in church and in the workplace. It is possible to support truths about marriage and family life, in schools and in youth and community organisations. It is possible to allow good ventures for the young - teaching service and neighbourliness, courage and commitment - to flourish and not be blocked by bureaucracy or ideological opposition. It is possible to support reasonable discipline in schools, to encourage good male leadership and to announce a commitment to moral and spiritual truths. It is possible to do all this without slogans and in a humble and hopeful spirit - but it will take courage and quiet faith. I wish I could feel that we had a government willing to tackle things from this basis.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Last night...
...I was with local Catholic friends, watching the film John Paul II, starring Jon Voight.. J. telephoned to urge me not to travel home via Croydon, as there was a good deal of rioting there. Another member of the group heard from her son: he had arrived home safely but warned that the trams had stopped running and there were riots around Clapham Junction.
Pray for London.
Pray for London.
Been to...
the FAITH Movement's Summer Session,which was teeming with young people, including a number of seminarians and newly-ordained priests. On a warm summer night, lots of us enjoyed talking long and late out of doors, while children skimmed about and roars of talk and laughter came from inside where teams of young people were taking part in a highly competitive quiz and other activities...
After a cheery family interlude staying with young relations, on to the Evangelium conference, held this year at the Oratory School. Speakers included Fr Ed Tomlinson of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham who gave an inspiring address, linking Walsingham with the events leading up to the establishment of the Ordinariate and placing all this in the perspective of the spiritual heritage of England...
Like the FAITH Session, Evangelium was packed. It is aimed at an older age group - 20s and 30s rather than teens - and this year there was an emphasis on the Scriptures (excellent lecture by Fr Marcus Holden showing how to understand the spiritual messages binding together the Old and the New Testaments), on Gregorian Chant (sung at all the Masses), and on grappling with current challenges (superb workshop and address by Edmund Adamus, director of Pastoral Affairs for the diocese of Westminster, looking at marriage and family issues). Sister Roseanne Reddy gave us a rallying call with her address on cherishing the sanctity of life, focusing on the practical realities of caring for mothers and unborn children with lively anecdotes drawn from her wonderful work in Glasgow...
Much to ponder as we drove home. Active young Catholics in Britain in 2011 have to make daily decisions to live a counter-cultural way. In the most ordinary and fundamental human relationships, the Christian way of living - for so long regarded as the norm by so many people - is now regarded as odd. It's impressive to see the depth of commitment to the Church shown by so many young, the reverence at prayer, the liveliness in discussions, the energy in all sorts of forms of service. It's touching to see how they have to grapple with the challenges thrown their way, including the wounds created by this messy society: no one in unaffected by divorce, by complicated family situations, by the atmosphere in which a lack of commitment is seen as somehow celebarting freedom. I do hope that older Catholics keep the young in their prayers.
After a cheery family interlude staying with young relations, on to the Evangelium conference, held this year at the Oratory School. Speakers included Fr Ed Tomlinson of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham who gave an inspiring address, linking Walsingham with the events leading up to the establishment of the Ordinariate and placing all this in the perspective of the spiritual heritage of England...
Like the FAITH Session, Evangelium was packed. It is aimed at an older age group - 20s and 30s rather than teens - and this year there was an emphasis on the Scriptures (excellent lecture by Fr Marcus Holden showing how to understand the spiritual messages binding together the Old and the New Testaments), on Gregorian Chant (sung at all the Masses), and on grappling with current challenges (superb workshop and address by Edmund Adamus, director of Pastoral Affairs for the diocese of Westminster, looking at marriage and family issues). Sister Roseanne Reddy gave us a rallying call with her address on cherishing the sanctity of life, focusing on the practical realities of caring for mothers and unborn children with lively anecdotes drawn from her wonderful work in Glasgow...
Much to ponder as we drove home. Active young Catholics in Britain in 2011 have to make daily decisions to live a counter-cultural way. In the most ordinary and fundamental human relationships, the Christian way of living - for so long regarded as the norm by so many people - is now regarded as odd. It's impressive to see the depth of commitment to the Church shown by so many young, the reverence at prayer, the liveliness in discussions, the energy in all sorts of forms of service. It's touching to see how they have to grapple with the challenges thrown their way, including the wounds created by this messy society: no one in unaffected by divorce, by complicated family situations, by the atmosphere in which a lack of commitment is seen as somehow celebarting freedom. I do hope that older Catholics keep the young in their prayers.
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
On one of the hottest, stickiest, and most sultry days...
...that London has had this summer, a friend of great goodwill and good humour joined me to help sort and post heavy parcels of Bibles to winners of the 2011 Schools Bible Project. A similarly heroic team had helped to wrap and pack the parcels a couple of weeks ago. I am really touched by the generosity and kindness of people who help with this sort of project, and actually in a sort of way it was fun humping the parcels around and people at the Post Office were extraordinarily helpful. One showed interest and enthusiasm on hearing that the parcels were Bibles and going to young winners of a school Scripture project.
(But it occurs to me that if I reveal the Post Office where this happened the staff member might get into trouble as possibly revealing support for a project involving Christianity. So perhaps I will just add that absolutely no specific religious allegiance of any sort was revealed. Golly, what a weird country we now inhabit).
(But it occurs to me that if I reveal the Post Office where this happened the staff member might get into trouble as possibly revealing support for a project involving Christianity. So perhaps I will just add that absolutely no specific religious allegiance of any sort was revealed. Golly, what a weird country we now inhabit).
Monday, August 01, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The new Mass translation...
...is beautiful and excellent. We are already using it in our parish, for the priest's part. The sacred reality of the Canon of the Mass comes across with powerful solemnity and clarity.
The lady next to me...
...on the bus sighed rather heavily and seemed distressed. I tentatively made sympathetic noises. We got chatting.She was on her way back from hospital - she had something wrong with one arm, and it had given her trouble in the night so she had hurried there and now, after treatment, was on her way home. She had a number of other worries. She spoke with a foreign accent. I wondered if she was perhaps a Catholic. When I said I'd remember her in my prayers she responded very nicely and said yes, she believed very much in prayer. I hesitated for a moment and then said "Why not ask Blessed John Paul to pray for you?" She looked interested "Who is he?" she said. Oh dear, evidently not a Catholic. It turned out she was a Moslem. "But I understand" she said "A good man, with a pure heart. You say to him: take this message to Allah, and he does? That's what we do, too." We talked a bit more "Yes, I will ask this John to pray for me to Allah" she said "And it is so good that we met and spoke like this.I feel better already." And we parted like close friends, although we hadn't even exchanged names, and the whole morning felt brighter somehow.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
A large sunny room...
...in the big hall adjoining St George's Cathedral, Southwark. The last time I was in this hall was a few weeks ago,for celebrations following the ordination of a number of priests for the new Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Today I returned for...my 3rd year Maryvale exams! We sat two papers, on Redemption and on Fundamental Moral Theology. All beautifully organised, in very traditional style, tables set wide apart, names and examination code-numbers on neat cards. A nun led us in prayer, distributed the papers, announced the timing, gave us the word to begin. Turning over the pale blue sheet to stare at the questions was less frightening that I found it when I took my first set of Maryvale exams a couple of years ago.
Afterwards, three of us lunched agreeably together nearby, en route to Waterloo station...we agreed no post-mortems, and stuck to this rule: we talked about Maryvale, swapped news and views, discussed the state of the Church, Britain,Western society generally, and more...it was good to relax and talk and laugh and ponder lots of things together in good company. In late afternoon sunshine we shook hands and looked forward to our next gathering at Maryvale in October.
Several members of our year-group have already disappeared, one to study full-time for the priesthood, another to study to become a deacon, two to go into politics, several more to...well, who knows? It feels a bit worrying to be part of a diminishing group like this. But I am hugely looking forward to the start of the new Maryvale term and the next stage towards my Degree - assuming that, gulp, I've passed my exams and am eligible...
Afterwards, three of us lunched agreeably together nearby, en route to Waterloo station...we agreed no post-mortems, and stuck to this rule: we talked about Maryvale, swapped news and views, discussed the state of the Church, Britain,Western society generally, and more...it was good to relax and talk and laugh and ponder lots of things together in good company. In late afternoon sunshine we shook hands and looked forward to our next gathering at Maryvale in October.
Several members of our year-group have already disappeared, one to study full-time for the priesthood, another to study to become a deacon, two to go into politics, several more to...well, who knows? It feels a bit worrying to be part of a diminishing group like this. But I am hugely looking forward to the start of the new Maryvale term and the next stage towards my Degree - assuming that, gulp, I've passed my exams and am eligible...
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Latest issue of...
...FAITH magazine arrives in the post. And next week brings the annual Faith Summer Session, which I hope to be able to visit briefly...over 30 years ago, this annual summer gathering for young Catholics was a big part of Auntie's life, and along with many other people I owe this excellent Movement a great deal. It has grown and grown, and it is good to see a whole new generation benefiting from the insights and teachings given. And there are now so many priests linked to FAITH, and they are doing so much good work.
But, golly, the realisation that I can remember the Summer Sessions of the 1970s is pause for thought...I remember speakers like Christopher Derrick - an unforgettable defence of Humanae Vitae which was a big influence on my understanding of that whole topic - and of course the splendid Father Edward Holloway...and I remember sitting by the lake at the college in Roehampton where the Sessions were then held (is the lake still there? I bet they've filled it in and covered the lawn with buildings), and evenings in a local pub, and Masses in the college chapel, and excellent concerts-got-up-from-scratch which always culminated in a magnificent rendition of a famous piece of music with genuine musicians supplemented by the efforts of people using whatever could be found in cupboards and suitcases so combs and vacuum-cleaner tubes and milk bottles came into play...and I remember (and cherish) good friendships which have lasted to this day, and good discussions, and good opportunities for asking big questions and getting honest answers...and the Salve Regina at the end of night prayers on a warm summer evening, when summers seem to last for ever...
