Antonius Grech-Delicata-Testaferrata

Clergy and aristocrats in Gozo

Death in Venice

"For many centuries funeral services in Venice have been conducted by the Scuole del Sacramento, instituted for that purpose. To one of these societies the friends of the defunct pay a certain sum, and the association engages to inter the dead, and bear all the expenses of the ceremony, the dignity of which is regulated by the priest of the parish in which the deceased lived. The rite is now most generally undertaken by the Scuola di San Rocco. The funeral train is of ten or twenty facchini, wearing tunics of white, with caps and capes of red, and bearing the society's long, gilded candlesticks of wood with lighted tapers. Priests follow them chanting prayers, and then comes the bier,—with a gilt crown lying on the coffin, if the dead be a babe, to indicate the triumph of innocence. Formerly, hired mourners attended, and a candle, weighing a pound, was given to any one who chose to carry it in the procession."

 From: VENETIAN LIFE By William Dean Howells. 1^st January 1867Project Gutenburg

Rev. Frederick Scott Keeling

© Godric Godricson

Catholic Blessing of a new cemetery

Catholic Blessing of a new cemetery

Requiem Mass

The Priest

© Godric Godricson

I like this brass set into the floor of a rural parish. The brass is at once proud as it makes clear the ordination and priesthood of the deceased whilst at the same time exuding the calm serenity of the departed. There is a contradiction here that is spellbinding. The high and the low all in one brass. The chasuble  flows and swirls and is matched by the stole that appears to the lower front. The ends of a stole are called 'spades' and they pop up as tassells.

This implies to me that the stone covers the extant grave of a priest. Those hands manipulated the consecrated host and carried the word of God in a troubled world. May he rest in peace and rise in glory

Thomas Becket



History of the Christian Church

 Volume V: The Middle Ages.

A.D. 1049-1294.

Philip Schaff (1819-1893)

© Godric Godricson





"The body of Thomas was buried in the crypt. The remains of his blood and brains were sacredly kept. His monkish admirers discovered, to their amazement and delight, that the martyr, who had once been arrayed in purple and fine linen, wore on his skin under his many garments the coarsest haircloth abounding with vermin. This seemed to betray the perfection of ascetic sanctity according to mediaeval notions".

Traditional English piety

Traditional English Piety

An Anglo-Catholic interior 
© Godric Godricson

Traditional English piety is under threat from the denominations that claim to serve the English people. The Anglicans appear more interested in consensual sex between adults than in administering the sacraments and the Roman Catholics appear more interested in avoiding a vice rap than in preaching the word of God. The Orthodox are still considering the fall of Constantinople and the death of the last Emperor.

The English haven't always been an irreligious people and in the past they were a shining light of Catholicism and they respected the sacraments. It is no wonder that burials and funerals have no interest for the clergy in the 21st Century except for the money brought in from each service.

Robert Barnes - Priest July 1918



Robert Barnes - Priest
Died July 1918

St Mary - Burgh-next-Aylsham
© Godric Godricson



Thomas Barnes - Priest Died 1917

Thomas Barnes - Priest
Died April 1917

St Mary - Burgh-next-Aylsham
© Godric Godricson