Back in April, I wrote a short post on the shameful silence of so-called "pro-choice" organisations (such as Marie Stopes) on the enforcement of the one-child policy in China.
Reggie Littlejohn posted a link in the com-box to a video report she'd made on the forced abortions and sterilisations happening in China. I felt that it deserved a wider audience, so I'm giving it a post of its own...
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Friday, 1 July 2011
Lesnes Abbey Procession...
I was rather uncomfortable with the Eucharistic "Flash-mob" held in Preston. I did understand the thinking behind it, but I am firmly of the opinion that bringing Our Lord out in a hold-all is not the way to impress upon people that the Catholic Church teaches that the Blessed Sacrament really is God.
The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable it makes me.
So I was delighted that, last Sunday, we had our annual Blessed Sacrament Procession at Lesnes Abbey.
The ruins are in the middle of a park, rather than in the centre of a shopping area, but there are plenty of people who have gone to the park for a walk or a picnic, and they are left in no doubt that there is something special going on. We have First Communicants, altar servers, priests, deacons... there is music, prayer, readings... and Benediction.
There is much I dislike about the procession - the choice of music and the number of readings being my two main beefs - but it is a reverent occasion, and it is absolutely clear that we are there to worship Our Lord, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
We were certainly blessed as far as the weather went... the week before had been cold, wet and windy, and even the previous day had seen quite a bit of rain.
The beginning of the procession...
The procession goes round the park...
Benediction was given by Bishop Pat Lynch...
When it was time for the Blessed Sacrament to be reposed, the deacon (wearing a humeral veil) was accompanied by servers...
I've taken more detailed pictures of the ruins and given a little of the history in a previous post.
The Knights of St. Columba did a sterling job of marshalling the procession and providing first aid, and three of them agreed to pose for the blog...
Three of the First Communicants from Blackfen got to pose for photos as well, first with Bishop Lynch...
...and then with their Parish Priest, none other than Fr. Finigan (who has a much better understanding of photographic niceties, and who persuaded the girls to relinquish water bottles, put their hands together and stand over by the wall...)
The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable it makes me.
So I was delighted that, last Sunday, we had our annual Blessed Sacrament Procession at Lesnes Abbey.
There is much I dislike about the procession - the choice of music and the number of readings being my two main beefs - but it is a reverent occasion, and it is absolutely clear that we are there to worship Our Lord, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
We were certainly blessed as far as the weather went... the week before had been cold, wet and windy, and even the previous day had seen quite a bit of rain.
The beginning of the procession...
The procession goes round the park...
Benediction was given by Bishop Pat Lynch...
When it was time for the Blessed Sacrament to be reposed, the deacon (wearing a humeral veil) was accompanied by servers...
I've taken more detailed pictures of the ruins and given a little of the history in a previous post.
The Knights of St. Columba did a sterling job of marshalling the procession and providing first aid, and three of them agreed to pose for the blog...
Three of the First Communicants from Blackfen got to pose for photos as well, first with Bishop Lynch...
...and then with their Parish Priest, none other than Fr. Finigan (who has a much better understanding of photographic niceties, and who persuaded the girls to relinquish water bottles, put their hands together and stand over by the wall...)
Corpus Christi
Just a couple of photos from the Mass held on the Thursday. It was reasonably well-attended, despite the Thursday no longer being held as a Holyday of Obligation.
I didn't manage to get any photos of the actual procession because I was helping with the singing, and I haven't mastered the art of manipulating Liber and camera at the same time. Nevertheless, I found it profoundly moving. The weather was a little uncertain, so we only processed around the church. Maybe next year we can have an outdoor procession.
On a related note, I thought numbers were rather low for the Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul last Wednesday. It did occur to me that a lot of people may have thought that the Holyday had been transferred to the Sunday, like Ascension, Epiphany and Corpus Christi. The sooner the Holydays are put back to their proper places, the better...
I didn't manage to get any photos of the actual procession because I was helping with the singing, and I haven't mastered the art of manipulating Liber and camera at the same time. Nevertheless, I found it profoundly moving. The weather was a little uncertain, so we only processed around the church. Maybe next year we can have an outdoor procession.
On a related note, I thought numbers were rather low for the Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul last Wednesday. It did occur to me that a lot of people may have thought that the Holyday had been transferred to the Sunday, like Ascension, Epiphany and Corpus Christi. The sooner the Holydays are put back to their proper places, the better...
Blogging Blues...
At least, not this week...
Mind you, my blogging has been so irregular of late that I doubt anyone would notice if I had stopped... (Note to male readers* - that was your cue to comment in the com-box that yes, you had noticed my absence, and yes, you were concerned, but you had decided to be understanding and let me have some space in which to recharge my blogging batteries... please also note that a failure to make such comments will result in me sulking, in as conspicuous a manner as I can manage on my blog... and probably on a few other blogs as well...)
Seriously, I just ran out of blogging steam.
I might take another week or so off, to allow time to stoke the boilers... (Another note to male readers: that was your cue to comment in the com-box that you hope I won't be gone too long...)
* Just in case you were wondering, female readers know instinctively when (and how) to answer this sort of cri de coeur, even if they choose not to do so. In the five years I've been blogging, I've found that men often just need the little pointers as to when such comments** are expected...
** Boxes of chocolates (real, not virtual) are an acceptable substitute for comments (real and virtual).