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Vicariate for Adult Formation
THRESHOLDS OF HOPE QUESTION: How has Catholicism enriched culture, music and the arts? Input will be given by Fr David Clemens, parish priest at Our Lady of Compassion, Saffron Walden, on Sunday 13th March 4.00 – 5.00 p.m. via Zoom. To join this meeting simply forward a contact email to adultformationvicariate@dioceseofbrentwood.org. For more information go to www.thresholdsofhope.co.uk
I would like to bring to your attention a short video www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Q7DNCExMA Trevor Lopez is currently studying medicine at Imperial College, London. He has also wanted to deepen his understanding of his Catholic Faith and has begun a theology degree at Maryvale. The Vicariate of Adult Formation is following his journey with a view to it inspiring other lay men and women to consider deepening their theological understanding in some fashion.
First Sunday in Lent
Dear friends in Christ
We have begun Lent this year conscious of the unspeakable acts of terror in the Ukraine.
Dear friends in Christ
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/
In the meantime, we have entered the holy season of Lent: forty days preparation for Easter. Every First Sunday of Lent we hear one of the accounts given by the Evangelists, of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. By prayer and mortification, Jesus was able to repel the onslaught of the Evil One. This will be true for us too. If we pray and exercise self-control, we shall be fortified and empowered for the spiritual battles we face. Peace comes—in nations, and in our souls—as a result of that constant struggle to maintain order and harmony. These days of Lent provide us with the yearly opportunity to exercise courage and bravery in the interior battles we all experience.
Please remember to pray for all those within our Parish Family who are making their final preparations for the Sacraments: those who will be Received into the Church at Easter (and will this Sunday meet the Bishop); the First Communicants; our young adults for Confirmation; the engaged couples…all of whom are looking forward in faith to being regenerated and renewed by the grace of Jesus Christ in His Sacraments.
May Mary, Queen of Peace and Help of Christians, come to our aid. May St Michael the Archangel, assist us in the day of battle. May God bless you all this Lent!
Msgr Kevin Hale
First Sunday of Lent
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
Monday 7
Feria
9am Mass Intention of Joe Hurley (JH)
Tuesday 8 March
Feria
9am Mass In Thanksgiving to the Clergy (G&JA)
Wednesday 9
Feria
9am Mass Mary Porter, RIP (AC)
Thursday 10
Feria
9am Mass Sheila de Chantilly, RIP (G&JA)
Friday 11
Feria
12Noon Mass Marian Payne, RIP
7pm Way of the Cross & Benediction
Saturday 12 March
Feria
10am Mass Eileen Condon & Family (T&RO’C)
10.30-11.30am: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
Sunday 13 March
Second Sunday of Lent
5.30pm Mass The People of the Parish
6.30-7.30pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Confessions
8am Mass Anita Robinson, RIP (LM)
9.30am Mass Special Intentions of The Nye Family (SM)
11.30am Mass Mervyn Calton, RIP (RC)
5.30pm Vespers & Benediction
We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Canon Joseph Whitfield, Fr Thomas Lawton, Fr John Gordon, Fr Edmund Meyer, Fr Maurice Roche, Mgr Canon David Michael Corley, Ena Bartley, Mary Smith, Doris Conner, Danielle Sutherland, Sandra McGran, Philip Thomas, Anthony Vonlon, Hannah harris, Johnathan Grindley, Granley Rumsey, John Stephen Burke, Miss Sydney Compton, Edward Baigent, Elsie Killman, Janet Harris, Conor Joseph Whitfield, Teresa Rumsey, Henry Delaney, John Button, Constance Ryan, Joyce Quinn, Pamela Jones, Peggy Choppin, Vincent Ingham, Christopher Tyler, Joe Swann, Theresa Ketterer, Joseph Collins, Lionel Clarke, Richard Young, Margaret Houston, Benjamin Dawson, Leo King, Edith Smith, Eileen Greaves.
We Pray for our Sick
Gerry Clarke, Dominic De Souza, 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
Ukraine Appeal
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 donations. Clare Mason is happy to collect. Call: 07757138345.
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
Lourdes Pilgrimage
There is hope that there will be a Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes: 24-29th July. If there was sufficient interest, there could be a group from our Parish which would join with the Diocese as in previous years.
The flight will depart from London Heathrow on 24th July at around midday and return on Friday 29th July at about 6pm. The cost per adult, which includes 5 nights full board staying at the 4 Star Grand Hotel Moderne Soubirous (closest to Sanctuary) and return luxury coach transfer from Lourdes airport will be £780. There is a £200 supplement for a single room.
