Oremus November 2019

November 2019 | Edition Number 252 | FREE

Westminster Cathedral Magazine

The Chapel of St Edmund, with a relic of the saint, lies beneath the High Altar of the Cathedral

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Oremus

November 2019

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 Editor Fr John Scott

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Cathedral Life: Past & Present The Dream of Gerontius, performed by the Parliament Choir

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A French Revolt – Jean Guillou’s Work for Nine Organs Comes to Town 11 Cathedral History: Tothill Fields Prison

by Patrick Rogers 16 & 17

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Cathedral History in Pictures: Remembrance Sunday 1964

by Paul Tobin

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The Christmas Celebration – Book Now!

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

Features

Design and Art Direction Julian Game

Words and Creed: A Homily

by Mgr Robert Mercer CR

6&7

Eco-Visionaries: Artists View the Environment at the RA

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Paradise Street Premiered

by Jo Siedlecka

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4

A Drone in Arundel

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.

A Priest and Architect

by Peter Howell

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10 & 11

How to Build a Monastery (Part II)

by Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB 12 & 13 John Henry Newman: The Harmony of Difference

by HRH The Prince of Wales

14 & 15

Praying in Prison: CTS Comes to Help

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A Misleading Film Taken Down

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The Earth, the Moon and the Sun

by Dr Stuart Blackie KCHS

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Victorians Head for the Nile

by Fr John Scott

26 & 27

On Original Sin

by St John Henry Newman

This bronze of St Edmund of Abingdon (feast day 16 November) as an impoverished student sits in the grounds of the Oxford college, St Edmund Hall, outside the former church of St Peter-in-the-East, whose Lady Chapel was donated by the saint. The church is now the college’s library. © Simononly

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November 2019

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25

Regulars From the Editor

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Monthly Album

18 & 19

Cathedral Diary and Notices

22 & 23

Friends of the Cathedral

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Crossword and Poem of the Month

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In Retrospect

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St Vincent de Paul Primary School

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DRONING IN CHURCH

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.

Arundel Cathedral: The Bird’s-Eye View Do you ever find yourself in a cathedral wishing you could get a closer look at some of those features high above? A series of new drone videos offers stunning bird’s-eye views of the beautiful stained glass windows and soaring arches of Arundel Cathedral in West Sussex. Arundel resident Bryden Isbister, a software consultant, who has produced the cathedral website for many years, came up with the idea. As a keen photographer, he had often shot the outside of the cathedral which is very beautiful after dark when illuminated.

‘When drones came out, I thought this would make an excellent film,’ he notes and so, together with his son James, a DPhil student at Oxford University, they made their first drone video of the cathedral at night. Bryden was revamping the website at the time, so at the end of 2018 he added it to the new website. Bishop Richard Moth, Canon Tim Madely and the Cathedral team were very impressed with the video and asked Bryden and James to make a drone video of the Cathedral interior.

Bryden said: ‘The Cathedral was prepared by Mike Bloxham of the Cathedral team and filming took place on Easter Monday. We were able to complete filming while the Cathedral remained open. Visitors were very interested in 4

the drone filming activities and took photos of the filming!

My son James piloted the Parrot Anafi drone and I edited the video’. Key features in the film are the beautiful Rose Window, the Organ, and the Shrine of St Philip Howard.

There's a great deal of work behind the scenes making videos of this quality. Drone filming is strictly regulated and filmmakers need to take into account things like weather and scaffolding. The GPS navigation system can be affected by things like towers. The video editing was done using Da Vinci Resolve video production suite. Music was carefully chosen and royalties purchased from several different companies.

Bryden and James have since gone on to make a short film of the Corpus Christi carpet of flowers, and are looking into making further videos in future, possibly filming the next Corpus Christi procession and service at Arundel Castle.

‘With crowds, though, you do need to prepare,’ he said, ‘because people are fascinated by drones and of course if they see one they do tend to look up’.

All the videos can be seen on the Arundel Cathedral website: http://arundelcathedral.uk/ and on Youtube: Arundel Cathedral By Night - https://youtube/ Xq2GVYVGMBk Oremus

November 2019

ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRMAN

The Editor writes There are both days and nights at the moment that are particularly trying, not to say irritating. Cathedral duties combine with a certain disinclination to venture beyond the Cathedral complex as the Extinction Rebellion protests affect the parish.

Sleep is broken by the whirring of helicopters overhead at 3.30am and other hours throughout the day. But perhaps I should have been grateful that a Sunday trip to Corpus Christi church in Covent Garden to say Mass required a walk in both directions, as there were no buses, the tube was closed for the weekend and there were endless barriers and diversions to circumnavigate on account of the Half Marathon that was also taking place. The sight of Trafalgar Square as a campsite hardly impressed, although I did wonder if those in the tents all appreciated the enthusiastic and noisy drumming that was echoing round the Square at that hour of the morning.

Protestors have ventured down Victoria Street and were on the piazza this last Sunday morning. It is certainly a change from Brexit protests to hear Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est (Where charity and love are, there is God) being sung as a protest chant. The congregation was swelled somewhat by protestors who joined peacefully and prayerfully in Mass, identified both by the common protest badge and by t-shirts proclaiming Christian Climate Concern. So I have to put aside my nocturnal annoyance at broken sleep and welcome fellow Christians who are prepared to take the trouble to voice proper concern for this world that God has given into our care and that we have treated carelessly. On page eight of this edition you will find details of an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts which brings together a number of works reflecting on matters ecological. Again, it is easy to dismiss some art installation works, but a visit to Eco-Visionaries may well make those of us think who are not minded to occupy Parliament Square and disrupt the daily routine of Westminster life.

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 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 Martin Baker, 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

Two words of thanks must be said. First, to the Prince of Wales who, through the agency of Vatican News, has provided a perceptive and thoughtful article celebrating the canonization of St John Henry Newman. And then a word of thanks and farewell to Dean John Hall at Westminster Abbey, who retires to Chichester on All Saints’ Day. He has been a good friend to the Cathedral and the Chaplains were glad recently to entertain him to dinner and to assure him of best wishes and prayers. We look forward to meeting his successor, Dean David Hoyle, in due course.

November 2019

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HOMILY IN HONOUR OF JOHN BRADBURNE

Words and Creed Mgr Robert Mercer CR Our Lord the Spirit gave us the Bible that we might know God more clearly, love God more dearly, follow God more nearly day by day. John knew this. He was steeped in Bible. In his hut he constructed a structure for his Bible which he called the Ark. The Ark, you’ll remember, was the box in which the Father made Himself present among the Jews when they were wandering in the desert. Another Ark, you’ll remember, was the body of the Virgin in whom the Son made Himself present for nine months.

But for many of us the Bible is not so much communion with God, as problem. Oh dear, far too much of it. How can I find my way round all that? How can I remember all that, understand all that? Our Lord the Spirit therefore gave us the Creeds, to summarize the Bible, to interpret the Bible with authority. The Apostles’ Creed for use at baptism, and in our own prayers. The Nicene Creed which we are glad to say or sing at Mass. To help us with the Bible, Our Lord the Spirit also gave us holy people. Sometimes such people have a way with words. John Henry Newman, for example, wrote a poem, a hymn, which is very like a Creed: ‘Firmly I believe and truly / God is three and God is one’, while John Bradburne wrote so much poetry that only Professor Crystal is able to read it all. This other John also wrote about God as Trinity. ‘Being informed that Yahweh’s Three / Persons are Thought and Word and Voice / Of One Substance which is Free / Love who is Chooser, Chosen, Choice’. And again, ‘The Trinity is like a Shona fire / that has three bricks, three sticks, one central flame. The Trinity is like a three-part choir / Singing in harmony High Yahweh’s Name’.

Celebrations at Mutemwa in Zimbabwe

gives us holy people, that we may learn from their lives. If there’s one thing we all understand, it’s human life. We all know growing up, growing old, terror, tenderness, shame sorrow. Just as the Bible, just as the Creeds help us know God more clearly, love God more dearly, follow God more nearly, so do the lives lived by saints.

Mention John Bradburne and words spring to mind, jostle with each other: joy, bees, granite boulders, ecumenism, eagles, love for Judaism, love for Mary, fasting, the settlement at Mutemwa and its need for help, the work of the Bradburne Memorial Society. Mention John Bradburne and Biblical texts spring to mind, jostle with each other: ‘I will go unto the altar of joy and gladness’ (Psalm 43), ‘The fruit of the Spirit is joy’ (St Paul, Galatians 5: 22), ‘May God fill you with joy in believing’ (St Paul, Romans 15: 13), ‘That my joy might be in you and that your joy might be complete’ (Jesus Himself, St John 15: 11), ‘Because of the joy before Him, Jesus despised the cross’ (Hebrews 12: 2).

© Simon Caldwell

Some saints have a way with words. But words have limits.

They’re not always easy to understand. John Henry Newman’s sentences can seem too long. Not everybody likes poetry, not even John Bradburne’s poetry. Our Lord the Spirit therefore

There was, of course, strong Zimbabwean representation in the Cathedral at the Thanksgiving Mass 6

But when I reflect more slowly, I think of John as a kind of walking creed, a living, breathing explanation of Scripture.

John points me to Jesus. The poem, hymn by John Henry Newman goes on to say: ‘And I next acknowledge duly / Manhood taken by the Son’. John Bradburne points me to two settings or situations where I don’t readily see Jesus. The first such is described to us by Jesus Himself: ‘I was hungry and you gave Me food. I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was sick and you visited Me. I was in prison and you came to Me’ (St Matthew 22: 35) John so loved Jesus. The second such situation is described to us

by St Paul in his Letter to the Colossians: ‘By Christ all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. All things were created by Christ and for Christ. In Christ all things consist (1: 16). Other translations put it: ‘In Christ all things coexist, or hold together, or coinhere’. John so loved Jesus.

All the beauty and splendour of the universe is the beauty of Jesus, Who fills all things and Who contains all things.

Oremus

November 2019

HOMILY IN HONOUR OF JOHN BRADBURNE/COMPANIONS

Companions of Oremus

© Simon Caldwell

We are very grateful for the support of the following:

What does the Bible ask of you? Faith. What is the first word of the Creed? Credo, I believe. What does John Bradburne ask of you? Faith.

