Bank Holiday . . .

The last Bank Holiday before 'you know what'. I refuse to use the 'C Word' until at least the beginning of Advent.

I persuaded the family, or least those of them at home, that they really did want to go for a nice healthy walk as it was going to be such a beautiful day. To be fair they didn't really need much persuading.

We had a lovely walk around the Devil's Punchbowl at Hindhead, and managed not to get lost this time. The first time we tried it we ended up lost and spent ages trudging through heavy rain until we finally found our way back to the car - not a lot of fun. Now, we have a map!

We met this chap en route - highland cattle. (Can you refer to a single animal as cattle? I'm not sure of the singular of cattle?)

Number 1 son managed to put himself outside a very tasty-looking plate of sausages and mash afterwards and the Pater Familias and I also treated ourselves to a 'little light refreshment' at the Café.

We stopped at Ranmore Common on the way home for an ice cream and to admire the view. A lovely day all round and still home in time to do a few little jobs.

Back to school . . .

I received this video from Fr Leo a while ago but think now's quite a good time to post it. The shops are full of 'back to school' offers and as any one will know who's tried it, now is not the time to go and buy shoes if you're in a hurry - the whole world it seems is busy getting their children's feet measured for new shoes for the new school year.

If you have older children, I'm sure you've had the usual argument with the boys about tucking their school shirt in - it's just not cool so you're fighting a losing battle but this video puts a whole new complexion on it. Frightening!

Second thoughts . . .

On re-reading my previous post this morning I felt that I sounded like a dreadful 'miserable old woman' which I'm not (I hope). I resisted the urge to start all over again with my 7 things but will add one more thing that I'd really like to see:

8. The creation of a new kind of chewing-gum that automatically dissolves in a person's mouth on entering any church so that everyone has beatific expressions on their faces rather than being a lot of Alex Ferguson look-alikes.

Help, I've been tagged!

Oh dear, I've been tagged! Well, at least they let me out!

I've seen this meme on a few blogs but now I've been tagged by Mulier fortis. I'm not very good at this sort of thing so this is a joint effort, the result of a bit of 'brainstorming' over coffee at work this morning. (Now if you'd asked me something like what are your 7 favourite ice cream flavours, or name 7 ways you'd improve Marks & Sparks' lingerie department, there'd be no stopping me!)

Here goes:

"What are the seven things that we, as Catholics, want or would like to see happen?"

1. A return to silence in church (at the appropriate times) and a general increase in reverence.

2. Improved catechesis, beginning naturally in our Catholic schools.

3. An awareness and understanding by adults that the teachings of the Church are not optional; a list for you to choose which bits you like and will adhere to and which you'll just ignore as 'they're not really important anyway, nobody bothers with that nowadays do they?'. (Catechesis again!)

4. An acceptance of the authority of the Church and the Magisterium.

5. 'Nursery rhyme hymns' are OK for tiny-tots but 'grown-up hymns' for 'grown-ups' please.

6. A sensible attitude to dress in Church. (I'm talking about the laity here! :)) I don't mean floor-length skirts and long-sleeved, buttoned-to-the-neck blouses for women and best suits for the men but what happened to 'Sunday Best' and making a little bit of an effort. We could do without the cropped tops and short shorts or the ripped jeans but thankfully they are fairly rare in our parish. Just plain ordinary clothes will do nicely, thank you.

7. Finally, a silly one - Nobody over 5' 2" tall sitting in front of me at Mass on Sunday when the benches are full and no matter how much I shuffle around from side to side I can't see what's happening in the sanctuary.

Now, I have to tag some people myself. That's almost as difficult as doing the meme. Being a fairly new blogger, I'm not sure if I know many others well enough to ask them but I'll have a go; I tag:

Fr Terry at Horsham because I always follow his blog and would be interested to hear his ideas.

Catholic Student at Veni Sancte Spiritus because it might get him blogging again - he's used that 'settling into new student accommodation' excuse for too long now!

Catholicmomof10militant and James and Ella Preest at Catholic and Loving it! who I'm sure will have no difficulty in coming up with 7 things.

St Monica . . .

I've always had a soft spot for St Monica . . . at least once I found out a little about her life. What mother could not help but identify with her tears of anguish over her wayward son.

But I love a happy ending and it's a great comfort to know that finally after years of prayers and tears she achieved the goal she sought and her son St Augustine finally converted and was baptised. The rest is, as they say, history!

