Newsletters & Reports

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ST PETER’S CHURCH (with St Joseph’s, Hurst Green)
Stonyhurst College – Stonyhurst – Clitheroe – Lancs – BB7 9PZ.

T: (01254) 826268      E: stpeterschurchstonyhurst@btinternet.com        Web: www.stpetersstonyhurst.org.uk

Parish Priest:   Fr Tim Curtis, SJ              Safeguarding Officer:     Niall Macfarlane (07786 432360
                          Salford Roman Catholic Diocese Trustees Registered Charity No 2500374   

14th September 2025                    THE NEWSLETTER                       The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Mass Schedule                                                                                                      

(Each Saturday during term time there are confessions and a Holy Hour from 4.30pm with Benediction at 5.15pm)

L = Lately Dead, A = Anniversary of Death, R = Remembrance          M = Martyr, V = Virgin, B = Bishop, Pp = Pope
P = Personal Intention, S = Sick, B = Birthday   F = Founders Mass             D = Doctor, P = Priest, R = Religious

Please pray for the following, the anniversary of whose deaths occur at this time:   Jack Francis Holden, Agnes Holden, John Holden and Kathleen Riding.   May they rest in the peace of the Lord.

Readings at Mass

Diocesan Website:
http://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk
for information on our Diocese and what is happening.

Praying with the Pope in September 2025
For our relationship with all of creation
Let us pray that, inspired by St Francis, we might experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect.

Look at www.ThePopeVideo.org for more information

Today
Is the feast day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.   In the gospel Jesus tells Nicodemus that, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so too the Son of Man must be lifted up.

Season of Creation
Continues until 4th October.   During this time we are invited to reflect on our care of the world around us.

Disabled children’s Mass
A jumbulance group are bringing 9 disabled children to St Peter’s on Wednesday for a special Mass due to begin between 11.30am and 12 noon.  This will be part of their holiday. Parishioners are welcome to come and pray with them on Wednesday.

Next Sunday
Is the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time and is Evangelli Gaudum Sunday.
In the gospel Jesus tells the parable of the master who praised a steward, even though he had been dishonest.
Next Sunday there will be a second collection for the Home Missions.

Coffee Stop Special
The next one on Thursday 25th will be a Coffee Stop Special in aid of Macmillan Nurses.   It takes place in the Memorial Hall from 1pm to 3.30pm.

Caritas Salford sponsored walk
Congratulations to those who completed the walk on Saturday.   It is still not too late to offer sponsorship:  Fran Duxbury would be happy to receive any support you might like to offer.   Check her Just Giving page.

Mary Bailey memorial
Half of the retiring collection at Mary Bailey’s funeral is to go to St Joseph’s Chapel.   This has now been received.   Fr Tim would be grateful for suggestions as to how this money should be spent.   The Parish Council will have the final say!

Parish Confirmations
Confirmations for candidates from the Ribble Valley churches (Clitheroe, Whalley and Stonyhurst) will be on Tuesday 23rd September at 7pm at St Mary’s, Langho.  

Parishes meeting
All of the Jesuit parishes in the UK will have a residential conference from 12th – 14th November.   To prepare for this there is a meeting here at Stonyhurst on Saturday 4th October.   We will be joined by the parishioners from St Wilfrid’s in Preston.   The meeting will be facilitated by Danny Curtin.   Please keep these dates free.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
After Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity in 312 His mother Helen travelled to the Holy Land to visit the holy sites of the events of the life of Jesus.   Between 326 and 328 she made a pilgrimage to Palestine.   She identified the site of Jesus’ birth and his ascension and ordered churches to be built on these spots.
According to legend Helen ordered the destruction of a pagan temple that had been built on Calvary.   Excavations discovered three crosses on the spot. To find out which was the true cross Helen ordered a sick woman, on the point of death, to be brought.   After touching the first and the second cross her condition did not change but when she touched the third, she was cured immediately.  This cross was deemed to be the True Cross and was taken to Constantinople.
Many churches claim to have a fragment of the True Cross, but it is impossible to trace their provenance back to the cross discovered by St Helen.
We celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on 14th September, which is why this year the feast replaces the celebration of a Sunday in Ordinary Time.   The 14th September is both the anniversary of Helen finding the cross and also the anniversary of the dedication of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre built over the spot.
The conversion of the Emperor Constantine marked the end of the persecution of the Christian faith, as Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire.   Even after the collapse of the Empire, Christianity continued to flourish in Europe and beyond.