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- Strictly for Adults Novels >
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Tales from Portlaw
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- No Need to Look for Love
- 'The Love Quartet' >
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The Priest's Calling Card
>
- Chapter One - The Irish Custom
- Chapter Two - Patrick Duffy's Family Background
- Chapter Three - Patrick Duffy Junior's Vocation to Priesthood
- Chapter Four - The first years of the priesthood
- Chapter Five - Father Patrick Duffy in Seattle
- Chapter Six - Father Patrick Duffy, Portlaw Priest
- Chapter Seven - Patrick Duffy Priest Power
- Chapter Eight - Patrick Duffy Groundless Gossip
- Chapter Nine - Monsignor Duffy of Portlaw
- Chapter Ten - The Portlaw Inheritance of Patrick Duffy
- Bigger and Better >
- The Oldest Woman in the World >
-
Sean and Sarah
>
- Chapter 1 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- Chapter 2 - 'The early years of sweet innocence in Portlaw'
- Chapter 3 - 'The Separation'
- Chapter 4 - 'Separation and Betrayal'
- Chapter 5 - 'Portlaw to Manchester'
- Chapter 6 - 'Salford Choices'
- Chapter 7 - 'Life inside Prison'
- Chapter 8 - 'The Aylesbury Pilgrimage'
- Chapter 9 - Sean's interest in stone masonary'
- Chapter 10 - 'Sean's and Tony's Partnership'
- Chapter 11 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- The Alternative Christmas Party >
-
The Life of Liam Lafferty
>
- Chapter One: ' Liam Lafferty is born'
- Chapter Two : 'The Baptism of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Three: 'The early years of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Four : Early Manhood
- Chapter Five : Ned's Secret Past
- Chapter Six : Courtship and Marriage
- Chapter Seven : Liam and Trish marry
- Chapter Eight : Farley meets Ned
- Chapter Nine : 'Ned comes clean to Farley'
- Chapter Ten : Tragedy hits the family
- Chapter Eleven : The future is brighter
-
The life and times of Joe Walsh
>
- Chapter One : 'The marriage of Margaret Mawd and Thomas Walsh’
- Chapter Two 'The birth of Joe Walsh'
- Chapter Three 'Marriage breakup and betrayal'
- Chapter Four: ' The Walsh family breakup'
- Chapter Five : ' Liverpool Lodgings'
- Chapter Six: ' Settled times are established and tested'
- Chapter Seven : 'Haworth is heaven is a place on earth'
- Chapter Eight: 'Coming out'
- Chapter Nine: Portlaw revenge
- Chapter Ten: ' The murder trial of Paddy Groggy'
- Chapter Eleven: 'New beginnings'
-
The Woman Who Hated Christmas
>
- Chapter One: 'The Christmas Enigma'
- Chapter Two: ' The Breakup of Beth's Family''
- Chapter Three: From Teenager to Adulthood.'
- Chapter Four: 'The Mills of West Yorkshire.'
- Chapter Five: 'Harrison Garner Showdown.'
- Chapter Six : 'The Christmas Dance'
- Chapter Seven : 'The ballot for Shop Steward.'
- Chapter Eight: ' Leaving the Mill'
- Chapter Ten: ' Beth buries her Ghosts'
- Chapter Eleven: Beth and Dermot start off married life in Galway.
- Chapter Twelve: The Twin Tragedy of Christmas, 1992.'
- Chapter Thirteen: 'The Christmas star returns'
- Chapter Fourteen: ' Beth's future in Portlaw'
-
The Last Dance
>
- Chapter One - ‘Nancy Swales becomes the Widow Swales’
- Chapter Two ‘The secret night life of Widow Swales’
- Chapter Three ‘Meeting Richard again’
- Chapter Four ‘Clancy’s Ballroom: March 1961’
- Chapter Five ‘The All Ireland Dancing Rounds’
- Chapter Six ‘James Mountford’
- Chapter Seven ‘The All Ireland Ballroom Latin American Dance Final.’
