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I am the Light of the World “The Prayer of the Heart” Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB Page 3

Elizabeth Grey tells the story of Scotland’s first woman doctor Page 17

North Is s u e 31, Eas ter, 2016 Fr Denis McBride CSsR takes a “Journey with Jonah” Page 24

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Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy 8 December 2015 - 20 November 2016

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R.C. Diocese of Aberdeen Charitable Trust, a registered Scottish Charity no. SC005122

Tina Harris and the mysterious Michelangelo of the N. E. Page 25

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The window was designed by Moira Malcolm of Rainbow Glass. It was a joy to have such a wonderful subject as the creation and the chance to re-glaze 8 full windows. The stained glass windows were made using traditional methods of cut glass, lead and solder. The hand blown glass is bought from France, Germany and England and is of the highest quality. Each process is carefully executed by hand, and the detail is created by a combination of glass painting and acid etching.

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contents diocese 3 faithinaction 17 witness 19 educationandformation 20 faithandculture 22 humour 33 crossword 34

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The end of the line

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lbert Einstein has been in the news quite a bit recently. It’s all to do with the detection of “gravitational ripples”, the existence of which Einstein first suggested 100 years ago. While he was undoubtedly the most influential physicist of the 20th century, he was also renown for his memory lapses!

Take a case in point: One day he was travelling in a train from Princeton University. The ticket inspector Albert Einstein entered his compartment and the famous physicist began rummaging through his pockets, searching for his ticket. However, the inspector couldn’t fail to recognise Einstein with his shock of unruly hair and said to him, “Don’t worry sir. I know who you are and I know that you’ll have the ticket somewhere.” Nevertheless, with a look of desperation the scientist continued searching for it. The inspector repeated, “I know who you are Mr Einstein. Now, please don’t worry yourself anymore about that ticket.” To which Einstein replied, “I know who I am ... I know who I am. I just wish I knew where I was going!”

Unlike Einstein, we may not always be sure of who we are but, in this glorious season of Easter, at least we should have a pretty good idea of where we are heading. The Lenten season can feel rather like being on a train journey, with various stops for refuelling on the way: the Station Masses; the Stations of the Cross; Palm Sunday; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday and then, once the sun sets on Holy Saturday, the train finally thunders into Easter amid billows of smoke, clouds of steam and shrieking of whistles. Of course this is not to overlook that even longer lifetime journey. No need to buy a ticket for that oneway trip and, provided we remain on track, we will undoubtedly reach our destination one day - Heaven, the ultimate goal of all Christians, where we will see God “face to face”.

It is perhaps especially at Easter that we are reassured anew that Christ, by his death, resurrection, mercy and forgiveness “opened” heaven to us, that station at the end of the line!

Turning now to this issue of the magazine and, in this Jubilee Year, mercy and forgiveness is our theme with Sr Anna Christi’s “Image of the Divine Mercy” on page 5, Eileen Grant’s “Merciful as the Father” on page 20 and on page 24 Fr Denis McBride’s “Journeying with Jonah” , the story of a reluctant prophet who allowed his own outlook on life to be shaped by God’s mercy. And don’t miss Bishop Hugh Gilbert’s letter on page 4 where he reflects on prayer and the “inner room” , or Elizabeth Grey’s article on page 17 about Agnes McLaren, the suffragette, Catholic convert and the first Scottish woman to qualify as a doctor.

A Very happy Easter, Cowan

up front

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artolomé Esteban Murillo was born in 1618 in Seville, Spain. He studied the great Spanish painters and worked in his twenties for abbeys and churches. He reached the height of his fame around 1660 when he painted a whole series of eight pictures on the theme of the ‘Prodigal Son’, seven of which, including the picture on our cover, “The Return of the Prodigal”, are in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Murillo painted the pictures for the Church of the Hospital of Saint George in Seville, a hospice for the homeless and hungry. The artist placed the scenes in 17th century Seville and they represent life in Spain at that time.

Murillo had a great talent for dramatic painting. He selects the essential elements of the story’s climax: the penitent son welcomed home by his forgiving father; the rich garments and ring that signify the wayward son’s restoration to his former position in the family and the fatted calf being led to the slaughter for the celebratory banquet.

The larger-than-life, central, pyramidal grouping of father and son dominates the picture, while the richest colour is reserved for the servant bearing the new garments.

The real appeal of Murillo’s work lies in its human touches: the realism of the Prodigal’s dirty feet; the puppy jumping up to greet his master and perhaps most of all, the innocent smiling face of the little boy leading the calf.

Murillo was known to be a rather gloomy and sentimental character. He had lost both his parents when young and he may perhaps have painted the Prodigal Son as his own message of forgiveness and hope, his personal plea to God for being heard as an abandoned son and not forgotten.

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A Letter from Bishop Hugh Gilbert O.S.B.

Dear Friends, Years ago a visiting abbot was giving a retreat to the monks of Pluscarden. He talked about prayer. He compared it to digging or excavating. When we pray, he said, we dig into our heart. I was a young monk then and what he said quite baffled me. I couldn’t understand it. Surely prayer is about going out to God, not digging into one’s self? But what he said stuck in my mind, and gradually began to make sense.

What the abbot was talking about, I now see, was the prayer of the heart. This takes its inspiration from the words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus warns his listeners against ostentatious praying, and then says: ‘But when you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you’ (Mt 6:6). These words are certainly to be taken literally: Jesus is inviting people to pray secretly and discreetly, preferring a private room at home rather than a street corner. But this ‘room’ also suggests the ‘inner room’ inside each of us. This is our inmost self, our heart, that secret place where we are alone with ourselves – and with God, the Father who sees. It is sometimes called the ‘cell’ or ‘cave’ of the heart, or the inner ‘hermitage’. When the abbot talked of digging, he was referring to this: to turning inward, ‘digging down’ to the secret place within us, ‘excavating’ it, clearing it out (like an archaeologist in an underground chamber full of treasures hidden under rubbish), and there encountering God. We can conceive of the presence of God in so many ways. The prayer called St Patrick’s Breastplate, for example, speaks of ‘Christ with me … Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me … Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger.’ We can seek God ‘in heaven’ or in nature. We are helped to realise Christ through Scripture, pictures, statues, icons. We worship him in the consecrated Host. We try to discover him in people and events. But St Patrick’s prayer also mentions ‘Christ within me’.

This is a Christian conviction. St Paul prays for the Ephesians ‘that Christ may dwell in [their] hearts through faith’ (Eph 3:17). He talks of the Spirit of the Father ‘dwelling’ in the believer (Rom 8:9,

HUGH

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11). In his Last Discourse, Jesus says: ‘If someone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him’ (Jn 14:23). This legitimates prayer of the heart. At the heart of someone who believes and loves, Christ is present. The whole Trinity is present. Our heart is a house of which Christ is the inhabitant. It’s a throne from which he rules.

It’s a sanctuary where the Shekinah of the divine presence settles.

So I turn inwards. I go into my private room. I shut the door, excluding distractions. Anxieties, angers, passion have to be set aside. At least some tranquillity needs to be established. I draw my racing mind down into the stillness of the heart. I quietly affirm my faith that he is with me.

To find the way to this ‘room’, words help. A famous formula is the Jesus Prayer: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (or, ‘have mercy on us sinners’). How apt for the Year of Mercy! This prayer is beloved of Eastern Christians, much as the Marian Rosary is with us in the West. It comes from the cry of blind Bartimaeus, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’ (Mk 10:47), and from the prayer of the tax collector: ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ (Lk 18:13). It is a longer form of the simplest prayer of all, the prayer of the Holy Name of Jesus. Repeated, it can serve to ‘shut the door’ on the emotional noise within me, and bring me into the Presence. Those who pray it regularly describe how it can take on a life of its own. Rather than just a prayer I say, the prayer starts to ‘pray me’. It becomes like a tune we can’t get out of our heads. The 19th c. Russian classic, The Way of the Pilgrim, gives a winsome presentation of this prayer at work in an ordinary person’s life.

We are children of God and free. The Holy Spirit guides us by the Bible, the Liturgy and the prayers of the saints. He teaches us to pray. But whether we ‘dig’ within or turn outside, it is always the heart he mobilises - that heart where Christ awaits us.

Wishing you a prayerful Easter, Devotedly in Christ, + Hugh OSB

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f you have access to the internet do take a look at some of the many inspiring talks and homilies given by Bishop Hugh Gilbert and other members of the clergy and which are now available on “You Tube”. These include videos of the Diocesan Faith Formation Seminars led by Bishop Hugh which cover a wide range of topics such as “Why does God allow evil?” and “The Seven Deadly Sins” . To access these videos just go to the You Tube site and search for the Diocese of Aberdeen channel.

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Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia at Greyfriars

Image of the Divine Mercy Sr Anna Christi

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had the grace to grow up in the devotional atmosphere of New Orleans, Louisiana. Popular piety is still quite alive there with enthusiasm for chaplets and novenas, statues and medals, vigils and visionaries. In this array of devotions, the Divine Mercy image inspired by the vision of Jesus to Saint Faustina Kowalska seemed like just one of many good choices to utilize during a time of prayer.

But then, Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee of Mercy to last from 8 December 2015 to 20 November 2016. He has called the Church in this year to refocus on the mercy she has received from Christ her Spouse and to focus more intently on the mercy she needs to give, through her members, to the whole world. Suddenly, a contemplative gaze on the image of Divine Mercy seems the most appropriate of devotions for such an intense year of Jubilee.

Saint Faustina was a young sister in the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland during the 1930’s. She was granted many visions and messages from our Lord, which were collected into a book called Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. Her writings have been approved by the Church and Sister Faustina has been canonized, while her request for the Second Sunday of Easter to be named and celebrated as “Divine Mercy Sunday” was granted by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. This newly-named feast day sheds light on the meaning of the entire Paschal Mystery of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection as an act of supreme divine mercy. Saint Faustina was also granted a vision of Christ which he requested to be painted for the benefit of the whole world.

In the original image painted from Saint Faustina’s vision, Jesus’s form emerges from a background of pitch black. Gazing at this feature reminds me of the words of Isaiah 9:2: “Those who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Each human person and humanity as a whole suffers from sin, error, sickness, and death and into the midst of this gloom comes Christ our light, dispersing the darkness.

The rays emerging from his heart appear as a shining path to love, joy, and peace. St. Thomas Aquinas notes that God’s mercy dispels misery by bestowing perfection. (Summa Theologiae I q. 21 art. 3) He has done this ultimately by sending His Son Jesus to dispel our misery with the perfection of his presence. From this we learn that Divine Mercy has a name, and that name is Jesus.

The image of Christ is very simple. He appears with a gentle smile on a countenance fully turned to the viewer. He is completely available to us, ready to listen, console, correct, and empower. He is dressed in a plain white tunic and his side is pierced and open.

This is clearly an image of the resurrected Christ whom the apostles experienced on Easter Sunday. It is informative to recall the scene: gathered in the upper room the apostles, who had abandoned Christ in his passion and death, encounter him now risen. His first words were mercifully not, “Woe to you who abandoned me!” but “Peace be with you!” Jesus had compassion on them in their weakness and sin; he dispelled their sadness and guilt by a bestowal of perfect peace and forgiveness. He offers this same mercy to each of us.

The rays from Christ’s heart are the most striking feature of the image. Jesus himself explained the meaning of the rays to Saint Faustina: “The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous.

The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him” (Diary 299). The “water that makes souls righteous” is the water of Baptism; the blood that is the “life of souls” is received in the Holy Eucharist. This image points us to the way Christ reaches to touch us most intimately: in the celebration of the Sacraments.

Gazing prayerfully at this image can be a profound experience. As well as providing a way to encounter the mercy of Christ for oneself, it can inspire a desire to be Christ’s mercy in the world.

After her own encounter with the merciful Christ, Saint Faustina composed a beautiful prayer: “I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbour… You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy — if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer — if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically. O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for You can do all things (Diary 163).”

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, let us allow the Divine Mercy image to be not just another devotional object, but one which inspires us to become images of Divine Mercy too.

Information used for this article and further information about the Divine Mercy message can be found at: www.thedivinemercy.org Page 5

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Diocesan Holy Doors of Mercy are opened

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he opening service for the year of Mercy in the Aberdeen City Deanery included the blessing and opening of the Holy Door at the Cathedral by Bishop Hugh on Sunday 13th December, along with a blessing of a new icon of the Merciful Christ.

On the significance of this Holy Year, Dean Stuart Chalmers Vicar General said, “the Holy Year of Mercy, which has been called

by Pope Francis, is a graced time of renewal in faith, hope and love, a time when we deepen our knowledge of God’s mercy and forgiveness and in turn respond to his love by deepening our love of God and neighbour in prayer and in practical acts of charity.

In the major churches in Rome, and in Cathedrals and particular churches around the world, holy doors will be opened on 13th December as part of the prayer in this Holy Year. The action of walking through the Holy Door is a symbolic gesture of renewal and re-commitment to God.” Bishop Hugh has said that in the Year of Mercy, a Jubilee Indulgence can be gained: - by entering, with a desire for conversion of heart and in hope of God’s mercy, through an authorised Door of Mercy; - by performing one or more of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy.

At the same time, we must seek God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive Holy Communion (either on the day of the action or soon after), profess our faith through recitation of the Creed, and pray for the Holy Father and his intentions by way of an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be. Those unable to travel to a Door of Mercy, such as the sick, elderly, the housebound and those in prison, may gain the Indulgence by participation in the Sacraments and by reciting the above prayers in their homes or

Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB opening the Holy Door at St Mary’s Cathedral, Aberdeen (Photograph courtesy of Michal Wachucik)

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Aberdeen parishioners and visitors process through the Holy Door (Photograph courtesy of Michal Wachucik) Page 6

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Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB with Fr James Bell at the opening of the Holy Door in St Mary’s, Inverness

local chapels. The Jubilee Indulgence can also be obtained for the deceased.”

