Birmingham Oratory May Procession 2018
On Sunday, after the 12 o’clock Holy Mass at Birmingham Oratory, there followed a May Procession in honour of Mary, Queen of Heaven.
The congregation was swelled by those who had attended the earlier Traditional Rite Holy Mass and who had returned for the event.
During the Crowning ceremony, the Provost of the Oratory Father Ignatius Harrison prayed, “O Mary, we crown you today. In our hearts we crown you as Queen and mother. We claim you as our gracious advocate, confident that your powerful intercession will help to save us from all evil, past, present and to come, and draw us ever closer top your Divine Son.”
He reminded the congregation that Hell is real, adding “May we ever heed your kindly warning. Save us from the fires of Hell. Teach all mankind to lay aside the instruments of war and to pursue those things that make for peace.”
“Most Blessed Virgin, Help of Christians, may your maternal protection shine down upon us more brightly than the sun, so that we live and work only for the greater glory of Jesus and the good of all His Holy Church,” he added.
The statue of Our Lady was then carried shoulder high out of the church and into the streets on Birmingham in full view of passing motorists as a powerful witness, especially as the procession wended its way alongside the busy Hagley Road and the nearby Plough & Harrow Road.