Catholic and Loving it!

Here is my problem.

Often on this blog I have made the observation that there is prevalent a dichotomy between "pastoral" and "intellectual". If you are one, you can't be the other.

And in this dichotomy, the "pastoral" is nearly always exalted at superior, in such a way that to be "pastoral" often winds up fostering an anti-intellectual condescension.

This is a common trait in many clerics, I'm afraid.

I see Pope Benedict breaking down this dichotomy, which is causing some people to scratch their heads in confusion.

[link]

It's really simple... just use a simple word substitution device (for "sausages", read "hostages").

When people say "pastoral" they mean "being willing to pretend that certain things are not true in order to make life easier". Pastoral Priests don't ask questions when you pitch up with two kids and ask to have just the older one baptised. They give communion to divorced and remarried people and bless second marriages. Intellectual Priests on the other hand have read Humanae Vitae and thought it made sense (Pastoral Priests have read about Humanae Vitae in The Tablet). For "intellectual" read "impractical".

At the root of all this, is a heretical denial of the teaching authority of the Church. Harsh James, very harsh. But stay with me a moment. Like all the devil's lies, this one has a grain of truth, a sweetner, a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.

The grain of truth... theory is different from practice. You can read about fixing a car, but it's not like fixing a car. You can learn about the theology of marriage, but it's not like being married. You can study every book there is about archery, but if it's your first time picking up a bow and arrow, Ella is going to win. That's the truth. Learning about things in theory is very different from experiencing them practically.

Now here is the lie... if learning about things is different from experiencing them practically, perhaps understanding things intellectually is not understanding them at all. A priest can read a thousand books about marriage, but he can have nothing to say about real, practical marriage. His experience of marriage is purely intellectual. No priest can tell me how to treat my wife! He's never been married himself!

I've met priests who believe this. Who say "Who am I to tell you what not to do in the bedroom?"

Who are you to tell me anything? Idiots.

If a man denies the ability to learn things by reading or hearing them taught, then he denies the ability to teach. He denies the Church's ability to teach. He denies Christ's ability to teach. If Humanae Vitae, Gaudium Et Spes and CCC1601-1666 doesn't give you the authority to teach me about human sexuality, then what makes you think you have the authority to teach me about anything?

A child can learn, without practical driving experience and without a drop of ale having ever passed her lips, that it is a bad idea to drink and drive. A Priest who thinks his years of "pastoral" experience gives him the authority to contradict the teaching of the Church is like man who thinks his years of practical driving experience mean he can safely down six pints of ale and drive at 90mph while talking on his mobile phone. He's done it a few times before and got home okay... the silly highway code is just intellectual theory and it can't compare with his practical experience.

A Priest who thinks his "pastoral" experience makes him exempt from the teaching of the Church is like that driver. He is a danger to himself to those around him. He is going to hurt somebody. It's not going to be many years until Leona is old enough to cross the road on her own and I'm going to be pretty peeved with any man who thinks his driving experience gives him the right to take chances with her life. But long before I even think about letting Leona cross the road on her own, she's going to be old enough to go to mass and to school and to understand some of what is being said.

Any priest who uses his pastoral experience as an excuse to contradict the Church in front of my little girl had better understand that my pastoral experience as a parent gives me the right to contradict the eleventh commandment. Thou shalt not set fire to people's faces.

General:

That the human family may learn to respect God's plan for the world and become ever more aware that Creation is God's great gift.

Mission:

That the answer of the entire people of God to the common calling to holiness and mission may be promoted and fostered by means of careful discernment of charisms and constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation.

I've already blogged a few exerpts from Humanae Vitae and the story of Cardinal James Francis Stafford (James Francis... that's good name).

Now I notice that LifeSiteNews have unearthed the letter that was sent by Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani to Bishops around the world with the pre-release copy of Humanae Vitae...

Your Excellency,

When directing me to transmit to Your Excellency the enclosed document, publication of which is imminent, His Holiness strongly recommended that I draw your attention to its importance, and to the necessity of a concerted effort on the part of the entire Catholic Episcopate, in order that the doctrine it contains be explained with care in full to the Christian people, and in order that it be courageously put into practice by all as, thanks be to God, it already is by many.

[...]

The Holy Father knows full well the bitterness that this reply may cause many married persons who were expecting a different solution for their difficulties.

[...]

And now He turns to His Brothers, the Bishops of the Catholic world, asking them to stand beside Him more firmly than ever in this circumstance, and to help Him present this delicate point of the Church's teaching to the Christian people, to explain and justify its profound reasons. The Pope counts upon the attachment of His Brothers in the Episcopate to the Chair of Peter, upon their love for the Church, upon their concern for the true good of souls.

He knows, as they do, the ideas and the practices existing in modern society in this regard, and He is fully aware of the efforts which will be needed to secure an evolution of thought on this point. He knows what sacrifices - sometimes heroic sacrifices - are entailed by the application of Catholic principles in conjugal morals.

[...]

May they strive to present this teaching in its true light, that is, to show its positive and beneficent aspect. What the Church wishes above all is to help Christian husbands and wives to perfect one another, to purify their love, to taste the happiness of a married life lived in the sight of God and in complete respect for His law.

Finally, it is necessary that both in the confessional and in the pulpit, in the press and by other means of social communication, every necessary pastoral effort be made that no ambiguity exists among the faithful or in public opinion concerning the Church's position in this serious matter. Faithful to the mandate she received to teach all nations, she puts her trust in Him who guides her, Whose will she is humbly confident of interpreting faithfully. She has no doubt that future generations will appreciate fully the importance and benefit of the service she renders to married couples, to the family, to all society, by defending this point of her doctrine without weakness.

Devotedly yours in Christ,

A.G. Card. Cicognani (Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani)

[link]

Speaking as a future generation... (I was minus-fourteen when this document was written) I do indeed appreciate fully the importance and benefit of the service rendered to we married couples, we families and to all society, when this point of doctrine is defended without weakness.

Thank you Paul VI for taking a stand and getting it right. Thank you to all the Bishops in England who stood beside him "more firmly than ever".

Both of you.

Mark Shea has it covered...