I bind unto myself today The strong name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three.

Mgr Robert was ordained as an Anglican and joined the Community of the Resurrection, serving as one of its members in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and becoming Bishop of Matabeleland. In 2012 he was received into the Church and ordained as a Priest of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. He notes that: ‘My sole claim to Johannine fame is that I once picnicked with John and several ladies from my Anglican parish’.

© Simon Caldwell

Singers and drummers managed to overwhelm the Grand Organ at the end of Mass

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 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 Emel Rochat Berenice Roetheli John Scanlan Mr Luke Simpson Sonja Soper Tessa and Ben Strickland 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

November 2019

Oremus

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ECO-ARTISTS AT WORK

In November 2019 the Royal Academy of Arts will present an exhibition examining humankind’s ecological impact on the planet. As early as the 1950s, scientists started raising serious concerns about the damaging effects of modern life on the environment.

Since then, experts have been joined by creative practitioners in an effort to draw wider attention to the fragility of the planet and to stabilise its endangered eco-systems for future generations.

Tackling issues from climate change to food shortage, species extinction and resource depletion, Eco-Visionaries will bring together artists, designers and architects from across the globe who are confronting these environmental issues through their practice. At a critical moment in the history of the planet, the exhibition will present innovative works that reconsider the relationship between humans and nature, and offer alternative visions for the future. The exhibition will feature works by 21 international practitioners in a wide range of media, including film, sculpture, immersive installation, architectural models and full-scale prototypes, all interrogating how art and architecture can help us respond to a rapidly changing world.

Highlights will include the UK debut of win > < win (2017) by the artist collective Rimini Protokoll. This immersive installation will explore ecological empathy by confronting audiences with a tank of live jellyfish, one of the few species actually to benefit from the effects of global warming.

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s new project The Substitute (2019), which draws upon rare zoological archival footage as well as experimental data from artificial intelligence company DeepMind, will enable visitors to come face-to-face with a life-size digital reproduction of a northern white rhinoceros. The last male of the subspecies died in 2018.

Work by artists with a long-standing 8

© Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg

Eco-Visionaries: Confronting a Planet in a State of Emergency

The Substitute – A digital male northern white rhinoceros (recently extinct)

environmental agenda will include The ice melting series (2002) by the renowned Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson Hon RA. This photographic series showing the process of ice melting evokes the impact of small human actions on the shrinking polar ice caps. The artist Tue Greenfort, from Denmark, will present Tilapia (2017), a series of black-and-white prints arranged as a shoal of tilapia fish, one of the most consumed varieties of fish in the world but also one of the most invasive and predatory species.

The exhibition will include work by designers and architects from around the world, including the New York-based architecture studio WORKac, who will present 3.C.City: Climate, Convention, Cruise (2015), a speculative project for a floating city designed to facilitate dialogue and debate between people and marine species, inspired by the work of the legendary multidisciplinary collective Ant Farm in the 1970s, which will also be on display. In The Breast Milk of the Volcano (2016–18), the research studio Unknown Fields will present findings from an expedition to Bolivia and the Atacama Desert, source of over half the world’s reserves of lithium, questioning the sustainability of the lithium-based batteries that power most contemporary electronic devices. The London-based architect and researcher Nerea Calvillo will present Madrid In

The Air (2019), a new film specially commissioned for the exhibition, that monitors the skyline of Madrid over a 24-hour period, uncovering the almost invisible veil of pollutants in the air.

The exhibition will be designed by Delvendahl Martin Architects and the graphic design studio Daly & Lyon, who are following a sustainability strategy, making use of reclaimed materials and avoiding single-use plastics in order to reduce the exhibition’s carbon footprint and minimise the amount of waste it generates.

The exhibition will be accompanied by two publications: Eco-Visionaries: Conversations on an Uncertain Future, a new book published by the Royal Academy of Arts and edited by Gonzalo Herrero Delicado and Rose Thompson, with contributions from Dame Dr Jane Goodall and Timothy Morton, and featuring conversations with selected participants; and an illustrated book of essays Eco-Visionaries: Art, Architecture, and New Media after the Anthropocene, published by Hatje Cantzin (2018).

Running alongside the exhibition, the Royal Academy’s Architecture Studio will host Algae Platform, a project

by Atelier Luma, the design research programme of LumaArles. This new pilot, developed in partnership with the Royal Academy, will explore the potentials of London-grown algae as a bio-sourced material, and its application for architectural design.

Dates and Opening Hours: Saturday 23 November 2019 – Sunday 23 February 2020, 10am – 6pm daily (last admission 5.30pm).

Late night opening: Fridays until 10pm (last admission 9.30pm) Admission: Full price £12 (£10 excluding Gift Aid donation); concessions available; under-16s go free (T&Cs apply); Friends of the RA go free.

Oremus

November 2019

NEW DRAMA FOR SCHOOLS

Paradise Street Premiered Jo Siedlecka

Ten Ten Theatre is an award-winning theatre, film and education company founded by siblings Clare and Martin O’Brien in 2007. Alongside work in primary and secondary schools, the company has developed a significant programme of work in prisons, elderly care homes and in the community. Its latest film project, the drama series Paradise Street was recently premiered at the Art House cinema in Crouch End, North London.

The storylines revolve around four children from the same school: Finn (Tom Morrison-Rees), Leyla (Kaylan Teague), Marcus (Ben Roberts) and Siobhan (Jayda Pryce) growing up in very different families. The dialogue in Paradise Street is very authentic and the situations of the individual children really ring true. Although these films are meant for use in schools, the quality of the writing, production and acting would stand up well on mainstream television. The excellent young cast was found through a nationwide audition process and there were supporting roles for pupils from St Martin de Porres Primary School in Bounds Green. They attended the screening, along with the adult actors who played their parents. There are also fine performances from Mark Oliver, Liz Garland, Georgina Strawson, Laura Jean Clinton and Andy McLeod as the children's parents.

Jayda and Mark

Friends on and off screen: Ben Roberts and Tom Morrison-Rees

Director-writer Martin O’Brien said: ‘Paradise Street is an 11-part drama series for schools. It's an ambitious project which we produced with a small team and an even smaller budget! This meant that every single member of the cast and crew had to give 100% – which they did. Filming on location around North London, including a working school, was a challenge but the dedication and talent of our child and adult cast and crew really enabled us to achieve something special. The main cast of children, in particular, had to play characters who were undergoing sensitive experiences related to puberty and they did so with real maturity’.

September 2019

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Ten Ten explains in a statement: ‘The “Life to the Full” programme will meet the requirements of the new Relationship Education curriculum that becomes statutory for all schools in England from September 2020. Based on A Model Catholic RSE Curriculum produced by the Catholic Education Service, “Life to the Full” teaches Relationships Education and Health Education within the context of a Christian understanding of human sexuality rooted in the wisdom and teaching of the Catholic Church.

The programme includes 60 lesson plans, a wide range of multimedia resources, an accompanying programme of prayer and worship, training for teachers and an online parent portal. Ten Ten values highly the role of parents as primary educators of their children, so this online resource aims to enable full integration between home, school and church. It was trialled by just under 100 schools in the summer of 2019 and is now currently available to all schools’.

A Secondary Schools' version of ‘Life to the Full’ is also currently being rolled out. I'm looking forward to seeing that!

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A PRIEST ARCHITECT

Fr Benedict Williamson Peter Howell

Fr Williamson’s name is not well known, but he designed the southern part of St Vincent’s Orphanage (now The Passage) in 1909, and he later added the rooftop playground. His other designs include one of the grandest churches in the diocese of Westminster, St Ignatius in Stamford Hill (1901-11).

Born in 1868, he trained as an architect in London.

Received into the Church in 1896, he entered Farnborough Abbey in 1903, where he designed vast additions, of which only parts were built. However, he only remained there a short time, as he became convinced that he was called to work among the poor in the (then) diocese of Southwark.

He and two others formed a community named the Poor Brethren of Christ, but in 1906 they decided to train for the priesthood and went to the Beda College in Rome. While there Williamson got to know Elizabeth Hasselblad (now canonised), who took her vows in 1906 as the only nun of the Brigittine Order in Rome. That order took its name from St Bridget of Sweden, and originally had communities of

monks alongside the nuns. Elizabeth was to found a new congregation in 1911, for the care of the sick and work for Christian unity. Williamson took vows, and took pains to discover the correct habit. In 1909 he was authorised by the Congregation for Religious to re-establish the Brothers of the Most Holy Saviour – the proper name of the order. Ordained in the same year, he was given charge of St Gregory in Earlsfield, a church which he remodelled. The order reached a total of eleven members, though it did not prosper. In 1913 Williamson bought a house at Cobham in Surrey, but this also failed, and closed when, in 1917, Williamson volunteered as an army chaplain. He was a great success, nicknamed ‘Happy Days’, yet was gassed five times and never entirely recovered. In 1918 he wrote to the Bishop of Southwark that he wished to re-establish his order. Neither the Bishop nor the Congregation for Religious would allow this, so he went to Rome, where he became unofficial chaplain to a hospital, and died in 1948.

Fr Williamson's plans for monastic buildings at Farnborough Abbey 10

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November 2019

A PRIEST ARCHITECT

His architectural work continued until 1938, with the aid of his associate John Henry Beart Foss and his many churches included a few in the diocese of Westminster, at Hackney, Fulham, Royston, Parsons Green and Mill Hill.

He also designed the chapel at Hare Street, Hertfordshire in 1916, in memory of Mgr R H Benson, who left the house to be the country residence of the Archbishop of Westminster. He also published 20 books, mostly works of Catholic apologetics and contributed an introduction to A Revolution and its Leader, which had a preface by Mussolini; this was published in 1930, when even Pope Pius XI was not yet disillusioned with him. Fr Benedictâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own book How to Build a Church (1934) praised recent Italian church architecture.

In sum Williamson was a man of indubitable piety and self-denial, whose religious life was restless and unfocussed. As an architect, however, he had considerable talent.

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St Ignatius church, Stamford Hill

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HOW TO BUILD A MONASTERY

A Steep Learning Curve (Part 2) Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB

Funds are raised, the Foundation Stone is laid and work is about to begin: The plot of land north of Tambogrande, on the way to the Ecuadorean border, had all the attributes for the new monastery’s right site. I went to see it and thought it admirable for our purposes; so we gathered together, and decided that we should ask the Abbot if we could buy it, with a view to starting our building as soon as possible.

