Oremus February2020

February 2020 | Edition Number 255 | FREE

Westminster Cathedral Magazine

But borne upon the throne of Mary’s gentle breast, Watched by her duteous love, in her fond arms at rest; Thus to his Father’s house he comes, the heavenly guest.

CONTENTS

Inside Oremus

Oremus Cathedral Clergy House 42 Francis Street London SW1P 1QW T 020 7798 9055 E oremus@westminstercathedral.org.uk W www.westminstercathedral.org.uk

Oremus, the magazine of Westminster Cathedral, reflects the life of the Cathedral and the lives of those who make it a place of faith in central London. If you think that you would like to contribute an article or an item of news, please contact the Editor.

Patron The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Chairman Canon Christopher Tuckwell

Cathedral Life: Past & Present A New Chaplain: Fr Hugh MacKenzie

4

Planning and Giving

by Linda McHugh

12 & 13

Cathedral History: A Paucity of English Marbles

by Patrick Rogers

16 & 17

Cathedral History in Pictures: The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop John Arnold by Paul Tobin

Editor Fr John Scott

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21

Oremus Team Tony Banks – Distribution Zoe Goodway – Marketing Manel Silva – Subscriptions Berenice Roetheli – Proofreading Ellen Gomes – Archives

Features

Design and Art Direction Julian Game Registered Charity Number 233699 ISSN 1366-7203 Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily represent the views of the Editor or the Oremus Team. Neither are they the official views of Westminster Cathedral. The Editor reserves the right to edit all contributions.

Publication of advertisements does not imply any form of recommendation or endorsement.

Unless otherwise stated, photographs are published under a creative commons or similar licence. Every effort is made to credit all images. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

Poverty in the Pearl of Africa

by Fr Bernard Phelan MHM

6

Book Notice: Fr Augustine Wetta’s Humility Rules

by Donato Tallo

7

The Dowry of Mary and a Re-dedication – Part I

by Mgr John Armitage

8&9

Cardinal Wiseman’s Dream

by Tony Galcius

10 & 11

Book Notice: Monique Villa’s Slaves Among Us by Rebecca Tinsley

20

Learning to Draw and the Great Tradition at the Royal Academy

23

St Agatha Returns to Osterley

24

Angels for Šibenik?

29

What is Prayer?

by St John Henry Newman

31

Encountering the Bible: A Year-Long Odyssey

32

© National Gallery

Monthly Album

5

Printed by Premier Print Group 020 7987 0604

Oremus

18 & 19

Crossword and Poem of the Month

22

Friends of the Cathedral

25

Cathedral Diary and Notices

24

30

From the Chairman The Presentation of the Infant Christ in the Temple, by the Master of the Life of the Virgin (unknown), in the National Gallery. The picture was presented by Queen Victoria at the request of Albert, the Prince Consort.

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1969 – 2019: The Golden Jubilee of Priesthood of Cardinal Vincent Nichols 14 & 15

Regulars

February 2020

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26 & 27

In Retrospect

28

St Vincent de Paul Primary School

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NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Join the Companions ... and help us to keep publishing Oremus free of charge Although we earn income from the advertising which we carry, Oremus relies on donations from readers to cover its production costs.

The Companions of Oremus was established to recognise those who give generously to support us. Open exclusively to individuals, Companions’ names are published in the magazine each month (see page 7). All members are invited to one or more social events during the year and Mass is offered for their intentions from time to time.

If you would like to support us by joining the Companions, please write to Oremus, Cathedral Clergy House, 42 Francis Street, London SW1P 1QW or email oremuscomps@rcdow.org.uk with your contact details, including postcode. Members are asked to give a minimum of £100 annually. Please mention how you would like your name to appear in our membership list and if you are eligible to Gift Aid your donation. Postal subscriptions to Oremus may be purchased through the Cathedral Gift Shop’s website or by using the coupon printed in the magazine.

Thank you for your support.

On Becoming a Chaplain Fr Hugh MacKenzie My memory of the Cathedral sacristy is a bit mixed.

I was once left standing there awaiting instructions about where to be as the entrance procession of a Solemn Diocesan Mass began. The instructions, I think, had already been given to me but I was too nervous to hear, as it was my Ordination. A clue to the year, my age and my ‘auspicious-ness’: the Cathedral foundation stone had just reached 100 (Cardinal Hume wanted to have an ordination here during the centenary), and I had just reached the age at which our Blessed Lord died and rose again. Answers on a postcard.

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So, it’s great to be back praising God here, and, yes, I am listening more carefully to orders. And they are certainly calm, clear and concise in the amazing behind-the-scenes operation that I’ve just discovered enables the front-of-house Cathedral to be the international inspiration to worship of God that it is – rivalling the Victoria Palace Theatre opposite, but for an infinitely greater purpose (no offence meant, Hamilton is fun). I’ve spent the few years since ordination northwest of here: a Sloane Square curacy, a Harrow-on-the-Hill Sixth Form chaplaincy, some seminary lecturing, a Willesden Green parish priest-hood, a Ss John and Elizabeth’s Hospice chaplaincy and a philosophy PhD attempt. The latter two continue now – though - with your prayers, please – the Platonic write-up will be over soon. It’s

on the roots of the Catholic tradition of showing rationally that humans have an eternal soul. Obviously I try to leave that out of sermons, but it does have a way of creeping in – advance apologies. But then, it is rather important to know where we stand – in sacristies and in the hierarchy of life!

There I go again.

I did study computers before all this in St Andrews, and then worked on them for a couple of years in Brompton (not mentioning the competition), and before that was brought up as a practising Catholic in Surrey. But technology has moved on fast – even though, as I’ve emphasised, only a few years have passed. So, I’m as much trying to keep up as the average parishioner – well, at least spiritually – and knowing where I stand. Oremus pro invicem!

Oremus

February 2020

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

From the Chairman A Happy New Year For the past few days most of us have been wishing one another, and have been wished in return, the season’s greetings, namely a Happy New Year; and this seems to me to be a very pleasant and appropriate greeting. The liturgical purists will, of course, point out that the first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new year for Christians and they are perfectly correct, but somehow we cannot fail to mark the beginning of the new calendar year, opening as it does with the lovely Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, because it, too, has acquired over the years a variety of customs and traditions, particularly so in Scotland.

One of these long-standing traditions is the making of New Year resolutions, but in recent years these seem to be more and more associated with diet, health and appearance. For several years now we have been urged to enjoy a Dry January; now it is Vegan January and the Sunday supplements have page after page of dietary advice. In my own experience these sort of ‘resolutions’ are lucky to last much beyond the first two weeks of the New Year. A far better way of using this time is to concentrate on what our resolutions for Lent might be. Rather than focusing on oneself and our appearance, these should concentrate on our relationship with God and with one another. Now is the time for us to look afresh at our prayer life and at our use of Scripture, especially so this year with its special dedication to the God Who Speaks, and to how we relate to one another, namely through our kindness, thoughtfulness, good humour and consideration also to our parish community; perhaps we might think of joining the Cathedral volunteers?

Westminster Cathedral Cathedral Clergy House 42 Francis Street London SW1P 1QW Telephone 020 7798 9055 Service times 020 7798 9097 Email chreception@rcdow.org.uk www.westminstercathedral.org.uk Cathedral Chaplains Canon Christopher Tuckwell, Administrator Fr Daniel Humphreys, Sub-Administrator Fr Julio Albornoz Fr Michael Donaghy Fr Andrew Gallagher, Precentor Fr Hugh MacKenzie Fr Rajiv Michael Fr John Scott, Registrar Sub-Administrator’s Assistant James Coeur-de-Lion Also in residence Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Victories Music Department Awaiting appointment, Master of Music Peter Stevens Obl. OSB, Assistant Master of Music Callum Alger, Organ Scholar Cathedral Manager Peter McNulty Estates Manager Neil Fairbairn Chapel of Ease Sacred Heart Church Horseferry Road SW1P 2EF

New Year resolutions revolve around self and they won’t last long but Lenten resolutions are about us and God, and with his grace and help they can be life- changing, so in anticipation of Lent may I wish you all a happy, healthy and holy New Year.

With every blessing.

February 2020

Oremus

5

POVERTY IN THE PEARL OF AFRICA

Of Boreholes and Bees

One particularly deprived area remains the arid northeast of the country. It is called Karamoja (which means ‘old, tired men who stayed behind’), is about the size of Belgium and is home to around one million people. The local ‘Karimojong’ are a cluster of pastoralist tribes which have survived, often precariously, in this harsh landscape of droughts, flash floods and famine.

Cattle ownership is their measure of wealth and worth, and the men are often away grazing their animals while the women remain in small communities to care for the young and cultivate crops and vegetables. Unlike many other Ugandans, the Karimojong men have not adopted western dress, preferring a blanket-like shawl twisted around them.

When Idi Amin issued orders for public dress, more than 200 Karimojong men were massacred by soldiers for refusing to comply.

The Catholic Church has had a presence in Karamoja since the 1930s when the Comboni Missionaries arrived.

They were eventually joined by Mill Hill Missionaries and local priests and religious orders. Proclaiming the Good News was and remains quite a challenge. Although 80% of Ugandans 6

Western dress has not been adopted by the Karimojong

are Christians, only 20% of Karimojong profess to be and these are mostly young women. Their ancestral religion is deeply imbedded in their way of life, and especially that of the men. Polygamy is widespread, which means that men are allowed many wives. Dowries to be paid by the families of the men are taken very seriously, and there is a strong belief that the creator God ‘Akuj’ (meaning heaven) decreed that all the world’s cattle belong to them. This has led to much cattle rustling and fighting, since the men do not see their cattle rustling as stealing but rather as reclaiming their cattle.

Since its inception 53 years ago, the all-volunteer Catholic charity SPICMA has supported the Church and the poor people of this area. It has provided food and medicine during times of famine, and has also co-funded an extensive borehole drilling programme with the Swiss Government and Act-U, a Swiss charity. Together we have installed 80 new boreholes in rural communities.

These hand pumps are a vital source of clean water for the people and their animals, and they buy them precious time when the rains fail.

SPICMA has also stepped in to help in some smaller projects, such as funding

the purchase of beekeeping equipment for Fr John Bosco in Kapedo. He and his parishioners now harvest and sell all the jars of honey the bees can produce, which provides much-needed income for this extremely remote and poor parish. The largest town in Karamoja is Moroto, home to a seminary school which needed funds to finish off a dormitory. The young men there were particularly amazed by the staircase, as it was something they had never encountered – a building with another storey. These projects, large and small, provide practical help. Of course they cannot solve all the challenges facing the poor of Karamoja, but they are a positive response to a real need and are a way of strengthening the conviction that we are one single human family.

© SPICMA

‘The Pearl of Africa’ is how Winston Churchill famously described Uganda.

