Oscott

Last week I visited St Mary's College, Oscott, the seminary for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, in order to collect some archival materials. It seemed quite a happy place and three members of the staff (including the Vice-Rector) were contemporaries of mine in Rome. The College has a fine building, designed by Pugin and with stunning views over Birmingham (particularly impressive at night, when flickering lights replace the uglier aspects of the urban sprawl).

In the Pranzorium, where the staff (and guests) have breakfast, there is a wonderful collection of portraits of past Presidents, including two of the greatest Vicars Apostolic of the Midland District.

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This is Bishop John Milner (1752-1826), whom Newman called 'the English Athanasius.' He offered a new model of what an English Catholic bishop should be – confident, unafraid of controversy, keen to uphold the primacy of ecclesiastical authority and defend orthodoxy, and also truly pastoral. Many of his fiery opinions could be found in the appropriately named Orthodox Journal. Milner moved the Church away from dependence on the great Catholic families and looked towards the victory of Ultramontanism later in the nineteenth century.

This is Bishop Thomas Walsh (1777-1849), who was moved to London in the last year of his life, with the expectation that he would become the first Archbishop of Westminster after the restoration of the Hierarchy. He died and Wiseman filled his shoes. As bishop in the Midlands, what marked Walsh out was the grandeur of his vision and his openness towards new forces within the Catholic community, such as the Oxford converts and the gothis revival. At his death in 1849, The Tablet observed that ‘it is to his Episcopacy that posterity will trace the great development of ecclesiastical architecture which forms so distinctive a feature in the history of our period.’ A keen supporter of Pugin, Walsh oversaw the opening of a number of churches and institutions that were gems of the gothic revival: the future Cathedrals of Birmingham (St Chad’s) and Nottingham, New Oscott, the Trappist monastery at Mount St Bernard’s, the glorious churches at Cheadle and Derby, and the religious houses of Hanley, Ratcliffe and Aston. Many of these ambitious projects were made possible through the patronage of John Talbot, sixteenth earl of Shrewsbury, and Ambrose Phillips de Lisle.

Walsh’s vision for Oscott was to make it a centre of Catholic life and scholarship that would provide a home for many of the converts. Pugin was given the task of decorating and furnishing the chapel, using ornaments ‘executed by ancient artists in the days of faith’ but ‘torn by heretical and revolutionary violence from their original positions in the noble churches of France and Belgium,’ and restoring ‘the ample and dignified vestments which were anciently used in this land.’ Walsh bought an impressive library that had been made available in Rome and appointed converts like George Spencer to high positions.

Pugin's Ramsgate

On Wednesday I popped down to the Kentish coastal town of Ramsgate. My first port of call was the Benedictine monastery, which I used to visit regularly when my first cousin once removed (Dom Stephen Holford) was alive. In fact the last time I visited I had gingerly mentioned my possible priestly vocation to him - it was the first time I had mentioned it to anyone. That was about 13 years ago and quite a lot has happened since then! It was good to be back - the monks kindly invited me to lunch and I had a chance to rumage in their wonderfully atmospheric library.

Here the church, designed by the great Pugin - he was proud that it contained not one wrong architectural principal:

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Outside, leading down to the sea front, there is a peaceful cemetery. Here is a view looking towards The Grange, with the tomb of two of my great-aunts in the foreground.

The Grange was the home of Augustus Welby Pugin and then his son Edward. It was recently purchased and renovated by the Landmark Trust and open (by apointment) for tours every Wednesday afternoon. If you're looking for a place to stay in Ramsgate, you can rent the whole house and it has room for eight people. In fact, since it boasts a private chapel (complete with a dressed altar) it would be a good place for priests to stay while visiting the south coast. It is a remarkable place - the prototype for so many Victorian houses, with some beautiful stained glass and wallpaper designs. Pugin's flag flies from the tower, with a black crow (his heraldic device).

Pugin is buried in a chantry in the Abbey church (which is normally closed), where I said a Pater and an Ave for the repose of this sometimes troubled soul. Beside the chapel is the beautiful Blessed Sacrament altar, with the rood screen that used to stand before the sanctuary. Unfortunately the rood was ripped out and is now in the Anglican Cathedral at Southwark.

APGL Conference

I've been asked to advertise the following conference, organised by the excellent Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life and open to clergy:

Wednesday 29 October 2008
St Wilfrid’s Hall
The London Oratory
Brompton Road, SW7 2RP
The Conference is open to all priests.
Deacons and seminarians are also welcome.

