A 45 minute cultural oasis

@writingwestmids.bsky.social Teetering on perfection - when to let your work go and be published!

Very satisfying to receive the usual warm welcome at Christchurch Priory yesterday. It was a lovely large audience, some of whom were very near the console sitting behind me in the north transept; the ongoing work on the nave floor meant a different seating configuration and console position.

St Chad’s Cathedral, the Diocesan Mother Church, has now moved to YouTube for the live streaming of Masses.

Looking forward to a year of music that soothes and stirs the soul!

The 2025 season at #StChads was a Thursday afternoon monthly oasis. Where you could find music that was enchanting, majestic and joyful. And ultimately uplifting, imagine what 2026 has in store for us!

Portrait of Frances Eaton (mid 19th c) by British painter Joanna Boyce. The sitter was a Jamaican-born Londoner & artists´ model for the Pre-Raphaelites who moved to England as a child, and appeared in a number of paintings #womensart

Pilgrim shell painted and gilded by somebody impacted by abuse in the Church of St Paul in Alnwick for the Hexham and Newcastle Diocesan LOUDfence. "We are gravely injured, but we are not dead. We are wounded but we are not destroyed."

2/2 Lemare’s compositions were designed to show off the organs of his day, his symphonies rival those of his French contemporaries. The Scherzo (Symphony 1) has an energetic theme. The central section is lighter providing a pause before the opening theme returns & builds to a triumphant conclusion.

3/4 …Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven, Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more. On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.

Thank you to all who have supported the Annual Second Collection for the Maintenance of St Chad’s Cathedral, the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, UK. Please remember this great building of history and living faith in your will or any donation you may wish to give.

4/4 …Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath spring’s beautiful canopy. thursdaylive.org for full details.

We'll be celebrating love and marriage with a special Mass at St Chad's Cathedral in May. The diocesan Thanksgiving Mass for Marriage will be held on Saturday 3 May, at 12noon, celebrated by Bishop Richard Walker. Find out more and register: www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/Event/thanks...

All welcome at a Concert of Hope for Friends of the Holy Land later this month @stchadsbirm.bsky.social Tickets now on sale. www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/Event/friend...

Our Lady, Senior Safeguarding Officer of your global church, intercede for all who suffer, especially those who carry the wounds caused by abuse.

Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. It is World Day of Prayer for the Sick. We pray for our families and friends and all those in our community who live with sickness of body or mind. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. St Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us.