Another Busy Week of Study and Outreach

This week we have been working on our third assignment, which has been focused on the second two parts of our Creed; God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Our lectures were based on the Catechism and the coursebook from Maryvale. We looked at different parts of the Life of Jesus and how the Holy Spirit was present in them. In particular we have studied the Incarnation, Jesus’ public life, His Passion and Death as well as the Resurrection, Ascension and Second Coming. We also looked at how the Church is described as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. There was a lot of stuff to take in this week but it has all been so interesting. Let’s hope our assignments explain it all well enough. There’s been a few late nights this week, hopefully all worth it.

As well as our studies this week we have been busy with our outreaches. Monday night we had Catholicism, which was about Mary, Mother of God. It was a very interesting evening and Mary always causes questions with those of other faiths so it is good to learn more about what we believe about Mary and how to explain it to others. Thursday night two of us were helping with Open House, which is always a great evening and the food looked amazing! The other two of us were on SOS Prayerline for Thursday evening.  Each of us love doing SOS Prayerline, it is awesome to see the faith that so many people have that they call in to ask for prayer or to thank the Lord for prayers that have been answered.   Last night we were down at Notre Dame de France for LumiNations.  It was absolutely freezing but that didn't stop us setting up the music on the steps and get out the evangelising materials.  It was a great night and many people stopped to have a look at what we were doing and to listen to the music.  Inside we have Adoration going on and people praying for those of us who were outside. Tonight we shall be out on the streets again for NightFever, here at St Patrick's.  We start with Mass at 6pm followed by Adoration and our street mission.  We are all very much looking forward to it and if you can join us please do.

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.



It's that time again - Advent Mission Preparations!!

The preparations are well under way for our Annual Advent Mission which is taking place in just a few days time!  The Advent Mission is a weekend of Adoration, Prayer, Music, Evangelisation (with Hot Chocolate and Mince Pies) to prepare for the coming of Our Lord at Christmas. It is a great opportunity to remind ourselves and others that Advent is a time to prepare and to wait on the Lord's coming.

It all kicks off on Friday evening with Adoration, prayer and music in the Church.  During this time some of us will head out into the streets of Soho to chat to people in the area about life, God and Christmas.

Adoration last year with the Nativity scene below

On Saturday we will set up our table of refreshments, you can't beat a nice cup of hot chocolate on a cold December day.  There will be Adoration and music in the Church.  It will be a place where we can invite people to come for a moment of peace and quiet away from the crazy shopping streets here in the West End.  A chance to speak to people about the real meaning of Christmas and why it is that we celebrate this time of the year.

Enjoying a mince pie, hot chocolate and a nice chat last year

Saturday night sees the return of NightFever, a very popular and powerful event here at St Patrick's.  Seriously if you have not experienced NightFever and you are in London this weekend there is only one place you should be - St Patrick's!

Sunday afternoon is quite similar to Saturday afternoon but we head down to Notre Dame de France in Leicester Square.  Again there will be a good supply of hot chocolate, mince pies and some music on the steps of the Church.  Sunday evening we gather back at St Patrick's for Solemn Mass with our international communities who are based here.  After Mass to celebrate the Immaculate Conception we will process with Our Lady from St patrick's through the streets of Soho to Notre Dame de France singing and praying.  The Marian Procession is always a beautiful event.

Check out our flyer for more information about the different events happening over the weekend along with times and locations.

Refreshed and ready to go again :)

We've had an amazingly relaxing week!  It began with a lovely retreat out in Whitstable with Fr Stephen.  He gave us some inspiring talks to help us prepare for Advent and we took advantage of the beautiful surroundings to go for walks.  Trevor and Marcus, the two Australian seminarians, joined us on retreat and we showed them a little of the English seaside – a bit colder than what they are used to.  We will update a little more about the retreat and some pictures in a couple of days.

Wednesday we were back at St Patrick’s for a long but most enjoyable day.  Trevor and Marcus gave us some music lessons, teaching us some beautiful chants, which hopefully we can put into practice during this year.  Wednesday evening saw a lot of cleaning taking place – not only did we have our monthly Church cleaning but Ambrose also had a bath!  Thankfully Thursday was another relaxing day with a trip out to Greenwich Park where we had a lovely walk and a picnic before having a look around the Maritime museum.

Last night (Friday) we took part in our first LumiNations night.  LumiNations is an event which SPES helps to co-ordinate and takes place at Notre Dame de France, the French Church in Leicester Square.  There is Adoration in the Church and some beautiful music on the steps outside the Church.  Notre Dame de France, like St Patrick's, is located in a busy area of Central London.  With all the noise, bright lights and craziness of a Friday night in Central London we try to be that gentle light to the nations and invite people into the quiet of the Church to meet Jesus.  There's also  an opportunity to offer some tea, coffee or biscuits to the passers-by or those who stop to listen to the music.  We all had a good night and are looking forward to the next one.

Next week will be a quiet week with regards to lectures but there will be lots of work done to prepare for next weekend, which is our Advent Mission weekend– a weekend of Adoration, Prayer, Music, Evangelisation with Hot Chocolate and Mince Pies to prepare for the coming of Our Lord at Christmas. It will be a great opportunity to remind ourselves and others that Advent is a time to prepare and to wait on the Lord's coming.  Please keep it in your prayer.  More information and details will be uploaded to our blog tomorrow (I hope).  On Tuesday we will take a break from the preparations to join Joanna Bogle on another of her Catholic History Walks around London.  If you would like to join us we will be leaving from St Patrick's at 1.30pm.  There is Mass before at 12.45pm.

