Parish News
Announcement on Permanent Diaconate
Before his retirement, Bishop William Lee introduced the Permanent Deaconate in the Diocese of Waterford & Lismore. The first candidates commenced training in September (2010).
This ministry is open to men between the ages of 25 and 60 (for single men); and 35 and 60 (for married men). The training consists of a preparatory year, followed by three years’ academic, spiritual, pastoral and human formation.
Those who are ordained as Deacons will preside at Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals and other public prayer occasions. They will preach the homily and assist at Mass.
They will be involved in many pastoral works and in Christian education at all levels. They will be given a special role in the area of social justice and works of charity.
When ordained they will be assigned for service to a parish or group of parishes, or to Diocesan responsibilities. The ordination of Deacons is a restoration of a significant ministry which was a feature of Church life in the first five centuries.
For details, please contact Fr. Pat Fitzgerald at 086-8224607.
Rosary Procession
The annual Diocesan May Rosary Procession will take place on Sunday May 25th leaving Ballybricken Green at 3pm and proceeding to the Dominican Church Bridge Street Waterford City for the crowning of our lady.
All are welcome especially those Children who have recieved their First Holy Communion.
More details 086 3100581
Palm Sunday
April 13 is Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion and the beginning of the Holy Week. The blessing of palms will take place a the Vigil Mass on Saturday evening and blessed palms will be available at all the other Masses on Sunday.
All are welcome to participate.
Dr. MG Lazarus is conferred with the ministry of Acolyte
The Ministry of Acolyte was conferred on Dr.MG Lazarus at the 11.30 am Mass in St Oliver's Church on Saturday 22nd February.
The Ministry of Acolyte marks the final stage of preparation for ordination to the diaconate. According to Canon 1035, before anyone is promoted to the permanent or transitional diaconate, he is required to have received the ministries of lector and acolyte and to have exercised them for a suitable period of time. Dr. Lazarus was conferred the Ministry of Lector in December 2013.
Acolyte is a ministry to which a person is specially appointed by the Church to assist the deacon and to minister to the priest. His duty is to attend to the service of the altar and to assist as needed in the celebration of the Mass. In particular, it is his responsibility to prepare the altar, purify, wipe and arrange the sacred vessels after Holy Communion, and as an extraordinary minister, to distribute the Eucharist to the faithful and to the sick.
An acolyte may be entrusted with publicly exposing the Blessed Sacrament for adoration but not with giving benediction. The ministry of acolyte is reserved to men and conferred by the bishop of the diocese or, in clerical institutes of religious, by the major superior, according to liturgical rites composed for the purpose by the Church.
The acolyte also has things to do in the community and all of them flow from his service of the Eucharist. So he may take communion to the sick and housebound, he is an appropriate person to prepare altar servers and others who assist in the liturgies, not just showing them what to do but helping them to understand the significance of what they are doing.
Until 1972, the acolyte was the holder of the highest of four minor orders. By Pope Paul VI's motu proprio Ministeria quaedam of 15 August 1972, the term "minor orders" has been replaced by that of "ministries". Two such ministries, those of reader and acolyte are to be kept throughout the Latin Church. A prescribed interval, as decided by the Holy See and the national episcopal conference, is to be observed between receiving them. Candidates for diaconate and for priesthood must receive both ministries and exercise them for some time before receiving holy orders.
As one set aside in a special way for the service of the altar, the acolyte should learn all matters concerning public divine worship and strive to grasp their inner spiritual meaning: in that way he will be able each day to offer himself entirely to God, be an example to all by his gravity and reverence in church, and have a sincere love for the Mystical Body of Christ, the people of God, especially for the weak and the sick.
New Ministers Formation Training
Formation training for new Ministers of the Eucharist and Ministers of the Word (Readers) will take place in March 2014.
Tuesday 4th March - Minsiters of the Eucharist
Tuesday 11th March - Readers.
We look forward to having some new volunteers. Please Contact the Office
"My Hero"
Some of our pupils are involved in this! Please support...
It is getting great air play. Out of the 1.29 it cost to download nearly 90 cent is going to SVP for every time it is downloaded on ITunes .
To download, you need to open on your computer on ITunes account, this is
free, the only cost is to download the song which you can pay for via Visa
card or if you don't have a Visa card you can buy an ITunes credit in Tesco
etc which you can use. If you don't know how to do this, your son, grandson
or any young person will show you.
Please spread the word and encourage people you know to download it and also put in requests to radio stations to play it and ask listeners to download it as a means of helping people. If 100,000 download it, it is a Christmas present for the needy that St Vincent de Paul works with. If everyone does a little it adds up to a lot. In the two attachments are the lyrics and the background to the creation of the song.