This blog will be about my life and interests as a priest. All view expressed are my own, but will be in line with that of the Catholic Church. Also any opinions are my own and do not reflect what happens in the parish or the Diocese of Lancaster.
Today we keep the optional feast of St Richard of Chichester. If you want a decent summary of his life you will find it Here.
Today’s feast reminds us that we have a wealth of English, Scottish and Welsh saints, many of whom have been forgotten or overlooked. There are historical reasons for that, but I will not dwell on those here, but I feel that they need to be celebrated and remembered.
No, I did not get hot under the collar (!) and shout, rather I nearly caused a small fire in the church. After Mass had concluded there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. After I had started, I put the cover of the monstrance to one side on the altar. What I didn’t realise is that it was very close to one of the votive lights, so close it caught fire. Thankfully, I and one of the congregation noticed and we were able to blow out the flames before any serious damage was done.
This stain glass window is in a side chapel on the north side of the Church. It was was commissioned by Abbot Cuthbert Clifton OSB who was here as parish priest from the 1850’s until his death in 1891. This is a traditional scene, with Our Lady on the left and St John on the right. In fact the inspiration for this is the 19th chapter of St John’s gospel, part of which was read at today’s Mass of the Sacred Heart. A centurion pierces the side of Jesus with a lance and we are told blood and water flowed. This has led to a rich theology. On this feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus we are reminded that life and grace flow as from a fountain or springs, but it is inexhaustable, neither stopping nor drying up.
Today, being June 5th we celebrate the feast of St Boniface, I am not going to gave a detailed biography of him as this can easily be found elsewhere like here
He was born is Crediton in Devon, his original name being Wynfrith. Much of his work and ministry was in what is now Germany. He was martyred and is buried and honoured in Fulda in Germany. Indeed he is one of the patron saints of that country.
His feast should remind us that in the 7th and 8th centuries England was a spiritual powerhouse, we provided many scholars and missionaries to continental Europe. Indeed one cannot fully understand the growth of the faith without appreciating the contribution and role of so many from England. How times have changed!
Today I concelebrated at the Requiem Mass for Bob Melling. He was a life long friend of my late father. He was best man at his wedding, as the above photo shows he was godfather to me at my Baptism in 1957. My dad and Bob shared many interests including Climbing, walking, photography and the operrettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Above all that was their love and commitment to the Catholic Faith. They loved the Church and the person of Jesus Christ. For all their lives they were actively involved in the life and mission of the Church.
Bob was a lovely, kind and gentle man. He was also very self effaccing. He insisted that there was to be no Eulogy or Tribute at his Requiem Mass. However I did want to honour his memory. He was a man of faith and in some ways represented all that was good on the church before the second Vatican Council .
May he rest in peace.
This week is week 8 of Ordinary Time. For the next few the first reading at weekday Masses is taken from the 1st letter of St Peter. In fact we will read most of it over the coming days.
The letter is written to Christians in northern Asia Minor – now Turkey. Most scripture scholars agree that it was probably written to newly baptised Christians. There references to the sacrament, but also to how they should live their lives. There are also passages that talk about Christians being subject to difficulties and even hostility. These problems are not specified, so don’t appear to be officially endorsed persecution. It would seem that it is the day to day difficulties of being a Christian in a hostile environment. The letter was probably written about 60-65AD, yet is a way it message is still relevant. How do we as Catholics react to hostility and difficulty – what should we say and do? We we could no better than to listen and read the first letter of St Peter.
As I mentioned Easter has come to an end, we are now in what is called Ordinary Time ( more of which another time). For those who pray the Divine Office is also means we change volumes…..
As a priest I am obliged to say the Divine Office every day. This is a series of set prayers corresponding to the different hours of the day – Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer etc. Each hour – as they are called – follow a similar patter: Opening hymn, psalms, a short reading from scripture, prayers and a concluding prayer. Morning and Evening Prayer are longer than some others, as is what is called the Office of Readings. Part of the history of all this is all 150 psalms would be said over a given period. For a long time it was over a week, at the moment they are spread over 4 weeks, and we no longer say all 150 psalms – that is another blog post someday!
Under the present arrangement this is all divided into three volumes. Volume 1 covers Advent, Christmas and the early part of Ordinary Time. Volume 2 covers Lent and Easter. Volume 3 covers Ordinary Time that corresponds with summer and autumn. All volumes have feast and saints days as well.
That is just the briefest of introductions to the Divine Office. It is also known as the Liturgy of the Hours and Prayer of the Church.
Today I planned to journey down some new routes. I began by going from Crewe to Stafford, changed trains and on to Rugeley. There I had to cross a footbridge for a train into Birmingham.
On arrival at Birmingham New Street, I had time to get a coffee before changing platforms for the journey to Lichfield Trent Valley. this was via Sutton Coldfield. It was was an electric train and was almost empty. At Lichfield Town station there was a good view of the Cathedral.
I then returned from Lichfield to Crewe and then onto Chester. From there I went to Manchester Picadilly via Frodsham and Warrington – another new route. The was a loco powered train. It was also a very pleasant run, the countryside being lovely. However, the journey from Manchester back to Crewe was on a train that full to overflowing.
A lovely sunny and warm morning for the first leg of my journey. The above took me to Derby via Stoke on Trent. It was a pleasant journey, but as it was only one coach, it was pretty full. I had a short wait at Derby, before my next train took me on the short journey to Nottingham.
At Nottingham I had the chance for a coffee before boarding my East Midlands train to Lincoln via Newark. This was new route for me and a pleasant one. There quite a few stations between Nottingham and Newark, but my train was non stop. I was hoping the take a photo of the flat crossing where my route crossed the East Coast Main line but I missed it!.
On arrival at Lincoln station I had over an hours wait for my connection to Peterborough. Lincoln is a rather pleasant station, but there was no cafe, so I had to go to a nearby Gregg’s for a snack. To my surprise there were more trains than I thought there would be. After the hour was up, I caught the train to Peterborough. Again it was only one coach. It called at Sleaford and Spalding. As I anticipated, it was rather flat! but looked looked good in the splendid weather.
From Peterborough I was booked on the 15.10 to London Kings Cross. This was meant to be a Class 91 but as the photo will show it was an East Midlands HST on loan to Virgin East Coast. It had a different seat configuration so my reserve seat didn’t exist. What is more the train was packed so I had to stand all the way to London.
Today I began a short break. I have a senior railcard and I make full use of it. Today I began with a journey from Workington to Crewe. I began with the 13.56 Northern service from Workington to Carlisle. This was part of new improved Sunday service for the Cumbia Coast Line. This train had run from Barrow in Furness. I believe its the first Sunday service since 1976,
On arrival in Carlisle I had a short wait for the 15.05 service to Crewe. This train was actually very quiet – until Preston. For £15 I was able to upgrade my standard class ticket to First Class. I was the only one in my first class coach until Preston!
Fr Paul Harrison' Blog. 