An Evening With The Children...

When I returned from the non-event of the Pic du Jer, I had a short nap to recharge the batteries. After dinner, the children had a session with Fr. Tim and myself, while the mums and grandparents had a bit of a break.

Fr. Tim started off by praying the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, with a brief explanation of and reflection on each Mystery. Then a brief discussion about angels followed.

I had prepared a few different worksheets, and Fr. Tim selected one where the children had to identify photos of different places in Lourdes. I'd included a couple of wordsearches I'd made, and the group was keen to have a go. Fr. Tim also decided to try one, but, not being of the generation which had to do lots of these at school, his technique left something to be desired... 

Several of the children were indignant to discover that he was copying their answers! The session finished at 10pm amid much laughter, and I was delighted that some of the other sheets were (voluntarily) taken away as homework!

More tomorrow.

First Major Hiccough...!

Luckily I was the only one affected!

The brochure advertising the Pic du Jer funicular railway said that the attraction was fully wheelchair accessible. I thought that meant slopes or a lift... It didn't.

When the cable car arrived at the top of the mountain, I realised that I had to step down from the car onto some very steep, narrow steps... and the bannister was too far away for me to reach... It also looked over a sheer drop.

Meanwhile, a lady in a wheelchair was being loaded onto a stairlift. I asked if it was possible to use it, but was told that it was only for wheelchairs.

There was absolutely no way I could manage the steep stairs and so I just had to stay put until the car returned to the ground.

Not the most pleasant of experiences! On the plus side, at least I got to ride the "Petit Train" around Lourdes...

A (Relatively) Lazy Day...

Day 3 of the Pilgrimage will be pretty relaxed. We will start with Mass at 9am in the St. Gabriel Chapel, and then make our way down to the front of the Rosary Basilica for our official Group Photo. I loathe this part of it, but haven't yet been able to squirm my way out of it. Luckily, there are no online versions available...

The morning is pretty much fee for people to do whatever they want, and then, in the afternoon, there's an excursion to the Pic du Jer, a cable-car ride up the mountain overlooking Lourdes. I might skip this. I'm terrified of heights, and while I'm ok on solid ground, balconies and airplanes, I am not too certain how I feel about cable-cars. I have heard that the cars occasionally get stuck, and sod's law being what it is...

In the evening, after dinner, Fr. Tim is going to run a class for the children - I've prepared a short worksheet - and we may go across the Gave to the Prairie. This bit is fairly fluid, no hard-and-fast arrangements - but it gives the parents a bit of a break if they want it. 

Wet, Wet, Wet...

My second day in Lourdes started exactly as planned - I woke up in plenty of time for breakfast, and brought the group down to the Domaine where the tour guide was due to meet us.

Knowing how hilly the town is, I had decided to skip the tour of Bernadette's home, church and so on... Once the group had left with the guide, I wandered around the Domaine.

First I booked a slot with the official photographer. I went to the grotto and said a prayer, had a drink of the water, and then went in to the Rosary Basilica. I sat down to pray my Office in an inconspicuous spot, and then went around taking some photos.

I was pretty tired by this time, so I returned to the hotel for a half-hour power nap... after which I went to lunch... Unfortunately, service in the restaurant I chose was rather slow, which made me five minutes late for my appointment with the Grotto webcam...

The baths were next - and it was freezing... I did remember to pray for all my fellow bloggers - through chattering teeth! I didn't have any children with me and so I had to join the main queue... And the whole process took two hours, which meant that I only just squeaked into Mass on time.

Fr. Tim took the group to the High Stations as planned - I went with Fr. Charles for a leisurely coffee.

The weather took a turn for the worse, but we all went along to the Torchlight Procession - though after walking for a short while, I decided to "cheat" and went to sit down at the side (the constant stop-start motion is hard going on my knee and ankle!) the advantage of this, however, was that I could take some good photos.

Then it was back to the hotel for a few drinks before bed.

Tomorrow is a more gentle affair - but please pray that the weather improves...

Hope They Warm Up The Water...

Day 2 of the Pilgrimage. This year I have done my best to make sure we don't start too early, because of the time needed to get young children up, washed, dressed and fed. I have to admit that I needed prompting for this: not having any children of my own means that the mechanics escape me... by the time I encounter them at school, they've done all that stuff!

So, we will start off with the official tour of Lourdes: In the Footsteps of Bernadette. Last year was the Jubilee year, and there was a special "Jubilee Way" with stickers (and a Plenary Indulgence) to collect. The places connected with St. Bernadette's life were extremely crowded, and I'm hoping that things will be a lot more relaxed this time round. That will take all morning, and I expect that people will want to go for lunch in the town (we always stay half-board, which allows more freedom with regard to lunch arrangements, as well as keeping costs down.)

The Baths open in the afternoon at 2:30pm, but, as I don't have any children with me, I will need to get there some time beforehand to make sure I get in. Priority is given to the sick, the disabled, and parents with young children, so they don't need to queue for long periods.

I shall try and remember to wave at the video camera at 1:50pm (local time) if you want to try and catch me on a screen dump... go on, I challenge you.

Mass will be quite late: 4pm in the St. Gabriel Chapel. This chapel is to the left of the Crypt, next to the road going up the Espélugues Hill. I tried to arrange Mass in the St. Michael Chapel, but there is building work going on there, so it wasn't available.

After Mass, we will have the Stations of the Cross... the start of the High Stations is just a bit further up from the Chapel (how about that for planning!) while anyone unable to tackle the hill (like myself) will be able to make their way down to the Lower Stations, over on the other side of the River Gave.

The Torchlight Procession will finish off the day once more: I plan to take a few photos to use for another You Tube video slideshow.

The Best-Laid Plans...

My last post was one I scheduled, and it describes what I'd planned to do...

Unfortunately, plans sometimes (ok, often) come unstuck...

The journey to Terminal 5 was much easier than expected, which meant that we arrived an hour earlier than our check-in time. Luckily for us, on our arrival at the Groups' check-in desk, someone had an attack of the smarts and realised that it was in her interests to check us in as quickly as possible, after which we would become "somebody else's problem" - 12 children in a group have this effect on people...

For the first time ever, I was subjected to a frisk search... to say that it was thorough was an understatement - one doesn't normally get that close to a person without an introduction..!

We hit pretty bad turbulence - the captain kept coming on the intercom to apologise, saying that he'd never experienced anything like it. Not the most reassuring of statements...!

Traffic out of Toulouse was a nightmare... the weather then took a turn for the worse, and it poured down with rain... suddenly there was a loud bang on the coach roof - I assumed we'd hit a low tree or something. This was rapidly followed by more bangs, as suddenly we were caught in a storm of hailstones.The hailstones were the size of golfballs. There was a small bridge across the road, and we saw that traffic under it had come to a complete standstill - no-one was prepared to drive out and get hit by hail. We were fortunate that it was a brief shower, but we saw a car which had had its rear windscreen smashed... and several cars had lots of small indents in the roofs where the hail had impacted with the sheet metal.The hotel staff had dinner waiting for us when we finally arrived, and it was great to meet them again. They really are a lovely bunch, and it was kind of them to stay late to cook and serve the meal - not all
hotels are so obliging.

I was able to distribute keys during the meal, but I was just too tired to go down for the end of the Torchlight Procession. I've now unpacked, and have checked tomorrow's programme... so I think it's time for sleep.

More tomorrow!

And I'm Off...

Day 1 of the Blackfen Parish Pilgrimage to Lourdes... however, most of it will be spent travelling. We are starting in the best possible way, with Mass at the Lady Altar at 8:30am (well, that is the plan!) and then we'll have tea and coffee before boarding the coach to Heathrow Terminal 5.

I've never been to Terminal 5 - all I know about it is that they completely mucked up the opening and lost lots of luggage. I had originally planned to do a recce beforehand, but I have been so totally exhausted in the past few weeks that I just couldn't face it. I may regret this...

We are expected to land in Toulouse at around 5pm local time - that's 4pm British Summer Time - and will travel to Lourdes by coach, arriving at around 7:30pm. The hotel will have dinner ready for us, and I get to do my Courier bit by distributing all the room keys (no rest for the wicked) during the meal; we've found that it is simpler to do it this way, rather than everyone making a mad dash for the reception desk and the lift, especially as the dining-room staff will have been hanging on for us.

Then, for anyone with the energy, there is the Marian Torchlight Procession. This is such a moving experience: thousands of people walking round, praying the rosary, singing hymns, and raising their candles when the Ave refrain is sung. It is daylight when the Procession starts, and the light gradually fades... and by the time everyone has reached the square in front of the Rosary Basilica, the sky is dark indigo, lit by thousands of candles held up in the air... Mind you, given the timings, we'll probably only make it for the end of the Procession on the first evening.

I will probably finish off with a drink in the hotel bar and a chat with Odette (the night receptionist) before heading off to a very comfortable bed... 

Feeling Guilty...

The other day, Delia (a regular commenter on this blog, though not a blogger herself) asked me how Sylvester was doing. I was a little distracted at the time, and told her he was fine...

Well, he's not fine now. He's figured out that something is up, and he is not happy about it. As a result, he's been following me from room to room, demanding attention. I haven't so much as touched my suitcase, so that isn't the thing that's tipped him off.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos of him trying to make me feel guilty...

Here We Go Again...

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital have sent a member of staff home because she refused to take off her crucifix.

They claim that it's because of health and safety issues, namely that it could harbour infection or it could be grabbed by a patient.

This is somewhat confusing. 

Helen Slatter is a phlebologist, which means she takes blood samples from patients. When you get that close to patients, they can grab anything... or even poke you in the eye, should the fancy take them... maybe Mrs. Slatter should wear a helmet? Oh, and did you know that phlebologists carry needles... lots of them... nasty sharp things... they can be grabbed too...

The hospital authorities told Mrs. Slatter that she could carry the crucifix in a pocket rather than under her uniform as at present... because obviously this makes a difference to the amount of infective material it can harbour... ummm...

Colour me stupid, but I don't quite get the scientific argument there...

Something doesn't quite add up...

As a matter of interest, you'd think that the BBC could rustle up a picture of a crucifix to illustrate their story, wouldn't you?

Now... What Have I Forgotten...?

Tomorrow sees the start of our Parish Pilgrimage to Lourdes. I'm still feeling quite tired and washed out, so I haven't been as excited as usual: however, I know that it will be a wonderful time (it always is) and the excitement will probably hit me some time in the night, when I'll be unable to sleep for fear of being late.

I always have a fear of being late... and it is very well-founded, as I could probably sleep through the Parousia. I have a large, old-fashioned, wind-up, bell alarm clock, a small, beeping, travel alarm clock, a radio alarm clock (which is set to beep, as I wouldn't wake up with just the radio) and three alarms on my mobile phone. I generally find that I've slept through a few of them without noticing, or (and this is the scary part) switched them off in my sleep.

There's no point saying that I should put them across the other side of my bedroom... I've tried that, and I just ignore them as they're not close enough to be annoying.

I might ask one of my friends to phone... just to make absolutely certain!

Meanwhile, I am racking my brains to see if there is anything I have forgotten. I have my own travel insurance, EHIC, passport and holiday money. I've asked my neighbour to feed Sylvester (she is a real cat-lover, and will wait with Sylvester while he eats his food, and will also spend time with him in the evening) and have arranged for my landlord to come and plaster up the holes left by the electrician...

I haven't packed yet - partly because I don't want to tip off Sylvester too soon, but also because I'm trying to take only what is absolutely necessary... and much of it will be necessary in the morning!

I have printed out notices for the hotel noticeboard, detailing each day's activities along with the next day's events, and then any last-minute changes can be made clear. They look quite good - we have a "corporate logo" which is eye-catching! The same logo appeared on the letters I sent everyone and on the programme, and the parish flag has the same picture of Our Lady on it. I've also produced matching luggage tags, so that our bags are easy to identify... one year, an elderly monsignor from another group picked up one of our bags by mistake!

In previous years I've done little cards with the Booking Reference printed on it, but we'll be checking in as a group this time, and we all have the same number, so I haven't done it... I might live to regret that!

I will be in the Grotto waving at the webcam on Tuesday at 1:50pm* and on Thursday at about 4pm (after the Rosary and blessing of children has finished) - obviously I'll be at the Grotto more frequently than that, but those are the two definite spot-the-mulier-fortis moments!

Wendy (one of the other pilgrims) offered to produce hymn sheets/booklets, Jonathan promised to get the Mass texts printed off for everyone, and we're taking the red Missal booklets from church (they won't be used in the parish during the week) as Mass will be in the usus antiquior. Servers will be responsible for their own cassocks and cottas... yes, I think that is pretty much everything...

Famous last words...

*All times are local - France is currently an hour ahead of the UK on BST, which makes it GMT + 2 hrs (I think that's how it works!)

In Case You Hadn't Noticed...

...there are actually two Rorate Caeli blogs.

Well, actually Rorate Caeli is the famous blog... it comes up in uppercase letters on the tabs, with the fancy "Æ" which I can rarely be bothered to find in the character map.

Rorate Coeli is the less well-known blog on Wordpress, written by Michael Skaggs of Indiana.

I know the words are from the Introit to the Mass for the Fourth Sunday in Advent... however, not being a Latin scholar, I have no idea why one blog has "caeli" and another "coeli" - any suggestions?

