A Lovely Day...

I had a wonderful day today. Both the deacon and subdeacon made it to Blackfen without mishap, and so we were able to celebrate a Solemn High Mass. One of the families in the parish had done stirling work the evening before, clearing paths through the snow between the main road, the church and the halls. The UCM ensured that there was plenty of hot food for the party afterwards. The inclement weather earlier in the week meant that quite a few people who had intended to be there had to cancel at the last minute; however, there were plenty of people to help me celebrate another year in my vocation...

Thanks to everyone who helped make this such a special day!

I Just Couldn't Resist...

Checking out some of my latest kitty-related photos, I could almost imagine a conversation being held, LOLcat style between Furretti and Miaowrini...

Another Video Which Should Go Viral...

I have just finished writing an article for the Catholic Herald - with many caveats to the Chief Feature Writer about feeling free to dump it if it doesn't come up to scratch. I'm fine writing for the blog, because it's a very informal medium, and people can choose to read it or not. Writing for a newspaper, where people are actually paying to read stuff, seems much more daunting...

Before saying Compline, I thought I'd check out a couple of the blogs. I want to finish a little earlier tonight so that I'm up bright and early in time for my Renewal of Vows tomorrow. Although the snow has stopped here, the temperatures overnight are set to drop quite a bit, and I sincerely hope that everyone makes it to Blackfen without mishap - especially since it is to be a Solemn High Mass, which is an experience not to be missed!

Anyway, I spotted this video over at His Hermeneuticalness' blog... it definitely deserves to go viral. It is great to see people having so much fun. As a teacher, I get a little tired of hearing why snowball fights are so dangerous...

Remember The Manhattan Declaration...?

Just a year ago, the Manhattan Declaration, a call from Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Christians to defend three basic truths, was drawn up. I posted on it, and encouraged people to sign in support.

The three basic truths were, well, pretty basic...
1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Someone went so far as to create a Manhattan Declaration app for the iPhone.

It seems that this upset a few people. Michael Rogers created a petition declaring that the application was offensive, being an "anti-LGBT, anti-women application" and asking for it to be removed from the iTunes Store. It managed to gather 7,727 signatures.

Apple is a commercial company. It might want to note that anyone who signs an application which defends the sanctity of human life and marriage between a man and a woman is rather likely to be helping in the production of future customers... I mean, just think of all those families with children who need iPods, iPads, Apple Macs...

Anyway, there is now a petition out to restore the Manhattan Declaration application to the iTunes Store. It currently has 28,992 signatures... which also might help to focus Apple's policymakers.

You can find (and sign) the petition, and you can email Steve Jobs to let him know what you think.

Twitch of the mantilla to the Curt Jester.

You Remember That "Blob Of Tissue"...?

Many people who want to justify abortion and make it more "palatable" refer to the baby as "just a blob of tissue." I don't know how many weeks along this baby is, but it's one heck of a blob...


EMBED-Squirming Alien Baby - Watch more free videos

Just remember that, in our oh-so-caring "big society," abortion is allowed up to birth if there is some disability... and something as minor as a cleft palate counts as a disability...

Mantilla-twitch to Catholic Minority Report.

My Latest Blonde Moment...

I went to Bexleyheath for lunch today, literally risking life and limb - the roads are clear, but, once again, pedestrians are being expected to slither and slide over pavements where snow, slush and compacted ice are left totally untreated.

Returning to my car in the untreated car park with difficulty after lunch (I'm on crutches, remember) I discovered that I had left it unlocked...

Luckily, all the potential car thieves were busy helping themselves to the big pile of salt at the entrance to the car park...

A Blast From The Past...

I was discussing weather with a friend of mine over the phone this evening - she was watching some very sorry-looking reporters out and about around the country. It reminded me of this clip with the news reporter, Colin Baker, when he'd been having a bad day.

So, naturally, having found it on YouTube, I just had to share...

Turning Into A Bi-Annual Rant...

I realise that it doesn't snow in the UK that often. Ok, maybe it does up in the wilds of Scotland, but not that much in South-East England... and especially not that much in Greater London (that's the 'Burbs to all my readers from over the pond!)

However...

I've checked my blog. According to the posts I've put up, we have had snow in Greater London (enough to settle properly) in April 2008, early January 2009, early February 2009, late December 2009 and early January 2010 (I mentioned it in passing but didn't actually post on it!) But, you think that we'd be getting the hang of things by now...

