Felix Fidei Defensor (Part II) ...

A few months ago, Monsignor Furretti showed her true traddie colours when she shredded a copy of The Catholic Times while leaving The Remnant unscathed.

At the time, there was more than a little speculation as to what the clever little Monsignor would make of The Suppository (aka The Bitter Pill.) I explained that, as I had a moral objection to paying for The Suppository, I would have to wait until someone donated a copy for me to use. Given that most of my friends wouldn't be seen dead with a copy in their possession, this follow-up experiment didn't look like it would be happening any time soon.

However, a priest of my acquaintance (none other than Fr. Briggs, Parish Priest of Chislehurst) discovered an abandoned copy at the back of his church: I offered to dispose of the offending item for him.

In order to make it a "fair test" (something all schoolchildren are having hammered home, ad nauseam) I realised that I had to provide a more traditional alternative, to see which one the kittens would choose to destroy. I realise that, technically, it isn't totally fair, because I now have two Monsignori rather than just the one... however, both kittens have been blessed...

Anyway, I decided to present my Monsignori with the choice between The Catholic Herald (far and away the best British Catholic Weekly, IMHO) and The Suppository.

I give you my word of honour that I didn't rig the results...

I put both papers down, and the kittens started to explore...

There was a bit of pouncing and skidding about, as the paper was quite shiny...

Then there was some exploration of the pages themselves...

I now have bits of The Bitter Pill all over my living room floor... a small price to pay, I think, for peace of mind as to my furry felines' orthodoxy...

Adopt-A-Priestess...

Life is getting busy - what with Confirmation preparations, a few extra Masses, parents' evenings, reports and such like. Blogging will be sparse for the next two weeks (nothing new there, then!) However, I thought I'd draw your attention to this idea of Larry D's: in the wake of the recent conversion of wannabee-womynpriest Norma Jean Coon, Larry suggests that we each take responsibility for praying for an individual womynpriest.

As he (so eloquently) says:

"Here's how it will work: I have a list of the names of 75 women, taken directly from the website of Roman Catholic Women Priests. They are from the US, Canada and a few from Europe. The list will get longer, as I am sifting through a similar roster from the Women's Ordination Conference site (I'm checking for duplication). If you wish to participate, I will assign you one of the names - or more, if you so desire, just let me know. I'm asking you to pray for that woman's conversion and return in full communion to the Church. How you do that is entirely up to you. Masses, rosaries, Divine Mercy chaplets, adoration, fasting - whatever devotion or means that works for you. If you're a priest, and you want to participate, perhaps you could say Masses for that woman (a few for the success of this project would be cool, too!)"

Larry also points out that,

"Please - prayerfully consider taking part in this project. This movement can be defeated, one woman at a time. It won't be won through argument or persuasion (least of all snarky blogposts), but only through the power of the Holy Spirit, invoked through prayer and sacrifice. Conversion doesn't happen in a vacuum - as Catholics, we must stand in the gap and assault heaven with prayer. We might not see tangible results, but God answers every prayer in His way, in His time."

Do go over to his post and volunteer!

40 Days For Life...

The 40 Days for Life campaign aims to bring an end to abortion.

This year, the 40 Days for Life will run from March 9th to April 17th. London will be one of 247 cities joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history.

40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

40 days of prayer and fasting
40 days of peaceful vigil
40 days of community outreach

You can read about the international efforts of the 40 Days for Life campaign and what has been achieved so far, as well as following what's happening in London. In addition, there's a blog for the London campaign, as well as updates on Facebook and Twitter.

This year's campaign is happening during Lent, and, as has been pointed out on the website, this could add a special grace to the fasting and prayer element of the campaign. Get involved - there are many different things you can do - and have a look at the suggestions made on the London website.

It will be interesting to see if any of this ends up being reported in the mainstream media...

Ooooh... A Film About Catholicism...?

When I first heard about The Rite, my heart sank. I was pretty sure that this would be something along the lines of The Exorcist and perhaps even shades of The Thorn Birds. I then started to hear positive things about it on the Catholic blogosphere, though the film seemed to have sunk without trace in secular circles, which is unusual, given that it stars Sir Anthony Hopkins.

The Reluctant Sinner has been to see the film and has given it a firm thumbs up - the review makes me even more keen to go and see it.

How The Kittens Got On...

There was a somewhat anxious comment on a previous post asking what would happen to the kittens during my visit to Ampleforth.