But, golly, the realisation that I can remember the Summer Sessions of the 1970s is pause for thought...I remember speakers like Christopher Derrick - an unforgettable defence of Humanae Vitae which was a big influence on my understanding of that whole topic - and of course the splendid Father Edward Holloway...and I remember sitting by the lake at the college in Roehampton where the Sessions were then held (is the lake still there? I bet they've filled it in and covered the lawn with buildings), and evenings in a local pub, and Masses in the college chapel, and excellent concerts-got-up-from-scratch which always culminated in a magnificent rendition of a famous piece of music with genuine musicians supplemented by the efforts of people using whatever could be found in cupboards and suitcases so combs and vacuum-cleaner tubes and milk bottles came into play...and I remember (and cherish) good friendships which have lasted to this day, and good discussions, and good opportunities for asking big questions and getting honest answers...and the Salve Regina at the end of night prayers on a warm summer evening, when summers seem to last for ever...
At Brompton Oratory...
...for a Board Meeting of the British section of Aid to the Church in Need.
On all train and Tube journeys at the moment, I'm busy revising for exams. Been re-reading Paul VI's Humanae Vitae as part of Moral Theology. He came under such terrible attack for this Encyclical, but how wise and truthful it was, and how prophetic it turned out to be! This evening I googled his name - and, alas, the first several references to him on the Internet were all horrible, nasty, snide attacks on him. Even all these many years later, his enemies absolutely loathe him...so I have been reconnecting with my own knowledge of him to get a real picture. There is so much that I had not known about at all - how he worked with Pius XII to give Jews and other refugees a safe haven at Castel Gandolfo in WWII,how he pioneered new forms of evangelisation while working in Milan...
Pope John Paul abandoned, and rightly, the Ostpolitik which had marked Paul VI's papacy - but he opened the diocesan process of his beatification in 1993, and declared him a Servant of God.
On all train and Tube journeys at the moment, I'm busy revising for exams. Been re-reading Paul VI's Humanae Vitae as part of Moral Theology. He came under such terrible attack for this Encyclical, but how wise and truthful it was, and how prophetic it turned out to be! This evening I googled his name - and, alas, the first several references to him on the Internet were all horrible, nasty, snide attacks on him. Even all these many years later, his enemies absolutely loathe him...so I have been reconnecting with my own knowledge of him to get a real picture. There is so much that I had not known about at all - how he worked with Pius XII to give Jews and other refugees a safe haven at Castel Gandolfo in WWII,how he pioneered new forms of evangelisation while working in Milan...
Pope John Paul abandoned, and rightly, the Ostpolitik which had marked Paul VI's papacy - but he opened the diocesan process of his beatification in 1993, and declared him a Servant of God.
Monday, July 25, 2011
More on the Ordinariate...
...of Our Lady of Walsingham, here, with a description of a recent gathering in the old Friary in Francis Street near Westminster Cathedral...
Sitting in St James' Park...
...between meetings, reading moral theology, revising for exams. Groups of tourists surging past, hot sun beating down on the grass, making me glad I had found a cool place under the shade of a great plane tree...
At one level, everything in London SWI on a summer afternoon is more or less as I have always known it - crowds, ice-creams, Londoners looking busy, traffic roaring, the occasional siren squealing, flag flapping gently above Buckingham Palace. But at another level, it isn't. The police now wear heavy-duty padded bullet-proof jerkins and many carry weapons.People are fatter. Few people are dressed formally or smartly, and a number of women are poured into tight-fitting lycra clothing with flesh bulging out at waist and top. Others, of course, are hidden beneath burkhas - a news item in today's press notes that as France has banned this form of clothing, numbers of well-to-do Middle-Easteners have moved to London for shopping and social activities instead. The most elegant women are Indian ladies in saris. Sights once routine in London - men in bowler hats, for example - are now unknown.
You hear a lot more casual swearing and obscenity. There is a lot more litter - though less in a London park than in suburban streets which are often adrift with rubbish. Lots of people eat while walking around. Fewer people read newspapers: it's rare to see some one seated on a bench reading one. Many walk with i-phones plugged in to their ears. Many have a mobile phone clamped to an ear. Conversations are all routinely interspersed with the word "like", as in "So, I'm, like, at the bus stop, and I'm, like, hey, where's the bus, and he's like, hey, like, the bus is on its way..." and in anyone under about 30, all sentences go up at the end, as if every statement is, like,a question?
At one level, everything in London SWI on a summer afternoon is more or less as I have always known it - crowds, ice-creams, Londoners looking busy, traffic roaring, the occasional siren squealing, flag flapping gently above Buckingham Palace. But at another level, it isn't. The police now wear heavy-duty padded bullet-proof jerkins and many carry weapons.People are fatter. Few people are dressed formally or smartly, and a number of women are poured into tight-fitting lycra clothing with flesh bulging out at waist and top. Others, of course, are hidden beneath burkhas - a news item in today's press notes that as France has banned this form of clothing, numbers of well-to-do Middle-Easteners have moved to London for shopping and social activities instead. The most elegant women are Indian ladies in saris. Sights once routine in London - men in bowler hats, for example - are now unknown.
You hear a lot more casual swearing and obscenity. There is a lot more litter - though less in a London park than in suburban streets which are often adrift with rubbish. Lots of people eat while walking around. Fewer people read newspapers: it's rare to see some one seated on a bench reading one. Many walk with i-phones plugged in to their ears. Many have a mobile phone clamped to an ear. Conversations are all routinely interspersed with the word "like", as in "So, I'm, like, at the bus stop, and I'm, like, hey, where's the bus, and he's like, hey, like, the bus is on its way..." and in anyone under about 30, all sentences go up at the end, as if every statement is, like,a question?
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Pilgrimage...
There are a couple of places left in a pilgrimage to Durham, Lindisfarne, Hexham and other holy sites. Leaving London by train on Monday 12th Sept. and returning there on 16th September. Cost all in £255. Those interested call Brigid 02087638201 or Amanda 02086475021.
"Sweet Sacrament Divine"....
...is one of my favourite hymns, and we sang it this morning at Holy Ghost Church, Balham. I went to Balham because there is an 80-strong group from there heading for World Youth Day in Madrid in 3 weeks' time, and I wanted to check some details with the parish priest. Alas, he wasn't there, because, as Dean, he had had to hurry off to a neighbouring parish where the priest, Fr Bonvini, had just died...
Fr Bonvini...Fr Bonvini...on hearing the news, my mind went back over 30 years, to a summer evening at St Elphege's, Wallington, where Fr Bonvini, then the curate there, talked to Jamie and me about Christian Marriage. We had gone there to make arrangements for the wedding - a family friend, Fr James Tolhurst, was to celebrate our Nuptial Mass and marry us. But it fell to Fr Bonvini to deal with the neccessary paperwork - and to explain to us about the Sacrament we were to recieve and its beauty and importance. His talk was quietly full of wisdom, imparting the Church's teaching without cliches or frills, and with an emphasis on prayer and the spiritual life, and I have always remembered it. May this good priest rest in peace after a life given fully to the service of the Church and to hundreds and hundreds of ordinary Catholic families like ours in the London suburbs...
This morning's Mass at Balham was a swirl of incense and glorious music, with Latin chant, a beautifully sung Psalm, and, as mentioned, "Sweet Sacrament Divine" at Communion...a friend remarked recently that the thing he had noticed, on joining the Catholic Church, was the number of men in the congregation - "Sundays, and even weekdays. Always lots of men. In my previous denomination it was mostly just older ladies".
Afterwards, I treated myself to 20 minutes with coffee and a newspaper: grim headlines about the massacre in Norway, and various analyses about the situation in Europe with new tensions over Islamic immigration, and a worsening economic situation...
Feeling solemn, I headed for home. I spent yesterday evening addressing envelopes for the big mailing to all London parishes about the Towards Advent festival later this year. Somehow it seems more important than ever to affirm a strong Christian presence and a message of general goodwill and hope. Will World Youth Day help?
Went to pick blackberries and think.
Fr Bonvini...Fr Bonvini...on hearing the news, my mind went back over 30 years, to a summer evening at St Elphege's, Wallington, where Fr Bonvini, then the curate there, talked to Jamie and me about Christian Marriage. We had gone there to make arrangements for the wedding - a family friend, Fr James Tolhurst, was to celebrate our Nuptial Mass and marry us. But it fell to Fr Bonvini to deal with the neccessary paperwork - and to explain to us about the Sacrament we were to recieve and its beauty and importance. His talk was quietly full of wisdom, imparting the Church's teaching without cliches or frills, and with an emphasis on prayer and the spiritual life, and I have always remembered it. May this good priest rest in peace after a life given fully to the service of the Church and to hundreds and hundreds of ordinary Catholic families like ours in the London suburbs...
This morning's Mass at Balham was a swirl of incense and glorious music, with Latin chant, a beautifully sung Psalm, and, as mentioned, "Sweet Sacrament Divine" at Communion...a friend remarked recently that the thing he had noticed, on joining the Catholic Church, was the number of men in the congregation - "Sundays, and even weekdays. Always lots of men. In my previous denomination it was mostly just older ladies".
Afterwards, I treated myself to 20 minutes with coffee and a newspaper: grim headlines about the massacre in Norway, and various analyses about the situation in Europe with new tensions over Islamic immigration, and a worsening economic situation...
