The Poisoned Chalice

These days after Christmas are some of the best - Stephen the first Martyr, John the beloved disciple, and the Holy Innocents. I've a special devotion to all three; Holy Innocents in South Norwood is where I was Baptized (how appropriate, you might say) - Stephen is the Patron of our Seminary in Oxford where I was Principal for eight years, and John is Patron of my first parish in Farncombe. So on St John's Day I celebrated in Our Lady of Lourdes, New Milton, together with the latest member of the Pastoral team in Lymington, Fr Marcin Drabik, who is a Polish priest.

He told us about the custom in Poland on St John's Day of blessing cups of wine after Mass, in memory of John, who drank unharmed from a poisoned chalice because first he had blessed it. Hence that strange attribute of John the Evangleist, the chalice with a serpent emerging from it. The faithful in New Milton have taken Fr Marcin to their hearts, and are delighted to have a man ministering to them under the age of forty (or even under the age of seventy, come to that!) They were very pleased to drink the blessed wine - and I was reminded of the Orthodox custom of blessing bread after Mass for all to share.  Now we can look forward to more Polish customs through 2013 - which I pray may be a very blessed and happy new year for all who read this blog.

 

 

 

 

The Patrimony of Preaching

Now this was a very welcome Christmas present; a volume of thoughts and meditations by the leader of the Ordinariate Group in Shrewsbury. I have known Fr David Mawson for many years, and this is a revised version of a companion to the three-year lectionary which he first produced as an Anglican. Long pastoral experience in parishes, prisons and hospitals ensures a welcome common touch to Fr David's writings. He is also experienced in spiritual direction and accompaniment as a Benedictine Oblate. The version of the Bible on which it is based is the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) which the English  Ordinariatec uses in much of its worship.

I don't generally use this blog for Book Reviews, but I do commend this very warmly. It is published by Jaquedaw*, and no doubt obtaineable from all good Booksellers (and even from the bad ones which do not pay their Corporation Tax) by quoting the ISBN number 078-0-9565118-5-0

* Jaquedaw 17 Steepside, SHREWSBURY, SY3 6DS

Now here IS a Bishop

There has been criticism in some places of Bishops who do not 'give a lead' on major issues such as the undermining of Marriage. Well, here in Portsmouth we have a Bishop who is ready, and able, to take on the liberal ascendancy - not least that part of it which calls itself "Conservative". In case you missed it, here is what Bishop Philip Egan has written:

David Cameron has said that he is an enthusiastic supporter of marriage and that he does not want "gay people to be excluded from a great institution." Yet however well-intentioned, and despite huge opposition from Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, by attempting to change the natural meaning of marriage, he seems utterly determined to undermine one of the key foundations of our society. Such a change is of immense significance. By this change, he is luring the people of England away from their common Christian values and Christian patrimony, and forcing upon us a brave new world, artificially engineered. To "extend marriage to gay people", he intends to impose the will of a tiny minority on the vast majority. If the Prime Minister proceeds with these intentions, he will pervert authentic family values, with catastrophic consequences for the well-being and behaviour of future generations. He will smother the traditional Christian ethos of our society and strangle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church in Britain to conduct its mission. I would like to ask Mr. Cameron: What about the rights of Christians? Will you exempt the Church, its preachers, resources and premises, from having to support your harmful ideology? Will Catholic schools, societies and institutions be free (and legally safeguarded) to teach the full truth of Christ and the real meaning of life and love? The institution of marriage has had its ups and downs, but will we ever forget that it was the leader of the Conservative Party who finally destroyed marriage as a lasting, loving and life-giving union between a man and a woman?

Advent: second blast

We have been able to send the collection from the Advent service (£124) to "Crisis at Christmas" which helps the homeless at this season. We have a couple more pictures taken by Brian Harrison, who also designed and printed the programme, so here they are for your entertainment.

 

Entrance Procession



Fr Brian Copus was one of the Readers:

And during the singing of Magnificat the altar was censed:

 

 

We could have done with a few more singers, but did pretty well with our limited resources

- or so others have told us. I doubt though if we shall be tackling The Messiah any time soon.

Advent with a bang

So we are underway; for the first time our little Group in Southbourne hosted an event for the whole Pastoral Area of Avon/Stour. The parishes responded splendidly. Our own parish priest, Fr Gerry, joined in the procession and gave the Blessing. There were singers, servers and readers from all over the area - including some friends who are still in the Church of England. Best of all, it was a really holy occasion, a good beginning for the keeping of Advent.

 

Everyone had woked very hard to prepare the Church. The central altar was removed, and a frontal found for the High Altar. There were candles everywhere, and every bit of brass had been polished within an inch of its life.

Our organist had worked hard with a handful of singers, some from our Group, others friends from neighbouring churches. The result was far better than we had dared expect. Afterwards visiting Catholics from other Churches expressed their appreciation; but some said that they had known none of the hymns. I fancy we have a good deal of gentle teaching to do - "Come, thou long-expected Jesus", "O Come, O Come Emmanuel","On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry"... these are surely part of the Patrimony which we must be eager to share.

Indeed, the whole format of readings and hymnody came as a surprise to many - but we hope a pleasant one. Others said it took them back to their former days in the Church of England. For me it was an example of the Ordinariate seeking to bring out of its treasures "things new and old" for the benefit of the whole Catholic Church. We had printed a hundred service sheets - they ran out and our sidesmen were dashing about getting people to share... altogether a happy and holy occasion, a little contribution to the Year of Faith - with maybe an element of evangelisation within it.

 

Out with the old...

Just beginning to get accustomed to the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham as Advent begins. Some of its contents are a bit counter-intuitive; Collects take a bit of finding, and there are separate instructions in every part of the book, so that remembering just where specifically Ordinariate saints find themselves, and whether they have a non-Biblical reading to accompany them, leaves me sympathising with the Reformers who said that finding the piece to read often took longer than reading it once found; but we will get there, no doubt.

So if you are getting a little frustrated or out of sorts with all the things needing to be done before Christmas, maybe a picture or two will help. I find the sea, whether stormy or calm, is a great help; reminds me that the tides go rolling on as they have done for millenia. Gives a sort of Advent perspective to everything - sub specie aeternitatis, you might say. Happy Advent!

A recommendation

Scott Anderson, who will be known to many readers of this blog, has now joined the worshipful company of bloggers: you can find him at ordinariatepilgrim.wordpress.com
  I tried simply adding him to my list of blogs but for some reason my blogspot is playing up; so, at all  events, do make a note of his blog if you'd like to keep an eye on him.
Oh, and while you are about it, do spare a prayer for friends at present in the C of E.