A Talk with My Mother.

O Mother, I am weary now,                                                                                                              Please take away this task,
Just give me love and give me joy                                                                                                        And this one thing I ask                                                                                                                        There are so many ways to serve,                                                                                                             I want the easy way
I just can`t give you every hour                                                                                                                 And minute of my day.

I hear your voice, how soft you speak
And yet this isn`t fair,
You tell me that you love your Son,
But ask how much I care?,
You tell me there is much to do,
And I must play my part,
My foolish words are not enough
For I must give my heart.

But Mother, yes, tomorrow
I`ll take all your goodness sends
But today I`ll have my pleasures
And make merry with my friends
Surely one more day won`t matter
I`ll be ready, wait and see
If you want this land converted
Then you can depend on me.

I hear you voice, dear Mother
And I hear the words you say,
You tell me what I uttered
Is the same as yesterday,
And when you ask tomorrow
I will use these words again,
So worthless are my promises
So idle is my pen.

O Mother I am so afraid,
Of what a `Yes` will cost
Can what I gain in serving you
Be more than all I`ve lost?
But I will place my trust in you
And Him, the world adores
And not tomorrow but today
O Mother, I am yours.

Putting to death your former friends. Henry VIII, St Thomas More, and St John Fisher.

One thing stands out in the life of Henry VIII. As a young man he was devout. He was a constant visitor to the shrinees of Our Lady and even after his divorce he visited Walsingham to give thanks for the birth of a son. Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher were very close to him. He would listen to their advice and vist them often. It would have been unthinkable before his divorce that he would turn on two such friends and have them executed. Perhaps the guilt he felt was shown by the way he cut himself off from their executions. He could not face them and allowed others to do the wicked deeds. I am sure however their faces haunted him and on his deathbed he was heard praying to Our Lady of Walsingham. Perhaps in the beginning he did not want to be such a tyrant but having by his actions abandoned true friendship he was surrounded by people who had their own agenda for the Church and Henry just went along with it. Here is something I have never thought of before. Today let us pray to St John fisher and St Thomas More for the soul of King Henry. If he is in purgatory the prayers of former friends will be powerful.

GLASTONBURY - Where England became the Dowry of Mary..

The first church ever built in England was in Glastonbury. It seems to have been built about 431 AD but legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea brought the little Jesus here who blessed the Church much earler. "And did those feet in ancient times...." indeed. It is also said that Joseph returned about 61 AD and buried the Holy Grail, the cup used by Jesus at the last supper, in the stream at the foot of the Tor. Glastonbury is indeed the place of legends. In the 12th century it is said that the bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were found and reburied. There is no doubt however that Glastonbury from earliest times was a place of Pilgrimage. St Dunstan from the great monastery that once stood there insisted that his monastery and others throughout England observed strictly the Benedictin Rite St Dunstan made Glastonbury the mother house of all the BEnedictine monasteries in England and places of great learning. But the Monastery burned to the ground in the 12th century but as soon as it was rebuilt it became a place of pilgrimage again. Much of my information I take from the lovely book by Anne Vail `Shrines of Our Lady in England`and her words are so much better than mine.

"AS soon as the new building was complete the pilgrims returned All summer long the lanes of Somerset thronged with crowds, especially on Our Lady`s Birthday, 8th September when festivities were prolonged The gifts that were brought to the shrine on such occasions were recorded.
During the sixth century St David came from Wales and left a great sapphire which was a cause of wonder for a thousand years.In the fourteenth century Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III left a silver rosary with gold paternoster beads for Our Lady, and there were always bunches of wild flowers,gathered from the hedgerows, that were brought by the poorer pilgrimas.

This was the age of `Merrie Engfland`, pilgrimage was part of the English way of life when rich and poor, famous and infamous, journeyed together to visit the shrinse of the Virgin Mary and of the numerous saints whom they considered to be their friends; these were friends whose help and advice they enlisted in the turbulent events of their daily lives." ANNE VAIL



But the evil of Henry VIII fell upon the monastery and although there could be found no corruption it was nevertheless brought to the ground and the Abbot and two of his monks executed for nothing.

A new shrine has arisen in Glastonbury which now attracts pilgrims again. But alas, perhaps because of the legends of the Tor being the burial place for pagans and another story that it was once occupied by fairies, Glastonbury attracts all sorts of people, New Agers, people with spells and portions, etc., But worse of all is the evil that comes with the Glatonbury Rock Festival where drugs and promiscuity flourish leading to pregnancies and abortions. There is indeed a batlle between good and evil raging in Glastonbury. Let us pray to Our Lady of Glastonbury that she will triumph.

CONSECRATING ENGLAND TO THE HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY

From Mr Diarmuid Collins

SIR - I read with interest the "10 challenges" that you have set for the new Archbishop of Westminster (Leading article, May 24). Few would disagree with any of these. Other Catholic /Christian concerns might be added by some.

