tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33686324390146420632012-02-03T06:46:20.251ZCrux Sacra sit mihi luxStephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.comBlogger781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-18808439831326478822007-05-25T20:15:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:54.783Z

Having spent a good chunk of today - with assistance - unloading & then reloading all the stuff on my computer - I had to re-install Windows - I'm rather more aware than usual of what I've got on it. One little programme I keep on my desktop is called Virtual Rosary. If you don't know it, it's worth having a look at. Clicking a mouse instead of clicking a rosary bead takes a bit of getting used

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-58967514619195596452007-05-15T20:51:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:55.089Z

I've just discovered that the Church of Rome on both sides of the Atlantic is celebrating Ascension Day next Sunday (the Seventh Sunday of Easter) and not on Thursday. I'm grateful to Fr Longenecker for having a well justified rant. I had realised both Rome and Canterbury had Sundayfied some other feast days but not Ascension Day for goodness sake. I'm somewhat relieved to see that in this

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-21313610818164164452007-05-15T10:45:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:55.316Z

Christopher Morgan who writes for The Times and the Church of England Newspaper has this on his website Religious Intelligence. Who knows, we might actually come to love Presbyterian Gordy? Disestablishment has always seemed rather a distant proposition. Might this 'home rule' proposal be the start of such a process? Good news for anyone who, like me, tends to wonder whether in the long run -

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-38766496998905678012007-05-14T22:53:00.000Z2007-05-14T22:55:50.825Z

For 'the latest' see Ruth Gledhill in The Times. It seems the delay in issuing the motu proprio has been caused by the Germans not the French.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-79303787915095458642007-05-09T20:15:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:55.505Z

Today to Hampshire to assist at the requiem mass of a long-standing member of the 'congregation' of the Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady and St John at Alton.Anglican Benedictine communities are not supposed to have 'congregations'. 'They should be worshiping in their parish churches' as a newly-appointed bishop said to the Abbot before he discovered he had as much hope of stopping people coming to

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-26059821285693025242007-05-06T21:04:00.000Z2007-05-06T21:06:59.682Z

Dare I say it? The fifth of May has come . . . and gone . . .

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-76968761063286519452007-05-06T20:35:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:55.897Z

This morning I took myself to St John’s College, Cambridge for a Solemn Eucharist for the Feast of St John before the Latin Gate. The what, I can hear you ask. There’s certainly no mention of such a feast in my 1962 missal but it’s there in the 1928 BCP and also in my copy of The Anglican Breviary which is based on the 1911 reform of the Latin Secular Breviary.For those who need a memory

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-4282349054252980702007-05-04T10:51:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:56.853Z

At the end of June I will be moving from Ely and for reasons I needn't go into here the two much-loved and hopelessly indulged creatures pictured here cannot come with me. Parting from them will be among the more difficult things I have had to do in my life but it will be made marginally less difficult if I can find a good home for them (together) in which they will be pampered in the style to

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-18298341150618571752007-05-02T18:58:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:57.105Z

If and when the Pope's motu proprio on the 'old' mass ever sees the light of day, someone ought to put together a collection of at least some of the pieces that have appeared on the blogosphere on the subject over the past couple of months. Such a collection might well include this one from Fr Anthony Chadwick at In medio stat virtus. The original German can be found in Creative Minority Report .

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-63267239863940790362007-04-28T16:40:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:57.346Z

Latin Mass may offend Jews is the headline of the latest version (in today's [London] Daily Telegraph) of what is surely the reddest of red herrings in the present long-running motu proprio saga. And I'm afraid many so-called 'traditionalist' Roman Catholics are to blame. Why? By referring, as they frequently do, to the pre-Vatican II eucharistic rite in the Catholic West as if it were a

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-34666120480937857822007-04-26T12:12:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:57.737Z

I suggest we need to think rather carefully about some of the issues raised by the case of the latest choirmaster to be found guilty of abusing choirboys. Much of what I have read and heard on this subject so far today betrays an above average level of muddled thinking.We can all, I hope, agree that the abuse of children is wrong. It would also seem that procedures now in place to safeguard

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-60420605320322679132007-04-19T14:52:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:57.982Z

Late last year I was planning to walk the last 100 kilometres or so of the pilgrim way to Santiago de Compostela with a group of friends. Sadly, other commitments got in the way so in the end I didn’t go. However in the meantime I had been shopping - for a pair of walking boots and a walking stick that would comply with the new restrictions on airline luggage. Clearly it was no longer possible to

