News Catch-up

Two weekends ago, I went to Sydney for the wedding of Sidney and Tien – a beautiful occasion of course! I ended up attending three Solemn High Masses in succession: the first, in the evening of Friday 3rd October at St Benedict's, Broadway, followed by solemn Benediction (and then dinner with friends old and new);  the second, in the late morning of Saturday the 4th at Maternal Heart, Lewisham, the wedding of the happy couple followed by Mass of St Francis (using the Franciscan propers, as the celebrant was a friar minor), with the nuptial blessing and so forth, followed by a reception that lasted till late evening; and on Sunday the 5th, the usual Sunday Mass at Maternal Heart (followed by lunch with mates at the pub). It was pleasant though rather warm in Sydney – when I walked from Annandale to Circular Quay on Sunday afternoon, it hit 34 degrees, which made my subsequent return trip on the Manly ferry a great relief. Many thanks to a friend who put me up (or rather put up with me) at his place over the weekend.

Sister Mary Stephanie of Divine Providence, OCD,  died at the Launceston Carmel on Sunday morningthe 13th of October, in the 53rd year of her religious life and the 91st year of her age – to whose soul may the Lord grant eternal rest. I attended her first Requiem on Monday, and on Tuesday was privileged, after and during morning Mass at Carmel, to pay my last respects before her open casket, placed just on the other side of their choir screen, which the nuns left open for the occasion. On Friday, I attended her moving funeral Mass, which was followed by her burial in the monastic crypt, out of sight to layfolk, where her mortal remains lie alongside those of her sisters, awaiting the resurrection.

This weekend past, I went to Hobart on Saturday, since our mid-month Sunday Missa cantata was to be at the earlier than usual hour of 9:30 am. Unfortunately, Father was late starting Mass (at 9:45 am) owing to various factors, and he had to rush to get to his flight back to the mainland – which was why Mass was scheduled so early to begin with.

I forebear to comment on the recent synod debacle, or rather, utter shambles, pleasing to the Devil only and not to Christ, since I fear I would not edify my readers. Many layfolk, priests and even bishops have been through a severe trial this past week – I certainly have. I commend Rorate cæli for their fearless and honest reporting, and take the opportunity of publically retracting some of my previous criticisms of that blog, ever since the election of Papa Bergoglio – since they have been proven correct, time and again, much as I would have hoped otherwise.

Thank God for the good bishops and Cardinals who actually know what our holy Faith teaches, and have not given in to relativism. Thank God they were not called upon to do what Scripture suggests in extreme cases ("But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed." – Galatians ii, 11). And thanks to St John Paul II, who worked a miracle, doubtlessly obtained from Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.

Gaude, Maria Virgo: cunctas hæreses sola interemisti in universo mundo.

Off to Sydney and Melbourne

It's been a while since I last posted, but various matters have taken up my time.

To-night, I'm off to Sydney for the weekend, then I'll fly down to Melbourne for the week, and be back here on Saturday, before driving to Hobart, where I'll stay the night, then MC morning Mass there, before driving myself and Fr Rowe (who'll be visiting Tasmania that week) back to Launceston, where I'll MC the special 6 pm Missa cantata at St Francis, Riverside, on Sunday 13th July. Please do come if you can!

Some matters are too serious to trust to the internet, but do keep me in your prayers.

Sydney Ordinariate Parish UPDATE

I received the following kind email to-day:

Kevin said… 

I ran into this site by chance and am totally astounded at the detail, and capture of what we are about.  It is very good indeed. 

I have been with the Anglican Catholic movement since it hit Australia in the 1980s, and am the acolyte who served the Ordinariate Mass on that fourth Sunday of Lent – Simnel-cake disaster and all. 

For any visitor to this site, please note that, for good reasons, we have now moved to the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at 76 Fiddens Wharf Road, Killara with the new style of Holy Cross Parish and celebrate Holy Mass at 11.00am on Sundays. 

Regretfully, for architectural reasons, we are forced to celebrate the Mass versus populum, but it is the same Anglican Use liturgy as at North Turramurra.  We are Catholics, former Anglicans, adjusting to a new environment and full of thanks for the hospitality of the Lindfield-Killara Catholic parish. 

We should now have quite a deal going for us, an unswerving devotion to Anglican usage, a comfortable Church, a convenient time of day - we are with friends, and no longer in the boondocks. We would very much like people to find us and help us grow.

Of your charity, dear reader, pray for the new Holy Cross Parish, and – if in Sydney – do pay them a visit, and "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness".

The Anglican Use in Sydney

As mentioned, I was all set to go to Low Mass at St Mary's Cathedral when a chance remark by my host alerted me to the proximity of the local Ordinariate group – so I ended up attending their Anglican Use Mass at the chapel of Lady Davidson Private Hospital, just near the entrance to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park (where I'd been for a short bushwalk the day before).

The Ordinariate Mass is held there at 9:30 am, which has been their time slot for some years, well before their group came into full communion late last year (they had been members of the Traditional Anglican Communion); the local Anglicans who belong to the Sydney Diocese (notoriously low, more Puritan than anything else, and quite anti-Catholic) hold services there also, before and after, and having to share use of the premises has been less than ideal, since all has to be carefully set up and then packed away every week.

The altar, readied for the Sacred Mysteries (note server on the right). 

My friend (who's been there before), myself, and another cradle Catholic (he tells me he now always goes there) joined the Ordinariate group for the liturgy; Fr Warren Wade (ordained as an Anglican in 1961, and as a Catholic in 2012) kindly introduced himself to Mike and me before the service, while the altar was being readied by the server and members of the congregation, with crucifix, six candles, an altar stone, and all other needful items.

Mass was celebrated ad orientem, with incense, kneeling for Communion (under both kinds), and "the playing of the merry organ"; however, their lack of a choir that can assemble and practise beforehand – they travel from all across greater Sydney to come to this Mass – precluded more than the singing of four hymns. (I recalled that the Capuchins had the immemorial custom of using incense at their conventual Low Mass.) 

For the record, they used the New English Hymnal, from which they sang:

1. Introit Hymn "And now, O Father, mindful of the love" (NEH 273);
2. Offertory Hymn "Shall we not love thee, Mother dear" (NEH 184);
3. Communion Hymn "Wherefore, O Father, we thy humble servants" (NEH 313);
4. Last Hymn "Love Divine, all loves excelling" (NEH 408, to the tune Blaenwern).

I would have liked to join in in good voice, but I had never sung the first three, and knew a different tune to the fourth! Ah well.

The readings were those of the modern Roman Rite for this Sunday; the homily was very good, the highlight for me being Father's retelling of his visiting a dying parishioner, who was fearful as to whether his sins had really been forgiven him by the Lord: raising a crucifix before his dying eyes, the good priest had reminded that man not to think on sins past, but on the power of Christ Crucified.

Within their Mass booklet, as part of its adaptation for Catholic use, a copy of the Roman Canon as given in traditional language in the Catholic Church's Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship was inserted, and this was prayed.  Earlier, drawing on their own heritage, they had used the prayers of the faithful as drawn up for use in the Anglican Catholic Church of Australia, with suitable adaptations, such as special prayers for the Pope emeritus (how strange that still sounds), the Cardinals, and the new Pope soon to be elected.

As in my earlier experiences of Anglican Use worship, it was most fitting and right to pray the Collect for Purity and the Prayer of Humble Access: Fr Wade told me afterward that several Catholics have asked him for copies of the latter, that they might use it privately in preparation for Holy Communion – that indeed is the sort of cross-fertilization that Holy Church rejoices in, now that the long-sundered Anglican Patrimony is brought back into the fold, reunited to the Western Church from which it sprang.

One amusing detail: given the following of the Order of Mass in the Book of Divine Worship, the offertory prayers, the Orate fratres, the Prayer over the Gifts (Oblations) and the words of consecration were still in their old ICEL version, since the BDW is currently in process of being updated to match the new translation.

Mass concluded, several devotional prayers were appended: the Last Gospel, the Ordinariate Prayers drawn up by Bp Elliott, the Angelus, the Salve Regina with Collect, and then the recessional hymn. I rather too cheekily joked later – forgive me – that Catholics might be put off by the fact that the service ran for just over an hour!

After Mass, while enjoying a cuppa and a biscuit (by ill chance the simnel cake ordered for "Mothering Sunday" had gone astray), I remarked how – given my long acquaintance with the Latin Mass – the service felt quite familiar to me (for instance, before Mass proper began, as a sort of preparatory devotion, the priest and server said Psalm 42(43) alternately in a low voice, etc.); one of them explained how they had long used the English Missal (a translation of the Missale Romanum by Anglo-Papalists), and hence their manner of celebrating Mass is influenced by the older Catholic forms. Fr Wade remarked that he still has to get used to various changes in the wording, and apologized for an innocent mistake he'd made because of this.

I am very glad to have joined these good people to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" and hope to do so again, when next I am in Sydney. May they continue to share their Patrimony, including the dignified and reverent celebration of Holy Mass, with the wider Church, and may their ongoing efforts to grow and evangelize bear much fruit.

Sydney Long Weekend

Time to enjoy an extra day off, and to visit Sydney, and a friend... I will catch up with a former flatmate of mine from when I lived in Perth, Western Australia. Rather than brave the horrors of Mass in the diocese of Broken Bay, I plan to hear Low Mass at noon on Sunday at St Mary's Cathedral, it being a little difficult to make it to Lewisham for High Mass.

Please pray for a safe journey for all travellers; for in this life, we all of us are but pilgrims, and shall not pass this way again.

Busy, Busy, Busy

A busy day at work (the photocopier in particular caused me no end of grief), a rush home to pack, then off to the airport... the flight was delayed... finally, off to Melbourne, then another wait there before the Sydney plane departed... no lift available, so I took the (very expensive) airport train to Central Station... a confused wander around finally led me to the taxi stand, and (more than twenty dollars later) I soon was deposited at my accommodation, where good converse was had till past midnight.

The fold-out bed my hosts provided proved rather uncomfortable, alas, its surface lying at several different levels (all of which were scarce wider than my shoulders), and the whole affair prone to suddenly tilting upwards if one lay too close to the edge... at least it didn't close upon me like a Venus fly-trap, as it has for other unfortunate visitors in the past!

I slept in, arose, and walked into the CBD, stopping at St Benedict's for a brief visit before going to Confession at St Peter Julian's.  I broke my fast with coffee and a portuguese tart, before stopping at the Pauline Books for to buy Aidan Nichols' latest offering and an ESV "with Apocrypha" - since the latter will be used to produce the new OF Lectionary in due course (my friend Fr Paul tells me he already prepares his sermons using this translation, as his own comparison of it with the Greek suggests it to be more accurate than the Jerusalem Bible used in the present Lectionary).

Then it was time to lunch on oysters kilpatrick; and soon enough spent an hour at another venue reading The Australian (love that paper! down with Julia!), further buoyed up with coffee, macarons and chocolates.  I spare readers any more minute recounting of my day in Sydney, other than to say I walked back to my homestay and waited there for an old friend who happened to also be coming to town, so that we could go have dinner and catch up: eventually, we did (he had driven up from Melbourne the same day, and en route visited a mutual clerical acquaintance in Bathurst, so I could hardly criticise him for being late).

Yester-day, Sunday, dawned bright and early: my generous host, John (Laura unfortunately absent) cooked us breakfast, then there was just time for a walk by the Harbour before High Mass.  Lewisham was liturgical bliss as usual: Omnes gentes, the 7th Sunday after Pentecost, with Mass XI, Credo II (a pleasant minor-sounding one, that), and an all-Gregorian programme, tricked out with excellent use of ison, and a very impressive chanting of the Communion with most of the rest of Psalm 30.  After Mass, it was good to catch up with many old friends.

