That Talk...

Yes, the talk given by Michael Voris has finally made it onto RealCatholicTV, and it's now on YouTube. So, you no longer have to rely on my sketchy outline of the talk (though the subsequent blognic wasn't filmed, so I have the advantage there!) but can watch it yourself.

Major twitch of the mantilla to Paul Smeaton for organising the whole shebang. Michael Voris also did a piece on the Tyburn Martyrs, which you can watch over at Smeaton's Corner.

We Interrupt This Service...

The start of the Autumn Term is always a little fraught, in my experience. It is made slightly more fraught for me because of one fateful morning in particular (you can read more about it if you wish) which I'm always worried will recur.

So, not much sleep was had by me on Wednesday night. The longest stretch was about 20 minutes. I slept badly on Thursday night too. By Friday evening, I was pretty much dead on my feet. I sat down to put my aching feet up for half an hour, and woke up, bleary-eyed (contact lenses still in) but otherwise wide-awake at midnight.

I decided that I'd spend a little time preparing stuff for Monday. Before I knew it, it was 5:30am. I did consider trying to stay awake, but opted to have a nap, and set several alarms on my mobile phone so that I could get up in time for our Missa Cantata...

The next thing I knew, it was 10:15am. Mass on Saturday is at 10:30am. Oooops.

I decided to go along to Mass anyway (what was left of it) to say a few prayers and at least attend Benediction... Lunch at a local hostelry followed (I was awake at this time - a couple of large cokes did wonders) but I am now clock-watching. I am absolutely shattered, but I know that I have to stay up until at least 9pm in order to try and reset the old body clock. Then, hopefully, Sunday night will be relatively "normal" and I can get up bright-tailed and bushy-eyed on Monday morning, ready to face the hordes of eager Year 7s, all desperately keen and shiny-faced...

That's the plan. But you know what they say about plans...

In the meantime, until I get myself sorted, blogging might be a little sporadic.

The Body In The Library...

Today was my first day back at school, and, afterwards, I went straight to church for my Thursday evening dose of Rosary and Benediction.

When I finally arrived home, I found Miaowrini looking very pleased with herself sitting in the midst of a whole fresh pile of feathers. Further investigation revealed a dead bird in the living room (it is the room with most books in it, so qualifies as my "library"!)

The bird had been chewed. Looks as if Miaowrini has finally figured out what to do when she catches her pigeon...

Water Cannon Used On Rioters...

...Errrrmmm, sorry, that headline was not quite right. My bad!

These young people were actually at World Youth Day, and were sprayed with water by firemen to keep them cool in the soaring temperatures. The pilgrims also had sympathetic local residents flinging buckets of water over them as they walked passed en route to some of the events.

Young people = 1,500,000 (minimum); Riots = 0.

Mantilla-twitch in the direction of His Hermeneuticalness.

Something To Smile About...

A little bit of good news... I have just arrived home after a horrible journey on a crowded bus to find two kittens waiting for me inside the house (one has now gone off gallivanting, the other is having a nap on the sofa... it seems that they like to know I'm safely at home before they go off and do their respective things!) and one car waiting for me outside the house, new alternator and new front tyres fitted.

Deo gratias!

(And no, you cynical people, the kitties were not waiting to be fed. There was food in the bowls. The kitties love me... Yes, they do...)

Blackfen Brandsma Blognic...

The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma is holding a meeting at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Blackfen, on Saturday, October 1st 2011.

Mass is at 10:30am, Vespers is at 2:30pm. Lunch, a talk and a meeting will happen in between. The pub may feature after all that...

Everyone is welcome - "bloggers" being a very loose term!

Old ICEL RIP...

I have to confess to feeling a little bit strange, knowing that tonight was the last time we shall use the old ICEL translation for the responses at Sunday Mass (still a few more days until September).

Don't misunderstand me, I am absolutely delighted that the "lame-duck translations" (as the inimitable Fr. Z terms them) have finally shuffled off this mortal coil. We have had the new translation of the Canon for a while, and it is a vast improvement. I have been mentally responding "And with your Spirit" to help get myself accustomed to the changes. And I shall make an extra effort to attend the 6pm Mass next Sunday so as to usher in the new responses.

But part of me is experiencing a pang. Not a pang of regret. Definitely not! A lot of people feel uncomfortable with change, and "Better the devil you know" is a saying most people can relate to, but it isn't even that - the new translation is such an improvement, that I am eager to use it. I guess that it is just the realisation that we are witnessing the end of an era. The old translation is the only one I've known (at least it was, before I encountered the Extraordinary Form of Mass), and I didn't need to read the responses from a missal or mass sheet...

As I said, it's just a little... strange!

(Oh, and before you say anything, yes, I know the photo is of the Divine Office, but the shoddy workmanship of that liturgical book rather exemplifies the state of the old ICEL translation!)