The Hermeneutic of Continuity

Along with many other people, I do enjoy Simcha Fisher's writing. She is a fine example of the thoroughly modern orthodox Catholic woman: witheringly sceptical about feminism but also a woman to steer clear of if you have any thought of patronising women. Today she has a typically trenchant post on modesty in dress for women as the summer heat draws upon us. She lacerates the practice of wearing "look at me" flesh-exposing outfits while also being practical on the difficulty of choosing what to wear when it is hot (she ends up in the living room wearing a paper bag.) A good taster quote: If we're old enough to be choosing our own outfits, then we're old enough to choose something that doesn't look like it was dreamed up by a twelve-year-old boy who doesn't have a reliable father figure in the home. See: Why I'm Wearing This .

Family and Youth Concern has produced A Brief History of Marriage as a free online resource for schools. Many adults would find it a useful overview. Here is the summary from Family and Youth Concern: In twelve short chapters, experienced educator John de Waal traces the history of marriage from the ancient world of Egypt, Greece and Rome down to the present day. Along the way, he interacts with the disciplines of literature, theology, philosophy, psychology, politics and sociology in clear and accessible prose. Wide-ranging and varied in style, A Brief History of Marriage includes references to marriage customs, laws and policies through the ages, alongside extracts from love letters and quaint and homely tips given to husbands and wives in bygone days. Attractively produced and well-illustrated, this online resource is suitable for use in PSHE, history or Religious Education classes. Each chapter concludes with several questions which will stimulate further thought and p...

We are under pressure at work to achieve targets and our results are made public as a way of encouraging us. This can give rise to some bad feelings between us: can my faith be of any help in this? Competition is not a bad thing in itself and can be a way of encouraging people to work hard, but the intense atmosphere of some workplaces with public comparisons has an obvious downside in tempting people to deceit, jealousy and disloyalty to colleagues. Certainly our Christian way of life can be of help. First of all, at a management level, whilst competition is a motivator, the cohesiveness of a team is also crucial to overall effectiveness and better results. Backbiting in the office is not going to have a positive effect on the balance sheet. If you are not in a position to change the overall ethos at management level, you can still try to promote a better work atmosphere by living the virtues opposite to the vices which harm relationships in your own team. Integrity, honesty, trust...

At St George's Cathedral last night, Auntie Joanna was invested as a Dame of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St Gregory the Great , founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831. Mgr Keith Newton celebrated Mass and Archbishop Peter Smith presented the decoration. Fr Stephen Langridge of the Vocations Centre preached an excellent sermon. Aid to the Church in Need  recommended Joanna for the Order but Joanna's charitable and campaigning work extends far and wide over many years and through a wide variety of apostolic works and organisations. It was a lovely occasion and a great opportunity to meet up with many friends in the Amigo Hall afterwards. At one point there was a bit of a John Fisher Old Boys Reunion - "old" being the operative word since we are all, ahem, getting more "senior" now. Here is a close-up of the cross: And the citation: And a photo of Dame Joanna with Sir Dan of the Blogosphere: The above photos are all from the Flickr S...

Fr Z has the translated text of a great sermon by the Most Rev Luigi Negri , Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio at a Mass according to the usus antiquior which he celebrated at the Marian shrine of Poggetto. He says that Pope Benedict "overcame that spurious distinction between “old” and “new” which is made by the followers of the hermeneutic of discontinuity" but there is so much good sense in this sermon concerning the place of the usus antiquior that I encourage you to read it all. The people of his diocese are fortunate indeed to have such a Bishop.

Many thanks to a commenter for pointing me to the article on the Eponymous flower blog: Why Pope Won't Fire Marini: "Put the Treasure of Tradition to Use . This has a translation of an article by Guiseppe Nardi with material supplementary to the article in Il Foglio which I mentioned yesterday . Tancred posted the translation earlier in the day and I missed it. (Note to self - put Eponymous Flower in higher category on Feedly.) As was also rightly commented, there is another important point in the episode worth noting, as well as the Holy Father's insistence that we should treasure tradition: some of the Italian Bishops have been putting pressure on the Holy Father to sack Mgr Guido Marini. He has refused, saying that he wants to benefit from Mgr Marini's traditional formation and to allow Mgr Marini also to be formed by him. Some may say "Oh what does Pope Francis mean by 'my emancipated formation'?" Well I think we just need to see how that...

