Covid-19 measures in our churches in Gibraltar

By | Churches, News

COVID update:

 

FOLLOWING THE LATEST UPDATE ON COVID-19 REGULATIONS

EVERYONE (UNLESS EXEMPTED BY THE REGULATIONS)

ARE REQUIRED TO WEAR A FACE MASK WHILE INSIDE COVERED PUBLIC SPACES

WHICH INCLUDES CHURCHES

Thank you for your kind understanding and cooperation for the good of all in our community as we try to keep everyone safe.

Novena in honour of the Annunciation of our Blessed Lord

By | Bishop Carmel, Churches, Liturgy

As the Referendum on abortion of 19th March drew near, there were several initiatives to pray for the protection of the baby in the womb, including a Novena to St. Joseph, concluding with his Feast day, also the 19th March. The Referendum was recently postponed due to the onslaught of the Covid-19 virus.

In the Gospel of St. Luke (1:26–38), we hear how Mary received the wonderful news that she was to be the Mother of God. Her humble, trusting, reply to the Archangel Gabriel is forever engraved in our hearts:

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord;

let it be to me according to your word.” (v. 38)

 

and immediately, she conceived Jesus in her womb through the action of the Holy Spirit.

Mary said ‘Yes’ to Life. We, who follow Jesus, also say a resounding ‘yes’ to Life, to Him.

The 25th March, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, therefore, presents an unexpected opportunity to continue to pray for the protection and dignity of unborn human life.

Sadly, this need to pray for life has taken on further urgency: we have been forewarned to expect Covid-19 to be a serious threat to the lives of many, primarily the elderly, in our community.

The Cathedral has organized a Rosary Novena for Life, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which begins Tuesday 17th (Rosary followed by Holy Mass presided by Bishop Zammit) and ends on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, 25th March. On that day, Bishop Zammit will officially consecrate Gibraltar to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a solemn act during the live-streamed Mass of the Annunciation.

We pray that as we face these evils threatening Gibraltar, God may guide, protect and convert our hearts to His.

Please pray with us this special Novena, live-streamed daily from the Cathedral:

Rosary at 10:30

followed by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at 11:00

 

Please spread the word around! Thank you.

What do we mean by ‘ORDINARY TIME’?

By | Churches, Liturgy, News

With the end of Eastertide, the Church returns to her so-called Ordinary Time. This is a fitting way to remind us that the entire reason why God was born, became one like us —in everything but sin— was to show us the way back to the Father, which we had lost through the sin of Adam and Eve. This is at the heart of the mystery of our Redemption as revealed by God.

The Baptism of Jesus therefore signals the dawn of our hope: that being baptized in Him, we will die with Him, to rise with Him (c.f. St. Paul Rom 6:3-5; 1 Cor 10:11-12; Col 2:12).

The basis of our re-birth in Christ, is our new life in the Sacred Trinity: to live in an ineffable communion of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit; in an eternal embrace of joy! That relationship begins now, through Baptism.

Jesus became truly man so that He could illumine the way for us, by following Him along our life-long road of conversion: turning away from sin and living a new life in God. Baptism is the gateway which Christ opens for us, to make possible our entry into Paradise —if we so desire— and live with Him forever.

The ‘Ordinary Time’ of the Church’s Liturgical Year in 2019 began on Monday 14th January. This means that we resume the 3-year cycle of readings from Sacred Scriptures which are proclaimed at Holy Mass each Sunday and during the weekdays.

Also, the ‘Divine Office’ or ‘Liturgy of the Hours’ which all religious, bishops, priests and deacons are obliged to recite in the name of the Church, ‘resets’ back to its starting point for the new liturgical year after the Feast of Christ the King, or more accurately, beginning from the First Sunday of Advent.

Since the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, an astonishing number of lay people, associations of Apostolic Life and groups have joined in this ‘Universal Prayer of the Church’. This is a tremendous blessing for the world, whereby from East to West, “from the rising of the sun to its setting, a pure sacrifice may be made offered to your name” [Eucharistic Prayer 3].

