An Honour and a Responsibility

The settling-in process of the revised English Mass translation

2012-01-25T19:34:00.006Z

I thought it might be useful to record the things I have noticed at Mass, now that the revised translation has been up and running in England and Wales for some months.

First of all, our parish priest. He has been very good, very committed to making a decent job of the revised Mass. All credit to him.

Most of the congregation seem to have got the hang of “And with your spirit”. The only instance of it that frequently trips me up is the one after Holy Communion, when I haven’t changed gear from saying my post-Communion prayers, and haven’t picked up my Mass book again. I find myself saying “And also … your spirit”. I’ll get used to it soon enough, I hope.

The Confiteor is, in one respect, a work in progress. Hardly any of the people strike their breast at the “through my fault”, except where I happen to be. Usually by the third strike, my neighbours on each side have joined in, which is interesting. This may be happening elsewhere among the congregation – little clusters of “strikers” – but I don’t look round to see what’s happening. In my peripheral vision, I don’t notice any movement.

During the Creed, and again this is only within my peripheral range of sight, very few heads are bowed at the Incarnation; but then, that was the case before the revision. However, I think the incidence of it has increased a little. There is one heroine who genuflects at this point, in the old style, which sets a wonderful example.

At the Offertory prayers, nearly everyone says “for our good and the good of all his Church”, except for me and a few others thinly scattered around the nave, who remember to insert the “holy”. Our “Church” then goes out into the silence. I feel a bit like Corporal Jones in Dad’s Army, standing to attention a couple of seconds behind the rest of the platoon. But perseverance is the thing; perhaps my neighbours who miss it this time will remember to say it next time. Slowly, slowly, it will spread.

The response to “Behold the Lamb of God” is definitely rather ragged. I think quite a lot of people still say “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you”; but at this point they seem to become conscious of the sound of confusion as the two translations diverge; and I think quite a few of them are back on track with “my soul shall be healed” by the end.

I wonder if these observations are fairly similar to those of my English-speaking readers. I suppose it depends on whether the priest decides to tackle what builders would call the "snagging" list, or relies on time to iron everything out.

Anonymity, with extra Anonymity

2012-01-24T16:43:00.006Z

As far as I am concerned, Confession must not only be in a proper confessional with a screen between confessor and penitent, but it should also be without any possibility of recognising the penitent by his or her voice.

Hence the various outings I have made in recent years. A couple of times to the Birmingham Oratory, but it's two trains from here, followed by quite a long walk from Five Ways station. I haven't been there for four or five years.

Once to Birmingham's St Chad's Cathedral, where the then-incumbent, Archbishop Nichols, offered the Mass, and then disappeared into the confessional. I was a bit intimidated at the thought of confessing to him, but he was kindness itself.

Mostly, these days, to the grand Georgian church of St Mary-on-the-Quay, in Bristol. A hassle-free train journey through delightful countryside, to Brunel's great Temple Meads station, and a bus that runs every few minutes from the station forecourt to the church. Couldn't be easier.

The church appears to be staffed mainly by overseas priests: from the Philippines, I think, and from the Sub-Continent/Sri Lanka. The priests are very good, and always give words of encouragement and advice. Yesterday was a little different: an Irish priest, also very good and kind, with his own style of guidance. All most edifying.

Confessions take place during the daily half-hour of Solemn Exposition, and this is followed by a lunchtime Mass at 12.15, ideal for the local office-workers. Naturally there are quite a few pensioners in the congregation, but yesterday I particularly noticed that there were a number of young and youngish men. I thought that was really impressive. And for the first time I saw a woman wearing a mantilla. I wore a headscarf, and this is another of those things I rather like: when I am in a strange church in a different town, I don't feel at all embarrassed about covering my head. There's a feeling of being able to express one's devotion freely; none of this fear of being thought to be posing as an über-Catholic.

Images: Confessional, from Fr Z's blog; St Mary's, from geograph.org.uk. Both via Google Images.

Financial Support for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

2012-01-21T17:06:00.013Z

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has not spent the £1 million transferred to it from the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.

The full story is in The Church Times, and has been posted here, on the Ordinariate Portal blog.

In eternal terms, I think the Good Lord will provide the Ordinariate’s spiritual lifeblood. But a more prosaic form of lifeblood is derived from the financial support of its members and well-wishers. However modest each person’s donation may be, even a small amount each month, multiplied by as many donors as possible, will make a substantial contribution to the fruitfulness of the Ordinariate’s ministry.

Here are the links to the donation pages of the Ordinariate, and of the Friends of the Ordinariate. Donations can be made to either or both. I received the following explanation as to the difference between the two, in reply to an enquiry I made to the Friends:

“The difference of the two links is that the Ordinariate is for the support of the clergy for everyday expenses. The Friends Charity will give to the Ordinariate any projects it wants to do.”

Picture from catholicnews.org.uk via Google Images

“Why is Mary making that long journey with Joseph, and in her condition too?”

2012-01-13T17:34:00.006Z

I have sometimes wondered what Mary’s female relations thought of Joseph for taking Mary with him on the long and arduous slog from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They were experienced enough to have a good idea of the advanced stage she had reached in her pregnancy. But I can imagine her keeping everything within her heart, as she is described as doing on other occasions; and as many of us know, women vary somewhat in their appearance at any given stage of pregnancy. There may thus have been some slight scope for uncertainty. Still, they must have been surprised, and probably worried, at the news that one or both of the couple were determined not to be parted at such a time.

We are told tantalisingly little about things that are not really important to us in the great scheme of the Incarnation. We can however consider those parts of the story that we are told, and can at least speculate, with faithfulness and within reason.

I am assuming that Mary and Joseph shared with one another all those words of the Angel which they considered themselves at liberty to share. Is that a reasonable assumption?

Did the Angel direct Joseph and/or Mary to go to Bethlehem so that the Anointed One would be born there, in order to fulfil the Scriptures?* There is no record of such a command in the Birth accounts of Matthew or of Luke.

I think it is very likely that they both knew about the Biblical prophecy. Did one or both of them decide, without the Angel’s guidance, that this was what they should do? I’m not sure about that. They knew they were the handmaid and the servant of the Lord; they may have simply waited for further guidance, for a clear pointer as to what they should do.

If this was in fact the course of action - of patient, expectant inaction - which they felt to be the right one, they certainly received that clear pointer when the Emperor’s edict was issued, requiring Joseph to travel to Bethlehem to be enrolled for the purposes of taxation.

Here is another of those fascinating glimpses we receive into the status of St Joseph. I published a post a little while ago drawing attention to his notable ancestry, in addition to his descent from King David. He must surely have held a position of some seniority in his extended family, that it should be necessary for him to be present in person in his ancestral town, or his own hometown, of Bethlehem.

But the timing of the journey was cutting it very fine. Did Mary’s family try to dissuade Joseph from taking Mary with him? I can see a picture in my mind, of Mary virtually coming to the rescue of Joseph, with words of calm determination that they would not be parted.

There is something else that emerges, I think, when one considers these events, and the extraordinary path along which Mary and Joseph’s special promises to one another were to lead them. It is the beautiful spirit of unity between them. To use a modern expression, they were soulmates; to a degree far beyond that which any other married couple had ever been or would be.

*Matthew 2:6, after Micah 5:2

Picture "Journey to Bethlehem" by Joseph Brickey, from sherriejohnson.blogspot.com, via Google Images

St Paul's Epistles in Chronological Sequence

2012-01-12T16:41:00.004Z

After many years of reading the Jerusalem Bible, I bought the Catholic Revised Standard Version a few years ago. I wondered if the different translation would refresh my reading of Scripture. It certainly has, and I prefer it.

There is however one very useful aspect to my Jerusalem Bible. It is the standard edition, and it contains detailed introductions to particular groups of Books.

This post concerns the Letters of St Paul. I thought you might find it interesting to compare the Letters as printed in the Bible, with the order in which they were actually written, according to the introduction in the Jerusalem Bible. It may be, of course, that biblical scholarship has moved on in this respect since the JB was published in 1966. If so, I’m happy to be corrected on the dates.

The standard Biblical sequence is:

Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews

The Letters arranged by year are:

50-51: 1 and 2 Thessalonians
56-57: Philippians
57: 1 and 2 Corinthians
57-58: Galatians and Romans
61-63: Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon
65: 1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy
67: Hebrews

I like to read the Letters in chronological sequence. I haven't made an in-depth study of them, and so I can’t put my finger on particular instances where it makes a difference, but I think there’s a sense of progression in them as the years go by. It seems to be worth doing, as an exercise if for no other reason.

Picture from thebloggingbrother.blogspot.com via Google Images

When Mary visited Elizabeth, did Joseph accompany her?

2012-01-11T09:43:00.005Z

We know from Luke’s Gospel (1:39) that on being told by the Angel that her kinswoman Elizabeth has conceived a child in her old age, when everyone had thought her to be barren, “Mary arose and went with haste” to visit her.

So here we are, with Mary's sudden announcement that she wants to visit Elizabeth. Did she say why? She may not have felt herself authorised to reveal the reason. She is determined to set off at once on that long journey from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea.

She could not have travelled alone: that would surely have been unthinkable. Is it possible then that her betrothed husband Joseph took on the task of escorting her? And of returning at an agreed time to collect her and bring her back to Nazareth? It seems very probable to me.

If he did, it is likely that he witnessed some very strange things. He would have heard the extraordinary outburst from Elizabeth at the sound of Mary’s voice, and the outpouring of joy from his betrothed, echoing the words of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. He would have discovered that Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah had unaccountably been struck dumb in the Temple. Upon returning to Judea to bring Mary home, he would have learnt about – and may even have witnessed – the sudden return of Zechariah's power of speech, on the occasion of his son John’s naming and circumcision, and his beautiful prophecy about his child’s destiny.

And then home, and back to earth with a terrible jolt for poor Joseph. If Mary and he had made these journeys together, everyone in Nazareth would assume that Joseph was the father of Mary’s child. Only she and he knew differently; and at this point he, to his great distress, knew nothing at all.

Picture from catholicmom.com via Google Images

Some Thoughts on the Betrothal of Mary and Joseph (Part 2 of 2)

2012-01-10T07:51:00.005Z

Following on from yesterday’s post, here are the betrothal references in Joseph’s story:

Matthew 1:18-25: "When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly.

"But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

"All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and His name shall be called Emmanuel”
(which means, God with us).

"When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son #; and he called His name Jesus.”

# I ought to include the footnote that appears in my Bible : “This means only that Joseph had nothing to do with the conception of Jesus. It implies nothing as to what happened afterward.”

Finally, here is a telling word from Luke 2:5. At the time of Jesus’s birth, the evangelist continues to describe Mary and Joseph as “betrothed”, yet Joseph had by this time clearly taken her to their married home. It appears to have been done quietly, without celebration; perhaps for the sake of discretion, since the pregnancy would naturally have led their family and neighbours to believe that they were already living as man and wife.

Which gives rise to another speculation or two. More to come tomorrow.

Picture from thesacredpage.com via Google Images

Some Thoughts on the Betrothal of Mary and Joseph (Part 1 of 2)

2012-01-09T08:22:00.008Z

I thought I would gather together all the Gospel references to the relationship of Mary and Joseph, and I’m glad I did.

But first, the Jewish Encyclopaedia has a fascinating article on betrothal. In addition to the interesting text, it contains a number of beautiful illustrations which are well worth seeing in their own right.

I’ve picked out the following words:

- Once they were betrothed, the couple “were considered as man and wife in all legal and religious aspects, except that of actual cohabitation.”

- Betrothal “is equivalent to an actual marriage and only to be dissolved by a formal divorce.”

- The period between betrothal and the formal hometaking (the completion of the marriage) was 12 months, or 30 days if either of the spouses had previously been widowed.

Set within this context, here are the Gospel references to Mary and Joseph’s relationship. First, Mary’s story.

Luke 1:27 describes Mary as “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.”

It is interesting and possibly significant that when the angel says in Luke 1:31, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus”, he does not say that it will happen straight away, or indeed when it will happen.

Perhaps this sheds some light on Mary’s response to the angel (Luke 1:34): “How can this be [or “how will this be”], since I have no husband?” It is strange that she says she has no husband, at a time when she and Joseph are already husband and wife “in all legal and religious aspects, except that of actual cohabitation”. It has always seemed unlikely to me that Mary would have waited until after the “hometaking" to tell Joseph about her vow of virginity. Bearing in mind the Church’s teaching on the perpetual virginity of Our Lady, it feels as if this text contains a hint of a special understanding between them, of a kind that makes it necessary for her to ask the means by which the Lord has willed her to bear a son.

This is a long post, so I have split it and will continue it tomorrow.

Picture from bookdrum.com via Google Images

The Flight, the Massacre, the Return - but to Where?

2011-12-28T19:25:00.007Z

Today’s Feast of the Holy Innocents reminds me of my reluctance to dwell on this appalling episode in the infancy of Our Lord. So if you’ll excuse me, I won’t. I’ll talk round it instead, concentrating on other related verses.

There are elements of St Matthew’s account of this period in the life of the Holy Family which I find really intriguing. The following rather scattery reflections are very much of the “lounge bar of the local” variety; not at all a work of academic research; and they will be well known to you. But here goes.

St Luke (1:39) says that Zechariah and Elizabeth lived in a town in the hill country of Judea. This must have been close enough to Jerusalem to enable Zachariah to travel there fairly easily to carry out his priestly duties when his turn came round.

There is no more detail concerning the location of their town; we do not know how close it was to the Judean town of Bethlehem.

After Jesus’s birth in the stable in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph appear to have stayed there for some time, rather than returning to Nazareth. The account of the visit of the Magi describes their dwelling not as a stable but as a house (Matthew 2:11), which implies that the census crowds had departed and they had found a place that was comfortable for the baby and convenient for Joseph to ply his trade as a carpenter.

Warned by the angel of Herod’s murderous plan, the little family fled to Egypt. Herod “sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under” (Matthew 2:16). At this point, therefore, Jesus was evidently up to two years of age.

This brings me back to Elizabeth and Zechariah. Was their Judean hill-country home “in the Bethlehem region”, and thus within the search and kill range of Herod’s troops? If not, my train of thought is irrelevant. But if it was within range, was John, who was six months older than Jesus, older than the age of two at the time of the massacre, and therefore old enough to escape the work of the killers?

If John was older than two years old, Jesus would have been quite a toddler by then, and He and His parents well settled into their life in Bethlehem. Did Mary and Joseph choose to live there because of the ancient prophecy (Matthew 2:4-6, quoting Micah 5:2)? Had the angel commanded Joseph (or both of them) to do so? Did they stay because it was Joseph’s ancestral home, and possibly (or probably) Mary’s too? In view of the circumstances of Jesus’s conception and birth - almost certainly unknown to everyone else except Elizabeth - did they decide to stay away from Nazareth for the sake of discretion? Did they choose Bethlehem because they could be near to Elizabeth and her own very special son?

And then there is the final detail in this little investigative and conjectural trail. It appears that when Herod had died and it was safe for the Holy Family to return, their intention was to settle once again in Bethlehem. At least, that is the way I read it, from Matthew 2:22-23: “But when [Joseph] heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled. ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’ ”

I’ve enjoyed gathering these threads together, and I hope you too will find them interesting.

Later: I’ve just thought of something else. If they had returned to live in Bethlehem, they would have been the only family, aside from a few others who might have migrated into the town, who had a male child within the age-range of the massacre. In the event of any subsequent attacks of royal paranoia, Jesus would have been very conspicuous.

Christmas wishes, and the genealogy of Our Lady

2011-12-24T11:43:00.006Z

A very happy Christmas to all my readers!

Continuing the theme of genealogy from my last post, the following is well-known from our Scriptural readings, but I thought I would just dwell on it for a few minutes.

St Luke’s Gospel contains very interesting references to the ancestral connections of Our Lady, as well as those of St Joseph. I say connections, because we do not know the precise details, and family trees can be very complicated things, especially, for example, if step-fathers have been recorded as fathers.

Firstly, as I understand it the customary practice was to marry within one’s tribe or extended family. If this is so of Mary and Joseph, the Davidic ancestry which is recorded in regard to Joseph may well have been shared by Mary.

Secondly, further light is shed on Mary’s connections when we consider the details recorded about her kinswoman Elizabeth. Elizabeth was the wife of a priest, and was herself a descendant of the brother of Moses, the great Aaron, the first High Priest.

In themselves these details do not prove the direct priestly and royal ancestry of Mary, but it is wonderful to think that this young girl, leading her quiet life in Nazareth, far away from the hub of things, may well have inherited the blood of these two major figures of Jewish history and of God’s dealings with His chosen people.

Picture from prepareformass.wordpress.com, via Google Images

Raising up the Temple and the Altar of God

2011-12-22T16:25:00.010Z

The differing genealogies of St Joseph are intriguing, and various theories have been put forward to account for the differences. It has even been suggested that one genealogy is in fact that of our Lady. But that seems far-fetched. It seems more likely that Joseph had more than one ancestral line, and these have simply been recorded as they existed. The most reasonable explanation is surely the inclusion in one or other version - or both - of collateral ancestors who married widowed sisters-in-law.

However, the reason for this post is a passage I came across in the Book of Ezra. Following the return from the Babylonian captivity, among those entrusted with rebuilding the Altar of God and the Temple of the Lord, was one Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel. Hello, I thought, as I read this; I know those names. The first thing that came to mind was the genealogies of St Joseph; and the names are there, in both Matthew’s and Luke’s versions.

There is an inclination to think of artisans as somewhat down the social scale; an idea which I find very annoying, and it is hard to believe that this was the case in ancient times. I think it adds a background to St Joseph which sheds light on his considerable stature as a Jew, in addition to all that we revere him for in relation to his loving care for Jesus and Mary. It is a great and a noble thing to have as one’s ancestors those who built up the Altar and the Temple, and to be entrusted with an even more exalted work of raising up.

Picture from st-joseph-medal-com, via Google Images

A Bishop makes the case for the value of silence in church

2011-12-12T16:47:00.006Z

It is a strange experience, I find, to make the Stations of the Cross after Sunday Mass. There is a tremendous noise of conversations and laughter. Many a time I have been praying in front of a Station, right next to a group of parishioners who are exchanging the latest news. I find it quite a challenge to my concentration, but I am getting better at it, and I make the effort to think generous thoughts of my neighbours. But how I long for the silence which used to be the norm in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, in the days of my youth!

And now, to my surprise and delight, the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, who live on one of the tiniest islands of the Orkneys, have made available to us this marvellous pastoral letter. It comes from the new Bishop of Aberdeen, the Right Reverend Dom Hugh Gilbert OSB, who until recently was the Abbot of Pluscarden.

If only these wise and inspiring words could filter down through the various dioceses – hierarchies, even – of the British Isles, and reach the churches up and down our countries where this message is sorely needed. It is not a matter of being a killjoy. It seems such an obvious contribution to the nourishment of our faith.

They don’t say it as they used to. In this case, probably just as well.

2011-11-27T21:58:00.005Z

Having a bit of a migraine this morning, I wasn't up to going to Mass until this afternoon.

This is one of those parts of the country where there are long-established Masses for the Polish community. I believe their origin lies in the Second World War, when Polish refugee settlements were set up in various places. Many refugees remained in Britain, and their children and grandchildren were born here. The settlements are all closed now; but new immigrants have arrived from Poland, and the sparse Mass attendance of a few years ago has grown enormously.

I take my old prayerbook to pretty well every Mass I attend, whatever the language, and thanks to this, even though I can't understand a word of Polish, my participatio was intensely actuosa.

Being a little more organised than usual, I had already read today's Scripture passages before going out. Then, during the homily, it came into my head to turn to the back of my prayerbook and read the old Epistle and Gospel for the day. These old prayerbooks contain all the Sunday readings; they are a wonderful resource, and a very compact and portable size.

The Epistle was such a delight that I thought I would share it with you. It isn't long. I think it must be in the Douai version.

Romans XIII, 11-14
Brethren. Know, that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is past and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is one tremendous wake-up call. Short and to the point, and we know exactly what it means. Including the chambering.

Only a short break, I hope, Ttony

2011-11-04T14:57:00.003Z

Very sorry to learn that Ttony intends to cease posting for the time being on his Muniment Room blog, which has always been one of my favourites.

I have tried to send him my good wishes in his combox, both on his last and on his penultimate post, but the system won’t let me. Ttony, if you drop by, all the very best to you, and I hope your absence will not be long. In the meantime, I look forward to reading your comments on other blogs.

A little more about the pews

2011-10-07T14:53:00.004+01:00

As mentioned in my comment following the previous post, I rang the local authority's conservation section, hoping to learn something of the background to the decision to get rid of the old pews at the Grade II* listed church of St Gregory the Great in Cheltenham.

Yesterday morning I received a telephone call from the officer who deals with the town's listed buildings. It was a very interesting and informative conversation.

Before approaching the council, I had read the text of the English Heritage listing for St Gregory's, and also, by way of comparison, for the nearby Anglican parish church of Cheltenham (St Mary's - a mediaeval gem). When I saw that the Victorian pews were mentioned in the listing for St Mary's , but not in the listing for St Gregory's, I assumed that this was decisive. But not so, it seems. The listed buildings officer said that in considering what may or may not be done to listed churches and their contents, the pews do not have to be mentioned in the text in order to be included in the listing.

As with other denominations, the Catholic Church has an element of exemption from the legislation, in that it has its own internal system for applications and approvals in regard to repair or restoration work in its listed churches. In such cases, however, both the local authority and English Heritage are usually consulted.

The listed buildings officer knew nothing about the removal of the pews until she saw the article in Wednesday's Gloucestershire Echo.

I don't expect to learn anything more about these events, unless a further news item appears in the Echo; or, of course, if the pews suddenly reappear in the church - which seems unlikely. All I know is that the officer said she was about to make a number of telephone calls.

St Gregory's church, Cheltenham, has disposed of its fine old pews

2011-10-05T13:21:00.014+01:00

The Gothic pews in the lovely church of St Gregory the Great in Cheltenham have been taken out and sold. They are to be replaced with the pews from a 1960s-style church in which Masses are no longer offered.

Here is the exterior (1) of St Gregory’s -

And here is the interior (2) complete with its old pews –

And here is the exterior (3) of the church from which the replacement pews will come –

St Gregory’s has taken part on more than one occasion in the annual Heritage Open Day weeks, in which various buildings of great beauty and/or historical interest in the town have welcomed visitors to enable them to appreciate the beautiful interiors.

Google Images courtesy of:
(1)heritageopendays.org.uk
(2)youngcatholicadults-latestnews.blogspot.com
(3)stthomasmorechurch.org.uk

Fr Ignatius Harrison to head the Birmingham Oratory; Fr Gareth Jones to be his Assistant

2011-09-20T16:44:00.005+01:00

The admirable Reluctant Sinner, whose blog I heartily recommend, has posted this news from Peter Jennings, press secretary to the Archbishop of Birmingham.

Interesting, in view of the Apostolic Visitation last year at the Birmingham Oratory. Fr Harrison was the second Visitor (Fr Felix Selden being the first) and Fr Jones the canonical adviser to the Visitation.

I have a funny feeling that it won’t be long before Catholic and Loving it, and others, have something to say on the matter.

Please read Lux Occulta on Maynooth and the Irish Church (and by extension, all of us).

2011-09-14T12:13:00.006+01:00

I urge you to read this devastating post from Shane on his excellent blog Lux Occulta. The text he has made available to us dates from 1978, and refers to the spiritual collapse of the seminary of Maynooth and of the Irish Church in general. I read it, however, with an increasing sense that much of it applies equally to the Church in England and Wales. Some of my overseas readers may gain the same impression in regard to their own countries.

I wish I could post a comment to thank Shane for his post, but although I am registered with Wordpress I cannot get into it to use it. I don’t know why.

Our first revised Sunday Mass was rather good!

2011-09-05T10:20:00.006+01:00

This morning I sent an email to my parish priest, thanking him for leading us so well through our first Sunday Mass using the revised translation. It really went very well. Everyone seemed to be concentrating hard, determined to make a good job of it. "And also with you" crept in here and there, but that was only to be expected. Once or twice the priest struggled slightly with the different rhythm of a sentence, but he managed just fine.

There was a lovely, cheerful atmosphere in the congregation; a great spirit of unity with the celebrant, and, I thought, a sense of achievement when the Mass was completed. A gold star for all concerned!

Just a few well-chosen words …

2011-08-28T13:09:00.003+01:00

This morning I went to Mass a little farther afield, in the chapel of a Nazareth House care home. A 1960s building, by the look of things; I wasn’t expecting great architectural or aesthetic merit, but that didn’t matter so much, because it’s the Mass that matters. To my surprise, however, the interior of the chapel was lovely. In that very mid-20th century space the sisters had installed a dignified marble altar; the Tabernacle had pride of place at the centre of the rear wall; there was a fine large crucifix, and a very nice set of Stations of the Cross, quite modern but simple and moving.

The hymns were not quite to my taste: they made me think of the sort of tunes that seemed popular in Anglican services during the radio broadcasts I used to hear occasionally in the 1950s. But perfectly liveable-with, and I dare say many people like them very much.

But what really struck me was the homily, delivered by an elderly resident priest; I think he said he was a Carmelite. Isn’t it inspiring when you hear something thoroughly edifying in a homily? When just a few words stick in your mind and warm your heart? In that environment he incorporated in his homily, understandably, references to frailty, and to the suffering - sometimes very great - which we all have to endure at some time in our lives. He spoke of the suffering of Christ on the Cross, and His Resurrection; and then he said: “With all suffering, there is always the Third Day”.

I think I will add these words to my collection of pithy sayings which it can be so very strengthening to call upon in difficult times. Thank you, Father.

Rome and the SSPX: Two recent news items

2011-08-24T22:12:00.008+01:00

Readers may recall a post I published in October last year, The SSPX: Vatican recognition de facto and ad hoc. In recent days a couple of new items have appeared about Rome’s relations with the Society. They are both rather interesting and indeed intriguing, and in view of this it seems quite a good time to gather the three pieces together in one place.

The first new item is that Bishop Bernard Fellay and other leading figures of the Priestly Society of St Pius X have been summoned to a meeting at the Vatican. The date of the meeting will be 14th September, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the fourth anniversary of the coming into effect of Summorum Pontificum. The sources of this information are Rorate Caeli, Andrea Tornielli and La Stampa’s Vatican Insider (English version here).

Beyond these facts, there is an understandable element of speculation. Briefly, it is thought that a memorandum may be put to Bishop Fellay and his companions, clarifying certain doctrinal points. Subject to the doctrinal difficulties being overcome, the next step is thought to be “a proposal for a canonical adjustment”, which may be along the lines of the Ordinariate established for Anglicans.

The second item, courtesy once again of Rorate Caeli, concerns a Sister of the "mainstream" Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of New Zealand, who has transferred to the Dominican Sisters of Wanganui, a congregation established by Bishop Fellay. And this is the interesting bit: her transfer was given special permission from the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes in Rome.

It’s fascinating to note these manifestations of a practical relationship in anticipation of what I hope will eventually (and soon, God willing) become a full restoration of unity in all respects.

"O Godhead Hid": A few thoughts on visiting the Blessed Sacrament

2011-08-04T22:47:00.004+01:00

Every Thursday and Saturday, at the church of St Gregory the Great in Cheltenham, there is a period of Solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The setting for the Exposition could hardly be better: it is a fine Victorian Gothic church, with an interior that glows with mellow stone.

On a visit some years ago, the sight of the Monstrance conjured up in my mind a play on words: it seemed to me as though the Sacred Host was also the most genial of Hosts, the great King receiving His loved ones into His presence with such vulnerable generosity. That feeling has stayed with me.

One of the things I always notice, and it was so today, is the variety of ages among those who are present. This morning there were two or three youngish men, and I always love to see that; it gives me confidence for the Church. And a number of elderly people, by which I mean even more elderly than I am. One old man, full of dignity, rose carefully from his pew at the end of his visit, and struggled slowly away with the aid of a walking stick. I was very much impressed by the heroic effort he had put in to be there.

Sometimes, after I have become aware of an old person - let us say an old woman - sitting quietly some pews away from me, I catch sight of her again a little while later, and her head has nodded forward, and her shoulders have drooped a little as the need for a nap has crept over her. At last she becomes conscious of a change of balance, and comes back to herself, and resumes her quiet adoration. And I think, without any sense of condescension, how sweet that is, and I have a sense of how tenderly the Lord looks upon her from the Altar.

Truly, there are blessings and gentle pleasures of many kinds, when one visits the Blessed Sacrament enthroned.

Picture from Google Images, with acknowledgments to sspeterandpaul.net

"Keep your eyes on Me."

2011-07-31T11:37:00.008+01:00

I have been in a bit of a bad way at times lately. Just problems, and nothing major, but out of my hands to resolve.

I have a small crucifix on the table beside my chair. I can’t remember where it came from. It might have belonged to my mother, or I might have found it in the street. Years ago, anyway. It looks as if it was once attached to a rosary.

When things were at the point of becoming too much, I picked up this crucifix, and offered a little prayer for help. And the words came into my head: “Keep your eyes on Me.” So that’s what I’m doing, and it helps a lot.

Just thought I’d share that small thing, since I have received a great deal of help in the past from other bloggers. I have them on my side-bar. In addition, most of the UK-based Catholic bloggers can be followed via the ever-useful British Catholic Blogs, together with links to their latest posts.

Picture from Google Images, with acknowledgments to The National Catholic Register.

So happy for him, and for his new parish!

2011-07-30T11:45:00.003+01:00

Following my previous post about the loss of the Traditional Latin Mass at St Gregory's in Cheltenham - at least for the present - I have found this wonderful news on Fr Bede Rowe's blog.

Cheltenham's loss is Warminster's gain. Fr Bede, who was also an assistant priest at St Gregory's, has established an EF Mass as part of his parish's regular schedule. The appointment of Fr Tom Smith promises well for its continuation.

The parishioners of Warminster are blessed with great good fortune in the appointment of Fr Tom.

The weekly Traditional Latin Mass in Cheltenham has ceased

2011-07-29T10:23:00.010+01:00

Of your kindness, please pray for the Traditional Latin Mass congregation in Cheltenham. The weekly Mass, sine populo and entirely unpublicised other than by the Latin Mass Society, has come to an end after almost three years; at least, for the foreseeable future. The time for diocesan clergy moves is looming, though the details have not yet been announced on the diocese's website. At the last time of enquiring, the fine young priest who has provided his little EF Mass flock with such a treasure, had not heard whether or where he was to be moved. But it will be a great surprise if he is not appointed to another - very fortunate - parish.

A petition is to be handed to the parish priest, in the first instance, asking his help in securing the Mass's resumption by some means.

Guidance in a time of worry

2011-07-22T20:25:00.012+01:00

In my nightly habit of reading a passage or chapter from the Bible - usually the New Testament - I have very occasionally asked specifically for guidance and strength over this or that worry, before taking up my Bible to read that evening's chapter. I would never dream of using the Scriptures superstitiously; when I have prayed in this way, it is always a case of willingly accepting whatever is there for me to read, whether it appears to have a bearing on the matter in question, or not. However, on more than one occasion the aptness of the words has been startling, and most comforting.

My recent concerns for a loved one began to feel rather overwhelming the other day; and the impulse came to me to make my special prayer. That night I reached Chapter 2 of The Acts of the Apostles. In the newly-given power of the Holy Spirit, Peter addresses the crowd. He quotes King David, in Psalm 16. As I read, I came to these words:

You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of gladness with your presence. (1)

The words were like balm to me. But next morning, wanting to be sure of the words, I read the chapter again; and this time I re-read the following, earlier verse, which had not sunk in on first reading:

I saw the Lord always before me;
For he is at my right hand
That I may not be shaken. (2)

The vividness of these words struck home, right to my heart. I copied them onto a card; and the person for whom I had prayed took the card most happily.

We must always pray, and never lose heart! (3)

References:
1. Acts 2:28
2. Acts 2:25
3. Luke 18:1

A neighbour's death, and a very long wait for the funeral

2011-07-20T16:08:00.003+01:00

Sorry for the gap in posting; and this isn't a very cheerful subject with which to resume. Life has been busy and, at times, distressing, since my last post. A neighbour who lived alone discovered that she had inoperable cancer. There was a general rallying round, most particularly by a couple nearby who were her special friends; they were absolute stars. But others helped as and when they could: in my case, accompanying her to her palliative radiotherapy sessions; ultimately, as both she and all of us knew, to no purpose.

She was inspiringly stoical, keeping on with her daily routine, and with her acts of kindness to her neighbours, in a most determined spirit. The course of her illness was one of apparently level phases, interrupted by sudden downward steps. Within a few days of the last of these, she died peacefully in hospital.

For some time after her death, both my husband and I experienced a sense of frayed and exhausted nerves; typical, in fact, of a bereavement. It was a reaction which other neighbours may also have felt after the sad suspense of witnessing her cheerful and dignified progress toward her death.

I think it was made worse - and how much more so for her family! - by the fact that the funeral did not take place until two and a half weeks after her death. I don't understand why there has to be such a long gap these days between a death and the funeral. Is this a fairly recent development? Both my parents' funerals took place within a week of their deaths, but that was over thirty years ago. Two and a half weeks seems a rather harrowing period for the loved ones.

Sublime Words from the Holy Father's Pentecost Homily

2011-06-14T14:49:00.016+01:00

Rorate Caeli has published an extract from the Holy Father’s homily for the Feast of Pentecost 2011. Here is a link to the entire homily, in Italian; I haven't seen a complete English translation yet. I have pasted the extract below, or you can follow this link to the Rorate post. As we all know, however, sometimes the comments that follow a post can go off at a tangent, and I think the post in question has suffered from this problem.

Here, in its glory, is something sublime. It has a quality of self-contained perfection. This would be a wonderful text for a parish newsletter, or as a permanent display at the entrance to the church, to remind its readers that the Faith is the pearl of great price, for ourselves and for all who may be led to find it.

I accept that I am writing in figurative language when I say that I experienced, on reading Pope Benedict’s words, one of those strange, evanescent moments of elation of the soul, of astonishment, as though I had taken a breath of the clear, sweet air of Heaven.

[T]he Church is Catholic from her first moment, her universality is not the fruit of the successive inclusion of various communities. From the first instant, in fact, the Holy Spirit created her as the Church of all peoples; she embraces the entire world, she transcends all limits of race, class, nation; she breaks down every obstacle and brings all men together in the profession of the One and Triune God. From the beginning, the Church is One, Catholic, and Apostolic: this is her true nature and as such it must be recognized. She is Holy, not thanks to the ability of her members, but because God Himself, with His Spirit, creates, purifies, and sanctifies her always.

God bless our dear Holy Father, and grant him many more years with us.

A slight change of blogger name

2011-06-08T20:02:00.006+01:00

While reading this interesting article on The Catholic Herald’s website, about Ecclesia Dei’s confirmation that girls and women are not permitted to serve at Mass in the Extraordinary Form, I noticed that the comments include excellent contributions from the author of the Seraphic goes to Scotland blog, Dorothy Cumming McLean, using her own Christian name.

I'm very far from her league in the Catholic blogosphere, so I think it’s a good idea in the circumstances to make a small alteration to my blogger name. From now on you will see the name Dorothy B on my posts, and on my occasional comments on other blogs.

The Dome of Home: A Memory and a Confident Hope

2011-06-01T20:58:00.006+01:00

The only time I ever went to the church of SS Peter & Paul, New Brighton, was some years before Vatican II, when I was a child at primary school.

I grew up in Liverpool, and we had many a happy day out at New Brighton. We usually spent the day down at the shore, or at the wonderful Art Deco open-air swimming pool. But on one occasion my mother decided to do something different. Turning inland from the station, we walked uphill a little way, to visit the church of SS Peter and Paul. I suppose my mother thought it was about time we made the effort to visit this famous landmark.

I wish I could remember the particulars of the interior, but alas, I can no longer recall them in much detail. Except for this: that to a young child, in those far-off pre-Conciliar days, it seemed to me to be gloriously beautiful. There is a verse at Genesis 28:17, in which Jacob says “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” If I had heard those words at that time, they would have expressed my feeling very well indeed.

Judging from the few pictures I have seen of the church’s present-day interior, it appears at least to have retained its “good bones”. I have confidence that the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, which is to take charge of this fine church, will enable its parishioners to experience that same sense of spiritual wonder that a little girl experienced all those years ago.

Photograph from Google Images, with acknowledgments to liberator31.co.uk

The Rite of Priestly Ordination: Using the Old to Enrich the New

2011-05-21T17:13:00.008+01:00

Here and there in the blogosphere there have been expressions of sadness that Universae Ecclesiae excludes diocesan ordinands from the opportunity to receive their priestly ordination by means of the Pontificale Romanum of 1962.

Fundamentally, under either form of the rite of priestly ordination, the Church has a new priest. Nevertheless, there is this to be considered: that a thing may usefully be illuminated from more than one angle, and from more than one source of light. While remaining itself in its entirety, not only the truth and beauty of the priesthood, but also its spiritual riches and benefits, may be brought out more intensely by lights that are shed on its various facets.

The purpose of this post is to suggest that some organisation such as Una Voce, the Latin Mass Society, or the Catholic Truth Society, might consider publishing a high-quality vernacular version of the Pontificale’s rite of priestly ordination - accompanied, naturally, by the Latin text. I believe this would provide ordinands with a fresh insight into the amazing thing that is about to happen to them. As an additional guide and aid to their prayers and meditation as they prepare for their great day, I think it could prove to be an invaluable source of enrichment.

And that enrichment is, after all, one of the great purposes of the Holy Father, in leading us on this wonderful journey.

Fr Hunwicke is blogging again. Hooray!

2011-05-19T09:34:00.006+01:00

Delighted to pass on the news that, following a few weeks’ holiday from his blog, the Patrimonial Fr Hunwicke’s Liturgical Notes is now up and running once more. Time to get our brains sharpened up again.

Instruction on Summorum Pontificum to be released this Friday

2011-05-11T13:45:00.004+01:00

Rorate Caeli reports today that the Holy See Press Office has just announced that the long-awaited Instruction on the application of Summorum Pontificum will be made public this coming Friday, 13th May. The Instruction is to be called Universae Ecclesiae.

“Garden of the Soul”: Prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion

2011-04-26T15:51:00.006+01:00

As promised in my last post, here are a few extracts from the prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion, from my Garden of the Soul:

O Lord Jesus Christ, my Creator and my Redeemer, my God and my all, whence is this to me that my Lord, and so great a Lord, Whom heaven and earth cannot contain, should come into this poor dwelling, this house of clay of my earthly habitation? Bow down thyself, with all thy powers, O my soul, to adore the Sovereign Majesty which hath vouchsafed to come to visit thee.
…………

What return shall I make to Thee, O Lord, for all Thou hast done for me? Behold, when I had no being at all, Thou didst create me; and when I was gone away and lost in my sins, Thou didst redeem me by dying for me. All that I have, all that I am, is Thy gift; and now, after all Thy other favours, Thou hast given me Thyself: blessed be Thy Name for ever.
……………

Bless, then, thy Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within thee praise and magnify His Name. Bless thy Lord, O my soul, and see that thou never forget all that He hath done for thee.
…………

And now, Lord Jesus, I go from Thee for a while, but as I hope, not without Thee, Who art my comfort and the ultimate happiness of my soul …… To Thy love and protection I recommend myself anew …… May I be wholly employed in Thee and for Thee; and may Thy love be the end of all my thoughts, words and actions. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

I hope you have enjoyed these extracts from such lovely prayers. By these and other means, during the course of so many years, the faithful of every social and educational background participated with mind and heart in the Holy Sacrifice: the actuosa participatio of those times.

"Garden of the Soul”: Praying our way through the Mass

2011-04-25T11:15:00.012+01:00

As promised in my post last Thursday, here is a flavour of the beautiful Prayers at Mass, from my Garden of the Soul. The union between the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrifice of Calvary is very much a feature of these extracts.

O merciful Father, who didst so love the world as to give up for our redemption Thy beloved Son; who, in obedience to Thee, and for us, sinners, humbled Himself even unto the death of the Cross, and continues to offer Himself daily, by the ministry of His priests, for the living and the dead, we humbly beseech Thee that, penetrated with a lively faith, we may always assist with the utmost devotion and reverence at the oblation of His most precious Body and Blood, which is made at Mass, and thereby be made partakers of the sacrifice which He consummated on Calvary.
…………

It is in Thy name, O adorable Trinity, it is to honour Thee and to do Thee homage, that I assist at this most holy and august sacrifice. Permit me then, O Lord, to unite my intention with that of Thy minister now at the altar, in offering up this precious victim; and give me the same sentiments I should have had on Mount Calvary, had I been an eye-witness to that bloody sacrifice.
…………

To Thou Thyself, O Lord, raise up my heart; inflame it with Thy love …… Let it rest in heaven, where Thou, my treasure, art, and on this altar also, where Thou art going to present Thyself to the eternal Father for our sake.
…………

O Father of mercy, graciously receive this most holy sacrifice, which we offer to Thee by the hands of Thy priest, in union with that which Thy beloved Son offered to Thee during His whole life, at His last supper, and on the cross.
…………

Come, O Lord Jesus; come, sweet Redeemer of the world; come quickly to accomplish a mystery, which is an abridgment of all Thy other miracles.
Thou art, O Lord Jesus, the true Pastor of our souls, who didst lay down Thy life for Thy flock. Thou art the Lamb of God, who didst die upon the cross to save us.
…………

I adore Thy goodness and return Thee infinite thanks, O gracious Lord, for Thy inestimable favour and mercy in admitting me to be present this day at the great sacrifice, where Thou art both Priest and Victim.

I hope these extracts will give you a good impression of the stream of personal prayer, flowing with the progress of the Holy Sacrifice, that was available to the faithful as a matter of course in those days. I am accustomed to reading these prayers at almost every Mass, and even so I have found that selecting the extracts, and setting them out for my readers, has been a surprisingly affecting experience for me.

I plan to include in my next post some passages from the lovely prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion.

Picture from corjesusacratissimum.org, with thanks.

Easter greetings to all Catholic bloggers

2011-04-23T23:26:00.008+01:00

A happy and blessed Easter to all who read this blog, and to all the Catholic bloggers who write such beautiful and inspiring things. It has meant a great deal to me to have discovered the Catholic blogosphere. Long may your good work continue.

Picture courtesy of kaylace.blogspot.com

The Breaking of Bones

2011-04-22T16:48:00.004+01:00

In so many respects it must have seemed the perfect time to strike at Jesus. Here they were on the brink of the Passover, with all those pilgrims who would see for themselves the degrading end of the man so many of them had hoped would be the great liberator of the nation. And yet, this being Passover, and the lambs ready to be slaughtered, wasn’t there some niggling thing about Jesus and a Lamb?

It was only three years or so since the days when John the Baptist had been preaching and baptising. The priests and the Pharisees must have received detailed reports of his teachings; some of them had been there to hear his words for themselves. And they might well have known that John had pointed to someone, and had said of him: “Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” Did they suspect, or know, that he had been pointing to Jesus?

As Jesus and the thieves hung on their crosses, the leaders sent a request to Pilate for permission to have their legs broken. The reason they gave him, which in itself I don’t think we have any reason to doubt, was their desire to hasten the deaths so that the bodies would not be left hanging there during the solemn feast of Passover.

As most of us know, one of the requirements for the Passover lamb was that not one bone of its body was to be broken. Did the priests and Pharisees therefore have a second intention, an undeclared, and very deliberate one? If they could succeed in having Jesus’s legs broken, this would convince many, or perhaps all of His followers, that He could not possibly be the Lamb of God.

They received their permission. But in the case of Jesus, they were too late. He was dead. And not one bone of Him had been broken.

References:
John 1:29 (above)
Ex 12:46: “You shall not break a bone of it”
Num 9:12: “They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it”
Ps 34:20: “He keeps all his bones; none of them is broken”

An old prayer book: “Garden of the Soul”

2011-04-21T16:22:00.012+01:00

Many English-speaking Catholics of a certain age will remember two popular prayer books which formed the mainstay of the devotional life of thousands, if not millions, of our spiritual forbears. They were The Garden of the Soul and The Key of Heaven.

My Garden of the Soul was given to me by a neighbour when I was nine years old. It was published for adults, and I liked it better than the child’s prayer book I had received at the time of my first Holy Communion. The adult prayers were richer in their language and in their content. It is in no way a boast to say that these were perfectly within my capabilities.

To digress slightly: This gives me confidence in the intellectual capacity of the congregations who are about to experience the more dignified language, and the stronger doctrinal nourishment, of the corrected English translation of the Novus Ordo Mass. With varying degrees of effort, they will manage it very nicely indeed, and will, I am sure, find real spiritual benefit in it.

Since the implementation of Summorum Pontificum I have taken to expressing my actuosa participatio by accompanying the priest’s offering of the Holy Mass, whether in the Extraordinary Form or in the Novus Ordo, with my own silent reading of the Prayers for Mass in my old prayer book.

But how, you may ask, do I manage to cram my personal prayers into the spaces between one set of Novus Ordo congregational responses and the next? And surely my own silent reading must drown out, as it were, the priest’s own words, and thus the Mass that is taking place at that moment?

As to the first: I do my best, but I cannot usually manage to say them all. In any case, between the start of the Canon and the completion of the Consecration, I focus entirely on the priest. As to the second, the risk of drowning out the priest: I can’t say, in fact, that it feels like that. Those of us who pray the Rosary know what a challenge it is to keep our minds focused both on the words of the prayers and on the meditations. I speak from experience, as a person whose mind is inclined to drift off. When we get the balance right, all our mental activity seems to be filled with, and concentrated on, the Mysteries. It’s rather like that for me at Mass. My attention is filled, and very much in union with the priest’s own prayers.

This post is long enough for now, I think. In the next few days I hope to post a few extracts from the prayers, to give you a flavour of them.

Woodchester's Poor Clares are moving from Gloucestershire to Devon

2011-04-20T10:38:00.014+01:00

Here is some sad news from today's Gloucestershire Echo

Chapter closes on convent history as nuns leave area:

Nuns are preparing to leave an historic Gloucestershire convent after 150 years.
Dwindling numbers mean the enclosed order of Poor Clares is moving from South Woodchester to Devon.
Founded by 16 volunteers in a farmhouse in 1860, there was still a full complement of 30 sisters in 1950 but by 1980 there were 25 and by 2000, 14 nuns.
Today there are five.
The convent had an orphanage until 1921 and was well known for making altar breads, or communion wafers, for more than 200 churches and convents.
Abbess Sister Irene Joseph said moving away was not easy but the convent, near Stroud, was too large for the remaining nuns.
The group will move to another Poor Clare convent in Lynton.
"We feel we are called to a particular house," she said.
"There are 10 Poor Clare houses now and we are one big family.
"When I came here, the peace here was a calling from God. I thought I would end my days here.
"It is a huge wrench but I believe for some reason it is an intervention from God."
Sister Mary Therese was 24 when she arrived in 1950 as a novice and will turn 85 this year.
"I have always been happy here, even when I was miserable," she said. Parishioners are sad to see the sisters go.
"They don't go out to the world but they welcome the world in," said Deborah Everton-Wallach, who attends daily mass there.
"They have had a profound effect on my life – that they live a simple and fulfilling lives says something."
The future of grade II-listed building, set in 25 acres, is undecided.

