I haven't been posting very much recently, not only because it's a busy time of year in the parish but because my 83 year-old father has been rather unwell. This has prevented me from following or commenting on some of the recent excitements on the blogosphere. So that I can focus on the 4th commandment, I won't be blogging in the near future - though I will, of course, keep the blog online and may be inspired to write the occasional post when I feel the urge.

Oremus pro invicem!

Update Of you charity please pray for the repose of the soul of my father, Dr Arthur Norman Edward Delsart Schofield, who died at home on Monday 9th March, aged 83. Born in Rochdale in 1925, he studied at the School of Slavonic Studies, University of London, and worked as Curator in the Department of Manuscripts at the British Library, until his retirement in 1987. His Requiem will be celebrated at 12.30pm on Friday 20th March at St John the Evangelist, Berry Lane, Rickmansworth. Requiescat in pace.

Westminster Voices

The Archdiocese of Westminster has just launched its first podcast - and since I'm featured on it, it is sort of my first podcast too. I was asked to provide some historical input and chose to speak about the 1908 International Eucharistic Congress, held in Westminster. Other 'voices' heard on the programme are those of Bishop John Arnold and Fr Paschal Ryan, the chaplain to Heathrow airport.

I never like listening to myself but I had a sneak preview and the whole thing seems well put together and edited, thanks to the skill of the producer, Nick Patrick (who normally works for BBC Radio 4).

Recusant Messenger

Ad Universalis Ecclesiae is an interesting new blog by Dr Simon Johnson, 'dedicated to bringing those with an interest in English Catholic History, the English Catholic Diaspora and the current state of the English Catholic church together.' The author is currently working in conjunction with the bishops to promote the history of the English Catholic institutions overseas (resulting from the recusant 'diaspora') and to turn his doctoral thesis on the English College, Lisbon into a book.

I've just returned from holiday, so was unable to note that Tuesday was the second birthday of this blog. I'm surprised that the readership for Roman Miscellany still numbers between 200 and 300 a day, especially since my posts are less regular - however, I will try to post something at least once a week or whenever my creative juices are flowing!

Say a prayer, please, for my aunt, Anne Schofield, who died this afternoon aged 87. RIP.

Gravissimum Educationis

Check out this promising new English blog, run by a young Catholic father and teacher.

Bloggers

Above is a group of bloggers who met at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen yesterday - from left to right: Cally's Kitchen, Fr Z, Roman Miscellany, Hermeneutic of Continuity, Jamie Bogle and South Ashford Priest. Mulier Fortis was there earlier but had to dash back to school.

There isn't much point posting about the Solemn Mass and Te Deum until the photos are made available. Suffice to say that it was an extraordinary occasion.

100,000!

Yesterday, as a bit of fun between giving retreat conferences, I posted five Catholic facts about Mr E Presley on the 30th anniversary of his death. I didn't expect that it would lead to 2,648 visitors (compared to Wednesday's 269), thanks to mention on Whispers in the Loggia, Dappled Things, New Advent, Fr Jay's Young Fogeys, Fr Dwight's Standing On My Head, Deacon's Bench, Per Christum and even The Corner blog from the National Review!

Anyway, it's taken Roman Miscellany's total number of visitors to over 100,000 since April 2006. This is the by now obligatory post to note this fact and thank my patient readers. And, I suppose since my readership was so boosted on the anniversary of his death, thank you Elvis!

New Statesman Blog

Go over to The Faith Column on the New Statesman blog and you'll find amongst the contributions four very good articles by Josephine Robinson (writer and Chairman of the Association of Catholic Women) on such subjects as the Church and women, Our Lady, sex and contraception, and priests and celibacy. I sure these posts will do a lot of good.

Varia

A copy of the long-awaited ICEL translation of the Ordinary of the Mass has appeared on Valle Adurni and various other blogs, via South Africa (where it is now available). Readers who haven't seen it yet should have a look.

It's a vast improvement and I look forward to using it, though it will take some getting used to. The transition between translations will probably be a bit messy - introducing the new responses to the people will be a pastoral challenge (in some cases taking years rather than months) and we priests will probably unthinkingly use the old, more familiar translation at times. After all, I still have to consciously think, during the Eucharistic Prayer, that the Pope's name is now 'Benedict' rather than 'John Paul,' especially when it's my third or fourth Mass on a Sunday!

On a different note, I've added two new blogs to my list: one is called Vive Jesus and is dedicated to the teachings of the great St Francis de Sales; the other, A Sub-Tutor's Diary, is not explicitly religious but it is, apparently, inspired by 'Roman Miscellany' and is written by a friend from Oxford, now a Sub-Tutor at a well-known public school. American readers, in particular, may be interested to find out what daily life is like at such a quintessentially English institution. I've been in touch with this friend through Facebook, which I've just started using. As one person put it to me, Facebook is 'one of the biggest time wasting mechanisms ever invented,' but it's useful in tracking down long-lost friends...

