Parish Pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Augustine at Ramsgate

A few days ago we set off on a rather grey morning for a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Augustine.

I think this was a first visit for all of us although some of us knew a little of the story of this beautiful shrine in Ramsgate.

We received a warm welcome by Fr Marcus Holden, Parish Priest and Custodian of the Shrine and members of the Friends of St Augustine who looked after us very well.

On the advice of our coach driver, we had allowed plenty of time for the journey from Banstead and so arrived with time to spare and were able to have a brief look around the church before we gathered for Mass at midday.

As we entered the Shrine and were directed left into the building, the first thing that we noticed was the very colourful and unusual Stations of the Cross.

On the opposite side of this corridor we passed St Joseph's Chapel containing the Blessed Sacrament.

And close by, another beautiful chapel with this wonderful Pietà.

Mass was celebrated by Fr Marcus and it was lovely to hear the parts of the Mass sung.  Our pilgrims responded well in singing the hymns and the parts of the Mass.  It was very moving to be able to celebrate Mass in this beautiful Church built by the well-known architect Augustus Pugin.  It was also interesting to see how people easily accommodated themselves to the reception of Holy Communion, under one kind, receiving in a line horizontally in front of the altar rail, many taking advantage of the opportunity to receive kneeling at the communion rail.

And the beautiful altar frontal . . .

After Mass we  had a break for lunch and went off in separate directions, some had brought packed lunches whilst others investigated the local cafés and pubs.  Judging by the numbers at the local pub, I think many of us had opted for this - and delicious food it was too!

We watched an excellent video, produced by Fr Marcus Holden and some of his family, on the history of the Shrine and some very helpful background information on St Augustine.  We also had time to watch a short video on Pugin's home, The Grange.   Maybe we'll keep that for another parish outing . . . 

We finished our pilgrimage with a very reverent Benediction conferred by Fr Marcus.  It was wonderful to hear everyone join in the O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo and the Adoremus in Aeternum. 

We were very privileged to be able to venerate the relic of St Augustine.  I must say, full credit to Fr Marcus, it can't be easy to remain dignified whilst climbing a step-ladder and wearing a cope!  He managed it superbly.

And the relic . . . 

Just before we finished our devotions and had a tour of the church, we joined in a rousing rendition of the Salve Regina.

All in all, a marvellous day and everyone seemed to get a lot out of our visit.

FLAME . . .

Last Saturday our Confirmation candidates joined over 8,000 other young Catholics at the National Youth Congress, 'Flame', at Wembley Arena. I don't think many of them had much idea about what would happen once they got there but hopefully they benefited from the experience and enjoyed a good day out too.

Here they are all are just about ready for the off with their catechists and other adults who went along to help.

One of the group agreed to tell us about his experiences of the day. Over to you Kieran . . .

FLAME 2012

On Saturday 24 March 2012 the confirmation group and leaders by invitation of Fr Míċeál attended a catholic youth gathering (known as Flame) in Wembley Arena. Flame (in short) is an event aimed at the younger generation of Catholics to come together and give thanks for our lives. The whole day was “inspirational”, however it was a day in which if you went into it with a positive attitude then you got more out of it.

For some, travelling far and wide, it was an early start, but for us, we met at the church for 9:30 - which is early enough if you ask me! After the typical group photo of cheesy smiles and we all boarded our luxury coach that Fr Míċeál had commandeered for us. I will leave out the specifics of the journey but I think that it is safe to say that with all of us teenagers at the back of the bus we were quite a rowdy bunch!

On arrival we took the obligatory commemorative photo of the group, again a few cheesy grins and off we went to the Arena. For those of who don’t know, Wembley Arena is right next to Wembley Stadium where England football games are played.

We were then allocated our tickets and went to find out seats. Inside was...........simply VAST! We had time for a quick look around and took our seats for the start. .....

We were introduced to our Hosts for the day and were given a rough outline of what to expect. We were told that the day was to be split into sections: Respect, Friendship and Excellence.

In the first part of the day we prayed, watched some live drama, interpretative dance and watched a multimedia presentation. To finish this section we had a speech by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe OP on the theme of Respect.

We left the Arena then for lunch break and some taking advantage of the good weather decided to ‘cool off’ in the nearby water feature!!

After lunch we gathered back in the Arena where we were given a talk by the Mizen Family (whose son had been killed in a random attack while out shopping).

We then had an International speaker talking about the value of sports in bringing peace and transforming those communities living in poverty.

Following on from this there were a variety of different speakers and acts emphasising the importance of friendship. There was then another break and on our return we had some more speakers talking about excellence.

We then had a time of prayer and adoration, with a homily from Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

Finally we had a closing celebratory concert played by a group known as “Indecisive”. This is when many people started to leave and being the friendly bunch that we are, we waved, said goodbye and wished them a safe journey home.

Heading home we talked about the day as a group, with no adult influence, and we came to the conclusion that it was a thoroughly enjoyable event, that future confirmation candidates would be very lucky to go on.

Thank-you very much Fr Míċeál

Kieran Hiscock

And here's Kieran sporting a very fetching tee-shirt, with Leo another of our group.

Some of our choir, enjoying a well-earned break . . .

I recently received this lovely photo of some of our choir members enjoying a meal out in Brighton on their annual outing.

I'm very grateful for all that our choir do throughout the year to enhance our liturgies, not just at Sunday Masses but at funerals, weddings and on other occasions too.

They have a break from their regular duties during August and enjoy a well-earned rest. Even so, they kindly made a 'special appearance' at Mass last week to help us celebrate the Feast of the Assumption in style.

We look forward to welcoming them back in September.

A marvellous conclusion to St Joseph's Feast Day . . .

Yesterday evening we found a very fitting way to conclude the celebration of St Joseph's Feast Day. About 50 parishioners and I boarded a coach bound for The Royal Albert Hall where we had a wonderful evening at The Classical Spectacular. A marvellous evening of toe-tapping, stirring music with a few operatic arias thrown in for good measure.

I think many of us would have gone to bed with the sound of those muskets and that canon ringing in our ears from the finale of the 1812 Overture. It truly was a Spectacle. Oh, yes, I nearly forgot to mention the laser light show and the fireworks.

These social events are a very important part of parish life and do so much to build up and build on our parish community. They give us an opportunity to chat with fellow parishioners and get to know one another a little better.

We're all looking forward to the next outing now!

Aylesford and the Relics of St Thérèse . .

What a wonderful day we had at Aylesford!


About 40 parishioners travelled by coach to The Friars at Aylesford. It's good to have these parish outings from time to time and it was lovely today to be able to celebrate Cathy's 80th birthday - We hope she had an enjoyable day.

It was also good to see many children and young people from the local schools who were a credit to their schools - and their families.

We had plenty of time to eat our lunch, explore the Friary, take part in the service of welcome and, the main purpose of our visit, to venerate the relics of St Thérèse.

People queued patiently to venerate the relics after the service of welcome, even when it began to rain.

These are just a few photos but you can see a lot more in this slideshow:

It was a bit chilly but I think all were happy to put up with the cool weather and were warmed by the experience - after all it's not every day we get the opportunity to welcome the relics of a saint to these shores.