Feeling solemn, I headed for home. I spent yesterday evening addressing envelopes for the big mailing to all London parishes about the Towards Advent festival later this year. Somehow it seems more important than ever to affirm a strong Christian presence and a message of general goodwill and hope. Will World Youth Day help?
Went to pick blackberries and think.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
There is a court case...
...running this week and next in which a judge will decide whether to make a patient in a hospital die of thirst. The patient is semi-conscious and deeply vulnerable. It has been suggested that water and food should be stopped. This is a gross and ghastly plan and the patient needs our prayers and support. Pray for "M", and for the judge who will decide whether to let this person live or force a particularly cruel death. And you might like to join in an act of solidarity which is planned for next Wed (July 27th) at 1pm at Old Palace Yard, WEstminster, London SW1, in which a woman who was once herself a patient in an intensive care ward is planning a demonstration.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Dropped in...
...to the St Paul's Bookshop next to Westminster Cathedral, to discuss my forthcoming book on Blessed John Paul. Exciting to see the cover design and to talk about publication plans...
London has spme good things on at present. At the National Gallery you can see some magnificent altar-pieces in this exhibition. It's FREE, and well worth a visit. Beautifully presented with interesting and clear explanations.
London has spme good things on at present. At the National Gallery you can see some magnificent altar-pieces in this exhibition. It's FREE, and well worth a visit. Beautifully presented with interesting and clear explanations.
Watching...
...this fascinating interview with Cardinal Raymond Burke, talking to the Association of Hebrew Catholics. He is really excellent.
As a journalist I occasionally get sent some vile anti-Jewish ranting material and to my horror I have realised that it has come from a source claiming to be Catholic. It has included nasty attacks on Jewish Catholics too. So I went to the Assn. of Hebrew Catholics website, and found it very helpful - see above.
The latest issue of Common Ground, magazine of the Council of Christians and Jews, has a review, by Auntie, of the book Light of the World, in which the Holy Father speaks on a wide range of topics, including this one. I was especially touched by his comment that his German birth gave him "a special reason to look with humility and shame - and with love - upon the people of Israel."
And this YouTube clip is also relevant....
As a journalist I occasionally get sent some vile anti-Jewish ranting material and to my horror I have realised that it has come from a source claiming to be Catholic. It has included nasty attacks on Jewish Catholics too. So I went to the Assn. of Hebrew Catholics website, and found it very helpful - see above.
The latest issue of Common Ground, magazine of the Council of Christians and Jews, has a review, by Auntie, of the book Light of the World, in which the Holy Father speaks on a wide range of topics, including this one. I was especially touched by his comment that his German birth gave him "a special reason to look with humility and shame - and with love - upon the people of Israel."
And this YouTube clip is also relevant....
Re-Reading...
Veritatis Splendor for some work on Moral Theology. You hear the timeless voice of the truth in its clear and thoughtful words, and in its gentleness and sense of proportion in tackling the great issues that confront us...
Monday, July 18, 2011
Great boxes ...
...of handbills and posters for the 2011 TOWARDS ADVENT Festival have arrived, reminding me of the work to be done in getting envelopes addressed to every RC parish in the South East of England, ready for the big mail-out that takes place in September. Meanwhile, today, packets of handbills went to the various groups and organisations taking part in the Festival, so they can be mailed to members. It looks set to be our best-ever Festival...click on that link and put the date in your diary now...
London in light summer rain...
...and very enjoyable. A party to launch Fr Nicholas Schofield's new biography of Fr William Lockhart - an excellent book telling the story of a leading figure in the Catholicism of Queen Victoria's England, and a man who helped to shape the Church that English Catholics know today.
It was a wonderful evening: guest speaker was Lord St John of Fawsley, with glorious anecdotes and much name-dropping - the latter being his trade-mark so he engaged in some self-mockery especially when it came to his description of being about to say to a Pope "As Her Majesty the Queen was telling me.." but decided to forego it...
Fr Nicholas is a good writer and a fine historian, very much at home in English Catholicism. Tom Longford of Gracewing Books presided, and guests included Fr Marcus Nolan - whose Evangelium conference is coming up in August - Fr Richard Whinder, and Antony Tyler, a former Master of The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild, with whom I shared a cheery bus-ride back to Waterloo and a cup of coffee and a snack there, swapping news and views very enjoyably before catching the train home...
It was a wonderful evening: guest speaker was Lord St John of Fawsley, with glorious anecdotes and much name-dropping - the latter being his trade-mark so he engaged in some self-mockery especially when it came to his description of being about to say to a Pope "As Her Majesty the Queen was telling me.." but decided to forego it...
Fr Nicholas is a good writer and a fine historian, very much at home in English Catholicism. Tom Longford of Gracewing Books presided, and guests included Fr Marcus Nolan - whose Evangelium conference is coming up in August - Fr Richard Whinder, and Antony Tyler, a former Master of The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild, with whom I shared a cheery bus-ride back to Waterloo and a cup of coffee and a snack there, swapping news and views very enjoyably before catching the train home...
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Space travel...
...is the current interest of a small relative, so when I was at his house looking after him and his little sister and baby brother this weekend, we spent a good deal of time organising the creation of rockets from cardboard boxes in the kitchen, and hauling them around the floor on missions to Mars etc. It was hot work.
At bedtime I enjoyed browsing through the children's books on the pretext of choosing a story for them. Small girl wanted the Christmas story. I explained that we were in July...to no avail. We read the Christmas story. She particularly loved a picture of Mary drooping sadly at the bottom of a tall flight of steps while Joseph bounded up to ask for a room, and an innkeeper at a window made a glum face indicating that there was none to be had. She wanted to act it out, so I was by turns Joseph and the innkeeper and she drooped gleefully as Mary and then jumped up gladly at the news that there was a stable nearby...after about the eighth time of doing all this I called a halt, and we had prayers and then finally Auntie could stagger downstairs and flop in the kitchen amid the remnants of rockets. When the young parents returned from their evening out they were amused at my exhaustion, explaining that it's the norm.
Sunday morning saw us all cheerily at Mass in a packed church, one family among great numbers of others with small children, people crammed into every pew in the large church and standing at the back and all down the sides...we had that rather hideous version of the Gloria in which you are made to clap rhythmically twice after the first line. Could we all somehow get together to ban this particular piece of nonsense? Trying to make the Gloria fit into this sort of jerky, confused jazzy mode is horrible. But I loved being at Mass with the children, who were quiet and well-behaved, small boy's exuberance manfully restrained as he wriggled in the pew next to his Daddy.
In the afternoon, we all came back to Auntie's house. Small girl tenderly nursed my ageing dolls (dating from the 1960s and living rather quiet cupbord life these days: it was a joy to see them reciving real affection. She bandaged the broken leg of one of them, and tucked them all up in a bed improvised from kitchen towels). Entertainment possibilities are a bit limited in Auntie's modest home so I took the children out down the back lane and we picked blackberries. Most satisfactory, and we got a great bowlful and marched it gleefully back into the house, small boy bearing it aloft triumphantly and treading squelchy mud into the carpets and along the sofa.
I was sad when the weekend was over and am sitting here with a glass of sherry feeling suddenly quiet after putting the dolls away.
At bedtime I enjoyed browsing through the children's books on the pretext of choosing a story for them. Small girl wanted the Christmas story. I explained that we were in July...to no avail. We read the Christmas story. She particularly loved a picture of Mary drooping sadly at the bottom of a tall flight of steps while Joseph bounded up to ask for a room, and an innkeeper at a window made a glum face indicating that there was none to be had. She wanted to act it out, so I was by turns Joseph and the innkeeper and she drooped gleefully as Mary and then jumped up gladly at the news that there was a stable nearby...after about the eighth time of doing all this I called a halt, and we had prayers and then finally Auntie could stagger downstairs and flop in the kitchen amid the remnants of rockets. When the young parents returned from their evening out they were amused at my exhaustion, explaining that it's the norm.
Sunday morning saw us all cheerily at Mass in a packed church, one family among great numbers of others with small children, people crammed into every pew in the large church and standing at the back and all down the sides...we had that rather hideous version of the Gloria in which you are made to clap rhythmically twice after the first line. Could we all somehow get together to ban this particular piece of nonsense? Trying to make the Gloria fit into this sort of jerky, confused jazzy mode is horrible. But I loved being at Mass with the children, who were quiet and well-behaved, small boy's exuberance manfully restrained as he wriggled in the pew next to his Daddy.
In the afternoon, we all came back to Auntie's house. Small girl tenderly nursed my ageing dolls (dating from the 1960s and living rather quiet cupbord life these days: it was a joy to see them reciving real affection. She bandaged the broken leg of one of them, and tucked them all up in a bed improvised from kitchen towels). Entertainment possibilities are a bit limited in Auntie's modest home so I took the children out down the back lane and we picked blackberries. Most satisfactory, and we got a great bowlful and marched it gleefully back into the house, small boy bearing it aloft triumphantly and treading squelchy mud into the carpets and along the sofa.
I was sad when the weekend was over and am sitting here with a glass of sherry feeling suddenly quiet after putting the dolls away.
At Allen Hall...
...in Chelsea, a good crowd met for for the annual Summer Gathering of the Catholic Union. Mass was celebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio. Then a meeting chaired by Lord Brennan, our President, and with a report from Dr Tony Cole on the the latest activities of the Parliamentary and Public Affairs committee of the Union...a good, serious, up-to-the-minute session which looked at the various projects currently on hand. Things are grim with regard to the Govt's gruesome schemes for reducing marriage to the same level as same-sex unions, and with the endless pushing of euthanasia at so many levels by so many campaigners who find supporters in, for example, the BBC. There are continuing problems in education - although the immediate threat for compulsory sex education for five year-olds seems to have receded temporarily. There are continuing, and increasing, pressures on Christians in public and professional life...