Christus resurrexit, alleluia!

A happy and blessed Easter to all of you!

I'm about to have a belated siesta, having had a rather fine festal lunch here at the presbytery - including, for the first time since I was 7 years old, some indoor fireworks (now, how Catholic is that?)! However, before I make my horizontal meditation I thought I better add something to the blog. Holy Week is one of my favourite times of year because everything is so focussed on the drama of the Sacred Liturgy. It started with the Chrism Mass at Westminster Cathedral on Holy Tuesday, marked by a lovely Monteverdi Mass setting and a good homily by the Cardinal on Sacramentum Caritatis (indeed all priests were given a complementary copy when they turned up to vest, which was very encouraging).

Here at Kingsland, things went well. Each day of the Triduum had its own flavour and momentum: the Maundy Thursday Mass (at which I 'presided') is, I always think, the most contemplative. Good Friday is edifying, despite the chaos caused by the congregation (numbering at least 850) - I was particularly impressed by the demand for confessions, on which subject Fr Tim has an excellent post. The Easter Vigil was full of beauty - and I just about got through the Exsultet (though I must gargle some port, as the experts recommend, before I do it next time, since my voice got rather dry). The highlight, however, was the Solemn Mass this morning, celebrated by the parish priest, at which I got to exercise my 'eternal diaconate' (Fr Albert, the National Nigerian Chaplain, joined me on the sedilia in a gold tunicle). A special choir sang Haydn's St Nicholas Mass, Mozart's Ave verum and (as a recessional) Handel's Alleluia Chorus, which attracted a spontaneous round of applause from the people. I'm not a great fan of clapping in church but I think an exception can be made for Easter - one thinks of the fifteenth century Bavarian custom of the priest singing comic songs at the end of Mass and causing the people to be convulsed in Risus Paschalis, 'Easter laughter.'

I should add that today is the first 'blogiversary' of Roman Miscellany. Thank you for your kind interest over the past year. Originally I thought I might stop blogging after a year but, with your indulgence, I think I might continue - at least for a little longer.

The Existence of God

Answering our Secular Critics (especially Richard Dawkins)

A Talk by Fr Tim Finigan (of Hermeneutic of Continuity)

Friday 23 March 2007, 7pm

Our Lady & St Joseph, Kingsland

100a Balls Pond Rd, N1 4AG

Nearest tube: Highbury & Islington

This is being organised by the William Lockhart Circle, named after our first parish priest at Kingsland, who was the first of Newman's disciples to become a Catholic (and a Rosminian priest). All readers are welcome to come along, as are fellow bloggers (in fact, so far there will be four London-based Catholic bloggers present). The talk will be preceded by Holy Mass (6pm) and Via Crucis (6.30pm).

One last thing for today - I see that, according to 'Site Meter,' the 50,000th visitor since April 2006 came to Roman Miscellany sometime this afternoon (though my second counter - run by 'blogpatrol' and on display at the side - is a few thousand behind). In the same period, nearly 90,000 pages have been viewed. Of course, this is nothing compared to Fr Tim (who, coincidentally, received his 100,000th visitor today), but it's a milestone nevertheless!

Thanks to all of you for your continued interest and perseverance!

Vote Now!

I've just noticed that Roman Miscellany (along with about 100 others!) has been nominated as 'Best New Blog' in the Catholic Blog Awards 2007. Thanks to the reader/s who nominated me. Voting is now open - it's very easy to register and vote.

Other British blogs to be nominated are:
Auntie Joanna Writes - Best New/Best Individual Blog
Blogging the Catholic Church in the British Isles - Best Group Blog
Godzdogz - Most Spiritual/Best Overall/Best New/Best Group/Best Designed Blog
Hermeneutic of Continuity - Best Political-Social Commentary/Best Overall/Best Clergy Blog
Joee Blogs - Best Written Blog
Lacrimarum Valle - Best Overall/Best New Blog
Laus Crucis - Best Clergy Blog
Mulier Fortis - Best Individual Blog
Orthfully Catholic - Best Group Blog
Solomon I Have Surpassed Thee - Best Clergy Blog
St Mary Magdalen, Brighton - virtually all categories (the parish must have been voting hard!)
Standing on My Head [honorary British blog] - Best Apologetic/Best Clergy Blog

...and that doesn't mean, by the way, that I'm only voting British!

Ni hao!

According to 'site meter', 4% of visitors to this blog are from China. Either (most probably) they're finding it by accident or my posts are attracting interest from the persecuted Christians out there! Also, rather curiously, 40% of readers are American and only 33 % from the UK. By the start of Lent, I should have passed the 50,000 visitor milestone.

Oremus pro invicem!

Get Your Nominations In!

