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A good day to arrive at St Thomas's hospital

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Above is a good "My View for a While" photo, to use an expression coined by Fr Z. I'm on the 7th floor of St Thomas's hospital, opposite the Palace of Westminster. I arrived here yesterday on the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury, after whom the hospital is named: it goes back to within living memory of the holy Bishop and Martyr.

Today the consultant surgeon brought me the very welcome news that the waiting is over and tomorrow morning, I am to go under the surgeon's knife. Do remember me in your prayers - indeed thank you for all the prayers you have offered already. Several priests have very kindly offered their Mass intentions for me over the past couple of weeks and I am most grateful for that. If you have scheduled Mass intentions, a memento would be much appreciated.

On a practical note, general visits are not encouraged. If all goes well and there are no complications, I'll be in the intensive recovery unit for a bit, then gradually clearing out my lu…
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A uninterrupted sleep and then "all systems go"

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Last evening I was moved to a side room in another ward. I was able to shut the door and sleep without interruption for seven and a half hours, waking up without having to struggle with grumpiness half the morning. Which was nice.

Now it is "all systems go." I am about to be transported to another hospital where a bed will be waiting for me, and presumably without much delay, will be prepared for surgery. Nowadays, heart bypass surgery is quite common, and generally successful, but it is a major business, so your prayers would be much appreciated - for the success of my operation and recovery if that is God's will, or for my eternal salvation if the Lord decides it is time for me to render an account of my stewardship.

Remember - heart attack or no heart attack - we will all face eternity within a few short years. We forget that so easily and concern ourselves with stupid trivia or even sinful things that last a moment but can lose us salvation. May I join my voice to t…
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Serco turkey at the CCU

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Since Wednesday, I have been on the shiny, hi-tec Cardiac Care Unit. I got taken down for the angiogram yesterday morning. The process bore more than a passing resemblance in my mind to a scene in a Jason Bourne film. The warehouse-like antechamber was in stark contrast to the futuristic op room with screened control desk, boom arms and an enormous screen showing things going round my blood vessels.

The upshot is that my coronary arteries are like the Dartford crossing on a Friday afternoon and so I will have a heart bypass operation as soon as a bed is available in the hospital where they do those. It will be an inpatient transfer, so in the meantime I wait on the Cardiac Unit.

This makes for an unusual Christmas Day. This morning, for the first time since my ordination, I was able to get the Urbi et Orbi blessing and indulgence. I unplugged the headphones at the end bit for the nurse to hear the papal national anthem - which, to be honest, is my favourite bit.

I have been able to s…
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Happy Christmas

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May our Blessed Lord, born in the stable at Bethlehem for our salvation, shower his blessings upon you and your families on this holy feast.
"But tell me, my sweet Infant, why dost Thou turn Thine eyes on every side? What art Thou looking for? I hear Thee sigh; tell me wherefore are these sighs? O God! I see Thee weep; tell me wherefore dost Thou weep? Yes, replies Jesus, I turn My eyes around; for I am seeking for some soul that desires Me. I sigh out of desire to see Myself near to a heart that burns for Me, as I burn with love for it. But I weep; and it is because I see but few souls, who seek Me and, wish to love Me." St Alphonsus Liguori
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Liberated from the Mindray

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Today is Liberation Day. When I came onto the ward, I was connected by five leads to a machine that displays a moving graph and numbers for ECG, oxygen saturation, non-invasive blood pressure and respiration. Yesterday, in everyday language, that started "playing up." These machines are like a lot of yesterday's technology in that they have a complex nest of menus and submenus with non-obvious titles, default settings and navigation. Once you get lost down a dark alley, it can be difficult to find the path home again.

The problem is that if an "Internet of Things" approach were adopted, and all such data were displayed in a user-chosen GUI on any device, there would be a whole new front opened up for hackers to steal sensitive data.

Anyway, my five-lead machine was replaced with a slightly newer three-lead machine that was basically similar in principle: the "Mindray Datascope Trio." On the website of Pacific Medical, there is a section "Custome…
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Being edified by hospital, gulping pills, and disconnecting from the drone

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A mild December morning here in hospital land and all is well. It is the first time I have been an inpatient in a hospital and the experience is helping me to understand a bit more of how a hospital ward works. The crossover and co-operation between all levels of staff is impressive.

