Stripping the Church

Today we cleared the floor of the nave of Church for sanding and varnishing. Today Peter and Radic are on their hands a knees, hammering down nails, tomorrow they replace floorboards, some are very worn by the main entrance, others are a bitten rotten where we had leaking radiator for years.

It felt a little strange despoiling the Church, piling the benches into the sanctuary, removing statues and anything else that was moveable.

I am feeling almost inclined to follow the ancient practice of simply having pews only around the sides, having men in one aisle and women in the other, leaving the centre for the liturgical action. People could bring their own kneelers if they needed them. How much it would change the style of the liturgy.

Fr Richard Biggerstaff of Lewes came over with Fr Jonathan Martin (en clergyman) and Gerard Hatton, one of our seminarians, to check out what was happening. Tomorrow we have Mass on a makeshift altar in our Parish Centre. It is going to be so tight if our normal numbers turn up, I'll have to celebrate ad apsidum.

Interestingly, the floor undulates where for the last 150 years people have stood between the benches.

Thank you to those of you have donated through the Paypal button, your contributions are a real help. I shall Mass for your intentions next week.

L'Oservatore attacks Allied "Silence"

Jewish refugees at Castelgandolfo

L'Osservatore Romano this week has gone on the attack. It contrasts the behaviour of the US and British governments with that of Pius XII towards the Jews from 1942 onwards.

The article quotes heavily from the diary of Henry Morgenthau Jr., U.S. secretary of the treasury during the war, who said that as early as August 1942 administration officials "knew that the Nazis were planning to exterminate all the Jews of Europe."Morgenthau cited a telegram dated Aug. 24, 1942, and passed on to the State Department, that relayed a report of Hitler's plan to kill between 3.5 million and 4 million Jews, possibly using cyanide poison. The Vatican newspaper reproduced a copy of the telegram.

It was not until 1944 that that US set up the War Refugee Board in the meantime under the direct influence of Pius XII Jews were being hid in convents and monasteries, in Rome, throughout Italy and the rest of Europe by people heroic religious like our own Brigitine Mother Richard. Churchill's silence seemed to have been sustained until the liberation of the first concentration camps.

This Parish in the Herald

Ed West from the Catholic Herald came down to visit a couple of weeks ago.

He interviewed Lawrence and Mary Jane.

Here is his picture of my parish , and the effects of poverty here amongst my parishioner and the people we spend a great deal of time with.

Just one correction, Ed, we feed the hungry through our soup run everyday, not just Wednesdays.

His piece is entitled "The Church helps everyone".

The picture is one of our homeless men, taken in my kitchen.

I grateful to Ed for mentioning our appeal in his article, if you read it, you might understand why it is so difficult to raise money here and where our money goes.

Assumption/Dormition: both and...

The two images of this feast are powerful, as are the two names the Assumption and the Dormition. Though the title of the "Dormition" for this feast is Eastern, the image of The Blessed Virgin's Dormition is widely used in both East and West. In it the Mother of God falls asleep or dies, the Pius XII's definition of the dogma is inconclusive over this. What we know is she did not taste the corruption of death. The icon of the Dormition presents a Christian funeral, at which the whole Church gathers, as Peter, the one given the power of the keys, incenses her body and the other Apostles -and later bishops too, pray- they are oblivious, it seems, to the presence of Christ and the heavenly host who accompany him. He takes her soul which is wrapped in swaddling bands in a gesture reminiscent of icon of Mary herself holding the infant Christ child, a deliberate allusion presumably, which speaks of the human bond between mother and child, not destroyed by her "passing".

The Dormition icon could be anyone's Christian funeral, there is no reference to the "bodily" taking up of the Blessed Virgin, except in the icon I show where the angel chops off the hand of the impious relic stealer. The idea of the bodily Assumption is better illustrated in the El Greco image, here she is supported by angels whilst the Apostles discuss and are amazed at her empty tomb.

At the heart of this mystery the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body, of the Christian following where Christ has gone. It adds a certain piquancy to those who speak of Heavan as being a state, because it is a state where there are at least two physical bodies, of Mother and Son.

Pope on the Assumption

Earlier in the day he had celebrated Mass for the Assumption in San Tommaso da Villanova church near Castelgandolfo and his hand seemed noticeable swollen. It looks as though it hurts.

Assumptions and sausages

I am confused yesterday evening I got out the purple vestments and celebrated in the Exraordinary Form the Vigil of the Assumption, today the Mass is just Our Lady's Saturday, tomorrow is the Assumption, unless of course one is celebrating in the EF in which case in which case today is the Assumption, nevertheless in the EF, as it is the third Sunday of the month, I'll be celebrating an evening Mass at 6pm, I can celebrate the Assuimption as an external Solemnity.

It is all bit confusing, but one of the interesting questions it raises is what has happened to the fast days that preceded feast days?

At one time before the great feasts there was a little Lent. I am told that before the Assumption some monastic communities Mary Lent was actually kept for a fortnight broken by feasts like St Lawrences day.

The absence of fasts tends to diminish the impact of feasts, which leads me on to the big question, can we have sausages for lunch?

Scotney Castle with Fr Mildew

Fr Mildew is organising a trip to Scotney Castle on Saturday 22nd August.

Bring a picnic. Scotney is off the road up from Hastings and is clearly signposted from the A 21. Motorists should arrive as soon as possible at ll.00am to avoid the car park filling up too soon. A picnic lunch will be held in thepicnic area and I will then show them the famous hiding hole from which Fr Blount SJ made a miraculous escape in 1582
By rail from Hastings to Wadhurst to arrive by 10.40 where cars will pick up anyone and take them on. Or Bus from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells to be in time for the 1035 to Hastings.