"Cool Church" to have UK premiere in Cardiff

"Cool Church" or, to give it the original Dutch title, "Koele Kerk" is a musical theatrical production based on the history of Christianity from Genesis to present day. Originating in Holland where it has enjoyed a season of playing to full houses, its producers, Troo Leeh Orribelle Productions of Eindhoven, are to bring it to Great Britain for the pre Christmas period this year.

 The main reasons for the success of this show is that it is performed on ice, all 90 minutes of it and it also  features a cast comprised entirely of 78 Cistercian Monks.

The premier will take place at the International Ice Rink in Cardiff in late November and other venues include the Giggleswick Ice Empire, Cheltenham  Arena and the London Ice Palladium before being transferred to the USA in the Spring of 2012.

A highlight of "Cool Church" is the guest appearance
of  Ursuline Nun, Sister Brunella

It is anticipated that this production could attract the attention of Catholic traditionalists who may object to the inclusion of several musical adaptations from scores by Sir Elton John and Lady GaGa but the promoters are confident that the show will be as popular in England and Wales as it was in The Netherlands.
Full booking details are available here.

India: Population rise slows, literacy grows, girls vanish

The Times of India reports...

'Census 2011`s provisional data, released on Thursday, affirms the India growth story — population growth slowing down and the number of literates growing, especially female literates. The census is the sole data base in India that the government uses to formulate its policies.

The Census also reaffirms another fact — a fact so disturbing that it could cast a shadow on the positive developments: Girls seem to have no place in India`s growth story. The data shows that the sex ratio for children below 6 years has dropped from 927 to a dismal 914 girls for every 1,000 boys. The gender bias yet again draws attention to a lingering societal flaw that economic growth is not being able to correct.

India`s literacy rate has gone up to 74% nationwide for people aged 7 and older, from 64.8% ten years ago. Offsetting the general gender bias is the fact that of the 217 million literates added, 110 million are women, outnumbering men.

Improved medical technology, education and improvement in quality of life in the last decade has resulted in the overall gender ratio improving from 933 women for 1,000 men to 940. The female population has risen by 18.1% and has reached 586.5 million.

However, improvement in technology and spawning of mini-vans with sex determination machines chugging across villages has meant that baby girls are more at risk than ever before. Registrar General of India C Chandramouli said, ``This is a matter of grave concern.``

The gender imbalance continues despite a ban on sex determination tests based on ultrasound scans and sex selective abortion. Union home secretary G K Pillai, who was present when the data was released, said the government`s policies aimed at arresting the declining child sex ratio needed a ``complete review``. He added, ``Whatever measures that have been put in place over the last 40 years have not had any impact on the ratio.``

Sounds rather like just banning "sex-selective" abortions is not the answer to India's unfolding demographic tragedy.

The debate that splits the Catholic Church.....

.....This debate has set father against son, daughter against mother, friends have parted company over it and it's best not to discuss it if alcohol has been taken. It has gone on for years and H/T to Bones for reminding me that it is in the news once more.......


......is it permissible eat hot cross buns on Good Friday or not?

Does it also make you hot and cross
when these are eaten on Good Friday?

In my book it's a definite no! How can you indulge in consuming these delicious spiced buns on a day of fasting, abstinence and penance? And you cannot get away with it by arguing the case that, because they are adorned with a cross sign it is all approved by Holy Mother Church.

Yet I know many Catholics (from both ends of the spectrum) who will eat hot cross buns as part of the tradition of Good Friday. They are conning themselves, it breaks with tradition, it is wrong.

By the way, please do not think that I am being bunphobic - I have a passion for these things but save it until Holy Saturday!

Study: Abortion Increases Suicide Risk

I posted some of this article on Tom Chivers' post for The Telegraph yesterday. The next time I looked at his comments section it had been wiped. I wonder why...

Study: Abortion increases suicide risk

13-year examination also finds higher rate of accidents, homicide

'Women who have an abortion face a 248 percent greater risk of suicide, accidental death or homicide in the following year, according to a newly released 13-year Finnish study. The survey also found the suicide rate among women who had an abortion was six times higher than for women who had given birth in the prior year and double that of women who had miscarriages.

The study was conducted by Finland's National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health and published in the European Journal of Public Health. The researchers studied data from the years 1987 to 2000 on all deaths among women of reproductive age, 15 to 49.

While the risk of death among women who had given birth in the prior year was lowest, death from suicide, accidents and homicide was highest among women who had an abortion in the previous year. Women who had been pregnant had less than half the death rate of women who had not been pregnant. The risk of death for women who had suffered a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy did not noticeably differ from women who had not been pregnant.

The findings confirm other studies carried out in the United States, as well as Finland, that showed an increase in the death risk of women who have abortions. In 1997, a government-funded study in Finland found that women who had abortions were 3.5 times more likely to die the following year than women who had given birth.

Furthermore, researchers looking at death records linked to medical payments for birth and abortion for 173,000 California women discovered there was a 62 percent higher chance of death for aborting women than delivering women over the eight-year period that was examined. The study also found that the increase in the risk of death was from suicides and accidents. It showed a 154 percent higher risk of death from suicide and 82 percent higher risk of death from accidental injuries.

The main author of the California study, David Reardon, said record-linkage studies like this one are key to getting an accurate picture of pregnancy associated mortality rates. "In most cases, coroners simply have no way of knowing that the deceased recently had an abortion, which is why these new record-linkage studies are so important," Reardon said.

Government health officials in Finland found in a recent study that 94 percent of maternal deaths involving abortion could not be identified by merely looking at a death certificate. This discovery applies to the data published by the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S.

Also, previous studies draw links between women who get abortions and an increase in substance abuse, anxiety, sleep disorders, suicidal thoughts, psychiatric illness, relationship problems and risk-taking behavior, which could easily lead to death by suicide or accident.

Beyond that, authors of the new Finland study suggested there might be common risk factors between having induced abortion and dying from accidental injury. They called on medical professionals to be aware of these risks. "Women seeking abortions should be informed that abortion is associated with significant physical and mental health risks, and it also deprives them of numerous physical and mental health benefits associated with childbirth." Reardon said. He added, it's "especially important for health care providers to be aware of these risks and the risk factors which identify those women who are at highest risk. Providing women with the resources to help them resolve emotional issues relating to past abortions will not only increase their well-being but may possibly save their lives," he said.'

Strange, eh?

The slaughter of dolphins causes outrage....but no concern for life in the womb

There is a circular letter currently being passed around the internet. It carries photographs of the annual slaughter of Calderon Dolphins by young men on the Faroe Islands. It is not a pretty sight; the sea is stained with blood as the beautiful creatures are driven into a bay of shallow water where the savage killing takes place.

Abhorrent? Yes, but human abortion is more so

 I like dolphins, I believe they are intelligent creatures who do not deserve to die in this manner in the 21st century but I also believe that many of those who are scandalised at this barbaric practice and who may sign the letter, are unconcerned about what happens in an abortuary.
I recall a tour of Japan I made some years ago. The party comprised a prominent Labour Peer, a Grandee of the Tory party, a British Captain of Industry and a Japanese entrepreneur. It was a gruelling tour and we reached Tokyo after 5 days solid speech making and political meetings.
That night, as we ate in a restaurant, tempers were frayed after being in such close confinement. I instigated a debate to liven things up and to get the group together again. We debated the rights and wrongs of abortion and I suffered a heavy defeat. They argued that it was the right of the individual to choose; I was shouted down.
All agreed that it had been a rallying occasion and so I suggested another debate. The evening was quite early and they had enjoyed their victory so I suggested that we discuss fox hunting. By now they had got the bit between their teeth and they went for me hammer and tongs (I was in favour and they were vociferously anti). They argued that the dumb animal felt pain and that it was primitive for men to hunt animals in such a fashion.
Again, the vote came down 4 to 1 in their favour and they settled down rather pleased with themselves. "So what" I asked: "happened to individual choice?" "What happens to a baby in the womb when a surgeon destroys its life?"

Of course, I do not condone the killing of dolphins in such a mass murder fashion but my concerns are with the unborn child. I will not sign any letter requesting that the Faroe Islanders cease their killing until all abortion clinics closed and the law makes the taking of human life a crime once more. Then I will forgo fox hunting and sign the dolphin petition!

Hot Cross Buns are Addictive

On offer at the moment on a 2 for 1 deal at Sainsburys. I'll bet these little beauties are selling like hot cakes. They are meant to be Lenten, I think, but personally I find them very moreish! I'm hooked and its getting sinful! If you really want to save money, you can make them, care of a recipe from our Delia.

Get a Jacuzzi in Your Bath!

A friend of mine has bought a jacuzzi for his bath. It looks rather frightening but it could be yours for just £64.99. Thought you could only get a jacuzzi in your bath by breaking wind repeatedly? Think again and buy it here.

Runner for Andrex Commercial

Tomorrow I am going to be a runner for an Andrex commercial being staged in Brighton. Bizarre but true. This could be my big break in TV. I don't know about you but I've always wanted to see the Andrex puppy in real life. I wonder if he is the same one from the 1980s and 90s. He's so cute when he runs off with the toilet roll!

Update: I've been told it is actually a Dulux commercial not an Andrex commercial. It is definitely not a Durex commercial. It is a Dulux commercial. So the question is, will I get to meet this dog?

The sort of trade unions I like!

One of the many casualties of the Reformation in Great Britain were the Guilds of Craftsmen.

These guilds existed for every occupation in just about every English and Welsh parish prior to Henry VIII's rampage against the Catholic Faith. They were a form of security, professional companionship and a vehicle to support the pious elements that existed as part of the guild structure.

Blacksmiths, weavers, metalworkers, foresters, ropemakers, think of a craft and there would be a guild in a given town or village comprising of a few good men who enjoyed feasting, fasting and the faith and who pooled their resources to their common temporal and spiritual good.

When a guild was formed the first action would be to elect a patron saint; the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady were among the most popular and then, of course, saints would be selected often according to their own occupations. So St Peter might be the guild patron for fishermen and St Hubert the patron of huntsmen.

In effect, the guild provided a framework of welfare and pastoral needs to its members. Those who fell on hard times would receive a small allowance, a widow of a member might receive financial aid or a member dying away from his home village would have the benefit of a delegation of members travelling to collect the body at their expense. There was always the strength and support of members should one of them require aid.

In a spiritual sense the guild provided money for a candle to be constantly lit before the image of their patron saint, a pledge for all members to attend the Requiem Mass of one of their own and prayers for the souls of members were a daily practice.
The feasting was an integral part that flowed from the spiritual. A Blessed Sacrament Guild would, on the feast of Corpus Christi, attend Mass as a group, process around the town with their banners and end up with some pretty rigorous feasting in the best of British Catholic traditions.

The duties of the guilds were not restricted to members only; social events for the whole parish would be undertaken as would deeds of charity, SVP style.



Banner of St Winifrede of Wales
patron saint of the Tailors and Skinners Guild

 Some larger guilds even began to invest funds (members subscriptions) for the good of members. Livestock was purchased and hired out to members and loans were made to brothers wanting to expand their enterprise.

By the time Edward VI came to the throne, the day of the guilds were numbered and, by the end of his short reign they had disappeared never to return. O tempora O mores!

Michael Voris on the 'Taliban Catholics' Slur...

You tell 'em, Bro!

Planned Parenthood Exposed...

It would be grossly naive to think Marie Stopes and BPAS are any better than this. It would also be grossly naive to think you can trust an organisation that kills human beings routinely, daily, with the task of providing women with information concerning the physical and psychological risks posed by abortion.

This video is something else. Incredible, in fact. The head of Planned Parenthood's 'operations' in the US says on national TV, that if federal funding is removed or cut, women will be denied access to mammograms - which would deny them not just abortion, but healthcare (even though Planned Parenthood usually couches abortion in the language of healthcare anyway...). LiveAction's Lila Rose got on the phone in the wake of the Cecile Richards interview to call loads of Planned Parenthood clinics and ask whether they provided mammograms. The answer? None of them do! Either the head of Planned Parenthood in the US is totally ignorant of the services her organisation provides or she is a whopping, great big liar...you decide!

H/T Creative Minority Report

Myra Hindley was 'pro-choice'...

...until she became a Catholic, that is, and became 'pro-life'. The only difference is that Myra Hindley exercised her choice to kill other people's children.

Tom Chivers has written a Telegraph blog post entitled 'Abortion and the Right to Know'.


In the post, he maintains...

'I don’t want to get into the abortion debate as a whole, especially. Regular readers will know I’m firmly pro-choice, but I acknowledge that, for people who believe (I don’t) that human life begins at conception, it is indistinguishable from murder. It’s an important debate and a serious one, but not one to be had here.'

That's convenient. Needless to say, however, the debate is being had there anyway, in the comments section. He has taken to task Frank Field and Nadine Dorris and others over a website advocating the 'Right to Know' of expectant mothers concerning the psychological trauma caused by abortion that affects a percentage of those who undergo the ghastly procedure. According to the website...

'The Right to Know Campaign is backing an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill being laid by Nadine Dorries MP and Rt Hon. Frank Field MP. The amendment would ensure that women considering an abortion would be guaranteed access to independent information and advice from someone who had no vested financial interest in the outcome of their decision.'

Quite how they would ensure access to this is anyone's guess. Would the Government not be relying heavily on the BPAS and Marie Stopes International to distribute this information? How compliant would they be with regulations such as that? Such a move might hit their abortion rates and that would mean less profit.

The percentage quoted on the website is that of '30% of women' who procure abortions and who are traumatised as a result. Tom asks what the source of the percentage is and tells us that a link to a study doesn't feature on the website. He is right. He therefore keeps the remit of his blog post very slim. The question is, does it really matter what the percentage is? Even if it were only 1%, that one percent of women deserve access to information so that they may know of the experiences of others. Abortion, yes, even in schools, is shrouded in secrecy. People tend not to tell everyone they're going to have one. It's not like getting a tattoo. And ,after all, abortion clinics themselves don't ask their customers to fill out a customer survey form asking whether they feel, post-abortion, a) uplifted, b) relieved, c) terribly guilty, d) depressed or e) traumatised. Perhaps someone knows different, but I doubt that post-abortion care is particularly caring.

The 'Right to Know' website looks very good. I expect that ultimately Field and Dorris wish to see a reduction in abortions, rather than the outright ban that the abortion industry truly deserves, but still, this is quite an important development in the debate that Marie Stopes and the BPAS wish to close rather than see open in the UK. Women do deserve to know the truth about abortion. Society makes light of an issue over which women have actually committed suicide. They also deserve to see the ultrasound scan of the little baby in their wombs, before they make the decision of whether or not to destroy their baby's lives and to do terrible damage to their own. Interesting, isn't it, that Tom Chivers decided to focus on whether the rate of trauma is 30% or not, instead of putting up this video, on the website, of one woman's story of the destructive personal effects of abortion? But then, the last thing that the abortion industry and those in the media who support its practice, want to slip out into the mainstream media, is the truth.

More of GKC courtesy of The Chivalrous Plan

I am indebted to The Chivalrous Plan for reminding me of Chesterton's
'The Song of the Strange Ascetic'

If I had been a Heathen,
I’d have praised the purple vine,
My slaves should dig the vineyards,
And I would drink the wine.
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And his slaves grow lean and grey,
That he may drink some tepid milk
Exactly twice a day.

If I had been a Heathen,
I’d have crowned Neaera’s curls,
And filled my life with love affairs,
My house with dancing girls;
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And to lecture rooms is forced,
Where his aunts, who are not married,
Demand to be divorced.

If I had been a Heathen,
I’d have sent my armies forth,
And dragged behind my chariots
The Chieftains of the North.
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And he drives the dreary quill,
To lend the poor that funny cash
That makes them poorer still.

If I had been a Heathen,
I’d have piled my pyre on high,
And in a great red whirlwind
Gone roaring to the sky;
But Higgins is a Heathen,
And a richer man than I:
And they put him in an oven,
Just as if he were a pie.

Now who that runs can read it,
The riddle that I write,
Of why this poor old sinner,
Should sin without delight-
But I, I cannot read it
(Although I run and run),
Of them that do not have the faith,
And will not have the fun.

RIP Farley Granger

"Would you please get out of here and leave me alone?"

But Farley, I like you!

Catholic Emancipation and the feast that followed

I am sorry to impose this on you in the season of Lent but this is a feast too good to hang on to....I have to share it!

The occasion? Following the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 Sir Robert Throckmorton, a noted and prominent Catholic of Coughton Court, Warwickshire, became, in 1831, the first Catholic since the Reformation, to sign the Oath of Allegiance and to take his seat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament.

If ever an event called for a feast it was this one. It might be worth recounting just what Catholics had to put up with since the 17th Century. We were not allowed to vote, our churches could not be built near a main road but had to be accommodated down a side street, our land ownership attracted higher taxes than our Protestant countrymen and if anyone took a fancy to our horses, they could claim them as their own and we would have to hand them over without a quibble. The horse was, of course, more vital than a car in today's world so imagine someone walking up to you today and laying hold of the keys to your beloved BMW or Fiesta. You might be more than a little miffed!

So small wonder that the Throckmorton family rejoiced at this post Emancipation progress and invited the great and the good to join with them in a feast. The dining room at Coughton accommodates around twenty people, sadly, I have no information as to whom they were.

For the trenchermen amongst you, here is the menu of the day:-

Feast to celebrate Sir Robert Throckmorton’s

appointment in 1831 as the first Catholic Member

of Parliament since the Reformation

FIRST COURSE

Asparagus Soup

Oxtail Soup

Salmon with lobster sauce

Fried filleted Soles

MAIN COURSE

Lamb cutlets and Cucumber

Fricandeau of Veal

Lobster Pudding

Stewed Mushrooms

Saddle of Lamb

Braised Ham

Roast Veal

Vegetables

PUDDINGS

Charlotte Russe

Almond Cheesecake

Gooseberry Tart

Vanilla Cream

Ices

This all has a very solid 19^th Century English cooking ring about it, nothing to excite the appetite too much in modern terms but, of course, at a time when there was no artificial refrigeration, the provision of ices (and fish) must have been quite challenging.

Ninotchka

Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) is a bipolar film. The first half of the movie is a side-splitting comedy of errors laced with vicious anti-Communist satire. Then the movie shifts gears into a rather treacly, mopey drama, resulting in an unsatisfying conclusion.

Three Soviet diplomats - Ivanoff (Sig Ruman), Buljanoff (Felix Bressart) and Kopalski (Alexander Granach) - arrive in Paris to sell Tsarist jewelry. Enraptured by the carefree capitalist society around them, the diplomats "go native" immediately, causing their boss (Bela Lugosi) to send the stern, emotionless diplomat Nina Yakushova (Greta Garbo) to complete the task. Nina catches the eye of Leon (Melvyn Douglas), a Russian emigre whose paramour, Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire), wants him to recover her jewels from the Bolsheviks at all costs. Nina and Leon fall for one another, but their romance is complicated by the Duchess's scheming and Nina's devotion to the USSR.

Ninotchka begins as a truly hilarious comedy, mixing pointed wit with unadulterated silliness. Watching Greta Garbo spout off emotionless technical jargon like a Commie Terminator is hysterical, and the trio of diplomats are funnier than they ought to be. The culture clash humor, with the humorless Russkies bumbling around decadent Paris, seems almost quaint, but it's so well-written and acted it can't help being funny.

Lubitsch provides a pointed attack on Soviet Russia, more intelligent than the bellicose Red Nightmare variety of anti-Communism. Writers Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett some rather pointed jabs at gulags, collectivization and show trials: Leon's "I've been fascinated by your Five-Year Plan for the last fifteen years!" is my favorite. Lubitsch doesn't romanticize the fallen aristocracy: the Grand Duchess, a delusional, acid-tongued biddie who thinks the world revolves around her, shows Tsarist Russia for what it was. But neither is the alternative - Stalin's dehumanizing, regimented "socialist paradise" - any better. Capitalism and liberal democracy are the way to go, even if the finale takes a hilarious parting shot.

Then there's the second half. After the scene where "Garbo laughs," the movie takes an abrupt right turn, the laughs transforming into straight melodrama. Some scenes work (Nina's confrontation with the Duchess), but most make little impression, and the film frankly becomes mawkish in the final reels. Perhaps I jumped the gun in my Sabrina review in blaming Wilder for such awkward shifts in tone; he may well have learned it from Lubitsch.

To be fair to Lubitsch, the tonal shift seems deliberate in Ninotchka, whereas in Wilder's comedies the film goes from gag to gag until the bottom drops out. Still, whatever the intention it's unsatisfying on a dramatic level. The drama is played too straight, with laughs almost nonexistent, bearing little relation to the film's first half. The leads do have chemistry in the comedy scenes, but it dries up afterwards. The characters are too ridiculous to survive the transition to seriousness, with Leon in particular suffering from the change. Thus a brilliantly hilarious film transforms into something less appealing.

Redeeming a lot are the performances, especially Greta Garbo. Garbo makes Nina funny, endearing and poignant in turn, sending up her ultra-stern screen image with aplomb. Melvyn Douglas (Billy Budd) is convincing enough as a charming cad, less so as a love-sick leading man. Ina Claire is appropriately hateful, and Alexander Granach (Hangmen Also Die!), Sig Rauman (Stalag 17) and Felix Bressart (To Be or Not to Be) give hilarious support as the bumbling diplomats. Bela Lugosi gets a showy cameo as the humorless Commissar.

Ninotchka is an intelligent, funny film that doesn't quite reach classic status. It's the hilarious first hour that sticks with me, while the dramatic final half fades into the deep recesses of memory.

I don't like the term 'Taliban Catholic'.....

....and neither does Michael Voris apparently.
H/T to Christine at A Catholic View.

A little known Welsh Marian shrine

The Shrine of Our Lady of Penhrys is located in The Valleys, which, as the name suggests are a series of valley villages that begin just 20 minutes or so by road from the capital city of Wales, Cardiff. Each valley has its own character and ambience and the people are tough, resilient and used to life's hard knocks (there has not been much employment in the region since the coal industry went into decline).
The history of the Shrine is taken from the website but I cannot find the link. Sorry.

Statue of Our Lady of Penrhys in Cardiff's St David's Cathedral

The beginning of devotion to Mary at Penrhys is shrouded in legend but it is certain that from Medieval times there was a Shrine to Our Lady of Penrhys that flourished for many years.
In 1179 the Cistercian monks founded an Abbey at Llantarnam, and in 1205, Llantarnam Abbey and Margam Abbey agreed on a boundary between the two monasteries, which meant that Penrhys was within the boundary of Llantarnam, some 25 miles away.  The monks built a grange there, enabling them to care for their land and sheep in the outer regions of their property.  The original complex of buildings also included a hostelry maintained by the monks for the pilgrims, and possibly a grange farm house.
Tradition has it that an image of Mary was discovered in an oak tree and, as news spread, crowds of ordinary men and women flocked from far and wide.  The statue was thought to have been immovable from the oak tree until a Shrine chapel had been erected on top of Penrhys Mountain, just above the Holy Well.  Over the well stands a small stone hut-like structure.  ‘White wine runs in the rill,’ said one poet,‘ that can kill pain and fatigue.’
During the time of the Reformation in 1538, the shrine was destroyed and the image seized under cover of darkness.  Thomas Cromwell instructed his emissaries to act ‘with quietness and secret manner as might be’ but were confronted by an ‘audience’ who we can assume had to be overawed before the image could be taken away to Chelsea and burned in the same fire as the images of Our Lady of Walsingham and Our Lady of Ipswich.  (and possibly, Our Lady of the Taper) ‘It will not be all day in burning,’ said Latimer in a letter to Cromwell.
Although the Shrine was destroyed, it is recorded by William Llewellyn, writing in 1862, that in the previous twenty years, there were accounts of people making pilgrimages to the top of Penrhys Mountain.  The Roman Catholic Archbishop Michael McGrath (1940-1961) furthered the modern popularity of the Shrine.  He was anxious to purchase the land on the top of Penrhys Mountain for the Roman Catholic Church in Wales. A statue of Our Lady of Penrhys was erected in 1953 which stands on the foundations of the former chapel. 
 

Prayer of Reparation to Our Lady of Penrhys

          O Most Holy Virgin and our Mother who appeared at Penrhys,

we listen with grief to the complaints of your Immaculate Heart

surrounded with a crown of thorns placed therein at every moment

by the blasphemies and ingratitude shown to you in the Middle Ages

and every year since.

We are moved to beseech you dear Queen of Penrhys because it is

our urgent desire to love you as our Mother and of promoting your devotion

restoring the special place you made here so many years ago.

We kneel to manifest the sorrow we feel for all the grievances that people

have caused you in the Middle Ages up to now.  We are willing

to atone now by our prayers and sacrifices for the offences with

which they return your love.  Obtain for them and for us the pardon

of so many sins.

Hasten the conversion of sinners that they may love Jesus and cease to

offend the Lord, already so much offended.  Turn your eyes of mercy

toward us, that we may love God with all our heart on earth

and enjoy Him forever in heaven.

Our Lady of Penrhys, Pray for us!

Our Lady of Reconciliation, Pray for us!

Jesus of Nazareth II by Pope Benedict XVI

'

Well, I've just finished reading Jesus of Nazareth Part II by Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy Father's exploration of the Person of Jesus Christ is really quite fascinating, engrossing - I found it hard to put down.

The book is scholarly, displays the Holy Father's great erudition but is tenderly human as well, revealing a true Pastor's heart. Much of it is highly quotable - too much of it to quote really here.

As well as using this book as an opportunity to make a comprehensive account of the Faith of Christ, His Holiness also cuts like a surgeon's knife through so much modern theology produced by men and women (mostly Germans it seems!) that create confusion over the Person of Jesus. This the Holy Father does largely by rooting the portrait of Jesus in the Scriptures - not just the New Testament - but constantly referencing the Old Testament, pointing to Jesus as the one who was to come - the Messiah.

Several things leap out of the book. Again and again Pope Benedict XVI focuses on Jesus as the Suffering Servant spoken of in Isaiah. He manages to capture the whole, vivid drama of Our Lord's Agony in the Garden, as He confronts death and sin, and the whole of His Passion. His Holiness spends a concerted period delving into the mystery of the Temple's destruction and Christ's prophecy of its fate, with Our Lord becoming the new Temple, the new High Priest and the only Sacrifice which could atone for the sins of the World.

In all of this, the Holy Father is generous with those who look upon the historical Jesus with a quizzical eye of reason without the integrity of faith, but wastes no time in dispatching their arguments back to where they belong. It really is very interesting that he has written this book at this time - as if he realises all too well that it is when we do not understand the Person of Jesus Christ, that we do not understand either, the Church's Holy Teachings, Her Authority.

When we cannot believe in the Humanity and the Divinity of Christ, it is then that we really come a-cropper. As you read the book, it becomes clearer that this is what the Holy Father is at great pains to communicate - the God-Man, Jesus, who loved us so much that no amount of agony, no amount of suffering, pain, cruelty, rejection and torture was too much to bear for us - the God-Man who loves us still with that burning intensity. His beautiful exegesis of the one Person with two natures is exemplified here, when Pope Benedict XVI discusses Gethesemene...

'The two parts of Jesus's prayer are presented as the confrontation between two wills: there is the "natural will" of the man Jesus, which resists the appalling destructiveness of what is happening and wants to plead that the chalice pass from him; and there is the "filial will" that abandons itself totally to the Father's will. In order to understand this mystery of the "two wills" as much as it is possible, it is helpful to take a look at John's version of the prayer. Here, too, we find the same two prayers on Jesus's lips: "Father save me from this hour...Father, glorify your name" (Jn 12:27-28).

The relationship between these two prayers in John's account is essentially no different from what we find in the Synoptics. The anguish of Jesus' human soul [...] impels him to pray for deliverance from this hour. Yet his awareness of the mission, his knowledge that it was for this hour that he came, enables him to utter the second prayer - the prayer that God glorify his name; it is Jesus' acceptance of the horror of the Cross, his ignominious experience of being stripped of all dignity and suffering a shameful death, that becomes the glorification of God's name. For in this way, God is manifested as he really is: the God who, in the unfathomable depth of his self-giving love, sets the true power of good against all the powers of evil.. Jesus uttered both prayers, but the first one, asking for deliverance, merges into the second one, asking for God to be glorified by the fulfillment of his will - and so the conflicting elements blend into unity deep within the heart of Jesus' human existence.'

If you haven't bought it, buy it. It is a masterful work of spiritual literature and perfect reading for Lent. Pope Benedict is intellectual but not showy. He is humble, but not timid or afraid to ask difficult questions and to challenge perceptions. He reveals himself as a Pope who is ever, always seeking the Face of God.

Lent is a good time to remember those in Purgatory

Lenten prayers may release a soul to Heaven

O gentlest Heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the soul of your departed servant (name). Be not severe in your judgement, but let some drops of Your Precious Blood fall upon him/her, and send, O merciful Saviour, Your angels to conduct him/her to a place of refreshment, light and peace. Amen.

Thanks for this prayer to Salve Regina

Still time for Archbishop Nichols to concede gracefully?

As the Cardinal Vaughan fight to retain the Catholic ethos and nature of the school rumbles on, even more big guns have signed up in support.
H/T Damian Thompson.



Lord Alton, joining the fight for the Vaughan

 The latest additions to the impressive list of patrons are Lord Alton of Liverpool, an ex teacher and a noted anti abortion campaigner and Dr Ralph Townsend, Headmaster of Winchester College and a leading Catholic.

Now is surely the time for the Archbishop to withdraw and face up to the fact that, even if Westminster Diocese wins the legal battle, the moral battle will have been won by the Vaughan Parents and Teachers. Fight the battles that you can win is a good maxim, never more appropriate than at this time.

Archbishop Nichols would not be diminished by a withdrawal; Catholics throughout England and Wales, would, I believe, give him credit for taking it on the chin.

Here is a full biographical list of those who are sticking up for the Catholic faith on the side of Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School - at present, one of the best in the UK.....

 The Patrons of the Vaughan Parents' Action Group are:

LORD ALTON 

He qualified as a teacher in 1972, working in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods, teaching immigrant children and later children with special needs.  While still a student, aged 21, he was elected to Liverpool City Council and became its Housing Chairman and Deputy Leader.

