Llansantffraed juxta Wsg-St Bridget's Church at Llansantffraed Court

How to find the Church

From ABERGAVENNY take the B4598 the Old Ragland Road and continue approx two and a half miles. Then take a left turn at the signpost to the Llansantffraed Court Hotel.
Follow this narrow road and you will se the church on the Right Hand side.
OR
From RAGLAN roundabout (The Castle geatures strongly in our story so is well worth a visit) take the B4598 road sign posted 'Clytha'for three miles. The Hotel sign is posted on the right. If you wish to view the church, you can pick up the key from reception. The hotel serves wonderful coffee!!!

St Bridget's Church- Llansantffraed



The Welsh name Llansantffraed suggests a holy place at this beautiful spot from a very tearly time. The churchyard has been rationlised into a square following in the donation of some land to the church. The Llantsantffraed Court Hotel has some considerable links with the Jones/Herbert family a noble family of Gwent and Monmouthshire who generally remained Catholics, defended them and gave shelter to priests during the terrible times of persecution.

St Bridget came to Wales following the quarrel with her father. God gaveher father the sign she should be a nun and she arrived in Holyhead in Anglesey (Ynys Mon or Mona(Lat) Her cult spread quickly across Wales. She was known to be a Mother Theresa figure in the Age of the Saints and certainly Tatheus of Caerwent, himslef from Ireland would have known of her and may be responsible for the naming of the church at St Bride's Natherwent after her.

The ancient Druid deity called Bride

There was an ancient deity in the Druid practices who was the goddess of fertility and at certain times of the year like Spring and Harvest was given special attention and libations. Ireland was Christianised by St Patrick who is said to have baptised Bridget and the faith will have been in its infancy when Bridget defied her father, choosing the Christian option of the consecrated life of a nun. Ireland's loss was Wales gain, as this Saint's cult was beloved in Wales. Her special cross is seen in some of these churches as are her emblems of the oak leaf and acorn. Oaks were prevalent in Kildare, the site of the famous British Abbey and incidentally the oak was a sacred tree of the Druids belief.

Bridget demonstrated a great love of God. She loved and cared for the poor and is said to have become a nun at the age of eighteen and returned to found her great Abbey under the giant Oak of Magh Life (possibly when her father had forgiven her or died.)The Convent was called 'The Church of the Oak' or 'Ciff Dara' (Kildare in English)Hospitality and care of all God's people was a hallmark of her convents.

Michael Sadler, the current Rector of the Church (it is now administered by the Anglican Church in Wales)

St Bridget is a great model for the prosperous Ireland of today. The Brehon laws which regulatedcivil law in Ireland in her time, stipulated that a freeman had to give food and shelter to any man or woman equal to or lower than his or her own rank. Bridget made a virtue of this law, seing in it the reflection of Christ's word that whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to him.St Bridget's Day is ccelebrated on 1st of February each year'.

St Bride is St Ffraed in Welsh and as I have said she lived in the fifth century. It is likely that the earliest chapel here was built for the small community or 'llan' in the way I described before under 'Trevethin' eg. how the site was selected and cleansed etc. It possibly at some stage remained a small Old British church until the Norman invasion, although Saxons may have created the stone church at some stage. This phase of the Christian settlement here is patchy but in the scheme of things people worked and worshipped there for centuries.When the Normans arrived no doubt the area was given to the Lords of Abergavenny and perhaps the Church was improved then as by the Fourteenth century, this was the country seat and estate of Sir John Morley. Maud, daughter and heir of John Morley married Thomas ap Gwilym of Perth-hir (or 'Herbert' family)The Herberts were heroes of the Catholic resistance to the unjust persecutions of Catholics and murder of the priests. They harboured them, defended other Catholics and kept the faith alive during the darkest days of the persecution.Many of this famous family are buried in the Churchyard. They had to toe a fine line themselves.In many places in Gwent, a Catholic family would own a local family church and appoint a vicar who would need to turn a blind eye to several things. One of the distressing things being secret midnight burials of Catholics in some churchyards, because they had no burial grounds of their own.This was often the case in Rockfield and St Maugham's Churches.


