Dear British faithful, 

 

From August, and for the foreseeable future, Mass will take place on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at 11am at the following location: John Cumber Hall, High St, Theale, Reading RG7 5AN 

 

This means that Masses for August will be on the 11th and 25th of August at this location, at 11am, as mentioned previously. 

 

This location is about a ten minute walk from Theale train station, which is itself about an hour and a half from central London. On Sundays, owing to reduced public transport, this involves getting a train to Reading, before a brief change over to Theale, which is very close by. 

 

There is also parking for a few cars, and the town itself should have more accessible parking than Ridge, in any case. Theale is just off the M4, and, as a result, should hopefully be far more accessible for those of us who drive than Ridge was. 

 

The medium-term plan, God willing, is for Fr Gilchrist to take over a mission at the Drift Golf Club in Surrey in addition to this mission. This would be a historic first for the mission in that it would be the first time that we would offer Mass at more than one location on a regular basis. 

 

But, in any case, as Fr Gilchrist gets settled in, and his French visa approved, we can begin to get a better idea of to where we can expand and what we can begin to offer the faithful. It is my personal hope that we can add on a mission in the Midlands or the North at some point in the next year or two. 

 

Going forward, from perhaps the next newsletter onwards, Fr Aedan Gilchrist, our dear priest, will take over this newsletter. It has been a pleasure writing to you all over the past year and a half. 

 

God bless you!  

In the announcement of Fr Gilchrist's ordination, I should have phrased myself better — Fr Armour is a British Catholic priest, and, as such, Fr Gilchrist’s ordination is the first for the St Edmund Mission, but not for the British Isles. Apologies to Fr Armour for the oversight. 

Fr. Aedan Gilchrist, who will be ordained tomorrow, will visit the United Kingdom to say Mass on Sunday the 7th of July, on Sunday the 14th of July, and possibly the 28th of July in order to say Mass. 

 

There may be other updates regarding Mass dates owing to Fr. Gilchrist spending some more time in the UK whilst sorting out his French visa. I will update as and when necessary. 

 

We can confirm that the venue for Mass will be: Ridge Village Hall, Deeves Hall Lane, Ridge, Hertfordshire EN6 3LP. 

 

It is located about an hour outside of central London – just off the M25 – and is outside of ULEZ. For those travelling by public transport, the easiest way to get to the venue would be to get a train to Borehamwood or Potters Bar and get a taxi from there. 

 

Mass will take place at 11am. 

 

Now, a word on the gift of a priest. This mission was founded around a decade ago. That is ten long years of Mass every month, every two months, or every now and again. Ten long years of flying in priests from as far as the USA, and of uncertainty about when the next Mass will be. 

 

But now, by the grace of God and by no merit of our own, we have been graced with a priest, another Christ, whose attention will be solely focused on the St Edmund Mission. This is a great gift, which will lend very welcome stability and focus to the mission, and will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of the mission in the years to come. 

 

In order to prepare Fr. Gilchrist with the most information we can provide him, please do me the favour of filling out this census of the attendees of the Mission. We would like to do our best to expand and open multiple Mass centres, as and when time and resources permit, but in order to do that, we need your help. 

 

Survey link: https://forms.gle/pLsLUkiGqX5NKeH18 

 

Please do offer a Te Deum tomorrow for the ordination of the first British Catholic priest for the St Edmund Mission. Undoubtedly, our English saints and martyrs in Heaven will be rejoicing over the events this weekend. 

 

In other news, two new deacons have been ordained in Florida by Bishop Germán Fliess, ICR. Deo gratias. 

 

God bless you!