The Bishops of the region of Tavoliere met recently with Pope Francis on an ad limina visit. On their return home, one has given a fascinating glimpse of the attitude of Pope Francis to those who are seeking to use the opportunity of his papacy to attack the traditional Mass. This is reported in the Italian paper Il Foglio , in the article: La messa antica non si tocca, il Papa gesuita spiazza ancora tutti ("The old mass is not to be touched, the Jesuit Pope wrong-foots everyone") Here is my translation of the relevant part of the article which tells of other bishops raising concerns with the Holy Father and goes on to speak of the intervention concerning the old Mass: Then it was the turn of the bishop of Conversano and Monopoli, Domenico Padovano, who recounted to the clergy of his diocese how the priority of the bishops of the region of Tavoliere had been that of explaining to the Pope that the mass in the old rite was creating great divisions within the Church. T...

The feast of St Norbert is on 6 June. Norbertine Vocations have therefore announced that there is a Novena to seek his intercession for our own needs and for the needs of the whole Church, starting today. The Norbertines of St Philip's Priory, Chelmsford , have produced a fine booklet which gives a summary of St Norbert's life, then texts for each day, including a reflection on some aspect of his life and spiritual example. Here is a link to a pdf of the booklet: Novena in Honour of St Norbert . St Norbert was one of many saints in the history of the Church whose work included the reform of the clergy: always a thankless task. In his case, the secular canons spat at him and tried to have him taken away by the secular authorities. St Norbert had a particular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, to Our Lady and to the relics of the saints. More information in the Novena booklet .

This day in 1965, Arundel and Brighton was erected as a Diocese and Southwark was elevated to a Metropolitan See. Congratulations to all my friends in Arundel and Brighton. Perhaps a glass of Prosecco might be allowed as that seems to be the celebratory drink of choice in many Catholic circles nowadays. A&B used to be known as the "gin & jag" diocese but a priest friend of mine suggested some years ago that it should be updated to "real ale & Range Rover." What would it be today? When the diocese was formed, the rule was that priests became part of A&B if they were stationed in the territory on the day the diocese came into being. I remember older priests telling me of manoeuvres to get into one or other diocese before the guillotine came down.

The Saint Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal was kindly sent to me by someone whose name I cannot clearly make out from the signature on the enclosed card. Whoever you are, you have my warmest thanks and assurance of prayers. (You can email me if you wish.) The book could be described as a celebration of the glory  of the usus antiquior , a labour of love for tradition and beauty in the Sacred Liturgy. In the age of the Kindle, people often say that they like the feel of a real book and I reply that I do like real books but could not care much for glued paperbacks. This is a real book of fine quality: lovely to see such books still being made. The texts of the Ordinary for Low Mass and High Mass have photographs and colour illustrations, including newly created illuminated capitals. Throughout there are digitally enhanced line art illustrations (which are being made available online in high resolution.) There is an amazing section with ancient manuscript illustrations to sho...

Our Lady, the Divine Mercy and the Popes of the Marian Era from Blessed Pius IX to Benedict XVI. Stephen Walford focusses principally on the "Popes of the Marian era" (an expression he explains and justifies) their teaching on the end times and, more particularly, our response to the present time in which many of the signs of the end are present. The signs which previous Popes and saints discerned, sometimes in graphic language, are far more evident today than in their times which seem morally healthy and placid by comparison As he says at the end of chapter three: The popes of the Marian era, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary, carefully discerned the signs of the times and courageously proclaimed the reality that for the Church, its final, great struggle against the forces of evil was at hand. By recognising the maternal mediation of Mary, they placed before the faithful the image of the Hodegetria , she who "sho...

