The Reluctant Sinner's Less Taken Path...

Mary and Dylan insisted that I get a "blogging exclusive" photo... So, happy to oblige, courtesy of my Android phone, I thought I'd post this one...

Don't Upset The Chefs...

I wanted to take a photo of Trish and Phyllis who are doing the cooking for the Guild meeting. I was warned off, but was told that I could get a preview of dessert...

Never upset the chef...

Guild Meeting Underway

Mary O'Regan steps into the breach to speak to the Guild meeting...

A Warm Welcome...

The kitties appeared to be very pleased to see me when I returned from the Faith Theological Symposium yesterday evening. Furretti wanted to curl up close, and she purred a lot. Miaowrini was also quite welcoming, but, once she realised I was in for the night, she was happy to curl up on the cat bed on top of the wardrobe.

This morning, both cats made a fuss of me.

When I returned home this lunchtime, after Mass and a chat with a friend over tea and biscuits, I found that Miaowrini had brought me a present... the living room floor was covered in feathers, and a large pigeon lay in the midst of the mess.

I'm not sure if this is a "welcome home" present, or a warning of what the cats will do to me if I leave them again...

Anniversary Celebrations...

Fr. Ray Blake is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of St. Mary Magdalen, Brighton, with an impressive series of events. I am almost tempted to relocate to Brighton for a short while... though I doubt that my cats would be able to cope. Monsignor Miaowrini would probably be abducted by the first seagull she attempted to snaffle, and would be dumped mid-Channel. Monsignor Furretti would possibly die from salt-poisoning as a result of licking sea-air encrusted fur...

However, the programme of events is mouth-wateringly good. It will start off with a special celebratory Mass on 27 February, at 7:30pm. Schubert's Mass 2, Bruckner's Locus Iste and a world premiere of Tom Bennett's Tu es Petrus all feature. His Hermeneuticalness will be preaching.

There will be a blessing of the "Mother Riccarda" bus after the Sunday Mass on 4 March, and a series of talks will kick off on Friday 9 March, 2012, at 7:30pm with a talk by James MacMillan.

As Fr. Ray said, everyone is welcome...

Just Because...

I haven't got much time, as someone is waiting to use the computer, and I have no idea if I'll get a chance to use it again later... but, since I'm missing my kitty cats...

Fantastic News About Ramsgate Auction...

A couple of weeks ago there was an announcement about a sale of sacred vessels by the monks formerly at Ramsgate. There were serious concerns that the monks were planning to auction off some beautiful sacred vessels. The possibility of profanation had been mentioned.

Now it seems that common sense has broken out all around. The Bishops' Conference has published a Press Release to announce that the sale of these treasures will not be going ahead, and that the items will remain in Catholic hands, through a private treaty. Some items are being returned to St. Augustine's Church, Ramsgate, while others are being sent to Farnborough Abbey.

This is seriously good news. You can read the full statement here.

Kindle Conundrum...

I have just been given a Kindle as a present, and it's left me with a bit of a dilemma.

Faced with all the hundreds of books I could possibly wish to download and read, I find that my mind has frozen in sheer horror, and I'm unable to do more than gibber quietly at the screen.

Something similar happened to me before - when I went to work in France, I started off by visiting a supermarket to buy some essentials. I was fine until I approached the shelves of cheese. What I really wanted was a nice piece of cheese to go on toast. Unfortunately, faced with what looked like a whole wall of cheese, none of it labelled "cheddar," my brain did somersaults and I fled.

I've downloaded the Douay-Rheims Bible, Hugh Benson's Come Rack, Come Rope, and that's it. So, now we come to the challenge. Rather than leaving this one to moulder in the com-box (because, let's face it, my lack of literary output has left my combox in a pretty parlous state) I think I'm going to start a meme...

So, here are the rules. You post the rules and a link back to the person who tagged you. You also tell them that they've been tagged on their own blog, rather than just hoping they'll discover it for themselves. Then you decide what three books are essential reading for anyone with a Kindle. Reasons would be good, but not essential. Then you tag five people.

If you haven't got a blog, you can use my combox instead. If you are worried you might not get tagged by anyone, do the meme anyway, and link back to me here, leaving a message in the combox... I'll tag you retrospectively...

They are supposed to be reading books, mind you, not reference works or prayer books.

As I'm the one starting this meme, and I'm also genuinely in need of advice, I'm not going to give my three books. Not yet. I'll reconsider when I've finished loading up my Kindle... However, I shall start by tagging The Curt Jester (because he got me started on Librivox Audio Books), Jane from the Oasis (because she's a "proper" author), Ttony out of the Muniment Room (because he's just started blogging again), Paulinus (because I like his off-the-wall approach to life) and Annie Elizabeth (because, as well as being one smart cookie, she's got a houseful of books which she's actually read...)

While We're On The Subject Of Bishops...

I don't really understand the kerfuffle about Obama's Healthcare plan. As the saying goes, when it comes to U.S. politics, I know little and I care less. But I have noticed that there appears to be some sort of problem when it comes to the rights of Catholics (and others) to object to something on moral or religious grounds.

The U.S., Bishops are refusing to acquiesce to the spirit of the age. This is excellent, and their Lordships are to be highly commended for the stand they are taking. They have realised the truth, perhaps, that, once you compromise on a matter of faith and morals, it starts up the whole slippery slope scenario...

Bishops of England & Wales take note. This is how Bishops are supposed to behave...

A New Bishop For Lourdes...

Rather nicely timed for the Feast of the Apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes, it seems that Tarbes & Lourdes is to get a new bishop. He's something of a traditionalist, I think, and Fr. George Byers (who spent some time as a Chaplain at Lourdes) appears to be rather happy about the appointment, so I guess that it must be another of what Leutgeb would call "A. Good. Thing. "

I doubt that we'll notice any changes when we go on the parish pilgrimage to Lourdes later this year (I guess we have to give him time) but it will be interesting to see what effect this appointment will have on attitudes to the usus antiquior being celebrated in the Domaine.

My one regret? That Lourdes can no longer boast of a "Bishop Perrier" in addition to being in possession of statues of St. Remy and St. Martin!

Feeling My Age...

Confirmation classes are upon us once more at Blackfen, and I suddenly realised that I'm getting a little long in the tooth.

Trying to explain the basis for knowing the history of the Church and the evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ, I discovered that none of the girls in my group had ever heard of Julius Caesar...

*sigh*

Seasonal Sufferings...

I have been conquered by some loathsome microbe and am sneezing, coughing and spluttering a lot. My eyeballs ache, which means that sitting in front of a computer screen is not my idea of a fun pastime just now.

This has coincided with the onset of snow. There wasn't very much, but neither of the Monsignori had encountered it before (they were too young this time last year!) Also, if you are only 30cm tall, then a few centimetres of snow is rather uncomfortable. On Sunday morning I was awakened by two very confused cats, who appeared to want me to remove the nasty, cold, wet stuff. I selfishly remained in bed, nursing my cold, until it was time for Mass, and then trudged through the snow in order to clear the catflap ledge and the chair below.

Miaowrini was then happy enough to venture out for a very brief spell, though she returned to warm her paws before too long. Furretti opted to stay in, and has transferred her attentions to the litter box.

Both of them have started to sleep on my bed for warmth... I shall upload photos soon.

The Book Of Wreckovation...

Paulinus has been at it again. He wrote some terrible liturgies back in the day, some of which had me crying with laughter. I'm delighted to see that he's turned his attention to re-writing the Book of Leviticus (at least I think it's Leviticus) for the modern age...

Check it out...

Religious Flash-Mob...

Chris Gillibrand thinks that they've watched Sister Act just once too often. Personally I think it would have had far more impact if all of the Religious involved had been in their full traditional habits... the inclusion of track-suited and pink-fleeced nuns rather spoiled the effect. After all, there was nothing to show that they were actually nuns...

Flashmob "Brother & Sister Act, missionnaires de... by corref

Card-Carrying Catholics...?

"If I were to be arrested tomorrow, and charged with being a Catholic, would they find enough evidence to convict me?"

I can't remember where that quote comes from - it's paraphrased a bit - but it has always struck a chord.  It seems that the Bishops of England & Wales have been thinking similar thoughts, because they have come up with the idea that Catholics should actually carry a card which states clearly that they are Catholics, and which explains what being Catholic actually entails.

In the same way as cards already produced by other groups such as the Association of Catholic Women, it asks for a Catholic priest to be contacted in an emergency. In the current climate, I'd have thought a statement about not stopping food and fluids under the guise of "stopping unduly burdensome medical treatment" might also be rather necessary!

