Spiritual Motherhood; Roses for Pope Benedict; Fr. Z's question

Spiritual Motherhood:

I'm in the process of composing a post on this subject and hope to publish after the Holy Father's pilgrimage to San Giovanni Rotondo tomorrow.

Roses for Pope Benedict:

There are over fifty roses in my garden and they have not bloomed according to their usual pattern this year. This may be something to do with the weather or the moon or whatever you like. Suffice to say that my climbing 'Pilgrim' which does not normally flower until later in the season, showed forth masses of pale yellow blooms from the day our 'Pilgrim of Peace' left Rome for the Holy Land until his safe return.

As far as I know, there is no rose yet in the catalogue for Benedict XVI. I gather you have to ask a rose breeder to create a Rose for a given person. Well, I'm going to ask David Austin. 'Pilgrim' is one of his and so it shouldn't be too difficult for him to breed what we call a 'sport' from it for our dear Holy Father. Searching in my French catalogue for a rose to plant for him this year, I found 'Mozart', the only one which seemed appropriate. This rose arrived and was planted in a pot in my courtyard garden. It turns out, appropriately, to be a patio rose. At the beginning of this last week it was in bud, and yesterday for the Sacred Heart and the inauguration of the Year of the Priest, came into full display of delicate sprays of the palest pink.

Fr Z's question:

This was posted on WDTPRS earlier and asked what we had to report about initiatives for the Year of the Priest in our parishes and dioceses. For the answer, I turned instinctively to the Archdiocese of Westminster where I lived for 40 years. Joy: I found a special web page and message from our new Archbishop Vincent Nichols. He calls for the Rosary in each parish; for at least an hour's Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament per week in each one; and even expresses the hope that 'a rhythm of Forty Hours devotion can be established around the deaneries'. My old parish, St. Mary's Cadogan St., just up the road from the Cathedral, directs me to this message but their website doesn't yet indicate that they are about to implement the Archbishop's hopes.

So what is going on in the Diocese of Angouleme, here in France, as far as the Year of the Priest is concerned? I checked the website. All you get there is an invitation to receive a news letter by email. I would love to be wrong, but in St. Romain it's unlikely that there were others who knew what Pope Benedict was doing yesterday evening, and if they did, like me they would have kept it quiet. Perhaps it's time to be bold and put a notice in the window.

There was a 'profession of faith' ceremony for the youngsters last weekend. When I was told that this was imminent I asked one of the parents whether this was to be 'Confirmation' . 'Oh no,' she said, 'They don't do that now.'
A demain,

In Christo pro Papa