Just a typical busy Sunday . . .

Goodness me, what a lot of things have been happening in the parish today.  It's wonderful to have such an active parish; there always seems to be something special taking place.

At the 10 O'clock Mass this morning, the second and final group of our children made their First Holy Communion.  I think they were every bit as pleased as last week's group and once more we had a wonderful, joyful celebration.

Their families and catechists have every reason to be very proud of them all.

A  few of our parishioners went off on the monthly parish ramble after the Mass and some even managed to arrive back just in time for our May Rosary and Benediction.

What a view! 

Things didn't get any quieter later on in the day either. After our 6pm Mass our newly-Confirmed met in the parish hall for a celebration social and to think about how they can build on this past year's preparation course, continue to learn more about their faith and now take a more active part in parish life.

  

That cake looks very tempting!

Not forgetting of course that today we celebrated the Solemnity of Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit certainly seems to be very active in St Ann's parish.  Thanks be to God.

Come Holy Spirit,

 fill the hearts of your faithful 

and kindle in them the fire of your love. 

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. 

And You shall renew the face of the earth. 

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, 

didst instruct the hearts of the faithful, 

grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise 

and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Queen of the May . . .

Our Lady is looking especially beautiful this morning adorned with her May crown.  Thank you very much to our flower arrangers who did a wonderful job in creating such a fitting adornment for Our Lady.

It was particularly apt this morning as we celebrated the first of our First Holy Communions at the 10 O'clock Mass.  It was wonderful to see our children looking so happy and excited on their First Holy Communion Day.  I hope and pray that it will be a day filled with happy memories that they will look back on with great joy.  I'm sure many of us still remember well the day we made our own First Holy Communion.  It was  a beautiful family,  and parish family, celebration.  I'm looking forward to  next week's First Communions now!

Here's a photo of this week's happy children. There are more on our parish Facebook page.

And finally, a hymn to Our Lady, and for our children . . . 

Our Lady, Queen of the family, 

pray for us.

Congratulations to all our newly-Confirmed young people!

Yesterday evening represented a milestone in the lives of some of our young parishioners.

Our Confirmation candidates, who have been preparing for this day since October, were all kitted out in their 'Sunday best' as they made their way to St Joseph's Church, Epsom accompanied by their families and friends.

The youngsters were confirmed by Bishop Kieran together with other young people from our Deanery.   As you can tell by the photo, they all look very happy to have made this commitment, taking on for themselves the promises that were made on their behalf by their Godparents when they were baptised.

We look forward to their playing a more active part in parish life. 

Please keep all our young people and their families in your prayers as they continue their journey of faith.

Happy St George's Day! A Prayer for England . . .

Happy Feast Day everyone!  The flag is fluttering in the breeze outside.We had a beautiful Mass here at St Ann's this morning and we finished with the Prayer for England, just before Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

Adoration continues all day until 8pm this evening. If you're in the area why not drop in and say a prayer for England on St George's Day.

PRAYER FOR ENGLAND

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

and our most gentle Queen and Mother,

look down in mercy upon England thy "Dowry"

and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee.

By thee it was that Jesus our Saviour

and our hope was given unto the world;

and He has given thee to us that we might hope still more.

Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive

and accept at the foot of the cross.

O sorrowful Mother! Intercede for our separated brethren,

that with us in the one true fold

they may be united to the supreme Shepherd,

the Vicar of thy Son. Pray for us all, dear Mother,

that by faith fruitful in good works

we may all deserve to see and praise God,

together with thee, in our heavenly home. Amen.

Regina Caeli Laetare, Alleluia!

Many of us will be familiar with the well-known prayer the Angelus. This beautiful prayer tells the story of the Annunciation of the Incarnation by the Angel Gabriel to Mary and her responding 'fiat'.

It is recited daily at 6am, midday and 6pm.  You may be fortunate enough to live near a church that rings the Angelus bell at these times as a reminder to stop for a few moments and pray.  It is a lovely way to sanctify our day.

During the fifty days of Easter (from Easter until Pentecost) the Angelus is replaced with the Regina Caeli, said at the same times during the day. This is an Easter prayer inviting us to rejoice with Mary at the Resurrection of her Son.

Here is a video in which you can hear the Regina Caeli in Latin together with the English translation.

Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia

Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia!

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. 

For the Lord is risen indeed, alleluia!

Habemus Papam . . . !

White smoke!

I'm sure I'm not the only one in the parish who has been glued to the TV over recent days.  What an exciting time for us all.

And then fairly quickly, after just the fifth ballot, we saw the white smoke.  Such excitement!

After what seemed an interminable wait, we had our first glimpse of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis.

There are many 'firsts' with our new Pope; the first Jesuit Pope; the first to take the name Francis, after St Francis of Assisi; the first from South America.

Pope Francis giving his blessing from the balcony, after first having asked the crowd to pray and ask for God's blessing on him:

We will be singing this at Mass tomorrow:

God bless our Pope!

The Alleged Conflict between Faith and Reason . . .

Fr Andrew Pinsent has sent me a link to a presentation he made recently in Ireland entitled 'The Alleged Conflict between Science and Faith'.

Some of you may remember Fr Andrew Pinsent from the time he came to talk to us here at St Ann's about Evangelium, a multi-media catechetical course co-authored by Fr Pinsent and Fr Marcus Holden.

I hope you enjoy the presentation.