Guild of Saint Jude

We are delighted to announce that this spring the Shrine will establish the new Guild of Saint Jude.

Would you like to be part of the Shrine every day through prayer, wherever you are? Would you like to become a messenger of Saint Jude and share in our mission of the National Shrine?

The new Guild has been created to:

• Promote the love of God by fostering devotion to his Apostle St Jude
• Support and share in the mission of the Carmelite Family by prayer and material resources
• Raise awareness and encourage pilgrimages to the National Shrine

What are the benefits?

The Spiritual Benefits

• Members share in the Daily Masses at the Shrine
• Members share in special Masses offered for them and their families each quarter
• Members join the Shrine in daily prayers throughout the year
• Handbook of devotions
• Deceased members are remembered each year

Other Important Benefits

• receive a Membership Certificate
• receive a Shrine of Saint Jude Guild badge
• receive our annual Guild magazine and quarterly Carmelite News
• invitation to talks and events at the Shrine
• access to a members section on the Shrine website
• invitation to the annual Guild talk at the Feast of Saint Jude

Our members are invited

• to say our recommended daily prayers
• to support and promote the Shrine
• to help spread devotion to Saint Jude
• to encourage people to join the Guild of Saint Jude
• to encourage people to receive the Carmelite News

How to join

Membership is open to all who have a devotion to Saint Jude. If you would like to join, please complete the application form which is linked below. 

If you have any queries, please contact the Shrine office on: 01795 539 214, or email Guild@stjudeshrine.org.uk. Or fill in the form, which can be found here. 

More information can be found here

Thank you

Fr Wilfrid McGreal, O.Carm

Buy gifts from the Shrine

You can now purchase items from our online shop, here.

We are only selling a few items to start with, but over time we will add more and more items. The first ten people to buy an item from the Shrine, will receive some gifts from us.

All items for sale in the recent Spring newsletter can be purchased in our shop.

See: http://groupspaces.com/NationalShrineofSaintJude/public/pay/shop/

Spring edition - Carmelite News - now available online

Our spring edition of the Carmelite News newsletter has now been sent out to all those who have subscribed to the online version. If you would like to receive an emailed copy ONE WEEK early, please let us know below or via Newsletter@stjudeshrine.org.uk. The printed copy will be arriving next Tuesday.

Fr. Alphie Brennan

Today the Carmelites lay to rest at Aylesford Priory our brother in Carmel Fr. Alphie Brennan. We thank God for his life, his service, and his vocation as a Carmelite and priest. May he rest in peace, and rise in glory. Fr Alphie was chaplain to the National Shrine of Saint Jude for many years. 

15 October 1930 - 10 February 2014.  May he rest in peace, and rise in glory. 

 Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to whose service Alphie was dedicated, pray for him.

Thoughts from our chaplain - The healing touch!

It was good to have with us last weekend Colin and two core members of the L’Arche communities. It must have been providential that the next day (Monday) the reflection in Magnificat was by Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche!

He has a marvelous piece there about eight-year-old Amando, who can’t walk or talk and is very small for his age. He had been abandoned by his mother, landed up in an orphanage, but there he refused to eat because he didn’t want to live any longer. At L’Arche he met people who held him, loved him and wanted him to live. Gradually he began to eat again and to develop in a remarkable way. “He still cannot walk or talk or eat by himself, his body is twisted and broken, and he has a severe mental disability, but when you pick him up, his eyes and his whole body quiver with joy and excitement and say: ‘I love you’. He has a deep therapeutic influence on people.” It reminds us of the words in St Mark’s gospel: “And all those who touched him were cured”.  

Jesus now relies on us to reach out with a healing touch. Or in the words of Jean Vanier:  “What many people do not always know is that they have a well deep inside of them. If that well is tapped, springs of life and of tenderness flow forth.” May we often have recourse to that well.  

Piet Wijngaard, O.Carm.

(c) Photo Johan Bergström-Allen

New Easter cards 2014

Why not send an Easter card or novena from the National Shrine of Saint Jude to your friends and family? We have a great Easter card package on offer.

Each package includes FOUR brand new designs. There are two novena cards and three Easter cards + three extra Easter cards for ONLY £6.00. Each card is included with an envelope. 

All proceeds go towards the Shrine and the work of the Carmelites in Britain and worldwide. These can be purchased via:http://tinyurl.com/q2gqe2m

Photos and designs by Matt Betts

Summer Celebration - 31 May 2014

On another VERY wet and windy day, we would like to bring a little sunshine into your world by inviting you to our summer event on 31 May 2014! 

The Carmelites are inviting pilgrims to visit the Shrine and enjoy the summer air. A number of activities will take place including an outside Mass, a Saint Jude procession, a chance to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, meet some friars, purchase items from the Shrine Shop, an opportunity to light a candle, and finally, an opportunity to pray and leave intentions at the Shrine of Saint Jude. The summer is always very beautiful at the Shrine, and it will be lovely to see visitors on what we hope will be a beautiful and warm day. 

Timetable

11.00: Devotions with Anointing

12.00 – 13.00: Picnic on the grounds (bring your own food) & opportunity for Sacrament of Reconciliation.

13.30: Open Air Mass, followed by Saint Jude procession and prayers

15.00: Brown scapular

However, we understand that some pilgrims will not be able to attend, so we are offering the opportunity to have a candle lit for your intentions. If you would like to do this, please purchase via our online shop. 

More information and news can be found on the Carmelite website.