The Original Mansion

The original mansion, possibly a small castle (Bradney) occupied a position between the present Hotel and Church-some foundations lie under the beautiful lake. In the later part of the eighteenth century and early nineteenth the house was occuped by the P James Green of Arundel who was buried here in 1814.

Afterwards it was the residence of the Anglican Bishops of Llandaff and was for many years the home of Edmund Herbert the Chief Constable of the County. The main house was rebuilt in 1912 and restored recently, although some parts of the restaurant date back to 1670 and I understand it was restored along similar lines to the original mansion.

It became a hotel and was aquired by the Morgan family in 1997 and is personally run by them. This Anglican parish is the smallest in the county (290 acres only)and the boundary even excuding the gatehouse.There are various monuments in the church to people connected with all the families who lived in the house.

The Church in 1800
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Had a south porch and a west window. The porch was rebuilt in the late 19th century, the big era of restoration of Anglican churches by the Victorians and rebuilt in stone on the West Wall.Bell cote could be 17th or 18 century (ties in with its being used as a parish church under new rules)but it seems according to an architect Richard Kay , much of the work is far earlier (late 15th century)

The Font and Rood Screen

The font is Norman, but the stem and base re cut.The foundations of the church building and walling of the nave and chancel-sanctuary area also are Norman (11th century)There is also a difference in the siting of the south window. This drawing of Sir Richard Hoare of the earlier church.The archway is 19th century copy and screen 20th century but using earlier material. The 'King's England-Monmouthshire mentions 'a graceful old chancel (rood) screen of pale oak'.The place where the steps to therood loft were have been found in the North Wall of the nave.Bradney records when visiteing in 1908 there was a chest of oak handsomely carved which stood on the chancel and probably made up from the old rood screen of the mediaeval Catholic church.But remnants of it may be in the present chancel sreen.

The Alabaster Panels


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These have been set into the wall on either side of the east window. They still show some traces of the bright mediaeval colours, and show the burial and resurrection of Jesus. They are, as you can see very fine. These probably came (Bradney) from the original catholic altar of the church, removed in 1786, when repairs were made. These were early fifteenth century and there were schools in York, Nottingham and London producing this, but they are quite unique among small Welsh churches and they would be of special historical significance if they could be proved to have been in the church since before the Henry VIII period.





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The piscina

The small special sink used to pour away the water used at Mass can be seen in the south wall of the chancel.(Previously Sanctuary where The Blessed Sacrament waskept))





The Mediaeval Preaching Cross

The base of this cross used for preaching by Franciscan Friars and Preaching Monks ;lies outside the door of the Church. These crosses, the heads of which contained scenes from the Bible were all universally destroyed when Oliver Cromwells model army and General Fayrfax, who destroyed Raglan Castle went rampaging round desecrating churches and crosses in the name of Puritanism. The destruction at that time also took in some of the mediaeval stained glass of the Priory Church of Our Lady, Abergavenny (now St Mary's Parish Church).

One thing is sure, there is little evidence of emblems of St Bridget inside the church today, but the church head Mass here from the sixth century to the sixteenth centuries-nearly a thousand years, before Henry VIII made his alterations.

Maeleine McCann

Now that it seems the Portuguese police have decided to temporarily shelve the church, disgraced Policeman Amaral has published a book. He had decided the parents and Murat were guilty and ignored other possibilities, although it seems certain leads were followed up. Like the mother of Yeremi Vargas, another Portuguese mother who wandered around Lisbon with A5 leaflets showing the picture of her son because of lack of support by anyone it seems, and Mrs Cipriano, who seems to have got a lot of bruises during her interrogationshortly before being gaoled, I actually hope tha people will support them with their prayers. Madeleine is not the only missing child, but one which symbolises all the others, including Ben Needham. A vigil is kept up at the internet site given on the Left in one of the items.Above all pray for support for Gerry McCann, Kate McCann and all the parents of these children. Above all.what you can do is to contact your MEP and MP and ask them to support the Amber Alert scheme, which has proved so good elsewhere.

Recently I visited the little church at St Brides in Wentloog for this blog, and there in the childen's corner a framed picture of Madeleine-always in their thoughts until the wicked person who took her returns her to her parents.