He was impressed by its stunning scenery teeming with brilliant life, and its largely fertile land. Yet for all its beauty and riches, the country has struggled politically and economically in modern times. Independence from Great Britain was achieved in 1962 and there followed periods of terrible violence and repression, such as during Idi Amin’s rule, the uprising of The Lord’s Resistance Army, civil war in Eastern Uganda, and the return of Milton Obote, Uganda’s second President, to power after Idi Amin. The presence of natural resources, including copper, cobalt and gold, has not translated into enough investment in healthcare, education or infrastructure.

Widespread corruption does not help.

© SPICMA

Fr Bernard Phelan MHM

Creating a safe water supply Oremus

February 2020

BOOK NOTICE

A Programme for Living

Humility Rules: St Benedict’s 12 Step Guide to Genuine Self Esteem; J. Augustine Wetta OSB; Ignatius Press, San Francisco 2017; paperback; ISBN 978-1-62164-149-0

Donato Tallo Humility is a concept that lies at the very heart of the Benedictine way of life. In an increasingly secularised society where narcissism, celebrity culture and self promotion on social media have become all too commonplace, there has never been a more important time for the concept of humility to be explored and properly understood.

Fr Augustine Wetta, a monk of St Louis Abbey in America and a high school teacher, here explores humility in relation to modern Western ways of life in an honest, engaging and thought-provoking manner. Using words that people of all backgrounds and spiritual standpoints can understand, he expounds the value of humility and draws the reader into pondering on how humility can be applied to different and challenging aspects of our everyday life.

Through anecdotes to which readers can relate, the author is concerned both to share and celebrate the power of St Benedict’s Rule and its relevance to all, since the virtue of humility is of necessity for the life of the world. One of the strengths of Humility Rules is the author’s use of many straightforward examples to illustrate both how easy yet beneficial small acts of humility really can be. Each chapter is short and to the point, incorporating quotes from St Benedict’s Rule and some beautiful illustrations, not without the addition of comic flourishes.

The twelve steps of humility which Fr Wetta identifies are explored with hints and tips on how actually to practise them. Creative and thought-provoking images provide further engagement for the reader and the layout of the book allows it to be taken at any pace. As an insightful and engaging read, I return to my copy often in need for humility and the opportunity to receive the guidance of the saint.

February 2020

Oremus

Companions of Oremus We are very grateful for the support of the following: Mrs Mary Barsh Mrs Else Benson RIP Dr Stuart Blackie Anne Veronica Bond Richard Bremer Francis George Clark Daniel Crowley Ms Georgina Enang Alfredo Fernandez Fred Gardiner Connie Gibbes Zoe & Nick Goodway Mrs Valerie Hamblen Bernadette Hau Bernard Adrian Hayes Mrs Henry Hely-Hutchinson Mrs Cliona Howell Alice M Jones & Jacob F Jones Poppy K Mary Thérèse Kelly Florence M G Koroma Raymund Livesey Alan Lloyd in memoriam Barry Lock Clare and John Lusby Pamela McGrath Linda McHugh Peter McNelly in memoriam Christiana Thérèse Macarthy-Woods James Maple Dionne Marchetti Paul Marsden Mary Maxwell Abundia Toledo Munar Chris Stewart Munro Mrs Brigid Murphy Kate Nealon Cordelia Onodu Cris Ragonton Emel Rochat Berenice Roetheli John Scanlan Mr Luke Simpson Sonja Soper Tessa and Ben Strickland Julia Sutherland Eileen Terry Robin Michael Tinsley Mr Alex Walker Jacqueline Worth Patricia M Wright and of our anonymous Companions If you would like to become a Companion of Oremus, see page 4

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ENGLAND, THE ‘DOWRY OF MARY’

A New Dedication for Today, Part I Mgr John Armitage, Rector of the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham Why is England called the ‘Dowry of Mary’?

Unique among all the nations, the Catholics of England have believed for centuries that their country is in a special sense the Dowry of Mary. The word ‘dowry’ (from the Latin dos, meaning ‘donation’, ‘gift’ or ‘endowment’) is commonly understood as the donation accompanying a bride upon marriage.

In medieval English law, however, the meaning was reversed, in that a husband would set apart a portion of his estate designated for the maintenance of his wife, should she become a widow. On landed estates the Dower House is a property set aside for precisely that purpose. The historical understanding of England as Mary’s Dowry is understood in this sense: that England has been set apart for Our Lady. Indeed, the very use of the term ‘Our Lady’ or ‘the Lady Mary’ to refer to the Blessed Virgin, although common in Western Europe from the 12th century onwards, has a more ancient history in England, where the first extant example comes from an Anglo-Saxon poet at the end of the eighth century.

The title ‘Dowry of Mary’ is believed to originate from the reign of St Edward the Confessor (10421066), though the precise origin is unclear. It had become widespread by the middle of the 14th century and around the year 1350 a mendicant preacher stated in a sermon that: ‘it is commonly said that the land of England is the Virgin's dowry’, thus reflecting the origin of the title in the deep devotion of its people to the Mother of God in the Middle Ages.

On the feast of Corpus Christi in 1381, King Richard II (1377-1399) dedicated England to Our Lady in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey as an act of thanksgiving for his kingdom being saved in the wake of the Peasants’ Revolt of that year.

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In 1399 Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to his suffragan bishops: ‘The contemplation of the great mystery of the Incarnation has drawn all Christian nations to venerate her from whom came the first beginnings of our redemption.

But we English, being the servants of her special inheritance and her own dowry, as we are commonly called, ought to surpass others in the fervour of our praises and devotions.’ The Archbishop’s letter is thus a further indication not only that the title of England as the Dowry of Mary was in common usage at the end of that century, but also suggests an earlier origin.

It was believed that England belonged in a particular way to Our Lady, who was seen as the country's protectress and who, through her power of intercession, acted as the country's defender or guardian. In the reign of Henry V (1386 -1422) the title was applied to England in Latin texts and, according to the monastic chronicler Thomas Elmham, English priests sought the intercession of ‘the Virgin, protectress of her dower’ on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt (1415).

The Dowry of Mary is thus a title of England, established by a Royal act and proclaimed by an Archbishop of Canterbury, a title which has never been rescinded by either the Sovereign or by Parliament.

Artistic representations The first artistic evidence for the title was found in a painting which once graced the walls of the English Hospice of St Thomas of Canterbury in Rome (now the Venerable English College).

The picture showed Richard II and his consort, Anne of Bohemia, kneeling before Our Lady and offering England to her. The King holds a parchment with a Latin inscription: ‘This is your dowry, O pious Virgin.’ It is possible that the painting portrayed Richard presenting England to Our Lady as her

Dowry in Westminster Abbey on the feast of Corpus Christi in 1381. This painting disappeared from the College during the French occupation of Rome in the 1790s.

The Wilton Diptych, now housed in the National Gallery in London, was completed around 1395 and depicts Richard II kneeling before the Virgin and Child. Carried by a supporting angel is the Cross of St George, the staff of which is surmounted by an orb featuring a minuscule map of England. An altarpiece from the same era showed Richard handing the orb to Mary, with the inscription ‘Dos tua Virgo pia haec est,’ ‘This is thy dowry, O Holy Virgin,’ words similar to those on the painting in Rome.

The Palace of Westminster is so called because it served that purpose for the Kings of England before it became the seat of Parliament. Beside the palace was the Royal Chapel of St Stephen, to which was annexed a smaller one dedicated to Our Lady of the Pew. These chapels were converted into use by Parliament during the reign of Edward VI (15471553) and the paintings on the wall were covered over with oaken panels.

However, when the Act of Union (1800) joined together the English and Irish Parliaments, some alterations had to be made to the chamber. When the panelling was removed from the wall, paintings were revealed in the interstices and were found to be as fresh and clear as on the day they had been covered up. According to the parliamentary reports of the time, behind the Speaker's chair was a picture of the Virgin and Child with St Joseph bending over them, together with King Edward III (1327-1377) and his Queen, Philippa of Hainault, and their sons and daughters making an offering to Our Lady. What are we to make of this picture? In Our Lady’s Dowry (1875) the historian Fr Thomas Bridgett answers thus: ‘It may either have commemorated an Oremus

February 2020

ENGLAND, THE ‘DOWRY OF MARY’

© Sailko

Letter read in Catholic churches throughout England, stated: ‘To sum up all, it may be said that, in the mind of the Holy Father, and in our mind, the object and purpose of this solemn consecration of England to the great Mother of God and to Blessed Peter is to obtain an abundant outpouring of blessings upon the whole country and people of England the blessing of unity in Faith, Hope and Charity, the blessing of such temporal plenty and prosperity as may redound to the glory of God and the salvation of souls.’ This dedication to Our Blessed Lady was to be remembered each year on the feast of the Holy Rosary (7 October) and that to St Peter on the Sunday after 29 June.

The Wilton Diptych

historical event, or its execution may be considered an historical event in itself. It is not, nor does it record, an act of private devotion ... Acolytes were holding lighted tapers and two angels were represented as taking part in a solemnity. It is the consecration of England, through its Sovereign, to the Blessed Virgin. It was before the eyes of every king and noble until hidden by Edward VI’.

In the wake of the Reformation, the notion of England enjoying a special association or relationship with Our Lady became an important aspect of recusant Catholic spirituality. One of the English seminaries was the College of St Gregory the Great in Seville, where there was a Dowry painting which depicted Our Lady with her arms outstretched, and a group of English seminarians at her feet with the words Anglia Dos Mariae (England is Mary’s Dowry). This painting is now in the Royal College of Medicine in Seville. In the Royal English College of St Alban in Valladolid, founded in 1589, it was reported that there was once a painting which depicted Mary being handed a scroll carrying the words: ‘We will remain under the shade of your wings till the wickedness passes’. However, it is no longer in the College.

February 2020

Oremus

Papal recognition On the feast of Ss Peter and Paul, 29 June 1893, the Bishops of England and Wales, in response to the wishes of Pope Leo XIII, consecrated England to the Mother of God and to St Peter. This took place at the hands of Cardinal Vaughan at the Brompton Oratory Church in London. The action was a direct result of an audience with Pope Leo, in which he recalled that England had long been known as Our Lady's Dowry, thereby giving papal approval to what had been a hallowed tradition. The Pope spoke of: ‘…the wonderful filial love which burnt within the hearts of your forefathers towards the great Mother of God ... to whose service they consecrated themselves with such abundant proofs of devotion, that the Kingdom itself acquired the singular title of Mary's Dowry’. He also recalled the special devotion paid to St Peter, referring to him as the ‘principal patron’ of the country, and desired that devotion to these ‘two patrons of the faith’ and ‘guardians of all virtue’ be revived and a new consecration made by a solemn rite. Pope Leo foresaw such an action bringing great benefit on the people at that time, an era which marked a new beginning for the Catholic faith in England. The Bishops, in a Pastoral

In more recent times, Cardinal Heenan, acting on behalf of the Bishops of England and Wales, petitioned Pope Paul VI for permission for the Hail Mary to be recited at the conclusion of the bidding prayers at Mass in recognition of the special devotion of the people of England reflected in the unique title of the Dowry of Mary. At their meeting in October 1966 the Bishops directed that such inclusion of the Hail Mary was to be obligatory.

