"Truly, it is the indescribable sweetness of contemplation which you give to those who love you. In this you have shown the tenderness of your charity, that when I had no being you made me; and when I strayed away from you, you brought me back again to serve you and commanded me to love you." The Imitation of Christ
The new papal encyclical, Caritas in veritate, is out today. You can see it at the Vatican website HERE. In it, the Holy Father emphasises how important Humanae vitae is for understanding human development in its fullest sense... life ethics and social ethics cannot be divorced from each other.
Great stuff. Now let's see which paper picks up on (and mis-represents) the anti-contraception bugbear first...
It's hard to believe that Summorum Pontificum came out two whole years ago... Deo gratias! In consequence, I am shamelessly stealing His Hermeneuticalness' celebratory YouTube video...
The number of Masses celebrated according to the usus antiquior appears to have escalated exponentially, looking at the LMS adverts for EF in papers such as the Catholic Herald... and, of course, this wouldn't have been quite so easy without the help of the Bishops of England & Wales - by (re)moving all the Holy Days, they made it possible for priests and laity who wish to observe the proper feasts to switch to the Extraordinary Form calendar... and, freed from the need to provide extra Masses on those former Holy Days of Obligation, more priests can get together for Solemn High Mass...
I doubt that this was the intention of their Lordships, but every cloud has a silver lining, eh?
A quick look at his blog revealed that he posted at 1:20am local time. I made a comment to thank him, and saw that the UK is about 6 hours ahead. So, any stats spike should appear at, say 7am-ish over here...
My last post has attracted some attention (deservedly so, IMHO, if only for the comments which have ensued!) His Hermeneuticalness even deigned to give me a link... (yes, I grovelled shamelessly... but my stats have gone down a bit since my posting became erratic...)
Now, have a look at the SiteMeter summary, and see if you can work out roughly what time he published his blog post...
Ok, I'm going to throw down the gauntlet to the indomitable Fr. Z, just to observe what sort of a spike I'd get...
Chris plays the organ at the 9am Mass. He apparently asked, "Shall I play Colours of Day during Communion?" I'm pretty sure he was joking. "Yes," came the reply, "do that... and I'll send the boys round to break both your legs, and you can follow on with I watch the sunrise (through my hospital window)."
This led to a few more suggestions for hymns which might have unpleasant consequences if sung, (other than the usual stomach-churning nausea...)
Bind us together, Lord (with splints that cannot be broken)
One leg, one body...
This is my body (broken by you)
I danced in the morning (but couldn't walk in the afternoon)
All over the world, the Spirit is moving (but I'm not)
Father I place into your hands the things I cannot do (because I'm in plaster)
Here I am, Lord (because I'm unable to move)
You shall cross the barren desert (not on crutches, you won't)
I will raise you up (on traction strings)
Any other suggestions - in the com-box, please...
Further discussion reminded me of Stephen Colbert's classic take on The King of Glory and a parody of liturgical dance...
One point worth remembering: the "modern" hymns which are supposed to appeal to the teenagers of today, well, they were mostly written in the 1970s and early 1980s. That's around 30-40 years ago... ie. 15-25 years before your average teenager was born. In some cases, it's about the time their parents were born... by my reckoning, that no longer qualifies as "modern!"
I had a lovely afternoon, definitely continuing my Birthday Octave. Benediction was well attended and I had the chance to try out my monopod: there weren't any instructions on the box, or in the box, and, at first I couldn't get the thing to stay upright. I discovered that I had the foot-rest round the wrong way... well, I am blonde.
Anyway, I love this shot, which shows the profound reverence one ought to have for the Blessed Sacrament (we'd reached the "veneremur cernui" phrase in the Tantum ergo) ...
And then there was Benediction itself...
After Benediction, the UCM had a Cream Tea event: we started off with sandwiches, and then there was a choice between fruit salad with ice-cream or scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream. You can see which one I chose. The scones were amazingly light and crumbly, the jam was scrumptious and the freshly whipped cream just finished it off nicely.
David, one of our senior servers, was determined to get a photo of my plate in order to make me feel guilty (his fruit salad looked so very worthy by comparison) but I refused to be browbeaten: the parish UCM deserves my wholehearted cooperation, and since I can't cook, the very least I can do is be an appreciative audience...
There was a cake stall, but the ladies who were selling the cakes both proved to be camera-shy, and, understanding their reluctance to be plastered over the internet, I waited until they'd moved off before photographing the wares. We have some seriously good cooks in the parish.
