A bit of Oratory news, and a relic story
I mentioned that the Secular Oratory was getting a new member last night. Actually, there were two. (Where was my head yesterday ? ) So prayers for Pat as well as for Adam would be welcome.
Also, Fr. Wilfred Tighe recently went to his reward after 45 years as a member of the London Oratory. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord....
As part of the ceremony last night, we were blessed with one of the Pittsburgh Oratory's three first-class relics of St. Philip Neri. This one is particularly interesting. Its reliquary is a small bronze bust of the saint. This relic once belonged to Pope St. Pius X . He gave it to his friend, Rafael Cardinal Merry de Val . Cardinal Merry de Val then passed it on to Fr. Charles Stephen Dessain, priest of the Birmingham Oratory and Newman scholar. Fr. Dessain then gave it to William Clancy, one of the founding members (and later a Provost) of the Pittsburgh Oratory, whose novitiate was made at the Birmingham Oratory. When he went to his reward, Fr. Clancy left the relic to Fr. Bryan, who happens to be the Father Prefect (i.e. the 'chaplain') of the Secular Oratory here.
In a way, it's simultaneously a first-class relic (of St. Philip) and a second-class relic (of Pope St. Pius X)....
I mentioned that the Secular Oratory was getting a new member last night. Actually, there were two. (Where was my head yesterday ? ) So prayers for Pat as well as for Adam would be welcome.
Also, Fr. Wilfred Tighe recently went to his reward after 45 years as a member of the London Oratory. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord....
As part of the ceremony last night, we were blessed with one of the Pittsburgh Oratory's three first-class relics of St. Philip Neri. This one is particularly interesting. Its reliquary is a small bronze bust of the saint. This relic once belonged to Pope St. Pius X . He gave it to his friend, Rafael Cardinal Merry de Val . Cardinal Merry de Val then passed it on to Fr. Charles Stephen Dessain, priest of the Birmingham Oratory and Newman scholar. Fr. Dessain then gave it to William Clancy, one of the founding members (and later a Provost) of the Pittsburgh Oratory, whose novitiate was made at the Birmingham Oratory. When he went to his reward, Fr. Clancy left the relic to Fr. Bryan, who happens to be the Father Prefect (i.e. the 'chaplain') of the Secular Oratory here.
In a way, it's simultaneously a first-class relic (of St. Philip) and a second-class relic (of Pope St. Pius X)....
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