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The Parishioner - Edition 17

The Parishioner is the quarterly publication of St. Francis' Catholic Parish, Maidstone.

The Parishioner is the quarterly publication of St. Francis' Catholic Parish, Maidstone.

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S T F R A N C I S ’ C H U R C H • M A I D S T O N E<br />

NUMBER <strong>17</strong> SUMMER 2009<br />

T<br />

‘I HAVE CALLED YOU BY<br />

YOUR NAME’<br />

Isaiah Ch. 43:1<br />

St. Francis’ Parish Mission 3rd-<strong>17</strong>th October 200<br />

he decision to hold a Parish Mission is not taken lightly. <strong>The</strong> positive impact<br />

that a Mission can have on a parish is well documented, and many of us<br />

from St Francis will remember the very successful Redemptorist Mission<br />

held here eight years ago. But there is obviously financial<br />

implication for the parish and a huge amount of work<br />

involved. So why have we gone for it? Well, there are a<br />

number of reasons. Over the last year and a half, we have<br />

been taking a serious look at how our parish functions.<br />

Things have changed quite a bit in our parish in the last<br />

few years and we know from the survey conducted last<br />

year that while there are many, many good things going<br />

on, there are some areas that we need to address. October<br />

marks the end of a period of reflection and evaluation<br />

when we have been trying to ascertain a ‘Vision for the<br />

Parish’ and we need something that will move us with<br />

hope and enthusiasm into the next stage. And finally, on<br />

4th October 2009 we will not only be celebrating the<br />

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, but also 150 years of the<br />

Catholic Parish here in Maidstone. So after much<br />

research, prayer and discussion we decided to invite the<br />

Sion Community to run our two-week Mission later this<br />

year.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Sion team is made up of lay people and a priest<br />

who travel all over the country giving missions. <strong>The</strong>y have<br />

a lot of experience and successful visits behind them, but<br />

their aim is to work with us and they will tailor what they do to our needs<br />

<strong>The</strong> title of our Mission is ‘I have called you by your name’, and during those two<br />

weeks we shall be encouraged, in a variety of ways, to reflect on what God calls<br />

each of us, as individuals and as a parish community, to do to help build his<br />

Kingdom on earth. During the first week of the Mission the Sion team will spend<br />

By Sheila Connolly, Chairman, Co-ordinating Commitee for the Mission.<br />

Our Mission Prayer<br />

CALLED BY NAME<br />

God our Father,<br />

we are your children.<br />

You call each one of us by name.<br />

You know us more than we can know ourselves;<br />

you love us with a love beyond all telling.<br />

As our loving Father,<br />

you call us to love;<br />

you call us to tell people of your love;<br />

you call us to care for our sisters and brothers<br />

who are in need;<br />

you call us to share your Good News with those<br />

who do not know you.<br />

Each day you give us hope,<br />

turning fear into joy.<br />

Send us your Holy Spirit<br />

to open our ears to your call.<br />

Fill our hearts with courage,<br />

help us to be truthful and just,<br />

to be true followers of Jesus your Son.<br />

Father, you have called us by our name.<br />

most of their time with us visiting parishioners, but there will be a short ‘faith<br />

sharing’ after morning Mass. During the second week, as well as various things<br />

going on during the day, there will be a special liturgy each evening based around<br />

our Mission theme. <strong>The</strong> Mission is a process in which the<br />

whole parish is involved and we have now begun a rather<br />

intense period of preparation. Please could you consider<br />

how you might be able to help.<br />

For example, would you be able to offer a lift to<br />

another parishioner to one of the Mission services, or bed<br />

and breakfast to a member of the Mission Team? Could<br />

you prepare a meal or donate a jar of coffee or make a<br />

cake? - we shall be hosting up to 10 people each week and<br />

they have to be fed and watered. Would you like to<br />

accompany one of the Sion team for a day during the first<br />

week when they will be visiting parishioners, or help in the<br />

office to draw up the visiting lists from the parish<br />

database? Could you help with photocopying both before<br />

and during the Mission, or distribute posters in your area?<br />

Would you be able to join the musicians and singers for<br />

those two weeks, or help to decorate the church, or join<br />

the group responsible for the prayers we will be using<br />

before and during the Mission? Can you help with the<br />

Social at the end of the Mission? <strong>The</strong> more people who<br />

get involved, the less the workload is. Please give your<br />

name and telephone number to the parish office, or<br />

complete one of the forms at the back of the church and someone will get back to<br />

you.<br />

In the meantime please pray for the success of our Parish Mission and keep<br />

checking the ‘I have called you by your name’ Notice Board in the Church Porch and<br />

the Newsletter.<br />

Father John becomes Canon John<br />

A group of parishioners<br />

travelled to St George’s<br />

Cathedral on 23rd April<br />

2009 to attend Mass<br />

celebrated by Bishop John<br />

Hine which included the<br />

installation of our own Fr<br />

John as Canon. Also installed<br />

were Canon Anthony<br />

Charlton, Parish Priest of Our<br />

Lady Immaculate, Tolworth<br />

and Canon Michael O’Dea,<br />

Parish Priest of <strong>The</strong> Faithful<br />

Virgin, Upper Norwood.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y were installed by<br />

Provost Joseph Collins. Parish<br />

Priest of St Mary’s, Croydon.


S T F R A N C I S ’ C H U R C H • M A I D S T O N E<br />

2<br />

THE PARISH OF ST. FRANCIS<br />

GROVE HOUSE, 126 WEEK STREET, MAIDSTONE , KENT ME14 1RH<br />

TEL: 01622 7562<strong>17</strong> FAX: 01622 690549<br />

Email:stfrancis_parish@yahoo.co.uk<br />

Website www. stfrancisparish.org.uk<br />

Parish Priest: Canon John Clark MA.<br />

<strong>Parishioner</strong> Editor: Denis Neale, Tel: 01622 200025<br />

Email: denisneale@blueyonder.co.uk<br />

E D I T O R I A L<br />

It is time to welcome a new edition of the<br />

‘<strong>Parishioner</strong>’. I am grateful to Denis and Ross for<br />

all the time and effort they put into preparing<br />

each edition of the newspaper. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />

supported by the many willing helpers who offer<br />

articles for the ‘<strong>Parishioner</strong>’. In this edition we<br />

have a varied feast of articles from a look to our<br />

forthcoming Parish Mission, to the experience of<br />

two converts on their journey to the Church, to<br />

reports on events and organisations, and<br />

memories of people and places. Sadly this<br />

edition carries an obituary for Chris Dowle. He<br />

was a valued and much loved member of the<br />

parish. He is sadly missed. If the articles motivate<br />

you to write one yourself, please let us have it for<br />

the next edition. I would like to take this<br />

opportunity to thank everyone for their good<br />

wishes following my appointment as a Chapter<br />

Canon. People have been very kind and<br />

generous, and it was an<br />

occasion to be able to<br />

celebrate with so many after<br />

the installation. I hope you<br />

enjoy reading this edition of<br />

the ‘<strong>Parishioner</strong>’. I hope also<br />

that you will get a good break<br />

over the summer.<br />

Canon John<br />

ANIMA CHRISTI<br />

Soul of Christ, be my sanctification<br />

Body of Christ, be my salvation,<br />

Blood of Christ, fill my veins.<br />

Water from the side of Christ, wash out my stains.<br />

May Christ’s passion strengthen me,<br />

O good Jesu, hear me.<br />

In thy wounds I fain would hide,<br />

Never to be parted from thy side.<br />

Guard me when my foes assail me,<br />

Call me when my life shall fail me.<br />

Command me then to come to thee,<br />

That I for all eternity<br />

With thy saints may praise thee. Amen.<br />

Cardinal Henry Newman<br />

AN INVITATION TO ALL<br />

Following the success of last year’s area Masses you are<br />

again invited to join your neighbours for the celebration of<br />

Mass in your part of the parish at 8pm on:<br />

•Thursday, 25th June at St. Paul’s Hall, Boxley Road,<br />

Maidstone<br />

•Wednesday 8th June at St. Nicholas’ Hall, Poplar Grove,<br />

Allington<br />

•Wednesday 15th July at St Andrew’s Hall, Barming<br />

•Thursday 16th July at Vinters Park Community Centre.<br />

Maidstone<br />

Refreshments will be served after Mass<br />

<br />

Two priests are standing by the side of the road holding<br />

up a large sign that reads ‘<strong>The</strong> End is Near! Turn<br />

yourself round now before it is too late!’. <strong>The</strong>y plan to<br />

hold up the sign to each passing car. “Leave us alone, you religious<br />

nuts!” yells the first driver as he speeds by. From around the bend<br />

in the road they hear screeching tyres and a loud splash. “Do you<br />

think,” says one priest to the other, “we should hold up a sign that<br />

just says ‘Collapsed Bridge Ahead’ instead?”<br />

Welcome to the six candidates who were received into the Church during the Easter Vigil Mass. Bonnie Sapiano and Sarah Saul received the<br />