Normally as a visitor you only get to see passing snapshots of the care that is given. Being in the same ward means that you hear the whole saga when "Bert" or "Lily" needs some particular personal attention. It is moving to see the patient, respectful preservation of a person's dignity in such circumstances.

So far today, I've given an early-morning blood sample, cracked jokes with the trolley guy who bought round the breakfast, got to know the student nurse, managed to shave using a cardboard bowl of hot water, and bought a copy of The Daily Telegraph which nowadays I only buy in emergencies such as this when it might be a diversion later to do the crossword. The qualified n…
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A Minor Cardiac Episode and my view for a while

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Claud Cockburn won a competition with colleagues at the Times for the most accurate yet boring headline "Small Earthquake in Chile, not many Dead." I am reminded of this when trying to calm friends and family down over what happened to me in the wee small hours this morning.

I had a minor heart attack. One of the doctors did use that expression, though a young nurse who spoke to me later was versed in the new terminology of "cardiac episode" which makes me want to think up a script for Doctor Who. I'm not dead, but the experience of not being able to breathe properly does help to sharpen up one's focus on those meditations of St Alphonsus. Perhaps my many repetitions of the prayer "that we may not be surprised by a sudden and unprovided death" got me off this time.

I have been x-rayed, injected, and given a cocktail of drugs that has brought my blood pressure down to an impressively normal figure. I have wires connecting my chest and a bleepy mach…
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Sir Roger Gale MP's sound words on Sunday Trading

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My MP, Sir Roger Gale, has consistently voted pro-life and, for example, has been in the lobbies to vote No to the redefinition of marriage, three parent embryos, and assisted suicide. H sends out articles to constituents who wish to receive them, and the other day, I was delighted to read his sound and well-argued piece on Sunday Trading. Here is a sample paragraph:
There is, within any family`s budget, only a certain amount of money that can, after all the demands for housing, utilities, transport, clothing and so on have been met, be spent upon the purchase of new curtains, carpets and sofas.. The idea that we are all now so busy that we cannot, somehow, find time within six days of virtually round-the-clock shopping in the High Street, the Mall or on line, buy all of the goods that we can possibly afford (and probably also goods that we have no way of paying for) is retail rubbish. We have, nonetheless, already added in a chunk of Sunday for those incapable of organising their di…
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Plenary indulgences and Masses for the Holy Souls

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As the month of November is fast approaching, it is good for us to remember the generosity of the Church at this time - indeed the great mercy that is shown to our departed brothers and sisters. There are two plenary indulgences that we should all try to gain:

1. A plenary indulgence may be obtained under the usual conditions on the commemoration of All Souls by visiting a Church and saying the Our Father and the Creed.

2. A plenary indulgence may be obtained under the usual conditions by those who visit a cemetery from 1-8 November and pray for the faithful departed.

For "the usual conditions", please see my post Plenary indulgences not impossible.

Most Catholic Churches have a box for donations for the "Holy Souls" box. Mine now has a brief explanation since I am sure it is by no means obvious to many Catholics, let alone non-Catholics what happens with a donation for the Holy Souls. Essentially these are used to provide Masses for the Holy Souls. Each diocese s…
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Chasuble development examples in the V&A

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The other day, I spent a while in the Victoria and Albert Museum, a wonderful collection that never fails to fascinate. I noticed that there are several examples of chasubles made in the 15th century that were later altered in the 17th century. The notes on the chasuble in the above photo tell us that it was dates from 1425-1450, and was remodelled after 1600. (We are also told that it is of silk damask with metal thread, from Italy or Spain, with embroidery from Southern France in linen and silk with metal thread.)

If I have correctly applied what I have learned about these things (I am by no means an expert) then presumably the chasubles were originally of a much fuller shape (perhaps even conical) and were cut down to a more-or-less Roman style, a little like the "Borromean" style which has become more popular recently.

I am reminded of the stories of Cardinal Hinsley who was wont to take scissors to gothic styled vestments to make them Roman in shape.
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Confraternity Mass with Bishop Byrne

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As promised, here are some photos from yesterday's Mass with Bishop Byrne at St Edmund's, Ware, for the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy.







Ordinarily, the principal Mass at the Colloquium is mainly in English, but this year, the Bishop particularly asked to celebrate the Mass in Latin. Most of the priests concelebrate, but attending in choro is perfectly acceptable and a number of priests choose to do this. Facilities are available for private Masses (in either form of the Roman rite) before breakfast.

