Roman Catholic Church

ISLE OF MAN

Welcome to the official website of the
Roman Catholic Church on the Isle of Man.

 The Isle of Man is one of the 18 pastoral areas which make up the Archdiocese of Liverpool,
and on the Island there are 7 Roman Catholic churches

For details of PUBLIC WEEKDAY AND SUNDAY MASSES at a church near you, please CLICK THE ‘READ PARISH NEWSLETTERS’ BUTTON BELOW, and select the LATEST NEWSLETTER for your area

Our Lady Star of the Sea
and St Maughold, Ramsey
St Patrick’s, Peel
Parish Priest
Father Brian O Mahony CSSp
T: (01624) 813181
E: ourladystarofthesea@rcaol.org.uk

St Mary of the Isle, Douglas
St Anthony’s, Onchan
St Joseph’s, Willaston
Parish Priest and Area Dean:
Monsignor John Devine
T: (01624) 675509
E: saintmaryiom@rcaolp.co.uk

St Mary’s, Castletown
and
St Columba’s, Port Erin
Parish Priest
Fr Michael Thompson
T: (01624) 822272
E: saintmarycastletown@rcaolp.co.uk

READ PARISH NEWSLETTERS

THANK YOU FOR VISITING US!

YOU’VE REACHED THE INFORMATION HUB
FOR ALL OUR ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES

NEWS FROM
St Columba’s, Port Erin
St Mary’s, Castletown

MASS TIMES in the South

Sunday Mass is celebrated in :
St Mary’s, Castletown – 9am
St Columba’s, Port Erin – 11am 

Weekday Mass in St Columba’s,  Port Erin:
Tues and Thursday  at 10am

Weekday Mass in St Mary’s,  Castletown:
Wednesday, Friday and  Saturday  at 10am 

DIARY DATES  – Fairtrade Sale on 8 November
and Christmas Fayre on 28 November
See Newsletter for full details

MASS IN ST MARY’S, DOUGLAS

is live-streamed at the following times:

SATURDAY EVENING AT 5PM
SUNDAY AT 11AM
MONDAY TO FRIDAY AT 12:10PM

VIEW LIVE STREAM

WELCOME to our ‘Live Stream’ church family, 
wherever you are – thank you for joining with us.
If you have a prayer request,
please use the CONTACT tab 
to email details direct to our Parish Office

Other Masses can be found on the Archdiocesan website
www.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk

 


Greetings
from Monsignor John

25th October 2020 – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year A for Sundays – Cycle II for Weekdays

Dear Parishioners

October is the month of the Rosary. Like most Catholics of a certain age I was brought up on the Rosary. We used to say it each night at home – I was grateful that it was only usually one decade. My grandmother seemed to say the rosary all the time.
In the seminary we publicly recited the rosary each day.   Prior to Vatican II the Mass was in Latin and there was no opportunity for the congregation to participate. The Eucharistic Prayer was said by the priest in silence. Many Catholics said the Rosary during these quiet times in the Mass.
On Sunday afternoon there was Rosary, Sermon and Benediction, a practice that did not survive the introduction of Sunday evening Mass.
In my younger years I found the Rosary repetitive. I couldn’t work out how to think of the mysteries and say the words of Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be to the Father at the same time. And I was critical of those who appeared to mindlessly rattle through these prayers.
In later years I have come to appreciate this repetition of the familiar prayers as a mantra. Our lips move, our fingers feel the beads and this somehow allows the sacred mysteries of our faith to seep into our hearts at a much deeper level. Some of the holiest people I have ever known have lived the rosary. One elderly Irish priest used to measure everything in terms of the rosary, both distance and time: ‘It’s only three decades each morning to the newsagents’ and ‘I can cut the lawn in fifteen decades.’ Belfast priest Fr Eugene O’Neill recently put it another way: ‘saying the Rosary allows us to park our ego for a while’.

