Wulfstan of Worcester: Anniversary

Today is the 9th anniversary of my formal reception into the Episcopal Church and the feast of Wulfstan of Worcester, about whom I wrote at some length two years ago.

Bishop Wulfstan's Crypt, Worcester Cathedral, England

Atheists have got it all wrong - in some of the same ways as fundamentalists, says Eagleton in new book

Very good article about Terry Eagleton's latest book. MadPriest may have posted about the book already since he keeps a watch on this issue, but this article is hot off the virtual press in today's edition of Salon.com.

...Atheists of the Ditchkins persuasion have raised valid points about the sordid social and political history of religion, with which Eagleton largely agrees. Yet their arguments are fatally undermined by their own unacknowledged dogmas and doctrines, he goes on to say, and they completely fail to understand Christian faith (or any other kind) except in its stupidest and most literal-minded form.

A few years ago, I read an article by a Roman Catholic theologian who wryly observed that the quality of Western atheism had gone steadily downhill since Nietzsche. Eagleton heartily concurs....

....Eagleton further argues that not only is the Ditchkinsian version of traditional Judeo-Christian belief a travesty, in which God is envisioned as an unproven and improbable creature like the yeti or the Loch Ness monster, but that this strain of post-Enlightenment atheism cannot comprehend the character of religious faith at all. The creedal declaration "I believe in God" is a statement of action and will; it is performative rather than assertive. ...

... Eagleton declares where his true disagreement with Richard Dawkins lies, which does not directly concern the existence of God or the role of science. "The difference between Ditchkins and radicals like myself," he writes, "hinges on whether it is true that the ultimate signifier of the human condition is the tortured and murdered body of a political criminal, and what the implications of this are for living."

Read on.

It's music time: Let It Be

I just posted this on Facebook for a friend who is deep in a writing job and thought I'd share it here for the assembled multitudes. I'm enjoying watching and listening to this video. (Sorry MP, I still love the Beatles.) And for you religious types, this has Mother Mary in it, too. What's not to love?

Enjoy.

With thoughts and prayers for the people of Mexico as they face the swine flu epidemic and the aftermath of an earthquake.

Dave Walker nails it

We don't report or comment much on "As the Anglican World Turns" here since plenty of other bloggers do, but the one and only Dave Walker has deftly sketched the latest GAFCON public event for the Church Times. Enjoy. Read Dave's accompanying text here.

First Lady and Queen

Love, loss, and grief: Ian and Lisa

Another loss in our blogging community. Lisa mourns the death of her beloved Ian.

MadPriest has posted the sad news and a photo of Ian and Lisa in happier days.

Grant peace and consolation, o Blessed One, to your children.

Mothering Sunday - Laetare Sunday

It's Laetare Sunday here in the Western liturgical churches and Mothering Sunday in the Church of England. My friend Rob (aka Padre Rob+, with a gorgeous new blog that is almost all visual) sent this prayer earlier today with a Theotokos, using one of the Theotokos apps on Facebook. I'm not the greatest Anselm fan on the planet (understatement), but this is lovely.

As a mother cradles her child, so you enfold us, gently in your arms. As a mother comforts their pain, you calm and quieten our souls with your love.

As a mother teaches her child, so, Lord, you guide us, leading us through life. As a mother listens and cares, O Lord, you hear us and answer our prayers.

As a mother cries for her child, so you are weeping over our sins. As a mother feeds us from our birth, you daily nourish us with the bread of life.

Jesus as a mother, you gather us all to you. In your compassion bring forgiveness and grace. In you tenderness restore and remake us, In your love, bring us joy, give us peace.

Song based on a text by St Anselm; music by David Ogden.

Rob notes that he is not the originator of this quote. A friend of his from London, John Woodhouse, shared it with him after his church sang it at Mass today. Come to think of it, John's is a blog I used to read regularly and hadn't visited in a while. Hello, Organist Librarian! And thank you.

Wulfstan of Worcester

Who is he???

Wulfstan of Worcester is the saint of the day in our Episcopal calendar today, January 19. (I know, this year the feast of Confession of Peter was moved to this day, but Wulfstan is still there as well.)

Wulfstan was the only Saxon bishop who survived, administratively speaking, after William the Conqueror showed up.

He is also known for his opposition to the slave trade in Western England.

He was a Benedictine monk.

Today, January 19, is the 7th anniversary of my formal reception into the Episcopal Church.

It is also the second day of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which begins the day of the Confession of Peter and ends the day of the Conversion of Paul. (See also here for more info on the Week.) As an ecumenist, I love this holy coincidence.

We are, of course, still in Epiphanytide, so Wulfstan is an Epiphany saint, though we do not always make that connection and "work it."

