CD launch: A Parish Rosary

Nov 2nd, 2010

Canon Christopher Tuckwell with Anna Johnstone (right) Joanna Bogle (back) Liam, Patrick Flood, Ann Martin, Rose, Frances Scarr (front)

Westminster Cathedral Rosary Group launched a CD last night. A Parish Rosary, led by professional singer Anna Johnstone, includes all 20 Mysteries, a litany, and some beautiful musical interludes.

The Group has been meeting at the Cathedral, five times a week for the past eight years. Anna said: "We wanted to create a recorded Rosary experience that you can dip into from time to time. It is our hope that through the recording you will feel that you are part of this prayer group."

"If you are visiting London for the day do come and join us." Anna said: "We extend a particularly warm welcome to the sick and housebound. You have been foremost in our minds and hearts as we put this recording together. We are praying for your intentions."

Speaking at the launch, held at St Paul's Bookshop, Canon Christopher Tuckwell, Administrator of the Cathedral, said: "The Rosary is a beautiful prayer to be said personally or in a group. The meditations of the Rosary are a wonderful way of entering into the profound mystery of God's call to us and God's relationship with us, of understanding the life of Jesus and His love for us."

One member of the Rosary group was a young woman called Claire Michael.* Sadly, she died in London suddenly at the age of 32, minutes before the closing Mass of the 2009 Westminster Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. An account in the CD booklet says: 'Claire lived with a heart open to life and open to people of all races and faiths.'

Claire spoke French and studied Arabic. and worked for DEFRA. Passionate about her faith she made many pilgrimages throughout Europe with Project 20-30. Every time she travelled she brought back Rosaries and an enthusiasm for prayer. Throughout her short but full life Claire battled bravely with health problems and showed great patience and serenity throughout her illness.

Anna said: "On the day the group recorded the Joyful and Luminous Mysteries and the Litany, 11 August, 2009, the feast day of St Clare, we were told that Claire's coffin would be there in the Lady Chapel with us. As we prayed beside her coffin, covered in flowers, we felt a real sense of communion with the Holy Souls."

Archbishop Vincent Nichols said: "I welcome this Rosary CD from Westminster Cathedral Rosary Group and I thank all those who have
contributed to it. I hope this CD will foster the praying of the Rosary in many parishes and homes. The Rosary is a beautiful prayer which becomes more loved the more we use it."

Funds from the sale of the CD will go to Westminster Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes and projects for disabled children in India.

The Rosary Group meets after the 5.30pm Mass Tuesday to Friday and after the 10.30am Mass on Saturday. For more information e-mail: parishrosarycd@hotmail.co.uk

The CD is available from St Paul's Bookshop, Westminster Cathedral, the Cathedral shop or online from:
www.stpauls.org.uk/default/a-parish-rosary-double-cd.html