Wednesday 20th January 2016
The Cranmerian prose of the Ordinariate Use, the choir of the John Fisher School, Purley, singing the Mass beautifully according to the setting by John Merbecke, and an inspiring sermon by Father Peter Geldard (right) - these marked the celebration of the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, at the Church of the Most Precious Blood at The Borough, London Bridge.
Fr Geldard noted that often in history small events, unnoticed at the time, turn out to be of huge importance: he cited an obscure tea-tax of the 1760s which would later become a major issue in the American Declaration of Independence. In the same vein, he said, the arrival one afternoon of rain and storm, of a priest at the Littlemore home of John Henry Newman, was of huge and lasting importance...for he recieved Newman into full communion with the Catholic Church and the results of that would change the religious history of Britain.
Mass was celebrated by Mgr Keith Newton assisted by various concelebrants including a visiting priest from America, Father Doug Grandon. Afterwards, a reception was held at the nearby historic Hop Exchange.
More photographs here.
Photographs: Eric Pittuck
