Sunday 11th February 2024
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Masses & Liturgies for the Coming Week…
Friday 9th February
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
6pm Mass (Feria)
Saturday 10th February
9am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
10am Mass, Saint Scholastica (Memoria) (celebrated in the Lady Chapel)
St. Scholastica, the sister of St. Benedict, was born in Umbria 480. Like her brother she devoted her life to God, founding the Benedictine Sisters and dying on Monte Cassino in 547.
6pm The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
6:30pm Vigil Mass of the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Sunday 11th February
9:30am The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
10am Mass for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
2pm Healing Service (see below for details below)
Tuesday 13th February
1pm – 3pm St. Mary's Warm Welcome (see below for details)
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
6pm Mass (Feria)
ASH WEDNESDAY
14th February
(Day of Fasting & Abstinence)
9:15am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
10am Mass with the distribution of Ashes
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
Mass with the distribution of Ashes
Thursday 15th February
9:15am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
10am Mass, Lent Weekday
Friday 16th February
5pm – 5:50pm Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
6pm Mass, Lent Weekday
6:30pm Stations of the Cross
Saturday 17th February
9am – 9:50am Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament & Sacrament of Confession
10am Mass, Lent Weekday (celebrated in the Lady Chapel)
6pm The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
6:30pm Vigil Mass of the First Sunday of Lent
Sunday 18th February
9:30am The Holy Rosary for Peace in the World
10am Mass for the First Sunday Sunday of Lent
Sanctuary Lamp
This week (10th February - 17th February), the Sanctuary Lamp is for the Britland & Clayton Family.
Last Week's Offertory Collection
£659.71. Thank you for your kind generosity.
Date for you Diary – Parish Lenten Retreat - 20th - 21st February 2024
This year Fr. Bryan Cunningham SI, the superior of the Schoenstatt community, has kindly offered to give our parish Lenten retreat. See further down for more details.
11th February 2024 - World Day of Prayer for the Sick: St. Mary's Healing Service
At 2pm on Sunday (11th February), we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. It's fitting that this is the day the Church invites us all to pray for those who are sick and suffering in mind and body. For those who have made the pilgrimage to Lourdes, you will know, that it is a place of healing but not everyone is fortunate to visit. This year, at St. Mary's on Sunday 11th February, there will be the opportunity to experience both prayer and healing. Please come if you want to pray for a family member or friend, for yourself or simply to just be present in solidarity with others. All are welcome.
Our Lady of Lourdes
Last year we sent off our parish statue of Our Lady of Lourdes from the grotto to Lewis & Lewis, as the Lancashire weather had taken its toll on her. On Friday morning she returns to St. Mary's and so it only seems fitting that at the Sunday 10am Mass we will formally bless her. As Our Lady of Lourdes returns Our Lady of Oswaldtwistle will go. The restorers have noticed that the fire damage (from a few years ago) has caused issues within the statue material and this in turn has led to some more work needed to repair the blistering paint work on her left-hand side.
Saint Peregrine
Last weekend I mentioned St. Peregine in the homily and I found the following prayers that hopefully will help people. If you would like a prayer card with the image of St. Peregrine there will be some available at the 2pm Healing Service on Sunday 11th Feb.
A Prayer to St. Peregrine for Sick Relatives and Friends
O great St. Peregrine, you have been called "The Mighty", "The Wonder Worker" because
of the numerous miracles which you obtained from God for those who have turned to you in
their need. For so many years, you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys
the very fiber of our being.
You turned to God when the power of human beings could do no more, and you were favored
with the vision of Jesus coming down from His cross to heal your affliction. I now ask God to
heal these sick persons whom I entrust to you:
(here mention their names)
Aided by your powerful intercession, I shall sing with Mary a hymn of gratitude
to God for His great goodness and mercy. Amen.
Prayer to St. Peregrine for One Suffering from Cancer
Dear St. Peregrine, I need your help. I feel so uncertain of my life right now.
This serious illness makes me long for a sign of God's love.
Help me to imitate your enduring faith when you faced the ugliness of cancer and surgery.
Allow me to trust the Lord the way you did in this moment of distress.
I want to be cured, but right now I ask God for the strength to bear the cross in my life.
I seek the power to proclaim God's presence in my life despite the hardship,
anguish and fear I now experience.
O Glorious St. Peregrine, be an inspiration to me and petitioner of those needed
graces from our loving Father. Amen.
