Happy feast!

Well, it's only been 13 days since our last post, but today, in East Anglia, we keep the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. Here in the archdiocese of Birmingham, however, it is only a memorial, and so we missed out on the 'proper' offices of Our Lady, and cannot even sing the Te Deum at the office of readings!

Still, now that our weekly 'Rosary rota' here in Oscott is a sign-up list (every Saturday, we say the Rosary together after lunch), and so an East Anglian seminarian managed to take the reigns today, and, as well as praying for the Pope, our normal prayer intention for the Rosary, we gave thanks for her shrine and the priests, brothers and staff who look after it and the pilgrims. We also prayed that the Lord made speed to send us a new bishop in East Anglia.

Fr Stephen Billington, our new philosophy lecturer, preached an excellent homily at Mass today for the feast, and spoke of a priest's essential filial relationship and devotion to Our Lady, through the Rosary, and other prayers and devotions, such as the consecration to Our Lady of St Louis de Montfort.

Ben has travelled up to Walsingham today to celebrate the feast there, so we hope to hear more from him upon his return. Henry will be preaching this evening at First Vespers of Sunday, as is our custom for 5th years, so remember to keep him and his year in your prayers! My year will start preaching (well, giving reflections), at weekday Masses after half-term.

We'd like to wish a happy feast to everybody in East Anglia, and the national shrine of Our Lady in Walsingham. Oremus pro invicem!

"The more the Holy Ghost finds Mary, His dear and inseparable spouse, in any soul, the more active and mighty He becomes in producing Jesus Christ in that soul, and that soul in Jesus Christ." - St Louis de Montfort