Our First NightFever together

On Saturday, 19^th October, we had our first Nightfever London together as SPES. Before the evening started, we had a short introduction with Laura, who was the evangelisation leader that evening. We met our evangelisation partners, guys from Father Steven Language´s vocation centre.  We got to know them and went together to Mass. After that we went downstairs for a short briefing with a copious number of other volunteers.

The main part of the evening began with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The nice music started and we prayed together for our fist street evangelisation. Outside we invited people who crossed Soho Square to light a candle in the church and enjoy the nice atmosphere of prayer and music. Many meetings and conversations later we went inside to stay very close to the Blessed Sacrament for a personal time of adoration. Later some of us did welcome ministry: we stood at the door and welcomed the people entering the church; others went outside again for another time of street mission. At half ten all volunteers met inside for conclusion prayer and the amazing evening ended with the Benediction and a wonderful Salve Regina. After tidying up, some of the volunteers shared the experiences they had that evening. For each of us it was a splendid evening with many great experiences. Tired but full of joy we caught the bus and went home.

Divine Providence and Outreaches

Another whole week of lectures has just flew by. We've have now finished 3 weeks of SPES!  Where has the time gone.  So far we all seem to be settling in well and getting on with each other.  Each day we are discovering more and more about ourselves and each other.


This past week our lectures were focused on Divine Providence and Outreach.  We were introduced to some of the Parish's outreaches which we will be involved in.  Alexandra introduced us to the SOS Prayerline, which has been running now for over 11 years. We are looking forward to being a part of it soon. All the prayer books from the past 11 years are kept in the Chapel downstairs.  It is amazing to think that there are all these requests for prayer by telephone and soon we were be there to receive the calls and offer the prayers to Our Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament.




As well as this we also learnt more about Open House, which is when the Parish feed some of the homeless and less fortunate in our area. It happens twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Normally there are approximately 60-80 guests each night.  The evening relies on the support of volunteers.  We will be helping on one of the nights each week.  The idea of it seems a little scary at times but after learning more about how it is run we are looking forward to helping out and meeting some of the guests.



There were lectures about some of the other outreaches we will be involved in such as LumiNations and NightFever. This weekend we were able to experience our first NightFever together as a group. We have been looking forward to it all week. (We'll do a separate update soon all about our first experience of NightFever at St Patrick's).  Paula, from the Cenacolo Prayer Group, came along this week and spoke to us about the Cenacolo Community and providence.  It is amazing to hear how God has worked in the community.  It truly shows how God provides for us.  Robert, from 40 Days for Life, spoke to us about some of the pro-life issues and in particular the 40 Days for Life campaign, which is happening in London at the moment. Yesterday we headed out on a Catholic History Walk with Joanna Bogle. It was a fantastic experience, there is so much Catholic history right here on our doorstep! (Again we will do a separate post about Joanna's walk.)

St Patrick's Weekend

This year St Patrick's Day fell on a Sunday, which kind of meant we could celebrate all weekend. (Well he is our Patron Saint and it is very good to celebrate his feast day as best we can).  Although because it fell on the 5th Sunday of Lent we had to use the readings etc for the 5th Sunday of Lent rather than for St Patrick's Day, but they were very fitting.  To prepare to celebrate our Patronal feast we held 40 Hours of Adoration in the Parish.  It was a beautiful time and many people came to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. 




Decorating the community centre

As well as preparing spiritually we also needed to prepare some practical things for the weekend, such as decorating the community centre and preparing the Shamrocks that were to be blessed and distributed at all the Masses over the weekend.  We had a lot of fun deciding where to put all the different decorations.  There were loads of them!  The Shamrocks were interesting, there was absolutely tons of them!  They took forever and we had very green fingers when we finished.  But it was all worth it when we seen how pleased people were to be given some at Mass.



Some of our shamrocks ready to go

Fr Alex blessing the shamrock



Community centre all decorated

We were very blessed over the St Patrick's weekend to have Fr John Harris OP with us as our main celebrant.  Fr John is the Regent of Studies for the Irish Dominican Province and also the National Spiritual Director of Youth 2000 Ireland.  He was great, a true preacher.  He spoke well about the New Evangelisation and how we are called to show we are Christian and to proclaim Christ to all.  Before Fr John left on the Monday morning he found some time to give us a lecture about the challenges of the New Evangelisation.  We very much enjoyed having Fr John with us for St Patrick's Day and we learnt a lot from him.




Instead of the usual tea, coffee and sweet stuff after the 11am Mass on Sunday we had some traditional Irish food.  We had some very tasty Irish stew and colcannon as well as some lovely cakes, apple tart and cheesecake.

NightFever - another awesome evening!

Every time we have NightFever here at St Patrick's I am left in total amazement at how well it works. Looking at it and explaining it to others it just sounds so simple, but actually seeing how easily it draws people into the Church and the experiences they come away with, well let's just say it must be The Lord at work.

For those of you who aren't sure what NightFever is I'll give a short explanation; Basically the evening begins with the Saturday night vigil Mass after which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration. Volunteers sign up to different roles during the night. Some stay in the Church to pray, others go out in pairs with candles to invite passers-by in to the Church, and others are present are the entrance/back of the Church to welcome people into the Church.

