… or thereabouts. The sun came out from behind clouds just in time to ruin the shot so that you can’t see the beautiful old church but have a good view of the side of an ugly modern building next to it. Oh well. You can still get some idea of the queue of people waiting to visit St Therese.
My last appointment had finished early, so I thought I’d wander over to St Andrews and see if there really was a big crowd for St Therese, or if I could just pop in briefly before my planned visit late tonight. No chance! The queue was round the block. The quietest, most well behaved queue I’ve ever seen in Newcastle, incidentally. People standing patiently, many of them carrying bunches of roses.
By chance, near the entrance I bumped into someone I know from the prayer group, who had just been in (he’d got there in time to squeeze in for the welcoming ceremony). He was very emotional. I don’t think he was able to articulate properly what he felt. I was a bit irreverent, as is my wont, but it was sobering to keep walking down out of curiousity to see where the queue ended, and seeing all these people, and going around the corner, and then another corner.
If you know Newcastle, Worswick Street is just off Pilgrim Street and basically the queue began at the church entrance (doh) down the length of Worswick Street, across whatever that street is at the back, and then up again to Pilgrim Street with the side of the old fire station opposite. Can’t imagine what it’ll be like this evening when people have finished work and are trying to get into the Bishop’s Mass. Am planning to miss all that crush (I hope) and get there just before the night vigil starts.
St Raphael. 12th-century mosaic from the Byzantine part of La Martorana, also known as Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio in Palermo, Sicily (source: Jastrow, wikimedia commons)
Today is the feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael the Archangels. I was able to get to lunchtime Mass today, where the PP gave a brief but informative and interesting sermon, the crude summary of which is:
St Michael provides protection, St Gabriel delivered announcements from God, St Raphael guided Tobit’s son, and today we still need these three things from the angels: protection, divine revelation and guidance.
Filed under: songs for the journey, the scenic route | Tags: music, saints
Detail from Panel of Saint Michael, Master of Soriguerola 13th. century. Barcelona (source: wikimedia commons)
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
More info about tomorrow’s visit. This message came twice, from two different facebook groups, so am simply passing it on:
Visit of the Relics of St Therese of Lisieux
St Therese of Lisieux is one of the best-loved modern saints, and her relics are currently touring England and Wales for the first time. Thousands of pilgrims have already visited the relics. The casket will arrive in Newcastle tomorrow, Wednesday afternoon, and will be displayed at St Andrew’s church, Worswick Street, in the city centre. Everyone is invited to make a visit, to pray and venerate the relics.
The casket will arrive at 3.00pm on Wednesday, when there will be a simple welcome service. The casket will then be displayed for prayer and veneration right through the night, until the departure service at 10.00 am on Thursday.
There will be a diocesan Mass at 7.30pm on Wednesday, celebrated by Bishop Seamus Cunningham, and a quiet Mass for the Feast of St Therese at 8.00am on Thursday. Priests will be available for Confession on Wednesday evening until midnight.
A warning: St Andrew’s is a small church, and large crowds of visitors are expected. You will probably have to wait in a queue to see the casket with the relics, unless you go along during the night! The diocesan Mass on Wednesday evening will be especially busy, and if you want to get into the church for Mass, you’ll need to get there early.
You can find full details of the visit, including directions and a map, on this website:
T’internet is a v. effective place for bitching, ranting and other genres for venting those thoughts and feelings you just can’t keep to yourself. I love the internet. It does get a bit noisy and confusing sometimes though. I have noticed that there are some people who believe Barack Obama is The Antichrist. I have also noticed that there are other people who hate Pope Benedict XVI and believe he (and all the catholic church) is The Antichrist, or at the very least, The Whore of Babylon.
picture: L'Osservatore Romano
I have mixed feelings about both these august personages, but am going to try and keep in mind the following quote someone posted a little while ago on twitter, which made me, as the saying goes, LOL:
“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
God bless the pope. God bless America.
Filed under: songs for the journey, the scenic route | Tags: music monday
Filed under: songs for the journey, the scenic route | Tags: film, music
source: www.shrinesofourlady.com
There is a chapel facing the well at Ladyewell – the Stella Maris chapel – and we ended the visit with songs and prayer there. The deacon at the shrine said something which I’ve been mulling over the past week: “This is a holy place because holy people have come here. It is the people who sanctify it.” It might not have been those exact words, but something very close. I’m sure that’s true; but it is also probably the sort of thing I’d say if I was looking for a rational explanation for the existence of a shrine, beyond tradition.
Catholics don’t have to believe in Marian apparitions (although Ladyewell isn’t even in that category) – but it seems very uncatholic not to. I am drawn to the idea of Mary appearing to children, or in war zones (on the coach home from Ladyewell, we prayed a rosary of seven sorrows, said to have been given by Our Lady in the midst of the genocide in Rwanda); but I don’t know if that sense of accomodation with Marian apparitions can properly be said to be faith.
Visions of Our Lady should ultimately lead us to Jesus and I suppose that must be the crucial difference between Marian apparitions and other common cultural tropes of female apparitions.
