Sunday 10th December 2023
Second Sunday of Advent
Masses & Liturgies for the Coming Week…
Friday 8thDecember
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
6pm Mass, THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
"The background for today's solemnity is the biblical icon of the Annunciation, when the angel's mysterious greeting resounded: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28). "Full of grace"! Here is Mary, as God conceived of her and desired her in his inscrutable plan: a creature filled with divine love, all goodness, all beauty, all holiness."
- Pope St. John Paul II
Saturday 9thDecember
9am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
10am Advent Mass of Our Lady (Celebrated in Lady Chapel)
'To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us.' - St. Faustina
6pm The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
6:30pm Vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Advent
Sunday 10thDecember
9:30am The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
10am Mass for the Second Sunday of Advent
Tuesday 12th December
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
6pm Advent Weekday Mass
Wednesday 13th December
9:15am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
10am Mass, Saint Lucy, Virgin & Martyr (Memoria)
St. Lucy, a Sicillian martyr who died in the persecution of the fifth century under the Emperor Diocletian. She is an example of faithfulness and innocence and her cult was very popular in the early church.
7pm – 8pm Parish Bible Study Group (see below for details)
Thursday 14thDecember
9:15am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
10am Mass, Saint John of the Cross, Priest & Doctor of the Church (Memoria)
St. John of the Cross, born in 1542, a Carmelite friar and friend of St. Teresa of Avila, with whom he worked for the reform of the order. A poet and mystic, he died in 1591.
1:30pm St. Oswald's School Advent Liturgy – All are Welcome.
6:30pm "Christmas Decorating" church night – All Welcome
(See below for details)
Friday 15thDecember
11am Requiem Mass for Denis Joyce RIP
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
6pm Advent Weekday Mass,
Saturday 16thDecember
9am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
10am Advent Mass of Our Lady (Celebrated in Lady Chapel)
'In trial or difficulty, I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.' - St. Therese of Lisieux
6pm The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
6:30pm Vigil Mass for Gaudete Sunday
Sunday 17thDecember
9:30am The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
10am Mass for Gaudete Sunday
Sanctuary Lamp
This week (9th December - 16th December), the Sanctuary Lamp is for Sadie & Joe McGowan
Last Week's Offertory Collection
£572.99. Thank you for your kind generosity.
Thank You
My thanks to Fr. Stephen Adedeji from St. Wulstan's in Great Harwood who celebrated the Vigil and Sunday morning Masses last weekend.
Rock Salt & Muscle Power!
Thank you to the kind parishioners who helped to grit the paths to church at the weekend – as always it was much appreciated. If your passing a garden centre, petrol station or anywhere that's selling rock salt/grit and are able to donate a bag to church then it would be gratefully accepted. Any bags can be left outside, at the rear of the church building, by the bins. We all so need that precious gift of peoples time and energy in helping spread and scatter the grit on icey and frozen days before Masses and liturgies at church so that everyone is kept safe. If you could help then please contact Navada Keenan keenannavada@gmail.com or Karen Beard the parish Housekeeper jakey9998@aol.com
Advent Fundraising
John Hughes has kindly produced little donation boxes for Advent. Parishioners are freely invited to take and use them over the Advent season to fill with coins and loose monies for the church building.
Advent Spiritual Reading
Below are a list of book titles that you might find to be interesting reading over Advent and Christmas. All are accessible and are available via the Cathedral Centre Books (Mon – Fri 8:30am – 3:30pm Tel: 0161 817 2208 www.cathedralcentrebooks.com) or www.amazon.co.uk
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Jesus of Nazareth, The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI
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God With Us: Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew by Edward Sri
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Forming Intentional Disciples, The Path to knowing and following Jesus by Sherry A. Weddell
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Into His Likeness, Be transformed as a Disciple of Christ by Edward Sri
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Habits for Holiness, Small Steps for Making Big Spiritual Progress by Fr. Mark Mary Ames CFR
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Befriending Silence, Discovering the Gifts of Cistercian Spirituality by Carl McColman
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Toward God, The Ancient Wisdom of Western Prayer by Michael Casey
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Journeying with Jonah, The struggle to find yourself by Denis McBride CSsR
St. Mary's Warm Welcome
I've been asked to pass on the message that the warm welcome for Tuesday 12th December has been postponed. Sessions will start again in January. Thank you to all volunteers who make this such an enjoyable experience.
