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Aid for Ukraine
We have begun Lent this year conscious of the unspeakable acts of terror in the Ukraine. Our brothers and sisters there are experiencing terrible suffering as they struggle to defend their country and preserve their human rights and life itself. We are doing what we can from afar: assisting by the charity of our prayers and also with what practical means we can muster. Aid to the Church in Need is on the frontline of charitable assistance to Ukrainians. If you can help, you will find this link takes you to the ACN website where you can donate: https://acnuk.org/news/ukraine-charity-rolls-out-emergency-aid/
For anyone that might like to donate items for refugees, the following places are taking donations:
Leigh Community Centre, 71-73 Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1PS
& Our Lady of Ransom School Rayleigh and Convent Building
If any parishioner needs someone to collect items, Clare Mason is happy to collect. Call: 07757 138345.
Items for Donation:
flashlights - torches
candles
batteries and battery chargers
bandages
dressings/plasters
wound disinfectants
Painkillers and other medications
hygiene items (shower gel/ shampoo/soap/ deodorant)
nappies and sanitary items
sleeping bags
blankets (small and large)
duvets
tinned foods and longlife foods
thermal gloves and flasks
pet and animal care and food
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear friends in Christ
We are on the final countdown to the start of Lent this Wednesday.
Dear friends in Christ
We are on the final countdown to the start of Lent this Wednesday. We begin the Forty Days preparation for Easter with a day of fasting and abstinence. With the global pandemic, many of us feel like Lent has lasted for these past two years. This is because there are unique parallels between Lent and a life under global quarantines. The word ‘quarantine’ comes from a Venetian dialect meaning forty days. The concept of quarantining originates from Jesus’ own forty days in the desert which gives us the Lenten season. This Lent, think of your forty days as a time of quarantine, where you surrender to Christ the divine physician by developing prayer and practices that remind you to submit yourself daily with trust into His healing care. In this way we call all to make the pilgrimage together towards another Easter and our joyous celebration of the Resurrection.
As Lent is the traditional time of catechesis and preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation, I ask you to keep in your prayers those six adults who are preparing for reception into the Church through Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion; they will be presented to the Bishop next Sunday afternoon in our Cathedral during the Rite of Election. Also, our forty-two young adults who will begin their preparation for their Confirmation in May next Sunday. Not forgetting our Engaged Couples who will be undertaking their Marriage Preparation during the weeks of March.
The restoration of the Rood Beam and Calvary has been completed and is very pleasing. In time for the start of Lent, it can aid our reflection on the Passion and Crucifixion of The Lord as we contemplate the saving events of the Redemption.
This Sunday we welcome the Schola Cantorum of the Campion School, Upminster, under the direction of their Master of Music, Mr James Devor. They will be singing at the 11.30am Mass—joyful music to the Lord—just before we begin the more sombre tones of Lent! We thank them for their visit and above all for the ability to enrich the liturgy of the Mass with music worthy of this august mystery.
Conscious of the state of war in Ukraine, Pope Francis has said: I invite everyone to make this coming 2nd March, Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting for peace: let believers dedicate themselves intensely to prayer and fasting. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war. God bless you all as together we begin Lent asking Our Blessed Lady to encourage us in our prayer, penance and good works.
