Parish Reminders

New Parish Bank Accounts 

These are now with Lloyd’s Bank.  Any donations for St Benet’s Parish can be made to ‘St Benet’s Parish (Beccles) Accounts’ ; Lloyd’s Sort Code 30-98-97  Account 7907 4762.

(The monthly collection for the upkeep of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, continues to use  ‘Gillingham Catholic Church’ Barclays Sort Code 20-92-08; Account  4051 8174)

Ukraine

How can we continue to help people caught up in the war in Ukraine?

Visit the Catholic Social Action Network at: https://www.csan.org.uk/ukraine

“Downside” becomes “St Gregory’s”

In mid-March 2022, the Benedictine monks of Downside left their monastery in Somerset for a more modest home in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey (Devonshire), where they continue their conventual life as the Community of St Gregory.

Occasional items of news will be posted on our website (Under the “Prayers” tab, click on Downside/St Gregory’s, or use the  ‘search’ box, near the top right of the screen; just enter ‘Downside’ or ‘St Gregory’).

 Newsletter Editor

As Mike Ellwood is away for a time, we are combining the paper Newsletter with the E-News and Website.

Please send any items for publication to website@saintbenetsbeccles.org.

Flower Guild

A new list for church flowers is at the back of St Benet’s.

If you would like to provide an arrangement in memory of a friend or family member, please add your name to the list as more people are always welcome.

Waveney Foodbank

The Foodbank is more heavily subscribed than ever before and needs our support!

They have secured extra drivers and storage space, and are in need of all the usual items (listed on tear-off slips in St Benet’s porch).  Especially needed are: tinned fish and meat; fruit juice, cleaning products and the following items of clothing: sweat shirts, hoodies and men’s socks.

Please leave contributions in St Benet’s porch (or deliver to the presbytery) or take direct to St Luke’s Rigbourne Hill during the afternoon on Mondays (2.00 – 3.00 pm) or Fridays (2.00 – 3.30 pm)

St Mary’s Hardship Fund

St Mary’s Hardship Fund is a cash-limited fund aimed to support vulnerable parishioners who need additional financial help to meet a particular cost not being met by statutory (or other) sources of funding.  It is administered in strict confidence by the parish priest.

Support comes from the donations for tea and coffee after 10.30 Mass, but lockdown has reduced this income.   Please help by  placing a donation in the ‘St Mary’s Fund’ wall box – to the right of the porch door.

Spiritual Direction

An online service has been set up by Fr Paul Maddison, an experienced priest in our diocese, at www.divinethread.org providing resources to help in the practice of prayer.

Fr Paul writes: ‘You have the power to become a child of God; together we will attempt to discover the fulness of that potential’.

Children’s Liturgy of the Word 

Children below the age for First Holy Communion are very welcome to join in a discovery of the Sunday readings through story-telling and related activities in the Parish Hall.

The children then return to the  church for the offertory procession and the second part of Mass.

This liturgy takes place between 10.25 am & 11:00 am on the Second, Third and Fourth Sundays of the month during the school year. 

We ask that the youngest children are accompanied by their own parent or carer.

Mass and Prayer Intentions

If you want to have a Mass said for any personal intention, please use this link to obtain a form of request to contact the Parish Priest.   Alternatively, you can send an email – with all the relevant details asked for on the form – to priest@stbenetsbeccles.org.  A suitable date can then be agreed and arrangements made for the traditional stipend to be paid.

Prayer Requests

We have three facilities for parishioners – or indeed anyone – to ask our clergy and our parishioners to pray for a particular personal intention that is important to you.

The first two have existed for some time, and consist of a “Prayer Request Book” and a “Prayer Request Pin Board”;  simply jot your request on either, with as much or as little detail as you wish, and these can be read by anyone and referred to during Mass or other relevant services.  The Book and Board are kept just inside the “Bunbury Door”- alongside the pulpit.  They are adjacent to the Lady Chapel, where the atmosphere is conducive to quiet thought and reflection, and where you might like to offer your own prayers in whatever form you find relevant.  

The third option has been introduced during the Covid19 pandemic, when attendance at church has been limited by regulation, or by the need to protect one’s own health and/or the health of others.  Basically, it provides the same facility of asking our clergy and parishioners to think of – and pray for – something important to you, but using modern technology to record and share your request.  All that is required is for you, or a friend or relative, to send an email  to priest@stbenetsbeccles.org. – or an ordinary letter to Parish Priest, St Benet’s Church, 2 Grange Road BECCLES NR34 9NR –  with your Prayer Request.  This will then be added to our website “Prayer Requests” page.  The message posted may be anonymous or just use a first name, if you wish.

Sacrament of Reconciliation; “Our Easter Duties” 

Every Catholic is required to make an annual Confession within a few weeks of Easter – usually between  Ash Wednesday and Trinity Sunday.  

There will be Confessions as usual at 10 am every Saturday.  

In adition, for your annual Confession, you can also make an appointment to see Fr Martin at a time of mutual convenience during the week.