Those driving past Woodbourne Road over the last few years will have noticed major building works at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School. More classrooms have been created and the Sports and Assembly Hall has been doubled in size.
The interior has been totally refurbished with new furniture and fittings. The transformation of the building, both inside and out, is a tribute to the vision of our new headteacher Mrs Donna Martin, the school governors and the Manx Government.
Our children are our future and deserve the very best we can give them.
St Mary’s is a Catholic school. It is an extension of our parishes.
Mrs Martin and her staff, the school Governors and I wish to ensure that our Catholic parishes take pride in their school and wish to encourage a genuine school-parish partnership.
A Catholic school is not just one which provides RE classes …. it is so much more, and you can read all about it, and the OPEN DAY planned for SUNDAY 22 NOVEMBER  in THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER

 You’ll also find 
– News of Fr Brian’s Retirement Presentation
– Memory Support Group – details of regular meetings – next one is on 3rd November
–  More information about the KSC Halloween Coffee Morning in the Columba Club on 31st October at 10.30am
– FAIRTRADE SALE   on 29th, 30th, 31st October at Cooill Methodist Chapel Hall from 10am to 6.30pm. 
– A FESTIVAL OF LIGHT in Christ Church, Laxey between 12noon and 4pm daily from 26 – 31 October
– A reminder for St Anthony’s parishioners about RED MISSION BOXES

A FEW REMINDERS FROM LAST WEEK

Among the casualties of the pandemic has been SYNOD 2020 which has been pushed back to June 2021   The summary of proposals and affirmations have  been published on the Synod website. Over the coming weeks our local Synod Members will be inviting your responses to these proposals as we continue to discern the Church God is calling us to be. Here’s a reminder to please visit the website, read the summary proposals (use the links to download or print them if you wish)  and prayerfully reflect on them. 
CLICK HERE TO READ THEM
There’s also a short update film which can BE VIEWED BY CLICKING HERE

RETREATS  -You’re invited to a ZOOM RETREAT led by the Irenaeus Project – CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS    and if you’d like to know more about the Irenaeus Project CLICK HERE TO VISIT THEIR WEBSITE

But if you prefer a one-to-one retreat, Fr Denis Blackledge SJ (Parish Priest of St. Francis Xavier’s Church in Liverpool)  has a series of ARMCHAIR RETREATS on line – each session will take no more than 6 minutes of your time –  well worth a listen – CLICK HERE FOR THE FIRST SESSION

With every good wish
Fr John 

Monsignor John Devine OBE MA VF
Saint Mary of the Isle   Hill Street       Douglas      Isle of Man     IM1 1EG

Holding and Letting Go

We have a call to live, and oh
A common call to die.
I watched you and my father go
To bid a friend goodbye.
I watched you hold my father’s hand,
How could it not be so?
The gentleness of holding on
Helps in the letting go.


For when we feel our frailty
How can we not respond?
And reach to hold another’s hand
And feel the common bond?
For then we touch the heights above
And every depth below,
We touch the very quick of love;
Holding and letting go.

(Malcolm Guite from The Singing Bowl)

WHEN ATTENDING MASS, PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING :

We are really grateful to our stewards who have given so much of their time throughout the crisis. As we gradually return to normality, we must be ready to perform U-turns. With their experience of monitoring social distancing and sanitising surfaces, they are prepared should the situation change.
Some dismiss our vigilance as unnecessary. Younger and more robust members of our community may opt for a casual approach to protective measures. For the sake of our vulnerable parishioners, we unapologetically err on the side of caution. Please, continue to sanitise your hands on arrival and on leaving our churches and maintain reasonable social distancing. Thank you 

• The Sunday obligation is still suspended.
• Please adhere to social distancing guidelines in place. Any children accompanying you must do the same.
• Please sanitise your hands when you enter and leave the church. Holy water fonts are not in use .
• There will be no hymns books, Mass books or newsletters.
• You will be guided to a bench by a volunteer steward. It may not be where you usually sit.
• Toilets will remain closed at all times except for a genuine emergency.
• Only the priest will be on the sanctuary – without deacons, servers, readers etc. 
• There will be no children’s liturgy or choir and no live singing.
• There will be no Sign of Peace.
• Holy Communion will now be distributed at the normal place in the Mass.
• You may only receive the Sacred Host in your hand and not on your tongue. Communicants must avoid skin to skin contact with the minister’s hands.
• People receiving Communion are instructed to approach the altar with their arms outstretched so as to maintain a reasonable distance from the minister.
• Please do not gather at the back of church to chat.
• Baskets will be available at the entrance (and exit) for your weekly Offertory collection.

