Blogging break . . .

Hi yo'all,

Just to let you know I'm taking a blogging break.

I don't think I'll be back in a hurry so please feel free to remove me from your blogroll.

As it's only a few days away I'll wish anyone who pops by, a very Blessed Advent.

Miserable weather but Sundays are never miserable days . . .

A miserable wet day here in soggy Surrey but Sundays are always sunny in many ways.

The Pater Familias arrived home safely from his latest business trip. Interesting that his plane left two hours late but managed to arrive only an hour and a half behind schedule. How do they do that? And is it legal? They must have been over the speed limit to make up half an hour! What is the speed limit for a jumbo jet, anyway?

It was too late for a family lunch so we had family supper instead which meant a lovely restful time after morning Mass before anything important needed doing at home.

After catching up with a few jobs and having a peek at Twitter, Our Eldest and I made our way back to church for Rosary and Benediction. I know I say this nearly every week but is is becoming one of the highlights of my week.

I couldn't find a video which includes all the same settings of the hymns that we sing (O Salutaris , Tantum Ergo etc.) and all of Benediction but this video is beautiful and one of the best I could find of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

Friday funnies - 'Tiddly Pom' . . .

I can't remember exactly what we were discussing over our coffee break this morning but whatever it was, it prompted someone to say that it reminded them of Hinge and Bracket.

It's a long time since I saw any of the performances of this entertaining duo so I had a trawl through YouTube and thought you might like to share in the fun as it's the end of the week, and time to relax a bit.

A new game . . .

Thanks to the link on Fr Tim Finigan's blog to the photos of the recent LMS Requiem Mass posted on Joseph Shaw's Flickr stream, I've just spent a happy few moments playing one of my favourite games - 'Spot Our Eldest'.

Thanks are due of course also to Joseph Shaw, LMS Chairman, for taking and posting the photos.

Our Eldest tries to attend all the LMS events which are held in London as it's easily accessible by train from here. I always have a look to see if I can spot him in the crowd. I'm just a typical proud Mum, at heart.

If you'd like to see more of the photos, follow the link on Fr Tim's blog or go direct here.

Finally, Gaudi's famous cathedral may be used for its rightful purpose . .

Marvellous pictures are appearing on various news channels, blogs etc of the Papal Visit to Spain. Finally, the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, commonly referred to as 'Gaudi's Cathedral' to distinguish it from other great churches in Barcelona, will be able to be used to for the celebration of Holy Mass, surely it's primary function.

The Pater Familias visits Barcelona from time to time on business and has taken many photos of this amazing building. It must be one of the most visited and photographed buildings in the city, I would imagine.

The BBC has an excellent video and summary on their website here.

This 'n' that . . .

Sorry for the lack of posting recently. Life just seems to be a bit busy at the moment. I'm managing to post a few Tweets on Twitter but don't seem to be able to find enough 'thinking' time to put together anything more than a few words.

I've had a few very enjoyable outings recently. The Pater Familias and I spent a lovely peaceful couple of nights in the New Forest last week to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary and my birthday. A much needed break for both of us.

Today I spent my day off with a friend visiting Denbies Vineyard near Dorking in Surrey. We managed to have a lovely walk around the estate and had time to visit the shop and chat over tea and cakes too.

Lots going on in the parish with beautiful Rosary and Benediction every Sunday afternoon throughout October and continuing throughout November too. I love the prayerful atmosphere that envelopes you as soon as you walk into church. Now that the clocks have gone back it's even more atmospheric as we just have the light of the candles on the altar and very minimal background lighting.

I imagine things are going to get busier still as we get nearer 'you-know-what' (the 'C' word)!

Fanny's Farm Shop - a magical place

Another great day off. A good friend and neighbour suggested we visit Fanny's Farm Shop for our Wednesday walk today. I haven't visited for years and had forgotten what a magical place it is. A lovely place to visit with children and also an interesting place for visiting 'grown-up children'.

Today was one of those lovely cold but bright Autumn days in this part of Surrey - ideal for a stroll. We were chauffeured to our destination by a kindly husband so we only had to walk home after a scrumptious cream tea.

It's difficult to describe Fanny's Farm Shop. More than a tea shop, less than a garden centre - quite unique. The creator and owner Fanny Maiklem obviously has a great sense of humour and I would guess is a bit of a 'magpie' judging by the collection of miscellaneous country-related artifacts scattered throughout the farm. She is famous for her home-made marmalades, jams and chutneys but the home-baked cakes are also worth a mention and today's cream tea was absolutely delicious.

Once again, I had taken too many pictures to choose just a few so have put them together in a slide show. Perhaps you might be tempted to pay a visit yourself . . .

Social Media . . .

Browsing through my Twitter timeline this evening, I noticed a link to another interesting post on Matthew Warner's blog.

In his post, he gives a list of insights based on recent statistics on social media published via a Youtube video.

Of the twelve items in Matthew's list, whilst all of them were interesting, some of them struck a particularly chord with me. (My comments in blue)

Over 50% of the world is under the age of 30.

i.e. What the young people in the Church are doing, how they are communicating, how well we are catechized and how authentic our lives are…matters…a lot.

