Ursula and I had decided to get married, and we both agreed that living in the center of London, where we both were, was prohibitively expensive. I suggested she take a trip to Kingston and see what was available. That same day she was led to a flat in Richmond Road which we rented for the next few years. Our Landlady was an elderly woman, Mrs. Ferrari.
At the time we were both going to a prayer group in the Newman Centre in Soho. I continued to attend for some time but eventually decided it was too much travelling and we set up our own prayer group in the flat with Padre Pio’s prayer groups in mind. I would occasionally send letters to Pius Martin and Father Allessio in San Giovanni, Italy, asking for advice.
The prayer group was held on a Friday and many non-Catholics joined us in prayer. I was advised by Fr. Allessio to lead the prayer and he assured me Padre Pio would have been delighted with the ecumenical aspect of our group.
To celebrate our marriage, which happened pretty soon after our renting the flat, many of our Soho group came to Richmond Road. We were fortunate to have Lalage Hall, Miles Dempsey and the wonderful Simon Tugwell attend as well as our dear friend John Farah and many others. We celebrated Mass, sang, and praised God for the wonderful friends and all he was doing for Ursula and I.
Initially people would come to us during the weekend and eat with us and much time was spent in prayer which would go on for hours. There was one day in particular when we had little food and quite a number of people turned up. Ursula was worried as she couldn’t see how we were going to feed everyone but to our amazement, everyone ate well and there was food left over.