Light of the North Issue 17

DON’T BE LEFT IN THE DARK

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Light

Light

I am the Light of the World

I s s ue 1 7 , S ummer, 2 0 11

New Bishop New appointed appoin ted ffor or the Diocese D iocese

Clare lare B Benedict enedict looks ooks at at tthe he New ew M Missal issal translation anslation

Greyfriars Greyfriars Convent C onvent and C Church, hurch, Elgin Elg in

Sr JJanet anet on how ho w rrelics elics can be bridges tto o heaven hea ven

Page P age 4

Page P age 1 13 3

Page P age 2 26 6

Page P age 34

Each E a copy of the L Light i g of the North ccosts o s t s over a pound to p rodu produce and we would a s k you to consider ask tthis h i if you wish to m a make a donation.

A quarterly magazine produced and published by the Diocese of Aberdeen R.C. Diocese of Aberdeen Charitable Trust, a registered Scottish Charity no. SC005122

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O ur cove r this issue feature s a painting entitled “M ar y, Q ueen of He aven” th e wor k of an unidentified Ne ther landish ar tist k n own as The M aste r of the S aint Luc y Le gend. He was named a f te r an altar piece — date d 1 480 and in a chu rch in Bruges—that depic ts e pisodes fro m the life of S aint Luc y. This splen did pi c ture comes f rom the convent of S anta Cl a ra near Burgos in nor th central Spain .

R ecords sugge st that the wor k was co mmissioned by an ar istocratic cons table o f Castile whose daughter was abbess of the convent. S eve ral of his paintings h ave been found in Castile, sugge sting that th e N ether landish ar tist may have spent par t o f his c areer in Spain.

The M aster ’s st yle is charac ter ized by ex traordinarily brilliant colours, intricately detailed tex ture s and patter n s, co mpressed space, and f igure s with oval fa ces that are restrained in expression .

Thi s unusually large painting depic ts th e g l o r ification of the Virgin. Hover in g a ng els, gar bed in silks and brocades of ever y conceivable hue, attend a central i m a ge of M ar y and sur round a smaller, upper vision of he r heave nly throne. On ei t h er side of the Virgin’s he ad, sin gin g a ng els hold musical scores of Ave R egin a

up front

Caelorum, a hymn begin n in g wit h t he words “Hail, Q ueen of th e Heaven s.” Wi t h a fusion of subjec ts, M ar y, Q ueen o f Heaven combin es th ree sacred event s from th e legen d of th e Virgin. The I mmaculate Con ception , repres ent i ng M ar y ’s freedom from Or igin a l Si n, tradition ally sh ows a “ woman ar rayed with th e sun , an d a moon un der h er feet ” (R evelation 12:1). I n th is pai nt i ng, sun beams ren dered in gold leaf blaze beh in d M ar y ’s h ead an d feet, and a crescent moon suppor ts h er.

Th ree days af ter M ar y ’s death , seraphi m bore h er to h eaven . Th e Assumpt i o n o f th e Virgin th eme usually displays an o pen sarcoph agus, but it is absent h ere. I n place of th e coffin is a seren e an d pe acef ul lan dscape th at may refer to a commo nly h eld idea th at at th e Assumptio n t he wor ld was clean sed by th e Virgin’s pur i t y.

Th e th ird subjec t is th e Coron ati o n o f th e Virgin . Above h er h ead th e cloud s ro ll back to reveal h eaven , with G od t he Fath er an d Ch r ist th e S on h oldin g a c rown, above wh ich h overs th e dove of th e H o ly Spir it. With its over lappin g symbo li sm, spec tacular flur r y of draper ies an d f lut ter of an gel ’s win gs, M ar y, Q ueen of H eaven is th e M aster of S aint Luc y ’s Legend ’s most ambitious ach ievement.

Cowan Watson

Sacred Heart sister celebrates her golden jubilee Sister Alda Civiera of the Society of the Sacred Heart celebrated her golden jubilee on the 2nd July at the Bishop’s House in Aberdeen.

Canon Bill Anderson officiated at the Mass of the Sacred Heart and the Mass and reception was attended by Sisters of the Society, former pupils of the Sacred Heart School and family and friends.

In the photograph from left to right: Sr Moira Donnelly, Sr Margaret Pope, Sister Alda Civiera and Sister Catherine Laughlin.

Light of the North

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contents

diocese 4

obituary 9

liturgy 11

educationandformation 15

faithinaction 20

faithandculture 21

humour 32

crossword 33

Westminster 34

Light of the North

Managing Editor Deacon Tony Schmitz Editor Cowan Watson Editorial Advisor Canon Bill Anderson Advertising Sandra Townsley 01463 831 133 Sedstown@aol.com

Light of the North Ogilvie Centre 16 Huntly Street Aberdeen 01224 638675 lightofthenorthmagazine@gmail.com www.lightofthenorth.org

On Saturday 4th June the Diocese learnt that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Abbot Hugh Gilbert, O.S.B., until now Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey near Elgin, to succeed Bishop Peter as the new Bishop for our Diocese of Aberdeen. Bishop Emeritus, Peter Moran, has been at the helm of the Diocese for nine years, seven of them as Bishop.

At his episcopal ordination on 1st December 2003, many of us will remember Bishop Peter outlining his vision for the future of the Diocese, based on four priority areas: youth; marriage and the family; adult formation and outreach to the disadvantaged – a tall order indeed but, as I look back through past issues of the Light of the North, it soon becomes evident that Bishop Peter never lost sight of his vision for the Diocese.

The Light of the North was of course founded during Bishop Peter’s episcopacy back in 2006 and he has been a staunch supporter of this publication, not only as a contributor (you will find his latest article on ‘New Evangelisation’ on page eight but also as a meticulous ‘proofreader’. We wish him a long and blessed retirement.

We would also like to extend a warm welcome to Bishop Elect, Hugh Gilbert and we would echo the sentiments of Bishop Peter when he welcomed his successor: “I am confident that his spiritual leadership as bishop will bring many graces to the members of the Diocese, and to the wider community, in the years to come.�

Readers of the magazine will of course be familiar with Abbot Hugh’s regular column; providentially the subject of his article in this issue is the Assumption of Our Lady, the Feast of the Assumption being the 15th August and the day on which the new Bishop will be consecrated.

We would also draw your attention to Clare Benedict’s notes on the revised Missal as in September, parishioners across the country will begin learning the changes in the “people’s parts� of the Mass. As Clare says in her introduction: “a marvellous opportunity to revitalise core aspects of our faith.�

In addition, Fr Bernie O’Connor, in the wake of the beatification of Pope John Paul ll, reflects on the lessons to be learnt from the Venerable John Paul as a “Voice of Justice�; Mgr Robert McDonald tells the story of Greyfriars Church and Convent in Elgin and Sr Janet Fearns, in the light of the British Museum’s summer exhibition, Treasures of Heaven, explains how religious relics can serve as a bridge between heaven and earth.

And I can think of no fitter way of signing off this editorial but with the motto of our Bishop Emeritus: Gaudium et Spes – Joy and Hope!

Cowan

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New bishop appointed for the Diocese Abbot Hugh Gilbert O.S.B. of Pluscarden Abbey is to be the new bishop for the Diocese of Aberdeen

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he new Bishop of the Diocese of Aberdeen, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and announced on Saturday th June, is to be Abbot Hugh Gilbert, O.S.B., until now Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey, near Elgin.

Bishop-Elect Hugh was born in Hampshire in the south of England on th March  but has lived in our diocese since he joined the Benedictine community of Pluscarden thirty-seven years ago.

He entered Pluscarden Abbey in , receiving the name Hugh. He made his final profession on March th  and completed his theological studies at the former Abbey of Fort Augustus. He was ordained a priest on June th , becoming novice master in  and prior of the monastery at Pluscarden in .

Two years later he was elected Abbot.

The new Bishop of Aberdeen said that it will be difficult to say goodbye to a community with whom he has spent the past thirty seven years but that he is looking forward to taking on his new role.

“I have much to learn, and it will not be easy to leave my monastery after thirty seven years,” he said. “But I do so knowing that I am not going among strangers. I commend myself to the kind hearts and prayers of all whom I am called to serve. Together in Christ may we shine with the light of His Resurrection!”

The Bishop-Elect is well known in the Diocese and also further afield, both as a retreat-giver and as a spiritual writer. In recent years he has published two books: Unfolding the Mystery, a collection of homilies and conferences on the Liturgical year, and Living the Mystery, a series of reflections on aspects of Christian life. He has also been a regular contributor to the Light of the North.

His ordination as Bishop is planned for Monday th August. Cardinal Keith O’Brien, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, will be the principal consecrator of the new Bishop at a Mass, which will be celebrated at Aberdeen’s St Mary’s Cathedral with Bishop Moran and Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow as co-Consecrators. During the vacancy Bishop Peter Moran, now referred to as Bishop-Emeritus (i.e. retired) of Aberdeen, has been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.

Bishop Peter commented: “I am delighted to welcome Bishop-Elect Hugh Gilbert as my successor. During his nineteen years as Abbot, Pluscarden Abbey has continued to be the serene spiritual heart of our Diocese, and I am

Bishop-Elect Hugh Gilbert O.S.B. confident that our new Bishop will guide us in that personal search for holiness upon which Pope Benedict laid such stress when he visited Scotland last year.”

Cardinal O’Brien said he was ‘delighted’ to welcome Abbot Gilbert as the new Bishop of Aberdeen and, subsequently, as the newest member of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow, who ordained Dom Gilbert as a priest when he was formerly Bishop of Aberdeen, said he was ‘delighted at the appointment of my second successor.’

“The Abbot is well known to me,” Archbishop Conti said. “I had the joy of ordaining him priest almost thirty years ago and later of blessing him as Abbot of Pluscarden. If it can be said that Abbot Hugh’s appointment is a loss to the Abbey, there is great gain for Aberdeen Diocese and the wider Catholic community of Scotland in his being named Bishop.”

The Archbishop added that the news would be ‘particularly welcomed in Aberdeen Diocese, where Pluscarden has warm links with every part of the territory and is recognised as a thriving centre of spirituality, monastic practice and culture in the north of Scotland. Over the last few decades, Abbot Hugh has played a key role in the success story that is Pluscarden, a period which has seen it expand its influence far and wide.’

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Ordination of Domenico Zanrè

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omenico Zanrè was ordained as a priest by Bishop Peter Moran in St Mary’s Cathedral, Aberdeen on the th June.

The joyful Mass was concelebrated by  other priests and attended by well-wishers from the Diocese and beyond. The newly ordained priest commented afterwards: “My chief emotion is one of pure joy and a little nervousness. I still find it hard to believe at times that God has called me to be his priest, unworthy as I am.

His love is truly without measure.”

Son of James and Eva Zanrè, Domenico was born in Fife, but grew up in Peterhead, where he attended St Peter’s Episcopal School and the Central School. He spent six years at Glenalmond College before commencing undergraduate studies

Fr Domenico with his mother, Eva, after the Ordination Mass at the University of Glasgow. After graduation Domenico pursued a distinguished academic career and from  to , he worked as a Lecturer in Italian Renaissance Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Originally he entered seminary as a student for Glasgow Archdiocese but was drawn back to his home Diocese of Aberdeen which he knows well and

was granted permission to change diocese.

Over the summer Fr Domenico will spend a week in Lourdes with HCPT (A charity which organises Pilgrimage holidays to Lourdes for people of all ages and abilities) as well as taking part in World Youth Day in Madrid before returning to Rome to begin his final year of Licentiate studies.

St Margaret and the Sacred Heart centenary celebrations

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aint Margaret and the Sacred Heart in Lerwick, Shetland celebrated its th anniversary at a special thanksgiving Mass on Saturday, nd July.

Bishops of Aberdeen past, present and future - Archbishop Mario Conti Bishop-Emeritus Peter Moran and Bishop-Elect Hugh Gilbert OSB - travelled to the parish to concelebrate the centenary Mass. Also present for the celebrations in Scotland’s most northerly parish were Monsignor Robert McDonald, Canon Leo Glancy, parish priest Fr Anil Gonsalves, and former parish priest Fr Gerry Livingstone.

A beautiful altar frontal which can be seen in the photograph was made specially for the event by a group of female parishioners.

Catholics in the Shetlands have not had it easy: there was no resident priest at their church until  at which time there were  Catholics out of a population of ,. The present congregation has hugely increased to  in recent years and has raised , for the Bala orphanage in Kenya and Aid to the Church in Need to mark the centenary.

The thanksgiving Mass was the highlight of a busy weekend of events which included a talk in Shetland Museum by Douglas Bishop-Emeritus Peter Moran and St Margaret Sinclair on the history of Lerwick and a dinner dance at the town and the Sacred Heart’s parish priest, Fr Anil hall with music provided by the Cullivoe Dance Band.

Gonsalves (Picture - Anna Sopala)

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Memorable day for Fr Zieliński at St Mary’s, Blairs

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unday st May was a great day for the Catholic Church – the date of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II. This date will also be remembered well by Polish priest, Fr Piotr Zieliński, who, until recently, celebrated Sunday Mass at St Mary’s, Blairs, Aberdeen. For Fr Piotr, who was on loan to the Diocese of Aberdeen from the Archdiocese of Częstochowa, was privileged to wear the chasuble and stole worn by countryman, Pope John Paul II, when he celebrated Mass at Bellahouston in , on his visit to Scotland.

The chasuble and stole were borrowed for the celebration from Blairs Museum, under the close vigilance of parishioner and Museum Manager Ian Forbes, who is grateful to Archbishop Conti of Glasgow for the loan of the vestments and of the chalice, which Pope John Paul II used during that visit in . The chalice was also used by Pope Benedict XVI last year at Bellahouston, on his State Visit.

The chalice design is very Scottish and was inspired by Celtic metal and art work. The knop is carved from Iona stone and round the chalice bowl the symbols of four Scottish saints are depicted – Mungo, Ninian, Columba and Margaret. The foot of the chalice has four legs symbolising Pope John Paul’s travels to the four corners of the world - he was one of the most travelled world leaders in history, visiting one hundred and twenty nine countries during his twenty six-year pontificate.

The parish of Blairs was delighted to celebrate the beatification in such a unique and special way.

Deacon Peter Macdonald with the Chalice and Fr Piotr Zieliński wearing the chasuble and stole used by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Scotland in 1982

Papal Award for Mario Vicca, Aberdeen

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welcome surprise awaited one well-known member of the Palm Sunday morning congregation in Aberdeen Cathedral.

At the end of Mass, Mario Vicca, retired solicitor and long-serving Minister of Holy Communion, received the Papal Award pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from Bishop Peter Moran. This honour recognised in particular his years of service as the Roman Catholic representative on the Education Committee of Aberdeen City Council.

Mario’s wife Joan was, of course, in the secret and joined him for the Bishop’s congratulations and the congregation’s applause.

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Catenian Gateshead weekend hailed a huge success

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he Catenian Association’s Annual Conference and Social Weekend held in Newcastle and Gateshead recently was attended by close to eight hundred delegates and wives and was hailed a huge success.

The undoubted highlight of the weekend was the Pontifical High Mass held in the superb surroundings of Hall One of The Sage, Gateshead. The chief celebrant was Cardinal O’Brien, assisted by Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, Seamus Cunningham, and local priests.

His Eminence held the audience spellbound with his homily, surprising the congregation with the revelation that he had been turned down for the priesthood not once but twice!

Cardinal O’Brien and some of the Catenians and their wives from the Diocese of Aberdeen

Memories of Canon Stone

We are planing to get a booklet of memories of the late Canon Duncan Stone published by Christmas 2011.

