A real Angel

In the debate about Angels at this time of the year with St. Michael and the Archangels last Wednesday and the feast of our Guardian Angels tomorrow, today is proof of a real live Angel. Sainte Terese of Lisieux must surely prove that they exist! Not only the winged one's whose spirits are around forever praising between heaven and earth but the human ones too. If the definition of Angels is those whose whole vocation is to worship, praise and magnify God then certainly she is for me not only a Saint and a church Doctor as decreed  but an Angel too. In her writing she would save our very own souls. Are we 'on the side of the Angels' ? Through her intercessions we can be. Her whole vocation being one of love as illustrated by these words of hers:

 ''I understand so very well that it is only through love that we can render ourselves pleasing to the good Lord, that love is the one thing I long for. The science of love is the only science I desire."

A Saint before she was born.

Today is the Eve of the feast of Sainte Terese of Lisieux but it is actually the day of her death at the young age of 24. I have been reading her book L`Histoire d'une Ame (History of a Soul) since making pilgrimage to  her shrine in Normandy in the summer holidays. These photos are the ones I took there. I was overcome by the reality of her beautiful faith. Anyone who goes there and reads her book can not but be profoundly moved by the simplicity of the truths which she extols. The 'little flower',  Sainte Therese of the Child Jesus can show us only purity, goodness and simplicity of the faith. However she was courageous and bold and confidently determined to do what she knew to be right. When she was rejected for profession as a Carmelite nun  she persevered and overcame both her Bishop in Bayeaux and her parish priest appealing to Pope Leo XIII at an audience during a diocesan pilgrimage to Rome.She having kissed his slipper and then instead of his hand too began to speak 'Holy Father in honour of your Jubilee permit me to enter Carmel at the age of fifteen'! The Pontiff was completely transfixed by her assurance that this is what God had called her to. She too was struck there that Leo was truly The Holy Father. She thus fulfilled her vocation and the power of  her prayer continues to enrich and purify the church today.

Govern by all Thy Wisdom, O Lord,
so that my soul may always be serving Thee as Thou dost 
Will, 
and not as I may choose. 
Do not punish me, I beseech Thee, 
by granting that which I wish 
or ask if it offended Thy Love, 
which would always live in me. 
Let me die to myself, 
so that I may love Thee. 
Let me live to Thee, 
Who art in Thyself, 
the True Life.

Ordinariate in Wales

Following the good turn out of Welsh clergy at the sacred synod in London there is some word going around that nothing is going to happen in Wales. There is I suppose a natural inclination to be pessimistic until one actually sees something in place and I understand this. I would however be very surprised if there were not at least some Mass centres and church sharing arrangements( from sympathetic incumbents and dare one hope Bishops too) that could be put in place sooner than later. We should remember that the good Anglo-Catholics of Wales have been orphaned from their Provincial Assistant Bishop for some time. The Church-in-Wales' nationalism gives expression in it's extravagant resources given to two languages irrespective of their use in large swathes of the majority of the country and the maintenance of multiple archdeaconeries, tiny Bishoprics and all the expensive paraphernalia of offices in central Cardiff and the Diocesan offices and their separate managers and property departments, staffing, publications and the like. All these are bleeding the church dry in the face of falling numbers,with a few exceptions, and rising costs. If one was to take a very limited guess and say that traditionalists whether they stay or go were to divert say 15-20% of the existing funds away from the liberal ascendency to the traditional Ordinariate, which like it's Roman Catholic partners will maintain a sensibly joint hierarchy for England/Wales, then one can imagine further crisis management away from mission being necessary as the declines accelerate. This is NOT something to score points over however. We need each other in a new ecumenical situation of two churches in a small country with Christianity itself under attack here as much as anywhere. The relations between RC's and the Church-in -Wales have been more than cordial and I see no reason why this should change. It is time to accept that the traditionalists in Wales have been squarely defeated and we should now accept that. We could have hoped for a more ecumenical treatment from within our own church but WE DID NOT GET IT and nor will we, in spite of some dreamers who are waiting for Bishops to retire for things to change back. Liberals never admit they were wrong and go back. So what is the future for the Ordinariate in Wales which we hope will develop as new Roman Catholics with Anglican roots and shared history and hopefully on good terms with the Anglican Church-in-Wales? At present it is a case of those interested registering with their nearest Ordinariate group which is currently on St. Augustine's side of the Severn estuary. This so as to be kept informed and to prepare for a possible conversion as a group without any obligation to do so. One will eventually be able to support it financially so that it can provide for those of us in Wales. To make contact you can do so by contacting Fr. Paul Spilsbury at the Bristol group here paulspilsbury@btinternet.com It will I predict be slow to start and soon establish and spread to the South of Wales and outwards. It will never cover all the old parish or even deanery areas but who knows? All is in God's hands and He will want us all, whichever route we take, to remain in fellowship and love with those who have 'won' and those who have been 'defeated' in the purely human and deeply sinful power struggle that we all seem to get caught up in this earthly life. Seeking Unity in Christ surely means continuing to pray for those with whom we disagree and who knows where that may eventually lead them to?!

