Congratulations to the 36 children who made their First Holy Communions in our church last weekend. The children from St Aloysius’ School did so on Saturday, the Solemnity of St Aloysius, and other children from the parish on Sunday, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
Some of the first communicants with Fr Daniel after Mass:
The cake:
Mr Walker, Head Teacher of St Aloysius’ School, cutting the cake:
The children enjoying the cake and other delights at their First Communion Breakfast:
It was a beautiful, sunny day for the fifteenth annual North Oxford Deanery Corpus Christi Procession.
Many people contributed to making the procession a great success. The marshals were briefed about keeping us safe:
As was the congregation:
The Dean, Fr John Hancock, carried the Blessed Sacrament from the Oratory to Blackfriars:
The children who had made their First Holy Communion this weekend scattered rose petals before the Blessed Sacrament:
We alternated between saying the Rosary and singing Eucharistic hymns, accompanied by the Witney Town Band:
The canopy over the monstrance was carried by the Conventual Franciscan Friars:
At Blackfriars the Dominican friars sang the Lauda Sion and Fr Robert Ombres, O.P. preached a fine sermon:
Fr Ombres then carried Our Lord along the Cornmarket and down St Michael’s Street:
Fr Dushan Croos, S.J., Chaplain to the University of Oxford, then carried the Blessed Sacrament to the Chaplaincy:
At the Old Palace, the Dean gave Benediction, before the singing of the Salve Regina and Faith of our Fathers:
We then concluded with some very welcome refreshment!
Saturday 21st June will be St Aloysius’ Day. There will be Solemn First Vespers and Benediction on FRIDAY 20th at 6.30pm, followed by a party in the Parish Centre.
This pocket-sized book contains English translations of the traditional Latin hymns of the Roman Breviary. It contains four sections:
It is designed to act as a supplement to the English edition of the Divine Office, and is small enough to be carried easily with a breviary, but can also be used as a hymn book in its own right.
It is no simple task to narrow the selection of hymns from all of the excellent translations available, but it is hoped that most of the favourite and well-known translations are included. Among the list of translators are Rev. John Mason Neale, Fr Edward Caswall (of the Birmingham Oratory), Mgr Ronald Knox, as well as many others.
It is available to buy from Lulu.
Our other books can be seen in the Publications section of the website.
Today the new statue of St Anthony was unveiled and blessed.
The statue has been carved in Germany by Ewald Böggemann, using photographs and the remains of the old statue. It took over 250 hours to carve.
The two-flowered lily that St Anthony holds had been carved separately, and was placed in the hands of the statue. The lily is associated with a particular miracle worked through the intercession of St Anthony — a lily was once placed in the hands of a statue of him and sprouted a second flower, which proved to have miraculous healing powers. We prayed that all who come to St Anthony for help in their illness might be healed through his intercession.
The original statue was discovered on fire on the feast of the Guardian Angels. The following prayer was used to thank God for the continuing protection of his angels:
O ever-loving Lord, we give you thanks for the preservation of this our church from serious damage and destruction by fire through the intercession and watchfulness of your holy angels. Grant that all who enter this building may be filled with a sense of wonder and awe in your presence, and, experiencing love and fellowship in this place, may give their lives over to you whose service is perfect freedom, and come at length to enjoy the bliss of heaven with all your saints and angels. We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
There are also some pictures of the statue in progress:
The new statue of St Anthony arrived last week, and is in place in church, veiled and waiting to be revealed tomorrow in time for his feast on Friday.
After the 6pm Mass tomorrow evening, the statue will be unveiled and blessed. The new statue replaces the one that was burnt down accidentally by a fire last October.
We made this booklet for the celebrant to use in the Lady Chapel after Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday, and now make it available to share with other priests who might find it helpful. It contains the Prayer for England and the four seasonal antiphons to Our Lady with versicles, responses and collects fully notated for singing.
It is available to buy from Lulu.
Our other books can be seen in the Publications section of the website.
It was a great joy to have the Right Reverend Bishop Robert Byrne, Cong. Orat. celebrate and preach for his first St Philip’s Day as a bishop.
We were also honoured by the presence of the Bishop of Northampton, the Right Reverend Peter Doyle.
The first reading:
The second reading:
The Gospel:
The sermon:
The Creed:
The offertory:
The Canon of the Mass:
The chalice used for St Philip’s Day comes originally from the Chiesa Nuova. Every year on 26th May, the Mayor of Rome presents the Roman Oratory with a chalice in honour of St Philip.
Hartwell de la Garde Grissell acquired this one in the nineteenth century. How? This print may give a clue!
The final blessing:
Our Lady was crowned, banners were carried, and the participants of the Children’s Liturgy scattered petals during the May Procession at the 9.30 Mass yesterday.
