Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Webmaster • January 16, 2026
The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year (18th to the 25th of January) is: “One Body; One Spirit”.
• Churches Together in Whitchurch have three services arranged to celebrate the Week of
Prayer for Christian Unity:
• Sunday, January 18th at 4.30pm, we will gather for the opening service at St. Teilo’s at 4.30pm
• Wednesday, January 21st at 11.30am, we will gather for prayer at Whitchurch Methodist
Church
• Sunday January 25th at 4.30pm, the concluding service of the week will take place at Ararat
Baptist Church, Whitchurch.
Please make every effort to support the community of Churches Together by attending as many of
the services as you are able.
Rest in Peace Please pray for the repose of the souls of Paddy Barry, a long standing and well respected member of our community; Philip Ilsley, who for many years led the Divine Mercy Prayer Groups in Cardiff; Catherine Langdon, the sister of Collette Hall; Christina Lucas, cousin of Jill Curtis, and Margaret Bright, an active member of the community at Our Lady of Lourdes for many years, who has lived more recently in Caerphilly, all of whom have died recently. Funeral details will be announced in due course. Please also pray for those whose anniversaries occur at this time: Archbishop Michael McGrath, Canon Patrick Daly, Fr, Vaughan R.M. Beddoes, Eleanor Mundell, Patrick Lyons, Maureen Cashin, Catherine Belt, Margaret Pervoe, Ross McKendrick, James Milne, Ron Card, Josephine McCann, Kathleen King, Louise Katchi, Gwladus Lewis, Sara Day, Eileen Bryant, Gerald English, Avril Clear, Francis Hyde, Thomas Mullins, Mary Lock, Mark Entiknapp, Angela Simmons, Antonio Peries, Mary Stenson, Violet Weakley, Florence James, Elizabeth Henrickson, Ann Dowdell and Kathleen Sumner.
The Parish Lenten Sessions this year will begin on the Wednesday after Ash Wednesday, February 25th and will run for five weeks. The theme, based on the recent Pastoral Letter by Archbishop Mark is the Foundation and Four Pillars of the Archdiocesan Vision.
Baptism Preparation Course The next Baptism Preparation Course takes place at St. Brigid’s Church on Saturday, March 21st and completes on Saturday, March 28th at 4pm. Both sessions will last around an hour. All those who wish to have their child baptised need to attend the course before the Baptism. For further information and to book a place, please contact Cath Wieser on c.wieser@btinternet.com .
The Deanery Lenten Station Mass for St. David’s (Cardiff) Deanery will take place at St. Cadoc’s Church, Llanrumney on Friday, February 27th at 7pm . Please put the date in your diary now and note the change of venue from the original announcment.
The Parish Rosary Prayer Group meets on the last Thursday of each month at 2.00pm in Ty Mair, 19 Heol y Waun CF14 1LB at the junction of Heol Gabriel and College Road. The group members have intercessory prayer, read and discuss the following Sunday's Gospel, pray the Rosary, pray the 3 o'clock prayer and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and have a cuppa! The next meeting takes place on Thursday, February 26th . All are welcome to attend.
While the young people are preparing for First Holy Communion it has become apparent that a number of Mass attendees who were baptised as children but for various reasons missed making their First Holy Communion. It doesn’t matter if you are a teenager or of a more mature age, if you didn’t make your First Communion you are welcome to join the preparation sessions which will begin after Easter. If you are interested in taking part in these sessions please speak to Canon John or email whitchurch@cardiff-menevia.org
During Lent we will celebrate the Stations of the Cross each week at Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Teilo’s. We will begin this Friday with Stations after the 10am Mass at St. Teilo’s during adoration. Stations will take place at Our Lady of Lourdes beginning Wednesday, March 12th after the 10am Mass.
Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, a day of Fasting and Abstinence, when all Catholics fast from one meal and abstain from meat. Age restrictions apply to the fast. Lent is a good time to remember that all faithful Catholics are expected to keep abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year. There will be two Masses on Wednesday, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church at 10am and at St. Teilo’s at 7pm. Ashes will be distributed during both Masses.
Lent starts on Wednesday. Our minds turn to the journey of encounter and change that we make as we prepare to enter into the mystery of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection in Holy Week. During this season, we are invited to use the various aids, which the Church offers us, to celebrate and practise our Catholic Faith with renewed enthusiasm. Below we outline some of the things we can do to make this Lent a time of grace and repentance.
Clothes donations for the SVP –This Weekend The Parish St. Vincent De Paul (SVP) Conference undertakes a monthly collection of clothing for the SVP Charity Shop. Clean, good quality clothing, books and toys are very welcome. Donations may be left outside the confessionals at the rear of St. Teilo’s this weekend. The clothes will be removed early on Monday morning, so please ensure that donations are brought to the Church by the end of the evening Mass this weekend or kept at home until the Second Sunday of February when we will have another collection. Thank you from the parish SVP. Thank you from the parish SVP.