12/25/11

JERUSALEM.

Christmas Greetings From
Uncle Monty At Jerusalem.
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As a sinful Anglican, Protestant, and Christain, I have now
arrived at Religious Israel at this Christmastide to witness first
 hand the holy sites of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth,
among others, and to be devoted to the spiritual and historic
presence of our Christ Child's magnificent and all-splendid
birth that humankind cannot deny no matter how hard some
of them try in this age of dark digital disrespect for
His Holy birth and all that He stood for.
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I am humbled to be standing for the first time inside Israel,
despite all of its seizure mentality and Palestinian strife
and provocative threats against a future Nuclear Iran.
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I am here as a Christian and Western pilgrim first and
 foremost, but my Anglican eyes and Protestant ears will
not and cannot dismiss or ignore what I see and hear inside
Israel that is armed to the teeth and living under a military
 and police state that is disconcerting to
 witness to say the least.
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Of course, while here inside Israel, I shall endeavour to
visit the most ancient and most traditional religious sites
of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. From Jerusalem
to Bethlehem to Nazareth to the See of Galilee I shall
tread with great respect and no doubt much awe of
Christendom's memorials, monuments and edifices
 that mark here the glad origins of true Christianity.
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After Israel, I shall also be visiting Jordan's Amman
while staying very clear of post-Hosni Mubarak's
Egypt while in the Middle East for the next three weeks.
Lebanon's Beirut is also on my New Year's travel list.
On my flight back to London, I shall make a stop-
over at Rome for a couple of days if the winter
weather of Europe doesn't suddenly turn foul.
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Once I return to homebase, I shall continue my blog
stories - here at allaboutthebigissue - against The
 Rotten Big Issue and the vile Bird Brothers and
coupled with looking at the many issues and events
 impacting on the lives of the homeless inside
Broken Down Britain.
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In the meantime from Jerusalem on this Christmas Day,
and after being in Bethlehem for the rise of Christmas morn,
I wish you all a very Happy Christmas & A Blessed
 New Year, 2012, which will bring with it many important
anniversaries like the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic,
 the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, the
Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's
English reign, and the somber 40th Anniversary of the
Massacre of Israeli Athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics
 that coincides with our own London Olympics.  I shall no
 doubt be hoping to write and comment on such events,
 here and there, during the year of 2012 on my Google
blogz after my heart operation has taken place!
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So In closing the year 2011, I again wish one
and all a Very Happy Christmas from Israel ...
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Best Wishes, Uncle Monty.
+Christmas Day At Jerusalem, 2011.
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Old Christmas Carols At The Brompton Oratory.
By Uncle Monty.
Photos By Gary Day
& Alex Albion.
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Just a day or so before heading off to Tel Aviv via
Rome, I accepted the welcome invitation for me to attend
the Traditional Catholic Carol Service at London's famed
Brompton Oratory. With over 2,500 persons present, it
was an extraordinary event by any religious standard of
which I was delighted to be a part off even though I'm
not Catholic but purely Old Anglican.
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The Brompton Oratory's Marvellous Boys' & Girls' Choir.
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Of the 4 or 5 Xmas events I attended over the space of
the past 7 days in London, undoubtedly the Carol Service at
the Brompton Oratory was the most traditional - thankfully.
Many of the old Christmas carols came forth with O Come,
O Come, Emmanuel; Once In Royal David's City (one of
my favourite carols along with The Holly & The Ivy
and I Wonder as I Wander  ); O Come, All Ye Faith-
ful, and Hark The Herald Angels Sing. Those carols of
old I so much love and they can basically keep all the
 rest of the jazzed-up Christmas honky-tonky tunes
and modernistic Xmas songs for they do so little for
me. I'm a traditionalist first and foremost over all the
 trashy Xmas stuff of today that leaves me mostly
 cold and decidedly unmoved.
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Solemn Benediction At The Close of the Carol
Service By the Religious Fathers & Brothers of
London's famed Brompton Oratory. It was a fitting
close to the Latin Rite Catholicism I found at The
 Oratory Under The Foundership of St. Philip Neri.
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Just A Stone's Throw from The Oratory, I saw this
delightful English Merry-Go-Round going round and round
and with it all lit up as winter dusk fell at Old London Town.
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London Underground Busker at South Kensington
Tube Station All Dolled Up In His Santa Suit!
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While My Friend & Fellow Photographer Gary Day Spotted
This Impressive Menorah At South Ken Tube Station As 
We Headed To The Brompton Oratory.  From Our Jewish
Friends it declared "Happy Chanukah" to one and all ...
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In Memory Therefo ...
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Feedback & Comments
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3 comments:

Edwin Ducksworth. said...

Dear Monty, Surprise, surprise,
surprise, so you're in Jerusalem
lucky you! When I asked you what
you planned to do for Christmas you
said "perhaps abit of travel". That was a perfect understatement
wasn't it?
It was good seeing you again the other day at the Royal Corporation Christmas lunch and having a chance to chat in the car with you. I hope you have a good Christmas and hope we have another opportunity of picking up our deep conversation soon. Very best wishes, Edwin Ducksworth.

Larry and Heather. said...

Uncle Monty - For the old geezer
you are you certainly get around.
Now you're in Israel. Boy oh boy,
how do you do everything you do?
The Brompton Oratory story was good. The photos even better.
Open Mic at Crisis was hardly
complimentary while you showered
the Choir With No Name with much
praise. Poor boys are the Bird Boys
for you've got it in for them good.
They deserve what they get from you. Be very care while you're in the region as far as Israel goes.
Anything could happen with a
spark if Israel attacks Iran
while you're there. On your
coming heart op, wish you the
best there. Guess you'll write
a story about that if you live to tell it. Yes, we want to wish you a successful and prosperous New Year. All the very best then,
Larry and Heather.

JUDY x x x said...

Wishing you a Great New Year,
Monty. Hope all is fine with you in Israel. Come home soon. JUDY x x x