Joseph of.......Cardiff?

The Welsh have an endearing habit of linking famous people with a Welsh heritage.

Elvis Presley aka Elvis Evans

"Look at Nelson Mandela" they will say: "His granddad was from Merthyr Tydfil"

Or, even less probably: "Mother Theresa was Welsh, her family moved to Albania when she was two years old".

I have long become accustomed to such claims which, a Welsh friend claims, are a product of an insecure nation. He can say that, I could not possibly.

But now, it seems, an English author has lodged a claim that fairly and squarely (if true) places Wales on the map.

According to Michael Clark, Joseph of Arimathea is buried in Cardiff, capital city of Wales.

England also has a claim to Joseph of Arimathea who, allegedly, travelled to Glastonbury where he rammed his staff into the ground, whereupon it took root and is now known as 'the Glastonbury Thorn'.

Joseph was, of course, a trader and it seems highly likely that he did undertake voyages from time to time; but whether he made land in England or Wales is still, I suspect, a matter for conjecture.

But Mr Clark claims that Joseph's body is intact and located at the ruined chapel of St Mary, in Bute Park, Cardiff.
Furthermore, he also believes that Joseph was known in Wales as 'St Ilid' and that he founded a church at Llanelid, near Pencoed (if he indeed went to Pencoed he would have been lucky to leave with a coat on his back).

His claims are made in his book 'Maelgwyn of Llandaff and Joseph of Arimathea'.

Meanwhile, we labour on, happy in the knowledge that William Shakespeare, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Lincoln, Robin of Locksley, Clark Kent, Alexander the Great, Elvis Presley and Alexander Fleming all had Welsh blood in them!

A step closer to Holywell

And, on our way there, tomorrow,  in our medieval minibus, we shall sing hymns and say the Rosary and indulge in some good Catholic humour (in the manner of medieval pilgrims).
This is a beautiful piece although, I suspect, we shall be more in the 'Faith of Our Fathers' neck of the woods.

I found this hymn to St Winefride in an old Westminster Hymnal....no idea as to the music, but it tells her story rather well:


                                                            ST WINEFRIDE

More fair than all the vernal flowers

Embosom'd in the dales,

St Winefride in beauty bloom'd,

The rose of ancient Wales.

With every loveliest grace adorn'd,

The Lamb's unsullied bride,

Apart from all the world she dwelt

Upon this mountainside.

Caradoc then, with impious love,

Her fleeing steps pursued,

And in her sacred maiden blood

His cruel hands imbrued.

He straight the debt of vengeance paid,

Ingulf'd in yawning flame;

But God a deed of wonder work'd

To her immortal fame.

For where the grassy sward received

The martyr's sever'd head,

This holy fountain upward gush'd,

Of crystal vein'd with red.

Here miracles of might are wrought;

Here all diseases fly;

Here see the blind, and speak the dumb,

Who but in faith draw nigh.

Assist us, glorious Winefride,

Dear virgin, ever blest!

The passions of our hearts appease,

And lull each storm to rest.

Alice Thomas Ellis - marooned on a desert island!

This radio recording dates back to 1998 and ATE is described as a 'devout traditional Roman Catholic' by host Sue Lawley. That is an improvement on being called a 'devout RC' as most journos refer to us whether we are devout or not.

"There is no reciprocity. Men love women,
women love children, children love hamsters"

If you do not know Alice Thomas Ellis let me give you a hint of her character as it was before her death in 2005. She was  direct, liked a vodka and tonic, liked to smoke. She knew all who were worth knowing in the literary field. Her house in Wales was full of large statues of the Saints and the household, was otherwise totally disorganised.

If you listen to the broadcast it is as good a testimony to the faith as you will hear. Ever.

Her choice of records is eclectic and reflects her faith. Her second choice is an apt one for Advent...Rorate coeli desuper.....

Sue Lawley is, I think, not too impressed by ATE's stolid defence of right.

worth listening to.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/8f80d69b

No Mass Sunday!

We in wild and windy West Wales will have no Sunday Mass for the next two weeks - an Extraordinary Form Mass, that is. Even then, we will only have one once a month and that is a 60 mile round journey but I am not complaining.
Well, I am really but it's more of a form of keening as they might say in Ireland.
A sort of sense of loss and mourning for something much loved that should be there but isn't.




Photo: Daily Telegraph
The most beautiful of Churches!

  So, instead, my heart and my soul will be with two of my daughters at Spanish Place, the Church of St James at 9.30am and arguably the most beautiful parish church in London (it also has excellent cafes within twenty yards that offer wonderful plates of bacon and eggs for a very reasonable price for after Mass).

Food for the body - after food for the soul!

It also has quite the most cosmopolitan congregation of any church in London, rich, poor, emigres, Irish and even a few English folk.

Long may it continue to offer the 'Mass of all Time'

Would Cardinal Vaughan have approved of Westminster's shenanigans?

