"Almighty Answers" blog

A student at the University of Edinburgh tells me of the Catholic chaplaincy there, which is run by the Dominicans. The students are fortunate to have five friars dedicated to their our spiritual care.

Last year they started up a blog called 'Almighty Answers' to encourage ordinary students (as well as anyone else who comes across the blog) to ask questions about the Faith or any other aspect of the Church. These questions are then responded to, either by one of the priests, or by a student, depending on the nature of the question.

The blog was set up and run last term during the Chaplaincy's 'Mission Week' and it has now been restarted. They welcome questions and comments ...

OU Newman Society Mass at Corpus

Photograph by James Bradley

Yesterday evening, the Abbot of Downside, Aidan Bellenger, celebrated Mass in the chapel of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, at the invitation of the Newman Society. As a former President of the Society, and a member of Corpus, I was very disappointed not to be able to take up the invitation to assist at the Mass. It is great to see photos of the chapel with its magnificent altarpiece by Rubens and the rare pre-reformation brass eagle lectern, in the context of the celebration of Mass. The Mass was celebrated in the ordinary form with Haydn's Missa in Angustiis.

Bad Vestments blog

H/T In Hoc Signo Vinces for news of the Bad vestments blog. Here is the Vision Statement:

This site is dedicated to subjecting particularly awful Christian liturgical vestments to the ridicule they so richly deserve.

Submissions are welcomed and can be e-mailed to websterglobe at juno dot com.

Book launch for "English Catholic Heroines"

The book launch for "English Catholic Heroines" the other evening was a great opportunity to catch up with some friends, as well as being a well-deserved promotion for the new book which consists of 22 short lives of women who can certainly qualify as Catholic, and can reasonably be listed as both heroines and English (the introduction discusses the criteria.)

I have been reading some of the chapters, including a very good piece by Fr Anthony Conlon on Queen Mary Tudor, and an outstanding opening chapter by Sr Etheldreda Hession OSB on Sts Hilda and Etheldreda.

Many of the contributors are "linkable" so here are some examples. The Editor is Auntie Joanna (who also wrote the chapters on Caroline Chisolm and Elinor Brent-Dyer.) Other contributors include Fiorella Nash (Elizabeth Cellier), Mac McLernon (St Anne Line), Simon Caldwell (M Riccarda Hambrough) of the Catholic Herald, Leonie Caldecott (Caryll Houselander) of Second Spring, Dora Nash (Frences Wootten), author of excellent First Communion and Confirmation programmes, and Josephine Robinson (St Margaret Clitherow) of the Association of Catholic Women.

This might well be a good Christmas present for someone in your family.

Promo video for "Arise Once More"

The DVD "Arise Once More" has public screenings next week at various venues (including Blackfen). I have just uploaded the promotional clip to YouTube:

Mgr Reilly coming to town

Mgr Reilly is the founder of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants whose apostolate is to pray quietly and peacefully outside abortion clinics and to offer compassionate support to help women avoid abortion. (See the UK website.)

He will be in London on Friday 4 December Monsignor to give a talk entitled "Reasons for Hope in this Epic Struggle for Life". The talk will be at 7.30pm at St James's Church Hall, Spanish Place, 22 George Street, London, W1U 3QY.

Monsignor Reilly will also lead a Helpers vigil from Ealing Abbey to Mattock Lane Abortuary on Saturday 5 December. The Day begins with Mass at Ealing Abbey at 9.15am, followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There will be a prayerful and peaceful procession to the local Marie Stopes Abortion clinic, with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Rosary and hymns. At 11.45am the procession returns to the Abbey for Benediction. Afterwards there will be an opportunity to chat together (please bring a packed lunch.)

Policy based evidence making

Freedom for Children to Grow is the site for the Home Education campaign run by Education Otherwise. They have an article about yesterday's Queen's Speech in which Her Majesty announces her government's legislation. One sentence was:

"Legislation will be brought forward to introduce guarantees for pupils and parents to raise educational standards"

This refers to the Children, Schools and Families Bill which will "introduce a new home educators' registration system."

