A Procession from the Ordinariate Church of the Most Precious Blood through the streets of The Borough, London Bridge, to celebrate Our Lady's arrival in Heaven...the feast of the Assumption. Here we are, just setting off, under the railway arch. We sang "Ave Ave Ave Maria" all along Southwark Street and into the Borough High Street, children scattering flower petals, and a team of us handing out small cards to explain to people what was going on. Things finished with a barbeque in the CrossBones garden opposite the back of the church...
Summer drawing to an end...apples ripening on the trees in suburban gardens, late roses blooming...I've been picking blackberries to make Blackberry Jam and Bramble Cheese, to sell at the Festival at Westminster Cathedral Hall in November...
3 comments:
Hi Mrs. Bogle - I live in the U.S. - Northern Delaware - and I would love to have this type of activity in my Parish - we really have no sense of community. Can you tell me how this started in your Parish? Any tips to get people interested?
The Borough is a fascinating corner of London, right by London Bridgea on the south bank of the Thames, and the Borough High Street is the ancient route leading out of London down to the coast. It has its own special history and atmosphere...I don't know what your parish is like, and what works in a busy corner of a great city might not work in a quiet suburb...
There's an excellent book called "Rebuilt" which tells the story of an American parish which experienced a great revival - I think this story has been of enormous help to a great many priests and active lay Catholics, and it has certainly inflkuenced a number of us at Precious Blood. Lots of small details are of value...I learned a great deal from reading it...
Other ideas: start with small things, like a celebration of St Nicholas or St Lucy in December?...or carol singing house-to-house or in a local shopping centre? Start promoting the idea that every family should have a Christmas Crib - and bring the Christ-hild to Mass on the 3rd Sunday of Advent to have it blessed?
Other readers like to give tips?
Joanna B
Thank you, Mrs. Bogle. I see that Amazon has the book you recommend and I've ordered it. I fear I am in a dying parish. Mass attendance is incredibly small, there are almost no young people (or anyone under 80!), our school has closed, we've lost our Religious Education department (we've "outsourced" our Rel. Ed. and RCIA to another, nearby parish). But, I'm hopeful that it can get better.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions,
God Bless You,
Lisa
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