We Pray for the Dead on their Anniversaries
Canon Bernard Manning, Pope Pius XI, Fr Donald Mills, Fr John Garrett, Fr Charles Snell, Rev William Smith, Alice Whitfield, Eugenie Ballard, Doris Wenninger, Edmund O’Sullivan, Patrick Jennett, Charles Oldham, John Armstrong, Victor Gosling, Carmen Ashley, John Young, Bernard Ward, Mary Stevens, Catherine Shanahan, Gordon Watts, Jessie Hempstead, Annie Jackson, Monica Crighton, Cajetan Soares, Tony Trigg, Eric Wallen, Mary Mulhern, Mary Gleeson, Patrick O’Donnell, Martin Ryan, Daphne Rickard, Ivy Spratt, Christina Riddell, Jack Pearson, Roy Buck, Joan Stanley, Malcolm Atkinson, Michael Lucey, Patricia Garnett, Anthony Ashwell-Rivens, Elaine Macdonald & Mary Rigden.
We pray for our sick
The Sick List is available on the website main menu, under Worship.
We pray for the sick of our parish
“Father,
by the power of your Spirit
you have filled the hearts of your faithful people
with gifts of love for one another.
Hear the prayers we offer for our relatives and friends.
Give them health of mind and body
that they may do your will with perfect love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.”
Please pray for the repose of the souls of
ROSEMARY BRAGARD, RIP who died on Tuesday, 14th January. Her body will be received into church on Thursday, 13th February at 5pm and her Requiem Mass will be on Friday 14th February at 10am followed by burial at Sutton Road Cemetery.
OLIVE CHRISTINE YEMS, RIP who died on Tuesday, 30th December. Her funeral will take place on Wednesday, 19th February at Southend Crematorium at 12.30pm.
Requiescant in pace
Dates for your Diary
Monday, 10th February—Journey in Faith (RCIA) 8pm Parish Centre
Saturday 15th—Friday 21st March 2025—Parish Mission led by the Redemptorists
Saturdays 10th & 17th May 10.30am—First Holy Communion Masses
Sunday 1st June 2025—Visitation & Confirmation
Sunday 22nd June—Corpus Christi Procession 4pm
Saturday 5th July—Flower Festival
Monday 21st—Friday 25th July—Lourdes Pilgrimage
Monday 8th September Centenary of the Opening of our Church
Sacrament of Confirmation and Visitation
This will take place on Sunday 1st June, 2025. Any adult or young adult (who must have reached the age of fourteen by 1st September 2024) may apply. Please send an email with your name and contact details to mrscatherineharris@gmail.com by Friday, 21st February, 2025.
Word on Fire Conference London 21/22 February
The Word on Fire Institute are holding a two day Conference in the Excel Centre in London—February, 21st & 22nd—on Evangelisation and Culture. Bishop Robert Barron is the keynote speaker. You can find the details with the link below and also how to book for one or both of the days. Father Kevin will be attending the Friday evening.
Minnie Vinnies
An introduction to the role of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Minnie Vinnies will take place on Monday 10th February in the St Clement room in the Parish Centre from 5.15pm to 6.30pm.
Minnie Vinnies is about praying and doing good works in the community, but it is also about young people meeting to talk, to share ideas and concerns, to have fun and to support each other.
The Minnie Vinnies model of ‘See, Think, Do’ is a great way to get young people thinking and talking about their spiritual lives. By connecting their beliefs and values with service activities and issues in their community, they can help to make their faith real, meaningful and relevant.
Margaret Sullivan
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham—24th May 2025
Join Bishop Alan and other parishes around the Diocese of Brentwood in Walsingham to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Hope. 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.
JOURNEY OF FAITH—RCIA
This continues on Monday, 10th February and is specifically for those who are not Catholics but who are enquiring with a view to finding out more about the Catholic Faith and Reception into the Church. These evenings begin at 8pm, are held in the Newman Room of the Parish Centre (the door is beside the Memorial Garden) and usually last just over an hour. Names may be given in advance to Fr Kevin or the Parish Office.
Brentwood Catholic Youth Service—Summer Lourdes Pilgrimage 19th—26th July 2025
Open to anyone in school year 10 and above. Join the BCYS for our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, supporting the adult pilgrimage in a week of prayer, service and fun!
All details can be found at www.bcys.net/events. Funding and bursary opportunities are available.
World Day of Prayer
This year’s World Day of Prayer Service takes place on Friday 7th March at 10.30 am at St Saviour’s Church, Kings Road, Westcliff-On-Sea SS0 8LL followed by tea/coffee.
This years service is prepared by the Christian women of the Cook Islands on the theme ‘I made you wonderful’.
