Poaching On My Territory...

For someone who grouses (albeit with a slight smirk) each time I post another kitty update, it seems His Hermeneuticalness has, nevertheless, had to acknowledge the sheer power of cat posts.

Cats are, obviously, the latest big thing in the advertising world...

So, all I have to do is get my two felines their own equity cards, and we'll be set up for life. Smoked salmon and cheese-flavour crisps all the way!

In the meantime, I still have a monopoly on hair and nail posts...

Gaudete !

I have failed (yet again) to keep to my New (Church) Year's resolution to post more regularly on the blog. Of late, I find that, by the time I get home, feed the cats, check I have something to wear for the next day and feed myself (not necessarily in that order), all I really want to do is crawl under the duvet.

However, I felt that I ought to make an effort with the photos from last Sunday. Being Gaudete Sunday, the famous rose vestments got another airing. His Hermeneuticalness reminded us in the notices before the sermon that Fr. Z and Damian Thompson had spearheaded the fundraising efforts for the vestments... and that we should all pray for the conversion of The Tablet...

In order to ensure that the whole High Mass set was shown off in full, we had a superb Solemn High Mass. Fr. Finigan was celebrant, Fr. Bernard McNally was deacon and Rev. John Harrison, (on loan from Chislehurst), was subdeacon.

I think this has to be one of my favourite shots...

Happy Feast Day...

Today is one of my favourite Feast Days. I've said it before - it's the day that, theologically speaking, really sorts out the men from the boys (to coin a phrase.) CINOs (Catholics-in-name-only) hate it, because it means that we are less than perfect, which then brings up the idea of sin and not "everyone going to heaven no matter what they do."

Our Lady was preserved from all stain of sin from the first moment of her conception. If you were God, and had the power to make your mother, what would you do? You'd want to preserve her from Original Sin and all the stuff that goes with that, (death, disease, concupiscence) wouldn't you?

Oh, and there's a big pro-life message in there - life begins AT conception.

Am I One Of The Pyjamahadeen...?

Does blogging in a nightie and dressing gown count?

Laurence succumbed to the temptation of writing a song dedicated to all of us Catholic bloggers. The first performance was at Blackfen last Saturday, and Fr. Tim caught it on camera. I heartily approve of the special effects employed which render me unrecognisable even without a mantilla...

Mass For The Immaculate Conception...

For those of you fortunate enough to be able to get to St. George's Cathedral on Thursday morning, there will be a Low Mass according to the usus antiquior in honour of the Immaculate Conception, which is the patronal feast of our diocese.

I was going to say that I was jealous - but then I realised that there's going to be a Missa Cantata at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen at 8pm...

Not that I'm into one-upmanship or anything...

This Is The Ecclesia Dei...

I had a wonderful day yesterday.

First of all, there was our monthly Missa Cantata at Blackfen, which is a cause for great joy anyway. This was added to by the fact that, after Mass, I renewed my vows. I don't make the vows just for a year, they are permanent, but it's a great excuse for a party... it also helps to remind me what I'm doing with my life, and why!

Lunch followed - cooked to perfection by Trisha and her team of helpers - and we all tucked into eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, mushrooms, baked beans (I didn't have any of those) and tomatoes (I didn't have those either!)

I was really pleased that Blondpidge was able to make it to Blackfen, and I got to meet Robin (aka Mr. Pidge) and all the little Pidges (I met the youngest - Little Miss Pidge - at Michael Voris' talk back in August!)

It was almost another blognic, what with His Hermeneuticalness, Leutgeb, Zephyrinus (who arrived in time for a late lunch sitting and Vespers) Annie Elizabeth, Blondpidge, Bones and me...

The star of the show had to be Laurence England (aka Bones) who gave us a live performance of many of the songs featured on his own blog, including the first ever performance of Ecclesia Dei... (Click on the link if you want to sign the open "letter" to Archbishop Nichols!)

The children were absolutely entranced, and sat down to listen... and that was just as he was tuning his guitar!

Fr. Tim was also recording, and he was using a much better camera, so my video will probably lose out in the ratings war... but maybe he'll put up one of the other songs instead, and let me have my "blogging exclusive!"

Annie Elizabeth later tweeted that her children were singing "Some more, some more, Summorum Pontificum" all afternoon...

And then the day finished with sung Vespers and Benediction...

A really wonderful day!

Latin Is Sooooooo Hard To Learn...

