I am on vacation returning to the parish on Tuesday. This past Sunday we had an All Saints Relics extravaganza! To be honest with you, since the exposition was taking place at 3 pm, with a talk on the relics first, I didn’t think it would be well attended. Who in the world would come back at 3pm?
Boy, was I wrong!
5 comments:
Sophia here: How awesome is that-so uplifting! Thanks for sharing!
In 2011 the British Museum hosted an exhibition of medieval relics and reliquaries called 'Treasures of Heaven'. Walking round it I was struck by the demeanour of the spectators, a kind of hushed awe as if they felt they were in the presence of something sacred.
Hartwell de la Garde Grissell (1839-1907) was an Oxford educated convert from Anglicanism who served as chamberlain to three successive popes. He amassed a large collection of relics which he bequeathed to the Archdiocese with the proviso that they be housed in a dedicated chapel in St Aloysius church, then Oxford's Jesuit church.
The Jesuits left in 1981. In the 1970s, enthused with the spirit of Vatican II, they burned all the relics at the local crematorium and sold the reliquaries. (For good measure they sold off the vestment collection to theatrical costumiers. It included two mitres which had belonged to Pius IX.)
The Oratorians took over St Aloysius in 1993 (it's now the Oxford Oratory) and set about restoring the Relic Chapel, using relics from different sources. Although the church is much smaller than the famous London Oratory, the liturgy and music are equally impressive. In less than thirty years the congregation has increased five-fold.
However, it's not for those who can't live without altar girls, lay readers, bidding prayers, Offertory procession, congregational sign of peace, Communion in both kinds, EMHC, versus populum celebration &c &c ...
John Nolan,
Burning relics? Is this not an ecclesiastical crime of some sort?
TJM
Obviously not. But burning post-V2 Jesuits has its attractions. Shall we start at the top?
John Nolan,
An excellent suggestion!
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