Elected in 1979 to the House of Commons for a Liverpool constituency, as a Liberal, becoming the youngest member and achieving a record political swing.

He was his Party’s spokesman on Home Affairs, Northern Ireland, Overseas Development and the Environment, and served as Chief Whip, Chairman of the Party’s Policy Committee and President of the National League of Young Liberals.

In 1997 he stood down from the House of Commons, and from party politics, and was nominated by the Prime Minister, Sir John Major, to the House of Lords, where he sits as an Independent Life Peer, speaking regularly on human rights and religious liberty issues. 

Honours

Among the international awards he has received are the Michael Bell Memorial Award for Initiatives for Life, the Korean Mystery of Life Award, and the Advocates International Award for human rights work.  In 2005 he was created a Knight Commander of the Military Order of Constantine and St. George in recognition of his work for inter-faith and ecumenical dialogue. In 2008 Pope Benedict XVI created him a Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory in recognition of his work for human rights and religious liberty.

PROFESSOR DAVID CRYSTAL

Professor David Crystal is one of the world's leading experts on language and linguistics. Formerly Professor of Linguistics at Reading University, he is now Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, and President of the National Literacy Association. He was educated at St Mary's College, Crosby and University College, London. He has written more than 40 books including The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, The St John Gospel and Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language, and numerous articles on the language of liturgy.

PROFESSOR FELIPE FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO

Professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto joined the history department of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana in 2009. This is one of the leading Catholic universities in the USA and is one of the oldest, having been founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1844. Professor Fernandez-Armesto teaches at its London Centre. Previously he occupied chairs at Tufts University and London University (Queen Mary's College) and before that was an Oxford don. He has had visiting appointments at many universities and research institutes in Europe and the Americas, and has honorary doctorates from La Trobe University and the Universidad de los Andes. His latest book 1492: The Year Our World Began has just been issued in paperback.

PATTI FORDYCE

Mrs Fordyce is a former Chairman of the Governing Body of Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. She is an author of a chapter on St Margaret Ward in English Catholic Heroines and is a former Wimbledon doubles finalist.

PROFESSOR LUKE GORMALLY

Professor Luke Gormally is the former Director and Senior Research Fellow of the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, described by Bishop Anthony Fisher O.P. as "not just the premier Christian bioethics institute in Britain but one of the finest in the world, Christian or secular". It was recently renamed the Anscombe Bioethics Centre after the famous philosopher and Catholic convert, Professor Elizabeth Anscombe (Professor Gormally's late mother-in-law). From 2001-06 Professor Gormally was also Research Professor at Ave Maria School of Law, Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great.

MICHAEL GORMALLY

Mr Gormally is the highly respected former Headmaster of Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. The Secretary of State for Education, the Right Honourable Michael Gove MP, recently described Mr Gormally as being one "of the most conspicuously inspiring leaders in the field" of Catholic education.

LORD GRANTLEY

Lord Grantley brings a wealth of campaigning experience to the VPAG. He is a former councillor for the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, and was a member of the House of Lords from 1995-99. He is a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and a Director of the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth. Born in 1956 and educated at Ampleforth and Oxford, Lord Grantley spent most of his professional life as a banker, retiring in 2005. He was a patron of Save Sloane Square, which in 2007 won an historic victory to prevent the Council from turning the square into a crossroads. Lord Grantley comes to us not as a parent or indeed with any involvement in the School, but as a supporter of Catholic causes who believes that the VPAG’s campaign is crucial to the future of Catholic education in England and Wales.

PAUL JOHNSON

Born in Staffordshire in 1928, Paul Johnson was editor of the New Statesman in the 1960s and has written around 50 books including A History of Christianity (Weidenfeld and Nicholson 1976), A History of the Jews (Weidenfeld and Nicholson 1987), Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Restoration (St Martin's Press 1982), The Papacy (Weidenfeld and Nicholson 1997). Mr Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush in 2006. Three of his ten grandchildren have been or are pupils at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School.

EDWARD LEIGH MP

Edward Leigh was born in 1950. He was educated at St. Philips School, London, the Oratory School, Berkshire, the French Lycee in London. He studied History at Durham University and was president of the Union Society. He is the younger son of Sir Neville Leigh K.C.V.O., former clerk to the Privy Council. He is married with three daughters and three sons. Mr Leigh is a barrister and a member of the Inner Temple, practising for Goldsmiths Chambers in arbitration and criminal law. Mr Leigh was a member of the Richmond Borough Council and then the greater London Council from 1974 until 1981. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for Gainsborough & Horncastle in the July 1983 General Election. In May 1997 he was elected Member of Parliament for the new Seat of Gainsborough, with a majority of 6,826. This rose to 8,071 in 2001. In 2005 his majority remained almost unchanged, at 8,003. In the most recent General Election of 2010 Edward's majority increased to 10,559. He was a member of the Social Security Select Committee and Joint Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. Between 2001 and 2010 he was Chairman of the influential Public Accounts Committee - a role he relinquished after serving the maximum term. Mr Leigh's website can be found here http://www.edwardleigh.org.uk/

LORD LEXDEN

Lord Lexden is the title taken by Alistair Cooke, who was appointed a Conservative working peer in November 2010. He is a political historian who spent most of his career in the central organisation of the Conservative Party. A graduate of, Cambridge, he taught and researched modern British and Irish history at Queen's University, Belfast, before becoming political adviser to Airey Neave, Conservative Spokesman on Northern Ireland (1977- 1979). He was Assistant and then Deputy, Director of the Conservative Research Department from 1983 - 1987and Director of the Conservative Political Centre, the Party's educational wing from 1988-1997. He was General Secretary of the Independent Schools Council from 1997-2004 and consultant to the Conservative Research Department from 2004-2010. He has been the Conservative Party's official historian since 2009. His many other roles include President of the Northern Ireland Schools' Debating Competition. Lord Lexden's letters, usually on historical subjects, appear frequently in the national press. He has just had his 100th letter published in The Times and he holds what the Daily Telegraph believes to be the record for one person of 160 letters from one person published in that newspaper!

COLIN MAWBY

Colin Mawby is a distinguished English composer, organist and choral conductor.

