Back in London!

Just a quick apology for the lack of blog posts the last few days. Our internet connection was spotty. We spent the last few days in Birmingham, touring the local seminary and catechetical institute.

Our trip is quickly coming to a close, and we have a free day tomorrow to explore e city of London. It should be exciting hearing from all the guys when we get back as to what they all say. We leave on Thursday, so that means the the blog will be ending soon as well.

Here is a picture of Fr. Tom standing in the same pulpit that Bl. Newman once preached in at the local seminary.

Oscott Seminary - Birmingham

Some pics from our day in Oscott Seminary - Br Alvaro

More Birmingham pictures

Birmingham

Yesterday was our last full day in Oxford, and we left for Birmingham this morning for the final destination of our trip. Birmingham is home to an oratory that Bl. Newman opened up.

Once we finished our one hour train to Birmingham, we headed over to the oratory for morning Mass. We then visited the shrine of Bl. Newman in a side chapel to ask for his intercession to our prayers.

This afternoon we will be taking a guided tour of the church, so there will be more pictures to follow.

Last day in Oxford

We wrapped up our time in Oxford today, and we will be heading to Birmingham in the morning. Though we spent the majority of the time focused on Newman, it was not hard to experience the influence Oxford has had on the world. Many great minds have come to Oxford to learn and teach, and it was a privilege to enter into this wonderful world of academia for a bit.

Littlemore

Littlemore is a small town just past the outskirts of Oxford. While Newman was still an Anglican, he moved out to this village to live in a community with other members of the Oxford Movement. It was while he was here that he converted to the Catholic faith.

Arguably the world's foremost Newman scholar, Fr. Ian Ker, gave us two lectures today. We also had the chance to visit an Anglican church that Newman built, and we went to the grounds where Newman lived when he converted. His conversion sent shockwaves throughout all of England since he was one of the most well known men in England at that time.

Here is a picture of his bedroom:

The Bird and the Baby

JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis are well known for their contributions to the fantasy genre, most famously The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.

These great intellects often found their inspiration amidst a pint and a pipe. One of there favorite places to partake of these commodities was a small pub right in Oxford, called the Eagle and the Child, or as they referred to it among friends, The Bird and the Baby. The group of friends that met there to discuss their writings together referred to themselves as "the inklings."

Last night we had a chance to have dinner in that very pub, which was a short walk from the church where had our lectures. There remains a plaque there today in the same nook where they used to meet. One of the men even made a lunch-time adventure to pay his respects at Tolkien's grave.

In Christ through Mary and Joseph,
Guest blogger, Adam Laski

Oxford Oratory

Here are some pictures from the Oxford Oratory, the place we are taking classes at while in Oxford.

Black Friars

Dr. Don Briel, the director of the Catholic Studies program at the University of St. Thomas, began his lectures on Cardinal Newman's theological works to us yesterday, and he has continued them today. We've been learning about some of his more important works and seeing how we can apply them to our present age.

During our lunch break today, a few of us went to the Dominican house of studies near Oxford for midday prayer with the black friars. As we were heading out of the chapel, an elderly friar came over and offered to give us a tour of their friary. This community of friars is doing extremely well in producing young vocations, and they are doing great work on many college campuses around England and Scotland.

Brother Matthew, a young Dominican in studies at Oxford, gave us a really cool tidbit of literary trivia. The stations of the cross statues are unique in that they portray the Roman soldiers and Pontius Pilate as demons. Well, J.R.R. Tolkien would attend Mass with the Dominicans on a regular basis, so he would see these particular stations of the cross statues quite a bit. So when he was writing The Lord of the Rings, he created the Orcs based upon these statues. So that's pretty neat.

Oxford

We left the hustle and bustle of London and have arrived in the university town of Oxford. It has been a nice change pace so far. We took a walking tour of the town, specifically focusing on the sites associated with Bl. John Henry Newman. It was great to reflect on the fact that a future saint of the church walked down the very same cobblestone roads that we walked on and saw the same sites of the town that we saw today. The first picture is of a bust of Cardinal Newman at Trinity College where he did his undergraduate work. The next picture is that of the chapel at Trinity where Newman would have worshipped as an Anglican. The last picture is that of St. Mary's, where Newman was assigned to when he was an Anglican priest.

More pictures of our trip to England

From our stops at Westminster Cathedral and abbey. St Patrick's Catholic Church and the British parliament

The Two Westminsters

Yesterday we had the great opportunity to visit the two Westminsters, just 10 minutes apart by foot. The first one was Westminster Cathedral, the mother church for the Catholic world in England. The second was Westminster Abbey, the domestic church of the royal family. The abbey is the place where the royal coronations and the majority of the royal weddings take place. We are all still trying to digest the thoughts that ran through our minds after experiencing these two places.

The rector of the cathedral gave us a brief tour. During the tour, he said the main reason for this church's existence is to provide an opportunity for people to go to the sacrament of confession and to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament. The overall mission was focused on the spiritual welfare of its visitors.

The canon of the abbey gave us an extended tour of the abbey where we saw many historical artifacts and tombs of kings and queens. At one point, I happened to look down to see that I was standing on Sir Isaac Newton's tomb! We participated in Evensong before heading out.

It was not difficult to notice the contrast between these two churches. One seemed to be focused on prayer and the sacraments while the other one felt more like a museum at times. Nevertheless, the day reminded us that the true mission of the church is the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Pub life

There is nothing better than getting back from a long day of walking around London and being able to relax at the local pub. It is even better when the local pub is located on church grounds! It is part of the culture here to find pubs associated with churches. Just imagine having a pub where the parishioners gather in community in the same exact building as the parish offices and classrooms. Many of us were thinking how great it would be if American parishes had this!

Giovanni is the local bartender and being the good European he is, he's been giving us a hard time saying that European football is superior to American football.

The Jewels of England

After waiting 45 minutes to see the treasures of England, all we are presented with is an assortment of shiny stones in a latticework of silver.

Upon leaving the hall we are give a chance for a real jewel.  In the basement of the chapel, behind a uulocked door we find the true crown in the Tower.

We are granted three minutes at the tomb of St. Thomas More a pause for reflection in a tourists schedule, a vision for a life of integrity. -Grant Lacey.

From London. A day full of blessings!!!!

We visited the Tyburn Convent where 105 martyrs where executed and the London tower. There we pray in front of the tomb of St. Thomas More!

Some Pictures from England

In the Cathedral of Canterbury

Canterbury

Early this morning we took a coach bus to Canterbury, which is about 2 hours away from London. Our tour guide, Hugh, took us on a walking tour of the town. We then went to Mass at St. Thomas Becket Church. Later on in the afternoon, we took a tour of the Canterbury Cathedral where St. Thomas Becket was martyred in the year 1170 while in the church. This cathedral used to be the Catholic Cathedral! But it is now Anglican. This is the cathedral where the Archbishop of Canterbury leads the Anglicans from. Here are some pictures from today:

  John Christianson in front of the relics of St. Thomas Becket.

Canterbury cathedral

Below: the place of St Thomas Becket's martyrdom.

We made it!

We made it to England and are now settled in. Last night we went into downtown Ealing and ate at an Italian restaurant. It was quite good! We are all still adjusting to the time change, so we are all up early at the local Starbucks checking up on emails. We are going to Canterbury today.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!! The time has finally arrived for us to fly to England! We fly out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport in the late afternoon with a layover in Detroit. We'll get to the Heathrow Airport at around noon on January 2nd. Please pray for safe travels for all of us. Hopefully we can find internet access once we get there to let everyone know how the trip went. Cheerio!