The Ascension of the Lord
Webmaster • May 23, 2025
Join us on the 29th May for Holy Mass and the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord.
On Thursday, we meet the parents of the First Communion class for the third time At the weekend we will be just 2 weeks away from Pentecost Please find below a short introduction for parents/ carers and parishioners to a taster session based on the Sycamore programme It gives joining details for a Zoom session on Wednesday 4th June It provides a short reading from Acts as well as a chance to view the kinds of questions that we could use in Breakout rooms. I have downloaded the three Pentecost films. Each last 5-7 minutes. People who join the Zoom session will watch each followed by a short breakout session,The breakout will be facilitated [ parishioners/ teachers ]
For the over 55s in the Community Hall, Bedford Street. Wednesdays 1.30pm - 4pm Community Cuppa afternoon involves entertainment (organised by parishioners and guests), quizzes, bingo, raffle and plenty of cake and beverages.
Holy Rosary will be held in Our Lady’s Garden at St Peter’s every Sunday beginning 4th May at 10.45am All are welcome to join!
Saturday 31st May 5pm We will be praying the Holy Rosary in honour of Our Lady on this Feast Day before the Vigil Mass. All are welcome to join
The diocesan Catholic Charismatic Team invites you to a Saturday with praise & worship, Mass and small group sharing at Jubilee shrines across the Archdiocese. Each day runs 10 am - 3pm, please bring packed lunch. 14 June - Sacred Heart Centre, Swansea SA6 6HX 28 June - Belmont Abbey, Hereford HR2 9RZ 5 July - St Non’s Retreat, SA62 6BN
National flags On this Solemnity, we would like to decorate the Church with different national flags that represent all the nationalities that make up our Parish Community. If you have a national flag, can you please bring it to the Church before Friday 6 June. There will be a box in the porch (please label the flag with your name for returning). *************************************** Nationalities in the Parish We wish to celebrate the diversity of Parishioners in our Parish on Pentecost. Please add your own Nationality or Ethnicity to the list in the entrance NEXT WEEKEND. The list will be typed up and attached to the newsletter on Pentecost Sunday. *************************************** Prayers on Pentecost Sunday NEXT WEEKEND, we will be looking for parishioners to volunteer to say one bidding prayer in their own language on Pentecost Sunday
The Virtues of Mary - Love of Compassion Mary's most attractive form of love for mankind, is her compassion (or mercy) to the afflicted. We greet her in the Litany as 'Health of the sick', 'Comfort of the afflicted', 'Refuge of sinners', are not without reason. Because we believe her compassionate heart full of tenderness for the unhappy children of Eve, can helps us in every evil, physical, intellectual, or moral, that crosses our path. Think of the miraculous cures, obtained in the past and nowadays through Mary's intercession. If the shadow of St. Peter falling on the sick could give them health, how much more potent must be the prayer of the Mother of God? Christians recourse to Mary in times of illness, of pain, of fears; and received unspeakable consolations, felt strengthened, or sometimes sufferings alleviated. Even in the agony of death, she will help us in our last moments; since Mary seated by the death-bed of St. Joseph, made death itself seem sweet to him, she also stood beneath the Cross to behold her Son's cruel death on Calvary. "Oh Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death." Illnesses can kill the body, which cause our lives. But there is something more deadlier - sins, can kill our souls, which causes our Eternal Life. Although we are sinners, we can find safety in Mary's compassion. As Jesus the good Shepherd Who went over the rugged heights of the mountains to look for the lost sheep, so Mary is like the woman in the Gospel who lights her candle and searches the whole house to find her lost coin. But, do you know, we have cost Mary something more precious than money. Did we not cost her all that stream of Blood that flowed on Golgotha? That Blood had come to Jesus from Mary and from her alone, and she offered it with Him for the salvation of sinners. So, if you feel far from God, burden by guilt, or feel shame to approach God, then recourse to Mary. We shall receive from her the mother's love and the longing peace. As she had become Mother of God without ceasing to be a Virgin, and beneath the Cross she became mother of sinners without ceasing to be the Mother of God. Let our burden or fearful heart fly to Mary. "May you be a house of refuge to me, so you may save me." (Reference: 'The Virtues of Mary' by Luigi Lanzoni, Loughborough: John Corah & Son, 1897
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27) Grant, almighty God, that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy, which we keep in honor of the risen Lord, and that what we relive in remembrance we may always hold to in what we do. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Llantwit Major, CF61 1TQ Thursday 29th May to Sunday 1st June This is an opportunity to make a pilgrimage together as an Archdiocesan Family to one of the Jubilee Churches. Journeying together in the light of the Word of God, through conversion, forgiveness, prayer and mercy, can contribute amazingly to restoring the climate of Hope and Trust in the Church that walks in pilgrimage to the light of hope for a brighter future. See poster at Church porch for schedule details
The Virtues of Mary - Poverty Though Mary came of the ancient line of David, was born at a time when the royal house had been brought to poverty. She was espoused to a poor carpenter, and she was poor all her life. But her poverty was not merely the condition of life in which her lot was cast: it was also a virtue loved and practised by free choice. Consider the precious gifts received from the Three Kings, she and Joseph did not keep them all but gave so much away! She also gloried in possessing nothing else than God and magnified Him for His bounty to the poor. "He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away". Moreover, was her great love to Jesus, Who being infinitely rich made Himself poor for our sake, and Jesus praised them: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". But Mary's poverty, though voluntary and most honourable, was not without unspeakable humiliations and sorrows. Because in her time, poverty, like sterility, would seemed as a curse from heaven. Nazareth, Bethlehem and Egypt can tell us what the humble dwellings and bitter exile must have been for Mary. It is true that the love of Jesus gladdened her amid all her pains. But probably there were also moments in which she lamented her poverty and cannot find words to excuse her inability when she couldn't offer fitting hospitality to honour her 'noble guest' whom she reveres and loves. In her poverty she must shelter and support the Son of God for nearly 30 years! She could only give Him a bed of hay at His Birth. His place was a stable, and His cradle a manger. Then she lived with Him in an obscure village, unhonoured, unnoticed, labouring in a humble workshop. Next she must allow Him to be maintained by poor women who followed Him and supplied Him with His daily food. Finally, she hasn't even got a tomb to lay Him, but must be beholden to another for His restingplace. How often must Mary's maternal heart has shared these wounded feelings of the poor ! The world regards wealth with envy and esteem, and it knows nothing of the hidden loveliness of voluntary poverty. But this treasure is appreciated by the Saints. Voluntary poverty, ever since Jesus and Mary made it known and glorified it by their example, has been the wealth of generous souls and the nourishment of virtues. (Reference: 'The Virtues of Mary' by Luigi Lanzoni, Loughborough: John Corah & Son, 1897 The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, Bl Anne Catherine Emmerich, Vol 1)