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| Editorial Welcome to the centenary edition of the New Beacon. Centenary celebration We hope this issue, encapsulating a small part of the life of the parish over the last century, will help bring back happy memories of those hundred years. Several photos, anecdotes and jokes intersperse the articles. With a family theme, Wendy Lewis’ amusing article describes life for a new convert 45 years ago! Pat Dorman tells us of her family connections in the parish over the last century. Marian and Geoff Miller recall four weddings and an ordination that are interconnected. Peter Berners-Lee has written a vibrant account of parish life from a personal perspective as it is today. Hopefully this will resonate with many of you and match your expectations of what a Catholic parish should be like. Also included are some observations on the rules of a past age, taken from Father Henry Twohig’s history of the first fifty years of the parish. Carrying on with our reminiscences there are the stories of the Mercy sisters followed by the Loreto sisters in St Albans, and how St Albans and St Stephen’s school came into being. We replay St John Fisher School’s 40th anniversary celebrations. Other news and stories Bringing us up to date are some news stories on “Making Poverty History” and the availability for all of EWTN, and a timeless poem, and how to count our blessings. There is also a report from a Lay representative at the MSC Chapter . Other stories of faith awakening include the testimony from a man in his 40s, whose experience of an inspirational weekend away that left him with a belief in being able to better himself. Two younger parishioners describe movingly how the RCIA programme affirmed and strengthened their faith. Other thought provoking features include a story about Samuel and his soap, and an article on the prayer room, where many parishioners are helping to keep the faith alive. We also have a book review of Paul Johnson’s “The Quest for God”. Quiz Finally we have the year 1905 quiz – can you answer those 100 years old questions? The editorial team hopes that the New Beacon will still be going in 100 years time and we hope you enjoy our look back on the past, and await the future 100 years with joy! Click here to go back to the top |
Church, Community, Celebration! Peter Berners-Lee It’s
a wonderful thing about being a Catholic – you can go to a parish almost
anywhere in the world and know that you’ll be at home. Because you’re
baptised, you’re part of the family. On top of that, you know you’ll find
people who share with you that relationship with God in Jesus that makes
you tick, the sense of awe at the Eucharist and the presence of God in each
of us. It’s been wonderful to find that the sense of belonging isn’t just
a theory but it’s real, demonstrated in the people we’ve met and the friendships
we’ve made right here in this parish.
We
moved here five years ago so we came to the centenary celebrations as relative
newcomers. I can still see the parish as new and remarkable: I can
see things that I fear I may start to take for granted as the years roll
by. The wondrous harmony of the centenary Mass was a true indication
of the life of the parish. It wasn’t just that Julia’s an excellent
cantor or that Eamonn and Dominic & co are so good at what they do.
It wasn’t just the wonderful choir, orchestra, organ, and the folk group.
It was that all the parts worked together,
without
friction or competition: a variety and diversity which shines more brightly
than the petty liturgical factions which can sometimes muddy the deep waters
of Catholic spirituality. I saw a parish which at its heart is at peace with
itself. A parish famously invigorated by the dynamism of the Upper
Room, the parish that gave that community room to flourish; a
parish in which traditional faith is very much at home. One alter server
raved to me about the Catechesis he’d received from a parishioner.
But above all it’s a parish with open arms, inclusive and embracing, a home
for the hurting and the questioning, the vibrant and enthusiastic: a home
for you and me. It’s a place for the young and the old, where the youth
aren’t simply the hope for tomorrow, but increasingly are playing their role
in the Church of today. The young girl who carried the cross with such
dignity and the older fogies like… well I won’t say who as I’m not
getting any younger myself!One
thing that is striking about the parish, and was so evident in the celebration,
is that this is a very gifted parish. We’re blessed with the wonderful
MSCs, blessed with so many able people who know and love Jesus and
his Church. As I think of the future, the challenges facing the diocese
and the world, I can’t help but wonder with slight trepidation. With
gifts come responsibilities. We have to be great stewards of the gifts
God has given us. We must be exemplary, not just in how we run
ourselves but in how we reach out to those around us in the vicinity and
in the global community.
At
the end of a wonderful dinner at which the wine and the conversation flowed
freely, I was delighted to meet a young family who had been in the parish
for less than two weeks. I was so pleased they were there. I
hope they’ll find us to be the welcoming parish that I’ve experienced.
I hope they know that they’re welcome isn’t dependent on them or based on
us, but rather on Him who died and rose for us. I hope they’ll find
that here, as on all God’s earth, it’s a wonderful thing to be a Catholic.