Forward in Faith Wales

At Credo Cymru ( Forward in Faith Wales) we used to have our annual festival of faith for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at Brecon Cathedral. However, since the Provincial Assistant Bishop (equivalent of suffragan PEV) has been refused replacement after retirement 2 years ago by the bench of Welsh Bishops, we now gather at a more independent venue from the cathedra from where we were blessed by the one with the big Mitre or was it a turban, surely not(see http://llandaffchesterchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/06/your-wish-is-my-command.html ) one of the one's who deny us! Therefore it is a great pleasure to report the successful event this year was moved to St. Mary's Bute St. Cardiff where the marvellous and faithful Fr.Graham Francis SSC and his Assistant priest Fr. Ben Andrews SSC minister so well and who are such an important traditional parish in the anglican Church in Wales here. We had the benefit of Fr. Philip North as preacher and Fr. Alan Rabjohns chairman of FiF Wales was the chief celebrant with thirty or so concelebrants and other priests and deacons and our retired Bishop David supporting in the large congregation. Here are some rather belated souvenir photos(click to enlarge).

Going up a Dead End

Having received a comment on my last post, I have replied that I think the new proposed 'Society'(it has no saintly patronage as far as I can see) is like choosing a path going up a cul-de-sac (dead end) and seeing the sign before you even enter the road. It has got me thinking. As you can see, I wasn't impressed with this unpublished idea which was dropped on us all when we got to London (all the way from Wales in my case). How many 'Catholic' Societies are there already! The last thing we need is to invent one more now as some ships prepare to go out of port to a brighter destination. This new one will flounder on the rocks because she is certainly not sea-worthy, let alone got a navigator and a Captain with jurisdiction on board! I felt I was being press-ganged; no way! Seriously, I think we should be told whose idea this is and who has promoted it, as it appears to have some backing from Forward in Faith which is a great shame on them (us). WHOSE IDEA IS THIS? From where did it originate? It seems like the worst prepared proposal from a bad and very late PCC meeting which got through because everyone wanted to get home!What a wonderful job this may do of undermining the Ordinariate (I hope not). You don't think this idea could have been fed from the Establishment to 'go on give it a go, we might let you have a bit of a place tee-hee' do you? Yes, I am being cynical and I seriously question the leadership on this. I thought we were trying to support each other on the voyages that will be different for everyone and in the parting of ways, not holing people below the waterline before they've even got going on their respective journeys.

