Four candles?.................

....just one will do.

A priest friend related that, when taking the Blessed Sacrament to the sick, he is rarely, if ever, is met at the front door of the house by someone bearing a lit candle.

A sad insight into one of the more simple but vital elements that have been lost in the Church.

This seemed like a prompt from Heaven to make sure that a supply of blessed candles is always at hand.

One for receiving the Lord into your home and two for...well, you know....um, should the Last Rites be required.

And three just in case the three days of tribulation should occur when we least expect it (which is precisely when it will happen).

The fourth?

Well, one for luck providence.

While on the subject of candles I have to relate a story regarding one of my granddaughters, just two years old and going by the name Eva Florence (EF, of course).

At Mass recently, as the four acolytes processed down the aisle, little EF who is blessed with cast iron lungs, triumphantly bellowed: "I like this bit, swords of fire, I love swords of fire"

You know what EF?

So do I.

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.

Where there's a will there's a......

....Tridentine Requiem Mass!

I have lost track of the number of TLM attending friends and acquaintances who have died and then been subject to an Ordinary Form Requiem Mass.


Image: Sancte Missa
Unbleached candles - the perfect send off!

 Not, I hasten to add, from any desire of theirs, quite the reverse. Usually, it is the priest who is to blame. I arrived once at the funeral of a good friend who had been solid in his attendance at the TLM and who had eschewed all other forms. What then took place was a disgraceful charade as the priest (acting out of consideration for his widow "because she would not understand the Latin") had arranged a pseudo Methodist service with hymns such as "The old rugged cross" and more of the same.

Not what Catholics
want!

Because my friend was an old wartime mariner, the British Legion had been allowed into the church complete with berets (which they kept on) and military flags which I understand are not allowed at a Catholic Mass (one reason why we Catholics are such poor supporters of Remembrance Day services).

That episode was a result of priestly management but, often, surviving relatives who are not of the faith just do not see the need or distinction between OF and EF and, given the option, will, of course, choose that which is at least in English.
And then there's the issue of what happens afterwards. Sadly, many Catholics opt for the "crem" - it's quick, much cheaper and you don't have to worry about tending a grave afterwards (and often you can short circuit the church and have the whole shebang in the crematorium's Chapel of Ease) - ugh!
But it unnaturally destroys the temple that God created - much better to let the earth have your remains.

The only sure way to make certain that your wishes are observed is to stipulate it in your will or, fill in an instructional Funeral form,normally available from your Parish Priest. If you elect for the form you will have to put a red line through hymn choices 1 to 4 and write in capital letters TRIDENTINE LATIN MASS ONLY!


Photo: Lacrimarum Valle

While you are about it you might like to make known the fact, should you fall ill, that you would like to receive the "Sacrament of the Sick" or, as I prefer to call it "Extreme Unction" - the last rites of Holy Mother Church. Again, this is something that carries all the wrong connotations with it and often even strong Catholics will shy away from requesting this sacrament on the grounds that they believe that it is a sign they are about to pop their clogs. That may be the case but even more reason for accepting it. The effects of this sacrament are profound indeed and not only strengthen spiritually but, often, have a strengthening effect physically; I have know people make a good recovery from near death immediately after receiving EU. Again, you would expect me to play the traditional card and I do not like to disappoint. The traditional form of this sacrament is the one for me. It's a real 'belts and braces' form that does not leave any room for doubt and, believe me, if you are seriously sick, you do not want to leave anything to chance.
I have received the modern form (one of them) when I was not in a position to argue. It's rather like being handed a glass of 18 year old malt whisky that, when you put it to your lips, tastes like water!

This may all seem rather morbid but when you reach a critical stage in your life and are suffering illness or approaching death itself - you tend to have other things on your mind!

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?