To ‘dedicate’ a place to God is a ritual that is found in every religion. To ‘reserve’ a place for God is an act of recognising His glory and honour. When Emperor Constantine granted full liberty to all Christians in 313 AD, they did not spare in order to construct places for the Lord - numerous are the churches constructed at that time. Constantine also constructed churches, one of which was a magnificent basilica on the Caelian Hill in Rome, over the ancient Lateran Palace, which Pope Sylvester I dedicated to Christ the Saviour (318 or 324). A chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist was built inside it which served as the baptistry. This moved Pope Sergius III to dedicate it to St John the Baptist as well. Lastly, Pope Lucius II also dedicated it to St John the Evangelist in the 12th century. Thus, the name of the Basilica is the Basilica of the Most Holy Saviour and of Sts John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran. Christians consider this Basilica to be the mother church of all churches in the world . The church was destroyed several times in the course of history, and always rebuilt. The final reconstruction took place under Pope Benedict XIII. The church was rededicated in 1724. It was at that time that the feast celebrated today was established and extended to the universal Church.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Once more a very busy week around The Presbytery as building works begin to wind down and scaffolding begins to be removed . . . . . . . On Monday Fr D was making sure that everything was ‘in place’ for the Blessing of Graves to be celebrated this weekend (Sunday 15.30 Cobham Cemetery). Parishioners are asked to meet at the chapel end of the car park so that we can have a prompt start. There will then be a short formal service of prayer before parishioners go and stand by the graves of their relatives (acting as markers for Fr D to come to). When Fr D gets to each grave he will sprinkle it with Holy Water and say a prayer. Once all the graves have been blessed parishioners are invited to return to the Parish Centre for Tea & Scones. After Morning Prayer, Mass, and Exposition on Tuesday morning Fr D was off to the diocesan offices at Crawley where he was interviewing a new Plaintiff who is asking for an annulment investigation. These interviews are quite involved and obviously very personal to the persons concerned and usually take between two and three hours of questioning. In the evening Fr D began the second half of the Reconciliation Programme for this year with the parents; these sessions prepare the parents for the work that they will be undertaking with their children on the Saturday morning following (hopefully able to give answers to any questions that their children might ask). After this week there will only be two more sessions for the group before the celebration of this great sacrament of God’s love on Saturday 29th November. Following Morning Prayer and Mass on Wednesday Fr D had someone coming to see him in one of the rooms in the Parish Centre. By the time this meeting was over several sections of the scaffolding around the Presbytery were coming down to reveal a great transformation of the main roof! The works now started to turn to the smaller sections of roof projecting from the house (front door canopy, utility room, bay windows at the rear, along with some hanging tile work).  In the evening at the Parish Finance Committee meeting work began on working out the running order for the next larger building projects that we need to face in the next couple of years - adapting the church lighting system for life without halogen bulbs, and what to do about the aging gas heating boiler for the church heating . . . . .

Traditionally in the Church the month of November is a period of time dedicated to prayer for the Holy Souls in purgatory (those not yet in the presence of God but destined to be). The Church commemorates all her faithful children who have departed this life, but have not yet attained the joys of heaven. St Paul warns us that we must not be ignorant concerning the dead, nor sorrowful, “even as others who have no hope . . . . for the Lord himself shall come down from heaven . . . . and the dead who are in Christ shall rise.” The Church has always taught us to pray for those who have gone into eternity. Even in the Old Testament prayers and alms were offered for the souls of the dead by those who thought “well and religiously concerning the resurrection.” It was believed that “they who had fallen asleep with godliness had great grace laid up for them” and that “it is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” We know that a defiled soul cannot enter into heaven. NOVEMBER BOOK OF THE DEAD - As usual Parishioners who have taken the time to complete a ‘Dead List’ for any family or friends who have died since last November will now be able to ‘look up’ the names in our Parish Book of the Dead; which will be placed on the sanctuary throughout November. Each weekend during November one of our Masses will be celebrated for the Holy Souls. NOVEMBER BLESSING OF GRAVES - Our annual Blessing of Graves will take place next Sunday (9th November) at 15.30 (Cobham Cemetery, by the chapel entrance). After the short service there will be tea and scones available back at the Sacred Heart Parish Centre.

On Saturday (1 st Nov.) the Holy Father declared John Henry Newman to be the 38th Doctor of the Church, recognising his great holiness, learning, and wisdom. John Henry Newman was born in London on 21 st February 1801. The eldest of six children, his family were practising members of the Church of England with the young John Henry an enthusiastic reader of the Bible. Aged fifteen, he had a religious experience so strong that it would change his life forever. Writing about the experience later, he said: “A great change of thought took place in me. I fell under the influences of a definite Creed … I believed that the inward conversion of which I was conscious … would last into the next life, and that I was elected to eternal glory. … I believe that it had some influence on my opinions … in isolating me from the objects which surrounded me... and making me rest in the thought of two and two only absolute and luminously self-evident beings, myself and my creator.” He would later refer to this as his first conversion - before becoming a Catholic in 1845, and thereafter, on 30 May 1847, ordained a Catholic priest. Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) admired John Henry Newman’s fierce religious orthodoxy and appointed him as a cardinal three decades later, in 1879. The year before he died, John Henry wrote about the journey to sainthood:  “Such are the means which God has provided for the creation of the Saint out of the sinner,” he said, “it is the very triumph of His grace, that He enters into the heart of man, and persuades it, and prevails with it, while He changes it.”

The name of St Charles is associated with reform. He lived during the time of the Reformation, and had a hand in the reform of the whole Church during the final years of the Council of Trent. Although he belonged to Milanese nobility and was related to the powerful Medici family, Charles desired to devote himself to the Church. In 1559, when his uncle, Cardinal de Medici was elected Pope Pius IV, he made Charles cardinal-deacon and administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan. At the time Charles was still a layman and a young student. Due to his intellectual qualities Charles was entrusted with several important offices connected with the Vatican, and later appointed secretary of state with responsibility for the papal states. The untimely death of his elder brother brought Charles to a definite decision to be ordained a priest, despite his relatives’ insistence that he marry. Soon after being ordained a priest at age 25, Charles was consecrated bishop of Milan. Working behind the scenes, Charles deserves the credit for keeping the Council of Trent in session when at several points it was on the verge of breaking up. Charles encouraged the pope to renew the Council in 1562, after it had been suspended for 10 years. He took upon himself the task of the entire correspondence during the final phase. Because of his work at the Council, Charles was unable to live in Milan until the Council concluded.  During the plague and famine of 1576, Charles tried to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people daily. Whilst the civil authorities fled at the height of the plague. Work and the heavy burdens of his office began to affect Charles’s health, leading to his death at the age of 46.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Fr D got back to The Presbytery late on Sunday afternoon, pushing that funny box on wheels that he always takes away with him. As the supermarkets were closed by this time and he had run-down the food in the fridge before he left to go on holiday, the sisters were very kind and had a dinner waiting for him. After he had finished his dinner, Fr D took the ‘box on wheels’ upstairs to his bedroom and started bringing down bags of clothes to put into the ‘white boxes’ in the utility room. By the time that he had put two bags through both boxes and a further bag into one box he was ready for bed! On Monday Fr D was able to see what progress had been made on the re-roofing of The Presbytery and was delighted! The workmen explained that the majority of the works necessary (like lots of things) was in the preparations. The roof still had the original 1932 tiles in place which were very much at the end of their life cycle. Also when the house was built there was such thing as sarking felt (which now goes underneath the tiles in modern houses), replacing the tiles has meant that a layer of insulation is now in place under the tiles and roof battens. This has proved to be very effective: Fr D went into the loft which is normally very cold to find that it was every bit as warm as the house is normally - so the insulation properties of the new layer are excellent! The workmen also explained to Fr D that the chimney (which he had asked to be taken down as part of the works) was in fact badly split facing the roof and would have required a lot of work in the very near future! The flat roof on the very top of the house has been remade in fibreglass to ensure a long lifespan. Next week the workmen will set about re-tiling the awning over the front door, the roof over the utility roof and the sections looking out over the garden.  Also on Monday the workmen erecting the new fence around the car park arrived and immediately set to work digging out the holes for the new uprights and bedding them in with concrete. As the week progressed they began to fill the sections between the posts with the panels and the security side of things is now vastly improved (it also meant that the local council’s decayed chain-link fence is no longer in view from our side!). Whereas it was sad to see the demise of the conifer boarder it was not feasible for us to continue risking fires (such as the two we have already had) with vehicles (and fuel tanks) in such close proximity.

Just a few snaps of the accommodation that Fr D has found for himself on this year’s holiday. Temperatures are holding up well and he has found some great places to eat . .

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Well, Fr D has been away for a week now, with no sign of a post card. I knew that it must be that time of year again when he got the big box on wheels down from the attic a few days before he disappeared . . . . . This is a map of Lefkada which is where Fr D has gone off to this time. The airport is actually just south of Preveza which is on the mainland (about twenty-five minutes from the island). He last went to this island the October before the infamous ‘lockdown’ when Covid hit and all travel and holidays were banned. Fr D particularly likes this island because there is not much in the way of hotels having been built destroying the beauty of hundreds of fishing villages around the coast. It is also famous for the yachting that takes place all around the coast (and at least two of our own parishioners have been known to go on yachting holidays around the island.!). Fr D is staying in the capital.

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