Sacred Synod

Today I travelled up to London from Wales to the sacred synod in Westminster. There were a large number of Welsh clergy there with many hundreds from England. We were told by Dame Mary Tanner that we were still in a period of 'reception' over the issue of women priests and bishops! Cuckoos in the land of the clouds came to my mind. When are people going to accept this massive defeat gracefully and move forward without bitterness or retribution and leave fantasy dreams behind? If you stay you accept what is the reality in the new protestant C of E and Church in Wales or you go; or you stay as many will have to and go later (an honourable position) but the scared rabbit caught in the headlights approach, pretending that we can get something more out of the carnage of defeat looks pretty unseemly to me. Yes, we must accept that some of us are moving in different directions or in the same direction at different speeds but a little clarity of thinking will see that there is no jurisdiction, there is a code of practice and it will not do! Tell my Welsh clergy colleagues without a bishop for two years that we are still in 'reception' over the issues and they won't be very pleased. The majority of English clergy of our tradition can see the huge defeat that is a reality and that the Act of Synod will be revoked and that there will be no provision for them either. Despite a clear rejection by general Synod of a religious Society model with jurisdiction, the last ditch effort from some today appears to be reviving this idea. However, there is no clear thinking or plan or detailed and thought out proposal. Even those who promoted it seemed to admit that it won't work! I felt very sad to see intelligent hard working priests and a couple of Bishops trying to work something out on the hoof. I was not a little annoyed at the leaflets and promotions of this ill thought out and already rejected idea being canvassed. Today Bishops John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton declared publicly their clear intentions to join the Orinariate (perhaps the Bishop of Fulham on a slightly different time scale). Those who want to support them and the Holy Father's clear offer of sacramental and ecclesial unity will I'm sure give them great support either now or a little later when they can. If you're not wanted I can't see how you can plan to stay and pretend to go along with the new regime which is not the catholic church in England and Wales any longer. 

Long to Reign over us!

I have like everyone else been glued to the TV and marvelled at the visit of the Holy Father. Against all the earthly odds (but not the Heavenly One's!!) the people of God and those who would know Him, the searching and the curious and those who will become His, turned out in large numbers in Britain and listened to Pope Benedict and what he actually said live, instead of sound bite and editorial bias. We can be thankful for live TV unedited if not for the annoying rolling repetitive script underneath which at times was so unnecessary (surely we ought to be offered a choice to turn that rolling script off?!). Every word of H.H. can now be read again and studied and prayed over and hopefully acted upon ('be doers of The Word and not hearers only'). This was an impressive parish-style mission of excellence but of course Pope Benedict's parish is the whole of Christendom! The measure of success of any parish or other mission is not necessarily to be judged by it's immediate reaction to God's word but over months and years and lifetimes changed for the better. This will surely happen as the measure of the visit, as I said in my earlier post before the visit, will be if we are blessed by the visit or not. Who can deny that we have been richly blessed and that the fruits will be gathered over many years and even lifetimes (both here and in eternity). I still maintain that we should mount a campaign to get proper access to the national shrine of St. Edward the Confessor. Am I alone in feeling that the Dean was 'lording it over 'his ' church a bit? Otherwise The Abbey and especially the choir was magnificent. A very successful turnout by Blessed John Henry Newman's countrymen but then again we're used to having Royalty in our midst in this kingdom and we know how to appreciate those who reign over us temporally and spiritually too!

The Real Scandal

With the state visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI history is in the making somewhat late. Who would have thought it would have taken nearly 500 years, yes FIVE HUNDRED YEARS  for the Pope to be welcomed here with full state honours? I know the arguments of the first Reformation love to be invoked and trawled over but no wonder Christianity itself is under attack in the UK when no offer of welcome has been offered until now all these years later. This is the real scandal, not the  anti Church bandwagon brigade agenda and their continuing persecutions against the successor of a once crucified St.Peter. We pray that the whole of Christianity will unite in support of the supreme leader of Christians to the greater mission of the whole Church of Christ.

Happy Birthday!

Ave Maria! The black Madonna at Chartres in France may be more ancient and has a tonne of candles burning to her each week. Today for my photo and salutations I use the one from my visit to Bayeaux Cathedral following Sunday Mass in August there.  Gold seems more of an appropriate colour for her birthday. May she lead us to the Saviour through her holy intercession for us all who are unworthy sinners.

