Ad Limina

On Wednesday afternoon the Beda hosted the Bishops of England and Wales, serving a mass for them at Saint Paul's Basilica as part of the Bishops Ad Limina visit to the Holy Sea. The Ad Limina is a duty performed by the Bishops every five years to inform the Vatican of each and every aspect of Catholic life in a particular country. The vatican can then offer aid and support as and where it is needed.

The mass at St Pauls was a wonderful affair, which began with a procession of about 40 Bishops and Archbishops who were joined by the Abbot of St Pauls Benedictinde community and faculty members of the Beda. The principle celebrant was the newly installed Archbishop of Birmingham Bernard Longley, with Archbishop Vincent Nicols, and Monsignor Roderick Strange, Rector of the Beda, Concelbrating. The Bishops party included four Southwark men, the three auxillary Bishops, Hine, Lynch and Hendricks and the Bishops to Britain's armed forces, Richard Moth. After the mass the Bishops were invited to the Beda for lunch.

After

Papal Vespers

Today I am attending Papal vespers at St Paul's Basilica outside the walls, which is my Parish Church. The event is held for two reasons, firstly to commerate the feast day of the conversion of St Paul on the road to Damascus, and secondly as the final event of eight days of prayer for Christian unity. The event will be attended by about 5000 people, I hope I can get a seat near the front.

St pauls Basilica is a lovely building, being cared for by a community of Benedictine monks for a bout a thousand years. It was rebuilt in 1852 after a fire and has paintings of every Pope around its walls. The myth being that when they run out of space, God will come again. Luckily they have alot more space. More so anyway then will be available this afternoon at Papal Vespers I am sure.

Christian Unity

On Wednesday we started our week of activity and prayer for Christain unity with a mass at Saint Pauls Basilica. The mass which included Vespers was celebrated by the community of the Beda but we were joined by 3 Bishops, the Bishops of Leeds, Middlesborough and Lancaster and the Benedictine community of St Paul's. The mass was said in Italian and was a very solemn affair, and was very much in the mood that the week is trying to promote.

We are all followers of one Lord, one God, and though we may have differances in Theology and practice, we are on the same side. Surely the differances can and must be sorted out so that God's love can reign supreme in this World which so desperatly needs it.

Exams

The end of term exams now loom large on the horizon and it is time for revision and swotting up. We have exams in Theology, Human development, Moral Theology, Early Church History, Pastoral Theology, Latin, Spirituality, Liturgy and Philosophy. The exams are 10 min orals, which I am very pleased about, but some are dreading them. The marking is done Roman style being out of 10. Anything higher then 9.6 being a first class honours degree and between 9 and 9.5 being a 2.1

As well as the exams, we doing 3 essays a semester, of 2500 words each, which are marked using the same system. I have completed essays this year on The Carmalites, How to train people to learn gropus in a parish praying the Liturgy of the Hours and on JustinMartyr, who was a 1st Century Catholic apologist, eventually going to his death under Emperor Marcus Aurelias, becasue he refused to worship the genius of the Emperor, giving his loyalty to a truth that he felt transcended all earthly concerns. Which is abit like how I feel about the exams really, so please remember us in your prayers

Sant'Egidio

I arrived late in Rome Thursday Night, after what was a tremendously difficult journey as you can image. On Friday afternoon I went to help out the Sant'Egidio community serve food to about a 1000 of Rome's homeless people. The community was set up in 1968 and has now expanded to 70 countries around the world. It offers free meals, which were both nutritious and substantial. The homeless that attend, are given bread, fruit, and a choice of starters and main courses. They are also given something to drink and cared for by the volunteers that help out. The volunteers come from many of the convents and Seminaries in Rome. Four attending each week from the Beda.

The community was visited on Christmas eve, by the Pope who ate there before going to celebrate midnight mass at Saint Peters. A mass in which he was, famously, attacked and in which the French Cardinal's hip was broken. His visit however was still talked about by those at the Sant'Egidio community