June and the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Do not be afraid to be pious

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Just a reminder that the month of June is traditionally dedicated to foster devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

You might give consideration to what you may do in your own devotional practices.

Don’t be afraid to be pious.

We lose nothing in being devout and we gain ineffable benefits.

Do not be afraid to bend yourself down before God especially and also to the angels and saints our intercessors and patrons and be simply pious.  Man was made to be pious.  This is the essence of religion, without which we are empty shells: to give due reverence to God.  The sin of our first parents came from trying to be the opposite of pious: self-sufficient self-gods.  That was defiance of due piety.  But people can drift into the same emptiness of life by neglect of piety and devotion, neglect of fostering the habits of devotion.

Consider the benefits of devotion for a moment, and then consider the downside of being – not impious, in the sense of being wicked – but slothful and haphazard and lukewarm.

How did our Lord describe the fate of the tepid?  It wasn’t good.

On the other hand, if you are hesitant about the notion of piety, and what you know is going to be the result – giving up things that are incompatible with true piety – here is something from Benedict XVI’s sermon for his inaugural Mass in 2005.

“Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great.”

To develop a habit, and being pious and devout is a habit, start small.

First, examine your conscience daily, in the evening, looking not just for sins you committed, but also how you sinned by omission.  That is where we ferret out our negligence in regard to the virtue of religion, negligence in respect to God and to neighbor.

Second, during the day, silently to yourself, perhaps say a brief prayer.  Pick one.  How about, “Jesus, meek and humble of heart: Make my heart like unto Thine.”  That just drips with in-your-face piety, doesn’t it?  That little prayer has it all.  And no one need know you have ever said it, unless you are reciting the Litany of the Sacred Heart.  Which brings me to the …

Third, find out opportunities for public devotions and start attending.  Never mind that they are unfamiliar.

Just start with that.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged , , ,
24 Comments

NYC, Manhattan, Holy Innocents: Solemn TLM – Ascension THURSDAY (Be not afraide!)

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Those of you in the area of NYC, can go to Holy Innocents in Manhattan (37th btwn Brdwy & 7th) for a Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form (would that I were celebrant!) tomorrow evening, Thursday.. Ascension THURSDAY.

Thursday evening at 6:15. Please note the adjusted time. The mass schedule at Holy Innocents’ is altered because of the Holy Day of Obligation.

The music program:

Prelude: Chorale Prelude on LLANFAIR (1994) by McNeil Robinson (b. 1943)
Mass Ordinary: Mass ‘Be not afraide’ by John Sheppard (c. 1515–1560)  [Be not afraid, this is “Be not afraide” not “Be not afraid”.]
Motet at Communion: Jesu nostra redemptio by William Byrd (1540–1623)
This text was the compline hymn for Ascension in the Sarum use.
Recessional Hymn: Hail the day that sees Him rise (Llanfair)
Postlude: L’Ascension (1933) by Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)
IV. Prière du Christ montant vers son Père

NOTE: Follow TWITTER updates for the music program and Masses at Holy Innocents… daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form and Sung Masses usually a couple times per week, Solemn Vespers on Sundays.  Twitter -follow HISchola

Even if you are not located geographically in the area of New York City, follow their tweets just to see what is possible!  Someday the whole story of the project at this parish will be told.

Posted in The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged
6 Comments

Brick by Brick! Pont. Seminary “Josephinum” and training in the Extraordinary Form

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The ever alert long-time reader HE alerted me to a piece for your Brick By Brick file in Our Sunday Visitor.

We are here concerned with the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae about the provisions of Summorum Pontificum and the real necessity of training seminarians in the use of both sides of the Roman Rite.  See here for some of my analysis.

Universae Ecclesiae 21 says:

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
21 – Ordinaries are strenuously (enixe) asked that they offer to clerics (clericis) to be trained up (instituendis) opportunity for acquiring adequate ars celebrandi… art of celebrating… in the Extraordinary Form, which point is has force above all (potissimum) for Seminaries, in which provision will be made that the students of holy things are to be suitably (convenienter) trained, by learning the Latin language, and,  as additional circumstances demand it (adiunctis id postulantibus), the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite itself.

My emphases and comments.

New Vatican instruction clarifies importance of traditional Latin Mass
Coming four years after pope opened door to wider use of traditional Latin Mass, answering questions

By Joseph O’Brien – OSV Newsweekly, 5/29/2011

Among those who have no doubts regarding the proper response to the pope’s instructions, Father James Wehner embraces with enthusiasm both the original 2007 apostolic letter and the new instruction. As rector of the only U.S. pontifical seminary, Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, Father Wehner takes “very seriously our character of being pontifical.”

“So when I see a document coming from Rome,” he said, “I want to take a generous interpretation of the document, not a minimalistic — that is, restrictive — interpretation.”

Father Wehner sees the instruction as a way for Catholics — especially young Catholics studying for the priesthood — to better understand the extraordinary form of the Mass. [May this priest and his tribe thrive.]

While the extraordinary form is already celebrated weekly at the Josephinum, Father Wehner said, in light of Universae Ecclesiae, the seminary will further develop the optional training in the extraordinary form the seminary provides. [Optional? GAH.]

“It’s not just the performance or functioning component of the form, but also the theological and spiritual dimension; the liturgical motivation for providing the people of God the opportunity to be exposed to this form of the Roman Missal,” he said. [Hmmm…. “liturgical motivation”.  Well… okay.  Why not “ecclesiological”?  “Spiritual”?  Better yet, “pastoral”?]

At the same time, noting the need for a pastoral balance, Father Wehner acknowledges that not all of the Josephinum seminarians, representing more than 30 dioceses, will require such training.   [I can’t see how he can say that, unless the seminarian already know it.  ALL seminarians in the Latin Church should know the Latin Rite in both forms.  Otherwise, can we say they are well-trained?]

“Some bishops, for example, might not see a pastoral need in their diocese, so their concern is that seminarians are not being forced into learning certain things before they’re ordained,” [?!?] he said. “Rather, they see their spiritual training and theological training having a particular priority.”  [Hmmm…. liturgy is doctinal and spiritual.  I don’t accept the dichotomy.  Besides, you have to force seminarians to do all sorts of things.  “Forcing” them to learn their Rite, isn’t really an imposition on their precious time.  Moreover, UE 21 says that bishops are asked enixe to see to this.  Regarding seminaries we see potissimum.]

Among young Catholics in general, Father Wehner said, there’s a pervasive enthusiasm for the sense of mystery they discover in the extraordinary form, which the new instruction will help channel.  [Which Summorum Pontificum already channeled, thank you very much.  However, Fr. W is right about this.  There is indeed a “pervasive enthusiasm for the sense of mystery”.  Of course that moves the whole thing into the realm of spirituality and doctrine, doesn’t it.]

“American Catholics, especially our younger people, live in a secular culture that tries to use reason and science alone to explain everything,” he said.

“These young Catholics,” said Father Wehner, “are inspired today by a sense of mystery. That’s not to say the extraordinary form is offering something better than the other liturgical experiences, [Wanna bet?  Go down the street to the local suburban parish and say that again!] but it seems to touch younger Catholics in a way that their sense and pursuit of mystery, of awe, of sacredness, is somehow captured in the extraordinary form that is responding to their needs.”

WDTPRS KUDOS to Fr. Wehner.

I suspect that in talking off the cuff, to a reporter, he was perhaps being overly cautious.  However, you can tell that his eyes are clear and his head is screwed on in the correct direction.  His willingness to stress the points about young people and mystery were dead on.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Brick by Brick, Our Catholic Identity, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The future and our choices, Universae Ecclesiae | Tagged , , ,
35 Comments

Fr. Z’s annual rant about Ascension Thursday Sunday

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

We know with holy and Catholic Faith that what was not assumed, was not redeemed (St. Gregory of Nazianzus – +389/90).

Our humanity, body and soul, was taken by the Son into an unbreakable bond with His divinity.

When Christ rose from the tomb, our humanity rose in Him. When He ascended to heaven, so also did we ascend. In Christ, our humanity now sits at the Father’s right hand. His presence there is our great promise and hope here.

It is already fulfilled, but not yet in its fullness. That hope informs our trials in this life.

Be clear. Not only Christ’s humanity but our humanity ascended into heaven. Preaching on 1 June 444 St. Leo I, “the Great” (+461) taught (my emphasis), “Truly it was a great and indescribable source of rejoicing when, in the sight of the heavenly multitudes, the nature of our human race ascended over the dignity of all heavenly creatures, to pass the angelic orders and to be raised beyond the heights of archangels. In its ascension it did not stop at any other height until this same nature was received at the seat of the eternal Father, to be associated on the throne of the glory of that One to whose nature it was joined in the Son.”

Leo says in another sermon of 17 May 445, “This Faith, reinforced by the Ascension of the Lord and strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit, has not been terrified by chains, by prison, by exile, by hunger, by fire, by the mangling of wild beasts, nor by sharp suffering from the cruelty of persecutors. Throughout the world, not only men but also women, not just immature boys but also tender virgins, have struggled on behalf of this Faith even to the shedding of their blood. This Faith has cast out demons, driven away sicknesses, and raised the dead.”

The liturgical celebration of Ascension by the Latin Church has become a little confused in recent years.

In the post-Conciliar calendar used with the Novus Ordo editions of the Missale Romanum for this Sunday we ought to be observing the 7th Sunday of Easter.

Ascension Thursday is on Thursday.

However, by the same logical that dislocated Epiphany from its proper place twelve days after Christmas (“Twelfth Night”), some years ago the Holy See allowed conferences of bishops to transfer the celebration of Ascension Thursday to the following Sunday.

I call this liturgical quirk “Ascension Thursday Sunday”.

Those who are participating at Holy Mass with the 1962MR avoid this folderol.

I know the argument. The bishops hope to expose more people to the mystery of the Ascension of the Lord. Because it is too hard to go to Mass also on Thursday, they moved the feast to Sunday. Well… in most places they moved it to Sunday. What is even more confusing is that it isn’t transferred in some dioceses.

In the 1983 Code of Canon Law c. 1246, Ascension Thursday is indicated as one of the few Holy Days of Obligation. Again, I know the “laudable” reason for moving the feast.

However, perhaps it is the influence of reading so much St. Augustine over the years, but my present view of human nature suggests to me that when Holy Mother Church’s pastors lower expectations regarding the liturgy, people get the hint: it just isn’t that important. Maybe none of it is important.

I think the option to dislocate such an important and ancient feast is an arrogant novelty.

The celebration of Ascension on a particular Thursday is rooted in Scripture and reflects the ancient practice of the Church in East and West alike. We read in Holy Scripture that nine days, not six, intervened between the Lord’s physical ascent to the Father’s right hand and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Ascension Thursday was fixed at the 40th day after Easter from about the end of the 4th century. In the Latin West, St. Augustine of Hippo (+430) called it Quadragesima (“fortieth”) Ascensionis. In the Greek East, St. Gregory of Nyssa spoke of it in 388. That’s only a 16 century tradition. Eastern Christians haven’t transferred Ascension.

What must the Easterners think of us Latins?

But let’s be more positive.

With the third, 2002 edition of the Missale Romanum we have once again a Mass for the Vigil of Ascension. This wasn’t in the 1970 or 1975 editions. Moreover, there are now proper Masses for the days (nine? six?) after Ascension until Pentecost, most having alternative collects depending on whether or not in that region Ascension is transferred to Sunday.

In the new printing of the 3rd edition there will also be an option for a longer celebration of the Vigil of Pentecost, in keeping with the ancient use similar to the Vigil of Easter, with various readings. There is a parallel between Easter and Pentecost for the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, which in the Latin Church were of old conferred in the same rite.

Drop to your knees and thank God for Pope Benedict and the provisions by which he liberated the use also of the pre-Conciliar liturgy through Summorum Pontificum.

Whether you prefer the older form of Mass or the newer, Pope Benedict is working to heal the rupture that took place after the Council in our worship of Almighty God.

The older use will exert a “gravitational pull” on the celebration of the newer forms and the whole Church will benefit.

Posted in Wherein Fr. Z Rants | Tagged ,
43 Comments

Latin for “tweet” and “Twitter” – WDTPRS POLL

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fewer questions in this twittering world burn at hot as the proper Latin terminology for Twitter.

In a couple places, for example on the entry about the Z-Cam and Radio Sabina,  I have suggested that Latin for “tweet” as in the use of Twitter should be pipata, “tweets” from pipio “to twitter, chirp”.

