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The Story Of A Parish; An everyday story about parish folk
Topic Started: Thursday, 1. February 2007, 22:56 (4,321 Views)
Rose of York
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Father Cardew was indeed a shrewd man. His kindness to Mrs Wilde had appealed to her femininity, whilst still maintaining the statutory emotional barrier between a priest and ladies, by ensuring Violet would address him as Father.

The good priest determined to introduce Violet to others who would be companionable and friendly. Perhaps she would respond well to a friend of the younger generation, Therese O'Fee who ran the childrens' liturgy would be ideal. That would be a start in the healing process, and would help Violet Wilde get to know other parishioners on a social basis. The lady had much to offer.
Keep the Faith!

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James
James
During the next half hour or so whilst Father Cardew listened, Violet Wilde poured out her feelings and frustrations to him, her lonliness and her rebellious reaction to the way people were treating her. She also spoke about her great need to honour her dead husband and his ancestor Oscar.
"Have you ever attempted to produce one of Oscar's plays" said father Cardew.
"Well no, I'm trying Gilbert and Sullivan at the moment but the vocal talent isn't there and that is one of the reasons I'm annoyed also the fact that the audio system in the hall is not projecting the background I want. "
"Are you going to continue with it "? said father, "as we will help you all we can but we may not meet the deadlines you have set for yourself - but we will get you there withinin a few weeks of it." "And , the big ,AND, is that I would like you to produce one of Oscar's plays as your first production in our hall when all is sorted out ." "You may be surprised with the local talent at your disposal!."
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Emee
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George David Ifan Williams looked at his Rolex. At the age of 45, George had never been late for anything, but it looked like today might be the first time...

A smartly dressed batchelor, George prided himself on his neat appearance and wore a suit to Mass, work and all Parish Meetings. As Chief Internal Auditor for Cybershire County Council he was a man of neatness, accuracy and precision.

Today, however, was becoming the exception to the rule.

After work he had popped in to pay his customary visit to his mother.

Mrs Williams (an English woman - she had won the battle with her late Welsh husband Rhys over their son's Christian name - and therefore had relinquished two middle names to him) had made a casserole for the evening meal. However, owing to her pressure cooker's seal breaking, she had had to cook the meal in the oven and this had taken 45 minutes longer than anticipated, as Mrs Williams' ancient Belling was not the most reliable of stoves.

George was becoming quite twitchy, and when the meal was finally ready, he began to rush to eat it - he was also nervous at the prospect of seeing the lovely Pauline - he always was.

"George, what on earth are you doing son?" Mrs Williams gazed at her son in amazement - this was very out of character.

"Sorry Mum," George replied. In slowing down he hesitated and spilt gravy down the front of his white shirt. Bother!

Consequently, George had had to rush back to his house and change his shirt. He was not in the best of moods. "Still," he thought, "Better press on, and at least 'she' would be there..."
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Emee
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Pauline Murphy caught sight of her pale, thin face in her hallway mirror.

"You need a holiday girl," she told herself.

The problem was, she didn't really know anyone well enough to travel with her.

Her sister Margaret, who lived in Westbury Deane, was married with 3 young children and so they went on holiday as a family. Her parents enjoyed going on holiday together as a couple now they no longer had family commitments.

Pauline worked full time in a book shop. She didn't really socialise with the other members of staff outside work. The owner / manager was married with a family of his own and the other staff were either part-time students or full time ethereal types.

Despite her 'bookish' appearance, Pauline Murphy was a down to earth woman. Her Catholic faith was the basis of her whole life and she cared deeply about her fellow human beings, the environment and the welfare of animals.

The problem was, for all of her 38 years, Pauline had been plagued by a debilitating shyness, which from her school days onwards had prevented her from forming many meaningful friendships. Her best, wonderful school friend Mary Tenant had died from cancer 3 years ago and now Pauline had no one she could really say she was close to, outside her family.

As a result Pauline buried herself in the stores' books at lunchtimes when she didn't have to shop and pay bills, and had managed to build some sort of community life for herself by becoming St Isidore's Parish Secretary - in answer to a request for volunteers.

After leaving school, without academic brilliance, she had given some thought to becoming a legal secretary and as a result had achieved RSA III standard in type writing (these days it was called 'textprocessing') and shorthand. It was only years later that she had decided she preferred to work with books rather than dictation, and had abandoned her earlier career choice.

Pauline enjoyed her committee meetings. She didn't have to get really involved as she was always busy taking the minutes, but George, Bern and the others were usually very kind to her. She confessed, to herself, of being quite fond of Bern - even though he could be a pompous 'bean counting' oaf at times, she felt he had a good Yorkshire heart.

