SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
21st MAY 2023
Sun 21st SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (p.275)
10.00 Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
11.30 Mass – Parishioners
19.30 Sung Latin Vespers, St Thérèse’s Chapel, Lisieux Hall
Mon 22nd St Rita of Cascia
Tues 23rd
10.00 Mass with Perpetual Succour Novena - Anthony Anderton
10.30 Meditation Group
Wed 24th
Thurs 25th St Bede the Venerable, St Aldhelm of Malmesbury
Fri 26th St Philip Neri
10.00 Mass – Philip Rawcliffe
Sat 27th St Augustine of Canterbury
17.00 Vigil Mass – St Mary’s Chorley
Sun 28th PENTECOST SUNDAY (p. 288)
10.00 Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
11.30 Mass – Joseph Cross (A)
12.30 Baptism – Rosa Lily Rypel
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK AND THE HOUSEBOUND: Canon Brendan Alger,Joan Bailey, Doreen Banister, Francis Brennan, Anne Byrne, John Campbell, Gerard Clarke, Alison Critchley, Jerome Critchley, Leo Duffy, John Fearnhead, Mary Fearnhead, Pat Font, Tom Fraser, William Freeman, Bob Goulding, Marie Hill, Rosemary Hough,
Cathy Hull, John Kerfoot, Shirley King, Mary Johnston, Emma King, Gordon Lee, Fr Barry McAllister, Val McGlade, Janet McGowan, Fintan McPeake, Fr Laurence Mayne, Peter Moore, Ellen Morris, Irene O'Neil, Heidi O’Neill, Carole Swarbrick, Barrie Swift, Alan Taylor, Sylvia Walsh, Jean White, Betty Wignall, Grove House & Marley Court.
RETIRING COLLECTION this Sunday is for the SVP.
DIARY DATES: Trinity Sunday 4th June, Corpus Christi 11th June
SVP Mass for the Sick - Mon 26th June at 12.15
Visitation by Bishop Thomas Neylon. Sun 17th July and week following
DATES AVAILABLE FOR BAPTISMS: 28 May, 25 June, 30 July, 27 Aug
THE MISSIONARIES OF AFRICA (WHITE FATHERS) Fr Ferdinand van Campen celebrated Mass for us and preached the Mission Appeal which came to £211.76. Very many thanks for your generosity
APF RED BOX COLLECTION is completed for Spring. If we have not managed to empty your box or you have been unable to get it to us this time we can add it to the Autumn collection. A big thank you again for your generosity as £545 was realised and that doesn’t include donations paid direct to Missio-Mill Hill. We are a small with a very big
heart. Thank you.
SAINTS OF THE WEEK: Each Saint teaches us some aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit: St Rita of Cascia- Augustinian nun, also called Margarita. She was born in 1381 in Roccaporena, near Spoleto, Italy. From childhood she expressed a desire to become a nun. Despite this, at the age of twelve her elderly parents married her off to a
man described as cruel and harsh. She spent eighteen extremely unhappy married years, bore two sons, and was widowed when her husband was killed in a fight. Her sons were intent upon killing their father’s murderer, but Rita prayed that God would prevent them from committing so damnable a sin. They both died before they could exact revenge. Rita’s vocation to become a nun resurfaced, but the Augustinians in their
Cascia convent refused her, because their rule stipulated that all nuns must be virgins.
Eventually, in 1413, the order admitted her. Her austerity, devotion to prayer, and charity, soon won great admiration. Beset by chronic illnesses, she received visions and wounds on her forehead which resembled the crown of thorns. She died on May 22,
1457, and many miracles were reported instantly. Canonized in 1900, she is honoured in Spain as La Santa de los Imposibles and elsewhere as a patron saint of mistreated wives and hopeless causes.
St Bede the Venerable (672/3 – 26 May 735) was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the greatest teachers and writers of the Early Middle Ages, and his most famous work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, gained him the title "The Father of English History". Born on lands belonging to the twin monastery of
Monkwearmouth–Jarrow in present-day Tyne and Wear, he was sent to the monastery school aged seven, and later joined Abbot Ceolfrith at Jarrow. Both of them survived a plague in 686 which killed all other monks there. Bede spent most of his life in study and prayer in the monastery, except for visiting other Northumbrian monasteries, the archbishop of York and King Ceolwulf of Northumbria at Bamburgh. He wrote Bible commentaries on Mark, Luke, Acts, the Catholic Epistles and Revelation, plus several OT books, a Latin grammar for schoolboys, and texts on the calculation of the date of Easter. He was a skilled linguist and translator, and his work made the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons,
which contributed significantly to English Christianity. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church, the only native Briton so designated.