Arthur, Cado and Saint Carannog and the Dragon

Russian Icon of St Carannog on the Left



After a long time in Ireland, the Irish Saint, Carannog eventually returned to Wales and again occupied, for a short time, the same cave which had formerly been his hermitage. He was joined by a number of brethren, and this may have made him eager to depart for a solitary life elsewhere.He decided to embark on a white martyrdom and make a retreat by travelling down through Wales to the West Country. Like most holy men of the time, Carannog had a small portable stone altar which he used to say mass and to evangelise.

Carannog crosses the Severn (Hafren)

He was going to go off for a retreat and get away from it all. So, desiring to cross the Severn and Bristol Channel to Somerset, he threw this into the sea. When it miraculously floated, he was able to use it as a small boat and pass safely over to the Bristol Area. The Beachley-Aust crossing would seem to have been the best possibility, being the narrowest and shallowest part and at this time, no doubt the Severne (Hafren) would not have been as wide as it is today. There was also a crossing, however from Sudbury to Avonmouth, or somewhere along there. However, somehow the altar and he became separated and Carannog landed near Dindarithou (Dunster), the home of King Cado of Dumnonia, without his altar. He made his way to Carrum (Carhampton) where he made enquiries as to where it had come ashore.

Arthur and the Dragon

Arthur was staying in the region at the time, undertaking the challenge of defeating a ferocious dragon which was ravaging the local countryside. Dragon slaying stories are rife among the early Christian saints and it is important to realise that dragons were a symbol of evil at all times. Christian saints are often to be found taming such ‘dragons’ but it must have been a symbol. In heraldry the dragon is always used to depict a powerful family, and in early terminology a tyrannical and certainly pagan family providing danger to the area, particularly evil tyranny. Such families were a powerful source of evil in early times. Raiding, raping pillaging the reputation of these pockets of evil would spread quickly and Arthur s a sort of champion Christian King would have been called to deal with it, and needed divine intervention to do it, even if he had to force Carannog to help using his closeness to God. The symbol of the dragon was well understood, even in Turkey , where St George took on such a task and there is even a twelfth century tale of St Peter killing a dragon.This would not have been a Druid settlement-most of these had been christianised but this would have been a tyrannical ruler, whom only a greater power could tame, because he was so steeped in evil.(the word ‘serpent’ is also used)

Carannog’s Altar

Arthur’s men had found the altar at the mouth of the River Guellit (Willett) and had tried to use it as a table, but everything that was placed upon it was immediately thrown off. We see here a hard and unsympathetic side to Arthur as he demands payment for the return of the altar. Carannog asked Arthur what should be done. Arthur would have known he had no money and it was just a lever to get him to do what he wanted evangelise and use the power of God on the evil to bring it down.
Arthur said “That thou shouldst lead the serpent that is near thee, and we shall see whether thou art a servant of God.” We are told that the Blessed Carannog went and prayed to the Lord.’ He went close to the ‘dragon’ and raised his hands in prayer to Almighty God calling upon him to help him.

The Miracle- evil is vanquished

The miracle happened the offending ‘serpent’ or evil chieftain came with a ‘great noise running as a calf to its dam as an obedient servant to its master with an humble heart and downcast eyes’.Carannog put his robe around him and led him like a lamb and it did not attempt any way of attacking him. His neck was like that of a bull seven years old, so that the robe could scarcely go round the him.

The Banquet at Cado’s Castle

And they went to see Cado at the Castle and were well received by him. And he brought the perpetrator to the middle of the hall that he might be fed it before all people as he was hungry. They tried to kill it, however, but Carannog would not allow them to do this. He said that he came by the Word of God (Jesus) to crush sinners, who were in Carrun, and for him to show the power of God by it. Afterwards he went out of the gate of the castle and let him go. In its departing he commanded the penitent he should hurt no-one, or return any more as God commanded.

Monastic foundation at Carhampton

When Carannog had the altar back, Arthur admired it and wanted to keep it as a table, but things kept falling off so he realised Carannog, the Irish monk, was very holy. He made over Carrum forever to the saint by written deed and Carannog later built a church there . Later this was a famous monastery which remained there until post reformation times as a ruined chapel in the parish.

