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Newsletter 6th August 2017
Today, instead of the normal Sunday Mass, we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. We commemorate this event on the 2nd Sunday of Lent but it has its own feast later in the year.
The choir is not here during the month of August: there will be a said Latin Mass at 11am. The text appears in the Mass books.
Tuesday is the feast of St. Dominic, Thursday the feast of St. Lawrence, who appears in one of the windows in the Church, and Friday the feast of St. Clare, the sisters of St. Francis.
I hope that you are enjoying the summer days – quite a few visitors to the garden during the course of the week.
Not much to tell you about this week – so I can entertain you with some items from my scrap book.
I like Chaucer’s clerk:
A Clerk there was of Oxenford also,
That unto logy hadde a longe ygo
As leene was his hors as is a rake,
And he has not right fat, I undertake,
But looked holwe, and thereto sobrely.
(Many of us have memories of translating the Prologue as part of our work for O level.)
Inside my Chaucer I found a copy of The Times’ review of Salad Days from 1954. It is produced in a carefully casual way so that the professional actors might well be mistaken for eager amateurs who have not yet had time to acquire much technique. (You will need to be fairly ancient to remember this.)
As you are well aware, major works will be taking place at London Bridge station at the end of this month, including several days without trains to Charing Cross. Probably the major works will be to join up the new tracks at the entrance to the station. Some of the pieces are already in place; it resembles a giant train set awaiting assembly. There will be many months of testing and fixing the signalling circuits before the project is completed next year. It is remarkable that a train service – of sorts – has continued to operate whilst the works were in progress.
Recently, the boy was taken to Legoland by his mother. It seems that he was the only child able to drive around the Lego race track with success. His grandfather, who has spent some of his time racing his cars, was very proud and thinks some of the genes must have been passed on. Â
I know I am not meant to encourage you but here is a drink for a summer day: 1-part fresh lime juice, 2 parts sugar syrup, 3 parts rum, 4 parts water. This is known as “The Doctor†and is a classic recipe from the West Indies. Most refreshing on a hot summer’s day.
I better have a prayer of penance after this:
Lord Jesus, you chose to be called the friend of sinners; by your saving death and resurrection free from my sins. Let your peace take root in my heart and bring forth a harvest of love, holiness and truth.  Â
Quite a bit of work in the garden in recent days, watering the plants and gathering up the bits from the sweet chestnut tree. Only one of the apple trees seems to have produced a decent quantity of fruit. The bees seem to prefer the lavender on the path to the Church. My basil has grown well under the netting but seems to be tough and without much flavour. I will keep on trying. The cherry tree is tended with great care to ensure that it is not attacked by ants and flies. Look out for the monkey puzzle tree at the end of the garden which is beginning to take shape. I would like to cut the hedge into exotic forms, but this is beyond my skill.
I hope that you are having an enjoyable break during this month.
Best wishes to you all.
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon
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