HIGHLIGHTS

Summary of SPES 2011-2012

This time 9 months ago, six young people gathered together from all around the world; from Brazil, Indonesia, Scotland, Ireland and England, we represented many cultures and countries. We looked forward to the journey with great anticipation but yet we were all taking a leap of faith into the unknown…..

Our Highlights of the Year:

1.  Our prayer became the centre of all our activities and the time we spent with God always energized and strengthened us for our outreaches and encounters with others (as a community we said Morning, Evening and Night Prayer, the Rosary and we also attended daily Mass and Adoration for an hour).

2.  Listening to our hugely knowledgeable lecturers and feeding off their enthusiasm. We were so enriched simply by their witness and personal faith experiences that the content they taught us was a real bonus!) Each week, we covered a different theme e.g. Apologetics, Evangelization, Salvation History, the writings of St.Paul and St.John’s Gospel etc. We also completed a Certificate from Maryvale in Adult Studies of the Catechism. We always commented that our lecturers were the cream of the crop!

3.  Meeting such a diverse number of people on the streets during our weekly evangelization and missions (Advent, Scarborough, Spirit in the City). We were challenged and our faith was strengthened as we had so many AMAZING experiences. The Holy Spirit certainly had to work hard during the year as we called out for courage and strength to hit the streets of Soho. He never let us down, even if He tested our trust at times ;) God has a great sense of humour and we saw Him in full flow when we had the blessed invasion of hundreds of Santa Claus’ and Elves at our Church, which brought much needed laughter and life to the Advent mission!

4.  Our wonderful pilgrimage to Rome where we received the royal treatment. Personally sitting beside Cardinal Pell in his Australian restaurant was the CRAIC!!

5.  Our retreats in Notting Hill, Oxford and Dorset enabled us to withdraw from the busy parish life and reflect with greater clarity and depth. It was amazing to feel so united with the community yet be in solitude and silence (most of the time!). Particularly in Dorset some of the community members were bursting to talk but many encouraging smiles, notes and some spontaneous laughter sufficed! ;)

6.  The welcome we received into some of the most beautiful homes around England helped bond our community. It’s fascinating to see the positive effects of glorious surroundings, not to mention the food we received! 

 7.  Volunteering with the homeless and SOS prayerline never failed to bring a deep sense of peace and put our lives into perspective. The joy and humour of the homeless people was infectious. The prayerful atmosphere and unity in the soup kitchen was something special to witness as we gathered together as equals to share the love of Christ. 

8.  Claz preparing food for us to eat on our late return from outreach. Our hunger was always satisfied when we ate her delicious meals with a big dash of LOVE!

 9.  Catholicism and Night Fever were events that really caught our imagination and opened our eyes to the future possibilities on our return home.

10.  Tatiana (our chatty Brazilian!) maintaining silence during the final retreat in Dorset must be highly commended…what a transformation T.A.T.I!!

We are so grateful and full of appreciation to Fr.Alexander, our parish priest and all those who worked tirelessly to help provide for us in St.Patrick’s parish. We would like to thank our coordinators Deanna and Edna in particular. They emptied their tanks of love, energy, advice, humour and patience-which was tested to the limit at times!!. They selflessly gave themselves entirely and we learnt so much from their work ethic, passion and zeal for the Lord. With their encouragement and support, we all grew together this year; rejoicing in the joyful moments and uniting even closer through the difficult and challenging times.  

In hindsight we can be proud of ourselves for sticking together through thick and thin (often we had no choice!!).  The laughter and joy in the community was evident from the beginning but many people shook their heads and smirked: “just wait and see the honeymoon period will not last…” Low and behold the joy remained even if the laughter turned to tears at times! Our friendships grew stronger as we survived 6am alarm bells (some struggled more than others to rise from bed!), being together 24/7, long and bumpy trips in our mini-van, and working well together to prepare for missions and events (Holy Spirit inspired for sure!).

The past 9 months have been life-changing for us all and never for a second do we regret taking that leap of faith!! Although our paths are now in different directions, we will always be united in Spirit and we all look forward to our future reunion. Congratulations to Ciara who is the new SPES co-coordinator and Laurie who will be volunteering in the parish, Claz will be actively engaging in the New Evangelisation with young people and youth on her own home turf (London!), Tatiana and Carmelo are traveling back to Mexico and Indonesia respectively and Anne-Marie is returning to teach Confirmation class in a Dublin Primary School. 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19

JOIN US!!!

LumiNations...EVERY 4th Friday of EACH MONTH! Come and join us, tommorrow evening, where we will be doing street outreach around Leicester Square at Notre Dame de France Church. There will be entertainment on the Steps of the Church with free tea and coffee for those passing by for a brief moment or for a while. Not only will there be singing and praising going on outside the Church, but there quiet time going on inside for Adoration. Here is where you will find the Risen Lord waiting and longing for you to visit Him. If you are interested, but are unsure if this is something for you, come along, check it out and see for yourself what exactly it is all about. You never know, you just may enjoy it!!! Go to the Parish Website to find out what the evening will look like (http://www.stpatricksoho.org/parish/events.htm). See you there!