newsletter 24th February 2019A

St. Mary’s,  Blackheath

Newsletter: 24th February 2019

Mass times: Saturday: 6.30pm (first Mass of Sunday)

Sunday: 9.30 and 11am and 7.30pm

Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 10am

Tuesday, and Thursday, 7.30am

Eucharistic Service: Tuesday 10am

Confessions: Saturday 12 to 1pm

Newsletters are prepared well in advance and by the time you read this, I hope that I will have returned from a further visit to Spain, this time to the College at Valladolid.

Quite a busy time preparing the accounts and the paper work. One of the current problems is the effect of Brexit.  As yet the regulations are not all settled and many issues are still to be resolved. Will the students require visas for a stay of more than 3 months and what will be there changes for health care provision and tax? Many things to consider in the coming months.

Good news is that the Rector has agreed once again that a group from the parish can come to the College in the autumn. Please let me know if you might be interested.

Almost at the end of the Sundays in Ordinary Time and next week, Lent begins on  Wednesday 6th March. I must begin to prepare the Ashes.  I find that the best ones come from pine needles. They are meant to be made from the remains of the palms from Palm Sunday of the previous year but it is very difficult to burn these.

This coming week, March 1st is the feast of St. David, the patron of Wales.

A prayer for today:

Lord of creation, in whose power are all times and seasons, bless us and keep us in your love. Keep your Church in peace, grant us every blessing and lead us to our eternal home, where you live for ever and ever. Amen.

A poem this week from one of the metaphysicals, Herbert Vaughan:

O who will tell me where

He found thee at the dead and silent hour!

What hallowed solitary ground did bear

So rare a flower, within whose sacred leaves did lie

The fullness of the Deity.

We have not had any Thomas Merton for some time: Here he is describing the monks coming into the Church after working in the fields:  When all the monks come in with eyes as clean as the cold sky and axes under their arms, still praying out Ave Marias, with rosaries between their bleeding fingers, we shake the chips out of our robes outside the door and go to hide in cowls as deep as clouds, bowing our shoulders in the church’s shadow, lean and whipped, to wait upon your Vespers, Mother of God.

 

Another recipe from Spain, Menestra de Verduras. This comes from Murcia but is popular the throughout Spain during the winter. Fry some small pieces of ham in oil with some slivers of garlic until they are lightly browned.  Add to a pot with some of following: leeks, half an onion, some celery, some baby carrots, some small turnips or some artichokes and a tomato. Pour on some light stock and a little flour. Cook gently until everything is tender. This is a popular dish at our College in Valladolid.

I am sorry to see that the regular service of old Routemasters on part of route 15 may be coming to an end.  They are quite antique, the oldest dating back to 1960. Three of the six in the fleet have been overhauled but the others are quite run down. I understand that they will be retained for special days.  I find them odd with new engines and many non-original features but the basic shape remains familiar.

No news from the boy for a few weeks and I must send him some books. When we were at school, we were advised to read Dante in the original Italian before we knew enough to understand it, so that we would be able to appreciate the rhythm of the verse.

I hope that you are keeping well and surviving the winter.

Best wishes to you all,

Monsignor Nicholas Rothon

 

 

 

 

 

St. Mary’s,  Blackheath

Newsletter: 24th February 2019

Mass times: Saturday: 6.30pm (first Mass of Sunday)

Sunday: 9.30 and 11am and 7.30pm

Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 10am

Tuesday, and Thursday, 7.30am

Eucharistic Service: Tuesday 10am

Confessions: Saturday 12 to 1pm

Newsletters are prepared well in advance and by the time you read this, I hope that I will have returned from a further visit to Spain, this time to the College at Valladolid.

Quite a busy time preparing the accounts and the paper work. One of the current problems is the effect of Brexit.  As yet the regulations are not all settled and many issues are still to be resolved. Will the students require visas for a stay of more than 3 months and what will be there changes for health care provision and tax? Many things to consider in the coming months.

Good news is that the Rector has agreed once again that a group from the parish can come to the College in the autumn. Please let me know if you might be interested.

Almost at the end of the Sundays in Ordinary Time and next week, Lent begins on  Wednesday 6th March. I must begin to prepare the Ashes.  I find that the best ones come from pine needles. They are meant to be made from the remains of the palms from Palm Sunday of the previous year but it is very difficult to burn these.

This coming week, March 1st is the feast of St. David, the patron of Wales.

A prayer for today:

Lord of creation, in whose power are all times and seasons, bless us and keep us in your love. Keep your Church in peace, grant us every blessing and lead us to our eternal home, where you live for ever and ever. Amen.

A poem this week from one of the metaphysicals, Herbert Vaughan:

O who will tell me where

He found thee at the dead and silent hour!

What hallowed solitary ground did bear

So rare a flower, within whose sacred leaves did lie

The fullness of the Deity.

We have not had any Thomas Merton for some time: Here he is describing the monks coming into the Church after working in the fields:  When all the monks come in with eyes as clean as the cold sky and axes under their arms, still praying out Ave Marias, with rosaries between their bleeding fingers, we shake the chips out of our robes outside the door and go to hide in cowls as deep as clouds, bowing our shoulders in the church’s shadow, lean and whipped, to wait upon your Vespers, Mother of God.

 

Another recipe from Spain, Menestra de Verduras. This comes from Murcia but is popular the throughout Spain during the winter. Fry some small pieces of ham in oil with some slivers of garlic until they are lightly browned.  Add to a pot with some of following: leeks, half an onion, some celery, some baby carrots, some small turnips or some artichokes and a tomato. Pour on some light stock and a little flour. Cook gently until everything is tender. This is a popular dish at our College in Valladolid.

I am sorry to see that the regular service of old Routemasters on part of route 15 may be coming to an end.  They are quite antique, the oldest dating back to 1960. Three of the six in the fleet have been overhauled but the others are quite run down. I understand that they will be retained for special days.  I find them odd with new engines and many non-original features but the basic shape remains familiar.

No news from the boy for a few weeks and I must send him some books. When we were at school, we were advised to read Dante in the original Italian before we knew enough to understand it, so that we would be able to appreciate the rhythm of the verse.

I hope that you are keeping well and surviving the winter.

Best wishes to you all,

Monsignor Nicholas Rothon

 

 

 

 

 

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