Yesterday,Sunday May 18th, was a special day: it was the day of our parish Procession in honour of Our Lady.  There was the usual small crowd of more traditional parishioners who were willing to come to church a second time, but the sun was shining warmly and we were able to process around the outside of the church, past the tombs of John and Josephine Bowes, past the Presbytery and into the front garden to stand in front of the statue of Our Lady of Barnard Castle,all the while singing Marian hymns.

As we stood (and sat) in front of the statue, we recited the Five Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, and after we finished the Hail Holy Queen, I gave a short talk. I reminded everyone that when Jesus from the Cross gave His Mother to St John and St John to His Mother, that He was making Her the Mother not only of all of his followers but  most especially of John the priest and of all priests; I asked the group to pray for moree priests for His church. After these prayers we returned to the church for Bendiction. However, before Benediction began, we had to crown the statue of Our Lady in the sanctuary. Jane was our May Queen and managed perfectly.

Our service ended with the traditional Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Tea, coffee and cakes were then served in the presbytery and most people sat on the lawn in the warm sunshine and enjoyed the peace and the conversation for quite a long time.  As someone said, it was a very enjoyable occasion!

PS. I hope to be able to publish another chapter in the story of the fish quite soon. Watch this space.