Hunting Skills...

This afternoon I was having a quiet read (what else are holidays for?) when the catflap clattered. I didn't look up - it's a noisy flap and the cats are in and out several times a day. I then heard Monsignor Miaowrini practising her pounce-and-roll technique in the front room. I still didn't look up - she had been rolling around there all morning...

Then I heard the peculiar kitty-scrabble-sound a cat makes when it is holding on to something with its front paws and kicking ecstatically at it with the back ones. This made me look up...

There, in the hall, was an impressive collection of feathers...

I followed the trail to the front room to find Miaowrini clutching a small bird, rolling over and over with it in her paws... a sort of kitty-crocodile-death-roll. I retrieved the still-warm bird, which had died of fright, I think, as there were no obvious injuries, and cleared away the feathers.

Naturally, my first instinct was to update the Kitty Kill Count. After all, hunting trophies have been scarce since we moved to Margate. I blame the seagulls...

Easter Activities...

The Triduum is rather a busy time. This year, because Easter was so early, most schools opted to work right up until the last possible minute, so Holy Week was taken up with teaching commitments until the afternoon of Maundy Thursday. This meant that my Triduum preparations were rather truncated...

I did attempt to get to Tenebrae at the Shrine of St. Augustine, Ramsgate for Spy Wednesday. However, a full teaching day followed by a revision session for Year 11, followed by an hour and a half of booklet photocopying and collating for Maundy Thursday's Mass, and two and a half hours' choir practice in preparation for Good Friday and the Easter Vigil meant that I was a little tired. By 10pm, with only the first nocturn of Tenebrae completed, I realised that I hadn't eaten all day and I had a full day of teaching still to follow, so I went home early. Nevertheless, the bit of the liturgy I attended was very beautiful, and the Victoria Consort sang superbly, so I was glad I had made the effort.

After work on Maundy Thursday I finished preparing the booklets for the Mass by stapling them - fortunately we will be able to use them again as the TLM operates on a one-year cycle. A run-through of the music followed, but we had less time than anticipated as I had miscalculated the start-time by half an hour. A mad scramble for the choir loft ensued - but we managed to sort out the music in time. Singing the Pange Lingua for the procession to the altar of repose always brings a lump to my throat. We chanted Vespers after Mass and then had the Solemn Stripping of the Altars...

Good Friday started with Stations of the Cross - but since this was at midday, I managed to catch up on some sleep first. Children read a short description of each Station, and some of them walked round with Fr. Finigan...

The Afternoon Liturgical Action of the Passion was very moving. Scooting down from the choir loft for Veneration of the Cross was a bit of a struggle - my joints were playing up due to the damp - but I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

We had "Święconka" - the traditional Easter Blessing of food - at midday on Holy Saturday... it was great to see the children with their decorated baskets...

And then there was a gap until the Easter Vigil itself. We had winds gusting at about 50 mph, and it was raining, so the lighting of the Easter fire and Paschal candle happened in the hall. Deacon Ambrose sang the Exsultet superbly...

Of course, it had to be this weekend that the clocks changed, so I lost an hour's sleep. Fortunately I sing at the 11:30am Mass, not the 9:30am... but I still overslept!!

All my photos are in albums up on Flickr if you want to have a look...

The advantage to finishing the term on Maundy Thursday is that I now get two whole weeks after the frenzy of the Triduum to rest and recuperate. Watch this space for lots of holiday pictures of the beach...

Palm Sunday...

An absolutely brilliant day today...

I was worried that it would rain, as the day was distinctly grey, damp and overcast (and jolly cold) but the sun came out just in time for the procession. Andrew Bosi, who used to run the schola which visited Blackfen for the Missa Cantata on the first Saturday of the month, came down to help with the singing of the psalms and antiphons during the procession. This was just as well, because I'm not yet confident enough to do the full Gregorian chant... we had the "proper" stuff for the procession and the Rossini propers (based on simple psalm tones) for the Mass itself. Together with Mass XVII, Credo I, the Stabat Mater and the Parce Domine, I think we did quite well...

I managed to get a few photos of the whole thing, and have uploaded them to my Flickr page. Please do go and have a look (and see what you are missing if you don't get to attend a Solemn High Mass for the start of Holy Week!

Present Time...

Matthaeus (Sub Umbra Alarum Suarum) popped down to visit St. Austin & St. Gregory's, Margate, today - well, a Solemn High Mass with all the trimmings on Palm Sunday is well worth the effort!

He brought a present for the kitties...

