Saints on parade . . .

I usually look at the ordo at the weekend to see what lies ahead in the way of Memorials, Feasts, Solemnities etc.

Some Saints are better known than others, at least to me. Quite often I find a Saint that I know very little about but I'm gradually improving my knowledge by 'googling' them and finding out a little more about their lives.

The week ahead is a good example . . . Tomorrow we have St Joachim and St Ann, the parents of Our Lady so quite important in the scheme of things, you could say!

Thursday is the turn of St Martha; again a saint who is well known to us and we have had the Gospel reading about Mary and Martha just last Sunday. We will all be familiar with that age-old question, 'am I more of a Mary or a Martha and what, if anything, should I do about it?'

Saturday is the Memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola, famous for founding the Society of Jesus or the order of Jesuits.

But Friday's Saint - St Peter Chrysologus, is this week's mystery guest for me!

I've vaguely heard of the name but that's about as far as it goes. I've probably heard the name before and confused it with the similarly sounding St Chrysogonus (a martyr under the persecution of Diocletian ) - it's all Greek to me (pun intended!).

For anyone who's interested who doesn't know much about this particular saint, here's a little of what I've discovered in my research:

Firstly, his name. Chrysologus, as all you Greek scholars will know, means 'golden-worded.' He earned this name apparently because he was an eloquent orator.

He was born at Imola in Italy in 406 and died there in 450. He was a Bishop and was made a Doctor of the Church in 1729 mainly due to his having written many outstanding homilies which have been passed down to us today.

One interesting note in his biography that I found might have a modern resonance - he got rid of the many of the last traces of paganism still practised by some of his flock, warning them especially against indecent dancing. "Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil," he remarked, "cannot rejoice with Christ.

I wonder what he would have thought of today's liturgical dance?

If you'd like to delve deeper into the subject you'll find an excellent resource at Catholic Online here and another at New Advent here.

Get well soon . . .

Poor Mac is in the wars again! When I read her sorry tale this morning, after my initial feelings of sympathy and a 'note to self' to include her in my prayers at Mass this morning, I thought, I have the perfect Get-Well card for her . . . but how to get it to her, not knowing her address?

Simple solution, here it is:

How could you not do so when faced with this stern 'ministering angel'?!

Hope you're feeling better soon, Mac!

Lavandula and Mrs Popple - good bedfellows!

I'm probably not alone in checking the weather forecast more frequently than usual at the moment and actually hoping for rain!

This is the new picture for my blog header but I can't get it to show the whole thing so I'm showing you here.

I've really enjoyed this long spell of warm, sunny weather and I don't want it to end but my poor plants are very thirsty!

This morning I actually had a few minutes in hand and as I looked out into the garden munching my way through a huge helping of muesli I realised that at least the lavender is loving all this sunshine and couldn't resist popping out and taking a few photos to 'capture the moment'.

I've been tagged! . . .

I've been tagged by both Breadgirl and Kee to complete the meme begun by Mac that's doing the rounds at the moment so I guess I'd better knuckle down and get on with it. Thanks to both of you for thinking of me.

The rules of the meme as posted on Mac's blog 'Mulier Fortis' are:

Name your three most favourite prayers, and explain why they're your favourites. Then tag five bloggers - give them a link, and then go and tell them they have been tagged. Finally, tell the person who tagged you that you've completed the meme... The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here. I'm more interested in people's favourite devotional prayers.

As this meme has been around for a little while now, it's very difficult to choose prayers that no one has chosen so I'm not going to avoid choosing the Hail Mary as my first and most obvious choice. It's the first prayer that I think of when I want to pray for any reason. Whether it's a quick 'arrow' prayer during the day when something happens or as part of the Rosary when I have more time to prayer it's always the first prayer that enters my head.

My second choice is the Prayer of St Richard of Chichester. This is one of those prayers that I remember from childhood. Not being brought up a Catholic I didn't attend a Catholic school but the local county primary school and each morning we had assembly which always included hymns and prayers and this was one of the prayers that we prayed often and has stayed with me.

Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester

Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ,

For all the benefits thou hast won for me,

For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me.

O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother,

May I know thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly,

And follow thee more nearly: For ever and ever. Amen.

St. Richard Chichester (1197-1253)

My third prayer is another prayer from my childhood. I think prayers learnt as a child are never forgotten and we grow into understanding them which is why I think it is so important to teach our children the formal prayers that we learnt ourselves.

Being brought up in the Anglican church, before receiving 'Holy Communion' we would prayer Thomas Cranmer's 'Prayer of humble access'.

We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord,

trusting in our own righteousness,

but in your manifold and great mercies.

We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table.

But you are the same Lord, whose nature is always to have mercy:

Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ,

and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body,

and our souls washed through his most precious blood,

and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

This may be heretical but I still think that beautiful prayer says so much more than our own much briefer, 'Lord, I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed.'

That's the meme completed, now comes the hard part - who to tag (excluding clergy) as most of the people I would have tagged have already taken part.

I tag:

Battlements of Rubies

Campionist

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Mother's Pride

In Terra Aliena

Some of these bloggers have been fairly quiet recently so maybe it might encourage them to get blogging again.

St David's Pilgrimage . . .

Some very good friends of ours take part in our annual Diocesan Ecumenical Walking Pilgrimage every year. This year the pilgrimage is wholly in Wales. I have on a couple of occasions in the past joined the annual pilgrimage as a 'day pilgrim' when the route has passed within travelling distance, and for the past few years have been a 'virtual pilgrim' following their excellent daily diary online.

If, like me, you enjoy walking, praying and beautiful scenery in the company of like-minded people, you might like to have a look at their website here.

If you live in Wales and are near part of the route, I can assure you of a warm welcome if you feel like joining them for the day, or even just a few hours.

Allons enfants de la Patrie . . .

Happy 'Quatorze Juillet' to any French readers!

For any film buffs, French readers or francophiles, here's a rather appropriate film clip considering today's date. Feel free to sing along!

A sad ending to a tragic story . . .

Catholic with Attitude has a very good post on the tragic story of Raoul Moat and his dreadful behaviour which led to the death of one person and the wounding of two others.

Like many people, I followed the news as the story unfolded (it was pretty difficult to escape it, really, as it seemed to receive blanket coverage on all channels) and went to bed on the Friday night fully expecting that the stand-off between Raoul Moat and the police would be resolved peacefully.

My first reaction when I woke to hear that Mr Moat had taken his own life was 'how sad'. Of course I don't condone his awful behaviour and I feel terribly sorry for his victims and their families but it doesn't mean that I can't feel compassion for him too.

Well, it's a much more attractive proposition than the England job!

I just heard the good news (for Spurs fans, at least!) - Harry Redknapp has just extended his contract with Tottenham.

I've been waiting for an opportunity to post this video. I enjoyed seeing it live on TV at the time it happened a couple of months ago, and it's still worth watching now. It's great to see the good relationship between coach and players - I can't somehow imagine Capello smiling like this in similar circumstances but then I can't really imagine any of the England squad having the courage to pull a stunt like this either!

Beautiful flowers, glorious weather and good company . . .

Beautiful flowers, glorious weather and good company . . . all the ingredients for a blissful day out yesterday at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

It's a few years since I've been to this flower show so jumped at the chance to go by coach on yet another 'works' outing' (courtesy of Number One Son).

The journey up by coach is only about half an hour if the traffic is light and we probably made it in about 45 minutes. It was not only an opportunity to see all the beautiful plants and wander around the gardening accessories stands but a great chance to spend some time with a good friend catching up on all the news and generally 'putting the world to rights'. A great 'girlie' day out.

Rather than join the queues inside for our first coffee stop of the day, we decided to have a coffee in East Molesey and found a lovely little coffee shop with a leafy garden. It was still very busy but quite delightful.