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45 Years in the ChurchWendy Lewis At
a time like this, when the church is celebrating its centenary, we tend to
look back at days gone by, and just recently I have been thinking about what
church life was like “in the old days”.
I can’t look back as far as 1905, in fact my connection to the Catholic Church
only goes back to 1960, when I became engaged to a Catholic, and decided
to learn more about the faith. During that year, Jim took me to the
Presbytery, and introduced me to Father O’Hanlon, who arranged for me to
have one-to-one instruction with him every week for about six months.
He said that I could then make up my mind whether I would like to be received
into the church. During those six months I got to know him very well,
and through his wise but very strict counselling, I was convinced that Catholicism
was for me. I was baptised in March, 1961, and on Whit Sunday that
year I was confirmed by Cardinal Godfrey in Westminster Cathedral, a day
I shall never forget.
In those far-off days the church’s “rules and regulations” were
very firm. We would have serious sermons on hell’s fire, and how this
would be our fate if we stepped out of line. Being a very devout new
recruit, I went to Confession every week, and received quite severe penances
for telling white lies at work (on my boss’s instructions!). Someone
I know inadvertently ate a small piece of bacon hidden in the omelette his
landlady had given him for breakfast on a Friday, which was a Day of Fast
and Abstinence, and he had to confess to this “misdemeanour”.
Women had to have their heads covered in church, and I had a small black
lace mantilla which I loved to wear, and was quite sad when this rule was
relaxed. I remember attending the “Stations of the Cross” every evening during
Lent, on my way home from work, and there would be 50 or 60 of us in church.
On Sunday there was always a full church for “Rosary, Sermon and Benediction” at
6pm, and this would be in addition to attending Mass. After my marriage
in 1962, I joined the choir, and spent many happy years singing (in Latin)
at the 11am Mass every Sunday. You could not eat for three hours before
receiving communion, so breakfast had to be before 8am, not easy on a Sunday
morning! But it was either that, or singing a full Latin Mass on an
empty stomach! At that time the choir was quite large, and every Christmas
the priests would treat us to a Dinner Dance at Batchwood Hall. I can remember
my husband having to get special permission to be my cousin’s best man at
his Baptist Church wedding, and also, I remember that one day when I left
Marlborough Road Methodist Church after a friend’s wedding, a little old
lady came up to me and said “You shouldn’t have been in there, you’re a Catholic!”
The first time I saw Father Jerry was at the Christmas Fair, which in the 1970s was held in the Town Hall. When he was introduced to the crowd there as the new Parish Priest, and this young good-looking guy with floppy fair hair and light blue eyes stepped forward, we were mesmerised. Since then we have had a succession of lovely approachable priests, who have changed my early opinion of them as being fearful and awesome. When we first started to run Marriage Preparation classes for engaged couples, our very first couple were ashamed to admit to us that they lived together, but they were most relieved at the priest’s accepting attitude. How different from the lecture I got about “courting and company keeping” when we were engaged! Yes, it’s good to look back, and to appreciate all the changes for the better over the years, which will hopefully continue in the 21st Century. Click here to go back to the top |
Principles and TensionsFather Jerry One of our MSC priests, Fr. Henry Twohig, has written a history of the first 50 years of our Anglo Irish Province. Many pages are devoted to the first MSC Missions in England. There were three English foundations, Glastonbury, Braintree (London) and St. Albans.St. Albans was the only one to survive, mainly due to Father Michael Tierney MSC, who established the parish on a sound basis. He also started missions in the nearby towns of Harpenden and Radlett. In this short article, I want to mention a few interesting observations from Father Henry’s history. There were the tensions and difficulties in practice for a religious congregation involved in parochial work. Father Merg, who was the second parish priest in St. Albans, drew up a document and sent it to the Superior General for his consideration and approval, and this deals exactly with the issues raised. The document, entitled “Uniformity of Our Life in our Presbyteries”, contained twelve principles:
How times have changed! Click here to go back to the top |
Creating a Heart with Vision for our FutureSet
against the picturesque backdrop of the MSC’s retreat home Grace Dieu in
Waterford, priests and laity from the different regions of the Irish Province
of the MSC met to plan their future mission under the Chapter banner “Creating a Heart with Vision for our Future”
England,
Ireland, Venezuela, USA, South Africa and Russia were all represented in
the programme of reflection and formulation of policies for leadership, mission,
religious life, vocation, formation, lay involvement, and disengagement/re-engagement.