I have to confess to being a little unsure how they would react to my absence. I had arranged for my neighbour to come in and feed them, and had left instructions as to changing of the litter tray, and how to ensure that Monsignor Furretti didn't eat all Monsignor Miaowrini's food. I knew that she would make a fuss of them, and would spend a bit of time playing with them, so I had no worries on that score. I just wondered whether the kittens would ever forgive me for abandoning them...

...another commenter had speculated as to the likelihood of "presents" being left in strategic positions - finding a hairball (or worse) in one's shoe can be most unpleasant...

Hooligan? Moi...?

On my return, the two kittens greeted me at the door. They were purring and affectionate. It was probably guilt. My neighbour had left me a note...

Dear Mac,

Thank you for the bottle of wine you left. I needed it. Your kittens are right little hooligans. They knocked over the hoover and dragged the attachment hose over to the door, so I nearly couldn't get in. They also chucked stuff off your bookcase. The chair in your bedroom was knocked over. I've tried to put everything back. They also chewed your mail.

The kittens didn't eat the Whiskas wet catfood, or the Felix, but they did eat the biscuits, and, although you said you didn't want them to have too many of the biscuits, because I was worried by them not eating the wet food, I gave in and fed them all the biscuits. Sorry.

I also had to give Miaowrini a wash under the tap, because she tried to jump onto the top of the washing machine and missed, and landed on top of the swing bin, and, although there wasn't much in the bin, it was a bit smelly...
Hope you had a nice time...

I have no idea what happened to the chair...

And I'm Back Home...

The Symposium was really great, and I'm extremely glad I went. Now, however, reality is setting in: I ache all over from the rather steep slopes (well, steep for someone with a dodgy ankle and two wrecked knees!) as well as suffering from the cold, damp weather. When the abbey wasn't shrouded in mist and fog, it was obscured by sheet rain. To add insult to injury, glorious sunshine made an appearance just as we were all preparing to leave...

I did succeed in obtaining photographic evidence that the sun does actually shine in Yorkshire...

The return of the abbey to its term-time routine meant that many of the activities were relocated or rescheduled - though, as I haven't managed to get to the symposium regularly, I wasn't affected by the change in arrangements. We had a holy hour in the evenings in the chapel in Alban Roe House as a result of these changes, and I got to see an altar by Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson - his work is, apparently, famous... or maybe famouse might be a better description...

I gather that all his work had a little mouse incorporated into the design somewhere... I should have been focussing on Our Lord, but I'm afraid that the little mouse caught my eye... Photoshop has allowed me to get a close-up, but it isn't a very good one...

I didn't manage to get many photos. There is a limit to the number of photos one can take of people attending a lecture. I'd have loved to walk round and take more photos of the abbey, but there just wasn't time - the afternoon break (which would have been the best time for me to go looking for photo opportunities) was spent updating my blog and checking my emails.

 I did manage to get a few photos of the speakers. Fr. Stephen Boyle gave an excellent overview of John Paul II's Theology of the Body - I mentioned in a previous post that he's Fr. John Boyle's brother... Fr. John's presence at the symposium was sorely missed. Fr. Stephen was responsible for introducing me to the Faith Movement when I was a parishioner in Camberwell, and he was the Assistant Priest. It was a bit of a shock to realise that this was more than 16 years ago! Tempus fugit and all that...

Fr. David Barrett gave two talks, on different aspects of the writings of St. Hilary - I understand that this is the subject of Fr. David's doctoral thesis, which should be finished some time in the summer.

Fr. David Standen (standing in the centre of the photo) was responsible for the organisation of the symposium, which ran like clockwork... Having organised quite a few retreats in the past, I recognise that such smooth running is due to a great deal of hard work behind the scenes, and he managed it all with patience and good humour... In this photo he's introducing Fr. Dylan James (to the right), who spoke on the meaning of sex and the difference between contraception and natural family planning.

Fr. Hugh MacKenzie (seen in the foreground on the right of the photo) and Fr. Stephen Dingley both eluded my photographic endeavours - Fr. Hugh because his was the first talk, and it hadn't occurred to me that getting photos of all the speakers might be a good idea, and Fr. Stephen because his was the last talk, and I'd packed my camera away, thinking I already had a photo of him...

Oh well. I shall try to put that right in the summer...

The Symposium Continues...

Last night, we had a talk from Fr. David Barrett on St. Hilary of Poitiers - 'The Fore-Ordination of Man in Christ. Very, very good - I knew almost nothing of St. Hilary. I was very interested to discover that he was responsible for writing hymns in Latin for the Divine Office, that he was the first Latin Church Father to write a commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, and that he was nicknamed the 'Hammer of the Arians' and the 'Athanasius of the West'.

