Archive for month: March 2018

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 1ST APRIL 2018

1. TOMORROW Family Blessings will be as follows:

MONDAY –   MAIN STREET

TUESDAY-   TOWER ROAD

THURSDAY – MANUEL DIMECH STREET

FRIDAY –     Part of OLD COLLEGE STREET (from Tower Road to St. Ignatious Street).

Family Blessings start at 5.00pm.

2. THIS WEDNESDAY is the First Wednesday of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. These will be during the 9.30am. which will be with a sermon on Our Lady.  After Mass   the Chaplet of Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be said.

3. ALSO ON WEDNESDAY there will be the Consecration of the ‘Our Lady of Mt Carmel Basilica’ in Valletta. This is a unique occasion for us Maltese Carmelites and we invite you to join and share this special occasion with us.   The ceremony, which will be led by the Archbishop, starts at 6.30pm.  Transport will leave at 5.45pm from infront of the church. Those wishin to attend can list their names in the sacristy.

4. SUNDAY is the Feast of the Divine Mercy. At 3.30pm there will be adoration followed by Mass of the Divine Mercy.

5. Another issue of the FLIMKIEN Magazine with the Balluta Parish’s insert is out.   Helpers are kindly asked to collect their copies from the sacristy.

6. Together with the Carmelite Community, I wish you and your families a Happy Easter. HAPPY EASTER TO ALL.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 25th MARCH 2018

1. On Monday, at 5.00pm, Mass for Children and Families with the rite of the Washing of the Feet. At 6.30pm The Way of The Cross which starts at Fr. Mariano Vella Str and proceeds through: Camenzuli Str, St. Angelo Str, St. Henry Str, St. Helen, Manuel Dimech Str, Ġafar Str, Camenzuli Str, Old College Str, and Fr. Mariano Vella Str, and ends at the Chapel. Square.

2. On Tuesday at 7.00pm, Adoration of the Cross in Balluta Square.

3. On Wednesday at 6.00pm there will be The Way of The Cross. At 6.30pm: Concelebrated Mass and at 7.30pm, The Way of the Cross in Valletta organised by the Archdiocese. The Archbishop invites all Christians to attend. The Way of the Cross will start from near the statue of Christ the King and proceeds to St. John’s Cathedral in Valletta.  Transport will leave from outside the parish church at 6.45pm.  Those who wish to attend can leave their names at the sacristy.

4. By the altar there are two baskets for those who wish to donate preserved food for families in need. There is also a box where one can donate money for families in need as part of the Catholic Action’s Social Assistance Secretariat Collection.

5. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning there wil be no masses.

6. On Maundy Thursday at 7.00am there will be the Office of Readings and Morning Prayers together with the faithful. At 6.30pm, the Solemn Memorial of the Lord’s Supper followed by Visits to the Holy Eucharist and at 10.00pm, Adoration.

7. On Good Friday the church opens at 6.00am. At 8.00am Psalms will be said together with the faithful. At 9.00am Visits to the Holy Eucharist led by the Carmelite Third Order. At 3.00pm: Remembrance of the Passion and Death of the Lord. Good Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence.

8. On Saturday from 5.00pm to 6.00pm there will be confessions. At 8.00pm, Mass of the Easter Vigil with Baptism.

9. On Easter Sunday Mass times will be as those of Sundays. At 9.00am, Easter Sunday Mass. At 9.45am, a joyous Celebration on the church parvis with the blessing and distribution of Easter ‘Figolli’ to children

10. Copies of the programme for Holy Week are by the church doors. The programme is also on the parish’s facebook page and website.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 11th MARCH 2018

1. THIS EVENING at 7.30pm, in church, the Musical Society ‘Tal-Karmnu, Balluta’ will be presenting a programm of Music and Literature by the name of Virgo Lacrimosa.

2. MONDAY is the feast of St. Joseph. Mass times are as those on a weekday. Let us bless this day by hearing Mass.

3. FRIDAY is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Mass times in the morning will be as those of weekdays. In the evening at 5.15pm there will be The Way of the Cross and at 6.00pm the procession with the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. The procession will pass through these streets:  Main Street, Tower Road, Old College Street, St Henry Street, St Helen Street, Manuel Dimech Street, Balluta Square, Main street and back to the church.  After the procession there will be Mass at 7.30pm

4. On SATURDAY, Vespers start at 6.00pm. At 6.25pm there will be the Blessing of Olive Leaves at the entrance of the church followed by Mass at 6.30pm.  At 7.30pm, there will be a Good Friday Concert by Marie Therese Voice Choir.  Everyone is invited.

5. Sunday is Palm Sunday. At 9.40am there will be the Blessings of Olive Leaves in Balluta Square followed by a joyous procession to the Parish Church, with the participation of children and families. At 10.00am, Palm Sunday Mass.

6. Those who wish, can collect a copy of the programme for Holy Week by the church doors of visit the parish’s facebook page.

7. By the altar there are two baskets for those who wish to donate preserved food for families in need. There is also a box where one can donate money for families in need as part of the Catholic Action’s Social Assistance Secretariat Collection.

