"Truly, it is the indescribable sweetness of contemplation which you give to those who love you. In this you have shown the tenderness of your charity, that when I had no being you made me; and when I strayed away from you, you brought me back again to serve you and commanded me to love you." The Imitation of Christ
Chants of the Ordinary (Cantus Angeli) Volume 1 is the first of three educational CDs of Gregorian Chant designed for use in parishes. The Chant is performed by a small group of singers from the Choir of St George's Cathedral, London, under the direction of Nick Gale. Nick is a UK-based teacher of Gregorian Chant and the Director of Music at St George's Cathedral. Volume One features complete performances of seven Gregorian Masses, the Ambrosian Gloria, the Asperges and Vidi Aquam, three Credos and a selection of alleluias with verses.
The chanting is clear, as befits its educational purpose, and has a haunting quality, which its rival, Plainsong for Parishes, lacks. I am keen to find out when Volumes 2 (Advent - Candlemas) and 3 (Lent - Trinity) are due to be published.
My one gripe is that the Kyrie is the double form (for the Novus Ordo), not the triple, which might catch a few people out... however, it's not impossible to work out what to chant for the Extraordinary Form, and I suppose that it would have been harder to do the other way around...
The website advertises Gregorian chant tuition sessions, both one-day and residential, which Nick Gale leads. The testimonials page indicates that he has taken the workshops far and wide, and they have been very successful in giving confidence to parish choirs of all abilities.
I tried to upload a couple of the tracks to the blog without success, but you can listen to the Asperges by clicking on the Recordings page of the website.
A petition to be sent to the Bishops of England & Wales:
We, the undersigned, call upon the Bishops of England and Wales and the Catholic Education Service to fulfil their duty as guardians of our Catholic Faith and unequivocally reject recent Government measures forcing Catholic schools to teach what is explicitly condemned by the Church, viz: presenting active homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, and providing information on the nature - and provision - of contraception and abortion services. Compliance on the part of the Bishops and the CES in such measures would effectively render our schools no longer Catholic in any meaningful sense, and would place the faith and moral life of our children in jeopardy. As Catholic parents, teachers and pastors, we earnestly beg of you, our Shepherds in Christ, that you do not allow this to happen.
You can sign the petition HERE. Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. John Boyle.
My colour laser printer had been acting up for a while, with plain black text coming out unevenly, some bits being very dark and slightly smudgy-looking, and other parts (on the same line) being much paler. I assumed it was the toner running low, and replaced the cartridges.
That didn't do much... and then, after having replaced all four toner cartridges, the paper feed went wrong. The paper wouldn't load. I explored the machine a bit (being blonde and not very technically-minded meant that it was a fairly superficial exploration) and concluded that the paper tray was supposed to make something click into place so that the end was raised, and the paper could be picked up by the roller... only it wasn't happening.
I couldn't fix it, and the machine was out of warranty, and I decided it might be easier to buy a new printer, especially in view of the uneven printing.
So, today I went to get a new printer. However, when I got home, I thought I'd have another little look at the paper tray of the old printer.
*sigh*
Three guesses what happened next. If you paid any attention to the title of the blog post, you'll only need one of them...
Yes, that's right... The wretched machine started to work.
However, the problem with uneven print was still in evidence.
And, since I'm not entirely sure how I fixed the paper feed problem, I decided to keep the new printer. I just have to figure out what to do with the old one...
Maybe, after all the criticism over the CSF Bill, the Bishops came to the conclusion that they might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, and have chucked another few lamb chops under the grill.
It seems that the bishop who speaks on pro-life matters for the Bishops' Conference has opened his mouth only to change feet.
Archbishop Smith has said today that he "welcome[s]" new guidelines on assisted suicide published today by Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions (DPP). Archbishop Smith highlighted positive changes in the guidelines and made no mention of any negative aspects.
Paul Tully of SPUC Pro-Life, which was officially represented before the courts in the Debbie Purdy case, told the media this evening:
"...today's guidelines still represent a significant shift towards judging the suspect's motive ("compassion") in committing the crime, rather than his/her intention (to help cause death). This shift clearly undermines the protection that the law affords to those who might commit suicide, and leaves prosecutors with a very difficult task, when faced with relatives who claim to be grief-stricken by the death of someone they loved, but helped to commit suicide."
