Thou shalt call His Name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
Farewell to Fr Alex and welcome to Fr Philip  Our Lady & St Oswald's Catholic Church is located in Oswestry, a border market town in the Welsh Marches of Shropshire. Please click here to view a map of where we are located. The Winter Seasons
 Herald John, who ushered in the Advent season, is present once again to close Christmastide on the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord (The First Luminous Mystery), and to open the Season of Ordinary Time. He points to Jesus, the Lamb of God who unites time and eternity in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and even January’s diminishing darkness seems to echo St. John’s prayer: “He must increase and I must decrease.” In this liturgical season the Church eagerly follows Our Lord as he gathers his apostles and announces his mission. At Cana’s wedding feast (The Second Luminous Mystery) he performs his first public miracle at the request of his Mother, and his disciples saw his glory and believed in him. We, his present-day disciples, pray for a like faith as we contemplate the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb and the unique role of the Blessed Mother in the plan of salvation. May we wholeheartedly obey her words of counsel: “Do whatever he tells you.” The month of January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. "In the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth" (Phil 2:10). Christ's name is chosen in heaven, and the Angel Gabriel announces it when he informs the Blessed Virgin of the incarnation: "Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus". It is a name that has marvelous implications, for it means "savior." The very name bespeaks the magnitude of His mission, His infinite love, a love that will cause Him to offer Himself up for us. The name of Jesus is the sweetest of all names, and He who bears it is most worthy of all love. He who calls Jesus his friend can be assured that this friend is the most devoted and unselfish of all friends. Jesus is our all. In His name we may pray to the Father with assurance of being heard. In His name the Church administers all her sacraments. In His name she offers all her prayers and blesses homes, the fields, and the sick. In the name of Jesus she casts out evil spirits, and at the hour of our death bids us, "Go forth, Christian soul." She assures us that whoever shall call upon this name will be saved. When our soul has departed this life to seek its eternal home, the Church asks in the name of Jesus, "Eternal rest give unto him, O Lord." — Benedict Baur, O.S.B. History of the feast  The Office used at present is nearly identical with the Office of Bernardine dei Busti. The hymns "Jesu dulcis memoria", "Jesu Rex admirabilis", "Jesu decus angelicum", usually ascribed to St. Bernard, are fragments of a very extensive "jubilus" or "cursus de aeterna sapientia" of some unknown author in the thirteenth century. For the beautiful sequence "Dulcis Jesus Nazarenus" (Morel, "Hymnen des Mittelalters", 67) of Bernardine dei Busti the Franciscans substituted a prose sequence of modern origin: "Lauda Sion Salvatoris". — Excepted from the Catholic Encyclopaedia | This Month
 In the first part of January we continue to rejoice and celebrate Christ's coming at Bethlehem and in our hearts. We have the wonderful feasts of Mary, Mother of God, where we honor Mary's highest title, and then we follow the Magi to the crib as they bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh on Epiphany. Finally we reach the culmination of this season with the Baptism of Our Lord by St. John the Baptist. With a touch of sadness we take down our decorations and enter into the liturgical period known as Ordinary Time where we will devote ourselves to the mystery of Christ in its entirety. This is a time of growth and an opportunity to allow the dignity of Sunday to shine forth, prolonging the joy of Easter and Pentecost. Besides those previously mentioned the month's major feasts include: St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen (January 2), Holy Name of Jesus (January 3), St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (January 4), St. John Neumann (January 5), St. Anthony, abbot (January 17), Sts. Fabian & Sebastian (January 20), St. Agnes (January 21), St. Francis de Sales (January 24), the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25), St. Timothy and Titus (January 26), St. Angela Merici (January 27), St. Thomas Aquinas (January 28) and St. John Bosco (January 31). The feast of St. Vincent of Saragossa (January 22) is superseded by the Sunday liturgy. The feasts on the General Roman Calendar celebrated during the month of January are: 1. Mary, Mother of God, Solemnity 2. Basil the Great; Gregory Nazianzen, Memorial 5. John Neumann, Memorial 6. Andre Bessette, Opt. Mem. 7. Raymond of Penafort, Opt. Mem. 8. Epiphany of the Lord, Solemnity 9. Baptism of the Lord, Feast 13. Hilary; Kentigern (Scotland), Opt. Mem. 15. Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday 17. Anthony, Memorial 20. Fabian; Sebastian, Opt. Mem. 21. Agnes, Memorial 22. Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday 24. Francis de Sales; Our Lady of Peace, Memorial 25. Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Feast 26. Timothy and Titus, Memorial 27. Angela Merici, Opt. Mem. 28. Thomas Aquinas, Memorial 29. Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday 31. John Bosco, Memorial
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