On Wednesday, January 22^nd Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham came to visit the Salesian Sisters at Elmthorpe, Cowley, Oxford. Sr. Anne Darwin, the Sister in charge of the community, and Sr. Isabel Geraghty met the Archbishop at the Railway Station and brought him by car to Elmthorpe. The community were waiting to welcome him and when he learnt that Sr. Rose Cavanagh came from Galway he burst into a rendering of "The Galway Shawl" in a beautiful rich baritone voice. Don Bosco claimed that a house without music is not a Salesian House so his spontaneous burst of song assured a strong bond immediately. Another Salesian trait was shown when he learned Sr. Maria Debono was absent because she was with the children in the Junior Club, he insisted on going over to the Mornese Centre immediately to greet the children and the Helpers. This endeared him still further in our estimation even if it did disrupt our plans for afternoon tea with him.

When the Archbishop returned from the Club it was time for Mass. It was the feast of Blessed Laura Vicuna, our South American pupil who lived and died heroically early in the 19^th century. The story of this saintly young girl was new to the Archbishop so he asked Fr. Peter Brealey, our Parish Priest who was concelebrating with him, to give some details of her life at the start of the Mass; the Archbishop himself preached the homily.

We had been told that the Archbishop liked to mingle with people so after Mass we had a buffet rather than a formal meal. The community sat in small groups around little tables enabling His Grace to move freely from group to group chatting with each Sister individually. All too soon it was time to take the Archbishop to the Railway Station for his return journey to Birmingham. We really felt that we had made a friend. This was proven ten days later when Sr. Isabel and Sr. Ella attended a meeting in Birmingham for all the Religious of the Archdiocese. Despite the huge number present, the Archbishop sought us out, clearly remembering us and sending his affectionate greeting to the Sisters in Elmthorpe. From now on, when we pray at Mass for Bernard, our Bishop, we shall do so with extra fervour as we now feel we know him and that he knows us. We think a certain Francis would approve!