The Little Book of Calm for Cats

A good friend of mine sent me The Little Book of Calm for Cats by Stuart & Linda MacFarlane which she'd spotted in a hospice book sale. It's fun, and everyone who has ever owned a cat will be able to recognise their moggy, so I thought I'd share a few quotes:

"From time to time engage in the seemingly trivial pursuit of frantically
chasing a ball of wool. This frivolous activity will absorb all your
negative energy and fill you with a wonderful sense of inner peace."

Hmmn. Sounds a bit too close to 'liturgical' dance for my liking!

"Practise the art of Feng Shui - rearrange your human's possessions to enhance your mood. Knock car keys and jewellery onto the floor, preferably into a dark corner out of sight, then stretch out and let your mind relax in a clutter-free environment."

Yup. Sylvester's read that bit and taken it to heart. And finally:

"Climb into a box - any box. Inside you will discover a mystical
place where you can escape from all the stresses and strains of the
world."

Thanks for Prayers

A while back I mentioned that my sister was having a few problems with her pregnancy, and I asked for prayers for her and her unborn baby.

Deo gratias - it seems to have paid off ! The bleeding she was experiencing has stopped, and the baby appears to be doing well. Martina has to take things easy, but, God willing, I shall be an Aunt in early January (or thereabouts... )

Family Prayers

Friends of mine invited me round for dinner this evening. I was in for a real treat: the meal was excellent (as always) and the conversation flowed, but the highlight of the evening was being invited to join the family for their night prayers.

Five children (there would have been six, but the eldest is married and doesn't live at home) and their parents knelt down in the living room together to pray a decade of the Rosary, a litany of favourite family saints, an act of contrition and a few other prayers before the younger children scooted off to bed. I couldn't help thinking that if more families prayed together there would be far fewer problems in the world.

I felt so privileged to be with them.

Our Lady, Star of the Sea

One advantage of Fr Tim's temporary absence from the blogging scene is that I get a chance to put up a post on what's been happening in the parish before he does... (his blog is so much better-written than mine, and he says what I'm thinking anyway, so I sort of feel that there's not much point just repeating it all!)

Anyway, on Monday morning the Stella Maris icon from the Apostleship of the Sea arrived in our parish. It's a beautiful icon, and the image I have doesn't really do it justice. It's massive, and comes complete with its own stand, plus another two stands for the explanatory notes - being an icon, all of the component parts have a symbolic meaning.

The icon was carried into the church by some of our parishioners just after the morning Mass, and Braz, one of our deacons, led us in saying three Hail Marys and a prayer to Our Lady, Star of the Sea by Pope John Paul II. We then sang "Hail Queen of heaven" which was particularly appropriate as it repeats the phrase "Star of the sea" and afterwards went in to the parish hall for tea and coffee and the chance for a chat.

There weren't that many people around for the Monday morning Mass, but on both Tuesday and today we had 50-60 parishioners. I was delighted that this happened during my summer holiday, so I was able to attend. Unfortunately, the icon has now moved on, I think to Our Lady of the Angels, Erith.

O Mary, Star of the Sea, light of every ocean, guide seafarers across all dark and stormy seas that they may reach the haven of peace and light prepared in Him who calmed the sea. As we set forth upon the oceans of the world and cross deserts of our time, show us, O Mary, the fruit of your womb, for without your Son we are lost.

Pray that we will never fail on life's journey, that in heart and mind, word and deed, in days of turmoil and in days of calm, we will always look to Christ and say, "Who is this that even wind and sea obey him?" Our Lady of Peace, pray for us! Bright Star of the Sea, guide us!

UPDATE: It would seem that Fr. Tim beat me to it again - he put up a post on the parish blog on Sunday. You can read about the different symbols in the icon HERE.

Servers and Serviettes

I obviously have a little too much free time on my hands this holiday (ie. I'm not spending as much time as I should on preparing for the new term) but I came across Indolent Server's blog. He's been posting some cute cartoons of an altar server called Speck... I was also highly amused by his referring to female altar servers as "serviettes" !

