Owl in Greenville

Astute readers will gather from my last post that the Owl is flying! Tomorrow I head down to Greenville, South Carolina, to St. Mary's Parish, to give a lecture on the English Martyrs. Invited by their eminent Pastor, Father Jay Scott Newman, I will also be with world famous blogger, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, and my new editor at 'The St. Austin Review,' the prolific Catholic biographer and writer in residence at Ave Maria University, (and fellow Englishman) Joseph Pearce. Prayers, please, for a successful visit and safe return on Friday.

Publication Promised

I promised St. Anthony, who always guides my bags when I fly, that I would let everyone know what a good chap he is - so there we are!

"Who painted it?"

This really should be a candidate for a caption competition, but truth is stranger, or more ridiculous, than fiction. Our Secretary of State, on her visit to Mexico went to the Shrine of Guadalupe to see the 'Tilma' - "it's beautiful," she said, "who painted it?" Wonderfully, probably without a smile, the Rector of the Cathedral replied, "God." There is no record of Madame Clinton's response. Tonight she receives the highest award Planned Parenthood can give, the Margaret Sanger Award (you can't invent this stuff!). Why not the Joseph Mengle Award for medical experimentation, the Adolf Eichmann Award for racial purification? Margaret Sanger was a racist, proponent of eugenics - and Hilary accepts an award in her name. The smoke of Satan is curling around the portals of this regime and, as one of the senior priests in our diocese, a wonderful man still working in his mid-eighties, said to me this week: "there is going to be a terrible persecution very soon." Read some of Michael O'Brien's articles at Studiobrien - especially the latest one on Globalization - the man is a prophet.

St. Joseph Icon

The first (not too clear) picture of the new icon of St. Joseph. Written by a member of the community of the St. Isaac of Syria Skete in Wisconsin, the icon, a gift to the parish by an anonymous benefactor, was created in the traditional manner, with over 80 hours of prayer and fasting. Using gesso and egg tempera, the icon painter (or writer) followed all the canons of the Orthodox Church in its preparation. I am particularly invoking St. Joseph for the Parish as 'Guardian of the Church and Protector of Priests.'

St. Joseph

This is not our new icon!



The parish celebrated a wonderful Feast tonight for St. Joseph. We blessed the new Icon from the Skete in Wisconsin, followed by the 'Tavola di San Giuseppe' in the Parish Hall afterwards. We had a really good attendance for a weekday and school night, with a nice number of young families. Someone was snapping away with a camera, so we might be able to post some pictures of the icon - and, it is rumoured, the Owl was seen in a Saturno - and photographed!

Caption Competition

This picture is crying out for a caption competition!

"Poor Hans Kung: he looks quite tame now he's stuffed"

New Archbishop of Westminster?

It appears that my last minute bet was wrong (what's new there?) - Italian blogger Paolo Rodari is reporting that it will be Bishop Bernard Longley, one of the current auxiliaries in Westminster. I know little about him (perhaps Fr. Ray can help as he is an A&B priest), except that he does celebrate the EF and, by the look of his picture, he bears more than a passing resemblance to the real Owl of the Remove, Mr. Bunter. He is a musician, which is a good thing - and not one of the "inner Magic Circle" - but ...... we shall have to see. He has truly important work to do .....if he IS the new Archbishop!

Off the Air

I've been off the air for more than a few days: we had our wonderful parish mission with Fr. Paul Check and it's been rather busy. Quick note: check the time of my posting - I have no means of betting, but here goes: they say say tomorrow (March 12th) the announcement of the new Archbishop of Westminster will be made. Here is my last minute bet (which may look awfully silly if it's one of the 'club') - Fr. Alexander Sherbrooke. If I'm right tomorrow - send the Champagne care of 'Blessed Sacrament Parish, Stowe, Vermont.'