War Crimes

'The head of the UN's cultural agency has condemned the "systematic" destruction in Iraq as a "war crime".'[BBC report].

Yes, it is terribly sad that so much evidence for ancient civilisations is being destroyed, so much beautiful work being attacked as 'idolatrous'.

Yet only last evening in a programme about monasticism the destruction of much more art and architecture, in this country, was being excused as somehow necessary before our nation could become truly enlightened. And it was asserted that the murder of those monks who resisted, like the septuagenarian Abbot Whiting of Glastonbury - hanged, drawn and quartered on Glastonbury Tor - was a fairly minor matter. It was not - and neither is the slaughter going on even now by these self-styled defenders of Islam. 

In one interview about the bulldozing of Nimrud a UN speaker described what has happened as "ethnic cleansing". There has certainly been ethnic cleansing by IS, and it continues. It is not a matter of archaeology, though.  Why such a muted response against the killing of entire communities, Christian, Yazidi and others, who were established in Syria long before the Islamic invasions? Culture matters, sure. But human beings are of infinitely more value than carved stone however beautiful. Those murders are the real war crimes.

Furzey

If you were at Chelsea couple of years go you might recall and entry from Furzey Gardens. Some of the competitors spend hundreds of thousands of pounds producing a garden for the show. With the help of Chris Beardshaw, the Furzey Gardeners created a magical space for a tiny expense - and brought home a Gold Medal! They also brought their exhibit home, and here it is.

Chelsea prize winner installed back at Furzey

The gardens are in the New Forest, a dozen miles or so from our home; you might have to persuade some of the locals to let you in:

Pony on Sentry Duty

It is well worth the effort. The gardens are run by a charitable trust, and many of the people you see working there will be students with learning difficulties. Everyone there, students,  tutors and volunteers you will find are very welcoming. In past years we have had an annual ticket to another local garden. This year we decided it was a much better idea to enjoy the gardens at Furzey and at the same time support this hugely important venture with an annual membership.

There is a lot of water at Furzey

We have been several times in past years, and each time we visit there seems to be new initiative. At present many paths are being reinstated, some with board-walks and handrails.The work involved is immense, and everyone gets stuck in (quite literally stuck, sometimes!)
There used to be relations of Lamas [or Llamas] in a paddock (not sure if they are Guanacos?- anyway, some sort of S American Camelid). Now they are not isolated, and today they had company - sheep, donkeys, and a couple of chaps labouring over a bonfire.

Enjoying Spring sunshine

If you get down to the New Forest at any time, it is worth making a detour - you will find the turning to Furzey on the right of the road south from M 27 Junction 1, heading towards Lyndhust. The village is Minstead, and there are places to eat and a church - but tea in  the gardens is warmly recommended. You will not regret the diversion.

I am not sure if the house in the middle of the gardens still functions as a Retreat House: but clearly this is where the inspiration for Furzey originates. 

This is what you will be supporting through your visit - a beautiful and inspirational place, doing wonderful work with some lovely people. There is not room for more pictures, so if you want them look at my Facebook page, or go to the Furzey Gardens Website www.furzey-gardens.org

Chico Bom

Chico says 'Hi'.

Fear not, the marbles are still in place. Thought, though, that you should meet Chico Bom. He is the creation of  Tracey, one of our Bournemouth Ordinariate Mission. A couple of  weeks ago we handed out leaflets from the Torbay Group, appealing for help in purchasing a former Methodist Church for the Ordinariate. Now Tracey had originally come into the Church of England from Methodism, so she felt a special need to do something this Lent to raise some funds for that Appeal. So this morning after Mass we were introduced to Chico (I suspect like the Marx Brother of that name his REAL name is Leonard, but we can't be sure - he is not saying.) Tracey allowed me to bring Chico, her prototype Easter Egg Cosy, back home with me. As you see he helped write this blog. He has spent the rest of today getting acclimatised and meeting some of the flora and fauna of Lymington.

At first he found Wol our Lancastrian owl, a bit intimidating, but give them time and they

Chico and Wol

will surely get along. I have a feeling that Chco is going to appear from time to time on Facebook, but my valued readers on this blog deserve the first sight of him. Chiefly because we would like others to go and take up the challenge from Tracey. She is busy knitting her fingers to the bone in order to create many brothers and sisters for Chico. All the money she raises from their sale (the asking price is only £1.50, and his woolly exterior hides a genuine chocolate cream egg, so we look for generous donations) will go to the Torbay Ordinariate's appeal.. We hope other Groups might be inspired to do their own fund-raising best for the Torbay Group.

I you would like to find out more, log on to the Torbay Group's page, or write to their Pastor, Fr David Lashbrooke, St Agatha's Presbytery,27 Exeter Road,Dawlish, EX7 0BU

Clear the Decks

Kingston Lacey

Anglican bishops look for moral leadership in politics. Catholic bloggers worry about the Pope. Egypt tries to defeat Isis by bombing Syria. And Lent begins.