After lunch, further talks, which explored the issues raised by the latest (excellent) lecture sponsored by the Union in Parliament - Lord Griffiths, looking at banking and the economy - at the Catholic Young Writer Award sponsored by the Union,at the needs of Catholic schools especially with regard to improvements in RE...and more...and more...
It was good to be at Allen Hall , with its links with St Thomas More. He planted mulberry trees in his garden - because their name in Latin can be a sort of pun on his own name. It has a fine chapel, and a refectory with portraits of former Archbishops of Westminster, and a Roll of Honour of the Douai Martyrs, a sense of a great heritage for the English Church...outside the rain lashed down, and there were jokes about this being officially our Summer Garden Party, but somehow we never seem to be able to get into the gardens very much...
It was encouraging to see such a good attendance at this meeting, with people there from Catholic Voices, and the Catholic Medical Association and the Catholic Writers' Guild....there was a good spirit, a sense of solidarity and of purpose. As we face tough times in Britain, with Christianity and Christian values increasingly coming under attack, there is quiet resolution, good humour, and courage...
After lunch, further talks, which explored the issues raised by the latest (excellent) lecture sponsored by the Union in Parliament - Lord Griffiths, looking at banking and the economy - at the Catholic Young Writer Award sponsored by the Union,at the needs of Catholic schools especially with regard to improvements in RE...and more...and more...
It was good to be at Allen Hall , with its links with St Thomas More. He planted mulberry trees in his garden - because their name in Latin can be a sort of pun on his own name. It has a fine chapel, and a refectory with portraits of former Archbishops of Westminster, and a Roll of Honour of the Douai Martyrs, a sense of a great heritage for the English Church...outside the rain lashed down, and there were jokes about this being officially our Summer Garden Party, but somehow we never seem to be able to get into the gardens very much...
It was encouraging to see such a good attendance at this meeting, with people there from Catholic Voices, and the Catholic Medical Association and the Catholic Writers' Guild....there was a good spirit, a sense of solidarity and of purpose. As we face tough times in Britain, with Christianity and Christian values increasingly coming under attack, there is quiet resolution, good humour, and courage...
Friday, July 15, 2011
An unforgettable evening...
...with members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham! It began with the launch, at the old Friary building in Francis Street, just behind Westminster Cathedral, of the FRIENDS OF THE ORDINARIATE...the idea is to raise funds to help the clergy and their families,and this is badly needed as of course they are venturing out into new territory and leaving homes and secure incomes. You can find out more about it all here. Later there was a lively talkative supper, much goodwill and it was all so interesting and full of hope and plans...Mgr John Broadhurst, who is on the governing Council of the Ordinariate, was there, along with two of the younger clergy, one from Coventry and the other from the Isle of Wight, both of them married with families.This has been an extraordinary time for them...something of a rollercoaster ride, with big decisions made, lengthy family debates and discussions,then moving house, facing an entirely new future. It was good to get some understanding from the inside, so to speak, of how things are going: no great dramas so far, good relationships with local RC parishes and so on, but much uncharted territory still to explore...numbers involved are rather higher than I had thought and there will probably be more as things develop over the next eighteen months to two years...
Mgr Keith Newton and his team are very good company. There was so much talk, and laughter, and a sense of zest and purpose.
Mgr Keith Newton and his team are very good company. There was so much talk, and laughter, and a sense of zest and purpose.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Coming up...
..for Auntie over the next days and weeks are (in no particular order of importance), the reading of essays in an ecumenical Schools Bible Project, a morning with young would-be-journalists working on a magazine, some more Maryvale exams, babysitting,a day at the seaside, the Evangelium summer conference, and World Youth Day.
A dinner...
...at a London club in Piccadilly, all candlelight and beautiful portraits and crisply starched napkins. It was a school reunion dinner of J's old school, with suitable speeches and reminiscences and passing of port. We all enjoyed ourselves very much despite (because of?) realising that swapping memories and shared teenage/childhood jokes is a pleasure of old age, and one that is denied to the young...
Children...
...in vast quantities, at a suburban Family Mass, off my usual beat. Today J. and I were due to visit some friends, clashing with my normal late-morning Mass, so I found an alternative. Golly, what a packed Mass! Squeezed in near the back. Quantities and quantities of children...and then, just before the Offertory, more and more poured in, trotting quietly up the aisles to join parents and siblings, having been busy at their own instruction-classes during the Liturgy of the Word...
They mostly seemed remarkably well-behaved, except for one boy immediately in front of me, who seemed intent on being as disruptive as possible and encouraging his companion to do likewise, within the constraints of the crowded pew and the general reverent atmosphere. When the Consecrtion was about to happen, and he was having a busy time removing his sneakers and pushing his friend about, I grabbed him by the back of his hoodie and whispered savagely:"It's the Consecration. Kneel and pray!" And to my surprise, he did, or at least went through the motions of doing so. With one shoe off and one on.
There was music, beautifully played - even a violin - but it included a couple of hymns with awfully trite tunes, and a too-jazzy Gloria...there is so much beautiful, beautiful music from which to choose...we surely don't need to keep on flogging those tunes from the late 1970s?
One thing which was noticeable, however, was the very reverent way in which the children went up for Holy Communion, and the smaller ones for a blessing, arms crossed in front. They had obviously been told about this and were following an established parish tradition. That, plus the glittering candles and the incense, would impress this Mass on a child's mind, week by week. I can see why the numbers attending are high.
They mostly seemed remarkably well-behaved, except for one boy immediately in front of me, who seemed intent on being as disruptive as possible and encouraging his companion to do likewise, within the constraints of the crowded pew and the general reverent atmosphere. When the Consecrtion was about to happen, and he was having a busy time removing his sneakers and pushing his friend about, I grabbed him by the back of his hoodie and whispered savagely:"It's the Consecration. Kneel and pray!" And to my surprise, he did, or at least went through the motions of doing so. With one shoe off and one on.
There was music, beautifully played - even a violin - but it included a couple of hymns with awfully trite tunes, and a too-jazzy Gloria...there is so much beautiful, beautiful music from which to choose...we surely don't need to keep on flogging those tunes from the late 1970s?
One thing which was noticeable, however, was the very reverent way in which the children went up for Holy Communion, and the smaller ones for a blessing, arms crossed in front. They had obviously been told about this and were following an established parish tradition. That, plus the glittering candles and the incense, would impress this Mass on a child's mind, week by week. I can see why the numbers attending are high.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
To Wales...
...and a delightful visit to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Port Talbot.
I travelled late at night, and had booked in to a b-and-b where there was a lovely welcome - a glass of sherry and some chocolate waiting for me in my room as a bonus,a hot shower, a comfortable bed, and in the morning a delicious breakfast...my fellow-guests were all enthusiastic cyclists, who were to spend the day as they had spent the previous ones, riding gloriously in the mountains. We all tucked in to bacon-and-eggs with enthusiasm, and I felt a bit feeble simply scurrying off to a school as they set out plans for a mountain-day in the rain...
St Joseph's is a lovely school - children's voices chorusing "Good morning!" in Welsh, and singing cheerfully together. It was a delight to be giving out the prizes for the ACW SChools Project, and the children were absolutely charming. The Sign of Cross is beautiful in Welsh.The school wins lots and lots of trophies for sports and these were all being presented too, and two little girls showed the medals they had won for dancing. A friendly chatty time in the staffroom - most useful to get ideas and feedback for future Projects.
The great hills rising up beyond the town, all misty with rain as I was drawn back to London by train...
I travelled late at night, and had booked in to a b-and-b where there was a lovely welcome - a glass of sherry and some chocolate waiting for me in my room as a bonus,a hot shower, a comfortable bed, and in the morning a delicious breakfast...my fellow-guests were all enthusiastic cyclists, who were to spend the day as they had spent the previous ones, riding gloriously in the mountains. We all tucked in to bacon-and-eggs with enthusiasm, and I felt a bit feeble simply scurrying off to a school as they set out plans for a mountain-day in the rain...
St Joseph's is a lovely school - children's voices chorusing "Good morning!" in Welsh, and singing cheerfully together. It was a delight to be giving out the prizes for the ACW SChools Project, and the children were absolutely charming. The Sign of Cross is beautiful in Welsh.The school wins lots and lots of trophies for sports and these were all being presented too, and two little girls showed the medals they had won for dancing. A friendly chatty time in the staffroom - most useful to get ideas and feedback for future Projects.
The great hills rising up beyond the town, all misty with rain as I was drawn back to London by train...
Monday, July 04, 2011
You MUST get...
...the latest issue of Standpoint magazine. It has some excellent stuff in it. Look out for the feature that began as a part of the glorious re-opening of St Patrick's, Soho Square...
A great man....
....Archduke Otto von Habsburg,eldest son of the last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, has died aged 98. A truly good man, whose life was dedicated to public service in a genuine Christian spirit, and some one who sparkled with zest and good humour even in old age.
One of the most interesting afternoons of my life as a writer was the one spent with him, as he answered questions about his childhood memories and his father. His lively and interesting mind, his beautiful English - it had a hint of the pre 1914 flavour in its style and accent - his courtesy and his excellent memory and ability to communicate interesting information in a friendly and pleasant way made this an unforgettable encounter. He was charming and patient with us - and yet he must have had so many people, over the years, asking him questions about his extraordinary life, his childhood memories of being Crown Prince, of meeting Emperor Franz-Joseph, of being part of that vanished world of before the First World War...