Post-Christian Culture Feels Its Way Back to Sanity

Pathetic victims of Generation Narcissus' scorched earth approach to sexual wisdom are now feeling their way back to ideas like "commitment". The story I link above announces that the way many youth are announcing "I love you and want to make it permanent" is, not with an engagement ring, but by taking off the condom.

Scripture describes Jesus as having pity on his flock because they were like sheep without a shepherd. I think the response of Jesus to a story like this is pity. In their own sad way, the youth in this story are facing reality far more clearly than their idiot parents who labored to reduce sex to a plumbing problem. Marriage is indeed the sacrament of sex and the sexual act is indeed the body's declaration of lifelong fidelity. Contraception is the crossed fingers behind the back, the way of saying "Well, not really" while the lips say "I love you and give myself completely to you and our family."

So the poor pitiable kids whose highest expression of love is to take off a condom is rather like the widow who offered two copper coins. It's all he has and the Lord can work with that. Far more pitiable are the dolts who handed him that contraceptive culture in the first place and sold him the whole bill of good about the Imperial Autonomous Self. My generation has so much to answer for.

[link]

I just received the latest email from Elizabeth Davies and the Marriage & Family Life Project Office from the Bishops Conference of England and Wales.

New Marriage and Family Life Project Workers

Thanks to the Faith in the Future fundraising initiative of the Bishops' Conference a number of new project workers are moving into place across England and Wales to increase support for marriage and family life in a number of ways. Therese Gordon (Birmingham) and Joanne Hinds (Cardiff) are already in post with Mary Clark (East Anglia), Anne Ruane (Leeds), Sue Sanderson (Nottingham), Jillian Wilce (Plymouth), Keith Chappell (Portsmouth) and Helen Bassirat (Shrewsbury) due to commence employment in the autumn. Further appointments are awaited in Hallam, Hexham and Newcastle, Middlesbrough, and Wrexham. A national induction weekend for these new workers will take place in Cheltenham from November 6th-9th 2008.

Therese Gordon, Joanne Hinds, Mary Clark, Anne Ruane, Sue Sanderson, Jillian Wilce, Keith Chappell, Helen Bassirat.

Let me visualise that for you:

Spot the deliberate mistake...

The modern county of Northumberland isn't really in our Diocese, but the ancient Kingdom of Northumbria is. King Oswald wasn't king of someplace else, he was king of here. He's one of us. We should pray to him that he watch over his kingdom still.

Bede says...

THE same Oswald, as soon as he ascended the throne, being desirous that all his nation should receive the Christian faith, whereof he had found happy experience in vanquishing the barbarians, sent to the elders of the Scots, among whom himself and his followers, when in banishment, had received the sacrament of baptism, desiring they would send him a bishop, by whose instruction and ministry the English nation, which he governed, might be taught the advantages, and receive the sacraments of the Christian faith.

[...]

The king also humbly and willingly in all cases giving ear to his admonitions, industriously applied himself to build and extend the church of Christ in his kingdom; wherein, when the bishop, who was not skillful in the English tongue, preached the gospel, it was most delightful to see the king himself interpreting the word of God to his commanders and ministers, for he had perfectly learned the language of the Scots during his long banishment.

[...]

King Oswald, with the nation of the English which he governed being instructed by the teaching of this most reverend prelate, not only learned to hope for a heavenly kingdom unknown to his progenitors, but also obtained of the same one Almighty God, who made heaven and earth, larger earthly kingdoms than any of his ancestors. In short, he brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain, which are divided into four languages, viz. the Britons, the Picts, the Scots, and the English. When raised to that height of dominion, wonderful to relate, he always continued humble, affable, and generous to the poor and Strangers.

[link]

See also Oswald on Wikipedia and Oswald in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Oswald, Saint King of the Northumbrians. Pray for Us!

Well I just had a call from Michelle they are all alive and well and by the sound of it having fun. Fr Massie did his talk today which was apparently excellent and we are proud to call him ours! The conversation was cut short with classic timing... "oh this thing happend just before we left Andy was there and..." and what!!... dash you poor reception area I will just have to wait till Michelle gets back!

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released the new translations for the text of the mass here. On the one hand, these texts are being released in the US and not the UK, so we shouldn't read to much in to them. On the other hand, these texts are produced by the International Committee for English in the Liturgy so we can expect something pretty similar ourselves.

So why do we need new mass texts? In short.. because the current mass texts are appalling and fail to convey the meaning of the latin original. I'm no latin linguist, but 'Et cum spirito tuo' blatantly has the word 'spirit' in it. In spanish they say 'Y con tu espiritu'. So why do we say 'And also with you'? In these new translations 'Et cum spirito tuo' is translated 'And with your spirit'... 'The Lord be with you. And with your spirit.'

It doesn't just sound nicer, it adds depth to the mass. The response is a reference to the closing lines of the Second Letter of St Paul to Timothy which in the latin vulgate reads 'Dominus Iesum cum spiritu tuo'.

I'm going to avoid speculation on why the current translation is so bad but I don't think Francis Cardinal Arinze is wrong when he writes "this Congregation is confident that the universal use of these texts will greatly contribute to the building up of the faith througout the broad and diverse English-speaking world" [pdf]

A quick flick through (as quickly as one can through a stupid PDF - why don't these people use HTML) and I notice the following changes...

Fellowship is not the same as communion...

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.

The threefold repetition here is obvious in the Latin... Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

I think the 'new' gloria is beautiful, though it's going to play merry-hell with the clappy one...

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.

God of hosts... Old Testament reference perhaps?

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

A bit of rearranging...

Through him, and with him, and in him,
to you, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
is all honor and glory,
for ever and ever.

This one is going to raise a few eyebrows. I'm not sure why it's in BLOCK CAPITALS. Is the priest supposed to shout it or are the ICEL translators simply unfamiliar with Netiquette? Anyway, "cup" now reads "chalice" which isn't a big deal but it sounds more like the latin word for cup... "is shed" becomes "will be poured out" which changes the tense from present to future.

Most significant and most likely to cause upset is this... "for all" has become "for many". Which is not the same thing.

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT,
FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,
THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT,
WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY
FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

The words before the Lord's prayer are just about recognisable...