The Children, Schools & Families Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons, without a single word of protest from the Bishops of England & Wales.
The Bishops have got to decide whether they wish to follow God or Caesar. To be silent any longer is to cooperate in grave evil. Sins of omission and all that...
St. John Fisher & St. Thomas More, pray for them...
The fact that, on the morning that the Children, Schools and Families Bill is debated and given a third reading, not a single member of the Catholic hierarchy of England & Wales was available to make a comment, and, more importantly, no-one from the Catholic Education Service was in evidence, is totally shameful.
Damian Thompson gives a clear description of the line of questioning on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Fortunately for my blood pressure, I was already at school by the time of the interview, and so didn't get to hear it myself. I was appalled to realise that no-one was there to put the Catholic point of view across.
I feel a deep sense of betrayal - the shepherds have left the sheep to fend for themselves in the face of the wolves descending on the fold. In fact, given the attitude of the CES, I suspect that some of the shepherds have been too busy grilling lamb chops...
I missed this post from the Pastor Emeritus, who suggests that Bishop McMahon and Oona Stannard ought to be called to account.
Laurence England goes even further, pointing out that Bishop McMahon's predecessor is Archbishop Nichols, and the CES rot is at least partly the result of his stewardship; he also provides the text of a letter he sent to the Archbishop calling for decisive action.
Fr. Ray Blake has a very good suggestion: why don't we just jack the whole thing in, and put more effort (and money) into solid catechesis.
This information has been sent round by SPUC - it's a last-ditch attempt to stop the corruption of our children, and defend the rights of parents to choose how and when to tell their children the facts of life.
Tomorrow (Tue 23 February 2010) is the the final main day (report stage and third reading) in the House of Commons on the government's sex education bill. (The bill has yet to be debated in the House of Lords.) The Conservative opposition has tabled a new amendment (no.60) which seeks to exclude sex and relationships education (SRE) from primary schools.
Please email or telephone your MP immmediately to urge him/her to
(a) sign and support amendments 2 and 60, tabled the Conservative opposition for report-stage (see below for more info) and
(b) vote against the bill as a whole at third reading. (A widely-reported government amendment on sex education in faith schools is mere window-dressing - see SPUC's 19 February 2010 media release)
What you need to know:
* The government's Children, Schools and Families bill would force all state schools to provide sex and relationships education (SRE) for all primary and secondary school pupils.
* The government want SRE to include signposting and links to abortion and other anti-life/anti-family services in schools, including faith schools.
* The bill would force schools to teach SRE according to principles of "equality", "diversity" and "rights."
* The government's draft SRE guidance interprets those principles to include abortion, birth control, homosexuality and "a wide range of [sexual] practices."
* Schools, if challenged, may well have to prove their SRE programmes accord with the bill's principles and that they had "regard" to the government's anti-life guidance.
* Faith schools may argue that they are entitled to protect their ethos, but the government has demanded that schools accept its sexual health agenda. The government says schools may adapt "the way things are taught", but it insists that all aspects of SRE will have to be delivered in all schools.
* Conservative opposition amendment no. 2 would delete the bill's proposed SRE principles of "equality", "diversity" and "rights". Amendment no. 60 seeks to exclude SRE from primary schools. Whilst these amendments are neither perfect nor comprehensive, they seek to lessen the damage of the sex education proposals.
Please ask your MP to show his concern by signing these amendments (which will increase the chance of their being selected for debate) as well as opposing the Bill as a whole.
You can contact your MP by:
* email via the SPUC MPs web page * telephone via the parliamentary switchboard on (020) 7219 3000.
Please forward any replies you receive to SPUC by:
The Suppository, (aka "The Bitter Pill,") claims to be a Catholic weekly newspaper. In reality, it's as Catholic as the CES, which is to say, it isn't Catholic at all.
It constantly dissents from Church teaching, particularly on matters of sexuality, women's ordination and priestly celibacy. There is frequent criticism of the Holy Father. That, in my mind, means that it has no right to call itself "Catholic." Catholics, according to Vatican II,
"... should, as all Christians, promptly accept in Christian obedience decisions of their spiritual shepherds..." (Lumen Gentium n. 37)
and also:
"...This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra." (LG n. 25)
So, The Suppository should not be sold in our churches... well, not unless we're going to start selling other non-Catholic periodicals (equal opportunities and all that!)