A Voice from Heaven

Subsequently a voice came from heaven, telling him to place the altar in the sea and Carannog sent Cado and Arthur to find out what had happened to it and they found out it had landed at Guellit. Cado said I will give twelve hides of land where the altar may be found. Carannog built a church there and the church was called Caron .He was told by God to go into exile and leave his family. He found out that the island was holy and carried the many remains of the saints. He remained there until he died.

Carhampton and Dunster-the site of this story.


Carhampton is located in Somerset, between Watchet and Minehead, one mile from Dunster. It is a small village on the busy A39. The Church in Carhampton is dedicated to St John the Baptist and the one in Dunster is dedicated to St George. According to records there were two churches in Carhampton in 1180 and it is known that annual payment was made to Dunster on the feast of St Carantoc (May 16th) for the two churches in Carhampton.This second church was probably the monastic chapel remains.

The dragon image in Christianity goes to the very source of evil



The dragon image in Christianity goes to the very source of evil and has always been used as such as we have seen above. God can perform miracles, but evil is strong and can also perform miracles to suck people in. From earliest times Christ and the curch he founded on Peter fought a spiritual battle against evil.

The dragon and his influence in the last days. He will empower the antichrist. He will control the world.(So will we let ourselves be microchipped?)

"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." (Revelation 13:2)

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9)

And many of them look so menacing; evil; wicked; ungodly; scary, and downright demonic.

The Revelations of St John show the world will be totally deceived by the dragon and the world is obviously getting ready for him now. Never before in the history of mankind has there been so much interest in Satanism; witchcraft; the occult and other daemonic practices.

"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast..." (Revelation 13:4)

The Bible says that we should be trusting God by faith and not be lured by what we perceive for example in the media according to the Law of God and the Teaching o the Church. Today many professing Christians are going along with damaging spiritual beliefs; following so called prophets that supposedly perform miracles.

God will triumph and his people of Christ will inhabit the New Heaven

"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:2)

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)

Until then however we need to ever be on guard against the sultry soothing lures of of evil and stand fast in the whole armour of God.

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:11-12)

How right St Paul was 'Spiritual wickedness in high places'.Read for this recent events in Haut de la Garenne, abduction and murder of children , and all the evil and cruelty in the world stand as testament.

As for the high places, who can support the killing of unborn life and playing God with animal human clones, soothing people with the notion it will lead to a cure for incurable diseases, which is unproven. When people lose their notion of what is right and wrong they are being spiritually weak, offending God. With Christ, however we have hope. We know we don't have to fear what is coming because we know exactly where we are hoping to go, if we walk by Faith Hope and Love.

Madeleine McCann

Irritatingly it seems that there is now to be a delay of 3 months before Gerry and Kate McCann can see the secret files held on Madeleine's case by the Portuguese authorities. This frustrating for them, because Scotland Yard are taking a greater role in checking everything out. You have to wonder at the delay-is there something they don't want the McCanns to know? Is someone being protected? The details were, I understand due to be released on the anniversary of the abduction. Clearly with all the high profile people who have taken an interest in this case, you have to wonder....

Knife Crime and bombs in Exeter and Mary Whitehouse

I noticed there was a programme about Mary Whitehouse on the TV on Wednesday night. The woman needs a medal, as she was , ofr a while able to curb the excesses of TV producers in providing resistance to a salami slicing effect of ever greater leniency culminating in a nine o'clock watershed we have today, which even now broadcasters are pushing against.Many people have completely shut off from bad language and gratuitous sex and buy videos they know they will like. Films without these things, movies with thought behind them and some greater quest still gross more money. I watched the Indiana Jones film yesterday-absolutely cool and brilliant. The two hours flashed by so quickly. We cam out exhilirated and relaxed with the laughter (Spielberg is just so good!) and we went to see Prince Caspian, then found it was not on. Don't believe the critics trying to sell 'hard hitting ground breaking etc etc yawn'Give me Indy any time!!

