Now is the Month of Maying!

Things are rather hectic at the moment, what with the Bank Holiday weekend, the absence of my parish priest (who is on holiday) and the presence of an Australian priest friend in the presbytery (Fr Anthony Robbie of the Archdiocese of Sydney). Thus, blogging may be affected. In fact, for my day off this week I'll be going with Fr Robbie to Downside Abbey and touring the churches of Somerset.

May is a wonderful time of year - the month of Mary, the month of my Ordination anniversary (24 May, Our Lady Help of Christians), the month of parish celebrations - First Communions and, next Sunday (7th May) at 3.30pm, our annual Marian procession of Our Lady of Willesden, now in its 104th year. Devotion to Our Lady of Willesden goes back to at least the fifteenth century - and pilgrims included St Thomas More. The miraculous statue was destroyed at the Reformation, but the shrine (= my parish) was restored in 1892 and is now the chief Marian shrine in London. We have two processions through the streets each year - one in May and one in October. Again, a full report will appear on this blog.