Two new vocations for Sisters of Mercy

Despite what the pessimists think, the call to religious life is still being heard by some.

Here is the news page from the Sisters of Mercy website, including a photo of the pair; I am assuming this photo was taken on the day of the big event, though I'm not 100% sure of that.

Speaking of that Order, I blogged in June about an event in Rosscarbery, Co Cork; here is something else on the matter, including a photo, again from the official Sisters of Mercy website. The photo clearly looks as if it was simply scanned from the newspaper in which the story originally appeared.

A day's work!

If you are fortunate enough to be gainfully employed in a job you enjoy, and lucky enough to work with nice people, with generally good working conditions, then spare a thought for those who are not as fortunate as you.

Such as the people whom Rev. Stephen Miller deals with in his work with the Anglican Mission to Seafarers.

Read this: it's from the magazine of the International Transport Workers Federation.

And yes, there is a Catholic equivalent, the Apostleship of the Sea.

If this blog isn't enough for you. . .

. . .you will soon have more opportunities to read my musings on the Catholic England and Wales blog. I have been invited to join this blog, and I am very happy to accept.

Absolutely hilarious!

This post by Paulinus really made me laugh.

And then, after I'd finished, I was thinking to myself: "I hope it's not based on fact!"

Wedding day story and pics

No not me, but blogger Antonia of Antonia's World got hitched a couple of weeks ago.

Story of the big day here.

Best wishes to the happy couple.

I am guessing that this priest was Irish!

Today's Racing Post features an interview with trainer Criquette Head-Maarek, probably the leading female racehorse trainer in the world. I had the pleasure of briefly visiting her yard at Chantilly in October 1994, when I went to the Arc de Triomphe weekend as part of a tour group; a Saturday morning trip to Chantilly was included. Chantilly is about thirty/forty miles north of Paris, and is the main training centre of racehorses in France, the French equivalent of the Curragh or Newmarket.

The interview was by veteran France-based reporter, Desmond Stoneham.

Apparently Criquette had cancer last year, but thankfully she seems to have made a good recovery. For many years, she has been able to speak English fluently; I had heard her quoted as saying that she learnt English by reading The Sporting Life.

But I hadn't known that she went to school in England, and the most interesting part of the piece is as follows:

"As a teenager, I spent three years at school in Guildford and Eastbourne", she says. "I spent many days going racing with the local priest and never missed a meeting at Epsom. I was always reading The Sporting Life.

I don't know what age she is - I would estimate she's about sixty. So she would have been at school in the early sixties or thereabouts.

If you've never been to Switzerland, then you don't know what you're missing!

It's not cheap, but it's a fabulous place to visit.

So for the moment, I have put up, in the sidebar, a link to the Swiss Federal Railways journey planner. At the second attempt, I have done it properly.

Just choose two towns/cities in Switzerland, type them into the boxes provided, and click Search Connection, and away you go!!

Enjoy yourselves and start planning your trip!