Here are the Fortescue vestments that I wore for Mass yesterday morning:



The East window (click on it to get to the Flickr page, then enlarge it to more of the details):



The rood:



The vestment press first thing in the morning, when the College's collection of old Missals was in demand:



And an item from the College museum: the original copy of Adeste fideles:



For all the photographs, if you click on them, you are taken to the relevant flickr page where you can get the code to …
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Commemoration of Abbe Edgeworth

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A commenter passes on this interesting snippet from the Latin Mass Society of Ireland.

Bishop O'Reilly of Ardagh & Clonmacnois will the Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form) on Sunday, 23 September 2007 at St Mary's Church, Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford as part of a commemoration of the Bicentenary of the death of Monsignor Henry Essex Edgeworth de Firmont.

Bishop O'Reilly of Ardagh & Clonmacnois to offer Latin Mass at Monsignor Edgeworth commemoration

Although born in Co. Longford, Mgr Edgeworth was the confessor of Louis XVI and Vicar General of Paris at the height of the French Revolution. There is an article summarising his extraordinarily eventful life in the Catholic Encyclopaedia: Henry Essex Edgeworth.
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Bishop Budd on Summorum Pontificum

Fr Z has text and comments on the statement issued by Bishop Christopher Budd of the Plymouth Diocese.

I agree with Fr Z's comments and would add that Bishop Budd is a fair-minded man. I liked the last part of his statement:May I urge you to celebrate the present liturgy (the ordinary rite) of all the sacraments of the Church ‘attente et devote’. The quality of the parish celebration of the renewed liturgy is an important context for the permitted use of the rite now designated `Extraordinary’.The use of the older form of the rite should help and encourage priests in the proper celebration of the newer form. In fact, as Dr Hemming pointed out at the Merton Conference, the older form provides a necessary anchor for the newer form.
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Bournemouth Oratory Appeal

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Over the past year, during the time that I have been recovering from illness, the Bournemouth Oratory-in-Formation has generously welcomed me to celebrate Mass in the beautiful Church of the Sacred Heart every day, and have become good friends in what is sometimes an isolated existence while I wait for accommodation in my own Archdiocese. They have recently launched an appeal which I am keen to pass on to you in case you may be able to help.

Bishop Philip Egan, a sound and courageous Bishop, has encouraged the Oratory, not only by giving them the Sacred Heart Church as a permanent home, but in supporting them in an ambitious plan to develop their work and become:
A powerhouse of prayerA focus for formation in the faithA hub for the community in the heart of Bournemouth The Community has increased the availability of daily Mass and provides regular daily times for confession, twice-weekly times for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as “Oratory”, the twice daily time of silent…
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Our Lady Immaculate, our model for preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ.

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Listening with respect to the message of the angel, and prudently questioning him on how it was possible for her to be the Mother of Christ, Our Lady gave her immediate, willing and whole-hearted consent. From then on, her prayerful expectation of the birth of Christ is a model for us of the devout attitude we should endeavour to adopt during the season of Advent.

From the moment of her conception in the womb of Saint Anne, Our Lady, by a singular privilege, was free from original sin and never committed a single venial sin. Educated in the Temple from childhood, she faithfully and obediently followed the law of God as it was then in force for the Jewish people. She took part in the worship of the synagogue on the sabbath and went to Jerusalem for the great feasts. She observed those feasts with devotion, aware of their meaning which pointed to the Messiah, her own child, the One who is to come.

At those feasts, the psalms formed a major part of the liturgy. She would have known them…
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Academy of the Annunciation: a new initiative in Bournemouth

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I am very happy to pass on news of the founding of the Academy of the Annunciation in Bournemouth. The Academy plans to offer conferences and study days for lay people to equip students to evangelise effectively in the vineyard of the Lord. It is also looking to provide conferences for priests, religious, and seminarians.

The Academy will be based at the Sacred Heart, the home of the Bournemouth Oratory-in-Formation which is a beautiful setting: stunning Church and lovely environment with the beach and gardens only a few minutes' walk away. The Angel of the Annunciation logo (above) is taken from an image on the reredos of the Lady Chapel at Sacred Heart.


Bishop Philip Egan is seen here with Dr Denise Oliver (left) and Dr Christina Pal (right) who taught in Rome at the Pontifical North American College (seminary) and other places – Dr Pal at Christendom College and Dr Oliver at the Angelicum, the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas and elsewhere.

The first offering of the …
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