At the beginning of the High Mass on the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, Bishop William Kenney, C.P. came to bless and open our Jubilee Holy Door.

The Mass began at the back of church (a seasonal drizzle preventing us from all being outside) with the call to repentance and to experience God’s infinite mercy.

The Bishop blessed the door.

Bishop Kenney then opened the door and passed through it, followed by the servers and clergy.

The people were sprinkled with Holy Water during the Asperges.

After Mass, the faithful had the opportunity to pass through the Holy Door, so as to gain the Plenary Indulgence.

During the Year of Mercy, the Holy Door will be open before all Sunday Masses, and there will be a procession through it at the weekly Saturday ten o’clock Pilgrimage Mass, in honour of Our Lady of Oxford, Mother of Mercy.

Photographs by Hannah Chegwyn.

The Holy Father inaugurated the Year of Mercy when he opened the Holy Door into St Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday.

Our own church has been designated as a Jubilee Church, which means that we have our own Holy Door, which will be opened this coming Sunday (13th December) at the beginning of the eleven o’clock Solemn Mass.

All those who pass through this Holy Door during the Year of Mercy will be able to gain the Jubilee plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions of Confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions.

The Door will be open at the beginning of all Sunday Masses during the year, and on Saturdays at the ten o’clock Mass, which will be a Pilgrimage Mass, concluding with a procession through the Door and prayers to Our Lady of Oxford, Mother of Mercy.

Other events will be announced in due course, and we hope to welcome groups of pilgrims who may wish to come to our Jubilee Church.

The preacher was Fr Richard Ounsworth, O.P., whose words we hope to publish here soon.

The Elevation:

The Ecce Agnus Dei:

Photography by Hannah Chegwyn.

These pictures show the Solemn First Vespers and Benediction held on 7th December, the vigil of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Lady Altar is incensed:

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament:

Photographs by Hannah Chegwyn.

The travelling reliquary bust of St Philip has now gone to Cardiff. Thence it will move on to Birmingham, York, London, and then Manchester, before crossing the Atlantic to Toronto.

“A traveller now, who in his life,
Ne’er left that one dear cell”
(from Blessed John Henry Newman’s hymn On Northern Coasts).

Our congratulations go to Mrs Eileen Healy, who has been awarded the Papal medal Benemerenti by Pope Francis. This is in recognition of her long and devoted service to the Church, especially by serving as a cook and housekeeper to many priests (and bishops!)

Bishop Robert Byrne came on Saturday 5th December, the feast of St Birinus, Apostle of the West Saxons, to present the medal.

The Benemerenti Medal was first awarded by Pope Pius VI (1775–1799) to recognize military merit. Since 1925 it has been awarded to clergy and lay members of the faithful, both military and civil.

Photographs by Hannah Chegwyn

You will notice the large scaffolding tower at the back of church. This is because of the little showers of plaster dust which have been falling on the Epistle side of the church. All the loose and potentially-dangerous plaster is being removed and replaced, so that we can all pray safely.

Meanwhile, there is a splendid new fire-escape from the library into the yard to the south of the church, and now that this has been built, the yard will at last be resurfaced.

Photographs by Hannah Chegwyn

Congratulations to those 45 young people who were confirmed by Bishop William Kenney, C.P., on Saturday 21st November, the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

On the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, 9th November, which also happens to be the birthday of our Director of Music, Mr Edward de Rivera, we took the opportunity to have a Solemn Mass, followed by a reception in the Parish Centre to honour the twenty-five years of unstinting service that he has given to music at the Oratory.

The choir sang Charles Gounod’s Messe Chorale: Quatrieme Solennelle, and at the party afterwards the singers presented their director with a specially-composed motet.

The Oratory owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Edward de Rivera, and we all wish him every blessing. His last Mass directing the music will be on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a quarter of a century to the day from when he began building from nothing the musical tradition of our church.

Regular readers will know that there is a travelling bust of St Philip, made in Seville for his five-hundredth anniversary year, which has been travelling around the Oratories of the world. We had been expecting it some time ago, but heard that it was delayed, somewhere between Maastricht and Alcala de Henares.

Then, quite unexpectedly, and enormous crate was delivered last week:

The box took quite a lot of effort and ingenuity to open, but when we succeeded, inside was the bust of our Holy Father.

The bust shows St Philip, filled with the Holy Spirit, pointing to his heart, which was enlarged by the Spirit’s action. The bust contains a relic of St Philip’s body.

We have put the bust on St Philip’s altar to give people the opportunity to pray before it. As to when and where the image will go next: St Philip has a habit of surprising!