Celebrating Feast of St Angela

After the mass to celebrate the Feast of St Angela Merici, parishioners enjoyed a wonderful supper prepared by the Angelinas and the contributions of others attending. 

Ursuline website launched 27th January 2012

Sr Zela also announced the new Ursuline website (www.ursulines.co.uk) which shows the many and varied ways in which the Ursuline sisters live out their vocation. 

The following message is on an image of Angela, in January's meditation we are asked what our response might be: 
DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE WITH YOUR LIFE, GET MOVING, BE CONFIDENT, TAKE RISKS – TRY SOMETHING NEW, STICK WITH IT GET ON YOUR KNEES, THEN BE READY FOR A BIG SURPRISE! 

The sisters have also prepared a visual display with further details about the life of St Angela Merici which can be seen in St Thomas More's.

Sr Zela Procter with display of St Angela Merici

Inspired by Angela

On 27^th January it will be 472 years since a little Italian lady died in a small room attached to the church of St Afra in Brescia but her memory and influence live on all over the world. Her name was Angela Merici (c1474-1540) and she founded of the Company of St Ursula in 1535. Today, in our parish of St Peter’s and St Thomas More’s Lancaster, there are individuals, consecrated and lay, married and single, who look to Angela for inspiration in the living of their personal, unique Christian vocation. The groups these people belong to are:

• the Ursuline Religious Sisters, 
• the Secular Institute of the Company of St Ursula, 
• the “Angelinas” for married women.

See Lancaster Cathedral website for further details about St Angela Merici who is saint of the week.

Sr Maureen Coyne in the room in which Angela died 1540

Tomorrow 27th January Mass at St Thomas More's 7.00pm followed by a shared supper.  All welcome.

Come Follow Me

Mark 1:14-20

In Children's Liturgy we listened to how Jesus called his first disciples to follow him and to become fishers of men.  We then shared how Jesus calls us today and talked about what we might do to tell others about Jesus.  We listened to how each of us are called by Jesus who says 'follow me'.

Come Follow Me

Ideas for prayer time: A net used to sell oranges or lemons makes an ideal net to store the names of fish (people) children can pray for at the end of the day.  Follow link for fish templates 

Information Meetings about Sacramental Programmes

Over the coming weeks families in our parish will have an opportunity to find out more about the parish programmes of preparation for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation.  The sacraments are sometimes described as our gifts from God that help us on our journey of faith: Reconciliation provides healing, Holy Communion nourishment and Confirmation strengthens us by sealing those gifts of the Holy Spirit we received at Baptism. 

For further details click on the tabs above and see the newsletter in the coming weeks.  

Ordinary Time

Last Sunday marked our return to ordinary time.  The colour for Ordinary Time is green. Green in this context represents new life, growth and hope.
Details of the seasons of the church year were given in the bulletin.  Follow the link for a simple crossword puzzle about the colours and church seasons.

Vestments of Ordinary Time 

These beautiful vestments were on display during Lancaster Cathedral's vestment festival in 2011.

Celebrating feast days

Dates for your diary:


Feast of Angela Merici Friday 27th January (Founder of the order of Ursulines)
Mass at St Thomas More's at 7.00pm 
Followed by a supper party.  All are very welcome to attend, and contributions for the supper will also be welcome.  


Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (Diocesan patron)

A Vigil of Prayer for Priestly Vocations
Friday 10th February - 7:00pm
Bishop Campbell will be here to lead this time of prayer. All are welcome to come along.


See bulletin and noticeboard for further details.  

Choosing a new patron saint for 2012

In the newsletter last week, we read about the Epiphany custom of choosing a new patron Saint for the coming year. This can be an excellent way to learn more about Saints whose lives can help us learn more about what it means to follow Jesus. You might choose one of the saints we hear in the Eucharistic Prayer 1, or the saint on an important day, or the name of a saint for the oldest, youngest member of the family or perhaps someone who has died during the year.  


For information about the lives of the saints, look up in a dictionary of the saints or online http://www.catholic.org/saints.  For details of the picture below see national gallery

Fra Angelico's The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs

In the coming months members of the parish will be preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation and choosing a Saint. They will be asked to find out about the lives of their Saint and consider why that saint is important to them.  

If you would like to share more about the saints you and your family have chosen: drawings, photographs of statues from other churches, prayers written by the saint then please pass details to one of the priests or Sisters at St Thomas More.  

Bringing gifts like the Magi

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. which is when he showed himself to the world.  The magi (wise men) visited Jesus bringing gifts of gold, frankinscence and myrrh.  They had followed a star and come to see Jesus.



Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar



In children's liturgy the children talked about the gifts they could bring to Jesus. Their pictures and prayer offerings were placed by the crib at the end of mass.  

Children visiting the crib to place their gifts

They have arrived, bringing gifts

If you've not had chance to come to sing at Mass today then here is a traditional version from Kings College, Cambridge.  Maybe next year we'll be able to feature a version from our own choir or choristers who support us with our singing throughout the year. Which version did you like?  

A colouring page for children of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.  

Still following the star

For younger children a colouring page of the three kings (magi) following the star. 


And today's video of the familiar carol, we can follow the words.  Each verse we can think about the gifts brought for Jesus, they tell us something about his role as king, priest and saviour.  Gold for a king, Frankincense like the incense we use at mass reminds us of his priestly role, and Myrrh was used to anoint the dead, and was used to prepare Jesus' body after he had died on the cross (John 19:39).

   

Follow the star - what gifts will we bring?

On Sunday we will celebrate the the Feast of the Epiphany, which is when we listen to the story of the Magi (wise men) who visited Jesus bringing gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.  Over the next three days there will be three different versions of that familiar carol 'We three kings', a chance to think about the gifts the Magi brought and a time to think what we can bring.

On Sunday, the children at St Thomas More and the Cathedral will have the chance to bring their prayers and pictures of the gifts they will bring.  

Holy name of Jesus

On the 3rd January we celebrate the Holy name of Jesus. Saying the holy name of Jesus is one of the simplest prayers we can say. 
Here we see one of the vestments from the Cathedral's 2011 Vestment Exhibition showing the three letters IHS which remind us of the name of Jesus.

Image of Vestment

For children, a wordsearch to find some of the names of Jesus. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
2665 The prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus. Even though her prayer is addressed above all to the Father, it includes in all the liturgical traditions forms of prayer addressed to Christ. Certain psalms, given their use in the Prayer of the Church, and the New Testament place on our lips and engrave in our hearts prayer to Christ in the form of invocations: Son of God, Word of God, Lord, Saviour, Lamb of God, King, Beloved Son, Son of the Virgin, Good Shepherd, our Life, our Light, our Hope, our Resurrection, Friend of mankind.
2668 ... [Saying the name of Jesus] This prayer is possible "at all times" because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus.

Mary Mother of God

On the altar the statue of Mary holding the baby Jesus reminds us that today we not only end our Christmas octave, eight days of Christmas, but are celebrating the Feast of Mary the Mother of God.  

Mary Mother of God

In our gospel (Luke 2: 16-24) we hear how Mary listened to what the shepherds had to say and 'treasured all these things and pondered on them in her heart'.  Throughout the year we can pray the rosary to help us remember, like Mary, the joyful, sorrowful and glorious moments in the  life of Jesus.

Children may like to make their own image of Mary and Jesus.  There are black and white templates (which can be coloured yellow / gold, or blue) or coloured templates ready to cut out.

Template 1 - colour                    Template 2 - colour
Template 1 - black & white         Template 2 - black & white