Parish Bible Study – St. John's Gospel
The next session is Wednesday 13th December from 7pm – 8pm. All are welcome. All you need is a Bible and an openness to come to know Our Lord better.
Family Night – Decorating the church for Christmas
We would like to invite all parishioners, friends and family, to help decorate our church in preparation for Christmas on Thursday 14th December at 6:30pm. Trees need being put up, crib figures dusted down, window ledges and altars buffed up etc. The Good Book tells us that the labourer deserves his wages so I guarantee Irish Coffee, Mulled Wine and a Mince Pie or two for everyone who comes. All parishioners are welcome to come just for the atmosphere and craic. We'll have live carols being sung you can join in with! It's a parish family social occasion, so bring neighbours and relations, bring yourselves and your family, decorating or not decorating everyone is welcome.
Diocesan Synod: The Parish "Big Listen"
We will be running a meeting after the Sunday morning mass, and we would love to see as many of you as possible. If, however, Sunday lunchtime does not work for you, please contact Sharon, Joel or Mike and let them know how you would like to take part.
Contact details for the Synod Team should you have any further questions:
Sharon Siddle - 07917 002663, Sharon.siddle@yahoo.co.uk
Mike Freeman - 07500 952780, Cowleyfreeman@gmail.com
Joel Garrigan - 07875 132568, joelg_01@hotmail.com
Appeal: Parish Christmas Raffle Prizes
At the start of Advent (2nd/3rd December) we are hoping to sell tickets for our annual St. Mary's Christmas Raffle and are asking parishioners for any items they would be happy to donate. Do you work for a company/business who would be happy and open to offering vouchers, treatments, meals, or gift tokens etc. as prizes? Any donations that people can generously give, please leave with the stewards at the back of church.
109 Loyola Scout Group Christmas Fayre
"Thank you from the Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts of 109th Loyola Scout Group to all the parishioners of St Mary's who donated items, helped on the day or just came to our Christmas Fayre last Saturday in St Mary's School. We had our best Fayre ever and all the money raised will go towards running the Scout Group through the coming year. The Group was originally formed at Sacred Heart Church in the early 1900s moving to St Mary's in the early 1960s before building our own HQ in Mill Hill Oswaldtwistle in 1972. All money raised from the Fayre goes towards running our Group. Thanks again for your help in fundraising to support us for another year."
Michael Partington (Group Scout Leader/Lead Volunteer)
Diocesan Almanac 2024
The new almanacs are now available at the piety stall for £3.50
2025 "Pilgrims of Hope" Jubilee
This Advent, Pope Francis invites people across the world to embark on a Year of Prayer in preparation for the 2025 "Pilgrims of Hope" Jubilee. Over the coming weeks and months, the Diocese of Salford will be sharing a range of resources and ideas to help us journey together through this Year of Prayer. Head to https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/news/jubilee-2025/ to find out more.
Schools singing programme
Schools across the diocese are set to present a wonderful series of festive carol services as part of the Schools Singing Programme. Services will be taking place over the coming weeks in parishes right across the diocese. Head to https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/school-singing-programme-carol-services/ to find a carol service near you!
Deanery Lourdes Group
Friday 26thJuly to Friday 2nd August 2024
Hotel St Georges £909 (sharing) Single Room £1059 per person
Hotel Padoue £979 (Sharing) Single Room £1204 per person
PRICE INCLUDES: Return flights Manchester to Carcassone and transfers by coach to and from Lourdes. Airport Duty and Passenger Taxes. 1 suitcase per person for the aircraft hold 20kgs.
