Unxerunt Salomonem

Yesterday evening, the antiphon at the Magnificat for first Vespers of the 7th Sunday after Pentecost was Unxerunt Salomonem, which irresistibly brings to mind Handel's magnificent coronation anthem Zadok the priest…

Sadoc the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon king in Gihon: and going up glad, they said: May the king live for ever. (3 Kings 1:45; cf. 1:39,34,31)

Nativitas tua Dei Genitrix Virgo

The Magnificat antiphon for the Feast of Our Lady's Nativity, Nativitas tua Dei Genitrix Virgo, is a translation of the Apolytikion of the Feast in the Byzantine Liturgy (Ἡ γέννησίς σου Θεοτόκε, χαρὰν ἐμήνυσε πάσῃ τῇ οικουμένῃ, ἐκ σοῦ γὰρ ἀνέτειλεν ὁ Ἥλιος τῆς δικαιοσύνης, Χριστὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ λύσας τὴν κατάραν, ἔδωκε τὴν εὐλογίαν, καὶ καταργήσας τὸν θάνατον, ἐδωρήσατο ἡμῖν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.).

Its Gregorian chant melody is interesting to me because it resembles a very ornate psalm-tone (rather in the style of that of the Ambrosian Transitorium Te laudamus Domine omnipotens), which I transcribe as follows, breaking the chant into sense-lines to reveal the repeated motifs:

Note that the first and fourth lines are all but identical as regards the chant, while the second, third and fifth lines are the same from the climacus (five descending notes) onwards, and after the quarter bar are all but the same as the first and fourth lines, just as the beginnings of the first and fourth (but for the climacus) resemble that of the second and to a lesser extent the fifth, while at the same time the beginnings of the third line is quite different in melody.

In the Dominican Rite, this antiphon is (or was) used also for Our Lady's Visitation and Presentation, as well as for other Marian feasts, in each case changing the word Nativitas into, respectively, Visitatio,  Præsentatio, and Solemnitas. Likewise, in the Monastic Breviary, the same is done for the feast of Our Lady's Maternity, changing Nativitas into Maternitas (and ending the chant at Christus Deus noster).

We had a lovely OF parish Mass in the evening of the Feast yesterday; perhaps next year our schola can learn this chant and sing it either at Mass or Benediction.

O Emmanuel

When in past years I lived in Melbourne, and had the chance to pray daily before the tabernacle at St Dominic's, East Camberwell, I used to use Newman's formula for a short visit to the Blessed Sacrament, from his Meditations and Devotions, consisting of an Act of Faith in the Real Presence, and then one of the O Antiphons:

+ In the Name...

I place myself in the presence of Him, in whose Incarnate Presence I am before I place myself there.

I adore Thee, O my Saviour, present here as God and man, in soul and body, in true flesh and blood.

I acknowledge and confess that I kneel before that Sacred Humanity, which was conceived in Mary's womb, and lay in Mary's bosom; which grew up to man's estate, and by the Sea of Galilee called the Twelve, wrought miracles, and spoke words of wisdom and peace; which in due season hung on the cross, lay in the tomb, rose from the dead, and now reigns in heaven.

I praise, and bless, and give myself wholly to Him, who is the true Bread of my soul, and my everlasting joy.

Sunday: O Sapientia...

Monday: O Adonai...

Tuesday: O Radix Jesse...

Wednesday: O Clavis David...

Thursday: O Oriens...

Friday: O Rex Gentium...

Saturday: O Emmanuel...

These Advent anthems are ideal for worship of Christ in the Eucharist, since they capture the yearning for Him that we ought have before the Blessed Sacrament - since there we wish once more to receive Him in Holy Communion, to be in union with Him, and thereby make our spiritual communion with Him - just as the old farmer explained his method of prayer to the Curé of Ars: "I look at the Good God, and the Good God looks at me." That is true Eucharistic Adoration.

Each week I was glad as Saturday came round, since Saturday was the day to pray O Emmanuel, the greatest of these Advent anthems, since it names Our Lord as the Lord our God, come to save us.

(Please follow the link to the chant, the text and the sources of O Emmanuel.)

