DIARY DATES (other news is given beneath the diary dates)
JOURNEY THROUGH ADVENT with the Nottingham Diocesan Catholic Youth Service as we await the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with a printable Advent prayer journal produced by the Team. To download your free copy visit www.ndcys.com/advent2025/
Music to Counter Dark Days, a warm evening of traditional folk music with mulled wine and mince pies, is being held in Cathedral Hall, Nottingham NG1 5AW, on Friday 5th December at 7.00pm. All are welcome to this free event, with arts and crafts, and Christmas gifts on sale too.
Advent Online Retreat: The Jesuit Institute is offering an Advent Online Retreat between Sunday 7th and Thursday 11th December, giving participants an opportunity to spend more time with God and listen to how God as at work in their lives in the lead up to Christmas. Details, and booking information, is at: www.jesuitinstitute.org/events/online-individually-guided-retreat---advent
Christmas Carol Concert in aid of Age UK Lincolnshire: From 7pm – 8.30pm in St Peter and St Paul Church, Lincoln on Wednesday, 10th December: Come and enjoy a Christmas Carol Concert in aid of Age UK Lincolnshire.
Christmas Carols with the Lincoln Deanery Choir: St Peter and St Paul Church, Lincoln on Saturday, 13th December rom 2pm – 3pm in St Peter and St Paul Church. Free entry / donations welcome. Refreshments in the parish centre afterwards. Come and sing your favourite Christmas Carols with the Lincoln Deanery Choir.
Young Adults Christmas Party: All young adults are warmly invited to join for a Young Adults Christmas Party at Saint Mary’s, Derby, for Mass, mulled wine, mince pies, games, and prizes on Sunday 14th December from 2.00pm. No sign up required. Contact charles.archer@dioceseofnottingham.uk for more info!
The African Catholic Community Choir, Nottingham, warmly invites you to its Christmas Carol service A Christmas Story: The Coming of the Lord on Friday 19th December at 7.00pm, in Saint Teresa's Catholic Church, Nottingham (NG8 3EP). Come and experience the beauty of the season through scripture, music, and reflection as we prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ. All are welcome to share in this evening of faith, song, and community spirit.
Men’s Retreat to experience Saint Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises in a 5-day, shortened form. The retreat will be guided by the monastic community of Saint Joseph’s Abbey, Flavigny (France), founded with the charism of offering this version of the Exercises to men. The retreat is open to men in all states of life, who wish to seek God’s will through a deepened detachment from the world, and is being held at the Christian Heritage Centre, Lancashire, starting on either Wednesday 4th or Wednesday 11th February. More details can be found at:
https://christianheritagecentre.com/events/mens-retreat-spiritual-exercises-of-st-ignatius
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Holy Places in Palestine: Father Michael O’Kane OFM, of the Commissariat of the Holy Land, has written to thank Bishop Patrick for the generosity of parishioners earlier this year when the Collection for the Holy Places in the Holy Land was taken on Good Friday. Across the Diocese more than £20,000 was given to support the Christian communities in this war-torn part of the world, where Jesus himself lived and ministered. The Franciscans keep our Diocese, and all the parishioners, in their thankful prayers.
CAFOD: CAFOD World Gifts: gifts that give back, gifts for everyone and supporting your global family, please visit: www.worldgifts.cafod.org.uk
Peter’s Pence collection: Bishop Patrick has received a letter from Monsignor Ante Vidovic, Charge d'Affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature, thanking our Diocese for the contributions to the 2025 Peter’s Pence collection, which amounted to £9,705.47. The Holy Father very much appreciates the generosity of parishioners throughout the Diocese of Nottingham, whose donations will help to fund and support the charitable activities of the Holy See.
Stand up for religious freedom! Consider signing Aid to the Church in Needs’ global petition supporting persecuted Christians. Your voice matters. By signing this petition, you can help us urge world leaders to act on behalf of those who suffer simply for practicing their faith.
acnuk.org/article-18-petition-religious-freedom-human-right-not-privilege
CAFOD: Thank you for supporting CAFOD’s Family Fast Day. Thank you so much for your generous contributions to CAFOD’s Family Fast Day Appeal. Your donations in our parish collection and online are helping families like Ware’s in Ethiopia. Thank you for all your support for CAFOD.