How sad. But the large building they live in, with its typical Cotswolds complexity of design, must be a nightmare for just five nuns to maintain. A real burden, both financial and physical. It seems to have been a realistic and inevitable decision.

Photograph courtesy of geograph.org.uk

God bless all who are being received this week

2011-04-19T19:17:00.003+01:00

Amidst the greatness of Holy Week, we also have the particular joy of knowing that so many people are being received into the fullness of the Church during these days. Here in England, in addition to those who are joining within the various dioceses, a large number will become Catholics of the Anglican Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. May I wish them all the most wonderful blessings. There are great adventures ahead!

The St Barnabas Society: £100,000 to Help Ordinariate Clergy

2011-04-15T18:14:00.010+01:00

If you have a little money to spare in these straitened times, may I urge you to consider making a donation to The St Barnabas Society? The Ordinariate Portal has just reported that this fine charity has set aside £100,000 to help Anglican clergy who join the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

In the Society's own words:

The St Barnabas Society, a registered charity, operates in Great Britain and Ireland and exists to provide pastoral and financial help on behalf of the whole Catholic community to former clergy ministers and religious from other churches, who live in Great Britain and Ireland, and who have been led by faith and conscience to come into full communion with the Catholic Church.

The website provides a link for online donations for this most worthwhile cause. I should mention that the introductory text is slightly confusing. It refers to making an online payment “to your parish”, but if you click on the link you will see that in fact the payment goes direct to the St Barnabas Society.

Measuring God against Goodness

2011-04-07T15:36:00.002+01:00

We all have our different ways of tackling the challenges people present to the idea of faith in God. The most usual challenge is surely the problem of evil. I imagine that more than a few of us have encountered this type of criticism from colleagues at work.

The usual form the challenge takes goes something like: “I can’t believe in a God – or a good God – Who would allow such things to happen.”

I think I must leave aside the question of the widely varying phenomena that are generally gathered together under the umbrella word of evil. These deserve a separate discussion. But even considered in its most simple and general terms, I don’t think there can be an all-encompassing and satisfying answer to this kind of question.

Sometimes, however, a little light can be shed on the subject, from an angle.

What is a person actually doing when he asks the “God and evil” question? He may not realise he’s doing it; but he is in fact saying that he believes in goodness. Not simply goodness, but Goodness as an absolute, as a yardstick against which he measures “God” – or his idea of God – and finds Him wanting. In his eyes, “God” falls short when compared with Goodness.

It is not a very great step from this realisation to a further insight: that the critic’s “God” is not the real God. It is a collection of ideas; it is not God at all. In fact, he is not looking high enough, towards what he instinctively knows is there, and acknowledges as the highest thing, and appeals to. The real God is that perfect Goodness in which he himself already believes.

Naturally this does not answer the great conundrum of why God Who is Goodness allows evil to happen. It leaves that hanging in the air, as a distressing mystery; a mystery, however, which is capable of examination in its various manifestations, and thus of a degree of understanding, however imperfect.

"I believe": Yes, I, personally, believe

2011-03-29T22:37:00.005+01:00

When was it that “I believe” was changed to “We believe” in the Creed? 1975, I think. Well, I have a little confession to make. Ever since then, when saying the Creed at Mass, I have never said “We believe”; I have always continued to say “I believe”.

It was a step too far for me. I just decided I wasn’t going to do it. The Latin original said “Credo”, not “Credimus”, and that first person singular was good enough for me. I remember attending a Lenten retreat that year at the Cenacle in Liverpool. One of my former teachers was there too: a woman full of character, and very forthright in her views. Her attitude to the change was of a “stuff and nonsense” pithiness.

I suppose the translators (Hah!) wanted to emphasise the sense of community at Mass. But in this instance they decided to emphasise it at the expense of accuracy.

Much more importantly and seriously, they took away from each individual in the congregation the sense of personal focus, of personal commitment to the truths professed in the Creed. I cannot possibly speak for a single other person; not one. Nor can they for me. In fact, I shouldn’t be at all surprised if many of those attending disbelieve one or more of the Creed’s statements.

But then, they can’t be said actually to be lying, can they? None of us can. After all, none of them is saying “I believe”. In a sense, “We believe” is meaningless.

Now, after all these years of staging my personal (and probably entirely unnoticed) rebellion, I look forward with joy to this coming Autumn, when each of us stands before the Lord at Mass, and says “I believe”. By the grace of God, may it send a frisson through us, in heart and mind and soul.

A Chatty Post

2011-03-26T11:28:00.006Z

I’m sorry it has been such a long time since my last post. The bronchitis which troubled me recently became so persistent that my GP referred me to a cardiologist. Between the two of them, I have undergone a range of non-surgical tests to make sure my heart is pumping properly, which I’m happy to say it is. The cardiologist is now going to hand me over to a lung specialist, so there is more fun in store for me. As the weeks progress I am gradually feeling better, and am able to get out and about with no difficulty.

We have been having glorious weather. Yesterday I went on the bus to the lovely little Cotswold town of Painswick. It was for a sad reason: the Requiem Mass of a person who was well-known and highly respected, involved in many interests and remembered with great affection by all who knew her. The small Catholic church was packed for the occasion.

As I made my way to the Catholic church, a wonderful peal of bells rang out from the nearby Anglican parish church. There is something rather magical about the musicality of English church bells. The traditional skill attracts ringers of many faiths and none. I was not surprised to learn during the Mass that the deceased had been a member of the team and that the bells had been rung specially in her honour.

Many of you may know that Painswick Church, pictured above, is one of the most famous in the Cotswolds; beautiful in itself, and famed also for the amazing number of clipped yew-trees in the churchyard. Some have grown so close to one another that they have been allowed to form arches. I seem to recall a saying that every time an attempt is made to count the yews a different total results.

After the Mass, while waiting for the return bus, I found the sun so warm that I took off my coat. I sat on the bench, listening to a blackbird singing from a tree in the churchyard, and enjoying what seemed more like a pleasant summer’s day instead of only the 25th of March, the Feast of the Annunciation, with the clocks still on winter time. An unexpected pleasure on a poignant day.

I hope to post again in a few days’ time, all being well.

A Suggestion for Nibblers in Lent: Mini-fasts

2011-03-16T21:15:00.001Z

Reluctant to commit this to the blogosphere, because I don’t know whether or when my determination will crack. Ah well, here goes.

The usual self-denials for Lent - sweets and so on - are real sacrifices for many of us, and well worth undertaking. But this year, in addition, I thought I might try another little Lenten thing: mini-fasts.

Mini-fasts are really only suitable for nibblers. It’s a very simple idea: a resolution to avoid eating between any particular meal and the next; or to avoid eating anything after the evening meal. Any permutation on this could be offered up: it doesn’t have to be for the whole of Lent, or even for an entire day. It could be, for example, from breakfast to lunch; or on this particular day and not others. It could be tailored to individual needs, and the demands of our daily lives. And each mini-fast could be offered up in its own right.

Just a thought.

The Suffering of the People of Japan

2011-03-15T13:10:00.007Z

After the bout of bronchitis I mentioned in my last post, I am making a rather slow recovery. My brain is at last starting to focus again, and I hope to post again very soon; but overwhelmingly at present my thoughts are with the poor people of Japan, and the series of calamities that have been bludgeoning them. I am filled with admiration for their dignity in the face of so much horror.

(The picture of Our Lady Of Akita has been copied from the blog of The Impractical Catholic, with my acknowledgments and thanks.)

Summorum Pontificum: Milanese Seminarians Speak Out

2011-02-19T13:36:00.015Z

Much to my frustration, a nasty spell of bronchitis has prevented me from going to the Mass and study day for the new Mass translation publicised in my previous post.

While needing to stay at home and rest, I have occupied some of my time in translating a very touching open letter from a number of seminarians in the Archdiocese of Milan, home of the Ambrosian rite which features in the latest disturbing rumours concerning the forthcoming Summorum Pontificum regulations.

The letter appears today in Messa in Latino, linked here. The comments that follow it - which I have not translated - start with a criticism of the seminarians' anonymity. Others consider the criticism to be unreasonable given the pressures under which they labour.

I think the letter is very inspiring. Here it is:

"Most Blessed Father, Dear Readers,

We desire the Motu Proprio in Milan, and we want it in the Seminary too, where, in contrast, we are given protestantising liturgies in the “BOSE” style.

Holy Father, Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, all the faithful, come and see how they celebrate in the Seminary of Milan, the liturgical furnishings of our chapel, the so-called statue of Our Lady (in a state of undress, seated before the Tabernacle in a sensual pose!). Please be aware of it. We well understand that times change, that history changes, but the hearts of the people need eternal answers; they need a Truth that is always the same: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

Why, as Catholics and as seminarians, can we not be formed in the knowledge of the two-thousand-year Tradition of the Church? We are not asking for the old rite to be imposed. We accept that it should remain as the extraordinary form. But why can we not study it officially, and celebrate and pray it occasionally, rather than doing so secretly, clandestinely, without the knowledge of the Rector and the spiritual Father, at night, in our rooms, as though it were an act of disobedience to the Church?

Instead, however, there is imposed a creative liturgical sensibility invented by the community of Bose, which is not our vocation, and is not that for which we chose to follow the Lord in the Catholic Church. We don’t want to be priests in order to live in the Bose style or to celebrate syncretistic rites. Those who have that sensibility are quite free to go to Bose.

We want to be able to chant the Tantum Ergo in Latin (which is against the rules!), and not only the canons of Taizé in English or in Spanish.

Is it possible that a person who thinks like this must live in hiding, keeping silent and pretending that all is well?

What evil is there, we ask, in wanting to be Catholics of the third millennium, evangelizers of our time, and at the same time to be able to pray as the priests and laity of the CATHOLIC Church of Milan have always prayed?

We confirm that we do not want to be absolutist, we do not want an absolute return to the Vetus Ordo rite, but we want real, authentic, non-ideological respect, towards the Church, Her history, Her Tradition, Her spiritual riches which can truly nourish a soul that wants to conform itself to Christ the Priest.

Our thanks go to all of you who keep us in your prayers; those who, like us, seek to follow the Lord, in the furrow of His Church, with our difficulties and our limitations, but illuminated by the splendid grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is our wish that this humble appeal of ours may reach the heart of those who love the Church and who wish to serve the brethren in the things that relate to God.

Saints Ambrose and Charles, intercede for us.

In Jesus and Mary,

Some Seminarians of Seveso
(Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan)"

Study day for new Mass translation, Clifton diocese, 19th February

2011-02-16T17:36:00.005Z

I mentioned in an earlier post that the English diocese of Clifton - covering the counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset - has been rather energetic in its preparations for the introduction of the New Translation of the Mass in September this year.

The series of presentations continues this coming Saturday, 19th February, and this time it is the turn of Cheltenham, at Sacred Hearts Church, Moorend Road, Charlton Kings, GL53 9AU. The day begins with Holy Mass at 10.30, using the new translation, which will be followed by a study session. The event closes at 3.30. Those attending are advised to bring a packed lunch.

On the Friday evening, from 7.30 to 8.30, there will be singing practice for the new parts of the Mass, in readiness for Saturday.

Another strange case

2011-02-13T20:33:00.008Z

Following my post yesterday, I’d like to record another memory. It concerns Freemasonry, about which Fathers Blake and Zuhlsdorf blogged early in January. Well, it's not really about Masonry as such; it's more about what was going on in the Church in the years following Vatican II.

As I recall (and I hope you will make allowances for some vagueness), exactly the same process occurred in regard to the question of Freemasonry, as had happened some years earlier regarding women’s headcoverings. Something was reported, and it appeared to have come from Rome, the gist of which was that British Catholics were now free to join the Masons
a) because British Masonry was much nicer than the Continental variety, which was very anti-Catholic and still forbidden, and
b) provided that there was no danger that an individual’s faith might suffer by joining.

I don’t know the figures, but I would guess that as a consequence of this apparent relaxation quite a number of Catholic men very soon became members of their local Lodges, and those who were already members now felt more at ease in their consciences.

And then lo! In no time at all, once again there came the cry: “As you were!” Britain is not an exception; you may not join the Masons.

It would surely be impossible to know how many British Catholic Masons obeyed the Church and gave up their membership following this shambles; how many have joined the Masons since then; and, and, most importantly, what effect it has had on their orthodoxy. In some cases they would have been exasperated by this apparent flip-flop, rather like the women with their headcoverings, and resolved to make up their own minds on the matter. But I have the impression that the majority of Catholics in this country, from that time on, only remember the (illusory) relaxation, and take it as read that, in this country at least, Catholics can be Freemasons.

Incidentally, it was at about this time, as I seem to remember, that I first began to hear the comment that this or that pronouncement from Rome “doesn’t apply here.”

The strange case of the disappearing headcoverings

2011-02-12T14:31:00.013Z

In his recent post on the subject, The Catholic Knight reproduced this cutting from The Atlanta Journal, dated some time in 1969. Father Z (here and here) and others have also dealt with the consequences of that strange incident.

I can remember it quite well. At the church I attended in Liverpool, as soon as we women heard the message that we no longer had to cover our heads, off came the hats, scarves and mantillas. The following Sunday, hardly any of the women were covering their heads.

Almost immediately, or so it seems at this distance in time, the word came out: As you were! The law has not changed: women must continue to cover their heads in church. As I recall, it was even announced from the pulpit.

And the majority of us did not comply. I think there was a general – if mainly unspoken – emotional response: This is ridiculous. First you don’t need to wear them, and then you do. It’s just not important. I’ll decide. That was my own decision too. But do you know, I felt just a little bit uneasy about it at the time. There was a niggling voice of conscience.

But gradually the new way became the generally accepted custom. And the requirement was eventually dropped, as a de jure recognition of the de facto practice.

I find great joy these days in covering my head when I attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form. But at my own parish church, I have a real reluctance. For the usual reasons, I suppose: sticking out like a sore thumb, holier-than-thou, and all that. I don’t really know the answer, except more courage; though it’s ridiculous to feel that one needs courage to do something that was completely natural only a few decades ago. I think we would have to be prepared to counter any criticisms with good, positive reasons. An expression of unity with Catholic women in other places and in other times, perhaps.

It would be rather wonderful if the Holy Father, or the competent body in Rome, were to recognise an indulgenced Sacramental, along these lines: that a woman or girl who covers her head before the Blessed Sacrament is empowered to offer this action to obtain a partial indulgence for the Souls in Purgatory.

The growth of the Ordinariate movement

2011-02-02T17:04:00.008Z

Fr Hugh, the vocation director of the Benedictines at Douai Abbey in Berkshire, has a blog called Dominus Mihi Adjutor. He has just published this interesting map of the spread of the Ordinariate movement up to now, in various parts of the world. You will notice that the display does not yet include the proposed Australian/Japanese Ordinariate.

I thought you might also like to see this link to a map of southern England and Wales, which can be found on the Ordinariate Portal, showing the locations of the exploratory Ordinariate groups which have been set up so far in Great Britain.

God bless them all, both groups and individuals, as they make their spiritual journeys.