Results Day

Tomorrow is the day that the AS and A Level results are published in England. Students (and teachers) have a pretty awful time of it: if the percentage of pass grades is higher than previous years, then the media have a field day slamming the exams for being too easy; if, on the other hand, the percentage is lower, then teachers, schools and colleges are hammered for failing to provide a decent education...

...there is no doubt that exams have changed drastically - and I do think that the old GCE 'O' and 'A' levels were of a higher standard: there were far fewer structured questions, for example, and the increased number of essay-type questions meant that students had to organise their answers more carefully. However, the breadth of knowledge for each subject has increased drastically (sacrificing depth in many cases), there is far more emphasis on evaluating information rather than recall, and the sheer number of papers taken for each subject is such that today's students have to work incredibly hard, and probably harder than previously.

So spare a thought (and a prayer) for any students who are awaiting their results tomorrow (and the GCSEs next week.)

Warning Signs

To accompany my little rant-ette on hymns modern (I have few problems with hymns ancient, apart from agreeing totally with Dilexit Prior about keeping the traditional Latin hymns in Latin), I thought I'd draw your attention to the following new signs which might, in these days of litigation, be of use in some of our parishes...





More can be found courtesy of the Dumb Ox.

Hat-tip (or should that be mantilla-tip?) to the Moral Highground for this one.

Wearing the Mantilla

Recently I've been asked by a few people why I wear a mantilla. It occurred to me that it might be worth posting a few thoughts on the matter.

I have a problem with one of my knees which prevents me from kneeling. It is difficult to explain why this should cause me any distress, because it's hardly my fault, but I felt very strongly that I wanted (and even needed) to make some outward sign of respect for Our Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament. As well as kneeling, the traditional sign of respect given by men has always been the removal of their hats, and in the same way, women covered their hair, either wearing a mantilla, another type of headscarf, or a hat.

Once I began to look into the wearing of the mantilla in more detail, I discovered that the reason why women covered their heads (or more accurately, their hair) was because the hair was seen as a woman's "crowning glory" and a sign of her beauty, and therefore to cover her hair is a gesture of humility before God.

I also find that stopping in the church porch to put on my mantilla helps to remind me that I am about to enter God's house, and that I am entering into the presence of God. Because of this, it is a real aid to prayer - we are both body and soul, so outward signs are important (though obviously they can't be the only things we focus on.)

I read in one article the suggestion that wearing a mantilla could be considered a sacramental - I'm not sure whether this is so, and would be interested to hear from any priests out there who have views on the subject.

If there are any women out there who are thinking about wearing the mantilla, but are a little self-conscious, I would really recommend it. It soon becomes second nature, and before you know it, you'll feel positively undressed without one!

Heretical Hymns

While surfing the net this evening (well, ok, it was late when I got in, so it's been more of a brief paddle) I came across the following interesting little snippet from George Weigel (I presume it is the same George Weigel as wrote the biography of John Paul II) on the importance of the hymns we sing... if we are actually going to sing hymns at all.

I know one or two people who would prefer to get rid of all hymns and just stick to Gregorian chant and I have to confess that I am not one of them... but I do like my hymns to be rooted in solid theology, and to have a reasonable melody... and the language has to be poetic (if it's in the vernacular.)

I didn't recognise all the hymns George mentioned (I presume they're American "favourites") but I rather liked his idea about a 50-year ban on the hymns that, while not bad in themselves, have been played and sung to death... I would add "especially in schools" to that, because there only seem to be a handful which are trotted out with painful regularity.

I especially loathe "Here I am, Lord" (if it's played at the wrong speed it can be teeth-achingly bad) "I am the Bread of Life" (especially the PC version, which just clunks) and "Walk in the Light" (ouch !)

So, any other hymns we should expunge from our parish hymn books?

