Fr Nicholas had the wonderful opportunity in November to spend Thanksgiving in Tennessee, with great friends of the Oratory. While we don’t have a similar day in this country when we stop to consider everything and everyone for which we are thankful, the Church does end the civil year with such a reflection, singing the Te Deum to thank God for the many blessings he has bestowed on us. There was much to be grateful for during 2024 in the life of our parish and Oratory family, with so many signs of God’s work in his Church.

In February, our work with adults entering the Church caught the attention of the press at home and internationally. Having previously instructed all converts on a one-to-one basis, at the end of 2023 we found that we had to launch a series of catechism classes for adults. The first of these finished in February, and was a joyful celebration not just for the new eight new Catholics, but also for all their new friends in the parish who came to welcome and support them. A second class began as the first finished, and we welcomed seven more new Catholics into the Church in June. Not everyone’s journey of faith quite runs to the schedule of the classes, of course, and there have been many more baptisms and receptions throughout the year, as well as welcoming home a number of baptised Catholics who had not been brought up in the faith. A third class began in October: please pray for all those preparing to received the sacraments in February 2025. Another class will begin as that one ends — if you know anyone thinking about becoming a Catholic, now is the time to send them our way.

Last year we baptised 41 new Christians and welcomed Constance, Benjamin, Miguel, Kieran, Jessica, Sally, Benoît, Zachary, Edward, Luke, Abel, Maybelle, Joseph, Isabella, Francisco, Faye, Anthony, Vivien, Rosamund, Amara-Rose, Julian, Ashwiny, Alexis, Héloïse, Meriel, Lucia, Olive, Emelia, Daniel, Amari, Timothy, Eleanor, Gregory, Patrick, Liam, Tomas, Maite, Elise, Julian, Ema and Alessandra into the family of the Church. Jenni, Fiona, Joshua, Kevin, Melanie, Charlie, Seth, Angela, Andrew, Guy, Yasmin, Benedict and Virginia were received into full communion in the One Fold of the Redeemer. 22 couples began their married lives together at the Oratory this past year, tied with 2023 for the most weddings in our church in a year: please pray for Jon and Sarah, Conor and Emily, Clifford and Stephanie, Jonathan and Beatrice, Clément and Faye, Matthew and Caitlin, Anthony and Angela, Dominic and Caoimhe, Callum and Olivia, Jonathan and Katherine, Joshua and Matilda, Bryce and Martha, Leandro and Lisa, Marc and Sorcha, Patrick and Philippa, Tomas and Simona, Ronan and Shannon, Taylor and Emily, Casey and Virginia, Omar and Claudia, Bryce and Bethany, and William and Celine.

Our average Mass attendance — worked out by counting everyone at Mass on four weekends in September/October — was 950, and there were many weekends when our attendance exceeded 1000. This is one of the highest in the Archdiocese, and is the product of the love and faith of our parishioners. It is also testimony to the hard work of many: the Fathers and Brothers, our choirs and music director, our sacristan, altar-servers, flower arrangers, church cleaners, greeters, Cafe Neri volunteers, Oratory Outreach and Porters. We are always in need of new volunteers for the Cafe, the Lodge and church cleaning, so if you are able to help please speak to one of the Fathers or Brothers. These are all such important ministries, and we are immensely grateful to all who have given up their time in service of our community.

On the music front, we began the year with a concert by the Schola Cantorum of the London Oratory School, launching their CD Sacred Treasures of Venice. In February there was a performance of John Stainer’s The Crucifixion by our own Oratory Choir under the direction of Rory Moules, our Director of Music. We are blessed to have outstanding singers and musicians, who have continued to build on our reputation for fine liturgical music — something often commented on by those who attend Mass here or follow us on the livestream.

We started an online shop to further diversify our income and provide an opportunity for people world-wide to purchase our own publications, cufflinks, lapel badges and tote bags, and a selection of other books and devotional items chosen by the Fathers. The Oratory Prayerbook remains a best seller, joined this year by a matching edition of the maxims of St Philip arranged for each day of the year. You can visit the shop at https://shop.oxfordoratory.org.uk/

As part of the renovation and restoration of the Oratory church we employed Cliveden Conservation to uncover the murals of the life of St Aloysius in the sanctuary, painted by Gabriel Pippet when the church was first built, and covered over in the 1940s. The murals turned out to be in much better condition than originally feared, and look as good as new. This work was made possible by the generosity of parishioners and friends, and we quickly raised the £20,000 needed. The information gathered from the process of uncovering will inform the future phases of the restoration of the once-colourful interior decoration of our church. Cliveden Conservation also made some repairs and restoration to the Relic Chapel, which suffered damage during the very wet weather, and gave it a much-needed clean. We hope to start more extensive renovations this year, as the plans are in their final stages and the fundraising campaign is almost ready to be launched.

