Newsletter 14th August 2016.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast has been transferred this year from Monday.
If all has gone well, the new kneelers for the benches should have come back. I hope that you like them. If possible, please try to keep them clean by not putting shoes on them.
A letter of thanks from the Verona Fathers for your generous help for the recent Mission Appeal which amounted to £1084.
Saturday of this week is the feast of St. Bernard.
A prayer for today: Let the fire of thy love, O God, cleanse and possess our souls: that out of pure hears and true affections we may worship thee: through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
The forms for the First Communion classes are coming back. If there are any more I would be pleased to receive them as soon as possible. As yet no date for Confirmations but I will let you know about this as soon as I have agreed a date with the Bishop.
You may have seen a copy of the booklet giving the new railway timetable for the coming weeks. It looks complex but I think the net effect will be more trains from Blackheath. I look forward to seeing the first stage of the new London Bridge station when it opens at the end of the month.
A visit to see the great nephew and his sister recently. She has recently recovered from chicken pox. During his holiday, the boy is always busy making things. The best of presents is a roll of sticky tape and some tubes of clue so he can extend the mammoth space station that he is constructing from cereal packets. You will notice how times have moved on – no longer a giant model railway.
Thanks for the help in washing and repairing the servers’ robes – I had not remembered how old they were – some at least 20 years. We have some money in hand from the Myra fund and I will use it to buy some new robes, especially some smaller ones for the younger people.
The rope ladder on the tree in the garden has come to the end of its days. I will see how we might replace it. It was one of the original items in the garden, made by Peter. Quite perilous to use but I always thought that if you were skilful enough to use it, then you would be safe. Memories of some boys who could climb the ladder and then walk along the branch of the tree. As always, the trampoline is most popular but use of the pool has been limited as the weather has been gently warm rather than hot. I will keep it out until the middle of September – and then may ask for some help to dismantle it and put it away.
The only apples that survived were the Bramleys, but the birds have now started on these and from time to time I find pecked wind falls on the garden bed. Not a great success with herbs this year: plenty of cress and some parsley but somehow the basil did not seem to sprout. I must try again next year.
Now some Rupert Brooke:
Deep meadows yet, for to forget
The lies, and truths, and pain? …oh!yet
Stands the Church clock at ten to three
And is there honey still for tea?
Lines made immortal by Peter Sellars – adding a final comment – Honey’s off dear. I will have to explain this sometime.
I almost forgot the recipe: crush a clove of garlic with a little salt and pepper in some olive oil. Leave the garlic behind and pour over a chopped cos lettuce. Add some filets of anchovy with some of the oil. Next add the yolk of an egg and turn over the salad. Finish with some Parmesan cheese.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon