Hilariter

Anglicans... Or Catholics...

2009-11-14T14:23:00.001-08:00

Well Anglicanorum Coetibus is out... Those who say it adds nothing terribly new have got the point but also missed it. It adds nothing too new because it is about welcoming not just those in the Church of England but also those who internationally have their source in the Anglican Communion.

Where this is not new - and yet extraordinarily is novel in the experience of inter-denominational dialogue - is shown strangely enough elsewhere. This Response to the request of these groups to become part of the Catholic Church is in marked continuity and development with what the Second Vatican Council declared about Christians outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church - despite the uncomprehending negativity of The Tablet (a very Bitter Pill) this week. This is what the decree on Ecumenism of that Council says:

"Moreover, some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, and visible elements too. All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to Christ, belong by right to the one Church of Christ."

Therefore anything which is of the grace of Christ, developed perhaps in different ways from the manner in which the Catholic Church in its manifold rites and expressions (not just in terms of the Roman Rite) has grown and articulated the Faith, belongs to Catholic Unity and should be respected, accepted and nurtured. Hence the words of the same Council's Constitution on the Church: "This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward Catholic unity."

In this Constitutuion the Pope has said, "All right. We have ecumenism, which is in itself a grace of Christ. But there are large bodies of Anglicans - for example, TAC - who want to return to full Catholic Unity. Rather than "swallow them whole" and bid them never again to hark back to any Anglican heritage, why don't we respect the way that the Holy Spirit, through the baptism of our fellow Christians, has nourished and developed their faith and allow them to enrich US with their own traditions and experience?" Such an approach should inspire ecumenism, not negate it. For it says that the Catholic Church does not want to invade, swamp and negate these real grace-filled traditions, but accept them and work with them and allow them to flourish. Thus, for example, the fact that this is clearly not a " one-generation arrangement by definition", as one commentator has suggested, and that married men may even be proposed for priesthood, within certain limits, is in itself a novel and massively generous proposition, given the Church's right insistence on the norm of celibacy for centuries.

This then is not an obstacle to ecumenism but an exciting experiment which opens new vistas and takes seriously the Catholic Church's willingness to accept different forms of Christianity within her. It will have an impact. Perhaps this impact will not be very strong in England, where there is a studied and at times ferocious bias against Catholicism and the Papacy reflected and promoted in almost suffocating publication by the media there. It will be felt by TAC - and by us. For the rest of the Anglican Communion, in particular the Church of England, this is a slow fuse... It will take time. But the fuse will burn. I love the many forms of Anglicanism I have experienced in ecumenical work over the years. However, sadly, Anglicanism is beginning to experience even more deeply the practical reality of Truth: not all differences can be accomodated and some of these differences have the nature of contradiction and division. Christ wants us to be one, yes with difference, but not with all differences. There are differences of truth and falshood, right and wrong, which have the power to tear communities apart and to bring a deep unsettling sadness to the hearts of believers.

Lastly, for now, I am glad we can get rid of the old approach of reception of converts to the Church which said that they must leave behind everything of their previous Christian tradition as if it had no value. Do we really want to discard their wonderful liturgy, psalmody, theological insights, insights of pastoral practice, their familiarity with the scriptures, their deep sense of the way in which Christinity can be incarnated in a local area or culture? No, it all has value. It will benefit the whole Catholic Church. Christ has been at work there. And this, in a very subtle way, is exactly what Pope Benedict has recognised and enacted with this marvellous intitiative.

Another visit to Anagni

2009-11-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

I have become a kind of tour guide for Anagni for some of the American cousins. A couple of weeks ago I went there with Fr Tim Laboe and Fr Gerry Battersby. We were able to celebrate Mass in the Caetani Chapel of the Cathedral and then went to see the frescoes in the crypt. Once again I was struck by the similarity between the depiction of the death of local bishop-martyr St Magnus and the real events surrounding the martyrdom of St Thomas of Canterbury (Beckett). I have always believed that the artists who painted the frescoes in the early 1200s were using Beckett's grisly death as a template for telling the story of St Magnus.

I asked the lady in charge of admissions if we could at least see the mitre of St Thomas in the Cathedral museum and the reliquary there as well. It musn't have been her best day as she was not so keen to accomodate us - admittedly because the museum had just been renovated and was not yet open to the general public. However, defeat was far from my mind and I spied a young Italian priest in the Cathedral: so I went and introduced myself and the two others to him, laid it on thick about being English and mentioned the mitre in the museum. I find that there are times when if you just hit that right note of positive supplication Italians become incredibly generous. The honey worked and he said he would admit us to the museum.
Then I spied another Italian priest, a little older, who was passing through. I decided that I would apply the same tactics (The Honeypot Ruse) and it turned out that he was a local historian and professor. He led us into the museum with the other priest and we talked a long time. I was of course most chuffed that he confirmed what I had always thought about the frescoes in the crypt (pride and vanity!). However, my next plan was that we should gain admittance into the Beckett Oratory, closed to the general public and situated just off the main frescoed crypt. The Honeypot Ruse was once more successful and we were able to get in. What is remarkable is that the depiction of Becktt in there, though much damaged, dates from ten to twenty years after his death - a near contemporary depiction.
So it was a good day, including lunch at a cheap but good trattoria, and a visit to the Papal Palace there - which involved a re-enactment of the famous slap of Anagni against Boniface VIII in the room where the event took place.

Of course I was forced to play the role of Boniface VIII - not, I am sure, because everyone wants to hit me. It's worth noting that as Cardinal Boniface VIII held a benefice in the area which is currently in my diocese - at Towcester (for non-English types, it is pronounced Toaster). He was also the Pope who declared the first Holy Year in 1300 and below you can see the frescoe of his proclamation of the Jubilee Year which can be still seen in St John Lateran's Basilica in Rome and is attributed to Giotto:

After being struck and probably tortured in Anagni in 1303, Boniface was taken back to Rome, a broken man and he died on 11th October, just over a month after the outrages he endured in his home city of Anagni. A beautiful tomb was built for him at St Peter's Basilica, designed by the great artist Arnolfo di Cambio, whose design inspired the baldachino over the high altar at St John Lateran's. Much of the tomb had to be dismantled at the reconstruction of St Peter's in the 16th to 17th centuries. What remains is still elegant and can be seen in the crypt of St Peter's:

If you want to see Fr Tim's video of our day trip to Anagni, then go to his blog, the link to which you will find over there ------>

topsy-turvy

2009-10-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

I found I had written some posts for the station churches this year...er... a bit late but they are up....

That's the problem with time travel.

BBC bias

2009-10-21T16:20:00.001-07:00

Oh well, all that time travelling meant very little was done here...

Yesterday saw the announcement of the Catholic Church's response the requests of Anglicans from different parts of the world to eneter into full communion with the Church. It is a very generous response, sensitive to their needs and difficulties. There has been a fair amount in the British press about this.

This evening I wrote a complaint to the BBC concerning an on-line article written by Robert Piggott which can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8318663.stm

This is what I wrote:

'The article suggests that what the Catholic Church has proposed is "fishing". It makes no reference at all to what the statements explicitly stated - that the whole proposal is a response to the requests of large numbers of disaffected Anglicans and their Bishops - for example, the worldwide group known as the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), whose numbers are in the hundreds of thousands, and also some Church of England bishops as well. Thus the article's emphasis rests on an assertion that this is just fishing, or we might say a kind of poaching. The very fact that it mentions the question of archbishop's representative in Rome, Bishop David Richardson who asks why such a proposal should be put forward at this time, suggests that this proposal is opportunistic in the midst of Anglican difficulties. The answer to this question really rests in the already publicised advances and requests of TAC and other Anglican bishops. The fact that this is not mentioned renders this article defective.
'The article suggests also that the language used would strike most people as "complete gobbledygook". But by saying this it suggests that the language is indeed gobbeldygook - but it isn't: anyone trained in Catholic canon law and many Anglican parish priests and those working in the military would see parallels in the Military Ordinariates that the Catholic Church already has for military chaplaincy. Furthermore, the Catholic Church already has groups of former Anglicans using Anglican-style rites in the United States (why wasn't this mentioned in a supposedly balanced and factual article?).
'Lastly the article ends with a most surprising, emotive and unsupported assertion: "It gave the misleading impression of institutions that were out of touch and irrelevant to the lives of the many unattached but spiritually hungry people whom the churches need to attract." Though it uses the word "misleading" this is a clearly biased statement. It could be argued that in fact the proposed provisions are indeed an answer to spiritually hungry people who are looking for a true home, a Catholic home, outside of the disturbing and upsetting divisions of Anglicans. Why wasn't this mentioned to show that indeed such an impression would be misleading?
'I would propose that this article by Robert Piggott should at the very least be substantially corrected and rewritten or, better, removed.'

Reading Station to Station Churches

2009-02-27T02:12:00.000-08:00

The Station Church yesterday -San Giorgio in Velabro - and that of today - Santi Giovanni e Paolo - have an interesting link, and it is John Henry Cardinal Newman. San Giorgio was the Englsih Cardinal's titular church from 1879 when he was made a Cardinal through to 1890 when he died. There is a plaque there which celebrates this great theologian and founder of Birmingham Oratory, but it noted that he was "before all else a Christian." Given that it is the church of St George, the Patron Saint of England, it is a good place to pray for the conversion of England, unless you are one of those who think that such an intention is no longer valid... Heaven forbid that an ecclesiastic should think such a thing!

The church of Ss John and Paul belongs to the Passionists and it is here that the founder of the Passionist Congregation is buried, St Paul of the Cross. Here too there is a shrine to St Gemma Galgani who died on Holy Saturday April 11th, 1903, aged 25, after having led a life of great holiness and prayer. The narthex of the building was built by the one and only English Pope, Adrian IV, (we didn't get one at the last Papal election!). However, the link with the church of San Giorgio lies in the fact that at the house belonging to the Passionists beside the church Blessed Dominic Barberi lived. He had heard and felt a call to go to England, to work for the conversion of England (oops!), and he desired to go there all his life. Eventually he was permitted to go and the England he converted was none other than Newman himself at Littlemore near Oxford. Newman knelt before the rain-soaked priest in October 1845, asked to be a Catholic and made his first confession to him.

He arrived in England in 1841 and was at first greeted with suspicion and ridicule. This was an England where Catholics had been emancipated only 12 years before and where the hierarchy had yet to be restored (this would happen in 1850, when Blessed Pius IX was Pope). Yet as Fr James Broderick says, the "Second Spring" of Catholicism really took form in this strange arrival of an Italian priest who spoke very little English: J. Brodrick S.J. in his work on the 'Second Spring' of Catholicism in England, says of Father Dominic's arrival;
"The second spring did not begin when Newman was converted nor when the hierarchy was restored. It began on a bleak October day of 1841, when a little Italian priest in comical attire shuffled down a ship's gangway at Folkstone."

Yet it was a hard path. His English was so poor even his congregation at Aston would laugh at him. In his journey children would throw stones at him. Ridicule seemed to surround him. However, slowly his holiness, goodness and abundant sense of humour drew love from many who met him and got to know him and he began to have a large number of conversions. One of them was an ancestor of Francis Thomas: the family lived at Stone, in Staffordshire: Francis Thomas would eventually become the ninth Bishop of Northampton.

He is said to have told some nuns who were instructing groups of people in the Faith and who were worried about the appropriateness of teaching men: "Have no fear, Sisters. You are all too old and too ugly." Luckily they understood his sense of humour!

Blessed Dominic died on 27th August 1849 at the Railway Tavern near Reading.

Hitchcock in Rome

2009-02-27T02:04:00.000-08:00

Fr Tim Laboe has been at work as producer, director, editor, editor-in-chief and presenter of a series of videos detailing each day's Station Church here in Rome. They are worth a look. It may not be "24" or "The Shining" or even "It's a Wonderful Life", and certainly it is one step more than "The 39 Steps", yet it is good stuff and with the odd familiar face and place starring each day...

See the link to his blog below --->

Station Churches once again

2009-02-27T01:54:00.001-08:00

This year's celebration (is that the right word??) of Lent has begun and each morning is marked by a trek to the Station Church of the day. Mass is at 7.00am and we have already been to Santa Sabina on the Aventine, San Giorgio in Velabro near the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and this morning's effort was at the beautiful church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Ss John and Paul).

This year I am helping to organise the Masses and have got together a team of Masters of Ceremonies to assist and to ensure that things run smoothly.

Unlike last year, Lent has commenced later and so although the mornings are still generally dark when we begin the rosary trek to the church of the day, yet slowly there is a sense of shadows being drawn up from allt he great buildings and ancient ruins of the city. It's a beautiful site and by the time the Mass is over there is rust-orange glow hitting the churches, slowly paling to yellow and gold.

The first day was at Santa Sabina: the photograph below gives a sense of the colours of the church in the morning.

This is part of the choir area, the schola cantorum, which stands before the sanctuary area: the stoned carved crosses porbably date from the 5th century, when the church was constructed, though much reconstruction had to be done in the 9th century:

Time Travel to Madrid

2008-12-19T05:40:00.000-08:00

I had a good time in Madrid when I was there at the end of September: a long time ago I know, but worth mentioning nonetheless. I was very fortunate because it turned out that the priests I was to stay with were building a new parish in the north of the city: as a result they were staying in an appartment right in the centre of town, on the Plaza de Oriente. Below is a view from the flat: in the distance is the new Cathedral and to the right the Palas Real.

As a result I ended up having to walk only 3 minutes to classes every morning, on the Via de Arunel, unlike the 20 or so minutes I had to travel for class in Salamanca. The classes were intense, one-on-one, but I learned a lot. Happily I ended up getting good marks at the Intermedio-Alto level. My reading of the language is much better - and it means I can read the works of my Director, Luis Ladaria, and other people whom he has directed in studies concerning St Hilary.

Madrid is a fine city. I was able to use my Spanish alot and also do some sight-seeing. The Prado, with its fine collection of art, impressed me deeply. I spent some time looking at Velázquez, El Greco, Goya, Murillo and many others (including a tour in Spanish from one of my Spanish teachers of Picasso's Guernica). I especially enjoyed Murillo, and his intimate, gentle portrayal of scenes from the life of Our Lord and the saints, bringing out the humanity deeply, simply, while combining these sometimes with scenes of Divine glory. Amongst many I very much liked the picture below of the Holy Family:

Tiber

2008-12-19T05:05:00.000-08:00

This picture, not exactly the best in the world, I took at the weekend when the river Tiber rose to its highest level in 40 years. The bridge in the distance gives some indication of how high it got - normally one can see most of the supports of the bridge.

Another fascinating aspect of this was the impulse of the Romans to take their passaggiata to see the spectacle and enjoy it. When something dramatic happens here, they all gather round, making it feel like a family event. There were streams of people, young and old, groups, couples and individuals, going to and fro to observe and record the river. I suppose it happens all over the world, but there is something distinctive in the festive manner in which they do these things here.

Adveniet Christi Nativitas

2008-12-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Babbo Natale is Italian for Father Christmas. He is a tradition here in Rome too, with even young people dressing up as him and skating around the city.

The city really does take on the sense of preparation for Christmas during Advent. Everywhere there are large Advent wreaths in churches and basilicas. At the church called Ara Coeli, there is a remarkable, rather trussed up statue of the Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus), venerated by many Romans. At the Piazza Navona, the square is filled with stalls selling various goodies - from food and drink and gareish decorations to crib sets and impressive extras for these scenes of the Nativity. Most churches set up their own Nativity scenes - with mountains, houses, scenes of town and village and country life, animals, people, caves, flowing water, lights and many a variation thereof. The church of Ss Cosmas and Damian takes the biscuit: they are worse than even Sainsbury's or Tescoe's. Those supermarket chains start their Christmas display in November or even October. The church of Ss C and D have their crib scene up all the year around - but it is worth seeing!

