Our Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ, my Friends, Our Dear Parishioners and warmly welcomed visitors,

What a grace-filled season we have shared together. First, I want to pause and give thanks with You for the beautiful Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Queen of the Rosary, which we celebrated on 7th October. What a truly holy and memorable day it was, praying together all twenty mysteries of the Holy Rosary, from morning until evening, in our churches and in our hearts. Thank you to everyone who led, who prayed, who sang and who opened their hearts to Our Lady, whether here in church or in the quiet of your own home. I wish to come back with our memories to the Sacrament of Confirmation celebrated beautify, when Bishop Philip came among us ten days ago. Our Bishop told me how deeply touched he was by our welcome, our preparation and the warmth of our parish family, so much so that he has already promised to return very soon! And that promise has now taken beautiful shape: he will indeed come back, specifically to install me as your Parish Priest and Dean. Our hearts are full of gratitude for our thirty-five young people confirmed in the Holy Spirit. May the gifts they received continue to grow within them. Our prayer is that they may always know that our faith and our deepest friendship with the Lord, is nourished at the Holy Eucharist, the true and real presence of Jesus Christ, the source and summit of our lives. May they always find Him here, waiting for them in the Blessed Sacrament. A special word of thanks to the parents, grandparents and godparents of our candidates. You made promises at Baptism and you have faithfully walked these young people toward this day. Your witness, your prayers and your love have been their first and most enduring lesson in faith. Thank you for helping them understand that the Holy Eucharist is not just something we do, it is the Bread of Life, necessary for our salvation. And thank you also to each Sponsor, for your guidance, your example and your promise to walk beside them as they grow closer to Christ. Your dedication is a gift to them. Enormous thanks, too, to everyone who helped prepare this celebration, to Deacon Mark, Tom our Youth Worker, all our faithful Catechists, Father Inna and Father Benedict. Your love and service have borne beautiful fruit. God bless you all.

There is something gentle yet profound I want to share with You. This coming Thursday 15th October, is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. It is a day for the babies who were here for a moment, the babies we never got to bring home, the babies who were placed in our arms only to be taken too soon, the babies whose lives were brief, but whose impact was endless. This day, we remember all of them, the positive tests, the ultrasounds, the tiny heartbeats, the empty nurseries, the anniversaries no one else knows about, the grief that never fully leaves. Some losses happened before the world even knew, some happened after names were chosen and dreams were built, some left parents with no pictures, no footprints and no memories to hold onto except the ones they carry in their hearts. But every single baby mattered. Every single life matters and every single parent carrying this grief matters too. Many of these journeys of grief are walked in silence, within families, within our own community, perhaps even by someone sitting beside you in the pew. We do not always know the sorrows that others carry, the empty chair, the quiet anniversary, the dream that seemed to fade too soon. Yet these precious lives, however brief their time among us have left an eternal mark on our world and in our souls. They are loved beyond measure. They are known by name to God. I share this with you from a deeply personal place. Before I was born, my own Mum carried a precious child whom she lost through miscarriage. She told me this only when I was already an adult and a priest, this quiet, sacred sorrow she had carried in her heart for so many years. If that little one had been welcomed into our family first, I would not be here today. And so, in a very real way, every breath I take, every Mass I celebrate, every child I baptise is also for that little brother or sister I have never met, but whom I will one day hold in the embrace of Christ. I see in every grieving parent the gentle, loving face of my own Mum, her tears, her hope, her quiet faith that one day she would hold her child in the arms of Jesus. Therefore, I will offer the Holy Mass on Thursday evening at 6:00pm at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, specifically in loving memory of all children lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infancy and for all the parents and families who carry them in their hearts. Everyone is warmly welcome. Come, bring your tears, your memories, your hopes and let us place them all together into the merciful heart of Jesus.

