October in England

The astute reader (if there are any left) will notice that it has been ages since I've written anything. So there is my attempt to fill in the gap between my last writing and midterm break.

The night of Thursday October 6, I saw the River Thames for the first time at night, visited the ND London flats, listened to a street performer (he played some James Taylor, among other things), stood on a bridge and felt a strong cool wind rush over my face. Friday, autumn was out in full force, as I have written elsewhere.

West Gate in Canterbury

Saturday, the seminary had a day of recollection at the Camelite convent at Ware, in Hertfordshire.  It was absolutely wonderful.  The cloister and the surrounding area was a place of peace, the sort of peace that I found extremely hard to find living in a big city.  I guess this was the first time I had really left London (save to go to an amusement park) since my arrival.  I’ve since gotten more used to city life, and don’t feel so claustrophobic. But the point is that I had found a place of peace, which I had been looking for.  The sisters there were absolutely fantastic.  We heard a few wonderful talks on the spirituality of St. Terese, one given by a priest from the seminary and two given by the sisters.  The speakers really understood what her little way is all about and their words were exactly what I needed at the time.  The sisters there have such a beautiful vocation, praying for priests and seminarians, particularly those studying at Allen Hall.  I think this spiritual connection helped explain why I felt so at home there.

Friday, October 14 found me (and my Americans friends) on a trip to Canterbury.  For the sheer joy of it I downloaded the prologue of the Canterbury Tales onto my iPod and listened to most of it, following along with a written Modern English translation on the train ride there.  Canterbury is a small, peaceful town and the weather this day cooperated beautifully.  We played around on a derelict castle, saw the Eastbridge Hospital, where poor pilgrims could stay, saw the arch on the West end of town where pilgrims would have come through, and took a nap in the graveyard which surrounds St. Martin’s parish church, the oldest Christian church in England.  St. Martin’s was a gift of King Ethelbert to his Christian bride.  Ethelbert was later converted by St. Augustine of Canterbury, becoming the first Christian king in what is today England.  Afterwards, we went to evensong and Canterbury Cathedral (the only way we didn't have to pay), and caught a glimpse of the spot where St. Thomas Beckett was martyred.  A brief walk around the grounds followed and then came the train ride back to London.

On Sunday, I went to St. Patrick's parish in Soho for the first time, where I've since been volunteering in various capacities.  They have a beautiful baroque-looking interior with a marble floor, all of which was recently refurbished.  St. Patrick's is quite a dynamic parish, and for some reason there are a bunch of American (and a least one Canadian) students who attend Mass there.  It has been fun to meet up with fellow North Americans.  Tuesday I would return to help with Open House, which is a soup kitchen like hospitality in the evenings for the homeless.

The Les Mis theatre in London's West End

On Thursday evening, I went to see my first musical ever.  I had been in the orchestra pit for a few musicals, but this was my first time seeing the real deal in a real theatre.  And what a first one it was.  Alfie Boe starred as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.  It was a magnificent performance, beautiful, wonderful, you had to be there.

The following day, saw us on the train up to Cambridge, where we met up with a priest-friend from back home who is starting PhD work at Cambridge.  This was perhaps my favorite trip yet.  Cambridge was founded in 1209 (back when students learned in Latin and before the letter J was invented), and it still has the air of a medieval educational institution.  There are so many Gothic buildings, and one could palpably imagine what it would have been like to be a student there so many years ago.  I think this was helped by the fact that tradition runs rampant there.   It blows Notre Dame completely out of the water.  Trinity College, where our Fr. friend is studying, has the motto of semper eadem, Latin for 'always the same' and a faculty member of the college has said 'some change is good, but no change is better.'  Only fellows can walk on the grass of the quads.  At the college dinner we went to, everyone was wearing their academic gowns, dinner began with the striking of a gong and the praying of grace in Latin.  There were three rows of tables for students, put together end to end (or perhaps just really, really long) and a raised area with tables where professors and similarly important people sat.  After arriving and having Mass and lunch at the Catholic chaplaincy, we when punting on the river Cam, which runs behind all of the colleges.  My Boy Scouting skills came in handy, when I took my turn 'driving' the punt.  Most of the colleges have their own bridge over this river, and it was great just to float past the back yard of all the colleges.  We saw the great court of Trinity and the clock there.  On matriculation day, all the new students try to run around the court before the clock strikes 12 (if you've ever seen the movie Chariots of Fire you will recall this).  I think only three people have ever done it successfully.  We visited the College library, which was designed by Christopher Wren (the same guy who designed St. Paul's).  Among articles preserved there are autographs from Wittgenstein and the original Winnie the Pooh book. (A. A. Milne and Christopher Robin both went to Trinity).  We went to even song and the beautiful college chapel, which has statues of some famous Trinity graduates in the antechamber, including Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon.  Before dinner, we stopped at the Eagle, the pub where Watson and Crick discussed their theories which led to the discovery of DNA, and had a pint of the pub's DNA brew.  This was followed by a multi-course dinner.  Cambrige was really cool, but perhaps the nicest thing was spending it with someone who we already knew and who really understood what our live was like back home.

Punting on the river in Cambridge

Halloween isn't celebrated passionately in London, as is recognized as something of an American thing.  I didn't do anything for Halloween, but Halloween weekend some friends came in from Dublin, so I met up with them and had a pint after Mass and evening prayer as Westminster Cathedral.  Somehow or another we ended up walking by St. Paul's Cathedral later that night where the occupy London folks are camped out.  Some of them were dressed up in costumes and dancing to loud music.  Many of the were wearing those Guy Fawkes masks from V for Vendetta. Then on Saturday night, the seminary here had a big feast to celebrate the feast of the Douai Martyrs, who died for the faith in England when the Church of Enland was in control and it was illegal to be a Catholic Priest.  The seminary itself, after many relocations, can be traced back the one which the martyrs studied at.  So it was a big deal, and there was a very nice dinner.


That is basically the highlights through half-term break, which I will talk about next.