Calendars...

I help in the Sacristy at Blackfen. That means that I have to work with both the Novus Ordo and the Usus Antiquior calendars... it can get a little confusing, especially at this time of year.

This morning was a case in point. I wasn't completely on the ball, and discovered that the Senior MC had set up green vestments, tabernacle veil and antependium for Mass (Third Sunday after Epiphany - no idea why!) when I had been expecting red for St. Polycarp. Zephyrinus was ready to remove the antependium and swap the tabernacle veil to white after Mass as it was due to be followed by Exposition and Benediction. He was then all set to change everything to purple for Septuagesima... only there isn't any such thing as Septuagesima in the Novus Ordo, so it was actually back to green for this evening and 9am tomorrow morning... and then we'll have purple at the 10:30am Mass and green at the 6pm.

I really don't understand why it was necessary to drop Septuagesima in the Novus Ordo calendar. Human nature being what it is, we need the different seasons of the Church's year to be marked out. There is a difference in emphasis between the Sundays after Epiphany and the Sundays after Pentecost. It helps no-one to simply lump them together as "Sundays in Ordinary Time."

And then there is Lent. It is rapidly approaching. I was quite surprised to realise that it's only three weeks away! But without the reminder that tomorrow is Septuagesima Sunday, I wouldn't have made the connection.

Septuagesima is like the warm-up before the race. Lent needs preparation: forty days of prayer, penance and almsgiving doesn't just happen overnight. Now there are three weeks in which to limber up, to work out what to do, and to make those resolutions.

After all, there's nothing worse than making the decision, on Shrove Tuesday, to give up chocolate for Lent, only to find those three bars of Galaxy in the cupboard on Ash Wednesday...

The Kraken Awakes...

It feels as if I've been in hibernation for a week.

I haven't... it just feels like it.

I did get my "snow day" on Monday. This allowed me to spend the best part of an hour on the phone trying to find a garage that was (a) open and (b) had the correct tyres for my car. I had no idea that it would be such a tricky operation! Once I had located the tyres, I then had to sit for two hours in my car, waiting for the breakdown service to arrive to help me get my flat tyres sorted. I hadn't broken down at home, you see. I did ask for someone from the breakdown service to call me when they were close to arriving, but I had a sneaking suspicion that, being so busy on Monday, they wouldn't phone, and, if I wasn't by my car they'd go off somewhere else instead.

I was right - they didn't phone... fortunately I was sitting in my car when they arrived.

Tuesday was slightly crazy. Everything had been thrown out of kilter by the day off, and it was tricky to figure out which classes were "as planned" and which needed to be reassigned. By Wednesday I felt as if I was making enough headway to be able to treat myself to a night out. It was my first time at a meeting of The Keys, and Delia (who sometimes comments here) had invited me to attend as her guest.

I found my way to St. Mary Moorfields without any problems, and actually arrived in plenty of time for Mass (a first for me at this church!) Then we went downstairs for a delicious meal, followed by Fr. Tim giving an excellent talk on New Movements and New Media. It was extremely encouraging to hear how very positive the Holy Father has been about the use of blogs, Twitter and Facebook for spreading the faith, and I'm looking forward to reading his message for World Communications Day which is all about the new media (I just haven't had time yet!)

Delia invited me back for a coffee, and I accepted eagerly, secure in the knowledge that I had already prepared all my lessons for the next day. Alas, I forgot that I am no longer a spring chicken, and it was a very bleary-eyed Mulier who staggered in to work the next day, late (well, 7:15am is late for me these days!) By the end of the day, I had a splitting headache, and, once I had sorted out a few more lessons, I dragged myself home and crawled straight under the duvet.

10 hours' sleep (albeit with some very strange dreams) was almost enough to sort me out, and I was in work at 6:30am this morning, bright-tailed and bushy-eyed; I am not, and never will be, a morning-person! I'm starting to flag just a bit, but there's a chance of a lie-in tomorrow morning, so I thought I'd obey the Pope and do some blogging while waiting for our new Faith Group to start...

More later...

Snow Chaos...

On Friday, school finished a lesson early because the snow of that morning was forecast to get a lot worse, and getting home for many people might be a problem. I took the opportunity to pop into a local supermarket on my way home. As I returned to my car, I noticed that I had a flat rear tyre...

Calling out the breakdown service I pay for along with my car insurance, I resigned myself to a long, cold wait - well, the snow was playing havoc with many people's cars, and the number of breakdowns and crashes being reported was much higher than usual. I felt rather smug as I'd made sure I had a spare tyre in the boot in time for my MOT at Christmas, and so I didn't anticipate any trouble.

Before you ask, yes, I do know how to change a tyre (in theory) but I have knee problems, which means that the practicalities are just too awkward. And anyway, I might break a nail...

Nevertheless, by the time I got home, I was a frozen block of ice, and I regretfully decided against venturing back out for Catholic Evensong at Blackfen, and curled up with a hot water bottle under the duvet for an early night.

By Saturday morning, much of the snow had melted, and I made my way to Mass, Exposition & Benediction without mishap.

This morning everything was blanketed in a fresh layer of the fluffy white stuff. The cats were not at all happy - Monsignor Miaowrini checked it by sticking her head through the cat flap...

... and then she decided to come back in again. Cardinal Furretti, very much a home body at the best of times, and disinclined to leave her creature comforts, watched from a safe distance...

I made my way to the car, cleared the windscreen and mirrors of snow, and started to drive off. It felt a bit odd, but I assumed that it was due to the snow. Halfway down the road I realised that whatever was wrong wasn't just the effect of snow. I pulled over and started to investigate. Sure enough, I had another flat tyre! This time it was a front one... but I hadn't managed to replace the spare...

I must just say that a man waiting by the bus stop actually offered to change the tyre for me, but, as I didn't have a spare I had to decline his kind offer. Still, it cheered me up to think that people still offer help to complete strangers!

I then had a tricky call to make: abandon the attempt to get to church and phone the breakdown services in the hope that they could get me to a garage which sold tyres (and had the correct size in stock) or abandon the car, and deal with it later. The forecast suggested that the weather was going to get worse, and I didn't know whether buses and taxis would still be running if things became icy after dark, so planning to attend the evening Mass seemed like a bad idea. I rang the taxi firm I use most frequently, explained where I'd fetched up, and asked them to come and collect me...

It was definitely the right call. Several of the local garages I phoned after Mass turned out to be shut (a combination of Sunday and snow). The ones that were open couldn't tell me if they had the correct tyre in stock without looking at the wheel (even the franchise dealership I'd bought the car from, which has the car in its computer records, professed themselves unable to access the information!) and I didn't much fancy waiting for the breakdown services to take me from garage to garage on the offchance. I decided to throw in the towel and go out for lunch instead...

When I finally arrived home, the kitties had decided that two bodies were warmer than one, and were curled up together at the top of my wardrobe (normally Miaowrini's domain!), obviously all power games are off for the moment.

The snow continues to fall, and I have great hopes of a "snow day" tomorrow. With any luck, I can get the car sorted out then...

A Night At The Opera...

Well, technically it was a night out for the choir at Bluewater's Showcase Cinema. However, the "film" we went to see was actually a live satellite broadcast of the New York Met Opera's performance of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda.

Leutgeb had suggested and then organised the trip. Annie Elizabeth volunteered to act as driver for anyone who wished to leave the car at home (like me!). His Hermeneuticalness led the hissing (for Elizabeth and Cecil) and the applause (for Mary Stuart) and, later on, Zephyrinus charmed one of the waitresses at Café Rouge with his knowledge of Hungarian (I think it was Hungarian, but he speaks so many languages it's hard to tell...)

It was a wonderful performance. It was my first experience of the bel canto style, and I found it very powerful. I did wonder what it must have been like for the two sopranos when they were belting out their lines cheek-to-cheek! I was also rather amused to note that a contentious line in the opera (which Italian censors at the time had found objectionable - I think it was the bit where Mary calls Elizabeth a "vile bastard") was sung, but not subtitled. You can read the New York Times' review here.

During the interval (I did point out that it was a live broadcast) there were interviews with the main characters, which provided a fascinating insight into the roles. Joshua Hopkins (Cecil) tried to defend his character's behaviour, saying that he just wanted what was best for England. That cut no ice with us - he was definitely the villain of the piece.

Fantastic sets, wonderful costumes, brilliant acting and superb music. I can't wait for the next choir outing!

Ooberfuse's World Youth Day Song...

About a month ago, I blogged about Ooberfuse and the fact that they wanted volunteers to go to North Greenwich Tube Station to dance for their official music video for Rio 2013.

I've been watching out for the result, and the video is promised soon... but the song itself is rather catchy, so I'm putting it up early...

Well, you can't really dance to Gregorian chant, and Haugen, Inwood & co. just don't cut the mustard in the catchy tunes department...

Even More Busy...

Still very busy at work. But being a Science teacher has a few perks... such as the opportunity to gross out the children. I will be doing this one (for real) with my Year 8s - they're about 12-13 years old - which should prove entertaining...

The Call To Arms...

The news of the letter (published in the Daily Telegraph) to Mr. David Cameron from 1000 Roman Catholic priests protesting against his foolish proposal to redefine marriage really encouraged me. The seriousness of such a redefinition has indeed acted as a wake-up call to many. It is abundantly clear that this proposal is a direct attack against religious freedom, and people are realising that we have to make a stand.

You can read some more responses by Damian Thompson, Fr. Ray Blake, Fr. Tim Finigan, John Smeaton and Protect the Pope. I'm sure that there have been others that I've missed, and there will be many more in the next few days.

Thank God for the many priests and bishops who have signed the letter. I'm sure that there are many more who would have signed if the timescale had not been so short. Have a look at the letter, and have a look here to see if your parish priest has signed. If he has, do be sure to thank him for his act of witness, and encourage him to continue to speak out. Remember, he may shortly find himself in prison for daring to state the truths of the Faith.

Busy, Busy, Busy...!

The start of a new term has hit me with the force of a large brick smacked against the side of my head...

Nevertheless, I was delighted to be able to hear Dawn Eden's talk when she visited Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen on Monday night. She gave a very moving talk on how devotion to the saints had helped her overcome the wounds of sexual abuse, and explained how the saints are actually a way in which God shows his love for us, rather than, as many Protestants believe, a way of leading people away from God.

I got a signed copy of Dawn's book, My Peace I Give You, and I'm really looking forward to reading it... unfortunately that treat is on the back-burner until things get quieter at work.

I was a little tired on Monday (though probably nowhere near as tired as Dawn herself: her talk in Blackfen was her second one of the day) partly because of my start-of-term fear of oversleeping, partly because of the shock to my system after the two-week break, and partly because I had developed a stinking cold. Even so, I was absolutely determined to get a photo of myself with Dawn, and persuaded His Hermeneuticalness to take a photo of us both...

What? Well, you didn't really think I'd allow myself to appear without my mantilla, did you? And Dawn said she'd brought hers along specially...

Do go over and read Dawn's blogs - she has two: The Dawn Patrol (a more personal blog, I think) and Feast of Eden (a blog which focuses more on saints and spiritual healing).

Those Twelve Days Of Christmas...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me... the following delivery dispatch note.

Secret Santa Enterprises, Inc.
North Pole Science Park

Dear Madam,

Thank you very much for your order, received 25 December 2012. Our Dispatches Department has had a few problems in fulfilling your requirements, and it is with regret that I have to inform you that the items you requested cannot be sent at this time.

Item: Partridge/Pear Tree Combo (1) The partridge is a ground-nesting bird, and has refused to consider arboreal transportation of any kind. It is also not the correct time of year to uproot pear trees, which are very susceptible to frost.

Item: Turtle Doves (1 pair) We did have one pair of turtle doves. Unfortunately there was a slight misunderstanding in the Cookery Department (Cook was very tipsy after a few pre-prandial sherries, and she's reading Alice in Wonderland at the moment!), and the turtle doves were mistakenly converted into a mock-turtle-dove soup. You will, I am sure, be comforted to know that the soup was excellent.

Item: Hens, French (3) The delivery of this item has been delayed by a dispute by lorry drivers at Calais. I can assure you that you would not have enjoyed this item, as the eggs generally smell of garlic and onions, with a certain je ne sais quoi sometimes identified as Galoises and felt berets.

Item: Birds, Calling (4) There was a slight misunderstanding here when the Chief Packer misread the delivery schedule, and attempted to send four call girls... fortunately the error was detected in time. As soon as the birds have been trained to use the latest in Nokia handsets, we will be sending them along to you.

Item: Rings, 24 Carat (5) Unfortunately, our stock of rings has been sorely depleted due to the depredations of a certain individual, last seen riding a white horse in the vicinity of Banbury Cross. She was described as a "fine lady," but, actually, must be a bit of a Chav to wear rings on all of her fingers...

