Friday, 28th February has been designated as a Day of Prayer by Pope Francis for those who have suffered abuse. Please keep this intention in your prayers. This will be a particular intention during Stations of thee Cross at 7pm.

During Lent we will have Mass on Mondays and Thursdays at 7pm in addition to the usual 10 am weekday Mass. On Fridays we will have Stations of thee Cross and Benediction at 7pm

Bishop John will again be celebrating Station Masses around the diocese this Lent. Please come to you local Mass at St Mary's, Paisley on Wednesday 11th March. His 7pm Station Mass will be the only Mass in your cluster that day, to allow our priests and people to john him. Station Mass is simply Mass with the Bishop that replicates the ancient custom of the Popes to go out to 'station parishes' around Rome leading up to Easter. Bishop John's homilies will be a catechesis on the meaning of the Creed as a simple summary of what Catholics believe. There will be Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions available from 6pm. Maybe some will make your Lenten discipline to journey to all of these Masses.

A Lenten retreat group will again meet weekly from 7pm to 8.30pm each week in St Columba's Oratory, starting on Tuesday 5th February. The theme: "Journey into Freedom: a Retreat based in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola". All are also welcome to a Lent Quiet Morning in the Oratory from 10.30 am to 1pm on Saturday 29th February - an opportunity for prayer, quiet time and sharing. The morning will end with Mass and a light lunch.

The Pilgrimage takes place from 26th June - 2nd July 2020. For more information please contact Fr Gerry McNellis: stninian@rcdop.org.uk

On Saturday 22 nd of February the 40 Days for Life Lenten Prayer and Fasting Vigil for an end to abortion will commence with the celebration of Holy Mass at 1pm in St Andrew’s Cathedral. It will be the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. Archbishop Tartaglia will be the celebrant. The 40 Days for Life Vigil will then take place as before from Ash Wednesday 26 th February from 8am until 8pm each day outside of the Hardgate Road entrance to the QEUH. The Vigil will close on Palm Sunday 5 th April at the QEUH. Continue reading ...

Th Diocese of Paisley will be holding a reflection day for young adults (S3 to S6) on Sunday, 1st March at St Mirin's Chaplaincy Centre, 45 High Street, Paisley. The day will be from 2pm to 6pm and will include Mass at at 5pm. NET Ministries will be our facilitators. While the retreat is open to all young people from this age group , there is an expectation that any participants in Youth to Lourdes 2020 should be in attendance. All attendees will be required to bring a signed consent form. These can be obtained from your school or your Parish or downloaded from the diocesan website. For more information please contact Father John Morriso: telephone 0141 889 5056 or email vocations@rcdop.org.uk

The Diocese of Paisley will be hosting a retreat day for primary school pupils for P4 to P7 at St Mary's Greenock on Sunday 15th March 2 - 6pm. The retreat day will include activities, Mass and the chance to meet new friends. All participants must bring a signed consent form. Consent forms can be obtained from your Parish primary school, downloaded from the Diocesan website or by contacting Father John Morrison - email: vocations@rcdop.org.uk or telephone 0141 889 5056.

Our Lenten Season begins with Ash Wednesday on 26th February. It is a day of fast and abstinence, which means giving up one meal of the day and abstaining from meat for the whole of the day. The season of Lent is a liturgical season of forty days of fasting, prayer and penitence, The liturgical colour for Lent is violet, the Gloria and Alleluias are omitted, Masses are celebrated with simple music and our sanctuaries are more quietly adorned.

Until the end of March, the Local Authority is consulting on Proposals to: - Change the annual registration date for pupils about to start Primary 1. Currently it is held in Janjuary and it is felt that it would be better to do this in future in November (it would give school staff more time to liaise with pre-5/nursery establishments) - Revise Primary 1 registration allocation of catchment places - Revise transfer from primary to secondary allocation of catchment places - Revise allocation of placing request places. The proposals take full account of the fact that a child who is baptised Catholic (with a baptismal certificate) would have priority for a place in a catholic primary or secondary school, which is not necessarily the current practice due to the existing policy. It has been recognised that the existing policy is outdated and that it is the time to introduce positive amendments. If you have a child in a local primary/secondary school or is due to begin school in the next couple of years, please take a little time to go online and seek out the consultation. It would be helpful if the Local Authority knows that the community welcomes the right of baptised Catholics to get a place in the local catholic schools.