Aloh!

2008-12-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, hello. I haven't done this for a while. I have received numerous comments from friends concerned that I had never quite made it out of Spain. They are usually quite disconcerted to find I am not languishing in some dark Spanish gaol.

I got back to Rome at the beginning of October and since then have been plodding away at my work. That's probably why I haven't been doing a lot on this blog! My laziness in that area hopefully is balanced by my industry in the other...

I haven't been to many exciting places either so have not many splendid photographs to put on. However I did manage to take some photographs of the River Tiber in fuller than full spate. There has been a prolonged deluge of rain which raised the Tiber to levels not seen for 40 years. It was fairly dramatic. I will post some photos later. There were even large floating barges and bars which were dragged away, smashed, sank or wedged into the arches of bridges. Sadly, also a yound Irish man fell in and was drowned. Requiescat in pace: and may his family have the comfort and peace of Christ Himself.

HOLA

2008-09-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

I am in Madrid at the moment, doing a course in Spanish (since my doctoral director told me that some of the literature I would have to read - necessarily secondary literature, but nonetheless important - would be in Spanish). It has gone well. I spent two weeks in the lovely city of Salamanca and now am stationed in the capital city.

Spanish is an interesting language - much closer to Latin in many ways than, surprisingly, Italian. For example, the verb "to go" - IR - follows the same pattern in the imperfect tense/time as Latin: iba, ibas, iba, ibamos, ibais, iban. The same is true of the verb "to be" - SER - which is as follows: era, eras, era, eramos, erais, eran (I couldn't type the accent on the "e" of "eramos").

Yet other differences occur. For example, the Spanish equivalent to the English word "too" is "demasiado" - where on earth did they get that?!

Language is an interesting reality. So many different senses, tastes, approaches that are revealed in one word or verb in a particular language are hard to have translated into another, and yet we try to do exactly that - to translate. Despite the variability, there is a relationality to language that indicates the relationality of knowledge - otherwise Google or Microsoft could not function towards, in and from China. This shows us that when people say that knowledge is relative they do not realise that they are proving the possibility of truth and objectivitiy in knowledge. "Relative" is really another name for relational, and relational implies an objectivity that is translatable despite the inadequacy at times of the human intellect to do it justice fully - though even here instinct itself or intuition comes to the aid of mere rationality and thereby shows the objectivity of existence and the relational objectivity of human apprehension. At the same time the relative or relational nature of language and knowledge implies a real elasticity which corresponds to the elasticity of the evolution of the universe- an elasticity which is not, in the terms of a given reality, infinite, but historical and thereby finite, but nonetheless real and so opening up the forms of reality to further development and change.

Anyway, enough of that. Below is a picture of the beautiful Plaza Mayor (Main Square) of Salamanca - something that Madrid certainly is unable to match.

As for my summer supplying in a parish in Scotland, another post will have to do...

Onus on the thronus

2008-06-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

Fr Jonathan Hill has an excellent post from 13th June looking at the comments of a Fr Daniel O'Leary in an article profiling him and his recently published book. Follow the link over there --->

As for Fr Hill's question at the end of that post about a picture of me on the throne at the church of Saint Gregory here in Rome, I am happy to publish the following picture

again.

Contra Dicta

2008-06-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Following my "counter-petition", I received a number of messages of support. I also received from the address of the petitioners a reply from a certain Simon Brook who decided I had some questions to answer! The parts in normal black type are the original counter-petition; the parts in red type are Simon Brook's questions and comments; and the parts in blue are my replies.

From: DAVID BARRETT
To: info@marriedpriests-ew.org
Sent: Friday, 13 June, 2008 2:00:46 PM
Subject: re Petition

(This is my text with spelling mistakes corrected and clarifications)

Dear petitioners

As a Catholic priest ordained 15 years ago and now doing further studies in Rome I would like to:

1. Affirm my wholehearted support for the ancient practice of celibacy for the presbyterate in the life of the Church Voluntary celibacy is indeed a great gift to the Church, but has it been worth paying the price for the sexual difficulties of so many celibates in the last few decades, or can one justificiably question the value of an imposed discipline of this sort?

I think it is simplistic to make the link between celibacy and "the sexual difficulties of so many celibates in the last few decades". There are many reasons for these difficulties. The Church of England has many sexual and relationship problems with its clergy, many of whom are married. A married clergy therefore does not solve sexual/relationship problems amongst clergy. One could argue, for example, that because the average profile of a child abuser is a married man with some kind of real or legal relationship of kin to the victim, that a married clergy does not solve the deeper problems of child abuse either. I have been involved with child protection work in my own diocese and it is clear that the pathology of child abuse amongst clergy is not reducible to the question of celibacy, since the abuser is one who will abuse in or out of a stable relationship. I won't deny that there have been problems - but much of them has been due to a tendency to reduce clerical celibacy to an "imposed discipline" rather than the deepest expression of the heart of the priesthood as the spousal relationship of Jesus Christ to His one bride the Church. Perhaps what we should question is not celibacy but rather the deplorable lack of formation - theological, personal, human, psychological, spiritual and ascetical - that has characterised the liberalised form of seminary and clergy formation since the Council. Without such foundations celibacy is going to be harder to live; but the knock on effect is that this lack of formation and liberalism in doctrine has meant that many of our people have not been formed well for relationships and for marriage. The cultural crisis of sex and relationships which has characterised our modern era has had a very destructive effect in the lives of so many of our people and they have been ill-served by the Church whose clergy were not formed in the deeper catechism of Christian living and the ideals of Christian holiness in life. So I think it is too simplistic to situate "the sexual difficulties of so many celibates in the last few decades" within the context of celibacy as an "imposed discipline": one needs to address the profound doctrinal/spiritual/moral crisis since the Council and the sudden shift of culture since the 1960s - that's the wider and more complicated context for this question.

2.. Affirm my wholehearted support for the maintenance of clerical celibacy as a necessary sign to the world of the priority of the Kingdom of God and the call of Jesus, of love for Him and for His Church over other earthly ties How can an obligation (imposed on western rite clerics not previously employed as Protestant ministers) be a necessary sign of the Kingdom?

"It was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer..." "I have a baptism to be baptised with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!" There is a deeper link between obligation and commitment and love than meets the eye. Christ did the will of the Father - He came not to do His will but that of the one who sent Him - and this is a missio, an "obligation" - which is also freely accepted. I am not sure your implicit view of human freedom really can make sense of the possibility of love with and through obligation: the sacrament of marriage imposes obligations in love. The Tradition of the Church has always been that once ordained a man was no longer free to be married - this is an obligation which does not necessarily inhibit freedom but manifests the priority of the heard and accepted call from God over one's own desires and aims in life. An obligation can indeed be a sign of the Kingdom - of the priority of God's call. Christ's call imposes obligations which manifest the free nature of His call and the free nature of our response while at the same time maintaining a necessary structure of consequences - so that it is possible to refuse absolutely the call to salvation, a decision God respects in freedom, but a human being is obliged to answer that call positively if they wish to be saved (I am not here excluding salvation for non-Catholics!).

3. Affirm my support for celibacy not just as a discipline but as a practice grounded in the example of the Lord Himself, as a way of life that expresses the heart of the priesthood as a complete self-giving for the Church, as Christ gave Himself totally for His one bride - and so affirm that there are good doctrinal and theological reasons for this practice But why then has the Church allowed married clergy in the Eastern rites for so long - or is their sacramental ministry characterised as second class?

It has done - but there is a sense in which the Eastern churches recognise a two-tier system to their priesthood. The unmarried clergy are the ones who can become bishops. The implication of course is that only a celibate can fully represent the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The very fact that once ordained one cannot marry in both Catholic (in all the rites) and Orthodox Churches- a position I presume you would not accept - highlights the deeper understanding of the nature of the mystery of Holy Orders. The history is still being discussed and disputed - but as ever it is not simple, from those who would argue that mandatory celibacy was merely an 11th-12th century imposition to secure Church property from the hands of children of clergy, to those who argue that after ordination the married priest had to live a life of continence (no longer as husband and wife, but brother and sister) and that the Eastern practice of the priest abstaining from sexual relations prior to celebrating the Eucharist is a throwback to the more ancient practice.

4. Affirm my wholehearted assent for the Church's definitive teaching concerning the reservation of the sacrament of Holy Orders to men alone What is the difference between infallible teaching and definitive teaching? Why did the Church ordain women in the past? Was Paul III's teaching on slavery in his Motu Proprio of 1548 definitive?

First of all, definitive teaching (i.e. teaching "to be held as definitive" ["tamquam definitive tenendam"] - Lumen Gentium 25) is infallible teaching. Lumen Gentium 25 presents the 3 levels, as it were, of guaranteed or infallible teaching - re matters of faith and morals, and truths needed to safeguard the revealed deposit of faith: a. a definition by a Council, united to the Pope; b. a definition by the Pope ex cathedra; c. teaching by the college of bishops united to its head (the successor of St Peter), though dispersed throughout the world, in day-to-day teaching. The first two are commonly designated exercises of the extraordinary magisterium and they require it to be clearly asserted that this is a definition. The last is the ordinary exercise of the teaching authority - magisterium - in matters to be held by all. A good example of this would be the descent of Christ into hell - never defined by Council or Pope, but held as part of the Faith by those who are in communion with the Successor of St Peter.
I presume you accept this teaching of Vatican II.
Women were not ordained priests in the past. Deaconesses did not have the same sacramental functions as Deacons. Epiphanius of Salamis tells us: "It is true that in the Church there is an order of deaconesses, but not for being a priestess, nor for any kind of work of administration, but for the sake of the dignity of the female sex, either at the time of baptism or of examining the sick or suffering, so that the naked body of a female may not be seen by men administering sacred rites, but by the deaconess" (Against Heresies 78:13 [A.D. 377]). And the Council of Nicea in 325 "Similarly, in regard to the deaconesses, as with all who are enrolled in the register, the same procedure is to be observed. We have made mention of the deaconesses, who have been enrolled in this position, although, not having been in any way ordained, they are certainly to be numbered among the laity" (Canon 19 [A.D. 325]).
There is no evidence for women as priests or bishops in the Catholic Church. I notice for example that http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/ has a picture of a mosaic from the church of St Praxedes in Rome and says underneath
"This archaeological photograph of a mosaic in the Church of St. Praxedis in Rome shows, in the blue mantle, the Virgin Mary, foremother of women leaders in the Church. On her left is St.Pudentiana and on her right St. Praxedis, both leaders of house churches in early Christian Rome. Episcopa Theodora, "Bishop Theodora " is the bishop of the Church of St. Praxedis in 820 AD."
This is just not true and is a serious misrepresentation which no serious historian or archaeologist would maintain. There was one Bishop in Rome at the time - Paschal I. The depiction is in fact in a mausoleum built by Pope Paschal for his mother Theodora. She is the one depicted and "Theodora episcopa" really means "bishop's mother". No-one has ever seriously maintained that the Virgin Mary was appointed an apostle by her Son. Praxedes and Pudenziana - the tradition is that they were daughters to the senator Pudens who gave hospitailty to St Peter. They were not leaders of the Church in the apostolic/sacramental sense.
As for claims of ordination, St Augustine of Hippo tells us: "[The Quintillians are heretics who] give women predominance so that these, too, can be honored with the priesthood among them. They say, namely, that Christ revealed himself . . . to Quintilla and Priscilla [two Montanist prophetesses] in the form of a woman" (Heresies 1:17 [A.D. 428]).
We could go on and on. There is no convincing argument from Tradition re the ordination of women.
As for Paul III's Motu Proprio of 1548, you are probably referencing Noonan's article on his matter. A useful and nuanced response to this is found in A Response to John T. Noonan, Jr. Concerning the Development of Catholic Moral Doctrine, by Patrick M. O'Neil found in "Faith and Reason".
The history is complicated and, as you are well aware, there is not a common line of development in the teachings of the Popes: some of the teaching seems to be aimed at practical circumstances, some decisions are made in terms of punishments as a result of warfare, others seem to accept slavery as the lesser of two evils, others see it as a right of masters, others as a duty of masters to care for the children of slaves. So it is clear to me that the Motu Proprio isn't to be seen as "definitive": it isn't a formal definition; and it does not seem to lay claim to an enduring doctrine or truth. Naturally, therefore, I do not see all Papal pronouncements as definitive - just as Pope Benedict's latest Motu Proprio re the Tridentine Mass cannot be seen as an exercise of definitive teaching. It is clear from Lumen Gentium 25, that there are different degrees of teaching. The question of the ordination of women has a far surer pedigree - the Tradition goes back to the apostles. If you again look at Lumen Gentium 25, it gives the conditions for such definitive teaching.

5. Affirm my wholehearted assent to all of the Church's teachings, not as "Vatican policies", but as the teachings of Jesus Christ who gave His teaching authority to the Church's Magisterium Cardinal Hume said that the teaching of the Church on priesthood was confused (Foreword to Michael Richards People of Priests) so is there no a hierarchy of truths or are 'all of the Church's teachings' defined without room for doubt, confusion or development? Where can one find a definitive statement of all infallible pronouncements made since 1870? Why do you argue that matters of discipline demand the assent of faith - surely this belittles faith? On what authority did the Church reverse St Paul's acceptance of slavery?

The hierarchy of truths does not mean of course that some teachings are "more true" and others are "less true": it refers to the relationships that bind the truths to each other and which centre in upon the foundations of Christian Faith. Here is what the decree on Ecumenism had to say about it at Vatican II:
"Furthermore, in ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians, standing fast by the teaching of the Church yet searching together with separated brethren into the divine mysteries, should do so with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility. When comparing doctrines with one another, they should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists an order or "hierarchy" of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith. Thus the way will be opened whereby this kind of "fraternal rivalry" will incite all to a deeper realisation and a clearer expression of the unfathomable riches of Christ."
Thus it is a confusion of terms to relate the hierarchy of truths to the issue of disputed and unanswered questions.
I do believe there are many controverted questions in theology; the Church has chosen not to speak on many matters. There is room for dispute, discussion and questions. My point is that this is very different from dissent. I would say that an authentically Catholic approach is willing to discuss and delve and make full use of one's critical faculties in the many, many areas of dispute and discussion; however, this does not presume ill-faith int he successors of the apostles and the Magisterium, and it also involves an attitude of reverence towards the teaching of those who are given the task of teaching the Faith as Bishops - as referred to in Vatican II's Lumen Gentium 25:
"Bishops who teach in communion with the Roman Pontiff are to be revered by all as witnesses of divine and Catholic truth; the faithful, for their part, are obliged to submit to their bishops’ decision, made in the name of Christ, in matters of faith and morals, and to adhere to it with a ready and respectful allegiance of mind. This loyal submission of the will and intellect must be given, in a special way, to the authentic teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra in such wise, indeed, that his supreme teaching authority be acknowledged with respect, and that one sincerely adhere to decisions made by him, conformably with his manifest mind and intention, which is made known principally either by the character of the documents in question, or by the frequency with which a certain doctrine is proposed, or by the manner in which the doctrine is formulated."

