Sunday 9 October 2011

And belated thanks to Fr Ray


So what seems like oodles of years ago - was my hair really that short?, but was probably only four, I went to a talk organised by Joanna Bogle and met someone called Clare, chatted, walked to the tube together and said good-bye.

The day of the Cardinal Hoyos Mass, Mac gave me a lift (and we saw the Papal Nuncio's car outside Westminster Cathedral, with one very cool number plate which I can't rememeber, but it was cool,) and we bumped into Fr Ray and had a coffee.  The cigarettes are nothing to do with me, btw.  Mac took a photo and put it on her blog and Clare, (who was by then running the Choir at St Mary Mags) saw it and recognised me.  I went to Brighton to sing the first time she did lots of music, like at the time three years ago when singing the Elgar Ave verum after Holy Communion seemed positively countercultural and then she persuaded me to go to Solesmes.

Whilst we were there, she had to phone up Fr Ray to check out if she could buy some of their Gregorian Missals which we could get at a very good discount.  He answered the phone, she started to speak and the monks started to ring the bell for vespers, which was ... loud.  'Oh so you are at Solesmes.'

The rest, as they say, is history. 
Back to Brighton next Sat. (Friday, actually.)

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