THE P RTAL
March 2017 Page 23
Where we ought to be
Mgr Robert Mercer CR celebrates history and art
Christopher Berry-Dee is a criminologist who has interviewed , written books and produced TV programmes about various murderers in the USA and the UK . He is a naval artist who paints pictures of war ships and battles at sea .
He is descended from Dr John Dee , astrologer and general guru at the court of Queen Elizabeth I . Currently he ’ s embarked on what for him is a new venture ; he ’ s painting a reredos behind an altar in St Agatha ’ s , Portsmouth . Its theme is “ The Hermeneutic of Continuity ”.
Hermeneutic means “ a way of interpreting ” or “ a method of understanding ”. It ’ s a word that Pope Benedict uses . There are no breaks in God ’ s grace . It is continuous from eternity to eternity . After his
St Agatha ’ s , Portsmouth conversion , therefore , St Paul does not say , “ I now despise my Jewish patrimony ”. Instead he writes , “ The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ ” ( Galatians 3,24 ).
In a comparable way , the Ordinariate does not despise our Anglican patrimony . We give thanks for those forebears whose prayers and strivings have helped prepare the way for full and visible unity with the first Bishop of Christendom .
Pope Benedict could , in 2007 , quote C S Lewis with approval . Cardinal Newman wrote to a fellow convert in 1860 , “ Catholics did not make us Catholic ; Oxford made us Catholic ”. Aidan Nichols OP wrote in 2008 , “ Anglo Catholics are as to doctrine , worship and devotion , a displaced part of Catholic Christendom ”.
Chris Dee ’ s reredos celebrates not only our rapprochement with Rome but also those Anglican ancestors who helped bring us here . The reredos shows our Lady presenting Anglicanorum Coetibus to a kneeling Pope Benedict who wears a cope belonging to St Agatha ’ s . Close to him are the arms of the Ordinariate . On the Virgin ’ s right stands St Agatha pointing to her church in Portsmouth . On the distant horizon behind the two saints can be seen Mount Etna with its volcano gently smoking .
glory and cherubim . In among the clouds are anonymous people who represent those who down the centuries have longed for Christian unity . Among the anonymous appear four familiar faces . Archbishop William Laud of Canterbury and King Charles I represent the Caroline divines . Cardinal Newman represents the Oxford Movement . Archbishop John Hepworth represents the Traditional Anglican Communion to which St Agatha ’ s belonged for a short time . In the two side panels of the reredos are the four C of E vicars of St Agatha ’ s , Fathers Linklater , Dolling , Tremenheere and Coles , men known to have favoured reconciliation . The most famous of them was Robert Dolling who wrote of his experiences in a book , “ Ten Years in a Portsmouth Slum ”.
The vicars are partially obscured by cloud to indicate that they are praying for us on a distant shore . In front of the reredos stands an altar of painted wood which Fr John Maunder rescued from an antique shop where it was being sold as a sideboard . It has been skilfully restored . Its colours tone with those of the reredos . Its origin is uncertain , possibly Italy or Bavaria . Two current practices at St Agatha ’ s have their genesis in its Anglican past . Fr Dolling left the parish because of an altercation with the bishop about requiems for the departed . A portion of Fr Dolling ’ s All Souls altar has been recovered and is now on free Fridays the place for a weekly requiem .
Fr Coles was vicar from 1911-1954 . In extreme old age he could no longer read the altar book , but he could remember the collect , epistle and gospel for the Saturday mass of our Lady , which he said from memory in a church slightly damaged by Hitler ’ s bombs . The Lady chapel is now on free Saturdays the place for a weekly mass of our Lady . “ God is working His purpose out as year succeeds to year ”. 2
1
Sicily is Agatha ’ s native island . There are clouds of
1 quote from ‘ Simple Gifts ’
2 quote from English Hymnal 548