Download our 3 churches newsletter for the 1st Sunday in Lent, Sunday 1 March 2020.
Category Archives: newsletter
3 churches newsletter, Sunday 23 February 2020
Download our 3 churches newsletter for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), issue 8/20.
Lenten landmarks
Ash Wednesday – 26 February 2020
Ashes will be distributed at the following times:
- St Paul’s 9.30am
- Christ the King 12.45pm
- St Brigid’s 7.30pm.
Heart on fire
This Lent we are invited to take part in ecumenical discussion groups organised by our 3 churches on behalf of Churches Together in Llanishen and District.
The groups will use a beautifully produced booklet based on a course called “Setting our hearts on fire” written by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. We are very grateful for the help of St David’s College in producing the booklet.
There will be a number of groups following the course, starting in the week commencing 2 March or soon after. If you wish to join one, please get in touch with the contact directly as indicated below. If you would like to attend at a time not covered, contact Marie York again as indicated below.
- Mondays 7.30pm Tania Walsh 20 601 1494 taniawalsh@rocketmail.com
- Tuesdays 11am Elizabeth Taylor 20 75 1401 tayleat@gmail.com
- Tuesdays 7.30pm Marie York 20 68 9253 gmy7@btinternet.com
- Wednesdays 1.30pm Sheila Roberts 20 66 7546 sheila.m.roberts@hotmail.co.uk
- Thursdays 3.30pm David McLees 20 75 9040 mcleesfamily@btinternet.com
Stations of the cross
The Way of the Cross will precede mass through Lent on Fridays at St Paul’s and Saturdays at St Brigid’s.
Station mass
The Lenten Station Mass for the Cardiff Deanery this year will be at St Joseph’s church, New Zealand Road on Wednesday 4 March at 7pm. This is one of our neighbouring parishes, so it should be possible for a good number of us to attend. Come along and join our Archbishop and the people and clergy of our deanery in the special celebration of the Mass for Lent.
3 churches newsletter, 16 February 2020
Download our 3 churches newsletter for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), issue 7/20.
What’s in a chair?
Next Saturday is the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. So what is that all about? In former times a chair was often seen as a symbol of authority, especially teaching authority. Professors are still sometimes described as holding the “chair” in English, economics or whatever- So also the Bishop of a diocese has his spiritual chair, represented by an actual chair in his principal church. From a Greek word for chair comes the name we give to that church – the “cathedral”.
Now St Peter was of course given that ministry of leadership and service by Our Lord (“You are Peter-”) which he exercised first in Jerusalem, then in ancient Antioch and finally in Rome. So Saturday’s feast symbolises the ministry of Peter and his successors, the Popes, in our present case Pope Francis.
The Pope’s actual chair or cathedra is in the Rome church of St John Lateran, which is therefore the “cathedral” of Rome, and where the Popes used to reside.
Nowadays, of course they live at the Vatican. So there is no actual cathedra at St Peter’s in the Vatican – despite it often being described as a cathedral. But what there is in St Peter’s is a huge symbolic cathedra. You will find it at the far end, beyond the Papal Altar and its canopy, and is attached to the wall. It is in the form of a magnificent bronze representation of a throne, held up by four giant Doctors of the Church.
Most interestingly of all, inside that masterpiece of the sculptor/architect Bernni – also responsible for the canopy and the piazza outside St Peter’s – is an actual ancient chair. This was originally believed to have belonged to St Peter himself, but when they removed it from the shrine in recent times it was dated by style to maybe the sixth century. So just as the whole of the magnificent church of St Peter’s is built over the humble remains of a fisherman of Galilee, so also the glorious sculpture and decoration contains a humble and ancient wooden chair. If you go to the Vatican, make sure to go right down to see the Chair of Peter, and ponder…
Fr Matthew
3 churches newsletter, Sunday 9 February 2020
Download our 3 churches newsletter for Sunday 9 February 2020.