Children's Commissioner for England has just said that children are being alienated by being stopped and searched. More often than not, police are checking 'imitators'-no the real 'baddies-feral children with dysfunctional familes'who know how to escape. The 'Imitators' are thus left defenceless against the real 'baddies'. Oh dear, why don't they scoop up the feral children and send them to boot camps, which seem to be able to tame the kids by exposing them to the realisties of survival in the desert and such things. Even children like this are a real threat to the comunity, just like the young man in Exeter who converted to Islam and decided this gave him the right to set a bomb in the West Country city of Exeter, sending one young innocent woman to Exeter , where she is fighting for her life.
Prayers for her and Prayers for us and for a young man who believed he had the right to kill.The dragon is around. God save us and bless us.

One Year On....Where is Madeleine?

Research has shown that if the remains of children are not found quickly there is a healthy possibility they may be found alive. So it is in this case. The hardest thing to dispose of is a body. So we need not think of any gruesome outcome here. What is more likely is that she has been taken to someone who has paid to have a specially chosen child. OUr consumer society dulls our senses and thus people can rationalise on this point-they can buy one,and get one stolen by a trafficker. This has to be big business. Yet it is grossly evil to take a child from its parents.A family unit should be strong group, protecting its own from the outside world, giving nourishment and support. There is also the possibility that someone known to Gerry and Kate, from their past perhaps used the opportunity to right an old wrong. This is a possibility. We really don't know, yet in a year or two and sooner or later the child must be educated or even perhaps go to hospital for checkups already in September this year in UK and hospitals will discover her origins, particularly if blood types dont match, so sooner or later a parent, of teacher will notice and she will be found. So this is a time the kidnapper will be thinking they ought to return her-at least if there is any shred of decency.

Check the passports of every child Lock all the borders if a child goes missing.

About twenty years ago I was in Germany-even with the free movement in the Common Market, when my uncle, a German man drove myself and my two young cousins over the border into Holland on the way to Groningen,we nearly ad to go back because we thought he did not have a passport of one of the children. I said I thought there was free movement etc but my Uncle Gerd said, that they still had to stop at the border to check every child's passport, because child snatching was rife. I am at a loss then why Brigitte Zypries is not wanting to implement the amber alert system, saying it will 'dull' the public's senses and they will get fed up! If child abduction is so very rare , why would they do that?

According to the charity Reunite, more than 400 children are taken illegally either into or out of UK every year.
Lady Catherine Meyer set up Parents and Abducted Children Together (PACT) after her two young children failed to return from a trip to their father in Germany in 1994, despite a court order.She is with the McCanns in Brussels and believes an alert system would have made all the difference in their case.
"If Madeleine has been abducted by a predator, there would have been a huge chance of her being spotted. All the exit ports would have been alerted immediately".
Portuguese police had no such mechanism in place and are accused of reacting slowly to her disappearance.

116000 hotline

As well as the child alert system, Gerry and Kate McCann would like MEPs to sign up to a Europe-wide missing child hotline and a European children's centre which would co-ordinate the efforts of governments, the police and voluntary groups.
But is the EU the right body to address the issue?
A hotline has already been launched by the European Commission with the aim of giving a single number - 116000 - for parents to report missing children, wherever they are in Europe.
The aim is to extend the hotline to 47 countries, but it has had a slow start.
The McCanns travelled across Europe to raise the profile of the search
Only five of the EU's 27 member states - Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Hungary and Portugal - have so far adopted it, although the European Commission says more are in the pipeline.

Missing Children Europe brings together charities across the continent and is also backing the hotline number.
But, like Germany and Austria, it is not so keen on extending the French alert system across the whole of Europe. Far better, it says, for national alerts to communicate with each other when necessary. I so disagree. These traffickers who pray on children get more and more sophisticated as big bucks come in to play.On the other hand to chose to take a high profile child like Madeleine with powerful connections was foolhardy and very risky and either a very stupid person did it, or there is more here than meets the eye. They may have offended someone more powerful than they somehow and may not have even considered this-even a disgruntled former girl or boyfriend or business aquaintance. Nonetheless it is criminal and above all heartless. We can only pray today, one year on, that Madeleine and other missing children will be found soon, by a less indifferent Europe. Missing children such as Yeremi Vargas, whose mother had no help at all from the authorities when her son went missing and was walking around Madrid handing out photocopied sheets with her son's picture and later saw him in a movie made for gratification of perverts. Who says when God looks out the sindow everymorning he does not see the agonising crucified body of Christ in front of him. Spiritually all these parents are at that point. Light a candle online or in your church today or tomorrow. If your church does not have a votive stand go into a Catholic Church and pray for a moment. Kiss the candle light it and pray for these parents that they may be supported and keep calm, for the children in their distress, for their captors that they show mercy and send them back and for Europe that it finds again its decency and soul and once again insists that child passports are shown.

