PRAYERS FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN.
Over this past couple of weeks and for the next few days, we have a place, just inside the church, for prayer & reflection for all our babies & children whose loss, pain or difficulties we grieve.
Many people may have personal experience of losing a child whether through miscarriage or stillbirth, early infant death, or loss later in life. Or we may be dealing with troubles our children are facing in their lives.
This is an opportunity to tie a ribbon in the tree outside, or write a reflection, as a tangible expression of our love and prayer for these, our children.
On Sunday 28th April, at our 9.30am Mass, we will bring up to the altar the box containing your thoughts, names and reflections as we pray for our children.
We remember those tiny lives lost at any age or stage of pregnancy, loss of a child at the start of, or later in life, or for our children who may be dealing with their own difficulties - on that day we will pray as a community together.
For those souls in heaven we pray, through the mercy of God, may they Rest in Peace. Amen
Below we have included some links to some relevant pages for getting support or advice.
Life - Creating a world where no one faces pregnancy or pregnancy loss alone.
Gentle Footprints - Helping women and their families step forward after pregnancy and baby loss.
Samaritans - Support without judgement when you, or your children, are struggling or going through a tough time.
Action for Children - working to improve life for children in the UK, so every child has a safe and happy childhood - helping with down-to-earth parenting advice you can trust.
We just had to share this lovely post from our school's Instagram account with you all.
"Well done to everyone who handed in homework about our house saints or patron saint, St Augustine. As you can see, the finished art work was fabulous and takes pride of place in our foyer.
We have learnt a lot about St Patrick, St Brigid, St Joan of Arc, St Maximillian Kolbe and, of course, St Augustine of Canterbury."
#saintaugustineofcanterbury [StAugustinesPrimary on insta]
Cantonese Mass
Fr Bruno Lepeu from Hong Kong Diocese will be visiting Bristol and celebrating Pentecost Mass in Cantonese in our church on 19/05/2024. There will be the sacrament of reconciliation before celebrating the Mass and tea and coffee is served after the Mass in the Parish Hall. You are cordially invited to join the Sacraments.
For details, please refer to the attached Poster.
龐神父將於19/05/2024聖神降臨節到Bristol St Augustine’s Canterbury Church 舉行廣東話彌撒，彌撒前有收和聖事。彌撒後可於堂區中心作短聚。詳情見附件海報。有興趣嘅朋友可自行安排時間參與聖事。
Bishop Declan's retirement
Clifton Diocese have received a number of requests from individuals wanting to contribute towards a retirement collection for Bishop Declan. Therefore, they have set up an online donation point in case anyone would like to contribute.
This link will take you to the Diocesan donation page and there will be a button to click for 'Bishop Declan's gift'.
https://donate.mydona.com/clifton-diocese
CAFOD EMERGENCY APPEAL
Please read the message received from CAFOD this week about the Sudan crisis - if you are able to make a donation online or at Church this weekend in the retiring basket collection, please give what you can:
“Dear Father, the people of Sudan need our help urgently. We are launching an emergency appeal for donations to get aid to them on the biggest scale we can muster.
When violence broke out last year in Sudan between government and paramilitaries, most aid agencies evacuated. Now, humanitarian workers are struggling to get back into Sudan to help, meaning severe delays in getting aid to the people, and the challenges of getting into areas where fighting is still going on remain. Many borders are shut as the government say they need to keep weapons out. But the Church and our local partners are still there. Please, stand with them today.
The situation has gone from serious to desperate very quickly. The UN is calling it ‘the world’s worst displacement crisis’. At least 8 million people have had to flee their homes; famine looms.
- “At least 25 million Sudanese need immediate, emergency help. Families are already going hungry and famine is looming. This crisis threatens to become the worst in living memory.” Telley Sadia, CAFOD’s country representative for Sudan.
