Lisbonian

Magazine

The

English College Lisbon January 2012

The Lisbonian
The Editor Kevin Hartley 8 Hanbury Hill Stourbridge DY8 1BE

The magazine of the Lisbonian Society

All correspondence should be addressed to:

The Lisbonian is the bi-annual magazine of the Lisbonian Society, appearing in January and July, and covers a wide range of topics of current and historical interest. The magazine is distributed to all members of the Society and to those who have expressed an interest in the College. Articles relating in any way to Lisbon past or present and especially to former students of the College are always very welcome. Anyone wishing to submit an article for consideration should in the first instance contact Kevin Hartley as above or by email:
kevinhartley@yahoo.co.uk

Lisbonian Society Society Lisbonian

Correspondence relating to the new address Hon Secretary Lisbonian Society V Rev Canon Gerard Hetherington, KHS 41 Rosaire Court, Rosaire Avenue St Peter Port GUERNSEY GY1 8UG Email: ghetherington@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk 2 | The Lisbonian magazine January 2012

should be addressed to the

Contents

Editorial ............................................................. 4 Letters to the Editor ........................................... 5 Saudades Joe Swann ....................................... 6 Interview Mike Horrax ..................................... 7 The Human Heart of Liturgy Daniel OLeary ....12 Wheelchairs for Ghana Steve Harrington .....19 Obituary Michael Hagerty ...............................21 Lisbonian Society 2011 ......................................22 Toast to Alma Mater Tony Flynn ......................24 Bom Sucesso Irish Dominicans in Lisbon .........28 David Gonalves Magalhes Tony Flynn ..........34 Reflections A Paint Job.....................................38

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Editorial
Times Past and Times Present The annual Lisbonian Society Meeting holds up remarkably well, and all are welcome on an equal footing, an innovation brought about by the diplomatic skills of Jim Sullivan in the face of a degree of hierarchical opposition. We can justly describe ourselves as fratres in unum as we recall the Quinta times of old, the foibles of students and professors, the long vanished traditions of the Portugal we used to know ox carts creaking on the cobbled roads, the haunting echo of the knife-grinders panpipes in the narrow streets of the Bairro Alto, covert caf rendezvous in the Baixo, fantastic feats of hitch-hiking prowess across the Peninsula. And there is life in the old dog yet, ordained or lay, whether in active service still, or in retirement, everyone seems to be doing something interesting, something useful. Whatever has become of the physical structures, we are still a college, colleagues, if you like. And so might it be ad multos annos!
Kevin Hartley your editor welcomes feedback and articles!

There is plenty to read in the current issue; from the history of Bom Sucesso to the true story of Mike Horraxs missing finger. David Magalhes, the most faithful member of the staff who ministered to our needs, is still cultivating his garden and Steve Harrington and his son Simon have been active in assisting some of the most disadvantaged members of the community in Ghana. It was Jim Sullivans special desire that the memory of the College should be kept alive by the Societys sponsorship of the annual Crichton Memorial Lecture. As what we hope will become a regular feature, we offer an edited version of this years lecture, The Human Heart of the Liturgy given by Daniel OLeary. Parishes up and down the country have been introduced to the revised translation of the Mass, and there is more to come. Reflections in this issue expresses a view on the quality of the work which may or may not be shared by our readers.
Kevin Hartley

Blessed are they who pay their Society subscriptions without need of a reminder!

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Letters to the Editor

From Sister Mary Magdalen From Judith Elgey

I am writing to thank the Lisbonian Society for the very generous gift of money that was sent to me a few months ago. You are all very good to send us money because I know that England is feeling the lack of money. In Peru, there are the usual problems no money for medical help, no money to keep away TB, lack of good food, etc so again, thank you very much for your help. May God bless you and the members of the Society. Sister Mary Rita Wynn C/o Convent of Mercy: Maricourt Hall Lane, Maghull Liverpool L31 3DZ
From the Treasurer of the Society of Saint Gregory

I dont know whether you are aware that Joe (Carter) has Alzheimers and has been in a nursing home since February 2010. He is quite well relatively speaking but no longer able to walk or read. However he seems to take in everything I tell him or read to him. Hope you had a good meeting: I remember driving Joe to Hinsley Hall a few years ago for your gathering. Judith Elgey judith.elgey@sky.com
From John Rayner

I write to confirm the receipt of 500.00 from the Lisbon Fund. The Trustees of the Society will add this to the restricted Crichton Memorial Lecture Fund to support the annual lecture devoted to the promotion of Catholic liturgy and music. Peter J Harrison 34 Clayfield Road Brislington BRISTOL BS4 4NH

Thank you for the latest issue of The Lisbonian. This time I got a bit of a surprise because there was a green sticker across the back of the envelope and a note inside telling me that Australia Post had opened my package as part of the campaign to keep dangerous goods out of the country. It went on to say that they found nothing of a dangerous nature in my package and that they had not removed any item and it was therefore sent on to me!!! I received a letter from CaTew telling me that any priest in good

Opinions and views expressed in The Lisbonian are deemed to be those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editors or the Lisbonian Society.
The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 5

standing, who had studied at The English College, was to receive 150 pounds towards his holiday expenses and would I please acknowledge if I wished to receive this before 1st July. I thought Why not?!!!! So I replied post haste. The next day I received another letter telling me that the previous letter was an administrative error and would I please disregard it. So I laughed at being a priest in good standing and forgot about it. And then I got a cheque for 150! Regards, 7 Rae Place Hillary Western Australia 6025 raynerja@gmail.com

From Brother J L Kimpton

Thank you for the wonderful donation of 500 for our work among the poorest of people. God bless you Reaching the Unreached Peclyakulem TK Tamil Nadu South India
Letters to the Editor continued on page 39

Letters

T he Lisbonian welcomes your letters and e-mails. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at the address on page 2.

Saudades
by Joe Swann
Memory is myth and reality, stacked images lying in wait to be recalled a pattern scored in the mind, sorted and anaesthetized by time. What does it mean that the cod fleet sailing up the Tagus signals anticipation, opening onto juniper-covered hills and a line of peasants hoeing in melancholy song? Too long ago to say and yet, if asked fifty years on, that world is part of me, as I of it today.
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INTERVIEW
Kevin Hartley talks with Mike Horrax
Q. Mike, tell me something about your origins. me how I lost it. Often Id spin a yarn about being adrift in a lifeboat in the Pacific. When a rescue ship appeared I stood up and waved to attract attention. But, overcome by thirst, I collapsed and my arm hung over the side of the life-boat. A lurking shark lunged and just managed to snap the end of my finger. I was amazed at the number of people who used to believe this yarn! Q. It was a good story; deserves to be true! And after being turned down for the junior seminary, what then? A. I went to the De la Salle College in Sheffield and did my School Michael Horrax Peter J Harrison 2010 Certificate exams in 1939, then A. I am from Sheffield, the middle I got a job in the bacteriological son of five, two brothers older laboratory of a hospital in Sheffield. than me, two sisters younger. I had Q. 1939, the year the Second World a priest relative, and just as a lad War broke out? might want to be an engine driver A. Yes, but it wasnt until 1941, like his dad, I fancied I wanted to along with three others from my be a priest. That ambition was hit old school, that I volunteered on the head when the then Bishop of Leeds, Henry John Poskitt, turned me down on account of the missing phalange on the second finger of my right hand. Q. We always thought you had lost that through tamping down the tobacco in your pipe! A. Shows how you can be mistaken! People, especially kids, used to ask
World War II Minesweeper 1944

