FATHER ALOSZA

On the 6th November with great joy we welcomed Father Alosza back to our parish.  It has been almost two years since we last saw him and during that time much has happened in his life.

 

This years visit was only very short but during that time we managed to visit London so that Father could see a little of the capital.  The picture shows the two of us outside Buckingham Palace.  We are grateful to Fr. Philip Baptiste and the Verona Fathers for their gracious hospitality during our stay.

 

I am also grateful to our parishioners for their kindness to Father Alosza and for their continued prayers for his well being.  I am also deeply grateful for their generosity towards him in the appeal that he made at the weekend.

 

Father will return to his mission in Kazakstan in late December this year.  Please continue to pray for him.

 

VISITORS

Towards the end of August this year we were able to welcome deacons and seminarians from the Archdiocese of Katowice in Poland to our parish.  Readers of this blog will recall that some of the students came last year to help in our parish and gain pastoral experience.

 

During their visit this year they were able to help around the parish and to enhance the liturgy by their ministry and by their singing.

 

They are now all back in Poland.  Please keep them all in your prayers as they continue in their studies.

 

From left to right in the photo the students are

 

Michal Rosinski who entered the propaedeutic year this September

Deacon Mateusz Klimek who will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in May

Deacon Mateusz Iwanecki who will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in May

Tomasz Szembor currently in his third year of studies.

THE HOLY SOULS

November is traditionally called the Month of the Holy Souls when we remember those who have gone before us and await the Beatific Vision of God in Heaven. There are many souls eternally grateful for the prayers and Masses that you offer during November. 

 

Having Mass offered four our loved ones who have died is the greatest act of charity that we can perform for them.  It is even more important in these increasing  secular times when so many of the funerals are 'A Celebration of the life of.....' in which people learnt he liked a drink and a bet on the horses. 

 

Each day of the week in November Holy Mass is offered for all those whose names are at our Holy Shrines.  May they rest in peace and rise in glory.

 

 

Holy Souls Shrine at St Joseph's

Holy Souls Shrine at St Marie's

A LITTLE PRESENT

May thanks to our Polish seminarians and Deacons who were with us in the summer.  They have sent a little gift to the parish.  The gift comprises of Palls that are used to cover the chalice at Mass, embroidered corporals and purificators and finger towels.

 

Please keep the students in your prayers as they continue their studies and prepare for ordination. Deacon Mateusz Klimek and Deacon Mateusz Iwanecki will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood on 21st May 2016.

 

Palls to cover the chalice at Mass

Corporal, Purificator and Finger Towel

Corporal, Purificator and Finger Towel

 

OF YOUR CHARITY

Pray for the repose of the souls of those who have recently died

 

 

John Anthony Rigby

Leo Mahon

Violet Boswell

Bridie Dunne

Leon Szulc

Ellen Graham

Hughie Corrigan

Bernard Kelly

Margaret Castle

Angela Nolan

Patricia Tucci

Margaret Heap

John Hughes

Derek Chadwick

Elizabeth Herbert

George Kemp

Ernest Liddell

Patrick Bradley

Thomas McCallion

Elli Cheesbrough

Joan Ford

John Barlow,

Kitty Stubley

Barbara Duckworth
Geoff Bentley

TOM MCCALLION RIP

 

 

It is with great sadness that the parish community heard of Tom's death on 31st August in Nazareth House.

 

Tom was one of the first parishioners that I met on my arrival at St Marie's in 2008.  He introduced himself  'Hello Father, I 'm Tom.  I'm the organist here.  I can't read music.  I play by ear.'  He wasn't too sure how to take me when I replied 'why don't you try using your fingers, it's  easier.'  I am happy to say from that moment on we became great friends.

 

Many parishioners described Tom as a character. He certainly was.  On a Sunday morning before Mass he could be found in the church porch helping hand out the hymn books and always with a smile, a joke or even a song. 

 

As mentioned above Tom was the organist here at St Marie's.  Not being able to read music didn't deter him from playing at Mass form a wide repertoire of hymns that he has learnt, providing of course they were in the key of C.  I commented on this and said 'the Parish church down the road has Stanford in G and we have Tom in C.' 

 

Tom served the parish faithfully as organist and as a member of the SVP Society putting his faith into action by helping those less fortunate than himself.  In the latter months he served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. 

 

An appreciation of Tom's life would not be complete without reference to his time in the Royal Navy where he was proud to have served Queen and Country on board The Brtiannia.  Tom had many stories to tell about his life on the ocean wave, most of them not suitable for a parish blog!!!

 

Tom will be missed by all who knew him and not least by his wife Maureen to whom we offer our love, prayers and condolences.

 

Rest in Peace Tom

WELCOME BACK

I know its been a long, long time since I posted anything on the blog.  So I think it's high time that I updated the blog.  I know that my readers will have been disappointed that nothing has appeared for such a long time.

 

I don't think it will be possible to write something on all that has happened since the last post so you will have to make do with a little summary of the past few months to bring everything up to date.

 

At the end of April I may my annual retreat at Thorneycroft Hall in the Diocese of Shrewsbury.  Fr. Peter Haverty, a Priest of Opus Dei was the retreat master. Every year a priest has the obligation of undertaking a retreat in order to help him focus on his life and ministry and his relationship with God.  The five days of prayer and reflection in silence were very pleasant.

 

In the month of May we celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation for our Year Three children in both our primary schools.  This is the last year that Confirmation will be celebrated in Year Three.  We are currently undergoing a review of how will be celebrate this Sacrament in the future but the likelihood is the that the Sacrament will be celebrated when the children are much older.

 

On 13th June I celebrated my anniversary of ordination to the Sacred Priesthood.  This year marks seventeen years of service as a priest.  Please continue to pray for me and the people I try to serve.

 

Also in June we celebrated First Holy Communion for all our Year Three Children.  Many thanks to all who helped make those celebrations so prayerful.  At St Joseph's this year we decided to spread the celebrations over two weekends with the families having the choice of coming to Mass on the Saturday  Evening or Sunday morning.

 

In July I was present at the Ordinations for members of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) in Gricigliano. It was wonderful to see so many young men dedicating themselves to the service of God and His Church in the priesthood.  Please keep these baby priests in your prayers.

 

At the end of July I made my way to Lourdes for the annual diocesan pilgrimage led for the first time by our new bishop, John Arnold.  Once again it was a very uplifting experience.  Although this year was my 29th visit it is a place I can never tire of.

 

After the pilgrimage I was able to take my annual summer holiday. Holidays took me around various parts of France.  I am grateful to the hospitality extended to us by Canon Landais of the ICKSP.  We celebrated Mass for the Feast of the Assumption and the following Sunday at the Institute's Church.  I am grateful to Fr. Clement and Fr. Antony from Nigeria who supplied for me enabling we to get away from the parish for holidays and recharging the batteries.

 

I returned from holiday towards the end of August to be ready to welcome seminarians and deacons from the Archdiocese of Katowice in Poland who were coming to experience something of the life of the Church here in England.

 

I think that's about as much as I want to say in this post.  It is already quite long.  Hopefully the blog will be updated more regularly from now on but I cant promise!!!