- Chapter Eight ‘The Final Arrives’
- Chapter Nine: 'Beth in Manchester.'
- 'Two Sisters' >
- Fourteen Days >
-
‘The Postman Always Knocks Twice’
>
- Author's Foreword
- Contents
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
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Celebrity Contacts
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Thoughts and Musings
- Bereavement >
- Nature >
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Bill's Personal Development
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- What I'd like to be remembered for
- Second Chances
- Roots
- Holidays of Old
- Memorable Moments of Mine
- Cleckheaton Consecration
- Canadian Loves
- Mum's Wisdom
- 'Early life at my Grandparents'
- Family Holidays
- 'Mother /Child Bond'
- Childhood Pain
- The Death of Lady
- 'Soldiering On'
- 'Romantic Holidays'
- 'On the roof'
- Always wear clean shoes
- 'Family Tree'
- The importance of poise
- 'Growing up with grandparents'
- Love & Romance >
- Christian Thoughts, Acts and Words >
- My Wedding
- My Funeral
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Chapter Two
'The Honorary Secretary'
In August, 2012, Magnus Furguson turned sixty one years of age. He was a studious-looking man of distinguished features and was the Secretary of 'St, Michael's Catholic Church'. He'd been born the eldest of seven children to a staunch Catholic family who lived at 14 William Street. His birthday was August 19th, 1951. Because his parents intended to follow the good old Catholic tradition and baptise any children they had with the names of Saints, the proud father, Dooly Ferguson consulted the parish priest prior to baptising his first born.
Father Dermot Rossy had been the parish priest in Portlaw for fourteen years. The Rossys had always lived in and around Portlaw and had been heavily involved with 'St. Michael's Catholic Church' for many years. Indeed, the priest's uncle, Fergus Rossy had been the parish priest of Portlaw twenty-seven years earlier and it was even rumoured that Father Dermot Rossy's nephew had recently joined the priesthood and one of his sisters had entered a convent. Whatever the year, there was always a Rossy entering religious Orders.
Father Dermot Rossy had proved an immediate success with the Portlaw parishioners, especially those females who frequented the cinema house regularly. He could easily have passed as the twin brother to the American film star, Martin Sheen, and when asked if he was related to the film star, he always answered, "Now then, you could say I was.......and then again you could say I wasn't. You see, we're all related if you believe your bible, aren't we?"
Father Dermot Rossy had proved an immediate success with the Portlaw parishioners, especially those females who frequented the cinema house regularly. He could easily have passed as the twin brother to the American film star, Martin Sheen, and when asked if he was related to the film star, he always answered, "Now then, you could say I was.......and then again you could say I wasn't. You see, we're all related if you believe your bible, aren't we?"
"Tell me Father Rossy," Dooly Ferguson asked when he sought out the priest for some baptismal advice, "Is there a saint whose Feast Day is on my son's birthday, the 19th August?"
Smilingly, Father Rossy replied, "What a silly question to ask me, Dooly. Don't you know that you can spit at any church calendar and whatever day your spittle lands on will be some saint's Feast Day!"
"A Catholic saint, Father Rossy?" Dooly asked the priest; "I'm not interested in Protestant ones!"
"And don't you know that all saints are Catholic, you heathen...........otherwise they wouldn't be saints now, would they?" the priest replied indignantly.
As Dooly waited patiently for the response of his parish priest, Father Dermot Rossy looked.
Smilingly, Father Rossy replied, "What a silly question to ask me, Dooly. Don't you know that you can spit at any church calendar and whatever day your spittle lands on will be some saint's Feast Day!"
"A Catholic saint, Father Rossy?" Dooly asked the priest; "I'm not interested in Protestant ones!"
"And don't you know that all saints are Catholic, you heathen...........otherwise they wouldn't be saints now, would they?" the priest replied indignantly.
As Dooly waited patiently for the response of his parish priest, Father Dermot Rossy looked.