Please, would those who knew this much loved and respected priest who served this diocese for almost 68 years, send any anecdotes or recollections to Jane MacMaster, c/o St Mary’s, Huntly Street, Inverness IV3 5PR, or email it to jane.macmaster@btinternet.com

The annual Diocesan Golf Outing and competition for the Bishop’s Golden Jubilee Trophy took place this year at Elgin Golf Club on Friday 1st July.

St Columba’s, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen fielded the winning team of Josie Henn, Duncan Taylor and Patrick Wood.

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Pictured above, sixteen members of the House of Bread Prayer Group from St Columba’s, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen who attended an Inner Healing weekend recently at Craig Lodge in Dalmally.

“Approved Contractors To Eilean Donan Castle World Heritage & Conservation Site”

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Eilean Donan Bridge

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Rediscovering and sharing the beauty of the Gospel message In October next year, bishops and other participants from around the world will discuss the late Pope John Paul II’s vision of proposing the Christian faith in new ways. Bishop-Emeritus Peter Moran shares his thoughts on what has been termed, New Evangelisation.

Right Reverend Peter Moran Bishop-Emeritus “Late have I loved thee, O beauty so ancient and so new”

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his famous sentence is from the Confessions, St Augustine’s spiritual autobiography.

“Why has it taken me so long” he sighs, “to understand where real happiness is to be found – in knowing and loving God?” The Gospel message of Joy and Hope – Gaudium et Spes – and Jesus himself at the centre of that message – is the answer to all our yearnings. For two thousand years Christians have carried that message, yet somehow it has not really been absorbed; perhaps not even by us Christians.

Pope Benedict has launched a New Evangelisation and we are all asked to be aware of it. Not a new Gospel, but a new enthusiasm for sharing the Gospel.

Part of this new strategy involves imaginative use of new technology. Fewer and fewer people get their news in hard copy, more and more download it electronically.

You want to read a good novel or listen to a splendid musical performance? Use your iPod! As Christians we are “People of the Book”, but it needn’t be a paper copy.

Part of this new strategy goes deeper. In the modern world, especially the Western world, people expect instant information, sound-bites, straight answers. It’s not just a change of idiom, it’s a new way of thinking and communicating. The Christian message isn’t a history lesson, it’s life-enhancing for the here-and-now.

The new evangelisation goes deeper still. Our message must sparkle with the freshness and enthusiasm of the early Christians. It must convey the almost hysterical joy that God has come among us to put an end to sadness and despair. But we won’t convey that message to others unless that’s what it means for ourselves.

We’re not asked to find a new Gospel message; but we are asked to explore the riches and the beauty which has been there all along, and – as people say – to unpack it for ourselves and for others. We’re asked to explore the riches and beauty in the prayers and ceremonies of our Sunday Mass; we’re asked to unpack the layers of significance in the Sunday readings.

When I became your bishop seven years ago, I chose as my motto Gaudium et Spes – Joy and Hope. I wanted us to emphasise that the Christian message is one of happiness, not one of restriction and negativity; I wanted us to emphasise that in our young people we have reason for hope, rather than disapproval. Now, as I hand on to our new bishop, Bishop Hugh, I believe those ideas can underpin the new evangelisation. Pope Benedict is challenging us to rediscover and to share the beauty of the Gospel message, so ancient and at the same time so new.

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he funeral took place on Friday, th June at Blackfriars, Cambridge of Fr Austin Gaskell OP (John Henry Aldroyd Gaskell), aged , a parish priest in Beauly and Eskadale from - Father Austin Gaskell OP was born in Gullane in . His father, a regular in the Argylls, had survived the Great War then been posted to Fenton Barns in East Lothian where there was a hutted camp for training in anti-gas precautions, known as ‘the Gas School’. Baptised John in St Adrian’s Episcopal Church, Gullane, Fr Austin spent several happy years in North Berwick and Gullane before the family moved to Glasgow.

He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and was received into full communion with the Catholic Church at St John’s, Greenock, in . He graduated M.A. and M.Ed from Glasgow University and was a teacher before entering the Dominican Order in . He took the religious name Austin and was ordained in . His varied career included stints as chaplain to students at Edinburgh and York Universities.

In  as he was leaving York to take up his first Highland parish – Marydale and Eskadale – the

Fr Austin Gaskell OP

students wrote to him: “Thank you for the time you have been with us because you are, for us, a sign of the presence of Christ”.

At his funeral Fr John Farrell OP said that ‘Austin was a quiet man, a large (quite large) and gentle man, unostentatious and a good listener’. He was a man who ‘did not just listen to his neighbour but also to his Master’.

The full text of Fr John Farrell’s funeral address is available on the Diocesan website: www.dioceseofaberdeen.org

I’m going to live forever When we are young we don’t worry about getting old. When we are old we shouldn’t have to fear the future. Age Scotland works hard to take the worry out of growing old.

We work for a better later life, today and tomorrow. We challenge disadvantage and unfairness. We understand what’s needed to transform older people’s lives for the better.

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With your help we can ensure a worry-free future for older people in Scotland.

Age Scotland Causewayside House 160 Causewayside, Edinburgh EH9 1PR Tel: 0845 833 0200 Charity number: SC010100

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Sacred Heart Church Refurbishment

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obertson Construction’s local Specialist Works team has been managing the refurbishment of the Sacred Heart Church inTorry, Aberdeen for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen for the past six months and work is due to be complete in July.

The refurbishment works principally involved the complete replacement of the lead and slate roof together with stone repairs and the refurbishment of the windows, and the scaffolding has recently been removed to reveal the extent of the works. The work to the Category B listed church has been carried out under the direction of leading conservation architects GP Humphries and has attracted grant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Robertson Construction has been entrusted with the refurbishment of some of Aberdeen’s most important buildings in recent years including the redevelopment of His Majesty’s Theatre, the refurbishment of the Salvation Army Citadel and major refurbishment works to Woodend Hospital. They were therefore the natural choice to carry out this sensitive conservation work and

their Specialist Works team has knowledgeable staff and tradesmen who are skilled in traditional building techniques. Furthermore, they have an established supply chain of specialist subcontractors who they use to carry out lead work, stone repairs, lime wash/harling and other “conservation” trades.

Michaela Wregg, Parish Chairperson of the Sacred Heart Church in Torry, commented: “The parishioners of Sacred Heart would like to take this opportunity to compliment Robertson Construction on their superb workmanship. Despite the winter weather the refurbishment work ran smoothly and to time even though the one hundred year-old building was in a poor state of repair. We appreciated the respect shown to the building which is of course a place of worship. We’d also like to thank all the sub-contractors, in particular the roofing contractors who have been officially credited for their tiling work. We would have no hesitation in recommending Robertson Construction to any organisation requiring sensitive renovations or upgrading of their building.

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The Assumption of Our Lady Hugh Gilbert OSB Bishop-Elect of Aberdeen “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown” (Rev :).

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can never, today, get beyond this woman, this cosmic queen of the Apocalypse. She appears with the Introit, and then she appears again at the st reading.

Symbols speak more powerfully than words. Who is she? Who is this woman? She’s a personification of Israel; she’s Mary, mother of the Messiah; most of all, she’s the Church. Perhaps best: she’s the Church in the form of Mary. And suddenly halfway through the Book of Revelation, heaven opening, she appears: queen of the universe, the antagonist of the great red dragon, the antithesis of the whore of Babylon.

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman adorned with the sun.” This sign appears on the solemnity of the Assumption. It appears as we are praising God the Father for taking up the mother of his Son in the Holy Spirit, taking her up body and soul

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into the glory of heaven, a sign of certain hope and consolation for us, the pilgrim people of God. What is it that’s being offered us here? It’s like a conjunction of planets: a biblical image and a Catholic dogma, a symbol and a person. What’s the grace of this day? Something very timely, I think.

It’s the passage – in our minds and hearts – from feeling the Church as “problem” to knowing her as joy.

This is not the occasion to elaborate why and in what ways and for whom the Church is felt as problem: in our society and culture, to friends as well as enemies, to ourselves and to other Christians and to those who are not. But I don’t think this is my imagination.

How, though, might the Woman of the Apocalypse and Mary assumed into heaven get us out of the jam?

How can we be taken from the Church as “problem” to the Church as joy, lifted – let’s say – from the Church as “them” to the Church as “she”?

There is a Catholic instinct as regards the Church. It may be buried or bruised or just bemused. But it’s there.

It’s infused with the gift of faith. And when, as today, the great sign appears in heaven, whenever Mary visits the house of our hearts, this instinct leaps up like John in Elizabeth’s womb.

And what it senses is simply this: that, for all the failings of Christians, for all those corporate Christian crimes for which John Paul II made public confession in the year , for all that the Church is a Church of sinners, she is also always a holy place, always faithful to Christ. She receives God’s word and keeps it with virginal fidelity. She brings Christ to birth in human history. She forms individuals and families and communities in him, gathers them into his body. She stands with humanity when humanity is being crucified.

She keeps praying for the Holy Spirit. She is where the human person can rise above sin and death, can journey to eternal life and the resurrection of the body. All of this she does imperfectly, of course, at one level, but, at another deeper level, really, truly, unfailingly. The Church is a miracle in the midst of human history. And she is all this, first and foremost, in the person of Mary of Nazareth. To develop a thought of Bl. John Henry Newman: no one would hail the Church as holy, immaculate, faithful, all-glorious within, or as mother of Christ and of men, if the Church were not all of this, first of all, in someone. And in someone real, a historical person with a face and a heart and merciful eyes, and hands that help: a woman, a virgin, a mother, the mother of Jesus.

Mary is a real presence in human history: think simply of the great shrines throughout the world. They are great signs too. And as she becomes a real presence for each of us, in the world of our faith and our prayer, when we start to sense her touch at particular moments

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in our life, then – without a doubt – this passage from on our side, as it were. It’s something to be in us, to be feeling the Church as a problem to knowing her as a joy ours.

Thanks to today we know that the beauty, goodness will happen. “A great sign appeared in heavenâ€?: at once and truth born in Bethlehem wasn’t just his, wasn’t T h a n k s t o Ma r y t h e joy of b ei ng a simply a ash of lightning in the dark, didn’t end in m e m b e r o f C hri s t’s b ody w i ll c arr y us. noble futility on the Cross. No, it ows on and out. It has a complement, a recipient, a fulďŹ lment: Mary ďŹ rst, Mary and the Church. Each inheres in the other. And the Church to follow. And therefore each and all of us. it’s Mary who keeps the Church, beyond all that aronts Beside the Man stands a Woman. Beside the new Adam us, a place of joy. It’s Mary who revives and keeps alive a new Eve. Beside the Bridegroom a Bride. Beside God’s our Catholic instinct for the Church. Thanks to Mary Word a human answer.

Thanks to today we know what the Holy Spirit can the joy of being a member of Christ’s body will carry us.

And no one, not even any fellow sinner in the Church, do: eternalise human relationships (like those of mother and son), glorify bodies as well as souls, matter no less can take that joy away.

The more we see the Church in the form of Mary, the than spirit.

Thanks to today we know that the world of nature is more we see the Church’s Marian features, vulnerable and strong all at once, in her, the more this joy will be not a closed impermeable system, locking us in to an endless cycle of birth and death, generation and ours, and the diďŹƒculties lose their power to confuse.

Today, with the Assumption of the Mother of God, corruption. In the soul and spirit of each and all of us, body and soul into heavenly glory, Christmas, Easter, there is one and the same real battle: between hopelessness Pentecost yield their ďŹ rst harvest, the anticipation of and hope. We all live that. Today a great sign appears in the heavens. Today we know where the victory lies. the End. Thanks to today the beauty of the Christian hope rises Thanks be to God! before us.

Thanks to today, we know that God’s glory is not just something above us and beyond us, not even just for us,

Monastery of the Picts The attractive village of Portmahomack, with its sheltered harbour, lies almost at the tip of the Tarbat Peninsula, with the Dornoch Firth on one side and the Cromarty and Moray Firths on the other. Forty two miles north-east of Inverness and somewhat “o the beaten trackâ€?, it is well worth the detour for anyone in search of peace, fresh air, wild owers, birds and dolphins – and history. A more important aspect, however, has been the recent discovery of a substantial monastery, built between the ďœśth and ďœ¸th centuries, thus making it the earliest Pictish monastery to be discovered to date, and one very probably founded by St Columba.

The Tarbat Discovery Centre was set up in a little disused church on the site of the monastery, outlining the Christian history of the area and containing artefacts, many dating back to the Pictish Christians. It is well worth a visit (you could combine it with a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Duthac in Tain). The Discovery Centre will be forced to close in October if it cannot raise enough support and funding. Please help to preserve this vital part of our heritage: check out the website at www.tarbatdiscovery.co.uk, sign the online petition, make a donation.

Visit the Centre and walk where these early monks once walked. Eileen Grant

Jesuit Vocations 1/4 Page

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liturgy

Authentic Liturgy Clare Benedict

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e are living in exciting times! After years of anticipation, the advent of the new Missal translation is almost upon us. In September we’ll begin learning the changes in the “people’s parts” of the liturgy – if it’s any consolation there are also new “priests’ parts” – and in Advent we’ll be using the whole Third Edition of the Roman Missal. Together, we will embrace fresh challenges and a marvellous opportunity to revitalise core aspects of our faith.

Many of us are reluctant to face change, preferring to snuggle down in our “comfort zones”. No doubt the Second Person of the Trinity would have been perfectly content to remain in his comfort zone, his divine dwelling-place with the Father. Yet he chose to leave that place, to take on human flesh, to suffer death for our sakes. Surely, therefore, we can all willingly respond to the challenge of learning a few new words and phrases.

It has been, after all, almost half a century since we were last asked to do this – and the changes then were much more radical. This Advent, St Paul’s words to the Romans may ring with new significance: “you must wake up now!”

Why change things at all? Well, it’s not just change for change’s sake or an arbitrary decision to rip us out of that comfort zone. The current translation, from a wellmeaning desire to give people an accessible English Missal, was put together in a fortnight! Scarcely time enough to do it justice. This new translation will bring us into line with the rest of the Catholic world – surely a good thing? English is virtually the only language which has not been entirely faithful to the original Latin and, as a result, we’ve lost the richness of scriptural and

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pastoral links. These “missing links” are particularly obvious in the Prayers where at best only a vague paraphrase is available to us, thus cutting us off from much of our liturgical heritage. One of the beauties of the Catholic Church is the sense of continuity we have with our forefathers in faith; in the sacred time of the liturgy we are one with them. The Church is now restoring a vital part of our birthright to us, offering us a unique opportunity to rediscover the treasures of that liturgical heritage. So we have to learn new responses, new tunes – what joy!

There is not enough space here to outline the changes in detail; it is to be hoped that we all have the chance to explore them further in parishes or deaneries. For the moment let’s look at a few.

And with your spirit – we will say this  times during the Mass, the correct translation, rather than “and also with you”. From the moment we make the sign of the cross until the final dismissal, we are in God’s presence in time and place and so this is not just a casual greeting: the celebrant is no longer Fr X; he is acting “in the person of Christ as Head” and we are acknowledging the spirit given to him at his ordination. This “is a statement of faith, a statement distorted by transforming it into an exchange of personal greetings”. We will be using the words uttered by Christians since the beginning of the Church, as explained by St Paul to Timothy.

The main change in the Confiteor comes in the translation of the triple acknowledgement of our sinful state: “I have greatly sinned … through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”, at this point striking our breasts. Gestures have always played an important part in liturgy, helping to emphasise the essence of the rite. Here, repetition adds to our acknowledgement of the extent of our failure to live up to the Lord’s commandments. “We point not at someone else but at ourselves as the guilty party …” (Ratzinger) And another great liturgist has commented: “To strike the breast is to beat against the gates of our inner world in order to shatter them. ‘Repent, do penance.’ It is the voice of God. Striking the breast is the visible sign that we hear that summons” (Guardini.). In this action we emulate the tax-collector who went home forgiven: “But the tax collector … beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” (Luke :) There are not many changes to the Gloria – but enough to give us the chance to refresh our appreciation of this sublime hymn of praise. We will have also to learn new music, unless, of course, we decide to use the original Latin for which there are already many beautiful chants. It is helpful to be reminded at this time that the first document of Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, acknowledged “Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy; therefore … it should be given pride

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of place in liturgical services” (). And Pope Benedict in his encyclical Sacramentum Caritatis, expressed his desire that “Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy”.

