Anglican Wanderings

Holy Name Cathedral

2009-07-05T23:24:00.005+01:00

I spent my Independence Day with a friend who lives and ministers in my See City. After an excellent dinner (roasted aspargus and potatoes, and grilled steak), which I should have taken pictures of and posted all over the internet (see? that's why no one takes me seriously.. I don't photograph my food), we stopped by Holy Name Cathedral, where I managed to take a few photographs. There is a new Cathedral in the works (the new Cathedral parish has already been erected, "Triumph of the Cross," actually, but who knows when the new building will appear!), but for now, here is Holy Name:

Sanctuary

Blessed Sacrament side chapel

Throne

Side chapel with triptych

Nave shrine

"Diocesan monstrance"
(I wish that the jewels had shown up in the photo... it is breathtakingly beautiful) in the Sacristy

Facade

I can't imagine a better way to spend Independence Day: good food, good friend, and church touring.

Pax et bonum.

Let's play a game

2009-07-02T05:51:00.005+01:00

I'm not one to plug my personal blog on AW, but I do think that many of you might have some interest in one of my recent posts. It's silly, really, but I'm asking people to view five photos, and see if you can guess what Rite and Church they represent. Make your best guess in the comment box, and you'll get an answer on Friday!

If you're so inclined, take a gander here.

Pax et bonum.

Marketing the Church

2009-06-26T15:04:00.004+01:00

I'm rather impressed with this:

...but what do you think about Christian "marketing?" Positive or negative? Necessary or wasteful?

If you have any examples of Christian marketing gone wrong, please send em my way: t dot curnutte at gmail dot com

(For that matter, if you've anything at all to talk about and would like to see it in this space, send it on. That includes photographs!)

As always, Andrew, Fr. Kenyon, and I would all be appreciative of your prayers.

Pax et bonum.

A Quick Note.

2009-06-23T08:34:00.005+01:00

Can I interest you in a new blog, which takes up documenting the liturgical life of Saint Hilda's Prestwich where I took off? Ken has started it and it is to be found HERE.

For the time being, supported by my Diocese and friends, I am taking a well earned break. Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 2 is going to be the focus of much study and prayer. I will surface again in due course. Pray for me as I always pray for you.

Commendation Weekend and Other Stories.

2009-06-21T17:00:00.003+01:00

My apologies for the lack of communication recently, but as you can see from the picture above I have been impersonating a Protestant minister. No, not really, I have been away in Wakefield on my commendation weekend and the picture above shows your scribe in his new old English surplice with his mother posing outside Wakefield Cathedral.

And here with Father Ronald Croft, Parish Priest of my old Parish and friend.

And here, again, standing in the sunlight. Well, I may as well get some use out of the surplice and scarf.

Today, though, was Fathers day and so I went with my Father to the steam train railway at Preston Docks for a thrilling ride up and down the half mile of restored track. That Preston has docks and a marina was a mild surprise to me.

Here is a view of Wakefield Cathedral showing the Comper decorations on the screen and a side view of the high altar, about which we have written before. See AW's passim.

I am sorry that this has been a short post, but just to let you know that all is reasonably as it should be, here is a picture of me in a bar in Wakefield taken on Friday night!

Preston Wanderings.

2009-06-18T09:12:00.003+01:00

This picture of the Japanese Gardens in the park at the end of my road illustrate the calm and serenity of finally having moved in, unpacked, connected the internet (which necessitated certain additional bits) and it also illustrates the path I took as I walked through the park to the pub on the other side for a pint or two of real ale and a plate of sausages and mash last night. It has been a very interesting week and now all that gives way to prayerful and happy preparations for the commendation service and then for the ordination Saturday week. I look forward to the retreat beginning next Tuesday as a time to reflect, grow and prepare for the work ahead.

I apologise for the shortness of this post, but I could not resist showing you this picture. It shows the last thing being moved out of my old house and loaded on the lorry. Eagle eyed wanderers will recognise the Sacred Heart, now installed in my new house in a dining room suspiciously similar to my last one.

Thank you very much for all the many cards, prayers, Mass intentions, good wishes, emails, letters and facebook messages. I have felt very supported by you all and continue to do so. As I have said before, this site has produced a visible and tangible community of people, I am always particularly touched when I hear of readers striking up friendships with each other and praying for each other. 'Carry on, you are all doing very well', as Mr Grainger used to say in 'Are You Being Served'.

What if no one came?

2009-06-18T08:19:00.004+01:00

A friend recently referred me to an excellent blog with which I had not been previously familiar. It is written by an Orthodox priest, and his insights are astounding. However, unlike most Roman Catholic blogs, the comments sections of his posts are also valuable and full of insight. One such insight sent me reeling a few days ago when I read it:

One of the first times I saw a liturgy was in a Russian church. I didn't understand anything, of course, and at first I was a bit distressed that people came and went, children wandered around, etc. But then I noticed that no matter what anyone was or wasn't doing, the liturgy continued. It was obvious that the audience was God, not the restless congregation. When I returned to my evangelical church, I asked the pastor if he would do the same things he had planned to do this Sunday if no one showed up. He was very struck by that and couldn't answer.

I know what the answer would have been in the pentecostal church of my youth, and I daresay that nearly every Protestant church would have the same answer to that question: dumbstruck silence. Odds are that this question would never have occurred to them. Which is understandable, but regrettable.

In most Protestant worship services, the "worship plan" simply would not work if the congregation did not show up for services. Nearly every element of it is dependent upon the participation, whether active or passive, of those gathered. Worship leaders would have no one to lead. Large, white screens projecting song lyrics that adorn either side of the platform would have no readers. Hymn boards would go unnoticed. No one would "amen," and no one would "testify." No one would listen or scribble notes in the margins of their Bibles during a 50 minute sermon. When the invitation was given, no one would respond.

Liturgical Catholic worship, the greatest expression of which is the Mass (or the Divine Liturgy, Holy Eucharist, whatever you wish to call it based on your tradition), is different, or at least it should be different. No one could show up but the priest, and yet the worship could, and should, happen anyway. And not only should it happen, but anyone who could not make it for some unforeseeable reason could, in faith, unite themselves spiritually with that worship no matter where they happened to be, because they knew the "game plan" well in advance.

However, we as Catholic worshippers must be careful not to fall into the same trap. Innovations which seek to elevate the worshipper over the Worshipped must not be permitted to enter the liturgy. Our focus should never be on ourselves. We enter our holy houses to be in the presence of One who far surpasses our ability to understand. We gather to worship and sacrifice; as a community, to be sure, but community is not the end. (This is why I emphatically advocate worship ad dominum at the Altar, instead of the precarious orientation that many churches have adopted during the last century.) It takes a little more doing, but it is possible for Catholic worship leaders to come up with the same response as their Protestant counterparts when asked the question of the day: dumbstruck silence.

Smug smiles and pats on the back should be shelved for a moment by "traditionalists," many of whom might think that this question doesn't apply to them. It does. The circumstances can become a bit trickier, but it is still a danger that even traditional Catholic worship can be turned from its purpose: worship. I dare not attempt a list of possibilities lest I begin a comments war that rivals those of a Minnesotan birdwatcher. Use your thinkers.

Would your corporate worship work if no one showed up? I pray yes.

Pax et bonum.

New Community Facilities.

2009-06-15T08:25:00.001+01:00

Why am I showing you this, gentle reader? I meant to begin with another picture but the lottery of Blogger dictates that you get the toilet first. It is a new toilet and it marks the end of this current phase of developments at Saint Hilda's Church. We now have a building which is fully accessible to all, with ramps in the right places and a spanking new loo. I am very pleased that it was done just the day before I left so that I could have a good look around.

Bear with me today, because I will be moving house as you read this, I have written this and magically scheduled its publication for today. To get into the mood of moving house, spin round a lot, jump up and down until you are tired and then try to solve some algebra problems. Alternatively sit back and say 'thank goodness it's not me!'

Here you can see the newly decorated community room with new kitchen facilities including washing area, cupboards, work surfaces, fridge and oven/hob. The facility will not only make our own catering able to go up a notch or change a bit if they wish, but also allow outside groups to rent the back part of Church for their own uses.

It also makes what was a slightly grubby community room into a really good meeting place for us as well, for prayer groups, courses, faith suppers, goodness me, the list is endless although I do not have to think about this, as I was saying to Churchwarden Ken yesterday afternoon, because by the time you read this, I will be gone!

Corpus Christi at Saint Hilda's Prestwich.

2009-06-14T16:05:00.003+01:00

The High Mass this morning for Corpus Christi was well attended and had an air of continental festivity brought on by the jostling for space in the pews, the balmy weather and the heady promise of tea and coffee afterwards in the newly restored community room. Never mind the fact that the bright sunlight makes the newish oil stocks on the pavement candlesticks look like the central part of the TARDIS control deck in the dull Davidson days, they do not go up and down or whir, even when the Church is lifted to the courts of heaven during the Sanctus.

It was, of course, my last Sunday as well, and I walked those familiar steps and mosaics with practised ease, careful devotion and a sense of not really wanting it to end, but the Church meets the world and the drive to Preston on Monday morning will be the next step for this small, insignificant man as he steps onto a wheel which has turned for two thousand years, until my time be up. But ah, what a happy way to begin the journey, surrounded by friends and supported by my colleagues.

It has been a happy seven years at Saint Hilda's and I am glad that so many of you have been interested enough to follow my journey on this blog. I look forward to taking you on to another place, which will be as full of interest, architecture and grace as this last place has been.

After sharing in the continual privilege of communicating the members of Christ's body with His body, blood, soul and divinity, we began the service of Benediction at the altar, singing the Pange Lingua.

After which, preceded by two thuribles belting out great clouds of incense and taperers, we began a procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the Church. Liturgists will note that we forgot to remove our maniples, but it was a busy and moving day, so I hope we may be forgiven.

After processing around the Church, full of devotion and love, we returned to the Altar.

Where Benediction was offered. After the Divine Praises were said and devotions were sung, the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in the house made for Him and we prepared to leave. However, I was very touched that a little presentation was made to me and a few people said some very kind words.

This dreadful picture shows your scribe presenting a statue of Saint George to the Church. As I was born on Saint George's day and I am going to serve at Saint George's, it seemed fitting. He looks very fetching on a windowsill by the Lady Chapel.

This is the rose dalmatic, maniple and stole which the Church bought for me. It comes from Luzar Vestments and is very fine indeed. I made a short speech alluding to the practice in Pagan times of selecting a young man from a city when times were hard and crops were failing, looking after him for a year and then dressing him in fine clothes before chasing him out of the city and stoning him as a sacrifice to the gods. Happily though I have been looked after, given fine clothes, walked out happily and not been stoned. Yet.

And imagine my surprise on leaving and being taken for lunch to find my friend Fr Bryan Hackett, vicar of Saint Mary's Prestwich, looking refreshed from his holidays in the pub with his parents. He gets an honorary mention today.

Parties and packing.

2009-06-13T09:26:00.003+01:00

Last night my friend Marion who lives around the corner invited a few other friends to her house to have a few drinks with me before my going. Happily, none of these people are saying goodbye for ever and arrangements have already been made to meet up again. It was a lovely evening and was a good respite from sitting in an empty house mulling things over! The packers came again yesterday and removed the boxes, hence most of my possessions are in a lorry in South Manchester waiting to be brought back on Monday morning ready for the final packing and moving. Today my new tenant comes, a Frenchman called Patrice, who has three children, to collect his keys and he moves in on Monday as I go. It is nice to think that the house which seems so empty now will be filled with the sound of children's voices soon. It is a hundred years since the house was built this year, I wonder what sort of history it has, I know in recent years it has been a home to many, many cats as I witnessed when I had to dispose of the carpets and strip the floorboards a few years ago.

For now, it is time to go. I am going to Preston today to do a few jobs in the house, then tomorrow is my 'last Mass' at Saint Hilda's - last as a Parishioner anyway, and then that is that. I hope to get some pictures for you of the Corpus Christi procession of he Blessed Sacrament and of the new statue which I am giving to the Church which I will put on here tomorrow. In the meantime, amidst some trial and tribulation and the comforting support of many dozens of friends, it is time to take a step into the unknown. Pray for me as I pray for all of you every day.

The removal company has no boxes for large statues of the Sacred Heart so they will be coming on Monday with bubble wrap and tape for him. I look forward to having this lovely image placed in the corner of the dining room at Preston. Taking all the rugs and furniture away has enabled me to admire my handiwork in stripping and polishing the floors which I did over a weekend with a hand sander.

And finally a picture of the lounge with Saint Anne holding Our Lady, not the most attractive statue in the world, the hands are out of proportion, but none the worse for that in many ways.

Boxes Everywhere.

2009-06-11T11:13:00.003+01:00

I have been a little quiet on the blog recently, for which you may be thankful. This picture above explains why to an extent. I took it five minutes ago, having just returned from Church to my house where my belongings are being packed up. I have moved some things already, pictures in particular, so that I can clean the walls behind them ready for my first tenant. Pray that things go well with that, for I am not starting a business, just letting my house for just enough, happily, to cover the mortgage. Anyway, boxes are everywhere, tomorrow they come and take almost everything away and then they return on Monday to get the last few bits and pieces and follow me to Preston, where boxes will once again be the theme until they are all unpacked. You will see more as I can show it to you, but forgive any gaps in communication, my mind will be elsewhere and even though BT managed to come and reconnect the telephone and deliver a wireless router for the internet, none of these things are yet connected, so blood pressure is sure to rise above the usual chilly calm.

Anyhow, things are exciting and I look forward to the move greatly. The only imminent cloud on the horizon is a great worry about money - I seem to be waiting for cheques continually, that they have not yet come is a real concern and as I type another bill arrives which I have absolutely no way of paying. Never mind. Something was bound to go wrong.

So this morning I went to Saint Hilda's and filled up the oil stocks, changed the candles and prepared the altar for Corpus Christi which is either today or Sunday. For us it is Sunday and Saturday is the Summer Fair, hopefully making use of the new facilities in Church, the kitchenette et al. I was very aware as I toddled around the Church that it was the last time I will have to enjoy the peace and calm of Saint Hilda's on my own and just as I was about to say my prayers at the altar rail a procession of different people began traipsing in, each one wanting something else. Then it was time to go, both in the immediate and wider sense, which is a happy thing really.

This banner is on temporary loan from Nazareth House, a Roman Catholic nursing home up the road. We are having another one made in a while showing the Annunciation, for carrying in processions and decorating the Church, by one of the members of the choir who specialises in these things. I look forward very much to seeing the pictures!

News From the Provinces.

2009-06-08T10:53:00.006+01:00

These pictures are taken from the website of Saint Silas, Kentish town and show Father Graeme Rowlands, their parish priest, celebrating twenty years of his being installed there with a High Mass. Congratulations Father!

The Deacon introduces the peace. Saint Silas' must be the only Anglican Church I have ever been to where members of the congregation have said 'pax tecum' to me during the peace. Saint Silas' is a witness to the faith in North London, happily near to Marine Ices, the finest ice cream parlour in London with, incidentally, a very reasonable old school Italian restaurant attached. I look forward to my occasional visits both to the Church and the gelateria all the more because I would not want either every day. Good religion and good ice cream, take away the London stock brick Georgian buildings and you could almost be in Tuscany. Now that I would like every day!

Craig Aburn, MC at Saint Silas and friend of AW, is acting as Subdeacon. His son is the small child to the left. You can see more pictures of this event and of the church on their website here.

This picture of Saint Therese, taken at Saint Hilda's last week, marks the next step on my journey this year with her, which will be to Preston. The year of Saint Therese which I have kept will culminate in visiting her relics later this summer at the Cathedral in Lancaster when I will give thanks for the many blessings and encouragements received from her this past nine months, proving that roses from heaven do not have to come immediately, but can be sent over time, to many unexpected places. St Therese, Ora pro nobis.

Unlike some other blogs which have their links listed under 'Anglican' and 'Roman Catholic', I have not had to do any tinkering today with our sidebar. Fr Jeffrey Steel of De Cura Animarum will shortly resign his orders and live in London as a Roman Catholic layman, thus taking him to the next stage of his long journey from American Protestantism. We have enjoyed reading his blog and hope to do so still, the URL is the same and the link still takes you to the same page. A different Anglican wandering, but one which I am sure will make interesting reading. Pray for him, that all may be well.

Trinity Sunday.

2009-06-07T16:42:00.004+01:00

The High Altar was bedecked with relics for the last time in a while today, as next Sunday is Corpus Christi when Mass will be followed directly with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction and neither possessing nor being inclined to possess the little curtains for the glass part of the reliquaries we will have a relicless gradine. The next Sunday is the first 'green' Sunday for some time and then, with the brief blip for the solemnity of Peter and Paul, we enter the long stretch of Ordinary Time.

As I left Mass this morning with the Parish Priest to have lunch in Clitheroe (very nice, thank you, particularly the pate and the pint of bitter in the New Inn afterwards) the end of Whittaker Lane, just after the shops, was being prepared for the last day of the Oasis concerts. This is what the whole road looks like in both directions, but particularly so here next to the Tram station. Still, most people made the journey to get to Church, although a few who travel from farther afield did not, not knowing what to expect. In the end, what we found was a spectacularly well organised event, with all the (piles and piles) of litter cleared from the last night and traffic calming in place. A few kebab wrappers and beer cans greeted me in the Church path, but that was all - and most Sundays start with that anyway.

We had a High Mass for Trinity Sunday, as you might expect. I am not going to dwell on the corporate nonsense currently doing the rounds in the CofE which replaces this day with a secular commemoration, other than to say that our ranks were swollen with a few people from other local Parishes whom we have not seen before.

The renovation work is progressing, here you see the back corridor leading from the Community room to the new toilet, which is tiled and half grouted, the sink and other accoutrements will go in soon. Hopefully I will get to see it all finished before I leave next Sunday. Whether I do or not is irrelevant really, but it is nice to see development work going on.

The community room has its kitchen units almost finished and the painting work has begun, with the Parish Summer fair next Saturday and for future events, both envisaged and not, this will be a very useful resource.

