Light of the north issue 12

DON’T BE LEFT IN THE DARK

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Light

Light I am the Light of the World Clare Clare Benedict B enedict h has as a ttale ale w with ith a ssting. ting.

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Shelagh N Shelagh Noden oden iinvestigates nvestigates a ccarol arol w with ith a ssecret ecret h history. istory.

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I s s u e 1 2 , Ad ve n t, 2 0 0 9 Rev John Rev Swinton winton asks: ‘What What does G God od look ook lik like?’ e?’

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Br F Br Francis rancis ‘‘Listening Listening with w ith tthe he ear ear off tthe o he h heart’ eart’.

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Each copy of the Light of the North costs over a pound to produce and we would ask you to consider this if you wish to make a donation.

A quarterly magazine produced and published by the Diocese of Aberdeen R.C. Diocese of Aberdeen Charitable Trust, a registered Scottish Charity no. SC005122

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Light of the North

The painting featured on this issue’s front cover is entitled ‘The Angelus’ and is the work of the French Artist, Jean-François Millet. Millet was the son of a farmer in Greville and did not leave home to study painting in Cherbourg until he was 20 years of age. In 1837 he received a scholarship to study in Paris, where he became a pupil in the studio of Paul Delaroche. Fighting against great odds, and suffering a long period of extreme hardship, Millet exhibited at the Salon for the first time in 1840.

His paintings on rural themes attracted growing acclaim: in 1857 he painted ‘The Gleaners’ and between 1858-1859 he produced the famous Angelus (now both in the Musee d’Orsay).

Though Flemish artists of the 17th century had depicted peasants at work, Millet was the first painter to endow rural life with a dignity and monumentality that transcend realism, making the peasant an almost heroic figure. The Angelus was commissioned by a wealthy American, Thomas G. Appleton, and completed during the summer of 1857. However, when Appleton failed to take possession in 1859 Millet added a steeple and changed the initial title of the work, ‘Prayer for the Potato Crop’ to The Angelus. The painting changed hands several times, increasing only modestly in value, since some considered the artist’s political sympathies suspect. But after Millet’s death a bidding war between the US and France ensued, ending some years later with a price tag of 800,000 gold francs. The disparity between the apparent value of the painting and the poor estate of Millet’s surviving family was a major impetus in the invention of the droit de suite, intended to compensate artists or their heirs when works are resold.

In the painting a man and a woman are reciting the Angelus, a prayer which commemorates the annunciation made to Mary by the angel Gabriel. They have stopped digging potatoes and all the tools used for this task – the potato fork, the basket, the sacks and the wheelbarrow – are strewn around them. Millet wanted to catch the immutable rhythms of peasant life in a simple scene. Here he has focused on a short break, a moment of respite. In 1865 Millet said: “The idea for The Angelus came to me because I remembered that my grandmother, hearing the church bell ringing while we were working in the fields, always made us stop work to say the Angelus prayer for the poor departed”.

Alone in the foreground in a huge empty plain the two peasants take on a monumental quality, despite the small size of the canvas. Their faces are left in shadow, while the light underlines their gestures and posture. It is a canvas which expresses a deep feeling of meditation.

When the Louvre tried to buy the painting in 1889 it triggered an unbelievable rush of patriotic fervour.

Salvador Dalí was fascinated by this work, and wrote an analysis of it, ‘The Tragic Myth of The Angelus of Millet’. Dalí was of the opinion that the two figures

up front

were praying over their buried child, rather than praying the Angelus. He was so insistent on this fact that eventually an X-ray was done of the canvas, confirming his suspicions: the painting contains a painted-over geometric shape strikingly similar to a coffin. However, it is unclear whether Millet changed his mind on the meaning of the painting, or even if the shape actually is a coffin. The Angelus was reproduced frequently in the 19th and 20th centuries and became something of a 20th century icon.

The Angelus is a short devotion in honour of the Incarnation, repeated three times each day, morning, noon, and evening, at the sound of the bell. It consists essentially in the triple repetition of the “Hail Mary”, to which in later times have been added three introductory versicles, and a concluding versicle and prayer. It derives its name from the first word of the three versicles, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ (The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary).

The origins of the Angelus are rooted in the monastic prayers of the hours, and even in its earliest form it included the three “Hail Marys”. Originally the Angelus prayers were said at Compline (night prayer), and over the years mid-day and morning hours were added. By the early seventeenth century the formula of prayers exactly as we know it today was complete.

Though the practice of saying the Angelus has declined many parishes, including the Cathedral Parish of St Mary’s Cathedral in Aberdeen, continue the tradition of ringing the Angelus bell, traditionally at 6:00 a.m., noon and 6:00 p.m. The devotion is to be recited every day except during the Easter Season when the ‘Regina Coeli’ takes its place.

The Angelus V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.

R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary...

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Hail Mary...

V. And the Word was made Flesh.

R. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary...

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Cowan watson

Light of the North

contents

deaneries 4

witness

9

liturgy 10 educationandformation 13

faithinaction 24

faithandculture 25

crossword 33

humour 34

Westminster

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It’s not often that you get a letter from the Apostolic Nuncio, at least not in our household so I suppose my wife can be forgiven for her exclamation of: ‘What on earth have you done now?’ Could it be that one of our contributors in the last issue slipped in some piece of heresy which the eagle eye of our proof reader missed?

Could this missive be notice that the Light of the North was now on the dreaded index of forbidden literature and, as editor, I was facing at best ‘the rack’ at Queen’s Cross, at worst excommunication? “For goodness sake, the Index of Forbidden Books hasn’t been published since 1966,� said my wife in a somewhat half-hearted attempt at reassurance as, with trembling hands, I slit the letter open:

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Apostolic Nunciature

Light of the North Managing Editor Deacon Tony Schmitz Editor Cowan Watson Editorial Advisor Canon Bill Anderson Light of the North Ogilvie Institute 16 Huntly Street Aberdeen AB10 1SH

Dear Mr Watson ... I have been asked to convey to you the Holy Father’s appreciation of the sentiments which caused you to write to him during this, the Year of the Priest, and to assure you that Bishop Peter Moran and all the Priests, Religious and lay faithful of the Diocese of Aberdeen have been specially remembered in his prayers.

I have also been asked to assure you, and the staff and readers of the diocesan magazine “Light of the North� of the Holy Father’s Apostolic Blessing.

With my prayerful good wishes and warm personal regards, I remain Yours sincerely in the Lord Archbishop Faustino Sainz MuĂąoz Apostolic Nuncio

What a terrific letter to receive and one which I am sure will be a great source of joy and encouragement to all of us in the Diocese during the forthcoming season of Advent; that time of expectant waiting, preparation and reflection.

01224 638675 And I hope you will agree that there is plenty of material in this lightofthenorthmagazine@ gmail.com issue for reflection, not least Fr Bernard O’Connor ‘s article on the role www.lightofthenorth.org of Catholic education and the Rev John Swinton’s exploration of the challenges posed by Disability Theology. Also, Eileen Grant begins a new series on ‘Salvation History’ and we publish the first instalment of a practical guide to meditation with the Rosary by Peter Morris.

To advertise in the Light of the North Our next issue of the Light of the North will be published in please contact Sandra Townsley on the Spring so let me take this opportunity to wish you a fruitful Advent 01463 831 133 and a happy Christmas.

Sedstown@aol.com Cowan

deaneries d eaneries

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Light L ight

Newss f ro m t h he D e a n nee rie s Pluscarden P lusca arden Symposium Sym mposium h hailed ailed a suc success ccess LLeading eading experts exper ts in in sacred sacred music music gather gather at at PPluscarden luscarden AAbbey bbey for for three three days days of of talks talks and and concerts concer ts

Frr B F Benedict enedic t H Hardy ardy O OSB SB

A

t tthe he bbeginning eginning ooff SSeptember eptember tthis his yyear, ear, Pluscarden P luscarden Abbey Abbey hosted hosted a p public ublic SSymposium ymposium oon n Scottish Scottish SSacred acre r d M usic.

Music.

Th ub-title ffor or tthe he eevent vent was was “Towards “Towards a Thee ssub-title n ew n arrative”. Th dea w as ttoo bbring ring ttogether ogether aand nd new narrative”.

Thee iidea was sset et fforth orth tthe he m any sstrands trands ooff SScottish cottish SSacred acred M usic many Music tthrough hrough tthe he ages: ages: ssomething omething that that seems seems never never ttoo h a ve have bbeen een d one iin n tthis his w ay bbefore. efore. IItt w as aan n aambitious mbitious done way was u ndertaking, aand nd qquite uite ooutside utside tthe he A bbey’s n ormal undertaking, Abbey’s normal rrange ange ooff aactivities. ctivities. Th nitiative ccame ame ffrom rom tthe he A bbot Thee iinitiative Abbot ooff P luscarden, D om H ugh G ilber t, w ho ffelt elt tthat hat Pluscarden, Dom Hugh Gilbert, who tthis his ccould ould bbee a ttypically ypically B enedictine and and monastic monastic Benedictine ccontribution ontribution ttoo oour ur national national life life and and culture, culture, and and also also h elp iindirectly ndirectly iin n tthe he ttask ask of of evangelisation. evangelisation. For For ssome ome help fi fteen ccenturies enturies SScotland cotland h as bbeen een a Christian Christian n ation, fifteen has nation, aand nd m usic h as aalways lways bbeen een aan n eessential ssential eelement lement iin n music has tthe he eexpression xpression of of Christian Christian ffaith. aith. W hen p eople aare re When people ttempted empted n owadays ttoo ssideline ideline oorr fforget orget tthe he C hristian nowadays Christian eelement lement ooff oour ur national national life life aand nd history, history, oone ne w ay ooff way bbringing ringing iitt aagain gain iinto nto focus focus is is through through tthe he m edium ooff medium bbeauty: eauty: tthe he bbeauty eauty eespecially specially ooff SSacred acred M usic.

Music.

SSoo a tteam eam ooff lleading eading eexperts xperts iin n tthe he fi eld w as field was aassembled. ssembled. M any w ere eestablished stablished aacademics cademics Many were tteaching eaching iin n Universities.

Universities. O thers w ere r d octoral Others were doctoral sstudents tudents eengaged ngaged iin n re search. Others Others aagain gain were were wellwe l l research. kknown nown p ractitioners, ssuch uch aass tthe he ccomposer omposer JJames ames practitioners, M acMillan, oorr tthe he SScottish cottish H arp p l a ye r B ill T aylor, MacMillan, Harp player Bill Taylor, oorr tthe he ttraditional raditional G aelic singer singer M argare r t SStewart. te war t.

Gaelic Margaret V arious C hoirs w ere recruited recruited oorr sspecially pecially fformed, ormed, Various Choirs were ssoo tthat hat eeach ach eevening vening a cconcert oncert ccould ould bbee p er formed performed ooff tthe he m usic that that had had bbeen een d iscussed d uring tthat hat music discussed during d ay. A ttendance aatt tthe he ttalks alks w as free free of of charge charge ffor or day.

Attendance was aall ll ccomers. omers. N umbers aattending ttending tthe he vvarious arious ssessions essions Numbers fl uctuated ssomewhat, omewhat, bbut ut oon n aaverage verage about about 1100 00 fluctuated p eople w ere p reesent tthroughout. h ro u g h o u t . people were present

Day one of the SSymposium Day ymposium Th hreee d ays ooff tthe he SSymposium ymposium ffell ell quite quite Thee tthree days n aturally iinto nto tthree hree h istorical p eriods. naturally historical periods.

F irst: the the Mediaeval Mediaeval aand nd Re enaissance p eriod u p First: Renaissance period up ttoo tthe he SScottish cottish Re eformation iin n 11560.

560. A ggreat reat d eal ooff Reformation deal SScotland’s cotland’s SSacred acred M usic ffrom rom tthat hat eera ra h as p erished Music has perished fforever. orever. O ur sspeakers peakers ttended ended ttoo eemphasise, mphasise, h owever, Our however, n ot h ow llittle ittle m usic h as survived, survived, but but oon n the the ccontrary ontrar y not how music has h ow m uch, aand nd h ow re markable tthat hat ssurvival urvival iis. s. F or how much, how remarkable For aafter fter 11560, 560, aall ll m usic w ritten ffor or C atholic w orship music written Catholic worship bbecame ecame re dundant. M uch w as d eliberately d estroyed, redundant.

Much was deliberately destroyed, aand nd a ggreat reat d eal more more perished perished ssimply imply ffrom ro m n eglect: deal neglect: tthe he eeffects ffects n ot ooff SScottish cottish R eformers, bbut ut ooff SScottish cottish not Reformers, d amp, oorr SScottish cottish m ice. Y et ssome ome iimportant mpor tant m usic damp, mice.

Yet music bbooks ooks were were p reserved bbyy p rivate ccollectors. ollectors. In In aaddition, ddition, preserved private tthe he vvellum ellum on on w hich m uch lliturgical iturgical m usic w as which much music was w ritten w ould qquite uite ccommonly ommonly bbee re -used aass bbinding inding written would re-used ffor or oother ther bbooks. ooks. IIn n re cent yyears ears sseveral everal ooff tthose hose bbook ook recent bbindings indings h ave bbeen een sstudied, tudied, ttoo re veal exciting exciting m usical have reveal musical d iscoveries. SSome ome SScottish cottish m usic aalso lso w ent aabroad, b ro a d , discoveries. music went aand nd h as bbeen een re covered ffrom rom tthere. here. M ost iimportantly mpor tantly has recovered Most ooff aall, ll, tthe he w onder ful M ass ssettings ettings and and m otets of of wonderful Mass motets R ober t C arver, Augustinian Augustinian Canon Canon ooff SScone cone A bbey Robert Carver, Abbey ((1484-1568) 1484-1568) h ave aalmost lmost m iraculously ssurvived, urvived, iin na have miraculously ccomplete omplete C hoir bbook ook w ritten iin nh is oown wn h and.

Choir written his hand.

deaneries

Light of the North

The second day of the Symposium focussed on the period from 1560 to the early 20th century. There was a huge range of material to cram into the brief space of this day. The Presbyterians (both Scots and Gaelic), the Episcopalians and the Catholics all have their own tradition of Sacred Music, and in each case that tradition evolved considerably during this period.

The final day looked at the modern period, in all its variety, with a glance also at possible avenues ahead.

What is not in doubt is that there is today much creative energy at work in Sacred Music in Scotland, and that people care passionately about it.

In all, participants at this Symposium were treated to twenty-two separate talks, three open forum sessions and seven concert performances, with all catering needs also fully met on site. The

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setting within a living Benedictine monastery, and its ceaseless round of worship, was important, and much appreciated by all. More details of the Symposium can be found on the Pluscarden Abbey website: www. pluscardenabbey.org. Interested readers of Light of the North will recognise there the names of three Symposium contributors who also regularly write for this magazine: Dr. Peter Davidson, Mrs. Shelagh Noden and Mr. David Meiklejohn. As many grateful participants noted, the quality of input was extremely high throughout, and the atmosphere always friendly and relaxed. The remark of one eminent musicologist present for the whole Symposium can perhaps be taken as representative: “I’ve never known three such days, in which I’ve been so informed, so entertained and so spiritually refreshed.”

Double first for Diocesan Choir in Paris

T

he Aberdeen Diocesan Choir travelled to Paris on the weekend of the 25-28th September to sing at three significant venues in the city. The choir enjoyed an informal reception at the British Embassy on Friday evening before travelling to the Basilica of Sacré Cœur for a private meeting.

The music at the Basilica is always provided by the Benedictine sisters so it was a wonderful and special surprise to be invited to perform a work by Schubert as part of the church’s evening prayer. We Informal reception at the British Embassy were told that it is the first time a choir from outside the Basilica whole experience has been an exceptional one which has provided the music at this important time; a very we will all remember for many years to come. We were memorable experience indeed. told that this was the first time a Scottish Choir had ever As the choir is proudly interdenominational we performed at Notre Dame Cathedral. It has been a great welcomed the opportunity to sing at the Scots Kirk, honour and privilege to sing in such beautiful places of providing a programme of sacred music and Scots songs divine worship. I am very grateful to all the choir members with donations going to the Marie Curie Cancer Care. for their enthusiastic commitment and especially to our We had a very appreciative audience of over one hundred Secretary Georgina Lahaye, whose organisational abilities people who gave the choir a standing ovation! have allowed us all to focus the spiritual and cultural On Monday the choir performed to its biggest aspects of the visit. congregation ever in the awe-inspiring setting of Notre The overall experience of choir members is summarised Dame Cathedral. Ronald Leith accompanied the choir as follows: on “l’orgue du chœur” (their choir organ) with works Honoured and privileged to take part in singing at

by Vivaldi, Bach, Schubert and Elgar. The programme such prestigious venues. Fun, friendship and spiritual also included a contemporary setting of the Agnus Dei uplift!

by Director of Music, David Meiklejohn who said ‘This

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Light of the North

Diocesan Mass celebrated for Papal Orders

B

ishop Peter Moran celebrated Mass for members of the Papal Orders of St. Gregory the Great and St. Sylvester Pope & Martyr, on Thursday 3 September 2009, at the Convent of Mercy, Greyfriars, Elgin. This is the second year when members met together on this date, which is the Feast of St. Gregory the Great. This was an ideal opportunity for members from around the Diocese of Aberdeen, to attend Mass together and afterwards enjoy lunch at a local hotel.

The Orders of St. Gregory the Great and St. Sylvester Pope & Martyr, were established in 1831 and 1841 respectively, by Pope Gregory XVI, and are two of the five Papal Orders within the Catholic Church. The title of Knight or Dame is conferred on individuals in recognition of their services to the Church, support of the Holy See, and the good example set in their

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Bishop Peter and members of the orders together with the Sisters of Mercy from Greyfriars Convent

communities. It is also their charge to further carry their Christian principles into the professional, educational and business world, where appropriate.

The photograph shows Bishop Peter with members who were present, along with the Sisters of Mercy from the Convent, also Domenico Zanrè, a student from the Diocese of Aberdeen who is studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical Scots College in Rome. If there are any other members of the Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain within the Aberdeen Diocese, who might like to attend the annual Mass and lunch, would they please contact George Brand, either by telephone on 01224 630159, or email at geobra@msn.com

Cathedral will open its doors to the homeless St Mary’s Cathedral will be opening the doors of its hall to be used as an Emergency Winter Care Shelter in December, January and February.

People will be offered shelter for the night, a hot evening meal and breakfast the following morning. The project is being run under the auspices of the Bethany Christian Trust. The Cathedral is currently recruiting volunteers from all parishes to help with the catering on Friday nights from 8.15 – 11.00 pm (at least two men in every team of seven please!). If you are interested in helping, please ring Morgiane in the evenings on 01224 687026.

Light of the North

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St Margaret’s Huntly: The first175 Years!

After the Reformation, from 1560-1755 there were no Catholic churches in the North East of Scotland. Catholics worshipped at secret gatherings in a home or barn whenever a priest was known to be in the area.