I see that nominations can now be sent in for the Catholic Blog Awards 2007. The last twelve months have seen the emergence of many excellent blogs (Fr Tim, Mrs Bogle, Joee Blogs, Westminster Cathedral et al) - it would be nice to think that the Brits might be as successful in being nominated for these as they are with the coming Oscars! The categories are:

1. Best Overall Catholic Blog

2. Best Designed Catholic Blog

3. Best Written Catholic Blog

4. Best New Catholic Blog

5. Best Individual Catholic Blog

6. Best Group Blog

7. Best Blog by Clergy/Religious/Seminarian

8. Funniest Catholic Blog

9. Smartest Catholic Blog

10. Most Informative & Insightful Catholic Blog

11. Best Apologetic Blog

12. Best Political/Social Commentary Catholic Blog

13. Best Insider News Catholic Blog

14. Most Spiritual Blog

Hmmm, I assume you don't have to nominate for every category - it's difficult to distinguish 'most insightful' from 'smartest', and what does 'insider news Catholic blog' exactly mean? Anyway, you only have until 9 February to nominate!

A Roman Blog

In case you haven't noticed, Don Marco, O. Cist., the author of Vultus Christi, recently moved to the Basilica of Santa Croce, Rome, and is now posting regularly on his Roman life - including a recent pilgrimage to Manoppello (to see Veronica's Veil) and liturgico-spiritual reflections. The blog is beautifully presented and well worth a visit.

Dear Anonymous...

Many thanks to the 'occasional reader' of this blog who sent me a book about icons of St Nicholas (or, as the author calls him, 'St Nick'). This was very kind of you and much appreciated! I shall certainly remember you in my prayers.

A Meeting with 'Fr Z'

One of the advantages of going on holiday with a blogospheric celebrity like Fr Whinder is that doors are opened in the most unexpected places. The said Fr Whinder was walking down Borgo Pio on Wednesday when an American cleric excitedly approached him: 'Hey, I recognise you from Roman Miscellany and other blogs - you're Fr Whinder.' It was 'Fr Z', the master of one of the most informative mega-blogs out there, What Does the Prayer Really Say? A drink followed in the room of 'Fr Z' yesterday evening - and, though camera shy, 'Fr Z' took the above picture of his English guests sitting at his computer. We look forward to your English tour, 'Fr Z'!

On Catholic Blogging

As many others have noted, Auntie Joanna has done a great service in writing about blogging in the British Catholic press this weekend. Not only does it make the wider Catholic community aware of the phenomena, but it provides some wise maxims for the blogger. I particularly like: ‘a lot will happen in your life that you need not, and should not, discuss with the rest of us.’ This is especially relevant for priest bloggers – for example, yesterday was an interesting day for me ‘pastorally’ but I had to resist the temptation of posting anything about it since it would not be appropriate.

Joanna also calls for charity in the blogosphere, criticising those who ‘are very happy denouncing one another and pronouncing gleefully about how awfully dreadful everything in the Church is.’ Of course, it’s fine (and sometimes necessary) to make valid criticisms but there’s something wrong if that’s all a blogger writes about – and, besides, since a blog is in the public domain, what sort of an image of the Church does it present to the curious non-Catholic visitor? Except for noteworthy exceptions, I prefer to keep personal rants to the confines of an evening spent with friends over a glass of sambuca rather than in front of the entire world.

The article also lists the ‘downside’ of Catholic blogs:

A slightly tiresome clubbability, use of jargon, jokey references to other bloggers and a sense of superiority: here I am, announcing my views, which by implication are definitely well worth hearing.

Yes, that can be true, but I wouldn’t completely condemn ‘jokey references to other bloggers’ or ‘clubbability.’ And a blogger is not necessarily arrogant, though you do need a certain self-confidence to start a blog in the first place.

I hope some readers of the Catholic Herald will follow the instructions in the ‘How to Create a Blog’ section. People sometimes say to me that blogging must be time-consuming (the sub-text being: shouldn’t you be visiting parishioners rather than sitting in front of the computer?) but it needn’t be and I don’t normally spend more than 30 minutes blogging each day, assuming I have an idea.

As Joanna says, blogging in all its diverse forms is generally worthwhile and good for the mission of the Church - 'most of what you find in the blogosphere has a fresh and vigorous feel...[Blogging] has opened up to many of us some of the treasures of the Church: lives of the saints, good music, inspiring reading, news of today's heroes in parts of the world where being a Catholic requires real courage.'

By the way, somebody asked me recently why I called this blog ‘Roman Miscellany’ – partly because of its miscellaneous nature and partly because of this book about the English in Rome published a few years ago, which I thoroughly recommend (apologies for the plug):

Venerabile blog

Just noticed in the list of blogs linking to Roman Miscellany a new one entitled Northampton Seminiarian. It is written by Michael Patey, a second year student for the diocese of Northampton at my alma mater of the Venerable English College and contains reflections on his life in Rome - a welcome addition to my blogroll.