Tom sings in the visiting schola at Blackfen, and usually brings his family along for the Missa Cantata. His children love to join in the Marian anthem after Benediction, and really belt it out with gusto. I meant to record them at Benediction, when they would have been totally natural and unconcerned, but of course, it being Advent, we've started to sing the Alma redemptoris mater, and they aren't quite as confident with that one...

So, I persuaded Edward to sing the Salve regina in the parish club afterwards. He and his brother became a little self-conscious and shy, but he certainly knows his stuff... I forget how old the children are...

No Sudden Deaths Due To Use of Corrected Translation...

That's right. I understand that many places only got to use the corrected ICEL translations last Sunday. I haven't noticed any blog reports of parishioners fainting, having palpitations, or any other adverse effects. There have been a very few hissy fits, but really these bear the tones of petulant toddlers, and seem to be making last-ditch attempts to persuade everyone that things will be really baaaaad if we use such big words.

In Britain we have had the corrected translation since September. No-one died here, either.

I was asked to write about the introduction of the new texts from a layperson's perspective for the Catholic Herald, which included a special Advent Magazine last Sunday. I was tremendously chuffed to see that my name appeared on the front cover along with Monsignor Andrew Wadsworth and James MacMillan (Wow! Exalted company for me indeed!) Unfortunately, the Magazine isn't available online, so I can't just give you a simple link, but I thought I'd share what I wrote anyway...

Liturgy: A golden age of worship.

I never learned Latin at school. As an adult, I would take great delight in reminding people that, for years, the only Latin in the Mass which I knew was the Kyrie eleison, and the rest was all Greek to me. And then I’d sit back and smirk as someone pointed out that the Kyrie actually was Greek. But not knowing any Latin meant that I had to rely on the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) translation of the Mass.

To begin with, this wasn’t a problem. But once I started to pray the Divine Office I became more and more aware that something wasn’t quite right. The collect at Sunday Mass and the concluding prayer for Morning and Evening Prayer bore a striking resemblance to each other. On looking at things more closely, I discovered that the prayers were actually supposed to be the same – they were the same in the Latin original – and so there was a difference in translation between the prayers for the Mass and for the Office.

I began to attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form and also to sing various parts of the Mass in Latin and, looking at the English translation, I became more and more aware that the language had been over-simplified, and words and phrases had been cut out. The Mass had been impoverished and it had lost the sense of the sacred. I also became aware that this was mostly a problem with the English translation. Most other languages seemed to stick much more closely to the Latin original, most noticeably with the "And with your Spirit" response. The English translation had rendered the phrase as "And also with you", turning it from a recognition of the sacerdotal character imprinted on the soul of the priest at Ordination to the equivalent of "And to you, too!"

Around this time, the news that a corrected translation was in the pipeline was being discussed, particularly on the internet. Fr John Zuhlsdorf, who writes for this newspaper, had a whole blog dedicated to accurate translation of the Latin texts at Mass in which the inaccuracies of the "lame-duck" ICEL translation were laid bare for everyone to see. A more accurate translation could only be a good thing, I thought, but I didn’t actually expect it to have much impact. After all, why should changing one or two words be that noticeable?

It also seemed to take such a long time to get under way. I couldn’t understand why translating the Mass should take so long, though I gathered from reading various reports that there were objections to the use of unfamiliar words. There was talk of the need for training courses to explain the new translation, especially for words such as "ineffable," "wrought" and "gibbet". I found this to be rather patronising. As a teacher, I am well aware that difficult words are only difficult until they are explained. After all, photosynthesis, chloroplasts and cytoplasm are quite difficult words too, but they are taught to every 11-year-old in their Science lessons.

As more and more people, especially on the internet, made fun of the objections and pointed out how spurious they were, I noticed that a real sense of excitement was starting to build. When the Bishops of England and Wales announced that, although the new translation would officially be mandated from the first Sunday of Advent this year, they wanted parishes to start using it from September to allow the laity to become familiar with the responses, it suddenly began to feel as though the change would really happen.

On the last Sunday in August, I attended Mass with a sense of an era coming to an end. The old ICEL translation was, after all, the only one I had ever known. Although I could hardly wait for the new version, it felt very strange indeed to realise that I would never again say "We believe…" I was almost nostalgic – but only almost.

At Mass the following week we had leaflets with the new responses typed out neatly. It was quite funny because our parish priest announced before Mass that the new responses would be used, and that sheets were available at the back of the church. A few people, having forgotten that this was the big day, shuffled out of their pews to collect a sheet. Mass began, and a few people stumbled over the automatic response "And also with you," and there was a little more shuffling as more people collected a sheet. Then the "I confess" provoked another bout of shuffling. By the time we got to the Gloria, the message appeared to have gotten through.