I had just decided that it might be a good idea to get some sort of mat to go in front of the catflap, so it is absolutely purrrrfect... Thanks, Matthaeus!

That Time Of Year...

We are approaching the greatest Feast in the Church's calendar, which is the cue for the mainstream media to run silly "religious" stories and show even sillier programmes.

The media have pretty much done the "Jesus-was-married-to-Mary-Magdalene!" theme to death, so a new angle was about due. This time it's "Judas-not-as-black-as-he's-been-painted!"

You see, for the last 2000 years, the Church has unfairly castigated Judas for betraying Jesus. It seems that he didn't do it for the money - he betrayed Jesus because he wanted to force him to take power and overthrow the Romans.

That makes it so much better, doesn't it?

The Telegraph report claims that "prominent clerics" think Judas' role should be reappraised. However, the only clerics actually quoted are the Anglican Bishop of Leeds (of whom I'd never heard) and the Anglican vicar whose prominence is entirely due to the fact that she was videoed cavorting around her church during a wedding ceremony "disco flash mob", footage of which went viral on YouTube. Of course, these days that's more than enough to get you a slot on TV.

Anyway, the Bishop of Leeds seems to think that Judas' motives have been misrepresented. Now it's true that they are not mentioned in the Gospels. However, the Evangelists left out rather a lot of stuff which was considered unnecessary for our salvation. Presumably Judas' motives were not considered pertinent. The fact that Judas gave in to despair and killed himself was recorded, and so that, presumably was the important point.

I was rather taken aback by the Rev. Kate Bottley's interview with the Telegraph as a plug for her program. "I don’t think any of the other disciples were whiter than white – we just probably didn’t hear about it" was one snippet.

Ahem. Now, I'm no Scripture scholar, but actually we did hear about it. We hear how Matthew was a tax collector (not an honourable position!) We heard about Peter's misunderstanding of Jesus' mission - a misunderstanding that drew pretty harsh condemnation from Jesus himself  ("Get thee behind me, Satan!") and, of course, we hear plenty about Peter's threefold denial. We heard that James and John got their mother to try and wangle positions of power for them in Jesus' kingdom. The Scriptures record quite clearly how the Apostles fled after Jesus was arrested, and how, after the Crucifixion, they hid in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.

Another quote from the Rev. Bottley also confused me: "Up until that moment of betrayal, Judas seems no better or worse than any of the other disciples... But he has been defined by the worst thing he did."

Ummm... but what about the bit which pointed out that Judas objected to the wasting of precious ointment on Jesus' feet because he had charge of the money and was helping himself to it?

Just reading about the programme was irritating. Fortunately I will have better things to do on Good Friday than watch this sort of drivel...

Lenten Resolutions...

It's a bit of a shock to realise that there is only a week and a half left before we hit the Triduum. On the one hand I wish to rejoice because the sugar in tea and eating of chocolates greatest Mystery of our Redemption is about to commence. On the other hand I have been left scratching my head wondering what happened to Lent. I am more convinced than ever that the Earth is speeding up its orbit around the Sun. Life is zipping by at an astounding rate!

My resolution to update the blog more regularly wasn't actually a Lenten one, but I haven't managed to keep it anyway. There are only so many posts one can write about watching the sea (especially when one normally arrives home in the dark) or sleeping kitties (they appear to have decided hunting requires too much energy - or maybe the seagulls are too intimidating.) However, I'm no longer having to commute to London and back each day, so I hope that I will have more energy for doing stuff other than work and therefore have more material for blogposts.

Watch this space...

Enjoying The Weather...

It's Half Term - for which I am extremely thankful! Saturdays and Sundays in the school holidays never feel like proper holidays to me - they are just "the weekend." However, Mondays are when holidays really sink in...

I had a glorious lie-in this morning. Given that for the past year I have had to leave the house at 5:30am, a lie-in is not to be sniffed at. I then followed it up by praying the office in my front room, with a beautiful sea-scape in front of me...

After a leisurely lunch and some time playing with the Monsignor and Cardinal, I went round to visit a friend. Driving home, I saw that the tide was in, and the wind was really whipping up the waves. I have discovered that, if you want to see really impressive waves, the best place to observe them is by cliffs or where the water is relatively deep. There is such a place quite close to home, and I decided to stop off to see if I could capture any good moments...

Alas, I discovered that the time-lag between my pressing the button on my phone and the lens shutter operating was not quite as short as I hoped - so I missed the really good shots. I was also wary of getting too close - it was rather cold, and I didn't fancy a drenching. But I think that I shall try and spend a bit more time here to see if I can get the hang of the timing.

