Merry Christmas!

It certainly wasn't the mile-long Reid family Christmas dinner table, but Fr. Harvey's feast for his six seminarian guests made for a wonderful Christmas meal!  We donned our tasteful paper crowns found in our Christmas crackers, and sat down to what ended up being an approximately 6-hour lunch/dinner/supper/feast of awesomeness.  (Don't worry, that was with a few breaks, including a walk around the block to help everything settle!)  Earlier that day, and the night before, we were able to serve 3 of the parish's 5 Christmas Masses.  It was a wonderful blessing to experience the joy of parish life during this beautiful season: everything from Christmas carols before Mass, the blessing of the manger scene, and a Nativity pageant by the children.  Truly a blessing!

Aside from sleeping and eating wonderful home-cooked meals, we have been able to see and experience many of the treasures of London.  We spent an evening at the British Museum and got to see the Rosetta Stone!  I've heard that if you touch it, you instantly learn every language known to man.  However, the bullet-proof glass prevented this from being done, so it looks like Italian classes will still be a struggle...

The Rosetta Stone features a single text written in three languages: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic (a vernacular Egyptian), and Greek.  The Stone allowed archaeologists to translate the hieroglyphics!

On Tuesday, we saw Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre in London!  So yeah, that was pretty awesome...

And, since you all know me pretty well, you know that it wouldn't be a trip without visiting a few more churches!  Thanks to our host, Fr. Harvey, we were given some great suggestions on places where we could experience the Catholic Church in London:

Corpus Christi Church, on the West End of London.  This church was designed to be, and still is, "the Actor's Church," because it is located near many of the city's great theaters.  It's pulpit also hosted many well-known preachers, including Monsignor Ronald Knox, a friend of G.K Chesterton who converted to Catholicism in 1918, and Henry Cardinal Manning, a hugely influential figure in English Catholicism in the 19th century.

Corpus Christi features a statue of St. Genesius, a martyr of the early Church and the patron saint of actors.  Notice the masks at his feet!

On Christmas Eve, we had the joy of visiting a place that was very highly recommended to us by many people: the Brompton Oratory, located in the Chelsea neighborhood of London.  The Oratorians are a community of priests founded in Rome in the 16th century by St. Philip Neri for the simple tasks of living together, praying together, and performing works of charity together!  The Oratory is currently one of 4 Oratories in London, and was the second one founded by one of my favorite (hopefully soon to be) saints: Blessed John Henry Newman!

The man himself.

Walking into the Oratory was like walking into a church back in Rome: the architecture was Baroque, the pulpit was in the middle of the nave, and there was some saint enshrined in a side altar!  A little taste of home, I suppose.

"She's a real beaut, Clark!"

Today, we had the chance to visit a small convent of Benedictine nuns near London's Hyde Park, where perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is kept in honor of the Tyburn Gallows which were once located nearby.  It was at those gallows that an estimated 50,000 people lost their lives during the Protestant Reformation in England, many of whom have been declared Venerable, Blessed, and Canonized by the Church!

The Blessed Sacrament is adored in the heart of London 24/7!

After visiting the convent, myself and my 2 companions set off to find the stone which marked the actual site of the Tyburn gallows, a stone which was, according to a sign outside the convent, exactly 300 paces east of us.  I was initially certain that east led us directly across the street, but after scouring a large grassy knoll and finding nothing, we realized that what I had believed to be east was actually south, and that it was no surprise that I had not made it from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  After getting our bearings (literally), we finally found the stone in the middle of a median of a busy intersection, marking the place where hundreds of holy men and women gave their lives at the gallows rather than deny their love for Jesus Christ and His Church.  Such a simple place, but truly quite remarkable.

Tomorrow, I will be leaving Fr. Harvey's and meeting up with my great aunt and uncle, to spend a few days with them in Lutterworth, a small town a couple hours north of London.  I am incredibly grateful for the joys and laughs of the past week, for the parishioners of St. Edmund's who have given us more baked goods than we had ever imagined, for Fr. Harvey's great hospitality and warmth, and for the 5 men with whom I have been able to share these wonderful experiences.  I am truly blessed!  Thank you all for your prayers, and, as always, know of mine.  God bless you all; Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Colin

Bonus Pictures:

President Reagan stands proudly in front of the American Embassy in London.  These colors don't run.

Our 2nd great culinary craving: Chipotle!  We partook on multiple occasions.

London Calling

Well, since we can't go home for Christmas, we figured we could get the next best thing: a land of dreary winter skies, Starbucks Eggnog Lattes, properly formed lines, and the glorious English language.  Today, three of my NAC brothers and I arrived at London Gatwick airport to begin a two-week long adventure in the heart of the British Empire!  We are staying with an incredibly kind priest who is the pastor of a parish in Loughton, roughly 40 minutes northeast of London, in the Catholic Diocese of Brentwood.  He has generously hosted NAC seminarians in his rectory for many years now, so we will be the next in a long line of men who have benefited from his hospitality!

Myself, Anthony Stewart, and Vince Fernandez.  Thanks to our other traveler Michael Holmquist for taking the picture!

The picture above is taken in front of Westminster Cathedral, the mother church of Catholicism in England and Wales.  Construction of the church began in 1903, and has slowly and steadily continued in the years since.  It is in the beautiful Neo-Byzantine architectural style, featuring three large domes, a beautiful baldechino over the altar, an Eastern-style crucifix, and some spectacular mosaics.  The church is not yet finished, which is why the marble decoration only reaches about halfway up; but even so, it's a beautiful place!  We celebrated the fourth Sunday of Advent there today, and were blessed to listen to a beautiful men and boys' choir sing the Mass parts.  The parish community is joyful and vibrant, and the huge church was nearly full of both parishioners and pilgrims alike!

After Mass, we satisfied one of our two American culinary cravings by paying a visit to a Starbucks right across the street.  (Stay tuned to find out what the other craving is!)  Vince was pretty excited when he found the Eggnog Latte.  And he had every right to be excited, because it was amazing.

Let's go!!!

Next, we headed to Victoria Station, the main transportation hub in downtown London, where we loaded up our Oyster cards (reloadable transit passes) and got on the tube (London's epic underground metro system).  We made it to our stop in Loughton, and got to St. Edmund's parish without a problem!  A cup of tea later, I can say with great joy that it is good to be here.  More to come, I hope!  I am, after all, the world's worst blogger.  But I will do my best to keep you all posted.  Thanks for the prayers, and, as always, know of mine!

Michael makes sure we got off at the right stop.  Anthony is just happy to be here.