Rembrandt’s Titus, The Artist’s Son
May 16th 2020
“Titus, the artist’s son” , Rembrandt, c. 1657, Wallace Collection, London. You can view this paining in high resolution on the Wallace Collection website, www.wallacecollection.org When asked recently what my favourite portrait was, I could answer without hesitation. It this
CRIVELLI’S OUR LADY OF THE SWALLOW
May 9th 2020
Someone mentioned in an email that that this week he had seen his first swallow of spring out at Gosford. Perhaps the swallow in this altarpiece, which is perched above the Madonna and Child and gives the work its name,
BR SAMUEL PREACHES ON THE GOOD SHEPHERD
May 4th 2020
John 10:1-10 The Fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally called “Good Shepherd Sunday” and it’s the day upon which we pray especially for vocations. Somewhat awkwardly, however, this year (Year A of the liturgical cycle) there’s no explicit mention of
Carlo Crivelli’s Virgin and Child with Sts Francis and Sebastian
May 2nd 2020
The painting from the National Gallery Collection in London was made as an altarpiece for a family chapel in the Franciscan Church at Fabriano in the Italian Marche region in 1491. In the centre are the Virgin and Child.
Fr John preaches on “The road to Emmaus”
April 27th 2020
Third Sunday of Easter, Luke 24: 13-35 At the very end of John’s Gospel there are these intriguing words: “But there are also many other things, which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that
HOW WE BUILT A CHAPEL IN THE BACK GARDEN – PART I
April 26th 2020
These photos were taken before and during the construction of the Chapel of St Albert the Great. Here is the back garden as it was on 1st February 2009. The copse of trees was planted by the owner of number
CARAVAGGIO’S DOUBTING THOMAS
April 25th 2020
“Doubting Thomas”, c.1601/02, Caravaggio, Bildergalerie, Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany. It is known that this work was painted as a private commission while Caravaggio was in Rome. It must surely have created a stir among those who saw it,
BR SAMUEL PREACHES ON EASTER SUNDAY
April 21st 2020
The story begins in darkness. It was “still dark”, St. John tells us, when Mary Magdalen went to visit the tomb, three days after his agonising death. There was darkness outside for it was before dawn, and there was darkness
Homily for Easter Friday
April 18th 2020
Fr Fergus preaches on John 21:1-14 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=264744428016763
Fr John preaches at the Easter Vigil
April 11th 2020
It must have been sometime in May or June 1993. I was back at home having just finished my final engineering exams in Galway. I had gone for a walk and returned to learn that my mother had received a
