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Showing posts with the label Aylesford

Lunch at Aylesford

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The temperature has dropped in this part of the world over the past couple of days and the pond at Aylesford had chunks of ice floating on the surface today. Aylesford, the Carmelite Priory confiscated by King Henry VIII and re-acquired by the Carmelites in 1949, was the home of St Simon Stock who received the vision of Our Lady, granting him the brown scapular which is worn, in miniature form, by Catholics all over the world. I always love to visit the Priory which is a mixture of ancient and modern buildings, the home of a community living and working in the service of the gospel. A forty minute drive in the coach took us there from Blackfen today for a "Christmas Lunch" organised by the Union of Catholic Mothers. I know it is still Advent but these occasions are a good way for people to get together, spend a day out safely, and enjoy a good lunch in good company. I'll admit that I did doze a little on the coach on the way back but I think I was not the only one.
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Photos from Aylesford

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The parish was buzzing this morning with excited news of yesterday's gathering for the veneration of the relics of St Thérèse. I'll ask the Knights of St Columba if they have a final estimated number for those attending but it does seem to be well over the 10,000 expected. Here, in the crowds, you can see Fr John Boyle giving Holy Communion at the Mass celebrated by Archbishop McDonald. Fr Boyle has pictures, videos and links at his blog Caritas in Veritate . The Union of Catholic Mothers from my parish left early to take their turn in the guard of honour and a coachload of parishioners left before 10am for the (normally) 40 minute drive to be there in time for Mass at 11.30am. In the event, they had to walk the last mile from Eccles since the traffic was backed up all the way to the M20. I sent down a small mobile special forces unit with the mission to capture the relics and bring them back to Blackfen: Unfortunately, the Knights of St Columba were there in considerable stren...
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Aylesford today

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Fr Ray Blake was at Aylesford today and has some photos on his blog. It all seems to have been a great success. A coachload of my parishioners went this morning and I am expecting some photos soon. I am relieved to hear that the tailback of traffic reached to the motorway, justifying my decision to remain in the parish since if I had gone after saying the morning Mass and hearing confessions, I would have had to return to the parish before I actually got to the shrine in order to hear confessions and say the evening Mass. Fr John Boyle was also at Aylesford today and has some photos including this one of Fr Stephen Langridge making good use of the occasion at the Southwark Vocations stall. I look forward to news from the Union of Catholic Mothers in the morning...
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Visit of St Thérèse relics

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The relics of St Thérèse arrived in England today. There is a dedicated page with good information at the CBCEW website: Relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux and the Catholic Herald has a portal with information about the visit. The relics are coming to the Archdiocese of Southwark from 9-11 October at Aylesford Priory . Some parishioners of mine are taking part in the veneration first thing on the Saturday morning and we will have a good group going for other parts of the day. This devotion has really caught on in a big way with very positive results. There is already a strong devotion to St Thérèse in England and the tour of her relics will help people to understand the importance of the veneration of relics, getting rid of some of the silly scruples about relics that have affected people over recent years. The Little Way of St Thérèse with its unthreatening but also uncompromising fidelity will help many to return to those devotions that are so helpful to the Christian faithful. Well -...
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With the Knights at Aylesford

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Last year I gave a lecture at Aylesford for the local Province of the Knights of St Columba on the Catholic response to secularism. They asked me to speak again this year and so this afternoon I joined them at the North Barn which the Friars have recently restored with the aid of English Heritage. The Knights wanted me to continue with the same theme, and more recently we agreed that it would be good to look at Bishop O'Donoghue's "Fit for Mission? Church" since it offers a wealth of practical suggestions for action which are relevant to promoting the mission of the Church in a secular society. Personally I was glad of the opportunity to study the document in greater detail. After giving some background information, I outlined the structure that Bishop O'Donoghue used and then took a few examples from the four areas of Liturgy, Revelation, the communion of the Church, and the Church in the Modern World. Overall, I tried to emphasise that Bishop O'Donoghue does...
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At Aylesford today

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Fr Charles Briggs, assisted by myself and Fr John Boyle, celebrated the High Mass at Aylesford today for the annual pilgrimage of the Latin Mass Society . Above you can see us framed by one of the arches in the surviving part of the old cloister. There were many groups at Aylesford today, including one with Fr Angelus of the Franciscans of the Renewal. Unfortunately I had to get back after a quick cup of tea and a sandwich after Mass in order to hear confessions in the parish. The Southwark Diocesan Unity Commission was there with Bishop Pat Lynch who kindly came over to have a chat with us before Mass. In my sermon, I spoke of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, her devotee, St Joseph of Cupertino, and the privilege of being able to visit the shrine and the relic of St Simon Stock:
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High Mass at Aylesford