Well, she needed to hurry or she would be late for the non-official meeting Father had called. As she put on her three quarter length coat and grabbed her handbag she wondered if she'd be expected to take minutes...
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Rose of York
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George and Bernie were both early for the meeting. When Pauline arrived the two men stood at the same instant, and each said "Good evening Pauline". George pulled out the chair next to him, hoping Pauline would sit there. Bernie shyly stood behind her and helped her off with her coat, then he too pulled out a chair and invited her to sit - right next to him. Poor Pauline got quite flustered. George had offered a seat first, but she wanted to sit next to Bernie. How could she offend George?

Father Cardew, seeing Pauline's discomfiture, said quietly "I will chair the meeting. Pauline, please sit next to me and take the minutes."
Keep the Faith!

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Emee
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Bern gathering himself and overcoming his disappointment at being unable to breath in the scent of Nina Ricci's 'L'air du Temps' that Pauline usually wore, made a mental note that he needed to catch up with George at the end of the meeting and pass on the news which Judith Baxter had divulged to him from the Bishop's House... He felt it would be inappropriate to announce it during the meeting - especially with Father Cardew and the Monsignor having so much history...
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James
James
Next morning father was in jubilant mood and more than pleased with the outcome of the meeting.
It was agreed that a small committee would be formed to oversee the whole business and remain active until everything was concluded to the satifaction of all parties.

George would be president and deal with any transport needs.
Bern treasurer to make payments for temporary rentals,transport etc. and recover from Bishop's funds
Pauline secretary and assist generally.
Violet would undertake the actual organisation and possible reallocation of the diaries for both halls.
Moira and Frances would undertake to enquire into what rooms may be for let , if required ,and advise as necessary.

St Isodore hall had a few dates on several evenings that could not be moved and there were also a few wedding receptions in the hall, also a kindergarten for a few hours daily. Generally there was room for scope in the afternoons.
Corpus Christie hall had no real heavy committments apart from the drama group- mostly church organisations like the SVP with manageable attendance and Violet suggested she may let some of them have use of a room in the manor if they agreed.l
Violet made her apologies being "premature" regarding the school rooms and suggested, that as she will be kept busy with this project, she will suspend her rehearsals for a couple of weeks until she can have all the information and her plan made availabe for meeting and "take it from there"
In conclusion, father thanked everyone for attending and all had some tea and sandwiches before departing.
Violet seemed particularily happy about manner in which she was treated and accepted.
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Emee
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Moira Elspeth Finn had decided to abandon her imminent departure to Our Lady's following George's conveyance of Bern's revelation regarding the Monsignor and the post of VG. Bern, true to his word had whispered it to George after the meeting with Father Cardew. George, for his part, had announced it to the rest of the group as soon as Father Cardew was out of earshot.

Moira was confident then that it would be of no consequence which parish she attended, for things would soon be changing throughout the entire Diocese. An RAF wife, she had moved to England from Inverness when her husband had been transferred south from one of the two nearby RAF bases. She was one for doing things properly, despite her over-familiarity with Father "Tony", and the idea of more Tridentine Masses suited her tremendously...
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Rose of York
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The meeting had gone well.

Father Cardew, the man of prayer, entered the church by the side door, knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and thanked God for, as ever, guiding him through the pitfalls of parish administration and organisation.

Tomorrow he would do all he could to ascertain the pastoral needs of individual sick parishioners and their families, at Corpus Christi. He would start by checking the list already prepared by Pauline, his parish secretary, then he would telephone each person on the list. After he had visited them all personally, he would find out how which parishioners and organisations were involved in giving personal support and friendship to those who were in need.
Keep the Faith!

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Rose of York
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As soon as Violet Wilde's car was out of sight of Monsignor High and Mighty Monsignor's Residence, she called the vicar, and made an appointment to discuss the formation of an ecumenical drama group. Well, why not? The vicar had the premises. Violet had the experience and the personnel.

Keep the Faith!

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Emee
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"The problem is," George announced to Bern over a pint of Brain's Welsh Bitter at The Bull Hotel, "He doesn't seem to be quite... well... you know... human..."

"Scares t'living heebie jeebies out o' me," Bern agreed, shuddered and stared at his pint.

"He's going to try to turn us into some sort of Stepford Parish," George continued, developing his theme, "And I, for one, won't stand it."

George always needed a cause. Last week it was the then Father Cardew, now it was the Monsignor. One good point that had arisen out of the latest development was that George would, temporarily at least, be now allied with Canon Cardew against an even greater adversity.

"You 'ave my vote mate," Bern agreed, "I don't even know 'ow ter say 'Good Morning' in Latin. We need ter rally t'troops mate. A reckon they'll all come good, apart from Moira who I've 'ad me doubts about ever since she bought 'er 'ead thingy..."

"Mantilla," George advised.

