The travelling Icon pays a visit to St Ann's . . .

We have been privileged this weekend to have the travelling Icon of Our Lady of Consolation in our parish as part of the Diocesan initiative for the Year of Mercy.

The Icon has been not only in our parish church but also paid a visit to the nearby prison HMP High Down and our parish school of St Anne's. 

We were fortunate that the Icon was with us on Friday evening during our Stations of the Cross.  

This added to the very prayerful atmosphere in the church and enables those present to venerate the image before or after the devotion.

The travelling Icon is an opportunity for all of us to pray in a special way asking for Our Lady's intercession on our behalf during the Year of Mercy. This is especially valuable for those who are unable to make a pilgrimage to one of the Holy Doors that have been set up across our diocese.

The original Icon is to be found at the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in West Grinstead and this is an ideal destination for a pilgrimage to enter through the Holy Door during this Holy Year.

24 Hours for the Lord

St Ann's is to be the venue for Epsom Deanery's '24 Hours for the Lord' in this Year of Mercy

The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in the monstrance on the altar for  Adoration from midday on Friday 4th March until 9.45am on Saturday 5th March.  Our period of Adoration concludes with Benediction at 9.45am and this will be followed by our usual parish Mass at 10am.

Do please come along if you can and spend some time with our Lord.  Five minutes or five hours, you will be welcome at any time.

The Sacrament of Confession will be available throughout this period.

Lenten Devotions . . .

Are you looking for something extra to do for Lent? 

Thinking of the three pillars of Lent, 'Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving',  how about joining us at 7pm on Fridays for Station of the Cross concluding with Benediction?

Or, maybe you prefer something during the day time?  Why not join us for Rosary and Benediction at 4pm on Sundays during Lent?

You would be very welcome at either devotion, or both. It would only take about half an hour of your time for either Stations or Rosary.  Please don't worry if you can't make it every week; come along whenever you can.

We look forward to seeing you!

That's sorted out your extra prayer for Lent, all you have to now is concentrate on the Fasting and Almsgiving!!

And so it concludes . . .

This morning saw the conclusion of our Forty Hours Devotion. Thank God for such a wonderful time.  Thank you to all who supported the Forty Hours; those who adored for several hours or just a few minutes; those who got up an extra hour early to come before work and school; those  made the sacrifice to adore through the night hours.

Some people in conversation with me afterwards referred to 'a pull' to be present.  Others spoke of a 'glimpse of heaven'.  It has certainly been a truly blessed time for our parish.

Here is  a brief summary in photos of the whole of the Forty Hours.

Beginning with the Mass of Exposition beautifully celebrated by Fr Seán Finnegan.

After Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, as Adoration began, the sanctuary was wreathed in smoke from the incense. 

People came and went throughout the day and night; so many wonderful people, especially those who made the extra effort to come out during the night-time hours.

By Wednesday evening the number of candles on and around the altar had gradually increased and the atmosphere was one of reverent prayer and adoration.

Finally this morning, this was the sight that greeted people as they entered the church  . . .

Our closing Benediction this morning . . . 

Until the next time . . . 

You will find a few more photos on our Flickr page.

40 Hours Devotion . . .

Our 40 Hours Devotion has begun.  We were delighted to welcome Fr Peter Edwards, Parish Priest of St Joseph's, New Malden to our parish last night as he celebrated a beautiful Mass to open our devotion.  I'm very grateful to our altar servers who came to serve Mass after school or work, including one of our younger servers - well done!  Fr Peter also preached a very helpful homily on the Blessed Eucharist.

It was encouraging to see a good number present for the Mass and many stayed behind for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Adoration immediately after Mass. I was also pleased to see a few 'strangers' amongst the congregation also.  All are very welcome to call in at any time.

I always find it very moving to see the steady stream of people coming and going quietly throughout the day . . .  and the night. There is an almost tangible atmosphere of prayer in our simple but beautiful church. We are very blessed here at St Ann's to have so many good and holy parishioners.  God is good indeed!

Adoration continues throughout the day today and throughout the night until the closing Benediction at 9.10am on Thursday morning.  Parish Mass will follow this at 9.30am on Thursday morning.

Pope Francis calls for prayer and fasting for Syria and the Middle East . . .

Pope Francis calls for prayer and fasting for Syria and the Middle East . . .

   

Join us at St Ann's for a Holy Hour on Saturday 7th September from 9am, followed by the parish Mass at 10am.

The church will be open all day for private prayer as usual.

All welcome!

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!

Shhhhhh . . .

Shhhhhh . . .

Silence is not only the absence of noise, it is essential in order to listen to God's word. Unless we are able to 'block out' the ever-increasing messages of social communication and mass-media, it is virtually impossible to hear the word of God or indeed reflect on it in a prayerful manner and therefore we are unable to act on it in our daily lives.

