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.
Marriage Preparation Classes
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
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
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!
Lenten Pastoral Letter of the Bishop of Shrewsbury
Lenten Pastoral Letter
A Church Ready for Converts
My dear brothers and sisters,
As Lent begins, we see a growing number of men and women, many of them young adults, who are seeking faith and baptism. This stream of new converts is evident across our Diocese and country and indeed across the western world. It is all the more remarkable because this new generation of converts have been drawn to the Church by no special initiative on our part, rather by the constancy of faith, the reverence of worship and the authentic witness they have found. They may be statistically small in number compared with the overall decline of Christianity in our land, yet their search for Christ and His Church represents a moment of grace.
As Shrewsbury Diocese began its mission some 175 years ago, Saint John Henry Newman spoke of “a Church ready for converts.” Seeing so many today, often coming from no religious background to find the faith of the Church, I recalled these words of Cardinal Newman. We must now be ready to support new converts who are seeking Christ and His Church amid all the confusions of our time.
At the beginning of Lent, the Scriptures remind us of the deceptions which have marked humanity’s struggle from the very dawn of history and of Christ’s victory over Satan in the wilderness (i). It is with Christ that we are to renounce the evil one who seeks to pervert all that is good and true (ii). It should not surprise us that, through the shadows of our time, many are coming in search of Christ, the truth of His teaching and all the means of grace He has entrusted to His Church in the Sacraments, and supremely in His Eucharist.
The journey of these new converts brings us back to the original purpose of Lent as the time when adults prepared for Baptism. The Church quickly recognised this time was needed by all the baptised as part of their continuing conversion.
It is for this reason, that we now keep these 40 Lenten days devoted to greater prayer, self-denial and generosity as we each prepare to renew at Easter the promises of our Baptism, confess our sins and receive the Holy Eucharist with ever renewed faith and love. It is by striving to live our own conversion that we can best support a new generation of converts. For Lent calls us to recognise that every member of the Church must always be a convert.
On my visits to parishes, I often remind you of the many thousands of souls in every place who depend so much on your prayer and faithfulness. Today, with a prayer card distributed at Mass, I invite you to pray for all those in your lives and for the many adults who are seeking the faith and the new life of Baptism. May we truly be a Church of converts, that is always “ready for converts.”
United in this prayer, and as a convert with you,
+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday: Lent begins this year on Wednesday, 18th February. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence. The blessing and imposition of ashes will be at 6.30pm, followed by the Mass.
40 Hours Devotion – Quarant’Ore
The Forty Hours Devotion (Quarant’Ore) is one of the most beautiful and contemplative traditions in Catholic spirituality. It is a devotion that speaks deeply to anyone who values reverence, safeguarding of the sacred, and the quiet strengthening of a community’s spiritual life. The Forty Hours Devotion is a period of continuous Eucharistic adoration lasting (as the name suggests) around forty hours. During this time, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar, and the faithful keep watch in prayer, silence, and reflection.
It is a communal act of love and reparation, but also a profoundly personal encounter with Christ present in the Eucharist.
Why “Forty Hours”?
The number forty carries deep biblical symbolism:
- 40 hours traditionally recalls the time Jesus lay in the tomb.
- 40 days of the Flood
- 40 years in the desert
- 40 days of Jesus’ fasting before His public ministry
In Scripture, forty is a number of testing, purification, and preparation — and the devotion mirrors that rhythm.
On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (15th – 17th February), Adoration will be from 4pm to 6pm each day.
Via Crucis
The Via Crucis is a devotional journey that follows Our Lords’ path from his condemnation to his burial. It consists of 14 stations, each recalling a moment from the Passion. It is prayed especially during Lent and Holy Week, but can be prayed the year‑round. At its heart, it is about walking with Christ in his suffering and allowing that journey to help us prepare fpr Holy Week.
Each Friday during Lent at 5.30pm, we pray the Stations of the Cross (in place of Adoration).
Forthcoming Adult Catechism Classes
Adult Catechism Class – “Angels and Demons”:
One Friday per month, all are welcome regardless of prior knowledge, both Catholics and non-Catholics. The next class will be held on Friday, 20th February at 7.15pm, following the evening Mass.
`
Adult Catechism Class – “The Catholic Moral Life”:
One Saturday per month, all are welcome regardless of prior knowledge, both Catholics and non-Catholics. the morning Mass. Next month’s class will be Saturday, 28th February at 11am.
News from the Diocese: Support extension for anyone affected by church related abuse announced
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, alongside the Church of England and the Church of Wales, has confirmed that support for victims and survivors of church-related abuse will continue through the Safe Spaces independent support service. This free, national service offers confidential and trauma-informed help to anyone affected, regardless of when the abuse occurred or their current relationship with the Church.
The extension ensures that Safe Spaces, delivered by the charity First Light, will remain available for a further 15 months while plans are developed for its long-term future. This continued commitment reflects the Churches’ responsibility to ensure that survivors can access professional, compassionate support when they need it most.
Read more here: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/support-for-victims-and-survivors-of-church-related-abuse-extended/