Godzdogz

One of the ways we can think about sacraments is as God reaching down through history to apply the power of the cross to the present moment. Since Christ handed on to us the gift of His Holy Spirit through the cross, the re-presentation of the sacrifice of the cross in our sacraments becomes the means by which Christ re-presents his offer of the Spirit. This is because, as has been discussed in previous posts, sacraments are signs that make real what they signify. Our sacramental signs, instituted by Christ himself, point to his Incarnation and thus perpetuate that Incarnation among and in the Christian community across all time and space. As the Spirit is received through Christ and therefore through the sacraments, we can also think of the sacraments as a kind of re-actualization of Pentecost. This points us to the complementary missions of the Son and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, sent by Christ (who was himself conceived by the Holy Spirit), allows us to receive Christ in a new and deeper way.  Read more

On Saturday evening the community celebrated Pentecost Vigil, and on Sunday the feast continued, with the conventual Mass being followed by a feast to which all the doorkeepers at Blackfriars were invited. Here are some pictures from the two evenings: Read more

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Last Sunday 20^th May, when the Solemnity of the Ascension was observed in England and Wales this year, the annual Dominican pilgrimage to Walsingham took place. Groups came from Cambridge, Leicester, and London as well as Oxford, and after a long bus journey, the pilgrimage began with the solemn Mass in the shrine church, at which the Prior of Cambridge, Fr Martin Ganeri OP, preached the homily. Read more

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As part of Oxfordshire Art Weeks, from Saturday 12th May, and lasting just over a week, there will be an exhibition of paintings entitled, 'Seven Painters at Blackfriars,' in the priory church. The exhibition will be open every day 9am-5.30pm, apart from Sundays, when it is open from 1.15-5.30pm. Some of the paintings are by artists who attend Blackfriars. One of the artists, Louise Sturgis, will be displaying some of her paintings of scenes from the Rosary.  Read more