I now read this from rogueclassicism (which I look at everyday) from this about the all important question of how to tweet on Twitter, Latinly.

I am not entirely convinced.

This past weekend, I was pondering whether anyone had bothered yet to render the word “Twitter” into Latin, [Yes.  I did.] and threw the question out — naturally — to my Twitter followers.  What I didn’t want was simply a transcription in Latin of something that sounded like ‘twitter’ … I was looking for a word which some Classical Roman might have used had social media of our sort existed back in the day. The word had to be Classically-attested, and ideally wasn’t a hapax or something culled from a disputed line in an apparatus.

I, and several others, immediately thought of Catullus’s sparrow hopping about in Lesbia’s lap (Carmina III, incipit, via the Latin Library):

LVGETE, o Veneres Cupidinesque,
et quantum est hominum uenustiorum:
passer mortuus est meae puellae,
passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quem plus illa oculis suis amabat.
nam mellitus erat suamque norat
ipsam tam bene quam puella matrem,
nec sese a gremio illius mouebat,
sed circumsiliens modo huc modo illuc
ad solam dominam usque pipiabat.

[…]

No matter what one thinks the passer actually refers to (e.g. see this short analysis of Carmina II), pipiare (‘chirping’ or ‘peeping’ in the avian sense) does seem to be related to the whole concept of Twitter and ‘tweeting’, obviously.

Accordingly, I chanced upon a nice page which conjugated pipiare in all its forms which offered a sort of ‘menu of potential terminology’ and initially was in a gerundive state of mind, and threw out the suggestion of Pipianda (things chirped) for Twitter, and pipiandum (a thing chirped) for a tweet. Other forms were suggested, most notably pipulum for Tweet, by Dave Oosterhuis (@VerbaLatina). Bill Thayer (@LacusCurtius) suggested ‘pipiatum‘ to save a character (we do tweet in a 140 character world, of course), which was also nice because it brought back the ‘t’ sound.

That ‘t’ sound seems to have latched onto my brain, and after some confusion (on my part) with the suggestion of tuitear (from @latinimberbe, who was giving me the Spanish word, but I didn’t catch on), I was waiting to see if any ‘t’ words came to be suggested.

Coincidentally, Daniel Russell (@NotusNasoNovit) brought up that he used ‘titiatum‘ to refer to Twitter because it did preserve the ‘t’. [Hmmm…] I had seen that word, but I could not discern whether it was Classical or Medieval. According to Daniel, in the OLD the word occurs in Suetonius — but not in the Lives of the Caesars, but in some obscure work called the Prata (fr. 161) which seems to be a catalog of animal noises. In the August Reifferscheid, Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl edition which is online, we see the simple phrase: [But I thought the idea was to find something that was more than … obscure.]

passer titiare

That seemed to fit the bill nicely. Late consideration was also given to Aurelien Berra, who mentioned using fritinnio, fringultio, and frigutio in a Twitter-related discussion last summer.

A check of this word yielded (with help) the following from the Latin Dictionary at Perseus:

[…]

While the word is listed as ‘twitter’ or ‘chirp’, from the birds described as using it — blackbirds and jackdaws [Jerome’s description of Ambrose, btw.] — and the transferral of it to refer to stammering and stuttering, it doesn’t quite have the same elegance as pipiatum or titiatum. In the end, for me anyway, it was a bit of a coin toss and it boiled down to how good it looked as a logo:

versus

Aesthetically, the latter looks almost like the original (so is a translation of an image as well) and also has the nice feature of not having descenders, which seems to be something folks avoid in logos for some reason.

And so I humbly suggest (and/or confirm or agree): Twitter in Latin should be Titiatio and a tweet Titiatum

[…]

OKAY… this needs a WDTPRS poll.  I am not saying I, personally, will perforce go by the results.  But I want the data and arguments for the choice, which I hope you will give in the combox, below.

The Latin for "tweet" and "Twitter" should be based on:

View Results

Posted in POLLS, The Drill | Tagged , ,
15 Comments

Priests. The older Mass: Just Do It.

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Summorum Pontificum was a great gift to priests and, through priests, to their congregations.

