25 July 2009
Fr Zed
I enjoyed Fr Zed's accounts of his bonanza in London; but it embarrassesd me to realise how we English clearly give an impression that the essence of Englishness is a life punctuated by frequent recourse to "a pint". Personally, I would have to say that for me Englishness consists of the Tridentine Mass, memories of Good Queen Mary (let us trust that the cause for her beatification be not long delayed) and her Spanish consort, the rose wines of Provence, Bouillabaisse, lobster and smoked salmon from Co Kerry, the white wine made in his prize-winning vineyard just south of Oxford by my friend and one-time pupil Richard Liwicki, the art of Boucher and Tiepolo, the Lady Altar in the Brompton Oratory with the statue at the side of S Pius V, reading Ovid, reading Horace, translating the Leading Articles in the Irish Times into Ciceronian Latin, the Baroque High Altar of S Thomas's, reading Callimachus, eating spetsofai in the Greek Deli up Walton Street, the Architecture of Inigo Jones ... somehow, pints don't seem much to come into it.
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Another SSC priest and I have just come back from Pluscarden Abbey where a fellow retreatant was "Fr Zed's" host in Clapham Park.
We were corrected by him over pronunciation because, as an American the "Fr Zed" we all know and love, is of course not
"Fr Zed" but "Fr Zee".
Doesn't sound so good to our British ears but if we're saying the black I suppose we should at least say it correctly!
For the record, could you tell the world whether these Liturgical Notes are the work of Fr Hun-wicke or Fr Hun-icke? Think I know the answer but not every one will.
Thank you Vincent de Paul: I shall now endeavour to 'Say the black, do the ree.'
Call me whatever you like!
Or indeed the Canonisation of Katherine of Aragon... have never understood why, despite the wealth of popularity she enjoyed in her lifetime by the plebs and Holy Church and her constancy to the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, she was never by "popular acclamation" declared a Saint?!
Quite like a pint, meself...
Are you seriously wanting Queen Mary to be Beautified? That's pretty scary.
I have long had a devotion to Catherine of Aragon, and should I ever be elected to office in the Church (har har), I would certainly try to advance her cause. It seems to me unquestionable that she had the virtues of faith, hope and charity in heroic degree. Her daughter was more complicated, of course. I'm not sure that I like any of the Tudors, though Mary was the least objectionable.
If any of our Monarchs is to be beatified, surely King Alfred the Great must be a prime candidate.
Alfred is regarded as a Saint by the Orthodox Church. Wikipedia claims that he is also a Saint of the RC Church, though I can't find anything authoritative to substantiate this. (Perhaps someone with access to the present Martyrology could clear this up?)
Of course the two Edwards (Confessor and Martyr) are already in the Kalendar.
Along with Edmund, Oswald and Richard I.
I don't think King Alfred is numbered amongst the Saints recognised by the Roman Catholic Church.
For some reason, catholic.org seems to think so but doesnt give any details as to when he was canonised or by which Pope.
I have heard that it was he who dedicated England to Mary as her dowry.
A recent biography of Alfred relates how in 855, he and his father went to Rome and presented the new Pope Benedict III with many treasures including a crown.
A separate reference relates how later, the Nuns of S Zaccaria in Venice sheltered Benedict from his enemies and for this he gave them a jewelled crown, which the nuns later presented to the Doge.
One makes the obvious connection, but I wonder what happened to the crown? Is it in a Venetian Museum? It would be wonderful if it was, though more likely it was stolen by Napoleon and melted down when he invaded Venice.
Henry VI is possibly the most likely royal historic cause. I believe that the process was begun in Rome, but then stalled.
Ah duh, King Charles.
Who cares what the pope alone thinks? Real saints are (1) noted in Holy Scripture or (2) acknowledged by the acclamation of all God's people.
Fr. H.,
You've not described the quintessence of England, but of Heaven (excepting the spetsofai, perhaps).
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