Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Cardinal Newman...

...made his home at Maryvale immediately on becoming a Catholic and leaving Oxfordshire. Today, Old Oscott House where he lived - and to which he gave the name Maryvale - is a Catholic study centre, offering graduate and post-graduate degree courses for students, and training for parish catechists and others.

People who study at Maryvale love it - you somehow encounter Newman there not only in his hand-written notes (still on display along with various other items in the hallway)but in the atmosphere of study and friendship, and unpretentious Catholic talk, and prayer in the chapel which is absolutely at the heart of the house literally and metaphorically...Maryvale friendships are centred on ideas and values and a sense of common purpose, and reverberate with good humour and shared experiences...

So when a local Maryvale graduate and I met and got talking, things hummed very enjoyably...and today we ran a coffee-morning at her house, inviting people for coffee and cake and a short talk about Maryvale...and we've raised a nice little sum, which, together with the results of a further event, planned for a London venue on Thursday evening, we'll be sending to Maryvale.

Want to join in? Why not do a course at Maryvale? Or help to finance some one else to do one? Or donate to help ensure that the house keeps in good shape? (It's old. Quite apart from helping Maryvale with its good educational work, your funds will help to cherish a fine old English house and all its history)...

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