Author: Richard Brown

Latest news on the restoration of our church

Thanks to the generosity of donors, we have been able to push ahead with the first phase of restoration works, leading up to the shrine’s inauguration on 22 October.

Fresh gilding on the chapel screens

The newly applied gold leaf on the ironwork of the sidechapels has given a bright new look to the church, and allowed the names of the original benefactors to stand out clearly once more. It has also made much more apparent the variety of patterns that were used in the ironwork, with each chapel having its own unique decoration.

Cleaned stonework in the Assumption chapel

This chapel was in a poor condition prior to the cleaning, and the stonework and brickwork are now much brighter. Some further work remains to be done: cleaning the floor tiles and repairing broken stonework on the altar step.

The Sacristy

The tatty old kitchen units which were long overdue for removal have been ripped out and the room stripped right back to the walls. In doing so, we discovered a rather nice little niche hidden behind one of the units, so we shall make this a feature of the restored room. We have also created a new storage space at one side of the room, so that bulkier items can be kept out of the way. The finished room will be a much more usable and pleasant space, and will be ready in time to receive the Cardinal and visiting clergy at the shrine’s inauguration on 22 October this year.

If you would like to support the restoration work, you can donate securely online.

From 1st to 7th July, the Dominican parishes in London and Leicester joined together for a pilgrimage to Italy.

In this 800th Jubilee Year of the Dominican Order, we visited the shrine of St Dominic in Bologna and the shrine of St Catherine in Siena.

Staying in the city of Florence we also able to visit the famous Dominican priories of Santa Maria Novella and San Marco.  San Marco is famous for its frescoes by Blessed Fra Angelico and was the home of the fifteenth-century Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola.

We were blessed with hot and sunny weather, and were able to enjoy wonderful ice cream and traditional Italian fare.