The frank and open discussions within each group were grounded in prayer
and mutual respect, while liturgies each morning and afternoon were designed
to provide the impetus to continue the intensive, occasionally stressful,
work. Each evening the Eucharist was celebrated by a different region using
characteristic symbols and songs.
Africa for example used drums, incense and dance. Venezuela was typically
upbeat with guitars and Spanish music, the music vibrant and joyous. Ireland
and the USA used more traditional services, whilst England based their Mass
on the theme of pilgrimage. The English symbols were an icon of St Alban
- the first martyr and lay collaborator (he died to protect the priest he
had sheltered) and symbolic of the foundation of the MSCs in England. To
typify the modern MSC movement in England, an artist's impression of the
Calvary scene from the basilica at Issoudun was presented. This had been
commissioned in 2002 to commemorate the first MSC pilgrimage to Issoudun
from England and Ireland. Fr Stephen Rogers represented Russia, with powerful
symbols of the region – each of the far flung parishes had embroidered materials
which were then sewn together to form a flag containing at its heart the
MSC symbol. He also brought some debris from the Beslan school atrocity,
the wallpaper and rubble were a simple yet moving tribute to those who died.
He spoke of the fear of terrorism that his parishioners live with and the
stress of his and Father Con’s life there. He was looking forward to September
when he and Con would move in together and be able to enjoy some community
life again.The ten laity present shared their experiences of working with the MSC, some as collaborators and some as members of the Lay Association. This Association is rooted in Jules Chevalier’s vision of the spirituality of the heart; the members meet regularly, pray and work together to respond to the challenges of the world in which they live. There are many members of the Association in Europe, Africa, and America but surprisingly few yet in England and Ireland. I hope that our parish will join this movement, perhaps as a natural progression from our successful At Your Word, Lord programme? One of the readings from the liturgies contained the words “I was a stranger here, and you welcomed me”, this was how I felt during those two weeks in Ireland. The welcome and hospitality the lay people received, as well as the genuine respect for our viewpoints, are obviously integral to the MSC mission. |
| The Mercy Sisters Father Jerry In 1907, Father Tierney made a decision to build a three-classroom school on church property. The building would cost £1,500, and he obtained permission from the Board of Education, of whom he said “They are very hard to please”. To raise the money, Fr. Tierney received permission from Rome to mortgage the church itself. The interest on this loan was met by the Sisters of Mercy from their state salaries. A Miss Murphy gave a donation of £1,000, but stipulated that it should be spent on a new church, dedicated to St. Anthony. This was used to build St. Anthony’s Church in Radlett. On this, our Centenary Year, we would like to give special mention to the role played by the Mercy Sisters in the Catholic primary education of the children of this parish. They came to St. Albans in 1900, one year after the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart came, and in the very early days they managed to teach in the most inadequate buildings, with very few facilities. When the little school opened in 1911, with Sister Vincent Falvery as the first Head, and just sixty pupils on the role, although there were places for 120, things got very much better, and continued to do so until the 1950s, when there was a great influx of Irish workers to the area, which caused severe overcrowding. Sister Francesca relates that the parish priest, Father Michael O’Leary, came to her classroom of sixty children, asking her to find space for one more pupil! As well as teaching in the classroom, the Mercy Sisters also found time to visit families. Even to this day, Sister Maria in Maryland, who is soon to celebrate her ninetieth birthday, visits some families, takes communion to others, and she told me yesterday that she was “helping an old lady to do some shopping”! We as a parish are so proud of what they have done. The Loreto Sisters came later, and have built up a wonderful college in Loreto, but I will leave it to Sisters Imelda and Pat Mulryan to tell you about their work in St. Albans and elsewhere. Click here to go back to the top |
The Loreto Sisters - then and nowThe Loreto Sisters The Foundation House then called "The Elms" in Hatfield Road was first established in 1922. Mother General (Mother Raphael Deasey) was anxious to have a house near London at which children from Loretos all over the world might come to perfect their English Studies. She therefore considered it an answer to prayer when Rev. Father McGrath applied to her for nuns stating that a suitable property was for sale in his parish of St. Albans. Preparations were made in Manchester, and the community of Duesto in Spain were sent over in November to be in readiness for the new foundation. The first Community arrived in January 1923: M.M. Agnes Walsh, M.M. T(eresa) Berchmans Alperez, S. M. Michael Villavicencia, Sisters Rupert and Pancratius. The new convent was dedicated to Our Lady of Dolours. On the 23rd January the School was opened with just seven pupils. Its initial aim was to provide for boarders, day pupils and boys under the age of seven. 