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-51679068318735302172007-04-19T09:31:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:58.269Z

Born about 953, St Alphege was successively a monk of Deerhurst in Gloucestershire, a hermit in Somerset, Abbot of Bath and, in 984, bishop of Winchester in succession to St. Ethelwold. He was used as an emissary to placate the Danish invaders who came to London and Wessex in 994, converted their leader to Christianity, and persuaded them to withdraw. In 1005 he became Archbishop of Canterbury.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-3094860350929927722007-04-17T10:38:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:58.459Z

A good short piece from Ruth Gledhill of The (London) Times about the shootings at Virginia Tech may be read here.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-23124339289747114802007-04-16T21:06:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:58.621Z

Earlier today I sanctioned the publication of an anonymous comment on the piece I wrote on 12 April (concisely) entitled Et unam sanctam Catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. While I'm loath to play censor, I do think if people have something to say they should come out into the open and say it and not hide behind a cloak of anonymity. So, reluctantly, I shall not in future publish comments by

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-12370496207076763302007-04-16T20:27:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:10:58.901Z

16 April 2007: Pope Benedict at 80 Ad multos annos, Father JoeIf there's anyone out there who is not aware of the fact, today also marks the latest 'deadline' for the publication of the promised papal motu proprio in terms of which priests will enjoy greater freedom to celebrate the 'Tridentine' mass. Needless to say the day passed without publication. Those wanting a chuckle on the subject will

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-20520831018224697852007-04-14T18:47:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:00.483Z

Fr Keith Straughan celebrates Mass for members of the St Etheldreda Cell of the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham in the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral. Afterwards Fr Keith blessed a newly-planted tree outside the Cathedral Centre. The tree has been donated donated by the Cell

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-73689453055163363552007-04-12T23:25:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:00.606Z

The current trials and tribulations within the Anglican Communion have understandably attracted a good deal of interest in and comment from the Catholic blogosphere and from those Anglicans on its fringes seen by the Romans as ripe conversion fruit. There's been a good deal of discussion on the Roman claims that it and it alone is 'the one holy catholic and apostolic Church' and I attempted to

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-55078084672198662672007-04-03T14:32:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:00.795Z

It's interesting to see how many bloggers have shut or are shutting down for Holy Week or at least for the Easter Triduum. There is considerable good sense in doing so and I am going to follow suit before leaving tomorrow morning for my spiritual home at Alton Abbey.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-43582645581111229862007-03-30T20:09:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:01.204Z

The frequently maligned (London) Times religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill is to be thanked for juxtaposing two opposing perspectives on a current Catholic cause célèbre. Jesuit liberation theologian Fr Jon Sobrino has recently been criticised (but not barred from teaching) by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith less for his liberation theology than for his Christology. He

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-76111569845098515512007-03-28T12:57:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:01.494Z

One of the little beacons of hope I encountered on my recent visit to Jerusalem was at the Sixth Station of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa. At the Sixth Station we are asked to meditate on one of the non-biblically endorsed incidents on Our Lord's journey to Golgotha: when a woman called Veronica wiped the blood and dirt from Jesus' face with her veil only to find that an image of his face

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-35316143999276184352007-03-28T11:44:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:01.673Z

In a post entitled Newman Hits the Bulls Eye, Fr Dwight Longenecker quotes from and then expounds on John Henry Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine which deals with, among other things, the unity of form versus unity of doctrine dichotomy so relevant to the current goings on in the Anglican Communion. (What follows is a digest of that post and resulting comments.)Fr Dwight

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-22949636226961132332007-03-26T10:45:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:01.871Z

Angelus Domini nunciavit Mariae.Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. Sculpture in the grounds of The Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-75326005324580380662007-03-25T09:49:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:02.394Z

From The (London) Times Saturday 24 March 2007

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-23087653869188760772007-03-21T00:35:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:02.708Z

Icon of St Benedict with Our Lady and St John written by Dom Anselm Shobrook OSB which hangs in the Abbey Church of the Benedictine Community of Our Lady and St John at Alton, Hampshire, (England).

