A Happy Portsmouth Day

As Bishop of Matabeleland, and then as a Bishop with the TAC, Robert Mercer C.R.brings great wisdom and experience into the Ordinariate. Bishop Alan Hopes came to Portsmouth Cathedral on Lady Day to Ordain Robert a Catholic Priest. I began to write about this on another blog, but a gremlin entered the works, so I shall try to put into this post some of the pictures from the day. (Click on the photograph below and you might spot Fr Robert just ahead of Mgr Keith's linen mitre.)


Very good that there were two C.R. priests from Mirfield to support their brother. Equally, there was a good turnout of TAC members from St Agatha's Portsea (where Fr Robert will now exercise his ministry) and Ordinariate priests from the diocese of Portsmouth and beyond. Good, too, that Mgr Broadhurst was there with Judy giving their support to ex-Anglican Bishop number 6 in the Ordinariate.


Fr Peter Geldard quipped about welcoming this new blood into the Church - he made the move from Secretary General of the Church Union to Catholic University Chaplain in Canterbury many years ago - in time to give great hospitality to those fighting a rearguard action against the forces of 'modernisma' at the '98 Lambeth Conference. With his in the photograph is another pioneer, Fr Christopher Colven, now Parish Priest at St James' Spanish Place in London, but for many of us a real pastor when he was Master of SSC in those troubled years on the '80s and '90s. Certainly some of us have taken too long to see the light: but we also have a good influx of younger members in the Ordinariate who have woken up and smelled the coffee (as they say)more quickly than we did.



Now we have to get organised for our first Ordinariate Holy Week and Easter, and get ready to welcome the next influx of erstwhile Anglicans. What a great time this is to be alive!

Who's for Tennyson?

Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun in the title; though I was tempted by "Watt's Up?" So I should explain. Today we went up to Guildford, to see an old parishioner in hospital. Mary has been in intensive care for three weeks now, is on a ventilator, yet manages (though she cannot speak) to make herself understood. She was full of life, and it was a joy to see her. If you could spare a prayer for her, I know she would be very glad indeed. She was sacristan in Farncombe Church during my time there, but that only hints at her multi-talents. She is enthusiastic abut her garden. She has also been housekeeper to a succession of Catholic priests in Godalming. A lovely woman.

So where does Tennyson come in? Well, we set off from home early enough to visit the Watts Gallery in Compton (the next village to my one-time parish of Farncombe) and there we came face to face with Tennyson - or rather the great plaster statue of him which was eventually cast in bronze for Lincoln Cathedral.



We had been to the Watts gallery forty years ago, when it was mouldering and the pictures were in real danger from leaking roofs. In the past few years, thanks to money from the Lottery and a galaxy of donors it is resplendent and shows the pictures off to their best advantage. The Portraits had some real winners among them - I particularly liked Swinburne. You could see why he might have been the model for Bunthorne in Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Patience' - and in a recent show at the V&A there was a teapot surely based on his extraordinary visage. But G.F.Watt's great allegorical works left both Jane and me quite cold. Something very repellant about those slimy insubstantial images There is also a mortuary chapel, the work of Watts' wife and a host of locals who worked at the gallery making pots. I once conducted a funeral in that chapel, a train-crash of a building - Byzantium meets Arts and Crafts with a dash of Theosophy, and the acoustic of a swimming bath.... but go and see for yourself. It and the Watts Gallery are just off the A3 a couple of miles south of Guildford.

In case you think I am taking life too easy, be reassured. Tomorrow it is Bournemouth in the morning for Stations and then Mass, and in the evening a Liturgy of Reconciliation over in Ringwood. Our Parish Priest, Fr Danny, has broken his shoulder, so I shall also be saying Mass here in Lymington on Friday. You might spare a prayer for him, too; he is in a deal of pain, and barely managing to sleep at all. Thanks.

Sway - Quietly

The Ordinariate Group from Bournemouth had its Lent Quiet Day today, with the Dominican Sisters in Sway. The weather was perfect, and Fr John Lee who led the day hit exactly the right note. (below contemplating our equine cousins)


We were fifteen in the party, including a couple of "cradle" Catholics from Our Lady Queen of Peace in Southbourne.



