A curious coincidence in March is the proliferation of Celtic Patronal Saints: March 1st is St. David’s Day, March 5th is St. Piran (or Perran,) and March 17th is, of course, St. Patrick’s Day. Thus, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland all celebrate their national festivals at the same time of year - and always during Lent.

For important reasons the other Celtic Nations, Brittany and Scotland, have Patron Saints who were not local: St. Anne, the Mother of the Blessed Virgin, is the Patron Saint of Brittany because she appeared there at Auray, whereas St. Andrew the Apostle is Scotland’s holy protector because his relics ended up in the great cathedral whose gaunt ruins still bear witness to his presence on the Fife coast.

But David, Perran, and Patrick all have something important in common: they are all monastics as well as missionaries - and this left a very distinctive character on the Church in these Celtic Nations. Instead of establishing communities of the lay faithful in towns and villages that might later coalesce as parishes, theses missionaries are famous for establishing monasteries, well away from settlements, and the Celtic Church consequently had a distinctively monastic character.

The parochial system, which is itself an extension of a bishop’s authority in a given area, was a relative latecomer among the Celts, and in many ways the superiors of monasteries - the abbots - had more power than the local bishop. But what is particularly interesting about the Celtic patrons is the mutual sharing of devotions. St. Patrick, for example, was (probably) Welsh, and certainly from Great Britain, whereas St. Perran, the patron of Cornwall was almost certainly Irish, being known in his homeland as Kieran. Both Cornwall and Wales have numerous instances of devotion to Breton saints - Winwallow, Mewan, Corentin, and Samson, to name just a few.

All this kept the ties of kith and kin together, even across the seas. Local saints were shared as much as language was shared between the Celtic nations. The cultural identity was thus synonymous with Christianity, so much that the natural flow of the year in the Northern hemisphere would be punctuated by a patronal feast, as the first shoots appear from the ground, so the communities remembered their founding fathers, who brought the light of Christ to peoples who were yet in darkness.

And if all this has got you in the Celtic spirit join us at the Oratory THIS SUNDAY for our annual St. Patrick’s Day party. If you have never heard Jesse Ofgang play the bagpipes you have missed out. Jesse is actually able to accompany himself as he plays the pipes by sampling themes on the various other instruments he plays and using his feet to layer them all together. We are also joined by Chloe and Jared, from our community, who are competitive Irish dancers, so with all this and an amazing spread of traditional fare (and refreshments) what’s not to like. Get your tickets today!

Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus!
Gool Peran lowen!
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ort!

Lenten Preaching

We have received a few requests for Fr. Clark’s Lenten sermons to be shared this year. In due course we will have the technology to record video and upload them to YouTube. However, for the moment, you need to come to the Oratory to hear them! However, Father has provided the following synopses for those who might be interested.

1st Sunday of Lent: Temptation

The Gospel story of the Temptations of Christ in the desert is very familiar, but it should help to illustrate that temptation and sin are not the same thing. Very frequently we accuse ourselves of having committed sin, when in fact, what we experience is temptation. Thoughts arise in our heads from nowhere, even the most disturbing and unpleasant thoughts. But to experience a thought, or a temptation, is not the same thing as committing a sin. To illustrate it this way: thoughts arrive in our mind like a train in a station: the question is - do we get on board, or not? No matter how dark our temptations may be, to commit sin requires a movement of the will towards what is evil. No one can sin accidentally.

2nd Sunday of Lent: Doubt

St. John Henry Newman said that ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt. We feel terribly guilty when we have questions about our Faith, as if we were the only person ever to waver, or stumble. But that in itself is prideful, because Faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the certainty of things unseen. By contrast, Doubt must be skepticism of things hoped for; and certainty only in the things that are seen. But what connects Faith and Doubt under these definitions is hope. Our Faith is the supernatural gift to put out into the deep, to keep going even when all the circumstances are not known, or neatly arranged. We have only lost Faith when we lose the desire for God - or rather, when we lose hope. Such a person says “I don’t believe what God says, and I don’t want to believe it, either.” Unless we find ourselves in that position, what we are experiencing is not Doubt, but difficulty.