The most obvious improvement made to our church this year has been a new microphone system, with vastly better sound quality both in church and on the livestream. We were able to purchase and install this system through the very generous donation of American friends, who came in November to see the results for themselves.

2024 was something of a bumper year for American visitors to the Oxford Oratory, as we welcomed 7 different pilgrim groups from the USA, including a group from Arlington, Virginia, with their Bishop Michael Burbidge, who were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of their diocese. We had pilgrims from Italy, Spain, and Germany, and visitors from the Oratories of New York, Nancy, and the Bournemouth Oratory-in-Formation. Over 750 people visited the Oratory during the Oxford Open Doors Weekend, many of whom had never been inside our church before. We welcomed the new Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, to celebrate Mass and preach on St Philip’s Day. A particular highlight of the year was the visit of The Archbishop of Toledo, Spain, and thirty of his priests, who celebrated Mass in our church on Easter Thursday. The priests were all under ten years ordained and all from the same diocese, so it seems that the so-called vocations crisis is certainly not a universal phenomenon, even in Europe.

There is certainly no vocations crisis in the Oratory, as with the clothing of Br Thomas Nimmo in the habit in September we now have five men in the noviciate. Three of our brothers continue their priestly studies with the Dominicans at Blackfriars, and we are grateful to the Jesuit Fathers for a grant that covers their tuition. St Philip had close friendships with the Dominicans and Jesuits in Rome, so it is wonderful that we are able to maintain those friendships here in Oxford. An important event in the Oratorian Confederation took place in October, when Fathers from all the Oratories in the world convened in Rome for our six-yearly General Congress. This was an important opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones, and the hard work of revising the General Statutes that govern our Institute was accomplished with much Philippine good humour.

Our parishioners and visitors have always been eager to help needy causes and charities, and past year we gave charitable donations from the Poor Box to OxPAT, the Santa Maria Education Fund, the Oxford Companions of the Order of Malta, the Order of Malta Volunteers and Life. Our crib collection raised £1,044 for Aid to the Church in Need; the Mission Appeal for the Kiltegan Fathers collected £1,479; and we were able to send 232 gift parcels to the Operation Christmas Child Christmas shoebox appeal. Our Lent Project for 2024 was for Let the Children Live!, a Catholic charity in Colombia. The founder, Fr Peter Walters preached an inspiring appeal, and the total raised was another record-breaking £4,764. Closer to home, we launched our own charitable team Oratory Outreach, which has run successful collections for the Oxford Food Bank each month. Oratory Outreach also helped to host the Companions of the Order of Malta Easter and Christmas lunches here at the Oratory for the homeless and less fortunate, and we continued to serve as the Companions’ base of operations for the twice weekly evening soup and sandwich runs.

Sadly 2024 also broke the record for the number of funerals, although the demography of central Oxford is such that we still have far fewer than other similar parishes. We said goodbye to a number of familiar faces, members of our parish for many years, commending to God’s mercy: Joy Finnigan, Patrick Lavelle, Norah Harris, Anna Baker, Madeline Dandridge, John Wilson, Linda Bond, Paulette Eeley, Aidan Mackey (our oldest parishioner, at 101 years), Desmond Sullivan, Monica Kaye, Pauline Power, Prof. Ian Shipsey, Prof. Richard Pring, and Evelyn Watkin, who died aged sixteen after a 22 month battle with cancer. We also celebrated the Requiem Mass of Fr John Hunwicke, a retired Ordinariate priest and well-known blogger. Fr Hunwicke was ordained priest in our church in 2012, after decades of ministry in the Church of England, and latterly courageously taught Latin to some of the Fathers. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

2025 is a Holy Year of Jubilee, when the whole Church once again experiences the mercy and forgiveness of God in a special way through events in Rome and in dioceses throughout the world. A Jubilee Year is an opportunity to forgive debts and start afresh, and to recognise what needs to change in our own lives and in the world to bring about the reign of Christ. But every new year gives such an opportunity, as every year is a year of grace, of joys, sorrows and celebrations. 2025 is also the 150th anniversary of the opening of our church, which we mark later in the year. And so the life of the Church goes on, and we continue to dedicate ourselves, our Oratory and our parish to the Lord and his blessed Mother, trusting always in the prayers of our Holy Father St Philip and of St Aloysius our Patron.

He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clang, hammer, ding, dong, bell; bell, dong, ding, hammer, clang, clash! Oh glorious, glorious! Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist. Clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold—cold, piping for the blood to dance to—golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells—oh glorious, glorious! “What’s today?” cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him. “EH?” returned the boy, with all his might of wonder. “What’s today, my fine fellow!” said Scrooge. “Today!” replied the boy. “Why, CHRISTMAS DAY” “It’s Christmas Day!” said Scrooge to himself. “I haven’t missed it.”

Those lines from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol remind us that we haven’t missed it. Today is Christmas Day, and a dawn like no other, except perhaps the dawn that rises in the Easter garden, as it will again some months from now. In reality those two dawns are only one: the child we kneel before this day was born for that — to live in our flesh, to teach us the way to Heaven, and to give then that self-same life so as to open the gates of Paradise to those who would be led by a Child.

At dawn on Christmas Day is celebrated the second Mass — that of the Shepherds. Those men of the hill country of Judah who began their shift of flock-watching as they had on any other day, and then the angels came with the celestial choir and they hasten to Bethlehem and found the promised Messiah, not leading an army but as God-made-man, Emmanuel forevermore, the Almighty in all the vulnerability of a baby. The Introit of this Mass makes plain the glory of what the shepherds beheld:

A light shall shine upon this day: for the Lord is born to us: and he shall be called Wonder-Counsellor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace: of whose reign there shall be no end.

We have the shepherds before the crib now, contemplating in wonder the babe and his Mother, no doubt with the angels’ words ringing still in their ears, these moments which they would forever recall. The Gospel of the Mass does not leave them there — we find them then going out and rejoicing and telling all the people of Bethlehem of the joy of this dawn. When God comes to any heart it cannot keep that joy to itself.

Today is Christmas Day, a day like none other. Please God we will find ourselves before the crib this day, to behold the child come to set us free, and with all the many cares and requests for ourselves and our world that we bring to him, let us linger a moment longer and consider that God came down from Heaven, for us, and let us not forget to tell him, simply, ‘thank you’.

It can seem that the songs we have to hear in the last days before Christmas get worse every year. Ever more terrible versions of pop “classics” from the 70s and 80s try to revive nostalgia for a new generation, and poor Mariah Carey must regret the moment she covered that Christmas hit. Thankfully we still have some good songs to keep us in the right frame of mind.

Each Advent, the final week before Christmas is marked by some very ancient words. Every day at Vespers (and at Mass before the Gospel) we hear the words of the O Antiphons, or the Great Antiphons, ringing out as if through the mists of time. We also sing their words in the much-loved hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Their very language sounds mysterious and arcane, and they conjure up for us the sense of awe and wonder that we should have at the great mystery of Christmas. Their origins are decidedly ancient. We have evidence of them being sung at the great Benedictine Abbey of Fleury in the ninth century, and the philosopher Boethius quotes from the first of them in the fifth century. They contain titles for Christ, mined from the Old Testament, which point the way to the coming Messiah, and they call upon him to help and save us.

Yesterday we heard the first of them, when we called out to the one who is the “Wisdom of the Most High, ordering all things with strength and gentleness,” and asked him to “come and teach us the way of true knowledge.” Tonight at vespers we will sing, “O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel, who gave the law to Moses on Sinai; come and redeem us with outstretched arm.” And so they go on, ever deepening their call, driven by the longing of all peoples for the saving presence of Christ to come into our midst, until the last of them on the 23rd, reaches their completion. On that evening we call, “O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: come and save us, O Lord our God.”

These beautiful antiphons remind us of a truth that the rest of modern Christmas culture can easily forget. This baby we await, this Christ-child, is in fact the deeply longed-for hope of all the ages. Since the fall of man, the coming of this one — The Root of Jesse, the Key of David, the Radiant Dawn — has been expected, and is the one who will bring with him the salvation for which every generation hopes.

And he brings salvation to each of us — in fact he already has. The O Antiphons remind us that Christmas for each of us is the commemoration of the fact that God thinks so much of us, he stepped into our life, took our human nature to himself, so that he could save us and share his divine life with us in return. He is the greatest of gifts and the fulfilment of every promise.

These mysterious antiphons heighten the sense of hope and longing in the last days of Advent. As the final week before Christmas arrives with its last posting dates, online order deadlines, the last shopping Saturday and the inevitable queues at the butcher’s shop, our hope and expectation can sometimes be to have it over and done with! But that’s not quite right. These last days should encourage within us a little more reflection, a bit more soul-searching to see what sort of expectation is in our hearts for the one who saves us. He comes so simply, and so gently into our lives that despite being the awesome fulfilment of the hope of all the ages, if we aren’t careful, we might miss him. All of us need to take a few moments here and there to still wonder, to wonder at the beauty and disarming simplicity of God’s regard for poor sinners like us, that he gets down to our size in order to say, “I love you.”