"Whatever," Bern went on, "Now about Pauline mate... You ever gonna ask 'er out? Otherwise I might ask her misen. I love that perfume she wears..."

George blushed: "Is it THAT obvious?"

"Mate you couldn't be more obvious if you 'ad a great big neon sign above yer 'ead saying: 'I George Williams 'ave one 'eck of a crush on Miss Pauline Murphy."

George studied an SA beermat in depth: "Bern, I wouldn't stand a chance with a class woman like that. Anyhow, I'm convinced she doesn't like me in THAT way."

"Just ask 'er out man."

"I can't," George blushed even deeper. He was feeling really uncomfortable about the direction in which this conversation was heading.

"I get it!" Bern announced triumphantly, "You're afraid of rejection aren't you mate? You, the great George Williams, are afraid she's going to turn you down..."

"Well," George sighed and gave up, "Yes. Yes Bern, I can't bear the idea that she'll say 'no' to me. Are you happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear; me admit my insecurities? Well I hope you're satisfied..."

"George," Bern had a great deal of respect for, and generally liked the Parish Chairman, "Just ask her..."
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Emee
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A very satisfied Mrs Wilde concluded her call to the Vicar. Confident in the knowledge that her performance of 'The Gondoliers' would now go ahead as planned, she had one more phone call to make.

She reached George Williams' answer machine as he was still at The Bull with Bern.

"George hello, Violet Wilde speaking," she declared in her clearest theatrical tones, "Beware. I've got the CCODS sorted out, thanks to the wonderful local Vicar. You need to ensure the safety of the rest of the PCC. Be On Your Guard... You didn't hear this from me George. Toodlepip."
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Emee
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George David Ifan Williams stood at the summit of Pen-Y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons.

"Da," he whispered, "We'll win through yet, I promise you. I know what a brave thing you did, becoming a Catholic against your Welsh Baptist family's wishes, but how delighted you were when the vernacular was introduced, as you felt two languages already were enough for anyone. We don't need more than one Latin Mass a month. Young Megan is so distraught because she can't understand why she doesn't serve at these Masses. We won't take this lying down Da. I'm doing it for you..."

And with that he turned and walked back down to where his super Mini was parked and drove towards Talybont Reservoir where the Canon, Bern, Pauline, Frances and even Violet were eating ice-creams on the parish day out. Meanwhile Father Martin gleefully removed his guitar from its case delighted to be asked to join the open air gathering and sing song. Phil had even brought along some of her children's tambourines for the occasion. She passed one to the now-delighted Megan. Pauline kicked her shoes off, bravely joining in the mood.

"Oh Happy Day...!" :clap: :wh: :clap:
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Rose of York
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Violet chattered away to the Canon, about the Polish nights.

"Canon, how did you manage to obtain an alcohol license so quickly? It usually takes weeks."

The Canon let Violet into the secret. The Monsignor had dealt with that little problem. He who knew everything had written to the Canon, advising him that, as a licence costs several hundred pounds to obtain, it would be cheaper, and quite lawful, to sell raffle tickets for £1.50 or £2 each, and each ticket would entitle the bearer to a pint of beer, a glass of wine or a shot of spirits.

Violet, who had been a magistrate, knew far more about licensing legislation than the Monsignor. The Canon's information was stored away in her grey cells, for future use. Now was not the time to raise the matter. The party day out must not be spoilt with discussion of clerical law-breaking.

Keep the Faith!

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Rose of York
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Back at St Isidore's Canon Cardew dictated a letter to the Bishop.

Canon Cardew
 


My Lord

With reference to your request for a report on the attendance at Tridentine Mas, I am pleased to inform you that, in my opinion, there is a need for wider provision.

Attendance continues to increase, partly due to the merger with Corpus Christi Parish.  We have some regulat attendees who have travel considerable distances to attend Tridentine Mass at Saint Isidore's.

Some who attended once or twice then returned to their usual New Rite Holy Mass  indicated they are happy with the New Rite, but have observed that in a small minority of parishes the rubrics are not observed.  Most of the people who make this observation have something in common.  They have learnt much about Redemptoris Sacramentum, from membership of Catholic Discussion forums on the internet.

I therefore suggest that, in preparation for the awaited announcement from the Holy Father, the Diocese commence other pilot schemes, with weekly celbration of Tridentine Mass in one church in each major town.

It would also be advisable to consider improving the instruction of our young people, in the correct behaviour of the congregation at Mass.  I propose attending to this, through our schools and parish catechetical programmes.  We cannot rely on internet forums to educate our people, as many do not have internet access.

In my humble opinion, it is advisable to provide for all.  Novus Ordo continues to be the preferred rite for many, but those who wish to attend Tridentine Rite must not be neglected.  Time will tell, whether there is a "swing".

Yours obediently in Christ

Anthony Cardew
Keep the Faith!

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