Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Who Indeed?

My regular correspondent pointed me to the web page of the St Aelred's group in Athens, GA. (St Aelred?? Give me a break.) The question:
Who are the 70+ who turned up at St Aelred's to attend Fr Perkins' celebration of DW?
It seems to me that the mediocre ex-TEC guy waiting for his 30 seconds in the microwave to get ordained should have the answer, and if he doesn't, I would suggest Houston not press the START button. It's also a question Bp Lopes should be ready to discuss with the local bishop.

UPDATE: A visitor agrees on the preciousness of the "St Aelred" name, and I think it extends to the whole enterprise. If you visit the blog, you can see the 19th-century retreat into medieval fantasy written all over the thing, which is also part of Tolkien's appeal. You'd think the Ordinariate is a branch office of Middle Earth. And note the condescending tone. Certainly I remember people who went to the stuffy TEC parish on Wilshire Bl eager to be told what to wear by their social betters -- but the betters had been Episcopalians from the start.

Here we see wannabes who've been on the waiting list for some matter of months apparently lording it over newer wannabes with their mastery of Catholic Hobbitry.

UPDATE: Actually, two visitors have pointed out that St Aelred has a pretty strong gay connection, at least among Angicans. The site for Integrity USA, a TEC gay group. says

St. Aelred is the Patron Saint of Integrity USA. Born in 1110 in Hexham, England, Aelred became a monk whose teachings on "spiritual friendship" have been revered for centuries. He is widely considered to have been gay, although the modern concept of homosexuality did not exist at the time.

For over 25 years, Integrity USA has celebrated the Feast of St. Aelred (January 12) as a special day for chapters and parishes to hold Eucharistic services in St. Aelred's honor. In 2012, Integrity's Connecticut chapter developed the resources below to aid in these services.

Are Bp Lopes and the CDF aware of this connection? Is this the message those involved with the Athens, GA group are trying to send? This might be an answer to who the 70+ attending the April mass are.