Reading Abbey, a Cluniac monastery, was founded in 1121 by Henry I, the son of William the Conqueror, in remembrance of his own son William, who had died tragically at sea. Little remains now of what was once the largest and one of the most prestigious abbeys in England. John and Lindsay Mullaney have made a special study of the abbey and give a detailed account of the background to its foundation, its cult of St James the Great, its architecture, music, art and liturgy.

Click on the arrow to listen to this talk or go to the image above to find the talk in our free iTunes podcast    64 minutes

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Bishop Laurence Walter Youens was a convert to the Catholic faith from Anglicanism, and was ordained priest in 1901 in High Wycombe, the first Catholic priest ordained there since the Reformation. After a period of missionary work in North Africa, he returned to the diocese of Northampton and remained for the rest of his life, being especially devoted to the education of poor boys. At the age of 60 he was asked to be Bishop of the relatively poor diocese, which through the lean years of the 1920s and 30s was home to an increasing number of Catholics seeking work in the new towns such as Luton. He oversaw the establishment of new churches and Mass centres in the diocese as the Catholic population grew rapidly during these years. He died in November 1939 while writing a Bishop’s letter encouraging all members of his diocese to have courage in the years of war to come. He is especially to be remembered fpr promoting the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, celebrating the first Mass in the Slipper Chapel since the Reformation on the Feast of the Assumption 1934.

Mrs Margaret Osborne was for many years Northampton Diocesan Archivist

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St Alphege was born near Bath in 954 and died a martyr 1011.  Little known today, his life is however an example and inspiration.  Dr Giles Mercer, former headmaster of Stonyhurst and Prior Park Schools and author of a recent biography of Bishop William Brownlow, became interested in St Alphege when he became a parishioner of St Alphege Catholic Church in Bath.  In this talk he gives interesting background information on Anglo-Saxon Britain and then outlines the life of St Alphege from his birth into a relatively well to do family, his call to the contemplative life, his becoming a monk of Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, his move to the monastery at Glastonbury, his promotion to Abbot of Winchester and then to Archbishop of Canterbury.  His martyrdom at the hands of the vikings took place as he refused to allow the ransom money asked for his life to be raised from the poor of his diocese.  St Anselm said of him ‘He who dies for justice, dies for Christ’.

Click on the arrow to listen to this talk or go to the image above to find the talk in our free iTunes podcast    64 minutes

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26 Fr Richard Finn OP, a member of the Dominican house in Oxford, gives a lucid and informative account of the establishment of the Dominican Order in England. He covers their growth up to the time of the Reformation, their years in exile on the continent and their return to England in the early 1800s, fleeing persecution there. The support of the wealthy convert William Leigh enabled them to found a flourishing noviciate house in Gloucestershire, in addition to houses in London, Newcastle, Leicester and Oxford. Eventually they were able to establish daughter houses in South Africa, Granada, Edinburgh and Cambridge. They continue today to pursue their charism of preaching and teaching.

Click on the arrow to listen to this talk or go to the image above to find the talk in our free iTunes podcast    46 minutes

https://echa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/the-english-dominican-province-by-fr-richard-finn-op.mp3

Dr Simon Johnson is Director of Heritage at Downside Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey and school in Somerset, England. Established in the 19th century, Downside is home to one of the best collections of religious manuscripts in the world. A recent Heritage Lottery Fund grant has enabled the library and archives to be modernised. Dr Simon brings us up to date with many interesting insights into the work that has been involved, and gives an outline of future hopes and plans.

Click on the arrow to listen to this talk or go to the image above to find the talk in our free iTunes podcast    46 minutes

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Lady Clare Asquith published her acclaimed book ‘Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare’ in 2005, a study of how Shakespeare secretly addressed the most profound political issues of his day, and how his plays embody a hidden history of England. In this fascinating talk she leads us into this hidden world. With precision and scholarship supported by examples from the texts, we begin to understand something of the terror and sadness in which our Elizabethan forebears lived, a world in which drama was one of the very few mediums which gave the possibility of an outward expression of an interior faith, if one knew how to listen.

Click on the arrow to listen to this talk or go to the image above to find the talk in our free iTunes podcast    62 minutes

https://echa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/24-shakespeare-and-the-english-reformation-by-lady-clare-asquith.mp3