Oliver Hayes: Welcome to this new blog!

Who am I? I am a parishioner of the Birmingham Oratory, founded by the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman. I sing bass and tenor in their choir, and I am an amateur composer, philosopher and general practitioner of all manner of daft hobbies....















Those of you who are regular visitors to the blog of my friend and fellow Oratory parishioner Jackie Parkes may recognise me from before. Here I am again on the steps of Salzburg cathedral, from the few posts which I made for her blog about my holidays in Bavaria, about the places associated with Benedict XVI. I have been talked into starting my own blog after I said I would never do it. So I have been persuaded to join the ranks of blogosphere for good.

Why have I called this blog the Expectation of Our Lady? I have a great personal interest in this feast, which is little known in the English speaking world and of which I would like to bring more attention to. Due to the constraints on my time and energy I will only put about two to three posts per week, but I will try to be as interesting as I can. Now please read the following post.