This very fine window of St Gertrude was commissioned in memory of Gertrude Smith, who died young in 1892. St Gertrude promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart long before it became fashionable in the thirteenth century.
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O blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England, thy dowry, and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee. By thee it was that Jesus, our Saviour and our hope, was given unto the world; and he has given thee to us that we may hope still more. Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the Cross, O sorrowful Mother. Intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the chief Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with thee, in our heavenly home. Amen.
We recited the Prayer for England before the statue of Our Lady every Sunday after Benediction.
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Our virtual church tour to celebrate 150 years of the church continues with the Lady Chapel today. Have you noticed the titles of Our Lady in the stained glass? Read more on our website.
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150 Years of St Aloysius’ Church: (6) The Lady Chapel
The Lady Chapel is the principal place of devotion in our church to the Mother of Jesus. These side altars are places for private prayer and devotion as well as where priests celebrate Mass outside the regularly scheduled times. The statue of Our Lady of Wisdom was given to the church in 1914 and is by the distinguished firm of Mayer and Co. of Munich. The original altar in this chapel was by Morris and Co. and was of hammered copper and enamel in an Arts and Crafts style. Unfortunately no photographs of this altar exist.
As so often seems to be the case with the history of our church and the faith in our city, the loss of the original altar was simply a pruning that enabled even greater regrowth. The altar you see today — which looks as if it could have been designed for its current location — was originally in the chapel of the Ursuline convent school on St Giles, which then became St Benet’s Hall. The Ursulines and the Benedictines have both left Oxford, but the Mass continues to be celebrated on their old altar.
The chapel was redecorated in 2007, incorporating the monogram of Ave Maria, as well as the fleurs de lys, the traditional symbol of Our Lady’s purity. The window above the altar contains representations of titles given to Our Lady in her litany: Gate of Heaven, Morning Star, Mystical Rose, Ark of the Covenant, Tower of David, and Singular Vessel of Devotion. They are poetic titles, showing how the Virgin Mary, as the first disciple of Christ, free from original sin and totally dedicated to God, leads us to heaven.
These reflections are sent out each Wednesday to all those on our mailing list. Click here to sign up to our mailing list, and receive our Sunday E-newsletter and these reflections straight to your inbox.
St Philip’s Chapel was originally dedicated to St Joseph. (St Joseph was relocated to the church entrance long before the first Fathers of the Oratory arrived!) This photo from the archive was taken before the statue of St Teresa of Avila was installed, or the altar rails, which came from a local convent chapel when it closed. You can also see hints of the marble panels above the arches of the nave that are still there, under the white paint…
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The Blessed Sacrament is exposed all day on the Saturdays of Lent.
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“O Jesus Christ, my Lord, with what great love didst thou pass over the painful road which led thee to death; and I, how often have I abandoned thee! But now I love thee with my whole soul, and because I love thee I am sincerely sorry for having offended thee. My Jesus pardon me, and permit me to accompany thee in this journey. Thou art going to die for love of me, and it is my wish also, my dearest redeemer, to die for love of thee. My Jesus, in thy love I wish to live. In thy love I wish to die.“
Stations of the Cross every Friday at 5:30pm during Lent.
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150 Years of St Aloysius’ Church: (5) St Philip’s Chapel
In every Oratory there is place of devotion to our Holy Father, St Philip, who is our patron, spiritual father and a model of holiness and priestly life. He is known as the amabile santo, the lovable saint. His example of evangelical simplicity, as well as his zeal for bringing men and women to know Christ through his compassionate friendship and guidance, is an inspiration to us.
The painting of the saint which hangs above the altar was painted in Rome, a copy of an original by Guido Reni which hangs in St Philip’s rooms at the Roman Oratory. It was painted by Maria Gibberne (1802–1885) as a gift for her friend, Cardinal Newman. The carved, gilt-wood altar frontal is Italian, and was part of the collection of furnishings bequeathed to the church by Hartwell de la Garde Grissell. For St Philip things of beauty were important in the worship of God, the source of all beauty, truth and goodness. They are both an act of reverence in themselves, and draw the heart and mind of worshippers upward to God.
It is quite fitting that the two confessionals are so close by, since it is in the confessional that St Philip did so much to help people grow in holiness:
In those times men lived very remissly in matters of devotion; most people thought it enough to confess once a year. Philip, regarding this as the cause of perdition to a great number of souls, put forward all his industry to induce people to frequent the Sacraments, and other spiritual exercises, but, above all, confession. He was one of the first aided by the holy men already mentioned, who revived in Rome the practice of frequent confession and communion. In order to obtain this object of his desire more easily, he abandoned every other care, and gave himself entirely to hearing confessions. He got a number of good penitents together; and seeing the fruit which he obtained by this means, he was not content to employ the day in the confessional, but gave up a considerable part of the night to it as well. Before sunrise in the morning he had generally confessed a good number of persons in his own chamber; for whose convenience he used to leave the key under the door of his apartments, that they might get in whenever they pleased. When he had retired to the solitude of his room, he still confessed every one who came; but this was not enough for his zeal and charity; if he was at prayer, he broke off instantly; if he was at meals, he rose from table the moment he heard that any one was seeking him in order to confess. When the church was opened at daybreak he went down there, and entered the confessional, and never left it except to say Mass, which he usually did about midday, or for some other cogent reason, always leaving word whither he was gone. If it happened that no penitents came, he remained near the confessional, reading, or telling his beads, or saying office; and sometimes he walked up and down outside the door of the church, expecting people, and that he might be the more readily seen; so that any one could find him with the utmost ease at almost any hour.
In a word, he had such a spiritual relish in hearing confessions, that he said himself, “To do nothing, beyond merely sitting alone in the confessional is an immense pleasure to me;” and this, as well as other sensible heavenly consolations, was bestowed upon him, as he himself declared, in order that he might be able to endure the fatigues caused by the confessional.
From ‘The Life of St Philip Neri, Apostle of Rome’ by Father Pietro Giacomo Bacci
Frequent, regular confession is one of the surest means for growing closer to God. The Church requires us to go to confession and receive Holy Communion at least once a year. Most people can see quite rightly that we should want to receive Communion far more frequently than that, but not everyone has drawn the same conclusion about confession. As we begin this penitential season today, perhaps one of our Lenten resolutions could be to receive this wonderful sacrament of forgiveness every month.
These reflections are sent out each Wednesday to all those on our mailing list. Click here to sign up to our mailing list, and receive our Sunday E-newsletter and these reflections straight to your inbox.
March Music
Sunday 2 March Solemn Mass 11:00
8th Sunday of the Year
Missa Vidi speciosam Victoria
Ego flos campi Clemens
Cantate Domino Monteverdi
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist BWV 671 Bach
Wednesday 5 March Solemn Mass 18:00
Ash Wednesday
Missa Emendemus Palestrina
Miserere mei Allegri
Emendemus in melius Byrd
In jejunio et fletu Tallis
Sunday 9 March Solemn Mass 11:00
1st Sunday of Lent
Missa Aspice Domine Palestrina
Infelix ego Byrd
Quid igatur Byrd
Sunday 16 March Solemn Mass 11:00
2nd Sunday of Lent
Missa Inter vestibulum Guerrero
Inter vestibulum et altare Ceballos
Tristis est anima mea Kuhnau
Sunday 23 March Solemn Mass 11:00
3rd Sunday of Lent
Missa Aeterna Christi munera Palestrina
Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile Gombert
Ave Regina caelorum a5 Phillips
Tuesday 25 March Solemn Mass 18:00
The Annunciation of the Lord
Missa Dixit Maria Hassler
Ave virgo sanctissima Guerrero
Ne timeas Maria Victoria
Fugue on the Magnificat BWV 733 Bach
Sunday 30 March Solemn Mass 11:00
4th Sunday of Lent (‘Lætare’)
Missa Vulnerasti cor meum Morales
Rex autem David Ribera
Domine, quam multi sunt Purcell
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland BWV 665 Bach
Remember, O most loving Virgin Mary, that it is a thing unheard of that anyone ever had recourse to thy protection, sought thy intercession, implored thy aid and wast left forsaken. Filled therefore with confidence in thee, I fly to thee O Mother, Virgin of Virgins. To thee I come, before thee I stand, a sorrowful sinner. Despise not my words, O Mother of the Word, but graciously hear and grant my prayer. Amen.
Our Lady watches over all who enter the Relic Chapel from the ceiling.
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Opposite the mural of the Good Shepherd in the Relic Chapel is a saint whose identity is unknown! He is surrounded by symbols that must be clues to his identity. Any ideas?
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O Lord Jesus Christ, good Shepherd of the sheep, thou who camest to seek the lost, and to gather them to thy fold, have compassion upon those who have wandered from thee; feed those who hunger, cause the weary to lie down in thy pastures, bind up those who are broken in heart, and strengthen those who are weak, that we, relying on thy care and being comforted by thy love, may abide in thy guidance to our lives’ end. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
Christ the Good Shepherd, one of Gabriel Pippet’s murals from the ceiling of our Relic Chapel.
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Our sanctuary murals won a certificate in the 2024 Oxford Preservation Trust awards! On Monday, we welcomed Oxford Preservation Trust members for a special presentation from Fr Benedict and Cliveden Conservation to showcase the conservation work.
