Easter Triduum
Easter Sunday & Easter Octave
Parish Priest – Father David B Barrett – email – olneyparishpriest@icloud.com
Parish Deacon – Rev Peter Griffin – Tel 07850499414 – email – pfgriffin@hotmail.co.uk
Parish
Administrator – Denise Wallinger Tel 01234 711212
email: ourladysolney@btconnect.com
SVP Contact – Tel 07925 125206
Parish Website: www.ourladysolney.co.uk
EASTER SERVICES VIA YOUTUBE
On behalf of Deacon Peter, Fr Brian, Fr John, Fr Malcolm, and Denise, I hope you all have a very blessed Easter – a time of grace in unusual times.
EASTER TRIDUUM
Maundy Thursday 9th April
8.00pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper Larry O’Connor Int
Good Friday 10th April
12.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy
3.00pm Solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion
Holy Saturday 11th April
9.00am Office of Readings (Matins) & Morning Prayer (Lauds)
10.00am Mid-morning Prayer (Terce)
12.00pm Midday Prayer (Sext)
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
6.00pm Evening Prayers (Vespers)
EASTER
Holy Saturday 11th April
8.00pm Easter Vigil For the people of the parish
Easter Sunday 12th April
10.30am Easter Day Mass Carol Watt RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
Monday of the Easter Octave 13th April
10.00am Mass Tom Bermingham RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
Tuesday of the Easter Octave 14th April
10.00am Mass Bogden Ptak RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
Wednesday of the Easter Octave 15th April
10.00am Mass Noreen Ryan RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
Thursday of the Easter Octave 16th April
10.00am Mass Michael Griffin RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
Friday of the Easter Octave 17th April
10.00am Mass David Beadle RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
Saturday of the Easter Octave 18th April
10.00am Mass Throckmorton Family RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy & Afternoon Prayer (None)
Second Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy Sunday
Sat 6.30pm Mass For the people of the parish
Sun 10.30am Mass Pamela Davis RIP
3.00pm Novena of Divine Mercy (Final Day) & Afternoon Prayer (None)
To watch the parish Liturgy on the internet, either ask Denise to email you the daily link, or go to our parish website and press the link button that reads TAKE ME THERE. Live Masses have the word LIVE printed on the picture on the screen: you click on that and you should be there. Just make sure that it is the correct Mass.
HOLY SATURDAY – If you want, you can tune into the Liturgy of the Hours – hymns, psalms and readings. These are the Hours which anyone can pray, not just priests, religious, monks or nuns. They sanctify the different stages of the day and are offered for the Church and the world.
Holy Saturday is a day of waiting: the Tabernacle is empty but the Tomb is not; we wait for the Tomb to become empty as the Lord rises from the dead and for the tabernacles across the world to be filled with the Blessed Sacrament of His Risen Body. The Liturgy of the Hours help us to navigate the hours of waiting until the Easter Vigil begins.
The texts for the different Hours of the Office can be found on our parish website.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION – Even if you are not attending Mass, you can make a Spiritual Communion every day. It is an expressed heartfelt desire to receive Our Lord even when we are unable. In making the prayer, we receive the Lord spiritually. Here is one prayer to make a Spiritual Communion:
My Jesus, I believe that You are truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as being already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
St Alphonsus Liguori
NOVENA OF DIVINE MERCY –The Novena of Divine Mercy will begin on Good Friday and end on the 2nd Sunday of Easter, known as Divine Mercy Sunday. You will find the prayers of the Novena on our parish website, as well as how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Please do join in as we pray for the world at this difficult time.
SISTER CELINE LOUGHNANE DHS has sadly passed away Wednesday of Holy Week. We pray for the repose of her soul, and for consolation and comfort for her family and for all of the Sisters at St Joseph’s Convent. We keep Sister Francis Mary in our prayers.
FOODBANK – Please continue to support the foodbank either by dropping off at church. Every day I will have a box outside my front door for donations. The following products are especially needed:
- Long Life Juice
- Long Life Milk
- Tinned Rice Pudding / Custard
- Tinned Meat
- Tinned Vegetables
- Tinned Tomatoes
- Pasta Sauce
- Spreads
PARISH SUPPORT – Denise our Parish Administrator writes: “If you weren’t able to collect your new envelopes from the church but would still like to continue supporting the church could you please put your offering in a plain envelope and include a piece of paper with your old envelope number along with your initials. The information is needed for gift aid purposes.
