Most of my Christmas Day Services have been at the C of I church in Dunleer. It was Low Church, austere architecturally and with the old, simple liturgy. Even the plate was a wooden platter, the sort of thing from which Oliver Twist might have had an exiguous helping of gruel. It was presented by… Continue reading Bath Abbey
Category: Religion
Incense and Truffles
Macbeth; Act I: First Witch … her husband’s to Aleppo gone … On Good Friday in 2000 I didn’t pay for a ticket on the Heathrow Express and I wasn’t a fare dodger. I went to the wrong terminal and there was no charge to take the train between terminals. I just caught the direct BA… Continue reading Incense and Truffles
St Yeghichè and St Cyprian
In a dictatorship when said dictator wants to impose his will he issues a Presidential Decree and at a stroke the dictator’s whim is law. In the UK there are democratic elections and two chambers in parliament to debate and scrutinise legislation. That is unless something is too trivial to detain our politicians, such… Continue reading St Yeghichè and St Cyprian
Bon Dia
St Thomas the Apostle
Yesterday I went to The Royal Hospital, Chelsea. It was a Vets’ Service. Let’s get something clear. If you are an American you will assume it was a Service for Veterans; if not you will intuit that it was attended by uniformed members of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps. –more–> After they had filed into the Chapel, designed by… Continue reading St Thomas the Apostle
How Big is Your Diocese?
The 12th century cathedral in Trondheim had an extensive diocese; by way of the Faroes and Iceland to Orkney and the Hebrides and round to the Isle of Man. Quite a reach, until I think about the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe whose patch covers all of Europe and the former Soviet Union countries. These… Continue reading How Big is Your Diocese?
A Monsignor
I’ve been asked by a regular reader to mention a famous 20th century scion of the Gilbey family, Monsignor Alfred Gilbey. To get him in context, Monsignor Gilbey is the grandson of the Alfred Gilbey who founded the firm with his brother, Walter, in 1856. I met him only once that I can remember, when… Continue reading A Monsignor
An Archbishop
The Guards Chapel
St Patrick in Soho
In London in the 18th century there was a concerted effort by rich Catholics and the Catholic Church to alleviate the poverty and misery of their less fortunate countrymen. The Benevolent Society of St Patrick (1783) and the older Irish Charitable Society (1704) are manifestations of this, (There’s a Welcome on the Mat), another is… Continue reading St Patrick in Soho