If anyone would be interested, could you please register this by giving your name into the Parish Office.
City of Southend-on-Sea
Since Southend was officially granted City status on 1st March, it is a good moment to remind ourselves of the Coat of Arms and the meaning it contains.
The Arms were officially granted on January 1, 1915, with the crest and supporters granted one day later. The Arms were transferred from the County Borough to the Borough council on May 21, 1974.
The blue field represents the sea. On this are placed symbols of the old parishes that made up the town in 1915. The lilies and vase, symbol of the Virgin Mary are for St Mary, Prittlewell (originally a Cluniac Priory). The anchor—the symbol of St Clement—is for Leigh. The gridiron is for St Lawrence (Eastwood), and the trefoil, symbol of the Holy Trinity, is for Southchurch. The crest is a ship's mast for the historic port of Leigh-on-Sea. The motto is: Per mare, per ecclesiam, through the sea and through the Church.
So, the Christian Faith is deeply embedded in the Arms of our City and it is good to remember that it was the Catholic Faith that informed the culture and mores of this area, as indeed of the nation. We remember to pray once again for Sir David Amess—a faithful son of the Church—and who worked tireless for this Constituency and who made the City status a reality.
Dates for your Diary
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
Prelude: Improvisation on the Introit 'Invocabit me'
Postlude: Herzlich tut mich verlangen BWV 727 - J S Bach (1685-1750)
CAFOD Family Fast Day 11th March
2022 is Cafod's 60th anniversary year and its focus this year is on addressing the risk of malnutrition for around 200 million children around the world. Climate change, the Covid pandemic and the unequal distribution of food mean extreme hunger is getting worse.
Please take a look at Cafod's website - www.cafod.org.uk/fastday to see how they are working in countries like Sierra Leone to support new mothers including with expert advice, training and understanding about nutrition. Please continue to pray for the work of Cafod and consider eating a simple meal on Friday 11 March to help support their work. There are gift envelopes at the back of the church if you are able to donate to their work. Thank you.
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. Depending on the numbers going we may be able to arrange a coach to be shared by local Parishes.
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!
Rosary Movement of Reparation
Heaven’s Peace Plan – the daily Rosary and ongoing practice of the Five First Saturdays of Reparation - 5 Days that have the potential to change you and bring peace to the World!
Are you willing to help change the World?
March 5th 2022 First Saturday approaches …
We are living in the most dangerous to times and as you know the Holy Father, Pope Francis has issued a serious and heartfelt plea to pray, fast and sacrifice for peace.Never has there been in our lifetime a more urgent NEED to PRAY, FAST and make Sacrifices for PEACE and for the Salvation of Souls.
97 years ago in 1925 - the Lord Jesus and his Holy Mother appeared to Sr. Lucia when she was a Postulant in Pontevedra, Spain to give greater clarity to the messages they had given in Fatima to Sr. Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta concerning the need to pray the Rosary every day for peace and to ENACT the practice of the First Saturdays of Reparation for the salvation of souls and for the peace of the world.
Sr. Lucia strongly emphasised to her spiritual director on March 19th 1939 how important the practice of the First Saturdays and daily Rosary are:
"War and peace in the world depend on the celebration of this devotion and the consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary connected to it. Therefore I wished so much these were spread, and much more because it is the will of our good God and our beloved Heavenly Mother."
The world again stands on the brink of war - will you ENACT the Peace Plan of Heaven – it is in your hands!
On each First Saturday of the Month you are invited to:
1. Go to Confession
2. Attend Holy Mass and make a Communion of Reparation
3. Pray the Holy Rosary
4. Spend 15 minutes meditating on Sacred Scripture
All with the intention of making Reparation for the sins committed against the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
The Peace of the World Depends upon your response!
Do we love enough to put Heaven’s humble plea into action? Do we believe that our participation in the First Saturdays can help change the world and bring peace?
The Rosary and the First Saturdays are the great desire of both the Hearts of Jesus and Mary for these dangerous times. Heaven is pleading with sinful earth!
The world stands on the brink of war - will you ENACT the Peace Plan of Heaven – peace is in your hands!
Bishop John Keenan exhorts us to do all we can to propagate the First Saturdays and the Rosary for the peace of the world.
Join him in St. Mirin’s Cathedral, Paisley on every First Saturday at 8am in person or online – via Cathedral livestream - https://youtu.be/LoSl3_LW4MQ
Join him for nightly Rosary at 9pm via his Facebook page