THE P RTAL
July 2014
UK Pages - page 12
Inspiration in
the Thames Valley
Large numbers are not everything; Jackie Ottaway and
Ronald Crane find inspiration at the Reading Group
UK Pages
I
n the December 2012 edition of The Portal, we reported on a visit to the Reading Ordinariate Group.
Last month we returned to see how things are going. The Group worships at 0915 in the beautiful St James’s
Church. It was built on a portion of the site of Reading Abbey in 1837–40. This marked the return of Roman
Catholicism to Reading.
had always interested me. I went to the
Tridentine Mass at St William’s, the
daughter church to St James’s, and was
quite struck by it.
The town was the site of the death of
Blessed Dominic Barberi, the Catholic
missionary to England in the 19th century
who received John Henry Newman into the
Catholic faith. Saint James’s is dominated
by some fine Early English style arches
that seem to fit with its position on the site
of the old Abbey. All in all the interior of
the church is stunning.
the Ordinariate suited me
Thomas Prince
mass was beautifully
celebrated
We arrived in good time
for the 0915 Sung Mass on
the Solemnity of Corpus
Christi. The mass was
beautifully celebrated and
the congregation responded
accordingly.
Cilla Jones & Michael George
The music was inspiring
and well sung and led by the Cantor.
The Sequence was sung in its entirety,
and prior to Benediction we went on a
Procession around the church. All was
as well as could be.
After mass, we retired to the kitchen
for some refreshment. This gave us
the opportunity to chat with one or
two members of the Group. Thomas
Prince (24) is a PhD student at Reading
John Baptiste
Imperial University. His subject is
Maths. He comes from Essex, but found a home with
the Ordinariate in Reading.
“Fr John (the Parish Priest at St James’s)
and I met. RCIA (Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults) was the next step.
He mentioned the Ordinariate Group at
St James’s, so I came along one
Sunday. At the same time, I
discovered the Anglo-Catholic
churches in Reading on the
grounds that I shouldn’t jump
ship too quickly. However, it
was the Ordinariate that suited
me. It is what I believe in.
The Ordinariate was known
to me before. When Pope
Francis became Pope, it had a high
profile. People wanted to know if he
would approve. There was a lot about
this in the church press. “I am being
received into the Catholic Church via
the Ordinariate on 6th July.”
Tom Christie is the Cantor at Mass for
the Ordinariate. He is retired n