Thanks be to Godde, and thank you to all those who continue to be witnesses to me and to accompany me as sisters and brothers in faith.


You can see Wulfstan's crypt and some explanatory notes at Worcester Cathedral here.

A bit more on Saint Wulfstan here. Note the foodie episode with the roast goose and the resolution about vegetarianism.

I used to wonder why this 11th century Saxon guy ended up as my patron saint, but the more I read about him, the more inspiring I find him. Not least among his interesting traits is his political and ecclesiastical survival among a powerful majority of clerics (and others) who were culturally alien to him. And of course there is "the simplicity, earnestness, and incessant labour of Wulfstan's pastoral life."


The Wulfstan birth-millennium website is here. Lots of bio about him on one of the site's pages here.

Perhaps one of our English friends can try the St. Wulfstan Ale for me.

December 1: Nicholas Ferrar, deacon

I know we have transferred the feast of St. Andrew to December 1 this year, but December 1 to me means Nicholas Ferrar, and I don't want him forgotten, especially since I am teaching deacon candidates (and one deacon postulant) this fall and I love T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets.


I also have a beautiful sermon (not by me) on Ferrer and the community at Little Gidding somewhere, and when I dig it out I will copy it here. Till then , have a look at James Kiefer's bio of Nicholas Ferrar and at the links at the site.

Oh Hild(a), I did remember you

but it was late in the day. Godde bless Padre Mickey for his saints' posts. Here is his post about you on your feast, November 18. And I found an icon which I posted to the Deacon Theology Blog (not open to the public) and then neglected to post here.

Honoring you late is better than not honoring you at all!

Yikes, how did I miss this? Le Clézio's Nobel

One more proof that I am not functioning at full tilt: I somehow missed the announcement of this year's Nobel in literature ten days ago, and it went to a Frenchman, too! J.M.G. Le Clézio, and you can read about him here.

Tip of the fedora to Maitresse, whom I wandered over to see in a late night tour of blogs I hadn't visited in a while. Her post about the Nobel is here.

An interesting interview with Le Clézio, pre-Nobel, is here, courtesy of France Diplomatie, the online publication of the French Foreign Ministry (what we call the State Department).

Oh, and the Booker Prize just went to Aravind Adiga (sometimes spelled Adigha), whom I'd never heard of. He's an Indian writer; both he and Amitav Ghosh (whom I have heard of and read) were short-listed this year. Adiga is only 34 and The White Tiger is his first novel.

I want to spend three months doing nothing but reading fiction.

Friday cat blogging on Thursday

Both +Maya and I are out of words for now. I am all wordy on campus in this first week of school, both listening and dispensing, and Her Grace makes great speeches when I come home. I suspect she sleeps while I am away --I know she has not been blogging-- but who knows, she may be working on the Great Feline Novel or off on pastoral visitations.

We do, however, have pictures for you. This one is from the Lambeth trip and we have been saving it. You didn't know +Maya had an English cousin, did you? Well, here she is. Or he? It matters not.

Photo courtesy of our friends from the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil. All hail to the Global Center. As you can see, the gorgeous feline is deep in conversation with Brazilian interlocutors and about to extend the right paw of kittehship.

She's back

Her Grace flew in after some adventures involving a connecting flight at JFK, since there is no direct flight from London to Greensboro, and arrived mighty tired in the wee hours. This did not keep her from jumping to the top of a tall bookcase after we had exchanged affectionate greetings.


While you will notice Virgil on the left and three black books which are by Dante, you need to know that there are a lot of English poets among those books. The horizontal book, if you look closely, is a volume of the complete works of Shakespeare. These are just the way +Maya Pavlova left them before going to Lambeth. (Below them is a shelf with a diptych icon and below that are a lot of French poets and playrights. Our feline bishop is multilingual.)

+Maya says: Now I get to sleep on top of something full of English words, but it doesn't get up and move every hour and a half, and it's quiet. Aaaaaaaahhhhh.

Her Grace misses home

This came in last night from the Right Rev. and Right Hon. Maya Pavlova, Feline Bishop Extraordinaire. I wasn't able to post it earlier today.

Beloved Canon to the Extraordinary and All My Friendly Humans,

I am getting homesick. You know we cats like our own turf, agile as we are in many venues. I miss North Carolina. There are plenty of laps to sit on here at Lambeth but the two-legged bishops keep getting up to run to the next event so I have to get up all the time too. There are humans everywhere and lots of hopping bunnies, so it's also hard to find a quiet corner for no-lap naps. I crept into the tent that has that nice cartoonist Dave Walker who likes cats, but he was busy giving interviews. +Clumber is tired and needs to get back to Pittsburgh and +Airedale to Fort Woof. +Rowan is fine as long as he has a place to play but even he is a little weary,and to be frank, I think he misses Lindy. It looks like we're going to come home early. I've had enough clotted cream. I'll text you from +Airedale's phone [note from Jane: where did this cat learn text messaging??] and let you know when my plane is coming in. Have the Newman's Organic Cat Food ready with a bowl of cold fresh water beside it.

