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Former pupils of Downside School are known as Old Gregorians (OG's) and on payment of a subscription, become Life Members of St Gregory's Society. The first recorded meeting of St Gregory's Society was in a London hotel in 1843, followed of course by a good dinner, although the Society does not appear to have held regular meetings until 1877 by which time there were 120 members. Today our Society comprises around 5,000 Old Gregorians and it is thriving. The centrepiece in the Society's calendar is the Easter retreat held at Downside each year from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday and attended by many OG's both young and old and their families. The London dinner remains a regular annual fixture and dinners are held every three years in Dublin, Madrid and Malta. There are a great many other dinners and gatherings held all around the World, some of which have become annual events while others are more of the 'one-off' variety. Sport also flourishes under the auspices of the Society through its support of the Wanderers Cricket Club, the OG Golfing Society and more recently OG Rugby. Every OG for whom the School has an address is sent each year a copy of the Raven, which is the School's offical magazine. In addition The Society publishes a monthly newsletter sent via email and an annual magazine known as The Old Gregorian for which a small charge is made to help provide a Scholarship to the School. This web site is a further means by which The Society keeps its members informed of forthcoming events and reports news that will be of interest to them. All Old Gregorians who do not already receive the monthly newsletter are urged to register on this web site. It is sent to around 3,000 OGs and has has become a valuable means by which members of the wider Gregorian community stay in touch. Any OG wishing to arrange a reunion may also wish to contact us for assistance in locating lost friends. We welcome all contact with OG's. It is an endearing characterisitc of most OG's that we are so proud of our association with the Community of St Gregory's at Downside. This association often proves its real worth at the most important moments of our lives both the joyful and the more difficult, One of the great privileges of members of the Society is that we are remembered in the Masses and prayers of the Community at St Gregory's.
GREGORIAN PRAYER
Almighty Father,
by the power of your Holy Spirit,
grant that the whole Downside community
may prosper in its devotion to you.
Through Christ our Lord.
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