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-51149460465965125252007-03-21T00:11:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:02.902Z

In the year that was to be his last, the man of God foretold the day of his holy death to a number of his disciples. In men­tioning it to some who were with him in the monastery, he bound them to strict secrecy. Some others, however, who were stationed elsewhere he only informed of the special sign they would receive at the time of his death.Six days before he died he gave orders for his tomb to

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-11659365938204230922007-03-20T14:23:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:03.128Z

One of the unexpected highlights of my recent visit to the Holy Land was the snowy morning I spent at the Russian Orthodox Convent of St Mary Magdalene in the Garden of Gethsemene. There were many remarkable things about it, not least the associations with the Russian imperial family, one of whose number, the Grand Duchess (now Saint) Elizabeth, is entombed in the body of the church.However pride

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-26241882411639311832007-03-20T10:01:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:03.390Z

Click here for chapters 1 - 9 (in reverse order) of Fr Dwight Longenecker's evolving Gargoyle Code and here for chapter 10. I'm certain I'm not alone in hoping this will in due course find its way into print. It's already made me reach for my very battered copy of Screwtape.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-5511954293726804742007-03-19T22:57:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:03.672Z

Joseph, fili David, noli timere accipere Mariam conjugem tuam: quod enim in ea natum est, de Spiritu Sancto est. (S. Matt 1. 20)

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-48108921022633222192007-03-18T20:58:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:03.885Z

So, tagged - or is it memed (?) - by Mac!Rules of the game: list six weird things about me (only six?); tag and identify three new people; leave notification of tagging on the blog site of the newly tagged.Right, what dare I admit to?1. Rather like Esther, I cannot bear throwing anything away but, unlike Esther, in my case this doesn't just apply to stuff from loved ones! As a result -2. One of

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-29426346582131854222007-03-16T19:54:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:04.096Z

In Jerusalem people talk to one another. There is no room at all for English social reticence with strangers.I’ve taken to having lunch at a rather good restaurant called Amigo Emil in Al-Khanga Street. At a nearby table this afternoon was a ‘properly dressed’ clerical gentleman who turned out to be Fr Michael Sellers, the former Dean of St George's Anglican Cathedral. We had a most interesting

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-59965446937458271942007-03-16T19:04:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:05.041Z

Quite by accident I found myself outside the gate of the Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St Mark just as Vespers was starting. I was given to understand afterwards that the half hour office was slightly shorter than usual because the Community only breaks its fast after vespers in Lent so breakfast was waiting! The service was in Aramaic, sung throughout from memory. The only downside was the

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-76347082138041365922007-03-16T18:37:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:05.268Z

Jerusalem is a city of children and cats! The children of the Old City, be they Palestinian or Jewish, are almost without exception beautiful. It is a sad indictment of Western society that for a man of a certain age – even if he is a father and grandfather – to be seen taking photographs of children renders him suspect. That said, political correctness in Israel does not seem to feature quite as

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-53937048165801987792007-03-15T22:00:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:05.436Z

The Russian Orthodox Convent of St Mary Magdalene is one of those remarkable places one is reluctant to leave once one's there. It was snowing hard when I arrived and the sun was shining brightly when - eventually - I left. While it is by no means as large as the Dome of the Rock on the opposite side of the Kidron Valley, the five striking and (I suspect) recently regilded onion domes of the

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-47499558344571670842007-03-15T20:49:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:05.804Z

I touched briefly yesterday on the question of the authenticity of some of the Holy Land sites. Can we really be certain that the much-photographed silver star in the grotto under the Church of the Nativity marks the spot where Jesus was born? Did Our Lord’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection really occur in the places now indicated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? Everyone will have a view

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-31507571439614316052007-03-14T20:51:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:06.191Z

I well remember the intense disappointment I experienced when attending Luchino Visconti’s now almost legendary production of Rigoletto at Covent Garden sometime in the early 1960s. I had been studying the work for my A level music exams. As a result, I knew it backwards from listening to a scratchy LP set I’d got out from the public library. It was long before videos and DVDs and television

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-54125309205921426222007-03-13T19:37:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:06.357Z

As of course has been widely reported, travelling between Jerusalem and Bethlehem these days is by no means straightforward. Indeed, Mary and Joseph may have taken a little longer to get there from Nazareth but they are unlikely to have encountered any thirty-foot high concrete walls. But more of that a bit later. Suffice it to say, I had anticipated a lengthy journey. So imagine my surprise

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-73943649823488285502007-03-12T19:05:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:06.545Z