Altar Servers
On Thursday the Altar Servers had their treat night when we went bowling in Blackburn with the obligatory burger and chips thrown in. We are so blessed to have young people who make a commitment to serve on the Altar in faith and adoration to God. They are very inspiring and a great witness to other young people. Let's continue to pray for them and their families who encourage and support them.
Lent 2024
This year Lent begins on Ash Wednesday 14th February. Over the next six weeks we are called to re-direct our hearts and minds towards Jesus through fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Lent is our spiritual spring clean that allows us to become aware of those things in life that stop us living for the Lord and loving Him. Throughout this penitential period there will be, as always, plenty of opportunity for prayer and meditation.
Ash Wednesday - 14th February
"Change your hearts and lives! Turn back to God so that your sins may be wiped away."
Acts 3:19
10am Mass with the distribution of Ashes
6pm Mass with the distribution of Ashes
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
"The Eucharist bathes the tormented soul in light and love. Then the soul appreciates these words, 'Come all you who are sick, I will restore your health." - St. Bernadette Soubirous
Tuesdays 5pm – 5:50pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays (unless there is a funeral) 9:15am – 9:50am,
Fridays 5pm – 5:50pm, Saturdays 9am – 9:50am
Confessions
"There are people who are afraid to go to confession, forgetting that they will not encounter a severe judge there, but the immensely merciful Father." - Pope Franics
Ash Wednesday 9:15am – 9:45am, 5pm – 5:45pm; Fridays 5pm – 5:45pm; Saturdays 9am – 9:45am
Stations of the Cross
"In difficult moments, I will fix my gaze upon the silent Heart of Jesus stretched on the Cross, and from the exploding flames of His merciful Heart, will flow down upon me power and strength to keep fighting." – St. Faustina
Each Friday after the 6pm Mass (approx 6:30pm)
Parish Lenten Retreat - 20th - 21st February
His Holiness, Pope Francis, has announced a Holy Year in 2025 and in preparation for this event he has called 2024 The Year of Prayer. To help us understand the Pope's call to prayer Fr. Bryan Cunningham SI, will be giving our Lenten parish retreat. Fr. Bryan is parish priest at St John Fisher church in Kearsley and helps facilitate the diocesan catechesis programme in regards marriage & family life. Fr. Bryan is also a priest of the Schoenstatt movement...
"As a movement of renewal in the Catholic Church, Schoenstatt functions to aid renew the Church and society in the spirit of the Gospel, seeking reconnection of faith with daily life, significantly through a profound love of Mary, the Mother of God. As an international movement it is present on all continents and has members from all vocations and walks in life. It is a spiritual family whose many branches and communities join to form a single Schoenstatt family."
The timetable for both days (Tuesday 20th/Wednesday 21st) will be:
5pm Adoration & Confessions
6pm Holy Mass
6:45pm Talk by Fr. Bryan Cunningham SI
7:30pm Tea/Coffee Break
7:45pm Reflections & Questions
8pm Final Prayers & Blessing
Parish Lenten & Easter Walks
After the success of last years walks there will opportunity to do some more. Dates and walks to be confirmed later this month.
St. Mary's Warm Welcome
The next warm welcome is on Tuesday 13th February from 1pm – 3pm. Everyone and anyone is welcome! We have some talented parishioners who dispel the winter blues with live upbeat music that everyone can sing along to. Plus there's unlimited brews and fantastic homemade cake in a warm space. Why not come along and experience something different.
Date for you Diary - 11th February 2024 - World Day of Prayer for the Sick: St. Mary's Healing Service
At 2pm on Sunday 11th February, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. It's only fitting that this is also the day the Church invites us all to pray for those who are sick and suffering in mind and body. For those who have made the pilgrimage to Lourdes, you will know, that it is a place of healing but not everyone is fortunate to visit. This year, at St. Mary's on Sunday 11th February, there will be the many opportunity to experience both prayer and healing.
Job Vacancies
Cleaner - Holy Family, Denton
Appointment Type: Part-time, permanent
Working hours: 4 hours per week to be worked on a flexible basis as agreed by the parish priest
Location: Holy Family Presbytery, 67 Thornley Lane North, Reddish, Stockport SK5 6QR
Salary: £12 per hour
Find out more and apply at https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/news/vacancies/
Chef Cathedral House (replacement role)
Appointment Type: Part-time, permanent
Working hours: 12 hours over three days per week, Friday - Sunday
Location: Cathedral House, 250 Chapel Street, Salford, M3 5LE
Salary: £21,840 - £24,343
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