'How well we are catechised and how authentic our lives are . . . matters . . . a lot.' How right he is. I think one of the best ways that all of us can help our young people is to be a good example of what it means to be a Catholic today. This means not only practising our faith but being informed about it and prepared to answer questions about what we believe and why.

iPod/iPhone applications hit 1 billion downloads in 9 months.

How many of them were Catholic apps? How many were made by Catholics? How many were actually good? Also - I’d love to see some creative and entertaining Catholic apps made by Catholics come out. Not just ones with lists of prayers (those are good, too, though).

I have just checked the apps on my iPhone. I have 68 (I was surprised to find it was so many!) in total at the moment and of them 9 of them are Catholic, mainly reference or liturgy/Divine Office based. I think all the Catholic apps I have are excellent and I use some of them daily.

The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 yr old females.

I thought this was one of the most interesting stats. While Facebook and other social media platforms are currently dominated by younger people, that is quickly changing.

Well, I guess I'm one of those 55-65 year-old females! What Matthew doesn't mention is that often once we 'oldies' latch onto something like this, it tends to make it less popular with younger people. After all, how many youngsters want to be associated with something that their parents, and even their grandparents are getting into? I don't know if this is the case with Facebook or not. It will be interesting to see if it can manage to keep its appeal for the youth at the same time as attracting a wider age-range of users.

Britney Spears has more twitter followers than the entire population of Israel, Ireland, Norway or Sweden.
How many spiritual leaders or positive role models get this kind of attention? Sad. But also an opportunity.

I would say there is definitely a Catholic presence on Twitter. In addition to many individuals, the Catholic press and Hierarchy are well represented. It seems to go hand in hand with blogging. Most bloggers are now on Twitter, I've noticed.

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.

How many Catholic videos are on there? How many have been viewed more than 18 times? How many are well-done and a good representation of our Catholic faith?

There are many Catholic videos on YouTube. Some of them are very well done, especially those produced in America, I've noticed, but there's certainly room for a lot more, and some are pretty dire but then again so are a lot of the other videos on YouTube.

Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. Decades from now (if not already) we will look back on this time as just that, a fundamental shift in the way information is shared and communities are nurtured. Will the Catholic Church be one of the shining examples of success? Or one of the laggers-behind?

Sorry, this has turned out to be quite a long post but do go on over and have a look at Fallible Blogma to see the whole list. It makes interesting reading.

Thanks be to God . . .

I was not sleeping very well last night and as I often do when I find myself in this situation, I switched on our bedside radio. It was just before 4am and I managed to catch the rescue of the first Chilean miner live on the news channel. What an emotional moment! I was glued to the radio for quite some time, reluctant to switch off as I listened to the scenes of utter joy from all concerned. What an amazing achievement for all those involved.

As it was my day off today, I was able to watch some of the coverage on the TV News Channel and see the pictures to match the words.

I was amused to see the pictures of the statue of San Lorenzo (St Lawrence, Patron Saint of Miners) bedecked with miner's safety lamp and helmet. I think in the photo above, the hat gives him more than a passing resemblance to Boy George!

It was touching to see and hear mention of the miners' faith. Claudio Mario Gonzalez, the ninth to be rescued, pictured below was not the only one to sink to his knees in thanksgiving on reaching the surface.

Thanks be to God that so far all has gone to plan and we pray that the remaining miners will be safely reunited with their loved ones.

By the way, after hearing the fantastic news I slept like a top until my alarm went off all too soon this morning after my nocturnal news fest!

Retreat feedback . . .

Sorry, I've been a bit quiet lately - not so much Blogger's block as Blogger's lethargy, I'm afraid.

It's a week now since our retreat at Douai Abbey. This was our first visit so didn't know exactly what to expect. The accommodation was excellent. The guest rooms were in a very modern building with all mod-cons. It was much more like walking into an hotel bedroom than a retreatant's bedroom - not so much basic as bountiful. Large rooms with tea/coffee making facilities and a very large shower room en-suite. Our room like many others overlooked the Abbey Church so an inspiring view.

The Abbey church is also fairly modern having been finally completed in 1993 although the original construction began in 1929. The overall effect is very pleasing and, seated in the choir as we were for the Office, one could appreciate the workmanship of the choir stalls, organ etc. close-up. Modern, yes, but with more than a nod to their historical past. The main part of the Abbey church was much more typical of modern churches and cathedrals.

The monks were very hospitable and the meals excellent. We joined in parts of an organised retreat on Julian of Norwich which was taking place over the weekend led by a layman. We also spent some of the time with our Team for discussion and prayer.

Lots of pluses then but if I were looking for ways to improve the experience, for me personally, I was disappointed that there was no opportunity for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Naturally, one could always visit the Blessed Sacrament chapel in the Abbey Church for private prayer. There was also a lovely oratory in the guest accommodation with a beautiful icon but disappointingly no Blessed Sacrament.

The Abbey is surrounded by quiet a large area of open land suitable for walks and we joined an organised prayer walk on Sunday afternoon, stopping from time to time to meditate on some of Julian of Norwich's words.

