Welcome to our parish website. We hope you find the contents here helpful whether you are a parishioner or a visitor. If you have an enquiry please either email the Parish Office stmarysphilip@aol.co.uk or call 0191 460 4274. The Parish Secretary, Julie Hindmarsh, can be contacted by email stmarysphilip@aol.co.uk or by telephone 07891 162205 during office hours Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 2pm.
PARISH NEWSLETTER The latest edition is available here
17/01/21 SUNDAY MASS for the Second Sunday of the Year is now available on our YouTube Channel.
Sunday Morning Mass will continue to be available on our YouTube Channel each Sunday from 9.00am.
PUBLIC MASS AT IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CHURCH DURING THE NATIONAL LOCKDOWN Until further notice, public Mass will be celebrated in Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Sunday mornings at 10.00am. In order to ensure that all those attending Mass can have a seat and be safely accommodated inside the church, there is a dedicated telephone ‘booking in’ system – the telephone number is 07388 814715 and you can contact this number Monday – Wednesday, 11am – 6pm. Please be advised that this number does not accept text messaging and there is no facility to leave a message.
For those who have booked-in and are attending Mass, the church will be opened half an hour before the published Mass time.
The wearing of a face covering is mandatory unless a person has an exemption from this. When travelling to and from church, and whilst in church, you must observe strict social distancing (2 metres) from anyone not in your household or support bubble and you must not mingle with anyone not in your household or support bubble before, during or after Mass. A one-way system is in place in the church, plus hand sanitisers at the entrance (Main Doors) and exit (Day Chapel). Once in church please be guided by the volunteer stewards.
You will also see a poster on display with Immaculate Heart’s QR code which can be scanned using the NHS COVID-19 app if you have downloaded it onto your mobile phone. Please feel free to scan this code but note contact details will also still be requested, manually noted and safely stored for 21 days.
N.B. Until further notice, the obligation for the faithful to attend Mass on a Sunday or Holyday of Obligation is suspended.
For details of how the National Lockdown affects places of worship and acts of worship in church, please visit the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales website here.
Masses broadcast from other locations can be viewed at www.churchservices.tv
Weekday Readings at Mass 11 – 16 January – Ordinary Time Week 1, Year 1
For this week’s Fun Activities please click here
OCTAVE OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 18 – 25 JANUARY 2021 Northern Christian Church Leaders, including Bishop Robert, have released an introduction to the week of Christian Unity and a prayer assuring us all of their support for all of the churches in our area, and of our commitment to our partnership in the Gospel as we all walk together during these times of anxiety and grief. Read it in full here.
Resources for this year’s Unity Octave have been prepared by the Monastic Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland with the theme, “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit“, based on John 15: 1 – 17 and expressing the Grandchamp Community’s vocation to prayer, reconciliation and unity in the Church and the human family. Resources can be found online here.
SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD Pope Francis is encouraging us to devote next Sunday 24 January to the Word of God so that we can ‘experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world’ (from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Aperuit Illis). The year just past was designated the Year of the God Who Speaks to us in Scripture. Sadly, most of the activities planned for 2020 had to be postponed, but the Pope’s call to mine the rich depths of the Bible encourages us to continue to do what we can. If you go to www.godwhospeaks.uk you will find some resources and suggestions.
In our diocese,over fifty people have been taking part in Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible, an online course which is continuing following a break over Christmas. Fr Sean Hall has posted two talks on St Mark’s Gospel (about 12 minutes each) on the God who speaks page of our diocesan website. As we begin the year of Mark, these resources will assist people to listen to the Sunday Gospel with greater insight.