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D-Day Landings Normandy 1944

for the Royal Navy. I wasnt yet eighteen but the following year I got called up and was in the Navy until 1946. Q. Battleships, cruisers, destroyers? A. Minesweepers in the North Sea, based in North Shields. And then, as part of the preparations for D Day, in the Solent. I was on one of the launches charged with ensuring hand-delivered communications between ships the whole of the area was filled with vessels as far as the eye could see. Q. And after D Day? A. We went to the Far East. Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and then with Landing Ships out of Bombay, preparing

We went wild with joy at the news, ships firing off their armaments, general rejoicing. It wasnt until afterwards we became aware of the consequences

for the invasion of Malaya. Before that got under way the Americans dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan capitulated. We went wild with joy at the news, ships firing off their armaments, general rejoicing. It wasnt until afterwards we became aware of the consequences, the terrible price paid by tens of thousands of Japanese civilians. Q. So, the War was over. What happened then? A. We went to an American base in the Philippines and from there embarked on a troopship that brought us back to Blighty it took a month and when I caught sight of the White Cliffs of Dover I swore that I would never leave England again! Q. You were demobbed. A. Yes, and back to my old job, more or less, with the blood transfusion service in Sheffield, and then as a lab technician with the Ministry of Ag & Fish in Loughborough for a couple of years. I was sent to the central Veterinary laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey, on a training course for ten weeks. After Mass one Sunday the parish priest challenged me. Had I ever thought of becoming a priest? That really took me aback. I had long since forgotten about my childhood dreams. I was enjoying life, out with the lads, doing the rounds of the pubs. But something must have stuck. Perhaps the priest got

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in touch with my parish priest back home. In any case, my pp Canon Bird said, Why not give it a go? It so happened that we then lived in the one parish in Sheffield that was part of Nottingham diocese. But a whole year passed before I got any response until, at last, I was invited to an interview, along with a gaggle of youngsters who were looking to join the junior seminary. I felt like a fish out of water among that lot! Q. They did things differently in those days! A. You can say that. I was told to go and look in the Cathedral for a Canon Sullivan. A head popped round a pillar: Are you Michael Horrax? Get a passport and an old suit, you are coming to Lisbon. This was 1949. Q. And what did you know about Lisbon? A. Nothing! There were eight of us, including Colin Doyle and Frank Savage, on a Royal Mail ship out of Tilbury. And there was I, who had sworn never to leave England again! Q. What was Lisbon like? A. There was a handful of survivors of the previous year. Most of us were ex-servicemen. Colin Doyle had been a Quartermasters S e r g e a n t M a j o r, l a n d i n g i n Normandy on D-Day + 1, I had been those years in the Navy, suffering in the Far East from

Here we all were in the College, subjected to a very restricted life and treated almost like children. The first summer was spent at Luz. I remember the flies
everything from Ringworm to Dengue Fever, and here we all were in the College, subjected to a very restricted life and treated almost like children. The first summer was spent at Luz. I remember the flies especially. We used to get out for the day, taking a garrafo of wine with us. Kinsella, who was Vice President, became suspicious and wanted to come out with us so we substituted the wine for water. We walked him off his feet and he never tried that again! Q. But you did manage to change things a bit? A. Yes, in Holy Year, 1950, we managed to persuade the Old Man to let us go to Rome. Amazingly, he eventually agreed, provided that we took the train as far as the French border. And then we hitch-hiked. Some of us didnt make it, probably never intended to. We thought it would be good to include Lourdes in our itinerary. That was when the sign for a heavy-goods route fooled me Pois Lourds! We discovered afterwards that the staff didnt really expect us to come back. Q. When did you discover that Jim

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Holy Year 1950 Portugal Postage Stamp

wanted you to go to Rome? A. He started the topic after my Diaconate, wanting me to do a Licentiate in Theology. At first I resisted: after those years in the Navy and then six years in Portugal all I wanted to do was to get back to England and a parish. Finally he wore me down. In the end I did two years at the Angelicum for a Licentiate in Theology and then a final year at the Biblicum for Scripture. The highlight of that was the wonderful experience of a visit to the Holy Land. Q. Your lectures were in Latin? A. Yes. Dog-latin, really. The English-speaking Profs werent too hard to follow but the Spanish and Italians were more difficult. I could

cope with written exams but the orals were really a problem. Q. And then you came back to Lisbon? A. Yes. A long stretch - 1958-1972. The problem with being a lecturer was that you had the knowledge of the subject but no training at all on how to teach. Some students were content to take dictation, while others wanted a more open stimulating approach. Q. Whatever your lecturing style, the content of your material came as real revelation to many of us, for which we will always be grateful. And what did you think of us? A. Students came in all sorts. It was disappointing, as time went on, to find that they no longer wanted to use summer holidays to roam around Spain and Portugal but to go home instead. There was a certain lack of self-reliance, too. Perhaps we older ones had grown up in a more makedo-and-mend environment. And the burden of work became harder: towards the end it became very hard-going, teaching both Scripture and Dogma. And then, after Mick Williams left, I found myself filling the post of Vice President. Q. When the last student returned to England, you stayed on to keep Jim Sullivan company? A. I did. He would have been left there alone otherwise. Tom Hartley joined us for a while but he was quite ill himself. Inevitably, with two people living in close contact

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there were times when it could be difficult but I was content to support the Old Man as best I could. In the end however, my bishop ordered me back to England. Q. To parish work at last? A. It was quite a shock to find myself in charge of a parish, Loughborough. I was there for two years and then Bishop Ellis persuaded me to be Loughborough University Chaplain. I was lucky to have a good deal of help from the Chaplain at Nottingham. The best thing about that job was being able to attend the chaplains conferences. Q. How long were you University Chaplain?

The burden of work became harder: towards the end it became very hard-going, teaching both Scripture and Dogma
A. Two or three years, then it was back to parish work, Burton on Trent and, finally, Belper. Q. Now you are retired? A. I still do quite a bit of supply work. I used to be quite keen on walking, but that has to be curtailed these days. And, of course, I still enjoy coming to the Lisbonian Meetings!

Quinta Luz Lisboa Portugal An Original Pencil Drawing by W Haeburn-Little [circa 1945]

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The Human Heart of Liturgy

Pastoral Reflections for Ministers of Worship

by Daniel OLeary
Adapted from the James Crichton Memorial Lecture 2011 sponsored by the Lisbonian Society and the Society of Saint Gregory.