This coming Thursday also brings us the first meeting of our Core Group, the beautiful heart of our parish family. You are the ones who love this parish so deeply that you give your time, your wisdom and your prayers to help discern the path God is calling us to walk together. You are the dreamers, the builders, the visionaries, not in the sense of grand plans, but in the beautiful sense of caring deeply about what our parish is, what it looks like and how it can be a true home for all who seek Christ here. This meeting will take place on Thursday 15th October and because we try serve you and not the other way around, I warmly invite all of you, whether part of the group or not: if there is something on your heart, something you feel needs to be discussed, something you dream for our parish, or a concern you carry please, send it to me. Your voice matters. Your thoughts are precious. They will be brought to that meeting and held in prayerful consideration. You are not just members of a parish, you are the living stones of this beautiful Church. Let us build it together. So, that return visit from Bishop Philip marks the beginning of something new. It is with great joy that I invite you to a solemn moment in the life of our parish, the moment when I formally take up the responsibility of serving You. On Wednesday 28th October, the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles at 6:00pm at St Joseph and St Mary’s Church in St Peter Port. Bishop Philip will preside at the Mass during which I will be formally installed as your Parish Priest and as Catholic Dean of Guernsey. What does this mean? Installation is not a ceremony of honour for me. It is a covenant between us. Before God, before the Bishop and before you, I will make an oath and a solemn profession of faith. I will promise to serve you, to lead you in prayer, to break the Bread of Life with you and to be a faithful shepherd after the Heart of Christ. As Dean, I will serve our priests and our parishes across the islands, not to rule, but to help keep us united in love and mission. Saints Simon and Jude whose feast we keep that day were ordinary men. They were not famous. They were not powerful. But they were faithful to the end. They remind us that God does not call the perfect, He calls us and walks with us despite our weaknesses. That is why I chose their feast, because I need their prayers and I need yours too. So I look ahead to 28th October at 6:00pm. Bishop Philip will be there. Clergy and guests will join us. But truly, it is you I most need to see there. You are the family I am called to serve. It is before you that I will make my promises. It is for you that I will stand before God. I simply cannot imagine this moment without you. Please, come and be my witnesses, be my support, be my Family. Pray for me on that day and every day that I may always say with Saint Peter: “Lord, you know that I love you and I love them, too.”

With this sacred trust comes a profound awareness of my own weakness. Recently, many of you may have seen the wonderful article in the Guernsey Post. I want to say a sincere thank you to Simon De La Rue, the journalist, the reporter for the beautiful way he told the story. After this published article I have been truly overwhelmed by your kindness, your messages, your phone calls, your warm words. My heart has been deeply touched. But I want to be honest with you: where grace abounds, temptation is never far behind. It is like walking along a beautiful cliff edge, the view is glorious, but the drop is never far away. When we stand in the light, there is always the shadow of pride. I found myself having to pause, to pray and to remind myself daily: You are a servant first. Nothing more, nothing less. There is a moment in the Gospel that haunts me and it keeps me humble. Immediately after Simon Peter made the greatest confession in all of Scripture, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, he tried to change, to stop God’s salvation plan and Jesus turned to him and said something astonishing: “Get behind me, Satan!” Why? Because in that very moment of greatness, Peter was in danger of forgetting who was leading and who was being led. He had spoken the truth yet pride was already knocking at the door of his heart. That is my greatest fear and my greatest prayer. The hat I will wear, the title I will receive, the authority entrusted to me, these are not crowns of honour. They are tools of service. They are a sacred trust not a personal achievement. And if ever I begin to think they make me somehow greater than you, if ever I expect you to serve me rather than me serving you, then please, I beg you from the bottom of my heart: gently, lovingly, but boldly … tell me. Remind me. Call me back to the foot of the Cross. As Saint Paul said: “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

So because I am called first and foremost to serve, my heart leads me to those who need Christ’s presence the most. Our sick, our elderly, our housebound, those who are lonely or isolated, you are the true treasure of the Church. The Church has always taught this truth. Pope Saint John Paul II reminded us that the suffering are not on the edges of our community, they are at its very heart. Saint Paul writes that Christ Himself fills up His own suffering in our bodies, not that His sacrifice was incomplete, but that He invites us to share in it. Our sick brothers and sisters offer their pain, their loneliness, their patience and in doing so, they become channels of grace for all of us. Their prayers sustain our parish. Their quiet witness teaches us what faith really looks like. They are like precious jewels, sometimes unseen, yet radiating the light of Christ more brightly than we may ever know. So I want to come to you. Before anything else, I want to be with you. I am setting aside every Friday especially for this, two precious windows of time: 10:00am-12:30pm and 3:30pm-6:00pm. If you or someone you know would like a visit, to receive Holy Communion, Confession, a blessing, or simply a moment of prayer and friendship, please let me know. I will work closely with our Legion of Mary and our Befrienders Group to organize these visits, so we can be sure everyone is cared of. Just let me know, where and when and I‘ll be there for you, these five words I’d swear to you, I’ll be there for You.