As a sign of the communion of the whole Church, the Holy Father requested that in every diocese throughout the world a similar “Door of Mercy” would be opened for the local celebrations of the Jubilee.

In the Diocese of Aberdeen, Holy Doors are also to be found at Pluscarden Abbey, Elgin and at St Mary’s, Inverness.

Jubilee Years are normally celebrated every 25 years at the Vatican and this attracts pilgrims from all corners of the world to visit Rome for these special occasions. The most recent Jubilee Year at the Vatican was in 2000 for the beginning of the Third Millennium.

Pope Francis has offered this coming year as an extraordinary ‘Jubilee Year of Mercy’ and a time of special forgiveness for Catholics throughout the world, whether practising or lapsed.

The Jubilee Year runs from 8th December 2015 (the feast of The Immaculate Conception and also the 50th Anniversary of the closing of the second Vatican Council), until 20th November 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the Universal King.

A Jubilee Year is a special holy year of forgiveness and pardon of sins and on this occasion, Pope Francis has decreed that the focus be particularly on God’s mercy, “The Holy Door will become a door of mercy, through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God, who consoles, pardons, and installs hope.”

The overall spirit and intentions for the Jubilee Year of Mercy are outlined in the Papal Bull, Misericordiae Vultus (The Face of Mercy) in which Pope Francis says that the Holy Year is “dedicated to living out in our daily lives the mercy” which God “constantly extends to all of us.”

The Holy Father concludes the Papal Bull with an invocation to Mary, witness to God’s mercy, and recalls another saint who dedicated her life to making God’s mercy known, namely the Polish St Faustina Kowalska. (The Divine Mercy Devotion).

Dr Glen Reynolds and Duncan Macpherson

Beauly and Cannich confirmations

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n 12th December, 2015 Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB confirmed four young people in the parishes of St Mary’s Beauly and Our Lady and St Bean, Marydale, Cannich.

Harriet Tree and Louis Montague (above left) were confirmed at Cannich, and at Beauly the confirmands were

Lauren Olivares and Alan Hasson (above right).

The parishioners of both churches together with visitors from near and far were uplifted by the joyous, spirit-filled ceremonies and grateful to the Bishop for his visit.

On a note of encouragement this brought the total number of candidates confirmed by the Bishop in 2015 to 200.

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Merciful Christ icon at Aberdeen Cathedral

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Dr Glen Reynolds OFS

nyone visiting the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary in Aberdeen will be welcomed by the sight of a new image at the far end of the aisle when you walk through the Holy Door. It is an Icon that was specifically commissioned in view of the Year of Mercy.

Bishop Hugh had already seen and appreciated the work of Monika Walendziak and so approached her to carry out the work. His hope was of an Icon of the Merciful Christ which would conform to the classical canons of iconography. Bishop Hugh said, “I have not been disappointed. One whole side of the Cathedral has been transfigured by its presence. Even from afar, the figure of Christ beckons the viewer. It has helped create in that aisle of the Cathedral what we have called a Way of Mercy. Entering through the Holy Door, one is aligned with the Stations of the Cross. To the left is the Confessional. Ahead the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle, and above that this gentle but commanding Icon. It will surely help many people realise how Christ is indeed ‘the face of the Father's mercy’, as Pope Francis says”.

The artist, Monika Walendziak said that “when Bishop Hugh Gilbert asked me to paint a large icon for the upcoming Year of Mercy, the first idea that emerged spontaneously was to paint ‘Anastasis’, one of the icons of the Resurrection which depicts the Descent into Hell.”

They both agreed that the best thing to do would be to remind everyone that the greatest act of God’s mercy was the Resurrection itself which liberated us from the power of death. Monika said, “ We realized, however, that the most complex and symbolic composition of ‘Anastasis’ might not be clearly understandable and therefore a thought of the icon of Christ Merciful occurred. The image of Divine Mercy, referring to apparitions of Christ received by saint Faustina Kowalska, was the starting point. It was clear to me that the most daring challenge may be to transform the widely known, painted in 1930, ‘naturalistic’ versions of this image into an icon.”

Iconography, depicting the reality in its eschatological aspect,

Monica with the completed icon (Photograph: Michal Wachucik) Page 8

The Icon of the Merciful Christ (Photograph: Michal Wachucik) is based on a very reasonable assumption that art is a form of communication and therefore it uses a specific language which shouldn’t be incomprehensible. In iconography there’s no place for art for art’s sake only. It means the icon should be recognized by members of the Church as a visualization of holy mysteries and saints. This imposes on the iconographer a duty of following the Church’s canon and, on the other hand, of remaining highly sensitive to the piety of the faithful.

Monika added, “The technique I used is rather unusual. The process of painting is highly time-consuming and consists in mixing dry, mostly natural pigments like finely ground earths with a binding substance, egg yolk mixed with white dry wine and water. Another element, omnipresent on icons, is gold which symbolizes the divine light. I was fascinated when I found out that the gold we use is a remnant of exploding supernova stars as there are no adequate physical conditions on Earth to produce as complex a molecule as gold. Speaking in terms of artistic qualities, I think that gold is, paradoxically, one of the simpler and least pretentious substances we can use in art. It is what it is. The only thing we can do is to enhance its shine or destroy it. At the same time gold has an abundance of symbolic meanings, being associated with divinity, royal majesty and lucidity. And that was my idea while painting the icon of Christ Merciful – I wanted it to be as bright and clear as possible, with the dominant figure of Christ surrounded by divine, golden light. Eliminating all unnecessary details and minimising such elements as the rays of light coming from Christ’s Heart, is intended to turn the attention to Christ’s face and thereby make it easier to form a personal and prayerful relationship with Him.” “The way of the icon is the way of beauty. And it seems to be the most forgotten element of the classical Greek triad of Truth-Goodness-Beauty and no longer a concern of contemporary aesthetics. The icon, however, remains a sign of a great need we have, because, probably in an intuitive way, we are still aware that beauty is the language of God and has a power to transform us. I can only hope that my work follows this path.”

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Re-dedication of Pluscarden Abbey

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he 5th November 2015 was a day of great blessing for the Pluscarden community and for the many friends who were able to join us, in the solemn liturgy of re-dedication of our church. Somebody remarked that everything on this day which could have gone well, did go well!

A beautiful glossy booklet was produced for the liturgy, including all its texts and chants, with translations, explanatory notes, and illustrations. Also, an introduction, setting out the meaning, history and structure of the ceremony, together with its particular relevance within the long history of the Pluscarden Church.

Our former abbot, now our bishop, Dom Hugh Gilbert presided at the Mass, which began at 11.00 a.m. and concluded at 1.45 p.m. Around three hundred people attended the Mass. They included: Bishops Joseph Toal of Motherwell and William Nolan of Galloway; some thirty priests; two deacons; representatives of other monastic communities, male and female; religious sisters; the Lord Lieutenant of Moray and representatives of the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church, including Bishop Mark Strange of Moray, Ross and Caithness. Ten servers, drawn from both the diocese and our own community ensured that the ceremonies flowed with reverence, dignity and good order. A most unpleasant and very widespread cold bug was attacking many people at the time, especially in their throats. There had been real apprehension that our singers might be prevented from uttering a sound but in the event the music of the Mass never faltered.

In preparation for the day, the central doorway between transepts and chancel was re-structured, with the setting up of a strikingly fine new tabernacle in the centre of the sanctuary.

Many friends of the community contributed notably and selflessly to the preparations. The entire church was cleaned, all the way up to the roofs, including the removal of ancient cobwebs at ceiling height. Existing Church furniture was cleaned and polished, or upgraded, or removed. Fresh altar linen was made. Lavish floral displays adorned both transepts and chancel. Those seated in the transepts were able to follow the ceremonies around the altar and in the choir via a video camera link and a sound system that functioned almost, if not quite, one hundred percent of the time.

Monastic experience weekend at Pluscarden

The monks of Pluscarden Abbey offer a special opportunity to see at first hand what monastic life is about, during the weekend Friday 19th to Monday 22nd August 2016. The invitation is extended to single young men, Catholics who practise their faith, aged 18 - 35. There will be no charge for the weekend. Anyone interested is invited to contact us through the web form, or write to: Fr. Benedict Hardy OSB Pluscarden Abbey Elgin Moray IV30 8UA

Around 300 people attended the solemn liturgy of re-dedication presided over by former abbot, Dom Hugh Gilbert OSB (photograph: Michal Wachucik) It was friends of the community also who looked after the catering arrangements, with a splendid lunch for all served in a large marquee set up on the front lawn; not without the stirring music of the Pipes.

Surely the liturgy of this day was among the greatest in Pluscarden’s history, comparing in importance with the formal opening on 8th September, 1948. All present commented on the great happiness and beauty of the occasion. Praise then and thanksgiving are due to God, source of all blessings, in whose honour, and for the upbuilding of whose Church, all this was done.

Dom Benedict Hardy OSB

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Family Faith Days at St. Sylvester’s, Elgin

Enjoying a simple lunch with family and new friends from the parish community, a time to be together, learning more about the faith

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his year, to help prepare families and children for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Communion, and Confirmation, St. Sylvester’s Parish in Elgin offered a series of Family Faith Days.

After the midday Mass at the parish, the families were invited to the parish school for a simple soup lunch prepared and served by members of the church community. This was followed by a time of catechesis for the various ages in the family: adults both English and Polish-speaking, older children, and younger children led by the Dominican sisters at the parish. The foundational proclamations of

the Christian message: creation, redemption, and the Church were the focus of each of the three events. Families were very positive in response to the Family Faith Days: “We have come to see that the whole family has to be one in believing and practising their faith and that parents have a big role in developing their children’s faith in God. We feel a stronger sense of community after the sessions and sharing meals with all of the families involved.” The parish plans to continue implementing these events each year, building up the parish community.

Highland welcome at St Mary’s, Inverness for Daughters of Divine Love Congregation

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he Bishop of Aberdeen, Rt Rev Hugh Gilbert OSB, welcomed 12 Nigerian Sisters, the Daughters of Divine Love, to St. Mary's Church in Inverness for a special Installation Mass.

The Daughters of Divine Love Congregation is an international order of religious women founded by the late Bishop Godfrey Okoye on July 16th 1969 in Nigeria. It was founded during the agonising and ravaging Nigeria-Biafra war. At present, more than eight hundred members have professed their vows. The members of their congregation, known by their blue veil, serve throughout Africa, the Americas and Europe but this will be their first community in Scotland.

Three of the sisters will take up permanent residence at St. Mary's Convent, beside St. Mary's Church on Huntly Street, Inverness.

Much refurbishment work has been carried out at the convent in preparation for their arrival. The convent building has remained largely unoccupied during the last three years since the Highlandbased Polish Sacred Heart Sisters returned to Poland.

Bishop Hugh Gilbert thanked the Daughters of Divine Love for travelling from cities around the U.K. to support their colleagues from Nigeria, and he explained that their arrival was welcomed by the growing Catholic population around Inverness.

The Daughters are known in a special manner for their love of neighbour, coupled with deep humility and solid piety, rooted and grounded in love. This love is self-sacrificing and combines contemplation with apostolic action.

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The12 sisters from the Daughters of Divine Love Congregation with Bishop Hugh Gilbert and St. Mary’s Parish Priest, Fr. James Bell Bishop Gilbert emphasised that, "Many in Inverness would welcome and benefit from the Sisters' excellent pastoral caring skills in helping to spread the Gospel, and in their practical participation throughout the three local Inverness parishes".

Father James Bell, Parish Priest at St. Mary's Inverness and Dean of the Highland Deanery said, "The beautiful smiling faces of these hard working sisters will be a welcome sight for the locals of Inverness in the coming weeks and I urge everyone to give them a warm Highland welcome, as they go about their Christian duties in this most northerly posting for their joyful and caring order."

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Polish victims of Word War II remembered

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n Sunday, 15th November, a crowd of over 150 gathered at the Polish War Memorial in Invergordon, Ross-shire.

They included the Consul General for Poland, based in Edinburgh, Dariusz Adler and local MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Rob Gibson.

They were joined by Highland Councillors, representatives of the local services and members of the large Polish Community from Inverness and Ross-shire areas, along with Invergordon residents.

Polish Chaplain for Inverness, Ross-shire and Highland area, Fr. Piotr Rytel, from St. Mary's Church in Inverness was one of the celebrants.

Invergordon was a WWII base for the Polish armed forces.

Rather than be executed or enslaved in Nazi Concentration Camps some of the Polish fighters bravely fled their homeland, taking with them their army equipment and even their airforce fighter planes, sometimes with only hours to spare before the Nazi invasion of their country.

The service is traditionally held one week after the UK Remembrance Service, to allow for greater participation in commemorating their brave war efforts on behalf of the allied forces.

Following the hour long service, everyone was invited for refreshments in the local community hall.

Just their cup of tea!

The Service of Remembrance held at the Polish War Memorial in Invergordon

Craig Lodge Retreat Centre

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he youth group at Greyfriars Convent in Elgin were helping out by serving teas and coffees at last year’s Sunday afternoon Classical Concert, a fundraiser for WYD2016 and organised by Gaynoll Craig, who's been masterminding the Aberdeen Diocese Youth Group and co-ordinating and encouraging their fundraising activities.

The Youth Group are undertaking a range of activities, including running Coffee Mornings, to help them raise funds to support their trip to World Youth Day activities in Kraków, Poland this summer.