A good article on the Badman Review of Home Education, which has been used to justify the new legislation, describes it as "Policy Based Evidence Making."

[Correction: many thanks to those who corrected my impression that the Bill was to be debated in the next few days. I've removed that section of the post. I'll post something more later.]

National Geographic on Mount Athos

Photo by Travis Dove

National Geographic has an illustrated article Called to the Holy Mountain. The Monks of Mount Athos which takes a sympathetic look at the life of the monks on the holy peninsula. there are also some stunning photos by Travis Dove.

H/T @lukecoppen on Twitter

Photos of the Curé D'Ars

Terry at Idle Speculations has posted a collection of photographs of the Curé d'Ars after he had died in 1859.

The photographs were taken by Camille Dolard using the wet plate collodion process invented by the Englishman Frederick Scott Archer. They are kept at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

Papa Professore on Cathedrals

Yesterday, at the General Audience address, the Holy Father moved from medieval theology to medieval cathedrals. Here's the YouTube video of the summary of his address for English speaking pilgrims.



At the Vatican website, you can read the full text in Italian of the General Audience address. If you don't read Italian, Google translate is getting better all the time ...

Excellent document from the Irish Bishops

The Irish Bishops have issued a very good statement for teachers to inform them of the way in which children who attend the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite will be accustomed to receiving Holy Communion. The title may be misleading - this is not an enactment about how Holy Communion is to be received but a guide for teachers so that the needs of children who regularly attend the usus antiqior are not simply ignored or contradicted through a lack of knowledge.

A pdf of the document can be obtained from the Irish Bishops' Conference website. I have reproduced it below to offer some comments in red. (The emphases in bold are in the original document.) My comments are not intended to be negative since I consider this to be a generous-hearted document - there are just a few observations on my part which I hope will be helpful.

GUIDELINES FOR THE RECEPTION OF COMMUNION DURING THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS

Children who attend the extraordinary form of the Mass will receive Communion in a different manner from their classmates who attend the ordinary form of the Mass. [With regard to the formula this is true - but it should be remembered that kneeling to receive Communion is also permitted at the Ordinary Form; and indeed encouraged by the example of the Holy Father. Receiving Communion on the tongue is the normative manner of receiving in the OF - communion on the hand is permitted by indult.]

At Mass in the extraordinary form, Holy Communion is received kneeling and on the tongue. Reception in the hand or while standing is not normally permitted. [This is a welcome acceptance of the custom at the usus antiquior which should encourage people not to "make a point" by trying to insist on Holy Communion in the hand.]

Communion is received under one kind only, to emphasise the Church’s teaching that Christ is received whole and entire under the appearance of bread or wine. [Communion is given under one kind in accordance with a long-standing tradition. But this sentence does remind teachers that Christ is received whole and entire under one kind alone and it is good to see this affirmed.]

Normally the child will approach the altar with joined hands and will kneel at the Communion rails (although children making their First Communion may use a prie-dieu).

The priest recites the formula: “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen.” (May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul to everlasting life. Amen.) Note that the priest says “Amen”. The child should make no response. [At old rite Masses people who are not familiar with the rite frequently say "Amen" and it doesn't matter greatly. But it is heartening to see such sensitivity shown to the correct form of the rite.]

The sacrament of Confession (or reconciliation) is often available before and during Mass in churches celebrating Mass in the extraordinary form. Almost exclusively, confession will be in the traditional form, using a confessional box, rather than face-to-face with a priest. [Again, this is perfectly permissible in the newer form (see: The right to a fixed grille). But yet again, the Bishops sensibly nudge teachers in the right direction, helping them to understand that "face-to-face" confession should not be treated as the only way to celebrate the sacrament.]