With our love, our prayers and our gratitude. Fr Marcin

Sunday 11th October is World Mission Sunday

‘One in Christ, united in mission’ Pope Leo XIV

Next Sunday, the Holy Father invites all Catholics to support Missio – his charity for world mission – through a special collection. This day of prayer, solidarity and giving unites Catholics worldwide to share the Good News of God’s love which has the power to transform lives and heal our world.

To donate call 020 7821 9755 (office hours) or visit missio.org.uk to give a gift, set up a Direct Debit and Gift Aid your donation if possible or scan the QR code.

Thank you for your continued generosity!

The Holy Spirit Prayer Group will be meeting on Monday 12th October from 7:30pm-8:30pm in St Joseph’s Parish Room.

Tea/Coffee available from 7:00pm.

Everyone is welcome! For more information contact Frank on 07781 108394.

UCM Evening Rosary Reflection on Tuesday 13th October at 7:00pm in St Josephs Parish Room.

Deacon Mark will be leading an evening reflection on the 5th Joyful Mystery of the Rosary ‘The Finding of Jesus in the Temple’

Through praying the five decades of the rosary we will journey deeply into this mystery and how it affects our own spirituality.

All Ladies of the Parish Are Most Welcome.

Freedom Camp on 16th-18th October at Rue Maingy, Guernsey (ONLY A COUPLE OF PLACES LEFT)

This is a camp for younger youth (Yrs 7-10). We’re running it as a partnership between Orbital and South West Youth Ministries (SWYM) and Ollie O’Meakin from SWYM is coming over to help host it. Parents need to book young people on themselves using this link. It will be suitable for all young people, whether they call themselves Christians or not and will be a great place to build friendships, have loads of fun and explore faith together.

Freedom South West Youth Ministries: https://share.google/QR2TZyafxzYJalmGc

The Annual Parish Service of Healing and Blessing will be held on Saturday 24th October at 2:30pm in Our Lady Star of the Sea.

Everyone is welcome. Simple refreshments afterwards in the Alzheimer’s Centre.

Dear Parents and Carers, We are delighted to announce the start of our First Holy Communion preparation programme for 2026–2027 in the Parish of Our Lady and the Saints. There will be some changes to the programme this year, with both children and parents taking an active part in the preparation.

All parents wishing to enrol their child must attend our introductory meeting on Tuesday 3rd November from 6:00pm-7:00pm at Notre Dame School Hall, next to St Joseph’s Church. The meeting will be led by Fr Marcin, who will also be leading the First Holy Communion preparation programme. During the meeting, we will explain the programme, share the dates and outline the commitment involved for children and their families. Registration forms will be completed at the meeting.

The programme will begin on Tuesday 17th November, from 6:00pm–7:20pm, for both parents and children. Sessions will take place on Tuesday evenings, following the schedule shared at the introductory meeting. We look forward to welcoming you and sharing this important journey of faith together. If you have any questions, please contact the Parish Office.

With every blessing, Fr Marcin

The Parish Christmas Lunch will be on Sunday 6th December from 12:30pm at Les Rocquettes Hotel.

We ask that all those attending have there menus handed into the parish office by Sunday 22nd November latest please.

A raffle will also take place. Please if anyone can donate a prize it will be very much appreciated, these can be le at the parish office.

Menus will be available in all three churches from this Sunday.

Confirmation preparation starts in January for young people in Year 8 and above who would like to be confirmed in 2028, or don’t necessarily want to be confirmed but just want to explore more about their faith.

Contact Tom – Tel: 07781 129310 / E-mail: youth@catholic.org.gg

We are inviting applications from practising Catholics to join the Education Governance Board for St Mary & St Michael Catholic Primary School. This offers a great opportunity for any parishioner to contribute to the life of our Parish and especially to invest in its future through the children in our school. You will be required to attend one Governance Board meeting per term (usually held late afternoon), training provided by the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture and you will be invited to visit the school regularly to get to know the children, their families and the staff. If you are interested, please contact Elizabeth Dene, Chair of Governors for the Voluntary (Catholic) Schools Cluster (edene@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk). Further information about the role can be found on the Education Governance website.

