Saturday 14th June, in St. Aelred’s church hall, Woodlands Drive Harrogate HG27BE Speaker is Fr. Chris Angel. The talk will be, “The Blessings of a Pope.” 12 Noon to 3.45pm
Friendship Groups: St Mary’s Friendship Group meet Monday afternoons from 1.30pm to 3pm with refreshments and good cake! All most welcome. St Aelred’s Friendship Group meet on the third Wednesday of each month at 1.30pm – 3.30pm all most welcome.
Mass intentions gratefully received using the brown envelopes in both churches. All Mass intentions must be made via the brown envelopes in the narthex and a cash donation placed in them or use the tab on the Dona machine. Please give at least 2 weeks’ notice to facilitate a special day.
Deacon Philip Thornley will be ordained on Saturday 28th June, 11:00am – 12:30pm at Leeds Cathedral. All are welcome to his Ordination, which will also be live streamed. Let us keep Philip in our prayers.
St Aelred’s and St Mary’s church flower teams would gratefully accept flowers from your garden or bought flowers to be used to decorate the church. Please leave donations at the back of church in the bucket marked Flowers.
Thank you to everyone who signed the petition to “Cancel Debt, Choose Hope” last weekend. It has been sent to CAFOD and will be added to others from Catholic parishes around the world and given to world leaders to encourage them to cancel unfair debts and implement fairer laws. If you have not signed and would like to go to: www.cafod.org.uk/cancelthedebt
St Mary’s Church- Saturday 14th June . Bakers, sandwich makers, bunting creators and furniture moving partakers are all needed. The church will be open from 5pm – 6:30pm on Friday 13th and on Saturday 14th from 9am, for willing volunteers to drop off cakes, buns and biscuits, or to help set up and volunteer on the big day. This is a real community event, and it would be great to have volunteers from both St Marys and St Aelred’s parishes, to forge new friendships and support a great cause . If you are visiting Knaresborough for the Bed Race, please come along and enjoy fabulous refreshments between the parade and the race.
St Mary’s Finance Advisory Group will meet on Sunday 15th June at 11.30am in the parish conference room.
Anyone interested in knowing more about the faith and becoming a Catholic please see Fr Gerard or Deacon David or Deacon Philip to register interest.
The winning numbers for the April draw:- £40 - 89, £25 - 152, £20 - 112, £15 - 125. The winning cheques can be collected from the notice board. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who supports the 200 Club.
Pentecost Sunday of on the 8th June. At our 9am Mass we will celebrate the cultural diversity of our community. Please bring with you an A4 flag of your country and some food to share after mass. Prayers will be offered in various languages at the mass.
The next meeting to plan the bed race Café, at St Mary’s, will take place after Sunday 10.30am Mass on Sunday 1st June 2025. Please fill in the volunteer flip charts to offer help and service on this day.
Following the Bishop’s recent Pastoral letter, this is a reminder that any man who is even remotely thinking about a vocation to the priesthood is invited to meet with Bishop Marcus and the Vocations Promotion Team. Hinsley Hall, Pentecost Sunday, 8 June, 2pm lasting about an hour, including prayers/talks/Q&A. Under 18s must be accompanied by parent/guardian. Queries to Fr Simon Lodge ( simon.lodge@dioceseofleeds.org.uk /01274 872984). Please email Miss Anne Cooke ( bishop.secretary@dioceseofleeds.org.uk ) if you are attending.
Christ is Alive Community is organizing virtual Life in the Spirit Seminar from 3- 7 June , 8pm - 9.30pm with great speakers. Please scan QR code on the noticeboard for registration to get the zoom link. For more info contact 07983776337
Retreat Day, Saturday, 28 June 10am to 3pm at St Aelred’s St Aelred’s Summer Fair – date to be announced shortly Trip to the Laudate Si Centre, Thursday, 14 August Church Music day with Jo Boyce and team from CJM Music, Saturday, 29 November at St Mary’s.
Congratulations to all our children from St Aelred’s and St Mary’s who made their First Holy Communion last weekend. Particular thanks to their catechists Bex, Justine, Helen and Katie and to all their families for their prayerful support. Below are the photos from St Mary’s - the children celebrated first Holy Communion on Saturday
How do our young people – and their parents – safely navigate the immense and challenging world of X, Instagram, Facebook, text, email, WhatsApp and how does this digital world influence our mission as Catholic Christians today? Rowan Morton Gledhill, Diocesan Communications Office Director, will be at St Aelred’s on Tuesday, 20 May at 7pm to explore this with us. Everyone, especially our young people, will be most welcome.
CAFOD: Chocolate raffle raised £190.00. Thank you to all who took part and all who arranged the raffle. There will be a meeting in the St Aelred’s hall on Monday 19th May at 7pm led by the CAFOD group to discuss the “Live Simply Award”. We need your ideas, energy and imagination, so please join us if you can
St Mary’s singers held a wonderful concert, in aid of our building fund, and raised a magnificent £524.70. Thank you to all of them for a super evening.
St Mary’s RC Primary School: we are incredibly proud to share out OFSTED report with you. The inspection team recognised the dedication, hard work, and strong sense of community that make our school so special. It highlights the good progress our children are making, the commitment of our staff, and the supportive partnerships we have. Our achievement is a testament to the collective effort of our pupils, staff, governors, and the wider community. We are so proud of what we have accomplished together. Well done St Mary’s!