Palm Sunday
The official title for today is ‘Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord’. This is because today we start Holy Week when we focus even more intently on Christ’s Passion according to St Luke but first we will recall Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem with people waving palms. We will re-enact this when we process from the Parish Centre to the church waving our palms. For the proclamation of the Passion, please join in with the parts of the crowd, marked ‘C’ in the booklets.
MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY
Confessions will be heard after Masses. On Tuesday, the Chrism Mass will take place in Westminster Cathedral at 12 Noon. At this Mass the sacramental oils will be blessed and priests will renew their commitment to their ministry.
MAUNDY THURSDAY
There will be confessions between 10.30 and 11am. The mass of the Lord’s Supper is at 8pm and will include the procession of the oils and the washing of feet. At the end of Mass, the Blessed Sacrament will be taken in solemn procession to the Altar of Repose where they will be watching until 10.30pm.
GOOD FRIDAY
This is a day of Fasting and Abstinence as we recall Christ’s Passion and Death. The Office of Readings takes place in the church at 10am and then at 11.30, also in the church, there will be Stations of the Cross for families.
The Main liturgy is at 3pm when we have the Solemn Liturgy of the Passion.
This will include the Passion according to St John, for which you are invited to join in with the parts of the crowd, marked (c) in the booklet. For the Veneration of the Cross, please come forward when invited to touch the cross with your hand, not kissing it as in pre - Covid days. There will be a retiring collection for the Holy Places.
At 7pm there will be Prayer and Reflection at the Cross which will include special prayers for peace in Ukraine.
HOLY SATURDAY
This is a day of emptiness. The church is bare as Jesus lies in the tomb. The Office of Readings takes place in the church at 10am and this will be followed by confessions.
Then after dark falls we have the Easter Vigil at 8.30pm. We will begin outside by Our Lady’s Grotto with the Blessing of Fire and the lighting of the Easter Candle. During the Mass there will be an adult baptism and two confirmations. Please note that there is no 6.30pm Mass that evening.
EASTER SUNDAY
We celebrate the greatest event in the history of the world—Jesus has risen from the dead. During Masses we will renew our Baptismal promises and we will be sprinkled with the new Easter water.
CHOIR REHERSAL
There will be a rehearsal for the choir on Wednesday evening at 7pm in the church.
ALTAR SERVERS’ REHERSALS
The rehearsals will take place earlier in the day of the service in question Maundy Thursday 3pm Good Friday 12.15pm Holy Saturday 12 Noon
OPENING THE CHURCH
We are pleased to announce that from Good Friday we will be keeping the church open during the day. Many people like to come along and pray in the church and this had been denied us with Covid restrictions.
TAKEHOMENEWS
Next week’s newsletter will cover two weeks.
THE CARDINAL’S LENTEN APPEAL
Funds raised in this year’s appeal will be shared between parishes and Caritas Westminster. The effects of the pandemic are making daily life harder for many people. The Church is responding, with thousands of people putting their faith into action by serving those in need, those who feel like they’re pushed to the margins of society. Please take a donation envelope. You can use the QR code to make your donation online, Thank you for your generosity. Your donations including envelopes can be placed in the wooden box marked ‘Lenten Alms’ which can be found near Our Lady’s altar.
NEW OFFERTORY ENVELOPES
If you did not collect your box of offertory envelopes last week, please do so after Mass today. If you would prefer to pay by standing order, use one of the leaflets on the table at the back of the church. Similarly, if you are able to Gift Aid your donation, please use this form. Many thanks for your generosity which has helped us through some difficult times.
BAPTISM PREPARATION
Parents who wish to have their baby baptised are asked to come to a preparation session on Sunday 15th May at 4pm in the church.
FOODBANK FOR THE COMMUNITY
Items for the local foodbank can be left in one of the boxes in the porch. Many thanks to those who have donated already. It has been very much appreciated.
Gift Aid
We thank all parishioners who are paying by direct debit or envelopes and have signed a Gift Aid Declaration. We ask any parishioner who is a tax payer and donating through the loose plate to please consider donating instead by direct debit or envelope.
Any parishioner who has stopped being a tax payer should inform Susan or Loretta in the office.
COLLECTION FOR HOLY PLACES
It has been a long-standing tradition to take a collection for the Holy Places on Good Friday. For 2 consecutive years, the Christians of the Holy Land have celebrated Easter and Christmas in a sort of isolation, without the warmth and solidarity of pilgrims visiting the Holy Places and local communities. Families have suffered beyond measure, more from the lack of work than from the immediate effects of the pandemic itself.
The annual collection is the main source of material support for Christian life in the Holy Land and the privileged instrument that the Church provides her children in other parts of the world to express solidarity with the ecclesial communities of the Middle East. Through this fund, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land is able to carry out the important mission to which it is called: preserving the Sacred Places, the stones of memory, and promoting the Christian presence, the living stones, through many pastoral, educational, welfare , health and social structures. The territories that benefit in various forms of support from the collection are Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. As a rule, the Custody of the Holy Land receives 65% of the collection, while the remaining 35% goes to the Congregation of the Eastern Churches, which uses it for the formation of candidates for the priesthood, the support of the clergy, educational activities, cultural formation subsidies to the various ecclesiastical circumscriptions in the Middle East.
CHEEKY CHUMS ARE BACK WEDNESDAY 20th APRIL
(MUMS & TOTS PLAYGROUP)
9.30-11.00am
EVERY WEDNESDAY TERM TIME ONLY