Shattered...

...but very happy. The Day With Mary went really well. I wasn't going to take photos, but it was such a great opportunity that I just couldn't resist. I was using my dinky little phone camera though, so no annoying clicks, and there isn't a flash, so my photo-taking was fairly discrete. It helps that I like to sit at the front.

We started with various prayers, the Crowning of the Statue, the Litany of Loreto, and then an outdoor procession with the statue of Our Lady, just once round the block. Yesterday I'd been on a team-building-bonding type of INSET at an outdoor activity centre... not my cup of tea at the best of times. We've had a fair bit of rain recently, the ground was muddy and slippery, and I wrenched my dodgy ankle several times. Today I was in quite a bit of pain, so I skipped the procession and stayed behind in the church praying the Joyful Mysteries, while the procession prayed them outside and sang a couple of hymns.











We then had Mass. It was a Missa Cantata - I was delighted that we didn't have to forego the Extraordinary Form this Saturday. Hopefully the photos will convey a little something of the beauty and solemnity of the occasion. Fr. Tim preached a very good sermon on the importance of prayer for the Holy Souls (particularly getting indulgences for them) and guardian angels. I knew that each person had a guardian angel "for their very own" as it were, but I hadn't quite grasped the idea that each country has an angel guardian, and even each parish (Fr. Tim reminded us that the guardian angel of Portugal preceded the apparitions of Our Lady to the children in Fatima.) That gave me food for thought, and I shall make more of an effort to recruit them when I need help!

The lunch break allowed me to check out the bookstall... as I'm trying to reduce my blog-post length (very long posts get to be a bit of a bore) I shall post more about the books later... in the meantime, this is what greeted me...