They are photographed with the official World Youth Day 2016 banner and also with the tea and coffee pots that they are putting to such good use. Sr. Anna Christi, Sr. Nicholas Marie, Sr. Imelda Ann and Sr. Christiana are preparing them and encouraging them in their fundraising efforts.

18th-20th March St Joseph- Tony Hickey 24th-27th March Easter Triduum (16s-30s) - Fr Mar n Delaney 1st-3rd April Divine Mercy Weekend - Craig Lodge Community 4th-8th April Family Week 15th-17th April The Year of Mercy - Bishop John Keenan Also ‘Year for God’ spiritual gap years Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer Dalmally, Argyll, PA33 1AR T: 01838200 216 E: mail@craiglodge.org All retreats listed at www.craiglodge.org

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Franciscan fraternities welcome new member

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n Saturday 13th February the Secular Franciscan Fraternities of San Damiano (Inverness) and Christ the King (Ellon) had a joint meeting at St Columba's Roman Catholic Church in Tower Road, Culloden (the newest Catholic Church in Scotland) to celebrate the admission of Robert Lamb Watson into the order.

Regional Minister, Helen MacGilp said that "Bob's formation would take place in Ellon and, after Profession, he will focus on building up the fraternity there. It's a process similar to grafting...the stronger plant helping to build up new growth."

Robert explained, "I have been attending Christ the King OFS fraternity in Ellon for the past few years, latterly as an Enquirer.

The longer I have been involved with Secular Franciscans, the more I have come to realise that I'm being called to Profession, and hope in time to be Professed. For much of my adult life I have been active in the community in the field of politics and also working with the disadvantaged and other groups.”

“I'm convinced that my Christian faith, now nourished within the Roman Catholic Church; my fellowship with OFS members; my experiences of life and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, have been directing me to follow Christ in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi.”

“Having been warmly and lovingly welcomed at my admission in the San Damiano OFS fraternity, Inverness, I

Robert Watson (centre) with members of the secular Franciscan fraternities of San Damiano (Inverness) and Christ the King (Ellon) am hugely encouraged and ready to move forward towards Profession and all that being a member of the Secular Franciscan Order entails.”

Anyone interested in following Bob's path and attending the monthly meetings in Ellon, should contact Glen Reynolds on 01346-561364 . More information is available at www.ofsgb.org

Altar Servers’ Retreat

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n Friday 23rd October 2015 a group of eight altar servers from St. Mary’s Cathedral and helpers set off on retreat to Pluscarden Abbey. This in part was reward for all the excellent and tireless work the servers put in at the cathedral on a regular basis, but also for the commitment shown in attending training regularly since the start of term. This was achieved thanks to the generous contributions from the cathedral congregations who donated £736.50 in total.

Friday evening entertainment of “Who wants to be an altar server?” and the “Yes/No” game kept our servers entertained before we all prepared for bed by saying Night Prayer by candlelight.

On Saturday following Mass at the Abbey we all learned some Latin with George Brand who taught us all how to sing the Salve Regina and the Pater Noster. Following a hearty lunch, we went for a tour of the abbey and to hear about the history of the monastery and about the order of monks at the abbey. After this we went for a walk around the grounds during which Fr. Jakub led the servers in saying the rosary, before hearing confessions upon our return.

Once we had enjoyed our evening meal we headed for Compline and afterwards, on our way back to our accommodation, our servers observed the ‘Great Silence’ impeccably. Br. Max then gave a wonderful talk which really engaged and connected with our servers. This was a particular highlight of the weekend and was rated very highly on the feedback forms. The talk was recorded and will be available for viewing on the cathedral’s YouTube page in due course.

On Sunday morning we all attended Mass prior to completing a crossword on altar serving, having lunch, packing up and clearing

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up prior to our departure. My personal highlight was hearing the children singing the Salve Regina as they were moving about the accommodation area.

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I am very grateful to Fr. Jakub and Br. Max from the university chaplaincy for attending and being part of our weekend. All of our servers thoroughly enjoyed their input. Many of our servers hope to go on to university and, should they choose to study in Aberdeen, they will then appreciate the close ties they have already formed with the university chaplaincy.

Everyone enjoyed the retreat. It was a great success which we will be hoping to repeat with a visit to Tomintoul in April 2016 and again to Pluscarden Abbey in October 2016.

A big thank you must go to all of the helpers on the weekend without whom the weekend could not have happened, to Fr. Keith for allowing us to take the servers on retreat and fundraise at the cathedral and finally once again thank you to the congregations for their generous donations to enable us to make the retreat affordable. Altar Server formation continues on Friday evenings at 6pm at the cathedral during term time.

Simon Winstanley

Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham return to Inverness

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alsingham is a village in Norfolk where in 1061, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to the lady of the manor, Richeldis de Faverches, and led her in spirit to Nazareth, showed her the house where the Annunciation occurred, and asked her to build a replica in Walsingham to serve as a perpetual memorial. Since then it has become a place of Pilgrimage. In January Pope Francis granted the Shrine the status of Minor Basilica.

Pope Benedict XVI chose the dedication to Our Lady of Walsingham when he established the Personal Ordinariate in 2011 allowing Anglicans and Episcopalians to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining much of their heritage and traditions. Inspired by Pope Benedict XVI and encouraged by Pope Francis the Ordinariate exists to promote the unity of all Christians with the Apostolic See, and faithfully to proclaim the Gospel through the rich treasures of their liturgical and musical traditions. The Ordinariate is fully part of the Catholic Church, supported and encouraged by the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland. Archbishop Philip Tartaglia is the Bishop-delegate for the Ordinariate in Scotland.

The first Ordinariate priest in Scotland was Fr Len Black who had served as an Episcopalian minister since 1972, and in Inverness

Statue of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Slipper Chapel at Walsingham

Mass at Fortrose and a visit from Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton since 1980. During Lent 2011, he along with a number of his former parishioners, began their preparation to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. He was ordained Deacon

by Bishop Peter Moran in Pluscarden Abbey in June 2011 and the following month, ordained priest by Bishop Tartaglia.

A new Ordinariate Missal approved by the Holy See last Advent integrates centuries’ old traditional language Anglican prayers into the Roman Rite. It is now used by the three Ordinariates around the world, in the UK, America & Canada and Australia and reflects the distinctive nature of the Ordinariate.

In the Diocese of Aberdeen the Ordinariate Mass has been celebrated every fortnight in St Peter and St Boniface, Fortrose, since 2011. However, it has become increasing clear that they really need to be in Inverness if they are to fulfil the Mission given to the Ordinariate by Pope Benedict.

They explored the possibility of relocating to one of the Catholic parishes in Inverness, but sadly things did not work out as hoped.

They have now found a new home in the Royal Northern Infirmary Chapel in Ness Walk and from Easter Day the Ordinariate Mass will be at 3pm on the second, fourth and fifth Sunday of each month.

Fr David Kay, parish priest of Fortrose said, “It has been very good having Fr Len and his Ordinariate flock with us. We will miss them but understand that being in Inverness is much more convenient and sensible.” Fr Black added, “we have enjoyed our stay at Fortrose where everyone has made us most welcome. Our move to Inverness will be a new beginning for us. All Catholics are most welcome to join us at any Ordinariate Mass as are all who seek unity with the Holy See as a step towards the Unity of the Church.”

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Mgr Brian McGee is ordained as Bishop of Argyll and the Isles

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congregation of more than 700 including 70 members of the clergy attended the Ordination Mass of Bishop Brian McGee, as the 11th Bishop of Argyll and the Isles at St. Columba's Cathedral in Oban on the 18th February.

The Diocese of Aberdeen was represented by Bishop Hugh Gilbert, Emeritus Bishop Peter Moran, along with Fr James Bell from Inverness and Fr Domenico Zanrè, from Culloden.

Bishop Brian McGee from Greenock, in the Diocese of Paisley succeeds Bishop Joseph Toal who was appointed as Bishop of Motherwell in 2014.

The Consecration was led by Metropolitan Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh's Archbishop Leo Cushley. He was assisted by Bishop Toal. Also assisting was the Bishop of Paisley, John Keenan. The Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Mennini (the Pope’s representative in the UK) was also present.

Archbishop Leo Cushley commented on the new Bishop’s Irish

His Eminence Cardinal Sean Brady “Laying on Hands” roots, comparing him to St. Columba who made the journey from Ireland to Scotland in the 6th Century.

The Argyll and the Isles Diocese has the largest number of Gaelic speaking parishioners of the eight Catholic Dioceses in Scotland and the new Bishop expressed his desire in a BBC Alba interview, to "learn Gaelic and to pray with the Island parishioners in their native tongue".

The congregation of around 770 included other Scottish Faith Leaders, Religious and local dignitaries.

Here’s How to ...........

Plan for Residential Care in Scotland

A se r look ies whi c prac s at som h t and ical iss e ue co eve ncerns s ryda y life of .

Amy Watson

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aking the decision for yourself or for loved ones to go into residential care is something that increasing numbers of us are having to come to terms with, and it can be a stressful and emotional time. However, having an understanding early on of what is involved gives a degree of certainty that can prove comforting.

What financial help is there?

Many people are concerned in particular about how residential care will be financed once somebody has been assessed as requiring care by the Local Authority. The good news is that every person aged over 65 in Scotland who is assessed by their local Council as needing personal and/or nursing care in a care home is entitled to an allowance from the Government. The amount of the allowance changes every April and this year the personal care allowance is £171 per week while the nursing care allowance is £78 per week.

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Over and above these allowances, most people in Scotland will have to contribute to the cost of their care in some way and Local Authorities follow the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide (CRAG) produced by the Scottish Government to help them assess what level of contribution an individual will have to make.

Your income As regards income, most types of income will be taken into

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account in any financial assessment of a person’s liability to pay for their care. This could include State Pension and Pension Credit, as well as any income from investments, annuities, or from the lease of the person’s home. An occupational pension is also included but the person requiring care is entitled to give half of this to a spouse remaining at home and that half will be ignored. The person in care will always be left with a Personal Expenses Allowance, however, amounting at the moment to £25.05 per week.

Your capital and the family home In many cases a person’s income will not be sufficient to cover the cost and, depending on the amount of capital they have, they will be expected to use some of this to pay for their care. As with income, most types of capital will be included in the financial assessment, including bank accounts, stocks and shares, and property. The contribution that the person must make will depend on how much capital they have and, again, the levels change from year to year. At the moment, if a person has more than £26,250 of capital they will be regarded as “self-funding” which means that they must pay for all of their care other than that covered by the Scottish Government allowances mentioned earlier. If a person has between £16,250 and £26,250 of capital they must make some contribution, but if they have less than £16,250 then the Government will pay for any care they require that cannot be covered by their income.

Some capital is completely ignored (disregarded) in the Council’s financial assessment and this includes any life policies but only if these were not set up to avoid having to pay for care. The value of the family home is also disregarded if it continues to be occupied by, for example, a spouse, or a relative over 60 or under 16. The Council has the power to disregard the value of the property even if it is occupied by

someone else if they think that is appropriate. It is only the share of the property belonging to the person needing care that is taken into account. For example, if they own half of the property and the other half is owned by their child, it is only their own half that forms part of the assessment.

“Deliberate deprivation” It should be noted that the Local Authority can decide that somebody has given away their money or property in order that they can get more Government help to pay for their care and this is called “deliberate deprivation”. The Council looks at the circumstances surrounding the gift, including when the gift was made, to help them decide whether this was the most significant reason for the transfer. If they believe that deliberate deprivation has occurred then, although the Council is still under an obligation to provide care, they may seek to recover the cost of this from the care home resident.

There is legislation in place which entitles Local Authorities to recover these funds if the person made the gift less than 6 months before they went into care. However, even if the transfer happened more than 6 months before, the Council can still say that deliberate deprivation has taken place and attempt to recover the cost of providing the care as there are no statutory time limits.

What next?

There is no doubt that this is a complex area and sometimes it can be difficult to see the wood for the trees! It can be useful to seek professional advice from someone who can help guide you through the process and it is never too early to do so.

Amy Watson is an Associate at Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace Solicitors.

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diocese

That’s not weed, it’s knotweed!

Tim Stapenhurst

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apanese knotweed is rather like sin. At first glance it is attractive, however, once established it grows rapidly and relentlessly, eventually overwhelming the garden and causing untold damage. Like a bad habit, it is best to root it out and destroy it, but doing so is difficult!

Knowing it to be such a voracious ornamental plant, the alarms sounded loudly when our green fingered gardener discovered it growing in the grounds of St. Joseph's church in Aberdeen. A Garden Shed Meeting was held and the seeds of a plan sown to ensure its destruction.

A knotty problem for St Joseph’s But I'm growing ahead of myself. What is Japanese knotweed, where did it come from and why do we need to contain it?

The ornamental plant was imported from Japan to Holland in 1825 and thence brought to Kew gardens in England.

Delighted gardeners were keen to grow it as it looked like an exotic bamboo and very different from plants growing in the UK at that time. They were pleased by the ease and speed with which it grew. Once established it spread surreptitiously and fast. And so the scene was set for Japanese knotweed to take over UK gardens.

It can grow at three to five inches (7-12cm) a day. It overwhelms other plants and damages eco-systems. It can grow through walls, tarmac and concrete, wrecking roads and buildings and damaging drainage and sewage pipes. You can watch on Youtube the family that bought a new house and some months later found it growing in their living rooms and bedrooms: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu-Y68W4K5Y The effects are so serious that many banks and building societies will not grant a mortgage on a property where Japanese knotweed is growing. Also, it is an offence to allow it to spread from your property or to introduce it in the wild. The government website www.gov.uk gives details of the property owner's responsibilities.