He attended Westminster Cathedral Choir School, where he acted as assistant to George Malcolm at the organ from the age of 12. He subsequently studied at the Royal  College of Music and became Master of the Music at Westminster Cathedral in 1961.  In 1976 he moved to Dublin to become choral director at  Radio Telefis Eireann and was later artistic director of the  National Chamber Choir of Ireland.  He founded the  RTE Philharmonic Choir in 1985.    He retired in 2001.

Colin Mawby is a prolific composer of music for the English Catholic liturgy, including 30 Masses; among his best known compositions are an Ave Verum Corpus for choir and a setting of Psalm 23 which won fame in the recording by Charlotte Church.

He has a long association with Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School; he composed a piece for the ordination of former Headmaster Fr. Anthony Pellegrini, and the Schola has sung many of his compositions around the world, including his Exsultate Deo which features on a Schola CD recording.

CHARLES MOORE

Charles Moore is a journalist and author. He was born in 1956 and educated at Eton, and Trinity College, Cambridge where he read History. He is a convert to Catholicism. He has been editor of The Spectator (1984-90), the Sunday Telegraph (1992-95) and The Daily Telegraph (1995-2003). He resigned from the last post to spend more time writing Margaret Thatcher's authorised biography, which will be published after her death. As well as writing the biography, he currently writes weeky columns in both The Daily Telegraph and The Specator and is Consulting Editor of the Telegraph Group. He is the chairman of the think tank, Policy Exchange and of the Rectory Society. He was a member of the Council of Benenden School from 2000-20009. Publications (with A.N. Wilson and G. Stamp): The Church in Crisis, 1986; co-editor: of A Tory Seer: the selected journalism of T.E. Utley, 1989.

PROFESSOR JUDITH MOSSMAN

Judith Mossman is Professor of Classics at the University of Nottingham, and was formerly a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. She was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Woldingham, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and was a governor of Woldingham School from 1990-93. She is the author of two books and a number of edited volumes and articles on Euripides and Plutarch, and frequently gives talks on classical subjects to schools and summer schools. From 2005-9 she was Chair of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT) Classical Civilisation Committee.

CRISTINA ODONE

Cristina Odone is an Italian-American Catholic author, journalist and broadcaster. Born in 1960 and educated at various schools and Oxford University, she was editor of the Catholic Herald from 1992-1996, deputy editor of The New Statesman from 1998-2004, and for six years, wrote a column for The Observer. She has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator. She was a regular contributor to Thought for the Day from 1995-2003, and in 2005, made a Dispatches programme for Channel 4 on "Women Bishops". She broadcasts widely, including for Question Time, the Today programme, Channel 4 News, Woman's Hour and the Jeremy Vine show and she has a regular blog at The Daily Telegraph. She is a research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies, for whom she has written a number of pamphlets, including one on faith schools, In Bad Faith (2008) and Assisted suicide: how the chattering classes got it wrong (2010). She has also written four novels.

PROFESSOR THOMAS PINK

Professor Thomas Pink is Professor of Philosophy at King's College, London. After reading history and philosophy at Cambridge, where he obtained a PhD, and working for four years in London and New York for a City merchant bank, he returned to philosophy in 1990 as a Research Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge. He then lectured at Sheffield University prior to moving to King's in 1996. He is the author of Free Will: A Very Short Introduction, and other works, and an editor of London Studies in the History of Philosophy.

PIERS PAUL READ

Piers Paul Read is a novelist and playwright, born in 1941, was educated at Ampleforth College and St John's College, Cambridge. He was Artist in Residence at the Ford Foundation in Berlin (1963-4), Harkness Fellow, Commonwealth Fund, New York (1967-8), a member of the Council of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (1971-5), a member of the Literature Panel at the Arts Council, (1975-7), and Adjunct Professor of Writing, Columbia University, New York (1980). From 1992-7 he was Chairman of the Catholic Writers' Guild. Many of his books have a powerful Catholic theme. His novels and non-fiction books have won a number of awards and several have been filmed for cinema and television. He has lived in London for many years and his two sons attended Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. Those who know something of the history of the School may remember the events in the mid 1980s when the Diocese made appointments to the Governing Body and then tried to remove the School's sixth form. Piers Paul Read was one of the leading members of the Vaughan Parents' Action Group formed at that time to fight to keep the sixth form. The present VPAG draw much comfort and hope from the fact that Piers Paul Read and his fellow parents and friends won that fight.

DR JOHN MARTIN ROBINSON

Dr John Martin Robinson is a writer and one of Britain's foremost architectural historians. He was educated at the Benedictine school of Fort Augustus and at Oriel College, Oxford where he obtained a D.Phil. He is the biographer of Cardinal Consalvi (the Vatican's representative at the Congress of Vienna) and author of The Dukes of Norfolk: A Quincentennial History, Treasures of the English Churches and of the official guide books to Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. He is Maltravers Herald Extraordinary, one of Her Majesty's Officers of Arms, and Librarian to the Duke of Norfolk. He is Vice-Chairman of the Georgian Group and a trustee of the Lakelands Arts Trust. He serves on the architectural advisory committee of some of our most important Catholic churches.

ANTHONY SPEAIGHT QC

Anthony Speaight is a senior barrister and a Bencher of the Middle Temple. He is a commercial practitioner specialising in technology and construction law. He was educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing and Lincoln College, Oxford. He has served as a member of the Bar Council, and as Chairman of the Access to the Bar Committee and of the editorial board of Counsel, the journal of the Bar of England and Wales. He is author of The Law of Defective Premises and editor of the Architect's Legal Handbook. He is a Freeman of the City of London and has received the Robert Schuman silver medal from the FVS Foundation of Germany.

DR RALPH TOWNSEND

Dr Ralph Townsend is the Headmaster of Winchester College. A Catholic, he was educated in Australia and at Keble College, Oxford. In his early career at Oxford, where he taught in the Theology Faculty, he was Senior Scholar at Keble, Dean of Degrees at Lincoln College and Warden of St Gregory's House. He became successively Head of English at Eton, Headmaster of Sydney Grammar School and Headmaster of Oundle. He has written books on Christian spirituality and numerous articles for the Dictionnaire de Spiritualite, the reference book published under the responsibility of the Jesuits. He is an Adviser to the National College of Music in London and a Trustee of the United Church Schools Trust.

