PLANS...

...for the Blessed Sacrament Procession in London on Sat October 3rd. Starts 1.30pm WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL, crosses the Thames at Lambeth Bridge, finishes 3.15pm with Benediction at St George's  Cathedral, Southwark. ALL WELCOME!!! Just turn up. Bring your family/parish/friends...this Procession started just a few years ago and has grown and grown in size...makes a fine sight as it crosses the river with the Houses of Parliament as a backdrop...

A meeting at St George's Cathedral to make arrangements. This building is one of London's hidden gems. It is Pugin's gothic, 1840s, much older than Westminster Cathedral.  Fascinating history - the high altar stands on the spot where the Gordon Riots began. Some fine chantry chapels, a great sweep of gothic glory as you walk up the main aisle. Pugin himself, brilliant but troubled,  ended up in the Bethlehem Royal Hospital - Bedlam - which stands opposite and is now the Imperial War Museum.

The cathedral was bombed in WWII and rebuilt afterwards - older people remember attending Mass in the ruins.  St John Paul visited it in 1982 - all the pews were taken out and beds installed, and sick people were brought there to receive the Sacrament of Anointing at his hands...a rather fine stained glass window now recalls the scene,

I'll be leading a tour of St George's Cathedral on  TUESDAY OCTOBER 6th. Starts after the 12.30pm lunchtime Mass. ALL WELCOME - just come to the Mass and we gather afterwards.