Readers may well be aware the the image of Our Lady of Walsingham has been on a Dowry Tour around the Cathedrals of England and Wales, with the final visit being to Westminster over the weekend of Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 March. The Renewed Dedication to Mary is planned for the following Sunday, 29 March, at the time of the midday Angelus, when all are invited to join in the Act of Dedication.

It is stressed that what is being offered to the Blessed Virgin in 2020 is not England itself, but the personal faith of her Catholic people who seek to engage in the Church’s work and mission of Evangelisation. Mgr John writes about this in the second part of his article, which will appear in the March Oremus.

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I HAVE A DREAM

Tony Galcius London inevitably conjures up images of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and so on all flat locations alongside or near the River Thames.

Surrounding London, however, are many hills with stunning views of the city. Large verdant parks like Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath, Highgate, Richmond Park and Shooters Hill all make perfect platforms for panoramic views of the metropolis. It is said that from one of these, Cardinal Wiseman, soon after the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy, looked out over London and dreamt of the day when a Catholic church would be built on every hill where Masses and prayers would be said for the conversion of England. In this context he seemed to have Religious in mind and indicated his eagerness for their special apostolate by inviting, amongst others, the Oratorians, Redemptorists, Rosminians and Marists. What follows is a brief account of four of those London hills on which Religious communities built places of worship, thus fulfilling at least part of the Cardinal’s dream.

The first Order to set itself up upon a hill was the Passionists, who started their mission in 1858, completing their magnificent church dedicated to St Joseph and familiarly referred to as ‘Holy Joe’s’, in 1888. Just over a decade ago, the Passionists were about to celebrate the 150th anniversary of their foundation with the possibility of imminent departure; but the decision to hand the parish over to the diocese was revoked and they are still there.

Perhaps Cardinal Wiseman might have had a hand in that?

The church has a large and prominent dome, which can be seen not only from Highgate Hill but also from further afield.

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© Andy Scott

A Church ‘on Every High Hill’

St Joseph’s Church, Highgate Hill, seen from Waterlow Park

Architecturally, it is built in Italian Romanesque style and one of its distinguishing interior features is the baldacchino over the high altar. Its founder was Fr Ignatius Spencer, a relative of the late Princess Diana.

In 1861, Wiseman asked the Dominicans to take over Kentish Town and in due course he actually chose a new site for them to build their Priory on Haverstock Hill. It was completed by 1867, but the Priory Church was to take much longer. The origins of its design makes for a fascinating story.

A certain Thomas Walmesley had an overriding desire to build a church in honour of Our Lady: ‘to mark the gratitude of the Catholics of the United Kingdom for the many graces and blessings received through Our Lady of Lourdes’. The Dominicans readily acceded to his request to make the Priory Church the fulfilment of his dreams. Since the Rosary was the most popular devotion at Lourdes, his design was of a church with 14 chapels, each dedicated to a mystery of the Rosary, culminating in the final mystery honouring the coronation of Mary depicted in stained glass above the high altar. Building began in 1878 and was finished five years later, although a grotto which was also planned did not materialise until 1914. For a time the church was known as ‘Our Lady’s Shrine in London’ and pilgrimages were made on Rosary Sunday. It was formally designated in 2016 as the Diocesan Shrine of the Most Holy Rosary and on 24 May 2019 the new Luminous Mysteries Rosary Garden was opened and a new statue of Our Lady of Cana was blessed.

On the following day, a Gala fund-raising concert of Marian motets composed and conducted by Sir James MacMillan was performed.

Oremus

February 2020

I HAVE A DREAM Mill Hill saw the arrival of the Vincentians in 1889, who had been preceded by their co-Religious, the Daughters of St Vincent de Paul. Both these French Orders were founded by St Vincent, aided by St Louise de Marillac. Both are committed to working for the poor and the sick and have houses and hospitals all over the world. Mill Hill for the Sisters became their Generalate. In 1893, a year after Cardinal Vaughan became the archbishop of Westminster, the Parish Priest of Hendon offered the Vincentians the Mill Hill section of his parish for them to serve. As their ministry expanded, a new church was needed; this was then built and dedicated to the Sacred Heart. St Vincent de Paul set as a secondary aim for his Religious a ministry for priests. This became particularly important immediately post-Vatican II, when many priests for various reasons were leaving the priesthood. Long before Herbert Vaughan was elevated to Westminster he had been desperate to go on the Missions. Unable to go personally, he did the next best thing; he founded a Missionary Order with the lengthy title of St Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart for Foreign Missions, more commonly abbreviated to the Mill Hill Fathers. They were established in 1866 in Holcombe House and then moved to a new building, known as St Joseph’s College, Mill Hill. Here students from all over the UK, Holland and Germany were trained for missionary work, ordained and sent out to every part of the world. Due to financial and other pressures, the College was sold in 2006. However, St Joseph’s Society is still flourishing and an excellent website provides more information on its current apostolates.

Two years after Herbert Vaughan became archbishop of Westminster (1892 to 1903), thanks to a petition by

some 300 local Catholics, he invited the Jesuits to found a parish and schools on Stamford Hill. This was a challenge which was taken up in characteristic fashion: a large house called Morecambe Lodge was bought and a chapel was constructed out of its stables and coach house to meet the needs of those early petitioners. Then came the obvious need for a larger purpose-built church. The priest and architect Fr Benedict Williamson designed it, keeping in mind the spirit of the Middle Ages but also the needs of the 20th century.

With work starting in 1903, it was finished in 1909, apart from the interior. There is outstanding mosaic work in the sanctuary and the Stations of the Cross, whilst the Lady Chapel was only completed in 1925. Externally the church is somewhat reminiscent of those seen in the lovely town of Bruges. The year 1909 also saw the new College of St Ignatius built nearby. It had started humbly in the Lodge until the demand for places outgrew the space available.

The school then earned such a reputation for excellence that in 1968 it moved to new premises in Enfield. Some of its buildings were taken over by the Primary School, which had also started in 1901. It continues to thrive, but now under the aegis of the diocese.

There are other places in London with ‘hill’ as a suffix where Catholic churches exist, such as Dollis Hill, Muswell Hill, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Tower Hill. There are also churches in locations which lack this suffix but which are actually built on hilly ground. Today nearly 40 Religious Orders of men and over a hundred Orders of women in the diocese of Westminster alone carry out their apostolate of prayer and action. Perhaps Cardinal Wiseman’s dream has come true?

OUR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

Where We Are; and Where We Need To Be Linda McHugh, Chair of the Cathedral Finance Committee Parishioners and regular visitors to the Cathedral will have noticed some innovations in recent months: new votive lights in special stands have been introduced, contactless payment terminals have been installed and, over the Christmas and New Year period, labels bearing QR codes have appeared on some of the seats. Their common purpose is to generate new income for the Cathedral - income that is desperately needed. In 2018 we ran a planned giving campaign. This was successful in raising the level of weekly giving, but the increase that we saw immediately after the campaign has gradually dropped off.

We have also been affected by a reduction in the numbers of those attending Mass on Sundays and by an increase in our overall operational costs. Regrettably, the Cathedral remains deeply ‘in the red’ and, in a new planned giving campaign this February, we will be appealing to you to reflect on what the Cathedral means to you and to consider how you can give more money regularly and in a planned and tax-efficient way.

Where we are now At Christmas, I was speaking to a long-standing parishioner who described the offertory collection as ‘symbolic’. When I asked what she meant by that, she said that it was not about the money, it was about giving thanks to God. While there may be spiritual truth in that thought, the Catechism makes it very clear that it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to support the Church financially, according to our means. Keeping the Cathedral open and functioning as it is at present is very much ‘about the money’ and, contrary to another widelyheld belief, the diocese of Westminster does not pay the running costs of the Cathedral.

Here are some examples of what it cost EVERY WEEK last year to run aspects of the Cathedral’s life and worship: • Keeping the lights and the heating on: £1,012

has increased by about £200,000 per annum. However, expenditure has also increased, but although salary costs went up, other overheads have gone down overall.

Nonetheless, despite our efforts in 2019, after legacies and other donations, we recorded an overall deficit in excess of £271,000.

PGC 2018*

2019**

£000

£000

Weekly offertory

776.0

803.8

Other donations

196.0

242.9

50.0

68.6

Income

Gift Aid

1,022.0 1,115.3 Votives

299.0

302.7

Property income

204.0

209.3

Other

153.0

221.8

WCL***

140.0

170.0

1,818.0 2,019.1

Operational income

150.0

Legacies and one-off donations

113.1

1,968.0 2,132.2

Total income Expenditure

• Security: £5,388

Salaries

916.3

984.7

• Cleaning: £3,100

Depreciation

294.2

302.9

• Choir (liturgy only): £9,195

Other Overheads

1,169.5 1,115.7

Total expenditure

2,380.0 2,403.3

DEFICIT

(412.0)

That gives a weekly total of £18,695 before we even start thinking about the cost of clergy, sacristans or maintaining the building. At the other end of the weekly cost spectrum, we spent over £100 on altar breads, £174 on altar candles and £130 on producing the Cathedral Newsletter. It all adds up and has to be paid for.

Some Improvement The table below shows how things stand, with the figures used during the last campaign showing what has changed. Encouragingly, our operational income 12

(271.1)

*

2018 figures are those used in the Spring 2018 campaign, taken from actual figures for 2016 adjusted for known changes during 2017.

**

Draft figures based on forecast for the year.

**** Westminster Cathedral Ltd. This covers revenue from the Gift Shop

and the Tower.

Oremus

February 2020

OUR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

The Appeal to You Keeping the Cathedral solvent is critical and we continue to look at cutting costs. However, there is a limit to what we can expect to gain from that and we need to appeal again to the generosity of the members of our Cathedral community.

Our average weekly offertory donation at present is about £3.50. That represents an improvement over what it was before the last campaign, but it is still lower than the average in the Catholic churches nearest to the Cathedral, let alone the average offertory donation in the Church of England, which is currently in excess of £12 per head. We are most grateful to all who responded to the 2018 appeal which resulted in a significant increase in the use of both Gift Aid and Standing Orders. At that point in time we were only able to claim £50,000 of Gift Aid per annum but by the end of 2019 we had reclaimed £68,600 in the year - that additional £18.600 came straight from the Government and did not cost the donors a single penny.

Likewise, following the last campaign, more than 120 people established new Standing Orders and, together with a further 25 who increased the value of their existing payments, giving by Standing Order doubled. This was particularly welcome, as some kind people are donating several hundred pounds each month, although the average is about £50 per month. Standing orders are especially important as they enable us to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty from month to month what we can expect to receive. This is not true of the offertory overall and those who notice in the Newsletter what was received in the previous Sunday’s collection will have noticed how much the ‘loose plate’ can fluctuate from week to week.