This I did; having got the approval from on high, in early February 1984 I got down to the purchase and transfer of the land to us; and Belmont soon owned these few acres of land in the 8-4 (Ocho Quatro) district of the Piura Province, up on the side of a hill, with a fantastic view, but very neglected.

At the time I thought I had satisfied all the necessary measures to become rightful owner of the land by paying the diocesan lawyer to oversee the purchase on our behalf.

We later discovered that he had cut so many corners that the land did not legally belong to us; and Paul had to go through the whole process all over again for the transfer to be legal.

Not an uncommon occurrence, sadly.

The next two most important things were to secure the property and to install a guardian, who would make sure that no unwelcome visitors came and settled there. The former took a while to complete, but the latter I was able to do immediately. Jesus, a young Peruvian who had been doing various jobs for us in the parish in Tambogrande, was only too willing to settle there, and became the guardian, handyman and factotum. He proved to be invaluable, and became a firm friend of the community. I put him in charge of a small band of young men from our parish to do some clearing, mending and digging of new channels for irrigation and general tidying of the land which looked very neglected, as well as some planting of all sorts of vegetables and fruit.

I also invested in some chickens and ducks, which I hoped would breed and provide us with food, and eventually perhaps make our monastery self-sufficient.

The purchase was sown up, signed and delivered in late March, ready for the Abbot’s annual visit in May, and the blessing and laying of the Foundation Stone. We invited the Archbishop to join us and preside, with the Abbot assisting.

The day was a very joyful affair, with most of the priests of the diocese attending, as well as representatives from a number of sisters’ communities from near and far. During his visit the four of us and the Abbot sat down to discuss the kind of building we wanted. We came to the conclusion that it would have to be a fairly simple structure, in view both of the finance which was limited, and also of the comparison likely to be made with the very humble dwellings in the 12

whole of that region. Our builder would be Señor Cherre, who had built the Tyburn Benedictine nuns’ Convent; and the Abbot left us all feeling very optimistic and looking forward to the start of things. It did not last long.

Just two months after laying the Foundation Stone, the Abbot wrote to say that the financial situation at Belmont was of concern, and that we would have to put our building plans on ice. This was a tremendous shock to all four of us; we could not understand how the financial situation at Belmont could have got to that stage in so short a time. Personally, I was furious; I had come out to build a monastery, and now we were to shelve the project until when? The first three drafts of the letters I wrote to the Abbot were never sent; letters no monk should ever send to his Abbot. But, in the fourth, a much milder affair, I emphasised how bad it would look, how much people were looking forward to a religious house in the diocese and how much it would dent the confidence of the local bishop and clergy in the Belmont community and its commitment. I reminded the Abbot of my original offer to run a fundraising campaign, and said that I was ready to come back, set it up, and if successful, come out again and build as soon as possible.

He agreed, and so I planned a return to Belmont in January, with necessary preparations until April when I would launch the fundraising and set up the necessary arrangements to manage it; then, a return to Peru with hopefully enough funds and covenants to build by September or early October.

So, it all happened. One thing that became very clear to me was what a hateful task it is asking for money. But many Old Boys of Belmont’s school and their parents were very conscious of what the Abbey had done for them, and things were not quite as bad as I had at first feared.

Now I move to an account I made of the actual progress of the building at the time, shortly before the completion of the new monastery: ‘As I sit in one of the completed rooms of the new Monastery of the Incarnation, with work going on all around me in its last month, I look back and record these nine months of my life; otherwise memory may fail me and I might embroider my story in the telling as I get old.

A year ago I was collecting the money, both for our work out here and also for the building itself. After moments of sheer despair that the money would ever come in, Fr Alan told me to pray to the Infant of Prague, and to put a cheque under his statue ... I was desperate, so I did it. The Infant taught me a lesson: within two months there was enough to feel that l could go back and start building; and after four there was somewhere around the £88,000 mark altogether in covenants, gifts and promises somewhere. Don’t knock the Infant of Prague in my presence; he's an OK guy. So I Oremus

November 2019

HOW TO BUILD A MONASTERY

The monastery begins to take shape

found myself travelling back to Peru at the end of August 1985, hoping there would be enough money in the coffers to build this long dreamt-of monastery. Little did I know that my problems would not be the money at all; there was plenty of that.

Most of my headaches came from my total ignorance of building and the part which the person who wants to build has in the whole operation. You really ought to get the inside story from the builder himself; or perhaps I should say ought to have got, because, alas, he is no longer with us, even though we are still building; but that comes later. I didn't have to go and fetch the builder. I arrived in Tambogrande on a Friday, and after the 7.15am Mass there was my builder, who had come hotfoot from Sechura, some 90 miles away, who told me that he had just completed the Convent for the Benedictine Nuns of Tyburn; actually, he hadn’t, but I didn’t discover that until much later, when he went missing for long periods of time.

First of all, let me give you the principal dramatis personae: Don Miguel Cherre Pinday, contractor; mid-40s, about five foot three inches tall, with a large beer paunch which he took great pleasure in exhibiting (Peruvians have a habit of rucking up their shirt to show a width of midriff; Cherre had it down to a fine art). Sincerity shone out of his every word (or lie?); in fact, Don Miguel made the perfect con artist, and I fell for his act many a time. Another one I should have suspected right from the start was Don Alfredo Chunga, electrician by trade but offered to us on this contract as a veritable Pooh-bah: electrician, plumber (rejoicing in the quaint name of gasfitero in this part of the world) and November 2019

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expert in ironwork for windows. I discovered later that his expertise in that field lay in charging me 80 Intis per window for labour (about £3.50) and of having it all done by someone else for 20 Intis a window. The only trouble, of course, was that he would take the money from me, but omit to pay the fellow who was doing them. I shouldn't have trusted him; there was something about him. But he has a limp and is undersized, and talks earnestly; and, like his companions, he came with high recommendation from the Benedictine Sisters of Sechura. The third in the triumvirate of contractors was Eusebio Moran Gallo, the carpenter, also small and on the plump side, who appeared occasionally to do some work.

I remember that first meeting with the three in our library. I hadn’t got much time because I had to go out to a countryside village to celebrate a Fiesta Mass. But, looking back on it, although I was very keen to get the building off the ground as soon as possible, the three of them were more so to tie me down to signing up with them. The upshot of the meeting was that they all expressed themselves ready and willing to start the following Monday, that is eight days later.

In my innocence I imagined this to mean that they wanted to get down to the work. In a later, more cynical, mood I put the eagerness to the desire to get their hands on the 25% of the labour charges, which was all part of the contract.

Anyway, I agreed and said that I looked forward to seeing them on site in eight days’ time; meanwhile I would hand over the first payment on the Wednesday.’ to be continued; Bishop Mark is Bishop Emeritus of Menevia and frequently assists at Confirmations in the Cathedral.

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IN CELEBRATION OF CANONIZATION

John Henry Newman: The Harmony of Difference His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales The canonization by Pope Francis of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the first Briton to be declared a saint in over 40 years, is a cause of celebration not merely in the United Kingdom, and not merely for Catholics, but for all who cherish the values by which he was inspired.

In the age when he lived, Newman stood for the life of the spirit against the forces that would debase human dignity and human destiny. In the age in which he attains sainthood, his example is needed more than ever - for the manner in which, at his best, he could advocate without accusation, could disagree without disrespect and, perhaps most of all, could see differences as places of encounter rather than exclusion.

At a time when faith was being questioned as never before, Newman, one of the greatest theologians of the 19th century, applied his intellect to one of the most pressing questions of our era: what should be the relationship of faith to a sceptical, secular age? His engagement first with Anglican theology, and then, after his conversion, Catholic theology, impressed even his opponents with its fearless honesty, its unsparing rigour and its originality of thought. Whatever our own beliefs, and no matter what our own tradition may be, we can only be grateful to Newman for the gifts, rooted in his Catholic faith, which he shared with wider society: his intense and moving spiritual autobiography and his deeply-felt poetry in The Dream of Gerontius which, set to music by Sir Edward Elgar - another Catholic of whom all Britons can be proud - gave the musical world one of its most enduring choral masterpieces.

At the climax of The Dream, the soul, approaching heaven, perceives something of the divine vision: a grand mysterious harmony: It floods me, like the deep and solemn sound Of many waters.

Harmony requires difference. The concept rests at the very heart of Christian theology in the concept of the Trinity. In the same poem, Gerontius says: Firmly I believe and truly God is three, and God is One; 14

As such, difference is not to be feared. Newman not only proved this in his theology and illustrated it in his poetry, but he also demonstrated it in his life. Under his leadership, Catholics became fully part of the wider society, which itself thereby became all the richer as a community of communities. Newman engaged not merely with the church, but with the world. While wholeheartedly committed to the Church to which he came through so many intellectual and spiritual trials, he nonetheless initiated open debate between Catholics and other Christians, paving the way for later ecumenical dialogues.

On his elevation to the Cardinalate in 1879, he took as his motto Cor ad cor loquitur ('Heart speaks to Heart'), and his conversations across confessional, cultural, social and economic divides, were rooted in that intimate friendship with God. His faith was truly catholic in that it embraced all aspects of life. It is in that same spirit that we, whether we are Catholics or not, can, in the tradition of the Christian Church throughout the ages, embrace the unique perspective, the particular wisdom and insight, brought to our universal experience by this one individual soul. We can draw inspiration from his writings and his life, even as we recognise that, like all human lives, it was inevitably flawed. Newman himself was aware of his failings, such as pride and defensiveness which fell short of his own ideals, but which, ultimately, left him only more grateful for the mercy of God. His influence was immense. As a theologian, his work on the development of doctrine showed that our understanding of God can grow over time, and had a profound impact on later thinkers. Individual Christians have found their personal devotion challenged and strengthened by the importance he attached to the voice of conscience. Those of all traditions who seek to define and defend Christianity have found themselves grateful for the way he reconciled faith and reason. Those who seek the divine in what can seem like an increasingly hostile intellectual environment find in him a powerful ally who championed the individual conscience against an overwhelming relativism.