Let us, as Cardinal Nichols and Bishop Swarbrick wrote recently to Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Archbishop of Juba and president of the Sudanese Bishops’ Conference, ‘extend to you the prayerful support of the Church in England and Wales and… express our solidarity with you in your current circumstances of profound distress. We have heard your cry in your recent statement, in which you reminded the international community of the need for support to bring about an end to the civil conflict and allow for immediate humanitarian access to alleviate hunger across Sudan.’
Our Caritas and Church networks are there when many aid agencies aren’t, where people are in a desperate situation. The Church in Sudan is already responding and asking us to help them do more. Even in this year of economic stretch for many people here, we know that the Catholic community will want to respond with compassion to help people facing famine.
Despite this overwhelming scale, you will have seen how media attention is limited. We are calling on the Catholic community of England and Wales to give the people of Sudan our attention, and our hearts.
I sign off with my deep gratitude for your ongoing prayers and support for all those we work with facing dire need.
Jo Kitterick
Director, Fundraising and Participation, CAFOD
https://cafod.org.uk/give/donate-to-emergencies/sudan-crisis-appeal
Congratulations to our winning team at the Quiz night last week and commiserations to the 'not winning' team who came over from St Joseph's Home, including Fr Frank 😄
It was a really fun night, all in aid of our 2 Parish Projects for 2024 -Brandon Trust and Little Sisters of the Poor St Joseph’s Care Home Bristol .
Thanks to Mike Ryan and gang and all who helped put on a great night and thanks to those teams who came out and supported the event. It raised a brilliant £612 for the charities.
Look out for news of the next Quiz soon!
Reflections for Sixth Sunday of Easter Year B from Deacon Vincent.1st Reading from the Acts of the Apostles 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48.This episode which is given to us today is one of immense importance in the Church’s history. The question of whether Gentiles could be admitted was a very difficult one which was not sorted out overnight and might have destroyed the Church at it’s very beginning. This passage gives us an account of what might be described as Peter’s conversion to the concept of accepting Gentiles into communion via Baptism. His vision of the forbidden foods being given to him to eat is the opener for Peter and then witnessing the Holy Spirit coming down on Jews and Gentiles without distinction convinces Peter and he orders Cornelius and his household to be baptised. There will be other trials within the community until it is convinced that Peter and Paul are acting on behalf of God’s Holy Spirit in going out first to the Jews and then the Gentiles. It enables the Gospel to spread throughout the world as Jesus had envisioned at his Ascension.Psalm 97: 1-4.This little song is proclaiming that the Lord is coming and the passage we have is extolling the glory and wonder of the Lord who is coming.2nd Reading from the first letter of St. John 4: 7-10.This reading proclaims the absolute centrality of Love. This is not the Romantic love, but the love that comes from God. If we love, then we are begotten by God and we know God. If we are cold and calculating measuring whether it is worth our while to love someone then we cannot know God. God’s love was revealed in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. In the Gospel we have the vision of that true love that enabled Jesus to sacrifice himself to cleanse us from our sins. That is the love that is being written about, the completely unselfish love that enables us to live like Jesus and become God’s precious children destined to spend eternity in the glory of God’s kingdom, borne entirely on Love. The love we witness exhibited by Jesus in the Holy Gospels.The Holy Gospel according to John 15: 9-17.Jesus is explaining how God’s love works. We must imitate Jesus’ way of loving. As Jesus has loved us so we love him by keeping his commands, just as Jesus remained in his Father’s love by keeping the Father’s commands. Jesus’ command is easy if we really get close to him. It is simply, “Love one another as I have loved you.” A totally self-giving love, being selfless, putting others before our own interests. It is a love that can mean laying down our lives for our friends. The great Command is to “Love one another.” We need the help of the Holy Spirit to inspire us to realise that this love is not impossible, but it is only achievable with the help of prayer, sacrifice and God’s grace.Lord guide us to Love as you Love by the power of your Holy Spirit. Deacon Vincent. WHY GO ON THE GLASTONBURY PILGRIMAGE?