The Gloria is most definitely a hymn of praise and thanksgiving and should be sung, and sung joyfully, not muttered hurriedly. Again, certain phrases were roughly translated previously or even missed out altogether.

These have been fully restored: Glory to God in the highest And on earth peace to people of good will.

Here is the original song of the angels, recorded by St Luke (:), proclaiming the joyful news of the Incarnation to the shepherds. This is followed by another amendment, the restoration of the fourfold litany – “We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory.” – We don’t just praise God for his great glory but we thank him. This is a moment of overflowing joy, adoration and gratitude – remember that sublime moment when the angels brought the glorious news to the poor of the earth. This litany expresses two of the four ends of prayer – adoration and thanksgiving. This is followed by a threefold litany addressed to our Saviour himself: Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

These three expressions of prayer, condensed into two in the current translation, express the other two ends of prayer – contrition and petition. All prayer, then, is summed up in this hymn we sing so often. It will be good to take time, to pause to remember that we have so much for which to be thankful and to praise God. The Creed is not a simple recitation: I must know and believe what I am professing; otherwise it is an empty recitation of words, rather than an affirmation of the Word of God. When I say Amen I am saying, Yes, I really believe this.

So, when we each proclaim I believe… we acknowledge that all the faithful are speaking as the Church, that single spotless Bride of Christ. The confession of Faith is, as it were, “coming from the person of the whole Church, united by means of the Creed” (Lit. Auth. ).

Visible and Invisible: By visible is not just meant what we can see, but the whole of physical creation; by invisible, is meant the spiritual realm, including angels and souls. We have just affirmed that God created everything, material and spiritual; this section was added to refute the heresy that regarded the physical as evil, created by an evil god. We affirm our belief here in the amazing truth that God created us both flesh and spirit, visible and invisible, a wholeness of being which we will regain at the final resurrection. “begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father” – “of one being” is not wrong, but “consubstantial” is more accurate, more faithful to the Latin (and the original Greek). The Greek word homoousios means “of the exact same substance” – this was to refute the heresy that the Son was homoiousios, ie, “of similar substance”.

These terms were the talk of the city of Nicaea at the time and it is from there that we derive the idiom “an iota of a difference”, that little Greek letter ‘i’, ‘iota’ making a huge difference in belief. The Son is not “one in being” in that he and the Father are the same Person; he is distinct, but they share the same divine substance.

“And by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” As well as following the original more closely, this slight change from “became incarnate” to “was incarnate” stresses a vital part of Church teaching, that, just as each one of us is a human being from the moment of conception, so Jesus was human at the moment he received his flesh from his mother at his conception, not at his birth.

Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof (Mt :). I think I’ve heard more complaints about this response than anything else; why, I can’t think!

These are the words of the Gospel: we express the same faith as the centurion that Jesus has the power to heal us by simply saying a word; but our crucified, risen and ascended Lord comes into us, enters into the temple of our bodies and makes us whole, makes us one Body with Christ and one another.

There are other minor changes to the Creed, the Gloria and other responses, concerned mainly with consistency with the original Latin. Perhaps the most important factor, however, is the wonderful opportunity we are being given to refresh not only our knowledge of the Faith we profess but, more importantly, our belief in the life-enhancing truth of that Faith. It is all too easy to recite words by rote and scarcely notice what we are saying; this fresh gift from Holy Mother Church will allow us to reflect anew on our faith and be ourselves renewed, revitalised and rekindled. We deserve this restoration of authentic liturgy; please God we shall prove worthy of the gift and rise magnificently to the challenge.

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educationandformation

The Code of Cano n Law

In a new three-part series the Diocesan Chancellor, the Rev Deacon John Wire, examines how the rights and responsibilities of Catholic Christians are enshrined in Canon Law.

Deacon John Wire

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all Christians a true equality regarding dignity and action in building up the Body of Christ. Baptism not only influences a person’s individual relationship with God but also involves the person in a relationship with a specific community of faith. These relationships produce two consequences, firstly the person participates in the threefold functions of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King, (ruler). Secondly they are called to exercise the mission of the Church, to spread the ‘good news’ of Christ and salvation.

However, canon 205 brings us to the reality of Catholic Christianity; it says that only those baptised people who are joined to Christ by the bonds of the profession of faith, through the sacraments and the governance of the Church are fully in communion with the Catholic Church. So, there is the difference between ‘communion’ and ‘full communion’, between ‘incorporation’ and ‘full incorporation’. For example, when a baptised noncatholic is received into the Catholic Church their profession of faith (reciting the creed) is the precursor to receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion. Baptism can only be received once and the Catholic Church recognises the validity of baptism conferred by Orthodox churches and most non-catholic denominations; the criteria for conferring baptism, of course, being the use of water and the Trinitarian formula, “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”.

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he  Code of Canon Law introduced a new concept into the law of the Church.

That concept, which was detailed in Book II of the code, was the Rights and Obligations of the Christian faithful. It was a radical step as far as canon law was concerned because the  code, sometimes known as the code for clerics, only mentioned the faithful or more specifically the laity in connection with associations, encouraging them to join associations dedicated to pious and charitable works.

The title of Book II of the 1983 code is ‘The People of God’ and reflects the ecclesiological perspective of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, chapter 2 of which is also entitled ‘The People of God’. Book II of the 1983 code contains 543 canons and is divided into three parts.

In this series of articles I intend to concentrate on part one only, ‘The Christian Faithful’ and look at three particular aspects of that section, namely baptism, education and associations of the Christian faithful.

Every person who is baptised has been incorporated into Christ and they become the People of God, (canon 204 §1). This includes Roman Catholics, members of the Eastern Catholic Churches, members of the Orthodox Churches as well as Christians of the majority of protestant denominations. Canon 208 states that there exists among

Every person who is baptised has been incorporated into Christ Through baptism as Catholics we acquire rights and obligations within the boundaries of our Catholic faith.

The right and duty to work to spread the divine message of salvation is paramount, (canon 211): as is the right to receive from the parish priests the sacraments and the word of God, (canon 213): the right to worship God according to the rite we are baptised into, (canon 214), in our case in the Diocese of Aberdeen we belong to the Latin Rite. An alternative example would be those who are members of the Syro-Malabar Church which is one of the Eastern Catholic Churches and worships using the Chaldean Rite (East Syrian tradition). There are members of the Syro-Malabar Church in Aberdeen. The right to marry in the Catholic Church is also paramount, (canon

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1058), consequently consequen ntly ev everyone eryone also has the right rigght to choose persuaded their oown wn state in n life without being persuade ed otherwise, otherwise, within (canon 219), wit thin the context of the codee this means Catholics that as Catholic cs we we can choose to remain remaiin single, or choose to marry marry or o choose to become a cleric or o a member community off a rreligious eligious li i c i without ih b i forced being f ced for d into i Wee can anything. W can also vindicate and defend defen nd our rights through competent 221), thr ough the com mpetent ecclesiastical forum, forum, (canon ( words in other wor ds we we can petition the Tribunal Tribunal too seek justice if we we feel that our ou ur rights have have been violated d in any way. wayy.

Here wee have H ere in Scotland dw have a national tribunal which serves serves tribunal Scotland. as diocesan tribu unal for all the dioceses in Sc cotland.

With rights certain With these rig ghts come cer tain obligations, obligation ns, firstly we we aree obliged to always ar a rremain emain in communion communioon with the Church, on our Chur ch, (canon 209 §1). This obligation is based b

personal rrelationship elattionship with God God and the expression exxpression of that relationship parish and relationship in i the communion of the local l diocesan com communities. mmunities. We We are are obliged to support support the Church ensuree that the Church Church so as to ensur Church has h the means to continue itss divine mission thr through ough h worship and charitable works h i bl wor w k as well ks wellll as supporting supporting i g the h Church’s Church h’s ministers, (canon (caanon 222 §1). §1). This obligation obligatioon is repeated repeated in the section of o the code which refers refers too the Temporal Temporal Goods Goods of the th he Church, Church, in other words wordss its assets and property property and d canon 1260 serves serves to reinforce reinfoorce the position whereby whereby the Church Church can “require “require from from the t faithful that which is necessary neceessary for the support support of the Church”.

Church h”. Next Next time w wee willl look at the right to receive receeive a Christian education.

Fr Bernard O’Connor’s

Vatican Brief

Pope John Pope John P Paul aul IIII AV Voice oice ffor or JJustice ustice n May May , , P Pope ope Ben Benedict nedict XVI formally declared fo ormally declar ed that his predecessor, predecessorr, pr Karol K arol Wojtyla, Wojtyla, should bee inscribed among worthy am mong those deemed wor rthy of the Church’s Church h’s veneration. veneration. enerration. His His inclusion among a the ‘Blessed’ ‘Blessed’ meanss that his sanctity might now n w serve no serve as an exemplar exemplar for the Christian faithful of how ho ow to model our daily existence existence in imitation of his evident eviident heroic heroic virtue. virtue. From Frrom the th he canonical or legal perspective, perspeectivve, John John Paul Paul II moves moves the th he next step closer to canonization: canoniization: the eventual evventual recognition recognition ecogn nition that as a saint the Church C ch may Chur proclaim proclaim him to o be authentically “a “a bridge which joins earth earth to heaven.” heavven.” en..”

Stt P Peter’s eter’s Square Squarre decorated decorrated for fo the Beatification Paul B eatification of JJohn ohn P aul aul II Readers are are doubtless aware aware of the impact impacct of the Wojtyla Wojtyla Readers papacy, ago.. IItt was papacyy, concluding conclluding as it did a mere mere six years years ago Pontiff prepared prepared d the Church Church for an era duringg which the Pontiff the mammoth mammotth challenges which confronted confron nted its debut to the thir third d millennium. millennium. Pope Pope Benedict’s Benedict’s homily for the beatification liturgy aptly summarized summarized Pope Pope Wojtyla’s Wojtyla ojtyla’’s unique and rremarkable e emar kable legacy legacy. y. In In essence, essencee, “he restored restored to Christianity its true i tr ue face as a religion religion of hope, h to be lived lived in history history in n an ‘Advent’ ‘Advent’ spirit, in a personal and communitarian directed communitariian existence dir ected to Christ, Christ, the fullness of humanityy and the fulfillment of all our o longings g g for justice and peace.” peeace.”

Blessed B lessed John Joh hn Paul Paul II was profoundly profoundly convinced that peace is not a rremote emote ideal, but can be b realized realized and actualized actualized to the extent that we we seek to co-operate co-operate in the joint pursuit of justice. It It is the opinion n of this author

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that among the extensive Wojtyla discourse relevant to the crucial theme of justice, two texts are especially deserving of our recall. If justice is the groundwork for the attainment of peace, how should Christians respond to the nature of justice? This is the message implied in Pope John Paul II’s addresses to the United Nations on October , , and again on October , , to commemorate the organization’s Fiftieth General Assembly. And while world leaders provide the immediate audience for these speeches, it should not be argued that the Pope intended his assessment to be restricted to these diplomats or construed to apply simply to persons of A prevalent tendency in modern society is to separate religious and moral considerations from the main core of problems and issues.

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vivid reminder however, that beliefs and values are enduring, and not perpetuated solely by the dynamics of social appeal or political convention. Justice requires us to defend what is intrinsically ‘right’, despite possible censure from adverse scrutiny. Compliance is frequently the antithesis of Christian witness. Because ‘silence’ is seldom the means either to analyze and comprehend suffering or to counter the multi-forms of blatant atrocity. () The call to freedom cannot be suppressed (, No. ).

The Pope specifically had in mind the non-violent revolutions of . Freedom expresses itself as a movement which arises from the very dignity of the human person. As such, freedom resists the advocacy of popular whim or caprice. By contrast, justice necessitates that freedom be determined on the basis of what properly defines the person: the measure of the reality of our being, well beyond the utility or profitability of our doing. Attention ought therefore be devoted toward what enables human potential to build upon the content of its inherent internal structure, the design logic according to which that potential has been created and is sustained. As with freedom, justice is not arbitrary. For both invite reflection, ongoing interpretation, clarification and reformulation. Neither is the result of superficial exposure to shifting social trends, but arises from a prolonged process of discovery; the discovery of what is most consistent and most tested within the human phenomenon. () Justice translates as a respect for differences (, No. -).

Examples abound (e.g. Balkans, Central Africa) of where the ‘other’ “can sometimes be felt as a burden, or even as a threat.” Said “fear of difference” may escalate to the point of obliterating what “distinguishes individuals and peoples.” But it is respect for “fundamental commonality” which acts as a safeguard for the fact that “different cultures are but different ways of facing the question of the meaning of personal existence.” Ultimately, respect for ‘difference’ validates our quest after “the greatest of all mysteries: the mystery of God.” And it is respect which is a guarantor that conscience must be severed from coercion, and that dialogue becomes the protocol of social balance and calmness of accord.

generic good will. Rather, although Pope John Paul deliberated upon a vision of justice compatible with the broad aspirations of humanity, his view derived from the Gospel as enriched by twenty centuries of Christian tradition. There are then lessons which prevail for us, and among them these four: () The “human problems” which beset us are marked by a “religious and moral dimension” (, No. ).

A prevalent tendency in modern society is to separate religious and moral considerations from the main core of problems and issues. The net result is often that religion is relegated to the social periphery and there increasingly subject to exclusion. Religion, like morality, becomes reduced to subjective and convenient consensus. If found expedient, religion and morality are acknowledged.

Otherwise, their influence is permitted to collapse under the influence of overriding social pressures. Succinctly stated, religion and morality are less and less accepted as mechanisms by which to evaluate human behavior as they are a byproduct of contrived social interest. Pope John Paul objected. He affirmed that the Church is mandated by a “duty” to reinstate religion and morality to their primacy; which is to say as fundamental to each and every aspect of human identity and activity. The overall thrust is unitive; attesting that the solution to human ills entails a philosophy of man with a focus upon his “wholeness.” The alternative would be an approach impoverished by fragmentation and compartmentalism.

Justice will never excuse us from the consequences of Blessed John Paul I I, p ray f or u s! such biased selectivity. () The stance of politically correct “silence” often Fr Bernard O’Connor is a priest of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia and a former official with the betrays the integrity of memory (, No. ).

Pope John Paul discusses the oppression which has Vatican’s Congregation for Eastern Churches. characterized his beloved Poland, notably throughout the Nazi regime and the subsequent decades of Communist tyranny. The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights is a

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Salvation History Part 6 Eileen Grant

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ishing to save His people from the consequences of their wilful disobedience, God called a series of prophets to warn the people to turn their hearts back to Him. In the Old Testament a prophet was not someone who predicted the future but rather one who communicated divine revelation.

A prophet was often chosen by God to demonstrate to the people, and to their enemies, the one true God’s power. An older title for prophet was “seer”, the description given, for instance, to Samuel. The prophets were, to a greater or lesser extent, an extremely significant group and their “books” make up the largest section of the Old Testament, many of the figures being mentioned also in the historical books. The Hebrew people of Jesus’ time would have known the stories of the prophets and would have been on the lookout for any “signs” from their prophecies, especially those associated with the coming of God’s Messiah.

