We surged out of the Church of the Assumption into Warwick Street where a large crowd was waiting. It took some minutes to get the procession formed as the numbers were substantial, but it was […]
“I find your presence here very offensive”. Pushing her way through the crowd, the assertive young woman accosted me. She didn’t like what I was doing: inviting people into the church to light a candle. […]
How strangely things sometimes work out. In the surreal days of the Coronavirus lockdown, I continued and expanded a self-appointed role as picker-up of litter. Beer cans, old pizza boxes, wrappers of chocolate bars—it’s mostly […]
Twice a week, very early in the morning, I walk from London’s Waterloo Station across the river to the West End to help serve breakfasts at St Patrick’s Church in Soho Square. In what could […]
Maryvale: the name conjures up lovely images of gardens, a shrine surrounded by flowers, gentle hills in the background, perhaps some people praying and singing. Well, minus the background hills, and allowing for the bleakness […]
At London’s Waterloo station the announcements have a ritual lilt: “You must wear a face-covering unless you are exempt…stay safe…social distancing…” I am inadvertently reminded of a scene from a film about St John Paul […]
It has been strange – and rather frightening – to note how Britain’s mood has shifted during the coronavirus lockdown. At first there was a much talk of folk-memories of WWII and the Blitz Spirit […]
In today’s West, it is almost standard to assume that anyone whose life has been marked by difficulty, loss, or tragedy should be viewed primarily through the lens of that victim status. For young Karol […]
There’s a bus that leaves at the end of our street which goes to St John Henry Newman’s childhood home by the Thames at Ham. It’s a pleasant ride though the suburbs, and Ham, on […]
King Richard II (1377-1399), in the 14th century, formally dedicated England to Mary, giving the country into her care as her Dowry. This has long been of great importance for Catholics in England. A painting, […]
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