Still in Oxford at the moment, I thought I’d call your attention to these observations by Brian Mershon writing for the Wanderer about the recent CIEL liturgical conference:

Indeed, in these hallowed halls of Oxford, the spirit of John Cardinal Henry Newman was noticeably present. The reverberating echoes of the living but ancient liturgical music and language, lived out, taught, and inculcated in the midst of Oxford, would have brought a broad smile to the face of this giant figure who once walked these very halls. No fewer than 84 churches, chapels, oratories, and other related once-Catholic monuments and buildings dot the grounds of this one-time bastion of Catholicism.

The Catholic priest from the Oratory who took us on our tour of the Oxford College grounds, Fr. Jerome Bertram, speculated that during this recent conference at the Oratory, where the 25 or so priest attendees offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in its ancient Roman form, there may have been more Catholic Masses offered daily [in Oxford] since the Protestant Revolt . . .

I pointed to the happy omen that I think this Catholic takeover may be in comments under my post about the solemn high Mass which concluded CIEL 2006.