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The Roadshow Children at discovery in a Tent

Tents, they said, tents of meeting, in the Cathedral’s chapels. We were a little unsure how that would work; and then they arrived and were red! This was all in preparation for the Scripture Roadshow as a part of 'The God Who Speaks’ But, to confute the doubters, people came and schools came and were engaged and involved. Pete Codling, who is the artist for the Year of the Word, brought the artwork on which he is engaged and explained it to groups before Cardinal Vincent came in and blessed it.

Compare and Contrast

Preparing to bless the artwork

Fr Rajiv (for it is he) has recently returned from a less usual spiritual retreat, based not in a convent or monastery, but with 11 other priests in the desert sands of North Africa. It was a walking retreat, but with the assistance of a local friend to carry the baggage, 'a noble creature' he reports (pictured with him). Curiously, he is not the only Chaplain to have form with camels. Older parishioners may remember that Fr Andrew was the Sub-Administrator's Intern a number of years ago. When he left, he went to work for Pax Travel and so here is an image of him in the Holy Land 15 years ago, also with a local friend.

Fr Andrew as a Tour Manager in 2005 © Oremus , April 2005

Fr Rajiv and his camel, somewhere in a sand dune

© Oremus, April 2005 © Diocese of Westminster

The rug in Clergy House dining room is venerable, but had fallen into a sad state, with fraying edges, wholesale fading in areas and one very large hole. We thank a kind benefactor who has enabled its repair and restoration. Wonders have been worked in cleaning and restoring both its integrity and its colour, so that we can look forward to many more decades of service. The image shows just how large it is, as it was relaid before we put the dining table back on top of it.

Mass and Anointing

The Cathedral filled with Lourdes pilgrims and the sick when Mass was celebrated in anticipation of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of Prayer for the Sick. Young pilgrims help out in a number of ways, and perhaps it is just a trick of the camera that, in the image, Our Lady seems to float calmly over the surrounding bustle?

Milan Comes to Town

We are not sure who was left minding the shop in the Archdiocese of Milan when Archbishop Delpini and over 100 of his priests came to celebrate Mass in the Cathedral on Wednesday 12 February. The purpose of their visit to this country was a pilgrimage to honour St John Henry Newman and visit sites connected with his life. The Archdiocese has its own very ancient liturgical tradition, called the Ambrosian Rite after the great bishop of Milan, St Ambrose. Bishop Nicholas Hudson welcomed the visitors and concelebrated the Mass, and was able to show Archbishop Delpini that St Ambrose has his place in Westminster, too, with his mosaic by St Paul’s Chapel.