After two and a half months of use it goes back onto the shelf until the end of the year. Tomorrow morning, Vol.2 (Lent-Eastertide) takes its place.
To save myself time tomorrow morning, I put all the ribbons in the right place. It all went smoothly except for the hymns. Look for 'Lent nn 15-19' it said. What does 'nn' mean? I never found out before finding the hymns themselves and realising that the Lenten ones were numbered... 15 to 19. Well, I guess 'nn' is short for numbered (?).
Something else that confused me was what week of Psalter we begin Lent in. The current week (as I write this) is Week 2. Do we start there? That would make sense. But no, we don't. The book gives you the option of using the psalms from the Friday of Week 3 or the psalms from the Wednesday of Week 4. The former felt a bit random so I decided to use Week 4. After doing so, I looked at the Universalis website to see which week it was using. Week 4. That made me feel good.
Tomorrow morning, I will be leaving the house early to serve the 7am Mass at my parish church. Because it is the quick one I thought I might head into town later and go to a service at one of the Anglican churches in the City. I will certainly report back on how it went if I do so. I haven't been to an Anglican service for ages so it should be interesting.
As for Lent itself, what will I be doing to make it a meaningful time, a holy time, to bring myself closer to God? I admit I don't know. I'd like to give some things up - the usual junky food - but that's not enough. I think I am going to use the Catholic Truth Society's 'Lent Retreat with Newman' videos as my starting point.
St. John Henry Newman - pray for us
After writing my last post, I read this evening's Vespers. The intercessory prayers could not have opened in more apposite fashion.
Father, we pray for N, our Pope, and N, our bishop: - guide them and bless them in their work.
On the day of his installation as Archbishop of Westminster, therefore, Catholics in the diocese get to pray for their new archbishop at evening prayer.
I have just finished watching the Installation Mass of the Most Reverend Richard Moth. He is now the twelfth Archbishop of Westminster. Whoop! You can watch it over on Westminster Cathedral's YouTube channel.
I would have loved to have been at the cathedral but each parish in the archdiocese was only given two tickets so there was no chance of that.
Not being able to go was a shame. On the plus side, however, I was able to watch the proceedings from the comfort of my own home, and with a much better view than if I had been present at the event. This is probably why in 39 years of watching Formula 1 races I have never been to one; well, that and the prices, but that is another matter.
As for the installation, it went very smoothly. Whoever was responsible for organising it can give themselves a big pat on the back tonight. The installation (which you can see taking place above) was carried out with all due decorum, Archbishop Richard said all the right things in his homily, retiring archbishop Cardinal Vincent Nichols was given his due, and we had a few nice words spoken by the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally. The music was well done as well, though I have to admit I only really woke up to it when I heard Sweet Sacrament Divine and Praise to The Holiest in the Height.
Sweet Sacrament Divine is as beautiful as it is famous a hymn. Whenever I hear it, though, I always think of the first, wonderful, days of my Catholic life in Dundee, 1996-97. They were great days. I googled the hymn as it played and discovered to my happy surprise that it was written by an English priest, Fr. Francis Stanfield (1835-1914). Praise to the Holiest in the Height, as you may well already know, was written by John Henry Newman, so I needed no encouragement from anyone to sing along to it!
When I started writing this post, I wondered whether to describe the installation as having been carried out reverently, and I suppose it was, but I wish there could have been a bit more formality like ye olde days - yes, pre-Vatican II, a time when I wasn't even alive, let alone a Catholic, so what: More Latin. More ritual. This is just my personal taste, though. It was good as it was.
Or maybe not just mine. The bidding prayers were read by representatives of various groups within the Archdiocese. The young woman who read on behalf of the Westminster Youth Ministry was dressed all in white - as if she was there for her first communion - complete with a white lace veil. Very traditional. Her hands remained together in prayer the whole time and her voice had a softness to it that I think you only get when you live deeply, really deeply, within the freedom of your faith (and are given the grace to express it through your voice). Maybe this woman loves a folk Mass but even if she does, I bet she loves the Extra Ordinary Form more.
At the end of the Mass the title card below appeared on the screen. I have not seen the proclamation 'Habemus Ducem!' before. I presume it means 'We have a bishop!'. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to use it on this blog's home page!
All things being well, Archbishop Richard will be with us for at least eight years, perhaps thirteen, before he too retires at 80 (if the Pope lets him, I guess). Time to get praying that he may be a faithful and fruitful servant of the Lord in this London vineyard.
This week, St .Thomas Aquinas and St. John Bosco steal the saintly show, and with good reason: Thomas for his intellect and John for the work he did for children.
We shouldn’t ignore them, but as always when we see famous saints on the calendar, we might also let them inspire us to look at who else, among the less famous of their number, has their
feast day this week.
With that in mind, I turn to St. Julian the Hospitaller. He is one of those saints who may not even be a saint. According to Catholic Saints Info, the story of how a stag prophesied that he would kill his parents, and of the (accidental) killings themselves happened, may be a fiction.
This doesn’t automatically mean that Julian never became a saint or even lived. Maybe the story of his life that we have now is simply a mythologised version of what really happened. Maybe. Whatever the truth of the matter, he is still worth praying to because our prayers, if not picked up, as it were, by St. Julian, will be taken by the Holy Spirit to God the Father, and answered by Him. Let’s keep praying and keep silence as we listen out for His voice!
image: St. Thomas Aquinas (Great Thinkers)
Why, since you woundedA warning: I am not a scholar of St. John of the Cross's poetry so my reading of his poem could be completely wrong. This, however, is how I interpreted it: the wounding that the poet speaks of is not a literal but spiritual wounding. It is not a negative wounding, either, but rather, one that is positive: This is because the poet has been 'wounded' by God as a result of God revealing Himself to him. When the poet asks God to heal him, he is asking God for more of His spirit, His love: having tasted that spirit, the poet wants, needs, more of it.
this heart, don't you heal it?
And why, since you stole it form
me,
do you leave it so,
and fail to carry off what you have
stolen?
this post first appeared on my Contemplative Art page
this post first appeared on my Contemplative Art page
I am by nature an impatient person. In recent years, however, I have started making more of an effort to try and be more patient. I've made progress but some days are definitely better than others.
A while ago, we got new springs for our front door. They are funny (peculiar) in the way they work. When you close the door, it will start to close quickly only to slow down suddenly and complete its action very slowly.
Up until a few months ago, I would always - when the door got to its slow point - force it closed. I had no desire to hang around the extra seconds waiting for it to do so by itself. But then, one day, I thought to myself, Hold on. Here is an excellent opportunity to practice patience. Don't force the door. Let it close at its own pace. Wait. Be still. Be patient.
I've been doing this ever since. Well, almost. Sometimes impatience still gets the better of me but the vast majority of times now I stop. I wait. I remain still. And I am patient - grateful for the opportunity given to me by this humble rectangular piece of wood. Humble? Wonderful, too, for it is helping me towards God, too. If only I could tell it Thank you!