The first post reformation church to be built in Huntly was the tiny Church of St John’s in Meadow Street constructed by Fr Charles Maxwell in 1787. The parish was referred to as the Strathbogie Mission and the Catholics of Strathbogie Mission worshipped there until 1834.

However, by 1838 the parish had outgrown St John’s Church and a new church dedicated to St Margaret was comissioned. The architect was William Robertson of Elgin assisted by Bishop James Kyle with the encouragement and generous financial support of the Gordon family of Wardhouse. It was also the Gordon Family who gifted the fine painting above the altar, the Ascension, by José Maria Romero. The other six Spanish paintings were also gifts from the Gordon family.

In more recent times the church experienced severe outbreaks of dry rot which led to the complete

Scottish Lieutenancy’s 20th Anniversary

T

he Scottish Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem celebrated its th Anniversary in September, with the Annual Investiture Mass, which was held this year in St. Mary’s Church, Stirling. The principal celebrant of the Mass was Cardinal John Foley, Grand Master of the Order who

Cardinal Keith O’Brien with the nine new members including Maria Wojcik, Sarah Henderson, David Meiklejohn and George Brand from the Diocese of Aberdeen

Thanksgiving Mass with Parish Priest Fr. Gerald Hicks OFM. Conv. and the clergy of the deanery. restoration of the building which was then re-dedicated in 1990.

The parishioners of St Margaret’s are justly proud of their church and, on Sunday 30th August, they celebrated their l75th anniversary with a Thanksgiving Mass with their Parish Priest Fr. Gerald Hicks OFM. Conv. and the clergy of the deanery. A Buffet was held in the Masonic Hall afterwards, an appropriate venue as what is now a hall is actually the original Church of St John.

Colette McCafferty performed the investitures for nine new members. He was assisted by concelebrants Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the Scottish Grand Prior, Monsignor Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Mario Conti, and several priest members of the Order representing a number of Dioceses throughout Scotland.

The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a non-political, charitable organisation, tasked specifically to support the Church’s work for the maintenance and advancement of Christianity in the Holy Land, achieved through the traditional Christian practices of prayer and almsgiving. The Order’s charitable efforts support the work of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, both by general support and through specific projects. The Scottish Lieutenancy has been given special responsibility for supporting the parish of Our Lady of Sorrows in Aboud, a village on the West Bank, on the road between Nazareth and Jerusalem.

Four of the new members pictured with Cardinal Keith O’Brien come from the Diocese of Aberdeen; Maria Wojcik and Sarah Henderson from St. Peter’s parish, Buckie, also David Meiklejohn and George Brand from St. Mary’s Cathedral in Aberdeen. The weekend concluded with a formal dinner in the Great Hall of Stirling Castle, at the end of which the Massed Band, Pipes and Drums of the 7th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, played some inspirational music to round off a truly memorable weekend.

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Light of the North

Giving homeless people hope and a future

B

ethany Christian Trust is delighted to be working with homeless people in Aberdeen, following its amalgamation with Aberdeen City Mission in October 2008.

Bethany Christian Trust was born out of the Christian compassion of a minister confronted daily by needy people desperate for food, shelter and support. He felt challenged to put into practice what he preached; ‘to feed the hungry and clothe the naked’. It became evident very quickly that homelessness is a complex issue and simply providing accommodation would not solve the problem.

Addressing issues such as alcohol or drug addictions, gaps in education and positive social networks is vital in providing a long-term solution to eradicating homelessness.

Today Bethany provides a range of services from street work, emergency accommodation and supported housing through to education and work placements and community integration. As Bethany reaches out to the most vulnerable people across Scotland, communities are being transformed as needy people are helped to find and maintain homes and overcome the barriers in their lives which hold them back from fulfilling their potential.

The need in Aberdeen is great; there are few services for homeless people and many vulnerable people in need.

Bethany’s work is expanding as fast as finances and volunteer resources permit.

Bethany services include drop-ins providing homeless people with hot food, shelter and opportunities to chat informally with staff and volunteers about how to address the issues in their lives.

Bethany piloted the first Emergency Winter Care Shelter in Aberdeen last January. Endorsed by Aberdeen City Council and local churches, 65 of Aberdeen’s most needy people were nourished with hot meals and protected from the harsh winter with shelter and a warm bed for the night.

Bethany hopes to offer a similar service again this winter.

Ronnie had been a heroin addict for many years and had hit rock bottom before he met new friends through Bethany’s Lighthouse project, the Straight Ways Project and Passing the Baton. Today he delivers presentations educating children about the dangers of drugs.

These life saving projects rely heavily on the support of churches and individuals, both financially and through volunteering. If you want to see the lives of homeless people transformed and your community revitalised by demonstrating Christian love in action please call Bethany on 01224 647 677 to find out how you can get involved.

I want to help homeless people in Aberdeen find hope and a future.

I would like to make a donation of £ By *Cheque/Postal Order/Visa/MasterCard/CAF (*delete as appropriate) Please make cheques/postal orders payable to ‘Bethanyy Christian Trust’. q p p y Card No. Issue No.

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Bethany Christian Trust 1/2 Cardholder's Signature.

“I remember sitting in the train station wondering what to do. I was really desperate. I had left everything. Bethany has been God’s love expressed to me. I felt loved and accepted; as if I was worth something.”

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Gift aid declaration: I am a UK taxpayer and would like Bethany to reclaim the tax on this donation and all gifts I have made for the last 6 years and from this day forwards. (please tick) Yes No Please return to: Bethany Christian Trust, Credo Centre, 14-20 John St, Aberdeen AB25 1BT

You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/bct/donate Bethany Christian Trust is a registered charity no SC003783.

"Scottish Charity of the Year 2009"

Light L ight ht

witness w itne itn tnes ess ss

a Page P age 9

‘From llife ‘From ife to to Gospel and G ospel a nd ffrom rom G ospel tto o LLife’ ife’ Gospel In tthe In he yyear ear iin n w which hich tthe he R Rule ule o aint FFrancis rancis celebrates celebrates its its off SSaint 8800th 00th a nniversary JJoe oe FFraser raser anniversary m akes h is “profession” “profession” a makes his ass a SSecular ecular FFranciscan ranciscan with with tthe he EEllon llon FFraternity. raternity.

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Franciscan!”. had become a ‘Franciscan’... ass to cele ebrate JJoe’s oe’s pr ofession, and no n w lifelong The M Mass celebrate profession, now intto the Secular Secular F ranciscan Order Order (SFO) commitment into Franciscan th he 18th July July 2009, and it had been a took place on the sincce Joe Joe as a Glasgow Glasgow schoolboy schoolbooy saw Saint Saint long journey since Francis as a childhood child dhood hero. hero.

Francis Two years years previously, prreviouslyy, Joe Joe had listened to the now now Two Minister of the Ellon Ellon Fraternity, Fraternityy, Francesco Francesco D’Ali, D Minister talking a its relevance relevance to the world d in terms of about the SFO and gospell, or as the Rule Rule of Saint Saint Francis Francis puts it living the gospel, from life to gospel and from from gospel to life.” life.” Joe Joe “living from y that it was the familyy atmosphere atmospher p e of the th he fraternityy says struck him h when he attended meetings meetin ngs in E llon, that first struck Ellon, enquirer then as a novice novice before before entering en ntering into as an enquirer “profession”. He He says “I remember remember there there were were about seven seven “profession”. there and d I was rreally eally str uck bbyy theirr dedication. people there struck It was a feeling that th hat stayed stayed with me during the th he following following It week, and has remained remained e ever since. since. It It was as if week, with me ever everything I had d experienced and felt about abou ut St St Francis Francis everything b to rrevisit evisit me. IItt is as if my as a child was beginning lo ve of SSaint aint F raancis has led me to this, this a rreal eal sense of love Francis belonging. belonging.””

JJoe oe mo ved too F raserburgh fr om G lasgoow in 1978 moved Fraserburgh from Glasgow and has always been activ hurch, as an activee in the local ch church, ‘E xtraordinary M inister of H oly Commu union’, and ‘Extraordinary Minister Holy Communion’, helping out with h things such as gar dening.. Whilst the gardening.

SFO celebrates the 800th anniv ersary of the R ule of anniversary Rule SSaint aint F rancis th his yyear, ear, the E llon fraternit ty has mor Francis this Ellon fraternity moree rrecent ecent histor y, be eing canonically established d in 1989. A history, being l k back look b k at the h E ll rrecords llon ecords d rreveals eveals l the h nam mes off some Ellon names people who ar y, and d some that aree still par partt of the family family, have sadly departed departed t from from this life. One One much h missed soul have Michael Naughton Naugghton who was one of the first firrst Ministers Ministers is Michael pioneering spirit at E llon, although it may w ell and a pioneering Ellon, well

Joe (seated, Joe (seated ed, ccentre) entrre) following following his ““profession”, prrofession o ”, and surr rounded b ather R aymond C oylee, Sist SSister er V erra of the surrounded byy FFather Raymond Coyle, Vera FFMM MM and a memb ers of the SF O ffamily am amily mily in Ellon members SFO hav he inspiration of SSister ister M ary M cGee of the havee been th the Mary McGee F ranciscan M issionaries of M ary whoo suggested the Franciscan Missionaries Mary formation off a secular Franciscan Franciscan fraternity ityy. As Francesco Francesco fraternity.

D’Ali says, ““when w when the SSpirit pirit decides somet thing needs to be something done, it come es to be!” SSoo there there was a w eighty framework framework comes weighty off apostolic li individuals i di id l fr ffrom om which hi h the h fraternity f i could ld draw inspirat tion and spirit. inspiration F rancescco was himself pr ofessed in i B irmingham Francesco professed Birmingham on the 22nd d April April 1989 and moved moved to Fraserburgh Fraserburgh in 2005. E ch hoing the experience of JJoe, oee, he says “I felt Echoing rreally eally welcomed welcom med in E llon and they ev en used u a ser vice of Ellon even service w elcome as w ell, which I was not expec cting. I had the welcome well, expecting. feeling that I had joined a little family of people who honestly striv ve to liv accordingg to the example strive livee the gospel according of SSt. t. F ranciss. I was pleased to kno wM icchael N aughton Francis. know Michael Naughton who was pr o ofessed in 1949, whom I had h hear d of in professed heard rrelation elation to th he rregional egional and national orga anisation when I the organisation was in B irmingham. He He proposed proposed me fo Birmingham. forr the election as M inister in SSpring p pring 2006 and it is astonishi ing ho wM ichael Minister astonishing how Michael and I w ere in n tune with each other as far as the dir ection were direction of the fraternity fratern nity was concerned. We We had d planned many great things together, together, fr om increasing increasing the sensibility great from appr pp eciation of the Holy Holyy SSpirit pirit to th p he p pr omotion of and appreciation the promotion awareness in the parishes about the exist tence and life of awareness existence Unfor n tunately we we lost M ichaeel at the end of the SFO. Unfortunately Michael paassed to a more more spiritual life.” life..”

2006 as he passed Francescoo is passionate about today y’’s relevance relevance of Francesco today’s Joe’s journey is an illustration. illlustration. “Our “Our the SFO, of which Joe’s vocation is too dev elop our relationship relationship with w the T rinityy, vocation develop Trinity, om Gospel Gospel to life, and from from life liffe to Gospel Gospel till going fr from we become ‘Christ like n other words words d to allo w the we like’.’. IIn allow Spirit to work woork in us so that when pe eople encounter Spirit people theyy, through through o pirit, encounter Christ and his us, they, the SSpirit, unfathomablle love.” love.” unfathomable w for Francesco Francesco and Joe, Joe, it is important important This is why Order because alone they feel f it is almost to join the Order Pope Benedict Benedict has emphasised the impossible too do this. Pope

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fact that the Church Chu urch “is always capable of ne new w and deeper exploration.”

This newness exploration.” Thi is ne wness is embraced by by the th he SFO who believe that is it of relevance relevance to the modern n world. The believe Order Order is one wayy of making a serious attempt attemp pt at uniting he way w live, consume, and a react react to the gospel to th the wee live, i h as the he environment, envir i onment, peace and d the th h planet. he l issues such F rancesco says sayys “I process that thaat is the door Francesco “Itt is a lifelong process ‘eternal life relevant because thr ouggh the SSpirit pirit for ‘eternal life’.’. IItt is relevant through al dialogue, it is a continuo us discovery discovery and the fraterna fraternal continuous

Homily H omily ffor or Christ Christ the King Abbot Ab bot Hugh Hugh G Gilbert ilber t O O.S.B. .S.B. Dan D an 7:13-14; 7 Rev R ev 1:5-8; Jn 18:33-37 18:333-37 “I gaz ed into the th he visions of the night.” night.” So So the prophet prophet gazed Daniel D aniel begins th the he first rreading. eading. “I gazed gazed intoo the visions Daniel was asleep and dreaming, of the night.” night.” D a aniel dreamingg, and asleep and dreaming dreaming he h saw ““one one like a son of man” m n” coming man age”, given kingship.. IItt to “the “the One One of great g eat age gr ”, and being giv en kingship was asleep, asleep, dr eaaming, aming in a vision of the night niight that he dreaming, shown prophetically was sho wn pr op phetically the kingship of the th he risen and ascended Christ.. IItt was also when he was – a JJew ew – in Babylon. exile, in B abylon n.

“J “Jesus esus Christ is i the faithful witness, the First-born Firsst-born fr from om earth.” the dead, the Ruler Ruler u of the kings of the ear th h.” So So begins the second reading, read ding, fr om the Christian prophet prrophet John, John, from Apocalypse.

He author of the A p pocalypse.

He too was in banishment, ban nishment, on the island of Patmos, Patm mos, at the time a Roman Roman penal p colonyy. colony. man”, And he h too t saw ““one one n like lik a son n off man m n”, the th h crucified, he crrucified, ifi d risen and ascended ascend ded Christ, in a vision, when n he was, he Lord’s day”” (1:10).. It says, “in the SSpirit pirrit on the Lor d’s day It was from from a place of suffering sufferin ng and taken out of himselff that he saw saw, w, earth”. saw ““the the Ruler Ruler ooff the Kings of the ear th h”.

ourselves and a the hidden treasure treasure that thaat G od fr om the of ourselves God from as sealed in us. This is what it means to live live beginning ha has an nd hence to be a secular Franciscan”.

Fran nciscan”. As Joe Joe the gospel and have taken on board board and a experienced confirms, “I feel I have Paul hass written in his Letters... I feel feeel I have have become what Paul new person n.” a new person.”

Glen Reynolds Reynolds iiss an an Enquirer Enquirer in in the the SFO, SFO, and and a lecturer lecturer Glen in theology theology at at the the University University of of Aberdeen.

Aberdeen. in Pilate. ““Are Are you you the t king of the Jews?”

Jews?” asked P ilate. SSoo begins Gospel Pilate Roman governor the G ospel rreading. eading. P ilate is the R om man go vernor of the he’s’s wide JJudaea, udaea, well-placed; well-placed; it’s it’s the middle of th he day, dayy, he doesn’t’t see the kingship Man awake, and he h doesn g p of the M an in front fr ont of him.. “I was born for this, I camee into the world bear truth; aree on for this: to be ear witness to the tr uth; and d all who ar truth?” the side of ttruth ruth listen to my vvoice.” oice.” ““What W What is tr uth?”

Pilate, asked P ilate, not waiting for an answer answer (18:38).

(1 18:38). surely, this, from SSomething, omethin ng, sur elyy, emerges from from th his, fr om these three On thr ee scenes. O n the one hand, comfortable comfortable t places and broad br oad daylight, dayligght, it seems, don’t don’t favour favour a vision of the from places, kingship of Christ. And fr om such pl laces, this feast, kingship,, is pur purely simply this claim too kingship ely and si imply a joke. joke IItt brought thorns, br ought JJesus esus jeers and a crown crown of thorn ns, and it brings through history.

“Does think the same thr o ough history. “D oes he thin nk the arms will from Napoleon Pope fall fr om myy soldiers?” asked N apoleon when the P ope excommunicated wee all kno know ex communicated him. And w w Stalin’s Stalin’s famous, “How Pope?”

“H ow many divisions has the P ope?”

On the O n the oother ther hand, “I gazed gazed into th he visions of the night,”” says the Daniel, night, t exiled, dreaming dreaming D aniel, ““and and I saw…”

And while P Pilate illate was settled comfor comfortably tably on o his judgement “his word ‘Have nothing seat, t “hi his wife ife sentt wor d to t him, hi ‘H Have no thi to thing t do d with ith that innocen innocentt man … I hav havee suffer suffered ed a gr ggreat eat deal today dream 27:19). because of a dr d eam about him’” him m’” (Mt 27:1 19). Could it be that w wee hav havee to go into exile and hav havee dr d dreams eams if w wee ar aree to see the kin ngship of this risen and asce ended, humanly kingship ascended, invisible king g? And if so what does that m mean? king?

Y es, ther three-stage journey to make.

Yes, theree is a three-stage F irst, intoo exile. IIff w ere IIraqi raqi or Lebanese or First, wee w were P alestinian Christians, C we might well well hav ve gone alr eadyy, Palestinian we have already, or be b consid d dering going, into exile. l B u in any place ut l considering But and at any ttime, ime, it er is to it’s’s enough that to be a believ believer d to exile. “M ine is not a kingdom k of this be committe committed “Mine world ”; faith brings us into it; and ther efore, ev en while world”; therefore, even w w wee liv livee and wor workk in the world, w wee cannot be of it. W Wee will be in exile fr o many of its priorities and om d vvalues; alues; w from wee will need to makee ourselv es strangers to its ways. w IIff w ’t, ourselves wee don don’t, are we we really really believers believers at all? If If we we do, then th hen the journey are g and the vis ion of the Kingg to the hear heartt of the kingdom vision has begun.

Then, there theere is dreaming: dreaming: not a dr eam ming of fantasy, fantasyy, dreaming eamiing of the rreal. eal. “I gaz ed int but a dr dreaming gazed intoo the visions of nd I saw…” How How so? W the night, an and Wee goo into the night yes ar egin to pray y. W of faith and our ey eyes aree opened. W Wee be begin pray.

Wee

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elsewhere: to the exile of faith and the dream of prayer.

But to see, in Scripture, means to be part of. “We who believe,” says Augustine, “we are his kingdom.” And his kingdom, though it isn’t of the world, is still in it. Christ went on from Pilate to the cross, to the kingly laying down of his life, Daniel took up his pen to console his fellow-exiles; John wrote what he saw. After the dream, in the light of the dream, comes a second waking to the world: out of the vision of the King a desire to serve.

And the measure of the kingship of Christ in the world is the love in our hearts, our parishes and monasteries, our movements and associations, and so forth. The measure of Christ’s kingship is the charity of Christians. From the exile of faith and the dream of liturgy comes the work of love, the witness of charity: in home, at work, to people in need. “The kingdom (or kingship) of Christ is present in mystery”: in faith, in liturgy, in love lived out; the saving of the world. Let us not be ashamed of the dream!