There is no definitive list of infallible pronouncements. Again terminology is important: the only infallible definition since Vatican I was that concerning the Assumption by Pope Pius XII. There has been plenty of definitive teaching since - such as when the Bishops throughout the world united to the Pope proclaim the bodily resurrection of Christ. Indeed, the whole point of Vatican II's explanation of definitive teaching is that it happens all the time - not on an extraordinary occasion, but in the bishops' ordinary mode of teaching in dioceses etc.
I do not argue that matters of discipline demand the assent of faith. I carefully used the word assent. I wanted to include the notion of Faith where it is needed in terms of Revelation, but the notion of assent includes more in its embrace - thus referring to matters that require acceptance (e.g., matters defined infallibly that have not been directly revealed but are needed to safeguard the deposit of faith).
re St Paul's teaching on slavery: St Paul was responding to the fact of his time and giving pastoral advice. Again, we could go into this at great length. The real question is, do you accept that the Church can teach infallibly? Do you believe what Vatican II says on this matter in Lumen Gentium 25?

6. Affirm my prayers for those who have left the priesthood to get married, but my disagreement that they should be allowed back to active priestly ministry still married - such a move would be discouraging to those who have tried to maintain the promises they made at ordination and is a sign of a lack of respect to them Should we therefore disapprove of the decision by the authorities to ordain for the presbyterate married ex-Anglican clergy?

The cases are very different. You mentioned the practice of eastern Churches. After ordination, a priest is not allowed to get married. To do so, violates his promise and the Tradition of East and West. The broken promise is a serious matter and it requires repentance and a change of life. Some men cannot do so and have received laicisations. I have known a few myself and admire them greatly. But to say that they could return to priestly ministry with no attempt to resolve the situation by which they broke their initial promise is failing to take promises seriously. It sens a bad signal to those who are divorced and remarried - that they cannot come back to Communion because they are laypeople; but a priest can do anything, not resolve his situation and still return to ministry.
I think it is disingenuous to imply that the situation of those priests who left the priesthood to get married, many in very painful circumstances, many of them fine men, is equivalent to that of married former Anglican clergy. A

7. Deprecate this petition as an attempt to further the culture of dissent in the Church, a dissent whose real nature is a refusal to believe and so is opposed to the full act of faith, and so will do no good but will serve to encourage division in the Body of Christ Are the faithful not encouraged by canon law to express their needs to their pastors?

Yes, but remember Lumen Gentium 25 referred to above.

8. Acknowledge that there is indeed a crisis in the life of the Catholic Church, but this has been caused by dissent from the teachings of the Church, a lack of thorough Catholic catechesis, a lack of holiness and prayer in the life of the Church, an unwillingness to evangelise culture with the fullness of the Catholic Faith and a growing antagonistic secularism in the world which dissent actually promotes. Are there not seriously devout Catholics who disagree with your condemnations among the lower and higher clergy to say nothing of the holy and prayerful laity? Were Galileo and Rosmini dissidents? Were those who criticised John Paul II's protection of Marcial Maciel dissidents, without the fulness of faith or seduced by antagonistic secularism?

There is always room for criticism and for correction of errant Pastors. Again, the questions of Galileo and Rosmini are more subtle than just, "I dissent from the Church's teaching." Galileo was not alone in suggesting heliocentrism - Copernicus did so too and even his patron the Pope was sympathetic to the idea, as was Cardinal Bellarmine. The reasons for the condemenations are various - and there were mistake and human pride involved too on both sides.
I am not judging anyone's holiness or lack of it in these matter's. I just do not believe that dissent forms part of the act of faith. Yes to criticism, yes to correction of pastors for weakness and corruption and delusion and worldliness and pride and bad decisions: but Catherine of Siena's amazing action was born not out of dissent but the act of faith and a real reverence for the role of the Pope.

Is it all not, unfortunately, quite as open and shut as you suggest?

I think you will see that my position is far more nuanced than you would imagine me to be in your any caricature. The real question to be answered is: if the Pope decided tomorrow that women could be ordained priests, would we all have to accept it? Could I dissent from it? Would it have to be imposed throughout the Church? Would it be definitive? I have a sneaking feeling you would use all the authority of the Church to impose this, while at the moment you deny that the Church has the right to impose a decision which runs contrary to your opinion. I do not want to be uncharitable in saying this. Perhaps you believe that we could have an Anglican model where different dioceses could decide their own practice - but then the Catholic Church's foundation would be undermined at the very least. I do not see how one could operate such a decision without a requirement of assent (not necessarily of faith!), obedience and obligation. I am not against that, but you seem to be. Or is it just a political manoeuvre: dissent from the use of such means until dissenters actually have control of them?

I have spent alot of time on this over the past hour. I have to study and so will not have time to go back and forth like this. Thank you for your correspondence. I wish you every blessing and grace.

Yours in the Faith

Joy of the Faith

2008-06-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

And for a better perspective on the true nature of our Faith, with which the dissenters mentioned in the earlier post would not identify, have a look at http://www.catholicscomehome.org

I am grateful to Fr Avram at Peregrinus (click to your right) for this recommendation. There is a good video on the site called Epic. Have a look... It's about the joy and good that our Catholic Faith really brings to our world.

Church of Santa Prassede

2008-06-13T04:45:00.000-07:00

This week my good friend Fr Stephen Brown from the diocese of Leeds was visiting me here in Rome. I would study in the mornings and then we would do something in the afternoon. One day we made a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Maria Maggiore - Mary Major's or the Greater St Mary's, as a friend of mine dubs it. Afterwards we went to one of my favourite churches in Rome, across the street from the Basilica - Santa Prassede. Saint Praxedes was the sister of St Pudenziana - whose story I recounted briefly in my posting of 27th February. The mosaics in Santa Prassede are wonderful - dating back to around 822 when it was put together during the reign of Pope St Paschal I. The Pope is actually shown on the mosaic with a square nimbus behind his head, rather than a round halo - a sign that he was alive when the depiction was made. I forgot to take some photographs of this but I did take some of the chapel of St Zeno. This is the ceiling inside - showing Christ in glory surrounded by four angels:

The chapel was built by Pope st Paschal for his mother, Theodora, as a mausoleum. He was a thoughtful son: she is even depicted inside the chapel and the square nimbus behind her head indicates that she was alive while her mausoleum was being prepared...

Such a thoughtful boy was Paschal! The writing above and around her says, "Theodora Episcopa." This does not mean in this context "woman bishop" but "bishop's mum"! I want to clarify that for budding women priest dissenters out there.

Notice above them the Lamb of God on a small hill with four rivers flowing from Him, from the Temple, and deer drinking in life from those fountains.

Also inside the chapel, to the right of the mosaic above, is this vivid depiction of the harrowing of hell.

Christ in glory (pace Hans Urs von Balthasar) goes down to hell and leads Adam and Eve out of the infernal regions to share in His divinity. I cannot make out who the two others are depicted here - one with a halo and the other with what seems like a beard. Any ideas?

Assent, not dissent

2008-06-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

I noticed in the Daily Telegraph that a group of organisations and some public figures have lent support to a petition calling for the ordination of women, married priests and the return to active ministry of those who left the priesthood to get married. They claim there is a crisis in the Church and that there are no theological or doctrinal reasons for celibacy among the clergy. They want this petition to be circulated in parishes on 29th June - just think, on the feast day of the Rock of Faith and of the Preacher of the Faith a petition which dissents from the Faith!

The usual cabal of organisations are involved - you can see who they are from the members of their ad hoc committee:
Michael Winter (Movement for a Married Clergy), Valerie Stroud (We Are Church UK), Maureen Robinson (wife of a resigned priest, originator of the petition in the UK), Frank Pycroft (Catholics for a Changing Church), Ianthe Pratt (Catholic Women’s Ordination), Jackie Hawkins (New Wine), Jackie Clackson (Housetop), Simon Bryden-Brook (The Living Word Trust, European Network – Church on the Move)

I decided to send them my counter-petition as follows:

info@marriedpriests-ew.org

Dear petitioners

As a Catholic priest ordained 15 years ago and now doing further studies in Rome I would like to:

1. Affirm my wholehearted support for the ancient practice of celibacy for the presbyterate in the life of the Church

2. Affirm my wholehearted support for the maintenance of clerical celibacy as a necessary sign to the world of the priority of the Kingdom of God and the call of Jesus, of love for Him and for His Church over other earthly ties

3. Affirm my support for celibacy not just as a discipline but as a practice grounded in the example of the Lord Himself, as a way of life that expresses the heart of the priesthood as a complete self-giving for the Church, as Christ gave Himself totally for His one bride - and so affirm that there are good doctrinal and theological reasons for this practice

4. Affirm my wholehearted assent for the Church's definitive teaching concerning the reservation of the sacrament of Holy Orders to men alone

5. Affirm my wholehearted assent to all of the Church's teachings, not as "Vatican policies", but as the teachings of Jesus Christ who gave His teaching authority to the Church's Magisterium

6. Affirm my prayers for those who have left the priesthood to get married, but my disagreement that they should be allowed back to active priestly ministry still married - such a move would be discouraging to those who have tried to maintain the promises they made at ordination and is a sign of a lack of respect to them

7. Deprecate this petition as an attempt to further the culture of dissent in the Church, a dissent whose real nature is a refusal to believe and so is opposed to the full act of faith, and so will do no good but will serve to encourage division in the Body of Christ

8. Acknowledge that there is indeed a crisis in the life of the Catholic Church, but this has been caused by dissent from the teachings of the Church, a lack of thorough Catholic catechesis, a lack of holiness and prayer in the life of the Church, an unwillingness to evangelise culture with the fullness of the Catholic Faith and a growing antagonistic secularism in the world which dissent actually promotes.

Yours in the Faith

Fr David B Barrett

Casa Santa Maria
Via dell'Umilta 30
00187 Rome
Italy

Farewells

2008-06-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

At this time, lots of students here are finishing their doctorates after 3 years of steady study and others are completing their licences. They return home to their dioceses for different assignments - some to parishes, others to seminaries, chaplaincies, chanceries and other roles. Returning home is seen as very positive by the priests here - a chance to engage in the mission of the Church and to bring the Gospel of salvation to a world so in need of it.

Fr Martin Edwards of the Archdiocese of Southwark spent time here this year studying for his doctorate. It was good to have him around. He does a lot of very fine work for the important charity Aid to the Church in Need, work which benefits the Church at a universal and not just local level. He takes the work with the charity seriously and I would encourage anyone to contribute to its fine work. He has been great fun here at the Casa and a good example of priesthood to us all. We took him to Castel Gandolfo in April as a farewell trip to wish him well. Below he is sitting in the square at Castel Gandolfo with Fr Larry Kozak and Fr Patrick Beidelman:

Winner of "The-most-unfriendly-fountain-in-the-World" Award

2008-06-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

I am proud to announce the winner of "The-most-unfriendly-fountain-in-the-World" Award. It goes to a fountain not far from the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi. This is it:

The notice in stone says in Italian, "Pena un scudo e perdita de panni per chi lava in questo fonte." Roughly translated, this means, "Fine of one scudo and loss of clothes for whoever washed in this fountain." To re-inforce its friendly message, the next notice underneath says, "Aqua non potabile" - "undrinkable water."

And if you still don't believe that all this adds up to a very unfriendly fountain, look at the colour of the water below:

Northampton in Assisi

2008-06-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

After plundering Rome, the Cathedral group marched up to Assisi (by coach). They invited me to join them. I took a day off from study on Friday and made the trip north to St Francis' home town. I had qualms whether I should take time from my studies but as one priest said here at the Casa, "It's always a good thing to spend time with St Francis in Assisi." He was right.

I spent the night there and joined the group for various activities. They were staying at La Rocca Hotel - known to generations of English College students for its hospitality, good pasta and reasonable rates and rooms.

I managed to offer Mass at the Basilica of St Francis in the evening. It's an impressive place: right down in the crypt is the tomb of St Francis. This was only discovered in 1818 after about two month of excavations: the grave had been most carefully hidden to escape being stolen or desecrated. On top of this is built two other churches, one on top of the other and it is this vast complex that forms the Basilica. It was built after Francis' death in 1226. By this time the Franciscans had already arrived in England (in 1224, in fact). One of their number was a priest, Richard of Kingsthorpe, a well-known and impressive preacher. Obviously because of his links (Kingsthorpe is now on the north side of Northampton), by 1230 a friary had been established in the town and it was at the Franciscan St Andrew's church there that Blessed Duns Scotus was ordained to the priesthood on 17th March 1291.

The present Basilica is the fruit of great medieval Italian architecture - its frescoes, particularly those by Giotto in the upper Basilica depicting the life of St Francis, are wonderful. I think my favourite place is the quiet crypt of San Francesco's tomb and the rest of the lower church - dark, colourful, tranquil.

The tranquility soon vanished - that night the pilgrim group held a quiz night, which was loud and fun. But the beauty of Assisi had obviously touched everyone in the group. Many people said how peaceful and graced they felt the town to be. Its beauty stays with you for a long time.

Northampton in Rome

2008-06-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much of this recently.

The other week a group from the Cathedral in Northampton, led by Canon John Udris, came to Rome on pilgrimage. It was great to see them. On Sunday 25th May I joined them at the church of St Gregory the Great - I have mentioned it before on here. It was a lovely Mass, led by Canon John and with Deacon Philip Nash assisting.

After Mass I showed to the people the famous Chair of Pope St Gregory from which he sent St Augustine to England. I managed to persuade the good Dean of Northampton Cathedral into the throne. He looks very apostolic...

The group spent about 5 days in Rome. For some it was the first time in Europe, on an aircraft and in Rome. Lots of bravery awards!

Deliciae Latinitatis

2008-04-17T01:11:00.000-07:00

The other day saw another Latin class with Fr Reggie Foster. The course has been such a help and I have seen a marked improvement in my Latin. The classes, as noted previously, are always entertaining: firstly, because Fr Reggie's system for teaching is clever and brings out the challenge and the fun of the language; secondly, because his enthusiasm (and that's a weak word) is so evident and infectious.

The other day, one of the class reacted to what seemed an odd facet of Latin by saying, "Ah! It's just perverse!" To which Reggie roared, "Perverse?! It's divine and glo-o-orious!"

Later on he waxed ecstatically, "Latin is the best thing that ever happened to humanity, because without it we would be floating around like a bunch of ninnies."

More Latin to come this afternoon...

I saw the director of my doctorate today, Fr Ladaria. He seems happy with the progress of work and with the title chosen. He is himself an acclaimed theologian and expert on St Hilary. He is Spanish, originally from Mallorca, and has taught at the Gregorian for many years: I remember doing courses with him on theological anthropology, protology and eschatology when I was first here. He is currently a member of the International Theological Commission, having been nominated and appointed for it in 1992.

Elevamini, portae aeternales, et introibit

2008-04-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks or so a number of us have been tracking Canon Michael Griffiths' progress on the RMS St Helena. The website for the ship has a function which shows on a map exactly where the ship is in the world, its speed, the height of waves and so forth.

I am pleased to say that he has arrived safe and sound at St Helena. He arrived on Thursday evening. There is no port and so he had to climb off the ship into a smaller boat to be taken to shore. There the local Anglican bishop very kindly came to meet and welcome Michael and gave him some generous hospitality. I spoke with Canon Michael on the telephone the next morning and he sounded very well and very excited. He had had a good voyage and had already been given a good welcome by some of the islanders. God is good.

In the circumstances, this is a very appropriate picture of the then Fr Michael visiting St Peter's: I took it with the great statue of St Helena herself in the background.