It is impossible to divorce modern Glastonbury from its history. When England was Mary’s dowry, Walsingham was England’s Nazareth and Glastonbury was England’s Jerusalem.
The story of Christianity in Glastonbury is steeped in myth and legend, some say that Joseph of Arimathea visited and brought the Holy Grail, others say Jesus himself came to Glastonbury and Saints Bride and Patrick both passed through. These stories are of course medieval tales, but it is irrefutable that when King Ina founded the Abbey of St Peter and St Paul in 658AD There was already a structure called, “The Old Church”.
The origins of this building were already lost to history, but we know it was dedicated to Our Lady. King Ina’s charter, published in 694AD mentions, “the wooden basilica, the Old Church of the Most Blessed Virgin” and refers to it as “the foremost Church in Britain, the fount and source of all religion.”
This ancient wooden building was destroyed by fire on 25th May 1184, the image of the Blessed Virgin miraculously survived the fire, and it was set up again when the rebuilt church was consecrated in 1188. The new church, which was still referred to as, The Old Church, was built on the same dimensions as the one it replaced, it was made of stone, but the stone was dressed to look like wood.
During the Middle Ages Glastonbury became the foremost Marian shrine in Northern Europe, the Abbey flourished and was one of the richest establishments in the realm, a fact not lost on King Henry VIII. In September 1539 Henry’s commissioners stripped the Abbey of its valuables and the last Abbot, Richard Whiting and two monks John Thorne and Roger James were hung, drawn, and quartered on Glastonbury Tor on 15th November 1539. All three martyrs were beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1895.
With the demise of the Abbey. the Catholic Faith was almost eradicated in Glastonbury. The Society of the Sacred Heart set up a school in Glastonbury at the start of the twentieth century and there were only ten Catholic families in the area at that time. However, the emergence of the faith was gathering momentum
across the country and in 1895 to celebrate the beatification of the Glastonbury Martyrs the first modern pilgrimage took place. It was the largest movement of Catholics in England since the reformation.
The modern pilgrimage gained popularity and in the 1960’s as many as twenty thousand people thronged into the town, however, despite the growing number of Catholics in England, the Glastonbury Pilgrimage has dwindled to less than a thousand in 2023.
So, we are asking that the whole of Clifton Diocese works to revitalise this event which links us literally to the earliest Christians in England, by sending pilgrims from every parish to celebrate Mass in the ancient Abbey.
As well as the pilgrimage walk, there is plenty to see in the Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury. The High Street has several quirky shops and some excellent pubs and cafés. Parking for cars and coaches is available, but pilgrims who prefer a more traditional method, can join the Walking Pilgrimage from Clifton Cathedral.
We have formed a 'Guild of Glastonbury Pilgrims' and set up a Facebook Group for pilgrimage coordinators in all parishes throughout Clifton Diocese. The Facebook Group is a networking tool for facilitating the annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury by Catholics from Clifton Diocese and beyond.
If you would like to join the Guild and be a contact point for the Glastonbury Pilgrimage in your parish, just search for 'Guild of Glastonbury Pilgrims' on Facebook.
Alternatively, please email the Guild at: glastonbury.pilgrimage@cliftondiocese.com.