The prophet most mentioned in the New Testament is Elijah, who made his first appearance in  Kings  when he was sent to Ahab, the seventh king of Israel. Ahab had come under the evil influence of his wicked wife Jezebel and, to the calf worship introduced by Jeroboam, he added worship of Baal, a false god worshipped by many eastern peoples. Elijah was sent by God to bring the people of Israel back to the righteous path and to prove that the God of their ancestors, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was the one true God and therefore infinitely more powerful than the Baals worshipped by the pagans.

Elijah warned Ahab that his impiety would be punished by prolonged drought and famine.

Immediately after this, God told Elijah to flee into the desert to prepare for future confrontations. In the desert ravens brought him bread and meat each day. Later God ordered him to leave the desert and lodge with a widow at Zarephath, a place lying between the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, where God worked a miracle through Elijah. Despite having only enough food for one final meal for herself and her son, she fed her guest and from then on she was destined never to run out of flour and oil. Later, when her son fell ill and died, Elijah prayed to God over the body and the boy was restored to life, foreshadowing the resurrections to be performed by Jesus.

Hoping to end the drought devastating his lands, Ahab agreed to meet Elijah on Mount Carmel where it was proposed that sacrifices should be publicly offered, for the purpose of determining whether Baal or the God of Israel was, in fact, the true God. After a dramatic confrontation, with taunts from both sides, Elijah’s God was seen to be victorious and the people fell on their faces, crying, “The Lord, he is the God.” Thus was accomplished the great work of Elijah’s ministry. The prophets of Baal were then put to death by the order of Elijah. There immediately followed rain, according to his word, and in answer to his prayers.

The enraged Jezebel threatened to put Elijah to death and he fled into the wilderness, sinking into a sleep of depression. An angel awoke him, giving him food and water and telling him to journey to Mount Horeb.

Obedient as always, Elijah travelled for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he waited in a cave for further instructions. The Lord appeared to him and spoke to him, not in the mighty wind or the earthquake, or the fire, but in “a still small voice”: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” To strengthen him in his despair at feeling he had failed his Lord, God manifested to him the divine glory, then gave him

An angel gives Elijah food and water

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further instructions, telling him to appoint Elisha as his successor.

Incidentally, Ahab repented and was reprieved by God although, after he died fighting against the Syrians, his royal line came to an end when his son Ahaziah “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and his mother”. Jezebel came to a very nasty end, being thrown out of a window, trampled on by horses and devoured by dogs, just as had been foretold by God through his prophet.

Elijah was finally rewarded for his faithful service to God by being carried straight up to heaven in a fiery chariot. The Jewish people to this day believe that he will return as forerunner to the Messiah and continue to set a place for him at their Passover supper. In the New Testament we read in all three Synoptic Gospels how Elijah appeared with Moses when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, in the presence of Peter, John and James. While Moses signified the Law, Elijah represented the prophets, both believed to have been taken straight up into heaven as a reward for their service. All that remained on earth of Elijah was his cloak, symbolic of his prophetic ministry, which he gifted to his successor, Elisha. It is from this incident that we derive the expression “inheriting the mantle” or “wearing the mantle”, in connection with the successors of great people.

Elisha also inherited his predecessor’s gift of miracles.

He performed two for the wife of a wealthy landowner of Shunam: first promising her a son despite her husband’s great age and later calling the child back to life when he died. Another miracle associated with Elisha was one well-known to the people in Jesus’ time: Naaman, a Syrian general, contracted leprosy but was told by a little Israelite slave girl that “the prophet in Samaria” could cure him. Elisha told him to “go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean”. Naaman was at first rather annoyed that this so-called prophet had not invoked God or laid hands on him, but was persuaded by his servants to do as Elisha said; “and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

Where Elijah became renowned as one of the truly great religious personalities of Israel, Elisha was admired as a worker of wonders and for political acumen and influence. He is mentioned, as is Elijah, by Jesus, according to St Luke (:).

There were many other men chosen by God to bear His word to His people. They tend to be divided into “greater” or lesser” prophets but all performed a significant part in God’s plan of salvation as it gradually unfolded throughout the generations. The prophets became especially important during the time of the exile. More of them later…

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Elisha raising the Shunammite’s son

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Wm Gi lchri st  /

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Light of the North

This year will be the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Legion of Mary by Frank Duff. The Legion is a movement which has spread worldwide and has enriched the Church in many parts of the world.

Georgina Lahaye, Secretary of Our Lady Star of the Sea Praesidium at St Peter’s Church in Aberdeen, has been researching the history of the movement and the active role it plays within the Diocese of Aberdeen.

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he Legion of Mary is a lay apostolic organisation at the service of the Church, under ecclesiastical guidance. Its twofold purpose is the spiritual development of its members and advancing the reign of Christ through his mother, Our Lady. The movement which is to be found in almost every country in the world, has nearly three million active members and many more auxiliary (praying) members.

The founder of the Legion of Mary, Frank Duff, was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June th, . He entered the Civil Service at the age of eighteen and at twenty four he joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul where he was led to a deeper commitment to his Catholic faith and at the same time he acquired a great sensitivity to the needs of the poor and underprivileged.

In , aged twenty seven, Frank Duff published his first pamphlet, Can we be Saints?, in which he expressed one of the strongest convictions of his life, namely, that all without exception, are called to be saints and that our Catholic faith equips us with all the means necessary to attain this.

In  Frank Duff came to know the Treatise of St. Louis Marie de Montfort on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, a work which was a major source of inspiration when, along with a group of Catholic women and Fr. Michael Toher of Dublin Archdiocese, he formed the first praesidium of the Legion of Mary on September th, . From that date until his death in , he guided the world-wide expansion of the Legion with heroic dedication.

One of the most remarkable figures in the history of the Legion of Mary is the Venerable Edel Quinn. Edel felt a call to the religious life at a young age. She wished to join the Poor Clares but was prevented by advanced tuberculosis. After spending eighteen months in a sanatorium, her condition unchanged, she decided to become active in the Legion of Mary, which she joined in Dublin at age twenty. She gave herself completely to its work in the form of helping the poor in the slums of Dublin. In , at age twenty nine and dying of tuberculosis, Quinn became a Legion of Mary Envoy, a very active missionary to East and Central Africa, departing in December  for Mombasa. By the

outbreak of World War II, she was working as far off as Dar es Salaam and Mauritius. Fighting her illness, in seven and a half years she established hundreds of Legion branches and councils in today’s Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Mauritius.

The story would not be complete without mentioning the Legionary, Alfie Lambe. At an early age he joined the Irish Christian Brothers, but his poor health required him to leave the order, at which time he was called to join the Legion of Mary. He was appointed Envoy to South America in  and left for Bogotà, Colombia, that same year. For almost six years Alfie worked ceaselessly, promoting the Legion of Mary in Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Brazil. As in the case of Edel Quinn, his health declined and after a short but grave illness, he died in Buenos Aires in .

Frank Duff, the Venerable Edel Quinn and Alfie Lamb ethe three great heroes of the Legion, all have a cause under consideration for sainthood and each one is an inspiration to follow in Christ’s footsteps with the protection and guardianship of our Lord’s Mother.

There are two praesidia in Aberdeen. Our Lady of the Assumption meet at St Mary’s Cathedral and Our Lady Star of the Sea meet at St Peter’s.

But what is the Legion doing today in Aberdeen? Well, as Secretary of Our Lady Star of the Sea, I can tell you something about our praesidium. In our parish of St Peter’s , homes have been visited door-to-door - we distribute the Miraculous Medal of St Catherine de Labouré to householders while at the same time providing a listening, caring ear and a kind word along with any social/welfare help required. We actively publicise what’s going on in our parish and invite folk to take part in social events and to join us for Mass on special occasions such as Easter and Christmas. We visit the sick at home and in hospital and during the month of May we spend time at our local Catholic school, St Peter’s, to say a decade of the rosary at a time with the pupils. We also host and support the Peregrinatio Pro Christo team – Legion missionaries who spend a week, in a country other

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than their own, working together with a local praesidium.

And what are the results of legionary work? Well, we have seen lapsed Catholics return to the Church, others have joined groups such as RCIA and more volunteers have come forward for church ministries; at the same time as we have visited so many homes in the parish we have been able to help keep our parish records up-todate.

As for the Legionaries themselves, morale and confidence was given a real boost recently after Our Lady Star of the Sea Praesidium received a letter of

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support on behalf of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI who has offered us his prayers and a blessing.

As well as active members, we have praying auxiliary and eminent adjutorian members inspiring legionaries in their work. If you would like to find out more about the Legion of Mary why not come to one of our meetings (Thursdays at .pm at St Peter’s, Chapel Court, Justice Street, Aberdeen or Thursdays at .pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, Huntly Street, Aberdeen) or contact Georgina Lahaye on    , email lahaye@globalnet.co.uk

and a prayer

Father Peter Barry

G

reat excitement was generated at the report of a rare duck in the Balmedie area. Was this enough to abort the attempts of Donald Trump to build a golf course? After all, rare orchids, bats and butterflies have been discovered in development areas, leading to green and brown sites being declared SSSI ( Sites of Special Scientific Interest ).

I jest, in part. The bird is single, a migrant which won’t hang around too long, and certainly cannot breed and establish a viable population. To keep itself alive this species needs submerged reefs where molluscs abound. Although the headlines screamed out “First sighting for Britain of rare American duck”, the reality wasn’t so simple. The avian curiosity in question, a single White-winged Scoter, is considered by most ornithologists to be a sub-species of our own Velvet Scoter, a reasonably common duck. Both birds are jet black with little redeeming features except for white wing patches. The American version has a splash of red colouring on the bill. The scientific name: Melanitta Fusca Deglandi describes the bird’s genus, species and sub-species, Degland being the ornithologist who first detailed the North American form.

Whether it is a separate species is of great import to twitchers. In my case, a new bird takes the total of species seen from , to ,. A sub-species doesn’t make a blind bit of difference.

The American White-winged Scoter What would give the bird separate species status depends on several factors: vocalisation is paramount.

Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff, tiny songsters, are almost identical in appearance, but have different songs, and are therefore different species.

DNA analysis is most important, as is geographical distribution. The African Citril Finch exists in three separate areas, many miles apart, and is now thought to be three distinct species.

A rare bird attracts huge numbers of twitchers. Ron Johns is the most well known, with around  sightings in the U.K. I met him a number of times while Parish-Priest in Shetland. The rarest bird I ever found was a Pine Grosbeak, in the garden opposite the presbytery, and Ron Johns was there within five hours!

But gone are the days when birders were elderly men in beards and anoraks. Today’s top twitchers are young, utterly obsessed, and ready to drop everything to add another digit to their totals.

For the future: dancing cranes in South Korea are a possibility later this year. If the Balmedie bird is thought to be a separate species, I can add a single number to my life-total, without moving an inch. I simply take a pen, and add the name to my portfolio. It’s called an armchair tick!

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A CALE END NDAR O OF F SAINTS S a iint n t Mo Mon ica nic A S Summer ummer S Saint aint Canon C anon A Alistair listair D Doyle oyle

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here ar here aree months when ther theree are a e vvery ar ery few saint’s saint ’s days, and there there are are other oth her months August full of o feast days. A ugust is a month of saints. week saints s. IItt begins with almost a w eek of saint’s One saint t’s days and d ends in similar fashion. O ne of the end August saints at the en nd of A ugust is St. St. Monica.

Monicca. Ass usual shadow Augustine, she is in the sh hadow of her famous son, A ugustine, but without his h mother mother’s ’s prayers prayyers an and nd example Augustine Au ugustine mayy hav have ve been a great great thinker, thinkerr, but would have greatest Christian he hav ve been one o of the gr eatest Christia an thinkers St. Paul? after S t. P aul?

Monica Algerian town M onica was bborn orn in the yyear ear   in the Al lgerian g to wn Tagaste, now of T agaste, no w known k wn as SSouk-Ahras, kno ouk-Ahras, near the Algerian border Tunisia.

Her loyal bor der with T unisia. H er family had been lo yal generations, Catholics for ge enerations, so it is a surprisee to me that was her arranged marriage m at an early age wa as to a nonbeliever, Patricius; nominal believ er,, P atriciu us; some say he was a nomina al Christian.

Hee had a small farm and was a councillor in town.

H i the to wn.

Patricius also shortt temper tempered womaniser.

P atricius was als so shor ed and a wo omaniser.. SSt. t.

Augustine Bkk  of the Confessions tells us that M Monica A ugustine in B onica temper patiently. put up with ith his womanising omanising and bad temp per patiently patientl y.

Domestic violence havee been tthe D omestic violen nce seems to hav he norm in Tagaste Patricius never struck T agaste but P a atricius nev er str uck his wife: w ““While While matrons, husbands, many matr onss, who had milder hus sbands, did bruised the markk of sometimes bearr in their br uised faces th he mar blows, when knowing blo ws, and whe en they would wonder kno w wing what a husband never choleric husban nd she had that they could d nev er hear perceive that Patricius ever struck nor per ceive tha at P atricius had ev er str uck his h wife, she taught g them thee rrule ule which l hav havee alr already eadyy mentioned. m mentioned.””

[Bkk  Confessi Confessions] [B ons] This rrule ule was to stayy silent, not answer answe er back and a wait till the bad temper t had subsided.

P atricius’ mot ther also liv ed with them, an nd made life Patricius’ mother lived and difficult for M onica. A ugustine says th he old lady Monica.

Augustine the

listened to se servants ervants tittle-tattle. M Myy gues guess ss is that M Monica onica came into what w had been her husband d’s par ents’ farm husband’s parents’ as a yyoung oung bride. b The old lady may hav ve felt displaced have bbyy this yyo young oun ngg ggirl,, no now w mistr mistress ess of thee farm,, and the ser servants vants tookk adv advantage antage of the situatio situation. n. IItt says much for M Monica’s onica’’s tact and forbearance tha that at she won oover ver both her mo other-in-law and her husb band for in the mother-in-law husband end P atriciu us was rreconciled econciled to the Ch urch, some say Patricius Church, baptised, on n his death bed in .

The marri marriage iage pr produced oduced thr three ee child children, dren, N Navigius, avigius, Perpetua Augustine.

Monica ensured P erpetua and dA ugustine. M onica ensur e they rreceived ed eceived a good Ca atholic upbringing. P erpeetua became a Catholic Perpetua Navigius and consecrated d virgin, i i N avigius i i married i d an nd d in i due d course the Augustine inherited th he family farm and A ugustine stine became a professor brilliant pr o ofessor of rhetoric, and a sor ssoree trial to his mother..

IItt was the custom c in the African chur ch for people to church become cate echumens but to delay B a aptism till later.. catechumens Baptism This custom m seems to hav rough the vvery ery havee arisen thr through Penance harsh way in i which the SSacrament acrament of o P enance was imposed. p SSince in nce ggrav egar g ded as unav oidable gravee sin was rregarded unavoidable in early adu ult life, it was thought bette er to wait until adult better carnal desir dult sins washed desiree had waned and hav havee all ad adult away in B Baptism. ap ptism. A Augustine ugustine was dulyy enr enrolled olled as a Baptism deferred. catechumen as an infant but B aptism was w deferr ed. IItt is ir onic tha at the custom died out in n the follo wing ironic that following centur century, y, ma mainly ainly thr through ough A Augustine’s ugustine’s teaching about G Grace. race.

P Patricius atricius ssent ent the yyoung oung A Augustine ugustine to t univ university ersity in Carthage when study Car thage wh h he was sixteen, hen si teen to stu ud rhetoric in udy preparation career.