Item: Geese, a-laying (6) Not much chance with this item either. Geese have proved very popular this Christmas (must be a new recipe out by Delia) and you won't be able to get your paws on one, a-laying or otherwise, for love nor money.

Item: Swans, Swimming (7) Madam, I do believe that you are, as they say, "extracting the urine." Swans are the property of the Crown, and while I might have been able to find one on the QT, seven is pushing your luck. Added to which is the problem of transportation. I mean, have you considered the size of one of those blighters? Some of them have a wingspan of six feet, and how, exactly, you were expecting us to be able to find a water tank large enough to accommodate all of them without drawing down the wrath of the animal rights lobby for cruel and inhumane transportation of live swans totally escapes me.

Item: Maids, Milking (8) Due to the latest edict of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) movement of livestock and all unnecessary movement of farm workers has been banned. Milkmaids are farm workers according to EU directive 21478/07. Blame blue tongue and foot-in-mouth disease... well, wouldn't you have a blue tongue if you put your foot in your mouth? I suppose it might be red tongue if you changed the colour of your socks...

Item: Dancing Ladies (9) I'm afraid that we're right out of dancing ladies as well. King Herod put in a bulk order back in June (he got the taste for that sort of thing after his niece did a demo) and stocks have not been replenished.

Item: Lords, Leaping (10) Don't hold your breath. From what I've seen on the Parliamentary Channel, you'd be lucky to get a couple of the old codgers to attend anything, and they'd be pretty moribund. Not inclined to leap. Sleep, yes. Leaping is definitely a no-go area. The insurance wouldn't cover it. Health and Safety. Someone might have a heart attack.

Item: Pipers (11) Have you taken complete leave of your senses, woman?? Have you ever actually heard anyone play the bagpipes?? It's the most ghastly din imaginable... and then to request eleven of the wretched things. No, please believe me, I have your best interests at heart when I say that this item has been discontinued.

Item: Drummers (12) Well, we could possibly dig up Phil Collins, and that chap from Queen... but twelve might be a bit difficult. Maybe you'd prefer a nice tambourine...
Once again, sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. We look forward to receiving your order next year.

Yours faithfully,
S. Claus.
Packaging & Delivery Section.

Yes, I'm afraid I rehashed this from 2007, but since I thought it was amusing, I decided to post it again!

Blackfen's Liturgy Committee Meeting...

Bet you didn't realise that there was a "Liturgy Committee" at Blackfen!

Actually, it's only for the Extraordinary Form Masses, and all that we do is work out when we want the visiting schola or the parish choir (other than Sundays), and which Mass setting would be appropriate. Extra fixtures, such as the Quarant'Ore have to be checked against cricket fixtures and beer festivals. Pretty simple, really.

So that's 2013 sorted.

The Clarion Call...

The British Province of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy has published a briefing paper on same-sex "marriage" which some people might find useful. It covers some of the most common questions we face on the issue, such as "Isn’t the Church just discriminating against gay people?"

The paper also makes it clear that:

"The Church calls on every Catholic, in conscience, to a clear and emphatic opposition to such proposals, [supporting SSM] and a refusal of any formal co-operation should such laws be passed."

Tuesday Tweeting...

The inimitable Fr. Z has suggested that all faithful Catholics who have Twitter accounts should coordinate their tweets to @Pontifex so that we get a trend going (and have a chance of the message actually getting through.)

So, the proposed tweet for Tuesday 1 Jan 2013 is simply @Pontifex Holy Father, I prayed for you today. Happy New Year of the Lord 2013!

Go for it, tweeps!

Happy New Year !

May the Year of Our Lord 2013

bring all my blog readers every blessing and happiness!

Just Another Day...

Sunday doesn't count as "the Lord's Day" because some Christians are happy to work on Sundays.

Well, then, how about you can't say stealing is unacceptable behaviour for humans, because there are rather a few people out there who are happy to steal things from others?

Oh, right. Not quite the same.

Fine. How about noting that some Muslims are happy to work on Fridays, but Friday is still understood as being special for observant Muslims? Or noting that the same applies to observant Jews and Saturdays?

And let's ignore the fact that "Christians" is a rather broad term with regard to the requirements of religious observance...

It might be worth pointing out, however, that when Sunday trading was being introduced, we were assured - nay, promised - that no-one who didn't want to work on Sunday would be forced to do so.

