THINGS AIN'T WHERE THEY USED TO BE

At last the kitchen is being installed in Our Lady of Mercy Hospitality Centre, in the opposite corner of the room to where it was.    To help us get our bearings  the door through to the loos has been included in the photo so we can see where we are  ...............   if you see what we mean.

Your intrepid reporter boldly went down into the cellar to look at the heating system, but was unable to find the boiler.     For it appears that this ancient piece of equipment, having been kept going for 47 years, has finally given up, can no longer be repaired and has had to be scrapped.    

So where do we find its replacement?   Back up the stairs again, for a damp cellar is not the best home for a modern high-tech appliance.    This smart new compact boiler, which will provide the heating for the church and the Hospitality Centre, has been installed in what used to be referred to in polite company as the Germolene room, right by the side of what was the original fireplace when the school was built 126 years ago.

WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS

                                                                                                            photo by Barbara
'Ah came tae cliffs by the sea and jist sat there.   The sea looked affie big and ah felt very wee, but ah wis happy.   Daft, isn't it?   Ah cannie tell ma mates, 'cos they'd think ah wis kinky.'  (Jock in God of Surprises by Fr Gerard Hughes.)

SO THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE PLANNING TO DO!

                                                      photo by Barbara

Help!  The stable at Lymington's been invaded by a motley flock of piebald sheep.    So who was responsible for leaving the door open?     It must have been that conniving quintet of Christmastide Church windowsill plotters our blog uncovered for us the week before last.     We'll have to look around and see what else they've been up to!

WE SAY GOODBYE TO BISHOP CRISPIAN HOLLIS

Several parishioners were able to attend the beautiful Mass last Saturday in Portsmouth Cathedral in Thanksgiving for Bishop Crispian.  Despite his recent illness Bishop Crispian was able to concelebrate the Mass with most of his Diocesan Priests including Frs. Danny, Peter and Edwin.  The Liturgy reflected Bishop Crispian's 23 year long Ministry in our Diocese.

'You did not choose me: I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures.    (John 15 v.16)

At the Litany of Intercessions there was a Procession of Symbols from Bishop Crispian's time in Portsmouth.  His involvement in the City of Portsmouth was symbolised by the presentation of a Pompey Football shirt!!
At the end of the Mass Mary Dunn thanked the Bishop on behalf of the People of the Diocese and presented him with a gift with our hearfelt thanks.
                                                                                                                        photo and report by Cathy

INDUCTION OF LYMINGTON U.R.C. MINISTER

                   
On Sunday Fr Danny and some parishioners from our and other local churches attended the induction of the Revd. Chris Vivian, the new Minister of Lymington's United Reformed Church.     The deeply moving service included the prayer: We affirm our intention to go on praying and working, with all our fellow Christians, for the visible unity of the Church in the way Christ chooses, so that people and nations may be led to love and serve God and praise Him more and more for ever.     

Despite the great number of people waiting to congratulate her afterwards the new minister made a point of stopping to give a warm welcome to Fr Danny.  


We look forward to continuing to work closely with the Lymington URC community, especially through our joint links with Churches Together, the Carers Cafe and the Basics Bank.



     Our thanks to Lymington URC and to Mike Saqui for the photos.                                                                                                    

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

                                                                                                                        

 Oh, Lord, when I’m not sure which way to go,

Good Shepherd, from temptation rescue me;

Your will may not be mine, but make it so,

However challenging your will may be.

Impatient as I am, teach me to wait

In peace and silence; teach me to be still,

To trust in you to so direct my fate,

That I may ever joy to do your will.

Keep me within your flock, let me not stray,

Yes, *“Keep me as the apple of your eye,”

Oh, God of David, steer me in your way,

Even if in loud protest I should cry.

Good Shepherd, pour your mercy upon me,

I am a sinner, Jesus.  Set me free.

                                                                         

                                                                                  R B    
                (*Psalm 17)                                               Written on the feast of Christ the King  2011 


Our thanks to Ros for allowing our blog to have the privilege of being the first to publish this fine sonnet.