How good and pleasant it is to be of one mind and heart!  We lunched in Chinatown on yum cha, then had some afternoon tea at the Caffe Sicilia in Surry Hills, finishing just in time to reach the Cathedral for OF Vespers and Benediction.  It was excellently done, though it seems to me that exposing the Blessed Sacrament during the Office Hymn was a false step - especially as it meant the choir was standing coram Sanctissimo, whereas the singing of O salutaris Hostia after the end of Vespers was surely the time to bring forward the Monstance.  Still, one cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

The Hour was chanted strongly and well, all in the proper Gregorian chant, save the short reading (chanted in English), the intercessions (said in English) and the Lord's Prayer and Collect (sung in English).  The Magnificat was sung in chant alternating with polyphony by Suriano - strangely, the celebrant himself censed not only the altar but the choir and congregation, before he was censed by the server!  (Surely when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, only It is censed, and nothing else?)  Vespers ended, the choir sang Tallis' motet Salvator mundi, before O salutaris, the Prayer for Christian Unity always said at Benediction in Australia (in English of course), Tantum ergo &c., Benediction itself, the Divine Praises (sung in English), Adoremus with Ps 116 (all chanted in Latin) while the Prisoner was returned to His Tabernacle (!) and then the simple Salve to conclude.  Wonderful.

I met another friend after that for some beer, charcuterie and seafood, before I headed back to my base for an early night after, be it said, much liturgy, conversation, food, drink and laughter.  A good day of rest.

This morning, I farewelled my friends, and dragged my bag to the next parish, where I met up with a Dominican friend: he kindly took me to the airport, but first I served his private Mass (OF, new translation, ad orientem, Roman Canon, kneeling communion - just the way it should be done) at St Benedict's, at Our Lady's altar, to-day being the feast of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel.

Now, I am at Tullamarine en route back home; but have just heard of the death from cancer of the mother of another old friend, Fr Christopher.  I visited him, then still a deacon, and his parents when last in New Zealand: of your charity, please pray for her and for her husband and family in their grief.  Media vita in morte sumus.

Sydney Long Weekend

July just wouldn't feel right without a trip up north to Sydney, for to escape the Tasmanian winter and enjoy warmer climes, a visit to old friends and a bit of good liturgy...

I fly there this evening, and return Monday afternoon.

Long Weekend in Sydney

A very pleasant trip up to Sydney and back I've had.

This morning, before flying home, I was glad to visit my friend Fr Paul, ordained in December last year, and was privileged to serve his Mass (a Votive of the Holy Angels), which he offered for the repose of my late father; while in his parish they haven't begun using the new translation (so I had to quickly recall the old responses), he chose to offer Mass ad orientem, which greatly accentuates the solemnity and better accentuates the sacrificial essence of the Mass – how potent a manifestation of the truth of the Holy Sacrifice it was, to look past the altar to the stained glass window of the Crucifixion, while the priest read with devotion the Roman Canon, arms outstretched in modo crucis, and upon the corporal rested the Body and the Blood of the Divine Victim.

Wedding and First Communion

The bride was stunning (as all brides are), her dress complementing her beauty (like a fool, I forgot to take a photo): how blessed John is to have Laura, and she him; and what a wonderful thing to see Mr and Mrs Macaulay united in holy wedlock before the altar, and kneeling side by side for the ensuing Solemn High Mass.  (John told me later on that friends of his unused to the Traditional Liturgy could only stammer to praise this as an "A-grade Mass"!)

I am delighted to see my old mate John make such a match: two persons of such talents, both committed Catholics, gifted by nature and grace, and deservedly praised, as they were at the reception afterwards.  As Laura is Mexican, they had the Cardinal's permission for a Votive Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe yester-day, in anticipation of the feast.  The Irish and the Hispanic get on very well it seems...  I hope readers will join me in hearty prayers for these newly-weds, who are off on a honeymoon cruise to New Caledonia as I write.

Mass this morning at Maternal Heart Lewisham was a pleasure unexpected in one respect: for this Gaudete Sunday, nine youngsters made their First Holy Communion there.  What was notable was that there was no foolish dumbing-down of the liturgy (as too often happens in the Ordinary Form), but rather an uplifting of the children to these holy mysteries clad in such wonder and awe with a full Missa cantata.  (The choir sang the chant splendidly: the Rorate cæli at Offertory and the Tantum ergo in Corsican polyphony at Communion were real gems.)

I will not soon forget Fr Wong's sermon, especially when in its second part he addressed the first communicants in especial – for having explained that at baptism the seed of glory is planted in our souls, then holding up a white flower, he compared our souls to this, plucked off a few petals to illustrate the uglifying effect of venial sin, and, oh woe! destroyed the flower utterly to display the hateful disaster that is mortal sin.  This exhortation to live as becomes saints, flying sin, and hieing oneself to the confessional as need be, was most sobering.