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Knotweed has a secret weapon: it is very difficult to control and holds the title of the UK's most invasive plant. A new plant can grow from a piece of root the size of a pea and it can remain dormant for 20 years. It can be spread by small parts of the plant being transported on footwear or the wheels of wheelie bins, or by being thrown into the garden waste or dumped.

When it grows on river banks it loosens the soil which is then washed away, carrying pieces of the plant downstream.

How is it identified?

It is a perennial plant: each Spring it sends up shoots that look a little like asparagus spears. These grow to about seven feet (2m). The stem looks like green bamboo with red streaks, later turning grey and losing its flecks. It usually grows to be thicker than a thumb. The yellow-green leaves are quite large and heart shaped with tip. In the summer it has small creamy flowers. In the winter the plant dies back leaving a mass of dead canes. Photographs and videos of the weed can be found on the internet.

Destroying Japanese Knotweed Like ridding ourselves of bad habits, ridding ourselves of Japanese knotweed is not easy. The one thing not to do is to try to dig it up or cut it down (If you do you must burn the waste or employ a licensed company to dispose of it, as it is classed as "controlled waste"). Spraying with a glyphosphatebased weed killer is possible if the plants are not near to a water course or to other more desirable garden plants. This type of weed killer, applied to the leaves, will be carried to the roots of the plant. In smaller outbreaks of knotweed it may be possible to inject the weed killer into the larger stems as they are hollow, but smaller stems will still need to be sprayed. All treatments may need to be repeated for three years or more to be sure of eradicating the plant.

If you are not able to take this on, or the area needing treatment is large, you will need to find a company that can eradicate the plant for you. It is not cheap, £1000 being at the low end (depending on the size of the problem) but you should get a work guarantee against re-growth. Ensure that you use a regulated company that will eradicate the plant and dispose of any waste legally.

So, get into your garden and the church's garden and check for knotweed. If you find it, act - now.

Knotweeed has large, heart - shaped yellow - green leaves

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faithinaction

First Scottish woman doctor and a pioneer of the medical missions Elizabeth Grey Agnes McLaren was a suffragette, a Catholic convert and the first Scottish woman to qualify as a doctor. At a time when priests and nuns were forbidden, under Canon Law, to practise medicine and midwifery, Agnes provided the inspiration and impetus for modern professional medical mission work by women religious.

Elizabeth Grey tells the story of a remarkable woman.

Whatever you do for the least of these my brethren So you do it unto me.

Matthew 25:40

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gnes McLaren was born in Edinburgh on July 4th 1837. She was the fourth child of Duncan McLaren an Edinburgh businessman,politician and later to become Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

Duncan’s first wife died in childbirth leaving three small children and he then married Christina Renton who was Agnes’ mother.

Christina died of consumption in 1841 leaving the four year old Agnes and her small sister Catherine.

Duncan McLaren was greatly concerned with the poor of the city and worked tirelessly to bring about national education and to better the conditions for the illiterate poor.

The McLaren children and household were looked after by Christina’s mother,who herself performed many good works for the poor and ,with other like-minded women attended all the meetings concerning the repeal of the corn laws which,in the opinion of Duncan McLaren, were the cause of much of the poverty in Scotland and which he worked tirelessly to have repealed.

It was through that work that he met the woman who would be his third wife, Priscilla Bright, a Quaker and friend of Elizabeth Fry, whom she helped in her work to improve the conditions in women’s prisons.

It can be seen that young Agnes was brought up to look after others before herself and it was her father’s strong Presbyterian faith and her step-mother’s Quaker values that had great bearing on the adult she was to become. Each day began and ended with family prayers and the children became familiar with the bible and the lengthy catechism of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

When Agnes was 17 years old she made it plain she had no interest in socialising but instead she went to help her father’s friend, Thomas Guthrie, with his “Ragged Schools”and became one of his teachers with a special interest in helping poor girls.

Dr Guthrie was concerned that the very poorest children in the city were receiving no education as they had to spend all their time begging. He instituted schools where they were fed. One of his quotes was “You have no idea what changes can be brought about with patience and porridge”!

So Agnes spent her young life assisting with a Victorian version of “Mary’s Meals” in Edinburgh!

In the 1860s Agnes and her stepmother became involved in women’s suffrage. A committee was formed with Priscilla as president and Agnes as secretary of the organisation known as The National Society for Women’s Suffrage. Agnes divided her time between this campaign and Dr Guthrie’s schools.

With her deep love of Christ, with his care for the sick, Agnes was drawn to study medicine but, at that time, women were not accepted as medical students in Scotland nor, indeed, anywhere in

Dr Agnes McLaren, 1837-1913 Britain. So, she decided to find out if there was anywhere on the continent that would accept her. She went to London and took advice from Cardinal Manning who, being impressed with her sincerity, suggested she try Montpellier University and gave her a letter of introduction and that is where she started her medical studies at the age of 39 in 1876.

Agnes boarded at the convent of the Franciscan Hospital Sisters and was very struck with their way of life which fitted with her own frugal lifestyle; she joined the sisters in their prayers and attended morning Mass and fasted on Fridays but on Sundays she attended her own Presbyterian church or, sometimes, if there was a good preacher, the Episcopalian church as the Scots do like a good sermon!

When Agnes eventually qualified as a doctor, the first Scottish woman to do so, she set up her practice in Cannes. Her health was poor and the French climate suited her better than the cold and damp of Edinburgh.

She took rich and poor alike, the fees from her rich patients enabling her to take the poor for nothing.

Agnes continued to attend week-day Mass and an annual retreat which she made under the guidance of a Dominican priest, Abbé Perra, with whom she had long and deep conversations.

Abbé Perra asked her to keep an open mind and to say three Hail Marys each day which she promised to do but,it took twenty years of soul searching before she eventually made her decision and asked to be received into the Catholic Church in 1896 at the age of 59.

Dr Agnes visited the Bethany Convent in Montferrand run by the Dominican sisters and she was greatly impressed by their work in rescuing young women who were leading immoral lives; they welcomed these “fallen women” into their house and saved them from a life in prison, teaching them how to earn their living and lead their lives according to the gospel. This was the very work that her step-mother was so passionate about while Agnes was growing up.

As a result of her time at the Bethany convent Agnes decided she would like to become a member of the secular Third Order of St Page 17

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Dominic and travelled to Rome to ask to be admitted. She spent a week in retreat and at the end of that time she was admitted to the Third Order. She returned to Cannes feeling that, at last, she had accomplished something in her religious life.

After many years of practice, specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology Dr Agnes, whose health was failing, retired to her villa in Antibes where she devoted herself to prayer and opened her house to priests and nuns from the missions for rest and recuperation. It was at this time,in her 70th year, that the most important work of her life began.

In 1907 Dr Agnes met Monsignor Wagna from the North Indian missions who told her of the great sufferings of women and children living in purdah whose religion forbade them to be attended by male doctors.

Agnes immediately offered to help and although she was now too old and infirm to work in the mission she set about finding ways to support it by establishing a committee in London to raise awareness and funds and organise the building of a Zenana hospital (a hospital for women).

Agnes found it almost impossible to find lay women willing to work in such a challenging and remote location so she looked for an order of nuns who would allow their sisters to train in medicine and midwifery and dedicate themselves to this work in India. The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary answered the call and when, in 1909, St Catherine’s Hospital for women was opened they agreed to assist in staffing it.

It transpired however,that priests and nuns were forbidden, under Canon Law, to practise medicine and midwifery; this was a huge set-back.

Dr Agnes travelled five times to Rome trying to get this changed but to no avail.

Agnes realised that her health was failing so she found a young Austrian woman, Dr Anna Dengel, to assist in the work and, eventually, take over from her.

St Agnes church in Glenuig In the Spring of 1913 Agnes fell ill with ‘flu which turned to pneumonia and she died peacefully on the 7th of April 1913 at the Villa Sainte-Anne in Antibes.

Her work was carried on by Anna Dengel but it wasn’t until 1936 that the permission was granted by The Sacred Congregation.

The Society of Medical Missionaries was founded and they still run the mission in Rawalpindi and others world-wide thanks to Agnes McLaren who dedicated her life to improving the lives of women, and whose courage and determination achieved so much.

Agnes McLaren was my grandmother’s aunt. St Agnes church in Glenuig was built by her brother, Judge John McLaren, in her honour and the window behind the altar, depicting St Agnes, is a memorial to her.

The stations of the cross, which came from the chapel in her house in Antibes, are in St. Peter and St Benedict’s chapel in Fort Augustus on loan from her family.

The mission of the Society of the Little Flower is to promote devotion to St.Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Carmelite Nun and Doctor of the Church. Through prayers and donations, friends of St.Thérèse enable Carmelites to continue her “Shower of Roses” in their ministries throughout the world and in their education of young Carmelites.

Carmelite priests, nuns, brothers and sisters serve people in parishes, medical clinics, women’s centres, schools, retreat houses, hospitals, catechetical centres, prisons, housing, job and skills development programmes and sacramental celebrations around the world.

Society of the Little Flower Barclays House 51 Bishopric Horsham RH12 1QJ

0345 602 9884 (local rate) ukweb@littleflower.org www.littleflower.eu Charity No. 1123034

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Pluscarden Abbey to forge new pilgrimage route from Burgundy

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visionary idea has been proposed to retrace the journey behind the founding of Pluscarden Abbey nearly 800 years ago.

Circa 1230, the Abbey was founded with the arrival in Morayshire of Valliscaulian monks from the French region of Burgundy, and it is now hoped that a Pilgrimage (“The 1230 Pluscarden Pilgrimage”) retracing that journey will take place in the summer of 2017 to raise funds towards the £5 million rebuilding of the iconic South Range – the climax of nearly 70 years of restoration work. The idea is the brainchild of retired Gordon Highlander, Lt Col David Broadfoot MBE, who has been tasked with raising the required money for this daunting task. The draft route, produced following a meeting in Rome between David and Professor Philip Adamo, author of “New monks in old habits”, an expert on the Valliscaulians, will be fleshed out if the uptake reaches its required target by 31st March. This will be achieved by the appointment of two full time staff, a Pilgrimage Director and a Pilgrimage Operations manager.

Pluscarden Abbey as we know it today owes its foundation to King Alexander II of Scotland in the year 1230. At the same time grants were made to two other sister houses, Beauly in Ross, and Ardchattan in Argyll. The community that served these churches was one of Valliscaulians, a little-known order that shared some of the strictness of the Carthusian discipline with the spirit of fellowship that existed among the Benedictines, and only at these three places was this order represented in Scotland or England. The parent house in France, the Priory of Vallis Caulium, had been founded just over thirty years earlier and the original brethren from France must surely have found in Pluscarden an echo of their own situation, lying in a deeply wooded valley in Burgundy, nestling at the foot of a steep and densely forested hill. In fact, an old name for the Pluscarden valley, the Kail Glen, is nothing more than a translation into Scots of the French Val des Choux or the Latin “Vallis Caulium” The pilgrimage of those early Valliscaulian Monks from Burgundy to Pluscarden will be repeated from 5 June to 3 September 2017 and will cover a distance of approximately 1300 miles. It will be broken down into 12 legs of 100 miles and a final leg of 80 miles.

Lt Col David Broadfoot MBE Each leg, less the final leg, will have a ceiling of 40 participants, will take six days, Monday to Saturday inclusive, and Sunday will be a day of rest, worship and changeover of participants and sponsors. The final leg will have 60 participants, will cover 80 miles over 5 days arriving on the Friday, and leading to a final weekend of worship and celebration. Each participant, on each leg, must achieve a minimum sponsorship of £1230. The money raised will

Pluscarden monks, in Valliscaulian white habits, on pilgrimage on Iona go towards the £5 million required to complete the Pluscarden Abbey South Range Project. A stone from the original abbey will be carried throughout the pilgrimage and will constitute the foundation stone of the new South Range. Details of the South Range Project, the Pluscarden 1230 Pilgrimage, including details of all 13 legs, and how to apply for this unique event are at: www.appealpluscardenabbey.org.uk Closing date for applications is 31st March 2016.

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Merciful as the Father

Clare Benedict “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36).

“As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other” (Pope Francis, Misericordiae Vultus n.9).

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y the time you read this, we will be several months into the Jubilee Year of Mercy and many of us, if not most, will be involved in corporal and/or spiritual works of mercy, according to our capabilities and opportunities. From each according to his means…

Karl Marx was not the first to utter such words; we find them throughout the Scriptures and echoed in the Church Fathers and ecclesial documents over the last two millennia.

Something which slightly irks me is the media view of Pope Francis presented to the secular world – not the Holy Father’s fault; it is simply a line the media have settled on. What I find irritating is the implication that before Francis became Pope, the Catholic Church had been doing nothing about the poor and marginalised for nearly 2000 years. Nonsense! The Catholic Church’s social teaching has often been called “the Church’s best kept secret”, sadly because much of her teaching on social issues has not been The Catholic Church’s social teaching has often been called “the Church’s best kept secret”... widely reported. That doesn’t, of course, imply that the faithful are not involved in social works of mercy; quite the contrary, but it is illuminating to rediscover this treasury and realise how much has been inspired by the Scriptures and the Fathers. “…they are wide of the mark who think that religion consists in acts of worship alone and in the discharge of certain moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious life. This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age. Long since, the Prophets of the Old Testament fought vehemently against this scandal and even more so did Jesus Christ himself in the New Testament threaten it

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with grave punishments. Therefore, let there be no false opposition between professional and social activities on the one part, and religious life on the other. The Christian who neglects his temporal duties, neglects his duties toward his neighbour and even God, and jeopardizes his eternal salvation” (Gaudium et Spes 43).

