HAPPY and GLORIA

On the day the Queen succeeded her Father as monarch (have I told you George VI died on my 17th birthday?) we were in sombre mood at school assembly; until it came to singing the National Anthem. Very strange singing "God Save the Queen" - and surely it should be "send her victoria, happy and gloria?" Hence the name of this blog.



We seldom seem to win anything in tombolas or lotteries, so we put our names into the hat for tickets to the Queen's Jubilee. Imagine our surprise when two tickets arrived just a week ago, anabling us to be present on this final day of the Jubilee weekend.



We had to be seated by 9.15am; which entailed a journey to London on the first train of the day, the 6.10 from Brockenhurst. Then by bus to Victoria - a diverted and diverting journey because of the Jubilee, which meant we had a route march before getting into the security queue. Eventually we went under the stands erected outside the Palace (a little like entering the Roman Arena in Verona, we thought, though without the "We about to die salute thee" bit. The performance was certainly every bit as rivetting as Aida. Military bands in all manner of gear, from the overdressed scarlet and gold of the cavalry to the modest and subdued uniforms of the Royal Air Force (did I tell you I was in the Air Force?)

Of course, I managed to forget two things; money (so Jane had to pay for our coffee stops) and the camera. The result is that I was driven to sketching. There were long periods of sitting with only images on the large screen to watch, so there was planty of time for scribbling. The advantage against the camera is that you can give a hint of two events at the same time; so in the last of these images Archbishop Rowan is on the screen on the right (very hastily done - he was only shown for a few moments) and in front of the palace an impression of a few horses and riders - tho' you will have to look very carefully to find them.

We had marvellous seats, in the next-to-top row, just below the box where the Royals had watched last evening's concert. Some of the staging was still there, which will have obscured the view for some. We were luckier, with a clear sight of the entire facade of the Palace.


We had watched on earlier days on TV: there really is no substitute for being there. The crowd was enormous, and enormously good humoured. We talked with our neighbours (how un-English, you might think) a Hampshire couplemarried only in March, a lady of uncertain age from Norfolkwho goes off to Australia nexct week. We did not complain when people came back and forth along the row, we cheered everything in sight, from the wonderful black horses of the Cavalry to the ambulances and dust carts which came along in their wake. Best of all, the Queen looked truly happy, with her son and grandsons beside her - to say nothing of her glamorous grand-daughter in law, the lovely Kate.

On previous days there had been rain; we came prepared (no umbrellas, they would spoil the view from the stands) but the rain held off all morning and right until mid-afternoon. There was only one sadness to the day, the absence through illness of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.

As the Royal Party came back from Westminster Hall to the Palace in open carriages, a few drops began to fall. It was really raining by the time they came onto the balcony, but no-one minded. And the Royal Air Force (did I tell you I was in the Royal Air Force?) put on a marvellous fly-past. Seeing the Lancaster flanked by Spitfires and Hurricanes brought a lump to my throat. I had drawn them in school exercise books when even Princess El;izabeth was only a girl.

The exit took a long while, but again with no complaining, and a cup of tea in Shepherd's Market (a very up-market former village in deepest Mayfair) revived us for the journey home. Forgive this very self-indulgent blog. You really should have been there.

The Intemperate Zone

A packed three days in London, just as the temperatures passed 80 Fahrenheit. It was a little unkind of Allen Hall to give Fr John Saward the graveyard slot on Thursday - two hours after a very filling lunch. By the end of his lecture even he was clutching a bottle of water.



So far as I can tell it was a masterly account of St Thomas Aquinas on the Incarnation and the Sacraments - fortunately his talk was recorded and will be available on line from Allen Hall, so we shall be able to fill in the bits when Morpheus overtook us.



Perhaps though I was the only one whose eyes became a little heavy at times - certainly in the shot above we are all very alert and bushy tailed.
So that was Thursday in Chelsea.

Jane had come up to town with me, and we went to Croydon for two nights staying with a cousin of mine. We returned on Friday to do our cultural bit - the Zoffany exhibition at the Royal Academy.



A revelation - I had thought of him as a court painter to George III, which he was, but he also travelled widely, even as far as India, and produced some wonderful images there. Then too he was enchanted by the theatre, and gave us images of Garrick and all the great thespians of his time. If you are able to get there soon, do: and the catalogue is greatly reduced and a wondefful bargain. We also went to the Queen's Gallery to see the Leonardo anatomical drawings - which produced in me a degree of visual overload.