The absurdly high expense of many weddings is not only unnecessary but actually a contributing factor to the breakdown of marriages. Recently there has been some talk in the press about the amount that couples spend on their weddings. For example, the Guardian has an article:  Here comes the bride's £14,000 bill The press and many couples often unfairly cite "Church fees" as a reason for not getting married in Church. In fact, as the Guardian list shows, fees associated with the Church are dwarfed by, for example, the fee you would pay a professional photographer, let alone the cost for "food and drink": the reception is always by far the greatest expense. (The fee listed by the Guardian as "Hire of Church" would include the fee for registration - something people would have to pay anyway for a civil marriage.) A parishioner passed on to me an interesting follow-up letter in the Times. Here is the link to the letter by Amanda McAlister , Head...

Paris was yet again filled with pro-family campaigners today. H/T to David Quinn on Twitter for posting photos from the Facebook page of La Manif Pour Tous . Thanks be to God for the relentless opposition of the French to the redefinition of marriage.

Ajmal Masroor, an Imam from a London Mosque, interviewed on Sky News gives a stirring response to the Woolwich atrocity. You may quote other imams, the Koran or other sources but I think that this man deserves a hearing. A quote: "If they have done it because they want to go to heaven, well those who murder will never smell heaven."

Always a rewarding and enriching experience. I go to the Good Counsel Network's London centre now and again to give Benediction at the end of the working day. I was there on Wednesday but my mention of my visit was overshadowed by the murder that happened in Woolwich, so I wanted to follow up on the Good Counsel Network. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the basement chapel during the day and constant prayer is offered up as a part of their work while others are upstairs counselling and giving women the opportunity to keep their child rather than have an abortion. A recent development is that they now have a scanner which makes it possible for mothers to see that their baby is in fact a baby and not a blob of jelly. Their success rate in saving the lives of unborn children is phenomenal. Very many mothers and children have lifelong gratitude for the help and support that they received at a difficult time. This continues after the birth of the baby with help finding ac...

Yesterday, I posted a Catholic Dilemma that was published a while ago in the Catholic Herald on The priest, sin and saying Mass . In these articles I have to keep within 350-360 words and therefore there are always things that I have to omit. (This is a very salutary discipline for a writer, I think: it certainly helps you to be ruthless with redundant words and phrases - as you might very much say, so to speak, if I might be somewhat rather a bit bold...) In this case, however, there is a particular point that is worth following up (and will be the subject of a future Catholic Dilemma .) If the priest is bad, does that affect the validity of the Mass or of the sacrament that he ministers? People do often get confused on this matter. The Donatists of the 4th and 5th centuries held that those who had handed over the scriptures as a token of repudiating the faith under persection - the traditores - could not adminster baptism validly. They maintained that people had to be baptis...

The Catholic Truth Society has just released its new selection of pamphlets which are, as ever, a great service to the Church and especially to those who wish to learn more about their faith, and grow in their spiritual life. The CTS takes seriously its role as "Publishers to the Holy See" and has always made available printed texts of the teaching of the Popes. Thus there is a new pamphlet with the First Addresses of Pope Francis . Nowadays, of course, many people read these on the internet long before they are printed but they serve two purposes: first to make the texts available to those who do not use the internet or have not yet realised what a wealth of Catholic material is available, and secondly for anyone who wants to carry the texts around in a pocket-sized format for reading at leisure. A special publication this time round is a beautifully presented hardback collection of The Encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI . Properly bound in signatures with quality pape...

This evening I was in London to give Benediction at the chapel of the Good Counsel Network which does so much good work in saving the lives of unborn children and helping their mothers to live with dignity, knowing that there are people who genuinely care for them and will give practical assistance. To avoid the rush hour, I stopped for a bite to eat near Charing Cross and after getting home and tidying up a bit of work at the desk, I allowed myself a look at the social media. So I was confronted by the ghastly breaking news of a soldier from the Royal Artillery Barracks being hacked to death by muslim extremists in nearby Woolwich. Quite understandably there are some very angry comments flying around. Certainly I will make a memento for the poor man tomorrow at Mass - requiescat in pace - but I am also praying hard that this will not set off another cycle of violence locally. May God preserve us! Our Lady of Sorrows. Pray for us.