Change is Needed
A major transformation is needed to restore the Churchs place in society today. The more life and liturgy are intertwined, the more wholesome and healing our celebrations will be for young people, for those who are wavering in their faith, for those who are still regular participators, for those who are distressed or even in despair. Professor John Baldovin SJ. in his acclaimed Reforming Liturgy (2009) reminds us that liturgy must never separate the sacred from the profane:

Giving attention to the liturgy for the liturgys sake alone he said, is not Christian faith: it is narcissistic obsession. Liturgical scholar Kevin Seasoltz, OSB, wrote, The major liturgical issue facing the Church today is not the structure or style of the Eucharistic ritual and the form it takes but rather the nature of the celebrating communities, their human visions, daily goals and their everyday practices. In his Rule, St Benedict reminded the cellarer to pay as much attention to the pots and pans in the kitchen as to the chalice and ciborium on

Daniel OLeary is a priest, author and teacher in the Diocese of Leeds. As curate and Parish Priest, he has worked in parishes for almost thirty years. He taught theology and religious education in St Marys University College in London and became Chair of its Religious Studies Department before being appointed Episcopal Vicar for Christian Formation in Leeds. He holds Masters degrees in theology, spirituality and religious education, and is a regular contributor to The Tablet 12 | The Lisbonian magazine January 2012

the altar. So did St Teresa, about the scullery and the sanctuary. In a recent lecture Fr Gerald OCollins, former professor at the Gregorian University, spoke about the link between the altar and the soup kitchen or, I would add, any kitchen, so that people in these situations would become shining beacons of real humanity. The same imagery, vision and theology runs through the English and Welsh Bishops Conference recent study entitled: On the Way to Life. The Jesuit authors emphasise the humanity, poetry and beauty at the heart of true liturgy. In it we read, The theology of nature and grace that informs Vatican II recovers the ordinary as the place of grace; hence holiness is not something exceptional but something that is shaped in the world of the domestic, giving to it the weight of glory For the authors then, Liturgy is where eternity is revealed in time, where the domestic is the locus of the heavenly. The danger of a growing disconnection between liturgy and life was always flagged up by the great man himself, Fr James Crichton. He warned that liturgy, Can become encrusted with secondary elements, that can degenerate into the meaningless performance that

Liturgy can degenerate into the meaningless performance that is called ritualism, and that can appear, too, to be an end in itself
is called ritualism, and that can appear, too, to be an end in itself. Fr Crichtons liturgical vision was clearly based on the theology of incarnation of the Vatican Council. Consider the two ways of looking at theology one of sin/ redemption, one of nature/grace; Maybe this is the first step for us in a whole radical renewal of our understanding of the world of liturgy today but first of theology! There is a pressing need to balance our over-emphasised and often misunderstood theology of sin/ redemption with the primary and most beautiful love-story of a theology of nature and grace. In his November Tablet Lecture on The Formation of the Human H e a r t , A rc h b i s h o p N i c h o l s referred to the Dutch woman Etty Hillesum, who spent her very short life doing what she could for others during the terrible years of the Holocaust. As she struggled with the question of where was God, she concluded that, God becomes a vulnerable presence to be looked after

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and cherished in the human heart. If we care enough she said, God is in safe hands with us, despite everything. The Archbishop spoke about discovering the divine in human consciousness, and how that presence is celebrated in the sacraments. The Holy Spirit, he said, makes his home in us, becoming an interior presence, saving us from within. We become without anything of our human nature being affected partakers of the divine nature. The graced experience of God is primarily to be found hidden in the midst of ordinary life, in our expressions of hope, fear, relationships and death. We gather together in worship, not because our own lives are devoid of grace, but because we need to re-member, celebrate and express our gratitude for all the grace-filled moments of our daily existence.

Liturgy of Life What is important to remember, therefore, for all who believe that our God actually became human flesh, is that when liturgy and life are separated, people no longer feel nourished. The life-line of divine love is cut. The well has run dry. People stop coming to Mass. To anxious parishioners who catch no grace in church on a Sunday morning, theologian Karl Rahner has written, It must be admitted readily and without hesitation to such people that grace, encounter with God, can occur, and does actually mostly occur, in the ordinary routine of secular life. Prior to any kind of defence (or protecting) of the Churchs liturgy, for these people, in the first place, there must be revealed a clear way of access to the depths of their own existence, where God has communicated himself from the very beginning. John Paul II, in his Familiaris Consortio, has this to say, In and through the events, problems, difficulties and circumstances of everyday life, God is found in the family, revealing and presenting the concrete moments of their sharing in Christs love in the particular familial situation in which they find themselves.

We gather together in worship, not because our own lives are devoid of grace, but because we need to re-member, celebrate and express our gratitude for all the grace-filled moments of our daily existence

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So we can think of the informal sacraments of the church of the home; the spirituality of the kitchen; the real presence in every true family relationship. Joys and sorrows, hopes and disappointments, births and birthday celebrations, wedding anniversaries, departures, separations and homecomings, important and far-reaching decisions, the death of those that are dear, all these mark Gods loving presence in the story of family life. As someone remarked, I have come to realise that everything that serves the family is holy the daily baths, the messy meals, responding to calls for a midnight drink of water, the laundry, the bills, the hurting, the forgiving. Vatican IIs Gaudium et Spes makes it clear that we tend to overemphasise the notion of two distinct worlds one secular, the other sacred. We cannot be living two parallel lives. In the light of Incarnation we must resist any dualistic notions of sacred and secular. We can find God in all the moments of our day, even those that seem furthest from God. All our experiences of pain, confusion and desperation, can be implicit occasions of grace. There is nothing in life so secular or so sinful that we cannot find God in

We can find God in all the moments of our day, even those that seem furthest from God. All our experiences of pain, confusion and desperation, can be implicit occasions of grace.
it. Theologian Richard McBrien writes, Liturgical celebration does not cause grace in the sense that grace is otherwise unavailable. The offer of grace is already present to the world in Gods original self-giving. The sacraments signify, celebrate and draw out of us, what God is, in a sense, already doing everywhere and for all. Theology of Nature and Grace The implicit assumption still is that it is primarily to the liturgy that we must look for the experience of the sacred. But God became flesh to reveal that the divine presence is primarily experienced

Supper at Emmaus Carravagio, 1601

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When the Eucharist is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, it is always, in some way, celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces, permeates and celebrates all creation
in the sanctuary of our deepest emotions and relationships, in everything that defines our humanity. Grace is everywhere, as the old Penny Catechism insisted. Liturgy celebrates that. Otherwise we deny what the Incarnation revealed. The public worship of the Church is the ritualised expression of the liturgy of our lives in the world a holy, human liturgy that is offering praise, glory and thanks to God from the rising of the sun to its setting, in the experiences of humanity, but also in nature, in the song of the seasons, and the music of the spheres, celebrating all creation, its evolution and its destiny, and returning it once more to its Creator. Yes, cosmic! John Paul II exclaims in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Because even when the Eucharist is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, it is always, in some way, celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces, permeates and celebrates all creation.

Pastoral Implications: Sacraments in the Parish The week-end Eucharist is not, then, about inviting God into the secular lives of our parishioners. Nor is it about inviting our parishioners secular lives into the holiness of the Church. Rather is it the revelation, the sacrament, the celebration and purification of the way that the Christian God of the Incarnation is already and always at the heart of our weekday lives, loving and healing us, forgiving and encouraging us, whether we know it or not. There is a huge need to reassure wavering Mass-goers that the experience of God happens at the heart of their own lives, in their efforts to stay in love, in the families they struggle to hold together, the relationships with the neighbours, the terrible anxiety about money and mortgages, the fear for their health and the safety of those they love, the depressions and temptations (you know well yourselves what these realities are) the experiences of hope, distress, responsibility, authenticity, love and death. We gather together in worship, not because our secular lives are empty of grace, but because we need to express all the grace-filled moments already in our human lives, often dark and hidden in our hurting hearts, sometimes shining like hope in our eyes. Liturgy has the same hopes and