As with the Eucharistic Prayer which the Priest offers In Persona Christi —that is, in the Person of Christ— is Christ’s perfect prayer of praise and thanksgiving, which He offers continually to the Father, similarly the ‘Divine Office’ is His intercession for His Body, the Church.

In this official Prayer of the Church, we can feel the presence of our brothers and sisters —the Church in Heaven and the Church in Purgatory— praying in unison with the ‘pilgrimage Church’ on Earth. This is the nature and reality of the Catholic Church, which finds her origins and mission in the one Sacrifice of Christ, offered once and for all, to the Father on Calvary and made actual —in our time— through the Sacred Sacrifice of the Mass.

This Mystery is truly awesome! It generates in our hearts a sublime desire to worship the Triune God. It is the humbling feeling that our infinite God loves us. Without God, we are meaningless and finite; of little lasting worth! This sentiment of true devotion invites us to bend our knees and bow low, with deep reverence, as we behold and adore the Body and Blood of Christ at the elevation at Holy Mass. As we do so, God’s light of hope touches our hearts and makes us new: the grace of God, so freely given, transforms us into a new creation in Christ. That is why our Baptism unfolds and reveals throughout our life, who God destined us to be. It spells the unique mission we all have: to creatively reflect something of our ‘image and likeness’ of God, back to the Father who created us out of nothing.

The Church encourages all her Faithful to pray the Divine Office and also, to be renwed each day at Holy Mass. If we do so and listen to God’s Word attentively, which is at the heart —like a scaffold— of all our liturgies, we will have virtually gone through the entire Bible in 3 years! What a wonderful way to make a home in our hearts for Jesus, the Word-made-flesh!

In this year 2019, the programme of readings from Sacred Scripture for the Divine Office and for Holy Mass are as follows:

  • For Holy Mass:
    • Sunday readings = Year C.
    • Weekday readings = Cycle I.
  • The colour for the Liturgical vestments is green, symbolizing hope and fresh, new growth (as in God’s creation all around us) in our relationship with Christ.

CHANGES TO MASS TIMES AT CATHEDRAL & SACRED HEART

By | Churches, Liturgy, News

CHANGES TO MASS TIMES

 

CATHEDRAL

As from Monday, the 24th June 2019, due to the fact that priests in the Cathedral are or will be away or convalescing, apart from the fact that we have also lost Fr Mario Tong, we need to suspend temporarily one of the Masses celebrated in the Cathedral.

Therefore, the 7.30 morning Mass will be suspended for the time being.

This decision was not taken lightly, but under the extraordinary and unexpected circumstances we are in, we are sure that you will understand.

During the summer months commencing on Saturday 29th June, the weekend AND weekday evening Masses will be at 7.15 pm.

__________________________

 

SACRED HEART

 

For the time being during the summer months, in order to ensure we have a Priest available, the Mass schedule will be as follows as from Saturday 22nd June :

 

Friday 28th:         Feast of the Sacred Heart, followed by the traditional Parish celebration. Mass will be at 7 p.m.

 

All Saturdays & Holy Days of Obligation:       8:00 p.m.

                                                   All Sundays:        9:30 a.m.

Our Lady of Europe

By | Churches, News

On the 5th May each year, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Europe at the Shrine where an ancient statue is honoured in her name. This devotion goes back to over 700 years ago. On 31st May 1979 Pope St. John Paul II approved Our Blessed Lady as the Principal Patroness of the Diocese of Gibraltar, under the title of Our Lady of Europe.

The annual Diocesan Procession of Our Lady of Europe will take place on Wednesday 23rd May at 6:30 p.m.  The procession will be as usual, from St. Bernard’s Church to the Shrine. On arrival the Eucharistic celebration will take place.

For more information, please contact Mgr. Azzopardi at St. Theresa’s who is also the Rector of the Shrine and is organizing this procession.

May Our Lady of Europe intercede of us, Her children.