Dear Friends,
Just a few notes about the Novena of Grace, beginning on Tuesday 4 March. This same notice will appear in the Church Newsletter in the upcoming weeks.
Novena of Grace to St. Francis Xavier
The Novena of Grace begins on Tuesday, March 4th and concludes on Wednesday, March 12th . Our preacher this year will be Fr. Sam Sawyer, SJ coming from New York. Fr. Sam is editor-in chief of the Jesuit magazine America.
Masses during the Novena will be at 11.00am; 1.00pm; 7.30pm (Monday to Friday).
Masses on Saturday will be at 11.00am; 1.00pm; and 6.00pm.
Masses on Sunday will be at 11.00am; 3.30pm and 7.30pm
(Please note that the 9.15am Mass on Sunday will not be part of the Novena.
Soon we will be asking you to place your petitions in the basket which will be placed in the sanctuary. As usual, some of these petitions will be read out before Masses, inviting everyone present to pray for those intentions.
As in years past, we would hope that the Church becomes a ‘power-house’ of prayer during the Novena.
Fr. Brendan
SAINT OF THE WEEK – St. Robert Southwell, S.J. (1561-1595)
Robert was born in Norfolk of a well-to-do family. He studied in Paris. He applied to join the Jesuits in Paris at seventeen but was told he was too young. He walked to Rome on foot and there he was accepted into the Jesuits. He was ordained in 1584. He was assigned to the dangerous English mission. His ministry in England lasted six years, during which time he had several narrow escapes from determined priest-hunters. He was betrayed by a Catholic girl. He was imprisoned and tortured. Robert refused to give the names of other Catholic priests. At the request of Queen Elizabeth I, Robert was imprisoned in the Tower of London. After two-and-half years in the Tower, without visitors and unable to write or receive letters, he was moved to Newgate Prison. He was tried in Westminster Hall. On the morning of 21 February, when he was informed that he was to be executed that day, he told the jailer that he could not have received more joyful news! Robert was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929 and canonized by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1970. As well as being a martyr, Robert was also one of the foremost English poets of the 16th century.
THE ANNUAL COLLECTION FOR ACCORD DUBLIN, the Diocesan Agency for Marriage and the Family, will be made at all Masses this weekend.
ACCORD Dublin needs your support this year more than ever. Please give generously.
DUBLIN DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES 2025 -4th to 9th September 2025, led by Archbishop Farrell. The Pilgrimage is a fully escorted tour including direct return flight from Dublin to Lourdes, airport transfers and assistance between Lourdes Airport and the hotels, five nights’ accommodation, meals, 20kg check-in luggage plus one small personal item in the cabin and full services of Joe Walsh Tours guides and representatives throughout.
FURTHER INFORMATION info@joewalshtours.ie or phone Dublin: 01 241 0800.
KNOCK PILGRIMAGE- 26TH APRIL
As we begin our Jubilee of Hope, it’s time to launch our 2025 Knock Pilgrimage. This year the theme of the pilgrimage will focus on the Jubilee year. The pilgrimage will include workshops, outdoor walks, the Sacrament of the Sick and our pilgrimage Mass, which will be celebrated by Archbishop Farrell. If you any queries about the pilgrimage, please email knockpilgrimage@dublindiocese.ie.
THE JUBILEE PRAYER
Father in heaven,
May the faith you have given us
In your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
And the flame of charity enkindled
In our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
Reawaken in us the blessed hope
For the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with powers of evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us,
Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven,
May the same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.
Amen
LAST WEEK COLLECTION
Church: € 644, Share collection: € 114.
Card reader: € 455