A Traditional Advent...

...in London has to include Westminster Cathedral. Went there for confession - you always meet friends in the confessional queue and this was no exception. Always vaguely reassurring - and the Sung Mass was beginning, with its glorious music and solemn procession. It turned out to be a special Mass of thanksgiving for the work of The Passage, the centre for the homeless run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, which has strong links with the Cathedral. Rather touchingly, The Passage's banner was carried in procession. Three big candles were lit to mark The Passage's 30th anniversary...

The Cathedral magazine, Oremus, has some lovely Advent and Christmassy things in it, including a delightful piece about homecoming, centred on that bit in The Wind in the Willows where Mole scents his home, his old home...

I dropped in to the CTS bookshop in the piazza, to get a copy of Light of the World the new book in which the H. Father is interviewed by Peter Seewald. It is a superb read.

On to St Patrick's, Soho Square, where the young team were holding an all-night vigil of prayer. The snowy Square with its wintry trees is currently dominated by the renovation work being done at St Patrick's, huge boards blocking off the church, all rather dramatic. Masses are being held in a small makeshift chapel in the presbytery, the simplicity and poverty somehow adding to the drama. You come in from the bitter cold into the hall with its sense of news and activities and then open the door with a simple paper notice "Chapel", and there is silence, and Fr Alexander at prayer, and gradually the place fills up for Mass...

There was soup in the kitchen after Mass ended, and it was good to catch up on the news. The Prayer Vigil was specifically for young people, for vocations,and for the work of the evangelisation teams in the parish. The church will be ready for use in the Spring, and a big celebration Mass is planned...meanwhile Masses are being held at the other nearby Catholic churches, including Warwick Street and Notre Dame de France off Leicester Square. The regular Masses include those for the Spanish, Cantonese, and Portguese and Brazilian communities, and there is a whole range of other activities including of course the outreach to the homeless, and an Advent Festival, and regular talks sponsored by SPES, the Evangelisation School...