I have written many times that when priests learn to say the older, Extraordinary Form of Holy Mass in the Roman Rite, they are changed by the experience and they never say the Novus Ordo again in the same way.  They come to know something more about who they are at the altar as priest/victim, and they learn something more about an ars celebrandi which is apt for the Roman Rite.

This is one of the ways in which Pope Benedict’s “Marshall Plan” will have a slow but sure effect on the larger Church.

With that as a preamble, Fr. Kyle Schnippel, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, wrote on his blog Called By Name about his first experience as a deacon at a Solemn TLM.

I hear from Fr. Schnippel that he will be celebrant for the first time for a public TLM.  In advance of this Mass he has written some points of advice for priests concerning the older, Extraordinary Form.

Here are a few of his parting shots.  You can read the rest at his place.

6) Switch your private Mass from Latin NO to the EF and keep praciticing.

7) Offer to assist as a Deacon or Sub-Deacon at the Solemn High Mass

8) Step to the Center and DO IT!

For me, this was a four to six month process, some days I put in more time (when I had it), some days/weeks, I didn’t get any progress made; but I tried to keep an upward trajectory.

This is worth it for your priesthood!!!!! It has helped me to celebrate the NO better, with more reverence.  It has made me appreciate the Mass all the more.  This will also help in appreciating the new texts we will be using this Advent.

As a priest, we get many demands, and this seems like a huge burden to learn and make progress.  Break it down into the steps and timeline that works for you and DO IT!!!

WDTPRS KUDOS to Fr. Schnippel.  I look forward to his reflections on being celebrant for a public TLM.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged
5 Comments

Card Burke withdraws from London conference at last minute

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the UK’s best Catholic weekly, The Catholic Herald:

Cardinal Burke withdraws from London conference at last minute

By David V Barrett on Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Mystery surrounds the unexpected withdrawal of Cardinal Raymond Burke as the main speaker at a conference organised by Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice at Westminster Central Hall on June 18.

The Faith of our Fathers conferences, which began in 1996, have traditionally attracted high-profile speakers such as Mother Angela, founder of the Eternal Word Television Network. As prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, Cardinal Burke oversees the administration of justice in the Church. He was to have spoken on “The Restoration of Church Discipline and Evangelisation”. He has long been seen as one of the most outspoken US bishops and, since his elevation to the College of Cardinals by Pope Benedict last November, is one of the highest-placed officials at the Vatican.

Daphne McLeod, chairman of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, said that Cardinal Burke had been informed by “several devout and faithful people” that his speaking at the conference would be divisive because Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice “are too outspoken and don’t have respect for the bishops”.

“We’re whistle-blowers, and we have enemies,” she said.

She would not say who she thought had issued this warning, but said the impression was given that if the cardinal speaks, “because he’s so close to the Pope it’ll look as if he’s speaking for the Pope and attacking the bishops – which is crazy”, she said.

Cardinal Burke came to prominence outside the Church during the 2004 American presidential elections, when he publicly stated that Democratic candidate John Kerry and other Catholic politicians who supported legalised abortion should not be allowed to receive the Eucharist.

Posted in The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , ,
Comments Off on Card Burke withdraws from London conference at last minute

QUAERITUR: Questions or statements about Faith met with confusion or attacks.

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

Every time I start or enter conversations with non-catholic people, the moment I ask : “Why do you think this?” or say: “I don’t understand, please explain.” in response to a statement, it will be handled as an open personal attack. To be fair, there are people who actually give an asnwer to the question, but that is usually totally meaningless and upset, but the second reply is commonly a real personal attack. We don’t even reach the point when the talk we are having is beginning to be actual communication. I experience this kind of behaviour in the office with my colleagues and with my parents too.

I get really upset when I encounter this kind of behaviour, not becouse I hate the people, but becouse the refusal of reasoning irritates me. I usually say a prayer to my guardian angel or the Blessed Virgin to help me not to lose my temper.

Is this normal, or am I doing something wrong?

Given that we are members of a fallen race, suffering with the wounds Original Sin inflicted on our will and intellect, on our ability to control our passions and appetites, I would say that this is fairly normal.  This is the sort of thing that made martyrs into martyrs.

To be less dramatic, however, keep in mind the times in which we live.

