At the time of this writing I am the guest of the intrepid Fr. Timothy Finigan, one of the Telegraph‘s front-runners to be the next Archbishop of Westminster (though that might be news to the Congregation for Bishops, perhaps it shouldn’t be).
This morning Fr. Finigan had a very fine celebration of Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification. There was a fine schola of men and plenty of candles to remind us what we were about. We even had a procession, though that was slightly complicated at one point by someone who had errantly parked a car in our proper path. Like the wise men we went per aliam viam.
The liturgy begins with the blessing of candles, in purple. Then they distributed to the people, who kiss the candle and the priest’s hand:
The Mass, a Missa cantata rather than the solemnis we were thinking about, proceeds as usual.
After the Mass we had some time in the parish’s hall, which is also a pub. Here is where we get the sense of true pastoral theology:
Please take note of the name of the excellent ale that Father is dispensing.
I am forced into some linguistic musing.
In this case is "Bishops" (which is probably "bishop’s") an objective genitive/possessive or subjective? Does this refer to the very finger of the bishop, that is, on the bishop’s own hand, or does it refer to some other finger that the bishop receives? I suppose it could be plural. Hmmm… that might clear up the question. If this is plural "bishops’", then it must be the finger that is directed to or given to the plural bishops.
Otherwise, maybe that "finger" is really a verb! Plural bishops are "fingering" someone, as in the following possible heading in The Telegraph:
Whatever the meaning of the name of this ale, I was very pleased to have a pint and consider my good fortune at having been at Our Lady of the Rosary for Candlemas:
