National Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse
Webmaster • May 1, 2026
The National Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse takes place every year on the Fifth Tuesday of Easter. In 2026, the day is marked on Tuesday, May 5th .
Jesus said,
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
(John 10:10). The theme for this year’s Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse looks at the scourge of domestic abuse which causes pain and fear that prevent its victims from living the life Jesus came to bring. Immediately before the much-loved part of this verse from the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus’s words: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” This is how abuse feels to those who experience it – their dignity and value as a unique child of God is stripped away and destroyed. The physical danger domestic abuse presents to life is clear. A woman is murdered by a partner or ex-partner every five days in the UK. Between three and 10 women die by suicide each week due to domestic abuse. Abusers can also perpetrate spiritual and coercive abuse, disrupting their victims’ relationships with God and the Church. This can lead victims – adults and children – to feel guilt and shame that push them away from the support that the Church has to offer. At its best, the Church can – and should – be a safe haven where support is available for victims and survivors so that they can live life without fear and begin to experience the life in abundance Jesus came to bring. This hope is what we pray for this year.
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 September when we will have another collection. Thank you from the parish SVP.
The Guild of St Stephen for Altar Servers and the Maryvale Institute run an annual 6-month course for adult Altar Servers, exploring the history of liturgy, the sacraments, scripture, communication, leadership and people skills and the theology of service. There are no pre-requisite education requirements, and it is delivered online in 1-hour monthly evening sessions, with an optional one day in-person session at Oscott College, Birmingham at the end of the course. The deadline for registration for the next cohort is 15th September 2026. For more information see the Guild of St Stephen website - https://www.guildofststephen.org/certificate or email Deacon Paul Briers on certificate@guildofststephen.org
Due to the funeral service for Yvonne Butcher there will be no Mass, coffee or tea at Our Lady of Lourdes on Wednesday 12th August. The usual arrangements were resume next week.
Walk and Talk Please note that the Walk and Talk group’s walk this Wednesday evening will begin at the earlier time of 5.30pm at the car park of the Lisvane and Llanishen Reservoirs, weather permitting. The earlier time is to enable the walkers to enjoy the partial eclipse of the sun, when the moon will cover 93.2% of the sun. The eclipse begins at 6.16pm. on Wednesday evening.
Please note that due to the Funeral Service of Yvonne Butcher, Mass on Wednesday will be at St. Teilo’s at the earlier time of 9.00am. Funeral Service The Funeral Service for Yvonne Butcher takes place at St. Teilo’s on Wednesday at 10.00am followed by interment .
This year’s pilgrimage takes place on Sunday, August 23rd . All are welcome to attend the whole or part of the day’s events: 9.15a.m. Mass at St Mary’s Church, Monmouth 10.15 a.m. Monmouth to Welsh Newton Pilgrims set off to walk to Welsh Newton from St. Mary’s Church, Monmouth after the 9.15 a.m. Mass. Everybody is welcome. Please bring a packed lunch. 3.00 p.m. Welsh Newton We meet for Rosary, Readings and Prayers at St. John Kemble’s Grave in the Churchyard at Welsh Newton. 4.15 p.m. Monmouth Benediction follows in St. Mary’s Church, Monmouth For further information please contact Mary Walsh on 07907 616578
Holyday of Obligation – Transferred to the weekend Masses The Solemnity of the Assumption is normally celebrated on August 15th and is a Holyday of Obligation. As the Solemnity falls on a Saturday this year, the celebration of the solemnity is transferred to the weekend Masses with the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday or the evening before. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Assumption is the oldest feast day of Our Lady but we do not know when it first came to be celebrated. From the fourth century the "Memory of Mary" was being celebrated. Later it was to become our feast of the Assumption. Having become a great celebration in the churches of the Eastern Empire. In the seventh century, it began to be celebrated in Rome under the title of the "Falling Asleep" ("Dormitio") of the Mother of God. Soon the name was changed to the "Assumption of Mary," since there was more to the feast than her dying. It also proclaimed that she had been taken up, body and soul, into heaven. On November 1st, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” Thus, he solemnly proclaimed that the belief whereby the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the close of her earthly life, was taken up, body and soul, into the glory of heaven, definitively forms part of the deposit of faith, received from the Apostles. To avoid all that is uncertain, the Pope did not state either the manner or the circumstances of time and place in which the Assumption took place. Only the fact of the Assumption of Mary, body and soul, into the glory of heaven, is the matter of the definition. We gather next weekend to honour Mary, who has gone before us in faith to share in the victory over death won by her Son, in which we all can share, in the glory of heaven, if we live lives of fidelity to God’s Word as Mary did.
Each Tuesday evening, the parish has an hour of silent Adoration at St. Teilo’s from 7pm to 8pm. The primary intention for the period of Adoration is vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Feel free to come for all or part of the hour to pray for the Church in its need for faithful ministers to continue the Mission of Jesus.
Adoration and Exposition – Friday There will be Adoration and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 10.30am to 11.30am at St. Teilo’s on Friday. Why not come along to spend time in silent prayer and Adoration before the Lord?
Rest in Peace Please pray for those who have died recently, especially Yvonne Butcher and Trisha Murphy, the sister of John Steele. Yvonne’s Funeral Service will take place at St. Teilo’s at 10am on Wednesday, August 12th followed by interment at Wenallt Chapel, Thornhill at 11.30am. Trisha Murphy’s Funeral Mass with be at St. Francis Church, Ely at 10.30am on Wednesday, August 12th followed by interment at Western Cemetery. Please also pray for those whose anniversaries occur at this time: Canon Francis Mulvey, Father John O’Leary, Father Michael O’Donovan, Father Joseph Billingham, Father Patrick Gibbons, Susan Flook, Thomas Thomas, Patricia Stephens, James Donovan, Michael Driscoll, Eilena Williams, John O’Sullivan, Josephine Marquiss, John Driscoll, Catherine Gaffney, Joseph O’Callaghan, Maureen Chidgey, William Conway, Elizabeth Wells, Anne Hodgson, John Kelly, Jean Bartlett, Ignatius Silva, Denise Voisey, Thomas Strange, Kathleen Carey, William Williams, Julian Migward, John Evans, Marion Webb, Kay Collier, William Brown and Monica Baldock.