At the Savior's command
and formed by divine teaching,
we dare to say:

The lines after the Lord's prayer have changed quite significantly. Where it used to read "as we wait in joyful hope" it now reads "as we await the blessed hope". Again, the present tense becomes the future...

Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin
and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Nice reference to Revelation here...

Behold the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes away the sins of the world.
Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.

Nice quote from the Roman Centurian in Matthew 8:8 now restored...

Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.

It's going to be five, maybe ten, maybe a hundred years until we actually use these, but it's interesting to see where things are going. You can read the whole thing for yourself in hideous PDF here. Thanks to Fr Ray Blake for spotting this.

I think you're gonna like this...

Grandpa John teaches a life lesson for children with an electric pickle. This video is not intended to be a proof of God, or a proof of anything. It's a science object lesson from a children's video to encourage kids to let God work in their lives to make the world a better place.

Of course, I only shared that, so I could share this response.

Pickletastic!

So you're not born with it then...

Peter Tatchell, an Australian-born British homosexual activist who founded the "direct action" group OutRage! that specialises in media stunts such as disrupting Christian religious services, wrote on Spiked Online that he agrees with the scientific consensus that there is no such thing as a "gay gene."

[...]

Homosexual activists have adopted the "gay gene" theory to bolster their assertion that any objection on moral grounds to homosexual activity is akin to objecting to left-handedness or skin colour. It has supported the accusation that Christians and others who object to the homosexual movement are racists and bigots.

[...]

Tatchell even went as far as to acknowledge the existence of some who have changed their "sexual orientation." "If heterosexuality and homosexuality are, indeed, genetically predetermined... how do we explain bisexuality or people who, suddenly in mid-life, switch from heterosexuality to homosexuality (or vice versa)? We can't."

Sexuality, he wrote, is "far more ambiguous, blurred and overlapping than any theory of genetic causality can allow."

"Examples of sexual flexibility... don't square with genetic theories of rigid erotic predestination."

[...]

The "gay gene" theory has been used by gay activists "to deny choice, to make it appear that homosexuals cannot help it, and to argue that any criticism of the gay lifestyle is as silly as criticism of being left-handed or red-haired."

"And this has been a deliberate strategy by homosexual activists. They have done a very good job to convince a gullible public that homosexuals are born that way and cannot change."

[link]

I'm not a particularly avid reader of The Tablet. They mentioned me once when they were doing an article about Catholic Blogging and I was the only English Catholic Blogger that Kathryn Lively had on her list of Catholic Bloggers. Oh yeah - Before Fr Tim Finigan was, I was. N00b... Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, The Tablet. I don't read it very often, partly because it hasn't got a feed which means I have to manually go to their website to check for updates (and I barely remember to do that for Strongbad) but mainly, well, because it's full of crap.

Occasionally though, they do something that warrants a mention. Like the survey they recently had done by Cambridge University's Von Hügel Institute. Revealed: The Modern Catholic and Sex and the modern Catholic. These are the surveys that prompted the BBC to declare: Catholics 'ignore rules on sex'.

Goodbye to the confessional. The average Catholic in Britain today has had a Catholic education, staunchly supports Catholic schools, prays daily and attends Mass on Sunday although feels little obligation to do so. But, although the average Catholic receives Communion at nearly every Mass attended, he or she hardly ever goes to confession.

[...]

Catholics have a woeful knowledge of the Church. A surprisingly high number of them have never heard of the Second Vatican Council, seemingly unaware of the profound impact in terms of ecclesiology and liturgy that the Council has had on the Church in which they have been raised. And the majority have not heard of Humanae Vitae, the encyclical published 40 years ago this summer that, with its teaching on birth control, caused such a seismic shift in the attitude of many Catholics at the time to the Church and to its authority.

There's a lot to say about this survey. Let's start at the beginning....

Mass Attendance

I'm mostly interested in the 18-35 age-range. Not because old people don't matter (they most definitely do) but because I think we can see direct links between the way 18-35 catholics are and the state of the Church today. Especially our catechesis, liturgy and Catholic schools.

They asked these questions in Churches. These answers are people who go to Church at least occasionally. The fact, is that 62% of us in the 18-35 range go to mass every week.

Attendance at Mass at least once a week by age:

18-35	36-45	46-65	over 65
62%	67%	84%	92%

62% is pretty poor. It means that if you look around at mass and spot ten people in the 18-35 range, four of them won't be at mass next week.

But, I think this cloud has a silver lining. Because next week if you look around at mass and spot ten people in the 18-35 range, there will be four new ones. Four to replace the four from last week. The four who don't come to mass every week, are actually eight who come every two weeks or maybe even sixteen who come to mass once a month. So when you spot ten people in the 18-35 range, you actually spot as many as twenty-two. There could be as many as 220% more Catholic's in the 18-35 range than a quick headcount at a typical mass suggests. That's pretty hopeful.

This raises a spectacular opportunity. It means you could double the number of 18-35 year olds at a typical mass simply by convincing the four in ten who already occasionally go to mass to go every week. They already go to mass... Though of course, you would need to push the matter four weeks in a row...

If this is true, then somebody needs a poke in the eye with a sharp stick...

Fr Lawler told me today: "This is a parish that does exactly what the Holy Father tells us to do, celebrating the Mass reverently in the old and new forms. The bishop is determined to squash it, and to destroy me because he doesn't want me moving to another parish and doing the same thing."

The parish pastoral council has written to Bishop Roche asking why he has ignored its two formal petitions for the status of a "personal parish" celebrating Mass only in Latin, in accordance with Article 10 of Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict's apostolic letter liberating the traditional Latin Mass.

It has now retained the services of a leading canon lawyer to challenge Bishop Roche's decision to close the parish as part of a wider programme of closures.

Relations between Bishop Roche and Fr Lawler have been strained for years. The bishop told Fr Lawler some time ago that he wanted him to say Mass facing the people, and that because he had told him what to do it was therefore the will of the Holy Spirit.

[...]

Fr Lawler says he asked for a meeting with Bishop Roche, but to no avail. Instead, the Vicar General, one Mgr McQuinn, has written to him, telling him: "The Bishop ... believes your ministry to be divisive, is uncertain that ordinary pastoral care of parishioners is taking place and does not have confidence that you will celebrate the Ordinary Form of the Mass with a generous heart for the vast majority of parishioners who expect Sunday and weekday Masses to be in English and at an altar facing the people."