O Rex Gentium - II

Please refer to my post from last year for the anthem O Rex Gentium.

O Clavis David & O Oriens

Oops, I read Vespers very late last night, and entirely forgot to post about the O Antiphon for Sunday! So here is a catch-up covering both yester-day's O Clavis David (my post on this a year ago, including another Charpentier Magnificat to match) and to-night's O Oriens...

Mention of Him Who is the true East, to Whom we should turn, reminds me ineluctably of how we must, must return to eastward worship, ad orientem versus. As Aquinas quoting Augustine reminds us, "'The East,' that is Christ, 'calleth thee, and thou [fool] turnest to the West,' namely mortal and fallible man." (S.T., II-II, 189, 10, resp.) How sadly true is this of too many lame and pathetic modern debasings of what ought be divine service, divine worship.

It is a real pity in one sense that the Holy Father has to set special structures for Anglicans - because they find the way Catholics worship nowadays to be so impoverished and philistine! Truly "filthiness is in her skirts" (Lam. i, 9). Her worship needs revitalizing, lest the irreverence inseparable from impiety derogate outrageously from the treasure of Holy Mass.

As regards cleaning up the liturgy, in the light of the old Anglican "Six Points", I blogged on this some months back - see Desiderata Desideravi.

Some more details on Eastward worship, as so rightful given Our Saviour as our true East:

• Turn the altars round!
• Ecce Vir, Oriens nomen ejus (Behold a Man, the Orient is His name).

Holy Church should really bring back that significant ceremony, the sputatio, recorded by St Ambrose (and therefore certainly performed by Augustine, whom he baptized): facing West, the catechumen, renouncing the Devil, his pomps (that is, pagan rites) and vanities, spat thither, spat in the Enemy's face as it were! and thereupon turned East, to confess Christ, that he might in the forthcoming laver of regeneration be born again as His for ever.

Let us pray Augustine's prayer of orientation, Conversi ad Dominum Deum, with which he ended his sermons, that his flock might turn them Eastward as he, going to the altar, went to stand and sacrifice before the holy table, looking to the east for the salvation promised by our Lord Who is again to come:

CONVERSI ad Dominum Deum Patrem omnipotentem, puro corde ei, quantum potest parvitas nostra, maximas atque veras gratias agamus: precantes toto animo singularem mansuetudinem ejus, ut preces nostras in beneplacito suo exaudire dignetur; inimicum quoque a nostris actibus et cogitationibus sua virtute expellat, nobis multiplicet fidem, mentem gubernet, spirituales cogitationes concedat, et ad beatitudinem suam perducat per Jesum Christum Filium ejus. Amen.

LET us turn towards the Lord God and Father Almighty, and with a pure heart let us give Him sincere thanks as well as our littleness will allow: Let us with our whole hearts beseech His extraordinary clemency, that He may vouchsafe to hear our prayers according to His good pleasure. May He by His power drive our enemies far from us, lest we fall under the sway of the evil one in act or thought. May He increase our faith, rule our mind, give us spiritual thoughts, and at last lead us to His blessedness, through Jesus Christ His Son. Amen.

(I quote this, replacing consonantal i's with j's as is my preference, from Michael Martin's excellent site, Thesaurus Precum Latinarum, feeling that he - with whom I've had long correspondence ever since my early university days - won't mind me putting this up.)

O Radix Jesse - II

Please look back one year, to my posting of the chant, the text and the Scriptural sources of to-night's Major Antiphon, O Radix Jesse...

I suspect, by the way, that these are called the Antiphonæ majores, or "greater anthems", both because of their relative length - rather longer than the ferial antiphons for the Magnificat, though they are by no means as lengthy nor as musically elaborate as some (such as the Hodie antiphons for some of the great feasts of the Church's Year), and because of their pregnancy with meaning, singing of the high office and titles of the Messias.

In cathedrals, collegiate churches, monasteries and priories of old - and, albeit in too few places, even to-day - each evening leading up to Christmas was marked with the singing of these several anthems, always doubled (sung in full before and after the Gospel Canticle), if not tripled, and conjoined with the Magnificat on a solemn tone, while the celebrant fumed the altar. This was a dramatic upping of ceremonial and chant for what are otherwise ferial days of Advent!

Furthermore, it was appointed by custom that each night, as Christmas drew nearer, the O Antiphon was to be intoned by an official of greater and greater rank - in an abbey, ending with the Abbot himself, after the Prior, the Deans, and the other monastics in due order.

Christians having a true hierarchical sensibility - far from delusions of domineering power - will appreciate this; for even, before and above all, the Blessed Trinity consists of a due order of Persons, without any inequality. "Let all things be done decently and in order", writes the Apostle (I Cor. xiv, 40).

O Adonai - II

How to remember the order of the O-Antiphons?

Well, in reverse order, the initials of the second word in each compose the phrase reverently put on the lips of Our Lord, the King Who is to come: Ero cras - "I shall be (with you) to-morrow". Holy Church, His Bride, therefore cries out, responding to His Advent in wondering joy, naming him with blessed titles drawn from Holy Writ, inspired by the Holy Ghost.

The Antiphons are therefore: O Sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse, O Clavis David, O Oriens, O Rex Gentium, O Emmanuel.

So to-night comes O Adonai: for the text, the chant and the sources, just follow this link to my post concerning all this last year...

(Obviously I refer to the Roman Rite here; the English mediæval rites began these anthems a day earlier, and had an extra one, O Virgo Virginum; and other mediæval uses had as many as twelve of them.)

O Sapientia - III

Please follow these links to last year's posts about the first of the Great O-Antiphons, which, as Guéranger asserted, contain the very marrow of the Advent liturgy:

• O Sapientia (the plainchant anthem, with a Baroque Magnificat to match);
• O Sapientia - II (the Latin text with an English translation, plus quotations shewing its derivation from Scripture passages).

Now, I'd best say Vespers...

Ascensiontide Magnificat Antiphon

If no feasts supervene, the ferial days of Ascensiontide - which for five centuries were celebrated as days in the Octave thereof - repeat a capitulo the texts of the feast itself (to a first approximation), and in particular the magnificent Magnificat antiphon of the Ascension is sung at Vespers (attentive chanters will note its similarity to the Advent O-Antiphons, upon which it may be based); it is very suitable to pray as part of a Novena in preparation for Pentecost:

O Rex gloriæ, Domine virtutum, qui triumphator hodie super omnes cælos ascendisti, ne derelinquas nos orphanos: sed mitte promissum Patris in nos, Spiritum veritatis, alleluja.

(O King of glory, Lord of powers, Who as One triumphant this day ascended above all the heavens, leave us not orphans: but send the promise of the Father into us, the Spirit of truth, alleluia.)

O Emmanuel

Two days till Christmas! At Vespers to-night, the last, most explicit, and greatest of the O Antiphons will be sung: O Emmanuel - for God-with-us is about to appear, our King and Lawgiver, the Expectation and Saviour of the Nations, He Who Is, the Lord our God, Who alone can save us. To-morrow is the Vigil of Christmas, and by Vespertide we will be already rejoicing in His saving Birth.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, expectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, Expectation of the Nations, and their Saviour: come to save us, Lord our God.

Sources:

• …et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel. (Is 7:14c)

• Dominus enim judex noster, Dominus legifer noster, Dominus rex noster, ipse salvabit nos. (Is 33:22)

• …donec veniat qui mittendus est, et ipse erit expectatio gentium. (Gen 49:10b)

• …ego Dominus Deus vester… (Ezech 20:5b,7b,19a,20b; 34:31c) 

• Qui enim conversus est, non per hoc quod videbat sanabatur, sed per te, omnium salvatorem. (Sap 16:7)

• …salvator mundi… (Jn 4:42 et passim, esp. in N.T.)

O Rex Gentium

To-day, December the 22nd, we sing at Vespers the following Greater Antiphon, foretelling the great all-reconciling Mission of God the Son, coming as the One more than able to fulfil all the hopes and desires of men, Who shall perfect man whom He made of dust, remoulding Him in His Own image, thus reuniting the sundered clans of earth, both to each other and most of all to God:

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

O King of the Nations, and the Desired of them, and the Corner Stone, That makest both one: come, and save man, whom of dust thou didst form.

Here are some bases for this prayer in the Bible:

• Quis non timebit te, o Rex gentium? (Jer 10:7a)

• Et movebo omnes gentes, et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus… (Agg 2:8a-b)

• Ipse enim est pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum, et medium parietem maceriæ solvens, inimicitias in carne sua... (Eph 2:14)

• ...superædificati super fundamentum apostolorum, et prophetarum, ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu... (Eph 2:20)

• salva (occurs 21 times in Vulg.)

• Formavit igitur Dominus Deus hominem de limo terræ… (Gen 2:7a)

O Oriens

Christmas is so near - this day, the 21st of December, is the 4th Sunday of Advent this year; and at Vespers all adherents of the Roman Rite sing O Oriens: Come, Thou Daystar, Thou Dawn, Thou Dayspring, Thou true East, Thou Sun of Justice, rising and nevermore setting, risen with healing in Thy wings! Look to the East, O Jerusalem, O new Israel, thou Church of the living God - behold, Thy Saviour draweth nigh! He comes to wake thee from thine unhappy slumbers; shake off the sleepy torpor of sin, deck thyself in righteousness by His secret grace, and welcome Christ the King!

O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris et umbrâ mortis.

O Orient, splendour of light eternal, and Sun of justice: come, and enlighten those sitting in darkness and the shade of death.

Long time past, I collected these sentences of Scripture to shew the derivation of this short yet very splendid anthem, which curiously enough repeats some of the sentiments of its brother O Clavis (is this then a later addition?):

• Ecce vir, Oriens nomen ejus, et subter eum orietur, et ædificabit templum Domino. (Zach 6:12b)

• ...in quibus visitavit nos, oriens ex alto... (Lc 1:78b)

• ...candor est enim lucis æternæ… (Sap 7:26a)

• Splendor ejus ut lux erit… (Hab 3:4a)

• Et orietur vobis timentibus nomen meum sol justitiæ, et sanitas in pennis ejus… (Mal 3:20a = 4:2a)

• Sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis. (Ps 106(107):10a)

• ...illuminare his qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent… (Lc 1:79a)
  

O Clavis David

On December the 20th, Holy Mother Church with joys sings at Vespers:

O clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis et nemo claudit, claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris et umbrâ mortis.

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, Who openest and none closeth, closest, and none openeth: come, and lead out the captive from the house of incarceration, the one sitting in darkness and the shade of death.

My researches turned up these sources in Holy Writ:

• Non sicut hæc, pars Jacob, quia qui fecit omnia ipse est: et Israël sceptrum hæreditatis ejus: Dominus exercituum nomen ejus. (Jer 51:19)

• Non auferetur sceptrum de Juda, et dux de femore ejus… (Gen 49:10a)

• …domus Israël… (used 87 times in Vulg.)

• Et dabo clavem domus David… et aperiet, et non erit qui claudat; et claudet, et non erit qui aperiat. (Is 22:22a,c-d)

• …Hæc dicit Sanctus et Verus, qui habet clavem David: qui aperit, et nemo claudit: claudit, et nemo aperit... (Apoc 3:7b)

• …et educeres de conclusione vinctum, de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris. (Is 42:7b-c)

• Sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis; vinctos in mendicitate et ferro. (Ps 106(107):10)

• Et eduxit eos de tenebris et umbra mortis, et vincula eorum dirupit. (Ps 106(107):14)

• ...illuminare his qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent… (Lc 1:79a)

Why not pair this with another Baroque setting of the Magnificat, this time for four voices, by the great Charpentier?

O Radix Jesse

On December the 19th at Vespers, the Magnificat antiphon is O radix Jesse - here it is, as sung by Oxford Dominicans:

O radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

O root of Jesse, Who standest as a sign to the peoples, before Whom kings shut their mouths, Whom the Gentiles beseech: come to free us, now do not delay.

Scriptural sources:

• In die illa radix Jesse, qui stat in signum populorum, ipsum gentes deprecabuntur… (Is 11:10a-c; cf. v.1)

• …super ipsum continebunt reges os suum… (Is 52:15b)

• …quia veniens veniet, et non tardabit. (Hab 2:3d)

• Quia veni, et non erat vir; vocavi, et non erat qui audiret. Numquid abbreviata et parvula facta est manus mea, ut non possim redimere? aut non est in me virtus ad liberandum? Ecce in increpatione mea desertum faciam mare, ponam flumina in siccum; computrescent pisces sine aqua, et morientur in siti. (Is 50:2)

O Adonai

At Vespers on the 18th of December:

 

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israël, qui Moysi in igne flammæ rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in bracchio extento.

O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, Who to Moses in the fire of flames of a bush didst appear, and to him on Sinai the Law didst give: come to redeem us with arm extended.

Suggested sources:

• …ex te enim exiet dux, qui regat populum meum Israël. (Mt 2:6d; cf. Mic 5:2c)

• …domus Israël… (appears 87 times in Vulg.)

• Apparuitque ei [Moyses] Dominus in flamma ignis de medio rubi… (Ex 3:2a; cf. v.1)

• qui apparui Abraham, Isaac et Jacob in Deo omnipotente: et nomen meum Adonai non indicavi eis. (Ex 6:3b et passim in lingua Hebraice)

• «et ei in Sina legem dedisti» – (cf. Ex 20:1 et passim)

• Quæ est autem ut populus tuus Israël gens in terra, propter quam ivit Deus ut redimeret eam sibi in populum, et poneret sibi nomen, faceretque eis magnalia et horribilia super terram a facie populi tui quem redemisti tibi ex Ægypto, gentem, et deum ejus. (2 Reg 7:23 et passim)

• Quia veni, et non erat vir; vocavi, et non erat qui audiret. Numquid abbreviata et parvula facta est manus mea, ut non possim redimere? aut non est in me virtus ad liberandum? Ecce in increpatione mea desertum faciam mare, ponam flumina in siccum; computrescent pisces sine aqua, et morientur in siti. (Is 50:2)

• Et eduxisti populum tuum Israël de terra Ægypti, in signis et in portentis, et in manu robusta et in brachio extento, et in terrore magno...  (Jer 32:21)

Ero Cras

Ero cras - "To-morrow I will be [here]" - is the phrase resulting from taking the first letter of the second word in each of the O Antiphons in reverse order (Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia): for they foretell the imminent arrival of Our Saviour.  Happy coincidence?  Probably.  It's just the sort of delightful ex post facto explanation and signification that the medieval writers loved to find.

Additional O Antiphons

Medieval breviaries had various additional O-antiphons, all - in my opinion - of inferior form and content to the original seven.

The Parisian Breviary (1735) had nine of these Antiphons, beginning the cycle on the 15th of December, and interpolating two new ones, which I consider to be well-formed and of appropriate structure:

20th December - O Sancte Sanctorum

O Sancte sanctorum, speculum sine macula Dei majestatis, et imago bonitatis illius: veni ut deleatur iniquitas, et adducatur justitia sempiterna.

(O Holy of Holies, the spotless mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness: come and blot out iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness.)

Sources:

• …speculum sine macula Dei majestatis, et imago bonitatis illius. (Sap 7:26b-c)

• Septuaginta hebdomades abbreviatæ sunt super populum tuum et super urbem sanctam tuam, ut consummetur prævaricatio, et finem accipiat peccatum, et deleatur iniquitas, et adducatur justitia sempiterna, et impleatur visio et prophetia, et ungatur Sanctus sanctorum. (Dan 9:24)
  

23rd December - O Pastor Israël

O Pastor Israël, et dominator in domo David, cujus egressus ab initio, a diebus æternitatis: veni ut pascas populum tuum in fortitudine, et regnes in justitia et judicio. 

(O Shepherd of Israel and ruler of the house of David, whose goings forth have been from of old, from ancient days: come and feed thy people in the strength of the Lord, and reign in judgment and righteousness.)

