This afternoon, I drove down to Parkminster. Heavy traffic meant that I arrived only just in time for a humorous but informative presentation on St Nicholas with different St Nicholases entering, from Hungary, Scotland, India, and Holland. Then there were songs from many of the community. We had English, American, Scots, Australian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Hebrew (by an Indonesian) and German. The latter language was to render several beautiful carols composed by Fr Aloysius who has been a Carthusian for about 50 years, I think. The novice-master warned me beforehand that this was an occasion for the community to relax and that there might be some unorthodox moments. He was not wrong. Introducing one of the songs, a newcomer to the community from Poland announced that the melody contained an interval that had been forbidden by the Church for some centuries: an augmented fourth. But he felt that it would be OK on this occasion. After the singing, there was tea, accompanied by various luxu