…from all the clergy for all the cards, gifts and donations received at Christmas! A big thank-you too to everyone who worked so hard to make our Christmas celebrations here at St Mary’s so beautiful (cleaning/decorating the church; serving; singing; etc.). May God reward you all!
Liturgical Calendar: 31 December 2023 – 13 January 2024
Note that, in this country, the obligation to assist at Holy Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany this year is transferred to the following Sunday (7 January).
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION / CONFIRMATION CANDIDATES FOR 2024 If you have a child who is approaching the age to receive these sacraments, please contact Fr Evans.
Frs Goddard, Verrier, Stewart, Evans and Jolly, along with seminarian Péter Uhel, wish you and your loved ones a very happy and blessed Christmas!
Please note that our Christmas Day collections do not go to the priests (as is the custom in some places), but rather to the FSSP apostolate. If you’d like to make personal gifts to the priests, please do so outside of the collections, making clear that it is for their personal use.
Fr Goddard (the new Shrine Rector) and Fr Evans (Assistant Priest) would like to express their sincere thanks for the warm and generous welcome that they have received, since moving to Warrington a week last Wednesday. Thank you, in particular, for those who organized the (unexpected!) party after the 11am Sunday Mass last week. Frs Goddard and Evans are very much looking forward to ministering to this committed vibrant community and to meeting you all in due course. Please keep them both, and all our priests, in your prayers.
All Saints Day (1 Nov.) is a Holy Day of Obligation – all Catholics must attend Mass on pain of mortal sin, and to the extent possible, abstain from servile works. Masses in Reading will be at 10am (Low Mass), and 7pm (Sung).
After the morning Mass, there will be a children’s All Saints party – come dressed as your favourite saint! Please bring a packed lunch and something to share.
All Souls Day is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but it is strongly encouraged that you attend Mass and pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Priests have the privilege this day of offering three Requiem Masses – three different formularies are provided in the missal. In Reading, there will be two consecutive Low Masses at 10am, and a Sung Mass at 7pm.
Indulgences
A reminder of the indulgences available in November, applicable only to the poor souls in purgatory:
1-8 November: a plenary indulgence is granted for visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead, if only mentally. Partial indulgences are granted to those who recite Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead, and to those who recite the prayer Requiem æternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis (‘eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them’).
On 2 November, a plenary indulgence (applicable only for the dead) is granted to the faithful who devoutly visit a church or an oratory and recite there an Our Father and the Creed.
Only one indulgence may be gained per day. To gain the indulgence, one must be in the state of grace at the time of performing the work, and fulfil the following three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion (both within a few days), and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff.
