Saint Mary's, Greenock

Saint Mary's, Greenock St Mary's is the "mother parish" of the Catholic community in this part of Scotland founded in 1808. The mother Church of Inverclyde

05/08/2025

In a message on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Pope Leo XIV urges the international community to renew its commitment ...

05/08/2025

'The Transfiguration [which we celebrate tomorrow] reveals that for those who are in Christ there is the potential to set free the divine inside of us, to allow that which shapes us like our DNA to become more and more visible,' writes James Crampsey SJ. https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20120425_1.htm

05/08/2025

White flower petals raining down on the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.

05/08/2025

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of August is for mutual coexistence.

In a video released July 29, the Holy Father asked the faithful to pray “that societies where coexistence seems more difficult might not succumb to the temptation of confrontation for ethnic, political, religious, or ideological reasons.”

According to a press release, this month’s video was made in collaboration with the Jesuit Communications Foundation (JesCom).

In the video, Pope Leo recites a prayer composed specifically for this month’s prayer intention.

Here is Pope Leo’s full prayer:

Jesus, Lord of our history,
Faithful companion and living presence,
You who never tire of coming to meet us,
Here we are, in need of your peace.
We live in times of fear and division.
Sometimes we act as if we were alone,
Building walls that separate us from one another,
Forgetting that we are brothers and sisters.
Send us your Spirit, Lord,
To rekindle within us
The desire to understand one another, to listen,
To live together with respect and compassion.
Give us the courage to seek paths of dialogue,
To respond to conflict with gestures of fraternity,
To open our hearts to others without fear of differences.
Make us builders of bridges,
Able to overcome borders and ideologies,
Able to see others through the eyes of the heart,
Recognizing in every person an inviolable dignity.
Help us create spaces where hope can flourish,
Where diversity is not a threat
But a richness that makes us more human.

Amen.

The video prayer intention is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions. https://bit.ly/4mpx6H9

05/08/2025

Want to Become A Catholic?

The RCIA process will be starting soon in a parish near you.

For more information, please contact your local priest or fill in the enquiry form here👇

https://rcdop.org.uk/rcia

where you will find more information about the process.

⛪️

05/08/2025

05 August | Dedication of Saint Mary Major Basilica

First raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the Liberian basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431. Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the largest church in the world honoring God through Mary. Standing atop one of Rome’s seven hills, the Esquiline, it has survived many restorations without losing its character as an early Roman basilica. Its interior retains three naves divided by colonnades in the style of Constantine’s era. Fifth-century mosaics on its walls testify to its antiquity.
St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal churches in memory of the first centers of the Church. St. John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter; St. Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided over by Mark; St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople; and St. Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most of her later life.
One legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every August 5.

Source:
Dedication of Saint Mary Major Basilica — Franciscan Media

04/08/2025

🙏Monthly reflection: August

“When the heart is pure and simple it cannot​ help loving, because it has discovered the​ source of love which is God." - St John Vianney​

What a quote! The world would be a very different place if all could not help but be loving. St John Vianney knew the source of that pure love. 1 John chapter 4 verse 7 and 8 asks us to love one another, for love is from God, and reminds us that God is love.

St John Vianney (1786–1859) grew up in​ a Catholic family that put the poor around them first.​ He became a Priest in 1815 and worked tirelessly to strengthen and renew faith in the French town of Ars after the impact of the French revolution. He was canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius X and is the Patron Saint of Parish Priests.

The Feast Day of St John Vianney is today and it is right that we remember our Priests, both local and global, in prayer. Thanking God for the blessing they are to us and many communities around the world, and praying for their protection, health and continued work as Shepherds of the Church.

Let us
- Give thanks for our local Parish Priests and their commitment to the self-sacrificing vocation of service they lead.
- Pray that Parish Priests across the world will be equipped with all that they need to do in proclaiming the word of God, delivering the Sacraments and being wise in complex pastoral issues.
- Pray for Parish Priests in especially difficult situations across the world.
- Pray for new Priests, those in seminary and those about to take the first steps in their formation. For boldness, compassion and gentleness.
- Pray for strength in the face of persecution, violence, war and conflict. For wisdom in how to act and respond to opposition.

04/08/2025

Reading for today's feast of St John Vianney: Gerry O’Collins SJ shared some thoughts on the priesthood of Christ, as understood by Paul, and considers how ordained ministry continually draws on aspects of Christ’s priesthood. https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090626_1.htm

04/08/2025

04 August | St. John Vianney

St. John Vianney, in full Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney, also called Curé d’Ars, (born May 8, 1786, Dardilly, France—died August 4, 1859, Ars; canonized May 31, 1925; feast day August 4 [formerly August 9]), French priest who was renowned as a confessor and for his supernatural powers. He is the patron saint of parish priests.
Because of the French Revolution, Vianney received little education. Given the anticlerical sentiment of the Hébertists during the Reign of Terror, he was forced to make his first communion and confession secretly and was impressed by the heroism of the nuns and priests who risked their lives for their faith. He felt called to pursue the priesthood but struggled with Latin and needed private tutoring to supplement his lack of formal education. His studies were interrupted when he was drafted into Napoleon’s armies in 1809. Whether deliberately or by serendipity, he was separated from his draft group and ended up in a rural village with a number of army deserters, where he was forced to hide until the decree of amnesty for all deserters in 1810. He was ordained in 1815 and was made assistant priest at Écully, France.
In 1818 he became priest of the small village of Ars, which he made a model parish and from which reports of his holiness and his supernatural powers soon spread. He was known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary and to St. Philomena and was dedicated to the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) for his parishioners. From 1824 he suffered attacks that he believed were caused by the Devil, who allegedly on one occasion set fire to Vianney’s bed. By 1827 Ars had become a pilgrimage site, and, every year from 1845 until Vianney’s death, about 20,000 persons visited Ars to see Vianney and especially to make their confession to him. The holy curé spent as many as 12 or 15 hours daily in his confessional. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI.

Source:
(1) St. John Vianney — Britannica

03/08/2025

Hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world joined Pope Leo for the Prayer Vigil for the Jubilee of Youth, which focused on three themes: fri...

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