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goals and dreams for each human heart as Jesus had when he walked amongst us. It may take some time for us to be convinced and comfortable with this theology of liturgy. For many of us, it carries a profound challenge of courage to recover the sacramental vision, a spirituality of the human heart, what is called the catholic imagination. This is a radical shift of the greatest significance. But then, this new way of seeing and recognising the body of Christ everywhere was always a central part of our true Roman Catholic tradition of Incarnation. But we have forgotten or neglected it until now. It will, to use Pope Benedicts own words, humanise and transform the world by its beauty. Pastoral Implications: Inner Transformation First Perhaps the profoundest change of all that is needed today is the inner transformation of the deepest, spiritual and human hearts of the pastoral ministers themselves. When we, as Ministers of Communion, of Music, of Reading, of Welcoming, have made this sacramental vision our own, then the passion of it will catch the lives of our parishioners. This is how God became present to us in the first place the sacrament of the body, of our physical senses how we walk, look, speak the sacrament of presence. All of these

The profoundest change of all that is needed today is the inner transformation of the deepest, spiritual and human hearts of the pastoral ministers themselves
play a central part in liturgical effectiveness. People will go home from Mass with more hope in their eyes, more courage in their hearts, more determination in their minds, and, I believe, more health in their bodies. When the human hearts of the liturgical ministers themselves are first enabled, empowered and transformed, then it must follow that the hearts of the parishioners will be deeply touched too. It is the way of Incarnation. Only then will the Readers words have a transforming power; only then, when the Welcomers welcome, people will people feel truly welcomed; only then, when the Extraordinary Ministers of Communion share the bread and wine, will people catch a deeper grace from them; and only then, when ministers sing and play, will the struggling spirits of the parishioners rejoice in a new hope. There are times when only music can awaken the eyes of the heart. Fr Hans Urs von Balthasar, theologian of beauty, together with his great admirer Pope Benedict, sees music in liturgy as

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At a most critical time in the history of our church, the liturgical renewal that is most urgently needed now, has little to do with rubrics and liturgical purity and everything to do with recognising, purifying and celebrating the exciting and astonishing meaning of the Incarnation in ourselves and in our world.
the most ineffable art because it is the immediate cusp between the divine and the human. Music is the borderland of the human, he wrote, and it is here that the divine begins. He sees music as the bridge between the liturgy of life and the liturgy of the church, Music is liminal, between that which can and cannot be spoken, between God and humanity. Its like a small incarnation. But the singers heart must first be captured by love before the song sets people free. It is your soul people hear when you sing and play. Music nourishes and prepares the human mind and heart to sense the intimacy of God in every single thought, word and action of their week-day lives, in their compassion for the broken lives

of those who are being exploited, tortured and killed through the injustice and greed of human beings. All of that comes together each Sunday at Mass. And that is why we need the poets, the artists and the dancers too, to honour the height and depth of the human soul of liturgy. The poetic words that reveal to us the face of Beloved within us; the music that opens our hearts to our divine inner power, ever deepening our capacity for compassion. What a comforting and consoling message for those people who still turn up for Mass, deep in their distress or in their happiness the message of hope and courage for a new beginning on Monday morning. At a most critical time in the history of our church, the liturgical renewal that is most urgently needed now, has little to do with rubrics and liturgical purity and everything to do with recognising, purifying and celebrating the exciting and astonishing meaning of the Incarnation in ourselves and in our world. It is only then that we can celebrate the sacraments with full and grateful hearts. And that is the only worship and adoration that God longs for in the liturgy.

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Wheelchairs for Ghana

by Steve Harrington
A Tale of Africa
A journey that began in the summer of 2005 in Ghanas capital, Accra, ended when Rotarian Steve Harrington and his son, Simon, a paediatric nurse, travelled to Tamale in northern Ghana to deliver 110 wheelchairs on behalf of the Rotary Club of Westhoughton. Five years ago, Simon, then a student nurse at Manchester U n i v e r s i t y, h a d a s t u d e n t placement in Ghana for two months, working in orphanages and childrens hospitals. Returning home from a soccer match one afternoon, he went into a sports bar. Inside there were several men, slightly the worse for wear through alcohol, and a young, disabled man using a wooden plank nailed to an old roller skate to get him around. To pass the time, the other men were kicking him backwards and forwards across the bar. Simon learned there are three million disabled people in Ghana, 8% of the population. given to a 16-year old young woman called Maria. She had been disabled since birth and lived in a hut with her mother and her 18 year old brother Joseph who worked in a local office as a clerk. Every morning, when he got up, he would put Maria in a wooden box to protect her from insects and the like. When he was ready to go to work, he would put the wooden box with Maria in it on a railway porters trolley and push her to work, where she would sit and watch him all day before being pushed home again. When Maria got her wheelchair, Joseph no longer had to push her to work, so applied for another job at twice the pay about three times further away from home. Maria, having watched him doing his job for so long, was confident she could take his place, so applied for the job and was successful. The familys income had trebled over night.

The Story of a Chair

When he graduated, his dad Steve and mum Kath bought him two wheelchairs. They learned nothing about one chair, but heard of another that had been

2011 Simon & Steve Harrington

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The first thing Maria and Joseph did was to buy their mother an armchair for the hut. It was the first chair she had owned in her life. If one wheelchair could make such a difference to a familys life, it seemed worth buying as many as possible. When Steve became Rotary Club President in 2007, he made the Wheelchair Foundation his charity for the year. The Club raised just under 4,000. It took two years to find a link in Ghana, but they were finally put in touch with President Joseph Mumuni of the Rotary Club of Tamale, the capital of the countrys northern province. They spent a week in the country being shown the projects (clinics, schools, water bore holes, village weaving industries, respite centres) sponsored by Ghana Outlook, an NGO funded largely by British benefactors and run by Rotarian Joseph Achana of the Rotary Club of Ho, the capital of the south eastern province. One hundred and ten wheelchairs were presented to the Vice President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, in an impressive ceremony in the citys military stadium. Steve had been worried nobody would come, but a message had been sent out on local radio for two weeks beforehand and about 600 people turned up. 150 of them needed wheelchairs. Some of them had travelled 120 miles on poor

roads and mud tracks, but forty of them went home disappointed. Nevertheless, for those fortunate enough to receive wheelchairs, it was a life changing event of Gospel proportions: the lame walk and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Simon and Steve had funded their own fares to Ghana, but had been the Vice Presidents personal guests during their stay in the country. They decided to donate the money they would have spent on their bed and board as the first instalment of a fund for a second consignment of chairs. They hoped to raise another 4,000. However, the people of Westhoughton and the surrounding area, local schools, clubs, church groups and individuals have responded so generously that by August, 2011, they had raised 12,500, with more donations expected. Father Brian Crane, former chaplain of Everton Football Club, donated a framed shirt signed by all the squad and snapped up with a generous donation from the Hill family of Old Swan, all Blues fanatics. In March, 2012, Steve will return to Ghana with another 110 wheelchairs and hopes to take another consignment in 2013. It will not solve the huge problems of disability in Ghana, but two more groups of people in Ghana will be enabled and have their lives and the lives of their families transformed.

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Obituary Michael Hagerty

in 1966. Following the closure of the College in 1971, Fr Michael completed his formation at Oscott College, Birmingham. He was ordained priest on 9 December 1972 at St Illtyds, Dowlais. He served as assistant priest at St Francis Xavier, Hereford (1972- 1977) and at Penarth (1977 1979). In 1979 he was appointed parish priest at Treorchy and in 1988 he was appointed parish priest at Ebbw Vale. During his ministry at Ebbw Vale Michael suffered ill-health which required several, often lengthy, spells in hospital. He died on Tuesday 19 July 2011 at St Tydfils Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil. He will be remembered as a quiet pastor of his people. May He Rest In Peace

Fr Michael Hegarty 1948-2011

Michael was born in Merthyr Tydfil on 4th October 1948, the elder son of Bernard and Ada Hagerty. He was educated at St Illtyds Primary School, Dowlais, and Merthyr County Grammar School. He was accepted as a student for the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Cardiff and began his formation at the English College, Lisbon,

Something for You to Dig Out?