The new Mass translation, and words of praise for Clifton Diocese

2011-01-18T19:20:00.003Z

This is going to sound like a mini-Oscar ceremony, but here goes.

Other bloggers have reported the excellent news that the Bishops of England and Wales have decided to introduce the new, more accurate and more dignified translation of the Novus Ordo Mass in September 2011.

The purpose of my post is to praise the Diocese of Clifton in this regard, because it has already done rather well in preparing its people for the change. A series of catechetical days has been organised in various parts of the Diocese. In addition, the parish priest of my own parish has devoted a number of Sundays to speaking to us about the meaning of the various parts of the Mass. I don’t know how many other parishes in the Diocese received the same talks, but I thought it was a very good effort.

I’d also like to compliment Fr Michael Fountaine, the Director of the Diocese’s Department for Liturgy. As far back as two years ago, he delivered a most interesting talk to a group of us in the town where I live. His enthusiasm for the new translation was really heartening.

Well done to Fr Fountaine, to my parish priest, and to Clifton Diocese!

So happy ...

2011-01-15T14:50:00.005Z

Congratulations to A Reluctant Sinner for his fascinating report on the Ordination Mass at Westminster Cathedral today, for the inaugurating priests of the Anglican Ordinariate.

I had hoped to make the journey from Gloucestershire for the event, but was unable to do so because I haven’t been too well this week. I have been waiting with great anticipation for the reports to arrive in the blogosphere.

How lovely, and simple, and fitting, that the name is to be The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. I am starting to get a hankering to go there again on pilgrimage.

What should we non-Ordinariate Catholics call ourselves?

2011-01-12T20:41:00.005Z

What if we were to call ourselves Diocesan Catholics? I think I'll do this for now, but I'll be happy to change it, if and when a better name comes along.

In most circumstances, naturally, we need make no distinction at all. I suggest this only because there are likely to be occasions when we will need to draw attention to specifically non-Ordinariate matters which have an equal importance for our Ordinariate Catholic brethren. It would be unthinkable that they might be at risk of missing out on something they might not hear about otherwise.

Christmas Flashmob: strong stomachs required

2011-01-10T12:21:00.010Z

I first picked this up on Andrea Tornielli's blog, then realised it had been sourced from Gloria TV. The occasion was the Vigil Mass for Christmas 2010 at Bachinchove, in northern France. Please follow this Gloria TV link, but be warned ....

As Andrea Tornielli says, they thought they were coming to Mass, and found themselves at a disco.

Blessed is the Wood

2011-01-07T18:14:00.005Z

Here is a beautiful extract from Chapter 14 of the Book of Wisdom, which I read with great delight the other day. I’ve no doubt many readers will already be familiar with it, but I hope you will enjoy being reminded of it. The extract is taken from the Catholic Revised Standard Version.

To set it in its context, the writer is dealing with the foolish worship of idols, such as those made of wood, which are no more than the product of a man’s hands. He contrasts this with the natural properties of the wood, and with the skill that fashions it into something beneficial: in this instance, into a ship. The natural properties, and the human skill, are both genuine expressions of God’s wisdom,

but it is your providence, O Father, that steers its course,
because you have given it a path in the sea,
and a safe way through the waves,
showing that you can save from every danger,
so that even if a man lacks skill, he may put to sea.
It is your will that works of your wisdom should not be without effect;
therefore men trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood,
and passing through the billows on a raft they come safely to land.
For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing,
the hope of the world took refuge on a raft,
and guided by your hand left to the world the seed of a new generation.
For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.

Archbishop Longley to join the New Evangelisation Council

2011-01-06T11:37:00.001Z

You may be interested in this item from The Catholic Herald’s website. Archbishop Longley of Birmingham has been appointed to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation. This is the new body headed by Archbishop Fisichella.

The standard of knowledge and belief among those who will inaugurate the Ordinariate

2011-01-05T14:37:00.007Z

May I draw your attention to this marvellous article which has been posted today on William Oddie’s blog on the Catholic Herald website. The following extract is particularly important in view of the surprise and concern expressed in one or two comments on other blogs, at the speed with which the newly-received former “flying bishops” are to be ordained.

What this new development demonstrates, apart from anything else, is the degree of knowledge, gained by the former Cardinal Ratzinger after a decade and a half of discussions with these men, of their already existing understanding of and belief in Roman Catholic doctrine and practice (entirely based, since its publication, on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and on other essential Catholic texts). The Pope is well aware that the Anglo-Catholic clergy who will inaugurate the world’s first ordinariate already have a degree of authentically Catholic priestly formation which some of our seminaries are today far from achieving or even attempting.

This makes me think of the idea of enrichment, which the Holy Father’s initiatives have envisaged in the liturgical sphere. It would be a tremendous thing if it could be broadened to include other areas of the Church’s life, such as our seminaries, as an additional fruit of the Ordinariate. It will require a cheerful, humble and fraternal spirit on the part of all who are involved; and especially on the part of those who currently have the task of training our priests.

Happy 2011 to all, and a glad goodbye to 2010

2011-01-01T10:53:00.002Z

Very best wishes to all users of the Catholic blogosphere, for a new year filled with blessings. There have been tremendous events in 2010, but things to cause dismay too. All in all, I'm glad it's over and done with. Time now to build on the beautiful things.

The Rosary and the Unexpected Joys of the Gospel

2010-12-31T19:38:00.017Z

Praying the Rosary can be a bit of a slog, I find. I am so easily distracted that I have had to devise various cunning ways of occupying my entire attention. I use the beads, of course, keeping them in my right hand. I go through the prayers at a brisk pace, phrase by phrase, by tapping out the rhythm with the fingers of my left hand. (If you think this is a bit sad, as they say, please allow for the fact that my elderly brain needs all the help it can get.) And I have brief keywords or phrases for each Mystery, on little home-made cards that fit into my prayerbook; I concentrate on each of these in turn, one keyword for each Hail Mary, which I find - on account of the many repetitions - to be the prayer where my attention is most likely to drift off.

This afternoon I spent a little time going through the Birth narratives in Luke and Matthew, with a view to refreshing or improving the keywords. My goodness, isn't it wonderful the way one receives a new insight, or a sudden surge of spiritual joy, when reading the Gospels! This was my experience today.

St Luke refers on a number of occasions in his Gospel to the distress and worry and perplexity which, despite being full of grace, Our Lady suffered at times. After the visit of the Angel Gabriel she was, in earthly terms, completely alone in her situation, keeping this staggering knowledge locked in her heart during all that long journey from Nazareth to Judea.

And then suddenly, after no more than the mere sound of her voice calling out a greeting, her beloved kinswoman Elizabeth welled up with a torrent of astonishment and joy and prophecy. Mary had said nothing about it, and yet Elizabeth knew. In sheer human terms, what must that realization have felt like, for Mary?

2011 Epiphany celebration is not on the nearest Sunday

2010-12-30T17:48:00.009Z

Hello – I am awake again after my brief hibernation. I hope all my readers have had a very happy Christmas.

Now then, about this Epiphany business. If a Holy Day of Obligation is to be moved to the Sunday, it is reasonable to assume that this means the nearest Sunday. The nearest Sunday to Thursday 6th January 2011 is Sunday 9th January.

Here is the press release from the English and Welsh Bishops at the time of the original decision, in 2006, to move the Solemnities of the Lord. Rather cleverly, it does not say “the nearest Sunday” but simply “Sunday”.

Shall we assume that there is a very good pastoral reason for bringing the Feast forward to the day after New Year’s Day?

No further posts likely until the new year

2010-12-16T19:48:00.002Z

I don't feel able to write anything just at present. I wish my readers a very happy Christmas, and I hope to resume blogging in the new year.

God bless.
Dorothy.

Sri Lanka: A splendid welcome home for Cardinal Ranjith

2010-11-29T15:38:00.004Z

Crowds thronged the new Cardinal's route in an outpouring of joy and love. And what fun it seems to have been!

I don’t need to say anything more, except that this wonderful scene has gladdened my heart.

Sources acknowledged, with thanks: White Monks at Sri Lanka, via The Eponymous Flower, via Messa in Latino.

A day for nascent human life, without the nascent?

2010-11-26T20:14:00.023Z

The English and Welsh Bishops’ Conference website informs us that, in calling for a day of prayer for all nascent human life, the Holy Father expressed his general intention for the day as follows:

The purpose according to the Holy See is to “thank the Lord for his total self-giving to the world and for his Incarnation which gave every human life its real worth and dignity,” and to “invoke the Lord's protection over every human being called into existence.”

It can, I think, safely be assumed that, leading on from this general intention, the Pope envisaged that the prayers themselves should refer specifically to such examples of nascent life as the human embryo, and the child in the womb.

Here, in magnificent response, are the US Bishops’ worship resources for prayers of supplication, most helpfully linked from the E&W Bishops’ site:

Supplications for Vigil for All Nascent Human Life

Let us pray to God, the Father of Life and Font of all Mercy:
Lord, have mercy on all who have sinned against life.

You knit us in our mother’s womb,
— Preserve all children from bodily harm
From the moment of conception.

Your Son ennobled all human life when he became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
— Enlighten our minds to see the dignity of every human life
From its earliest embryonic beginnings.

You are author of science and knowledge,
— Bring an end to the destruction of human embryos
In research facilities and IVF clinics.

You are the law-giver and ruler of the world,
— Help us to overturn unjust laws that permit the destruction of innocent lives,
And guide our public officials to defend the littlest among us.

You love those who are afflicted,
— Help parents of unborn children with disabilities
To cherish the baby you have entrusted to their care.

Your Son, Jesus, healed the sick,
— Guide all doctors to be guardians of life,
Especially the lives of unborn children with serious health conditions.

Lord, you are love and mercy itself,
— Draw all who have acted against innocent human life
To repentance and forgiveness,
And heal them through an outpouring of grace.

The US Bishops’ prayers, beautiful and comprehensive as they are, have been composed for a vigil service, and might need some trimming for use in the bidding prayers at parish Masses. I mention this because the English Diocese of Clifton has announced its own plan for the day: an hour of quiet vigil in the cathedral before the 6.00 pm Mass, and a bidding prayer at every parish Mass that weekend.

A vigil of quiet prayer will be held in the Cathedral at 5.00 pm on Saturday, before the celebration of the First Mass of Sunday.

Bishop Declan has written to all our parishes. He said: “I would like to ask you to include the following prayer in your intercessions at Masses that weekend:

‘In union with the Holy Father we thank the Lord for his total self-giving to the world and for his Incarnation which gave every human life its real worth and dignity. Let us ask the Lord's protection over every human being called into existence. Lord hear us.’”

This is, just about word for word, the Holy Father’s general intention. Since Bishop Lang has omitted any specific reference to nascent human life, which is after all what the day is about, I very much hope that the clergy of the individual parishes will insert their own references to it.

Update, Sunday 28th November: The bidding prayer was included at the Mass I attended, using the exact wording requested by the Bishop. No explanation or context was given. There was no mention of nascent life, the embryo, the unborn child, or the child in the womb. There has been no mention of the day of prayer in the weekly newsletter, either last Sunday or this.

Pope Benedict and the Graham Greene Scenario

2010-11-23T16:58:00.007Z

I had hoped to draw this analogy out in more detail: the soul, apparently lost in sin, and yet, the glimmer of hope for salvation ...

But, do you know, I think I'll give it a miss. Except to say one thing: that it will be an appalling thing if, as a result of the maelstrom of false interpretation, vulnerable wives who have so far managed to resist the overtures of their HIV-infected husbands, find themselves under pressure to give way, on the false claim that condoms are both "approved" and "safe".

I don't intend to repeat what is well known about the incomplete security of condoms. We're not talking simply about "accidents" here, or "taking a chance": we are talking about death, and about orphans. Yes, it would be an appalling thing.

Amidst all the confusion spread by the secular media and, as I am led to believe (Sorry, I can't bear to read them), by one or two Catholic commentators and spokesmen, there have been shining examples of robust defence and clarification. I can't approach their quality. You can find most of them as links from that ever-useful listing-site, British Catholic Blogs, but here is a selection:

A loyal but frank critique, from Fr Boyle of Caritas in Veritate:
Did the Pope say it's okay to use condoms?

Detailed background, from Fr Finigan of The Hermeneutic of Continuity:
Can we disagree?
Catholic Reactions
Divisions at the Vatican
"Do you think that's wise, Sir?"

A clear analysis and defence from Fr Hunwicke, the Anglo-Catholic (and, I hope and pray, Ordinariate-bound) priest whose blog is entitled Fr Hunwicke's Liturgical Notes.

And, to conclude the list, a short but very clear post from Ben Trovato, the Countercultural Father. I particularly liked this:

What he [the Pope] actually said was very specific: in the case of somebody who is in a very bad place, then the intention of minimising harm to others might be the start of a moral awakening.

Valiant as these and others have been, it is surely, to use the modern idiom, "down to" the Holy Father to sort this out personally, not only because the misunderstandings have sprung from his own words, but because he is the only person with the authority to do so. Do you remember the searing letter he wrote at the time of the Williamson controversy? Is this now the time for another such letter? If so, his words will somehow have to be heard above the din of the media storm.

My brain feels as if someone has been polishing it with sandpaper. I'm going to give it a rest for a few days. ITV3 is repeating episodes of Foyle's War all this week. A diet of bombs, murder and mayhem is just what I need to soothe my frazzled nerves.

Times gone by: Iconoclasm in an English village church

2010-11-18T19:38:00.024Z

The pretty village of Aldbourne, in Wiltshire, is near enough to our home to make a pleasant day out, with a good lunch at one of the village pubs. The picture is courtesy of Wiltshire County Council.

The village, and the exterior of the church, came to fame in 1971 as the location of one of Doctor Who ’s adventures; for it was here, as enthusiasts will recall, that Jon Pertwee encountered The Daemons. If you are nervous, perhaps it’s best not to open the link !

There are two family monuments in the church. One, which includes two kneeling figures, is here:

The other, designed originally for two people, contains a group of six figures:

According to the parish leaflet, the figures appear to be unrelated to the family for whom the monument was built. Whether this is the case or not, someone evidently thought them worth keeping; and thank goodness, because they are very fine.

They are arranged as a family of father, mother, three sons and a daughter. As was customary, the little figures of the sons, however young they were when they died, are complete with full moustaches and beards.

It is not unusual to find in pre-Reformation English churches that iconoclasts have been at work, either during the Protestant Reformation or during Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth. Here you can see a particularly distressing example.

On each monument, every figure’s hands, originally joined in prayer, have been hacked away. Judging by the costumes, which date, I think, from the late 16th century, the damage appears to have been perpetrated during the Commonwealth, or perhaps earlier, during the Civil War, which the county of Wiltshire did not escape.

What sort of spirit would possess any kind of Christian, that he or she could do such a thing? That they should be so convinced of the evils of popery that the sight of hands joined in prayer should so enrage them?

I hope you will find this interesting. I think these mutilated figures speak to us, in their poignant state, of a far better faith than that of their attackers. In this respect, the iconoclasts did not succeed.

The Ordinariate, and a happy memory of Anglican pilgrims in Rome

2010-11-09T20:58:00.011Z

As many readers know, the Holy Father’s General Audiences, on Wednesdays in St Peter’s Square, are delightful occasions. I particularly love the series of introductions, listing the groups attending that day. Those who are introduced may sing a song; or produce musical instruments and play a tune; but most of them simply leap from their chairs to cheer and wave. It is all very unsophisticated and innocent and happy.

At the audience my husband and I attended, on 7th May, 2008, there came a point in the introductions when the priest announced a group from England, saying: “We welcome a group of Anglican pilgrims from the parish of …”. They jumped up from their seats and waved to the Holy Father, and cheered him with great excitement. He looked for them and saw them, and smiled, and waved back, and blessed them. And they sank back onto their chairs, their faces shining with pleasure.

