Back from the Brink!

What a busy few days... Just got back from pilgrimage to Walsingham.

I am pleased to announce that I passed all my final exams and only have one more to do in June. So I am pretty much home dry. Many said I would not be able to do finals with a new baby, but with the Grace of God through the intercession of St Joseph, it was readily achieved.

I will post more about the weekend in due course, but for now couldn't resist posting this wonderful photo of Maddy with our Archbishop Vincent Nichols (and her Mum and Grandma) who led a wonderful diocesan pilgrimage on Saturday.

Please Help Our Catholic Heritage!

After the Dean of St. Chad's Cathedral, Fr. Brian Doolan, gave the Brothers of the Little Oratory such a wonderful tour of the Cathedral's Crypt, I feel inspired from the 19th Century Catholic Revival of this country, to its future preservation and promotion; and encourage you to support a great project for the crypt of Birmingham's Cathedral.

Pugin designed this in the Norman style to emulate the great English Cathedrals which were built upon several layers of previous church buildings. The results are quite stunning. Indeed, the crypt culminates in St. Peter's Chapel, which is built upon the site of the original 1808 church. The rest consists of side chapels and chanceries, most notably of which is the Hardman Family's private requiem chapel. Here it is beautifully adorned and stencilled, and recently restored. Pugin's second wife is also laid here.

It is planned for this simple but glorious crypt to be put to its best possible use: An Education and Heritage Centre for the 21st Century. Most importantly, this will be a place to display the treasures of the Cathedral, including many of Pugin's originally designed vestments. It will feature displays on the history of the Archdiocese and the Cathedral, audio-visual facilities, and a place for refreshments. With the regeneration project of the surrounding Snow Hill area, this is the perfect time to open up St. Chad's to the rest of Birmingham and to a wider tourist audience.

The Cathedral was built as a beacon of English Catholicism; it survived impending doom in the 1960s when the creation of the inner ring road was set to completely demolish it; it has even been hugely restored after the ill-advised changes of 1967; now it is ready to show the world the beauty of our Faith. Please support this project, which requires little over £800,000 for completion.

To see more details, and for a superb virtual tour, visit the Cathedral website.

Translation of St Chad

Following on from my previous post: St Chad, Bishop of the Mercians, fixed his Episcopal See at Lichfield. He was for some time a disciple of St. Aidan at Lindisfarne, and afterwards joined to St Egbert in Ireland. Returning to England, he was made abbot of Lestingham, near Whitby. He travelled about in his diocese on foot, seeking out and instructing the poorest of his flock. He died in 672.

Today's local feast (Tuesday of the 4th week in Easter) celebrates the translation of the relics of St. Chad from St. Peter’s church in Lichfield to that built by Roger de Clinton, in 1148, and dedicated to God in honour of the blessed Virgin and St. Chad. It is now the cathedral of Lichfield.

The final translation of the Relics, to St. Chad’s Cathedral, followed their preservation by Catholic hands during the reformation, their loss in the early nineteenth century, and their rediscovery in 1839.

Here follows the Proper of the Mass used today by the Brothers of the Little Oratory, in St. Edward's Chapel, which as described previously, illustrates the final journey of these relics to where they reside now above the high altar in the Cathedral.

INTROIT: Ps. 131. 9-10
Let Thy priests, O Lord, be clothed with justice, and let Thy saints rejoice: for Thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the face of Thy anointed. Alleluia, alleluia. Ps. O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness. V/. Glory be the the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.	Sacerdotes tui, Dómine, índucant justítiam, et sancti tui exúltent: propter David servum tuum, non avértas fáciem Christi tui. Allelúia, allelúia. Ps. 131.1. Meménto, Dómine, David: et omnis mansuetúdinis ejus. V/. Glória Patri et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. Sicut erat in Princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.
COLLECT
Almighty and everlasting God, who givest us joy by this day’s solemnity of blessed Chad, Thy confessor and bishop: we humbly entreat of Thy mercy that we, who with devout celebration venerate his festival, may, by his loving help, obtain the remedies of eternal life. Through our Lord...		Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui nos beáti Ceáddæ Confessóris tui atque Pontifícis hodiérna festiviáte lætíficas: tuam súpplices exorámus cleméntiam, ut, cujus solémnia devótis offíciis venerámur, ejus piis suffréagiis vitæ æternæ remédia consequámur. Per Dóminum nostrum...
EPISTLE: Hebrews 7. 23-27
Brethren, there were made many priests, because by reason of death they were not suffered to continue: But Jesus, for that He continueth for ever, hath an everlasting priesthood. Whereby He is able also to save for ever them that come to God by him; always living to make intercession for us. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as the other priests, to offer sacrifices first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, in offering himself, Jesus Christ our Lord
FIRST AND SECOND ALLELUIA: Ps. 109. 4; Ecclus. 45. 9
Alleluia, alleluia. V/. The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech. Alleluia. V/. The Lord loved him and adorned him, He clothed him with a robe of glory. Alleluia.		Allelúia, allelúia. V/. Jurávit Dóminus, et non pœnitébit eum: Tu es sacérdos in ætérnum, secúndum órdinem Melchísedech. Allelúia. V/. Amávit eum Dóminus, et ornávit eum: stolam glóriæ induit eum. Allelúia.
GOSPEL: Matthew 24. 42-47
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Watch ye, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come. But know this ye, that if the goodman of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Wherefore be you also ready: because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come. Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season. Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing. Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods.
OFFERTORY: Ps 88. 25
My truth and My mercy shall be with him: and in My name shall his horn be exalted. Alleluia.		Véritas mea, at misericórdia mea cum ipso:et in nómine meo exaltábitur cornu ejus. Allelúia.
SECRET
Favourably regard our supplications, we beseech Thee, O Lord: and by the intercession of blessed Chad, Thy confessor and bishop, grant us to be free from all sin in the ministry of Thy heavenly sacraments; that by Thy purifying grace, we may be made clean by the very mysteries which we serve. Through our Lord...		Propitáre, quǽsumus, Dómine, supplicatiónibus nostris, et intercedénte pro nobis beáto Céadda Confessóre tuo atque Pontíface, tuis sacraméntis cæléstibus serviéntes ab omni culpa líberos esse concéde; ut, purificánte nos tua grátia, eísdem quibus famulámur mystériis emundémur. Per Dóminum nostrum...
COMMUNION: Matt. 24. 46-47
Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord cometh he shall find watching: Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods. Alleluia.		Beátus servus, quem, cum vénerit dóminus, invénerit vigilántem: amen dico vobis, super ómnia bona sua constítuet eum. Allelúia.
POSTCOMMUNION
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord our God, that being purified by the divine mysteries, we may, by the intercession of blessed Chad, Thy confessor and bishop, go forward to the fullness of that heavenly sacrament of which we have partaken. Through our Lord...			Præsta, quǽsumus, Dómine Deus noster; ut, divínus mystériis expiáti, intercedénte beáto Ceádda Confessóre tuo atque Pontífice, ad supérni plenitúdinem sacraménti, cujus libávimus sancta, tendámus. Per Dóminum nostrum...

Although I wasn't able to take any photos of this wonderful celebration of the Eucharist (I was serving for Fr Philip Cleevely), I hope this image above, from one of the stained glass windows of the Cathedral, will capture the beauty of the event, and the heritage upon which our Catholic Faith in this country resides. I judge it a wonderful thing that we were able to retrieve altar cards from the crypt and say the Traditional Mass for our Mother Church's Patron. Many thanks to Fr. Brian Doolan for his kind help, and an inspiring tour of the Cathedral's crypt!

Let us pray:

Eternal and everlasting God, deign to glorify our hearts and minds, that by the glorious intercession of St. Chad, our Holy Church in this diocese, and country, may be protected by the shepherds which God has appointed us.

We pray for the current Archbishop of our diocese, Vincent Nichols, and all the Bishops of England and Wales; that through their guidance we may come to know, love, and defend the Faith which the blood of the English Martyrs was shed for. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Investiture of Birmingham Oratory Parishioner

There was recently a very special event at the Birmingham Oratory. Unfortunately I was unable to cover it, but here is the treatment from the Diocesan website:

Mrs Monica Hynes, pictured after her Investiture as a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great, with Fr Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, husband Maurice Hynes and Bishop Philip Pargeter. Picture by Peter Jennings.

Mrs Monica Hynes, a long time parishioner of the Birmingham Oratory, was invested as a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great, by Bishop Philip Pargeter, an auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, during a special Mass on Friday evening, 27 April, writes Peter Jennings.

Mrs Hynes is best known for her many years of devoted service to the Father Hudson’s Society, the social care agency working within the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham.

Kevin Caffrey, Director of the Father Hudson’s Society, read the first reading at the Mass held at the Oratory church, attended by Monica Hynes’ family, friends and supporters who came from far and wide.

Bishop Pargeter, the principal concelebrant and preacher, addressed the congregation after the homily: “The Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great was founded in 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI.

“It is conferred as a reward for services to the Holy See and the Church on gentlemen and ladies of proved loyalty who must maintain unswerving fidelity to God, the Supreme Pontiff, the Holy See and the Church.”

Bishop Pargeter continued: “Becoming a Knight or Dame does not merely mean receiving a title of honour – even though it is well deserved – but fighting evil, promoting good and defending the weak and oppressed against injustice.”

Fr Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory said: “I am particularly pleased to congratulate Monica Hynes on her investiture as a Dame of St Gregory.

“Papal awards like this are not given lightly and hers is a well-deserved recognition of all the good work she has done for the Church in Birmingham over the years. It is a great honour for her, and for our parish as we celebrate such a significant event.”

Mr and Mrs Hynes hosted a buffet reception afterwards in the Upper Cloister Hall for more than 150 guests.

St. Chad's Cathedral

In the city centre of Birmingham, obscured by high office blocks and thundering road-ways, lies the twin-towered Cathedral of St. Chad's. The first church on this site was a Georgian Classical chapel built in 1808, the like of which Pugin detested as a "protestant errection" (Pugin being a staunch convert to Catholicism!) Pugin based his design upon the North German style of the 13th Century. It was consecrated on 21 June 1841 by Bishop Thomas Walsh.

"Any person would be aware this was a Catholic church at first sight"

As you can see, there is extensive redevelopment of the surrounding Snow Hill area at the moment, which will hopefully extend the interest of the Cathedral, especially with a prospective Crypt redevelopment programme to make it more tourist friendly.

Inside the Cathedral one is struck by the grand high ceiling supported by the great high gothic arches. The full drama of Pugin's hallen kirchen is visible to its utmost heights. The intricate stencilling on the ceiling contrasts strongly against the white-washed walls; a product of the extensive reordering in 1967. The Cathedral was lucky to keep its great rood screen up until this point, since these were under constant threat by church authorities and critics of this architectural style. The interior division between the nave and sanctuary was particularly important to Pugin, providing a window into the heavenly worship contained in the sanctuary. The screen still survives in an Anglican church in Reading, presumably rescued from a skip.

I am particularly fond of the Lady Chapel, with screen, altar and reredos designed by Pugin. The screen is still present, but this photo is taken through it. Notice the altar frontal depicting the Presentation, Birth, and Adoration of Our Lord; three central mysteries to His early life involving Our Lady. The carvings in the reredos are of Our Lady and the Christ Child flanked by the Annunciation and Visitation. The oak statue of Our Lady is from 15th Century Netherlands, and was restored and given by Pugin himself. It matches the great Crucifix which hangs over the chancel steps, now divorced from the rood screen, but reinstated during a period of restoration in the 1990s.

Here is a view of the Sanctuary itself, with the Archbishop's Cathedra in the foreground against the north pillar of the chancel arch. The original canopy was removed in 1967, but a reconstruction is now in place with the Archbishop Vincent Nichol's coat of arms, by Ormsby of Scarisbrick.

Tonight the Brothers of the Little Oratory have arranged a tour of the Cathedral and crypt (which I have yet to visit). It is a special occasion because we have the kind opportunity to celebrate the old feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Chad using the 1962 Missal, in St. Edwards Chapel. This chapel of St. Edward the Confessor was designed by Sebastian Pugin Powell (1866-1949, grandson of A.W.N. Pugin) and consecrated in 1933 as the memorial to Archbishop Edward Ilsley (1st Archbishop of Birmingham from 1888). The windows around this chapel depict the story of the translation of the relics, which makes it a particularly appropriate setting for this Mass.

Round Robin

Post exam bliss! For the past few weeks I have been thinking of things I've wanted to be doing, and said "after the exams I'm going to do that..." so it comes as a strange shock to wake up and think twice about doing revision!!

For this update we thought of doing a 'Round Robin' (since that's what married couples seem to enjoy doing a lot). This will give a brief view of events from the perspective of all members of the family.

Maddy is smiling lots and enjoying life a great deal. She joins in with chatting and singing with great vigour, especially enjoying our rendition of Salve Regina! As you can see in this photo, she has inherited lots of stuffed animals from her mum. Although I'm not sure whether she will ever enjoy our 'toy room' as much as young Joee Blogs did on his visit!!

Maddy also really loves sitting out in the garden (which has just had the lawn mown by yours truly) and going for walks in the fresh air of Birmingham. Believe it or not, we have lots of nice green routes and parks nearby.

Bartholemew (Bertie) has been as aggressive and disruptive as ever. He refuses to socialise and insists on messing up his house and saw-dust environment. Unlike his predecessor Jeffrey (who liked things 'just so'), Bertie uses his toilet to store his food, and sleeps in his exercise wheel. I am often quite scared to feed him having been on the receiving end of his vicious teeth several times in the past.

Saying that, I did manage to take a few photos recently of him: he can be rather placcid when taken out of his home and closely supervised walking around on the bed. Bertie refused to comment, but we are still hoping that sometime soon he will make a positive contribution to the household.

Now we come to the king of the castle: Master Luke. Brother of a murdered sister, son of a murdered mother (due to road traffic accidents). He had been very productive on the blogging circuit, and in response to Jackie Parkes' recent musings about Mantillas, Luke has assured us from this photo, they are both elegant, fashionable, noble, and reverent. Don't tell him they're not very masculine, though.

Wendy is really enjoying being a mummy and housekeeper. She has been taking Maddy to lots of fun mothering and breastfeeding groups. She is currently reading "Two Lives" by Evelyn Waugh (courtesy of Mrs Parkes Book Club, which Wendy suspects will soon evolve into Mrs Parkes' Blog Club!), and is intrigued by the life of St. Edmund Campion. More on his views to come.

So now we are busy "chilling out" with my mum and brother who are staying for the bank holiday weekend, with us all enjoying the great weather.

The Great Exam

A great big exam in the Great Hall of Birmingham University's Aston Webb building this morning! All 360 medical students in the final year. For most of us, it will be the last time we enter the Great Hall until our Graduation ceremony in July. What a fabulous occasion! It was quite a sight, with row upon row of busy beavers; a sight which I would have loved to capture on camera if it weren't for the exam regulations!

The exam went okay, although I always find 3 hours arduous, even with just short answer and multiple choice questions. The setting was quite splendid, with stained glass, high domed roof, university crests adorning every orifice (more on that on a later post) and portraits of all the university's chancellors. I can't wait for the graduation ceremony, the last of which I attended was back in 2003 when Wendy graduated (left, courtesy of Peter Gosling her father!)

