We had our annual Blessed Sacrament Procession among the ruins of Lesnes Abbey. Two deaneries are involved: Greenwich and Bexley, and it's a pretty amazing witness to Our Lord, I think. This year numbers were slightly down, because of the World Cup game between Germany and England.
It was also the hottest day of the year so far, with the temperature reaching 30°C (this is around 86°F - which apparently means more to some people) and since the ruins are pretty much down to foundation level, there wasn't much in the way of shade. I usually feel cold, but this time I was quite comfortable in a t-shirt... (which I was wearing under a rollneck pullover and jacket!)
Two years ago I took plenty of photos of the ruins themselves, and explained a little of the history of Lesnes Abbey - my ankle and knee were still playing up a bit this year, so I didn't go round getting many photos, but the ones I did take are available on my Flickr pages. If you use them, I just ask for a link (and also that they are only used for non-commercial purposes.)
Anyway, I offered up a prayer on behalf of my favoured football team (as far as I support any football team, which is about as far as I can throw a player)... and that prayer appeared to have been answered: 4-1 is pretty definitive. England fans can complain that they had a goal which was disallowed as often as they like... Germany went on to score two more, so even if we granted the disallowed goal, it's still a clear win. Not that I'm gloating... However, perhaps now people will stop blathering on about football...
We had our annual procession at St. Bede's, Clapham Park, on the very same day: our procession consisted of a Banner of the Five Holy Wounds (very Pilgrimage of Grace! :c), followed by the First Communion children & those who had recently received the Sacrament of Confirmation strewing rose petals; a tunicled Crucifer flanked by two acolytes, two thurifers, tunicled canopy bearers, Deacon & Sub-Deacon in the vestments proper to their office, assisting the Priest who was wearing cope and humeral veil, preceded and surrounded by a further 6 acolytes, followed by bell ringers, trumpets and drums and then the religious in their habits and the people.... we had 2 stational altars en-route where Benediction was given, culminating in the final Benediction in the Parish Church of St. Bede... it was truly a glorious occasion! I think the photographs will appear in our August newsletter.
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