This year is the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical ‘Laudato si’
Its message is just as prophetic today as it was in 2015.
The encyclical can provide the moral and spiritual compass for the journey
to create a more caring, fraternal, peaceful and sustainable world.
Catholics around the world are being encouraged to pause, wherever we are,
and say this prayer at noon each day:-

Loving God, Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them,
you created us in your own image and made us stewards of creation.
You blessed us with the sun, water and bountiful land so that all might be nourished.
Open our minds and touch our hearts, so that we may attend to your gift of creation.
Help us to be conscious that our common home belongs not only to us,
but to all of your creatures and to all future generations,
and that it is our responsibility to preserve it.

May we help each person secure the food and resources that they need.
Be present to those in need in these trying times,
especially the poorest and those most at risk of being left behind.
Transform our fear and feelings of isolation into hope and fraternity,
so that we may experience a true conversion of the heart.

Help us to show creative solidarity
in addressing the consequences of this global pandemic.
Make us courageous to embrace the changes
that are needed in search of the common good.

Now more than ever may we feel that we are all
interconnected and interdependent.
Enable us to listen and respond to the cry of the earth
and the cry of the poor.

May the present sufferings be the birth pangs
of a more fraternal and sustainable world.
Under the loving gaze of Mary Help of Christians,
we make this prayer through Christ Our Lord.   Amen.

Prayer of Spiritual Communion used at live-streamed Masses
Lord Jesus Christ,
You promise to be with us when two or three are gathered together in your name.
You promise to be with us until the end of time.
You are with us when we hear your Word in the Sacred Scriptures.
You are with us in those who are hungry and thirsty, sick or in prison and in the face of the stranger.
You are with us in our beautiful world and in the very stuff of the entire Universe.
You are with me in the very depths of my being;
And you are with us in the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist.
Today I am unable to receive you in this Sacrament of your Body and Blood.
Lord Jesus, strengthen my belief that you are always with us until you come again.
I believe that one day I will see you face to face
when there will be no more suffering, no more tears and no more sadness.
Lord Jesus, stay with me and with those I love throughout this day and for the rest of my life.
You who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen

Pope St John Paul II – on his visit to England in 1982 – had this to say about
the place of sickness and suffering in the life of the church:

‘Today I make an urgent plea to this nation. Do not neglect your sick and elderly. Do not turn away from the handicapped and the dying. Do not push them to the margins of society. For, if you do, you will fail to understand that they represent an important truth. The sick, the elderly, the handicapped and the dying teach us that weakness is a creative part of human living, and that suffering can be embraced with no loss of dignity. Without the presence of these people in your midst you might be tempted to think of health, strength and power as the only important values to be pursued in life. But the wisdom of Christ and the power of Christ are to be seen in the weakness of those who share his sufferings.
Let us keep the sick and the handicapped at the centre of our lives.
Let us treasure them and recognise with gratitude the debt we owe them.
We begin by imagining that we are giving to them;
we end by realising that they have enriched us.’              (Southwark Cathedral, 28 May 1982)


CLICK HERE TO FIND DAVID CRYSTAL’S DAILY READINGS ON LINE


SOME WORDS FROM POPE FRANCIS

OCTOBER PRAYER INTENTION OF POPE FRANCIS:
‘No one has been baptized a priest or a bishop.
We have all been baptized as lay people.
Lay people are protagonists of the Church.
Today, it is especially necessary to create broader opportunities
for a more incisive female presence in the Church.
And we must emphasize the feminine lay presence because women tend to be left aside.
We must promote the integration of women, especially where important decisions are made.
We pray that by the virtue of baptism, the laity, especially women, may participate more in areas of responsibility in the Church, without falling into forms of clericalism that diminish the lay charism’

SOME OF THE POPE’S TWEETS ON THE PANDEMIC:
‘Today in the tragedy of a pandemic, in the face of the many false securities that have now crumbled,
in the face of so many hopes betrayed, in the sense of abandonment that weighs upon hearts, Jesus says to each one of us :”‘Courage, open your heart to my love”.’

‘The current pandemic has highlighted our interdependence: we are all linked to each other, for better or for worse. Therefore, to come out of this crisis better than before, we have to do so together, all of us, in solidarity’

The official website of the Roman Catholic Pastoral Area of St Maughold, Isle of Man in the Archdiocese of Liverpool

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