I wanted to post a few photos but couldn't make up my mind which to choose so put most of them in this slide show.

Update: Sorry I forgot to mention that the soundtrack is from The Introit: Dominus Dixit Ad Me by the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Choir.

Douai Abbey . . .

It's not just buses that all seem to come along together after a long wait.

Now, I like a quiet life. Not for me the rushing around trying to squeeze 48 hours' worth of activity into a 24 hour day.

I've been looking forward to our annual retreat ever since it was booked a while ago. We're going with the rest of our Team to Douai Abbey for a weekend retreat.

However, this weekend also sees the return of Our Eldest from his pilgrimage to Oberammergau for the Passion Play; the return of the Pater Familias from a short business trip to India and the 'return to the nest' of Our Youngest after 8 years solid 'student-ing'.

Why could these things not be spread out over a few weekends, I ask myself, so that I can give each of them the attention they deserve?

Never mind. I know that despite all the rushing around on Friday evening getting ready for the returnees, as soon as we draw up in front of the Abbey on Saturday morning, all the cares of the world will slip from our shoulders.

That, for me, is what a retreat is all about. A time, even if only a brief one, to 'retreat' from the world and spend some concentrated 'quality time' with Our Lord in prayer and reflection.

We have been making an annual retreat like this as a couple for many years now and we always come away refreshed and renewed, ready to enter the real world with recharged batteries.

Definitely to be recommended.

I'll see you all next week.

October - the month of the Rosary . . .

October is almost upon us and with it an emphasis on the Holy Rosary. I was trying to think of something new to say about the Rosary but I soon gave that up! After all, why does it have to be something new?

I'm not really up to long theological explanations so I just thought I'd list some of the occasions and places that I find to pray the Rosary. Who knows, it might inspire someone to do likewise.

In church as part of my personal prayer (often said 'on my fingers' rather than on my rosary beads)

In church as part of a communal praying of the Rosary.

In bed before going to sleep.

In bed in the wee small hours of the morning when sleep escapes me.

Out walking.

On the train and on the bus.

Sitting at the computer.

Using the iRosary App on my phone.

So, you see, for me I can pray the Rosary anywhere . . and I do. It's the first prayer I think of when I want to pray for a particular intention.

There are a lot of beautiful videos that can be used for meditation whilst praying too. Here's an example.

Taking things for granted . . .

It's early Sunday evening and I've just been catching up on what's going on in the blogosphere which is one of my favourite ways of relaxing at the end of the weekend.

I try not to take anything for granted and I do appreciate how fortunate we are to have a comfortable home, loving children, employment etc. etc. but it has never really occurred to me quite how fortunate we are with our parish. There is a theme underlying some blogs of discontentment, of a yearning for certain things that are apparently not readily available to all.

I had not realised that it is fairly unusual to have regular Rosary and Benediction, for example, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament several days a week and frequent Confession. Is it really very unusual, I wonder, or are those blogs that I've been looking at describing some sort of minority ghetto where such devotions are not practised?

I thought everyone was encouraged to go to Confession regularly and have reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. Maybe I've just been taking things for granted after all. At Mass tomorrow, during the silence after Holy Communion (which I gather is not kept universally) I will try and remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive as members of our parish where everything possible is done to encourage us in our spiritual development. Thanks of course to our parish priest.

Comings and Goings at 'ours' . . .

Sometimes it does feel as if a stranger walking into our house might think they'd walked into Croydon Bus Station (for want of a better example!) by mistake.

The Pater Familias travels a lot on business, and friends, seeing me on my own, are in the habit of asking me, 'so where is he this time, then?'

This evening the PF is, as I type, on his way back from Heathrow, Our Eldest is busy packing for a pilgrimage leaving tomorrow and Our Youngest is due back at the end of the week. Sr Anastasia was with us last week and will be back to see us some time in the next 3 months, we hope.

Update: Since I began this little post, I have discovered that the PF has squeezed in another little trip in between his usual monthly disappearances - he coyly informed me as he put down his flight bag that he's off again on Monday until the end of the month.

Is it worth even laying the table for him, I wonder?

I'm not complaining, you understand. Our married life has been 'ever thus' and I don't know that I'd know quite how to deal with a stationary family!

Changing public opinion . . .

The Holy Father's recent visit has, amongst many other positive things, helped people to see Pope Benedict as he really is and not as he is often portrayed by the sometimes negative press.

Definitely more Andrex Puppy than Rottweiler . . .

Four Amazing Days . . .

Sorry, I've been very quiet this week. I'm sure there's no need to explain why!

I've been totally immersed in the Papal Visit. Having been involved at parish level for several weeks it seems to have loomed large for quite a while but nothing could have prepared me for the amazing scenes and emotions of the last four days.

I cannot find the words to express what an amazing, inspirational time it has been. Everything else has been shelved as I've been glued to the TV and computer, following every moment of the visit of the Holy Father. For the first time it's also been possible to follow people's personal reactions via Twitter as the events unfolded, and what a difference that has made. For me this added another dimension to the whole experience.

I didn't go to either Hyde Park or Birmingham myself though Our Eldest went to Cofton Park today and, of course, had a fantastic day. It was well worth leaving in the early hours of the morning (though I'm not sure many would have agreed before the coach left!)