Recently we have learned that priests are human and can commit serious sins. What is the priest supposed to do if he has to say mass (and receive Communion) without being able to go to confession? St Ambrose, St John Chrysostom, and many writers since them, have given sobering advice to priests on the damage that is done by their sins. One of the most important works of the Council of Trent was the reform of the education and life of the clergy; it would be a fair historical judgement to say that it achieved a measure of success. In recent years of course, we have been saddened by the scandal of priests committing horrendous sins. These should remind us that sinning does not make a man more human but less human. Our Lady did not commit a single sin during her life and she was the most “human” person that ever lived. When a priest commits a serious sin, there are a number of consequences which aggravate the damage that he does. In many cases the sin will be worsened by the scandal th...

Denials are always difficult in public relations. Today's big denial from the Vatican is to say that the Holy Father did not carry out an exorcism. More or less every major news outlet seems to be carrying the story of the non-exorcism: after all, exorcism, even if it didn't happen, is a subject which is exciting for many people. The Vatican news site continues with a short interview with Fr. Bernd Hagenkord, SJ which is very sensible. As a teacher of sacramental theology, I include an excursus on exorcism in my course. Fr Hagenkord rightly and briefly states that exorcism is not a sacrament. An interesting point for theologians is the question of whether exorcism is a sacramental. It is usually listed as such in the manuals, including that of the most excellent Felix Cappello. However, the highly respected theologian, Dr Manfred Hauke wrote in the periodical Antiphon (Vol 10. 2006) arguing that it was a specific priestly power given by Christ, not simply a sacramental in...

The Shrine of Aylesford in Kent is used by the Archdiocese of Southwark for some big events, it is a place of local pilgrimage for the Union of Catholic Mothers, the Knights of St Columba and other excellent Catholic organisations. Still I feel that it is not given the prominence that it should have. Aylesford was confiscated by Henry VIII and became a private house for several centuries before being bought back by the Carmelites in 1949 when it came on the market. The Carmelites, including the saintly Fr Malachy Lynch raised money for its purchase and fine renovation in what could justly be included in the New Liturgical Movement's "other modern" category. But the reason Aylesford should be known and celebrated more widely is its association with the brown scapular which is used by millions of Catholics throughout the world. The story is disputed in scholarly terms, dating as it does back to the 13th century, but essentially it is St Simon Stock of Aylesford who...

My good friend Michael Coren sent me over an article he wrote last year on the question of bullying: The bullying of schools has just begun . Here is a sample: The alternative to a gay kid being bullied is not a gay-straight alliance but an end to bullying. But then this isn’t about children being bullied and hasn’t been from the beginning. It’s about government and activists bullying others into acceptance of homosexuality.

There are reports today that Stonewall has been invited into St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Wimbledon. The Telegraph and others added a human interest note to the story, saying that Stonewall had been invited in after a boy called another pupil's shoes "gay" but Pink News reports that the Headteacher has denied that such an incident happened. Pink News goes on to report the Head as saying that Stonewall’s programme was tailored specifically for the Catholic school and did not mention same-sex relationships or equal marriage. Naturally, I would not want to question the Headteacher's word on this, but it is surprising in view of Stonewall's published material which makes a particular point of saying that failure to talk about gay partnerships is part of the problem. (I know of at least one other Catholic school in the Diocese where posters saying "Some people are gay. Get over it." were posted on classroom notice-boards.) In any case, S...

The Italian March for Life in Rome last Sunday had the best possible support when Pope Francis turned up unannounced to join them and encourage them. Pro-Lifers who do marches, vigils and the like often feel a little nervous and unsupported. Opposition, though generally small and sporadic, can be quite vehement. Several of our own Bishops in England and Wales have given great example by attending vigils and it is always much appreciated. How wonderful it must have been for the Marcia per la Vita to have the Pope himself turn up to support them. By doing so, Pope Francis has not only sent a message about the importance of the pro-life cause, but also an endorsement that taking to the streets to give witness is the right thing to do.

