Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saints and Celebrations...
...and an English village in the enchanting beauty of a golden October day. I was invited to speak at a village church in Hampshire to mark the patronal feast of All Saints. Teams of enthusiasts had created floral arrangements around the church to honour various saints, each with a little dish of appropriate food - thus a Cattern Pie for St Catherine, and Scottish shortbread for St Andrew, and bara brith for St David, and more...My task was to explain about the calendar and the origins of celebrating saints days, and to set the whole thing in context. It was a charming and friendly event and I was made very welcome - a happy day.
Friday, October 28, 2011
London's history...
...and a team of us wove our way from St Patrick's, Soho Square, via St Giles-in-the-Fields and Bloomsbury Baptist Church to SS Anselm and Cecilia in Kingsway (links with Bishop Richard Challoner and the Gordon Riots) to St Etheldreda's Ely Place and thence to St Sepulchre-without-Newgate. I had been asked to lead a History Walk for members of SPES, the St Patrick's Evangelisation School, and we were joined by a number of other enthusiasts...we explored the history that tells the story of the Christian faith in this land from Roman times onwards, we prayed in each church we visited, we experienced kind hospitality and we pondered the passing of the centuries...
The SPES team is a terrific group, lively and enthusiastic and prayerful. St Patrick's is a joy - the church, so gloriously restored, is a place of great beauty and a midday Mass there is peace and refreshment in hectic London.
Exploring history involves the big sweep of things - Saxons and Normans, St Giles founded by Queen Matilda as part of a hospice for lepers, the events of the Reformation,. the Free Church traditions and the Baptists, Victorian England and the Catholic Revival...but it's also the everyday and the ordinary, the local men who died in the Great War of 1914-18 and are commemorated on a heartbreaking Memorial which begs that they never be forgotten, the parish notices in KIngsway which show Church life still bustling on, the people dropping into St Etheldreda's quietly to pray as we gazed at its stained glass and statues...
The SPES team is a terrific group, lively and enthusiastic and prayerful. St Patrick's is a joy - the church, so gloriously restored, is a place of great beauty and a midday Mass there is peace and refreshment in hectic London.
Exploring history involves the big sweep of things - Saxons and Normans, St Giles founded by Queen Matilda as part of a hospice for lepers, the events of the Reformation,. the Free Church traditions and the Baptists, Victorian England and the Catholic Revival...but it's also the everyday and the ordinary, the local men who died in the Great War of 1914-18 and are commemorated on a heartbreaking Memorial which begs that they never be forgotten, the parish notices in KIngsway which show Church life still bustling on, the people dropping into St Etheldreda's quietly to pray as we gazed at its stained glass and statues...
Cardinal George Pell...
...gave an excellent and thought-provoking lecture on climate change at Westminster Cathedral Hall on Wednesday. Read more here. Afterwards, he answered questions with great patience and goodwill: it was a model of how a Bishop shpoul;d speak and act.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
You may feel...
...that you've read enough of Auntie's thoughts on World Youth Day, but just in case you feel you haven't, try this feature...
And you might be interested in this feature about nuns...
And you might be interested in this feature about nuns...
Been reading...
...a lot of von Balthasar over the past few days. Also de Lubac. You can see how both influenced the thinking of Ratzinger the theologian - and how this has enriched us all.
Over the past months I've come to realise how my understanding of the Second Vatican Council has changed. For years I was told that this Council was simply dreadful, should never have happened, was nothing but a disaster, carried no real authority, should be dismissed as history. I don't mean that I neccesarily believed that, or that the people who said these things were the best and wisest people I knew - on the contrary, they were often belligerent and ill-informed: but as a Catholic journalist I lived with the fact that this was a consistent noise that framed the whole debate about Vatican II and helped to dictate its terms. It made it difficult to see the subject in perspective or to work up much enthusiasm for studying the Council's documents. Now I have done so, and also studied much of the material that influenced those who spoke there and who worked there - and it is all much richer and more beautiful and important than I had been led to believe.
Over the past months I've come to realise how my understanding of the Second Vatican Council has changed. For years I was told that this Council was simply dreadful, should never have happened, was nothing but a disaster, carried no real authority, should be dismissed as history. I don't mean that I neccesarily believed that, or that the people who said these things were the best and wisest people I knew - on the contrary, they were often belligerent and ill-informed: but as a Catholic journalist I lived with the fact that this was a consistent noise that framed the whole debate about Vatican II and helped to dictate its terms. It made it difficult to see the subject in perspective or to work up much enthusiasm for studying the Council's documents. Now I have done so, and also studied much of the material that influenced those who spoke there and who worked there - and it is all much richer and more beautiful and important than I had been led to believe.
Browsing the Web for news...
...about Blessed John Paul (feast day last Sat), I came across this item of interest.
Through falling Autumn leaves...
...to a meeting of the Board of Aid to the Church in Need at Brompton Oratory. Hugely successful conference on religious freedom - publicity re Ann Widdecombe's excellent speech still reverberating. Discussion on all sorts of current projects: this is now a major Catholic charity in Britain and we are blessed with an excellent team headed by Neville Kyrke-Smith, working with energy and competence. It funds projects around the world where Christians are impoverished or persecuted, unites people in prayer, acts as a source of reliable news and information. Sales of Christmas cards and gifts already brisk. Planning ahead: a pilgrimage to Walsingham on Sat April 28th next year, coach departing from London.
ACN will be among the many Catholic groups at the Towards Advent Festival on Sat Nov 19th at Westminster Cathedral Hall.There's a feature about this Festival in the ADOREMUS BULLETIN, published in the USA: you can read it here along with a number of other interesting features on liturgy, prayer, and related subjects...
ACN will be among the many Catholic groups at the Towards Advent Festival on Sat Nov 19th at Westminster Cathedral Hall.There's a feature about this Festival in the ADOREMUS BULLETIN, published in the USA: you can read it here along with a number of other interesting features on liturgy, prayer, and related subjects...
Monday, October 24, 2011
And then...
...I went to the BardFair. The what? A wonderful event run by The Bard School. Yes, bards. Poets, writers, singers of songs. With mulled wine and a warm welcome, a generous table of food and lots of delightful young people...and it all happens regularly at a well-known London church, St Mary of the Angels in Bayswater. I had vaguely heard of it, but being part of it, after arriving breathless after a busy day (and transport hassles - Tube lines closed for repairs), was wonderful.
Who are the Bards? Some students,a young Dominican, a couple of teachers, a musician or two, and people with all sorts of different jobs and professions who write and create and entertain...there was some poetry, some music, lots of good talk, displays of work. I bought some delicious scented soap made with rose leaves, and there was some lovely artwork, and lots of good creative things, and all this with candlelight and in a very happy atmosphere, preceded by a beautiful sung Mass.
The young Domimican read a charming and funny poem with kindness and wisdom in it. A young publisher read a poem inspired by a meeting with Richard Dawkins. There was a feeling of freedom, and a real sense of fun. Ihope to have more contact with the Bard School...
Who are the Bards? Some students,a young Dominican, a couple of teachers, a musician or two, and people with all sorts of different jobs and professions who write and create and entertain...there was some poetry, some music, lots of good talk, displays of work. I bought some delicious scented soap made with rose leaves, and there was some lovely artwork, and lots of good creative things, and all this with candlelight and in a very happy atmosphere, preceded by a beautiful sung Mass.
The young Domimican read a charming and funny poem with kindness and wisdom in it. A young publisher read a poem inspired by a meeting with Richard Dawkins. There was a feeling of freedom, and a real sense of fun. Ihope to have more contact with the Bard School...
