Fr David Middleton OSA is head of the Augustinian friars in England and Scotland and he considers August 12 to have been a great occasion for Clare Priory in Suffolk, because it was the day of AYE or Augustinian Youth Encounter.

He said: “Young people and friars from six continents, 260 in all, arrived in three double-decker coaches to spend the day with the community and members of the Clare Priory parish.

“Their visit was part of a week-long international Augustinian Youth Encounter at the Westminster Diocesan Centre outside London. The gatherings are held every two to three years for members of the Augustinian family throughout the world in their late teens to early 30s. This is the first time AYE has come to the Britain.”