Msgr Kevin Hale
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
5.30pm Mass Maria Keen, RIP (Anniv) (DL)
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
8am Mass The People of the Parish
9.30am Mass Neil O'Keefe, RIP (Anniv) (UO)
11.30am Mass Mick Toomey, RIP (SG)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
Monday 28
Feria
9am Mass Mary Crowley, RIP (KE)
Tuesday 1 March—Shrove Tuesday
St David, Bp, Patron of Wales
9am Mass Bill Hoggett, RIP (Anniv) (JH)
Wednesday 2
ASH WEDNESDAY—Day of fasting & abstinence
9.30am Mass Fr Desmond Baker, RIP (PM) with children from OLOL School
12 Noon Mass Intentions of James Robert Visperas & James Ryan Visperas
8pm Mass Private Intention
Thursday 3
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
9am Mass Sheila de Chantilly, RIP (J&CO’B)
Friday 4
Friday after Ash Wednesday - First Friday
12Noon Mass Doreen Rossiter, RIP (Anniv) (KE)
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until Holy Hour 7-8pm
Saturday 5 March
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
10am Mass Albert Thomas Cook, RIP (SD)
10.30-11.30am: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 6 March
First Sunday of Lent
5.30pm Mass The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
8am Mass Intentions of Franchesca, Joseph & William Conlu
9.30am Mass Bernard Ward, RIP (Anniv) (MW)
11.30am Mass Madelaine Sighe, RIP (Anniv) (MR)
4pm Mass Maureen & Janice Bridge RIP & Holy Souls (EP)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Fr David Chapman, Fr John Wall, Mgr Canon Patrick O’Donnell, Fr Brian Galvin, Fr Francis Hastings, Fr Malachi Kelly, Violet Smith, Adolphus Miller, Claire Sharpe, Sarah Bent, Emily Norwood, May Cooper, Mabel Smith, Michael Kiernan, Rose Brooks, Aoife O’Sullivan, Christopher Kolwitz, Joe North, Joshua (Charlie) Peace, Cecil Ford, Harvey Martin, Gertrude Ettershank, Stephen Fontana, Bruno de Santis, Alfred George Holding, Margaret Carstairs, Paul Vermeulen, Patricia Hopper, Ada Champ, Jim Acaster, Michael Sheaf, Sylvia Langley, Miss A Till, Amy Rosetta Wood, Margaret Blissett, Catherine Byrne, Ruby Ravinet, Giovanni Puglisi, Patricia McBreaty, Michael Flynn, Patricia Sellers, Hugh Gallacher, Maria Varden Heuval, Patricia Church, Margaret Ellis, May Perkins & Esperanza Reyes.
We Pray for our Sick
Val Tisi, Ann Owen, Gerry Clark, Roland Clark, Kenneth Biebuyck, Zach Stokes, Andrew Stokes, Noel Conroy, Marjorie Jay, Paul Sutton, John Murphy, Mary Monaghan, Jennifer Biebuyck, Moira Scott, Jill Yates, Leonora Maguire, Brian Mountier, Renata Butler, Margaret Bartle, Tony Downey, Kristy Monferrari, Fred Ring, Ian Irwin, Russell Short, Marie Karaf, Garry Pearman, Patricia Ann Darroch, Peggy Larman, Patricia Vanner, Amy Louise Fox, Sarah Savage, Bill O’Connell, Janet Weale, Charlotte O’Neil, Ella Williams, David Kislingbury, Mark Shepherd, Eileen Bines, Breege McCaffrey, Mark Hartley, Austin Butler, John Lavery, Paul Keane, Rosemary Bragard, Pat Lynch, Maureen Gooding, Ben Wilson, Christian Ryan, Mike Rubbert, Tina Doveaston, Addi Brady, Patricia Fleming, Nicky Wigmore, Rose Craft, Patricia Spikin, Sandra Fagan, Edna Wallace, Beryl Dixon, Nick Evans, Vicky Jack, Mary Boyce, Kristin Hallenga, Anne O’Neill, Cheryl Shallis, Justin Stark, Sheila Netherton, David Blyth, Janet Woods, Lynne Hilkene, June Moncaster, Laura & Anne Breen, Breda Lynch, Maria Clark, Roy Widdecombe, Johanna Lynch, Anthony King, Norma McCleverty, Belinda Balazsi, Johnnie Pool, Edward Martin, Joanna Luciani, Pauline Wilsher, Simon Marshall, Kriston Barnes, Hugh Isaacs, Josephine Griggs, Dawn Deleigh, Lorraine Hart, Linda Dean, Georgina Cornwell, Antonella McConalogue, Sharon Levill, Annie Holland, Ivor & Joanne Knight, Brian Beresford, Rebecca Peake, Connor Bourke, Mattia Mollica, Bernadette Lane, Irena Solecki, Ianto Bellis, Marguerite Harris, Andrew Exley, Elizabeth McConalogue, Kean Smith, Keith Maliff, Bradley & children: Thomas Ball, Liam Davis, Connie Price, Albert Chambers, Fergus Grant, Mary Isherwood, Lucy Price & Frazer Gregory.
We Pray for the Repose of the Soul of
MARY TERESA RIGDEN, RIP who died on 15th February. Her Requiem Mass will be on Wednesday, 16th March at 10.30am followed by committal at Sutton Road Cemetery.
