"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
I have noticed that the majority of articles on the ash cloud which has completely closed UK airspace refer to it as the eruption of "Iceland's volcano."
I thought Iceland had quite a few volcanoes, so I was looking for the name of the one that's just gone bang, and found that I had to hunt round for a while... I suppose that reporting on the Eyjafjallajokull glacier is a sub-editor's nightmare...
Our senior MC is quite strict on correct attire at our Extraordinary Form Masses. One of the servers ruefully pointed out that his socks hadn't quite passed muster, and he was going to have to change them.
"What's wrong with them?" I asked. So he showed me.
It seems that Jonathan isn't a fan of Dangermouse...
Driving tests are very much a rite of passage these days: nearly every 17 year-old I know is having lessons, tests, more lessons...
I passed my test first time, to my complete and utter amazement. A few minutes into my test, a large refuse truck had trundled down the street, and had failed to pull over into a space, which resulted in my having to reverse back down the street and then try and pull into a small parking space... the truck kept coming, and I fluffed the manoeuvre. The truck eventually got past, but the men inside were laughing like hyenas. I turned to the examiner, apologised, and said that I was obviously more nervous than I'd thought. I was so convinced that I'd failed that I just went through the rest of the test with a rather gung-ho attitude.
I pulled out at a few roundabouts where I didn't have right of way, but I could see safe gaps and, not wanting to be a drippy blonde, I just went for it. Technically, I shouldn't have moved out. I didn't care - I'd failed anyway.
My best moment had to be the question session. "What," asked the examiner, "do the amber cats' eyes on a motorway signify?"
This was a tricky one. I couldn't recall having seen any. I decided to guess. "Lanes."
The examiner looked at me. I looked back.
"Errrm... yes, lanes...?" he said, as if waiting for more information.
I realised that I'd gotten the answer partly right. If I said anything else, I would risk getting it very wrong. I decided to play safe.
"Yes. Lanes."
He looked at me. I looked back, and waited.
"Ummm... yes...?" he tried again.
"Yes!" I declared, with a note of finality in my voice. And then I sat there. After about three minutes' silence, he bowed to the inevitable. "Ok," he sighed. "Next question..."
One young friend of mine recounted a very different experience. After two (or maybe three) near-collisions within the first ten minutes of the test, the examiner asked him to pull over to the side. She then informed him that he had failed, got out of the car, and walked back to the test centre, unwilling to risk life and limb any further...
I might ask him to text me whenever he plans to be on the road...
The incomparable Fr. Z has done it again! He quoted one of my posts in its entirety... and then asked his readers to come and visit me anyway.
That was really sweet.
I had 1,000 visits in 8 hours. Assuming only half his readers bothered to click the link, that's around 6,000 visitors a day. Serious numbers... and deservedly so, because Fr. Z is the one who made that line-by-line fisking famous in the Catholic blogosphere: "My emphasis and comments" is so well-known that he can even use abbreviations!
So, I thought I'd spread the links a little.
My favourite photoshopper is, of course, Vincenzo. I have come to the conclusion that one cannot believe a single photo on his blog, he's far too good... but his posts are excellent. Vincenzo decided to show that I'd been pinged... though I do think that Sean Connery ought to have been gazing at my gorgeous profile picture for it to be taken seriously... (heheheheheh... a girl can dream, can't she?)
Next blog up for a mention is that of Nazareth Priest - he's a regular commenter here, and he's always encouraging. His Community has a pretty snazzy website selling icons as well.
Vexilla Regis is another blog which has come to my attention fairly recently - he doesn't post much, but then, with two other blogs on his family history to maintain, that's hardly surprising. Anita Moore has an excellent blog of her own, as well as contributing to two others. I particularly like her acerbic sense of humour... two snippets:
"How will the liberals cope with being torn between outrage over the end of the Age of Mahony and political correctitude in the matter of L.A.'s first Hispanic archbishop?"
and
"Since nothing he does will please the liberals, and he might as well start antagonizing them sooner rather than later, I hereby proffer my humble suggestion for Archbishop Gomez's first official act as head of the archdiocese: have the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels hauled away as scrap."
Doctor Eric has some gems on his blog... but you have to hunt for them in amongst the homeopathic remedies. Still, that's an education in itself! For those of you who need a bit more liturgical eye candy, I can recommend Fr. Augustine Thompson's blog on the Dominican Liturgy... how about this for a requiem?
An intriguing blog, The Authentic Update, belongs to Chironomo. I wasn't able to access his (??) profile, but he seems to be particularly concerned with good music in the Liturgy... and since he is a fan of the Holy Father, (and has added me to his blogroll) he deserves a mention! And, finally, Faithful Catholic has a student's perspective to share on the liturgy. I rather enjoyed reading his advice to altar servers... so true!
