Praise God! Our School plan has been approved!

Today Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, has announced that he is putting St Michael's School in Truro  forward to the next stage for conversion into one of the nation's first 79 Free Schools. It will be the first Catholic Free School.

So many of you have been praying for this over the past 8 weeks. Your generous prayers have been answered. Cornwall will now, please God, have its very own Catholic State Secondary school.

Especial praise must go to the steering committee who have worked with ferocious and unstinting enthusiasm to put all the paperwork together.

Now the hard work will begin in a new way....
Here is the building in Camborne where we hope to take up residence. It was once the Girls' Grammar school.

More here from:
BBC Cornwall
BBC Radio Cornwall (One hour 8 minutes into the programme)
The Politics show (30 minutes into the programme)
St Michael's School website

Prayer for Iranian Christian threatened with death

A young parishioner, our new Redruth rep. for the charity Aid to the Church in Need, has asked that this story be posted on the blog.

This Christian Pastor,Yusuf Nadarkhani, is 35 and married with two children. His 'crime' is that he converted to Christianity at the age of 19. The death threat will be lifted if he renounces his faith which he has repeatedly refused to do.

Christians in the West are being asked to support his cause, especially through prayer.

Full details are here.

Mary's Meals

This year we are supporting a new charity for our autumn fast day on Friday.

'Mary's Meals' provides daily meals in school for over 500,000 children in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. As you can see, it was set up by two scottish catholic brothers in 2002. 
"Mary’s Meals is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus, who brought up her child in poverty".

St Michael, Patron of Cornwall

It seems there were many shrines in Cornwall to St Michael along with the famous one at Marazion, including on Looe Island and the top of our Carn Brea. There were also many old Cornish churches dedicated to him: Landrake, Lawhitton, Lesnewth, Michaelstow, St Michael Penkivel and St Michael Caerhays.

Do you know the story behind the composition of the prayer by Pope Leo XIII that used to be said after all Masses? (This statue is in the church on the Mount).

Blessed Michael the Archangel,

defend us in the day of battle;

be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:

and do thou, the Prince of the heavenly host,

by the power of God,

thrust down to hell Satan and all wicked spirits

who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.

Amen.

Parish Harvest Supper

On Friday just over 60 members of the parish met in the Penventon Hotel for our annual entertainments evening. There was a quiz to identify photos of churches throughout the world and of course a raffle. The highlight was the series of 9 sketches and songs by parishioners  very confidently compèred by a young member of the parish. We had two piano pieces, a flute solo, a Joyce Grenfell tribute, 4 songs and this young lady, who won first prize from the panel of 3 judges with her dance routine to an Abba song!

It was a decent venue, but next time we'll go for a Saturday - and a little more food!

Anniversary of the Holy Father's visit

This photo was found via google to post on our parish website to mark the anniversary of the papal visit. It was only afterwards that the Cornish flag was noticed waving above the popemobile - this was the one carried by our group to the Beatification Mass at Cofton park!

Well perhaps things are finally getting through to the BBC...

Support for the Catholic Church 'on the increase'

Click on the link above: at least the reporter has recognised the sheer numbers of young Catholics in Madrid for World Youth Day this year. (In the year 2000 there were reckoned to be somewhere between 2 and 3 million youngsters in the field outside Rome to see Pope John Paul - the largest gathering in European history - yet it barely got a mention. Then there was Toronto, Cologne, Sydney.)

 

Church weddings are increasing in this area!

Congratulations to Justin and Fiona Williams married yesterday and to Steven and Anna Bowler married today.
There have been more marriages in the parish both this year and last year than we have had for 16 years.

World Youth Day - good news or bad?

Several people from Cornwall have joined the one and half million people who are with Pope Benedict in Spain this week. This includes the Dean of Cornwall and some of his parishioners.

The BBC gave its usual jaundiced coverage on the Today programme this morning - a few seconds on the 'thousands' who are protesting at the supposed cost to Spanish tax payers. This is despite the fact that the event is being paid for by the young pilgrims who have all had to raise several hundred pounds over the past year (they will also be spending their euros in Madrid). The journalist Andrew Brown was quick to note this however: 

The ability of mainstream Christianity to attract a crowd of 1.5 million young people seems to me a damn sight more newsworthy...

...Numbers don't prove truth, of course. But they are measures of commitment, and of political importance. Three hundred times as many people have travelled to Madrid to see the pope as have travelled to protests against him. Which group is more important to know about?

Given the recent events concerning the morally confused rioters in our country, the gathering of these young pilgrims from all over the world - motivated by the highest ideals -  provides a miraculous countersign. There is an element in BBC that just doesn't get religion and it seems to have excelled itself in being particularly perverse this time.

Expedition to Westminster

Well the great day arrived - the Government interview for our proposal for Cornwall's first Catholic Secondary School (and the U.K.'s first Catholic 'free school').

After the overnight train to Paddington, we were able to celebrate Mass at the high altar in Westminster Cathedral and ask Our Lady's prayers in the fine Lady chapel.

Below- last minute preparations in Starbucks!

The meeting at the Department of Education headquarters in Great Smith Street began at 10am before a panel of four civil servants. We felt the six of us worked very well together, providing an articulate and confident response. We won't know what they decide yet until the end of September/beginning of October.

Here we are breathing a sigh of relief afterwards (our headteacher had already scooted off to catch the plane for World Youth Day in Madrid!)

But so many of you back here in Cornwall were praying that we could almost feel it.
                                     A very big thank you to you all!

Redruth Summer Lunch

Miracle of miracles: we had real sunshine. Well, there are no coincidences when it comes to the Sisters and fine weather.  The sky was Our Lady's colour.

The convent gardens were abuzz with people from as far afield as ...Camborne and Penponds.

Praise God for a fine day!

Our great feastday of hope.

Today we celebrate (one day early) the Assumption of Our Lady body and soul into heaven - the masterpiece of God's plan for Creation. Mary, the sinless one, has co-operated perfectly with the Word, her son. She is taken up to share the life of God in glory and she becomes our hope. We look to her assumption as we long for the first flower that bursts through the barren earth in Spring.

Everyone is feverishly analysing the riots in our major cities: lack of personal value-systems; no respect for authority; poor parenting etc. Certainly there are very  many young people who seem to have so little hope beyond aspiring to a few filched flat-screen TVs. This is surely a fruit of a secular, materialistic culture with no true grasp of what we are as human beings.

Two weeks ago, several hundred people in their teens and twenties travelled for the 5-day Summer Session at Woldingham (see below). They were filled with a whole-hearted love for their Catholic faith and want to live according to the highest values. They were brimming with hope. To witness them all singing the Salve Regina to Our Lady each evening would surely surprise the loudest New Atheist in the media.

St Maximilian Kolbe, the martyr-priest of Auschwitz whose feast-day is really today, made it his personal mission to make Mary known and loved throughout the world of the twentieth century. He saw the rise of dark forces -  hatred for the Church and Naziism. Through his extraordinary final act of love he had the last word on them all. He showed the power of Our Lady in our lives. She opens the door to hope, to her Son, in our lives.

The atheist way can be seen to have failed in so many ways. Human beings are made for more than flat-screen TVs. We are made, as Mary shows us most beautifully, for something far beyond this world. We are made for the life of God.

Kneeling for Communion

It is well-known that the Pope now only gives Holy Communion on the tongue to people who are kneeling.

Last month the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Canizares Llovera, has explicitly seconded this. He recommends that all Catholics receive Communion on the tongue and also while kneeling:

"It is the sign of adoration that needs to be recovered. I think the entire Church needs to receive Communion while kneeling.

If we trivialize Communion, we trivialize everything, and we cannot lose a moment as important as that of receiving Communion, of recognizing the real presence of Christ there, of the God who is the love above all loves, as we sing in a hymn in Spanish.

It is to simply know that we are before God himself and that He came to us and that we are undeserving".

Certainly it is noticeable that more people in the parish here are rediscovering the practice of receiving on the tongue.
Last month the bishops of England and Wales also pointed out that all Catholics in this country have a right to receive kneeling. This would present a challenge at the moment, as the altar rails were removed in both churches decades ago.  It is going to require a little thinking about...

Explaining the revised translation

We had our last in the series of four talks in the parish hall this evening, with cakes!

The session focussed on the changes in the Eucharistic prayers and concluding rites.

It ended with the deeper emphasis on singing that the translation will usher in, as the Missal will now include more in the way of simple chants to accompany the prayers.

Following the diocesan music day last Saturday, we have decided to introduce the new 'Belmont Mass'; this setting is quite simple and dignified and draws on plainchant in a modern way. We will begin to learn it over the next few Sundays and copies of the music have been ordered for everyone. Here's hoping everyone will take to it!

Mgr Conrad Meyer and Mgr Richard Rutt RIP

Today was the requiem Mass for Canon Richard Rutt (right) at St Mary's Falmouth.

He had died just 4 days after Canon Conrad Meyer, (left) whose funeral took place last Thursday at Holy Trinity Newquay.

Both were Anglican bishops - Fr Rutt had been suffragan in St Germans (later of Leicester) and Fr Meyer assistant in Truro. They were both received into the Catholic Church after the vote for women priests - and then ordained as priests on 8th June 1995. Both were gracious and humble gentlemen who brought their own inspiring witness of faith to their respective Catholic parishes.

It was fascinating to learn a little of Fr Rutt's life. He had been stationed at Bletchley Park during the war to help with code-breaking; he could speak 14 languages (and was known to compose limericks in Latin and Greek). He spent 20 years in Korea as an Anglican missionary; he learnt to speak fluent Korean.
He was also famous for his books on knitting: he once knitted himself a mitre!
His beloved wife Joan pre-deceased him by a few years.

May they both rest in peace.
(Please pray also for Fr Conrad's wife Mary).

                                          

Fr Rutt kindly donated these copes to our parish some years ago. They are made from fine Korean silk.

Faith Summer Session

Last week the Faith Summer Session for young Catholic adults (15-30 yrs) took place once again at Woldingham School in Surrey. Nearly 300 people attended, including a large contingent from Scotland and 15 seminarians. Around 30 priests were there too (4 newly ordained).

The theme was "Love as I have loved you" The Vocation to Love; there were 8 magnificent talks both by priests and lay people. It is uplifting and inspiring to meet so many bright young people who have a whole-hearted love for the Catholic Faith and are so keen to learn more.

There are some photos here and more here (thanks to Fr Tim Finigan and Mac Mclernon)

Here is the contingent from the 'South West' including Camborne, Redruth, Truro and Newquay.

Here are the seminarians (including Fr Chris's brother)

I'm not sure who this guy is, but what a t-shirt!

The treasure of our Catholic Faith

The Gospel for this Sunday tells the parables of the treasure buried in the field and the pearl of great price. So often we not only take the amazing gift of our faith for granted, we don't feel confident in sharing it with others. The American CatholicsComeHome site presents a bold invitation to rediscover that treasure.

Apostleship of the Sea

Today we support the charity that has pastoral care for seafarers:

http://apostleshipofthesea.org.uk/cms/welcome-to-apostleship-sea

It seems to have been transformed into a highly efficient organisation in recent years.

Portreath (see image on the parish website) is the only patch of coast in the parish. The small port was formerly used for sending copper ore to Wales and receiving coal in return and for pilchard fishing.

Honouring the wisdom of Christ

Today is the octave day of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

The English teacher-mystic Teresa Higginson (died 1906) claimed that Jesus had requested this day as a time to venerate his Sacred Head, the seat of divine wisdom and shrine of the powers of his soul (memory, understanding, will). This would bring glory to the Church and repair in some way the rejection of his saving wisdom in this modern world. Mass will be offered this evening in Redruth for that intention.

There is an increasing interest in this holy woman and moves are afoot to restart the cause for her canonisation.

More information here: http://www.sacredhead.org/

A Visit to Gwennap Pit

The parish priest of Launceston, Bude and Holsworthy is visiting the far west for a few days. Being a local history buff, he wanted to see the place where the famous luminary of Methodism, John Welsey, preached 18 times (lastly in 1789 when he was 86).

As you can see, we didn't have too many people listening this time, but then Methodists wouldn't expect their preacher to wear a Pope Benedict t-shirt.

The Chideock Martyrs

Today we celebrate some special martyrs of our diocese: Blessed John Cornelius and his companions. Blessed John was born of Irish parents in Bodmin. Sir John Arundell of Lanherne sent him to Oxford. He then studied at Rheims and was ordained in Rome. He worked for 10 years in England before being arrested as chaplain to Lady Arundell at Chideock castle.

A cousin of the Arundells, Thomas Bosgrave, gave John his hat as he was being escorted to the sheriff's house and was promptly arrested - along with two servants of the castle (so be careful who you give your hat to). All were executed at Dorchester on July 4th 1594.

Chideock is a peaceful spot in west Dorset; there is a fine shrine to the martyrs with its own website:  http://www.chideockmartyrschurch.org.uk/

New windows for St John's

A photo from 1909 shows the front of St John's - before the doorway was made.

The windows were 'leaded light panes'

These must have been replaced (not as a result of the riots - which were in 1882) with what really looked like opaque bathroom glass:

So at long last, thanks to Finbars Glass of Liskeard, the glass has now been restored to the original 'leaded light' type. They certainly let more light into the interior of the church, but they also smarten up the fronting.

Presenting the New Translation

We had our first of four evenings on the new translation of the Mass last night; 22 people attended. We watched a series of video clips from the  resources provided by the bishops.

In particular we looked at the historical development of the Mass and the background to the first translation into English in the 'Sixties. It followed the technique devised by the scholar Eugene Nida and known as 'dynamic equivalence'. However, it seems he really intended this technique for Scriptual translation and since the whole process was rushed through in those heady days, we were left with a slightly dumbed-down version of the Mass.

Following the latest version of the Roman Missal, the Church was given clearer guidelines for translation in 2001. This has resulted in the more 'formal equivalence' version that we will begin using shortly. The language will be a little more formal - it will be more consciously addressed to God and therefore appear more sacral in tone; the scriptural allusions will be more pronounced and the theological significance of the prayers will be richer for being more clearly and accurately articulated.

It will be a challenge for all of us getting used to some of the texts (others have barely changed). Everyone in the parish will shortly be issued with a booklet and there will be Mass cards for all. However, as Pope Benedict told us last year, it is going to a real moment of grace for us all. If some older priests across the waters are unsure about it all, it has to be said that there are many priests in this country who are looking forward to it with great hope.

Feast of Sts Peter and Paul

In his Angelus address today, the Holy Father called these two saints 'the arms of the Cross'.
St Peter is the vertical beam, reaching from the rock to heaven. St Peter sures up our faith and points us to God.

St Paul is the horizontal beam, like the east-west axis of the compass, bringing Christ across the globe. St Paul unites all peoples through Christ.

St Peter strengthen our faith in Christ and his Church!

St Paul inspire us to share Jesus with all those we meet!

New Vatican news site

Pope Benedict sent his first tweet - in English - to announce the launch of the new Vatican news site www.news.va/en

Treasures of Heaven

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has praised the new exhibition of relics and reliquaries at the British Museum in London:

“I would just urge Catholics in England and Wales and from further afield to make the effort to come to the British Museum some time between now and October to take up this very unique opportunity. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime, and it’s well worth the journey.”

Parishioners have already suggested a parish trip all the way to London...

Video Introduction to the exhibition

Thank God for fine weather

Our Procession yesterday - twice around Lemon Quay since new regulations have ruled out crossing roads to the cathedral - went off perfectly. The sun was hot. However, our fine canopy seems to have mysteriously gone missing! But with so many altar servers and torch bearers, the Blessed Sacrament was carried with great devotion and we presented a dignified witness to our faith for the respectful onlookers of Truro.

Corpus Christi 2011

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world".            Jn 6:51

This video documents a modern day Eucharistic miracle in Argentina:

And here is a brave witness in the city of Preston:

Our Cornwall Deanery Procession begins at 3pm
- Sunday 26th June - in Lemon Quay, Truro

Buckfast Retreat

From Friday 3rd to Sunday 6th June, the annual parish retreat took place at Buckfast Abbey in Devon for the first time. The theme, 'The Power of the Holy Eucharist', was inspired by Pope Benedict's words on the New Translation of the Mass. The first talk: 'The Power of the Real Presence' was given by Fr Dylan James, lecturer on moral theology at St John's Seminary. Robbie Low a catechist from Bodmin parish, presented the second talk(below) : 'The Power of the Sacrifice'.

It is vital to take time out of routine, if we possibly can, to refocus our relationship with God. Apart from Mass, morning and evening prayer and a holy hour in our own private chapel, we joined the monks for atmospheric night prayer in the abbey church. Southgate retreat house impressed everyone and the food was splendid. We were all very grateful to Br Stephen, the guestmaster - and all the monks - for their hospitality.

Some of us even managed to make it up to the top of the hill to see the ruined church.

There was a slight dispute about Fr Chris' assessment of the length of a mile...  

What we did agree on was that we should try to go to Buckfast once more next year. (We hope to set up a fund to discreetly assist those who might find costs challenging).

The Redruth Church Project

Following the two meetings of our newly formed committee, people might wonder what is going on. In fact quite a bit is going on behind the scenes. The new diocesan buildings man has acquired the assistance of a surveyor who has visited the site and we are in negotiations over the the extra bit of land.

A parishioner kindly donated this photo recently of the church before it was refurbished and opened up. Do you remember it like this?

Confirmations Retreat at Buckfast 8th-10th April

Ten of our sixteen candidates for Confirmation were able to join the weekend away at Buckfast. It was a unique opportunity for them grown in their faith as they prepare for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We stayed at Grangehurst - the largest of the self-catering houses run by the Abbey.
 It is a magnificent place to stay in a beautiful setting.

The first signs of Spring were evident in the surrounding trees.

The schedule was quite full, with catechetical talks, Mass, a tour of the grounds, benediction, dvds and a walk - not to mention meals and knock-about football.

We had Mass in the Blessed Sacrament chapel

Activities laid on for children in the old guesthouse

seemed to occupy these teenagers for some time!

Teaching the ancient art of dandelion trumpeting on our walk up the hill.

The monks were very welcoming - here is Fr Christopher from the abbey.

Our Confirmation catechist and helpers were also generous with their time and energy.

I'm sure we will all say a prayer for all our candidates: the bishop is coming to St John's on May 20th.