Pictures and memories associated with the College and life in Portugal in past and present times are always appreciated to make The Lisbonian more interesting to the readers. Send us your pictures and we can scan them, if of suitable quality, and return them to you if you wish. Ed

Live forever, Alma Mater, be her sons for ever blest

The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 21

Lisbonian Society
Hinsley Hall, Leeds 5/6 July 2011 Old Dogs New Tales!
Hearing aids were much in evidence but there seems to be life in the old dog yet, if attendance at this years meeting, under the presidency of Bill Wilby, was anything to go by. Twenty five gathered at Hinsley Hall, the best number achieved in recent years, and included one or two faces not seen for some long time. There was renewed discussion about venues: would more members be tempted to come if the meeting were to be held, say, in the Midlands? No one at the meeting, some of whom had come from great distances, indicated that he had any difficulty in travelling to Leeds, whose rail links are excellent even if the road conditions round the city are confusing to the stranger (one member said that he just pointed his car in the general direction and hoped for the best!). The outcome of the discussion was that our Secretary was able to announce that next years venue would again be Hinsley Hall, on 3/4 July 2012. Put the dates in your diary!

2010 Peter J Harrison Lisbonian Society Hinsley Hall July 2010

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Cash Register
Money, even if it isnt ours, is of perennial interest. Was the College building sold to the Santa Casa de Misericordia or was it given, and if sold, for how much? And what were the proceeds of the sale of the Luz Carnide property? Its perhaps understandable: the houses in the Bairro Alto, at Luz and across the river at Pra constituted our home for up to six years and our fellow collegians were our family. Then Tom Williams announced that negotiations were afoot for the sale of much of what remains of the Quinta Pra land. More astronomical numbers were juggled about, with avid speculation as to its disposal, a bit like the air of unreality in calculating how to spend the millions one isnt going to win on the lottery. More down to earth was the discussion about how to allocate the funds that CaTEW permits us to bestow on worthy causes. In the main the beneficiaries were the usual suspects, though we were reminded that it is open to any of the members to propose a cause in writing to the Secretary at least a month before the meeting.

Was the rendering of O Roma Felix and Una Voce just a trifle more uncertain this year, voices a little less melodiously in tune? No matter, the food was excellent and the conversation robust
Care for the Brethren
We need to be aware that there are brethren who are unwell. They are remembered in our Mass and generally in our prayers but perhaps we could make greater efforts to actually go and see them. We are scattered thinly across the country but it might be that within reasonable travelling distance there is someone who would appreciate a visit. And so to table. Was the rendering of O Roma Felix and Una Voce just a trifle more uncertain this year, voices a little less melodiously in tune? No matter, the food was excellent and the conversation robust, at least in terms of decibels. The toast to Alma Mater and the Society, given this year by Tony Flynn, is reproduced overleaf.

All for One and One for All!

O Roma Felix, quae duorum Principium Es consecrata gloriouso sanguine! Horum cruore purpurata ceteras Excellis orbis una pulchritudines. Sit Trinitati sempiterna gloria, Honor, potestas atque jubilatio, In unitatae, quae gubernat omnia, Per universa saeculorum saecula. Amen

The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 23

The Toast to Alma Mater and the Society 2010

by Tony Flynn
The Telephone Call!
The late afternoon phone call turned out to be from our venerable and genial Secretary. At that moment he had fewer runners for the Meeting than a redundant bookie. Would I like to do the toast? In vain did I plead that Id done it before, at least once. Our Secretary is too polite to say that they wouldnt remember. He didnt need to; after all, I taught Philosophy and little they remembered of that, to say nothing of my Portuguese lessons! Im still trying to recall who translated as cigarras contaram as the the cigarettes sing. Whoever it was couldnt even get the tense right! Its a good thing the man in the Tabacaria Rossio spoke English: its still there, by the way.

Memories
So, here I am. 56 years ago when I first hit Lisbon, a 20 escudo note would buy your 8 packets of fags, or a nights B&B in a reasonable penso. In todays money, those same fags would cost you 30-40 euros, or some 8,000 escudos, if they still existed. Fifty-six years, you might say, is not important, save in what they led to after the first 6 years. Fifty years ago, a significant event happened to me and several others and to mark that event I took a trip down memory lane, para matar as saudades. In May 61, four of the six to be ordained that year prostrated themselves before the High Altar of the College Chapel in the presence of Manuel dos Santos Rocha (aka Smiler), Archbishop of Mitylene, Vicar General to the Patriarch.

2010 Peter J Harrison Tony Flynn toasts Alma Mater 2010

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Our Alma Mater, the old College, no longer exists, but it still stands. As you come up the Cunhal de Bolas it looks no different. From the Cunhal I can still see my very first room. Daft as it seems, I couldnt go back to Lisbon without going to see that building where I enjoyed some of the happiest days of my then young life. Seeing the College somehow makes me feel, here I belong. There I had the first room of my own, learned to enjoy wine with meals (some of it, anyway, though it was never sent back!). I remember those wonderful days out and I remember people like Frank Beresford, God rest him, reading in the refectory and making Dickens and Trollope come so remarkably alive. There were daft things and people. John (Caius) Rohan, Prefect in my first year, was as daft as a brush and remained fun-loving all his life as a much loved priest in Cardiff, taken from us far too early. Les Bowden and his exploits amazed us: having been told that his services were no longer required he then captured the world record for returning to England, taking, so we believe, six months. I recall someone managing to fit Fred Robinsons head into a waste paper basket (fortunately with his head still attached to his shoulders) and Fred himself suddenly rounding off a chapel processional with The Teddy Bears Picnic. Then there was that wondrous Knox

translation of Abelards O Quanta Qualia as O What High Holiday which was just the hymn to finish Benediction at the end of the summer exams. There was Mick Williams peremptory Lights!, and the Old Man looking out of the window whilst he handed you, baton relay style, your results. Once, when I had a fistful of plenissimes (a late chance to boast!) he muttered, Dont think you know everything.

As Ever
Our College, our Alma Mater, was in Lisbon. In the words of the Scripture Professor, that was its mise en scene, its sitz in leben.

