AUGUST IS THE MONTH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME
Dear parishioners,
THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN & EARTH.
In the great Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as ‘the Litany of Loreto’, Our Lady is invoked thirteen times as Queen:
Regina Angelorum, ora pro nobis.
Regina Patriarcharum, ora pro nobis.
Regina Apostolorum, ora pro nobis.
Regina Martyrum, ora pro nobis.
Regina Confessorum, ora pro nobis.
Regina Virginum, ora pro nobis.
Regina Sanctorum omnium, ora pro nobis.
Regina sine labe originali concepta, ora pro nobis.
Regina in caelum assumpta, ora pro nobis.
Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii, ora pro nobis.
Regina familiae, ora pro nobis.
Regina pacis, ora pro nobis.
The church invokes Mary as Queen to express the universal nature of her spiritual motherhood. It is an ancient title, but was solemnly proclaimed by Pius XII in his encyclical Ad Caeili Reginam in 1954 when he instituted the feast of the Queenship of Mary.
Pope Pius XII says:
‘With a heart that is truly a mother’s does Mary approach the problem of our salvation, and is solicitous for the whole human race; made Queen of Heaven and earth by the Lord, exalted above all choirs of angels and saints, and standing at the right hand of her only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she intercedes powerfully for us with a mother’s prayers, obtains what she seeks, and cannot be refused’
The celebration of the Queenship of Mary, marks the octave day of the Feast of the Assumption, but this year with the 22nd August being a Sunday, the commemoration of Sunday takes precedence. But in our daily rosary on Sunday when we meditate on the coronation of Our Lady for the fifth glorious mystery, we can still honour her as Queen of our parish, who will entrust our prayers and petitions to Our Lord ‘to obtain for us the graces of salvation’ (see Vatican II Lumen Gentium) and privately add one more petition to the public litany for our parish:
Regina Parochiae nostrae, ora pro nobis.
We can also thank God we have our homes, our parish and freedom to publicly say the rosary and attend mass (and not to as now more the case) but many in the world fear having all that is sacred to them being forcibly taken from them. We should note that Pope Pius declares Mary to be not only Mother of the Church, but also that she is ‘solicitous for the whole human race’. This is most clearly depicted in the image of the Queen of Heaven holding the globe from the second vision of St. Catherine Labouré from which has grown the devotion to Our Lady of the Globe.
Today let us ask for Mary’s powerful intercession for those who do not know her but need her prayers. We bring to Our Blessed Mother the people of Afghanistan, especially the Shia Hazara people, the women, the journalists and the many others who are now living in fear of the Taliban. We also commend to Our Lady, the Muslim Uighur people of China who have been confined in Chinese concentration camps, suffer continual surveillance, are forced into labour and removed from their homeland, and face the destruction of their culture and total crushing of all public expression of their religion. We ask Blessed Mary, Our Lady of the Globe, Queen of Heaven and Earth to pray for them and all those who are persecuted.
Regina Caeli et Terrae, ora pro nobis!
(for more information on Our Lady of the Globe have a look at:
VIRGIN MEDIA PHONE FAILURE
My apologies if you have tried calling in the last week, especially if it was urgent. Please note that the parish phone has not been working since Sunday evening and all attempts to get Virgin Media to fix this have so far met with complete failure.
MISSIO RED BOXES
For many years Helen has co-ordinated the distribution and collections of the Red Boxes and counted and banked the money. Due to her recent move, this is no longer possible or feasible and is asking for someone to take over this responsibility.
Helen’s message:
So that the parish can continue its excellent tradition of support for Missio, via the red box collection, is any parishioner able to spare about 3 hours per year to make this happen? Until last year and the COVID restrictions we were sending about £1,000 per year to Missio from about 40 red box holders.
If you would like to take on this job, you would need to ask, via the newsletter, for the box holders to bring their boxes to church and keep records of the money received in order to inform Missio on an annual basis.
If you would like to help, please give your name to Fr Jonathon who will be able to give any further information you may need and a meeting can be arranged with me for the handover.
Thank you Helen for your support of Missio over the years and we pray someone will hear this call and keep an old tradition going in this parish of raising money through the Red Boxes for this great catholic charity.
Church Redecoration
There is currently some work being done in the church:
1. Repairing and repainting the black marks above the arches to the Lady Chapel caused by water from the Lady Chapel roof.
