More From The Weekend...

It was a busy weekend... Sunday saw our Parish Carol Service. It was held in conjunction with one of the local funeral directors, as it was last year, so forms quite an ecumenical event. The funeral directors invite anyone who has held a funeral with them during the year to come along and remember their loved ones on this first Christmas, and prayers for the dead are recited. There were a couple of guest soloists (I must confess to finding their choice of music rather odd) a few Bible verses and a poem, and our own regular choir and children's choir.

As is often the case at these sort of events, many favourite carols had to be left out (there just wouldn't have been time to sing everything) but there was a good selection... and best of all, no horrible "gender neutral" versions of the traditional carols!

I couldn't resist taking a few photos...

I managed to catch all of the children's choir members with Fr. Tim...

The Parish UCM had excelled themselves with the refreshments, and you can see that it was very well attended...

Finally, I managed to persuade Hilda, our Parish UCM President, to pose for this photo with Fr. Tim... she does an amazing job getting people to volunteer for events such as this.

More Monday Madness...

My regular Monday post for all you cat lovers out there! Today's offering is especially dedicated to Brother Nicodemus Mary of the Transalpine Redemptorists on Papa Stronsay... He wrote and told me that, with rogue rats swimming between the islands in Orkney, the Community has four cats to help to keep the Community rodent-free, and Brother Nicodemus has the job of feeding the cats...

So, I sincerely hope that none of your kitties decide to join Weightwatchers...

Many Blessings...

As I said in a previous post, I renewed my vows on Saturday. I first made my vows seven years ago, and I can honestly say that I haven't regretted my decision, not even once.

Of course, having lived the life for seven years, I sometimes forget how strange my decision might appear to others, especially people who don't go to church themselves. This was really brought home to me this year...

First of all, there was my conversation with my hairdressers. The senior stylist has known me for a few years, so she knew the general score, but the junior who was assisting her wanted to know if I was a nun... once I'd cleared that one up, I then had to explain that no, this wasn't the reason I always wore black... I just liked wearing black.

While waiting for my hair tint to develop, I thought I'd treat myself to a manicure, as the beautician at the salon wasn't busy... nothing fancy, no false nails, just a moisturising treatment for the cuticles, the nails shaped and polish applied. She also asked what I was up to at the weekend. On hearing that I was a Catholic, she started to tell me that her boyfriend was a lapsed Catholic, and they were considering marriage, but the young man's family told her that she had to be baptised Catholic before they could marry in church. I quickly put her right on this point, and we spent about half an hour discussing marriage, the need for Catholics to marry in church, the cost (minimal) of marrying in church, vows, children, baptism, living in sin, divorce rates among people who didn't cohabit, the need for Confession and faith.

Saturday morning dawned, and I phoned for a cab, as I intended to have a drink at the party after the service. The driver was one who had collected me several times before (I'm a creature of habit) and he was keen to know what I was celebrating.

On hearing that I was renewing my vows, he looked puzzled. "Isn't your other half supposed to be with you when you do that?" he asked, "...or is he already at the church?"

I explained that my "other half" was, so to speak, God. Watching his expression (in the driver's rearview mirror) was very entertaining... I could almost see the thoughts churning round, followed by a hesitant "But... if you don't mind me asking... does that mean that you can't have a boyfriend...?"

The journey was, mercifully, a short one (15 minutes), but we managed to touch on vows, sex outside marriage, Original Sin, the variety of different religions and denominations, Henry VIII and the Reformation, death, judgement, hell and heaven. I'm not used to quite so much theology before 10am!

The Missa Cantata was wonderful as usual, and the schola sang beautifully.

We had a short service of Benediction; I love this devotion - something about how God abases himself before us, the creatures He loves so much, as He condescends to appear in the form of a little fragment of bread...

And after Mass, we had the service where I renewed my vows. First, we had a reading from St. Francis de Sales: a short passage which seemed to be written especially for me. Fr. Tim gave a short sermon, but I'm afraid that, although I remember it being excellent, I was so moved by the whole thing that I can't remember any of it. I do seem to recall that vocations were mentioned!

The schola intoned the Litany of Saints. I had brought my St. Andrew's Missal with me, and was fascinated to discover that St. Hieronymus is Latin for St. Jerome! There were some more prayers, the vows themselves, and sprinkling with holy water... and there I was, "done and dusted" for another year.

Members of the Parish UCM had agreed to take care of the catering, and I think you'll agree that they did an amazing job...

Delia insisted on taking a photo of me. I agreed, only because she said it would be from the back, and on my camera. It was a ghastly photo, and I've deleted it... (sorry, Delia!)

I had a beautiful day, and would like to thank everyone (present in person or in spirit!) for their kind comments, messages of support and prayers.

A Little Advent Humour...

I saw this video on Creative Minority Report, and it made me laugh out loud. Silent monks singing the Hallelujah Chorus... you really have to check it out!

The Papa Stronsay Calendar...

On Thursday, Fr. Tim put up a post about the 2010 Calendars produced by the Transalpine Redemptorists of Papa Stronsay Island. Later that evening, after Benediction, he popped into the Parish Club to show a few of us the calendar... Jonathan can be seen inspecting it in this photo...

I liked the calendar so much that I decided to order one from their blog. It's pretty easy - you can either click on the button on the blog's left-hand sidebar to be taken to the PayPal site, or you can send your address (via the message form) and the number of copies you would like, and they will invoice you.

The calendar follows the 1962 Ordo, and it also notes several anniversaries which occur in 2010: for example, St. Paul was shipwrecked on the Island of Malta 1950 years ago. It helps to remind us that the Saints are real, they are not just "nice ideals" of what a person should be, they actually existed, and the Church has a record of when they lived. This is more important than you might realise - especially for the young, who view anyone over 25 as having one foot in the grave. I still remember the terrific jolt I got when I read that there have been 266 popes (including Pope Benedict XVI) and the Church has a record of all their names...

It is important to support this and other religious communities, as they do such stirling work: hidden away from the world, but continuing to pray for the rest of us, all the while offering their lives as an oblation to God. Visit the blog, leave a message of encouragement, subscribe to their newspaper, buy a calendar... and say a prayer for them all.

Renewing My Vows...

It's a big day today - I'm renewing my vows, something I do each year. Although I consider the vows to be permanent, renewing them helps me to focus on how faithfully (or not) I am living up to the promises I made. If you want to know what those promises were, you can see them HERE. And if you are wondering why I made them, I try to explain a little more HERE.

The whole thing kicks off this morning at 10:30am with the usual monthly Missa Cantata at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen. Mass is followed by Benediction. There is then a brief pause (basically to allow the schola and Fr. Tim to draw breath) and the service where I renew my vows starts at 12noon. It's a short one, the highlight being the Litany of Saints, which this year is in the traditional form. The down-side to this is that I can't just slot in my favourite saints, as the list is set. Hopefully they will understand!

Refreshments will follow in the small hall, prepared by the UCM. I had hoped to arrange for the party to be in the Large Hall, but there is a charity event booked in. Blackfen is a busy place. Next year I'll make sure I have done the paperwork in triplicate!

Several of you have left messages of support and prayers. Thank you all very much, I am extremely touched by this, and be assured that I shall pray for all my blog readers this morning.

Archbishop McDonald Resigns...

Breaking news for the Archdiocese of Southwark:

At 11:00 am (GMT) on Friday, 4th December 2009, The Holy Father accepted the resignation of Archbishop Kevin McDonald of Southwark in accordance with Canon 401 §2.

The Archbishop submitted his resignation to the Holy Father having taken account of medical advice.

The Archbishop has had a triple heart bypass and also suffers from severe osteoarthritis. This has already necessitated surgery and the Archbishop envisages further surgery in 2010.

"I feel great sadness at having to relinquish my post as Archbishop of Southwark. Although I have had to contend with illness over the last three years, this appointment has been a great grace. It has been a privilege to lead this great Diocese and I have received a wonderful response to everything I have tried to do. I have also been very appreciative of the prayers of so many people while I have been ill. The Diocese will continue to be very much in my thoughts and prayers in the time ahead."

A Diocesan Administrator will be appointed soon and he will be in charge of the Diocese, until a new Archbishop takes possession of the Diocese.

The Archbishop's resignation letter can be seen here.

I guess PaddyPower will be featuring again as speculation among the UK bloggers is bandied around! In the meantime, one wonders who will be appointed as Administrator.

Heheheheheheh... Blog campaign: His Hermeneuticalness for Archbishop!!

On a more serious note, I am sure everyone will join in offering prayers for Archbishop McDonald's speedy recovery.

Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. John Boyle.

You Can Put Relatives In A Pressure Cooker...

The headline on Luke Coppen's Catholic Herald Blog (It's OK to put your relatives in a pressure cooker, says Catholic ethicist) was certainly an attention-grabber, and I just had to read more.

No, nothing to do with serving up Great-Aunt Bertha for a Sunday casserole. It's all to do with green funerals... and the respect demanded by the Catholic Church for the mortal remains of said Great-Aunt.

It seems that acid baths (as popularised by Crippen and Haigh) are no longer fashionable, but a pressurised soak in alkaline solutions is enough to strip one's bones clean. The bones can then be ground down, and placed in an urn for burial in consecrated ground.

Following last year's tour of the local crematorium, I found the whole thing extremely interesting... though, personally, I still want to be reduced to air pollution, if only to have my revenge for being forced to teach the topic as part of the GCSE syllabus...

Tackiest Nativity Contest...

The Crescat has a contest going for the tackiest Nativity scene. There are some pretty awful examples displayed.

One of the weirdest has to be the ducks... ooops, sorry, apparently it's geese...

Twitch of the mantilla in the direction of the Ironic Catholic.