This morning's session covered Contraception and the Meaning of Sex. Fr. Dylan James gave the talk, which was as excellent as all the preceeding ones had been. The discussions afterwards are almost more interesting than the initial talks - no reflection on the speakers, but there is a real excitement in being present when some pretty hard theology is being bashed out, almost through people ruminating out loud!

I'm pretty sure that Fr. Tim will have a more in-depth coverage of the talks than anything I can manage - he appeared to be typing away furiously during this morning's session - so I shall refer you to his blog if you want more details and analysis.

This afternoon we are in for another dose of St. Hilary... this time considering 'Christ's Risen Body - the Future of Man. Tomorrow morning's session will be given by Fr. Stephen Dingley: Hawking, Relativism and Self-Creating Universes: A Critique of 'The Grand Design'. I'm really looking forward to that one, especially as Fr. Stephen entertained us by explaining some of the stuff concerning the relativity of time and space in the bar on Monday night...

Faith Theological Symposium...

Well, I have managed to find a computer with internet access for use by guests at the Abbey... and we're having a spot of free time, so I availed myself of the opportunity to indulge my internet addiction. Sadly, I haven't got a phone signal (thanks for nothing, O2!) so can't get my fix at regular intervals. I'm sure that a bit of time spent away from the computer will be good for me... at least, that's what I keep trying to tell myself!

The Symposium has been brilliant so far... I'm really glad that I made the effort to come along (on Sunday I was regretting my decision to spend Half Term doing anything other than sleep) and I am enjoying excellent company and wonderful discussions - the latter, I hasten to add, are happening around me, while I'm doing my best to keep my mouth shut and look intelligent... I think I have failed on both those counts...

The two talks we've had so far have been quite challenging for me - I'm not of a philosophical bent, and Fr. Hugh MacKenzie's talk last night on The Static Form: A virus that has become virulent rather lost me... fortunately, there were plenty of people around to help clarify things (a bit) and the use of the analogy of Michaelangelo's David to explain material, formal, efficient and final causality gave me plenty to think about.

Fr. Hugh later said that most of the stuff he'd covered in his talk could be found in the most recent issue of Faith Magazine...

I found this morning's talk was much more accessible (or maybe I was more awake!) - Fr. Stephen Boyle (brother to Fr. John) spoke about The Theology of the Body. I hadn't really paid any attention to any of the discussions on the blogosphere about Pope John Paul's work in this area, and it was, therefore, very interesting to hear Fr. Stephen's overview.

The talks are certainly more of an intellectual challenge for me than the ones we get at the Faith Summer Session (which is as it should be - after all, those talks are targetted at a very different audience) so I'm having to work quite hard to keep up. This is definitely good for me - it keeps the grey cells ticking away - and it stops me getting complacent and thinking that I understand the Faith!

I shall end there - I need to go and say some prayers before the next talk begins. I shall try to add some more tomorrow...

Time For A Short Break...

I'm off to the Faith Theological Symposium for a few days. I won't have access to a computer (at least I don't think so) and I am not sure what the phone reception will be like, so the blog might be hors de combat for the week.

I'm rather nervous about leaving the kittens in charge of the flat. I might not have any books or statues left when I return...

UCM Winter Warmer...

The weather today has been atrocious. Fortunately, the ladies of the parish UCM had arranged to hold a Winter Warmer lunch event this afternoon, which provided a bright spot in an otherwise wet and windy Saturday.

I don't like vegetables, so the potato and leek soup was not something I wished to eat, but I was fascinated by the use of an electronic whisk-blender thingy...

I'm afraid that I couldn't resist smirking when the blender attachment doobrey-whatsit fell in the soup and had to be fished out...

The sandwiches, homemade sausage rolls and homemade cakes were delicious... I was persuaded to buy a cake and take it home for the kittens to play with... unfortunately for the kittens, I am rather partial to chocolate sponge with fresh cream and jam filling, so it shall be mine, all mine.

Good food and good company - a very agreeable Saturday lunchtime.

Miss-ing The Point...

Miss Ellen E has been blogging over at Miscellany of Musings for three years now. She has given in to the latest makeover craze and has decided to use her Twitter nom-de-plume as her nom-de-blog: so, Miss Ellen E is now the Idle Rambler.

I have to admit, rather shamefacedly, that the play on words completely passed me by. "Miss Ellen E" = "Miscellany!" I suspect that this was because, in my mental processes, I shortened it to Miss Ellie, and just thought of Dallas. There. That's aged me.