At the front of the Church in from of the Blessed Sacrament there is a prayer intention box for people to write down their prayers as well as space to light a candle and a basket of Scripture quotes that you may pick up. While all of this is happening there is beautiful music playing which can be heard outside. There are priests available to hear confessions or just to talk to.

Really there are not words to describe the evening, one must experience it for themselves. Listening to people as they leave the Church and thank you for giving them such a lovely evening is, well it's humbling, we don't really do anything other than invite someone in. Jesus does the work really. The evening finishes with Benediction at 10.30pm.

Ambrose exhausted after an evening of evangelising

Advent Mission

Our Advent Mission took place over the weekend of Friday 7th - Sunday 9th December.  There was a lot of preparation beforehand but it was all well worth it. 

Praying before the Blessed Sacrament for all those we had met

On the Friday night we went out into the streets to speak to people and to remind them what Advent is all about.  While we were out evangelising others were in the Church praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament for us and those we would speak to.  At the end of the evening we all prayed for those we had met and their intentions before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

Free Hot Chocolate and Mince Pies

Saturday was a long day but we all very much enjoyed it.  In the afternoon we had Adoration in the Church with beautiful music (thanks to the NightFever crew) while outside we set up two tables, one for the all important hot chocolate and mince pies and the other with some interesting and informative flyers and a box in which people could write their prayer intentions if they wished.  We had prepared some small gift bags to give to those we met and spoke to.  The gift bags have a Scripture quote, miraculous medal with explanation and a sweet.



Any prayers?









Some of the Gift Bags we give out



Saturday night was our latest NightFever, an absolutely brilliant night as always!  For nore info see our previous post :)

Sunday afternoon ran pretty much the same as Saturday except we were based at Notre Dame de France, the French Church at Leicester Square.  There we had lovely music on the steps of the Church.  Then at 6pm we were back at St Patrick's for the International Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  This is a Mass that brings together the different communities who celebrate Mass at St Patrick's every week.  After the Mass we processed from St Patrick's to Notre Dame de France with a beautiful statue of Our Lady while we also sang and prayed.



NightFever!

A view from the balcony

No, this is not a case of John Bosco by day, John Travolta by night! ‘Nightfever’ is organised by young Christians whose faith is central in their lives and who seek to bridge between individuals, parishes and communities.

The night starts with Mass; this is followed by Eucharistic adoration when the church is illuminated by candle light, until Benediction at around 22.30.

Candles are lit
for many different
intentions

During this time of Adoration we and other volunteers head out onto the streets surrounding St Patrick's with lanterns, candles and small information cards. It is a simple invitation to people to come into the Church to light a candle in front of the Blessed Sacrament for any intention they may have, (Or just for them to get out of the cold!).

It is very simple and very effective, confessions are heard throughout the night; also there is a great music team that comes and provides music throughout the evening inside the Church, which is also wired to play out the front of the Church which helps to draw more people inside.
We all enjoy Nightfever and all the fruit it bears, and we are all looking forward to the next one in the New Year!

Some pictures . . .

Well it's about time we got ourselves sorted and put a few pictures up so here they are:

Lunch with some of the past students



Too busy eating to look at the camera

Some old, some new and one for the future!

    

Deanna's Leaving Party

We may be smiling on the outside but we were crying inside



Ola's amazing dish

               Cookathon!

Cooking can be messy!



Praying it'll taste good

Looking well pleased with the result

I think he may be chuffed



Two Cathedral's Procession of the Blessed Sacrament



Starting fromWestminster Cathedral

Through the busy streets of London




There were Priests, Brothers, Sister, and young and not so young people



A beautiful finish at Southwark Cathedral



 

And the SPES Mascot who also attended all of the above events

 

Ambrose

 



Olympic Fever

OLYMPIC FEVER truly hit the streets of London... the atmosphere was electric and the excitement palpable as we tuned into the sports events taking place only a short distance from our parish in Soho. St Patrick's Church is the venue for the Mother Theresa of Calcutta Exhibition and also hosted NightFever, we were keen to take full advantage of the crowds flocking into the city.

The exhibition is beautiful, informative and really touches the heart. Each day, the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Theresa's Order of Sisters) were full of infectious enthusiasm and zeal for the Lord. They encouraged many passers-by to visit the exhibition. It was special to volunteer at the exhibition as it gave me an opportunity to learn more about the life of such an extraordinary woman and also to witness the impact her life continues to have on people. Guests to the exhibition are able to view Mother Theresa's actual bed, desk and her few possessions including a cross and a picture of Christ crucified. Also there is a chapel to place prayer intentions, the main exhibition hall and an area to watch her life and mission on DVD. I was in awe of the life she led and it was inspirational to work alongside her Sisters who continue to carry the torch once lit by Mother Theresa. Their shining radiance was a testament to the love of Christ within each one of them.  The Exhibition is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11am-7pm until 15th September, please do call in to see it.

NightFever once again captured our imagination at the power of God through each one of us. The event began in Germany after World Youth Day 2005 and they brought it to Soho, London in February this year. During the Olympics, the event took place over a period of 5 nights and what an impact it had! Personally it was amazing to see a continuous stream of people come into the Church from the streets. It was such a gentle way of inviting people in to light a candle at the foot of the altar. The transforming effect of the love and healing of Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament was evident to all. Most left the Church with beaming smiles and many others with tearful eyes. Those who were invited into St. Patrick's Church were from various cultures, backgrounds and religions, yet it was beautiful to be united together in One Spirit.