I've put together a slide show of some of my favourite photos from the various news sites, focusing mainly on the pilgrims. I hope you recognise the sound track; Cor ad Cor Loquitor from the CD given to all pilgrims.

Passing on the faith . . .

Matthew Warner of Fallible Blogma has an excellent post on passing on the faith.

He discusses the question which is often debated, whether or not parents should pass on their faith to their children.

I know it's not much debated by those who practise their faith but I've heard arguments from non-practising friends and family members about the 'damage' done to children by parents 'indoctrinating' them from an early age.

As Matthew says, it seems obvious that if you believe something to be true and valuable then naturally you wish to share that with your children as parents obviously wish the best their sons and daughters.

He draws a comparison between teaching children road safety and providing them with healthy food etc. and passing on the faith.

I remember when our children were born, hearing some friends say, 'we're not going to have our child baptised, we want him/her to have the freedom to choose whether or not to be a Catholic (or anything else) and be baptised when they are older.

Call me dense, but I can't understand how anyone can make an informed decision about anything if they have no prior experience or knowledge about it.

I put these sort of remarks in the same category as, 'We don't believe in taking children to Mass until they're old enough to know how to behave in church.'

What amazing children they must be, I think, if they are suddenly able to understand what's happening in the liturgy and respond appropriately on their first visit to church when they're about five years old.

This week's 'must have' gift . . .

A well-known female blogger is in need of cheering up, I hear. Now, I think we females all realise that when we're feeling down there's nothing like a little bit of 'retail therapy' to lift our spirits. Even if it only involves window shopping.

Thanks to Fr Roderick for drawing attention to this little number . . .

If only . . .

From a wife's perspective . . .

I wanted to write a few words about the news buzzing around the blogosphere at the moment that not one, but two Anglican clergymen have recently decided that they are ready to 'come home' to the Catholic Church. What a courageous decision they've both made.

The inimitable Mac has beaten me to it but I too had noticed the existence of the marvellous blog I have a snail in my pocket by the already-Catholic wife of one the clergyman - Robin Farrow.

To give up so much for your faith is a very courageous thing indeed. We don't often hear much about the wives of the clergymen in these situations. It must be very difficult for them too and if their husbands eventually become Catholic priests, they are also among a very small minority. Catholic priests with wives and children are still something of a rarity whilst the role of 'Vicar's wife' is something we are all familiar with even though I'm sure there is no such thing as a typical Vicar's wife. As a former Anglican myself, I know that each of the wives of the vicars I have known have each interpreted their role differently as in any other walk of life.

I realise I've been rambling on a bit. The main thing I wanted to say was a very warm welcome to both Robin Farrow (read more here) and Giles Pinnock (more here) and be assured of prayerful support from all your Catholic friends.

Happy Feast Day! . . .

Happy Feast Day everyone!

I'm just off to Mass to celebrate Our Lady's Birthday. I hope to catch up with blogging later today as it's my day off.

Meanwhile, enjoy . . .

Friday funnies . . .

If you're getting a bit fed up with pondering on 'the meaning of life, the universe and everything' you might like to consider some of the following philosophical questions I've just received from Sr Anastasia.

I'm surprised to find she has time for such weighty matters as my sources tell me she's currently participating in a national convention on Liturgy and the Eucharist chaired by a certain well-known Archbishop somewhere in the Indian sub-continent - the only woman on the steering committee, no less! Well, I'm impressed anyway.

To more serious matters . . . .

1. Is it good if a vacuum cleaner really sucks?

2. Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

3. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

4. Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?

5. Why do "tug" boats push their barges?

6. Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?

7. Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?

8. Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?

9. Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?

10. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

11. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

12. How come abbreviated is such a long word?

13. Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't we clean when we use them?

14. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

15. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one?

16. Christmas - What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat chocolate out of your socks?

St Gregory the Great . . .

I'm going to get in early with tomorrow's feast day - St Gregory the Great.

Here's a potted biography for those of you who, like me, know very little about this great Apostle of the English . . .

No wonder he turned out so well. With both his mother, St Silvia, and two aunts St Tarsilla and St Æmiliana, being canonised he was obviously surrounded by excellent role models.

He was born in Rome, the son of Gordianus, a wealthy senator, who later became one of the seven deacons of Rome. He was well educated and was appointed magistrate.

After the death of his father, he built six monasteries in Sicily and established a seventh in his own house in Rome, which became the Benedictine Monastery of St. Andrew. He lived here as a monk from 575 when he was 35 years old.

St. Gregory was chosen Pope by the unanimous consent of priests and people. He is known above all for his great contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass and Office. (Hence Gregorian Chant, I imagine.) He is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church. He died in 604 and is the Patron Saint of teachers.

Thanks to New Advent and Catholic Online for the information. More information may be found on their web sites here and here.

What day is it? . . .

I know I'm not the only one who finds Bank Holidays quite disorientating. It usually takes me until the Friday of the week following a Bank Holiday Monday to realise which day it is. Add to that the change of month and the end of the Summer holidays for the schools and I'm fast approaching chaos.