Bishop Mark Davies has given a very sensible homily to the Union of Catholic Mothers today, pointing out that when it comes to the Pope, Catholics do not base their loyalty on personal "likes" or "dislikes." He said: I can’t remember how many times I have been asked everywhere from radio stations to petrol stations whether I liked the new Pope? To the Catholic mind this is a strange question as the loyalty we owe to the Pope is not based upon personal “likes” or “dislikes”. My invariable reply is that “We love the Pope whoever he is.” This may seem just as puzzling to my questioners. Those long experienced in the media warn of something we may already see taking shape and will require of us the very supernatural perspective Pope Francis urges. They tell of how a public personality can be built up in the media. In this case, it is based on the Pope’s evident goodness and an informal style which is then contrasted even with his most saintly predecessors. Expectations...

It is refreshing to see a senior ecclesiastic make a plain and obvious response to a scandalous action by a Catholic College. Boston College is a Jesuit run university, though you don't actually find that out from their About page . They have invited Enda Kenny, Taoiseach of the Irish Republic, to receive an honorary degree. Enda Kenny has aggressively promoted abortion legislation. Cardinal O'Malley was invited to join the celebrations. He has refused because of the confusion, disappointment and harm caused by this disgraceful act by the university.

I thought this was a priceless question from a young girl who is pondering a possible call to religious life. "Mummy, the problem with being a religious sister is... WHO catches the spiders?" You see: at home it is normally Daddy.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the families of my parish was missing for the weekend. This was not a case of football, dancing or a taekwando competition but an event organised by the Latin Mass Society for families. As a parish priest on my own in the parish, I cannot get to these wonderful weekend events but I am glad when my parishioners take advantage of them. I was impressed by Joe Shaw's appeal to people who do not have any affiliation with the older form of the Mass to come along anyway to see what is on offer. I would endorse that encouragement for good Catholic families. I enjoyed seeing one of my altar servers assisting the great Fr Hunwicke.

On Twitter today I found this fun parody of Dan Brown by Michael Deacon: Don’t make fun of renowned Dan Brown . Ages ago, when The Da Vinci Code was popular, I published my notes on Answering the Da Vinci Code . I was mainly concerned with the inaccuracies in Brown's portrayal of the Catholic Church. Michael Deacon focusses on his writing style with devastating effect. I particularly liked this passage: Renowned author Dan Brown gazed admiringly at the pulchritudinous brunette’s blonde tresses, flowing from her head like a stream but made from hair instead of water and without any fish in. The whole thing is a hoot. Do have a look.

I'm trying to be good and post some real entries on Twitter and Facebook but also like to get blogposts put up automatically. I have been using twitterfeed but that seems not to be working with FB so after a brief google search, I have gone over to dlvr.it  which looks good with stats and stuff. So this is really a test post to see what happens next. * Publish * Will also go and do some real person updates just to show willing.

A friend was recently talking to me about “meditation”: I thought this was some sort of Eastern pagan practice but apparently there is a Christian version. Would this be useful to me? Many forms of meditation are today promoted as practices that might be “useful” by helping you to be in touch with your inner self, have peace, and be healthy, balanced and whole. Unfortunately many of them do have pagan associations and seek to align your chakras, be at one with a world spirit, or balance your yin and yang. I would advise you to avoid techniques billed as tantric, karmic, or yogic, or anything that involves a stranger massaging your head. In fact, your friend was talking about prayer. Although prayer is indeed useful to us both for this world and eternity, its primary focus is not “me” but God: prayer is the raising up of the mind and heart to God as St John Damascene put it, or conversation with Christ to use St Teresa’s expression (to be understood not simply as words but also as c...

My not very convincing imitation of The Vortex next to the man himself. Thanks to the Clovis family I had the opportunity for a good chat over lunch with Michael Voris of Church Militant TV  along with Fr Briggs, a certain incisive online commenter, and other good friends. Michael spoke on Saturday at the Family Life International Conference and will be speaking this evening at Nottingham. He is at Tilburg (Netherlands) on Thursday and then London again next Saturday for the Pro Ecclesia et Ponitifice conference. ( Details ) It has been quite a weekend. Blackfen has been hosting the Conference of the Catholic Medical Association and I went hotfoot from there for a late lunch before returning for the evening Mass. I just enjoyed watching one of the latest of Michael's short programmes. It is the "Boretex" in which he extols the Church of Nice and the importance of not being divisive or offending anyone.