However, The Suppository is also guilty of extremely sloppy journalism. How is it possible to report the recent Stand Up for Vatican II meeting, (bottom of Pg 35, Campaign launched to help save Vatican II reforms from stagnation) naming the speakers, but failing to mention that these speakers are openly dissenting from Catholic teaching?
I am not a journalist, but I was able, with the help of Google Search, to ascertain that Sr. Myra Poole (referred to as "theologian" by Christopher Lamb) is a campaigner for women's ordination, and heads the Catholic Women's Ordination group. The reporter either hadn't done his homework, or he had deliberately omitted to mention this little item of information, in case it put the wrong slant on his report. After all, "Group of concerned Catholics meets to generate support for Vatican II" does have rather a different feel to it than "Group of dissenters from Church doctrine complain that their ideas about Vatican II haven't happened."
Mr Lamb similarly failed to mention that Dr. Michael Winter, another one of the speakers, is a former priest. Is it because he was unaware of this, or did he just not think it important?
I also noticed that Bernard Wynne was described in the report as the founder of Stand Up for Vatican II, and while there was a reference to his role in the Young Christian Workers during the time of the Council, there was no mention of the fact that he is currently the Chairman of Catholics for a Changing Church, another group which is in open dissent from the Magisterium...
Oh dear, oh dear... more sloppy journalism? Or more selective journalism?
Given the editorial policies of The Suppository, I suspect the latter: after all, if I can find out this stuff, anyone can, and I don't really believe that all their journalists are incompetent...
The editorial policies are demonstrated by their refusal to publish a letter giving another (less than complimentary) view of the Stand Up for Vatican II meeting from someone who was actually there. Since they wouldn't publish it, I said that I would...
Dear editor,
In his letter (Lack of nurtured Catholics, 6th February 2010) Frank Regan makes a number of claims about the Stand up for Vatican II meeting which don't tally with my memory, or the detailed notes I took of the event.
First, if Frank Regan thinks the meeting he chaired was a "significant experience of an inclusive church", he needs to get out more. In contrast to the multi-ethnic, socially-diverse reality which is the Catholic Church in the Britain, the meeting's attendees were all white, mostly aged over 70 and in the main middle class.
Secondly, when he claims that those present spoke "without rancour, with love for their Church" he is being economical with actualité. One of the speakers, Sister Myra Poole, recently publicly compared Pope Benedict XVI to BNP leader Nick Griffin. As an active anti-fascist whose great-grandfather was murdered by Nazis in Dachau, I find that comparison contemptible. At the meeting she gave a vainglorious speech, much of which involved her praising herself. When she wasn't doing that she was delivering a paranoid Dan Brownesque rant about the supposed influence Opus Dei has at the Vatican, complaining that the Vatican caused a lot of trouble at the World Council of Churches, insisting that "misogyny is so deep in this Church" and saying that she should tell her congregation that if they get anything from the Vatican "they should bin it".
That's not my definition of speaking without rancour, with love for the Church.
It's true that the laity were spoken of in disparaging terms as "knowing nothing" at the meeting but such sentiments are a function of the fact that groups like Catholics for a Changing Church which organised the meeting have little, if any, grassroots support in British parishes.
The complete disaster area which is the Catholic Education Service has got to be sorted out by the Bishops of England & Wales. With the debacle of the Children, Schools & Families Bill, it really has reached crunch time.
Since I wrote yesterday's piece, a few more blog posts have come to my attention:
Victoria left a comment on my last CES post suggesting that we write, first to the Bishops, then to the Nuncio, and finally to the Curial department. Laurence England had much the same idea a while back, and he identified the person in Rome to write to as being Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, at the Congregation for Catholic Education.
The Catholic Education Service is a complete disgrace.
SPUC have done a stirling job in highlighting the collusion between the CES and the Government in drawing up the Children, Schools and Families Bill which is up for its third reading on Tuesday 23rd February.
SPUC have also produced a clear summary of the main areas of the Bill which are of concern to anyone wishing to follow Catholic teaching.
Collusion is not too strong a word - the CES has actively worked with the Government to draw up this Bill, which prevents parents from having a say in how their children are educated. Betrayal is another word that springs to mind. The Catholics of England and Wales support the CES financially through collections held in church. I have no wish to give money to any non-Catholic education services (I already pay taxes for that purpose, thank you very much!) I would, therefore, expect the CES to be fighting to uphold the rights of Catholic schools to teach the Catholic faith, in its entirety... and without outside interference.
