Today would have been my paternal Grandmother's one hundredth birthday. I've been remembering her particularly recently with news of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. My grandmother was born a Mowbray, a direct descendent of A. R. Mowbray who founded the publishing house active in the Oxford Movement. Her side of the family became Roman Catholic and she often told stories of watching processions to the newly built Westminster Cathedral.
On marriage to my grandfather, her church going was put on hold - for 50 years! Following my grandfather's death she returned to the Roman Catholic church, only to find it totally changed; Vatican II had completely passed her by and she missed the Latin Mass. However, she remained to her death an ardent member of the Roman Catholic Church. At my ordination she was very proud that her granddaughter was following a path usually taken by men, but couldn't see it happening in her own church.
I had many conversations with my grandmother about the church, and if we ever strayed into discussions about ecumenism, her view was always 'you burnt us'... ecumenism on a timescale of centuries.
The twentieth century saw extraordinary advances in ecumenical relations, a long way from the 'you burnt us' mentality. With the advent of the Ordinariate, I'm wondering what the future will hold, both for the Church of England, and for ongoing ecumenical dialogue and will be watching developments with interest.
In the meantime, today I'm celebrating the life of Ethel Pauline Mardon Burgess, my fabulous grandmother.
