Heritage Open Days

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Heritage Open Days are almost upon us again and this year, Ss Peter & Paul and St Philomena has two events that we hope you will find of interest. They are free of charge, although we will not refuse a donation toward the restoration of this unique Wirral landmark church.

Heritage Open Days at the Dome of Home feature Scaffolding tours and the Organ recital. We also seek volunteers to help make the events a success.

Scaffolding Tour – Saturday 18th September

Explore the inside of the Church in a unique way – using the scaffolding! Also meet the Architect overseeing the current interior refurbishment works.

High level tours 2pm, 3pm, 4pm & 5pm – Accessible to physically able with alternative low level discussion
Low level discussion 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm & 4.30pm – for the less physically able.

A display of the works programme and a film by Liverpool TV on our project will be available to watch in the narthex.

Due to the limited number of people being permitted on a tour, free tickets must be reserved via Eventbrite here:

Organ recital – various dates below – all performances start at 4pm

19 September 2021   French Organ Mass (F. Couperin Messe pour les paroisses)
17 October 2021   Italian Organ Mass (Frescobaldi Fiori musicali)
14 November 2021   Lutheran Organ Mass (J. S. Bach Clavier-Übung III)
12 December 2021   Bach & Daquin for Advent & Christmas
23 January 2022   Gregorian Chant in Lutheran Liturgy & Organ
27 February 2022   Music for Lent
27 March 2022   Magnificat: Music for Our Lady
24 April 2022   Music for Easter
22 May 2022   Lutheran Hymnody
19 June 2022   Veni, Sancte Spiritus: Pentecost

Featuring:

Mr. Christian Spence (organist)
the Canons of the ICKSP and the Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus (singers)

Free of charge.

All followed by a National Lottery ‘thank you’ cuppa!

Volunteers

Volunteers are required to help with these events, if you can help with :

Refreshments
Preparing the hard hats between tours
Welcoming visitors and answering questions about our church
Distributing posters and flyers to the local area

To volunteer, contact us here.

Publicity posters:

Scaffolding Tours flyer click here.
Organ Recitals flyer click here.

Summer Dinner

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This year’s Summer dinner will be on Saturday 25th July at Wallasey Golf Club at 7.30pm. The dinner will be less formal affair with a sumptuous 2 course Buffet plus tea and coffee and mints. If you would like to book your place please see Anne in the Piety Shop for more information. Cost is £30 per person payable by cash only please in advance. Thank you.

(Photo: https://www.thegolfpa.com)

Ascension

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This Thursday is the feast of the Ascension commemorating Our Lord’s going up bodily into heaven 40 days after the Resurrection. It is a Holy Day of obligation. The evening Mass at the Dome will be sung at 6.30 pm.

Rite of Rogations

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This Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will observe the Rite of Rogations in lieu of the usual evening Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Confessions will be from 5.15pm-5.40pm.

Rogation comes from the Latin verb ‘rogare’ – to ask or to pray. The rogations are held on the three days prior to the Feast of the Ascension. Celebrated in violet, the priest first goes to the altar in cope, kneels down and intones an antiphon from Psalm 43 ‘Exsurge Domine’ (Arise O Lord). The clergy and faithful then sing the Litany of Saints while going in procession.

In many places, the procession made its way around the borders of a parish and was often joined to the blessing of farmers’ fields in rural locations. Upon returning to the altar, the clergy sing Psalm 69 and the priest then recites a series of petitionary prayers. The processions are then immediately followed by a Mass in violet – its readings instruct the faithful in particular on the power of prayer.

Workshops on the Solesmes Method of Gregorian Chant

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Join us for a series of three complementary workshops on the Solesmes Method of Gregorian Chant, held on Saturdays 23rd May, 27th June, and 18th July, from 11.00–12.30. Led by Canon Montjean and Christian Spence, each workshop will focus on a different element of the Solesmes tradition — from reading neumes to understanding rhythm, exploring modality, and entering into the spirituality of chant. These sessions blend explanation with practical singing.

Schola and choir members are especially encouraged to take part, but everyone with an interest in this rich Catholic heritage is welcome. A more advanced course will follow in September.

Alteration to Schedule

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There will be no daily Mass next week Monday through Friday (May 4th – 8th) due to ICKSP provincial days. The provincial days are a fraternal gathering of the clergy of our Institute from an entire country or region. This year we have the joy of meeting with our fellow priests working in Ireland.

Adult Catechism Classes

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If you are not Catholic and would like to learn about the faith, we encourage you to attend our monthly classes on Friday and Saturday. We also meet candidates and catechumens individually. You may email or phone either Canon using the information here.

“Bread of Angels” – The Holy Eucharist”
One Friday per month, all are welcome regardless of prior knowledge, both Catholics and non-Catholics. The next class will be held on Friday, 22nd May at 7.15pm, following the evening Mass.

“The Catholic Moral Life”
One Saturday per month, all are welcome regardless of prior knowledge, both Catholics and non-Catholics. The next class will be held on Saturday, 16th May at 11am. Topic: Human acts, ignorance, passions and conscience.

Marriage Preparation Classes

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For those who may have been inspired by our young couples tying the knot, please note that marriage in the church requires a preparation of six months. Please contact the clergy of the Dome well in advance to plan your wedding.

Pastoral Letter – World Day of Prayer for Vocations

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On the World Day of Prayer for Vocations

To be read at all Masses on Sunday 26th April 2026

My dear brothers and sisters,

On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Leo calls young people across the world to “listen to the voice of the Lord who invites you to a full and fruitful life.” The Holy Father urges the young to seek something more than self-knowledge, for, he insists it is in “the beauty of the Divine light” they will find their vocation by “the interior encounter with Christ in prayer.” Pope Leo encourages them to do this by spending generous time in Eucharistic Adoration, meditating on the Word of God and frequenting the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist (i).

Today, I want to join Pope Leo in inviting all considering their calling to take these steps to discover their vocation, whether this will be found in Christian Marriage; the Consecrated Life of Sisters or Brothers; the Catholic Priesthood; the service of the Diaconate; or the greatness of the lay vocation lived in the midst of the world. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, I want to focus on the one vocation on which all other vocations in the Church depend: namely, the Ordained Priesthood. During his apostolic visit to Britain, Pope Benedict called for an outpouring of prayer for vocations to the Priesthood because, he said, “the more the lay apostolate grows, the more urgently the need for priests is felt” (ii).

Saint John Vianney invited everyone to consider the place of the priest in their lives, from the day of our Baptism to every Mass and Holy Communion, to every Confession and Absolution, and in the great crises of life, most especially the last. We might think of the many priests we have known, yet the Scriptures remind us there is but one Priest and Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. It is into His Priesthood that every priest is ordained, to give his life for the salvation of his brothers and sisters (iii). By this total self-gift of each priest, we can recognise the true Shepherd of our souls (iv), He who came “that (we) may have life and have it abundantly”(v).

Today, in Shrewsbury Diocese, we must give thanks for the 12 men who are at various stages of their training for the Priesthood; for the constant stream of men coming forward to engage in our Discernment Programme in both Stockport and Shrewsbury; and for those regularly attending our Vocations Group to first consider their calling. The flourishing of all these initiatives is supported by your prayer and the dedicated prayer every day at our Diocesan Shrine of Eucharistic Adoration at Saint Joseph’s, Stockport.

The Second Vatican Council insisted every member of the faithful has a responsibility to so pray and support new vocations to the Ministerial Priesthood(vi). This is a good day for us to consider our part in praying and supporting new and generous vocations to the Priesthood, not least by the joyful living of our own vocation. I want to thank all the priests of the Diocese for their faithful witness; and recall the moving moment when they gathered at the Cathedral on the eve of Holy Thursday, to renew their priestly commitment in the light of that day when the Eucharist and the Priesthood were ‘born together.’ They declared their resolve from the day of ordination to the end to “follow Christ the Head and Shepherd, not seeking any gain, but moved only by zeal for souls” (vii).

Our Lady is the model of this joyful faithfulness, as Pope Leo observes, showing every member of the Church how to listen in prayer and receive the gift of their vocation. Let us entrust to Our Lady’s prayers, the 12 men now preparing for the Priesthood, and all coming forward to consider the priestly vocation on which the future mission of our Shrewsbury Diocese so much depends.

United in this prayer,

+ Mark

i   Message of Pope Leo XIV for 63rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, 26th April 2026

ii  Mass at Westminster Cathedral, 18th September 2010

iii Cf. Preface of the Chrism Mass

iv I Pet. 2: 25

v  Jn. 10: 10

vi  Cf. Decree on the Training of Priests, Optatam Totius, No. 2

vii Renewal of Priestly Promises at the Chrism Mass

Holy Week Schedule

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Palm Sunday 29th March
8.30am Low Mass
10.30am Sung Mass & Procession
4.30pm Solemn Vespers & Benediction

Maundy Thursday 2nd April
8.30am Tenebrae
7pm Sung Mass & Procession
Adoration until Midnight

Good Friday 3rd April
8.30am Tenebrae
2pm Stations of the Cross
3pm Mass of the Presanctified

Holy Saturday 4th April
8.30am Tenebrae
6pm Easter Vigil Mass

Easter Sunday 5th April
8.30am Low Mass
10.30am Sung Mass
4.30pm Solemn Vespers & Benediction

 

Holy Week is an extraordinary time for the entire community, filled with many graces. Pray for the catechumens throughout the world who will be received into Holy Mother Church. At Ss. Peter & Paul and St. Philomena, we look forward to the baptism of Curtis Ronan on the evening of Holy Saturday. Congratulations, Curtis!

Note carefully the extra confession times available this week. Holy Mother Church requires every practising Catholic to make a confession at least once per year and to receive Holy Communion during Eastertide.

Thursday 2 – 6 pm
Friday 12– 2 pm
Saturday 3 – 5 pm

We have our usual adoration time at 5.30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Holy Thursday, following the evening Mass, there will be adoration at the altar of repose until Midnight. The special office of Tenebrae will be sung in our church on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8.30am. Tenebrae consists of the singing of psalms and the reading of prophecies and sermons from the Church Fathers which instruct us in the mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. Latin-English booklets are provided.

Two seminarians will be joining us this week, enabling us to have the rare privilege of Solemn ceremonies with deacon and sub-deacon throughout the Triduum. Deo gratias!