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THE P R TAL
The Portal is the monthly review of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
January 2021
THE P RTAL
is the monthly review of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
January 2021 Volume 11 Issue 121
Contents
Page 3 Portal Comment – Will Burton reflects
Page 4 A Bible Project for schools – Joanna Bogle
Page 5 The New Year – Snapdragon
Page 6 The tragedy of suicide – Fr Matthew Pittam
Page 7 A review of the past year – Mgr Keith Newton
Page 9 Thoughts on Newman – Revd Dr Stephen Morgan
Page 10 C S Lewis and Fr Michael Ward
– Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane
Page 12 News from the Ordinariate – around the UK
Page 13 Calendar and Prayer Intentions
Page 14 Finding us at prayer – in England, Scotland and Wales
Page 16 Saint of the Month
Page 17 Circumcision, baptism and naming
– Fr Michael Halsall
Page 18 Forgiveness – Gabriel Gilson
Page 19 Our window on the CofE – The Revd Paul Benfield
Page 20 Aid to the Church in Need – Fionn Shiner
Page 22 Book Review – Fr Simon Ellis
Page 23 Book of the Month – Leo McKinstry
Page 24 Music and Scripture – Fr Christopher Lindlar
The views expressed in The Portal are not necessarily those of the Editors or the Ordinariate
THE P RTAL Registered Address: 56 Woodlands Farm Road, Birmingham B24 0PG
www.portalmag.co.uk
Co-Editors: Ronald Crane, Jackie Ottaway - editors@portalmag.co.uk Advisors: Fr Len Black, Fr Neil Chatfield Fr Aidan Nichols OP, Fr Mark Woodruff
Editorial Board: David Chapman, Beverely Cooper. Gill James, Ian O’Hara, Fr Matthew Pittam, Cyril Wood Advertising: adverts@portalmag.co.uk
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 3
Portal Comment
The Week of
Prayer for Christian Unity
Monday 18th to Monday 25th January 2021: Will Burton has his say
T hose of us old enough to remember those heady days of 1966/1967 and the high expectations for
real Christian Unity, may well recall that scheme of group study ‘The People Next Door’. It was promoted
as a local follow-up to a Faith and Order Conference held in Nottingham.
I well remember the excitement of going to each Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham are born from
study evening that Lent. All denominations were there the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus,
– even Roman Catholics! There was real optimism in given in Rome, at St Peter’s, on November 4, 2009,
the air that something momentous was about to occur. the Memorial of St Charles Borromeo by His Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI.
Fifty years later the ecumenical scene looks very
different. That enthusiasm has abated. The excitement We live in a time of “receptive ecumenism”; seeing
has turned to complacency, even boredom. Now the and welcoming that which is helpful in Christian bodies
various Christian denominations seem to prefer to other than one’s own. In the Apostolic Constitution,
meet with tea and biscuits and be ‘nice’ to each other. the Catholic Church did exactly that.
As Chairman of our local Churches Together I was The Ordinariates have been given their own liturgy,
dismayed at the lengths we had to go to make sure approved by the Vatican. Fr Lindlar tells us about this
we never discussed anything about which we might in another article in this issue of The Portal.
disagree. Catholics may not talk about Our Lady, and
Baptists better not mention that they had re-baptised Who would have thought, back in the days of The
those baptised as infants. People Next Door, that the words, prayers and offices
of the Book of Common Prayer, words of Thomas
We were told it was better if we concentrated on Cranmer no less, would now be part of Catholic
what we held in common. That sounds fine until one worship?
realises that it is not what we hold in common that
is the problem. The Churches are divided because we The Ordinariates have dispensation to ordain former
disagree about some rather fundamental issues. Anglican married clergy, and have obligatory Pastoral
Councils of lay people. The ecumenical scene has
On 4th December 2020 the Pontifical Council certainly shifted somewhat.
Promoting Christian Unity published a new document
“The Bishop And Christian Unity: An Ecumenical It is important therefore that we keep the Week of
Vademecum”. Prayer for Christian Unity seriously. The Catholic
League have for some years now produced an excellent
Elsewhere in this issue of The Portal, Fr Simon Ellis prayer leaflet for use during the week.
has written a review of the document. Its appearance
shows that the Catholic Church takes ecumenism There is more information on the following web
seriously. This is welcome, for the way ecumenism has sites: www.unitas.org.uk and www.paulcouturier.org.
slipped down the ladder of concern is shameful. uk.
The Vademecum contains much that is welcome May we always remember that Our Blessed Lord
and useful, but it is a disappointment that if does not prayed that we may be One.
mention the Ordinariates. The Personal Ordinariate
of the Chair of St Peter, the Personal Ordinariate of
Our Lady of the Southern Cross and the Personal
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 4
A Bible Project
Auntie Jo a n
for schools
Joanna Bogle recommends a
worthwhile project
A s 2021 opens, my thanks go to people who, from the 1950s
onwards, supported a group called the Order of Christian Unity.
Rather an odd name: was it a religious order, and if so, who joined,
and why? Well, it wasn’t a religious order in the sense of people taking
na
vows or living together in community – instead, the name was adopted
by a small group of people in Hampshire who wanted to pray and work for
wri tes
Christian Unity. No Catholics were involved at that stage. The group – Anglicans, Congregationalists, Baptists,
Methodists - just met for prayer, and adopted a badge which showed a handshake, across the foot of a Cross.
The group was rather overtaken by events – by the late The OCU has taken, for working purposes, the more
1960s, ecumenical prayer was becoming popular, and practical name Christian Projects. Lady Lothian was
people could understand that it was important not to let succeeded in due course by Bishop Maurice Wood,
the barriers created in the Reformation years become former Anglican Bishop of Norwich and it was he
fossilised. It seems that the small Hampshire group who gave a real boost to the Bible Project and saw it
was rather dwindling in numbers. Enter a remarkable flourish.
Catholic – Antonella Lothian. Lady Lothian was then
editor of a magazine for the Union of Catholic Mothers. There’s more to the story, but the main thing is this:
In 1970 she was approached by the small Hampshire the brochures announcing the 2021 Schools Bible
group to see if she might take on the chairmanship of Project have now gone out to all secondary schools in
their small Order of Christian Unity and do something Britain. Please help and encourage schools in your area
to turn it into something more effective. to participate. The concept is simple: pupils have to
imagine themselves present at one of the major events
Lady Lothian galvanised the group, and over the in the life of Christ and write about it: full details are
next years it grew and flourished. It ran conferences available from www.christianprojectsocu.org.uk or by
and seminars on religious education, on marriage sending a stamped addressed envelope to: Christian
and family issues, on pain relief and opposition to Projects, 24 Neville Avenue, New Malden KT3 4SN.
euthanasia, and more. I became involved when it was
decided to form a young people’s section – we called it When I look back, I am so grateful for the leadership
the Youth Working Party of the OCU and I chaired it of Bishop Maurice Wood, and his encouragement and
with an Anglican friend, Frances Tulloch. enthusiasm. Opening a committee meeting with prayer,
he would often take out the small New Testament that he
A major concern was religious education: we were had carried with him during the D-Day landings. It was
approached by a number of concerned people who a link with a different Britain. But we can still teach the
could see that RE in many schools was neglecting Christian faith that has shaped our country for centuries.
Christianity or offering a very bleak, watered-down Do help today’s school pupils to know about it.
version. We organised a major conference for RE
teachers and found that there was in fact, at that stage, You are invited to join the
widespread support for offering children a chance
to learn the basic facts of Christ’s life, death and Rosary Fellowship
resurrection, and to understand the importance of For full details and an application form
the Scriptures and of Christianity in the history and please contact Barry Barnes at:
culture of Britain. rosaryfellowship@yahoo.com
From this grew the plan for a nationwide project 01328 853015
for school pupils: it has now been running for over Please could clergy bring this initiative to the attention of any of
30 years and is known as the Schools Bible Project. your people who do not have access to this publication
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 5
ragon Snapdragon muses
on the New Year,
or does he?
Snapd
I n the best tradition of New Year Resolutions (another ghastly hollow convention
that this column’s author naturally does not observe), Snapdragon has resolved to
commence 2021 by freely making a confession to my esteemed readership. For well over two
decades, yours truly has steadfastly refused, almost to the point-of-death, to celebrate New
Year’s Day on 1st January.
As assiduous readers of Snapdragon’s system started the year on 1st January and ended it on
erudite literary outpourings will 31st December. But in England, from the 12th century
attest, this column’s writer is no Cromwellian ‘kill-joy’ until 1751, the formal legal year began on 25th March
and certainly does not disapprove of people rightly (Lady Day).
enjoying themselves, as Dickens’ famous fictional
character Scrooge might have done. So clearly it is monstrously wrong to celebrate New
Year’s Day almost three months’ early!
Portal readers may recall Scrooge is quoted as
saying in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, “Every idiot Snapdragon is also instinctively averse to the alleged
who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips ‘cultural’ notion of New Year’s Day. It seems to be
should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with one of those ghastly secular obsessions which afflict
a stake of holly through his heart.” modern 21st century societies.
Instead, I normally contentedly curl up as we Another - even more unhealthy but industrially
approach 1st January reading the Collected Verse of milked commercially - is the marking of Hallowe’en
Rudyard Kipling, nursing a large glass (or, better still, (something Snapdragon wrote about in the November
several) of Lagavulin single-malt whisky and listening 2019 edition of the Portal).
to the music of Sir Edward Elgar.
Almost as bad as compulsively ‘celebrating’ these
Of course, in the ‘good old days’ until fairly recently, events is the false bonhomie which many of us are
even in a public venue, an Englishman could legally forced to put on, even if we secretly detest the spectacle
puff a pipe or enjoy smoking a cigar, ideally rolled on and what it sadly represents.
the thighs of a beautiful maiden.
Equally objectionable to Snapdragon is the utterly
By now, dear reader, you will have correctly deduced bogus and intellectually impoverished notion that the
that Snapdragon cordially loathes marking the passage coming year is magically going to be better than the
of the New Year. Obviously, the author has powerful one which preceded it.
and persuasive intellectual arguments against this
occasion, although the less insightful and educated As someone born spiritually at least 400 years before
might ascribe my attitude to baser prejudices. my biological birth and who thinks the fortunes of this
great nation have been declining since the 1840s, the
The Gregorian calendar is today the calendar used truth is the further we move from the past the worse
by most of the world. It was introduced in October things will get!
1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification to the
hitherto-used Julian calendar, itself introduced in 45 Nevertheless, in the wake of the dreadful Covid
BC by Julius Caesar. At first it was adopted by Catholic -afflicted world we have experienced in 2020,
countries but its later expansion embraced the rest of even Snapdragon reluctantly concedes that we need
the earth in the ensuing centuries. to have confidence (or hope, God willing) in 2021. So
happy and healthy New Year to all Portal readers!
Great Britain and the British Empire adopted the
Gregorian calendar in 1752. Even the Julian calendar
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 6
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
The tragedy of suicide
This difficult subject is approached from a Catholic
point of view by Fr Matthew Pittam
B efore I was ordained I worked for a number of years for the NHS in mental
health services and I continue to do so alongside my ministry and work as a
priest today. This work has always been important to me and has complimented my
priestly formation as a pastor and carer of God’s people.
Very early on in my professional life, when I was only to someone who has a
in my early 20s, I worked very closely with a patient in longstanding mental
the community who sadly committed suicide. He was illness. However, the next
a person who had been mentally ill for many years and paragraph of the Catechism says this,
was often tormented by his experiences.
“Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or
He spent long periods of time in psychiatric care grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can
and despite his desire to lead an independent life in diminish the responsibility of the one committing
his own home, he just could not cope with the reality suicide.” CCC 2282
of life. Many hours and resources were spent trying
to support him and there was a huge sense, amongst The act of suicide is always a grave matter but if an
those who supported him, that we had failed. action is to be considered a mortal sin the person must
have the insight and awareness that it is such a grave
Suicide is always a devastating thing. There are matter.
multiple victims as family, friends and loved ones are
faced with the reality of what has happened in their The Church compassionately recognises that mental
lives. As people of faith it may also make us question illness can result in the person lacking mental capacity
our faith and reflect upon what we believe happens or freedom of thought which significantly mitigate a
when a person commits suicide. person’s free will and correct judgement. We should
still not jump to the conclusion that the person is
The Catechism is very clear about the significant reconciled with God but it can give us hope and
implication of suicide and its impact upon others, focus our prayers for the soul of the person.
“Everyone is responsible for his life before God Many of us may have been affected by the horror of
who has given it to him. It is God who remains the suicide and we may still bear the wounds in the depths
sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept of our hearts. For us as Catholics we need to balance
life gratefully and preserve it for his honour and the what the Catechism says about Mortal Sin with the
salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, compassionate teaching of the Church about those in
of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to mental distress.
dispose of.
Prayer should bind all this together as we trust God.
Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the The Catechism also teaches that we should not despair
human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It of the eternal salvation of those who have taken their
is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise own lives:
offends love of neighbour because it unjustly breaks
the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other “By ways known to him alone, God can provide
human societies to which we continue to have the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church
obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living prays for persons who have taken their own lives”
God.” CCC 2280-2281 CCC 2273
This can seem very stark, especially in relation
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 7
A review of the past year
Monsignor Keith Newton, our Ordinary
This time last year nobody could have foreseen what 2020 would bring. Covid 19 had been found in
China but that all seemed a very long way away. Other diseases originating in South Asia, such has SARS
in 2003, had little effect on the life of Western Europe. How naive we were. During this year the pandemic
has affected the whole world and our life has altered beyond recognition. There is light, we hope, at the end
of the tunnel with the production of vaccines which are beginning to be rolled out. But even at this stage, new
strains of the disease have been identified which are far more virulent. We cannot even now be certain about
anything.