It was beautiful. My eyes filled up, as they do when a thing of spiritual beauty washes over me; and as they are doing now as I remember the scene.

I wonder how that little group has fared since then? And whether, at some date in the near or distant future, one or more of them may make their way along the path to the Ordinariate? By far the majority of Anglicans will not, I am sure. But those Anglican pilgrims had the desire to be there in Rome, to see Pope Benedict, and to take part in this wonderful, familial gathering; and they experienced, by the look of things, all the joy and gladness of the day. Who knows what the good Lord has in store for them?

It is a fine thing that the five Anglican bishops have announced their intention to be a part of this grand adventure. They are a vanguard of experienced men, of considerable seniority. This is just what the embryonic body needs. Their presence and leadership, whether in an official capacity or simply by virtue of their moral status, will help to give it a sense of shape and strength, which can only serve to encourage those who are at an earlier, more tentative stage of the journey. May God bless them each step of the way.

The Blessed Cardinal's Robes at Birmingham Museum

2010-11-01T22:19:00.003Z

A small but fascinating exhibition is currently on display at Birmingham Museums and Art Galleries. It consists of items on loan from the Birmingham Oratory, relating to the life of Blessed John Henry Newman.

Most particularly, and touchingly, it includes his cardinal’s robes.

A friend and I saw the exhibition recently. I can heartily recommend it. It continues until 6th January 2011. The museum is situated within comfortable walking distance of Birmingham New Street Station.

Of doves and serpents: the road to the Ordinariate

2010-10-28T16:24:00.007+01:00

Pastor Emeritus and others have drawn readers’ attention to this article about the Ordinariate, which appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 21 Oct 2010, under the name of the paper’s Religious Affairs Editor, Tim Ross. The source for the article was an interview with Dr Rowan Williams, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, in The Hindu newspaper.

In a surprise announcement, Dr Rowan Williams said he wanted to establish a new joint group of Roman Catholic and Church of England figures to oversee the conversion process.

The proposed group would be designed to enable smooth and less painful transition for those who want to leave the Church of England to become Roman Catholics in protest at the ordination of women bishops. …….

“As this is now being implemented, we are trying to make sure that there is a joint group which will keep an eye on how it's going to happen. In England, the relations between the Church of England and Roman Catholic Bishops are very warm and very close. I think we are able to work together on this and not find it a difficulty.”

It is understood that neither the Church of England nor the Roman Catholic authorities in England and Wales have yet agreed to Dr Williams’s proposal for a joint group to oversee the Ordinariate.

"Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly", wrote Pastor Emeritus, which made me laugh. Far be it from me to hint (perish the thought!) that any such thing is in their minds, or will be part of the remit of the proposed ecumenical group. I very much hope that the E&W bishops are not, either alone or in combination with the CofE bishops, attempting to take control of the Ordinariate. I’ve no doubt that helpful things can be contributed by all parties; but there is a limit.

As I understand it, the Anglican-Catholic Ordinary will have as direct and unmediated a right of access to Rome as any Latin-rite English or Welsh bishop. Neither the Ordinary nor any other bishop is subordinate to the Bishops’ Conference. And certainly not to a joint Catholic-Church of England group which seeks to “work together on this”.

Charity in all things, of course. I have no doubt that this will be the watchword of many if not all of those involved. Nonetheless, I am reassured by the thought that those who are approaching the banks of the Tiber on this beautiful and grace-filled journey are both as gentle as doves and as intelligent as serpents. I have confidence that they know how many beans make five.

The SSPX: Vatican recognition de facto and ad hoc

2010-10-22T22:20:00.014+01:00

Here is a fascinating article by Brian McCall in The Remnant newspaper, dated 20th October. My source, acknowledged with thanks: Rorate Caeli.

The occasion was an Angelus Press conference held from 12th – 17th October this year to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Founding of the Society of St. Pius X. Bishop Bernard Fellay of the SSPX gave an address to the conference, at the end of which he provided “a survey of the SSPX’s political and legal relations with the authorities in Rome”.

Bishop Fellay referred to what he termed the “principle of action” in his explanation of the Vatican’s present dealings with the SSPX. He said: “The Holy See has been pursuing a two-pronged policy – an official de jure policy contradicted by de facto actions.”

I strongly recommend the entire article; but for the general whetting of appetites I have extracted the following extraordinary details.

Firstly:

According to the standard understanding, the priests of the SSPX cannot validly hear confessions or grant absolution. However:

“As most Catholics know, there are certain grave sins, the remittance of which is reserved to the Holy See alone. Under Church law if a priest hears the confession of a person who has committed one of these reserved sins, he is obligated to report the matter to the Holy See …” [Bishop Fellay went on to say] “that from time to time Society priests have heard such confessions, and that, in every case, the required notification was sent to the Holy See. In each of these cases, the response received from the Vatican was that “all was good and licit” and that the permission for the SSPX priest to absolve was granted.”

Secondly:

The SSPX had arranged to ordain a number of priests in Germany in March 2009. This provoked great tensions between the German hierarchy and the Vatican.

“The Vatican asked Bishop Fellay to move the ordinations out of the jurisdiction of the German bishops. If Bishop Fellay would do so, the Vatican Cardinal bargained, the Society “would be legally recognized until Easter.” This was to cover the two-week period in which the ordinations would occur. Bishop Fellay explained that he had asked the Cardinal why this was being requested since, according to a recent document of the Secretary of State, the SSPX does not “even exist legally.” The Cardinal replied that “the Pope does not believe that.” “

Truly, we live in adventurous times.

Contacting the Catholic Times about the Mildew/Loftus matter

2010-10-19T17:00:00.005+01:00

Solidarity with dear Fr Clifton! I'm very sorry he has felt it necessary to close his Fr Mildew blog. He doesn't deserve this treatment.

Catholic and Loving it! has provided this helpful link to The Catholic Times's Contact the Editor page. The CT will no doubt receive eloquent and detailed messages from many correspondents, which will say all that needs to be said on the subject. I don't feel I could add any useful detail, but I think it is important to swell the numbers. I have therefore sent the following:

Would you please add my name to the list of those who write to you in support of Fr Michael Clifton (Fr Mildew) in the matter of the action threatened against him by Mgr Loftus.

The more messages they receive, however brief, the better.

The Bishops' Conference: Is unity more important than truth?

2010-10-17T12:49:00.025+01:00

Reflections from the lounge bar of “The Four Horsemen”:

I have been trying to think of an appropriate word for the degree of authority which supports anything I write on this blog. It is only right to say that I am Mrs Nobody-in-Particular. So the answer is: Nil. However, in the free-for-all spirit of the blogosphere, why should that stop any of us? Nevertheless, I promise to try to keep on the doctrinal strait and narrow, and I will aim to be charitable.

Imagine me, therefore, sitting in a comfortable chair in my local, in the company of like-minded friends, saying: “What I can’t understand is … “, or “Why can’t they just …”, or “Have they all got something on one another? Like that film - what was it called? Oh yes: I know what you did last summer.” We are somewhat inclined to conspiracy theories, my chums and I; but then again, there’s no smoke without fire …

That excellent blog, Protect the Pope, published a post on 26 August concerning the recollections of Daphne McLeod, head of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, of her conversations with Archbishop Nichols of Westminster. Here are some choice extracts:

… he admitted that he couldn’t speak out against the homosexual movement’s agenda promoted in the UK because of fears that it would create disunity among the bishops …

‘We must have unity at all price. If I speak out against it, there’ll be disunity among the bishops, and we can’t have that’.

My post is not specifically concerned with questions relating to the homosexual movement. The import of the words attributed to Archbishop Nichols applies across the whole range of the Church’s teaching on matters that go against the grain of the way people want to live their lives.

I think it has been assumed that the Archbishop himself would like to speak up for the teachings of the Church, if he were not so afraid of the episcopal heavies who would come round with their pit-bulls. I too am very willing to assume this. However, the words as quoted are “If I speak out …”, and not “I want to speak out, but …”. They are therefore rather more impersonal than a quick reading would suggest. I look forward to hearing clear statements of all the teachings of the Church, including the unpopular ones, together with encouragement to follow them or to return to their observance.

According to the Penny Catechism, one of the ways in which we may either cause or share in the guilt of another’s sin, is by silence. This applies to all of us, including bishops. How much more so, in addition, does it apply to the successors of the Apostles, who are commissioned to teach the truth and to refute error?

“They” (to use a catch-all word that has the advantage of not pointing a finger) appear to be hiding behind a falsely inflated representation of the powers of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. On this subject, here is a fine article by Bishop Robert F Vasa, taken from the Catholic Culture website, on the role - and the limitations - of bishops’ conferences. It is written in the context of the USA, but it applies equally in other countries. Here are some salient quotations from a long but important document:

Episcopal Conferences must keep in mind the good of the Church, that is, the service of unity and the inalienable responsibility of each bishop in relation to the universal Church and to his particular Church. (Pope John Paul II, Apostolos Suos, 7)

We must not forget that the episcopal conferences have no theological basis, they do not belong to the structure of the Church, as willed by Christ, that cannot be eliminated; they have only a practical, concrete function. (The Ratzinger Report, 59-61)

The national level is not an ecclesial dimension. It must once again become clear that in each diocese there is only one shepherd and teacher of the faith in communion with the other pastors and teachers and with the Vicar of Christ. (The Ratzinger Report, 59-61)

The bishops’ authority to speak out and to preach the truth is laid upon each of them, individually, in direct union with the successor of Peter, under our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bishops’ Conference has no power to obstruct that authority. Each bishop has his own charge and his own flock; and each has the continuing and imperative duty to examine his own conscience and his own faithfulness of mind and heart and will to the teaching of Christ’s Church, in all its fullness. He then has the duty to go out and teach that fullness, neither adding to it, nor - which is most pertinent in these days - subtracting from it.

If, in consequence, we see differences emerging in the witness given by the various members of the Bishops’ Conference, so much the better. We shall know exactly where each of them stands. And so will Rome.

A Story about the Intercession of Blessed Cardinal Newman

2010-10-07T14:56:00.008+01:00

As mentioned in my post on 24th September, I have started to ask for the intercessory prayers of Blessed Cardinal Newman, for the “thoughtful apostates”, that they may return to the fullness of the Faith.

Here is a little thing that happened this morning. I had just said my prayer, when I suddenly began to feel rather embarrassed, as though I were being importunate in bothering him over this intention, when he had so many others to intercede for.

Rather as one might say to someone, “If it’s not inconvenient”, I felt impelled to add, rather timidly, “If it is the Lord’s will”.

Immediately there came into my mind the following words: “It is not the Father’s will that any of them should be lost”.

You may like to read Matthew 18:10-14, the Parable of the Lost Sheep, at the end of which, almost word for word, is the sentence that came to me.

God is goodness.

Wearing the Badge of our Faith

2010-10-04T19:57:00.007+01:00

Archbishop Nichols, of Westminster, has encouraged Catholics to witness to their faith in small but significant ways: for example, by saying “God bless you” or by making the Sign of the Cross in public. These may seem like little things, but they are important, particularly in the social and legislative climate of our country these days.

I have a beautiful lapel pin, which I bought when I joined the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. It shows their logo, which I have pasted at the head of this post. The chasuble is red, and everything else is white, with all the outlines, and the Cross, in gold. In the light of Archbishop Nichols’s exhortation, I will try to make sure that I wear the badge on my coat as a regular thing. It could be a real conversation piece, and it is full of teaching possibilities.

Having said that, of course, the question arises: am I up to the task of dealing with the questions and challenges - to say nothing of anything more adversarial - which may be directed at me when those I meet realise I am a Catholic? Those of us who may be unfamiliar with the work of presenting or defending our faith, or who may be rusty in these skills, may be rather daunted at the prospect of explaining it. On a practical note, I think it’s important to gain confidence, and not to feel one must waffle when responding to enquirers. It’s perfectly all right to admit that we can’t do justice to this or that question, but that we will try to find out all we can for the next occasion.

There is a major and urgent need to plug the gaps in Catholics’ knowledge of the Faith. And there is also the problem that the poor catechesis many people have received will result in some eccentric versions (no, I’m beating about the bush here; we all know I mean false versions) of our faith finding their way into the unsuspecting ears of enquirers.

Most glaringly, there is that all-excusing misrepresentation of the idea of “following one’s conscience”, which seems to have become fixed in the minds of so many Catholics. The more knowledgeable kind of non-Catholic will not be at all impressed if a Catholic tells him that “We don’t have to follow the Church’s teachings; we can follow our own consciences and decide for ourselves”.

There is another thing to consider. While allowing that we are all sinners, and without beating myself up about it, I’m going to have to do my best to practise the virtues, and to be seen to be trying to do so. Otherwise the behaviour that is seen won’t match the words that are heard, or the Catholic symbols that are worn. There have been some glaring examples of this in the media recently. We will be held to very high standards.

To sum up: the Archbishop’s words, which are ostensibly quite simple and restricted, are really full of potential; but they must be built on. If each of us, and our bishops and clergy, make the effort, it will be to the intellectual and spiritual benefit of all concerned.

Praying to Blessed John Henry for the Return of "Thoughtful Apostates"

2010-09-24T15:56:00.011+01:00

On 20th September The Very Revd Gerard Deighan preached on the subject of Blessed John Henry Newman, in Newman’s own church, the Catholic University Church in Dublin, on the occasion of a Mass in honour of Newman’s beatification.

If you have not yet been able to read this brilliant sermon, posted on 23rd September on the Rorate Caeli blog, I urge you to make the time to do so. It is absolutely wonderful.

Unfortunately Rorate Caeli doesn’t seem to have a facility to link to the specific posting. Please follow the link to the blog, and scroll down to 23rd September.

As you would expect, the sermon covers the broad range of Newman’s life and thought, including the true understanding of his writings on conscience, and his implacable opposition to liberalism in religion. It also reflects on his work as a pastor of souls, and his gift for friendship. But in my present post I would like to tell you what happened when I read the following passage from the sermon, which deals with his faithfulness, as a priest and as a friend, in praying for others:

“I have in mind that prayer for which Newman is best remembered: his prayer of intercession. As a man of prayer he had no pretensions. He was no St Teresa or St John of the Cross. When he prayed, it generally involved poring over long lists which he made out, and kept scrupulously up to date, of the people he wished to pray for. In this he is a model to us. Firstly, a model of caring for others so much as to keep them in our thoughts, and in our hearts; but also a model of bringing our loving thoughts of others before God, and asking Him to care for them, and bless them, and heal them, or forgive them, or grant them eternal rest. Newman was a faithful intercessor while here on earth; and now that he is in heaven we can be sure his power of intercession is even greater. So here is my second concrete exhortation to you this evening: Pray to Blessed John Henry! Pray for all your needs, and for those of your friends and foes!”

Isn’t that beautiful? I smiled at the reference to the long lists he used to keep; how endearingly human that sounds! But as I read this passage, I was suddenly filled with tearful thoughts of loved ones (and I am often in tears when I think of them) who have moved away from the fullness of the Church to worship elsewhere; or who have ceased to be Christian, while retaining a firm belief in God. I long so much for them to return! And as I read, I was moved to pray to Blessed Cardinal Newman, to ask his intercession for those who are in that particular category of the lapsed or gone-astray. Until I can think of a better term, I will refer to them as the “thoughtful apostates”. They have thought, they have reflected, they have seen and been dismayed at the state of the Catholic Church, at the examples of banality and casual irreverence. At this stage or that in their reflections, they have made a false step in their thinking, and have continued to apply their reasoning along the erroneous path they have unwittingly taken. And this is where they are today: absolutely sincere; reverent and even prayerful; but separated from the fullness of the Church, or from the personal consciousness that the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves them with infinite love, is waiting patiently, so very close to them.