In the meantime, I think these photos are probably the best of today's crop...

The Footsie Index...

Oh dear...

I was often given the extremely laborious task of hunting down volunteers for the Mandatum. It was hard work: in my experience the majority of men who attended the Maundy Thursday Mass just wanted to pray quietly, and being asked to get up in front of the entire congregation and take off a shoe was anathema. I soon discovered that married men and those accompanied by their mothers made the easiest targets; the women were often eager for their menfolk to participate, and would help to persuade their reluctant spouses and sons to do their duty.

Given this reluctance, I suspect that we shall see an interesting phenomenon. Rather as the proportion of boys serving at Mass decreased as girls were permitted, I predict that, in parishes where the new rubrics are observed, we shall see the gradual (or not so gradual) dominance of female volunteers. After all, we have (on the whole) prettier, more dainty feet than men... and generally less foot odour. I foresee reports in L'Osservatore Romano commenting on the latest fashion in shades of nail varnish... The proportion of women to men can be called the Footsie Index...

I never felt excluded because I couldn't have my feet washed on Maundy Thursday. The link with Jesus, the Apostles and the life of service and self-sacrifice to which priests are called seemed perfectly clear. Opening the Mandatum to women merely breaks that symbolism, and so impoverishes and cheapens the action, reducing it to a play-acting stunt.

Miracles Are Where You Look For Them...

Some time in November, I suddenly became aware that I'd lost the ring I'd bought to commemorate my dedication to God as a single woman living and working in the world. I say "suddenly" - it was quite a shock to realise that my ring finger was completely bare.

At first I assumed it had slipped off in the night when I'd had my hand under my pillow. I was sure that I'd find it again when I got home. It wasn't there.

I looked in all the places I could think of. I even thought that the cats might have found it, and after a game of chase, have left it under a cupboard. I scoured the flat, without any joy.

I checked my jacket pockets, my handbag, and my coat pockets. I prayed to St. Anthony. Nothing. I even checked my gloves in case, in my haste to take them off, the ring had remained trapped in the material.

By the end of December, I gave the ring up for lost. I assumed that I had pulled it free when retrieving my ticket on the train, and that it had dropped to the floor unnoticed.

On Saturday I decided to buy a replacement. The original had been an inexpensive gold band from Argos, and, as I was in Victoria, I popped in to the Argos branch there. Alas, they didn't have the ring in my size, and I had to abandon the idea.

This afternoon I was in a bit of a hurry to leave school at the end of the day. Making a grab for my coat, I dropped it. Imagine my surprise when I saw my ring roll out from under it...

A little miracle to cheer up my day...

Catching Up With Myself...

On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception we were blessed to have a Solemn High Mass at St. Austin & St. Gregory's. Fr. Marcus Holden came over from Ramsgate to be deacon and Fr. Bernard McNally was subdeacon.

I wasn't needed to sing, as we were even more blessed to have some members of the wonderful Victoria Consort to provide the music. We had Palestrina's Missa Brevis among other things - the first time I've heard it, and it was gorgeous.

Not having to shuffle bits of paper and work out what note to start on meant that I was free to let the music lift my heart and mind to God, and watch as the liturgy unfolded in front of me - the ritual movements and gestures, so carefully choreographed over centuries, are supremely satisfying. I have heard "bells and smells" referred to in disparaging tones by those who dislike the resurgence of the traditional Latin Mass, but there is a certain amount of truth in the phrase. Our faith is an incarnational one - we are not spirits trapped in a physical body, we are created body and soul, together from the first moment of conception. Furthermore, at the end of time, body and soul will be reunited. Death, that separation of body and soul, is so awful to us because it was not meant to happen... it happens because of Original Sin. The Mass addresses both the physical and spiritual aspects of our nature, and this is why beautiful music and vestments, and careful observation of the rubrics are so very integral to the worthy celebration of the Mass.

I took photos to try and capture some of this beauty and dignity, to share with people unable to attend a traditional Latin Mass for themselves. I haven't had much opportunity to work out the best camera angles at St. Austin & St. Gregory, but I don't think the results are too bad. You can see more over on my Flickr page.

A Good Start...

2016 got off to a flying start - Mass at St. Austin & St. Gregory's, Margate, where we chanted the Veni Creator Spiritus with the intention of obtaining the plenary indulgence attached, and the wonderful news that His Hermeneuticalness was recovering well from his heart operation. In fact, the number of tweets he was posting suggested that he was experiencing a mild state of euphoria due to the drugs he's on.