Consecration Through Mary To Jesus...

About four years ago, I renewed my Consecration to Mary according to the method given by St. Louis de Montfort.

Not to be undertaken lightly, there are 12 days of preparation before the actual preparation begins, followed by a further three weeks. It was supposed to be an annual thing for me, but, while the spirit is willing, the flesh basically suffers from a combination of inertia and amnesia.

The Good Counsel Network is doing its best to encourage more people to make the Consecration this year. If we start tomorrow (20th February) then the day of Consecration is March 25th, which is, of course, the Feast of the Annunciation. There's nothing like doing things together as a group to help with motivation and perseverance...

Twitch of the mantilla to the Ecumenical Diablogger for highlighting the campaign!

I Never Thought I'd Say This...

...on two counts, actually!

Firstly, I never thought I'd agree with anything Cristina Odone had to say.

Secondly, I  dislike hype. Screaming fans are, for me, a turn off. Added to which I'm not really into pop music. My students, fascinated by the fact that I will burst into song at the drop of a hat, are flummoxed when they discover that I have no idea who the latest music sensation actually is.

However, it seems that teenage heart-throb, Justin Bieber, has spoken out against abortion, declaring, "It's like killing a baby!"

I still can't quite bring myself to listen to any of his music. But I shall be rather less scathing when the girls at school confess to being "Beliebers" !

A twitch of the mantilla to Bones.

It Has Been Two Weeks...

...I haven't posted anything about the kittens for two weeks, and I know that my two kittens have a great fan base out in the blogosphere! It has been wonderful to watch them develop.

Miaowrini (the younger of the two) is still rather skittish and clumsy, though less so than before. She hasn't fallen in either the bath or the toilet again. Furretti is far better co-ordinated, and is much more poised and elegant compared to Miaowrini.

I recently bought a replacement microwave, and, instead of getting rid of the box immediately, I thought I'd let the kittens play...

Furretti also loves playing with my pens... especially if I'm trying to use them...

...and Miaowrini is getting better at jumping on shelves...

Both kittens have discovered the kitchen surfaces - up until now these have (surprisingly) been kitten-free zones. I have had to put a large, heavy box in front of the catflap to discourage accidents - this is in the kitchen window, and they hadn't spotted it before. They are taking more of an interest in what is going on outside - sitting on the window ledge and looking out - and much excitement ensued when a neighbouring cat strolled past the window.

I shall be letting them out before too long...

Common Sense Has Prevailed For Once...

Pro-life groups appear to be delighted with today's High Court judgement on the proposal to allow women to take misoprostol, used in conjunction with the chemical abortion drug RU486, at home rather than in hospital.

Quite apart from the need to fight any attempts to make abortion seem as routine and unworthy of notice as taking a course of antibiotics,* I think that this is a victory for common sense. The horrendous consequences of taking this drug have been drastically downplayed by the media and the abortion providers.

Consider the following:

Firstly, the nature of the drug means that the woman must undergo her abortion over the course of a number of days. Even the president of the original makers of RU486 said “The woman must live with this for a full week. This is an appalling psychological ordeal” (Edouard Sakiz, chairman, Roussel-Uclaf, August 1990.)

Secondly, the woman would be likely to abort at home and suffer the distress of seeing the expelled embryo/foetus, which she would be required to keep and return to the hospital or clinic to help determine if the abortion is complete.

Furthermore, the side effects of misoprostol/RU486 include haemorrhages possibly requiring a blood transfusion, severe pain requiring strong pain killers, incomplete abortion, rupture of the uterus, vaginal bleeding, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, muscle weakness, dizziness, flushing, chills, backache, difficulty in breathing, chest pain, palpitations, rise in temperature and fall in blood pressure.

This is hardly the impression that was being conveyed to the public when the proposal was being put before the High Court. The convenience and privacy of taking the drug at home was all that was mentioned.

So, as I said, a real victory for common sense. It is also a victory for women, who shouldn't be tricked into thinking that abortion is a simple solution to contraceptive failure. Congratulations must go to SPUC who did so much to highlight the dangers inherent in the use of this drug.

*Actually, I suspect that the abortion pill would have been given out much more freely than a course of antibiotics. Bacteria can fight back against the drugs used to kill them. Babies can't!

Catholic Herald Up For Award...

The Catholic Herald is up for "Best Catholic Newspaper" - none of the other British Catholic papers are in the running - hardly a surprise! The Herald is far and away the best paper in the UK, especially with Luke Coppen as editor and Anna Arco as their chief feature writer.