I had planned to buy some cakes with which to finish off my Birthday Octave, but, somehow or other, I got sidetracked... there was a drinks tent in the garden (it was advertised as a beer tent, but, as Jonathan (our senior MC) pointed out, it didn't sell any proper beer) ... I didn't mind, as I was persuaded to try some Pimms. I even ate a bit of fruit which found its way into my glass, so that's my vitamin intake for the month sorted.
Finally, Fr. Tim started putting up posters for the Fourth of July, and, as Meredith is originally from the US, and she always asks after Sylvester, I thought I would take a photo...
A rather amusing history lesson... though American history isn't actually something taught in the UK, so I have no idea how accurate a portrayal it is!
While I'm off, I am doing my best to get to daily Mass. Anaesthetics are dodgy things, after all... Usually it's the morning Mass at Blackfen, but on Fridays there is an evening Mass in the usus antiquior at Chislehurst.
Fr. Charles Briggs, the Parish Priest, always asks if I'm taking photos, and whether they'll end up on my blog. I've previously had to explain that my mobile phone just wasn't up to the subdued lighting in the church...
This evening's Mass seemed to be too good an opportunity to miss, and so I took a couple of photos.
I was sitting rather too far back for my little camera, but use of the zoom helped; it was a struggle, though, to keep the camera still. I really should have used my monopod, but I forgot to bring it with me.
Unfortunately, Fr. Charles moves rather more quickly than Fr. Tim, and I'm not quite as good at timing him, so I missed the elevation of the Host, but just about caught the end of the elevation of the chalice...
Tomorrow morning sees our monthly Missa Cantata at Blackfen, so I shall try to get a few more practice shots in...
In honour (sorry, that should be "honor") of the Fourth of July celebrations tomorrow (possibly today already in some places) I thought I'd put up this video...
Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Seraphim (he put the link up on Twitter) so you can blame him...
The decree of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable John Henry Newman has been officially approved for publication by the Holy Father.
This means that he will become Blessed John Henry Newman.
Another miracle is needed before he can be canonised (declared a saint).
Speculation is now rife as to whether the Beatification ceremony will be in England or Rome.
I rather like the traditional Catholic practice of observing an Octave for major feasts.
Sunday night isn't good for most people: work looms large for the morning after, which sort of puts a dampener on any celebration, so I didn't actually celebrate my birthday on Sunday.
The parish club opens on Thursday evening, however, and quite a few of my friends tend to pop into the club after Rosary and Benediction. I decided I'd celebrate "within the Octave" and went and bought a couple of cakes.
Before anyone asks, no, I didn't have a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte - the picture in my previous post was from Google Images, as I can't cook to save my life, and you can't buy a proper Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte here... Black Forest Cherry Gateaux in this country is usually a pale (and sober) imitation...
Wendy & Carl offered to collect me, so I was able to leave the car at home. Their boys, on spotting my cakes, gleefully announced that they'd already brought one along, much to their parents' chagrin (never try to tell a 7-year-old "not" to mention something!)
Rosary and Benediction was lead by Michael, one of our deacons, as Fr. Tim was busy elsewhere. It provided the perfect opportunity for me to try out my new camera, and so I took a few photos - the only editing these have received is a reduction in file size to make them quicker to load on the blog.
Afterwards, we went to the club, and Caroline added a chocolate cake to the collection. I refuse to acknowledge exactly how old I am (Chris told David I was 62: my reply was that I was very definitely pre-'62) and so only one (large) candle made an appearance... Once Jonathan and Patrick arrived after tidying up the Sacristy, everyone sang "Happy Birthday" which was sweet...
It was a very enjoyable evening. Birthday Octaves are definitely to be recommended...
The new papal encyclical, Caritas in veritate, is out today. You can see it at the Vatican website HERE. In it, the Holy Father emphasises how important Humanae vitae is for understanding human development in its fullest sense... life ethics and social ethics cannot be divorced from each other.
Ummm, yup... bang on!
I had a lovely afternoon, definitely continuing my Birthday Octave. Benediction was well attended and I had the chance to try out my monopod: there weren't any instructions on the box, or in the box, and, at first I couldn't get the thing to stay upright. I discovered that I had the foot-rest round the wrong way... well, I am blonde.
Tomorrow morning sees our monthly Missa Cantata at Blackfen, so I shall try to get a few more practice shots in...
The decree of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable John Henry Newman has been officially approved for publication by the Holy Father.
