Rosary Sunday
We extend our congratulations to Claire Hanlon, our Cathedral administrator, and her husband Chris Reilly. Claire and Chris were married yesterday here at the Cathedral with family and friends present, together with a number of former assistant priests of the Cathedral. Archbishop Malcolm also concelebrated and blessed them both at the end of the nuptial mass. Claire is now Mrs Claire Reilly, but it will take us some time to get used to calling her by marriage name. We wish them every blessing for their future life together.
The annual Pause for Hope Ecumenical Service will be held at our Cathedral this Sunday at 3pm. The service is for all who are affected by cancer and was initiated here in Liverpool by Professor Ray Donnelly and has now expanded across the United Kingdom with annual services taking place in a number of major cities. This year the speaker will be Maria Breslin, Chief Executive of the Liverpool Echo, and the homily given by Canon Crispin Pailin, Rector of Our Lady and St Nicholas Anglican Church – Bishop Tom Williams will preside.
By now all will be starting to feel the impact of the significant increases in the cost of food and other essentials, the escalation of energy costs and the rise in rents and mortgages. Many people are having to look at ways in which we can make savings and we need to be mindful of those who were already struggling to make ends meet prior to these recent increases to the cost of living. It has been suggested that we should restart a St Vincent De Paul Society for our Cathedral Parish to meet together to share prayer and practical ways in which we could respond to some of the needs within our local area in a complementary but separate way to the Micah Food Bank. It would be helpful to hear from any of you who may be interested in being part of such a group. We are also having to cut down on some of our Cathedral expenses. The first step that we have taken is to reduce the amount of lighting on our building during the evening hours. For the rest of the autumn and winter we will only have lighting on the front Cathedral steps for a few hours in the evening and a short period in the morning – the rest of the building will remain unlit externally.
This Sunday is Rosary Sunday and we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary next Saturday. We are encouraged by the church to incorporate the recitation of the Rosary into our time of prayer throughout this month.
We had the news earlier this week that Liverpool has been shortlisted down to be one of the final two cities to be chosen to host the Eurovision Song Contest. I’ve never been much of a Eurovision fan but it would be a great boost for the city if we are chosen as the winning venue. It would bring considerable revenue to the region and enhance the city’s profile internationally.
Canon Anthony O’Brien Cathedral Dean