Atonement: common ground

2009-06-06T00:42:00.004+01:00

If I were an Episcopalian, I would be a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio, and H.E. Thomas Breidenthal would be my bishop. So it goes I am not and he is not, but I admire Bishop Breidenthal very much. I thought that I would share with you his explanation for his choice to deny consent to the election of Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester to the epicopacy for the Diocese of Northern Michigan.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am writing to inform you of
my decision not to consent to the consecration of Kevin Thew Forrester as Bishop
of Northern Michigan. I did not want to make a public statement before I shared
my concerns with the Standing Committee. I was able to do this at their meeting
last Friday, March 27.

Two subjects have arisen as matters of concern in
the wider discussion of consent for this Bishop-elect. I want to be clear that
these matters have not contributed to my refusal of consent.

First, the internal process which led to Bishop-elect Thew Forrester's
election. In my view, it violated no canons, and, although I have questions
about it, these have not entered into my decision to withhold consent. Second,
some have voiced concern that Bishop-elect Thew Forrester has been recognized by
the Zen Buddhist community as one who practices Zen Buddhist meditation in an
exemplary fashion and accepts the basic ethical principles of Buddhism. I have
no problem with this. Many Christians have deepened their own faith through
Buddhist prayer practices, and in my view the moral framework of Buddhism is
largely consonant with that of Judaism and Christianity.

But obviously I
do have concerns. These concerns lie closer to home. My own reading of
Bishop-elect Thew Forrester's sermons over the last year (these sermons were
available on the website of his parish church, St. Paul's, Marquette, Michigan,
as of March 16, but are no longer posted) reveals an understanding of the
Christian narrative that is troubling to me. I have spoken about this with the
Bishop-elect on the phone, and he has followed up with e-mails, but I remain
troubled.

According to Thew Forrester, Jesus revealed in his own person
the way that any of us can be at one with God, if only we can overcome the
blindness that prevents us from recognizing our essential unity with God. The
problem here is that the death of Jesus as an atonement for our sins is
completely absent, and purposely so. As I read Thew Forrester, nothing stands
between us and God but our own ignorance of our closeness to God. When our eyes
are opened, atonement (not for our sins, but understood as a realization of our
essential unity with God) is achieved. Thew Forrester's rejection of salvation
understood as an atonement for sins we cannot procure for ourselves is not an
idea he is merely exploring. In a very consistent manner, he is developing this
idea. In materials he submitted to the House of Bishops earlier this month, he
has shared with us his own revision of the Prayer Book rite for Holy Baptism, in
which references to salvation are replaced with references to union with God.

I would not worry about this so much if Thew Forrester were merely
speculating about alternative ways of understanding the Christian faith. I would
not even worry so much if it were simply a matter of the content of a number of
sermons (although I think we should expect to be accountable for what we
preach). But, as his revision of the Baptismal rite makes clear, he appears to
be settled in his conviction that our relation to Christ is not about salvation
from a condition of objective alienation from God, but about a more realized
union with God.

Why is Thew Forrester's teaching troubling to me?
Because it flies in the face of what I take to be the conviction at the heart of
our faith tradition, namely, that we are in bondage to sin and cannot get free
without the rescue God has offered us in Jesus, who shouldered our sins on the
cross. Our tradition certainly declares God's closeness to us and God's love for
us, but insists that this is solely due to God's gracious initiative, made known
to us in Jesus. In other words, Jesus in his singular closeness to God is as
much a reminder of our alienation from God and from God's ways as he is God's
word to us that we are loved despite our collective wrongdoings.

Some may say, "So what?" Should the Episcopal Church not allow as much
latitude as possible when it comes to theological reflection on the meaning of
Jesus in our lives? Yes, of course. We are a church that values a broad range of
opinion on practically every subject. Yet our (unrevised) Baptismal liturgy
(Book of Common Prayer, beginning at p. 299) is extremely clear about what it
means to be a follower of Jesus: we are to turn to him - the same Jesus of
Nazareth who was crucified and rose again and continues to invite us into a
personal relationship with him - and accept him as Savior. Whatever else we have
to say about Jesus follows from that (even though different people may end up
saying quite different things).

I cannot emphasize enough that clarity
about our relationship to Jesus through our baptism is especially important as
we move on from the Lambeth Conference, where the bishops of the Episcopal
Church pointed repeatedly to our Baptismal rite as evidence of our commitment to
Jesus as Lord.

I write this with a heavy heart. Kevin Thew Forrester
served as an assistant in the parish where some years earlier I was ordained a
priest and served as an assistant. He has been raised up by a sister diocese in
our own Province V, and I know how highly he is regarded there and what a blow
it would be to the people of Northern Michigan if he were not to receive the
requisite consents to be consecrated. But I also know that the Episcopal Church
needs at this crucial juncture in the life of the Anglican Communion to be clear
that all our hope is founded in the cross.

Faithfully,
+Tom Breidenthal

Bishop Thomas E. Breidenthal
Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio

Source

I appreciate Bishop Breidenthal's candor. I also appreciate his ability to disagree, even strongly, with another cleric and theologian without resorting to polemics, namecalling, and rabble-rousing. (See, American RC Bishops? It can be done!)

In a communion fraught with so much discord, it is good to see some common ground being established. And what better common ground can there be than a shared faith in the atoning death and resurrection of our Lord?

Pax et bonum.

Is Wine Essential to Salvation?

2009-06-05T11:53:00.003+01:00

The Church Times this morning has, as always, a 'hundred years ago' extract from its archives, telling of the triumph of the dedication festival at All Saints, Margaret Street, with the Bishop of London remarking on his support for praying for the dead and belief in the Real Presence. He goes on to remark that old hostilities and mistrust between catholics and evangelicals in his Diocese have stopped and all may dwell in peace. All very Jeeves and Wooster and good, but that happy time in English history was soon to be shaken by the First World War and a global depression as Elysian fields were torn open by the tracks of tanks and young men marched out of their schools to death on the front lines. Today being D Day, I should like to offer a pause for thought for the fallen of the two World Wars and a moment of reflection on the rise of fascism in Europe once again, witnessed by the large proportion of the vote given to Geert Wilders' party in Holland yesterday in the European elections. This is the man who called Islam 'the ideology of a retarded culture' and who would see the Koran banned in Holland, because it is a 'fascist' book.

Now, I have no bones about the Kingship of Christ and I am convinced of the claim of Christ that He is the way to the Father, who is the one God, I should not like to live in a country which banned the Bible because it was predominantly an Islamic nation which saw Christians as a threat to their way of life. I should be even more concerned if that county were Holland, more famous for Edam than terrorism. Maybe this is the natural outcome of wearing wooden shoes and living in tulip strewn windmills, but I feel it may be more to do with the Northern European history of great trading ports and the dominance of commerce in the cold harbours which has slowly opened our part of the globe up to trade, resettlement and immigration, three things which I am happy to be a part of. Our putting money first and foremost in the busy shipping lanes of North Europe has landed up in a situation of being he most multicultural part of the globe and it is now, when the economy downturns and the shipping ports and docks are mothballed that multiculturalism is found to be at fault for this situation. We cannot have it both ways, the money which built Rotterdam, Liverpool and Marseilles came from international trade and has become multicultural reality. Just as it has since the Vikings, the Romans and oh, all the other groups who have come to Britain and been gently assimilated. And don't give me any baloney about Saint George, we all know where he came from and for that is a perfect symbol of England now. This is something to be proud of, I think, not a source of unrest.

I wonder what would be the reaction if this 'a hundred years ago' thing could be done in reverse? What would our forebears have made of the headline on page 8, 'New Bishop is a Lesbian'? Was she covered in chocolate for the ceremony? Swedish Luterans, you are making history, just not very well.

As my birthday is Saint George's Day and I am going to serve in a Parish which includes a Church dedicated to Saint George, I felt that Saint Hilda's, that Victorian Church, could do with a Georgian reminder, a nod to a past of invasion, Bede, the Abbey at Whitby and Beowulf, all things which I cherish and have devoted a good part of my life to reading about. I hope to get my English literary retreats off the ground next Summer, looking at ancient sites and tracing the history of the Faith in England through architecture, music and literature. Much work is still needed on this though.

And for the moment I am taking pictures off the walls and cleaning behind them, scraping wax off the floor, throwing great boxes of stuff away and sorting through a thousand papers, weeding out what I do not need. Which is quite a lot! A monastic friend suggested, after I sighed at how difficult it is to decide what may go, that I throw away all that is not necessary for salvation. I wondered, to an encouraging smile and nod, what to do with all the wine.

The Gardener.

2009-06-04T08:50:00.002+01:00

I think we may safely leave fascism aside for another day and I will take advice from one of our commentators and leave football alone as well. The fact that I have no interest in football helps of course and it is hard to write about Bar Billiards any more than to say 'I like playing Bar Billiards'. Let us instead turn to the issue of women's ordination and continuing churches and I shall prepare myself for a barrage of emails and Karen's comments, but as she is jet lagged maybe she will be moderately sedated. Have another tablet dear and keep reading.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am no fan of the continuing Churches, although I realise and accept that the situation may be different in the USA, although the reasoning remains the same. This is not an attack on the Anglican Catholic Church in the UK as their presiding Bishop will be glad to read, nor is it intended to slight the same institution in the USA. I understand their stance although I disagree with it. However, you may remember a few months ago when GAFCON first reared its head and the idea of off shore morality havens first appeared, that they were in communication with a number of continuing Churches - some of which are of very dubious practice. This was about the time that Damian Thompson seemingly made up the entire story about the TAC putting a catechism of the Roman Catholic Church on the altar or the RC Church in Walsingham. Nothing of the sort happened.

We remarked at the time and have remarked incessantly since that FiF and GAFCON would be incompatible, a view shared by everyone I know who has expressed an opinion either way. A new group is forming though in the US, ACNA, which seems to be ECUSA without Schori and Gene Robinson. It is a mainly evangelical group which, like GAFCON, is courting Anglo Catholic suitors. Why I cannot imagine, we share no doctrine of the Eucharist or orders and if we were to put the catechism on their altar I think they may recoil in horror at what is contained therein. This particular group contains evangelicals who are in agreement with the ordination of women as Priests but not Bishops. This new group may seem attractive to many in ECUSA who are sick of overly liberal, pluralist leadership which does not have reference to the teaching of the Church over two thousand years but seeks to change fundamentals of faith (and I sympathise with them on that count) but a group such as ours which stands with the vast majority of Christians throughout the world and with two thousand years of informed teaching and doctine in recognising the equality but difference of men and women in relation to Church order would be very unwise to leave one broken communion for another.

Archbishop Haverland of the Anglican Catholic Church, was asked to attend the inaugural meeting of the ACNA, but refused with a beautifully written letter which explains just what I am trying to say here; that in ACNA and indeed in GAFCON we see the fundamental alterations in the faith which has produced groups like the ACC and FiF opposed to changing the tenets of the faith delivered to the saints and taught by Christ.

St Therese of Lisieux comforts us when she said 'The guest of our soul knows our misery, He comes to find an empty tent within us, that is all He asks', that is, He comes to us and will make His home in us, the me in Thee and the Thee in me, if only we keep His commands and strive to maintain and grow the faith He taught by His unending love and mercy. I find this hard and I think probably you do as well, with so many attacks on the faith from without and within, sometimes for being Christian sometimes for keeping certain viewpoints. It is difficult not to shout back sometimes, to turn the other cheek and to speak humbly and live justly, according to the example of Christ. Conflict within the Church at the scale facing us is, ultimately, diabolical. I take as my example the imaginary figure of the gardener whom Mary Magdalen did not see when she saw Christ, I like to imagine him enjoying a moment of mistaken identity while looking at this wonderful scene of friends equally at home in the presence of Angels and thorny weeds. I would do well to strive to continue being at home in the presence of Angels and thorny weeds, reminding me that the Church commissioned by Christ has a duty to be in all places at all times, we are just lucky to live in such interesting times, when we have the chance to live the faith against a backdrop of secularism and fighting. The darkness makes the light shine brighter, no?

Local and European Elections.

2009-06-03T10:00:00.005+01:00

Tomorrow is local election and European Elections day in the UK and a worse time could not be imagined. Many MP's have been caught with their noses in the trough and the home counties gravy train has been spilling the jus of finest Dexter beef at every bend. Enough of the food analogies. There is a great amount of national and local resentment to the mainstream parties, particularly Labour and to a slightly lesser extent the Tories. The Conservative party has been playing to the prejudices of the gallery by claiming money from the public purse to clean their moats and furnish ducks with 20K floating houses but it is Labour who have been claiming by wholesale, rather than the more rarefied claims of the Tory grandees, many of whom I am willing to gloss over because I care for our heritage and would see our ancient buildings kept in good condition and lived in rather than becoming the ubiquitous storage depot for older people. The Liberal Democrats seem to have less of these traits, but then there are less of them.

What happens when the public are feeling angry and disenfranchised and an election comes up? We are not at Wiemar Germany yet, but it is very likely that people will register a 'protest' vote against the main parties and elect fringe parties to local seats in the council. This election will not decide who governs the nation - although surely that is not far off - and with our rejection of proportional representation we need not fear for the economy if fringe parties are elected to local council seats, but it decides the moral timbre of the nation. It matters if fringe parties hold local seats - sure, a Lord Sutch or a Monkey Mayor here and there adds grist to the wheel of democracy, but how would you feel if they were YOUR mayor, YOUR councillor? How well represented would you feel and how able would you feel to approach them in real time of need? How would you feel if a significant number of people in your small local area voted for a candidate from a nationalist party? The fact that this is mainly the European elections is not to denigrate the process, who we say we are to the wider community is vital. Are we a nation of bigots or a nation of tolerant, fair minded people - the definition of Britishness for hundreds of years.

The British National Party, for some years a disorganised rabble with political hobbyists, is fielding candidates in many wards tomorrow and it is likely that they will win quite a few seats. They have been campaigning strongly in Churches - and getting much coverage by their being stopped doing this - their website has comments about the CofE stopping 'God's holy will' being done by the BNP. They have been writing to every pub landlord in the country pledging that they will stop the decline in pubs and these landlords who are scared for their livelihoods will respond to this, they have been underlining their support for capital and corporal sentences in court, a return to 'traditional' education, including training children for industry, rather than being sentient beings. They also want 'immigrants' sent home, of course, as do UKIP, who will stop any further immigration to this country which is made up genetically of immigrants going back thousands of years.

We accept that the vast majority of the policies of the BNP are not enforceable if they ever rose to power and we also accept that their economic policies seem to be lifted out of the pages of Jeeves and Wooster, if you recall the character 'Spode' who would turn over the whole of East Anglia to the production of potatos and the North East to bicycles. They would destroy this nation by setting people against each other and by forcing our economy into the situation of Zimbabwe's, the President of which they resemble in all but skin colour. There are, also, a close network of Continental Nationalists (if you will forgive the comical, impossible, collection of words therein) with whom they have seemingly close ties who. like the BNP, are exploiting opposition to the EU with promises of jobs tomorrow. This worries us as it worries all sentient British people, for it is easy for these groups to grow across national boundaries through the internet, without which they would find it very hard to exist in more than a local fanzine-extremist network.

And then there are the other candidates, leaving aside the BNP for a while, one of who's candidates recently declared rape to be something which women probably enjoy. Candidates from the Green Party and the Respect party and all the other one horse wonders who, if in power, would, just like the BNP, be incapable of running the nation. They all know this, I am sure. A reading of the BNP website offers no clue as to how they would govern the nation or the economy other than a few populist and to some idealist statements about 'right' and 'wrong', from their own seriously misjudged angle. None of these parties will ever gain power, but that does not mean that we can dismiss them at local level. If you wish to be represented by people who understand the global need for reform in the economic sphere, by people who can represent us globally, by people who see the need to maintain and improve the environment, by people who are answerable to the nation and have been for generations, for God's sake vote tomorrow for a mainstream party. Vote Lib Dem if you like, or Conservative, or Labour or even, maybe Green Party, but a vote for the BNP or UKIP, or a decision not to vote at all, would be a sin for which we will be answerable to almighty God.

In Christ there is no black or white, no slave or free, He died that all may have life, if they so choose. To vote for a party which discriminates against His children by the colour of their skin, or who would close the boundaries of one isle against another rock of His own making, is to evade our responsibility to all His creation. When our souls are demanded of us and the Lord asks us how we furthered His Kingdom of justice and how we told of His word, we do not want to stand accused of causing division and hatred. Whatever mess our politicians have got into now, a vote for extremists is a vote for hatred and will turn us away from the Lord. A protest vote for a seemingly innocent fringe party is to vote for someone with no chance of power or governance. To not vote will leave people in certain areas with a BNP councillor to represent them, which is intolerable, to God and to man.

Wandering Around.

2009-06-02T15:00:00.002+01:00

I was wandering up to the Post Office today so that I could have a letter weighed and measured under the new Mengele-like directives for pricing and sending post by size as well as weight. Counter staff now have to produce a plastic sheet with pretend post slots in it and smilingly push your letter through before weighing it and concocting a price. Only the smallest letters are exempt and even these I have had problems with before as a counter personage tried pushing it through the slot the wrong way round. Hundreds of years of rectangular envelope tradition counting for nothing when confronted with a pretend letterbox and a big bucket of stupidity.

Talking of buckets of stupidity, let me share with you my conversation this morning with British Telecom. I enquired as to whether the engineer will still be coming to my new house on the appointed day to install the line. One cannot be too sure. Yes, was the answer, but could I provide a contact number for the man to call when he was close by. No, said I, I have no mobile 'phone. Ah, said he, in which case he will phone you on this number, from which you are calling. But, said your brave hero, I will not be there, I will be awaiting him some many miles away. Could you, he asked, not stay there and then drive to the new address? No, said I. Then, he enquired, could I not ask a neighbour to receive the call and say that I was in. No, this would be odd. After forty five minutes - forty five minutes, Gunga Din - I was told that this was fine but only a senior manager could dispense this exemption.

It has been fruitless telling you all this, really, but I get so irritated with having to conform to the whims and directives of companies so tied up in their own red tape that they actually cease operating as public services and become too concerned with meeting targets to operate effectively. Any comparisons with the Church of England are in your imagination.

Holy Trinity Platt, in South Manchester, a community which allies itself to GAFCON, has this witness in the middle of the largest concentration of Asian businesses in Manchester, sandwiched in between a hundred halal take aways and restaurants. The sweetcorn van seems to have covered it effectively. As I will miss the little Theological College in Rusholme with its balmy courtyard and hysterically biased library I have taken to toddling around lately, much taken with the Tee Total hotel with a new neon sign saying 'non alcoholic' outside!

