Coffee Morning

After our 10 am Mass today, as it is the last Monday of the month, we had a Coffee Morning in our refurbished parish room

Planting out the runner beans

Now that the Easter Garden has been dismantled, the some children have taken home their runner bean plants that they grew. Some however have been planted out in the church garden.

LOW SUNDAY

As the Easter Octave draws to a close we celebrated on Low Sunday the Investiture of one of our altar servers into the Guild of St Stephen.

 

 

At the end of the Children's Liturgy, he received his medal after reciting the Guild Promise with the other servers present at Mass.



EASTER SUNDAY

Jesus Christ is risen, alleluia!

As we celebrated the Mass of Easter Day we were presented with the sign of the empty tomb

Our children's liturgy group added brightly coloured flowers to complete their Easter Garden during the Mass and spoke about their Liturgy to a packed congregation at the 10am Mass

 

 

HOLY SATURDAY

All preparations ready for the Easter Vigil

 

The Sacred Drama begins with a fire...

 

... the congregation waits in the darkness ...

 

... the mystery unfolds ...

 

The Paschal Candle is  now ready for us to proceed

into the church for the rest of the Vigil

Good Friday

Good Friday began with our Children's Liturgy Group

 

praying the Station of the Cross in the morning,

while in the afternoon more than a hundred people

attended the Solemn Passion service

at three o'clock, the time when the Gospels relate

'about the ninth hour' Jesus died on the Cross.

In the evening three young people of the parish

led a smaller congregation in
the Stations of the Cross

from the Lourdes Pilgrimage handbook

The Mass of the Lord's Supper

THE MANDATUM

Preparations were made for this evening's solemn liturgy.

Twelve chairs were put at the front of the sanctuary

for the twelve people taking part in the Mandatum

or the Washing of the Feet, part of the story
of the Last Supper that we read in St John's Gospel

Our newly refurbished parish room was transformed

into the Altar of Repose.

At the end of the liturgy the Blessed Sacrament

was carried in procession and placed in the

tabernacle on the altar above.

Parishioners remained in prayer until ten o'clock

remembering the Agony in the Garden,

the time Jesus spent in prayer in the Garden of

Gethsemene before his arrest.