Anderton St Joseph's
Newsletter
THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
14th SEPTEMBER 2025
Jesus said to Nicodemus: No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And das Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:13-17Sat 13thSt John Chrysostom
St John Chrysostom Sun 14thFEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS 11.00Mass -Sandra Smith
Mass -Sandra SmithMon 15thOur Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of SorrowsTues 16thSs Cornelius and Cyprian
Ss Cornelius and Cyprian 10.00Mass – Nick Bewes (LD) - with Perpetual Succour Novena
Mass – Nick Bewes (LD) - with Perpetual Succour Novena Wed 17thSt Robert Bellarmine, St Hildegard of Bingen
St Robert Bellarmine, St Hildegard of BingenThurs 18th
Fri 19thSt Theodore of Canterbury, St Januarius
St Theodore of Canterbury, St Januarius 10.00Mass – Gregory Mullen
Mass – Gregory Mullen Sat 20thSs Andrew Kim-Taegon, Paul Chong Ha-Sang and Korean Martyrs
Ss Andrew Kim-Taegon, Paul Chong Ha-Sang and Korean Martyrs 17.00Vigil Mass at St Mary’s Chorley
Vigil Mass at St Mary’s ChorleySun 21stTWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME09.30Mass at St Mary’s
Mass at St Mary’s11.00Mass – Dorothy Crook
Mass – Dorothy Crook RETIRING COLLECTIONS
14th September - School Levy (Catholic Education)
21st September - Home Mission Day
BAPTISM BOOKINGS DATES AVAILABLE 28th Sept. Oct 26th. Nov. 30th Baptisms will take place at 12.00 Parents need to be resident within St Joseph’s parish area or (with the permission of another parish priest) regular Mass attenders here. should collect a baptism booking form and an Order of Service from the Sacristy after Sunday Mass. Bring the booking form back one Sunday following so that any necessary preparation can be arranged.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK AND THE HOUSEBOUND: Joan Bailey, Francis Brennan, Mary Brophy, Anne Byrne, Mary Patricia Case, Ken Catterall, Gerard Clarke, Rita Denver, Leo Duffy, Pat Font, Tom Fraser, William Freeman, Bob Goulding, Rosemary Hough, Cathy Hull, Peter Hull, Mary Johnston, Abp Patrick Kelly, John Kerfoot, Bill King, Emma King, Val McGlade, Janet McGowan, Fintan McPeake, Teresa Martin, Fr Laurence Mayne, David Molloy, Ellen Morris, Irene O'Neill, Heidi O’Neill, Lauren O’Neill, Barrie Swift, Josette Walsh, Lorraine Waugh, Jean White, all at Grove House & Marley Court.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
St Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) – 23rd September,
Our Lady of Walsingham – 24th September.
St Vincent de Paul – 27th September
Michaelmas Day (Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael) - September 29th
SVP SOCIAL AFTERNOON AT FAIRVIEW COMMUNITY CENTRE
Tuesday 16th September 14.00-16.00 All 56 tickets have now been sold. Many thanks to the SVP for organizing this get-together. The last one was very enjoyable and very successful, helping old friends and acquaintances to keep in touch. If anyone is unable to attend at short notice, please let one of the SVP know because there is a waiting list for spare places.
MASS OF CELEBRATION – MARY’S MEALS – Sunday 21 September
All are invited to a special Mass of celebration for the work of Mary’s Meals, the global charity providing school meals to children in some of the world’s poorest communities. Archbishop John Sherrington will preside at the Mass on Sunday 21 September at 3.00pm at St Teresa’s Catholic Church, Church Road, Upholland, Wigan (WN8 0PY). Light refreshments will be served in the church hall after Mass.
QUOTATIONS FROM ST CARLO ACUTIS (15)
“All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies” – speaking of how his millennial generation are often exploited by the fashion and advertising industries.
“Sadness is looking at ourselves, happiness is looking towards God.”
“Continuously ask your guardian angel for help. Your guardian angel has to become your best friend.”
“Do not be afraid because with the Incarnation of Jesus, death becomes life, and there’s no need to escape: in eternal life, something extraordinary awaits us.”
“The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”
Those who enjoy a high income or have a string of noble titles after their names
should not boast or think they are better than others. . . Noble titles and money mean so little. What really counts in life is the nobility of the soul or the manner in which we love God and neighbour. . . all men and women are created by God.
FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS this weekend, replaces the usual 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Holy Cross Catholic High School is under the patronage of the Cross so this is their patronal feast. Please remember Mr Lindley (Headteacher) his staff and all the pupils in your prayers. The youth is tomorrow ’s future and we hope to hear very good results in the coming year from the school.
Origins of the Feast. It celebrates three events:
•The finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena.
The finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena.•The dedication of churches built by Emperor Constantine on the site of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary.
The dedication of churches built by Emperor Constantine on the site of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary.•The elevation of the True Cross at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in AD 629 by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, after it had fallen into the hands of the Persian Emperor Chosroes II in the AD 614 Sassanian conquest of Jerusalem.
The elevation of the True Cross at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in AD 629 by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, after it had fallen into the hands of the Persian Emperor Chosroes II in the AD 614 Sassanian conquest of Jerusalem.About 325 AD St. Helena, already about seventy years old, mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ's life. Her son equipped her with detachments of soldiers, engineers and builders. Cooperating with Bishop Makarios of Jerusalem, St Helena gave orders to demolish the Temple of Aphrodite (Venus), which had been built over the site of Jesus’s tomb by the Emperor Hadrian. After the Jewish Bar Kokhba rebellion in 135 AD, Hadrian had wanted to obliterate the site and prevent Christian veneration there.
Helena then built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre over the tomb. (She also started the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Eleona Church on the Mount of Olives). During the excavations in the cisterns beneath Calvary, workers found three crosses. Tradition has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman.
Helena left one-third of the Cross in Jerusalem in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. One-third was brought to Rome and can be seen today in the basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem), The final one-third was taken to Constantinople.
The Holy Cross naturally became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem c.382 AD, the Spanish pilgrim Egeria described how the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus' head: Then "all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on."
To this day the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica's dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, fifteen years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim
The Cross is our salvation and our hope and eternal life cf. John 3:14–15, "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
CELEBRATING MISSIONARIES OF HOPE: Invitation to Liverpool Archdiocesan Mission Mass Sunday 28th September at 15.00. Our Lady and All Saints Church, Lancaster Lane, Parbold WN8 7HS with Bishop Thomas Neylon. Please join us for tea/coffee after Mass. Mission (Little Red Boxes)
MORE QUOTATIONS FROM ST CARLO ACUTIS (15)
Even the smallest defect keeps us stuck to this earth like a helium balloon grasped lightly between two fingers.
In order to climb higher, a hot-air balloon needs to shed weight, just as a soul needs to shed itself of venial sins to ascend to heaven. If one happens to fall into mortal sin, the soul falls to earth, and confession is like the fire that reinflates the balloon and allows it to ascend once more to heaven. We need to go to confession often because the soul is a very complex reality.”
“I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a minute on those things which do not please God.”
“Our goal must be infinite, not the finite. The infinite is our homeland. Heaven has been waiting for us forever.” “The Eucharist is the highway to heaven.”
CHORLEY AND DISTRICT AID FOR UKRAINE Can you help?
As well as the ongoing need for: Clothing, Shoes, Toiletries, Baby Products, Duvets, Blankets, Towels, Generators, Sanitary Items, Tinned Food (12 month life)…
We are also collecting for:
“Soldier Appeal” Razors, Packet Soups, Wet Wipes, Socks, Soap, Heat Pads, Thermal Underwear, Sleeping Bags, Boiled Sweets, Plasters.
“Children Appeal” Colouring Books, Pens, Crayons, Sweets, Small Toys.
“Medical Appeal” Bandages, Plasters, Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Joint Supports, Supplement Drinks, First Aid Kits, Crutches, Spectacles.
“On Yer Bike for Ukraine” Any Bicycle of any condition or parts, including tyre pumps.
“Candles for Ukraine” Candles & candle wax (including scraps) and also matches.
You can find us next to the Town Hall at: The ‘Ukraine Unit’, The White Hart, Mealhouse Lane, Chorley, Lancs, PR7 1DZ. Wednesdays 2-4pm & Saturdays 10am-12
You can also donate to our Bank Account “Chorley Support for Ukraine” (Natwest)
Account 29841186 Sort 01-01-94
(We also raise funds to buy MedEvac Vehicles for Ukraine)
Please check our social media channels for regular updates, new appeals, useful information, fundraisers, etc… Thank you for your continued support.
ITEMS LEFT IN THE BACK SACRISTY AND LABELLED “FOR UKRAINE” CAN BE TAKEN DOWN TO THE WHITE HART.
CHORLEY AND PRESTON HOSPITALS: Please contact St Joseph's Chorley (262713) if any member of your family is admitted into Chorley Hospital and needs a visit. In urgent cases or emergency please ask the ward staff to call the duty Chaplain on his bleep/phone. For the chaplaincy service at Royal Preston Hospital Tel: 01772 522435. For the chaplaincy service at Wigan Infirmary Tel: 01942 822324.
Parish Priest: Fr Francis Marsden
Secretary: Mr Frank Webster
Parish Office: St Joseph’s Presbytery, 28 Bolton Road, Adlington, PR6 9NA
Wednesdays 10.00-13.00
Tel: all calls now to 01257- 262537 (St Mary’s Chorley)
E-mail: stjosephs.anderton@tiscali.co.uk
Parish Website: www.stjosephsanderton.com
ARCHDIOCESE OF LIVERPOOL Registered Charity No. 1199714