And perhaps most relevantly of all at this time, when we have witnessed too many grievous assaults by the forces of intolerance on communities and individuals, including many Catholics because of their beliefs, he is a figure who stood for his convictions despite the disadvantages of belonging to a religion whose adherents were denied Oremus

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IN CELEBRATION OF CANONIZATION full participation in public life. Through the whole process of Catholic Emancipation and the restoration of the Catholic Church’s hierarchy, he was the leader whom his people, his Church and his times needed. His capacity for personal warmth and generous friendship is shown in his correspondence. There exist over 30 collected volumes of his letters, many of which, tellingly, are addressed not to fellow intellectuals and prominent leaders but to family, friends and parishioners who sought out his wisdom.

That confidence was expressed in his love of the English landscape and of his native country's culture, to which he made such a distinguished contribution. In the Oratory which he established in Birmingham, and which now houses a museum dedicated to his memory as well as an active worshipping community, we see the realisation in England of a vision he derived from Rome which he described as: 'the most wonderful place on Earth'. In bringing the Oratorian Congregation from Italy to England, Newman sought to share its charism of education and service.

© National Portrait Gallery

His example has left a lasting legacy. As an educator, his work was profoundly influential in Oxford, Dublin and beyond, while his treatise The Idea of a University remains a defining text to this day. His often overlooked labours on behalf of children's education are testimony to his commitment to ensuring those of all backgrounds shared the opportunities which learning can bring. As an Anglican, he guided that church back to its Catholic roots, and as a Catholic he was ready to learn from the Anglican tradition, such as in his promoting the role of the laity. He gave the Catholic Church renewed confidence as it reestablished itself in a land in which it had once been uprooted. The Catholic community in Britain today owes an incalculable debt to his tireless work, even as British society has cause for gratitude to that community for its immeasurably valuable contribution to our country's life.

St John Henry by Sir John Everett Millais

He loved Oxford, gracing it not only with passionate and erudite sermons, but also with the beautiful Anglican church at Littlemore, created after a formative visit to Rome where, seeking guidance on his future spiritual path and pondering his relationship with the Church of England and with Catholicism, he wrote his beloved hymn Lead Kindly Light.

When he finally decided to leave the Church of England, his last sermon as he said farewell to Littlemore left the congregation in tears. It was entitled The Parting of Friends.

As we mark the life of this great Briton, this great churchman and, as we can now say, this great saint, who bridges the divisions between traditions, it is surely right that we give thanks for the friendship which, despite the parting, has not merely endured, but has strengthened. In the image of divine harmony which Newman expressed so eloquently, we can see how, ultimately, as we follow with sincerity and courage the different paths to which conscience calls us, all our divisions can lead to a greater understanding and all our ways can find a common home.

This article was published in L’Osservatore Romano to mark the canonization of St John Henry Newman.

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15

CATHEDRAL HISTORY

A bird’s-eye view of Tothill Fields Prison, seen as from Victoria Street looking towards the main entrance on Francis Street

Before the Cathedral Patrick Rogers ‘That land is for sale, I wish you to buy it.’ Cardinal Manning was addressing his solicitor, Alfred Blount, in November 1982. What both men were looking at, from the Cardinal’s residence at the bottom of Carlisle Place, was Tothill Fields Prison. Blount formed a company and bought the site in 1884. The western half was immediately sold to the Cardinal at cost, the remainder to a property developer. On the land sold to the Cardinal now stands Westminster Cathedral.

Tothill Fields Prison was formally entitled the Middlesex (Westminster) House of Correction. Established by Act of Parliament in 1826, it opened in 1834. It was built on an eight acre site of open ground, now enclosed by Morpeth Terrace to the west, Francis Street to the south and east, and Ashley Place and Howick Place to the north. From 1618 a much smaller prison, Tothill Fields Bridewell, had stood immediately north of Greencoat School (now a pub) and west of Artillery Row. It was knocked down in 1836, two years after the new prison opened, and the site is now occupied by shops and the House of Fraser, formerly Army and Navy, store.

The prison of 1834 was built in the form of a shamrock or ace of clubs, each ‘leaf’ effectively forming a separate prison, with a planted courtyard in the centre and exercise yards beside each brick-built cell block. The main entrance, of massive granite blocks with iron gates opened on to Francis Street. North of the planted courtyard was the Prison Governor’s house, surmounted by a chapel. ‘Vast, airy, light and inexorably safe’, only one inmate escaped from the prison, when the doorkeeper absentmindedly laid down his key.

The location of the prison in 1883

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Initially for both men and women with sentences less severe than transportation, from 1850 it was restricted to convicted female prisoners and males below 17 years.

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CATHEDRAL HISTORY Each of the three prison ‘leaves’ contained about 300 prisoners, the one on the left for the boys and the other two for women. The Cathedral, Clergy House and the Choir School now stand on the site of the boys’ wing and a part of one of those occupied by the women. The rest of the prison complex now lies beneath Ambrosden Avenue, Ashley Gardens and Thirleby Road.

We know much about the prison from Henry Mayhew’s Criminal Prisons of London, written after a visit there in 1861.

It operated on the ‘silent associated’ system, in which inmates mixed, but were not allowed to talk among themselves.

Of course they did, and it is significant that by far the main punishment was restriction of diet (usually for talking). The most serious punishment, whipping, had only been inflicted twice in the five years 1851-55, considerably less than elsewhere. Mayhew wrote that the staff of the boys prison were entitled to the highest praise, enforcing strict discipline with a minimum of physical coercion.

The boys were awakened by a gun fired at 6.25am. Then followed a communal wash in cold water, Chapel and breakfast of oatmeal gruel (porridge), bread and water, the basic diet at all three meals. Most then worked at oakum picking (unravelling rope for use in caulking the seams Prison boys taking their exercise, of vessels). Other work under guard. consisted of mending clothes and shoes, carpentry and gardening. An hour was spent in exercise and another in the school-room. At midday dinner the 2nd class prisoners received tinned cold meat (beef or mutton) with potatoes twice a week and oxhead, barley and vegetable soup twice a week, while the 1st class received this superior diet (and cocoa at breakfast) six days out of the seven.

Lock-up was at 6pm.

Most were in the prison for theft, over a third for picking pockets. As one boy put it: ‘I seem to like thieving’. But others were there for knocking at doors and running away, an eight year-old had been sentenced to 14 days and a flogging for taking some half-dozen plums from an orchard, and boys aged 10 and 11 were there for spinning a top! Nearly half were recommittals, against 25% nationally. One youth was suspected of throwing stones at a street lamp just to get a month’s shelter.

Many were fending for themselves on the streets of London.

They looked on the prison as a place where they would at least be given shelter, food and warm clothing. Indeed, Mayhew was prevented from using a drawing of the boys at breakfast, as it would have made the place seem far too comfortable.

Mothers exercising with their children

The oldest boy in 1861 was 18, having lied about his age to get in. A number were aged six and one as young as five, having stolen 5/9d from a till (his second offence). But the great majority were 14-16 year-olds. Almost all had no trade or occupation and most could not read or write. On arrival the boys were given a bath and a meal, and issued with the prison uniform of a tricolour-striped woollen cap with earflaps (also used as a night-cap in the unheated cells, an iron grey (prison blue for minor offenders) three-piece suit without pockets, check shirt, stock, boots and a small red cotton handkerchief to be tied to a buttonhole.

The boys were identified by numbers on the left arm.

A yellow number one identified the 1st class – sentenced to more than three months. A number two denoted a sentence of between 14 days and thee months (2nd class), while 3rd class inmates (14 days or less) bore no number. A badge was worn for a sentence of two years or more, a yellow ring round the arm denoted penal servitude and a yellow waistcoat collar indicated committal for larceny or felony. Also worn, often proudly, was a red number revealing how many times they had been imprisoned before - one 14 year-old as many as 17 times.

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Mayhew described the part of the prison occupied by the women in less detail. They wore close white caps with deep frills and loose blue and white spotted dresses. They carried the same identifying numbers as the boys and, like them, longer term prisoners received the better diet. Over half were recommittals, many for non-payment of fines. One girl of eight had been sentenced to three months for stealing a pair of boots. When asked why, she replied: ‘I hadn’t got none of my own’. Besides oakum picking, there was straw plaiting, knitting and laundry work. There were two school rooms, one of them for girls up to 16, and a nursery where those with young children could look after them when not working.

So why did Tothill Fields Prison, well-built and wellrun, close after less than 50 years? There are two reasons, I think. Firstly, it was not an effective deterrent. Recommittals were twice the number elsewhere and some seemed happy to return to it. The regime was strict rather than harsh, and those released often went out into a harsher and less secure world. The prison was enlightened and enlightenment can be expensive. The cost per prisoner at Tothill was a third more than at Coldbath Fields House of Correction, Clerkenwell. But if the prison had not been built when and where it was, or if, perhaps, its regime had been harsher and more cost-effective, Westminster Cathedral would not stand where it does today.

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MONTHLY ALBUM

Come, Holy Spirit Perusing the pictures taken at the Red Mass marking the beginning of the Legal Year, it was not difficult to choose for Oremus this rather arresting image of the judiciary on its knees. When thinking of judges, the automatic response might well be of people seated and elevated, so perhaps it is good to have this alternative view of them as human beings dependent upon grace as are all the rest of us. So we can pray for them: Come, Holy Spirit.

Inducted, then Conducted A feature of October is the annual Induction of new Choristers at Sunday Vespers, who, having been admitted, go straight up to their places in the Apse to sing the Magnificat. Fr Daniel admitted to having forgotten to invite the congregation to give them a round of applause, so we made up for it in the sacristy afterwards. Tiring slightly of the same photos taken in front of the sacristy crucifix, we went up to the stalls for a picture, since that is where they will be spending the time and exercising their talent. Left to right: Lucius, LorcĂĄn and Adrian.

Back to School

Each year staff and students of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School come to the Cathedral to celebrate their foundation in the building inspired and enabled by their founder. This year it was the turn of our former Administrator, Mgr Mark Langham, to preside at the Mass, appropriately as he is himself an Old Vaughanian.

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Singin’ in the Rain As the day dawned for the annual Rosary Crusade Procession, the weather forecast was not good and it turned out to be a damp walk to the Oratory church for devotions there. But rain does not deter the faithful – think of the Blessed Sacrament Procession in Liverpool at the Adoremus Eucharistic Congress – and the second image shows the number present, stretching from Ambrosden Avenue to Vauxhall Bridge Road. Fr Lawrence Lew OP from the Dominicans at Haverstock Hill led the singing and prayers, with the Rosary recited in invocation of Our Lady and all the saints for all the troubles which surround but do not overwhelm us.

Floor Show At a Tea Dance, does one have a DJ or is the person on the music given another title? A mixologist, perhaps? At any rate, music of all kinds blared out on a mid-October afternoon as the Cathedral Hall, not quite reminiscent of a Palm Court, was taken over for Silver Sunday. By its nature, the event is not aimed at youth, but that did not mean that energy and enthusiasm were lacking.

Working up an appetite for tray loads of sandwiches prepared in the back room where the Flamenco group were arranging their frills, the punters displayed levels of grace as they took to the floor; an afternoon well spent.

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At your Service In a change to the usual annual programme, the Guild of St Stephen’s Mass in the Cathedral was not a national event (that is being held at Liverpool Met), but provided the opportunity for servers from across the diocese to come together. Serving does involve a large number of young people in the parishes and the Cathedral provides the large space to experience the ceremonies carried out in their fuller form. The hope is that this will both encourage and engage servers as they assist with the liturgy week by week.

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AN INSIDE STORY

CTS Targets Prisons The Catholic Truth Society launched a prayer book for prisoners at the recent National Roman Catholic Prison Chaplains Training Conference.

In a statement, the publishers said: ‘Supporting prisoners is a key part of our mission to evangelise and the CTS is constantly being asked by prisoners for materials that will help them to learn how to pray or discover more about their faith. We are delighted to have collaborated with Fr Paul Douthwaite, National Catholic Chaplain for Prisons, to publish A Simple Prayer Book for Prisoners, a special edition of our longest-standing and most popular title, the Society’s A Simple Prayer Book.

It has been specially adapted for prisoners and those in Young Offender Institutions, and has been distributed

support those serving sentences. This prayer book is intended as a very practical and simple way for those chaplains to support their work and the response from prison chaplains has been tremendous.

for free to chaplains around the UK thanks to a very generous donation.

The lasting impact of prison ministry comes from the personal presence and care of the clerical, religious and lay chaplains who accompany and

Fr Paul Douthwaite added: ‘When someone asks the question “How do I pray?”, there is neither a quick nor a simple answer. The Prison Chaplain is often asked this question in the most extreme of situations, at times of crisis, and when the prisoner is looking for spiritual strength and guidance. This edition of A Simple Prayer Book gives the Prison Chaplain a collection of accessible prayers that can enable and guide those who seek to embark upon or deepen their relationship with God. It is a resource for which we have been hoping for some time’.

Care not Killing Care Not Killing (CNK), the UK's leading anti-euthanasia campaign group, has welcomed the removal of a 'despicable' campaign film, produced by Dignity in Dying, which was described by Hospice UK as misleading and irresponsible. Dr Gordon Macdonald, Chief Executive of Care Not Killing, commented: ‘We are pleased that, following a considerable backlash and pressure from doctors and Hospice UK, this despicable and misleading film has finally been removed. Doctors and nurses condemned the film as giving an unrealistic view of what people experience in hospitals and hospices and using scare tactics about what people are likely to experience following a diagnosis of a terminal condition’.

In an open letter, the Chief Executive and Chief Clinical Officer of Hospice UK described the film as 'misleading and irresponsible'. The letter went on to say that the film: ‘plays on people’s anxiety and fear about the end of life, and amplifies 20

these in a picture of care that is inaccurate and distressing. There is no clarity as to what is causing such distress to the scripted depiction and the physical presentation of the patient indicates a lack of personal identity or individual care. The short film is by no means an accurate portrayal of hospice care. It is a misrepresentation that undermines a strong evidence base of expert care delivered by over 200 hospices, care that consistently brings relief of symptoms and comfort to a patient's family and carers'. The letter goes on to describe the film as 'sensationalist campaigning' and says that it should be withdrawn.

The letter mirrored comments made by palliative care doctors, who took to social media to denounce the film. One doctor wrote on Twitter: ‘I have looked after thousands of dying patients. I have NEVER seen someone die like this. I can't even work out what symptoms they are attempting to portray. This is base, irresponsible scaremongering’, whilst another tweeted: ‘Err … I have witnessed

thousands of hospice deaths in my career … and they don't look like this’.

Dr Macdonald continued: ‘We hope that those responsible will think very carefully about the sort of material they produce and push out in the future, instead of opting for sensational fake films designed to worry vulnerable people. Assisted suicide is a highly complex and sensitive issue that requires a respectful conversation that is based on evidence. This is why looking at the small number of jurisdictions that have legalised assisted suicide, euthanasia or both is so important. What we see in these places is an erosion of safeguards, an extension of those who qualify, improvements to palliative care failing to materialise and vulnerable people feeling pressured into ending their lives. Worryingly we also have anecdotal evidence that removing universal safeguards seems to normalise suicide in the mind of the general population, something that merits further research’.

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CATHEDRAL HISTORY

Cathedral History: A Pictorial Record Remembrance Sunday Mass – 8 November 1964 Paul Tobin The practice of commemorating the dead of the two World Wars on the second Sunday in November as Remembrance Sunday only started in 1946, as until 1939 the anniversary of the Armistice, which marked the cessation of fighting at the end of World War 1, was always kept on 11 November.

The origins of allowing one Requiem Mass for the Fallen in churches in the UK date back to the pontificate of Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), and here at Westminster Cathedral the Solemn Requiem Mass for the Dead of the two World Wars started in 1946. The rubrics of the time allowed for Absolution over a catafalque without a body being present, and this practice continued until 1969 with promulgation of the new Roman Missal, which permitted Absolution only at a Funeral Mass itself. The Cathedral Chronicles of the period have little to say about the observance of Remembrance Sunday, other than noting that the Mass was originally held at 12noon as a Solemn Requiem, with the 10.30am High Mass being that of the Sunday. In 1947 Cardinal Bernard Griffin (Archbishop of Westminster 1943-1956) assisted at the Solemn Mass and gave Absolution over the catafalque at its conclusion.

Seen in the picture are four Irish Guardsmen, standing at ease at each corner of the catafalque and at the head is a soldier’s helmet resting on a cushion. The group of boys in the front two rows on the right-hand side of the nave are from the Choir School, accompanied by the legendary Sr Anne Garrett (1896-1998) of the Daughters of the Holy Cross. Four Sisters of this order taught and looked after the boys here from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Beyond the second crossing can be seen two rows of Religious Sisters; the front row is occupied by the Sisters from the Daughters of Wisdom (La Sagesse) who looked after Archbishop’s House then and still do, whilst those behind them are from

the Sisters of Mercy of St Charles Borromeo, who looked after Clergy House from 1950 until 1966 when they were replaced by the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Victories, who continue to look after the Cathedral Chaplains.

In the foreground, on the left side of the nave, are three members of the WRNS (Women’s Royal Naval Service), whose founder, Dame Vera Laughton- Matthews (18981959) was a Cathedral parishioner. In a niche close to St Joseph’s Chapel is a mosaic dedicated to her memory.

It depicts St Nicholas of Myra, patron of sailors, and keen observers will notice a wren incorporated in the mosaic.

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21

DIARY

The Month of

November Holy Father’s Prayer Intention: Universal: That a spirit of dialogue, encounter and reconciliation emerge in the Near East, where diverse religious communities share their lives together.

Friday 1 November No Friday abstinence ALL SAINTS 10.30am SVP School attends Mass (English) 5pm Solemn Second Vespers 5.30pm Solemn Mass (Men’s Voices) Perosi – Missa secunda pontificalis Palestrina – Vidi turbam magnam Palestrina – Et omnes angeli Organ: Tournemire – Choral (L’Orgue mystique XLVIII)

Saturday 2 November

THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED (ALL SOULS’ DAY) 8, 9am Masses in the Holy Souls Chapel 10.30am Solemn Requiem Mass Victoria – Missa pro defunctis a 4 Victoria – Domine Iesu Christe Victoria – Lux aeterna 2.30pm Solemn Pontifical High Mass of Requiem (Latin Mass Society, Bishop Campbell OSA) 5.30pm Vespers of the Dead 6pm Sung Mass for the Dead

Sunday 3 November Ps Week 3 31st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 10.30am Solemn Mass (Men’s Voices) Tye – Peterhouse Mass Tallis – Laudate Dominum Organ: Mendelssohn – Con moto maestoso (Sonata III, Op. 65) Knights of St Columba attend 3.30pm Solemn Vespers and Benediction (Full Choir) Lassus – Magnificat octavi toni Victoria – O quam gloriosum Organ: Reger – Benedictus (Op. 59, ix) 4.30pm Deaf Service Mass in Cathedral Hall 4.45pm Organ Recital: Ben Horden Monday 4 November

St Charles Borromeo, Bishop

Tuesday 5 November Feria 22

© Epei

2019

The Bishop St Willibrord (658-739, feast day 7 November), who is named as the Apostle of the Frisians, was actually born and brought up in Northumbria, studying in Ripon and then in Ireland. Beginning his missionary work in Friesland in 690, he visited Rome twice in the next few years, being ordained bishop with his seat in Utrecht. The advent of an unfriendly ruler in 714 led to most of his work being undone, although he was able to rebuild the Frisian church after a further change of ruler, aided in the work by St Boniface. He died finally in the monastery which he had founded at Echternach in Luxembourg.

St Willibrord’s spring in the abbey at Echternach

Wednesday 6 November

Thursday 14 November

Thursday 7 November

Feria (St Albert the Great, Bishop & Doctor)

Feria 3pm Catholic Police Guild Requiem Mass (Bishop Burns) Feria (St Willibrord, Bishop) 2pm Combined Irish Regiments Service, St Patrick’s Chapel 4.45pm Vespers (Main sanctuary) 5.30pm Solemn Requiem Mass for Deceased Clergy (Cardinal Nichols)

Friday 8 November Feria

Feria

Friday 15 November

Friday abstinence

Saturday 9 November

DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA 9am – 4.30pm A Day with Mary 4pm Extraordinary Form Mass N.B. in the Crypt

Sunday 10 November Ps Week 4 32nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY) 9am Family Mass 10.30am Solemn Requiem Mass for the Fallen (Bishop Hudson) (Full choir) G. Anerio – Missa pro defunctis Mozart – Domine Iesu Christe Mozart - Lux aeterna Organ: Vierne – Prélude (Symphonie I) 3.30pm Solemn Vespers and Benediction Andreas – Magnificat octavi toni Parry – My soul, there is a country Organ: Ireland – Elegiac Romance 4.45pm Organ Recital: Peter Stevens (Westminster Cathedral) Monday 11 November

St Martin of Tours, Bishop 11.30am Military Chaplains’ Remembrance Mass, St Patrick’s Chapel (Bishop Mason)

Tuesday 12 November

St Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr 7pm Friends’ Talk in Clergy House Library: Newman and the Rosary (Fr Nigel Woollen)

Wednesday 13 November

Feria 7, 8, 10.30am Masses in the Lady Chapel 12.30, 1.05, 5.30pm Masses in Cathedral Hall 7.30pm Concert: The Dream of Gerontius (Parliament Choir)

© Willy Horsch

NOVEMBER

St Albert, in the grounds of the University of Cologne

Saturday 16 November

St Edmund of Abingdon, Bishop 2.30pm Equipes Notre-Dame 60th Anniversary Mass (Bishop Doyle) 6pm Victoria Choir sings at Mass

Sunday 17 November Ps Week 1 33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 10.30am Solemn Mass (Full choir) Palestrina – Missa Papae Marcelli Pizzetti – De profundis Organ: Bruhns – Praeludium in E minor 12pm Catenians attend Mass (Bishop Sherrington) 3.30pm Solemn Vespers and Benediction Bevan – Magnificat septimi toni Haydn – Insanae et vanae curae Organ: Franck – Choral no. 3 in A minor 4.45pm Organ Recital: Sebastian Gillot (St Cuthbert, Earls Court) Oremus

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DIARY AND NOTICES Monday 18 November

Saturday 30 November

Feria (Dedication of the Basilicas of Ss Peter and Paul, Apostles)

ST ANDREW, Apostle, Patron of Scotland 8, 9am Masses in St Andrew’s Chapel

Tuesday 19 November Feria

Wednesday 20 November

Feria 7.30pm Concert: La Révolte des Orgues

Thursday 21 November

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary 5.30pm Catholic Union attends Mass

Friday 22 November

Friday abstinence St Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday (St Clement I, Pope & Martyr, St Columban, Abbot) 6pm Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School Schola sings at Mass

© Didier Descouens

Saturday 23 November

The apostle in Sant’Andrea della Zirada, Venice

Sunday 24 November

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, King of the Universe Holy Land Crosses and Devotional Objects on sale 10.30am Solemn Mass (Full choir) Mozart – Krönungsmesse (K.317) Vaughan Williams – Te Deum in G MacMillan – Sedebit Dominus Rex Organ: Tournemire – Fantaisie sur le Te Deum et Guirlandes Alleluiatiques (L’Orgue Mystique Ll) 3.30pm Solemn Vespers and Benediction Marenzio – Magnificat octavi toni Philips – Ecce vicit Leo Organ: Reger – Te Deum 4.45pm Organ Recital: James Norrey

Monday 25 November

Feria (St Catherine of Alexandria)

Ps Week 2

Tuesday 26 November Feria

Wednesday 27 November

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.

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Feria 6.30pm Aid to the Church in Need Red Wednesday Event (Cathedral Piazza)

Thursday 28 November

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

Friday 29 November Feria

November 2019

Friday abstinence

Oremus

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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. 4pm Interfaith Group on third Wednesdays 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.

23

SEARCHING THE HEAVENS

The Earth, Moon and the Sun Dr Stuart Blackie KCHS The Sun is at the centre of the Solar System. Radiation from it, travelling at the speed of light, takes 8 minutes to traverse the 93 million miles to reach us. However, in this country, its rays are usually stopped in the last few hundred yards! We all know that, because of the tilt of its axis, the earth moving on its orbit around the sun gives rise to the seasons as a result of the variation in the altitude of the sun. In summer the sun rises higher in the sky in contrast to winter when, particularly in norther climes as one approaches the Arctic Circle, it spends all morning rising and all afternoon setting.

If you set up a camera in a fixed position on Earth and photograph the sun at fixed intervals, say every 10 – 14 days, at the same time of day (allowing for the difference between GMT and BST) for a full year you can obtain a composite image known as an analemma. Its orientation and position depend on the latitude of the observer and the time of day at which it is taken.

This image, obtained from the internet, is particularly impressive in that it ends with a total eclipse of the sun and is called a tutulemma, a word coined by 24

Tunc Tezel who was the first to produce such an image as the one above.

We are fortunate that on this planet our moon, though much smaller but much closer to us at 250,000 miles, just happens to have a similar angular diameter to that of the sun to give such an impressive display. It is only when the sun is completely obscured by the moon that we get the chance to see the corona, the sun’s atmosphere which, for some reason which is not completely understood, is millions of degrees hotter than the surface of the sun itself.

A total eclipse of the sun is a sight to behold and people travel thousands of miles to witness it, though it lasts for only minutes. It is even credited with stopping a war. In ancient times in Asia Minor the Medes attacked the Lydians and a war continued for 15 years until, at length, when the two armies were preparing for battle, probably near the River Halys in what is now central Turkey, an eclipse occurred and both parties were so alarmed that they made peace at once. This is recorded by the Greek historian Thales, who is said to have predicted the event. The most likely date for that eclipse is 28

May 585 BC, though some authorities believe it may have been 25 years earlier in 610 BC. The moon has a stabilising effect on the rotation of the Earth. There is geological and paleontological evidence that the Earth rotated faster and that the Moon was closer to the Earth in the remote past. We know from the Grey Coral Decora Stragosa that in the Devonian era, 416-360 million years ago, the earth rotated faster; there were 400 days a year, meaning that a day lasted 21 hours and 55 minutes.

Because of the tidal slowing and the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum, the moon is slowly moving away from the earth, at a rate of 3.78 centimetres per year, which is roughly the rate at which your fingernails grow!

This has been measured by lunar laser ranging, following the Apollo lunar missions. Eventually, many millennia hence, total eclipses will no longer occur. Annular eclipses, when a rim of the solar disc remains unobscured because the moon is slightly further away from us, will be the most we will see and we will lose one of nature’s spectacular events.

Oremus

November 2019

THE FRIENDS OF WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL

Peterborough: A Mecca for Friends

© Poliphilo

Mary was ‘unburied’ for six months before the removal of the coffin to Peterborough. Such a sad end. Readers of Oremus who have visited Arundel Castle may recall that Mary’s rosary is on display there.

Ceramic of the Annunciation at Aylesford

by Adam Kossowski

Christina White To Peterborough, for the Conference of Cathedral Friends. We participated in the conference when it was last held in Ely in 2017, and it was a useful two days of discussion and ideas.

During a show of hands on the first day, asking how many of the delegates had previously visited Peterborough, I realised that I was amongst the chosen few who had visited the Cathedral. It was a surprise that Peterborough is not better known. By train, it is just over an hour from London and I have been a number of times; initially to the Catholic Mass held in honour of Queen Catherine of Aragon, and latterly with the Friends – a memorable trip that also encompassed Kimbolton, the place of Catherine’s death.

We try to visit new places, but the Peterborough/Kimbolton trip was such a success that we may well try and revisit this. It can only take place in the school holidays, as Kimbolton Castle is now a private school. As part of the same trip, we may visit Fotheringhay where Mary, Queen of Scots was incarcerated and executed. There is a Peterborough connection, as she was buried in the Cathedral on the opposite side of the sanctuary to Catherine.

Her remains were transferred to Westminster Abbey when her son, James I of England, came to the throne. I only discovered recently that November 2019

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We were blessed with a beautiful autumn day for the trip to Aylesford on 10 October. I was sorry that the event was not as well supported as our Ingatestone day, but many Friends have visited on parish pilgrimages.

That said, it was special to tour the Priory in private. There were a couple of school groups on retreat, but they were not in evidence as we walked the grounds with Fr David, an Aylesford Carmelite Friar. Fr Daniel Humphreys accompanied the group from Westminster and concelebrated the Mass. It was a gentle day, made glorious by the weather and so we had time to walk in the grounds and enjoy the sunshine. The Polish artist Adam Kossowski is much in evidence at Aylesford – his work decorates the modern chapels – and we spotted a mural by him in South London as the coach made its way home. Do look out for it if you are in the vicinity; it depicts the history of the Old Kent Road and adorns the former North Peckham Civic Centre.

The Friends’ Big Give Online Appeal goes live on Tuesday 3 December. Funds raised will be for the completion of the Tower Appeal and details of how and when to donate will be in the Cathedral Newsletter and on the website. Please follow the link for details of how to donate. We have secured champion funding this year, so it is really important that we hit our online giving target of £12,000.

If you haven’t joined already, please do consider becoming a Friend.

Membership makes a lovely Christmas gift and all monies raised go to support Westminster Cathedral. Please feel free to call the office or come for a chat to find out more about what we are doing. Support the Cathedral!

Forthcoming Events Tuesday 12 November: Fr Nigel Woollen – St John Henry Newman and the Rosary. Talk in Clergy House Library, to begin at 7pm. Doors at 6.30pm; please come to Clergy House Reception. Tickets £10 Thursday 14 November: The Mithras Temple and the Guildhall Art Gallery with Paul Pickering. Meet at the main entrance to London’s Mithraeum at 10.45am for our group booking at 11am. The visit will last approximately one hour. We then have free time for a sandwich lunch before meeting at the Guildhall at 1.45pm for our art tour to start at 2pm. We will also be visiting the amphitheatre in the Guildhall.

Tickets £25 Sunday December 1: The Westminster Cathedral Christmas Fair supported by the Friends. Doors open at 9.30am and the Fair closes at 2.30pm. The raffle will be drawn at 2.00pm. Tickets £1 (children are free of charge) Monday December 9: The Big Give Donors’ Supper with the Chaplains of Westminster Cathedral. Donors who give individually £1000 or more to our Big Give Appeal will be invited to supper with the Chaplains.