For teachers who wish to know more about the extraordinary form of the Mass, details are available at http://latinmassireland.org. The schedule of Masses for Ireland is also available. If a teacher wishes to take a class of First Communion children to experience Mass in the extraordinary form, that can be arranged in advance with the celebrant. Explanatory DVDs of the Mass are also available from the Latin Mass Society of Ireland. [This last paragraph shows a most generous and open-hearted approach to the use of the older form of the rite. It conveys the message clearly that the usus antiquior is a perfectly legitimate part of our Catholic worship. I am sure that priests who celebrate the usus antiquior would be more than happy to welcome a class of children and offer some catechesis on this form of the Roman Rite.]

It is easy enough to fire off complaints and criticisms of Bishops: we should also be prepared to recognise and commend solid and sensible guidance. If you want to send a short email of appreciation, the website gives a contact email address.

A new resource for Gregorian chant

Nick Gale, the organist and choir director at St George's Cathedral, Southwark, has been doing a sterling job running courses for choirs to introduce them to Gregorian Chant. Today he has passed on details to me of some new CDs that have been produced to help choirs learn some of the basic chants that are frequently in use. Here is the information:

Gregorian chant teaching discs
This week sees the release of the first of three discs of Gregorian Chant produced to assist musical directors, cantors, choirs and congregations learn a Chant repertoire for use in the Liturgy. The discs were recorded by Signum Records, London, and the Chant is sung by three members of the Choir of St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, London, UK and recorded in the Cathedral’s beautiful Lady Chapel under the direction of the Cathedral’s Organist and Master of the Choristers, Nick Gale.

The first disc, Chants of the Ordinary, contains a selection of Mass ordinaries (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Ite and Benedicamus Domino) – including complete recordings of Masses I, VIII, IX, X, XI, XV, XVII & XVIII, the Ambrosian Gloria, Credos I, III & VII and a selection of Alleluias. The second and third discs will be released next month and will contain chants for the entire Liturgical Year – all four Marian Antiphons in simple and solemn tones, the Te Deum, chant hymns, antiphons and responses for Advent, Christmas, Candlemas, Lent, Holy Week, the Easter season, Pentecost, Trinity and Christ the King – as well as some more general material and a selection of manageable Communion Antiphons from the Graduale Simplex for general use.

The Discs are priced at GBP £10 (for each disc) plus £2 P&P (£3 for orders outside the UK). To place an order or to ask for a full track list or any other details email Nick Gale Courses in Gregorian Chant in the UK and abroad are also available through www.gregorianchant.org.uk

Novus Ordo 40th anniversary

Fr Z has an excellent podcast analysing Pope Paul VI's General Audience address for 26 November 1969 in which he speaks about the "liturgical innovation of the new rite of the Mass" which was to be introduced on the first Sunday of Advent, four days later.

I was struck by this passage in the address:

So what is to be done on this special and historical occasion? First of all, we must prepare ourselves. This novelty is no small thing. We should not let ourselves be surprised by the nature, or even the nuisance, of its exterior forms.

Four days is not much time to prepare; clearly people were expected just to get on with it and "prepare" as they went along. Another passage makes this clear:

But there is still a practical difficulty, which the excellence of the sacred renders not a little important. How can we celebrate this new rite when we have not yet got a complete missal, and there are still so many uncertainties about what to do?

Those of us who were around at that time remember that for years every altar was littered with booklets and bits of paper to keep up with whatever had recently changed in the rite of Mass by way of texts, translations and temporary books.

New film: "Arise Once More"

St Anthony Communications have produced a DVD called "Arise Once More" to offer an encouraging and hopeful look at Catholicism in Britain today and to encourage Catholics to revive the faith by their example, teaching and witness.

The film gives a summary of the history of Catholicism in Britain, beginning with St Alban and the beginning of Christianity in these isles, following the great cultural, artistic and educational achievements of the middle ages, looking at the tragedy of the Reformation, and the Second Spring which brought new life to the Church. The last section of the film focusses on the need for a revival of Catholic life and the steps necessary to achieve it. I have just watched the film through and I think it is an excellent resource for parishes, offering an upbeat response to the dismal secularist propaganda about the Catholic Church that can be discouraging to ordinary Catholics.

