Corpus Christi and our new Baldacchino!

Thanks to the generosity of one of the families in our parish we are now the proud owners of a simply splendid baldacchino. The family have very kindly presented it to the parish in memory of a much-loved family member who sadly died earlier this year.

I couldn't resist having a good look at the canopy today. It has been laid out in readiness for tomorrow's procession after our 10am Mass which is also a Mass of Thanksgiving for all our First Holy Communion children, their families and catechists.

A side view showing the beautiful embroidery.

And a close up showing the detail of the centre-piece.

The shorter side of the canopy.

And the detail of the Agnus Dei motif.

The all-important final details. Note the white gloves almost out of the picture!

Now, for Holy Mass and the procession!

Busy, busy . . . 40 Hours, Corpus Christi, Parish Helpers etc. etc.

It's wonderful to be a priest in a very active parish like St Ann's but sometimes I have to stop and ask myself just where the time has gone.

I was going to post a few photos on the blog today of recent parish events and I could hardly believe it when I saw that the last blog post was six weeks ago.  So much has happened in that time.  Here are a few snapshots of parish life at St Ann's . . . 

One of the recent highlights, if not THE highlight, must be our 40 Hours Devotion.

It was well attended and Fr Terry Martin, A&B Vocations Director, celebrated a beautiful Mass at the beginning of the 40 Hours.  He was also able to return to St Ann's and be present for the closing Benediction.

I must say it is such a blessing to be able to have the 40 Hours Devotion.  It was wonderful to see people coming and going throughout the three days - and the two nights.  We had many for Confession too.  It is all very encouraging. 

At the beginning of June, on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, we had a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament at the end of Mass and our First Holy Communion children were an important part of the procession, strewing petals before the Blessed Sacrament. The Mass itself was offered in thanksgiving for all our children, their families and catechists.  

Naturally, a splendid cake was enjoyed in the parish hall after Mass and the procession.

Today, we enjoyed a special lunch for all those who help in the parish throughout the year in so many different ways.

Thanks to our parish secretary for all the photos which give us a record to keep of parish life.

Of course there have been lots more things happening at St Ann's. We have recently had our Annual Parish Meeting and look forward to launching the Appeal for our New Hall Annexe Project; we have had social events, school events and Banstead Five events. No-one can ever say that life is dull here at St Ann's!

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.

Holy Communions - Week 2 - And a special visitor . . .

We had another beautiful First Holy Communion celebration this Sunday. As you can see our children look wonderful and very happy which is exactly as it should be. Thanks once again to our parents, catechists and school.

We were also delighted to welcome a special visitor to our Mass. His Grace Johanna Peterus Mouchi, Archbishop of the Diocese of Mosul in Iraq, is a cousin of one of our First Holy Communion children. Doesn't he look splendid in his cope and mitre?

As last week, you will find a few more photos of the day on our parish Facebook page.

First Holy Communion - Week One

I'm over the moon!! What a joy and a blessing to celebrate Mass yesterday and to administer Holy Communion to the first group of our First Holy Communion children.

They were a credit to their parents, their catechists and to our parish. Well done to you all!

We were also blessed with a beautiful sunny day too which was an added bonus.

Here is just one of the photos from yesterday. There are more on our Facebook page - do take a look here.

First Confessions . . .

This morning after Mass I heard the First Confessions of the first group of our First Holy Communion children.

It is our practice to have First Confessions at the usual time for parish Confessions, i.e. after Saturday morning Mass. I think this is helpful as the children get the idea that going to Confession is a regular part of parish life as they see other parishioners waiting beside them.

We also encourage the whole family to come to church with the child and to go to Confession too. I'm pleased to say that I was able to confess many whole families this morning. This is another great example for our children.

Congratulations and well done to all!

Corpus Christi and 'Going Forth' Mass . . .

Today saw great celebrations at St Ann's! We not only celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi with a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, we also celebrated the Going Forth of our new First Communicants.

Lord, our God,
in this great sacrament
we come into the presence of Jesus Christ,
your Son, born of the Virgin Mary
and crucified for our salvation.
May we who declare our faith in this
fountain of love and mercy
drink from it the water of everlasting life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

First Holy Communion . . .

Today saw the second and final group of our children making their First Holy Communion.

Celebrating the Feast of the Ascension together with our children's First Holy Communion helped to make our Mass even more special. Once again, the children were a delight. Fortunately, the rain kept away until late afternoon so I expect a lot of families were also able to enjoy their celebrations afterwards indoors and out. I wouldn't be surprised to hear there were a few Barbecues lit in Banstead.

Here a few photos taken this week and last. If you'd like to see them all please follow the link here and here.

First Holy Communions - Week One . . .

This morning at the 10am Mass 15 of our children made their First Holy Communion.

It was a beautiful Mass. The children were a credit to their families, their catechists and their parish! They had obviously listened to the reminders about reverence in church and the importance of the occasion. A lot of people worked hard to make the liturgy so special; our altar servers, our flower arrangers and our musicians in particular. I must give a special mention to two of our younger choir members who sang solos beautifully.

A group photo of all the children was taken after Mass and I hope to be able to post it as soon as we have made sure there are no objections from any of our parents.

