A celebration at the Priory

The Feast of St John of the Cross was celebrated appropriately on Saturday at the OCD Priory on Boars Hill outside Oxford.  There was an impressive complement of friars at mass, which followed liturgical prayers in the chapel.  After mass we had a presentation of a new book in a series on prayer being produced by the Teresian press, and then a short film giving a very quick survey of the plans for the new building complex.  Fr Alex alerted us to the fact that the serious fund-raising effort is about to start.  We ended with an impressive lunch made by the friars.  It would be truly heartwarming to see the band of African and Indian Carmelites breathing new life into the Priory, were it not that this highlights so poignantly the complete lack of British vocations.  Let us hope that the reversal of the traditional mission direction currently underway, with so many devoted African priests ministering lovingly to us in our churches, will help bring our own nation back to the ways of God.

Intercessions

Agnes, Philippa, Marie – cancer

Bernard – cancer, and wife Angela

Rosemarie – multiple afflictions

David – housebound

Elara, Siena – infants with severe medical issues