St Peter Visits America - Further updates on Madeleine

The Pope celebrated his 81st birthday with a speech from the South Lawn of the White House, insisting that religion had forged "the soul of the nation" and should continue to be a "precious source of insight" to Americans today.

That speech marked the beginning of the Pope's first visit to the United States, a five-day tour of Washington DC and New York.

The Pope said "God Bless America!" adding that he had come "as a friend, a preacher of the Gospel and one with great respect for this vast pluralistic society".
He said that the country's quest for freedom was linked "to a moral order based on the dominion of God, the Creator".

I have, as you see, been watching the continuous streaming of live coverage via EWTN website after seeing tiny snippets on TV. In fact you would have hardly known thousands were lining the streets in America. His historic visit was eclipsed by endless coverage of ----wait for it----Gordon Brown and his self induced credit crunch. Disgusted I saw a bit more of the visit on CNN and then finally was told by Father Roderick on the Daily Breakfast podcast that it was available all day on EWTN. God praise Mother Angelica and EWTN! Anyway click video. Difficult for anyone to get an idea of the scale of this as he has been virtually airbrushed from the news coverage.

Madeleine McCann

It seems that the PJ have asked for a reconstruction of the events of last year on May 3rd to try to desperately solve the mystery. They have listened in as British Police have questioned the nine friends at the Tapas bar that night. One wonder, however what new news they have to be able to confidently claim they can solve the mystery and whether, if the kidnapping of Madeleine was in revenge for something, whether anyone in the party was righting some wrong they believe has been done them and is holding her in a place of safety while they turn the knife, whether returning to Portugal for the parents may be a big opportunity to further torture the parents or even take them in to custody as they seem to have been made arguidos or official suspects on the flimsiest of evidence, so how much more flimsy evidence would there have to be for arrests? It is a risky business. One of the Portuguese police chiefs said that their interviews had left them without a clue and they were clutching at anyting.

I wondered whether police had gone into the relationships of both parents before their marriage. Were there any disappointed and aggrieved disappointed former girlfriends or boyfriends. Who donated the eggs for Kates DNA? Might there be a link there? Did someone want Gerry's research? The questions abound. The fact they are Catholics means there could have been some conflicts of interest between his research ,which may have been lucrative for someone, which he may have witheld in respect of his religious views. There are really so many avenues here that should be explored. Whoever is responsible, it is a wicked act, and this little baby should be returned to her parents forthwith.

Haut de la Garenne

A rather grisly new find at the Haut de la Garenne Home in Jersey. A man came forward and had seen two large holes like pits at the rear of the home. He had asked the people in charrge what they were for and he was told told to mind his own business. The police excavated one o the pits two days ago and found it to have been filled with lime at some stage. Quantities of lime remained at the bottom . The police have no idea what the purpose was and why they were filled with lime-I think I can guess-can't you? If anyone does not believe in the power of the devil to possess people already steeped in evil- just look at this place. God bless all those who suffered and bring them to Glory with OUr Lord.


The Pope criticises American Bishops for their handling of scandals

The Pope last night criticised American church leaders for their handling of sex abuse scandals but said that an increasingly secular society needed to shoulder some of the blame, but that the paedophile scandal must never happen again.But he said,
"What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?" he asked at a prayer service attended by hundreds of US bishops.