2009 Graca Lisbon tram

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Go back, if you havent been, or go back again, and roam around. Despite all the modern brash and even decadent updating, Lisbon is still the old Lisbon if you look for it. We stayed in Santos this year, near to Janelas Verdes and the French Embassy. Wandering around there was just like the old times, gems of nooks and crannies and odd little shops. It is still possible to eat well with plenty of variety and not too expensively. The pastelarias still abound, and the trams remain. The Bairro Alto has, if you will forgive the pun, been tarted up, but it is still the Bairro Alto, recognisably so. It is Alma Mater and the Society that we are to toast. The Society is a gathering of companions (socio in Portuguese means a member;

2008 Travessa dos Inglesinhos Lisbon

it is used of football fans). In the absence of a continuing college, the Society incarnates Alma Mater. This little flock here this evening, and a few more, embodies the Lisbon College spirit. Make no mistake: when we have gone, Alma Mater will be no more. She will be a footnote in history, rather like the Irish College in Lisbon which, until this year I never knew existed. The account of that College appears in the current Lisbonian magazine [Ed July 2010] and thanks to Smokey Funnell for alerting us to Patricia O Connells interesting book about that sister college. The Society has known better days, or certainly, bigger attendances. That, however, might be relative. There were far more Lisbonians in the past and Liverpool, especially, seemed to be full of them, hence the annual gathering at Bob Harveys emporium. What brought them together, and what brings you and me here this evening, is collective memory: of good times and bad, of friends, of profs who taught us, of students who suffered at our feet, of the influence of Jim Sullivan, the College year, the exams, the idiosyncratic College servants, the holidays and the memory of a Portugal and Spain, travelled as well never be able to travel them again. But over and above this collective memory, which might belong to any academy, there was something else. This was a formation, a

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forming, though I hesitate to say that we were always malleable clay in the potters hand. Somehow, however, the forming did a real makeover on us, so that we came out, hopefully, better people, some ordained, some not, more ready to serve the Lord in the best way we could. That really is why we are here tonight; because of what happened all those years ago, though in different ways, to each of us, lay and ordained, most still in the active ministry, some not. That making of us is the making of the Society, so that we, the last of the sons of Alma Mater are the Society and the Society is us. Canonically, so to speak, there may

be no Jubilarians this year, but in the real world there are, and I cant let them pass without mention. Of the ordained in 61, four have gone before us: Bill Brownbill, John Keenan, Bernard Murphy and John OConnell,Im still here, and I have it on reliable authority that Bill Power, also no longer in the active ministry, is in Dublin and sometimes in France. Of those ordained in 71, Alan OConnor is dead, God rest him, Tony Mills is still with HCPT and Jerry Coffey, no longer in the active ministry, is around somewhere.

I ask you to remember us all, Jubilarians, living and dead, as we raise our glasses to Alma Mater and the Society!

Lisbonian Football Team [L-R] Pat Murphy, Alex Fleming, Gerry Burke, Tony Flynn, Fergal Shannon, Paul Devaney, John Timmins, Jude Thurlow, Paul Sartori, Terence OBrien, Tony Fleming, Jim Finnigan, John Keenan. The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 27

BOM SUCESSO
The story of the Irish Dominican Nuns in Lisbon

by Kevin Hartley
The Convent of Nossa Senhora de Bom Sucesso at Belm was established under a grant of the Spanish King Philip IV only a year before the successful revolt of the Portuguese nobles led to the Duke of Braganza being proclaimed King as Joo IV in 1640 after sixty years of Spanish rule, and has ever since provided shelter and education for Irish and Portuguese women, and has survived numerous upheavals in the history of Portugal along the way.

Foundation
The convent owes its existence to the idealism of a Portuguese noble lady, Iria de Brito, and the visionary ambition of a Dominican priest, Daniel ODaly, known in Portugal as Frei Domingos do Rosrio, who petitioned Philip IV for authority to found a house of studies in Lisbon for Irish Dominicans later to become Corpo Santo. At the same time ODaly wanted to do something for young Irish women desirous of following the religious life. Iria de Brito, who had long entertained the idea of founding a convent, came to hear of his plan and offered him part of her estate, by the banks of the river Tagus at Belm. Her coat of arms is still displayed over the main entrance. Over the centuries the changing bed of the river and the constructions on the foreshore have altered the configuration of the area but there is a seventeenth century engraving that shows the waters lapping at the foot of the Jernimos Monastery.

Fachada Principal da Igreja do Colgio de Bom Sucesso

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Nossa Senhora de Bom Sucesso Lisbon

Diplomatic Intrigue
ODaly was used by Joo IV in diplomatic negotiations with the English King Charles I and later, in 1649, with his son Charles II, at the time in exile in Jersey. In 1650 the King sent him to Rome to negotiate with Pope Innocent X for the nomination of bishops to vacant Portuguese sees (the prerogative of the Spanish monarchy while the country had been ruled from Madrid) because, since the declaration of independence in 1640, vacant Portuguese sees had been left unfilled. On the death of Joo IV ODaly was recalled to Lisbon by the Queen Regent Dona Louise de Gusmo, to be her Principal Councillor. Now that she had episcopal nominations

in her gift she offered him various placements even Braga or Goa. Finally, in 1662 and probably in order to have funds to support the college he had founded at Corpo Santo, he accepted the see of Coimbra but died before he could take up the post. He was buried in the still unfinished Church of Corpo Santo. It is possible that ODaly had some connection with Richard Russell of the English College, another cleric Joo IV used for diplomatic missions. Richard Russells negotiations over the marriage of King Charles II to Catherine of Braganza came to fruition in the year of ODalys death. The statue of Nossa Senhora de Bom Sucesso, which has honoured

The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 29

The convent chaplain, walking one day along the beach outside the convent, came across the carving of the Infant Jesus lying on the sand and discovered that it fitted exactly into the arms of Our Lady
place in the convent chapel, was originally in the possession of Dona Iria who gave it the title of Our Lady of the Conception. Originally the statue stood alone but the addition of the infant Jesus was attached to it has an intriguing mystery. According to the story, the convent chaplain, walking one day along the beach outside the convent, came across a carving of the Infant Jesus lying on the sand and on bringing it back to the convent chapel discovered

Coat of Arms Iria de Brito

that it fitted exactly into the arms of Our Lady. The present title of the statue perhaps reflects ODalys success in obtaining permission for his project. The title: Nossa Senhora de Bom Sucesso gained some popularity at the time of the struggle for independence from Spain, precisely the time at which ODaly was pursuing his plans in Madrid. Shrines to Our Lady under that title exist mostly in the border regions, though there is a church near Setbal with that dedication, acquired in thanksgiving for preservation from destruction at the time of the Lisbon earthquake. In the opening years of the nineteenth century Portugal was racked by successive French invasions. The arrival in Lisbon of the English forces under Wellesley in 1808 had an indirect effect on the life of Bom Sucesso for Wellesley commandeered the convent of the English Brigittines (whose history we hope to publish in a future issue of the magazine) as a hospital. Some of the sisters sailed for England but the remainder found shelter at Bom Sucesso. One of them was Sister Anthony Allen Gomes, whose brother Jerome studied at the English College. Their Portuguese father Antonio was an employee of the Portuguese Embassy in London; their mother Mary Allen was English. A note in the College Register records that Jerome rescued his sister from

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a confessional in the College chapel at the time of the 1755 earthquake. It was Jerome who inspired the construction of the Observatory.

More Upheaval
Political turmoil in the 1820s fomented by the continued absence of the royal family in Brazil and the virtual occupation of the country by British troops under Marshall Beresford, led to revolution, the outcome of which was the establishment of a radical anti-clerical government intent on curbing the traditional authority of the Church. It seemed for a time that Bom Sucesso would be suppressed and, with three other Dominican houses in the area amalgamated, into one under the Law for the Reform of Religious Orders which sought to acquire much ecclesiastical property for the State. The sisters put up a lively defence, petitioning the King with little effect before appealing to the good offices of the British Ambassador, who might well have been more than a little surprised to hear of their existence. But they were, the Irish among them, British citizens, and he promised to submit his own petition to Dom Joo VI. Even this appeal failed and the sisters were obliged to leave Bom Sucesso on 23 May 1823 for the Dominican community of Rei Salvador in Lisbon. But the exile was of short duration. Less

than a week later the Infante Dom Miguel threw his weight behind a counter revolution in support of the traditionalists. By the end of June of that year the sisters, accompanied by their beloved statue of Nossa Senhora de Bom Sucesso returned in triumph.

Anti-Clerical Oppression
Coup and counter-coup continued to mark a chaotic period in Portugals history, absolutism vying with liberalism. In 1834 religious orders of men were suppressed and their property confiscated, and though houses of women were allowed to continue they were forbidden to take in new members and were heavily taxed. Bom Sucesso was not exempt from the penal legislation but when the Government-appointed Commission for General Ecclesiastical Reform demanded the handing over of the convents complete archives, together with all title deeds, thus giving control of the management of the convent to the Commission, yet another appeal was made to the British Embassy. The Ambassador declared the Convent to be under British protection and the archive was returned. Continuing tussles with civil authority led in 1835 to the community and its property being registered as British.

British Royal Visit

It was this British status that led

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in 1877 to the visit to Bom Sucesso of the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) on the occasion of his State Visit to Portugal. By this time the convent was running a school and the Prince, with ever an eye for the girls, invited the convents pupils to visit him on his yacht but they, living within the cloister, were perhaps fortunately unable to accept the offer. One wonders whether the Inglesinhos were recipients of a similar offer. College history seems silent on this point.

a demand to convert all their property into government stock. Animated correspondence passed between Dr Russell of Corpo Santo, the convent, the Embassy and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Viscount Chancelleiros. The outcome was that the Ministry backed down. The assassination of King Carlos in 1908 and the brief reign of his younger son Manuel
[Ed see The Lisbonian January 2011 pp 28-37] led to the proclamation

British Embassy Protection

The intervention of 1835 was not the only occasion on which the community of Bom Sucesso had reason to be grateful for the protection of the Embassy. In 1883 the sisters were faced with

of the Republic in 1910 amidst continued political unrest and waves of ant-clericalism, including the formal separation of Church and State and the expulsion of all religious. The Embassy came once more to the rescue, exacting assurances from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the nuns could remain, on condition that they did not wear their habits, even within the cloister and that they did not receive any Portuguese citizens as postulants.

More British Interventions

Many Lisbonians will recognise the name of Father Paul OSullivan, who at this time was Prior of Bom Sucesso. He it was who approached the British Embassy for assurances that both Corpo Santo and Bom Sucesso should be guaranteed safety as being under the protection of the British Crown. In the following year, further demands led the British Foreign Minister to declare that

Convento de Bom Sucesso cloister

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unless the safety of the persons and property of the two British houses of Corpo Santo and Bom Sucesso was guaranteed, the British Government would not recognise the fledgling Republic. The British Ambassador visited the convent and reassured the sisters that they were free to wear whatever costume they pleased within their own house. There is a nice sense of irony that the Irish Dominicans who had sought refuge in Portugal from persecution by the English in Reformation times should be seeking and receiving the protection of their erstwhile oppressors!

of the following year, after a failed right-wing attempt to overthrow the increasing power of the Communist party, elections were held, exactly one year after the so-called Flower Revolution had overthrown the government of Marcelo Caetano. The elections did not bring immediate stability: between 1976 and 1979 there were six Constitutional Governments. It was not until 1981 that what might be considered normal parliamentary democracy established itself in Portugal.

Revolutionary Spirit
This period of turmoil had its inevitable effect on the life of Bom Sucesso. Revolution was in the air: in school, student councils sat in judgement on their teachers and the lay staff joined syndicates and held meetings from which the nuns were excluded. Pupil numbers fell as parents who had fallen foul of the current regime fled into voluntary exile or were imprisoned. Cleaners and supervisors were imbued with revolutionary spirit and those who left were not replaced, so that sisters and remaining pupils had to take on cleaning duties, prepare school dinners and supervise the recreation periods. The Ministry of Education imposed a curriculum that replaced the study of history with Political Science which at Bom Sucesso was taught by a

Years of Revolution
The years of political chaos and revolution came to an end with the emergence of Antonio Oliveira Salazar under the Presidency of General Carmona, initially as Minister of Finance and eventually, in 1932, as Prime Minister. The era of stability was at the cost of sustained suppression of any voice of opposition to the Estado Novo over which Salazar was to dominate until 1968. The next critical era for Bom Sucesso began with the 25 April 1974 Revolution. What started as an army revolt against the continuation of colonial rule soon led to the formation of political parties and the rise and fall of various attempts at forming viable governments. In March

The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 33

former pupil with Communist tendencies.

Financial Strain
Reduced numbers also meant reduced fees and serious financial difficulties, especially as a new educational venture, St Dominics International School, had begun construction just before the Revolution. At one point the local Peoples Commission wanted to take over the building (it may be remembered that the Peoples Commission in the Freguesia de Sta Catarina had similar intentions for the English College at one time).

The Accident of Education

Although Lisbonians most probably associate the convent of Bom Sucesso with education, the creation of a school seems to have

come about rather accidentally. Well-to-do parents used convents as finishing schools for their daughters prior to marriage and Bom Sucesso was no exception. It would have been particularly popular with Irish families who had settled in Portugal. However, it was not until 1829 that the idea of running a proper school took off. Jeremiah Meagher, the vice-consul at the British Embassy (who had been helpful in 1823 when the convent had been faced with closure) had been appointed guardian of an orphaned Irish baby girl, Marianna Russell Kennedy. He and his fellow guardian appealed to the sisters to look after the child who was to display considerable talent (at the age of thirteen she painted an excellent portrait of Sister Teresa Staunton, the nun principally charged with her education). She was reputed to be proficient in English, Irish, French, Portuguese and Italian, and in later years told her own daughters that she could not remember when she had begun to learn music. It was decided that Marianne should have companions to share her upbringing so she became, effectively, the first pupil of the O Colgio de Bom Sucesso. In 1860, as a result of the reorganisation, the convent became part of the Irish Dominican Province, and with fresh arrivals from the Convent of Cabra, the educational programme became

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more systematic. Up to that time all the girls who were admitted had been boarders, in effect, within the cloister (there was even a grille in the pupils reception room and it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that the girls were allowed out to go to the cinema), but in the following year Bom Sucesso received permission from Rome for two of the sisters to go out of the enclosure to run a day school in Belm for the education of local poor children of the locality. One of the nuns, who had come from Cabra, had been trained in the teaching of deaf children, a skill she was now able to put to use in Belm. The protection of the British Embassy was invoked again in the 1870s as the Secretary of State for Ecclesiastical Affairs, with the backing of the Patriarch, made attempts to inspect the standard of education being provided. It is some indication of the extent of British influence that when the convent replied, on the advice of the Embassy, that they were subject to the Patriarch only in matters spiritual and that the privacy of the convent was secured by treaty between Great Britain and Portugal, the authorities retreated. Instead, they agreed to accept statements as to the number of pupils and the subjects taken. The lists provided show that in 1876 there were seventy pupils and the range of education

provided included modern languages Portuguese, English, French, German and Italian Art, Music, Sewing and Embroidery, all the requirements for a well brought-up young lady. One curious detail is provided by the information that, as punishment for serious offences, the culprit was made to wear her dress inside-out!

