Prayer Request

I recently had an update on the twins. This is what my mother wrote:

They need plenty of prayers. They have had breathing difficulties but Alice has made fairly good progress and is now able to have her Mother's milk. She has been moved to the high dependency
ward now. The other little girl, Laura, would not breathe unaided even in the incubator and they finally found out why. She had a bug in the gut and has had a quarter of her intestines removed in a very delicate operation. Since then she has progressed and now is feeding and will soon be moved to be with her sister. They are gradually putting on weight but they are still very tiny babies. They may have to have a heart operation later on as they both have a valve that has not closed up properly, but the doctors are hoping that the valves will close up on their own.
So light a candle for them both please, they certainly need it.

To you who read this blog post, could I please ask for your continued prayers for these little girls.

Thank you and God Bless you for your charity.

NB: The photo for this post came from stockxchange which you can access here

The Good King 'W'

Today is the feast day of Saint Wenceslaus who was a Duke of Bohemia, a young man who had made a vow of virginity, whose piety was a source of inspiration to many, martyred by his own brother during a power struggle in 938.

There are many ways to say his name including: Wenzel, Vaclav and Vlachyslav. . .

In my Missal it gives a lovely prayer in honour of this saint:

O God, who by the palm of martyrdom didst remove blessed Wencesalus from an earthly princedom to the glory of Heaven: keep us by his prayers from all adversity, and grant that we may rejoice in everlasting fellowship with him.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

This is a photograph of St Wenceslaus's shrine in the St Vitus Church at Prague Castle.  The photo is unfortunately rather dark because you were not allowed to us a flash.  

Many people pooh pooh the Christmas Carol written in his honour although not really about our Saint.  I don't know why it should be so run down.  They call its words trite but the message is simple and God filled, echoing the words of my hero St Vincent de Paul who said "God loves those who love the poor."

And as for the music, well that is oft decried also but I like it.  It started life in a very different disguise; namely a 13th century dance tune!  A 'carol' as they call it then and people danced in a circle to it.  It was called 'now is the time of flowers' and my own blog address is named for it: Tempus adeste Floridum.

I intend to try and learn to play it on the harpsichord for Christmas this year . . . so wish me luck!

 When I was a child I received a Christmas card that had a picture of a halo-ed old man named Wence wearing a crown.  Next to him was a princess looking at soldier called Stephen who was eating a ham sandwich.  The title was Good King Wence's lass looked out, on the feast of Stephen. I thought that it was really funny! 

Harvest Time

This weekend it is harvest festival in Kaiserswerth.

Last night I attended the Vigil Mass and they had a wonderful Harvest display around the lectern. It included, corn sheaves, wicker baskets full of apples, pears, grapes and vegetables; a net sack of potatoes, a wicker basket of eggs, a large jar of honey, and an old wagon wheel with maize threaded through it.

When I woke up this morning it was a such a bright sunny morning that I volunteered to go and get the Sunday croissants. It was a very pleasant walk and before returning home I went into the Church to say some prayers and light a candle for my father (who always loved Harvest time). I also wanted to get a good look at the harvest display as I couldn't really do that while at Mass (being too busy with the Blessed Sacrament!). I had my camera with me too and took a photo so that I can share the display with you. I hope you like it!

Early in the morning I made a loaf of bread so that we would have our own harvest day treat. While I was in the kitchen I looked out of the kitchen window and saw our resident robin, looking spectacular in his red waistcoat, singing his heart out in next door's garden.

I looked about me and thought that on this lovely harvest day, I could truly say:

'We give Thee thanks, almighty God, 

for all Thy benefits; 

Who livest and reignest, 

world without end, 

Amen.

Queen Mab

Queen Mab was the Elizabethan name for the Queen of the Fairies.  Queen Mab is the person who comes at night and tangles your hair so it is all messy when you wake up!

Sometimes as children we called our Grandmother Queen Mab but I forget the reason behind it...

Anyway, it is harvest time here in Germany and so celebrate I made a 'Queen Mab's Pudding' courtesy of Countess Morphy's Desserts and Puddings Cook Book.  AGA made lamb roasted with rosemary so lets just say that we have eaten our fill. . .

I don't know exactly how old this cookbook is but it does refer to placing the pudding mixture 'on the fire'.

Here are a couple of photos of said pudding that I thought I would share with you.  It is not a dieter's delight as it is made with full milk, cream eggs sugar and other delectables included a whole candied clementine.

And here is the pudding - cut!

Musical matters

I like music.

Correction.

I love music!

In particular I love listening to music of the Baroque period - or if you prefer from the Stuart and Early Georgian period.  But, as Handel is alleged to have said in a disparaging tone, I am one of those Englishmen who likes music I can tap my feet to.  I love fairly fast flowing Baroque pieces  which frolic and prance across the air.

Happy music to gladden the soul and make one feel like joining in.  

I like to cook to Baroque music too.

Baroque music 

My favourite composers are Handel, Rameau and CPE Bach.

AGA likes JS Bach, Telemann and Veracini

And I can play, albeit badly, the harpsichord. . .

AGA plays the harpsichord very well and my mother has a harpsichord, a clavichord and a piano at her house although she prefers to play the likes of Mozart and Chopin . . .

AGA hates me playing Oh Susanna on the harpsichord but I quite like it - as well as the Irish Washerwoman and the Sailors' Hornpipe too neither of which are Baroque pieces. . .

At the moment I am practising a Musette by J S Bach.  Practising and practising because I am slow and make lots of mistakes.

The other day I heard one of the neighbours in our apartment building walking up the stairs humming the same tune. . . so it seems that gradually I am brainwashing everyone!

By the way, that is indeed my hand playing the harpsichord in the photo.

St Lambertus - defender of the sanctity of marriage

Today is the patronal feast day of a little known Saint - St. Lambertus, patron saint of Kalkum.

The church at Kalkum, a village just up the road from here,  is the sister church to St Suidbertus.

Last night at the Vigil Mass we heard all about St Lambertus and for once I was able to follow a fair amount of the sermon!  

You know, St Lambert should be held up today as a champion of the sanctity of the sacrament of marriage, especially in this often hard-hearted, materialistic and God-less time in which we live.

Here is an extract of the life of St Lambert, which I obtained from the online Catholic Encyclopaedia:

"Lambert was martyred because of his defence of the marriage tie.  Pepin of Heristal lived for many years in irreproachable wedlock with the pious Plectrude, who bore him two sons. Later he entered into unlawful relations with Alpais, who became the mother of Charles Martel. When no one had the courage to remonstrate with Pepin, Lambert went to his court like another John the Baptist. Alpais, fearing that Pepin might heed the admonitions of the saint, appealed to her brother Dodo. The latter sought revenge and caused Lambert to be assassinated in the chapel of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, built by St. Monulphus at Liège. His heart was pierced by a javelin while he was at the altar. "

Interestingly it was the same Pepin who gave Kaiserswerth to our own St Suidbertus and I wonder if Suidbertus and Lambertus knew each other.

Today, on the actual patronal feast day, it was my turn to go to the baker's and get the breakfast croissants.  It was a decidedly chilly morning and as I walked down the path I was struck by the beauty of the morning.  The birds were singing their hearts out and there was no other sound but their cheerful song to interrupt my thoughts.  I was still saying the 'Our Father' on my Rosary when this happened and somehow it seemed the perfect prayer to be reciting at such a moment, on such a glorious morning!  What a lovely start to St Lambertus' special day!

PS

The photo is of a wayside shrine in the countryside near here that I took during the summer.  I didn't have a handy photo of the St Lambertus Church to post.

PPS

On a more secular note it is also the annual potato festival here in Kaiserswerth but I always feel rather disappointed that the great Mr. Potato Head is never in evidence . . .

Autumnal Days

It was a lovely day yesterday.

The sun was shining and the leaves on the trees are starting - very gradually - to turn golden yellow.

And the Hawthorn berries are in full swing.

I took some photos and I made some Irish Tea bread of which we had two slices while it was still hot - and very nice it was too - so nice in fact that I forgot to take a photo until after we had eaten it them!

St Joseph of Cupertino

I have four favourite male 'religious' Saints: St Nicholas Owen, St Francis of Assisi, St John of God and the subject of today's feast: St Joseph of Cupertino.

St Joseph of Cupertino.  

The man they called the 'Flying Friar' because of his levitations.

While his ability to levitate is a wondrous miracle and a special gift from God, I especially like St Joseph because of his humility - even in the face of great adversity.  

(Although I must admit that I would have liked to see him in a state of levitation - I am not sure what my reaction would be!)

He is also counted as a patron of students and as I am one myself I pray for his intercession on my behalf.

To celebrate the feast of St Joseph we are going to have a special treat for dessert this evening after dinner:  bowls of hot custard which we will eat with arrowroot biscuits.  Simple fare in honour a simple, humble saint and yet at the same time, like him, comforting and innocent. 

By the way, by 'favourite' I mean those Saints with whom I have a certain affinity with, as truth to tell I love all them!

NB: I obtained my picture from Wikimedia 

Feast of the Holy Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi.

Today is a feast day that celebrates the Holy Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi.

Terry over at Abbey Roads2 has a really good post on this topic here.

There is an extensive chapter in "The Little Flowers of St. Francis" regarding his receiving the Stigmata and St Bonaventura writes about it in his "Life of St. Francis".  They are such interesting accounts to read!  

G.K. Chesterton wrote an good life of St Francis too.

Last year I was in Florence and I visited the Santa Croce Church.  There they many beautiful wall painting by Giotto (I think) illustrating the life of St Francis.  They also have one of his robes.  It is kept in a glass case and I took a photo of it: and here it is:

This is the exterior of the Church


And this is the robe of St Francis in its glass fronted gold frame.
What a wondrous thing! To have survived this long so that in seeing it we are presented with a tangible link to the great Saint!

The following Post Communion prayer comes from the 1962 Missal:
O God, who in divers ways didst show forth in blessed Francis, Thy Confessor, the wondrous Mysteries of Thy Cross, grant we beseech Thee, that ever following the example of his devotion, we may be strengthened by constant mediation on that Cross.

Tonight I am going to read some of my favourite stories from St Francis' life, and that includes the Stigmata. . .

Abortion issues

Today I heard a sad story about a woman who is expecting her first child.

This person told a friend of mine that she was only telling a few people about her condition because she was waiting for the first twelve weeks to pass and if by that time there was shown to be the slightest problem with the child, she was having 'it' aborted.

I didn't know what to say.

I just sat there in silence and my friend said: 'I know.' 

That was all. There was really nothing to say.
I do not know how firm the person is in her resolve to follow through with this terrible threat, but the fact that she would even give voice to such a suggestion is in itself, a dreadful thing.
To my mind this is a prime example of the rotten fruit being produced by our society now that the so called 'right' to choose holds sway. . .

I was thinking about this all day and my mind went back to a conversation that I had with someone last week who, in backing up with examples, his belief in the unsuitability of Sarah Palin to be the next Vice President of America, pointed out that she was against abortion.

Why should that be considered such a black mark against someone?

The usual questions regarding the validity of the argument in favour of the 'right' to choose need not be rehashed here.  The rights of the unborn child are never considered of course, and those who are Pro Life receive such epithet as backward, dictatorial, and a myriad of other negative labels.

The murder of the unborn is a dreadful crime.  Why do we raise our hands in horror when someone murders an infant baby but shout about the right to choose when an unborn baby is similarly murdered?

That someone could coldly consider aborting their child in the event that he or she is shown to have, in their opinion, a 'problem' and is then presumably some kind of nuisance, even when that 'problem' is merely their very existence (!) makes my heart heavy and sad.  

I am not really eloquent enough to write a perfect peace of prose on the subject.  I leave that to the likes of Terry and Philip but I just had to say my piece.

NB: The photo comes from the Stock Exchange website.

Prayer Request

May I ask if you would please remember Mark Horan in your prayers. He is one of the prayer card people sent to me by my blog friend Adrienne .

I adopted him and his card sits in my Missal.
Today is his anniversary.
Thank you.

A busy weekend

Cooking. Visitors. It was all happening.
Two cakes, one chicken pie and one batch of madeleines. . .



The on Sunday we went to the British Country Fair at Berg Linn which is near the nearby town of Krefeld. We ate fish and chips, drank Newcastle Brown Ale, wandered around the stalls and had a lovely walk around in the sunlight. It was a perfect day!

When things go pear-shaped

The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'to go pear-shaped' as:
"go wrong, become disordered."
So when I write that my plans for the past week went 'pear-shaped' you will understand what I am talking about.
It all started on Thursday when I got delayed at a school meeting and didn't get to attend the St Suidbertus celebrations. I was rather upset about this but remained philosophical.
Then, while in Paris I had hoped to visit the Picpus Cemetery where many victims of the French Revolution are buried included (I think) the Carmelite nuns. I was going to pray there and possibly take a photograph for my blog. I had factored this into my 'free' time but the people I was visiting had so many things they wanted to see in our company (AGA was there too as he also knows them) that there was no time.
I felt a bit resentful about that and inside I was begrudging the time lost, but then my friends thanked us for taking time out to show them around and I realised that it was all for a greater good and there will be other times to go to Paris and do what I want, while for them it was there once in a life time trip.

But the pear shapedness of the week wasn't over. The flight back was delayed and I didn't get to bed until midnight - with school the following day.

And then to top it all the internet went down - so my blog post was delayed!

But all is well now and the one plan that did work out was that I was able to visit my favourite Parisienne Cooking Shop 'Dehillerin' which is crammed full of copper ware, pots pans, pastry trays, knives, cooking spoons, cutlery, you name it! I bought a new copper sauce pan - as in a pan for making sauces in - and a madeleine tray which I shall try out this weekend . . .
And here is a photo of said shop!



PS
I used to be able to 'justify' my posts but that button seems to have disappeared! Now it all looks rather straggly and untidy.
PPS
I got the pear photo from the site called stockxchange - a great site for free photos.

A special week

This week sees the feast day of St Suidbertus as patron of the basilica.
In honour of this event there will be a triduum followed by a patronal Mass on Sunday complete with procession which I shall miss because I will be in Paris this weekend visiting friends. Oh well, at least I shall get to the Thursday (Donnerstag) Night Feast Day extravaganza complete with choir, organ, trumpets and all. I shall take my camera as well - just in case I can be an ace reporter and provide some photos for my blog . . .