Week of 27th November - 5th December 2004

• Confessions - Saturday 11:15 - 12 noon. Also after 7pm Mass and of course on request.
• Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour - Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Sadly numbers are falling off. I would be grateful if you could make a special effort to attend the Novena.
• The Sanctuary Lamp will burn this week in memory of Anne and Jack Preston.
• Patronal Feast - Wednesday 8 December There will be Solemn Mass to celebrate our Patronal feast. The Arrowsmith Singers will sing the Mass and the Rev. David Abbott, Rector of Holy Trinity, will preach. Please put this date in your diaries.
• Solemn Exposition - begins after Mass on Saturday Evening until 7.30pm on Monday night when we close with Mass. From midnight Sunday until midday Monday our parish will be part of the Deaneries of Wigan and Ashton in their Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. I expect all Eucharistic Ministers to accept their responsibility and show their devotion by watching. The men of the parish are encouraged to accept the responsibility to watch through the night from midnight until 6.00am on both Saturday into Sunday and Sunday into Monday.
• Parish Lottery Next draw: Sunday 9pm in the Centre. Have YOU paid your subscription?
• The New Large Candle Stands - which are being used for the first time have been made out of the gates which formed part of the Baptistry. Yet again, rather than scrap, we have recycled the past. I trust this will be seen as a respect for the past rather than a Scrooge mentality (!) and will find approval among the parishioners.
• Lodestar a FREE gift Advent Calendar - one per family; prayer and reflection through Advent and Christmas.
• Christmas Cards: Put Christ back into Christmas. Cards and calendars are on sale in the Piety Stall. Do NOT send pagan cards to commemorate and celebrate Christ’s birthday!
• Parish Centre - Bingo; Line Dancing; Keep Fit; Bowling Green Club. All welcome.
• 2005 Quarante Ore and Directory on sale £2.50. This valuable little book gives all details of Mass times and services in all the churches of the diocese and of the diocese and priests.
• Carols by Candlelight - Wednesday 22 December 7.15pm at St Andrews Mission Hall.
• Church Cleaning Some weeks ago I asked for some extra help in maintaining the beauty of our church. Sadly, no response. Once again I ask for some support from both men and women in the parish.
• Bingo!! Sunday at 8pm in the Parish Centre. Please support.
• Mental Incapacity Bill If you have already written to your MP, please write again and get as many others as possible to do likewise. An enormous amount will depend on the number of letters we can get to MPs in the next few weeks. We need to swamp them with mail and telephone calls urging that changes must be made to the present Mental Capacity Bill to stop the introduction of euthanasia by omission and the use of mentally incapacitated patients for experiments which may be of no use to them.
• Sandymount House of Prayer, Blundellsands 'Exploring through Story' Breakfast at Sandymount Saturday 15 January 2005 9am-12 noon.
• Lourdes Youth Pilgrimage 2005 Friday 29 July - Saturday 6 August 2005. Applications from Fr Reynolds
• World Youth Day. Cologne 2005. 10 - 22 August 2005. An unforgettable experience, over 1 million young people from 160 nations take part in this unique pilgrimage led by the Holy Father. Cost:£475. Sponsorship is available. If interested, please see Fr Reynolds.
• Lourdes Youth Pilgrimage 2005 Friday 29 July - Saturday 6 August. Applications from Fr Reynolds.
• When making your will, please remember Our Lady's Restoration Fund.
• When any relative is admitted to hospital, please ensure that his/her religion is registered and that the visit of a priest is required. We cannot always rely on the hospital staff to fulfil the obligation to meet the spiritual needs of the patient.

For further information or comments please contact info@ourladysbryn.org.uk