Surrounded by history

2008-04-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if I mentioned that I moved room in February. My new room is on the 3rd floor and is on the inside of the house, overlooking the garden, looking towards the Quirinal Hill. It is quieter than the other room and so I am getting better sleep than before - Deo gratias.

This building was given to the Americans by Pope Pius IX because he wanted them to be closer to him at his palace on the Quirinal. We are at the foot of that hill, not far from the entrance to Trajan's Forum. There must be a wealth of archaeology beneath this site and even in the garden there are remnants of ancient pillars and other assorted masonry. Everywhere in Rome there is evidence of this marvellously alive city's history amidst the teeming of tourists, pilgrims, Italians and varieties of immigrants. For example, on the ides of March some of us passed the statue of Julius Caesar on the way to a Station Church and noticed that some flowers had been placed there by some admirer to commemmorate the anniversary of his assassination. That event was seen by the perpetrators as the only way to secure liberty (or their own interests); it became the means ultimately of ushering in exactly what they had tried to prevent - an on-going royal/imperial style of government.

English Martyrs

2008-04-13T06:22:00.000-07:00

If you want to know more about the Martyrs of England and Wales, then please do see Richard Marsden's blog "Bashing Secularism": he has been posting helpful biographies about many of the canonised martyrs. The link is down there ---->

In an age of relativism, the martyrs remind us that there are absolute values and truths that claim our adherence; and they remind us that the only martyrdom worthy of the name is undertaken for the objetive truth, not for what I think is my truth, and it is done in perfect love. Not so long ago I heard a priest preach that we could pray to the Anglican martyrs of the Reformation as well as the Catholic ones. Firstly, I wouldn't presume to have the charism of infallibility to canonise saints and encourage people under my pastoral care to pray to them: that's why we have a canonisation process, otherwise any priest could start getting parishioners to pray to all sorts of exotic people. Secondly, I would be cautious about saying that just because they persevered in their Anglican faith to the end, that means they are martyrs. Just because someone dies for their faith it does not make them a martyr in the proper sense - otherwise we would end up saying the 9/11 terrorists were martyrs: there has to be an objective criteria - that of faith, hope and love - and faith, hope and love are by nature ecclesial and thus Catholic (see Lumen Genium 8!). I hope and pray that those who died so horribly for their Anglican faith are indeed in heaven and that we might merrily meet there, as St Thomas More prayed - but to start equating what they endured with martyrdom in the proper Catholic sense ends up relativising the martyrdom of the Catholic saints. The Forty Martyrs didn't just die for their belief - they died for the Faith of the Church and they did so with an exquisite charity that continues to touch the heart and inspire it.

Salvi eritis, omnes fines terrae

2008-04-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I returned to England on Easter Sunday was to attend the Farewell Mass for Canon Michael Griffiths at Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Luton. Fr Pat Beidelman from the Casa here joined me and we concelebrated the Mass at 10.00am. It was a very moving event. The church was full and many of the people were visibly weeping. Canon Michael himself was moved throughout the Mass and asked them to pray for him, as he would for them, as he made this tremendous move to the island of St Helena. As he left the church the people began to cheer and clap him. He went inside to the sacristy and removed his vestments and began to ready himself to leave the parish immediately. Here he is with St Helena hat ready:

As he left the church, he found the carpark was now full of people who wanted to see him off. The altar servers waved Welsh flags and they had secured the services of the infamous Frosty the Snowman!

Fr Jonathan Hill was driving the Canon down to Portland for his ship, but there were now so many cars parked and people gathered around, cheering, clapping and waving flags, it became difficult for them to get going. Indeed it was proved hard for Michael even to get to the car in the first place, so many people stopped in, shook his hands, hugged hima nd even asked him to bless them!

The next day I drove down to Portland and joined the two priests for an evening. We had a lovely time together. The next day I took him down to the port to board the ship, the RMS St Helena, after Fr Jonathan had bidden farewell. Michael and I spent some time chatting and praying and then the time came for me to leave. Here is the last picture I took as he was about to enter the terminal. I was sad to leave him, and for him to leave so many who love him here, but glad too that the Lord has called him for this generous work amongst a people who have no access to a priest and to the sacraments of eternal life. "What man among you, having one hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?" Michael goes to an island known as "The ends of the earth": we pray that there too the Lord may continue His work of salvation.

On-going non-blog

2008-04-13T02:46:00.001-07:00

Easter came and a trip to England in Easter week and then back here and a steady application to work - these are some of the reasons why the blog hasn't been done. I have had a number of people asking me why I haven't been active, blogging - hence the excuses.

Easter was wonderful in Rome (though Easter Sunday saw a deluge) and with a good number of priests from the Casa I was able to attend many of the Papal Masses and Liturgies and distribute Holy Communion at some of them. Despite the ranting and raving of The Tablet, the Liturgies were conducted prayerfully and beautifully, with a good balance of new and old. I laughed when I read The Tablet's lament about Cardinal deacons dressed in dalmatics and mitres: the implication was that this was PRE-CONCILIAR - i.e. Bad Church Era - but I spotted a picture I took with my family in 1993 of the Easter Urbi et Orbi and (shock and horror!) there were those pesky Cardinal Deacons in dalmatics and mitres who had obviously time travelled either forward from Bad Church Era or back from Bad Church Era - the Sequel (i.e., now). It really does show the silliness of The Tablet and its antipathetic attitude to Rome, to the Pope and ultimately to Catholicism (e.g., frequent dissenting articles concerning contraception, and even editorials implying that the Church is too strict on ruling out abortion in certain cases). Tablet Catholicism, as I like to call it, has evidently found a new recruit in Tony Blair - but you can go to other websites, such as the Hermeneutic of Continuity and others, to find a more detailed analysis of what the "convert" has been saying and doing.

Earlier in Holy Week I was able to go on retreat to Rocca di Papa, to a very cold convent there, and again this was with priests from the Casa. Rocca di Papa is lovely location, with wonderful views towards Rome, Castel Gandolfo and, in the distance, the Mediterranean. It was here that the founder of the Focolari movement, Chiara Lubick, died while we were on retreat. The area has a history that reaches back into antiquity, though the town itself got its name through the residence of Pope Eugenius III (1145-1153). On top of the nearby Monte Cavo there stood a temple dedicated to Jupiter Latiaris and to reach it the ancient Romans had to climb a Via Sacra, that winds its way even today to the top and is in a fairly good state of preservation. In pre-Republican times and after the mountain was a venerated place of pilgrimage for the Romans: Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the Kings of Rome, built the temple here in about 520BC; newly chosen Consuls in the Republican period had to travel to Monte Cavo and sacrifice in the Temple, announcing the Latin Vacations; and a Consul who defeated Rome's enemies in warfare would come to the same place to celebrate the victory given him by the gods. I walked to the top of Monte Cavo following the Via Sacra - a good bit of exercise and an opportunity for some beautiful views.

On the way to the Via Sacra I took a picture from the town: the glow in the distance are not clouds but the reflection of the sunlight upon the sea.

This is part of the ancient Via Sacra which I briskly climbed - the small chapel on the path was a welcome respite:

On-going Station Churches

2008-03-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and this morning the two station churches were a little closer to home, little more than a skip and a hop from the Casa. The first church was that of Santa Maria in Via Lata, an old favourite of mine, and the site of a very old church (though rebuilt many times) going back to the 5th century, having beeen built over what was most probably a warehouse: the remains of this are in the crypt area (not presently open) and it appears the building was a very large one - around 750 feet long! The church is decorated with very fine baroque and the sancturary enshrines the beautiful 13th century ikon of the Vergine Avvocata. There is Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament here each day where the sisters pray for peace in families, among Christians and in the world. I know too that the church has some link with St Ignatius and the early Jesuits but I think I may have to read up a little more on that before daring to say anything.

Another likeable thing about the church is that Blessed Pius IX was once a Canon of the church and in one of the aisles this lovely monument can be found which commemorates the surpassing in 1871 by Pius of the duration of St Peter's pontificate. There is a monument that commemorates the same event too at St Peter's: the observant pilgrim can see it above the seated statue of St Peter in the nave of the Basilica.

This morning we rolled over to the church of San Marcello, like yesterday's church situated on the Via del Corso. The church has links with the the great but shortlived pontificate of its namesake. The brutal persecution of Diocletian (284-305) left the Church in Rome in disarray, with dissensions caused by impenitent apostates who demanded a return to the Church but without penance, the absence of Church property caused by confiscation and the absence of a Bishop or Pope, the previous Pope Marcellinus having died in 304 (it is not clear if he died a natural death or was a martyr).

Pope Marcellus was elected in May or June of 308 but only reigned until 309. In that time he appears to have managed to create some order for the disrupted life of the Church: he organised Rome into 25 districts (tituli) - the 25 titular churches of the 7th century are based on this reorganisation. Each of these was to be led by a priest who would ensure that the ordinary life of the Church continued in its preparation of catechumens for Baptism, the celebration of the Eucharist and the commemoration of the great martyrs, the fair administration of the sacrament of Penance and the burial of the dead. The crisis of apostates however ended up causing more divisions, even bloodshed, and as a result, according to Pope St Damasus, the Emperor Maxentius had the Pope sent into exile by the end of 308 or even the beginning of 309. He died soon afterwards and was instantly venerated as a martyr - in 309 probably on his feast day 16th January. Some stories have him ending up as a stable boy by order of Maxentius, but this account of his end seems to originate in the 5th century. The church is meant to be one of the 25 original parishes of Rome and reputedly Macellus used the house of a lady called Lucina which stood on this spot as some kind of oratory. St Marcellus was buried at the catacombs of St Priscilla and his relics later moved to this fine church.

The church houses the Crucifix of St Marcellus which survived a conflagration that destroyed the old church here in 1519. It is highly venerated in Rome as miraculous and is carried through the streets in times of trial and anxiety, and also in anticipation of major events - it was carried through Rome in preparation for the Second Vatican Council.

At the back of the church is this wonderful frescoe of the Crucifixion painted in 1613 by Giovanni Battista Ricci:

And there is also this interesting painting of the conversion of St Paul. Notice the way in which Christ is directly above the fallen Saul, reaching down to him: all the rest of the painting appears to fade into the background beside these two figures, one in the dpths of the earth, the Other reaching with the depths of love into the depths of sin.

St Helena

2008-03-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Canon Michael Griffiths, heads out to St Helena in two weeks. Some in Rome have met him and many have been impressed by his generosity in this move. According to Fr Tim Finigan, at the Hermeneutic of Continuity Blog, there is an article about the impending move at the website of the Evening Telegraph, a paper known to many of us who had been curates or parish priests in Coby, Kettering and Wellingborough. http://www.northantset.co.uk/news/Michael39s-mission-to-39Napoleon-island39.3849279.jp

He will be very much missed in Luton. This is what he managed to do with his church at Our Lady, Help of Christians, as parish priest. I am sure St Helena will very much benefit from all the colour he will bring...

Canon Griffith moves to St Helena for a two year period: look at Google Earth to see how remote a place St Helena is. Yet, he is guaranteed a good welcome: his reputation as a fine parish priest has already reached the island and both Catholics, Anglicans and others await his arrival with great enthusiasm. Oremus pro eo...

La Primavera

2008-03-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

It is the 6th March. Spring is in the air. But not in our air: it has been cold and Rome has received a fair dousing of rain. Yesterday morning saw an early departure for the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le mura - or St Paul-outside-the-walls, or sometimes even St Paul-without-the-walls (except it does). We were leaving at 5.50am to make the long trek there by foot: I saw the need for my umbrella (bought last summer in Poitiers when France was inundated by rain in August - that must make it an 8th class relic of St Hilary), since the rain was hitting the cobbles outside the Casa hard and determinedly. A group of 8 of us had arisen for the walk and we set off with umbrellas, rosaries and bags at hand (or in hands). The rain soon stopped and we were no longer afflicted by it for the rest of the walk - an answer to heartfelt prayer!

The Mass at San Paolo was led by the Beda College and their Rector. It is a wonderful Basilica. What a shame, however, that the original structure only (!)endured for 1500 years before succumbing to a devastating fire on the night of 15th-16th July 1823, as the Great Survivor of the Napoleonic era himself, Pope Pius VII, lay dying not far away! The present reconstruction followed the original's plan faithfully, but the sense of the ancient isn't quite there. It is still impressive, however, and well worth seeing - particularly for the tomb of St Paul the Apostle. The mosaics in the apse and on the triumphal arch are worth seeing too - sadly I didn't take any pictures this time: Fr Avram has a few on his Peregrinus website.

The previous day we had been to the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. The Venerable English College led the Mass, though the Rector was unfortunately unwell. The College schola sang beautifully at Holy Communion. The VEC was founded in 1579 as a seminary though it had previously been the English Hospice in Rome from 1362, receiving pilgrims and illustrious visitors as guests. It is where I studied for the priesthood and it has a moving history of student martyrs: when men went there to study for the priesthood during the Reformaton period they took an oath to return to England as soon as was possible after ordination in order to bring the Faith back there. Doing so carried the threat of death: they were already by law traitors for studying at a seminary abroad and the penalty for traitors was to be hung, drawn and quartered - a nasty, bloody and painful way to die invented by Edward I. Yet they returned nonetheless and 44 of them ended up being killed in this or similar ways over a period of about 100 years. They, like the other English Martyrs, are the true glory of England and a powerful witness that to die for the truth of the Faith, in charity, is sometimes what is asked of us; they show that the Truth is important and the Church's teaching is more than a set of Vatican policies that can be changed at will, according to a more political approach to the Church and her doctrine (as evinced often by many an editorial in the Tablet). These teachings are revelations of the Mind of Christ and revelations by God of who He is, of who we are and what we are called to be.

The present church of San Lorenzo was built on top of another one built in the time of Pope St Damasus (366-384) on the site of his house. Pope Damasus was one of the great Popes of history. Not only did he commission St Jerome to produce a standard Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate), but he also sought to affirm the truths of the Faith in the great tide of conflict that had arisen with Arianism, continuing to sweep the Church mainly due to prevarication and compromise among many Eastern Bishops: in Synods in Rome in 368 and 369, he condemned Apollinarianism (which kind of fused the Divinity and humanity of Chrit into one nature - thereby destroying the difference between the two and, according to some, creating a new reality) and Macedonianism (a form of Arianism which also denied the Divinity of the Holy Spirit) - a good 10 years or so before the East eventually got round to condemning them at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 to which Damasus also sent Legates. St Athanasius had previously condemned Apollinarianism in a synod in 362. The Church in Rome had tended to side with Athanasius since he was faithful to the Council of Nicaea (325) and so it tended to be suspicious of the many Eastern Bishops who refused to support Athanasius: there had been a long history of mutual suspicion in the East, of dependence on the apparatus of the Imperial state for the imposition of theological positions (often heretial ones) and of disagreement about terminology concerning the Christ and the Trinity. Damasus maintained the faithful stand of his two predecessors, Liberius I (352-366) and Julius I (337-352), which meant support for Athanasius was essential. Sadly, the difficulties of the time meant that his dealing with the Cappadocian Father, St Basil, was cautious to the extreme, based mainly on the suspicion that Basil was dealing too generously with those who had been homoeousians and others who had not accepted the full Faith of the Church. Basil was deeply saddened by this as he had a deep respect for the role of Rome in the life of the universal Church.

