I don’t have a lot of time to put together my itinerary for London et alibi, but… you WDTPRSers have made it possible, and I am very grateful.
Thanks to all of you who made donations to the trip fund I will be able to participate at Blackfen for the 25th Jubilee of Fr. Tim Finigan’s ordination.
On Thursday morning I will celebrate Holy Mass for the intention of the benefactors who contributed to this project. It is my honor and duty to do so.
I will be staying mostly with my friend Fr. Chris Baden at St. Bede’s in Clapham Park.
It is time to think about a London blognic.
Can you Londoners and those in the area make suggestions?
For the last London blognic we met at the Buckingham Arms on a Tuesday late afternoon. It was well attended… and a great time!
As an initial proposal, since I arrive on Friday, I won’t absolutely rule out Friday night, 17 July though I will be pretty tired.
Saturday 18 July is not out of the question. It wouldn’t necessarily have to be in the evening, since that is bad for priests.
Anyway, I put this on the table. I am putting my plans together for the days before The Event on the 28th.
Again, your donations were the only way I was able to do this in the first place.
Also, I am open to smaller, on the fly, meetings. For example, the last time I was there, on a couple afternoons, I stopped at a pub at Seven Dials where my iPhone could connect to the internet. I had a pint and uploaded some photos and entries. Things like that can be done with some creativity! I could post my UK cellphone number when I get there and get it is once again "charged up" with pounds.
UPDATE 2302 GMT:
His Hermeneuticalness, Fr. Finigan, chimed in:
Can I suggest Friday evening 24th July at about 6pm somewhere in central London so that people who are working in London can make it fairly easily.
And… I add… we may have a surprise event at the blognic!
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Bon Voyage Fr!
Fr since you’re going to be in Britain for at least 10 days, perhaps you’d like to visit other cities in our fair isles? I for one could give you an excellent guided tour of Bristol, one of our more historic towns which were once a working port city (much as Montreal used to be). My city also boasts several beautiful churches amongst our fine examples of fine medieval architecture (although sadly all of the medieval Church’s were ‘stolen’ by Henry VII and are now used by Anglicans); best of the entire journey from London takes only a few hours. If you’re interested just contact me via email and we can arrange the details, if not I’ll see you in London.
(I’m presuming that as site admin you can see the email addresses of posters, if not just respond on the main page and I’ll contact you via your address on the blog)
Jack: Sounds interesting! I believe Bristol was important in the building of ships for the Royal Navy in the early 19th century.
Dear Father John,
Great to hear you’ll be heading to the UK soon. I’m up for a blognic whenever it happens, though I probably will not make it to Fr TF’s jubilee since it will be hard to get home afterwards.
I could make the 17th. The 18th would be a little trickier, but feasible if that is what is decided. I’ll be on standby and await more news.
Indeed Fr and Giovanni Cabot (known in England as John Cabot) set sail from Bristol on his first voyage (although that voyage was cut short by a grouchy crew). About ten years ago they built a replica of his ship the Mathew and retraced his second voyage to Newfoundland, also docked in Bristol is Brunel’s’ famous SS Great Britain. I believe they offer short sailing cruises on the Mathew and although she’s permanently docked the tour of the SS Great Britain offers great historical insight into ocean going steamships.
Can’t do London. Let me know if you are ever in the Chicago area.
Saturday lunchtime, The Cardinal Pub behind Westminster Cathedral? A chance for attendees to get to confession en route and for everyone to admire the positive liturgical changes which have been made in the sanctuary…? I’ll even buy you a pint.
Wonderful news Fr. Z! Saturday might be better for working people, or at least late (8ish) on weekday evenings for those working late hours in the City.
Great news FrZ.
The 17th please, if you are not too tired.
I never understood why you needed donations. Surely your pals at The Herald (they lost the right to “Catholic” many editors ago) would have paid if you had offered to write an article for them.
Had you offered to write one critical of the SSPX they would have flown you business class.
How many days are you going to be with us?
It was a pleasure and an honor to help Fr go on this trip (even though it was a small amount). Father does much good and has been a great help to many of us
Wahhhhh! I want to go to the blognic!
One of these days we’ll have to get you up to Scotland, Father.
Scotland would be great!
The war for Father’s time begins – Glawegians Vs Bristolians :)
I knew about “Glaswegians”, but “Bristolians”?
What would people from Bath be called?
Father, have you ever been to Glastonbury or Salisbury? Wonderful to visit and quite close to London?
If you DO make it up to Scotland, you must stop at York and Durham along the way. Fantastic Catholic things to see at both places, and Durham has my vote for the best cathedral in the UK.
If you are staying at St. Bede’s Clapham Park, you might as well see St. Bede’s tomb at Clapham Park (along with St. Cuthbert).
(correction) If you are staying at St. Bede’s Clapham Park, you might as well see St. Bede’s tomb at DURHAM (along with St. Cuthbert).
people from bath are called Bathonians
Can I suggest Friday evening 24th July at about 6pm somewhere in central London so that people who are working in London can make it fairly easily.
Well, far from me either to wish to deprecate any of the fine suggestions made by others in this thread, or, more importantly, to make presumptions about how much time Fr Z may have on his visit to thse shores: but none the less may I mention two places, well off the mainstream tourist beaten track, but surprisingly close to London, and of some degree of importance in English Christian history, both in the beautiful and far too wrongly maligned county of Essex.
First, what claims to be the oldest wooden church in the world (regretably, it is no longer Catholic, but it is at least still used for worship and is left open), the Church of St Andrew neart the village of Greensted-Juxta-Ongar in Essex; generally believed to be from the 9th century – this is maybe 20 miles from the centre of London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensted_Church
And, second, a little further out, but rather more important historically, the 6th century former Cathedral founded by St Cedd, built on the site of a Roman fort, now known as the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Walls, at Bradwell-juxta-Mare (maybe 50 miles north-east from London); this is (said to be) the oldest place of Christian worship regularly used as such in England (it escaped the effects of the reformation in as much as it had fallen into disuse for some centuries – only being restored as a church in 1920); still a centre of pilgrimage; and is consecrated for use by both the Catholic and Anglican churches.
http://www.bradwellchapel.org/sphistory.htm
I think it would be very appropriate for Father to have a valet for this trip. You know, someone to serve at Holy Mass, carry luggage, order pints, etc. I, of course, would be willing to volunteer for this duty, without pay, if some gracious visitors would hit that donate button a few more times to pay for an extra ticket…
Also in Bristol’s favour is that Downside Abbey, one of the finest post-Reformation Catholic churches in Britain, is quite close by.
Friday 24th / Saturday 25th, would be great for us, we live in the outer darkness near Hadrian’s Wall. We will be returning from Lourdes, landing at Stanstead on the 24th. So we could extend our travel arrangements and make the Blognic.
Go on, Your Hermeneuticalness, call it for Friday 24th 6pm, we are right behind you.
Shurely a gathering of people from Bath should be called a “Proper Shower”.
Dominic scripsit:
the 6th century former Cathedral founded by St Cedd, built on the site of a Roman fort, now known as the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Walls, at Bradwell-juxta-Mare (maybe 50 miles north-east from London); this is (said to be) the oldest place of Christian worship regularly used as such in England
Two churches, to my knowledge, claim to date from the Roman Empire:
Old St.Pancras, St.Pancras [in Camden, London] – see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Pancras_Old_Church
and
St Martin’s, Canterbury – see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Martin's_Church,_Canterbury
St Alban’s Cathedral/Abbey traces its origins to the martyrdom of Alban in 254/304 – see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Albans_Cathedral
St Chad’s was founded in 653: Canterbury, Rochester and St.Paul’s Cathedral London date from 587-603.
There are many churches in the British Isles which date from the “Dark Ages” after the fall of the Roman Empire, including St David’s Cathedral in Wales – see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_David%27s_Cathedral
which dates from the 550s.
All the foregoing have been out of communion with the see of Peter since 1570
but St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, former domestic chapel of the London house of the Bishops of Ely, was restored for Catholic worship in after many vicissitusdes including a time as a boot-blacking factory: until very recently it was renowned for its Latin Masses under Fr.Kit Cunningham – see
http://www.stetheldreda.com/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Etheldreda%27s_Church
http://www.stetheldreda.com/masses.html
still advertises sung Latin Mass each Sunday at 11am, and Low Mass(EF) 1st Friday at 8pm
The National Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham is in the mediæval Slipper Chapel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipper_Chapel
and
http://www.walsingham.org.uk/romancatholic/
Although these last two date only from the 1340s, if there be anywhere in England Fr.Z should find time to visit, it is the last. Not for nothing was Walsingham known as England’s Nazareth and England itself as our Lady’s Dowry.
Regards
John UK
Thanks Andrew I hadn’t thought about Downside
I second that WAHHH, JoyfulMom!
If I had more money-and a new passport-I’d go to the blognic, too!
And then I’d go off to the north of England to visit my priest-friend in Wigan!