St Oswald & St Edmund Arrowsmith Liverpool Road, Ashton-In-Makerfield, Wigan, WN4 9NP Liverpool R.C. Archdiocesan Trustees Reg. Charity No. 232709

Parish Priest: Rev. John Gorman Tel: 01942 727271 Deacons: Revv. Paul Blinston, Jim Byrne, John O’Brien (rtd)

Parish Office: 01942 727249 Open: Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 9am—2pm Parish Website: www.stoswaldandstarrowsmith.org.uk

Week commencing: 10th May 2020 5th SUNDAY of EASTER (A) Parish Mass Book: Page 265 Order of Mass: Page 7 Preface 5 of Easter: Page 75 Eucharistic Prayer 3: Page 28

5th SUNDAY of EASTER (A) Services during the week

Saturday 6.00pm Brenda Rudkin Confessions: There are no Confessions until Sunday 9.30am Maureen Rigby further notice. 11.00am Parishioners Rosary: There is no public recitation of the 6.30pm Lawless Family Rosary until further notice. Weekday Masses Holy Hour: There are no public Holy Hours Monday 9.00am Kay Bridson until further notice. Tuesday 9.30am Lena Skitt Wednesday Feast of the Dedication of the Novena: There is no Novena until further notice. Metropolitan 9.30am Gloria Swain Ashton Food Bank

Thursday St. Matthias, Apostle With our Churches being closed, we have not 9.30am Dermot Hurley been able top support the Ashton Food Bank in Friday Our Lady of Fatima the normal way, particularly at a time when there is an increased need. 9.00am In Thanksgiving Saturday 10.00am Walmsley & Howorth Anyone who wishes to make a contribution can Family do so by dropping items off at the Food Bank at St. Thomas’ Hall, Ashton, on Friday mornings 6th SUNDAY of EASTER (A) between 9.30-11.00am. There is a particular need for items such as tinned meat, fruit and Saturday 6.00pm Sarah & Robert Fairhurst vegetables, pasta, mash and uht milk.

Sunday 9.30am Mgr. Vincent Brady A donation of £100 from each of our parishes has 11.00am Mary Rogers been made to support the work of the Food Bank. 6.30pm Parishioners

Requiescat in Pacem

Pray, please, for the repose of the souls of Jason Callaghan of Bevington Street, Ashton who died this week. Lourdes Grotto

I am grateful to Mr Ned Ward who, this week, volunteered to begin the clean-up of Our Lady’s Grotto. I hope you will agree that this has made a significant improvement. Anyone who is able to assist in this way, please contact Fr John. YouTube

A total of 350 people viewed Mass last weekend on Youtube at rcchurchesashton, and a further 250 viewed the recording of the 1st Friday and 1st Saturday devotions, so I hope that was a source of great consolation to those of you who did so. Thanks top those who posted a comment in appreciation.

Once again, the Vigil Mass on Saturday evening will be recorded and uploaded onto the same channel in time for you to view it on Sunday morning. This will continue for a number of weeks until such a time as it is possible for us to live-stream Masses.

The number of subscribers is steadily increasing (albeit sometimes at a snail’s pace) and has reached a total of 414. This is up 73 on last week, but is still not half the numbers we need for livestreaming Mass, so please keep encouraging anyone you know to subscribe who hasn’t already done so.

This week a recording of the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour has been made which can be viewed from Wednesday of this week. A copy of the Novena Service is attached to enable you to follow it.

Mass for the Sick and Health-care Workers

The series of weekly Masses continues, each Thursday at 7.00pm, for the sick and their families, all front-line workers in the NHS and those who work in social care, celebrated by a different each week in his own Cathedral as follows. These Masses will be live-streamed, and can be viewed by visiting the Cathedral webpage, or the ’ Conference Webpage (cbcew.org.uk)

14th May Bishop Robert Byrne CO Newcastle Cathedral 21st May Bishop Mark Davies Cathedral 28th May Bishop Terence Drainey Cathedral

Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

The Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham continues to live-stream Holy Mass, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, the Liturgy of the Hours and Divine Mercy Chaplet each day. This can be accessed, for those with the internet, at www.walsingham.org.uk

Catholic Pictorial

The May edition of the Catholic Pictorial is available and can be viewed on Our Lady’s website. Print copies will be available next weekend. The Pic website www.catholicpic.co.uk is updated throughout the week, and anyone can find and follow @PicCatholic on Twitter with daily news shared and published. The Catholic Pic is also publishing videos and audio via our YouTube channel CPMM Media.

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

Friday of this week is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the date of the 1st of the apparitions of Our Lady to the three shepherd children. For those not familiar with the story of the apparitions, a short(-ish) history is attached with this week’s newsletter, and I particularly commend to you the two prayers taught the children by the angel:

‘My God, I believe in Thee, I adore Thee, I hope in Thee and I love Thee. I ask pardon for all those who do not believe in Thee, do not adore Thee, do not hope in Thee and do not love Thee.’

and conscious of the indifference which is often shown towards the Blessed Sacrament:

‘Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly, and I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of you the conversion of poor sinners.’