@SisterWalburga His very deliberate decision to return from a stellar academic career in Rome to Armagh, where he served the poor at Santo Spirito hospital, and owned a vineyard stands out. A quiet ordination in Ghent followed, and he continued to London in a brilliant disguise… @SisterWalburga as a retired military officer, and on to Ireland… nearly 10 years of heroic pastoral service followed outlined in his letters in Italian to Rome; often living rough & smelling distinctly of his sheep, he won so much respect there was no chance of a conviction in Ireland, so…

Today we celebrate the fruitful death of #SanRomero #StOscarRomero. The oppressors of the poor thought they had silenced him…that worked out about as well as killing #Jesus did for the perpetrators. 1/

The chapel at #DivineProvidence hospital (a wonderful hospice run by #Carmelites) in #SanSalvador, where #Romero was shot celebrating a memorial mass on March 24, 1980. His last homily, like those preached in the Cathedral, was recorded…even the gunshot…2.

Sad to miss Rev Dr David Scott’s funeral today in his beloved Lake District. A train load going from Winchester I could not join with. So I sat & re-read his wonderful contribution to our #AugustineBaker conference in 2000 in #Abergavenny. His waspish…1/ …sinuous, intrigued & intriguing lilt on every page. I miss the twinkle in his eye, & that timbre in his voice that made him one of the best of readers. It’s not fully present on these SoundClouds (he needed the audience?) but his poems are brilliant…2/ bit.ly/3XnyJJI

Today I had a long awaited opportunity to visit the grave of #SimoneWeil. Finding her writings, and her life, both extra-extraordinary, lit up my late teens. Her response to #GeorgeHerbert’s Love, & her living Easter at Solesmes struck loud chords…1/ I knew what I was looking for from photos @RedRector but I hoped 4 a few clues at the Cemetery. An Office? No. Plot number map? No. Chapel? No. Time was short, & I actually had no idea where the ‘Catholic bit’ was: & how big was it? There were tall angels evrywhre so no help. 2/

On the 33rd anniversary of the murder of the #UCA #Jesuits of #ElSalvador & their mother & daughter companions, I treasure the unforgettable @RomeroTrust pilgrimage that took us there, & the people we met. #SanRomero, pray for us all. 1/ Our visit to #UCA in 2017 was only our 2nd & 3rd days in #SanSalvador, staying @ the beautifully located #CentroLoyola. We met wonderful people everywhere who welcomed us with open arms. They asked that we might share their story with others when we returned home. @RomeroTrust 2/

Day 3...#OfGodAndMe ...mainly Uni...1st summer at a US Camp, 2nd stopped by illness. A low point, but also growth in faith...a direction was there...& heading far away...

..if you really want, you can reach notes on most images with @get_altText as a reply to that tweet... 18. It was the Year of Three Popes, and I finished up working In Edinburgh for those weeks, interwoven with the Festival programme. Cambridge came as a shock. It took a while to see beyond the preciousness of College & Chaplaincy life, but I found good friends & faith grew.

Day 2, #OfGodAndMe Moving towards adult life...
we continue with departure from London to Hampshire, 1970...

...if you really want, you can reach notes on some images with @get_altText as a reply to that tweet... 9.4th sister stayed with neighbours to finish her O Levels, so I was an only child, in a new town. A 17 mile Sponsored Walk for Oxfam showed me the geography, but I never quite took to Bournemouth. The stammer made reading round the class torture at times, altho’ I loved to read.

1. I walked the day we moved from leafy Strawberry Hill to Woodford in 1960, for my dad’s work. I was youngest by 5 years. With 4 sisters, I was destined 2b named Charlotte, & everyone was shocked. Fortunately I was baptised Michael Anthony, sharing Padua’s feastday. #OfGodAndMe 2. It was a ‘mixed marriage’: so Catholic schooling. I lived the slow impact of Vat2. Our churches were Franciscans at Woodford Green & a brand new church of Blessed Anne Line a walk away; my school was solid. I adored Midnight Mass, the words of hymns, but much else was a blur.

A few more days to catch Christine Jensen Hogan’s intriguing play about #ThomasMerton & #AnneBradstreet, ‘Un Pas de Deux, Un Pas de Dieu’... Just 35’, “very amusing and touching, it brought tears to our eyes”... English Version, YouTube Link 1/
bit.ly/3rBId35 Also available is a version with #Spanish subtitles, provided by Fernando Beltrán Llavador from his 2000 translation of the play, published in Spain...2/ Spanish Subtitles Version, YouTube Link
bit.ly/31Mf1Mb

Happy Solemnity of #StBenedict. Many artists have been inspired by #StGregory's account of Benedict of Norcia's eventful life. Here are a few highlights from a lovely German series that pulls off the trick of telling a narrative in a single frame. Here is Farewell to the World 1/ Maurus Walks On Water 2/

Today we celebrate the Feast of #StBenedict. A reading from the #Prologue of the #Rule. Benedict wrote it as a guide for the communities that he grew to be responsible for when he became the focus for people who wanted to live a different kind of life...1/
bit.ly/3iQb7JA in response to the decadence so prevalent in Rome that he was moved to abandon his studies, and live in a (very well chosen) cave for three years. The locals around Subiaco grew to admire him, and some wanted to join him;..2/

#OTD #OscarRomero Arbishop of #SanSalvador was celebrating Mass in chapel of the hospital where he lived. a warm day. From the altar, he saw an assassin line him up thru the open door. Romero didn't flinch to protect others. His clothing shows the sweat 1/ bit.ly/39c7oA5 In 2018, I was fortunate to travel with @RomeroTrust on pilgrimage to beautiful #ElSalvador to explore #Romero's life & legacy. Armed guards outside most shops reminded us of the gang scourge. But the beauty & dignity of those we met was unforgettable. 2/ bit.ly/39aWJWc

Last go for the crib on #BaptismoftheLord... end of #Christmas season in the Western calendar. Back to green, #OrdinaryTime. But that’s still pretty extraordinary in itself... many cribs retain the #shepherds & add in the #Magi. Not sure what they all eat...nearly 3 weeks! 1/ You have to say, it gets pretty crowded & noisy in there...shepherds, lambs, pipes... the ox & ass aren’t #Trappists either... 2/

The Word of God, born once in the flesh (such is his kindness and his goodness), is always willing to be born spiritually in those who desire him..How can the Word made flesh be essentially the same person that is wholly with the Father?.. #Readings #StMaximus #DivineOffice 1/ How can he who is by nature God become by nature wholly man without lacking either nature, neither the divine by which he is God nor the human by which he became man?.. #Readings #StMaximustheConfessor 2/