Another reason that we would like as many people as possible to give by Standing Order is that we are increasingly a cashless society; many people simply do not carry cash with them any more – and the younger they are, the truer that is. That is why we are introducing non-cash payment methods into the Cathedral. The contactless terminals have been a modest success and take about £30,000 per annum, predominantly from visitors, and our latest initiative – the QR codes – is a further step we are exploring. By scanning the code with a smartphone camera, one is linked directly to a Cathedral charity account and can make an online donation. We do not expect the codes to be used widely any time soon, but we believe that it is important to try to move with the times. For those who come to Mass without any cash, if we do not facilitate their giving in one of these ways, they will not be able to give at all.

How much are we asking people to give to the Cathedral each week? Only you know how much the Cathedral means to you personally, but Cardinal Hume once suggested that people who are in paid work should think about an hour’s February 2020

Oremus

pay per week as a starting point. The London Living Wage, to which the diocese of Westminster subscribes, is £10.75 per hour and even the National Minimum Wage will be £8.72 from April 2020. If every person who came to Mass on Sunday gave us £8.72, there would be no deficit.

The Future?

Nobody wants to dwell upon what could happen if we cannot increase our income, but it is a reality that needs to be faced. As we were told during the last planned giving campaign, we could find ourselves in a situation where there are fewer Masses – there were over 2,400 last year – or where the Cathedral is open for only a few hours each day. What would that mean for those who rely on it as a haven for quiet prayer or for those homeless people for whom it is somewhere to go for warmth, peace and shelter? We are determined that we must not let that happen and we will continue to look at ways of reducing costs and increasing our non-offertory income. We need to raise £6,000 more each week to eliminate our deficit; if that seems daunting, remember that the £200,000 income improvement achieved by the last planned giving campaign equates to £3,800 per week - it can be done. We will also, later this year, be introducing a legacy campaign. We think of those who have died as very much still part of the Cathedral community and so will be asking people to give serious thought to how they can continue to support their Cathedral after their death by means of a legacy. Legacies can make a very real difference to our financial health in any given year.

So, please ….

There are three things that we are asking the members of our Cathedral community to do now: 1. Increase the amount that you give to the Cathedral.

2. Set up a Standing Order.

3. Sign up for Gift Aid, if you are eligible to do so.

Whether you are giving via Standing Order or the envelope scheme, if you pay tax on earned or unearned income all you have to do is to tick a box saying that you want to use Gift Aid and give the Cathedral your address. It costs you nothing and the value of your offering to the Cathedral is increased by 25%.

The Cathedral is our inheritance and it is also our responsibility. If everyone accepts his or her share of that responsibility and acknowledges that offertory giving is not symbolic but rather both a duty and a privilege, then we can preserve this sacred space in all its glory for the generations who come after us.

13

THE GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATED

Fifty Years of Priesthood: A Reflection Cardinal Vincent Nichols Thank you for coming to this celebration of Mass and joining me in thanking the Lord for his gift to me of 50 years of priestly ministry. The years pass so quickly! I am humbled to think, even fleetingly, of all I have received during them, most of all for the love and support that has been a constant gift to me throughout these years. It is my privilege to serve the Lord, in and through you, the Church, the living Body of Christ for all this time, and, please God, for the years to come.

There are so many things on which I could reflect today, so many changes that have taken place, in society, in our sense of self, in how we build community, in the Church. These years are times of brightness and shadow, as, in fact, are all times. But the readings of our Mass push me insistently, and gently, to one theme above all, a theme which is so central to our faith and to my journey: the theme of meetings and greetings, our meeting with the Lord, the presence and mystery of God in our lives. In the Gospel, we see Mary making her arduous journey across the hill country of Judaea to meet and greet Elizabeth. She carries within her body the very light of the world. Filled with the wondrous work of the Holy Spirit, she is seeking out Elizabeth.

© Mazur/catholicnews.org

Elizabeth, too, is filled with the Holy Spirit and ready to greet her. So are we all! When Elizabeth meets Mary, her most profound and hidden self cries out with joyful recognition. She welcomes that Light and his Mother. ’The child in my womb leapt for joy’, she exclaims. Can anything be more alive, more intense, more expressive of the depth of her being? This is our joy, too, whenever and wherever we meet Jesus. Sometimes that joy is deeply hidden, merely sensed; sometimes it is as clear as the day. This quiet, profound joy of meeting lies at the heart of our faith. It sustains all our effort. Our deepest sense of identity, our stability, and joy, flows from our knowledge of Jesus. He is who we are! Every time we come to meet him, we are flooded with the life and love which only he can give.

For his Golden Jubilee Mass, the Cardinal chose to use one of the Cathedral’s treasures, its pre-Reformation chalice 14

In these days of Advent, we come to meet him afresh, especially if we are burdened with too much to do, or with a sense of how unfair life is, or that too much is expected of us. We are to dig deeper into our hearts, each day, to find him there, always coming to meet us, to greet us and again fill us with his life. Let me repeat the words of Pope Francis: ’At this moment, I invite all Christians, everywhere, to a renewed encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ”no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord” (Evangelii Gaudium 3)’.

Oremus

February 2020

THE GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATED

On this jubilee day, by way of a message, I can do no better than this! Or maybe I can go a little deeper.

Year by year, and increasingly so, I love hearing the First Reading of our Mass today, from the Song of Songs. It is so full of emotion and of the language of love. The first voice is that of a desolate soul, a lover distanced from the beloved. This soul is thrilled at the promised coming of the beloved, who leaps like a gazelle, yet the soul is still shut in, behind the latticework. How often do we too feel shut in? The monotony of daily effort; the sense of being caught in a web of unceasing demands, tensions, expectations. I know that well enough. Yet that is precisely when the Lord speaks: ’Come then, my love, my lovely one, come’. Come out of your hiding, come out from under your cliff of duty.

He invites us to a new start, to a fresh look at everything.

His first invitation is to a fresh vision of life around us: our neighbourhood, our community, our parish, our family. Look, he says, everywhere are appearing the flowers of generous service and practical help; listen to the glad songs of prayer and praise that fill so many hearts; hear the cooing of the Rosary being quietly recited by so many every day; see surrounding us the blossoming vines of fruitful family and community endeavour. He says: ’Come then, my love, for see, winter is past, the rains are over and gone.’ And seeing, we give joyful thanks to God! Only with these eyes, refreshed by his love, can we see the goodness surrounding us and so sustain our life of faith and ministry.

That, at least, is my experience.

he will indeed draw us to that final meeting, that final greeting, our final fulfilment, when we meet him face to face. Then, I shall bow in humble adoration and hear the sublime words: ‘Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom so long prepared for you’, ‘Come, show me your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is beautiful’.

A Jubilee is but a staging post, a moment to reflect on a journey thus far, to try to grasp its gifts and its lessons. It is also a time in which to take a glimpse of all that lies ahead.

The coming Feast of Christmas sums this up: his desire to be with us, to greet us with outstretched arms, to draw us to himself and to be for us the true pathway home. This Feast so tenderly discloses the beauty of the mystery of God, a beauty inscribed in each one of us, the beauty that will find its fulfilment in God’s good time. So let us rejoice in him, now and always.

The Mass was that of 21 December, for which the First Reading was the Song of Songs 2: 8-14 and the Gospel Reading was St Luke 1: 39-45.

But the Beloved also has another message for us of his transforming love. He invites us to look deep within ourselves, to the very depth of our hearts and to be refreshed there, too. It can happen that, quite often in the course of the years, our hearts enter a state of winter.

Within us a cold frostiness can descend. It comes with a sense of our own continuing sinfulness, or with the oftrepeated criticism of our best efforts, or with negative hearsay and gossip. Then we lose touch with our own goodness and of our integrity. Precisely at that time the Beloved calls out to us, into the depth of our most private gloom or despondency: ’Come, then, my love ... show me your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is beautiful.’ How often do we need to hear these words? How often during 50 years? Indeed, as these years go by, it seems to me that this heart of a priest needs to hear them more and more often.

Cardinal Hume once said that while young people may at times find the celebration of Mass to be boring, as the years go by we grow more and more to love the Mass until it becomes an inseparable part of who we are. This daily meeting with the Lord, his daily call to each one of us, it seems to me, become more insistent and more irresistible as the years pass. Slowly, I believe, we come to sense how February 2020

Oremus

15

CATHEDRAL HISTORY

How Very Unenglish are the Marbles!

Patrick Rogers Perhaps surprisingly, of well over one hundred marbles in Westminster Cathedral, only two come from England.

These are Derbyshire fossil and Hopton Wood, limestones originally laid down in shallow tropical seas in what today is the Peak District of Derbyshire [the Derbyshire weather was far from tropical when I was dragged around the county on weekend walks as a child – Ed.] The two marbles are composed of fragments of marine life such as shells, corals and animal debris, which gradually accumulated on the sea floor to a depth of thousands of feet.

At that time, in the Carboniferous Period some 330 million years ago, Britain was 50 – 100 south of the Equator, rather than 500 north as today, and the region would have looked like a series of Pacific Ocean reefs surrounding a lagoon.

The most attractive example of Derbyshire fossil marble in the Cathedral is the skirting between St Paul’s and St Andrew’s Chapels. Light grey-brown in colour, it contains an abundance of fossilised sea creatures, notably crinoids.

These sea-lilies consist of a flower-like structure supported by a jointed stem attached to the sea floor. A series of hard rings surround and protect the stem and these, called ‘St Cuthbert’s Beads’ and used to make rosaries, can be seen clearly. The rings also resemble the eye of a bird – hence ‘Bird’s-eye marble’. The example here is from Coal Hills Quarry near Wirksworth, in production by the 19th century but now abandoned and part of the National Stone Centre.

The other examples of Derbyshire fossil in the Cathedral are darker. A brown variety with less obvious fossils is used for the column bases and retaining walls either side of the sanctuary. Then, some 50 years ago from 1956-64, the nave piers and narthex received their marble cladding and, once again, dark Derbyshire fossil was chosen for the skirting. This is an almost black variety and appears to come from Dene Quarry on the outskirts of Cromford, close to Wirksworth.

The quarry was first used in 1942, but by 1960 production difficulties and reduced demand had resulted in a concentration on producing crushed stone for road-building which continues today.

Eric Gill’s stone asking prayers simply gives his initials and date, describing him as Lapidarius, ‘Stonecutter’

16

Some Holy Water stoups use a shell to hold the water, but the Cathedrals' have shells as a protective overhang

Like Derbyshire fossil, Hopton Wood marble is used extensively in the Cathedral. It ranges from a rich cream to a dark grey or fawn, depending on its position in the quarry and the number of fossils, largely crinoids. Of uniform texture, it is a compact stone of great hardness which can be used internally or externally. It was first extracted at Hopton Wood in the mid-18th century and employed extensively for flooring and staircases in the rebuilding of Kedleston Hall near Derby in the 1760s and 1770s. To cope with increasing demand for what became a fashionable stone, quarries were opened at nearby Middleton, close to Wirksworth, where production was centred.

