Dear Brothers & Sisters, Next Wednesday, 6th January, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany. The Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas (6th January) and the manifestation of the Lord to the pagan nations represented by the Wise men from the East. According to an ancient tradition, the relics of the Three Magi […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, Venite, adoremus! Come let us adore him! These words written on the banner hanging by our crib give us the clue to how we should celebrate the feast of Christmas, the Nativity of Jesus. I hope that everyone has set a crib at home and that you will keep it till […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, From 17th December Advent takes on a different perspective and the Church invites us to focus on the coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem. During this week leading to Christmas day, the Church calls on Jesus by different biblical names. This is done during Evening Prayer at the antiphon […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, Last Tuesday marked the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St Joseph as patron saint of the universal Church. 1870 did not only see the opening of St Catherine’s but also the loss of the Pope’s temporal power as part of the Unification of Italy under Garibaldi. Hence in those times […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, I’m glad to be able to see you again. I know some of you have seen me faithfully online but celebrating mass to an empty Church, looking into a camera is not great. Monday 9th November was particularly hard when I said mass to an empty Church, thinking that 150 years […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, Today the Church celebrates the merits of all the Saints. Saints are set as examples to inspire us to act justly and righteously. That is why we do well to know their stories and to have representations of them in places we can see. In our parish there are images of […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, Fifty years ago today, pope Paul VI canonised Forty Martyrs from the English Reformation. There were an array of priests, secular and religious, and lay people, among them three mothers. When King Henry VIII, after his break with Rome, proclaimed himself supreme head of the Church in England and Wales, Catholics […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, Saturday 10th October marked the beatification of a 15 year old boy who died in 2006 from leukaemia. Carlo Acutis was born in 1991 in London. He was baptised in the parish of Our Lady of Dolours in Fulham Road but soon after, he moved to Milan with his family. He […]
Dear Brothers & Sisters, 30th September 2020 marked the 1600th anniversary of St Jerome’s death and, coinciding with that occasion, pope Francis has released the apostolic Letter Scripturae Sacrae Affectus in praise of this saint who is mostly associated with the Bible. After a historical review in which an outline of Jerome’s life is given, […]
From Robert Smialek, our Seminarian: Greetings from Allen Hall, As my second year at Seminary comes to an end I would like to give you brief update on my experience so far. Firstly, let me start by saying that you are all in my prayers and I still have great pride in telling people that […]