Here's a prayer for all parents:

Parents’ Prayer to St. Monica

St. Monica, patron of Christian parents,

we entrust to your protection the children

whose names you can read in our hearts.

Pray for them that they may be granted

strength to combat weakness,

victory over temptation,

guidance to resolve their doubts

and success in all their undertakings.

May they enjoy good health of mind and body,

see beauty and worth in all created things,

and serve the Lord with firm faith,

joyful hope and enduring love. Amen.

So this is what it looks like . . .

If you are curious, like me, to know what the 'New Mass' looks like celebrated 'ad orientem' - in other words, with the celebrant facing in the same direction as the people, then I recommend you have a look at this excellent slide show created by Mulier Fortis.

It shows the regular Sunday evening Mass at Blackfen, much the same as most of us are used to in our own parishes, I expect, but with the celebrant with his back to the people.

I found it very interesting to see what a difference it makes to the celebration of the Mass. For me, I can see why some people say they feel it is makes the celebration of the Mass more reverent.

YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a day! It's been so exciting - I don't know what I'm going to do with myself tomorrow. Like a good book, you want to get to the end but then you wish it could go on forever!

After Mass this morning, the Pater Familias gave me an update on the score via the car radio as I was busy serving coffees in the church hall - two wickets had fallen - cautious optism.

We went straight out for a pub lunch afterwards - checked the score on my phone whilst waiting for food to arrive - no more wickets - getting a bit wobbly now.

Settled in front of the PC with TMS and live scorecard on, made sure radios were switched on in other rooms so not a ball was missed if I needed to move.

Fantastic spell with two wickets in quick succession - looking good.

Another wobbly patch as Hussey dug in.

Than a change of pace as the final wickets began to fall and it was all over. Fantastic!

Apart from going to Mass, what else have a I done today? . . . errrm . . .

Lost in Translation ? . . .

Thanks to Mulier Fortis, Pastor in Valle and Fr Ray Blake amongst other bloggers who have flagged up the fact that the American Bishops' Conference have put up details of the new texts soon to be approved for use in America in the new translation of the Roman Missal here.

The process has been a very long one and it not finished yet but it's interesting to look at the proposed changes side by side with the existing text.

I know very little about ICEL and how these things work. I'm not sure if the texts in the Roman Missal will be same for use in England and Wales, or will it be like it is now with the Lectionary in that the American texts are slightly different to the ones we are used to here.

One of the things that I find irksome at the moment is that most of the resources that you find on line such as the excellent Universalis use the American translation. Over the years I've got used to the familiar readings and it jarrs when they are not quite what I'm expecting to read or hear.

There are some very useful new applications like iRosary and iMissal but again they use the American translation of the Lectionary.

Have you seen this?

I'm not usually a great one for stirring patriotic hymns/songs. I'm always slightly worried about the jingoistic overtones but couldn't resist posting this.

Come on England!

Our Lady, Queen and Mother . . .

Time to calm down after all the excitement with the cricket yesterday. A complete change of tempo at Mass this morning.

No matter what day it is, Feast Day or Feria, I always find there's a very peaceful, prayerful atmosphere in our church before Mass, providing I can get there just a few minutes early. It really is the best way to start the day - no matter what's going on outside the building, or inside my head - there's an almost tangible atmosphere of calm inside the church.

I came across this beautiful Morning Offering when I was looking for a suitable picture of Our Lady:

My Queen, My Mother,
I offer myself entirely to Thee.

And to show my devotion to Thee,
I offer to Thee this day, my eyes, my ears,
my mouth, my heart,
my whole being without reserve.

Wherefore, good Mother,
as I am thine own,
keep me, guard me
as Thy property and possession.

Amen.

Fall of Wickets!

Heroes!!

Stuart Broad - 5 wickets!!

Graeme Swann - 4 wickets!!

I keep having to hold off publishing this post as the wickets are falling so quickly and I have to alter the figures above!

Update: Thanks to Mac for correcting my spelling. In my haste to publish I had mis-spelled Swann's name - corrected now.

Who'd have thought it? . . .

It's been a great few days for sport recently.

I'm definitely in the category of 'armchair sports fan'. The Pater Familias, when describing his attitude to sport says, 'I'm a doer not a watcher' - I, on the other hand have to admit to being very much a 'watcher not a doer' but I'm still enthusiastic about many sports.