An important conference ...
...organised by Aid to the Church in Need, on the subject of religious freedom. Among the speakers was the excellent Ann Widdecombe,and you can listen to her speech here.
For some years, as a Catholic journalist, I was writing about the position of Christians in the USSR,the Baltic states and in Eastern Europe, noting their struggles in the confusing network of laws that restricted religious freedom in all sorts of ways. This was the late 1970s and early 80s, with wrangling about children having the right to attend religious education classes, and people struggling to get jobs or degrees once it became known that they were regular churchgoers or had written religious poetry or contributed to magazines featuring essays on religious themes...and it felt somehow safe, writing about it all in London, secure in the knowledge that one was British and away from all that sort of thing...
...And now, in a most uncomfortable way, I'm reading about Christians in Britain getting into trouble at work because they have written in support of Christian marriage, and Christian sexual morality.
For some years, as a Catholic journalist, I was writing about the position of Christians in the USSR,the Baltic states and in Eastern Europe, noting their struggles in the confusing network of laws that restricted religious freedom in all sorts of ways. This was the late 1970s and early 80s, with wrangling about children having the right to attend religious education classes, and people struggling to get jobs or degrees once it became known that they were regular churchgoers or had written religious poetry or contributed to magazines featuring essays on religious themes...and it felt somehow safe, writing about it all in London, secure in the knowledge that one was British and away from all that sort of thing...
...And now, in a most uncomfortable way, I'm reading about Christians in Britain getting into trouble at work because they have written in support of Christian marriage, and Christian sexual morality.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
All very exciting...
...lots of people, wine, snacks, cake, speeches. A book launch is a bit like a christening-party, with everyone wishing the new arrival well. So the new book on Blessed John Paul has got off to a happy start...
It is hardback, with the most beautiful illustrations by Kati Teague.There's drama, with images of the Occupation in WW11, and the assasination attempt in 1981, and there is tenderness, with some lovely scenes of BlJP with children. There's lots of information about his mission and work - his devotion to the Rosary, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (nice pic of the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger busy at work on it), World Youth Day, and more...
The launch party was at St Paul's bookshop next to Westminster Cathedral, and was a lot of fun, with chatter and laughter. Afterwards, a family supper: I had spent the day with a dear niece - it's half-term this week - exploring Westminster and Parliament and then decorating the celebration cakes together at the bookshop.
It is hardback, with the most beautiful illustrations by Kati Teague.There's drama, with images of the Occupation in WW11, and the assasination attempt in 1981, and there is tenderness, with some lovely scenes of BlJP with children. There's lots of information about his mission and work - his devotion to the Rosary, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (nice pic of the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger busy at work on it), World Youth Day, and more...
The launch party was at St Paul's bookshop next to Westminster Cathedral, and was a lot of fun, with chatter and laughter. Afterwards, a family supper: I had spent the day with a dear niece - it's half-term this week - exploring Westminster and Parliament and then decorating the celebration cakes together at the bookshop.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
BIG DAY...
...the launch of my book on Blessed John Paul the Great. Party at a bookshop, speeches, cake, celebrations...
DON'T FORGET...
...the TOWARDS ADVENT FEstival on Sat Nov 19th, Westminster Cathedral Hall. Music from the Gallery Choir of Westminster Cathedral Choir School. Stalls and displays featuring a wide range of Catholic groups and organisations and charities: books, DVDs, craft goods, and more... A talk from Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. A special celebrtion of the life of Blessed John Paul with film and drama...
Everyone is welcome. Doors open 10am...
Everyone is welcome. Doors open 10am...
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Scola Cantorum...
...of the Cardinal Vaughan School sang at today's 10.30am Mass at Westminster Cathedral: magnificent.
I was there to meet a young friend - working as an au pair with some relatives - as I had promised to show her around London. We had a happy day, beginning with a trip up the Cathedral Tower - spectacular views across London and out beyond to the misty suburbs and the North Downs. She was also awed by the Cathedral itself, where the 12 noon Mass, with wafts of incense and a vast congregation, was taking place. As we stood there, the priest was silently incensing the altar, and then the server incensed the concelebrants, and then all of us, and I suddenly saw it as a young outsider would, in all its beauty and solemnity, and realised all over again the glory of the Eucharist..."Pray, brethren..."
We went on to explore Westminster: the bells of the Abbey were pealing out, bright sunshine made the Thames glitter and golden leaves were fluttering down in St James' Park. We lunched at the Albert pub in Victoria Street, a favourite haunt, and then caught a bus to the City. There were protesters with banners denouncing captalism so various areas had been cordoned off, but we looked in at some Wren churches and finished with tea near St Paul's.
But London in Autumn beauty brings sadness, a sense of nostalgia. The Palace of Westminster, the Union Jack flapping against the flagpole on the Victoria Tower, Big Ben calling out the hour with its huge deep rolling note...I remembered days working in Parliament and writing on all sorts of issues, in the days when defending male/female marriage, and opposing gross forms of "sex ed" for children, and working to affirm the sanctity of human life all seemed more possible and achievable...
I was there to meet a young friend - working as an au pair with some relatives - as I had promised to show her around London. We had a happy day, beginning with a trip up the Cathedral Tower - spectacular views across London and out beyond to the misty suburbs and the North Downs. She was also awed by the Cathedral itself, where the 12 noon Mass, with wafts of incense and a vast congregation, was taking place. As we stood there, the priest was silently incensing the altar, and then the server incensed the concelebrants, and then all of us, and I suddenly saw it as a young outsider would, in all its beauty and solemnity, and realised all over again the glory of the Eucharist..."Pray, brethren..."
We went on to explore Westminster: the bells of the Abbey were pealing out, bright sunshine made the Thames glitter and golden leaves were fluttering down in St James' Park. We lunched at the Albert pub in Victoria Street, a favourite haunt, and then caught a bus to the City. There were protesters with banners denouncing captalism so various areas had been cordoned off, but we looked in at some Wren churches and finished with tea near St Paul's.
But London in Autumn beauty brings sadness, a sense of nostalgia. The Palace of Westminster, the Union Jack flapping against the flagpole on the Victoria Tower, Big Ben calling out the hour with its huge deep rolling note...I remembered days working in Parliament and writing on all sorts of issues, in the days when defending male/female marriage, and opposing gross forms of "sex ed" for children, and working to affirm the sanctity of human life all seemed more possible and achievable...
Saturday, October 15, 2011
And today...
...an excellent talk from Mgr Andrew Burnham at the Assn for Latin Liturgy meeting at St Mary Magdalene's, Brighton...
The sun sparkled on the sea, and the blue was a brilliant blue...but Brighton has a shabby, slightly sad feel at present, and it was good to get away from the shops and the sea-front and head for St MM's, which is a most beautiful church, and meet many friends there. The hall was rather over-full for the meeting and consequently much too hot, but the talk was enormously interesting and gave insights as to what the Ordinariate will bring to the life of the Church in Britain.
The sun sparkled on the sea, and the blue was a brilliant blue...but Brighton has a shabby, slightly sad feel at present, and it was good to get away from the shops and the sea-front and head for St MM's, which is a most beautiful church, and meet many friends there. The hall was rather over-full for the meeting and consequently much too hot, but the talk was enormously interesting and gave insights as to what the Ordinariate will bring to the life of the Church in Britain.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
An Archbishop speaks...
...and merits our full support. Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow notes that "a mandate to govern does not include a mandate to reconstruct society on ideological grounds, nor to undermine the very institution which, from the beginning, has been universally acknowledged as of the natural order and the bedrock of society, namely marriage and the family. In terms of law, its support and defence have been on a par with the defence of life itself. We weaken it at our peril."
The Archbishop's statement on marriage can be read in full here.
The Archbishop's statement on marriage can be read in full here.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
...and so to Maryvale...
...where the Autumn term is now in full swing. I cannot adequately convey how hugely I enjoy my studies there.
On Sunday, with the weekend's lectures over, I lunched v. agreeably with the editor of the Ordinariate Portal and his family - based not far from Maryvale - and we finished the day by joining the October Devotions at the parish of Holy Cross and St Francis, Walmley. A mellow October day, and people quietly coming into church for the Rosary and Benediction. A peaceful reflective sense as we all prayed the Rosary together, and then a beautiful Benediction, heads bowed, the Blessed Sacrament raised over us....Why don't more parishes do this, and give everyone an opportunity to make October's Sundays really special?
Back at Maryvale, the kind Brigettine sisters let me in, and I settled in my room with some books from the library. It felt rather strange, as I was all alone in the main part of this great old house, with the creaking sense of the past centuries all around me. When it's all busy and all the rooms are occupied by students, and there is a sense of life and activity, it feels quite different. Now, as darkness fell, I was the only person in all those layers and layers of rooms and history, the hidden chapel from the days of persecution, Newman's room, the stairs that slope and slant, the rooms that have echoed to the voices of the children when the house was an orphanage, to the voices of students from around Britain in the years of study...
I dropped in to the chapel before I finally settled for the night. The lamp was glowing in the sanctuary. The Lord was keeping watch over the house...
On Sunday, with the weekend's lectures over, I lunched v. agreeably with the editor of the Ordinariate Portal and his family - based not far from Maryvale - and we finished the day by joining the October Devotions at the parish of Holy Cross and St Francis, Walmley. A mellow October day, and people quietly coming into church for the Rosary and Benediction. A peaceful reflective sense as we all prayed the Rosary together, and then a beautiful Benediction, heads bowed, the Blessed Sacrament raised over us....Why don't more parishes do this, and give everyone an opportunity to make October's Sundays really special?
Back at Maryvale, the kind Brigettine sisters let me in, and I settled in my room with some books from the library. It felt rather strange, as I was all alone in the main part of this great old house, with the creaking sense of the past centuries all around me. When it's all busy and all the rooms are occupied by students, and there is a sense of life and activity, it feels quite different. Now, as darkness fell, I was the only person in all those layers and layers of rooms and history, the hidden chapel from the days of persecution, Newman's room, the stairs that slope and slant, the rooms that have echoed to the voices of the children when the house was an orphanage, to the voices of students from around Britain in the years of study...
I dropped in to the chapel before I finally settled for the night. The lamp was glowing in the sanctuary. The Lord was keeping watch over the house...
The Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon 2011....
...was packed, and the speaker was Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. He was excellent - by turns amusing, informative, thought-provoking, and inspirational. There is a real vision here for the way things could develop for the Church in England. And our poor country badly needs this boost and this sense of a new adventure...afterwards I helped to hand out leaflets about the Friends of the Ordinariate and some people were already also giving spontaneous donations...
The Luncheon - some 300 women, all chattering away like anything, golly the noise - also included the inevitable raffle, for which Auntie had obtained some books signed by authors: I was particularly pleased that among these was Light of the World, kindly signed by the German journalist Peter Seewald, who wrote a very nice message in it for the winner...
The Luncheon - some 300 women, all chattering away like anything, golly the noise - also included the inevitable raffle, for which Auntie had obtained some books signed by authors: I was particularly pleased that among these was Light of the World, kindly signed by the German journalist Peter Seewald, who wrote a very nice message in it for the winner...
Friday, October 07, 2011
NO, Mr Cameron....
...No. You cannot achieve anything by seeking to redefine marriage by announcing that you can couple together two people of the same sex and announce that it's all about "commitment" and that such a relationship should therefore be given full marital status. If you think you can do that, why stop at just two? Has he thought this through at all?
The Prime Minister' pathetic attempt to redefine marriage is an embarrassing reminder of how tragic it is watching a society lose its hold on truth and reason.
The Church is a voice of sanity, and will be there to pick up the pieces of people's lives as the chaos continues. Archbishop Peter Smith has explained patiently that no amount of pretence can alter the reality of things:"Marriage by its very nature is between a man and a woman and it is the essential foundation of family life. The state should uphold this common understanding of marriage rather than attempting to change its meaning."
The Prime Minister' pathetic attempt to redefine marriage is an embarrassing reminder of how tragic it is watching a society lose its hold on truth and reason.
The Church is a voice of sanity, and will be there to pick up the pieces of people's lives as the chaos continues. Archbishop Peter Smith has explained patiently that no amount of pretence can alter the reality of things:"Marriage by its very nature is between a man and a woman and it is the essential foundation of family life. The state should uphold this common understanding of marriage rather than attempting to change its meaning."
Thursday, October 06, 2011
DON'T FORGET...
...the TOWARDS ADVENT FESTIVAL, Sat Nov 19th, Westminster Cathedral Hall. Opening (with the Gallery Choir of Westminster Cathedral Choir School) 10.30am.
Events during the day: 1.30pm - Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham; 3pm Celebration of the life of Bl.John Paul, with film and presentation by drama group...
All day: talls and displays from a wide range of Catholic groups and organisations. Books, DVDs, Christmas cards, all sorts of goods on sale. Refreshments served all day. Play corner for children.
Events during the day: 1.30pm - Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham; 3pm Celebration of the life of Bl.John Paul, with film and presentation by drama group...
All day: talls and displays from a wide range of Catholic groups and organisations. Books, DVDs, Christmas cards, all sorts of goods on sale. Refreshments served all day. Play corner for children.
And if you want to know more...
...about St George's Cathedral, Southwark (has a history linked to the Gordon Riots, was designed by Pugin, bombed to ruins in WWII, rebuilt in the 1950s, is home to a good-sized parish community...come long on WEDNESDAY Oct 19th at 2.30pm, and meet us at the Cathedral doors...we're having a History Walk and there is lots of discover...nearest Tube is Waterloo or Lambeth North.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
You wouldn't have thought....
...that a lecture on philosophy would be a crowd-puller. But when I heard about a new series of lectures being run at Holy Ghost church, Balham, I thought I'd go along, and brush up on a topic that I studied in the first year of my Maryvale degree course...I turned up last night (Tuesday) to find people standing out in the entrance hall and on the steps - the room was packed out, with people sitting (and in some cases kneeling, as there wasn't even room to sit!) on the floor and pressed up against the walls...
The speaker was Re Dr Francis Selman, who lectures at Allen Hall. He has a quiet, pleasant voice and everyone was gripped. One chap, standing in mild discomfort right up against the front door and straining to hear, was making copious notes and sharing them with a friend. People asked interesting questions.We explored Aristotle and Plato and forms and reality and life and existence...
As the room emptied when the evening was over, it was quite astonishing to see just how many had been crammed in there...I can't go to next week's lecture as I will be at Walsingham, but as numbers are so great they are now looking to move into the nearby school hall.
I've been reading a lot just recently about Bl John Paul II and Poland and this evening made me think, somehow, of descriptions of the "flying university" in the Poland of the 1980s...
The speaker was Re Dr Francis Selman, who lectures at Allen Hall. He has a quiet, pleasant voice and everyone was gripped. One chap, standing in mild discomfort right up against the front door and straining to hear, was making copious notes and sharing them with a friend. People asked interesting questions.We explored Aristotle and Plato and forms and reality and life and existence...
As the room emptied when the evening was over, it was quite astonishing to see just how many had been crammed in there...I can't go to next week's lecture as I will be at Walsingham, but as numbers are so great they are now looking to move into the nearby school hall.
I've been reading a lot just recently about Bl John Paul II and Poland and this evening made me think, somehow, of descriptions of the "flying university" in the Poland of the 1980s...
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Next CATHOLIC HISTORY WALK...
...is this week. Wed Oct 5th, meet 6.30pm on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. No need to book - just turn up. Wear suitable shoes for walking. Walk lasts about an hour and a half, though of course you can leave at any time. We'll be looking at the City, and some of its fascinating byways...
Saturday, October 01, 2011
There is a really good report...
...on today's big Blessed Sacrament procession on this London news site...
The pics are particularly good as they show details of the event. Note the thurifer walking backwards so that he faces the Bl. Sacrament...and also note, in another pic, the splendid processional cross leading us...
It was a priviledge to have Bishop Alan Hopes with us, and all the clergy were really splendid: it was complicated because this was a long walk in which to carry, with due honour, a heavy monstrance - we crossed from Victoria through Westminster and down to the embankment, and then over the big bridge and thence via Lambeth and into Southwark...
On the way we passed, variously, the Victoria Tower gardens next to Parliament, Lambeth Palace, and the Imperial War Museum...somehow it is good to think of the Blessed Sacrament being carried, with prayer and praise, through our London like that...
The pics are particularly good as they show details of the event. Note the thurifer walking backwards so that he faces the Bl. Sacrament...and also note, in another pic, the splendid processional cross leading us...
It was a priviledge to have Bishop Alan Hopes with us, and all the clergy were really splendid: it was complicated because this was a long walk in which to carry, with due honour, a heavy monstrance - we crossed from Victoria through Westminster and down to the embankment, and then over the big bridge and thence via Lambeth and into Southwark...
On the way we passed, variously, the Victoria Tower gardens next to Parliament, Lambeth Palace, and the Imperial War Museum...somehow it is good to think of the Blessed Sacrament being carried, with prayer and praise, through our London like that...
History was made...
...today as, for the first time, the Blessed Sacrament was carried in procession from one London cathedral to the other, across the Thames. A huge crowd of the faithful (see below for description of what it felt like to be part of it), great singing of hymns and praying of the Rosary, an atmosphere of devotion and unity, a sense of thanksgiving, and all under the clearest of clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine...
The aim was to give thanks for the Visit of the Holy Father last year, and for the Beatification of Bl.John Henry Newman, himself a Londoner and the first person to be beatified on British soil...in the great procession, which included people from every age and race and background, we had Sisters in blue habits and veils from the new Ordinariate convent recently established in London, and sisters from Mother Teresa's order in their distinctive blue-and-white sari-habits, and Franciscan brothers in brown robes, and Knights of St Columba with their traditional ribboned collars with medals of office...we had families with children in push-chairs, and young people teaming up (I saw a couple of WYD backpacks, which brought back cheery August memories for me), and parish clergy, and seminarians from Allen Hall and from St John's Wonersh....
Before it all began, I dropped in to a shop near Westminster Cathedral to fortify myself with a cup of coffee. I was much too worried and nervous (willanyonecome?willitbeallright?) to eat anything. A young friend happened to be getting a cup of coffee too and caught sight of me - we got talking, swapped WYD memories, spoke about a book on Bl.JPII which I am currently re-reading and hugely enjoying, relaxed...suddenly everything felt that it was going to be all right. And it was, it was. Across the road, people were pouring into the Cathedral and a great piece of history was about to be made...
Deo Gratias.
The aim was to give thanks for the Visit of the Holy Father last year, and for the Beatification of Bl.John Henry Newman, himself a Londoner and the first person to be beatified on British soil...in the great procession, which included people from every age and race and background, we had Sisters in blue habits and veils from the new Ordinariate convent recently established in London, and sisters from Mother Teresa's order in their distinctive blue-and-white sari-habits, and Franciscan brothers in brown robes, and Knights of St Columba with their traditional ribboned collars with medals of office...we had families with children in push-chairs, and young people teaming up (I saw a couple of WYD backpacks, which brought back cheery August memories for me), and parish clergy, and seminarians from Allen Hall and from St John's Wonersh....
Before it all began, I dropped in to a shop near Westminster Cathedral to fortify myself with a cup of coffee. I was much too worried and nervous (willanyonecome?willitbeallright?) to eat anything. A young friend happened to be getting a cup of coffee too and caught sight of me - we got talking, swapped WYD memories, spoke about a book on Bl.JPII which I am currently re-reading and hugely enjoying, relaxed...suddenly everything felt that it was going to be all right. And it was, it was. Across the road, people were pouring into the Cathedral and a great piece of history was about to be made...
Deo Gratias.
A huge, unforgettable procession...
... with an enormous crowd, far far larger than I had ever imagined possible, stretching down to the river as the Blessed Sacrament, borne aloft and surrounded by acolytes and candle-bearers and billowing incense, was carried out from Westminster Cathedral...
We sang hymns, we prayed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, we prayed in silence, we sang "O Sacrament most holy....". You can get a flavour of it all here, complete with some good pictures... We began in a well-filled Westminster Cathedral with Newman's "Praise to the Holiest in the height" with a glorious organ accompaniement, and slowly, slowly the crowd made its way out and turned down Ambrosden Avenue...by now it was abundantly clear that we had vastly underestimated the numbers attending and so not everyone had hymn-sheets, but it didn't matter, as the singing was fine and people joined in the Rosary with vigour, the voices going back and forth as we passed the Royal Horticultural Halls and Vincent Square and Marsham Street... We poured over Lambeth Bridge and I turned for a moment to look at the Houses of Parliament with the flag flapping under the clearest of blue skies. The splendid Knights of St Columba were stewarding the whole thing, and had mapped out the route and checked all the cross-roads - at each major junction we were allowed across in sections, bus passengers gawping, tourists stopping to take pictures. As we wound our way past Lambeth Palace and down towards St George's at Southwark it began to feel extremely warm - it must have been hard work for the clergy carrying the Blessed Sacrament and its big umbrella-canopy thing ( what's the official name?) and dressed in robes...at St George's every pew was filled to capacity and people still filed in at the back...and then Benediction began, with a splendid Tantum Ergo and then the roar of voices echoing "Blessed be God..."
We sang hymns, we prayed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, we prayed in silence, we sang "O Sacrament most holy....". You can get a flavour of it all here, complete with some good pictures... We began in a well-filled Westminster Cathedral with Newman's "Praise to the Holiest in the height" with a glorious organ accompaniement, and slowly, slowly the crowd made its way out and turned down Ambrosden Avenue...by now it was abundantly clear that we had vastly underestimated the numbers attending and so not everyone had hymn-sheets, but it didn't matter, as the singing was fine and people joined in the Rosary with vigour, the voices going back and forth as we passed the Royal Horticultural Halls and Vincent Square and Marsham Street... We poured over Lambeth Bridge and I turned for a moment to look at the Houses of Parliament with the flag flapping under the clearest of blue skies. The splendid Knights of St Columba were stewarding the whole thing, and had mapped out the route and checked all the cross-roads - at each major junction we were allowed across in sections, bus passengers gawping, tourists stopping to take pictures. As we wound our way past Lambeth Palace and down towards St George's at Southwark it began to feel extremely warm - it must have been hard work for the clergy carrying the Blessed Sacrament and its big umbrella-canopy thing ( what's the official name?) and dressed in robes...at St George's every pew was filled to capacity and people still filed in at the back...and then Benediction began, with a splendid Tantum Ergo and then the roar of voices echoing "Blessed be God..."
Friday, September 30, 2011
Pondering the Holy Father's visit to Germany...
...I came across this thought-provoking piece about a significant anniversary...
The throne room...
...at Archbishop's House, Westminster, was packed and consequently rather uncomfortably hot as we gathered on Wednesday evening for a reception given by the Friends of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Cardinal Levada was there from Rome and spoke with enthusiasm of the Ordinariate, urging that it be given all possible support. You can read more about the evening here.
There were dozens and dozens of people there whom I knew, and it was one of those milling-about-and-talking occasions where you intersperse inconsequential greetings with sudden lengthy discuissions on rather important subjects...
It is hugely important that the Ordinariate flourishes.It needs funds. Scope here for serious generosity on the part of those who want to see the Church flourish in Britain and reach and heal our poor old country...
There were dozens and dozens of people there whom I knew, and it was one of those milling-about-and-talking occasions where you intersperse inconsequential greetings with sudden lengthy discuissions on rather important subjects...
It is hugely important that the Ordinariate flourishes.It needs funds. Scope here for serious generosity on the part of those who want to see the Church flourish in Britain and reach and heal our poor old country...
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
I'm off to Walsingham in a couple of weeks...
...and if you are interested in the shrine there, you can read about it here...
And you are coming, aren't you...
...to the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament on Saturday? (Oct 1st) Starts 1.15pm Westminster Cathedral. This week I was working on the hymn-sheet...we are starting of course with veneration of the Blessed Sacrament, so O Salutaris Hostia...and during the Procession we will have some of the best hymns, including "Sweet Sacrament Divine" and of course Newman "Praise to the Holiest in the height...."
WE NEED YOU to come and join us.
WE NEED YOU to come and join us.
After Mass...
...at Westminster Cathedral, an invitation to view some of the art of Greg Tricker, on display in the chapel of St Andrew and in the aisles. There were some things well worth viewing: among much else, some good stained glass, a wonderful image of Christ as a boy painted on wood, and a stunning carved depiction of Joseph of Arimithea bringing the Chalice from the Last Supper to Britain by boat. This last, carved out of a great piece of oak, is a fine piece of work...the Glastonbury legend has long fascinated so many of us, and here it is renewed afresh in Westminster Cathedral...
Sister Wendy, whose own books on art have made her deservedly well known, spoke about Greg Tricker's work, and then we all went for a celebration in the bookshop next to the Cathedral, where Tricker's book was launched with wine and speeches, and there was a convivial party atmosphere and much talk...
Sister Wendy, whose own books on art have made her deservedly well known, spoke about Greg Tricker's work, and then we all went for a celebration in the bookshop next to the Cathedral, where Tricker's book was launched with wine and speeches, and there was a convivial party atmosphere and much talk...
Monday, September 26, 2011
A well-filled hall...
..for the annual meeting of the Assn of Catholic Women on Saturday. We had an excellent talk by Dr Philip Howard on medical ethics and the inspiration of Blessed John Paul, followed by a DVD about BlJP from Rome Reports. I most warmly recommend the latter - it's simply called "John Paul the Great" - and indeed other DVDs from Rome Reports...well-produced, authoritative, and hugely watchable.
The ACW has had a good year. Our Schools Project grows and flourishes, with children sending in essays from Catholic primary schools across Britain, and generous parcels of book prizes going out thanks to the wonderful support of the Catholic Truth Society.We had a happy pilgrimage to Minster recently. Our work in helping teachers using Art and Music (notably Gregorian Chant)in teaching the Faith goes on steadily. Our annual gathering at the Westminster Cathedral Chrism Mass to show public support for priests was again a cheering event. And at this AGM we gained some new members and looked at plans for 2012 and beyond...
The ACW has had a good year. Our Schools Project grows and flourishes, with children sending in essays from Catholic primary schools across Britain, and generous parcels of book prizes going out thanks to the wonderful support of the Catholic Truth Society.We had a happy pilgrimage to Minster recently. Our work in helping teachers using Art and Music (notably Gregorian Chant)in teaching the Faith goes on steadily. Our annual gathering at the Westminster Cathedral Chrism Mass to show public support for priests was again a cheering event. And at this AGM we gained some new members and looked at plans for 2012 and beyond...
To the Notre Dame university building...
...just off London's Trafalgar Square, for a celebration with Catholic Voices, and the launch of two new books. One is by CV's founder Jack Valero, and is a good read, telling the story of this adventure of this Catholic initiative,how it grew, how it linked to the Papal Visit, The other is a sort of handbook for Catholics on some of the major topical issues that the Catholic Voices team has been tackling: I'm finding it useful and stimulating. This was a youthful, lively, happy evening with an impressive range of young people. Some of us went on to a pub and there was lively talk until a late hour...
Friday, September 23, 2011
And the Holy Father...
...has been welcomed in Germany where, contrary to the predictions, there was a warm welcome, vast crowds at an open-air Mass, a friendly meeting with the Jewish community. He gave an excellent address to the German Parliament - worth reading: here.
This is a Pope of rich wisdom, especially on the relationship between faith and reason, and the respective roles and duties of Church and State. The Lefebvrists, now busy pondering on whether or not to rejoin the Church, are stuck in a muddle on the latter issue and those that do decide to return will find a good way forward here.
But why won't the BBC and much of the British media just give themselves a break and start reporting things fairly? The Pope, answering questions on the plane en route to Berlin was at ease with the idea of people turning out in protest demonstrations against him, noting with goodwill that they were free to do so. In the event, numbers protesting were far smaller than expected, and the real news is that - as in Britain - that people are finding this gentle and fatherly man of God some one who brings a message worth hearing.
This is a Pope of rich wisdom, especially on the relationship between faith and reason, and the respective roles and duties of Church and State. The Lefebvrists, now busy pondering on whether or not to rejoin the Church, are stuck in a muddle on the latter issue and those that do decide to return will find a good way forward here.
But why won't the BBC and much of the British media just give themselves a break and start reporting things fairly? The Pope, answering questions on the plane en route to Berlin was at ease with the idea of people turning out in protest demonstrations against him, noting with goodwill that they were free to do so. In the event, numbers protesting were far smaller than expected, and the real news is that - as in Britain - that people are finding this gentle and fatherly man of God some one who brings a message worth hearing.
To the convent at...
...Tyburn, for the launch of a really superb new DVD. It tells the story of these remarkable Benedictine sisters, who now have convents in mountain sites in South America, the New Zealand bush, and the heart of Rome, among other places. Lush scenery, glorious photography, scenes of convent life that are touching, funny, frank and beautiful.Lots more about it here.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
St Mildred, and Mass, and Saxon buildings...
...and a link with Germany. All this and more at Minster Abbey, where a group of pilgrims from the Association of Catholic Women and the Continuity History Walks had a most beautiful day. The Abbey dates back to pre-Norman Conquest days,was closed under Henry VIII, and in its more recent history has links to Eichstatt in Germany, from where a group of six sisters arrived in the 1930s. There are now more than twice that number in the community, and we met the latest novice, and an Oblate, along with Sister Benedict who looked after us during our pilgrimage.Exploration of the Abbey, its garden and paths. The office of Sext and then Mass in the convent chapel with its great windows giving the glorious sweep of the trees and the sky above the sanctuary. The timeless reality of the Eucharist, the unchanging link binding us to long-ago Saxon sisters, and our voices raised in Newman's "Praise to the Holiest..." A potter around the village. Picnic lunches eaten on the Abbey's wide lawns. A presentation of the Abbey's history - which gave me the idea of perhaps doing a feature on St Mildred for EWTN, so watch for more on that. The peace of it all, a happy day. Final farewells over tea...