A bit of a tall order, speaking to Catholic medics on "Answering Hard Questions." After all, medics can throw some of the most difficult moral conundrums concerning material co-operation in evil. This weekend, the Catholic Medical Association are meeting in my parish for their annual conference. Although there are a few old friends, I am always delighted that at these occasions I get to meet many people I have never come across before, all working hard in their own fields and trying to bring their Catholic faith to bear in their professional work. It is a great privilege to be able to host such a conference in my parish and many thanks to the Treloars for organising it. My talk was essentially the same as the one I gave last year for a day for catechists for the Southwark Diocese. If you want to see the materials, there are links at the post Answering Hard Questions . A question came up about alternative therapy which we discussed in a sensible and serious way. I did a...

A mummified cat. This is to be found in the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in Canterbury which displays items from some of the first professional archaeologists to excavate in Egypt. Now who says I'm not a cat lover?

Earlier this week on a beautifully sunny day, Fr Briggs and I were able to take a couple of hours off in the afternoon to have lunch at the Trafalagar in Greenwich, courtesy of a kind friend, and to take a walk up and down Greenwich Park, now more or less recovered from the Olympics. We also saw with some degree of horror what has been done to the Cutty Sark.

... but you can't take the Croydon out of the man. It is hard to contain my emotion at this film noir tribute to the town where I grew up. It is the best Croydon ballad since Captain Sensible. It is also a promo for a film called Limbo which is actually about purgatory, where purgatory is in fact Croydon. I dare not recommend the film but I did enjoy some of the lines in the trailer. The tram didn't exist in my youth, but it has essentially taken over much of the railway which used to run from Elmers End through Bingham Road and on to Sanderstead. The bridges were knocked down and a new line built with level crossings. Such determined serial modernising futility sums up a lot of Croydon's post-war history and has a charm all of its own. I actually saw one office block on Wellesley Road built and later demolished during the course of my schooldays. It really is time I made a pilgrimage to Croydon to see how everything has improved.

Father Charles Johnson of the US Navy Chaplain Corps celebrates the traditional Latin Mass for the troops in Afghanistan. His intention is for the souls enrolled in the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society, as Rorate Caeli reports . Let us take a moment to offer a prayer for the holy souls, but also for the troops serving in Afghanistan. (If I had enough hair on the top of my head, I would be tempted to have a haircut like that.)

In any battle, there are a few who take the fight to the enemy while many watch and follow if they think it is safe enough. Military metaphors have their limits of course, but I think that in the culture wars we are engaged in, we should recognise those who take the lead. Above you can view a video of Ryan Anderson taking on Piers Morgan on the question of the redefinition of marriage. Under intense fire, he keeps his cool and keeps moving forward. On another front, Nikki Kenward, who suffered "locked-in" syndrome, throws down the gauntlet to Sarah Wooton, the Chief Exec of "Dignity in Dying." Here is her feisty open letter: OPEN LETTER TO SARAH WOOTTON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF DIGNITY IN DYING A meme is "an idea, behaviour, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture”. Sarah, I would like to begin by asking a simple question. Is your world full of lovely, caring, sensible people who only want the best for others and see, in that glistening...

Bishop Egan, Canon Ruscillo, and George Weigel are speaking at a Day of Faith at St Patrick's, Soho Square, organised by the Faith Movement on Tuesday 18 June. Traditionally, the Faith Movement has worked with young people and has, through our Magazine and pamphlets , offered contributions to catechesis and theological debate within the household of the faith, especially concerning science and religion. One area which we have wanted to improve on is providing opportunities for mature lay Catholics to learn about our apostolate and benefit from the enthusiastic promotion of orthodox Catholic teaching. To that end, Joanna Bogle has taken on the responsibility for organising a Day of Faith which is open to all. The Day, linked to the Year of Faith, will include Mass, Adoration, time for confessions, and an optional history walk around the local area, led by Joanna who regularly conducts such tours. The talks by Bishop Egan, Canon Ruscillo and George Weigel promise to be grea...