General

The altar of Saint Thomas Aquinas, at the top of the south aisle, sits right up against the great organ. It was donated by Mrs Monselle in memory of her four sons, all of whom became priests. As the brass plaque to the left of the altar indicates, three of her sons (two of whom were Dominicans) died tragically young.

Heartbroken, Mrs Monselle erected this beautiful altar, a veritable Shrine, dedicated to St Thomas Aquinas, to whom her sons must have had a great devotion. St Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican friar and priest, the pre-eminent theologian and philosopher of the Catholic Church, and declared the Common Doctor of the Church, who died on 7 March 1274. His feast day is still celebrated on this date in the Dominican rite calendar, although the universal Church now observes his feast day on 28 January, the anniversary of the translation of his relics to Toulouse where they are enshrined in the medieval Dominican church (L’eglise des Jacobins).

This year the English Dominican Province gives thanks to God for their 800th Jubilee, for the first Dominican friars arrived in England in 1221, sent by St Dominic himself, and they established their first priory in Oxford on the 15th of August 1221.

In commemoration of this historic event, and to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Province, the friars at St Dominic’s, London decided to restore and, for the first time, gild the altar of St Thomas Aquinas. The plan to gild the altar, as it was a new addition to the interior of this Grade II* listed building, had to be submitted to the Historic Churches Commission for consent. The friars noted that the three altars in the Lady Chapel, which have similar stonework and gables to the St Thomas altar, are all gilded, and so it would be fitting to thus complete the gilding of this set of four altars, which are the only altars in the church not dedicated to one of the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary; the other fifteen altars in the church, including the High Altar, are effectively Rosary altars. Happily, approval was granted by the HCC, and we were asked to consider replacing the finial that surmounted the central gable but which had gone missing. The restorer was prepared to re-create this, using a historic photograph (shown above) to help him replicate the original finial.

As work commenced this week and the altar was cleaned, the original finial, although broken in parts, was found on top of the altar! This saved us time and money so the finial was repaired and then gilded and put back in its place, where it beautifully crowns the entire work.

The Aquinas Altar is now completed and beautifully gilded just on time for his ‘dies natalis’, his heavenly birthday, on 7 March 2021. The gold highlights include the carving of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, the edges of the pages of his books, the sun emblem on St Thomas’s chest, and the stars on the predella and around him. The sun and stars are inspired by this verse of Scripture: “They that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the heavens: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity.” (Daniel 12:3)

Funding for this project came from generous donations through our Justgiving page, and also through the post, including a donation from members of the Priestly Fraternity of St Dominic – fitting, given the intention of the original donor of this altar. A Mass will be celebrated for all those who donated towards this restoration.

We trust that Mrs Monselle will be pleased with this work, and we ask St Thomas Aquinas to pray for her and her sons, and for the English Dominican Province. May the Lord grant us many vocations, fervent lovers of divine Wisdom and preachers of Truth like St Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor.

The following Masses are currently livestreamed on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/c/RosaryShrineUK:

Mon – Sat (daily) at 6pm.

Sunday at 12 noon (Solemn Mass, Ordinary Form)

The Dominican rite Sung Mass will be livestreamed when it resumes after the restoration of the High Altar is complete.

We thank God that our church can now offer public Liturgies once again, and that the doors can be opened for private prayer. The initial phase of opening for private individual prayer went well, and we are able to build on that as we resume Mass and Confessions, but there will be changes to the opening hours.

The Archbishops of England have written a Message, and we draw your attention to this:

Our lives have been changed by the experience of the pandemic and it is clear that we cannot simply return to how things were before lockdown. We remain centred on the Lord Jesus and his command at the Last Supper to ‘do this in memory of me.’ We must now rebuild what it means to be Eucharistic communities, holding fast to all that we hold dear, while at the same time exploring creative ways to meet changed circumstances… [Because many will still be shielding] it is important to reaffirm that, at present, the obligation to attend Sunday Mass remains suspended… We cannot return immediately to our customary practices. This next step is not, in any sense, a moment when we are going ‘back to normal.’ 

We will do all we can, in accordance with Government Guidance and Diocesan Guidelines, to ensure the church is safe and clean for you to attend Mass and to come and pray. But if you are shielded or vulnerable to the virus or feel uncomfortable to attend, please do stay at home and please do keep in touch with us, and let us know if we can help you.

Seating in church is socially-distanced, limited to maximum 150 per Mass. We will review this situation if the demand increases.

The following are the arrangements for Mass, and the new timetable:

SAT 4th JULY: 2–4pm = Church open for private individual prayer. Confessions will be heard to prepare for a return to Mass & Holy Communion.

SUNDAYS (from 5th JULY) = Masses at 8:30am; 10am; 12 noon.  These Masses will be brief, with no Homily; no servers or lay readers; Communion under one kind only. The church will be closed between each Mass for cleaning. 

