First Holy Communion

Allelulia, sing to Jesus

We sang as the last hymn of the First Communion mass today.  Most of the time, most of us did not sing because the choir sang, and because we didn't know the words of the hymns.  But this hymn, "Allelulia, sing to Jesus", is a hymn that a couple of my singing relatives know, and did they sing out with grins on their faces at the words

"thunder like a mighty flood"

They loved it. Mind you, I love their singing.

It was a lovely ceremony, with just ten children taking their First Communion at a Blackfriars family mass in Oxford.  The children concentrated on the mass, not sitting with their families but at the front, like guests of honour.  After the mass, they were presented not only with certificates, but also with a set of rosary beads each, and advised to bring them the next two visits because one of the Dominicans was going to do something with them.  I love that idea, not just giving a relevant gift, but helping the children to see it as more than just a pretty trinket, but as something to help them develop further spiritually.

What a lucky little relative we have who belongs to such a church community.

Scuola Cantorum

We avoided the mayhem in Aylesbury by going out:

• morning coffee in Princes Risborough at the Field Mouse cheese store
  
• lunch in Oxford at the Nosebag, a cafe I've been going to for decades
• a lovely afternoon meeting old friends from the Oxford University tape-recording society for tea at the Ashmolean rooftop restaurant
  
• sharing supper with friends at Browns
  
• finally an evening at a concert of Handel and Bach in the Sheldonian. See http://www.schola-cantorum.net/ who were having their 50th anniversary

Cinema

We went to look for Eric at the Oxford Phoenix. I hadn't paid much attention to Cantona before, but rather liked what I saw in this film. See an excerpt here.

Shakespeare and children

Husband and I took two grandchildren over to Oxford to see Midsummer Night's Dream here. We were in a sunlit, windswept quad. The two fairies, Pease Blossom and Mustard Seed were scantily clad and must have been freezing. We'd brought blankets.

Eldest grandchild thoroughly enjoyed it, though grandson was more amused by the labourers attempts at the thespian arts, and his attention wandered when Titania was speaking, though I was impressed by his concentration throughout, given he's only seven, and bilingual, so following Shakespearean English wouldn't be a sinecure for him.

An academic, David Leal, wandered over to us afterwards, after watching our granddaughter rapt in the play. He asked her what part she would play (a giggling fairy), and encouraged her to get her school to do some Shakespeare next year when she's in year 6. I'd forgotten I'd done some Shakespeare with my year 4-5 class years ago - acted it, not read it. Shakespeare's for acting and for watching, not reading. Grandson knew that when he said he'd like to play Bottom.

There was no programme, so I have no idea who the actors were, nor the name of the director.

Son's bad day

Son rings up occasionally and we saw him last week for a cup of coffee at the Head of the River, but today he rang to say that he was all right, but someone had tried to burn his college down. This article explains a bit.

Broken car

We went to Oxford yesterday to see a relative, his daughter and his grandson.

Positive things happened:

• We had a lovely chat & I got to know his daughter and to admire his golden headed 18 month old grandson - a potential engineer who was fascinated by our car's tyres
• We met my son and handed over what he'd forgotten to take back after Christmas
• I managed to retrieve my lost handbag from where I'd forgotten it in the Head of the River pub where we had afternoon coffeeWe went to a BCS lecture which turned out to be much more interesting than we'd anticipated
• I managed to retrieve my lost handbag from where I'd forgotten it in the Head of the River pub where we had afternoon coffee

Negative thing happened

Husband's car set its alarm when we parked it and when we came back it refused to open. Eventually three doors would open but not the driver's so he had to clamber over the passenger seat to get to drive it. Anyone who knows our garage space will work out his problems in parking the car in the garage, so he took it to get the central locking fixed. Mechanics looked at everything. And everything - well nearly everything - else is broke too, like brakes. It's going to cost a four figure sum to fix.

Freshers' Parents Lunch

We had an unanticipated invitation to Hertford College this month. It read:

The Principal and Fellows of Hertford College, Oxford
request the pleasure of your company at
THE FRESHERS' PARENTS LUNCH
On Saturday 12th May 2007
Drinks in the The Principal's Lodgings - 11.30 - 1.00pm
Lunch in Hall - 1.00pm

Son was pleased to meet us, and we had the chance to meet his fellow student who comes from the town where my parents now live. Husband and I had interesting chat with him and his parents. The meal was lovely, the wine appropriate, the company good. After the meal, son gave us a tour of the college, before we wandered off to the covered market to pick up something interesting for supper. What luck! How nice.

It seems that the university is making new efforts to open itself to the world, so others can better understand it.