I felt a real thrill of excitement when making the new responses. At the "I confess" I was able to make the traditional threefold striking of the breast. Then, while reciting the Gloria, I saw how a whole section had been replaced, in which we give glory and praise to God, echoing the cry of the angels when they announced the birth of Christ. Why the words were ever left out in the old translation is a complete mystery – is it really possible to praise God too much?

It was very hard not to lapse into recitation of the Apostles’ Creed – the main indicator of which has always been "I believe," instead of the "We believe" of the Nicene Creed. There had been a great deal of fuss made of the proposed use of "consubstantial" in the Creed rather than "of one being", but actually I have always found the latter expression to be rather vague and woolly, whereas consubstantial quite simply means "of the same substance", and therefore it resonates more fully for me, expressing the divine nature of Christ.

But the most moving part of the new translation of the Mass for me was definitely in the Eucharistic Prayer. The words were unfamiliar, but at the same time they struck a chord. Suddenly it seemed clear that what was happening at the altar was the action of God, that the use of sacred language marked out the numinous for us: the priest, in persona Christi, was interceding on our behalf to the Father, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is something done for us by God, not something we do for him.

It will take a while before I learn the new responses off by heart, and I am sure that I will make the occasional mistake. After all, I have been making the old responses for nearly 20 years. Nevertheless, it will be well worth the effort. The new translation has restored the sense of the sacred to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Calling A Spade A Shovel...

Back in the mid 1990s, when I was involved in scientific research, I wrote an article on foetal tissue transplantation for Faith Magazine (archived by EWTN) in which I happened to comment on how the medical profession liked to use highly specialised scientific language in order to obscure the true nature of the work being done.

The mothers of the aborted babies used were referred to in very oblique terms in the papers I reviewed - one study even went so far as to call them "donors." Aborted babies were reduced to "embryonic tissue" or "neural tissue." Everyone knew what it all meant, but it was just a "nicer" way to say it.

It seems, however, that we have now reached the stage where scientific papers are being much more up-front about what is involved. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have published advice on performing late abortions:

"Feticide should be performed before medical abortion after 21 weeks and 6 days of gestation to ensure that there is no risk of a live birth."

Patricide, matricide, fratricide, regicide aren't used so often these days - but most people can identify the words as meaning that someone is killed. Homicide is much more widely understood (mostly due to American cops-and-robbers films and programmes) as the killing of one human being by another. There can be no doubt in people's minds that feticide is the killing of a foetus, an unborn baby. Forget "products of conception" - that works earlier on, but not after 21 weeks.

This bluntness is rather surprising, and begs the question: have we, as a society, become so desensitised that the RCOG feels it can give clear advice on killing babies without having to dress it up in fancy language?

Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Tim, who goes into much more detail (not to be read on a full stomach, trust me!)

World Blogging Exclusive...!

Laurence England (affectionately known in these parts as "Bones") is due to fulfil His Hermeneuticalness' prediction (quoted on the front page of this week's Catholic Herald, no less) that ' "Gimme some more, some more Summorum Pontificum" will be sung in pubs and clubs up and down the land after traditional Masses and other traddie events' !

Bones is planning to visit Blackfen this Saturday, 3rd December 2011 (which, in case I haven't mentioned it, happens to be the day I renew my vows!) and he'll be bringing his guitar, to serenade us all between the Missa Cantata, my vows and Sung Vespers...

Sad News...

I regret to pass on the sad news that Dominic Mary of Libera Me passed away last month. Karen (Gem of the Ocean) has more details, as the two of them started a wonderful blogging romance. Do go over to give your condolences to Karen.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

Photos From The LMS Requiem...

Joseph Shaw has put up his photos from the Requiem Mass at Westminster Cathedral. He complains that he hasn't been able to do any editing, but they look pretty good anyway.

The whole set can be seen at his Flickr page.

Those Polls...

The polls about Mass preferences have finished. Not very surprisingly, given the slant on this blog towards Mass celebrated according to the usus antiquior, the majority of people who responded to the blog would prefer to attend Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

More surprisingly, it seems that, of the people who bothered to vote, the majority were male. It was roughly a 60/40 split on both polls.

The most surprising finding, for me, was the discovery that there weren't any significant differences between the percentage of men and women who preferred to attend the Extraordinary Form.

Just eyeballing the figures, it seems that those who prefer the Ordinary Form of Mass would rather attend it celebrated ad orientem than in Latin. That seems to bear out the gut feeling that, if one is going to celebrate the Liturgy in Latin, one might as well go "the whole hog."

Of course, this is purely based on the people who actually bothered to vote.

Prayers For The Bishop...

Bishops have an unenviable task, that of leading the flock entrusted to them by Christ. Not a job I'd care for - I have enough problems shepherding my own soul.

So please, of your charity, pray for the repose of the soul of John Jukes, OFM Conv., Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark, who died earlier today.

Requiescat in Pace.

Bones Brings Out The B-Side...

Bones has much to answer for...

His Hermeneuticalness has been singing "Some more, some more, Summorum Pontificum" over and over. I now can't get the refrain out of my head. If ever I came close to throttling a cleric, today was the day.

As he promised, Bones has released the follow-up - "Across Universae Ecclesiae," which, IMHO is much better...



"Save the the Liturgy and save the World!"

Food For Thought...

At this time of year His Hermeneuticalness treats us to our annual reminder about the Four Last Things. We had Death at the beginning of November, followed by Judgement. Today it was time for Hell.

As often happens, one thing resonated for me. This week it was the fact that God has given us time. We get this stretch of time given to us in which we can repent of our sins and bad decisions and poor judgements.

Mulling this over, I was struck by a sudden thought: Time only affects the physical universe - it's measured in terms of the Earth spinning on its axis and orbiting the Sun... or, if you're more up-to-date, by atoms decaying. All physical stuff.

The angels didn't get given the luxury of time.

We really shouldn't waste such a unique and precious gift. We need to make the best use of it - for our eternal salvation - that we can.

Just a thought.

Calendar Clash...

Today happened to see the Towards Advent Festival and the Annual Requiem for deceased LMS members. Both were due to happen at Westminster Cathedral, and I had high hopes of once more scooting along to the Festival for a bit before toddling along to the Requiem Mass.

Alas, I'm still feeling rather grim. I decided that I was too ill to get to the Low Mass at Blackfen, and that sitting in a cold church for the period of Adoration wouldn't do me any good at all, and so I stayed in bed all morning. I had considered journeying to London by public transport for the events in London, but it looked jolly cold outside, and I decided that it wasn't a good idea...

I opted to do the politically incorrect thing and drive all the way. Naturally, it being Saturday, my journey was seriously impeded by roadworks, but I understand from Annie (we chatted briefly after Mass) that there were quite a lot of engineering works on the trains as well, so I wouldn't have been any better off. Sadly, the delay meant that I didn't have time to go to the Towards Advent Festival (though I did bump into Fiorella afterwards - she had apparently been signing books) and I was a little late for the Mass itself. I met quite a few friends there afterwards, including Seán from Juventutem London who stopped to chat briefly, and I spotted Paul Smeaton there too.

The Mass was beautiful - every Mass is beautiful, really, but this was Mass "with all the trimmings." There was a point after Communion where all the sacred ministers and servers were moving around the sanctuary in total silence in what appeared to be an exquisitely choreographed manner, and I was quite overwhelmed by it all - the majesty and, at the same time, the simplicity (it was, after all, a Requiem.) Stunning.

I wasn't allowed to take photos (the one above is actually from last year), so I shall link to Joseph Shaw's collection as soon as he overcomes his computer glitches and puts them online...

Another Blogging Cleric...

It seems that Fr. Bede Rowe has been blogging on the Q.T.

Do go over to read his very entertaining blog - A Chaplain Abroad - which details some of the things he's encountered in his role as chaplain of Chavagnes International College.

I had no idea he was blogging... I do wish people would tell me stuff like that, or leave a comment or something...

*grumble, grumble... rhubarb... mutter*

Feline Fellowship...

Monsignors Furretti and Miaowrini are pleased to announce that Pushkin the Oratory cat has published a book of his exploits, including the time he met the Holy Father..

The book launch is to be held on Monday 21st November (just in time for the Christmas market) and all proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards providing a more snug, warm and dry Oratory for Pushkin to dwell in more comfortably. Apparently there was flood damage last year, and no cat should be expected to have to put up with damp conditions.

The Monsignori  have asked me to pass on their best wishes, though they were just a little miffed that, despite senior clerical rank, they were not invited to the press launch. I shall probably have to placate them with morsels of smoked salmon...