And one last irresistible footnote. On the retreat from Moscow, in 1812, the arms did fall off Napoleon’s soldiers; frostbite… And Stalingrad’s not on a map these To see the King, then, let’s leave the comfortable days. “It is he who is coming on the clouds… This is the places, the broad daylight of self-sufficient reason, and go truth. Amen.”

enter a church for liturgy, and we sleep for a while to this world. The liturgy, the common prayer of the Church, her sacramental worship, is the dream. There we are taken up into the dreams and visions of prophets and apostles. There we listen to the voice of the King and begin to be on the side of the truth. There on the altar is the king himself, renewing his royal offering in bread and wine. There gathered round the altar is the royal and priestly people becoming what they receive. In the liturgy, however humble, even distracting, it is, we leave this world and share the dream. In the liturgy, if we’re here in faith, we see the One of great age conferring sovereignty, glory and kingship on the one who is to come. In the liturgy of the Church, in the Sunday Eucharist par excellence, we are taken in the Spirit and we see the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, and are “made a line of kings [ourselves], priests to serve his God and Father”. “The kingdom (or kingship) of Christ is present in mystery,” said the Council. It is present here, that means, in liturgy.

Why Catholics Can’t Sing (Part II) The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste We continue with the second instalment of David Meiklejohn’s exploration of an American publication, ‘Why Catholics Can’t Sing’ by Thomas Day, chair of the music department at Salve Regina University in Newport Rhode Island.

H

aving firmly lifted the lid of a veritable can of worms in the first part of this account of Day’s telling work, we now continue by portraying a fairly typical scenario where, irrespective of the Vatican’s promulgations, individual actions (or inactions) can determine to a large extent the quality of sacred music which the laity is permitted to experience.

Day states that ‘Cardinal Mundelein (1872-1939) let it be known that when he processed into Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, he wanted an orchestra in the choir loft and the kind of great masters music that one would hear in the great churches of Europe. He sent talented priests to France, so they could study chant and teach it in his seminary’.

‘When Cardinal Spellman (1889-1967) processed into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, he probably did not care what music was used, as long as it was unmemorable.

During his years as Archbishop of New York, visitors from

continental Europe were shocked by the paleness of the vocal music in St Patrick’s, a building located in the cultural capital of the United States. (The organists however were always of high calibre.). The famous conductor Joseph Kripps was one of the many foreign visitors who could not understand why a tremendous potential was not being realised. During lunch with Cardinal Spellman in 1959, Kripps made a bold suggestion; he (Kripps) would conduct a suitable Mass by Palestrina or Mozart or Bruckner in the Cathedral free of charge; firmly, the cardinal declined the maestro’s offer’.

Who would win this controversy over musical style?: congregational singing would have grown naturally out of the ‘Chicago style’, Day maintains.

To digress for one moment and having comparatively recently enjoyed the splendid installation of Archbishop Timothy Dolan to St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York on 16 April 2009, via the EWTN I can verify that the whole event, including the music, was very memorable indeed.

Day continues ‘further investigation into pre-Vatican II days reveals that far from being one form of “opium for the people”, the old High Mass was meant to be a kind of medicine that invigorated people, reminded them of their uniqueness and sent them refreshed but determined into a hostile world.’ This view contrasts widely with Day’s current perception of how we view our roles and positions within the church today. ‘If “something” went down the drain when Roman Catholicism switched from Latin to the vernacular it was not necessarily a feeling of mystery or transcendence or the sacred but the sense of ritual as communal action. In

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real ritual real ritual – ritual ritual in in tthe he universal univeersal ssense, ense, ritual ritual rrecognised ecognised aass such such throughout throughout history history – individuals individuals cease cease ttoo act act aass iindividuals ndividuals and, and, iinstead, nstead, ssurrender urrender themselves themselves to to a ccollective ollective cconsciousness, onsciousness, an an idea, idea, ssomething omething bbigger igger than than oone ne person. person.

Th I” ceases ceases an aand nd becomes becomes ““we”. we”. The The tendency tendency ttoo p ut Thee ““I” put ““me” me” iin n the the ccentre entre of of tthe he liturgical liturgical landscape landscape is is tthe he single single m ost influential influential thing thing to to happen happen ttoo the the way way Catholics Catholics h ave most have w orshipped since since the the SSecond econd Vatican Vatican Council.

Council. Nothing Nothing else else worshipped ccomes omes cclose lose to to it it in in size size aand nd iinfluence. nfluence. Such Such individualism individualism aaffects ffects tthe he way way church church m usicians n ow operate operate with with aan n musicians now aamplified mplified soloist soloist belting belting out out Holy Holy God God we we praise praise thy thy name name iin n ffront ront ooff a ssilent ilent congregation. congregation. This This p roduces one one ooff tthe he produces m ost unappealing unappealing sounds sounds and and spectacles spectacles iin nC hristendom.’ most Christendom.’

Th rrival of of Mr Mr (or (or Mrs) Mrs) Caruso Carruso as as congregational congregational p roxy Thee aarrival proxy iiss a practice practice which which he he decisively decisively d enounces. denounces.

D ay states states that that ‘throughout ‘throughout much much of of its its history, history, R oman Day Roman C atholicism has has been been ssurprisingly urprisingly liberal, liberal, experimental, experimental, and and Catholicism eeven ven radical radical when when it it comes comes to to the the m attter ooff the the lliturgical iturgical matter

m y

aarts. rts. The The Roman Roman Church Church broke broke with with the the long-standing long-standing C hristian tradition tradition allowing allowing only only vvocal ocal m usic iin n church church Christian music w hen it it p ermitted the the oorgan rgan aand nd other other iinstruments nstruments to to play play when permitted d uring d ivine services. services. There There was was however however a ggreat reat u nwritten during divine unwritten llaw aw w hich ccomprised: omprised: aass a creative creative aartist rtist you you m ay ffollow ollow which may yyour our oown wn instincts instincts but but yyour our aart rt or or music music ffor or tthe he cchurch hurch m ust not not clash clash with with the the liturgical liturgical ffunction; unction; iitt m ust take take iits ts must must p lace in in tthe he objective objective liturgical liturgical setting setting and and n ot seem seem llike ike an an place not iintrusion. ntrusion. Y our creation creation must must display display a d egree ooff quality quality Your degree oorr craftsmanship, craftsmanship, which which w ill bbee agreeable agreeable to to prince prince and and will p easant, m ale aand nd ffemale, emale, yyoung oung and and old. old. Everyone Everyone w ho peasant, male who ssees ees the the artwork arrtwork or or who who h ears tthe he m usic must must sense sense a group group hears music eendeavour, ndeavour,, a group group prayer: prayer: m aybe something something performed performed maybe bbyy the the aassembly ssembly or or by by a choir choir acting acting in in tthe he name name ooff the the aassembly, ssembly, maybe maybe a painting painting tthat hat seems seems ttoo sum sum up up the the highest highest rreligious eligious aspirations aspirations of of a whole whole p eople.’ D ay recognises recognises tthat hat people.’

Day iitt iiss not not eeasy asy to to w rite music music which which (1) (1) expresses expresses the the n oblest write noblest aaspirations spirations of of the the communal, communal, cultural, cultural, ttribal ribal consciousness consciousness aand nd ((2) 2) sseems eems to to ssubmit ubmit ttoo a higher higher p urpose of of the the rite rite purpose iitself. tself.

F ollowing the the ssecond econd Vatican Vatican Council Council w hen the the ffolk olk Following when p henomenon emerged emerged it it w as possible possible ttoo find find yourself yourself singing singing phenomenon was ‘‘Michael Michael rrow ow the the boat boat ashore’ ashore’ in in the the form form of of ‘Kum ‘Kum ba ba yyah ah my my

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Lord’ oorr ffolk olk mass mass ssettings ettings w here each each of of the the principal principal parts parts Lord’ where (The L ord h ave mercy, mercy, the the Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy Holy and and the the Lamb Lamb (The Lord have of G od etc), etc), were were eeach ach m odified so so that that the the words words could could fit fit God modified of into the the ssame ame limited limited m elody tthroughout. hroughout. This, This, followed followed into melody by w hat the the aauthor uthor calls calls ‘reformed ‘reformed folk folk styles styles with with hymns hymns by what like E agles W ings aand nd Here Here I am, am, Lord, Lord, rresulted esulted in in m aking like Eagles Wings making Catholic w orship move move from from the the ““terrible” terrible” G od who who visited visited Catholic worship God plagues oon n the the wicked wicked to to a ““soft” soft” eendearing ndearing oold ld d istributor plagues distributor of love. love. SSuch uch cchanges hanges of of emphasis emphasis are are strongly strongly reflected reflected in in of the emerging emerging cchanges hanges of of text text now now used used in in hymns’. hymns’. the To d igress once once again, again, iitt may may be be that that another another reason reason for for not not To digress participating iin n singing, singing, is is tthe he now now indiscriminate indiscriminate p ractice participating practice of ccontemporary ontemporary publishers publishers ttaking aking iitt upon upon tthemselves hemselves of to m odify traditional traditional h ymn texts texts ttoo meet meet some some spurious spurious to modify hymn notion ooff inclusion, inclusion, tthus hus rrendering endering beautiful beautiful prose prose iinto nto a notion shadow of of iits ts fformer ormer gglory. lory. Specific Specific ‘modern’ ‘modern’ or or rreformed eformed shadow folk hymns hymns ssuch uch as as Be Be not not aafraid, fraid, and and One One bread, bread, One One bbody ody folk are considered considered bbyy D ay aass being being prime prime examples examples of of hymns hymns are Day which are are iimpossible mpossible ffor or any any congregation congregation to to sing sing accurately accurately which due to to their their rhythmic rhythmic complexities complexities of of construction construction and and due their total total dependence dependence on on very very w ell played played accompaniments accompaniments their well which rrequire equire a n ew empathy empathy of of style. style. which new Such problems problems imposed imposed bbyy lliturgical iturgical change change result result in in a Such multiethnic, universal universal cchurch hurch fi nding tthat hat at while while iitt m ight multiethnic, finding might succeed in in getting getting some some of of the the people people to to sing sing ssome ome ooff tthe he succeed time, nothing nothing will will ever ever p ersuade all all of of the the people people to to sing sing time, persuade all ooff the the ttime. ime. Th roblem ooff diversity diversity is is ooverwhelming. verwhelming. all Thee p problem Collectively ““the the p eople” are are quite quite shrewd, shrewd, maintains maintains D ay.

Collectively people” Day. They may may not not kknow now m uch about about theology theology or or the the subtleties subtleties They much of lliturgical iturgical ssymbolism ymbolism but but they they ccan an iinstinctively nstinctively d etect of detect poor oorr aaltogether ltogether iinappropriate nappropriate selections selections of of music, music, which which poor they m ight protest protest bbyy not not ssinging. inging. Involving Involving “the “the p eople” in in they might people” deciding w hat tthey hey w ant iiss n ot aappropriate ppropriate in in solving solving this this deciding what want not serious p roblem. Y ou ccan’t an’t want want what what you you don’t don’t know. know. serious problem.

You Day is is often often vvery ery ccritical ritical ooff h ow poorly poorly the the llaity aity are are Day how treated iin n tthis his rregard. egard. ‘The ‘The people people are are starving starving for for spiritual spiritual treated nourishment symbolised symbolised iin n music. music. W hat happens? happens? nourishment What Somebody ssays ays ““let let tthem hem eat eat dog dog biscuits!” biscuits!”

Somebody Surely it it is is the the job job ooff aallll those those involved involved in in the the leadership leadership of of Surely dioceses aand nd parishes, parishes, in in cconjunction onjunction with with all all those those involved invoolved dioceses in tthe he ministry ministry ooff music, music, to to ensure ensure tthat hat tthe he people people of of God God in are served served only only the the very very best. best. are David M eiklejohn h as recently recently been been appointed appointed to to the the David Meiklejohn has position of of C ourse D irector of of Post Post Graduate Graduate Studies Studies in in position Course Director Religious Education Educatiion and and IInitial nitial Teacher Teacher Training Training at at the the Religious inteernational Maryvale Maryvale IInstitute nstitute in in Birmingham Birmingham international

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Planning to say ...I do Deacon D eacon JJohn ohn Wire Wire

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ongratulations! Y ongratulations!

You’ve ou’ve just beco become ome engaged and no n w that the celebrations ar re oover, ver, yyour our now are thoughts stage, thou ughts turn to the next stag ge, planning edding. SSoo what are are th he priorities the w wedding. the through Aree they: where going thr ough yyour our mind? Ar where will we we get married; wher eception be held;; ho w many wheree will the rreception how guests will there there be; will Auntie Auntie Wilma Wilma be able a to travel travel fr om America? from plann ning of your your As a Catholicc the first stage in the planning w edding should be to visit yyour our local parish h priest, ev en wedding even if yyou ou plan to ge et married in another parish h or another get diocese or indee ed in another countr y. In In fact f meeting indeed country. yyour our local parish h priest is the first step yyou ou should take for all yyour our sacr ramental pr eparations and needs. n IItt is sacramental preparations the h fundamenta ffundamental d l pastorall rrole ole l off yyour our pari ish h priest as parish teacher and san nctifier to minister to the needs n of his sanctifier parish communi ityy. Y our parish priest will then t put the community.

Your date and time of o the w edding in the paris sh diar wedding parish diaryy and make arrangeme ents to meet with yyou ou to ccomplete omplete the arrangements pr e-nuptial enqu uiry forms. H ange for yyou ou pre-nuptial enquiry Hee will also arra arrange to attend a marri iage pr eparation course in th he parish. marriage preparation the What does tthe he pr e-nuptial enquir cumentation pre-nuptial enquiryy doc documentation consist of and what w is it for? Essentially it is to ensur ensuree that your your marriage marriaage is valid valid in the eyes eyyes of the th he church, church, in other words, words, that thaat it is canonically valid. valid. If, If, for f example, some impedimen nt was not disclosed and a co ompensating impediment compensating dispensation nott been granted then the mar rriage would marriage not be vvalid. alid. IIn n turn this would hav plications for havee imp implications

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yyour our continu ued rreception eception of the Chur ch h’s sacraments; not continued Church’s least of all th he ability to rreceive eceive H oly Co ommunion. SSo, o, the Holy Communion. the pr e-nuptiial documentation is of vitall impor tance. pre-nuptial importance. oour Catholic identity oou will be asked IItt establish hes yyour y. Y establishes identity.

You to pr ovide an n up up-to-date to date copy of yyour our ba ptism cer tificate provide baptism certificate obtained fr o the chur om ch wher ou u w ere baptised from church wheree yyou were and which must m be obtained within sixx months of the w edding. This Th is because the baptisma al rregister egister of the wedding. baptismal chur ch in wh hich yyou ou w ere baptised is a rrecord ecord of yyour our church which were sacramental life l in the chur ch. As baptism m is the gate way church. gateway to all the oth her sacraments, establishingg that yyou ou w ere other were baptised is th he basis of ev erything else. the everything The bapti ismal rregister egister should also hav h baptismal havee the details of yyour our confi firmation and, and mor t y, it should tantly confirmation moree impor importantly, sho w that the ere is no rrecord ecord of yyou ou havin ng been married show there having befor e, whic h is the next criterion for the vvalidity alidity of before, which yyour our marriag ge, that yyou ou ar ee to marr y O y! nce yyou ou ar marriage, aree fr free marry!

Once aree married the details d of yyour our marriage will be b enter ed in the entered same rregister, egister, completing yyour our sacramental sacramenttal rrecord. ecord.

B eing fr e to marr ee c to be Being free marryy is the next criterion established. As I mentioned abo ve ther re ar above there aree a number of impedime ents rrecognised ecognised bbyy the Chur ch and the civil impediments Church authorities h wh h would which ld pr event yyou ou fr ffrom om m being b married. d prevent F or example, yyou ou must be at least sixteen yyears ears of age and For yyou ou cannot marr m ourr first cousin or marryy someone who is yyour an adopted br bbrother other or sister ch also stipulates sister.. The Chur Church other types of impediments which could c stop yyou ou being marrie ed in the Chur ch. The twoo most common married Church. impedimentss encounter ed bbyy parish pries sts ar isparity encountered priests aree ‘D ‘Disparity of W orship’ and a ‘M ixed R eligion’. ‘D ispaarity of W orship’ Worship’ ‘Mixed Religion’.

‘Disparity Worship’ is when a Ca atholic wants to marr eone who is not Catholic marryy some someone baptised and d belongs to a non-Christian n rreligion eligion or has no rreligion eligion att all. ‘M ixed R eligion’ describ bes the situation ‘Mixed Religion’ describes when a Cath holic wants to marr ne fr om another Catholic marryy someon someone from Christian de enomination. This applie es not only to denomination. applies P rotestant Ch hristian denominations but also a members of Protestant Christian the O rthodox Chur ches who ar f communion Orthodox Churches aree not in full with R ome. IIn n each case if the parish prie est is encouraged Rome. priest to think thatt the marriage will be succe essful and last a successful lifetime then the necessar pp fo or a dispensation p necessaryy application for (in the case of o ‘D isparity of W orship’) orr permission (in ‘Disparity Worship’) the case of ‘‘Mixed Mixed R eligion’) can be fo orwarded to the Religion’) forwarded local bishop for his consideration. IIff he is in agr eement agreement with the pari ish priest then a dispensatio n or permission parish dispensation will be grante ed. IItt is impor tant to emph hasise her granted. important emphasise heree that a dispensation or permission is not a mer meree formality! Each case is consid dered on its merits. considered Another type of impediment which w is being encountered encountered d mor moree fr frequently equently is ca called alled ‘Lack Lack of Canonical F Form’ orm m’ this is when a couple couple, e, one of whom is a Catholic Catholic, c, wants to be married by by a non-Catholic minister,, which wh hich usually comes with an additional request request to be b married in a non-Cat non-Catholic tholic Chur Church. ch.

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Form’ However,, ‘Lackk of Canonical F However, orm’ is specifically applied to the situation situation wher olic minister wheree a non-Catho non-Catholic party officiates. IIn n both b cases the Catholic par p ty to the marriage must write in person to the lo ocal bishop local permission. rrequesting equesting perm mission. They must be very very explicit rregarding egard di the ding h rreasons e easons and d cir i cumstances which hi h hav h circumstances havee decide beforee the made them deci ide on this course of action n befor bishop will cons sider their rrequest equest and the possibility p of consider a dispensation being b granted.

The thir d and d final step is for yyou ou to atten d a marriage third attend preparation course. cou urse. IItt is a rrequirement equirement off canon law preparation priest’s responsibility responsibility to ensur eensuree yyour our and the parish priest’s attendance at a marriage pr eparation cours se befor preparation course beforee the pr e-nuptial enqu uiry is completed. The wh hole purpose pre-nuptial enquiry whole of the course is that yyou ou and yyour our pr ospecctive spouse prospective should be enco uraged to discuss aspects of yyour our life encouraged you may not have have alr eadyy consider ed together which you already considered about. Most Most importantly, importantlyy, if you you ar or thought about. aree not

both Catholi ics, the whole issue of havin ng yyour our childr en Catholics, having children baptised and d educated in the Catholic faith is of vital impor tance to the futur our marriage. m Y our importance futuree of yyour Your agr eement with w each other rregarding egarding th is issue must be agreement this complete and d harmonious.

