Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter and Holy Week

I have just about recovered from the last week sufficiently to drag myself to the computer keyboard. According to the Tablet this week I shouldn`t even have the time to do that. Robert Mickens, the Rome correspondent, has this little outburst about priest bloggers:

`..it is extraordinary that ordained ministers can find so much free time and energy to "feed a blog". Is it possible that they have no housebound, hospitalised or imprisoned parishioners in need of their presence and ministry? It is also extraordinary that their bishops allow this. But then again we are living in extraordinary times.`

This is in the context of the recent happenings in Manila where the Vatican has rebuked Cardinal Rosales for his extremely restrictive interpretation of Summorum Pontificum. Mickens sees Rome`s intervention as a response to the fuss created in the blogosphere rather than coming from the diocese of Manila itself. However I don`t think he has this humble blog with its 200 readers a day in his sights. Half an hour every few days is all it takes to run. Our bishops last year appeared to give their approval to priest bloggers.
Holy Week went well. Alan and Bruce from the Schola Gregoriana of Scotland led Tenebrae. We had quite a good turn out for Good Friday Tenebrae. The Good Friday EF service attracted a good group of singers but only a small congregation. I know it was somewhat short notice but I thought that out of all those who express an interest in the traditional Roman rite in the diocese a few more might have come. While the 1962 Good Friday has its usual oddities (that Pater Noster said in unison drives me wild) on the whole I find myself agreeing with Fr Hunswicke on this as on so many things.
I was determined this year to find a rattle for the Triduum. I went to Fenwick`s in Newcastle thinking they would be bound to have one. No luck. I wanted one of those old fashioned football rattles but didn`t really expect to find one in a sportshop so thought any rattle would do and scoured Eldon Square thinking that I was sure I`d seen a Mothercare there years ago. I found the Early Learning Centre and bought two garish rattles for £3 each which the servers enjoyed using. However I have since done a simple Google search for `football rattle` and found these for £1.99 each, so next year will be better. Our altar servers do like having things to do.
The OF Easter vigil went much better than it ought to as I hadn`t given any thought to the music imagining that it was all in hand only to find out, on Saturday lunchtime, this was not the case. Fortunately the Alan and Bruce proved very adaptable. Bruce made up some responsorial psalm responses and taught them to the congregation before the vigil. It really went very well. On Easter Sunday morning, as it co-incided with the monthly `chant Sunday` we were well equipped to provide chant at the OF Parish Mass. We had the introit `Resurrexi`, Kyrie, Gloria, sung responsorial psalm, English version of O filii et filiae at the offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Now the Green Blade Riseth at Communion and Thine be the Glory to end. The church was very full and I only heard positive comments afterwards although I was worried that this might be more Latin than would prove acceptable.
However it was somewhat draining. Glorious weather on Easter Monday made for a relaxing day part of which was spent tidying up the flower beds with our parish gardening team.
Happy Eastertide.

6 comments:

Dilly said...

How disingenuous of the Bitter Pill to recommend that a priest give his attention to parish matters, when it so assiduously promotes "lay" ministry for this and other priestly functions.

Anonymous said...

'It is also extraordinary that their bishops allow it.'

Don't you love it when the Tablet calls for autocratic and disciplinarian bishops!

Blog reader said...

Is a priest supposed to be working all the time then?! People in all sorts of professions - including demanding ones of the long hours culture - spend time on blogs. Nobody says they shouldn't be doing it, so why shouldn't priests?! Are they supposed to spend ALL of their waking hours working for their parishes? Next thing, they'll have to get permission to watch TV or go to the shops for food, or to do the garden!!!
This is a great blog and always full of information healthy discussions about topical matters. Keep it up, Father Brown.

ScepticalBeliever said...

Surely you must have at least one Newcastle United supporter in the parish who would have had a rattle to lend out?

Anonymous said...

Do you mind adding my new blog to your links Fr? Don't know what you make of my Tablet post?

Anonymous said...

When I was an altar boy, many years ago, we made a rattle from a metal torch filled with marbles. When I shook the rattle, its top came off and the marbles flew out, rattling about the wooden floor.

Jim