The 6pm Mass today was followed by a sung Te Deum to thank God for our new Holy Father.

The Holy Father, before he gave his blessing, asked the crowds gathered in front of St Peter’s to pray for him. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may continue to guide the Church and keep Pope Francis faithful to his service.

Let us pray for Francis, our Pope.

May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Our Father. Hail Mary.

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all thy faithful people, look mercifully upon thy servant Francis, whom thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over thy Church. Grant him, we beseech thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, he may attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray.
O God, eternal shepherd,
who govern your flock with unfailing care,
grant in your boundless fatherly love
a pastor for your Church
who will please you by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

May the wondrous grace of your majesty,
we pray, O Lord,
gladden us with the gift of a shepherd
who will instruct your people by his virtues
and imbue the minds of the faithful
with the truth of the Gospel.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Christ hear us. Christ graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Mother of the Church, pray for us.

St Michael, pray for us.
All holy angels, pray for us.

St Joseph, pray for us.

St Peter, pray for us.
St Paul

St Linus
St Anacletus
St Clement I
St Evaristus
St Alexander I
St Sixtus I
St Telesphorus
St Hyginus
St Pius I
St Anicetus
St Soter
St Eleuterus
St Victor I
St Zephyrinus
St Callixtus I
St Urban I
St Pontian
St Anterus
St Fabian
St Cornelius
St Lucius I
St Stephen I
St Sixtus II
St Dionysius
St Felix I
St Eutychian
St Caius
St Marcellinus
St Marcellus I
St Eusebius
St Militiades
St Sylvester I
St Mark
St Julius I
St Damasus I
St Siricius
St Anastasius I
St Innocent I
St Zosimus
St Boniface I
St Celestine I
St Sixtus III
St Leo I
St Hilarius
St Simplicius
St Felix III
St Gelasius I
St Symmachus
St Hormisdas
St John I
St Felix IV
St Agapetus I
St Silverius
St Gregory the Great
St Boniface IV
St Adeodatus I
St Martin I
St Eugene I
St Vitalian
St Agatho
St Leo II
St Benedict II
St Sergius I
St Gregory II
St Gregory III
St Zachary
St Paul I
St Leo III
St Stepehn IV
St Paschal I
St Leo IV
St Nicholas I
St Adrian III
St Gregory VII
St Celestine V
St Pius X
Bd Pius IX
Bd John XXIII
Bd John Paul II
All holy Popes

St Aloysius
St Philip Neri
All holy men and women

That you would be pleased to govern and preserve your holy Church, we beseech you, hear us.
That you would grant peace and unity to the whole Christian people, we beseech you, hear us.
That you would strengthen and preserve us in your holy service, we beseech you, hear us.
That you would lead all people to the light of the Gospel, we beseech you, hear us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us.

Let us pray.
O God, eternal shepherd,
who govern your flock with unfailing care,
grant in your boundless fatherly love
a pastor for your Church
who will please you by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.

O God the source of all holy desires,
right counsels, and just works,
grant to your servants that peace which the world cannot give;
that our hearts may be wholly devoted to your service,
and that, freed from the fear of our enemies,
we may pass our days in quietness under your protection.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

As the cardinals prepare to go into conclave on Tuesday to elect the 265th successor to St Peter, we must pray especially to the Holy Spirit for them and for the whole Church. To this end, we will be having a Holy Hour tomorrow (Monday) from 5 to 6pm.

Mr Aidan Mackey, creator of the G K Chesterton Library, gave a talk to the CS Lewis Society last week, which he described as his “swan song”. Mr Mackey knew Dorothy Collins, Mrs Cecil “Keith” Chesterton as well as other Chesterton associates. He spoke entertainingly about his memories of them. He managed to persuade a young audience of the importance of GK Chesterton today, and gave a brilliant recitation from memory of some of Chesterton’s poetry.

The Chesterton Library will of course be housed in the new Oratory Library, which will make it accessible for the first time and enable the items in it to be properly looked after. They include not only first editions of Chesterton’s works, but also items such as his toy theatres, walking stick and hat.

To find out more, visit: The G K Chesterton Library Blog

There will also be memorabilia of C S Lewis to be found in the Oratory Library. Here Aidan Mackey stands with Walter Hooper, former private secretary to CS Lewis and his biographer.

Photography by Tom Readings

BARCELONA & TARRAGONA 23rd – 29th October 2013

Pilgrimage to be led by Fr Dominic & Fr Richard.

Salvio Huix i Miralpeix, was born on 22nd December 1877 in Santa Margarida de Vellors in the Diocese of Vic in Catalonia. He was ordained priest on 19th September 1903 and four years later entered the Congregation of the Oratory of Vic where for twenty years he lived the Oratorian life of prayer, teaching the Catholic faith and administering the sacraments. He was the Provost of Vic when in 1927 he was named Bishop of Ibiza. Translated to Lérida on 29th January 1935 he well known for his effective apostolic work until 21st July 1936 when Republican forces broke into the Episcopal palace and Mgr Miralpeix, reluctantly and in order to safeguard his associates, took refuge with friends.

Seeing the dangers to which his helpers were exposed, on the night of 23rd he left his hideout and presented himself to the police, revealing his true identity. He was imprisoned at once, together with other prisoners with whom he shared both sufferings and also the joy of secret prayers and Masses, right up to the last moving Holy Communion which proved to be their Viaticum.

At 4.30 on the morning of 5th August they were all of them taken to the local cemetery and shot. The bishop asked that he might be the last to be killed so as to give absolution and comfort to his companions in martyrdom. Before his arrest he entrusted his pectoral cross to a friend, asking him to take it to the Holy Father in Rome, for whom he was offering his life and to assure him of his loyalty.

Bishop Huix i Miralpeix is not the only Oratorian candidate for the altars from the same period. Fr Agustí Mas, a priest of the Barcelona Oratory was also shot in hatred of the Catholic faith during the Spanish Civil War.

He and another priest of the same Oratory, Fr Lluís María Valls, were also involved in the revival of Catalan art and culture at the end of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. They brought the liturgical revival in art and music pioneered by the French Benedictines at Solesmes into Spain, and developed a uniquely Catalan and Oratorian style in architecture and music.

Both priests in turn were the spiritual directors of the famous Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí who was a member of the Secular Oratory of Barcelona and whose cause for beatification has also been introduced.

Besides all this, Catalonia, and Barcelona in particular, is rich in art and architecture from all periods from the time of the Roman Empire to the age of modernism. Our visit will take in many examples of this rich heritage.

Our pilgrimage will begin with a visit to Barcelona where there are two Oratories, one from the 17th Century in the Old City and another dating from the 19th Century in Gracia. Gaudí, who was the architect of the famous Sagrada Familia Church, attended daily Mass in the Barcelona Oratory and was the model for the image of St Philip in the frescoes there. We will visit Gaudí’s house, now a museum, and we will, of course, visit his famous church. In November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass here in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain, consecrating the church and giving it the rank of a basilica.

There will be visits to Lérida and to the Oratory of Vic in honour of the newly beatified martyr. We will also go to other places of religious significance in Catalonia, the famous Benedictine monasteries of Poblet and Montserrat and to Manresa, nearby, where St Ignatius of Loyola lived in retreat and wrote his Spiritual Exercises which became the foundation document of the Society of Jesus.

Our pilgrimage will culminate with the Mass of Beatification in Tarragona Cathedral and with Masses of Thanksgiving to celebrate the first Beatified Oratorian Martyr.

PRICE = £699

For more information please contact:

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The window of St John the Evangelist in the Sacred Heart Chapel has now been restored after it was vandalised in October. The broken pane included St John’s head, but as you can see it is now as good as new.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The work was carried out by Pendle of Lancashire and cost £4,770. While the building work continues the window is boarded up on the outside to protect it, so it can’t be admired properly until May.

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A new, easy way to support the building project — donating by text message.

Just text ORAT13 followed by your amount: £2, £5, or £10 to 70070.

Your donation will be added to your bill (or taken out of your credit) and there are no additional charges — if you donate £5, we get £5, and you only pay £5.

We were very pleased to have so many join us throughout the day on Saturday for our day of prayer for the Church. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament continues every Saturday throughout Lent, from after the 10am Mass until Benediction at 6pm.

On Thursday 28th February, there will be a special Sung Mass for the Pope at 6pm. This will be followed by Exposition until 7pm, when the Holy Father will resign his office. Please join us to pray for him, the Church, and for the conclave that will elect his successor.

Below are the prayers for the Holy Father that were used last Saturday.

Let us pray for the Holy Church of God, that our God and Lord may give her peace, maintain her in union, and preserve her over the earth, making principalities and powers subject to her; and grant us to lead a quiet and peaceful life to the glory of God the almighty Father.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast revealed thy glory to all the nations in Christ, preserve the works of thy mercy, that thy Church, being spread over the whole world, may persevere with a constant faith in the confession of thy name. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

God our Father,
who has given your faithful servant Benedict
grace to maintain his faith and hope in you
amid the labours of his apostolic ministry;
graciously bestow upon him, we pray,
the consolations of your Holy Spirit
and uphold him in serenity of life.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord Jesus, shelter our Holy Father the Pope under the protection of your Sacred Heart. Be his light, his strength and his consolation. Amen.

Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.
Christ hear us. Christ graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Mother of the Church, pray for us.

St Michael, pray for us.
St Joseph, pray for us.
St Peter, pray for us.
St Paul, pray for us.
St Benedict, pray for us.
St Aloysius, pray for us.
St Philip Neri, pray for us.
All holy men and women, pray for us.

That you would be pleased to govern and preserve your holy Church, we beseech you, hear us.
That you would keep the Pope and all the clergy faithful, we beseech you, hear us.
That you would grant peace and unity to the whole Christian people, we beseech you, hear us.
That you would strengthen and preserve us in your holy service, we beseech you, hear us.
That you would lead all people to the light of the Gospel, we beseech you, hear us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us.

Let us pray.
O God the source of all holy desires, right counsels, and just works, grant to your servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be wholly devoted to your service, and that, freed from the fear of our enemies, we may pass our days in quietness under your protection.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict.
May the Lord protect him
and grant him length of days.
May the Lord be his shield
and deliver him from all harm.
May the Lord give him happiness and peace
all the days of his life.
Amen.

The Guild Room was full to overflowing today for the first in the series of the Evangelium Course for the Year of Faith. Next week we shall try to fit more chairs in – and of course from May we can use the more spacious surroundings of the new Parish Centre. The presentations will continue on Saturdays throughout the year -and it is always possible to come for an single talk.

Coffee is served after the 10am Mass and the presentation begins promptly at 11am, finishing at exactly midday.

Fr Daniel gave the first presentation on “The Meaning of Life”, illustrated by works of art such as Michelangelo’s “Creation of Man” from the Sistine Chapel and Fra Angelico’s “Last Judgement”.

Next week (23rd February) Fr Jerome will speak on “Creation and Fall”.

Participants’ books will soon be on sale in the Porters’ Lodge along with other material to do with the course.