An amusing point: arriving at my accommodation on Friday afternoon, I was amused to note the Great Synagogue directly opposite – then agog to read on the sign outside that my hotel, the Castlereagh, is wholly owned and operated by the Masonic Club of New South Wales!  Heavens!  Talk about conspiracy theories featuring these, ahem, minorities (other friends tell me that they have stayed there, and even prelates of the Church, so I needn't give in to crazed paranoia).

Finally, some news just in: may I congratulate another friend of mine, Justin, who has just announced his engagement to Lydia.  I pray every blessing for this impending union.

To Sydney for a Wedding

This afternoon I'm off to Sydney for the weekend, again – this time for to attend the wedding of John and Laura at St Mary's Cathedral.  Please pray Our Lady of Guadalupe to obtain countless blessings for the happy couple: may they see their children's children and, after long years together, together inherit eternal life.

Seven Miles from Sydney

Thanks be to God: Fr Paul's Ordination and First Mass have been wonderful, and it was great to catch up afterward with so many old friends from all around Australia.  As he reminded us at the end of Mass this morning, Holy Mother Church grants a plenary indulgence (under the usual conditions) for the priest who offers and the people who attend his first Mass; and of course yester-day I received his priestly blessing, of inestimable value.

Please pray that Fr Paul may be a good and wise priest and preacher, for the salvation of souls and the greater glory of God.

******

Being in Manly, too, right on the Pacific, seven miles from Sydney on that spectacular ferry route, has been good indeed.

I'll while away the afternoon by visiting John, whose wedding I will attend next week, also in Sydney (it's just a simple wedding, with Solemn High Mass in the Cathedral; I forget if he's persuaded the Cardinal to assist).

Enjoying the view of the Harbour Bridge from Circular Quay last night, having taken that marvellous scenic ferry into the city for to see a movie, I was reminded of former P.M. Paul Keating's dictum, "If you're not in Sydney you're just camping out"; and earlier on, while traipsing round Manly, was amused and pleased to come across the electorate office of another great potential leader, Tony Abbott...

Time to go have yum cha for lunch again, I think.

******

P.S.  Looking back, I discover that the date I blogged this was the 3rd anniversary of my beginning this blog: St Sabbas (whose feast-day it is, and whom I have taken as patron of this enterprise), pray for us!

Vespers at St Mary's Cathedral

Solemn Vespers with Benediction at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, was most grand, sung by a male choir of about fourteen singers, with several servers assisting a priest in cope - and biretta!

The Vespers were those of Sunday in the 4th week of the Psalter, being according to the modern Divine Office, but were expertly and movingly sung in Latin, but for the Short Reading, and the concluding Intercessions, Lord's Prayer and Collect, being done in English as was quite reasonable.  The choir sang all parts in plainchant, but for a glorious polyphonic Magnificat.

After Vespers, the choir sang Palestrina's exquisite O sacrum convivium; then choir – who had relocated to kneel at the altar rails – and people sang the O salutaris Hostia, the Sacrament was exposed in the monstrance, and the usual Prayer for Christian Unity, then Tantum ergo, versicle and prayer followed, all still in Latin; Benediction having been given, the choir sang the Divine Praises in English, before, at Reposition, the Adoremus in æternum with Psalm 116, Laudate Dominum.  The simple Salve concluded a devout period of prayer.

The whole service took just over 40 minutes, what with beautiful organ music before and after, ending with a Bach toccata.  As Dylan Thomas had a character say in Welsh, Ahh, Bach vach!

Glorious Day in Sydney

Breakfast in my hotel... catching the train to Lewisham for Mass (changing at Central station, and just missing the right one)... arriving during the sermon (about the Brown Scapular and the other approved scapulars)... assisting at the second half of Fr Wong's devout Low Mass at Our Lady's altar... chatting with Francesca and Fr Gresser afterward... meeting up with John and Sidney for morning tea... learning that the Federal Election has been called for the 21st of August (the P.M. having advised the G.G. to do so)... going secondhand bookshopping... yum cha for lunch in Chinatown à la Fr Z (the fried beancurd with garlic and chilli was lipsmackingly good)... afternoon tea, grading into supper, with wines and good port, back at John's place... meeting Sidney's friends, Fr Patrick and Tony... catching up with John's sister and his fiancee, Laura... hearing that their wedding date is at last confirmed (must book flights!)... and finally returning to my hotel, 13 hours after I left it.

A glorious day.

Off to Sydney

I'm escaping Tasmania in winter for the long weekend: after work to-morrow, I'll fly up to Sydney, and return come Monday afternoon.  A chance to visit friends...

Sydney to Eden

One foot in Eden still, I stand

and look across the other land... 

— Edwin Muir

I miscalculated: to-day was my longest drive of all, nearly 500 km, when I'd thought it to be only 400.  I didn't reach Bega till nightfall, and then in Eden I had a devil of a job to find my accommodation, since Google Maps, God bless it, got the location wrong, and the establishment's signage was unilluminated owing to an electrical fault.

This Thursday began very early, arising at 6 am no less in order to drive through a surprisingly quiet and beautiful early morning Sydney to 6.45 am Mass at the Cathedral.  It was impressive how many workers evidently begin each day in so devout a manner, God reward them.

St Mary's Cathedral in the early morning sunlight

And the ibises (a signature bird of Sydney), noisily nesting in the palms

After returning for breakfast, marvelling at what a lovely day it was, I left my friends' place and paid a visit to St Brendan's, the church nearby, to say Prime and Terce before travelling.

St Brendan's, Annandale

It is amusing how to the north and south of Sydney, the road must cut through the solid rock of forested wilderness to reach the next port of call, and likewise to the east must climb right over the Blue Mountains...

Wollongong I reached a bit before midday: then on, and on, and on, till Eden at last.

Lunch in Wollongong, by the way, was Vietnamese: a good bowl of pho (soup).  On a whim I dumped in all the chillies so thoughtfully provided (waste not, want less), and it grew fearsomely hot!  Also, I'd ordered the "special" beef pho – "special" turned out to mean, containing meatballs and... tripe.

While looking unsuccessfully around Wollongong for the Catholic Cathedral, I did drive past the Anglican one (twice), and was shocked by the bizarre notice in front of it, indicative of the infection of ultra-Low-Church Sydneysiders (the Anglican bishop being one of them): rather than listing "Mass" times, or "Holy Communion", or "Eucharist", or "Mattins", or "Evensong", or "Worship", or "Divine Service", it listed – get this – the times for "Public Christian Meetings"!

Public Christian Meetings.  So that is what the Sydney Evangelicals call Sunday service.  It certainly isn't true worship, they got that right.

Wednesday in Sydney

It was so nice not to drive at all yester-day; instead, I took the bus into the city and wandered about.  I paid a visit to St Benedict's, Broadway, in the late morning before yum cha for lunch; in the afternoon, I caught up with Fr Terence prior to his weekly 4 pm Mass in the Cathedral, which was followed shortly thereafter by Vespers in Gregorian chant (new rite), sung by twelve choristers.  I must say, the polyphonic Magnificat was magnificent, and the chanting was very impressive.  I ran into no fewer than three other priests whom I know that afternoon, and have resolved to come back up to Sydney for a long weekend in the near future; as was said once of wicked Corinth, "I have many friends in that city".

Tamworth to Sydney

I have been staying with my Sydney mates again – as they don't have wireless internet (!) I haven't been online for a while.  Oh well, the sky didn't fall in.

But how did I get back down to Sydney?  Well, the short answer is that I drove, of course.

Since this succession of posts is doubling as my travel journal, let me just say that I departed Tamworth only a little before eleven o'clock on Tuesday, having made a visit to the attractive church of St Nicholas.  (The usual postconciliar reordering of the sanctuary at least featured marble rather than the stereotypical hideous green carpet.)  Next door, what had once obviously been a large convent is now the local conservatorium of music.

