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The Home Oratory, Brompton Road, London (2026)

08/09/2026

It is curious that every year the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady becomes such a big and affectionate celebration among Catholics, even though, whether we realise it or not, it is not actually her paramount feast. That place belongs more properly to the Assumption, when Our Lady was taken body and soul into heavenly glory. Perhaps part of the reason is that birthdays are something immediately familiar to us, and so we naturally approach 8 September with the same sort of sentiment with which we celebrate birthdays in ordinary life. There is, of course, absolutely nothing wrong with greeting Our Lady a happy birthday or showing our affection for her in that way. But the Church is not celebrating her Nativity merely because Mary happened to be born on this day. The very fact that her earthly birth is given a place in the liturgical calendar points to something much deeper.

The Church celebrates only three earthly birthdays in Her calendar: that of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lady, and of St John the Baptist. And the simplest reason is this: ALL THREE ENTERED THE WORLD WITHOUT SIN. Our Lord, of course, is God made man and was entirely without sin. Our Lady had been preserved from original sin from the very first instant of her conception. St John the Baptist, according to the ancient tradition of the Church, was sanctified while still in his mother’s womb at the Visitation. In other words, when each of these three was born into the world, there was no stain of original sin upon them. Notice, by contrast, that the earthly birthdays of the other saints are not celebrated in the liturgical calendar. They, like the rest of us, entered this world bearing original sin and had need of the grace of Baptism. The day the Church ordinarily remembers as their dies natalis—their “birthday”—is instead the day of their death: the day on which they were born from this earthly life into the life of heaven.

And that makes the way we speak of Our Lady’s “birthday” rather different from the ordinary meaning we give that word. What is remarkable about 8 September is not merely that Mary came into the world on this day; rather, it is that her earthly birth was far greater and more glorious than ours.

04/09/2026

Hello everyone! I just want to promote once again my Novena in Honour of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila: Protomartyr of the Philippine Islands, which I authored and published last year. With his feast coming up this September, I thought I would share it again for anyone who may wish to pray the novena in his honour. The booklet has received the Imprimatur and includes the complete nine-day novena, together with introductory prayers and hymns. If you would like to get a copy, it is available on Amazon here: https://amzn.eu/d/0ghf0lHS

03/09/2026

I cannot contain my excitement in finally sharing my first proper—and scholarly—book on a subject I have wanted to write about for a very long time.

Coming at the end of September: La Naval Revisited: Retracing the Origin of Manila’s Great Rosarian Tradition.

25/08/2026

"The image is placed upon one of Santo Domingo's two lateral altars and has as its chapel an entire one of the church's three naves... The rich crown is of gold and weighs eighty ounces; it is completely filled with many very large diamonds and most precious pearls. The Child's crown is of the same kind. Together they must be worth some twenty-five thousand pesos. Our Lady's rostrillo, or headdress, has so many diamonds of such size that it seems to me worth as much as the two crowns. Besides these, she has many excellent pearls, earrings and numerous jewels with which the images are adorned, altogether worth perhaps ten thousand pesos. She has more than enough dresses and sets of vestments [...] All this, and much more that time has consumed, was given by the faithful as alms to Our Lady of the Rosary. The first bequest made in every will used to be to Our Lady of the Rosary, and this continued for many years." - Juan Peguero, O.P. Compendio Historial (1690)

"Rich and poor, nobles and commoners, Spaniards and Filipinos, soldiers and civilians vied with one another in presenting gifts to Her who had so completely won their hearts; and they considered themselves very fortunate to be able to contribute something from their own possessions towards the adornment of the chapel, many of them parting with some of their most precious jewels in order to offer them to the great Lady." - Fr Mariano Rodriguez, O.P. (Reseña histórica de la milagrosa imagen de la Virgen del Rosario que se venera en el templo de Santo Domingo de Manila, 1907)

25/08/2026

With only 47 days to go before La Naval de Manila, I wanted to share my personal rendition of Our Lady of the Rosary, then known simply as the Santo Rosario and later to become celebrated as La Naval, as She may have appeared between 1613 and 1621, in the years following the authentication of the miracle of the mud-stained skirt. Fr Mariano Rodríguez relates how the people of Manila, captivated by the beauty of the image and grateful for the many favours received through Our Lady’s intercession, showered Her with offerings of jewels, gems and other precious ornaments. Devotees from every rank of society—rich and poor, Spaniards and Filipinos alike—gave these treasures in thanksgiving, and so abundant were the offerings that many of the jewels were sewn directly into the fabric of Our Lady’s garments, until the image itself became richly festooned with the accumulated votive gifts of Her devotees. Much of this extraordinary treasury was stripped away during the British occupation of Manila in 1762, though offerings continued to pour in afterwards.