In an open letter to his parishioners, Fr Lawler describes this claim as "a slur on my character, an attack upon my priesthood and totally without foundation."

[link]

In a recent issue of The Tablet there is a 'Tablet Special' on 'Humanae Vitae 40 years on'. I haven't read it because I can't read it online for free but I am reliable informed that it contains an article which describes the reaction of the English Bishops to Humanae Vitae as "a deafening silence of dissent".

The plan was simple, don't publicly disagree with the encyclical, but don't teach it either. Just be silent on it.

Fr Massie took a brave stand against that in his homily today. He said that following the teaching of the Church, following Peter, could at times feel like walking on water. But that Jesus will be there to hold us when we begin to sink.

Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ It was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’

What is the opposite of kicking a man while he's down? Lifting a man while he's up? Supporting a man while he's doing good? Whatever it is, I'd like to do it to Fr John Paul Leonard of the Diocesan Youth Service who most definitely did good when he wrote this.

First the new. The emphasis was on new praise by worship music. On three mornings we joined thousands of youngsters who danced, sang and clapped as they were led by young people exercising their ministry of musical talents with drums, guitars, cellos, etc.

Good music is crucial if not essential in this new evangelisation, and youngsters can succeed.

Fr John Paul Leonard leaves it ambiguous, so I'm curious whether the praise and worship music was taking place during mass. The mass I saw (on the big screen) featured rather a lot more Gregorian Chant than worship music.

And now the old, an emphasis on Eucharistic adoration. There was a church two doors from the hotel where a large part of the day was allocated to Adoration. One night at 11o’clock as I was on my way home, I noticed that a light was on in the church. It was open so I went inside and saw that the church was jam-packed with youngsters on the benches and on the floor kneeling and bowing deep in prayer.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Eucharistic Adoration is the KEY to evangelisation.

There is also a renewed emphasis on beauty; vestments, music (classical mainly), prayer - the Salve Regina, the Pater Noster, the Tantum Ergo and Benediction.

It could be a glitch in the diocesan website, but that sounded like latin to me. Definite yes to beauty... young people are post-post-modernists. The whole "put puke on the wall and talk about how deep and meaningful it is" thing is over. Young people want to walk in to church and think Wow! instead of What?

A beautiful feature of World Youth Day was the number of confessions you hear as a priest. Wherever you go priests are requested to make themselves available for confession.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

World Youth Day really tried to recreate the power of Pentecost; a call to the Holy Spirit to help us to become holy, to be saints. Let ‘Be a saint’ be your motto for life.

So what can I bring back from World Youth Day to my own parish? How can we be changed by World Youth Day?

There are many things. One is a determination to continue good things, with particular emphasis on community, families, integrated Catholic lifestyle; the belief that Catholic lifestyle is the best lifestyle.

"integrated Catholic lifestyle" - that's not a phrase I've heard before but it's one I'd like to hear again.

Music. I am interested in musicians and have heard new tunes which have captivated youngsters in worship and faith events.

What about old tunes which have captivated youngsters?

Adoration. How can we build upon our prayer life and especially our relationship with the Blessed Sacrament?

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Confession. How can we recapture the practice and use of confession and become so grateful for and open to the conversion and conversation in this sacrament?

A good question.

World Youth Day is a rallying call to the young and not so young to rejoice, to seek the Holy Spirit and the person of Christ, and to love the Father. It is a call for us to be holy and active and joyful in our faith. Are we ready to say our own “Yes!” to this call?

Yes!

Again and again and again...

Stupid KC. Fortunately you're not a monopoly so I can move to somebody else. Oh hang on...

We started on the seating plan today. We did the English first, and that wasn't too bad. Now Monica is going through the Italians. Apparently (as I learn only today) at Italian weddings, the seating must take into account the rigid heirarchy of relations, or you run the risk of being unexpectedly hit in the face with a dead goat. I made that last part up. Anyway, I'm blogging about it, 'cos what do I know?

[link]

Oh Mark, you're so sweet and innocent. If you had married an English girl you would have discovered that English families have the same problem. Who sits closer to the head table... do friends outrank aunties? What about cousins? Oh no! There's only enough room for three quarters of the cousins to sit equidistant from the head table? Who sits further away? Cousin X or Uncle Y? But Auntie Z is travelling up so we should move her closer. But Grandma Q will be offended because she's a grandparent and she aught to be nearer...

The meal lasts all of an hour, but Uncle X has never got on with Cousin Y and if Cousin Y sits across from Auntie Z then we're doomed.

It's women who are the problem. Not Italians.

You guard me from the foe,
And you lead me in ways everlasting.

(I actually quite like that hymn)

On Friday, 8 August 2008, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments communicated to the relevant ecclesial authorities (i.e., Bishops' Conferences and therefore Diocesan Bishops) that the Holy Father in accord with the same congregation and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the norms for the liturgical use of "...the Divine Name signified in the sacred tetragrammaton...." The document is called "Letter to the Bishops' Conferences on the 'Name of God'"

[link]

Interesting...

1. In liturgical celebrations, in songs and prayers the name of God in the form of the tetragrammaton YHWH is neither to be used or pronounced.

2. For the translation of the Biblical text in modern languages, destined for liturgical usage of the Church, what is already prescribed by n. 41 of the Instruction Liturgiam authenticam is to be followed; that is, the divine tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios: "Lord", "Signore", "Seigneur", "Herr", "Señor", etc.

3. In translating, in the liturgical context, texts in which are present, one after the other, either the Hebrew term Adonai or the tetragrammaton YHWH, Adonai is to be translated "Lord" and the form God" is to be used for the tetragrammaton YHWH, similar to what happens in the Greek translation of the Septuagint and in the Latin translation of the Vulgate.

You can read the original letter signed Francis Cardinal Arinze himself in gruesome PDF here.

I always thought there was something fishy about singing 'Yahweh', though I doubt this letter will make the slightest bit of difference. Let's give it a few months and see what happens but I think we'll be filing this one under 'silence of dissent' or more likely 'silence of can't be bothered with it'.

