issue 2 summer 2020 - catholic women's league...issue 2 summer 2020 cwl - magaie ie 2:la 1...

Issue 2 Summer 2020

CWL - Magazine Issue 2:Layout 1 27/05/2020 09:52 Page 1

2 CWL National President [email protected]

A Message from THE�NATIONALPRESIDENT

As I write this message the country has celebrated the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. Ofcourse, celebrations have been very different to those planned but it was wonderful tosee those street parties and sing a longs evolve in small community groups.In Jersey, where I live, Liberation Day is celebrated on 9th May each year. The ChannelIslands were occupied by the Germans from 1940 – 1945. Times were extremely hard.So, when they were Liberated on the 9th May, it was declared a Public Holiday and hasremained so since then. The Annual programme of a special Royal Court sittingdeclaring the Liberation, the procession to the Weighbridge (now called LiberationSquare) and raising of the Union Jack at the Pomme d’Or Hotel were this yeartransmitted online. Ever since I have lived in Jersey I have always taken part in theproceedings on this special day including the Singalong after the Bailiffs speech of allthe old war songs. This year this was not possible but in our small community we gottogether for afternoon tea in our driveways with our flags flying – I even knittedpoppies to decorate the table in the four colours acknowledging those who gave theirlives in the wars. It was a lovely afternoon and the singing and camaraderie werewonderful. We are reminded of the similarities to the way things were during the Second WorldWar and the Lockdown we now find ourselves experiencing. Many of us have foundthat with more time on our hands we can appreciate our home, reignite family mealsand that precious family time together. Board games have been resurrected! It hasbeen wonderful to see the way communities are helping one another. Food andessential items are being delivered to homes, just like in the war years. Of course, ourways of communication are so wide in these modern times and I know many of youhave set up WhatsApp groups to keep in touch – some even arranging Zoom meetings.2020 will certainly be a year to remember. There has been great sadness in familieswhere they have lost loved ones to the Co-vid virus and our thoughts and prayers arevery much with them. It is also very difficult for those who have been advised to selfisolate – the physical contact lost. Life as we knew it before Lockdown will, we are told,never return to what we knew. Listening to the reports itseems unlikely that members will be able to resumemeetings until September at the earliest. And who knowswhen we will be able to attend Mass at our local churches?But I urge you to remain in touch with each other. We donot know yet if the Annual General Meeting will take placein October but we are working hard to minimise anyfinancial risk to CWL. We will let you know of the decisionas soon as possible.So, as the well-known song says: “We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when...”

JeanetteNational President


Catholic Women’s League Charity No. 1173138 Tel: 01531 633502 3

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The Mass and holy Communion. For mostof us, they’ve always been there, andwe’ve never had to give them a secondthought. If we couldn’t make Mass at ourown parish, we could get to another withmaybe a slight inconvenience. Suddenly,then, that was no longer the case. Thecoronavirus sent us into quarantine, andthe pope and bishops encouraged us towatch Mass on television and offerunfamiliar prayers of “spiritualcommunion.” It has been jarring formany Catholics to adjust to theseemergency measures. The point of theMass, after all, is Jesus’ real presence inthe sacrament. What remains when thepresence is not real, but virtual? Whywatch the Mass if we can’t receive thesacrament?

History, even recent history, shows us howmuch we take for granted. As recently as100 years ago, it was common for veryfew people to receive Communion. At agiven Mass, the celebrating priest mightbe the only communicant. St. Pope Pius X

(1903-1914) had urged the faithful tomake frequent Communion, but manypeople had a lingering sense of their ownunworthiness. They went to Mass andprayed. The Church’s requirement was toreceive at least once a year, during Easterseason.

People in unusual circumstances also hadto abstain. For centuries, priests wereforbidden to offer Mass on the high seas,especially if the waters were choppy. Thedanger of spilling the chalice, orscattering the crumbs, was too great. So,clergy celebrated a Nautical Mass, whicheventually became known strangelyenough as a ‘Missa Sicca’ - Dry Mass. Thepriest would pray all the prayers of theMass except the offertory, consecration,and Communion. There was noCommunion because there had been noconsecration, no sacrifice.

From the last century, there are manystories of priests offering Dry Masses inextreme duress. The Servant of God,Walter Ciszek, did this in Soviet work

Fr�Marcin�DrabikCWL Chaplain


4 www.stswithuns.org.uk

camps because he had no regular accessto the essential elements: wheat breadand grape wine. St. Josemaría Escrivá, thefounder of Opus Dei, did the same in hisconfinement during the Spanish CivilWar: his altar was a stack of suitcases.There are similar stories from Naziconcentration camps.

The webcast or televised Mass is a verymodern way of keeping this very ancientcustom. The U.S. bishops said in their1996 Guidelines for televising the liturgy,“Although the televised Mass is not asubstitute for participation in the actualcelebration of the Church’s liturgy, it doesprovide an opportunity for those unableto be physically present 1) to identify witha worshiping community, 2) to hear theWord of God, 3) and to be moved toexpressions of praise and thanksgiving.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Churcheven urges us to “make do” in these wayswhen we cannot attend at the altar.

Communion is the primary benefit ofMass, but there are many secondarybenefits, as the bishops and theCatechism point out, and these are stillavailable in a virtual Mass.

The liturgy is the main bearer of Catholictradition from generation to generation.By repetition (daily or weekly), it forms usin Catholic culture. We absorb thephrases of the Mass by hearing themregularly. In this way many bits of theMass have become common coin in thewider culture — “mea culpa” … Lord, havemercy…

The liturgy also keeps us attuned to theuniqueness of each day. We might

otherwise forget special feast days, or thememorials of the saints. If we watch theMass, every day is different in subtle,specific ways. Each day has its ownprayers and readings. And the homily cangive practical advice for facing ournational or local situation as it develops.

The key to remote participation in theMass is desire. The proven way to stokethat desire is “spiritual communion,”prayers that express the conscious desireto receive Communion when unable to doso physically. Pope Francis and thebishops have urged the faithful to usesuch prayers, which the Council of Trentsaid would bring “very great benefits.”The most common versions are thosetaught by St. Alphonsus Liguori and St.Josemaría.

A woman on social media movinglycompared the televised Mass to Skypingwith her husband who is stationedoverseas with the military. It’s notoptimal, she admitted. In some ways itmakes her feel his absence more keenly.But virtual contact is still better than nocontact at all, and it renews her longingfor the day when her husband returnshome.

Every spiritual communion points forwardto the next holy Communion. Everyvirtual Mass helps us anticipate our nextactual attendance, on a day God onlyknows.

Catholic tradition applies the words ofthe Book of Revelation to the Mass: “Forthe wedding day of the Lamb has come,his bride has made herself ready” (19:7).

This is one way we make ourselves ready.


https://facebook.com/CWLEngWales 5

Hymns for the dayYour requests for hymns everyday live on Facebook

by Elizabeth�UpsherOn Thursday 19th March Pope Francis asked that we all pray for theworld battling the coronavirus. So, as I thought that singing waspraying twice, I decided to sing a hymn live on the CWL Facebookpage. The hymn I chose came to mind because I thought the wordswere so appropriate - Ours were the sufferings He bore.

Luckily I live opposite the composer of this piece, Francesca Leftley, who was thrilled that Iasked permission to sing it live on Facebook. She thought it was a great idea. I settleddown and played and sang live – I may say I had never done that on Facebook before so Iwas quite pleased with the result and the reaction of people. Later that night I decided thatI could use my talent and made a pact with myself to play and sing a hymn a day whilst wewere in lockdown and people could request hymns. My main thought was that there wouldbe a lot of members sitting out this lockdown on their own and hoped it might be a nicething if someone said good morning every day and then we could sing along. Saturday21st March it all began!

It really did take off and requests were coming in thick and fast – some were for solo items,not the idea at all, but I relented on Sunday 29th March and sang Schubert Ave Maria.Birthdays and Wedding Anniversaries were mentioned and special prayer intentions wereshared.

I also managed to get interviewed on BBC Essex Radio on Palm Sunday so hopefully morepeople could join in and sing along. The Holy Week services were reflected in my choice ofmusic as I felt that singing the hymns you expect at these services would be the thing wewould miss. Although services were available online the hymn singing wasn’t quite thesame.

So, as we write I have hymns lined up to take us in to May – who knows how long this willgo on? Of course, it might well be finished by the time you read this but I hope you enjoyedsinging along and saying hello to each other in the comments. At times there were over 40tuning in live and the most watched day was viewed 1,700 timesand our Facebook page reach was over 25,000 during the period.We were watched all over the world, in Canada, USA, Fiji, Australia,Philippines, Zambia, Myanmar, Ireland, France and all over the UK –how wonderful to think that CWL made this terrible situation a littlebetter for so many people and all for just singing a hymn together.

We all say a tremendous THANK YOU, ELIZABETH!

Tilly the dog had to stay in the room withme to avoid loud barking at the postman!


6 CWL National Treasurer [email protected]

CWL Trustees released £1000 to each Branch to help alleviate someof the suffering caused by the outbreak of coronavirus. Members

were invited to nominate charities of their choice, these being some:

Dear Trustees,thank you for your recent letter informingBranch Presidents on how you areconsidering allocating some of thebalance in CWL Social Welfare Fund.I am delighted to see that the Trusteeshave given us, the members, theopportunity to offer material support tothose organisations we know in our localarea who would benefit from immediatefinancial assistance in theseunprecedented times.As an Ambassador for CWL in our Branchof Shrewsbury, I was in touch withSection Officers asking them to discussthis and get back to me with theirsuggestions. This they have now doneand the list is long and varied.We shall certainly show greatdiscernment and judgement indistributing the charitable funds forwhich the Trustees hold ultimateresponsibility. Thank you for giving us theopportunity to support the local chari-tiesclose to our hearts!Best regards,Jacquie WeatherillShrewsbury Branch President


https://catholicwomensleaguecio.org.uk 7

To all at the CatholicWomen’s League,Birmingham. We send ourheartfelt thanks for yourkind donation of £250 insupport of women andchildren who have been

subjected to domestic abuse andhomelessness at The Haven during thesedifficult and uncertain times. We are all beingtold to stay safe and stay at home throughthis frightening outbreak of Covid-19.However, many are facing an additionalworry that can be just as sinister as the virus.For many women and children across thecountry, their home is not a safe place, butone of immense fear as they are forced toisolate with an abuser. At a time when wecannot see our friends or family, we want toensure that women and their children havesomeone they can turn to and get the vitalsupport they deserve by ensuring we keep ourser-vices operating. Thank you

We are extremelygrateful for thesupport fromMorpeth Sectionof the CatholicWomen’s League.It is a great

comfort and source of strengthknowing that you are all keeping usin your prayers and helping usduring this very worrying anddifficult time. Your gift of £250really does mean a great deal to ushere at St Joseph’s Home. With yourvital donation, we can purchase thenecessary Personal ProtectiveEquipment for the staff and Sisters.It is through the generosity andcontinued support we receive frompeople like yourselves that we areable to continue with our work ofcaring for the elderly. Assuring youof our grateful prayers.

And here are just two of the many ‘thank you’letters received...


What we have been doing during

What a traumatic time it has been for all – for ourimmediate family circles, for the Church and forthe League and not only for local communitiesbut for our country and for our world. Truly, thepandemic has been of epic global proportion.In all of this we have kept busy, unceasing in ourCaring With Love and supporting each other bysharing our gifts and talents – and, by all account,discovering new ones!

We have become very adept atlivestreaming. The Live Catholic MassDirectory is available athttps://www.cbcew.org.uk/ andfor the less techy ones amongstus we have been able to listen toMass on our landlines atMiddlesbrough Cathedral on01642 130120. Following prayerservices in our own homes, atthe same time, has also broughta great togetherness. As indeedhave zoom and skype meetings.

Gloria Brown from Beckenham writes:I do watch our church services on thewebcam and admire the priests forkeeping the faith alive in these worryingtimes. Saying masses can’t be easy in aperpetually empty church; those of us inchoirs (four of us in Beckenham Section)certainly missed singing the Easter music.My spring garden is, a cheerful reminder, Ihope, that nature is undeterred by humanills and that ‘to everything there is aseason’.With every good wish for the weeks ahead. Stay safe and well.

8 CWL National Secretary [email protected]

For our LadyAlison Love, Lowestoft

Beloved Lady. Mary, Queen of the Hearth.

Sharing lock down with your ChildrenRejoicing with us in our joys.

Weeping with us in our sorrows.Being there as we live our days,

safely in our homes.We are never locked away from you,

dear Mother,Or your divine Son.

Help us to grow in faith through this time.In the knowledge that your Son

can work wonders,and that you intercede for us.

For nothing is too difficult for youAnd all shall be well.


Veronica Comparini, WESTMINSTERBranch President -Well lockdown for me has been a very busy time. Virtual sessions for family gatherings, choir &Italian lessons, church finance meetings, not tomention quiz nights, along with visiting differentchurches streaming masses throughout thecountry. We are fortunate in Adeyfield Section to have aWhatsApp group for our messages and forkeeping in touch and Pam Moore (our Chair) isvery good at reporting our activities each weekby email which gets sent to all our Sectionmembers - even those not so techy minded. Our plant sale had Mary McManus coming upwith the idea of putting all the plants she hadraised out onto her front lawn with a sign tellingpeople about our CWL charities. Donationscould be posted through her letter box! As wemanaged to hold our sale before the gardencentres were open, we raised £250 and all withsocial distancing guidelines in place. Wherethere is a will there is a way! We have had joint prayer sessions, even whennot physically together - WUCWO’s Anniversaryon 13th May and prayers for a number ofparishioners who wereunwell. Somehow,saying prayers or therosary at a specifictime all together, eventhough we were allapart, seemed to help& make us feel better& it almost felt theprayers were morepowerful.

Mary’s plants

Catholic Women’s League Charity No. 1173138 Tel: 01531 633502 9

And then some of us put pen to paper:

Staying Home AloneMaureen Sawtell, CreweHow will I cope alone at home?Day after day without endNo U3a classes and choirs to attendNo having a laugh with my friends.Doreen’s set us all our art homeworkMaking a file about the sun.Stephens teaching us all to read musicEven Gareth Malone’s joined the fun!Boris’s message is clear and appealingStay at home, stay safe and be well!Two metres apart and no cheatingTogether well get through this hell.Thank God for the phone, and the ’netI never thought I’d hear myself say But these are good ways to support each otherKeeping us close day by day.A call to arms for our dear NHSMany thousands step up for the causeNeighbours and tradesmen support those in needSpreading kindness to help those indoors.Now our spring gardens are blooming againShowing us life can and must go onBegging us to believe we’ll survive all the painDetermined the fight will be wonFaith doesn’t survive in our churches aloneIt exists in the midst of our hearts and soulsIt’s there in the many kindnesses shownIn the smiles and the cheery hellos.And as we emerge from this terrible strifeMidst devastating hurt and griefLet us be healed and embrace a new life Turning despair into hope and belief.

Dunmow, Gosport, Jersey, Hayling Island and Westcliffe Sections are just some of those helping outthe NHS with PPE. Thank you to all our members who have been doing this!


10 CWL HQ PO Box 104 Ledbury HR8 9RG

The National Secretary was invited to attend the

Zambian Catholic Chaplaincy Women’s League (UK) On 22nd February I attended theCommissioning of the Zambian CatholicWomen’s League in the U.K. The ceremonytook place in Leicester. From the outset, itwas clear that the Zambian ladies dothings very differently to how we do butthe one thing both Leagues hold incommon is their commitment to service inCharity, Work and Loyalty. The church wasfull of vibrant colour and joyful song thatreminded me so much of the masses I hadattended at WUCWO General Assembliesin 2010 and 2014, prepared by membersfrom Africa. The Commissioning beganwith the tutors being asked by Chaplain FrHenry Mobela if they agreed thecandidates were ready to be admitted tothe organisation. An examination of theCandidates then followed. I noticed thisparticular question, ‘Are you, throughknowing the objectives of the CatholicWomen’s League, fully ready to pursuethem for the greater glory of God and hischurch?’ All 9 candidates answered with aresounding ‘I do.’The Blessing of the Head Scarves thenfollowed. Candidates came forward in asingle line holding baskets containingWhite Headscarves, Rosaries, Constitution,Membership cards, Bibles and Badges.

They were each blessed and formallywelcomed as members of the ZambianCatholic Chaplaincy Women’s League. Thechoir sang a special commissioning hymnin their own dialect. It was loud and joyfulwith percussion and the most beautifulvoices. Then the whole congregation burstinto song with a quieter, but equallybeautiful rendition of As I kneel beforeyou. I was able to join in with that!After more exuberant prayer in words andsong the Mass ended after which I thenhad the opportunity to talk with Gertrudeand Faith from Swindon who had been inBrighton for CWL’s Centennial AGM in2006 and with CWL members fromLondon.The afternoon was finished off with asumptuous feast – and yes, more song. Itwas a wonderful day with the Zambianladies.

Jean�Clarke,�National Secretary


Sleeping St JosephSt. Joseph a Saint for our TimesAline�Cook,�Richmond Section

amongst other items, statues. Notstatues of St Winifred as one wouldexpect, but other saints includingreclining statues of a bearded saint Ifailed to recognize. Being keen onreligious iconography, I was mostintrigued and soon found out that thiswas St Joseph, our Lady’s husband.

I already knew that St Joseph, one of themost popular saints in Christendom, hasa very active but, purely silent role, in thegospels. I had never really pondered onthe role of sleep in his life. Indeed, in StMatthew’s gospel Joseph falls asleepthree times, is visited by an angel in a

dream, then gets up and actsupon the words of the angel(Matthew 1:20; 2:13; 2:19).

Since reading so many articlesabout the “strange times” weare going through and how theycan be an opportunity for us topause and reflect in the light ofour faith, it has occurred to methat St Joseph, the sleepingfoster father of Our Lord, mightwell inspire us to understandthat apparent immobility maybe very fruitful indeed.

In January 2019, I had the pleasure tovisit the small town of Holywell,otherwise known as ‘The Lourdes ofWales’.

Holywell, in modern-day Flintshire, isassociated with St Winifred, a youngChristian girl who led a pious life. She soangered a local man by refusing hisbrutal advances that he drew his swordand cut off her head. Fortunately, a holymonk called Beuno, restored her to life,thus earning Winifred the nickname of“Lazarus of Wales”. According to laterchronicles, a miraculous spring startedflowing where Winifred’s head hadfallen. Holywell today boasts of beingthe only place of uninterruptedpilgrimage for 13 centuries in Britain.

Today, visitors and pilgrims enter theshrine area through a shop selling,

https://facebook.com/CWLEngWales 11


12 CWL HQ PO Box 104 Ledbury HR8 9RG

Lancaster Branch was formed in 1953 and stretches from the borders of Scotland tothe Fylde Coast. We have members in Carlisle, Penrith, Ulverston, Bolton-le-Sands,Garstang, Lytham, Preston and Blackpool, making 6 Sections covering those areas.

As a Branch we meet 4 times in the year – 3 Branch meetings and our annual review.We meet at a Hotel in the Garstang area which is a 250 mile round trip for somemembers, so the buffet lunch provided by the Hotel at a reasonable cost is mostwelcome, as well as giving us the opportunity to mix business with pleasure and enjoya good chat with old and new friends.

We have our annual Pilgrimage at Fernyhaugh Shrine near Preston. Fernyhaugh is theDiocesan Shrine of Lancaster and encompasses the beautiful Church of St Mary,Ladyewell House and grounds, which is the site of the well. There is also a Reliquaryand Repository. The devotion is ecumenical attracting members of many faiths. Webegin with Mass at the Church and then process to the Shrine, where we meet at thestatue of Saint Margaret Clitheroe in the grounds of the Shrine. A peaceful and holyoccasion for our members.

Our members are involved in all the usual activities helping and fund raising locally intheir own Parishes, and for their wider community.Food Banks, Hospices, Care Homes, HCPT, LifeboatSociety to name just a few all benefit from their fundraising efforts. The thriving Cenacolo Community,which is for young men recovering from variousforms of addiction, at Dodding Green near Kendalalso benefits from many donations of food andmoney.

Our Chaplin, Fr Philip Smith, who was actually bornlocally, attends all our meetings and is always therewith advice and support, and we have support fromour Bishop Paul Swarbrick.

Our area has many beautiful beaches, mountains,holiday spots and places to visit, especially thewonderful Lake District.


https://catholicwomensleaguecio.org.uk 13

Since our Section Review in Spring 2019 we have had a very busy year. We went to StJohn’s Church in Boldre for the World Day of Prayer, a beautiful church built in 1017with a lovely warm atmosphere. The Women of Slovenia wrote the service and theladies participating were wearing the national dress of that country.

At our April meeting we had a speaker called Madeleine Drury who works for theMinstead Trust, which owns Furzey Gardens. They won a Gold Medal at Chelsea. Thegardens are used to train young people with various disabilities. The young people aretaught many skills to enable them to live independent lives, especially gardening.

In May we had another speaker, Suzanne Kempt, a New Forest Verderer. She showed ussome wonderful slides of her horses and especially her beautiful stallion.

The summer saw us enjoying our Annual Strawberry Tea and a visit to the FoxleaseEstate in Lyndhurst, which has been the centre of Girl Guiding since1922. Septembersaw us entertained by Shelley Lozanno, a belly dancer and Cabaret artist. It was athoroughly entertaining talk and enjoyed by all!

Towards the end of the year we had a speaker from the Parish. Our church needs a lotof repairs and she showed us photos of the damage that nobody sees with the nakedeye. We are all working hard to help make some money for this project and one of ourmembers made a beautiful quilt andraised £500.

For Christmas we had a wonderfulChristmas Lunch at Redcliffe GardenCentre, New Milton and had a reallygreat time.

And one final comment - during theyear we raised and donated £1,100from our Saturday coffee mornings toour various local charities.

We may be a small Section but we dolike to keep busy!

Enjoying Tea at Foxlease Guiding Centre


ETTERS • LETTERS • LETTERS • LETTERS • LETTERS • LETTERI thought I would share some information, with hispermission, on the Rev Dr Adrian Graffy, ParishPriest in Brentwood and Scripture Champion. Hewas ordained in 1974, studied in Rome and taughtScripture at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh. He haspublished various books and articles and is editor ofthe Take and Read series published by AlivePublishing.In 2014 Pope Francis appointed Fr Adrian to thePontifical Biblical Commission and Bishop AlanWilliams appointed him Scripture Champion for theyear of the God Who Speaks. Fr. Adrian has been parish priest at Christ theEternal High Priest in the Diocese of Brentwood foreight years. As you can see we are very lucky inBrentwood to have such a scholar, organising studydays in the Diocese for twelve years, originally atthe Cathedral in Brentwood and latterly in thechurch at Gidea Park, his parish.He has recently revamped the website

www.whatgoodnews.org where one can access arange of Talks and Reflections. Reading here is away of increasing your knowledge andunderstanding of Scripture and deepening yourfaith. Fr. Adrian was instrumental is starting a new sectionin Gidea Park and the CWL have been able tosupport him on study days by providingrefreshments and welcoming visitors from theDiocese of Brentwood and further afield. It is a realprivilege to be at these days. In this year of theGod Who Speaks there were sessions planned butbecause of Covid 19 these had to be cancelled. Fr.Adrian is not resting though. He has produced somereflections on Sunday Gospels and some Faith talks,especially over Holy Week and the Easter season.We all look forward to the time when these talksand study days can resume in our parish.

Hilary�Wraight,Brentwood Branch President

I enjoyed especially reading the article TheCatholic Church in Wymondham remembers theForgotten Army in the last issue. It is some yearsago now when I came across the Memorial tothose, not only service personnel but also civilians,who were interned by the Japanese during theSecond World War. Mr. Wiseman very kindlyagreed to have the names of my parentsregistered in the Civilian Internees Section of aMemorial Book of Remembrance, and I hope

when the time comes that both my sister and Imay also be included. My parents, sister and Iwere caught in Sumatra and interned - my fatherin a men’s camp, and the rest of us in a women’scamp. Unfortunately, I have never managed toget over to Wymondham for the annual memorialservice.

Elizabeth�Macnamara,Charlton Kings Direct Section

14 CWL National Secretary [email protected]

I enjoyed reading Issue 1 of the new magazine.I particularly like the handy format - ideal forpropping up against the salt cellar while havinglunch! I attach a small thought here whichmight be of interest to our members:St Margaret Clitherow - Bible or shoes or does itmatter?Many illustrations and representations of StMargaret show her carrying a Bible, but someshow her clutching a pair of Elizabethan shoes.Contemporaneous reports of Margaret’s walk toher place of execution on Ouse Bridge, York(25th March 1586) state that she did thisbarefoot having earlier sent her hose and shoesto her daughter, Anne. May we read into thisgesture and to the carrying of the shoes, that herdaughter and, by extension, all of us, are being

entreated to walk in her ways, as a ‘pattern ofwomanhood’ and a great defender of our faith. If Margaret carried a Bible to her death, thenmost likely it was the Douay-Rheims Bible. TheNew Testament of this was published in 1582and the Old Testament sometime later. It was ofa size that could be easily imported from theContinent, carried on the person, or more to thepoint in those times, hidden in small space. Ifthere was a Bible what happened to it is of anequal mystery to what happened to Margaret’sbody after her death.Whether Margaret carried shoes or Bible, orindeed, nothing but her conviction of her faithshe was and remains a true and lasting exampleto all of us. Requiescat in pace. Lorna�Mullett,�Penrith Section


CWL National Secretary [email protected] 15

Anita Toner and I are part of the National Executivefor the Catholic Women’s League of Australia. Bothof us live in Victoria, on the foothills of theAustralian Alps. It is an area where bushfires arecommon although –thank God – neither of us wereburnt out this fire season.We want to thank the Catholic Women’s League ofEngland and Wales for your generosity towards us.Not only is the money most welcome but weappreciate the time and effort you all put intoraising it and the fact that you thought of us andwent to the trouble of arranging to contact us. Allof us felt overwhelmed that the plight of people12,000 miles away should move you to respond.The fires burnt 2,439 houses in NSW (not including

shacks and huts). In Victoria 396 homes were burnt.South Australia lost 151 homes. These Statessuffered the most damage.It was very hot weather at the time, over 40° C.Usually when the temperature is high the wind isfrom the north and very strong. Now that we’ve got you thinking Australia is anawful place and who would live there, we’d bettertell you this is a very pretty part of the world mostof the time.May you be blessed abundantly for your kindnessto us and may God keep you safe from coronavirus.Jane�Munro�and�Anita�Toner,CWL Australia

A thank you letter from Sacred Heart School inCorryong, Victoria, Australia.It is with much gratitude that we were able to sharein the generous donation of $4115.00 from CWLEngland and Wales for Bushfire relief experienced inJanuary. We have never experienced such a fierce,uncontrolled fire with frontage extending forhundreds of kilometres on all sides. The fast-movingfront approached us during the night, so you canimagine the chaos. For myself, I live with my 90-year-old mum on a farmin the ‘Nariel Valley’, and thanks to our neighbour,calling in at 3:00 a.m. in the morning, suggested weevacuate. The next question was where do weevacuate to? The bottom end of the valley was onfire, leading to our township of Corryong, or up thevalley to where our neighbour’s sister had built astone house; and that ended up being our onlyoption. It is interesting what you pack in a hurry;one case with clothes, one basket containingtoiletries, a statue of Our Lady, a crucifix, a blessed

candle and a photo of my late Dad. The family dog,a three-year-old border collie, was no way going tobe left behind. She is a beautiful dog with plenty ofenergy, shared the back seat with the basket, to thisday I am amazed that Our Lady still has a head! The fire claimed many homes, sheds, farming stock,grazing land, bush land, kilometres of fencing andhaysheds filled with beautiful hay, the best harvestin years, being burnt. At home it was a miracle that the house andfarming stock was spared as 95% of the land wasburnt. We had one fire truck working to capacity allnight doing what they could, may God forever blessthem. We run ‘red and white’ Hereford stock at home, andthe next day after the fire front had passed, theyslowly came home with their beautiful white facesgrey and covered in ash. Our four poddy calves hadsinged eyelashes, so we worked with tender lovingcare and they responded so well. With blessings and gratitude we thank you for yourlove.

The Spring Conference seems a long time agonow but I would like to say a big thank you to allthe members of the National Executive and theCWL Trustees for a brilliantly organisedConference as usual. I appreciate the time andenergy that goes into a weekend such as this.The information given was clear and concise andserved as a timely reminder of all that we shouldbe doing. I felt that there was a very positive buzzabout the whole weekend and it was a balancedmix of business, spiritual and entertaining times. I am attaching what my Section refer to as the

Margaret Fletcher Prayer as a few membersasked me for it:Heavenly Father, we thank you for our founder,Margaret Fletcher, for her inspiration andforesight. May she continue to watch over andguide her work she started here on earth. Weask that your Holy Spirit will continue to inspiremany women to become members of theCatholic Women’s League so that it will flourishin Charity, Work and Loyalty. We ask thisthrough Christ, Our Lord. AmenCoral�Howard,�Solihull Section


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13th May saw the 110th Anniversary of the beginning of WUCWO. Our National Chaplain,Fr.Marcin, livestreamed from his Parish in Southsea, the Service of WUCWO intertwined withthe most beautiful Mass for the League. We thank Fr Marcin for a hugely encouraging homilyfor us all. CWL, of course, was there at the very founding of WUWCO and Margaret Fletcher,CWL’s wonderfully inspiring founder, was President General from 1912 – 1913. What a proudhistory and connection every member here in England and Wales has with WUCWO.

WUCWO’s President General Maria Lia talks to us often of ‘WOMEN GOING FORTH in 2020’,encouraging us in our personal upward growth – our self-education. This is not new she says.We could take as our example Pilar Bellosillo from Spain, WUCWO President General from1961 – 1974 and whose cause for beatification and canonization WUCWO has started.

And on 14th May WUCWO came together with women from all over the world in a VirtualCenacle from Rome to be in communion with the Prayer for Humanity requested by the Popeas a sign of hope in the middle of this pandemic. Many women spoke of their experiences, sodifferent in every country. With heart-felt prayers, the Cenacle concluded that we, the womenof WUCWO, were part of this worldwide sign of hope, with believers of all denominations, tounite spiritually for a day of prayer for the suffering of the world.

I also attended another WUCWO Webinar earlier this month from Rome on Solidarity andSynodality : Thinking About The Church In The Time of The Coronavrius. Pope Francis saidwere we, like the Disciples, caught off guard? Do we find ourselves afraid and lost by thisunexpected turbulent storm? Have we realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragileand disorientated, but at the same time important and needed, all of us to row together, eachof us in need of comforting the other. He says let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives.

In response to Pope Francis’ request that we pray for the world battling the coronavirus,Elizabeth Upsher of Brentwood Branch, decided to sing a hymn every morning on CWL’sFacebook page. Elizabeth knew that singing would brighten the days of people duringlockdown. The requests came in thick and fast and we were joined from CWL membersthroughout the world from Canada to Australia, Philippines to Zambia, from Fiji to Myanmarand from all over Europe. How wonderful to think that CWL made this terrible situation a littlebetter for so many people and all for just singing a hymn together – which is praying twice, asElizabeth has often said.

I have been in touch with a CWL member inZimbabwe. She initially wanted some generalCWL guidance as they were a new ‘Section’ in2017. We exchange information and good willand prayers for the best possible outcome for usall of this coronavirus pandemic.

Liaising�with�the�WorldUnion�of�CatholicWomens�Organisations�

Veronica�Cross,�Brentwood Branch


issue 2 summer 2020 - catholic women's league...issue 2 summer 2020 cwl - magaie ie 2:la 1...

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