Unfortunate Clash!

We are aware that the annual Blessed Sacrament Procession from Westminster Cathedral to Southwark Cathedral has been planned for the same day as the Rosary Crusade. This is unfortunate but, by the time we were advised that this was happening, it was too late to change the Rosary Crusade to an alternate date. We did, however, agree to move the assembly time for the Crusade from 1:45 pm to 2:15 pm. The Blessed Sacrament procession leaves the Cathedral at 1.30pm and should be clear by 2pm so that the two processions should not interfere with one another. We have advised Westminster Cathedral that the Rosary Crusade for 2014 will be on 11 October and they have agreed to try to avoid scheduling any major devotions on this date.

Statue of Our Lady of Fatima going to Marian Day in Rome on the same Day as the Rosary Crusade in London!

 

In response to the desire of Holy Father Francis, the Statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, venerated in the Little Chapel of Apparitions, will be brought to Rome on October 12/13 to be present at the Marian Day promoted by the Pontifical Council for the

Promotion of the New Evangelization. On October 13, next to the Statue of Our Lady, Pope Francis will make the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

Marian Day is one of the great pontifical events marked down on the calendar of celebrations of the Year of Faith which will bring to Rome hundreds of movements and institutions connoted with Marian devotion.

 

In a letter addressed to Bishop Antonio Marto, of Leiria-Fatima, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, Cardinal Rino Fisichella, informs that “all ecclesial entities of Marian spirituality” are invited to take part in this Marian day, a gathering which includes, on the 12th, a pilgrimage to the tomb of Apostle St. Peter and other moments of prayer and meditation and, on the 13th, a Mass presided over by Pope Francis, in St. Peter’s Square.

 

In that letter, Cardinal Fisichella wrote: “The Holy Father strongly desires that the Marian Day may have present, as a special sign, one of the most significant Marian icons for Christians throughout the world and, for that reason, we thought of the beloved original Statue of Our Lady of Fatima”.

 

Therefore, the Statue of Our Lady will depart from the Shrine of Fatima on the morning of October 12 and return on the afternoon of October 13. Scheduled to take its place in the Little Chapel of Apparitions is the first Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which is enthroned in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary since December 8, 2003.

 

(information published on the Official website of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal

by LeopolDina Simões)

 

 A good opportunity to join our prayers to those of the Holy Father!

Please Help the Rosary Crusade!

While this year's Rosary Crusade will take place on the 12th October 2013 (assemble by 2:15 PM), future Crusades are threatened by a change in the policing arrangements for the procession.  Essentially, we have been informed by the Metropolitan Police that their policy has changed with regard to processions such as the Rosary Crusade.  The Police traditionally provided the traffic management plan for the event, closing roads and and using traffic officers to facilitate the progress of the procession from  start to finish.  The police have now asked us to seek the Traffic Management Orders required directly from Westminster Council and then to engage a company who specialise in traffic management to help deliver this.  While this is logistically more cumbersome, the main impact is cost.  While the Metropolitan Police provided their services gratis, private traffic management companies obviously are not in a position to do so.  The extra cost is over £2000.00!

The Rosary Crusade relies almost entirely on the collection which we take in Brompton Oratory at the end of the procession to cover our costs.  In most year's this is sufficient to cover our usual costs, but the collection would now need to more than double in order to break even in future given this additional cost.  Please remember this when making your contribution in future!

The Rosary Crusade is the only major Catholic procession in London.  It stops traffic on some of the busiest streets in London and puts nearly two thousand Faithful on the streets to proclaim, very publicly, their love of Our Lady.  It would be a great tragedy if it could not continue due to this additional cost.  If you love Our Lady, please send us a donation to our address, directly to our bank account, or via the Donate button at the top of the website.  Please consider initiating an annual standing order -- if only 200 people donated £10.00 each year, this would cover the additional cost.  The future of the Crusade is in your hands -- please give generously!  God Bless you!                  

Rosary Crusade 2012

The Rosary Crusade 2012 once again brought Marian devotion to the heart of London!  On the anniversary of the Miracle of the sun at Fatima, the little statue, blessed by Pope Pius XII, headed a wonderful procession from all walks of life.  There is no more Catholic an event in all meanings of that word.  On one of the few relatively clement days in October this year, around 2000 pilgrims made the journey between the two greatest London Catholic Churches to honour Our Lady in the month of the Most Holy Rosary.  On arrival at the Oratory, a ceremony of hymns, prayers and readings was crowned by solemn Benediction.  Father Julian Large, new Provost of the London Oratory, preached a fine sermon and Fr Ronald Creighton-Jobe, chaplain to the Crusade, reminded everyone to pray for the Repose of the soul of Fr Hugh Thwaites, former chaplain to the Crusade, though one is tempted to believe that such a holy priest is already busy in Heaven praying for all the pilgrims.  Certainly, Father's spirit seemed to guide the procession this year as everything proceeded very smoothly indeed.  Join us next year!

More photos can be found here.

       

Fr. Hugh Simon-Thwaites, RIP

Please pray the rosary for Fr Hugh Simon-Thwaites who went to his Eternal reward on 21 August 2012.  Without Fr Thwaites, there would be no Rosary Crusade.  May he be very active in Heaven!  

More Photos!

Many thanks to Albert Linton for the excellent photography.

The Rosary Crusade was very pleased to welcome the first Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham to our annual procession and ceremony of reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Mother.  Under leaden skies, the Crusade provided a welcome splash of colour to a typical autumnal day in London.  The procession, led by the Crucifix accompanied by two torchbearers, miscellaneous servers, the Brothers of the Little Oratory, Knights of Malta, Knights of Our Lady, various priests, Mgr Newton, flower girls, young boys and the bier of Our Lady in a sea of flowers, held aloft by members of the Catholic Police Guild.  A police estimate of 1,500 people followed the statue of Our Lady through the streets of London between Westminster Cathedral and Brompton Oratory.  15 decades of the Rosary were recited between the two churches and a number of well known Marian hymns were sung.  Immaculate Mary was sung while passing the smart shops of Knightsbridge, including Harrods, and this caused quite a stir among the shoppers and other walkers along the route. At the Oratory, Mgr Newton pointed out that the following day (9 October) would be Blessed John Henry Newman's feast day (if it were not Sunday) and mentioned the devotion of both Blessed Newman and Fr Faber to Our Lady, not because of what she had done, but because of what God had done in and through her.  Fr Faber was, of course, the founder of the very Oratory in which Mgr Newton spoke and in which Fr Faber is buried.  The Crusade concluded with Solemn Benediction and the singing of the famous Faber hymn, "Faith of Our Father."  It was particularly poignant to recite the Prayer for England with the members of the Ordinariate present.  We had prayed successfully for them, and now they were praying for those who have yet to make the leap of Faith.  Photos of the Crusade can be found here and here.