Papal Visit

The Holy Father's visit is nearly upon us and the details of how to see and support him are available here http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/2010-Visit/Itinerary. Although the 'public' events in Glasgow, Birmingham and Hyde Park, London are described as such, you have in fact to be with a Catholic parish on pilgrimage to be there and get the authority and passes necessary. However, as you can see from the links there will be opportunity to support and see Pope Benedict XV1 on the various routes he will travel. One hopes that many, especially those within easy reach, will make the effort to do at least this and resist the easy option of TV. I suspect and believe the visit of His Holiness, despite all the fears and no doubt a few detrimental headlines, will be a great blessing which is surely the measure of 'success'. A blessing for truly open and liberal Anglicans as for everyone else. The visit of the successor of Saint Peter can surely not be 'downgraded' by the disagreements that are a scourge on the 'modern' church at this time? Or tell me if I'm being too optimistic. Of course the true test of faithfulness and genuine receipt of blessing will be how Christians who disagree with each other in the Anglican tradition treat each other after he has returned to the Holy City of Rome from where all our history as Christians (and our future too surely) lies or is that the wrong word to use! How will the Diocesan Bishops of the Church of England lined up in joint Audience with the RC Hierarchy behave after the inks on their special passes to be in His Holiness'  presence have long since dried? Will they show true ecumenical love and generosity in buildings and resources to their sisters and brothers in Christ of their own tradition who leave to seek greater unity under the Dominical imperative 'that they be one'. I will be awaiting with joy the sight of the new shrine to 'Blessed' John Henry Newman at which Pope Benedict will be the first to pray. No doubt there will be greater attention at the other shrine to Saint Edward the Confessor when he goes there with the Archbishop of Canterbury. That shrine which has hurriedly been re-marketed for the occasion having been shamefully sidelined and been so  inaccessible bearing in mind he is the national Saint par excellence and the only medieval shrine to have survived the desecrations of the centuries. My photo is from my own pilgrimage to Rome in 2005 at which the now retired (and now abolished  post of) Provincial Assistant Bishop in Wales,+ David Thomas was presented at Audience. Wales was then blessed indeed! I expect there will be many Christians in the province who will be disappointed that there will be no Papal visit to Cardiff as there was with Pope John-Paul. The country will apparently receive the blessing of Benedict from the throne in Westminster Cathedral addressed specifically to the Welsh perhaps in the Welsh language? Like much of this visit we will have to wait and see! In the meantime Anglican churches ought to be full of prayers for this most worthy and faithful disciple and special man appointed by divine grace Christ's Vicar on earth. Viva Papa! Let the Novena of prayers commence soon!

Holydays and Holidays

I suppose that many like me will be attending Mass away during August. I can't imagine anything worse than seeking out an Anglican church in France when there are so many parish churches of the local tradition administering the Holy Sacraments without church politics being involved. We won't even have to think about their validity or who is in whose college of priests and deacons. Living in Wales this will truly be a holiday! If I am attending Mass in the same place in France over several weeks I try out of courtesy to make ourselves known to the officiating priests ( they often minister in large groups not parishes these days). As yet we have not been refused; on the basis that there is unlikely to be an Anglican Mass nearby in rural France anyway and that we will be welcome. I don't have to say that I will be praying the same Divine Office that they will, although perhaps I should. I may even (most probably) be sharing more than that with them sooner than later, even as a layman, now that the defeat for traditional Anglicans like me has been so comprehensive. Let's be truthful presided over by one who despite the rhetoric has not shown any ability to honour the promises and 'concern' for those of us whose only crime was in all conscience to abide by the Anglican formularies regarding Holy Orders unbroken for five hundred years until the new 'credo' of the 1990's. So I will make my pilgrimages while on holiday to the Norman Abbeys and particularly to Bec where earlier more noble and honourable and orthodox Archbishops of Canterbury emanated. At the feet of Lanfranc and Anselm I will pray for the Anglican church and those of her number whom she has rejected, for the family and for parishes here. Sad? Yes! Bitter? Never! Holiday reading? The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. Get my drift? Of course you do! Assumptiontide with fellow catholics too. Heaven indeed!! Happy Holidays. Until September Adieu!