"Now let me see....August 19th. That will be the Feast Day of Saint Magnus of Avignon. He started his religious life as a monk. He was an excellent administrator and became both Governor and the Bishop of Avignon. He died in 660. In fact, not only did he become a saint, but he was also blessed by being the father of Saint Agricola of Avignon. Saint Magnus of Avignon is the saint who was born on the same day and month of the year as your son. He is the patron saint of fishmongers, Dooly."
"How appropriate!" remarked Dooly. 'My dear father was a fishmonger before he died and his father and grandfather worked on the fishing boats! That's it then. Father Rossy. Magnus it is! Now when can can we get the boy baptised? He's already a good week old!"
So Dooly Ferguson's son was baptised 'Magnus' and being the first-born to his parents' union, great things were expected of him. Throughout his childhood development, Magnus' parents pushed the boy's administrative talents at every opportunity.
So Dooly Ferguson's son was baptised 'Magnus' and being the first-born to his parents' union, great things were expected of him. Throughout his childhood development, Magnus' parents pushed the boy's administrative talents at every opportunity.
While at school, the secretarial qualities of Magnus were quickly recognised and he became the secretary to a number of school-club activities. When he left school, he initially worked in his Uncle John's shop as a fishmonger in County Waterford. He was a handsome and strapping young man whose physique was ideal for the carrying and humping of heavy crates filled to the brim with that morning's fish which had been purchased at the docks and transported, gutted and displayed in his uncle's shop window an hour before the rest of Waterford had risen from their beds. For the first month, his uncle, whose business had been established for over thirty years, made full use of his nephew's strong physique and had Magnus serving customers and carrying crates of fish to and fro when any lifting was required. However, once he discovered his nephew's natural talents for organisation and administration, he started to appreciate his nephew's brain power as much as the might of his muscle. Before long, Magnus finished up doing all the accounts, all the auditing and dealing with any of the ordering that required the use of his administration, mathematical, telephone and communication skills.
At the age of twenty years, Magnus married a 20-year-old Portlaw Catholic colleen called Elizabeth Faye and soon after, he opened his own shop selling fish one mile out of Portlaw on the Waterford Road. His wife was a member of the Portlaw Amateur Dramatic Society and loved to take part in their annual shows whenever other commitments would allow her. So when the society became in need of a good secretary, his wife Elizabeth naturally volunteered the services of her husband, Magnus.
Over the next twenty years, Magnus and Elizabeth parented a nicely-sized Catholic family or their 'apostles' as they were jokingly referred to by the neighbours. However, the course of becoming parents for them was far from easy and didn't occur without them straying into the path of sin.
Elizabeth and Magnus both wanted to parent lots of children, but when none had arrived after three years of trying, despite years of earnest prayer, they sought medical consultation and had tests in another county. Elizabeth was found to have difficulty ovulating so they agreed to use any spare money they had to explore the possibility of having fertility treatment. As any treatment which involved the active intervention of the married couple outside nature's courses of action wasn't sanctioned by the Catholic Church, after much soul searching the couple decided to take a brief visit across the Irish Sea to England. This was the first and only time in their marriage that they stepped outside the strict religious code of their Catholic upbringing and church teaching, but because their yearning to become parents was so strong, they reluctantly did so. Naturally, they both had the clear intention of seeking absolution afterwards, if it proved necessary. They told their Portlaw relatives that they were simply taking a much delayed honeymoon across in England.
Over the next twenty years, Magnus and Elizabeth parented a nicely-sized Catholic family or their 'apostles' as they were jokingly referred to by the neighbours. However, the course of becoming parents for them was far from easy and didn't occur without them straying into the path of sin.