Meanwhile, here is an unusual shot to which I hope no one can object.

Please pray for all our children and their families that they will remember the joy of this special occasion and stay close to the Lord throughout their lives.

Our Lady, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.

Going Forth Mass . . .

We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day for our First Holy Communion 'Going Forth' Mass on Sunday. It was lovely to see so many of our First Holy Communion group come together again for this special celebration.

Here are a few photos taken on the day:

It's always a good idea to take a photo of the cake before it goes over to the parish hall - for obvious reasons - see below!

The cake is still intact . . .

Only just . . .

First Holy Communions - Part Two

The heavy downpour of rain just before Mass this morning couldn't dampen the spirits of our First Holy Communion children and their families as they arrived for Mass with beaming faces. We had another beautiful celebration and, as often happens, the sun decided to put in an appearance just as we were processing out after Mass.

Congratulations to all our First Communion children and their families. May the joy of your special day remain with you for ever.

Spot the First Communicant!

Here are some photos taken after our First Holy Communion Mass this morning.

In trying to comply with Child Protection guidelines we end up with photos of the proud parents, members of the family and friends. If you look closely you might be able to spot a few of our First Holy Communion children - recognisable by the grins on their faces!

Ecce Agnus Dei . . .

Ecce Agnus Dei

Today we celebrated a First Communion Mass for some of our First Communion children. The remainder will make their First Communion next Sunday.

We pray that it will be the first of many times throughout their lives that they will receive Our Blessed Lord in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

We thank the parents for helping them in their preparation and our catechists for walking alongside them and giving their time and dedication to the children and our First Holy Communion programme culminating in this special occasion today.

Easter at St Ann's

It was a delight and a privilege to welcome Stewart and David into Full Communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, along with Melissa and Elio who received the sacrament of Confirmation and Greer who made her First Holy Communion - we were just missing a Baptism!

It's rather long but the slideshow below gives a flavour of our Easter celebrations here at St Ann's this year.

Wishing you Easter Blessings and Joy.

First Confessions ...

For the last two Saturdays our First Holy Communion children have been making their First Confession during our regular period for parish Confessions.

What a joy to see three generations of the same family at Confession. This is a great example not only to the children of the family but indeed to other children and adults present in church - including myself.

I feel that having First Confessions within the usual time for our parish Confessions is so much better than setting aside a separate time for the Sacrament. It also helps our children to realise that Confession is part of regular parish life and not a 'one off' occasion.

A visit from Joanna Bogle ...

I was delighted to welcome the well-known Catholic writer and broadcaster, Joanna Bogle, to the parish yesterday evening to speak with our First Holy Communion Parents about the Sacrament of Confession.

Joanna spoke of the desire God has planted in human hearts to seek forgiveness; she reminded us that no sin is 'too big' to be forgiven so long as we show sorrow for our sins.

Our children are very aware of the difference between what is 'right and what is 'wrong'. She stressed the importance of leading children by example; reiterating that celebrating the Sacrament of Confession is a' good exercise' to do as a family. It is important to confess our sins regularly though also very good to come together during Advent and Lent for a parish celebration of the Sacrament.

Joanna continued with this good advice: The priest will always help the penitent, remember that NOTHING shocks him.

The talk was well received by the parents; some commented that they would have liked to have had an opportunity to make their Confession immediately after the talk. I must remember that for next time!

First Holy Communion Programme

Our First Holy Communion programme got off to an excellent start yesterday with a Holy Hour for Children.

It was very encouraging to see so many of our children and their parents in church responding to the invitation of Christ, 'Let the children come to me'.

As well as bringing your children to Sunday Mass which is of course 'the source and summit' of our Catholic life, it is also good to encourage them to come along to other devotions such as this.

We are looking forward this year to using a new book for our First Holy Communion programme, Jesus Comes to Me, by Dora Nash.

We used Dora Nash's book, Confirmed in the Faith, for our Confirmation programme last year and were very pleased with it so I'm sure her First Holy Communion programme will also be excellent.

More photos of the Going Forth celebrations

Thanks to Rosemary for forwarding these lovely photos of the cake with some of the children and Bishop Kieran.

Going Forth Mass with Bishop Kieran

Yesterday our usual 10.00am Mass was also the 'Going Forth' Mass for our First Holy Communion children - 39 in all. We were very lucky in that Bishop Kieran was able to be with us for the occasion to preside at Mass.

One lucky child receives a blessing from Bishop Kieran after Mass.

It was difficult to get a good photo in church with all the excitement afterwards. Here is one effort, with apologies to those children who have not quite managed to squeeze into the shot. If anyone has any good pictures and they would like to email them to me at the parish address, then I'll be happy to include them on the blog in the next few days.

Here is a shot from the balcony which gives you an idea of the difficulty in obtaining a clear photo!

After Mass we all went into the hall to enjoy the beautiful cake made by Sue Towersey. These young men were obviously having a good time.

And here is the cake in question. Luckily I took a photograph before it was taken over to the hall, otherwise it would just have been a photograph of a plate full of crumbs!

It was good to see all generations of our parish family enjoying the occasion.