In the Cathedral, Hopton Wood marble is seen in the arches either side of the sanctuary and around the reliquary cupboards and windows in the crypt. In St Paul’s Chapel, the two piscinas, put in place either side of the altar in 1914-15, are also of this marble, decorated with red and white inlay and given a high polish. In the aisles neat the Cathedral entrance the Holy Water stoups, each surmounted by a carved shell and dating from 1918, demonstrate that Hopton Wood is virtually impervious to water. Here they have been given a light ‘eggshell’ polish. And, as if to demonstrate its versatility, the same marble, inlaid with red and green porphyry this time, was laid on the floor of St Joseph’s Chapel in 1939.

But the best-known Hopton Wood marble in the Cathedral is undoubtedly that used for the Stations of the Cross. Eric Gill used stone of various types for his sculptures, among them Bath, Beer and Portland. But Hopton Wood seems to have been his favourite. He is recorded as taking his apprentices up to Wirksworth to select blocks, and both at the start and at the end of his career he used Hopton Wood – for the Cathedral Stations in 1914-18 and for the altarpiece in St George’s Chapel in 1939-40. Appropriately enough, his memorial below the 14th Station is also of Hopton Wood.

Oremus

February 2020

CATHEDRAL HISTORY

The Stoup by the south-west door shows signs of previous attempts at cleaning. The incised text is of the antiphon sung at all times of the year except Eastertide when the sprinkling of Holy Water takes place at the beginning of Mass

So why were English or even British marbles not used more extensively in the Cathedral. Why do we not have the green of Anglesea, the red and white of Plymouth and Totnes, the swirling red-black and green of Cornish Lizard Serpentine? Firstly, because the Cathedral is in the Byzantine style and many of the marbles used here are those used in Byzantine churches. Secondly, because the main marble decorator for the Cathedral, William Brindley, had personally located and reopened ancient quarries in Greece, Turkey and Egypt, and wanted to exploit them. And finally, because of differing production and transport costs, it was quite simply cheaper to import the foreign marbles by sea than to raise and convey marble from British quarries by train.

With thanks to the Director of the National Stone Centre at Wirksworth in Derbyshire.

A Piscina in St Paul’s Chapel, enhanced by the inlay work February 2020

Oremus

A View of the Wirksworth quarry workings

17

MONTHLY ALBUM

Fifty Years of Chaplaincy Celebrated

© Croatian Chaplaincy, London

A ministry of the Cathedral is to provide a home at Sacred Heart Church in Horseferry Road for the weekly Sunday afternoon Masses of the Croatian Chaplaincy, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in Advent. Probably the church has never been so full as it was, with people crammed in everywhere and a sanctuary equally crowded. Bishop Paul McAleenan, who has Particular Responsibility for Ethnic Chaplaincies, represented the diocese and welcomed the Archbishop of Zadar, who was principal celebrant, joined by Fr Markić, Head of Pastoral Ministry for Croats Abroad, Fr Ljubomir OFM, the Croatian Chaplain, Fr Mrše, Minister Provincial for OFM Split-Croatia, the Croatian Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Igor Pokaz, and Fr Varkey, Episcopal Vicar for Ethnic Chaplaincies in Southwark.

Teenage Takeover in the Apse One of the pleasures of the Cathedral Christmas is at the Vigil Mass of Christmas Eve – it’s difficult to say if that is more packed than the noon Mass of Christmas Day itself – when former choristers kindly come and offer their services as a choir. Having known and heard them singing as boys, and sometimes acting as weekday Cantors and singers after their voices have changed, it is interesting to hear what might be termed teenage tone. Our thanks to them all for enriching the celebration of Christmas.

Noodles rather than turkey may have been in evidence when the Hinsley Room was recently turned into a dining room for the Filipino Club’s annual Christmas and New Year lunch and get-together. However, no festive accoutrements were lacking and the bottles (grace, of course, having first been said over them and the food) suggest that a good time was had by all.

18

© Shirley

Brightening up the Hinsley Room

MONTHLY ALBUM

New Boys’ Induction On only the second Sunday of the New Year, the Baptism of the Lord, there was a Chorister Induction for three rather older boys who have joined the Cathedral Choir. From left to right, Ntseyep, William and Charlie were admitted and welcomed formally by Canon Christopher before the congregation and members of the Choir in the apse expressed their louder and more informal congratulations and welcome.

Happy Families There is a particular atmosphere that attaches to the Parish Carol Service that replaces public Vespers on a Sunday before Christmas. Despite the Cathedral being full, there is a distinct family feeling to the occasion, with regulars from both near and far making the effort to be present. The Choir made a point of singing pieces by the two recentlydeceased Masters of Music, Sir Stephen Cleobury and Colin Mawby. The customary warming refreshments were served in Cathedral Hall, where the camera was pleased to catch Fr Daniel’s mother and sister who had come to share the occasion.

An Enforced Journey

© Fr Daniel Humphreys

What’s A Camel To Do? Camels are known as ruminant and sometimes stubborn animals. The Cathedral camel ruminates happily and quietly in the Crypt store for 11 months of the year, but is rudely forced out into the spotlight and a starring role in St Joseph’s chapel for the weeks from Epiphany to Candlemas.

Here the creature is seen in Ambrosden Avenue, powerless against the combined might of Fr Julio, Mathew (Data Protection), Bernie (Maintenance), Rose (Sacristy) and Andrew (Security).

February 2020

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19

A HIDDEN WORLD

Slaves Among Us why the NGO staff are nice to him. He asks if they are trying to pacify him so they can take his kidneys?

Slaves Among Us: The Hidden World of Human Trafficking; Monique Villa; Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland USA, 2019; hardback USBN 978-1-5381-2728-5 £15.95 Rebecca Tinsley Modern slavery touches us all, in the cheap fashion we buy, the minerals used in our phone, the bag of prawns in our freezer, the chocolate we consume, and where we get our car washed or our nails done. By telling the stories of three survivors of human trafficking, Monique Villa illustrates the horrors suffered by an estimated 40 million people worldwide, 25% of whom are children. The International Labour Organisation estimates that human trafficking is worth $150 billion a year. Whereas a slave in the 19th century cost the equivalent of $40,000, the price now is $90, meaning that slaves can easily be discarded when they become too ill to work.

Villa describes the conditions endured by 30 million children in Indian factories, working 22 hours a day, sleeping beneath their work stations, and beaten with hammers by factory owners.

She tells of a little boy, rescued by an Indian charity, who cannot understand 20

Seventy percent of trafficked people are forced labour or in debt bondage, often tricked into working under the Kafala system in the Arabian Gulf. Their passports are confiscated and their wages withheld or never paid. They live and work in dangerous conditions, and when they return home, they must pay off the money-lenders whom they used to buy their flights. Interest rates of 60% are common, meaning that it is impossible to ever repay the debt. The Arabian slave trade pre-dates the Atlantic one, yet not a single Arab academic has published a paper about the Arabs' role in trafficking millions of black Africans over the centuries. The amnesia continues to this day.

An estimated 30% of trafficked people are sex slaves. Virtually all women and girls who are trafficked are raped: violence and domination are key to control, convincing the slave that no one cares about them. Given that in 90% of cases, girls have been sold by a family member, this is a likely assumption. Although Villa does not delve into this enough for fear of making sweeping generalisations, there is a clear link between societies in which females are regarded as inferior, and the likelihood that women will be bought, sold and mistreated.

In more ‘enlightened’ societies, traffickers are adept at recognising vulnerability in children in care homes.

Villa has hair-raising stories of teachers and social workers in the first world turning a blind eye to the mistreatment of children by their own families, thereby making them vulnerable to grooming by traffickers; or children turning up to school exhausted and covered in bruises, having been sold to men perhaps 20 times during the night. Officials also ignore the tattoos or brands showing which pimp owns the

girls. Victims of trafficking are betrayed and made to feel helpless at every stage: no wonder that so many become drug addicts.

Human trafficking is not possible without a web of corruption, stretching from flight attendants to immigration officials to police and judges to parole officers to CEOs who refuse to confront the truth about their high profit margins.

Legal redress is made difficult by the widespread ignorance of trafficking in the justice system: there are fewer than 15,000 cases against traffickers worldwide annually. Very few men having sex with children are prosecuted, and many tell the girls to their faces that they do not believe they are slaves (‘You're just trying to get more money from me’).

Evidently, consumers don't wish to acknowledge that their t-shirt has been made by a child slave. Even informing a customer that they are buying slaveryfree products induces feelings of guilt and makes them less willing to buy. Yet, Villa concludes, pressuring businesses is one of the best ways forward. She offers practical suggestions for action which the reader can take, as well as changes that might make it easier to keep victims from slipping back into slavery.

My only criticism is the lack of insight into the mind of a factory owner who beats a five-year-old with a hammer, or a judge who takes a bribe to ignore evidence of sex trafficking.

Perhaps their motivation is no more complicated than greed. No wonder so many of Jesus's parables concerned this human trait.

Following California’s example (the Transparency in Supply Chains Act), several other countries have begun to legislate. However, without enforcement, these are mere gestures.

Reading this book will leave you feeling disgusted, but hopefully, ready to be a more thoughtful and well-informed consumer.

Oremus

February 2020

DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN?

CATHEDRAL HISTORY – A PICTORIAL RECORD

The Episcopal Ordination of the Rt Rev John Arnold as Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, Thursday 2 February 2006

Paul Tobin The last occasion when an Episcopal Ordination took place on this date, the Feast of Candlemas, was 40 years earlier when Mgr Patrick Casey VG was ordained as an Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese. He was later to become Bishop of Brentwood (1970-1980).

Being the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Ordination Mass for Bishop-Elect John Arnold began at the main doors of the Cathedral with the blessing and lighting of candles and subsequent procession through the nave.

After the Gospel reading, the Bishop-Elect was presented to the Cardinal (Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster 2000-2009) by his two supporting priests, Frs Richard Taylor and Anthony Maggs. The mandate from the Holy See was read out by Canon Michael Brockie, Provost of the Metropolitan Cathedral Chapter, confirming the appointment of this new titular Bishop of Lindisfarne. The late Bishop Victor Guazzelli had previously held this title, and I understand this allowed him Country Membership of a prestigious golf club in the London area despite his living and working in London. Bishop Arnold’s successor as Titular Bishop of Lindisfarne was to be Bishop John Wilson, who held the title from 2016 until 2019, when he became Archbishop of Southwark.