It's amazing how just turning the calendar over a page can make such a difference. August has passed at a wonderfully leisurely pace on the whole but today was busy, busy, busy; beginning with the extra traffic on the roads this morning.

I had wanted to write a few lines about some of the recent feast days but I'm afraid I've missed the boat.

Mac over at Mulier Fortis has an interesting post on Saint Anne Line whom she has taken as her Patron Saint.

It always makes me smile when I read in the ordo ' Sts Margaret Clitherow and Anne Line, married women . . . . , Martyrs.' It's almost as if being a married woman is a cause for canonisation and even martyrdom. I know sometimes some of us married women might agree with the sentiment! (Just joking, Dearest).

Belated Bank Holiday post . . .

I've been really struggling with our Internet connection lately hence the tardiness of this post which I began on Monday!

I thought as I'd given myself such a tough time putting together the slide show, I was going to inflict it on you anyway even though it is old news.

It was a lovely day as it turned out although we had decided that we'd go and visit Nymans regardless of the weather. 'Have kagoule, will travel' is one of my many mottos.

I know the soundtrack is rather 'cheesy' but I was having such a struggle uploading the slide show for some reason, I gave up trawling through my music library for a better choice.

Hope you enjoy the 'bootiful' flowers anyway.

A Special Saint . . .

Several people have commented on Pope Benedict's recent remarks encouraging us all to develop a devotion to a particular saint.

I've often heard people mention that they have a devotion to a particular saint and I've always thought to myself, 'but how do you choose just one?!'

The Holy Father suggests perhaps taking our example from the saint that we are named after. A bit difficult in my case as my first name is a 'real pagan name' as my mother once remarked (why on earth did she agree to it then, I wonder?). In her defence, she did give me the best of all saints' names as a middle name - yes, you guessed it, even in our non-Catholic school, there were still quite a few girls called Mary, and more who had Mary as a second name.

Well, I would hope we all have a special devotion to Mary; so then I think maybe I should look to the Saint whose feast day falls on my birthday. In my case it's two saints - Saint Simon and Saint Jude, so I've decided to find out a bit more about them.

All I know about them really is that Simon was called 'The Zealot' and Jude is sometimes referred to as Thaddeus. Of course, we all know St Jude is the saint of desperate causes, the saint of last-resort.

They were both martyred; Simon in Persia and Jude in Armenia, although some writers say they were both martyred in Persia or that Jude died peacefully elsewhere.

One little snippet I read today says Simon was born in Cana and some accounts say he was the bridegroom at the Wedding at Cana. I'd like to think that was true.

O God, we thank you
for the glorious company of the apostles,

and especially for Simon and Jude;

and we pray that, as they were faithful

and zealous in their mission,

so we may with ardent devotion

make known the love and mercy

of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns with you

and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Footnote:

I've always had great regard for Saint Monica, whose feast day we celebrate today. As a mother, I think we can all identify with her frustration with her wayward son, St Augustine. Most parents would agree that even the best of children 'have their moments' and most of us will have shed a few tears over our offspring at some time or another but what a shining example of perseverance St Monica is to us all - it may have taken 17 years but she got there in the end! And the moral of the story is . . . keep praying and never give up.

A bit of light relief - some real 'groaners' for lexophiles . . .

I've mentioned before that I've always been interested in language in one way or another. I know it's not Friday yet but I couldn't resist sharing these real 'groaners' forwarded by Fr Leo.

I challenge anyone to read the whole list without at least one tiny groan escaping from their lips!

You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Police were called to a day care centre where a 3-yr-old was resisting a rest.

The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

A thief who stole a calendar got 12 months.

A thief fell & broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

A will is a dead giveaway.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

A backward poet writes inverse.

That was part one, and more than enough for most people, I would imagine . . . real gluttons for punishment can scroll down for part two;

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

A chicken crossing the road, poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft & I'll show you A-flat miner.

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

A grenade that fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

A calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When you've seen one shopping centre, you've seen a mall.

When she saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Acupuncture: A jab well done

Religious doctors may allow their faith to influence care of terminally ill - I should hope so! . . .

Some days, or weeks even, I don't seem to do, hear or see anything that I particularly want to blog about but today, I seem to be spoilt for choice. To mention just a few of the items that I thought I might comment on; we have the 100th birthday celebrations of Mother Teresa, the memorial of the Passionist Priest, Blessed Dominic of the Mother of God, the birth of David and Samantha Cameron's daughter, and even the fantastic result in the Spurs Champions League match last night!

But, no, what caught my attention primarily was an item on the BBC News website about the possible influence of faith on doctors in their care of the terminally ill. I would have expected it to be a factor and was surprised that it should be considered 'news' or a surprise to many people.

"Doctors with religious beliefs are less likely to take decisions which could hasten the death of those who are terminally ill . . ." according to a study of nearly 4,000 doctors by London University. Well, good for them!

The article contains some interesting statistics too such as;

"More than 12% of the doctors surveyed described themselves as very or extremely religious, compared with just over 6% of the UK general population . . . However one in five described themselves as very or extremely non-religious, slightly higher than the general population."