He agreed with Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, that the church had dealt with child abuse "very badly".It must never happen again and he was ashamed that some priests of the church were involved in it. (The Church has now instituted child protection officers,and procedures making sure any future problems will be dealt with quickly and effectively by the police-Editor)He said it was up to the Bishops to now heal the rifts and pain caused by the scandal and protect young people. He said that the majority of the clergy in America do well in evangelisation, and it was important that they should be a shield and always protect vulnerable young people under their care. Further children should grow up with a healthy attitude to sex, with the dignity of the human person and the gospel of life. Pornography and violence can be seen in every home and all have their part to play in this revolution of overturning these immoral perversions. Moral values must be taught so that life can flourish. They must address sexual acbuse also in the values of sexual mores.There must be a determined collective response. There has been shame and loss of trust-this brings you close to the crucifix in the pain of Christ in these sins. Jesus is present in the midst of suffering and walk along the path of hope.He hopes for a holier priesthood and this terrible time will bring a period of purification and turning darkness into light. All is being made new in the Light of Christ of Hope.The Bishops would have to lead by example. You must inspire priests to rededicate themselves in holiness, we all need to experience the joy of a Christ centred life, immersing ourselves in prayer. This sustains the life of the whole community. Time spent in prayer is important, the Rosary releases and consecrates us to Christ. The Liturgy of the Hours sanctifies every day and keeps us Christ centred. His healing must be brought to the Faithful.Open yourselves up to the power to the spirit in prayer.He dedicated the people of America to the Immaculate Mary.He wished them peace and joy in the Risen Lord.

Madeleine Mystery deepens

Well I had some computer issues recently but did put up my latestpodcast which is availablefree from iTunes and called Tintagel cliffs. This also talks about an interesting trip to see the church where St Cadoc'smonastery was situated on its own little round patch of earth now the Trevethin churchyard. Nearby was the Avon Lwyd. I visited Park House in Pontypool which was the house of the Hanbury family, a Cathlic family whosold the house to the church for a school, currently St Albans catholic School. I will put some photos on the blog later. I am using a 'foreign' computer at present which does not house my pictures.The museum in Pontypool has been refurbished and the Stables,where the museum is is absolutely pristine and been well renovated. While I was there ,there was a guitarrist playing in the Coffee shop! One person also told me there was a Lady Llanover society and more of that anon. Lady Llanover brought over the nuns fleeing Fraance to help them set up the Church. There is a Grotto, a Folly, some ice houses , most have been refurbished. Ther is also an Italian Garden, so Pontypool Park continues to delight. The Folly which is a tower is loved by Pontypool People. Thouands upon thousands went up there to celebrate the silver Jubilee of George V. It was torn down in the war as being too much of a landmark, but has now been rebuilt.

The Pope s getting ready for his trip to America. It was reported that over 8 thousand Christian ministers from other churches have come home to the Catholic Church recently. ONe of them, Mike Climbie said her was really angry about the myths and spit put out against Catholics by other christians and he was more annoyed with himself for being seayed at them.

Question is, where is Madeleine? A poster on the Sky Forum have write about Maddy;s whereabouts and I think it is a hoax, although you can never be sure, Fromsomeone called unknown' claiming Madeleine was now called Sarah Kandi whom she (the poster) had taken a year ago in revenge for the treatment she had been given by the parents. Well that is for God to know,but the moment we need to have faith. until she is returned.Lets hope thhis has already happened!

Anyway I msut got to bed now. It is lateand I myst sleep!!

Mari Luz Cortez Requiescat in Pace

Kate and Gerry McCann have asked Portuguese police find out where a Spanish paedophile arrested last Saturday was on the day their daughter Madeleine disappeared. There was no obvious connection, but they wanted him to be ruled out.
The 52-year-old convicted paedophile, Santiago del Valle Garcia, his wife Rosa and sister Isobel were arrested late yesterday and he has reportedly confessed to killing Mari Luz Cortez. They were taken from a rented house in Cuenca, which is South of Madrid.
Her body was found floating in the river near Huelva on March 7th, just after posters were put up in Spain. He said he had panicked and dumped her body when she fell in an accident, but had bee previously said to have murdered her. He was well known to the family and they had suspected it was him. Mari Luz’s parents Juan Jose and Irene lived less than 100 yards from his house on the route the Mari would have taken as she came back after buying some sweets.According to the Mail on Sunday, Mari Luz's dad said: "This comes as no surprise to me. We know it's him."

They had become suspicious when he and his family left Huelva the night after Mari Luz disappeared. Police had already questioned him over that and a plot to kidnap a girl in Seville and an attempt to groom a girl on the Internet, after persuading her he was her age.