Sacrament of Baptism and with June Evenden, James Tuite, John Kennett and Julie Rayner, already baptised Christians, all were received into<br />

full communion with the Catholic Church.<br />

I<br />

was brought back to God again through my<br />

daughter attending St Benedict’s school: the<br />

prayers we learnt together, the learning and<br />

understanding the Catholic faith through a child’s<br />

eyes, and of course, my continued questioning of the<br />

school teachers and headmistress!<br />

This was further strengthened at Easter when I<br />

attended a play at the school, ‘<strong>The</strong> Passion of Christ’<br />

which moved me so much that I could no longer deny<br />

my desire to become Catholic.<br />

I learnt so much from the lessons that Sheila<br />

Connolly gave at RCIA on a Tuesday evening. Faith<br />

is of course, very personal and I was hesitant as to<br />

how the course would be. It was all very relaxed and<br />

comfortable and we were able to learn by asking and<br />

questioning the things we learnt, as we all progressed<br />

along our own journeys of faith and made many good<br />

Christian friends along the way. And of course, the<br />

cup of tea and biscuit always went down well!. I<br />

found so many people were giving us support along<br />

Two Journeys to Rome<br />

our journey and this made the process so much nicer<br />

to feel like you belonged!<br />

For anyone that is considering taking this next<br />

step and hesitating, there is no need because when<br />

you have done it, you will be so glad that you did.<br />

A<br />

70 young parishioners who received<br />

First Holy Communion on Sundays<br />

6th,14th and 21st June 2009.<br />

Connor Aldred<br />

Janet Almeida<br />

Freya Bailes<br />

Matthew Banks<br />

Ieesha Barnett<br />

Angela Barrion<br />

Finlay Bell<br />

Oscar Bryant<br />

Edward Bryant<br />

Lois Buco<br />

Liam Carter<br />

Keely Cassidy<br />

Zachary Cotton<br />

Harvey Crease<br />

Bethany Darcey<br />

Elena Ewence<br />

Inês Felix<br />

Christian Fletcher<br />

Abbey Gibson<br />

Sophie Godden<br />

Julia Gogol<br />

Toby Helman<br />

Tatyana Henriques<br />

Niamh Hynes<br />

EmmaJensen<br />

Olivia Jestin<br />

Niamh Jestin<br />

Joice Joseph<br />

Harvey Keating<br />

Thomas Kenny<br />

Dominika Kowalak<br />

George Mariyajohnson<br />

Patrick Mariyajohnson<br />

Aiden McCall<br />

Jasmin McCall<br />

AnthonyMcGinn<br />

Zarhary McKenzie<br />

Eila-Rose McKenzie<br />

Nicole MealinVazQuez<br />

Carol Mealin VazQuez<br />

Mary Menoza<br />

Abrene Mocorro<br />

Clairon Opulencia<br />

Harvey O’Shea<br />

Emily O’Shea<br />

JackPattinson<br />

Rafael Peixoto<br />

Callum Piert<br />

Veronica Pinto-Mendes<br />

Eric Preposi<br />

Elizabeth Raines<br />

Georgia Rayner<br />

Christian Reyes<br />

Nathan Richardson<br />

Mia Janine Romero<br />

Victoria Ruth<br />

Sadie Sapiano<br />

Ciara Savell<br />

Niamh Sharpe<br />

Viana Simmons<br />

Freya Smith<br />

Jose Sonquit<br />

Mary Sonquit<br />

Jacob Stanley<br />

Bartosz Szpak<br />

India Thompson<br />

JoseTrajano<br />

Chloe Viegas<br />

Lydia Watson<br />

René Zokra<br />

Julie Rayner<br />

s soon as I joined the programme I<br />

experienced a powerful feeling of ‘this is just<br />

right for me’. We all took a wonderful<br />

journey into faith, which was both exciting and<br />

enlightening. <strong>The</strong> Easter Vigil was such an<br />

experience for us all; I will never forget 11th April -<br />

the day I became a member of the Catholic Church. I<br />

must thank Sheila Connolly who was an inspiration to<br />

every one of us, Canon John who was always there to<br />

help if needed, Yvonne Young, my sponsor and good<br />

friend and the group themselves. We all got on so<br />

well, and I hope we remain good friends.<br />

June Evenden<br />

Summer<br />

Janet Norfolk<br />

Beyond the green<br />

Where distance sees,<br />

A mist of bluebells<br />

‘neath the trees;<br />

And there the cuckoo calls -<br />

And lilac blossoms gently sway,<br />

So now I know - it’s May<br />

<strong>The</strong> buttercups in meadows fair,<br />

<strong>The</strong> scent of blossom fills the air,<br />

And here the blackbird sings,<br />

<strong>The</strong> fragrant roses now in bloom,<br />

Tell me - it’s June.<br />

<strong>The</strong> air is soft with summer breeze,<br />

And petals drop from<br />

Full bloom roses there.<br />

And drifting - drifting butterfly -<br />

It means to me - July.


Join our parish coach<br />

trip to Winchester<br />

Saturday, September 12th 2009<br />

ollowing past years’<br />

interesting trips to<br />

FChichester and Oxford<br />

we have decided to visit<br />

Winchester this September.<br />

Located at the western end<br />

of the South Downs,<br />

Winchester is a historic<br />

cathedral city and the<br />

ancient capital of Wessex<br />

and the Kingdom of<br />

England. It developed from<br />

the Roman town of Venta<br />

Belgarum.<br />

Winchester Cathedral<br />

Winchester’s major interest to us is Winchester<br />

Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in England,<br />

with the distinction of having the longest nave<br />

and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in<br />

Europe. It was originally founded in 642 on an<br />

immediately adjoining site to the north.This<br />

building was known as the Old Minster and<br />

became part of a monastic settlement in 971.<strong>The</strong><br />

Old Minster was demolished in 1093.<br />

<strong>The</strong> present Winchester Cathedral was built in<br />

1079. It contains much fine architecture spanning<br />

the 11th to the 16th century and is the burial<br />

place of numerous bishops of Winchester (such<br />

as William of Wykeham),Anglo-Saxon monarchs<br />

such as Egbert of Wessex, and later monarchs such<br />

as King Canute and William II (Rufus) as well as<br />

the 19th century writer, Jane Austen.<strong>The</strong> cathedral<br />

was once an important pilgrimage centre and<br />

housed the shrine of St Swithun.<strong>The</strong> ancient<br />

Novena for the First Friday<br />

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I unite myself<br />

To thine adoration<br />

To thy burning love<br />

To thine ardent zeal<br />

To thy reparation<br />

To thy thanksgiving<br />

To thy firm confidence<br />

To thy fervent prayers<br />

To thy silence<br />

To thy humility<br />

To thy obedience<br />

To thy gentleness and peace<br />

To thy surpassing kindness<br />

To thy universal charity<br />

To thy deep recollection<br />

To thine intense desire for the<br />

conversion of sinners<br />

To thy close union with the Heavenly Father<br />

To thine intentions desires and will.<br />

Love of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Inflame my heart<br />

Charity of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Abound in my heart<br />

Strength of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Uphold my heart<br />

Pilgrims Way, travelling to<br />

the shrine of Thomas Becket<br />

in Canterbury, starts in<br />

Winchester.Work on the<br />

building continued into the<br />

15th and 16th century,<br />

notably with the building of<br />

the retroquire to<br />

accommodate the many<br />

pilgrims to the shrine of St<br />

Swithun.After Henry VIII<br />

seized control of the Church<br />

in England, the Benedictine<br />

foundation, the priory of St.<br />

Swithun, was dissolved in<br />

1539 and the cloister and chapter house were<br />

demolished.<br />

Apart from the Cathedral,Winchester contains<br />

many other points of historic interest. One, for<br />

instance, is Castle Hall, all that remains of William<br />

the Conqueror’s castle, built in the 12th century.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Great hall is famous for King Arthur’s Round<br />

Table, which has hung in the Hall since 1463. King<br />

Arthur, of course, is mythical but the table is of<br />

considerable historical interest. It dates from the<br />

13th century and was originally unpainted but<br />

was decorated for Henry VIII in 1522 with the<br />

names of the legendary Knights of the Round<br />

Table, surmounted by King Arthur on his throne.<br />

Winchester has fine shops and good<br />

restaurants and eating places.Why not make your<br />

booking soon to make sure of your seat on the<br />

coach. Just ring Olga da Silva on 01622 726772<br />

St Swithun<br />

St Swithun was the Bishop of Winchester in the 9th century. One of the many miracles he was said<br />

to have performed concerns a woman who dropped a basket of eggs near the church after bumping<br />

into a monk. Swithun happened to be passing by and was so moved by the woman’s distress at the<br />

broken eggs that he made the eggs whole again. On the altar screen in the cathedral, the saint is<br />

shown with a pile of eggs at his feet and each of the four candlesticks in his shrine has a broken<br />

eggshell at its base. When Swithun died in 862, he was buried outside the Old Minster in accordance<br />

with his wish to lie where the rain would fall on him. Nearly a century later the monks decided to move<br />

his remains to a worthier resting place. St Swithun, it is said, angered by the removal of his remains,<br />

made it rain so violently for 40 days that the monks gave up the plan. Ever since then, rain on<br />

St.Swithun’s day (July 15th) has been an omen of continuing bad weather.<br />

Mercy of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Forgive my heart<br />

Patience of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Do not weary of my heart<br />

Kingdom of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Be established in my heart<br />

Wisdom of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Teach my heart<br />

Will of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Dispose of my heart<br />

