Cause of our joy

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of the nativity of Our Lady: the cause of our joy. For the younglings, it also marked the end of our very first week here at Oscott College and the end of our honeymoon period, as we were launched into lectures at the start of this week.

At the moment, I'm enjoying these early starts too - something which I wasn't very much of an advocate in my previous life outside the seminary gates - but we shall see how long that lasts! Apparently, the chapel gets colder too. Eeek!

Since the Bishop kindly said he would send me here all those months ago, I've been excited about arriving and moving into my new room (which is of generous proportions!), and now I'm eagre to get going, using all the wonderful resources here at the college. There is just so much bounty to be had in the treasury of our Catholic faith, spiritually and intellectually, I can't wait to take a bite. All this around us is for our benefit, so that we may be formed into priests, praise God, to serve His people outside in the real world. Socialising, studying, making the occasional mistake, is all there to deepen our relationship with God, a portal to the mysterious depths of His love for us. How fitting, then, that the college's patroness is His holy Mother, Mary, the portal who brought Him to us and continues to lead us to Him.

Holy Mary, Mother of our Lord and cause of our joy, pray for seminarians, that we may be able to make the same fiat as thee.