How Very Remiss Of Me...

It would appear that I have forgotten to post any photos of this year's Crib at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen. I have trawled through all my photo collections, and will remedy this strange omission forthwith!

I'm not much of a photographer, and get confused by the lighting options on my phone... also, bright lights confuse the phone itself. I've tried to adjust the lighting levels by using my computer's version of photoshop. First we have a shot of the whole Lady Altar (the Crib was underneath)

And here's a close-up of the Crib scene itself...

I shall put up another photo tomorrow as the Wise Men have appeared for the Epiphany...

Quest Conference

Catholic Action UK have put up a post alerting people to a forthcoming conference of Quest. Quest is described as a dissident organisation dedicated to undermining the teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality.

I had a look at the group's website: although they claim to be Catholic, the constitution does appear to be ambiguous, as one of the stated aims of Quest is:

"...associating lay men and women who are seeking ways of reconciling the full practice of their Catholic faith with the full expression of their homosexual natures in loving Christian relationships..."

The ambiguity is, of course, the understanding of what is meant by "full expression of their homosexual nature."

Certainly they are in favour of homosexual civil partnerships, and that is definitely contrary to Church teaching. They attacked Archbishop Vincent Nichols' stance on the Sexual Orientation Regulations, and rejected the Vatican's 2005 statement on admitting homosexual men to seminaries. The organisation has been excluded from the Catholic Directory since 1998 because of the ambiguity in its constitution. So it does seem strange that their conference is to be hosted by Digby Stuart College (once a Catholic teaching college), and they will be having Mass celebrated by Fr Alan McLean, who is acting as chaplain to the conference. Fr Michael Seed is one of the speakers.

Catholic Action UK are asking people to write to Archbishop Kevin McDonald protesting that the use of Digby Stuart College as the Quest Conference venue is unacceptable while the organisation does not support the teachings of the Church on homosexuality. More information (including the address of the Archbishop, and the email address of the Archbishop's Private Secretary) can be found HERE.

Stonyhurst

I returned from the Faith Winter Conference late on Friday. I tried to be clever this year: I thought it would be great if I could get the talks videoed on my little phone camera and then I could edit them and produce some great soundbites for a You Tube video. Alas, the video seems to be best for close-up stuff, and I was sitting too far away from the speakers to get anything worthwhile...

Because I was concentrating on the videos, I didn't get to take quite so many photos (some of you might consider that to be a blessing!) and the phone battery gave out by the evening of the ceilidh, so I didn't manage any photos from the second evening.

However, I did manage a few snaps... First, and foremost, Sir Dan of the Nesbitry, looking positively Machiavellian...

Dan doesn't have a blog himself, but he has the amazing ability to pick up on all the rumblings in the blogosphere... I must pick his brains about the next Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster...

It's quite amusing to see people's reactions when I approach with my phone... I usually check before putting photos on the blog (it is a public forum, after all) unless people aren't really identifiable. So now, as I advance with camera phone in hand, I either get "Don't even think about it!" or "Is this for your blog? Ok, I suppose... if you must... hang on a minute while I check my hair..." ...and ocasionally I'll get a really posed photo... like the "Charlie's Angels shot" below...


The Winter Conference is very intense: there's a lot packed into the three days. Trying to catch up with friends you haven't seen since the Summer Session can be tiring... especially if that catching up occurs at 2am over a few beers... Breakfast on the last day is usually a subdued affair... and here you can see Grahame looking a litle the worse for wear (a look which will become more familiar, as he's going to become a dad some time in July...)

And finally, Fr. Stephen Boyle wanted to make sure that he ended up on my blog again. My comments about New Addington being an architectural wasteland meant that he was unable to enjoy telling his parishioners that he was becoming famous around the blogosphere... (oops, sorry, did it again...!)

There were some other bloggers present... I shall update the post as and when I find some more reports of all the shenanigans!

Missa Cantata At Blackfen

We had a real treat this morning: some chaps who sing regularly at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane have been invited to sing at Blackfen once a month. The Saturday morning Mass is usually a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form; now we shall have a Missa Cantata once a month.

Today was our first such Mass. It was fabulous... the chants just lift the mind and heart to God and flow seamlessly around the actions of priest and acolytes (and there is something dance-like in their carefully scripted movements... ) The silence at the Canon makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end...