In the Old Testament, justice and mercy were seen as divine qualities, to be imitated and extended to neighbour and stranger alike, in the Torah: “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the stranger. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself ” (Lev. 19:33-4); in the Prophets: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”(Is 58:6-7); in the Wisdom literature: “Those who shut their ears to the cry of the poor will themselves also call and not be heard” (Prov. 21:13).

In the New Testament, Jesus echoed these teachings but went further by urging that these precepts from God should become interiorised, written on the human heart rather than tablets of stone and, above all, be rooted in genuine loving kindness: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25: 40). And St James devoted most of his Letter to the idea of love of neighbour translated into action: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food must do likewise. But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. If a brother or sister is illclad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled’, without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?” (Jas 2: 14, 15-16) Centuries before the Church began to issue documents spelling out our responsibilities towards our needy neighbour, the Fathers of the Early Church urged their flocks to such action. In the 4th century, St John Chrysostom regularly gave his spiritual children a hard time and on occasion annoyed the wealthier members of his congregation so much that they ran him out of town and threatened him with dire punishments. He made them very uncomfortable with utterances such as: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs”, quoted in our day in the Catechism with this explanation: “The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity.” The Catechism quotes also the 6th century St Gregory the Great: “When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice” (CCC 2446). Challenging stuff indeed!

And at times very uncomfortable.

“Do you wish to honour the Body of Christ? Do not despise him when he is naked. Do not honour him here in the church building with silks, only to neglect him outside, when he is suffering from cold and nakedness. For he who said ‘This is my Body’ is the same who said ‘You saw me, a hungry man, and you did not give me to eat.’ Feed the hungry and then come and decorate the table. The Temple of your afflicted brother’s body is more precious than this Temple (the church). The Body of Christ becomes for you an altar. It is more holy than the altar of stone on which you celebrate the holy sacrifice. You are able to contemplate this altar everywhere, in the street and in the open squares” (St John Chrysostom) To be continued.

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Calling on the Holy Name

The Holy Name of Jesus refers to the theological and devotional use of the name of Jesus. Eileen Grant reflects on the reverence and affection with which Christians have regarded the Holy Name since the first centuries AD.

Eileen Grant

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he ideas behind the Jesus Prayer are to be found in the writings of many of the Church Fathers in the first few centuries AD as they gradually developed a tradition of prayerful communion with God, deeply rooted in the Scriptures and based, above all, on a burning love of Jesus Christ and trust in his love for us. From the very dawn of Christianity the goal of Christian prayer has been, ultimately, union with God and the vision of the transfigured, risen Christ.

To attain this state could never be easy or swift; first one had to free the self of all earthly passions, vices which made one vulnerable to passing demons. By ridding oneself of these earthbound passions, one could eventually reach that purity of heart wherein one would see God. Short, simple prayer which called constantly on the Holy Name was seen as a way to free oneself of earthly passion and reach a state of stillness in the presence of God, or hesychia. The actual wording of what came to be known as the Jesus Prayer can be found in St Luke, first in the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Lk. 18:13) And, later, in the blind beggar’s plea, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me; and, in St Matthew, in Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Mt. 16:16).

In the first centuries AD solitary seekers of God were scattered throughout the deserts, often following literally Our Lord’s advice to the rich young man “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Mt. 19:21).

Alone in the desert, they devoted their lives to pursuing, through constant prayer, a closer relationship with the Lord, and striving to free themselves of the passions which threatened all the time to drag them down. We have been left many delightfully picturesque stories of the struggles of those early monks, often literally grappling with demons and continually calling on the name of the Lord to help them in their battle to attain purity of heart, their unremitting task always to seek spiritual union with God, when they could finally rest in His silent love. Here is just one of their stories:

There came to Abba Joseph, Abba Lot, and said to him, “Father, according to my strength I keep a modest rule of prayer and fasting and meditation and quiet, and according to my strength I purge my imagination; what more must I do?” The old man, rising, held up his hands against the sky, and his fingers became like ten torches of fire, and he said, “If thou wilt, thou might become a living flame.”

These early monks were usually laymen whose vocation lay in a solitary communion with God. They followed an ascetic discipline inspired by the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, leading to the state of apatheia, or dispassion, which was, however, the complete opposite of emotional anaesthesia (an accusation sometimes levelled at them). Instead, it signified a detachment from worldly possessions and feelings, leading to a deeper attachment to love: “the state of a soul in which love towards God and men is so ruling and burning as to leave no room for self-centred human passions” (Monk of the Eastern Church). Around 400AD, Diadochos of Photiké spoke of the fire of apatheia; Gregory of Nyssa of pathos apathes (passionless passion) which draws the soul towards God. Apatheia was never meant to signify the absence of either suffering or feeling; St Paul, after all, rejoiced in his sufferings in the hope of completing in his flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions (Col. 1:24). By means of the unceasing prayer urged by St Paul, man does not suppress the tempers and desires of his bodily nature but rather purifies them. According to St Basil “in everything the Apostles did, they thought of God and lived in constant devotion to Him. This spiritual state was their unceasing prayer.”

Before the organisation of monastic communities and the development of formal instructions on ways of ridding oneself of the passions, thereby achieving that inner stillness, we come across frequent references to both the power of the Name and the need for inner peace. The Shepherd of Hermas, written c 100-150 AD, first recommends the use of short, simple prayer: “The Name of the Son is great and immense and it upholds the whole world.” St Clement of Alexandria tells us, “Prayer is a conversation with God. Even if we speak with a low voice, even The old man, rising, held up his hands against the sky, and his fingers became like ten torches of fire, and he said, “If thou wilt, thou might become a living flame.” if we whisper without opening the lips, even if we call to him only from the depths of the heart, our unspoken word always reaches God and God always hears”; and St Irenaeus reminds us that “the name of God and Lord is given also to His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who makes men the sons of God if they believe in his name.”

In the third century we find Origen’s reassurance: “Even today the name of Jesus calms troubled souls, puts devils to flight, cures the sick; its use infuses a kind of wonderful sweetness.” St Athanasius insisted that the name of Jesus could put devils to flight and described the state to which St Antony’s unceasing prayer and struggle against demons in the desert brought him: “His body was unchanged … The temper of his soul, too, was faultless, for it was neither straitened as if from grief, not dissipated by pleasure, nor was it strained by laughter or melancholy.” And he recounts St Antony’s advice to a young monk: “Nourish your soul with the word of God, in vigils, in prayers, and above all by the incessant remembrance of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by that you will acquire the art of conquering evil thoughts.”

To be continued.

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Norwegian jewel in Kristiansund Ron Smith, the Light of the North’s roving reporter, takes off for Norway to visit an attractive 1930’s church in Kristiansund, dedicated to the much revered Norwegian Saint Eystein.

Ron Smith

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ristiansund is on Norway’s Atlantic coast, and is now connected to Aberdeen by a daily BMI Regional flight. It is a town that historically made its fortune drying and salting cod (klippfisk) and selling them far and wide. Today the oil industry is the main source of business, plus tourism.

It is a lovely part of the world. The town (population around 24,000 people) has a striking modern (1964) Protestant church, several other churches, and a very pretty Catholic chapel. Norway changed from being Catholic to Lutheran around 1536, and there was no Catholic church in Kristiansund until 1932. There was a church in the town of Molde, a little further south, and so a small chapel was established in a rented house, with a small apartment for the priest. This was opened on the 15th of December 1932.

This was a success, so the present chapel was built and opened on 12th September 1934 as an independent church.

The church is dedicated to Saint Eystein. He was an interesting man. He was born in Trødelag, some time between 1120 and 1130, to a family with connections to the nobility. He was educated in Saint Victor in Paris, and became a priest. He returned to Norway and was appointed as a steward to King Inge Krokrygg. When the incumbent Archbishop died, King Inge appointed Eystein as the new Archbishop of Nidaros (Trondheim) – which had only been a see for five years. The ten sees of Norway, created in 1157, included Iceland, Greenland, the Orkneys and the Shetland isles. Eystein then travelled to Rome, where his appointment was confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1161. He returned to Norway and worked on strengthening ties between the church in Norway and Rome. At that time in Norway priests were not often celibate and so Eystein introduced Augustinian communities

Interior of the chapel and, inset, a statue of St Eystein holding a representation of Christ’s Church Cathedral, Nidaros Page 22

The chapel in Kristiansund to reinforce the rules.

Eystein’s return from Rome coincided with a civil war in Norway.

Eystein saw an opportunity to sort out the laws of succession that had caused so many disputes and battles. In 1163 he crowned the eight year old Magnus as King of Norway. Eystein was influential in creating laws that typify the Norwegian attitude – free action of churches among a free people. This did not go down well with a man called Sverre, who claimed that, as the illegitimate son of King Sigurd, he was the rightful King of Norway. Eystein was forced to flee to the UK in 1181, and stayed at the Abbey of Saint Edmundsbury (today’s Bury St. Edmunds). It was from here that he excommunicated Sverre. He returned to Norway in 1183 and landed in Bergen, just as Sverre’s navy defeated King Magnus’ navy, which meant that Magnus had to flee into exile in Denmark.

Nevertheless, Eystein and Sverre were reconciled, and he was able to continue his work to build up the Catholic Church in Norway.

He was instrumental in constructing several monasteries and churches. He enlarged Christ’s Church Cathedral, Nidaros, where St. Olaf is buried. Eystein died on 26th January, 1188 at Nidaros, and is buried in the Cathedral.

He was immediately considered a saint, and the ‘process’ was started. However, the necessary Papal enquiries were not conclusive.

This did not stop the synod of Norway declaring him a Saint in 1229. Today he is well known and revered throughout Norway.

His statue shows him holding a large church in his hands – this is a representation of the Christ’s Church Cathedral at Nidaros, as it probably looked when he had finished extending it. It was doubled in size again over the years.

The chapel in Kristiansund today is a little out of the way, in amongst the typically brightly painted wooden houses, with a small nursery school attached. The stained glass windows allow a lot of light to flood the interior. It is not a large church, but is modern and well used. During World War II, the Germans used Kristiansund as a naval base, and so we bombed it severely. With most of the houses being wooden, over 900 were destroyed. Fortunately, the church was not destroyed, as it is a good example of 1930s architecture, well worth seeing for that alone. The current parish priest is Father Grzegorz Orkisz, who was born in Dębica, Poland in July 1981. He was ordained at Tarnów in May 2006, and served in Poland before his appointment to Kristiansund.

Kristiansund is a great place to visit, with lots to see and do, friendly English-speaking inhabitants, and the surrounding area is beautiful, all islands and water, hills and mountains – and if you go there, take a look at this attractive church.

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Lent, a time to stand and stare Sr Janet Fearns FMDM What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?

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n the film The Way, an American ophthalmologist, Tom Avery, decides to continue the pilgrimage to the shrine of St James in Compostela that his son Daniel had begun but never finished. Daniel had died in bad weather high up in the mountains on the very first night of his pilgrimage.

The film, which stars Martin Sheen, was written by his son Emilio, who also plays the part of Daniel. The Way is beautifully thought-provoking as it follows a grieving father coming to terms with his bereavement.

At one point, Tom marches past a bank of orange flowers, much to the amazement of a fellow pilgrim. He’s in such a hurry to reach Compostela that he doesn’t see the flowers on the way.

He’s surrounded by beauty, but he’s blind to it. By the end of his pilgrimage, Tom, a lapsed Catholic, sings a different tune, but it took his personal Way of the Cross and a pilgrimage from Paris to Compostela to open his eyes to the world around him.

A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

During Lent, most parishes celebrate the Way of the Cross, especially on Good Friday. This practice originated very early in our history as people tried to retrace Jesus’ road to Calvary. As early as the 5th century efforts were made to create the holy places in other countries. The Franciscans created the Stations of the Cross as we know them today, enabling people to walk the Via Dolorosa even if they could not travel to Jerusalem.

Saint Leonard of Port Maurice (1676-1751) was particularly associated with the Stations of the Cross, setting up no fewer than 572 sets across Italy. During Lent, he preached in the churches in Rome, creating a time of pilgrimage as he led people from one church to the next for the forty days of the season. It seems that our traditional fourteen Stations are the ones he made the most memorable.

In 1975 the North American College in Rome opted to revive, for the English-speaking community, the ancient custom of the ‘Station Churches’. Every morning throughout Lent, Mass is offered in a different church, thereby re-enacting St Leonard’s forty-day pilgrimage throughout the city. The route incorporates the main basilicas and some of the oldest churches, many of which mark the burial places of early Christians and, in particular, martyrs.

In the church of Sts Cosmas and Damian, for example, situated in the middle of the Forum, there is an ancient church, dating back to AD527, below the ‘modern’ one. There, amidst the remains of very early Christian art, rest the remains of those who died in the Colosseum and other places during times of persecution… The church of San Clemente, which is literally round the corner, was originally a temple to the Roman god Mithras, the bloody god of the soldiers, becoming a Christian church from about AD324, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine.

Through following the Station churches, Lent becomes, not only

Sculpture of fisherman looking out to sea by Andrew Brown in Port William, South west Scotland a 40-day pilgrimage marking the passion and death of Jesus, but also that of his followers during two thousand years of Christianity.

It is a journey from tragedy and despair to new life and hope in the Resurrection.

To attend these ‘Station Masses’ is to be in touch with the very roots and beginnings of Christianity. Yet it is also to take part in ‘pilgrimage’, a phenomenon which is such an important aspect of our human existence that its origins stretch back far into prehistory.

