On this cold and dark January day, I am sitting at my desk looking at The Roman Missal my mother gave me a long time ago. On the inside page she has written:
"Barnaby Capel-Dunn
to commemorate his Confirmation, October 1956
from his mother".
She was 47 at the time and I had just turned 12. I was a border at St Richard's School, Little Malvern in Worcestershire, and I think my mother must have crossed the country by train to be with me that weekend. I have a distinct memory of being given a soft-boiled egg as a special treat by the school!
By a strange coincidence, the radio is playing Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations as I write these words. Elgar was buried in the little graveyard of St Wulstan's Catholic Church on the school grounds.
I note that the Missal is drawn up "in accordance with the most recent decrees of the Holy See". Well, I doubt if it would be today as, amongst other things, much of it is in Latin! We boys were more familiar with Confiteor Deo omnipotenti than with I confess to Almighty God; Gloria in excelsis Deo than with Glory be to God in the highest and Credo in unum Deum than with I believe in one God.
We particularly looked forward to the following exchange between priest and congregation:
Ite, missa est
Deo Gratias
which my missal prudently translates as:
Go: this is the dismissal
Thanks be to God...
Update
I spoke too soon. I have just heard that the Pope is now twitting in Latin!
"Barnaby Capel-Dunn
to commemorate his Confirmation, October 1956
from his mother".
She was 47 at the time and I had just turned 12. I was a border at St Richard's School, Little Malvern in Worcestershire, and I think my mother must have crossed the country by train to be with me that weekend. I have a distinct memory of being given a soft-boiled egg as a special treat by the school!
By a strange coincidence, the radio is playing Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations as I write these words. Elgar was buried in the little graveyard of St Wulstan's Catholic Church on the school grounds.
I note that the Missal is drawn up "in accordance with the most recent decrees of the Holy See". Well, I doubt if it would be today as, amongst other things, much of it is in Latin! We boys were more familiar with Confiteor Deo omnipotenti than with I confess to Almighty God; Gloria in excelsis Deo than with Glory be to God in the highest and Credo in unum Deum than with I believe in one God.
We particularly looked forward to the following exchange between priest and congregation:
Ite, missa est
Deo Gratias
which my missal prudently translates as:
Go: this is the dismissal
Thanks be to God...
Update
I spoke too soon. I have just heard that the Pope is now twitting in Latin!
Greetings Barnaby
ReplyDeleteA great post which brings back a few memories.
My pre-Beaumont prep school - Ladycross Seaford long since closed - was not as attractive sounding school as as yours. However our Latin Masses were often sung and I do remember a friend there and I, making code marks on hymns in hymnbooks to signify whether they were excellent ok or dreadful. The friend as I recall was nephew of the Prince of Monaco and would have been in line to the French throne had the French not done away with kings. Nonetheless some of the most interesting holidays that I recall took place with him and his family at their huge (long since demolished) villa in Pyla near Arcachon. I was only 11 or 12 but champagne from the family's Reims chateau was compulsory even for children. Whle I was there a kindly maid showed me a newspaper article just then published, concerning one of their poor but v. distant, relatives I think, burning himself to death in protest at a wealth disparity but as a 12 year old I did not understand then.
Years later our friendship was still strong. Henri stayed a while in our first tiny terrace house in Mitcham also long since demolished, to get away from the high society life for a while and Mrs maytrees and I spent a few days at his chateau in Reims.
Then the champagne chateau was sold and I think along with many individually run French vineyards, became part of international combines but our friendship continued until tragically some years ago, his light airplane was flying over the family's remaining vineyards near Bordeaux and crashed - tragically he was killed - RIP.
Many thanks, Jerry, for such an interesting comment. Well, you certainly moved in exalted circles! Quite a few Beaumont boys came from Ladycross, didn't they? I was sorry to learn that it had closed down. St Richard's survived but has since moved to somewhere in Herefordshire. I went there a few years ago with my brother and was astonished by the opulence (and fees!). I often wonder how I could possibly have afforded to send our own children to a school like that, had we still be living in England!
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