I would simply make a suggestion which (I believe) covers all of these "challenges", as it were. It is that Archbishop Vincent Nichols (as the new head of the bishops' conference) solemnly consecrate our country to the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

In July 1948 Cardinal Griffin in Walsingham consecrated England and Wales to Our Lady. Many Catholics feel that it is now the right time to solemnly renew this Act of Consecration.

In June 1996 Bishop Nichols consecrated his "North London Area" here, to the United Hearts at the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden. Our desire now is to continue and extend this Consecration. For this we pray.

Yours faithfully,
Diarmuid Collins
London N13

The above letter appeared in last weekend`s Catholic Herald. Thank you, Diarmiud. Many will dismiss him as a kind gentleman who does not understand where the Church is today. At the Vatican Council there were shouts of disagreement from the Germanf bishops when there was a decision to call Mary `Mother of the Church`. "It will put ecumenism back 10 years" they shouted so before the Council had even finished the Truths, and especially about Mary were being swept aside. it was Cardinal Heenan who gave this information to the preists of his diocese and he further warned that to drop devotion to Mary would lead to a lessening of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. How true his words were!. The remedy is obvious. Greater devotion to Mary will lead to greater devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and greater devotion to the Blessed Sacrament will lead to more priests from a renewed Church. The Catholic Herald reaches more people than this blog so let us pray that more people will be influenced. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us.

Pray with Mary for the gits of the Holy Spirit.

We are told in scripture that after the Ascension the disciples went to pray in the upper room with Mary the Mother of Jesus. It seemed important to the disciples that Mary was there. Yet this often gets little mention. Now that Jesus had ascended the disiples would pray , yes, but there were still many things they had not fully understood. But Mary was there to guide them since she already was filled with the Holy Spirit and had the gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortutude, Knowledge Pietey, and Fear of the Lord. She would have insights
into the teachings and would be able to guide them in their searching until they too were filled with the Holy Spirit. If there is one thing that infuriates me in the Church today it is the total ignorance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Great preachers are ready to talk about the Fruits of the Spirit but unfortunately you cannot have the fruits unless you first have the gifts. The reason for this is of course that we are not totally committed these days to the Catholic Church. We are not committed to the truths of the Catholic Church. So we are not ready to go out and bring people to Christ and the Truths of the Church, we just hide behind ecumenism to justify our own shallowness. What are these gifts that Mary had and we should have. Wisdom - I remember once visiting a husband and wife and the husband was a non catholic although he often came to Church with her. I had come to ask him to become a catholic. I was only 24 but I am still working out what happened. I showed a wisdom in the situation beyond my years. When my partner afterwards said I was marvellous I honestly replied that was not me. Understanding is being able to read into the human heart in situations like I described and know immedately what the person is feeling and be able to reach them at a spiritual level. Counsel is being able to say the right things in a way that people understand and feel comforted by. Fortitude is persevering whatever the difficulties and staying in love with God and people. Knowledge is being aware in any situation that someone is hurting and helping him or her to express themselves. I remember at a small meeting being aware that someone had a problem and I knew what the problem was and that she wanted to speak about it. I facilitated her. Piety is the gift of hoiness and Fear of the Lord is about the respect we have for God. Mary had all these before Pentecost and she must have been a blessing to the apostles. So Confirmation is not just a Sacrament we should receive whether we want it or not. These gifts to be used in the service of the Church and if a young adult or older peson is not practicing the faith then these gifts are pointless. The more holy the Church is the more these gifts will be in evidence and alas vice versa. Most Confirmation programmes are bult around having fun. But to return to Mary. She can help parents realise the gifts of the Holy Spirit they received. They can help them show wisdom and understanding to their teenager friends. We just have to awaken the gifts marked on our soul.     Mary of England, Pray for us.

The Smiling Jesus.

I was speaking to a mother last week about the images of Jesus. She said her 3 year old did not like Jesus very much since he never smiled and was always sad. True, the smiling Jesus is rare since artists are pre-occupied ususally by stories from the Gospels and Jesus in teaching mode. I love the smiling Jesus in the above picture. How he loves little children and he once warned those who would hurt them that it would be better that a halter would be put around their neck and they were thrown into the sea I never was artistic but if I was what beautiful paintings are in my mind. Jesus dancing and singing at the Marriage Feast of Cana, for example. But more than this I would want to paint a picture of Our Mother Mary surrounded by her chldren. What a wonderful painting it would be.

Let us dedicate England to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Catholics in America have asked the Archbishop os Chicago to take steps to have America consecrated to The Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of Guadelupe. What a wonderful idea! In the history of Judaeo-Christianity it has always been the `stone that was rejected` that has become the `corner stone` The falsification of the teachings of Vatican II into the `Spirit of Vatican II` led to a great diminishing in the West of Our Lady`s role. Praising Mary was thought to be damaging to the Ecumenical movement so she had to go. As Cardinal Heenan once told his priests after Vaticzn II, the removal of Mary meant a diminishing in respect for the Blessed Sacrament. Just loook at the preparation programmes now called Eucharistic programmes which are given to our children. All ideas of devotion have been cast aside. This also means that all ideas of the love of God have been cast aside and children are bored to death with talk about their gifts. But it is time England too was dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Mary is one of us, yes. At Lourdes when she announced she was the `Immaculate Conception` she camde down to be on a level with the people and raised her hands to heaven. It was not her doing she was saying but a beautiful gift from God. She is truly human like us that is why we love her so much. She was raised to a level that no creation of God was ever lifted to. She became the Mother of God Incarnate and had a real son in Jesus Christ who esteemed her not just as a friend but as a mother. And such was his love for us that he told us she was so wonderful that she could be our mother also. So there is the idea. An England dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pray that this will be.

Mary Stuart - the forgotten martyr.

There is no peson in history who has been more subject to lies than Mary Stuart, the former Queen of Scotland. At the Reformation when religious tolerance was absent from most of Europe she, having witnessed the cruelty of her uncle the Bishop of Lorraine and his followers towards the Protestants of France, their slaughter and murder, decided that she would never persecute or attack the faith of anyone. On his death bed her husband Francis,the Dauphin, yet only 18, asked openly for forgiveness for the `crimes that had been committed in his name`. On returning to Scotland she refused an army from the Earl of Huntley to restore the Catholic Faith there. She believed that everyone held sincere beliefs. Unfortunately the Lords of the Congreagation of Scotland were not Protestant from conviction but because they were greedy, avaricious, and intolerant men who saw the Reformation as a means to steal Church land and Property. Her half brother the Earl of Moray was the worst of them and yet Mary was so trusting of him. She was the type of person who only saw good in people. When she married Darnley, a very pompous and disliked young man, it was Moray who with Bothwell arranged for his murder. What happened on that night at Kirk O`Fields is to be found in documents in France a place few historians bothered to search in their investigations. A Frenchman called Nicholas Hubert for example tells us exactly what happened at Kirk O`Fields since he was valet to Bothwell and tried to persuade him not to do the killing. He pointed out to Bothwell that he could not trust the other Lords who were a part of what he was doing" But the bloody deed took place. Bothwell later captured the Queen and forced her into a marriage showing her a document called the Ainslie Bond which tht nobles had signed and was proof that they wanted him as King. Mary was forced into a marriage. She wrote this letter to her envoy in France which he was to show to the Pope. "Tell to his holiness the grief we suffered when we were made prisoner by one of our subjects, the Earl of Bothwell, and led us prisoner with the Earl of Huntley, the chancellor, and our secretary, together, to the Castle of Dunbar, and afterwards to the Castle of Edinburgh where we were detained against our will in the hands of the said Earl of Bothwell until such time as he had procured a pretended divorce between himself and the sister of the said Lord of Huntley, his wife and our near relative; and we were constrained to yield our consent, yet against our will, to him. Therefore your Holines is suppicated to take order on this, that we are made quit of the said indignity, by means of a process of Rome, and commission sent to Scotland, to the bishops and other catholic judges,as to your holiness seemeth best as will be more particularly understood at length by the memorial which will be given in by the Bishop of Ross". Nicholas Hubert had given Bothwell good advice for his band of rogues turned on him eager to escape any responsiblity for the deed. Two armies faced each other ar Carberry Hill, but Mary preferred surrender to the nobles than staying with Bothwell. These vile creatures had promised to treat her as a Queen again but when she was in their power they mocked and sneered at her and made her their prisoner. She was forced to walk through the streets of Edinburgh through a hostile crowd which had swallowed the lie that she had murdered her husband Darnley. A great shadow towered over all of this, the shadow of Queen Elizabeth, who had been informed of all that had happened, and indeed she also wanted Darnley to be removed. Yet when Mary was in her power she had her tried for the murder she knew Mary had not committed. A few months ago I visited that Museum of Dead Bodies, Westminster Cathedral, and saw the coffin of Mary beside that of Elizabeth. It came to me that Mary was still a prisoner. It infuriated me. Meanwhile there was a call from a Scottish MP that the body of Mary should be returned to Scotland. I beleive she should she put in the Chapel of St Andrew in Westminser Cathedral. Had Mary changed her faith she would never have been a `problem` to Elizabeth. The thought of a Catholic inheriting the throne after he haunted Elizabeth. Mary was put to death in case Elizabeth was the first to die for then Mary would succeed to the English throne. She died a martyr for the Catholic Faith.

The dog calls us to prayer.

One of the great teachings of the Church is that work and prayer go together. Many catholic organisations and indeed religious orders have disappeared over the past forty years because they suddenly considered that prayer was somehow less important than action. Catholic organisations have suffered and only those which kept true to their founders have remained and flourished. I joined the Knights of St Columba recently and was overjoyed that the devoition to Mary in that organisation has not diminished and at several parts of the meeting we interrupt business to pray. It remains truly catholic and loyal to the Holy Father. Prayer must become something routine in our lives if we are to grow spiritually. It cannot be put off for this reason or that reason for where there is a routine of prayer there is a spiritual growth. Strangely enough I was reminded of this today by of all things my dog. At 2.45pm it began to bark furiously and at first there seemed to be no reason. It was an unusual day in our home. My wife had decided to move about the furniture in our bedroom and I had come downstairs to carry out some task. The dog barked furiously. Then I caught on. It was at this time of the day that my wife and I invariably say the Divine Mercy, it was the routine she expected and she seemed a little upset that it was not being carried out. We accepted this message from heaven, stopped what we were doing, and began the Divine Mercy ending with the 3 o`clock prayer. Jesus and Mary look forward to our prayers so much. The dog prays in his way lying on the carpet comfortably while we pray. As children of Mary that is the best way to set up the day. Have definite times for prayer and do not cancel them except to deal with the family. Our mother Mary will always want us to look after our families first.

But now for the Good News - yes, good things still happen

At Portsmouth Cathedral on the 14th May there is to be a Rosary Rally starting at 12.15. This will be a great occasion for us to turn to Mother Mary and ask her to bless the Portsmouth Diocese and especially our children and their need to be taught the Catholic Faith. Also in September the relics of St Teresa will be in Portmouth Cathedral for veneration. Two great Catholic occasions in one year - am I dreaming? I do not know how it is in your part of the world but since I started this blog there have been some very sure signs of a Marian revival. Keep praying.

FEAST OF THE FORTY MARTYRS

Today is the feat of the forty martyrs of England and Wales. Many of them died under Queen Elizabeth whose fear of the Catholic Church was rooted in watching the killing of Catholics by her father Henry and Protestants by her half sister Mary. She decided to be Protestant and that meant there was to be no threat to her from Catholics whom she bitterly tried to exterminate. Priests came from the Continent not to threaten her but to simply say Mass and they were hidden in the homes of ordinary catholic people. Both paid the price by suffering cruel deaths. It is srange that schoolchildren are taught about Bloody Mary but nobody will face up to Bloodthirsty Henry or Elizabeth. When we look at what the Bisops have done to the Catholic Church in England in the past forty years and the number of catholics who as a result of poor catechesis do not take the teachings of the Church on Papal Supremacy and other doctrines too seriously you may be forgiven for wondering why they died. But they bore witness to the truth that the Catholic Church is the One True Faith, not popular among modernists.

For `tis the month of Mary.

The sun is shining brightly, the trees are gold and green.
A beauteous bloom of flowers on every side is seen
The fields are gold and emerald and all the world is gay
For `tis the month of Mary, the lovely month of May.

There`s music in the hevens, thebirds are singing there
And natures songs and praises are sounding through the air
And we with hearts rejoicing, with joy we sing today
For `tis the month of Mary, the lovely month of May

Mary dear mother, we sings our humn to thee
Thou art the Queen of heaven, and you our Queen shall be
O rule us and guide us unto eternity.

Those of you who attended primary school at the same time as I did wil probably have started singing this old hymn as you read the words. It was a beautiful day for the 1st of May. I woke up composing the words for a hymn I am writing I have a melody but puting the words to it was difficult but on this blessed morning I think Mary inspired me. Unfortuanately I did not have a great deal of time since I had an appointment at Day Services concerning my son Kevin. Una and I went to town where she did some shopping while I made my way to the Church to say the Rosary. After praying I made my way around St Michaels and found so many catholic things there. A beautiful painting of Mary looking down on Jesus who lying on a sofa affair is looking up a her. There were paintings of course of St Michael the patron of Basingstoke. I touched the ancient stone pillars as many cahtolics had probably done prior to the Reformation and indeed I felt their presence. "It is good to be here" I told myself and praised God for the beauty of the place. Our Lady of Basngstoke, pray for us.

BUCKFAST ABBEY - true heroism

Until I began this blog to say Buckfast Abbey to me conjured up only thoughts of monks making wine and a famous Brother Adam who was a world renowned expert on bees. But now I realise there is something heroic about this monastery. There are the foundatrions of many monasteries that have been brought down still standing but only Buckfast can claim to have been restored on its very foundations in modern times. At the beginning of the 11th centurey the Benedictines were in the original monastry having cleared swamps and trees and made farming land and pastures for their livestock. It passed over to the Cistercians until Henry VIII knocked it down. In 1882 Benedictines came from France and bought the land where the Monastery had been and decided to rebuild it on its very foundatons. One snag was that they did not know where the foundations were until a monk digging in a garden found them. The great work then began and it was no mean feat. Monks had to climb 150ft on scaffolding at times bringing stones or equipment and the winds blew around them - there was no safety railings. One monk did fall but thankfully was not too badly injured. Just think then this was towards the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. How did they manage in the early centuries? The mind boggles. Often when they were out of stone they would pray to Our Lady and always their prayers were answered. The whole enterprise they put into Our Lady`s hands. They found the base where the statue of Our Lady had been and bult onto that a modern statue of the Virgin. What a story! Buckfast in Devon is a wonderful place to visit and perhaps you will be forgiven if you buy a bottle of the famous wine and drink a toast - to Our Lady. And do not forget the honey. Our Lady of Buckfast, pray for us.