Not only has this terrible disease affected the health
and economy of the nation but it has also deeply
affected the life of the Church. Our churches were
closed for worship for months and we were not able
to celebrate the great feast of Easter in the usual way
except via live streamed masses over the internet.
They were of great spiritual benefit for many but they
cannot replace being present around the altar for the
celebration of Mass. Unlike previous years it has been
impossible for me to visit groups of the Ordinariate
around the country and much that we had been
planning has had to be put on hold.
The IICSA report into child sexual abuse in the
Catholic Church in England and Wales published late
last year made sombre reading. The Catholic Church Allen Hall seminary. This is good news for the future.
and other Christian bodies have much to feel ashamed We also had been planning another Lay Conference
about. Although we must listen sensitively to those in July following the very successful one a few years
who suffered most from the vile actions of some clergy, ago. However due to the uncertainty we felt it best to
we must look to the future to make sure such things postpone this to 2022.
never happen again. The Catholic Church in England
and Wales is already in the process of strengthening 15th January marks the 10th Anniversary of
our safeguarding structures for the protection of all the erection of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of
children and adults at risk. Walsingham as well as the 10th Anniversary of my
ordination to the Catholic priesthood together with
At the end of 2019 we celebrated the Monsignors Broadhurst and Burnham. We had hoped
10th anniversary of the publication of the Apostolic to have a celebration in London that day to mark
Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus and at the the occasion but, of course, the pandemic has made
same time we produced a report on the future of the that impossible. However, the Governing Council
Ordinariate called ‘Our Calling and Our Mission – has suggested that we live steam a celebration of
preparing together for our future’. We had hoped that Mass at 12 noon on Saturday 15th January to mark
groups would be able to discuss this report during the the occasion, though I hope some people who live in
year and report back. This has been put on hold but we the London region will be able to join us in Our Lady
have been strengthening and improving various areas of the Assumption, Warwick Street. The link for live
of our work especially finance and vocations. steaming is - www.bit.ly/warwick-st-mass
The good news in this last year is that we have We will be waiting to see whether later in the year we
received into full communion two more former can have a national celebration of our anniversary in
Anglican priests, both married with young families, Birmingham in June and a Symposium in Westminster
who will be petitioning the Holy See for ordination on 20th November. As soon as things become
to the priesthood and hopefully next year they will clearer we will make further announcements via The
join three others presently in part time formation at Portal and our website.
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 8
Last year saw the publication of another liturgical I hope it will encourage the faithful of the Ordinariate
book for the Ordinariate as part of the Divine Worship to renew their commitment to daily prayer both
series –‘Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying’ which corporately and in private. Perhaps one of the most
joins the other official Vatican publications important aspects of the Ordinariate is that we have
of The Missal and The Occasional Offices. been encouraged to rediscover again something of our
Anglican heritage. This is what Pope Benedict XVI
One of the riches the Ordinariate brings to share described as “a precious gift nourishing the faith of
with the wider Catholic Church is the patrimony of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to
our liturgical and spiritual tradition. It is by no means be shared.”
the entirety of the Anglican Patrimony but it is a
tangible representation of it. Although living through very difficult times we
need to look to the future with confidence. Our vision
The liturgy is at the very heart of the practice and statement is clear:
expression of our faith; there is close connection
between what we believe and the way we worship. To realise the vision of the Apostolic Constitution
For us, liturgy is not an optional extra but expresses Anglicanorum Coetibus, as a concrete means of bringing
the beauty of holiness and deepens our inner life. We lay faithful, clergy and religious to a faithful and
should, in the words of Bishop John Richards, who authoritative expression of the Catholic faith through
many of you will fondly remember, be centres of the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the
excellence. Anglican tradition now within the full communion of
the Catholic Church, cultivating bonds of unity, and
In addition to these official liturgical books, the three promoting this precious gift as a means of building up
Ordinariates in the UK, North America and Australia the one Body of Christ, which is the Church, through
also produced the St Gregory’s Prayer Book published love.
by Ignatius Press in 2019; a beautiful collection of
prayers and devotions for use throughout the year. All of us, priests and people alike, need to ask ourselves
Every Ordinariate member should have a copy and it whether in what we do and say we are furthering that
is an ideal gift for confirmation candidates. vision and putting into effect the hope and expectation
that Pope Benedict gave us when he published the
At the beginning of this liturgical year we have also Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus and
published an improved Ordo for the celebration of sanctioned the erection of the Ordinariate of Our
Mass including our liturgical calendar as well as useful Lady of Walsingham ten years ago.
information about the Ordinariate. These are available
to order from our website at £5.00 each. Once this pandemic is over there will be many
challenges. Some Catholics may be questioning
One piece of good news amongst all the uncertainty their faith in God, others may have lapsed from the
is the publication of Divine Worship: the Daily Office practice of the faith after so many months of staying at
(Commonwealth Edition) which we hope will happen home, others might prefer to sit in front of the screen
sometime after Easter. and watch mass live streamed. As many have said
before, we must see such challenges as opportunities;
In 2012 Monsignor Andrew Burnham in evangelistic opportunities to invite others in the words
collaboration with Father Aidan Nichols OP published of the apostle Philip to Nathaniel, to “come and see”
the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham which has (John 1: 46).
served us well over the last eight years but we have
been encouraged to produce something of a more On December 8th last Year our Holy Father Pope
permanent nature. Francis inaugurated the next twelve months as the
Year of St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church.
Over the last few years a group of our priests, under the Although he does not utter a word in sacred scripture,
chairmanship of Father Christopher Lindlar, has been in his response to the events surrounding our Lord’s
working on this important project. This single volume, birth he gives us a shining example of trust in God
beautifully produced by the Catholic Truth Society, and obedience to his word. These are virtues we will
will contain a full cycle of daily prayer, including the need in the months ahead, so we ask St Joseph to pray
biblical readings, which will fulfil the obligation of with us for a real and deep renewal of the Catholic
Ordinariate priests to recite the office and we hope will Church and particularly for the Ordinariate of Our
also be used by many lay people. We anticipate that it Lady of Walsingham as we give thanks for ten years of
will cost around £40.00 per copy. its existence.
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 9
Thoughts on Newman
Newman on the
Turn of the Year
The Revd Dr Stephen Morgan
J anus, the Roman god, after whom the month of January is named, is famously depicted as having two
faces, not to imply insincerity but to indicate his supposed quality as the god both of beginnings and
endings. One face looks back on the year just ended and the other forward to the year ahead. Our tradition
of New Year’s Resolutions reflects the persistence of our natural sense of reflection and prospection at the
turn of the year.