I was also briefly in Liverpool, a city which I always find confusing, even though I find the accent of the womenfolk pleasing. The men sound like they have a mouth full of inverted whistles, but there we are. I love the architecture surrounding the arteriel roads going to the docks in Liverpool, all puffed up yeomanry and London Georgian, slightly tatty though and sunning to seed, it reminds me of Euston fifteen years ago. Many of the pubs still seem open and not too many have for sale signs on them, clearly they do better than those in Manchester which have been devastated by the smoking ban and the sudden availability of cheap drink in the supermarkets.

Pentecost Sunday.

2009-05-31T18:07:00.003+01:00

After High Mass this morning there was dinner to say goodbye to a couple of handfuls of friends who have been mainstays of my time here for the last seven years. Plenty of roast beef was consumed, copious amounts of cake and then, as the sun reached its zenith (about 3.30 in my back garden) we toddled outside for brandy, coffee and watermelon. In this civilised time (at least until the bottle of Armagnac was finished) the heat became so hot hats were called for - a decommissioned biretta and a fez were found and worn.

Before this, pudding was finished. I was of sound enough mind to clear the empties away, including a viciously sweet Pedro Ximenez, some Soave and a couple of bottles of good, peppery Cotes du Rhone before taking the picture. Peppery CdR is hard to come by now, having lost favour to the new styles, but it holds sway in Teather houses from Bere Regis to Prestwich.

A good turnout for Sunday Mass pleased us, particularly given the weather which may have called many to the seaside. I enjoyed reading and by default hearing the beautiful sequence for Pentecost as well as so many Pentecost Hymns. The twelve tall candles upon the altar brought out attention to the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the friends in the upper room, from which they went out to tell the good news. Next week is Trinity Sunday and then I will go out from Prestwich on Corpus Christi, to Preston and the next stage of my life. Do pray for me, as I shall be exhorting my new Parishioners to do as well on my first Sunday when I preach on the days readings.

Our acolytes had unfeasibly long candles because the usual stocks in them go into the tubes for candles 11 and 12 for Pentecost. Back to usual next week once I have cleaned the tubes.

The new kitchen is coming along. There will probably be a new wipeable floor in front of the units soon or the carpet will soon become smeggy. I do not know if they sell wipeable surfaces in retail outlets, but maybe Thom can have a look, as this is where he is this afternoon, shirking his responsibility to you all. Tut.

And after Mass, there was a full Church again as we had four Baptisms, thus completing our Eastertide teaching of new life and a turning away from sin. That we had running water is a boon, so that we could at least put some water in the font. Tomorrow sees a trip to Liverpool to acquire an item of which there will be more later and then North to a meeting, then far South for the afternoon. It will be a busy day, as they all are at the moment.

Wild Garlic and Sapphic T-Shirts.

2009-05-30T18:32:00.004+01:00

No, this is not my new house, but the old Conservative Club in Preston, now 'Vintage' bar and restaurant, with a dodgy looking nightclub in the basement. I have not ever been here - it confronted me as I left the altogether less salubrious surroundings of the snack bar over the road and I thought it seemed more interesting than a picture of six IKEA Billy bookcases, which I have spent much of the day putting together, while cursing the thinness of the backing material. There has also been time to go to Clitheroe but not to join the hordes by the Ribble basking in the sun and paddling in the water, however smelling the banks of wild garlic (ramson) which grows abundantly in the valley almost made up for it, as did seeing a stout lady wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan 'cover me in chocolate and throw me to the lesbians'. There must be very wealthy lesbians in Clitheroe because it would have cost a weeks wages to purchase enough chocolate for the task.

I am going off to Church now, to lay the vestments out, prepare the altar and books for tomorrow's High Mass. Then I am going to the house of a Parishioner for a coffee evening - at least, there will be a coffee evening, I will take a bottle of Badoit water, which more suits the blazing heat for me. Pictures of the Mass tomorrow as well as photographs of the large joint of beef which I am BBQ'ing for a group of friends. It is as well to cook and shop now, for next week a siege mentality will descend upon this quiet backwater, as those of us who are blessed enough to live next to the vast Heaton Park have to contend with the arrival of rock band Oasis, who are playing on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The local supermarket has put up a sign saying that alcohol will be limited to one bottle or can per person and special checkouts will be erected to cope with the crush - and that is a mile away! Fifty thousand people are expected to try and cram into the park each day, and many more in the streets around which will be closed. It will, of course, be hell and much busier than when the Pope came to the area, but that is life, I suppose. The series of concerts makes up part of the 'dig out your soul' tour. Sunday Mass will be almost empty, I suppose, what with the closed roads and everyone looking for their soul in the litter strewn park and the special checkouts at TESCO.

Time for a Drink.

2009-05-29T17:25:00.003+01:00

A hot, sunny day in Manchester. Typically enough just as I leave. I am going to go into the garden and enjoy a nice gin and tonic which will calm me down as I read the Church Times, which now comes in a plastic wrap, rather than the reusable brown envelope which almost made the free subscription worthwhile. I understand that thee is a nice picture of the Dean of Westminster taking high tea on page three, it will doubtlessly be all downhill from there.

Another shot, sent to me of last Sunday's High Mass. Pentecost this Sunday of course, then Trinity, Then Corpus - the first one for a while when I have not attended the parade at Corpus Christi Basilica in Miles Platting, North Manchester. The Basilica is now boarded up and abandoned, plans to turn it into something else presumably scuppered by the condition of the building, size and the undeniable fact that it is in Miles Platting. Time for a drink.

Paschal Candles.

2009-05-28T10:12:00.002+01:00

First of all my apologies, even though the above picture clearly shows that I have time to drink coffee in peculiar cafes, I have had little time to share my thoughts with you on this blog. This has been a week of meetings, academia and letter writing, all of which have been productive, all of which have been exhausting. My prayer wheel has been given a spin this week as well, offering me a difficult chance to come to terms with a difficult persons actions. Once again, though, a productive spin of the wheel.

Yesterday, as I toddled off to a long and enjoyable meeting, I was musing, through the rain and the filthy water spurted up onto my clean cream trousers by a loose paving stone, that it was the 27th of May, which meant that there were two and a half weeks left until I move and almost exactly a month until my ordination, by the grace of God on the 27th June. After a momentary increase in heartrate (my Doctor tells me that I have, if anything, low blood pressure, which is a miracle I ascribe to my forswearing of squid and margarine) the usual serenity returned which will begin to erode gradually as the removal men come closer and which took a slight dent last night as the unhappy football fans returned to their houses from the collection of pubs up the road, stopping only to drunkenly sing at various stational lamp posts in the vicinity of AW House.

The building works in the Church go apace, we are sagely informed that they will come to an end this week, certainly I hope that we will have running water this week, as we have four baptisms and we could do with the mains being on and a tap connected. Interesting liturgical question here - as it is Pentecost and we also have Baptisms, do we move the Paschal Candle after the Gospel to the font, as is our custom, lit or extinguished to light immediately afterwards or do we simply place the lit candle in the Baptistery before Mass begins. Answers on a postcard or in the comments box please.

Ommmmmany votes?

2009-05-27T23:37:00.003+01:00

The votes for consent of the election of Rev. Kevin G. Thew Forrester so far stand at:

YES: 24
NO: 47
PENDING: 32
NO COMMENT: 7

To be approved, Forrester needs votes of "yes" from 56 of the 110 standing committees of the Episcopal Church.

(We have had discussions here in the past about this Bishop-elect of Northern Michigan.)

For constantly updated tallies, visit Bible Belt Blogger.

Riots and Change.

2009-05-26T12:17:00.003+01:00

Henry IV Part I offers the reader an unquiet time of festivity and order in a state of flux. Spurred on by the socio political events engineered by Hal at Falstaff's feast, the Prince tries to use the undercurrent of public awareness of the government's funding of festivals to disrupt the flux of history and expectation by becoming King. The difference between riot and revolution and feasting and drinking is taken to the knife edge where it still finds home in our modern times. Hal underlines the need for recognisable change when he says

'If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work;
But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come,
And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
So, when this loose behavior I throw off
And pay the debt I never promised,
By how much better than my word I am,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes.'

We could read this passage as his emerging from the chrysalis as youthful rogue to glorious King as well we might, but it also has echoes of the 'wheel of fire' of Lear, to which we are bound, spending our days on a circuit of events which we predict by association but often fail to grasp in essence. So at this time of year, we lurch from feast to feast, Ascension, the Mary Riot at Walsingham (or the National Pilgrimage, chacun a son gout), Pentecost, Trinity and finally the glories of Corpus Christi. The beauty of the Ascension when each year I stress the final action by the corporeal body of Christ on Earth as He ascended - He blessed them, as He disappeared from view he used his final act to care for His people. He ascended with his wounds as well - this is always worth pointing out, He takes His wounds and our wounds to the heart of God. The enormous assertion of the Ascension is that He takes broken humanity to the heart of the Triune God.

This means that we have something to say to the people of the world who are broken and tormented and who hope and yearn for a better future. We say that Christ has gone up, taking your wounds with Him, with His wounds by which we have been healed. At the festivals and at Walsingham, we have something to say, at the moments when the festivals boil over to near riot in anger and upset at the way things have gone, or in the moments of complete surrender to God which is when our hearts are at peace, as we bring our brokenness to Him who received His Son in glory, but with hands and side pierced. At those moments, we say that He truly knows our sorrows and He has taken them to the Father. It is one of the most enormous assertions of all time and the peace it brings is something which I think sustains us all at this time of flux in the Church - that He knows and that He still calls us through the reeds to this place, at this time, in this way. Blessed be God in the festivals and in the famine. Blessed be God in the still times and in the times of change and unexpected flux. As we look to our wounds, North Korea is detonating nuclear bombs and the Church is called upon, more than ever, to emulate Christ, using every possibility to impart His peace.

So as I prepare for Pentecost in the top picture and drive out for a country walk and pass this disturbing boozer offering 'discount booze', I wonder how to best tell of the peace of Christ in this most peculiar context in which I find myself. Faithfully, I hope and pray and for that I ask your prayers as well, especially over the next few weeks and months.

And the walk, over part of the pennines, was rewarding. I followed the old horse path which cotton was transported over the mountains hundreds of years ago for a little while before the fifty mile tunnel was built which ends in Worsley. I cannot imagine beginning to dig a fifty mile tunnel, but it must seem as hopeless as some of our modern predicaments.

The road, though, goes ever on, with many hills, dales and smoky towns before it ends. Like the men who saw Jesus ascending, we too are called to snap out of it, to stop staring into heaven, to return to the towns and villages at the end of our encounters with the divine and to get on with the opus dei.

The Anniversary High Mass.

2009-05-25T09:27:00.004+01:00

The Mass began with the clergy and servers processing outside the Church down Whittaker Lane before we came in the front door to behold a church so full we needed extra seating and soon ran out of the 120 sheets I printed for the Mass, which was good for a Bank Holiday Sunday evening when many people were going to walsingham for the National Pilgrimage.

Bishop John Gaisford graced us with his presence and presided from the Throne, dispensing the absolution and blessing incense before concelebrating the Mass and offering blessings during the recessional.

The Gospel procession forms.

This was the occasion of our Parish Priest, Fr Ronald Croft's, 45th anniversary of ordination, his old friend, Fr David Morgan, preached the homily.

Bishop John listens to the homily.

The congregation are censed. These pictures were taken by my mother, who sat in the front row, alas the camera breathed its last at this point, but the next pictures are taken by Ken, from the choir stalls.

The concelebrants enclosure. It was a delight to see so many visiting priests from near and far Parishes.

Canon Paul Denby sings the Gospel.

The altar is censed as Les, special occasion Thurifer I looks on with the watchful gaze of a life long altar server.

The Sursum Corda is sung.

The Consecration.

After the Mass, this group picture was taken.

Flying Visits.

2009-05-23T07:42:00.003+01:00

Two of your scribes met yesterday, as you see from this picture taken deep in the heart of AW Operations Centre. We enjoyed an excellent meal, finishing off Fr Lee's flying week visiting the UK, doing a number of things which I am sure he will be telling you about soon. He returns to Canada today, so join me in praying for his safe landing. Today is looking like a busy day so I will have to say toodle pip for the time being.

Ascension Day High Mass.

2009-05-22T07:03:00.002+01:00

Just a few pictures from last night's High Mass for the Ascension for you, beginning with a sneak preview of the many flower displays being erected for the High Mass on Sunday evening. You think erected is a funny word to use for flower displays? Just wait.

'Ecce Agnus Dei', with your scribe looking insufferably pious. Must work on not looking insufferably pious.

The consecration, Les, number one special occasion thurifer (imported from the Ascension Lower Broughton when he moved here many years ago) kneels to the front.

Fans of Gothic vestments will be warned to enjoy these shots while you can, for Sunday will be a different kettle of fish entirely.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

Ascending in glory

2009-05-21T16:33:00.003+01:00

Whilst Andrew and Fr. Lee are busy laying out bestments (solemnity vestments- yeah I made that up!), and braiding flowers in their hair, I would like to wish everyone a blessed Ascension Day.

I have the time to do so because I won't be observing it till Sunday.

Peace!

Police, Motorways and Sicknesses in the System.

2009-05-21T15:37:00.002+01:00

So I was zooming down the motorway this afternoon, with the window open and sunlight streaming into the car, a far cry from this morning when it was as night had fallen doing the same journey in reverse, when the little movement of loveliness by Bruckner which Radio Three was providing crackled and died. Not wanting to listen to Carl Jenkins or the 1812, which seems to be the only two things Classic FM plays, I switched over to Radio 2, which normally cheers me up on Friday mornings as I make my tedious way to Cadishead. Steve Wright was the DJ, which was a shock, having not listened to Radio 2 in the afternoon for a long time. Steve Wright used to be the afternoon, school home time DJ on Radio 1 when I was at a school when we went home at home time, rather than to another part of the school where we also slept. This was quite a long time ago then, so it is good that he still has a job, maybe he can sell the secrets of his longevity in employment to our hapless Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who the Radio 2 news told me has just committed political suicide.

Political suicide I do not know much about, but I can read the signs of the times much as anyone else can, extravagant expenses claims always catch you up. Real suicide, where the life of a creature of God is extinguished by that persons own hand and will - although we shall come to this in a moment - is something else entirely. As I drove round the Prestwich motorway roundabout to come home, there was another wreath of flowers tied to the East side, favoured side of suicides, as one can jump, I guess, without seeing what is coming. Suicides nearly always remove their glasses, I am told, as though preparing for bed, but many of the cases in Prestwich do not, such is the proximity to the Psychiatric hospital.

Prestwich Hospital was once almost its own city state, with a farm, staff houses, wards, medical facilities, sanitation, water supply and generator. It is now a group of centres, more of less 'open' wards and, at the bottom of the hill, a maximum security centre which one passes on the way to the municipal dump, with walls so high and wire so sharp there is clearly a need for it. Uncontrollable rage is a hard thing, with only the chance of life under sedation or an eventual stroke to slow you down, it is no wonder that released patients sometimes find their way back 'home' and end their life where it changed and where security was offered and found.

The state of mind of the suicidal is of course not as we would hope our state of mind ever is. Sometimes it must seem a rational and acceptable thing to do, taking your own life and it is on this grotesquely warped reality which any judgement comes - the person was not in their 'right' mind, therefore we pray for their soul to be reunited with Almighty God, who sees all and knows the innermost thoughts of our hearts. It is with this in mind that I advised the BNP (British National Party - you can probably guess) canvasser today to consider the state of his immortal soul, for he, like us, will stand before almighty God on the day when his soul is required of him and he will have to give account of his life and tell of how he brought the Kingdom of God about, in justice and peace and how he brought himself and others to God, in whom there is no black or white, no sane and insane, but simply potential to be His children in His heavenly Kingdom. I am not usually a fan of this approach, this kind of witness, but when you have thirty seconds to make a point, it is sometimes the best way. I wished him the peace of the Kingdom and said to come back if he wanted to know any more. We shall see.

The picture at the top shows the police in Old Trafford, policing the streets after the 'Derby' match last week, when Manchesters United and City play each other. It is a day of high emotion and sometimes tension, and one on which I usually find something outside the city to do. A day in which people do and say things which they would not usually say or do, but a day nonetheless when there is high drama in the city, when old sectarian tensions are loosed, it is almost forgotten now, but once the two teams were split between Catholic and Protestant supporters, the two now reconciled to each other more by the shrinking pool of followers of religion than by any mutual understanding.

Alas, today, we see in all the papers news of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland's horrific abuse of boys and girls over decades, with many thousands of cases of sexual and physical abuse of children carried out by priests, monks and nuns systematically and almost openly. Gang rapes of small boys and girls lashed on every part of their body by nuns. The document, many years in the producing - for the church blocked much of the investigation for years until the government and people finally said 'enough is enough' and forced the process and left the Churches - makes for harrowing reading, as does the figures of practising Catholics in Ireland today. Never has a Church done so much to encourage secularism.

I went to two schools, both of which had large and wide ranging court cases prosecuting paedophiles, in cases going back weeks and decades. I pray that this may finally begin to come to an end and that a 'right mind' may enter all the people of God, that they and we may live our lives for Him, only then can the Church once again be completely resurrected as the sign which this nation so desperately needs. That it will be hard recovering from this scandal, wherein some priests were moved from country to country by the church to escape prosecution, goes without saying. That God, in the end, shall guide us all is certain.

Cromwellian Hairnets.

2009-05-20T08:29:00.002+01:00

This picture shows my brother, sister in law, niece and nephew at a civil war re-enactment day in Dorset, where they live. You would be forgiven for thinking that my sister in law is joining a convent because her husband is wearing a hairnet, which Cromwell would certainly have disapproved of, but appearances can be deceiving. In the same way, Sunday may look, to you, like Ascension Day, but in fact it is not, Ascension day is tomorrow and there will be a High Mass and ceremonies at 7.30 pm in the Independent People's Republic of Saint Hilda's, all are welcome. This will allow us to keep a High Mass on Sunday Evening to celebrate the 45th anniversary of ordination of our Parish Priest at 6pm. All are, also, welcome. A buffet will follow as long as the High Altar does not burst into flames under the massed candle power. Oh for a thousand gradines to sing.....