The scenery en route on both sides of the Great Dividing Range was beaut, and much better than that of New England.  I detoured to find the vineyards of the Upper Hunter, which meant that I missed closeup views of the "dark satanic mills" that burn the great coal deposits roundabout to power Sydney.  Sights of opencut mines, great hills of tailings and huge columns of steam going up for ever and ever were quite enough.  Having found some quite decent wine at Yarraman winery (bottles of their 2001 merlot going for $10!), I went on just as far as Denman for lunch: a decent steak and beer (Toohey's Old) at last.

Unfortunately, I still had a long way still to travel, and the highway through the lower Hunter proved slow, windy and congested as it passed through township after township, gradually gathering traffic on the way.  I gave up my idea of going back into Newcastle, and contented myself with a confusing drive round Maitland, trying to find the former cathedral (the see being now relocated to Newcastle).

I think this is the old Cathedral... in fact, it is the old old Cathedral, the nearby Catholic hall having been turned into the Pro-Cathedral in 1933, then itself replaced!

(Like many buildings in the area, it was badly damaged in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake, and is now unsafe, due to the risk of falling masonry.)

It was half four, and I was still over 150 km north of Sydney.  Despite the excellent freeway, I was running late for dinner with John and his friends – a dinner in my honour – and matters were made worse when I decided to turn off the Pacific Highway into the suburbs in the hopes of finding a quicker route: in the end I ended up back on the same, having wasted a good half hour.  Finally crossing the Harbour Bridge after all, I arrived an hour later than expected.

Dinner, it must be said, was excellent, and it was delightful to meet John's beloved, Laura.  I wish them well for the future.

Shrine of Blessed Mary MacKillop

Daughter of Scottish Catholic migrants, daughter of colonial Australia, daughter of the Church, mother of a religious family, and now forever reigning as a saint of God and Christ – Mary of the Cross MacKillop, about to be canonized on the 17th of October this year: it was her shrine that I visited in North Sydney, just after I crossed the Harbour Bridge, and I knelt and kissed her tomb, praying that Australia be blessed with many zealous and holy priests.  God grant it!

It is, after all, the end of the Year for Priests.  Having one friend a seminarian in Rome, another in Wagga Wagga, and a third preparing to join the F.S.S.P., plus many among the clergy, not to mention those truly concerned to train up much-needed vocations, I feel it only right to intercede for their good estate: God knows His people desperately need good priests, and how much Australia is in need of such.  I also knew a man who, after he became a priest, grievously dishonoured his sacred calling, doing terrible things and being a living scandal: for him, and his victims, pray.

Mary MacKillop's memorial chapel is a moving place of prayer; I stayed awhile, and read part of the Office of Corpus Christi, very appropriately given what God through His saint moved me to pray for:

Sic sacrificium istud instituit,
Cujus officium committi voluit
Solis Presbyteris, quibus sic congruit
Ut sumant, et dent ceteris.

(So He this Sacrifice to institute did will,
and charged His priests alone that office to fulfill:
in them He did confide: to whom it pertains still
to take, and the rest divide.)

— Hymn Sacris solemniis at Matins, 5th stanza

Finally getting out of Sydney, I drove on, and on, and on, along excellent roads through many forested hills... as I pressed north I ran into more and more heavy rain, and finally reached Port Macquarie at six o'clock.  Not leaving Sydney till after midday was a bit tardy of me.

Bathurst to Sydney

It was a special privilege on Wednesday to attend the Mass of an old friend of mine – especially as he used the new translation of the Eucharistic Prayer.  Despite alerting me to this forward-thinking move (quite licit, of course, and happening more and more in anticipation of the official changeover), I managed to momentarily surprise him by replying "And with your spirit" at the outset of the Preface dialogue.  Unfortunately I couldn't remember the rest of the changes in wording of the people's parts...

Earlier that day, I visited Bathurst Cathedral.  Apparently it bears the unusual joint dedication of St Michael Archangel and St John Baptist because the two pioneer priests in Bathurst had each named an earlier church there after their respective name-saints Michael and John, and when the decision was made to build a larger, finer edifice, to be the Cathedral of the new diocese, the only alternative to a feud or duel was to re-use both names!

Most regrettably, the place of reservation of the Blessed Sacrament (off in the north transept, in what was once the nuns' chapel) is scarcely fitting, and ought be improved upon pronto: it looks like Granny's antique dresser or meatsafe.

