Weekly Diary

16th - 23rd August 2026

Week Twenty

Assumption of our Blessed Lady 16th August

Rev 11.19a, 12.1-6a,10ab Rm 9:1-5 Luke 1.39-56

9.00 John & Nora Eccles  

11.00 John Larkin RIP (Anniversary)

12.30 Baptism

6.00 Mass People of the Parish

also Agnes Keane

Exit Collection: Parish Hall Refurbishment

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

On All Saints Day 1950 Pope Pius XII declared the Dogma of the Assumption, before a massive crowd of 700,000. The mystery of the Assumption means that Mary at the end of her earthly life was assumed body & soul into heaven.

The Times claimed the pope was just inventing things. The World Council of Churches called it a ‘scandal’ as it wasn't in the bible. A great Lutheran theologian Reinhold Niebuhr even called it idolatry!

But the Pope only defined what was believed for generations the world over, a result of years of prayerful reflection. Images of the Assumption in art go back many centuries esp. in medieval England

Positive reactions surprised: Carl Jung pioneer of moder psychiatry enthused that the church valued the importance of the feminine. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin said he wasn't a catholic but that if he was, he’d believe it too as it seemed quite logical to him.

The Assumption is a public holiday in 60 nations even in France ...which insists on separation between church & state. Somehow they dimly perceive that the honour we give Mary infers dignity in our own flesh & blood. Exactly the point!

St.John Eudes (Wednesday) founded the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity in 1641 and also the Congregation of Jesus & Mary, known as the Eudists in 1643.

St.Bernard of Clairvaux (Thursday) was Bishop Ullathorne’s patron saint. This is why in 1873 The Friary was St.Bernards Seminary, hence St.Bernard's Road.

St.Pius X (Friday) championed frequent & early communion. Till his time many people only received communion after age 16 and then only 3 or 4 times a year

Our Lady Queen & Mother (Saturday) celebrates Mary as the greatest of all the saints, echoing the 5th glorious mystery.

 

Monday 17th August

Ez 24:15-24 Mt 19:16-22

7.00 Mass Private Intention

10.15 Mass Simon Gallier RIP

   also Gabriel Lyons RIP

Tuesday  18th  August

Ez 28:1-10 Mt 19:23-30

 7.00 Mass Souls In Purgatory

10.15 Mass Caroline Louise Sparling

also Peter Congdon RIP

10.45 Rosary of the unborn

7.00 Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament

Wednesday 19th August  

St.John Eudes

Ez 34:1-11 Mt 20:1-16

7.00 Mass Father Pat Sayles

10.15 Mass Bill Fury RIP

 4.30pm Vigil Susan Christine Byrne RIP

Thursday 20th August   

Saint Bernard

  Ez 36:23-28 Mt 22:1-14

7.00 Mass Brendan Joy RIP

10.15 Requiem Susan Christine Byrne

11.00-12.00 Prayer before Blessed Sacrament

Friday 21st August

Saint Pius X

Ez 37:1-14 Mt 22:34-40

7.00 Mass Brother Thang SCJ

10.15 Requiem Peter Christopher McNaughton

Saturday 22nd August  

Our Lady Queen and Mother

Ez 43:1-7 Mt 23:1-12

9.30 Confessions

10.15 Mass Pat & Esther Murphy RIP

also Julie Agnew RIP

Twenty First Sunday 23rd August

Is 22:15,19-23 Rm 11:33-36 Mt 16:13

9.00 Mary Martin (Birthday)

11.00 Catherine & James Murphy RIP

also Edward Mc Dermott

12.30 Baptism

6.00 Mass People of the Parish

Exit Collection: SCJ school project Assam

 

 

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