Masses at St Catherine's for the Holy Day of Obligation tomorrow,
Thursday 15th August.
9.30am: said Mass in English
7pm Missa Cantata
Sung Mass in the Traditional Form
Wednesday, 14 August 2019
Tuesday, 6 August 2019
G. K Chesterton. Do you follow him?
It's been in the news this last couple of days that Peter Doyle, the Bishop of Northampton, has come to the conclusion that he will not support the cause of Chesterton on the road to sainthood.
His reasons do not seem very well founded, at least to me.
1. That there is no local cultus.
Well, I've been on pilgrimage twice to his grave in Beaconsfield and there is no shortage of others who do so, including an annual 27 mile pilgrimage by the Chesterton Society each July.
I suppose a Cultus requires followers.
A cursory glance at a very modern indicator shows that one Facebook Chesterton page has 69,731 followers. By the way, the Diocese of Northampton has 419 followers. So perhaps its just a case of the Diocese is not all that it might be in engaging with the modern world and what is popular - like Chesterton.
Perhaps anyone who has a devotion to him could write (politely) to the Bishop of Northampton, letting him know that they follow him, as it were.
2. That there is no pattern of personal spirituality.
One of the reasons I read Chesterton is that there is indeed a truly Catholic spirituality revealed in his stories and poems, in his observations and witticisms. Their beauty is that they are often couched in the sharp observation of everyday life and the foolishness of the world.
3. That the issue of his anti-Semitism is a real obstacle.
This canard has been debunked by any number of Chesterton scholars.(See the link below).
Anyway, there is a press release from Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Society of G K Chesterton, which eloquently answers all these points in detail and is well worth reading.
Chesterton may be an unusual candidate for sainthood but surely, that's the point.
There is also a very Chestertonian and common-sense response from Charles Coulombe, who I met again recently at the Chavannes Studium Conference, which you can find here:
There is also a very Chestertonian and common-sense response from Charles Coulombe, who I met again recently at the Chavannes Studium Conference, which you can find here:
For those with a dry sense of humour, you can read an alternative account at Eccles and Bosco:
Picture from my own pilgrimage to Chesterton's grave.
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