The Papacy of Damasus also saw a large amount of church construction. He had a love for the martyrs, particular for St Lawrence: he had the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le mura restored and built the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso also in his honour. The present church replaced the structure of Damasus in the 15th century and the church forms part of the splendid Palazzo dell Cancelleria - that graceful 14th century product of Renaissance genius, which now houses the main Tribunals of the Church (apart from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), including the Sacred Rota (translated on one Italian website as the Holy Wheel!). The facade of the palace is often missed by passers-by and in doing so they fail to see a building of fine elegance and simple nobility: the courtyard of the interior is similarly a pleasure to behold. A picture can be seen on Fr Avram's blog - another plug for my illustrious neighbour. The Cancelleria also gives its name to a series of reliefs from the 1st century now on display at the Vatican Museum: they were found underneath the Cancelleria in the 1930s and are well worth a look.

I found the picture below on a website: it shows a view of the Cancelleria from the Campo di Fiori. But note the style of clothes, the car and the poster of the Communist Party - another era...

The church inside is very spacious and the altar itself is by Bernini - I had always wondered why it put me in mind of the one at St Peter's until I found out the name of the architect. Pope St Damasus is buried beneath it, as are the martyr St Eutychius and St Hippolytus. Before the Mass, the priests seated themselves in the stalls behind the altar; the kind parish priest switched on extra lighting - colossal blazing bulbs at eyelevel, blinding the clergy, at the helpful hour of 6.55am: one illumination none of them wanted. A helpful MC rapidly switched them off.

I used to like to pop in here to pray as a student, particularly before this lovely ikon of the Black Madonna enshrined here at the Blessed Sacrament Altar.

I thought back to one of the previous parish priests, Mgr Cecchi. Don Cecchi was a wonderful old priest: he had been a Papal Monsignor and owned a vast array of Papal memorabilia he had collected, including a cassock of Pope John XXIII. At Christmas Midnight Mass, the altar servers would march up and down the aisle ringing bells at the Gloria, with wings tied to their back. He used to stay with us at the English College Villa (Palazzola) and I would sometimes accompany him back into Rome - a journey of invocation and deep in-takes of breath as the good Don Cecchi failed to keep any lane discipline, talked ceaselessly and occasionally at 60mph put the car into reverse gear. He was a fine old priest, though, and arranged each summer for the College students to have a tour of the Papal gardens at Castel Gandolfo. Requiescat in pace.

Laetare

2008-03-02T14:37:00.000-08:00

The 4th Sunday of Lent: we are half way through Lent and we have barely dented March. There is another list of fine churches to visit in the coming week for the station Masses.

On Thursday we went to the church of Santi Cosma e Damiano. Fr Avram has a great picture of the church on his blog. It's a marvellous place: the deep blue of the apse mosaic makes a deep impression and the whole piece is imbued with a sense that it is impervious to time - so much so that, according to one of the priests there, visitors often go around the church and ask the clergy to show them the ancient mosaic.

And ancient it is. The building had been a library, the famous Bibliotheca Pacis, built by the Emperor Vespasian about 75AD: here many of Rome's spoils of war could be seen on display and it was to here, according to Josephus, that the treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem were brought in triumph - including the Menorah whose image can be seen even now on the nearby Arch of Titus. We often think of the Romans as agents of preservation in Antiquity, a force of great culture and civilisation but they were more often than not agents of destruction, crushing, destroying anihilating any city that opposed them, caring not for the beauty that was erased but determined to exact a punishment that would be total and perennial - hence Carthage, Corinth, and Jerusalem. Anyway, the first library was destroyed by a fire in 191 and subsequently restored/rebuilt by Septimius Severus. Added to it was the temple of Romulus built by the Emperor Maxentius in honour of his son Valerius Romulus who died in 309 and was subsequently declared a god. You can see the temple in the picture below which I took in October: look at the centre of the picture; ignore the obvious looking temple slightly to the left; the temple of Romulus is that roundish or hexagonal shaped building with what looks like a mini cupola on top; it is attached to the church of Ss Cosmas and Damian behind - the one with the arch windows.

In 527 Pope Felix IV converted the library and temple into a church dedicated to the two physician martyrs, twin brothers, who were killed during the persecution of Diocletian in Cilicia. The mosaic dates from 527 - only the images of Pope Felix himself and of 3 sheep below him were heavily restored after an earthquake damaged them. It is also damaged by a restoration of the 17th century: this had to solve the problem of dampness and disease and so a floor was place at the present level; the crypt below was the original level of the church and it is there you can find the spot to which the remains of the two saints were transferred. Despite all this, the mosaic is a great favourite and truly remarkable. This picture gives an impression of the look of the church (I have to improve my photographic skills!). You can just about make out the triumphal arch which is the same age as the mosaic: it is this which is partially covered by the new but necessary walls built around 1632.

The Christ in the mosaic is the Christ of the Parousia, coming in glory, to judge the living and the dead; the saints on either side welcome him and you can see Pope Felix presenting the church to the Lord (one of the priests at the church says that many think the face on the mosaic of Felix is what remains of the original figure). Notice the phoenix in the top left hand corner on a palm tree: the tree represents victory and the bird is a symbol of the resurrection, of eternal life. Christ is pointing to it and in His other hand He holds a scroll - the Gospel itself, the new Law: if we follow this new Law, Christ is saying, then we will reach the resurrection to new life.

Underneath the ain mosaic the sheep representing the apostles go to great Christ the Lamb in the centre. It is a wonderful image: the four rivers pour out from beneath Him and give life wherever they flow.

Finally, of note also in the church is this rather interesting 8th century Byzantine image of the crucified Christ:

The Blood of Martyrs...

2008-02-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning saw the station Mass celebrated at the church of Santa Pudenziana. The church is one of the oldest in Rome, going back to about 390AD, though it has been rebuilt a number of times. The apse mosaic mostly dates from the time of the original church - again making this probably the oldest mosaic in Rome, despite some damage being done to it in a restoration and redecoration of 1589. There in the middle is the magnificent figure of Christ beneath a jewelled cross: enthroned in glory He is blessing the assembled apostles and the two women who represent the converted Jews and the converted Gentiles, all gathered into the new Israel, the universal Church. They are either presenting wreaths of worship to Christ or holding them over the heads of the two great apostles, Peter and Paul. If it is the latter, perhaps it is meant to reflect the words of Paul in Galatians 2:7-10, where Peter is described as apostle for the circumcised and Paul as apostle for the uncircumcised or Gentiles. The figures are very Roman: Christ, according to some commentators appears like Jupiter (the text he holds reads, "Dominus conservator ecclesiae Pudentianae"); the apostles are in Senatorial togas - there should be 12, but the restoration of 1589 cut them off! Of note too are the 4 creatures from Ezekiel and the Apocalypse representing the Evangelists, which are said to be their oldest preserved representations - I particularly like this chap- or lion - or St Mark:

St Pudenziana with her sister St Praxedes were thought to be daughters of the senator Pudens who housed St Peter upon his arrival in Rome. They survived the initial persecution and are said to have collected the bodies/relics of those martyred, placing them in the well still seen in the church. They too eventually died for Christ. What gives credence to their story is that the churches of St Pudenziana and Praxedes (one of my favourites) were constructed very early on - 4th and early 5th century; it is possible that some kind of monument or oratory was built by Pope St Pius I in around 150 at the site of the church of St Praxedes - the same period when a monument was built over the tomb of St Peter (an altar said to include part of St Peter's altar table is in the church, in the chapel presented by the first Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman).

Below is a painting of the two good sisters gathering relics and placing them in a well - forgive the flash! In the background is an area of execution with all sorts of implements of torture and death, including a Catherine Wheel.

This morning we all trooped over to the church of San Sisto Vecchio: it is a longer walk and it took us past the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, then the Baths of Caracalla, while we prayed the rosary and carried "The Case". The church was reputedly built on the site where Pope St Sixtus II (257-258AD) met St Lawrence as the Pope went to the Catacomb of Prætextatus to address a gathering of the faithful, perhaps even to offer Mass. The story of this meeting is described by most as a legend. Nevertheless what followed certainly was not. The Emperor Valerian had unleased a fairly severe persecution against the Church, after a brief respite following the terrible Decian attack on Christianity which saw the torture of the great Origen. Valerian forbade the gathering of Christians in any place, even in cemeteries. Sixtus (often written as Xystus in Latin) was specifically breaking the Imperial Law since he was going to comfort and encourage this secret assembly of the Christians of Rome. St Cyprian of Carthage writing a letter in this period tells us briefly what happened (Sixtus had helped to ease relations with the African Bishops after a period of tension and so was appreciated by Cyprian for his gentleness): "You should know that Sixtus, furthermore, was executed in a cemetery on August 6, and with him four deacons..." The soldiers found him in the act of preaching and it is thought that he was beheaded there and then - though some suggest he may have had a short trial and then returned to the cemetery to be executed. A couple of days later St Lawrence too was executed. This year marks the 1750th anniversary of their martyrdom.

Below is the exterior of the church - my pictures inside were not too successful! There's a better picture on Fr Avram's blog (the jokes are worse though). The Romanesque belltower dates from the 12th century.

Mgr Cecchio, the Rector of the North American College, gave the homily. He recalled how St Dominic had lived at the this church and how St Thomas Aquinas too had spent some time there. The church was a place of saints, of men and women who through the ages had prayed and loved God and neighbour. It made me think that despite the assertion of many guides that there is not anything too remarkable about the church, it really had a history that belied its appearance - a history of saints that stretched right back to Sixtus and Lawrence and which surrounds and encourages us today.

Exotic Basilicas and Exotic Popes

2008-02-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

I was asked after what I wrote yesterday why I should be interested in Blessed Pius IX. I suppose there are many reasons - his witness, his sufferings, his important work for the First Vatican Council, not to mention his unique sense of humour. Two other important reasons spring to mind. Firstly, he was the Pope who established the North American College here in Rome at what is now known as the Casa Santa Maria - where I am presently living: something for which I am very grateful! Secondly, he restored the hierarchy to England and Wales in 1850: part of this restoration included the establishment of my own Diocese of Northampton. The move created great excitement and there was a strong desire for the "conversion of England" - something we still await but also still long for. There was a fair amount of interaction bewteen Rome and the fledgling Dioceses. One of the fruits of this was apparently that Provost Husenbeth of Northampton managed to secure two peculiar priviledges for the Chapter of Canons in Northampton: firstly, each Canon could wear a ring; secondly, the mozetta worn by the Canons would be the same as the Pope's. These concessions were ratified by Pope Benedict XV. The decisions of the two Popes are referenced in our Diocesan Archive. Another eventual fruit of this interaction came during the papacy of Leo XIII when one of the thousand detailed copies of the ikon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (Help) was given to the church of Our Lady at Great Billing - and that church was recently made the Diocesan shrine by our present (and twelfth) Bishop of Northampton, the Right Reverend Peter Doyle. The depiction of Pius IX is to be found hanging in the refectory here at the Casa: you can spot the mozetta...

Today was mostly a sunny day and certainly a productive one: a full morning in the library, some more time there this afternoon and evening, and Latin with Fr Foster. At the moment St Hilary's commentary on one of the psalms is taking the form of a deep meditation of Christ's prayer during His Passion - very appropriate for Lent.

This morning the station Mass was held at the Basilica of San Marco, dedicated to the Evangelist, and rebuilt a number of times over the centuries. It still houses a beautiful mosaic in the apse, put together during the reign of Pope Gregory IV (827-844): he can be seen in the mosaic with a square blue nimbus behind his head - a sign that he was alive at the time this was done. The other figures are St Mark the Evangelist, St Felicissimus, Christ, Pope St Mark (who built the first basilica here and to whom it was eventually dedicated in addition to the Evangelist), St Agapitus and St Agnes. Below the figures Christ is depicted as the Lamb of God around whom gather the 12 sheep representing the apostles. Pope St Mark built the basilica over an older oratory - but he had little time to enjoy the fruits of his labour. Consecrated on 18th January 336, he died on 7th October the same year, of natural causes, and he now lies in the Basilica of which he is co-patron.

The Basilica is an exotic mix of styles, with fine 18th century baroque, a 9th century apse and crypt, a 15th century coffered ceiling. Mercifully, the view of the apse mosaic is not blocked by a baldachino as is the case with the church of Santa Prassede. San Marco serves as the national church of the Venetians; one of its titulars was the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Albino Luciani: he eventually became Pope John Paul I in 1978 and, like Pope St Mark, had a very short reign of only 33 days, dying too of natural causes.

Sunday at San Lorenzo

2008-02-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

On Sundays the great American College Circus doesn't head out to the station church of the day. I decided this afternoon therefore to head out on my bike and go to the church of the day - San Lorenzo fuori le mura: it was a beautiful afternoon marred only by the sight of me huffing and puffing my way up the hill of the Via Nazionale. Somewhere after Termini I got lost, but eventually I arrived at the Campo Verano, site of a very old cemetery, catacomb and San Lorenzo. It was to here on 19th July 1943 that Pope Pius XII rushed with his secretary Monsignor Montini, the future Paul VI, having heard that bombs had dropped on the area after an allied air raid missed Tiburtina train station. It was a dramatic gesture: he came with money which he had quickly withdrawn from the Vatican Bank and this he distributed to the needy; he also comforted the injured and anointed the dying, eventually returning to the Vatican with his white cassock stained with blood. He was the first on the scene month later when the San Giovanni quarter was bombed: a wonderful statue stands to commemorate his actions outside the chrch of Santa Croce, placed there by the grateful Roman people who considered him to be "Defensor Civitatis". There is a memorial of the 19th July incident in the porch of the church:

Also in the porch area are some beautiful 13th century frescoes, damaged by the bombing but very carefully restored. They detail the lives of Saints Lawrence and Stephen - the first martyr and one of the first deacons of the Church:

The porch contains 3 ancient Roman sarcophagi. One of them is carved with busy scenes of the wine harvest, with small cherubic figures doing all they can to gather in the grapes:

The church is has its roots in the 4th century. St Lawrence was martyred in 258 in the persecution which also saw the beheading of Pope St Sixtus II: tradition says that he was roasted to death on a large griddle, though some think he too may have been beheaded. His body was brought to the Campo Verano and buried here. A church was subsequently built when freedom came to the Church and San Lorenzo was subsequently declared a Patriarchal Basilica by Pope St Leo the Great (440-461) - one of the 3 minor ones in the City. It has had a few serious modifications: the nave dates from around 435, the chancel from around 585 and the apse was built over Constantine's oratory which enclosed the tomb of Lawrence. Subsequent changes by Pope Honorious III (1216-1227) resulted in what is seen today.

Inside there is a marvellous Cossmatesque floor from the 12th century and the ambone is from the same period, with the Paschal candlestick incorporated into its structure.

Below the High Altar and the baldachino dating from 1147 is the monument enshrining the remains of St Stephen and St Lawrence.

Behind this can be found the slab on which Lawrence's body was laid after martyrdom. This is in an area that leads to the tomb of Pope Pius IX - indeed, Blessed Pius IX, the extraordinary Pope of the 19th century whose reign was longer than any other Pope (1846-1878) and who has been notoriously represented in history - though not as terribly as his successor, Pius XII. Pius IX was a man of great holiness who suffered terribly as an anti-clerical state rose to bring about the unification of Italy: he had originally sympathised with the unification, but its eventual course proved to be deleterious in many ways to the Church.