Elizabeth and Magnus both wanted to parent lots of children, but when none had arrived after three years of trying, despite years of earnest prayer, they sought medical consultation and had tests in another county. Elizabeth was found to have difficulty ovulating so they agreed to use any spare money they had to explore the possibility of having fertility treatment. As any treatment which involved the active intervention of the married couple outside nature's courses of action wasn't sanctioned by the Catholic Church, after much soul searching the couple decided to take a brief visit across the Irish Sea to England. This was the first and only time in their marriage that they stepped outside the strict religious code of their Catholic upbringing and church teaching, but because their yearning to become parents was so strong, they reluctantly did so. Naturally, they both had the clear intention of seeking absolution afterwards, if it proved necessary. They told their Portlaw relatives that they were simply taking a much delayed honeymoon across in England.
One year later and Portlaw entered the record books when Elizabeth gave birth to the most number of children ever conceived and delivered from one pregnancy - eleven boys! As the news of the multiple births emerged in the town, Portlaw found itself under siege by international press, radio and television crews from all over the globe after Nancy Noolan had tipped off the Waterford media for the sum of 100 Euros about this football team who'd been born to one Portlaw woman by 'conventional Catholic means'.
Magnus and Elizabeth were continuously pestered by reporters and media for the next three months and were glad when they eventually left the family in peace and moved on to another story of interest.
While Father Rossy had been made aware of the fact that English, non-Catholic fertility treatment had been responsible for the multiple births, because he'd acquired such knowledge from inside the confessional box, he had neither the means nor desire to counter or correct the widely-held view which was being expressed by the rest of the parish; that it was nothing short of a miracle that had taken place for a Catholic couple to have conceived the most children ever born at one time by 'natural means'.
The couple had no desire to milk the system for any of the large amounts of money and sponsorship deals which was theirs simply for the asking. Having committed their sin, they had no desire to aggravate it or dwell upon it. All they wanted to do now was to live their lives simply with the eleven children they'd been given and to bring the family up in the customs and values of their Portlaw home and the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Magnus and Elizabeth believed that if they were able to raise their eleven children as good, practising Catholics, then this act alone would count as adequate atonement for any past transgressions they committed in conceiving them.
Magnus and Elizabeth were continuously pestered by reporters and media for the next three months and were glad when they eventually left the family in peace and moved on to another story of interest.
While Father Rossy had been made aware of the fact that English, non-Catholic fertility treatment had been responsible for the multiple births, because he'd acquired such knowledge from inside the confessional box, he had neither the means nor desire to counter or correct the widely-held view which was being expressed by the rest of the parish; that it was nothing short of a miracle that had taken place for a Catholic couple to have conceived the most children ever born at one time by 'natural means'.
The couple had no desire to milk the system for any of the large amounts of money and sponsorship deals which was theirs simply for the asking. Having committed their sin, they had no desire to aggravate it or dwell upon it. All they wanted to do now was to live their lives simply with the eleven children they'd been given and to bring the family up in the customs and values of their Portlaw home and the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Magnus and Elizabeth believed that if they were able to raise their eleven children as good, practising Catholics, then this act alone would count as adequate atonement for any past transgressions they committed in conceiving them.
Before the eleven children were one week old, Magnus had them all baptised at 'St. Michael's Catholic Church'. The couple didn't want a circus at the church on the day of the Christening nor to have their widely-acclaimed blessing from God glorified in a Catholic baptismal font of deceit before the entire village, so they arranged the date and time of the venue to take place during the week, in secret from the rest of the Portlaw population. By the time the press and media heard about the event, it had already taken place. There was no problem with the finding of names for all eleven of their infant sons as, with the exception of Judas who'd killed himself after betraying Christ, each child was baptised with the name of the other eleven apostles to Jesus.
There was Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Matthias. Having two sons named James initially worried Magnus and Elizabeth until Father Rossy reassured them with the knowledge that the second apostle called James was known as 'James the younger'; the name given to the one that was born last.
This large family was a situation which required every one of Magnus Ferguson's organisational skills throughout their boisterous development. Before Magnus was aged fifty years, all of the children had left home to start families of their own and by the time Magnus was sixty one years old, all of their eleven children had given birth to children of their own and a few had even presented Magnus and Elizabeth with great grandchildren.
