Martyrs: English, Canonised, Beatified and otherwise important . . . !

I must admit to being a little confused today. (What's new, I hear some say!).

Several mentions have appeared in the blogosphere, on Twitter and in conversations generally, to The Feast of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales.

In July last year four new feast days were approved for the National Calendar in England and Wales.

The saints in question, naturally, all have special significance for England and Wales.

St Gregory the Great (3rd September), St Thomas Becket (29th December), The English Martyrs (4th May) and St Augustine of Canterbury (27th May).

When Saints' feast days are elevated to a National Calendar it means that feast takes precedence over the universal calendar of the Church which is why we are not celebrating the feast of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales today as we used to.

Simple, really. I hope I've got that right. That's how how I understand it to be.

So, what happens to the feast day of the 40 martyrs canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1973? I hear you say.

They haven't been forgotten. We now celebrate their feast with the 85 beatified Martyrs of the Reformation and other later martyrs. This includes such well-known saints as St Margaret Clitherow and St Cuthbert Mayne, on the feast of the English Martyrs on 4th May.

I knew I'd have an opportunity to post some of the photos I took last week at St Osmund's in Salisbury. They have a marvellous collection of stained glass windows portraying the English Martyrs. I hope you enjoy them. (As usual, 'double-click' on the photos to see a larger version)

I took several more photos and may upload a short slide show later if I have time.

A day off and a day out . . .

We had a lovely day out last week on my day off. We went to do a 'recce' of the holiday home that we've booked for Christmas.

We couldn't find anywhere available right in the New Forest where we wanted to be but found a very acceptable place not far from Salisbury which is a beautiful Cathedral city and not that far away to drive into the New Forest for exploring (weather permitting & fingers crossed!) on days out.

We don't take the opportunity often enough to have a day out as a couple, I think, and it was good to be just the two of us for a change.

We were lucky to have chosen a beautiful sunny day for our outing and having located the cottage, we then set off to explore Salisbury. I can't remember if I've visited the town before but I was very impressed. I think most Cathedral cities are very attractive with a good combination of historic buildings and modern amenities.

We strolled through the town and everyone seemed to be enjoying the sunshine -what a plethora of fantastic coffee shops and patisseries - my idea of heaven!

On my 'to do' list was also 'find the nearest Catholic church' so armed with my printout from the web we located the nearest Catholic Chapel in Downton (no Abbey in sight!) and also the beautiful Pugin church of St Osmund in the centre of Salisbury. We're hoping that we'll be able to go to Midnight Mass there on Christmas Eve.

The Cathedral has a very interesting exhibition of life-size sculptures of people dotted around the Cathedral (outside) and they were even to be found in the cloister and the quadrangle.

We didn't want to be too late getting home so set off on the return journey in the early afternoon. We found a lovely pub for a super very late lunch on the way home - one to remember for our trip in December.

The Comedian and the Archbishop . . .

Those of you who are familiar with Twitter will know there is an option to 'favourite' a Tweet. It can be used in various ways but I use it in the same way as I might 'bookmark' a web site or page so that I can easily find it when I want to come back to it later.

A while ago I had 'favourited' a link to a discussion between the comedian Frank Skinner and the Archbishop of Canterbury. I had heard favourable reports of this event and thought I'd come back to it when I had time to read it or listen to it in full.

If you haven't already heard it you'll find a link here both to the audio version or, if you prefer, a transcript of the discussion.

I do think it was well worth the half hour or so I spent reading the transcript. I was very taken with Frank Skinner's ability to talk about his faith and, even in the written word, the spark between the two men was apparent. I think there was a mutual respect between the two.

I wouldn't say I agreed with Frank Skinner on everything he mentioned but quite of lot of what he, and the Archbishop, said resonated with me. Here are a few examples . . .

- but when I go to church on a Sunday morning I feel like we are discussing the most profound important serious things in the middle of a children's playground, and I find it quite difficult often just to even hear what's being said in a homily, for example. In the Catholic church I imagine this is even worse, because we are not that big on contraception as you may have heard. So there are a lot of kids screaming and shouting. I think it's a real problem. I think it makes church - I love kids and I love kids being around - but I kind of go there to be inspired. I kind of go there to be given something by the priest that I will take away with me and it will get me through that week.

and . . .

- And my point is, I’m not sure and in fact I think faith, that kind of complete and utter blind faith, is a very dangerous thing. I see myself as a person of doubt, and I think doubt is absolutely at the centre of being a human being, and is important. I worry when I hear religious people who have no doubt, just fundamentalist beliefs, and I worry when I hear atheists who seem to have no doubt at all. I think that that is an essential part of being a human being. And I think that when Jesus is on the cross and says “my Lord, my Lord, why have you forsaken me?” that’s the moment when he completely becomes a human being - and then he can die because he's done the full works. So I don't think anyone in this church tonight who believes in God should feel bad if there are days when they find it very very hard to believe.

And even slightly . . .

I sometimes wonder if maybe it's not a bad thing that churches don't have as many people in as they used to. I’m quite keen on quality rather than quantity. There was a time when there was a big social pressure to go to church, so a lot of the people there didn’t really want to be there and weren’t that interested. I know it often looks like the people there are not that interested, but I often look around during a sermon - just for something to do really - and I look at the people and people are looking at their shoes but I think, you never know actually – someone can look bored but inside they might be thinking very profound spiritual thoughts about their life. I would never assume. I think anyone who’s at church now, unless they’re a child who’s been dragged along, are there because they’ve made that decision. There is certainly no social pressure to go to church. On the contrary. So it might be good to have less people who are more committed.

So if you've get a few moments to spare, have a look or listen and see what you think.