Fr Brown (non-Chesterton though Chestertonian)

2008-02-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

Fr Avram, my nextdoor neighbour, has a blog too and he has been giving his own unique takes on the station church Masses. If you want to know more, you are welcome to click on the link called "Peregrinus" over there ------->

Anagni art

2008-02-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me recently if I had more pictures of the beautiful frescoes in the crypt of Anagni. I have to confess I have. The crypt has a whole series of frescoes based around the Book of the Apocalypse - a very neglected book in modern catechesis: many people shrug their shoulders and shy away from the Book, even though its profound liturgical significance is often forgotten; the crypt also has a vast array of scenes regarding the Ark of the Covenant (without Indiana Jones) and Old Testeament figures, notably Samuel.

Here is a depiction of the burial of St Magnus - in my theory, really that of St Thomas Becket but applied to Magno:

Next we have the prayers of the saints being offered by the angel at the altar of God in the Bookof the Apocalypse. This must surely be linked to the the angel who appeared to Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane in the account of St Luke and comforted Him - comforted Him with the prayers and love and faith of the saints through the ages:

Before the Lamb in the Apocalypse there is the great act of liturgical worship with the 24 elders worshipping Him and asting their crowns before Him. The 4 Evangelical Angels also surround Him in loving worship. He is the Lamb with the perfection of power and wisdome - with 7 horns and 7 eyes:

We also have the assumption of Elijah and his casting of his cloak onto Elisha:

Another wonderful image is of Christ seated in glory, surrounded by angels and with a whole assembly of potent symbols. A sword representing the two-edged sword of the word that cuts so keenly is issuing from His mouth. He has the keys of life and death in one hand and 7 stars in another. He is flanked by the 7 candles representing the fullness of Spirit, the 7 spirits sent out by God. This is truly the Pantocrator.

Finally, since my name is David, would it be too much to mention him of whom was born the great Son of David?

Roma locutus est: causa (case!) finita est

2008-02-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

This morning at 6.00am I started off for the next station church - Santi Marcellino e Pietro, two saints mentioned in the Roman Canon (Marcellinus and Peter). Marcellinus was a well-known priest of Rome and Peter was said to be an exorcist.They were martyrs during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian - 284-305AD. The present church is an 18th century reconstruction on the site of a number of previous reconstructions dating back to the time of the emperor Constantine (306-337AD): the church was built to honour the martyrs at their place of burial in the catachomb of St Tiburtius on the Via Labicana. Here Constantine buried his mother, St Helen or Helena: she had been the faithful supporter of her son's putsch for Imperial power and a key protagonist in his life (he had coins minted in her honour with the title "Nobilissma Femina" and "Augusta" inscribed); it was Constantine who influenced her to become a Christian and she also is credited with finding the relics of the True Cross in Jerusalem (as a result of which she is patron saint of archaeologists). She died around 330AD at the age of about 80 and was buried in a mausoleum at the church; the porphyry sarcophagus which contained her remains is now apparently in the Vatican museums - something to note for a future visit. St Helena is also of course the name of an island in the South Atlantic which is a British Overseas Territory and where a priest from my Diocese - Canon Michael Griffiths - is about to go to minister to the Catholics there.

My job this morning was to assist in being MC at the Mass at the church. I had to carry to the church the case containing all the liturgical books, vessels and other assorted goodies. I left earlier than the main group since I wanted to be there in good time and get a sense of the building. I walked past the Colosseum - you can see from the picture that it was still dark as I lugged the case past the Colosseum: the traffic was not colossal and you can see a very non-colossal buggy-van racing away on the road. Incidently, beside the Colosseum - though not in this picture - the Arch of Constantine can still be seen.

The Mass went well, though the occasional clatter beforehand due to my butter-fingers with plastic bottle and boxes could be heard. At that time in the morning these noises always seem to reverberate even more embarrassingly around the church. Mgr Dewane, spiritual director of the Casa, was main celebrant and preached on the Gospel parable of the Prodigal Son. Afterwards we packed up and moved off home, but not before I took a picture of the interior of the church: you can see the case there posing, smiling and waving. It had a whale of a time.

Chair of St Peter

2008-02-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Last week I was away: I was back in England for a Symposium at Ampleforth Abbey and I saw the Bishop in Northampton. I also spent time with my parents in Luton, both of whom are engaged in a war of attrition with a mouse in the kitchen.

Today was the feast of the Chair of St Peter. The station church in Rome this morning was San Vitale, a church which was dedicated in 416 but has been reconstructed in the 15th century. It is on a lower level to the Via Nazionale on which it is situated - 35 steps down from that level, so quite far down at its original level. As one wag put it, "More metro than retro." The church is dedicated to the martyr Vitalis and his two sons and fellow martyrs, Gervase and Protase: Vitalis was a soldier who remained faithful to Christ in one of the earlier persecutions - either that of Nero c. 64 AD or that of Marcus Aurelius (161-180). He was tortured on a rack and then buried alive - as the not exceedingly clear photograph I took this morning will demonstrate. You can see him there being buried under stones.

The church also has a claim to fame since it was the titular church of St John Fisher who never received his red hat but who wore the true red of a Cardinal in his martyrdom during the reign of King Henry VIII. Fr Tim Laboe from the Archdiocese of Detroit (the church has the Cardinal there as its present titular) preached a very moving sermon about the obedience in faith of Fisher, an obedience expressed in relation to the Successor of St Peter, to his authority received as it is from Christ and so from the Father.

Later, after a few hours work in the library, I went with another priest to the Basilica of St Peter. There the tradition is to illuminate the famous Altar of the Chair with candles on this feast day. The Altar expresses the same Mystery mentioned in this morning's homily: the Church is united in the authority of Peter - the four statues on either side represent East and West, with the two Western Fathers, Augustine and Ambrose, at the front, and the Eastern ones, Athanasius and John Chrysostom, at the back; yet they are not holding the Chair up - this is supported by the clouds that pour forth from the glory of God, from the explosion of light of the Spirit, who inspires and guides the Church into all truth. The point is (to labour the point) that Peter's authority comes from neither flesh nor blood but from the Father in heaven (cf. Matthew 16:17-19). Inside Bernini's magnificent Chair is a very ancient chair carved with a representation of the Labours of Hercules: it was once thought to have belonged to St Peter himself, though it is now thought to be of later though Pagan origin and was once used for the Liturgy.

Moving further on in the Basilica, the old statue of St Peter seated on a throne - the one whose foot pilgrims touch, rub or kiss, with the result that it is now very worn - appeared somewhat differently. It was bedecked in cope and triple tiara and a ring on a finger, another tradition that has continued even after the Papal coronation with the tiara has been discontinued. The tiara itself is not one of those used for the coronations: it is very large and made to fit the head of the statue, not a human head.

Stations continue

2008-02-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

This morning at 6.25 we marched off in the cool Roman air to San Giorgio in Velabro. To get there you have to walk across the Piazza Venezia, around the bottom of the Capitoline Hill, and on towards the church of Santa Maria in Cosmadin. Then just opposite the beautiful temple of Hercules Victor, known to many as the temple of the Vestal Virgins (only it isn't), a sharp left turn is taken. Then a climb past the 4th century Arch of Janus leads you to the entrance of San Giorgio. It is worth noting that the temple of Hercules Victor dates from just before 100BC - extraordinary.

The church of San Giorgio has ancient origins, though it wasn't always dedicated to St George. For a period (from about 682) it was dedicated to St Sebastian, the soldier who was martyred in the terrible persecution of Diocletian (c.300) and whose body was thrown into the great drain of the forum, the Cloaca Maxima, which flows under this area of Rome into the Tiber: the Cloaca was designed to drain the marshes between the hills of Rome and still partially in use under the square in front of the church: its dates are c. 600BC for its first canalisation and it was enclosed and built over around c.200BC.

The church was dedicated to St George around the reign of Pope Zachary (741-752) when the Pope donated the head of St George to the church, making him co-patron with St Sebastian. The relic of his skull can be seen under the altar of the church. The altar and baldachino in the church date from the 12th century as does the fresco in the apse. In the fresco you can spot St George on his horse!

The church had as its Cardinal Protector the great Cardinal Newman (1801-1890). There is a plaque inside detailing this - indeed there are plaques to many of the Cardinal protectors. This plaque mentions his claims for fame but then says, "sed ante omnia christianus" - "but before all things he was a Christian":

Newman was made a Cardinal in 1879 and many hope that his beatification and canonisation cannot be far off.

The Mass was very prayerful and it was impressive to see the numbers of clergy, religious and people who attended : a real witness of devotion and dedication.

Lent begins

2008-02-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Wednesday 6th February, saw the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday, the day after my 40th birthday, which means that the traditional octave associated with my birthday was solemnly abolished.

A great tradition in Rome is that of the station churches: originally the tradition had its origin in the annual visitation of the Pope to churches in his diocese on set days of the year. The tradition died out after the 14th century but was revived in the 19th century, and since the end of the 1960s the American College has visited each of the church throughout Lent (apart from Sundays): the event is fairly popular and the Americans are joined by an assortment of clergy, religious and lay people.

Yesterday Mass was at 6.45am at the church of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill. We left the Casa around 6.05am and prayed the rosary together on the way. Santa Sabina was constructed between 422 and 432 and made by Pope Gregory the Great into the station church for Ash Wednesday; it had a lot of reconstruction work done to it in the 9th century, but after a 20th century restoration, which did away with accretions, appears what seems to be more like its old self. The pictures aren't so good this time:

It was a beautiful morning and from the Aventine a beautiful view of St Peter's in the distance:

More of the visiting clergy

2008-01-31T16:45:00.000-08:00

For the memoria of St John Bosco not only did I celebrate Mass for the Sisters here at the Casa at 7.00 am in Italian, with some work on Hilary before and after (an early start was needed), but I also accompanied Fr Jonathan to St Paul's Outside the Walls ( I am sure I have seen this rendered St Paul's Without the Walls) for Mass which was celebrated in the chapel of St Benedict.

St Paul's is often talked down by most commentators on Rome. I suppose the new materials used to re-build the Basilica after the unfortunate events of the night of 15th-16th July 1823, as Pope Pius VII lay dying, when a terrible fire took hold from roof repairs and most of the nave was destroyed in the ensuing conflagration, appear to many to give somewhat too clear an air of the Rebuilt. Nevertheless, I find it a stunning building: its style gives some sense of what St Peter's would have looked like in outline (never forgetting that the old St Peter's also had many frescoes on columns and a multitude of altars, as today) and its sheer size is in no way hidden by clever tricks of perspective as in today's St Peter's.

The recent excavations and the discovery of the Constantinian tomb for Paul's relics make ever clearer the roots of traditions in history: just as St Peter's marks the true place of its patron's burial, so too with St Paul's. The excavations indicate how the first Constantinian church actually faced in the opposite direction to the present Basilica's arrangement - St Paul's (with its marvellous mosaics - well worth seeing) being the fruit of the construction begun in 384 by the emperors Valentinian II and Theodosius the Great, during the reign of Pope Damasus. Below is a picture in the Confessio of the excavated tomb which lies behind the grill:

On the walls of the Basilica are portraits of all the Popes up to and including our present Holy Father, Benedict XVI. In the cloister shop area, I found four other portraits which were rescued from the ruined nave in 1823. Who is this not so cheerful chap pictured here?

Visiting clergy

2008-01-31T15:38:00.000-08:00

The last few days have seen a priest visiting from my Diocese - Northampton: Fr Jonathan Hill. In between my studies, I have arranged several churches where he and I could celebrate the Mass. The first was at the church of St Gregory the Great on the Coelian Hill yesterday - one of the famous seven hills (the other six are the Capitoline, the Palatine, the Aventine, the Quirinal, the Viminal and the Esquiline). We agreed to meet at 5.00pm at the monstrous/magnificent Victor Emmanuel monument overlooking the Piazza Venezia - called the Wedding Cake or Typewriter, depending on the mood: other names spring to mind. The late time gave me the chance to hurtle on with Hilary work (if I get the chance I may mention something about this again). It was a beautiful evening and in Rome there is a certain quality of light, particularly in the evening when the colours are rich and make everything glow rose-red. Below is a photograph of the scene:

In the centre of the picture you will see Trajan's Column, which stands at the mouth of the Forum. Trajan was one of those successful Roman emperors, ruling from 98 to 117AD, who was popular at home and had the fortune of actually dying from natural causes. His column marks the entrance to that area of the Forum which he constructed and which was completed by his successor Hadrian: Trajan's Forum was so magnificent that it reduced the emperor Constantius to stupified silence when he visited in 357 (Constantius was a nasty little heretical emperor who caused a lot of trouble to the universal Church, to St Athansius and to our hero St Hilary whom he exiled to the east). Trajan's care for poor and abandoned children earned from Pope St Gregory the Great the accolade that he deserved to be granted entry into heaven as an honorary Christian.

So, on to St Gregory the Great's church (San Gregorio Magno) on the Coelian Hill. We were able to celebrate Mass at the altar where St Gregory himself is said to have celebrated the Sacred Mysteries. He lived at the monastery there until 590AD when he was elected Pope and proceeded to consolidate the Church in an empire that was rapidly falling apart. He himself had founded the monastery on what was the site of his father's house. He became Pope most unwillingly but soon it was clear that here was one of the three 'Great' Popes of history (four now with John Paul II?) - the other two being Pope Leo and Pope Nicholas. The altar now has a frontal sculptured in the 14th century:

There is also a chair dating from the 1st century AD that was used by St Gregory - and is still used today (by Fr Hill) as is evidenced below:

Finally, it was at this site that St Augustine in 596, prior of the monastery, received the blessing of Pope St Gregory to begin the mission to England with about 40 others, some of whom were young English monks rescued from slavery by Gregory ("Non Angli sed angeli!"). From here they began and the mission is not yet finished.

Bah Bah See

2008-01-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

This is the picture never to be seen on the BBC website; nor the report about 200,000 people supporting the Pope on Sunday 20th January after the debacle at La Sapienza University; nor the account of many in Italy, non-Catholics and Catholics, secularists and politicians, all appalled at the intolerant and dictatorial event at La Sapienza; nor the vast majority of students and academics at La Sapienza who supported His Holiness's right to visit and speak, rather than the few who did not but appeared to be the sole group of people the BBC actually interviewed; nor the truth about what the Pope really said about Galileo; nor any serious attempt to examine what really happened between Galileo and the Holy Office. The BBC turns out to be more Shelob than dear old Auntie in her editorial policy....

Exams, sleep and the Arians

2008-01-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

It's exam time in Rome. Most of the University students here are having to grind their minds in the effort to be prepared for the ordeal. As a result, many places experience great tension among the student body.

I am glad to say that none of this seems to be too apparent here at the Casa. Everyone, though working hard, seems fine. It has to be said that the habitus of "working hard" is well instilled into everyone here throughout the year and not just at exam time - and so the house is always buzzing with work. Furthermore, if there is any grinding noise going on from the Licence students, this is probably drowned out by the roar of the drilling operations undertaken by the Doctorate students. These poor students experience an on-going pressure and at times anxiety as they seek to complete on time, work hard at a constant pace, read, think, take notes, develop their arguments and divine their conclusions. Time out, though gratefully undertaken, is always laced with a trace of guilt.