We are very fortunate to have the children from St Helen's Primary School to take an active part in the service. We invite everyone to join us in praying together.
We are also holding a coffee-singalong concert at St Clement’s Church in aid of funds for this year’s World Day of Prayer service. 10.30 am.—concert (45 minutes) by The Two Elizabeths will start at 10.40am, followed by coffee, homemade cakes, bring and buy. All welcome—entry is free.
Cleaner Required
Would you be able to spare an hour a week between 10am and 1pm, to help clean our church ? Whichever day suits you, and it doesn’t have to be the same day every week!
If you can help, please contact the Parish office on 01702 478078 or email office@lourdesleigh.org.
National Marriage Week
7th-14th February is National Marriage Week. Please pray for couples living the vocation to marriage, for those preparing for married life, for those who are widowed, and those who are struggling with difficult situations in their family life. The Annual Mass of Thanksgiving for Marriage and Family Life will take place in Brentwood Cathedral on Saturday 21st June - if you are celebrating a significant anniversary this year please let your parish priest know. In a message for this week the lead Bishop for Marriage and Family Life, Bishop Bosco MacDonald, writes ‘the hope of marriage is that it becomes a source of stability and happiness, showing us the endless love that God has for all of us’. Read the whole message on the Bishops’ Conference website cbcew.org.uk
Repository
We are open after all weekend Masses. From this weekend we have Mantillas in stock in Black lace or white lace . Also why not be an ‘early bird’ and browse our stock of special cards for Mothers Day and Saint Patrick’s Day.
We will shortly also have a selection of Easter cards plus a good selection of cards for Masses, Birthdays, Get well cards etc. Please come along and browse our stock. If you cannot find what you want please ask one of the Volunteers.
OLOL Ladies Group
We next meet on Thursday 13th February at 10am in the Parish Centre. At this Meeting we are delighted to welcome Mr. Adam Tregonning who is the Mace Bearer to the Mayor of Southend on Sea. All ladies in the Parish are welcome to come along to what should be a very interesting morning. As usual Subs are just £1.00 which includes refreshments and we also have a fun Raffle.
St Vincent’s Centre Southend Market
We are excited to announce that St Vincent’s Centre Southend is bringing our Market to St Helen's Catholic Church, Westcliff (27 Milton Road, Westcliff-On-Sea, SS0 7JP) every Thursday, starting this coming Thursday the 13th of February.
🕘 Market Opening Hours:
Morning: 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Afternoon: 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Music at 11.30am Mass
Prelude: Ave Maria —Jacques Arcadelt born c.1505)
Postlude: Preludium—Matthias van den Gheyn 1721-1785)
The Presentation of the Lord
Dear friends in Christ
Every six years we have the opportunity to celebrate the Presentation of Our Lord on a Sunday
Dear friends in Christ
Every six years we have the opportunity to celebrate the Presentation of Our Lord on a Sunday. This feast celebrates two mysteries in the life of our Saviour: the moment Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the Temple and the Purification of Our Lady. The Mosaic Law prescribes not only the offering up of the first-born male, but also the purification of the mother. This is the celebrated moment when the prophet Simeon takes the Child Jesus in his arms and pronounces the prayer we call the Nunc Dimittis…Now Lord, you can let your servant depart in peace…for my eyes have seen your salvation. This prayer is sung or recited every single night throughout the Church as it forms part of the Office of Compline, or Night Prayer. Mary could have protested the need for her purification, since she was the most pure of all human creatures. Nevertheless, as in so many other instances, Mary chose to act like any other Jewish woman of the time. This is a feast of the Lord, and also Mary’s feast. She carries the Child in her arms. He, even, in her hands, is the light of our souls, the light that illumines the darkness of knowledge and of human existence, of the intellect and heart. The thoughts of so many hearts are revealed when her mother’s hands carry this great divine Light, when they bring it closer to man (Homily of Pope Saint John Paul II, 2.II.'79).
Next weekend we are welcoming Fr Dominic O’Toole of the Redemptorists—Congregation of The Most Holy Redeemer—who will speak at the Masses about our forthcoming Parish Mission this Lent: 15th–21st March. Fr Dominic works in Vienna as Chaplain to our expat community and is from this area. Over these weeks of preparation we are praying street-bystreet-for all those who live in our Town and Parish. The hope is that this prayer of intercession will touch the hearts of those who do not know Christ, and those who have grown lukewarm in their discipleship, to come closer to Him and experience the effects of Christ’s redeeming love.
This Jubilee Year of Hope and the centenary of our church building co-incide, which is an excellent opportunity to earnestly ask God for a renewal of the presence of the Holy Spirit in this place. You might like to take a moment to view the excellent little display at the back of church which records this joint celebration.
May God bless us all!
Msgr Kevin Hale