St Mary's & St Columba's, Gosport

18/02/2022

11/02/2022

Our Lady of Lourdes Fun Fact

On January 20, 1858 the bishop of the diocese, on which Lourdes depended, issued a decree in which he invited the parish priests of the diocese to find a preacher to instruct the faithful for 15 days in a row inviting them to prayer, penance, to the commitment of giving witness as authentic Christians and defenders of the faith. The parish priest of Lourdes had not yet found anyone to preach in his parish and had pointed out this difficulty to his bishop. We do not know the bishop's answer, but we know God's response through Mary, who had proposed herself as a ‘special preacher’, inviting Christians to prayer and penance.

In one of the first apparitions in Lourdes, the Virgin made a request to Bernadette: "Do you want to do me the grace to come here for a fortnight?" This request was made on Thursday, February 18, the day after Ash Wednesday. So, Lent, a season of great spiritual importance in the life of the Christian and the Church, had already begun.

How are you preparing for Lent? Lent begins in about three weeks and we can start thinking of ways to make our Lenten observance a fruitful one.

11/02/2022

30/01/2022

The newsletter for this week

29th/30th January 2022

28/01/2022

Restrictions brought in halt the spread of Covid-19 will today be scrapped in churches throughout England and Wales after nearly two years. The wearing of masks inside churches will be optional rather than compulsory and there will be no social distancing. The use of shared hymn books will be resume...

26/01/2022

The Conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne

25/01/2022

Here is the newsletter for this week

22nd/232rd January 2022