Fr Briggs and I are spending a few days in Eastbourne, a traditional English seaside town on the Sussex coast. The parish Church of Our Lady of Ransom is very fine; above is a photograph of the Church's Lady Altar.We are quite near to Brighton and therefore yesterday took the train across to visit Fr Ray Blake at Saint Mary Magdalen. After saying our Masses at the Sacred Heart altar, we joined Fr Blake for lunch in one of Brighton's many and varied restaurants.
This morning, we intend to visit Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain at over 500 feet high. An area of great beauty, it has sadly gained a reputation as a location for committing suicide. Thanks be to God, a chaplaincy team which regularly patrols the area has helped to reduce the number of people jumping off the cliff.Then we will drive over to Shoreham to visit Fr Sean Finnegan of the parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace which comprises three Churches in the Adur Valley. We will be saying our Masses in the Church of St Peter.
8 comments:
Don't jump Fr! The Bishop's Conference isn't worth it!!
We've often thought how lovely it would be for the EF to be said in the Lady Chapel at OLR, *big sigh*!
'You go to Brighton! - I would not trust you so near it as East Bourne...
Sorry, Father, but the Austen reference needed to be made.
I got married in OLR, nearly 11 years ago. Lovely church. Those blue chairs weren't in the Lady Chapel then, I'm sure.
Never mind Brighton, Father, avoid Lewes! I gather they have a longstanding annual competition in the town each November 5th to see who can put on the best 'burning the Pope' ceremony. If it's still being allowed to go on, it proves that the 'politically correct' lobby has a very inequitable agenda. But we knew that anyway.
On the subject of OLR Eastbourne, I was there exactly 2 months to the day before you, for my father-in-law's Requiem Mass. It is indeed a fine church, where I had never been before, and reminded me very much of my own former parish church in London, St Mary's Cadogan St. (I now live in France.) The stone carving behind the high altar was the most reminiscent. I remarked on it to the priest (curate)after the Mass and asked him if he knew who'd done the work. He didn't but we agreed it could have been the same sculptor as Cadogan St. because of the style and period. I hope the parishioners are grateful that their church has not suffered as much in the re-ordering stakes as many others up and down the land. It seems that one at least would be quite happy to have the TLM, and the Lady chapel would be a perfect place to start, given the name of the church.
And Anne-Marie says, 'We've often thought ...' so she's not alone.
Perhaps she'll find out about that sculptor for me.
With prayers for you Father, and for OLR Eastbourne,(I've another very special reason to thank you for your blog and will either post it under another category or write to you snil-mail),
Mane nobiscum, Domine.
Jane
Jane - the parish priest, Fr Biggerstaff, arranged a course of lectures under the heading "Know Popery" to coincide with last year's 5th November celebrations.
(My email address is rosary@freeuk.com)
Hi, Jane. I don't know who executed the carving (I shall try and find out!), but OLR's architect was Frederick A Walters, who designed a fair few Catholic churches, and had a hand in Buckfast Abbey as well, I think.
And you're right, it's not been wrecked, and I am profoundly grateful for that...perhaps because it's Grade 2 listed?
Fr., I've only just discovered that my earlier post acually got through. I'd had difficulty getting my google deatils accepted. (They've work without a problem for Holy Smoke, WDTPRS)
Love Fr Biggerstaff's way with a pun. Thanks for the email address. Makes life much simpler. Will contact when it's apparent you're back from Holland.
Anne-Marie, thanks. I'll look forward to reading it her, if you find anything out.
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