Online booking opens for the November Retreat

Online registration is now open for our November Retreat, which will take place between 7th-9th November at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill, Oxford. This was the venue for our first two Retreats in 2017 and 2018. Fr Rupert Allen Cong Orat has very kindly agreed to be our chaplain on this occasion.

We have a number of projects to tackle, including completing a Low Mass Set for the Guild of St Clare's own use. We will also be using the Pelican Cope for the first time; this splendid vestment has recently been restored on our behalf by Ancilla Vestments, thanks to the generosity of many benefactors.

The November Retreat is always oversubscribed, so please don't delay booking if you would like a place. For more information, click here and here.

Launch of the Belfast Chapter: Report

 Lucy writes: Saturday, 10th May saw the inauguration of the Belfast Chapter, based at the ICKSP church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was a most moving experience for me to see at first hand the powerful effects of the zeal of the Canons for their community.

Chapter Leader, Catherine Gallagher, at work on a red lamé stole

The new Chapter begins its work in the context of a complete refurbishment of the church, which previously belonged to Presbyterians. 

There is a great deal of work to be done; some of the vestments and altar furnishings are really magnificent.

I particularly fell for this superb black velvet pall, embellished with memento mori and winged hourglasses. 

It's in good condition except for the lining, which has a few holes in it, and some damage to the appliqué motifs.

The Chapter is led by Catherine Gallagher; she already has a strong nucleus of committed volunteers, some of whom have exceptional skills.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of the journey between my home in Oxfordshire and Belfast, and hope to visit the new Chapter regularly. I experienced the true Irish hospitality during my visit, and am already looking forward to sampling it again.

Restoration of the Pelican Cope

 Lucy writes: It's exactly a year since I ran the Oxford Town & Gown 10k, and thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our benefactors, the restoration of the Pelican Cope is now complete.

The embroidery on the Cope was in good condition, but the fabric of the main body of it was noticeably mildewed.

It took time to source satin of the right quality and colour to match the hood and orphreys. Once this was done, we commissioned Ancilla Vestments to undertake the re-making of the Cope on the Guild's behalf.

The names of all the individual benefactors are on a label, stitched inside the lining of the Cope. A visible label asks for prayers for them.

The Cope will be used at all our Retreats; we will also loan it out occasionally. The benefactors who made its restoration possible can be sure that they will often be remembered at the altar, whenever it is used.

Special thanks go to Ancilla vestments for making such a magnificent job of it; and of course, we continue to feel heartfelt gratitude to our many benefactors. We will remember them in our prayers.

Launch of the Oxford Students Chapter

 Lucy writes: In a very busy month for the Guild of St Clare, we are marking an exciting first: the launch of a Chapter organised by students. The Dominicans at Blackfriars, Oxford have most kindly agreed to host this new group, which will meet monthly at weekends.

The annual LMS pilgrimage to Oxford, which takes place at Blackfriars

The leader of the Chapter is Dorothea Shaw (a near relation of mine: in fact, my oldest daughter) who is in her third year of Classics at Jesus College, Oxford. Her fellow volunteers are also Oxford undergraduates, but the Chapter is open to any young person studying in Oxford, at any of the many centres of learning there.

Dorothea has been a regular participant at the Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat

The first meeting is on Sunday, 18th May at 1pm, and I will be there to meet the young people and introduce them to the art of vestment mending. For more information, or to join the Chapter, email Dorothea at gosc.oxfordstudents@lms.org.uk

Launch of the Belfast Chapter

Lucy writes: I'm thrilled to announce the launch of the Belfast Chapter, which will have its home at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary where the Institute of Christ the King has its apostolate.

The Leader of the new Chapter is Catherine Gallagher, who, as well as being a mother of nine (one of her sons is in seminary) and grandmother, is also a practising doctor. She and her husband Owen (also a doctor) are strong supporters of the Catholic community in Belfast. The Chapter is therefore in the most capable of hands, and the Guild of St Clare is extraordinarily fortunate to have the support of such an experienced (and busy!) volunteer.

The launch of the Chapter is on Saturday, 10th May; the meeting will take place after the 11am Mass. I will be there for the occasion and am looking forward with enormous excitement to meeting the Chapter members and to seeing the church. It will be my first visit to Belfast, and I'm delighted to be making my acquaintance with the great city on such an auspicious occasion.

For more information about the Chapter, or to volunteer, you can email Catherine on gosc.belfast@lms.org.uk .

Rest in Peace, Holy Father

 Lucy writes: It was a privilege to attend a Requiem Mass for His Holiness, Pope Francis, on the very evening of the day of his death, at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane. The Mass was organised by the Latin Mass Society and celebrated by Fr Alan Robinson. The magnificent music was provided by the Southwell Consort.

Catafalque surmounted by the papal zucchetto; photo by Joseph Shaw

Pope Francis had no love for the traditional Mass, and the restrictions he placed on it caused many of those attached to it great pain. It was therefore doubly impressive and consoling to see the church packed with faithful Catholics on this occasion, come to pay the Pope their final respects and to pray for his soul.

The black cushion on which the white zucchetto rests was made by the Guild of St Clare

O God who, in thine unspeakable providence, wast pleased to number among the supreme pontiffs Francis, thy servant: grant, we beseech thee, that he who on earth was vicar of thine only-begotten Son, may for evermore have place among the holy bishops who in heaven reign with thee.

Sponsorship Award 2025: invitation for applications

The Guild of St Clare is delighted to invite applications for our annual sponsorship scheme, an award which provides 50% of the fees for the Royal School of Needlework Certificate Course. 

Jacobean Crewelwork, by James Surry, our first Sponsorship winner

The Royal School of Needlework is an international centre of excellence for hand embroidery, and the skills it teaches are essential to the work of vestment making and repairs. The Certificate Course is a flexible course which can be completed at a pace to suit each student. It teaches four core techniques: Jacobean Crewelwork, Silk Shading, Goldwork and a choice of either Canvaswork or Blackwork. It is taught in various locations across the UK: at the main teaching apartments at Hampton Court Palace and also at satellites in Bristol, Durham, Rugby and Glasgow.

Jacobean Crewelwork by our 2020 Sponsorship winner, an anonymous religious

The skills that students learn during the course of their studies at the Royal School of Needlework are essential to the art of making vestments, and are of invaluable use in vestment mending also. 

Canvaswork by our 2020 Sponsorship winner

As a condition of acceptance, successful candidates must take part in at least one Guild of St Clare Sewing Retreat each year.

Jacobean Crewelwork by Miranda de Burgh, 2023 winner

The deadline for applications is 22nd June, and interviews will be held during July. More information, including details on how to apply, can be found here. If you have any questions email Lucy on guildofstclare@lms.org.uk. 

Guild of St Clare class at the Royal School of Needlework

The Guild of St Clare learns Opus Anglicanum

Lucy writes: Over the weekend of Mothering Sunday, a two-day class in Opus Anglicanum took place at the Royal School of Needlework especially for the Guild of St Clare. These are the skills of the medieval English embroiderers whose skills were renowned throughout Europe, and whose vestments were the most valuable and prestigious of their day.

This was our most successful ever class at the Royal School of Needlework; it was fully booked several weeks beforehand, and the atmosphere was distinctly festive. Even the weather seemed to catch the mood and we had our picnic lunches on the grass outside the teaching apartments, at Hampton Court Palace.

Most of the class worked on a violet sampler, worked in split stitch, with the characteristic underside couching goldwork round it. Two of us who had previously attended a class in these techniques were attempting a face, of the sort often seen on medieval vestments. We are very keen see these skills restored to a place of honour in the Church's patrimony and this is the beginning of a very long term project to make vestments embroidered in this distinctive style.

Our tutor, Jessica Ingram, created and worked this violet sampler which the class also stitched

As the course took place over the weekend of Laetare Sunday, Fr Richard Biggerstaff, who is parish priest at St Barnabas, East Molesey, very kindly arranged to celebrate a special Mass for us early on Sunday morning. 

Fr Richard is a great friend of the Guild of St Clare, and was chaplain at our first ever Sewing Retreat. He celebrated Mass in a gorgeous Low Mass Set made of rose-coloured watered silk, and the Lady altar was covered with spring flowers. I heard afterwards how much Fr Richard has done to transform the St Barnabas, and it certainly looked most beautiful for Laetare Sunday.

Plans to develop our skills in this area, and to spread them beyond the participants of the class, are under consideration. We hope to share more news concerning them shortly.

Lucy's sampler: Our Lady at the Annunciation

Lenten Vestment Mending Challenge

The Guild of St Clare begins its annual Vestment Mending Challenge this week, when we add to our Lenten penances this very special alms to the Church, the repair of her many damaged vestments and altar furnishings. If you would like to join us, do get in touch; we can help you with repairs from your own parish, or supply you with one of our own.

I will be working on this beautiful violet stole, which has fraying edges. It belongs to a Low Mass set, but has often been borrowed for use in the confessional and so has decayed faster than the rest of the set. Luckily I have a lovely piece of shot silk that matches the colour well; the finished patches should look neat and pleasing to the eye.

I will be posting updates from those contributing to the Challenge as Lent progresses. Concede nobis, Domine, praesidia militae christianae sanctis inchoare ieiuniis, ut, contra spiritales nequitias pugnaturi, continentiae muniamur auxiliis!

February Sewing Retreat: report

 Lucy writes: Our February Sewing Retreat took place on the last weekend of the month, and the first signs of spring were visible in the gardens of St Joseph's Centre, despite the torrential rain that fell on Friday night. We were delighted to welcome Fr John Saward, the well-known theologian and translator of Pope Benedict, as our chaplain. 

He is the earliest patron of the Guild of St Clare, having given us our very first commissions, and entrusted us with valuable vestments from his sacristy in need of repair. He gave us a series of talks on the Mulier Fortis of Proverbs, dwelling especially on Our Lady's embodiment of this ideal during the Passion of Christ. 

We had an impressive stack of vestments to mend, and did our best to meet the challenge. We re-lined a chasuble and a matching chalice veil, repaired fraying embroidered orphreys, patched the edges of two chasubles where the silk was rotting away, and did the same for a dalmatic.

With sadness, we remembered dear Evelyn Watkin, who participated in last year's Retreat and who tragically died of bone cancer, aged 16, last November. Her memory will always be precious to the Guild of St Clare, and we will continue to be grateful for her participation in our work. Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei.

Her mother, Olga, a long-standing friend of the Guild, who has often given us the benefit of her skills, courageously returned to the Retreat this year, to complete the repairs that she and Evelyn had begun together. This was the re-mounting of an exquisite eighteenth century embroidered orphrey belonging to the Dominicans of Oxford on to a new chasuble.

The Retreat was overshadowed by two grave pieces of news: first of all, the illness and hospitalisation of Pope Francis, who was reported to be in his last hours, and secondly, the dismissal of the Friars and Sisters of the Immaculate from Dunkeld diocese by Bishop Andrew McKenzie. The bishop, who has only just been appointed, replaces Bishop Robson who had invited the Franciscan Family in, and offered them the convent of St Joseph's at Lawside. We were glad to be able to offer our united prayers for both these intentions during the Retreat.

Our next Retreat takes place at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill, 8th-10th November 2025, and our chaplain will be Fr Rupert Allen Cong. Orat., of the Oxford Oratory. Online booking will open shortly.

The Guild of St Clare sponsors a stitch

Lucy writes: The Royal School of Needlework has a project to preserve knowledge of stitches with an online archive, called the Stitch Bank. Benefactors can sponsor an addition to this bank, in honour of a living person or in memory of someone who has died.

The Guild is pleased to have been able to sponsor a stitch, in memory of the youngest daughter of our much valued friend and supporter, Olga Watkin. Evelyn, who some will remember from last year's Sewing Retreat, died shortly before Christmas after a 22 month battle with bone cancer, aged 16. 

Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei.



More about the Stitch Bank. The bank was launched by Royal School of Needlework in 2020. The website conserves and displays embroidery stitches, with information about the history of each one along with instructions on how to work them.

The RSN hopes that, eventually, they will be able to create an entry for every stitch in the world, including historic stitches. At the moment there are 475 entries, and the creators of the Stitch Bank are expecting to reach the 500 milestone in March this year.

This is a project very close to my heart, as in its spirit and aims it is aligned very closely with the work of the Guild of St Clare. It is an attempt to capture and preserve skills which may otherwise be lost, and to make them available freely, in order to nurture and spread them.

The Guild's sponsorship has been made possible by the generosity of our many benefactors. We have been assigned the Fence Stitch, and its entry on the Stitch Wall will carry an acknowledgement of our gift, and of Evelyn.

Ecclesiastical Embroidery by Heather Lewis: Review

Lucy writes: Participants in our Guild of St Clare classes at the Royal School of Needlework will be delighted to hear that our tutor, Heather Lewis, has put some of her wide knowledge of embroidering and making vestments into a book, recently published by The Crowood Press.

 Heather showed us some of the embroidery designs that she created for this book during our class in March 2023 - we've been looking forward to its appearance ever since. I was very pleased to find a copy of this beautiful publication under the Christmas tree, and as I hoped it certainly will be a very helpful resource for us in our work. 

The book proposes ten ecclesiastical embroidery designs, including a variety of crosses suitable for different liturgical seasons. The most ambitious of the designs is the Agnus Dei, but most could be tackled by a novice. 

Heather has a reputation at the Royal School of Needlework as a superb technician, and this is apparent in this book: very careful instructions are given for every stage, including suggestions on creating a suitable embroidery design and making practical decisions about working it. Heather knows her readers, and tailors her advice accordingly: for those needleworkers working on a design together, careful notes made in advance are essential, as well as ensuring adequate supplies of all materials before starting. Templates for her own embroidery designs are included at the back of the book. 

Some of her projects are decidedly contemporary in flavour; traditionalists will love her Floral Christogram, however, beautifully worked on Tudor Rose damask. 

Most useful to Guild of St Clare supporters will be the extremely detailed instructions on making up a stole and a burse at the back of the book, with copious photographs. 

There is a useful list of suppliers at the back of the book, although it's already out of date - FM Church Supplies went into administration two years ago. The weakness of the book is its treatment of the history of vestments, and its references to the liturgy. For an in-depth discussion of these, readers should look elsewhere. 

However, I was interested to learn that one author whom I'm already familiar with, Beryl Dean, was, with Jane Lemon, the founder and figurehead of the contemporary ecclesiastical school of embroidery of the second half of the twentieth century. The Modernist embroidery on contemporary vestments, such as the Cundy Cope and Mitre, worn by Justin Welby on many notable occasions (and familiar, I am sure, to many readers), is firmly in this new tradition.

I highly recommend Ecclesiastical Embroidery to anyone interested in learning to make vestments, and I'll be stocking it in the little Guild of St Clare shop too. Many congratulations and thanks to Heather for this magnificent effort.