The church of the Holy Name in Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has an unusual crucifix above its sanctuary.  Where we are used to seeing the f...

Wishing all readers a fruitful Lent. All friends of Christ, hold fast, hold fast; Fear not these desert days of Lent.  All grunged-up souls,...

The extraordinary revival over the past ten years in the music of Ruth Gipps (1921–1999), which was sovindictively neglected in her lifetime...

As a mid-Christmastide treat, here is Herbert Howells’ setting of an early sixteenth-century carol in praise of Mary, A Maid Peerless .  Thi...

And so another year draws towards its close; another Advent leads us to the manger-side and, we are told, to the fruition of our hopes.  Aga...

It’s that time of year again!  The Office of Rail and Road has released its annual statistics of passenger numbers per railway station , and...

Happy feast-day of St. Catherine of Alexandria, martyr of the faith, evangeliser of fifty pagan philosophers, and patroness of archivists!  ...

An adaptation by  Diocesan Design  of the  Fiesole San Domenico Altarpiece  (probably by Fra Angelico)  In England and Wales All Saints'...

‘It is the blaze of a thousand suns in the Sanctus ; it is a golden radiance in the penultimate chorus; and at last, to the words requiem se...

In the past decade it has been discovered that at the moment of conception, at our very beginning, in a phase intrinsic to the formation of ...

“The Holy Spirit bestows understanding. The Spirit overcomes the ‘breach’ that began in Babel, the confusion of mind and heart that sets us ...

We have a Pope!  God bless Leo XIV! God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail!  All of us are in God’s hands.  So, let us m...

Happy Easter to all readers!  I have been meaning to blog sooner, but have been particularly busy over the last month or so.  And there has ...

From the East Window of Worcester Cathedral ‘I thirst’ from the setting by Sir James MacMillan (b. 1959) of the Seven Last Words from the Cr...

There was I preparing my usual Maundy Thursday jeremiad on the crises of our time, the evaporation of meaning from our language and culture ...

Reposted according to tradition…   All friends of Christ, hold fast, hold fast; Fear not these desert days of Lent.  All grunged-up souls, a...

‘Here is my stone-ribbed nest … ’  St. David’s Cathedral, 6th March 2024. Wishing a very happy feast of St. David to all who have reason to ...

This year there is even more reason than usual to celebrate the birthday of the British composer Ruth Gipps (1921–1999).  Two new records — ...

The village of Deeping St. Nicholas, Lincolnshire, seen from the Peterborough–Lincoln train, 20th March, 2014. ‘We read to know that we are...