In any event, if you want to vote, you can do so HERE.

Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Tim.

Happy St. Valentine's Day...? Perhaps Not...

Girls, be warned! Fr. Z has given advertising space to the schmucks at the Bronx Zoo who think that naming a Madagascan hissing cockroach after one's beloved is a cool St. Valentine's Day gift.

To be fair, Fr. Z did warn that the hissing sound might be the vase flying towards the giver's head...

Reading his post, I can say with all honesty that I am profoundly grateful I'm not likely to get any St. Valentine's Day presents... 

Back Again...!

Well, at the risk of inviting further disaster, I am delighted to say that my malfunctioning computer has been sorted out. Somehow or other, the registry had been completely corrupted. This necessitated wiping the whole shebang off and reinstalling Windows.

It took me a surprising amount of time to sort out the spaghetti at the back of the computer - what with keyboard, mouse, printer, monitor, speakers, webcam, external hard drive, internet connection and, last but not least, various power cables (yes, they are important... I actually spent three minutes wondering why my computer wouldn't work after I'd connected everything, only to realise that I'd hooked the power cable up out of the way and forgotten to reconnect it! I felt particularly blonde at that point...) I suspect it wouldn't have taken quite so long if the spaghetti hadn't been in such a tangle in the first place!

All fine and dandy, only I now have to reinstall all the programs I had on the computer. The data was saved, as far as I can see, but not the actual programs.

Looking at the blank slate of a computer filled me with a mixture of excitement (oooooh... it's like having a new computer... and I can load the programs I use most, and ditch the old, obsolete ones!) and dread (oh Lord... I have to find the CDs and activation codes, and actually spend time uploading the whole lot... it'll take forever!)

I've made a start... Chrome was the one thing the computer weenies put up for me (they were of the opinion that it's streets ahead of anything else!) and I have been trying to trace favourite links. It will take me quite some time, but blogging will be back on track shortly...

Apologies...

Having just gotten my blogging inspiration back, I was all fired up and raring to go. Unfortunately, my computer decided that it had had enough, and promptly conked out. Posting from a mobile phone is much more fiddly and much less fun, unless one has sorted the posts out beforehand! Hopefully my computer will be fixed soon...

Oh You Really Think So...?

The Catholic Herald reported that more than 140 Catholic theologians from universities in Austria, Switzerland and Germany have called for the Church to ordain women, end priestly celibacy and let lay people help select bishops, along with a few other changes, like allowing remarried divorcees to receive the Sacraments.

They said that enacting the reforms would attract people back to the Church.

Yeah, right. Because that really worked in the Church of England, didn't it?

Just To Make Deo Volente Happy...

It seems that Deo volente's hankering for a bit of the St. Ninian tartan to be shown, as well as a smidgeon of aubergine...

I aim to please...

Mass For The Feast Of St. Agatha...

Fr. Tim gave an excellent sermon at this month's Saturday Missa Cantata - which just happened to be the feast of St. Agatha. I was in the mood for a photo or two, and I don't often get the chance to snap the red vestments...

Maybe His Hermeneuticalness was reflecting on St. Agatha's role as patron of bellringers, but he swung the thurible rather enthusiastically during the Offertory, and the MC apparently failed to move the altar out of the way (it being a time-honoured tradition that all errors are the fault of the MC) so the bottom of the thurible came off with an appropriately ringing clang!

I managed to persuade the schola to pose for a photograph afterwards, along with our Organist Emeritus...

Yes, I Have Hopped On The Bandwagon...

*sigh*

Yes, ok, I shall admit it... I have been persuaded to give my blog a bit of a facelift. In this I am following the good example set by Fathers Finigan, Boyle and Blake (though, to be fair, I think Fr. Ray changed his blog a while back!) I haven't changed the blog since its creation in 2006, so it really was time for an overhaul, if only to improve loading speeds on mobile phones and whatnots...

Looking at what the good Fathers have done, I suspect that I have chosen the better part (well, the better template anyway!) - I hate having to read light text on a dark screen. My background photo, for anyone who is interested, is shown above, and is one I took at the Marian Procession at Lourdes last year. I think that the blue sky maintains some continuity with my previous colour scheme as well, so the changes won't be quite so much of a shock...

Consider yourselves lucky... Deo volente (who has also had a blog makeover) was trying to provoke me into aubergine or Papal Tartan!

UPDATE: Fr. Brown has done it too... That's the problem with reading blogs via Google Reader - you miss this sort of thing...