Programme
Registration at 11.15am
Keynote Speaker: Fr John Saward
(author of Redeemer in the womb,
The way of the Lamb etc) will speak on:

‘Pius XII and Preaching the Gospel of Life’

A buffet lunch will be provided.
Pro-life literature will be available.

The afternoon session will include Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (with Confessions), Rosary and Benediction.
Tea will be served after Benediction and the Conference will conclude by 4pm

To help us with catering, please leave a message on 020 8300 2697 or send an email to conference@apgl.org.uk if you are coming to the conference.
There is no charge but donations will be welcome.

The Oratory is next to the Victoria and Albert Museum. (Nearest tube station South Kensington.) Enter the courtyard in front of the Oratory House.
St Wilfrid’s Hall is upstairs in the building on the left.

The English Catholic Way

The last few weeks I've been pre-occupied with preparing several presentations. On Saturday I returned to the church of my baptism, Ealing Abbey, to give some talks on 'Mary in the Mystery of Christ and His Church' for the excellent Maryvale Certificate in Catechesis. This is a part-time distance-learning course, spread over two years and involving a number of written assignments and study days. The 'students' came from all over London and represented a variety of ages and backgrounds. I fully recommend it to priest and catechist readers - for further information, visit the website.

I've just returned from our Pastoral Centre at London Colney, giving a day of recollection for the diocesan ethnic chaplains. As I've said before, the Centre was originally an Anglican convent and boasts a stunning chapel by Ninian Comper. I was especially pleased to celebrate Mass this morning under the splendid baldacchino (see above), instead of using the modern altar placed at the church's West End.

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The theme I was asked to speak on was the 'English Catholic Way.' I gave the chaplains an overview of our ecclesiastical history and then tried to draw out the chief characteristics of traditional English spirituality. I came up with the following list:

• A great love for Our Lady (England as Mary's Dowry)
• A close relationship with Rome (as seen in the long tradition of pilgrimages to the Eternal City and the English origins of 'Peter's Pence')
• Love of solitude (England was once famous for its hermits)
• Gentleness and moderation (many English spiritual writers display practical realism and a deep understanding of human nature. They don't like to confine themselves to a rigid system)
• This does not necessarily mean weakness and compromise, though, for the Faith survived long years of persecution and produced a crop of martyrs
• A profound devotion to the Mass - 'it is the Mass that matters'
• Formality, especially in the Sacred Liturgy and Prayer
• A tradition of migration and exile

I would quite like to expand this theme and would be interested to hear of your thoughts regarding the characteristics (at least historically) of English Catholicism.

The Church Universal

You don't need to go the Vatican to get a flavour of the Universal Church. Take my parish here in Hackney. This afternoon I baptized two children from Angola and said prayers with a refugee from Rwanda. We've also had a number of house guests this last week - including a Czech seminarian from the Archdiocese of Olomouc and a priest of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia (which I visited in January).

And five minutes ago, as I was finishing my Sunday homily, the Archbishop of Ibaden (currently President of the Nigerian Bishops' Conference) walked into my room! He's been in London celebrating his 70th birthday with his family and was popping in to see my next-door neighbour, the National Nigerian Chaplain.

Just another typical parochial day!

I'm away for a few days next week, so let me wish you all a pleasant Bank Holiday weekend.

Some Holiday Snaps

I'm back from ten days of touring the Italian Lakes and spending time with my parents (where there isn't very good internet access). Last week I was enjoying the area around Lago Maggiore and staying at the Rosminian houses at Stresa and Domodossola. It was perfect holiday - plenty of this:


Good solid 'autentico' Italian fare, to help us recover from all the church-crawling:

This is the friary of Madonna del Sasso above Lucarno, Switzerland. Lake Maggiore has shores in both Italy and Switzerland, so it was possible to cross the border and briefly leave the E.U. (without any customs or passport checks). Stresa, our main base, has a charming Victorian air about it (there's even a statue of Queen Victoria in the grounds of a hotel that she used). It is the resting place of the once-controversial and now newly-beatified Antonio Rosmini, the friend of several popes, prolific philosopher and founder of the Institute of Charity and Sisters of Providence. Here is his monument at Collegio Rosmini:


His tomb is in the crypt below - looks rather like the proposed monument to Newman at the Birmingham Oratory. One Rosminian I met speculated that both Rosmini and Newman will be Doctors of the Church within 20 years - and both, of course, had their orthodoxy questioned in the nineteenth century:


This is the house where the beatus died in 1855. It is now a centre for Rosminian studies:

His bust can also be found by the lakeside:

The final ingredient of the holiday - lots of outstanding natural beauty to refresh the city-wearied soul:

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Summer School and Summer Holidays

I spent the day at Ardingly College, an independent school in the rolling Sussex countryside, not too far from Gatwick. Notable old Ardinians include Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye. Anyway this week it is the home of the St Catherine's Trust Summer School, which aims 'to support Catholic families in the education of their children in the Catholic Faith. In an educational environment increasingly hostile to the Faith, both home-schooled and conventionally educated Catholic children can benefit from a week’s genuinely Catholic school environment. Focusing on the humanities, students have an opportunity to reflect on our great Catholic heritage of literature and art, on the role of the Church in history, and on Catholic philosophy.'

Each day includes EF Mass, rosary, chant/polyphony classes and sung compline. I was invited to give my usual talk on the English Cardinals, which I enjoyed doing despite the miserable heat. I was very encouraged by the 55 (or so) children who are attending the course and by the professional way it is organised - parents are encouraged to look at the website and consider sending their teenagers next year!

Tomorrow I'm off to Lombardy and the Italian Lakes for a few nights, followed by some time at home with my parents - so no posts for a while.

My Dickensian Great-Grandfather

Apologies, I haven't posted for ages - as other bloggers will know, the longer you leave between posts the harder it is to get round to posting anything. It's been a busy time but things are gradually winding down for the summer and today I had my first proper day-off (i.e. actually away from the presbytery) for several weeks.

I had a wonderfully domestic day with my parents - celebrating Mass, mowing the lawn and writing up some notes my mother had scribbled about her parents, both of whom died in the 1950s and therefore long before my time. I thought it would be good to preserve these memories for posterity.

It was particularly interesting to find out more about my great-grandfather, Charles Grigsby. All I knew about him was that he was quite a character (and I suspect a bit of a rogue), wrote a few books about Charles Dickens (using the pen name 'Edwin Charles') and apparently knew both Belloc and Chesterton. I thought that this last detail was no more than dubious family legend but I discovered today - much to my excitement - that Chesterton actually provided the 'Foreword' to my great-grandfather's second book, Some Dickens Women, which I quickly ordered via the internet. Moreover, it seems that Ronald Knox gave the book a favourable review, though he lamented that Mary the housemaid (from the Pickwick Papers) had not been given a place amongst the other Dickensian characters.

The war correspondent and novelist Sir Philip Gibbs, wrote the ‘Foreword’ to the sequel, Some Dickens Men, and referred to ‘Edwin Charles’ as ‘an old friend of mine in the Street of Adventure [i.e. Fleet Street]. He is a regular Dickens character, steeped in the works of that master as few living Englishmen, and touched not a little with the best quality, the noble optimism in adversity, of Mr Micawber himself.’ Great Grandpa confessed that ‘from my boyhood’s days, Dickens has been my constant companion, my consolation and my delight. My love for him is part of my inmost self and will continue to be so till the Author of all things shall write “finis” to my book of life.’

He died in 1950, aged 88, and his obituary in the Ilford Recorder reported that ‘Mr Grigsby added considerably to the colour and spice of life which he enjoyed to the full’ and that ‘he was a fine speaker, using all the arts of wit and poise and at times jamming his famous monocle in his eye to crush an interrupter with a glare.’ Furthermore, ‘his silver hair and handsome face and his courtly manners made him the most distinguished figure in any company.’

Hmmm, I must find out more about him!

I Am 5

Today I celebrate my fifth birthday as a priest - a mere drop in the ocean compared to the 77 years of Canon Fuller (who I visited on Monday) but still a personal landmark, especially since it means graduating from the diocesan 'Under 5s' meetings for priests!

It is the Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, and I'll be celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving later this morning. This evening the Young Adults group are coming for a small drinks party, so hopefully the good weather will last before the Bank Holiday downpour.

Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur!

A Sea Symphony

It's been a noisy evening - as I sit at my desk I can hear both the Irish singer crooning away in the parish club and the Nigerians making their novena for Pentecost (there's a lot of 'congregational participation' at the moment and this is upsetting the presbytery dogs) - and, to top it all, I've just returned from a performance of Vaughan-Williams' Sea Symphony by the Hackney Singers (of which a parishioner is a member).

They did an excellent job, as did the Essex-based Forest Philharmonic Orchestra (which is of professional quality). I had a good view of the triangle-player, who was kept surprisingly busy during the 70 minute piece. Call me a cultural philistine but I'm not really into the big choral set pieces of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, although the texts used by the choir certainly contained a searching meditation on the journey through life, which are just like the storms and calm of the sea.

The concert was held at the huge 1790s church of St John-at-Hackney - built for a congregation of 2,000 but now attracting a congregation of 60 or 70 (judging from the newsletter). It replaced the medieval church (only the sixteenth century tower remains), which has always fascinated me because the nephew of John XXII, Cardinal Gauscelin Jean d'Euse, held amongst many other posts that of Rector of Hackney (1328-34) - a rather unexpected link between Hackney and papal Avignon!

In the parish newsletter there was an interesting review of a book written by a more recent Rector, describing his experiences as 'an inner city parson.' Although described as a Christian agnostic (!), the reverend author did make a good point about the Anglican clergy that is just as valid for Catholics - as the reviewer put it, 'clergy are expected now to be not so much ministers as managers of the local branches of a national chauin store, with "delivery strategies" and targets, except without the staff to order around...John [the author] deplores what he sees to be a Church of England culture "intolerant of the idiosyncratic...the bland leading the bland."'

Moreover, 'he was proud to say he belonged to a passing generation of clergy taught that mornings should be spent in your study. Books are always more important than meetings.' Hmmm, that's rather commendable.

So, the words of the 'Sea Symphony' and this rather eccentric article in an Anglican parish newsletter provided me with food for thought; appropriate since on Monday I go on my annual retreat...

Monastery Crawl

Earlier this week I popped over to Downside Abbey in Somerset to collect a monastic archive (as you do). A parishioner kindly agreed to provide transport and, as there was room, Cally's Kitchen also joined us. Here is the boot of the car groaning with dusty documents concerning the English Augustinian Canonesses of Paris:

En route we drove through Woolhampton (on the other side of Reading) so we made the short detour to Douai Abbey, another house of the English Benedictine Congregation. Like Downside, the Abbot there is one of our leading Catholic historians. The exterior is rather unusual, due to the modern extension:


However, I think the interior works rather well - lots of space and light:

In the monastic cemetery we paid our respects at the grave of Dom Basil Griffin, twin brother of Cardinal Bernard Griffin, sixth Archbishop of Westminster (1943-56):


Of course, arriving at Downside we were able to visit the tomb of another brother of a Cardinal - Dom Jerome Vaughan, who effectively founded Fort Augustus Abbey up in Scotland, though he later had to leave the community. He was one of the many clerical or monastic siblings of Cardinal Herbert Vaughan.

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This Week

It's been quite a week.

On Tuesday I was in Kendal (on the edge of the Lake District, one of England's most beautiful regions) to conduct my aunt's funeral - the first family function of this type that I've done as a priest. Since my father was unable to make the journey due to poor health, I was also the 'chief mourner.' I was greatly helped by two permanent deacons, who wore dalmatics and were very competent on the sanctuary. The Mass was followed by burial at Kendal Cemetery, at the foot of the old castle where the last wife of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, is said to have been born. I then had the chance to revisit my aunt's house, perhaps for the final time.

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Without boring you, this was the site of perhaps the happiest of my childhood memories since my grandparents once lived there. It was a magical place to visit as a child and the imagination really ran wild in the large garden and field behind the house, all against the backdrop of the Westmorland hills. I particularly remember walking up the field with my grandfather, who used to speak about his experiences at the Battle of the Somme. We would stand under this tree (see below), with three large rocks, which (he said) had once been used by the local Viking leaders for their council meetings. I suspect I might be rather disillusioned if I looked for historical evidence for this!

On a happier note, last night I went to the London Oratory to speak to their hugely successful young adults group - at least a hundred people, mostly young professionals, packed into St Wilfrid's Hall. My topic was the Spanish Inquisition - that old chestnut. One person made the very good point that we should stop being so defensive and apologetic about it (the natural reaction to the familiar 'Black Legend'); instead we should celebrate the positive contributions it made to Europe, especially in the field of legal procedure. Such was the care taken in following the strict procedures, that if you were innocent you had a better chance in an Inquisition court of being cleared than you would in the secular equivalent. The basic points I made can be found here.

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.

Off to La Serenissima

Tomorrow morning I fly off to Venice for three nights - though I'm not sure what sort of weather to expect on the lagoon. Fortunately I know Venice quite well so I'll be able to spend my time wandering along the canals, re-visiting some favourite churches and hunting for that most elusive of Venetian institutions - a good quality AND reasonably-priced ristorante.