"Specialists in the care of the elderly were more likely to be Hindu or Muslim than other doctors, while palliative care doctors were slightly more likely to be white and Christian."

An interesting article and worth a further look here.

Feast of St Bartholomew . . .

The day's nearly over but I did want to just put down a few of my thoughts on today's feast day.

Although, strictly speaking, it wasn't anything to do with St Bartholomew in particular that struck me at Mass this morning but the First Reading which was taken from the Book of the Apocalypse.

Like many of our saints, you get a line or two in the Missal which includes something like, 'little is known for certain about St . . . '

He was born at Cana and brought by the Apostle Philip to meet Jesus. He is usually identified with Nathanael which is presumably why we have the Gospel reading today from John which mentions Nathanael's meeting with Jesus.

No, what I wanted to mention was my reaction to the First Reading. What amazing descriptive passages we hear from the author. The imagery is so vivid and so detailed you can really imagine this 'City of the Lamb' that is being described.

I searched hard to find some good illustrations and I do like the one at the top of this post as it has that ethereal quality that belongs to a vision or a revelation.

¿Habla usted español? . . .

Regular readers of this little blog, and of course family and friends, will know that the Pater Familias travels a little bit - at this stage, the aforementioned family and friends will be spluttering into their cocoa at my use of the phrase, 'travels a little'.

The latest trip was to the beautiful city of Barcelona (hence the title of the post - d'oh!).

Over the years, we have come to an understanding that I really don't need a gift from each port of call - there are only so many hand-crafted 'greetings from . . . (insert the destination of your choice)' trinket boxes/teatowels/plastic gl0w-in-the-dark statues of Our Lady/garishly-painted whatnots that one can find house room for.

We have hit on a good solution which suits us both. The PF nowadays picks up one or two of the complimentary glossy magazines offered by the airlines and purchases a little edible something that is typical of the place he has visited. Thereby he feels he's doing his bit by thinking of me and bringing a gift back with him and I have gifts that I enjoy and can share and don't need to find a permanent home for. Everyone's a winner!

I have to say my Spanish is very limited but women's magazines are pretty universal and as so much of them is pictures anyway, it doesn't really matter and it's always amusing to see how certain words and products are translated into different languages.

The edible delight this trip was a filling-extracting box of delicious Turrón (Spanish), torró (Catalan), or torrone (Italian).

Sorry, no photo of that - there's not enough left to photograph!

The next trip will probably bring a booty of censored OK magazines and dates - I'll leave you to guess which part of the world that might be.

One million copies of Papal Liturgies published . . .

I'm sure you've all see the item on the Papal Visit web site about the publication of one million copies of the booklet for parishes containing the texts for the public liturgies during the Papal Visit. The booklet has been published by the Bishops' Conference in conjunction with Gabriel Communications and Magnificat.

What interested me particularly was this note at the end of the news item,

"With this special issue for the Papal Visit, and beginning on a monthly basis in November, it is available for the first time with readings, texts and calendar appropriate for the British Isles."

Hooray! I don't know about other bloggers in England and Wales, but one of my pet peeves (I must admit, I do have few . . . ) is that there are so many marvellous resources 'out there' but nearly always you find the texts are those used by the USCCB.

I really like the convenience of iBreviary, iMissal etc. on my iPhone but I do wish that the texts of the prayers, psalms and so forth were the same as the ones that I am familiar with and have grown to love. I know it's only minor differences but it really grates to be saying, for example,

'Lord, now you let your servant go in peace . . ' as the opening line of the Nunc Dimittis rather than the familiar, 'At last, all-powerful Master . . . '

I have used the Magnificat booklet when on holiday in France and found it very helpful. When the introduction of the English version was heralded a while ago, I eagerly looked at the first edition thinking how useful it would be for people who didn't have their own Missal or Breviary but was disappointed to find it wasn't using the texts for England and Wales so would be quite confusing for parishioners trying to use it to follow public prayer such as Morning Prayer which we say before Mass every weekday in our parish.

I look forward to seeing the new and revised edition in November.

Are we the first? . . .

I got home from work today to find this on the doormat . . .

. . . Our first Christmas card catalogue.

Well it is August, after all! To some people this may even be a trifle late for them. I know some people like to do their Christmas shopping in the January sales and have everything wrapped, labelled and stored in a cupboard before the end of February. Where's the fun in that?

I refuse to hear the 'C' word in our house before the beginning of Advent. Of course, that means I do have the usual stress of trying to get all the cards written, presents wrapped , food bought and tree decorated in a mad panic at the last minute but then it wouldn't be Christmas without a near nervous breakdown in the third week of December, would it?

An amazing video about an amazing young man . . .

I saw this on a young relative's Facebook. I think it deserves to be shared.

Just musin' . . .

Firstly, apologies both for the lateness of yesterday's posting and its length.

I think it should really have been two separate posts but I was having such a battle with our Internet connection that I was just relieved to be able to finally publish it!

In between waiting for the router to decide to connect us with the Internet and pulling my hair out, I began thinking about blogging in general.

Why do I blog and who is it for? . . . I think the answer is really that I do it for myself.

I began this blog as a sort of online diary mainly aimed at family living overseas as we have a lot of family spread over different continents. As some of them found it difficult to cope with the password system I had set up to keep the blog fairly private, I decided to 'go public' as it was the only way they could read it. This changed the nature of the blog somewhat as I am not comfortable posting photos of our family that are open to all or writing about them in ways that would easily identify them. (I should add, members of our family were themselves also not happy about this).

Gradually, the blog seemed to take on a life of its own and I found myself talking about my faith and referring to parish events or the Catholic Church in general. I have never pretended that this is a serious Catholic blog. If you like, you could say it is a Catholic blog, merely because the author is a practising Catholic.

Sometimes, however, I have found myself discarding a topic that I was going to blog about in case someone disapproved of it, or even feeling that I really ought to write a few lines about something that would be particularly relevant to Catholic readers. I don't want to feel under any pressure to either write or not write in a particular way so I think what I'm trying to say is . . .

This is my blog and it reflects who I am. If you like to read it, great but if you don't think it's serious enough; is too serious; is too miscellaneous in content; is not Catholic enough or is too Catholic for your taste then that's fine too.

I won't be offended if I am removed from anybody's blog roll. I'll continue to read blogs that interest me and comment when I have something to say.

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest.

A Feast Day and a Fun Day . . .

I'm firmly of the opinion that Feast Days should be celebrated - and I don't just mean at Mass and in church.

Today's Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a beautiful feast and to celebrate we had a beautiful Mass in the parish with choir and organ too, which is unusual during August but very appropriate and much appreciated.

I still think of myself as a 'new Catholic' even though I was received into the Church over 20 years ago. I'm learning all the time about my faith and every now and again, another piece of the jigsaw falls into place and a little more of the picture is revealed.

I find Feast Days help very much with this process, and gradually I'm beginning to understand more of the dogma and doctrine of the faith. Like other ways of learning, repetition of the same story and explanations from different sources all combine to add my understanding.

I'm learning; not just by listening to the homily at Mass but also by reading, and that reading includes the blogosphere, I am beginning to 'get' the Feast of the Assumption.

I'd always tended to think of Feast Days in isolation but I'm also beginning to realise that sometimes they're connected. Like today's feast and that of the Immaculate Conception. Now I see that of course they're related. It's because Our Lady was conceived without sin that she couldn't possible suffer the corruption of death that the rest of us with our original sin, and ongoing sin, have to undergo.

Ah, well, I've a lot yet to learn and understand, I know . . .

“Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.”

For Christians, death is not extinction, though, unlike Mary, all ordinary mortals, even the most faithful Christians, the saints, must await the Second Coming of Christ and the general Resurrection to receive our “glorified bodies”.

‘May we see heaven as our goal and come to share her glory’.

Read more at Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary

After Mass we continued the celebration by going out for lunch and we decided to visit Chartwell in Kent and sample the fare in their excellent restaurant.

The Pater Familias and I hadn't visited for over a year and 'Our Eldest' has never been and I had a feeling it would be 'right up his street'. (I was right, but then Mum's usually are!)

A larger-than-life statue of Sir Winston and Lady Clementine Churchill. Churchill in his famous 'siren suit'.

The studio in the grounds where Sir Winston Churchill did a lot of his painting. His paintings are also very much in evidence in the main house.

Well, it's one way to pass the time in the Car Wash . . .

I just saw this on Twitter, thanks to @MatthewWarner. It's certainly a novel background for catechesis!

Catholic Car Wash is another enterprise by the creator of LOLSaints. As it says on his web site,

'Catholic Car Wash is a video podcast for Catholics by Jeff Geerling. All videos are recorded while inside a car wash. That is all.'

Click on the photo below for the link to the video. (Sorry, I couldn't find the embed code anywhere.)

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross . . .

Today is the Feast of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr and a Patron of Europe.

If you'd like to know a bit more about her life or be reminded if you are familiar with it already, this video gives an excellent summary.

Every true prayer is a prayer of the Church; by means of that prayer the Church prays, since it is the Holy Spirit living in the Church, Who in every single soul 'prays in us with unspeakable groanings'.

The limitless loving devotion to God, and the gift God makes of Himself to you, are the highest elevation of which the heart is capable; it is the highest degree of prayer. The souls that have reached this point are truly the heart of the Church. St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Saint Teresa Benedicta,
holy martyr, philosopher of truth,
defender of the human person
against the evils of this age,
enlighten our minds, illumine our hearts,
fill our lives with the passion
of your love for the Cross.
Amen.

A Sunday afternoon walk . . .

I'm sure we all know places that we pass regularly in the car; on the train or the bus and say to ourselves, 'I wonder what's behind that wall/fence/hedge? It looks interesting and one day I'm going to take time to explore and find out.'

Today we did just that. After a tasty lunch in the town, we walked up Tunnel Road towards Reigate Castle. The castle in question was a Norman castle, long since in ruins but there are earth works still there and extensive caves which belonged to the original castle that unfortunately weren't open today.

This 'modern' castle gate which is the entrance to the rose garden was built in the 18th Century.