One of the most interesting afternoons of my life as a writer was the one spent with him, as he answered questions about his childhood memories and his father. His lively and interesting mind, his beautiful English - it had a hint of the pre 1914 flavour in its style and accent - his courtesy and his excellent memory and ability to communicate interesting information in a friendly and pleasant way made this an unforgettable encounter. He was charming and patient with us - and yet he must have had so many people, over the years, asking him questions about his extraordinary life, his childhood memories of being Crown Prince, of meeting Emperor Franz-Joseph, of being part of that vanished world of before the First World War...
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Over twenty years ago...
...some of us got together to form the Association of Catholic Women. It's gone from strength to strength.We've just completed our big annual Schools RE Project and you can read about that here on my EWTN Blog. Coming up in due course are a pilgrimage to Minster-in-Thanet (Benedictine nuns, history going back to Saxon days, links w. the landing of St Augustine on that stretch of coast in the 6th century, etc etc...), our Annual Meeting with guest speaker Dr Philip Howard on "Blessed John Paul and medical ethics" plus a new documentary film on JPII...then in the Autumn we're deeply involved with the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival of Catholic Culture, which we help to sponsor (Sat Nov 19th, since you ask. Westminster Cathedral Hall. Put it in your diaries now))...
If you want to come along to an ACW event, there is information on the links I've given, or you can send me a Comment to this Blog, with your email address included in the tetxt so that I can reply to you and send you info. I CANNOT REPLY TO YOU UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS which, of course, I will not publish.
If you want to come along to an ACW event, there is information on the links I've given, or you can send me a Comment to this Blog, with your email address included in the tetxt so that I can reply to you and send you info. I CANNOT REPLY TO YOU UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS which, of course, I will not publish.
London's Evening Standard newspaper...
...has been running a campaign about literacy, with revelations about the large numbers of London children and young adults who cannot read. Just lately the emphasis has shifted away from the problems of children from deprived backgrounds and so on to the actual systems used in schools, specifically the examination systems. Did you know that a teenager can be deemed to have "studied" a Shakespeare play without actually reading it? They are taken to see a film of the play, they read perhaps a couple of scenes, and then they do things like (I'm not inventing this) making paper witches' hats because of the witches in Macbeth.
It's being suggested that the way forward fotr exams is to move towards the "tick this box" system, where a student isseated at a computer and given three options as answers to a question, and moves the mouse to tick one of the boxes each time.
"Well, does it really matter whether people can communicate in handwriting? Everything is going to be computers from now on anyway" - thus runs the argument. No need to cook, either, some say - just buy instant-meals from a supermarket. No need to acquire any skills, really. Then if we are left for any reason to cope without constantly available electricity, easy transport to large shops, access to home-computers, we will collapse.
To find out about the small contribution towards literacy and sane education that some us are trying to make in Britain this year, take a look here. And before you sneer, what are you doing to help ensure that the next generation can read and write and enjoy the great literature produced by previous generations?
It's being suggested that the way forward fotr exams is to move towards the "tick this box" system, where a student isseated at a computer and given three options as answers to a question, and moves the mouse to tick one of the boxes each time.
"Well, does it really matter whether people can communicate in handwriting? Everything is going to be computers from now on anyway" - thus runs the argument. No need to cook, either, some say - just buy instant-meals from a supermarket. No need to acquire any skills, really. Then if we are left for any reason to cope without constantly available electricity, easy transport to large shops, access to home-computers, we will collapse.
To find out about the small contribution towards literacy and sane education that some us are trying to make in Britain this year, take a look here. And before you sneer, what are you doing to help ensure that the next generation can read and write and enjoy the great literature produced by previous generations?
...and here's the programme...
..for Papa B.in Spain on the new Vatican website, which has Twitter and links and videos and everything. All launched for the feast of Sts Peter and Paul.
God bless our Pope!
God bless our Pope!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Further to my last...
...I've succeeded in sending off the form! By re-reading and re-reading the instructions, and praying...and...FINALLY....it was achieved....
So I hope I'll be off to Madrid in August as planned...
So I hope I'll be off to Madrid in August as planned...
The Holy Father...
....doesn't have to fill in a complicated form in order to get to World Youth Day. He just has to pack a toothbrush and his sermon-notes and his Breviary...but it's not like that for us, and I've just spent a v. frustrating evening trying to sort things out for my accreditation. Every time I press "send" it states that my attachments (passport information, letter from editor of Catholic Times affirming that I'm their correspondent, etc) don't match, or something. And then I have to start all over again.
Yesterday the boiling hot weather broke in a glorious thunderstorm. I was having coiffee with a friend and when it was time to go she lent me an umbrella and I squelched very happily along through the suburban roads enjoying it all. Gloriously cool, and everything felt refreshed and delicious. Today, the garden looks better, the house is a pleasant place in which to work, everything seems easier than it did in the heat....but the WYD press accreditation thingummy still won't connect properly!!!!
To Uxbridge...
...and a happy evening at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael. This is a really lovely parish, and there was such a good atmosphere as we all gathered in the hall. Fr Nicholas has been parish priest for just two years - he's cheerful, youthful, and hard-working, and combines his parish duties with a weekly column in the Catholic Times,writing books, and being diocesan archivist. A delicious and talkative supper after the meeting (at which Auntie was speaking re. the role of women and the Church).
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A talk on Catholics and journalism...
...at the Salvatorian College, Harrow. Dropped in to the church next door for Mass first. I am always mildly astonished by the number of people who attend Mass on a weekday morning in the London suburbs...there they were,commuters hurrying off to work after Mass finished, or older people lingering for a while longer, or, as in my case, just resting for a moment before the day's activities...
The school was welcoming, the boys smart in green blazers. A good and intelligent discussion, everyone friendly and polite. I enjoyed it all.
The school was welcoming, the boys smart in green blazers. A good and intelligent discussion, everyone friendly and polite. I enjoyed it all.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Birmingham...
and Maryvale, and lectures on moral theology, and on the Fall and Redemption. A rather terrifying session on bioethics with information on some of the ghastly things that are now regarded as acceptable in our healthcare establishment...the great John Paul's naming of this as a "culture of death" was all too prophetic and accurate...
After the week ended, I stayed on for a further night at Maryvale, hurrying into Birmingham early on the Saturday morning to join fellow-supporters of Aid to the Church in Need on a pilgrimage honouring Bl. John Henry Newman, at the Birmingham Oratory. There is a rather grand new shrine to Bl John Henry there - very Oratorian in style - and then we gathered in the hall on the upper floor across the quadrangle for talks about him. In this very room he himself taught, as it formed part of the original Oratory School. I made an unhelpful contribution to the history of the place on a previous visit on a scorchingly hot day - I dashed enthusiastically to open a window, tugging on the sash, and down it came with a glorious crashing sound, glass everywhere, terrible mess. All replaced and mended now. Looking at it on this new visit, I wondered if the original window had been there in Newman's day and only my clumsiness broke the link with him...
An elderly Oratorian Father gave a most interesting talk on Newman and Afghanistan - did you know that General Gordon had a copy of the Dream of Gerontius with him on his last campaign, and had annotated it with various comments and enquiries? And there is an excellent exhibition lining the walls of the Hall telling the whole story of Newman's life and work....and his inkpot, and catechism, and other items, are all there on display. I warmly recommend a visit.
On to St Chad's Cathedral - a fine building, a strong and confident statement of faith, beautiful and much-loved, and with an excellent bookshop alongside where I spent some time...and thence by coach to Littlemore, the place where Newman lived and studied and made the great decision to enter the Catholic Church.
If you are interested in Newman you must visit Littlemore. The Sisters of The Work look after it all, and they make visitors very welcome, and it's all very delightful - the rooms, once stables, all fronting on to a small walled courtyard with a garden, and a sense of peace and quiet purposefulness.
By a pleasing arrangement of Providence, J. and I were due to meet friends in Oxford that evening for a dinner-party at a restaurant in Little Clarendon Street, so my day ended there, after a quick bus-ride from Littlemore. A talkative, happy evening marking a friend's 60th birthday. After the meal we dropped into the Eagle and Child for more talk and then J. and I went on to stay the night with relatives nearby.
After the week ended, I stayed on for a further night at Maryvale, hurrying into Birmingham early on the Saturday morning to join fellow-supporters of Aid to the Church in Need on a pilgrimage honouring Bl. John Henry Newman, at the Birmingham Oratory. There is a rather grand new shrine to Bl John Henry there - very Oratorian in style - and then we gathered in the hall on the upper floor across the quadrangle for talks about him. In this very room he himself taught, as it formed part of the original Oratory School. I made an unhelpful contribution to the history of the place on a previous visit on a scorchingly hot day - I dashed enthusiastically to open a window, tugging on the sash, and down it came with a glorious crashing sound, glass everywhere, terrible mess. All replaced and mended now. Looking at it on this new visit, I wondered if the original window had been there in Newman's day and only my clumsiness broke the link with him...
An elderly Oratorian Father gave a most interesting talk on Newman and Afghanistan - did you know that General Gordon had a copy of the Dream of Gerontius with him on his last campaign, and had annotated it with various comments and enquiries? And there is an excellent exhibition lining the walls of the Hall telling the whole story of Newman's life and work....and his inkpot, and catechism, and other items, are all there on display. I warmly recommend a visit.
On to St Chad's Cathedral - a fine building, a strong and confident statement of faith, beautiful and much-loved, and with an excellent bookshop alongside where I spent some time...and thence by coach to Littlemore, the place where Newman lived and studied and made the great decision to enter the Catholic Church.
