Must-Reads
I have recently enjoyed reading Ferguson’s Gang, which tells the remarkable story of an eccentric group of women who helped the National Trust to raise huge sums, which they presented to the Trust in wonderfully eccentric ways (in one instance prompting a bomb scare). Somehow these women remained anonymous for most if not all of their lives, hiding behind masks and pseudonyms, but here their identities are revealed and their fascinating lives told to the reader. It turns out that one of these remarkable ladies was a Catholic convert - Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Pollard. Born into the Gladstone family she became a Catholic in her later years after attending “a mass at Brompton Oratory in Kensington” where she was “mesmerised by its music, altars and priests in ornate vestments.” This experience laid the groundwork for her conversion, but she didn’t make the final decision until she “had a vision of Our Lady, who appeared to her one night saying that she wanted to go home to Liskeard.” There had been a pre-Reformation Marian shrine there and Peggy contributed money towards its restoration. After being received into the Church she “cultivated a network of ‘brothers’, lay people she would telephone before going to sleep to say prayers with on the phone” and in 1973 she “built a modern Catholic Church in Truro called Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran” for which she “received the Benemerenti Medal, a special award from the Pope to honour her services to the Catholic Church.” She died in 1996, aged 92, and her ashes were taken “to the small town of Vierzehnheiligen in Germany, famous for its Baroque-Rococo Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers” where Peggy had been on many pilgrimages.
Fr Lawrence’s Lew’s recent book Mysteries Made Visible: Praying the Rosary with Sacred Art, which has been endorsed by Bishop Robert Barron and Fr. Donald Calloway.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
What are you reading?
I’d be very keen to hear from you, my readers, as to what you are reading at the moment or if you have any suggested spiritual reading. Please let me know and if you like I can even feature a comment from you and a link to the book in my next newsletter.
Deo Gratias Group
At 4pm on Saturday 20th November the Deo Gratias group will meet at the Rosary Shrine to discuss the poetry of George Herbert and what it has to say about God’s love and its ramifications for how we live our lives. This will be followed by a time of prayer in the Church and a pub social.
Order of Malta Carol Service
The Order of Malta are hosting their annual candlelit Carol Service and Benediction at 7pm on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Wednesday 8th December, at St James’s Church, Spanish Place. The service will be followed by a festive reception. Tickets available here.
White Knights Ball 2022
The White Knights Ball will take place on Saturday 15th January 2022 in the Great Room of the Grosvenor House Hotel to raise money for the work of the Order of Malta Volunteers. The evening will involve a champagne reception, three course meal, and dancing until carriages at 2.30am including opening the ball with a waltz. Tickets are available here; buy your ticket before the 6th December to benefit from the early bird rate!
Gaudete - Francophone young adults
Gaudete est destiné aux jeunes professionnels francophones et aux étudiants qui souhaitent vivre, partager et développer leur foi. Leur prochaine réunion aura lieu le lundi 15 novembre à partir de 20h à Notre Dame de France, 5 Leicester Place, Londres, WC2H 7BX. La réunion commence par une période de prière et de louange, puis à 20h30, il y a temps d’enseignement suivi d’un échange en petits groupes. La réunion se termine à 21h30. Les réunions ont lieu les premier et troisième du lundi du mois.
Gaudete is aimed at French-speaking young professionals and students who wish to live, share and grow their faith. Their next meeting will take place on Monday 15th November from 8pm at Notre Dame de France, 5 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7BX. The meeting begins with a period of prayer in the church, then at 8.30pm there is a talk followed by small-group discussion. The meeting ends at 9.30pm. Meetings take place on the first and third Mondays of the month.
Institute of St John
The Institute of St John are running a series of classes every Tuesday morning from 10.30 to 12.30 in the downstairs hall of St Patrick’s Soho. The next one will take place on Tuesday November 16th and will given by Br Michael Paul CSJ on Thomas Aquinas on the Life of Christ. For those unable to make it in person a Zoom link can be acquired from Claire Bruce on claire.bruce@gmail.com.
Effatha initiative - 40 days of perpetual adoration
I would like to invite you to take part in the Effatha initiative - 40 days of perpetual adoration that will start on 2nd of November till 12th December. Please check it out here and share with the whole world. They have flyers in 20 languages and want to spread it as far as they can and create an intercessory chain with people praying 24/7 for 40 days. People can adore in any church in the world (or online if not possible in person), they just ask people to sign in on their website for a specific hour/day you are available to adore, so they can ensure continuous prayer 24/7 over the 40 days. They have people from more than 20 countries participating (China, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Russia, African Countries, Ukraine).
Rosary Group
Jesuit Young Adult Ministries host an online group recitation of the Rosary for young adults every Thursday at 9pm. If you wish to join email yam@jesuit.org.uk.
Loretto Worship Nights
Praise and worship every Sunday night from 7pm in the crypt of St Mary’s University Chapel in Twickenham.
Fra’ Angelico Art Group
The Fra’ Angelico Art Group will meet at St Patrick’s Studios in Wapping at 10.30am on Saturday 20th November for a day of creativity and companionship. Please bring your own materials and lunch. For more information please contact Irene Novelli at irenenovelli@hotmail.com or call 07481 763845.
Deo Gratias Mass and Christmas Party
On Saturday 11th December the Deo Gratias group will be holding convene for Mass and a Christmas party.
Brompton Oratory Carol Service
Brompton Oratory will be holding their annual carol service at 7.30pm on Monday 20th December. Doors open at 7pm.
Looking for flatmate
Flat on Kew Road (with balcony!) and only a 10 minute walk to Richmond station. Rent is £800pcm including council tax, but excluding utilities. Available from 4th January. Let me know if you are interested or know anyone who might be.
Year of St Joseph
It being the year of St Joseph and the month of the Most Holy Rosary you may want to finish your daily recital of the Rosary with this prayer:
To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also.
Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities.
O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.
As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven.
Amen.
Plenary indulgences can also be obtained for the following devotions this year:
Contemplation of the Lord’s Prayer for at least 30 minutes, or participation in a spiritual retreat of at least one day which involves meditation on St Joseph.
Fulfillment of a corporal or spiritual work of mercy, after the example of St Joseph.
Recitation of the Rosary in families and between engaged couples.
Daily entrustment to the protection of St Joseph, and invoking his intercession so that job-seekers may find employment.
Recitation of the Litanies to St Joseph or Akathistos to St Joseph, or some other prayer to St Joseph, for the relief of Christians suffering from persecution.
Recitation of any prayer legitimately approved in honour of St Joseph on the 19th of every month and every Wednesday.
Examen
The examen is a method of reviewing your day in the presence of God. It’s actually an attitude more than a method, a time set aside for thankful reflection on where God is in your everyday life. It has five steps, which most people take more or less in order, and it usually takes 15 to 20 minutes per day. Here it is in a nutshell:
Ask God for light. I want to look at my day with God’s eyes, not merely my own.
Give thanks. The day I have just lived is a gift from God. Be grateful for it.
Review the day. I carefully look back on the day just completed, being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Face your shortcomings. I face up to what is wrong - in my life and in me.
Look toward the day to come. I ask where I need God in the day to come.
Source: A Simple, Life-changing Prayer: Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen, Jim Manney (2011).
Novena for Work
This novena for work has recently come to my attention and seems particularly apt this year as St Joseph (whose year it is) is the patron saint of workers. It may be of particular interest to those who are job-hunting or for those who are keen to sanctify their work.
London Shrines
Westminster Cathedral (shrine of St John Southworth)
Rosary Shrine (diocesan shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary)
Corpus Christi Maiden Lane (diocesan shrine of the Blessed Sacrament)
Tyburn Convent (Shrine of the Martyrs at Tyburn)
Volunteering Opportunities
Accommodation
Netherhall House (male)
Ashwell House (female)
Quote of the Week
“Our being children of God, I insist, leads us to have a contemplative spirit in the midst of all human activities; to be light, salt and leaven through our prayer, through our mortification, through our knowledge of religion and of our profession. We will carry out this aim: the more within the world we are, the more we must be God’s.”
St Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, 740
Pope’s Prayer Intention for November 2021
People who suffer from depression
We pray that people who suffer from depression or burn-out will find support and a light that opens them up to life.
Postscript
Inevitably I will have left out events, prayer groups, and volunteering opportunities so please feel free to get in touch with me at edwardckendall@gmail.com if you know of anything worthy of inclusion in this newsletter. And please subscribe and share this newsletter with all your friends and anybody who you think might be interested by clicking the buttons below.