Cromwell would doubtless add a dislike for chasubles to his well documented opposition to hairnets. This Marian cloth of silver one of mine would doubtless allow him to enter great heights of loathing, but I show it to you to enquire as to whether anyone can point me in the direction of a cloth of silver stole which may match. I would be very grateful if you could. It is not clear from this picture, but this is a very full chasuble, in the 'Borromean' pattern at the front, although I am not keen on these new terms, particularly 'Benedictine' for an arrangement of candles. Benedictine will continue to mean 'of Saint Benedict of Nursia' long after it has stopped referring to a line of candles.

Pickled Cabbages.

2009-05-19T12:45:00.003+01:00

And so it begins. But let's start with cabbage, because we know where we are with cabbage. Solid, dependable stuff, but I like it Sauerkrauted, picked and be-wined. I buy it in tins, empty the tin into a pan, add white wine, fennel seed and juniper berries, a chicken stock cube and give it a good simmer. Adding chopped german sausage at the end produces a vegetable which is a long way from the steamed savoy you might have on Sunday with your lunch, but cabbage it still is, just a different taste, texture, colour and look. The Parable of the Cabbage holds true for Churches in this country, we see those around us, as they see us, with different ecclesiologies, but still part of the same Church of England, for better or for worse. There is an acceptance that in this climate we have at least some sense of shared mission, at least this is the narrative I hear time and time again. We can look at Chichester for an example of a Diocese with strained, but acceptable relations. The Lord Bishop does not ordain women to the Priesthood, he had two suffragen Bishops, Lewes and Horsham who did not either. Horsham has left the Diocese to administrate the shrine of Walsingham, so is discounted for the time being. Lewes is a Conservative Evangelical, opposed to the ordination of Women, but of a radically differing ecclesiology to the Lord Bishop. A retired Bishop over the boundary ordains those women who wish to serve in Chichester and some sort of parity is observed. Much like cabbages, the same group is in evidence, even if there is a vast difference in taste and character. Chichester is an extreme example, indeed there are Dioceses where it is difficult as a Priest of traditional ecclesiology to get ahead - or even in - as well.

This strained relationship is continually about to crack at the joints though. We see the American situation, with the Episcopal Church, GAFCON and their variants at loggerheads in the courts and from the pulpits and, to be honest, I despair somewhat, knowing that we will be in the same boat soon, whether we like it or not. Again, I stress as I have done before that we would be very foolish to import the American situation into the UK, as we have no tradition of 'continuing' Churches ever attracting much in the way of a congregation, and at this point in time it would be ecclesiastical suicide. However, come it has. On June 17th to the 19th our brothers and sisters in FiFNA are having a meeting at which it will probably be decided that there will be a split in FiFNA between those, like St Clement's Philadelphia, who are happy with the Episcopal oversight offered by TEC and those who are not, who will join the new Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) which will join the many, many denominations in that country.

Soon after that meeting, there is another one, this time in the UK. At this meeting will be Rt Revd's Michael Nazir-Ali, Wallace Benn (Bishop of Lewes), John Broadhurst (FiF Chairman), Keith Ackerman (Chairman of FiFNA) and Archbishop Peter Jensen (secretary of GAFCON/FOCA). This is about seven weeks away, a week after my ordination and I have to admit to feeling very, very concerned about it. As one of our readers said, there are some very strange bed fellows in that list, from the man who banned the Chasuble in his Archdiocese to the man who would not say Mass without one - this admittedly minor point has deeper roots in ecclesiology. Will this meeting signal the beginning of the split in FiF in the UK? Our opponents certainly hope so, I am informed that there is rejoicing in the halls of many places as people see us falling into opposing camps before the next synod.

Let us, once more, return to the cabbage. Cabbages, as we have discovered, come in many guises, but all sharing an essential family resemblance. We in FiF UK, I do not see, have a family resemblance with the Archbishop of Sydney. We are concerned with the Catholic Faith, branch theory, the faith delivered to the Saints presented in a way which - it has been proved, do not forget this - is accepted and loved by people of these isles. I do not feel called to be a Priest in FOCA, I cannot accept the Jerusalem declaration and my vocation comes from this Church, through which almighty God worked and works to this day, witnessed by our growing Churches. I have no interest in off shore morality havens and I do not want to go from being a minority in the Church of England to a minority in FOCA, for we know what will happen eventually. The end will come, we are poised to leap out of the frying pan into the fire and I, for one, do not intend jumping unless there is absolutely no choice.

So what will happen? FOCA/GAFCON is being launched in a few weeks and there is much interest in our quarter in this development. I pray that we will not be faced with a stark choice, for if we are, then we have, truly, begun to put the noose around our necks. We cannot grow without the Church of England - or the root of our Faith. We will be sidelined and ignored in our own country, abandoning the CofE to its own fate and abandoning ourselves to obscurity and collapse, left by the wayside in a global evangelical revival which we just do not fit into. We have something worth preserving, indeed of vital need in this country of ours, which is coming to rely upon us so much. PEV Bishops are the best thing that has ever happened to us, homegrown men who are known to be devoted to the Church, imported off shore Episcopal care is not going to work in the same way. And as I said, I cannot sign the Jerusalem Declaration. I am a Catholic and I think you might just be as well.

Deus meus

2009-05-18T04:27:00.003+01:00

Gilmary Center, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania

I attended a meeting for my Franciscan Region here this weekend. We should always take the good with the bad, but the future looks depressing. More on that later.

A Weekend Away.

2009-05-17T14:54:00.002+01:00

I have been away, partly meeting my future training incumbent, this weekend, partly being tortured with 'worship' songs, which, as we all know, irritate Our Lord. He prefers Psalms or the New English Hymnal. These pictures, though, have been taken for your benefit, documenting the High Mass at Saint Hilda's this morning, where a modern, Almy High Mass set was worn.

Ken collects the offerings of the people as the altar is censed.

Many Hildaites went to the house of Betty, one of our Parishioners, who lives in south Manchester, in Sale. They enjoyed a garden party and plenty of cakes, whilst your scribe had salad, without the proffered cold quiche, because I have a special hatred of quiche. No cakes were brought for me - I have been to the sacristy to check, just these pictures of everyone having a good time.

And here, continuing to have a good time. I shall be back to usual tomorrow.

Your scribe, hiding in the shadows. Looking for the cake which did not appear.

Stately, Plump, Buck Mulligan.

2009-05-15T11:26:00.002+01:00

I have tried, on the occasions when I have been to Preston for meetings with my future incumbent, or the workmen who have been beavering away in my new house or for other reasons, to take some pictures, particularly for our American readers, who will not have the opportunity to visit Preston. However, it has rained every time I have been. Assuming that this is a continual feature of the city, I have done the best I can with Saint Johns, (the Minster), which is a very big church and hard to photograph, but you get the general idea from the picture above. Saint Georges, with its staggering interior, is less attractive from the outside, even to a Georgian fan like your scribe and wet, under cloud, is not the best time to photograph it. I will keep persevering.

I move in a month from now, so can I ask if there is still anyone who has not had an ember card/change of address card who wants them, to let me know now. I have a handful left from the 300 I had printed, thinking that to be sufficient and they will all be gone this Sunday. Email me as usual.

The sun came out for a second as I walked down my road, offering this glimpse of Winckley Square, bordered by the Jesuit Church to the North and the SSPX Church to the South. I do not look forward to the mechanics of moving, the packing and unpacking, cleaning this house and handing keys over to a tenant but will be glad to be where I am going to. I look forward very much to going, but not too much at the moment, as I still have plenty to do here before I go, one of which things is to do a little arranging around next week. We are having a High Mass for Ascension Day at 7.30 on the Thursday and then on the Sunday we are keeping a low Mass - what should this be of? And then in the evening, at 6pm, we are having a High Mass of thanksgiving to celebrate our Parish Priest's 45th anniversary of Ordination to the priesthood, to which all are very welcome.

Somebody, the other day, asked me what I write this blog for. I think he was being kind, in fact I am sure he was, but I was unsure of the answer. After thinking about it, I keep coming back to 'Ulysses', by James Joyce. The book explores various areas of Dublin life, dwelling on its squalor and monotony. Nevertheless, it is also an affectionately detailed study of the city, and Joyce said that "I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book". In order to achieve this level of accuracy, Joyce used the 1904 edition of Thom's Directory, a work that listed the owners and/or tenants of every residential and commercial property in the city. He also bombarded friends still living there with requests for information and clarification. Amusing though the name of the directory may be, this is a good reason for writing anything- to leave a record of, well, not really myself, but what I see and what I hear. Hopefully to chart the life of someone living in the world we share, in a narrow stream of it which nevertheless crosses continents, through tides of public opinion swinging in and out of favour (but mainly out, at the moment) and trying to make sense of the world which surrounds him using little but the grace of God and a broad but thin education. Will that do? Could the world of Anglo Catholicism in the North West be rebuilt from this blog? Probably not. But I hope that the work of God all around us could be seen. That and pictures of vestments and beer.

This and That.

2009-05-14T07:45:00.003+01:00

The new chairs for the Lady Chapel arrived last week and are comfortable, which I am in two minds about, as well as seeming to be hard wearing. There have been thoughts of gradually replacing all the chairs in the nave with these type as well, before any more collapse underneath people.

Anybody reading 'Thinking Anglicans', a site which I find almost impenetrable, would be under the impression that the Anglican Church is currently in a competition to find out who can create the biggest acronym, the only rule being that nobody but the creators must be completely happy with what it theologically stands for. All this is doing is making us look very much like a Church which is falling apart when, I get the distinct impression, no group is actually going to really leave, because they would immediately look like yet another 'continuing church' trying to justify its existence on the internet with pages of articles and very little in the way of congregations. The prevailing mood on Sunday at the May Devotions was that nobody was interested in joining a FOCA / GAFCON split, feeling, as we have said from the start, that those of traditional Catholic ecclesiology and belief have no place there. Branch theory only goes down branches, it does not envelop new bushes growing on faraway shores. The time may have come to make clear the distinction between the Church of England, catholic and reformed and the Anglican Communion, of which we are a part, but to which we share no allegiance of government.

In the mean time, the back alley has been cleared and de-bushed, ready to be turned into a ramp, allowing disabled access to the back of the Church. The corridor behind the organ leading from the Church proper to the community room is to be similarly enabled, leading to the new toilets. We had no toilets for the May Devotions, which did not really matter, indeed it led to a continental atmosphere as groups of devotees were led to the facilities in the school next door.

And a friend gave me this kneeler with remarkably fine carvings on the side. I like the animals at the bottom and I wonder if anybody might have any idea who made it or where it was made. It will look very fine in front of the altar in my little chapel.

And from a little further away. I would be tempted to upholster the kneeler, but may refrain if it be thought to spoil the integrity of the piece.

The True Vine.

2009-05-13T07:32:00.005+01:00

In a busy week so far the teleport has been installed in my new hallway, enabling me to move between three Churches with remarkable ease, although what it will do to the Church Of England issue 'mixed fibres' carpet is uncertain. Or am I just looking forward to seeing the new Star Trek film too much? Anyway, Ken has been hard at work as well producing a new noticeboard in Church which was the focus of much interest on Sunday night at the May Devotions, I have also been printing off many copies of the order of service for our Parish Priest's 45th anniversary of ordination which is on the 24th of May at 6pm, beginning with a High Mass and descending into a buffet and drinks. All are, of course, very welcome.

I reproduce below my sermon delivered last Sunday morning at Saint Mary's, for your interest.

‘Get up and go to the South’ said the Angel of God to Philip, and he went. The Bible is full of movement, indeed the book tells the history of a people on the move, travelling towards the promised land through hard times and easy times, plague and harvest, until they reach the climax of existence in the upper room as the new covenant is made and the journey begins again, for each generation and all people, but with the knowledge of the heavenly Kingdom, which we must orient our lives towards reaching. ‘Get up and go to …’, wherever it may be for you, is the word of God.

How much more convincing is the direct call of God to us, which we find in our day to day lives as well as in times of change, as the Eunuch did in the first reading, when he was journeying from one place to another and was baptised, was welcomed into the company of the saved, in a muddy puddle by the side of the road, forsaking his finery and servants who travelled with him. The voice of God came and he got up and responded to that call. The angel came to Philip and said ‘go to the South’ and the eunuch travelled on his way and the two of them met, one confessed the name of the Lord and one was saved, bringing by his conversion the word of God with him wherever he went. How marvellous is the Lord’s care fro us, how he seeks out the lost! This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Messiah, Son of God, as it came to the Ethiopian Eunuch and as it came to Philip.

The Good News is further delivered in the second reading, in that we must love one another, for God is love, and he has shown His love for us in bringing our forebears out of slavery, by being our god and allowing us to be his people and by raising up a mighty saviour who would bring an end to the kingdom of death and open the gates to eternal life – who even now is risen from the dead – his mortal body is alive and sits in heaven, gazing with love upon those of us who are on earth, wrestling with our own free will, temptation and the devil, that we may be with Him. This is the beginning of the God News of Jesus Messiah, son of God, as it comes to us this joyful Eastertide that God is alive and has overcome death, through love for His people. God so loves each one of us that he sends us all out, individually, to tell of His love throughout the world and to live in such a way that we show His love with our every action.

But what is the love of God? It is the beginning of the good news! We may love bacon, or Mozart, or Bentleys, or Mills and Boon, but they are not essential to salvation, indeed they may get in the way of it if we covet or lust after them. God is love, indeed, He tells us this clearly, but he also tells us that he is the true vine, and that we are the branches, but that he will cut off and burn in the everlasting fire those branches which do not bear fruit – those branches which pollute the vine and do not allow themselves to live and therefore extend. A vine needs to grow, each branch to extend and extend again, bearing fruit, enveloping the entire plant and working together for the harvest. A branch which does not allow further growth has to be chopped off, for the good of the whole plant. His words and his love abide in us, but we cannot thrive and love ourselves without being part of the one root, the one vine. If we have been baptised by water and the Holy Ghost and are part of the body, the vine of God, of the Church, how can we allow that which is contrary to His teaching? We must orient our whole selves, our Sunday mornings, our business decisions, our ethical dilemmas, our peace and our anger and most of all the future of our families and neighbourhoods, towards the root of the Lord, who nourishes us and leads to eternal life through Baptism and his holy Church.

We cannot separate ourselves from the vine when it is convenient, nor can we decide that we can do without the vine on occasion. We are part of the plan of salvation and the Father does not want to throw you into eternal, burning hellfire; he wants to give you life. He wants to give you more than a weak, frail, just barely hanging on life. He does not want you in the shadows, living a half life. He wants to give you a healthy, vibrant, fruit-bearing life. It is to the Father's glory that you bear much fruit. Do you want this life? Then ask for it. Jesus said, "If you are in me and my words are in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you". Ask your Father for life, for life that bears fruit. Ask him to strengthen your faith. Ask him for more love to share with others. Jesus promises that every request in line with his word will be given to you. The Father will give you life through Jesus' words. He will give you life by strengthening your connection to the true vine. He will give your Church life as you flourish in this neighbourhood, showing the fruit of the love which comes from the Father to you – you will be Philip, bearing the love of God to the place you are sent to, which is this Parish, your workplace, the dark places of your soul and your holiday destinations as much as it is likely to be anywhere exotic.

It is time for me to go – I doubt whether I shall be in this pulpit again, life marches on and one part of my particular call to serve God is that I will, as far as I can see, move about quite a lot. But we share the same fruit – the wine of which Jesus said “This is my blood – drink it in my memory”. We do drink it week by week, not simply to remember Jesus but to be incorporated into his life, to have his blood course through our veins so that his spirit may empower us for his work in the world. We may return to our seats after receiving communion and feel that nothing has changed. We are as we were, unruffled by our encounter with the divine. And if so then what we have been given will remain opaque, closed and unfathomable. But one day – maybe today – maybe already it has happened – the penny will drop. We will know that we belong and we are loved; that we are members one of another within this community of faith. And – this is the most challenging bit – we have been commissioned and indeed trained and disciplined (pruned is how St John puts it), commissioned, trained and disciplined to bear fruit: to unite for action in a world and for a world, whose pain and passion cannot be left to politicians or freedom fighters or extremists. That this world, created by God, will confess His name is not certain. That this country, which has been Christian for centuries, will remain so is not certain. That the family will survive as the normative unit of humanity, bringing up children as Our Lord was brought up is not certain and is certainly not a decision to be left to the Politicians. “I am the vine, you are the branches” says Jesus, “Go and bear fruit: fruit that will last.”

For nine months you received life from your mother through the vital connection of your umbilical cord and belly button. Without our mothers not a single one of us would have lived. Without a connection to the true vine, Jesus, not a single one of us will live spiritually or eternally. Jesus connected us to himself by his baptism. He continues to strengthen that connection by his Word. The stronger the connection grows the more fruit we bear and the more life we have. And this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Messiah the son of God and it has come to this place, in this time, to this Church. Live in God as He would live in you, fight for his Kingdom and together, bear fruit that will last.

The May Devotions at Saint Hilda's Prestwich.

2009-05-12T07:19:00.002+01:00

Father David Houlding gives Benediction during the May Devotions last Sunday at Saint Hilda's. The sun, if it did not exactly shine, was in evidence enough to allow the procession to go outside the Church and around the streets, which is all that was required of it. The attendance was good, the Church almost full and we had a happy number of visiting clergy and parishioners from other places as well.

We began with inducting new members of the Society of Mary, before the usual hymns, devotions and sermon, which was preached this year by Father Houlding. The procession then prepared itself and we processed outside before returning for Benediction. A buffet followed which all went - as always. The availability of wine gave your scribe a fuzzy head the next morning.

Canon Peter McEvitt leads the litany by the shrine of Our Lady.

And poses, unashamedly, for the camera whilst talking to Barbara Bohanna, lay chair of Forward in Faith Manchester.

The procession follows the statue out of the Church.

Which meandered past the bins and the Doctor's surgery.

Accompanied by banners from Saint Hilda's and our Roman Catholic friends at Nazareth House. Each year we seem to welcome more and more traditionalist Catholics to the May Devotions.

Father Houlding and Father McEvitt process into the Church at the beginning of the Devotions.