The years 1922–1937 was a time of rapid expansion. Other properties were
acquired: Watson's Nurseries with five acres (1922), Marlborough House (1924)
and Hurstlea (1929) In 1937 the Church of Our Lady of Dolours was built,
and was consecrated on the 8th December 1953. The growth in numbers of pupils was slow at first, not least because there was some bigotry against Catholics in this old Cathedral city. However, a small but flourishing Senior School and Junior School was gradually established. Good examination results in 1935 led to the school becoming Recognised as Efficient as a Grammar and Preparatory School on the list of the Board of Education. In 1939 the Second World War gave the school a second impetus. Crowds of families evacuated from London and so, almost overnight, Loreto, St. Albans became a large school. By 1944, scholarships were granted to the school by the Local Education Authority, so that Catholic girls who had passed the 11+ examination were allotted places. By the mid 1960s, the boarding school had been phased out and by 1967 the Preparatory School had closed. Some years later the school obtained Aided status under the LEA. By1985 Hurstlea was taken over for Community purposes, and accommodation for the Sisters. In 1991, the Community moved to Bedford Park Road. In 1977 the Loreto Provincialate was relocated from Manchester to St. Albans, remaining there until 1990. In 1990 the Provincialate was again relocated, this time to Llandudno. On the retirement of Sister Kathleen Hewitt, the first lay Headmistress was appointed to Loreto College, under whom the school maintains the Loreto ethos and continues to flourish. More recently, the I.B.V.M. (Loreto) Sisters have been responding all over the world to a call from their Generalate, to open new communities outside the boundaries of every Province. The Kenyan Province has already opened a new foundation in Ghana, Mauritius in The Seychelles, South Africa in Zambia and Spain in Equador. The Canadian and USA provinces are still deliberating as to where they will open new foundations. Ireland is about to open a new community in The Sudan, Australia in East Timor, India in Bangladesh and here in England, the Province is opening a new foundation in Albania. Sr Imelda Poole who taught here at Loreto, St Albans in the seventies, is one of the two people going to Albania in September 2005. She and another sister will be working with Caritas Albania to pilot a new project to provide a safe haven and a rehabilitation programme for trafficked victims and to work against the exploitation of women and children, in trafficking, in Albania. Please pray for all of these new ventures. The Loreto Sisters would like to conclude this brief report by congratulating the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on their wonderful pastoral ministry in St Albans over the last hundred years and to say a heart-felt Thank you' for all their ministry throughout this time.
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How Ss Alban and Stephen Scholls came into beingAdapted from the 1984 Golden Jubilee celebration programme The first School belonging to the Parish of SS Alban and Stephen was established in Claremont House, Alma Road, with the help of the Mercy Sisters in 1900 Sister Mary Vincent took charge of the School as Headmistress. This little School was maintained without grant or payment of teachers until 1910, when a new School behind the present Church was opened. The school at the back of the church was built in 1911 and Sister Mary Vincent remained until 1918 as Headmistress. She resigned from the post due to ill health, and Sister Mary Joseph was appointed. Sister Mary Joseph is remembered with affection by two parishioners, Kathleen Roser and Jim Porter, who attended the school from 1927. She was “a second mother to them”, kind but firm – woe betide any boys who climbed over the fence onto the railway line – she did not hesitate to use the cane! But there were also sweets every week for each child. The new building contained three classrooms (two of which could be combined to make a hall) catering for boys and girls between 5 and 14 years of age. Classes were separated according to age, with the headmistress taking charge of the seniors. Boys and girls had separate playgrounds, and sports lessons consisted of an hour on a Friday afternoon in Clarence Park. Lessons were often disrupted by the noise from the trains as they let off steam before their onward journey north. Some pupils took advantage of the din to cover their lack of reading ability! Since there were not enough Catholic children in the area to fill the School, non-Catholic children were also admitted. By 1919 it was feared that the teaching staff might be reduced because the number of pupils had dwindled. Fr. E. McGrath, MSC, visited all the homes in the Napsbury North Cottages area to encourage parents of all denominations to send their children to the School. Most lived near Napsbury Railway Station where they could board the train for the five-minute journey to St. Albans Station arriving practically at the School door. His approach was successful and eventually the school at the back of the Church became too small. Fr. John Twomey, the Rector eventually secured a site for a new school in Vanda Crescent, despite stiff opposition from the residents. The old building continued to be used for parish events such as guides and scouts, and even Sunday evening dances with tea provided by the Legion of Mary! 
The School building at Vanda Crescent was ready for occupation in the Autumn
Term of 1934 and was blessed by Bishop J. Butt, on 1st September, 1934.
The total cost of the project being £7,000. Much of the school’s success
was attributable to the efforts of the Mercy Sisters as well as Fr. Charles
Gouffe, Fr. E. Rea, Fr. M.G. O'Leary, Fr. R. Scriven and Fr. J. Roche.
Sister M. Edith followed Mother Joseph as Headmistress in September 1941
until July 1959, when Sr. M. Edith left to become Superior of Maryland Convent,
and Sister M. Lelia took over as Headmistress. The School had been run by
an all-female staff until in 1946 the first man on the staff was appointed.
John Farrelly joined later when the School was a J.M.I. School in 1955. He
became both Mayor of St Albans and later was ordained a priest. In
the Autumn Term of 1935 there were 172 pupils on roll, by 1936 there were
177. The School progressed in spite of such upheavals as World War
Two. Evacuees began to join the School in September 1939, but not in
great numbers; the number on the roll rising to 205. Vanda Crescent
was still an 'all-age' School and, when the School-leaving age was raised
to 15 in 1948, the Council built the Horsa Hut in the playground to accommodate
the 14–15 year olds. The school continued to expand and more accommodation
was obtained, therefore, by opening classes in the Church Hall, in the Adult
School in Stanhope Road and in the Marian Hall, when it was built in 1954.
Later a second class was opened in Marian Hall. These two classes accommodated
between 75 and 80 of the 455 children on the school register. Hence the need
for a new School. September 1953 saw the opening of an extra
classroom in the Adult School, Stanhope Road, and permission was given to
serve meals in the Church Hall for these students. In the early days, of
course, pupils went home for dinner. In July 1955, 147 senior pupils
transferred to St. Michael's, Garston, together with two masters from the
School. Vanda Crescent then became a Junior and Infant School. St. Adrian's School opened officially in July 1960 which helped to relieve the congestion at Vanda Crescent, as did the opening of St. John Fisher School in Marshalswick in September 1965. Sister M. Edith, former Headmistress of SS. Alban and Stephen School, transferred to St. Adrian's. In 1973, SS. Alban and Stephen Junior School, Cecil Road, was founded under the initiative of Sister Mary Cyprian and Father J.Daly, MSC, then Rector . The staff and children moved into the new premises on 22nd November 1973. All the educational needs of the Catholic community were finally met when Sister M. Peter became Headmistress of the separate Infant School at Vanda Crescent and established the Nursery Class. This was opened and blessed by the Rector, Rev. J. Falloon, on 24th November 1975. This account, adapted from the Golden Jubilee celebration programme of 1984, was based on Fr. M.G. O'Leary's history of the Parish, Fr. T. Heley research into old editions of the Tablet, Sr Mary Edith recollections, and it was all typed by Mrs M. Miller. Click here to go back to the top |
St John Fisher 40th CelebrationsMrs P.Singh On the Feast of St John Fisher Bishop James O’Brien celebrated a beautiful Mass for the whole school community with friends, past pupils, staff and dignitaries – the Deputy Mayor of St. Albans, Mrs. Eileen Harris and members from the Education Department. The Mass was followed by the planting of three silver birch trees.The Silver Birch is a native tree of Poland. 
This will
be a memorial to our late Holy Father – John Paul.
