The Day With Mary Hits Blackfen...

Today we were blessed to have the Day With Mary at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen. It was absolutely wonderful - someone commented on my Facebook wall that it was like a three-day retreat packed into six hours - I think that's a pretty good summary!


We started off with some prayers, the Crowning of the Statue of Our Lady and a procession around the block, with the recitation of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary...

Mass was in the Extraordinary Form, with the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate chanting the Mass propers. Today was the Feast of St Gregory the Great, the Pope responsible for sending St. Augustine to England.

After Mass, Fr. Tim consecrated the parish to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart...

...and then it was time for lunch, which meant (for me) a beeline for the bookstall. This year, the bookstall was divided into two sections, one at each end of the parish hall, so I hardly knew where to begin...

I bought four books this time - Bethlehem: The Sacred Infancy of Our Most Dear and Blessed Redeemer by Fr. Faber; A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation by St. Thomas More; The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Lent and Difficulties in Mental Prayer by Eugene Boylan. That should keep me out of mischief for a while!

Then we were back in the church for Exposition and the Blessed Sacrament procession...

The procession only went round the car park a couple of times rather than right around the block because the first part of the day had over-run somewhat, and we had to get back on schedule...

We prayed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, had a talk by Fr. Tim, prayed the sorrowful Mysteries, then meditated on the Stations of the Cross...

We had a talk from Fr. Agnellus, FI,  and a break for tea (which gave another opportunity to browse the bookstalls), and then we returned to pray the Glorious Mysteries and receive Benediction...

Enrolment into the Brown Scapular very nearly didn't have any takers - those present had obviously been enrolled on previous occasions - but, at the last minute, one woman shyly came forward...

And then, finally, Our Lady's statue was carried out...

...pausing at the back of the church while people waved goodbye, as they do in Fatima...

I always get rather choked up at this - it's such a poignant moment, when we get to show our devotion in such a simple way.

So many people came along, it was truly inspiring, and a great way to start Lent. If you get a chance to attend a Day With Mary, do go along, even if only for part of it. You can read more over at Fr. Tim's blog, and you can see more photos on my Flickr page.