Some possible sources:

• Qui regis [pascis – 1945] Israël, intende… (Ps 79(80):2(1)a)

• …ex te mihi egredietur qui sit dominator in Israël, et egressus ejus ab initio, a diebus æternitatis. (Mic 5:2c-e)

• ...et relicta est gens perpauca, et princeps in domo David. (Ecclus 48:17)

• ...et erexit cornu salutis nobis in domo David pueri sui... (Lc 1:69)

• Et stabit, et pascet in fortitudine Domini… (Mic 5:4a)

• Et suscitabo super eas pastorem unum qui pascat eas, servum meum David: ipse pascet eas, et ipse erit eis in pastorem. (Ezech 34:23)

• Et scient quia ego Dominus Deus eorum cum eis, et ipsi populus meus domus Israël, ait Dominus Deus. (Ezech 34:30)

• Pasce populum tuum in virga tua, gregem hæreditatis tuæ, habitantes solos, in saltu, in medio Carmeli. Pascentur Basan et Galaad juxta dies antiquos. (Mic 7:14)

• Ecce in justitia regnabit rex, et principes in judicio præerunt. (Is 32:1)
  

O Sapientia - II

O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.

O Wisdom, Who from the mouth of the Most High didst come forth, stretching from end to end, strongly and suavely disposing all things: come to teach us the way of prudence.

Sources:

• Ego [Sapientia] ex ore Altissimi prodivi... (Ecclus 24:5a; cf. v.1)

• Attingit ergo a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponit omnia suaviter. (Sap 8:1)

• …et docuit eum semitam justitiæ,… et viam prudentiæ ostendit illi? (Is 40:14b,d)
  

O Sapientia

And here's a Baroque Magnificat to pair with it:

Two Masses for SS Peter and Paul

Originally the Pope sang two Masses on this day, one at St Peter's, the other at St Paul's, but because of the distance between them the custom grew up of postponing the second Mass till the next day - hence tomorrow's Commemoration of St Paul. The Mass and Office of the 29th of June is, therefore, almost wholly devoted to St Peter, except for the Collect and the marvellous hymn (split between Lauds and Vespers), and the Magnificat Antiphon at Second Vespers:

Hodie Simon Petrus ascendit crucis patibulum, alleluja:
hodie clavicularius regni gaudens migravit ad Christum:
hodie Paulus Apostolus, lumen orbis terræ, inclinato capite,
pro Christi nomine martyrio coronatus est, alleluja.

But today I at least had two sung Masses to attend: I came to my usual, the 9.15am, at which Quartessence were singing polyphony, but after I'd caught up with folks afterward I had to drive Fr Rowe over to Kelmscott for the 2pm Mass there, which was being sung by their choir - and ended up having to serve as an acolyte!

Now, the last few days have had their accidents: yesterday, my spectacle frames snapped and needed emergency repairs. Similarly, sadly, at the Kelmscott Mass, the thurifer managed to tip the coals out of the thurible onto the carpet in front of the altar, during the Introit; Fr decided to abandon the use of incense for the rest of Mass, feeling incensed enough already, no doubt. I counted seven holes burnt into the carpet! In any case, incense other than by indult at a Missa cantata is actually a very late pre-Conciliar development.

Further bloopers: I felt ridiculous in a tiny child's surplice over a cassock that only came half-way down my calves; and when I coughed during the Canon, I managed to blow out my candle, causing some fuss to get it relighted. Serving with decorum is not my strong point - at least I avoided thurible duty, though on second thoughts I may have been the better choice...

I then had to drive Fr to the airport (he's off to the funeral of a friend), drop stuff off at the sacristan's home, visit the ongoing works at St Anne's to pass on Fr's latest messages, and finally get home, there to return to my housemate James the surplice that he had given Rosemary to fix for him, before cooking dinner, and then heading over to George's to watch the latest Doctor Who episode (since we don't own a TV). Yes, I am a confirmed Dr Who fan!

Why is it that Australian TV never shows Christmas specials at Christmas? It happens for every sitcom or drama or whatever the same, with rare exceptions: Christmas specials are televised at random intervals through the year. So this first episode of Series 4 of the revamped Dr Who was the - 2007 Christmas special: only 6 months and 4 days late. Welcome to that strange Southern Hemisphere invention, "Christmas in July".

What a runaround day.