I like the idea of carrying some form of indication of my Catholic identity... but I did think that my rosary was a pretty clear statement...

Candlemas...

Tomorrow sees the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, more popularly known as Candlemas. It's one of my favourite feast days, and happens to be the anniversary of the arrest of my patron saint, Anne Line.

St. Anne, as I've mentioned before, was arrested and charged with harbouring a Catholic priest - although the priest managed to escape, the presence of the Mass vessels and vestments was considered sufficient evidence for a conviction. Feisty lady that she was, she declared boldly, first at her trial, and later on the scaffold, that her only regret was that she couldn't have helped a thousand priests.

The feast day is now more commonly referred to as the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, partly because of a misguided attempt to downplay the idea that "purification" was needed after childbirth, because the Church thought of sex and birth as something shameful and unclean.

Nothing could be further from the truth, and this is borne out by the phrase used to describe the cleaning of the chalice and paten after Communion: purifying the sacred vessels. It doesn't mean that the vessels are dirty after having held Our Lord's Body and Blood. The purification is removing all traces of the Sacred species, so as to allow the return of the vessels to "normal" use - I use inverted commas because the sacred Mass vessels aren't used for any other purpose, but they are placed in a safe or cupboard to await the next Mass.

The Purification of Our Lady can be seen in the same way - pregnancy and childbirth were considered so special that a woman needed to be brought back into everyday circulation, so to speak, and this was even more true for Our Lady, who bore the Body and Blood of Our Lord and God within her womb for nine months.

We've got a Missa Cantata tomorrow night, starting at 8pm, at Blackfen, so I shall try to get some photos. I'm also looking forward to getting a blessed candle to go with my blessed chalk...

Time For Dessert...

I like to eat out. Unfortunately, since watching this clip from Smack the Pony, I have developed a tendency to score the waiters and waitresses on their "dessert faces" and try to assess whether they've been on the training course...

...This has the unfortunate consequence of making me dissolve into fits of giggles when I'm asked if I'd like to see the dessert menu.

Women Drivers...

It is a well-known fact that women are terrible at parking cars. Obviously, this is a huge generalisation, but like the so-called "old wives' tale" about wet and windy weather sending children round the bend (even recognised by teaching unions and mentioned in their literature when I was training!), there is enough truth in it to cause insurance companies to offer lower-cost insurance to women. Female drivers are more likely to have low-cost bumps and scrapes when parking, whereas men tend to go in for the higher-speed collisions.

I'm not brilliant at parking. I'm convinced that it is something genetic - women's brains are just wired up differently. We're less spatially aware than men. We are, however, much better at everything else...

Each morning, I walk through a car park (belonging to another organisation.) At the time I walk past, there are no cars parked yet. On two occasions this week, a car has actually driven in, and parked up. Each time something very close to the following scenario actually happened...

Yes, it was a woman driver. Yes, she actually got out to check the lines, and got back in again... She did succeed in parking eventually...

Evangelium 2012...

I see that Evangelium have uploaded a very good video trailer to advertise their Summer Conference. The conference is to be held at the Reading Oratory School Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th August, 2012. The theme is explaining the Catholic faith in the modern world.

You can book online or download a form by visiting the Conference Booking page. It looks marvellous, and I'd love to go, though I doubt I could convince anyone that I fitted into the target age-bracket...

A Chant Training Day & Mass

I've been asked to let people know that the Southwark branch of the Latin Mass Society is having a Mass offered for the intentions of all local LMS members. It will be a Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate in St George's Cathedral, Southwark on Saturday 11 February 2012 at 10:30am, with Gregorian chant sung by the Cathedral Choir.

On the same day, there will be a Gregorian Chant Training Day with tutors Nick Gale and Mark Johnson. The schedule will be as follows:

11:45 Course begins, registration, plenary session with Nick Gale
13:00 Lunch (bring packed lunch)
13:45 Chant Course afternoon sessions (Nick Gale and Mark Johnson)
15:30 Break
15:45 Rehearsal for Vespers
16:30 First Vespers of Sexagesima
17:00 Ends

Cost for Gregorian Chant Course: £15 (£10 LMS members)

To register interest for the Gregorian Chant Training Day please send an email.