Every second weekend in September all the historic buildings in Oxfordshire are open to the public, and many walkers and cyclists “Ride and Stride” around the county to gain sponsorship for their own churches. Large numbers of visitors have been seeing our church and also the exhibition in the new library, including some selected items from the G.K. Chesterton Library.

As you can see, the books are still being unpacked and sorted, but everything is beginning to take shape. At the moment we have temporary shelves and fittings, awaiting the day when we can afford the permanent, wooden fixtures.

The Evangelium course – an explanation of the Catholic faith with using art – begins again this Saturday at 11am. The theme this week will be “Virtues and Vices”. We will now be able to meet in the more spacious parish rooms. Tea and coffee will be available beforehand.

Pope Francis has asked all the Catholics of the world to fast and pray this coming Saturday – the Vigil of Our Lady’s Birthday – for peace in the world, especially in Syria and the Middle East.

To this end, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in our church from after the 6.30pm Mass until Benediction at 10.45pm, coinciding with the time of prayer the Holy Father will be making in St Peter’s Square. Do try to come along, and to join with this day of prayer and fasting: a concrete way in which we ourselves can contribute to the urgent search for peace.

Speaking at last Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis said:

“Dear Brothers and Sisters, Hello!

Today, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace! It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out! War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected.

There are so many conflicts in this world which cause me great suffering and worry, but in these days my heart is deeply wounded in particular by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments which are looming.

I appeal strongly for peace, an appeal which arises from the deep within me. How much suffering, how much devastation, how much pain has the use of arms carried in its wake in that martyred country, especially among civilians and the unarmed! I think of many children will not see the light of the future! With utmost firmness I condemn the use of chemical weapons: I tell you that those terrible images from recent days are burned into my mind and heart. There is a judgment of God and of history upon our actions which are inescapable! Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. War begets war, violence begets violence.

With all my strength, I ask each party in this conflict to listen to the voice of their own conscience, not to close themselves in solely on their own interests, but rather to look at each other as brothers and decisively and courageously to follow the path of encounter and negotiation, and so overcome blind conflict. With similar vigour I exhort the international community to make every effort to promote clear proposals for peace in that country without further delay, a peace based on dialogue and negotiation, for the good of the entire Syrian people.

May no effort be spared in guaranteeing humanitarian assistance to those wounded by this terrible conflict, in particular those forced to flee and the many refugees in nearby countries. May humanitarian workers, charged with the task of alleviating the sufferings of these people, be granted access so as to provide the necessary aid.

What can we do to make peace in the world? As Pope John said, it pertains to each individual to establish new relationships in human society under the mastery and guidance of justice and love (cf. John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, [11 April 1963]: AAS 55, [1963], 301-302).

All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace. I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian of other confessions, as well as to followers of every religion and to those brothers and sisters who do not believe: peace is a good which overcomes every barrier, because it belongs all of humanity!

I repeat forcefully: it is neither a culture of confrontation nor a culture of conflict which builds harmony within and between peoples, but rather a culture of encounter and a culture of dialogue; this is the only way to peace.

May the plea for peace rise up and touch the heart of everyone so that they may lay down their weapons and let themselves be led by the desire for peace.

To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative.

On 7 September, in Saint Peter’s Square, here, from 19:00 until 24:00, we will gather in prayer and in a spirit of penance, invoking God’s great gift of peace upon the beloved nation of Syria and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world. Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace! I ask all the local churches, in addition to fasting, that they gather to pray for this intention.

Let us ask Mary to help us to respond to violence, to conflict and to war, with the power of dialogue, reconciliation and love. She is our mother: may she help us to find peace; all of us are her children! Help us, Mary, to overcome this most difficult moment and to dedicate ourselves each day to building in every situation an authentic culture of encounter and peace.

Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!”

News of the parachute jump on the 26 September is spreading, and it seems that people are quite keen for Fr Daniel and Br Oliver to jump out of a plane!

The current total is £5,091.26. If you want to add your own voice of encouragement, you can sponsor online at www.justgiving.com/Oratory-Jump or in person after any of the Sunday Masses.

We are sorry to disappoint those of you who have asked, but the company running the jump do not allow people to jump in cassocks…

Fr Daniel went with a group of young pilgrims from our parish to the Marian shrine of Mariazell, walking along the “Via Sacra” through the beautiful scenery of Upper Austria and Styria.