In 1999, Portlaw had a new parish priest appointed by the Waterford Diocese, Father Frank Rossy, the son of a nephew to Father Dermot Rossy who'd been parish priest of Portlaw some sixty years earlier.
Father Frank Rossy was a handsome man and instantly became a success with all the women of the parish, many of whom regarded him as their 'guilty pleasure.' He had a twin brother called Callum who was virtually the opposite in characteristics and temperament to his brother Frank. Often, when the two brothers were growing up, brother Frank would frequently find himself blamed for something that his brother Callum had done 'under the alias of his innocent brother.' Had both brothers lived in William Street, they would undoubtedly have lived at opposite sides of the street, and while most of the Portlaw Catholics were happy to believe that their parish priest Father Frank was a saintly man who'd one day go to heaven, any gambler would undoubtedly have bet his last euro on his wayward twin-brother going to hell with the rest of the Portlaw hedonists!
To tell the truth, a part of Father Frank Rossy envied his brother Callum's seeming confidence and spirit of wild adventure. Whereas Father Frank had always done whatever he thought was the right thing to do, his brother Callum couldn't give a damn! Like many of the non-Catholics in Portlaw, Callum lived his life for the present only. He was determined to only settle down to marriage when he was in his thirties at the earliest and only then if he was forced to. Until then, he was determined to sample all the wares that the colleens had to offer between Waterford and Wexford.
Upon appointment to his post as parish priest, Father Frank Rossy soon heard of Magnus Ferguson's secretarial skills from Nancy Noolan, the town's gossip monger. Nancy told the new parish priest that Magnus had proved to be an admirable church secretary for longer than she'd been living in Portlaw and urged the priest to keep him on in that role and not to lose his skills to another organisation.
Nancy was a spinster who was known to be in her mid thirties and not her twenties as she constantly used to claim. Indeed, she would sometimes try to convince her neighbour, Magnus Ferguson that she still hadn't celebrated her thirtieth birthday, despite the fact that Magnus had attended Nancy's baptism thirty-three years earlier. Magnus merely assumed that there was some madness to Nancy's false assertions as to her age. He thought that she was just downsizing her age so that she could remain as a parish eligible in the nuptial stakes!
Nancy was a reasonably good-looking woman for her real age, but each summer, the freckled-faced Nancy would start to look like an abandoned thrush who cock robin had left standing at the altar. Portlaw people who knew her to have reached her thirty years said that every time Nancy lied about her age, she grew another freckle and moved one step farther back from the marriage altar.
If ever anyone wanted to spread some news or gossip, all that was required was to voice it within the hearing distance of Nancy and they could be guaranteed that it would be widely spoken of between Portlaw and Waterford before the morning pubs had opened and might even have reached the ale houses of Galway before closing time!
Nancy was a spinster who was known to be in her mid thirties and not her twenties as she constantly used to claim. Indeed, she would sometimes try to convince her neighbour, Magnus Ferguson that she still hadn't celebrated her thirtieth birthday, despite the fact that Magnus had attended Nancy's baptism thirty-three years earlier. Magnus merely assumed that there was some madness to Nancy's false assertions as to her age. He thought that she was just downsizing her age so that she could remain as a parish eligible in the nuptial stakes!
Nancy was a reasonably good-looking woman for her real age, but each summer, the freckled-faced Nancy would start to look like an abandoned thrush who cock robin had left standing at the altar. Portlaw people who knew her to have reached her thirty years said that every time Nancy lied about her age, she grew another freckle and moved one step farther back from the marriage altar.
If ever anyone wanted to spread some news or gossip, all that was required was to voice it within the hearing distance of Nancy and they could be guaranteed that it would be widely spoken of between Portlaw and Waterford before the morning pubs had opened and might even have reached the ale houses of Galway before closing time!