Patrlcius pr eparation for a legal car eer.. P atrrlcius died the follo following wing yyear ear in . W Wee can imagine M Monica’s onica’’s feelings heard her when she he eard that not only was he er yyoungest oungest son living with a woman and had becomee a father,, but Manichaeism. that he had embraced e M anichaeism. This Th was a hotchOriental potch of O riiental mysticism and pseudo do science based on the belie belieff that the world was go governed verrned bbyy a G Good ood po p power wer and a B Bad ad p po power. wer. M Monica’s onica’’s rresponse espo ponse was to bar Augustine from home. few A ugustine fr rom her table and her hom me. After a fe w yyears, ears, A Augustine uggustine became disenc disenchanted chanted with M anichaeism m, drifted into a kind of Scepticism and Manichaeism, healed the di ivision with his mother.. SShe he may w ell hav division well havee looked for w d to picking up a semb war lance of family forward semblance

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life with her wayward but brilliant son. To her horror, he decided to move to Rome with his lady and their son. Her efforts to make him change his mind or include her in the party proved in vain. In Bk  of Confessions, he tells how Monica followed him to the ship, how he lied to her that he was saying goodbye to a friend and sailed for Rome, leaving her in tears on the quayside. However, she made up her mind to follow him to Rome. When she got to Rome she found that he had taken a Professorship in Milan. Although Navigius, the eldest son is mentioned only at her death, three years later, it is likely that he escorted his mother to Rome as it would be unusual for an elderly woman to make the journey alone.

It is well-known how Monica spent many hours praying in the Cathedral in Milan, and how the Bishop, Ambrose, noticed her long devotions and befriended her. She introduced the Bishop to Augustine who found that Bishop Ambrose was as much an intellectual as he was.

Saints make mistakes because they are human and swayed by human conventions. In her need for respectability and her ambition for her son, Monica arranged a marriage for Augustine with a girl who was two years under age for marriage. The African mother of Augustine’s -year-old son left for Africa, leaving the boy behind. Augustine was heart-broken: “My heart that cleaved to her was broken and wounded until it bled.”

But we reap what we sow. To mask his grief, Augustine took up with other women, much to Monica’s displeasure: “Yet neither was that wound cured which had been made in me by cutting off my former love but after an extreme of bitter sorrow, it festered and pained me.”

It must have been a day of great joy on May rd , Easter Sunday, when Augustine, his son Adeodatus and his friend Alipius were baptised by Bishop Ambrose. Having decided to end his engagement and remain celibate, Augustine, his family and friends set off to return to Africa. The port of embarkation was Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber. Monica fell mortally ill with a fever. Her work was finished: “Then said my mother, ‘My son, there is nothing new in this life wherein I take delight. One thing only there was for which I desired to stay in this life, to see thee a Catholic Christian before I died.” [Bk  Confessions] As she lay dying, the brothers disagreed about her place of burial. Augustine wanted to follow her wishes and bury her in Ostia. Navigius thought she should be buried in Africa beside her husband. She called the brothers to her: “Lay this body where you will; this only I entreat that you remember me at the altar of the

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S a int Mo nica by t he 17t h ce nt u r y S pan ish Ba ro qu e pa inte r, Lu is Tr is t á n de E s camilla

Lord wherever you be.” They buried his mother in Ostia according to the Roman custom of saying the funeral Mass at the tomb. “She desired only to be remembered at the altar whereat she used to assist without intermission of one day and whence she knew the holy Sacrifice to be dispensed”. In , the Augustinian Order observed her feast on May th; in  her relics were moved to the church of San Agostino in Rome. Recently her feast has been moved to August th, the day before Augustine’s. Traditionally, St. Monica is patron of mothers with wayward children, but she could equally well be patron saint of mixed marriages, and given her love of the Mass, a patron saint for priestly vocations.

Prayer to St. Monica Dear St. Monica, troubled wife and mother, many sorrows pierced your heart during your lifetime. Yet, you never despaired or lost faith.

With confidence, persistence, and profound faith, you prayed daily for the conversion of your beloved husband, Patricius, and your beloved son, Augustine; your prayers were answered. Grant me that same fortitude, patience, and trust in the Lord. Intercede for me, dear St. Monica, that God may favorably hear my plea for(mention request here...)and grant me the grace to accept His Will in all things, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen

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Fourth JJoyful Fourth oyful M Mystery: ystery: The T he P Presentation resentation o off JJesus esus iin n tthe he Temple T emple (Luke 2:: 22-38; (Luke 22-38;; H Hebrews ebrews 2:: 10-18; Malachi M alachi 3:: 1-4 1-4; 4;; P Psalm salm 24:: 7-10) JJesus esus iiss not not ashamed ashamed tto o ccall all tthem hem b brothers rothers a and nd ssisters isters What der natio W h a t a be b e a u ti t i fful u l remin remind e r o f t h e iin n ccar arn ation we w e h aave v e i n tthi his p passage a s s a g e f rro o m t h e LLet e t tter e r tto o bre was t he he Heb r e ws, w s , w h iich ch w a s read r e a d o n t h e feas feast of t he h e Pre Presen ntati t a t i o n o f JJesus e s u s iin n t h e TTem emp pll e e..

What W h a t aan n affi affirm mat a t io ion of u uss w we e h ave ave of o u r sse e llve v e ss,, tthe h e k iin nd w we e rrarely arely g give ive ou urs rse ell vves es eaa c h o othe Present or e t h e rr.. An A n d yet yet the P r e s e n t at a t ion i o n is is a myste brat ess ess u s m y s t e r y cce e lle eb r a t in i n g t h e cclo l o ssen ene ss of Je wii t h u w uss i n h hii s d dedicat e d i c a t io i o n . TTh h e f aacc t o f J e ess u ss’’ dii d n o t e exclude d i vvii n i t y d x c l u d e h iim m f rro o m tthe he cco ommun naa l a c ttss rrequired e q u i r e d o f aany ny othe err J e ew w iiss h Pee ttee r M o r r is P i s fro f r o m A b e rde r d e e n iiss iin n h is is ne eyes. n e w bor b o r n i n M aarr y ’’ss e y e s . TTh h aatt iiss sso o llidar i d a r it ity novit Ree d dee m pto n o v i t iia a te t e ye y e a r w iitt h t he he R p t o r ists i s t s in in d.. TThe opp i n d ee eed he o p p o ssites i t e s o f t h iiss sso o llidar i d a r iitt y aare re To nto, Ca T o rro on to, C a na n a da da rre e j e c ttii o on, n, su uper p e r iio o r iitt y aan n d ssh h aame m e – aall l a n be b e fo f o u nd n d in i n S im i m eo e o n’s n ’s wo w o rds. rds. Mar y is nts uman ein m ove ovemen t s tthat h a t aalien l i e n aate te hu man be i n g s f rro o m c an co nss iidered con d e r e d to t o be b e the t h e m o del d e l dis d i s c ipl i p l e, e, who o n e aanothe nother an nd d f rro om the emselves. mselves. p o nder n d e r s al a l l tthes h e s e tthing h i n g s iin n h er h e a r tt.. S h e i s po her hear editatio ure. t h e m o del d e l fo for our me d i t a t i o n o n s cr criptu re.

Iw was a s rre e cce en ntly tly d discussin iscussing m myy aap p pro p r o aach c h tto o the t h e the T h e Wo W o rd r d o f G o d iiss c h harac a r a c tter e r iized z e d el e l s e w h e rre e myste m ysteries o off tthe h e rro o ssar ary w wit i t h a cco o llleague l e a g u e and a n d The a s d o b l e d g e d w o r d . w o as a do u bl e edg ed s wo rd.

I t wo u l d n o t b e had uss f aarr m man I no n o te t e d tthat hat I h ad thu a n aaged g e d to t o w rrenc ench ess t tthat t r a g eo e o u s tto o sugge h a t the t h e ‘s ‘ s wo w o rd r d ’ t h at at pec utt o f e each t he h e joy j o y fu f u l as asp ect ou a c h o f tthes h e s e o u trag ierce h e r s o u l iiss tthe he W o rrd d of God or pierce her Wo d.. FFo myste wo dered m y s t e r i e s aand nd w ond e r e d wh w h aatt wo w o uld u l d happen h a p p e n w iill l p pel, ess s aag eter a r y, y , tthe he Gosp e l , tthe he me ge of e t e r n a l l i ffe, e, whe w hen I g got o t my m y tteet e e t h iinto n t o t h e sso o r rrowf owfu ull o n nes e s ! M ar ets t s r iig gh htt u n nder der h her e r s k iin n – b beco ecome ess p a r t o f d,, w we pass over wo TTh h aatt s a i d e c aan nnot p ass o ver the w o rrds ds of ge her h e r f abr a b r ic. i c . Her H e r s o u ll,, w h hic i c h iiss tthe h e vve e r y l i fe fe utt cco mment SSii m eon e o n to t o M a r y wit withou om ment: w iithin t h i n her, h e r , is i s pierced, p i e r c e d , is i s c hang h a n g ed e d ir i r revo revocably by h her e r enco e n c o u nter n t e r w ith i t h G o d ’s ’s Wo W o rd. rd. A An nd this An will pierce your ow A n d a sswo w o rrd d w ill p ierce y our o w n ssoul o u l tto o o by encoun t e r iiss n o t a o nce n c e - o nl n l y co con version enco nter no nve e x p e r ience. i e n c e . I t is i s s o m ething e t h i n g that t h a t is i s nur n u r t ure ured have me mo Can hn Ih a v e e aarr llyy m em o r iies e s o f t h e llate ate C anon Joh n exper and a n d needs n e e d s nu n u r tu t u r ing i n g thro t h r o u g ho h o u t her h e r l i fe. f e . It owa nss d dwe po om Go wan w e llli l i n g o n t h iiss p o iint n t iin n h iiss h o m iill iies. es. is some t h i n g that t h a t grows g r o w s aand nd ch a n g es es and is ething hang H e followe f o l l o w e d the t h e t rradit a d i t iio o n aall iinter n t e r p rret e t aatio t i o n o f is alw ays n e w. ways new. place t hi h i s pi p i e ce c e aass a fo f o rretellin etelling of the p l a c e tthat h a t al Mary w wii llll h have a v e iin n the P Passio a s s i o n aan n d D e aath th of W h a t s tr t r ik i k es e s m e is i s S im i m eo e o n’s n ’s exc e x c l a m aatt i o n he h er so on. n . We W e may m a y ssee e e M ar a r y ’s ’s ‘‘do d o llo ou urs’ rs’ – h her e r What o n receiv r e c e i v iing n g the t h e baby b a b y in i n his h i s ar a r m s : “At “A t l a s t ! ” po s o r rrows ows – as a m mo od del e l o f aany n y p aarent r e n t ss’’ ssuf u f ffer e r iing ng up C o u l d iitt h a v e been b e e n a ‘eu ‘ e u rek rek a momen for have ntt ’ fo w heir ch dren d u r iin n g t h e t r iials a l s t h aatt ttheir h e i r Co wii t h tthe hii lldren dur h i m O r w a s i t a s i g h o f r e l i e f t h a t h i s i l e n cce e him ?

Or was it ig rel ief that his s o w n ffle lesh an d b l o o d aare re e e n c iing. ng. ow nd blo exx p e err iienc h a d been b e e n bro b r o k en e n o r that t h a t he h e had h a d f ina inally met H owe o w e vve e rr,, tthe h e rre e iiss aan nothe m a g e o f M aarr y tthat h a t had err iimage

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t h e M e s s i a h th at h e h ad b een wait in g fo r ?

Fro m the fi r s t suggest io n , wh at ex ac t l y was i t t hat he s aw i n Jesus t h at made h im f inal l y se e i t? Wa s i t th e ver y f ac t t h at h e h ad been exp ec ti ng a grown man , ready to t ake the k i ngd om by fo rce – as wo uld be the exp ec tati ons of t h e discip les later in J es u s’ l i fe – and the fac t t h at a power less b aby was p la ce d i n hi s ar ms t h at t h e pen ny f inal l y d ro ppe d – G o d ’s k in gdo m, spir itu al it y, sa lvati on i s a nyt h in g b ut t h e eco n o my o f p owe r, poli ti c s o r even religio sit y as h e had env is i one d i t. He’d been prayin g t h e ques tio n o f t he ps a lm i s t: Who i s the k ing of glor y ?

And now, face d wit h ut ter vuln erabilit y and si m pli c i t y, he c an say to h imself :

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s u g g es t that al l s he ever po ndered af te r wa rd s were tho s e o f the f inal c l au s e o f S i m e o n’s speec h. M ar y ’s do l o u r s have a pl ace i n o ur co ns ideratio n. B u t s o do her j oys. Th i s chapter in her l ife repres ents a ver y p ub l i c af f ir m atio n o f the gif t s he received f ro m G o d.

S he o f fer s to G o d the gif t s he receive d a n d o f fered him to o, to the g athered co m m un i t y.

I n a s ens e this g es tu re repres ents n e a r l y ever y s ac ram ent I c an think o f. I c an a l s o s e e the s am e dy nam ic in the pu bl ic pro fes s i o n o f vows. “ This is my bo dy, given fo r yo u” beco m es the co ns is tent pro c l am atio n i n e a c h o f the s ac ram ents. I n reco nc il iation a n d heal ing, my bro k en bo dy, bo th s pi r i t ua l l y and phys ic al l y, is o f fered o nce ag ain fo r t h e C hu rc h (as the C hu rc h – the bo dy o f C h r i s t ) and the wo r l d. This ac t, this pro c l am at i o n i s cel ebrated, w hic h is a j oy (and s o m e t i m e s a s o r row to o) to par tic ipate in.

B e li f te d up, O ancient do ors!

Questions for Reflection: E x p and my old co n cept io n s o f wh at life is al l a b o ut a nd be o p en ed to t h e t rut h t hat l ies b e fo re m e. Si meo n pro b ably realized h e had to l et go of hi s own ideas ab o ut t h e M es s iah a n d i t was that ‘ let t in g go’ t h at made him b e gi n to ‘s e e s alvat io n .’

When I think of Jesus, do I see him as affirming of me? Is he close to me?

What aspects of my fallen human nature am I most ashamed of? Have I truly brought them to the Lord?

The s e cond possib ilit y n eeds to be ex pl o red.

D i d Si me on thin k t h at h is wo r k was f inal l y d o ne ? We never meet h im again in the g o spe l. Di d that en co unter mean t hat he co u l d fi na lly di e in peace? Or did Sim eo n’s m i s s i on take on a n ew r ich n ess af ter wards ?

D i d he pre a c h the G o o d News to anyo n e el s e?

We don’t k now. Per h ap s t h ere is a sign ific ance i n h i s fadi ng i nto t h e back gro un d? Per haps t h ere are thos e amo n g us wh o can t ak e great co n solati on from t h is, t h at in t h e eve of their l i ves the y c an be co ntent to f ade into the b a c kground. Per h aps it may b e a caut io nar y t a l e to thos e of us (myself in cluded) w ith h u g e e gos – who en joy b ein g t h e centre o f at tenti on – to t ak e a leaf o ut o f Simeo n’s b o o k now a nd again an d dimin ish wh e n it is a p p ropr i ate. We will so met imes n e ed to st a nd a s i de and let G o d do h is wo r k t h ro u g h o t he r pe ople. O ur t rust in h im will be p roven by su c h a ge s ture.

Have I ever told anyone ‘you should be ashamed of yourself’? What right do I have to say something so selfrighteous? Do I realize how much damage I have done by doing so?

I f my atte nti on can t ur n back to M ar y o nce a g a i n, and re tur n in g also to an ear lier po int i n t h i s re fle c ti o n , it is imp o r t ant to h ig hl ig ht t h e j oy fu l nature o f t h is myster y. M ar y was n’t wea r i ng he r mo ur n in g clo t h es in this enco unte r and it wo uld be un b alan ced to

When was the last time I celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Was it a celebration? If not, why not?

When was the last time that my encounter with scripture changed me or prompted me into action?

What aspects of my children’s lives are causing me to suffer? Do I have any control over this?

Do I cause my children (or those I minister to) to suffer in any way? What can I do about it?