There was a train back to London which agreed to depart from Minster station, to our mild astonishment (see below). We were all a bit sad to leave, and we'll be back.
There was a train back to London which agreed to depart from Minster station, to our mild astonishment (see below). We were all a bit sad to leave, and we'll be back.
The people who run the railways...
...have their own ways of doing things. Just because one buys a ticket to Minster-in-Thanet, and gets on a train that is going there, and has regular announcements stating the fact, it doesn't mean that the train will actually take one there. Our small group of pilgrims to Minster met, as arranged, at Westminster Cathedral and hurried to Charing Cross to catch the train - all went well and we chatted merrily as we whizzed through the London suburbs and out into the Kent countryside...and then a voice announced that the train "will not be calling at Wye or at Minster". When an official materilised in due course,we asked why. "Well, there was a delay. We might be late." So apparently the only thing to do was to hurry past some of the stations where passengers might, irritatingly, wish to alight. He seemed to be a bit puzzled by our concern. We found this amusing for a while, and speculated about where we might end up - perhaps in France since this is the Channel Tunnel line? - but since we were unable to leave the train, and my plan about pulling the communication cord was deemed too expensive (£70 fine, or is it £100?)we were hurtled on to Ramsgate. We whizzed through Minster - I urged everyone to wave as the train rushed through, just in case any of our fellow-pilgrims were there. And indeed we learned later that Sister Benedict from the Abbey had gone down to the station to meet us,having carefully checked the train times...and was waiting faithfully when the train rushed through without stopping. She telephoned the railway company - and was connected to some one in India who was very polite and told her that the train had been "cancelled".
At Ramsgate we were told that we could catch a train back to Minster - only an hour to wait.
We piled into some taxis.
At Ramsgate we were told that we could catch a train back to Minster - only an hour to wait.
We piled into some taxis.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
An overnight bus...
...to the West Country, and a stay in a b-and-b while I visit some relations. This morning, I dropped in to Mass at the beautiful little Sacred Heart Church in Minehead. There was a surprisingly large congregation for a seaside town on an ordinary Monday morning. A good and happy way to start a busy day...
Somerset all green and cool and gently rainwashed. Bright berries on the hedgerows. Cows sitting down with huh-it's-going-to-rain-so-what? expressions in wide damp fields. Sudden lovely vistas from the bus windows - that glorious view of Dunster Keep, or a surge of wonderfuil rounded hills...
Pottering about on domestic errands. It is over 30 years since I first came to this corner of England and met the family into which I was to marry...
Today's newspapers make me realise yet again what a loopy country Britain is at present. There are plans to abandon the statement on passports announcing the holder's sex - because some lobby group is claiming that some people don't know what sex they are, and are trying to change into being the opposite one.
Somerset all green and cool and gently rainwashed. Bright berries on the hedgerows. Cows sitting down with huh-it's-going-to-rain-so-what? expressions in wide damp fields. Sudden lovely vistas from the bus windows - that glorious view of Dunster Keep, or a surge of wonderfuil rounded hills...
Pottering about on domestic errands. It is over 30 years since I first came to this corner of England and met the family into which I was to marry...
Today's newspapers make me realise yet again what a loopy country Britain is at present. There are plans to abandon the statement on passports announcing the holder's sex - because some lobby group is claiming that some people don't know what sex they are, and are trying to change into being the opposite one.
One year on...
...we celebrated the anniversary of the Holy Father's wonderful visit to Britain with a glorious Mass at Westminster Cathedral. It was a priviledge to be there...wonderful singing from that superb choir, and the huge congregation joining in the Credo, and the Pater Noster, and Newman's hymns, and a magnificent Te Deum at the end...
Saturday, September 17, 2011
The BBC....
...contacted me to ask if I would talk about the revival of the no-meat-on-Friday rule. Delighted. In the event it turned out that there were so many people 'phoning in to talk about the previous subject on the programme - corporal punishment in schools, for which a majority of parents have apparently come out in favour! - that the discussion about Fridays was postponed for almost an hour. But then when it did take place we had a full and lengthy discussion, and it was in fact the first time in a great while that I've been on a radio programme where I could actually answer questions properly and get things across. The usual things came up: "But how can it be a penance to be sitting down to a delicious salmon instead of, say, a meat pie?" etc.It was good to be able to explore the whole subject, and we tackled all sorts of things - the significance of Friday and Christ's death on the Cross, the value of traditions, what penance is all about, why obedience to the Church has value, and more.
For various reasons, I was doing the interview standing in our small garden - Jamie was sorting out various bits of Army equipment in one room, the washing machine was blaring in the kitchen, and the gardenn was the only quiet place. Felt odd to be standing there next to the apple tree, with a neighbour watching from a nearby fire-escape, talking on the radio about Bishops and Fridays and fish pie...
For various reasons, I was doing the interview standing in our small garden - Jamie was sorting out various bits of Army equipment in one room, the washing machine was blaring in the kitchen, and the gardenn was the only quiet place. Felt odd to be standing there next to the apple tree, with a neighbour watching from a nearby fire-escape, talking on the radio about Bishops and Fridays and fish pie...
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tea with...
...a priest of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. There is plenty going on in the Ordinariate - see some of the latest news here. But I would so love to see - and surely so would lots of other people? - Ordinariate groups being given the use of some of the old and currently unused or under-used churches that are around Britain. Of course some may be in places that are of no use to Ordinariate groups. But others...
At present, Ordinariate groups simply use local Catholic churches. But these are already busy places, with lots of Sunday Masses, and so the Ordinariate group has usually been given a "slot" on a Saturday evening...this is probably all right as a short-term measure, but it really won't do as things develop.
It's in everyone's interest - I mean everyone's - that fine old buildings get used and cherished.It seems daft that some old C. of E. churches may end up as warehouses or simply left empty...when they could be used by Ordinariate groups...
This is simply Auntie's view - not neccesarily shared by any Ordinariate clergy, who are busy getting on with things. But let's get praying, and we can hope that some good things could develop as time moves on...
At present, Ordinariate groups simply use local Catholic churches. But these are already busy places, with lots of Sunday Masses, and so the Ordinariate group has usually been given a "slot" on a Saturday evening...this is probably all right as a short-term measure, but it really won't do as things develop.
It's in everyone's interest - I mean everyone's - that fine old buildings get used and cherished.It seems daft that some old C. of E. churches may end up as warehouses or simply left empty...when they could be used by Ordinariate groups...
This is simply Auntie's view - not neccesarily shared by any Ordinariate clergy, who are busy getting on with things. But let's get praying, and we can hope that some good things could develop as time moves on...
Thursday, September 15, 2011
London in bright Autumnal sunshine...
...somehow has a sense of history that it lacks in other seasons. It is an Autumn/Winter city, not at its best in summer's searing heat. Today, a visit to an art exhibition in Kensington, then a chatty family lunch. Then a meeting with Patti Fordyce, a colleague from the Assn of Catholic Women.
The ACW has its Pilgrimage to Minster next week: SEptember 21st. Join us! Meet 7.45am at Westminster Cathedral. Bring a packed lunch.I've been working on the hymn-sheets and programme for the day (we'll be singing Faith of Our Fathers, and Praise to the Holiest....)
And do come to the ACW meeting on Sat Oct 24th, starts 2pm St James church centre, George St WI.We are celebrating the beatification of JP11. Speaker: Dr Philip Howard on "Blessed John Paul - a personal perspective on his influence on contemporary medical ethics and practices", followed by a film on the life of Bl JP11. All welcome. ACW meetings are friendly and welcoming and you will be meeting women who are active in the Church and enthusiastic about their faith...
The ACW has its Pilgrimage to Minster next week: SEptember 21st. Join us! Meet 7.45am at Westminster Cathedral. Bring a packed lunch.I've been working on the hymn-sheets and programme for the day (we'll be singing Faith of Our Fathers, and Praise to the Holiest....)
And do come to the ACW meeting on Sat Oct 24th, starts 2pm St James church centre, George St WI.We are celebrating the beatification of JP11. Speaker: Dr Philip Howard on "Blessed John Paul - a personal perspective on his influence on contemporary medical ethics and practices", followed by a film on the life of Bl JP11. All welcome. ACW meetings are friendly and welcoming and you will be meeting women who are active in the Church and enthusiastic about their faith...
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Will they submit?
The Church has made a generous and loving call to the Lefebvrists today. We might expect that as a result several of them will decide submit to Rome. They will find that all the things they have been saying over the years about how crucial it was for them to break away and be the one lone real voice, etc etc etc, will dwindle away, and they'll discover that it is really rather good to be faithful Catholics. There will probably be an intransigent rump that won't submit, and this in turn may splinter into two or more different groups.
Meanwhile the Church's understanding of religious freedom will continue to flourish and the invitation to "the examination and theological explanation of individual expressions and formulations" of Vatican II's words on the subject (I'm quoting from the Vatican's statement today on the discussions with the Lefebvrists) may lead them to see its richness. There is a tired, cul-de-sac feel to the SSPX line on the subject, and a sort of recognition that there is a main road that might be worth seeking out and joining...
I went today to a Catholic bookshop to buy prizes for a schools' project,and enjoyed browsing...realised how swiftly things become part of Catholic life, Catholic tradition, and the liiving reality of the Church. A book Miracles of John Paul II took me back, somehow, to some of the things I remember from my childhood telling of the miracles at Lourdes, or of my young adult years when I first heard about the miracles associated with Padre Pio. It is poignant to think of people in years to come praying to John Paul and adding to the next generation of books about him...and for them things like World Youth Day that he initiated will just seem part of Church life - rather as we see Lourdes pilgrimages, or Padre Pio prayer-groups...
Meanwhile the Church's understanding of religious freedom will continue to flourish and the invitation to "the examination and theological explanation of individual expressions and formulations" of Vatican II's words on the subject (I'm quoting from the Vatican's statement today on the discussions with the Lefebvrists) may lead them to see its richness. There is a tired, cul-de-sac feel to the SSPX line on the subject, and a sort of recognition that there is a main road that might be worth seeking out and joining...
I went today to a Catholic bookshop to buy prizes for a schools' project,and enjoyed browsing...realised how swiftly things become part of Catholic life, Catholic tradition, and the liiving reality of the Church. A book Miracles of John Paul II took me back, somehow, to some of the things I remember from my childhood telling of the miracles at Lourdes, or of my young adult years when I first heard about the miracles associated with Padre Pio. It is poignant to think of people in years to come praying to John Paul and adding to the next generation of books about him...and for them things like World Youth Day that he initiated will just seem part of Church life - rather as we see Lourdes pilgrimages, or Padre Pio prayer-groups...
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
I am making...
...a Novena invoking the intercession of Blessed John Paul II.
There is a beautiful prayer in this booklet...
The specific request I was making in the Novena has already been granted - quite swiftly and even dramatically, after just one day. Theological question: do I now complete the Novena in thanksgiving and gratitude, or continue with some other requests, or what?
There is a beautiful prayer in this booklet...
The specific request I was making in the Novena has already been granted - quite swiftly and even dramatically, after just one day. Theological question: do I now complete the Novena in thanksgiving and gratitude, or continue with some other requests, or what?
to Sussex....
...to plan with the team organising the Catholic History Walks and linked activities in the coming weeks and throughout 2012...
Next events coming up:
Next Wednesday, Sept 21st - pilgrimage to Minster-in-Thanet. Meet 7.45am at Westminster Cathedral. Bring a packed lunch.
Wed Oct 5th - History walk in the City of London. Meet on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, 6.30pm.
Wed Oct 19th - tour of St George's Cathedral, Southwark. Starts 2.30pm, meet at the main door of the Cathedral. (Nearest tube: WATERLOO or LAMBETH NORTH)
Friday November 4th, talk on Blessed John Henry Newman at the Hinsley Room, next to Westminster Cathedral, 6.30pm (following the 5.30pm Mass)
We are also supporting the BLESSED SACRAMENT PROCESSION on SATURDAY October 1st, starts 1.15pm at Westminster Cathedral.
Next events coming up:
Next Wednesday, Sept 21st - pilgrimage to Minster-in-Thanet. Meet 7.45am at Westminster Cathedral. Bring a packed lunch.
Wed Oct 5th - History walk in the City of London. Meet on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, 6.30pm.
Wed Oct 19th - tour of St George's Cathedral, Southwark. Starts 2.30pm, meet at the main door of the Cathedral. (Nearest tube: WATERLOO or LAMBETH NORTH)
Friday November 4th, talk on Blessed John Henry Newman at the Hinsley Room, next to Westminster Cathedral, 6.30pm (following the 5.30pm Mass)
We are also supporting the BLESSED SACRAMENT PROCESSION on SATURDAY October 1st, starts 1.15pm at Westminster Cathedral.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
If you want to see...
... pic of the great group of young pilgrims with whom Auntie spent some time at WYD, click on here...
BTW, there is a feature by Auntie about WYD in today's (sept 11th 2011) issue of the Catholc Times...
BTW, there is a feature by Auntie about WYD in today's (sept 11th 2011) issue of the Catholc Times...
Sunday morning...
...with headlines noting the anniversary of the ghastly terrorist attacks against the USA in September 2001. Mass, and a sense of parish life getting busy again after the summer break, with announcements about First Communion clsses and youth groups and so on. Autumn sunshine. The horse-chestnut trees all across England are turning brown - but not with healthy Autumnal glow, instead there is some horrid disease which is affecting them with rust and slowly killing them. Sad echoes of the disease that struck our lovely elm trees back in the 1970s. To lose the horse-chesnut trees with their gleaming conkers and their thick, reassurring spreading branches, is to lose something precious. Ruper Brooke wrote in his poem about Grantchester "Say, do the elm-clumps greatly stand, still guardians of that holy land?" and alas, they don't. Now it seems that the glorious chestnut trees won't either...
A celebration...
...at Maryvale for the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the present Brigettine Order. The Brigettine sisters at Maryvale are a wonderful team - they run the whole of the student accomodation and hospitality there, meals, cleaning, organising of the rooms etc - and, more importantly, are the spiritual heart of the whole place as the days begin with their prayers and the whole house is made pleasant by their kindness.
There was a beautiful Mass in the chapel by Bishop William Kenney, auxiliary in Birmingham, who was for some years a Bishop in Sweden - where of course the Brigettine Order has its roots and where he was frequently at their retreat house at Djursholm. The whole story of the Brigettines is of special interest to me as I am currently working on a biography of two of them, Mother Riccarda Hambrough and Mother Katherine Flanagan. The former was something of a heroine in Rome in World War II as she helped to hide Jewish refugees in the convent...and I have just over the past couple of days had the delight of making contact with some of her relations, who did not know about all this and are extremely interested...
