In the dark of night.......

.....a heavily muffled figure stealthily approaches the unlit entrance to Bishop's House

 

Some things never change in England & Wales

It could be a scene from the 16th century at the height of the Reformation when Catholics paid for their Faith with their lands and goods and, often, with their lives.

But it's not, this scene is of recent times and is, almost certainly taking place at present.

This is not a sinister scenario, however.  At least, no one is going to die as a result of their Faith; rather, someone is about to die fortified by the Last Rites of Holy Mother Church.

The traditional rites, that is. Orthodox, original and unchanged from pre Vatican II days.

The dying person in question is a Catholic priest; a member of the Bishop's staff he has kept his love of the old rite of Mass a secret in the knowledge that, if he was found out he would, indeed, be persecuted. Not by Richard Topcliffe and Co., torturers of Catholics in Reformation times but by his own Bishop.

Of course, he would not have been racked for days on end but he would probably have met with derision and scorn from those who should know better.

He would also, quite probably been given the heave ho from his post (and meagre salary) and pension and despatched to some convent run by the Sisters of Marks and Spencers - all twin sets, pearls and brillo pad hair dos. Aaargh!

But, back to the scenario, in fact, a real life scene that took place, well....some time in the past 20 years or so.

The heavily muffled figure is himself a Catholic priest, taking the Sacrament of Extreme Unction to a dying brother priest; a work of some considerable love as the journey will have taken the ministering priest over 6 hours by road.

I cannot name the Bishop for fear of litigation but he has been a constant scourge of any priest who displayed any traditional leanings.
His Diocese lies to the north of the Watford Gap.

It is nothing short of scandalous that such subterfuge is necessary; please pray for the priest who administered the Sacrament; he is nearing the end of his life and will shortly reap his eternal reward.

This is what happens when a plane crashes

June 1972 and the worst air disaster in British aviation history was about to take place.

The BEA (BA) airliner Flight 548 had just taken off from London Heathrow, destination Brussels.

On board were 118 passengers and crew.

The last flight of BEA 548

Within minutes it had crashed and was a smouldering wreck, miraculously, it had missed the built up Thames side town of Staines and landed in a field on the edge of town.

Now, an impossible link to EF Pastor Emeritus and his excellent post on the Holy Father's instruction to priests with regard to the Sacrament of the Sick.

In brief Pope Benedict has said that:

"Anointing of the sick is a sacrament that deserves “greater consideration” today because of the spiritual benefits to minister and recipient".
And much more besides.

But what takes my attention is EFP's remark that "Pope Benedict noted that the sacrament formerly known as Extreme Unction, may be administered in various human situations connected with illness, and not only when a person is at the end of his or her life".

Of course, I am not taking issue with the Holy Father or with  EFP for that matter.

What concerns me a little is the phrase "formerly known as Extreme Unction".

I like to still call it that. Why not?

The sacrament has not changed, the title has and I am not overly certain that the modern title does the sacrament justice.

Now...please use all your forebearance and come back with me to Staines on the 18th June 1972. I was newly married and living in?

You are right! Staines!

Not that we heard the crash. But I do remember the newsreel footage of the day showing local priests who had come running (literally) to the scene and who administered, not the sacrament of the sick (nearly all of the 118 on board were dead and the one or two that were still alive, died within a few minutes of crashing).

No - the priests were administering Extreme Unction, the Last Rites.

And a most moving sight it was, watching them move slowly and purposefully from dead body to dead body. You may see one of them on the video clip below, at 1:47

That is what our priests do and it is a great and wonderful act of mercy.

A tragedy that had a good outcome

Ten days ago our neighbour J was rushed into hospital where she soon lapsed into unconsciousness. She is in her eighties; it was not totally unexpected as she had been ill for some time.
Her husband S was in a bad way emotionally and all of the neighbours rallied round to support him. Last Thursday I went to do my bit and he had a list of queries that he required help with.
Much of the list was taken up with making arrangements for the funeral, disposing of J's clothes and so on. Yet, she was still alive.

To some this might seem morbid or callous but I think that it was his way of coping with the trauma. I am sure that many priests will have witnessed the same preoccupation with planning detail; I do not think that it is that uncommon.

His last query to me was: "How do I find a vicar, not one of those modern types?"

My response, of course, was to the effect that this was one issue I could not help with as I was a Catholic.

Then he dropped the bombshell by stating that J was also a Catholic but had not been near a Catholic church for many, many years and was very bitter about the faith as was he.

I decided to leave it there for the time being; any further attempt to steer him towards contacting a priest would have only resulted in more determined and bitter opposition.

But the next day, in the company of Mrs Linen, we tackled him on the subject again. After all, we said: "Once a Catholic always a Catholic". He mused on this and then Mrs L came in with a nifty bit of lateral thinking and suggested that the hospital would put him in touch with the appointed Catholic chaplain.

The upshot was that he phoned us that evening to say that he had spoken to the hospital Catholic chaplain over the phone and that, the priest had said that he was dropping everything to go and administer the Last Rites to J there and then - what a great man!

In the small hours of this morning J died without regaining consciousness but with the saving grace of having been welcomed back into full communion with Christ and His Church through the sacrament of Extreme Unction.

Phew! A close shave and a saving route that was surely guided by her Guardian Angel.

Please say a prayer for her eternal soul.

Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her.

May she rest in peace. Amen.

If you're dying...do you call for the parish administrator?

Something a Deacon just cannot do

My guess is not and now here comes the unkind cut; all too often a sick call request to the Presbytery results in the appearance of a Deacon. I am sure Deacons are good and well intentioned people but, in extremis, I would want a priest to hear my confession and/or to administer the Sacrament of Extreme Unction euphemistically called, these days, The Sacrament of the Sick.
On two occasions in the past month urgent requests on behalf of potentially dying relatives and friends have resulted in a Deacon arriving to administer Holy Communion. I suppose I should be grateful that it was not an Extraordinary Minister.
Priests are, busy people (at least all the ones I know are) but the salvation of a soul is the very essence of their  vocation. It must be a tremendous feeling to have administered the last rites to someone who has not been near a confessional in 50 years - a soul snatched from the grasp of the devil! A real and wonderful success for their priestly aims. And just think how many souls a priest could save by this method over the years, hundreds, maybe thousands.
A Deacon turning up deprives that person of the Sacrament of Penance, it's as simple as that. In a management situation one would review the duties that occupy the priest and see if the roles could not be exchanged. The Deacon remains at the Presbytery drafting sermons or doing the Diocesan accounts while the priest goes out to do what he is there for.
It can't be as simple as that can it?