This drawing is therefore my attempt to evoke La Naval as She may have appeared in those early years of the 1600s. The image was still without the great aureola—the vast radiating halo surrounding the image that has since become one of Her most familiar and distinctive features. That imposing ornament belonged to a later period and did not appear until the 1800s.

21/08/2026

ATTENTION, FILIPINO DEVOTEES OF OUR LADY OF LA NAVAL! I am now in the final stages of preparing my new devotional booklet, The Treasury of La Naval: A Collection of Prayers and Devotions. I am also designing the booklet myself, and at present the work is still undergoing the process for the imprimatur. God willing, I hope to have it published towards the end of September or, if not, at the beginning of October.

As I work on the final cover design, I am looking for one beautiful original image of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila. My preference would be for a photograph of Our Lady against a clear blue sky, preferably with the softer light of late afternoon or dusk. An outdoor photograph would be perfectly suitable, provided the background is reasonably clean and uncluttered — for example, without distracting electrical wires, poles or similar objects behind the image.

I would also be very happy to consider an original hand-drawn sketch, drawing or illustration of Our Lady if it would suit the cover. Please note: I am not looking for AI-generated photographs, drawings or illustrations. I would like the final image to be the genuine work of the person submitting it, whether a photograph or an original piece of artwork. If you have something which you think may be suitable and would be willing for me to consider it for the cover, please send it to:

📧 [email protected]

I will need to select whichever image works best with the final design of the booklet.

For the image eventually chosen, I will ask the contributor to sign a simple written permission confirming that the work is their own, has not been generated by AI, and may be used for the publication without royalty or further financial claim. Full acknowledgement of the photographer or artist will, of course, be included in the booklet.

As a small token of gratitude, if the selected contributor is based in the Philippines, I would also be very happy to send you a complimentary copy once the booklet has been published.

Thank you very much, and please feel free to share this with fellow devotees of Our Lady of La Naval.

Viva la Virgen!

15/08/2026

The significance of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not confined to the extraordinary privilege granted to Our Lady herself. At its heart, this feast points towards something that concerns every Christian: the resurrection of the body. Every time we profess in the Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the dead,” we affirm that death is not the final destiny of the human body. At the end of time, when Christ comes again, the dead will rise, body and soul will be reunited, and those who have died in the grace and friendship of God will share in the glory of the risen Christ.

What we celebrate in Our Lady today is, in a unique way, an anticipation of that final resurrection. At the completion of her earthly life, Mary was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. What the rest of the faithful must await until the Last Day was granted to her beforehand as a singular privilege. She has already received that glorification of the body which the faithful hope to receive when Christ returns.

This is exactly the hope described by St Paul. In his First Letter to the Thessalonians, he writes that when the Lord comes again, “the dead who are in Christ shall rise first,” and that those who belong to Him shall be “taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). Likewise, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, he speaks of the last trumpet, when “the dead shall rise again incorruptible” and “this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:52–53). The Assumption therefore points directly towards this great promise of the Christian faith. In Our Lady, we see already accomplished what the Church still awaits at the end of time.

For this reason, the Assumption cannot simply be treated as an optional devotional belief which a Catholic may accept or dismiss according to personal preference. It is a dogma of the Catholic faith because it is bound up with what the Church believes about Christ’s victory over death, the dignity of the human body, the resurrection of the dead, and the unique place of the Mother of God in the mystery of salvation. To believe in the Assumption is not merely to believe that something extraordinary happened to Mary long ago; it is also to affirm the Christian hope that death and bodily corruption do not have the final word.

The Church has never defined whether Our Lady actually died before her Assumption. The dogma simply teaches that, “having completed the course of her earthly life,” she was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. What is certain is that her body was not left to the corruption of the grave. There is a profound fittingness in this: the virginal body from which the Eternal Word took His human flesh, which bore Him and gave Him birth, was not permitted to remain under the dominion of corruption. She who was so closely united with her Son throughout His earthly life was also given a unique share in the triumph of His Resurrection.

That is why this feast matters so deeply to Catholics. The Assumption is not simply about Mary being taken into Heaven; it is also a reminder of what God ultimately intends for the human person. We are not destined to remain disembodied souls for eternity. Our bodies themselves are part of God’s work of redemption. They may return to dust for a time, but at the resurrection of the dead they will be raised and reunited with the soul. For those who belong to Christ, the body will be transformed and glorified, no longer subject to death or corruption.

Our Lady’s privilege is that she did not have to await that final day. What the rest of the faithful hope to receive at the general resurrection, she has already received. In celebrating her Assumption, therefore, the Church does not merely look back upon a privilege bestowed upon the Mother of God; she looks forward to the fulfilment of her own hope. The glory already given to Mary is a sign of the destiny promised to those who remain faithful to Christ: that death will be overcome, the body will rise, and the whole human person will share in the life of the risen Lord.

14/08/2026

On this Feast of the Assumption, I was reminded of my first holiday in Malta and of a visit I made to the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu in Gozo. Preserved within the basilica is the original altarpiece of the Madonna of Ta’ Pinu, painted in 1619, in which Our Lady is represented in the mystery of her Assumption and heavenly glorification, surrounded by angels above the Apostles gathered at an empty tomb. Yet alongside the splendour of the sanctuary, what fascinated me most was the extraordinary collection of ex-votos accumulated there over generations. Apart from the small silver ones fashioned in the forms of hearts, eyes, hands, feet and other parts of the body, the most fascinating are the personal and sometimes startling objects preserved there: plaster casts, orthopaedic braces and supports, baby clothes, photographs, locks of hair, letters, paintings recording accidents or dangers at sea, and other possessions associated with illness, survival, childbirth and recovery. Seen together, they form an extraordinary material archive of devotion, preserved not merely in written accounts but in the very things people chose to leave behind.

I could not help thinking of Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval de Manila, because the old accounts I have been studying for my book reveal that something remarkably similar once surrounded the Santo Rosario. Devotees did not express their gratitude only through prayers or offerings of jewels; they sometimes left objects bearing a direct relationship to the favour they believed they had received. In one particularly striking case, a man who had suffered from a grave illness offered a piece of diseased bone from his shin, surgically removed during his treatment, enclosed within a silver case and subsequently placed upon the altar of Our Lady as a permanent testimony of his thanksgiving. In another, following deliverance from danger at sea, part of a ship’s foremast was presented to the Lady Chapel of Santo Domingo in Intramuros. There were also paintings in the old church recording particular miracles and favours associated with the Santo Rosario. Some of these were commissioned after the events themselves had been investigated, including by Archbishop Miguel García Serrano, precisely so that the memory of what had taken place might be preserved for posterity. Such offerings and images made memory tangible: they allowed the story of a favour, a danger survived or a prayer believed to have been answered to remain present long after the individual devotee had gone. Much of this material heritage was inevitably lost through the successive destruction of the earlier churches of Santo Domingo in Intramuros, but the documentary sources preserve enough to show that this tradition of votive thanksgiving was once very much alive.

Visiting Ta’ Pinu therefore left me wondering whether something similar might one day find a place at Santo Domingo in Quezon City: a simple dedicated space in which these largely forgotten miracles and favours associated with La Naval might once again be recalled. Perhaps this is also why I have become so passionate about recovering and retelling these accounts in the book I am now writing. Paintings or other visual representations could bring some of these historical episodes back into view, while contemporary devotees might likewise be able to leave appropriate testimonies and offerings of thanksgiving of their own. The point would not be to turn them into curiosities, nor to suggest that every favour must be something spectacular or extraordinary. Rather, it would be to preserve the simple but important truth that God listens to our prayers and answers our needs, and that those who have experienced such favours have often been so moved by gratitude that they wished to leave behind some lasting testimony of them, both in thanksgiving and for the edification and inspiration of future generations.

11/08/2026

Tomorrow begins a little triduum of preparation here at The Home Oratory for the great Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady on 15 August. For these three days, I have chosen to veil the image of the Blessed Virgin in violet—a purely personal devotional gesture intended to give these final days before the feast a particular sense of preparation and expectation.

The idea is inspired, in part, by the ancient Eastern observance of the Dormition Fast, during which the faithful prepare themselves for the feast of Our Lady’s Dormition and her entrance into heavenly glory. Although there is no corresponding period of fasting in the Roman tradition, I have always liked the idea of marking these last few days before the Assumption in some outward way. And so, in my little oratory, these three days become something of a personal Triduum of the Dormition.

08/08/2026

Hail, great Saint Dominic, glorious Father and light of the Church, fearless champion of the true Faith and mighty adversary of heresy! Armed with the word of God and inflamed with zeal for the salvation of souls, thou didst labour tirelessly to dispel the darkness of error and lead wandering hearts back to the truth of Christ. Faithful servant of the Blessed Virgin Mary and illustrious herald of her Holy Rosary, thou didst teach the faithful to take up this heavenly chain of prayer as a sure defence against sin and falsehood. O radiant light of the Church, pray for us, that, steadfast in the Catholic Faith and devoted to the Holy Rosary, we may faithfully defend the truth thou didst so courageously proclaim.

The Home Oratory

08/09/2026

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