I eventually realized, given the kneeler and chairs before it, the corporal in front of the curtains, and the lamp (way over to the right, out of shot), that this odd thing was the tabernacle....

As Bp Elliott remarks in one of his works, it is quite wrong to separate the Sacrament from the Altar – if (as is the norm in cathedrals) there is to be a separate Blessed Sacrament chapel, it should have its own altar; the Sacrament could be reserved on or near it, in a fitting tabernacle or Sacrament House.  This would also make for a smaller and more convenient venue for weekday Mass. 

The sanctuary was re-ordered, in what by Australian standards is a fairly conservative way, at the time of the Council, by moving the table of the high altar forward.  The carpet is, well, typical for the era...  I wonder what happened to the old episcopal throne?

Most bizarrely, the deceased bishops of Bathurst are accommodated, not in a crypt (for Bathurst is criss-crossed by underground streams, even under the Cathedral, rendering excavations impractical), but in a room in the steeple!  Talk about bats in the belfry.  Apparently their charnel house resembles a walk-in luggage locker, with the caskets each on a shelf.  Bishops and priests do make very strange decisions sometimes.

Before leaving the Cathedral, I prayed before Our Lady of the Central West at her altar just off the nave midway down its length.  May she intercede for the good of this diocese!

Later in the day in Bathurst, I had the pleasure of an excellent lunch in good company: it's always most enjoyable to engage in conversation with a well-read, cultured person, while partaking of the best of the local gourmet produce.  Moreover, thanks to his extensive knowledge of wines, we shared a smooth and most drinkable bottle of petit verdot grown near Canowindra (close to Cowra).  It was hard to drag myself away in mid-afternoon; I do hope I'll be back from time to time.

On to Sydney!  The drive through Lithgow was easy, but the steep Victoria Pass caught me unawares – quite luckily, since I have a fear of heights, and would have brooded on its approach overmuch, instead of just driving it.  It brought me up to the first of the Blue Mountains townships, Mt Victoria, over a kilometre about sea level.  First, a meander through various other of these settlements, including a detour through Katoomba (where for lack of time I had to forego visiting the lookout overlooking the Three Sisters that I remember from a visit as a child); then, the long, slow descent toward Sydney, as the shadows lengthened.  By the time I was down to Penrith and onto the freeway, it was dark – for a long way, the traffic shot along, but then there was a real snarl once Homebush was passed.

I was very impressed with myself for finally getting out of the heavy traffic and correctly turning off Paramatta Road just two blocks from my friend's place.  It's only 205 km from Bathurst to Sydney, but it was a tough and wearing drive I found.

John was a very gracious host, and it was good to meet his flatmate, Sydney (yes, that's right).  We all talked away till the midnight hour...

I twitted John about his peculiar taste in sacred art: what do readers make of this shrine to St Sebastian that graces his library?

The painting is an original artwork by an inmate of Pentridge Prison

Crumbs

According to the Melbourne Herald Sun (not to be confused with Sydney's Sun-Herald), to-day is National Leftovers Day; while I don't like newfangled secular commemorations, this one is certainly appropriate.  For lunch we had the last of the vegetables from Christmas dinner, plus helpings of turkey stuffings (we have two, one for each end); the newspaper suggested the horrifying idea of turkey pizza; may I suggest for British readers a variant of a native dish - turkey tikka marsala?

To-day of course is called Boxing Day (so-called because once gifts were given to employees; nowadays, it's the start of yet more buying at the post-Christmas sales); in Australia, it's marked by two great sporting contests: the Boxing Day cricket test match; and the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, which we've all just been watching on television.  It put me in mind of visits to Sydney, and the hospitality of Bp Fisher, who, as one of the good Cardinal's auxiliaries, has the cure of the parish of Watson's Bay - complete with a presbytery-cum-episcopal palace with a million dollar view: walking up the hill behind to watch the New Year's fireworks was unforgettable.

I recall also the nice old ladies who made up most of the weekday congregation at the parish church: they'd had no parish priest for eighteen months, and thought there was little prospect of getting another one, fearing their parish would be suppressed; so they'd prayed and prayed, and got - a bishop.  I've often said I wished I'd asked them what novena prayer they'd used...