We prayed, and rested, walked and sat in the sunshine, and had a quite lovely time. Then just as the Mass was ending one of our number felt bit queasy - in the end we took her to outpatients where she was given a thorough going-over, and reassured there was nothing seriously wrong.



It meant though that we did not have a full complement for our group photos. Still, it may be that those attached to this blog may gain a little impression of the day, a real taste of Spring in the New Forest.



Occasions like this are marvellous for building up the sense of belonging for a Group comprising members from half a dozen previous Anglican churches. We are beginning to feel very much a family now. Tomorrow, Mgr Burnham (former Bishop of Ebbsfleet) visits us, so we'd better smarten up the liturgy!

Busy, Busy

Quite a week after the Pilgrimage to Rome. The priests in Bournemouth and in the Avon/Stour Pastoral areas had asked me to help them with a quiet day. When eventually I found them in a retreat house in Westbourne I gave them a couple of reflections on the Ordinariate Pilgrimage; taking them first to Subiaco and the beginnings of Western Monasticism, then to St Gregory's to remind them about the Missions of Augustine and his companions. We had an interesting discussion on how far the Catholic Church should be triumphalist (the gospel for the day was about not hiding light under a bushel) and how far it must be modest and ready to give way to the Established Church. I had suggested we need to be ready to claim our rights as the natural Church of this land.

The same evening I went back to Bournemouth to celebrate Mass for the local Catenian Circle. They had come, I think, expecting a different liturgy; instead they found the new translation of Mass celebrated not quite as they are accustomed. "How good not to have any guitars" said one; "Liked the singing" said another; "We don't often have incense said a third" - and I think he approved that we do.

After Mass in St Agatha's

Today was a trip East, forty miles to Portsmouth. Fr Jonathan Redvers-Harris is currently engaged on a course in Canon Law, and is in the midst of a residential fortnight in Leeuven (Brussels). We are so short of Ordinariate priests in this area that he was coming back on the Eurostar tonight in order to say Mass for the Isle of Wight Group tomorrow - then off in the afternoon to Belgium again. They will certainly be glad when (Bishop)Robert Mercer C.R. is ordained into the Catholic priesthood - which I understand is to be in Portsmouth Cathedral on Monday March 26th (the Annunciation, transferred from Sunday).

Annunciation Tympanum in St Agatha's

(Fr)John Maunder and some of his people have begun preparation for reception (and in his case, I hope, Ordination) so the Portsmouth Group is looking increasingly healthy. As always, the preparations John had made for me to say Mass were immaculate, and his welcome most warm and generous.


The present shortage of priests, though, gave me the opportunity of celebrating at mid-day according to the Use of the Book of Common Worship, in that wonderful church of St Agatha, Portsea.

Picture (left) Wendy Redvers-Harris who in her husband's absence ensured things went smoothly - despite delays with the ferry. The hovercraft was full and some coming from the Island were delayed

Rome Pilgrimage

Fancy us, being here! That was the constant cry from members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham throughout last week's Pilgrimage. There were around a hundred of us, incuding two deacons, ten priests, our Ordinary, and representatives from many of the Groups in England and Scotland. There are pictures elsewhere - find them from the Ordinariate's web page - so I shall just add a few of my own. We did not have much spare time, but on the afternoon of Ash Wednesday I managed half an hour in front of Saint Peter's to make a scribble - chiefly because you look more carefully and remember better when you have a pen or pencil in hand.


Sue sponsored Barbel and I sponsored Brian at their Reception

For our Bournemouth group the highspot was the Confirmation of Brian and Barbel Copus. They have been waiting for a year and more to have their marriage convalidated. That happened just days before we left for Rome, so Mgr Keith was able to confirm them - to their delight that occurred in the church of St George in the Marsh (San Georgio Palabro) which was the titular church of John Henry Cardinal Newman, our Patron. Their happiness was infectious, and the whole Pilgrimage rejoiced with them.



Perhaps, too, we should mention the Papal Audience - when, on our name being announced, we all stood and sang a verse of 'Praise to the Holiest' - not sure what the thousands present made of it, but they applauded and the Holy Father waved to us, and it seems we were also on the Tele. So that bit of the Patrimony has gone world-wide, thanks to EWTN. It was good to see Mgr Keith up among the great and good, and he conveyed the Pope's good wishes to all members of the Ordinariate.