I find myself marvelling at how our senses are engaged in the Liturgy: it reveals (for me) the necessity of the Incarnation as Christ communicates to us body and soul, physically as well as spiritually. And I am awe-struck at how much Jesus humbles himself: he surrenders himself totally to the power of men - a mere man can "order" Christ to appear; Jesus is at our beck and call... under the appearance of bread and wine, to be sure, but he comes every time, whenever and wherever the Mass is offered.

Wow.

I occasionally get these deep thoughts, though I'm not so good at putting them down in words. So time for some more down-to-earth stuff, I think...

Here we have Fr. Tim, singers and servers partaking of a little spiritual refreshment after the Mass. Andrew Bosi (on the right in the blue jumper) led the singers, while Jonathan (second from the right) was our extremely accomplished MC. From left to right we have Fr. Tim Finigan, John Tennant, John Simmonds, Chris (he was a server), William Longley, Jonathan (our MC) and Andrew Bosi. Luckily none of the gentlemen present felt it necessary to try and take my photo!

Return Of The Mac...

As you may have noticed, I've been unable to blog. The school had switched off all its internet connections for "study period" and forgot to switch them back on again...

Normal Blogging Service will be resumed tomorrow. In the meantime, I thought I'd mention the latest document from Ecclesia Dei, unearthed from some strange source of the Curt Jester's...


And a sample of the contents...

And Away I Go Again...

I'm off tomorrow to the Faith Winter Conference at Stonyhurst, Lancashire. I need to get up early, so I shall be going to bed in a minute (though I doubt I'll sleep much, for fear of oversleeping!)

I remember discovering that there were computers available for the use of guests on the very last day - a fact which Fr. Tim had been very quiet about (he finally told me the location of the computers and the password at the ceilidh... by which time the network appeared to have "shut down" access for the night!) So, this time I'm ready... though I have forgotten the password...!

As a result, I may not manage to post much before my return. But for those of you who are missing me already, here are the posts I did last year...

Slightly Miffed (my initial discovery that I wasn't going to have a blogging scoop!) Bloggers' Convention (it never happened... I had to wait for the Summer Session!) Fond Farewells (posted just before the final lunch) Photo Fest (where I tried to get my first few photos up before going to bed... taken with my old phone camera, so they're pretty dire) A Few More Photos (I wonder what that could be about...?) I Took More Photos Than I Realised (you don't say! Wait until you see what I can do with an extra memory chip!) and And Finally...

See you all on Saturday (ok, maybe Friday night!)

New Year's Resolutions

Ok, after a wee bit of self-examination, I have decided that 2008 is the year I knuckle down and tackle some bug-bears!

1. To go to bed on time (and not to get distracted by the temptation to "check just one last blog"!)

2. To get up in time to pray properly. I hate to admit it, but my SD is absolutely right. I need to tackle this fault of mine... I think of myself as a Night Owl, and use that as an excuse for not going to bed early, and for getting up at the last possible minute. I have the timing calculated to the nearest nanosecond! However, if I don't pray first thing, I'm playing catch-up all day. Not good.

3. To spend more time reading stuff to improve my spiritual life (writings of the Saints, the Holy Father, etc. etc.) and less time re-reading rubbishy novels. I mean, how many times can a person read The Hunt for Red Oktober?

4. To work on the "self-denial" bit of my vows. I generally try to forget I made that one...

I think that will be enough to be getting on with. It's not really a meme, but if you're in the mood to 'fess up to your New Year's Resolutions, leave me a note in the combox!

If God Has Email...

This made me choke on my cup of tea... you need to click on the picture to read the individual entries. Believe me, it's worth it!


Twitch of the mantilla to Angela Messenger, courtesy of Karen!

Happy New Year !

2007 has been a strange year for me... a lot has happened, but it has definitely finished on a high note. Here's hoping that 2008 will be just as happy... but perhaps a little less eventful!

Oh Happy Day...!

I remember watching this episode of Newsnight on the evening of the election of Pope Benedict XVI...


Christina Odone got told!

Twitch of the mantilla to Ches of The Sensible Bond for reminding me of her name so I could find the clip on You Tube!

I Wonder When They Stopped Making These?

This is the death-mask (one of two) of St Charles Borromeo. The thing that struck me, having seen a few dead bodies in my time, was how serene he looks...

...I also wondered whether this counts as a first, second or third class relic?

...and when the practice of making death masks stopped...?


Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Z.