The Honorary Consulate
from the Polish Embassy brought some soil from Jasna Gora in Poland – the
soil was put in with the three trees. It is hoped that in the future the school will build an outdoor classroom around the trees. Bishop George Stack visited the school in the afternoon and blessed a commemorative window – after enjoying a contemporary re-enactment of the life of St John Fisher! Following which, friends, parents, staff and pupils enjoyed a “ family” picnic lunch. Click here to go back to the top |
Family ConnectionsPat Dorman My grandfather, Gus Dorman, came from London to St. Albans in the early 1890s and met and married my grandmother. He used to attend Mass and Benediction in the little church in London Road, before our church was built, and was a founder member of our present parish. My grandparents had five children, all of whom grew up in the parish and were married in the church. There were eight of us grandchildren from these marriages, all of whom were baptised in the church. The lives of all of us have taken different paths, but my sister, Sheila, was married in the church to John Pilling, as was my cousin, Peter Hopkins (Alice Dorman’s son), married Joan Anderson. In days long ago all of the family attended Mass regularly, but sadly the older members have died, others have moved away, and I am the only one left to represent our family at Mass, and I reasonably estimate that our family have attended Mass for all of the hundred years of the life of the parish. The only other families I can think of who have worshipped from this time are those of Kathleen Roser’s and Jim Porter’s. Other large families included the Brinsden’s, the Martindale’s, and also Peter Boyle’s family. My grandparents helped the priests where they could, with food and home-grown vegetables. As a young boy, my father (Bill) was often sent down to the Presbytery with a wheelbarrow full of vegetables for the priests, also he and his brothers would go to stoke coke into the boiler on Saturday evenings in the winter in Father Power’s time, so that the church was warm on Sunday mornings. His younger brothers, Jim and Frank, both went to the little school at the back of the church and were altar servers. His elder brother, George, and sister, Alice, were bass and soprano soloists in the church choir. The earliest priests my family mentioned were Father Tierney (who sang at my parent’s wedding in October, 1929), and Fr. Power, in whose time there was never more than £3 in the weekly collection. My aunt, Alice Hopkins (nee Dorman), with many other good people, worked hard for the fetes and bazaars, and she was awarded the “Bene Merenti” Medal in recognition of the help and support given to the priests and the parish by our family in those early days. George Dorman was an early member of the SVP. Alice was in the first Children of Mary sodality, and my sister, Sheila, and I joined it when we left school. We were at school at Vanda Crescent with our brother, Michael, during the war, and our faith was formed by the dear Sisters of Mercy, Sisters Joseph, Edith, Fidelis and Mary Carmel, not to mention Frs. Roche, O’Leary and Buckley, in our formative years. My family all had great affection for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and I still keep that in my own heart, and I pray they will remain with us for many more years. My good wishes to you, Frs. Pat, Jerry, Sandy and Manus, may God bless you all Click here to go back to the top |
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Four Weddings and an Ordination These five photos are of events which took place in the Church of SS Alban and Stephen for parishioners who are all related.
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Make Poverty HistoryJoyce Lusby  On
Saturday 2nd July at 3.00p.m., St Albans Abbey was encircled by people wearing
white – all ages, all sizes, of different faiths or of no faith. We
stood with our backs to the Abbey looking out to all corners of St. Albans
and beyond. Then joining our voices to those in Edinburgh and around
the world we shouted “MAKE POVERTY HISTORY”. Canon Wheeler who organised the circle of white spoke of his hope and determination to make our views known. Poverty that maims and kills is not acceptable, and we expect the world leaders to take note and act accordingly. Will they? We can but hope and pray.
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| Harvest of My Life I'm in my forties, I have wonderful children, an attractive and loving wife, and a lovely home, After I left University with a good degree, I went straight into work. In twenty five years, I've never been out of work, and right now I have a really good job. We have good holidays and we are a happy family. I have great friends, I'm involved in many activities within the parish and I'm well liked respected, and trusted. Contrast this "brave face" image with the following: I'm fed up with work, and unchallenged by my Monday to Friday routine. My boss dumps on me and just takes me for granted, and I've lost the enthusiasm to fight or change it. I wish I could just walk out of my job - its pressures and responsibilities. And as for my personal life, what would it be like to be able to go out on a Friday evening, and stay out till late? I sometimes wish I could walk away from my "baggage", my responsibilities and my material belongings. Should I take some chances? What would it be like to be single again? The man who wrote the second statement is the same man as wrote the first statement. Me! For a long time, I've been tormented by this deception, but now, I know that I'm not alone in feeling and behaving like this. There's a public "perception" of many men - indeed we men choose to "market" ourselves positively, because we should .. and we can, because we're men and we're macho. But I often want something else. I wonders, I really wonder, about the other side. What it would be like to do what men like me "don't do", to stray, to cheat. To cheat on my wife, my employer, my friends, and so on. I struggle frequently against the temptation to walk away. I'm tormented by the "lie" I'm living, the deceit. It doesn't matter whether I'm doing anything about getting out, dipping my toe in the water, etc . I'm thinking about it, I'm wanting to do it - and that's enough .. isn't it? After three years of saying no, to a "Men's' Weekend" away, I made a decision this year that I was going to go. No excuses. Just go for it. 