7 nights full board at either Hotel St Georges or Hotel Padoue (see above for price). Salford Affliation Fee. Northern Star Representative. A deposit of £300 per person is required to make a booking.
NOT INCLUDED: Travel Insurance £60 per person, Travel to and from Manchester Airport.
Further information available from Fr Francis Wadsworth at St Anne's, Accrington Tel 01254 232920 email: francis.wadsworth@dioceseofsalford.org.uk . There will be a meeting for all who are interested in travelling with us on Monday 15th January 2024 at 7:00pm. This will be held in St Joseph's Parish Hall, Belgarrth Road, Accrington BB5 6AH. At this meeting there will be an opportunity to ask questions and to collect booking forms.
Caritas Diocese of Salford Advent Appeal
Our diocesan charity, Caritas Salford, has launched its Advent appeal for 2023, including a very special animation film voiced by local children. You can view the short animation and find out more about how you can make a donation to the appeal, or take action to help people in your parish who are experiencing crisis this Christmas, by visiting the Caritas Salford website: www.caritassalford.org.uk/beethere
Sanctuary Lamp
Prayer is so important and it works! One of the traditions at St. Mary's is to sponsor the sanctuary lamp, that burns for seven days continuously, before the Real Presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle. The prayers behind each lamp are varied and different. Sometimes it burns in memory of a loved one, other times its for somebody who is sick or waiting for results and at other times it's a prayer of thanksgiving or help for a particular situation or person. If you would like to sponsor a lamp to burn in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament then please see one of the stewards at the back of church. They will have a list of dates from January until April next year where you can choose to sponsor a £5 lamp for the week. I will bless each lamp and light it before the Vigil Mass on a Saturday and it will burn for the whole week. Please give your £5 to the stewards on duty when you choose your week. The new list is now available
Christmas Mass Times
Christmas Eve Sunday 24th December
5pm Carols Around the Crib
5:30pm Christmas Eve Mass
Christmas Day Mass Monday 25th December
9:30am Carols around the Crib
10am Christmas Day Mass & Blessing of Toys
Homes for Ukraine Matching Service
Caritas Social Action Network, in partnership with St John of God Hospitaller Services, an international Catholic charity with many services for the vulnerable in the UK and Ireland, are matching Ukrainian people displaced by the brutal war with people in the Catholic community willing to host them in their homes for six months. If you have room in your home and in your heart to consider welcoming a stranger displaced by war, then we'd love to hear from you. Please visit https://sjog-homesforukraine.uk/ for more information.
Job Vacancies
Parish Administrator - Blessed Dominic Barberi parish, Bolton (replacement role)
Appointment Type: Part-time, permanent
Working hours: 12 hours per week - worked over two days
Location: St Osmund's Presbytery, Long Lane, Breightmet, Bolton, BL2 6EB
Salary: £11.26 per hour
Find out more and apply at https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/news/vacancies/
Diocese of Salford - Property Administrator (replacement role)
Appointment Type: Full time, permanent contract
Working hours: 35 hours per week, with some flexible working required
Location: Cathedral Centre, 3 Ford Street, Salford, M3 6DP
Salary: £23,793 - £25,488 depending on skills and experience
Find out more and apply at https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/news/vacancies/
Diocese of Salford - Pilgrimage Office Administrator (replacement role)
Appointment Type: Full time, permanent contract
Working hours: 35 hours per week, Mon- Fri. Flexible working will be required including evenings and weekends.
Location: Cathedral Centre, 3 Ford Street, Salford, M3 6DP - although may sometimes be required to work at the office of the Pilgrimage Director.
Salary: £23,793 - £29,248 depending on skills and experience
Find out more and apply at https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/news/vacancies/
God Bless and keep praying.
Our Lady of Oswaldtwistle, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Fr. O'Brien