8. On WEDNESDAY there is the Diocesan Way of the Cross which starts from near the statue of Christ the King and proceeds to St. John’s Cathedral. The Archbishop invites all Christians to attend.  Transport will leave from outside the parish church at 6.45pm.  Those who wish to attend can leave their names at the sacristy.

9. In AUGUST the parish will be organising a Pilgrimage to Lourdes. More information can be obtained from the sacristy or from the Parish Office.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 11th MARCH 2018

1. On MONDAY at 5.30pm, a Prayer Group will be leading Adoration and Prayers for the conversion of sinners. At that time priests will be available to hear confessions.  At 6.30pm there will be Mass with an homily to encourage conversion.

From MONDAY to FRIDAY, at the Parish Centre,  at 7.15pm there will be Spiritual Exercises for Married Couples by Msgr Charles Attard, Director of Cana Movement.  At the same time, at the Parish Centre there will be Spirtual Exercises for children. 

2. ON SATURDAY, SUNDAY and MONDAY, a bazaar will be hed in aid of the parish feast. The bazaar will open on Saturday at 5.00pm. More details are on the church’s notice boards.

3. ON SUNDAY at 7.30pm, in church, the Musical Society ‘Tal-Karmnu, Balluta’ will be presenting a programm of Music and Literature by the name of Virgo Lacrimosa.

4. By the altar there are two baskets for those who wish to donate preserved food for families in need. There is also a box where one can donate money for families in need as part of the Catholic Action’s Social Assistance Secretariat Collection.

5. We remind you that in AUGUST the parish will be organising a Pilgrimage to Lourdes. More information can be obtained from the sacristy or from the Parish Office.

Formation of Spiritual Discernment
That the Church may appreciate the urgency of formation in spiritual discernment, both on the personal and communitarian levels.

This is a very Ignatian or Jesuit intention, recognizing the importance of discerning (seeing) the will of God. It is a skill that can be taught and improved with practice. As a Jesuit, the Holy Father clearly recognizes the importance of formation in discernment of vocations and apostolates both for individuals and in communities.

Pope Francis, as a son of St. Ignatius, is well familiar with the Spiritual Exercises developed by the founder of the Society of Jesus in the early 16th century. These guided reflections presume that spirits good and evil are influencing God’s creatures by means sometimes blunt and obvious, but at others more subtle and nuanced.

Members of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, the Apostleship of Prayer, commit daily to making an examination of conscience. During this break from the ordinary busyness of the day, we reflect on how we have received grace from God, how we have moved towards him or away, and which spirits may have been motivating us towards good or evil. St. Ignatius considered this daily examination to be extremely important. He himself is said to have practiced self-examination to a heroic degree.

Friends, discernment is not merely the territory of priests or religious. All vocations are best discerned carefully, in prayer, and in dialogue with a trusted spiritual advisor. While vocations to marriage, to a profession, to religious life, or the clerical state certainly require such reflection, groups can also practice communal discernment. Religious congregations certainly do so, but also boards of trustees, civic groups, even a book club might discern God’s will in spiritual conversation when considering mission, identity, or major policy decisions.

May the good Lord grant his Church and all individuals and groups within it the gift of discernment.

Points for Meditation
Do I pause to reflect, meditate and ask the Lord to guide me in the major and minor decisions of my day? In what ways has the Holy Spirit helped me to see or hear God’s will in these first months of 2018? Has the bad spirit, the enemy, the tempter, been whispering deceits to me in secret?

Scripture
Phil 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ..

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH – BALLUTA

PARISH NOTICES – SUNDAY 4th MARCH 2018

1. On Monday at 10.00am, at the Parish Centre there will be a Carmelite Third Order meeting.

This week during the 6.30pm Mass there will be Spiritual Exercises for everyone,  by P. Victor Paul Farrugia O. Carm.

Also on Monday at the Parish Centre, at 7.15pm, a Prayer Group will be meeting for the first with the intention of praying for the parish’s needs and for those people who ask us to pray for them.

2. On FRIDAY, at 3.30pm, at the Parish Centre, there will be another talk on healthy eating. The 60+ Group will be meeting at that time instead of in the morning.

Also on FRIDAY, the Pope has initiated a ‘24 hours for  the Lord’, and he invites us to take part in the various initiatives being held on that day.   For this reason, here in Balluta, at 5.45pm there will be the Way of the Cross, and from 5.30pm to 6.30pm there will be two confessors from outside the parish to hear confessions.  We encourage you to take this occasion and receive the sacrament of penance.

On FRIDAY during the 6.30pm Mass we will celebrate the feast of Jesus of Nazareth.

3   On SATURDAY at 3.30pm, at the Carmelite Youths Centre there will be a Carmel Teens meeting for Secondary School students in Forms 1, 2  and 3.  For more information please contact the Parish Priest.

On SATURDAY and SUNDAYy, at the same Carmelite Youths Centre, there will be a LIVE-IN for Secondary School students who are in Year Four. For more information please contact the Parish Priest.

4. Next SATURDAY and SUNDAY, in our Parish there will be the collection for the Archbishop’s Seminary.

5. By the altar there are two baskets for those who wish to donate preserved food for families in need.

6  We remind you the in AUGUST the parish will be organising a Pilgrimage to Lourdes.  More information can be obtained from the sacristy or from the Parish Office.