Welcome, I invite you to complete a short, anonymous questionnaire about our Holy Habits and the diocesan plan. By sharing your experience, you will be actively contributing to the growth and development of the Diocese and helping me discern how the Lord is at work. It will take only a few minutes. Thank you in advance. We hope to repeat the survey in three years’ time to view the journey made.

Please scan the QR code or visit: eu.surveymonkey.com/r/QTBWYRP

THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE

Dear Friends of Christ,

Whenever we come to Sunday Mass, we profess our belief in the existence of a loving God, the Creator of heaven and earth, visibilium omnium et invisibilium: the Maker ‘of all things visible and invisible.’¹ God’s creation is magnificent! He made it out of nothing and He sustains it in being.² But as the Fourth Lateran Council affirmed, He made it two-fold, the visible creation and the invisible, with two orders of creatures, material and spiritual, humans being both.³ When we explore the visible world God has made, we cannot help being filled with awe and wonder. Yet this pales before the majestic invisible world of the angels and saints, gathered around God’s throne, exclaiming Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus!⁴ The world of God’s invisible creatures, the angels and archangels, the cherubim and seraphim, is brought out admirably for us this coming week by the Church’s liturgy, when on Tuesday we venerate the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael and on Friday our Guardian Angels.

Bear with me a moment. Angels are spiritual beings. They are immortal. They are personal, with intelligence and free will. Each, according to St. Thomas, is its own species.⁵ They are God’s servants and messengers, although we also know from scripture – and we might add, from experience too – that some of them are fallen. Nowadays, living in a society with so many advances in science and technology, some find it hard to believe in angels, yet ironically cutting-edge science is open to the existence of invisible, immaterial worlds. ⁶ Have you ever been in a room with an odd atmosphere? Or met a person struggling with an addiction? Or thought of a friend who then suddenly phones you? Many things in life are invisible. Even as you listen to this Letter, your church is filled with data links, mobile phone calls and other electronic signals, all invisible yet real. Some processes have their origins in the spiritual realm. It is from there that God sends His angels to help, serve and protect us, just as in scripture, when we read of Michael bringing God’s victory, Gabriel God’s messages and Raphael God’s healing. ⁷ This is why each day we should thank God for His love, whilst entrusting ourselves to Him and asking His protection.

Why do I mention this? For two reasons. First, this time of the year has been named ‘The Season of Creation. ’ The Season is an ecumenical period of prayer and action when we thank God for His creation, reflect on humanity’s impact on the natural world and commit ourselves to sustainable living and environmental protection.⁸ This year, Pope Leo has urged us to turn off the noise of daily life in order to “hear the melodious voice of creation.” It is not yet too late, he adds, to repair humanity’s relationship with the environment.⁹ So, in the words of the Mass for the Care of Creation, let us ask the angels to help us care lovingly for creation and to live in harmony with all creatures. ¹⁰

But secondly, this is also the time of the year when parishes take a Mass count and begin assembling their pastoral statistics. When I was a parish priest, I used to worry whether the figures were down! In the Diocese, for some communities, this will be the case, challenging them to renew their prayer, welcome and outreach. On the other hand, by God’s grace, we have a mission-plan, You Will be My Witnesses, with an exciting ten-year vision¹¹. It is a plan for expansion, for strengthening and deepening faith. The Church exists to evangelise,¹² but like breathing-in and breathing-out, evangelisation is about ourselves growing in faith, as much as about reaching out to others.¹³ Whilst progress cannot be measured simply by numbers, numbers do say something. The visible does in some way point to the invisible. So are we growing in love for Jesus in His Word and in the Holy Eucharist? And are we going out to serve Him in the poor?¹⁴ How are we deepening our faith and putting it into action?