We began in Vienna, where we visited the Oratory at St Rochus and celebrated Mass at the altar of St Philip:

We were graciously made at home by Fr Felix Selden, Apostolic Delegate to the Confederation of the Oratory and Provost of the Vienna Oratory:

We walked for five days, and our first stop was at the magnificent Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz. Vespers was very impressive and we met Fr Karl Wallner, OCist, Rector of the Benedict XVI Seminary.

On the next day we went to the beautiful Conventual Mass in the Abbey, and afterwards met Fr Werner Christoph Brahtz of the Vienna Oratory:

At Kaumberg we were warmly welcomed by the local people. The Kapellmeister (left in the photo) kindly played the organ for our Mass and the Burgomeister (right), who is also the local baker, presented us with this splendid loaf of bread, which says, “Oxford goes Via Sacra!”:

We also visited the Cistercian Abbey at Lilienfeld:

The last part of the journey passes along the hilltops from Annaberg, to Joachimsberg, to Josefsberg and then to Mitterbach:

Finally we arrived in Mariazell itself:

The shrine dates back to 1157, when a monk was sent from the Abbey of St Lambrecht to the area, with a statue of the Virgin. When a boulder blocked his path near his destination, the monk invoked the Mother of God and the boulder was split, making his way clear. Arriving at his destination, the monk placed the statue on a tree stump and began to build a “cell” as both a chapel and his lodgings. “Maria in the Cell” gave the place its name. The image of Our Lady became famous for its miraculous powers and was much venerated by the Imperial Family of Austro-Hungary. Today, Our Lady of Mariazell is still honoured as the “Magna Mater Austriae, Magna Domina Hungarorum, Alma Mater Gentium Slavorum” – “Great Mother of Austria, Great Lady of Hungary and Mother of the Slavic Peoples”.

We took part in the light-procession around the town, led by His Eminence Cardinal Dominik Duka, O.P., Archbishop of Prague, who also celebrated the Solemn Mass for the Assumption the following day.

Last Sunday we were very pleased to welcome twenty Scholastics from the Society of Jesus to dinner with us. Fr Daniel welcomed the group, saying that the Jesuits are like spiritual cousins to us because of the relationship between our founders, St Philip and St Ignatius.

The group was very interested to see our relics of St Ignatius and St Philip, which are part of the collection left by Hartwell de la Garde Grissell. One of these is a letter of St Ignatius, bearing his signature, establishing the Society in Portugal, and is one of the few of his letters not owned by the Society.

We ended the evening by singing the Salve Regina together in the Lady Chapel.

Photography by Elizabeth Nyikos

Yesterday we were honoured by a visit from the Most Reverend Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, who celebrated the Solemn Mass and afterwards blessed our new building.

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia was also present on the sanctuary during Mass, and Archbishop Bernard invited the Metropolitan to join him in the blessing of the building. Fr Jerome has prepared an inscription for a plaque in Latin and Greek accordingly!

The Fathers are immensely grateful for all your generosity in supporting our fundraising Campaign that has made this building possible for the parish and the Oratorian community. Of course we still need to raise more to finish paying for it – and we commend this to you. Not only do the new rooms make further growth and long-term stability of the Oratory possible, but the parish centre gives us new apostolic opportunities in welcoming people to the church and creating bonds of charity.

Here is the Archbishop’s sermon from Mass yesterday:

“Look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is sitting at God’s right hand.”

“It is always a great pleasure to celebrate Mass with you here at the Oxford Oratory and to be united with you in the Sunday liturgy. There are several different purposes that have brought me to the community of the Oratory Fathers, to the Parish of St Aloysius and to this city where we witness to our faith in Christ in a real though as yet partial communion with the other Churches and ecclesial communities.

Among those Churches whose Christian living and witness the Catholic Church recognises and esteems it is the holy Orthodox Church with whom we have the closest theological, sacramental and spiritual bonds. For that reason I am most grateful for the presence of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware at this morning’s Mass and I thank His Grace for having welcomed me earlier this year to participate in the Divine Liturgy with his community in Canterbury Road earlier this year. We pray during this Mass for a deepening of the bonds of faith and affection that hold us together in Christ.

Today is also a significant day for the Fathers of the Oratory here in Oxford as we celebrate with them the completion of the first phase of their building project. It is gratifying to know that those who have been living in such cramped quarters in cellars and attics, thanks to God’s gift of increasing vocations to their way of life, will now have more fitting accommodation so as to organise their lives of prayer and service for the benefit of the parish and the many chaplaincies they provide. We also pray during this Mass for more vocations to the Oratory and for the success of the futures phases of this project.

Our Mass today affords me the first public opportunity to thank the Oratory Fathers for their generous response to the invitation to establish a new house in York, under the patronage of St Wilfrid. We shall pray for the founding members of this community as they serve their new parishioners and the pilgrims who visit the Shrine of St Margaret Clitherow.

None of these projects – our striving for the full, visible unity of the Church, the extension and growth of the Oxford Oratory, the new foundation in York – none of these would flourish if they were not founded on Jesus Christ and on faith in him which is also God’s gift to us. If we keep our focus on our Lord we are less likely to make any particular project or activity an idol for our worship or a distraction from the Gospel itself.

St Paul encourages us: “Look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth.” He is clear that Christ must be at the centre of all that we are and everything that we do so that we may become more like him. As we become more like him he can work in and through us more effectively and our lives will be fruitful in good things. In this way our projects will flourish.

The parable of today’s Gospel reading illustrates and conveys the teaching of Christ himself on the priorities that must govern our lives. Being successful in what we do is not in itself a problem but it carries a threat to our spiritual wellbeing. Whatever our interest, pursuits or work may be we must not become so absorbed in them that they become ends in themselves. The rich man of the parable is absorbed with the thought of amassing further wealth – his barns on earth become the source of his delight.

Nothing and nobody should delight us so much that we lose sight of our eternal destiny and forget the divine pattern for our lives that is the only true source of wellbeing and delight. If we can keep this in mind we can see our work and interests in their proper perspective and they can then serve the purposes of God.

Today, the fourth of August, is the annual feast day of St John Mary Vianney, the Curé d’Ars. I recall his memory today because he is the patron of all pastoral clergy and because of the clarity of vision with which he saw the purposes of God as the true source of our happiness and success. In his Catechetical Instructions St John Vianney reflected on the teaching of Christ that is before us today:

“Consider, children, a Christian’s treasure is not on earth, it is in heaven. Well then, our thoughts should turn to where our treasure is.

Man has a noble task: that of prayer and love. To pray and to love, that is the happiness of man.

Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When the heart is pure and united with God it is consoled and filled with sweetness; it is dazzled by a marvellous light. In this intimate union God and the soul are like two pieces of wax moulded into one; they cannot any more be separated. It is a very wonderful thing, this union of God with his insignificant creature, a happiness passing all understanding.”

May this union with God be the goal and the fruit of all the projects that we commend to his loving mercy today.”

Here is the Archbishop, Metropolitan Kallistos, Fr Richard and Kate Allison, our parish and Campaign secretary, in one of the new bedrooms:

The Archbishop blesses the Library:

Blessing of the Parish Rooms:

The Metropolitan adds his own blessing:

Fraternal greetings between East and West:

His Grace cuts the beautiful cake prepared to celebrate the occasion:

Photography by Elizabeth Nyikos

Congratulations to Philip Prince who was ordained Permanent Deacon on Sunday afternoon at St Chad’s Cathedral. Philip and his wife Susan have been coming to our church for many years and teach the Parish First Holy Communion Course each year. Fr Daniel, Fr Anton, and a number of our parishioners went up to Birmingham to share in their happy day.

Philip’s own grandsons got to vest the new deacon with the dalmatic. His granddaughter did the second reading.

Out of the five deacons ordained on that occasion, Philip was chosen to minister at the altar.

Here are some of our parishioners with the Archbishop at the reception following the ordination.

Philip will be exercising his diaconal ministry up the road at St Gregory and St Augustine’s; we are delighted that he and Susan will continue with the First Holy Communions in our Parish.

Fr Jerome has just returned from leading some of the Brothers of the Secular Oratory to Ars – the parish of St Jean-Marie Vianney, patron saint of parish priests. The Brothers form part of our Secular Oratory: that group of laity whom St Philip first drew to himself to teach them holiness and prayer, and for which the Fathers of the Oratory came into being. Brothers meet again in the autumn, every Tuesday at 8pm for prayer, instruction and recreation.