Requiem In Aeternum...

Today was the regular Missa Cantata at Blackfen. We're lucky enough to have a visiting schola to sing on the first Saturday of each month.

This month's Missa Cantata happened to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Fr. Bailey, a former Parish Priest at Blackfen. And so, it was decided to make this month's Mass a Requiem.

I had never seen unbleached candles before!

I attended a Requiem in the Extraordinary Form once before, but it was a Low Mass. I was pretty bowled-over by the experience, and promptly declared my desire to have my own funeral celebrated according to the usus antiquior.

Well, now I've seen (and heard) the Missa Cantata version, I want my funeral done THAT way. Unbleached candles, sermon at the end of Mass, absolutions at the catafalque, black vestments, bells, incense, the lot! Oh, and a few of you busy on your knees, praying rosaries for the repose of my soul, thank you kindly... and don't forget to pray for the Holy Father with the intention of gaining the Plenary Indulgence!

I didn't manage to get many photos - the new phone camera has a super-dooper focussing arrangement, which means that it takes ages for the photo to be snapped after pressing the button... and so I missed the Elevation of the Host... but I did get the Elevation of the chalice...

Hopefully, I'll soon learn exactly when to press the button in order to capture the exact moment I want...

At The Risk Of Alienating Some More Of You...

... I am just too tired to blog tonight. Today was my first full day of teaching after the Summer holiday...

...I know, I know, some of you lot don't get such long holidays, or even short ones, at such regular intervals...

I'd just like to point out that you also don't have to keep five sets of thirty monsters entertained for an hour each...

Actual snippets from today:

"Yes... if you've used up that page in your exercise book, you can write on the next one..."

"DON'T point that test tube at anyone else while you're heating it... and don't heat it too strongly, or else the... oh, there goes the rubber bung... yes, I saw it hit him on the head, THAT's why I told you not to point the tube at anyone..."

"Yes, I know it's the first day back, but you still get homework..."

"NOOOOOOO, do not hold the test tube at the bottom when you've been heating it...!"

It's been a hard day. I'll blog tomorrow. Maybe.

Heheheheh...

I'm not really interested in politics... and especially not American politics. I'm afraid I would have lost interest in the US Presidential Campaign stuff back in, oh... January... if I had any interest to lose!

However, the choice of a staunchly pro-life VP for the Republicans suddenly has the entire Catholic Blogosphere in a spin! Definitely one in the eye for the "so-called Catholic" Biden. I would much rather vote for a pro-life non-Catholic than for someone who professed to be Catholic and then ignored the main tenets of the Faith...

Of course, because she's pro-life, she's being attacked by the media.

I just had to chuckle when I spotted this over at Vincenzo's blog...

What-Where-When Meme...

The Dúnadan has an intriguing meme which he declared open to all comers... and I decided that I needed a little light entertainment, so I'd play!

It's a "what were you doing, and where" meme... I have taken the liberty of putting the events in chronological order, for the sake of "neatness" !

1. President Kennedy's Assassination - 22 November 1963
Ummmm... I wasn't even thought of. My maternal grandmother was pretty upset by it: she liked Kennedy, despite him being American (she was German (Prussian, actually), but she hated the Russians far more than she hated Americans) and despite him declaring that he was a doughnut in Berlin...


2. England's World Cup Semi Final v Germany - 4 July 1990
I was alive for this one. However, not being a footie fan, I have no idea where I was.

3. Margaret Thatcher's resignation - 22 November 1990
I'm not entirely sure... I have a hazy recollection of hearing it at my mother's house (I'd visited overnight) and then discussing it at lunchtime in the staff canteen at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, having a coffee. It's a little hazy - I was running rats in mazes for hours on end, and that does things to your brain...

4. Princess Diana's death - 31 August 1997
I heard this on the radio (which I'd had on all night, as is my usual custom) as I woke up. I remember switching on the TV because I was sure there was some sort of mistake, that I must have imagined that it happened. And then, when I'd woken up properly, I rang to tell another friend, because we were going to go to the Science Museum later that day, and I thought the news might affect traffic around Buckingham Palace. The Science Museum trip was a bit of preparatory research before I started my teacher training the following week.

5. Attack on the twin towers - 11 September 2001
My second school-related memory. I was in an after-school meeting, along with some other new staff in the school. Another teacher stuck his head in through the classroom door to tell us the news of the first plane crash. And then we heard about the second one...

6. The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to the papacy - 19 April 2005
Heheheheheh... a really great memory. I've blogged about it already HERE, but I was in the Parish Hall, making a cup of tea, with a pile of marking set out on a table as I prepared to watch satellite TV coverage.

Ok, for no other reason than sheer curiosity, I'm going to tag Karen, the Caveman, Adrienne, Hilary and Fr. Owl.

Unleash The Dogs Of War...

I'm not sure where the post title originates; looking it up on Google brought up several references to pop songs, and I'm sure it's older than that. There are also references to Frederick Forsythe's novel, and quite a few people seem to use it as a quote. I thought it might be The Bard himself, but that is possibly a red herring, or at least a mis-quote...

