St Mary Magdalene's Church, Eccles, Manchester

13/06/2026

O God, who prepared a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit in the Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
graciously grant that through her intercession
we may be a worthy temple of your glory.
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.

09/06/2026

Almighty God,
who filled the heart of your Abbot Saint Columba
with the joy of the Holy Spirit
and with deep love for those in his care,
grant, by his intercession,
that your pilgrim people may follow him,
strong in faith, sustained by hope
and one in the love that binds us to you.
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.

09/06/2026

Pour into our hearts O Lord, we pray, the Holy Spirit,
at whose prompting the Deacon Saint Ephrem
exulted in singing of your mysteries
and from whom he received the strength
to serve you alone.
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.

07/06/2026

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament
have left us a memorial of your Passion,
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood
that we may always experience in ourselves
the fruits of your redemption.
Who live and reign with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

26/05/2026

O God, who never cease to bestow the glory of holiness on the faithful servants you raise up for yourself, graciously grant
that the Holy Spirit may kindle in us that fire
with which he wonderfully filled
the heart of Saint Philip Neri.
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.

25/05/2026

O God, Father of mercies,
whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother,
to be our Mother also,
grant, we pray, that with her loving help
your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and, exulting in the holiness of her children,
may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples.
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.

15/05/2026

14/05/2026

Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God,
and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving,
for the Ascension of Christ your Son
is our exaltation,
and, where the Head has gone before in glory,
the Body is called to follow in hope.
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.

13/05/2026

O God, who chose the Mother of your Son
to be our Mother also,
grant us that, persevering in penance and prayer
for the salvation of the world, we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

04/05/2026

O English hearts, what heart can know how spent with labours long ago was England’s Church that bore you? The paths you tread, in lane or street, long since were trodden by the feet of saints that went before you; when priests, like sudden angels, came to light in distant shires the flame that faith’s dull ember’s cherished, when Mass and shrift were sought for still in silent farm, on lonely hill, ere ancient memories perished. (Ronald Knox)

Today we celebrate the martyrs of the English Reformation, beginning with St John Houghton OCart and his Carthusian brethren from the London Charterhouse, who were executed at Tyburn on 4 May 1535.

In Westminster Cathedral, the ceiling of the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs is adorned with the names of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, canonised in 1970, beneath which lies the shrine of St John Southworth, the martyred ‘Parish Priest of Westminster’.

St John Houghton, St Cuthbert Mayne, St John Southworth, and the martyred heroes and heroines of the English Church, pray for us!