November 5th – 11th – Change to Schedule

Canon Wiener will be away during the week of November 5th – 11th to participate as in the years before in a silent retreat preached at Maria Engelport in Germany.

There will be no Masses in the traditional Roman Rite at St. Winefride’s during that time.

His return to Shrewsbury is scheduled for Saturday, November 11th during the day to be the celebrant of the Requiem Mass on Remembrance Day on Sunday, November 12th.
Canon will celebrate all scheduled Masses with the indicated intentions in Maria Engelport.

Thank you for your understanding.

Weekday Masses week commencing Monday 29th May

Masses (including Adoration and Benediction) have been cancelled from Tuesday 30th May to Friday 2nd June (inclusive).

The Canons of the Institute’s UK province will spend the octave of Pentecost together in Lanherne. This fraternal time together helps the Canons to continue their pastoral work and mission, “living the truth in charity.

Due to this absence, daily Mass will not be offered at St Winefride’s until Saturday 3rd June at 10:00 am followed by First Saturday devotions.

Stations of the Cross

Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum

Each Friday in Lent at 9.00am
Stations of the Cross with veneration of the relic of the Holy Cross each Friday in Lent at 9:00 am before the 10:00 am Mass.
First Stations of the Cross on Friday, February 24th, at 9:00 am

Plenary Indulgence Opportunity – Sunday, 29th January

This year, Divine Providence has placed the feast of our great patron saint, St. Francis de Sales, on a Sunday. This will allow a greater number of faithful to attend the Mass which has the rank of a first class feast in the Institute. (The 4th Sunday after Epiphany will be commemorated.)

On December 28th, 2022, the feast of the Holy Innocents, the Church remembered the fourth centenary of the death of our holy patron which occurred at the Visitandine monastery in Lyon in the year 1622. In preparation of this year’s celebration it is recommended to (re-)read the wonderful Encyclical Rerum omnium perturbationem by Pope Pius XI. (January 26th, 1923). Since next Sunday is the last Sunday of the month, we will be able to ask for St. Francis’ powerful intercession and gentle guidance while kneeling before the Exposed Blessed Sacrament.

All present for Holy Mass on this feast day in any church of the Institute are able to receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions (Sacramental confession; Eucharistic Communion; prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent. If the latter disposition is in any way less than perfect or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be partial only).

St Winefride’s Christmas Ceilidh

Friday 30th December 2022
Rodington Village Hall, SY4 4QS
5pm to 10pm

 

 

 

Doors open at 5pm, dancing begins at 5.30pm until 9.30pm
Bring and share supper (and drinks!) at 7pm
£12 per adult £6 per child
Please buy your tickets before
Thursday 15th December,
from Margaret-Mary or Adeline after Sunday Mass

 

All profits will go to the ICKSP Shrewsbury Apostolate

 

 

 

 

A Pastoral Letter on Public Worship and Public Responsibility

My dear brothers and sisters,

As I write, a third National Lockdown has begun with many restrictions reducing our daily lives to “essentials.” The Government now recognises public worship as one of those essentials. Not a few may ask why churches remain open when other activities are prohibited; and some will question why worship remains the only legally permitted public gathering. Yet, we know that worship is not only a fundamental freedom: it is our primary human vocation. In short, worship is what we were made for! [1] The Catholic faith teaches that this worship is supremely offered in the Sacrifice of the Mass in which God is glorified and humanity sanctified.[2]

It is your witness to this truth, which I have no doubt, has enabled public worship to be recognised as essential to society during this renewed lockdown. It is almost certainly the care with which all safety measures have been implemented in parishes which has now allowed the celebration of Mass and the Sacraments to continue. I wish, once again, to record my thanks to the clergy, the teams of parish volunteers and every member of the faithful who have together implemented and followed these safety requirements.

In all of this, we recognise the seriousness of our responsibility to help ensure the continuance of public worship and the safety of all. I ask you at the beginning of this New Year and a renewed state of lockdown, not to assume we have yet returned to “normal life” in our parishes; nor to give way to any sense of complacency, especially whilst a new variant of the virus is spreading rapidly. The continuance of public worship into Lent and Easter will, in large measure, depend on our vigilance and all our efforts to follow the measures which have already made our churches among the safest places in society.

In my letter to you in March of last year, I wrote of how these safety requirements can be lived in a spirit of charity. We continue to see how these demands call us to a refinement of charity. Requirements as strange – yet now so familiar – as social distancing, hand sanitising in church and wearing face coverings can serve as expressions of our love for our Lord and our love for the Mass, which continues to be publicly celebrated because of the careful fulfilment of such duties. If we ever feel fatigued in carrying out these requirements, let us renew them with love. At the end of the Christmas celebration, let us also do so with our gaze fixed on the Holy Eucharist, where the same Lord Jesus is now truly present whom wise men once fell down and worshipped; and whom Saint John the Baptist declared himself to be unfit even to kneel at His feet [3].

As I picture you gathered in all the churches of the Diocese, may Saint Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a support and guide in time of trouble [4]. – accompany us through these troubled times in fulfilling the greatness of our call to worship and our responsibility both to each other and to the whole of society.

Entrusting each of you to Saint Joseph’s prayers,

+ Mark, Bishop of Shrewsbury

  1. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 2096
  2. Second Vatican Council Sacrosanctum Concilium n. 7
  3. Cf. Mt. 2: 11, Mk. 1: 8 & Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist, Council of Trent Session 13 4 Cf. Patris Corde 8th December 2020

Sponsor a parachuting priest! £5000 needed!

What is St Benedict’s Academy all about? We are a part-time academy based in Preston, Lancashire, looked after by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, and welcome children from age 5 to 18. In September, the academy will be entering into its third academic year, having started in January 2018.

The education provided at St. Benedict’s is all deeply rooted in the Catholic faith, as all subjects lead back to Our Lord. Whether in the study of History, with the Incarnation as its centre-piece, learning about and admiring the wonderful creation of God through the sciences, or in the study of the sacred language of the Church, Latin, through looking at the texts of the Mass, as well as passages from the Vulgate, Christ is always at the centre.

As priests, it is a great privilege to be able to teach the children, and to pass on the faith to them. The Sisters Adorers teach Catechism and French, as well as Gregorian Chant and Polyphony. It is wonderful to have religious around the school, as an example and inspiration to the children!

Every Friday, at 12 noon, there is a sung Mass at English Martyrs, at which some of the boys from St. Benedict’s serve, and the rest of the children sing the Kyriale of the Mass, as well some of the Ordinary, along with one or two polyphonic motets.

While the majority of the teachers at St. Benedict’s are volunteers, there are in fact many other essential costs needed to run the formation of the children, which include: heating of the building, electricity and water bills, textbooks, insurance and maintenance of the Academy.

As the academy is a charity, we never wish to turn a family away if they are not able to afford the fees and at present the majority of families do not pay fees. In order to keep the Academy running and to provide a strong catholic education to as many children as possible, we rely on the donations of generous benefactors.

As we read in our dearly-beloved Missal at Christmas time, “Thine almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven”. Priests must always imitate Christ in all things. Therefore, Canon Vianney Poucin, accompanied by Philip Russell (a trustee) and Kevin Russell-Young (a parent of three of the children) will also be leaping from the heavens (15000ft), but by means of an aeroplane and a parachute in order to raise funds for St Benedict’s!

The planned date is the 4th September in Lancaster

Will you help make Catholic Education great again? Will you sponsor them?
#If you feel able, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/parachuting-priest