Zeal of the Heart of Jesus<br />

Consume my heart<br />

O Mary conceived without sin<br />

Pray for us to the Heart of Jesus<br />

Sweet Jesus, who through thy tender love for<br />

the Church thy Spouse, opened to her the<br />

richness and unspeakable sweetness of your<br />

Sacred Heart, grant that our hearts may be<br />

enriched with the treasures it contains and<br />

replenished with its overflowing and unfailing<br />

delights. Amen<br />

Contributed by Elizabeth Price<br />

Saturday night at the movies<br />

Len Watson<br />

In February, an audience of parishioners were treated once<br />

again to an evening of nostalgic cinema. If you have ever<br />

thought “Well yes - I used to like the cinema - but they<br />

don’t make films like they used to” Well then, my nostalgic<br />

Film Night is for YOU.<br />

<strong>The</strong> evening began with a live scene from a classic<br />

Bogart movie, with the ‘seductive’ Mary Adam as Lauren<br />

Bacall: “All you have to do is whistle Steve”<br />

<strong>The</strong> evening continued with film clips from two<br />

momentous Hollywood years - 1939 and 1946.<br />

During the intermission Mary was presented with a<br />

well deserved ‘Oscar’ for her dramatic performance. <strong>The</strong><br />

evening concluded with Music from the Movies, including<br />

a vintage musical interlude from Laurel and Hardy<br />

“Another fine mess you have got me into Stanley”<br />

<strong>The</strong> audience enjoyed an evening of drama, laughter,<br />

and romance, from the days when cinema was the prime<br />

entertainment in town. And what is more, we raised £130<br />

for the Maidstone Hospice. So come along next time and<br />

enjoy cinema the way it used to be. I am even open to<br />

requests. See you then.<br />

An overwhelmed Mary receives the Oscar from her leading man, Len Watson, for her fine<br />

performance in a scene from “To Have and Have Not.”<br />

Catholic Singles: What is it?<br />

What does it do? How can I<br />

get involved?<br />

P<br />

arishioners have probably seen a notice on the porch notice board<br />

and occasionally a mention in the weekly newsletter about Catholic<br />

Singles (CS).<br />

CS is a non profit-making organisation which aims to help practising Catholics<br />

meet other Catholics and support Catholic parishes and charities. It does this by<br />

providing an optional, strictly confidential service, sending members a monthly<br />

bulletin, which includes brief personal descriptions of themselves, if they wish, and<br />

also advertising social events organised by Catholic parishes and organisations free<br />

of charge.<br />

We advertise every week in <strong>The</strong> Universe, <strong>The</strong> Catholic Times & <strong>The</strong> Catholic<br />

Herald, in diocesan newspapers, and in parishes around the country with the £10<br />

annual membership fee and initial donation going towards operating costs. We have<br />

hundreds of members and publicise social events, as well as providing a facility<br />

which allows members to meet on a one-to-one basis if they wish.<br />

CS has spread across the whole of the country and beyond. <strong>The</strong>re are several<br />

CS members in our psarish and elsewhere in Kent. One Kent group is based on<br />

Canterbury and our local group (‘Kent/Essex’) is based on Maidstone and meets in<br />

Maidstone or in Essex at least once per month. Membership has presented a<br />

wonderful opportunity for social networking and making lots of new friends, both<br />

male and female. As practising Catholics, there is always a common ground<br />

amongst members. This has been invaluable in helping Catholics who are single,<br />

divorced, separated or widowed. <strong>The</strong>re is a big emphasis on social events in the<br />

Kent/Essex group. Events that have taken place or are planned include: Mass at<br />

Westminster Cathedral/local Church; regular monthly meetings for drink/meal in a<br />

pub; meet at a shopping centre for shopping and meal; quiz night and BBQ; country<br />

walks; visit to museums. With the summer coming, there will be more emphasis on<br />

eating al fresco. <strong>The</strong>re is even talk about the possibility of a trip to Assisi in the<br />

future.<br />

One local member said that he was apprehensive at first about joining CS<br />

because he was worried it might be a sort of dating agency. Having been reassured<br />

and joined, he says that the last few months have seen a vastly improved social life<br />

and dozens of new friends.<br />

If you would like more information on local events, please contact Julie on<br />

07944-684759 or Peter on 07857-070952.<br />

For more information on the organisation as a whole and to obtain an<br />

application form for membership, please contact James Judge on 0161-941-3498.<br />

Email: info@catholicsingles.org.uk. Website: www.catholicsingles.org.uk<br />

3


4<br />

C<br />

hris was born on 30th July<br />

1935 in Norwood, South<br />

London. His mother took<br />

him and his two sisters and his<br />

brother to Somerset for three years<br />

at the beginning of the war. <strong>The</strong>y<br />

moved back to Bickley after the<br />

war and Chris lived in the Bromley<br />

area until he married.<br />

He was educated at the Holy<br />

Trinity Convent in Bromley until<br />

11, then as a boarder at the<br />

Silesian Brothers’ Convent at<br />

Farnborough for a few years and finally at Battersea<br />

College.<br />

His National Service was completed with the royal<br />

engineers at Worcester but he was disappointed not to<br />

have been posted abroad.<br />

In 1959 Chris married Colette Thomas at Sidcup, Kent<br />

after they met at the local church youth club. <strong>The</strong>y had<br />

three children, Susan born in 1960, Nichola in 1961<br />

and Adrian in 1964.<br />

Chris worked at L A Francis & Son in Holborn, where<br />

he trained to be a chartered quantity surveyor. After<br />

qualifying he moved to Maidstone. After qualifying he<br />

moved to Maidstone in 1964 to work for Kent County<br />

Council. He joined the Maidstone Catenians in 1965,<br />

and held just about every post over the years,<br />

including President for two years, 1969-71. He was<br />

President of Maidstone Youth Music Society for many<br />

years, encouraging the development of young<br />

musicians who gave excellent concerts in the town.<br />

As chartered quantity surveyor he devoted an<br />

enormous amount of time overseeing major building<br />

works at the Carmelite Priory at nearby Aylesford and<br />

he and I, a civil engineer and fellow Catenian, oversaw<br />

major new building works at St Francis’ Church<br />

Maidstone. Work was always completed properly and<br />

Chis Dowle, 1935-2008<br />

Christopher John Dowle died on 10th August 2008. He was a much respected member of St.<br />

Francis’ Parish , an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, an altar server and a valued<br />

member of the Maintenance Committee, consisting of himself and his old friend Tony Gibbs.<br />

Tony writes:<br />

S<br />

costs carefully controlled in a<br />

professional manner.<br />

Chris could turn his hand to almost<br />

anything practical and for years,<br />

up until he became ill, he and I<br />

were involved in the weekly<br />

‘hands on’ maintenance of the<br />

church, thus saving money for<br />

parish.<br />

Chris was a man who took life<br />

seriously, who could be relied on<br />

to do whatever was asked of him<br />

and was a highly skilled<br />

craftsman, producing fine woodwork on the lathe with<br />

his hands. This attitude to accuracy and quality<br />

reflected particularly in his commitment to his faith<br />

and his work for the Catenians, all of which he went<br />

about willingly and carefully in his own quiet, modest<br />

and kindly way. He was a great example of what a<br />

good Christian gentleman should be.<br />

Since retiring Chris regularly attended morning Mass<br />

at St Francis’ Church, serving on the altar or assisting<br />

as Minister of the Eucharist. Chris had ultimate faith<br />

in God. He knew that he had cancer and could not live<br />

long, but he never complained; even near the end he<br />

always said “I’m OK”. His faith supported him and he<br />

had no fear of dying. His wife, Colette had been very<br />

good in taking care of Chris as his health declined,<br />

though she was not well herself, and he carefully<br />

looked after Colette during his long illness.<br />

His sister-in-law Monica, wrote: “Chris you made the<br />

world a better place and the family will always be<br />

grateful that we were part of your life. I know we will<br />

miss you, but heaven has gained a very special<br />

carpenter. God Bless you. Please look down and<br />

remember us.”<br />

May he rest in peace.✝<br />

Visit of the Relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux<br />

to Aylesford Priory.<br />

At the request of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and the bishops of England and Wales, the relics of St Thérèse<br />

of Lisieux will be visiting our country from 16th November to 16th October. To date the relics have visited nearly 40<br />

countries around the world and wherever they have gone many people have experienced conversion, healing, a<br />

renewed sense of vocation and answers to their prayers. We, in Maidstone , are very fortunate that her relics will be<br />

at Aylesford Priory from 9th to 11th of October and everyone is invited to visit during those three days. A finalised<br />