If you are interested in Newman you must visit Littlemore. The Sisters of The Work look after it all, and they make visitors very welcome, and it's all very delightful - the rooms, once stables, all fronting on to a small walled courtyard with a garden, and a sense of peace and quiet purposefulness.
By a pleasing arrangement of Providence, J. and I were due to meet friends in Oxford that evening for a dinner-party at a restaurant in Little Clarendon Street, so my day ended there, after a quick bus-ride from Littlemore. A talkative, happy evening marking a friend's 60th birthday. After the meal we dropped into the Eagle and Child for more talk and then J. and I went on to stay the night with relatives nearby.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Pacing...
...the grounds at Maryvale, saddened, anguished, at the latest revelations about sex abuse in the Church - involving Fr Kit Cunningham in the years, half a century ago, when he worked at a school in Africa. Fr Kit went on to become a well-known and popular priest at St Etheldreda's, Ely Place and in that capacity knew many journalists and his death drew obituaries celebrating his life. He was an eccentric and a true London character. St Etheldreda's was known as a centre for those who loved the Tridentine Rite. It was also the headquarters for many years for the Catholic Writers' Guild. All this and more...
And now these ghastly revelations.
Fr Kit clearly died penitent, writing to those he had abused and returning the MBE he had recieved from the Queen.
I remember that when Fr Kit died some one asked me indignantly why there hadn't been a proper big memorial Mass to honour him. I said I was sure there would be, and meanwhile we at the Writers' Guild remembered him at our monthly Mass and had a short talk paying tribute to him as Mass ended. Now the absence of a big event is explained - there were those who knew it would be unsuitable, and perhaps he had indicated that he didn't want it...
And now these ghastly revelations.
Fr Kit clearly died penitent, writing to those he had abused and returning the MBE he had recieved from the Queen.
I remember that when Fr Kit died some one asked me indignantly why there hadn't been a proper big memorial Mass to honour him. I said I was sure there would be, and meanwhile we at the Writers' Guild remembered him at our monthly Mass and had a short talk paying tribute to him as Mass ended. Now the absence of a big event is explained - there were those who knew it would be unsuitable, and perhaps he had indicated that he didn't want it...
Inspiration at Invocation...
...and this despite a drenching in the rain and the fact that Auntie went on to her exams at Maryvale with a dreadful cold.
The Invocation event - big gathering of Catholic young people with priests, seminarians, and members of different religious orders - merited a proper lengthy report rather than the chatty stuff I put on this Blog, so you must settle down and read about it here.
I honestly had not thought there were so many young religious sisters and brothers: you hear so much about religious orders dying out and I know only well that lots of them are, but I hadn't known about some of the newer things. Didn't know, for example, about a group called the Fraternas, based in Manchester. Knew about the Dominicans but didn't realise they had so many younger ones. Remembered the |H. Father visiting the Little Sisters of the Poor but didn't know much about them.
Now I am at Maryvale - exams this morning, and then a new course of lectures starts this evening and lasts all week. No, I'm not going to tell you how I think I did in my exams. Post-mortems are a waste of time. Onwards and upwards...mornings at Maryvale begin with the sound of the Brigettine sisters (some of them were at InVocation too) singing their office in the chapel,and then one knows it is about half-an-hour to Mass. The chapel is the one that John Henry Newman knew - his room, still in use for visiting students, adjoins the chapel at an upstairs level, and he wrote about the consolation of having Christ so near...after our morning Mass there is breakfast and then people disperse - today, there were various examinations and ours was in the main lecture hall, a nun invigilating, papers solemnly unsealed before us and then distributed desk by desk. Then a look at the clock and the announcement: "You may start"...
The Invocation event - big gathering of Catholic young people with priests, seminarians, and members of different religious orders - merited a proper lengthy report rather than the chatty stuff I put on this Blog, so you must settle down and read about it here.
I honestly had not thought there were so many young religious sisters and brothers: you hear so much about religious orders dying out and I know only well that lots of them are, but I hadn't known about some of the newer things. Didn't know, for example, about a group called the Fraternas, based in Manchester. Knew about the Dominicans but didn't realise they had so many younger ones. Remembered the |H. Father visiting the Little Sisters of the Poor but didn't know much about them.
Now I am at Maryvale - exams this morning, and then a new course of lectures starts this evening and lasts all week. No, I'm not going to tell you how I think I did in my exams. Post-mortems are a waste of time. Onwards and upwards...mornings at Maryvale begin with the sound of the Brigettine sisters (some of them were at InVocation too) singing their office in the chapel,and then one knows it is about half-an-hour to Mass. The chapel is the one that John Henry Newman knew - his room, still in use for visiting students, adjoins the chapel at an upstairs level, and he wrote about the consolation of having Christ so near...after our morning Mass there is breakfast and then people disperse - today, there were various examinations and ours was in the main lecture hall, a nun invigilating, papers solemnly unsealed before us and then distributed desk by desk. Then a look at the clock and the announcement: "You may start"...
Monday, June 20, 2011
Enthusiastic young sisters...
...talking and laughing, clad in simple grey habits, ropes knotted around their waists. We were in the glorious surroundings of St Mary's College, Oscott, where last year the Holy Father was pictured with the great crowd of young men from across England who are training for the Catholic priesthood.
The grounds are glorious, but the weather was distinctly cold and bleak - more like November than June, and the crowds of young people who were camping there for the Invocation weekend certainly appreciated the hot food served in the big tepees set up alongside the marquee where talks and workshops were held.
There were lots of young sisters there,but the ones I've specifically mentioned above were from the small community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, based in the diocese of Leeds. I hadn't known that there was a such a community in England, although like other Londoners I've known about the Brothers, working in the East End...it was a delight to meet the sisters, and to catch their infectious joy and enthusiasm. They are doing a lot of good work and, incidentally, they could do with some funds to help with their work for the poor. Contact their website and do what you can.
I loved InVocation. There were inspirational talks,and a beautiful Holy Hour in the magnificent Oscott Chapel,with opportunities for confession. It was moving to see a long queue of people forming for confession, and people quietly going to the priests who placed themselves around the marquee as the Penitential Service in the chapel concluded. Then - perhaps the best bit of the whole weekend - we gathered with glowing candles and a great procession was formed, taking the Blessed Sacrament out under the night sky, round a long route through the grounds as we sang and prayed. Unforgettable and beautiful, and it culminated in Benediction in front of the College - exactly the place, as it happens, where the H. Father gathered with those seminarians last year...
More info on the events at Invocation from that link given above, and I'm also planning a report for my EWTN blog in due course...
The grounds are glorious, but the weather was distinctly cold and bleak - more like November than June, and the crowds of young people who were camping there for the Invocation weekend certainly appreciated the hot food served in the big tepees set up alongside the marquee where talks and workshops were held.
There were lots of young sisters there,but the ones I've specifically mentioned above were from the small community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, based in the diocese of Leeds. I hadn't known that there was a such a community in England, although like other Londoners I've known about the Brothers, working in the East End...it was a delight to meet the sisters, and to catch their infectious joy and enthusiasm. They are doing a lot of good work and, incidentally, they could do with some funds to help with their work for the poor. Contact their website and do what you can.
I loved InVocation. There were inspirational talks,and a beautiful Holy Hour in the magnificent Oscott Chapel,with opportunities for confession. It was moving to see a long queue of people forming for confession, and people quietly going to the priests who placed themselves around the marquee as the Penitential Service in the chapel concluded. Then - perhaps the best bit of the whole weekend - we gathered with glowing candles and a great procession was formed, taking the Blessed Sacrament out under the night sky, round a long route through the grounds as we sang and prayed. Unforgettable and beautiful, and it culminated in Benediction in front of the College - exactly the place, as it happens, where the H. Father gathered with those seminarians last year...
More info on the events at Invocation from that link given above, and I'm also planning a report for my EWTN blog in due course...
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Children...
...at St Edmund's prep school, Ware, praying together at the start of a school day...it was a great joy to be there and to be handing the trophy for this year's Schools RE Project to young winner Joshua Best, whose essay on the Rosary won him First Prize in the Years 5-6 section. The school also won a large number of runner-up prizes. The Morning Assembly was beautiful - a boy read from the Scriptures, the Headmaster led everyone in prayer, and there was such a good and happy atmosphere.
Afterwards a group of children showed me round - they are very proud that this is England's Oldest Catholic School (recusant traditions, martyrs etc) but this doesn't stop it having all the latest computer equipment etc, small tots in red jerseys doing sums at computer screens, whiteboards in classrooms with all sorts of displays etc.
In every classroom, children automatically stood up as visitors entered, chorused "Good morning!" in response to greetings, shot up hands to answer questions...and everywhere there was a sense of welcome and friendlines...
On to London where I was due to meet a group gathering at Westminster Cathedral to board a coach for Birmingham for the InVocation event at St Mary's, Oscott.
Crowds of young priests and nuns and brothers, plus young visitors all jeans and packbacks, big marquees and tepees on Oscott's lawns, a hot supper waiting, Evening Prayer in the beautiful chapel...this extraordinary event is something you MUST learn about...auntie will be reporting over the weekend...
Afterwards a group of children showed me round - they are very proud that this is England's Oldest Catholic School (recusant traditions, martyrs etc) but this doesn't stop it having all the latest computer equipment etc, small tots in red jerseys doing sums at computer screens, whiteboards in classrooms with all sorts of displays etc.