Snowdrops in the Fernery

To clear our heads, and prepare for the next forty days, we headed for the country- specifically the ancient Bankes estate [now National Trust] of Kingston Lacey near Wimborne - and these pictures might give you a moment to consider that Spring, and Easter, really are on the way.

Lime Walk

Tomorrow the Bournemouth Ordinariate has a morning Mass, but I shall be celebrating for the Parish at 6.30pm since Fr Darryl, their Parish Priest, has to say Mass at the Hospital at that time.

Aconites: lovely, but deadly

Sometimes you need to a close-up to see the beauty of creation.

Cherry Bark

As we left the notice said that annual membership of the Trust for a year was something over £90. When I bought life membership for my wife it cost £75. There are advantages to growing old.

                                                        Have a happy and holy Lent.

Out of the Ordinaries

Fr Ian Hellyer

Westminster Cathedral Hall, and the ordinariate priests of England and Wales (and Scotland) met in conclave with Mgr Keith Newton, our Ordinary, together with two extra Ordinaries, from North America and Australasia. These plenary session are great occasions for catching up with friends, discovering how their Groups or Missions are flourishing, what new ideas are coming up. From Plymouth

Mgr Keith intent on Mgr Mark Langham's exposition

we heard about the developments in catechetical opportunities given us by Buckfast Abbey -opportunities which the Abbot and his Community hope we will use with enthusiasm.

We also had visitors; the Chaplain to Cambridge University, Mgr Mark Langham, has long experience in ecumenical matters, so it was good to hear him speak about the Ordinariate as a great new venture in the search for Christian Unity. He is well versed in classical Anglican spirituality, and is pleased to have readings from Thomas Traherne of John Keble to lighten the load of St Augustine's interminable sermon on the Shepherds.

After a picnic lunch we turned our attention overseas. We complain about the cost of getting to

[l/rt] Mgrs Entwistel, Steenson and Newton: OZ, US,  and us.

London, and the time it takes; but it is trivial compared with Mgr Harry Entwistle's travels. He lives in Perth, on the West Coast of Australia; to get his clergy together (and they are numbered only in tens rather than hundreds) it costs around £6000. It was not so much the differences between the three Ordinariates so much as the similarities which were striking. We are all having to help Catholics of long standing understand what we are about. Of course if they had simply read what the Pope said in Anglicanorum Coetibus it would be perfectly clear.......

Fr Bould between the Pembury duo

As always it was less the set pieces than comparing notes with other priests which was really helpful today. I shall post pictures of some of them on Facebook, but here are a couple for this blog.

Frs Graham Smith & Jonathan R-Harris

And because Fr Allan Hawkins would expect no less, I did raise with the three Ordinaries the question of married clergy. Are our wives a gift to the Catholic Church, or an impediment to be borne? I believe they are a gift to the whole Church, not to be hidden away or spoken about as an embarrassment.Perhaps, though, we do well to let them speak for themselves, and, as they become better known in Catholic Parishes their lives of dedication and service will become increasingly appreciated.

Wisdom from Texas

Fr Allan Hawkins, until fairly recently a Parish Priest in Texas and now retired (much as I am retired, that is seldom saying Mass more than six times a week) has returned to blogging. You can find him at http://www.salveteatquevalete.wordpress.com/ and he is well worth reading - his latest piece concerns clerical marriage, and as a son of an Anglican cleric he understands more than most  the pressures of life in a parsonage. Do read him and, if you will, respond. He and I were seminarians together at a long- vanished institution called Cuddesdon - there is some sort of establishment occupying the old buildings and calling itself "Ripon College Cuddesdon" - it is the heir of the liberal Protestant place formerly on Boar's Hill (Ripon Hall). Back in the 1950s Cuddesdon was properly monastic; I had to get special permission to allow my mother to see the Common Room. I am told that now it more resembles a branch of a ladies' sewing bee. O Tempora, O Mores!

On a more local note, we welcomed the local Catenian Circle at Mass today, and very jolly it was, with some great singing. Usually our Ordinariate Mass is a rather intimate gathering with no more than thirty or forty in Church, so it was lovely to have the place almost full today. Some have said they would like to return when we are using the Ordinariate form for the Mass. That will begin again on the first Sunday in Lent..

Just a Question

Twenty years ago when Flying Bishops were first appointed the Archbishop ensured that there was a full turnout of Bishops to endorse this new ministry, and show it had the support of the whole of the Church of England. Apparently there were several present at the consecration of Philip North in York Minster. Yet it seems only three (Chichester the sole diocesan bishop, Beverley the only Flying Bishop, and Pontefract, another Suffragan bishop) were permitted (or willing?) to lay on hands. So where were the other traditionalist bishops? Or are there so few left? It's just a question - maybe someone can answer, but it seemed so markedly different when Libby Lane was all but lost under a welter of episcopal hands only a few days earlier. Bishop Philip has made encouraging noises for those still unpersuaded by women's ordination. His voice sounds a bit lonely and it would be especially helpful to know how and whether the Bishops of the Society of SS Wilfred and Hilda mean to support him.