Our Lady of Walsingham

Around 1860 a woman called Charlotte Pearson Boyd who was an Anglican noticed in East Anglia a barn which had a design which reminded her of a medieval chapel. She was curious and started investigating the matter and found it had once been called the slipper chapel in what had once been a great shrine to Our Lady. Indeed Walsingham had been the fourth greatest shrine in Europe and in the middle ages people had travelled from the continent to this shrine just as today English people travel to Lourdes or Fatima. The story began in 1060 when a lady called Richeldis de Faverches had a recurring dream that Our Lady took her to the Holy House of Nazareth and asked her to have a replica of the house built in Walsingham. As a young man I had some trouble with this idea, as indeed with the story of the Holy House of Loretto. As a result of being married and watching my wife as she gives such love and devotion to our own humble abode I can now appreciate the love a woman gives to her home. Mary was after all a normal housewife so I can now accept such things can happen. Eventually the Holy House was built just prior to the Crusades and pilgrims hearing the story decided not to risk the Holy Land but come to England`s Nazareth instead. Many of our Kings and Queens visited the shrine including Henry VIII who visited in thanksgiving for the gift of a son, although this son was frail and sickly. There is no doubt that in his younger years Henry was devout and it is said that when he died he was heard saying a prayer to Our Lady of Walsingham. Yet it was Henry who completely destroyed the shrine and for four hundred years it was left abandoned and forgotten until Miss Boyd rediscovered it. Almost miraculously the shrine has become the great centre of pilgrimage again. Yet not just for Catholics. Other denominations Anglican, Methodist, Orthodox , have their own churches on the site and it seem like Mary is drawing her children around her again. It is now the National Shrine once more and has visitors by the thousands every year. Well if they travelled from Europe in times gone by when travel was so cumbersome and difficult what excuse have we for not going today. Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

Our Lady of Grace, Ipswich

In the Italian town of Nettuno there is a Church with a beautiful statue of Mary. The little saint Maria Gorretti used to visit the Church and often prayed to Mary befofe this statue. We now know that this was the orginal statue of Our Lady of Grace, Ipswich. It had been saved from Thomas Cromwell the iconoclast by being shipped to safety. Where its final destination was meant to be is not known but the ship carrying it was blown by a storm into Nettuno and could not leave because of succeeding storms until they understood the statue was meant for that town. The Church of Our Lady of Grace, Ipswich, was once a very important shrine. It was often a stopping place on the way to Wlasingham. Before the dissolution it is said there were 39 Curches in Ipswich and 4 religious foundations. The Church of Our Lady of Grace was the most important and was second only in importance in England to Our Lady of Walsingham. Again we know that St Thomas More, Queen Catherine of Aragon, and Edward 1 visited with his daughter Elizabeth for her marriage there. When the link between Nettuno and Ipswich was discovered there were pilgrims from Ipswich who went to Italy and were well received. A new statue has been sculptured and we hope it will increase devotion to Our Blessed Mother. Our Lady of Ipswich pray for us.

Our Lady of Willesden

When I was but a lad in the 1950`s I used to sing in my polyphonic Church choir the tenor part in the Mass of Our Lady of Willesden. I can still sing the Kyrie but have forgotten the rest. Unfortunately nobody had any knowledge of Willesden or what it had to do with Our Lady. Indeed it is only recently that the shrine again has come to my notice. The origins of the shrine are not clear. Pilgrims began going there in the early middle ages to visit two statues of Our Lady `The Black Madonna` Apparently a black madonna represents Our Lady of Sorrow. Willesden is Anglo-Saxon for Hill of the Well and many shrines to Our Lady were built beside them. What caused the place to become a plade of pilgrimage however is unclear. Willesden is now a built up area of London but at the time of St Thomas More, who used to visit the shire with his family, it was a country area and the Chruch of St Mary which contained the shrine was alone in the middle of the countryside. The statues were destroyed during the Reformation. With Catholic emancipation in the 19th century the Catholic Church bullt another Church to Our Lady of Willesden not far from the original St Mary`s now an Agnlican Church. A new statue was created from the oak trees in St Mary`s Churchyard. Recently the well was discovered underneath the Church of St Mary`s and one lady at least who was terminally ill in hospital had her vicar bring her water from the well. Suddenly she was seen crossing the road for more water at the well since Jesus had visited and cured her. The last I heard from the shrine was that Paul Day who is sculpturing the statue of Our Lady on the Chelsea embankment has been hired also to sculp a statue of Our Lady of Willesden. Indeed there is now renewed interest in the shrine. Perhaps Our Lady is at work. Certainly a Dr Crewkerne claimed at the Reformation that Our Lady had appeared to him and told her she still wished to be honoured at Ipswich and Willesden but the poor mand under the examination of Thomad Cranmer and his zealots soon recanted and denied the vision. But perhaps he was telling the truth. On my next visit to London I must get the undergound train to Willesden and find out what is happening there. Our Lady of Willesden pray for us.

