In the course of 2000 years, the Church has developed a great variety of spiritual traditions and ways of living out the command to ‘pray at all times’. This Lent, five guest speakers (plus our own Fr Daniel) will share with us insights from their wealth of experience in their own religious orders that will help us in our own times of prayer. These talks are sure to be a help in strengthening our own Lenten practice of prayer. Talks take place on Saturdays at 11:00 in the Oratory parish centre and are open to the public. Tea and coffee available before from 10:30.

We had a full house for Abbot Cuthbert Brogan’s fascinating and entertaining talk on Benedictine spirituality.

Our next speaker is our own Fr Daniel, on The School of St Philip: The Spiritual Life of the Oratory.

St Philip never really meant to found anything; the Oratory just happened in response to the needs of his age. The Oratorian priests and brothers, established to serve the laity who attended the meetings of the Oratory, still promote a spirituality designed ‘to make people saints in their own homes’. St Philip’s attractive and cheerful personality drew men and women into a closer friendship with Christ, and his way to holiness continues to encourage people in the world today.

18 March — The Odd Life of St Norbert and his White Canons
Fr Stephen Morrison, O.Præm., Subprior of St Philip’s Priory, Chelmsford

1 April — Prayer and Preaching: The spiritual traditions of St Dominic’s Order of Preachers

Fr Richard Finn, O.P.. Director of the Las Casas Institute; Lecturer and Tutor at Blackfriars

8 April — The Still Small Voice that Speaks in Lent: The Prophet Elijah in Carmelite Spirituality
Fr Kevin Alban, O.Carm., Friar of Aylesford Priory, Kent

Full details of all the talks are available in the Lent, Holy Week and Easter booklet. Printed copies are available at the back of church.

Fr James Hanvey spoke to a packed Parish Centre last Saturday about St Ignatius’ particular approach to prayer, and about prayer in general.

He recommended several resources for helping us to pray:

A Guide to Ignatian Prayer — by Rob Marsh SJ, which was given to all at the talk last week.

Schools of Prayer — a series of Podcasts organised by the Bishops’ Conference, including one by Fr James. They are based on a series originally recorded for the Clifton Diocese.

Pray as you Go — run by the British Province of the Society of Jesus.

Sacred Space — run by the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus.

†

Of your charity please pray

for the repose of the soul of

Father DAVID HUTTON

of the Oratory

who died on

Wednesday 1^st March 2017

fortified by the rites of Holy Church

May he rest in peace

Fr David was a priest of the Archdiocese of Southwark who was to have been part of the Oratory-in-formation in Bournemouth. We clothed him in the habit in January, so that he could die as a Son of St Philip.

There will be a Solemn Requiem offered in our church at 6pm on Friday 10th March.

“What a joy to die a Son of St Philip” – Blessed Anthony Grassi

In the course of 2000 years, the Church has developed a great variety of spiritual traditions and ways of living out the command to ‘pray at all times’. This Lent, five guest speakers (plus our own Fr Daniel) will share with us insights from their wealth of experience in their own religious orders that will help us in our own times of prayer. These talks are sure to be a help in strengthening our own Lenten practice of prayer. Talks take place on Saturdays at 11:00 in the Oratory parish centre and are open to the public. Tea and coffee available before from 10:30.

Our second guest speaker will be Dom Cuthbert Brogan, O.S.B.
, Abbot of St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, on A School of the Lord’s Service: Contemplative monastic life in the Benedictine tradition. St Benedict lived in the 6th Century and is considered to be the Father of Western monasticism, having left his Rule for those who would live the monastic ideal in community. Centred on work and prayer, Benedictine monks turn their whole life into an act of the praise of God, whether singing his praises in the psalms, or tending his creation in the field.

