High Mass was celebrated at Noon, following sung Lauds, at the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint Gregory by Dr Antony Conlon, the Chaplain to the Grand Priory, assisted by Fr Mark Elliot-Smith, Parish Priest of the church, and Fr Christian de Lisle.
We were privilege to have been offered the use of the Parish's wonderful antique vestments bearing the badge of the Order of St Gregory the Great, a lovely œcumenical detail.
The Homily was preached by Fr John Hunwicke, of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, who based his text around a visit to the Church of Our Lady and St Edmund of Abingdon, in Abingdon, which was built by Sir George Bowyer and contains a magnificent east window of Order saints, including Our Blessed Patron wearing the Cross of his own Order upon his camel-skin cloak! In the churchyard is a monument by Eric Gill, the burial place of Montagu, 7th Earl of Abingdon, grandfather the late Grand Master Servant of God Fra' Andrew Bertie, so there are several connections to the Order. (Sir George Bowyer was a co-founder of the British Association and the donor of our Church in Saint John's Wood, where his heart is buried.)
It was therefore doubly fitting that, as is customary for this Feast, the chalice given to Sir George Bowyer by Pope Saint Pius IX was used for Mass.
Mass was followed by veneration and benediction with the relic of Saint John the Baptist (see previous post) and then lunch in the parish rooms (where on Wednesday mornings the Order and Companions feed Our Lords the Poor) by the great generosity of some members of the Order.
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| Fr Hunwicke preaching before members of the Order. |
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