In every classroom, children automatically stood up as visitors entered, chorused "Good morning!" in response to greetings, shot up hands to answer questions...and everywhere there was a sense of welcome and friendlines...
On to London where I was due to meet a group gathering at Westminster Cathedral to board a coach for Birmingham for the InVocation event at St Mary's, Oscott.
Crowds of young priests and nuns and brothers, plus young visitors all jeans and packbacks, big marquees and tepees on Oscott's lawns, a hot supper waiting, Evening Prayer in the beautiful chapel...this extraordinary event is something you MUST learn about...auntie will be reporting over the weekend...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
A round of prize-presentations...
...at Catholic schools, for children winning prizes in the Assn of Catholic Women's Schools Religious Education Project. (BTW, that link takes you to a full list of winners).
Amazing experience today. I hurried (through pouring rain, making everything fresh and green, badly needed) to St Joseph's Catholic Primary school in Kingston-upon-Thames. Met by a charming young lady who explained that she'd be taking the morning Assembly, and had been involved with getting the children involved with the RE Project. I started to explain about the background to it etc, and she shyly said "Well...I was your first prizewinner, back when I was a little girl! I'm Maria Byrne..." Young Maria was indeed our first-ever winner, when we launched the whole thing over a decade ago. We had raised some modest funds from coffee-mornings, produced a brochure,photocopied it and and mailed it out to schools, bought some Catechisms as prizes and a cup as a trophy...and young Maria, who was being home-educated, won that cup with an excellent essay on 'What happens at Mass'. And now here she is, working at a Catholic school, and the whole project has grown and grown since then, and this year we had some 2,000 entries from across Britain, and prizes donated by the CTS, and two trophies for children in different age-groups, and dozens of Catechisms sent out to children in schools from Inverness to Bexleyheath, from Manchester to Port Talbot!
A happy morning, and it was a pleasure to present young winner Tashlyn Pereira with her prizes (a celebration book commemorating the Papal Visit to Britain, a book of Gospel stories, a Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and a £50 cheque for the school). The children sang a Gospel song, to a rock-beat, led by Maria, with the words projected on to a screen.
Tomorrow I am off to present prizes at St Edmund's prep school in Ware, Herts.
Then I'm off to my own exams...at Maryvale! Two exams on Monday!More on Maryvale and Birmingham here...
Amazing experience today. I hurried (through pouring rain, making everything fresh and green, badly needed) to St Joseph's Catholic Primary school in Kingston-upon-Thames. Met by a charming young lady who explained that she'd be taking the morning Assembly, and had been involved with getting the children involved with the RE Project. I started to explain about the background to it etc, and she shyly said "Well...I was your first prizewinner, back when I was a little girl! I'm Maria Byrne..." Young Maria was indeed our first-ever winner, when we launched the whole thing over a decade ago. We had raised some modest funds from coffee-mornings, produced a brochure,photocopied it and and mailed it out to schools, bought some Catechisms as prizes and a cup as a trophy...and young Maria, who was being home-educated, won that cup with an excellent essay on 'What happens at Mass'. And now here she is, working at a Catholic school, and the whole project has grown and grown since then, and this year we had some 2,000 entries from across Britain, and prizes donated by the CTS, and two trophies for children in different age-groups, and dozens of Catechisms sent out to children in schools from Inverness to Bexleyheath, from Manchester to Port Talbot!
A happy morning, and it was a pleasure to present young winner Tashlyn Pereira with her prizes (a celebration book commemorating the Papal Visit to Britain, a book of Gospel stories, a Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and a £50 cheque for the school). The children sang a Gospel song, to a rock-beat, led by Maria, with the words projected on to a screen.
Tomorrow I am off to present prizes at St Edmund's prep school in Ware, Herts.
Then I'm off to my own exams...at Maryvale! Two exams on Monday!More on Maryvale and Birmingham here...
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A new novel...
...from a young author who won an award for her first, and this new one looks set to be the summer must-read of this year. It's terrific. Poor Banished Children has a courageous and adventurous heroine, good historical resonance, a gripping plot, and is written in clear and vivid English with a vigour which is fresh and enjoyable.
The young author is a relative, and it has been a delight to watch her writing develop over the years. The book is well-researched: I remember studing a 16th-century pirate ship with the author on a seaside visit a few summers back, and getting squeamish as we discovered the details, while she simply absorbed and noted everything...the story-line of this new book centres on the Barbary pirates who raided the coasts of parts of Christian Europe and took people off as slaves. Did you know that Britain's western coast, and parts of Ireland, were thus attacked? That a Devon village lost almost all its inhabitants this way?
Ordering books over the Internet is easy - this one is also available at St Paul's Bookshop, next to Westminster Cathedral.And there's more about the book here.
The young author is a relative, and it has been a delight to watch her writing develop over the years. The book is well-researched: I remember studing a 16th-century pirate ship with the author on a seaside visit a few summers back, and getting squeamish as we discovered the details, while she simply absorbed and noted everything...the story-line of this new book centres on the Barbary pirates who raided the coasts of parts of Christian Europe and took people off as slaves. Did you know that Britain's western coast, and parts of Ireland, were thus attacked? That a Devon village lost almost all its inhabitants this way?
Ordering books over the Internet is easy - this one is also available at St Paul's Bookshop, next to Westminster Cathedral.And there's more about the book here.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
On feminism...
....and the Church, and where we go from here, and so on. You might like to read this...
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Sisters...
...of the Gospel of Life run the Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative in Glasgow. And they seem to know or be known by anyone and everyone in Glasgow! It was a revelation to spend time with these Sisters - they are greeted in the street, they get sudden gifts of babyware and prams and carry-cots and money and flowers and more, they get hugs and offers of help and requests for prayers...
I was staying with them as I was in Scotland for a visit to the new and excellent Scottish office of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, in Motherwell. The Director, Lorraine McMahon, is a terrific person with lots of energy and is doing extremely good work: the charity helps Christians wherever they are persecuted and is currently funding projects in, among other places, Sudan, Pakistan, and India, and its recent publication Persecuted and Forgotten is an important and troubling analysis of the state of religious freedom worldwide. Talking with Lorraine and discussing the work and all sorts of plans was immensely interesting. She took me to Carfin, where ACN recently had a pilgrimage - some 45,000 people visit this place of prayer annually. I suppose it would generally be described as simply a shrine to Our Lady, but it has so much more - a beautiful glass church where the Blessed Sacrament is honoured and where people were at prayer, shrines created by the Polish and Lithuanian and Irish communities, a great Calvary, a Way of the Cross, a new impressive statue of Blessed John Paul the Great, a shrine honouring Our Lady of Fatima complete with the little shepherds and their sheep, a big parish church...and more, and more...
And then I went on to stay with the Sisters. Their convent is on the south side of Glasgow, immediately opposite Holy Cross church, and they also have their own small oratory in their house where they say - and sing - the daily Office. Nearby is the headquarters of the Pro Life Initiative, where daily they dispense practical help and assistance to women who are pregnant and in trouble. A quiet comfortable room is set aside for interviews and counsel, and there is a main hall where, on the second day of my visit, volunteers were busy setting out great tables of toys and clothes and books for a fund-raising sale. Other rooms have stacks of babyware and beautiful prams and push-chairs, all donated, and all going swiftly to new homes and being replaced by fresh gifts. There's a St Joseph's Confraternity of men who meet together to pray and to mend and repair all donated equpment so that it is all as good as new.
But that's not the half of it. We went to the (recently beautifully refurbished) Glasgow Cathedral for a special Mass for the Knights of St Columba. (Impressive crowd of men - all ages, from across Glasgow and beyond - it was grand to hear the strong voices giving out the Mass responses, and we sung "Faith of Our Fathers" at the end). A collection was taken - and it was announced that it would go to the Pro Life Initiative. One evening when we arrived back at the convent, well-wishers had just finished setting fresh potted plants in the front garden. When the Sisters ate a meal with a group of young people in a restaurant the other day, the staff wouldn't take a tip, just asked the Sisters to pray for them. And it just seems to go on and on like that...
When Cardinal Winning announced the Pro-Life Initiative a little over ten years ago, his commitment was to any woman who was expecting a child and was frightened or alone or poor or in any sort of difficulty. And the promise has been made good: the help is there, and people have taken it to their hearts and the Sisters who are at the core of the work are faithfully carrying it out and are deservedly loved for it.
I was staying with them as I was in Scotland for a visit to the new and excellent Scottish office of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, in Motherwell. The Director, Lorraine McMahon, is a terrific person with lots of energy and is doing extremely good work: the charity helps Christians wherever they are persecuted and is currently funding projects in, among other places, Sudan, Pakistan, and India, and its recent publication Persecuted and Forgotten is an important and troubling analysis of the state of religious freedom worldwide. Talking with Lorraine and discussing the work and all sorts of plans was immensely interesting. She took me to Carfin, where ACN recently had a pilgrimage - some 45,000 people visit this place of prayer annually. I suppose it would generally be described as simply a shrine to Our Lady, but it has so much more - a beautiful glass church where the Blessed Sacrament is honoured and where people were at prayer, shrines created by the Polish and Lithuanian and Irish communities, a great Calvary, a Way of the Cross, a new impressive statue of Blessed John Paul the Great, a shrine honouring Our Lady of Fatima complete with the little shepherds and their sheep, a big parish church...and more, and more...
