Good News

I've heard from Fr Goddard at OLOC that Mrs Goddard is improving, so keep the prayers coming please.





There will be a Mass this coming Sunday 14th February at OLOC, and the celebrant will be Fr Agley (let's hope the weather forecast is totally wrong and there is no snow and ice coming our way again).


Also, on the side bar is a new venture, Rosary for the Bishop. Thanks to Elizabeth from Sussex on the Prayers for the Bishop and Jane at Spiritual Mothers for the tip off. Please do join, just click, and away you go.

In support of the Pope

As you've probably noticed, there's a lot of rubbish surrounding the papal visit in the press at the moment, most of it skewed and anti Catholic.

Cathcon is redressing the balance, and has a petition up in support of the Holy Father so please sign here.

His Holiness's visit to the UK

The Pope's address to the English and Welsh Bishops can be found here, but here's a part of it:

"Even amid the pressures of a secular age, there are many signs of living faith and devotion among the Catholics of England and Wales. I am thinking, for example, of the enthusiasm generated by the visit of the relics of Saint Thérèse, the interest aroused by the prospect of Cardinal Newman’s beatification, and the eagerness of young people to take part in pilgrimages and World Youth Days. On the occasion of my forthcoming Apostolic Visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself and, as Successor of Peter, to strengthen and confirm it. During the months of preparation that lie ahead, be sure to encourage the Catholics of England and Wales in their devotion, and assure them that the Pope constantly remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart."

God bless our Pope.

Just take a look at this

SACRED, BEAUTIFUL, & UNIVERSAL: Colloquium XIX from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Road works at OLOC

The Partridge Green/Steyning road is open again, hoorah.




Work is now being done in the car park at OLOC, so proceed with caution, because there are skips and presumably, holes. The top car park is now larger and usuable, the lower not so usable. Folk are requested not to park in the lane, or in front of the house.

Prayers please...

...for Mrs Susan Goddard, who suffered a heart attack last weekend, and is now recovering at home at Our Lady of Consolation, West Grinstead, and for Father and Kate Goddard. All best wishes for the speediest recovery.

I'm having me one of these...

...when the time comes.

Yesterday, I was present at my very first EF Requiem Mass. It was for a lady called Nancy, and was celebrated by Fr Bruno Witchalls. I was totally blown away by how consoling, hopeful, and beautiful it was. I have the LMS little red card in my purse and never thought about what it actually meant until yesterday, and experienced a proper Requiem. In death we are utterly reliant on the mercy of God, and we need prayers just as much as we ever did when we were alive, so please say a prayer for Nancy, and all the Holy Souls.

Sunday

Yesterday Fr Bruno Witchalls said Mass at Our Lady of Consolation West Grinstead. I still find the silences amazing at EF Low Masses, there really is nothing like it. Many thanks to Fr Bruno.

Tea and conversation followed, the ad limina being one topic. I'm watching the space with interest.

Our Lady of Consolation

There will be a Mass at West Grinstead this coming Sunday, but the interesting pipe work going on in the road outside OLOC still remains, so click here for alternative routes.

Long time no blog

I don't do new year resolutions, but in the grey dull bits of January I do like a bit of inspiration. I always find Archbishop Fulton Sheen has something worth hearing and he's never dull. So here is one of his talks which I think is pretty appropriate for the start of a new year. Enjoy!

Epiphany

Our crib will be remaining with us until the start of February, which can cause some raised eyebrows, but I don't care. The cake is baked, the charm is inside, and I hope you all have a very Happy Epiphany!

Mass cancellation

Well, the white stuff might be pretty, but I'm pretty fed up with it already.

Especially as it means that the EF at Our Lady of Consolation, West Grinstead this coming Sunday is CANCELLED DUE TO APPALLING WEATHER.

Let's hope it starts to warm up sooner than the forecasters have forecasted, because we're stuck on a hill.

Road Closures and Diversions at West Grinstead

Apparently, urgent sewage work is being undertaken over the next four weeks on the B2135 which runs past Our Lady of Consolation, West Grinstead , so if you are aiming to get to OLOC, you may have to follow a diversion:

Anyone en route from Partridge Green/Steyning will have to make a detour via Littleworth and the A272.

From the Henfield direction, don't turn left at Shermanbury but continue to Cowfold and then pick up the A272, turning left into Park Lane by the Orchard restaurant.

Any further info can be obtained by phoning the Priest's House on 01403 710273.

Shoreham

There will be no extraordinary form Mass at St Peter's Shoreham on Saturday 9th January, as Fr Finnegan is away.

Happy New Year

Well what d'you know. Ten years since the millenium (or mi-nelly-um as it was known in our house) and the earth still revolves. I'm quite looking forward to 2013 when we'll all know for sure that the earth's core is still functioning, our magnetic field is still in its current orientation, we've yet to be hit by a comet/meteorite/asteroid/spaceship full of drunk stag night aliens, and all those film makers will have moved onto the Next Big Thing, what ever they choose it to be.

Not that I don't like a rollicking disaster movie in the sci-fi genre. It's just that what with the hoo ha about some folks interpretation of the Mayan calendar, and people getting their panties in a bunch about the core freezing (over which they have no control even were they true), sometimes 'celebrating' the New Year can appear like a really bad idea, which is why I would prefer to celebrate the Church's New Year rather than the secular one.

I don't like resolutions, but I do hope that this year sees more Old Rite Masses than ever before, those who are yet to be convinced that the Extraordinary Form is an enriching and fabulous thing become convinced, and that our wonderful, wise Holy Father continues in the best of health.



Cheers everyone, and here's to a peaceful and holy year!

Epiphany Missa Cantata...

...at St Mary Magdalen, Brighton on 6th January at 7.30pm.
Hope lots of people can get to it!

Also, fret not, the 3rd Sunday Mass at St MMs is running as normal for January.

Our Lady of Consolation

Yesterday afternoon Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith celebrated Mass at OLOC, and we listened to a pastoral letter from His Lordship the Bishop. I wished I'd taken my camera, because the crib was just beautiful.

I hadn't thought there would be many people at Mass, given the weather and seasonal family committments, but I was wrong! Following Mass we all enjoyed some very welcome and warming mulled wine and mince pies - and tea, of course, and lively conversation. It's very good to see Fr Goddard out and about again.

Happy Christmas

It's here at last, and what a speedy Advent
this has been, I don't know where the time's gone since we lit the first candle on the wreath.


A long while ago I was lucky enough to visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, right at the beginning of Advent. It was one of the most memorable and fabulous things I've ever done (even if I found the soldiers patrolling with their -to me- ginormous rifles a tad disconcerting, at least it made me think of the Roman occupation). I don't know what I was expecting, but I was a bit surprised by it. So here's a picture, so I can re-live my surprise.




Wishing you a happy and holy Christmas!






PS: There is a Mass at Our Lady of Consolation on 27th December at 3.00pm (weather permitting??)

Gaudete

For Gaudete Sunday, a missa cantata was celebrated at Our Lady of Consolation by Fr Hurley. Fr Hurley's sermon focused on St John the Baptist, and the importance of not forgetting to keep Christ in Christmas. The Seaford Schola, though down in numbers (everyone I know seems to have one type of lurgy or other at the moment), sang out loud and clear, and there was plenty of lovely incense to make it a real celebration. And of course there were some lovely rose vestments, not entirely unlike those in the photo below pinched from the NLM site.