Events
The liturgical celebrations of the Grand Priory are public celebrations to which all are invited to participate. Other events may be intended mainly or solely for members of the Order. If you are not a member of the Order but are interested in attending and learning more about the Order and the Priory, please contact us.
A PDF of the Priory’s calendar of events for 2026 is available here. If you use Google calendar, you can add our events to your own using this link.
Chapter Room Talk: "Illustrating Hospitaller Spirituality in the Early Modern Italy"
The second in our series of Chapter Room Talks for 2026 will be given Dr Daniel K. Gullo, on “Illustrating Hospitaller Spirituality in Early Modern Italy”. Dr Gullo is the Joseph S. Micallef Director of the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. Having studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Toronto, Canada, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN, and the University of Chicago, Dr Gullo has taught at Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, and Northeastern Illinois University.
The Malta Study Centre is a world-leading project to preserve and make available in a digital form written material relating to Malta and our Order, including the digitisation of large quantities of material from the Order’s archives now held in the National Library and National Archives of Malta. Its work, led by Dr Gullo, is invaluable for scholars around the world.
The talk will take place at 7pm on 19 May 2026, at the Priory’s Chapter Room, 23 Golden Square, London W1F 9JP. After the talk there will be opportunity for questions and discussion, and a glass of wine. All are welcome - and attendees are invited to make a suggested donation of £10.
About this series:
The Grand Priory’s Chapter Room talks address topics relating to Christian culture, heritage, and history, looking not only at the Order of Malta but more broadly across time, place, people and institutions. It is hoped that the exploration of cultural phenomena and the way in which the Church has influenced and engaged with them will complement the ongoing formation of Members. Understanding our Christian culture will give us more of the tools we need to understand our Faith and communicate it to others, pursuant therefore to the Order’s charism of ‘Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum”. The talks also give Members, volunteers, friends, guests, and others interested in the Order the opportunity to meet informally.
More about our speaker:
Dr Daniel K. Gullo is the Joseph S. Micallef Director of the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. He holds BA degrees in History, Spanish, Latin American, and Iberian Studies, and History of Culture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto, Canada, and an MA in Theology from Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN. He earned his PhD in History from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining HMML, Gullo served as Assistant Professor of History and Geography at Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, where he co-founded the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program. During his time in Chicago, Gullo taught as a lecturer in Medieval History at Northeastern Illinois University and was a Spenser Fellow at the Newberry Library.
Oxford Day of Recollection
The Order’s April Day of Recollection will be held, for the first time in a number of years, in Oxford. Not only the home of the ancient university, Oxford is also a hub of hospitaller activity for the Order, with the Oxford Companions running projects for the poor, homeless, and elderly in the city.
Our monthly Days of Recollection are short, day-long retreats, during which we come together as a religious order to worship, deep our faith, and strengthen our bonds of fraternity.
As ever, everyone is welcome: all members of the Order in Britain, Companions, members of the OMV, and friends and guests.
The day will mainly take place at the Dominican house in Oxford, (Blackfriars, St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LY), and will be led by Fr Lawrence Lew OP, a Dominican who is currently the Promoter General of the Holy Rosary, responsible for explaining and promoting around the world this beautiful devotion to our Blessed Lady; together with our confrère, Fr Nicholas Edmonds-Smith, Provost of the Oxford Oratory.
If you are interested in attending and for more details, please contact us.
Sung Vespers in Edinburgh
The evening before the Order’s annual ball in Scotland, Members, Companions and friends are invited to join for Vespers, sung according to the customs of the Order, at St Patrick’s Church, Cowgate, Edinburgh, on Friday 24 April 2026 at 5:45pm.
Choir dress for Members is not required, but encouraged for clergy.
Informal drinks will follow at the Scotsman Hotel, North Bridge, a short walk from the church.
Chapter Room Talk: "Crusading on the Home Front: The English Hospitallers in the Countryside" (rescheduled)
The next in our series of Chapter Room Talks will be given by Dr Rory MacLellan on the topic “Crusading on the Home Front: The English Hospitallers in the Countryside”. Dr MacLellan is a Cataloguer and Manuscript Researcher at the British Library. He holds a PhD in Medieval History from the University of St Andrews for a thesis on the Knights Hospitaller and has published on the crusades, the Templars, and Hospitallers. He is the author of the recently-published Warrior Monks: Politics and Power in Medieval Britain (2025), of which there will be a small number for sale after the talk.
The talk will take place at 7pm on 21 April 2026, at the Priory’s Chapter Room, 23 Golden Square, London W1F 9JP. After the talk there will be opportunity for questions and discussion, and a glass of wine. All are welcome - and attendees are invited to make a suggested donation of £10.
(This is a rescheduled talk that was originally due to be given last June but had to be moved at the last minute.)
About this series:
The Grand Priory’s Chapter Room talks address topics relating to Christian culture, heritage, and history, looking not only at the Order of Malta but more broadly across time, place, people and institutions. It is hoped that the exploration of cultural phenomena and the way in which the Church has influenced and engaged with them will complement the ongoing formation of Members. Understanding our Christian culture will give us more of the tools we need to understand our Faith and communicate it to others, pursuant therefore to the Order’s charism of ‘Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum”. The talks also give Members, volunteers, friends, guests, and others interested in the Order the opportunity to meet informally.
April Conventual Mass
The Order’s monthly conventual Mass for April will be celebrated at 6:3pm on Tuesday 14th April at Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street.
All are welcome to attend. Members of the Order and clergy should wear choir dress.
Lent Evening of Recollection
Our annual Lenten Evening of Recollection will take place on Friday 27th March at Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, near Piccadilly Circus. This will be our last event before Easter, and a final opportunity to prepare together with other members of the Order for the Paschal celebrations.
The evening will be led by Dr Michael Cullinan, and will comprise Stations of the Cross, a spiritual conference given by Dr Cullinan, and finish with veneration of the relic of the True Cross, particular appropriate during these days of Passiontide. Stations will start at 6:30pm, and the evening will conclude at around 8pm.
As always, all are warmly invited to attend. Choir dress is encouraged but not mandatory.
Day of Recollection - Belmont Abbey
The Order’s annual Day of Recollection at Belmont Abbey Ruckhall Lane, Hereford HR2 9RZ will take place on Saturday 7 March 2026.
Belmont, founded in 1859 as a house of study for Downside, Ampleforth and Douai, was created an abbey in 1920. The beautiful abbey church, which was originally the pro-cathedral of the diocese of Newport and Menevia, was designed by Edward Welby Pugin, son of the great Augustus Welby Pugin in a decorated, early English Gothic style.
The day will be led by the Very Rev Dom Alexander Kenyon, the Prior of Belmont.
As ever, everyone is welcome: all members of the Order in Britain, Companions, members of the OMV, with their guests. Members and friends from the Midlands, Welsh Marches and Wales are particularly encouraged to attend.
Please contact us for more details and booking arrangements if you are interested in attending.
February Day of Recollection
The Order’s monthly Day of Recollection, a miniature, one-day retreat, will take place on Saturday 28 February 2025 at the Grand Priory’s Chapter Room at 23 Golden Square and the adjacent church of Our Lady of Assumption & St Gregory. All are welcome to attend all or part of the day.
The recollection will be led by Fr Andrew Coy.
Horarium:
10:30am - Sung Lauds
11am - First spiritual conference
12 noon - Holy Mass
1pm - Lunch (please bring food to share)
2pm - Second second spiritual conference
c.2:45pm - Sung Vespers, followed by Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Fridays in Lent: Lenten Devotions
Each Friday in Lent, we will gather for Lenten devotions at Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street. Starting at 6:30pm and consisting of Stations of the Cross, sermon, and veneration of the relic of the True Cross, these devotions are aimed at helping members of the Order and all those in attendance deepen their spiritual relationship with the Lord during the Lenten season.
February Conventual Mass: cancelled
The Mass scheduled for 11 February has been cancelled.
Requiem for Fra' Andrew Bertie
7th February is the anniversary of the death in 2008 of the Servant of God, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, 78th Prince and Grand Master of our Order.
A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at 11am at the church of the Hospital of Ss John and Elizabeth, St John’s Wood, the conventual church of the Order in Britain and where Fra’ Andrew made his solemn profession.
We are grateful to the Trustees of the Hospital for facilitating this Mass.
Access may be obtained only via Circus Road and Cavendish Avenue, and not via the main entrance to the Hospital.
January Day of Recollection
The Order’s first Day of Recollection of 2026 will take place on Saturday 31 January at our Chapter Room, 23 Golden Square, London W1F 9JP and the adjacent church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street.
The day will be led by Fr Gary Dench, parish priest of the parishes of Hutton and Shenfield, and spiritual director of the St Francis Leprosy Guild, as well as a long-time Companion and friend of the Order.
As ever, everyone is invited: all Members of the Order in Britain, Companions, and members of the OMV. Friends, family and guests are always welcome also.
Horarium:
10am: Chapter Room and Church open
10.30am: *Lauds (Parish Church)
11am: Spiritual Conference (Parish Church)
12 noon: *Holy Mass (Parish Church)
1pm: Lunch (Chapter Room)
2pm: Spiritual Conference (Chapter Room)
2:30pm: *Vespers (Parish Church)
3pm: *Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament (Parish Church)
3:20pm: Ends.
Please bring choir dress if you are a Member of the Order – it will be worn for those parts of the day marked with an *. Please also bring your copy of the Order Prayer Book.
Please note that no formal arrangements will be made for lunch, but we will eat together in a picnic-style lunch in the Chapter Room, so please bring something to eat and share.