Another Busy Sunday.

2009-05-11T07:58:00.003+01:00

Yesterday went well, which is a relief. I began the morning at Saint Mary's, the Parish Church of Prestwich, giving them a sermon for the Sung Eucharist on the true vine. I will smarten up my notes and publish them here at a later date, it's a good way of putting a post on when I am busy! It was difficult for me to say goodbye, as I did at the end of the service, to a community who have been so welcoming to me, how much harder will it be when I leave Saint Hilda's in a few weeks. Time to go, though.

This new icon corner at Saint Mary's was a nice surprise, maybe if they got any more, they could have some of our poles seen in the previous post. As I walked around Saint Hilda's this evening to make sure that the processional way was clear I moved the poles, toilet and cistern which were blocking the path down the side alley, which was a first. I contemplated stopping the procession at the Station of the Building Works but decided that people might be tempted by the lead piping.

The fine Church of Saint Mary, Our Lady of Prestwich, is a lovely place and a great treat to visit. I have run quiet days in the past using the choir stalls, which works well, the screen closes off that part of the Church to an extent, making it feel like a small chapel.

Some of the windows are good, the high sanctuary has Burne Jones type work, showing saints looking very English and correct in their gothic vestments, but the light was too strong to allow good shots.

Part of the choir stalls showing the sedilia further along and the tabernacle behind, in the lady Chapel.

Like Saint Hilda's, there has been a dais for a nave altar which is no longer in use, the High Altar is pulled forward, to allow for westward facing celebration, but it retains the integrity of the original plans for the Church, as you see. It could be said that moving altars forward in this way when space is relatively tight makes the altar look precipitous, upon the top step and indeed on the odd occasion when there has been Eastward facing High Mass, the sanctuary comes into its own. Far better this, though, in my opinion, than a nave altar which directs the sight to the front of the screen, missing the work behind built to the glory of God.

The statue of Our Lady in the Lady Chapel is looking very happy in her May array.

Pictures of the May Devotions in the evening to follow soon, once Ken's pictures join the few I already have.

May Devotions.

2009-05-09T22:26:00.002+01:00

Just a reminder that the May Devotions are tomorrow at Saint Hilda's, Whittaker Lane, Prestwich (by Heaton Park Metro station) at 6pm. Fr David Houlding is the guest preacher, the press are in attendance (so wear your best hats) and there will be a buffet and drinks afterwards. It will look something like the picture above, but with a few changes. Spot the difference pictures may appear next week.

Romeward Bound!

2009-05-09T22:17:00.002+01:00

A gratuitous picture of Mons. Fellay.

I see that the Bishop of Rochester has given his reason for retiring as wanting to work with persecuted Christians. Forward in Faith waits with baited breath to see if we will be the lucky recipients of the Episcopal care, or whether it will be another more deserving group. At least it will not be GRAS, who are persecuting Christians! Anyway, pray for Mons Fellay and Bishop Michael, who are both trying to lead bodies to unity with the Pope. If I were a less pious man, and a betting one at that, I would open a spreadsheet on who gets there first.

Building Works.

2009-05-08T06:47:00.000+01:00

Another tram leaving Heaton Park tram station, just round the corner from my house and looking very attractive in the spring blossom and verdant green.

Bringing in it more people to walk round the park and to wander down Whittaker Lane to look at the many hairdressers, takeaways and, all of a sudden, the shop above, which offers massage, psychic readings, tarot, expensive looking rocks, dangly things and a whole cornucopia of other heresy and half baked 'spiritual' goings on. It used to be a therapy centre run by witches, at least one knew where one was with them, they were friendly and made nice tea and were happy to listen to what I had to say, but this new lot seem a different kettle of fish.

Which is exactly the conversation I was having with Andy and Adam, our builders, who were bemoaning the lack of Churchgoers in the country. We wondered if it may be to do with the lack of duty or longevity in employment, contracts or material goods. We are used to the transient, we need to keep our heads above water - and how hard it can be - and we seek not the things of God, we do not look for the hard, the hidden way, but pay someone to tell us what long lifelines, huge halos and big egos we have.

But that aside, I believe that we are going through a phase, a dip in faith, making our task the more challenging and therefore rewarding. And when they all flood back to Church, we will have new toilets for them to use.

Poles, Ember Cards and Drunk Trotskyites.

2009-05-07T08:17:00.003+01:00

As we began the works to renovate the community room, build new toilets and install ramps in the back of the Church, the benches in the community room were ripped out, revealing these many poles, some with finials on them. The four large ones, I think, were for the curtains which once, a long time ago, hung around the Lady Chapel altar, they are some twelve feet tall. There are also poles about eight to ten feet tall, some with brass finials, for the carrying of banners, although there is only one crossbar, and it does not possess the correct implement to attach it to a longer pole. I am probably going to remove the finials, give them a clean and save them for some future use, possibly topping a canopy for the Blessed Sacrament. However, if anyone would like to leave a small donation and have a pole or poles, maybe you have some use for them, let me know. But soon, please, as we want them gone as soon as possible.

'You know what this is, Gunga Din' I thought to myself as I tried to fit a meeting into the end of this month the other day, 'this is the last whole month when you will be living here'. It is, you know, next month I move to Preston, to the house of which you see some of the hallway above and much more importantly, I move to a different way of living, much of which, I hope, will come as a happy surprise. I already have an invitation to the Conservative Club though, which was the first surprise. Some things never change I suppose, but at the risk of upsetting some of my readers, at least it was not one of the interminable invitations to 'the Lodge' which arrive now. You may have thought that they would get the message, wouldn't you? Happy though I am to accept hospitality - and I have been to a number of dinners with all sorts of interesting societies (the declined invitation to speak at the Bangor Spiritualists Society was one step too far, I felt) - I will not join a society which blurs the edges of Christianity. Conservative Clubs, in my experience, are a different kettle of fish, full of Trotskyites drinking discounted bitter.

Anyway, the main purpose in my communicating with you this morning is to ask if there is still anyone who has not had an Ember card from me who would like one (what's an ember card, I hear you asking. It is a card asking for the prayers of people for my, and others, forthcoming ordinations. It also happily doubles up as a change of address card, although I am probably supposed to be too pious to notice). If you had rather hoped for one and do not have one, or if you want one now, let me know. They are facing imminent extinction as a breed so send me an email now. I may have forgotten you, I am sorry.

The Cafe Church.

2009-05-06T09:33:00.002+01:00

'What is going on here', you wonder. In the background is a reredos of sorts containing the ten commandments and the Lord's Prayer, topped by a surprising Baroque representation of the Holy Ghost. There are communion rails, very close to what looks suspiciously like an altar, underneath which a child plays with shaped plastic. Apart from pews there are cafe tables and there is a man bearing not a collection plate (for there is now a till), but a tray of empty plates. This is the Spurriergate Centre, in what was once Saint Michael's Church on Spurriergate (the place where the spur makers once worked) in York. It seeks to be a 'shop window of the Kingdom of God', although a casual observer would be forgiven for thinking it to be a cafe, that is, until one of their 'trained listeners' descends upon you, which would, I am afraid, spoil my lunch. Counselling is offered in the belfry and, naturally, fairtrade (sic) products are available.

Upon entering, and Karen is going to hate me for this, is a small shop selling the sort of crappery that gives Christians a bad name. Expensively packaged soap, horrible coffee powders, cards with wishy washy sentiments on them, knitted ego warmers (ok, I made that one up) and the like. Oh, and lots of those dreadful CD's with wailing people on them, screeching sentimental, out of context scripture-lite. Ugh. And ugh again. If you can make it past this retail outlet of new age Christianity without puking you get into what is a very nice cafe, selling good food. Cheap it ain't, rather like Alpha, it caters for the aspirant middle classes, offering a side portion of ethical living which is compatible with the Guardian. Peruvian parmesan anyone?

So you queue up here - and queue they do, this place does offer good food in a busy city and is, unsurprisingly, busy itself. Underneath the stained glass window now is a kitchen where good people produce decent food. It is served with care, the place is clean and so what's my problem? It is this, Gunga Din, that there is clearly a well formed community of people here who are bursting to hold Sunday services, but they are bound not to by the terms of the lease which they hold on the building. It was to be a way to use an empty Church with a broadly Christian ethos -and they are to be applauded for this - but the listeners and the angel cards and the toys under the altar and the counselling have stirred up a wish to begin a Church, which is based on this mission to the City but which has no basis in Church tradition. Where is the grounding in moral theology? In ethics (apart from the 'fair'trade logos) - in short, how can a community take on the role of being Church simply because they have a building shaped like one?

Am I being too harsh? Have the priests who, over the last few years, have supplemented my learning with rigorous study of the classical theologians and philosophers, been wrong in supposing that this is essential learning? Is the thrill of the new reshaping the world in the power of the Spirit? Whatever that is supposed to mean, I seem to be leaking charismatic verbiage this morning, do forgive me, I will probably come out in a rash. I can see the attraction - in a city of too many Churches, here is a community which genuinely tries to live according to the teachings of Christ and knocks up a mean lasagna - and it tries to bring people to God, and, unless I am mistaken, is at the stage when it feels when people say 'where next', rather than suggesting a local Church, they look to themselves, for people find it hard to make transition from one group to the next, and say 'what about us?'

And what about them? With probably the warmest Church building in York and the most comfortable chairs, and counselling in the belfry. This good, well meaning enterprise has, in my opinion, come from the wrong end of thinking. This seems to be a natural product of a Church, well established in the community, which looks for a means of mission, a way to go into the community, tell of the wonders of God (for he has made you whole) and bring people into their Church community. Instead, Spurriergate has the outreach without the church community which it so clearly wants to develop and will have to at some point - I only hope that they do so by aligning themselves with one of the other established Anglican communities in York. Otherwise another Church will appear, out of the group who took on an empty building because there were too many Churches in the first place.

All of which begs the question, 'is it easier to be a Christian in a Church building, even if that building is not used as a Church' and if so, is this sort of outreach something which established groups should be thinking of undertaking in abandoned buildings?

Worksop Priory.

2009-05-05T07:30:00.003+01:00

Worksop Priory was significantly altered in the 1970's and the crossing lifted to include a new spire and lantern suspended above the new altar. The organ and choir stalls were relocated to the East end behind the altar and the place was given a thorough clean up. The next stage in the development is to renovate the ancient shrine of Our Lady in the Priory gatehouse - for many years an important place to stop off on the way to Walsingham on pilgrimage. Now, sadly, it is not in a state to see, but plans which i felt were very exciting are afoot to begin the works. With the proximity of Egmanton I wonder if a fledgling pilgrimage centre is not forming itself.

The Chapel of Christ the King has a crucifix the type of which I have long admired. It is always reassuring to see stone altars, it removes the temptation to pull them forward.

The main shrine of Our Lady has two candlesticks by the side which I suspect were the original pavement candlesticks of the old high altar. I wonder if there are any pictures we can see of the previous sanctuary arrangement for the sake of interest?

And what a very grand and imposing nave the Priory has. I particularly like the placement of the font in the centre of the nave, even though it is contrary to the ancient place for them, by the Galilee gate.

The shrine of the Sacred Heart.

This, for me, is the gem of the Priory, the beautiful Lady Chapel. The aumbry is to the left of the picture behind the lamp. We had originally hoped to have Benediction here, but we proved too numerous, which is a good thing, I suppose.

About seventy of us eventually mustered for benediction. We sang 'Jerusalem the Golden' before Fr Philip Corbett, the Curate, gave a short talk about the Priory, its history, current times and future plans, before we prepared for Benediction. When the Blessed Sacrament was exposed we sang 'Alleluia, sing to Jesus' before singing the Litany of Loreto. The Tantum Ergo followed and the collect was sung in Latin before Benediction was given. After the Divine Praises we sang 'In our day of Thanksgiving' as we processed out, which was thought to be a very suitable hymn for the end of a pilgrimage to these two ancient places.

As always, we were ably assisted by our mobile serving team, ably led by Ken.

We thought that it was a good thing to have three friends who are also ideally suited, in as close a way as it is possible now, to the roles we took during Benediction. Fr John Livesley celebrated, he was ordained Priest last year, Fr Philip Corbett was Deacon, which he was ordained to last year (I look forward very much to a return to Worksop in July for his first Mass) and I was sub-deacon, as hope and trust to be ordained Deacon next month. Next month, goodness me, I am still looking at my Ember Cards, thinking what a nice day out it will be, that it is my name on the card has not really sunk in yet. Anyway, we also thought that it would be good to have the three of us not only for the reason above, but also because we are all relatively young, and about the same age.

We whisk in fairly quickly, surprised at the length of half the nave and the shortness of the hymn. I have always preferred brisk processions to the languorous self important crawl of some.

Worksop Priory from the outside. A fine, imposing place just a few minutes walk from the centre of town.

Marion and Mark, two of our pilgrims, board the coach at Egmanton for Worksop.

And a gratuitous picture of your scribe in his new lightweight summer wool cassock which his mother bought for him.

Catholic revival: Hell and damnation

2009-05-05T05:08:00.002+01:00

There has been a Catholic "revival" growing recently. Much of the spiritual fire has been stirred regarding the sacred liturgy: the "grand re-opening" of the 1962 Roman Missal, and the re-invigoration of the Ordinary Mass. Some have, inevitably, used this opportunity to further a theological and doctrinal cause; that of diminishing the role of current theological studies, and bringing into vogue once more theology that had been in place at the time of and prior to the 1962 Missal.

One of the talking points with the Catholic revivalists has been a call for a renewed emphasis, in homilies, preaching, and teaching, on the idea of Hell and everlasting punishment for sin. I think that this is a fascinating idea, so let's engage it, briefly.

There are certain topics about which, according to the Gospels, Jesus did not often speak. However, when Jesus does speak about one of these less mentioned topics, we should pay careful attention. One of the topics about which Jesus did not often speak was Hell and everlasting damnation. There are two instances in the Gospels when Jesus spoke directly about the idea of Hell.

In Matthew 25, Jesus spoke in a parable about separating the sheep from the goats. The sheep, he said, the Son of Man will put at his right hand, and the goats at his left. To the sheep he will say, "Come, inherit the kingdom." To the goats on his left the Son of Man will say, "Depart from me. Go to the eternal fire that was prepared for the devil and all of his angels." The King accepted the sheep on his right because they fed him when he was hungry, gave him water when he was thirsty, clothed him when he was naked, and visited him when he was in prison. The goats were indignant, and they asked him when they had never done these things for him. He told them that when they neglected to do it for the very least of the people in the world, they neglected to do it for him.

The only other time in the Gospels when Jesus spoke about Hell was in another parable: the parable about Lazarus (the only person ever named in one of Jesus' parables), and the rich man (not named). Lazarus begged outside of the rich man's house for years. According to the parable, Lazarus would have been satisfied with even the scraps of food that fell from the rich man's table. These and other comforts the rich man denied Lazarus. Eventually, both Lazarus and the rich man die. Lazarus is carried away and sat upon Abraham's lap, while the rich man was sent directly to Hell. The rich man could see Lazarus on Abraham's lap across a great divide, and called out to Lazarus to give him just a drop of water to ease the pain from the heat of Hell's flames. Abraham denies the rich man's request. Very obviously, the rich man was a religious man, because when he cried out, he called to "Father Abraham." But a gulf separated the rich man from Lazarus in death just as an uncrossable chasm had separated them in life.

Both of these parables have a common theme. And let's remember: these are the only two times in the Gospels that Jesus speaks directly about Hell. The theme? Those who neglect the poor end up in Hell when they die, while the poor and those that care for them are given the Kingdom.

Did you know that "Lazarus," the only name mentioned in one of Jesus' parables, means "the one God rescues?"

It is encouraging to see any sort of "revival" in Catholic circles, or in any Christian circles, really, given the times in which we live. But let us keep in mind the spirit of the Gospel while the winds of revival fires blow. Jesus was clear in his teachings about Hell. Those who care for the poor inherit the Kingdom; those who don't, well, they go to Hell.

Christianity is about loving people out of the hells of this world- not scaring them into Heaven in the next. Ultimately, our relationship with God is a personal, complex one that involves two parties: ourselves, and our Father. Jesus, on the Father's behalf, gave us our charge, our duty, as his followers while he was still among us: Love one another, as I have loved you.

Christianity promises life after death. It is our job, as followers of Jesus, to ensure that there is life before death.

I wholeheartedly give my support to preaching Hell. If we stick with the Gospel, we cannot go wrong.

Pax et bonum.

A Quiet Holiday Post.

2009-05-04T06:34:00.000+01:00

Lest you think that I have been overtaken with Wanderings, here is a picture of your scribe playing with a cat after Mass tomorrow before being taken away for lunch. Mass attendance was poor, aided and abetted by the Bank Holiday and the good weather.

Cats.

Flowers in the Church. There will be more about the Wander tomorrow, normal service will resume soon.

And on Sunday morning I was in Church first thing to erect the extra bits around the shrine of Our Lady of Prestwich ready for the month of May. This Sunday our friend Fr David Houlding is visiting to preach at the May Devotions and there is much, much to do beforehand to prepare for the festivities.

More Wanderings.

2009-05-03T17:08:00.006+01:00

It is one of the great surprises of life to walk into a tiny village Church and to find a medieval replica sanctuary, organ, rood and hanging pyx. A surprise but such a great joy.

The intrepid wanderers arrive in Egmanton.

In the coach graciously provided by Ken.

Here, in reverse order, are the pictures from the first part of the Wander yesterday, beginning with the blessing at the end of the High Mass before the Regina Caeli, the picture of which you saw yesterday. It was such a joy to see so many people there, we prayed for the Society of Mary and the Society of Our Lady of Egmanton as well as all Anglican Societies who propagate the Faith delivered to our ancestors on these shores.

The Preface, sung in a smoke filled medieval sanctuary, keeping the Mass of Our Lady of Unity.

The altar is censed during the offertory. Your scribe may have a slightly too short alb, but it is a creaseless model, so has redeeming factors.

That most happy sight, a full and busy Church of pilgrims.

The sacred ministers settle down for the gradual hymn, which I chose unwisely, it went on somewhat. For those not there, we had 'Ye Who Own the Faith of Jesus' as an Introit, 'O Purest of Creatures' as an Introit, 'Immaculate Mary' as an offertory Hymn, 'Love Divine' as a Communion Hymn and 'Jerusalem' before the congregation came into the sanctuary for the 'Regina Caeli'.

