20th & 21st Sundays of the Year (B)
13th & 14th Sundays after Pentecost
The next Parish Newsletter will appear on Sunday 1st September.
HOLIDAY ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST
There will be no Benediction on Tuesdays.
The Confraternity of the Precious Blood will not meet and will resume on Sunday 15th September.
There will be no coffee/tea after the 11am Mass on Sondays.
St Gregory’s Library is closed will and re-open on Sunday 1st September at 11am.
The Oratory Bookshop will be open whenever possible. To confirm opening hours, please phone the Oratory House (020 7808 0900).
PATRICK RUSSILL KNIGHT OF ST GREGORY
Congratulations to Professor Patrick Russill, our Director of Music, on being appointed a Knight of St Gregory! The honour is awarded for his excellence and influence in Church music throughout the country and beyond, as well as his years of dedicated service at the Oratory. He will be invested at a future date yet to be decided.
ST PHILIP NERI CIRCLE FOR MEN
The circle meets in the Oratory House once a month for spiritual discourse in a familiar way on a work of spirituality or theology with the aim of drawing lessons for our own life from the work studied. The next meeting will be on Wednesday 21st August, from 8.00pm to 9.15pm. Our new reading will be Philip Neri: The Fire of Joy, by Fr Paul Türks of the Oratory. The book is currently out of print but available from the Oratory House for £10. The circle is open to men only. For more information, please email Fr Michael Lang at michaellang@rcdow.org.uk.
PILGRIMAGE TO WALSINGHAM
The annual Joint Oratories Pilgrimage to Walsingham will be on Saturday 7th September. A coach will leave from the Victoria & Albert Museum at 9.00am sharp. Please bring a packed lunch. At the Shrine, there will be a Sermon and Solemn Benediction at 2pm (not Mass), followed by a Procession to the Abbey Grounds. Coach tickets are available from the Oratory House (£30 for adults, £10 for children).
MARCH FOR LIFE UK
The annual March for Life UK will take place in London on Saturday 7th September. The theme for this year is: “Abortion Isn’t Healthcare”. Every life should be valued from the moment of conception and all parents should be given the support they need. Full details can be found at marchforlife.co.uk.
HELPING THE HOMELESS AND NEEDY IN OUR AREA
HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) run a shelter to aid those who are homeless or in dire need at St Augustine's Church, 117 Queen's Gate, SW7 5LP every Wednesday morning from 9am-12pm. They also run a laundry service for our shelter guests to be able to wash their clothes whilst they are attending shelter. If you would like to help in one of these projects (mentioning that you heard about this from the Oratory), please email: shelter@htb.org. You can also help them by buying from the HTB wish list on Amazon and sending your gifts directly to them to distribute: click on this link.
CHILDREN’S AREA
On Sunday mornings, St Gregory’s Library at the back of the Church is made available to parents whose children become restless during Mass. There are books and some toys. Entrance is through the Sacred Heart Chapel at the back of the church. Children must be supervised by their parents at all times. If you can spare a few hours on a Sunday occasionally to help, please contact David Campbell (phone 07768176848).
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES FOR MEN
Five-day Ignatian retreats for men only conducted in English by the Fathers of Abbaye Saint-Joseph de Clairval in Flavigny (France): Sunday 15th to Friday 20th September in Godalming, Surrey. For more information, click here.
MASS INTENTIONS
CONTACTLESS GIVING AVAILABLE
Click here for more information.
You can still make a donation via Stripe (see here) or make a bank transfer. Our account details are:
Account Name: The Oratory
Sort Code: 60 04 04
Account Number: 18192947
Please add your surname and first name as a reference, to help our bursar.
The Oratory very much depends on your contributions, and we thank you in advance for your generosity.
GIFT AID – HELPING THE ORATORY
If you are a UK taxpayer, the Oratory can claim back from the Inland Revenue 25p of every £1 you give, at no cost or inconvenience to you. Setting up a Gift Aid arrangement helps the Oratory to increase its income (click here for the forms).
PRIEST REFERENCE FOR SCHOOL APPLICATIONS
Parents who wish one of the Oratory Fathers to give their child a school reference must register with the “Mass Attendance” scheme. Registration forms are available from the Oratory House.
UNABLE TO GET TO MASS ON SUNDAYS?
The Oratory runs a bus service staffed by volunteers to help the elderly and/or incapacitated attending the 11am Mass each Sunday. The minibus has a lift for wheelchairs and volunteers help passengers go to Holy Communion if required. The service is available to parishioners and those who live in the Fulham and Earl’s Court areas. Please email generalenquiries@bromptonoratory.co.uk or telephone 020 7808 0900 if you are interested in making use of this service, or if you would like to volunteer as a driver or helper.
PSYCHOTHERAPY AND LIFE COACHING
Wilfrid’s House is a BACP-accredited, registered charity based at the Oratory and committed to helping people cope with life’s challenges`. Through low-cost counselling and psychotherapy, they support individuals who are going through challenges such as anxiety, depression, inability to cope with daily life, relationship issues, and bereavement. Through low-cost life coaching, they support individuals who are feeling overwhelmed and unable to move forward with purpose. Whether you are struggling with change, big decisions or simply day-to-day life, coaching offers emotional and practical support, enabling clarity and structure and helping you achieve your goals. Further information at www.wilfridshouse.org.
For job vacancies in the Diocese of Westminster, see https://jobs.rcdow.org.uk/.
INFORMATION FOR MARRIAGE
If you would like to be married at the Oratory, we will need at least 6 months notice. For the initial enquiry please come to the Oratory House in person and ask to speak to the priest on duty (see Hours of Duty below). All subsequent meetings, bookings and arrangements will be done through him, so please make a note of his name! No wedding bookings will be taken over the telephone or by email.
If you do not normally worship at the Oratory, please state the name of the church where you usually attend Mass and give the reasons you wish to marry here (for instance, personal connection to the Oratory or one of our schools). It is important to approach the church first before making your plans for a reception venue. We do not have weddings on a Sunday.
There are various arrangements and legalities, both civil and ecclesiastical which need to be attended to. You will also need to undergo a course of preparatory instruction about the sacrament of marriage. Speak to the priest for more details.
Hours of Duty:
Monday-Saturday: 9.30am-12.00pm; 3.00pm-5.30pm.
INFORMATION FOR BAPTISM
According to canon law, “Parents are obliged to see that their infants are baptised within the first few weeks. As soon as possible after the birth, indeed even before it, they are to approach the parish priest to ask for the sacrament for their child, and to be themselves duly prepared for it” (Code of Canon Law, can. 867 §1).
Those wishing to have their child baptised should contact the Oratory House and ask to speak to the priest on duty. All subsequent meeting, bookings and arrangements will be done through him. It will be necessary to meet with the priest for a class on the sacrament of baptism.
Normally baptisms take place in the parish where a family is resident. If you do not live within the territorial boundaries of the Oratory parish but have a good reason for wanting to have your child baptised here, please explain that to the priest on duty. In such cases your own parish priest will need to give permission for the baptism to take place at the Oratory.
The choice of godparents (sponsors), who are to help the baptised to live a good Christian life and faithfully to fulfil the duties inherent in baptism, is an important one. “There is to be only one male sponsor or one female sponsor or one of each” (Code of Canon Law, can. 873). A godparent must be a Catholic of not less than sixteen years of age, who has been confirmed and who lives a life of faith that befits the role to be undertaken. A baptised person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community may be admitted in company with a Catholic sponsor as a Christian witness.