I make full acknowledgement to the Insight Guides Jerusalem guide book as the source of what follows although you’ll find a no less good exposition in Wikipedia.Every year apparently, several dozen visitors are dragged off to hospital where they are diagnosed as suffering from Jerusalem Syndrome. Typically these are young people, Christians and Jews alike, from North America and Europe who claim

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-3005185656549372182007-03-12T17:41:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:06.977Z

In the absence of shouting Orthodox priests on my second visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre this morning (see yesterday’s posting under the same heading), I have made my peace with the place. Even at an early hour there were still a fair number of people about but the great majority of them were going about their devotions which not only allowed but encouraged me to do likewise. Thus I

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-61737286095775655492007-03-11T19:58:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:07.237Z

The light relief in my progress around the streets of Jerusalem today has been provided by my attempts to run the gauntlet of souk traders and taxi drivers.The art of not getting waylaid by traders is almost as fine a one as the art of haggling. By nature I do try and avoid being rude to people. So, if someone wishes me a good morning my reflex is to wish them one back. However in a souk that isn

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-27457780509822475812007-03-11T16:47:00.001Z2008-12-10T13:11:07.378Z

It took me a while to find what most would agree is the holiest site in Christendom. The maps in two guidebooks made valiant by futile attempts to approximate the labyrinthine meanderings of the streets in Jerusalem's Old City. Things weren't made any easier by the fact that a good many of the street names in the guide books - both recently published - bore no relationship to the signs in three

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-64863284550628481332007-03-11T16:37:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:07.859Z

. . . that the grilling one gets on arrival at Ben Gurion International, Tel Aviv is second only to the reception laid on at points of entry to the USA. They’ve always been a particularly grim lot a JFK but I gather they’re even worse since 9/11.So there I was at seven o’clock this morning, my body still tuned in to GMT telling me it was two hours earlier, confronted by a humourless Gorgon

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-79968745858754899732007-03-09T21:49:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:08.144Z

It's strange how things have a habit of coming together.This evening on BBC4 there was a fascinating film primarily about the relationship of Winifred Wagner, Richard Wagner's English-born daughter-in-law, and Adolf Hitler.In my youth I was an ardent Wagnerian worshipping at the Bayreuth shrine for two consecutive summers. I think I managed five complete Ring cycles, two Meistersingers and one

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-34565755112520524882007-03-08T23:40:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:08.412Z

Yet more from the inventive pen of 'CS' Longenecker .

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-79834112151657802442007-03-07T23:42:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:08.621Z

A full account of the martyrdom of Ss Felicity, Perpetua and their companions at Carthage on this day in 203 AD may be found here. Father, your love gave the saints Perpetua and Felicity courage to suffer a cruel martyrdom. By their prayers, help us to grow in love of you. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-70092727826856007142007-03-07T23:19:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:08.852Z

Yet more from the infernal regions courtesy Fr Dwight Longenecker.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-3957965030753642052007-03-07T22:50:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:09.080Z

Thinking Anglicans are cock-a-hoop. And while on depressing stories, did anyone hear this on the Today programme (BBC Radio 4 breakfast show) this morning? Future generations will surely shake their heads in disbelief.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-61585621368947474082007-03-06T20:46:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:09.452Z

With thanks once more to Fr Dwight Longenecker for a further transmission from the infernal regions . . .

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-74610497424840967292007-03-06T15:22:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:10.037Z

The world of classical music has been rocked in recent weeks by a scandal whose intricacies will keep bloggers in this field busy far, far into the future.The bald facts are these. Joyce Hatto was a concert pianist. She was born in 1928, achieved modest fame (and a mixed critical response) as a performing artist in between the 1950s and ’70s before retiring from the concert platform in 1979 after

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-27526402178089255222007-03-05T17:35:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:10.366Z

In am indebted to Fr Dwight Longenecker at Standing on my Head for two recent posts here and here. All Screwtape fans please note.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-31135092452253272007-03-04T21:37:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:10.628Z

My prowess as a photographer during last night's lunar eclipse was not quite equal to capturing the main event. However a somewhat lesser human achievement is here recorded.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-66724423106914841062007-03-04T21:31:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:10.912Z

Like a good many others I understand, I spent a fair amount of the later part of yesterday evening gazing heavenwards at the lunar eclipse. It is more than thirty years since I observed this phenomenon through an optical instrument. On that occasion I had just completed the construction of a six-inch reflecting telescope and well record the amazing sight of shadows racing across the surface of

