ST FLORA OF CORDOBA, PRAY FOR US

At the time of Flora's birth in about 830AD Spain was under Muslim rule.    Flora's father was a Muslim, so his daughter was supposed to be a Muslim too, but after his death her mother brought her up secretly as a Christian.   When Flora grew up she was questioned by the Muslim authorities but refused to renounce her Christian faith, so she was arrested.    When she was brought before the Sharia Court she denounced Islam openly, and publicly proclaimed her Christian faith.   For doing so she was convicted of apostasy and executed by decapitation, probably in the year 851.    The image above in the right-hand panel of our great south window shows Flora with the lily of virginity in one hand and the other holding the sword of her execution.
On November 24th we remembered her martyrdom, and asked her as we have done in the past to intercede for our Parish and for its future.

NOW HERE'S A HANDSOME FAMILY!

"I am the family face .... projecting trait and trace ...." Thomas Hardy's words are splendidly and proudly illustrated by this lovely family shot of Elaine, Perry, Eleanor, Doris, Sarah-Jane and James, rounded up as they were trying to escape after Mass on Sunday!

WELCOME TO THE CHURCH, MAYA!

Here is beautiful baby Maya Solan with parents Arkadiusz and Monika standing by the gateway to life in the Spirit, just before the beginning of the service of Baptism last Sunday.    This the Sacrament which marks Maya with a seal that cannot be broken, and our Parish rejoices as another new member of Christ joins us.

ANOTHER LOVELY BABY BAPTISED

Godparents Thomas and Clare watch as Fr Danny prepares Florence Duignan for her Baptism on Sunday afternoon.   Despite the encouragement of parents John and Elizabeth, Florence appears at first a little uncertain about the idea of becoming one of God's children!   We're glad to report, however, that a few minutes after this shot was taken she was happily baptised, born of water and the Spirit, and we welcomed her into our Parish family.

CHURCH REGENERATION NOW UNDER WAY

The first stage of the Church improvements and maintenance work promised during the Living Our Faith campaign has been taking place over the past three weeks.    The Sacristy has undergone a complete and badly-needed redecoration.

The Church porch has been transformed, and most of the doors in the Church have now been resealed.     

The most noticeable changes have been in the choirloft.   The dull old brown paintwork has gone, and has been replaced by a cheerful cream, which has made the whole Church lighter.     There are to be further improvements in the lighting - watch this space.

There is now a handrail on both sides of the narrow, awkward stairway, and good thick carpet has been fitted on the floor and stairs.    There's a lot more to be done in our Church yet.    Our thanks and congratulations to those of you who made this all possible through your pledges to Living Our Faith, to Fr Danny, who has moved so promptly to get this started, and to the men in the Finance and Property team, who have worked so hard to plan and undertake this work.

MASSGOERS EVACUATED ON WEEKDAYS

During the "blitz" while the sanctuary, choirloft, porch and sacristy were being restored and redecorated, Holy Mass was offered each day in the Parish Rooms instead of the Church.

NEW LEADER FOR CHURCHES TOGETHER

        At last week's A.G.M. of Lymington Churches Together the Reverend Alex Russell, Vicar of St Mark's Pennington, was elected Chairman, and took her place between the secretary Janet Anderson of Boldre and the treasurer Peter Lee of St Thomas' Church.     During the year Churches Together organize many activities in which Christians of all denominations can take part together.    These are advertised in our Parish newsletter.

ROBED WITH A CENTURY OF BAPTISMS

After Mass on Sunday Lily-Mae Chrisp made her triumphant entrance into the family of Jesus Christ adorned with the robe which has been worn by her predecessors at their Christenings for more than a hundred years.  Here proud parents Wayne and Carolyn are seen holding her for a photo just before her Baptism, through which she became part of the Church, and was reborn as a child of God.

BEWARE! CARDSHARPS ON THE LOOSE!

Is a big win on the cards?   You'd think so, with Eileen checking the takings while Peggy and Ellen try to guess which packet's got the £50 note hidden inside it!   But the real winners here are the Catholic Disability Fellowship.   What better reason could anyone have for purchasing a few cards?

NOT JUST AN ORDINARY CUP OF COFFEE

Our cafe was very full this week but Blog was lucky enough to find a seat with three lovely ladies.    Here they are - Doris, Cathy and Margaret, drinking to the week ahead in a cup of our very own specially selected Parish coffee!   Good luck and good health to all three of you!

SIGNS OF NEW GROWTH IN OUR BLOG

Last week we showed how the readership of our Parish Blog has grown over the past twelve months.  Here are some more details.  

Of the 3850 hits recorded during the year, 2812 took place since the beginning of July.   The majority of these were from people who have our site on their "Favourites".    Only 45 typed in the address given in the Parish newsletter.    467 arrived through a search engine such as Google.   193 clicked the link on the New Forest Pastoral Area site, and 140 used the link on the copy of our Parish newsletter which appears on that site.

2048 of the hits scored since July 1st were from the UK, 289 from the USA and 63 from Canada.   39 were from China, 36 from Germany, 32 from the Ukraine, 31 from Poland, 26 from India and 23 from Russia.  One Russian visitor attempted to make a lighthearted comment on the Sept 2nd post "Bank Holiday Tea at St Dominic's", and although we haven't been able to make a lot of sense of it, we have allowed both it and its translation to appear there. 
  
We doubt parishioners will be surprised to learn that the most popular post on our blog with 266 hits so far and more being added every week is the June 3rd interview with Fr Danny. 

A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST FOR AVA

Ava Etheridge arriving last Sunday with parents Anthony and Holly and brother Simon, at the doorway into her new life in the Church through Baptism.    We welcome her into our community, and pray that having received this sacrament, she will grow up a strong, faithful Christian.

RECOLLECTION DAY AT THE CONVENT

On Saturday lay ministers and readers from all four parishes in our Pastoral Area gathered for a second Day of Recollection at St Dominic's.   Our leader was Fr Andrew McMahon OFM, who gave us fascinating insights into the life of St Francis and the Franciscans, and is seen here talking to Anthony outside the Chapel.

Here is one of the groups which came together for their sandwiches at lunchtime.   From front left (clockwise) they are: Christine, Jane, Susan, Robin, Shelley, Grace and Tom.