NEW STORAGE SPACE CREATED IN THE CENTRE

Where novels used to be sold in the corridor so that we all got in each other's way, there are now wardrobe-shaped storage areas being constructed.     What a good use of the space.  



But is that to be the end of book sales, some parishioners will wonder.    
Others say no, they're going to take place elsewhere.    


We shall see.

TIME TO CHECK THE REMEMBRANCE BOOK

Our Parish Book of Remembrance will be open at the back of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy for the remainder of the month of November.   This is a good time for us each to check that the entries relating to our own families are complete and correct.

THE WINDOW OF ST EDMUND OF ABINGDON

St Edmund Rich was a child of great piety, brought up in a devout Catholic family.    He was severe to himself, yet gentle and kind to others, especially the poor and the sick.      When he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1234 he strongly defended the English church against the corrupt King Henry III, but after a few years the King's greater power and the opposition of other English bishops drove him into exile at Pontigny.    He is the patron of the Diocese of Portsmouth (his feast was on Wednesday) On the left you can see how he appears on the stained glass window in the sanctuary of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy.  The delightful image on the right is from the Nuremberg Chronicle.

OUR CHRISTMASTIDE PLOTTERS UNMASKED

There's no hiding from the fearless investigations of our intrepid reporter.     They thought he'd left, so they unwrapped their treasures to show one another, but he returned unexpectedly with his camera and they were caught red-handed!       There's Eileen and Barbara with sheepish-looking sheep, John and Adele with angelic angels, and Clare with a starstruck star.     What can they be up to at this time of the year?    It's not even Advent yet.    And we complain about the shops beginning Christmas early!

..... BECAUSE LOVE IS AN UNSKILLED TRADE

Not many experienced non-fiction authors publish their first novel after they've retired, but that's what long-serving Lymington parishioner Angeline (Paddy) Hampton has done.       It is called "Unskilled Trade", and is now available in paperback.       The publisher's blurb reads: Unskilled Trade is set partly against the backdrop of the Philippines and the Celtic atmosphere of Ireland - exquisitely descriptive and sensitive, exploring relationships, changing attitudes and the expectations of male and female behaviour. Compelling reading!       It's compelling, too, to chat to Paddy about the possible conflict between a woman's family life and career, which underlies the plot in her story.

SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGEWAY UNCOVERED

We're used to seeing holes in the ground, but this is ridiculous!      It's almost in the middle of the car park!       Or rather, it was.     For as part of the work at present being done to our Lymington site, the opening has now been sealed with heavy concrete T-beams packed together and tarmacked over.      Whatever the purpose of the underground brick walls on either side of the opening, they are relatively modern.      It's the dark space beyond them which is so intriguing, for although it may have been used for other purposes in recent times, it was almost certainly part of the late medieval smugglers' tunnel which stretched up behind the High Street so that contraband could be moved to the Angel or to other parts of the town, and may well have been used in penal times to shelter missionary priests starting on their dangerous way to service the Catholic faithful in different parts of the country.

KIM ATTENDS HER MASTER'S FUNERAL

The newly decorated sanctuary of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, resplendent in its golden framing, hosted a very special occasion on Wednesday.    Paul Duffy's relatives could not be traced, so a congregation packed with parishioners from our own and those of other Lymington churches took part in a truly splendid requiem Mass offered for him by Fr Danny.    Homeless Paul was welcomed home that day and received in our Church the care and the respect every human being deserves.    We pray that his soul may now rest in peace.

His beloved black labrador Kim was brought to the church, sat under the front pew, and behaved beautifully throughout the service.    But once she was outside she was so playful that it was difficult to get a good photo of her.
                                                                             (The redecoration of the sanctuary was by Lee Decor.)

ISABELLA BECOMES A CHILD OF GOD

Victoria and Christopher Bickle are very happy that their daughter is about to be baptised Isabella Ruby Quinton at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, but it looks as though Isabella herself is not too sure about it!     Yet through this great Sacrament she will be justified, transformed and renewed, becoming a member of Christ's body and a temple of the Holy Spirit.     We warmly welcome her into our Parish family.

