Pentecost at the Priory of the Holy Spirit

"The wine of truth which Christ gives us to drink is also a wine of astonishment. What we preach, then, are not just truths about God. We preach a wine of truth which we have actually tasted ourselves, and have drunk with living faith and joy" - Paul Murray OP

Pentecost is a particularly festive time for us in Oxford as it is the feast day of the Priory. Each year we have a special dinner with our 'door-keepers': friends of the Priory who give of their time and energy to keep watch at the door, answering the telephone, receiving messages, helping those with enquiries about studies or the use of the library or who wish to speak with a priest.

The occasion is one of joy and laughter, and one can see in it a reflection of the joy of Pentecost described in Acts 2. It is a gathering of friends, many of whom have been associated with Blackfriars, Oxford far longer than the younger friars have been alive. It is a small gesture of thanks from the Community to those who help all year round with this service of door-keeping.

Below are some photos from this year's dinner which we wish to share with you:

"And just as those who hold their mouths to the fountain of wine become drunk or inebriated, likewise those who bring their desires, or hold their mouths, as it were, to the fountain of life and sweetness, become drunk [in the Spirit]" - St Thomas Aquinas



"The Father laughs at the Son and the Son at the Father, and the laughing brings forth pleasure, and the pleasure brings forth joy, and the joy brings forth love" - Meister Eckhart



"Laugh to your hearts' content, my dearest children... it is only right that you should laugh after breaking from the devil's thralldom, and bursting the shackles in which he held you fast these many years past. Laugh on, then, and be as merry as you please, my darling sons" - Blessed Jordan of Saxony

We wish all our readers a joy-filled Pentecost!