If you feel you have had enough of blogging, that's fine by me. I have no problems with people stopping blogging. After all, I've gotten to feeling like I have reached that stage a few times myself.
However, if you decide to stop blogging, please, please, PLEASE... do NOT delete your whole blog. Just leave it alone. Don't post any more... but please don't delete the whole thing.
For a start, it means that all the links you were given are now dead links.
This might seem a minor point. After all, blogrolls can be edited fairly easily now.
But it isn't just the blogroll. I'm not a big-time blogger by any means, but my daily visitor numbers (at about 350 a day, when I blog regularly... it's dipped a bit lately) aren't bad for a Catholic lay woman who isn't a professional journalist. I appreciate the leg-ups I've had from other more established bloggers, and I try to help by giving links to other bloggers in my turn.
Yes, it's all about linky love...
I have noticed, however, that when a blogger quotes another blogger, if the whole item is included in the first blogger's post, then the comments (and visitors) often stay on the first blogger's blog - especially if people are reading through an aggregator such as Google Reader. So, in order to give other bloggers credit, one will often just give an indication of what is being said, and whether one agrees... and then provide a link so that visitors will be encouraged to go and visit.
The next blogger then gets to see that a particular post has proved popular, or controversial, or whatever... and this gives them ideas about further posts and discussion threads, and so on.
But, if you then go and delete your whole blog, the link is no longer available. Sometimes this is more than a minor inconvenience, and can ruin a whole post.
It also discourages bloggers from making links in posts that are anything more than acknowledgements of where one has seen something... because you can't guarantee it will still be there in a few months' time...
So please... DON'T DELETE BLOGS.
I've been checking my blogrolls for dead and inactive links... if I have culled your blog by accident, feel free to let me know, and I'll reinstate it. Likewise, if I haven't linked to you before, and you would like to be added, leave a comment...
Linky love makes the blogosphere go round, after all...
I seem to recall spotting the header photo somewhere a while back, but cannot remember where. However, Clare was unwise enough to comment on my blog, so I followed up the links, and wow, she has a blog and a half!! A pro-life home educator, I wonder how she finds time for it all.
I love the start of this video: "The Catholic Church was established by Jesus Christ on Blessed Peter for the salvation of souls, and because of its divine origin it is superior to every other religious system in the world. Period... and according to logic, it's either true, or it's not... there is no middle ground."
Aside from that, RealCatholicTV.com are running a week's series on the sex abuse crisis. Here is today's clip...
This is pure geek stuff, so feel free to ignore it.
I am feeling rather pleased with myself.
I had noted that the date on my blog posts had shifted mysteriously so that the decorative arrows were actually merging with it. I even managed to get a screenshot...
It did occur to me that it might just be my computer, but it seemed to be the same when I checked on my iPhone as well...
I had a look at Auntie Joanna's blog (she uses the same template, just in green instead of blue) and saw that she had the same problem.
So I went over to the template. By careful experimentation, I managed to identify the HTML code which was responsible... and I changed it. Hah!
The attacks in the media on our Holy Father have been vicious, and there is a "feeding frenzy" feel to it all. I have refrained from comment (for the time being) as I wanted to see exactly what was going to be trotted out as the accusations mount up. As I suspected, the accusations (against the Holy Father) are pretty much without foundation.
One of the best articles demonstrating this, by Phil Lawler, can be found HERE.
Aine Cooper, the wife of "Sir Dan of the Nesbitry", passed away earlier this week, fortified by the rites of Holy Mother Church.
Her funeral is on Thursday, 15th April, 2010, at the John Fisher School Chapel, Purley, at 12:15pm. Dan requested no flowers, but indicated that donations in memoriam can be sent to the Sisters of the Gospel of Life at 106 Dixon Avenue, Glasgow, G42 8EL or via their PayPal account.
Aine was a wonderful person, with a great sense of humour, a caring and conscientious nurse, and a staunch upholder of the pro-life cause. She will be sorely missed by all who had the privilege to know her.
Pray for the repose of her soul, and for her husband, Dan.
Ok, having endured the intense coverage of the Healthcare stuff from all the US bloggers on my blogroll, now it's time for me and all the other UK blogs to start banging on about the upcoming British election.
*Ahem*
Actually, I find the whole topic intensely tedious, and won't be posting a blow-by-blow analysis of voting trends, marginal whatsits, safe swings (sorry, seats!) yada yada...
I will, however, vote. As yet, I don't know for whom. I need to ask questions.