Media Musings

Following my participation yesterday on the BBC Radio Wales programme, I have been listening to others and how they get the message across. I must say how impressed I was with the Bishop of Fulham on the 'Hardtalk' interview which he gave earlier in the year. It has great relevance for the events taking place now. Bp. John gives clear and concise leadership. You can listen to it here

Second Reformation

Who can doubt that we are in the midst of a second Reformation as Anglicans? The committee or synod now decides all matters, even theological, without heeding the advice of Bishops. But here in Wales it is worse. Our own six Bishops have at a stroke taken away Sacramental and pastoral care; they have done so by refusing to replace our Bishop, the Provincial Assistant Bishop. Women and men whose only wish is to live out the faith of their Baptism as received from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to which they faithfully witness are abandoned and orphaned. They cannot continue to worship faithfully when the promises they were given in 1991 in England and in 1996 here in Wales have been so flagrantly broken by those who should know how to behave better. To keep a promise is a moral imperative. That Christian people especially when in a majority including Bishops can blatantly break these promises is no less than a scandal and also an abuse. Of course we are divided over the issues, but where is the tolerance and love and pastoral care that ensures those with whom you disagree with are cared for? Not only women and men scattered throughout the Provinces but to Priests and their wives, their mothers, their daughters and their sons? They know very well that there are many who in all conscience cannot accept the innovations devised by the committee led church which has now taken over the Anglican Church. It is, or was until now, both Catholic and Reformed. This is a sad descent into Congregationalism. We pray for those who in all conscience will have to leave the church of their Baptism and especially those priests and the women in their families who will have no stipend, no pension rights and no roof over their heads. Of course the Lord will provide and there is, praise God, a far more generous, loving and caring home for them to go to presided over by a chief Bishop who will really love them, lead them and allow them to practice and flourish in that same catholic faith of their tradition. His name is the successor of Peter, the rock from which we were hewn, Benedict XVI. May he pray for us and those whom we know, who are in need of much love, guidance and care at this time. The second Reformation begins, let us 'be joyful and keep the faith!' That the Apostles were all men determined by Jesus Christ cannot be disputed; the Bishops are their successors in unbroken line. We do not believe that our branch of the Christian Church has the authority to change things on our own, simple as that. By the way let's just remember that there are millions of women who hold this view too. That's what I would have liked to say on the Radio programme which I was on this morning! But this here at the 2hr.45mins into the programme on the marker slide is what I was able to say in the limited time and format available. It is good that the BBC gives us a hearing at least, even if our own Bishops turn a deaf ear!

General Synod of C of E

I have been asked to take part in the Radio Wales 'Good Morning Wales' programme live tomorrow morning after 8 am. This is to be on the subject of revisiting the question of the ordination of women as Bishops in the Church in Wales in the light of today's events at General Synod. This is, I understand, a live broadcast and will not be edited. I will let you have the link to the recorded version when I get back in the morning. I am not sure why I've been asked other than I was a signatory to the letter by 100 clergy to The Times some time ago. I'll do my best to get across the message of those of us who don't accept that the Anglican Church has the authority to change the nature of the threefold ministry it has shared and inherited from wider Christendom and that we should not be a modern day sect making up our own rules..we'll see. Blessed Stephen and Lawrence pray for me an unworthy Deacon and an inheritor of your tradition and your Holy Orders.

Patronal Festival

Last weeks events to celebrate our Blessed Patron culminated in a festival Solemn Mass followed by an al fresco shared meal under perfect skies in the 'piazza' (we are leaning towards all things continental!) created for the day in the space between the 9th.cent. churchyard wall and the 19th.cent former village school part of which is now used for the Sunday School and community events. During Mass I was pleased that the children who had been preparing their depictions of the life of St. Arvan acquitted themselves brilliantly. His symbol is a coracle as he was a hermit and fisherman in the finest tradition of Apostles and the coracle made and decorated with ivy for the occasion by the children was processed and blessed at the offertory. They also gave a dramatic presentation of the story of the slaying of Eli the Deacon in front of the altar here in the 1300's when Sanctuary was desecrated Thomas a Becket-style but more of this and our search for the identity of Arvan in another post when we explore the church mentioned in the Llandaff Charter of 955AD which refers to our dedication as the church of SS Febric and Iarmen. If we can find out more detail we'll let you know!