Cardinal Herbert Vaughan

Cardinal Herbert Vaughan was born in 1832 and died, at the age of 71, in 1903. His background is classical English-Welsh Catholic aristocracy, coming, as he did, from an old  recusant family.
His father was Lieutenant Colonel John Francis Vaughan of Courtfield, Herefordshire and his mother, from across the border into Wales, was Eliza Rolls.
Herbert was the eldest of eleven children, five of whom became nuns and six entered the priesthood (with 3 of them becoming Bishops). A remarkable fact, even for those days. Eliza used to pray in front of a crucifix every day that her children would enter the religious life and she was richly rewarded.
He was a product of Stoneyhurst and then Downside before continuing his studies in Brugelette, Belgium and then Rome, being ordained in 1854.
Having a zeal for the Missions he founded the Mill Hill Fathers Society of Missionaries at St Joseph's Mill Hill and established a training base for prospective Mill Hill Fathers and Brothers at the family home, Courtfield, Herefordshire, overlooking the River Wye and a short step from the grave of a great martyr, St John Kemble.

Courtfield, Nr Ross on Wye

Courtfield, as a base for missionaries was an inspiration. Here there were workshops and a chapel so that these fine men could learn how to mend a tractor, dig a well, tend livestock and grow crops. They went to their new homes in Africa, India and other parts, fully equipped for the task, spiritually and technologically.

The chapel, Ty Mair, (Mary's House) still stands today and its name reflects its Welsh antecedents.
                                                                                                                     
When the family returned home from travelling in their carriage they would leave the Goodrich road to enter the Courtfield Estate with still just over a mile to go before they reached the house itself. This last mile became known as the 'Rosary mile' as they all recited their beads in thanksgiving for a safe journey; a good custom to adopt.

It is said of the Cardinal that he showed intellectual prowess coupled with physical vigour. After the American Civil War he led a group of priests to succour the Freedmen of the Southern States and he established a missionary society in Baltimore.

He was instrumental in getting the building of Westminster Cathedral under way and it was complete enough, in 1903, for his Requiem Mass to be celebrated there.

Today, Courtfield remains in the hands of the eldest Vaughan son, Patrick while his brother, Richard, farms locally.

Sadly, it closed some years ago as a missionary base but is still used for retreats and conferences (so I believe).

So, an outstandingly good and able man who was known for his theological purity and devout nature.
Would he have approved of the moves being made by Westminster Diocese to impose their will and mindset on Cardinal Vaughan School?    No.


Ty Mair, the Mill Hill Father's Chapel at Courtfield



Our Lady of Guadalupe - Welcome to Wales!

The sacred image of our Lady of Guadalupe will be at the National Shrine of Wales, Our Lady of the Taper, Cardigan, from 19th to 21st November.

Here's the schedule:

November 19th  - Welcome and Rosary 6.30pm followed by OF Mass at 7pm
November 20th - Rosary at 11.30am followed by OF Mass at 12 noon (break for lunch and then Holy
                            hour at 2.30pm)
November 21st - Rosary at 10.15am followed by OF Mass at 10.30am Sung EF Mass at 3pm followed   
                           by tea break and Rosary and Benediction at 4.30pm

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Protectress of the unborn, Ora pro nobis!

Forty Martyrs of England and Wales - gave their lives for their Faith and the Latin Mass



We remember, today, the great feast of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Of course, there were many, many more martyrs during this period of intense Catholic persecution but the Forty Martyrs feast day provides a focal point for what it meant to die a most terrible and unnatural death with more than an echo of Calvary about it.

The litany of the martyrs contains well known illustrious names such as Edmund Campion, Nicholas Owen, Robert Southwell, Cuthbert Mayne, Anne Line and Margaret Clitherow but, today, I plan to focus on  just one famous but not so well known Welsh Martyr (as a tribute to Fr Jason Jones).

ST PHILIP EVANS SJ

St Philip Evans was born in Monmouth in 1645 and educated at St Omer. He joined the Jesuits on 7th September 1665 and was eventually ordained at Liege in Belgium.

Arriving in South Wales in 1675, he ministered the Sacraments to his flock, scattered as they were, over many hundreds of square miles. On 4th December 1678 he was captured and arrested at Sker, the Glamorganshire home of Christopher Turberville.

Thrown into Cardiff Castle, he shared his imprisonment with St John Lloyd where he remained until his day of execution the following year.

He gained his martyrs crown at Gallows Field in Cardiff on July 22nd 1679.

In the absence of any image of St Philip, here is an illustration of St Edmund Campion's execution that, very graphically, depicts the savagery of being hanged, drawn and quartered.

There is a Catholic Church dedicated to St Philip in Cardiff but, sadly, their website does not mention their patron saint - appalling!

St Philip and the remainder of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales - Ora pro nobis!