Today's feast is one of the few where I experience a "conflict" between the old calendar and the new. According to the usus antiquior, today ought to be the Octave Day of Christmas and the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord. In the new calendar it is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Normally I'd be content to stick with the old, but I do like the idea of starting the year off under Our Lady's mantle, as it were.

Once again, wishing you all a happy and blessed New Year...

Happy New Year...

I hadn't intended to be up and about for the witching hour as I'm trying to get back into regular sleeping patterns for the new term, which starts on Monday. However, since I found myself wide awake, I decided to watch the firework display over Margate's harbour arm from my front room. It was glorious, but rain on my windows marred the photo just a tad.

2015 has been my worst year for blogging output since I started back in May 2006; looking at my sidebar list of posts revealed that I published only 28 posts. That averages out at one every two weeks. And I've realised that I have actually missed blogging. Writing helped me to marshal my arguments and think things through. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to write more for the blog.

Of course, my track record for keeping New Year's resolutions isn't particularly good...

A Post About My Hooligans...

I've had quite a hectic week. Yesterday I noticed a slightly odd smell when I went to bed. I assumed that one of the cats had been sick under the bed, but was way too tired to do anything about it. This evening I noticed the smell again - it was a bit stronger, and I decided that, no matter how tired I was, I really did have to investigate...

Moving the bed revealed that one of my little hooligans had very thoughtfully brought me a present. I suspect Miaowrini, as she tends to go out for longer periods than Furretti, but both cats are doing their best to look totally innocent.

Just when I thought I'd have to get rid of the Kitty Kill Count in the sidebar...

Advent Preparations...

I do love my parish in Margate - there is just so much happening! Two weeks ago we had the Michaelmas Fair; this afternoon saw the annual wreath-making workshop for Advent.

I'm not the most practical of people, especially when it comes to greenery - I prefer experiments which go bang and things which burn brightly, hence my career as a Science teacher. But I do love to watch people being creative, and we had that at St. Austin & St. Gregory in bucketloads! It was great fun to watch people (of all ages) get stuck in...

And some of the younger participants had even dressed up for the occasion...

(...well, ok, maybe they were just dressed like that anyway!)

Oasis foam rings were provided for everyone who wanted to have a go at making their own wreath, along with candles, candle-holders and greenery. Lots of greenery...

Pretty baubles, gilded pine cones and other decorations could also be added. And for the dexterously-challenged, such as myself, extra wreaths were made up by the talented parish team of "flower girls" for sale after the blessing of wreaths on Sunday morning.

Kathy (in the purple jacket) told me that it was all much easier than it looked, and explained how she had been roped in to flower arranging in the parish. It sounded as if she was trying to encourage my own creative talents. Knowing that my wreath-making abilities are minimal, and being frankly far more interested in sitting around drinking tea, eating mince pies, chatting and taking photos, I had come prepared, and handed over some hard cash for one of the extra wreaths. Kay asked me if I minded baubles on my wreath. I explained that I positively welcomed baubles, but that, as I wasn't sure what my two cats would be likely to chomp, I would prefer not to have any holly berries. So I got a bespoke Advent wreath which I will collect in the morning once it's been blessed...

I thought that the Advent wreath for the church looked particularly elegant...

Meanwhile, the Crib was being set up in front of the Lady Altar...

... and, at least until Christmas, this is what the finished Crib looks like...

There are a few more photos on my Flickr page. The afternoon made a very enjoyable way to prepare for Advent. I can't wait to collect my wreath tomorrow!

A Treat...

We are having a Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at St. Austin & St. Gregory's, Margate. Mass starts at 7:30pm, so I shall have to race the schoolchildren to the gate at the end of the day, but it'll be worth it!

I think the music is something by Palestrina. It'll be a real treat to hear it in the setting and circumstances for which it was composed...

The Skies That Inspired Turner...

I had been told that Turner once declared that "...the skies above Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe." I always assumed that this was artistic hyperbole; after all, sky was sky. It didn't matter where you were, you had the same amount of sky, and, while it would change according to the weather conditions, it was pretty much the same everywhere.

After visiting Margate a few times, I realised that Turner actually had a point. The quality of the light is amazing, and unlike anything else I have experienced. I can't paint, but I do love to try and capture the moods and light with my camera.

I took lots of photos during the Summer as I strolled along the sea front. But I was interested to see how the views would change as the wintry weather developed, and so, on a rather changeable day in November, I went out with my camera to see what I could come up with.

None of the photos have been edited or filtered in any way...

You can see a few more over on my Flickr pages...