When was the last time that ‘the penny dropped’? What did I learn? Has it changed me or not?

What do I need to let go of in order to ‘see salvation’ a little clearer? From what do I need to withdraw to make space for God’s plan worked out in others?

How am I given to others?

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Greyfriars G reyfrriars C Convent onvent

SSituated ituated in n A bbbey SStreet, treet, the chur c is the most ch Abbey church inter esting par p ng up the nav interesting partt of the building. Lookin Looking navee to wards the altar a our vie w is br oken bbyy th he magnificently towards view broken the car ved oak sscreen creen which divides the ch hurch in two carved church two.. IItt suppor ts a copy c crucifi fix before before which supports of that famous crucifix SSaint aint F ranciss knelt k l in the h chur h ch h off SSan a Damiano an Damiano in Francis church

Mgr M gr R Robert obert M McDonald cDonald TThe he stained stained glass windo window w ab above ove the altar

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nee of the most handsome buildings b in th he nor th of Scotland is that of the north G reyfriars Conv vent and d Church, Church, Greyfriars Convent E l lgin.

Elgin.

The rrestoration estoration n of these buildings as they stand today was begun in   bbyy the late M arquis of Bute Bute and was  Marquis completed in   bbyy his yyoungest oungest son Lor L d Colum  Lord C richton SStuart. tuart. t Crichton The ancient style sttyle of the old building of the t fifteenth centur n faithfully adher ed to, and this t rrestored estored centuryy has been adhered old ld F ranciscan i monaster il rrecently, eceently ly, in i the h Franciscan monasteryy was, until possession of th he E lgin community of th he SSisters isters of the Elgin the M Mercy ercy who acqu acquired uired the pr property operty of G Greyfriars reyfrriars in .

U Until ntil their rrestoration estooration the monastery monastery and chur church ch had moree than thr three hundred been in rruin uin forr mor ee hundr ed yyears. ears.

Assisi,, when our Lord d told him to rrebuild ebuild d his cr umblingg crumbling Chur ch.

Church.

The splendid splend did barr el-vaulted ceiling str e etches unbr oken barrel-vaulted stretches unbroken to the staine ed glass windo w abo ve the altar.. Ther stained window above Theree wee see the figur re of Christ the King leadi ing a thr ong of figure leading throng

Our O ur LLady ady of o Ransom Ransom - One One of two two alta altars ars flank flanking ing the wrought w ought iron wro irron gates gat gatees of the screen scr crreen

TThe he magnific magnificently en ntly ccarved arved oak screen scrreen which whicch divides church the ch urrch in ttwo wo

saintly wome en thr ough a gar den in flo wer — the land women through garden flower lost, pr omiseed and now now rregained egained in he eaven. F lanking promised heaven.

Flanking the wr ought ir on gates of the scr een ar ur wrought iron screen aree two altars; O Our Lady of Ran som and vvarious arious F ranciscan n saints.

Ransom Franciscan The beauti iful aumbr t high altar is beautiful aumbryy at the side of the once mor u for its original purpose, ose, namely to moree used house the B l lessed SSacrament. acrament.

Blessed R ecords gi ive vvery ery scant information n rregarding egarding the Records give pr operty of G reyfriars fr om the time of th he R eformation. property Greyfriars from the Reformation.

IIn n  thee pr operty came into thee possession of property

faithandculture

Light of the North

in the 1950’s there were twenty Sisters of Mercy

William King, afterwards Provost of Elgin, and apparently remained in his family for about one hundred and twenty years. One can see embedded in the walls of the convent chapel the tombstones marking the final burial places of the King family. It is recorded that after the battle of Culloden in  the Duke of Perth with two companions took refuge in the House of Greyfriars, in Elgin and was concealed there by the owners, Mr and Mrs King who were loyal Jacobites.

The Sisters of Mercy who occupied the convent had been founded in Dublin in  by Catherine McAuley.

The first Convent of Mercy in northern Scotland was established in Dornie and it was from Dornie that the sisters came to Elgin when the Dornie convent closed in . Right up until the ’s the older generation in Dornie spoke about the work of the Sisters and how, for example, their handwriting was influenced by the schooling that they received at the convent school.

Education was the principal work of the Sisters and convents sprang up throughout the north east. Together with Elgin, there were convents in Tomintoul, Keith

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and Buckie. Sadly, due to the lack of vocations, these convents are closed, even Greyfriars itself, and the remaining four Sisters in Elgin are now housed in private property. At one time, in the ’s there were twenty Sisters of Mercy, proof of which can be seen in this photograph, taken when the Sisters were visiting Canon Auer in retirement, in Banchory.

In September  there was a special Mass in Westminster Cathedral to mark the th anniversary of the birth of Catherine McAuley. The cathedral was filled with over  religious sisters and there Mother Catherine were many representatives, McAuley clergy and Sisters from Scotland. Cardinal Basil Hume spoke in glowing terms of the work of the Sisters: “And how we welcome you,” he said, “not only to pray and rejoice with you, but to say ‘thank you’ for your work in so many dioceses, your work that is so greatly appreciated and valued, dear Sisters of Mercy. You are in a special manner His ministers of mercy, witnesses to His power, instruments of His love.”

Monsignor Robert McDonald was Parish Priest in Dornie and then for twenty-eight years at St Sylvester’s, Elgin. He is an accomplished photographer and author of several books, including two on cookery and a guide book to Catholic Churches in Moray

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Historical H istorical C Curiosities u r i o s i t i e s ffrom r o m tthe he D Diocese i o c e s e of of A Aberdeen berdeen

LLearning, earning, nnation-building ation-building and and poetry poetr y TThe he iintellectual ntellectual cculture ulture ooff AAberdeen’ berdeen’s ccathedral athedral CChanonry hanonry Peter P eter D Davidson avidson

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ooping o oping rround ound tto o th the he ssouth outh o off A Aberdeen’s berdeen’s Stt M Machar’s, medieval ccathedral, athedral, S achar’s, iiss a m edieval sstreet treett ccalled alled tthe he C Chanonry, hanonry, sso o ccalled alled b because ecause w was as o as once nce h home ome off S Stt M Machar’s Cathedral. tto o tthe he ccanons anons ((clergy) clergy) o achar’s C athedral.

Thee C College off Canons Th ollege o Canons was was iincorporated ncorporated aass early early aass , , off tthem was byy a sstipend, orr p payment, aand nd eeach ach o hem w as ssupported upporteed b tipend, o ayment, particular within Diocese Aberdeen. ffrom rom a p articular aarea rea w ithin tthe he D iocese of of A berdeen.

Thee p purpose off tthe was Cathedral Th urrpose o he ccollege ollege w as tto o ssupport upportt tthe he C athedral off S Stt M Machar, which was first o achar, w hich w as fi rst sset et in in ttrain raain iin n the the ttwelfth welfth develop down ccentury entury aand nd continued continueed tto o d evelop d own tto o tthe he R Reformation. eformation. A Ass w with ith tthe he m more ore ffamous amous ccathedrals ath thedrals o off France, St. Machar’s was F rance, S t. M achar’s w as a truly truly multi-generational multi-generational llabour abourr o off love. love. Th Thee o organic rganic growth growtth h o off tthe he b building uilding mid-sixteenth ccontinued ontinued until un ntil the the m id-sixteenth century; centurry; and and iin n tthe he fi first rst ffour ourr h hundred undred years years of of the the ccathedral’s athedral’s eexistence, xistence, tthere here have been where was no ccan an h ave b een few few decades decades w here tthere here w as n o work work in in progress p rogress tthere. here.

While W hile tthe he C Chanonry hanonry w was as a busy busy centre centre ooff employment, employment, ccharity, harity, and and eeducation ducation iitt w was as aalso lso a p place lace w with ith a sstrong trong aand nd d distinctive istinctive iintellectual ntellectual life. life. SScotland’s cotland’s fi first rst n national ational p poet, oet, Barbour, was Archdeacon Machar’s Cathedral JJohn ohn B arbour, w as A rchdeacon ooff SSt. t. M achar’s C athedral manse ffor or fforty orty yyears. ears. Since Since the the m anse bbuilt uilt aand nd ssupported upported bbyy tthe he p people eople ooff tthe he Parish Parish of of Old Old R Rayne ayne ((underlying underlying today’s today’s N No. o. , , Th Thee C Chanonry), hanonry), w was as d designated esignated ffor or tthe he u use se ooff tthe he aarchdeacon, rchdeaccon, tthat hat iiss p presumably resumably w where here B Barbour arbour llived. ived.

Most must have M ost ooff the the ccathedral athedral ccanons anons m ust h ave sspent pent ttheir heir working within w orking llives ives ooscillating scillating w ithin a ttiny iny oorbit rbit ooff lless ess tthan han a hundred manses h undred yyards ards bbetween etween ttheir heir m anses aand nd tthe he ccathedral, athedrall, bbut ut n not ot tthe he aarchdeacon, rchdeacon, w who ho sspent pent m much uch ooff his his working working llife ife oon n horseback, fields diocese, h orseback, qquartering uartering tthe he hills hills and and fi elds ooff tthe he d iocese, w which hich ccovered overed bboth oth m modern odern A Aberdeenshire berdeenshire aand nd B Buchan. uchan.

H is sstudies tudies had had ttaken aken h im ttoo bboth oth O xford aand nd P aris, ssoo h His him Oxford Paris, hee

TThe he Chanonr Chanonry, ry, O Old ld Ab Aberdeen errde deen en was man wide human well w as a m an ooff w ide h uman eexperience xperience aass w ell as as cconsiderable onsiderable llearning. earning.

His Thee B Brus, was written Aberdeen H is eepic pic rromance, omance, Th rus, w as w ritten in in Old Old A berdeen hee w was iin n , , when when h as ssixty. ixty. IItt earned earned him him a rroyal oyal ggift ift of of   per SScots cots aand nd a llife-pension ife-pension ooff ttwenty wentyy sshillings hillings p er aannum, nnum, which, w hich, llike ike a ttrue rue sson on ooff tthe he middle middle ages, ages, he he elected elected to to spend spend Mass himself parents. oon n aan n aannual nnual M ass ffor or tthe he ssouls ouls ooff h imself and and his his p arents.

Like written Barbour’s L ike tthe he SScotochronicon cotochronicon w ritten bbyy B arbour’s probable Chanonry neighbour, ccontemporary ontemporary aand nd p robable C hanonry n eighbour, JJohn ohn Fordun, Barbour’s poem Robert Bruce F ordun, B arbour’s p oem oon nR obert tthe he B ruce iiss truly truly a national work.

Bruce’s n ational w ork. IItt ttells ells tthe he sstory tory ooff tthe he B ruce’s ggreat reat vvictory ictory English oover ver tthe he E nglish aatt the the Battle Battle ooff Bannockburn, Bannockburn, near near SStirling: tirling: moments history, oone ne ooff tthe he kkey ey m oments in in SScottish cottish h istory, ssince ince tthe he lloss oss ooff would have meant tthat hat bbattle attle w ould h ave m eant the the loss loss ooff SScottish cottish iindependence. ndependence.

Fordun was, Barbour, JJohn ohn F ordun w as, llike ike B arbour, cconcerned oncerned with with national national history.

Hee w was principal history h istory. H as tthe he p rincipal aauthor uthor ooff a h istory of of SScotland, cotland, written kknown nown aass tthe he SScotichronicon, cotichronicon, w ritten ttowards owards tthe he eend nd ooff And prologue tthe he ffourteenth ourteenth ccentury. entury. A nd iin n tthe he p rologue ttoo a manuscript manuscript his work Thee B Black Book Paisley, which ccopy opy ooff h is w ork kknown nown aass Th lack B ook ooff P aisley, w hich

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is now in the British Library, he is called ‘capellanus ecclesie Aberdonensis’ (a chaplain of the church of Aberdeen), so he was one of the clergy of St Machar’s, and probably a resident of the Chanonry.

His work was scrupulously researched. Very little had been written about the history of Scotland before his time, but what there was, he read, suggesting that the cathedral library of St Machar’s was well stocked. He also, like Barbour, travelled; Bower, who continued the work after Fordoun laid down his pen, describes him as ‘like an industrious bee’, journeying endlessly from one university or monastic library to another, searching for annals and other historical documents. Hector Boece, first Principal of King’s College, Aberdeen, and himself a historian, prized his work, since he presented a fine copy to the university which for some unknown reason, passed into private ownership in the seventeenth century, and is now in Trinity College, Cambridge.

Another enterprise which came out of the culture of the Chanonry is Bishop Elphinstone’s efforts to create a national liturgy, which culminated in the production of Scotland’s first printed book, the Breviary of Aberdeen [See Peter Davidson’s fascinating account of the Breviary of Aberdeen in issue eleven of the Light of the North - Editor]. This involved collecting material relating to the history of the Scottish church, since the Breviary was intended to introduce the feasts and historical lessons of a representative selection of Scottish saints to every diocese in Scotland. At the same time, there seems to have been an Aberdeen Martyrology: a fragmentary copy of this survives, dating to the s, commemorating mostly Scotto-Irish saints, with a few Welsh and Bretons, and two Englishmen (Augustine of Canterbury and Botulph) from Elgin (its provenance is shown by the fact that it is linked with an obit-book of local Elgin worthies). This suggests that the Breviary was part of a larger project focused on reclaiming Scottish saints, as well as demonstrating the claim of Aberdeen to have a diocesan Use, which was followed in the diocese of Moray (in which Elgin was situated). Again, the implication is of the collection of data on Scottish saints, suggesting that the canons’ houses must have been a treasury of material on the history of the church in Scotland.

This is further supported by a verse collection of saints’ lives in fourteenth-century Scots apparently compiled by a canon of St Machar’s, based on the popular collection known as the Golden Legend, but leaving out lives of English saints and interpolating lives of two Scottish saints, the local hero, St Machar, patron of the cathedral, and the national saint, Ninian, thus treating the Golden Legend very much as Elphinstone was later to treat the Use of Sarum: a useful template, to be supplemented and enhanced by national and local material.

All of this literary activity suggests that the cathedral library was substantial, and that in addition to the books that supported the day-to-day work of the canons, including

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works on canon law, liturgy, preaching and teaching, there may have been an important accumulation of historical material. A slender shaft of light is shone upon all this by Aberdeen University Library’s MS , which contains a list of  books which belonged to the cathedral in : apart from those relating to liturgy, the teaching of the Church Fathers and canon law, there is a book ‘on the nature of animals’ (perhaps Pliny), Cato, a ‘Trojan History’, a bestiary, five historical works bound in one volume (Assyrian, French, and British wars, a journey to the Holy Land, and a work on the wonders of the world), and a chronicle of popes and emperors. Nothing in this list relates to Scottish saints, though it is evident from the work of Elphinstone that collection was even then in progress. There must surely have been other books elsewhere; perhaps in the canons’ houses.

The bulk of the cathedral library fell victim to the Reformation, including, sadly, those which witnessed to the history of the Scottish church. Some books, though, survived, and eventually came to Marischal College via the Common Library of Aberdeen, preserving a slender but precious thread of continuity between the medieval past, and the Renaissance University which arose as another consequence of Elphinstone’s pastoral care.

Professor Peter Davidson holds the Chair in Renaissance Studies in the School of Divinity, History & Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen.

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ALittle AL ALi L ttle t le Food Foo od od Forr Thought Thought ught

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Page P age 3 a 30 0

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Margaret M argaret B Bradley radley ra

ummer a and nd ic ice-cream e-cream go hand hand in hand.

Imagine the sc ene: you’re you’re at the b e scene: beach and it’s hot.. You queue at the icehot You wait wait patiently patientlly in the queu cr eam pa rlourr. Y ou agonise o ver your your ch cream parlour.

You over choice; will it bee vanilla, and a single b vanilla, raspberry rasp aspb berrry ripple or rum a nd rraisin, ai or a double sc oop op, one flav vour or ttwo, wo, a ccone o or a cup, scoop, flavour cho chocolate colate chipss or chocolate chocolatte flake, flakke, with or without rraspberry aspberrry syrup. syrup p. Then at last you you savour savvour ou that rich, ice-cream, equals ccool, ooll, creaminess. crreaminesss. Summer eequals quals ic e-cre ha ppiness. happiness.

And cream does it better And when it ccomes omes to to ice ice cr ream no one d than the Italians Italians who intr roduced the idea to Britain by introduced 1850 at the lat latest, esst, when the ccelebrated elebrrated C Carlo arlo ar Gatti was p eddling ic crream e tto o LLondoners ondoners fr rom a painted p peddling icee cream from cart. was successful brought many He w as so suc cessful e that he and others br mor re IItalians talians o ver tto o join them. IItt w as tthese Italian more over was immigrants created culture immigr rants who o cr reated the thriving take-away takke-a that still sur vivves es in cities such as Glasgo w. survives Glasgow.

Every morning icee cr cream Everry mornin ng in summer the ic ream ea vendors ch urned and froze frroze the ice ice cream crream mix they ha churned had made the previous went pr revious night, and w ent their rrounds ounds in London, Glasgo w, Manc chester and other gr rowin industrial Glasgow, Manchester growing crying, ecco poco!’ to be cities cr rying, ‘‘Gelati, Gelati, e ec co un p oco!’ It It is thought th b ecause of theirr cry crry that ice-cream ice-crream vvendors endors were called because men’’ and the ice cream ‘‘hokey hokkey pokey pokkey men m ice cr ream they sold ‘hokey p okkey’! They They gr radu a ally b ought shops and ssoon became pokey’! gradually bought proprietors luxurious ice-cream the pr roprietorss of lu xurious ic e-crream parlours.

Spr reading themselves them mselvves ar round SScotland cotland they established Spreading around such h a flourishin flflourishing i hing ic iice-cream e-crream industr iindustry d try that th t every town had a least one if i not ttwo wo lu xurious IItalian talian ccafés, so that luxurious became feature of every IItalian talian vvanilla anilla ic iice-cream e-crream b ecame a featu SScottish cottish High St trreet. TThey hey b orrrowed fr rom th Street. borrowed from the American tradition, distinctive and persistent sundae tr radition, aditio on, but most distinc tive an w as the habit off pouring pouring a rraspberry aspberrry sauc was saucee over the icecream. cr ream.

The ice ice cream crream m sundae originat ed in A m The originated America in the latee 19th ccentury, although created the first one is lat enturry ry, althou gh who cre eated th unc ertain. EEqually qually a unc ertain is the origin of the term uncertain. uncertain though generally accepted sundae thou gh gener rally it is ac cepted that the spelling ““sundae” sundae” deriv e fr es rom the w orrd Sunday y. IItt is said that derives from word Sunday. arose protest so-called laws’ against the dish ar rose in n pr rotest tto o so -called ‘‘blue blue la Sunday consumption consum mption of either ice ice cr ream or o ice cream cream

so da. A ccorrding d tto o this theory theorry of the na ame’s origin, the soda.

According name’s spelling was sp elling w ass changed tto o sundae tto o avoid avoid offending av rreligious eligious sensibilities nsibilities. sensibilities. original icee cr cream TThe he origin nal sundae cconsisted onsistted of vanilla vanilla a ic ream ttopped opped with a flav ourred sauc p, whipped whipped cr ream flavoured saucee or syrup syrup, cream maraschino cherry. sundaes are and d a mar raschino asschino hi cherr h ry. Classic Cl i sunda daes ar re typically typic i ally ll named a fterr the flav ourred syrup emplo oyed in the rrecipe: ecipe: after flavoured employed cherry sundae, chocolate sundae, sundae, cherr ry sunda aee, cho colate sundae e, strawberry strra awb wberrry sundae e, rraspberry aspberrry sundae su undae etc. etc. TThe he classic sunda ae is served served in a sundae tulip-shaped, footed tulip -shaped d, fo oted glass vvase ase kknown nown n as a sundae glass glass.. make But where wherre would would you you go tto o learn how how tto o mak ke an IceIceCream Sundae? Well Sundae School of course! For a Sunday treat, try this all time classic Strawberry IceCream Sundae recipe (or alternatively, create your own Sundae using raspberries or another fruit). A classic dessert that has something for everyone – fresh, fruity and cool.

Strawberry Ice-Cream Sundae (For one dish) 10 strawberries – or as many as required depending on size 3/4 scoops vanilla ice-cream 5-6 almond biscuits 5-6 mini meringues 4tsp strawberry jam whipped cream wafer a piece of milk or dark chocolate Put a strawberry to one side. Hull the rest and put them into a bowl. Roughly crush them with a fork.

Put a couple of scoops of vanilla ice-cream into a sundae dish. (Dip the scoop into a cup of hot water before you dish out the ice-cream. This will make it easier to scoop.)

Drizzle a little of the crushed strawberries over the icecream.

Roughly crumble a few mini meringues over the icecream.

Drizzle in a teaspoon of jam.

Crumble over a couple of the almond biscuits.

Add another layer of ice cream, more strawberries, meringue, jam and biscuits. Finish with a layer of icecream. Squirt a spiral of whipped cream onto the top.

Grate a little chocolate over the cream. Stick in an icecream wafer and put the final strawberry on top to garnish.

ffaithandculture a i tth han nd d ccu u l ttu u re re

Light L ight ht

Page P age 31

P oetic o oe e t i c Licence L Li Lic c e n c e Ca B CCanon Bill A Anderson rsonn delves into some me off his favourite inspirational nspirationall versee.

may IItt m ay sseem eem sstrange trange tto o ffocus ocus on on lines lines by by a 17th-century 17th-centur y Puritan Puritan poet poet who who became became Latin Latin Secretary Secretar y to to O Oliver liver Cromwell!

Cromwe ell! John John Milton M i l to n w was, as, however, howe w ver, not not only only tthe he aauthor uthor o off tthat h at e epic pic m masterpiece asterpiece ““Paradise Paradise He writings off re remarkable LLost”, ost ”, a llandmark andmark iin n EEnglish nglish lliterature. iterature. H e aalso lso ccomposed omposed ssome ome ssmall-scale mall-scale w r itings o mar k able ssensitivity. ensitivity. So So we w m may ay sset et aaside side tthe he ccontroversial ontroversial aaspects spec ts o off h his is ccharacter haracter and and of of his his polemical polemical o output, u t p u t, briefly reflect on his his blindness” written he his off aand nd b riefly re flect o nh is ssonnet onnet ““On On h is b lindness” w ritten sshortly hor tly aafter f te r h e llost ost h is ssight ight aatt tthe he aage ge o fforty or ty ffour. our.

“When I con “When consider nsider how how my light is spent s Ere E re half my days, in this dar dark rk wor world rld and wide, And A nd that on one ne talent which is deathh to hide Lodged withh me useless, though myy soul mor more re bent Too ser T serve ve therewith theerrewith my M Maker, akerr, andd present prresent Myy tr M true ue acc account, count, lest He He returning returningg chide,Doth D oth G God od exact e day-labour, day-labour r, light denied? d I fondly*ask fondly*ask:k:- But But Patience, Patience, to prevent prrevvent That mur murmur, murr, soon rreplies; eplies; G God od doth do not need Either E ither man man’s’s work, worrk, or H His is oown wn gifts; gift fts; who best Bear B ear His His mild miild yyoke, oke, theyy ser serve ve H Him im m best: H His is state IIss kingly; thousands thhousands at his biddingg speed And A nd post oo’er ’eer land and ocean with without out rest:rest:They also ser serve rve who only stand andd wait.” wait.”

AB Blind l i n d M iilto lton d dic i c t a ttee s tto o h is is da d a ughte ughters

* ““fo f o n d l yy”” m e aan ns foolishly TThe he first part part relies relies ttotally otally for for its inspiration insp piration on the par parable able of the t talen talents ts (M (Matthew atthew 25: 115ff.), 5ff ff.), .), wher where e ““aa man going on a journey” journey” gives gives three three e servants servants rrespectively espectively tten en talen talents, ts, fiv five, e, and one one.. TThe h first ttwo he wo were w ere ccommended ommended on the mast master’s er’s rreturn eturn ffor or their profitable pr ofitable use of the money dur during ing hi his is absence, absence, but the thir third d had h simply bur buried ied his talent talent in the ground. g round. For For th this his he was was condemned condemned and sorely sorely punished.. Commenting punished Com mmenting wryly wryylyy on that that outcome, outcome, Mgrr R Mg Ronald onald Knox Kno n x obser observed: ved: ““the the metho method od of G God’s od’s arithmetic ar ithmetic is aatt odds with humank humankind’s; ind’s; ffor or wher whereas eas with us 5+5=10 0 and 2+2=4, with God God 1+0 1+0=0!”

0=0!”

Milton parable M ilton interpreted interpr p eted the message of tthe he par able serenely, ser enely, rrealising ealissing tha thatt G God od will not censure censur e e one

who w would ould d rrather ather have have retained retained his h talent talent (i.e (i.e. (i e.

His glory. pathos vision) and used it ffor or H is glor y. TThere here is pa thos in thought: “Doth God exact dayhis questioning questio oning though t: “D oth G o e od xact da ylabour,r, ligh labour lightt denied?”

TThe he sec second on nd sec section tion imag imagines ines P Patience atien nce addr addressing essing the poet in cconsolatory onsolatory fashion. C Credit redit will be g given iven tto o those w who, ho, like M Milton, ilton, ““bear bear hiss ((God’s) God’s) mild affirmation God’s majesty, yyoke. oke.”TThere here ffollows ollows an affir mation of G od’s majest y, and of his dominion d over o ver mortals mortals and an nd angels who ““post post o o’er ’er la land and and ocean ocean without rest. rest.” And And the sonnet end ends ds with the pr profound ofound an and nd of oft-quoted ft-quoted dictum: serve stand wait. dic tum: “They “ They also ser ve who only st tand and w ait.” (wait (w ait on rrather ather than wait wait for, forr, clearly). clearly).

h uum humour humour h moouurr

Page P age 32

Light L ight

Humour from the Vestry Humour H umour serves serves to t d destabilise esta t bilise tthe he e ego. go. T This his i is i w hy llaughter aughter iiss essential essential tto o religion. religion. It It cuts cuts a why S HUVRQ G RZQ WWR R VVL]H L]H + XPRXU LLVV WWKH KH À UVW VVWHS WHS WWR R SHUVRQ GRZQ +XPRXU ÀUVW h umility. humility.

Be Thankful B e T h a n k f u l For F o r S mall m a l l Merc M e r c ies! ies! grr o oup off ssenior were mpa Ag up o e n i o r ccitize itizens w e r e cco om p a rrin ing t h e i r vvar a r iious ous a ailments. ilments. hands arr e sso hard ““My My h ands a o ssh h a kkyy I ca can h a r d llyy llif ift one. t h i s ccup,� u p , � sai said o ne. acts are bad ““My M y ccatar atara cts a r e sso o b a d I ccan’t an’t see to p o u r m y ccoffee,� o f f e e , � a n o tther h e r sa s a iid. d. my ““II ccan’t a n ’ t ttur urn m y h e a d b e ccause ause of the hrr i ttis a rrtt h i s i n m y n e cck,� k , � sa s a iid d a th t h ird ird. blood pre ma me ““My My b lood p r e sssu s u rre e ttable a b l e tts s m a kke e m e plained d i z zzy,� y, � ccom omp l a i n e d the t h e fourth. fourth. guess we ““II g u e s s tthat’s h a t ’ s th t h e p rrice ice w e p a yy,� , � s a iid d t h e ffifth. ifth. but all bad,� ““Yes, Ye s , b u t iit’s t’s not a ll b a d , � ssa a iid d tth h e s iix xth ngl We c o m ffor o r ttii n g l yy.. “ W e ssh h o u lld d jju u sstt b e tthan hankful we all that w e ccan an a l l still s t i l l d rive. rive.

F Fig igh hting ting T Talk alk A llit i t ttle l e bboy oy w t e n i n g to t o hi his waa s llii sstening g rrandfather’s a n d f a t h e r ’s stor s t o r iies e s ooff h i m e as as hii s ttime a s ooldier l d i e r iin n tthe he B lack W atch.

Black Watch. ‘‘II foug fough n A c a , iin n IItaly, t a l y , iin n htt iin Aff r iica Germ many. a n y.

I ffoug ough htt w iith th M o n t g o m e r yy,, I ffoug ough th W avell Montgomer htt w iith Wavell aand n d I ffoug ough th A l e x aander.’ n d e r .’ htt w iith Alex Th w e e bboy o y rreplied eplied w o n d e r iingly, n g l y, hee wee wonder ‘‘Granddad, G r a n d d a d , ccould o u l d yyou o u not n o t get g e t oon n w iith t h anybody? anybody ? ’ T h e LLord Th ord is m myy S hhee pphe h e rrdd A SSunday u n d a y SSchool c h o o l tteacher eacher d e c i d e d tto o h ave decided have h e r yyoung o u n g cclass lass m emorize o ne o he m ost her memorize one off tthe most q uoted p a s s a g e s iin n tthe he B ible - P s a l m 222(23).

2(23). quoted passages Bible Psalm SShe he g a v e tthe h e yyoungsters oungsters a m o n t h tto o llearn e a r n tthe he gave month ttext. e x t . LLittle ittle R ick w as e x c i t e d aabout b o u t tthe h e ttask ask Rick was excited b ut h e jjust u s t ccouldn’t o u l d n ’ t rremember e m e m b e r tthe he p salm. but he psalm.