Last night I experienced what most say they end up facing - a fairly sleepless night. I don't know why it happened. In the end I just read Simonetti's comprehensive history of the Arian crisis - useful background reading for my studies on Hilary. The section I read covered much of Hilary's history: his own arguments in favour of the Divinty of Christ as true Son of God in his De Trinitate which became the key text in the West in the debate with Arianism and semi-Arianism; his bravery, despite his gentle disposition, in opposing the Arians, backed up as they were by Imperial threat; his exile in the East and his fruitful study of Eastern theology, particularly Origen; his success in joining the Council of Seleucia in 359 and helping to transform it into an anti-Arian event; his eventual repatriation to the West because the pro-Arian authorities realised how much trouble he had caused - he was considered to be "discordiae seminarium et perturbator Orientis"; his return via Rome to Gaul where he united the Bishops at Paris, persuded them to denounce Arianism, affirm the Council of Nicea, condemn the main perpetrators of the heresy and to extend a level of understanding to those who had signed previous creeds under Imperial threat and who now wished to disown what they had signed and to the so-called semi-Arians many of whom were in reality homoousions (i.e., Catholics: the Son is of the same substance as the Father - in Latin "consubstantialis Patri") but were cautious about terms becuase they did not want to fall into the heresy of Sabellianism. Some of the homoiousions (i.e. semi-Arians: homoiousios = the Son is of a similar substance to the Father) of the East sent a letter to the Council of Paris to let the Gaul Bishops know why they had signed the pro-Arian creeds - again because of Imperial pressure. The reply from Paris was probably written by Hilary (it bears the full stamp of his style and thought): it is full of carefully crafted distinctions which bring out the Catholic understanding of homoousios and also show why homoiousios can be accepted but only because it logically points to homoousios: the true similarity of substance implies being of the same substance if it is to be wholly and utterly similar: similarity "veri Dei sit ad verum Deum."

Simonetti also laid bare how much the Arians and their supporters came to depend on Imperial power for their cause to be espoused and imposed: their violence, cunning and downright dishonesty is treated dispassionately by an author who at times appears critical of Athanasias.

This is a medieval depiction of St Hilary combatting the heresies. Of course, he never used a sword. His weapons were grace, the Catholic Faith, fidelity, something to write with and his mind. One thing is clear: he knew that heresies damage people's faith and their spiritual lives because they distort the living image of God which the Church conveys to us in her preaching and they replace that image with one made according to our subjective reason. That's why they must be combatted - in every time, in every place, including today.

I spent the rest of the day in the library working with his Treatise on the Psalms. It was slow work today after last night. I have a priest on either side of me on my desk in the library - Fr Tad Oxley on my right and Fr Derek Borak on my left. I have dubbed the whole table "Death Row". The clock is ticking and we all know why.

St Agnes

2008-01-22T07:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the feast of St Agnes, a virgin martyr of (probably) the first years of the 4th century. After my Latin class yesterday, I had the opportunity to pop into the church of St Agnes (Sant’Agnese in Agone) on the Piazza Navona. The Piazza is the site of the Circus of Domition (c.98 AD) and was the scene of staged battles and gladatorial contests, resulting in blood and death - and it also marked the scene of the martyrdom of many Christians. I often think that those who bemoan the existence and influence of Christianity in Antiquity would realise the great benefits that the Church brought: it managed to ensure that such barbaric contests were banished from the Empire.

It is here in the Circus of Domitian that St Agnes is thought to have been martyred and hence the church dedicated to her honour. Inside the church in a chapel on the left hand side is the relic of her skull, enshrined in a beautiful reliquary. Yesterday many people gathered there to pray, with candles alit and flowers decorating the chapel. Some were reading the Bible, others reciting the Divine Office or the Rosary, or just simply kneeling before the shrine.

At the weekend I had the opportunity to go to Palazzola, the villa of the English College that sits on the slopes of Lake Albano, south of Rome. It is a beautiful place and I had the chance to pray and read my books concerning 4th century Church crises. The walk around the lake gives breathtaking views too. Here is a view from the room I was given:

Happy New Year

2008-01-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

Last year ended well: the studies are going fine and Fr Ladaria is pleased with the progress - but there is much more to do!

On Saturday 15th December a group of us when to the town of Anagni, City of Popes. Here four great Popes were born - Alexander III (the friend and staunch supporter of St Thomas of Canterbury), Innocent III, Gregory IX and Boniface VIII. It's one of my favourite places to visit. It's beautifully situated on a hilltop south of Rome, about an hour by train. From the train station (which is in the valley) a bus is taken that drops passengers near one of the gates of the city, that nearest the Cathedral. Fr Avram Brown, Fr Martin Edwards, Fr Larry Kozak, Fr Pat Beidelman were the victims on my tour, but proved to be willing ones.

It was a beautifully sunny day. After an initial coffee we popped in to the old studio, now place of exhibition, of the artist and sculptor Tommaso Gismondi. His work is extensive: he was a deeply religious man. As a seminarian I met him a few times at his studio and it was good this time to meet his daughter who is also a sculptor. She told us that her father only died a few years ago in his late nineties. If you want to find some examples of his work go to http://www.menteantica.it/gismondi.htm

After this we went to the Cathedral, dating from 12th to 13th centuries, and on whose side can be found the imposing effigy of Pope Boniface VIII:

The Cathedral had a marvellous bell tower towering in its front piazza, also restored recently

and on the front on the Cathedral are some very old carvings, two of which are shown below as they are my favourites and remind me of my companions that day:

The Cathedral itself not only has a fine altar with baldachino, cathedra and paschal candlestick all dating to the 12th century

it also has a fine crypt in which can be found some beautifully preserved frescoes from the period, detailing scenes from the Apocalypse, the Old Testament, and the lives of saints. An altar marks the site of the tomb of the martyr and bishop of Anagni St Magno. On the wall behind his altar there is cycle of paintings showing the martyrdom of St Magno in his Cathedral - or is it? If it is, the painters, I think, used the story of St Thomas Beckett's martyrdom as the matrix for telling St Magno's story. In the picture, the saint is killed by having the top of his skull sliced off by a sword - exactly what happened to St Thomas.

The fact that in the Cathedral museum is housed a very old reliquary of St Thomas

and his own mitre

backs up my theory, especially given the presence of Alexander III in the city: there was a strong devotion to Beckett at this time and his death made a lasting impression on the medieval imagination. It's a wonderful place to visit and we were blessed to have the opportunity to see it.

The Cathedral saw the canonisations of a number of important saints: Clare of Assisi, Bernard of Clairvaux and Edward the Confessor.

Later in the day, after a hefty but very cheap lunch, we went to the Papal Palace in Anagni, a short walk from the Cathedral. Here the famous Slap (Schiaffo) of Anagni took place when the soldiers of Philip the Fair of France (a ghastly little man) assaulted Pope Boniface VIII in 1303, a slap which had consequences for the Church for over a hundred years with the ensuing sojourn at Avignon. The people of Anagni drove the French out of time eventually and the tortured Pope was carried back to Rome only to die about a month later due to what had been inflicted upon him.

The last picture shows Fr Avram. He was so hungry he began eating the floor:

Vespers for Advent

2007-12-05T03:37:00.000-08:00

On Saturday evening a group of us attended Vespers at St Peter's presided over by the Pope. It was a moving event, in which the Pope called us to the great theme of Advent, hope for the Lord's coming, a hope he has just medittated upon in his Encyclical Spe Salvi. I found it moving that the Pope wished to mark the beginning of this great season in person, at St Peter's, near the tomb of him who wrote, "Simply reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have." (1Peter 3:15)

I was with Fr Martin Edwards of Southwark Archdiocese who took some pictures - one of which I hope will find its way on here as a record of the event.

Many seem to focus on what the Pope was wearing that day and the style of throne on which he sat. It was all very impressive. Yet I was more struck by the Pope's homily where he referred us to the contrast between Christian hope an dhte nihilism of ancient and modern paganism. "Contempoorary nihilism...corrodes hope within man's heart, forcing him to think that within him and around him there reigns nothing: nothing before birth, nothing after death. In reality, if he lacks God, hope becomes less...The beyond...is not a place where we will end after death, it is instead the reality of God, the fullness of life for which every human being is, so to speak, striving. To this desire of man God has replied in Christ with the gift of hope."

He went on to say: "This is then the surprising discovery: my, our hope is preceded by the desire that God cultivates towards us! Yes, God loves us and exactly because of this He awaits us to turn to Him, to open our heart to His love, to place our hand into His and to remember that we are His children. This desire on God's part always precedes our hope, just as His love reaches us always first of all (cf 1Jn 4:10). In this sense Christian hope is "theologal": God is its source, its support and its end. What a great consolation there is in this mystery! My Creator has placed in my spirit a reflection of His desire of life for all. Every man is called to hope, a hope corresponding to the desire God has for him."

Latin Experienced: Dies Irae

2007-11-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

As mentioned before, I am enjoying Latin Experience classes with Fr Reggie Foster. His methodical and enthusiastic way of teaching the language is infectious and I really love the classes. He is also very funny.

Today we were doing various aspects of verb forms. Beforehand we went through our own compositions in Latin. One lady had used the feminine form for DIES which means day; she did this because often the feminine form is used to emphasise a very special day. Fr Reggie grudgingly accepted this though he prefers to use the masculine form, though he admits the feminine form is there in Latin. He referred us to the great hymn for the Day of Judgment, the Dies irae: "Dies irae, dies illa!" Illa indicates that dies is feminine here. Fr Reggie shrugged his shoulders: "Well, I suppose, that's a very special day! You cant get more special than the end of time and Day of Judgment!"

Mass of the Rings

2007-11-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Sunday 25th November, I joined a group of priests from the Casa to help in the didtribution of Holy Communion at the Pope's Mass yesterday. It was the Solemnity of Christ the King - Regis Universorum - and also the Mass at which the Pope gave specially made rings to the newly created Cardinals. It was a wonderful event, the Basilica packed full with people, and crowds spilling out into the Square. The Pope looked very well and he preached upon the reign of Christ from the Cross and how the new rings that he would give out, newly crafted with an image of the crucified Saviour, were a reminder that the Cardinal must be a man willing to give his life for Christ and for the Church which he must love as the Lord has loved it. Christ reigns from the throne of His cross.

Later in the Mass we processed, each with a ciborium of hosts, and stood around that magnificent altar over the tomb of St Peter, buried in a pauper's grave below. We had a close view of the Pope offering the Mass. It was very moving to be so close to the Successor of St Peter in that intimate moment of the confecting of Christ's sacrifice, the making present of the utterly poured out Saviour, Jesus, the Master whom Peter imitated as he went to his own sacrifice in the nearby circus of Nero. Here again Christ reigns in His sacrifice, a reign of that perfection of love, which knows little of the power of the world but know all about the eternity of God from and for whom are all things, through Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

And then we moved to give out Holy Communion. Despite a certain air of chaos, I was deeply impressed by the evident devotion in the eyes and on the faces of so many as they reached forward to receive the Lord as their Food of Life. The Lord truly is in His people. Deo gratias.

Below are two priests from the Casa I went with, dressed in cassock, just outside the Blessed Sacrament chapel in St Peter's where we had to gather beforehand: Fr Pat Beidelman and Fr Larry Kozak:

Back away

2007-11-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

We had a pleasant couple of days in sunny Positano. We are very blessed to have the opportunity to have such trips. On the way back we agreed to see if we could pop in to Monte Cassino, that great Mother House of Benedictines. It's an impressive sight, set high above a range of hills that sweep southwards from Rome.

The Monastery was destroyed by allied bombers during the Second World War. The allies claimed that the Monastery itself was used by the Germans as a store for weapons and that the Germans were stationed in rather than around the monastery. The monks strenuously deny this. I remember going there as a young 19 year old seminarian with friends and seeing the old Abbot, he who had been present during the War, still alive, though very, very old. The stay we had at that time was in mid-February (1987!) and it was extremely cold.

This time the weather was sunny and relatively warm. There were beautiful views all around.

I had remembered the inside of the church there. The tour guides decry it as nothing like the old Monastery. The Monastery was rebuilt after the war, with the help of Allied funds, and rebuilt exactly as it had been. It is evidently, nevertheless, a replica. Yet the tour guides are mistaken as to the church. It is a wondrous place, with beautiful frescoes by the "neo-Renaissance" school painter Pietro Annigoni, a deeply religious man, who took five years to complete the dome at the Monastery. He had returned to painting religious pictures after a career of painting famous people. He said: "I get a little bored with human vanity. I honestly prefer these old saints of mine." In 1979 he completed the The Glory of St. Benedict or The Benedictine Paradise, featuring St Benedict surrounded by monks, bishops, nuns who lived in holiness by following his Rule: in the foreground Pope Paul VI can be seen, who was still alive while the painting was being done, though dead by its completion:

The views from the Monastery are breathtaking. I remember the sunsets when I stayed there previously and this time as well we were blessed to see another such sunset, with all its unique colour and display.

The statue of St Benedict being supported by his brother monks stands in one of the courtyards. Its energy, tautness and sheer desire for God - they say more than I can say:

Being away

2007-11-25T17:01:00.000-08:00

I meant to write a bit more about the time I had away. As ever, study and time are not necessarily great friends and so there is not much opportunity to fill this blog with news.

Suffice it to say, I went with the three friends from Palazzola to Sorrento, south of Naples and its volcano of Vesuvius, a view of which you can see below, a picture I took at Sorrento.

It was good to get away and to see this volcano from a distance, which previously I had seen from the city of Naples, which lies at its base. It's a beautiful part of the world and we were very blessed to have good weather.

From there we drove on to Positano, a beautiful, classy drive, with me at the wheel, though this was not what made it classy. It's a town built on the slope towards the sea, with street and houses perched on strata of rock and overlooking a stunning view. We stayed for two nights at a cheap hotel and there we spent time reading, praying and relaxing, and even entering further depths of Latin. The view of the hotel can be seen as below:

On one evening we went to listen to a concert and after that we made our way along darkened streets to the cemetery outside the town to pray for the dead, on the memorial of the Holy Souls. Italians light up their cemeteries and value the places of the dead. Below is a view at night of the place visited:

Away

2007-11-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

I got away last week for a few days with 3 priests from the Casa. I had not had much time off or away since I came here on 8th September. Doctorate work here can be a strange experience: it's easy to become so focused on the study as to lose perspective on other things, things which are just as important in the long run. One of these priests invited me away so we headed off.

Below is a picture of the library: my place in it where I work is where the lamp is placed on the desk at the far end:

Below is a picture where we went to first of all - the beautiful English College Villa called Palazzola, on lake Albano. The picture shows Castel Gandolfo, the town with the Pope's summer residence:

On yer bike

2007-10-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

A new experience in the City is cycling. I have been lent, I hope on a fairly permanent basis, a bike from a friend here which I use to pedal from place to place. There are one or two peculiarities that pertain to Rome:
1) There is a lot of traffic, many say. Well the amount of traffic is not so bad really but there is a great deal of it at certain times. Therefore the nervous cyclist must plan as to when are the better times to travel? A. Has he/she recently given up smoking? If so, driving in Roman traffic may return one to the habit, since the inhaling of fumes seems to be part of the course. B. On the other hand, if he/she is a smoker, cycling in the city may give a different experience of inhaling smoke, and so an addiction may quickly develop to driving through the City. C.Finally, a cyclist who is a smoker may discover that the very inhalation of a new form of smoke may encourage him to give up the habit - but you may end up with A..
2) There is a lot of crazy traffic, many say. There is more crazy traffic than a lot of traffic. Driving in Rome involves inhabiting spaces as a means of pushing forward: therefore a degree of daring and willingness to 'slip through' is rapidly developed by drivers, motorino riders and, amazingly, cyclists - and more amazingly, bus drivers. Here one must drive with WIT - Wrought Intelligent Thought - wrought, because only the experience of such formula 0 driving would cause such thinking; thought, because one must think a journey through and be aware of time factors in the time of journey commencement; and intelligent, because one must calculate, be aware, estimate, predict and risk. Ah risk. Well, that's where prayer to the Guardian Angels (we priest are meant to have two - and do we need them!) come to our aid and are the object of much intense invocation.
3) There are a lot of red lights in the City - but for most cyclists they can mean green when red...
and that goes for motorino riders too....and drivers...indeed, the population.
4) There is a lot to see in the City. When you cycle, look around. See the sights. See ancient Rome. See the colour and the beauty. But remember WIT.
5) Lock your bike. Many bikes get stolen. So lock it. I have inherited a colossal lock, a mighty chain to wind around the bike, with a clanking lock that makes me feel more turnkey than cyclist. It does the job. It scares them away.