A collection with a suggested donation of £10 per person will be taken during lunchtime to defray the costs of the day.
January Conventual Mass
The Order’s first conventual Mass (i.e. the Order in Britain’s community Mass) of 2026 will take place on Tuesday 20 January at Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street.
All are welcome to attend.
Members and clergy should wear choir dress.
Blessing of Epiphany Water and Salt
The Grand Priory will once again be joining the parish of the church of St James's Spanish Place for the solemn blessing of Epiphany Water and Chalk. The service will take place at 7pm on Epiphany Eve, Monday 5th January 2026.
Water blessed in this way is a powerful sacramental with which to bless ourselves, our homes, and our families at the start of the New Year.
Phials of Holy Water, pieces of chalk, and blessing cards will be distributed at the end of the service.
If you wish to bring your own water or salt to be blessed, you must bring it in a clean and appropriate container - water in plastic drinking bottles or salt in plastic containers or bags will not be blessed. Similarly, if you wish to bring your own container to collect Holy Water, it must be appropriate and fitting for this purpose.
Advent Recollection & Conventual Mass
The Grand Priory's December Conventual Mass will take place Tuesday 16 December at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street. It will be preceded by the customary Advent Recollection, with the spiritual conference preached by Fr Tristan Cranfield.
All are welcome to attend.
Clergy and members of the Order should wear choir dress.
Carol Service
The Order’s Carol Service will take place on 10 December 2025 at St James’s Spanish Place at 7pm.
This candle-lit service marking the Advent season and the approach of Christmas, will include traditional carols, beautiful choral music, and scripture, and conclude with Benediction.
You can buy tickets here. Proceeds go to support the work of the Companions of the Order of Malta with the poor and marginalised across the country.
Rorate Mass
The Priory will mark the beginning of Advent with a traditional, candlelit, Mass of Our Blessed Lady, on Tuesday 2 December, which is also the feast in the Order of Our Lady of Liesse. This beautiful custom is called a “Rorate Mass”, after the first word of the Introit for the Mass, Rorate caeli de super et nubes pluant justm - “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.”
The Mass will be celebrated at 8am on Tuesday 2 December at Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, and be followed by coffee and pastries in the Chapter Room. All are welcome to attend.
Chapter Room Talk: "Crusading on the Home Front: The English Hospitallers in the Countryside"
The next in our series of Chapter Room Talks will be given by Dr Rory MacLellan on the topic “Crusading on the Home Front: The English Hospitallers in the Countryside”. Dr MacLellan is a Cataloguer and Manuscript Researcher at the British Library. He holds a PhD in Medieval History from the University of St Andrews for a thesis on the Knights Hospitaller and has published on the crusades, the Templars, and Hospitallers. He is the author of the recently-published Warrior Monks: Politics and Power in Medieval Britain (2025), of which there will be a small number for sale after the talk.
The talk will take place at 7pm on 24 June 2025, at the Priory’s Chapter Room, 23 Golden Square, London W1F 9JP. After the talk there will be opportunity for questions and discussion, and a glass of wine. All are welcome - and attendees are invited to make a suggested donation of £10.
About this series:
The Grand Priory’s Chapter Room talks address topics relating to Christian culture, heritage, and history, looking not only at the Order of Malta but more broadly across time, place, people and institutions. It is hoped that the exploration of cultural phenomena and the way in which the Church has influenced and engaged with them will complement the ongoing formation of Members. Understanding our Christian culture will give us more of the tools we need to understand our Faith and communicate it to others, pursuant therefore to the Order’s charism of ‘Tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum”. The talks also give Members, volunteers, friends, guests, and others interested in the Order the opportunity to meet informally.
Harvington Day of Recollection
The Order’s annual Day of Recollection at the well-known recusant house, Harvington Hall (Kidderminster, Worcester, DY10 4LR), will take place on Wednesday 19 November 2025, the feast of All Saints of Our Order. The day will be led by Fr Edmund Montgomery.
Harvington Hall was built in the 1580s by Humphrey Pakington and passed to the Throckmorton family in 1696. The Hall is renowned for the number and diversity of its priest’s hiding places, most likely by St. Nicholas Owen. It has fascinating early wall paintings, and more renovation has taken place since we were last there. There will be ample opportunity to explore the house during the day.
RSVP is required, so if you are interested in attending, please contact us.
Annual Requiem Mass
The annual Requiem Mass for deceased members and benefactors of the Order in Britain will take place on the evening of Monday 10 November 2025, at 6:30pm, at Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street.
All are welcome to attend.
There will also be a Requiem for the same intention celebrated in Scotland, on Wednesday 5 November, at the Gillis Centre.
October Day of Recollection
The Order’s next Day of Recollection will take place on Saturday 25 October, at our Chapter Room at 23 Golden Square and the adjacent church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street.