3rd Sunday of Lent: Anger

The third topic in our series was the phenomenon of anger. There are five times Our Lord is manifestly, undoubtedly, angry in the Scriptures; and five things we can discern make Him truly angry: Hypocrisy, Inflexibility, Injustice, Suffering, and Irreverence. But isn’t wrath one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Indeed it is! But here’s the problem. Anger, according to Thomas, is one of the passions - it is also a universal human experience directed at some end, either good or evil. All the other passions exist in a coupling pair, but anger sits alone without a real opposite. Peace, calm, or serenity do not really cut it. Anger, then, can be either good or bad. If seeing someone starving in the streets does not make you (proportionately) angry then something is wrong with your moral compass. However, for the most part, our anger is not directed toward the good, but toward a perceived wrong, and most frequently a person or persons who have wronged us. They ‘live rent free in our heads’ to coin that phrase. Anger includes the desire for vengeance (yes, righteous anger includes righteous vengeance) - but “vengeance is mine, says the Lord.” (Deut 32:35) We should not evict the one who has paid infinite rent to live in our heads - Our Lord, who pays rent at the price of His Precious Blood spilt for us. Let God deal with vengeance: “vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I will repay.” (Rom 12:19)

Georgetown Hedgerow Project

One of the distinctive features of the Oratory campus in Georgetown, CT is the railroad that passes along its Eastern boundary. Indeed, this has always been the case. The line from South Norwalk to Danbury was begun in 1850, construction proceeding steadily north up the Norwalk Valley until on February 2nd, 1852, the line was complete, linking Danbury to New York City via the New York & New Haven Railroad which had opened four years previously in 1848.

So when Sacred Heart Church was begun in 1880, the railroad had already marked out the property line for 30 years. In the photograph above, you can clearly see the path of the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad running behind the church, as it still does today. But what you cannot see is the fact that the tracks are no longer fenced in, as they once were.

Clearly a fence is now not just desirable, but necessary. But how to ensure the beauty of our tranquil Connecticut campus? A large metal fence would lend a rather suburban air to what is still the back woods of Fairfield County. Here, the Rector’s British roots come to the fore again.

In Britain, and Ireland, property divisions along ancient boundaries are often marked by a hedge. But these are no ordinary hedges - and a far cry from the ugly arborvitae conifer screens that predominate when a quick green fix is desired. British and Irish hedgerows are living fences - and designed to be stockproof, that is to keep valuable animals in, and undesirable animals out.

Hedgerows sustain remarkable biodiversity - forming a green corridor for smaller animals, and sheltered nesting sites for birds, not to mention ample food sources from flowering and fruiting trees and bushes. It may be thought at first sight that they are entirely natural, but in fact, hedgerows are very much managed features.

To create a hedgerow, first, a line of small trees or shrubs is planted, quite close together, around 9 inches apart. The line should include around 60% hawthorn or blackthorn, with holly, hazel, maple, apple, rose or other native deciduous trees in the mix. The trees are left on their own for up to 8 years or so, when the saplings are as tall as half the height of the desired hedge. Then the fun begins.

A hedge is ‘laid’ by what looks like an incredibly violent intervention - the side shoots are removed from each plant, to permit light at the roots, and the main stem is 2/3 severed (or ‘pleached’with a billhook. The stem is then laid on its side (the angle varies according to tradition - where the Rector is from, the pleachers are laid almost horizontally and then staked in with hazel uprights. The wounded trees are then stimulated to produce new growth that fills in the gaps, leaving a dense, interwoven hedge of prickly thorns that will block even the most adventurous of our cervid friends.

Whilst it is a longer term investment, we at Jesus Guild believe a traditional hedgerow on our campus will provide a most attractive screen at the edge of the property where the trains speed by on their way to Grand Central Terminal, keeping us and our children safe, and providing a wonderful habitat for birds, bees and other wildlife. Watch this space for hedging updates - and if you would like to get involved, let us know…