Author: FrPeter

The Government has announced that from 4th July 2020, communal acts of worship will be allowed in our Catholic Churches. This is a great news, but not an easy job. The rules are very strict and we will all have to learn to do things differently.

MASS TIMES

Please note, that from this weekend (4/5th July 2020):

• St Teresa’s Church in Ashford will be opened only for Masses from Monday to Saturday at 10.00am, Vigil Mass on Saturday at 5.30pm and Sunday Mass at 8.00am & 10.30am, with additional Mass in Polish at 5.00pm each Sunday.
• St Ambrose in Wye will be opened only for Sunday Mass at 9.15am.

READ THIS

Please note, that all who hope to attend one of the Masses must read the Parish Public Worship Manual (download here)

BOOK NOW

Unfortunately we must keep a record of the visitors at every event. We would be grateful if you pre-book your visit each time using online form => CLICK HERE.
If this was not done before, you will be asked to give your/household name and contact number. Please, mind that this will slow down the flow at the entrance.

REMEMBER

• Please, bring your own face mask (mandatory).
• All must try to keep at least 1m+ distance from one another.
• Gloves and in necessary face mask will be provided only for the Volunteers (welcomers, stewards, readers and cleaners)
• The church will be opened only 20 minutes before the Mass.
• Toilets & Cry Chapel will not be available.

Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

On Tuesday we heard the announcement that, from the 4th July this year, places of worship will be able to reopen for prayer and services. We welcome this news with great joy. Since the lockdown began, members of all faiths have faced restrictions on how they have been able to celebrate important religious festivals. Our own experience of Easter was unlike any other we have known. Now, in our churches, and with our people, we can look forward again to celebrating the central mysteries of our faith in the Holy Eucharist. The recent reopening of our churches for individual private prayer was an important milestone on our journey towards resuming communal worship. Our churches that have opened have put in place all the measures needed to ensure the risks of virus transmission are minimised. This includes effective hand sanitisation, social distancing, and cleaning. We remain committed to making sure these systems of hygiene and infection control meet Government and public health standards. We want to thank everyone within the Catholic community for sustaining the life of faith in such creative ways, not least in the family home. We thank our priests for celebrating Mass faithfully for their people, and for the innovative ways in which they have enabled participation through live-streaming and other means. We are grateful for the pastoral care shown by our clergy to those for whom this time of lockdown has been especially difficult, and, in particular, towards those who have been bereaved. We recognise too the chaplaincy services that have played a vital role in supporting those most in need. Gaining from the experience of all that we have been through, and bringing those lessons into the future, we must now look forward. With the easing of restrictions on worship with congregations, we tread carefully along the path that lies ahead. Our lives have been changed by the experience of the pandemic and it is clear that we cannot simply return to how things were before lockdown. We remain centred on the Lord Jesus and His command at the Last Supper to “do this in memory of me.” We must now rebuild what it means to be Eucharistic communities, holding fast to all that we hold dear, while at the same time exploring creative ways to meet changed circumstances.
It is important to reaffirm that, at present, the obligation to attend Sunday Mass remains suspended. A significant number of churches may remain closed as they are unable to meet the requirements for opening for individual prayer. Fulfilling these requirements is a precondition for any church opening after the 4th July for the celebration of Mass with a congregation. Continue reading “A Message from the Metropolitan Archbishops of the Catholic Church in England” →

As you are probably aware by now, after the Government allowed places of worship to open from the 15th June only for individual prayer, now from 4th July we are permitted to open for Public worship, only if we can put in place a proper regime of hygiene and supervision. PLEASE, see the Letter of our Archbishops for more detailed information.

As we preparing to open for Masses,
we need your help.

We need to provide welcomers to supervise the entrance and exit of the church, and stewards to supervise Communion and to maintain the basic hygiene of our holy place. We will need our Eucharistic Ministers and Readers to take their duties more often than usual, and our cleaners to stand for the job.

Many of our ministers are from the vulnerable or shielding group,
so we appeal to the younger group of parishioners
WE NEED YOUR HELP – WE DEPEND ON YOU

Obviously our volunteers must be over 18 years old and not from the Covid-19 vulnerable group. If you have the will and time to help us, fill this form or contact us via email and we will give you more details.

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.

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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.

History of Gregorian Masses.
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.