Category Archives: Holy Week

The week of Holiness

Next week Palm Sunday (24 March 2024) sees the beginning of Holy Week, the very heart of the Church’s year. We come together to remember, celebrate and share the very central events of our faith as we follow Jesus through the last week of his life on Earth.  Please make a very special effort to be present and help us all celebrate this Week of Holiness. This is how you can take part:

Palm Sunday – 24 March 2024
Parish Mass, 9.30am at Christ the King.
Parish Mass, 10.30am at St Brigid’s starting with a procession from the hall.
Both with palms blessed and distributed.
Stations of the Cross, 4pm at Christ the King.

Monday 25 March 2024
Parish Mass, 9.30am at St Brigid’s with morning prayer at 9.10am.
Passover Meal, 7pm at St Brigid’s Hall.
Come and experience the ancient roots of the Mass.

Tuesday 26 March 2024
Parish Mass, 9.30am at Christ the King with morning prayer at 9.10am.
Chrism Mass, 11.30am at the Cathedral. Join people and priests from all over the diocese as the sacramental oils for the year are blessed and priests’ promises renewed.

Wednesday 27 March 2024
Parish Mass, 9.30am at St Paul’s.

Thursday 28 March 2024
3 Churches Maundy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper, 8pm at Christ the King.
Watching at the Altar of Repose in the parish centre until midnight.

Good Friday – 29 March 2024
Morning Prayer, 10am at Christ the King.
Commemoration of the Passion and Death of Our Lord, 3pm at Christ the King (with children’s liturgy) and St Paul’s.

Holy Saturday – 30 March 2024
Holy Saturday, 10am Morning Prayer at Christ the King.
3 Churches Easter Vigil and First Mass of Easter, 8.30pm St Brigid’s.
No Saturday evening mass at Christ the King.

Easter Sunday – 31 March 2024
Easter Sunday Masses at usual times.

Note clocks go forward one hour for summer time on 31 March.

Holy Week

HOLY WEEK lies at the heart of the Church’s year. We are invited to remember the saving events of the last days of Jesus’ life, his entry into Jerusalem and Last Supper there, his death at Calvary and triumphant raising at the nearby Holy Sepulchre.

With Christians across the world, let us join together in these wonderful moments which speak of who Jesus was, what he did for us and who we are now – or who we want to be. Talking of which, the parish and diocesan SYNOD REPORTS have been drawn up and are available on our parish website.

The diocesan one has been compiled from over forty parish ones from across our diocese. Our parish Synod team are preparing points from our own two reports for a way ahead. We pray that the Holy Spirit guide us all, as always, into the future.

Holy week masses for 2022

HOLY WEEK is almost upon us already. There will still be some adaptations necessary, partly through Covid and partly through priestly availability!
Palm Sunday Masses as usual. Mass at Christ the King 9.00am & St Brigid’s 10.30am please gather in the Halls.
Tuesday Chrism Mass at the Cathedral 11.30am
Maundy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Christ the King 7.30pm followed by Watching in the Parish Centre. The beginning of the Sacred Triduum or Holy Three Days.
Good Friday Liturgy of the Passion at St Paul’s and Christ the King 3.00pm
Holy Saturday Easter Vigil and First Mass at St Brigid’s 8.30pm, including Reception into the Church of Ioan Davies, son of Fr Peter.
Easter Sunday Mass at St Paul’s 9.00am, at Christ the King 9 and 10.30am, at St Brigid’s 10.30am, to include Baptisms of mother and daughter Cathy and Jessica Moore, and 6.00pm

To the cross and beyond

Here is your guide to Holy Week and Easter at our 3 Churches…

PALM SUNDAY
Masses at normal times, all to include distribution of palms.
MONDAY
Area Penitential Evening at St Teilo’s 7 – 8pm. Several priests will be present.
TUESDAY
Passover Meal at St Brigid’s; a moving and enjoyable celebration of the Jewish roots of the Mass.
WEDNESDAY
Chrism Mass 11.30am at St David’s Cathedral (note corrected time)
Includes the consecration of sacramental oils and renewal of priests’ promises.

THE SACRED TRIDUUM
MAUNDY THURSDAY
Mass of the Lord’s Supper 8pm at Christ the King followed by watching until midnight. Important themes of the Eucharist, the priesthood and Service of our neighbour.
GOOD FRIDAY
Morning Prayer and Office of Readings at Christ the King
Commemoration of the Passion 3pm at St Paul’s and at Christ the King.
Note there will be children’s liturgy at both of these services.
HOLY SATURDAY
Morning Prayer and Office of Readings at Christ the King
EASTER
Easter Vigil and First Mass of Easter Saturday 8.30pm at St Brigid’s. Includes the Liturgies of Light, of the Word, of Water and of the Eucharist.
We welcome Nicola and daughter Hannah Robson, and Ana Hogg into full communion. Please remember them in your prayers this week.
Sunday Masses at normal times.

Whose shoes?

What on earth was Peter thinking? How did Our Lady cope? What did Simon of Cyrene think about being pulled out of the crowd?

Last week I offered some thoughts about where precisely the events of Holy Week happened – on a donkey, a wooden table, a wooden cross, a stony tomb. This week I’d like to suggest you use your imagination again and put yourself in the shoes of someone involved in Holy Week. Take it slowly. Imagine their background or “backstory” as we say nowadays! What did they feel as they experienced what happened that week in Jerusalem. Look up where they appear in the New Testament, compare the four gospels. Here as some suggestions of people…

The High Priest, one of the soldiers, Pontius Pilate, Herod
Peter, Judas, John the Apostle, Mary Magdalen.
Simon of Cyrene, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Veronica (careful, she doesn’t actually appear in the Bible!) What about an average man or woman in the crowd.
And, of course, there is Our Lady.

Put yourself in their shoes and, having maybe read up a bit, let the Lord guide your imagination to help bring Holy Week alive for you. God can work through our imagination as well as any other way.

Maybe you will feel like writing down some of your thoughts. This would be for yourself, of course, though I would be very interested in reading such reflections. Let’s really help our celebration of Holy Week and Easter this year of 2018 come alive.

And, most of all, make every effort to come to the central services of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and

Easter, especially the Easter Vigil and First Mass of Easter.

Fr Matthew