Requiescant in pace
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 27th February—The Campion School Schola Cantorum will sing at 11.30am Mass
Wednesdays March 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th—Marriage Preparation Evenings
Saturdays 14th & 21st May—First Holy Communion Masses
Wednesday 25th May—Visitation of the Bishop & Confirmation
Sunday 19th June—Corpus Christi Procession
Saturday 10th September—Flower Festival
Music at 11.30am Mass on Sunday
The SCHOLA CANTORUM of THE CAMPION SCHOOL
Solemn Mass, 11.30am—Sunday 27th February 2022
Prelude Improvisation on a Gregorian Theme Devor
Introit The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary Mawby
Kyrie Missa Brevis in B-flat Haydn
Gloria Lourdes Lécot
Offertory God be in my head Mawby
Sanctus Mass XI Plainsong
Agnus Dei Messe ‘Jubilo’ Duruflé
Communion Ave verum corpus Mozart
Postlude Carillon de Westminster Vierne
James Devor Head of Music & Sub Organist
Lourdes Pilgrimage
There is hope that there will be a Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes: 24-29th July. Details of travel are still awaited. If there was sufficient interest, there could be a group from our Parish which would join with the Diocese as in previous years. If anyone would be interested, could you please register this by giving your name into the Parish Office. There is no commitment at this stage until we know the details.
Days of Fasting and Abstinence
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the only days of obligatory fasting throughout the world (Can. 1251). The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year (Can. 1252).
According to Canon Law, abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year (Can. 1252).
Those under 14 years of age, the sick, the elderly and frail, pregnant women, are not required to abstain.
Your Parish SVP
The SVP ( St Vincent de Paul Society) is a Christ-centred organisation with a mission to seek and find those who are in need, to help them in the spirit of justice and to tackle the causes and effects of poverty where it can. Members visit and befriend people living in loneliness and isolation, be they elderly, homeless, hospitalised or in care-homes, people with mental health issues or offenders. Our funds have become depleted through coming to the aid of families and individuals during the course of the pandemic but you can assist our endeavours by donating to your parish SVP group via our parish website - you can also now 'Gift Aid' any such donation at no additional cost to yourself! Our parish SVP group meets regularly in the Parish Centre for an hour or so on a Wednesday evening - we also seek new, committed members! Should you be thinking of joining us or wish to know more, please contact Francis O'Brien on mob: 07845874331 or email: obrjam@btinternet.com . Thank you for any help you can give!
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham - 28th May 2022
Join Bishop Alan and other parishes around the Diocese of Brentwood in Walsingham as we celebrate the Year of the Family ‘Hearing and Doing the Word of God’.
We will celebrate Mass at the Basilica before walking the Holy Mile to the grounds of Walsingham Abbey to celebrate Vespers and Benediction on the site of the Holy House.
If you would like to come please contact the Parish office.
Is God calling you to be a Priest?
The next “Enquirers’ Evening” for those considering or interested in a vocation to the priesthood is on Tuesday 1st March at St Edmund of Canterbury Church in Loughton. The speaker will be Fr Maurice Gordon.
For further information please contact Fr Mark Swires vocprom@dioceseofbrentwood.org
World Day of Prayer 2022 - Friday 4th March
“I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU”
2022 is a special year for Womens World Day of Prayer in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This year, we have prepared the World Day of Prayer service. Your local service takes place at 10.30 a.m. in St Mark's Church, Hamlet Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1HY and includes participation by the children of St Helen's Primary School (Year 6). It will be followed by tea and coffee refreshment and is open to anyone who would like to attend. Please join us in this special year to share in prayer and contemplation.
Parish Fundraising
Thank you to everyone who supports the 200 Club. The results of the January draw are as follows:
1st prize £150 92 Mrs Sam Miller
2nd Prize £100 18 Rev Fr J McCollough
3rd Prize £75 53 Mrs C O’Brien
4th Prize £25 143 Mrs M Scott
Please remember: if you move house, please notify me of your change of address. Yet again, we have had two families move away without notifying us of their new address and we have been unable to process their winning cheques.
We are still looking for new members. The subscription is £5 per month, either by cash, cheque or direct debit. If you would like to join, please fill in a form which can be found at the back of the church or ring Linda Wall on 01702 558217.
OLL Ladies Group
Our next Meeting is on Thursday 3rd March in the Parish Centre. Our guest speaker is Father Jean-ClaudeSelvini who has recently retired from his former Parish in Hainault. We very much look forward to hearing from Fr. Selvini about his journey from France to the Anglican Church in England before ‘crossing the Tiber ‘ to be Ordained as a Catholic Priest in the Diocese of Brentwood over 23 years ago.
NB. Would Ladies please note that due to Fr. Selvini’s commitments, we will start at 10am for Refreshments and the talk will begin promptly at 10.15am. There will also be plenty of time later for socialising and the raffle.
All women in the Parish are very welcome to come along. Subs are only £1 per session.