The hardest change of all is changing ourselves. How can I become more holy, closer to Christ? How can I become better formed in my faith? How can our parish put Christ more evidently at the centre? How can we pass on the Faith to the young? What works of charity, justice and ecology might we undertake? How can we encourage real stewardship, responsibility and tithing? And how can our parish witness to the Gospel in this area? If this parish closed tomorrow, would anyone who is not a member notice the difference?¹⁵

“Son, go and work in the vineyard today.”¹⁶ In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the image of two sons, one who did the will of his father and one who did not. Which one are you? Over the next months, I want to encourage you to recommit yourself to keeping the Six Holy Habits:

• First, to keep Sunday special by attending Mass;¹⁷

• Secondly, to resolve to spend at least five minutes a day in prayer;¹⁸

• Thirdly to keep Friday as a day of penance and charity towards the poor;¹⁹

• Fourthly, regularly to pay a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament;²⁰

• Fifthly, to go to Confession once a month or so;²¹ and

• Sixthly, to join a small group for formation, prayer and fellowship.

Imagine the revolution if everyone in the Diocese adopted all six!

Finally, to make more visible what might otherwise be invisible, I invite you to complete a short, anonymous questionnaire. By sharing your experience, you will contribute to the development of the Diocese and help me to discern how the Lord is at work. It will only take a few minutes: you can access it here. Thank you in advance. We hope to repeat the survey in three years’ time to view the journey made. Meanwhile, let me offer you the Lord’s blessing. “May the Lord send His holy angels to keep you safe. May they guard you in all your ways. One day, may they bring you safely to heaven.”²²

In Corde Iesu
+ Philip
Bishop of Portsmouth.

¹ The Symbol or Profession of Faith in The Roman Missal. English Translation according to the Third Typical Edition (London, CTS: 2010) 562

² See Gen 1:1, Job 12:10, Ps. 104:29-30, Acts 17:28, Col 1:15-17 and Heb 1:3.

³ In H. Denzinger ed. P. Hünermann Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et declarationem de rebus fidei et morum 43rd Edition (San Francisco, Ignatius: 2012) – henceforth referred to as DH – DH 800, 3002.

⁴ Cf. Is 6:3 and Rev 4:8

⁵ See Catechism of the Catholic Church (London, CTS: 2016) – henceforth CCC – paragraphs 329-336 and St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae, I q 50 a 4 “Whether the angels differ in species?”

⁶ Vincenzo Tamma, Professor of Physics and Quantum Technology at the University of Portsmouth, notes how “one can ‘see’ the vestigia Trinitatis (‘traces of the Trinity’ according to St. Augustine) within the fundamental quantum states of matter, the signature of God’s creative act ex nihilo imprinting their ordering toward all the perfective forms existing in the cosmos, including our humanity created in the image and likeness of God. .. [The] lowest material order of creation already reflects in its quantum structure (and phenomena like entanglement) the Trinitarian relational ontology and points beyond itself towards the recognition of the traces of the same relational ontology in higher orders of reality, particularly within our humanity and in the overall spiritual world.” See E. Pentin ‘Quantum Physics and the Mystery of God’s Creation’ Edward Pentin’s Substack (6th August 2026): https://edwardpentin.substack.com/p/quantum-physics-and-the-mystery-of (September 2026)

⁷ See Rev 12:7-9, Lk 1: 26-38 and Tobit 3:17, 5:4 et passim,

⁸ In 2015, Pope Francis instituted the first World Day of Prayer for Creation to be kept annually on 1st September, coinciding with the ecumenical Season of Creation that runs until 4th October, the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi.

⁹ Pope Leo XIV Homily at Mass for the Care of Creation (1 September 2026): www.vatican.va (September 2026)

¹⁰ præsta, quǽsumus, ut, dociles Spíritus tui spiraculo vitæ, opera manuum tuarum in caritate custodiamus (collecta) and novos cælos et terram novam exspectantes, convenienter una cum omnibus creaturis vivere discamus (post communionem) ‘docile to the life-giving breath of the Spirit, we may lovingly care for the work of your hands’ and ‘as we await the new heavens and the new earth, we may learn to live in harmony with all creatures’ Dicastery Promoting Integral Human Development ‘Presentation of the Missa pro custodia creationis’ 3rd July 2025: www.humandevelopment.va/en/news/2025 (September 2026)

¹¹ Diocese of Portsmouth (2022): You will be My Witnesses. Ten-Year Mission Plan for the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk (September 2026).

¹² Pope St. Paul VI (1975) Evangelii Nuntiandi 14 in DH 4573.

¹³ As Pope St. Paul VI put it: “The Church is an evangeliser, but she begins by being evangelised herself (Evangelii Nuntiandi 15) DH 4574

¹⁴ We see this in the life of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and many of the saints. Thus, St. Pier Giorgio Frassati once said: “Jesus pays me a visit in Holy Communion every morning, and I repay him in the miserable way I can by visiting Him in His poor.” See C Siccardi Pier Giorgio Frassati – A Hero for our Times (San Francisco, Ignatius Press: 2016), 153.

¹⁵ J. Mallon Divine Renovation Beyond the Parish (Frederick Me, The Word Among Us Press: 2020) 35. Each pastoral area has been given a rich resource from Caritas Diocese of Portsmouth setting out the needs of the local communities and about how they might reach out in a tangible way to those in need in their own localities. Have you taken this up or put yourself forward to be a Caritas Champion for your parish?

¹⁶ Mt 21:28

¹⁷ See CCC 1324.

¹⁸ “Let me ask you: Are there moments when you place yourself quietly in the Lord’s presence, when you calmly spend time with him, when you bask in his gaze? Do you let his fire inflame your heart? Unless you let him warm you more and more with his love and tenderness, you will not catch fire. How will you then be able to set the hearts of others on fire by your words and witness? If, gazing on the face of Christ, you feel unable to let yourself be healed and transformed, then enter into the Lord’s heart, into his wounds, for that is the abode of divine mercy” Pope Francis Gaudete et Exultate (London, CTS: 2018) 151

¹⁹ See ‘Re-establishing Friday Penance:’ https://rcdow.org.uk/news/re-establishing-friday-penance/ (September 2026)

²⁰ See CDW Redemptionis Sacramentum [London, CTS: 2004] 135

²¹ Regular confession is good even if we end up confessing the same sins. “It is true. Our sins are always the same, but we clean our homes, our rooms, at least once a week, even if the dirt is always the same; in order to live in cleanliness, in order to start again. Otherwise, the dirt might not be seen but it builds up. Something similar can be said about the soul, for me myself: If I never go to confession, my soul is neglected and in the end I am always pleased with myself and no longer understand that I must always work hard to improve, that I must make progress. And this cleansing of the soul which Jesus gives us in the sacrament of confession helps us to make our consciences more alert, more open, and hence, it also helps us to mature spiritually and as human persons” Pope Benedict XVI Catechetical Meeting of the Holy Father with Children who had received their First Communion during the Year 15th October 2005: www.vatican.va (September 2026)

²² Based on Psalm 91:11-12

The term ‘Rosary’ comes from the Latin rosarium that alternately implies a rose garden, a bed of roses, a garland of flowers, and a collection of nice quotes. So, when we pray the Rosary, we are giving beautiful flowers to Mary and to God. The Rosary is a string of beads or a knotted cord used to count prayers. The term is also applied to the prayers themselves. Rosaries are used in many religions but most often associated with Roman Catholics in a unique and outstanding way. In Roman Catholic practice, the Rosary is a string of beads made in the form of a circle, with a pendant crucifix. The standard Marian Rosary consists of five sets of beads called decades, each composed of one large and ten smaller beads. On the large beads, the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father), is said; on the smaller beads, the Hail Mary, or Ave Maria. In between the decades the “Glory be,” a doxology, is recited. As the prayers are said, the person reciting the Rosary may meditate on a series of New Testament events, called the “Mysteries” of the Rosary, from the lives of Christ and His Mother, Mary. The Mysteries of the Rosary are virtually a summary of the church’s liturgical year. Before Pope St. John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries, it was traditionally believed that the 15 Mysteries (150 Hail Marys) were the summary of the 150 psalms for Christians who could not read and write.