In the upper image the Bishop-Elect is seen during the Examination of the Candidate. To the left of Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor is his successor as Archbishop of Westminster, Archbishop (now Cardinal) Vincent Nichols who, at the time, was Archbishop of Birmingham. The MC seen standing to the left is Fr Michael O’Boy, now Parish Priest of St Albans. The lower images show the imposition of the ring and mitre.

Sources: Oremus February 2006 ‘Bishop George Stack welcomes a new fellow Bishop to the episcopal life and work’.

Photographs: Steve Hughes

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February 2020

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21

CROSSWORD AND POEM

Glosa a lo divino – With a divine intention St John of the Cross, translated by Roy Campbell Without support, yet well-supported, Though in pitch-darkness, with no ray, Entirely I am burned away.

My spirit is so freed from every Created thing, that through the skies, Above herself, she’s lifted, flies, And as in a most fragrant reverie, Only on God her weight applies.

The thing which most my faith esteems For this one fact will be reported – Because my soul above me streams Without support, yet well-supported.

What though I languish in the shades As through my mortal life I go, Clues Across Not over-heavy is my woe 1 Birthplace of Mary, follower of Jesus, at his crucifixion and Since if no glow my gloom invades, emergence from the tomb (7) With a celestial life I glow.

6 End of the alphabet (1.1.1.)

8 Ave Maria, gratia -----, Dominus tecum (7) The love of such a life, I say, 9 Member of a mendicant Order associated strongly with the Sorrows The more benightedly it darkens, of Our Lady (7) 10 Early Welsh Saint, Bishop of Llandaff where he is buried, Feast Day Turns more to that to which it hearkens, 9 February (5) Though in pitch darkness, with no ray.

Alan Frost December 2019 – No. 74

Clues Down 1 ‘St Valentine’s Day --------‘, notorious Chicago gangland killings on Feast Day in 1929 (8) 2 ‘Swiss ------’, minor armed forces unit maintained by the Vatican (6) 3 Te rogamus ---- nos, response in Litany of the Saints [‘We beseech Thee to hear us’] (4) 4 Semi-circular parts of churches behind and to the sides of the altar (5) 5 Star-shaped talismanic symbol used in pagan ‘magic’ ceremonies (8) 6 St Francis ------, co-founder of the Society of Jesus (6) 7 Measurement at bottom of a scale (4) 12 Main candle bearers in High Mass (8) 14 Order founder, brother of St Scholastica (8) 16 High ranking angelic being in the celestial hierarchy (6) 18 Prophet and advisor to, as well as admonisher of King David (6) 19 Short programme of adjustment to society after illness (5) 20 Mother twice over! (4) 22 Son of Jakeh, author of sayings in Book of Proverbs [Ch. 30] (4)

Since I knew Love, I have been taught He can perform most wondrous labours.

Though good and bad in me are neighbours He turns their difference to naught The both into Himself, so sweetly, And with a flame so fine and fragrant Which now I feel in me completely Reduce my being, till no vagrant Vestige of my own self can stay.

And wholly I am burned away.

© Javiermes

11 Early Saint and martyr, invoked with Damian in the Canon of the Mass (6) 13 Type of beetle sacred to ancient Egyptians (6) 15 London station, terminus for trains going north west (6) 17 Former Cardinal, whose tomb in the Cathedral is near the pulpit (6) 20 What is asked of the Lamb of God in the Agnus Dei (5) 21 ‘Ev’ry valley shall be -------’, Handel’s Messiah [Isaiah 40] (7) 23 Work by Michelangelo in St Peter’s, Rome linked to the XIII Station (5) 24 Arboreal specimen with a link to Lent (3) 25 Holder of an hereditary title, but not entitled to sit in the Upper House (7)

ANSWERS Across: 1 Magdala 6 XYZ 8 Plena 9 Servite 10 Teilo 11 Cosmas 13 Scarab 15 Euston 17 Heenan 20 Mercy 21 Exalted 23 Pieta 24 Ash 25 Baronet Down: 1 Massacre 2 Guards 3 Audi 4 Apses 5 Pentacle 6 Xavier 7 Zero 12 Acolytes 14 Benedict 16 Seraph 18 Nathan 19 Rehab 20 Mama 22 Agur

22

Monument to St John of the Cross in Avila, Spain

To submit a poem whether by yourself or another for consideration, please contact the Editor – details on page 3.

Oremus

February 2020

NEW AT THE RA

The Making of an Artist If you thought that no one knows how to draw any more, then at least two shows at the Royal Academy may be informative.

Learning to Draw The Making of an Artist: Learning to Draw presents a selection of plaster casts from the early years of the RA Schools, displayed together with works on paper from the RA’s Collection, illustrating the ways in which drawing was taught at the Academy for over 200 years from 1769. New displays will focus on drawings by RA students and follow their progress from drawing plaster casts and studying anatomy to the Life Class. From December 2019, the display will showcase drawings by Minnie Jane Hardman, a prize-winning student at the RA Schools in the 1880s. The drawings, on loan from a unique collection of her work at the University of Reading, chart her progress and highlight the obstacles faced by women students at that date.

Minnie Jane Hardman in The Julia and Hans Rausing Hall until 17 May 2020 The Great Tradition The Collection Gallery explores the early years of the Royal Academy through work by artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Benjamin West. It considers the important role that the first President of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, played in elevating artists working in Britain. He encouraged young artists to study great art of the past and the gallery includes two exceptional examples. The Taddei Tondo (c.1504- 05 ) by Michelangelo, the only marble sculpture by this artist in Britain, and the full size 16th century copy of Leonardo’s Last Supper (c.1515-20). Examples of great sculpture are represented by casts of key classical sculptures, notably the Belvedere Torso and Laocoön. Later Academicians like J M W Turner included references to historic art in their work, but they also drew inspiration from nature, spending long hours capturing the world they saw around them. Turner’s Dolbadern Castle (1800) is shown alongside John Constable who is represented by sketches made in the open air and The Leaping Horse (1825).

Seafarers endure much to bring us the things we depend on every day.

So it’s only fair that we offer a warm welcome, a friendly face and a listening ear when they arrive on our shores.

It’s a small gesture to drive them to church or help with practical problems.

And when crisis strikes, seafarers need support more than ever.

Please, will you offer the hand of friendship today – and support a seafarer visiting a UK port. www.apostleshipofthesea.org.uk/ways-donate

The Collection Gallery from 25 January 2020

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

There is free admission to the Royal Academy at Burlington House on Piccadilly; opening hours are daily 10am – 6pm and Fridays 10am – 10pm.

February 2020

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Matthew 25.35 (NRSV)

Registered charity in England and Wales number 1069833.

Registered charity in Scotland number SC043085.

Registered company number 3320318

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ST AGATHA IN OSTERLEY

A Sicilian Martyr Returns Home

The painting is a dramatic depiction of Agatha of Sicily, a third-century martyr who suffered torture at the hands of the Roman authorities and died in prison. Tradition tells that the Roman Governor of Sicily fell in love with her and repeatedly asked her to marry him. She refused on the basis that she was already married to God. Being spiteful, the enraged governor had her arrested on the grounds of her Christian faith. Whilst in prison she suffered torture, including rape and having her breasts cut off, but never renounced her faith. Accordingly she is invoked as a patron for victims of sexual assault and those suffering with breast cancer and is numbered among the saints who are named in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I). The work is a fine and typical example of the style of the Italian Baroque artist Carlo Dolci, a leading figure of 17th-century Florentine art, whose passionate depictions of holy figures aimed to inspire reverence and empathy for the divine. It captures the miraculous moment when St Peter the Apostle appeared to St Agatha in a vision, in order to heal the wounds which she had received from her torturers.

John Chu, National Trust Assistant Curator of Pictures and Sculpture explains: ‘Although an extraordinary number of original furnishings remain at Osterley, its once-famous picture collection has been almost completely dispersed or destroyed. We are lucky to have a number of paintings on loan from the Jersey family, but it is fantastic when a rare opportunity arises to purchase one for the property, especially one as moving and profound as this. The homecoming of St Agatha provides the chance to look more closely at the importance of pictures to the story of the house. She is the highlight of our exhibition exploring the Child family’s meteoric rise and what these precious objects

24

© National Trust

A painting of the early Christian martyr St Agatha, by Italian artist Carlo Dolci (1616-1687), has been acquired by the National Trust for Osterley Park and House in Middlesex, thanks to a grant from Art Fund. The return of Saint Agatha to Osterley has prompted the team there to stage a special exhibition for visitors which explores the rise to fame and fortune of the Child family (who acquired the painting) and showcase the art and design that they commissioned and collected from around the world. The Childs were goldsmiths and bankers who patronised the fine and decorative arts and the wealth they acquired was used to create the Robert Adam interiors still seen at Osterley today, which were filled with Old Master paintings, lacquer furniture, Indian fabrics and East Asian ceramics. The painting of St Agatha, purchased by Sir Robert Child at the beginning of the 18th century, became one of the works in a great picture collection at Osterley and was recorded in a 1782 inventory. However, it was later sold along with other family heirlooms in the 1930s.

The martyr St Agatha, by Carlo Dolci meant to them at a remarkable moment in British history and she is displayed alongside other European and Asian works of art and design, including furniture and ceramics, bought by the family. We also want to give our visitors a sense of the special meaning that each object held for the people and cultures that created them. Dolci’s St Agatha, for instance, held powerful spiritual resonances for its Roman Catholic maker and his first Florentine patrons, but it was seen in a much more secular light when it entered the collection at Osterley and was displayed alongside family portraits. We are very grateful to Art Fund and our other generous donors and supporters for enabling us to acquire St Agatha and hope the exhibition will inspire all those who enjoy discovering examples of the highest quality art and design’.

The portrait was purchased for £248,750 at a Christie’s Old Masters Evening Sale in London, thanks to a grant of £85,000 from Art Fund, support from private donors, Trust members and visitors to Osterley Park, and from a fund set up by the late Simon Sainsbury to support acquisitions for the historic houses of the National Trust. Since the acquisition, the painting has undergone two phases of conservation treatment.

Treasures of Osterley – Rise of a Banking Family runs at Osterley House until 23 February Oremus

February 2020

THE FRIENDS OF WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL

© Spudgun67

Big Giving, Fund Raising and a City Summer in Prospect

Plaque marking the site of the first church of St Mary Moorfields

Christina White 2020 kicked off with an evening party in the Clergy House Common Room for all the people who helped at the Christmas Fair in 2019. It was lovely to welcome Canon Christopher and Frs Rajiv and Michael who came and mingled with the guests. Whilst the streets of London were littered with fading Christmas trees, Clergy House was still bedecked with beautiful decorations and the tree was a lovely sight. It smelled beautiful too.

It was a splendid evening and all who attended were very grateful to the Chaplains for giving up their private residence, and indeed their evening, to come and celebrate. We have raised in the region of £9,500 – I took a card payment just yesterday for a further £7, so money is still coming in and the Gift Shop kindly sold the surplus puddings for us over the last days of December. The audit in February will confirm the final figure. Thank you to all who helped; we made far more than anticipated, as we did struggle with donations this time.

