The Hermeneutic of Continuity

After Mass and Benediction this morning, I went over to Chislehurst to visit Fr Charles Briggs who can be seen in the above photo. For those who live in the Greater London Conurbation, the picture shows an oddly vacant sky. Later in the afternoon, I asked my servers to see whether they could observe anything unusual in the sky. I told them that this was a trick question since what was unusual was that there were none of the vapour trails that we usually see from aeroplanes. It is strange to see such a clear blue sky in the London area. Some of my parishioners are stuck in places such as Alicante, Lanzarote, and Tenerife to which they have flown for an Easter holiday. I wish them every blessing for their extended holiday. For those who are desperate to get back, I pray that they will soon be able to travel. Some rain might help.

On Monday mornings, I teach Sacramental Theology at St John's Seminary at Wonersh. Usually, I leave around lunchtime so that I can get a couple of hours' work in before celebrating Mass in the parish so that people can come after work or school. This evening, however, I was up at Maiden Lane for 6.30pm Mass, which was followed as usual by a drink nearby. It was there that I learned from Leutgeb of Bara Brith that I had missed the main Catholic news story of the day: Pope Benedict's Address to the Bishops of England and Wales . Leaving reasonably early I reckoned that I would have time to write something without staying up too late. ... TFL (Transport for London) had other ideas. Having luckily caught a number 11 bus from the Strand to Westminster, I was on schedule to be home by 10pm. After I had descended through Westminster Station (which always reminds me of the Nazi rocket-firing bunker in Normandy) there was a platform announcement that the Jubilee line was suspen...

The other day I took the train down to Salisbury for a quiet day and to view the magnificent Cathedral which was built very rapidly by medieval standards. The spire (the tallest decorated Gothic spire in Europe) was added later and still leans significantly about 30 inches to the South West. The Tower weighs about 6400 tons. Apparently, present day structural engineers would be allowed to use the columns to support only about a tenth of that weight. In the photo above, you can see how different such Churches look from different angles. From the West door, the Cathedral looks squat and massive whereas from almost any other angle it is graceful and perfectly proportioned. Inside, the limestone is contrasted with the slender Purbeck marble shafts creating an austere beauty uplifting the gaze. The odd living-water style font in the centre of the nave shows that no matter how beautiful a Cathedral may be, the 20th century would find something to disrupt it. In the south aisle, there is a ma...

Schiphol airport at Amsterdam is a major international hub and it was a very long trek from the plane to passport control. The terminal is built around a "plaza" which is in fact Schiphol railway station. At the airport, there was an English sign pointing to "Information about Holland" which reassured me - it is supposed to be very incorrect to talk of the Netherlands as Holland since Holland is only a part of the Netherlands. (Cf. this Wikipedia article which explains everything...) Update : I have now realised that Schiphol Airport is in fact in Holland. So yes, we should speak of "The Netherlands" My train takes me via Amersfoort to Groningen. We have just stopped at Hilversum which is a name people of may age remember from old wireless sets. The journey is about two and a half hours through flat and fertile country, much of which is below sea level. My destination has a Wikipedia article of its own: Warfhuizen . Here it is on the map: View Larger Map ...

Perhaps I should have written "Ferters from Hull" copying the vowels from the train announcer "the last der on the trairn will not erpen". (The youngsters from Hull found it funny when I hammed up a drawled cockney accent.) The above photo is of the Humber Bridge which has a span of 1410m and was, for 16 years, the longest single span suspension bridge in the world. I missed it on the way up because I was buried in the computer so I made sure to get a photo on the way back. While in Hull, I met James and Ella Preece of Catholic and Loving it! as well as the redoubtable journalist, Richard Marsden who has written a report on his blog "Bashing Secularism" . Richard has some information there about the beautiful Church of St Charles, built in 1829 to replace the chapel that was destroyed in the Gordon riots in 1780. We went to visit the Church on the way over to Fr Massie's presbytery for some pasta so I was glad to have had my camera with me. As you ca...

Fr Charles Briggs and I are staying at the Domus Romana Sacerdotalis , a house established by Pope John Paul II in 1999 to accommodate clergy in the Holy See's Diplomatic Corps or those working in the Roman Curia. They also take guests when they have room. Above is a photo of my room - simple but perfectly adequate. The house is just off the Via Conciliazione and so after dinner, we took the short walk down to have a look at St Peter's:

Just a quick post from the airport where Fr Charles Briggs and I are enjoying a quick coffee after lunch before boarding our plane for Fiumicino. We stopped off at the seminary at Wonersh last night and left this morning after Mass and my teaching commitment. We will be staying at the Domus Romana Sacerdotalis until Friday. I have brought cameras, leads, chargers, laptop, mobile modem etc. so I hope to be able to blog uninterruptedly. Tomorrow we will have an interesting visit to the Casa Santa Maria, the graduate house for the North American College where we will be hosted by Fr Martin Edwards, a fellow diocesan. I am hoping to meet some of the American seminarians. Here is a photo of one seminarian on a visit to Fr Edwards' parish last Christmas. Unfortunately, his face was obscured but perhaps we will get a better photo this time.

