Joseph of.......Cardiff?

The Welsh have an endearing habit of linking famous people with a Welsh heritage.

Elvis Presley aka Elvis Evans

"Look at Nelson Mandela" they will say: "His granddad was from Merthyr Tydfil"

Or, even less probably: "Mother Theresa was Welsh, her family moved to Albania when she was two years old".

I have long become accustomed to such claims which, a Welsh friend claims, are a product of an insecure nation. He can say that, I could not possibly.

But now, it seems, an English author has lodged a claim that fairly and squarely (if true) places Wales on the map.

According to Michael Clark, Joseph of Arimathea is buried in Cardiff, capital city of Wales.

England also has a claim to Joseph of Arimathea who, allegedly, travelled to Glastonbury where he rammed his staff into the ground, whereupon it took root and is now known as 'the Glastonbury Thorn'.

Joseph was, of course, a trader and it seems highly likely that he did undertake voyages from time to time; but whether he made land in England or Wales is still, I suspect, a matter for conjecture.

But Mr Clark claims that Joseph's body is intact and located at the ruined chapel of St Mary, in Bute Park, Cardiff.
Furthermore, he also believes that Joseph was known in Wales as 'St Ilid' and that he founded a church at Llanelid, near Pencoed (if he indeed went to Pencoed he would have been lucky to leave with a coat on his back).

His claims are made in his book 'Maelgwyn of Llandaff and Joseph of Arimathea'.

Meanwhile, we labour on, happy in the knowledge that William Shakespeare, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Lincoln, Robin of Locksley, Clark Kent, Alexander the Great, Elvis Presley and Alexander Fleming all had Welsh blood in them!

A step closer to Holywell

And, on our way there, tomorrow,  in our medieval minibus, we shall sing hymns and say the Rosary and indulge in some good Catholic humour (in the manner of medieval pilgrims).
This is a beautiful piece although, I suspect, we shall be more in the 'Faith of Our Fathers' neck of the woods.

I found this hymn to St Winefride in an old Westminster Hymnal....no idea as to the music, but it tells her story rather well:


                                                            ST WINEFRIDE

More fair than all the vernal flowers

Embosom'd in the dales,

St Winefride in beauty bloom'd,

The rose of ancient Wales.

With every loveliest grace adorn'd,

The Lamb's unsullied bride,

Apart from all the world she dwelt

Upon this mountainside.

Caradoc then, with impious love,

Her fleeing steps pursued,

And in her sacred maiden blood

His cruel hands imbrued.

He straight the debt of vengeance paid,

Ingulf'd in yawning flame;

But God a deed of wonder work'd

To her immortal fame.

For where the grassy sward received

The martyr's sever'd head,

This holy fountain upward gush'd,

Of crystal vein'd with red.

Here miracles of might are wrought;

Here all diseases fly;

Here see the blind, and speak the dumb,

Who but in faith draw nigh.

Assist us, glorious Winefride,

Dear virgin, ever blest!

The passions of our hearts appease,

And lull each storm to rest.

Alice Thomas Ellis - marooned on a desert island!

This radio recording dates back to 1998 and ATE is described as a 'devout traditional Roman Catholic' by host Sue Lawley. That is an improvement on being called a 'devout RC' as most journos refer to us whether we are devout or not.

"There is no reciprocity. Men love women,
women love children, children love hamsters"

If you do not know Alice Thomas Ellis let me give you a hint of her character as it was before her death in 2005. She was  direct, liked a vodka and tonic, liked to smoke. She knew all who were worth knowing in the literary field. Her house in Wales was full of large statues of the Saints and the household, was otherwise totally disorganised.

If you listen to the broadcast it is as good a testimony to the faith as you will hear. Ever.

Her choice of records is eclectic and reflects her faith. Her second choice is an apt one for Advent...Rorate coeli desuper.....

Sue Lawley is, I think, not too impressed by ATE's stolid defence of right.

worth listening to.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/8f80d69b

No Mass Sunday!

We in wild and windy West Wales will have no Sunday Mass for the next two weeks - an Extraordinary Form Mass, that is. Even then, we will only have one once a month and that is a 60 mile round journey but I am not complaining.
Well, I am really but it's more of a form of keening as they might say in Ireland.
A sort of sense of loss and mourning for something much loved that should be there but isn't.




Photo: Daily Telegraph
The most beautiful of Churches!

  So, instead, my heart and my soul will be with two of my daughters at Spanish Place, the Church of St James at 9.30am and arguably the most beautiful parish church in London (it also has excellent cafes within twenty yards that offer wonderful plates of bacon and eggs for a very reasonable price for after Mass).

Food for the body - after food for the soul!

It also has quite the most cosmopolitan congregation of any church in London, rich, poor, emigres, Irish and even a few English folk.

Long may it continue to offer the 'Mass of all Time'