One of our more successful fundraising ruses has been to make gift hampers. If you have good quality hampers, nice baskets or gift boxes please do bring them to Clergy House February 2020

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and we will make good use of them.

We still have a large number of raffle prizes uncollected. Data Protection rules prohibit us from listing the winners, but please do check the numbers listed below. We have endeavoured to contact those who provided a contact number on their ticket stubs: 25084, 25332, 07086, 00729, 25143, 14415,00766, 09307, 14673, 15514, 10576, 06598, 21479.

One of the prizes was a choir CD and a ticket to the Christmas Celebration 2019; I have been assured that this is transferable to the 2020 event.

The Friends’ outing to Ingatestone attracted a large and appreciative crowd in the summer of 2019 not least because we were joined by Rory O’Donnell who led the group, and I am delighted to tell you that Rory is coming into Clergy House to arrange some further outings for us in 2020.

He was delighted with the response from the trip. The Friends are an interested and interesting group and we were very happy to focus on quite specialised architectural details. Rory’s expertise and passion is architecture – so expect more of the same.

We participated in the Big Give in 2019 to raise funds for the Tower Viewing Gallery refurbishment.

Cheques were received in the office, and along with the online campaign, we raised well in excess of £31,000. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Oxford Professor Diane Purkiss (pictured left) is coming to the Cathedral later this month to give a talk on Politics and Religion. One of her specialisms is

the Civil War and she draws interesting parallels with Brexit and the tribalism that followed. She is a fascinating writer and speaker – please book early.

And finally, planning ahead, the Friends’ Summer Party for 2020 is being held at St Mary Moorfields – the original pro-Cathedral for the diocese.

The church is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2020 and we have been invited for Mass, a talk and supper to follow. All the details will be in the Spring newsletter which will be sent to all members later this month. If you or a friend would like to join the Friends in 2020 and support the Cathedral, please call 0207 798 9059 and we will be happy to help. Thank you for your interest of and support of the Friends.

Forthcoming Events Monday 24 February: Oxford Professor Diane Purkiss on Civil War, Politics and Religion.

Westminster Cathedral Hall. Doors open at 6.30pm and the talk will begin at 7pm. Tickets £10 Friday 6 March: A Walk Through Historic Clerkenwell with Anthony Weaver: including Mass at St Etheldreda’s, a pub lunch and visits to the museums of the Charterhouse and the Hospital of St John. Meet at St Peter’s Italian church at 10am.

Please note that this is a full-day walking tour. Tickets £30

Contact us • Write to: Friends’ Office, 42 Francis Street, London SW1P 1QW • Call: 020 7798 9059 • Email: friends@ westminstercathedral.org.uk Registered Charity number 272899

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DIARY

2020

St Paul Miki, two Jesuit colleagues and 23 other clergy and laity are now honoured as the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan (feast day 6 February). Paul, who came from a wealthy family, was educated by Jesuits and subsequently joined the Society in 1580. Here he became famous for his preaching, which was successful in obtaining the conversion of many to the Faith, but also aroused the jealousy and suspicions of the country’s ruler. Arrested and forced to march from Kyoto to Nagasaki, home to the country’s largest Christian population, the martyrs were crucified there, Paul reportedly forgiving his killers from the cross.

The Month of

February The Holy Father’s Prayer Intention for February Universal: Listen to the Migrants’ Cries We pray that the cries of our migrant brothers and sisters, victims of criminal trafficking, may be heard and considered.

© Boston College Libraries

FEBRUARY

St Paul Miki (left) and two Jesuit Companions

Tuesday 4 February

Byrd – O salutaris hostia Organ: Vierne – Sur le Rhin (Pièces de Fantaisie) 4.45pm Organ Recital: Stephen Pinnock (Canterbury)

Feria 5.30pm Chapter Mass

Wednesday 5 February

St Agatha, Virgin & Martyr

Monday 10 February

Thursday 6 February

St Paul Miki & Companions, The 26 Martyrs of Japan

St Scholastica, Virgin

Tuesday 11 February

Our Lady of Lourdes 5.30pm Pimlico Foundation sings with the Choristers at Mass

Wednesday 12 February

Saturday 1 February

Ps Week 3 Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday 11am Diocesan Mass for those in Consecrated Life (Cardinal Nichols) 4pm Extraordinary Form Mass in the Lady Chapel

Feria 10.30am Mass with Priests of the Archdiocese of Milan (Archbishop Delpini)

Monday 3 February

Ps Week 4 Ss Laurence, Dunstan and Theodore, Archbishops of Canterbury The Blessing of St Blaise on throats will be given after each Mass

This statue of St Paul Miki by Johannes Bitterich is in the church of St Martin, Bamberg

Friday 7 February

Feria

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Friday abstinence

Saturday 8 February

St Josephine Bakhita (St Jerome Emiliani) 2pm Lourdes Mass for the Sick (Cardinal Nichols) 6pm Victoria Choir sings at Mass

Sunday 9 February

Framed portion of an 18th-century flag depicting St Blaise and the city of Dubrovnik

© José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / CC BY-SA 3.0

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD 10.30am Solemn Mass (Full Choir) Victoria – Missa quarti toni Tallis – Videte miraculum Victoria – Senex puerum portabat Organ: Guilmant – Grand chœur in D 3.30pm Solemn Vespers & Benediction Bevan – Magnificat octavi toni Holst – Nunc dimittis Organ: Tournemire – Diptyque (L’Orgue Mystique XI) 4.30pm Deaf Service Mass (Cathedral Hall) 4.45pm Organ Recital: Simon Hogan (London)

© Andreas Praefcke

Sunday 2 February

Ps Week 1

5th SUNDAY IN O.T. 9am Family Mass 10.30am Solemn Mass (Full Choir) Lassus – Missa Bell’ Amfitrit’ altera Guerrero – Ave Virgo sanctissima Organ: Franck – Pièce Héroïque 3.30pm Solemn Vespers & Benediction Incertus – Magnificat secundi toni

The Golden Madonna stands atop the central spire of the Duomo in Milan

Thursday 13 February Feria

Friday 14 February Friday abstinence Ss CYRIL, Monk & METHODIUS, Bishop, Patrons of Europe Saturday 15 February

Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday 6pm Huddersfield and Leeds Youth Choir sings at Mass Oremus

February 2020

DIARY AND NOTICES Sunday 16 February Ps Week 2 6th SUNDAY IN O.T. 10.30am Solemn Mass (Men’s Voices) Lassus – Missa Triste départ Palestrina – Cantabo Domino Palestrina – Deficiant peccatores Organ: J S Bach – Prelude and Fugue in G major BWV 541 3.30pm Solemn Vespers & Benediction Guerrero – Magnificat primi toni Victoria – Laudate Dominum Organ: Buxtehude – Præludium in D 4.45pm Organ Recital: Anthony Gritten (Royal Academy of Music)

Wednesday 26 February

Monday 17 February

Lent feria

Feria (Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order)

Tuesday 18 February

Feria 8am-6pm NHS Blood Transfusion Service in Cathedral Hall

Wednesday 19 February Feria

Thursday 20 February Feria

Ps Week 4 ASH WEDNESDAY Fast & Abstinence Usual daily timetable; ashes will be imposed at all Masses 8am-6pm NHS Blood Transfusion Service in Cathedral Hall 5.30pm Solemn Mass (Full Choir) Plainsong – Missa XVIII Allegri – Miserere mei Deus Byrd – Emendemus in melius

Thursday 27 February Lent feria

Friday 28 February

Friday abstinence

Saturday 29 February

Lent feria 3pm Rite of Election - First Service (Cardinal Nichols) Key to the Diary: Saints’ days and holy days written in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS denote Sundays and Solemnities, CAPITAL LETTERS denote Feasts, and those not in capitals denote Memorials, whether optional or otherwise. Memorials in brackets are not celebrated liturgically.

Friday 21 February Friday abstinence Feria (St Peter Damian, Bishop & Doctor) Saturday 22 February

THE CHAIR OF ST PETER THE APOSTLE 2pm Mass for the World Apostolate of Fatima

Sunday 23 February

Ps Week 3

7th SUNDAY IN O.T. 10.30am Solemn Mass (Full Choir) Palestrina – Missa brevis MacMillan – A new song Guerrero – O sacrum convivium Organ: Escaich – Évocation II 3.30pm Solemn Vespers & Benediction Victoria – Magnificat tertii toni Philips – Ecce vicit Leo Organ: Reger – Toccata and Fugue in D minor Op. 59 4.45pm Organ Recital: Daniel Justin (Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Norwich)

Monday 24 February

Feria 6.30pm ‘Civil War, Politics and Religion’ – Friends’ Talk in Cathedral Hall

Tuesday 25 February Shrove Tuesday February 2020

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What Happens and When

Public Services: The Cathedral opens shortly before the first Mass of the day; doors close at 7.00pm, Monday to Saturday, with occasional exceptions.

On Sunday evenings the Cathedral closes after the 7.00pm Mass. On Public and Bank Holidays the Cathedral closes at 5.30pm in the afternoon.

Monday to Friday: Masses: 7.00am; 8.00am; 10.30am (Latin, said); 12.30pm; 1.05pm and 5.30pm (Solemn, sung by the Choir). Morning Prayer (Lady Chapel): 7.40am. Evening Prayer (Latin Vespers* sung by the Lay Clerks in the Lady Chapel): 5.00pm (*except Tuesday when it is sung in English). Rosary is prayed after the 5.30pm Mass.

Saturday: Masses: 8.00am; 9.00am; 10.30am (Solemn Latin, sung by the Choir); and 12.30pm.

Morning Prayer (Lady Chapel): 10.00am. First Evening Prayer of Sunday (Lady Chapel): 5.30pm.

First Mass of Sunday: 6.00pm.

Sunday: Masses: 8.00am; 9.00am; 10.30am (Solemn, sung by the Choir); 12 noon; 5.30pm; and 7.00pm. Morning Prayer (Lady Chapel) 10.00am.

Solemn Vespers and Benediction: 3.30pm. Organ Recital (when scheduled): 4.45pm.

Holy Days of Obligation: As Monday-Friday, Vigil Mass (evening of the previous day) at 5.30pm.

Public Holidays: Masses: 10.30am, 12.30pm, 5.00pm.

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament: This takes place in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel every Monday to Friday following the 1.05pm Mass, until 4.45pm.

Confessions are heard at the following times: Saturday: 10.30am-6.30pm. Sunday: 11.00am1.00pm; and 4.30-7.00pm. Monday-Friday: 11.30am-6.00pm. Public Holidays: 11.00am1.00pm.

Sacred Heart Church, Horseferry Road SW1P 2EF: Sunday Mass 11.00am, Weekday Mass Thursday 12.30pm Funerals: Enquiries about arranging a funeral at the Cathedral or Sacred Heart Church, Horseferry Road, should be made to a priest at Cathedral Clergy House in the first instance.