Please contact the office on 0207 798 9059 for details of how to donate.

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

25

VICTORIANS VISIT EGYPT

A Trip along the Nile, 1862-3 The demise of the travel agents Thomas Cook makes me wonder what will happen to the company’s archive, which has a copy of a set of travel letters sent from members of my family who made a journey to Egypt in 1862-3. Great-aunt Helen explains who was who: ‘Eli was my grandfather, Louisa was my grandmother and they were expecting their first baby. Eli, John, Henry, George, Robert, Rebecca and Hilly were brothers and sisters. Mr Brocklebank was a clergyman friend of the family, sent along to keep an eye on John, who was only 19 and, at that time, rather delicate.

Fr John Scott

Railway station, Alexandria

I am desirous of placing before you as fully as possible the impressions of a 10 weeks’ journey in Egypt, comprising a week’s residence in Alexandria, two weeks in Cairo and six weeks spent upon the Nile in going to and returning from Assouan or the first Cataract. The voyage was made in the winter of 1862/3 prior to the American War and consequently to the influx of those crowds of pour cousins from America who, since that event, have made travelling so costly and, comparatively speaking, uninteresting.

Scarboro’. The air is mild and springlike, ‘every prospect pleases’. The captain has just put his opera glasses into my hands and directed my attention to the land just coming in sight, which he tells me is Cape Spartell on the coast of Africa. We expect, all being well, to reach Gibraltar this evening, where I propose posting this letter.

In those days Mr Cook had not introduced his coupon system, a steam boat was rarely seen on the Nile, the railway had only reached Cairo, and instead of being able to ‘do’ the Nile in 10 to 14 days as at present, it was a serious undertaking of 10 to 12 weeks to visit Assouan and of 3 to 4 months to reach and return from the second Cataract or Wady Halfa. The traveller, nolens volens was compelled to make the whole of the necessary arrangements, down to the smallest detail of every day requirements or suffer the consequences of being unable to meet with anything beyond the most ordinary articles of food having quitted Cairo. This lent an interest and picturesqueness to the journey which the modern system has dispelled.

Letter I

On board The Arcadia Saturday 15 November 1862

Dear Father I commence to write at about 4.30pm according to the time in this latitude (it will be about from 5 to 5.30 English time). I am on deck with an almost cloudless sky overhead, the sun drawing every near [sic] to the Western horizon. The sea is calm, something similar to what it is at 26

We are all three in good health. Neither Mr B nor myself much like the sea; John, however, seems quite in his element. He is in high spirits and does not appear to manifest any indications of a delicate constitution. He has not been sick once since we started, while, on the other hand, Mr B. and myself were both prostrated for the first two or three days. We have everything on board to make us comfortable. A good captain, considerate and kind.

In fact, everyone on board is very affable .. The vessel is clean and the berths, I suppose, as good as most ships can supply, though I must confess I like my own bed and bedroom at Victoria Place a great deal better.

We steam away at the rate of about eight to 10 miles an hour. The greater part of the day we spend on deck, promenading backward and forward and drinking in the balmy sea air. John tried his hand at shooting one day and brought down a sea gull the first shot but, of course, it dropped into the sea and we saw no more of it. As to our temporal necessities, we are provided with breakfast at 8.30am, dinner at 1.30pm, tea between 6 and 7pm. Today we had pork chops, beef steaks, eggs, tea and coffee to breakfast; a roast shoulder of mutton, corn beef and meat with potatoes fried over it (I should have named some meat soup first of all), boiled potatoes and vegetables, rice pudding with currants in, gooseberry tart and cheese to dinner. Tea is still to come on. We have had generally two kinds of cold meat and preserves. You will think this fare pretty good.

Oremus

November 2019

VICTORIANS VISIT EGYPT I have made some progress in reading Gadsby since we started. It is a capital book of its kind and full of information. John is studying one of Bartlett’s books and seeking information respecting Gibraltar in order that he may know something about it when we arrive. Our note books don’t make much progress on the sea as there is a certain amount of monotony in sea life. We have some little amusement sometimes in watching a few ducks we have on board. They are brought out on deck for an airing some part of every day. Poor things, they seem quite out of their element. Nevertheless, we can see them thrive.

Whether we shall eventually have them brought on to the dinner tables remains to be seen. We have not had anything of the kind yet. I hope all is going on well at Leeds and there is some money making at Spring St. to pay our expenses and to keep things moving.

We have several married men among the officers and crew, and the captain tells me that they strive to obtain situations on these Mediterranean boats as they are able to see their friends oftener with them than with vessels which trade to more distant stations. I am sure, from what I see, I should never covet a seaman’s life. There are, however, some redeeming features about it as I hear they are better paid than many of the labouring classes on land. They are paid £e a month in addition to their keep while on board.

With love to Mother, yourself, George, Henry etc. from John and myself.

I am, Dear Father, Your affectionate son Eli Plummer Letter 2

The Arcadia at Sea 20 November 1862

Dear Father I suppose I must begin my letter where Eli left off his, which was at the landing place at Gibraltar. The first place we visited was the market as it was on our way to the Alameda, the only spot of any note we could spare time to see. As Sunday is the market day, the market was jammed with people of all shapes and was very busy. I was very much surprised to see the fine joints of meat which were exhibited, and the stock of vegetables was also very large, consisting of all kinds of fruit which we only see in England in summer. We were very much tempted by the oranges which were from one penny to a penny half-pence per dozen, but as it was Sunday, we did not make any purchases.

We next made our way towards the Alameda or public promenade, supposed by some to be the finest in the world. It is surrounded by trees all in their full bloom, many of which we did not know the names. It is laid out something like the Spa at Scarbro’ only on a much larger scale. A band plays three days a week from 9 till 12 and also on Sundays. We then hurried back to the boat as we had to be on our vessel by 9.30. We went on board, and after waiting some little time, the steam was got up and November 2019

Oremus

away we sailed. The view as we went out of the bay was truly magnificent. The Rock of Gibraltar on one side and the Spanish town of Algeciras on the other and the blue mountains of Spain in the far distance. All around were grouped merchant-men from all nations, some of them dressed out in flags as if it was Sunday. Lying a little way from us were the ‘Warrior’ and ‘Black Prince’, they being on their trial trips up the Mediterranean. The sea voyaging seems to agree with me in first rate style and I feel a great deal clearer about my lungs .. All being well, we shall be in Malta by 2 o’clock to-morrow morning.

Hoping you are well and with love to Mother and all friends.

I remain, Your affectionate Son, J. E. Plummer Letter 3

On board The Arcadia 24 November 1862

Dear Father and Mother It just strikes me that it will be interesting to you if I give you a sketch of our saloon as it appears just now:7.50pm The captain and passengers to the number of 5 are gathered around the table. The captain is at one and displaying some little anxiety about the Bill of Health which has to be given in at Alexandria. The reason for his anxiety is this:-When we left Malta, two of the Maltese men made their way on board without paying their passage and as they are not included in or Bill of Health, some alteration is necessary otherwise we should have some difficulty in obtaining permission to land at Alexandria .. We have two candles on the table and a candle chandelier with three lights above our heads. The atmosphere is close, almost oppressive, quite a contrast to English November weather.

[Later] We landed from the vessel at a little after 2 o’clock this afternoon. The day has been very fine and warm.

Soon after we came on shore, we took our first ride on the Egyptian donkeys, who go very well – quite different to the speed of an English donkey. On our return to the Hotel, we had dinner at 7pm, quite in the French style, French dishes and French wines and we enjoyed it very much.

English costume and English modes of life are scarcely to be found here. Everything is Eastern and everything to an Englishman seems strange and novel. We appear to be in a very emphatic sense, strangers in a strange land …

So with love to you and George, Henry etc., from John and myself.

I am, Dear Father and Mother, Your affectionate Son Eli 27

CROSSWORD AND POEM

The Angel Speaks O Lord, how wonderful in depth and height, But most in man, how wonderful Thou art!

With what a love, what soft persuasive might Victorious o’er the stubborn fleshly heart, Thy tale complete of saints Thou dost provide, To fill the thrones which angels lost through pride!

He lay a grovelling babe upon the ground, Polluted in the blood of his first sire, With his whole essence shatter’d and unsound, And coil’d around his heart a demon dire, Which was not of his nature, but had skill To bind and form his op’ning mind to ill.

Alan Frost September 2019

Clues Across 1 Patron Saint of musicians, Feast Day 22 Nov. (7) 6 Moment of time or classification of wine (3) 8 See 20 Down 9 Until the time of St Dominic and his followers, the Rosary was known as ‘Our Lady’s -------’ (7) 10 Henry ----- English sculptor whose works include one in Westminster’s Parliament Square (5) 11 Pagan attempt to communicate with the dead (6) 13 Hilaire ------Catholic writer who contributed the St Christopher statue by the Cathedral baptistry (6) 15 Recipients of a letter from St Paul (6) 17 St Giles the ------, patron Saint of the Disabled (6) 20 Unit of measurement concerning the value of gold (5) 21 Of the Devil (7) 23 St. Augustine of -----, Doctor of the Church and preeminent theologian (5) 24 ‘O clemens, O ---, O dulcis’, Salve Regina (3) 25 Dismissive comment about the fruit? (7)

Clues Down 1 Bruckner or Messiaen, for example (8) 2 Country, some of whose WW2 Dead are commemorated near the Lady Chapel (6) 3 One of the seven deadly sins (4) 4 Offer the level of worship that belongs to God alone (5) 5 Uncontrolled rush of many people or animals (8) 6 A casual walk (6) 7 St John Vianney is also known as the ‘---- d’Ars’ (4) 12 National War Memorial in nearby Whitehall (8) 14 A burial place in early Christian times on the outskirts of Rome (8) 16 Sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (6) 18 St ------, the mother of 23 Across (6) 19 Nancy ----- first woman MP who took her seat in Westminster 100 years ago (5) 20 & 8 Across: Overthrow of existing government, usually by force (4,5) 22 ‘Blessed art ---- amongst women’, Hail Mary (4)

ANSWERS Across: 1 Cecilia 6 Sec 8 D’état 9 Psalter 10 Moore 11 Seance 13 Belloc 15 Romans 17 Hermit 20 Carat 21 Satanic 23 Hippo 24 Pia 25 Rhubarb Down: 1 Composer 2 Canada 3 Lust 4 Adore 5 Stampede 6 Stroll 7 Curé 12 Cenotaph 14 Catacomb 16 Martha 18 Monica 19 Astor 20 Coup 22 Thou

28

Then was I sent from heaven to set right The balance in his soul of truth and sin, And I have waged a long relentless fight, Resolved that death-environ’d spirit to win, Which from its fallen state, when all was lost, Had been repurchased at so dread a cost.