programme will be available from Aylesford Priory from the end of June.<br />

t. Thérèse, the Little<br />

Flower of Jesus, was<br />

born at Alençon,<br />

France, on 2 January, 1873,<br />

to Louis and Zélie Martin,<br />

both of whom had wished<br />

to consecrate their lives to<br />

God in the cloister. <strong>The</strong><br />

vocation denied them was<br />

given to their children, five<br />

of whom became Religious,<br />

four of them in the<br />

Carmelite Convent of<br />

Lisieux. Thérèse’s vocation<br />

manifested itself when she<br />

was only a child and at the<br />

age of fifteen she applied to St. Thérèse of Lisieux<br />

enter the Carmelite<br />

Convent. Being refused by the Superior, she went to<br />

Rome with her father to seek consent of the Holy<br />

Father, Leo XIII. He preferred to leave the decision to<br />

the Superior who finally consented and on 9 April<br />

1888, at the unusual age of fifteen, Thérèse Martin<br />

entered the convent at Lisieux to give her whole life to<br />

God. She took the name Sister Thérèse of the Child<br />

Jesus and the Holy Face. Living a hidden, simple life<br />

of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with<br />

God. Through sickness and dark nights of doubt and<br />

fear, she remained faithful to God, rooted in his<br />

merciful love. She died, after a long struggle with<br />

tuberculosis, on September 30th 1897 at the age of 24.<br />

<strong>The</strong> world came to know Thérèse through her<br />

autobiography, ‘Story of a Soul’. She described her<br />

life as a “little way of spiritual childhood”, the path of<br />

confidence and total<br />

abandonment to the love of<br />

God and many people<br />

around the world have<br />

sought to follow her Little<br />

Way. Pope Pius XI said,<br />

“We nourish the hope<br />

today of seeing, springing<br />

up in the souls of the<br />

faithful of Christ, a<br />

burning desire of leading a<br />

life of Spiritual<br />

Childhood”. Thérèse’s<br />

spirituality is of attending<br />

to everyone and everything<br />

well and with love -<br />

doing the ordinary, with<br />

extraordinary love. She<br />

saw herself as the “little flower of Jesus” who gave<br />

glory to God by just being her beautiful little self<br />

among all the other flowers in His garden.<br />

After her death her inspiration and powerful<br />

presence from heaven touched many people quickly.<br />

She was canonised by Pope Pius XI on May <strong>17</strong>, 1925<br />

and in 1927 she was declared Patroness of the<br />

Missions. “My mission - to make God loved - will<br />

begin after my death”, she wrote, “I will spend my<br />

heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of<br />

roses”. Roses have been described and experienced as<br />

Thérèse’s signature. Countless millions have been<br />

touched by her intercession and imitate her little way.<br />

In 1997, Pope Paul VI declared St. Thérèse a Doctor<br />

of the Church, in tribute to the powerful way her<br />

spirituality has influenced people all over the world.<br />

12 Questions<br />

by Charlotte Sexton<br />

(Year 10 student at St. Simon Stock School)<br />

This is a new column called ‘12 Questions’. It involves interviewing<br />

people in the Parish who we are all familiar with, though possibly<br />

finding out some things about them that we didn’t previously know. In<br />

this edition I have interviewed our Parish Priest, newly appointed<br />

Canon John.<br />

How do you feel now you’ve been made a Canon?<br />

Embarrassed! It is a great, however, unexpected honour.<br />

For those of us who aren’t familiar with the role of a Canon, could you<br />

sum it up?<br />

I’m actually trying to find out myself! I do know that the main role<br />

of a Chapter Canon involves being an advisor to the Archbishop,<br />

being on a confidential board of the senior clergy with the diocese.<br />

What do you find is the most challenging aspect of the priesthood?<br />

I find that it is sometimes a challenge to continue making the<br />

Gospel relevant for this day and age. You have to consider how<br />

Jesus Christ would have spoken to people in this age.<br />

When did you first decide to become a priest and what influenced your<br />

decision?<br />

I joined a junior seminary at the age of thirteen, but I had always<br />

wanted to be a priest from a young age.<br />

We know that you are well travelled, but what is your favourite country<br />

and why?<br />

I travel to Indonesia a lot. I like the people, culture, and the<br />

scenery is fantastic. I also enjoy Australia as it has a very attractive<br />

life-style. I also like places like the Far East, Vietnam and<br />

Thailand. I enjoy hot countries mostly.<br />

Are there any countries you haven’t been to, but would like to visit?<br />

I’d like to visit New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. <strong>The</strong> weather<br />

is lovely and hot there.<br />

If you were allowed to have one last meal, what would it be?<br />

I would have a Vietnamese meal. I’m very fond of Vietnamese food,<br />

as it is much like Chinese food, but with more subtle tastes.<br />

What are your secular music tastes?<br />

I don’t like to admit this but in the car, I think have Boyzone. I am<br />

fond of classical music and Bruce Springsteen and I also enjoy 60s<br />

music like Buddy Holly.<br />

Have you said Mass in another language?<br />

I’ve said Mass in German and Latin. I’ve concelebrated many<br />

Masses, though I’ve not necessarily understood the language!<br />

Is there any famous person you’d really like to meet?<br />

I’m not really into famous people. Today, everyone’s famous in one<br />

way or another.<br />

If you were marooned on a desert island, apart from the bible, what<br />

book and luxury item would you have?<br />

I’d have Lord Of <strong>The</strong> Rings. I’ve read it five times, though I find<br />

that the more you read it, the more you can learn from it. I’d also<br />

have good set of knives for cooking meals, though a boat or mobile<br />

would probably be useful.<br />

For if these things are done when the wood is green,<br />

What will happen when it is is dry? (Luke 23:21)<br />

Splintered while the wood was green,<br />

Rough-hewn, barely planed,<br />

Not even made by Joseph s hands<br />

This wooden crib in cows stall<br />

Is cradle for creation s King<br />

Under angels wild Alleluias:<br />

Is cradle for the Lord of all.<br />

Seasoned well with scarlet agony,<br />

With drops of sweat and blood<br />

For sure not made by Joseph s hands<br />

This wooden cross on Calvary<br />

Is crucifix for the Healer s hands:<br />

Crucifix for feet no longer beautiful<br />

Upon the mountain where, for us, He stands.<br />

An axe was laid upon that fateful tree;<br />

Fruitless it was, still fruitful.<br />

But, oh! health leaps from it s new leaves<br />

From four great bleeding bitter nails:<br />

From cruel crucifixion comes resurrection;<br />

From cradled carpenter, Christ crucified,<br />

<strong>The</strong> green sap springs.<br />

Holy Week 2007, ' Elizabeth Ballagher


A<br />

MAIDSTONE CATENIANS CELEBRATE CENTENARY YEAR<br />

t Leeds Castle, on 18th July 2008, Maidstone Catenians celebrated the foundation of <strong>The</strong><br />

Catenian Association in Manchester in 1908 and the 60th anniversary of the<br />

inauguration of Maidstone Circle in July 1948. <strong>The</strong> evening began with a Mass of<br />

Thanksgiving concelebrated by Bishop John Hine, Father (Canon) John Clark and Prior Francis<br />

Kemsley.<br />

Cllr. Denise Joy, Mayor of Maidstone, and David Taylor, Grand President of <strong>The</strong> Catenian<br />

Association, and his wife Kathleen were guests of honour with the clergy. 180 guests from 20<br />

Catenian Circles in Kent and the UK attended Mass and dinner in the medieval Fairfax Hall.<br />

(Photo of the guests with Leeds Castle in the background)<br />

David Taylor presented Maidstone Circle’s (then) President, John McElroy, with a scroll<br />

marking the Circle’s 60th Anniversary since its inauguration in 1948.<br />

Bishop John Hine and Father (Canon) John Clark<br />

also concelebrated the Centenary Solemn High Mass for<br />

David Taylor presents John McElroy with a scroll marking the 60th anniversary<br />

of the Maidstone Circle<br />

Province 7 (Kent & South London)<br />

of <strong>The</strong> Catenian Association at<br />

Rochester Cathedral on 18th<br />

October 2008. <strong>The</strong> Mass for Vocations was attended by the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael<br />

Nazir-Ali, his wife Valerie and a large congregation of Catenian families. St. Francis’ Church<br />

Master of Ceremonies, Mark Coatsworth, and his sons Philip and Andrew assisted on the altar.<br />

I<br />

t is not often that a working priest has the opportunity to spend Holy Week in another country without too many<br />

responsibilities. That chance came for me this year when St John’s Seminary at Wonersh, where I work as<br />

Spiritual Director, was invited to the English College of St Alban in Valladolid in Spain. <strong>The</strong> English College there<br />

is no longer a major seminary, but offers what is called a “propadeutic” year for some twenty students whose<br />

bishops feel that a preparatory year would be useful for them. During the past three years or so<br />

some of them have then come on to Wonersh. <strong>The</strong> college itself dates back to 1589 and was<br />

founded to train Catholic priests when it was no longer possible to do so in England. Not a few<br />

of those men, having returned to their own country to minister to recusant Catholics, were<br />

martyred. One of the Rectors, who had himself had been imprisoned in the Tower of London but<br />

then exiled, was Fr William Weston, born in Maidstone in 1550. <strong>The</strong> history of the College makes<br />

for fascinating reading, but that would take another article.<br />

Confraternities and Street Processions<br />

Valladolid was once a royal city and the College was under the protection of Philip II (he of Armada<br />

fame). To-day it is a large modern city with a cathedral, many ancient churches and other<br />

buildings of historical interest. With its airport not too far from the centre, it is easy to reach from<br />

Stansted and it was good to meet a family from St Francis’ parish on the same flight as ourselves<br />

and also on Easter Day to meet another family formerly of the parish who now live in the city. But<br />

what is the special attraction of Valladolid during Semana Santa (Holy Week)? Well, undoubtedly<br />

it is the huge street processions of the Passion led by the ancient Confraternities which take place<br />

each day. We encountered the first wave of these on Palm Sunday, converging on the Cathedral<br />

at midday. Each of these Confraternities has its own life-size statue or statues, some medieval<br />

and some brand new, usually of Our Lord or of Our Lady representing some aspect of the Passion<br />

and these are accompanied in procession by members wearing a distinctive costume, and<br />

usually accompanied by a brass band with drums. Many wear long pointed headdresses, which<br />

can appear slightly bizarre, even sinister, but they are the traditional dress of penitents. Even<br />

quite small children take part, all in costume and obviously very dedicated in what they are doing.<br />

Many of the processions take place very late at night, allowing time for the customary late evening<br />

meal. Two of these processions involved the seminary, the first on Holy Monday when the statue<br />

of Our Lady Vulnerata* is brought out from the chapel to meet the figure of Christ on the Cross<br />

in the street outside at about 12.30 a.m. It is an immensely moving moment when both the huge crucifix and the<br />

statue are gently rocked as they face one another, which could be said to represent the memory of Mary rocking<br />

Christ in the manger. A choir sings some inspiring motets by English composers from the 16th Century. <strong>The</strong><br />

present Rector of the seminary, Monsignor Michael Kujacz, is responsible for involving the College in the<br />

