Login 
In his books The Stripping of the Altars and Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village, Eamon Duffy uses ancient parish records to demonstrate that the English Reformation was not representative of the popular mindset, but rather a radical rupture from the religious and social consciousness of ordinary folk.Duffy contends that the Reformation's breach with the societal and individual awareness of the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Mass as the heart of the world, inevitably led to the tragic loss of the sense of God's Presence in the wider realms of selfhood, community, social order, nature and the seasons.Â
Churches had their altars torn out and their interiors denuded of beauty; sodalities which had bound together disparate interests into the service of the communal liturgy were disbanded; cults of saints were discouraged; and the liturgical calendar waned.Â
Parish communities that had formerly 'eaten into' the body corporate fractured out into social groups who gave intellectual assent to various beliefs. In worship the intellect was thus sundered from the body. Communion with the successor of St. Peter having been lost, such fractures continued, and indeed continue to this day.
The radical separations of mind and body, religious and secular, community and individual, culture and nature were exacerbated by aspects of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, the various ongoing political revolutions and the so-called sexual revolution. The sacred reality of existence; communion with God and between persons; plus the final destiny of man had all been lost. Or had they?Â
I am therefore pleased to be able to advertise the Harvest Festival at St. Mary's in Little Crosby (see earlier post) this Sunday; 21st September. As a community which held onto and passed on the 'Torch of The Faith' throughout all of these upheavals, St. Mary's parish is quite unique and historically remarkable. The community there, in union with their faithful priest Fr. Dunstan and dedicated school head teacher Mr. Peter Hennessy, keep alive that same lived faith which touches all aspects of their lives, and both toils with and receives from nature, the good gifts of God's bounty.A good lady from there called Pat informs me that Sunday's Holy Mass is at 11.15 am and the church will be decorated with farm produce as an act of thanksgiving. Also, the church will be kept open on Monday and Tuesday so that 'others can come and, in admiring the produce, give thanks to God for His provision'. Something well worth doing if ever there was!   Â