We are not attempting to impose religious beliefs on anyone else, we just want the right to educate our children in line with those beliefs. That includes having the right to withdraw children from classes which are promoting a way of life contrary to those beliefs.
What really underlines the disgraceful attitude of the CES is the self-congratulatory tone of its pronouncements. In a statement made on 5 November 2009:
"As age and growing independence brings young people ever closer to pressures, advertising and coercion to behaviour which can undermine the healthy life of young people, we are comforted in the knowledge that our schools and colleges will do an exceptional job in providing Sex and Relationships Education, set within the teachings of the Catholic Church."
Really? In my experience, the schools look to the CES for guidance. If the CSF Bill has been drawn up with the active help and advice of the CES, then it must be ok to teach that stuff, mustn't it?
And then there is the stunning incompetence of the CES. In a clarification, the CES states:
"The proposals announced by Ed Balls today confirm that, from September 2011, Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, including Sex and Relationships Education (SRE), will be compulsory in all schools. We welcome the government’s reiteration of its support for the important principles underlining SRE, which emphasise that schools continue to have the legal right to determine the content of what is taught in PSHE within their schools and that governing bodies retain the right to determine what is taught, and must determine this in line with the ethos of the school."
The Government, however, has rather a different view, which a simple question from parents seems to have been able to ascertain...
"Let's be absolutely clear, faith schools cannot opt out of statutory PSHE and SRE (sex and relationships education) lessons when it comes into effect in September 2011.
"All maintained schools and academies will be required to teach the full programmes of study in line with the principles outlined in the Bill including promoting equality and encouraging acceptance of diversity."
So, to suggest that Catholic schools continue to have the legal right to determine the content of what is taught is an example of gross incompetence.
And, once again, SPUC has done a first class job of debunking the latest attempts of the CES to claim credit for getting the Government to back down on the CSF Bill.
Perhaps, in these times of financial constraints, it is time for the Bishops' Conference of England & Wales to reconsider its funding of the CES, since that body appears to be nothing more than a mouthpiece for the latest Government education policy.
UPDATE: There is also Damian Thompson's excellent article, where he comes to much the same conclusion as me...
A meme with a twist. Twitch of the mantilla to Nazareth Priest (a regular commenter here) for this one...
"Let's see how forthcoming my blog buddies are. Leave a ONE word comment that you think best describes me. It can only be one word. No more than one word. Then copy & paste this post on your blog so I can leave a word about you. This should be interesting."
There is a new blog by Leutgeb which has details of music and stuff for the Sunday 10:30am Extraordinary Form Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen.
The Stand Up for Vatican II crowd is still chuntering away in the background. However, it seems that now they want to get themselves taken seriously - the meeting they held in Victoria earlier this year has given them delusions of grandeur, perhaps...
The plan of action appears to be badgering our bishops to hold Masses to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Now, I have no objections whatsoever to Masses held to celebrate anniversaries, and I am quite happy with accepting the teachings of Vatican II as they have been stated and signed by the Magisterium of the Church...
I do, however, have strong reservations about such Masses being hijacked by a bunch of people whose stated aim is to protest against the teachings of the Church.
I will say again, Stand Up for Vatican II is being coordinated by groups which are opposed to the Magisterium of the Church: they want to change the Church's teaching on sexuality, contraception, abortion, women priests, homosexuality and married clergy. They're also none too keen on the actual teachings of Vatican II, preferring to invoke "the Spirit" as a cloak for their own disobedience and dissent.
Catholics for a Changing Church
Executive Committee
To allow groups such as Catholics for a Changing Church and We Are Church (UK) to have a Mass in support of Vatican II is like allowing the Family Planning Association to host a fund-raising dinner in aid of SPUC. It is nonsensical. It sounds wonderful (after all, there's nothing objectionable in the idea of a Mass supporting the Council) and many people will be taken in by it, but, like the fictitious fund-raiser, it cannot be allowed to happen. Just as we check the ethical views of charities, businesses, political parties and so on, so also we have a duty to check who is promoting a particular Church event.