Throughout the Year

Mondays: 11.30am: Prayer Group in the Hinsley Room. 1.30pm: Legion of Mary Group II in the Hinsley Room. 6.30pm: Guild of the Blessed Sacrament in the Cathedral Tuesdays: Walsingham Prayer Group in St George’s Chapel 2.30pm on first Tuesday of the month; 6.30pm: The Guild of St Anthony in the Cathedral.

Wednesdays: 12.00pm: First Wednesday Quiet Days on the first Wednesday of every month in the Hinsley Room.

Thursdays: 1.15pm: Padre Pio Prayer Group at Sacred Heart Church. 6.30pm: The Legion of Mary in Clergy House.

Fridays: 5.00pm: Charismatic Prayer Group in the Cathedral Hall – please check in advance for confirmation.

Saturdays: 10.00am: Centering Prayer Group in the Hinsley Room. 2.00pm: Justice and Peace Group in the Hinsley Room on the last of the month.

27

FIFTY AND ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

In retrospect: from the Cathedral Chronicle In the first place we must recognise that corporate reunion – the ultimate object of the whole ecumenical movement – can only come when the mass of ordinary Christians is convinced by the light of the Holy Spirit that divisions are no longer tolerable. Christian Unity is not the concern only of Church leaders and theologians.

The ministers of the Church are by definition the servants of God and of God’s people. It is not for prelates to arrange mergers as if their denominations were like business firms or political parties. It is not for theologians to devise formulae which will produce external unity or compose a vague creed to which all Christians could subscribe only by use of mental reservations. Re-union will come when the members of all Churches are one in mind and heart.

This is the reason why delay, far from being dangerous, is essential. It is impossible for people to discard the thinking of generations in five or ten years. The biggest danger of ecumenism would be to speak as if truth can be compromised in the interests of charity. The descendants of those who centuries ago fought and died for their religious convictions should not make mockery of their memory. The Mass, the sacraments, devotion to the Mother of God, the authority of the Vicar of Christ are essentials of our Catholic faith. But, on the other hand, millions of Christians regard the principles of the Reformers – many of whom also died for their beliefs – as necessary to the spiritual health of Christendom. To pretend that such matters of conscience can be swept away for the sake of a united Christian front is to breed indifferentism. That is why we move with caution.

Otherwise we might destroy the faith of Christian people for the sake of a faked unity.

It is clear that what is called the dialogue of theologians, the meetings and common prayer of humbler Church members help to bring re-union nearer. It is by such means that Christians learn the teachings of the different creeds. It is undeniable that such intercourse reveals a much wider and deeper unity in belief than anyone had hitherto suspected. Above all it makes Christians more Christian in their mutual attitudes. from a Christian Unity Octave Address by Cardinal Heenan in the February 1970 Westminster Cathedral News Sheet 28

THE SNARE IS BROKEN Thank God, the war has shaken our arms from neckclinging to every German professor. The snare is broken and we are free. But how about the enemy at home? We have not swung back from Protestantism to Catholicity; we have not veered round from false beacon-lights to the true. Nay, on the contrary, we appear to be travelling in a tunnel, and it would seem that we are running on the down line to a terminus dark as night, and hateful as hell.

For four years and more England felt scorching the very marrow of her bones that ‘Scourge of God’, euphemistically called the ‘Great War’. England has had a rude awakening. The battlefield, the dug-out, and the hospital have revealed to her that the religion of her adoption is not suited to this work-a-day world, that it has no message to men who ‘labour and are heavyburdened’, that it is little better than a stone to the worker clamouring for bread, and that it has no viaticum to support him who is about to start on the lonely journey to Eternity. In a word, when weighed in the scales of the sanctuary, the religion borrowed centuries ago from the Hun has been found to be a conspiracy against the truth, a parody of history, a mockery of the Old Tradition, and only a reed to lean on when broken with wounds and in the presence of death.

Now is the time for the Catholic Church in this land to try and put on the brake, and to call forth all the energies of her inexhaustible life to arrest the attention of nonCatholics to the Paganism in which they are involved.

What Christ did for Pagan Rome He can do for Pagan England and it is the mission of all Catholics in this country to make strong and fervent appeals to our English martyrs to bestir themselves and to rescue this dear, dear land from a slavery which in a sense is even worse than that in which St Augustine found our Anglo-Saxon forefathers before they looked on the Great Light. We cannot be as those who had never seen the Holy Grail.

GET BUSY FOR GOD All of us, lay and cleric, must get busy for God, and throw ourselves into an organised apostleship for the re-conversion of England. from Is England becoming Pagan? by Fr Bernard Vaughan SJ in the February 1920 Westminster Cathedral Chronicle Oremus

February 2020

CROATIAN ANGELS

In Search of Juraj Dalmatinac Readers of Oremus may be aware that the Croatian Chaplaincy meets for Mass each Sunday in Sacred Heart church on Horseferry Road. The community publishes an annual bilingual magazine, Most, ‘The Bridge’, containing items of spiritual and cultural interest, amongst which was this piece in the latest edition.

In the Old Masters section a wonderful surprise was the appearance of two stone sculptures, each representing two angels with raised hands. These beautiful Renaissance sculptures are particularly interesting in the Croatian history of art, because they are attributed to Juraj Dalmatinac, born in Zadar circa 1409 and known in Italy as Georgio di Mateo da Sebenico. He is termed da Sebenico

© Z Jelaca, Croatian Tourist Board

In search of works of art by Croatian masters or artworks and documents significant for the Croatian heritage, what better place is there to visit than London’s auction houses, antique dealers and international art and antique fairs? One of these fairs is certainly Frieze Masters, which is a highlight of the October art calendar.

St Jacob’s Cathedral in Šibenik

© Industrial Photo, Firenze

(from Šibenik) because the town is home to his masterpiece. As one of the most famous Croatian sculptors and architects, from 1441 he was responsible for the planning and realization of Šibenik’s Cathedral, which is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The angels by Juraj Dalmatinac February 2020

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On the sculptural decoration of the cathedral we can see his specific style of modelling the clothes of his figures, their faces, hairstyles and angels’ wings. These characteristics can all be recognized on the sculptures of the angels that were exhibited in London and are now with the dealers in Florence. The sculptures have been accompanied by an analysis written by David Lucidi, an Italian art historian who has researched their interesting provenance in private and public collections. It is hoped that Croatia will find sponsors for the purchase of these exceptional sculptures and that their final destination will be the art collection of the town of Šibenik.

29

ST VINCENT DE PAUL PRIMARY SCHOOL

The Holy Family and Candlemas Joshua, Year 6 The Holy Family consists of the Virgin Mary, St Joseph and Jesus.

We celebrated them on Sunday 29 December as it is a religious festival which falls on the first Sunday after Christmas. Although major feast days dedicated to each member of the Holy Family also exist, this feast commemorates their life together. Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph, who was a carpenter.

The Angel Gabriel was sent by God to tell Mary that she would give birth a child, Jesus. A few months later, the Roman Emperor Augustus ordered a census of the whole world.This meant that Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem, which is where Jesus was born. That is where the Holy Family were first united.

The feast of Candlemas will be on Sunday 2 February. It is celebrated for three particular reasons: • The Presentation of the child Jesus • Jesus’ first entry into the Jerusalem Temple • A prophecy about the Virgin Mary Candlemas is 40 days after Jesus’ birth and marks the end of Christmas.

Christians began celebrating Candlemas in Jerusalem as early as the fourth century and the lighting of candles as part of it began in the fifth century. It was then observed by blessing candles since the 11th century. An early writing dating back to around 380 AD mentioned that a feast of the Presentation had been kept in a church in Jerusalem. The feast was observed on 2 February in regions where Christ's birth was celebrated on 25 December.

Candlemas is focused on Jesus’ early life. Jesus’ mother, Mary, and St Joseph presented him to God at the Temple in Jerusalem. This happened after a 40-day period starting from his birth. According to St Luke’s gospel, a devout Jewish man 30

named Simeon held the baby Jesus in his arms and said that he would be a light for all (Luke 2: 32). It is for this reason that the feast day is called Candlemas.

During this visit to the Temple when Simeon spoke about the Christ Child being a light to the world and a sign for the Jewish people, he also said that a sword would pierce Mary's soul.

Snowdrops are known as Candlemas flowers, because they often bloom early in the year, sometimes even before Candlemas itself. Some varieties bloom all through the winter in the northern hemisphere. Other people used to believe that these flowers should not be brought into the

house because they were associated with death. However, it is believed in more recent times that these flowers symbolize Jesus as ‘the light of the world’.

The candles blessed and lit on this day can have three different meanings for the three different parts of them:

• The Flame, for Christ’s divinity • The Wick, for Christ’s soul • The Wax, for Christ’s body To me Candlemas is an important time for Christians and a key moment in Christ’s life.

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February 2020

LEARNING TO PRAY

What is Prayer?

St John Henry Newman separate courses. He who does not pray does not claim his citizenship with heaven, but lives, though an heir of the kingdom, as if he were a child of earth.

© AndyScott

Now, it is not surprising if that duty or privilege, which is the characteristic token of our heavenly inheritance, should also have an especial influence upon our fitness for claiming it. He who does not use a gift, loses it; the man who does not use his voice or limbs, loses power over them, and becomes disqualified for the state of life to which he is called. In like manner, he who neglects to pray, not only suspends the enjoyment, but is in a way to lose the possession, of his divine citizenship. We are members of another world; we have been severed from the companionship of devils, and brought into that invisible kingdom of Christ which faith alone discerns – that mysterious presence of God which encompasses us, which is in us, and around us, which is in our heart, which enfolds us as though with a robe of light, hiding our scarred and discoloured souls from the sight of Divine Purity, and making them shine as the Angels …

The altar of St John Henry Newman in the Brompton Oratory

What, then, is prayer? It is (if it may be said reverently) conversing with God. We converse with our fellow-men, and then we use familiar language, because they are our fellows. We converse with God, and then we use the lowliest, awfullest, calmest, concisest language we can, because He is God. Prayer, then, is divine converse, differing from human as God differs from man.

Thus St Paul says: ‘Our conversation is in heaven’, not indeed thereby meaning converse of words only, but intercourse and manner of living generally; yet still in an especial way converse of words or prayer, because language is the special means of all intercourse. Our intercourse with our fellow-men goes on not by sight, but by sound, not by eyes, but by ears. Hearing is the social sense, and language is the social bond. In like manner, as the Christian’s conversation is in heaven, as it is his duty, with Enoch and other saints, to walk with God, so is his voice in heaven, his heart ‘inditing of a good matter’, of prayers and praises.

Prayers and praises are the mode of his intercourse with the next world, as the business of converse or recreation is the mode in which this world is carried on in all its February 2020

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