Gift Aid

For those donating by Gift Aid,  the Envelope boxes for the new tax year, starting in April, are now available for collection at the back of St Benet’s.  

If you don’t already commit to Gift Aid, please consider joining the scheme as it means we can claim back 25p in the pound from the government – at NO COST to you.

For more information see https://saintbenetsbeccles.org/parish-finances/income/gift-aid/

Missio Red Boxes

Boxes are still available at the back of both churches along with copies of the latest edition of “Mission Today” booklets.

For more information about Missio, please contact Bernadette Starak.

Ignite Team

Our Diocesan Youth Service is looking for people aged 18-30 to share the Gospel with young people in a way they can relate to. 

Full-time positions with food, accommodation and a monthly allowance provided (ideal ‘gap year’).

For further details:  www.rcdea.org.uk/youth

Town Pastors

Christian volunteers from local churches are out in town centres on Friday and/or Saturday nights – a positive influence on the streets and providing help and support to vulnerable people. 

They are supported by Prayer Teams at home and at different bases in town. 

Christians Together in Beccles are promoting these teams with full training both for pastoring and for prayer support. 

Please sign on the lists posted at the back of both churches and / or ask Fr Martin for further details.

Marriage Preparation Programme

This programme may be of interest to couples who have been married (or otherwise been together) for some time and can be followed in the parish as well as in the diocese.

It can also be a preparation for the annual Renewal of Vows with Bishop Alan in the Cathedral, usually in early June each year.

Fr Martin can provide further information.

Parish Census

A good number of parishioners have participated in the Census in recent weeks, and it looks as if the Catholic population of Beccles and surrounding areas is growing!  (We’ll publish some statistics in the New Year.) 

Envelopes are still available at the back of both churches for anyone who hasn’t yet completed a census form.

Repository – Sundays after 1030 Mass

The Repository will be open after 10:30 Mass on most Sundays.

Our normal stock includes Bibles, Missals, Rosaries, Religious and Devotional articles. 

We also have our suppliers’ catalogues, and orders placed today are normally with us in one or two weeks.

Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament: Saturdays

Holy Hour is held once a month on Saturday mornings in St Benet’s at a time of the week when many used to come to Confession: the Sacrament of Reconciliation is still available at that time, when we can also renew our prayer life in the presence of Jesus.

Year Books 

Copies of the East Anglia Diocesan Yearbook @ £3.00 and English Benedictine Yearbook @£3.75 are available in both churches. 

Please place your contributions in the wall box marked ‘publications’ near the porch at the back of St Benet’s – or, if you buy a copy at Gillingham, Fr Martin can transfer the funds to the St Benet’s box on your behalf.

Morning Prayer & Rosary

We will try to say Morning Prayer (in the Lady Chapel) at the times advertised.  Please click here to check the schedule for the current week 

Morning Prayer is always followed in St Benet’s by a decade of the Rosary – anyone is welcome to join.

On those days when no Morning Mass is celebrated, – usually on Wednesday, the priest’s day off each week –  we shall meet to pray the Rosary in St Benet’s at 9.30 am.

Hospital & Other Visits

In large hospitals (Norwich or Great Yarmouth), sacramental ministry is provided by a hospital Chaplain: patients (or their families) should inform the chaplaincy of their needs as Catholics on being admitted to hospital.  It is best if you inform Fr Martin as well as the hospital Chaplain.

Additionally: please let Fr Martin know if and when you would like to be visited.  

If you wish to receive communion in Beccles Hospital, or to receive visits from a member of St Benet’s wherever you may be, please inform Fr Martin

 Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are still needed to help with serving tea and coffee after the 10.30 Mass.  Please contact Mike Wells if you are able to help.

We also need potential chefs to collaborate with school kitchen staff in the running of occasional parish social evenings.

For this, it is necessary to attend a Suffolk County Council food safety / hygiene course.  Please contact Fr Martin if interested.

  Family Choir

On the first Sunday of each month, the St Benet’s Family Choir is now joined by staff and pupils from our Primary School.

Other families from the parish are of course very welcome to join in.  If you are interested, please contact Hilary on 07958 978530.

Friends of  ST BENET’S SCHOOL – Appeal for YOUR support 

The Friends are keen to have the support and help of all parishioners in their efforts to raise funds for additional equipment and facilities for our parish school.

Please click on this link to visit the new page we have provided on this web site.

Catholic Singles

This is an organisation which helps single Catholics of all ages (over 18 yrs) meet other single Catholics – either one-to-one or through social events. 

For further information, visit www.catholicsingles.org.uk or tel 0161 941 3498.

Gt Involved – Please!

There are lots of ways you can get involved!

We always need help in building our parish life and Supporting the Liturgy –  from reading to altar serving, flower arranging to singing in the Choir.

And we also need help with cleaning and polishing the church, as well as gardeners to keep the grounds looking presentable! 

Or why not help Pam Storey’s team working on social events and fundraising?

There is something to suit everyone; click here to see what is going on!

New ideas are always welcome too, and the more help we have, the more the parish can achieve.