Coffee Break Mini-Blognic !

I'm usually visiting my family when I'm in Eastbourne, and that doesn't normally leave much time for anything else. This time, however, I was left to my own devices - one cat and two dogs don't make for scintillating conversation, and after two days of silence, I was ready for some real human interaction.

I had originally planned to drive down to Brighton to see Fr. Ray Blake and possibly Bones (if he was around) but the knee is still very sore, and I didn't want to drive around too much. The drive down from London on Monday was quite taxing enough, and I need to be able to get back in one piece on Friday.

Then I remembered that Annie, who runs the Arundel & Brighton Latin Mass Society blog, had mentioned Eastbourne more than a few times. I left a comment asking if she was based in or around Eastbourne, and whether she wanted to meet up. Luckily for me, she did, and suggested the coffee bar opposite the church of Our Lady of Ransom as a convenient meeting place.

I spotted Annie at Mass - she was the only other woman wearing a mantilla, which is a bit of a giveaway - and afterwards was introduced to her friend, Amette, who reads (and comments) on blogs, though under a pseudonym. So no photographs will be forthcoming...

I had a wonderful time, chatting about liturgy (and the abuses thereof) and the traditional Mass, and how it has deepened our spiritual lives. During the conversation, I realised just how very fortunate I have been in having Blackfen as my parish, where the TLM is offered every week, at regular times, and not relegated to different churches around the diocese, on the third Sunday in the month if there's an "r" in it, and only at 4:30pm in the afternoon...

For the first time, I was able to appreciate the problems of parents who, having seen what the Extraordinary Form has to offer in the way of spiritual nourishment, are desperate for their children to experience this, instead of the watered-down, Eucharist-as-a-celebratory-meal, Novus Ordo Mass... but unfortunately, it just isn't always practical for a young family to travel for over an hour just to get to the one Extraordinary Form Mass available in the diocese...

It was also a tremendous relief to be able to talk about the things which irk and irritate - such as really determined sign-of-peace givers - and to find that one is not alone in being irritated! Whoever said that blogs are stopping us interacting on a human level was definitely barking up the wrong tree.

I kept Annie and Amette talking for far too long (I probably should have appended a health warning to my email, stating that I can consume unlimited cups of tea and coffee) and finished by extending an invitation to my Renewal of Vows in December - more details on that to follow soon.