After hearing of Magnus's secretarial skills and having had them highly commended by Nancy and other parishioners, the new priest approached his parishioner and persuaded Magnus to remain the Secretary to 'St. Michael's Catholic Church.' While this was naturally an unpaid position to hold, Magnus had always seen the task as service today and reward tomorrow. Besides, he still felt beholden to Father Frank's distant relative nearly forty years earlier for having kept his and Elizabeth's confessional secrets. Many parishioners told Magnus that his place in heaven would undoubtedly be guaranteed as a consequence of his many years of faithful service to the Catholic Church, and even Nancy Noolan began to believe that as the person who had acted as match-maker between secretary and church, that the Lord might reward her with some of his own match-making between her and some wealthy and handsome Irish man!
Magnus had always entered into his secretarial work with the church diligently. He attended all church meetings and performed any follow-up duties if and as required. He was on every committee that the church was involved with, including the 'Committee of Church Events' as the Social Event's Secretary with prime responsibility for arranging the annual Parish Garden Party, First Holy Communion parties, parties for children making their Confirmation, indeed any party or celebration that the church undertook throughout the year.
Magnus had always entered into his secretarial work with the church diligently. He attended all church meetings and performed any follow-up duties if and as required. He was on every committee that the church was involved with, including the 'Committee of Church Events' as the Social Event's Secretary with prime responsibility for arranging the annual Parish Garden Party, First Holy Communion parties, parties for children making their Confirmation, indeed any party or celebration that the church undertook throughout the year.
Over the three years between 2009-2011, the sisters of the convent in Waterford, along with one or two of the parish priests of the diocese, had experimented with their own amateur production of 'The Sound Of Music.' The opportunity of seeing the holy sisters, some without their habits on, was greatly looked forward to and enjoyed by many of the priests of the diocese. The nuns also seemed to derive great pleasure from being able to please their male confessors.
The entertainment by the nuns was always properly supervised by the Mother Superior who always ensured that decorum would prevail between the carefully prescribed behaviour of the priests and the Brides of Christ who tastefully entertained them once a year at Christmas time.
The entertainment by the nuns was always properly supervised by the Mother Superior who always ensured that decorum would prevail between the carefully prescribed behaviour of the priests and the Brides of Christ who tastefully entertained them once a year at Christmas time.
The seating arrangements would be quite proper with all the priests in the audience sitting in the right-hand-side row of seats and all the nuns in attendance sitting in the left-hand rows. There would naturally be the obligatory one-yard-wide middle aisle between both sides of the room in which it would be impossible for persons on either side of the aisle to hold hands during the darkness of the performance. No chances were ever taken as to the inherent dangers of having rows of mixed sexes; just in case an occasional hand may go astray during the performance and unduly frighten one of the nuns or priests or that an inappropriate relationship between nun and parish priest might develop. Of all of the things which the Catholic Church detested, the improper relationship that was sometimes forged between priest and frustrated nun or altar boy and priest was the most feared.
With regard to the gastronomic fare provided, all food served would be modestly plain and all refreshments would be strictly non-alcoholic. The convent sisters would be granted permission to gently laugh and quietly titter during any amusing parts of the performance, but all guffawing or belly laughs would be banned and subsequently punished by additional penances imposed upon the sisterly miscreant by the Mother Superior, once the transgression had been reported to her.
With regard to the gastronomic fare provided, all food served would be modestly plain and all refreshments would be strictly non-alcoholic. The convent sisters would be granted permission to gently laugh and quietly titter during any amusing parts of the performance, but all guffawing or belly laughs would be banned and subsequently punished by additional penances imposed upon the sisterly miscreant by the Mother Superior, once the transgression had been reported to her.
After Magnus and Elizabeth had reached their early fifties and the last of their children had left home and had married, they naturally found themselves with more time on their hands and more time for each other. Most of the children lived within a 20-mile radius of Waterford and kept in regular contact with their parents. Magnus and Elizabeth greatly missed the presence of their children at first, but quickly occupied their time with other activities. They also started walking together again and would frequently walk into Waterford or across the grasslands of Curraghmore; a favourite spot for many Portlaw courting couples and one which over the centuries has been the ground upon which generations of Portlaw families were first conceived.
As early as the summer months of 2012, some of the convent sisters had started early preparation for the Christmas Concert on Boxing Day. They had planned to perform a play about Bernadette Soubirous who become known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes at this year's Christmas Concert, but the newly-appointed Bishop of Waterford had voiced objections with the Mother Superior and Father Frank Rossy of Portlaw.
Both Mother Superior and Father Frank Rossy was informed by the new Bishop of Waterford that in his view, many of the bad things which had happened inside the Catholic Church could be put down to not having displayed proper discipline and decorum. Procedures had become too slack and this had undoubtedly resulted in a lowering of morals and a greater willingness to embrace a more hedonistic lifestyle and range of dubious values.
Both Mother Superior and Father Frank Rossy was informed by the new Bishop of Waterford that in his view, many of the bad things which had happened inside the Catholic Church could be put down to not having displayed proper discipline and decorum. Procedures had become too slack and this had undoubtedly resulted in a lowering of morals and a greater willingness to embrace a more hedonistic lifestyle and range of dubious values.
The newly-appointed Bishop of Waterford, Arthur Spoiler, was from the old school of Irish Catholic tradition. He believed that nuns and priests had become too liberal in their behaviour and too selfish in their expectations over the past twenty years. Bishop Spoiler also believed that the Mass should still be conducted in Latin and that parish priests should never address a nun and vice versa outside the confessional box or the hearing distance of the Mother Superior of the Convent or the Bishop of the Diocese. Bishop Spoiler told both Father Frank Rossy and the Mother Superior that he considered it highly irregular that nuns from the Holy Order who'd been anointed as the Brides of Christ should be dressing up and parading themselves across a stage for the delectation of the admiring eyes of priests and perhaps a few 'suspect sisters!' He said that while he appreciated that it had long been the custom for the religious orders of nuns and priests in the Diocese of Waterford to socially celebrate the feast of Christmas each Boxing Day, he wanted all entertainment provided this coming Christmas to be 'bought in.' He further added that all the Catholic parishioners of St. Michael's in Portlaw should also be invited to the concert; particularly if it was to be their money on the Sunday collection plate that paid for it!
The Mother Superior who had also recently been appointed was a disciplinarian and stickler for religious chastity and believed that all God-fearing sisters of Christ should never glance more than three seconds at the face of any man before averting the eyes of temptation. She was a firm believer in the practice of flagellation for the mortification and purification of the soul; a practice she'd been introduced to by another nun when she'd been a novice and had never forgotten. She also believed that humility could more readily enable nuns to move closer to God if they always walked nearer to the convent wall. She believed that no nun could ever be too close to the convent wall and that when they walked through their convent they should never look at another nun coming in the opposite direction as it simply encouraged acknowledgement of one's presence. The Mother Superior believed that when nuns were not directing their eyes towards the floor or laid prostrate on it, that they should always look towards the wall. She also believed that even as they walked ever more closely alongside the wall, they could never be close enough to it, and most certainly weren't close enough unless they scraped their noses as they turned the corner!
So, as early as late summer, 2012, Magnus had been allocated the additional duties of 'buying in' suitable entertainment for the coming Christmas Party as it had come to be referred to. The decision as to the final choice of the evening's entertainment would be left solely to the 60-year-old Catholic Concert Secretary who was highly trusted and regarded within the Catholic Diocese of Waterford.
So, as early as late summer, 2012, Magnus had been allocated the additional duties of 'buying in' suitable entertainment for the coming Christmas Party as it had come to be referred to. The decision as to the final choice of the evening's entertainment would be left solely to the 60-year-old Catholic Concert Secretary who was highly trusted and regarded within the Catholic Diocese of Waterford.
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