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Latter-Day Simeons
There’s a man who comes to the Church on Saturday afternoons, at least an hour before the evening Mass begins. After lighting a little candle, he then goes and sits toward the back, gazes at the Tabernacle and prays until Mass begins. There is another man who comes in the morning and he does much the same as the first man. And there are the women, too. The ones I am thinking of come along to the Eucharistic Holy Hour on Sunday afternoons and spend that hour simply being in the presence of the Lord, praying silently and placing everything before Him. These people – and countless others like them…
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The Bread of Sinners
When I was thinking about retiring from my career as a nurse, one of the main reasons for wanting to do so – and to do so at that point – was in order that it might be possible for me to become a daily communicant. And so my decision was made. I duly retired and began to attend morning Mass during the week. Sitting in the silence and emptiness of the Church on those mornings, it is very hard not to simply stare in awe at the Tabernacle. I am perfectly well aware of Who resides within there and His presence is as real and as tangible as that of…
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The Little Red Lamp
In the mornings, I sit in our parish church and my gaze often finds its way to the little red lamp which glows comfortingly to the left of the Tabernacle. When I visit other parishes nearby, the little red lamp is one of the first things I look for. And even on holidays, I will try to pop into the nearest Catholic church and there, too, I will look for the little red lamp. This was the case at Westminster Cathedral in London, where I made this image of the little red lamp in the Eucharistic Chapel there – the one quiet little spot within a much larger space where…
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Early In The Morning
I am very fortunate in that, after I have prepared everything for the morning Mass which will follow later, I am able to just sit in the presence of the Lord who is in the Tabernacle, all alone – except for Him – and in perfect silence. I leave sufficient time to allow me to do this, because I really treasure that time, which is very, very special to me. In the later part of the year, I often find myself sitting there in near darkness before I switch the church lights on. It is a blessed time. We are very used to our churches being reasonably busy, with lots…
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Before The Lord
It is quite something to be able to spend some time before the Lord in the Tabernacle. It can be a moment of deep revelation for us when we place ourselves there before Him and simply ‘be’ in His Presence. We are before the One who knows us far better than we know ourselves, the One to whom nothing is hidden. That realisation can be the path to a very particular honesty in our approach to Him, in our prayer offered before Him. And this sense of honesty can extend to us, also – any pretence, any self-delusion or any self-agrandisement on our part is gone, for it is pointless.…