I have heard people criticise "single issue" voters. Government is too important, they claim, to vote on a single issue.
I beg to differ.
As far as I am concerned, there is only one issue. Is the candidate pro-life or pro-death?
Because, you see, that pretty much covers everything. I just want to know: will the vulnerable be protected? That includes the unborn, the disabled, the mentally incapacitated, the terminally ill, the elderly... and, ultimately, me. Because one day, I'm likely to be taking up that "valuable hospital bed" or will be unable to say that I don't want to be starved to death... or might be so depressed that I agree I shouldn't be a burden on society, and would be better off dead...
I also don't think Britain has anything to be proud of when politicians claim that our laws mean we are at the forefront of research into human-animal hybrids and embryonic stem cells. Killing babies is nothing to be proud of.
So, as I said, only one issue matters.
Some politicians have realised this, and are being very careful in how they present anti-life policies to prospective voters.
John Smeaton's blog gives some cautionary advice on the Conservative Party's latest pronouncements... as well as telling a few home truths about the other parties' positions. Check it out.
Our Sacristan is on a well-deserved holiday for two weeks, and, as her assistant, I have stepped into the breach.
At the end of Mass, I started clearing a few things away in the Sacristy. Suddenly, I became aware of a loud buzzing noise coming from the little room where the torches, candle snuffers and thuribles are kept. I glanced in... and saw the most enormous bee - about three and a half inches in length.
I have never seen a bee that size. It sounded rather annoyed.
Now, many years ago, I had a really bad bee and wasp phobia. Just how bad can be judged by the fact that, at its height, I used to walk in the road so as not to go near any gardens where a bee might be lurking... A course of systematic desensitisation has sorted the phobic behaviour, but I still don't like bees and wasps. They're fine outside. I am just much happier for them to remain outside.
Anyway, this was one very large bee. I decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and shut the thurible room door. I could still hear loud buzzing...
At this point, His Hermeneuticalness returned to the Sacristy. Rather sheepishly, I explained that there was a very large and angry bee behind the door.
"That's ok," he said, reassuringly, "Leave the door shut."
"But I can't!" I wailed... "I need the candle snuffer... and I have to get the torches for the Mass at Chislehurst..."
He smiled indulgently (ok, ok... he laughed at me for being such a wuss) and he opened the door to have a look.
He then promptly shut the door again.
It was a very, very large bee...
Off he strode, in search of some sort of implement. On his return, he was brandishing a large broom. He opened the back door of the Sacristy, and then opened the door to the thurible room... I think he squished the bee on the bristles... I wasn't able to see, as I was preparing to flee the Sacristy if it all went horribly wrong. Fr. Tim then disposed of the body via the back door...
The British Government will omit their PSHE clauses from the CSF Bill when it is placed before the House of Lords tomorrow evening.
Some bargaining has taken place in order to get the CSF Bill through in the pre-election "wash up" - effectively, the offensive clauses regarding sex education in PSHE will be omitted.
John Smeaton has more details. SPUC has played a vital part in the campaign against the PSHE provisions in the CSF Bill, and John Smeaton's blog in particular has been an invaluable resource for everyone concerned about the moral education of children.
There is a new website which is dedicated to supporting the Holy Father amidst the media feeding frenzy.
Quite simply it says:
Dear Holy Father,
We, the undersigned, want you to know that you are not alone in your pledge to fight injustice and the ailments in the Church. We want you to know that we trust you in your role as the leader of the Church. We want you to know that we forgive the sins of other members of the Church as we are forgiven. We are praying for you; for your courage, conviction, perseverance, and resolve.
This afternoon, I was given a very unexpected early Easter gift... I left my house to buy some last-minute Easter eggs, and was surprised to see my own little car sitting in the courtyard.
On contacting the garage owner who was fixing my car, he told me that he'd been able to locate a gearbox from Sheffield... and it had been delivered miraculously quickly, against all his expectations... and the fitting had taken less time than anticipated...
So, I have my car back. Deo gratias...
Of course, tomorrow I shall be car-less because I intend to have a drink or two in the parish club after Mass...
This year, Lent (and especially Holy Week) has hit hard. The news has been particularly depressing... more on that later, as it needs a separate post (or several posts) in order to address the media storm. Things have been tricky on a personal level as well... but, as everyone was so quick to point out, a lot of people seem to be having a hard time of it, and I should just offer it up.
Not having a car (and, it being the end of the month, not having the dosh to splash out on minicabs) was particularly difficult. Having problems with both my left knee (from a road-traffic accident I had as a teenager, followed by botched surgery and misdiagnoses) and my right ankle (from a more recent accident when I fell down the sacristy steps) means that I am not the most agile person around, and public transport is not kind to the less able-bodied.