FR RICHARD SAKSON TALKS TO THE CWL

Fr Richard Sakson, chaplain to the Dominican sisters at Sway, had been invited to speak to the Lymington section of the Catholic Women's League about Faith.    He told us that the new Catholic Missal, although not perfect, was in his view, a great improvement on the old rite and would necessarily change the way we worship in church.  This in turn will lead us to reconsider how faith and the Eucharist are essentially related.     There has been a recognised crisis of faith across Europe since before the second Vatican Council, with parishes forced to amalgamate or even close; some Catholic schools and seminaries have also closed in the past decade.    The current shortage of clergy is sadly all too evident in the Portsmouth Diocese, with our own Father Danny in charge of four churches.          Father Richard noted that there are many reasons for loss of faith today, one being loss of faith in the Eucharist itself.      In his encyclical letter, "Mysterium Fidei", Pope Paul VI had urged people not be diverted from the truth of the Eucharist.

Man's inhumanity to man can only be fully addressed through love and obedience to God; unequivocally, as in the First Commandment.    Fr Richard told us that reverential love for the sacrament of Communion leads to sacred actions: genuflecting, blessing ourselves and bowing at the mention of the Incarnation.    Ultimately, this instils in us a sense of understanding and veneration of the defining words of the Catholic Church, "Do this in memory of me".      He concluded his beautiful and thought provoking talk with an emphasis on the imminent traditional illustration of our faith as we approach Advent, when the Word becomes flesh.      Father Richard's own words were warmly appreciated, as indeed were Eileen Rayner's delicious flapjacks and chocolate cake which followed!       Thank you to Eileen and Tom for the hospitality and to Father Richard for inspiration.
                                                                                         photos by Barbara;  report by Giselle

THE HOSPITALITY CENTRE TAKES SHAPE

The kitchen area, in the opposite corner to where the coffee has been served until now, has now been electrically wired and has had plasterboard mounted around it.


The contractor for the electrical work in our Centre is Roger Carman.   

The disabled toilet, which will be just inside the main door on the right, has been divided off, and the small piece of the old hatchway which has not been cut away to make room for the door has been bricked up.        

The plumbing left from the old school has survived and some of it is being brought back into use.

The untimely death of Paul, the homeless man who walked the streets of Lymington with his black labrador, Kim, has shocked and touched all those of us who knew him.     We pray that after suffering so much abandonment during his earthly life he will now rest in peace.    His funeral will be held at the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Mercy and St Joseph on Wednesday November 9th at 11am. 

ST ANNE'S RESPOND TO FR ADAMS' ARRIVAL

On All Saints Day parishioners at St Anne's welcomed Fr David Adams, who already has a fulltime job as parish priest of Lyndhurst and the Waterside churches.   Yet because of the acute shortage of regular clergy in this area he has agreed to serve St Anne's on Sunday evenings and holy days.    His congregation on All Saints Day clearly appreciated his generosity, and after a few minutes of instruction and practice willingly joined in singing all the responses throughout the Mass.

JAN WATCHES NEW SAINTS BEING CANONISED

                                                           

 Whilst on a family trip to Rome last Sunday, Jan Anderson was lucky enough to arrive in St Peter's Square just in time to hear Pope Benedict celebrate Mass. The service included the canonisation of Guido Maria Conforti, Luigi Guanella and Bonifacia Rodriguez De Castro. Many of the congregation were wearing a yellow cap, a white cap or a scarf, showing their devotion to one or other of the new saints and they unfurled banners at the end.





Our thanks to Jan for the report and photos

How to ADVERTISE without ANYBODY NOTICING

As our investigative reporter levelled his camera to take a shot of our rebuilt manhole by the Church before the area around it had been properly filled in, this board was thrust out in front of it.     What a cheeky thing to do, we said, but this firm has done a good job and has provided us with decent drainage (and we shall certainly not discuss the state of the old drain they had to clean out) so we've been very kind and left their board in the photo.    Now if anyone knows what the rates are for transglobal advertising, we can finish making out Mr Smith's invoice.

Now that the main arch in the Church has been repaired, the sanctuary is being redecorated for the first time in about forty years.     This photo was taken as the painting of the first large ceiling panel had just been finished, as you can see from the straight edges of the red border around it.  

Meanwhile work continues in the new Hospitality Centre.     A new door has been cut for one of the toilets which is being constructed just inside the main entrance.   The electrical work and the plumbing are now almost ready, and the dividing walls are about to be put in place.






Next week your Parish blog will have more news of the progress being made in the Church and in the Hospitality Centre.

A DOUBLE BAPTISM FOR THEIR FAMILY

Now here's a really handsome couple!     That's Thomas Edward Alexander and Hannah Katy Theodosia, who were baptised on Sunday, held by their doubly proud parents Simon and Clare Quinn.      Hannah is already a child of God,  marked with the seal of Baptism which she received in hospital shortly after her birth, but on this very special family day she was with Thomas as he also passed through the gateway to Life in the Spirit, and we welcomed them both into our community at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy and St Joseph.

LOURDES ROADSHOW SPARKS INTEREST

On Tuesday evening at the Parish Hall of Our Lady of Lourdes a small audience of parishioners from our Pastoral area watched a multimedia presentation about the annual Catholic Association Pilgrimage to Lourdes.    After the presentation was over Fr John Cooke, who is the Portsmouth Diocesan party's assistant director, answered questions.       Several people, including one or two who were not able to get across to New Milton that day, have expressed an interest in forming a group to go to Lourdes with the Portsmouth Diocesan party in the last week of August 2012.  Leaflets giving detailed information about travel and accommodation will be available early in the new year.

PREPARING FOR THE TRANSFORMATION

This week has seen the completion of the work needed to get the old parish rooms ready to be transformed into the new Parish Hospitality Centre.  

The stripping off of the wallpaper in the central corridor exposed this mural, painted when the School was here.      It's in incredibly good condition.      How has it survived?    It'll probably be covered up again in a day or two.       When was it done?    If you can tell us more, please comment below.

This part of the coffee room is diagonally opposite the corner where we got our cuppas after Mass until last week, but it's in a better position.    For one thing, a a queue here will not clog up the entrance to the room.      The corner has been completely cleared, so as to make it ready for the new kitchen furniture to be installed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TWO-YEAR-OLD!

Our Blog made its first unsteady attempts to toddle into cyberspace during the last week of October, 2009.    Initial attempts to master the ether were so incompetently conducted that almost everything produced during the following fortnight has now been lost from our archives.   The earliest entry to have survived is headed "The New Forest R.C.Churches Website", and the title was supposed to link to the Pastoral Area site, but our technical skill didn't match our optimism, so the link doesn't quite link.    We were also uncertain of what to do on our blog, and so were watching other blogs closely to see what they were doing.     One of the comments on that first entry reads:
Aardvark has been poking his nose into the blogs of some other churches, to see what they do. He started by digging into the blog of the St Expedite Independent Catholic Church, which has found a unique way of rewarding its bloggers. Their blog is run by the Archbishop himself, and he has the perfect answer to the current shortage of clergy. He simply ordains all his followers. If you log into their blog, you can ".... become a priest straight away." Or you can even ".... have a diocese of your own." Sadly. however, there's appears to be a definite lack of laity - St Expedite's has a total congregation of twenty-one!
Now, two years later, instant priesthoods are still available.    However, St Expedite's is no longer offering bishoprics in its online advertisement.    Perhaps they've run out of mitres.  
     
But what about us?   Well, during those two years you lovely readers have visited our blog more than 13,412 times, and are continuing to visit it nearly 300 times a week.    You come from all over the world:                                      

United Kingdom 9,297

United States 1,632

Slovenia 178

Germany 163

Italy 160

Australia 129

Canada 126

Poland 122

Guernsey 115

Japan 94

                                        ......  and so on.     And you've arrived on our site in a number of different ways.     During these two years  ....... 
2690 of the visits we had were through www.google.com     
979 through one of the links from our Pastoral Area website at www.newforestrcchurches.co.uk     
605 through our link on the British Catholic Blogs site at www.britcat.blogspot.com    
but only 238 through typing out our own address www.lymrcchurch.blogspot.com 
Of course, the majority of visits are revisits, because most of you have put us in your "Favourites".     Our system isn't sophisticated enough to trace your original route when you do that!

On Tuesday the funeral of Eileen Hutchins, a parishioner for many years, was held at Our Lady of Mercy and St Joseph Church.      Our sincere condolences to her family and friends.

HOMELESSNESS ON OUR OWN DOORSTEP

Three weeks ago we promised to print the facts about homelessness in this area as told at the AGM of Basics Bank by Lynn Lyons the Service Manager of In Touch.    We can now reveal the true facts about the appalling problems facing some families and young people in the New Forest area as she described it.     We have published a summary of Lynn's talk that evening under the heading "Pages" in the right hand column of this blog entitled "Homelessness".   We hope you can spare a minute or two to read it.

CAN ANYONE BEAT THIS RECORD?

The picture was taken circa Christmas 1962.  It shows the late Ellie Webb surrounded by her sons, Michael, Keith and Derek with a family friend.  All three of the Webb boys attended Our Lady of Mercy & St Joseph's School. To the far left of the picture is their red  A.P.F. Box.  After Ellie's death Keith Webb has continued to collect for the A.P.F., which helps to fund the Mill Hill Fathers and the Pontifical Missionary Society in their work throughout the world.    Do you know of a red box which has been going for longer than this one?     (At present about £1500 a year is raised for the A.P.F. from boxes distributed among parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy and St Joseph.)
                                                                                                             photo and report from Cathy

SUPER FUNDRAISING DINNER FOR CUF

 Radio Personality Chris Walker and his Jazz Quartet played at the Children of the Universe Foundation fund-raising dinner at the Walhampton Arms last Friday.

                                                                                                                   photo by Rini

It was a great party, thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.    No less than 67 tickets were sold, and a magnificent £1866.50 net was raised, which is a new record on both counts.   

                                                                                                                   photo by Rini

Rini and Keith Stutterford have asked us to pass on their thanks to all those who came for their very generous support, and their thanks also to those who couldn’t attend but made very generous donations instead.       For more information and news about CUF, click on www.cuf.org

PASTORAL AREA MINISTERS' RETREAT

On Wednesday the second presentation of a retreat which was attended by parishioners with responsibilities in one or other of our four parishes was hosted by the Sisters at the Priory.    It was led by Mgr Jeremy Garrett who took as his theme Conforming our lives to Christ with particular reference to St Paul's Epistle to the Romans, chapters 5, 6 and 7.   The talks  were quite short but full of powerful ideas and relevant anecdotes, and there were no reports of anyone even beginning to doze off!     At lunch there was no table exclusive to one parish, so we all got to know each other a little better.    Altogether a thoroughly worthwhile day.

Those who are following our new Live Feed (Feedjit) may be wondering why we appear to be so unpopular!      In the first full week of its operation our Feedjit only recorded the arrival of about 125 viewers on our blog.      Yet during those seven days our blog's own statistical analysis logged 390 viewers visiting us.      The reason for this discrepancy is of course that the only arrivals which Feedjit records are the arrivals of Feedjit members!    

We are sad to have to report the recent death of Sheila Cozens, a parishioner here for many years, whose funeral was on Wednesday.      Our sincere condolences to her sister Eva and her family.

WARM JUMPERS FOR THE COLD WEATHER

                                                                                                        photo from Barbara
It seemed appropriate, during the week of the CUF fundraising dinner, that we should publish this photo, taken at their regular meeting last Friday, of members of the Knit and Stitch Club hard at work producing more woolly pullovers for the poor kiddies being looked after by the Children of the Universe Foundation.     It must be very gratifying to produce as part of one's charitable work an item which will actually be worn by the recipient during the chilly South African winter.