11 March — The School of St Philip: The spiritual life of the Oratory

Fr Daniel Seward, Cong. Orat., Provost of the Oxford Oratory

18 March — The Odd Life of St Norbert and his White Canons

Fr Stephen Morrison, O.Præm., Subprior of St Philip’s Priory, Chelmsford

1 April — Prayer and Preaching: The spiritual traditions of St Dominic’s Order of Preachers

Fr Richard Finn, O.P.. Director of the Las Casas Institute; Lecturer and Tutor at Blackfriars

8 April — The Still Small Voice that Speaks in Lent: The Prophet Elijah in Carmelite Spirituality

Fr Kevin Alban, O.Carm., Friar of Aylesford Priory, Kent

Full details of all the talks are available in the Lent, Holy Week and Easter booklet. Printed copies are available at the back of church.

Mary’s Meals provides a meal in school for over one million children every day. It is inspired by the Magnificat: ‘He has filled the hungry with good things’ and is named after Our Lady. The founder of Mary’s Meals, Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow, will be coming to speak in the Parish Centre on Tuesday 21 March at 8pm. There will be collection boxes to take home at the beginning of Lent, and a second collection on Sunday 2 April. More information at www.marysmeals.org.uk

Below is the video shown last month at the Parish AGM. It provides an excellent introduction to the work of Mary’s Meals, and shows what a difference our support this Lent can make to children in some of the poorest parts of the world.

In the course of 2000 years, the Church has developed a great variety of spiritual traditions and ways of living out the command to ‘pray at all times’. This Lent, five guest speakers (plus our own Fr Daniel) will share with us insights from their wealth of experience in their own religious orders that will help us in our own times of prayer. These talks are sure to be a help in strengthening our own Lenten practice of prayer. Talks take place on Saturdays at 11:00 in the Oratory parish centre and are open to the public. Tea and coffee available before from 10:30.

NB: talks begin the Saturday before Ash Wednesday.

Our first guest speaker will be Fr James Hanvey, S.J.
, Master of Campion Hall, Oxford, on Finding God in a busy life: 
St Ignatius and the Catholic spiritual tradition. St Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus in 1540, abandoning his career as a soldier and giving to the Church one of her most effective missionary bodies in her history. The Society’s priests spread the Gospel from South America to East Asia, many giving their lives as martyrs for Christ. Find out more about St Ignatius’ unique method of prayer, and how it can be a help to us today in our search for God.

4 March — A School of the Lord’s Service: Contemplative monastic life in the Benedictine tradition
Rt Rev. Dom Cuthbert Brogan, O.S.B., Abbot of St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough

11 March — The School of St Philip: The spiritual life of the Oratory

Fr Daniel Seward, Cong. Orat., Provost of the Oxford Oratory

18 March — The Odd Life of St Norbert and his White Canons

Fr Stephen Morrison, O.Præm., Subprior of St Philip’s Priory, Chelmsford

1 April — Prayer and Preaching: The spiritual traditions of St Dominic’s Order of Preachers

Fr Richard Finn, O.P.. Director of the Las Casas Institute; Lecturer and Tutor at Blackfriars

8 April — The Still Small Voice that Speaks in Lent: The Prophet Elijah in Carmelite Spirituality

Fr Kevin Alban, O.Carm., Friar of Aylesford Priory, Kent

Full details of all the talks are available in the Lent, Holy Week and Easter booklet. Printed copies are available at the back of church.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on 1 March. There will be Mass with the imposition of ashes at 7:30, 10am (Sung English, with the primary school), 12:15pm (EF Latin), and 6pm (Solemn Mass).

Celebrate the day before with the Parish Pancake Party in the Parish Centre from 6:30pm!

During Lent, there will no Holy Hour on Friday afternoons, but Stations of the Cross at 5:30pm. On Saturdays, there will be exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from after the 10am Mass until 6pm, when exposition ends with Benediction.

There will be a day of recollection for open to all on Saturday 4 March led by Fr Joseph. The day will begin with Mass at 10am, followed by opportunity for confessions; Saturday Talk at 11am, A School of the Lord’s Service by Abbot Cuthbert Brogan; times of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament; talks on the theme Entering the inner chamber of your soul; and will end with Benediction.