PROFESSOR MARK WATSON-GANDY

Professor Mark Watson-Gandy is a barrister specialising in insolvency and company law. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster and a Visiting Lecturer at Cass Business School (City University). Dual qualified as an accountant, he is the author of "Watson-Gandy on Accountants" and other works, and is Head of Professional Standards for the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. He is a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, and in 2008 was made a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great by His Holiness Pope Benedict in recognition of "his work as a barrister and law professor for the Catholic Church".

http://www.savethevaughan.com/

Baaaah

For the first time in awhile, I went a whole week without seeing a single film, though not for want of trying. A combination of lots and lots of school work (an academic conference and term project, most notably) and buggy technology conspired to prevent my watching anything. I got through half of Gunga Din before the hideously-scratched DVD (thanks Carnegie Library!) froze up.

Still, there are a few things to crow about.

For one, I'm the newest member of the Large Association of Movie Blogs (LAMB), a really great network of film bloggers. Many of my subscribers are members; why not you?

Interested in the upcoming Once Upon a Time in America restoration? An associate from the Leone Board gives us an idea of what might be restored. Here is a link to a list of deleted scenes with script excerpts. And if you have a few hours to kill, here is the complete, 321-page shooting script.

Also, I'm a bit dismayed to see my Howard the Duck review is my most popular post. Are there really that many Howard fans out there?



Hopefully there'll be a review or two (or maybe even a rant) this coming week.

CATHOLIC CHURCH'S TOP PR MAN RETIRES!

Yes, it is finally time for this great man to file his pen and put away his various means of communication. At the ripe old age of 84 he deserves a well earned rest, he has, after all, given most of his working life to promoting the Catholic Church through the media.
A famous orator he also held post as MP representing the folk of Northern Ireland, he has led the Democratic Unionist Party and last year he was made a peer becoming Baron Bannside.

Photo: BBC
Farewell Dr Ian Paisley - 'the bitter orange'

Ian Richard Kirk (honestly, you couldn't make it up) Paisley has, for as long as I can remember, slagged off the Catholic Faith, the Holy Father and all things emanating from Rome. And, in so doing he has created a wave of sympathy for Catholicism and, in particular, for the Catholics of  Northern Ireland. During a session of the European Parliament he famously interrupted proceedings shouting that "Pope John Paul II is the Antichrist" - he also referred frequently to the church and the Holy Father as "the Whore of Babylon".

Paisley has  presented such a bigoted and sectarian viewpoint that he has pushed people's opinions into the opposite (Catholic) camp. For all of that, I find him a rather interesting figure. He actually commenced his theological studies in South Wales at what is now the Evangelical Theological College ( a very grim place - I know, I've been inside it and was greatly relieved to get out alive).
His Doctorate credentials came from a US Baptist College (obviously a hard anti Catholic one down South) and he very quickly established his own church and brand of Prebyterianism once back in Belfast.

On the occasion of Pope JP II's visit to Great Britain the HF met with the Presbyterian Church's top honcho in Scotland and gave him his blessing.
This enraged Paisley who immediately set up a group of supporters along the Papal route all holding banners stating: "All those blessed by this man will burn in hell". Legend has it that, as the Popemobile drew level with this group, the Holy Father extended his hand to them and gave them his blessing!

But Ian Paisley really has a dark background. I recall watching the infamous televised Oxford Union debate back in the 60s when Paisley produced a consecrated host from his pocket and ground it underfoot. All Catholics watching must have taken a deep intake of breath at that point, one can only pray that the host was not, in fact, consecrated.

He appeared to mellow somewhat with age but I suspect that someone with his level of bigotry would always carry it under the surface.

He leaves behind him, a son, also an Ian and also a politician.

How lovely is Thy dwelling place?

Many years ago when no Latin Masses were celebrated within a radius of 150 miles of us, we created a chapel in a wing of our house and visiting priests celebrated Mass there and during the week the family retreated to it in order to pray and meditate.
We did all that we could to make it a fitting place for Catholic worship, statues, flowers, sanctuary light, candles and altar linens - we tended it lovingly. Simple as it was it became a fitting place for the offering of the Mass.

Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral -
has a touch of Gotham City about it!

Now during the week I visited the main Catholic church in Wales, St David's Cathedral, Cardiff. From the outside it is a shade grim and more than a bit overpowering with its slightly sooty stonework. But, it's what's on the inside that matters.

Except that, I have visited this church before so I knew what to expect on the inside, it is a touch of Freemason's Lodge meets Presbyterian Kirk. It is cold, and I do not mean in terms of temperature; it is austere and reflects well its exterior.

Presidential chair centre, tabernacle far right

The sanctuary is odd. Large purple (Lenten?) banners are dotted around  and the altar is the usual table covered in a purple cloth plonked in the centre of the sanctuary and behind it stands a massive Presidential chair.....centre stage (someone important sits here!). No tabernacle of course, we have to search a bit for that...Oh there you are Lord, right of centre (much like my position) but out of the mainstream. Shame.

An air of emptiness about it'

The Cathedral has an air of emptiness and abandon about it. I have experienced the same feeling in Protestant churches; it's namesake, St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire (Church of Wales Anglican) has the same feel, as if the owner had left the place some time ago.

It is, perhaps, understandable in a non Catholic church but for a
Catholic Cathedral to  have that atmosphere is, frankly, depressing.

I try to pray but am distracted by uncharitable thoughts about A) the architect and B) those who are supposed to cherish this place. I plough on with my prayers but I cannot stay long. That is, I could stay long but really I cannot wait to get out into the fresh air.

The Sacred Heart Chapel,
a little bleak?

I appreciate that it is Lent and churches are supposed to look spartan at this time but this place feels positively neglected. Side chapels are bare except for one with a single statue...the Sacred Heart stands alone and isolated; there are few candle racks and the ones that are there are the dreaded night light variety, you know, twenty pence for twenty minutes?

Is this really the best we can do for the Lord? I am ashamed by this Cathedral and only hope that it is awaiting the appointment of a new Archbishop to this important Archdiocese that has been without a leader for so long. Whoever it is, I hope they have an eye for  how a Cathedral should look.