A fter m uch p rac tice, h e ccould ould b arely g et p ast After much practice, he barely get past tthe h e ffirst i r s t lline. ine. O n tthe he d a y tthat h a t tthe h e kkids ids w ere On day were sscheduled c h e d u l e d tto o rrecite ecite P s a l m 2233 iin n ffront ront o he Psalm off tthe ccongregation, ongregation, R icky w a s sso o n e r vvous. ous. W h e n iitt Ricky was ner When w as h i s tturn, urn, h e sstepped tepped u p tto o tthe he m icrophone was his he up microphone aand n d ssaid aid p r o u d l y , ‘ TThe h e LLord o r d iiss m hepherd, proudly, myy SShepherd, aand n d tthat h a t ’’ss aall ll I n e e d tto o kknow.’ n o w .’ need

ƒ•• • ‹ Â… — ––nj† ‘™ Â?•• Žƒ nj†‘ ™Â? ‡‡ Š ƒ † † ‡ ÂŽ — • ‹ ‘ Â? • ‘ ˆ ƒ † ‡ “ — ƒƒ…… › ›Ǥdz Dz Ǥdz ƒ ‡‡ ” ”

ƒ ÂŽ ––‡‡ ” ›‘ ’› ›‘ Dz ŠƒÂ?Â? › ‘ — ˆˆ‘ ‘ ” • ‡ Â? † ‹ Â? ‰ Â? ‡ ƒ ……‘ ‘’ › ‘ˆ › ‘—” ™ƒƒ • ––‡‡ Â? ‘ – ‹‹Â? „‘‘Â?Ǣ ÇŻÂŽÂŽ ™ Â? ‡ ””‡‡ ƒ † ‹ Â? ‰ ‹ – ǤǤdzdz ‘ ••‡• ‡• Ġ †ƒ ĥ Dz †‹†Â? Â?ÇŻÇŻ – ƒ – ––‡‡ Â? † – Š ‡ ˆ — Â? ‡ ””ƒƒ ÂŽÂŽÇĄÇĄ „ — – • ‡ Â? – ƒ Â? ‹‹…… ‡ ÂŽ ‡ – ––‡‡ ” • ƒƒ› › ‹ Â? ‰ ƒ Â’ Â’ ””‘˜‡ ‘ ˜ ‡ † ‘ ˆ ‹ – ǤǤdzdz ™ƒ‹ ƒ ””Â?Â? ™ƒ‹Â? ›‘ Dz ˆˆ‡‡ ‡ ÂŽ • ‘ Â? ‹ • ‡ ””ƒƒ „ ÂŽ ‡ ™ ‹ – Š ‘ — – › ‘—Ǣ ‹–ǯ• ƒ ÂŽÂŽÂ? Â?‘•– Ž‹Â? Â?‡‡ Š ƒƒ˜ ˜‹Â?‰ › ›‘ ‘ — Š ‡ ””‡Ǥdz ‡ Ǥdz –‡ –‡’Š Š‡‡ Â? ‹ • Š ‘ Â’ ‡‡ ‹ • ƒ • ‡ ÂŽ ÂˆÂˆÇŚÇŚ Â? ƒ † ‡ Â? ƒ Â? ƒ Â? † ™ ™‘ Dz ‘ ””•• Š ‹ Â’ • Š ‹ • Â… ””‡‡ ƒ ––‘ ‘ ””Ǥdz Ǥdz ‘ Š Â? ””‹‹ ‰ Š – ‡‡ ÂŽ ‘ ‘˜‡ ™Š Dz ˜ ‡ • Â? ƒ – — ””‡‡ ‹ Â? • Â’ ‹ ––‡‡ ‘ ˆ ™ Š ƒ – ‹ – † ‹ † ––‘ ‘ Š ‹ Â? ǤǤdzdz ‘ ‘ ” ””‡• ‡•– — — Â…Â…Â?‡ Â?‡” ‡‡ — • ‡ • • – ƒ – ‹ • – ‹‹…• Â?‡‡ Â? Â? ƒ Â? — • ‡ • Dz Â… • ƒ • ƒ † ””— —Â?Â? ÂŽ ƒƒÂ? Â? Â’ ÇŚ Â’ ‘ • – • Ǥ Ǥ Ǥ ˆˆ‘ ‘ ” • — Â’ Â’ ‘ ””–– ””ƒƒ – Š ‡ ” – Š ƒ Â? —Â?‹ Â?Ǥdz Â? ‹ŽŽ— Â?‹Â?ƒ–‹‘Â? Ǥdz Â? † ””‡‡ ™ ƒ Â? ‰ ˜‡‡ Š ƒ † ƒ Â’ ‡ ” ˆˆ‡…– ™‘ Dz ÇŻÂ˜ ‡ Â… – ŽŽ› › ™ ‘ Â? † ‡ ””ˆˆ — ÂŽ ‡‡˜‡ ˜‡Â?‹Â?‰Ǥ ™ƒƒ • Â? Â?ÇŻÇŻ – ‹ – ǤǤdzdz

”‘ —– –Š‹• ™ ” ‘ — ……Š Š‘ ƒ”š

Phys P h y s iicia c i a n He H e a l Thys Thyself A n aacc c c l aaim ime d ‘h eale m e tto o a Glasgo w An ed heal err ’ c aam ow hu h.. TThere was ng ch u rrcc h here w as a lon g l iine n e o f aail i l i n g ffo olk w waiting a i t i n g tto o se ee e h him i m . I t c aam m e tto o a l iittl ttle bo oyy ’’ss ttu u r n iin n l iine n e aand n d tthe he p pas a s tto o r aass k e ed d w h aatt h i s p pro rob bll e em m w was. a s . ““II t ’’ss m myy h hear e a r iing,� n g ,� h he e said d.. TTh he heal err g grabbed his ear praye h eale rabbed h is e a r ss,, s aaid id a p rayer and ed, hear now tthen h e n aass k e d , ““How H o w ’’ss yyo our h e a r iing ng n o w ? ’’’’ “I d do on n’t ’t k n now. o w . I t ’’ss n no o t ttil i l l FFrr iiday,� d a y ,� rre eplied boy. tthe he b o y.

Go G o ld lden O Old ldies en bui ng Why did the he n cross the b u i lld din g s iite te?

She wante ed d to se ee e the m ma a n lla a y i n g b r iic ck kss .

Why do b bees ees hu um m ?

DXV RZ GVV %HFD XVH WKH\ GRQ¡W NQR Z WKH ZRUG Who was the f fa a sstt e est st ru un nne err i n t h e w o r lld d?

Adam - he was the f uman fii r s t i n t h e h hu race e.. ´0 0XP XPP\ \ , F D Q ¡ W VVOH OHHS RQ DQ HPSW\ sstt o m ma a c h â€?â€?.. “ W Well, e l l , t r y t h e bed bed, de ea ar.â€? “ D Da ancing is in m my y b blo l o o d ,,â€?â€? h e t o lld d h iiss ssuffer uffering partne err . “T Th he en n y yo ou m must ust have ve err y b ba ad circu ula lation.â€? she re ep p llii e ed d.

Tea T eache err t o lla ate pu up p i ll:: ““I I am g gla l a d tto o see yo y ou u,, b but ut y yo ou know y yo o u ssh hou uld ld have been KHUH DW R¡F FOO R F FN N ¾¾ Pup y,, w h a t h a p p e en ed ?â€?â€?

P u p i ll:: â&#x20AC;&#x153; W h y ne d? /DQGR RZ ZQHU ´ <R RX¡ X ¡ U H Q R W D O OOR RZ ZH HG WR ILVK err e e,, o lld ma he d m an.â&#x20AC;? )LL V K H U P D Q ´ , ¡ P Q R W I L V K L Q J J , ¡ P ) g gii v i n g m my y worm a b ba ath.â&#x20AC;?

Light of the North

crossword

Crossword No.16

There’s another opportunity in this issue’s competition to win a copy of Denis McBride’s book, “Impressions of Jesus”. Just send your completed entry, together with your name, address and telephone number to the Light of the North, Ogilvie Centre, 16 Huntly Street, Aberdeen AB10 1SH. First correct entry drawn out of the hat is the winner. Closing date: 1st October, 2011.

Page 33

Last issue’s crossword solution Across: 8. Ritual; 9. Urn; 10. Urge; 11. Intercedes; 12. Pool; 13. Gehazi; 16. Wanderer; 17. Recount; 18. Incense; 22. Separate; 25. Potter; 26. Body; 27. Overthrown; 30. Kiss; 31. Net; 32. Locust.

Down: 1. Lion; 2. Jude; 3. Election; 4. Sundown; 5. Unison; 6. Supplement; 7. Ignore; 14. Eye; 15. Apocalypse; 19. Naphtali; 20. See; 21. Repents; 23. Elohim; 24. Adorns; 28. Raca; 29. Wash.

Congratulations to our last competition winner, Sr Maureen Barry from Perth

Little Horror Sudoku No. 5 If you prefer sudoku to crosswords then you still have a chance to win “Impressions of Jesus” with our super tough “Little Horror” sudoku puzzle.

Name .........................................................................................

Address ..................................................................................... ........................................................................................................

Telephone ..................................................................................

Across 1 Silenced (6) 4 Allocated (8) 9 Kingdoms or domains (5) 10 Babylonians (9) 11 Left behind when Peter and Andrew followed Jesus (4) 12 Lame man’s entrance to the house where Jesus healed him (4) 13 Depart (5) 15 Stamens of a crocus (7) 16 New thought (4) 19 Unhearing (4) 20 Absconded (7) 23 Enticed (5) 24 The coldest of the ten plagues (4) 25 Insult rendering the giver in danger of hell fire (4) 27 First visitors to the baby Jesus (9) 28 Twinkle (5) 29 Sin (8) 30 Physical state after absence of food (6)

Down 1 Written on the Priest’s headband (8) 2 To set apart for sacred use (8) 3 Wise men’s domain (4) 5 Location where Jesus met the disciples forbreakfast (3,2,8) 6 Greediness (10) 7 Cured of leprosy by washing in the River Jordan(6) 8 Crockery (6) 10 Worn by Jesus on the cross (5,2,6) 14 Amity between David and Jonathan (10) 17 Against (8) 18 Forbidden in the seventh commandment (8) 21 A place to pray (6) 22 Country visited by Paul (6) 26 Hairy Old Testament hunter (4)

Name .........................................................................................

Address ..................................................................................... ........................................................................................................

Telephone ..................................................................................

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Page 34

Light of the North

S i s ter Jan et ’s We s tm ins te r Blo g S i s te r J a n e t Fea rn s FMDM i s t h e Co m mu n i cat i o n s Co o rd i n ato r fo r t h e Po n t i f i cal M i s s i o n S o c i et i es w w w. mi s s i o. o rg. u k .

Relics: Bridges to Heaven

W

hy was it that when the relics of St Therese came to Britain in 2009, hundreds of thousands of people travelled great distances and happily bore extraordinary inconveniences in order to join a long queue in the midst of complete strangers? I was part of the official escort for the exquisitely ornate casket containing some of the Saint’s bones as they were carried from Liverpool to Salford, Manchester, Preston and Lancaster. It was a remarkable experience.

Speaking to people at the time, it was amazing to hear them speak of the hardships of their journey and the long hours of waiting to venerate the relics, often in the bitterly cold wind of that weekend.

There was no anger, no sense of frustration. The time was spent in prayer and in a spirit of pilgrimage.

Time and again, young and old declared that their abiding memory would not necessarily be the moment when they prayed before the relics.

Instead they were deeply moved by their immersion within an all-pervading atmosphere of peacefulness, goodness and faith.

Neither was the experience only available to the healthy: the sick and the disabled came in abundance, some displaying extraordinary courage in the process. A soldier, for instance, in

agony with a bleeding, ruptured kidney, signed himself out of hospital in Preston for the day and, somehow, made his way to Lancaster, climbing the steep hill from the station to the cathedral. He wanted to pray for his friend, newly-returned from Iraq, who would have both legs amputated the following day. Almost at the point of collapsing from his own pain, he sat before the relics and prayed for several hours until, eventually, the Red Cross were forced to intervene.

People just do not do that sort of thing because of an illusion. If they were deluded, then the vast crowds were extraordinarily ordinary in their dealings with each other and the practicalities of their pilgrimage. It was repeatedly obvious that even the few atheists and agnostics who turned up, partly out of curiosity and sometimes from a desire to ridicule, fell silent in amazement. There simply was nothing to condemn: all they saw and experienced was sheer goodness. The saint’s bones in the richly-decorated wooden box acted as a catalyst, a key to a depth of sharing, belonging and faith that are normally overlooked, or perhaps concealed, in the day-to-day, mundane details of life.

Each and every one of us will have a special ‘treasure’ that is important only because of its association with someone who was dearly loved and has died. There’s that little ornament that belonged to Gran, the newspaper cutting which announced a birth, the final letter from a beloved parent… It is perfectly normal and understandable that the more precious the association, the more care will be used in an item’s preservation.

The relic is not the person, even where it might be a fragment of the body of a saint or martyr, in exactly the same way that Granddad’s ashes in the container on the mantelpiece are not Granddad.

Just as Granddad’s ashes might be kept at home so that the family will continue to feel close to someone they loved, so it is with a relic. A relic is not an idol. Only God can be worshipped.

Where a relic is an object associated with a saint or martyr, it is a symbol of greatness in exactly the same way that war medals represent courage, self-

Westminster

Light of the North

Rel i q ua r y o f S a i n t Th é rè s e o f L i s i e ux i n t he c hurch o f S a i n t -S u l p i ce, Pa ri s

sacrifice, honour and commitment. The relic is a reminder of holiness and an encouragement to travel through life in search of goodness. Christians understand that journey to be towards the ultimate goodness: God. The relic is only ‘a bridge between heaven and earth’.

In today’s celebrity culture we have witnessed the huge crowds from across the world who gathered outside the Neverland gates of Michael Jackson’s home when he died, who have thronged memorial concerts and have paid exorbitant sums to obtain otherwise worthless memorabilia. Ask why they have done this and the answers reflect a search for what Michael Jackson represented to them: music, youth etc. There is a striking superficiality to the immediate response, which masks the depth of inner and unidentified longing for something much deeper and more meaningful.

The devotees want their lives to be changed through their experience of celebrity, but it is a case of Michael Jackson yesterday, Rihanna and Lady Gaga today and someone else tomorrow – the search will continue and the celebrity will change. The celebrity’s lifestyle often acts as an escape from, or a distortion of, reality rather than as a help to coping with the familiar joys and

Page 35

sorrows, ups and downs of our own daily lives.

Today’s celebrity culture bears some similarities to Christianity’s love for pilgrimages and relics, but there is a big difference: for the Christian these are seen as a means to an end, as stopping places on the journey through life to eternity. They are not and never will be ends in themselves. A religious pilgrimage is undertaken because the individual wants it to be a life-changing experience, one that will help towards a lifestyle which is unselfish, generous, meaningful, prayerful, filled with goodness and in contact with God. A religious pilgrimage cannot be separated from a desire to become a better person. It is a journey during which there is a determined effort to shed anger, jealousy, selfishness etc.

The British Museum’s summer exhibition entitled Treasures of Heaven: saints, relics and devotion in medieval Europe will be the determined effort of one of the world’s most prestigious institutions to ‘bring together for the first time some of the finest sacred treasures of the medieval age’. The exhibition’s website says that ‘Treasures such as these have not been seen in significant numbers in the UK since the Reformation in the 16th century, which saw the wholesale destruction of saints’ shrines. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to glimpse the heritage of beautiful medieval craftsmanship that was lost to this country for centuries.’

Frankly, it will also be a tangible way of uniquely explaining the importance of pilgrimage and relics.

Visitors will be able to see for themselves that, in medieval times, people held saints and martyrs in such high regard that they frequently enclosed their remains and memorabilia within containers (reliquaries) of priceless value and outstanding beauty and craftsmanship. Exquisite pilgrim’s badges, also of great value, are a tangible proof that a pilgrimage was rather more of a once-in-alifetime experience than a day trip to Blackpool or a week on the Costa del Sol. Even the stunningly beautiful reliquary used in the exhibition’s publicity material somehow says, “Don’t look at me. Look within me. It is the treasure inside which is important.”

Pilgrimage and relics are pointers to the Resurrection. They have no value apart from the Resurrection. As the exhibition so beautifully shows, each wonderful item, so lovingly and painstakingly fashioned, trumpets a common message: “Look beyond. I am a pointer. Look towards the Source.”

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Light of the North

St Mary’s Inverness gets the Rainbow treatment Rainbow Glass Studio Ltd is a family company, which specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of ecclesiastical, public and residential stained glass. Last year we had the pleasure of installing a new stained glass window in St Mary’s church, Inverness. The window was designed by Moira Malcolm of Rainbow Glass from initial sketches by a local artist from the Parish, Margaret MacLennan. It commemorates the lives of two saints: St Columba who first brought the Light of the Gospel to Inverness and St John Ogilvie, the Jesuit martyr, who was born within the Diocese, near to Keith. The stained glass window was made using all traditional methods and with the highest quality mouth-blown glass from France, Germany and England. Each process in the window’s construction has been carefully executed by hand, and the detail is created by a combination of glass painting and acid etching.

Rainbow Glass Studio also specialises in the conservation/restoration of historic stained glass windows. The work carried out by our skilled craftspeople is to the highest standard using traditional methods and high quality materials. We never compromise on quality. All work is carried out according to CVMA guidelines, which promote minimal intervention and maximum retention of original materials.

Our Directors include a PACR accredited conservator and an accredited artist of the Church of Scotland. Please feel free to contact us if you require any future advice regarding architectural stained glass windows.

We cover all areas of Scotland but we would welcome any enquiries from further afield.

ICON ACCREDITED STUDIO