βHail, Mary, full of grace.β These words which open the much-loved prayer express the belief in the abundant way by which God graced Our Lady from the very beginning of time, so that she would be worthy to be the Mother of God. The Blessed Vir...
Every now and then, in my mind's eye or on TV, there appears the image of Stanbrook Abbey, in Worcestershire, of course. The sweeping drive, the majestic chapel, the forbidding parlours, the sun-kissed gardens and apparently endless central heatin...
On Sunday 4 October, Pope Francis opened the Ordinary Synod on the Family by celebrating Mass in St Peterβs Rome. In his homily, he focused on the importance of love and identified the most important parts of the first reading from Genesis 2:18-...
Today we are so glad and honoured to be together at this wonderful shrine of Our Blessed Lady. Here we touch something that runs deep in the Catholic veins of this country. Here we can sense why we refer to England as Mary's Dowry. And, of course,...
The last time I was in this Diocese of Nottingham was for the burial of a king. Today it is for the raising up of a bishop.Β
This is the Lord's work, for it is beyond our capacities. Only He can give the gifts of episcopal character and ordina...