Our pilgrims have returned from the Beatification of Blessed Salvio Huix Miralpeix and 521 other martyrs of the Spanish Civil War.

The beatification ceremony at Tarragona was a sunny and joyful occasion:

Deacons carried the relics of the newly-beatified martyrs:

The group also saw some of the holy sites of Catalonia, including the Royal Cistercian Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet:

Here is the group in Barcelona, outside the home of the architect Antoni Gaudi at the Park Güell.

Gaudi was a Brother of the Secular Oratory in Barcelona and his own cause for beatification has been opened.

The pilgrims were able to visit Blessed Salvio’s own Oratory at Vic:

Here is the altar of the new Beatus in the Oratory:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, greetings!

I would like to express my heartfelt participation in the celebration which is taking place in Tarragona, in the course of which a large number of Pastors, consecrated people and lay members of the faith are being proclaimed Blessed Martyrs.

Who are the martyrs? They are Christians who have been “earned” by Christ, disciples who have learnt well the sense of that “love to the extreme limit” which led Jesus to the Cross. There is no such thing as love in installments, no such thing as portions of love. Total love: and when we love, we love till the end. On the Cross, Jesus felt the weight of death, the weight of sin, but he gave himself over to the Father entirely, and he forgave. He barely spoke, but he gave the gift of life. Christ “beats” us in love; the martyrs imitated him in love until the very end.

The Holy Fathers say: “Let’s imitate the martyrs!” We must always die a little in order to come out of ourselves, of our selfishness, of our well-being, of our laziness, of our sadnesses, and open up to God, to others, especially those who need it most.

We implore the intercession of the martyrs, that we may be concrete Christians, Christians in deeds and not just in words, that we may not be mediocre Christians, Christians painted in a superficial coating of Christianity without substance – they weren’t painted, they were Christians until the end. We ask them for help in keeping our faith firm, that even throughout our difficulties we may nourish hope and foster brotherhood and solidarity.

And I ask you to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin protect you.

Click on the image below for full details of this exciting concert by the highly-acclaimed Camerata of Curiosities, in aid of the Oratory Campaign:

PROGRAMME

O viridissima virga – St Hildegard of Bingen 1098 – 1179

Pianto della Madonna: Stabat Mater – Giovanni Sances 1600–1679

Fantasia of foure parts – Orlando Gibbons 1583–1625 Salve, O Regina – Claudio Monteverdi 1567–1643

Allettamento VI (1714) – Giuseppe Valentini 1680–1740 Largo – Allegro – Andante – Presto – Vivace

Suite for Violoncello: Prélude BWV 1008 – J S Bach 1685– 1750

Cantabo Domino – Alessandro Grandi

There will be an interval at this point

Variazioni sopra il Ballo del fiore – Romanesca

O quam tu pulchra es – Alessandro Grandi 1586–1630

Duetto IV BWV 805 – J S Bach 1685–1750

Salmo Decimoquinto – Benedetto Marcello 1686–1739 Le cygne – Camille Saint-Saëns 1835–1921

Ave Maria – G Caccini 1546–1618

Deh piangi anima mia – Il Primo Libro delle Laude 1583

Tickets from the Porters’ Lodge or Fr Daniel.

The largest ever beatification in the Church’s history took place at Tarragona, Spain yesterday, when 522 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War were raised to the altars.

Among them was Blessed Salvio Huix Miralpeix of the Oratory at Vic, later Bishop of Llerida. He is the first beatified Oratorian martyr.

In 1936 the Oratorian bishop of Llerida near Barcelona, Salvio Huix-Miralpeix, was killed out of hatred for the Catholic faith.

He was born in 1877 in Sancta Margarida de Vellors in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, and desired to be a priest at an early age. He entered the seminary of the diocese of Vic and was ordained a priest of that diocese in 1903. He served as assistant priest for four years before expressing a desire to live a community life in the diocese where there was an Oratory. Here he followed the simple round of charity and ministry in the confessional and pulpit, taking any work that was offered, including teaching spirituality in his old seminary.

In 1928 in the cathedral of Vic he was consecrated bishop of Selymbria (in partibus) and made Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Ibiza, where he remained for nearly seven years. During this time he saw the rise of the anti-Catholic forces of the Spanish Republic. He worked hard to counter the influence of legislation against the Church, not only by pastoral letters and parish visitations, but by organising acts of public penance. He worked to increase devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Mother of God, and established small groups of laity throughout the diocese on the Philippine model to promote spirituality and faithfulness to the Church in the face of hardship. He was transferred to the diocese of Lleida as its bishop in January 1935, just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Here he continued his pastoral work of gentle teaching and forthright preaching. He was only to live for 18 months.

As hostilities quickly escalated the cathedral was burnt, and the Episcopal palace attacked on the morning of the 21st July. The gardener hurried the bishop to his small house about 10 minutes away, and tried to hide him there. His efforts would place the family in great danger, and the bishop left of his own accord after a couple of days. Just before he was arrested he left his pectoral cross with a friend, who was to give it to Pope Pius XI, with the message that if it were asked of him, he freely offered his life for the Pope, and to assure him of his complete fidelity to Christ and the Catholic Church.

At 9.30 on the evening of the 23rd July, Bishop Salvio walked down the main street and handed himself in to the authorities to protect those who had been hiding him. “Soy el obispo de la diócesis y me entrego a la caballerosidad de ustedes” (“I am the bishop of the diocese, and I hand myself over to your protective care”). Many local communists wanted to kill him there and then, but as a person of some importance they waited for orders for what to do with him, so he was imprisoned that night with many other priests.

In prison he was still the pastor, and encouraged his co-workers in acts of faith, hope and charity, hearing their confessions and leading devotions. The Blessed Sacrament was smuggled into the prison by a priest awaiting trial, and all were able to receive Holy Communion on the feast of St James, the patron of Spain, knowing that it would probably be their viaticum. Still, for them there was no trial and no mercy from the authorities. The bishop was to die unknown and of no reputation in the eyes of the world, a motive he had learnt from St Philip.

On the pretext of being taken to Barcelona the twenty priest prisoners were put into the back of a lorry at 4.30am and driven away. They were taken to a cemetery and shot one by one on the night of 5th August. Bishop Salvio asked to be last to die, and he was able to console, encourage and absolve the martyr-priests as they left this world. In all 270 priests of the diocese of Llerida were killed in the Civil War along with their faithful shepherd.

Blessed Salvio Huix-Miralpeix, the Oratorian, brought the light, warmth and joy of God’s love, which he had found in St Philip, into the darkness of chaos and hate.

Pope Francis sent a message from Rome to the crowds gathered in Tarragona:

Fr Dominic, Fr Richard and a group of our parishioners were present, and we hope to have more images when they return from their pilgrimage.

There will be a Solemn Mass of thanksgiving in honour of Blessed Salvio at 11am on Sunday 27th October.

Blessed Dominic Barberi is our diocesan patron for the Year of Faith, so it was especially significant to follow in his footsteps on Tuesday, the vigil of the feast of Blessed John Henry Newman and the anniversary of Blessed Dominic’s arrival at Littlemore to receive Newman into the “One Fold of Christ”.

Pilgrims set off from the Oratory and stopped at Trinity College, where Blessed John Henry was an undergraduate, and then at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, where he was Vicar:

They then passed Oriel College, of which Newman was a Fellow, and then down the High Street to the site of the Angel Inn, where Blessed Dominic arrived on 8th October 1845.

Eventually the pilgrims arrived at Littlemore, stopping outside the church and school built by Blessed John Henry:

After a Holy Hour in the church of Blessed Dominic, we processed to the College, where Newman lived, and arrived at the exact hour that Blessed Dominic came in to dry himself by the fire and begin to hear Blessed John Henry’s confession.

From the library, we went to the final station in the chapel, next to Blessed John Henry’s own room:

Our new youth group met for the first time last Sunday after the evening Mass. Everyone enjoyed the free dinner, and we ended with Compline in Church. We will meet again every Sunday at the same time (about 7:30). If you are aged 16–30, come along!

This Sunday will be (by popular vote!) a games night. If you have a game you want to play, bring it with you. Food and drink will be provided again, for a small donation of £2.

Sadly, on 2nd October, the feast of the Guardian Angels, the statue of St Anthony of Padua in our church caught fire and was destroyed. Happily, the fire did not spread, nobody was injured, and no other damage was done to the church. We should all give thanks to the Guardian Angels for watching over us.

We shall of course be reviewing our safety procedures, and hope to replace the statue of St Anthony as soon as this can be arranged.

Fr Daniel and Br Oliver are both alive and well after their parachute jump this morning!

The plane flew to 12,500 feet before they jumped out, strapped to a fully-trained professional.

Here we have Fr Daniel exiting the plane and entering free-fall until the parachute opened at 120mph. Free fall lasts for 45 seconds until the parachute opens.

Fr Daniel was followed by Br Oliver, seen here exiting the plane in a backwards somersault.

The airfield at Hinton, as seen from above:

Coming into land:

There were some friendly faces waiting to meet them on the ground.

Thank you to all those of you who have supported them with your donations, and to the many fundraisers who have been so generous with their time.

The current total is £9,915.55. It’s not too late to help beat the £10,000 target. You can add your donation by visiting www.justgiving.com/Oratory-Jump or in person (for the last time) after Sunday Masses this weekend.

Our new season of Evangelium began last week, and things are much more comfortable in the new parish rooms. Today, Fr Richard spoke on the Sacraments of Confession and Anointing:

The course continues each Saturday at 11am, with tea and coffee served beforehand.

Fr Richard took some of our Wednesday Morning Group to Houghton Hall yesterday to visit the exhibition of paintings formerly owned by Sir Robert Walpole and later sold to Catherine the Great. They have been in the Hermitage in St Petersburg ever since, but have returned for the first time in over 230 years for a special exhibition, curated by one of our former parishioners, Dr Thierry Morel.

After visiting Houghton Hall, the group went on to Walsingham and were able to pray in the Slipper Chapel before visiting the village. Here, unfortunately, the minibus acquired a puncture, and help was hard to find in North Norfolk. Eventually Anglia Rescue came to our aid, but in the meantime our parishioners were stranded. Their desperate fate can be seen in the poignant photograph below: