Today is the feast of St James the Great (there were two disciples with this name, or rather Jacob), the first apostle to be martyred (Acts chapter 12) – some of you will have been to his great shrine at Compostella in Spain, which houses the famous ‘botafumeiro’, the large
Continue readingToday is the feast day of St Sharbel Makhluf. He was a nineteenth century Maronite priest and hermit in Lebanon. His feast is an affirmation of the Christian communities in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, which have suffered so much in recent years. Please pray for them and for Christians from
Continue readingFrom tomorrow we are asking people to wear masks at Mass in church – please co-operate. This will enable us to increase capacity in the church and the hall. Initially if you don’t have one we will provide one. God bless and take care Fr Ashley
Continue readingToday is the feast of St Bridget (or Birgitta in Latin and Swedish) of Sweden, one of the patron saints of Europe. I wrote about her in my booklet about them published in 2005. One of the most important woman mystic saints of the Middle Ages, she also, before founding
Continue readingToday is the feast day of St Mary Magdalen (which was upgraded a few years ago by Pope Francis). A problem is that sometimes the woman so identified in the gospels is conflated with other unnamed characters, forming a useful but inaccurate composite picture. The liturgy for today focusses on
Continue readingThank you for the many good wishes I received yesterday. Remember that from this week the morning Mass is back to the usual time of 10am and the 6pm Mass every day is open to worshippers. We’re hearing at Mass from the fourth of the great prophets of the 8th
Continue readingThis Sunday’s gospel is the parable of the darnel (Matthew 13:24-43). Masses at the times we followed in the last few weeks (Saturday 6, Sunday 930 and 530). From Monday the morning Mass in church will be at 10, not 9, and the evening Mass at 6 will be open
Continue readingBy the time you read this Joseph will have left St Edmund’s to be with his family in Welling for the remains of the summer. He resumes his studies at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh in September. Joseph arrived on 23th June last year, the feast of St Anthony of Padua
Continue readingToday, especially in this diocese (where it’s not optional) is the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a feast which marks the foundation of the Carmelite order in the Middle Ages. Mount Carmel in northern Israel, the scene of the dramatic confrontation between the prophet Elijah and the prophets
Continue readingAlthough in the diocese of Portsmouth today is kept as the feast of St Swithun (about whom I have reposted an entry from elsewhere today) in the Church’s general calendar today we honour the great medieval Franciscan theologian St Bonaventure. In the thirteenth century he was one of the earliest
Continue reading