Blogging Will Be Sporadic...

I normally make a private retreat over the Triduum, starting straight after the Chrism Mass on Thursday and continuing until the end of the Vigil... 

I'm in two minds whether or not to blog. I have to build in some recreation time, and I don't watch TV any more... and I'll be doing quite a bit of reading as part of the retreat... so blogging might be a welcome distraction. However, it's very tempting to check "just one more blog" and I have found, in the past, that I need to avoid emails and phone calls (I live alone, so if I don't avoid emails and phone calls, it's not really much of a "retreat" from everyday life!!) so I might have to limit blogging to reading other people's blogs but not commenting or posting...

I might allow myself a brief post to explain how the Chrism Mass demo went. If any priest readers would like a card, leave a comment in the combox with a contact address (I won't publish them) and I'll send them out after Easter - I'm sure I'll have a few spares!

Prayers For Baby Faith...

Hilary White reports on LifeSite News that a little baby named Faith Hope is defying all the odds (and doctors' predictions) and is thriving six weeks after being born with anencephaly.

Myah, a single mother and student living in Moncton, New Brunswick, writes that when she was 19 weeks pregnant, doctors told her that the child suffered from anencephaly, that she had not developed a large part of her brain. Myah was told that the baby could not survive outside the womb and was alive only because "she was attached" to her mother. She was assured that Faith would be able neither to hear nor see. But contrary to doctors' predictions, and the received wisdom of most medical authorities on anencephaly, her mother reports that Faith is thriving and growing normally for a child her age.

You can read more about Faith Hope (and see videos) over at the blog created by Myah to chart the baby's progress. Say a prayer or two for Faith, and for her incredibly brave mother (it takes guts to stand up to the medical establishment!)

Palm Sunday...

Apologies for the lack of posts... mind you, no-one seems to have noticed my absence!

I experienced Palm Sunday in the usus antiquior for the first time, and was totally blown away by it! Even the distribution of the palm leaves had a deep solemnity, with everyone approaching the altar rails to be given their palm, rather than the Novus Ordo "grab your own."

The procession was blessed with good weather... I confess to cheating a little: my ankle has been playing up, but I didn't want to miss the procession, and so I walked out with everyone else but found a convenient place to stop and take photos... I think quite a few parishioners have become used to me whipping out my phone camera at the slightest provocation!  

Dr. Lawrence Hemming visited us again, and Andrew Bosi, who regularly comes to sing at the Saturday Missa Cantatas, also made a special trip, so we had the Passion chanted. I don't know the names of the three "voices" (no doubt someone can enlighten me in the com-box) but the different tones used were wonderful, while the final tone used to chant the last part of the Gospel narrative gave me goosebumps.

Our choir were in excellent voice as well... they sang the first Introit in a polyphonic setting (I think that's the right term) and it was really awesome.

I think the length of the service (a little over two hours) caught some people on the hop... but it was amazing at how quickly the time flew by. Yes, I was clock-watching, but only because Fr. Tim wanted to know how long things took for future reference! And, as both Protestant and Greek Orthodox friends have remarked, two hours or more is normal for a Sunday liturgy...

New Archbishop Finally Announced...

After months of fevered speculation, during which time just about every one of the Bishops of England & Wales was tipped for the post, the successor to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has finally been announced.

During a press conference at Westminster Cathedral today, the Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols has been named as the new Archbishop of Westminster.

The news actually leaked out last night, just as I was getting ready for bed, and then Damian Thompson said it had been confirmed, but, after all the rumours, counter-rumours and missed announcements, I was wary of making a fool of myself... I figured that I might as well wait for the Vatican Bollettino... or the Westminster press conference...

Reading between the lines of all the rumours which have been flying around, I think that our Holy Father has possibly had his fingers in this particular pie. If he has, it means that he has taken note of the troubles which have assailed us in England & Wales, and, with fatherly concern, has thought carefully about the kind of man we need to lead the Church forward... and for this we can be truly grateful.

You can find out more about Archbishop Nichols HERE.

Nearly There...

I am so tired... and it's not just me: many of my colleagues look exactly the way I feel. Strangely, this term has been shorter than the Autumn one, but it has been much more draining. I guess two bouts of 'flu really take it out of you!

However, the end is nigh... term ends tomorrow, and I get two lovely weeks off. This will be the first time in ages that I've had all of Holy Week off: the holidays have started (for the most part) on Good Friday, which has meant that I've needed to take a day's unpaid leave on Maundy Thursday in order to make it to the Chrism Mass at St. George's Cathedral.

Well And Truly "Got"...

In time-honoured fashion, and with the minimum of fuss, a couple of the students in my Tutor Group demonstrated that I am not at my most alert at 8 am.

"Oh, Miss... " one of them exclaimed on seeing me head into the building from my car, "Be careful, your shoelace has come undone!"

I really should have twigged that it was 8 am on April 1st...

My only consolation, as I continued to make my way inside the building, was hearing the same student exclaim: "Joe! Your flies are undone... Hah! April Fool!"