Memorial of the great St Ignatius of Antioch

2007-10-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

This evening I went to the Venerable English College on the Via Monserrato for Mass and supper. I was invited by the new member of staff who was my year of ordination, Fr Tony Milner. During the day I had continue to plod on with my reading of St Hilary's commentary on the psalms, all of which is inspiring and very fruitful. I do my work in the library of the Casa: most of the morning, then afternoon, and tonight I felt I could continue for an hour or so after I returned from the English College.

The English College was, of course, where I studied for the priesthood, from 1986 until 1993. it has changed in many ways - and yet remained the same: as is true for all of Rome! I was very impressed by the quality of the homily at this evening's Mass, celebrated on the memorial of St Ignatius of Antioch, martyred here in Rome at the Colosseum in 107 AD: the Deacon summed up beautifully the essential doctrine of Ignatius - his presentation of the unity of the mystery of the Church, the mystery of Christ and the mystery of the Eucharist all as one mystery uniting man and God. Ignatius was a remarkable man, aflame with desire for God, a flame inspired by the Spirit living within him, which burned away all worldliness and desire for earthly gain. As he himself says in today's Office of readings from his letter to the Romans:

Earthly longings have been crucified; in me there is left no spark of desire for mundane things, but only a murmur of living water that whispers within me, 'Come to the Father.'

The Latin is beautiful and redolent for those acquainted with the Bridgettines:

Amor meus crucifixus est, nec est in me ignis materiae amans; sed vivens et loquens aqua in me est, mihi interius dicens: 'Veni ad Patrem.'

The relics of St Ignatius are now reserved under the main altar of that beautiful church not far from the Colosseum - St Clement's: a marvellous three-fold descent into the Rome of Clement, involving an encounter with the cult of Mithras, with Clement himself and also Ss Cyril and Methodius from a later time, and others besides.

Latin today

2007-10-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the introductory class of legendary Latin professor, Fr Reggie Foster. His passion for Latin and his equal passion for detractors of Latin and for non-enthusiasts make for a good afternoon. His unique system for teaching Latin is through his graded experiences. I have already done one experience, the first: I hope to move on now to third and fourth experience. It will be a lot of work but it will aid me in reading Hilary: the question is time but I think that the time devoted to this will pay off in the long run with Hilary. Reggie is a remarkable man - probably speaking Latin better than he does English - and that's meant as a compliment!

Here's what an article by Tom Heinen on http://www.jsonline.com/ says:

He is the pope's senior Latinist, a gifted and demanding linguist who did the lion's share of the translation when Pope Benedict XVI followed tradition and delivered the first formal speech as pontiff in Latin to the cardinals on the morning after being elected.
Known as Father Reggie to some friends and students, he also is an internationally renowned Latin teacher and a fluent speaker of complex, Ciceronian Latin, not to mention a world-class curmudgeon and quirky critic of the temporal and spiritual universes around him. His sometimes intemperate outbursts of personal opinions apparently are offset by an expertise that has enabled him to survive and to serve four popes over 36 years.
This is how Foster reacted when Karol Wojtyla began signing papal documents in Latin as "Joannes Paulus II" instead of "Ioannes Paulus II" after being elected pope 26 years ago. He quickly pointed out to a papal adviser that there is no letter "J" in Latin.
"I said, 'By the way, friend, there's no J,' " Foster recalled. "And the answer kind of came back that the pope said, 'Well, now there is.' Well, fine, fine. He's the boss. And if you look at his tomb, the J is gone. One of my brethren said, 'Well he enjoyed his J for 26 years, and now it's gone.' His tombstone has 'I.' "

Some lines from his classes:

"One letter in Latin will kill you."

"After you've learned everything about Latin, you still have to think."

"Latin will kill you... if you're not smart."

"Every Latin sentence has a trap."

Pope Benedict and Hilary (not Clinton)

2007-10-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict's words on St Hilary:

On Hilary of Poitiers
"God Only Knows How to Be Love"VATICAN CITY, OCT. 10, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I would like to speak about a great Father of the Western Church, St. Hilary of Poitiers, one of the great bishops of the 4th century. Confronted with the Arians, who considered the Son of God a creature, albeit an excellent one, Hilary dedicated his life to the defense of faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ, Son of God, and God as the Father, who generated him from all eternity.
We do not have definitive data about most of Hilary's life. Ancient sources say that he was born in Poitiers, probably around the year 310. From a well-to-do family, he received a good literary education, which is clearly evident in his writings. It does not seem that he was raised in a Christian environment. He himself tells us about a journey of searching for the truth, which little by little led him to the recognition of God the creator and of the incarnate God, who died to give us eternal life. He was baptized around 345, and elected bishop of Poitiers around 353-354.
In the years that followed, Hilary wrote his first work, the "Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew." It is the oldest surviving commentary in Latin that we have on this Gospel. In 356, Hilary, as bishop, attended the Synod of Beziers in southern France, which he called the "Synod of the False Apostles," given that the assembly was dominated by bishops who were followers of Arianism, and thus negated the divinity of Jesus Christ. These "false apostles" asked Emperor Constantine to condemn to exile the bishop of Poitiers. So Hilary was forced to leave Gaul during the summer of 356.
Exiled to Phrygia, in present-day Turkey, Hilary found himself in contact with a religious environment totally dominated by Arianism. There, too, his pastoral solicitude led him to work tirelessly for the re-establishment of the Church’s unity, based on the correct faith, as formulated by the Council of Nicea. To this end, he began writing his most important and most famous dogmatic work: "De Trinitate" (On the Trinity).
In it, Hilary talks about his own personal journey toward knowing God, and he is intent on showing that Scriptures clearly attest to the Son's divinity and his equality with the Father, not only in the New Testament, but also in many pages of the Old Testament, in which the mystery of Christ is already presented. Faced with the Arians, he insists on the truth of the names of the Father and the Son and develops his entire Trinitarian theology departing from the formula of baptism given to us by the Lord himself: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."
The Father and the Son are of the same nature. And if some passages of the New Testament could lead one to think that the Son is inferior to the Father, Hilary offers precise rules to avoid misleading interpretations: Some passages in Scripture speak about Jesus as God, others emphasize his humanity. Some refer to him in his pre-existence with the Father; others take into consideration his self lowering ("kenosis"), his lowering himself unto death; and lastly, others contemplate him in the glory of the resurrection.
During the years of his exile, Hilary also wrote the "Book of the Synod," in which, for his brother bishops of Gaul, he reproduces and comments on the confessions of faith and other documents of the synods which met in the East around the middle of the 4th century. Always firm in his opposition to radical Arians, St. Hilary showed a conciliatory spirit with those who accepted that the Son was similar to the Father in essence, naturally trying to lead them toward the fullness of faith, which says that there is not only a similarity, but a true equality of the Father and the Son in their divinity.
This also seems characteristic: His conciliatory spirit tries to understand those who still have not yet arrived to the fullness of the truth and helps them, with great theological intelligence, to reach the fullness of faith in the true divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 360 or 361, Hilary was finally able to return from exile to his homeland and immediately resumed the pastoral work in his Church, but the influence of his teaching extended, in fact, well beyond its borders. A synod celebrated in Paris in 360 or 361 took up again the language used by the Council of Nicea. Some ancient authors think that this anti-Arian development of the bishops of Gaul was due, in large part, to the strength and meekness of the bishop of Poitiers.
This was precisely his gift: uniting strength of faith and meekness in interpersonal relationships. During the last years of his life, he wrote "Treatises on the Psalms," a commentary on 58 psalms, interpreted according to the principle highlighted in the introduction to the work: "There is no doubt that all the things said in the Psalms must be understood according to the Gospel proclamation, so that, independently of the voice with which the prophetic spirit has spoken, everything refers to the knowledge of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, incarnation, passion and kingdom, and the glory and power of our resurrection” ("Instructio Psalmorum," 5).
In all of the Psalms, he sees this transparency of Christ's mystery and of his body, which is the Church. On various occasions, Hilary met with St. Martin: The future bishop of Tours founded a monastery near Poitiers, which still exists today. Hilary died in 367. His feast day is celebrated on Jan. 13. In 1851, Blessed Pius IX proclaimed him a doctor of the Church.
To summarize the essential aspects of his doctrine, I would like to say that the starting point for Hilary's theological reflection is the baptismal faith. In "De Trinitate," he writes: Jesus "commanded to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 28:19), that is to say, confessing the Author, the Only Begotten One and the Gift. One alone is the author of all things, because there is only one God the Father, from whom all things proceed. And one alone is our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made (1 Corinthians 8:6), and one alone is the Spirit (Ephesians 4:4), gift in everything. … Nothing can be found lacking in a plenitude that is so grand, in which converges in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, the immensity of the Eternal, the revelation in the Image, the joy in the Gift" ("De Trinitate" 2:1).
God the Father, being all love, is able to communicate the fullness of his divinity to the Son. I find this phrase of St. Hilary to be particularly beautiful: "God only knows how to be love, only knows how to be Father. And he who loves is not envious, and whoever is Father, is so totally. This name does not allow for compromise, as if to say that God is father only in certain aspects and not in others” (ibid. 9:61).
For this reason, the Son is fully God without lacking anything or having any lessening: "He who comes from the perfect is perfect, because he who has everything, has given him everything" (ibid. 2:8). Only in Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, does humanity find salvation. Taking on human nature, he united every man to himself, "he became our flesh" ("Tractatus in Psalmos" 54:9); "he took on the nature of all flesh, thus becoming the true vine, the root of all branches" (ibid. 51:16).
Precisely because of this motive, the path to Christ is open to all -- because he drew everyone into his humanity -- even though personal conversion is always required: "Through the relationship with his flesh, access to Christ is open to everyone, provided that they leave aside the old man (cf. Ephesians 4:22) and nail him to his cross (cf. Colossians 2:14); provided they abandon their former works and are converted, in order to be buried with him in baptism, in view of life (cf. Colossians 1:12; Romans 6:4)" (ibid. 91:9).
Faithfulness to God is a gift of his grace. Therefore St. Hilary asks, at the end of his treatise on the Trinity, to be able to remain faithful to the faith of baptism. One of the characteristics of this book is this: Reflection is transformed into prayer and prayer leads to reflection. The entire book is a dialogue with God.
I would like to end today's catechesis with one of these prayers, that also becomes our prayer: "Grant, O Lord," Hilary prays in a moment of inspiration, "that I may remain faithful to that which I professed in the symbol of my regeneration, when I was baptized in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That I may adore you, our Father, and together with you, your Son; that I may be worthy of your Holy Spirit, who proceeds from you through your only Son. … Amen” ("De Trinitate" 12:57).

"Happy Sunday!"

2007-10-14T02:09:00.000-07:00

So I was wished by one of the resident priests here at the Casa. We have just celebrated Mass together: all is arranged calmly, efficiently and prayerfully. There are liturgists, yes, but they form that rare breed who like to read and use the rubrics of the Missal. I have been asked to be one of the assistant Masters of Ceremonies, given my experience in the role as Bishop's Chaplain, which I am very happy to do.

The House itself used to be a Dominican convent. The chapel is beautiful, clean and a place of real devotion. Later today we will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament there with Vespers and Benediction. All in all, it's a good place in which to experience and live Priesthood.

Trip to the Forum

2007-10-13T05:25:00.001-07:00

Lastly, I took some time off my reading this morning to visit some of the Forum with Northampton Seminarian, Michael Patey. It is a sunny day here and we had a good time looking at the various relics of Rome's great past. Here is the Forum from this morning:

St Hilary of Poitiers

2007-10-13T04:23:00.000-07:00

The picture in the title above depicts the ordination of St Hilary. He became a Catholic around 345 AD when he was baptised: he had grown up in a seemingly well-to-do family, having been born about 310, and had benefitted from a good education. Around 353-354 he was elected and ordained Bishop of Poitiers. His great learning quickly catapaulted him into the heart of the great Arian crisis in the West. He used his powerful intellect to articulate a clear doctrine of the Trinity, defending the true Divinity of Christ and also Christ's humanity, and he did so in a very original and tightly argued form. He wrote a number of works. In this he was also influenced by the theology of the Church in the East: he spent about 4 or 5 years in the East after being exiled to Phrygia by the then Arian Emperor Constans at the instigation of a group of heretical bishops. Even in the East he showed his characteristic courage in defending the Faith, so much so that he was allowed to return to the West - which sounds as if the Arians in the East could no longer cope with him. Back in the West he continued to preach the Faith, helping to reconcile heretical groups through his gentle and persuasive presentation of the Creed. Hilary finally died around 367, leaving a valuable corpus of works, much of which has influenced theology and liturgy in the West in numerous ways. He died after having a more peaceful period in which to reflect upon the Scriptures and he was the first Father of the West to develop a commentary on the Psalms.

Pope Benedict quoted a beautiful passage from St Hilary's writings last Wednesday: "God only knows how to be love, only knows how to be Father. And he who loves is not envious, and whoever is Father, is so totally. This name does not allow for compromise, as if to say that God is father only in certain aspects and not in others” (De Trinitate 9:61).

There is so much in Hilary which is incisive and yet beautiful, full of strength of Faith and humility before the Truth which is Christ.

I was very fortunate to visit Poitiers and you can still see there the earliest surviving baptistery in France. It was Hilary who ordered it to be built around 360. It has a nearly-full immersion font inside. Here is a picture of the baptistery...

and the font....

Sadly the Cathedral in Poitiers doesn't seem to give much honour to the first known Bishop of Poitiers. His relics are stuck in a corner by the altar of St Lawrence.

Hilariter

2007-10-13T01:28:00.000-07:00

So, I have finally given in to Blogworld. I am afraid that this won’t be much of a blog; more of a blag really. But it will give me the opportunity to record some of what I am doing while here in Rome. It won’t be a diary, and I wouldn’t want to unleash upon the world my spiritual diary. It is what it is.

As for ‘Hilariter’: well, if you don’t know already, I am studying the works of St Hilary of Poitiers for a doctorate. The Holy Father gave his Wednesday audience this past week on the life and works of this great Bishop and Doctor of the Church: so if you want to know more about Hilarius, then read what Pope Benedict had to say. As ever, the fourth and fifth centuries of the Church are of direct importance for today’s Church – Arianism and Pelagianism are never too far away.

Having spent nearly 6 years at Bishop’s House in Northampton (November 2001 to August 2007), I have moved to the Casa Santa Maria, run by the North American College, here in Rome to pursue these studies. As you can see I have downsized somewhat! But it’s a good place and I am enjoying getting into the library each day to read and study and try to find some inspiration. The College or Casa is on the Via dell’Umiltà near the Trevi Fountain, and the Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Humility: I think Someone is trying to tell me something.

Bishop's House, Northampton....

My room now...