To Jesu Mount in May

To follow on from my previous blog, this being the month of May when we honour Our Blessed Lady as the Mother of our God and our heavenly mother, we are making a pilgrimage today to our local shrine, St Mary's Chapel and Well at Jesmond.
St Mary's Chapel at 'Jesu Mount' was regarded as one of the most important shrines in Christendom in medieval times. The reason for this veneration was due to the fact that evidence of the enactment of healing miracles at St Mary's Well had been received and accepted by the Pope in Rome. It was held that Jesus at the request of the Virgin Mary, had perforemed miracles between AD1125 and AD1250 at the Well, which was in a wooded hollow, a short distance to the west of the chapel. The chapel was built in the mid 12th century. It has been suggested that the Lords of Jesmond brought relics from the Holy Land to the chapel which caused it to become the object of pilgrimages. Pilgrim Street in Newcastle City centre is so named because the pilgrims would lodge there on their way to St Mary's at Jesmond. In 1428 the Chapel was partly ruined and Pope Martin requested that it should be repaired. He announced,
"To all the faithful, relaxation during ten years of one year and forty days of enjoined penance, to penitents who, on the principle feast of the year and of the dedication of the below mentioned church, visit and give alms for the repair and conservation of the chapel of St Mary, Jesmond, in the Diocese of Durham to which resorts a multitude on account of divers miracles wrought through the merits of St Mary the Virgin whose buildings are very ruinous"
(Thanks to my husband for this local historical research)
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death, Amen

'The Way' - Pilgrimage Memories

The Camino, a collection of ancient medieval pilgrimage routes which weave through France and Spain and converge on the shrine of St James at Compostela, is the subject of a recently released film starring Martin Sheen and directed by his son, Emilio Estevez, who also has a cameo part in the film.
Although we have travelled by plane to Santiago as a couple, my husband would have loved to walk the Camino.Now with a disabling knee injury preventing long bouts of walking this was a great alternative way to experience this particular pilgrimage. And we were not disappointed - beautiful Spanish vistas, close up views of Pamplona, Burgos and other towns, atmospheric shots like a candlelit cloister adapted for pilgrims to sleep in pepper the film. Sheen begins the Camino as a somewhat reluctant pilgrim and we also meet three others with their own individual reasons for walking the way. As we see the Botafumeiroa, the huge, famous thurible swinging to and fro above the high altar, in the closing scenes of the film, we know that pilgrimage does us good!
The film brought back memories for us. It was so reminiscent of a pilgrimage we made from Santander to Fatima with our two young daughters. We remembered the many and varied people we met on pilgrimage, the hardships and trials, the high spots and the sense of achievement on reaching a goal, both physical and spiritual. 

Families should go on Pilgrimage. There are many options around the world, but don't forget to look closer to home - in the UK there are many ancient routes and shrines and families could even create their own! 
In May the Holy Family Guild walk to a ruined medieval shrine of Our Lady at Jesmond in Newcastle. We walk across the Town Moor, through a local park and residential streets as we make our way, praying the rosary and adding hymns and a litany  when we arrive. It takes about an hour but it is a wonderful way to introduce young children especially to the idea of pilgrimage. Go to see the film if you wish but more importantly 'become a pilgrim'!

Blessed John Paul II

I do not intend to further fuel discussion as to whether the Beatification of John Paul II should have occured now or at all. Pope Benedict XVI knew what was happening. To paraphrase 'I wanted to start the process soon. The fact that it has come to fruition today is because the Lord so willed it'
We trust in the Lord and thank Blessed John Paul II for one of his many gifts to the Church, Familiaris Consortio, the 'Bible' of the Holy Family Guild, surely due for a reread in this, its 30th year.

The Easter Octave and a Royal Wedding!

Christ is Indeed Risen! We were privileged to be at an Easter vigil in Manchester, sharing the joy of a family of seven as they came into the Church under the Ordinariate. Then it was home to share more of the joy of the Risen Lord with our own family. Today we witnessed the joyous wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton along with most of the nation and many others around the world.

After quoting from St Catherine of Siena, whose feast day it is, "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire”, the Anglican Bishop of London outlined the blueprint for the goal of marriage,

“A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.”

The fullness of life is eternity with God. Married couples love, work and pray to bring their spouses to heaven. Awesome and scary!

Sharing the Triduum with children

It is important to bring the Triduum to life for children growing in the faith. When our children were small and not so small (in fact we still do a lot of this even though our youngest is almost 20!) we started on Holy Thursday with our family passover meal, reading at table the Bible story of the plagues and the Israelites escape from Egypt from Exodus then the story of the Last Supper. We'd eat lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs and roast egg etc and in the centre of the table, a chalice and more unleavened bread to use for acting out the words of Jesus at the Last Supper. After Mass we'd stay to watch (the time increased with age!) at the altar of repose. When we got home the house was silent. Reading and quiet talking only was allowed. We always had appropriate religious pictures placed on the wall.
On Good Friday we always went and still go to Stations of the Cross as well as the Service at 3pm. Again this is a quiet day although in recent years we have introduced watching the Passion of the Christ or other devotional programme. Between visits to church today the children make an Easter garden in the rockery and prepare the tomb. We place one of our crucifixes there and two home made crosses either side. The figure of Jesus is carefully removed from the cross, wrapped in white material and laid in the tomb after we return from the 3 o'clock service. On our table is a piece of thorn branch formed into a circle. We are fasting and abstaining and our evening meal together is a simple fish pie.
Holy Saturday is the most difficult of the Triduum we found. We know Jesus is at work and yet for children he is lying quietly in the tomb. Morning prayer is a must, either as a family or in church if this is offered. The purple ribbons we have had on our religious pictures and statues for the whole of lent are removed. Children are encouraged to spring clean their rooms worthy to greet the Risen Lord and Easter biscuits are made - I found a lamb shaped cutter which is much more appropriate than bunnies or even eggs. Later today parents can roll the stone from the easter garden, removing the figure of Jesus and leaving the white linen along with a small Easter egg for children to find on Easter Sunday morning along with other eggs left here and there in the garden (wrapped of course!) and/or inside the house. While children are in bed the house should be transformed - vases of daffodils, white ribbon to replace the purple and  at least one decorated Easter candle. They should know when they awake that Jesus has risen. If they have followed a Lenten pathway (see earlier post) it should have an Easter message added. Don't say good morning today, say 'Christ is Risen' Children respond with 'He is Risen Indeed' and/or 'Alleluia' If the family has been to the Easter Vigil then the celebrations can start after that. And what a celebration it should be! 

Evidence of the Passion

 My mind goes back a year, to Turin where I had gone with my husband to see the shroud. Exposed usually only once or twice a century, it wasn’t due an airing until 2025 but the Bishop of Turin had asked Benedict XVI for permission to put the shroud on display in 2010 and the Holy Father agreed!

We flew to the city, duly got our tickets and queued to view. Having seen pictures in books I was not really prepared for the clarity of the image. A few moments close to the burial cloth of Jesus - so moving, so intimate, but so little time available. Happily the following day at an early morning Mass in the Cathedral we were given a longer and unexpected opportunity, before Mass began, to go once again up to the shroud and venerate its Holy image. The wounds of the Passion and the horrors of crucifixion there to see, the trickles of blood, the marks of the scourging and the nails, the cap of thorns, the heart pierced through for our sins. What better way to begin Passiontide than by meditating on this evidence of Jesus’ suffering.

