Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

The following novena was recently published in Carmelite News and is from the National Shrine of Saint Jude. Our novena to Our Lady of Lourdes is for nine days.

You can pray the novena in private, with your friends or family, or in a group. The novena starts on Friday 3 February and continues until 11 February 2017.

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES

3 - 11 February 2017

God of mercy,

we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes,

the sinless mother of Jesus, your Son.

May her prayers help us

to rise above our human weakness.

We ask this through

our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you

and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Make your special request now

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Holocaust Memorial Day

Today in Britain is Holocaust Memorial Day, which this year takes the theme "How can life go on?"

This was the question facing the Carmelites who survived the concentration camps of World War II, such as Brother Raphael Tijhuis, who wrote of his experiences in the book "Nothing Can Stop God from Reaching Us: A Dachau Diary".

In the photo above, Br. Raphael is seen meeting Pope Paul VI in June 1972 during a Papal Audience for Catholic Religious who had survived concentration camps.

Today we in the Carmelite Family pledge ourselves anew to remember the genocides of the past, and to work as best we can to ensure that they never happen again.

For more information on Holocaust Memorial Day visit their page, here.

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Photo of the Month - January 2017

Our photo(s) of the month shows the Shrine of Saint Jude earlier this month during its repainting, and the statue having a temporary home in our office. 

This photo show a very rare view of the inner shrine without the 16th Century statue of Saint Jude; the reliquary; and the iron gates. These were all removed so that the area could be freshly painted. 

The Shrine, the mosaic apse, ironwork and exterior frieze in mosaic were designed by Michael Leigh A.R.C.A., who worked on various Churches including some of the mosaics in Westminster Cathedral.

The carvings of the Twelve Apostles round the apse in the inner Shrine are by Anthony Foster. He was Eric Gill's principal assistant, and Gill had a very high opinion of his work. The design was based on the Malmesbury Apostles. St. Paul has been substituted for Judas Iscariot.

The redecoration was a kind donation from a friend and supporter of the Shrine: Mrs Bharadwa. We are very grateful to her and her family for her donation.

The statue of Saint Jude kept safe in the Shrine Office

And, here's a photo of how the Shrine looks normally:

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Novena to Saint Jude

The following novena recently published in Carmelite News and from the National Shrine of Saint Jude is for nine days.

Our novena to Saint Jude is below and can be prayed over the next nine days until 20 January 2017. You can pray the novena in private, with your friends or family, or in a group:

Jesus, I praise you and bless you

And give you thanks for

all the graces and privileges

you have bestowed upon

your chosen apostle Saint Jude...

 (Make your special request now)

Loving God,

who revealed to Saint Jude

your desire to come to us,

and share your life with us,

open our hearts

so that your Spirit may teach us your truth,

and that keeping your commandments

we may know your abiding presence. 

Our new statue of Saint Jude was recently handed to Pope Francis in Rome, see here for more details.



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Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone, and thank you for your support of the Carmelites and the National Shrine of Saint Jude! May 2017 be full of blessings and happiness for you and your loved-ones.

Hazel Colyer

Hazel with the Prior Provincial, Fr Antony Lester, O.Carm

It is with sadness, but trusting in the loving mercy of God, that the National Shrine of Saint Jude announces the death yesterday evening of Mrs Hazel Colyer. Hazel had worked closely with the Carmelite Charitable Trust and the National Shrine of Saint Jude for a number of years, but especially as Chair of the Saint Jude management group and as line manager to the Development Manager. In her professional life, Hazel was a radiographer for more than 40 years and the former dean of health and social care at Canterbury Christ Church University. We all express our condolences to Hazel's husband, Ray, and her family and friends. We thank God for the great work Hazel did for our charity. We ask you to join with us in praying for Hazel, who remains tied to us in Christ by baptism. May Hazel, and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace.

Shrine Office - Christmas

We'd like to wish all the friends of Saint Jude a happy and holy Christmas and a happy New Year.

Our office will be closed from 5pm on Thursday 22 December and reopens on Wednesday 4th January at 9am.

However, our on-line shop (www.stjudeshrine.co.uk) continues to be operational and items will be sent out over the Christmas period.

If you have any queries, please send them to shrineoffice@stjudeshrine.org.uk.

May God bless you, Our Lady have you in her keeping, and Saint Jude intercede for you.