Mary; not just another woman!

I was fascinated by a story in the Fatima Crusader. A Fr Tuckwell was talking to his parishioners about a six year old boy who had a catholic friend who used to recite the Hail Mary. The little boy loved what he heard and began to say the prayer with him. He told is mother about how beaufiful the prayer was but she replied "It is not biblical. It is catholic superstition. They worship idols and make her a Goddess"". The little boy stopped saying the prayer but some time later he was reading his bible and came upon St Luke. "Hail, full of grace the Lord is with Thee" and then St Elizabeth "Blessd art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of they womb" The boy ran to his mother. "Look, mother, it is biblical" He then started saying the Hail Mary again though his parents did not approve. When he was 14 there was a discussion again in his house in which Mary was described as a common woman like every other woman. He could take it no longer. "Mary is not like any other children of Adam stained with sin. No! The Angel called her full of grace and blessed among women. Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ and consequently the MOther of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says all generations shall call her blessed yet you are trying to despis her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel nor the Bible which you claim to be the foundation of the Christian religion" So deep was the impression the boy made that his mother feared he was going to join the religion of the Popes. The boy eventually did. HIs sister hated him for changing his relgion but when her child fell ill the young man persuaded her to say the Hail Mary and if the child recovered study the Catholic Faith. The sister did so and the child recoverd and she became a catholic. It is a beautiful story and of course Fr Tuckwell admitted he was the boy. I have heard priests in their efforts to forward ecumenism say much the same thing. But Mary is `not just like us` She is our beautiful mother and can give us whatever we wish for the salvation of ourselves and for the salvation of others. Let us make her our Queen and restore our beautiful England to her care.

St Thomas More.

St Thomas More is probably the best known and loved of the many Martyrs of England. His life even attracted the film industry in `A Man for All Seasons`. That in Tudor England renowned for its corruption there should be a man renowned for his incorruption was almost unbelievable. But St Thomas More was a man devoted to God and as Chancellor of England he was exemplary. Although he had been a gret friend of the King things changed when Hernry decided that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon should be annulled and this request was refused by the Pope. Henry demaded an oath of allegiance to himself as Head of the Chruch in Englan and this More would not do. He died as he said "The Kings true friend, but God`s more" Many catholics like Norfok were happy to take the oath, and excusing themselves that what they said was not what was in their heart, but St Thomas could not lie to himself in this way. Today many catholics betray the Church by refusing to accept her teachings on contraception. Like Henry they rfuse her teaching and declare themselves as head of the Church or the only ones in the Church who matter. Rome is just as far away as it was in Henry`s time. If indeed the Authority of the Papacy is only in love and not authority, as I heard, and I am sure many others have heard representatives of the Bishops say, then St Thomas MOre would have died in vain and little wonder there is great unease aboout the Tyburn Walks. But St Thoma died for Papal Supremacy and Papal Authority. St Thomas lived with his family in a house on the Thames at what is now the Chelsea Embankment. At that sport a man called Thomas Cromwell collected statues of Our Lady from all parts of England and had them burned and thrown into the Thames. A great event is planned there this Septmember whn Paul Day a leading architiect will unveil a statue of Our Lady which at its base will show pictures of this iconoclasm and the persecution of the Martyrs. We pray that this will mark in some way the return of Mary to England. Pray for Paul Day that God will guide him in his worki.

What the Catholic Church did for England

Before the Middle ages much of England was swamp and forest but with the coming of the Benedictine Order these were cleared and turned into arable land where crops were gorwn and animals husbanded to feed the people. The landscape of many parts of England was transformed by their activities and people laboured in the fiels with them for a share in the food that was produced. Thus the great monasteries of England were built which also gave help to the poor and needy, and the vagrants who wandered throughout the contryside. They were also the stopping places for pilgrims on their way to the many Marian shrines of England. In Eeucation the Catholic Church started the great universities of Oxford and Cambridge and indeed many of he Universities throughout Europe. She was far from being an enemy of science and those who claim she was rely on one case, the case of Galileo, yet Galileo failed to prove the world moved round the sun relying on evidence like the movment of tides etc, which were unconvincing. It is interestng that the Church adopted the method used by Thomas Aquinas. You had to show what you intended to prove, you had to then give your thesis in proof, and you then had to meet every objection to your thesis before your point was proved. How much more tolerant the world would be if scholars had to examine all the objections to their ideas today. There would not be such a lack of lateral thinking and bias among the `educated`. Long vefore Florence Nightingale there were relgious orders dealing with sickness and disease and conforting the dying. So there we have it. Agriculture, education, care of the individual, not only in England but all over Europe. It is true to say that modern Europe was shaped by the Catholic Church. All that is good in her came from that Church. As Catholics in England we have much to be proud of and we should not fear any criticism.

"Jesu, Jesu, have mercy on me"

"Jesu, Jesu, have meecy on me" These were the dying words of St Margaret Clitherowe. She was not a bishop, nor a priest, nor a Ladh of court but just a simple wife and mother who was born in York and lived there all her life. Yet she gave this life for the Catholic Faith. She was born in the troubled days of Mary Tudor when an attempt was made to restore the Catholic Faith to England but to no avail. Elizabeth came to power and there was great persecution. Priests and seminarians from the Catholic Mission at Douay were especially hunted down and those who gave them shelter were also savagely imprisoned and executed. Yet it was at this time that Margaret converted to the Catholic Faith. Her house became a haven for these Jesuit priests and she was imprisoned and realeased several times. But she did not give up her `treasonable` activities. At last she was arrested and sentenced to death. She was in prison for a week and many people pleaded with her to save herself by changing her faith but she refused. She was put to death in a most brutal manner. She was laid on the ground and a door placed over her on which many weights were placed until the body underneath was crushed. What vile mind thought this up? Was this really about God and the Protestant faith? Margaret was heard pleading in her agony "Jesu, Jesu, have mercy on me". Margaret`s body we know was eventually recovered by her friends and was moved around from place to place for its safety. But such was the secrecy that eventually the place of the body was forgotten and we do not know where it is today. St Margaret`s only crime was her love of the Catholic Church and she gave her life for the Catholic Faith. We ow so much to these simple catholics. God bless her and may she help us in our endeavours to bring England back to the true Faith.

St John Fisher

John Fisher was the Nishop of Rochester. He became the Chancellor of Cambridge University and was once a tutor to Henry VIII when he was a boy. He was a renowned preacher and once gave a sermon against Martin Luther inside St Paul`s. When Henry tried to dissolve the marriage Fisher saw it as an attack on the indissolubility of marriage and was an outspoken opponent. When the matter reached the legate court he angered the King by speaking out in favour of Catherne of Aragon and against the divorce. He became her friend and most trusted adviser. Eventually the King had him arrested when he rufused to recognise him as the Head of the Church in England. At a court where the judge was Thomas Cromwell, the father of Anne Boleyn, so there is justice, he was condemend to be hung, drawn, and quartered. This evoked a public outcry so the sentence was reduced to beheading. He died like John the Baptist defending marriage against the manipulations of royalty. While he was in prison the Pope, trying to ease his situation, made him a Cardinal. This did not interest Henry. It is also believed that the `Defence of the Seven Sacraments` reputed to be writeen by Henry was actually written by Fisher, though there is no definite proof. St John Fisher was a man of courage. Pray that we may be as courageous as he was.

Lord Macaulay,a 19th century Protestant Hisorian - Essay on the Roman Catholic Church

There is not and there never was on this earth a work of human policy so well deserving of examination as the Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins together the two great ages of human civilisation. No other institution is left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphi-theatre. The proudest Royal houses are but of yesterday when compared to the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. The line we trace back in an unbroken series from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eigth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable. The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the Republic of Venice was modern compared with the Papacy; and the Republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The Papacy remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigour. The number of her children is greater than in any former age. Her acquisitions in the New World have more than compensated her for what she has lost in the Old. Her spiritual ascendancy extends over the vast countries which lie between the plains of the Missouri, and Cape Horn, countries which a century hence may not improbably contain a population as large as that which now inhabits Europe. Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished in Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broke arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St Paul`s.

How the Catholic Faith was taken from England.

