A Joyous and Sunny Feast of St Catherine

We have been praying all week that the fair, sunny weather would hold for today's special event - it looked for a little while that rain would be the order of the day - but no, the day was fine and the events of the Royal Wedding unfurled spectacularly. Didn't Catherine look lovely?
Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer to the stirring tune of Cwm Rhondda was joined with great gusto here, it having been the anthem to our wedding. The homily by the Bishop of London with its inspirational words of St Catherine of Siena Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire can be read in full by clicking on this link.
And what about those hats? I shall certainly have to do something a bit more special for the son's wedding in November, I can see! Which reminds me of the time when the Queen went down our road in Cambridge when our daughter was small. She was about 4 years old, maybe a little younger, and at nursery where preparations for the visit had been in train for a few weeks: decorating the windows and posy making, etc. I was working in London and so not able to be with her that day, but the night before I reminded her that the Queen would have a very special hat and I would like to know all about it when I came home from work. And when I did come home, I asked a very excited little one, Did you see the Queen? Yes, yes, she replied. And did she have a very wonderful hat? To which question I received a thoughtful face and then, Yes. Do tell me what it was like, then, I asked. It was white and round, she replied. Oooh, white and round...how strange, I said. A crash helmet, added my daughter. A crash helmet, are you sure? I asked. Yes. I still haven't told her after all these years that then she confused the Queen with a police outrider on a motorbike........