More information can be found on the following webpages:
https://www.glastonburyshrine.co.uk/pilgrimage
https://cliftondiocese.com/pilgrimage/
Thank you
The Glastonbury Pilgrimage Committee
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INFORMATION FOR PILGRIMS ATTENDING THE GLASTONBURY PILGRIMAGE on SUNDAY 14th JULY 2024
The Pilgrimage theme is ‘Mary, Woman of Prayer’ and will have four main focal points:
The Shrine Church of Our Lady St Mary of Glastonbury will be a Chapel of Exposition and Silent Adoration and will offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation until 3.00pm. There will be a single tented Chapel for Private Healing Prayer opposite the Shrine Church, just inside the Abbey Gate. The traditional Pilgrimage Procession will start in the Abbey grounds at 2.15pm. The Pilgrimage Mass will be celebrated in the Abbey Grounds, as usual, at 3.30pm. If you are able, please bring your parish and organisations banners to carry in the procession, and display near the Altar during Mass. Afterwards, during Mass, they will be displayed at the side of the Altar. *St Mary’s Shrine Church–Silent Chapel of Exposition*-Rosary: 11.30am You are invited to visit the Shrine Church of Our Lady St Mary of Glastonbury, to join the Rosary, starting at 11.30am, followed by Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacrament of Reconciliation until 3.00pm. -Simple Benediction and Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament – 3.00pm. *In the Abbey Grounds*-Pilgrimage Entrance - Magdalene Street Gate – Entry Badges and Programmes. Gift stall in the grounds. Adhesive badges, which you must wear to gain entrance to the Abbey grounds, and programmes containing full details of the procession and the Mass in the Abbey grounds, can be obtained at the Magdalene Street Gate to the Abbey, which is the designated entrance for the Pilgrimage. An entrance fee towards Pilgrimage expenses is requested. (£3 per adult is suggested) Badges can also be obtained from the stewards on duty at the coach set-down point, where programmes are also available. Rosaries, postcards, prayer cards, candles and other gifts may be purchased from stall in the Abbey grounds. -Sacrament of Reconciliation and private Healing Prayer – 12 noon until 3.00pm The Sacrament of Reconciliation with visiting priests is, this year, being offered in the Shrine Church, from 12 noon until 3.00pm. A tented chapel for private Healing Prayer will be situated opposite the Shrine Church, just inside the Abbey Gate. Members of the Shrine Healing Ministry will be available for private Healing Prayer for those who would like to receive it. -The Rosary Procession – 2.15pm Pilgrims wishing to take part in the procession should assemble in the Abbey grounds at 1.45pm – 2.00pm, to prepare for the procession which will start at 2.15pm. The procession will walk around the Abbey grounds, exiting via the Abbey House Gardens and will process through the centre of Glastonbury via Chilkwell Street, High Street, Magdalene Street, and returning to the Abbey through the Magdalene Street Gate, opposite the Shrine Church, at about 3.00pm. Priests are invited to join the procession. -Mass in the Abbey Grounds – 3.30pm At 3.30pm the Pilgrimage Mass will be celebrated by the Bishop. Some seats at the front (left side) will be reserved for the Civic Dignitaries, who are our guests. Areas near the centre aisle will be set aside for the disabled and near the front for those with impaired hearing for whom an induction loop system will be available as well as a sign language lectern. Please be guided by the stewards during the distribution of Holy Communion, when yellow and white umbrellas will indicate the positions of priests giving Communion. Gluten-free hosts will be available from the priest at the red and white umbrella. An offertory collection will be taken during Mass, towards the upkeep of the Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury. Collections may also be taken at the gate as you depart after Mass, for those who missed the opportunity during the offertory. -Stewards’ assistance – three key locations On arrival in Glastonbury there will be stewards present at three locations: the coach set-down point in Magdalene Street, the Magdalene Street Gate entrance to the Abbey opposite the Shrine Church, and in the Abbey grounds. Identifiable by the gold ‘Stewards’ armbands or Knights’ collars, they will be happy to answer any queries you may have. -Refreshments, toilet facilities and safety Light refreshments, sandwiches, hot and cold drinks, will be available from St Mary’s Tea Tent in the Abbey grounds, until half an hour before the Mass commences and again directly after the Mass. Toilet facilities will be available for all in the Abbey grounds. An Ambulance and First Aid staff will be on duty in case of emergency. -General consideration As you will be guests of the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey, will you please treat their property with respect, leaving it in good order and free from litter. Thank you. NB: Entrance Badges and Programmes must be obtained at the Pilgrims’ Entrance immediately inside the Magdalene Street gate to the Abbey. There will be no stalls outside the Shrine Church.