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-32227128912808497292007-03-03T17:10:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:11.402Z

Blessed Katharine Drexel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 26, 1858. Katharine's mother died when she was a baby. Her father married a wonderful woman named Emma. She raised their own child, Louise. She was also a loving mother to Mr. Drexel's two little girls by his former marriage. They were Elizabeth and Katharine. The girls had a wonderful childhood. Even though their family

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-71646035601696779102007-03-02T22:32:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:11.698Z

Observed and admired by Boots out of his (sic) bathroom window, spring blossoms have come early to Ely this year.For the technically minded, he and his half brother Harry have a much admired gangplank out of this window into an adjoining tree.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-77390856127513913572007-03-02T21:54:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:11.771Z

With due acknowledgement to a certain Strong Woman (also for the illustration) and to Dominican Idaho, by clicking here you can test whether your blog or website is blocked in China. Clearly Crux Sacra isn't considered a threat to the status quo there! I wonder.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-82941097420776273012007-03-01T19:36:00.000Z2007-03-02T18:55:34.658Z

Mac McLernon, whose excellent blog site Mulier Fortis is well worth periodic visits, asks - see her comment following A Lenten Laugh below - whether I have given up posting for Lent. The answer to this is that I've been somewhat absorbed with writing what in a different context would be called a homily. In this context it rejoices under the name of an 'address or meditation on the theme' at an

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-28150550747728076602007-03-01T19:22:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:12.005Z

St. David (in Welsh, Dewi Sant) is the patron saint of Waleswhose annual festival falls on the 1 March. Few historical facts are known regarding the saint's life and actions, and the dates both of his birth and death are purely conjectural, although there is reason to suppose he was born about the year 500 and died at a great age towards the close of the 6th century. According to his various

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-17813797402992543822007-02-23T16:20:00.000Z2007-02-23T16:24:36.957Z

Three days in and it's time for wee smile. Click on Times Online - Ruth Gledhill - WBLG .

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-14462510206304364342007-02-22T15:17:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:12.950Z

I am indebted to Rocco Palma of Whispers in the Loggia for the following translation of Pope Benedict’s words of illumination on today’s Feast at his General Audience a year ago today:-‘The Latin liturgy celebrates today the feast of the Chair of St. Peter. It comes from a very ancient tradition, chronicled at Rome from the end of the 4th century, which renders thanks to God for the mission

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-59912458368290340712007-02-21T16:59:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:13.388Z

As we begin the season of Lent, please allow me to extend an invitation to anyone reading these words to pause for a moment and listen.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-24695678639548208202007-02-20T20:39:00.000Z2007-02-20T20:42:09.056Z

As a Johnny-come-lately to the blogosphere, I must be careful about sounding too critical. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that, sitting at our computers as many of us have been for the past five days, waiting for the next event in the unfolding drama of the Anglican primates’ meeting in Dar es Salaam, there is a danger of being pressurised to produce a knee-jerk reaction to events when what

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-63104115661226884682007-02-19T20:06:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:14.080Z

Most unwisely in a piece she wrote about problems she was encountering with her computer furniture, Mac McLernon (of Mulier Fortis) mentioned Sylvester. Like an idiot I asked for a mug shot. So here is Sylvester (times three). To return the compliment, Mac, here are Harry and Boots (in that photographic order) whose main claim to fame, other than that they are spoiled something rotten by me, is

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-45476203088012858742007-02-13T17:54:00.000Z2007-02-19T20:38:53.063Z

The Independent has a clearly expressed update in Independent Online Edition > This Britain .

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-42551165968119551602007-02-12T11:35:00.000Z2007-02-12T11:38:22.865Z

Jonathan Petrie sets the scene in this morning's Daily Telegraph (Archbishop's peace talks threatened Uk News News Telegraph) for the meeting this week of Anglican primates in Dar es Salaam. It is difficult to be sanguine about the outcome of any meeting at which people will not talk to one another. Veni Sancte Spiritus . . .