There are those who belittle the concept of pilgrimage, forgetting that human beings have made such journeys since the first time they became spiritually aware and realised they needed a place where they could feel in touch with the sacred.

Pilgrimages transcend time and space. Even our Neolithic ancestors felt drawn to travel great distances and build shrines at such an enormous expenditure of energy and hard work that we still marvel at their achievement. The stone circles across Scotland and monuments such as Maes Howe in Orkney were every bit as holy as Stonehenge and Avebury.

The connection between the natural and the supernatural, the need for a ‘sacred space’ and the desire to make a pilgrimage to that place is deeply inserted within the human psyche and history. Even in the Stone Age, people travelled considerable distances to reach places where they felt close to their deities and could communicate with them. They went to extraordinary lengths to express that association in something permanent, which could be seen from a distance and to which they could always return. If our Neolithic ancestors celebrated their passage from life to death, does it not make even more sense that we should treasure Jesus’ path through Gethsemane to Calvary and thence to the Resurrection?

Today, we are very fortunate. Thanks to printing and to modern technology, we do not need to travel to Jerusalem, or even to our local church, in order to make the Stations of the Cross. We can celebrate them within our own homes. continued Page 23

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A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

Just as his own pilgrimage and Way of the Cross helped Tom Avery in The Way to recover sight, light, life and love, so our own standing and staring at the Cross this Lent can help us to put our

own lives in order. Lent is our own pilgrimage. The Stations of the Cross are the stopping places where we reflect on life’s greatest truth: that God became a human being, living and dying amongst us. It puts everything else into perspective, doesn’t it? Just as Tom Avery needed to stand and appreciate the flowers on his path, we share a similar need – only we sometimes forget about it.

Journeying with Jonah the struggle to find yourself Fr Denis McBride CSsR In the following extract from his new book, Journeying with Jonah, the struggle to find yourself, Fr Denis McBride CSsR, demonstrates how the Book of the Prophet Jonah is in reality a stunningly modern exploration of the character of a man who has to struggle to find himself and fittingly, in this Jubilee Year of Mercy, someone who has to allow his own outlook on life to be shaped by God’s mercy. ersonally I think that the prophet Jonah is a sympathetic partner, albeit a curious one, to help us review our lives.

Although a believer in God, Jonah struggles to come to terms with the awful strangeness of God’s choices which do not mirror his own; he grapples to find his true self and purpose in life; he tries to flee from the presence of God, hoping to find a sanctuary for himself beyond God’s reach; he is angry when he finds that God is not angry but all-merciful.

Jonah is not numbered among the Major Prophets – like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel – but is placed in the second division among the twelve Minor Prophets, a subordinate to the greats who are celebrated for their commitment, revered for their fidelity to the word of God, honoured for their unwavering courage in the face of opposition. They are intellectual giants, giving memorable and lengthy speeches; Jonah, by contrast, utters one line. As Major Prophets they speak with authority across the ages: clearly they have earned their place in the primary canon as single-minded and persistent servants of God. Unlike all the other prophetic books, the book of Jonah is about the character of the prophet rather than the content of his message: we are invited to follow his story, not attend his discourses. His tale is alive with ambiguity and doubt: it is stunningly modern.

Neither single-minded nor persistent, Jonah appears as someone who has emerged from among us: someone who has to struggle to find himself, someone who has yet to grow into his true identity, someone who has to discover his direction in life, someone who has to allow his own outlook on life to be shaped by God’s mercy.

Although a prophet, he seems forever hesitant about what is expected of him. Jonah is temperamental; he seems always in transition, never at home anywhere, unsure of what to do, floundering, hesitating, forever worried about his reputation in the eyes of others. He refuses to go where he is supposed to go.

Commanded by God to go north-east by land, he decides to go due west by sea. He is the patron saint of everyone who has been appointed to impossible places.

When you watch him, you might wonder if you are in a theatre watching a desperate actor stumbling around a vast stage, looking for a compass to find an exit.

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Illustration by Jonathan Thompson Personally, I feel at ease in his troubled company. How can you not like this minor prophet? I do, not least because at the beginning of the last century, the Redemptorists in London were known as “the poor man’s Jesuit”. And when I gave a retreat to the Kiltegan priests in Ireland, they told me that they were called “Jesuits in wellingtons”. Clearly, the Jesuits were heading up the major league – they certainly are now, with the first Jesuit pope. It appears that the Redemptorists and the Kiltegans are still relegated to the second division.

Maybe this is why I love Jonah.

I think that this minor-league prophet mirrors so much of who we are: flawed, fearful, restless, driven. Jonah is opinionated and not shy to express his thinking, even to God. Over against what God commands, Jonah, a real modern, consults himself and travels on his own instincts. Being true to what he believes or fears is more important to him than being obedient to God. He sees God as a contestant, not a supreme guide or even an ally, and so he argues, weighing up the options and deciding to follow his own way.

One of the most thoughtful responses to the book of Jonah is Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: the chaplain to the sailors, Father Mapple, preaching on Jonah, summarises the core challenge: As with all sinners among men, the sin of this son of Amittai was in his wilful disobedience of the command of God – never mind now what that command was, or how conveyed – which he found a hard command. But all the things that God would have us do are hard for us to do – remember that – and hence, he oftener

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commands us than endeavours to persuade. And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists.1 In obeying himself Jonah disobeys God. His story then becomes one of suspense: he almost succeeds in escaping; the ship almost breaks up; Jonah almost dies by drowning; Nineveh is almost destroyed; the tree that gives Jonah shade almost survives. In this story we are on the edge of things.

There is one constant in the book of Jonah: Jonah’s belief that God’s indiscriminate mercy extended to the pagans of Nineveh is not only inappropriate but incomprehensible: Jonah is scandalised

by God’s mercy. Our minor prophet has to learn as we all do, that mercy is indivisible: we cannot plead for mercy for ourselves and then deny it to others.

What missionary, proclaiming God’s message, nurses not the hope but the fear that the people will repent and enjoy God’s mercy?

In Misericodiae Vultus (The Face of Mercy), in which Pope Francis proclaims the Jubilee Year of Mercy, he writes: When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive.

(Misericordiae Vultus, 3) The book of Jonah explores the prophet’s struggle to place limits on the mercy of God. But this book proclaims good news about God: God’s mercy is a powerful force that keeps the future open; tender-heartedness breaks the chain of determinism, seeing the time ahead as a graced place for change. No one, but no one, is beyond the reach of God’s mercy; no one is locked into a planned fate; no one is doomed to embrace disaster. The book of Jonah heralds the Gospel and the merciful message of Jesus.

Further, there is Jonah’s attendant fear that if God is indeed 1 Herman Melville, Moby Dick (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 37.

merciful, then he, his messenger, will be considered a fool after his fatal pronouncement about the sure destruction of the city. Thus our reluctant prophet is worried about his persona, his reputation and how others might judge his performance. Anxious about his celebrity status, he wants to be right and be proved to be right.

Jonah yearns for affirmation of his own way of seeing things: without that approval he will try to flee to the ends of the earth, to hide from the presence of God – he should have learned from Adam’s failure. As Elie Wiesel has written: Jonah’s book is so well written that one is not surprised by his lack of success. Unhappy, unlucky always. Rarely does anything good happen to him. No honours, no rewards, no friends, no supporters.

Whatever he undertakes seems to go wrong. Whenever he wishes to win, he loses; whenever he would prefer to lose, he wins. He is a displaced person, living in an internal exile.2 By the end of the book of Jonah our incomplete hero is still in internal exile: he has not yet arrived at his true self; his direction remains unclear and his outlook unformed by the will of God. Jonah’s story concludes as he is cross-examined by a God who is as stubbornly patient and merciful to Jonah as he was to the people of Nineveh. His story ends with a question. God’s question about his right to be merciful hovers over the story; we do not hear Jonah’s answer. We have to find our own.

Fr Denis McBride CSsR is Publishing Director of Redemptorist Publications and an established and prolific writer in the field of New Testament studies. He has also published short stories, poetry, art criticism, and journalism and is a former course director at Hawkstone Hall, the international centre for spiritual renewal in Shropshire.

Journeying with Jonah is available from Redemptorist Publications : www.rpbooks.co.uk 2 Elie Wiesel, Five Biblical Portraits (Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005), 135.

The mysterious Michaelangelo of the North East and the Banff Pietà Tina Harris

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his unique piece of early Christian art is relatively unknown. Its first recorded discovery was by a sexton in a Banff churchyard in 1862.

He struck it, as he dug a grave, and on investigation, found it to be a sculpture of the Virgin lamenting the dead Christ.

The two heads had been severed, which suggested it had been defaced during the Reformation, and the subsequent demolition of most of the church.

These facts were recorded in the Banffshire Journal by Alex Ramsey in 1862, and then by the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, Vol VII, where it is listed as ‘a genuine native find’.

The sculpture appeared to be almost an exact copy of the Italian Pietà, by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1499.

The piece was kept for some time in the house of the Church of Scotland minister, and was later returned to St Mary’s church where it was placed in the aisle, which is the chief remnant of the church building. It was later placed on a pedestal in the

churchyard.

In 1883 it was re-discovered by one Dr Grigor, of Nairn, during a visit organised by the Northern Field Club. It appeared to Dr Grigor that this was indeed an exact copy of the world famous work of Michelangelo, known as the Pietà.

Its artist, and indeed its origin, however, pose some questions.

It is carved from roughgrain freestone (Morayshire sandstone), which suggests a local and probably unknown artist. But Dr Grigor attributed the work to someone familiar with the Michelangelo Pietà, who may have visited Rome during, or shortly after, the Renaissance period.

The size of the piece is just over 16” high, which suggests it may just have been a random amateur piece.

The eminent writer Vasari (1511-1574), who was a great authority on Italian art, speaking of Michelangelo’s work, had stated that no sculptor, however distinguished an artist he may be, could add a single improvement to the original.

Dr Grigor was bold enough to comment that, “in our northern pietà, making allowance for the rough and unpolished stone, points, such as the torso of the dead Christ, the remains of the right thigh, leg and foot, and part of the Virgin’s drapery, are of Page 25

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On the left, the Banff Pietà ( the camera flash reflects its burst of light where Christ’s head should be) and on the right, the Italian Pietà, by Michelangelo Buonarroti the greatest merit and not so very far behind the great prototype, which it so much resembles.”

The question that now arises is who carved such a masterpiece, and when.

The date range can be narrowed down, based on the design, and the historical evidence: 1499 Marble Pietà completed by Michelangelo in Rome 1517-1648 Protestant Reformation affecting Scotland The piece was presented to Banff Museum about a hundred years ago and has remained there ever since.

It is possible that the Banff Pietà was carved by one of the Carmelites, who might have been familiar with the Italian masterpiece. The Carmelite friars were resident in Banff from 1324-1569.

Evidence to suggest this, however, is poor, although it may be that they had seen illustrated texts in larger religious houses.

Baird of Auchmedden tomb in St. Mary’s Kirkyard, Banff Page 26

One of the friars resident in Banff was said to be one Collus Leonardi, which suggests he might have been Italian.

There were scholars and an extensive library in the Carmelite House in Aberdeen, and literature from Europe was readily available.

Many eminent Carmelites visited Aberdeen, and the early Middle English verse, The Lament of Mary, rose in popularity and was reproduced in large numbers.

More recently, a newspaper report (Telegraph, December 2010), comments on a terracotta model of the Pietà, found in an old box in Florence, which may have been a prototype of the Michelangelo work.

According to expert art historian, Roy Doliner, it is approximately 500 years old, and may have been created by the artist to convince a wealthy French cardinal to commission the marble Pietà statue.

Supporting evidence (or coincidence) is based on the size of the model. It would appear that Michelangelo used an Italian measuring system known as the Florentine braccio, which is about 58cm.

The terracotta model measures 58.3cm, and according to Doliner, all Michelangelo’s models were this size.

The Banff Pietà measures 41cm. Accounting for the missing heads, the complete work may have measured an extra 17cm, making the overall size close to 58cm.

More interestingly, the Banff Pietà is replicated by the aspect of the Christ figure lying from left to right, as a direct copy of the Michelangelo piece. Most illustrations show the figure of Christ lying from right to left. Maybe Michelangelo was left-handed?

Was the Banffshire sculptor also left-handed, or had he actually seen the masterpiece?

Looking at other remnants of early sculpture in St Mary’s churchyard, there is detail on the tomb of the Bairds of Auchmedden which combines medieval with Renaissance style dated 1636, and bears resemblance to the fine detail on the Banff Pietà.

Not surprisingly this is the only pietà to have been found in Scotland.

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and lead us back into the centre of the scene.