Palliative Care

Following on from my post on the case of Tony Bland and where that has landed us today, Paulinus has written an excellent article on how hydration and feeding should be provided and the role of palliative care.

He put the URL in the comments box, but I think it's much too good to get hidden away there: so click HERE for it !

Sleeping Beauty

Fr Nicholas of Roman Miscellany has put up a post showing the death mask of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Not that I'm obsessed with the way I look, but I couldn't help reflecting that, judging from the death mask, she looked a lot better dead than I do first thing in the morning...

Tempus Fugit

Ever get the impression that life is whizzing by faster and faster as the years pile up? Well the sensation wasn't helped this morning when I heard on the radio that Harrods, the famous store in Knightsbridge, London, UK has just opened its Christmas department... yes, in August !

...Hurry, hurry, hurry !! Only 117 shopping days till Christmas (I refuse to include Sundays in that!)

Book Meme Update

I found that both Fr. Stephanos and Thomas took up my book meme challenge (though Fr. Stephanos saw someone else's tag first.)

I particularly liked Thomas's choice of book for a desert island (Thompson's Practical Guide to Shipbuilding.) However, a comment on his post really impressed me. Dim Bulb declared that the book he'd really wished had been written was The Decline and Fall of the Culture of Death by John Paul II...

Wow. I wish I'd thought of that one!

Death by Dehydration

Reading Fr. Tim's post on NHS patients being denied food and fluids because this was classed as "medical treatment" reminded me about the Bland ruling. It's referred to a lot in Pro-Life circles, but it occurred to me that it happened quite a few years ago, and some readers may not be aware of how awful the case was.

Having worked as an auxiliary nurse to help pay my way through my degree, I had lots of nursing friends. They were able to tell me some of the inside information that didn't seem to make it to the papers.

Tony Bland had been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state after having sustained crush injuries in the Hillsborough Disaster. However, he was not in any pain or distress. It was decided to withdraw food and fluids, and the justification for this was that artificial feeding and hydration constituted medical treatment.

Quite apart from the realisation that this was the thin end of the wedge in allowing euthanasia by neglect, my nursing friends pointed out that dehydration was such a painful way to die that Tony Bland actually needed to be given strong painkillers to alleviate the agony caused (which was clearly visible to the staff nursing him)...

It is a very short step from giving drugs to alleviate the "discomfort" associated with the withdrawal of food and fluids to giving a lethal injection to hasten the death of a patient who isn't being given such basic nursing care. Some people will say that this is scare-mongering, that it's too far-fetched, and that there will be plenty of controls and checks to prevent this... but before Tony Bland, it was unthinkable to deliberately starve a person to death.

The Downside of Owning a Cat

Further to yesterday's post, I have decided that there is one thing worse than treading on a dead mouse first thing in the morning...

...and that is finding the deceased rodent on one's duvet !

Of Mice and Men

Oh dear! I was chatting about my cat to a friend this afternoon, and made the comment that Sylvester was too old and fat to succeed in catching anything other than the bowl of catfood I give him.

Obviously he heard me... this evening I was presented with my very own mouse, and it wasn't even chewed yet. Sylvester obviously felt that I ought to be given lessons in mouse-hunting, because the rodent was still alive, though petrified into immobility. Every few seconds Sylvester would bat the mouse with his paw until it moved, and then put his paw firmly on the mouse's tail to stop it getting away.

Working on the theory that eventually the mouse would make a break for it, and its little mouse-corpse would stink the flat out from behind the fridge, I retrieved the rodent and threw it back out into the garden. Hopefully it's a one-off.

Unfortunately last year Sylvester made a habit of bringing me little presents (although it was earlier in the year, which is why I thought I'd escaped - and so had the mice) many of which were partially chewed. This isn't so bad when you first get given them, but is rather less than pleasant when you wake up in the morning and step in the remains of one which you had been presented with when asleep!

