Regina Pacis Academy’s opening Mass of the academic year will be in honour of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, at 9:00 a.m. at Saint Mary’s Church, Norwalk, Connecticut. Everyone is welcome to attend.
It is written for soprano and tenor. Also called “Marietta’s Lied”, or, the “Lute Song”, it appears in Act 1, Scene 5.
In performances as a Concert Aria, the Soprano will sing both parts.
The “Dead City” in the Opera’s title is Bruges, Belgium, identified in the Opera with Marie, the dead wife of Paul.
At the start of Act 1, Paul confides in a friend the extraordinary news that he has seen Marie, or her double, in the Town, and that he has invited her to the house.
She arrives, and Paul addresses her as Marie, but she corrects him: She is Marietta, a dancer from Lille.
He is enchanted by her, especially when she accepts his request for a song,
“Glück, das mir verblieb”. The words tell of the joy of love, but there is a sadness in it, also, because its theme is the transitoriness of life.
Their voices combine in the verse which extols the power of love to remain constant in a fleeting world.[1]
Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia, unless stated otherwise.
John Talbot, the first Earl, was succeeded by his son John, the second Earl, who had already succeeded as seventh Baron Furnivall on his mother’s death in 1433.
On his death, the titles passed to his son, the sixth Earl. Lord Shrewsbury was entrusted with the custody of Mary, Queen of Scots, and also served as Earl Marshal from 1572 to 1590. He married as his second wife the famous Bess of Hardwick.
He was succeeded in the Earldoms by his younger brother, the eighth Earl. He was Member of Parliament for Northumberland. He did not have a male heir, either, and was succeeded by his distant relative, the ninth Earl.
He was the great-great-grandson of Sir Gilbert Talbot (died 1518), third son of the second Earl of Shrewsbury. The family bought Barlow Woodseats Hall in 1593 as part of the estate.
On 23 August 2022, the Thai newspaper “Thai Post” reported that the Ministry of Culture had officially approved three Catholic Churches. No new Catholic Church had been recognised since 1929.
Itthiphol Khunpluem, Minister of Culture, stressed that the recognition of Churches was a measure to address the need for Religious harmony. “This certification of The Catholic Church is seen as a way to promote and encourage Religions in Thailand, in order to bring them into line with the current situation.”
The Minister also added that this measure aims to encourage people to have a place for their Religious activities and to “receive education and inculcate correct morals according to Religious principles.”
The Ministry of Culture has approved:
Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, Bangkok;
Saint Monica Church, Nan Province;
Saint Joseph Artisan Church, Phrae Province.
The Kingdom of Thailand had only recognised fifty-seven Catholic Churches until 1929. With these latest approvals, the number has risen to sixty.
In 2019, according to statistics, Thailand had about 388,000 Catholics, about ½ of one per cent of the sixty-nine million people of this predominantly Buddhist nation.
In 2021, the Thai Council of Ministers passed a formal Law to allow approval of places of Worship.
The decree states that a new Parish can only be established if it has a permanent resident Priest and a minimum of 200 Parishioners who can support the Parish.
In exceptional circumstances, a Diocese may request a waiver of these criteria requiring a resident Priest and a minimum number of Parishioners.
The provisions of the Law state that the list of Parishes, thus established, will be published annually by the Department of Religions and that they will have up to two years to apply for approval.
The Social Communication Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Thailand welcomed the new decree in 2021, saying the recognition meets the need of “the current situation and provides greater security and guarantees for the future” of The Catholic Church in the Country.
After her body had been embalmed, which, in the 13th-Century, involved evisceration, Eleanor’s viscera were buried in Lincoln Cathedral and Edward placed a duplicate of the Westminster Abbey tomb there.
The Lincoln tomb’s original Stone Chest survives; its effigy was destroyed in the 17th-Century and replaced with a 19th-Century copy.
On the outside of Lincoln Cathedral are two prominent statues often identified as Edward and Eleanor, but these images were heavily restored in the 19th-Century and they were probably not originally intended to depict the couple.[18]
Between 1307 and 1311, the Central Tower was raised to its present height of 271 feet (eighty-three metres). The Western Towers and the front of the Cathedral were also improved and heightened.
At this time, a tall, Lead-encased, Wooden Spire topped the Central Tower, but was blown down in a storm in 1548.