You can see why the common name for this cotinus is 'the smoke bush'. Very aptly named.


No, not a relic left behind by visiting Egyptians, or even New Age travellers, this pyramid in the middle of the rose garden covers the entry to a sallyport (yes, I had to look that one up too!).

The area is well known for it's flora. It's lovely to see bullrushes at the margins of the water; and of course . . . you can't have a Sunday afternoon walk without ducks . . .

All in all, a lovely Sunday afternoon stroll.

Normal service has been resumed . . .

I'm glad to see things are back to normal . . . Saturday afternoon and I'm tackling a pile of ironing, listening to Five Live Sport on the radio and watching the rain out of the window - happy days!

Please don't think I'm complaining. I'm still really enjoying the novelty of rain! And, what's to complain about when I'm snug and dry indoors looking out at the garden suddenly springing to life again.

Funny how the beginning of the football season coincides with almost the first bit of rain for weeks and weeks (at least in this part of the country).

Non-Words . . .

I've always been interested in words and language. Foreign languages, slang, dialect, quirky words, origins of words, philology, linguistics etc.

I am very grateful to @Londiniensis on Twitter for his tweet on a recent article in the Telegraph about the ''Non-Words' that are stored in a vault at Oxford English Press. These are words that have been submitted for use in the OED but haven't made it yet. They are kept dormant lest they come into common usage at some time in the future in which case they would be included in a later edition.

The article includes a long list of non-words. Here are a few of my favourites:

Dringle – the watermark left on wood caused by a glass of liquid.

Espacular – something especially spectacular

Furgle – to feel in a pocket or bag for a small object such as a coin or key

Lexpionage – the sleuthing of words and phrases

Museum head – feeling mentally exhausted and no longer able to take in information; Usually following a trip to a museum

Nonversation – a worthless conversation, wherein nothing is explained or otherwise Elaborated upon

Optotoxical – a look that could kill, normally from a parent or spouse

Peppier – a waiter whose sole job is to offer diners ground pepper, usually from a large pepper mill

Percuperate – to prepare for the possibility of being ill

Polkadodge – the dance that occurs when two people attempt to pass each other but move in the same direction

Scrax – the waxy coating that is scratched off an instant lottery ticket

Vidiot – someone who is inept at the act of programming video recording equipment

Whinese – a term for the language spoken by children on lengthy trips

Wibble – the trembling of the lower lip just shy of actually crying

Xenolexica – a grave confusion when faced with unusual words

I can actually hear myself using some of these.

Painting by numbers . . .

Just in case anyone should get the idea that I'm some sort of Holy Joe (Joanna? . . . I'm not quite sure what the feminine equivalent is!) who spends all her spare time on her knees (not that I couldn't do with it) I thought I'd tell you what I else I did with my day off . . .

We're not the sort of family that makes changes often in the way of decorating schemes so when recently we needed to patch up some slight cracks in our hallway and 'make good' the repairs, I knew it wasn't going to be easy to find a match for the paint that we used, probably at least ten years ago - I told you we don't decorate often!

I am one of those annoying 'a place for everything and everything in its place' people so it was fairly easy to lay my hands on the original paint colour chart from those days. It must be bordering on obsessive to keep things like this - worrying!

Well, the paint colour in question was one of these 'mixed to your own specification' jobs purchased at a local DIY store. So, off I trotted clutching my colour chart expecting to have to search through umpteen near matches.

Imagine my surprise when I asked the colour-mixing chappie - Just call me 'Shakey Jakey' - who said, let's see if it's still on the computer? And, lo and behold, it was!

Next exciting part of the day - you've heard the expression 'like watching paint dry', well watching paint being mixed I found quite interesting.

Taking a plain base colour and pressing a few buttons on the computer and, hey presto - the exact amount of other colours - in this case small amounts of 4 other colours are added to the base paint. Then the exciting part - this mixture is placed on the shaking/mixing/stirring thingamabob and whizzed around until perfectly blended. As people who don't understand things are often heard to comment, 'It's amazing what you can do with computers nowadays, isn't it?'

Looks like this couple forgot to put the lid securely on the tin before they put in on the shaking/mixing/stirring thingumabob!

Saints, Feast Days etc. . . .

One of the many things that I like about the Catholic Church (a very simplistic way of looking at things, I know) is the wealth of Saints to inspire us.

Today, for example we have the memorial of St Jean-Marie Vianney, Patron of Parish Priests.

I often hear people saying things like, 'oh, so-and-so is one my favourite saints' or 'I have a special devotion to St so-and-so'. I just wouldn't be able to choose a few out of the many. It seems to me that quite often when we are celebrating a particular Saint's feast day, that particular saint has something special to say to me.

How fortunate for me that today's feast falls on a Wednesday. This is my day off and I usually manage to get to morning Mass in a church where there is Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass and a brief period of Adoration finishing with Benediction. Probably only about 15 minutes in total but what a special 15 minutes that is. A privileged time to spend with Our Lord in prayer. Coincidentally, it's also just about the time it takes me to pray five decades of the Rosary so today I was able to pray for all parish priests, remembering especially those known to me.

Funny how these things seem to work out, isn't it?