SUNDAYS (from 5th JULY): 2-4pm = Church open for private individual prayer with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament followed by Benediction at 3:45pm.

On SUNDAYS at 4pm, there will be a Dominican Rite Sung Mass at the High Altar after Adoration and Benediction. This Mass will also be livestreamed to facebook.com/RosaryShrineUK. The church will be closed immediately after this Mass.

Please note: there will be no Sunday 6pm Mass.

MONDAY-SATURDAY (from 6th JULY): The church will open at 5pm (Mon-Sat) with Mass at 6pm after which the church is closed for cleaning. On Saturdays (from 11 July onwards) Confessions will be heard from 5pm. Please note: there are no morning Masses from Mon-Sat. and the church remains closed until 5pm.

Thanks be to God! In accordance with the Guidelines agreed by the Bishops Conference with the Government, the Rosary Shrine church will be open for private prayer only from Monday 15 June 2020.

The opening hours are: Daily (weekdays and weekends) from 2pm – 4pm.

On Sundays, during the opening hours (2-4pm) the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the Throne for adoration.

Please be advised that, sadly, groups of people from different households are not permitted to congregate together indoors, so this opening is just for personal and private prayer. Candle stands will be available for you to light votive candles in designated places, and stewards will be on hand to assist throughout the opening hours.

Let us continue to pray that this phase of re-opening will go smoothly, safely, and well, so that we can soon resume the public celebration of Holy Mass and the Sacraments.

On Sunday 31 May, the Rosary Shrine will be taking part in the National Rosary Rally.

Pope Francis is encouraging Catholics to pray the Rosary in their family homes during the month of May, especially when the pandemic is making us aware of the value of our families and making it possible for us to pray together in lockdown at home. He encourages simple Rosaries and joining online Rosary initiatives to pray to Our Lady for deliverance from Covid-19 and he has composed two prayers for this intention.  Here at the Rosary Shrine we have been praying the Rosary (Mon-Fri) ‘Live’ at 8pm at our Facebook page. Anybody can join us, even if you’re not signed up to Facebook.

This month of prayer will culminate in the Pentecost Sunday National Rosary Rally, which takes place across our nations – Scotland, England, and Wales – from 9.00am to 9.00pm. This initiative has been receiving the support and encouragement of the Bishops of our countries, and the plan is to have peoples across each Diocese to pray the Rosary at a designated hour. This can be done individually, in families, as online prayer groups, parish groups, and where possible led online by their parish priests and Bishop. 

This Rosary Shrine, being the Diocesan Shrine of Westminster, will take part in this Rally at the time appointed for our Diocese, 5:00 pm on Sun 31 May, with a stational Rosary streamed Live on our Facebook page. If you want to join us, visit our Facebook page at 5pm that day, and the Live video should come on.

Below are the rest of the allocated times for the United Kingdom and its dioceses. Find your diocese and please take part at the appropriate hour, or join us at the Rosary Shrine if you prefer.

• 9.00am Arundel & Brighton, Northampton and HM Forces
• 10.00am Birmingham, Nottingham & Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy
• 11.00am Brentwood & Plymouth
• 12 Noon Cardiff, Portsmouth & Dunkeld
• 1.00pm Clifton, Salford & St. Andrews & Edinburgh
• 2.00pm East Anglia, Shrewsbury, Aberdeen
• 3.00pm Hallam, Southwark, Glasgow
• 4.00pm Hexham & Newcastle, Wrexham, Ordinariate OLW
• 5.00pm Lancaster, Westminster, Argyll & the Isles 
• 6.00pm Leeds, Polish Catholic Mission & Glasgow
• 7.00pm Liverpool, Middlesbrough & Motherwell
• 8.00pm Menevia, Galloway, Paisley & Syro Malabar Eparchy
• 9.00pm Rosary Rally will end with a final online Rosary & Blessing from Bishop John Keenan at St. Mirin’s Cathedral in Paisely.

If you’re missing your church, London’s Rosary Shrine, or would like to ‘come in’ and pray, why not try out this wonderful virtual reality visit to the church? Thanks to VR technology, it’s now possible to make a virtual visit to the Rosary Shrine in London, and to ‘stand’ in front of its altars, or ‘walk’ from one Rosary chapel to another, as you pray from your homes.

To have a virtual tour created for your church or cultural heritage site, contact Amy Giuliano at amy@vadisvr.com, or see vadisvr.com. Commissions are based on the following metrics: $0.12/square foot and $1600 (base) for editing. Sites can be embedded with catechetical interactive video, audio, text, and images. Amy studied theology and art history in Rome at the Angelicum and trained in virtual reality tech at Yale. VADIS VR’s mission is 1) Pedagogy: Make the Church’s artistic patrimony accessible to all online, and 2) Preservation: digitally preserve a 3D model of your building – with all laser-scanned measurements needed for future restorations – offline!