A Lenten Pathway

At the half way point of Lent our prayer, fasting and almsgiving should be well established in whatever form. We are on our journey to Easter, a pathway of learning about ourselves and exploring ways to renew our old self in time for Easter and its grace.
When children are small (and not so small!) it can really help to make a pathway. A large piece of paper, a path which twists and turns and is divided into squares for each day, maps out their personal  journey. So each child has their own pathway. At the end of the path we see the Holy Eucharist (Maundy Thursday), Calvary (Good Friday) and finally the empty tomb. Along the way and written on each day are little reminders, daily activities, deeds, gestures, prayers e.g. help mummy lay the table, put my toys away, do my homework without having to be told, say a prayer for grandma, don't eat between meals, no sweets today, write a letter to a lonely person, help a younger sibling, get up willingly. Children can make these up with help. As the child completes these, the squares are coloured in, usually in Lenten colours. Feastdays, however, can be coloured brightly and expressed with a symbol (a green shamrock for St Patrick and a lily for the Annunciation) and do not need a penitential exercise. On Holy Saturday the child can decorate the pathway with daffodils, Easter eggs and frolicking lambs. Parents can write something like 'well done - Christ is Risen Alleluia!' on each child's completed journey.
Ah how I'd love to be still a child!

The witness of a Northern Saint

(St. Margaret of York)
1556-1586

Imagine you are a convert from Protestantism, happily married with three children and you help your husband run his business. You are practising your faith, praying every day for more than an hour, fasting four times a week and going to Mass and confession regularly – and all this under the Catholic suppression of Queen Elizabeth 1

You risk your life helping and concealing priests, the penalty for which is death. You send your son to Douai, France for Catholic schooling. For this, and because a secret hiding place was found, you are arrested and, because you refuse to plead, you are pressed to death, sandwiched between a rock and a wooden slab while weights are dropped upon you.

Such was the example of the life of St Margaret Clitherow – faithful Catholic mother, wife and martyr.

Saint Margaret of York.

Pray for us.

St Joseph's Joys and Sorrows

Today being the Solemnity of St Joseph, my mind wandered to Spain and to the beautiful setting of the Shrine at Torreciudad. There, running up the rise towards the Basilica, you will find the Way of the Joys and Sorrows of St Joseph. Until walking this several years ago I had never really meditated on the person of St Joseph and his role in the Holy Family. The Joys and Sorrows are:

     The Doubt of St Joseph (Matt 1:19)       1   The Message of the Angel (Matt 1:20)

     The Poverty of Jesus Birth (Luke 2:7)   2     The Birth of the Saviour (Luke 2:10-11)

     The Circumcision (Luke 2:21)               3    The Holy Name of Jesus (Matt 1:25)

     The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34)    4    The effects of the Redemption (Luke 2:38)

     The Flight into Egypt (Matt 2:14)          5   The overthrow of the idols of Egypt (Is 19:1)

     The Return from Egypt (Matt 2:22)       6      Life at Nazareth (Luke 2:39)

     The loss of the Child Jesus (Luke 2:45) 7     The finding in the Temple (Luke 2:46)

 What an example for fathers! A man who trusted God in all the sad, worrying, bewildering, frightening and frantic moments that all families experience and how, through it all, he was able to be a faithful guardian, a loving husband, a courageous protector, dependable and ever obedient. 

  Let us pray today for all fathers and for all Josephs especially The Holy Father

Akita

In view of recent events in Japan I decided to reread my book about the 1973 Apparitions of Our Lady  in Akita to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa. They began with rays of light emanating from the tabernacle so that Sr Agnes fell prostrate before it. Then came the stigmata and finally the spoken messages of Our Lady and the weeping statue. All of these signs and spiritual happenings are a timely reminder for us to pray our Rosary daily. We should pray for peace and  for the conversion of sinners. Also offer sacrifices and do penance in  reparation for our sins and the sins of the whole world. What better time than Lent to renew our efforts in this?

Dinkies or Family Life?

Just been away on an art course this past weekend. Very enjoyable and part of my CPD (continued professional development). On the course was a married couple, two 'dinkies'. I think they are the first I have ever met though I believe they are a common breed. This couple had retired early, very early, and could do so (they were happy to relay to the small group) because they had made a conscious decision not to have any children. So as Double Income No Kids (dinkies) they were now living their dream, playing art and presumably had plenty of money to do that. Momentarily I felt a little envious - they looked young and very relaxed and were doing what they wanted themselves. But it was only a moment's thought. Even in secular terms what does this teach about hope, lineage, the meaning of life? It is to focus in on the here and now. There is a sadness here and I felt sad for them.It is not a look forward to eternity.  Yes, God sometimes wills a couple to remain childless, but to choose it as a married couple is to live selfishly. Marriage is about family. The husband,the wife, the child; love = new life - this  mirrors  the Trinity. The family = the image and likeness of God.

Natural Family Planning and other expertise.

Tonight my husband and I taught part one of an NFP course at home. It is a while since we've had any customers! Once we had discovered, early in our marriage, the wonderful benefits of NFP, physically, spiritually and emotionally, we were determined to out this secret and we are still busy with that work! This information should be a marriage requirement for Catholic engaged couples. It is, in a handful of American dioceses but not in the UK. Once couples have come to an awareness of their gift of fertility and are confidently using the Sympto Thermal Method (the only one incidentally which teaches all symptoms) their next question is always 'why did we not hear about this in our Catholic school/marriage preparation class?' Isn't this criminal? - why are our bishops not guiding their flocks in this important area,the best way  to strengthen marriages?

Our families in the Holy Family Guild share their expertise. Our members comprise lawyers, breastfeeding counsellors, financial advisors, theologians, academics, bankers, home schoolers as well as NFP teachers and much more!

The Bronte Family

Having just posted about the suffering in families we found ourselves at the Parsonage Museum, Haworth contemplating information about the Bronte family.
In 1812 Patrick Bronte, married Maria Branwell. They had 6 children and in 1820 he was given the the curacy of Haworth Parish Church. A year later Maria died from uterine cancer, aged 38. Her sister came to live at the Parsonage to care for the children.
In May 1825 Maria, their eldest child, died of tuberculosis, aged 12 and in the following month Elizabeth died aged 11.
Branwell Bronte, the only son died in 1848, aged 31. He had lived with an alcohol and opium addiction.'I do not weep from a sense of bereavement,' Charlotte wrote about him, 'but for the wreck of talent, the ruin of promise, the untimely dreary extinction of what might have been a burning and a shining light.'
Three months later, Emily died, aged 30. The following year Anne died, aged 29
Charlotte married in 1854 and died in March 1855, aged 38, pregnant with her first child.
Patrick died in 1861, aged 84. He had outlived his wife and all of his children - a lifetime of personal tragedy. 
Charlotte, Emily and Anne have all written literary maserpieces although they published under pseudonyms. Branwell had once been a promising artist. So much sadness to bear and yet by the standards of the day they they lived longer than many others and their names live on because of what they managed to do and how they lived as a family, even for the short time they had each other. In the words of Charlotte, "But life is a battle: may we all be enabled to fight it well!"

Families suffer

By virtue of being a family we are opened up and exposed  to all manner of pain, grief, and fear. In a different way to those who are single, married people with children generally fear for others. God tests us as we become involved with one another, share responsibilities with one another and on many occasions feel helpless for one another. Watching children make choices can  be difficult. Even with faith, watching one's children or one's spouse suffer or die must be traumatic.  Having a family is leaving oneself open to suffering and as Catholic families our refuge must be the Lord.
Let us pray for all our families experiencing the loss of a loved one, serious illness among its members, difficulties with children, loss of work or financial worries.
As a guild we pray for one another and help one another practically and emotionally. Boy, do we sometimes need it!

Pause for Death

I haven't posted for 3 weeks due to the death of my mother. A pause for death so to speak. And after all that's what death is, not an end or a beginning but a pause, a transition from one state to another. Our lives are gifted by God, we make of them what we can and then we return to God. And, as my mother discovered, the timing is willed by Him. For a few years of very poor health and any obvious quality of life she often wondered why 'God did not want her yet.' To those who knew her she certainly seemed to be living her purgatory before our eyes. Her husband of 67 years constantly cared for her. As a non Catholic he had accompanied her faithfully to Church every Sunday and holy day since their marriage and my guess is that my mother's prolongued illness and the sacrifice it required from my father will in some mysterious way help him when he faces his Maker. God bless him and may my mother rest in peace. Let us pray for the sick and dying and those who care for them.

