Category: Events

Ash Wednesday (14th February) will commence the season of Lent. Ash Wednesday is a day of Fasting and Abstinence. Masses at the Shrine will be celebrated at 11am (followed by the Stations of the Cross) & 6pm. The stations of the cross will be prayed each Friday & Saturday after the 11am Mass during which confession will also be available.

The Diocesan Lenten Program will soon be available for purchase to help guide people through the season of Lent. This is a great resource prepared for people by the Diocese of Wollongong. Price for the booklets will be $10 each.

In honour of our Lady of Lourdes, Patroness of all those with illness seeking healing, the Rite of anointing of the sick will be offered after each of the scheduled Sunday Masses on Sunday 11th February. The anointing is for those seeking healing either physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually.

Here are the announcements for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, the 7th of Janurary:

THANK YOU
Fr Richard and the community would like to thank everyone for their Christmas wishes, cards, gifts and invitations. This is all very much appreciated. Please be assured you are all in our prayers.

NOVENA TO ST PAUL THE FIRST HERMIT (PATRIARCH OF THE PAULINE ORDER)
This will take place from Saturday 6th to Sunday 14th January at the 11am Masses (inclusive of Sunday). For those wishing to include intentions for the novena (these will be place upon the Main Altar), slips can be found at the side table of the Church. Intentions can be left in one of the offering boxes in the Church, handed back to one of the Fathers or Brothers or put into the collection basket.

FATIMA DAY (Saturday 13th January)
Our main celebrant will be Fr Brian Harrison, retired Priest living in the Diocese of Wollongong. We look forward to welcoming Father Brian.

SOLEMNITY OF ST PAUL THE FIRST HERMIT
The Solemnity of the Patriarch of the Pauline Order will be celebrated with a Solemn Mass on Monday 15th January at the 11am Mass. During the Mass the Fathers and Brothers will be renewing their Religious Profession. At the end of Mass there will be a special blessing of the fruits of the Palm along with a special blessing for children. Please come along and celebrate this great day with us otherwise please keep the Pauline Fathers and Brothers in your prayers.

SOLEMNITY OF MARY, QUEEN OF HERMITS
The Solemnity of the Patroness of the Pauline Order will be celebrated with a Solemn Mass on Tuesday 16th January at the 11am Mass During the Mass the Fathers and Brothers will be renewing their Covenant to the Blessed Virgin. Again please come along and celebrate this great day with us otherwise please keep the Fathers and Brothers in your prayers.

MORNING TEA AFTER 8AM MASS
Thank you to all who provided something for the morning tea after the 8am Mass last week. The morning teas are proving to be popular especially for pilgrims to meet one another and have a chat in a social setting. In January there will be NO morning tea. The next Morning Tea will be: Sunday 18th February 2024.

On the 26th of August, we will celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa (Our Lady of Mercy). We will celebrate it again on the following Sunday.

Our Lady of Czestochowa is of particular significance to the Pauline Fathers at the Shrine because it is under this title that our Church is dedicated to Our Lady, but also, the Order has been custodians of the original Icon since 1382 at Czestochowa.

In the lead-up to the Solemnity, we a praying a novena for all the requested intentions. You can find the details of that novena on our page dedicated to the Novena to Our Lady of Mercy.

This coming Saturday, the 19th of August, will be our monthly working bee. The focus will again be around the entrance to the property.

The program is:

• 8 am Mass in the Shrine Church
• 9:am Start of work at the front of the property
• 1:30 pm BBQ lunch

We are looking forward to again seeing many of our generous pilgrims come to help maintain our Shrine.

We are looking for pilgrims that would be willing to help with our monthly working bees on the 3rd Saturday of every month. This month of July that will be Saturday the 15th.

Mass will be celebrated for the volunteers at 8 am in the Shrine Church. At around 9 am, volunteers will meet with Fr. Joseph Maria at the entrance of the property to begin work. The focus will be on the area around the annunciation scene (if you look closely, you can see the Angel and Our Lady in the attached photo).

Volunteers are asked to bring, if possible, their own gardening gear, as we might not have enough for everyone depending on the turnout.

There will be a BBQ lunch provided. Let us know if you are coming in the comments.

Today we celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Joseph Maria Buckley the Subprior and Vice-rector of the Shrine.

We pray that God grant him every blessing in his ministry of serving God and his people.

Pilgrims of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, as mentioned previously, we are looking to establish more regular Working Bees at the Shrine to help make it more beautiful than ever. We plan this to be every 3rd Saturday of the Month, putting the next one on the 17th of June.

The focus of the Working Bee on the 17th of June will be the entrance of the property to remove weeds and fallen leaves and branches and then plant out the gardens better. Other tasks will be added to this list if we receive a good turnout.

The day’s schedule will start at 8 am with Mass for the Volunteers in the Shrine Church before we head to the front of the property to begin work. Volunteers are asked to bring working shoes and gardening gloves and, if they can, bring some of their own gardening tools, as we might not be able to supply enough for everyone.

Please let us know if you are coming in the comments.

Today the 24th of May, on the Solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians, Patroness of Australia, we also celebrate the day that our Church was Blessed and Dedicated in 1997.