Traditionally, the rosary was ascribed to the Spanish theologian St. Dominic early in the 13th century. The Rosary dates to a revelation in a vision by Our Lady to this saint who is the founder of the Order of Preachers. St. Dominic had been praying on finding ways to combat the Albigensian Heresy and the Rosary was given him in a vision by the Blessed Virgin Mary as a weapon against that heresy. Other heresies have equally been defeated with this same tool. The Rosary was popularized by Alan de la Roche while Pope Leo X accorded the month of October the month of the Rosary. As early as 2nd C, the struggle against Satan was already ascribed to Mary (cf. Rev. 12:1-17, Gen 3:15, Rom 5:1-6:1ff, 1Cor. 15:20-21, 54-57). Mary is the terror of demons, she will crush the head of any of our enemies. It was on 7th October 1571 that the great naval battle of Lepanto was fought, the victory of Christian Europe saved Christian civilization against the invading Muslim Turks. It was to gratefully commemorate Mary’s role in this victory (for the soldiers often prayed the Rosary before going to fight) that Pope St. Pius V instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory on this day.

Later popes, in keeping with the fact that victory was basically the fruit of the Rosary, termed it the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The feast was officially and permanently placed on the liturgical calendar of the universal church in 1716 when Pope Eugene won another important victory over the same enemy in Hungary still with the greatest tool, The Rosary. On 13th May 1917, in the third year of WWI which was to cost eight million lives, important events were taking place simultaneously. The Mother of God Herself deigned to appear in the first six apparitions to three children to make through to them one final appeal to our materialistic, war-torn world. “In a spirit of sacrifice to our Lord, are you willing to accept everything He may send you as reparation for the sins by which His Majesty is offended, as a means for converting all sinners, and as atonement for the blasphemies offered to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?” a simple “yes” being the reply, she urged: “Then pray the Rosary often and devoutly, for the peace of the world!” “Recite the Rosary daily, and after the Gloria Patri of each decade add: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins! Save us from the fires of hell! Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who most need thy mercy!”

A community like ours, needs to uphold Mary’s Queenly role whereby she carries our prayers to Jesus, our Lord and King, absorbing them into her own and leaving aside whatever may be unworthy. This is one of the best Marian devotions. With Mary as listener, we develop the art of praising the Triune God. The Rosary is a perfect form of prayerful tribute to the Trinity, commencing as it does with the recitation to the Apostles’ Creed and the others. The Rosary possesses great power to enlighten and sanctify those who pray it, having a special efficacy of intercession. It is the best means of perfection for it helps us reflect and copy the lives of our models (as we pray in the “Let us Pray” after the “Hail Holy Queen,” … that we may both imitate what it contains and obtain what it promises), it is the wealth of sanctification, sublime prayer, means of salvation, the best weapon against the greatest enemy, it is used for transforming any group, contemplating Jesus with Mary, etc. The ‘Hail Holy Queen’ acknowledges Mary’s ongoing role in our salvation as only next to that of Jesus. Let priests, religious, fathers, mothers and children pray the Rosary in season and out of season for whatever thing one has to do and it will be successful.

A very big warning: Do not try to dissuade or discourage others from preaching, praying or sharing the Rosary because by so doing, you become an enemy of souls. Don’t try to discourage/fight it, please. When we pray the Rosary attentively with a lot of devotion, perseverance, penance and remorse for our sins, fighting distractions, with purity of intention, etc, the following effects, blessings or benefits are received: sinners are forgiven, souls that thirst are refreshed, those under satanic attacks and possessions are freed from their bonds, those who weep find happiness, those who are tempted overcome the temptations, the poor find help, religious are reformed, ignorant are instructed, the living learn how to overcome pride, the dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased, people gain plenary indulgence particularly at the hour of death, some sicknesses are healed, etc. Try it and share the results with others! Mary needs you to propagate her devotion. “I have never yet found a man who was not converted, if previously I had time to pray the Rosary” (St Clement). “Never will anyone who prays his Rosary everyday be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood” (St. Louis de Monrfort).

Read: The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis De Montfort, Rosarium Virginis Mariae by Pope John Paul II.

It is not too late to sign up for the Formation Day for Readers being organised by the Diocesan Liturgy Team on 17th October 2026 at the Pastoral Centre in Winchester.

Anyone wishing to attend is kindly asked to email – liturgy@portsmouthdiocese.org.

If you, or any of your family or friends are in hospital or due to go to hospital, please let the parish office know.

This is currently the only way that the clergy are aware of a Catholic being admitted.