Leona is 17 months old today, which is a tad embarassing for me because I've spent the last weeks telling everyone she is mere days away from the big 18, which it turns out is not until next month. This has inspired me to take the opportunity to tell you a little about Leo XIII after whom she is named. One of Ella's Polish relatives asked "If you want to name here after a Pope, why not the best Pope?".... I wonder which one they have in mind!

Let me tell you about Leo XIII...

Facts and Figures

He was born on March 2nd, a mere ten days before Leona's birthday. He died July 20th, a mere six days after my birthday.

He died the oldest Pope ever having lived to the ripe old age of 93 (John Paul II was 84 when he died).

He was Pope for 25 years and had the third longest reign of any Pope (John Paul II comes in second at 26 Years).

Leo XIII was the first Pope to be born in the 19th century. He was also the first to die in the 20th century.

He was the 256th Pope which means he was the first Pope you can't count in 8bit binary (11111111 is 255).

During his pontificate two hundred and forty-eight episcopal or archiepiscopal sees were created.

England

He beatified St John Fisher, St Thomas More, St Margaret Clitherow, St Edmund Campion and the other English Martyrs in 1886.

He was the Pope that made John Henry Newman a cardinal. Newman said of him: "In the successor of Pius I recognize a depth of thought, a tenderness of heart, a winning simplicity, and a power answering to the name of Leo, which prevent me from lamenting that Pius is no longer here."

He released a (not particularly ecumenical sounding) Papal Bull Apostolicae Curae (On the Nullity of Anglican Orders) in which he said:

Wherefore, strictly adhering, in this matter, to the decrees of the pontiffs, our predecessors, and confirming them most fully, and, as it were, renewing them by our authority, of our own initiative and certain knowledge, we pronounce and declare that ordinations carried out according to the Anglican rite have been, and are, absolutely null and utterly void.

He wrote a letter Ad Anglos (To the English People) in which he said:

We have heard that in England there are some who, being Catholics in name, do not show themselves so in practice; and that in your great towns there are vast numbere of people who know not the elements of the Christian faith, who never pray to God, and live in ignorance of His justice and of His mercy. We must pray to God, and pray yet more earnestly in this sad condition of things, since He alone can effect a remedy. May He show the measures proper to be taken; may He sustain the courage and strength of those who labor at this arduous task; may He deign to send laborers into His harvest.

[...]

We therefore humbly call on St. Gregory, whom the English have ever rejoiced to greet as the apostle of their race, on Augustine his disciple and his messenger, and on those other saints of God, through whose wonderful virtues and no less wonderful deeds England has merited the title of "Island of the Saints"; on St. Peter and St. George, those special patrons, and above all on Mary, the Holy Mother of God, whom Christ Himself from the Cross left to be the mother of mankind, to whom your kingdom was dedicated by your forefathers under that glorious title "The Dowry of Mary". All these with full confidence We call upon to be Our pleaders before the throne of God that, renewing the glory of ancient days, He may fill you with all joy and peace in believing: that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Ghost.

[...]

Finally, We desire all manner of blessings from God for the whole of the British people, and with all Our heart We pray that those who seek the kingdom of Christ and salvation in the unity of faith may enter on the full realization of their desires.

Prayer for England

In the same letter, he offers an indulgence for praying daily a prayer you may have heard before:

Care should be taken that the prayers for unity already established amongst you Catholics on certain fixed days should be made more popular and recited with greater devotion. Especially that the pious practice of the Holy Rosary, which We Ourselves have so strongly recommended, should flourish, for it contains as it were a summary of the Gospel teaching, and has always been a most salutary institution for the people at large.

Moreover, We are pleased of Our own will and authority to add still another to the sacred Indulgences which have been granted from time to time by Our predecessors. We grant, that is, to all those who piously recite the prayer appended to this letter, to whatever nation they may belong, an indulgence of three hundred days; moreover, a plenary indulgence once a month on the observance of the usual conditions to those who have recited it daily.

[...]

To THE Blessed Virgin. Prayer for England.

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England thy "Dowry" and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee. By thee it was that Jesus our Saviour and our hope was given unto the world; and He has given thee to us that we might hope still more. Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the cross. O sorrowful Mother! intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the supreme Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with thee, in our heavenly home. Amen.

Prayer to St Michael

As well as the Prayer for England above, he also wrote another prayer that you may have heard of...

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host - by the Divine Power of God - cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

There's quite a back story to that one.

Prayer to Mary

He was known as the Rosary Pope because he released a record eleven encyclicals on the rosary.

He instituted the practice of praying the rosary in October.

Science and Technology and Education

In 1883 Pope Leo XIII opened the Vatican Secret Archives (dated 1815 or earlier) to non-clerical scholars for the first time.

In 1891 he formally re-founded the Vatican Observatory.

He founded the Potifical Biblical Commission.

He was the first Pope to have his voice recorded...

He was the first Pope to be filmed...

While he was Pope, the Vatican got it's first phones. "The Vatican started out in 1886 with 10 phones that could only make internal calls" [link].

Leo XIII was Pope was Pope when the first electricity was produced in the Vatican...

The production of electricity in the Vatican dates back to 1897 with a project to harness the flow of water descending from the Bracciano aqueduct.

[...]

The water flow also went by tunnel to the "Fontana dell'Aquilone" (Fountain of the Eagle) where it descended fifteen meters to enter a conduit containing a turbine which it would turn, thereby allowing for the production of electricity. The construction of what would become the Vatican's first power station took place from 1897-1898 and was inaugurated by Pope Leo XIII in 1899.

[link]

Encyclicals

Leo XIII wrote a frightening number of encyclical letters...