This Wednesday 25th March is the feast of the Annunciation, one of the most solemn feasts of the year when we rejoice in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day, salvation came to our world. This year of 2020, the Annunciation is especially important as our world is threatened by the pandemic. Already by God’s Providence, the Bishops of England and Wales had chosen this date for the Rededication of England to Our Lady, to be followed by a solemn ceremony in our cathedrals, shrines, and churches at 12 noon on Sunday 29th March. Now, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Church is inviting all nations (and not just England) to be consecrated to Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima on the 25th of March.

So this Wednesday, pray this Act of Consecration to Our Lady. 25 March is the day of your personal consecration to Mary.

Virgin Mary, most powerful Mother of Mercy, Queen of Heaven and earth, in accordance with your wish made known at Fatima, I consecrate myself today to your Immaculate Heart. To you I entrust all that I have, all that I am. Reign over me, dearest Mother, that I may be yours in prosperity, in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in life and in death.Most compassionate Heart of Mary, Queen of Virgins, watch over my mind and heart and preserve me from the deluge of impurity which you lamented so sorrowfully at Fatima. I want to be pure like you. I want to atone for the many crimes committed against Jesus and you. I want to call down upon this country and the whole world the peace of God in justice and charity.Mindful of this consecration, I now promise to strive to imitate you by the practice of the Christian virtues without regard for human respect. I resolve to receive Holy Communion on the first Saturday of every month when possible, and to offer daily five decades of the Rosary, with all my sacrifices in the spirit of penance and reparation. Amen.

And then, on 29th March, we in England shall have our communal rededication to Mary at 12 noon. In your homes, wherever you are during this national lock-down, gather as a family, as a household, and pray this prayer together:

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, I renew my consecration to you and to your Immaculate Heart. Please accept me, my dear Mother, and use me as you wish to accomplish your designs upon the world. I am all yours, my Mother, my Queen, and all that I have is yours.

CORONAVIRUS ADVISORY: In the light of the announcement by the Prime Minister earlier this evening that with immediate effect all unnecessary gatherings, meetings and travel should be avoided, a decision has been made to POSTPONE THE WHO IS JESUS COURSE  with IMMEDIATE EFFECT until such time as it safe to resume public meetings again. It would be wrong to put you at risk, or for others to be put at risk indirectly, by carrying on at this stage. So to be clear: THERE WILL BE NO MEETING, TOMORROW, 17^TH MARCH, OR UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Please ignore dates on the fliers given out before we knew about what coronavirus would do.

This Lent and Easter, you’re invited to the Rosary Shrine to discover: Who Is Jesus?…
“Jesus said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?'” (Matt 16:15)

Course format: People are welcome in a relaxed, respectful and friendly setting to participate in set of opportunities to share some food, listen to talks and explore and discuss ideas and issues that can be life changing. Tuesday evenings from 25 Feb – 26 May; from 7pm – 9pm including dinner, a short talk, and discussion groups.

Who is it for? The course is geared towards those without faith, enabling them to gain information, explore claims, and also begin a life of faith if they wish to do so. It also helps people renew or grow in existing faith, and provides material, insights and experience to help people share their faith with others. Respect for all guests, including their beliefs, values, feelings, outlooks and freedom are a core value of the organisers.

How long is the course? The course runs over 12 weekly sessions, with a day away for more extended reflection in the middle. It explores the basic claims of Christianity about Jesus, and what it means to become a Christian, in the wider context of our modern lives and the issues we face. Each session begins with hospitality and food, and is followed by a stimulating talk, then sharing and discussion in small groups, all within a welcoming and relaxed setting. Below are dates for the whole course:

25^th Feb 1:  Do people have beliefs and faith nowadays? 

3^rd  March 2:  Does talk about God or a Higher Power make sense?

10^th March 3:  What evidence is there about Jesus?

17^th March 4:  What did Jesus do?  

24^th March 5:  Did Jesus really claim to be God?

31^st March 6:  How can Jesus help me?

21^st April 7:  Did Jesus die for each of us? 

28^th April 8:  Is Jesus alive and active now?

5^th   May 9:  How does God meet us in church?

9^th May (Saturday)  DAY AWAY – HOW CAN WE MEET GOD TODAY? [A: How can I pray? B: How does God guide people?C: Is Jesus really present in the world today?  (Plus opportunities to relax, have some quiet, or pray in various ways)]

12^th May 10: Can Jesus help us experience a life of love? 

19^th May 11: Does Jesus offer hope for the future? 

26^th May 12: Who is a follower of Jesus? 

If you have any questions, contact Br Andrew Brookes OP: andrew.brookes@english.op.org