Days of Recollection are miniature retreats for Members of the Order and those who wish to strengthen their spiritual life. Over the course of the day, we sing the Divine Office together, attend Holy Mass, listen to two spiritual conferences, and adore the Blessed Sacrament.
The day will be led by Fr Albert Robertson OP, a Dominican friar and long-time volunteer with and supporter of the Companions of the Order of Malta who is now Assistant Chaplain at the University of Cambridge.
If you are interested in attending, please contact us via this website.
Feast of Blessed Gerard, our Founder
The Grand Priory will mark the feast of Blessed Gerard, who founded the Order in 11th century Jerusalem, on 13 October 2025.
A solemn Mass will be celebrated at 6:30pm at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, at the end of which a relic of Blessed Gerard will be venerated.
In addition, after Mass, the Grand Prior will confer the Medal of Merit of the Grand Priory of England on this year’s recipients.
All are warmly invited to attend, and clergy and members of the Order should wear choir dress.
Mass & Scottish Investiture
The Order will celebrate Mass especially for all its members in Scotland and the Borders on Monday 29 September, at the Chapel St Margaret, in the Gillis Centre, Edinburgh at11:30am.
After Mass, awards will be made in the knightly order pro merito Melitensi to those who have brought honour to our Order, served Our Lords the Poor and the Sick with distinction, and promoted the Christian Faith and values.
Day of Recollection - New Wardour Castle
Our next Day of Recollection will be the annual visit to New Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, and will take place on Saturday 27 September 2024.
Wardour Chapel was built as part of Wardour Castle, near the small town of Tisbury, by the recusant Arundell family in the late 18th century, and is a masterpiece of the neo-classical style. Tisbury can be reached by car via the A303, or by train.
The day will be led by our confrère, Fr Richard Biggerstaff.
Horarium (choir dress will be worn for those parts marked with an *):
Gather from 10am at the Chapel
10.30am - *Lauds
11.00am - First Spiritual Conference
12.00 noon - *Holy Mass
1pm - Lunch
2:30pm - Second Spiritual Conference
3:15pm - *Vespers, Exposition, & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
A donation of £25 per head will be asked for on the day, to cover the costs of the clergy and of lunch. RSPV required.
Pilgrimage to Walsingham
Our annual pilgrimage to Walsingham will take place on the weekend of 12-14 September. Walsingham, the site of a miraculous apparition of our Blessed Lady to Richeldis de Faverches in 1061, was, until its destruction by during the Protestant Reformation, one of the foremost pilgrimage centres in Europe. Now a beautiful, quiet Norfolk village, our pilgrimage will take us to the Catholic shrine, a mile outside the village, as well as to the site of the ancient shrine. We will be accompanying a number of malades.
For more information contact walsingham.pilgrimage@orderofmalta.org.uk
Victory Mass - Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Priory will keep the great feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 September 2025 with a solemn Mass at 6:30pm at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street.
The Order venerates Our Lady under the special title “Our Lady of Philermo” after the miraculous icon of that name to which we have a particular devotion: read more about this here.
The Mass on this day is called the Victory Mass because, on this day in 1565, the Great Siege of Malta by the Turks was finally lifted by Our Lady ‘s intercession.
All are welcome to attend. Clergy and Members of the Order should wear choir dress.
General Assembly of the Grand Priory
The annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Grand Priory of England, consisting of all the members of the Order resident in Great Britain, will be held at 5pm on Monday 8th September in the church of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street. Choir dress is to be worn.
The meeting will be followed at 6:30pm by Holy Mass of the feast, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the great celebrations of the Order’s calendar.
Decollation of St John the Baptist
We will keep the feast of the Decollation (or Passion) of St John the Baptist, our Holy Patron, on Friday 29 August with Mass at 6:30pm at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street. All are welcome to attend, and clergy and Members should attend in choir dress.
Day of Recollection - Farnborough Abbey
The Priory’s next day of recollection will be held at Farnborough Abbey, by kind invitation of Father Abbot. The day will be led by Fr John Hemer MHM, the noted Scriptural scholar. If you are interested in attending, please contact us.
Blessed David Gunson Pilgrimage
Blessed David, one of our three Reformation martyrs, was executed during the Henrician persecution of the church, on 12 July 1541 at St Thomas Waterings, Southwark. Our annual pilgrimage will begin with Mass and Sermon at 11:30am at Our Lady of La Salette & sSt Joseph, Melior Street, near London Bridge Station, followed by a silent walk to the site of the Martyrdom.
Feast of Blessed Adrian Fortescue
The Grand Priory will keep the feast of Blessed Adrian Fortescue with Holy Mass on the evening of 8 July 2025 at Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street. Blessed Adrian was martyred by Henry VIII, and in 1993, when the Grand Priory of England was restored, was named our patron saint.
All are welcome to attend.