Ad Extremas, Adiutricem , Aeterni Patris, Affari Vos , Annum Sacrum, Arcanum Divinae, Augustissimae Virginis Mariae, Au Milieu Des Sollicitudes, Auspicato Concessum, Caritatis, Caritatis Studium, Catholicae Ecclesiae, Christi Nomen, Constanti Hungarorum, Cum Multa, Custodi di quella Fede, Dall'alto dell'Apostolico Seggio, Depuis le Jour, Diuturni Temporis, Diuturnum, Divinum Illud Munus, Dum Multa, Etsi Cunctas, Etsi Nos, Exeunte Iam Anno, Fidentem Piumque Animum, Fin dal Principio, Grande Munus, Graves de Communi Re, Gravissimas , Humanum Genus, Iampridem, Immortale Dei, In Amplissimo, Inimica Vis, In Ipso, In Plurimis, Inscrutabili Dei Consilio, Insignes, Inter Graves, Iucunda Semper Expectatione, Laetitiae Sanctae, Libertas, Licet Multa, Litteras a Vobis, Longinqua, Magnae Dei Matris, Magni Nobis, Militantis Ecclesiae, Mirae Caritatis, Nobilissima Gallorum Gens, Non Mediocri, Octobri Mense, Officio Sanctissimo, Omnibus Compertum, Pastoralis , Pastoralis Officii, Paternae, Paterna Caritas, Pergrata, Permoti Nos, Providentissimus Deus, Quae Ad Nos, Quam Aerumnosa, Quamquam Pluries , Quam Religiosa, Quarto Abeunte Saeculo, Quod Anniversarius, Quod Apostolici Muneris, Quod Auctoritate, Quod Multum, Quod Votis , Quum Diuturnum, Reputantibus , Rerum Novarum, Saepe Nos, Sancta Dei Civitas, Sapientiae Christianae, Satis Cognitum, Spectata Fides, Spesse Volte, Superiore Anno, Supremi Apostolatus Officio, Tametsi Futura Prospicientibus, Urbanitatis Veteris and Vi è Ben Noto

That' more than eighty! Count'em. Pope John Paul II (who was Pope for a year longer) only managed 14, one of which (Centesimus Annus) was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum.

Drink

He enjoyed Vin Mariani tonic wine (which contained 6mg per ounce cocaine) so much that he awarded a Vatican gold medal to the wine and appeared on a poster for it.

Arms

Pope Leo XIII's coat of arms (taken from here):

They can be seen hammered out in lead on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica...

But, Leo XIII is not buried in St Peter's Basilica. He is buried in St John Lateran.

St Therese of Lisieux

Pope Leo XIII met St Therese in 1887...

The great day of the audience with Pope Leo XIII came at the end of their week in Rome. On Sunday, November 20, 1887, "they told us on the Pope's behalf that it was forbidden to speak as this would prolong the audience too much. I turned toward my dear Celine for advice: 'Speak!' she said. A moment later I was at the Holy Father's feet....Lifting tear-filled eyes to his face I cried out: 'Most Holy Father, I have a great favor to ask you!....Holy Father, in honor of your jubilee, permit me to enter Carmel at the age of fifteen.'"

Father Reverony, the leader of the French pilgrimage, stared stonily at this bold little girl, in surprise and displeasure. "Most Holy Father," the priest said coldly, "this is a child who wants to enter Carmel at the age of fifteen. The superiors are considering the matter at the moment." "Well, my child," the Holy Father replied, "do what the superiors tell you." "Resting my hands on his knees," Therese continued, "I made a final effort, saying, 'Oh, Holy Father, if you say yes, everybody will agree!' He gazed at me speaking these words and stressing each syllable: 'Go - go - you will enter if God wills it.'"

Therese did not want to leave the Holy Father's presence, so the papal guards had to lift her up and carry the tearful young girl to the door. There they gave her a medal of Leo XIII.

[link]

St Thomas Aquinas

Pope Leo XIII was big in to St Thomas and founded the Pontifical Academy of St Thomas Aquinas.

His Encyclical Aeterni Patris (given on my brothers birthday) says...

We exhort you, venerable brethren, in all earnestness to restore the golden wisdom of St. Thomas, and to spread it far and wide for the defense and beauty of the Catholic faith, for the good of society, and for the advantage of all the sciences.

Further Reading...

Like all the best Popes, Leo XIII has a Wikipedia Page and a page in the Catholic Encyclopaedia. He is (at present) the earliest Pope to have a Homepage on the Vatican Website. It wouldn't hurt to read some of his encyclicals.

So... there you have it. The legend that is Leo XIII.

Not so very long ago I blogged about a recent survey in The Tablet. The survey was carried out in Churches so the respondents must have been to mass at least once. After asking people about their Another question asked people their reasons for going to mass...

To express my commitment to God - 64%
It gives me strength to carry on in everyday life - 55%
I was brought up this way - 52%
To receive the Holy Sacrament as "food for the journey" - 48%
To pray for loved ones who are deceased - 44%
To repent of my sins - 37%
To ask for various things in prayer - 36%
To feel a part of the community - 36%

Notice: Only 36% of people said "to feel a part of the community" was a reason they go to mass. People don't go to mass to be part of the community. I don't go to mass to be part of the community. Think about it, why do people go to football matches? To watch football. I'm sure that people who regularly go to football matches build up a great community and often join each other in the pub after the game, but I'm pretty sure 25,000 people wouldn't descend on Walton Street every Saturday if Hull City decided to downplay the sporting aspect and emphaise the importance of community. People go for the football and a community builds around it.

It's the same story with mass. People go "to express [their] commitment to God" and a community develops around it like trees grow around streams of water. Communities develop among people who happen to live in the same place, or work in the same office or support the same team. Anybody who thinks community is going to exist for the sake of community is seriously misguided.

So what is important about mass. Asked to rate the most important aspects of mass, people said:

Receiving Holy Communion - 75%
Feeling the presence of God - 68%
Prayer and reflection - 61%
Sign of peace - 46%
Sermon - 42%
Readings - 43%
Music - 29%

Apart from the sign of peace (which is overrated) I think it's fair to say that people know what's important about the mass. I was going to nitpick about how I might have said the readings are more important than the sermon but then I noticed people actually have said the readings are more important and the stupid Tablet people just can't put things in numerical order.

Notice where music is. It's at the bottom. People think music is less important than receiving Holy Communion, less important than prayer, the sermon (in Jamesland we call that the homily) and readings. Music is even less important than the sign of peace. Think about that. It means that every promise of music as saviour is a false promise. "If only the music were louder/quicker/happier/bouncier/etc then more young people would come to mass" No. They wouldn't.

People have rated music pretty low. Only 29% of people say it's an important part of mass while 75% say receiving Holy Communion is an important part. Music is not going to attract young people to mass. The Eucharist is.

Leona gets her name from a fantastic Pope. Turns out Ella shares her name with this...

That's right. A giant woman made out of peaches.

Ella's construction began over six months ago with the 3D scanning of a living woman. This data was converted in to a digital wireframe model, which assisted in determining her proper scale and proportions.

The final sculpture stands five metres high, twelve metres long and is supported by polystyrene and steel.

[link]

Click the link for a video...

From Orthfully Catholic...

At Mass today Father gave a whole new meaning to in persona Christi. He said more priests should be thrown out of their parishes by their parishioners as Our Lord was thrown out of the Synagogue in today's Gospel simply by preaching the Truth.

He said priests are not preaching the truth from the pulpit anymore and Catholicism is becoming too comfortable. He used today's patron, St Alphonsus Liguori as an example, he preached the moral truth, God's Moral Law, something priests aren't doing any more.

So come on Fathers, preach the truth and get thrown out of your churches for Jesus!

Fr Martin responds...

Until you are ordained then please do not assume to offer advice to priests.

The advice I will offer you is if you wish to be ordained then I suggest that you refrain from such patronising comments. You are lucky that I do not know which Seminary that you attend, as if I did I would be expressing my concerns to your Rector.

Spirit of Vatican II in action... seminarians like Orthfully Catholic must blog anonymously because existing priests are just looking for an excuse to destroy them.

When men were men...

We began our celebrations with a Vigil Mass on Thursday. Fr Massie is on holiday at the moment so Fr Stephen Maughan said the mass and gave an excellent homily with many interesting connections between the Old and New Testaments regarding Mary, the Ark of the Covenant etc. He also sang the Sanctus (in latin) and he sang most (if not all) of the Eucharistic Prayer (in English).

It all fits in rather well with my own rather generous interpretation of Sacrosanctum Concilium which doesn't say "chuck the Latin, use English" but instead says the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin and then But since the use of the mother tongue, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or other parts of the liturgy, frequently may be of great advantage to the people, the limits of its employment may be extended. and then steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.

If anybody wants to take those steps, so that we may also be able to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to us, we are very much interested. It would be brilliant if Fr William were to invite Fr Stephen to come around one Saturday afternoon and help him put on some kind of latin chant workshop at St Josephs. The Second Vatican Council says that 'steps should be taken' and the fact that fourty years on steps have not been taken brings the phrase 'silence of dissent' to mind once again.

Anyways... feast of the assumption. Leona walked pretty much all the way home from mass. We carried her over roads (too dangerous) and it was game over when we passed the cake shop... she just stands and stares at it until we pick her up and carry her away. Speaking of cakes, we celebrated the actual feast of the assumption with a blue Mary cake. We've taken Joanna Bogle's trinity cake idea and ran with it, freestyle...

Ella wanted the cake to literally be blue, so she put blue food colouring in the cake mix. Alas, cakes are not white, but yellow. So when you put blue food colouring in they come out green...

If anybody knows how to make a cake be blue then let us know... I expect the answer is to triple the dose of food colouring. Having said that, we need to start being careful about the chemical content of our cakes. Somebody is turning in to a cake junkie...

Hopefully she'll sleep it off. All in all we've had a good Feast of the Assumption. On Sunday there's a Pilgrimage to Mount Grace. I hope we can go... but it depends on me getting lots of stuff done on Saturday... so we'll see.

The other day I mentioned that getting to Osmotherley for the Pilgrimage to Mount Grace depended on me getting stuff done. That wasn't entirely true. What it depended on really was Michelle. Michelle who kindly drove us to Osmotherley. It was heaving it down when Michelle turned up at our house and she kindly humoured us when we insisted on going to Sainsburys for some waterproof clothing for Leona. Waterproof clothes for Babies are very sexist. We ended up buying boy ones because the girl ones seem to be designed on the principle that baby girls don't go out in the rain.

Unfortunately, we neglected to take a map. Our knowledge of the roads in the North Yorkshire Moors is not bad but, well, not good enough. Fortunately the owners manual for Michelle's car had a map showing the location of the various dealerships and we were able to use that map to get as far as Helmsley. After Helmsley, things went a bit wrong. The dealership map only showed major roads and Osmotherley isn't on any major roads. I took my best guess at it's approximate location and got it wrong, not far wrong, but far enough that we ended up driving all the way over the moors and out of the North end to the Stokesley roundabout from where we had to head back on ourselves to get to Osmotherley which was happily signposted from the A19.

Oh well... we arrived in good time and glorious sunshine and had a walk down in to the village where we had the pleasure to use the Toilet of the Year 2004 (they had a certificate on the wall and everything). After that, we sat on a park bench and had sandwiches and watched some chickens. This was an ideal opportunity to try out Leona's brand new wellington boots as the ground was still a little wet after the morning downpour.

After sandwiches we couldn't resist having a cup of tea and slice of cake in Church House. The ladies there had made an overwhelming array of cakes to choose from! I had carrot cake which is my all time favourite cake, Ella had walnut cake and Michelle had some kind of Pavlova. Leona had a bit of everybody's and became better acquainted with a hen. All caked up we set off through the village and stopped off at the Catholic Church, the Church in Osmotherley is interesting because it doesn't look like a Church. It was built at a time when anti-Catholic feeling was running high and there was a need to keep a low profile. From the outside it looks like any other house in the village, you can see in this photo of the interior how the Church is practically hidden in the roof with sash windows to match the rest of the village...

We hoofed it up through the village to the Lady chapel for to say the rosary before Mass, we were just saying hello to Bishop Drainey who always makes an effort to get around and talk to people when we were approached by photographer Mike Morrisey who took our photo with the Bishop for the Catholic Times so now we are famous at last. We also unexpectedly bumped in to our parish priest Fr Massie who is away on holiday. We asked why he was working when he is on holiday and he said "this isn't work, this is pleasure".