He is said to have convictions for child abuse and paedophilia . There was no particular connection between Marie Luz and Madeleine McCann, but Kate and Gerry had had posters printed with both girls on to be circulated in Spain, especially as Huelva is quite close to Pria di Luz and Portugal. Madeleine was abducted on May 3rd from her apartment, where she was sleeping.

Rest in the Mercy of God, little Baby.Lets us pray that Madeleine has been luckier, and that we see her returned as investigations continue with rigour and thoroughness.

Hagios O Theos:It is finished It is accomplished!.Passion and Compassion

So this is the Passion? Why do we call it this? When Jesus stood in front of the high Priests he said nothing. It was Pilate who said ‘Ecce Homo’-behold the man! Or we could understand it as ‘behold mankind’. As Christ the innocent stood there he mirrored our sufferings and brokenness. All of us have our crosses, often to much to bear which can bring you to depression. We call this moment a passion because it affects all of us, all of us in the body of Christ and we have to have com-passion-(cum-passionis-empathy)to truly be Christian. We see in every sufferer, however unlovely, the face of Christ. Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life my all.

Where the Paschal (Easter)blood is poured
Death’s dark angel sheathes his sword
Israel’s hosts triumphant go
Through the wave that drowns the foe.
Christ theLamb ,whose blood was shed
Paschal victim, paschal bread
With sincerity and love
Eat we manna from above.

Mighty Victim from the sky
Powers of hell beneath thee lie
Death is conquered in the fight;
Thou hast brought us light and light,
Now thy banner thou dost wave;
Vanquished Satan and the grave;
Angels join his praise to tell
-see overthrown the prince of hell.

Madeleine McCann
There seems to be some irritation by Sergei Malinka that someone has burnt his car out and written the Portuguese word for ‘Talk’ next to it! Malinka vigorously denies having anything to do with Madeleine’s disappearance. He and Matthew Fazackerly and others used to own the boat the Sea Hawk, which vanished out of Pria di Luz (so I understand, on the night of the 3rd May after being there for two years. Fazakerly has returned to Britain-last July and now lives in Manchester. Clearly someone thinks he knows something and this person should fearlessly come forward and tell Scotland Yard what he knows. I guess he has no confidence in the local
police either-a shame, as a little girl is still missing, still wanting her Mum and Dad and whoever has her, she will never really be theirs.

Jersey Child Abuse accusations spread to Guernsey
It seems that accusations have come from Guernsey about children being abused there too, and the police are looking into it. After all the attempts by prominent people to ridicule and put down the Police Inspector, Henry, and intimidate witnesses cannot bear any fruit when faced with the clarity and dedication with which the police inspector is viewing the case. Clearly the nudge nuge wink wink, you scratch my back, I scratch yours kind of conspiracy of silence cannot hold up.One is tempted to ask, however, with the Establishment support him, or might it ruin his career? It is good someone is soldiering on in the cause of Justice. Justice or the young and vulnerable children with no one to turn to ,no way out, cried in the dark in despair and the paedophiles did not care, the locals to whom they turned did not care and now it’s payback time. Hell will come to all who have sinned. They let these little ones suffer with hard hearts and treated them a a commodity. Children who enter these places have aleady had a rough time and had problems, perhaps problems difficult to deal with, but this they did not deserve.

Well, look at the sin and brokenness in the world, thouse controlled by the Prince of Evil. Good we have Paradise to look orward to because Jesus took him on and won. The next world will be full of compassionate loving people. Who believe evil will not prevail and will live with God in a better place.

Coroner at Bridgend's Comments

The Coroner investigating the teenage suicides today has come to the conclusion with the first three that they did comitt suicide. He was scathing of You Tube allowing videos to be shown instructing young people on tips on how to do this.There are also apparently occult websites which the feeble minded will go on for kicks. I am once again speechless that these sites are not taken down or at least blocked. I really enjoy You Tube but it seems unregulated and allows people to make the most outrageous and dark videos, like the libellous ones accusing the McCann's of the death of their daughter. How cruel is that? I hope it will be possible for the McCann;s to sue all who publish these libels and take no thought for the fact of the feelings of people already hit hard by the abduction of the child. Let us hope there will be justice for all and hope Madeleine returns very soon.