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Tomorrow I will be going to Aylesford for the annual pilgrimage of the Latin Mass Society . High Mass is at 1pm: Fr Charles Briggs will be celebrant, I will be Deacon and Fr John Boyle will be Subdeacon. It would be great to see you if you are in the area. There is a talk, Rosary, and Benediction at 3pm although I may not be able to stay for all of that since I have confessions back in the parish later. I always enjoy visiting Aylesford and believe that it is under-rated as a pilgrimage destination. The priory was founded in 1242, confiscated by Henry VIII in 1538, and purchased again by the Carmelites in 1949. It was the home of St Simon Stock who received the brown scapular from Our Blessed Lady. His skull is venerated in a special shrine and there are several representations of Our Lady giving him the scapular. There are chapels dedicated to the English Martyrs, to St Joseph (with scenes from the life of the prophet Elijah), to St Anne, and to the Carmelite saints.
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Saint Gabriel

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The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic school teachers that they should not talk to children about angels. This wrought lasting damage which continues to need rectifying. We should include in our prayers a heartfelt recourse to our own Guardian Angels. The Archangel Gabriel “God is my strength” would be terrifying were he to appear to any of us. Our Lady was “troubled” at the word of Saint Gabriel and wondered at the manner of the salutation. Immediately, according to his mission, the awesome messenger explained himself. Modern retelling of the event is often reduced to the jejune “Mary said Yes to God”. In fact, she said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. This conveys more accurately the flawless faith and trust of the Immaculata. In the infinitely wise providence of the Father, we now know the structure of the event in even more detai...
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Plenary indulgences not impossible

Dilexit Prior in Letters from a Young Catholic asked some useful questions today about indulgences. I thought it would be best to do a post here especially to cover the controversial question of detachment from venial sin. But first the other questions: The conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence Pope Paul VI set down a number of norms relating to indulgences at the end of Indulgentiarum Doctrina . Norm 7 states: To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfil three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent. If this disposition is in any way less than complete, or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be only partial, except for the provisions contained in n.11 for those who are “impeded.” It is worth reading the other norms bec...
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Portiuncula indulgence tomorrow (and indulgences generally)

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Tomorrow, 2 August, you can gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions ( see below ) by visiting a parish Church and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . This is called the Portiuncula indulgence and goes back to St Francis of Assisi. Fr Z has the details . Don't forget that you can also gain a plenary indulgence by visiting a Church on the day of the titular feast, and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . I made a list of other indulgences: please see the post Plenary indulgences for particular days which has a link to the list. The post has some background information which you may find helpful since indulgences are not well understood today - which is not surprising since indulgences are not included in most Catholic education curricula, and most priests never preach about them. Therefore many Catholics are left with whatever silly, half-baked, ill-informed nonsense about indulgences happens to be current. If you want to understand the theology...
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Our Easter Faith: Not a Pious Crème Fraiche

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In public life, some basically well-meaning figures have the graciousness to wish us well at Easter and to recognise the importance of the Christian feast day. Perhaps they might assure us that their thoughts are with us at this time. That is kind of them and in Christian charity we should thank them for their kindness, but Easter should be a great deal more than that for us. We must believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the grave, in the flesh, and lives for eternity. We cannot treat Easter as a jolly holiday that heralds spring, or the remembrance of a significant event from the past. It must change us today and every day, change who we are and what we do. The Christian faith cannot be a mild custard or blancmange of religiosity. (I am showing my age. Nowadays, I should say that it cannot be reduced to a pious crème fraiche .) We bow down and adore the King of Kings, risen from the tomb, who, “[…] continues for ever,...
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Blessing of the New Painting of St Bede at Clapham Park

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This morning, the parish priest at Clapham Park, Fr Marcus Holden, blessed a new picture of the parish's patron, Saint Bede, painted by James Tildsley. It is sited over a recently installed side altar near the rear of the Church. The altar itself was acquired from Antique Church Furnishings . The website gives the information that the altar was built and carved by a nun in a convent near Liverpool. It is a beautiful piece of work and it is always a joy when such works of art find a suitable and dignified home. The inscription on the gradine is AMANS AMATUS AMOR. The sellers translate this as “Loving is the object of love” which is a reasonable stab at “dynamic equivalence”. Today the parish's relic of St Bede was exposed for veneration in its distinctive brightly-coloured reliquary. After the blessing, there was High Mass with Fr Holden as celebrant, Fr Littleton deacon, and myself subdeacon. That gave me the enjoyable task of chant...
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