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150 Years of St Aloysius’ Church: (4) The Relic Chapel
The Relic Chapel is one of the most beautiful spaces in our Church. The furnishings were part of the legacy of an Oxford man, Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, who also received the image of Our Lady of Oxford from Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1869. It is an ancient tradition to enshrine an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the special protector of a place and to invoke her aid under the title of that place. Here we invoke her as Our Lady of Oxford and Mother of Mercy, confident that she intercedes with her Son for the protection of all in our city and university.
When Grissell died in 1907, he left the contents of his private chapel to the church on condition that a chapel be built to house it all. The font was moved and the chapel redecorated. The wall paintings in this chapel are of early Christian scenes and symbols from the Roman catacombs by the Catholic Arts and Crafts artist, Gabriel Pippet. They were restored in 2009. They depict two deer drinking from the waters of a fountain, evoking the words of Psalm 41: “Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is thirsting for you, my God.” There are also images of Christ the Good Shepherd, a typical early Christian depiction of Jesus, as well as the Blessed Virgin Mary and Christ child. Other symbols represent aspects of the Christian faith. The peacock represents new life and resurrection; loaves and fish point to the eucharist and the heavenly banquet; and the anchor is an early Christian symbol that symbolises arriving in the divine harbour of peace. Images of martyred saints take up the ancient posture of prayer, and the burning lamps represent faith.
These early Christian images are particularly appropriate since the chapel houses a collection of the relics of many saints, among them a number of the early Christian martyrs who were once buried in the catacombs in Rome.
Relics are reserved here not only for private prayer and veneration, but also to be placed on the altar during the celebration of Mass on solemn feasts. For Christians, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and is a sacred thing, to be treated with care and reverence. Since we revere the saints as holy men and women, extraordinary individuals filled with the Holy Spirit, we reverence their mortal remains as having been filled with that same Spirit as holy relics. It is something of a popular myth that the early Christians prayed in the catacombs just to avoid persecution. That may have been true at times, but those early Christians continued to celebrate Mass in the catacombs in time of peace because they wanted to be close to their brothers and sisters who had gone before them. Their bodies are a tangible link to their souls in heaven, and so to heaven itself.
These reflections are sent out each Wednesday to all those on our mailing list. Click here to sign up to our mailing list, and receive our Sunday E-newsletter and these reflections straight to your inbox.
The virtual tour to celebrate the 150th anniversary of our church continues tomorrow with the Relic Chapel. You can follow the weekly instalments on our website or by subscribing to our eNewsletter.
Here is a photo from the archive of the Relic Chapel in 1908, with Grissell’s collection newly installed and the chapel freshly decorated by Pippet.
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Our new Grande Oratorio met this morning for the first time, reviving those meetings of prayer, preaching and music that began the Oratory in Rome. The theme of the sermon was taking St Philip as our spiritual guide to heaven. Don’t miss the next Grande Oratorio on Saturday 15 March.
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The Oratory in England has a long history of helping people to follow the example of St John Henry Newman, Our Cardinal, and welcoming the home into the “One Fold of the Redeemer”.
Our new members of the Church are confirmed last Saturday.
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150 Years of St Aloysius’ Church: (3) Shrine of St John Henry Newman
Near the font we find the shrine to St John Henry Newman, our Cardinal. Newman was a fellow of Oriel College and the Vicar of the University Church but became a Catholic in 1845 having become increasingly dissatisfied with Protestantism. His studies lead him to see that the real “Church of the Fathers” was much richer and wider, and was to be found in the “One Fold of the Redeemer”, the Catholic Church.
Newman expressed with great clarity how complementary faith and reason are to one another, not enemies. He realised that we do not come to faith through argument, but once we have faith we can put it to rigorous examination and find it consistent with reason and our human experience.
John Henry Newman brought the Oratory of St Philip Neri from Rome to England in 1847, and whilst he longed to establish an Oratory in Oxford it was not to be in his lifetime (nor for almost 150 years). This Oratory in Oxford was founded from his community in Birmingham in 1990, and so we are his spiritual children. Newman was declared “Blessed” by Pope Benedict XVI in Birmingham in 2010 when this shrine was erected in his honour. He was canonised as a saint of the Church by Pope Francis in 2019. We seek the intercession of St John Henry that we may see another “second spring” of the faith in our day as he did in his.
These reflections are sent out each Wednesday to all those on our mailing list. Click here to sign up to our mailing list, and receive our Sunday E-newsletter and these reflections straight to your inbox.
“Take this burning light and keep true to your baptism throughout a blameless life. Keep the commandments of God; that when the Lord shall come like bridegroom to his marriage feast you, in company with all the Saints, may meet him in the heavenly courts, and there live for ever. Amen.”
The newly baptised, clothed in white garments are presented with their baptismal candles.
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