To allow such a Mass to be promoted (and hijacked) by groups which are in open defiance of Church teaching is to give tacit support to their dissent. This would be to ignore the recent statement of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, on the occasion of the ad limina visit of the English and Welsh bishops:
"In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free."
I suspect that our bishops will need to be given prayerful support in seeing the Stand Up for Vatican II campaign for what it is. I have seen an email from Bernard Wynne calling for members of the group to send letters and petitions to their diocesan bishops, giving suggested wording. Particularly interesting was the instruction to have about 10 names actually on the letter to the bishop, with a statement to indicate that several other people had also appended their names - and to have these extra names recorded separately. This is, I am told, a popular political manoeuvre, as these extra names have not necessarily seen the exact wording of the letter being sent... There was also a suggestion that meetings could be arranged to coincide with any Masses being held as a way of drumming up enthusiasm.
I try to go on retreat once a year as part of my rule of life, but usually it is just a private retreat at home made over the days of the Easter Triduum. This is partly because I loathe the happy-clappy, let's-all-discuss-our-feelings type of retreat that seems to be mostly on offer for women. I'm not interested in what I (or anyone else) feels about God or prayer - well, not on retreat - I want to know what the Church teaches. "Feelings" is for coffee mornings...
I'd heard that Wickenden Manor was a good retreat centre from friends of mine who had been there for days and evenings of recollection. I had a brief look at their dates last year, but nothing coincided with holidays. Then, after Christmas, a friend handed me their list of dates for 2010, and I noticed that there was a retreat for women being run at the start of Half Term. None of the other dates were convenient, and I knew that I needed a serious spiritual going-over before Lent began, so I promptly booked myself in.
Despite having taken great care to work out my route beforehand, I succeeded in getting myself lost. I had forgotten, you see, that 7pm in February is rather dark... and, there not being any streetlights in the middle of nowhere, dark really does mean dark, so one can't read directions left on the car seat... and narrow winding lanes, going up and down hills, with ditches on one side and forests on the other, don't make for convenient places to pull over and check... add the sudden onslaught of sleet and a sudden blackout of sat-nav signal, and you have the recipe for a rather good horror movie...
Eventually, I found out where I'd gone wrong, and was able to retrace my steps. I arrived just in time to find out that the first meditation was about to begin, and with it, the silent retreat. This was a bit of a shock - I knew that there would be periods of silence (the brochure had mentioned it), but hadn't expected the retreat to be totally silent... In addition, everyone else seemed to know what they were doing...
I found it a little difficult to settle during the first meditation because I didn't know what was "coming next." However, I gathered that the meditations during the retreat would follow the Gospel of St. Luke. An entire Gospel to be covered in three days seemed rather an ambitious plan...
The woman in charge of the retreat then took me up to my room, showed me where we could make tea and coffee, and where the bathrooms were, and, with an encouraging smile, she left me to my own devices.
I was impressed by the bedroom, and promptly whipped out my camera. I loved the fact that the handbasin was "built in" and could therefore be hidden away. I also liked the fact that some books were already on the shelves - so I wouldn't have to go far to find some reading material. There was also a copy of the retreat timetable left on the desk... knowing that I'd never be able to remember it all, I promptly entered the information on my phone notes. I looked out of the window, and saw a glow of lights on the distant horizon, but couldn't see anything else. I unpacked, and then settled down to pray the Office before going to bed (which was very comfortable.)
Getting up in the morning was a real effort, but I managed. Glancing out of the window, I could see that the temperature had dropped, and that it was a bit frosty out. Then it was down to the Oratory for the first meditation of the day, followed by Mass. Breakfast was weird: I'm not at my most communicative in the morning, but being in the midst of twenty women eating in complete silence was a first for me!
The talks before lunch each day were held in the sitting room, and each one was given by a different lay member of Opus Dei, emphasising the lay apostolate as it affected the women present on the retreat: there were, therefore, many references to husbands, children and family life and responsibilities, and it was assumed that all those present were actually involved in Opus Dei. I still found plenty of food for thought.
All the meditations and prayers were held in the Oratory. On one of the mornings, I went and sat in the library for a break. The amazing thing was that I hardly ever encountered any of the other retreatants... I have no idea whether people went back to their own rooms or out into the grounds... however, as you can see from the programme, there weren't many "spare" moments!
