Coffee Morning: 31 March

The Catholic Women’s League invite you to a Coffee Morning to be haled at the Columba Club on Saturday 31st March, 10.30am until Midday. CWL are raising funds to assist the Carmelite Monastery in Liverpool.

The Carmelite Nuns are an enclosed Order of Religious whose primary vocation is prayer for our parish communities in the Archdiocese.

Prayer this week?

As we aproach Saint Patrick’s feast this Saturday you may find a quiet time to pray Saint Patrick’s Breastplate?

Christ be with me,
Christ be beside me,
Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me,
Christ be at my right hand,
Christ be at my left hand,
Christ be with me everywhere I go,
Christ be my friend for ever and ever.
Amen.

Notices for newsletter

Please drop any notices for the Newsletter into Saint Mary’s Presbytery or email to saintmaryiom@rcaolp.co.uk no later than noon on Thursday please.

Street Angels

The Douglas Town Centre Partnership invite you to be part of the Street Angels Project which in conjunction with the Police and the Youth Services of the Island will start running in the next months. The idea of Street Angels is to be a presence on the streets of Douglas at night (mainy weekends) to offer assistance to anyone who may be - for whatever reason - in need.

If you want to know more, or feel that this particular field of ministry is something with which you would like to be part, then please see Canon Philip.

Calling all catechists

There will be a training session on the evening of Friday 4th May and all day Saturday 5th May for Catechists in our parish communities.

The sessions will deal with the general principles of Catechesis - but also specifically the new resources for the celebration of Confirmation and First Holy Communion with our children.

This will be given by members of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Formation team who will be travelling to the Island specifically for this wekend.

Offertory Envelopes at Saint Mary’s

Could those who make use of the Offertory Envelopes at Saint Mary's please collect their new sets which are to be used from the beginning of the new Tax year.

What is the benefit of using a numbered envelope each week?
We can keep a record of your giving and provide you with a Confirmatory Letter for your Tax Return each year (which can be used to reduce your taxable amount for income). The alternative to this would be to take out a Standing Order by which your weekly contribution is paid directly into the Parish Bank Account.

Reconciliation at Saint Mary of the Isle

As the other Reconciliation Services for the Island are being held in the evening, a request has been made to provide an opportunity for those who rely more on Public Transport during the day for a Reconciliation Service before Holy Week.

There will therefore be an additional Service of Reconciliation at 2.30pm in Saint Mary’s, Douglas on Friday 30th March and Father Brian and Canon Philip will then be available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation through until 4.00 pm that day.

This is in addition to the regular Confessions at Saint Mary’s on Saturday 31st March (from 11.00 until 11.45 am).

The uniqueness of Marriage

At Masses this weekend, we receive a Letter from Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. It is a statement of our Catholic faith about marriage and issued in the light of the forthcoming consultation by the UK Government on changing the legal definition of marriage.

The Archbishops also say that after Easter there will be a more detailed leaflet on the UK Government’s consultation itself, for distribution in parishes, to assist Catholics in making their own response to the consultation.

Family Fast Day update

Family Fast day Envelopes – please return them via the Collection Plate today, or through the post-box at the Presbytery in Hill Street. The Collection will remain open for the next week.

The Manx Government match the collection as part of their overseas aid budget – so what we give can be doubled, assisting even more people.

Lamp Intentions

At Saint Mary’s Church in Douglas the following are the lamp intentions this week:

Sacred Heart: Emma Healy
Our Lady: Premature Twins
Saint Anthony: People of our Parishes

Please remember these intentions in your prayers this week. Thank you.

Thank you

Collection at Womens’ World Day of Prayer Service at Saint Anthony, Onchan realised £227. Thank you.

Thank you

The Lourdes Youth Group would like to thank all who support the recent Quiz Night and those who donated prizes for the Raffle. A total of £536.70 was raised.

The New Mass Books

Now that we have the new Mass books, they can naturally also be used for Weekday Mass; the readings will not be found in the book, but all the Mass responses, the Gloria and the Eucharistic Prayers are as used on a Sunday.

End Polio Now

Last week Mr Kevin Kneen of the ‘End Polio Now’ Campaign gave a very enlightening and thought-provoking talk to members of the CWL. We thank him for his time and enthusiasm, and congratulate the Rotary Club for the fine work they have done in furthering this appeal. Did you know that when the Tower of Refuge was lit up with purple lights last year it was in support of this appeal?

The Lamps

At Saint Mary’s Church in Douglas the following are the lamp intentions this week:

Sacred Heart: Emma Healy
Our Lady: Premature Twins
Saint Anthony: Holy Souls

Please remember these intentions in your prayers this week. Thank you.

CAFOD Family Fast Day

Family Fast day Envelopes – please return them via the Collection Plate today, or through the post-box at the Presbytery in Hill Street.

The Manx Government match the collection as part of their overseas aid budget – so what we give can be doubled, assisting even more people.

Thank you.

Not another Collection!!!

There are many good causes which ask for our support throughout the year... and some of them we support by a Retiring Collection at the Masses. The danger is of course that the second collections become so numerous that, as one person was overheard saying ‘you need a mortgage to come to church’!

That of course is not the idea – we do need to look to the support and maintenance of our churches and of the community both here and in the wider world, but ultimately the financial offerings we make are an external sign of a much deeper gratitude for the spiritual gifts that are shared so generously with us.
Over the last year we have taken these ‘special’ collections as people leave church, in order to leave a little more opportunity for a period of quiet after Communion. We have noticed however that this has led to a significant drop in the amounts collected for the charities; perhaps people are just forgetting as they pass the baskets at the back of church. Please bear this in mind when you see that there is a second collection after Mass.

A very sincere Thank You for the generous way in which you support both the weekly Parish and ‘special’ collections for particular causes. Particularly in these straightened times you know as well as we do the extra strains that are put on budgets – but ironically it is perhaps in such times of stress and strain that the more ‘eternal’ priorities and values come to the fore.

Thank you.

International Eucharistic Congress, Dublin.

The Eucharistic Congress, a world-wide gathering of the Church, will be held this year in Dublin, from the 10th to the 17th of June.

This years’s theme is: The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another.

Lourdes Pilgrimage 2012

Due to increased prices which the organising body viewed as being excessive, The Archdiocese have changed their Tour Operator for the Lourdes Pilgrimage 2012. This will now be organised by Joe Walsh Tours.
Tel: 0161 820 8790
Email: info@joewalshtours.ie

The closing date for registration is 31st March 2012. Application forms are available from The Presbytery, Hill Street.

Marriage Preparation 2012

The Marriage Preparation Day will be held at Saint Mary’s School next Saturday 10th March. In you intend to Celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage in the coming year (or early 2013) – whether here on the island or elsewhere in the world and have not reqistered and received a confirmation please contact Kath at the Parish Office (675509) on Monday or Tuesday this week. Thank you.

The Lighting of Votive Candles

The candles that we light for particular intentions or people are an outward sign of the thoughtfulness with which we hold that person or that situation before God.
The use of any candle in church reminds us ultimately of Christ himself, who is the ‘light of the world’; we pray that the light of his Risen Life may shine brightly in us and in the lives of those whom we remember in prayer.