Two hundred years ago this 1st January, i.e. the day his future. Newman writes of his failure as a blessing,
of publication of this article, John Henry Newman sat as God’s way of protecting him from indulging his own
down to write a poignantly Janus-faced letter to a man intellectual ambition at the cost of his calling to serve
whose influence over him, though often remarked Him: “God is leading me through life in the way best
upon in biographies, is strangely under examined. adapted for His glory and my own salvation.”4
Walter Mayers (1790-1827) was the man under whose
tutelage Newman undertook the course of reading in Falling from his horse and nearly ending up what
the summer of 1816 that led to what he was later to would have been a watery grave in the River Severn
account as his first conversion.1 at Gloucester in the autumn of 1814, Mayers had
written a memorandum that reveals the same mental
Newman first encountered him at Great Ealing and spiritual disposition: “Lord give me grace to
School,2 where Mayers had been engaged to teach discern thy hand...[e]nable me to glorify thee for my
classics in 1814. His earnest but joyful ‘Clapham Sect’ preservation, by devoting myself more exclusively to
Calvinism particularly appealed to Newman, who the work of Your ministry.”5
kept up a correspondence with him until Mayers’ early
death in February 1827 at the age of only thirty-seven. As we look back on the annus horribilis that was
Newman attests to the singular influence of Mayers on 2020, it would be no bad thing if we too, like Newman,
his own life in a letter written indirectly to the latter’s might fall under the influence of Walter Mayers and see
widow on the occasion of death, when he writes, in those disappointments, failures and frustrations of
“Whatever religious feeling I have within me, to his the past year, providential corrections that have saved
kind instructions when I was at school I am especially us from ourselves and have brought us, somewhat
indebted for it to him”.3 purified from hubris and self-regard, to the start of
2021, looking forward into the New Year ever more
In that January 1821 letter to Mayers, Newman set committed to serving God’s glory and seeking our
about the unpleasant task of giving an account to his own salvation.
former schoolmaster of his disappointing performance
in his Final Honours School examinations in Oxford, 1
John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Being a History of His Religious
Opinions, Uniform Edition (London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1908), 2.
where he had barely scraped a pass. In truth this poor
result was very largely due to a collapse in Newman’s
2
The man who was later to rule as the last King of the French, Louis Philippe
I, also taught there from 1800 until his return to France upon the defeat of
health as a result of over-work - his diary records his Napoleon in 1815. It seems likely that he may well have taught Newman
reading over the previous weeks in preparation for the 3
John Henry Newman, The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman. Vol. 2: Tutor
exams rarely taking less than ten hours a day and often of Oriel, January 1827 to December 1831, ed. I. T. Ker and Thomas Gornall (Oxford:
fourteen. In the letter to Mayers, however, Newman is Clarendon Press, 1979), 58.
characteristically candid and seeks to set this failure 4
John Henry Newman, The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman. Vol. 1:
to shine, in a moral context which neatly captured the Ealing, Trinity, Oriel, February 1801 to December 1826, ed. I. T Ker and Thomas
Gornall, 2016, 99.
moderately evangelical Mayers’ own habit of seeing 5
Walter Mayers, Sermons by the Late Reverend Walter Mayers to Which Is Annexed
the hand of God’s providence in personal setbacks and a Brief Memoir of His Life (London: James Nisbet, 1831), iii.
looking for an indication in them of God’s purpose for
THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 10
C S Lewis
The second part of the interview Jackie Ottaway and Ronald
Crane conducted with the Ordinariate priest Fr Michael Ward
A s we learned last month, Fr Michael Ward is a research fellow at Blackfriars in Oxford. His subject
is C S Lewis. Following from our interview with Fr Michael last month, we turned to his subject. Jackie
wondered if Lewis changed or matured much during his writing career.
It seems that he didn’t change very much after he “Talking of where he went to church, Holy Trinity.
became a Christian. “That was in his early thirties, it This is an amusing little thing which just happened to
was the one huge change in his life. Once he became me since I got back from Rome last week. I think it was
a Christian he didn’t change very much - or not two weeks ago, I was playing the part of the vicar of
on fundamental matters, or even intellectually. Holy Trinity Headington Quarry in a new film that is
Stylistically you don’t see much maturation because being made about C S Lewis called The Most Reluctant
he was just a very mature thirty year old. Yet there Convert. It’s about his coming to Christian Faith in his
are some subtle changes. He becomes slightly gentler, early thirties. It’s based on a one man show that has been
and a more mellow figure. He becomes a bit more quite popular in America performed by an American
interested in myth and less interested in pure allegory. actor Max McLean. It’s now being made into a movie,
He’s more prepared to speak personally and not just probably a TV movie rather than feature film. It’s now
from his brain. An early work is The Problem of Pain. It much more than a one man show. I’m already a film star
is very intellectual. His late work, A Grief Observed is remember, because I was in the James Bond movie! For
very personal, emotional you might say. So that’s a this recent filming, I did two days work as Lewis’s Vicar.
change, but I’m not saying he couldn’t have written The actor who’s playing the young Lewis is this new star
either one of them at the other period.” to stage and screen who just coming to prominence. He’s
playing James Herriot in the new All Creatures Great
Jackie said, “I take it that when he became a Christian And Small, Nicholas Ralph. He’s very well cast as the
he didn’t choose to be a Catholic?” Fr Michael young Lewis, at least from the point of view of looks. So
responded, “That’s right. He was raised an Anglican in it was really weird in Holy Trinity Headington Quarry.
the Church of Ireland, He was born and raised in Belfast, We were shooting a Christmas Day scene and there was
his grandfather was a Church of Ireland clergyman the young Lewis sat singing a Carol in the front pew.
and although Tolkein and certain other Catholics were In the background is the old Lewis who comes in and
quite influential on him, he never seems to have shown observes his younger self, heading towards the Faith.
any serious interest in becoming a Catholic. They were both so well cast as the young and old Lewis,
and both were in his church where he worshipped. I
Ronald asked, “Where did he go to church in Oxford?” was playing the vicar. I had to give Holy Communion
“Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry. That’s where he’s to the young CS Lewis on Christmas Day. It all began to
buried. It was his Parish Church close to where he be a little bit spooky, in a nice sense.”
lived. During the week he would often go to Morning
and Evening Prayer in Magdalene College Chapel.” We wondered if Lewis had an accent being brought
up in Ireland? Fr Michael said, “Yes, he had a trace of
It seems he never had any aspiration to be ordained. an Irish accent to the end of his days, but educated
Fr Michael said, “It never crosses his mind. It’s more though. I mean if you listen to recordings of his voice,
likely that he considered becoming a Catholic than he sounds a fairly typically plummy Oxford Don. But
considered becoming ordained! There is never even Simon Barrington Ward, the recently deceased Anglican
a shade of a hint or a shadow of being calling to the Bishop of Coventry who knew CS Lewis in the 1950s
ministry. He was always going to be an academic. at Cambridge, said he used to have Lewis as his sole
That’s the only thing he was cut out for. I didn’t mean member of the congregation at Morning Prayer. He said
to imply that he was just a brain on a stick, because he that Lewis, when it came to the reciting of the psalms, he
was always very keenly imaginative and in his teenage would say ‘Oh Lord I like the great mountains’ and the
years had wanted to be a poet. He was a very poetically mountains just had a trace of Irish Belfast accent about
gifted writer. The masterly thing about Lewis, generally it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to tell.”
speaking, is that he combines the intellect and the
imagination. That’s what makes him so rich as a writer. Jackie said, “I assume that the actor Ralph then ØTHE P RTAL January 2021 Page 11
isn’t really Scottish do I?” Fr Michael said, “The young die. Bide said okay after a little bit of intense thought,
actor Nicholas Ralph is genuinely Scottish; he comes because he realised it was slightly improper. But he did
from Nairn in Scotland.” marry them nonetheless. That’s the way it happened.
I think Lewis sort of reconciled his conscience to it
Ronald said, “The other thing that interests me about on the grounds that Joy Davidman’s first husband had
Lewis, and I bet everybody says this, is the marriage himself been previously married she was his second
to a divorcee and then the tragedy of her death.” Fr wife. The logic that Lewis deployed was that if only
Michael warmed to his subject. “Yes it was a remarkable first marriages are legitimate, then Joy’s marriage itself
thing. All the more remarkable that she was called Joy, was not legitimate but that’s bit …
given that Lewis had just published an autobiography
called Surprised by Joy. He might have chosen that title “There was hardly any fall out. Tolkein regarded the
perhaps half expecting that it would acquire a double marriage as very strange. He didn’t like Joy at all. Quite
meaning. I don’t know that for sure, but he knew her a a lot of Lewis’s friends didn’t like her. She was quite a
few years before he wrote Surprised by Joy. strong flavour; a very feisty New Yorker. Then she died
three years later. She was only forty-five when she died.
“Surprised by Joy is just the account of She left Lewis with two stepsons, one of whom he helped
Lewis’ conversion; really the shape of his early through Cambridge. The other, Douglas Gresham, went
life and nothing to do with Joy Davidman. He married off to be a farmer in Tasmania. Douglas is now sort of
her in the first instance as a marriage of convenience. in charge of the C S Lewis’ estate. Lewis bequeathed
The marriage was designed to enable her to go on living his literary estate to his stepsons, partly because they
in England, a legal fiction. They weren’t going to live had also lost their father. They were effectively orphans.
together as man and wife. It was quite possibly illegal. And Lewis had no other children of his own. He died
in 1963. The Lewis estate is now C S Lewis Pte Limited
“She was from America, and her visa had expired. She now and no doubt they control what happens.”
didn’t want to go back to America, so Lewis married
her, but she didn’t take his name and they didn’t start Ronald brought the subject back to A Grief Observed. “I
living together. But then she fell ill and was likely to die remember when I first read it: it is intensely personal. It
imminently. She wanted a more regular arrangement, really is exactly what the title says.” Fr Michael reminded
so they got married a second time, this time in a us, “It’s worth remembering, it was published initially
Christian ceremony; the first was just a Registry Office under a pseudonym. Lewis didn’t put his own name to
marriage. The second marriage was conducted by an it. It came out under the name N W Clark. Only after
Anglican priest at her hospital bedside. The same priest Lewis’ death was it published as by C S Lewis. Yes, it’s
who married them, prayed for her recovery from her very intimate, too personal, too private for Lewis to
cancer. Her cancer did indeed go into remission for want to have to talk about it to friends and readers. He
about three years. When it was realised that she was kept up the facade even in private correspondence.
going to recover, she moved into Lewis’ house and their When people wrote to the publisher saying please
marriage was publicised. It became a full marriage. thank Mr Clark for this book the publisher forwarded
They went on a belated honeymoon to Greece and the letters to Lewis and then Lewis wrote back to the
travelled to Lewis’s native Ireland. By all accounts they readers signing his name N W Clark.”
had a very happy, though brief, marriage.
Ronald chipped in, “But no doubt the writing was
“I think Lewis was obviously not going to take lightly itself part of the grieving process.” “Yes, I think so. It was
the fact that Joy was a divorcee. That’s why I think it therapeutic in that respect, but not just therapeutic. I
took him two bites of the cherry to marry her as it think fairly early on he saw that this could actually
were. Maybe the second marriage would not even have be a service to his readers. It was written partly for
occurred if she hadn’t thought she was going to die his readers and partly for himself. I think he wanted
imminently. But he went and saw the Bishop of Oxford to provide a map of grief and also - this is a thought
and asked permission to marry Joy Davidman. The that’s often occurred to me - maybe to just offset the
Bishop said, ‘No: I can’t give permission. You’re far too highly intellectual approach adopted in The Problem of
famous. I mean I wouldn’t do it for a regular churchman, Pain. It’s not a book of answers; it’s a book of questions,
but you’re one of the most famous Anglicans in the showing the legitimacy of those questions.” We could
country, in the world! How can I make an exception have carried on talking about Fr Michael’s life and his
for you?’ But then this Anglican cleric Peter Bide, who work on C S Lewis, for a long time, but all good things
had been one of Lewis’s students, came to pray for her come to an end.
healing. He was asked if he would he mind marrying
them, at the same time expecting that she was going to Thank you, Fr Michael for your time and thoughts.THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 12
News from the Ordinariate
St Agatha’s Church Portsmouth
The Ordinariate Church
of St Agatha’s, Portsmouth, has
applied for planning permission for a
North Aisle and reconstruction of the
Lady Chapel apse (destroyed in 1964
for roadworks which no longer exist!).
This would expand the Grade-II
listed Church. The entirely new north
aisle will be built to incorporate a new
community centre and kitchen, as part
of the proposals from the St Agatha’s
Trust which would be a great asset and
would assist with the church’s work
with the homeless, as well as restoring
St Agatha’s to its former glory.
Fr John Maunder told The
Portsmouth News: ‘The people of Landport built St rather than forget the past.’ It is hoped planning
Agatha’s. The idea is to pass on something as a legacy. permission will be awarded next year. The trust will
It is nice to think something is being done to enhance then look at raising funds for the project.
Central Church Music Fund
As a result of the Covid-19 virus and the
subsequent lockdown, the income of the Church
of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory in
This campaign will begin once the music department
is financially secure. You can donate to the Music Fund
at www.warwickstreet.org.uk.
London’s Warwick Street has dropped significantly,
so much so that the four-voice choir is no longer Organ Marathon
affordable. Our first fund-raising event was to have been a 12-
hour organ marathon on Saturday 21st November
There are two reasons for this: first, fewer people 2020. We have had to postpone this event due to the
giving money on a weekly basis and, second, a Government’s Covid-19 restrictions. Another date in
significant reduction in rental income from offices in December will be chosen for the Marathon. This will
the building at 23 Golden Square (the house next to be publicised as soon as it has been agreed with the
the presbytery at no. 24). organists. We have invited the volunteers who agreed
to play on 21st November to play on the new date.
We have therefore decided to launch an appeal
for £50,000 to maintain the church’s high musical We will charge an entry fee to those coming to listen
standards, but this is only the first part of our fund- and we will also ask people to sponsor individual
raising campaign. organists. Fifteen organists have agreed to play during
the day, each for about 45 minutes. Our guest organists
We are aware that the organ is in need of attention will each create their own programmes of music. The
and, as the second part of our campaign, we intend entire event will be streamed on the Warwick Street
to raise £200,000 to finance a rebuilding of the organ. YouTube channel.
Tartan Support Badge and Cufflinks
Coat of Arms the
Lapel design Ordinariate
linen www.
Badge Facemask ordinariate. Mugs £6.50
£5 (inc P&P) £7.50
org.uk/ THE Ordinariate is the official
support tartan of the three Ordinariates Badges: £4 Cufflinks: £12 (pair)THE P RTAL January 2021 Page 13
OBSERVANCES DAILY INTENTIONS
Human fraternity DEVOTION FOR THE MONTH
May the Lord give us the grace to live Pray for Pray for the Unity of Christians
the Unity of Christians in full fellowship with our
brothers and sisters of other religions, praying for
one another, open to all
1 F Mary, Mother of God (Solemnity) Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary
2 S SS Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen Vicariate for Our Common Life: Fr David Waller
3 S X Second Sunday of Christmas Your Ordinariate Parish, Group or Mission
4 M Feria Dean for the North: Fr Andrew Starkie
5 T Feria East of England Pastoral Area
6 W X The Epiphany of Our Lord Your Ordinariate Parish, Group or Mission
7 T After Epiphany North West Pastoral Area: Co-Ordinating Pastor: Fr Andrew Starkie
8 F After Epiphany North west Pastoral Area: Pastoral Council Rep: Mrs Raven Wenner
9 S After Epiphany North East Pastoral Area: Co-Ordinating Pastor: Fr Ian Grieves
10 S X The Baptism of Our Lord Your Ordinariate Parish, Group or Mission
11 M after the Baptism of Our Lord Notts and Derby Pastoral Area: Co-Ordinating Pastor; Fr David Palmer
12 T after the Baptism of Our Lord Pastoral Council Rep: Mr Bernard Peterken
(St Aelred of Rievaulx Ab)
13 W after the Baptism of Our Lord West Mids Pastoral Area: Co-Orinating Pastor: Fr Simon Ellis
(St Kentigern Bp) (St Hilary Bp Dr)
14 T after the Baptism of Our Lord Pastoral Council Rep: Mr Ronald Crane
15 F after the Baptism of Our Lord South East and Scotland: Dean: The Very Revd David Waller
16 S after the Baptism of Our Lord East Anglia and Essex Pastoral Area: Co-Ordinating Pastor: Fr Jon Ravensdale
(Our Lady on Saturday)
17 S X Second Sunday after Epiphany Your Ordinariate Parish, Group or Mission - Clergy Families Fund
18 M Feria (Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) Pastoral Council Rep: Mr John Crane - Unity of All Christians
19 T Feria (St Wulfstan Bp) Catholic Christians
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
20 W Feria (St Fabian P M) (St Sebastian M) Orthodox Christians
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
21 T S Agnes Kent Pastoral Area: Co-Ordinating Pastor: Fr Christopher Lindlar
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) Anglican Christians
22 F Feria (St Vincent Dn M) Pastoral Council Rep: Mrs Margaret Tilly - Protestant Christians
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
23 S Feria (Our Lady on Saturday) North London Pastoral Area: Co-Ordinating Pastor: Fr Mark Elliott-Smith
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) The Jewish People
24 S X Third Sunday after Epiphany Your Ordinariate Parish, Group or Mission
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) Other Faiths
25 M Conversion of S Paul (Feast) The Friends of the Ordinariate
(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) Unity of all Humanity in the Charity and Truth of Christ
26 T SS Timothy & Titus (Bps) South London Co-Ordinating Pastor: Fr Christopher Pearson
27 W Feria (St Angela Merici V) Pastoral Council Rep: Mr Christopher Smith
28 T St Thomas Aquinas Pr Dr Sussex Pastoral Area: Fr Neil Chatfield
29 F Feria Pastoral Council Rep: Mr Andrew Leach
30 S Feria (Our Lady on Saturday) Scotland Pastoral Area: Co-Ordinating Pastor: Fr Len Black
31 S X Septuagesima Your Ordinariate Parish, Group or MissionTHE P RTAL January 2021 Page 14
Ordinariate Mass times
Where to find us at prayer in England, Scotland and Wales ...
check before travelling, as not all will have returned to normal times
Birmingham St Margaret Mary, 59 Perry Earlsdon, Coventry CV5 8DX Mass: Sundays 10.30am,
Common Road, Birmingham B23 7AB Mass: Sunday: Mon-Wed 9.30am, Thu 7.30pm, Fri-Sat 9.30am - all
11am (Divine Worship). Contact: Fr Simon Ellis: Masses currently live streamed Contact: Fr Paul
0121 373 0069 - birmingham@ordinariate.org.uk Burch: 02476 674161 - paul.burch@ordinariate.org.uk
BLACK COUNTRY Our Lady of Perpetual Croydon At the moment the Croydon Group
Succour, Cannock Road, Wolverhampton, WV10 8PG does not have any Ordinariate Masses, but it is
Mass: 3rd Sunday of the month: 12 noon (followed hoped thinks might begin again soon - for further
by refreshments), also on Wed 10am Contact: Fr information Contact: Jackie Brooks: 0208 777
John Greatbatch: 07799 078164 - frjohn2256@gmail. 6426 - jaxprint@btinternet.com
com - black.country@ordinariate.org.uk
Darlington St Osmund, Main Road,
Bristol St Joseph, Camp Road, Weston-super- Gainford, County Durham DL2 3DZ Mass: Sundays
Mare BS23 2EN Mass: 2nd Sunday of the month 12 9.30am Parish Mass, 11.30am Solemn Mass; Mon 12
noon (Divine Worship), followed by shared lunch noon; Tues 10am; Wed 10am; Thurs 10am; Fri 7pm;
and Benediction at 2:30pm (subject to change in the Sat 10am, Holydays 7pm. Confessions after Mass
summer months) Contact: Deacon James Patrick: on Thurs, Fri, Sat. Contact: Fr Ian Grieves, PP:
bristol@ordinariate.org.uk 01325 730191 - darlington@ordinariate.org.uk - www.
darlingtonordinariate.weebly.com
BUCKFAST St Mary’s Abbey, Buckfast TQ11
0EE Mass: Sunday 2pm (Divine Worship) followed DEAL St John the Evangelist, St Richard’s Road,
by Tea/Coffee - Mass usually in St Michael’s Chapel, Mongeham, Deal, Kent CT14 9LD Mass: Sunday:
plenty of parking, restaurant on site, also bookshop 11am, 6pm Evensong Contact: Fr Christopher
and monastic produce for sale. Contact: Fr Ian Lindlar: 01304 374870 or 07710 090195 - c.lindlar@
Hellyer: 01752 600054 - ian@hellyer.org btinternet.com or deal@ordinariate.org.uk
CHELMSFORD Blessed Sacrament, 116 DERBY/NOTTINGHAM St John the Evangelist,
Melbourne Avenue, Chelmsford CM1 2DU Mass: Midland Road, Stapleford, Nottingham NG9 7BT Mass:
Sunday: 9.30am and 11.30am, (on 1st Sunday of 1st Sun of the month: 11am St Paul, Lenton Boulevard,
the month, specifically Ordinariate), also on MonNottingham NG7 2BY Mass: every Sun: 6pm (Divine
to Sat at 9.15am with RC community Contact: Worship). Contact: Fr Christopher Cann: 01889
chelmsford@ordinariate.org.uk 569579 - derby-nottingham@ordinariate.org.uk, Fr Peter
Peterken: 01332 766285 - peter.peterken@ntlworld.com,
CHICHESTER St Richard, Cawley Road Fr David Jones: 01162 302244 charlie75845@yahoo.com
Chichester PO19 1XB Mass: Saturday 4.15pm Sung/
Solemn (Divine Worship) Contact: Fr Graham Eastbourne St Agnes, 6 Whitley Road BN22
Smith: 07710 328685 - fr.graham.smith@gmail.com 8NJ Mass: Sunday: 4pm (Divine Worship) Our Lady
of Ransom, Grange Road BN21 4EU Mass: Mon:
COLCHESTER St John Payne, Blackthorn 7:30pm (Divine Worship) Christ the King, Princes
Avenue, Greenstead CO4 3QD Mass: 3rd Sunday Road BN23 6HT Mass: Thur 8pm (Divine Worship)
of the month: 4pm Contact: Fr Jon Ravensdale: Contact: Fr Neil Chatfield: 07718 123304 - neil.
01206 870460 - sjpchurch@btinternet.com chatfield@eastbourneordinariate.org.uk Fr Thomas
Mason - thomas.mason@eastbourneordinariate.org.
CORNWALL St Augustine of Hippo, St Austell, uk - www.eastbourneordinariate.org.uk
PL25 4RA Mass: Sunday: 5pm, also on Wed 7pm
Contact: Fr Fr David Lashbrooke: 07427 107304 - FOLKESTONE Our Lady Help of Christians
cornwall@ordinariate.org.uk 41 Guildhall Street, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1EF
Mass: Sunday: 11am (with parish) Contact: Fr
COVENTRY The Precious Blood of Our Stephen Bould (Group Pastor), Fr James Houghton -
Lord Jesus Christ & All Souls, Kingsland Avenue, folkestone@ordinariate.org.uk ØTHE P RTAL January 2021 Page 15
HARLOW The Assumption of Our Lady, (Divine Worship) Mass during the week please
Mulberry Green, Old Harlow, Essex CM17 0HA Mass: check the Sunday notices on the website Contact:
Sunday: 10am and 6pm, Evensong and Benediction Fr Andrew Starkie: 0161 681 1651 - manchester@
5pm (last Sunday of month) Contact: Fr John ordinariate.org.uk - www.ordinariatemcr.com
Corbyn: 01279 429388 - john.corbyn@btinternet.com
NORTHAMPTON Our Lady of the Sacred
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD St Mark’s, Hollybush Heart, 82 Knox Road, Wellingborough NN8 1JA
Lane, Hemel Hempstead HP1 2PH Mass: Sunday: Mass: First Saturday of the month: 6pm (Sung Mass)
9.30am, Wed: 7pm Contact: Fr Simon Chinery: Contact: Mgr John Broadhurst: 01933 674614 -
07971 523008 - hemel.hempstead@ordinariate.org.uk frjohnbroadhurst@btinternet.com
ISLE OF WIGHT St Thomas of Canterbury, OXFORD Holy Rood, Abingdon Road, Oxford
Terminus Road, Cowes, PO31 7TJ MASS: (Divine OX1 4LD Mass: Saturday (of Sunday) 5pm (Divine
Worship) for details, CONTACT: Fr Jonathan Redvers Worship), Sunday 11.15pm, Wed 9am, Thu 7.30pm
Harris: 01983 292739 - frjonathanrh@btinternet.com (Divine Worship), 8pm Adoration & Confessions,
9.40pm Compline and Benediction, Fri 12.30pm
LONDON Central Our Lady of the (Latin), Sat 9am Contact: Fr Daniel Lloyd: 01865
Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, 437066 - daniel.lloyd@ordinariate.org.uk or Mgr
London W1B 5LZ (Nearest tube: Piccadilly) Mass: Andrew Burnham: 01235 835038 - andrew.burnham@
Sunday: 10.30am Solemn Mass with choir (Divine ordinariate.org.uk - www.thamesisis.org.uk
Worship), Weekdays: 8am and 12.45pm (Novus Ordo
in English), Feasts and Solemnities as advertised. RAMSGATE Shrine of St Augustine, St
Contact: Fr Mark Elliott-Smith 07815 320761 - Augustine’s Road CT11 9PA MASS: Sunday 5pm
markelliottsmith@rcdow.org.uk (Divine Worship), followed by refreshments
Contact: Fr Simon Heans: 07305317642 - office@
LONDON Leytonstone St John Vianney, augustineshrine.co.uk
1 Stoneleigh Road, Clayhall, Ilford IG5 0JB MASS:
Sunday: 9am, 10am, 4.30pm Adoration, 5pm (Divine PORTSMOUTH St Agatha, Cascades Approach,
Worship), Daily: 8.30am Adoration, 9am Mass, Portsmouth PO1 4RJ MASS: Sunday 11am (Solemn),
5.30pm Evening Prayer. CONTACT: Fr Rob Page: 020 Mon, Fri (Requiem) and Sat 11am Contact: info@
8550 4540 - vianney.clayhall@btinternet.com stagathaschurch.co.uk - www.stagathaschurch.co.uk
LONDON South Most Precious Blood, READING St James, Abbey Ruins, Forbury Road,
O’Meara Street, The Borough, London SE1 1TE Reading, Berkshire RG1 3HW (next to old Reading Gaol)
Mass: Sunday: 8.30am, 11am; Mon-Fri 1.05pm, Mass: Sunday: 9.15am. Contact: Fr David Elliott:
Thur (term time) 6.30pm (Divine Worship); 07973 241424 - reading@ordinariate.org.uk
Walsingham Mass: 1st Sat of the month 10am
(Divine Worship); Holy Days: (additional) 6.30pm SALISBURY Most Holy Redeemer, Fortherby