We are very grateful to the shrine and Fr Christopher Levy, the Shrine Priest, for the use of the shrine and for allowing us to descend upon them, use their Church and vestments, sing Mass, venerate Our Lady, eat a two course lunch in the village hall and leave in three hours and twenty minutes. An excellent lunch as well.

Ken instructs the altar party in the correct manner of serving. Ken also drove us there and back, in his multi-capacity role as Churchwarden, bus company manager and altar server.

The shrine Church as seen from the road.

And some of the wanderers before lunch.

'Did you hear the one about...'

Tomorrow, pictures of the second part of the Wander, at Worksop Priory.

The 5th Anglican Wander Part I

2009-05-02T20:22:00.003+01:00

Today has been a busy day. This morning at eight I went to open up the Church and greet the pilgrims already sitting on the steps soaking up the sun. By the time I had lit the candles at the pilgrimage shrine the Church was filling up and at nine we left for sunny Egmanton. We enjoyed a splendid Mass in this beautiful Church before lunch in the Village Hall and a trip to Worksop. Solemn Benediction in Worksop priory concluded the day. More pictures &co tomorrow and Monday.

One of the many shrines to Our Lady in the Shrine Church at Egmanton.

The high altar.

The Church was packed with people who came under their own steam and who came on the coach. At the end of the Mass everyone gathered round the Shrine of Our Lady of Egmanton to sing the Regina Caeli.

The altar party come in from the belltower.

Water Charging Latest.

2009-05-01T07:08:00.001+01:00

A gratuitous picture of the Maria Rain Church this morning to illustrate the problems of water charging for Parish Churches. This latest from Downing Street updates us.

Newsround.

2009-04-30T10:03:00.004+01:00

The DeKoven centre, on the banks of Lake Michigan, is a traditional Anglo Catholic foundation in the Episcopal Church of the USA. Founded as the Racine College in 1852, it passed to the Community of Saint Mary, the oldest women's religious community in the Episcopal Church, in 1935. This picture shows Saint John's Chapel, standing in the centre of the campus. There is a full programme of retreats as well as a daily Mass and the other peripheral functions which a building of this size in the modern day needs to undertake in order to continue its central mission. I am grateful to my friend Andy Bartus for sending me these pictures, taken by his wife, Laura Bartus. Andy is a seminarian at Nashotah House in the USA and is coming to London in May as an intern with an Anglo Catholic Parish. I hope to be able to send pictures of us both enjoying a glass or two of wine in a variety of London bars, although I have a sneaking suspicion that I will have other things on my mind in June!

This is Saint Mary's Chapel, built by the community of Saint Mary soon after they took ownership of the complex. The website for the centre can be found here and the website for the Community here.

The view from Lake Michigan is windswept, as we may expect and reminds me of a hundred conspiracy theories of 'grey, cold buildings' which have housed Prelates for the Vatican from Milingo to Siri, if you believe the stories running around the internet. I have to say that in my more dismissive moments I sometimes allow the thought to flash through my mind that if it is all true, which of course it is not, unity seems a funny old game. I wonder how many sede vaticanist movements there are, the Palmarians in Spain seem to have been quiet recently, as do the True Catholics in the hills of Kalispell, Montana. Maybe some people are waiting to see if Bishop Williamson will follow his reasoning through, maybe not. What with Pope Linus II, the Thuc Lineage, whatever Milingo is doing now and the Little Pebble to boot, there's certainly enough choice.

Schismatics aside, I have just had a delivery from J and M, with my new cassock and detachable cape, which I am very pleased with. I wonder if wearing cottas under capes is something reserved to Canons? I shall have to ask our friendly local Canons this Saturday on the Day Out. Such wondering pales into insignificance though after reading this news from blogger Iain Dale, wherein we read this statement from the Bishop of Rochester, who was asked to whom people should look for moral guidance in Britain......

'...if you want a moral lead, don't look to the Bishops. I certainly wouldn't.'

Which is clearly not a statement we here at Anglican Wanderings endorse, although it makes it difficult either way, for not endorsing it also detracts from the authority of the Episcopate. Maybe we should say that we do not completely endorse this statement. And pass the fudge.

English Altars and Modernism.

2009-04-29T08:01:00.002+01:00

Sunday night Evensong and Benediction did not exactly pull in the crowds, no surprise there after the morning Mass and Annual General Meeting, but a faithful dozen or so made the trek down Whittaker Lane. We have another service of Benediction, much grander on the surface, in a couple of weeks as part of the May Devotions which we hope will be full as usual. As it will also coincide with the last week before the toilets, passage way and community room are redecorated and in some cases rebuilt, we will have to watch the toilet wall, lest anybody try to take a souvenir as they did in Berlin when the wall came down.

This surprising piece of decorated organ cladding is to be found in the Parish Church of Kirkham, in Lancashire. Even though the altar has been pulled forward, spoiling the original effect given by the gradine and panelling slightly, it remains an excellent example of how to decorate these organ 'walls' which are so common in Churches which have a choir in the sanctuary. The statues and spires, so lacking in the rest of the Church, give a fine feeling of the sacred in a Chapel which is also the Chapel of reservation. The gilding of the pipes gives a hint of a reredos as well, which I found, on a sunny afternoon with the light streaming in the windows and hitting the pipes full on, to be a very attractive - and quite simple - way of tarting up a dull corner of a Church.

A very reasonable altar fall as well adds to the well thought out atmosphere of this Chapel, we shall gloss over the energy saver screw in bulb signifying the Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and remark on the attractive communion rail, in matching wood to the reredos.

The High Altar, however, shows an entirely different hand. I sat in the pews and looked at it for a while, aware of a niggling disquiet, until I realised what was disturbing me. The altar, of course, used to be an 'English' altar, but the front two riddel posts have been moved forty five degrees to the side, giving, rather than an altar three quarters enclosed in hangings with four angels surrounding, an altar with three curtains behind it, looking for all the world as though Charley's Aunt is about to enter through one of the smaller ones. I suppose that this is to enable the altar to be brought forward to enable the people to see their Priests face and, it has to be said, this is possibly a better option than pulling the altar forward, leaving the posts as they were and having the priest enter through a side curtain, as can be seen elsewhere.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how an English altar can be adapted for Westward facing celebration? My initial reaction would be to say either get rid of it completely if it is not used with historic integrity, or even supply a nave altar and leave the main one as it is, at least the nave altar can be removed when the fashion of the last forty years gives way again to the previous two thousand. Oddly enough, in this Church there is a nave altar as well, a tiny table close to the entrance to he Sanctuary.

Questions and Answers.

2009-04-28T14:35:00.002+01:00

This coming Saturday is the day out in Egmanton and Sunday sees what should be a reasonably busy High Mass. Next Sunday we have the May devotions in the evening, followed by a buffet, you are all very welcome. I have telephoned the Church from whom we borrow the processional statue (we actually have our own brancarde, which needs an artistic hand to repaint it, I have meant to do this for a while but have now resigned myself to not getting it done) and the brancardiers are also arranged, posters have gone out and the Church is gradually filling up with extra candles and drapes and other things of great holiness. Do come if you are around, it will be a lovely evening. Pray for fine weather so that the procession can go outside.

One other holy thing is this portable tabernacle which we use for the chapel of repose on Maundy Thursday night. It came from the Catholic Apostolic Church on Stretford Road in the South of the city when it closed down. Does anybody know about the CA's doctrine of the Eucharist? In the drawer are three compartments, maybe for oil, I thought, but the central one alone has a sort of well in the wood, lined in a white, hard material, possibly a plastic. What might this be?

The well is invisible from here, beginning half way down the compartment. I understand that in the cellars of the Church of Christ the King, Gordon Square, there is a Low Mass set reserved for the sole use of Christ when He comes again.

The gardens in Luther Kind House were heavy with a carpet of blossom yesterday as Spring contemplates giving up to Summer and the trees loose their finest season when the small leaves give greenery but still allow the branches to be seen.

I also found time in the morning to go to Venus Foods in Rusholme, from where I buy dried spices. The building used to be a roller skating venue (does anyone roller skate anymore?) but is home to a Turkish bakery, supermarket and spice blending plant. I get all manner of dried chili products, lime powder, coriander seeds, sumac powder, ras al hanoot and aniseed seeds from here at very low prices. I was drawn in by the baklava and the Iranian pastries as well yesterday, the smell of warm, freshly baked sweetmeats being too much to resist.

The broom in my front garden is flowering again, although not quite so lavishly as last year, which probably means that it is not long for this world. A few more seasons and it will need digging up. There are some excellent yellow brooms in Sheringham, a small town or large village to the North of Walsingham, some streets are clearly in a competition as to who can have the finest. I thought of Walsingham yesterday, I had hoped that the first thing I would do 'for' my old Parish and the friends therein after my ordination would be to go to Walsingham with them, but alas this is not to be. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for the 'Walsingham Way', the Milky Way which people before the reformation believed pointed the way to Walsingham, next year. Oddly enough, the people of Santiago de Compostela in Spain call the Milky Way the 'Road to Santiago', but they did not have Wycliffites telling them otherwise. As if an excuse were needed, here is an extract from one of my favourite pieces of literature, Piers Plowman (B version), which concerns pilgrimage, St James and Walsingham. It always makes me smile and I hope it does you as well.

Sleep and sorry sloth ever pursue them.
Pilgrims and palmers pledged them together
To seek Saint James and saints in Rome.
They went forth on their way with many wise tales,
And had leave to lie all their life after --
I saw some that said they had sought saints:
Yet in each tale that they told their tongue turned to lies
More than to tell truth it seemed by their speech.
Hermits, a heap of them with hooked staves,
Were going to Walsingham and their wenches too;
Big loafers and tall that loth were to work,
Dressed up in capes to be known from others;
And so clad as hermits their ease to have.

I found there friars of all the four orders,
Preaching to the people for profit to themselves,
Explaining the Gospel just as they liked,
To get clothes for themselves they construed it as they would.
Many of these master friars may dress as they will,
For money and their preaching both go together.
For since charity hath been chapman and chief to shrive lords,
Many miracles have happened within a few years.
Except Holy Church and they agree better together,
Great mischief on earth is mounting up fast.

All Saints North Street.

2009-04-27T11:13:00.003+01:00

One of the more interesting small Churches in York is All Saints North Street, just on the 'wrong' side of the river for many tourists. York is full of little and not so little Churches, each one a gem of a place but of course, there are now far too many to meet the realistic demand. The Minster follows the national trend for a great increase in Cathedral worshipper numbers, with people more and more seeking out busy, but anonymous worship, a fine choral tradition with no pressure to bake cakes. Saint Helen's is a fine, simple place which is heavily used by the Oriental community, Spurriergate is a hybrid Christian cafe/community, another Church has become 'Visions', a strange place resembling a members club for goths which projects a new breed of Christianity, yet another Church is in the hands of the trust which looks after disused Churches, the name of which I forget. Other Churches have congregations of varying sizes and leanings and in the midst of this, All Saints offers a traditional Anglo Catholic 'Missal' Church, using the English Missal and attracting a congregation from far and wide.

This picture is taken from the Sanctuary looking out into the Nave. There is a very fine statue of our Lady on the site of her medieval appearances, but it was covered for Passiontide. There are two small side Chapels and a collection of stained glass which is almost unparalleled in any Church of this size in the world, including the famous 'pricke of conscience' window, about which I wrote a paper some years ago. I will see if I can find both the paper and a picture of the window, my camera is not great at taking pictures of glass.

Our Lady's South Creake is widely feted as being a wonderful Victorian replica of what a Medieval Parish Church would look like, but All Saints offers a more accurate idea. The rood must have looked remarkable centuries ago when it was polychromed.

The strong outdoor light and the great rush I was in conspired to make sure that I could not produce pictures of the quality you are accustomed to, but can I point you in the direction of their WEBSITE for more information.

Uniquely in my experience, All Saints offers a Low Mass in the morning on a Sunday and a High or Solemn Mass at half past five, allowing both congregation to travel and servers to finish Minster duties, as well as allowing occasional tourists like myself to enjoy a full day in York before coming to High Mass before a couple of pints of bitter around the corner.

From the outside, the tall thin spire is distinctive and recognisable from the main part of town at the other side of the river, which is just behind me.

New Bishop of Gallup

2009-04-26T20:28:00.003+01:00

The (now) Most Reverend James Wall was elevated to the episcopacy and named the fourth Bishop of Gallup (New Mexico) at a Mass on April 23 this past week. The night before the Ordination and Installation Mass, Solemn Vespers were prayed at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup. A friend has provided photos from the event, which I now share with you.

Notice especially how local cultural elements were incorporated in the design and furnishing of the Cathedral. I think that this is a great example of "inculturation" done right.

Incensation of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Bishop (Elect) Wall (L) signs the Oath of Fidelity, with Bishop Thomas Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix

Photo credit: Kitty Mason

Pax et bonum.

Third Sunday of Easter.

2009-04-26T12:37:00.003+01:00

High Mass today was well attended, particularly so when you consider that it was immediately followed by the AGM, which went well. Next Saturday is the Day Out, so maybe the Sunday after will suffer, although recently we have seen a noticeable increase in attendance and devotion. One card suggested that people realise that this is the last few weeks when they can see the vestments before they transfer to Preston (I am thinking about only living in places beginning with Prest, any other suggestions?) but this is scurrilous.

As you see, we wore the Thom Curnutte Memorial Gothic High Mass set, which came from Nashdom and is not to everybodys taste, brown not being an easily recognisable liturgical colour, but it has its fans.

The veil and burse are a different kettle of fish altogether, the burse being a very fine piece of 1920's Austrian work and the veil being part of a variety box of liturgical nicknackery I bought at auction.

And finally, good news and a big thank you to Sister Gabrielle Gross, who has given Saint Hilda's this beautiful lectern which matches the other wood in the All Souls Chapel perfectly. As every week, two candles burn for her intentions on the stand in the Chapel - a Chapel which has had everything in it donated or made by a member of the local or wider Saint Hilda's family, which is particularly fitting as it is where requiem Masses are said and the names of the deceased are recorded.

Offshore Morality Havens.

2009-04-25T17:39:00.003+01:00

This picture is taken from the website of the Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary, an Anglican society dedicated to maintaining standards of service at the altar in Parish Churches. The occasion was the Easter Festival at Saint Alban's Holborn. You can see the son of Craig Aburn as boatboy and friend of AW Andrew Wilce as Thurifer.

I went out to Nutters Restaurant near Rochdale last night, where I enjoyed an excellent birthday meal and was up first thing this morning so as to get to Preston for nine, to give the exterior decorator a set of keys and watch the carpet being laid in the rooms where it could not be cleaned. The cleaning of the carpet in the drawing room has brought out a feral smell though, although as it comes out of a clean carpet I suspect the floorboards may be to blame. I will try burning incense followed by glade plug ins and hope for the best.

This picture may be familiar to those of you who buy the Church Times, so here it is an a larger size. I get the Church Times free each week, providing me with a handy large brown envelope to reuse and sometimes an interesting insert. The main publication seems less offensive after a few gins, sinking as it does into unintentional parody. Mind you, it beats the Church of England Newspaper, which just scares the living daylights out of me.

In tomorrows Gospel we hear how the disciples recounted the way they felt, 'hearts burning within us' as they encountered Jesus on the road when they were running away to Emmaus. Christ unfolded the scriptures to them showing how He was the fulfillment of the old and creator of the new covenant. In our worship we try and bring people to feel close to Christ and to help them understand the scriptures, the paradox being that we are already close to Him, we already share in the glory of His presence and we eat and drink His body and blood. The tough thing is relaying this mystery and joy to those both in and out of the Church community in such a way as it will then bring about the joy of allowing them and us to continue reorienting our lives on the skewed axle of faith, he invisible axle on which spins the cosmos, of the sacrifice and redemption won for all people at all times by Christ's glorious triumph over death. Why a skewed axle? That we may live TO Him and He IN us, that we may then see the subversion of worldly values which this entails. We seem odd to the world, which is one reason that complaints, backbiting, moaning and tutting are so damaging to the cause of Christ, for they immediately bring us back into the currency of the zeitgeist, rather than being truly, demandingly sacrificial and not going on about it all the time. You know the sort. we all suffer from it to an extent, 'look at me, trying to be holy, but X, Y and Z keeps annoying me and stopping me pointing to God because I need to have a good old whinge about them'. This is unlikely to bring anyone to Christ.

This is the evening of the first day of the Latin Mass Society training residential weekend at Ushaw College. Our friend Fr Francis Wadsworth was in attendance along with a great many others.

One thing which makes me wonder about the future of the Church is typified by tax exiles. People who, rather than pay their full tax quota, live in half exile overseas, in an off shore tax haven while making their money in the UK. Some sections of the Church are beginning to look for and find off shore morality havens in the arms of Bishops in Africa and Australia (where Anglo Catholics are in many places persecuted, remember this) while still living, ministering and bringing people to God in the UK or the USA. This search for morality havens which can be undertaken on the internet can lead to some very convoluted and ill matched pairings, rather like old fashioned dating agencies more than one potential partner may have to be met, leading to a confusing situation all round. 'Sorry, darling, much as I share your distaste for homosexuality I rather believe in the Assumption' ; maybe lace should not be worn on a first date. Or, 'I believe in the primacy of scripture but do not believe the Pope to be the Antichrist'. These little tuning in problems can cause no end of fuss later on in a relationship when you have moved in with each other if they are not properly shared beforehand. Maybe some would even, in response to Christ's prayer for unity, consider the bounds of branch theory unduly stretched by transferring from the tree to an off shore sapling, which, not being native to us, we may find poisons us, or irritates upon contact.

Back to Ushaw. Here you see the Mass of Saint Mark last night. Not as busy as it was in Oxford last year, but what a conducive place for such an event.

Saint Hilda's Whitby and a Musing on the Future.

2009-04-24T06:00:00.001+01:00

Bringing to a close our occasional series about Whitby Churches is this post which looks at the Cathedral that never was, Saint Hilda's. This view though from the bottom of the breakwater shows the still, smooth waters of Whitby harbour. The view the other way is choppy, though, and a less appealing prospect. So it is for Whitby wanderers, so it is for us. We can look back at the success of the Catholic Revival in the Church of England and see a pool of still waters, reassuring us that the 'glorious battle' was, for a little while at least, almost won. The tidal waves of the faith though, created through the grace of God and the entry of a few very large priests into the small pool of the Church of England soon spread, diminishing the effect until all was covered with a thin, shiny gloss of Catholicism. Those of us who realise that it is time for another coat of paint probably also realise that it will be more difficult, but better in the long run, to demolish the structure and build a new one, using the bricks of the faith provided by our Parishes, but incorporating new structures as well. Schools, a new way of living the religious life, retreat houses and pilgrimage sites like Walsingham.

Over in America, covenants are being looked into to remove much of the legal clout which Dr Schori has been wielding recently. The proposals will create a two tier structure in ECUSA which will remove Parishes from the influence of reformers and create stability in which orthodox Parishes can grow and nurture each other, teaching the faith as handed to the Saints and working with true zeal for souls. This unfortunate situation becomes necessary when certain parts of the Church remove themselves so far from the bounds of acceptability as to endanger the life of the Church for coming generations. In the end, the hope is, the Church will be healed and return to the teachings of scripture. This could sound as though it will create a bigoted, reactionary caucus, and I hope this will not be so. It should enable Parishes not so different from the one I currently live and work in to live without fear of who the next Bishop will be or whether the Archdeacon will play roulette with our Parish share.

Is all this necessary? I hope not, I really do. However, here in England things are moving, still under the surface, at a significant rate. Men to watch include the Bishop of Rochester, who is a fine and true Bishop, a warrior for the Church and, surprisingly, Rowan Williams. Another Northern Diocesan is also expected to surprise many, many people. These good Bishops may, with the help of others, enable provision for us which is adequate and better than anything yet suggested. The news on the AW newsdesk is bright and good. There is Hope.

Meanwhile, back in Whitby, we see the side Chapel of Saint Hilda's, prepared for Passiontide. Saint Hilda's was built for a deal between high and low Churchmen, the fight of the day. Unhappy with Saint Mary's, the people of the town petitioned for this new Church to be built, and it was built at the same height as the old Church, on the other side of the harbour. It quickly became the busiest Church in the town and was nominated to be the Cathedral for the new see of Whitby, which in the end remained as a suffragen post, rather than a see in its own right. That the new Church became the dominant one and remains so is a parable of our time and a salutary lesson to the Church, to our Church, to come up with alternatives to the big new Churches taking shape in cinemas and old bingo halls, to provide the faith, as I am about to swear, afresh for each generation, in and out of season. I hope to reflect in these pages, over the coming weeks, on the declarations I am about to make, to 'search out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely and those who are oppressed and powerless, to reach into the forgotten corners of the world, that the love of God may be visible', so do pray for me over the next few weeks.

And Saint Hilda's has been fitted out like a Cathedral in the quality of its furnishings, with a fine rood screen, carved stone pulpit and exceptional reredos which is, unfortunately for the purposes of the interested observer, veiled for Passiontide. I wonder how a simple poll of how many Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches veil their images might look in terms of percentages, I know that in America some Roman Catholic Dioceses have banned the veiling of images altogether.

My favourite thing! A sedilia. I love these expressions, carved in stone, of the ordering of the clergy in the Church.

The High Altar set up for Low Mass. The last time I came to Saint Hilda's, there was a nave altar on a dais in front of the rood, this time the dais and altar were moved to the side. The man who showed me round, who also built the dais, explained that times have moved on again here and they recently decided to return to the traditional posture for the Mass, but also to return to this glorious altar.

Which enjoys a commanding position from the sanctuary overlooking the choir and nave.

This is the most interesting feature of the Church of course, the cathedra built for the never-appointed Diocesan Bishop. His intended coat of arms is carved into it, in the centre of the panel above the seat. The walls in the sanctuary, once glorious, are flaking. A recent investigation revealed that it would cost fifty thousand pounds to restore the paintwork - a great amount for any Church to find these days.

And finally, Jane gets here fifteen minutes of fame!

Bits and Pieces.

2009-04-23T08:27:00.004+01:00

I have a couple more pictures of Palm Sunday at Saint Timothy's Fort Worth to share with you, this one shows the soldiers on top of the Church watching the procession. It is worth repeating over and over again two essential truths about Palm Sunday, firstly that on the west side of Jerusalem there was a great military procession and Christ came in the East door, the right side of the figurative temple, in peace and riding a donkey - quite at odds with the armoured horses at the West. Secondly, that as soon as he had cleansed the temple, he returned the next day and healed the sick as well as spending time with the outcasts. Great public displays followed up by a renewed commitment to ministry, much like the Anglo Catholic congresses of old which my favourite Bishop Frank Weston used to speak at, and because it is my birthday (as well as being Saint George's day and I like to share a feast day with a Palestinian while talking about Jerusalem) we can hear Bishop Frank again;

'Go out and look for Jesus in the ragged, in the oppressed, in the naked and sweated and in those who have lost hope, in those who are struggling to make good. Look for Jesus. And when you see him, gird yourselves with his towel and wash their feet'.

Here the Passion is sung in St Timothy's by three local, home grown men who have learned their chanting skills in and for the service of, the Church. What a happy and good thing to come about.

"I will take delight in Jerusalem and rejoice in my people; weeping and cries for help shall never again be heard in her . . . Men shall build houses and live to inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit; they shall not build for others to inhabit nor plant for others to eat. My people shall live the long life of a tree, and my chosen shall enjoy the fruit of their labor. They shall not toil in vain or raise children for misfortune. . . They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord." -- Isaiah 65: 19, 21-23, 25 Oh, Jerusalem.

In the hazy light yesterday evening after Mass the Paschal candle looked beautiful with its garland of flowers, indeed the Church looks beautiful and there is blossom everywhere outside. A couple of days before he died, Dennis Potter, much maligned man, talked about 'seeing the blossom' both literally and figuratively, outside in his beloved Forest of Dean. It may have been the morphine in his case but not in mine when I felt close to that statement as I sat in the dappled courtyard of Luther King House on Monday saying my office with trees bursting with more blossom than they could hold over my head. I will find it hard to leave Manchester, but I am happy with the way things are going in Preston, I may even take a couple of pictures of my new house for you on Saturday. The Chapel is in disrepair at the moment, on the top floor, but I have found some nice Marian blue paint for it.

And the Lady Chapel in Saint Hilda's in the evening light, once I had cleared the extra candles away which were put out for the eve of the Feast of the Patron of England.

Later on, there was a bottle or two of beer in the garden. The BBQ was not going, I am afraid, it is open because I had just finished cleaning it in readiness for another Summer.

York Minster.

2009-04-22T09:27:00.004+01:00

This statue of Saint Peter stands in the great West doorway of York Minster, with the doors on either side of the slender pillar on which the statue perches. The Minster has a great history of living the faith which it was built and modified for over the centuries and has foundations almost as old as the Church I am going to in June, which was built by St Wilfrid. Talking of which, I now have my ember cards and need to write a list of people to send them to. Obviously those whose addresses I know will receive one but there are people with whom I correspond via email whose addresses I do not have. If you would like a printed card, therefore, I am very happy to send you one, just email me at andrewteather at fsmail.net . Otherwise I hope that nobody will be offended if I publish one to this blog as a 'general' ember card.

I hope in this post to share some of my pictures of York Minster taken this last Passiontide, showing some of the less often seen parts, including this very fine crucifix which hangs by the tills (I know, I know) by the North doors, where you will enter the Minster if not arriving for services. This problem of charging for entry to the House of God is a taxing one, but as most visitors come for the architecture and to 'tick it off the list' (gee, Elmer, I've been to Yorkinchestershire) then it seems reasonable to charge - if during the time the visitors spend in the Minster something of the Divine can be relayed to them, then this would seem to be the challenge. Without the revenue, alas, the building would have to find another source of funding and, frankly, I do not know what that would be. The many, regular services of course are free to access and, to their great credit, the people manning the tills are kind and considerate and very fast to wave worshippers through, unlike at Saint Paul's Cathedral where it feels rather like going to the pleasure beach.

This fine medieval corner in the Chapel of reservation is where the Oils are reserved. I have on occasion been accused of presenting a mythical medieval English view of the faith, which I was very happy about, and with dappled light on ancient stones in the Spring, who can blame me.

This is the tabernacle/aumbry, call it what you will, the place where the body of Christ is reserved and the reason for the continued existence of the Minster. If this Chapel were full of worshippers, who had paid their entry fee, paying homage to the Lord, then I should be arguing for the removal of the charge, but it is not, they are outside pointing at statues. Which is a perfectly normal thing for tourists to do - I do the same to an extent, although of course with far more style and as discreetly as I can!

The Chapel of reservation from the centre of the nave, you can see the interesting modern take on the Sarum array altar frontal from here, which may or may not be a good thing.

A further comedic example of the English Baroque. Do expand the picture, it is quite hilarious. This mixture of Protestant sensibilities with a precious Mitre and adoring angels is enough to put anybody off marble for life. The expressions on the faces of the angels are particularly bad - unsure whether to rejoice at the Bishops reception into Heaven or weep at his departure from this life, the artist has opted for a sort of general look of confusion and disinterest.

Ahh, that's more like it. The altars in the crypt for private Masses, all in Lenten array. traditionally blocked on in oxblood and black. Priests visiting the Minster from the York Province or beyond who wish to celebrate a Mass are offered one of these altars and I have to say that it is a very conducive place for the Sacred Mysteries.

The Canons stalls in the Quire by the High Altar.

And the beautiful High Altar itself, in glorious Passiontide red.

This is the Cathedra of the Archbishop of York, pushed to the side and looking a little sad roped off. It is another, more successful, example of the English Baroque, the cross on top and the curtains are particularly fine. The Latin inscription reads 'You did not choose me, I chose you' and it complements the inscription on the pulpit which translates as 'We preach Christ crucified'.

Here, finally, is the Dean leading stations of the cross around the Minster a few weeks ago. You can see my friend David to the right, clutching his order of service and small brown bag. Davis, this is the cope I mentioned.

More From the Convent.

2009-04-21T08:43:00.005+01:00

As I arrived at Sneaton Castle the altar was as you see it above and the smell of the Palm Sunday incense hung thick in the air. I rather like the symbols of the passion under the altar, even if from this distance they look like Cantonese. Some people have asked me for more pictures of the Castle, so this post is for you.

This is the famous hanging silver pyx in the shape of a dove, suspended above the altar in the side Chapel and containing the reserved sacrament. I am a great fan of hanging pyxes and was delighted to see one in the Chapel of the Bishop of Blackburn. I will take a picture of it next time I go if I can.

Here is the visitors common room at the Castle, which in times gone by would have been the entrance hall of the convent. Little oddly placed windows (presumably put in when the convent had a school attached so the Sisters could keep an eye on the girls) allow glimpses into the monastic enclosure and reveal such delights as an oil portrait of Cardinal Newman of great quality as well as assorted nicknackery of ages.

To the right here you can see the convent building proper, the refectory is a low building off to the side. The taller building is the 'castle' from which the centre takes its name and is comprised of meeting rooms, administration and endless corridors in which one can get lost at will.

Every morning as I said my office at 6, I would walk past these donkeys. I discovered that leaning on the gate led them to think that I was Sister Donkey Feeder and resulted in then gambolling out excitedly before looking at me and realising that I was an impostor.

This picture of the Holy Family and their doggy (don't you know your bible?) was given to the Sisters by Lord Halifax, patron of Anglo Catholicism, who also, among his many generous gifts, gave the silver big six candlesticks for the High Altar at York Minster.

This garden is the Sisters own, but the railings around the walkway from the back of the Chapel allowed your scribe to show you a glimpse of it. The whole place was immaculately kept and a joy to stay at. I am hoping to go to Rempstone on retreat next year, so will have to think about making enquiries once things have settled down.

Saint Hilda on Easter Sunday. The Chapel was modernised not that long ago, as one of the Sisters explained how it used to be I could not help feeling as though I would have preferred it as it was, but like Saint Beuno's (although not the Forest Chapel) I feel the work has been sympathetic and well done. I enjoyed spending time in the light and airy Chapel, seeing the change in the stone in day and night and watching the sun flooding in and creeping out of the windows. The other thing to point out about the Chapels of religious communities is that, of course, it is fairly irrelevant what you think - you do not have to live there!

This shows the entrance to the enclosure and cloister from the chapel gallery. A peaceful, serene place with meditations and prayers attached to the walls written by individual Sisters and shared amongst themselves, changed and moved regularly.

I was very taken with the woodwork in the Chapel, in particular the stalls. Here you can see the stall of the Prioress with her staff of office to the side, the seat for the Chauntress is next to her.

This is one of two very fine processional crosses in the Chapel, the more famous one you have seen in an earlier post, being carried into the Chapel in procession, I like the enamel work on this one showing the four evangelists. If anyone has any information about it I should be delighted to hear it.

The altar on Easter Sunday morning after the Mass.

Our Lady on Easter Sunday morning.

'Did you hear the one about....'

Vigil of Easter, St. Mark's Church

2009-04-21T05:03:00.003+01:00

By way of a dear friend, we have these pictures from St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, at the Vigil of Easter:

Photo Credit: Matthew Griendling

Pax et bonum.

Easter II.

2009-04-20T09:03:00.002+01:00

Low Sunday was not, as you might imagine, very low at Saint Hilda's Prestwich. In days gone by, 'Parson's Fortnight' began on Easter Sunday night and ended the day before Easter III, so this Sunday gone would have been for many in the Church of England, a 'low' Sunday, with lay led Mattins and no Eucharist. Presumably all the clergy went to Herne Bay and caught shrimps, or wandered around the Lake District. Next Sunday we begin Mass half an hour early at 10.30 for the only time in the year, we have no sermon and then we go straight into the AGM after Mass, this, we have found, is the best way to involve as many people as possible in the meeting.

The sun shone on Sunday during Mass and afterwards as I went to the tip with another car full of rubbish and then on to a pub for Sunday lunch of poshed up macaroni cheese, roast pork belly and more cheese. We were left Deaconless at the last minute on Sunday, so we had a sort of hybrid high Mass, which we felt was acceptable for low Sunday, if not something to be repeated without need in the future.

And I am very grateful to Ken in the press enclosure, sorry, choir stalls, for these pictures. Vestment fans may like to know that I was given this high mass set, which includes a cope and all the rest of the bits, by the Lefevbre family of Perpignan in the South of France. A little glimpse of heaven here - and a salutary lesson to anyone who would move the nave altar back, (not here, of course!) that the architecture of Churches is often built around forms such as the altar and font and one looses the light and dynamic of the building as designed by the original architect. Better to demolish the building and build a new one designed around the nave, so that we can properly worship narcissus. Oh dear, there I go again, time to move on to another picture.

Easter is a time of hope, of course. Hope in the certain knowledge of the resurrection - that the great adventure leads to God and that there is that of God in us. We are able to live our lives in Him and to live our lives to the full, we must be in Him and He in us. I have said before to people who want to come close to God and His Church, but find it too legalistic and constricting that it really is not so. There is an element of coming to no accept but to love God's law and plan for us - love one another as I have loved you - love the divine in yourself, love the soul in your body which sometimes seems to be on a windmill, love the God in others and search for Him in His body, the Church. We are all parts of the one body and the one society of grace, this is the true gnosticism, that we are all part of a grand complex and ultimately loving and nurturing whole. The Church, globally, locally and personally, has a duty towards reflecting the unique and God given gifts and lives which we all have and to help us to point our whole being towards God. This is the love of God and of others and it does involve a love of ourselves so that we can recognise the love of God and the divine, the soul, in our own life.

It can seem, if you follow the news, that the Church is obsessed with sexuality and sex, maybe it is, but Thomas teaches us in Sunday's Gospel that God comes to us all, He seeks out the lost, the doubting and shows Himself to us all. We are all children of God and equal in His sight - whatever we may feel our gifts or problems to be, we are equally able to work for the coming of the Kingdom as parts of His body. A body cannot function if the arm is ashamed, or the foot is scared, or an ear is hidden away, not looking as perfect as the other ear. When Christ overturned the tables in the Temple, the next day He came back and healed the sick and blessed the children. This is the pattern of the body of Christ - yes, challenge those who would turn God, grace and salvation into a commodity, but realise the primary example of Christ, which was the call people to Him, heal and bless them - and then pay the ultimate sacrifice to take away our sins. If we live our lives to God, then the worries and the uncertainty fade away, becoming one body and one community of believers.

How to be part of a body in the modern age when individuality is foremost? God is before time and will be after time, but still is in us to such an extent - still gives us potential for grace so strong that we have all got a calling to serve Him, if only we look. I realise that there is always a new thing to do, a new person to gawp at, a new object to want, a new car to buy, yes, of course, I am not advocating living in the hills, if we all lived in the hills then we would only moan about overcrowding there instead - but make choices that look to God. He made a choice which came to glorious, beautiful fruition at Easter, He chose the hard path that we might have life and have it to the full. Use your soul, mind and body, which God has given you, as part of the one body of Christ -by choice and by grace. Love yourself and God and look for Him in others, listen to His word, hear Him calling to you by the lakeside - listen, and your soul shall live.

St. Mary Church, Marietta

2009-04-20T03:54:00.004+01:00

I have mentioned many times my fondness for St. Mary Church, Marietta, where I was baptized, and where I was a parishioner. (More recently, I posted photos from one of my diocese's Chrism Masses, which was at St. Mary's.) While I was still a parishioner, plans were drawn and a capital campaign started for a building renovation. I am happy to report that it is now nearly finished. I spent some time after the Chrism Mass taking photos, which I am sharing.

The "before" photos are from Easter a few years ago. The "after" photos are from the Chrism Mass two weeks ago.

BEFORE

AFTER

Mary, Mother of the Church

Toward the narthex and choir loft

The Tabernacle, restored to its proper place.

A confessional on the way!

The church is now consecrated.

Evangelists

Ceiling in the narthex (it is even more beautiful in person)

Shrine to Our Lady of Perpetual Help

I'm sorry to overload you with so many pictures, but it took me a long time to whittle my choices down to these!

Pax et bonum.

Saint Ninian's Whitby.

