article<\/a> on the Opus Dei UK website about the history of Opus Dei in Britain, and in particular its early relationship with the Brompton Oratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAccording to the article, the earliest members of Opus Dei came to London in 1946 to begin their apostolic work. During those early years, they often attended Holy Mass and prayed at the Brompton Oratory. Then, in 1947, the first centre of Opus Dei in Britain was established in a flat at Rutland Court, in the Oratory parish, with the approval of Cardinal Bernard Griffin, Archbishop of Westminster. One of the Fathers of the Brompton Oratory would even celebrate Holy Mass once a week at the centre, at a time when there was no priest of Opus Dei based in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find this little piece of history particularly interesting because of how closely these two spiritual realities have been connected from the very beginning of Opus Dei’s presence in Britain. The Brompton Oratory was not simply a place where the first members happened to attend Mass; it actually became part of the story of Opus Dei’s earliest years in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is something quite beautiful about discovering this connection while I am myself discerning between these two possible paths. On the one hand, I am discerning a possible vocation to the priesthood with the Oratorian Fathers at the Brompton Oratory; on the other, I am considering the possibility of a vocation as a celibate layman within Opus Dei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, I don’t know yet where God is calling me. Vocational discernment is ultimately about trying to listen to God’s will rather than deciding everything for oneself. For now, I can only pray, learn, seek good counsel, and remain open to wherever He may lead me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is therefore quite encouraging — and perhaps a little providential — to discover that the histories of the Brompton Oratory and Opus Dei in Britain were already intertwined from their earliest days. Whatever vocation God eventually gives me, I hope that I will be able to recognise it with gratitude and embrace it faithfully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some of you might know that I am currently discerning my priestly vocation. If it is God\u2019s will, I will probably join the Oratory of St Philip Neri at the Brompton Oratory located in South Kensington, London. However, if God wants me not to become a priest but instead to remain a celibate layman, I am considering joining Opus Dei as a Numerary Member. Interestingly, I recently came across an article on the Opus Dei UK website about the history of Opus Dei in Britain, and in particular its early relationship with the Brompton Oratory. According to the article, the earliest members of Opus Dei came to London in 1946 to begin their apostolic work. During those early years, they often attended Holy Mass and prayed at the Brompton Oratory. Then, in 1947, the first centre of Opus Dei in Britain was established in a flat at Rutland Court, in the Oratory parish, with the approval of Cardinal Bernard Griffin, Archbishop of Westminster. One of the Fathers of the Brompton Oratory would even celebrate Holy Mass once a week at the centre, at a time when there was no priest of Opus Dei based in London. I find this little piece of history particularly interesting because of how closely these two spiritual realities have been connected from the very beginning of Opus Dei’s presence in Britain. The Brompton Oratory was not simply a place where the first members happened to attend Mass; it actually became part of the story of Opus Dei’s earliest years in London. There is something quite beautiful about discovering this connection while I am myself discerning between these two possible paths. On the one hand, I am discerning a possible vocation to the priesthood with the Oratorian Fathers at the Brompton Oratory; on the other, I am considering the possibility of a vocation as a celibate layman within Opus Dei. Of course, I don’t know yet where God is calling me. Vocational discernment is ultimately about trying to listen to God’s will rather than deciding everything for oneself. For now, I can only pray, learn, seek good counsel, and remain open to wherever He may lead me. It is therefore quite encouraging — and perhaps a little providential — to discover that the histories of the Brompton Oratory and Opus Dei in Britain were already intertwined from their earliest days. Whatever vocation God eventually gives me, I hope that I will be able to recognise it with gratitude and embrace it faithfully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,21],"tags":[54,25],"class_list":["post-765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal","category-reflections-and-musings","tag-brompton-oratory","tag-opus-dei"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavezpoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}