Ordination Anniversaries

Congratulations are given to all those celebrating their anniversaries at this time. Some will be in higher figures than others! ALL are a sign and a cause for celebration and thanksgiving. From London Pilmlico, St Gabriel for Fr. Luke's 10 yrs (preacher Fr. Jeremy Winston of Abergavenny 30 yrs) and secondly from Cardiff, St. Martin Roath for Fr. Irving's 25 yrs ( preacher Fr. Richard Williams 27 yrs of Hay-on-Wye...see his dog Jimmy at the altar rail!) Here are some souvenir photos and happy times and joyous Masses of thanksgiving I have recently had the joy to attend. So important to engage with and support all Anglican traditionalist clergy at this time in prayer presence and solidarity. Thanks be to God for these and all our vocations and for the grace to follow the sometimes uncertain path of life and faith. In the hope that we will never give up on the day to day tasks that need to be achieved in the name of Jesus Christ who is our witness and knows what we do and what we do not do. May we follow his example and strive not to BE served  but to serve.

From ruin to ruin in a week!

Despite the title of this post I am upbeat, hopeful and joyful to be sharing the fruits of God's blessings and his gift of the church to the world  especially during these wonderful June days. One might have thought that the reduced numbers at the Glastonbury Pilgrimage last Saturday, the economic gloom and the turmoil in Anglicanism would have dampened resolve and spirits. On the contrary it is more important than ever for traditionalists like us to hold heads up high, to share the inheritance of the saints who even died for the faith we strive to witness to. As Bishop Edwin says in his writing here..http://www.theanglocatholic.com/2010/06/glastonbury/.we owe it to those who have gone before and those who will follow, to stand up and be counted, not in a retiring and despondent way but in the light of the truth and with constant joy. Firstly, the ruins of the great Abbey Church of Glastonbury was the backdrop to a memorable Pilgrimage Mass. I know we were 600 or so communicants and that is low in comparison to years gone by but hey! that's 600 souls joining to worship God together on a precious Saturday in June as Bp. John Ford reminded us. Cause for joy not gloom. The quality of the worship, the obvious devotion of most of those present (with the notable exception of 'the robed voyeur') and the uplifting sermon from Fr. Darren all combined to give new life among that ruin. This ruin is one imposed on the Benedictine church of God by the despoiler of the Catholic church of the people of Britain. But we are there in witness, we have not forgotten the place or the sacrilege which destroys and diminishes life itself.
Secondly, the ruin is of the Abbey Church at Tintern of the Cistercian Order in our neighbouring parish here in Wales. The majority of the photos on this blog are taken by me and this was from last evening on the Summer Solstice on my way back from my secular occupation showing a rental property in the Wye Valley to a new family who would make it their new home. I could not drive by at 7pm without stopping with prayer and camera to mark the beauty, not the ruin where the current tenants are jackdaws but the reminder of what this house of God was like and could have been like today were it not again due to the sacrilege to Christ's body the church and the the abuse of power that reduces it to a mere un prayed-in ruin. Who knows what the British landscape will look like in another few centuries or much much less there will be more ruins for sure. For those struggling with the great re-formation in which we are living, remember, we are not blocks of stone which will one day decay. We are living stones, we go where the Shepherd leads us unburdened by materials and set fee in faith to go where ever the Master is calling us and His Church. Even in these blessed lands in which we have the privilege to live and pray and minister and die and where we hope in a resurrection when all will be revealed in Glory if, if we remain faithful, humble and above all joyful even surrounded as we are on this earth by decay, ruin and imperfection.Thank God for his gift of life and faith and above all the will to worship, to pray and to witness joyfully, sustained by the sacraments of truth by the priceless jewel of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. If it becomes not truly Apostolic it can surely never be truly His church?!

Pilgrimage

We are now looking forward to the annual pilgrimage to Glastonbury Abbey THIS SATURDAY JUNE 19TH..These pictures are from the '07 pilgrimage. There's lots to do for the children (their activities begin at 10am) my own 12 ans 13 year old daughters love the day out and the uplifting procession(11.45) and outdoor Mass in glorious weather( the forecast is good!) in glorious setting. Many pilgrims now come from Wales for the day, as a day trip to the national at Walsingham is now too far for many in the traffic. This is a great time to be together for traditionalists and their Bishops. The chief celebrant this year is the new president of the Glastonbury Pilgrimage Association Bishop John Ford of Plymouth and the Additional Curates Society's Fr. Darren Smith gives the Homily this year. Bring your picnic and see you there!! To find out more here is the link to the GPA site.http://www.glastonburypilgrimage.com/index.html

Music as Prayer

 If I get asked by people when they are going through a difficult time and are not able to pray what do they do, I sometimes reply let others do the praying for them. At other times I suggest prayer through music. This is listening, not forcing oneself to speak when prayer of the soul becomes difficult. In these days of the Pentecost season there are many musical meditations on the 'Veni Creator', come Holy Spirit a prayer in itself. What better than the masterful Maurice Durufle when needing a little inspiration to be with the Lord without having to speak or ask, prayer is sufficient in the listening if humility is exercised. Here is the magnificent Julian Bewig at the organ for another crisper version of thePrelude Adagio et Chorale Varie sur le Veni Creator Op.4

Corpus Christi

These are the trumpet stops of the organ at St. Martin's. I Had a wonderful day on Sunday for the feast of Corpus Christi.  At home in the parish church, the Sunday School learnt about and drew a Monstrance, a Pyx and a Sacrament House in learning more of the feast. Then for the Solemn Mass at the Offertory we joined the congregation for the liturgy and took part in the procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the church. In the afternoon I travelled to Cardiff for the Centenary Service of the St. Martin Ward of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. This took the form of Solemn Vespers, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. As you can see from a previous post there is not another Christian place of worship in the whole land that I know of which can hold a candle to St. Martin of Tours, Roath for it's clouds and clouds of burning incense from braziers and thuribles too. All of which is accentuated by the light streaming in from enormous clear glass windows. However, the music too must now be at the highest level even among Cathedrals. This is not a traditional robed choir but an excellent small Liturgical group of singers which gives great sensitivity and more flexibility for specifically sacramental worship.The superb Director of Music and Organist Timothy Hill played brilliantly on the Organ and reveals a true sense of vocation in his interpretation and enhancement of the liturgical moment, be it peaceful Gregorian plainchant or rousing organ works of the French genre. A specially commissioned first performance of the Magnificat by local musician Robert Dishington was a thought provoking and worthy composition to mark the occasion. Other works included music by Piutti, Schmuke and Byrd and ending with the celebratory organ work 'Grande Choeur Dialogue' by Gigout. In short this is nothing short of excellence in worship, to the greater Glory of God and in the finest Anglican tradition, both refined and evolving as a manifestation of living faith. Our thanks and congratulations from those of us who were present must go to Fr. Hamer( who celebrates his 25th. anniversary of Ordination to the priesthood this month), and to his team of MC Dr. David Woolf et al. Not forgetting the erudite address on the theme of 'Presence' by Canon Fr. Stephen Kirk. The Church in Wales can ill afford to ignore the requests, needs and sacramental ministry of like minded traditionalists. Will it listen? Will it act? In all probability No.
 For now from the words of the final Welsh Hymn:
Tydi a wnaeth y wyrth, O! Grist, Fab Duw,
Tydi a roddaist imi flas ar fyw;

You did this mighty deed, Oh! Christ God's son,
You gave me joy anew the race to run;
Your Spirit held and guided me along
Forever more I'll sing the glorious song
I see the beauty now that can survive,
I feel the touch divine that makes alive;
The Alleluia has possessed my soul,
To You, O! Christ, I give my praises all.