2. Repairing damage done to the decorative plaster work.
3. Removing paint which has peeled, been damaged and bubbled and then repainting.
We are using the surplus money collected from The Hall Renovation appeal to pay for this. It is difficult to draw a line on what should be repaired and decorated as it could be seemingly without end, but the line is the maximum we have available to spend left over from the Hall appeal. Hopefully this small patch and repair job will lift things a bit for a year or two, after which we will need to begin some major fundraising for a full redecoration (that is of course if a major urgent and necessary job doesn’t strike us down before then)
Thursday Lunch Club
The next Thursday Lunch Club Afternoon Tea is on Thursday 26th August at 2.00 p.m. To all our Senior Citizens, please think about coming along and meet up with old friends or make new ones.
If you would like to assist with Afternoon Tea for our senior parishioners (or future lunches) please contact Marian on 0208 3037584 or Joyce on 0208 3032424.
Deaths For all our brothers and sisters who ate the Body of Christ, the bread of Life, that they may be raised up on the Last Day. (Drawn from the intercession of the Funeral Mass)
Please pray for the souls of:
James Nesbitt, aged 90, who died on Tuesday 13th July 2021. The funeral was on Tuesday 9th August.
Thomas Furlong, aged 88, who died on Friday 16th July in the evening. Funeral Requiem on Thursday 2nd September at 11.00 a.m. followed by burial in Ireland.
MESSAGE RE TOM BRADY: We would like to thank the kind people of the parish for all their prayers, cards and support when we lost our dear Tom. From Nora Brady, Catherine and Teresa. (Nora’s son, Tom, died on May 20th, aged 60). We continue to pray for the family and for the repose of the soul of Tom.
May the divine assistance remain with them always, and may their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
PARISH GOLF DAY. MESSAGE FROM TONY BROOKE. Saturday 18th September 2021 to be held at Pedham Place Golf Club, Farningham.
Bacon rolls from 11am. First tee off at 12 noon. 18 holes of golf followed by a one course meal and prize awarding. In an attempt to keep the price down we have dropped to a one course meal and bumped into a very gracious sponsor who will hold down the price to £40per contestant. There will be the usual charity raffle attached to the day that parishioners will have a chance to be involved with by purchasing tickets after Mass.
Any enquiries / interest to Tony Brooke 07833707016. Provisional numbers please ASAP so that we can secure tee times.
MASSES AND INTENTIONS FOR THE COMING WEEK: THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME
Psalter week 1. Ferial cycle 1 at mass.
Please come to mass once a week only, on any day of your choosing, to help with numbers and social distancing.
Mass intentions booked for masses cancelled or replaced with a funeral will be moved to another day.
Please note the Sunday 10.30 mass has been moved to 11.00 due to the lack of time after the 9.00 to prepare for the next mass and consequently the consistent late start of the 10.30. We will try this new time for a few weeks and see how it works.
Saturday 21st August THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (B)
5.30 – 6.00 p.m. Confessions
+ 6.30 p.m. MASS (said) The James family T.G.
Sunday 22nd August
8. 30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 9.00 a.m. SUNG MASS. The Braganca Family T.G. & W.B.
+ 11.00 a.m. SOLEMN LATIN MASS (with English Readings) Eileen O’Sullivan R.I.P.
Monday 23rd August St. Rose of Lima, virgin.
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. The Meehan Family R.I.P.
Tuesday 24th August St. Bartholomew, apostle, feast.
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. The James Family T.G.
Wednesday 25th August St. Louis of France, king.
The Daily Rosary at home, in private.
NO PUBLIC MASS TODAY
Thursday 26th August Blessed Dominic of the Mother of God, priest.
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. Cian Gray
Friday 27th August St. Monica, memorial.
9.30 a.m. The Daily Rosary
+ 10.00 a.m. Lee Hawkins R.I.P.
6.00 p.m. choir practice
Saturday 28th August St. Augustine, bishop & doctor of the church, memorial.
NO PUBLIC MASS THIS MORNING.
[ + 6.30 p.m. THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. Lorraine D’Souza T.G.)
AUGUST PRAYER TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: ‘BLESSED BE YOUR PURITY’ (Purity is an eminently positive virtue, which gains the grace of God for the person who lives it. It is the virtue of the beautiful and spotless soul. It elevates us to things divine. These ten verses praise Mary. Conceived without sin, she was always pure and brighter than snow, she is ‘The Immaculate Heart’. From the ‘Handbook of Prayers’, Midwest Theological Forum)
Blessed be your purity, may it be blessed for ever, for no less than God takes delight in such exalted beauty. To you, heavenly Princess,
Holy Virgin Mary, I offer on this day my whole heart, life and soul. Look upon me with compassion; Do not leave me, my mother :
God bless,
Fr Jonathon