From my reading of the situation over the years there was a great deal of corruption going on in the Church in Europe. One example was the Bishop of Mainz who had two mistresses to support. He sent a monk called Tetzel to Germany to `sell` indulgences. He said it was to help rebuild a Church in Rome but he wanted at least half. To raise the cash the monk was quite liberal in granting these indulgences and promised `forgiveness` of sins still to be committed. This roused the anger of Martin Luther who totally disillusioned posted his objections to the Catholic Faith on the door of a Church. Then the avarice of the Lords and Dukes took over. Realising that sirring a rebellion against the Church would enable them to steal land and booty from the Church they got solidly behind Luther. In England there is no evidence whatsoever of this corruption in the Church. In fact Henry VIII wrote a great work defending the Church and was given in thanks the title of `Defender of the Faith` But Henry was no saint. He was a rapist who demanded his pleasure because he was King. He had taken the throne after the death of his brother Arthur and wanted to marry his brother`s wife. Since the marriage had not been comsummated Rome gave permission and Henry lived with Queen Catherine for 18 years before he decided he had a problem. The Queen was now to old to produce a son as his heir so he wanted to marry someone else, Ann Boleyn, who was younger. He well knew that if he simply sent Catherine to the be beheaded he would have a war with Spain on his hands so he found a different approach. He thought back to the annullment of his brothers marriage and decided the Pope had been wrong. He could not marry his brothers wife after all. So he sked Rome to put the mater right. There are all sorts of views on what happened next. Some say without evidence that the Pope would have granted this divorce but he was in the power of Spain. There is no doubt that Spain would have not looked favourably on the Pope granting the divorce but this should not distract us from the serious point that the marriage to Catherine was legal and the action of the Pope in granting a divorce when an annullment had already been made would have made the whole thing a mockery. Spain or not, the Pope acted as a Catholic Pope should act. The quest failed and Henry the adulterer decided he should be head of the Church. He then started a life of murder and brutality. Of course there was the threat of the presence of the Church throughout England in her monasteries. The same greed and avarice that had marked the rapid rise of the Reformation in Europe took over. Church land an property was seized by the nobles and the monasteries destroyed. Yet there was still a Catholic presence in England fired by the martydom of saints such as Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher. It fell to Queen Elizabeth to really destroy catholicism. Elizabeth had grown up in a country of fear watching her father and his henchmen put to death those who opposed Protestantism. She also had witnessed his successor Mary Tudor do the same to Protestants. She worked out that for her survival she must choose one Faith and destroy the other. She chose the Protestant cause and by the Acto of Uniformity decided there would be only one faith in England. But her persecution of Catholicism caused her to become paranoid. Her attacks on the Catholic Missions and the hunting down and executions of priests was unprecedented and cruel. Yet English historians are still to question what happened during her reign. Good Queen Bess still is the cry . Het treatment of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots reveals this. She would not give safe passage for Mary to return to Scotland from France unless she rounced her claim to the English throne. She was constatnly interfering in the affairs in Scotland and seeking a suitable marriage for Mary with a good English Protestantthe Earl of Leicester. Mary`s refusals enraged her. Mary`s marriage to Lord Darnley, a nominal catholic, displeased her and she was so active in Scottish affairs that one wonders if she murdered Darnley. That she allowed the trial of Queen Mary, the sovereign of another country to take place in England was an insult tha beggars belief. Then when Mary was in her hands she feared her so much for her Catholic Faith that she imprisoned her for the rest of her life. Realsing that if she died Mary would succeed to the throne, Mary a Catholic, Elizabeth had her executed. But I digress. In England the faith all but disappeared. But times change and today we have a new beginning. Let us bring back the Faith to a country that needs it so much.

THE CONVERSION OF ENGLAND THROUGH MARY.

The Rosary group in my Church added the prayer for the Conversion of England to their prayers a few months back. I became increasingly aware of the power of this prayer and began to realise that it is the prayer we need for the Catholic Church in England today. A false idea of ecumenism has taken the religious spirit away from our Church and our children are paying dearly. Reading the Decree on Ecumenism of Vatican II I realsied that the Church had never given up its claim to be the One True Church and indeed the very first statement on the Decree stated there was only One True Church. To rectify and make our Church holy again we must turn to our Mother Marry since England is her Dowry. She will lead us. So ends my very definite ideas but my thoughts go much further. To be the light that shines in the darkness we need to be truly Catholic. n a world torn by Adultery, Divorce, Contraception and Abortion the Catholic community must be a community in which such things are totally absent. We must be Catholic in every sese of the word totally loyal to the Holy Father and the teachings of the Catholic Church. We therefore need priests to lead us in our devotions and prayers and in retreats which nourish our souls. How will we spread the Faith? Not by knocking on doors or carrying a catechism under our arms but by living the truth. St Francis said "preach the Gospel always and sometimes use words. The prayer for the Conversion of England is the prayer we must spread. It must be said after our rosaries, it must be said in our night prayers, it must be taught to our Children. They must know the great glory of Mary and te Catholic Faith. Of course the conversion of England is not about converting just non-catholics. Many catholics today alas do not know their faith and they must be taught. But above all and most of all we must turn to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, a Jesus so scorned and neglected in many side rooms and unworthy places. Put him in the centre of our Church and in the centre of our lives again. We may be criticised for giving Mary giving Mary such a warm place in our hearts but this will be the real test of our Catholic Faith. Can we take the criticism and insults. I would love one day to go to Mass and at the end to see the priest kneel and lead the community in this prayer for the conversion of England. Pary for this great moment. God bless. John.