Tuesday 1st September is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. This day, established by Pope Francis, invites us to reflect on the Christian truth that this visible world comes to us from God, it bears the marks of his presence and deserves respect and a true spirit of care. Pope Francis,
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2026 Read More »
This Sunday we celebrate the feast of Blessed Juvenal Ancina, a member of the Roman Oratory in the time of St Philip Neri and also a friend of St Francis de Sales. Among Blessed Juvenal’s work was that of composing religious music to aid Catholic devotion; the saint also loved to play chess in his
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Isaiah 22:19-23 | Romans 11:33-36 | Matthew 16:13-20 Who is this Shebna in the first reading? He is one of those obscure Old Testament characters whom we meet for only a moment, but who turns out to be rather interesting. Shebna is the “master of the palace” under King Hezekiah, one of the most powerful
Homily for the 21st Sunday of the Year, 23 August 2026 Read More »
On Tuesday 8th September Fr Michael Lang of the London Oratory will give a presentation on the development of the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, and the liturgical propers that have arisen in connection with this feast, which is traditionally celebrated on Shrove Tuesday. Fr Michael is a widely published scholar and internationally
Talk on the Sacred Liturgy by Father Michael Lang C.O. Read More »
This Monday we celebrate the feast of St Bartholomew, one of the original twelve Apostles. Being a close friend of Christ, being transformed by Him, faithful to Him, and later evangelizing and giving up his life for Him, we look up to St Bartholomew as an example of holiness. “We have no special information about
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St Augustine was born in 354 in Tagaste (modern Algeria). Whilst schooled in Christianity by his mother Monica (also a saint, her feast being the previous day), the independent and intellectual young Augustine adopted the creed of the Manicheans, a popular religion in the ancient world which set goodness and evil as equal and opposing
St Augustine, feast 28th August Read More »
The Eucharist – Source and Summit of Christian Life Following on from our course The Way of Beauty, this season we turn to the mystery at the very heart of our faith: the Holy Eucharist. Through Scripture, the Apostolic Fathers, Councils, Liturgy, and Living Devotion, we will deepen our love and understanding of the Sacrament
Foundations of the Eucharist 2026 Read More »
Today, the Church presents us with two extraordinary images of the same woman. In the first reading from Revelation, we see “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1). And then, in the Gospel, we see a very different image: a young
Homily for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, 16 August 2026 Read More »
The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the patronal feast of South Africa. This doctrine of the church was affirmed dogmatically by Pope Pius XII in 1950 in his Encyclical Munificentissimus Deus, where he taught that “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her
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On the Octave day of the traditional date of the Assumption (15th August) the universal church observes the memorial of the Queenship of Mary, closely connected with the mystery of her Assumption. The Second Vatican Council taught that Mary, “taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, [was] exalted by the Lord as Queen of
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