Good Friends and Brothers:

Just a reminder that the month of November is the month that we honor the Holy Souls, and of the good work in praying regularly for the departed which can be an act of true sacrifice on our part.  As Pope Francis reminded us in his All Saints’ Day Angelus message: “…there is an unbreakable bond between us living in this world  and those who have crossed the threshold of death.  We here on earth, along with those who have entered into eternity, form one great family….It is a source of great consolation to think that they are in the company of the Virgin Mary, the apostles, the martyrs and all the saints of heaven.”  A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at Saint James on the 22nd at 10:00, preceded by a recitation of the Rosary at 9:30.  The departed who were associates of Walsingham will be remembered in the intention of the Mass on that day.

Your attention is drawn to the two Marian feasts observed by the Church in November: the feast of the PRESENTATION OF MARY on the 21st, and that of OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL on the 27th.  Might I suggest that the recitation of the Litany of Our Lady (Pilgrimage Manual Page 12) would be an appropriate devotion to add to your prayers on these days.

We are not only fortunate but blessed in having such a beautiful shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham at Saint James.  While we are distant from the original shrine at Walsingham to which pilgrimage is made, we can kneel at the shrine at Saint James in offering the prayers of a pilgrim, united in this way with those who journey as pilgrims to the Holy House in Walsingham.  Take the time while present in our parish church to make use of the shrine offering Our Lady both your heart and devotion.  Appropriate prayers in the manual are suggested on page 15f; pages 51-56; pages 98-99.

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God.

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