Southwark: week of festivities for Ordinariate

Our Lady of Walsingham

History, liturgy, and a barbeque all came together at the Church of the Precious Blood at London Bridge in the first week of July. The parish, which is in the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, was celebrating its patronal festival.

A week of festivities began with a Mass celebrated by Mgr John Broadhurst. During the week, the church held a display of work done in the Childen's Project run by the Ladies Ordinariate Group. Children at Anglican and Catholic primary schools across London were invited to study the Psalms and copy out verses from them, decorating them any way they liked: the resulting artwork was a special feature of Precious Blood Church all through the festival week. On Sunday 7 July a special Mass was celebrated by the Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, followed by a barbeque attended by large numbers of parishioners, and the following evening a group gathered for a History Walk around the parish, visiting the Medieval Bishop's Palace, the Globe Theatre,the Borough Market, and sites connected with the Viking Battle of London Bridge. The History Walk finished appropriately with drinks at the George Tavern.

The parish is unique in having within its bounadries a number of places connected with crucial events in British history, from the Viking battle in the 11th century to the arrival of Princess Catherine of Aragon in the 16th. Sites within the parish boundary include Guy's Hospital, the Tabarb inn associated with Chaucer's pilgrims, and the Marshalsea Prison made famous by Charles Dickens.