Dear Parishioners and Friends of St Teresa’s Catholic Parish.
I am sure that you have heard about the Prime Minister’s Address to the Nation on Monday evening 23rd March 2020 and the Government’s instruction that all places of worship must now close their doors.
This means that, with immediate effect, St Teresa’s, Ashford and St Ambrose, Wye and all our churches and chapels across the Archdiocese must remain closed to the public until further notice.I attach a statement of Archbishop John to the Archdiocese.
I attach a statement of Archbishop John to the Archdiocese.
Download Archbishop John’s recent statement
From now on the private celebrations of Mass, which may continue behind closed doors, must now be celebrated by the priest alone, without servers, readers or cantors.
The Mass live stream will still continue! Please go to our website www.st-teresas-ashford.org.uk/live-stream/
Please stay at home and join us on-line.
THE PARISH OFFICE work is limited, only via email or phone.
Please note, that only the emergency visits on call will be ministered until the further notice. We will do our best according to the situation. If anyone on self-isolation needs help with shopping or wants somebody to chat on the phone, please let the parish know. We will also do our best to help.
In this stressful and uncertain time the world needs a lot of prayer. As Christians we do believe in God’s providence and His healing power. Therefore in order to pray for the end of this epidemic crisis, on weekdays at 8pm there will be Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers for the intention of reparation for the sins of the world, healing and the end of the Coronavirus crisis, led only by the Clergy, in which we can participate exclusively through the St Teresa’s website live stream.
From Monday to Saturday there will be Mass in English streamed live at 10am and at 10.30am on Sundays. There will be also Mass in Malayalam streamed live from St Teresa’s each Sunday at 9am.
Let’s pray, so we do not loose hope and trust in God’s mercy.
May God bless you and keep you safe!
Fr Peter
PLEASE NOTE!!!
* All the Masses during the week and on weekend, including the Sunday Masses, are now available only on-line, with just the priest present. No people are allowed at any of the services, so to eliminate any possible danger.
* All the other services, including Penitential Evening, Baptisms, public prayers and adorations are to be suspended until the further notice. In case of Funerals please make contact with one of the Clergy.
* First Holy Communion and Confirmation Celebration which supposed to be in May 2020 is now cancelled and postponed until the change of the situation. We will inform you in advance.
Masses can be celebrated for deceased members of family or friends, thanksgiving, anniversaries, vocations, for the sick and for any particular need. If you would like a Mass said please fill in the Mass envelope at the back of Church and give it to a priest or drop it into the Parish Office. You can also contact the Parish Office directly on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am to 2pm.
There is also an old tradition of Gregorian Masses. Gregorian Masses are a series of Holy Masses traditionally offered on 30 consecutive days as soon as possible after a person’s death. They are offered for an individual soul. The custom of offering Gregorian Masses for a particular soul recognises that few people are immediately ready for heaven after death, and that, through the infinite intercessory power of Christ’s sacrifice, made present in Holy Mass, a soul can be continually perfected in grace and enabled to enter finally into the union with the Most Holy Trinity – our God, Who is Love Itself.
Gregorian Masses take their name from Saint Gregory the Great, who was sovereign Pontiff from 590 to 604. St. Gregory the Great contributed to the spread of the pious practice of having these Masses celebrated for the deliverance of the souls from purgatory. In his Dialogues, he tells us that he had Masses on thirty consecutive days offered for the repose of the soul of Justus, a monk who had died in the convent of St. Andrew in Rome. At the end of the thirtieth Mass, the deceased appeared to one of his fellow monks and announced that he had been delivered from the flames of Purgatory.