Confraternity of the True Cross and it is through him that this part of the procession has come about. <strong>The</strong> other<br />

procession, known as that of Pardon and Hope, is on Holy Wednesday when a huge figure of Christ enters the<br />

seminary chapel and again the event is accompanied by beautiful singing.<br />

Message of Cultural Catholicism<br />

<strong>The</strong> Valladolid processions are some of the finest in Spain and we were very privileged to witness them, but some<br />

may feel that they do not sit easily with the liturgies of Holy Week. However, they do keep alive for both the local<br />

people and tourists the message of the Passion, especially as many of these would not be in church for those<br />

liturgies. What we have in Spain are the outward signs of a rich cultural Catholicism. <strong>The</strong>re are those in Spain who<br />

would like to get rid of the processions. As we know, medieval England would have had its own cultural Catholicism,<br />

marked by such things as the public election of a May Queen to represent Our Lady, a Boy Bishop to represent St<br />

Nicholas in December, performances of the mystery plays and so on. <strong>The</strong>se things were nearly all swept away by<br />

the Reformation, but some have been revived, albeit locally, by both Anglicans and Catholics in more recent years.<br />

However, there is to-day no distinct English Catholic culture in the way that there still is in Spain.<br />

Our incarnational faith<br />

So what might be the value of the Holy Week processions to-day? Perhaps more than anything else they<br />

emphasize the incarnational nature of our Christian and Catholic faith. Although it may sound strange to say so,<br />

there is a tendency to over-spiritualize our religion. It is a particular feature of Protestantism - witness the lack of<br />

By John McElroy,<br />

SEMANA SANTA 2009<br />

Fr Michael Woodgate<br />

La Vulnerata<br />

<strong>The</strong> Mass and the music were arranged by Maidstone Circle.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Catenian Association is a brotherhood of over 10,000 practising Catholic men in the<br />

UK and overseas. <strong>The</strong> Catholic faith and the family are the bedrocks of the association which<br />

provides a social network helping Catholic men to live out their vocations as husband, father,<br />

friend, committed Christian and active Catholic.<br />

<strong>The</strong> welfare of members and their families is a Catenian priority, including visiting the sick<br />

and elderly and providing comfort and help. Members and their families are given support in<br />

times of difficulty through prayer, practical or, if necessary, financial assistance through a<br />

benevolent fund. Support continues with ongoing concern and care for a deceased member’s<br />

widow and dependants. A bursary fund helps young people to undertake charitable projects here<br />

and abroad.<br />

Maidstone Circle is one of 18 in Kent and the South<br />

London area and, in common with all Catenian Circles, has a<br />

regular monthly meeting. Maidstone Circle meets at the Russell<br />

Hotel, Boxley Road, on the second Monday of every month<br />

except August. Brothers dine after the meeting, having a simple<br />

2-course meal, good conversation and a glass of wine.<br />

All Catenian Circles have social programme for the family,<br />

young and old, typically: Masses for special occasions, family<br />

days, quizzes, clergy evenings, ladies’ evenings, pub meals,<br />

dinners, children’s activity days and visits to the continent, the<br />

theatre and the shows. <strong>The</strong>re are Catenian weekends and<br />

functions in the UK and abroad. Catenians can visit any Circle<br />

meeting anywhere and participate in other Circles’ social and<br />

religious events.<br />

Applications for Membership of Maidstone Circle are<br />

always welcome from practising Catholic men, married or single over 21 years from all walks of<br />

life. <strong>The</strong>re are no limitations on occupation or nationality. Wives of members are not required<br />

to be Catholics, many are not and enjoy Catenian life to the full. To enquire about joining the<br />

Catenians, please contact Membership Officer, Dennis Edwardes, Tel. 01622 720830.<br />

For more information visit: www.thecatenians.com & www.stfrancisparish.org.uk<br />

emphasis on sacraments and also the way in which the material creation can be regarded as getting in the way of<br />

worship and one’s relationship with God, rather than assisting it. Now, it is true that Catholic emphasis on the<br />

incarnational can be overstretched and no doubt the Reformers would say it was this to which they were reacting.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Second Vatican Council itself felt the need to promote the reading and study of the Scriptures (cf the document<br />

Dei Verbum) as well as their value for personal and corporate prayer. But this was not intended<br />

to replace traditional Catholic devotion, which relies on the use of material aids to prayer. For<br />

example, the use of the rosary, so far from being discouraged, was promoted by suggesting it<br />

be prayed in the context of Scripture. This year, as you will know, some of the relics of St Thérèse<br />

of Lisieux will be brought to this parish (at Aylesford) and this, it is hoped, will encourage not only<br />

devotion to her, but to all the things she represents, not least prayer and that love which lies at<br />

the heart of our faith. <strong>The</strong>re is presently showing in the Victoria and Albert Museum an exhibition<br />

on the art of the Baroque age and as the Catholic Herald reviewer wrote: “...the real presence<br />

of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is the reason for all the expressive decoration and statuary<br />

surrounding the altars within the newly built churches ( at that time)”. <strong>The</strong> baroque age, of<br />

which Spain was the exemplar, strikingly demonstrates the incarnational character of our faith.<br />

This raises the question of how much a personal belief in the real presence of Christ in the<br />

Eucharist is enhanced by material accompaniments, however simple. We have to face the fact<br />

that many Catholics in our own country behave as though the Blessed Sacrament were little<br />

more than bread and wine that is rather special, rather than the Body and Blood of Christ. First<br />

Communion catechists know how hard it is to help (some) children appreciate what they are<br />

receiving. <strong>The</strong> sense of awe and wonder is so difficult to achieve in our age, especially when<br />

there is so much trivialization of the holy, but that is another story.<br />

Destruction of our Catholic culture<br />

A recent series of programmes about King Henry VIII on British television has highlighted the<br />

way in which our Catholic culture was so easily destroyed in the 16th century and the Catholic<br />

historian Eamon Duffy has demonstrated in several of his books how much that culture was<br />

valued by the common people. Irish immigration in the 19th and early 20th century certainly<br />

gave English Catholicism a culture again, but much of that is fast disappearing. Symbols of our<br />

faith are not often seen these days in Catholic homes and practices such as family rosary, the<br />

use of prayer books and missals are not very common. Now, you may say that what matters is not the outward<br />

material signs, but the living faith and sacramental practice of our people, but those Holy Week Spanish street<br />

processions demonstrate a front-line defence for the Church in a country where it is currently under attack. It might<br />

at first sight be easy to dismiss them as a spectacular tourist attraction, but men do not carry 70 kilos of weight on<br />

their shoulders and people do not walk through the streets for hours on end just to draw the crowds - they are<br />

doing penance for their sins.<br />

Yes, there is rivalry between the Confraternities, but that does not belittle the sheer stamina and devotion of their<br />

members during the Semana Santa. What are the front-line defences of our own Church in England to-day? <strong>The</strong>re<br />

is no doubt that both Catholicism and the faith of all our brothers and sisters in Christ is also under attack.<br />

Our joyful task<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is no quick-fix answer to this, of course, and Catholics are no strangers to persecution. What we must never<br />

do is to forget that an incarnational faith - a faith built on the fact that God became flesh and blood - should embrace<br />

every aspect of human life and we should not pull up the drawbridge.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is a Spanish saying: “De la misa a la mesa” which means “From the Mass to the table” - in other words, no<br />

separation between faith and culture. An incarnational faith means that we should be socially concerned and do<br />

all we can to promote a kingdom of justice, love and peace.<br />

*<strong>The</strong> statue of Our Lady Vulnerata (i.e. wounded) in the chapel of the English College was originally in a church in Cadiz<br />

but badly damaged by English troops when they sailed into the port in 1596. Staff and students of the College asked to<br />

be able to make reparation for what their fellow-countrymen had done by placing it over the reredos of their altar and the<br />

statue (still damaged) was solemnly installed in 1600 and remains there to-day<br />

5


6<br />

NEWS IN<br />

PICTURES<br />

Last Christmas, adults as well as the children were<br />

delighted by the beautiful scene of the Christchild<br />

in the manger, a reminder of the true meaning of<br />

Christmas, which we sometimes forget in the hurly<br />

burly of the festive season.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Churches in Maidstone Good Friday procession<br />

of the Cross culminated at the junction of Fremlin’s<br />

Walk and Week Street with a service of readings<br />

and hymns accompanied by the Salvation Army<br />

band.<br />

Canon John and various parishioners enjoy a<br />

sunny al fresco meal and a glass of beer in the<br />

Belgian city of Bruges during the parish outing on<br />

May 9th. A good time was had by all!<br />

<strong>The</strong> Syro Malaber Maundy Thursday celebration in<br />

the Parish Hall<br />

At a happy gathering on Sunday, April 26th in the<br />

School hall, Canon John was presented with a book<br />

containing the names and best wishes of his<br />

parishioners on his becoming a Chapter Canon.<br />

Congatulations, Canon, on becoming one of the big<br />

guns!<br />

<br />

After the baptism of<br />

his baby brother in<br />

church, little Declan<br />

sobbed all the way<br />

home in the back seat of the<br />

car. His father asked him<br />

three times what was wrong.<br />

Finally Declan replied, “That<br />

priest said he wanted us<br />

brought up in a good<br />

Christian home, but I want to<br />

stay with you and Mummy.”<br />

S<br />

St. Maximilian Kolbe<br />

t. Maximilian Kolbe was born to Julius and Maria<br />

Kolbe on January 8th 1894 in Zdunska-Wola,<br />

Poland. He was baptised Raymond. His parents<br />

were impoverished weavers and deeply devout Third<br />

Order Franciscans.<br />

Raymond was a mischievous, wilful child. His<br />

mother, Maria, became concerned that his life would<br />

take an unfavourable direction. Raymond, aged twelve,<br />

also wondered about his own destiny. One evening,<br />

while praying before a statue of Our Lady in the parish<br />

chapel and asking what would become of him,<br />

Raymond saw an apparition of Our Lady. She held out<br />

two crowns towards him; a white crown for purity and a<br />

red crown for martyrdom.<br />

Our Lady asked Raymond which crown he would<br />

accept. He answered that he would accept both. <strong>The</strong>n<br />

the apparition disappeared. He told his mother about<br />

the apparition and afterwards Maria Kolbe noticed a<br />

great change in her son’s behaviour; Raymond was now<br />

a very obedient boy, deeply devoted to Our Lady.<br />

In 1910, when Raymond was sixteen, he sought<br />

the religious life and entered the Franciscan Order. He<br />

continued his vocational studies in Rome, at the<br />

Pontifical Gregorian University, then at the Pontifical<br />

University of St. Bonaventure, graduating from both with a doctorate in philosophy and<br />

theology.<br />

At the end of WWI, Raymond was ordained in Rome, taking the names Maximilian<br />

Mary.In 1919 he returned to his native Poland.<br />

Demonstrations in Europe at that time by Freemasons against the Papacy inspired<br />

Fr. Maximilian to found the sodality of the Militia of Mary Immaculate, a Franciscan<br />

devotional printing press that published a popular monthly magazine entitled ‘<strong>The</strong><br />

Knight of the Immaculata’ which encouraged conversions and devotion to Our Lady.<br />

He also founded a monastery in Niepokalanow near Warsaw, a seminary, a radio<br />

station and a number of other devotional organisations. During this time Fr. Maximilian<br />

was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Between 1930 and 1936, Fr. Maximilian made<br />

missionary trips to Japan where he founded devotional associations and a Franciscan<br />

monastery built on a mountainside near the city of Nagasaki. Despite the atomic bomb<br />

being dropped on Nagasaki in WWII, the monastery remains prominent in Japan<br />

today).<br />

During WWII, Fr. Maximilian provided food and shelter for Polish refugees who had<br />

fled Nazi persecution, including 2000 Jews whom he hid in his monastery in<br />

Niepokalanov. Through radio, he condemned Nazi atrocities and his printing press<br />

came under scrutiny by the Nazi regime, leading to his arrest and imprisonment by the<br />

Gestapo in February 1941. He was sentenced to three months in Pawiak Prison,<br />

Warsaw, before being transferred, on May 25th 1941, to the infamous Auschwitz-<br />

Birkenau concentration camp.<br />

On arrival at Auschwitz, the sight of Fr. Maximilian, wearing the Franciscan habit<br />

with his Rosary beads visible, infuriated a Nazi guard. “Do you believe in that?” the<br />

guard asked him, pointing to the crucifix on his beads. When Fr. Maximilian calmly<br />

replied, “Yes, I believe”, the Nazi guard angrily grabbed the beads repeating the<br />

question, slapped him hard on the face several times. Realising Fr. Maximilian was<br />

remaining calm and unshaken, the enraged guard finally gave up and left the room.<br />

Fr. Maximilian was branded prisoner 16670 and assigned to work immediately with<br />

other prisoners on the construction of a crematorium wall.<br />

Construction work in Auschwitz was supervised by some of the most sadistic Nazi<br />

guards. Daily, they made prisoners cut down trees in the surrounding woodland and<br />

forced them to carry the large tree trunks. Prisoners were also ordered to run as they<br />

carried the timber on their backs. If they did not run fast enough they were beaten with<br />

whips by the guards. Fr. Maximilian’s tuberculosis was now at an advanced stage but<br />

Pray as you go<br />

http://www.pray-as-you-go.org<br />

This site is run by the Jesuits. It offers a 10 minute prayer for each day of<br />

the working week. You can go to the website and listen on your<br />

computer or you can download the podcast. <strong>The</strong> prayer involves some<br />

music, a reading from the day and some thoughtful questions to help<br />

apply the reading in our lives. <strong>The</strong>y come in batches of 5 so you can set<br />

yourself up for the week and use them when you have a few moments<br />

your schedule.<br />

Taize Prayer<br />

www.taize.fr/podcast<br />

<strong>The</strong> ecumenical community in Taize also offers a 10 minute podcast two<br />

or three times a week which is recorded in the Church of Reconciliation in<br />

France. This consists of chants, a short reading in different languages and<br />

some prayers. <strong>The</strong> Saturday night prayer is available in full (about an<br />

hour) courtesy of the German Christian Radio station Domradio:<br />

Picture and words by Charlotte Cassidy, artist<br />

Faith Online: Podcasts for prayer<br />

Bob Bowie<br />

he calmly accepted the work and the blows, spiritually<br />

drawing strength and courage from his love for Our Lady.<br />

Nazi guards had an contempt for Catholic priests and Fr.<br />

Maximilian was especially singled out for cruelty by one of<br />

the guards who had a reputation for being particularly<br />

callous. On one occasion Fr. Maximilian lost consciousness<br />

during a beating and was left for dead. When the guards<br />

had gone, the other prisoners went to his assistance; they<br />

managed to revive him and smuggle him to the camp<br />

hospital. After a few days, when he began to recover, he<br />

secretly heard the other prisoners’ confessions and spoke<br />

to them of God’s infinite love. He shared his small rations of<br />

food with them. His comforting words of love from the<br />

Scriptures and his holy example gave them great courage.<br />

He urged the other prisoners not to harden their souls with<br />

hatred for their Nazi tormentors but to pray for the<br />

redemption of the Nazi guards and for an end to the war.<br />

When he had recovered enough, the guards made Fr.<br />

Maximilian carry large, heavy blocks of concrete for the<br />

continued construction of the crematorium wall.<br />

In late July of 1941, the Nazi guards discovered that<br />

three prisoners had escaped from the camp. In reprisal for<br />

the escaped prisoners, the Nazi Commandant announced<br />

that ten prisoners would be selected at random to die in the<br />

Bunker, a notorious underground starvation cell. One of the men selected was a Polish<br />

Jew, named Franciszek Gajowniczek. He made a tearful plea to the Commandant<br />

exclaiming, “My wife! My children! I’ll never see them again! Fr. Maximilian stepped<br />

forward and said, “I’m a Catholic priest. Let me take his place. I’m older. He has a wife<br />

and children”. <strong>The</strong> Franciscan then joined the nine ill-fated men, taking the place of<br />

Franciszek Gajowniczek.<br />

<strong>The</strong> ten men were then taken to Block 13 (<strong>The</strong> Death Block), told to strip naked<br />

and ordered to enter a narrow tunnel to reach the small, windowless, underground<br />

Bunker where the men would die slowly without food or water. Over the following days,<br />

Nazi guards patrolling the grounds above the Bunker could hear Fr. Maximilian leading<br />

the other prisoners in continuous prayer. Each day the men’s voices grew weaker.<br />

After three weeks the Bunker fell silent and two Nazi guards opened the<br />

underground room for inspection. Nine of the ten men were dead, only Fr. Maximilian<br />

was still alive. He was sitting against a wall, his eyes open, his expression serene, his<br />

hands were clasped in prayer. With a whispered prayer on his lips, he offered the<br />

guards his left arm and was immediately executed with an injection of carbolic acid.<br />

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe died at 12.30pm on August 14th 1941. He was only forty seven<br />

years old. He was cremated in Auschwitz’ notorious ovens the next day. In a last letter<br />

to his mother, Maria, on June 15th 1941, he wrote “Pray that my love will be without<br />

limits”.<br />

Pope Paul VI beatified Fr. Maximilian Kolbe on October <strong>17</strong>th 1971. In his homily<br />

he praised Fr. Maximilian’s profound sanctity and, speaking of the Holocaust, urged the<br />

world never to forget those horrendous and tragic pages of history.<br />

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe was canonised by Pope John Paul II on October 10th<br />

1982. In his homily, the Holy Father declared, “He bore witness to Christ and to love.<br />

His heroism went echoing through the concentration camp of Auschwitz. In that desert<br />

of hatred he had sown love”.<br />

Franciszek Gajowniczek, the Jewish man for whom St. Maximilian Kolbe<br />

sacrificed his life, was reunited with his wife, Helena, after the war. Sadly, his two<br />

young sons had died some months earlier.<br />

Franciszek spent the rest of his life, until his own death in 1995 at the age of 94,<br />

spreading devotion to St. Maximilian Kolbe. He would visit the Bunker at Auschwitz<br />

each year on the anniversary of St. Maximilian’s death and he would often recall, with<br />

gratitude and affection, St. Maximilian’s sacrifice for him on that day in Auschwitz.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is much to frown about on the Internet but there are also things to be thankful for, and there are many websites which offer food for the soul.<br />

Here are a few of my favourites which offer podcasts, audio prayers which you can listen to. It is no substitute for gathering and praying together<br />

with others but is an option if that is not possible during the week.<br />

http://www.domradio.com/default.asp?SiteID=28<br />

Taking the Tablet<br />

http://www.premierradio.org.uk/programmes/takingthetablet<br />

For those interested more in talk radio, Premier Radio, a Christian radio<br />

station broadcasts a show in which Leslie Griffiths, the minister of<br />

Wesleys Chapel, speaks each week with Cindy Kent to discuss issues<br />

arising from the Catholic International newspaper, <strong>The</strong> Tablet. <strong>The</strong>re is a<br />

podcast again which can be downloaded from the website.<br />

What are podcasts?<br />

Podcasts are audio programmes downloaded from the internet to your<br />

computer which you can listen to using a programme like iTunes<br />

(available from www.apple.com/uk for PC or Mac). iTunes will download<br />

the latest batch of prayers whenever you run it and you can listen to<br />

them as you would a song through your computer speakers. For those<br />

with mp3 players or iPods you can also hear them there by copying the<br />

files over.


A blast from the past - ‘FRANCISCI’ 1957!<br />

Denis Neale<br />

Canon John was recently shown a rather battered copy of<br />

‘Francisci’, a first edition of the St Francis’ school magazine<br />

published in 1957 and he passed it on to me with the<br />

suggestion that it might be interesting to feature it in the<br />

‘<strong>Parishioner</strong>’. As a former pupil of St Francis’ I was eager to<br />

read it and I found it brought back many memories of the<br />

staff and pupils I knew during my time at the school.<br />

<strong>The</strong> magazine pages were typed out, reproduced (I<br />

guess) by a Roneo printer - no fancy computers and<br />

printers in those days - and stapled together with a<br />

yellow front cover which stated the price was one<br />

shilling a copy. No doubt they had to reproduce<br />

several hundred of these 34 page magazines, which<br />

must have quite expensive.<br />

On the first page is a foreword by Canon Joseph Simmons, the parish priest. As I read this I could see him,<br />

peering over his glasses and wagging his finger. Contents of the magazine are pretty much the usual fare; a<br />

message from the head master, Mr. McPartland, lists of prize winners at the Prize and Open Day, sports awards<br />

and news of the four school houses, St John Fisher, St Thomas More, St Simon Stock and my old house St<br />

Thomas a Becket. <strong>The</strong>re were many contributions from pupils of all ages, as the headmaster wrote, “from the<br />

naïve descriptions of younger children, to the more sophisticated efforts of the older boys and girls” and it was<br />

great fun reading those from pupils I now know as venerable members of the parish.<br />

When I first saw the magazine I thought the cover design was rubbish, so I was mortified when I read in<br />

the editorial “Many thanks to Denis Neale for designing the cover”. I honestly can’t remember doing it, but I<br />

thank the editors for being so kind.<br />

<strong>The</strong> cover of the<br />

magazine - not one of my best!<br />

<strong>The</strong> foreword in the school magazine by Canon Joseph Simmons blessing the efforts of all involved.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Prize and Open Day 1957 was reported in the<br />

Kent Messenger. As it happened, the photograph<br />

shows a young Denis Neale receiving an award.<br />

Not for myself, I hasten to add, but on behalf<br />

of my house, Thomas a Becket.<br />

T<br />

Jim Murphy joined the staff of St. Francis’ in 1956 and was a leading light in the production of<br />

‘Francisci’. I asked him to write about his memories of the school and here they are.<br />

St. Francis’ School 1956-1959<br />

by Jim Murphy<br />

he editor has asked me to reminisce about the school in these years because he has been<br />

given a school magazine of the period. David Martin, another teacher, and I produced the<br />

magazine and a pupil named Denis Neale did the artwork for the cover, later attending the<br />

Maidstone College of Art!<br />

I was appointed in September 1956 by Canon Simmons, a selfless priest just like our present<br />

Canon, having worked beforehand in St.John’s Senior School, Gravesend. Canon asked me to<br />

apply after a session of church cleaning (in those days it meant sweeping the floor and a supper<br />

of cheese and bread in Grove House). <strong>The</strong>n I was invited to tea by Mr. McPartland, who lived in<br />

the head teacher’s house in Pine Grove.<br />

<strong>The</strong> staff was well established and a number had served the school throughout the Second<br />

World War. It included Mrs. Coakley, who is now 102, and another member who had been on<br />

the staff for 45 years, including time as a pupil teacher.<br />

<strong>The</strong> school was crowded with about 400 children from 5 -15 in large classes. <strong>The</strong> head<br />

teacher used the staff room together with the secretary and school nurse. I was teaching the 11+<br />

class in the present office, taking the blackboard down for the children to leave the room (no<br />

health and safety around in those days). Our school results were on a par with, or even better,<br />

than many schools in the borough. Mass and Benediction were very much part of the curriculum.<br />

I remember at this time that the school was victorious in winning the Maidstone Primary<br />

Football Cup. This was even more remarkable because for games we had to walk across the High<br />

Here we come a-carolling!<br />

St Francis’ singers and musicians bring Christmas joy to the Mall,<br />

Chequers Shopping Centre, Maidstone on last December 13th<br />

Level bridge to Brunswick House school field and change in all weathers outside, not being<br />

allowed to use their school’s facilities. I think that about this time Michael Dracup and Vivian<br />

Twyman (now Watson) were the senior prefects. How times move on!<br />

<strong>The</strong> school hall was used for assemblies, P.E. and school dinners. On a recent parish outing<br />

Denis was admiring the beautiful dining hall of Magdelen College, Oxford and remarked how<br />

many times he had to prepare the tables at St. Francis’. In the evening the hall was used for Bingo<br />

Sessions, Scouts, the Catholic Women’s Guild (and a drama group), dancing and badminton and,<br />

at weekends, jumble sales were arranged by Mrs. Robinson. All these under the eagle eye of Mr.<br />

Skinner, the school caretaker.<br />

In 57/58 the senior children (11-15) left for the classrooms in the old nissan huts in Vinters<br />

Park which in the 60’s became the basic intake for St. Simon Stock School. <strong>The</strong> extra space left<br />

in the school meant that vacated classrooms could be used by the primary children and the head<br />

teacher had an office!<br />

Even though it was crowded it was a very happy school and I remember the noisy steam<br />

trains going to and from Ashford (electrification had only reached Maidstone East). In early<br />

1959 I moved to St. Mary’s School, Gillingham, only to be greeted once again with noisy steam<br />

engines and a level crossing. Look at Catholic schools and see how many have been built near<br />

railways because this land was cheap in the 19th century.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> Pope arrives at Heathrow on a secret visit to a friend in England<br />

and he’s met at Arrivals by a scruffy looking taxi driver holding a hand<br />

lettered sign that says ‘Pope’. Not recognising the Holy Father, the<br />

driver takes the Pope to the VIP car park, loads the Pope’s luggage into<br />

a posh limousine - the Pope doesn’t travel light - then notices that the<br />

Pope is still waiting to get in. “Mr. Pope”, he says, “why aren’t you in the car yet?”<br />

“Well, to tell the truth”, says the Pope, “<strong>The</strong>y never let me drive back home and I’d<br />

really like to drive”. “ Actually, it’s against the rules”, protests the taxi driver. “<strong>The</strong>re<br />

might be something extra in it for you.” says the Pope. “Well in that case...,”<br />

mutters the driver and reluctantly gets into the back as the Pope gets in behind the<br />

wheel. <strong>The</strong> driver immediately regrets his decision when, after getting onto the<br />

motorway, the Pope accelerates the limo to 105 mph. “Please don’t drive so fast,<br />

Mr Pope”, pleads the worried man, but the Pope keeps his foot to the floor. <strong>The</strong>n<br />

they hear the siren. As the driver cringes in the back seat, the Pope pulls over and<br />

rolls down the window as a traffic cop approaches. <strong>The</strong> cop takes one look at him,<br />

goes back to his car and gets on his radio. “I need to talk to the Sergeant,” he says.<br />

When the Sergeant gets on the radio the cop tells him he’s stopped a limousine<br />

going at 105mph. “So arrest the driver,” says the Sergeant. “I think the passenger’s<br />

an important person,” says the cop. “All the more reason” “No, I mean really<br />

important,” insists the cop. “Who have you got there, the Lord Mayor of London? -<br />

“Bigger” - “Prince William? - “Bigger” - “Well,” said the Sergeant “Who is it?” - “I<br />

don’t know,” said the cop, but he’s got the Pope driving for him.”<br />

7


T<br />

he Committee of the Dew Association wishes to thank the parishioners of St. Francis Church for their generosity over the<br />

years, in support of the many overseas charities. Despite the downturn in the economy there has been a noticeable<br />

increase of contributions in the last couple of months.<br />

<strong>The</strong> figures given below are greater than the amounts received from the second collections because the Dew fund receives<br />

monies from other sources, such as Direct Debits or personal cheques. In addition relatives of a deceased parishioner sometimes<br />

make a request for no flowers at the funeral, but suggest that contributions be sent to the Dew Association. All additional monies<br />

are spread across the year, so that all the charities benefit equally. Contributions from these sources are much appreciated.<br />

We receive letters of appreciation from the benefactors of the collections and these letters are posted on the Church Notice<br />

Board.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Association also thanks Canon John for allowing the monthly collections especially as he has many requests from the<br />

parish and diocese to fit into the annual collection calendar. We also wish to thank the organiser of the weekly parish newsletter,<br />

whose timely reminders keeps the objectives of the Association prominent.<br />

You may be assured that all the money collected goes directly to the named benefactor on the list. In that way we are<br />

confident that the money reaches those most in need. It is one of the Association’s aims that the charity must be small and local<br />

and that the named benefactor is known to a member of St. Francis parish, past or present. <strong>The</strong>re are no administrative costs,<br />

except on three occasions in the year when, for financial security the money must be sent by Bank electronic transfer, for which<br />

the Bank charges. For a number of years, I had an arrangement with a Bank official for no charge. However, sadly that generous<br />

employee (Mr Ryan) left the Bank and his successor informs me that, “in the current financial climate that arrangement cannot<br />

continue.” I have taken the view that “every little helps.”<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are two benefactors on the list for whom I can find no parishioner contact. <strong>The</strong>y are Bro. Bantilan and Sr. Niconora. My<br />

predecessor, the late Ted Burgess once told me that “the information is lost in the mists of time.” If any reader knows differently,<br />

please let me know and I will update the records. <strong>The</strong>y both continually keep us informed of how they use the money. I believe<br />

that they both use the same ancient typewriter because certain damaged keys appear in letters.from both of them. Bro. Bantilan<br />

always ends his letters with “God Bless and More Power!’ With that ending to a benefactor’s letter, how can we fail to support<br />

them? Below a list of the project payments for last year.<br />

Payments from 1978 to February 2008 £79,024,00<br />

Project payments for 08/09<br />

Dew Association<br />

Support grows despite<br />

economic decline<br />

Mar 08 Handicapped Children, Pakistan (Sr. E Fernandes) £410.00<br />

Apr 08 St. Francis Secondary School, <strong>The</strong> Gambia. (Fr. Peter Adu) £437.00<br />