It is always a joy to go to Maryvale: as a student there I feel so much at home as soon as I walk through the big gates and up the drive, past the statue of Our Lady and on to the pillared porch. The Brigettine celebration included a delicious buffet lunch laid out on a table laid with crisp white cloths caught up with scarlet ribbons, all in the lecture hall which usually features rows of desks and busy students. I stayed on in the library for a little while to tackle some emails - and will be back at Maryvale again in a short while for the start of a new term.
There was a beautiful Mass in the chapel by Bishop William Kenney, auxiliary in Birmingham, who was for some years a Bishop in Sweden - where of course the Brigettine Order has its roots and where he was frequently at their retreat house at Djursholm. The whole story of the Brigettines is of special interest to me as I am currently working on a biography of two of them, Mother Riccarda Hambrough and Mother Katherine Flanagan. The former was something of a heroine in Rome in World War II as she helped to hide Jewish refugees in the convent...and I have just over the past couple of days had the delight of making contact with some of her relations, who did not know about all this and are extremely interested...
It is always a joy to go to Maryvale: as a student there I feel so much at home as soon as I walk through the big gates and up the drive, past the statue of Our Lady and on to the pillared porch. The Brigettine celebration included a delicious buffet lunch laid out on a table laid with crisp white cloths caught up with scarlet ribbons, all in the lecture hall which usually features rows of desks and busy students. I stayed on in the library for a little while to tackle some emails - and will be back at Maryvale again in a short while for the start of a new term.
Friday, September 09, 2011
A happy day....
...on Wednesday, which was Auntie's birthday. First appointment with St Paul's bookshop, next to Westminster Cathedral, to look at the illustrations for my book on Blessed John Paul, due out in October, with illustrator Kati Teague, who brought celebration cakes! I was really touched and we all settled down to enjoy them along with the illustrations - which are charming, especially one of BlJP11 with children...
In the evening, supper with friends. A lovely welcome, gin-and-tonic, birthday gift (a book by Elizabeth vom Arnim), laughter and catching up on news... The daughter of the house had been at World Youth Day so we regaled the party with tales of scorching heat, queues for the loos, singing on trains, and ants in one's underwear...and going to confession in the park, the unforgettable prayer vigil with the Holy Father, the huge goodwill and joy everywhere, and the sense that, yes, the whole experience was quietly but significantly life-changing...
A delicious meal, with Summer Pudding (my favourite) and J. arrived with flowers and chocs and champagne...
In the evening, supper with friends. A lovely welcome, gin-and-tonic, birthday gift (a book by Elizabeth vom Arnim), laughter and catching up on news... The daughter of the house had been at World Youth Day so we regaled the party with tales of scorching heat, queues for the loos, singing on trains, and ants in one's underwear...and going to confession in the park, the unforgettable prayer vigil with the Holy Father, the huge goodwill and joy everywhere, and the sense that, yes, the whole experience was quietly but significantly life-changing...
A delicious meal, with Summer Pudding (my favourite) and J. arrived with flowers and chocs and champagne...
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
It's time to check out...
...information on this year's TOWARDS ADVENT FESTIVAL - you'll find it here...
In cool rainy London...
...the heat of Madrid seems another world, but the glow of World Youth Day lingers....reflections here...
VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD....
...are important. You may find this blog of interest. I was with some of these young people in Madrid.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Religious freedom is crucial....
"The Second Vatican Council, recognizing and making its own an essential principle of the modern State with the Decree on Religious Freedom, has recovered the deepest patrimony of the Church. By so doing she can be conscious of being in full harmony with the teaching of Jesus himself (cf. Mt 22: 21), as well as with the Church of the martyrs of all time.
"The ancient Church naturally prayed for the emperors and political leaders out of duty (cf. I Tm 2: 2); but while she prayed for the emperors, she refused to worship them and thereby clearly rejected the religion of the State.The martyrs of the early Church died for their faith in that God who was revealed in Jesus Christ, and for this very reason they also died for freedom of conscience and the freedom to profess one's own faith - a profession that no State can impose but which, instead, can only be claimed with God's grace in freedom of conscience."
Pope Benedict XVI
"The ancient Church naturally prayed for the emperors and political leaders out of duty (cf. I Tm 2: 2); but while she prayed for the emperors, she refused to worship them and thereby clearly rejected the religion of the State.The martyrs of the early Church died for their faith in that God who was revealed in Jesus Christ, and for this very reason they also died for freedom of conscience and the freedom to profess one's own faith - a profession that no State can impose but which, instead, can only be claimed with God's grace in freedom of conscience."
Pope Benedict XVI
COME AND HELP MAKE HISTORY....
...a BLESSED SACRAMENT PROCESSION
from WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL
to
ST GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL SOUTHWARK
on Saturday October 1st
starts 1.15pm Westminster Cathedral.
Procession leaves 1.30pm, via Ambrosden Avenue, FRancis Street, Vincent Street, Horseferry Road and Lambeth Bridge to St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
2.30pm (approx) Benediction, St George's Cathedral.
This Procession is to celebrate the first anniversary of the Beatification of Bl. John Henry Newman, and the 2010 visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain. Come and join in!
from WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL
to
ST GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL SOUTHWARK
on Saturday October 1st
starts 1.15pm Westminster Cathedral.
Procession leaves 1.30pm, via Ambrosden Avenue, FRancis Street, Vincent Street, Horseferry Road and Lambeth Bridge to St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
2.30pm (approx) Benediction, St George's Cathedral.
This Procession is to celebrate the first anniversary of the Beatification of Bl. John Henry Newman, and the 2010 visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain. Come and join in!
To get a flavour...
...of what the British pilgrims at World Youth Day experienced, go here and click on to the links given. Listen to the testimonies of the young people, enjoy the songs and the dear voice of the Holy Father joyfully greeting everyone and sharing in the youthful joy...
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Meanwhile in Ireland...
...instead of recognising the bad results of the close interlocking of Church and State as revealed in the shocking child-abuse cases, the Government has decided to waste time and energy by announcing grandiose nonsense that will achieve nothing whatever: trying to intervene in the sacramental life of the Church. This is pointless: we are dealing here with spiritual realities where Government legislation has no role at all. It is no use whatever announcing that Catholic priests must reveal to the police some sins mentioned to them in the sacrament of confession: they can't and they won't. Announcing prison terms for priests will make no difference to this.
Debate on BBC Radio 5 about this topic this evening:I was invited to take part but got very little chance to speak as much time was spent by the interviewer endlessly berating a Catholic priest and urging him to betray sacramental secrets.
The Irish government's announcement is just ludicrous: a classic example of attempts to deflect from the real issues at stake.
Debate on BBC Radio 5 about this topic this evening:I was invited to take part but got very little chance to speak as much time was spent by the interviewer endlessly berating a Catholic priest and urging him to betray sacramental secrets.
The Irish government's announcement is just ludicrous: a classic example of attempts to deflect from the real issues at stake.
Saturday, September 03, 2011
The summer gently ending...
...with days of sudden great heat. An afternoon spent with young relatives, the children splashing gleefuly with great squeaks of joy and delight in a big paddling pool in a local park.Picking blackberries on the way home and eating them for supper. Gathering apples and making apple-jelly - it's setting nicely in the kitchen as I write this. A big jar of apple sauce to be taken to some friends tomorrow. A garden-party with an elderly relative in a nearby residential home, the Bishop joining us for tea. An English summer drawing to its close with some reassuring notes in an often worrying world.
Thursday, September 01, 2011
COME ON PILGRIMAGE...
...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...
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...
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...
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