SSo, o, now now that h yyou ou hav h i i d yyour ou ur parish i h priest; havee visited a the pr e-nuptial enqui iry forms and completed all pre-nuptial enquiry attended a marriage pr eparation co ourse all ther preparation course theree rremains emains to do d is decide on the vvenue enue fo eception, forr the rreception, the number of o guests and to make sur here is someone suree th there at the airport airport to pick up A untie W ilmaa!

Auntie Wilma!

What does G What God od look li ike?: LLearning earnin ng like?: Rev R ev JJohn ohn S Swinton winton

O

ver the past year ver year it has been myy pleasure pleasure to dir e the University ect University of Aberdeen’s Aberdeen d ’s centr direct centree Health Disability. for SSpirituality, piritualityy, H ealth and D i isability y. The centre cen ntre aims to enable academics,, researchers, researchers, together practitioners and d educators to work work togethe er to develop develop innovative projects innovative and creative creative research research pr ojects and a teaching initiatives focused initiatives focuse ed on two areas: areas: the rrelationship elationsship between betweeen spirituality and health and the theology of disability. o disability y.

Both areas aree fas fascinating important areas ar scinating and raise vvery ery imp ortant issues for the theologyy and practice of the church. churrch. But But the area area of disabilityy raises special issues that are are remarkably remarkably challenging challenging.

One organization organizaation wee have have been working working closely with One L’Arche communities. coommunities. The L’Arche L’Arche communities c is the L’Arche are an international internatioonal network network of inclusive inclusive communities c are p disaabilities live live within which people with intellectual disabilities peeople who do not have have such h disabilities. together with people L’Arche is founded found ded on the Beatitudes, Beatitudes, and in i particular particular L’Arche Jesus’ teaching that the person who is poor pooor in what Jesus’ values is, in fact, blessed and a has deep society generallyy values if to offer. offer ff . L’Arche L’Ar ’A A che Ar h began b i 1964 when h Jean Jean Vanier Vanier i gifts in director Father Father Thomas Philippe Phillippe invited and his spiritual director three men with profound p ofound intellectual disabilities pr disabiliities to come three share their life liife in the spirit of the Gospel Gospeel and of the and share Beatitudes. From From m this first community born in n France France and Beatitudes.

rooted in thee Roman Roman Catholic tradition, tradition n, communities rooted have been developed deeveloped across across the globe, the the ethos being to have share in the lives lives of people with developmental developmental disabilities share Beatitudes. in the spirit of the Beatitudes.

L’Arche is a place where wherre disabilities exist, existt, but don’t don’t really really L’Arche matter. In In other otther words, words, within L’Arche L’Ar Arche the meaning of matter. ver e y different different from from the cultural culturaal norm. Within Within disability is very philosoph hy and theology of L’Arche L’Arche disabilities diisabilities are are not the philosophy viewed as problems problems o solved, but rather rath her as particular particular viewed to be solved, bein ng human which need to be understood, ways of being valued and supported. supported. Friendship Friendship is thee key. keyy. The focus valued discovering ways of loving loving and living livin ng together that is on discovering recognise thee naturalness and beauty off difference difference and recognise theological significance of weakness weakness and an nd vulnerability. vulnerabilityy. the theological L’Ar Arche communities “seek “seek to offerr not a solution, solution, The L’Arche societyy, to be truly truly u human, must but a sign – a sign that a society, o welcome welcome and respect respect for the th he weak weak and the be founded on downtrodden n.” (L’Arche (L L’Arche Charter Charter in Young You oung ung 1997 p. p. xv) xv) downtrodden.”

In a divided world, L’Arche L’Arche wants to be a sign of hope.

In (L L’Arche International Inteernational 1999 p. p. 3) It It wants wantts to manifest in (L’Arche prractices that the way that society society is may not its life and practices God. be the way off life within the Kingdom off God. One Roman Roman om man Catholic woman, who is an assistant in a One L’Ar ’A Arche h community comm munity it in i Belfast Belfast lf t in i Northern Northern thern Ireland, Ireland, l d told t ld L’Arche how difficult diffi fficult it was to live live in a situation situattion of religious religious me how d difficulty y. As a Catholic woman, wom man, there there have have tension and difficulty. w waary of going out been times when she has been quite wary streets e of Belfast.

Belfast. If If she went weent out alone, she onto the streets

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could, at times, be in genuine danger. However, if she goes out with the people from the L’Arche communities, she knows that she is always safe. Indeed, when she has people with developmental disabilities with her, she, a Catholic woman, has even been allowed on occasion to speak in Protestant churches which is extremely unusual.

As we chatted, she made a quite startling statement. “When I am with people with profound developmental disabilities I can go anywhere and say anything. The barriers come down on both sides of the divide, Protestant and Catholic.

Wherever they go, they seem to bring peace and reconciliation and if I am with them I can share in that peace. You know, I sometimes wonder if Jesus had Down’s syndrome.” She wasn’t joking. She wasn’t using metaphorical language; her question was wistful but genuine. Her encounters with people with profound intellectual disabilities had changed the way she saw the world and the ways in which she understood God to be at work in the world.

Gone were images of God as the bringer of liberation and peace through God’s great power and might. Instead the possibility of God being very different from assumed norms, incarnating God’s self within the body of a person with Down’s syndrome opened up new vistas of hope, reconciliation and revelation. Because she had entered into relationships with people who have profound developmental disability, and allowed those relationships to challenge the way in which she viewed herself, God and the world, the suggestion of Jesus with Down’s syndrome was neither shocking nor outrageous. Why should it be? Nowhere in scripture are we told what Jesus looked like or what his IQ was. We simply assume that Jesus looked “something like us.” Why do we construct an image of Jesus that is able-bodied and able-minded?

Why do we explicitly or implicitly assume that Down’s syndrome is incompatible with the divine image? Think for a moment of the implications of Stanley Hauerwas’ reflections on the relationship of disability to the Body of Christ: “God’s face is the face of the retarded; God’s body is the body of the retarded; God’s being is that of the retarded. For the God we Christians must learn to worship is not a God of self–sufficient power, a God who in self–possession needs no one; rather ours is a God who needs a people, who needs a Son. The Absoluteness of being or power is not a work of the God we have come to know through the cross.” (Hauerwas 1986 p. 178) Within the L’Arche communities, such an image of God springs naturally from deep relationships of friendship with people whose life experiences challenge us to think and to re-think the nature of God and the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Now I am sure that some readers are jarring at this point and wrestling with the dissonance between such an image and our personal image of God as all knowing,

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all-powerful and so forth. But I challenge us all to wrestle with why such an image may be disturbing and if it is disturbing, what that might mean for how we really feel about people with intellectual disabilities who are made fully in the image of the triune God who is love.

If this image is incompatible, then how does that affect the way in which we view and act towards people with developmental disabilities. If the image is compatible, what does that mean for our understanding of what it means to be human and to live humanly in community and fellowship with people with profound developmental disabilities?

Disability theology is interesting. The problem is that when we listen to what disability seeks to teach us we discover a deep need to change. Will we really listen?

References Hauerwas, Stanley. (1986) Suffering Presence: Theological reflections on medicine, the mentally handicapped, and the Church. Edinburgh: T & T Clark Ltd. Young, Frances. (Ed) (1997) Encounters With Mystery: Reflections on L’Arche and living with disability.

London: Darton, Longman and Todd Rev. John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care in the School of Divinity, History and and Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen.

IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY CENTRE, GLASGOW PROGRAMME 2009-2010

INDIVIDUALLY GUIDED RETREATS Weekend & 6 day retreats These silent retreats are held at the Notre Dame Apostolic Centre overlooking the Clyde Estuary *****

DAY & EVENING EVENTS Taizé Evenings, Retreat Mornings, Exploring Prayer Days, Advent Days *****

COURSES Resourcing for Ministry - a short course for clergy Art & Creation Spirituality Course – using various art materials with image and Scripture Spiritual Accompaniment Course – beginning autumn 2010 until summer 2012

Ignation Centre 1/4

****** For a copy of our 2009-2010 Programme and information, either browse our website or contact:

The Administrative Secretary, Ignatian Spirituality Centre, 35 Scott Street, Glasgow, G3 6PE Tel 0141 354 0077 Fax 0141 331 4588 e-mail: admin@iscglasgow.co.uk Website: www.iscglasgow.co.uk

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Good G ood Ne News ews on a String: String: M Meditations editations for for Everyday Everyday Living A sseries eries of of meditations meditations o on n tthe he R Rosary osary b byy P Peter eter M Morris orris aand nd w with ith iillustrations llustrations b byy M Margaret argaret B Bradley radley

““II h have ave b been een crucified crucifi fie ed w with ith C Christ; hrisstt; a and nd iitt iiss n no o llonger onger I w who ho llive, ive, b but ut iitt iiss C Christ hrist w who ho llives ives iin nm me. e.” ((Gal. Gal. 2 2,19b-20) ,19b-20) St. P St. Paul aul poin points ts out a truth tha thatt w we e all sh share hare in our baptism – w we e ha have ve died with Christ.

Christ. However, H wever, wha Ho whatt does it mean tto o have have Christ Christ living in us?? Christ’s Christ’s life life somehow somehow pla p ys out in our own own lif e. TThe he mysteries mysteries plays life. of the rrosary osary allo aallow w us tto o ffocus ocus in on certain cer e tain aspec ts of the lif e of Chr ist and his mothe er. SSo ow e ma aspects life Christ mother. we mayy find tha ysteries ha ve some bea aring in our liv es. I hope e to to make suggestions about about how how the thatt the m mysteries have bearing lives. m mysteries ysteries ma mayy car carry ry meaning in our liv lived ved e experiences xperiences – both positive positive and negative. negative. Take Take whatever whatever rresonates esonates with h you you to to God God while praying praying each mystery. mystery. It It may maay be best not to to attempt attemp pt to to cover cover all the questions rraised, aised, but rrather ather ffocus ocus iin n on one thing and let itt dev elop in yyour our enc oun nter with G od. develop encounter God.

Firrst JJoyful First oyful M Mystery: ysterry: Thee Annunciation (L Th (Luke ukee 1: 26-38) This m This mystery ystery ccentres entres around around d the calling of God G od d tto oM Mary ary – the in invitation vitation tto o par participate ticipate in hi plan his l off salv salvation. l ation. ti Mary M ary is i cconsidered onsider id ed db byy the e Chur Church ch tto o be the model of o discipleship discipleship,, of fa faith, aith, ffor or all believ believers. ers. W We e must must,, ther m therefore efore be enc encouraged ouraged tto o ““take take a le leaf eaf out of her book” boo ok” in her rresponse esponse tto o tthe he LLord’s ord’s call call..

By vir By vvirtue tue of our baptism, we we ar are e all called in a par particular ticular way way to to serve serve others and to to proclaim pr o oclaim the Good Good News.

News. This This is what what is meant byy a ‘‘vocation’ from God me ant b vocation’ – a call c fr om G od thatt ev everybody tha erybody has. has. TTrying rying g to to work work out particularly what asking always particularly wh hat the LLord ord is ask ing us tto o do is not alw ays easy and straightforward. s aightfforward. Mary’s str Mary ’s confusion confusion o upon hearing hearing the me message essage of G God od will echo in our lives lives ttoo. oo. M Mary ary does not n immedia immediately tely rreact eact with h a burst of joy. joy.

She is perplexed and turns lives we can often left perplexed e and disturbed disturbed by by the encounter. encounter. IIn n the ttwists wists an nd tur ns of our liv es w e ca n of ften be lef ft perplexed. life? imagine thatt perplexed. Is God God calling us through through the e din and busyness of lif e? SSometimes ometimes it is difficult tto o imag ine tha God heartt of the initial call tto Mary and byy e extension are words: God cares cares at at alll for for us. us. Yet Yet at at the hear oM ary – an nd b xtension tto o us all – ar e the w ords:

Acceptance

““Greetings, Greetingss, ffavoured avoured one av one.. The LLord ord d is with yyou.” ou.”

The crucial star The starting rting gp point, poin t, fr from om which,, any a y ‘vocation’ an ‘vocation’ proceeds proceeds is found p found in those w words. ords. God God g greets reets you you and makes kknown no own to to yyou ou as an individual individ dual that that you you are are favoured favoured e – that that you you are are precious preciou us in his eyes. eyes.

Without W ithout this kknowledge n wledge yyou no ou can get caught cau ught up in all sor sorts ts of tterrible errible self-image pr problems oblems and a can spend yyour our lif life e believ believing ving tha thatt yyou ou are are unlovable unlovab ble – that that God God does not care caare for for you you now, now, as you you are. arre. You You can go from fr om da dayy tto o da day, ay, yyear ear to to year, year, cconvinced onvinced d that that G God od is dissa dissatisfied tisfied with yyou ou and go tto o all so sorts orts of lengths tto o make him lo love ove yyou. ou. Her Here’s e’s the w wake-up akke-up call: God God loves loves you. you u. Not only that, that, but God God o is with yyou. ou.

M Mary ary w was as tto o be bear ear a child aatt a yyoung oung age age. e. TThe he pr prospect ospect shook her her.r. TThe he unc uncertainties ertainties she was was facing w were ere rracing acing ar around o ound in her mind mind.. Y Yet, et, th the e message fr from om G God od w was, ass,

“Do “D Do not b be ea afraid.” frraid d.”

On our jour journey ney we we can be beset b byy alll kinds kinds of anxieties and unc u uncertainties. ertainties. FFear ear can cr ccripple ipple us into into inaction, inac tion, depression depression e and despair despair.. Fear Fearr can also pr prevent event us fr from om m doing the Chr Christian istian thing thing. hing. FFear ear can stop st op us fr from om rreconciling e onciling with those whom ec whom w we e have have fallen out w with. ith. Fear Fear can prevent prevent us from f om speaking fr speaking the truth tto o ou our ur neighbour neighbour:: ““you you h hurt urt me m me”; ”; “I need help help”; ”; “I lo love ve yyou”; ou”; “I am lonely lonely”; ”; “I was wass wrong”. wrrong”. FFear ear

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can dr drive ive us fr from o spending time with G om God od in pr prayer. ayer. We We can be e afraid afraid of what what we we may may hear. h . Afraid hear Afraid of ack nowledging g the painful side of our llife. ife. acknowledging God fr God frequently equentlyy encourages encourages his people tto o cast out fear. fear. Mary Mary in this th his passage is not only fearful feaar ful about the futur e but fearful fearful about her abilities to to carry c ry out the task allott car ed tto o her od rreassures eassures herr b omising future allotted her.. G God byy pr promising the g ift of the Holy Spirit.

Spirit. W hen w e ar e lef ondering ho w on n ear th w e migh ry ou ut the w ork of gift When we are leftt w wondering how earth we mightt car carry out work God, G od, w we e must take ccourage ourage in the same e gift gifft to to us, us, made visible by by the Sacraments.

Sacraments. In In confirmation confirmation we we are ar e assur assured ed of the pr presence esence of the Spir Spirit it who car carries ries out and ccompletes o omplet es the w work ork w we e ar are e called tto o do. do.

Our God’s over life O ur task is tto o ssurrender urrender tto oG od’s plan, tto o hand o ver our lif e in order order d that that we we may may become become instruments instruments of grace g race – servants servants of the LLord. ord. W When hen w we e do d so so,, w we e say say “yes” “yes” to to God. God d.

Perhaps are P erhaps the most most chilling edge to to this sc sscene ene ar e the words: words:

““Then Then the th he a angel ngel depa departed rted fro from om her her.” r.”

SSearching earching hi ffor or and d living li i out one’s one’s calling calling lli can be b a very very lone llonely ely l e experience. xperienc i e. Despite Despit i e our belief b li f in i G od’s pr esence and cconstant onstant rreassurances eassuranc a es fr om scr ipture and d our fr iends, family and d ccommunity, ommunity, God’s presence from scripture friends, w e can still be e struck b e of aloneness et the message m of this m ystery as a whole is we byy a deep sense aloneness.. Y Yet mystery one of hope hope.. The The one whom G God od sen sends nds tto o rreconcile econcile the world worrld to to himself will make a home in his favoured fa voured one one.. Remember Remember tha thatt yyou ou ar aare e his fa favoured voured one an and nd Chr Christ ist has made his home in yyou. ou.

Questions Q uestions fo for orr rreflection eflection on this m mystery: ysttery: Do accept thatt G God loves me?

• D o I ac ccept tha od lo ves me e?

• W hat iss m ocation, m ial plac e in G od's plan?

What myy vvocation, myy spec special place God's • Ha ve th hings happened rrecently ecently t tha i m ocation?

Have things thatt challenged me in myy vvocation?

• Ha ve th here been an xperien nces cconfirming onfirming m om G od rrecently? ecently?

Have there anyy e experiences myy call fr from God • Ho w ha ave I hear dG od's call tto o me?

How have heard God's

Domenico Z Domenico Zanrè anrèè is is a Diocese off sseminarian eminarian for for tthe he D iocese o A berdeen. He He is is currently currently iin Aberdeen. nh his is ffifth ifth year year of of p riestly formation formation priestly a the SScots cots College College iin n Rome.

Rome. att the H is jjourney ourney tto o the the p riestho o d His priesthood h as b een a rather rather ccircuitous irccuitous has been o ne, a nd h has taken taken tthis his one, and hee has o ppor tunity tto o ttell ell us us about about iit. t. opportunity ‘Hoow w long had yyou ou been thinking about the priesthood?’ question one This was a quest tion that was put to me on ne day bbyy an elderly parishioner. parishion ner. My My answ answer er to her was an n easy one – but ‘‘All All my life!’ – bu ut as I began to reflect reflect on thee question, I rrealised ealised its deepe deeper er significance. I hadn’t hadn’’t exaggerated exaggerated in my partt of me rreply; eply; the idea off becoming a priest has been a par for as long as I ca can an remember. remember. IIn n fact, I can st still ill see myself boyy in the mid-1970s, ser serving as an altar bo ving Mass Mass for Fr Fr Alistair D Doyle, oyle, in n my home to town wn of P Peterhead. eterhead. eterhead d. As I sat on sanctuaryy in St Mary’s church, watched Frr D Doyle the sanctuar St M ary’s chur ch, and watch hed F oyle celebrate M Mass, ass,, vvarious arious thoughts g frequently frequently q y came to myy ‘Should mind: ‘Could I do d that too?, and ‘S hould I be b doing that some day?’ As I gr ggrew ew up up,, and mo moved ved away fr from om P Peterhead eterhead boarding to attend Glenalmond Glenaalmond College, a boar din ng school in P Perthshire, erthshire, and thence t to univ university ersity – first in Glasgow, Glasgow, Bristol then in Hull, Hull, and d finally in B ristol – those thoughts thooughts never never

Vocations Story went Att times I w welcomed rreally eally w ent away. aw wayy. A elcomed them, theem, and I found serving the idea of me m celebrating the sacraments sacraments and ser ving God and exciting God and His Hiss people to be a consoling an nd even even ex citing one; at otherr times, however, however, the idea off the priesthood seemed to bee a downright downright nuisance, and I tried to put it out of my mind, mind, particularly particularly during the times tiimes when I had a girlfriend! i lf i d!