Helsinki is covered in snow this morning and everybody says that winter has come late. Finnish public transport is renowned for being scrupulously on time and apparently snow causes some upset because the buses might be a minute or two late. I did have a bit of a problem getting a taxi over to the Church this morning (I had to take my suitcase) but apparently there are relatively few taxis in Helsinki because public transport is so reliable and inexpensive. Low Mass this morning was in the Blessed Sacrament chapel of St Henry's Cathedral. Marko Tervaportti took photos during the Mass and has already posted the above photo and another at the Summorum blog. After Mass, we had some excellent Finnish coffee in the Catholic Information Centre which is the hub for the administration of the Catholic Church in Finland. They have the Catechism of the Catholic Church on sale in Finnish along with Finnish translations of papal encyclicals and various other useful books. Another Marko shepherd...

There are some pictures from yesterday's Missa Cantata at the Summorum blog on the post Fin-igan Day Two . I have been staying at the Studium Catholicum which is run by the Dominicans, Fr Antoine from Paris and Fr Bill from Edmonton, Alberta, for whose hospitality and kindness I am very grateful. Currently, the facilities are being worked on but there is already an excellent library in place which will be available for use by any students who are interested. We are just round the corner from the main square so it is an excellent location, too.

As you can see from the ice floating in the harbour, Helsinki is quite cold in comparison to England; although apparently there has been a mild winter and the recent snow was the first that has fallen this year. I was glad to have remembered to bring some warm clothing. My very English shoes look silly here where it seems that everybody has walking boots on. This morning I had an opportunity to visit the Ataneum, the National Gallery of Finland which currently has an exhibition of the work of Pekka Halonen (1865-1933). (There is an article in English at Finnguide about the exhibition.) After the Treaty of Tilsit between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I, Russia attacked Finland in 1808. The following year, Sweden conceded Finland to Russia as an autonomous Grand Duchy. In 1812, the Tsar moved the capital to Helsinki and initially, Russian rule was of some benefit to Finland. Some of the architecture in the centre of the City bears more than a passing resemblance to St Petersburg. This is ...

I was off early on Monday morning to Heathrow airport for a flight with Finnair to Helsinki where I am visiting the Schola Sancti Gregorii Magni . The Wikipedia article on the Roman Catholicism in Finland estimates the number of Catholics in Finland as about 7000 although local sources here indicate that it is probably nearer 10,000. Nevertheless, Finland is still the European country with the smallest proportion of Catholics. The majority of the population, about 84%, declare themselves to be Lutherans but the rate of practice is very low. Reading the page Churches and religions in Finland , I was astonished to find that it was only with the 1923 Freedom of Religion law that a Finn was officially allowed to be Catholic. The whole of Finland is one diocese, centred on the Cathedral of St Henry in Helsinki. In recent years, the Society of the Sacred Heart from Poland have had a strong presence in Finland and the Bishop is Bishop Józef Wróbel SCJ. Here you can read his excellent sermon ...

The great Fr Zuhlsdorf of What Does the Prayer Really Say will be stopping over at Blackfen later this week on his tour of England. Fr Z will be speaking to the Newman Society at Oxford among other events and we will maybe take in a film and a pizza in between times (as well as a solemn Mass or two). Fr Z reminded me of Dr Johnson's admonition: "Why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons." Well! I wouldn't ever suspect Fr Z of such nefariousness. But heck! He can have a spoon or two if they are short of them over there in the midwest!

A few weeks ago, I went for a couple of days to Bruges. It is easy for me to get to: an hour or so to Dover, lunch on the ferry, an hour's drive to Bruges. You can cut half an hour or so by using the Channel Tunnel. The train is not a good idea - from Brussells it is another hour to Bruges. (If you look at the map, you can see that you are going back on yourself.) Bruges is one of the most photogenic cities in Europe. Here are a few of my efforts. First a classic view of the Church of Our Lady across the Minnewater: One of the little bridges over the canals: The end of the Minnewater with the bridge to the Beguinehof on the left: Some typical Bruges houses along the canal: The central part of the City is illuminated at night offering the opportunity for photos with reflections in the canal. The tower of the Markt is in the centre here:

I know that many people are going to try to make the journey out to the suburbs for Friday's High Mass. Blackfen is not the easiest place to get to but there are directions on my parish website . No black cabs out here (the cabbies live here but don't work here!) There is a minicab office at Sidcup Station. Alternatively, one firm I have often used is Avanti Cabs: 020 8850 1100.

Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, stands at the mouth of the Moray Firth, on the banks of the River Ness. The first recorded sighting of the famous monster is attributed to St Columba, although he saw it in the river, not in the Loch further south. Above is a picture of the castle. The present structure is early 19th century but there has been a castle in this spot since the 11th century. Just beneath the building, the museum and art gallery houses a good interpretative exhibition or the history of the Highlands. Parts of the City are picturesque. Below is a view along the river Ness: And here you see the pedestrian suspension bridge. This is fun to cross since the bridge wobbles and shakes not only in the wind but also with the movement of people walking on it. The area is redolent of the history of the Jacobite rebellions. Outside the castle is a statue of Flora MacDonald who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape "over the sea to Skye": Sadly, the centre of Invernes...

The Catholic News Agency reports that Travelodge Hotels have taken the decision to stop supplying pornographic TV channels in their hotel rooms. Here is the Press release from Travelodge . Their Chief Operating Officer, Guy Parsons said: "We have an ever increasing number of families staying with us and it's appropriate that we remove adult TV. Our other customers tell us that they would prefer to use a hotel without adult content available so we have responded to meet their needs." This is very good news. My suggestion to any hotel chain announcing similar moves would be to drop the term "Adult" for this stuff; there is nothing "adult" about it. Just call it "pornography" or "sexually explicit" if you want to be coy. The decision not only makes the hotels more "family friendly" but also helps cut down the exploitation and abuse of women by pornography and the degradation of men with consequent damage to their relationshi...

Auntie Joanna has reminded me of Edmund's blog from St Petersburg . There are some very interesting accounts there of the Church in Russia.

After the reception last night, I managed to get to bed at a reasonable hour which was just as well since some inconsiderate travellers down the corridor from me at the Parliament House Hotel seemed unaware that they might be waking everyone else up when they were shouting down the hall at 4.30am. Never mind - I managed to get a little more sleep and then call down to the Cathedral to say some office. Wanting to see a little of Edinburgh, I got an all day bus ticket and rode around for a little on Lothian buses before making my way to the house owned by the Fraternity of St Peter. Fr Emerson is away and Fr Brendan Gerard is holding fort. He kindly allowed me to say Mass at the chapel in their house for the Feast Day. Fr Michael John Galbraith then picked me up for lunch with Fr James Clark (from Southwark Diocese). We went to a very popular pub with a magnificent view over the Firth of Forth. The 3pm train from Edinburgh to Kings Cross was quite full but I managed to get a reasonable a...

When the train arrived at Portsmouth Harbour Station yesterday afternoon, it was greeted by a number of police with high visibility jackets, equipment pouches and sniffer dogs. Thankfully, they were on duty to supervise revellers travelling to the Isle of Wight pop festival (or whatever it is called now - it is 40 years since my sister went to it.) I was a little worried that perhaps they had been tipped off by the Temple Guard that there was to be a celebration of Mass that did not involve facing the people and praying in the vernacular. There was a good attendance for the Corpus Christi Mass at St Mary's, Ryde. It was a Missa Cantata - I only realised this just before Mass so I hope that I managed the epistle and gospel tones reasonably. After Mass, there was a procession of the Blessed Sacrament inside the Church to the Sacred Heart Altar where Benediction was given. In the evening, many of the Latin Mass Society members gathered at the Crab and Lobster in Bembridge for a meal ...

After my morning Mass today, I am off to the Isle of Wight at the invitation of the Island's thriving Latin Mass Society. I will be celebrating the Mass in the Classical Roman Rite for the feast of Corpus Christi this afternoon in the lovely Church of St Mary's in Ryde. It will be good to catch up with the LMS members whom I have met now over several years. St Mary's was built by the Countess of Clare; here is a photo of the Sacred Heart Chapel: Tomorrow morning I will be singing Mass in Latin ( Novus Ordo ) at the Benedictine Abbey of St Cecilia. The Mass is sung every day according to the Graduale Romanum, offering a model for the sacred liturgy. After Mass, I will have a chance to see a good friend from Oxford days who was professed in 1984: the same year that I was ordained. Here is a photo from last year of the Abbey Church: