Therese Exhibition

During the visit of the relics to the Oxford Oratory there will be an exhibition of the life of St Therese. It will include some books and manuscripts from our library and archives. Meanwhile the exhibition panels can be viewed online by clicking here.

Training Day at Westminster Cathedral

We have received the following information from the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation. Anyone waning to help wth the visit of the relics would find this course very helpful.

Dear Friends,

This Saturday we are offering an evangelisation training day for those involved in welcoming in some way the visit of the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux.

The day will run from 11am – 5pm and is designed to cover:
• What is Catholic Evangelisation?
• How the visit of the relics supports evangelisation today (the ‘New Evangelisation’ and what it is)
• How to share faith using simple language (especially when speaking to people in the queues)
• Tips on welcoming and listening (especially to the anticipated visitors).

A small number of people have so far confirmed their attendance which means that they’ll be plenty of opportunity to ask questions, to share and to do some practical exercises. If you know of anyone who you think might benefit from the proposed day please do forward this information to them.

The venue is St Vincent’s (next door to The Passage) in Carlisle Place, Westminster (SW1P 1QW), which is around the corner from Victoria Station adjacent to Westminster Cathedral; for a map of the area please see here.

The day is donation only. Refreshments will be provided and attendees are invited to bring a packed lunch. Handouts will also be available.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to know more.

Yours sincerely and God bless you,

Clare Ward
CASE

Cardinal Newman to be Beatified

Our Holy Father Pope Benedict today signed a decree recognising the miraculous cure attributed to the intercession of John Henry, Cardinal Newman, the founder of the Oratory in England. This is an answer to the unceasing prayers and work of many people over many years and is a cause of tremendous joy, not only to the Oratory but to the Church in England. Please follow the links below to the press releases from the Oxford and Birmingham Oratories.

Bishop Philip Boyce, OCD, of the Diocese of Raphoe, Ireland, who is coming to preach while the relics of St Therese are with us, is staying on to lead the celebrations of the anniversary of Newman's reception into the Church on 9th October 1845. Bishop Boyce is both a Carmelite and an expert on the work of Cardinal Newman.

Press release of the Oxford Oratory

Press release of the Birmingham Oratory

"Divine Comedy" goes into rehearsal

Our Thérèsian Mystery Play, to be performed in the week before the visit, has now gone into rehearsal, after an intense and competitive period of casting. We can reveal exclusively that Fr Dominic Jacob has been cast as Pope Leo XIII and Fr Daniel Seward as Thérèse's father, Louis Martin. Fr Jerome Bertram and Fr Richard Duffield are taking the parts of Cardinal Newman (don't ask how he comes in, just come to the play!) and the Abbé Révérony.

Tickets for the play can be bought at the Oxford Oratory Porters' Lodge, at the Oxford Playhouse or online at Tickets Oxford.

For more information about the play, see the previous posts.

St Thérèse Prayer Book

Family Publications, based here in Oxford, have brought out a prayer book with prayers by St Thérèse, as well as prayers to her or inspired by her. This book will be an excellent resource in preparing for the visit of the relics. It is on sale at the Oxford Oratory lodge bookshop or online at the Family Publications website.

Book Online

Online booking is now available at Tickets Oxford for two events connected with the Oxford Oratory, our Therese Play, "Divine Comedy" and the Plock Cathedral Choir.

The Cathedral Choir of Plock in Poland are performing a concert of Western and Slavonic Music in support of our development campaign on Saturday, 11th July at 7.30pm in Merton College Chapel. Please click on the poster to enlarge it.

Here is the programme:

PART ONE (Mostly Western)

1. ‘Locus Iste’ - Anton Bruckner, 1824-1896
2. ‘Iustorum Animae’ - William Byrd, c.1543-1623
3. Organ : ‘ Voluntary VIII; Opus 2 ( No.2 )’ - William Walond, c.1727-1770
4. ‘Agnus Dei’ from the ‘Mass for Four Voices’ - William Byrd, c.1543-1623
5. ‘Funeral Ikos’ – Sir John Tavener, 1944 –
6. ‘Salve Regina’ (simplex Gregorian) followed by an organ improvisation based on it
7. ‘Veni Jesu’ - Luigi Cherubini, 1760 – 1842
8. From the verse-anthem ‘Lord, thou hast been our refuge’ :
‘The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord’ … ‘Thou openest thine hand’ - William Boyce, 1711-1779 9. ‘Magnificat Octavi Toni’ - David Bevan, 1951 -

PART TWO (Slavonic, mostly Polish)

1. ‘Bogurodzica’ – anon. c. 10th. - 13th. centuries
2. ‘Veni Consolator’ - Damian Stachowicz, 1658 – 1699
3. Organ : ‘ Preambulum’ - Mikołaj of Krakowa 1. ‘Połowa’, 16th. century
4. ‘Fortuna’ - Piotr Jańczak, 1972 -
5. ‘Notturno ‘- Henryk Czyż, 1923-2003
6. Organ : ‘Pastoralen für die Sommerflöte’ - Imants Zemzaris, 1951 -
7. ‘Radujsja’ - Paweł Czesnokow, 1877 – 1944
8. ‘Szczedryk’ - Mikołaj Leontowicz, 1877 – 1921
9. ‘Insanae et vanae curae’ - Joseph Haydn, 1732 – 1809

Online booking is also available for the Therese play "Divine Comedy"

Bishop McMahon writes about the visit

Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP, the Bishop of Nottingham, is the bishop with overall responsibility for the visit of the relics of St Thérèse. He wrote an article last year in the Catholic Herald about the forthcoming visit. Bishop McMahon thinks the Patroness of the Missions will be a powerful force for the renewal of the Church in our country. To read the article, please click here.

Oxford Oratory Relic Chapel

Work will shortly begin on the refurbishment of the Relic Chapel where we keep our "permanently resident relics"! We hope to begin the work by the end of June and finish in mid-September, in good time for the visit of the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux in October. We expect all the chapels to be in frequent use for Mass during the visit, so we want them all to look their best.

The chapel presently doubles as a baptistry, but the font will be taken away to be restored, and will probably not return until the new baptistry and chapel is built on the other side of church. The cupboards, altar, walls and ceiling will all be restored to their orginal condition, as will the shrine of St Aloysius. The whole chapel will be relit, with lighting within the relic cupboards and from the skylight above.

Pictures and information are available by clicking here.

New CTS Leaflet about the visit

The Catholic Truth Society have brought out a new leaflet about the visit of the relics of St Thérèse to England. Copies are available in the Porter's Lodge at the Oratory, together with many other books, leaflets and prayer cards. Prayer to St Thérèse and finding out more about her life and mission are important ways of preparing for the visit. The more we have prayed and the more we have got to know Thérèse, the more we will get out of the visit.

To find out more about the CTS books and leaflets about St Thérèse, please click here.

The Reliquary

The relics of St Thérèse have travelled all over the world. We post this picture to give pilgrims an idea of what the reliquary is like.

When the reliquary comes to the Oxford Oratory (it will be quite a squeeze at the door, but we have measured!) it will be placed below the altar steps. There it will be possible for many people to file past on the flat. The front pews will be turned sideways on to the reliquary to allow for a more prolonged stop where visitors can kneel or sit in prayer.

We hope there will be a constant vigil of prayer by the old and the young, the faithful, religious, deacons and priests.