The scene is the moment of the Passover feast when Jesus blesses the Cup: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Poussin, however, brings in several other aspects of the story by implication: the laver, pots and cloth in the foreground (sadly now rather dark) tell us of the washing of the feet during the Supper (described in St John’s account) and may also symbolise Baptism. The meaning of the feet-washing at the Last Supper came in for a great deal of Counter-Reformation discussion, especially in relation to the treatise of St Ambrose On the Sacraments. St Ambrose interpreted Jesus washing the feet of his Apostles as their baptism and, therefore, as the institution of the sacrament of baptism. In St Ambrose’s Milanese Church the neophytes had their feet washed immediately after baptism, St Ambrose describing this rite as another sacrament. In justification he quoted John 13:10, when Jesus responds to Peter’s reluctance to Continuing our series on Nicolas Poussin’s 2nd set of paintings have the Master wash his feet or else that he should wash all of him: of the Sacraments, the accuracy and attention to detail with which “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet...” the artist renders this scene of the institution of the Eucharist is Why was this necessary? Because, says Ambrose, “in baptism all guilt is washed away … But, because Adam was tripped up by the phenomenal. devil, and poison was poured over his feet, therefore you wash your feet to wash off the poison of the serpent.” He then adds: “It is a A. Philokalos step towards humility also, that in a sacrament we should not shrink from that which we scorn in an act of service.” The feet-washing ere we have the familiar scene of the Last Supper, as of neophytes continued for several centuries in the sacramentaries described in the Synoptic Gospels. Poussin’s first version of Gaul, Africa and Ireland. It is thought that Poussin’s possible was more like Leonardo’s famous painting, probably reference, in the light of Counter-Reformation debates, intends the the one with which people are best acquainted, and the pattern feet-washing to be seen as a sacramental“associated with a postwhich was much copied, where the disciples are spread out in a baptismal cleansing-like penitence before Eucharist” (Tony Green). line with Jesus in the centre – more like looking at a stage set. In Incidentally, in Poussin’s time the feet-washing rite in the Roman the painting from Poussin’s second series, we’re not just observers Church took place after the Maundy Thursday Mass and the of a tableau, we are led into the scene; it really is a picture of a stripping of the altar and was restricted to clergy. It was not until group of friends at supper.

1956 that the rite was included during the Mass and then later The Apostles are seated on all four sides; those in front are seen extended to twelve men, for there were twelve men at table with in sharp foreshortening. We have a low viewpoint: the table itself Jesus. almost disappears altogether and the figures in the front are seen There are only eleven Apostles seated at the table; Judas, already almost to form one single unbroken group with those reclining isolated and moving into darkness, is on his way out of the door: on the other side. It is a compact, closely aligned group, though hence a reference to the betrayal of Jesus. It is suggested that Poussin varied, very carefully worked out with wax models; the artist was might have been familiar with a painting of the Last Supper in the determined on simplicity and accuracy.

Jesuit Novitiate in Rome described by a contemporary art historian The three points of light in the centre form the apex of a triangle Louis Richeôme. “See him leaving, his purse in his hand, and his soul in his purse, his face scowling, wearing the image of a brigand and of a desperate soul.” The use of infra-red photography has shown that Judas has the purse containing his 20 pieces of silver concealed under his cloak but the strings of the purse can be glimpsed hanging down. His right hand is raised with his forefinger to his lips in a gesture known in the literature on signs as the “gesture of Harpocrates”, pagan god of silence, indicating the secret nature of Judas’ mission. His departure is patently stealthy and secretive, as the other apostles scarcely notice him going. On another level, the gesture of Harpocrates suggests a mystery of some significance.

We find also an allusion to the breaking of the bread, which the Apostles are holding in their hands. This detail is thought to be particularly significant: Poussin records the moment when Jesus “blesses the chalice” at the Passover feast Poussin intended very clearly to show

The Seven Sacraments of Poussin

The Sacrament of the Eucharist

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that Jesus put the bread into their hands, not into their mouths, thereby following the tradition of the Early Church. For instance, St Cyril of Jerusalem describes how one ought to receive the Body of Christ, by making one hand a “throne for the other”. Thinking and teaching on this has, obviously varied throughout the years.

It is obviously a solemn moment, but the Apostles are clearly expressing a lack of understanding; that will come later when the

Risen Lord breaks bread with them again. Note the disciple, the “one Jesus loved”, reclining next to him. He is recognisable in possibly three of the other paintings. This is a very intimate scene, a gathering of close friends, but one into which we are invited to step.

Abbé Paul, the James Bond of the Braes of Glenlivet

Ann Dean, The Braes of Glenlivet

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Alasdair Roberts & Ann Dean

s shown in the last issue, an ‘elegant Gothic’ church opened in 1829 at Tombae in Glenlivet. Within weeks a second place of worship, paid for by Paul Macpherson, was completed for Braes families. Although the district lies high it is quite flat despite the name. Lately I have been concerned with a question: when is a church a chapel? Chapeltown tells us what the people called theirs.

The impressive corbie-stepped entrance tower followed when it became a church, but Abbé Paul’s building had none. Nevertheless, an old drawing gives it a dignified Roman look, appropriate for the saviour of the Eternal City’s Scots College.

Paul was born at Clash of Scalan two miles beyond the ‘town’ or clachan. He learned to read from a woman at Clashnoir, and started seminary Latin at the age of eleven. First lessons took place in the building partly destroyed after Culloden, and no doubt Paul lent a hand with the ‘white house’ which the future bishop John Geddes was raising. After Scalan, only thirteen but ready for further study, Paul reached the Scots College Rome on February 8th 1770 after a four-month journey. Rector Corsedoni soon found him to be adolescens bonae indolis et ingenii, an intelligent youngster of sound character.

Six years later this promising student fell victim to vertigo and a change of climate was proposed. Unable to find a place at either of the Scots colleges in France Macpherson crossed from Genoa to Spain. There his mentor John Geddes was in charge of a college which had recently moved from Madrid Page 28

to Valladolid. The young man’s health failing once more, ordination was brought forward and Paul Macpherson arrived back in Scotland in the summer of 1779. The next fourteen years were spent on the Scots Mission. His first posting, suited to someone who grew up with Glenlivet winters, was to the upland Cabrach district between Dufftown and Rhynie. It was known to priests as the ‘Siberia of Scotland’: on one occasion he nearly fell through a chimney-hole covered in snow. Mr Macpherson went on to act as procurator in Edinburgh with responsibility for the Mission’s finances, and he was a natural choice when the position of Roman Agent became vacant in 1793. The French title Abbé is puzzling: unique among Scots clergy, it served as a badge of honour.

By then the French Republic was fighting for survival against most of the crowned heads of Europe. During the Reign of Terror clergy went to Madame Guillotine along with Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and many of their nobles. Britain also declared war. The Scots colleges of Paris and Douai were forced to close, staff and students making perilous escape from the country. In Rome, still at peace, Macpherson took up residence in the college run by unsatisfactory Italian rectors. Scotland’s bishops stopped sending students and the agent was left with two. When a French army occupied the papal states in 1798 the Scots College closed. The colleges of England and Ireland met with the same fate and Macpherson found himself conducting a party of twenty-two students through enemy territory, courtesy of passports issued by the authorities.

In London the Abbé, much admired, was presented to government ministers who were later to call on his services.

Back in Rome he found the French departed after using

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Abbé Paul’s building has “a dignified Roman look, appropriate for the saviour of the Eternal City’s Scots College.” the College chapel as a cavalry stable. Squatters had to be cleared from the building and also from the summer villa at Marino. The vineyard was a useful source of income. The principle of having Scots rectors was accepted for times

ahead with Macpherson the first of them, but in the disturbed circumstances of the day he had no students. There was time to write a history of the college from Roman archives. In 1808 Pope Pius VII was imprisoned and then removed to Savona in north-west Italy. It was a seaport and rescue plans were laid by Britain with Macpherson as the contact man, but there was a ‘mole’ at Westminster. The Pontiff was taken to France where the Royal Navy could not reach him. Glenlivet’s Mgr John Copland, vicar general to bishops, likened Abbé Paul to James Bond in December 1992’s Scalan News. Visit www.scalan.co.uk.

Soon after peace returned the College had twelve students under Macpherson as rector. Younger men were sent to replace him, but he remained in office as a social figure wearing clothes which his successor described as ‘foppery’.

He died at ninety and was buried before the altar. His bishop had wanted the new chapel to be at Scalan where the priest lived. He received a firm reply from Paul Macpherson who remembered the distance from Clash – and the weather: ‘At the Chapel to be erected there will be a convenient vestiary with a fireplace.’ The bishop meekly yielded.

News from Blairs Museum A wee dram?

U

Ian Forbes

ntil it closed in 1986, a Mass was offered every Wednesday in the Blairs College chapel for the college’s benefactors. Sadly the many who contributed to the college over its 157 year history are infrequently remembered now. Thanks to a recent enquiry I had a chance to do a little research of my own into one of those benefactors. The chapel opened in 1901 and above the altar is a four part stained glass window by the firm, Mayer of Munich. The left section depicts the Annunciation with the inscription: ‘Please pray for the benefactor John Gordon Smith Esq. Minmore.’

John Gordon Smith was born in Glenlivet in 1822 and was sent to Blairs College as a lay student for further education at a time when most would have left school by the age of 10. His father, George, was a whisky distiller who, in 1824, had made himself unpopular with some by obtaining a licence to distil so that it was all legal and above board when most were not. After leaving Blairs John worked in a bank in Elgin and then in a lawyers’ office in Edinburgh. He was considered by his father to be the more able of his two sons to learn about commerce and the law while his older brother, William, provided the practical help to his father in running the family business which included farming as well as distilleries. Tragically William succumbed to consumption (tuberculosis) in 1846 aged 28 so John moved back to Elgin to finish his legal training and spend more time helping his father – the distilleries could not meet the demand. Indeed the brand was so successful that others were using the name ‘Glenlivet’ in order to enhance their sales. In 1870 John and his father registered the

The stained glass window in Blairs College Chapel donated by John Gordon Smith name as their trademark, a year before his father’s death. But it was not until 1884 and after a fortune had been spent in legal fees that the matter was eventually settled with John solely able to use the name ‘The Glenlivet’ demonstrated even in music by James Scott Skinner’s popular Strathspey entitled ‘The Glenlivet’ and dedicated to Major Smith, Minmore.

John was a great innovator embracing the latest technology to further improve the business - he installed a telephone at the Page 29

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distillery in 1895; in the following year electric light, using the distillery’s steam engine and in 1897 a steam motor cart made its appearance. John did not marry but by the end of his life in 1901, had made ‘The Glenlivet’ the world famous brand it remains to this day with every bottle bearing his name after his father’s: ‘George and JG Smith.’ Both are buried in the graveyard at Tombae, Glenlivet.

During his life John was active in the community – joining the 6th Volunteer Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders at its inception in 1867 and becoming its honorary colonel after his retirement in 1891; breeding polled (hornless) and shorthorn cattle (prize winners at the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland) and Clydesdale horses; sitting on several local committees particularly overseeing roads in Upper Banffshire and also on the board of the Great North of Scotland Railway; serving as a deputy lieutenant as well as an honorary sheriff-substitute of Banffshire and sponsoring many community and charity events in the Glen. And he did not forget Blairs College.

John contributed to the new chapel at his Alma Mater, Blairs College, which was officially opened on the 23rd October 1901 with the Bishop of Aberdeen and former rector, Aeneas Chisholm, preaching. Bishop Chisholm was grateful to the benefactors: “I wish to ask you one and all to join in the great act of worship – the first Mass which is being said in this church to-day – first in thanksgiving to Almighty God who has raised up those benefactors, and secondly in a fervent act of impetration that He would shower down upon them all manner of graces and benedictions, whether they be living or dead : if living, an ever increase of grace and happiness; if dead, that He would grant them peace and life everlasting with Himself.”

Unfortunately John had died a few weeks earlier on the 13th September and because of failing health, it seems unlikely that he ever saw his window in its place above the Blairs College chapel altar. May he and all the benefactors of Blairs College be rewarded

A detail from the portrait by Horsburgh presented to John Gordon Smith by the 6th Volunteer Battalion, Gordon Highlanders.

Courtesy of Chivas Brothers’ Archive as Bishop Chisholm wished. And perhaps we can also remember John Gordon Smith, Blairentian, with a wee dram!

Ian Forbes was a student and teacher at Blairs College and is manager of Blairs Museum.

Blairs Museum, South Deeside Road, Blairs, Aberdeen AB12 5YQ; tel.: 01224 863767; email: manager@blairsmuseum.com; website: www.blairsmuseum.com Chapels of the Rough Bounds: Morar, Knoydart, Arisaig, Moidart Author: Alasdair Roberts Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: Mallaig Heritage Centre (21 Dec. 2015) ISBN-10: 0956585353 ISBN-13: 978-0956585356 List Price: £9.00 incl. p.&p. from Mallaig Heritage Centre

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Peter Hammond

he Rough Bounds of the title refers to the area of western Invernessshire between Loch Hourn and Loch Shiel. The author, Catholic and Highland historian Alasdair Roberts, who moved to Morar around twenty years ago, explores this rugged and remote terrain to provide a comprehensive history of the churches and chapels of the area.

The Scottish Relief Bill of 1793 allowed for the construction of more visible and permanent places of worship. The book focuses mainly on the 19th century, recording in detail the commendable efforts made by those concerned to build more substantial places of worship for the scattered Catholic population.

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However, as the author points out, ‘people bring life to stones’ and he succeeds in populating the pages with colourful characters, ranging from Bishops and priests, benevolent landlords, to the lay people of the area whose vision and combined resources overcame many practical and environmental challenges to create a lasting legacy of Catholic worship.

Divided into twelve chapters, the book is well-illustrated with many black and white photographs. It would make a fine companion piece to John Watts’ ‘A Record of Generous People’ (reviewed in Light of the North issue no 27 ) but stands on its own as a pleasant and informative account of the Catholic landscape past and present in this part of the Highlands.

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Margaret Bradley’s Food and Faith

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he season of Lent, from Ash Wednesday leading up to Easter, is a time for spiritual purification and self-renewal. We do this through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

While Catholics are required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday one is free to fast at any time when it is helpful for prayer and reflection. This usually means eating just one small meal with no extra food, although it is important to drink enough fluids.

When we fast we develop a heightened sense of awareness which allows us

to disentangle ourselves from our daily responsibilities and cares and devote our whole being to prayer and reflection.

Fasting also serves as a penance or a sacrifice, for the purpose of strengthening us, helping us to grow in freedom and to grow closer to our Lord.

