‘Armand’ goes gallic Château La Nerthe 2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc This month has proved, if nothing else, that it’s good to have acquaintances. One needs someone else to drink with, after all. I happened to mention to a pal of mine [...]
‘Audubon’ counts his eggs In parishes and cathedrals up and down the country the English tradition of Shrove Tuesday is very much alive – well, partially alive. Reheated leathery pancakes are served up drenched with sugar and lemon juice, chocolate [...]
‘Thurifer’ goes to the cinema, and the Banqueting House “Silence” the latest film by Martin Scorsese (once a seminarian) is, as most films nowadays, too long; and, as it deals with the same moral dilemma – the extent to which [...]
Art The Radical Eye Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection Tate Modern until 21st May Sir Elton John has one of the “greatest private collections of photography in the world”. Quite how that remark is justified [...]
Christopher Smith wonders about those “speciality liturgies” As New Directions lands on our doormats this month, our ears are still ringing with those words we heard as we received the Ash Wednesday ash: “Remember that you are dust, and to [...]
Tom Sutcliffe misses the magic Can one classify the Wagner operas Flying Dutchman and The Ring as fairy-tales? The existence and meaning of magic are as much part of our world as the Christianity and Islam that replaced the folk-tales [...]
The recent sadness at Westcott House emerged at about the same time as the pre-release of the Bishops’ Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations. It made for a perfect media storm. About Polarigate, as we must now [...]
Arthur Middleton on baptismal imagery Decorated Baptisteries Candidates for Baptism enrolled on the eve of the first day of Lent, and spent the forty days of Lent in preparation for baptism at Easter. In early Baptisteries a decorative feature [...]
From the Revd Dr Peter Mullen Sir― Slowly but surely – by hint, innuendo and prevarication, and by a deathless procession of committee meetings and interim reports – the Church of England is working its way towards changing its teaching [...]
Arthur Middleton on the Lenten Fast Jesus fasted... Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in [...]