Our Parish Diary of Past Events
February 2014
Valentine’s
Supper and Marriage celebration at
Our Lady and
St Edmund of Abingdon
More than 30 people turned up to
evening Mass on 14th February 2014 and
then enjoyed a Valentine’s Supper in the Parish
Hall.
The purpose was to celebrate marriage but also to offer a
new course to couples, the Marriage Course, produced
by Relationship Central at Holy Trinity Brompton,
London. While couples enjoyed their meal in a
dramatically changed parish centre (thank you,
Sylvia Nelson!), they were treated to a highly
amusing and insightful video on the differences
between the brains of men and women.
The
laughter in the room indicted that many could
associate with the descriptions!
There then followed an
introduction to the Marriage Course (again by
video). This course will run at St Edmunds from 3rd
March for seven weeks.
The organising team (Catherine
McFarlane, Maureen Cash, Mary and Pat Mulqueen)
welcomed as special guests,
Rev Keith Dunnett
and his wife, Lynne, from the nearby Christchurch
parish who had offered guidance and advice about the
course in the preparation for the evening and the
forthcoming course.
An amusing and informative evening
with good food and conversation was had by all.
Thank you also to the many who helped to provide
food for the evening.
To sign up for the Marriage Care course, please
complete and return the form
attached to this link.
March 2013
Beautiful Easter flowers at our church
January 2013
Bishop Phillip's visit to Abingdon
We welcomed Bishop Phillip to Abingdon to give a
seminar to a full auditorium on
Vatican II: The
Year of Faith.
The seminar was held on 26th January, with Mass
at Our Lady and St Edmund's Church,
con-celebrated by the priests in our Pastoral Area.
September 2011
Sisters of Mercy leave Abingdon
May 2010
Parish Sunday, 23rd May
Every year the parish of Our Lady and St. Edmund
of Abingdon holds a special "Parish Sunday" , so
that the people attending all four Sunday Masses
have an opportunity to meet, and make the
acquaintance of fellow Parishioners whom they might
otherwise never see.
This year the celebration
was held on Sunday the 23 May, and consisted of a
Parish Fayre held in the church grounds complete
with an International buffet provided by members of
the "Cake and Conversation" group. The group exists
to help overseas visitors to improve their
conversational skills and become more integrated
with parish life.
There were also a number of
stalls including Fairtrade, a Bookstall, a Tombola
and a Garden plant and herb stall.
Additionally there was a Bouncy Castle and a Puppet
Theatre for the children.
The day ended with an
evening Barn Dance in the main hall of St. Edmund's
school.
Congratulations to all the candidates in the
Thames Isis Pastoral Area who were confirmed by
Bishop Crispian on 11th May at Our Lady and and St
Edmund's Church, Abingdon.
Con-celebrating were Fr David O'Sullivan, Fr Paul
King, Fr Terence Fitzpatrick and Fr Tom Taaffe, with
assistance from Deacon Richard Budgen
With grateful thanks to Ernest Janicki for
the use of his photos
April 2010
The Blessing of Easter Food at
Abingdon
February 2010
Life in the Spirit Seminars
at Our Lady and St
Edmund Church, Abingdon
We were pleased to welcome David Payne on our first
week, who spoke to a full church about God's love.
David is Director of Catholic Evangelisation
Services, which produce the CaFE videos; he is he
well known from his appearances in these videos
Week 2: Gabriele Sedda spoke about Salvation.
Gabriele, who is from Sardinia, works for Goodnews
magazine and is a Core Team member of the
Westminster Cathedral Hall prayer group. He is a
frequent speaker at Days of Renewal and Life in the
Spirit Seminars.
Week 3: Maria Toth receiving
prayer prior to beginning her talk about New Life.
Maria works for Premier Christian Radio where she is
the lively presenter of the popular ‘Woman to Woman’
programme. She is a member of the Cor et Lumen
Christi Community where she is involved in prayer
and music ministries.
Week 4 - Jenny Baker speaking
about Receiving God's Gift. Jenny has been jointly
responsible with David Payne for the development and
presentation of the CaFE course, which now runs in
parishes throughout the country. She has travelled
widely in this country and overseas to promote CaFE.
Jenny has a breadth of experiences especially
encouraging to parents and is an inspiring speaker
well known for her practical explanation of the
Catholic faith. She undertakes a number of speaking
engagements and presentations at conferences and in
parishes throughout the country.
Week 5: James Wilkinson preparing
us for the time of ministry, when we invited the
Holy Spirit into our lives. James, based in Chertsea,
took early retirement to work as an evangelist and
has been running events locally and further afield.
He is running our seminars in Abingdon, the 18th
Life in the Spirit Seminars for which he has been
responsible.
Week 6: Roy Hendy speaking about
Growth in the Spirit. Roy is a well known evangelist
who has preached extensively in Africa, eastern
Europe and the UK,
including in some of the
toughest prisons. Roy and his wife June are founders
of the House of the Open Door Christian
community.
Week 7: Charles Whitehead speaking
about Transformation. Charles is an internationally
known speaker and writer; he sits on a number of
local, diocesan, and national church and special
ministry committees including The Catholic Bible
School and the Christian Healing Mission; he is
founder and the Chairman of Harvesters, a network
encouraging and equipping men in their Christian
faith; his local Bishop has recently given him
pastoral responsibility for the diocesan team of
youth workers, and he is an advisor to both Catholic
Youth Services and to CASE, the Evangelisation
Agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. He has
received a papal knighthood for his services to the
church.
Valentine's Gala Dinner at Our
Lady and St Edmund Church
More than one hundred and fifty years ago a
celebratory meal for notable guests including many
of the Catholic aristocracy, was held in the
cloister of Our Lady and St. Edmund’s church in
Abingdon. This event inspired a group of present day
parishioners to organize a fund raising “Gala
Candlelit St. Valentines Supper” in the same venue.
This commenced with a Champagne reception at the
presbytery followed by a three course meal in the
cloister.
The event proved to be both a social
and financial success, the people attending agreeing
that the evening was most enjoyable, while over
fifteen hundred pounds was raised for charity.
The Head Waiter and Father
Tom Taaffe look on to make sure all is well
One of the guests congratulating
the organizers at the end of the evening
Father Tom Taaffe with the
organizers and volunteer staff before the event
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