St Augustine of Canterbury
Today is the feast day of St Augustine of Canterbury, secondary patron of our archdiocese of Southwark, shown here in a panel in Westminster Cathedral alongside Pope St Gregory the
Continue readingThe Feast of St Philip Neri
Today is the feast of St Philip Neri, one of the best love saints of the Counter-Reformation period in the 16th century – the founder of the Oratory religious
Continue readingVenerable Bede – Saint and Doctor of the Church
Some of you may watch the popular TV series ‘The Last Kingdom’ which, although fictional, does fill in the gaps for many of us in our knowledge of the history
Continue readingSunday’s Reflections
It was a great joy to be able to celebrate the livestreamed Vigil Mass from church last night. As some of you know our younger daughter Iris came out of
Continue readingThoughts for Saturday
You may have noticed the last verse of yesterday’s first reading (Acts 18:18) where we are told that St Paul ‘had his hair cut off, because of a vow he
Continue readingAscension Day and Human Nature
One of the texts for yesterday’s feast of the Ascension, an insert in the First Eucharistic Prayer, says this: ‘[we are] celebrating the most sacred day on which your Only
Continue readingAscension Day
Clergy are apt to say on Ascension Day that the feast gets rather a raw deal because, although it is only behind Easter, Christmas and Pentecost in importance we
Continue readingWednesday’s Reflections
I think I commented a few weeks ago that the long speeches in the book of Acts are amongst the most intriguing parts of the book, possibly from a different
Continue readingTuesday’s Reflections
Today’s first reading from Acts 16 shows Paul and Silas being flogged and imprisoned in Philippi in Macedonia, and then being miraculously released during an earthquake. The passage is remarkable
Continue readingMonday’s Reflections
Our first reading today (Acts 16:11-15) introduces us to St Lydia of Thyatira, ‘a devout woman who was in the purple-dye trade.’ She is converted to Christianity and is traditionally
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