Around 1380, the Western Towers were raised to their current height.[19] They were capped with Wooden Spires covered with Lead in 1420, but, by 1807, they were dismantled.[20]
With its Spire, the Tower reputedly reached a height of 525 feet (160 metres), which would have made it the World’s tallest structure, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza, which held the record for almost 4,000 years. Although still doubted,[2] this is the height agreed upon by the majority of historians.[21][22][23]
Other additions to the Cathedral at this time included its elaborate Carved Screen and the 14th-Century Misericords, as was the Angel Choir.
For a large part of the length of the Cathedral, the walls have Arches, in relief, with a second layer in front, to give the illusion of a passageway along the wall. However the illusion does not work, as the Stonemason, copying techniques from France, did not make the Arches the correct length needed for the illusion to be effective.
In the 15th-Century, the building of the Cathedral turned to Chantry or Memorial Chapels. The Chapels next to the Angel Choir were built in the Perpendicular Style, with an emphasis on strong vertical lines, which survive today in the Window Tracery and Wall Panelling.
Lincoln Cathedral. The South-East entrance, known as
Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln, was one of the signatories to Magna Carta, and, for hundreds of years, the Cathedral held one of the four remaining copies of the original, now securely displayed in Lincoln Castle.[24]
The Lincoln Magna Carta was on display at the British Pavilion during the 1939 New York World's Fair.[25] In March 1941, the Foreign Office proposed that the Lincoln Magna Carta be gifted to the United States, citing the “many thousands of Americans who waited in long queues to view it” and the United States’ passage of the Lend-Lease Act, among other reasons.[25]
In August 1255, the body of an eight-year-old boy was found in a Well in Lincoln. He had been missing for nearly a month. This incident became the source of a “blood libel” in the City, with Jews accused of his abduction, torture, and murder.
Many Jews were arrested and eighteen were hanged. The boy became known as Little Saint Hugh, to distinguish him from Saint Hugh of Lincoln, but he was never Canonised.
The Cathedral benefited from these events because Little Saint Hugh was seen as a Martyr, and many devotees came to the City and Cathedral to Venerate him. Geoffrey Chaucer mentions the case in “The Prioress's Tale” and a ballad was written about it in 1783.
In 1955, a plaque was placed near “ the remains of the Shrine of “Little Saint Hugh” ” in the Cathedral, that decries the “trumped up stories of “ritual murders” of Christian boys by Jewish communities.”
SAINT MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, CROWN LANE, CHISLEHURST, KENT.
ANNIVERSARY OF CONSECRATION.
SUNDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2012.
1100 HRS.
SOLEMN PONTIFICAL MASS
AND SOLEMN VESPERS AND BENEDICTION.
CELEBRANT:
THE MOST REVEREND
KEVIN McDONALD.
TRUMPET MINUET – HOLLINS.
ECCE SACERDOS MAGNUS – ELGAR.
CHRIST IS MADE THE SURE FOUNDATION – PURCELL/HAWKINS.
MASS IN C “CREDO MASS” – MOZART.
LAUDATE DOMINUM – MOZART.
PANIS ANGELICUS – FRANCK.
HOLY LIGHT ON EARTH’S HORIZON – CASWELL.
FINALE FROM ORGAN SONATA NO 1 – MENDELSSOHN.
1700 HRS.
SOLEMN VESPERS
AND
BENEDICTION.
PSALMS – PLAINCHANT - GUERRERO.
MAGNIFICAT – PALESTRINA.
O SALUTARIS – ELGAR.
AVE VERUM – BYRD.
TANTUM ERG0 – VIERNE.
SALVE REGINA – PLAINCHANT.
FANFARE - LEMMENS.
Copilot states:
23 April 1943 — that’s the Consecration Date of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Chislehurst, by Archbishop Peter Amigo.
The Church was originally opened in 1854, but, like many Victorian Catholic Churches, it wasn’t Consecrated until all debts were cleared, which finally happened during Archbishop Peter Amigo’s tenure in 1943.
Origins and Foundation (1853–1854).
Founder: Captain Henry Bowden, Scots Guards Officer and Catholic convert.
He hosted Mass in his home, Tudor Hall, before donating the land opposite for a permanent Church.
Foundation Stone laid: 8 December 1853 by Bishop Thomas Grant of Southwark.