Harvesters, a Christian (predominantly Catholic) group of men organise two
Men's' Weekends a year - one each in Surrey and Lancashire. I booked for
Surrey, at Woldingham School. As the weekend loomed, I began to wonder
what it would be like. Would these men be committed to their faith in a way
that I wasn't. Would they be straightforward, regular men (just like I am
in the eyes of friends and parishioners)? Would I be an outsider? An oddball
who wanted to get away from everyday life, to where the grass was greener?
I was uneasy. What I experienced was quite different to what I had
expected (and feared!).Nothing was compulsory - everything was optional, there was no pressure. Two hundred grown men, starting their Saturday morning with a hearty breakfast, and ordinary conversation about sport, the weather, the price of beer, and so on. The programme was varied throughout the day. Praise and worship sessions. Wow! How powerful is it to be part of two hundred tenor, baritone and bass voices belting it out and praising God in song. Three speakers (one a Catholic priest) gave very deep, and yet very real and ordinary accounts of the issues and challenges in their own daily lives. Don't get me wrong, my issues didn't suddenly pail into insignificance, or become relatively trivial. No - my issues are real and torment me daily, but, I wasn't alone. After each of the talks, and some coffee, fresh air, watching a bit of golf on the TV, we'd sit down and chat in small groups (there were nine in my group), each one "chaired" or facilitated by one of us - ordinary men, not trained, not a formal presenter or facilitator. In our group, we felt close, like brothers. It sounds like a cliché, but it felt like that. I listened to others, and shared my issues with them too, and the revelation to me was that I was not alone. Absolutely not! Many, many of these men, aged between 25 and 80 are on the same journey as I am, some of them very comfortable, and some of them less fortunate than me. The second revelation to me was that the experiences of these men were rich in lessons, solutions, and I saw and heard about different ways in which these men had dealt with their own problems. This was real learning, learning from experience. I had said that before I had arrived, I was fearful that these men weren't like me. I was scared that they might be devout, pious, deeply spiritual, and that I'd be an outsider. No. These men were ordinary men like me, from all walks of life, but together we were close to God - and not just when listening to speakers, singing praise, or discussing in our small groups, but also lazing in the sun between sessions, cooling off in the swimming pool (it was 34 degrees that Saturday!), over a pint and a bag of crisps in the bar at 10pm. I returned home with hope, and belief in being able to better myself. I came back inspired by other men's' stories. There was a man who finally overcame his inability to open up to God's forgiveness for years of violence to others; a man who finally realised his worth in God's eyes, despite years of feeling inadequate, fuelled by a situation at his work. Most of all, I came back with the realisation that if these men were prepared to let God in and be strong in the endless fight against temptation, then so would I be. Click here to go back to the top |
 Silver Memories of the Ascent MovementSix members of our Ascent group joined 140 other members from groups in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and two guests from Belgium and France celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the Ascent movement in England at Cardinal Newman College in Birmingham from 26th to 28th July. The theme of the celebration was “Springtime of the Spirit”. Bishop Trip, Episcopal advisor to the Ascent movement celebrated mass.Sr Pia Buxton C.J .gave some very interesting reflections on “God’ greatest glory” - men and women fully alive and open to the Holy Spirit. The celebration dinner on the 27th was followed by a social event. Gordon Traynor and David Edwards sang and other groups contributed poems, playlets, and choral singing. *******************************************************************
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The Prayer RoomAt the back of the presbytery is the prayer room. It is a chapel given by the priests of the parish for the use of parishioners who wish to come and pray by day or night in the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. We all know that we should pray regularly. How many needs do we have that cry out for prayer – our personal needs, our family, the whole world. And yet it can be very hard to pray in a world full of noise and distractions. Even Jesus himself had to get away and spend time alone in prayer. In the prayer room we can go and spend time with Jesus himself in peace and quiet. There are no time restrictions – we have access 24 hours every day. If you make time to go to there maybe once a week and spend a few minutes with Jesus you will see how much you gain from it. Let me tell you my own story. I signed up to go once a week a few years ago and now I go nearly every day for about half an hour. I often walk down worrying about one thing or another and thinking “have I really got the time”, but when I come back somehow life’s problems have gained a better perspective. 