Looking back b on my life, ho however, weever, I can see clearly that the inne inner er yearnings yearnings were were always present, present, e in varying varying degrees. degrees. Even Even n when I was conducting aarchival rchival rresearch esearch in Florence Florence for f my doctoral studies, th the he notion of the priesthood was w still vvery ery much a par partt of me. IItt was around around this time, t when I was in my lat late te tw twenties, enties, that I came to rrealise e ealise the fundamental imp importance portance of the Eucharist E ucharist in my life. I began to attend M Mass ass on a daily basis whenev whenever ver possible. This was not out o of any sense of obligation n; on the contrar y, I camee to see it as a obligation; contrary, privileged op pportunity to hav onal encounter opportunity havee a personal with JJesus esus Christ, C truly truly pr present esent in fr front on nt of me on the altar,, in the form of br altar bread ead and wine. The mor moree time

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I spent with Him in front of the Blessed Sacrament, the more I wanted to know Him, and to deepen my relationship with Him. I realised that I needed to speak to someone about my feelings. I had a talk with a good friend, Fr Ray Coyle, who was parish priest in Peterhead at the time.

Fr Ray gave me some sound advice: ‘Go out and get the job you’ve always wanted. Then, if you still feel drawn to the priesthood, pray about it, and come and see me’.

I did just that. For six years, I worked as a Lecturer in Italian Renaissance Studies at the University of Glasgow.

I thoroughly enjoyed my academic job (teaching students, delivering conference papers throughout Europe and the United States, and writing books and articles); it was something that gave me a great deal of personal pleasure and satisfaction. However, despite all my external achievements, I couldn’t help experiencing a certain sense of emptiness in my heart, together with a desire for something more in my life. Quite simply, through prayer and discernment, I realised that I was being called to journey along another road. This sense of calling was the voice of God, a voice that for such a long time had been inviting me gently, patiently, but persistently, to follow Him in a life of self-giving, friendship and, above all, total love.

My desire to listen to the ‘still small voice of calm’ within me was nourished in large part by my increasingly active involvement in Glasgow University’s Catholic Chaplaincy. During my time as an academic member of sta, I served in the Chaplaincy as both a Reader and an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, and I became involved with students in several productions of the plays of Pope John Paul II, such as ‘The Jeweller’s Shop’ and ‘Radiation of Fatherhood’. This latter production was so well received that our drama group was invited to perform the play at Schoenstatt in Germany, as well as at Cologne during World Youth Day 2005. Another highlight was a pilgrimage that I organised to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain with some 26 students and parishioners. The more I did in the Chaplaincy, the more I wanted to do, and despite the fact that all of the work was voluntary, it fulďŹ lled me more than my day job; in fact, it began to take over from it in terms of importance.

A contributing factor in my decision to apply for the priesthood was the inspiration and example of Pope John Paul II. The life and works of Karol WojtyĹ‚a – as poet, playwright, actor, philosopher, theologian, and ďŹ nally pope – exerted (and continue to exert) a huge inuence on my own spiritual thought and development. I remember a number of years ago, when I was struggling with the question of a possible priestly vocation; I would often pray in desperation

for some kind of ‘divine illumination’ to help me see God’s will more clearly. The ‘sign’ came in December 2003, when I served as part of the Scottish delegation at a European Bishops’ Conference in Rome, and I was invited to deliver a paper at the PontiďŹ cal Lateran University entitled ‘The University and the Church’.

The culmination of the conference was a Mass in St Peter’s, during which I was singled out from the other delegates and presented to Pope John Paul II. This extraordinary occasion was a powerful and spirituallyaďŹƒrming moment for me, and I took it as a ďŹ nal, conclusive sign from the Holy Spirit.

Once I accepted God’s will for me, the seemingly great weight that I carried on my shoulders completely vanished, to be replaced by a wonderful sense of peace and joy. I still feel exactly the same way, in my ďŹ fth year of formation. I can honestly say that I have never once regretted the decision I made. Yes, my life has utterly changed. Yes, there are, and will continue to be, many challenges ahead of me – as in every walk of life. Ultimately, though, I know that the Good Lord will give me the necessary strength and the grace to face whatever befalls me. I have never been happier or more fulďŹ lled.

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educationandformation education andformation mation

Light L ight ht

Page P age 19

W h a t yyou What ou a always l wa y s w wanted anted tto o kknow now a about b o u t yyour o u r ffaith aith but b ut w were ere a afraid f r a i d tto oa ask! sk!

Part 1

told, is is ‘very ‘veryy aangry’ ngryy’ bbut ut the the Lord Lord bbids ids h im sstrive trivve ttoo m aster told, him master the inclination inclination to to sin. sin. The The American Americaan writer writer John John Steinbeck Steinbeck the becaame fascinated fascinated with with this this passage passage aand nd w ove a llengthy engthy became wove novel – E ast ooff E den – around aroound tthe he co onceept ooff h uman ffree ree novel East Eden concept human will: that that we we h ave a cchoice hoice between between doing doing good good or or evil, evil, of of will: have mastering tthe he ttendency endency ttoo ssin in oorr ggiving ivving iin n ttoo iit. t. Th ovel mastering Thee n novel is p eopled with with characters characterss who who are aree faced faced with with these these cchoices hoices is peopled and it it is is only only at at the th he end end of of the the story storyy than than finally finally one one person person and takes responsibility reesponsibility for for his his actions acttions which which have have led led ttoo the the takes death of of his his twin twin brother. broother. death ““If If yyou ou d ell, wi ill yyou ou n ot bbee aaccepted? ccepted? A nd iiff yyou ou doo w well, will not And do not not do do well, well, sin sin is is crouching croouching at at the the door; door; its its desire desiree iiss ffor or do you, but but you you must must master master it” it” (Gen (Gen 4: 4: 7).

7). you,

Eileen E ileen Grant Grant

W

hat came to be called ‘Salvation h ‘Salvattion histor history’ y’ is is gradually outlined thr throughout o oughout the Old Testament from O ld T estament fr om the moment m our first par fi parents ents sadly depar departt fr from om the ‘G ‘Garden’ arden’ in which which they had been placed bbyy G God. od. The human writers of o the O Old ld T Testament estament storiess sometimes describe G God od ass being angr angryy with H His is peo people, ople, but at other times theyy str stress ess H His is unconditional lo love. ve. These writers had to rrely e on their human kno ely knowledge, wled dge, human cir circumstances cumstances and a human emotions and accor accordingly dingly described G od. B ut it is G od’s lo ve that always a God. But God’s love wins thr through ough in the eend. ““For For C hrist h as rransomed ansomed u ith his his blood, blood, Christ has uss w with aand nd p paid aid ffor or u uss tthe he p price ricee of of Adam’s Adam’s sin sin ttoo oour ur eeternal ternal F Father” ather” ((The The E Exultet). xultet).

W When hen oour ur fi first rst p rs parents arents tturned urned aaway way from fro rom G God, od, tthis his h had ad aan n eeffect ffect oon n eeverything verytth hing around around them them and and on on all all future future bbeings: eings: tthe he w hole ooff C reeation ffell ell w ith tthem. hem. At At first firsst human human whole Creation with bbeings eings aare re re ssaid aid ttoo h have ave llived ivved ttoo a ggreat reat oold ld aage; ge; tthe he ffurther urther aand nd llonger onger tthey hey aare re aaway way ffrom rroom th he G arden, the the sshorter hortter the Garden, h human uman llife-spans ife-spans bbecome ecome u until, ntil, aass tthe he P Psalmist salmist ssays: ays: ““Our Our sspan pan iiss sseventy eventy yyears/Or earrss/Or eeighty ightyy ffor or tthose hose w ho aare re sstrong.” trong.” who A And nd ssin in ggrows roows aand nd sspreads. preeads.

A dam aand nd E ve h ave cchildren, hildreen, iincluding nclluding tthe he ttwo wo bbest est Adam Eve have kknown, nown n, C ain aand nd A bel. Cain Cain is is a farmer farmer and and Abel Abel a Cain Abel. sshepherd hepherd d (l latteer sseen een bbyy tthe he C hurch Fathers Fatherss as as a ‘‘type’ type’ of of (later Church C hrist. Th ey bboth oth ooffer ffer ttoo G od th he fi rst fruits fruits ooff ttheir heir Christ.

They God the first llabour abour aand nd A bel fi nds ffavour avour w ith tthe he L ord. C ain, w re Abel finds with Lord.

Cain, wee aare

C ain iignores gnores God’s God’s counsel counsel and, and, in in a jealous jealous rage, rage, he he Cain murderss h is bbrother roother – tthe he fi rsst re ecord ded m urder iin nh istory. murders his first recorded murder history.

Already, then, then, we we see see h ow sin sin spreads spreeads and and how how it it d amages Already, how damages reelationship even even further. furtther.. God God does does not not destroy destroy Cain Cain for for relationship his crime crime but but sends sends him him away, away, to to a land land ‘east ‘east of of Eden’, Eden’, to to be be his erp petual w anderer. SSix ixx ggenerations eneraations llater, ater, w earn, tthree hree ap perpetual wanderer. wee llearn, brotherss aamongst mongst h is d escendants – JJabal abal tthe he n omadic brothers his descendants nomadic shepherd, Jubal Jubal the the forefather foreefather of of itinerant itinerant musicians musicians aand nd shepherd, Tubal Cain, Cain, the the fi th rsst bblacksmith lacksmith (o oncee aan n iitinerant tineraant ttrade) raade) Tubal first (once coontinue to to live livve out out Cain’s Cain’s restless restless destiny. destiny.

– continue A fter tthis his eepisode pisode evil evil gradually graadually spreads spreeads throughout throoughout After the w orlld and and eventually eventually God, God, we we are are told, toold, decides decides to to start start the world again ((Gen Gen 6-9).

6-9). He He does does not, not, however, however,, destroy destrooy all all that that He He again has made. made. H hooses Noah, Noah, a ‘righteous’ ‘righteous’ man man (600 (600 years yearss has Hee ch chooses old at at the the time!) time!) who who is is given given very veryy detailed detailed instructions instructions ffor or old building an an ‘ark’, ‘ark’, a huge huge vessel vessel which which h will will keep keep Noah, Noah, his his building wife, his his three three sons, sons, Ham, Ham, Shem Shem and and Japheth, Japheth, and and th heir wife, their wivves, safe safe ffrom rroom tthe he ggreat reat fl ood tthat hat w ill bbee ssent ent u pon tthe he wives, flood will upon earth. N oah iiss ttold old aalso lso ttoo ggather ather re epreesentativ ives ooff eevery veryy earth.

Noah representatives species of of creature creaturee aand nd every everyy ki ind ooff foodstuff foodstuff aand nd ttake ake species kind these also also into into the th he ark. ark. “And “And Noah Noah did did all all that that the the Lord Lord had had these commanded him.” him.” Eventually Eventually the the waters waterss begin begin to to recede reecede commanded and Noah Noah sends sends out out first first a raven raaven which which h finds finds no no tree treee oon n and which to to alight, alight, then then a dove dove which which h returns returns with with an an olive olivve which braanch iin n its its beak: beak: thus thus a dove dove bearing bearing an an olive olivve branch braanch hh as branch has becoome a symbol symbol ooff ggood ood n ews aand, nd, bbyy eextension, xtension, ooff p eacee. become news peace.

Noah and and his his family family and and all all living livving creatures creaturees with wiith tthem hem aare re Noah at llast ast aable ble to to come come out out of of the the ark arkk and and live livve on on the the lland and at again. Many Many other oth her ancient ancient religions reeligions record reecoord d similar similar myths myths of of again. reat fl ood aass a cconsequence onsequencee of of human human wickedness. wickkedness. a ggreat flood N oah offers offers a sacrifice sacrifice of of thanksgiving thanksgivving to to the the Lord.

Lord d. G od Noah God blesses h im, then then establishes establishes a ‘covenant’ ‘coovenant’ with with Noah, Noah, his his blesses him,

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descendants aand descendants nd aallll lliving iving ccreatures, reaturees, with with a rainbow raainbow “as “as a never ssign ign ooff tthe he covenant covenant between between me me and and the the earth”, eartth”, that that n ever aagain gain wi ill ““all all fl esh bbee ccut ut ooff ff bbyy tthe he w aterss ooff a fl ood”. G od will flesh waters flood”.

God p romises tthat hat H ill ““remember reemember tthe he eeverlasting verllasting co ovenant promises Hee w will covenant bbetween etween God God and and every every lliving ivving creature creature of of all all fl esh tthat hat iiss flesh upon u pon tthe he eearth”. artth”. God’s God’s promise proomise to to Noah Noah eventually eventually ccomes omes ttoo p erfect ffulfilment ulfilment iin n Jesus Jesus Christ Christ who who has has promised proomised to to perfect with uss aalways rremain emain w ith u lways ((Mt Mt 228:20).

8:20). It It is is also also aatt tthis his ttime ime tthat hat G od gives givves h uman bbeings eings p ermission to to kill kill aanimals nimals ffor or God human permission not flesh with ffood, ood, aalthough lthough ““you you sshall hall n ot eeat at fl esh w ith iits ts llife, ife, tthat hat iis, s, iits ts bblood”. lood”.

Again God His A gain G od iinstructs nstructts H is cchildren hildreen too ““be be fruitful fruitful aand nd multiply fillll the m ultiply aand nd fi the earth”, earth”, aand nd ggradually raadually tthe he eearth arth bbecomes ecomes more populous.

Att tthis read, had m ore p opulous. A his ttime, ime, we we re ead, “the “the whole wh hole eearth arth h ad words” and oone ne llanguage anguage aand nd ffew ew w ord ds” an nd so so the the people people get get ttogether ogether plan aand nd p lan ttoo build build a ggreat reat ccity ity in in the the form form of of a tower tower reaching reeach hing way heaven, make aallll tthe he w ay ttoo h eaven, thus thus aattempting ttempting once once more more ttoo m ake God’. tthemselves hemselves ‘‘as as G od’. So So God God scatters scaatterss them them and and confuses coonfuses that noo llonger understand ttheir heir llanguage anguage ssoo th hat tthey hey ccan an n onger u nderstand oone ne complete aanother nother and and aare ree unable unable to to co omplete tthe he ttower. owe wer. ((Gen Gen 111) 1) This Hebrew Th is ttower ower then then becomes becomes known known n aass ‘Babel’, ‘Babel’, from from a H ebrew word meaning w ord m eaning ‘‘to to cconfuse’, onfuse’, and and has has become become immortalised immortalised Pieter bbyy tthe he aartist rtist P ieter Brueghel Brueghel who who painted painted it it as as a Babylonian Babylonian Thee word ‘‘ziggurat’, ziggurat’, a massive massiv ive pyramidal pyramidal temple. temple. Th word has has ccome ome iinto nto oour ur language language ttoo ssuggest uggest a meaningless meaningless babble babble of of voices voices which nothing oout ut ooff w hich n othing ccan an n bbee clearly clearlly distinguished. distinguished. This This Pentecost when Holy ‘‘confusion’ coonfusion’ is is reversed reverssed at at P entecost w hen tthe he H oly SSpirit pirit down upon ccomes omes d own u pon tthe he aapostles postles they they are aree suddenly suddenly aable ble ttoo different sspeak peak iin n aallll tthe he d ifferent llanguages anguages ooff vvisitors isitors ttoo JJerusalem erusalem

Pieter P ieter Brueghel’s Brueghel’’s Tower Tower of Babel Bab B el humanity more aand nd aallll ooff h umanity iiss ccalled alled ttoo ccome ome together together oonce nce m oree Christ. aass oone ne ffamily amily iin nC hrist.

Many M any ggenerations enerations llater, ater, a descendant desceendant of of Noah’s Noah’s son son name Terah, dies Urr ooff tthe Chaldeans, SShem, hem, bbyy n ame T eraah, llives ives aand nd d ies iin nU he C haldeans, him named lleaving eaving bbehind ehind h im ttwo wo ssons, ons, one one of of whom whom iiss n amed Abram, with wife named A braam, w ith a w ife n amed Sarai…

Saraai…

Too bbee ccontinued T ontinued

Grant RCIA Mary’s CatheEEileen ileen G rant iiss R CIA Catechist Catechist at at SStt M ary’s C athe dral, d ral, Aberdeen Aberdeen

Why Wh W hy d did id G God make m ake W Wasps? asps?

Clare C lare B Benedict enedic t

W

h did G hy God od cr create eate wasps? This is not aan idle question. IItt is one th hat has been that ponder p pondered ed oover ver bbyy gr great eat and li little ittle thinkers aalike; and not only of wasp ps. The poet wasps.

Dylan Thomas, in his delightful short short stor story, ry, A Child Child’s’s ales, describes his Christmas Christm mas presents: presents: Christmas in W Wales, first the ‘USEFUL ‘USEF FUL PRESENT PRESENTS’ S’ ((i.e. no not ot the most boy), amongst which h ar acceptable to a small boy), aree “books that told me everything everything about the wasp wasp,, ex eexcept cept why why”. y”.

At the other end d of a lifespan, G raham G reene’s most At Graham Greene’s endearing character, characcter, Monsignor Monsignor Quixote, Quixote, puzzles p oover ver m y: “I hav er unde erstood ho w another divine myster mystery: havee nev never understood how

a mosquito could c hav eated for man m havee been cr created man’s’s use. use.”” Both he and the bi ishop with whom he is conv e ersing agr ee that bishop conversing agree such ar great e mysteries. Wher d our faith be if aree ““great Wheree would ther mysteries?” theree ar aree no m Why did G od cr eate wasps? IItt is indeed d a gr eat myster y; God create great mystery; but the sense of myster ays uppermost in mysteryy is sadly not alway always our minds when w w eatture, ‘‘with with black wee encounter this cr creature, and yyellow ellow tr ansverse stripes, vvery ery slenderr waist, liking for transverse fr uit and sw eets, and formidable sting OED), their oown wn fruit sweets, sting’’ (O (OED), secr et w eapon n which they can emplo ost efficiently y. IIn n secret weapon employy mo most efficiently. my oown wn case e, this question rreturned eturned to tease me when, case, on the final day d of our holiday y, I made th he acquaintance holiday, the

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of a member of the species Vespoidea lurking under my His blessing from such as wasps? The writer of Wisdom seatbelt. The animal lovers among you might protest tells us of our Creator: “For you love all things that exist, and detest none of that I could hardly blame the wasp for taking exception to the imminent danger of being squashed against my the things that you have made; for you would not have person and letting me know so in no uncertain terms by made anything if you had hated it. How would anything stinging me not once but thrice. To add insult to injury, have endured, if you had not willed it? Or how would as I ushered him gently out of the car, he took a parting anything not called forth by you have been preserved? shot at my hand before flying on his way – to find a fresh You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who victim no doubt. I then throbbed with pain all the way love the living” (Wis 11:24-26).