Young People are our Future

Still sharing information about what we do as a guild.
Holy Family Guild families support one another in the preparation of their children for the  sacraments

Holy Family Guild runs youth retreats for 10-13’s and 14-18’s.

Holy Family Guild young people travel to Youth Pilgrimages including WYD to witness to their faith together and show solidarity with the Holy Father and the teachings of Christ

Back to the Holy Family Guild and what we do

We offer family support

Just as the members of the first guilds were associated with almsgiving, care of the sick, burial of the dead and in providing Masses for the souls of deceased members, so our members assist one another both in spiritual and temporal necessities

We are families on pilgrimage

Mindful of our lifelong pilgrimage on the road to heaven, families have regular pilgrimages to Holy Island, Jesmond and Chartres as well as to other places of pilgrimage throughout the year

We are families having fun

Our families share picnics, celebrations, BBQ’s, Carol Singing and much more together. Faith shared is fun for everyone and especially children.

MY NEW YEARS HONOURS LIST

My awards go to:-

The Evangelium Course from the CTS for its faithfulness

The Christian Martyrs murdered while at Mass in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation for their witness

The Romeike Family who are homeschooling in the U.S because their own German government wouldn’t allow them to do so in their homeland

The film ‘Of Gods and Men’

A speech by the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in which he urged Russians to have more children to avoid a demographic crisis

Aid to the Church in Need, a charity you can always trust.

Two young women beginning their vocations, Amy in the USA and Clara in the UK

My parents, married for 67 years

The spiritual guide, ‘Magnificat’ and those responsible for its publication.

Father Kevin Gallagher, a faithful priest of the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese who died in May

On the eve of a New Year

January saw a record number of people at the March for life in Washington DC. In February the Bishops of England and Wales had their ad limina visit in Rome and we can only imagine what the Holy Father discussed with them. In March A new children's book was published under Pope Benedict XVI's name."Gli Amici di Gesu" (The Friends of Jesus) In April more than 2 million people visited the shroud in Turin. In May the Pope travelled to  Fatima, in his own words, to tell Our Blessed Lady that he loved her.

In June the Holy Father spoke movingly to priests and seminarians gathered at the close of year for priests. Thank you for our priests.

In July the 400^th anniversary of Caravaggio was celebrated - such wonderful art work of moments in the life of Christ.

In August Youth 2000 gathered  at Walsingham for 'Sanctuary' - adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and great catechesis  from fr Stan Fortuna. In September the wonderful and memorable visit of the Pope to the UK. In October the Chilean Miners were rescued, visibly thanking God as they emerged. In November Gaudi was beatified and his Sagrada Familia Church consecrated and in December we watch as the ordinariate unfolds before our eyes. Life as a Catholic family is never mundane. Let us continue to spread His good news in 2011

Happy New Year !

Light the Christmas candle, The Holy One is Born

Church doors are currently  opening for their Christmas Eve Vigils. Here in the NorthEast of England they begin to do this from 6.00 onwards - far too early in my opinion. Few churches now have Mass at midnight such as the one we attend in the Extrardinary Form. The emphasis of this Mass is on the eternal or Divine birth, whereas it is on the birth as man at the dawn Mass  and at the third Mass of Christmas,  His reappearance  as Judge at the end of time.
"O admirabel Commercium! O Wondrous Exchange! the Creator of the human race, taking to Himself a body and soul, deigned to be born of a Virgin and, appearing as Man but without human lineage, bestowed on us His Divinity" (Roman Breviary)
May the blessings of the Christ Child from his manger bed reach you and those you love and bring peace to your homes and families throughout the season and the coming year.