The final run of our series of Evangelium presentations begins this Wednesday. Everyone is welcome, whether they have been to any of the other sessions or not. Tea & coffee are served from 7.30pm, and the presentation begins at 8. The topics will be as follows:

13th April: Christian Life in the World

20th April: The Life of Prayer

27th April: The Lord’s Prayer

4th May: Praying the Mass

11th May: The Practice of Confession

18th May: Catholic Devotions

 

A dozen pilgrims from our parish have been to the National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, where we had a very blessed few days.

We were able to celebrate Mass each day in the Slipper Chapel:

The Slipper Chapel is where mediaeval pilgrims would remove their shoes, before walking the final Holy Mile into Walsingham.

The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was crowned by the Apostolic Delegate in 1954. It is based on the seal of the Priory, dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538. The surviving seal is from the document surrendering the Priory.

After Mass, we said the Prayer for England, that this land may once more be “Mary’s Dowry”.

Having walked the Holy Mile, we visited the Abbey Grounds. The sign says, “Grounds and Ruins”, and refers to the monastic ruins, rather than our pilgrims:

A walk through the Abbey grounds:

This is the spot where the Holy House once stood:

Then on to the Anglican shrine, where we prayed for the unity of the Church and the conversion of England:

One afternoon we went to Sandringham, the home of Her Majesty The Queen:

On our way back to Oxford we called in at the Holy House of Kings Lynn. From 1897 until 1934 this was the National Shrine. Pope Leo XIII sent a statue of Our Lady from Italy, before the image of Our Lady of Walsingham had been recovered. The Holy House is a reconstruction of the Holy House of Nazareth, which the Lady Richeldis was asked by Our Lady to build in Walsingham in 1061, so that pilgrims could make their way to ‘England’s Nazareth’.

 

On Saturday 16th April we will have our very smart Tombola evening (the accent is on the first syllable, in the Italian manner). Tickets are available from the Lodge at £20 each. Prizes include a meal for two at Carluccio’s and a voucher for the Randolph.

The feast of Divine Mercy takes on a particular significance this year, in the Year of Mercy.

We will be having the usual Divine Mercy Devotions this coming Sunday afternoon.

Chaplet and Blessing of Images, 2:30pm

Three O’Clock Prayer

Mass with Hymns, 3:10pm

Adoration, 3:45pm

Benediction, 4:30pm

Confessions will be heard during that time.

Please note that Vespers and Benediction will take place as usual at 5:30 and 6pm.

Refreshments are available in the Parish Centre after Benediction, from 4.45pm.

OXFORD ORATORY & CAMERATA OF CURIOSITIES

MONTEVERDI VESPERS

Experience the brilliance, beauty and power of the 1610 Vespers

Director – Andrew Knowles

Oxford Oratory Church: 25 Woodstock Road OX2 6HA

Monday 30 May 2016 7.30pm

His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts

Tickets £42, £35, £20 Students £10

Available from Oxford Playhouse 01865 305305

www.ticketsoxford.com

http://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/ticketsoxford/#event=20727

Sopranos Esther Brazil & Jennifer Attia

Counter-tenor Jonathan Darbourne

Alto Alison Coldstream

Tenors Chris Watson, Simon Irwin & Paul Bentley-Angell

Baritone Daniel Tate

Basses Thomas Flint & Henry Hawkesworth

Violinists Bojan Čičić & Jean Patterson

The picture below shows our tabernacle, decorated with a statue of the Risen Lord – and also a card from a four-year-old girl, who asked us “to give this Easter card to Jesus.”

 As always, Mrs Freddie Quartley has painted our Paschal Candle beautifully. The inscription at the top records that this is the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and the picture at the bottom of the candle shows the harrowing of Hell, when Our Lord pulled Adam, Eve, and those that followed them out of their prison.

We have been able to welcome different groups coming on pilgrimage to our church for the Year of Mercy and passing through the Holy Door. A fortnight ago, during 24 Hours for the Lord, a large number of people came to make their confession during the day. Among them were the girls of the Rose Round, who walked here from Marston.  

After Mass, confession and the procession through the Holy Door, the girls walked on to the College at Littlemore, which is also a place of pilgrimage for the Jubilee.

Today, St Joseph’s Day, saw Fr Nazarius Mgungwe, Parish Priest of the Sacred Heart, Blackbird Leys, come for Mass, confession and the procession through the Holy Door with his parishioners. Tomorrow, on Palm Sunday, we look forward to welcoming fifty Filipinos living in London, who form the United Kingdom Candelaria Quezon Association.