Opening: 8 August 1854, after just nine months of construction.
Architect: William Wilkinson Wardell, a protégé and friend of A. W. N. Pugin.
Wardell later emigrated to Australia, where he designed major Churches including Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.
St Mary’s Church, Chislehurst, is now Grade II Listed (designated 29 June 1973).
The Bonaparte Connection (1871–1888).
This is one of the most remarkable aspects of Saint Mary’s history.
The Exiled Imperial Family in Chislehurst.
In 1871, Napoleon III, Empress Eugénie, and the Prince Imperial, settled at Camden Place, Chislehurst, near Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, where they attended Mass on Sundays and Feast Days.
After Napoleon III’s death on 9 January 1873, he was buried in Saint Mary’s Church, six days later.
In 1879, his son, Louis-Napoléon (the Prince Imperial), killed in the Anglo-Zulu War, South Africa, while an Officer in The British Army, was also buried here.
The Clutton Chapel (1874).
To house the Imperial Tomb of Emperor Napoleon III, a new Chapel was added in 1874.
Architect: Henry Clutton, a leading Catholic architect of the period.
This Chapel stood as a temporary Imperial Mausoleum until 1888, when both tombs (Emperor Napoleon III and the Prince Imperial) were transferred to Saint Michæl’s Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire, where Empress Eugénie was also buried later on.
Graveyard and Notable Burials.
Graveyard opened 1864.
Includes the grave of Dr. Charles West, Founder of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Includes the grave of Michæl Treharne Davies, Catholic Author.
Address: 28 Crown Lane, Chislehurst BR7 5PL.
A comparison with other Southwark Gothic Revival Churches.
Here are the key Gothic Revival Catholic Churches in the Archdiocese of Southwark, starting with the most architecturally significant.
These are all grounded in the same 19th‑Century Gothic Revival Style that produced Saint Mary’s, Chislehurst — though each expresses the Style differently.
Saint George’s Cathedral, Southwark (1848). Architect: A. W. N. Pugin — the leading figure of the Gothic Revival. Style: Early, Strict, Puginian Gothic. Status: Cathedral of the Archdiocese. Consecrated: 1894. Notes: Considered the most important Catholic Church in England when built; heavily bomb‑damaged in World War II and restored.
Saint Peter’s, Woolwich (1843–1844).
Architect: A. W. N. Pugin. Style: Early-English Gothic Revival. Notes: One of Pugin’s purest Parish Churches; retains much of its original character.
Saint John the Baptist, Brighton (1835–1840). Architect: A. W. N. Pugin (major enlargement 1840–1841). Style: Decorated Gothic. Notes: A landmark of early Catholic emancipation; richly furnished in Pugin’s idiom.
Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Fulham (1848–1849). Architect: A. W. N. Pugin. Style: Early-English Gothic. Notes: A compact but textbook example of Pugin’s Parish Church model.
Saint Mary Magdalen, Mortlake (1852).
Architect: William Wardell — the same architect as St Mary’s, Chislehurst. Style: Early-English Gothic Revival. Notes: Shares the same disciplined, Pugin‑influenced vocabulary as Chislehurst.
Saint Francis de Sales, Hartley (1850s).
Architect: Edward Welby Pugin. Style: Mid‑Victorian Gothic Revival. Notes: A rural example with strong Pugin family influence.
Saint Joseph’s, Guildford (1860s–1870s).
Architect: Edward Welby Pugin. Style: High-Victorian Gothic. Notes: More elaborate than earlier Pugin works, with richer Tracery and vertical emphasis.
Saint Mary’s, Clapham (1851).
Architect: William Wardell. Style: Early-English Gothic Revival. Notes: Another Wardell Church, showing his characteristic restraint and clarity.
How these relate to Saint Mary’s, Chislehurst.
Saint Mary’s (1853–1854) sits in the second generation of Southwark Gothic Revival Churches: Wardell was a direct disciple of Pugin, so Chislehurst shares the same disciplined, Liturgically‑driven Gothic.
The Clutton Chapel (1874) adds a later, more refined, Victorian Gothic layer.
The Church fits stylistically between the early Pugin Parish Churches (Woolwich, Fulham) and the later, more elaborate, E. W. Pugin Churches (Guildford).
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