St Philip Neri (1515-95) canonized 1622, Italian priest, often called “the second apostle of Rome.” Born in Florence, he was apprenticed to a relative who wanted him to take over his business. Aged about 18, Philip experienced a mystical vision, which he eventually spoke of as his Christian conversion, an encounter with the Lord which dramatically changed his life. He set out for Rome, where he became the live-in tutor for a fellow Florentine's sons. He dedicated a lot of time to prayer. He ate very small meals of bread, water and a few vegetables, practising an ascetical life.
In 1535, Philip began studying theology and philosophy at the Sapienza University. After three years of studies, he gave up any thought of ordination. He set out to help the poor people of Rome and to re-evangelize the city. Sadly, Rome had lost its first love
and its inhabitants were no longer really living as Christians.
He began talking to people on street corners and in public squares; he made acquaintances in places where people commonly gathered. His customary question was always, "Well, brothers, when shall we begin to do good?" H is nights were spent praying in the church or in the catacombs beside the Appian Way. In 1544, on the eve of
Pentecost, Philip saw what appeared to be a globe of fire. It is said the fire entered his mouth, causing Philip to feel his heart dilate. Philip was filled with such paroxysms of divine love that caused him to scream out, "Enough, enough, Lord, I can bear no more."
Philip then discovered a swelling over his heart, though it caused him no pain. He had a knack for starting up conversations and leading his listeners to consider a better Christian way of life. His warm personality and amazing sense of humour. attracted many He encouraged groups to gather for discussions, studies, prayer and
…music, in a Confraternity of laymen. In 1551, aged 36, he was ordained priest. He considered going to India on the missions, following Francis Xavier, but was told, “Rome will be your India.” At the church of San Girolamo, so many flocked to take part in Philip’s prayer sessions and for confession, that an extra room was built above the
nave, and called the Oratory. Philip and his priests soon became known as Oratorians.
Pope Gregory XIII approved the society in 1575. They moved to the “new church”, Chiesa Nuova, in 1577 where he remined until his death in 1584. Philip was "all things to all men.... When he was called upon to be merry, he was so; if there was a demand upon his sympathy, he was equally ready..."
CHORLEY AND PRESTON HOSPITALS: Please contact St Joseph's Chorley (262713) if any member of your family is admitted into Chorley Hospital and needs a visit. In urgent situations or emergency please ask the ward staff to call the duty Chaplain on his bleep/phone. For the chaplaincy service at Royal Preston Hospital please ring 01772
522435. For the chaplaincy service at Wigan Infirmary T. 01942 822324.
St Augustine of Canterbury In 596, some 40 monks set out from Rome to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons in England, led by Augustine, the prior of their monastery.
Hardly had he and his men reached southern Gaul when they heard stories of the fierceness of the Anglo-Saxons, the treacherous waters of the English Channel, and the dreadful British weather. A legation returned to Rome, to Pope Gregory the Great who had sent them—only to be assured by him that their fears were groundless.
Augustine set out again north. Wintering on the north coast of France, in spring they crossed the Channel and landed in Kent, ruled by King Ethelbert, a pagan married to a Christian queen, Bertha. Ethelbert received them kindly, set up a residence for them in Canterbury and within the year, on Pentecost Sunday 597, was himself
baptized. Augustine erected a church and a monastery near where the present cathedral of 1070, now stands. Other sees were established at London and Rochester.
Labouring patiently, Augustine wisely heeded the missionary principles -
enlightened for the times - suggested by Pope Gregory: purify rather than destroy pagan temples and customs; let pagan rites and festivals be transformed into Christian feasts; retain local customs as far as possible. He failed however to win the cooperation of the Celtic bishops of Wales, who were hostile to the Anglo-Saxons.
Augustine died in 605, eight years after his arrival in Kent. Over the next century his work gradually bore fruit in the conversion of England. He was a very human saint, who could suffer like many of us from a failure of nerve. He often wrote to Rome for decisions on matters he could have decided on his own, had he been more self confident. Pope Gregory cautioned him to “fear lest, amidst the wonders that are done,
the weak mind be puffed up by self-esteem.” Augustine’s perseverance amidst obstacles and only partial success teaches us today to struggle on despite frustrations and be satisfied with gradual advances,
PARISH PRIEST: Fr.Francis Marsden
Secretary: Mr Frank Webster
Parish Office: St Joseph’s Presbytery, 28 Bolton Road, Adlington, Chorley PR6 9NA
Wednesdays 10.00-13.00
Tel: 01257- 480237 or 01257- 262537 (St Mary’s Chorley)
E-mail: stjosephs.anderton@tiscali.co.uk
Parish Website: www.stjosephsanderton.com
ARCHDIOCESE OF LIVERPOOL Registered Charity No. 1199714