And in the chronicles of Genesis we read that God home.

So, I continue to ponder: Why did God make wasps, commanded Noah to take into the ark pairs of every of all creatures? Scripture is not altogether helpful on this species He had created: clean and unclean.

Wasps apparently have their good points (if you’ll conundrum. We are told by the writers of Genesis that all that God made was good and that all creatures in the pardon the pun): they help pollinate flowering plants; beginning lived in harmony with one another. Wolves they eat other insects, including cockroaches, and help presumably dwelt peacefully with lambs, leopards with keep a balance in nature. Unfortunately they also invade beehives and eat the bees, kids, and so on, as God which almost always receive promises through His a good press in scripture Prophet Isaiah they will (and elsewhere): again when Paradise is regained. One imagines “The bee is small that wasps and mosquitoes among flying creatures, buzzed merrily around but her product is the best Adam and Eve as they of sweet things” (Sir 11:3). delved and span in the Garden, without slipping Bees are also synonymous in the occasional sting.

“Don’t push your luck!” with hard work and thrift, On the other hand, the being so busy in their Book of Wisdom tells us of “the most hateful animals” worshipped by the enemies labours that they tend not to take time out very often to of God’s people that “they have escaped both the praise sting. Stinging is not such a good idea for a bee anyway of God and his blessing”. Usually taken to refer to snakes as it can sting once only, followed by painful mutilation (because of the unpleasant serpent in Eden), this could and death; whereas a wasp can sting again and again and again… perhaps be extended to insects. Perhaps…

Wasps build intricately constructed nests, things of The Book of Leviticus contains a fascinating list of beauty indeed, made by countless wasp-hours of chewing creatures designated as legitimate food or otherwise: wood: surely this alone entitles them to their place in “All winged insects that go upon all fours are an Creation? The nests just are not too desirable when abomination to you. Yet among the winged insects that they’re in your shed or above your house door or in the go on all fours you may eat those which have legs above garden wall. Wasps simply don’t know any better and we their feet, with which to leap on the earth. Of them you should not ascribe human emotions and vices such as may eat: the locust, the cricket, and the grasshopper. malevolence to tiny creatures that are simply doing what But all other winged insects which have four feet are an tiny creatures do.

The sad fact is that when humanity fell from grace, so abomination to you” (Lev 11: 20-23). did all of the created world. The happy fact is the hope There is word also of things that ‘swarm’ as being we can have that when, God willing, we arrive in our ‘unclean’. The Old Testament writers tended not to be heavenly homeland after the resurrection of the flesh we expert zoologists, never mind entomologists, so such shall all live together once more in perfect harmony – even instructions may seem confusing to us. We can, however, with wasps! In the meantime, take heed of the Russian safely assume that wasps were on the forbidden list. In proverb: “Do not kill a single wasp; for then a hundred the Christian dispensation perhaps this is no longer a will come to its funeral.” prohibition; however, a plateful of toasted wasps does not really appeal. Is it likely that God might have withheld

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Fr Bernard O’Connor’s

Vatican Brief

The T he N Nature ature and and Role Role o off Religious R eligious E Education ducation

T

hee O h October ctober 112th 2th E European uropean eedition dition ooff T Time ime ccontains ontains ttwo wo iintriguing ntriguing qquotations. uotations. Th rst, bbyy Thee fi first, filmmaker, fi lmmaker, D Dominik ominik JJun, un, w was as iin n rresponse esponse ttoo a SSeptember eptember 28th 28th sspeech peech bbyy P ope B enedict X VI Pope Benedict XVI during Holy d uring his his vvisit isit ttoo the the Czech Czech Republic.

Republic. The The H oly Father Father u rged the the mainly mainly secular secular Czechs Czechs ttoo reassess reassess the the Christian Christian urged Gospel G ospel and and ttoo rreconfirm econfirm their their nation’s nation’s rrelationship elationship to to the the C hurch. A lthough C atholicism’s p resence aamong mong the the C zechs Church.

Although Catholicism’s presence Czechs d ates to to tthe he eearly arly Medieval Medieval eera, ra, tthe he C hurch’s iinfluence nfluence has has dates Church’s ssteadily teadily eeroded. roded. C enturies ago, ago, tthe he Protestant Protestant R eformation Centuries Reformation cchallenged hallenged tthe he Church’s Church’s aauthority uthority to to interpret interpret scripture scripture aand nd w orship. P olitical rulers rulers tthereafter hereafter m anipulated p opular worship.

Political manipulated popular rreligiosity eligiosity ffor or ttheir heir quite quite n on-religious aagendas. gendas. The The vvery ery non-religious ffact act of of W orld Wars Wars I aand nd IIII u ndermined tthe he n ecessity of of World undermined necessity rrecourse ecourse ttoo C hristian doctrine doctrine aand nd morality. morality. A nd d ecades Christian And decades ooff Communist Communist d ominance rreinforced einforced tthe he conviction conviction that that dominance humanistic was h umanistic aatheism theism w ass aass vvalid alid aand nd reliable reliable as as outmoded outmoded Catholic C atholic bbelief. elief. namely JJun’s un’s cconclusion onclusion is is hardly hardly ssurprising, urprising, n amely that that ““more more Czechs C zechs bbelieve elieve in in iinfomercials nfomercials on on television television tthan han tthey hey do do in in Minus rreligion.” eligion.” M inus adequate adequate iinstruction nstruction in in Church Church teaching teaching without proper parochial aand nd w ithout p roper ccatechesis atechesis on on tthe he p arochial llevel, evel, tthe he majority now m ajority ooff eeveryday veryday Czechs Czechs aare re n ow inclined inclined to to aallow llow tthe he media m edia ttoo bbecome ecome tthe he primary primary source source for for ttheir heir iinformation nformation aand nd inspiration. inspiration. As As eelsewhere lsewhere aacross cross the the gglobe, lobe, tthe he media media more with iiss m ore than than ccontent ontent ttoo fill fill the the vacuum vacuum aand nd bbehaves ehaves w ith ggreater reater ccertainty ertainty about about its its inherent inherent infallibility infallibility than than has has eever ver proclaimed bbeen een claimed claimed by

by Catholics Catholics ssince ince the the dogma dogma was was p roclaimed Pius Att lleast definite bbyy P ius IX IX iin n 11870.

870. A east the the dogma dogma admits admits d efinite rrestriction estriction aand nd llimitation, imitation, ssince ince not not everything everything the the Pope Pope says says oorr does does iiss infallible. infallible. By By contrast, contrast, cconsider onsider the the aabsolutism bsolutism of of

press, T.. V V.. cchannels, yyour our p ress, yyour our rradio ad dio sstations tations aand nd T hannels, especially especially when Church’s hierarchy w hen iin n oopposition pposition ttoo tthe he C hurch’s h ierarchy ((e.g. e.g. tthe he SStem tem Cell Assisted debates.)

C ell aand nd A ssisted SSuicide uicide d ebates.)

JJournalist ournalist Joel Joel Stein Stein offers offers oour ur ssecond econd quotation quotation ((p. p. 52).

52).

Thee ccontext how American may Th ontext rrelates elates ttoo h ow tthe he A merican public public m ay be be at at dictatorship.

Hee notes USS ttends tthe he tthreshold hreshold ooff d ictatorship. H notes that that the the U ends new paternalism, promptly iinitially nitially ttoo rresist esist n ew vvarieties arieties ooff p aternalism, bbut ut p romptly ggoes oes oon n ttoo uncritically uncritically aadopt dopt tthem. hem. This This ranges ranges ffrom rom mandatory ssmoking moking iin n bbars ars aand nd rrestaurants, estaurants, ttoo m andatory sseat eat bbelts elts motorcycle helmets, waiting periods marriage aand nd m otorcycle h elmets, ttoo w aiting p eriods ffor or m arriage Although hee iiss ttoo llicenses icenses aand nd ssoo fforth. orth. A lthough h oo ‘‘politically politically correct’ correct’ preferred ttoo ssay ay iit, t, tthe he p referred jjustification ustification ffor or aabortion bortion aass bbeing eing primarily upon woman’s health, placed bbased ased p rimarily u pon a w oman’s h ealth, ccould ould bbee p laced in in whoever dares tthe he ssame ame ccategory. ategory. Pity Pity w hoever d ares ttoo expose expose the the utter utter perception, Americans many ffallacy allaccy ooff tthat hat p erception, bbecause ecause A mericans ((and and ssoo m any want Otherwise, oothers) thers) w ant ttoo bbelieve elieve iit. t. O therwise, tthe he killing killing of of iinnocent nnocent human would have what h uman llife ife w ould h ave ttoo bbee rrecognized ecognized for for w hat iitt iis: s: tthe he human And many kkilling illing ooff iinnocent nnocent h uman llife. ife. A nd ssoo iin n tthis, his, llike ike m any norm myth oother ther aareas, reas, tthe he n orm bbecomes ecomes ‘‘ensure ensure tthe he m yth you you ccrave rave doesn’t have ttoo eembrace.’ mbrace.’ IItt d oesn’t h ave ttoo bbee ttrue. rue. It It ssimply imply needs needs to to bbee Modern worldwide cconvenient onvenient oorr sself-consoling. elf-consoling. M odern ssociety ociety w orldwide iiss degenerating rrapidly apidly d egenerating iinto nto a ‘‘culture culture of of delusion’. delusion’.

Allll tthe while, his personal history A he w hile, SStein tein iiss cconvinced onvinced tthat hat h is p ersonal h istory which would rreflects eflects aan n iideology deology w hich w ould ccause ause tthe he eestablishment stablishment doubt much, which ttoo ccringe. ringe. I d oubt tthis his vvery ery m uch, bbut ut iitt iiss a vview iew w hich uss ttoo tthe writes hee has bbrings rings u he ssecond econd qquote. uote. SStein tein w rites tthat hat h has “done “done many would have mee ccaned m any tthings hings tthat hat w ould h ave ggotten otten m aned iin n(…)a Catholic happened near C atholic sschool chool oorr aanyplace nyplace ssomeone omeone h appened ttoo bbee n ear a This not ccane.” ane.” Th is iiss n ot a ssubtlety. ubtletyy. SStein tein iintends ntends ttoo ssupport upport what what hee kknows h nows ttoo bbee entrenched entrenched iin n ccommon ommon consciousness, consciousness, aand nd notion Catholic tthat hat iiss tthe he n otion tthat hat C attholic eeducation ducation iiss synonymous synonymous with with punitive w ith ooppression ppression ooff ffree ree tthought hought aand nd w ith p unitive dissenters.

Thee ccollective rretaliation etaliation aagainst gainst yyouthful outhful d issenters. Th ollective iimage mage hee eendorses Church which h ndorses iiss ooff a C hurch w hich iiss ssinister, inister, rruthless uthless aand nd Perhaps, however, hee sshould minimal iirrational. rrational. P erhaps, h owever, h hould cconduct onduct m inimal public rresearch esearch iinto nto tthe he sseverity everity ooff yyesteryear’s esteryear’s p ublic education. education.

Government-sponsored G overnment-sponsored sschools chools eexhibited xhibited tthe he ssame ame llack ack ooff humanity prisons, mental h umanity sshown hown iin np risons, m ental iinstitutions, nstitutions, oorphanages rphanages debtor houses.

Thee C Church, now, aand nd d ebtor h ouses. Th hurch, tthen hen aass n ow, aadvocated dvocated a unfamiliar Charles ccompassion ompassion u nfamiliar tthroughout hroughout ggeneral eneral ssociety. ociety. C harles Dickens’ novels, did not Catholic D ickens’ n ovels, ffor or eexample, xample, d id n ot ttarget arget tthe he C atholic Church, did prevailing penal C hurch, bbut ut tthey hey d id rrebuke ebuke tthe he p revailing aattitude ttitude ttoo p enal numerous due iincarceration ncarceration aand nd ttoo n umerous aatrocities trocities ooccurring ccurring d ue ttoo Revolution. tthe he IIndustrial ndustrial R evolution.

While pen different points, W hile JJun un aand nd SStein tein p en ffrom rom d ifferent sstarting tarting p oints, eeach ach uss tthat Catholic diminished rreminds eminds u hat C atholic eeducation ducation ssuffers uffers ffrom rom d iminished hand aavailability vailability oon n tthe he oone ne h and aand nd a llack ack ooff credibility credibility oon n tthe he midst what mistrust oother. ther. IIn n tthe he m idst ooff w hat vverges erges oon n a ccrisis risis of of m istrust aand nd misunderstanding, Vatican’s Congregation Catholic m isunderstanding, tthe he V atican’s C ongregation ffor or C atholic Education E ducation iissued ssued a sspecial pecial lletter etter oon n SSeptember eptember 88th. th. IIts ts aaim im iiss purpose Catholic But principles ttoo cclarify larify tthe he p urpose ooff C atholic sschools. chools. B ut the the p rinciples proposed where p roposed aare re eequally qually aapplicable pplicable w here rreligious eligious iinstruction nstruction parish homeiiss ggiven iven eeither ither iin n aalternative lternative p arish ffacilities acilities oorr iin nh omeprograms.

These principles uss ttoo ccarefully ccentred entred p rograms. Th ese p rinciples iinvite nvite u arefully

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Light of the North

evaluate our responsibility to transmit the content of faith with clarity, accuracy and mature depth. They include: 1. When education “ignores or marginalizes the moral or religious dimension of the person,” there is “hindrance to full education.” Young people “have a right to be motivated to appraise moral values with a right conscience” and with a more profound “knowledge and love of God.” 2. “Education requires the contribution of many agents of education.” But “parents” remain the “primary and principal educators.” They cannot abdicate their obligation or deduce that it completely transfers to the school, the pastor, etc..

3. The entire Christian community should be committed to the mission of Catholic education by providing authentic witnesses, pedagogic and financial resources and volunteer assistance.

4. “Pupils” are meant to “gradually acquire a knowledge of the world, life and humanity that is enlightened by the Gospel.”

5. Where there are Catholic schools, there should also be an “active collaboration among parents, teachers and school authorities.”

6. Even in a pluralistic society with multiple religious traditions, religious freedom continues to mean that there are assurances that our youth will be guided and formed in the specifics of Catholic teaching. That teaching should demonstrate how there is “a vital harmony between faith and culture” and with attention to the importance of civic virtues.

7. The Catholic content of religious education must not be proposed as merely an option among the array of world religions. What is distinctively Catholic is to be preserved and safeguarded and bequeathed intact to succeeding generations.

8. Religious education is never to be reduced to a matter of the teacher or mentor’s opinion. The curriculum and the methodological approach should be closely monitored by each local bishop. It is his duty to verify that course syllabi properly conform to Church doctrine.

9. Religious education, contrary to Stein, may not “carry” an inappropriate “hint of coercion or of a kind of persuasion that would be dishonorable or unworthy.”

10. A crucial goal of Catholic education is to enable “the person” to “draw from the gifts of the past, to understand the present better, and to be able to plan wisely for the future.”

May God grant us the humility to reflect, and the courage to renew our will to evangelize. And may our Catholic education ever be a “powerful instrument of hope.”

Fr Bernard O’Connor is a priest of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia and an official with the Vatican’s Congregation for Eastern Churches.

Page 23

The Ogilvie Library 16 Huntly Street, Aberdeen For all your religious Education needs Library Opening Times The library is open from 11.30am to 2.30pm Monday to Friday or by prior arrangement A huge range of books covering a wide range of subjects from Children’s Catechesis and Adult Formation through to Popular Spirituality and the latest Papal Encyclical Any book can be posted on request for the cost of the postage fee.

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KINNOULL Reedemptorist Centre of Spirituality Advent Retreat 14 – December 2009-11-09 Fr. Gerry Mulligan C.Ss.R. A time of quiet and peace in the prayerful atmosphere of St. Mary’s is the ideal preparation for the Christmas festival.

Healing in the Spirit: A Spirituality of True Self-Esteem: The Year End Retreat 27 – 31 December 2009 Fr. Jim McManus C.Ss.R. and Miss Marie Hogg.

Enjoy the beauty of Kinnoull Hill at Christmas time and relax in the tranquillity and healing environment of St. Mary’s monastery.

Personal Counselling – Inner Healing – Spiritual Direction: An Integrated Model of Ministry 31 January – 12 February 2010 Fr Jim McManus C.Ss.R. and Sr. Germaine O’Neill This is an integrated model of pastoral ministry focusing on the relationship between counselling, inner healing and spiritual direction.

St Mary’s Retreat 1/4 Icon Painting Retreat 25 – 28 January 2010 Helen Mclldowie-Jenkins MA Icongrapher and Icon Specialist.

Paint your own icon during these prayerful days of retreat.

Leading in a time of Transition An integrated Leadership Course 25 – 29 January 2010 Dr. Jim Urquhart MA, MBA PH.D A powerful week for those who find themselves in leadership roles in their communities - parish or religious, school or business.

Details: The Secretary, St. Mary’s, Kinnoull, Perth PH2 7BP Tel: 01738 624075 E-mail: copiosa@aol.com Web Page: www.kinnoullmonastery.org

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Light of the North

Listening with ‘the ear of the heart’ Brother Francis Edwards is a Benedictine monk from Worth Abbey, and one of Scotland’s first dedicated Nurse Consultants in Children’s Palliative care with responsibility for the North of Scotland. In recognition of his “incredible efforts to alleviate pain and to establish innovative programs to relieve suffering in children” he was recently awarded the Robert A. Milch Award for Palliative Pain and Symptom Management at the prestigious Children’s Hospice International (CHI) congress in South Africa.

I

t is a very exciting time in Scotland for palliative care services and more so for the children’s services and it is good to be part of this national journey.

My work has a remit to develop and support a national vision and pathway for CPC (Children’s Palliative Care). My aim is to raise awareness and to ensure that CPC needs are embedded in the development of national strategies, policies and service developments and so we work locally, regionally and nationally. I am working in close collaboration with all the key agencies and disciplines to develop coordinated and timely services for families.

In Scotland we now have a national ‘action plan’ called ‘Living & Dying Well’ which is being le by a very impressive doctor called Dr Elizabeth Ireland.

The hope is that palliative care services in Scotland will be taken forward and offered to all people living in Scotland that need them. We need to get this right and if we do we can offer folk hope, even in the face of death.

Children’s services are a very important part of this work and I play a small part in trying to get it right for families living in the North of Scotland. I am one of four nurse consultants in Children and Young People’s Palliative Care (CPC). These are national roles and we cover the whole of Scotland. I cover Grampian, Highland, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

When I am not travelling, I worship at St Mary’s Cathedral. My prayer life is very important to me. It gives me the space to reflect on the work and to stay in touch with what is important and at the heart of what I do. It teaches me the key skill that I need in my daily work and that is how to listen, to listen with what St Benedict calls ‘the ear of the heart’. Surely, this is what prayer is all about. Listening to the Father and doing his will.

When it comes to the care of a child who is going to die or a family who are about to lose their child we are inevitably faced with the mystery of suffering. In the work that I do I am challenged to make some kind of sense of this, not only for the people I work with, but also for myself. I have come to see that suffering is not a

question that demands an answer; is not a problem that demands a solution; rather a mystery that demands a presence. To be able to be present we need to learn to be able to just sit, to watch, to wait and to wonder. I believe we learn this in our prayer.

But what exactly is children’s palliative care? Well, palliative care for young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions is an active and total approach to care, embracing physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements of a child’s care. It focuses on enhancement of quality of life for the young person and support for family and friends and includes the management of distressing symptoms, the provision of respite and care through death and bereavement. It is provided for children for whom curative treatment is no longer an option and may extend over many years.

The aim of all the work I do is to leave families with what can only be described as a ‘good enough’ memory of the life, dying, death and after care of their child or in some cases children. This aim is very important for me and drives all the work I do. Working with families whose child or children are going to die is a very privileged position to be in. We can aid them in their journey or we can block them for years in their bereavement by the quality of the service they receive.

My job is primarily is to make sure these services are well-coordinated and we have well-informed families that have real choices such as: the choice of place of care; the choice of social opportunities; the choice of place of death and the choice of emotional, psychological, spiritual and bereavement support.

Every child or young person in Scotland with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, regardless of their age, religion, and race or where they live, should have access to the sustainable, holistic, family-centred and high quality palliative care and support that they need, when they need it.

Please keep this work in your prayers and pray especially for the families who sadly need these services.

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Orkney Journal That this theme of snow-blizzards was chosen points to the fact that such storms are un-usual in Orkney. There is plenty of wind and rain, but very little frost; and this is Most people think that the farther north one travels the the explanation of the wealth of little gardens in Kirkwall, fewer the flowers to be seen. However, Fr Walls discovers where flowers grow, wherever there is shelter from the that, with the absence of frost and the long growing wind. Because of the absence of frost there is a long growing season, Kirkwall gardeners are not short of blooms. season, although it begins a bit later than it does farther o sooner were we back, in August 2007, south. If one explores the little wynds between blocks of worshipping in our own church after its houses, one is surprised to see very well kept gardens where restoration following the flood damage, than the most delicate flowers flourish. At one end of a wynd the interior was decorated luxuriantly and separating the Cathedral from the St Magnus Centre, there tastefully every Sunday with flowers. This quite professioal is little garden, thoroughly protected from wind, where flower arrangement has continued, Sunday by Sunday, the gardener has planned that every month there is a new without fail, and is a feature contributing greatly to the display of form and colour. Early on in the year one sees beauty of our little church – and to the credit of those who there an exquisite picture formed by early mini-tulips, and month by month a fresh picture is designed. maintain this service in praise of God. Most striking of all in the Kirkwall gardens are the It is not just within our congregation that this fondness for flowers is evident. Every year at the beginning of August many species of tall flowering shrubs. Several of these I there is a Flower Festival in St Magnus Cathedral. This have not seen elsewhere. Such shrubs do not need so much event is organized by The Kirkwall Flower Arrangement protection from the wind and their blossoming season Club. The program for this year’s festival contains this lasts well into autumn. The Presbytery garden boasts a number of Fuchsia bushes. introduction . ‘The Kirkwall Some are still quite small Flower Arrangement Club but there are two that are held its inaugural meeting enormous, for they are on 16 April 1959. For the never pruned. They must last 35 of the past 50 years, be at least 20 feet broad the Club has created a and 12 feet high, and come floral display in St Magnus into flower in June. At the Cathedral in aid of the height of their blossoming Restoration Fund. In this they are a mass of blood50th Anniversary year, the red drops and attract the Club looks back over the gaze of passers-by. I have decades, highlighting some twice found a German memorable aspects of each.’

St Magnus Cathedral ablaze with a display of flowers couple gazing over the wall For a week the Cathedral is ablaze with a display of flowers; the cost to the at these. For them the Fuchsia has to be taken indoors for contributors must run into thousands of pounds. But the winter. I explained to them that although we are far it is not the extravgant beauty of the blossoms that is so north, being encircled by the sea, we are protected from wonderful. There is always a theme. Each association or frost. There is only one snag – a burst of wind can shake off individual who contributes makes the flowers tell a story. the blossoms. But if there is no severe wind the blossoms This year what impressed me most was the feature that can last until November.

It is not true therefore that the farther north one travels called to mind the snow-blizzards of January/February 1955. The skill with which this artist had used white the fewer the flowers to be seen. One has to look in different flowers and blossoms was extraordinary. One felt that the places for the flowers one sees farther south, but they are Cathedal was filling up with snow. What became apparent there, and there are others, especially the blossoms on large also was that the colour we call ‘white’ has a multitude of flowering shrubs. Not only are there plenty of flowers, but the people have a tremendous appetite for them, as the shades, none of them dull. constant excellent flower decoration of our church shows.

N

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Light of the North

Pilgrims' Progress

aim of avoiding main roads as much as possible, Chris devised our route via Methlick, Aberchirder, Tynet, Pluscarden, Nairn, Munlochy and Cromarty. [This route included stretches of former railway line, farm tracks, an old drove road, cycle ways and minor roads]. Chris also devised pilgrim passports which we had stamped or signed at each stage to record our journey. These sometimes prompted interesting conversations about the purpose of our journey. Our walk took 7 ½ days, averaging 22 miles a day. We were lucky with the weather, enjoying glorious sunshine during the first 5 days and the countryside was seen at its best advantage.

Our third day of walking, from Aberchirder to Tynet, was particularly full of Catholic interest. In the morning we made a small detour to visit the Old Parish Church at Deskford near Cullen. This ruined medieval church houses a richly carved sacrament house in a beautiful

Following on from Bob King’s article in the last Light of the North magazine on places of Catholic pilgrimage in the north-east, we have an account of a pilgrimage on foot made by two Aberdeen parishioners, Chris Dyos and Fiona Mitchell, from Aberdeen to Tain.

I

n June this year we set off to retrace the steps of medieval pilgrims to the shrine of Saint Duthac in Tain. In the Middle Ages Tain was one of the main pilgrim destinations in Scotland. King James IV is said to have visited Saint Duthac’s shrine at least 18 times.

The saint is thought to have been a native of Tain who returned there as a Bishop after time spent in Ireland. He probably lived between the eighth and tenth centuries.

His main relics were venerated in the collegiate church in Tain completed in 1459. Following the Reformation, the relics, [including a silver head shrine, cup, bell and pastoral staff] disappeared and the church became a parish church.

Having made pilgrimages to Compostela and to Rome we wanted to make a Scottish pilgrimage and Tain seemed an obvious destination for Aberdeen-based pilgrims. We did not have an established route to follow but knew that one of the main routes followed the east coast passing through Aberdeen, Elgin and Inverness and crossing the Black Isle and the Cromarty Firth by the King’s Ferry to Nigg. Based on this outline and with the

Sacrament house at the Old Parish Church at Deskford near Cullen state of preservation. It was a peaceful spot and we took the opportunity to have a seat and some refreshment – we have often found shelter in churchyards when on pilgrimage. Our route then skirted Buckie and led us directly past St Gregory’s Church at Preshome where we were able to borrow the key and visit the church. In the evening, we walked from our hotel at the Bridge of Tynet to visit Saint Ninian’s Cemetery. Situated near Saint Ninian’s Church, Tynet, this small Catholic cemetery now lies in the middle of a field of sheep and cows.

Bishop Nicolson, the first Vicar Apostolic of Scotland and many priests of the Diocese are buried here. It was a clear evening after a hot day, a half moon was shining, the sheep were bleating and the grass was wet with dew – it seemed to us a very peaceful place to be buried.

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The next day, our destination was Pluscarden Abbey where we had arranged to stay with the Benedictine monks. A friend had told us how to find the old pilgrim route which hugs the forest and enters the Abbey precincts

The Collegiate Church of St Duthac, Tain the interior of the church is now stripped of most of its Catholic furnishings, there is a fine modern icon of the saint on display. We also visited the excellent visitor centre St Ninians Cemetery at Tynet by the original North Gate. Although we had visited which tells the story of the pilgrimage in paintings and Pluscarden many times before it felt special to be arriving in sound and the ruins of two smaller chapels associated on foot like pilgrims of old. We left the next morning with the saint’s cult. after Mass having also attended Vespers and Compline.

From there, via Nairn and Inverness, we arrived on the Black Isle where we visited the slightly eerie “clootie well” adorned with fluttering rags and also the ruined Fortrose Cathedral. Both have links to a seventh century missionary, Saint Boniface or Curitan, who worked in the area. The dedication of the Cathedral, Saints Peter and Boniface, is also shared by the present-day Catholic church which is situated nearby.

The oldest known statue of St Duthac and, above, a fine modern icon of the saint The next day being Sunday we attended Mass at the parish church of Saint Vincent de Paul. In this modern, beautifully cared-for church we received a warm welcome and were delighted to renew old acquaintances including Father Richard Reese and friends met on pilgrimage to Lourdes. A couple of people told us how pleased they Pictish stone cross slab at Nigg Old Parish Church were that someone was taking notice of their local saint On our last day of walking, having crossed by the – it was a fitting end to our pilgrimage. small ferry from Cromarty to Nigg, we visited Nigg Old Parish Church which houses a Pictish stone cross slab If anyone is interested in Chris and Fiona’s route they can described as one of Scotland’s greatest art treasures. The be contacted via the editor and are happy to provide intricate carving of the stone is reminiscent of the Book more details. Tain Museum has an excellent website at of Kells. We were glad to arrive at Tain at noon and www.tainmuseum.org.uk which provides more inforheaded immediately to the collegiate church. Although mation about Saint Duthac and the Pilgrimage Centre.

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Light L ight

Musical Memories of the North-East Shelagh S helagh Noden Noden

C

hristmas carol hristmas carol concerts concerts seem seem ttoo sstart tart eearlier arlier eeach ach yyear. ear. By By tthe he ttime ime you you read read this this you you m ay may p ossibly h ave aattended ttended aatt lleast east oone, ne, aand nd the the possibly have ssupermarkets upermarkets m ay w ell be be regaling regaling eeveryone veryone may well w ith (usually (usually ssecular) ecular) C hristmass music. music. with Christmas O ne ooff tthe he bbest est kknown nown carols carols is is “O “O Come Come All All Ye Ye One F aithful” w hich can can bbee aalmost lmost guaranteed guaranteed to to turn turn up up Faithful” which iin n every every p arish at at some some point point over over the the festive festive period. period. It It parish w as jjust ust aass p opular w ith our our aancestors ncestors it it seems, seems, for for Rev Rev was popular with G eorge G ordon iincluded ncluded an an arrangement arrangement in in his his Dufftown Dufftown George Gordon ccollection ollection of of church church music, music, ccompiled ompiled in in 1829.

1829. His His version version u ses tthe he L atin ttext, ext, A deste F ideles for for soloist soloist and and a four four uses Latin Adeste Fideles

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p art cchoir, hoir, w ho repeat repeat the the last last two two lines lines of of each each vverse, erse, ie ie iin n part who tthe he fi rst vverse erse they they start start at at Natum Natum videte. videte. first A n earlier earlier version version in in two two parts parts was was printed printed by

by SSamuel amuel An W ebbe (composer (composer of of the the well-loved well-loved setting setting ooff ““Regina Regina Webbe C oeli” aamongst mongst m any oother ther ssacred accred w orks) in in his his E ssay oon n Coeli” many works) Essay tthe he C hurch Plain Plain Chant Chant of of 1782.

1782. L ater Webbe Webbe arranged arranged the the Church Later m elody iin n four four parts, parts, very very much much as as we we know know it it ttoday, oday, iin n his his melody ccollection ollection “Motets “Motets aand nd A ntiphons” ooff 11792.

792. H owever, iitt Antiphons” However, w as already already well well known known north north ooff tthe he bborder order by by that that d ate, aass was date, R ev J F S Gordon Gordon points points out out in in his his history history of of the the Catholic Catholic Rev C hurch iin n SScotland, cotland, written written in in 1869.

1869.

Church T Mr M enzies and and h is H ighland ccongregation ongregation in in Too Mr Menzies his Highland SStt A ndrew’s chapel chapel [[Edinburgh] Edinburgh] the the introduction introduction of of the the Andrew’s p opular air, air,, A deste F ideles, aatt Christmas Christmas into into SScotland, cotland, is is popular Adeste Fideles, ssaid aid ttoo bbee due due [around [around 1789].

1789]. It It speedily speedily became became a ffurore urore iin n tthe he ttown; own; aapprentice pprentice lads lads w histled iitt iin n eevery very sstreet; treet; whistled tthe he very very B lackbirds iin n the the ssquares quares jjoined oined in in tthe he chorus, chorus, Blackbirds iitt was was said. said. Curiously Curiously enough, enough, tthis his Catholic Catholic aair ir iiss n ow ttoo now bbee found found iin n nearly nearly eevery very collection collection of of P resbyterian cchurch hurch Presbyterian m usic under under the the name name of of The The P ortuguese Hymn.

Hymn. music Portuguese Th Portuguese ttitle itle h as lled ed ttoo some some confusion, confusion, with with Thee Portuguese has aattempts ttempts bbeing eing m ade ttoo attribute attribute the the melody melody ooff tthis his ccarol arol made ttoo King King JJohn ohn IV IV ooff P ortugal, the the composer composer ooff m uch cchurch hurch Portugal, much m usic iincluding ncluding a w ell-known, if if strange, strange, motet motet called called music well-known, C rux F idelis. This This iiss p robably bbecause ecause a 1795 1795 performance performance Crux Fidelis. probably ooff tthe he h ymn was was h eard bbyy tthe he D uke ooff Leeds Leeds at at tthe he cchapel hapel hymn heard Duke ooff the the P ortuguese eembassy mbassy iin n London, London, oone ne ooff the the ffew ew Portuguese sstrongholds trongholds ooff Catholic Catholic cculture ulture in in tthe he country country aatt tthat hat ttime. ime.

Th uke was was so so impressed impressed tthat hat h ommissioned a ffuller uller Thee D Duke hee ccommissioned aarrangement rrangement bbyy Th omas Greatorex, Greatorex, which which w as performed performed Thomas was aatt a C oncert of of Ancient Ancient Music Music on on May May 10, 10, 1797.

1797. According According Concert ttoo V incent N ovello, the the Catholic Catholic music music p ublisher, w ho Vincent Novello, publisher, who aalso lso was was organist organist aatt tthe he Portuguese Portuguese Embassy, Embassy, tthe he hymn hymn w as iidentified dentified as as The The Portuguese Portuguese Hymn Hymn bbecause ecause tthe he Duke Duke was eerroneously rroneously assumed assumed that that P ortugal was was iits ts source. source. IItt iiss n ow Portugal now tthought hought tthat hat the the words words and and music music w ere w ritten bbyy JJohn ohn were written F rancis Wade Wade who who taught taught “Latin “Latin aand nd Church Church SSong” ong” at at Francis tthe he English English College College iin n Douai Douai in in tthe he 1740s.

1740s. During During tthe he eeighteenth ighteenth century, century, Adeste Adeste F ideles became became popular popular in in Fideles G ermany and and France France w here it it was was u sed aass a Christmas Christmas E ve Germany where used Eve p rocessional. processional.

H ere in in tthe he North North East East tthey hey were were ssinging inging iitt aatt Here A quhorties ttoo. oo. This This w as the the seminary seminary near near IInverurie, nverurie, Aquhorties was

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other meaning. Far fetched? Make up your which succeeded Scalan and lasted until own mind on this.

1829 when its students transferred to the The English translation we now use newly opened Blairs College. A manuscript was made in 1841 by Frederick Oakley, of music from Aquhorties, dated 1807, originally an Anglican minister. His first has recently been uncovered, and contains, version began “Ye Faithful, Approach Ye, together with a treatise on plainchant, the joyfully triumphing.” Fortunately for us, words and music for Adeste Fideles. he attempted a second translation which In the early nineteenth century Vincent was more direct and read “O Come, All Ye Novello produced a more elaborate version Faithful, joyful and triumphant!” (Perhaps of Webbe’s setting, using four soloists and his conversion to Catholicism had improved a highly decorated accompaniment. This his grasp of Latin.) version, now rarely heard, was performed Although there are several different at St Columba’s, Bridge of Don, last year at English translations of the Latin words, only the parish Carols by Candlelight service. one tune is generally in use. Interestingly Next time you sing this popular carol, Bonnie Prince Charlie a manuscript found at St Peter’s Buckie, be aware that it may have subversive links.

A leading academic at Durham University has suggested possibly originally from St Gregory’s, Preshome, appears that it may have been written as a coded Jacobite anthem, to contain a totally different version, possibly the work of and has claimed that the song celebrated the birth not of Rev John Reid. He was a priest who worked at St Peter’s, Jesus but of Bonnie Prince Charlie! He found that from Aberdeen in the mid nineteenth century and was wellthe 1740s to 70s the carol commonly appeared in English known for his musical ability, though sadly he died aged Roman Catholic liturgical books close to prayers for the only 35, from typhoid fever caught from a sick call. The exiled Stuart family, often decorated with Jacobite floral manuscript contains only the bass part, which is frustrating imagery, as were other liturgical texts with (he maintains) because we have no idea of the tune. Might anyone coded Jacobite meanings. As Bonnie Prince Charlie was remember singing this version of the carol, which must born on December 20th the song could have been sung as once have been heard in Aberdeen and the north east? It a Christmas carol without arousing suspicion regarding its would be wonderful to hear it again.

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Light of the North

I can’t tell you how oppressive it is never to be able to go outside, also I am very afraid that we will be discovered and shot. (Sept 28 1942) ....as well as her admiration for the Dutch friends whose help they relied on…

Never has one of them complained about the trouble we cause. (January 28, 1944) She wrote of her hopes of one day becoming a writer…

I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my Margaret Bradley death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that’s inside me! When I write I can shake off all my cares.

The Diary of Anne Frank My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that’s a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer? (April 5 1944) ...and of her hopes for freedom… ….hope lives on; it gives us fresh courage, it makes us strong. Since we must put up bravely with all the fears, privations and sufferings, the great thing now is to remain calm and steadfast, now we must clench our teeth rather than cry out. (June 6 1944) Anne’s Diary is still an inspiration to people today.

Despite being trapped and knowing what was happening to her Jewish friends, she tried always to remain cheerful, never gave up hope and always believed in the goodness of people...