(Divine Worship); Evensong: Thur 6pm (term Crescent, Bishopdown, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3EG
time); Confessions: Sun 10.30am, Mon-Fri 12.30pm Mass: Sunday: 11am, 6pm Evensong and Benediction
Contact: Fr Christopher Pearson 0207 407 3951 - (2nd Sunday), Wed: 7pm (in St Osmund’s, Exeter
parish@preciousblood.org.uk - www.preciousblood. Street, Salisbury SP1 2SF) Contact: Fr Jonathan
org.uk Creer: 07724 896579 - jonathan.creer@hotmail.co.uk
or salisbury@ordinariate.org.uk
LONDON WALTHAMSTOW Christ the
King, 455 Chingford Road, Chingford, E4 8SP Mass: Southend St Peter’s Eastwood, 59 Eastwood
Sunday: 11am Contact: Fr David Waller: 020 8527 Rd North, Leigh on Sea SS9 4BX Mass: Sunday:
4519 - walthamstow.south@ordinariate.org.uk 10.15am (said 8.30am & 6pm), 1st Sun: 12noon (Divine
Worship), Mon-Sat (except Tues) 9:30am followed
MAIDSTONE Mass: Sunday 9.30am, Weekdays by Rosary, Thur 7:30pm (check website), Confession:
as announced. Contact: Fr Alastair Ferguson Sat 10am Contact: Fr Jeffrey Woolnough (Group
for location: 01892 838230 - 07887 925356 alastair. Pastor): 01702 525323, 07956 801381 - fatherjeffw@
ferguson@ordinariate.org.uk gmail.com, Fr Bob White: 01268 543910 - pilgrimclub@
waitrose.com, Dcn Richard Cerson: 07910 388795 -
Manchester St Margaret Mary, St Margaret’s rcerson@gmail.com - www.stpetereastwood.org www.
Road, New Moston M40 0JE Mass: Sunday: 10.30am jeffwoolnougholw.blogspot.co.uk ØTHE P RTAL January 2021 Page 16
TorbaY The Personal Parish and Church 11.30am (Divine Worship) Oratory of St Joseph,
of Our Lady of Walsingham with St Cuthbert 49 Laurel Avenue, Inverness IV3 5RR MASS: Tues,
Mayne, Old Mill Road (junc of Ashfield Road), Thurs, Sat, Feast Days: 11.15am (Divine Worship)
Chelston TQ2 6HJ Mass (Divine Worship): Sunday: - please check: www.ordinariate.scot Contact: Fr
10am, Mon: 12 noon, Tues: Adoration 5pm, Mass 6pm, Len Black: 01463 235597 - fr.len@ordinariate.scot
Wed: 12 noon followed by lunch, Thurs: 10am, Fri:
Adoration 5pm, Mass 6pm, Sat: 10am Contact: Fr Whithorn St Martin and St Ninian, George
David Lashbrooke: 07427 107304 - david.lashbrooke@Street, Whithorn DG8 8PZ Mass: Wednesday:
ordinariate.org.uk - www.ourladyofwalsingham.com 11am (Divine Worship), Sat 5pm (with parish)
Contact: Fr Simon Beveridge: 01988 850786 -
WALSINGHAM Dowry House Chapel, 47-49 whithorn@ordinariate.scot
High Street, Walsingham, Norfolk NR22 6BZ Mass:
1st Sunday: 3pm (Divine Worship) Contact: Fr NAIRN St Mary, 7 Academy Street, Nairn IV12
Gordon Adam: 01553 777428 - gordonadam1962@ 4RJ Mass: 1st Mon 10am (Divine Worship)
btinternet.com Dcn Shaun Morrison: 07880 600094 - Contact: Fr Cameron Macdonald: 01667 453867 -
shaunmorrison1975@btinternet.com nairn@ordinariate.scot
SCOTLAND - www.ordinariate.scot Wales: South East St Albans-on-the-
Edinburgh St Columba, 9 Upper Gray St, Moors, Swinton Street, Splott, Cardiff CF24 2NT Mass:
Edinburgh EH9 1SN Mass: 2nd Sundays: 2.30pm Sat: 12 noon (All Masses Divine Worship) St David
(Divine Worship) Contact: Fr Len Black: 01463 Lewis and St Francis Xavier, 26 Porth-y-Carne
235597 - fr.len@ordinariate.scot Street, Usk NP15 1RZ Contact: Fr Bernard Sixtus:
02920 362599 or 07720 272137 - wales@ordinariate.
INVERNESS Royal Northern Infirmary org.uk - www.ordinariate.org.uk/groups/wales-se.php
Chapel, Ness Walk, Inverness IV3 5SF Mass: Sunday:
Please help us and let us know of any changes . . . email us at info@portalmag.co.uk
Saint of the month
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Compiled by Ian O’Hara
Saint Thomas was an Italian Catholic
born in 1224 to a noble family. He began his
education at the famous Benedictine Abbey at Monte
among the finest
texts in the history of
apologetics. The Summa
Cassino, near Rome, at the age of five. Theologiae, which
Thomas joined the Order of Preachers, a recently Aquinas regarded as his
established fraternity of wandering beggars who greatest work, was written as a textbook for theology
devoted themselves to study and preaching the Word students, whose faith was already presumed.
of God. In the early days these friars, called the St Thomas died before completing the final part
Dominicans, were looked upon by the nobility as the of Summa Theologiae.
religious outcasts of their day. For the young aristocrat One night shortly after he had composed the essay
to join such an order, as opposed to the prominent on the Eucharist, Aquinas was praying in his chapel
Benedictines, was regarded as a scandal to his family and heard Christ speaking to him from a crucifix
St Thomas was a prolific writer on theology. The “Thomas, you have written well of me. What will you
collected works of Aquinas run to 50 large volumes, have as your reward?” The saint’s answer is the perfect
the equivalent of about 500 short books. He went on to summary of his whole life “Non nisi te, Domine.” “Only
write many commentaries on Holy Scripture and two yourself, Lord.”
large “Summas,” or summaries of theology. Shortly afterwards while Aquinas was celebrating
His Summa Contra Gentiles was written as a Mass he was so moved that he declared he could no
systematic exposition and defence of Christian longer continue his writing. Thomas died in 1274 and
belief for the persuasion of unbelievers, and it ranks was canonised in 1323.You can also read