I will pray for the intercession of Blessed John Henry Newman, whose intellectual powers are so much a feature of his sanctity, for the return of the “thoughtful apostates”.

A Conversion Opportunity for all of us, including our Bishops

2010-09-22T19:31:00.007+01:00

Breadgirl’s recent comment has helped me to clarify my thoughts somewhat on an important aspect of the Holy Father’s visit. Specifically, it feels as if we have been offered a conversion opportunity.

I remember the reported words of one of the Polish bishops, in the early 1980s, who said “We all need conversion.” By which, of course, he meant not only those who did not believe, but everyone, whatever their position in the Church, whatever the stage they had reached in their spiritual journey. That has stuck in my mind as something simple and yet profound. None of us has yet arrived where God wants us to be.

This brings me to our bishops. Their conversion opportunity has arrived too. They are not a single, corporate entity; each of them, as a child of God, is on his own individual spiritual path, and only God knows how far they have progressed. What will they make of this moment of grace?

To state it very simply, the call to conversion is the call to repent and believe. Or, if we are already on the Christian journey, to detach ourselves more comprehensively from sin, and to believe more profoundly; and this both in our words and in our actions.

As John the Baptist said: “If you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruits.” The “Light of the World” initiative is, I believe, a simple but rather wonderful conversion-fruit. Who knows what fruits it will itself give rise to? I am sure more good things will come; but there will be resistance, there will be closed minds and amused indifference, even, dare I say it, among the hierarchy and clergy. But I very much hope not. I plan to be realistic, but optimistic. And I will be joining my prayers to those of many others, in praying for our bishops and priests in this new Benedictine era.

"Light of the World" for Every Parish in England and Wales

2010-09-21T21:55:00.006+01:00

Here is some very interesting news, courtesy of the Catholic Herald website. Every parish in England and Wales is to receive a framed copy of William Holman Hunt’s “Light of the World”, together with a candle. All have been blessed by the Holy Father at the Hyde Park vigil.

Three moments of tearfulness ...

2010-09-20T18:56:00.006+01:00

... When the Pope completed his proclamation of Cardinal Newman as Blessed.

... When those fine young seminarians at Oscott sang "Ad multos annos" as their farewell to their dear Holy Father.

... When our wonderful Pope Benedict climbed the steps to the plane that would take him safely home, after his packed and exhausting visit.

And a moment of thankfulness and relief, as the plane rose into the sky and gently disappeared into the low cloud.

Happy days, so poignant, and, please God, so rich in fruit.

The Construction Work at Cofton Park

2010-09-14T12:09:00.001+01:00

Here are some pictures from BBC Midlands of the preparations at Cofton Park for Cardinal Newman’s beatification Mass.

An Empty Husk?

2010-09-11T21:45:00.012+01:00

I hope the Altar-cave for the Cofton Park beatification Mass turns out to be more dignified on the day than the artist’s impression suggests. Messa in Latino has come up with this rather extravagant description of it: “Like the fearsome interior of the carapace of some enormous dead grub”. Perhaps it’s not as bad as that, but we shall see! We can’t always judge from a drawing what the reality will look like. This is why I’ve held back from adding my two-penn’orth to the reactions that have appeared in the Catholic blogosphere. All I will say is: that’s an optimistically blue sky for 19th September …

However, I think MiL has hit very close to the mark with its evocation of the idea of an empty carapace. It feels to me like an uncomfortably accurate metaphor for the current condition of the Church in England and Wales. I’m sorry to say that I’ve thought for some time that our part of the Catholic Church demonstrates, in some respects, the deceptive attributes of an empty or nearly empty husk.

A great part of the illusion of health comes from our Catholic education system. School after school refers to itself as having a “Catholic ethos”. If this ethos does not express itself in the form of sound Catholic teaching, does it have any reality, or is it just a fuzzy feeling?

The post-school lapsation rate appears to be catastrophically high. This cannot all be due to adolescent rebellion against devout parents. A large percentage of the pupils must surely belong either to non-believing and non-practising families, or to church-going families who quite sincerely but misguidedly follow the Cherie Blair variety of “Catholicism”, not knowing any better.

I wonder also how many families attend Mass as a form of school fees, as the price to be paid just until their youngest child leaves school, and then they are off. Parish clergy must surely be aware of this phenomenon. However, one never knows: the good habit may be formed, at least in the parents, even if their children lapse. God takes His opportunities to find a way into the most unsuspecting hearts.

Do our parochial and diocesan schools, then, create a great illusion of health in the local Church, and indeed in parish churches? A deceptive impression of fullness, when there is, in large part, only emptiness?

While lamenting these signs of hollowness within the external appearance of the Church in E&W, I must say how much I admire those truly Catholic families, in which the parents know the Church’s teachings and are fully committed to them, in spite of our current adversities; and all credit and honour to them, and to their children who are properly taught by their parents, and who hang on to the true Faith, and come out at the end of their school years with their belief intact.

So, I’ll try not to be too bothered about the physical appearance of the Altar-hood, because there are far worse things, seriously so, swirling around in the English and Welsh Catholic scene. It may well be that a number of things are biding their time to emerge when the Holy Father is safely back in Rome. Will we then see the claws unsheathed? I have a heart-sinking feeling that this may be so.

Dear Heavenly Father, please keep Pope Benedict safe, and may his visit bear the good fruit which we so desperately need.

Mark Dowd to give a talk tonight at a Catholic church in Bath

2010-09-10T08:55:00.008+01:00

Mark Dowd, maker of the BBC's radio and television programmes about the Holy Father, is giving a talk tonight at St John’s Parish Hall, South Parade, Bath, BA2 4AF. It is advertised on the Diocese of Clifton’s website, and has also appeared in parish newsletters.

Gregorian chant at the papal events? Over to you!

2010-09-02T12:03:00.004+01:00

Two weeks to go. They have signed the contracts and published the programmes. It looks as though we can't do anything more to influence things, either at the Beatification Mass or at the Hyde Park vigil. I'm sure His Holiness understands the situation, and will do his very best for us all.

And yet ... there may be a pause in the music and other entertainment, now and then. Wouldn't it be good if groups of pilgrims, here and there, were to add a little Gregorian chant to the proceedings? One or two pieces from the Missa de Angelis, for example, or the Salve Regina? Go on, you know you want to ...

O Sing to the Lord an Old Song ...

2010-08-20T20:47:00.019+01:00

Sorry to contradict Psalm 96, but just this once ... Now that the music has been announced for the Hyde Park vigil, can I say first of all how glad I am that they're not going to sing "Our God Reigns". Back in 1982, I was very soon reduced to turning the television volume down to mute.

Certain tunes have a habit of lodging in one's head, and even when it's a good one, enough is as good as a feast. We have been watching the daily repeats of The Onedin Line, and the Spartacus theme has been haunting our brains. Yesterday, thanks to YouTube, I heard for the first time the famous worship song Shine, Jesus, Shine. It has been floating through my head ever since, even this morning in Waitrose. I must find some other music to listen to, to drive it out.

Now for a non-expert review of it. I thought the tune was quite pleasant. I could imagine swaying about and waving my arms in the air, if I were inclined to attend the more charismatic kind of Mass or service of praise. The combination of music and lyrics is warm and emotional, both of which feelings have a place in our love of God.

There were some good points about the lyrics. They refer to the awesomeness of God. They are trinitarian. They recall St John's words about Christ, the Word, as the light shining in the darkness. They bring to mind Christ's words that "the truth will set you free". "Blaze, Spirit, blaze" reminds me of the Holy Spirit coming down as tongues of fire. The flowing river makes me think of Luke 4:14: "The water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life". The last verse says "May our lives tell your story", which is very much a statement of "let's get out there and give witness" - which is good.

I think its limitation is that it stays within the range of belief which the Catholic Church shares with the average evangelical Protestant. The glorious patrimony of Catholic chant, and of our hymns - even the more sentimental ones - teaches these good things and so much more; because it draws on the Christian faith in its fullness.

Some months ago - for a reason which I have now forgotten - I borrowed a hymn book from church for a couple of days, and went through the index, writing down the titles of those hymns whose words and tunes I particularly like. I came across this list only yesterday, and it was lovely to read it again; it lifted my heart as the old favourites, with their touching words and sweet melodies, came flooding back. Leaving aside for the present the beautiful hymns to our Lady, here are just a few:

Hail, Redeemer
Crown Him with many crowns
Alleluia, sing to Jesus
To Jesus' Heart, all burning
Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all
Soul of my Saviour

Now for a tentative suggestion for the vigil. There may be opportunities for small groups to take advantage of the occasional hiatus to sing, quietly but noticeably, one or two of the fine old Catholic hymns, or a piece of Gregorian chant such as the Salve Regina. It may be that the hearts of those who hear them will be moved and attracted by what they hear. One never knows ...

Looking forward to hearing all about Downside

2010-08-13T18:42:00.003+01:00

Events conspired to keep me from attending any of the public Masses at this week's LMS training conference at Downside. I was very much looking forward to it, but something cropped up that had to take precedence over everything else. I'm now eagerly awaiting the first reports, both of the conference itself and of the Masses.

LMS Training Conference, 10th-13th August 2010: Bus Service from Bath to Downside

2010-08-07T22:22:00.013+01:00

For those who are interested in travelling by public transport to attend the public Masses at Downside Abbey in Somerset, during the Latin Mass Society's training conference for priests, here is a link to the timetable for the number 184 bus service from Bath to Frome, which leaves from Bay 7 at Bath bus station, at half past the hour. The journey takes about 55 minutes, and the bus passes Downside Abbey on its way into Stratton-on-the Fosse. I understand there is a bus stop just by the entrance to the abbey grounds.

If you travel to Bath by train, you should leave Bath Spa station at the exit leading to the town centre, then turn left, and you will very quickly arrive at the bus station, which is a large glass-walled building, on the same side of the road as the railway station.

The 9.30 bus from Bath arrives at Downside in comfortable time to attend the Masses, which are scheduled for 11.00 or 11.15. The return buses leave Stratton at 24 minutes past the hour.

For those of us who can manage it, there will be a beautiful and inspiring Mass, and also a delightful tour of the lovely Somerset countryside.

The CDF on doctrine, authority, assent and dissent

2010-08-01T12:17:00.025+01:00

The Italian-language blog Messa in Latino, which is always an interesting read, had a particularly interesting post yesterday. It was the text of a doctrinal commentary by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, dating from 1998. You may already be familiar with the document, but I thought it was worth publishing here, for those of us who were not aware of it.

The document was linked to the publication of a new Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity, which were to be made by those assuming any office that is to be exercised in the name of the Church. The profession and oath, which superseded earlier forms, were issued to conform to Pope John Paul II’s Ad tuendam fidem.

This may at first sight seem a little dry, but in fact it was a treasure trove. It set out - in a remarkably concise way for so complex a subject - the sources of the Church’s teaching, and of Her authority to teach, the various categories of Her teaching, the assent that is required on the part of all the faithful, and the position of those who do not assent.

My initial dismay at the thought of battling through such a long translation was soon dispelled when I realised that an English version must already exist somewhere on the internet. And so it does, thanks to EWTN.

Here is the doctrinal commentary.

Here are the Profession of Faith and the Oath of Fidelity.

This is a very helpful summary of the categories of belief, prepared – I think – by EWTN.

And finally, Ad tuendam fidem.

There is a good deal of reading matter here, for those of you who are interested; but fortunately it is broken up into quite manageable chunks. Take your time; no rush! I hope you will find it useful.

One of the Joys of Reading the Old Testament

2010-07-22T20:42:00.008+01:00

In furtherance of my resolution to try to link a plenary indulgence work to every Holy Communion I receive, I am now working my way through the Old Testament for, I think, the third time. Tonight I finished Deuteronomy and began to read Joshua.

Some of the Old Testament is wonderful; but parts of it can sometimes be rather hard going. However, it is worth all the toil of trudging through the repetitions, and the lists of names of the tribal leaders and their descendants, and the detailed measurements; it is worth it all, to come across a phrase here and there, which is familiar and well-loved from its use in the New Testament.

There are other phrases too, which have passed into the richness of our language, and touch the heart. I thought I would share today's with you, from Deuteronomy 33:27 -

The eternal God is your dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Favourite Prayers Meme

2010-07-20T19:56:00.008+01:00

Thank you to Athanasius of Suffering World and to Breadgirl of Last Welsh Martyr , for inviting me to join in the fun of doing a Catholic meme. I will try to follow Mulier Fortis’s rules:

Name your three favourite prayers, and explain why.

Tag five bloggers - give them a link, and then go and tell them they have been tagged.

Finally, tell the person who tagged you that you've completed the meme.

The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here. MF is more interested in people's favourite devotional prayers.

I could make it more than three. If I were to do this, I would include the prayers incorporated in St Alphonsus Liguori’s meditations at the Stations of the Cross. Some are addressed to Jesus, and some to our Lady, and I find them quite haunting. I’d also include the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel, which seems to have such power within it. But these are my three, for the purposes of this meme:

The Our Father: because the Lord Himself gave it to us, therefore it is the best and most powerful prayer of all. The Holy Spirit inspires us to say it, and we speak our Lord Jesus’s own words, to our Father in Heaven. Perfect!

The prayer at the end of each Station’s meditation, which I often say as a separate prayer: “I love Thee, Jesus, my love above all things. I repent with my whole heart of having offended Thee. Never permit me to separate myself from Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt.”

Finally, I’d like to include a prayer that is so short and simple that it would, I suppose, be called an aspiration: simply the words, “Heavenly Father”. This is a prayer for times of extremity, as well as for those little expressions of love, those turnings toward the Lord that we make during the day. And I can attest that it’s just the thing when one is heavily sedated and being wheeled to the operating theatre; it is a lovely thing to go to sleep to.

I have managed to tag four bloggers, as follows, but I may be beaten to it:

Bob, of Bob’s Blog;

A Reluctant Sinner;

Paulinus from In Hoc Signo Vinces;

Fr Hunwicke, priest-in-charge of the Anglican church of S. Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, who has a most erudite blog. It is a joy to cheer him on, silently, from the wings, as he makes his journey in these momentous times.

Since so many bloggers have already been tagged, I think I should excuse my tag victims from finding any others, if they find they are struggling with it.

The Person in the Womb

2010-07-16T17:21:00.020+01:00

John Smeaton, the Director of SPUC, has drawn the attention of his readers to an interesting and very encouraging Zenit interview with Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, the new head of the Pontifical Academy for Life. In the course of the interview Mgr Carrasco said the following:

One of the problems we have with regard to the embryo is that it isn't seen. Instead of embryo we should speak of a child who is in the initial phase of development. Because we cannot see him, he is in a situation of tremendous danger, at tremendous risk.

The words we use are indeed extremely important. Further on in this post I'll record a few thoughts on the word "child"; but before doing so I'd like to refer to the general use of the term "unborn".

While it is of course a statement of fact, I have always felt there was a certain insufficiency in the word. My slight discomfort arises from a phrase which occasionally used to crop up in the loftier kind of political speech, when the politician wanted to inspire his listeners with a vision of the faraway sunlit uplands to which his party’s policies would undoubtedly lead the nation. He would refer to “generations as yet unborn”.

In that example the generations did not in fact exist at the time of the speech. Might the term “unborn” convey something of that same sense of non-existence - or of not yet existing - when used in reference to the child in the womb? Not to us, of course; but does its use miss an opportunity to impress upon a wider and less informed audience the reality, the totality, the existence here and now, of an actual human being, from the instant of his or her conception?