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-27164966810639923662007-02-12T11:13:00.000Z2007-02-12T11:15:18.079Z

Having had my knuckles rapped by Mulier Fortis for not referring to the whole of a previous post, here is a follow up story: Mulier Fortis: Getting In The Habit . Clergy reluctant to dress the part, please note.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-13210707777967547122007-02-10T19:31:00.000Z2007-02-10T21:16:39.835Z

Alister McGrath provides a readable antidote to the ubiquitous Dawkins in The questions science cannot answer-Comment-Faith-TimesOnline in today's Times.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-51420351169203506212007-02-10T16:44:00.000Z2007-02-10T16:52:56.417Z

Mulier Fortis: The Incorruptibles is worth the three minutes or so it takes to read (from paragraph three). Then go to the first comment (by Fr Dwight Longenecker) and follow the links to an intriguing sequel posted on Friday 9 February and entitled Incorruptable . . . that's what you are.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-62663105616087470652007-02-10T08:39:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:14.413Z

Born in Nursia (Norcia), Italy in about 480, Saint Scholastica died near Monte Cassino, in about 543. Almost everything we know about her comes from the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great. Saint Scholastica, twin sister of Saint Benedict of Nursia who founded of the Benedictine order, was consecrated to God at a very early age but probably continued to live in her parents' home.It is said that

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-77213902557648364102007-02-08T10:38:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:14.579Z

Ely Cathedral gets a little seasonal dusting.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-39986988187041126532007-02-08T10:21:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:14.744Z

Born in 1868 in Dafur to a wealthy Sudanese family, she was kidnapped by slave-traders at the age of 7 and given the name Bakhita (meaning the lucky one or fortunate) by them. The appalling treatment she experienced as a slave caused her to forget her original name. Sold and resold in the markets at El Obeid and Khartoum, she was finally purchased in 1883 by Callisto Legnani, the Italian consul

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-2141476923676398222007-02-08T09:53:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:15.048Z

Jerome was born in 1486, the son of a Venetian noble family. He was a good soldier and was put in command of a fortress high in the mountains. While defending this post from an invasion by some troops of Maximilian I, he was taken prisoner. Chained and imprisoned, he began to regret the waste, carelessness and immorality of his past life in which he had devoted so little time to God. Jerome

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-17955048242802848372007-02-06T10:47:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:15.328Z

'The morn in russet mantle clad'Ely Cathedral Lady Chapel from Almonry Croft 6 February 2007

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-77773428256567604692007-02-06T10:27:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:15.546Z

The crosses were set in place. Father Pasio and Father Rodriguez took turns encouraging the victims. Their steadfast behaviour was wonderful to see. The Father Bursar stood motionless, his eyes turned heavenward. Brother Martin gave thanks to God's goodness by singing psalms. Again and again he repeated, 'Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my life.' Brother Francisco Blanco also thanked God in a

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-51511394237176369802007-02-05T14:46:00.000Z2007-02-10T21:16:40.770Z

The inexorable march of the Anglican Communion towards self destruction seems unstoppable. Jonathan Petrie, writing in this morning's Daily Telegraph, reports on the latest developments under the headline Drive to bar liberal from Church’s crisis summit .It is difficult to fault the logic of the same paper's leader writer who advises the Archbishop of Canterbury in a piece entitled Challenge for

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-20910329797195585432007-02-05T12:15:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:15.927Z

Agatha was early recognised by the Church as one of the most illustrious of virgin martyrs. Along with Lucy, Agnes and Cecilia, her name is mentioned in the Gregorian Canon. But nothing can now be surely established concerning her life save that she bare such witness to Christ, in about the year 251, in Sicily, as soon to fill Christendom with her praises.The written Acts of St Agatha were

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-71495895221939197202007-02-04T18:29:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:16.260Z

From the College East Lawn this afternoon at about 4 pm.

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-45730143281841448002007-02-03T20:04:00.000Z2007-02-03T20:44:36.942Z

As a Johnny-come-lately to blogging, it probably ill behoves me to knock it quite so soon. However it did strike me that Giles Fraser's comments in the latest edition of the Church Timesabout blogs and those who comment on blogs entitled Poisoning the wells of open debate are worth pondering. Conventions governing the civilised use of this (as yet) still relatively new freedom will no doubt

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368632439014642063.post-84368284155929499472007-02-03T18:27:00.000Z2008-12-10T13:11:16.467Z

I never thought I'd find myself defending David Wynne's Madonna in the the Ely Cathedral Lady Chapel but the comments resulting from Fr Dwight Longenecker's blog posting on 27 January (Ely Ely Lama Sabacthani) on http://gkupsidedown.blogspot.com do at least warrant circulation of Richard Clover's remarkable photograph of the Lady. Beauty was ever in the eye of the beholder! And, for the record,

Stephen Wiknerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06735175874152541268noreply@blogger.com0