Mass at the new chapel of Blessed John Henry Newman


Last night I was speaking to the young adults group at the Birmingham Oratory on the subject of conscience, drawing on the writings of Newman and Cardinal Ratzinger. The group is thriving under the chaplaincy of Fr Anton Guziel and is an important part of the apostolate of the Oratory.

This morning I was able to celebrate Mass at the new shrine chapel for the Blessed John Henry Newman. Brother Richard Duncan was kind enough to serve my Mass which was a votive Mass of the Beatus in the usus antiquior. (I used the Mass Os iusti but with the proper collect since it was actually in the shrine itself.) The renovation of the chapel has been carried out very well: in addition to the changes made to the reredos, and the sympathetic redecoration, there is a new cupboard at the back for the magnificent collection of relics of various saints, as well as a display case for the artefacts related to Bl John Henry himself, including a splendid mitre. The photo above was was taken by James Bradley  after the beatification - I found it at the Anglican Patrimony blog. My intention is eventually to celebrate Mass at the other two new shrines as well - those at Oxford and London.

Pushkin the cat was also around last night - I did actually meet him but failed to take a photo so here is the one where he shakes the Holy Father's hand. He perhaps felt that I had not shown enough respect for his now exalted status since he was nowhere to be found when I did have my camera this morning.

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