The recipe below for “Fasting Bread” combines wholesome pure ingredients with related symbolic references found in the scriptures. It gives you the opportunity as you prepare the bread, to reflect on the references and to purify your thoughts. And it tastes good too. It makes three loaves. Good luck!

Stone Ground Wheat and Oats – Symbol of the pain of being crushed by the wheels of God’s Justice – which “grind slowly but exceedingly fine.”“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” Jn 12: 24 White Flour – a reminder of the manna given by God to the Hebrews during their forty years in the desert as Moses led them to the promised land. Manna foreshadowed the Holy Eucharist, also called “Bread from Heaven”. Exodus 16:35 Jn 6:41 Yeast– unifying many parts into one; a symbol of the kingdom of heaven and of the Church. Mt 13:33 Salt – Christ said to his Apostles: “You are the salt of the earth.” Mt 5:13 Water – Giving life to all things; a symbol of baptism; cleansing. Lenten penances aid the washing away of our sins. “He who drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.” Jn 4: 14 Olive Oil – Acclaimed throughout history as a source of strength, olive oil was used by the athletes of ancient Greece to prepare for them for the contests.

Mixed with wine it was found useful in healing the wounds of those injured on the battlefields of medieval Europe. Olive oil is used by the Church in the Holy Oils applied in sacramental anointing. Lk 10:34

Pure Maple Syrup – Collected in pure form flowing from a tree; symbolic of the cross and of the sweetness of the Blood of Christ which flowed freely from the tree of his cross, the tree of life; shed so that “sins may be forgiven.” A symbol of God’s love by making this sweet nutrient a gift to be discovered.

Holy Water – A sacramental used in blessings and bringing new life in Baptism.

Holy water carries a blessing just by its use and when introduced with the sign of the cross how could this not be a must and key ingredient of fasting bread for lent?

Water should be fresh.

Walnuts, Pecans and Cherries – These pleasant gifts found in abundance from prolific trees are reminders of Christ’s command to go forth and “produce good fruit;” They are reminders of our own call to perform works of charity, prayer, fasting and almsgiving; the fruit of good works to be undertaken during Lent. Jn 15:16 Raisins – Made from grapes, raisins are the fruit of the vine; a reminder of the miracle of water changed into wine at the wedding feast in Cana; of the wine changed into the Blood of Christ at the Last Supper and at the Consecration during Mass. These serve as reminders of that mystery where wine is described as the “fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our Spiritual Drink.”

Ingredients for Fasting Bread: 3 1/2 cups Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour 21/2 cups All Purpose Flour 11/2 tsp. Salt 1 tbs. Sugar 3 tbs. Active Dry Yeast 2 cups Lukewarm Water 1/2 cup 100% Pure Maple Syrup 1/2 cup Virgin Olive Oil 1 tsp. Holy Water 1 cup Oats - soaked in 1/2 cup hot water for 2 minutes 1 cup Pecan or Walnut pieces - broken and skillet toasted 2 min 1 cup Dried Cherries or Raisins - soaked 5 min in 1/4 cup hot water Directions: 1. Combine all the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Clear a small area in the centre of the mixture 3. Add the sugar, dry yeast, and the 2 cups of warm water. Let stand for 3 minutes until yeast proofs and forms bubbles. Combine with flour mixture and liquid. This will be thick but more liquid comes later.

4. Add maple syrup, olive oil and holy water. Stir mixture until well blended.

5. Add walnuts and/or pecans and raisins and/or cherries with their liquid.

6. Add soaked oats to the flour mixture.

7. Blend everything together in one bowl.

8. Turn out onto a floured board and knead by hand for 10-12 minutes adding more flour as needed to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic.

Knead the dough by flattening somewhat and fold-in from the outside towards the centre. Press down hard on the centre. Rotate the bowl and repeat the process until smooth and elastic and forms a “ball”.

9. Return the “ball” to the mixing bowl, drizzle with olive oil, cover and let rise for 1 hour.

10. Remove to a floured board and knead several more times as above. Cut into three equal pieces.

11. Place each piece into a loaf pan coated on all sides with olive oil. Drizzle loaf again with olive oil, cover and let rise for another hour. Olive oil produces a tasty crust.

12. Slash loaf tops and bake in the middle of a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes or until brown on top and bottom. Loaf should sound hollow when tapped.

13. Remove bread from pans and cool on a rack.

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Poetic Licence Canon Bill Anderson delves into some of his favourite inspirational verse

G

erard Manley Hopkins, the eldest of nine children, was born in Essex in l844.

Artistry was in the family, his father being a man of considerable culture, and two of his brothers professional artists. At Highgate School he carried off the Poetry Prize, and later was a brilliant classical student at Balliol College, Oxford. On completion of those studies, and after much spiritual searching, he left behind his Anglican allegiance and, in 1866, was received into the Catholic Church by Dr (later Cardinal) John Henry Newman. In due course he entered the Society of Jesus, and for several years abandoned the writing of verse. Indeed it was his wish that all of his poetry up to that time should be destroyed. Only in l876, at the instance of his Jesuit Superior, did he burst afresh upon the literary scene with his outstanding work, “The wreck of the Deutschland”.

The poem that appears below is one of his earlier ones, and is written in an uncomplicated, devotional manner. It is full of zest about the glory of the Resurrection, and its use of natural imagery is consonant with the young poet’s earlier desire to become a painter. The totality of Christian celebration marks the opening stanza. Feasting and music are proclaimed in the next lines, but it is in the third stanza that the central point is made. Just as Nature revives herself at this time of year —”decks herself for Easter Day”— so we should “take a lesson from the ground” and array ourselves with spiritual renewal. Then, while recognising the effectiveness and importance of Lenten austerity, Hopkins keeps insisting on the need for unbounded gladness at Easter. The concluding lines focus on the collective response of God’s people, at one in “praises, prayer and song”, and express the hope that the truth of the Lord’s Resurrection may reside deep within us each and every day.

Sculpture of Gerard Manley Hopkins S. J. by Rowan Gillespie

EASTER Break the box and shed the nard; Stop not now to count the cost; Hither bring pearl, opal, sard; Reck not what the poor have lost; Upon Christ throw all away: Know ye, this is Easter Day.

Gather gladness from the skies; Take a lesson from the ground; Flowers do ope their heavenward eyes And a Spring-time joy have found; Earth throws Winter’s robes away, Decks herself for Easter Day.

Build His church and deck His shrine; Empty though it be on earth; Ye have kept your choicest wine — Let it flow for heavenly mirth; Pluck the harp and breathe the horn: Know ye not ’tis Easter morn?

Beauty now for ashes wear, Perfumes for the garb of woe.

Chaplets for dishevelled hair, Dances for sad footsteps slow; Open wide your hearts that they Jericho Let in joy this

Easter Day. Seek God’s house in happy throng; Crowded let His table be; Mingle praises, prayer and song, Singing to the Trinity.

Henceforth let your souls alway Make each morn an Easter Day.

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JERICHO BENEDICTINES

If you would like to sponsor a page of the next issue of the Light of the North, perhaps in memory of a loved one, or to celebrate a special occasion, please contact our advertising manager Jim Skwarek.

Tel: 01233658611 or Email: jimskwarek@ geeringsprint.co.uk

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Combine the Spiritual Life with the running of ‘Jericho Inns’ for those being passed by on the other side’ The Drug & Alcohol Addicted Victims of Domestic Violence Homeless Men & Women Holidays for those on low income Enquiries & donations gratefully received Fr. James Monastery of Jesus, Harelaw Farm KILBARCHAN Renfrewshire PA10 2PY

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Humour from the Vestry "It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously." - Oscar Wilde Signs In Foreign Lands Those of you who may be starting to plan summer travel, please remember that people in other countries sometimes go out of their way to communicate with their English-speaking tourists. Here is a list of signs seen around the world: At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.

Car rental brochure, Tokyo: When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigour.

In a Nairobi restaurant: Customers who find our waitresses rude ought to see the manager.

On the grounds of a private school: No trespassing without permission.

In Nairobi: Mental health prevention centre.

A sign seen on an automatic restroom hand dryer: Do not activate with wet hands.

In a cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

Hotel brochure, Italy: This hotel is renowned for its peace and solitude. In fact, crowds from all over the world flock here to enjoy its solitude.

Hotel lobby, Bucharest: the lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.

Hotel elevator, Paris: please leave your values at the front desk.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.

Hotel catering to skiers, Austria: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.

From a Polish menu: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten in the country people's fashion.

Supermarket, Hong Kong: For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service.

In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.

Hotel, Vienna: In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.

An advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.

The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong: Guaranteed to work throughout its useful life.

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen: We take your bags and send them in all directions.

After the Baptism of his baby brother in church, little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, “That priest said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you and mummy.”

Overheard at the dinosaur exhibition in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park: a confused woman talking to her friend, “How could they possibly know the names of all those dinosaurs if they died 75 million years ago? And another thing, how do we even know they were called dinosaurs?”

Actual Claims If you were a Car Insurer would you have paid these actual claims?

“In an attempt to kill a fly I drove into a telegraph pole.”

“I didn’t think the speed limit applied after midnight.”

“The car in front hit the pedestrian, but he got up so I hit him again.”

The End is Nigh!

As soon as the hospital made me put on one of those little gowns, I knew the end was in sight.

Waddle you know A duck walks into a chemists and asks the pharmacist for a tube of lip balm. The pharmacist says, “That will be £1.50.”

The duck replies, “Put it on my bill.”

Every Time I Say That ...

Every time I say that I’m ready to order in a restaurant, what I really mean is that I’m not ready but the panic will help me make a decision.

Pull the Udder One A woman buys several gallons of milk from the milkman one day. “ Why do you need so much?” the milkman asked.

“Well I’ve heard that taking baths in milk make you prettier and healthier.”

The milkman asks, “Do you want pasteurised?”. She answers, No, just up to the neck.”

Barefaced Cheek At the nudist colony for communists, two men are sitting on the veranda. One turns to the other and says, “I say, have you read Marx?” The other replies, “Yes, I’m sure it’s these wicker chairs.”

Recipe for Disaster According to the internet: The inscription on the metal rings used by the US Department of the Interior to tag migratory birds has been changed. The bands used to bear the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated as “Wash Biol. Surv.” until the agency recieved the following letter from an unhappy camper: “Dear Sirs, While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you that it tasted horrible.”The bands are now marked “Fish & Wildlife Service”.

“What’s new pussycat?

Doctor, I can’t stop singing the ‘Green Green Grass of Home’. He said: ‘That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome’. ‘Is it common?’I asked. ‘It’s not unusual’ he replied.

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crossword

WORD No.31

This issue’s competition winner will receive a copy of Fr Vu Tran’s Catholic Pocket Prayer Book. Just send your completed entry by the 1st June to the Light of the North, Ogilvie Centre, 16 Huntly Street, Aberdeen AB10 1SH. First correct entry drawn out of the hat is the winner.

the Christ is come so near?”

Hymn(7) 6. God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice this son. (5) 7. Be in debt to. (3) 12. A religious song sung by the American slaves. (9) 14. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O -------, son of

the morning!” Isaiah (7) 15. Requested to attend.(7) 17. Council called in 1545

by Pope Paul III to discuss catholic doctrine. (5) 18. “The ----- do lack and suffer hunger.” Psalms (5) 21. “---, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” Psalms (3)

Answers to crossword No. 30 Across 1. Opal 4. Ding dong 8. Drawer 9. Ignite 10. Acre 11. Choirboy 13. Dearly beloved 16. Recorded 19. Fair 20.

Assisi 22. Nicene 23. Breeches 24. Reed Down 2. Paraclete 3. Low gear 4. Doric 5. Noisome 6.

Donor 7. Nut 12. Obedience 14. Yiddish 15. Officer 17.

Olive 18. Denys 21. Sir

Little Horror Sudoku No. 18 If you prefer sudoku to crosswords then you still have a chance to be a prize winner with our super tough sudoku puzzle.

Name .............................................................................

Address ......................................................................... ..........................................................................................

Telephone ......................................................................

Across 1. “True friends ---- you in the front.”Oscar Wilde (4) 4. Instrument of St. Lawrence’s martyrdom. (8) 8. Meaning of the American expression antebellum. (3,3) 9. Venus, Mars, Mercury. (6) 10. One of the Seven Deadly Sins. (4) 11. The practice of evicting demons from a person or place. (8) 13. The dedication of Guildford Cathedral. (3,4,6) 16. “Five -------- Songs” , choral composition by Vaughan Williams. (8) 19. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a ---- thing?”

Psalms. (4) Page 34

20. “Brethren I count not ----- to have apprehended but this one thing” Philippians. (6) 22. The “other disciple” did this to Peter at the sepulchre. (6) 23. “Libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas --------” from the Requiem mass.(8) 24. “And I next acknowledge ----, Manhood taken by the Son.” Dream of Gerontius. (4) Down 2. “Wash me --------- from my wickedness, and forgive me all my sin.” Anthem by S S Wesley (9) 3. Cast a spell on by the sorceress of Endor perhaps ? (7) 4. Cheddar or Ironbridge. (5) 5. “Why, ------- Herod, shouldst thou fear, because

Name .............................................................................

Address ......................................................................... ..........................................................................................

Telephone ......................................................................

Congratulations to our last competition winner, Miss E. MacDonald from Inverness

Light of the North

Adoption When you change a child’s life by adopting, we’ll help you deal with the changes in yours.

Make a difference at barnardos.org.uk/ adoption or call us today on:

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Gamachu no longer goes to bed hungry

Gamachu, aged 8 from southern Ethiopia

Photo: Sara Hunter

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b– 10th Fe

ch 25th Mar

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