News
Prayer Intentions
We welcome to our community and Parish Br Cezary Szczesniak who will stay with us for a year. Please keep him in your prayers.
We are also asked to pray for these intentions: New Members of the Church; Vocations; The Right Use of the Media; The Church, Human Work.
The Transitus of St Francis
The service combines Evening Prayer I for the Feast of St Francis with a reading of the account of Francis’s final days from the First Life by Brother Thomas of Celano. We invite all who wish to join with us in a celebration of the Transitus on Saturday 3rd October after the Vigil Mass at around 7.15 p.m. in our Church.
The Solemnity of St Francis
Sunday 4th October is the solemnity of our Holy Father St Francis, founder of Franciscan Order and patron of our Parish. Solemn Masses will be held at all Sunday Masses including Saturday Vigil Mass at 6.30 pm. Everyone who attends Mass can receive the plenary indulgence under usual conditions.
Br Jarek
Br Jarek will be away from 5th October till 10th November.
November Dead Lists 2020
The November dead lists are available at the back of the Church. These will be placed under the altar during November and each day Mass will be offered for all those mentioned on the lists.
Gift Aid 2020/21
For those people not taking part in the Gift Aid Scheme, or those regularly completing the white individual envelopes each week, if you wish to participate in the scheme and obtain a box of weekly envelopes please complete and date the special form and hand it to the parish priest. For every £1 donated by a taxpayer the Parish can claim 25p from H M Revenue & Customs. Please let us know if your circumstances change and you are no longer a taxpayer.
Chester Pastoral Forum
After the initial meeting of the ‘Chester Pastoral Forum’ which took place on 22nd October 2018 we have decided to improve the communication between the Catholic Parishes in Chester. From this week onward on our parish noticeboard next to our parish newsletter we will put the newsletters from all other parishes, so every our parishioner would be able to see what is going on in Catholic Parishes in Chester. On our website we have added links to the Chester Church websites below.
Links to Chester Catholic Church Websites
- St Clare's Catholic Church, Downsfield Road, Chester, CH4 8HH
- St Werburgh's Catholic Church, Grosvenor Park Road, Chester, CH1 1QJ
- St Columba's Catholic Church, Plas Newton Lane, Chester, CH2 1SA
- St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, 128 Blacon Avenue, Blacon, Chester, CH1 5BU
Holy Days Of Obligation 2020
Click on this link to the Liturgy Office for further information and a list of Liturgical Dates.
| Date | Holy Day (click on the name to find out further information) Weekday Mass Times - 12 Noon in English and 7.00pm in Polish | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 1st November | All Saints | ||
| Friday 25th December | Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord | ||
Feast Days
The 'Feast Days' page has been added to the main menubar. There is now a direct link to the Wiki page for each feast day. Just click the name to open up the information in a new tab.
See Feast Days
| Date | Feast Day (click on the name to find out further information) |
|---|---|
| Monday 28th September | St. Wenceslaus c907 – 929 |
| St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions Martyred between 1633 – 1637 | |
| Tuesday 29th September | Ss Michael, Gabriel and Raphael Archangels |
| Wednesday 30th September | St. Jerome Priest, Doctor of the Church, c340 - 420 |
| Thursday 1st October | Please pray for Mark, Bishop of Shrewsbury on the Anniversary of his succession 2010 |
| St Therese of the Child Jesus Virgin, Doctor of the Church | |
| Friday 2nd October | The Holy Guardian Angels |
| Sunday 4th October | St. Francis of Assisi c1181 – 1226 |
| Monday 5th October | St. Thomas of Hereford c1218 – 1282 |
| Tuesday 6th October | St. Bruno Priest, c1032 – 1101 |
| Wednesday 7th October | Our Lady of the Rosary Established 1673 |
| Friday 9th October | St. Denis and Companions Martyrs, c3rd century |
| St. John Leonardi Priest, c1541 - 1609 | |
| Blessed John Henry Newman 1801 – 1890 | |
| Saturday 10th October | St Paulinus of York Bishop, c600 |
| Date | Names |
|---|---|
| 28.9 | Waltaud Abt (1997), Winifred Joyce Dutton (1996), John Henry Dodd (1996) |
| 1.10 | Linda O’Malley (2002), Anthony O’Malley (2002) |
| 3.10 | Geoffrey Phillip McGowan (2004) |
| 4.10 | Carmel Joan Austin (2001), Anthony John Barker (1997) |
| 5.10 | Marjory Hoban (2000), Bridget Acari (1997) |
| 6.10 | Theresa Mary Millington (TBA) |
| 8.10 | Helen Smith (2005), Marjory Bruce (2000) |
Sick Parishioners
Please let us remember our sick parishioners in our prayers:
Terry Halpin, Kath Heffeman, Barbara Edwards, Kevin Roberts, Margaret Davis, Hilary Linty, Patrick Hannah, Elle Mae Dunne, Elaine Bruce, Colin Williams, Christopher Browne, Gill Wright, Emma Noble, Veronica Comerford, Julia Milan, Eleanor Milan and Colette Lazenby.
Franciscans In Chester: St Francis' Church and Friary Photographs Wanted
They say that a photograph is worth a thousand words. We are currently looking for any photographs of St Francis Church and St Francis Roman Catholic school in Cuppin Street, 'the Sisters' (ie the Faithful Companions of Jesus from Dee House) or other teachers and pupils at the school. Any photographs used will be credited, scanned and made available on-line as part of the history of St Francis School and Church. Please pass any photographs in and envelope with your name, address and a contact number to one of the Brothers. We will simply scan which photographs we wish to use and pass them back to you.
The book can be found by clicking on a new tab on the top menu called 'History'. It was originally published in 2000 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the consecration of St Francis’s church in Chester and the 125th anniversary of its opening.
A guided tour of the church was published on our website last year and the full book has now been digitally published over the last twelve months setting out the Catholic and Franciscan history which gave rise to the church, friary and parish.
The book has been brought completely up-to-date with new pictures and topics in this digital edition. Be sure to have a look at our 'History' page and discover the origins of our beautiful Church.
Virtual Church Tour
Our virtual Church tour is now live and accessible via the 'TOUR' tab on the far right of the menu bar or by clicking 'Tour' on the Latest News item. Please have a look and let the other people know how interesting and informative it is. We found it fascinating and learnt so much about St Francis Church and it's history. Alan, Peter and Bernard have done a great job with the tour. We are sure that people all over the world would enjoy a virtual tour of our beautiful Church.
Prayers Web Page
We have set up a very special web page on our internet site which records all the anniversaries of family and friends who have died in the Parish. Throughout 2016 we will be updating this page adding dates of death and special epitaphs.
The page says the following; 'Prayers are requested for those whose anniversaries occur this month. May they Rest In Peace.' Due to the size of the list and the work involved in updating the list, names will be added to the web page each month during 2015 as the year progresses. It is also possible to include the date of death and a short personalised epitaph for your loved ones which will be displayed next to their name. To add relatives, dates or a personalised epitaph to the anniversary list please email to information to; stfrancis.chester@gmail.com We will try to update your information as soon as possible but please allow up to 28 days for the website to be updated.
See Prayers Web Page
The Order Of Mass: Printable Leaflets
We have included an on-line link to the printable 'Order Of Mass' leaflets from the Liturgy Office website which we will leave on our website as a 'Useful Link'.
Here is a direct link to the web page The Order of Mass Printable Leaflets