The Met Office were warning of severe snow at the beginning of last week. First they said it would snow in London on Thursday. Then Friday. Then Saturday... meanwhile, much of the rest of the country actually did get snow.

Finally, on Tuesday morning, we got snow...

And the entire road system went into gridlock! A journey which would normally take me 15 minutes (20 minutes if I was really unlucky) took me two and three-quarter hours. I was travelling on main roads, not side roads, and there weren't any accidents or roadworks to slow things up. It wasn't as if the traffic was even crawling along slowly... it was completely stationary.

Why is it that we cannot cope with a little bit of snow?

(We can't cope with rain, Autumn leaves, fog, or sunshine either, but snow appears to be a speciality!)

Saturday's Getting Closer...

I'm renewing my vows on Saturday... Although (as I've said before) I consider the vows permanent, it's good to remind myself that I've chosen the single state for a specific reason (and I do seem to need reminding!) as well as providing a good excuse for a party.

This year is shaping up to be quite a celebration - the Mass beforehand is going to be a Solemn High Mass (unless the subdeacon gets snowed in) and quite a few people have indicated that they're in the partying mood. So, if you are in the vicinity of Blackfen, feel free to come along. Mass is at 10:30am.  The renewal of vows will be at midday, and the bunfight will be at 12:30pm.

If you're not in the vicinity of Blackfen, well, why not???

Shocked By The Latest Wikileaks...!

Larry D, over at Acts of the Apostasy, is the first blogger to examine the Wikileaks collection of Vatican secrets. Apparently there was a delay in releasing them because they were written in Latin and downloaded onto 8" floppy disks...

I think the most shocking statements have to be that:

Vatican agents had tailed and bugged author Dan Brown, citing reports that he "was getting uncomfortably close to the truth" with the Angel and Demons and The Da Vinci Code novels.

There are several pages devoted to the recent dust-up concerning the new English translation; one Vatican official is quoted as saying "Whoever came up with 'Fishperson' for Bishop Trautman deserves a plenary indulgence! Very funny!"

and

The Vatican operates a covert blog operation, which underwrites such sites as Curt Jester, Creative Minority Report, The Hermeneutic of Continuity and LOLCats.

From this you can see that my own blog is free from Vatican interference...

Finally, most shocking of all, it seems that the Vatican actually does have:

...a list of who's in Hell, they just aren't telling people about it so that no one gets upset should they discover their loved ones are on the list.

A New Catholic News Round-Up Service...

The Pulpit aims to provide a round-up of Catholic blog posts and news articles. I suppose it's a useful summary, in its way, but it merely gives a list of posts, without any comment - as such, I don't think it will be any more useful than Traditional Latin Mass in Maryland (which does much the same thing, with the occasional comment) or Google Reader, which allows me to see at least the beginning of a post. However, I think I shall keep an eye on it, if only because I might discover a few new blogs that way...

Now THAT Is How To Welcome A Cardinal...!

I remember getting terribly excited a while back, when, visiting Westminster Cathedral for a Pontifical High Mass, I spotted a snazzy car with a Papal flag.

However, I think that this demonstrates more impressive transport for cardinals... I guess that Sri Lankan Catholics like to make it clear where they're coming from...

Twitch of the mantilla to the New Liturgical Movement.

Kitty Capers...

I won't cut the kitty-posts out completely, especially as so many people ask me how they're getting on... (Yes, I realise they could just be being polite, but it suits me to take the requests at face value... especially as I've got a stinking cold and so don't feel like putting up anything more serious!)

I'm on the Ground Floor, so, once it gets dark, I prefer to have the curtains drawn. This has provided extra entertainment for the Dynamic Duo, as they can play hide and seek. One kitten each side of the curtains, and then they have to try and pounce on the other.

I've taken four short video clips of their antics...









By the way, I have decided that the black and white kitten is to be called Monsignor Miaowrini in honour of the Papal Master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini... it is rather appropriate because she is a sweet, unassuming little kitten, cute as a button, but she can get extremely vocal when she wants something!

Advent Candles...

Being unwilling to trust the kittens with an Advent wreath, I was delighted to see that the Curt Jester has once again provided us with a virtual one for our blogs. You can get your own copy HERE, and it'll even light up another candle each week...