Silence is necessary for all of us in church. We need to preach the Gospel in word and action and so we must make room for silence in order to welcome God's word and discern what we are called to do as followers of Christ.

St Joseph is the Patron Saint of silence, foster-father of Jesus and husband of Mary. In the Gospels he does not utter a word. He listens . . . He reflects . . . He acts.

St Joseph welcomed the Word of God into his heart and mind. He welcomed Jesus, God's only Son, the Word made flesh into his family with fatherly care. The silence of St Joseph speaks louder than words.

If we wish to encourage vocations to the priesthood, the religious life, to marriage and the single state, we need to help men and women to find times and places where they can switch off the noise of today and tune in to the silence and peace of God.

'Be still and know that I am God.'

Today we celebrate the feast day of St Jean Marie Vianney, Patron of Parish Priests.

Act of Love of the Holy

Curé

D'Ars

I love you, O my God. My only desire is to love you, until the last breath of my life. I love you, O infinitely loveable God, and I prefer to die loving you, rather than to live for an instant without you.

I love you, O my God, and I desire only to go to heaven, to have the happiness of loving you perfectly. I love you, O my God, and my only fear is to go to hell, because one will never have the sweet solace of loving you there.

O my God, if my tongue cannot say at all times that I love you, at least I want my heart to repeat it to you as many times as I breathe.

Ah! Do me the grace: to suffer while loving you, to love you while suffering, and, that when I die: I not only will love you, but experience it in my heart. I beg you that: the closer I come to my final end, you will increase and perfect my love for you. Amen.

St Jean Marie Vianney, pray for me, and for all parish priests.

Phew - What a Week! . . .

What an exciting week I've had. I've been visiting 0ur parish school of St Anne's to hear Confessions and also a local secondary school.

This is always a very joyful experience and also quite humbling to hear the simple, honest Confessions of our children. What an inspiration they are to us.

I've been visiting the care homes in our parish and the sick and housebound who are still able to live in their homes.

I am always greatly encouraged by the time I spend with the housebound. Their faith and prayerfulness is marvellous to witness and, I know I've said it before but they really do represent a powerhouse of prayer in our parish community.

I would like to thank them for their prayers on behalf of our parish family.

Our Lady, Health of the Sick,

Pray for us.

Prayer . . .

Lord Jesus, teach us how to pray

A very brief but beautiful video from stpaulstube.com

Holy Hour for all Nascent Life . . .

Responding to the Holy Father's wishes we were happy to hold a Holy Hour this afternoon to pray for all nascent life.

We began with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent . This was followed by a period of silent prayer and the recitation of the Holy Rosary.

We concluded with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It was lovely that our organist was able to attend and we were able to sing the O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo and Adoremus at Benediction. It was indeed a very 'Holy' Hour.

Thank you to all who braved the freezing weather to come and prayer for this very important intention.

October is the month of the Holy Rosary . . .

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

October is the month of the Holy Rosary.

John Paul II said it was his favourite prayer. This prayer to Our Lady is both contemplative and vocal; 'The heart of the Rosary is contemplation.' says John Paul II. Saying the Rosary will bring us peace; one of the ways this happens is that we pray the prayers with the rhythm of our breath and the beat of our our hearts.

In praying the Rosary we can enter into the lives of Jesus and Mary. Mary will always teach us about her Son, and we see Jesus through the eyes of His mother.

Who knows Jesus better than His mother?

As we pray the Rosary during the month of October let us ask Mary to teach us about Jesus.

Our Lady of the Rosary,

pray for us.

The Year for Priests - 40 Hours Devotion . . .

'The priest is not a priest for himself; he is not for himself, he is for you.' - St John Vianney.

The Year for Priests closes on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 11th June 2010. Here at St Ann's, we have decided to celebrate the Year for Priests with 40 Hours Devotion which begins this evening immediately after Mass at 6.30 pm.

I am delighted to provide this opportunity for people to come along and pray for our priests. Adoration will continue throughout the night tonight and tomorrow night. Our devotion will close with Benediction at 9am on Thursday 6th May. Mass will follow at 9.30am.

All our welcome. Do please call in and join us in prayer for our priests if you can.

Prayer for Priests - St Therese of Lisieux

O Jesus

I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;

for your unfaithful and tepid priests;

for your priests labouring at home

or abroad in distant mission fields;

for your tempted priests;
for your lonely and desolate priests;
for your young;
for your dying priests;
for the souls of your priests in Purgatory.
But above all, I recommend to you
the priests dearest to me:
the priest who baptised me;
the priests who absolved me from my sins;
the priests at whose Masses I assisted
and who gave me Your Body and Blood
in Holy Communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me;
all the priests to whom I am indebted
in any other way.

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,
and bless them abundantly
in time and in eternity.

Amen.

Regina Coeli . . .

From Easter until the resumption of Ordinary Time we pray the Regina Coeli in place of the Angelus. Like the Angelus, this prayer is said in the morning, at midday and in the evening.