2009-04-18T21:56:00.002+01:00

I have been back from Whitby, home of the kippers you see before you, for a week and it feels like a day. I have had busy, frenetic day after busy frenetic day, so much to do I have been shockingly poor at responding to emails and messages, so my apologies to many of you. Bear with me, I will get around to replying/putting your pictures up (it's getting a bit like Tony Hart's gallery in here) and making contact with the outside world soon. Meanwhile I look forward to Monday early morning when I am hoping to get to the swimming baths for a relaxing read of the Guardian in the sauna and a few brisk lengths. Or widths.

Yesterday we saw Saint Mary's in Whitby (and goodness me, I have pictures of York Minster and All Saints North Street as well!) and tomorrow, all things being equal, we will look at Saint Hilda's Whitby, the Cathedral that never was. Today though we have the forth Anglican Church in Whitby to be built, the third is of little interest, so we will skip over it nonchalantly. This is Saint Ninian's, built by the convinced Anglo Catholics of the town and for years staffed by Anglican Priests paid directly by the Patrons, such was the deal struck initially by the Bishop in return for consecrating the building. This state of affairs limbered on until the 1980's, when they eventually threw in heir lot with a continuing Church. This ended after some years and they limbered on further until the Patrons employed a clergyman of the Anglican Catholic Church as the Priest, which continues to this day. The Anglican Catholics have recently elected a Bishop, who seems to have made everyone a Canon, which is nice. Anyway, they have this Church, the jewel in their crown, which is a delightful place. The side Chapel where daily Mass is offered according to the rite of the English Missal is seen above.

This is the sanctuary in Passiontide red. It is a remarkable Church because through, I suspect, a lack of money, nothing seems to have been touched since the heyday of Anglo Catholicism in the 1940's, when horizons were broad and hopes high. Personally, I remain convinced of our place and recent conversations with those who purport to know make me even more hopeful, but back to the Church above, see the sanctuary, with latin inscription and English altar, Sarum altar frontal and an Anglican choir - a glorious mishmash of styles and dreams, making something wonderfully English and Catholic at the same time.

And back a bit, at the west end of the Church, the comparative plainness of the rest of the interior and the surprising gallery and lack of a central aisle suggest a conversion from a non conformist chapel, which was not the case. Whitby indeed is full of Churches, non conformist and independent, evidence of generations of local boys made good coming back to bestow a Church upon their grateful populace before scarpering back to their houses near York. Now, of course, there are plenty of empty buildings.

And from the outside, Saint Ninian's occupies an enviable position on Baxtergate in the centre of town and is open all day, which is to be applauded. You can see the Church HERE on their website. More tomorrow from Saint Hilda's, which was recently mentioned to me with the words 'the problem with St Hilda's is that it is as though Vatican II never happened'. As you may imagine, I was delighted at the compliment.

Saint Mary's Whitby.

2009-04-17T11:22:00.003+01:00

If you stand in the yard of Fortune's smokehouse in Whitby, hard by the sea and peer up through the clouds of smoke which are delicately smoking the bacon and kippers I have been eating all week, you can just see the tower of Saint Mary's Church, up a steep set of stairs from the town.

Once you get up there, this is the view from the main door, looking back over a wet and cloudy Whitby. The tower of Saint Hilda's Church is visible to the right of centre, directly facing Saint Mary's and built at the same height. You cannot see the mission Church of Saint Ninian's, but more of these two Churches, once part of the same Parish with Saint Mary's, another time. Suffice to say that the extremities of Churchmanship were enjoyed in Whitby in times gone by, as well as a foiled Cathedral.

And behold! For Saint Mary's is a Protestant Church. The triple decker pulpit, used by the clerk at the bottom, the Vicar in the middle and the preacher at the top, dominates the Church. The pews point towards it and from the top one can glower into the box pews on lower and upper tiers. The word of God is given architectural preference over the Sacrament of the altar, indeed it would be impossible for the vast majority of people to even see the (surprisingly disjointed, lovely) sanctuary.

You cannot see the ear trumpets attached to the pulpit, winding to the floor level where the Vicar's wife and her fellow hard of hearing cronies would, unaccountably, gather round to hear him preach. These triple decker pulpits are very rare survivors in the Church of England and I cannot think of another one with such a prominent position left standing. The erection of this pulpit split the parish, with many eventually converted by the Puseyite revivalists, petitioning for another Church and then another even more Anglo Catholic mission. Such revivalists, apart from saving the Church from torpor and moral decrepitude (not that I am biased) also formed one of the first schisms in the Church since the non-conformists split and the Methodists drifted slowly away, lost in a shrinking sea of Ecumenism. The Free Church of England eventually separated from Canterbury in 1927, after years of Protestant witness went largely un-noticed, Churches such as Saint Mary's (although not, in fact, Saint Mary's) who were perturbed by the increasing Catholicity of the Church of England felt that they could not remain - after World War I when praying for the dead became commonplace, after all, the troops had been prayed for in war, why not after it - and made a break which has not been completely unsuccessful.

And this is the image of what they split for - the primacy of scripture, shown clearly in the primacy of the pulpit as the centre of the Church building and the Church body. A split was avoided in Whitby by the building of Saint Hilda's over the water in the modern, new, prosperous part of town.

But here, under the flags and the clock, invisible to most of the congregation, is a small but perfectly formed sanctuary where even to this day the book is left on the North End, in that ridiculous misunderstanding of the point and location of the North End, so instead of presiding from the long side of the table in the quire, facing the choir stalls, one says the Eucharist from the short end of a misplaced coffee table. The blue votive lights, I cannot help thinking, would have caused a riot a hundred years ago!

This is the view which the visitor gets upon entering the Church, and what a fine Church it is, even if your scribe disapproves of such a design.The pulpit can be seen towering up to the upper stalls and the scale and completeness of the box pews can be seen in full.

And here is the Church from the outside, the Abbey hidden to your right, gravestones buffeted by salt water from the sea over hundreds of years, leaving pockmarks all over.

Baroque Cherubs and Donkeys.

2009-04-16T09:44:00.003+01:00

The British never really got the hang of the Baroque, with modest exceptions like Saint Paul's in London (only built at all because the architect lied to his patrons who wanted something less Continental) and the apotheosis of James the First in the Banqueting House, Whitehall. I always smile when I go to Whitehall at the amusing location of the apotheosis relating to Villiers Street. The Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers was the favourite of the King, indeed was chased by him throughout his life and then promptly legged it to France to get married when the King died. James is in glory on a dining room ceiling and George is a backstreet going from the Embankment to Charing Cross, but containing Gordon's Wine Bar, which is a redeeming factor.

The baroque angel above is in York Minster, its pinched face, flat angle and overly realistic skull deny the glory of the continental baroque and bring an imported but little understood style to a building where it is hardly flattering. Wait until you see the picture tomorrow for further elucidation. It was many years later when Anglo Catholic Priests began traipsing abroad on holiday (see Edward Forse's 'Ceremonial Curiosities' if you can) and encountering the glory of the Baroque that churches such as Saint Augustines Tonge Moor and Saint Mary's Bourne Street began being renovated in a glorious, but cheaply done, simulacrum of a hundred holiday memories. This 'back to baroque' movement briefly caught our imagination before the return to Liturgical Movement Gothic austerity began, closely followed by the work of the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council.

But enough of architecture for one day, it always seems to upset people who imagine that just because it is possible to critique something it is not also possible, on another level, to like it. Maybe this picture of Robin Hood's Bay near Whitby, showing the pub to the left which I visited for you, dear reader and the open sea beyond, might cheer up any readers who are ill and sanguine in East London, for whom we pray.

And Whitby taken from the 199 steps leading to the magnificent survival that is Saint Mary's, just behind your scribe,. about which there will be more tomorrow. The history of Saint Mary's, Saint Hilda's and Saint Ninian's in Whitby is very interesting for the follower of Church politics.

A picture of the Sister's graveyard in Sneaton Castle, where they await the general resurrection, along with their donkeys and cats which are buried in a little plot to the side!

And every morning at six o'clock this was my happy view as I walked around the walled gardens saying my morning office.

Palm Sunday in Fort Worth.

2009-04-15T07:17:00.003+01:00

Our friend Father Christopher Stainbrook at Saint Timothy's Fort Worth sent me some pictures of their Palm Sunday Mass whilst I was away in Whitby. As usual, it was a splendid occasion and I am happy to share the pictures with you, as indeed I am happy to share pictures of liturgy sent in by any of our readers, if you feel that people would be interested in them.

And pictures of liturgy are almost as popular as pictures of strong drink! If Saint Timothy's were a gin, I feel it would be Tanqueray - export strength and a little bit exotic. And look! The first Flabellums (flabelli?) of spring.

The sacred ministers gather outside the Church doors.

And the donkey is led to the Church to remind us that Christ entered Jerusalem on a donkey via the East gate as there was a great imperial procession through the west at the same time. The effect would have been of a peaceful procession through occupied territory as the army flounced its muscle in another part of town. Here Saint Timothy's recreate the entry of Christ.

The procession begins after the blessing of palms and proclamation of the first Gospel of Palm Sunday.

A shot taking in part of the procession.

Divine Mercy

2009-04-15T02:45:00.003+01:00

I am not sure how many Anglo-Catholic parishes observe it, but this Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. I realize it is too late to begin a novena, but it is never too late to pray The Divine Mercy Chaplet. In case you are not familiar with it, I offer you the following guide.

(Pray on a standard, 5 decade set of Rosary beads.)

1. Make the Sign of the Cross.

2. Say the Opening Prayer.

3. Say the "Our Father."

4. Say the "Hail Mary."

5. Say the Apostles' Creed.

6. Say the "Eternal Father."

7. Say 10 "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion" on the "Hail Mary" beads

8. Repeat for four more decades, saying "Eternal Father" on the "Our Father" bead and then 10 "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion" on the following "Hail Mary" beads.

9. At the conclusion of the five decades, on the medallion say the "Holy God," the concluding doxology, three times.

10. Say the Closing Prayer.

Opening Prayer: You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in you! (three times)

Eternal Father: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Holy God: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Closing Prayer: Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless, and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us, and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments, we might not despair, nor become despondent, but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy Itself.

Pax et bonum.

FiF Chrism Mass, Manchester Cathedral.

2009-04-14T08:01:00.004+01:00

Manchester was, in the past, vastly over-churched. Every shade of Anglicanism had a number of great buildings, Sarum Temples, BCP Georgian Palaces, back street Chapels of every shade and hue and more Anglo Catholicism than you can shake a fancy stick at. Time and secularisation have marched on and maybe there are still too many Churches and small Parishes, although the luxury of finding Parishes small enough to practice traditional incarnational Priesting in is rare. Two great bastions of the faith, Saint Alban's Cheetwood and Saint Benedict's Ardwick, closed down fairly recently, their contents either residing in strongrooms or sold, therefore it was a joy for many to see (although sadly not your scribe, who was in Whitby), the above solid silver processional cross from Saint Alban's in use for the Forward in Faith Chrism Mass at Manchester Cathedral last Tuesday. It is one of only two made, the other being at Saint Alban's Holborn, London. The shaft has been restored by the Cathedral authorities, who also gave Saint Hilda's the fine morse for the Saint Benedict Cope. It may be sensible to have the gold cope so adjusted so that it will be able to be used on that as well, thus meaning it will be used more frequently and for days such as the May Devotions, when many of those who will take joy in its use will see it.

The Chrism Mass was, as usual well attended, if not a little more than before. I am happy to report, as well, that we had the best attended Sacred triduum at Saint Hilda's in memory. On Easter Sunday, extra chairs had to be drafted in!

Here you see the procession out, with the cross from Saint Alban's. We have Canon Peter McEvitt to thank for delivering these pictures to the AW newsdesk.

Some of the concelebrating clergy from the Manchester area.

The Bishop censes the altar, which has on it chalices from both Saint Benedict's and Saint Alban's, the St Alban's chalice being the consecration chalice which the dread Protestant Bishop refused to use all those years ago on account of its inscription exhorting the user to pray for the soul of the donor. That and the fact it was in Latin put paid to its use then really and led to the consecration of the Church many years later by another, less picky Bishop! Saint Benedicts in the dark old days when incense was banned during Mass, used to have two thurifers who would cense the Church liberally beforehand.

And Bishop Martyn of Beverley processes out of the Cathedral.

Whitby Wanderings.

2009-04-13T10:20:00.003+01:00

As most of you know, I have been in Whitby from Palm Sunday evening until last night, staying with the Order of the Holy Paraclete at Sneaton Castle. Posts featuring my name on the bottom from Saint Hilda's have been provided by a team of Hildaites, whom I thank very much for their hard work. Maybe when I am gone to Preston in June a 'Hildaite' blog will appear showing pictures and news from Prestwich. I had a wonderful time in Whitby and have a plethora of pictures and thoughts to share with you over the coming weeks. Be assured that you were all much in my prayers, especially on Easter Sunday morning at four thirty when I traipsed to the Chapel for the beginning of the great Vigil of Easter, the (much) later Mass of which is shown above. How delightful to share in the intimacy of the sacred Triduum with a family of sisters as well, from the austerity of Tenebrae to the joyful, tearful Gloria of the Resurrection. I have never seen thirty nuns turn from solemnity to pan lid banging, clapping, bell ringing, petal strewing unrestrained joy so quickly in my life! One particular young novice, who had looked rather fierce all week (ooer, I thought to myself, best not be found out of bed after lights out!) spent the rest of the day beaming from cheek to cheek, must like the rest of us. A quick drive home (hopefully not followed by speeding tickets) meant that I was back for about five o'clock.

I will pop into Saint Hilda's today and take some pictures of the flowers which, as always, add such a great amount of joy to the Church at Easter. I will never forget the sight of the Sisters at Whitby harvesting hundreds of daffodils and lovingly decorating their home with them.

The offertory procession on Easter Sunday morning. You can just see the Prioress's staff to the far left of the picture.

The beginning of Tenebrae. I have never heard this service sung by women's voices before, having only been present in male monasteries over Holy Week, but what I have missed out on, it was wonderful. I know that some of the old Anglo Catholic Priests used to try and acquire nuns as if they were buying kippers, leading to many closed communities, but I can see why!

The beginning of the procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose after the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday.

And the apse of the Chapel. Plenty more pictures of the Convent, town and some very interesting Churches later, when I have answered all my emails and got on with the many tasks which are, as always, mounting up. I hope you all have a blessed and holy Easter week.

Of your charity, pray for the soul of the stepfather of Karen Freeman, regular commentator on this blog, who has begun the great adventure.

Easter Sunday.

2009-04-12T15:04:00.005+01:00

Ecce Agnus Dei.

Blessing.

Regina coeli laetare, Alleluia,
Quia quem meruisti portare. Alleluia,
Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia.

The Easter Garden.

Some of the beautiful flowers.

Holy Saturday.

2009-04-12T14:37:00.006+01:00

Blessing of the Easter fire.

Leviticus 6:12-13 "And the fire on the altar shall always burn, and the priest shall feed it, putting wood on it every day in the morning, and laying on the holocaust, shall burn thereupon the fat of the peace offerings. This is the perpetual fire which shall never go out on the altar."

The Paschal Candle is lit from the Easter fire; it is inscribed with a cross, an alpha and omega, and the numbers designating the year. Five grains of incense are inserted into the candle's cross, symbolising the five wounds of Christ. The candle is carried into the darkened Church, showing us how the risen Christ is the source of all light and hope. It remains near the Altar throughout the days of Easter, until Ascension. Thereafter, it is lit only for Baptisms and funerals, showing us the link between His Resurrection and our hope for eternal life through death to sin in Baptism, and resurrection after physical death.

The light of fire, penetrating darkness, is a symbol for the Trinity and for the grace or Person of Christ. He is "the Light of the world," as St. John tells us, and "in Him there is no darkness." While the light of fire illumines, the heat of it warms us, and purifies. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 tells us that fire will reveal and try our works, burning up the traces of those that can not enter Heaven (Revelation 21:27). This fire of God's love, baptising us, illuminating, warming, and purging us, manifested before Moses in the burning bush and at the Pentecost when tongues of flame appeared over the Apostles' heads.

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever! Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory

The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!
My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,
that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise. It is truly right that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father! This is our passover feast,
When Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers. This is the night,
when first you saved our fathers:

you freed the people of Israel from their slav'ry,

and led them dry-shod through the sea. This is the night,

when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin. This is night,
when Christians ev'rywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness. This is the night,
when Jesus broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave. What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son. O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer! Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead! Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride. Night truly blessed,
when heaven is wedded to earth
and we are reconciled to God! Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise, your Church's solemn offering. Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God. Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night! May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

The Easter candle is placed by the Altar.

Ecce Agnus Dei.

Pascha nostrum

2009-04-12T05:51:00.003+01:00

No great pictures to share from tonight's Vigil and Mass of Resurrection, I am afraid. I was the MC again, and I could convince no friend of mine to come and take photos. So I leave you with what photos I took after the Mass, in the dark, while I savored the silence, and the scent of the flowers and the lingering smoke of incense in the air.

Mass went wonderfully, with no noticeable mistakes, which is good, because it would have meant that I didn't do my job properly. We kindled new fire, and brought the Light of Christ back into the church and into our hearts. We heard the stories of creation and redemption, and we once again sang God's praises amid much light switch flipping, incense, and bells. We prayed for the intercession of the saints. We blessed new water. One young man was baptized, Holy Mother Church received five people, and all were sealed with the Holy Spirit. We renewed the promises we made at our baptisms. We lived again the mystery of the Eucharist. We saw three vestment changes (!!!).

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast. Alleluia.

Pax et bonum.

Good Friday

2009-04-11T04:50:00.005+01:00

My apologies for the absence of photographs from the Mass of the Lord's Supper here in Roman Catholic Appalachia; I was the MC at that Mass, and I think it might have been weird to whip out a camera.

This is it, friends. The great darkness has descended as our Lord is lying in his grave, or so it seems that he is. At this very moment (not literally, please), he is descending to Hell itself, and upon his return he will carry the keys to death, Hell, and the grave. And so we wait.

Before the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion and Death, St. Louis IX Church, Gallipolis

Adoramus Te, Christe, et benedicimus Tibi, Quia per sanctam crucem Tuam redemisti mundum, Domine, miserere nobis!

Pax et bonum.