Today it was London for the third day running, this time Westminster where seventeen former Anglican clergy were admitted to the Diaconate of the Catholic Church. Bishop Alan Hopes ordained, our Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, was a benign presence throughout, and Mgr Andrew Burnham preached splendidly on the Diaconate. Above is a picture from the moments before the Mass began. Frs Page and Elliott-Smith were no doubt glad that today, unlike Thursday, the tube did not let them down. They had struggled to get to Allen Hall and missed much of the morning session.

Many of those being ordained are old friends of mine, and it was particularly good to have Brian Copus from our Bournemouth Ordinariate Group once more properly dressed in clericals. Good too to have two other residents of Portsmouth Diocese among the candidates - John Maunder from St Agatha's Portsea and John Hunwicke (for he lives in Oxford on the Portsmouth side of the Thames). After Mass, members of the Bournemouth Ordinariate repaired to the Victoria Pub, to drink the new deacons' health.



Here on the right of the picture are Fr Brian and his wife Bärbel. On this occasion the new deacons' wives were welcomed to the sanctuary and given a special blessing just before Mass ended. What a great day! Now we eagerly await news of when Fr Brian is to be ordained priest - some of those deaconed today will be priested in their home parishes or local cathedrals as early as next week.

A Bit Deficient

Today our Ordinariate Mass was full to overflowing; St Peter's School had asked if their Confirmation Group (of almost fifty) might attend as part of their day of recollection.

It was just lovely to have so many youngsters with us - and made us realise that our bit of the Ordinariate is sadly deficient. We are mostly more than a bit post-mature! Today was different, and it cheered us all up enormously. Not only was the school there, we had some teachers and parents and our youngest worshipper was three-week old Nicola. It was a great encouragement to hear her giving voice just before the Gospel. After Mass they adjojurned to the Hall for refreshments and instruction. The day is due to end for them with a barbecue. I don't recall having that sort of day during my confirmation preparation.


The pictures here give a little impression of how it all looked. Oh, and below is the resited image of Our Lady of Walsingham, keeping guard over the West Door. We turn to face this ststue when we sing Regina Caeli (as we did today, in English) or the Angelus.



Best of all today was the news that Brian Copus, former Anglican Vicar, has received his dispensation from clerical celibacy, allowing him to proceed to Ordination. This means that he will be in the next group to be ordained Deacon, in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday May 26th. He is on the left in the picture below, telling the good news to Tom and Valerie, two friends from St Joseph's in Christchurch who worship with us on alternate Sundays.

The Abdication

My wife, born two years after me, has lived through two fewer reigns. George V was celebrating his 25th Anniversary the year I was hatched, and before Jane came into the world he had died and his elder son had abdicated.



Tonight there was a progamme about the abdication, and it was good to see that most of it depended on research by the Revd Dr Robert Beaken, who is in a 'C' parish in Chelmsford diocese. His contributions to the programme were scholarly, well substantiated, and balanced. More than could be said for most of the rest of it. There was a 'historian ' called Susan Williams who clearly has a hang-up about the established Church (and probably a good deal else too). The newsreel footage was great; the mock-ups of historical events laughably inept. Lang's aquiline features and elegant posture did not begin to match the portly actor who mimed some of the events. Most of the ecclesiastical mock-ups were filmed in St Bartholomew the Great - its Romansque arches a poor stand-in for the French Gothic of Westminster; and why were courtiers shown taking holy water and crossing themselves, or lined up in front of swinging censers? There was even a monstrance having a host inserted in it ... not at all the thing for the Established C of E in the 1930s. Perhaps they should have asked Fr Robert to oversee the production, and not merely contribute from his Lang research.

The Winter's Sleep was Long and Deep...

If you recognise the title you will recall that jolliest of hymns written by Percy Dearmer for the Feast of Ss Philip and James - which the Church of England always used to keep on May Day -

"So God doth bring the world to spring; and on their holy day,
doth the Church proclaim her Apostles' fame to welcome the first of May".

Even jollier than the words was the tune - English Traditional, "King's Langley" it is called, but it's always been "Do ye ken John Peel?" in my memory. I wonder if our Ordinariate liturgists will have any success in persuading Holy Church that this is part of the Anglican Patrimony? After all "St Joseph the Worker" was only invented as a riposte to the Red Peril, which seems to have dissolved by now. What's more, it is only a Memorial, whereas Pip and Jim (being Apostles) have a Feast Day. Perhaps the Reform of the Reform will give us back the two Saints of God on this day, rather than May 3rd?
This has developed into a wonderful sun-filled May Day here on the South Coast, (the view of the sea below is from Barton Cliff, looking towards Hengistbury Head and Bournemouth) after constant heavy rain throughout the past week and more.