Attention spans are now very short.   People are taught less and less useful information.  We are surrounded by distractions which lull us away from consideration of the Last Things.  Preaching and teaching and catechesis has been sheer disaster for decades.  Liturgical worship has been banalized far and wide.  The Church and religion and the moral, ethical teaching that flows from them have been incessantly run down by the entertainment industry and misrepresented by the mainstream media.  Religious indiffrentism is advanced as enlightened dialogue.  Critical thinking is a nearly lost tool.

Is it any wonder that when you ask them to give a reason for what they think, they have a negative reaction?  Many people are unused to such a challenge.

Take into consideration the old adage, quidquid recipitur, in modo recipientis recipitur. That which is received, is received in the manner or mode of the one who is receiving it.  That it to say, you may have to tailor your according to the people you are dealing with.

Therefore, give heed to what we red in 1 Peter 15: 13ff.

And who is he that can hurt you, if you be zealous of good?  But if also you suffer any thing for justice’ sake, blessed are ye. And be not afraid of their fear, and be not troubled. But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you. But with modesty and fear, having a good conscience: that whereas they speak evil of you, they may be ashamed who falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.  For it is better doing well (if such be the will of God) to suffer, than doing ill.

Be prepared to give your own informed, measured and kind answers for your Faith.

Moreover, pray not only to your Guardian Angel, but also the other person’s Guardian Angel.  Ask them to work together to help the two of you have a good exchange and to prompt you in the right directions of thought while protecting your from the traps of the Enemy.

And be sure to show joy in your Catholic faith.  With the relatively religiously unlettered today, your joy may be the first, best hook you have in your tackle box.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged
12 Comments

Business owners: Want to support vocations to the priesthood?

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

May I recommend to Catholic business owners…

If you want to support vocations to the priesthood, one way to do so would be to find or offer summer jobs to seminarians.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices | Tagged , , , , ,
12 Comments

A concrete reminder of how quickly things can go wrong: an English Catholic “recusant” house

Posted on 1 June 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I would like to redirect your attention to a fascinating post over at Damian Thompson’s place.

He has written about a … well… here is the first part as a tease to get you to go over there and read the rest.

Mapledurham House, an imposing Elizabethan mansion in south Oxfordshire, is one of Catholic England’s best-kept secrets. Which is appropriate, in a way – for it went to enormous trouble to keep its Catholic allegiance secret during times of persecution, when it was a safe house for fugitive priests.

That said, I think it’s high time that Mapledurham was better known: by rights it ought to attract thousands more visitors than it does. We live in an age when fans of The Da Vinci Code and other thrillers rush to historic locations to stare at “clues” to bogus mysteries. In contrast, the owners of Mapledurham House kept a genuine secret during the Tudor persecution and for decades afterwards: their fidelity to the Roman faith. But the clues had to be subtle – to the extent that, even now, its current owners, John and Lady Anne Eyston, are still making discoveries.

The most recent priest hole, for example, lay undiscovered until 2002 – though it’s in such an inaccessible upper bedroom that it can’t accommodate crowds of tourists. The hole is hidden underneath a sliding hearth, and it might better be described as an elaborate escape shaft.

“Family legend had it that there was a priest hole in the bedroom fireplace – but we didn’t realise that for years we were looking at the wrong fireplace, not the hidden original,” says Jack Eyston, a descendent of the Blount family who were guardians of the house for most of its history. “Nothing was ever committed to writing, for obvious reasons.”

Mapledurham is next to the Thames at a point where the river can’t be crossed. As Richard Williams observes in his guide to the estate, this means that “the village, clustered round the manor houses, the church, the mill and the almshouses, remains a peaceful and secluded oasis, beloved of artists and visitors”.

The river was crucial for some of those early visitors – Catholic priests. Mr Eyston explains: “This was an ideal safe house because you could get here without riding a horse and being spotted as a stranger.” But how would they know their boat had reached safety? “All recusant houses had a sign, and this was ours,” he says, pointing to a gable covered with oyster shells visible from the river. The shells may represent the biblical “pearl of great price” – the Catholic faith, whose Mass was celebrated in an attic.

[…]

Read the rest there.

In a time when Pope Benedict is talking about a “New Evangelization”, I often wonder if we should not start thinking about making “priest holes” again.

Posted in Just Too Cool, New Evangelization, Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice |
7 Comments