The worst moment was when I rescued one mouse which was being used as a demo. I retrieved it from under Sylvester's paw, but then it bit me before I could pick it up by the tail (mice seem to have a reflex which makes them "freeze" if you pick them up by the tail; I think their mothers carry them like this. Rats on the other hand do not have this reflex, and have been known to shed their tail casings)

So I have to wait and see whether we now have declared open season on mice...

Quiz Time

I spotted the following Quiz to estimate your theological world view courtesy of Dilexit Prior over at Letters from a Young Catholic. Great fun... I was also relieved to see that I am "officially" classed as Catholic!!





You scored as Roman Catholic. You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.

Roman Catholic		100%
Neo orthodox		79%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		68%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		29%
Fundamentalist		25%
Classical Liberal		25%
Reformed Evangelical		18%
Emergent/Postmodern		11%
Modern Liberal		4%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Faith Summer Session Video Update

As promised on my earlier post, Fr. Tim has produced a video showing highlights of the 2006 Summer Session.

Check it out here.

Recharging the Batteries

I'm just back from five days away at the Faith Summer Session, held at Woldingham School in Surrey.

It is incredibly refreshing, especially in the midst of mainly negative press about the state of the Church, to attend a conference about our Catholic faith, and to see that the majority of those present are young, enthusiastic about the practice of their faith and eager to learn more about it. There were well over 200 people present, and being in my late 30s I was actually one of the oldest!

It was also incredibly heartening to see more than 30 priests (mostly young, and all enthusiastic!) concelebrating Mass each day. Morning and Night Prayer from the Divine Office, daily Mass, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction, and the opportunity on one evening to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (an opportunity taken by the vast majority of those present) provided the spiritual sustenance often lacking in our everyday lives. Outside the actual talks, it was also encouraging to see a steady movement of people to and from the chapel, taking a few moments to spend with our Lord.

The talks were very instructive - from the proofs of God's existence to the centrality of the Church in God's plan of salvation. A seminar provided more personal accounts of how important the Church is for us. And Fr. Paul Watson, the Director of the Maryvale Institute in Birmingham, gave an excellent talk on the parables of Jesus.

The social side of our human nature was catered for as well... there were plenty of opportunities for spiritual refreshment in the bar, and one night was dedicated to a Quiz Night while a ceilidh formed the basis for another night's entertainment.

One of the final events was a video overview of the Session as seen by Fr. Tim Finigan (ever since he started blogging, nowhere is safe from his camera... it's bound to hit his blog soon so check it out at the Hermeneutic of Continuity)

After such a spiritually uplifting time away it can be hard to return to "real" life... I guess I shall just have to make sure I get to the Winter Conference at Stonyhurst for another recharging of the batteries.

Book Meme

Ok, I've been introduced to the idea of "memes" because Fr. Tim over at the Hermeneutic of Continuity challenged me to complete the book meme by tagging me. It's actually harder to restrict myself to one book for each category than I first thought, but here goes:

1. One book that changed your life.
Cecily Hallack: The Adventure of the Amethyst (Children's book written in the 1940s about four children who become Catholic... I read it the night I experienced my Damascus Road conversion !)

2. One book that you've read more than once.
Robert Graves: I, Claudius

3. One book that you'd want on a desert island.
Divine Office (complete set !)

4. One book that made you laugh.
C.S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters

5. One book that made you cry.
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings

6. One book that you wish had been written.
St. Anne Line: Hospitality and Household Management

7. One book that you wish had never been written.
Fr. James Hanvey & Fr. Tony Carroll: On the Way to Life (one of the most turgid pieces of writing I have ever had the misfortune to encounter)

8. One book that you're currently reading.
St. Alphonsus Liguori: The Glories of Mary

9. One book you've been meaning to read.
Eamon Duffy: The Stripping of the Altars (started but never finished)

I'm going to have to consider my tag carefully...


UPDATE: I think I'll try and tag Thomas and Fr. Stephanos... though I suspect they've already been tagged!