We welcomed priests of the Avon/Stour Pastoral Area at our home today for their regular meeting and lunch. Our Ordinariate Group worships at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Southbourne, and we are always included in events in the Pastoral Area. It was good to be able to repay a little hospitality. In our distinguished company (below) you will see, from left to right, Fr John Lee our Co-ordinating Pastor and parish priest of St Joseph's Christchurch; Fr Gerry Onyejuluwa MSP, of Southbourne; Fr Vitalis Kondo MSP of Iford; Fr Tony Pennicott of Ringwood and Fordingbridge, and Fr David Quarmby of Highcliffe. The next event to involve the whole area is a three-day time of renewal to be based in Christchurch and running from Wednesday May 23rd. I hope very much that some of the Ordinariate will want to join in these evening sessions in preparation for Pentecost.




There was some talk over lunch (Chicken Chorizo, and two Puddings) about the advantage of being a married priest .. I could not possibly comment.

Gaudy Night

John Betjeman's favourite Oxford College, Pembroke.

Once every ten years or so comes an invitation back to Oxford, to a College Reunion or 'Gaudy' for those who matriculated in certain years. This time it was for undergraduates of 1957 or earlier. Thinking there might be few of us left after another ten years, a group of us decided to attend.

Naturally the present Master of the College greeted us, and encouraged us as ever to open our cheque books. Sometimes he strikes lucky. With a massive building project currently underway, he is looking for the final £5million to complete it. A few years ago a Master who had no liking for the Christian faith went to America seeking cash - and was embarrassed to return with a very large sum earmarked for the restoration of the Chapel. Whether his atheism was the reason or not, the result was that the very handsomely restored 18th Century building was given the name "The Damon Wells Chapel". The group photograph below shows a few friends trying hard to obscure the much disliked nameplate.

[l-r A Professor of Microbiology,an Anglican Archdeaon now a priest of the Ordinariate, a Director of the RSCM, a Scots Episcopalian Priest, and Yrs Truly - all retired but all fairly active.]
All very well calling a building after Smithson (of the Smithsonian Institute, an early benefactor of Pembroke); or renaming the Old Master's House "The Dr Johnson Building" after the Grand Cham hismelf who spent a year or so as a servitor undergraduate, before penury forced him to leave without a degree*. But to attach an individual's name to the Chapel!

The ceiling after Kempe
The Chapel was transformed in the late 19th Century when another former member, the Stained Glass artist Charles Eamer Kempe, went to town on catholicising it. There are painted plaster statues of Saints and Old Testament Prophets, Windows with glass so thick that scarcely any light now penetrates, and a ceiling which seems to belong in a Venetian Palazzo. The window illustrated has James I (in whose reign the College was refounded) with the two earliest Benefactors, Thomas Teesdale and Richard Whitwick. Another window depicts Good Queen Anne. The copy of a "Noli me Tangere" - the original I think by Raphael - makes a reredos to the Altar, while at the other end of the Chapel is a fine Organ Case which was originally in Wren's Sheldonian Theatre.


The instrument itself is recent work by a Canadian firm of Organ Builders, and the Organ Scholar of our day, Dr Harry Bramma, had a great hand in seeing to its specification. Last evening he made it sound very good indeed.



So successful was Kempe with his 'restoration' that it is said a Papal Nuncio, later himself to become Supreme Pontiff, was shown the Chapel while on a visit to Oxford and said "Beautiful! Just like one of ours!".



The highpoint of the Gaudy is dinner in hall, just like old times (expect that they have replaced the benches with comfy chairs) - here two friends are paying rapt attention to a speech by one of our peers who actually IS a peer: Bob Carwell, aka Baron Carswell,PC, QC, retired Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.



* I am indebted to Dr Andrew Starkie for the following: 'It is very likely that Dr Johnson didn’t graduate because he would have had to then take the oath of allegiance to the (Hanoverian) sovereign. His honorary Doctorate didn’t require it. (Cambridge required the oath on matriculation, Oxford on graduation!'

R & R

Ruskin's View above the River Lune at Kirby Lonsdale

A breather after the busy-ness of Holy Week & Easter. On Monday we went by train to Lancaster to catch up with our son - now halfway through his doctoral course at the University. We visited Kirby Lonsdale, where the weather was VERY Lake District - sunshine, followed by hailshowers - you might just see that in this picture of the Churchyard.



The next day a drive up to Windermere was even more amazing - at one stage a rainbow appeared almost at our feet.



Holehird gardens are a revelation. Run entirely by volunteers of the Lakeland Horticultural Society, there give spectacular views of the Lake and hills beyond.


Then a visit to Townend, a National Trust Property on the other side of the Lake. We seemed to see and do a great deal in the two days we were in Lancashire - and Cumbria.



Since then, there has been a visit to Oxford - but I'll save that for another blog.