I've been asked to draw people's attention to the new CIEL UK website, with info about their forthcoming High Mass and conference at the London Oratory on 31 May. The Mass is followed by an address by Dr Alcuin Reid on Benedict XVI's liturgical reforms.

A Link in a Chain

This morning I gave an 'input' at a Day of Recollection for the Westminster Sick and Retired Clergy. There were 18 present, including two nonagenarians and a smattering of monsignori. I was very aware that there were several centuries-worth of priestly experience in the room while I could only claim 5 years!

My theme was the history of the diocese and the fact that we are links in the great chain of faith, acting as a bridge between yesterday and tomorrow. I wanted to pay tribute to the many extraordinary priests who had a key role in the growth of the Church in London (just as much as the bishops!) and who are now largely forgotten. There are Victorian missionaries like Fr Henry Hardy, who single-handedly founded five parishes in Hertfordshire, or Fr George Bampfield, whose Institute of St Andrew (based at Barnet) established many rural missions. There are writers and novelists like Ronald Knox, Robert Hugh Benson and Owen Francis Dudley, and the many pioneer priests from Ireland. One could even mention the two priests of the diocese who died on the Titanic and the Lusitania - Fr Thomas Byles and Fr Basil Maturin.

I was keen also to encourage the priests to record their memories and to look at the personal papers and photos that they may possess. Dioceses are not like religious Orders - there can be little sense of continuity in parishes and old papers often end up in the dustbin. Indeed, priests so often live solely in the present moment and it can be hard to look beyond the current page of the diary! Yet I'm increasingly aware if that if something isn't done about it soon, much anecdotal evidence from the pre-conciliar years will soon disappear.

Adoremus

Now, not every reader will like some details of this picture - namely the guitar and keyboard to the right of the photo and the use of a parish hall for Exposition (the church was in use). But what is happening here was pretty amazing - 30 or so inner city teenagers kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. Five Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, based in nearby Canning Town, came to my parish today to lead a day of recollection for our confirmandi. They have a great way of preaching the fullness of the Faith in a way that young people find dynamic and appealing. The authenticity of their lives add weight to their message, as do the habits and long beards! The programme was simple but effective - a couple of talks, group discussion and a Holy Hour, during which almost all of the candidates made their Confession. This was concluded by Benediction in Latin. It was the first meeting of our Confirmation programme and we will be continuing in January.

Roma!

I've been in Rome the last few days, with my friend Fr Whinder, hence the lack of posts, though I've not been too regular of late, so perhaps you didn't notice! I normally go to Rome in the winter and I thought this year I would go just before Christmas, to do some shopping and also to celebrate my birthday (12 December). This I spent in the little Castelli town of Monte Porzio, just outside Frascati - a rather unprepossing place but with great romance for 'Old Romans' since the English College had its villa here between 1614 and 1917. One can imagine some of the martyrs or Cardinal Wiseman (who dearly loved the place) walking its cobbled streets, popping into the Duomo and having the sort of sublime antipasta that we were treated to on Wednesday. Several old ladies greeted us as we made our 'pilgrimage' - they recognised us from previous visits. I suppose two English priests can't be too common a sight in a little place like Porzio. One started talking about the Cardinal Duke of York, which always is rather touching, and the other enthused about the Marian shrine beside the old College villa, which she cares for (in thanksgiving for a miracle that Our Lady worked for her sister).

Of course, on returning to city, I was sad to discover that Cardinal Stickler had died. I remember seeing him around Rome when I was a seminarian: at the annual Station Mass celebrated in his titulus of San Giorgio in Velabro and also at a Pontifical High Mass he once celebrated at San Pietro in Montorio. Requiescat in pace!

I couldn't believe how quiet Rome seemed - but then most places seem provincial compared to the bustle of London. There weren't even that many tourists. Speaking to several priest friends, I sensed great excitement about the subtle but important changes in Vatican ceremonial and the new Encyclical. One said that listening to Pope Benedict was like sitting at the feet of a Doctor of the Church.

Ely Place

Yesterday I led a small pilgrimage of parishioners to St Etheldreda's, Ely Place. As I've probably mentioned several times before, this church was founded by the Rosminian Fathers who formerly served Kingsland (my current parish). Though it was taken over by the Fathers of Charity in 1874, its Catholic history goes back much further. The church was built as a chapel for the Bishops of Ely in the late thirteenth century, making it the oldest church building used for Catholic worship in this country. After the Reformation it was also used for a time by the Spanish Ambassador and several martyrs are associated with the parish (including the monks of the nearby Charterhouse).

I celebrated a Requiem Mass for Fr Lockhart and the other priests who have served our parish, after which the legendary Fr Kit Cunningham (Rector of Ely Place) gave us an informative tour. It was also a chance to celebrate the beatification of Antonio Rosmini. If you don't know this church, situated near Holborn, then it's well worth a visit.

St Edmund's Day

Friday is normally my day for saying Mass in the local school. However, today I had the privilege of celebrating the Solemn Mass at St Edmund's College, Ware, on their Patronal Feast. St Edmund's is now an independent Catholic school but it claims descent from the English College, Douai, established by Cardinal Allen in 1568. For much of its history the school has existed alongside the seminary. Cardinal Heenan separated the two in the 1970s, when he moved Allen Hall to Chelsea, but the historical heart of the Archdiocese can most certainly still be found at St Edmund's.

The school must be the only one in Christendom to claim 20 saints and 133 beati. Just walking into Pugin's chapel you stumble over the tombs of many Vicars Apostolic of penal times, and there is an interesting Douai museum - where, for example, you can see Bishop Challoner's mitre and blue cassock (though it doesn't look very blue in my photo):

The sacristy is also unusually comprehensive for a school, and boasts many vestments from Fort Augustus Abbey as well as those that once belonged to Dr Adrian Fortescue.

The school liturgy was impressive - the music included part of Vivaldi's Gloria, there was a good degree of reverence (doubly impressive given that many pupils are non-Catholic) and at the end of Mass a large relic of St Edmund of Abingdon (a bone from his left leg) was taken around the chapel by Fr Pinot de Moira, the resident priest. We are told that one of the students, Cecil Heathcote, was seriously injured during a game of football in 1871. His life was thought to be in danger and so the College President brought the relic to his bedside. From that moment the young man recovered and returned to perfect health.

Fr Pinot, by the way, is a College institution - he came to St Edmund's as a boy, was trained for the Priesthood there and has spent almost all his 51 years of Priesthood at the College. The children obviously love him and today he chose to accompany a group ice-skating rather than join the senior staff for a festal pub lunch!

Mass finished with a rousing rendition of 'Sing England's Sons'. Here are some verses:

O, for thy zeal, the spirit which inflammed thee,

Bidding men trace the rough ways thou hast trod!
Raise up, blest Saint, a band of brave crusaders,
Heroes for Faith, for Pontiff and our God.

Father St Edmund, thy pilgrims cross life's sea;

Lead us home to Jesus; and home, sweet Saint, with thee.

Pray that the waves in storm now furious raging,

Threatening to surge o'er Christ's own Heav'n built rock,

May soon be stilled at the gentle voice of Jesus,

And peace shine o'er Rome's Shepherd and his flock.

Father St Edmund, thy pilgrims cross life's sea;

Lead us home to Jesus; and home, sweet Saint, with thee.

Now, that's what I call a school hymn!

Newman Society

Last night I spoke to the Oxford University Newman Society on the subject of 'The Oxford Cardinals - from Robert Pullen to George Pell.' As far as I know, 27 Cardinals have connections with the University - some famous (like Wolsey, Manning and Newman), others less so (like the anti-pope Alexander V or William Theodore Heard, who rowed in the 1907 Boat Race). It was a highly enjoyable occasion, preceded by a meal at the Chaplaincy prepared by the members and followed by some lively discussion over port. Among the 20 or so who attended were three Dominicans, including blogger Br Lawrence Lew. Since the talk was quite late, I enjoyed some Jesuit hospitality at Campion Hall.

It brought back many memories since I was President of the Society back in Hilary Term 1996 - indeed, I was surprised to see my term's committee photo hanging on the wall in the room where I gave the talk. Looking at the youthful faces, I counted three students who are now priests. And judging from the people I met yesterday, there will probably be a significant crop of vocations over the coming years.

A visit to Oxford provided an opportunity to visit some old haunts - including the HQ of Family Publications, the Oratory Church of St Aloysius and my alma mater, Exeter College. A message on the door reported the tragic events of Monday which have been (I later discovered) reported in the papers. Two 'freshers' (first years) died within a few hours of each other: Sundeep Watts and Harcourt ("Olly") Tucker. The first died of of meningitis, while the other suffered a heart attack during a game of hockey. Oxford colleges are small communities and Exeter only has about 300 undergraduates, so the death of two promising undergraduates after just 7 weeks of University must be a terrible shock. May they rest in peace.