Pope Benedict looked bigger on screen!

So much else to tell you about; a wonderful trip up into the snow (while the sun shone warmly) to see the Monastery of Scta Scholastica, and the Cave where St Benedict spent three years in preparation for his great work of founding Western Monasticism.

I had the good fortune to preach there, so I append a version of the sermon. You may skip it and just look at the pictures if you'd rather.


Vesting again!


SERMON in SUBIACO

We are just overwhelmed – so much to see, so much to take in. Here, for instance, the very birthplace of monasticism, where the Offices of the Church began to become distinctly Christian, growing away from their Jewish origins. There are those who claim that the Anglican Patrimony at its best is Benedictine, and that in Cathedral worship those monastic ideals continue. So should we look at Benedict and his sister, and learn lessons from them? Well, we could think of the complementarity of male and female, and how as Scholastica’s nunnery paralleled her brother’s monastery as much later Clare’s foundation underpinned the work of Francis – or again looking to England consider how important the dual foundation of Whitby was for the church of our land, and how Hilda exercised great influence – without ever being a priest! But then we have heard from the Abbot so much more about the history of this place, and our Tour guide has blown much of the story of Scholastica clean out of the water!



But time is short - so let’s focus on one small thing, the newly translated prayer for Scholastica’s feast day. There had been an ancient prayer recalling how Benedict had seen her soul ascend as a dove to heaven. By the 1980s there was instead a very pedestrian little effort; “that by her example we may serve you with love and obtain perfect joy”. Well, forget that. Look instead at what the new Translation has given us:-
‘That, following her example, we may serve you with pure love
and happily receive what comes from loving you’.
Not ‘perfect joy’ you see, that is altogether too trite, Better than that, we ask for what comes, whatever comes, from loving God. There’s a wealth of meaning in that sentence. The lives of Benedict and of Scholastica are lives of pure love for God; and that is what we ask for ourselves – “that we may happily receive what comes from loving you”. So what does come from loving God? Not just joy, surely. John Wesley understood it well – he is part of the Patrimony, a part we should not forget: here is what his followers pray each New Year:

“Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal”.

That is genuinely asking to love God.

Love is not without pain. There are those refuse love for fear of being hurt, people who can never commit themsleves to another person because it might bring pain.. Not so the saints, not so Scholastica. They risk loving God, for the joy of being loved in return. The pain that love brings them is worth it; love like that Jesus spoke of “A woman when she is in labour has sorrow – but as soon as she is delivered of the child she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a man is born into the world”. (John 16.21) Can we pray too, that ‘we may happily receive what comes from loving you’?


The Shrine at Subiaco

What an excuse!

We have our grandson with us for half-term - which gives us a perfect pretext for doing new things. Today we went to the Southampton Aircraft Museum (I did not even know where it was) and spent a fascinating hour or two there. Huw (the grandson) sat in the pilot's seat on the Sunderland Flying Boat, which is the centre-piece of the display. I remember seeing these amazing aircraft taking off from Plymouth Sound half a century ago. My aunt and uncle flew in one down to South Africa - making, as I recall, two overnight stops, one on the Nile, the other on a Lake in Central Africa. The sheer space for passengers makes Laker & co the cheapskates they are - then there was real leg-room, to say nothing of the ashtrays built into the armrests of all the seats.

On Sunday next we fly from Gatwick to Rome on Pilgrimage; would that the journey was half as comfortable as those Flying Boats. Not all new things are genuine progress. And I bet our aircraft will not have an anchor in its nose.

It was a bit disconcerting though to see the very uniform I had worn as a Pilot Officer (Fighter Control) when doing my National Service put on display as a historic relic - and the cockpit of a Chipmunk rescued from scrap. Those aircraft were the ones we used for air experience during our training. How quickly the new becomes history! But then, I can remember air raid shelters during the war....

Busy, busy...

Almost like being a Vicar again; Fr Gerry, our Priest in Southbourne, has been poorly (they think it is 'flu) so this has been a long day. We set off at 8.40 from home for the 9.30 Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace. A quick cup of coffee after Mass with our Ordinariate gang, then it was the second house; a pretty full one at that, for the 11am Parish Mass. I'd only heard yesterday that I was to celebrate and preach at this so I rewrote my intended sermon last evening in the hope that it might make sense to the regular congregation.

Then two of the Ordinariate had invited us home for a bring and share lunch. Great food, great company. A power snooze after that and it was off again for Solemn Evensong and Benediction at 4pm. We were home around 5.30. Tomorrow, the Queen's Accession, is also the second anniversary of my passing the statutory retirement age for Catholic Priests. Somehow, today did not quite feel like retirement. For lack of time to write anything else I append my sermon from this morning - it's all right, you don't have to read it.

'I have made myself the slave of everyone' [I Corinthians ix.22]

Recently a letter was discovered from a former slave to the man who had been his master. It has caused quite a stir in America, where the descendants of slaves remember what their forbears suffered.

The master had offered to employ his former slave: this is part of the very dignified and temperate reply: “Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can …. I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children … go to school and are learning well. .. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores.”

It is hard to recall how recently slavery ended in the USA: even in our own country, it is relatively recent history. And in some places it continues, this notion that one person can own another. St Paul lived in a society where slavery was not just common; without it the Roman Empire could not have survived. When Rome went to war, as it often did, slaves were part of the proceeds, the Victor’s perks. So knowing as he did what it was like, it’s amazing to find Paul saying “I have made myself the slave of everyone”.

In other places you can read how he stood on his dignity. He was arrested in Jerusalem and charged with starting a riot, and they were about to torture him with whips, but Paul said “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman Citizen, and uncondemned?” At which they hastily backed off, untied him and suddenly became very civil towards him.

But then, that is just what we should expect from him, it is what he was writing about in today’s Epistle – he will do anything to get a hearing for the Gospel. If it meant behaving like the meanest servant, he will do it; if it meant throwing his weight about, telling the Jews that he trained under Gamaliel a leading Pharisee scholar, or telling an upstart Roman official that unlike him he Paul is a freeborn Roman Citizen, then he will do it. Look at the Acts of the Apostles, and his letters to the Churches. There is nothing Paul will not do for the sake of the Gospel. “To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law; to the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, in order to save some at any cost.

I think it is something of that same spirit which guided the Holy Father when he instituted his brilliant idea for enabling former Anglicans to come into the Church as Groups, not just as individuals. So often the Church sends out the wrong signals – “we are right, everyone else is wrong” it seems to say. It was just amazing that Pope Benedict spoke of the gifts which Anglicans might bring into the Church. He was not specific about it, he just spoke of the Anglican Patrimony. That readiness to accept whatever was best in our tradition meant a great deal to many of us.
You might think we should have got over our excitement; after all, some of us have now been Catholics for a year or so. But the fact is, the novelty has not warn off; and we see our former colleagues desperately trying to save what they can of catholic tradition in the Church of England ..... We must pray for them in this difficult time; but we must also prepare to welcome some, perhaps many, who very soon now will see that their much loved church has changed beyond recognition. They might also see that the best of what they knew and loved can be found in the Catholic Church, and that they can leave a lost cause and join people who appreciate and value them.

You can imagine it is not easy, trying to preserve and develop the best of our traditions while at the same time being totally and entirely Catholics. This Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace has done a great deal to help us. It is very encouraging that today, when he is unwell, Fr Gerry was prepared to ask me to stand in at one of his Masses. We all pray for a speedy recovery for him.

One of the elements of our Anglican heritage which we are trying to preserve is a tradition of singing; not just hymns, but also psalms and canticles. This afternoon we will be joined by some singers from a local Anglican Church who will help us celebrate solemn Evensong and Benediction.

We are aiming to do this once every couple of months, hoping that other Anglican might join us occasionally – and also that some long-time Catholics might like to come and support us. You see, we too are trying in our small way to copy St Paul, and the Holy Father, in using every means to win others into the Church. That, after all, is not just part of our Anglican Patrimony; it is a part of being a Catholic Christian – that for the sake of the Gospel we might by all means save some.