It was a lovely sunny day, too sunny perhaps. We sat on our coats on the wet grass and when I put the camera down it steamed up. I put another layer of factor 40 on the babe as mass began. I thought the liturgical setup was a great improvement on the last time, as temporary altars go it was really quite tasteful with wind proof candles and everything. I still don't entirely understand why Bishop Terence hasn't started using the Benedictine Altar Arrangement. I know Pope Benedict hasn't mandated it, but he has set a clear example even using it at the closing mass at World Youth Day in Sydney. Do we generously follow the Pope's example or do we only follow him when he spells it out?

Another complaint... earthenware bowls. Reprobated, therefore, is any practice of using for the celebration of Mass common vessels, or others lacking in quality, or devoid of all artistic merit or which are mere containers, as also other vessels made from glass, earthenware, clay, or other materials that break easily. - Redemptionis Sacramentum 117 I wonder if these are the same earthenware bowls that featured at the Postgate Rally.

The pluses however far outweighed the negative... We actually sang some actual latin. That's right, and nobody died or anything. So it turns out it can be done! And Bishop Terence gave a beautiful and deeply personal homily, I'm going to steal some of it from Bashing Secularism who is a proper journalist and therefore wrote some of it down.

Over the last month I've taken the opportunity to have a break - a holiday. It was an important moment for me because of what happened to me over the last six months. I've not really had the time or the opportunity to reflect and ponder on everything that's happened. The strange thing though is that I began to go through my thoughts and feelings right back to the time when I was asked to be your bishop. The only way I could express them to myself was in terms of a dying, of a grieving and a mourning for something which apparently was being suddenly taken away from me.

I expect it's the fact that the position and life of a bishop is so public and to a certain extent it was the end of me as a private person - and there's a lot of private person within me. It was a genuine process of grieving and mourning. A wave of emotion would cut through me at the most unexpected moments and I could do nothing about it until it had literally taken it's course.

At times like that you need people around you who have experienced something similar who can not only sympathise but can empathise.

I've no doubt that there are people here who are going through periods of grief or mourning. Perhaps someone close has died - a husband, a wife, a family member, a close friend. Perhaps it's another type of grieving over a relationship, a change in your life where you've had to leave something of great value behind you. The last thing you want to hear in these types of situations is 'For goodness sake, pull yourself together. Get on with life.'

Yes there's a time to hear that and a time to respond to it. But we have to mourn, we have to grieve, it's a very basic human thing to do. We literally need a shoulder to cry on, someone to support us and stand by us, someone who has been there, who has passed through that door as well.

..."Mary followed Jesus on the way of the cross. For her it was not a devotional prayer but the reality of her son's final hours on this earth with a painful, shameful death. She knew what grieving and mourning were all about.

..."Refuge in grief, star of the sea pray for the mourner pray for me.

..."At the foot of the cross, Mary was given to us in the person of John as Our Mother too.

..."Where she has gone, we too, by God's grace, should also aspire to go."

[link]

Bishop Drainey exhorted everybody to spread the word about the shrine to Our Lady at Mount Grace and described it as the diocesan shrine to Our Lady. He used her title "Our Lady of Mount Grace" and said that this pilgrimage to Mount Grace is the most important diocesan pilgrimage after Lourdes. I remember he used equally strong language about Nicholas Postgate at the Postgate Rally (he couldn't attend but he sent a letter). He is clearly a man who highly values what he described as "local patrimony" and that's a really good thing.

Leona kicked off a bit during the Eucharistic Prayer so I had to take her to the back where some kind people offered to let us go and sit in the house but Leona was having none of it, she kicked until I put her down on the muddy floor (in her wellies of course) and then she walked all the way through the crowd back to where mummy was sitting.

After the beautiful sunshine it started to rain almost as soon as the mass was ended. We had a cup of tea and a piece of cake in the rain. A lady introduced herself who reads this very blog and knows all about Fr Tim Finigan, Bashing Secularism and ourselves. She told a beautiful story about her husband who having been diagnosed with a terminal illness and only a short time to live was asked if there was anywhere he would like to go. He chose the shrine to our Lady at Mount Grace and so it was on Mount Grace that he spent his last day before he died. It really is a special place to so many people in so many ways.

The rain gave Leona an opportunity to try on her new raincoat and wellies in proper rain. Fr Massie said she didn't look very happy but I think she was loving it. She had that focussed look of a baby really concentrating on experiencing something. Of course, in the photo she looks like she's about to cry but it wasn't like that......

You can decide for yourself whether that constitutes child abuse or an important character building experience. We didn't leave her standing in the rain for very long and when I picked her up she wanted down again but I took her inside anyway. We visited the little shop and looked for children's books but were disappointed. They had a couple of really wordy ones but nothing for Leona aged kiddies, if anybody has any tips for good "I can't read but I like to turn sturdy pages and look at colourful pictures" religious books for toddlers then I'm all ears. We'd like something for her to do in mass but not too distracting.

We bumped in to Jane Cook, the Diocesan Adult Formation Advisor. That was really good because I've found things a little awkward there, I sent her an email earlier this year that caused more bad feeling than I had anticipated (it wasn't supposed to cause any bad feeling, it was just supposed to draw attention to something). I didn't want to fall out with Jane but I was (and still am) hurt by the way Fr John Lumley responded. If I spoke to anybody like that at work I'd be sacked immediately. I now know what people mean when say they were treated as though they were doing something wrong by complaining. I was told I was not being generous and should simply trust my parish priest. My reply to that letter was ignored.

Anyway, I am grateful to Jane because it was she who started speaking to me, something I would have found difficult with the awkwardness I was feeling between us. My thanks to Jane for taking that step. It turns out Osmotherley is her home parish which must be amazing. We left Jane stranded at the top of the mountain, their car was blocked in and they couldn't leave until all the other cars had left. We walked down the hill to the car and Michelle took us home by a far more sensible route of Michelle's design.

Poor Michelle, something went wrong in her car and the battery light came on and the power steering stopped working... she had to keep the engine running for fear the car wouldn't start again and use all her muscles to get the car around roundabouts. She dropped us off without stopping the engine. Thanks again to Michelle for the lift, it was a great day.

This is genius...

For between £200 and £2,000, people can buy a cow that stands no taller than a large German shepherd dog, gives 16 pints of milk a day that can be drunk unpasteurised, keeps the grass “mown” and will be a family pet for years before ending up in the freezer.

[link]

But sixteen pints! Sixteen!