And then I went on to stay with the Sisters. Their convent is on the south side of Glasgow, immediately opposite Holy Cross church, and they also have their own small oratory in their house where they say - and sing - the daily Office. Nearby is the headquarters of the Pro Life Initiative, where daily they dispense practical help and assistance to women who are pregnant and in trouble. A quiet comfortable room is set aside for interviews and counsel, and there is a main hall where, on the second day of my visit, volunteers were busy setting out great tables of toys and clothes and books for a fund-raising sale. Other rooms have stacks of babyware and beautiful prams and push-chairs, all donated, and all going swiftly to new homes and being replaced by fresh gifts. There's a St Joseph's Confraternity of men who meet together to pray and to mend and repair all donated equpment so that it is all as good as new.
But that's not the half of it. We went to the (recently beautifully refurbished) Glasgow Cathedral for a special Mass for the Knights of St Columba. (Impressive crowd of men - all ages, from across Glasgow and beyond - it was grand to hear the strong voices giving out the Mass responses, and we sung "Faith of Our Fathers" at the end). A collection was taken - and it was announced that it would go to the Pro Life Initiative. One evening when we arrived back at the convent, well-wishers had just finished setting fresh potted plants in the front garden. When the Sisters ate a meal with a group of young people in a restaurant the other day, the staff wouldn't take a tip, just asked the Sisters to pray for them. And it just seems to go on and on like that...
When Cardinal Winning announced the Pro-Life Initiative a little over ten years ago, his commitment was to any woman who was expecting a child and was frightened or alone or poor or in any sort of difficulty. And the promise has been made good: the help is there, and people have taken it to their hearts and the Sisters who are at the core of the work are faithfully carrying it out and are deservedly loved for it.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
A heartening visit...
...to Allen Hall. It stands on land once owned by St Thomas More, and we began by visiting Chelsea Old Church where he used to go to Mass every morning...the churchwardens and guides there are v. friendly and our group recieved a warm welcome. On to Allen Hall where we split into three groups and were taken round by students who were knowledgeable and interested in the seminary's history. Then to the chapel, where the Rector led us all in Vespers and Benediction.Young men reading from the Scriptures. Strong young voices in the prayers and hymns. A tonic. Before we left, we gave three hearty cheers for the seminary, its staff and students.
Conspiracies and the Church...
...and Fatima and freemasons and things....you might find this of interest...
Saturday, June 04, 2011
....And have you read....
...YOUCAT? You must. It's simply terrific. I was given a copy the other day, and have been devouring it on the Tube.
Concise, well-expressed, and with a beautiful Introduction by a man who knows how to teach. Get a copy into the hands of the Catholic teenager nearest to you.
Concise, well-expressed, and with a beautiful Introduction by a man who knows how to teach. Get a copy into the hands of the Catholic teenager nearest to you.
What a week!
...the spectacular celebrations at St Patrick's, Soho Square, began with that wonderful Opening Mass (see previous blog post, below) then continued with a glorious Sung Vespers on the Eve of the Ascension, and a superb lecture by Papal biographer George Weigel, and concluded the next day with a magnificent Ascension Day Mass celebrated by His Eminence Cardinal George Pell who had come via Rome from Sydney, Australia...along with a great many other London Catholics I attended all of these events, and it was a great privilege and joy to be there.
In between I was at the CTS, with a couple of wonderful and loyal volunteers, packing up and sending out the prizes won by children in the ACW Schools Religious Education Project. We still have a good many more to send out: great quantities of beautifully bound copies of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, some lovely books on the Rosary, a delightful book of Gospel stories, and more. The number of essays sent in by children this year was vast - the project has grown and grown, and it seems almost absurd to look back and remember how we began it by just ending out some leaflets to schools and raising funds for it all from some coffee-mornings. The great breakthrough came when the CTS generously offered to sponsor it all, and provide prizes...and this, plus the extraordinary enthusiasm of volunteers who collect and read the essays, pack and mail out the prizes, and so on, have turned it into a big nationwide event...
And when I wasn't at the CTS, or sorting out my bike problems (the chain has broken...ggrrrrh) I was at a committee meeting of the ACW where we planned future events (pilgrimage to Minster in September, Annual Meeting with Dr Philip Howard as guest speaker and a documentary film about Blessed John Paul the Great, contact here for info). And then on Friday evening there was a gathering at a friend's house for the informal Catholic Cultural Group: wine, snacks, reconnecting with various friends...
And then on Saturday at St George's Cathedral, Southwark, the first of a wave of ordinations for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The men lying prostrate before the altar, the great gothic arches soaring overhead. Glorious music surging, and history being made...
In between I was at the CTS, with a couple of wonderful and loyal volunteers, packing up and sending out the prizes won by children in the ACW Schools Religious Education Project. We still have a good many more to send out: great quantities of beautifully bound copies of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, some lovely books on the Rosary, a delightful book of Gospel stories, and more. The number of essays sent in by children this year was vast - the project has grown and grown, and it seems almost absurd to look back and remember how we began it by just ending out some leaflets to schools and raising funds for it all from some coffee-mornings. The great breakthrough came when the CTS generously offered to sponsor it all, and provide prizes...and this, plus the extraordinary enthusiasm of volunteers who collect and read the essays, pack and mail out the prizes, and so on, have turned it into a big nationwide event...
And when I wasn't at the CTS, or sorting out my bike problems (the chain has broken...ggrrrrh) I was at a committee meeting of the ACW where we planned future events (pilgrimage to Minster in September, Annual Meeting with Dr Philip Howard as guest speaker and a documentary film about Blessed John Paul the Great, contact here for info). And then on Friday evening there was a gathering at a friend's house for the informal Catholic Cultural Group: wine, snacks, reconnecting with various friends...
And then on Saturday at St George's Cathedral, Southwark, the first of a wave of ordinations for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The men lying prostrate before the altar, the great gothic arches soaring overhead. Glorious music surging, and history being made...
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
It was fabulous, magnificent, wonderful...
...at St Patrick's, Soho for the Re-Opening following huge renovations. The church is a glory of gold and white and paintings and beauty, with gleaming marble and glittering candles, and it was packed to overflow with people standing in every possible corner,and out into the street, while a choir poured out Mozart and Palestrina,a roar of voices joined in the Mass responses... and we had the Archbishop of Westminster plus a Bishop from Denver - the church has strong links to the USA - a great array of clergy, Franciscans and Missionaries of Charity, seminarians and office workers and teenagers and older people, distinguished guests from across Europe, and hundreds and hundreds of friends of St Patrick's from across London and across Britain...
We began outside in Soho Square, a vast crowd gathering around the church. After beginning the ceremony with prayers, Archbishop Vincent then called on Father Alexander to "Open the Door!" and the doors of St Patrick's slowly opened to reveal the glorious, new gleaming interior and the crowd slowly, slowly moved forward...
The Mass was glorious. James McMillan had written a special piece of music, there were fine old hymns like "Praise my soul, the king of Heaven", and lots and lots of glorious music from the Church's fabulous storechest of the centuries. It was the Feast of the Vistation - a most wonderful day on which to be celebrating, everything just sort of fitted together beautifully - and the Archbishop preached about Mary carrying Christ, the Light of the world, along the dusty hills and pathways of the Holy Land, on her way to meet Elizabeth and how we, and St Patrick's, must carry this Light, take it to every corner...
As Mass ended, Father Alexander thanked the architect, fund-raisers,designers,and more, presenting each with a commemorative medal...and then handed over to the final speaker, a homeless man who had found refuge at St Patrick's, and who spoke from the heart and magnificently, summing up all that St Patrick's means and will mean to so many people...
It's not just the church which has been been renovated, but the whole building, including the ancient warren of cellars and underground rooms, all now rebuilt with large comfortable spaces and a new kitchen and everything bright and clean and welcoming , so that the homeless and the students and all the people who belong to the various groups which have found a home at St Patrick's can flourish. We all surged down there - wisely there was plenty of water and fruit juice in addition to wine and snacks, because it was all dreadfully hot - and there was so much greeting of old friends, and the press of TV cameras and the clatter of hundreds and hundreds of voices...
The celebrations continue tonight with Vespers and a talk from papal biographer George Weigel, and as I write this I am about to hurry to be there...
We began outside in Soho Square, a vast crowd gathering around the church. After beginning the ceremony with prayers, Archbishop Vincent then called on Father Alexander to "Open the Door!" and the doors of St Patrick's slowly opened to reveal the glorious, new gleaming interior and the crowd slowly, slowly moved forward...
The Mass was glorious. James McMillan had written a special piece of music, there were fine old hymns like "Praise my soul, the king of Heaven", and lots and lots of glorious music from the Church's fabulous storechest of the centuries. It was the Feast of the Vistation - a most wonderful day on which to be celebrating, everything just sort of fitted together beautifully - and the Archbishop preached about Mary carrying Christ, the Light of the world, along the dusty hills and pathways of the Holy Land, on her way to meet Elizabeth and how we, and St Patrick's, must carry this Light, take it to every corner...
As Mass ended, Father Alexander thanked the architect, fund-raisers,designers,and more, presenting each with a commemorative medal...and then handed over to the final speaker, a homeless man who had found refuge at St Patrick's, and who spoke from the heart and magnificently, summing up all that St Patrick's means and will mean to so many people...
It's not just the church which has been been renovated, but the whole building, including the ancient warren of cellars and underground rooms, all now rebuilt with large comfortable spaces and a new kitchen and everything bright and clean and welcoming , so that the homeless and the students and all the people who belong to the various groups which have found a home at St Patrick's can flourish. We all surged down there - wisely there was plenty of water and fruit juice in addition to wine and snacks, because it was all dreadfully hot - and there was so much greeting of old friends, and the press of TV cameras and the clatter of hundreds and hundreds of voices...
The celebrations continue tonight with Vespers and a talk from papal biographer George Weigel, and as I write this I am about to hurry to be there...
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