Bishop Patrick visited the school on Friday 8th December. The Bishop celebrated Mass of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and in his homily discussed the difficulties of faith and the risk each one of us has to take to form a relationship with the Lord.
After Mass the Schola Cantorum and a group of students convened in the Library. There was a short service in the Library during which Bishop Patrick blessed our new Evangeliarium. This is a special place in the library set aside for the Book of the Gospels – the most important book in our Library. It is a triangular structure made in oak which is reminiscent of the scaffold at Tyburn where many of the English Catholic Martyrs of the Reformation were executed for their faith. There is an inscription on the plinth recalling the Martyrs dedication to the truth of the Gospel. The Evangeliarium was a bequest by Anne Bowe RIP who was a student of the school in the early 1980s. A small plaque on the base of the Evangeliarium says: "This memorial is dedicated to the loving memory of Anne Bowe, former student of English Martyrs. Her love for literature and the arts were formed within these walls.”
The Bishop also blessed new liturgical banners for Advent made by the Textiles Club and Mrs White and after break spent an hour speaking to the Sixth Form and responding to their questions. We would like to thank Bishop Patrick for spending so much time with us: we hope he will visit again soon.
