St Anne's honoured the memory of Drummer Lee Rigby in the Lady Chapel.

 FATHER DANNY'S 30th ANNIVERSARY OF ORDINATION.

Despite his wishes not to mark this event, it got marked anyway,....by a last-minuit guerrilla celebration.
After Tuesday morning mass (in which Fr Danny gave a very moving account of both his auspicious birth and a life full of meaning) the congregation adjourned to the Hospitality Centre.
Our heartfelt thanks go to Fr Danny for his devotion to his calling

 Rita, Fr Danny and Liz with the cake that was presented to Father on the 30th anniversary of his ordination, in front of a good number of parishioners who had assisted at the Mass he had just celebrated.

The cake which had been made for him by Pat Choules.

Our Lady of Mercy on Pentecost Sunday morning. 

The superb flower arrangements; the flags of many of  the nationalities of our parishioners; the work of the children's liturgy group and the altar decorated with the dove representing the Holy Spirit with seven ribbons for the seven gifts . 

Our congratulations to all those involved in preparing this splendid display.

Taken as we gathered round the altar to say together The Lord's Prayer after our celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturday Morning.  11 of our young people were invited (before making their First Confession) to place on the altar something which they value as very special to them.  Our theme for this service was 'Caring for what is precious'.  Please continue to pray for our young people and their families as we all look forward to the feast of Corpus Christi when they will partake at the Lord's table for the first time.

Welcome to our newest little brother........Harley Duane Barnet

A huge thank you to everyone who helped support our Craft Fair on Saturday.  A total of £242.58 was raised for parish funds. 

We had a total of 9 craft tables with a tremendous range of items including hand-made silver jewelry, paintings, wood craft and hand-knitted items.

Alice, from the NSPCC also sold raffle tickets for the beautiful quilt which was on display, and raised in excess of £100 during the day.

Pete and Liz served coffee and cake in the morning, followed by baked potatoes and coleslaw at lunchtime.  There was an impressive display of cakes, contributed by parishioners, which disappeared very quickly.

Many thanks to all our volunteers for their hard work and input which made it such a fun day.

Parishioners collaborated to create a beautiful spring-flower screen for the Mission at St Anne's. 

Fr Tony Nolan (from Sarum College) facilitated the day, and we were further blessed by the weather!

Last weekend Sarah Parrish opened her delightful garden to supporty the Red Cross.    This is Willowbank in Brickfields Lane, next door to the British Legion Cottages.    Their back gardens stand where in 1851 a chapel was built of brick (of course) to enable Catholics of the area to worship safely until the Church of Our Lady of Mercy was founded eight years later.   Unfortunately Mrs Parrish only opens her garden once a year, so don't miss her delicious scones and cream next year at this time.    See redcross.org.uk/opengardens

Fr Danny's 55th birthday cake.

                                                             

Pat, who made the cake and decorated it, has retreated from the limelight!

                      

                                                   

             

And here's one we made earlier!

           In fact it was presented to Father Danny on Saturday night, and was made by Patricia Sey

Easter Illustrated under the Altar

 

 

Each Good Friday at Our Lady of Mercy Church a group of parishioners prepare for Easter by producing the scene as it was after Our Lord's body had been laid in the tomb.      Behind the altar the tabernacle is empty, and under it the stone has been rolled in place.

 

 

On Easter Day the stone has been rolled back, and Our Lord appears to Mary Magdalene in the garden.        The tabernacle now contains His Body and Blood, and we rejoice together at His Resurrection.



Nicky and John have been in New Zealand, staying with her daughter Ruth and visiting Nicky's grandchildren and her great grandchild Cody.

                            They helped out on Ruth's homestead, doing many of the interesting jobs!

 They celebrated their first wedding anniversary with their hosts in the restaurant of the Auckland Skytower, currently the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

 They also visited Wellington when Cardinal Dew, the Archbishop of New Zealand, was in Rome, and John snapped Nicky giving her support to the Cathedral.    (It is right next to the Anglican one, and the two Cathedrals combined to celebrate a joint service of Ashes on Ash Wednesday.)

These are some photo's from the Women's World Day of Prayer on Friday 1st March 2013 hosted at Our Lady of Mercy and St Joseph

 

 

Women from local churches attended, and the speaker was the Chaplain from Oakhaven Hospice, the Rev'd Kate Wilson.

She gave a talk on welcoming people to our community and our homes - 

as Jesus said  "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." 

 

The service was written by the women of France and was very moving and spiritual, and included a hymn from Taize.  

There was a table set with small items from France and a map.  

After the service everybody had tea and cake in the hospitality suite and commented on how much they had enjoyed the experience.

The following was contributed by Cathy  who said "Publish and be damned!"

But does she mean the "being damned" bit  literally ?...........................

What do you call a Pope who resigns?

 On Saturday 16th February 2013, Peter and Lee hosted the first Lenten Meal with 'Gourmet" soup (made by Lee) and Bread and Cheese.

  

Everyone enjoyed the food and a chat in the warm and comfortable surroundings of the Hospitality suite.  

The proceeds of the meal are being donated to CAFOD.  

These Lenten meals will continue until the end of Lent and we hope many of you will be able to attend.  Each Saturday will be hosted by a different Parish Group.

Heartfelt Thanks to Peter & Lee

                                       
 At the Three Kings Party, St Francis Church, Milford-on-Sea on 11th January 2013.
 Left to right: Roger Maughan, Vasco from Lusaka, Paul Scarnell & Fr Danny.

YEAR OF FAITH

During this year of Faith we plan to have Permanent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Our Monstrance has now been housed in a secure toughened glass tabernacle beneath the Altar in order to allow us come into the Church and pray before the exposed Blessed Sacrament.  On the first Sunday of every month, at 4pm,  we will pray the Rosary followed by Benediction. 

Blessed are the Peace Makers

 

Our Amnesty Candle

which we have kept lit during this last week

 

In 1961, British lawyer Peter Benenson launched a worldwide campaign, “Appeal for Amnesty”, with the publication of an article in the Observer newspaper. The article, “The Forgotten Prisoners”, was written after he learned of two Portuguese students who were imprisoned for raising a toast to freedom. Reprinted in newspapers across the world, his appeal marked the beginning of Amnesty International.

On Human Rights Day, 10 December 1961, the first Amnesty International candle – which was to become the organization’s iconic symbol – was lit in the church of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

Cathy Pickles

Our lovely Altar Server Jasmine as we have never seen her before! 

 She was appearing in New Forest Players production of Aladin at New Milton Memorial Hall. Some 25 parishioners attended last Sunday afternoon thanks, once again, to the brilliant organisational skills of Jackie. 

Afterwards many of us gathered in our own Hospitality Centre for a magnificent afternoon tea prepared for us by Leigh and Pete. 

Cathy Pickles

IS THIS MENAGE A TROIS GETTING A LITTLE BIT TOO CROWDED? 

When the one who claims to love you goes behind your back, and publicly displays his infidelity in the most blatant way, what can you do?     Furthermore, what can be more emotionally destructive of a relationship than when that betrayal is not even to a fellow feline, but to a member of the inferior canine species?    Even human beings should be able to understand that, surely.

We apologise for the delay in publishing this week’s blog, due to technical problems which have now been resolved.    So now here is our (slightly late) New Year’s Honours List.

THE PARISH BLOG NEW YEAR’S HONOURS LIST

It would not be possible to publish all the names and photos of the dozens of parishioners who deserve a gong for their achievements in 2012.   But during the past twelve months we did manage to mention a few of them in your blog

First on our list has to be all those who offer biscuits and cake to the hungry and coffee to those who thirst, deal with the dirty dishes and clean the place up afterwards.    In October your blog published a photo of this lovely quartet who, together with all the others of you who take your turns on the rota, serve us in this humble duty, and so deserve first place in our honours list.  

 The next group who must be honoured are those volunteers who help to improve the appearance of our churches by making the area surrounding our buildings more attractive and welcoming.    Some do it by planting and tending flowers, while this group, photographed for your blog in April, brought light into the garden of St Anne’s.    But no time to rest on your laurels, guys.    Just a few more months and it’s all going to have to be done again!

 Now to acknowledge the excellent work undertaken by those who lead and run Parish groups we select as an example the leaders of the ever popular Friendship Club, whom we blogged in July.       We think the bunch that organize this super group should be honoured by being known as Team CB.

Of course, somebody has to plan, delegate, cajole and remind others to ensure that things happen.   If that doesn’t work they do it themselves.   Such people deserve a gold medal each, and the titles that so often go with them.    This photo, taken in July, is of Sir Danny presenting Dame Cathy with a Papal Blessing, which is an even more prestigious award than being honoured in the Parish Blog.

NO PEACE IN THE LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

Christmas has never really been very peaceful under the altar at Our Lady of Mercy.      Already we can see that some extra settlements have appeared this year.    That’s bound to cause more trouble.  

Then there’s all those immigrants coming in– three more of them expected in twelve days time.      And what are Eileen, Eileen and Clare going to do with these sheep that have just arrived?       It’s a good thing they’re going to have a census, isn’t it.

SIX FLAUTISTS GO A-FLUTING FOR OAKHAVEN

Last Saturday evening Tina and five of her flute-playing friends gave a recital at her house to raise funds for Oakhaven.       As well as giving their invited audience much pleasure they collected a total of £150 for the Hospice.    What a great Christmas present!

WE'VE ACTUALLY GOT A WHITE CHRISTMAS

You’ll find it in the Paul Duffy room, the one at the end of the right hand corridor in Our Lady of Mercy Hospitality Centre.     Here’s Lisa, Luke and Johnny setting it up.

SCHOLARS SING CAROLS FOR THE PARISH

This afternoon, 60 of our young students from Our Lady of Mercy and St Joseph's performed a magnificent carol service re-enacting the birth of Jesus Christ with their song. There were many outstanding soloists and narrators alongside the choral voices and those dressed up to take part in the tableau. Well done to all.
                                                                                                             photo and report by Cathy

CAROLLERS VISIT LOCAL RESIDENTIAL HOMES

One of the four groups of parishioners, young and old, who volunteered to sing carols at to residents of Lymington care and nursing homes, visited Barfields today.   The other groups went to Oakhaven, Freegrove and Solent Mead.