Here is a simple, prayerful rendition of this beautiful prayer.

Queen of Heaven, Rejoice!

Queen of heaven, rejoice! Alleluia!

For the Son thou was privileged to bear, Alleluia!

Is risen as He said. Alleluia!

Pray for us to God. Alleluia!

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, Alleluia!

For the Lord is truly risen. Alleluia.

Let us pray:

O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, grant, we beseech thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, his Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life: Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen

The Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman . . .

Today was a day of Special Prayer for the Beatification of The Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman. We prayed for this at Rosary and Benediction this afternoon, beginning with his beautiful hymn, 'Praise to the Holiest in the height'

Here is an excellent resumé of his life taken from the website of The Newman Cause. If you would like to learn more about this exemplary man, please follow the link here.

"John Henry Newman was born in London on 21 February 1801, and died in Birmingham on 11 August 1890.

As Vicar of St Mary’s Oxford he exerted a profound spiritual influence on the Church of England. After joining the Catholic Church in 1845, he brought the Oratory of St Philip Neri to England, was the first Rector of the Catholic University in Dublin, and was made Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.

Through his extensive published writings and private correspondence he created a greater understanding of the Catholic Church and its teachings, helping many persons with their religious difficulties. At his death he was praised for his unworldliness, humility, and prayerful contact with the invisible world.

He was declared Venerable on 22 January 1991."

PS. We had a lovely crowd at Rosary and Benediction this afternoon. Let's see if we can make it 'standing room only' next week!

John Henry Cardinal Newman, pray for us.

Third talk by the Friars - Prayer . . .

I was delighted that we had a very good turnout for our third and final talk from the Friars of the Renewal this evening. The parish hall was almost full with parents from our First Holy Communion group and other parishioners. Once again I was very pleased to see many of the young people from our Confirmation programme.

Fr Raphaël gave an excellent talk on 'Prayer'.

He spoke about Judaeo-Christian prayer and quoted examples from the Gospels of Jesus' own prayer to his Father; mentioning the way that we look back in memory when we pray in thanksgiving and also look forward in supplication in our prayers for the future.

In the second half of his talk, Fr Raphaël spoke at some length about five methods of prayer that we might use ourselves:

Praying the Rosary

Lectio Divina

The Jesus Prayer

Silent Meditation

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

One of the questions at the end of the evening referred to the distractions that beset us all at some time or another when we are trying to prayer.

Fr Raphaël reminded us that even the some of the great saints like St Thérèse of Lisieux were plagued by distractions and suggested that we try and turn those distractions into prayer.

Although this was the last talk in the series, we look forward to welcoming the Friars back to St Ann's some time next year when we hope they will visit us again.

Year for Priests . . .

At a recent meeting of our Deanery clergy and religious, various resources were distributed for use in our parishes regarding The Year for Priests, and Vocations.

I was very impressed with the material produced by our Diocesan Vocations Director, Fr Paul Turner, and his team at the Vocations Office. They also have an excellent Diocesan Vocations Website. Do have a look when you have a spare moment.

Prayer cards are now available for parishioners containing two beautiful prayers for priests. Here is a Prayer for Priests from St Thérèse of Lisieux:

O Jesus

I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;

for your unfaithful and tepid priests;

for your priests labouring at home or

abroad in distant mission fields.

For your tempted priests;

for your lonely and desolate priests;

For your young priests;

for your dying priests;

for the souls of your priests in Purgatory.

But above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:

The priest who baptised me;

the priests who absolved me from my sins;

the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me

Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;

the priests who taught and instructed me;

all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,

and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.

Amen

Please remember in your in prayers also all those in formation at St John's Seminary at this time.

Our Lady, Queen of Priests, pray for us.

Visiting the Sick ...

Returning from visiting the sick in our parish this morning I was struck, as I always am, by their serenity; their acceptance of their illnesses and by their faith.

Above all I am very moved by their prayerfulness. In the sick, we have a 'powerhouse of prayer' right on our doorstep.

Our Lady, health of the sick,

pray for us.

Repent ...

'... Repent, and believe the Good News.' (Mark 1:15)

In the closing words of Sunday's Gospel reading Jesus urges us to repent of our sins; a reminder to us that when we sin we are damaging our relationship with God.

This theme echoes the words used by our Bishop, Kieran in his pastoral letter which we heard the previous Sunday.

'There are forty days of Lent. There is time to think, to prepare and to make time for this precious opportunity to refresh our relationship with God, the one we call our Father.'

Let us look at the Sacrament of Confession anew in our preparation for the Great Feast of Easter.

Times for Confession in the parish:

Saturdays: 10.30 am - 11.30 am

5.00 pm - 6.00 pm

After each Mass on the first Sunday of every month.

And at call.

Lenten Reconciliation Service: Tuesday 31st March at 7.30 pm here at St Ann's.