Either way, remember to visit them both!

Habit-Fest...

I have just seen this slideshow, courtesy of J.P. Sonnen, which shows lots and lots of young men and women in habits and other clerical dress. Very encouraging...



I hadn't spotted John's blog before - it's well worth a visit. John is a graduate student and tour operator living in Rome. I love one of the phrases he uses: to know history is to be Catholic.

Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Ray Blake.

Just For The Fun Of It...

This YouTube offering tickled me...

Mantilla The Hon...

Mantilla Amontillado, aka Mantilla the Hon, is an occasional "guest" blogger on Fr. Dwight Longenecker's blog. With a degree in Ecclesiastical Haberdashery from Salamanca University, she has plenty to say about liturgical style (or lack thereof!)

Check out what Mantilla thinks about cassock albs (those ghastly dressing-gown albs are made out of a material called "hopsack," which just about sums up what they resemble), vestments and mantillas...

Looking at Site Meter reveals that quite a few people arrive at this blog because they were researching "mantillas". If you want to know more about the whys and wherefores of wearing mantillas, you can see my previous posts on the topic: Made-to-Measure Mantillas (I give details of a woman who makes mantillas, really nice ones, in the com-box), Wearing the Mantilla (with a link to an article by the Latin Mass Society) and More on Mantillas.

Ok... If You Really Want To Know...

Monday sees the start of our parish pilgrimage to Lourdes. I'll put up the times I'm planning to be at the Grotto later so you can check out the webcam, but here's a copy of the programme...

Lourdes Programme 2009 Blog Version

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Installation Of The Arch In Westminster...

Heheheheheh... couldn't resist that title! The Mass was covered live by EWTN and BBC2, and the Catholic Herald had a twitter-thingy going on a special Installation Page on its website to keep everyone informed.

Impressive stuff. My one gripe was that the "Sign of Peace" was included - it was a touchy-feely fest for the congregation, and even the priests concelebrating had a bit of a mill-around.

Not too sure about that morse though...

The Pope & The Media...

In the beginning, Vatican news was reported by special courier... like the chap who brought news that John Fisher was to be made Cardinal, upsetting Henry VIII so much that the king declared he would ensure that Fisher would not have a head upon which to set his new red hat.

Then came newsprint and radio... and even television. This was good, but only if you lived in Italy or had very strong radio reception...

Next came the Vatican website. Great for archive stuff. This was good. The Bollettino even gets updated each day... unfortunately, unless you speak Italian, it's not so good... However, you can now access newsprint, radio and television without living in Italy, which is good...

Then came the Vatican You Tube channel... and finally, the Pope is on Facebook! Unfortunately, the Holy Father will not, I suspect, be adding me to his list of friends. I will, however, be able to send picture postcards with snippets of the Pope's speeches.

And indeed, it was very good.

(Check out Pope2you for the 43rd World Communications Day on 24 May 2009... twitch of the mantilla to Jane for the reminder, although I read it somewhere else as well!)

Striking An Off Key Note...

Glancing through my favourite blog updates on Google Reader, I spotted a few references to Paul Inwood being awarded Pastoral Musician of the Year. I did a double-take... Paul Inwood of Gathering Mass infamy? Pastoral Musician?? Shorely shome mishtake, Mish Moneypenneh?!

I followed the link on Jane Teresa's blog... I had that car-crash feeling: I knew I really shouldn't look, but... (I wonder if I'll need to mention this one in Confession... "Bless me Father, for I have sinned... I've been listening to Paul Inwood on the Internet...")

After having listened to about fifteen seconds of the Alleluia "Ch-Ch" through gritted teeth, I spotted something else which was far more worrying: under the Liturgical tab is a whole section on Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest...

Perhaps this is an acknowledgement of what poor music has done to vocations.

Just A Few More Photos...

As I said before, I was asked to use Fr. Tim's camera when I was at the Mass in New Malden for St. Joseph's feast day. I also promised to put up a few more photos when I got given a copy, as Fr. Tim only put up three...

Enjoy...

Some Good News...

James and Ella Preece have just had their second baby - a girl. No further information or pictures yet, but that is hardly surprising!

James recently bearded the lions in their den when he went on a TV chat show to defend the Holy Father's teaching on HIV/AIDS and condoms.

Ella was at the Faith Winter Conference at Stonyhurst a year and a half ago, and she just couldn't resist posing for a photo or two... (well, actually, I did have to beg and plead a bit... ) Ella's the one in the middle...