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.

Twice Blessed

Q. Why should anyone attend two Chrism Masses on successive days?

A. Because he is a priest of the Ordinariate, who also has responsibilities in a Catholic Diocese. So on Monday it was St James' Spanish Place at 11am, presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Kingdom, His Excellency the Most Reverend Antonio Mennini, with our Ordinary, Mgr Newton, receiving our renewal of vows and preaching.


My, that was a rush; our train was impeded by a broken-down freight train. By Divine Providence the Nuncio was also delayed, which gave me just time to dive into a chasuble and join the procession.


After a sandwich lunch, Mgr Keith addressed his priests (and what a good turn-out there was; more than fifty already ordained, and a number of others hoping for ordination later this year). He and Mgr Broadhurst spoke of the financial situation, how we are doing better than we were, but that there is still a need for more committed giving - not least because we have the resonsibility of paying pensions for our priests. I had to dash off before the meeting ended, since I was on duty in the evening hearing confessions as part of the Penitential Liturgy in Lymington.


Although the liturgy was the same, the feel of the event today in Portsmouth was quite different. Whereas in London a choir sang historic settings of Sanctus and Benedictus, in Portsmouth the entire eucharistic prayer was intoned by Bishop and concelebrants. The sermons, too, were both very inspiring, and both quite different from each other. Bishop Crispian began in Portsmouth "When I preached at this Mass last year, I was confident that it would be for the 23rd and last time. However, as they say, man proposes and God - and the Vatican – disposes and I am still here to celebrate with you my 24th Mass of the Oils. I am as certain as anyone can be that I won’t be here this time next year, though you never know!" There is clearly great affection between him and his clergy, and warm applause greeted what he had to say. You can read it for yourself at http://www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk/bishop/homilies/2012_Sermon_for_the_Mass_of_the_Oils.pdf. Equally, Mgr Keith's sermon is available at the Ordinairate website, along with many pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/catholicism/sets/72157629723790149/show/
The ones in this post are taken from that set, by the kindness of Dn James Bradley.

Spare Our Blushes

A very special Palm Sunday. We processed from the hall into Church, the sun shone, we sang wholeheartedly.



Several returned in the afternoon for Evensong and Benediction which was supported by organist and singers from a neighbouring Anglican church. Then, to crown it all, there was an unexpected accolade in the Diocesan Magazine, "Portsmouth People".

The diocese has been very welcoming from the start, and we have received great help and encouragement from Bishop Crispian. Today, though, it was a letter from a parishioner in Southbourne, where we share the church building, which gave us a great boost. It is in the letters pages of "Portsmouth People", headed "Ordinariate Privilege". It shows a depth of understanding about the Ordinariate which is very welcome - and so I dare reprint some of it here. I just hope we can live up to it!

"We at the parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace... were privileged last year to have the new members of the Ordinariate join our parish; they were all (around 25) received into the Catholic church at the Easter Vigil... and they are now fully Catholics, although at the Pope's request they have kept a few features of their Anglican ceremonies, such as beautiful music, or the (optional) use of kneelers during Holy Communion.

These slight differences are merely superficial; the Ordinariate members have been delighted to embrace the Catholic faith completely, while nevertheless adhering to the Poe's wishes that they keep their own masses and services slightly separate so that more Anglicans, particularly those who are unwilling to give up some of the own traditions, may be attracted into the Catholic Church. I have been to the Masses (of the Ordinariate) and they are almost identical to our non-Ordinariate Masses, though it has to be admitted that the singing may be slightly better. It is indeed very enriching for us to have the opportunity to attend Benediction and Mass with them... I would like to thank them for enriching our parish with their presence ... I hope that the Ordinariate may continue to act as a bridge for new Catholics for a long time to come."

For our part, is is very good that some from local parishes join us from time to time - as also today we had help at Benediction from a Server in a local Anglican Church. Throughout the Triduum we have been invited by Fr Gerry to participate in the Parish's liturgies, and I am to preach at them. We pray that this mutual enrichment may prove a great blessing to the whole Church. On Easter morning, when we celebrate again as an Ordinariate at 11.30am, it might seem quite lonely!

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!