The commentary is provided by James and Joanna Bogle, Fr Marcus Holden, Fr Andrew Pinsent, Fr Thomas Crean, Fr Nicholas Schofield, Fr Brian Harrison, and Sister Mary of the Trinity.

There are some public screenings of the film arranged for the weekend after next, one of them in my parish:

• Our Lady of Lourdes, Uxbridge - 2pm, Friday 27th November
• St. Benedict's Ealing Abbey - 2pm, Saturday 28th November
• Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen - 7.15pm Saturday 28th November
• St. Augustine's, Tunbridge Wells - 7pm Sunday 29th November

If you want to come to the screening at Blackfen, we have Mass (English, Novus Ordo) at 6pm and there will be refreshments after Mass and before the DVD screening.

Here is the link to order a copy of "Arise Once More" online.

"Alive to the World": good PSHE programme

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is a political football in educational policy in the UK. Many Catholic parents are rightly concerned that their right to bring their children up according to the faith is undermined by some of the programmes in use.

Therefore it is good to see a new PSHE programme that can be highly recommended. Alive to the World was created by Christine Vollmer, who is well known in international circles for her campaign work for the family. She sits on the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Academy for Life. She originally created the programme for Latin America and the UK team has edited the English translation to make it suitable for use in England. The books are designed for whole school PSHE but can also be used in the home and in parishes. Alive to the World is published by Gracewing and may be ordered from the dedicated website at a special introductory discount.

Knowing that there can always be pitfalls, even in well-meaning programmes, I gave the materials from this one to some people whom I know to be aware of the issues involved and critical of bad material. This is their verdict:

This is the best PSHE programme we have seen, being both genuinely educational and suitable as a resource across the curriculum. It is very readable, and whilst presenting personal situations which the children will be able to recognise from their own experience, it draws on charcters from history and literature, avoiding the tediuos and narrow fare usually tackled by such material; 'Me', drugs, sex, the environment.

The more personal areas are, rightly, designed to be dealt with in single sex groups, although some areas would be better used as homework.

It is understandable that some diocese and faith schools have already bought this course, but it also is suitable for schools with no 'faith' basis. We found these books useful as a parenting tool and look forward to the year 9 and 10 books.

Reviewed by a group of parents and teachers.

A Catholic father who has reviewed the material wrote to me:

It's an excellent course, and to see a book that deals well with pornography, promiscuity and other issues so well is really refreshing. It also gives really good resources around the 98+% of life that is not those issues. I've never seen anything as good as this and I've seen quite a few of them."

Some weeks ago, I also mentioned another excellent programme This is My Body which was produced in conjunction with the Diocese of Lancaster. I was worried that the two programmes might be in competition but in fact, "This is My Body" is a set of 12 lessons for Year 6 children focussing on fertility and conception within the heart of Catholic spirituality. "Alive to the World" is a complete PSHE programme for years 4-8 which tackles virtue in order to support Catholic moral teaching in the round. "This is My Body" provides leaflets for parents listing the sexual topics it would be appropriate for them to cover with their children at a given time. "Alive to the World" gives stories as a way of helping them provide that teaching, while also teaching parents the biology on which NFP is based.

It is great to be able to report on two good programmes that accord unambiguously with Catholic teaching and support parents as the prime educators of their children in the ways of faith.

I have heard good news from the programme authors that the 452 bishops of Brazil have decided unanimously to recommend the programme in their dioceses! In England, the programme has so far been recommended as a resource by the Diocese of Salford. I hope that there will be many others to follow.

New CD - Vatican "torture"

A daily chore for parish priests is opening assorted envelopes that arrive in the post each day, taking one look at the contents, and throwing them and the envelope in the bin. I have one of those big square "stack 'n store" boxes next to the desk since they can take more reams of paper before you have to empty it. To be honest, I look forward to the postal strikes.