May 08 Zambia, Orphan Children, Kiltegan Missions. (Fr. Eugene O’Reilly) £506.00<br />

June 08 Zimbabwe. (Fr. Tim Peacock) £411.00<br />

Aug 08 Sisters of the Holy Rosary, Nigeria. (Sr. Josephine) £294.00<br />

Sept 08 Slum Clearance, India. (Fr. Paul Kadicheeni) £384.00<br />

Oct 08 Comboni Fathers, Eritrea. (Fr. Paul Felix) £420.00<br />

Nov 08 Mentally Handicapped Children, Ghana. (Rev. Joe Bennett) £414.00<br />

Dec 08 Irmas Carmelites in Nampula, Mozambique £440.00<br />

Jan 09 Leper Colony, Philippines. (Bro. Bantilan) £320.00<br />

Feb 09 Orphan Children, Philippines, (Sr. N. Cantaros) £350.00<br />

Total £4386.0<br />

Grand Total £83,410.00<br />

And now a little piece of History.<br />

Trawling through the early documents in the old “Dew” folder, I extracted the following. “ From small beginnings the Dew<br />

Association was founded in 1978, by a friend of Sister Elizabeth McNulty, a missionary worker in south Peru. Sister Elizabeth<br />

asked her friend in Maidstone to help, financially and with prayer, the unfortunate and hungry people she worked among. And so,<br />

the Dew Association was born; the name chosen and adopted was because of its biblical reference. - Seeing the dew on the<br />

ground, the hungry Israelites wondered what it was. “That” said Moses, “ is the bread Yahweh gives you to eat.” (Exodus 16<br />

verses 13-15)<br />

“In the summer of 1980, the Parish Council was discussing ways in which to help our brothers and sisters in the Third<br />

World. It was decided that as the Dew Association was already in our midst and doing the kind of work envisaged by the Council,<br />

the efforts of the Parish to “feed the hungry” both physically and spiritually should be channelled through that Association.<strong>The</strong><br />

Council felt that it would be more beneficial if the Association’s main effort was directed towards small individual projects, dealt<br />

with on a personal basis.Another advantage of the Dew Association was that there were no administrative expenses, except<br />

nominal Bank charges.”<br />

And back to the present.<br />

I believe that the Association is still in keeping with its small beginnings, but look at how much money parishioners have<br />

raised over the years. I cannot account for the prayers; but I am sure they are documented elsewhere. Well done, keep giving the<br />

money. As Bro. Bantilan sums it up - God bless and More Power!<br />

Hugh McKearney. Hon. Treasurer. Tel. No: 01622 720447 April 2009.<br />

Fatima Pilgrimage<br />

An exciting pilgrimage to<br />

Fatima (Portugal) is being<br />

arranged from 13th - <strong>17</strong>th<br />

October, 2009 for the month<br />

of Our Lady. Prices are from<br />

£585. For further details<br />

contact Jo (01622 756362)<br />

<strong>The</strong> statue of Our Lady of Fatima in the chapel of Apparitions in the<br />

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima<br />

Apologies<br />

Please accept our humble<br />

apologies for the mistakes and<br />

gobbledy-gook bits which<br />

appeared in the Christmas<br />

edition of the <strong>Parishioner</strong>.<br />

A special sorry to Chris<br />

Cassidy s family - in fact Chris<br />

Cassidy s funeral took place in<br />

October 2008 not in<br />

September and apologies to<br />

Richard Ashton whose name<br />

was left off the Solesmes<br />

article.<br />

PARISH WEB SITE<br />

WWW.STFRANCISPARISH.ORG.UK<br />

Baptisms<br />

November 2008<br />

Ethan Benjamin Smith<br />

Lewis John Elcombe<br />

Shemiel Adrukwu<br />

Kelechi Nwanyanwu Diala<br />

December 2008<br />

Isabel Tomlin<br />

Christina Bragin<br />

Maria Schmidt<br />

January 2009<br />

Daniel Bayjou<br />

Maya Kolialak<br />

Teddy Chaplain<br />

Kai Person<br />

Amelia Cushing<br />

Oscar Cushing<br />

Jasmin Ramanathan<br />

William Glennon<br />

February 2009<br />

Oskar Stankiewicz<br />

Ellie May<br />

Oluhitare Longe<br />

March 2009<br />

Eva Skelton<br />

Mitchell McNally<br />

Marta Gronkiewicz<br />

Callum Peen<br />

Luke Einosas<br />

Thomas Osborn<br />

Gregory McNiel-Filmer<br />

Teddy Kelly<br />

Harry Kelly<br />

Sebastion Dunlop<br />

Emma Kennedy<br />

Careron Beirne<br />

April 2009<br />

Esther Sonquit<br />

Malachy May<br />

Ciara Marshall<br />

Olivia Maclellan<br />

Sarah Saul<br />

Bonnie Saiano<br />

May 2009<br />

Liliana Almeida<br />

Oliver Stewart -Hall<br />

Lucia Chell<br />

Daisy Walsh<br />

Marriages<br />

February 2009<br />

Jakub Reszka & Maria Paprocka<br />

Matthew Dowling & Victoria Nichols<br />

March 2009<br />

David Caya & Edyta Wozniak<br />

Deaths<br />

November 2008<br />

Elizabeth Sewell<br />

Helen Sedgebeer<br />

Ted Higgins<br />

Cordelia White<br />

December 2008<br />

Rosellin Gallagher<br />

Tina Gilloway<br />

Kate Gleeson<br />

Floryse Berville<br />

January 2009<br />

Terence Hegarty<br />

Michael Ryan<br />

Mary Temple<br />

Anne Ryan<br />

James Thompson<br />

John O’Leary<br />

Trevor Martin<br />

February 2009<br />

Mary Brown<br />

David Johnson<br />

March 2009<br />

Subyla Mendes<br />

April 2009<br />

Jack Harrington<br />

Mary Tolley<br />

Sorren Davis<br />

Ronald Gorman<br />

Cecilia Philp<br />

<strong>The</strong> Assumption of Our Lady<br />

Feast Day, August 15th<br />

Designed and produced by: Denis & Rosemary Neale . Printedby: Broad OakColour<br />

A<br />

long with the<br />

feast of the<br />

Immaculate<br />

Conception, the<br />

Assumption is a<br />

principal feast of the<br />

Blessed Virgin and a<br />

Holy Day of<br />

Obligation; that is, one<br />

of the most important<br />

feasts of the Church<br />

year. It celebrates<br />

both the departure of<br />

Mary, the mother of<br />

Jesus, from this life by her natural<br />

death and her assumption bodily<br />

into heaven.<br />

While there is no direct<br />

evidence of the Assumption in the<br />

Bible, implicitly the Church argues<br />

from Mary s fullness of grace.<br />

(Luke 1: 28). Since she was full of<br />

grace, she remained preserved<br />

from the consequence of sin,<br />

namely, corruption of the body<br />

after death and postponement of<br />

bodily happiness in heaven until<br />

the last day. <strong>The</strong> Church does not<br />

rely on the Scriptures for belief in<br />

Marys Assumption. <strong>The</strong> doctrine<br />

is part of the oral tradition, handed<br />

down over the centuries from the<br />

earliest days of Christianity.<br />

<strong>The</strong> doctrine of Mary s<br />

entrance into heaven, body and<br />

soul, was declared a dogma of the<br />

Church in 1950. A dogma is a<br />

doctrine taught by the Church to<br />

be believed by all the faithful as<br />

part of divine revelation. On May<br />

1st 1946 the Pope had asked all<br />

the bishops of the world whether<br />

they thought this belief in the<br />

assumption of Mary into heaven<br />

should be defined as a part of<br />

divine revelation and<br />

whether they, with<br />

their clergy and people<br />

desired the definition.<br />

After much<br />

consultation, almost<br />

all the bishops agreed.<br />

On May 1st 1950,<br />

Pope Pius XII declared<br />

that, Mary the<br />

i m m a c u l a t e ,<br />

perpetually Virgin<br />

Mother of God, after<br />

completion of her<br />

earthly life, was assumed body<br />

and soul into the glory of heaven.<br />

In explaining the grounds for the<br />

Churchs belief, the Holy Father<br />

singled out the facts that Mary was<br />

the Mother of God (defined at the<br />

Council of Ephesus in 431AD); that<br />

the body of Christ originated from<br />

the body of Mary; that her body<br />

was preserved unimpaired in<br />

virginal integrity, and therefore it<br />

was fitting that it should not be<br />

subject to destruction after death;<br />

and that since Mary so closely<br />

shared in Christ s redemptive<br />

mission on earth, she deserved to<br />

join him also in bodily glorification.<br />

<strong>The</strong> feast of the Assumption<br />

has always been loved by the<br />

faithful. It is a sign to us that<br />

someday, through God s grace<br />

and our efforts, we too, may join<br />

the Blessed Mother in giving glory<br />

to God. <strong>The</strong> Assumption is a<br />

source of great hope for us, too,<br />

for it points the way for all followers<br />

of Christ who imitate her fidelity<br />

and obedience to God s will.<br />

Where she is now, we are meant<br />

eventually to be, and may hope to<br />

be through Gods Divine grace.

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