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SPUC

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The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children are holding a youth conference in Liverpool from March 6th to 8th. More detailed information can be found here but here’s an outline of the main points on their digital leaflet.

Youth Conference leaflet 2015 digital version

The Vatican Observatory

Here’s a little clip from the BBC on the Holy See’s scientific observatory in Arizona. VO link

VIDEO LINK CLICK HERE

And for more information, here’s the Official Web Site of the observatory. The image below of Crab Nebula-2 was taken by the Vatican’s Telescope on 28th January, just last week! Crab Nebula 2

St Blaise

It’s Saint Blaise’s Day – the day where you can get your throat blessed by the imposition of candles.

Blaise

St Blaise, according to legend, cured a boy of choking on a fishbone and, since then, he has been invoked as an intercessor for good health. Fr Owen will give blessing of throats and say the prayers for the sick at St Luke’s Chapel in Withybush hospital at 2pm today.

St Blaise was the bishop of Sebastea in Armenia in the early 4th century. While the truth of the fishbone story is debated, it is known that many people went to him for prayers when they were sick and that he cured many of them. There are ancient medical texts in which he is referenced. During a persecution he was taken captive and attacked with spiked iron paddles before being martyred by beheading. He is the patron saint of wool manufactures because the instrument of his torture resembled that of a wool-comber’s comb, called a carding tool (pictured).

Blaise comb

There is another legend: On the way to Sebastea, Blaise met a poor woman whose pig had been taken by a wolf. At the command of Blaise, the wolf returned the pig to its owner, safe and well. Later, while Blaise was in prison awaiting execution, the woman whose pig he’d saved came to see him. She gave him two wax candles as a gift to light his prison cell. Hence the blessing with candles which were themselves blessed yesterday.

Candlemas 5

Candlemas

Presentation

February 2nd is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, sometimes known as Candlemas. The feast recalls the Jewish purification rites, which would have taken place 40 days after the birth of a child. It was on this occasion when Mary offered sacrifices for her and her son’s purification, and also when the Holy Family met Anna and Simeon in the temple.

We recall on this day, and on Good Friday, the prophecy of Simeon that “a sword shall pierce you own soul too, so that the secret thoughts of many might be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

 candlemas

On this day’s Mass, the candles that are to be used for the next liturgical year are blessed, hence the common name for the day ‘Candlemas’. Each member of the congregation also gets to keep a blessed candle for use in their home. Traditionally this candle was used to light the way of the priest from the font door of the home to the sick bed, when he was bringing Holy Communion to the ill and dying. Many still like to keep to this practice and it is not uncommon to be met at the door of the house with a lit candle when arriving with the Blessed Sacrament. Others light their candles in times of strife as an act of prayer– the polish community light their candles in heavy storms and pray for good weather to return.

 Blaise 2

Two of the candles, which are blessed on this day, are then used the following day, February 3rd, the day of Saint Blaise. St Blaise cured a child of choking on a fishbone and, as such, he has become the patron saint of illnesses of the throat. The blessing of throats, by invoking the intercession of St Blaise, is carried out on this day by placing the two candles across the throats of the faithful.

Blaise

Synod 2015: The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World.

M and F

Today Bishop Tom issued a pastoral letter to whole diocese. At the same time the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales launched a document called ‘The Call, The Journey and The Mission’. The latter was printed and made available, after Mass, for every household.

The theme of these documents is to respond to an invitation from Pope Francis to reflect upon our experiences of marriage and family life. All of us were born into a family; all of us have a mother and father. Therefore, whether we are married or single, have children or not, we all have some experience of family life. Some of these experiences are positive, some are not.

In reflecting upon our experiences of, we have been asked to answer six questions. There is no need to answer them all at once. In fact, we are being asked to take time to think about our reply to each question. As such, there will only be one question given every two weeks. Responses to each question may then be placed in a box provided at the back of the Church. The responses will then be collected by the diocese, before being sent to the Bishops’ Office in London where Vincent Cardinal Nicholls will take the replies to Rome. Alternatively, responses may be made on-line by filling in the form here.

The questions are:

Question 1: For Sunday 01 February 2015. What are your joys and hopes of marriage and family life today?

Question 2: For Sunday 15 February 2015. What are your struggles and fears of marriage and family life today?

Question 3: For Sunday 01 March 2015. How can we better understand marriage as a vocation?

Question 4: For Sunday 15 March 2015. How does marriage enrich you?

Question 5: For Sunday 29 March 2015. How does your family life enrich you?

Question 6: For Sunday 05 April 2015. In what way, through the abiding presence of God, is your family “Salt of the earth and light to the world,” and a place of and for handing on the faith?