I WAS IN HOSPITAL AND YOU VISITED ME

Last Sunday at St Thomas' Church the Anglican Bishop of Southampton, the Right Reverend Jonathan Frost, led a service to commemorate the reopening of the Church after its recent restoration.     To the delight of all of us who know of her and the work she has done, he also commissioned Linda Lee as Lymington Hospital Chaplain.     Our congratulations to Linda from all those of us who have seen and experienced her compassion, her vivacious personality and her ability to gain people's confidence during the years that she has already served as chaplain there.

PRESENTS FOR A DISADVANTAGED CHILD

                                                                                                                          photo by Barbara

Thanks to the generosity of members of the Catholic Women's League in our pastoral area, these beautifully decorated shoeboxes are being filled with small presents for disadvantaged 12 to 15 year-old boys and girls in Albania, Montenegro, Tanzania and Romania.

                                                                                                                        photo by Barbara
The boxes will be distributed by Rotary International, which is a worldwide voluntary organisation dedicated to helping others.   It has no religious or political affiliations.  

                                                                                                                 

To get the best from our new Live Feed Widget (Feedjit) in the right hand column, click on the dark blue bar at the bottom labelled "menu".   Then you will be able to see a much longer list with more detail.   Careful, now.  It can become quite addictive!

PRIESTLY EXEGESIS HAS KEY TO HEAVENLY LIFE

More than seventy parishioners of the New Forest Pastoral Area packed the church hall at New Milton on Tuesday to hear Margaret Heaven tell of events in her life which influenced her spiritual growth, concluding with an account of the quiet, loving way she was received by the Carmelites which resulted in her entry into their third order. Then Fr Danny explained the importance of relational nourishment from birth, and of the primacy of love and of compassion in our dealings with each other, from childhood and throughout our lives. He showed how the impact of this has been proven through scientific research, and in a brief practical session asked us to form groups and to recall one or more persons in our lives who allowed us to grow in love. The evening began and ended with a few minutes of prayer.

TIMID START TO FIRST HARVEST THANKSGIVING

It had not previously been the habit at Our Lady and St Joseph to make a specific physical recognition in the church of our gratitude to God for the annual harvest.   This year, however, it was decided to remedy this omission, albeit rather gently, and several parishioners decorated the altar with flowers, fruit, vegetables and a much-admired but rather lonely loaf of soda bread.  Some of the congregation brought in items for the Basics Bank box for needy people here, to coincide with the announcement of the following week's CAFOD collection for the needy in poorer parts of the world.   (To express your view, please click "comments" below.)

HOPE JONES ROOM HOSTS FRIENDSHIP CLUB

With the Parish Rooms not yet available the Friendship Club met this week in the Hope Jones Room at Lymington Community Centre.   After we had devoured Joan's delicious homemade Dorset apple cakes and Scotland's very own Tunnock tea cakes, the conversation became so interesting that nobody noticed this photograph being taken, and afterwards there was not a single complaint about having no comfortable armchairs or sofas to sit in!

LOURDES ROADSHOW TO VISIT NEW MILTON

                                                                                                                            thecatholictour.com
Each summer the Catholic Association arranges a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and each Diocese can send a group to be part of that pilgrimage.  Fr John Cooke, who was the deputy director of the Portsmouth group in last summer's pilgrimage, will be bringing his "Lourdes Roadshow" to the Parish hall at New Milton on Tuesday October 25th.    This roadshow will be of real interest to all of us, whether or not we may wish to be part of a group which could join the Diocesan party next year.

PRAYING WITH CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN

At Brockenhurst on the last September Saturday Mary Dunn organised a day about bringing God more fully into our kiddies' lives.

                                                                                                                      photo by Anthony
At the Workshop there was a display of 'Godly Play' resources. The Presenter (Carolynn Pritchard) gave us an inspiring and detailed introduction to this way of telling Bible stories to children. The child can enter into the story and tell it, with little figures, in their own way. That would be fun to hear!

                                                                                                                    photo by Anthony
The participants spent a beautiful Saturday thinking about playing and praying with children. We handled ribbons - and blessing bowls - and name-stars - and we loved being children again.
                                                                                                                    report by Mary