22 May 2021

PASTORAL LETTERS

A (dubious) anecdote told of Mgr R A Knox, M.A., Protonotary Apostolic:

"On one of the first occasions when as a Catholic he preached coram episcopo, the Bishop said: 'An interesting sermon, Father, but it was a pity you had to read it.' To which Ronald answered: 'I am bitterly conscious of my disability, my lord. Only the other day a friend remarked, "When I saw you go into the pulpit with a sheaf of papers I thought we were in for another of those dreadful Pastorals."'"

(From Waugh's biography of Knox.) 

2 comments:

Andreas Meszaros said...

This reminds me: I heard a certain encyclical jokingly referred to as "papelorum progressio".

John Vasc said...

I'm afraid that when it was read in the Archdiocese at the weekend, my valiant attempt to sit completely still and suppress all motions, snorts and expostulations took its toll. At one point a few sharp and rapid clicks of the tongue involuntarily escaped me, startling my neighbour who must have thought I had been visited with a sudden pentecostal knowledge of the Zulu or Xhosa languages.