We also took advantage of the boat trip up to the actual entrance to the Flower Show. A perfect way to travel and it made the day even more enjoyable.

We managed to find a shady spot under a tree to have a bite of lunch and do some 'people watching'. Water is so cooling, isn't it, even if you're just looking at it rather than splashing around in it?

We wandered around 'oohing' and ' aahing' at all the goodies on sale and stopping each other from breaking the bank. I think I was very restrained and managed to come home with just a couple of purchases - this lovely dahlia - called 'Happy Wink' - I think I was as much taken by the name as the beautiful colour of the plant! Secondly, this lovely étagère which I plan to use to put pots of herbs on near the kitchen door. Mind you, I might change my mind and use it for pots of colourful bedding, depending on my mood.

So, a great day out and much to be recommended for anyone who enjoys gardening, or even just enjoys a day out in the sunshine in glorious surroundings.

Papal Visit - Yay, Birmingham here we come!

Number One Son will be pleased when he hears the good news. Our diocese has been allocated enough places for the Beatification at Cofton Park to enable all those who've signed up to be able to attend. I guess this might be because we are quite a long way away and more people have probably opted for the Hyde Park venue.

Mind you, the said son might not be quite so pleased to hear that departure time may well be between 3am and 5am!

Seriously though, I think he'd probably be prepared to go without sleep altogether to be able to see His Holiness during his visit.

We haven't been quite so lucky with places for Hyde Park but it looks as if quite of lot of those in our parish who said they were definitely interested in attending will be able to do so. It will probably come down to drawing names out of a hat in the end - a biretta, naturally!

Priceless!

I saw this on a friend's facebook today (thanks DT)

Take a look at the map behind the newsreader!

'But you," he said, "who do you say I am? . . . '

Like many homes, I expect, we have certain areas where you'll find a collection of prayer cards and other similar 'holy cards' tucked behind picture frames or other suitable resting places, maybe next to a Palm Cross.

When we had our old kitchen ripped out to make way for our splendid new one, I naturally had to take down everything on the walls beforehand.

I'm only just getting around to sorting out the various pictures and other things that adorned the walls and deciding which if any of them will be allowed to grace the newly-painted walls.

In amongst the prayer cards was a yellowing scrap of paper cut out of an old newspaper (I can't remember which one now, it was quite some time ago).

This always makes me smile which is why I've kept it. This is what is says:

Jesus said to them: "Who do you say that I am?"

And they replied: "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kerygma of which we find the ultimate meaning in our interpersonal relationships."

And Jesus said: "What?"

Morse Code vs Text Messaging . . .

Here's another gem forwarded to me by Sr Anastasia . . .

So, you see, you have no need to worry if you don't have an iPhone 4G after all!

Invitations for the Papal Visit . . .

I had good fun today trying to sort out the parish list for those who'd like to attend one of the events to take place during the Papal Visit.

We were asked to specify which venue people preferred; London or Coventry (yes, old information!) and whether their intention to attend was definite, probable or possible.

It reminded me one of those logic puzzles we used to get in school;

100 people would like to see the Holy Father in person when he visits Great Britain in September; 50 would definitely like to go to London, 25 would probably attend if the invitation was go to Coventry (now Birmingham) and 70 might possibly go to either event if a coach was laid on. How many people will be left at home watching the visit on TV?

Joking apart, I think I've sorted out the numbers, now we just have to sit back and wait and see how many invitations are forthcoming.

Shanks' Pony . . .

My car's been in the garage since Monday evening having all sorts of 'remedial works' done. Luckily I've been able to cadge lifts to & from work but it didn't work out yesterday so it was an hour's walk home for me. I'm not complaining; I really enjoy walking & don't often have the chance to fit a decent walk into a working day.

Yes, you guessed it - there is a 'but' on the way . . .

I really enjoyed the walk but maybe 'Fitflops' was not the best choice of footwear!

Nicely aching calves but I've got to face it - my legs are never going to look like this! :0)