Modern Times
Today O Colegio de Bom Sucesso is a highly successful secondary school [Ed: readers may refer to their Website] with over six hundred pupils, girls and boys, from preschool to sixteen, following the State Education system (no more haughty refusal to allow in inspectors!). Nursery provision is offered in A Casinha de Nossa Senhora for children of mothers at work, with preference for the most needy. St Dominics International School in Oeiras has over six hundred pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 and follows the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate. The most recent venture is the outreach in Zambujal, one of the poorest areas of Lisbon, where in 1993 two sisters began working on educational projects with deprived people.
[Ed For a fuller account of the fortunes of the convent of Bom Sucesso. Refer to A Light Undimmed, 2007, Honor McCabe OP, Dominican Publications]

The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 35

David Gonalves Magalhes

Comprador do Colegio dos Inglesinhos

by Tony Flynn
A Welcome
David recently welcomed Tony and Susan Flynn to his home in Pra de Cima and over the course of a delicious lunch, which included strawberries from the amazingly productive garden he lovingly tends, he told them something of his life-story. David was born in Canedo in the Freguesia of Ribeiro de Pena in Trsos-Montes on 6 July 1930 and he had the ordinary normal schooling until the age of 14-15 when he began working in the fields. He came to Lisbon in February or March 1948, looking for work and stayed with a friend in Rua Atalaia in the Bairro Alto. After two or three days he discovered there was work in the College as a kitchen assistant. After a time he also became the Sacristo. About 18 months later, when he was 20, he became Comprador, a job he was to hold for the rest of his time at the College. He saw Procurators come and go and has happy memories of Padre Bento (Benny Ruscillo), Vice President Kingseller and Padre Guazz. At that time Victor used to go to the Quinta every weekend to supervise the caseiro and his men to provide food and wine for the College. As Comprador David worked with the Procurator on a wide range of duties: he was responsible for placing orders for the Colleges needs,everything from buying hosts and communion wine to purchasing potatoes! He paid invoices and bills, and helped arrange for maintenance workers, acting as go-between for the President and the mestre de obras. Shortage of money, a familiar story in the annals of the Colegio dos Inglesinhos, meant that he was always working hard to get goods at the right price. David doesnt recall having any

2011 Tony Flynn David Gonalves Magalhes Comprador do Colegio dos Inglesinhos, Lisboa

36 | The Lisbonian magazine January 2012

problems with either the students he must have been very tolerant about our fumbling efforts with the Portuguese language or staff. He remembers Colin Doyle as a more efficient administrator than Guazz, which might have been partly due to Colins family background of Turf Accountants and his long-term work as Procurator. He stayed on after the College closed, care-taking the place, responsible for maintenance and paying any employees still in the College until it was transferred to the Santa Casa de Misericordia. The remaining staff were supposed to be transferred to the Santa Casa but David doesnt consider they were properly treated it was a matter of concern for him that they received no pension. These were times when the country was in turmoil but David had no problems personally during the revolution though he was aware that Jim had anxieties about the future of the buildings. He bought the last College car for 2.50 escudos! Jim and Guazz arranged for him to have the Pra de Cima cottage at the Quinta with its small-holding, rent-free for life. He used to go over to Pra to renovate the building which was then in a bad state and tended to the land there. David has had occasional visits from former students, amongst them Tony himself, Kevin Hartley, Paul Devaney, Peter Chappell, Bill Wilby, and there have been others.

He still values the memory of Victor Guazzelli, who always made a point of visiting him when he was in Lisbon. But there have been no official visitors in recent years! If you happen to be visiting Lisbon, you might make an effort to go and see him.

Other Changes
There have been enormous changes in the country and in the locality over the years. Caparica is no longer the sleepy little seaside village it used to be, the A2 Motorway cuts through part of what used to be the Quinta land and highrise apartments loom on all sides. People dont have the traditional respect for others, he says. Lisbon is not the Lisbon that we knew years ago! David still has some family in Trasos-Montes and also in Estoril but he seldom sees them. He is sad to see the changes to the College which was his home for thirty years and more and still holds such an important place in his memories as it is turned into apartments, with graffiti all over the walls. A current plan to sell remaining College land at the Quinta de Pra would affect Davids cottage and garden, promised to him for his life time in the days of Victor Guazzelli and the bishops have advised him that no action will be taken that would compromise this arrangement.

The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 37

Reflections
New Words to Cope With! Gone Down Well!
It was recently reported in the Catholic Press that Bishop Roche told the Pope that the new translation of the Mass had gone down well in the parishes. How he would know that is anybodys guess. An old friend died recently and we decided that the old translation would suit the bill for the funeral Mass. John was a very loyal Catholic but not afraid to be critical in a civilised way when he thought that things werent going too well. A bit like the curates egg, the new is good in parts, but sometimes its definitely clumsy and in one or two places just doesnt seem to make sense. Didnt Saint Jerome, who probably knew a thing or two about going from one language to another, say, You dont translate the words, you translate the sense? Feeling more rebellious than usual, I said to my bishop when he came on visitation, How would you using the Vatican requirement - translate, Its raining cats and dogs into Latin? Feles et canes pluit? Im sure that would make a lot of sense to Cicero. I havent had the letter exiling me to the farthest corner of the diocese yet but he wasnt all that amused. I know we dont go for much putting new wine into our old skins but if we are going to have to drink the new stuff, we ought to be offered the best. Why didnt they ask Samus Heaney to do the translation, you might ask? One of my parishioners remarked a bit grumpily, Theyve foisted this so-called translation on us so that when they bring back the Latin it wont seem so bad. I reckon that Bishop Roche could get away with saying what he did to the Pope because the laity, God bless them, are so used to taking anything thats served up. Its not apathy because they say plenty, usually behind our backs. A couple of old dears on my Communion list said to me that they would rather stick to what they knew than have to learn something new at their age. Cant say I blame them: Im getting a bit that way myself! Some things really bother me. One was the lost opportunity of getting rid of for us men for propter nos homines which ought to be translated in idiomatic English as for us. The bishops, in their

How would you using the Vatican requirement - translate, Its raining cats and dogs into Latin? Feles et canes pluit?

38 | The Lisbonian magazine January 2012

attempt to make the best of a bad job, talked about getting closer to scriptural origins. So why are we expected to use the word chalice when the Synoptic Gospels and Saint Paul all use the word cup in describing the events of the Last Supper? And instead of having to explain that many in the words of consecration means all, for goodness sake why dont we just say all? I wont go on. The Lord be with us all and with our spirits!

Letters to the Editor

Continued from page 5 From Kate Brown (Santa Maria Education Fund)

A New Year A New Start!

Let there be respect for the earth, peace for its people, love in our lives, delight in the good, forgiveness for past wrongs, and from now on a new start. [Churches Together in England The Millennium Resolution]

I am writing to you on behalf of Margaret Hebblethwaite and all those who work for and benefit from the Santa Maria Education Fund, to thank you for the generous donation in August of 250. The economic situation doesnt seem to be easing at all, and we are very conscious of making sure that your donations are used in as efficient a way as possible. W have also been blessed with some astonishingly competent and generous volunteers. This means that all the money donated goes straight to those who need it most, the poor students of Santa Maria and its district. Things are changing there for the better and it is your contributions that make the difference. With all very best wishes, Kate Brown
www.santamariadefe.org info@santamariade fe.org

Contributions to Ref lections are invited, on condition of strict anonymity, from any member of the Society. The subject is entirely at the choice of the contributor and should be of approximately 500 words in length. The views of the

From: Tom Keane

contributor do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of The Lisbonian. Ed

A Christmas menu from yesteryear. Do you remember such spreads? Canja soup, fillets of fish and watercress, roast turkey, sausages, ham, tongue, lettuce, beetroot, tomatoes, onions, radishes and pickles. Christmas pudding, mince pies. Cheese and coffee, fruits and nuts Port to follow!

The Lisbonian magazine January 2012 | 39

English College Lisbon

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