It is difficult in times like these; ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim recent exhibition in St Mary’s Cathedral, reality. It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they Aberdeen, highlighted the life of Anne Frank, seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I a Jewish German girl who was born in the city of Frankfurt am Main in Weimar Germany, on 12 June, 1929. In 1933 after the Nazis gained power in Germany, Anne moved with her family – mother Edith, father Otto and elder sister Margot – to Amsterdam and were trapped there by the occupation of the Netherlands, which began in 1940. As persecutions against the Jewish population increased, the family and a few of their friends, went into hiding – Anne was just thirteen years old. After two years, the group was betrayed and transported to concentration camps. Anne and her sister Margot died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945 and their mother died in Auschwitz in January 1945.

Only Anne’s father Otto survived.

Throughout her time in hiding, from June 1942 until August 1944 Anne kept a diary, which was found and saved by friends and was first published by her father in 1947 as The Diary of a Young Girl, now known as The Diary of Anne Frank. In the Diary, Anne recorded her experience of life in hiding, her pleasure at having new people to speak Symbolic grave stone in Bergen-Belsen. Her real to, but also the tensions which quickly developed within the grave is among the anonymous mass graves at group forced to live in confined conditions… that site.

ALittle Food For Thought

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hat people believe, in believe, in spite spite of of everything, everything, tthat people are are ttruly ruly good good aatt hheart. eart. (July (July 21 21 1944) 1944) During Advent Advent we we anticipate anticipate the the coming coming ooff C hristmas During Christmas with its its message message of of h ope, of of tthe he triumph triumph of of ggood ood oover ver evil, evil, with hope, of light light taking taking oover ver d arkness, ooff llove ove conquering conquering hate. hate. The The of darkness, Feast December.

Feast of of St St Nicholas Nicholas ooccurs ccurs in in Advent Advent on on 66th th D ecember.

St Nicholas Nicholas w as the the Bishop Bishop ooff M yra iin nL ycia, iin nm odernSt was Myra Lycia, modernday T urkey, d uring tthe he fourth fourth ccentury entury where where he he was was known known day Turkey, during as Nicholas Nicholas the the W onderworker. He He h ad a rreputation eputation ffor or as Wonderworker. had saving ssailors ailors ffrom rom drowning drowning and and girls girls ffrom rom slavery slavery and and of of saving secret ggift-giving ift-giving bbyy unobtrusively unobtrusively slipping slipping coins coins into into shoes, shoes, secret through w indows oorr d own cchimneys. himneys. The The p atron saint saint of of through windows down patron children aand nd ssailors, ailors, A msterdam aand nd N ew Y ork h became children Amsterdam New York hee became the model model ffor or SSanta anta Claus, Claus, or or Dutch Dutch Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas. the In tthe he N etherlands, St St Nicholas Nicholas distributes distributes h is gifts gifts oon n In Netherlands, his St N icholas E ve, December December 5, 5, aaccompanied ccompanied bbyy his his horse horse St Nicholas Eve, and his his T urkish aassistant ssistant Z warte P iet. C hildren p ut their their and Turkish Zwarte Piet.

Children put St Nichola Nicholas as distribut distributes es his gif gifts fts ac accompanied com mpanied b byy his shoes iin n ffront ront ooff tthe he cchimney himney bbefore efore ggoing oing ttoo bed bed ((often often shoes Zwarte Piet TTurkish urkish assistant Zw warte P iet the shoe shoe is is filled filled w ith a carrot carrot oorr ssome ome h ay for for St. St. Nicholas’ Nicholas’ iin the with hay n their their shoe, shoe, p resents tthrown hrown d own the the cchimney himney by

by SStt presents down horse.) Th ey ssing ing sspecial pecial ‘Sinterklaas-songs’ ‘Sinterklaas-songs’ and and eeat at sspiced piced St St N horse.)

They icholas.

Nicholas.

Nicholas B iscuits SSpeculaas, peculaas, tthin, hin, vvery ery ccrunchy runchy aand nd sslightly lightly Nicholas Biscuits W hy n ot try try using using the the ssimple imple rrecipe ecipe below below to to m ake Why not make browned biscuits biscuits w hich are are embossed embossed with with p ictures ooff aangels, ngels, ssome browned which pictures ome SSpiced piced SStt N icholas Biscuits.

Biscuits.

Nicholas stars, ssaints, aints, horses horses aand nd C hristmass ttrees rees oorr iimages mages from from tthe he stars, Christmas traditional stories stories aabout bout SSt. t. Nicholas.

Nicholas. Next Next m orning the the traditional morning children w ill find find a small small toy toy oorr a bbag ag ooff cchocolate hocolate coins coins children will Makes M akes about 40

Spiced Spic ed St St Nicholas Nicholas Biscuits 3 cups cup ps flour bak king powder powder 1tsp baking cup ½ cu p sugar gms m butter butter 90 gms p vanilla vanilla 1tsp ground o cloves ½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp g round o nutmeg ground ground o allspice ½ tsp ground allspice 2 tsp g rou und cinnamon ground ½ tsp g round ginger ginger ground ½ cup g golden syrup c milk ¼ cup

St. Vincent’s Prayer Book

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Grease Grease baking bak king sheets. sheets. In In a large large bowl bo owl cream cream the butterr, sugar sug gar and vanilla vanilla and add the t syrup. syrup. Into Into butter, the cr creamed eame ed mixture mixture add the sifted sifted d flour, flourr, baking baking powder an nd spic es. Gradually Gradually add the th he milk. milk. Knead Knead powder and spices. dough and d refrigerate refrigerate for for 30 minutes. min nutes. R Roll oll out o a 4mm thickness thickness and cut into i to shapes eg in dough tto stars, stars, with a cutter. cutter. Bake Bake in a moderate moderrate oven oven 180° for 10-12 2 minutes minutes or till ccooked. ooked. Loosen Loosen biscuits C for and cool cool on o trays. trays.

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Poeooetic etic Lic L Li Licence cence

Canon Ca anon anon on Billlll Anderson derson rson soson on delves on lveses intoto som into soomme off hisis favourite some f vourite vovourite ourite rite itete inspirational nspirational sppirational piirational rational ational tional tional nalall verse veerse ersesee.

William Drummond (1585-1649) was born at the manor of Hawthornden near Edinburgh. A graduate of that city’s University, he travelled widely in Europe before returning home to become a writer. Among his output were many pamphlets and verses in the Royalist cause, as well as hymns and satirical pieces. Among his literary friends was Ben Jonson, who resided with him during the winter of 1618-19. The following is perhaps his finest sonnet, portraying the character and mission of John the Baptist, whose role within the earlier liturgies of Advent is prominent. The poem deals first with the appearance of Christ’s herald, and second -with much passionupon his uncompromising call for repentance: The last and greatest herald of heaven’s King Girt with rough skins, hies to the deserts wild, Among that savage brood the woods forth bring, Which he more harmless found than man, and mild.

His food was locusts, and what there doth spring, With honey that from virgin hives distill’d; Parch’d body, hollow eyes, some uncouth thing Made him appear, long since from earth exiled.

There burst he forth: All ye whose hopes rely On God, with me amidst these deserts mourn, Repent, repent, and from old errors turn!

— Who listen’d to his voice, obey’d his cry?

Only the echoes, which he made relent, Rung from their flinty caves, Repent! Repentl We are entering a time set aside for a change of heart. What shall we do - respond to the Baptist’s call wholeheartedly, or with no more force than echoes?

Landscape with St. John the Baptist preaching, by P. Brueghel

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Franc Kaminski’s Brain Teaser

Crossword C rossword 11 1

win off A Abbot Hugh Gilbert’s To T ow in a copy copy o bbot H ugh G ilbert’s book, Mystery’ llatest atest b ook, ‘‘Living Living tthe he M ysteryy’, ssend end entry, with yyour our ccompleted ompleted e ntry, ttogether ogether w ith yyour our name, address and number n ame, a ddre ess a nd ttelephone elephone n umber tto o Centre, 16 tthe he Light Light of of tthe he North, North, Ogilvie Ogilvie C entre e, 1 6 Huntly Street, Aberdeen AB10 1SH. First H untly S treet,, A berd deen A B10 1 SH. F irsst entry drawn out off tthe hat ccorrect orre ect e ntryy d ra awn o ut o he h at iiss tthe he winner. date: 1st 2010. w inner. Closing Closing d ate: 1 st JJanuary, anuary, 2 010.

This T his w will ill b be e yyour our llast ast o opportunity pportunity to to solve solve o one ne o off F Franc’s ranc’s puzzles. puzzles. He He will will shortly shortly be be leaving leaving the the Diocese.

Diocese.

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Saving. ii) b) i)i) _ _ _ _ Imperial Imperial measure measure b) of capacity. capacity. of ii) _ _ _ _ _ Apply Apply with with a ii) brush. brush. c) i)i) _ _ _ _ _ Loosen, Loosen, c) unbind. unbind. ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ Female Female ii) relative. relative. d) i)i) _ _ _ _ _ Champagne, Champagne, d) claret, hock hock etc. etc. claret, ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ Town Town situated situated ii) between Liverpool Liverpool and and between Warrington.

Warrington. e) i)i) _ _ _ Young Young male. male. e) ii) _ _ _ _ Corpus.

Corpus. ii) f ) i)i) _ _ _ _ Whip.

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Bowl. h) ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ Founding.

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Union.

j) i)i) _ _ _ _ Attitude, Attitude, j) aff ffe ectation. affectation. ii) _ _ _ _ _ Assured Assured manner manner ii) k) i)i) _ _ _ _ The The call call to to k) dinner? dinner? ii) _ _ _ _ _ Departing.

Departing. ii) Small wood. wood. l)l) i)i) _ _ _ _ _ Small ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ Behave Behave ii) obsequiously. obsequiously. m) i)i) _ _ _ _ _ Speak.

Speak. m) ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ Speak Speak ii) indistinctly. indistinctly. n) i)i) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n) Comforting.

Comforting. ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Removing Removing ii) lumps, creases creases etc. etc. lumps, o) i)i) _ _ Personal Personal pronoun. pronoun. o) ii) _ _ _ Edge Edge (of (of skirt). skirt). ii) p) i)i) _ _ _ _ _ _ Cord.

Cord. p) ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Keeping Keeping in in ii) reserve. reserve. q) i)i) _ _ _ _ Clamping Clamping tool. tool. q) ii) _ _ _ _ _ Give Give expression expression ii) to. to. r) i)i) _ _ _ _ Excessive Excessive uric uric acid acid r) in joints. joints. in ii) _ _ _ _ _ Filling Filling betwen betwen ii) ceramic tiles. tiles. ceramic s) i)i) _ _ _ _ _ The The tail tail may may s) contain this. this. contain ii) _ _ _ _ _ _ Thin Thin rope rope ii)

S olution ffor or last issue’s isssue’s brain brain teaser teaser Solution predicAtion, annuA edicAtio on, bAit, bAit, breAd, breAd, Bovine, Bovine, Equip, Equip q , equipE, equipE, annuAl,l, pr policIes, o verHeating, polic cIes, countLess, countLess, zooM, zooM, ooM coNvert, coN Nvert, diNed, diNed, overHeating, e xceRpt, TToil, oil, rrefinerY, efine erY Y, Zany Zany > Mary, Mary, Anna, Anna, Elizabeth.

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

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5 IIntense ntense e motion (7) emotion 6 TThe he w ords of Jer emiah said words Jeremiah not tto o list en n tto o these (10) listen 7 Jewish leader ader (5) 8 ‘He is pr ou ud, knowing knowing proud, nothing ut ______ about nothing,, bu but questions and a str iffes of strifes w ords...’ (1 Tim Tim 6:4) (6) words...

9 Br ead ma akers (6) Bread makers 14 IIn n this yyear e of King ear King Nebuchadn nezzar ’s reign, reign, Nebuchadnezzar’s Nebuzar adan arrived arrived in Nebuzaradan Jerusalem (10) ( 17 A ncient cit g, K ing Ancient cityy of O Og, King of Bashan ((9) 9) 18 SStringed tringed d instrument instrument (8) 20 Joseph, per haps? (7) perhaps?

21 TTiny iny amo ount (6) amount 22 Jesus did d this with author h it i y (6) (6 6) authority 24 Last letter letter of the Gr eek Greek alphabet (5 5) (5) 26 P rovince of the R oman Province Roman Empir e (4) Empire

Last issue ’s solution issue’s A cross Across 1.despair 5. Resting Resting 9.purer 9.purer 10. G alatians 11. Neglected Neglected Galatians 12. Siege g 13. A lms 15.

Alms Or dained 18.

18. Promises Promises 19.

Ordained Da ys 22. Amber Amb ber 24. Protector Protector Days 26. Existence Existence 27. Gnash 28.

SStrange trange 29. Treason Treason

Do wn Down 1. D epend 2. SStraggler traggler 3.

Depend A gree 4. Righteous Rig ghteous 5. Ruled Agree 6. SSatisfied atisfied d 7. Image Image 8.

G ospel p 14 amaritan 16.

Gospel 14.. SSamaritan Dishonest 17.

1 EEgyptians gyptians 20.

C amels 21. orphan 23. Br ier Camels 21.orphan Brier 24. P ence 25.

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Humour from the Vestry Humour serves Humour serves tto o d destabilise estabilise tthe he e ego. go. T This his iiss w hy llaughter aughter iiss essential essential tto o rreligion. eligion. It It c uts a why cuts S HUVRQ G RZQ WWR R VVL]H L]H + XPRXU LLVV WWKH KH À UVW VVWHS WHS WWR R SHUVRQ GRZQ +XPRXU ÀUVW h umility. humility.

The following are a actual reproductionss of notes typed by the medical m secretaries who ttranscribe ranscribe instructions from from audiotapes p g given by y doctors after examination tion of patients . . .

1.The patientt has no previous history story of suicides.

3DWLHQW¡V PH HGLFDO KLVWRU\ KDV EHHQ UHPDUNDEO\ UH HPDUNDEO\ PHGLFDO LWK RQO\ D SRXQG ZHLJKW ZHLJ JKW JDLQ LQ LQVLJQLÀFDQW Z ZLWK e days. the past three n her left 3. Patient has chest pain if she lies on side for over a year.

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A primary school teacher asked her pupils to write a letter to God. These are the results: Dear God, *Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t you just keep the one you got now? Jane *I think about you sometimes, even when I am not praying. Elliott *Thank you for the baby brother but what I really prayed for was a puppy. Joyce *Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother. Larry *I think the stapler is one of your greatest inventions.

Ruth *In Bible times did they really talk that fancy. Jennifer *Please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in there. Ginny *If you watch in Church on Sunday I will show you my new shoes. Mickey *If you give me a genie lamp like alladin I will give you anything you want except my money or my chess set.

Raphael *If we come back as something please dont let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her. Denise

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Westminster

Light Light of of the the North North

Page 35

Sister Janet’s Westminster Blog Sister Janet Fearns FMDM is the Communications Coordinator for the Pontifical Mission Societies.

You can visit her website, ‘Pause for Prayer’ at http://pauseforprayer.blogspot.com

A Valiant Woman

three doctors, but Margaret Perry had decided to see if she really did have a Vocation to Religious Life. Neither Jean nor he end was very near. Death could only be a few Margaret knew that, several years later, Margaret, now known minutes away. Dr Jean Meiklejohn had given her as Mother Scholastica, would indeed travel to Kasaba, but all in life and now even the last few minutes were as a Franciscan Missionary of the Divine Motherhood and, offered up for her beloved leprosy patients, living in addition to caring for those with leprosy, would help to less than 100 yards from the small hut where she lay, watched establish the congregation’s first overseas mission. Kasaba over by a young child who repeatedly bathed her head and Mission Hospital stands to this day, since its handover in 1999, run by Zambian Sisters whose title otherwise sat in sheer misery. There was ‘Ba Sista wa Luse’ roughly translates as nothing the youngster could do as the ‘Sisters of Mercy’. (‘Luse’ is a composite doctor’s raging fever refused to subside and concept that is very difficult to translate the ravages of blackwater fever took their toll. into English.)

Soon, it was all over. One by one, a Dr Jean Meiklejohn’s grave lies beside group of people condemned to a longerone of Kasaba’s ‘main roads’, a gravel lasting sentence shuffled into the room. footpath linking the hospital and a string Some of them crawled in on hands and of villages. The leprosy settlement has long knees, no longer able to walk. The initial since crumbled under the constant ravages wail of mourning stilled to silence as they Fetching water at Kasaba of time and termites. No longer do those began the 3-day vigil around the doctor’s with leprosy require isolation from others body. Occasionally somebody would speak of the many good as medical advances offer a simple, but lifelong, treatment things Dr Jean had done and of how she would never be within the community, guaranteeing a full and normal, nonforgotten by the recipients of her kindness. Then the wailing infectious lifestyle. Rarely do people die of blackwater fever, a would break out anew, a strange, piecing sound, unknown to complication of malaria, so named because the urine became Dr Meiklejohn’s native Scotland. Only women were allowed black. to remain indoors with her: men sat outside, shaded by a few The Missionaries of Africa and the Franciscan Missionaries trees, sitting on the red earth or on home-made stools. of the Divine Motherhood worked together in Kasaba and At the end of the customary period of mourning, nearby Lubwe for more than 50 years, handing over the deformed hands dug a grave. The few members of the leprosy two parishes and hospitals to indigenous, Zambian priests settlement had swelled to a huge crowd. After all, Dr Jean and Sisters. Yet, maintaining the close relationship between was someone of great importance and so, even though she them and continuing their pioneering mission charism, was a foreigner, at her death, local villagers beat the massive they founded a new parish in Kasamba, a 2-hour drive from ceremonial drum, an honour given only to the very old and Kasaba and an inaccessible dream when Dr Meiklejohn was the very important. Its deep, heavy, sound reverberated across alive. the Kasaba lagoon as it opened into Lake Chifunabuli and In many ways, Jean Meiklejohn was a ‘martyr of charity’, thence to the Bangweulu Swamps. One by one, other drums someone of whom, not only Scotland, but the entire Church sounded the news that Dr Meiklejohn had died. A veritable should be proud. It took fantastic courage and commitment flotilla of dugout canoes made their 5-hour paddled journey to leave behind her native highlands, glens and lochs for the from Nsombo and countless other villages, braving the threat loveliness but great unknown in Zambia. The Missionaries of hippos and crocodiles. Other people risked their lives as of Africa tried their best to offer whatever support they they strode along footpaths through forest and savannah, could as Jean nursed her leprosy patients, but there were knowing that lions and other predators were watching their many occasions when they had to travel across a large parish, progress. Dr Jean’s death was a matter of mourning for the visiting villages far from the beaten track whilst Jean stayed whole area, attending her funeral a priority. behind in the settlement. Local reports say that the location The year was 1943. The place was Kasaba, even today, a of the small settlement could be identified by its smell as, small village in northern Zambia, on the edge of the amazingly in a time before the availability of drugs, leprosy advanced beautiful Bangweulu swamps. It was there that, following an mercilessly through ravaged bodies. invitation from the Missionaries of Africa (then known as the To use Biblical terminology, Jean Meiklejohn was ‘a White Fathers), Dr Jean Meiklejohn arrived and established valiant woman’. Perhaps, rather than praying FOR her, we a small leprosy settlement. should have been should pray TO her!

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