...but I digress!

I just wanted to say that school starts for me again tomorrow, and the madness begins again! Oh well, at least I didn't have to go back on Monday, like Leutgeb!

One Day I'll Learn...

...to check my blog before doing anything!

The communal areas in my block of flats have been painted, and my front door was done today... this meant that I was unable to go out all afternoon (my flat is on the ground floor, and the door had to be open while it dried) and having my front door open meant that I was subjected to lots of paint fumes. By this evening, I needed to go out to eat something which wouldn't smell like Dulux.

I thought I'd try a local Indian restaurant again... I remembered that they sometimes had live entertainment, but I was pretty sure that the belly dancer had been a weekend fixture, and vaguely recalled a pianist featuring on one evening.

Alas, I discovered that it was the night for the belly dancer. I found the performance even more objectionable than last time, as the dancing was rather suggestive in nature and there were several young lads present for a birthday party.

Checking my blog, I discovered that the last visit had also been a Tuesday night. I shall have to find an alternative venue for when I fancy a meal out alone.

Not A Happy Blogger...

I am now contemplating a bit of broken tooth. It might be a bit of broken temporary filling out of the stump of tooth which was being prepped for a crown yesterday, but then again, it might be a bit of tooth. It's a bit difficult to tell... Either way, I am an extremely unhappy bunny.

I suppose it could be worse... I haven't got any pain or sensitivity from the gap/remaining tooth stump/remaining temporary filling, but the gum around it is tender from yesterday's drilling, and now there is a big hole in one of my main back teeth... a hole I thought I'd gotten sorted last time round...

Hrummphhh.

That dentist had better watch out for his fingers next time...

Computer Cat & Mouse...

Fr. Tim has been having computer problems. He has finally cracked under the strain, and has been forced to acknowledge that most of us (sorry, Karen!) on the Cat-o-lick Blogospurr are fans of all things feline... and has posted a cat video...



I have to admit that I have tried to keep Sylvester away from the computer ever since he sicked up over the keyboard as a birthday present. I do recall that, one time when I had my old Dell desktop opened up for insertion of more memory, the amount of cat fur found inside could have been used to stuff a pillow... I still don't know how it got in there...

Je Suis Arrivée...

Fr. Steven Fisher kindly alerted me to the fact that I have "arrived" in the world of Catholic Blogdom... I rated a mention on Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson's excellent Telegraph blog.

It must be a quiet news week...

;-)

So, if you have popped over from Mr. Thompson's blog, Welcome! Please take note: I have a very high opinion of women, their intelligence and their characteristics. Hardly surprising, given that I am one. I do, however, hold a pretty poor opinion of the type of woman who, while dissenting from everything the Church has taught for nigh on 2000 years, claims to be a faithful member of that Church.

I hold a pretty poor opinion of that type of man too. Hey, does that mean I have an "equal opportunities" policy on my blog??

Another note of caution: comments which are abusive or demonstrate that the writer has had a sense-of-humour bypass will be deleted, as will those with poor grammar, punctuation or spelling. Of course, I could be being wildly over-optimistic in assuming that I'll get any comments...

Lies, Damned Lies & Dentistry...

Yes, I went. Yes, it WAS as bad as I feared. The jury is still out on whether or not it was actually worse than I anticipated. Yes, it was painful. Yes, I do have to go again...

Why is it that, when dentists say "Now, raise your hand if you get any pain," and you then dutifully raise your hand, they look surprised and demand to know what is wrong?

I then yelped (involuntarily) when I got a sharp pain in my gum. The dentist protested that he hadn't touched the gum, he was drilling away the tooth... but I noticed that I spat out a load of blood afterwards... and later inspection in my rear-view mirror revealed that the gum had been nicked. I'm still bleeding.

Grrrrrr.

I now have to wait for the crown to be made. I also need to go back and get some more fillings sorted out. This had better equate to time off Purgatory...

Thanks for all the prayers!

Prayers Needed... (Again!)

*sigh*

I have to go back to the dentist in the morning. My temporary fillings (from a fortnight ago) need to be made into permanent ones. I got to this stage once before (a few years ago) and didn't complete the treatment, and the temporary fillings disintegrated...

...and the fillings I had put in this time feel very temporary, as I can detect the rough edges where the filling ends and the tooth begins with my tongue...

...but I'm not in pain...

...and so the thought of going along to put myself into the chair so that the dentist can inflict all sorts of nasties isn't very appealing.

I know, I know... I'll regret it if I don't go.

And yes, I shall use the time to contemplate the Four Last Things. And I will offer it up.

But a prayer or two would be greatly appreciated... mostly to ensure that I don't find an excuse not to go... like oversleeping (and missing the appointment) or not finding a parking space (and missing the appointment) or forgetting about the appointment (and missing the appointment)...

(I figured that, if you all knew about it, then I wouldn't be able to chicken out...!)