I am confident that I speak for all who spent last week in Rome on our Pilgrimage to mark the 150th anniversary of the gift of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour to the Redemptorists, when I say that we have returned home with the sense that we were part of something very special. In the course of the week we would visit the four great basilicas of Rome and we began on the Monday evening at St Mary Major, where we celebrated our first Mass.
I think the joy of the pilgrims was expressed in the wonderful singing which rang round that basilica’s Sistine Chapel, where the acoustics were fantastic. We would return the following afternoon and join the procession with Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop Peter Smith (Southwark), Bishop Ralph Heskett CSsR, Fr Michael Brehl CSsR (Redemptorist General) and bishops, clergy and people from all over the world.
A copy of the icon was solemnly carried the 300 yards down the Via Merulana to our Redemptorist church of St Alphonsus, where we celebrated our second Mass of the day having already had the privilege of celebrating our own pilgrimage Mass in the morning, at which Fr Ronnie McAinsh CSsR, the Provincial, preached, reminding us that our presence in Rome owed much to an early Redemptorist of our Province, Fr Edward Douglas CSsR…to be continued…
For the first time this weekend the new book on St Mary’s Clapham will go on sale! To give us our formal title, the book is actually called … St Mary’s Clapham, The Church of Our Immaculate Lady of Victories and its Redemptorist Community.
The book was written and researched by one of our dear confreres from the Dublin Province, Fr Brendan McConvery CSsR. We owe him a debt of thanks! He has come up with some facts that even our most scholarly men did not know – eg, the Station of the Cross were given to the Community as a gift from ex King Umberto of Italy!
One of St Mary’s parishioners, the talented Jess Esposito, took the many splendid photographs that are throughout the whole book. To her also we owe a debt of thanks. As we most certainly do to Redemptorist Publications who worked so hard on this production.
There are letters of introduction from Archbishop Peter Smith and also from our own Fr General, Most Rev’d Michael Brehl CSsR.
There really is something for everyone in these attractive 86 pages – and that makes it a steal at only £5.00 per copy.
You can purchase your copy after each weekend mass or from the office reception.
