Aunty o


a


n


n


a


J


THE P RTAL Maryvale


IT’S OLD but solid and comfortable, it’s English, it’s connected with John Henry Newman, it’s steeped in sound Catholic doctrine, it’s friendly, it’s got a garden with roses and wide lawns. Everything about Maryvale fits perfectly: if you like the Ordinariate, you’ll love Maryvale in Birmingham. Which is just as well because a number of Ordinariate clergy are taking various Maryvale courses. We had one with one such priest with us just this past weekend, as we tackled Canon Law in a beautiful portrait-lined room overlooking Maryvale’s front lawns.


Catholic recusant family Maryvale was for many generations the home of a


Catholic recusant family, and Mass was celebrated here secretly. In the mid 19th


Henry Newman who lived here while pondering plans for what has since become the Birmingham Oratory.


Today it is, as readers THE PORTAL probably know,


and certainly ought to know, Britain ’s main Catholic study centre offering courses ranging from formation for parish catechists to post-graduate research degrees. Tose of us who are studying there gather for weekend courses, with lecturers brought in from Oxford, London, Rome and elsewhere. Tere’s a convivial atmosphere, there’s a warm welcome from the Brigettine sisters who provide the meals and hospitality, there’s daily Mass and prayer in the beautiful chapel.


Courses Ordinariate groups across Britain have had to leave


beautiful churches which they have loved and cared for over many years. Tere is a general expectation that a local Catholic church will be modern, bleak or dominated by statues or other objects that are in poor taste or downright ugly. None of this may actually be the case, but it’s as well to be prepared for this possibility. So it is important to understand that there can be


century it welcomed John


March 2012


Page 6


much that is beautiful and lovely awaiting all Ordinariate members in the Catholic Church in England too. Maryvale awaits you. Interested in getting trained as a parish catechist? Doing a course on art and beauty? Studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church, just for the satisfaction of getting to know the Faith really well, in good company? Tese are just some of the courses on offer, at moderate prices and with very, very much delight awaiting you.


writes No one from Maryvale is paying me to write this:


on the contrary, I not only pay my own fees for the Maryvale course I’m attending, but I’ve been helping with general fund-raising just because I love the place and want it to flourish.


Our country needs the Gospel My enthusiasm is simply rooted in the reality of


it all: this is a place which is taking seriously our mission to evangelise. Goodness knows, our poor country needs this.


As you travel to Maryvale from Birmingham New


Street station on a Friday night you are there with the shrieking youngsters tanking up for the night’s boozing, the lonely folk that always seem to hang around shopping centres with a bleak look, the huge mosque that stands alongside the swooping main road.


Long ago, in the vanished Britain of Queen Victoria’s


reign, John Henry Newman walked across fields from Maryvale to Mass. Pugin was building his glorious gothic churches at that time (look at St Chad’s cathedral as a fine example) and church attendance figures were steadily rising. Today – well...our country needs the Gospel, it needs people prepared to live it and love it and teach it.


Do think about a course at Maryvale? You can find out more from: www.maryvale.ac.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17