I also gather from your letters that you have some more summer writing to do, and though you haven't asked, I know you do much better with a cat by your side when you are trying to think deep thoughts. My pastoral responsibilities are back with my creatures. I'll nap, you'll write, and we will both be the better for it. England was nice, but enough is enough. Besides, what else do we need to say? +Airedale has been clear as day that loving all creatures is what matters most. I've enjoyed being with my brother canine bishops. That was the best part of the trip, though I did enjoy the photo shoot with the other female bishops.

Once I am rested up, which may take some time, I intend to write a pastoral letter on the need for naps. I'm sure the two-legged bishops would be much calmer if they could nap as well as pray.

Faithfully yours, with purrs,

+Maya Pavlova, F.B.E.

+Maya Pavlova's English tea

Well, +Maya has been promising and promising to send photos, but it turns out +Airedale's cell phone camera had a bit of slowdown, but worse, I, Her Grace's unworthy Canon to the Extraordinary, dawdled and neglected to post the photos. One, of course, shows Her Grace in a slight state of upset tummy, but now we know that feline and female bishops can feast to excess just like their brother canine and male bishops. Equal in sin and grace, but mostly grace. +Airedale always says that as long as we love and welcome all at the table, we are on the right path.

While Clumber was up North romping with the grandpups and with the canine companions of a certain Mad ClergyTwoLegs, +Maya Pavlova, F.B.E. (Feline Bishop Extraordinaire for those of you who are just joining us) had herself a fine English tea - or two or three, we are not sure.

At this one, she seems to have had more milk than tea and enthusiastically jumped into the action. Anglicans the world over take tea time seriously. You will note that Her Grace removed her miter so as not to risk soiling it with milk-drops.


No more milk?! Well, I'll just wait for more to arrive.


Ah, cream this time. There we go!


I drank that one awfully fast...


And then there was the clotted cream. And scones. And butter. And tea with milk. And sandwiches with a little something that smelled like fish...

No photos of the scones with clotted cream, though there were suspicious crumbs on some of the photos. But +Airedale did catch a photo of +Maya after her clotted cream festivities. Oh dear... She didn't feel too well... Reminds us of a certain +friend of ours...

+Clumber, where were you when we needed you for comfort and wisdom?

What's that? Her Grace says that +Airedale and +Rowan were most gracious and sweet. +Rowan wanted to play, though, and after all that milk and clotted cream, well...

Rumor also has it that +Maya slipped through security, sans miter, whilst Their Graces were still at Lambeth this week. She is so lithe and small that no one was the wiser. What she heard, she's not telling. She did say: Avoid those press conferences!

Note from the Management: No cats were harmed during the production of these photos! We swear! (Yes, we do, and frequently.) Really.

+Airedale, +Rowan, and +Maya met up again with +Clumber, sniffed around the U Kent campus together, had a little visit to the Cathedral at Canterbury, and are back in London, resting up for the evening. For further adventures, visit +Clumber.

Northumbria: blue landscape

Winshield Crags, Northumbria. Photo by Joan Thirlaway via the BBC.

Women bishops in the Church of England!

Says the Lead at the Episcopal Café.

Also, the BBC has the story, so it must be true. ;-)

Alleluia. Oremus.

There is, alas, a clause to accommodate those who are not yet persuaded of the full humanity of women,* as you can see in the BBC story, but it is less stringent than one of the original proposals.

* which is a theological matter and not just "about discrimination" - as if the two were ever separate. Still, it sounds as if Christians did listen to one another at the gathering, which may be as much a sign of hope as the actual news.

Ruth Gledhill has full detail, for those of you who are inclined in that direction and have time to read.

Slowly. Step by step.

Alleluia. Oremus.

Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah on the survival of Judaism and Anglicanism

This essay by an English rabbi comes to us from The Guardian, via Doorman-Priest. Thanks, DP!

Summer tunes: we start with the Animals...

... because I thought of them over at P.J.'s (she's asking for songs that make you say "yeah!") and because this song of theirs has been a favorite of mine for decades.

All together now... We've gotta get out of this place...!

As you will see on the YouTube comments, this was a favorite, if you can call it that, among U.S. soldiers in Vietnam.

And another one of the same, with the real boys playing live, not just still photos. (Tip o' the summer straw hat to Kate Morningstar.)

Julian of Norwich, contemplative, mystic, counselor, theologian

Church of St. Julian, Norwich, England.

And last year's words.

It's also Paul's birthday!