“If
you are making an Easter Offering for Father David please ensure you say it is
your Easter Offering. Please either put through the presbytery door or post to
the church address.
“Anyone wishing to set up a standing order for donations to your parish using
either your on-line bank account or in your branch, please contact me for the
relevant details.
“Any
cheques should be made payable to Our Lady Help of Christians. Thank
you.”
MASS OFFERINGS (STIPENDS) – If you have any Mass intentions to be offered, please contact Fr David, Deacon Peter or Denise. Please do include the full name of the person for whom you want the Mass to be offered, whether they are alive or deceased.
SOME THOUGHTS FOR THIS EASTER
St Paul writes in this Easter Sunday’s Second Reading, “Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is.” What is this true life which we have been brought back to?
Many of us are hoping that things will soon return to normal life – but it is unclear when that might be. But is normal life the same as true life? We have the opportunity during this period of lockdown to stop and survey our normal life. What is it like when society is running as it usually does? What are we like as people when things are normal? Are we at peace with ourselves or with others or with God? Or are we just swept along by the normal turbulent flow of daily living, rarely stopping to wonder if we are going in the right direction? Are we just flowing with everything else in one direction, not really aware of where we are going? Is life just about being swept along in the current and drifting unthinkingly with everything and everyone else in the flow?
At the Easter Vigil, we heard the great reading from the Book of Exodus of how God rescued the People of Israel from the pursuing Egyptian army led by Pharaoh. This was the first Passover. He led them out of slavery, where they could not be at all free but had to live at the whims of their masters. It is significant that God leads the people through the Red Sea. The whole event is given as a pattern for how God will deal with His people: being overpowered by some form of slavery, the sudden realisation that we are powerless, realising that God is the one who is truly in charge, and being led through turbulent waters to freedom. They pass over from slavery to the freedom of the Spirit.
This pattern appears again and again in the Bible. Take Psalm 17 for example, written many years after the events of the Exodus, probably by King David. He uses the template of the Exodus to describe how God has saved him:
The waves of death rose about me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
the snares of the grave entangled me;
the traps of death confronted me. (vv.5-6)
The psalmist then goes on to describe how God saves him from his dire situation:
From on high He reached down and seized me;
He drew me forth from the mighty waters.
He snatched me from my powerful foe,
from my enemies whose strength I could not match. (vv.17-18)
He brought me forth into freedom,
He saved me because He loved me. (v20)
This same template was employed when we were baptised: through the waters poured upon us we moved from being merely children of nature to being children of God. At Easter, Christ passed through the deep and turbulent waters of suffering and death and sin to the new and utterly free life of Resurrection. He is now the new and eternal Passover. This same pattern has been engraved upon our souls: if we wish to call upon its saving power to move us out of our slavery to sin or fear then we can – and the Lord will bring us forth into freedom. The only reason He does this is because He loves us – He loves you, He loves me, utterly and absolutely, and nothing we may do can limit His power to love.
We have been brought back to true life with Christ. This Easter, locked down as we are, is an opportunity to reflect: in my normal life, what are the good things? What enslaves me? What do I do automatically and even selfishly? What are the blessings that I have? Do I realise and use the infinite spiritual potential that is within my heart since I was joined to Christ the new Passover at my baptism? When things get back to normal, do I want to live the normal life or the real life?
Yes, Christ is risen. He goes before us. To follow Him where He leads us as our Good Shepherd, we have to hold on to Him. If we don’t, we will just drift aimlessly in the normal flow. Life is about more than drifting. It has an aim. Following Christ each day means that our life has a real goal. He gives us the grace to live and experience life with freedom and not just let it happen to us. We can count on Christ to help us find the way: He is risen with an eternal, indestructible and unfailing life. And He is with us always, yes, to the end of time.
May Our Lady, Help of Christians, who rejoiced at the Resurrection of her Son, St Joseph and St Lawrence pray for us all, for all in the Health Service, for our Governments, for our parish and Diocese and the whole Church – and for all of the world. Let’s keep praying for each other and supporting those in need.
With my love and prayers,
Fr David B Barrett
Parish Priest