By leaving the house at 5:30am on the Monday of Holy Week, I was able to attend the 7am Low Mass at Blackfen before heading off to school... not having had time to work out the various bus timetables meant that I felt rather rushed, but it worked out surprisingly well. On the Tuesday, we had a Missa Cantata in the evening. I just went to church straight from school, having stopped off to buy some chips for dinner. Because the Passion (St. Mark's) was being sung, it was rather longer than a usual Mass... it was extremely moving, however, and the extra time taken didn't register until I checked my watch at the end!
Members of the regular visiting schola came to help with the singing, and one of our very talented servers sang the part of the Synagoga (he also sang the part of the Chronista for the St. Matthew Passion on Palm Sunday) which was pretty amazing. Sadly, I forgot my camera. I did have my little iPhone with me, but the picture quality isn't brilliant, and the sound on the video leaves much to be desired
After helping to clear away, it was time to make my way home. Fortunately, some very kind friends had lent me the use of their second car. It's much, much bigger than my little Hyundai, and was a bit of a shock. The car is equipped with all sorts of buttons, dials and extra electronic controls... and I haven't the slightest idea what they're for. Yesterday, I finally discovered where the control for adjusting the wing mirrors is... I have also discovered that wearing one high-heeled shoe makes the pedals easier to operate.
On Wednesday morning I made my way to church for another early-morning Low Mass. The Passion of St. Luke was read, so Mass was about 10-15 minutes longer than usual. This was rather interesting for me - one of the more common accusations levelled at the usus antiquior is that the faithful didn't get to hear the Bible. However, in the novus ordo, one only gets to hear one Passion account from the Synoptic Gospels (on Palm Sunday) and the one from St. John on Good Friday... whereas in the usus antiquior, all three Synoptic Passions are read during the course of Holy Week.
The journey to school after Mass was a lot easier than the one on Monday morning. The whole thing was, however, catching up with me, and I didn't have the energy to go to Tenebrae in the centre of town later in the evening.
The Maundy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper was also in the usus antiquior. This was another "first" for me. It was beautiful, and the joyful contrast with the mournful nature of the rest of the Holy Week services was striking. We also had Vespers as part of the evening celebrations, as well as a more formal stripping of the altars.
Afterwards, there was watching at the altar of repose until midnight.
Sadly, once again, I had forgotten my camera. Still, I just had to take a photo of the altar of repose...
I didn't make it to Stations in the morning. I really regret that, as it feels as if I've played truant...
The Good Friday Liturgy nearly always reduces me to tears. I keep wondering what would have happened if Judas hadn't betrayed Jesus... or if Pilate had put his foot down and ignored the Chief Priests... or if the rabble had called for Jesus to be freed instead of Barabbas...
The young man who sang the Synagoga and Chronista parts earlier in the week also got to read the Synagoga part in the novus ordo, as well as acting as the MC. This time I did have my camera. I took a few pictures, but, of course, there wasn't a proper Mass, so the photo opportunities were rather more limited...
I got a better shot of the altar of repose...
Tonight's Easter Vigil promises to be good. Hopefully the rain will hold off this evening, so we can have a good Easter fire. I will also do my best to remember the camera...
I have noticed that the majority of articles on the ash cloud which has completely closed UK airspace refer to it as the eruption of "Iceland's volcano."
It seems that Jonathan isn't a fan of Dangermouse...
Driving tests are very much a rite of passage these days: nearly every 17 year-old I know is having lessons, tests, more lessons...
Next blog up for a mention is that of Nazareth Priest - he's a regular commenter here, and he's always encouraging. His Community has a pretty snazzy website selling icons as well.
An intriguing blog, The Authentic Update, belongs to Chironomo. I wasn't able to access his (??) profile, but he seems to be particularly concerned with good music in the Liturgy... and since he is a fan of the Holy Father, (and has added me to his blogroll) he deserves a mention! And, finally, Faithful Catholic has a student's perspective to share on the liturgy. I rather enjoyed reading his advice to altar servers... so true!
Aine Cooper, the wife of "Sir Dan of the Nesbitry", passed away earlier this week, fortified by the rites of Holy Mother Church.
Our Sacristan is on a well-deserved holiday for two weeks, and, as her assistant, I have stepped into the breach.
There is a new website which is dedicated to supporting the Holy Father amidst the media feeding frenzy.
This afternoon, I was given a very unexpected early Easter gift... I left my house to buy some last-minute Easter eggs, and was surprised to see my own little car sitting in the courtyard.
