St Mary Magdalen's Parish Newsletter
The latest issue of the parish newsletter is available on-line: you can find it here.
Back copies of the parish newsletter from 2018 to date are also available on-line in the newsletter archive- select Newsletters from the menu bar, and then select the year required.
The Diocesan Newspaper
You can read the latest edition of Catholic East Anglia, the Diocesan newspaper on-line: you can find it here.
Fr Luke's Homilies
Each week, Fr Luke Goymour records and publishes his homily. You can listen to these recordings by clicking here.
The Divine Mercy
Each Friday, after the 10:00 am Mass, there will be Exposition, a Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Benediction
The Sacred Triduum
Holy Week is the most solemn and glorious week in Christianity, the pinnacle of the liturgical year. It's more sacred than Christmas because Holy Week commemorates the final week of Our Lord's life, the very purpose for which Christmas happened. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, when Jesus made his final triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, and culminates with Easter Sunday.
Sundown on Holy Thursday to sundown on Easter Sunday is considered the most solemn part of the liturgical year. This three-day period is referred to as the Easter Triduum, also known as the Sacred Triduum, or Paschal Triduum. The word "triduum" comes from the Latin from tris (“three”) and dies (“day”). The Sacred Triduum is one great festival recounting the last three days of Jesus' life on earth and the events of his Passion and Resurrection, when the Lamb of God laid down his life in atonement for our sins.
Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) - 17th April 8:00 pm
The evening Mass on Holy Thursday is referred to as The Mass of the Lord's Supper, when the Church re-lives the institution of the Eucharist and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Last Supper, as well as the institution of the priesthood, which took place the evening before Jesus was crucified. On Holy Thursday, Jesus gave an example of how we should serve one another by washing the feet of his disciples. This act of service and humility is commemorated at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper when the priest washes the feet of 12 persons of the congregation. At the end of Mass, the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the Tabernacle and transferred to an Altar of Repose, leaving the altar stripped bare ready for the solemn celebration of the Passion of the Lord the next day. We then have watching in front of the Altar of Repose until 10:00 pm, remembering Jesus' request in the Garden of Gethsemane for someone to "watch and pray" with Him.
Good Friday - 19th April 3:00 pm
Good Friday is a mandatory day of fasting and abstinence. This is the day of the crucifixion, the day Jesus died for the sins of the world. The church altar looks very different on Good Friday - it is stripped bare. There is no Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle - it was transferred on Holy Thursday night to the "altar of repose" to signify Jesus' death. The sanctuary lamp is extinguished, and the tabernacle doors are left open to show that it is empty. Jesus is gone. This is quite dramatic, reminding us that Good Friday is a solemn day of mourning and prayer. The ceremony on Good Friday is not a Mass - it is a service of solemn liturgy of prayer and readings commemorating the Passion of Our Lord. During the ceremony, the Crucifix, a reminder of that on which Christ died, is venerated and Holy Communion is distributed. Good Friday is the only day of the year on which no Masses are celebrated. The Good Friday service takes place at 3 p.m., the hour that Jesus breathed his last on the cross.
Later on Good Friday, at 6:00 pm, we have Stations of the Cross - this is one of the most simple, yet powerful, ways to prayerfully walk alongside Jesus on his way to Calvary and encounter him like never before.
The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night - 20th April 8:00 pm
A vigil Mass is held after nightfall on Holy Saturday, or before dawn on Easter Sunday, in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. The vigil is divided into four parts - the service of light when the Paschal Candle representing the risen Christ is lit from the Easter fire, the liturgy of the Word, where we listen to old testament readings telling the history of our creation and salvation, the liturgy of Baptism where water for the Font is blessed and we renew the promises that we made, or were made for us, at our Baptism, and the liturgy of the Eucharist the first Mass of Easter where we greet the Risen Christ and gratefully receive Him in Holy Communion.
Parish Missional Prayer
God our Father, we give you thanks and praise for calling us to share in the fullness of life and love that Jesus won for us. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon our parish community. Changed by your Spirit, may we become a community of disciples, attentive to the needs of all who come through our doors, and even those who don’t. We pray for your blessing upon every person in our parish community, and on all who live in and around our parish. May they know your love, your presence, and your power in their lives. For all who are struggling at this moment, we ask that you enter their lives and lift them. May our parish become a place of adoration, where the hungry are fed, the sick are healed, the bereaved are comforted, and all are made whole. Soften our hearts to your will. Make us open to what you desire to do in and through our parish, and give us the courage and strength to follow your call.
We make this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen
The Divine Mercy
You expired, Jesus,
but the source of life gushed forth for souls,
and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
This picture of the Divine Mercy was painted by Ben Goymour and hangs in St Mark's Catholic Church, Ipswich.
Each Friday morning after the 10:00 Mass at St Mary Magdalen church, we pray a chaplet of the Divine Mercy in front of the Blessed Sacrament, followed by Benediction.