Lourdes Pilgrimage Approaches...

The time of the Blackfen Parish Pilgrimage to Lourdes is rapidly approaching. It's been three years since the last one, so I'm really looking forward to it. Mass every day according to the usus antiquior will be a real treat. Sadly we don't have any servers with us, so it will have to be Low Mass...

Fortunately we have managed to get the same hotel as before - it's a wonderful place, with a real family atmosphere... and it's less than five minutes' walk from the Domaine. I'm still waiting to hear from the Parish Priest of Lourdes, to find out if we can use the church Crypt for Mass on two of the days. We are having Mass in the church at Bartrès - the only church that St. Bernadette actually attended regularly (the church in Lourdes burnt down, and only the Baptismal font is original, while the Basilica itself wasn't finished until she had gone to Nevers. She did visit the Crypt of the Immaculate Conception Basilica, but only a few times.)

I am looking forward to getting some really good photos with my latest mobile phone, which performs far better than the digital camera I have. If, however, you really can't wait to get a dose of Lourdes, do go over and visit Richard Collins, of Linen on the Hedgerow,who has written lots about his recent pilgrimage. He even managed to get a picture of a cat and dedicated it to this blog (Mewlier Fortis, indeed!!)

Richard wondered why there were always so many women in the queue for the baths compared to the number of men. I think the women's queue just appears to be longer - we take much more time to get undressed, wrapped, dunked and dressed again... there are more bits of apparel, and they do rather need to be adjusted "just so" for the sake of modesty!

The Point Of Catholic Blogging...

Following some of the controversy surrounding the closure of Nick Donnelly's blog, Protect the Pope, the Catholic Herald decided to run a feature on the point of Catholic blogging. Contributions were sought, from five "incisive" bloggers, on the role blogging should play in the life of the Church.

That the Catholic Herald should ask Bishop Philip Egan for a contribution was no surprise, as he considered the point of Catholic blogging in his Lenten pastoral letter - this had already gone the rounds of the blogosphere due to his excellent press officer. Fr. Timothy Finigan's contribution was also unsurprising - he writes regularly for the paper, and his blog is one of the most popular Catholic blogs in the UK. Joseph Shaw, as Chairman of the Latin Mass Society, has been blogging up a storm over various key issues in the life of the Church. Elizabeth Scalia, who blogs as The Anchoress, is one of the really hard-hitting bloggers in the US, and she is also the Managing Editor of the Catholic Portal on Patheos.

And blogger number five was me...

I was extremely taken aback to be asked for my opinion - my posting has been sporadic of late. This reaction was echoed on Twitter when Bruvver Eccles asked if the Catholic Herald had started up a column about cats...

@AdamCC92 @MulierFortis Didn't see the most recent CH. Have they started a column about cats?

— Eccles (@BruvverEccles) May 8, 2014

I do think that blogging forms a vital tool for evangelisation in the Church today, and one where lay people have a major part to play. Do go over and read the articles if you haven't done so already...