Monday, October 25, 2004

Into the valley of Death...

I see from today's telegraph that the Charge of the Light Brigade is to be reinacted.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
From Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade
Quenta mentions the feastday of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales and plugs the webiste of the Tyburn Benedictines. If one is in London then a visit to their convent is a must. The sisters keep perptual adoration in their chapel. I was there some time ago and was given a tour of their crypt chapel with its amazing collection of relics by a very POD Australian sisters. We spent so long swapping stories about the martyrs and the sad history of Tyburn that she was nearly late for vespers! In Quenta's comment box I mention a Newman connection to the convent. What I forgot to mention was that Hope-Scott was part of Newman's legal team for the Achilli case. There is an extract from Newman's writings (possibly the Plain and Parochial Sermons?) on a plaque at the back of their upstairs chapel.
(If you can spare something, I know that the sisters are facing huge building costs to comply with disability legislation.)

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