Deacon today

The new Deacon assists at the altar.

Congratulations to Br Richard Bailey who was ordained to the Diaconate yesterday at the Oratorian Community of St Chad's in Manchester by the Bishop Terrence Brain of Salford.  Mass (for the Feast of the Guardian Angels) was very prayerful, assisted by the well-organised altar servers and the excellent music, particularly the lovely chant.  

I understand that both the community and the parish at St Chad's are growing - a credit to long perseverance and hard work over the years in practical pastoral work and a dedication to the beauty of the liturgy, the "source and summit of the life and mission of the Church."  St Chad's lies in the mixed area of Cheetham Hill, perhaps not containing the most exclusive addresses in Manchester, but a reminder that, as the Bishop said in his homily, that our vocation is to "call people back to the heavenly realities in the midst of the world."  

The beauty of the divine liturgy is not an add on to this but the essential and pre-requisite part. Indeed the pastor should "smell of the sheep" but the sheep should also be given a whiff of Heaven (and we always see those angels swinging a thurible!)

There's always a lovely atmosphere both in the church and in the community house in Manchester and we were treated to a reception after Mass in the grandly proportioned dining room.  Here joined by another important member of the community, Peppo (who is just as friendly as St Philip, despite looking a little fierce here!)