Occasionally there is an item worth at least reading. The other day a flyer arrived for a new CD "Alma Mater. Music from the Vatican". To be honest, years spent in Rome meant that the promise of "Music from the Vatican" didn't really get me rushing for my credit card - but it did say that it featured the voice of the Holy Father and this gave me pause for thought. Not a long pause: after a few seconds, I decided that it might well be just a bit of exploitation of the Holy Father to sell a mediocre CD.

My snap judgement is confirmed by Damian Thompson who has listened to the CD and did not like it. That is an understatement: his review is very entertaining. The overall verdict:

The Catholic Church may have abolished the Inquisition, but it still knows the meaning of torture.

See: How dare they subject Pope Benedict to this musical atrocity?.

Anagni, St Thomas Becket and the infamous "Slap"

My good friend Hilariter, who must by now be near to finishing his Doctorate on St Hilary of Poitiers, doesn't update his blog very often but when he does, it is worth reading. Yesterday he had a fascinating account of a trip to Anagni. Although the museum was "in restauro" (closed for restoration) - an expression with which you become wearily familiar in Italy, the intrepid Father managed to get in, courtesy of a couple of priests who were around.

They got to see the mitre of St Thomas Becket and other relics. The frescoes depicting the death of the martyr Bishop St Magnus owe much to the story of St Thomas Becket. As in all good Italian gite, the day included lunch at a "good but cheap trattoria" - that is one of the great blessings of life in Italy. You can have a large bowl of pasta, fresh local bread, and a carafe of local wine for about as much as you would pay for a sandwich and a "smoothie" in London.

In another tradition of such days out, there had to be some attempt at re-enactment. Hilariter got to play the part of Pope Boniface VIII in the incident of the Schiaffo D'Anagni (Anagni's Slap) when Sciarra Colonna slapped the Holy Father. This was after the promulgation of the bull Unam Sanctam when Pope Boniface proclaimed not only that there is no salvation outside the Church but that the Church held the power of the two swords, spiritual and temporal. In a resulting revolt, the Pope was captured at Anagni, put in prison, and given the celebrated slap. To their eternal credit, the citizens of Anagni rose up and released the Holy Father but sadly he died a year later.

St Anthony has a laugh

A parishioner told me today of her grown up son who was getting annoyed because he could not find the SD card from his camera with important photos on it. In desperation, he said,

"Who's that saint you pray to for lost things?"

Mother replied with assurance,

"Saint Anthony."

So he duly prayed. After a short nap, the SD card was found - sticking to the back of his jumper.

Matteo Ricci exhibition, Rome

Sandro Magister reports on a new exhibition in the Braccio di Carlo Magno wing of Saint Peter's Square, devoted to the Jesuit missionary to China, Matteo Ricci. (See: Matteo Ricci. How to "Inculturate" Christianity in China)

As I will be in Rome this January for the Clergy Conference, I hope to be able to visit the exhibition.

Jack Sullivan at London and Birmingham Oratories

On Wednesday, Deacon Jack Sullivan gave the CTS Lecture at the London Oratory, introduced by the eminent Newman scholar, Fr Ian Ker. There is more information and more excellent photos at the blog for the cause of Newman's canonisation. See: Lecture at the Brompton Oratory: Newman, authentic theologian of the tradition, he tells us that heaven is real

Yesterday, Deacon Jack was at the Birmingham Oratory, assisted at Mass, and gave an interview for EWTN. He also venerated Newman's relics - it must surely be particularly moving to venerate the relics of the holy man who worked a miracle for him at his intercession.

This morning, he assisted the Provost, Fr Paul Chavasse, at Mass at the altar in Newman's room:

I had the privilege of saying Mass at this altar some years ago. Newman's room is preserved just as he left it; a fascinating glimpse into the great man's life.

More information and photos:Sullivan at the Birmingham Oratory: St Josaphat, Newman and true Ecumenism