Brothers of the Little Oratory barbecue

This evening the brothers of the Little Oratory of the Birmingham Oratory held their annual barbecue in the grounds of Rednal. Being a member I travelled down to Rednal with several of the others to get everything set up, and as ever, I was roped in to do most of the cooking and light the charcoal! We started off with mass in the Rednal chapel, and when this was finished, I got down to grilling burgers and sausages, while everyone else had a drink and a chat, and complained about how the slow the cooking was...

The Oratory originated out of a group of laymen led by St. Philip Neri, who met up for prayers, pious exercises, excursions and picnics, and such was its success that St. Philip had some of his disciples ordained to the priesthood, and from that came the common life of which we know the Oratory of today. We the brothers of the Little Oratory carry on the tradition of the Oratory's early exercises, and today was no exception. Apart from my cursing and swearing over the flaming charcoal and to my fellow brethren, it was a most convivial occasion.