Oh, what a shifting parti-colour’d scene Of hope and fear, of triumph and dismay, Of recklessness and penitence, has been The history of that dreary, life-long fray!

And oh, the grace to nerve him and to lead, How patient, prompt, and lavish at his need!

O man, strange composite of heaven and earth!

Majesty dwarf'd to baseness! fragrant flower Running to poisonous seed! and seeming worth Cloking corruption! weakness mastering power!

Who never art so near to crime and shame, As when thou hast achieved some deed of name;—

How should ethereal natures comprehend A thing made up of spirit and of clay, Were we not task'd to nurse it and to tend, Link’d one to one throughout its mortal day?

More than the Seraph in his height of place, The Angel-guardian knows and loves the ran som’d race. from The Dream of Gerontius by St John Henry Newman

To submit a poem whether by yourself or another for Registered Charity number 272899 consideration, please contact the Editor – details on page 3.

Oremus

November 2019

FIFTY AND ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

In retrospect: from the Cathedral Chronicle An Entente Cordiale Close to theatreland, within sound of the busy hum of a West-End market, and tucked away unobtrusively between a well-known restaurant and a humble café, is a little French church. Of outward appearance, it boasts none; yet the interior, full of the beauty and of the atmosphere of the typical places of worship on the Continent, is the rendezvous now, not only of the Catholic and French worshipper, but of Englishmen and Englishwomen.

Last Sunday, the broad oak bench in the third row was occupied by myself and a burly sergeant in the A.S.C. He brushed the priest’s holy water off with a khaki handkerchief, sniffed appreciatively at the incense, The French Church, Leicester and yawned frankly in the Place in 1919 face of the emotional little priest who delivered the short sermon in flying French. But he gazed round contentedly at the waxen tapers, at the various altars, at the flowers and at the statuary. This, evidently, was not his first appearance, for more than one member of the assembly gave him a friendly nod of recognition.

With the last shrill pipe of the choir and the last crash of the organ we sallied forth into the open. ‘You like the service?’

I inquired of him, mid a hubbub of salutations and Bonjours. ‘Well,’ he answered slowly, ‘tisn’t the service so much, miss, for I don’t understand a word, but the French folk were mighty good to me out there, so I come here to say “Thank you” as it were.’

An American Choir School I have just received a copy of the Year Book (1918-19) of the Paulist Choristers in New York. The Paulist Fathers are, I understand, the first Catholic body in America to institute a resident Choir School, and in the book above quoted it is stated that the school has been modelled on the lines of the Cappella Sistina and Westminster Cathedral … Apparently they sing only in church for the Sunday Services, and the rest of their time would appear to be devoted to concerts of church and other music in all parts of America. Their concert list is simply amazing. According to the dates given, November 2019

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it appears that between September 1918 and June 1919, they gave the staggering number of 135 performances – sometimes two and occasionally three on the same day.

Such an itinerary must mean that the choir spends the greater part of its time on the railway. They must produce an exceptionally hardy stock of choir boys in America, and I congratulate Fr Finn, the Choir Director, on the possession of the cast-iron constitution which such work as this must involve.

The Paulist Choristers continue to this day, now named the National Children’s Chorus.

The Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer The Holy See has recently issued two new Prefaces which are for immediate use, and will be embodied in the revised edition of the Roman Missal which is in process of compilation. One of the new Prefaces is for Masses of the Dead, and therefore will be used on All Souls’ Day … Since the year 1095, when the Proper Preface of Our Lady was added, the Missal in this respect has remained unchanged.

Many of the Religious Orders, however, have obtained the privilege of special Prefaces on the feasts of their Founders.

The Preface for the Dead of which we now speak [Preface for the Dead I in the present Missal] is not really new. It has existed in the Paris Missals for a long time, as now approved, with slight alteration, by the Sacred Congregation in Rome. from the Westminster Cathedral Chronicle, November 1919 It should scarcely be necessary to make the point that being silent, being still, is not merely the absence of sound. The possibility of real silence stems from a life which contains the capacity for stillness, when the mind is not simply vacant and somehow miraculously free from what are customarily called distracting thoughts. It is a process which may begin very slowly, tentatively, even painfully, but it is within the reach of us all. It is something we all need, not just for ourselves alone, but also when it comes to relating with each other.

The silence which we keep at Mass will be more meaningful when there is remote preparation for it in our daily lives. We can then bring this experience of silence to the community at worship, the community of Christ’s Church to which we belong in a psycho-physical degree which really defies human description; but to which each one of us has our own personal contribution to make. from the Westminster Cathedral News Sheet, November 1969 29

ST VINCENT DE PAUL PRIMARY SCHOOL

Serving the Common Good Felicity, Year 6 As Christians, we believe that serving the Common Good is an important way to follow closely in God’s footsteps and to live a good, happy life. In most things we do, we serve the common good by helping others through the giving of things to charity or helping the environment. Pope Francis wrote about our care for God’s world in Laudato Si’.

I think we should all serve the Common Good because it helps others, not just ourselves. Giving things to charity is a simple way to help others and serve the Common Good. In our school, St Vincent de Paul, we aim to serve the Common Good always, but especially last week when we brought in lots of food for the Harvest Festival for our local charities the Passage (which helps the homeless), and Trinity Hospice (which gives the people that are dying a nice place to spend their last days happily).

Another way to serve the Common Good is by helping the beautiful environment. The environment is an important thing because we want our future generation to experience God’s creation and have an enjoyable life. We serve the Common Good at our school by caring for others and in our mission statement ‘Love one another as I have loved you’.

Serving the Common Good is easier for some people than others but it doesn’t matter. All that matters that in some part in your life you serve the Common Good. I think the most important part of the Common Good is looking after the environment because that affects us the most right now with 30

climate change happening. The second most important way I think is giving to charity, because nowadays people are so selfish and don’t think about others before ourselves. We need to realize how lucky we are with all the things we have.

The church does a lot for the Common Good for example by taking Holy Communion to those that cannot come to Mass. They also do a lot by visiting the people in the parish who need help and support and care.

When I serve the Common Good to others I feel good and feel like I am helping someone get a better life. I also think the people receiving the Common Good feel that people really care about them and they don’t just forget about them.

Pope Francis is very supportive of the Common Good. He said: ‘The church has always urged the love of its people, their homeland, treasure where there are cultural expressions, customs and habits, the right ways of living rooted in peoples.’

Another way our school serves the Common Good is by carol singing for the community in Victoria Station. The money we raised went to the RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind). I really liked making passing commuters smile because they looked so serious! I hope that many people choose to serve the Common Good, because the world will be a better place and there would be peace everywhere, no war, no sinners, just love. I hope you will choose to serve the Common Good and in doing so, make your love stronger.

Oremus

November 2019

ORIGINAL SIN

Newman Looks at the World The writer A N Wilson comments: John Henry Newman would certainly have regarded it as sinful to flirt with atheistic ideas, but it has been rightly said that: ‘it would be possible to compile a manual of unbelief from the asides in Newman’s writings’. He understood, as few religious people of the 19th century did, what the difficulties were for the unbeliever. He also understood what truly formidable questions faced the world if the unbelievers were right. And because his experience had taught him quite a lot about ‘the error and bad taste of the multitude’ he did not expect the future of society to be very rosy. His remaining days were therefore devoted to a justification of religious belief itself, published under the title of A Grammar of Assent, and an attempt to work out, with his friends in the Catholic Church, an informed, quiet strong religion which could withstand the coming assaults …

The book shows us very clearly that religious questions are not really answerable, or even meaningful, outside a practice of religious devotion. Once one has ceased to practise a religion, its externalized doctrinal justifications will seem hollow. Newman’s religion was always personal.

He spoke directly to God in prayer and he believed that God spoke to him … Newman chose as a motto on his coat of arms Cor ad cor loquitur, Heart speaks to heart. For that is the essence of his religion.

his short duration, the curtain hung over his futurity, the disappointments of life, the defeat of good, the success of evil, physical pain, mental anguish, the prevalence and intensity of sin, the pervading idolatries, the corruptions, the dreary hopeless irreligion, that condition of the whole human race, so fearfully yet exactly described in the Apostle’s words: ‘having no hope and without God in the world’ …

What shall be said to this heart-piercing, reasonbewildering fact? I can only answer, that either there is no Creator, or this living society of men is in a true sense discarded from his presence … If there be a God, since there is a God, the human race is implicated in some terrible original calamity. It is out of joint with the purposes of its Creator. This is a fact, a fact as true as the fact of its existence; and thus the doctrine of what is theologically called original sin becomes to me almost as certain as that the world exists, and as the existence of God.

St John Henry looks out on the world around him: If I looked into a mirror, and did not see my face, I should have the sort of feeling which actually comes upon me, when I look into this living busy world, and see no reflection of its creator … Were it not for this voice, speaking so clearly in my conscience and my heart, I should be an atheist, or a pantheist, or a polytheist when I looked into the world … The sight of the world is nothing else than the prophet’s scroll, ‘full of lamentations, and mourning, and woe’.

To consider the world in its length and breadth, its various history, the many races of man, their starts, their fortunes, their mutual alienation, their conflicts; and then their ways, habits, governments, forms of worship; their enterprises, their aimless courses, their random achievements and acquirements, the impotent conclusion of long-standing facts, the tokens so faint and broken of a superintending design, the blind evolution of what turn out to be great powers or truths, the progress of things, as if from unreasoning elements, not towards final causes, the greatness and littleness of man, his far-reaching aims, November 2019

Oremus

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