Here is a picture of the external of this building at the centre of the university (Chancellor's Court). It is named after one of its architects, Aston Webb (1849-1930), the other being Edward Ingress Bell (1834-1913) and was built 1900-1909. They also designed the law courts, which I hope to show you at a later date. As you can see, I took this last winter! Things are much more radiant and bright at the moment!

All I have to tackle now is 2 scary Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (ie roastings) which will be the icing on the cake for this week's stress levels. After that I have a resit exam in June (hopefully just one!) but otherwise I should be having a magnificent summer as the fine English weather approaches!

Another MTAS fiasco

It appears there has been a security breach in the confidential information of medical student applicants in the MTAS system this year. That means me.

If any of you readers accessed my personal details, please can you get in touch with me before you unexpectedly pop round my house for tea. Just to give me an idea of numbers.

Exam Time!!

Next week I have exams for my final placements of the year, and the medicine course as a whole! Although I still have a professional development programme to follow, and a re-sit in June, THE END IS IN SIGHT!!! In fact, I recently found out that despite the MTAS fiasco, I've got a job secured for August at a nearby District General Hospital. Hurray!

So posting will be thin on the ground until 4th May. But rest assured, I have many exciting things to write about, including two Pugin Cathedrals, the ornate chapel of the Birmingham Children's Hospital, and the architecture of old Birmingham. Not forgetting a parenting update, and maybe even some contribution from my wonderful wife (who also has some interesting things up her sleeve)! So watch this space!!

A recent picture of Madeleine to wet your appetite!

More on the Rosary...

My last post prompted a few comments and questions. Since my posting has been thin on the ground lately, I just wanted to publish an email I took some time over:

You're absolutely right [that it's odd to have a 15 decade rosary]! I usually make normal rosarys with 5 decades. These are the ones everyone has, and the ones you can buy.

However, there are traditionally 3 sets of mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious, not counting JPII's new 'luminous' mysteries). Each time you say a rosary (5 decades) you meditate on one set of mysteries. Traditionally this has been dependent on the day of the week:

Monday: Joyful Mysteries

Tuesday: Sorrowful

Wednesday: Glorious

Thursday: Joyful

Friday: Sorrowful

Saturday: Glorious

Sunday: depends on season (Joyful in Advent and Christmastide; Sorrowful in Lent; Glorious for the rest of the time.

So basically, if you said ALL the mysteries together, all at once (as is sometimes done on rosary processions, eg the Oratory's May procession) then you would be saying the Rosary 3 times over. The Rosary I constructed reflects this: it is simply 3 rosaries stuck together! It would be unlikely anyone would use it, but it is popular to hang these huge '150 Hail Mary' rosaries on statues of Our Lady in churches. Our Lady gave this devotion to St. Dominic, in its entirety. So for me it symbolises the complete Rosary.

The extra beads hanging down to the crucifix are for opening the devotion. They are for the intention of the Pope and help fulfil the conditions of an "indulgence" (which requires confession and holy communion on the same day") to open up for you the maximum Grace from the treasury of the Church.

I also produce little hand rosarys, with one decade. It matters relatively little what you use: you could even use the 10 fingers on your hand! But a blessed set of Rosary beads is very special; a sacred weapon against Satan.

Another back story: The practice of praying 150 Prayers dates back to ancient monasteries, where less learned monks were unable to pray the Latin Psalms (the "psalter of David" in the bible). Instead, with the community, they would pray an 'Our Father' or perhaps 'Hail Mary' for each psalm recited, using 150 knots on their waist rope, and thus keep track of where the community was in their prayer.

hope that helps you. The simple message is pray the rosary every day if you can: it is a fantastic prayer with divine precedence: It was given to us by Our Lady and she has repeatedly told us to pray it. It works miracles!

For more on the Rosary see the excellent resource at Fish Eaters.