Marriage Care: Are you interested in training and volunteering as a Relationship Counsellor with Marriage Care? This Catholic organisation specialises in relationship support and is currently looking for those who would be interested in training via the Certificate in Relationship Counselling (CRC) course, and looking for volunteers for the marriage preparation service prior to the CRC selection. To find out more visit: www.marriagecare.org.uk or email: volunteer@marriagecare.org.uk
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales and Birmingham Newman University are conducting research into Neurodiversity and our Faith. If you are an adult neurodivergent Catholic or a Caregiver of a neurodivergent Catholic, we want to hear from you. Your experiences will help us to become more inclusive and responsive to your needs. To find out more and to fill in our short surveys look here: www.godwhospeaks.uk/neurodivergent-catholic-surveys/
Bishop Patrick has received a letter from Friends of the Holy Land, thanking parishioners for their generous donations through the Crib Offerings 2024.
Friends of the Holy Land letter
Assisted Suicide: Whilst praying that assisted suicide doesn’t become law, as an expression of practical support parishioners in our diocese last autumn raised over £10,000 through second collections to support the work of the 18 hospices across our diocese. These institutions provide superb care for those coming towards the end of life, and help families to accompany their loved ones at such a difficult time. By supporting hospices in this way, as Catholics we are putting into practical action our prayers for a respect and a dignity of life, from conception to natural death.
The Ascent is coming to the Nottingham Diocese - theASCENT is a three year discipleship process for Catholic young people in years 10-12 who want to embrace their faith in Jesus Christ at a whole new level and learn how to share it with others. At their heart they seek to disciple the few for the sake of the many so that the Gospel may reach the ends of the earth. Bookings are open now, visit www.theascentuk.co.uk/
Nottingham Cathedral has received a £1.69M grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore the breathtaking original vision of architect A W N Pugin. Restoring Pugin will revive the Cathedral’s east end, and open up this heritage gem to over 20,000 people across our Cathedral city, and diocese. New tech, community activities, educational programmes, and even a video game (!) are all on the way. Read more on the diocesan website (www.dioceseofnottingham.uk/news) and watch the announcement video on YouTube (www.youtube.com/@NottsDiocese). Please share this great news widely!
Sad news from The Briars: It is with sadness we heard about the passing of John Morgan who served as the Security Guard & Groundsman at The Briars for over 30 years. John, or 'Morgsy' as he was affectionately known, was a constant presence of warmth and welcome for the thousands of young people and staff who visited during this time. He had a way of making everyone feel at home, with a smile, or a story. He was an inspiration for generations of Briars teams and young people. In 2010, John was awarded the Benemerenti medal for services to the Church and is without doubt The Briars’ greatest servant. He will be dearly missed. If anyone would like more details of the plans to celebrate John's life, please contact Hannah Leech - hannah.leech@ololcatholicmat.co.uk
Young Adult Formation Course: If you would like to deepen your faith, grow in community with other 18-35 years olds as well as engage more fully in your parish then the brand-new Young Adult Formation Course run by the Diocese of Nottingham is the course for you. For more information contact charles.archer@dioceseofnottingham.uk or sign up at: https://forms.office.com/e/9qvH5SjRHh
ACN (UK) has launched an Open Letter Campaign calling on Foreign Secretary David Lammy to make persecuted religious communities priority recipients of UK Overseas Development Aid (ODA). They need your help to reach their goal of 10,000 signatures, which will trigger a response from the Government. Please sign their open letter today: https://acnuk.org/our-campaigns/red-wednesday-advocacy-letter. Together, we can help Christians and other religious minorities trapped in modern slavery, extreme poverty and worse.
Caritas Leicester and Leicestershire Advent Calendar: in this Advent season, we are amplifying the reach of some local charities which aim to bring light into darkness. There are, of course, many others. Please have a look and join us in raising hopeful voices. The colour version is at: https://bit.ly/3ZmMGuI, and the black and white version is at: https://bit.ly/40UwnGw
Catechist Formation Pathways – Are you a catechist? Have you thought about being one? The Diocese offers three courses that can be done together or stand alone. Encounter Catechesis provides the foundations of catechesis; Discipleship Catechesis explores a good knowledge of key points of Catholic Theology; and Missionary Catechesis is focused on going beyond sacramental preparation to help form disciples of all ages. To enquire please follow this link bit.ly/formation2425 or email: formation@dioceseofnottingham.uk
World Day of Migrants and Refugees: The Church has been celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees since 1914. It’s always an occasion to express concern for different vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges; and to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers. The theme of Pope Francis’ message for the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees is: God walks with His people. The Holy Father reminds us that all of us, God’s people, are migrants on this earth, on our way to the “true homeland”, the Kingdom of Heaven. Migrants are a contemporary icon of this people on a journey, of the Church on a journey, and at the same time, it is in them and in all our vulnerable brothers and sisters that we can encounter the Lord who walks with us.