Aughaval Group of Parishes

Whatever your particular church or faith background, you are warmly invited, on Wed 29 January at 10.30am, to come along to Holy Trinity Westport to mark Christian Unity Week, with a time of prayer, friendship, fellowship and a nice cup of tea (or coffee)!  Jointly organised by St Mary's and Holy Trinity Westport.  Go on, go on, go on! Credit to Fr John Kenny for video editing.  https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Kurq4CCPK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

  Outside the main church door, with our Christingles, and telling the children about the tradition of Chalking the Doorpost in Epiphany.  (All photos shared with permission.) The children were given the opportunity to 'go shopping' (for free!), filling gift bags with treats and a piece of chalk each to take home for the Chalking of Doorposts of their own homes, having been taught about this very old tradition and its meaning.  See, for example   https://www.thetableindy.org/epiphany-tradition-chalking-of-the-door/ 20 + C + M + B + 25 The Meaning of the Christingle: The orange stands for the world. The sweets stand for God's many gifts to us in the world. The red ribbon stands for the life and blood of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World. The candle stands for Jesus, light of the world "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." Christingle-making workshop, with Sunday Club leaders Paul, Steffi and Shirley,  plus the children's mums...

Messy New Year Christingle, Holy Trinity, Westport.  Marvellous morning with wonderful children and parents and the superb Sunday Club team. Thanks to all.  More photos and a write-up to follow.

Still shining: Westport lights, post-Christmas The Christmas lights in our homes and churches are all taken down and packed away now for another year. Many of us are glad at this and at the return to some kind of normality to our lives and routines, after all the hype and pressure surrounding the celebration. Others experience something else, a sadness or melancholy which is difficult either to explain or to describe to those fortunate enough not to know the experience.  Yes, this is a hard time of year for many people, not least for those who suffer from 'SAD' - Seasonal Affective Disorder  - on account of the short days and lack of natural light. Such mood disorders or experiences of low mood, can be distressing and extremely debilitating, leaving the sufferer feeling quite isolated and alone, depressed and hopeless.  More, those who experience such struggles often experience on top of this, a sense of guilt or shame at feeling sad when our outward circumstances are act...

Coming up this weekend:  ‘Messy New Year Christingle’ (1) All-age ‘Messy New Year Christingle’, Sat in Holy Trinity Church, Westport from 11am - 12.30;  (2) Services at the regular times in Turlough (Sat 7pm, HC), Castlebar (Sun 10am, EP), Westport (Sun 11.30am, MP), and Dugort (Sun 3pm, EP);   (3)  Sunday Club restarts this coming Sunday, 12th January 2025, in Holy Trinity, Westport , starting at 11.30am in the church (4) Regifting weekend - You can bring your unwanted gifts to HTW on Sunday for redistributing by Westport Eco-congregation (please see poster).  Alternatively, if you have items suitable for the HTW Table Quiz raffle (Fri 7th Feb in Clew Bay Hotel) please let Babs or Henry know. Thank you.

A few images from the Crib Service in Christ Church Castlebar, on Sunday 15 December. Special thanks to the children and young people who took part and to their parents.