I
have stopped worrying about unnecessary things and have more energy to get
on with the important things. It seems to me that half an hour spent with
Jesus in the prayer room gains me an hour in the day. I don’t know
how He works it but I am never more rushed or stressed for having spent time
with Him.It is good to go to the prayer room even when we are tired and all we can offer is a jumble of thoughts or no thoughts at all. Jesus is delighted just to see us there. There are books there to help us if we want to be inspired by some reading. All you need to do to access the prayer room is get a key. Keys are available during office hours at the presbytery. The prayer room is truly a parish treasure. This is witnessed to by the pages of names and many hours of prayer recorded in the visitors book just inside the door. Those of us who promote the prayer room would like this treasure known about by all. We hope the day will soon come when someone is keeping Jesus company all day, every day. This is the year of the Eucharist – a good time to make a decision to give Jesus a greater priority in our lives.
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| Let's count our Blessings Anon If you wake in the morning with more health than illness … ... you are more blessed than the millions who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation … ... you are ahead of five hundred million people in this world. If you attend a church without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death … ... you are more blessed than three billion in this world. If you have food in the fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your had, and a place to sleep … ... you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish somewhere … ... you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you hold your head up with a smile on your face and you are truly thankful … ... you are more blessed because the majority can, but do not. If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder … ... you are blessed because you can offer a healing touch. If you can read this script, you have just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore … ... you are more blessed than two billion people in the world who cannot read at all. Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else of how blessed we all are.
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Book Review - The Quest for God by Paul JohnsonElizabeth Barron As an able historian, Paul Johnson has a very interesting way of putting things into perspective. As a committed catholic and daily mass attendee, he is a thinking Catholic. He examines many topics and I will try to indicate briefly some of his arguments. Why male and female? He carefully sets out that love is the reason why. God is love. Sexuality is power. Examples of this power in literature include Dante's Divine Comedy; Shakespeare's Othello; and Faust in the great German dramatic poem. Priestly celibacy- arguments that are ably refuted. He mentions that our beloved Pope John Paul (RIP), when Archbishop of Krakow set up a Marital Institute, putting in charge a woman who been incarcerated in the women's prison at Ravensbruck where she had suffered bestial sexual experiments. The work of the Institute has been widely copied. He argues strongly for women priests. The bible, he says, being history - history with women left in. (He notes too that the first record of laughter came from a woman–Genesis Chapter 18). Why evil exists? Very careful argument here– just as an artist cannot produce three dimensions on a two-dimensional canvass without the use of light and shade. God cannot bring home to us the splendour of goodness (including his own) without the contrast of evil. The God of beauty Johnson uses some interesting experiences of his own - too many to quote here - and speaks of God's reflected beauty in the universe. He quotes Martin Luther as he gazed in wonder at the beauty of a rose in his hand. Some further topics of great interest: God's world or ours? The Church, dogma, authority; The timeless world waiting; Does Hell exist? As an extra bonus, Paul Johnson includes a list of very beautiful prayers for various intentions at the end of the book. Click here to go back to the top |
| Year 1905 Questions 1. Which Pope was on the throne in 1905? 2. Which English king was on the throne in 1905? 3. What two coins are these, minted in 1905? 
5. How much energy is there in a Mars bar? 6. Is everything relative according to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? 7. Why do you need hay to fight fires in 1905? 8. What was 1905 the centenary of? 9. Who was Parish Priest of SS Alban and Stephen in 1905? 10. How many OAPs lived in St Albans in 1905? Click here to go back to the top |
Solution to the Easter Crossword from New Beacon Issue 4
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| 1905 - 2005 We would like to thank all those involved in the preparations and all those who packed out the Church for this special celebration on Sunday 12th June 2005 Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor was chief celebrant and we were fortunate to be joined by many MSCs. For some who had served in our Parish it was a chance for them to catch up with old friends. We were also delighted to have with us Bishop Hugh Slattery, priests from the diocese, representatives of other Christian churches in St Albans, the Mayor and civic representatives. A special mention to those who organised the liturgy - it was superb - and to the children from our Parish schools who took part in the readings and singing. You all spoke and sang beautifully! For more about the day and to browse the many many photos taken, go to the Alive pages on our website Click here to go back to the top |
Issue 1, MARCH 2004
Issue 2, SUMMER 2004
Issue 3, NOVEMBER 04
Issue 4, MARCH 2005
Fr. J. O'Hanlon MSC
Marriage of Elsie Wilding and William Rigg
Marriage of Beryl Pooley 
Marriage of Barbara Miller and Matthew Hensman
Today’s Poem:
Newsflash
Two Journeys through RCIA
Having
moved to Hertfordshire in October 2004, I was delighted to learn about the
MSC mission and to discover how vital and active a
We tend to console ourselves that God will understand that we are busy, our lack of time due to chasing