At lunch and dinner, the silence was broken by people taking it in turns to read from a book about the beginning of Opus Dei in America, Putting Down Roots. I'm sure I made a complete hash of the pronunciation of "Muzquiz" as well as some other Spanish words. I would rather have heard a bit more about St. Josémaria, but then again, I expect the women present had already heard quite a bit about him!
I came away from the retreat feeling as if I'd been clouted over the head by a very big bag of bricks: this is not a criticism, you understand! It's just that the intensity of the experience was quite a lot to take in, it was quite the most intensive retreat I have ever experienced.
I have certainly started Lent in the best way possible, and suspect that I shall be mulling over my retreat for some considerable time! If you get the chance, I would definitely recommend going on retreat with Opus Dei!
... Just so that you know I am no longer incommunicado!
I have had a very long day, though, and, having just arrived home after Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary, cuddled the cat, unpacked my suitcase and checked my emails, I realise that, unless I want to break my Lenten resolutions within the first 24 hours, I am going to have to leave the blogging until tomorrow morning!
Thanks for your good wishes, I've now published all the comments left in my absence, and I prayed for my readers while I was away.
Sorry. Having just started blogging again, I will have to stop. I'm off on retreat until Wednesday, which makes a nice little pre-Lenten preparation for me.
Wickenden Manor in West Sussex is an Opus Dei retreat centre. I shall do my best to avoid any albino monks and all paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci...
The Day With Mary team visits Blackfen on an annual basis. It is a tremendous blessing to have them in the parish - the enthusiasm, the joy, the devotion, the prayer... it's a real spiritual powerhouse! At the beginning of the day, I spotted the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate preparing the bier for Our Lady's statue.
The Church's teaching on indulgences was explained at the start, and we were encouraged to offer up what we could for the benefit of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. In the middle of the day there were three priests hearing Confessions, each with a sizeable queue! So I have no doubt that quite a few Holy Souls got "sprung" as a result!
Our Lady's statue was carried in, and candles and lights arranged; then prayers were recited and a hymn or two sung before the statue was crowned... I am always amazed that Fr. Tim actually manages to climb the stepladder while wearing a cope, cassock and cotta... let alone that he crowns the statue and arranges the rosary without falling into the flowers!
More prayers followed, and then the statue was carried round the block in procession, while the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary were recited. After taking a quick photo or two, I returned to the warmth of the church... It is strange, but we've always been very lucky with the weather. Even though the Day With Mary is in February each year, I don't remember it ever having rained for either the Rosary Procession or the Blessed Sacrament Procession. Today was no exception: it actually snowed later on in the day, very lightly, but the processions were unaffected!
Then it was back for Mass, in the Extraordinary Form, which was well attended.
The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate sang the Mass propers, and the congregation enthusiastically joined in singing Mass IX (Cum Jubilo) and the other responses. I wanted to put up a slide-show of the photos I took during Mass, but I haven't had a chance to arrange them yet...
There was generous use of incense, which I really like... though at one point I thought we came close to losing sight of an altar server or two!
My favourite bits...
After Mass, we stopped for lunch, and I made my now customary bee-line for the book stall. I was so keen to check out the books that I forgot to take a photo of them. I'll do a separate post detailing my purchases... suffice it to say that the chaps in charge of the book stall remembered me!
After lunch, it was back to the church for Exposition. The Blessed Sacrament Procession only went round the car park due to time constraints, but I repeated my earlier tactic of taking a quick photo and then retreating back to the warm church. Yes, I'm a wimp.
Fr. Tim gave an excellent sermon on Our Lady - with any luck he'll put the text up on his blog later. We then recited the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, led by one of the Sisters, followed by the Stations of the Cross (with hymns and prayers in between!) My one regret was that I wasn't able to join in the singing, as it made me croak.
The croaking was soon sorted, though, with a couple of cups of tea, and a little look at the devotional objects on sale. I had hoped to get a replacement statue of St. Philomena, but alas, someone else had already snaffled the one the team had brought along.
My attention was caught, however, by a rather good bust of Our Lord crowned with thorns: coming so swiftly after Fr. Tim's reference (in his sermon, and a few days before on his blog) to devotion to the Sacred Head of Our Lord, it seemed just perfect.
The final session followed on, with Fr. Agnellus, FI, giving a hard-hitting sermon on doing everything we possibly could to avoid hell, and turning to Our Lady for her assistance. Plenty of food for thought, and a real challenge against lukewarmness or complacency.
We then had Benediction, which was very moving. I thought I'd give a little flavour of the atmosphere and the enthusiastic response of the congregation by recording a snippet from the recitation of the Divine Praises and the singing of Adoremus in aeternum as the Blessed Sacrament was reposed in the tabernacle...
Waving goodbye to the statue at the end of the day, to the hymn "O Fatima, farewell !" always brings a tear to my eye... and watching a little toddler wave a white hankie, while being carried in her father's arms, nearly finished me off completely...
And finally...
The day has been a real blessing for the parish. I can't wait until next year!
I've been feeling really ghastly of late - a hacking cough left me barely able to breathe, and the doctor diagnosed viral bronchitis. Apparently there is an epidemic of it going round... strangely, after the swine flu non-event of the century, no-one seems to have mentioned any other epidemics. However, after having been put on a nebuliser in the doctor's surgery, (I was the third patient in a row on Monday morning to have needed the treatment) given a course of steroids (8 tablets a day... you think they'd have made bigger tablets!) and sleeping under the duvet for a week, I have emerged feeling vaguely human.
I still have a chesty cough, but I can at least now string two sentences together without launching into a coughing fit and turning a nasty shade of blue...
Anyway, yesterday evening I felt well enough to consider eating something... but didn't really feel up to cooking. Fortunately, there was a Dinner/Dance event in the parish, organised by one family, and with several sets of teenagers volunteering to serve the meal for their parents and friends. I emailed to see if there were any spare tickets, and I was in luck!
Technically, it was a night for couples to enjoy themselves - having a chance to be husbands and wives rather than mums and dads - so it was a way to support family life. However, as one of the teenagers remarked to me, my "other half" was next door in the church, and He is omnipresent anyway... he just didn't actually need a seat... or a ticket... or dinner...
It was a really good evening: I'd never have believed that 50 people could fit in the small hall...
There was live entertainment provided by one of the very talented teenagers:
One of the diners had just celebrated his 50th birthday, so what looked like a firework was added to a cheesecake for an unusual birthday treat...
After the meal, the waiters and waitresses came out for a curtain call and photo shoot...
I think I am the nearest thing to (semi) official photographer... I usually have either phone camera or digital camera to hand, and it doesn't take much to persuade people to pose "for the blog"!
Note to self: best not to try to take photos after alcohol has been consumed... the photo is blurred because the people all moved... honest!
It was a very enjoyable evening, and hearty congratulations to all those involved!
I have been very remiss in posting stuff this week. I realised that I hadn't managed to put up any pictures from Candlemas last week... so here we have a few!
I love Candlemas. It's the anniversary of the arrest of St. Anne Line - one of my patron saints - in 1601. She allowed too many people to gather for Mass at her house; the number of people arriving drew the attention of her neighbours, and they reported her to the pursuivants. Although the priest celebrating Mass managed to unvest and hide in the priest hole prepared for him, the presence of the vestments and sacred vessels ready for Mass was enough to convict St. Anne of harbouring a priest.
We started off with the blessing and distribution of candles, and then a procession. I was rather relieved that the procession was indoors: I'm still coughing my lungs inside out (that's what it feels like) and I was unwilling to venture out into the cold damp air any more than absolutely necessary. As I was coughing quite a lot, I didn't take as many photos as usual. I also only took a couple of very short video clips, as I didn't want to damage the microphone!!
I'm getting better at timing my camera shots... I quite liked these "mid-action" ones!
The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate made up our visiting schola: their high, clear voices sounded quite ethereal, and the couple of clips I managed to get on the video didn't really do them justice.
A short snippet during the Offertory...
A few photos from the most heart-stopping moments of the Mass...
And I couldn't resist taking a video clip of the Sisters singing after Communion...
Chants of the Ordinary (Cantus Angeli) Volume 1 is the first of three educational CDs of Gregorian Chant designed for use in parishes. The Chant is performed by a small group of singers from the Choir of St George's Cathedral, London, under the direction of Nick Gale. Nick is a UK-based teacher of Gregorian Chant and the Director of Music at St George's Cathedral. Volume One features complete performances of seven Gregorian Masses, the Ambrosian Gloria, the Asperges and Vidi Aquam, three Credos and a selection of alleluias with verses.
