Newsletter 20th October 2013.
During this coming week I will be away at the College in Spain. This means that there will not be a 7.30 Mass in the Church from Monday to Friday. I hope that there will be a 10 am Mass on some of the days, but if not there will be a Eucharistic Service.
Our financial year at the College ends on 30th September. I have to look at the results for the past year and also prepared a budget for the coming year. There will be some visits to the Banks to arrange the cash flow. I think that all has gone well. I then have to present the figures to the auditors and they will prepare the accounts which have to be approved by the Trustees – so quite a busy time.
The direct flights from Stansted to Valladolid have come to an end so now I have to travel by way of London City and Madrid. It takes longer but at least one does not have to travel by Ryanair.
There is a second collection today for the work of the Missions.
A reminder that next week end the clocks go forward so remember to arrive in time for Mass on Sunday morning.
I am sure that you will remember Mansell Usher. He came here as a student from Spain several years ago and went on to study at the Beda College in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood during the summer and is now working in a parish in South Wales. I am very pleased to tell you that he will be coming to visit us for the week end of 16th and 17th November. I will ask him to celebrate some of the Masses and you will be able to receive his blessing. It is always a great joy when one of our students is ordained.
Friday is the feast of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales who were canonised in 1970. There was an attempt in Rome to restrict the celebration of the martyrs to one day – 4th May and not to keep 25th October as a feast – the day of their canonisation. With six of the 40 coming from our College, Barlow, Roberts, Walpole, Garnet, Lloyd and Plessington – we cannot allow this to happen and we keep this day as a special feast.
All is going well with the First Communion classes – thanks to the parents for all their help – and the children seem to be enjoying it. A problem is that we are caught with numbers and there are too many for a single day – there are only 28 benches in the centre of the Church – I am trying to arrange an alternative second day as we did last year and I am sure that we will be able to manage something.
A simple recipe from Spain. This is known as Cachelada and is a typical dish in the province of Castille and Leon. You will need good strong chorizo, preferably one with plenty of fat and some large potatoes. Boil the potatoes with the chorizo and salt to taste but do not use too much water. When cooked, drain the potatoes and serve with the pieces of chorizo. The liquid can be saved and used as a basis for a vegetable soup.
This is the type of dish that you might find in a country bar at lunch time – with the tractors parked outside.
Dial up Google for “London to Brighton in Four Minutes“. The original film was made in 1953 but now a modern version is being prepared by the BBC. In the original version, the Brighton Belle left Victoria station but somehow it was transmogrified during the journey – probably passing through Balcome Tunnel at high speed and arrived at Brighton as a standard express unit.
(This is a real word – look it up in the dictionary).
An absurd poem from Verse and Worse:
Teach not thy parent’s mother to extract
The embryo juices of the bird by suction
The good old lady can that fact enact
Quite irrespective of thy kind instruction.
After this you are going to need a prayer:
Lord Jesus, let the love of the Spirit be in us:
We consecrate our hearts to you.
Help us all to answer your call:
May we be a light to the world.
Bless us all and
Enrich us with your gifts.
And just room to mention the great nephew: already he is looking forward to Christmas. He has a large appetite and you have to be careful as if he seems something that he fancies, he is inclined to reach across and help himself to food from other peoples’ plates. I am sure that this would not be allowed at Downton Abbey.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon