Llandudno -
Our Lady Star of
the Sea
Parish
Priest: Fr Antony Jones STL - Telephone: 01492 860546 [Email]
Sunday August
27th
2006
Dear Parishioner,
Last Saturday was a special day for me. In my bedroom hangs a battered
old picture in a battered old frame. It is a picture of the Sacred
Heart, a picture that hung in the sitting room of my family home for as
long as I can remember - and even longer. Even longer, because on it is
recorded that on 19 August 1936 my then home and family were dedicated
to the Sacred Heart in a little ceremony conducted by the late Canon
Collins.
So, it was on the 19 August, seventy years ago to the day, that I got
down on my knees before this picture and said the rosary, just as we
used to do as a family. It was "spooky" - I suppose that's the wrong
word - but my sister was there with me, messing around during the
family rosary as she
always did, and my other sister and brother and mother (my father was
not so pious!). The memories came flooding back.
There on the picture was the signature of Canon Collins - just simply
Father Collins then. He became a legend in Rhyl, where he was Parish
Priest for years. His early morning bike ride to the Rhyl Alexandria
Hospital was as familiar a sight as the tide coming in. As his years
progressed and his cycling became more wobbly the police gave him an
unofficial escort.
He was a saint. But, like the Cure of Ars, the patron of Parish
Priests, he was not particularly bright academically. The story is told
ofhis days in Rome as a student. Before one of his exams he found it
impossible to swot up all the topics on which he could be examined, so
he decided that he would pray to the Sacred Heart and just concentrate
on one. When he was presented with his exam paper, the very topic he
had prepared was the one he was required to answer. He did so with
delight. But then he began to get scruples. He felt that he had taken
unjust advantage of his fellow students by thus unfairly invoking the
assistance of the Sacred Heart. It was the custom in his day, as it
still was in mine, that you went to the Rector to receive your exam
results. He felt the need to get his conspiracy with the Sacred Heart
off his chest. He did so and told him the whole story . The Rector
replied: " Don't worry, Mr Collins, you failed anyway ".
If ever you visit the church in Pwllheli, you may notice a window
depicting the Sacred Heart. When my mother died there ten years ago, I
got permission from the Bishop to put up a window in her memory, etched
just like the other windows there. It depicts, of course, the Sacred
Heart to whom my mother, like Canon Collins, had great devotion. The
once familiar prayer is inscribed upon it: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I
place all my trust in you. Canon Collins certainly placed all his trust
in Him, but while it didn't work with regard to his exam results, it
certainly worked when it came to his Final Examination, an examination
that faces us all.
There will be a Taize Evening in church on Wednesday to mark the first
anniversary of the death of Brother Roger. Just a simple hour of
meditation from 730pm, while listening to a
Taize CD. "Peace comes dropping slow " as the poet says.
The Display Board is showing the photos taken at the recent
Confirmation. Next up will be the Altar Servers' Outing. Almost a
couple of hundred photos were taken on this occasion between Stephen
and myself and are all available on a single disc costing just
£1. These discs will be invaluable mementos of these happy
moments in our parish lives and will enable the children to keep not
only photos of themselves but of their friends as well, discs that will
be invaluable to them in the future. The discs are available from
Stephen Watson - on 872335.
God bless you,
Fr Antony Jones
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