It was exciting listening to Usain Bolt's amazing 100 metre run in Berlin recently and then again this evening when he broke another world record. We've had Andy Murray doing well in the tennis and the football team Number Two Son (both a 'doer' and a 'watcher') supports winning 5-1 last night plus newly promoted Burnley beating the Champions Man U!

Today saw the beginning of the final Ashes Test at The Oval. I'm always surprised when I hear of certain people being cricket fans - no reason to be, I know - I'm probably a very unlikely looking fan to anybody who knows me! Stephen Fry being keen on cricket seems quite natural - but Lily Allen? (pictured above at The Oval, courtesy of BBC Sport's website).

That's one of the things I like about cricket - it appeals to all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons.

Ooh, I love flowers . . .

I've just received these beautiful photos from Sr Anastasia. Aren't they just amazing?



Mind you, we do have our own Carpet of Flowers each year, a bit closer to home - Arundel Cathedral on the Feast of Corpus Christi.

To be a pilgrim . . .

I've always like the idea of joining a walking pilgrimage but have never actually got around to doing anything about it (I probably wouldn't last past the first few miles, anyway!) One of our good friends is a great walker and is currently taking part in the Arundel and Brighton Pilgrimage from York to Lindisfarne.

I'm having great fun being a 'virtual pilgrim' by following their activities via their blog Pilgrims Live 2009 I did get as far as joining this pilgrimage with Number 1 Son a couple of times as a 'day pilgrim' in past years when the pilgrimage route passed fairly close by and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not sure how I'd cope with sleeping on the floors of church and school halls for two weeks though - I like my home comforts too much!

Inspired by the pictures on Sunday's blog post and the lovely weather here I decided to have a little expedition myself locally so set off to Box Hill, a local beauty spot with fantastic views as you can see in the photo. Not the best photo I took but it was hard to find a view without lots of people in it as it was such a glorious day and so many people were sensibly taking advantage of the weather to get out for a walk or a picnic.

Feast of the Assumption . . .

We had a beautiful Mass at church this morning.

In August the church is much quieter than usual as many people are away on holiday and our choir take a well-earned break too. But today the choir made a special appearance to celebrate today's feast day and despite not being around for their usual weekly practices sang beautifully, including singing 'O Sanctissima' during the offertory. They really made a difference to our Mass.

I found this version of 'O Sanctissima' on YouTube. Enjoy!

About time we had a video . . .

I was thinking it was about time I posted another video and this clip seems particularly appropriate as we have just been to see the stage version of Sister Act at The Palladium and as we will be celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sunday.

I hope no one will be offended by this lighthearted version of Hail, Holy Queen, and take it for what it is - just a bit of fun!

A busy time . . .

I've been very aware that I haven't posted anything on the blog for a while.

It's been a busy time at home with visitors all of last week including number 2 son which was lovely. We also managed to squeeze in a belated birthday meal out for the Pater Familias with some very good friends; took our younger son back to Manchester and spent the weekend with him and came back to a theatre outing on Monday evening.

Now, finally we have time to draw breath!

Luckily the newly-retired husband was around to entertain our visitor and managed a trip to Brighton on a really warm day, the usual tourist sights in London and shopping for all the 'rellies' back home.

The weekend in Manchester was really good - time with number 2 son is very precious as the distances means we don't see enough of each other. Father and son went for a bike ride - this is one of the Pater Familias' retirement projects - now he's looking to buy his own bike. This gave number 1 son and I a chance to have a good long walk around Chorlton Water Park. A pub lunch all together afterwards before making the journey home again. All in all, a good family time.


On Saturday evening we went to the Vigil Mass at St Mary's, 'The Hidden Gem' and were amused when the celebrant suddenly remembered that they were not exchanging the sign of peace anymore (because of the dreaded Swine Flu). He had got as far as saying, 'let us now offer one another a sign of peace' when he suddenly remembered and shouted, 'No, no stop! We're not doing that anymore'. I know we weren't the only ones who found this amusing.

There were broad smiles and exchanged looks of amusement all around us; in a way that was the sign of peace for us at that particular Mass. By the way, Holy Communion under one species only too. In our home parish we still have Holy Communion under both kinds and exchange the sign of peace in the usual way. Interesting.