Friday 3 March — Oratory Young Adults
Come back to me with all your heart — talk and discussion at 7:30pm

Saturday 25 March — Feast of the Annunciation
Ordination to the Diaconate of Br Oliver at 12 noon

Monday 27 March — Penance Service
with individual confession at 7pm

Wednesday 5 April — Passiontide Musical Oratory
Choral music for Passiontide at 8pm

Full details of all this, and of the series of Saturday Talks for Lent, Praying with the Church available in the Lent, Holy Week and Easter booklet. Printed copies are available at the back of church.

Oratory Young Adults is our series of meetings for young Catholics who frequent the Oratory. Our series of events for young adults aged 18–30 takes place on a Friday night at the beginning of each month. We meet over some simple food and drink to discuss a question that is important to us as young Catholics, share some catechesis and a piece of scripture before spending a short time in prayer and song together in Church, and many of us continue our time at the Pub across the road.

Five hundred years ago in Rome St Philip gathered around him some young people who were preoccupied with the cares, not only of life and work, but of what it means to be faithful to the Church and become a closer disciple and friend of Christ. Familiar conversation on the Word of God, prayer, song, and friendship with one another was St Philip’s way of helping them grow in love of the Lord, and this is what we do as a group each month; an ancient formula for ordinary young Catholics today.

Whether you are a strong and devout Catholic, consider yourself to be trying hard to be faithful, or usually find that ‘Church Groups’ are not for you there is a place for you at each of our events for young adults at the Oratory. Come and see!

Meetings usually take place on the first Friday of each month, and you can see what’s happening on our Facebook page @oratoryyoungadults or on the posters in Church.

Our series of Saturday Talks on Saint Paul and his Letter to the Romans continues this Saturday at 11am with Faith and Faithfulness: What do I need to do to be saved? The most controversial topic of St Paul’s most influential letter has caused theological chaos throughout history. What does St Paul really say that we need to do to be saved?

Followed on Saturday 18 February by The Gospel according to St Paul?, where will be asking what St Paul’s main message really is in Romans, whether this is his own version of the Gospel that he is sometimes accused of inventing, and what there is in the letter for us.

Our series of Saturday Talks for Lent, Praying with the Church, begins on Saturday 25 February at 11am. In the course of 2000 years, the Church has developed a great variety of spiritual traditions and ways of living out the command to ‘pray at all times’. This Lent, five guest speakers (plus our own Fr Daniel) will share with us insights from their wealth of experience in their own religious orders that will help us in our own times of prayer. These talks are sure to be a help in strengthening our own Lenten practice of prayer. See the Lent, Holy Week and Easter booklet for more details.

Today we were delighted to welcome the Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal. His Beatitude is visiting Oxford to take part in a debate at the Oxford Union on the interplay between religious freedom and civil liberties.

As part of his visit, his Beatitude celebrated a votive Mass for persecuted Christians in our Church.

In his sermon, the Patriarch explained that the Church of Jerusalem is and always has been the Church of Calvary. As the whole Church was founded when Christ’s side was pierced on Calvary, so the Church of Jerusalem came into being. Calvary is physically within the territory of the Church of Jerusalem, and the suffering experienced by Christ on Calvary has been a characteristic of that church’s members to the present day.

There are currently 10,000 Christians living in Jerusalem, who are very much a minority. The Patriarchate is responsible for a diocese spanning four states: Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus. Across those areas, the Church runs schools that serve 75,000 students, and 11 hospitals in Jerusalem alone. Despite being very much a minority in Jerusalem, Christians are able to provide a strong witness of their love of neighbour, and in some areas the Church flourishes. His Beatitude gave the example of the Church in Jordan, where numbers of young Christians are so strong that he advised arriving an hour early for Mass in order to get into the church.

As a result of persecutions, many Christians are leaving the Holy Land. The Patriarch asked our continued prayers for the Church in these parts, but added that a very practical way of supporting persecuted Christians is to visit Jerusalem as pilgrims and tell others what we have seen. He ended by expressing his trust in Our Lord’s promise, ‘I am with you always’ (Mt 28:20).