The following message appears in the Reading newsletter this week. Fr O’Donohue writes:
“I would like to express my gratitude to the faithful in Reading, Bedford, and Chesham Bois for their prayers as well as thoughtful messages and gifts before my leaving the UK for a new assignment. I have thoroughly enjoyed ministering at these apostolates of Our Lady’s Dowry over the past three years and will always be grateful to have had this opportunity. I have offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for your intentions”.
Don’t forget that we have Adoration and Confessions this coming Saturday 3 October at the slightly earlier time of 2.30 pm – 5.30 pm. Two priests will be hearing Confessions, one of them Fr Seth Phipps, FSSP, whom we welcome to Christ the King as he begins his ministry with us this weekend.
For the last time, our Parish Priest, Fr Patrick Hutton will be in the other confessional, as he takes a well-earned retirement as from Monday 5 October. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Father for his kind support of the Latin Mass over the last five years and to wish him and his wife Rita every blessing as they begin this new chapter of their lives.
We also said goodbye to Fr Patrick O’Donohue on 27 September as he returned to Ireland to become the first FSSP priest in a permanent apostolate there. We thank him for his three years with us and assure him of our prayers for his new work.
On Saturday 5th September we have another of our regular opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration. St Alphonsus Liguori tells us “You will gain more by praying 15 minutes before the Blessed Sacrament than all the other spiritual exercises of the day”. Our Lord will be exposed on the altar for three hours, from 3 pm – 6 pm, so you will have plenty of time to spend with Him.
Also during this time there will be two priests available to hear Confessions. As Confessions are not being heard after Sunday Mass at the moment, this is an invaluable opportunity. Of this Sacrament, St Francis de Sales says: “Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls”.
Two very good reasons to be at Christ the King on Saturday week! If you can’t come this time, there will be further afternoons of Adoration and Confession on the first Saturday of October, November and December, also from 3 pm – 6 pm.
Every year for the last 10 years the Latin Mass Society has held an annual Pilgrimage to Walsingham walking from Ely in Cambridgeshire to Walsingham in Norfolk over three days on August Bank Holiday. This year because of the Covid-19 Pandemic we have decided to continue this tradition but this time it is a virtual pilgrimage from Willesden, London to Walsingham and we want you to get involved.
How will it work?
After the success of our July Digital Conference we will be bringing Pilgrims a daily schedule of Live-streamed Masses, Meditations, Online Rosary and prayer sessions as we travel along our virtual route from Willesden in London to Walsingham over the three days and we need you to join the walk in your own locations. Willesden to Walsingham is 118 miles. We need Pilgrims to pledge to walk a distance during the Pilgrimage which can be anything from half a mile to 100 miles! You can do your own pilgrimage in your back garden, in your street or even the local countryside, wherever you are in the world and whatever feels safe and suits you. With as many pilgrims signed up to the virtual pilgrimage and all praying together we can add up the total of miles walked, along with rosaries said and songs sung as we pray this August to Our Lady of Walsingham.
How can l sign up? On our website you can register your name and whether you are a group and how many miles you pledge to walk during the Pilgrimage. We would then like to share your experience during the Pilgrimage online and amongst our other pilgrims. If you are unable to join in with our walk then you can pledge to pray for the pilgrims.
To register an interest:- https://lms.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=172&reset=1
