Celebrations

First Communion gifts from Fr Danny (last week)

This has been quite a weekend in Lymington.  First, Fr Danny our parish priest has been celebrating 28 years as a priest.  He told us he chose this day for his ordination since it was the anniversary of his grandmother's death, and she brought him into the faith; his parents, he said, were card-carrying atheists.

Beverley (2nd from rt) with family

Then, today was a Baptism and Confirmation for Beverley.  It was good to see Fr Danny celebrate the rite of Confirmation; not so dissimilar from many confirmations I performed in the Church of England, but he has the authority to do this on behalf of the Bishop.  The family were all there to support her, and here she is seen having just received her Baptismal candle.

Cakemaker & Cake

I hardly dare mention the third celebration.  The parish organised a cake for me, since it was my fiftieth anniversary of ordination to the priesthood of the Church of England on May 28th; by strange chance the same date that Fr Danny chose for his — though, as I told him, in the Church of England I was under authority and did not choose when to be ordained.  It just happened that May 28th in 1961 was Trinity Sunday, in those days the time when most diocesan ordinations happened.  Also by strange chance it meant that today, May 29th, was the day of my first celebration of the eucharist at St Mark's, Portsmouth; and my mother's birthday.  She died five years ago; had she been alive today she would have been 102!  The reason for hardly daring to mention this is that I do not want to upset any who are too wedded to Apostolicae Curae, and who believe, therefore, that whatever happened in Holy Trinity Fareham to seven candidates for the priesthood in the Church of England on Trinity Sunday 1961 was utterly null and void.  I am happy to say that the Holy See appears to view things more generously; indeed I understand that the Anglican Use Catholics in the USA are encouraged to celebrate the date of their Episcopal  Ordination.

Ordinariate Chasuble

We do not yet have a ruling on this in the Ordinariate, and I was content to let the date slip by without notice, but Fr Danny thought otherwise and there was a very happy  party after Mass today for Beverley and me, with two magnificent cakes.  Lymington is very strong on cakes.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, the local Ordinariate Group was meeting — in the church which will be their home in Southbourne.  So here is the Revd Deacon Graham Smith, soon to be our Group's pastor, together with most of the merry band who will be worshiping with us after his Ordination to the priesthood next month.

Southbourne Ordinariate Group

And here is another happy coincidence; today is Oak Apple Day, the one-time Feast of the Restoration of the Monarchy [1660].  I had wanted to celebrate that defunct feast as my first eucharist, but the Vicar forbade it; perhaps wisely in view of the inordinate length of the Propers.  In case you have forgotten, here are the prescribed Collects (it would not have done at 7.30 am in St Mark's Porsea on a Monday Morning):

O Almighty God, who art a strong Tower of Defence against the face of thy servants against the face of their enemies; We yield thee praise and thanks for the wonderful deliverance of these Kingdoms from THE GREAT REBELLION, and all the Miseries and Oppressions consequent thereupon, under which they had so long groan'd. We acknowledge it thy goodness, that we are not utterly delivered over as a prey unto them: Beseeching thee still to continue such thy mercies towards us; that all the world may know that thou art our Saviour and mighty Deliverer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

O Lord God of  our salvation, who hast been exceedingly gracious unto this land, and by thy miraculous Providence didst deliver us out of our miserable Confusions, by restoring to us, and to his own just and undoubted rights, our then most gracious Sovereign Lord, thy Servant King Charles the Second , (notwithstanding all the power and malice of his enemies) and by placing him in the Throne of these Kingdom; thereby restoring also unto us the publick and free profession of thy true Religion and Worship, together with our former peace and prosperity, to the great comfort and joy of our hearts; We are here now before thee, with all due thankfulness, to acknowledge thine unspeakable goodness herein, as upon this day, shewed unto us, and to offer up our sacrifice of praise for the same, unto thy great and glorious Name; humbly beseeching thee to accept this our unfeigned, though unworthy, oblation of our selves; vowing all holy obedience in thought, word, and work, unto  thy Divine Majesty; and promising in thee and for thee all loyal and dutiful Allegiance to thine Anointed Servant now set over us, and to his Heirs after him; whom we beseech thee to bless with all increase of grace, honour and happiness in this world, and to Crown him with Immortality and Glory in the world to come, for Jesus Christ his sake, our only Lord and Saviour. Amen.

There's Patrimony for you!  Follow that, Msgr Burnham & Colleagues…

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What a Day!The Silk RoadWest of the Border…Our Lady of Sorrows: Let the Novenas BeginFourth of the Famous Five Bishop Barnes read theology for three years at Oxford before finishing his studies at Cuddesdon College (at the time a theological college with a rather monastic character). He subsequently served two urban curacies in Portsmouth and Woking. During his first curacy, and after the statutory three years of celibacy, he married his wife Jane (with whom he has two children, Nicola and Matthew). In 1967, Bishop Barnes received his first incumbency as Rector of Farncombe in the Diocese of Guildford. After eleven years, the family moved to Hessle, in the Diocese of York, for another nine years as vicar. In 1987, he became Principal of St Stephen’s House, Oxford. In 1995, he was asked by then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, to become the second PEV for the Province. He was based in St. Alban’s and charged with ministering to faithful Anglo-Catholics spread over the length of Southern England, from the Humber Estuary to the Channel Islands. After six years of service as a PEV, Bishop Barnes retired to Lymington on the south coast where he holds the Bishop of Winchester’s license as an honorary assistant bishop. On the retirement of the late and much lamented Bishop Eric Kemp, he was honored to be asked to succeed him as President of the Church Union, which office he still holds.

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