Assistant Master of Music

Matthew Martin is Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral. Chances are you have never seen a picture of him as he is modest and retiring. He is, of course very brilliant, a great organist and a composer. Before he came here he was Organist at Canterbury Cathedral.

People don't always realize what an astonishing Music Department we have at this cathedral.

Martin Baker, Master of Music, Matthew Martin, Assistant Master of Music, David Grealy, Organ Scholar are not the only virtuosi. Thomas Wilson, The Precentor, is also a magnificent organist. Four organists of outstanding ability. I sometimes wonder if worshippers here know how fortunate and blessed they are. Or do they take it all for granted? I hope not....

Dorothy Palmer

One of those who came to the Reception was Dorothy Palmer, Canon Tuckwell's housekeeper first in the 1970's when he was an Anglican curate in Clapton. Later, when he returned to Clapton as Roman Catholic Parish Priest of St Scholastica's, Dorothy once again worked as his housekeeper. She too, by that time, had become a Catholic.

Party for the Parish

Bishop Alan Hopes congratulates an old friend on his becoming a Canon of the Cathedral.


After Mass in the Cathedral Hall, parishioners from the Cathedral and former parishes gathered to congratulate Canon Christopher. Many had come from a distance, including a group from Hemel Hempstead.

Congratulations!

After Mass, priest friends and members of the Cathedral Chapter congratulated the new Canon in the Sacristy, Westminster Cathedral. There are 18 Canons at any one time. Most dioceses have a Chapter of twelve. Westminster has always had eighteen....

The Chapter Mass - 4th November

Canon Christopher Tuckwell, installed as a member of the Cathedral Chapter, by the Provost, Canon Michael Brockie, Parish Priest of Our Most Holy Redeemer, Chelsea, London

A November Canonization

Photographs of the installation of our Administrator as a Canon have been flooding in. This took place on Tuesday, 4th November and was a splendid occasion, centered on the 5.30 Mass celebrated by the Provost, Canon Michael Brockie. It was during this Mass that the new Canon Tuckwell was formally installed as a member of the Cathedral Chapter.

An apology from Fr Dean

This won't happen often - as I think I subscribe to the wonderfully smug philosophy: 'Never apologise, never explain'. But I am sorry for being off the air. If I have lost all 14 of you, COME BACK! Normal Service Will Be Resumed As Soon As Possible.

Talk tonight by Joanna Bogle!

Joanna Bogle is giving a talk tonight on the subject of the English Martyrs and Saint John Southworth, the Westminster Martyr whose body lies in the Cathedral. It will be given in Westminster Cathedral Hall at 6.30 pm and tickets (at £10) are available at the door. The Hall is halfway down Ambrosden Avenue - the street on the left-hand side of the Cathedral.
Do try to come! Joanna is a well-known Catholic journalist with a lively style and a lot to tell us about all sorts of things of Catholic interest. In recent months she has been contributing to Oremus and people always enjoy her articles.
If possible - after the talk - we hope to go through to the shrine of St John and say a prayer, led by Fr Michael Durand, seeking the intercession of this glorious Westminster saint.

Our 100-year-old priest

Last week, Cardinal Cormac honoured Fr Reginald Fuller, by saying Mass for him at the Cathedral on Fr Reggie becoming a Centenarian. Here you can just see the Cardinal with our bishops returning to the Sacristy at the end of the Mass of Thanksgiving for Fr Fuller's 77 years of priesthood. Many Westminster diocesan clergy concelebrated and it was a joyful occasion.

The Mass was followed by a lunch for Fr Reggie, attended by his family, friends and fellow-Clergy in the Cathedral Hall. At 100, Fr Reggie is as cheerful and quick-witted as I remember him ten years ago, when he lived near the Cathedral and came to meals at Clergy House. An accomplished, kindly man, known in his time for biblical scholarship, education and much more.

At the lunch, His Eminence proposed a toast to Fr Fuller and thanked him warmly for his long years of priestly dedication and service to the Church in the Diocese of Westminster.

It was an occasion for catching up with old friends, family and priests from around the diocese.

A new departure

"I hope you have found your way here from Mgr Mark Langham's blog: "Solomon, I have surpassed thee". When he left for Rome this summer, I took over that blog but we both agreed that I should soon open a new one. This enables me to describe the Solomon blog as The Mark Langham Archive on the Cathedral website. From now on, it will stand alone as a record of several years of his thoughts and experiences as Administrator of Westminster Cathedral.
You can always look into it by accessing http://www.westminstercathedral.blogspot.com/
You will find it is packed with fascinating things you won't find elsewhere.

This new blog has a very similar URL. The only difference is one hyphen: http://www.westminster-cathedral.blogspot.com/ I hope you will bear with me as I get into the swing of blogging. My sole purpose is to share a bit of current information about the life of the Cathedral - things I become aware of as one of the Cathedral Chaplains, "living" - as Prince Philip once said of Buckingham Palace - "over the shop".

Cardinal Newman Mosaic

On Wednesday, 10 September, The Administrator, Canon Tuckwell blessed the newly-installed mosaic of Cardinal John Henry Newman. It is located high on the wall to the left of the Chapel of the Holy Souls.