Newsletter - 22 October 2023
PARISH NEWS
The Holy Rosary
October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary because the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary falls on 7 October.
The Feast was rather unnoticed this year despite the fact that very faithful and devoted parishioners recite the Rosary on a daily basis in the parish. Here is an extract from Vatican News :
The Rosary originated in 1212 when Saint Dominic de Guzman saw the Virgin Mary who gave him the Rosary, as a response to his prayer to understand how to combat the Albigensian heresy. The defeat of the heresy led to viewing the Rosary as an instrument in finding refuge and comfort, strength and confidence in facing and overcoming difficulties encountered in life.
Mary’s attitude teaches us to trust in her intercession through the recitation of the Holy Rosary. What appears to be humanly impossible through our own human efforts can be achieved through the grace Mary can obtain for life’s battles, interior and exterior. Mary teaches us to turn our gaze to her Son, to trust and to entrust ourselves to the Lord. In doing this, we recognize we cannot do it on our own, that we are in need of God. By praying the Rosary, we recognize that God works around us and through Mary’s intercession. To believe is to accept God’s help, to recognize that we cannot do everything on our own, to entrust ourselves to Him even when His plans do not correspond to ours. Finally with Mary, we learn to trust God’s time consisting even of silence, waiting and patience. We are invited to get prepared for the opportune time, a time that bears fruit at the appointed moment.
One of the last tasks of the Lord on earth was to entrust the beloved disciple to his mother and the disciple to his mother “Woman, this is your son [… ]This is your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her into his home.” Jn 19:27. Today he invites us to open our hearts to the helpful hands of his mother and open the doors of our home to Him through her.
Fr Pascal Sullivan, ccn
Focus of the Week
Sri Lankan Evening
SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER – 6.30pm
Come and join us for an evening of Sri Lankan culture including a 3 course meal, music and entertainment, all in aid of Sri Lankan and Philippines charities.
Tickets are £25 and are currently available from the parish office.
They will be made available after weekend masses in November.