Countering subversion, saving babies and restoring the liturgy

A busy day today up in London. My good friend Lt Col James Sterling Corum is in England to give a lecture to the Defence Academy. We were at Oxford together many years ago and it is always great to catch up with news of his family and his academic work. Jim is an acknowledged expert in military history and especially airpower, and counter-subversion. He has recently written a new book: "Wolfram von Richthofen. Master of the German Air War", published by the University Press of Kansas. Wolfram von Richthofen is usually overshadowed by his cousin the "Red Baron". Before the second world war, he played a central role in building and developing the Luftwaffe. Jim has another book out in the summer analysing examples of failed decision-making processes by democracies in wartime. Talking to him about the book over lunch, it struck me that the principal lessons could be applied almost exactly to failed decision-making in the Church. I'll certainly be buying a copy when it is published.

After our lunch, I had an hour or so to do some writing (I took the laptop up with me) before going to the Good Counsel Network to give Benediction. Eucharistic Adoration is an important part of the Good Counsel Network's apostolate of helping mothers who are set on abortion. They have saved very many children over the years by their frontline spiritual work of mercy and their practical charity. I am always grateful for the opportunity to visit and help out with Mass or Benediction. Please say a prayer for their work - they are quite certain from experience that prayer saves babies.

I did not have time to stop for tea as usual because I had to go straight over to a meeting of the St Nicholas Study group of the Society of St Catherine of Siena. This was an opportunity for me to present a draft of my paper for the forthcoming Merton Conference organised by the Latin Mass Society to train priests to offer the Holy Mass in the usus antiquior. I will be speaking about implementing Summorum Pontificum in the parish context. It was very valuable to have the chance to discuss the paper with the scholarly participants in the group. Every meeting of the society includes some celebration of the Sacred Liturgy. Today we recited Vespers before and Compline after the meeting. (You don't need to ask which form.)

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