Small wonder that Government "promises" and "assurances" are actually considered to be worth somewhat less than the paper upon which they are written...

I'm with Annie Elizabeth on this one.

One By One...

Archbishop Bernard Longley has become the latest Catholic Bishop to speak out on the issue of same-sex "marriage." He has sent a Pastoral Letter to be read out at all Masses in the Archdiocese of Birmingham for the Feast of the Holy Family. Unfortunately, the letter isn't yet up on the website, so there are only a few snippets in a report by the Daily Telegraph.

I am very encouraged by the fact that, one by one, the Bishops of England & Wales are realising that they cannot remain silent on the issue of the redefinition of marriage. And it is a redefinition - it has absolutely nothing to do with equal rights and discrimination. Civil partnerships provide every legal "equality" that could be asked for... which then begs the question, why?

Why the urgency to push this legislation through, when it wasn't in any Party manifesto? Why are all the possible contenders for Tory party leadership (should Mr. Cameron be rejected) suddenly in favour of the legislation? Why is the success of this legislation so critical that the use of the Parliament Act is being flagged up to dissuade any House of Lords rebellion?

Why is it happening now? And, given that there appears to be support from the leaders of most of the political parties, who, exactly, is pushing for this?

Christmas Toys...

After Rosary & Benediction on Thursday evening, an altar server couldn't resist showing one of his Christmas presents to His Hermeneuticalness...

And, needless to say, "Fr. Gadget" couldn't resist trying it out...

A Missed Opportunity...

Yesterday was the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. Chatting to Annie Elizabeth today, I discovered that we had both missed the opportunity to get our wine supplies blessed. The chaps at Papa Stronsay were much better-prepared, and arranged for the blessing to take place in the refectory...

As Annie Elizabeth pointed out - next year we will bring a whole car boot-full... each...

Midnight Mass At Blackfen...

We were truly blessed to be able to have a Solemn High Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve. The sacristy team had worked tirelessly to decorate the church, and the senior altar servers (particularly Zephyrinus and Matthaeus) had helped to arrange and light candles... I managed to take a few photos before everything started...

The carols started at 11:20pm - with Leutgeb making the whole musical director thing look effortless. The night was truly magical, the sermon moved me to tears, and the Senior MC had arranged mulled wine and mince pies for all the helpers. Unfortunately I was driving, and so had to forego the mulled wine but I was allowed to imbibe the aroma for about three seconds (all that the MC would allow, as he wanted to drink it!)

You can see a few more of the photos over at my Flickr page (yes, I managed to rescue them after all!)

Christmas Capers...

After Midnight Mass, two of the altar servers were very keen to demonstrate how they had managed to sneak their decorated socks past the (usually) eagle-eyed Senior MC.

To be fair, I think that the aforementioned Senior MC had his hands full with the four clerics he was shepherding through the intricacies of Solemn High Mass...

In any case, I think that the two servers were trumped in the sock department by a younger member of the congregation who had what looked like a dog attached to his socks...

Uh-Oh...!

In this technological age, it is very easy to forget the basics. Like the inconvenient fact that things take time to transfer from one machine to another...

I used to take photos on my mobile or camera, then I'd upload them onto my computer using a USB cable. I would convert them to smaller versions for the blog using Photoshop Elements, and save this as a separate folder. I'd often save them on Picasa too. Then I would upload selected photos to Flickr. Time-consuming. But I always had several copies of my photos...

Now, my mobile phone automatically copies my photos onto Dropbox. I then upload copies from Dropbox onto Flickr... Sometimes I will also upload them to my own computer. In theory, everything should be much, much easier...

Unfortunately, I am a very "organised" sort of person. I hate having lots and lots of shortcuts on my desktop. I like folders. Lots and lots of folders. All neatly labelled and arranged. The mobile phone's way of just adding more and more photos to the camera is annoying. I like to group my photos.

So, overnight my mobile uploaded the photos I took during Midnight Mass to Dropbox. And this evening I tried to move all the photos into a folder on Dropbox prior to copying the folder to Flickr. And then, having moved the photos, I proceeded to delete them from my phone...

Only the photos didn't actually appear to have been moved... oops.

I think I deleted them too quickly. Or something like that. Fortunately Dropbox appears to have some sort of experience with klutzy behaviour. I discovered a "restore" button on the website (though not on the downloaded version) so its not quite the catastrophe I first feared...