Returning to the word "child", I’d love to hear it used, as Mgr Carrasco recommends; and used as the standard term. “Baby” would be good too; but I feel that the use of “child” emphasises even more strongly the individuality, the humanity, the personhood, the sense of continuity with all stages of a person's development and growth to adulthood. So for me, it is “the embryonic child”, “the gestating child” or "the child in the womb" which fits the bill better than any other phrase.

No posts for a few weeks

2010-07-02T16:58:00.002+01:00

This is to let my readers know that it will be a few weeks before a new post can be added to this blog. Life is extremely busy just now. Nothing bad, just a lot of hard work.

The Richness of Catholic Prayer and Devotions

2010-06-25T20:59:00.011+01:00

It's hard to believe I started this blog one year ago today. Time goes by so quickly!

I have been thinking a good deal about my mother-in-law, who is in her nineties, almost blind and quite frail, though mentally alert. She is not a Catholic. One of her uncles was enthusiastically involved in the local Orange Lodge, which gives a good indication of the religious "flavour" of her family. She herself has never been a church-goer during her adult life, as far as I know.
The only prayer resource she has seems to be the Lord's Prayer; and what could be better that that? But it has struck me, by contrast, what a wealth of prayer, meditation and devotions would be accessible by the averagely devout Catholic of a similar age. What a treasure we have!

So, in addition to my recent postings about the value of teaching the Virtues, here is another rich seam of Catholic life which it would be wonderful for our priests to encourage from the pulpit. Perhaps some members of their congregations might even be persuaded to stay behind occasionally after Mass, while their priests lead them in Benediction or in some of the old, familiar and life-enhancing prayers. Just a thought; no pressure ...

Good news following the recent health scare.

2010-06-23T17:27:00.006+01:00

Thank you so much to my kind readers for the prayers you have said in response to my recent post. We have now seen the consultant, who gave us the good news that he does not consider that the latest test results are an indication of cancer. He is fairly confident that antibiotics followed by various tests will identify and solve the current problem. However, it seems as if it will always be necessary to monitor the situation with periodic blood tests. At least this will alert us to any further concerns, of whatever kind. For the time being, relief all round!

The Holy Father on Clerical Careerism

2010-06-20T17:10:00.015+01:00

Here is an interesting article, published today in Paolo Rodari’s Diario Apostolico. The Holy Father is speaking about the contrast between clerical careerism and the true spirit of the priesthood.

Careerism, the seeking after power, present in the Church (above all among the clergy), was - more than so many other things - the evil which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger denounced in his meditations on the Way of the Cross in 2005, when, a few weeks before succeeding John Paul II, he said: “How much filth there is in the Church, and indeed even among those who, within the priesthood, should belong completely to Him!”

Read it here: Ratzinger’s meditation at the Ninth Station.

Benedict XVI has returned to this theme on other occasions, for example when he said on 3rd February 2010: “One’s career, the exercise of power: are these not a temptation? A temptation from which even those who have a role of activity and governance in the Church are not immune.”

Read it here: the General Audience.

The Pope had spoken about it in a more forceful manner on 12 September 2009, when he listed the characteristics which must not be lacking in the life of the priest. At a certain point he said: “We do not bind men to us; we do not seek power, prestige, esteem for ourselves. We lead men toward Jesus Christ and thus toward the living God. By this we lead them into truth, and into freedom, which has its origin in truth. Faithfulness is altruism, and precisely because of this it is liberating for the minister himself and for those who are entrusted to him. We know how things in civil society and, not infrequently, also in the Church, suffer from the fact that many of those upon whom a responsibility has been conferred, work for themselves and not for the community, for the common good.”

Read it here: the homily for the Episcopal ordination of five new priests.

Today, once again, during the Mass for the priestly ordination of fourteen new priests, a few hours after the news that Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Archbishop of Naples, an important man in the engine-room of the Wojtyla pontificate, ex-Secretary of the Congregation for Priests, ex-Prefect of Propaganda Fide, has been included in the register of those under scrutiny at Perugia in the public works investigation*, the Pope has reaffirmed the constant idea: “The priesthood can never represent a means of attaining security in life, or of achieving for oneself a position in society. A man who aspires to the priesthood in order to increase his own personal prestige and his own power has radically misunderstood the meaning of this ministry.

“He who wishes above all to fulfil his own ambition, to achieve his own success, will always be a slave to himself and to public opinion. In order to be esteemed, he will have to flatter; he will have to say what pleases people; he will have to adapt himself to the changeability of fashions and opinions, and he will thus deprive himself of the vital relationship with truth, reducing himself to condemning tomorrow what he has praised today. A man who plans out his life like this, a priest who sees his own ministry in these terms, does not truly love God and others, but only himself, and, paradoxically, ends by losing himself. The priesthood – let us always remember – is founded upon the courage to say yes to another Will, in the awareness – which he should nurture so that it grows stronger every day - that in truly conforming ourselves to the Will of God, “immersed” in this Will, not only will our individuality not be rubbed out, but on the contrary, we shall enter ever more deeply into the truth of our being and of our ministry.”

Read the entire homily here.

*An investigation into possible criminality in the letting of public works contracts.

A Surprisingly Comforting Platitude

2010-06-17T18:47:00.014+01:00

Here is a platitude, and a surprisingly comforting one, when one has been jolted into appreciating it: it is that this life is only temporary.

There comes a time when health scares of one kind or another become a feature of life, always there in the background, and sometimes flaring up with all the consequent distress. Up to now, there has always been a release of that distress, a relief when tests produce a negative result. Until the next time, when the worry and the uncertainty surface again.

I know how sweet God's comfort is when the tears come, and it seems - quite vividly - as though I am resting my head on His shoulder. God is beautiful, and God is good. He is more than good: He is Goodness. It is a most strengthening thing to experience this.

After the first scare, then the second and third, a certain resilience emerges. We are beginning to seize the day; time is precious. I have started to de-clutter our house. Just in case; one never knows. Please God, may my husband and I have many more years together.

The latest worry may, once again, be no more than that. But the odd prayer, now and then, would be much appreciated.

Natural Family Planning: Some Useful Links

2010-06-03T20:13:00.014+01:00

There is always a caveat when finding a reliable source of NFP teaching, because the moral and spiritual foundation of it makes all the difference, and it is very important to seek out a teacher who understands these things. In the 1980s my friends and I started our NFP work from a strongly Catholic motivation. However, the understandable desire to make NFP “respectable” in NHS family planning circles led to the training of a number of NHS family planning nurses, who did not have the religious underpinning which matters so much to a Catholic user.

It is not always possible to find a Catholic teacher of Natural Family Planning in one’s area, but it would be a very good idea to contact your local parish to see if they know of someone who is properly trained. In addition, readers who wish to be sure that they have all the latest information about NFP, and the means to practise it effectively, may find the following links of interest:

The Natural Family Planning Teachers’ Association.

I think this may formerly have been called the National Association of Natural Family Planning Teachers, but I’m open to correction on that.

The Fertility Education Trust.

The Couple to Couple League for Natural Family Planning
(Double A* as far as I am concerned!):

International website

UK website

I was particularly impressed with this organisation when I came across its work. In particular, its founders, John and Sheila Kippley, wrote some excellent books – thoroughly Catholic - which are still available on Amazon. The two I have read are The Art of Natural Family Planning, and Birth Control and the Marriage Covenant, but you can see from the Amazon list that there are other good things too.

The second book in particular draws a most interesting scriptural analogy relating to the illicitness of contraception. Whereas most writers go for the “sin of Onan” text, John Kippley draws on the passage in Acts (Chapter 5, verses 1 to 11) which tells of the fraud of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. They had promised to give the fledgling Church the proceeds of the sale of a property, but agreed secretly to withhold part of it while claiming to the Apostles that they were giving the full amount. John Kippley likens this pretence of total giving while in fact withholding something, to the inherent statement of total self-giving in the sexual act in marriage, that is given the lie by the withholding of one’s power of generating a new life. I was very much struck by this fresh analogy, and I remain convinced of its aptness.

I hope my readers will find this post, and the links, helpful and encouraging.

The Glory of the Olive

2010-06-01T18:43:00.013+01:00

Good old St Malachy! He – or the ones who applied his name to those curious “prophecies” – came up with many intriguing little phrases, which may or may not be applicable to particular popes. Not Holy Writ, and not Holy Tradition. Just great fun. Probably.

However, I received something of a jolt, early one morning in 1978, when I was feeding my baby son, and switched on the Today programme to be greeted by the news that the first Pope John Paul (“De medietate lunae”) had died, after a reign of only 33 days. The cryptic phrase supposedly applicable to him, “Concerning the middle of the moon” had suddenly turned into “The interval of a month”.

And, as most of us probably know, the “prophecies” are running out. Our present Holy Father, supposedly “De gloria olivae” (Concerning the glory of the olive”), is allegedly to be followed by “Petrus Romanus” ……… and then? The destruction of Rome? The end of the world? Or did the compiler of these epithets simply run out of ideas?

It’s interesting to try to find links which seem to make sense of our present Holy Father’s “prophecy”. Some have mentioned the Olivetans, a branch of the Benedictine Order. That seems a bit tortuous. Others wonder if peace will be a strong theme of this pontificate. This is rather vague. In any case, we can only really judge by looking back at the end of a pontificate; and I hope this one continues for many more years. Despite all our travails,“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive…”

But here is another possibility. The Holy Father is taking all the steps he can to reunite Christendom, by which it appears he is thinking both of the Eastern Orthodox and of all those members of the post-Reformation ecclesial bodies who are of Catholic mind and heart. And this he does, undaunted by the ragged edges of the process, or by what the management gurus call the “difficult people” (to put it mildly!) to whom his hand has been held out in friendship at the start of this path of uncertain length.

He is trying to begin the work of re-grafting as many as possible onto the tree which is the source of all truth and life. It would be easy to think of the “tree” as the vine. We often hear Christ’s words: “I am the vine; you are the branches.” But there is another tree: the olive; and this is the tree to which the image of grafting – and, most importantly at present, of re-grafting – is applied in the New Testament.

And I think he has an even greater ambition, stretching beyond his own pontificate.

You may like to read these words of the Holy Father on 15th May 2009, at Ben Gurion Airport, at the end of his visit to Israel. I think his words - very simple and courteous and diplomatic - give an insight into his hopes:

Mr President, you and I planted an olive tree at your residence on the day that I arrived in Israel. The olive tree, as you know, is an image used by Saint Paul to describe the very close relations between Christians and Jews. Paul describes in his Letter to the Romans how the Church of the Gentiles is like a wild olive shoot, grafted onto the cultivated olive tree which is the People of the Covenant (cf. 11:17-24). We are nourished from the same spiritual roots.

And this - with thanks to EWTN - is from Chapter 11 of St Paul’s Letter to the Romans:

15 For if their rejection [that is, Israel’s rejection of the Messiah] means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
16 If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree,
18 do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.
19 You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.
23 And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
24 For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

More and more, I feel that this phrase, “The glory of the olive”, applies to our dear Pope Benedict.

Virtue in the Life of Mankind: Part 2 of 2

2010-05-17T20:18:00.015+01:00

Here is the continuation of yesterday’s post.

From The Penny Catechism:

THE CAPITAL OR DEADLY SINS, AND THEIR CONTRARY VIRTUES

Pride...................Humility
Covetousness............Liberality
Lust....................Chastity
Anger...................Meekness
Gluttony................Temperance
Envy....................Brotherly Love
Sloth or Acedia*........Diligence

*The Compendium adds Acedia to Sloth. It describes Acedia as “a form of spiritual laziness due to relaxed vigilance and a lack of custody of the heart”.

The Penny Catechism says:

They are called capital sins because they are the sources from which all other sins take their rise.

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel
Fortitude
Knowledge
Piety
Fear of the Lord

The Compendium says:

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are permanent dispositions which make us docile in following divine inspirations.

I wasn't sure how to understand Counsel. Here is a helpful article on the subject, by the Reverend William G Most, on the EWTN website. A key sentence in the article is: "The gift of counsel perfects prudence."

THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Charity
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Generosity
Gentleness
Faithfulness
Modesty
Self-control
Chastity

The Compendium says:

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are perfections formed in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.

This is all good, nourishing spiritual food, really positive and, I think, very inspiring.

Virtue in the Life of Mankind: Part 1 of 2

2010-05-17T20:07:00.012+01:00

How wonderful it would be if all the teachings of the Church could be presented to us each Sunday from the pulpit, systematically, over a period of time, in all their strength and beauty!

Such as, for example, the virtues.

Using the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and my copy - a 1970s reprint of a much older text - of the Catholic Truth Society’s Catechism of Christian Doctrine (the old Penny Catechism), I thought it might be useful to gather some of the basic teaching, and set it out here.

Since I am thinking at present of the virtues as they relate to our dealings with our neighbour, I have concentrated on the so-called human virtues, leaving aside the theological virtues. I have included:

The cardinal virtues.
The Penny Catechism’s list of the seven capital, or deadly, sins, alongside which, most helpfully, it lists their contrasting virtues.
The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

This is quite a lot to cover: I think I will split it into two posts, over two days. At the end of each post, please let me know if I have missed anything out. It is such a beautiful and important subject that I’d like to do it justice as best I can.

THE CARDINAL VIRTUES

Prudence
Justice
Fortitude
Temperance

The Compendium says:

A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.

The human virtues are habitual and stable perfections of the intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They are acquired and strengthened by the repetition of morally good acts and they are purified and elevated by divine grace.

The principal human virtues are called the cardinal virtues, under which all the other virtues are grouped and which are the hinges of a virtuous life.

What is prudence? Prudence disposes reason to discern in every circumstance our true good and to choose the right means for achieving it. Prudence guides the other virtues by pointing out their rule and measure.

What is justice? Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give to others their due. Justice toward God is called “the virtue of religion.”

What is fortitude? Fortitude assures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It reaches even to the ability of possibly sacrificing one’s own life for a just cause.

What is temperance? Temperance moderates the attraction of pleasures, assures the mastery of the will over instincts and provides balance in the use of created goods.

I think that will do for now; the remainder will appear in the next post.

An academic, thinking aloud ...

2010-05-13T16:54:00.008+01:00

I saw this interesting item in the Daily Telegraph of 12/05/10. It was short enough to re-type here, but you can see a longer and slightly different version of the story in the online Telegraph.

The Suicide Generation
by Stephen Adams

People will choose when to end their lives in the future, because anti-ageing drugs that extend lifespans by many years are likely to become commonplace, an expert on longevity has claimed.

Dr David Gems, of University College, London, told the Royal Society that it was reasonable to expect drugs would soon be developed that dramatically extended lifespans. He said birth rates might have to be centrally controlled, and that people would have to make the choice about when to “switch off” their own life.

A Bavarian Parish Church

2010-05-12T16:47:00.022+01:00

A weekday lunchtime. A young man prays in the church of Mariä Himmelfahrt - or, as we would say, Our Lady of the Assumption - in the small spa town of Bad Aibling, Bavaria. We were spending a few days there as part of a touring holiday of Gemany.

Set within this grandeur - to which the photograph does not do justice - there is a modest-sized free-standing altar, fully draped, and a fairly inconspicuous lectern. Not undignified, but rather overwhelmed by the splendour that surrounds them.

Suspended several feet above the North wall, a huge and apparently unused pulpit looms over the pews.

From time to time, Catholic bloggers post pictures of the continental churches they have visited; and the churches are usually very splendid and gleaming. The beauty of this church remained intact; but it reminded me of one of those television programmes about the rescue of fine old houses, whose owners are now in reduced circumstances. They seem to make shift as best they can in these well-loved homes, filled with the ghosts of past glories. It is as though they are camping amid the memories of what once was.

That is the impression I received in this fine old church. Above all, however, I felt completely at home there. Like every other Catholic church I have known, whether a glorious basilica or a humble Nissen hut, it had that unique warmth of the Presence.