By Fr Augustine
•
November 14, 2026
Dear friends in Christ, This week we have the visit of the relics of St Gerard Majella taking place on Monday. The relics will be available for prayer from 6.30pm (after Vespers) with Mass at 7.00pm celebrated by Father Prior. Blessings with the relics will be available after Mass, along with tea and coffee in The Chapterhouse. Fr Royston Pryce CssR will be preaching on the life of St Gerard, as we celebrate the 300th anniversary of his birth. St Gerard is the Patron Saint of mothers, couples trying to conceive, those looking for work, and making a good confession. It will be good to welcome Fr Royston back to Belmont since he preached at the May Procession in 2024. On Thursday we celebrate St Hilda of Whitby, whom we now celebrate as a Feast since she has been approved as the female secondary patron of the English Benedictine Congregation. St Hilda was a seventh-century abbess and one of the most influential women in the early English Church. As Abbess of Whitby, she established a flourishing dual monastery that became a centre of prayer, learning, and Christian culture. Renowned for her wisdom, holiness, and gift for leadership, she also played an important part in the Synod of Whitby in 664, which helped establish unity in the practices of the English Church. St Hilda reminds us of the importance of wisdom, education, prayer, and generous leadership in the service of Christ and his Church. Next Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, which always takes place on the last Sunday of the Church’s Year. Once again, there will be Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 1.00pm until the end of Vespers. This gives us an opportunity to thank Our Lord for all the good things he has given us in the last year and to pray for good things in the year to come. My prayers and best wishes,