First of all I thank Our Lord Himself and His priest who enabled Him to come to us.
Next, Fr Mark Kirby. who suggested that I try and arrange the weekend and who, for a long time, has given me the constant support of his prayers and written encouragement.
Then Annie of the Arundel and Brighton LMS blog and her 'collaborator', who together were responsible for putting me in touch with the Father who spent the weekend with us.
Then my three 'spiritual sisters' in Birmingham Archdiocese who have prayed with me for a long time that such a thing would happen.
Thanks also to Mark Miles for his prayers, encouragement and practical help with the photos.
Thanks to all of you who have prayed and read and/or commented on the Blog - Mac (Mulier Fortis), Brian (Whtesmoke Ahoy!), Sandy, Annie, Clare and Pelerin and to those of you who have contacted me by email. If you are not mentioned here it is because I don't know who you are or because I know you prefer your names to be kept private. And your anonymity here does not mean that my gratitude to you is any the less heartfelt. Thank you to all Spiritual Mothers who are in contact with me and to my readers and followers of both the Oasis and Spiritual Mothers of Priests blogs.
THE FUTURE: A couple of practical problems
These showed themselves during the weekend. First it became apparent that the altar is too low. It needs to be raised on a dais. If anyone wants to build such a thing, they are welcome to spent a few days free working holiday with us whenever they like once the New Year has begun! The second problem is that for a priest of Father's height (6' 2") the beam above the altar is also too low for comfort. This can be solved by moving the altar forward by a foot, or by changing the position of the altar to be against the end wall of the house, where the Sacred Heart shrine now is. (I can do either of these adjustments myself but neither of them would make 'versus populum' celebration a possibility.)
CANON LAW AS REGARDS RESERVATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
This dictates that two Masses a month be said in the place of reservation. These can be said on consecutive days, which is why two Masses were celebrated here, Father Mark and I had originally hoped that reservation would be possible. Had I been able to find a priest to come and offer two Masses in December, the Blessed Sacrament could have remained with us. As no priest had been found, Our Lord could not stay. In any case, after the first occasion which in our case can be counted as a 'pastoral necessity' (too true it was!!), the reservation and the Masses hve to be sanctioned by the bishop. IF THERE ARE ANY PRIESTS READING THIS WHO KNOW ME OR WHO KNOW PRIESTS I KNOW, AND WHO FANCY THE IDEA OF A FEW DAYS of FREE PEACE AND QUIET WITH US IN EXCHANGE 'FOR DUTIES', PLEASE GET IN TOUCH at probenoit16@live.com Your accommodation whilst with us is the exclusive use of the first floor. In the meantime I will be writing to the Vicar General of the Diocese and also have a contact at the FSSP in France. Father discussed this with me and he didn't see why the parish church couldn't be opened for Mass and Holy Hour if I can find a priest. I think I know that permission is less likely to be granted for the church if such a priest wished to celebrate the 'Usus Antiquior' but I may be wrong. I will also be contacting Paix Liturgique about this. We shall see, but again, PLEASE PRAY FOR THE DESIRED OUTCOME.
A BYRD-SONG* AND EF BLOG FEST IN ST ROMAIN NEXT SUMMER?
(*Thanks too, to my dear friend Stephen, to whom I owe this charming little linguistic conceit.)
Think about it please. We could accommodate two priests in the house. the rest of any group would have to book into the local auberge two or three minutes walk away from us. It is a one star, confortable and reasonaby priced part of the Logis de France chain. B & B would be a good option if I could have help in the kitchen from some of the gathered company! As well as liturgical celebrations including Mass of course, I would suggest sessions of Chant practice and rehearsal of the Byrd for Four and a couple of motets, once in the house chapel and once in the church, if good enough! Please let me have your reactions/suggestions/questions either via combox or email as above.
God bless you all and thank you again.
Jane
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