Thursday 4 February 2010

And for the rest of the month...

With the Ad Limina now over, we turn our attention back to life closer to home and - slightly later than usual - a look at the month ahead. The image of penitents seen here is from the Cathedral's Chapel of St Charles Borromeo, and serves as a reminder that Lent is nearly upon us. Ash Wednesday begins this holy season, and this year takes place on 17th February. Before that we have the feast of our diocesan patron, Our Lady of Lourdes, which is celebrated on 11th. There will be a sung Mass at 12:15pm, and the Bishop will then join us in the evening to lead the Rosary at 7pm and then preside at sung Vespers at 7:30pm. This is a diocesan celebration, and it would be wonderful to see a good number of people there, so please come along if you can. The 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Romero will be marked at the 10:30am Mass on Sunday 14th (which the Bishop will celebrate); the Mass will be followed by a talk about the Archbishop, in the Cathedral Social Centre (12:15pm). Once Lent is underway, there will be additional times of prayer and some catechetical talks. On Fridays there will be Stations of the Cross at 7pm, followed by a meditation on the Passion at 7:45pm and sung Compline (night prayer) at 8:15pm. You can come for all or any part of the evening. And, as noted earlier, our 'Curious about Holy Week' talks begin on Tuesday 23rd. You can find more details here. Add to that the Diocesan Rite of Election (on Saturday 20th, and a fairly busy time is ahead of us. The full diary for February at the Cathedral is available on our main site: click here to take a look.