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

Saturday 1st Feb , 10am - 1pm, St Brigid’s Cross-making in Christ Church , Castlebar. Legend has it that Brigid, when sharing hospitality with wayfarers who came to her father's house, would also share the good news of God's love and the gospel while weaving these crosses from rushes. Come along on Saturday 1st February, learn the art, and enjoy the activity, coffee and company! Free-of-charge. For all ages. You're welcome. Christ Church on The Mall, Knockaphunta, Castlebar, Co. Mayo

  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...

It is with great sadness we share the news of the recent death of Victor Wilkie of the Parish of Westport-Dugort. We express our deepest sympathy to Victor's family. Funeral arriving at Holy Trinity Church, Westport, at 11am on Tuesday, January 14th, for service at 12 noon. Burial afterwards in Holy Trinity Cemetery, Newport Road Westport. "May Victor rest in peace and rise in glory." You can visit the R.I.P. death notice here: https://rip.ie/death-notice

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.

  Sunday Club  restarts on 12th January  in Holy Trinity Church, Westport  The monthly Sunday Club restarts this coming Sunday, 12th January 2025, in Holy Trinity, Westport , starting at 11.30am in the church, then moving to the Holy Trinity N.S. , and finishing back in the church. For all children (of school age, for practical reasons). New attendees are most welcome. Information: Contact Steffi on 089 941 8165, or the Rector on 083 800 3233, or email aughaval@tuam.anglican.org. You're welcome!

  The Mid-week Service of Holy Communion will take place again this week, on Wednesday 8 January, at 10.30am in Holy Trinity Church, Westport, followed by coffee in Cornrue Bakery (if open) from 11.15am. Everyone is welcome.  "The Holy Communion"  illuminated title from the  1845 illustrated   Book of Common Prayer . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist

  Chalking of the Door Epiphany 2024,  at Holy Trinity Church, Westport T here is a wonderful and very old Christian tradition, in which we ask for God’s blessing on our churches and homes by marking the doorpost or lintel with chalk which has been blessed for that purpose.  We plan to carry out this simple ceremony  in those of our churches in the Aughaval Group which have services this Epiphany weekend (- service times below).  The doors are chalked with the initials of the legendary names of the three Magi , or Wisemen - Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar – and the numerals of the New Year, connected with a series of crosses, the plus sign in Mathematics.  The initials C, M, and B remind us of the magi who searched for Jesus, the newborn king.  The letters also stand for the prayer-request in Latin:              Christus Mansionem Benedicat : “May Christ bless this house.”    This ye...

  We are always grateful and deeply appreciative for the gifts we are given at Christmas and other times, but what do we do with those which we won't be able to use? Here is a simple solution. We are invited by  Westport Eco-Congregation to bring any unwanted gifts we may have received to Holy Trinity Church, Westport after the 11.30am service on Sunday 12th January, for redistribution to charities and charity shops, or to St Mary's Church, Westport, on Sat 11th or Sun 12th January. (Please see poster.) Westport Eco-Congregation Holy Trinity, Westport St. Mary's Church, Westport

  A note from the Rector and the Grouped Parishes' Youth and Children's Team: Dear friends, In light of the seriousness of the weather warnings from Met Eireann and icy road and walking conditions, and for the sake of everyone's safety, we have decided to postpone the All-age Christingle event planned for tomorrow (4th Jan) and to hold it instead next Saturday, 11th Jan, conditions allowing, at the same time of 11am - 12.30pm, in Holy Trinity Church, Westport.  We hope this will not cause too much disappointment for the children and that the change of plan will enable more of us to come along and enjoy the event next weekend.  Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you soon. Keep safe and warm!

We were truly blessed to have so much professional input to our Christmas services this year in the parishes, including singers James Kilbane ( James Kilbane Music ), David Durham (see https://mayomalevoicechoir.ie/david-durham/ ) and Hubert Francis (see https://hubertfrancis.com ), Chris O'Malley (Westport Festival of Chamber Music), and organists John Dexter and Siobhan Kilkelly. Sincere thanks to them all for the musical depth and sparkle that they brought to the services.  In the Service of Nine Lessons & Carols in Holy Trinity Westport, we were delighted again this year to have the Choir of St Mary's Westport sing for us and with us (sincere thanks to Dan Delaney), and that our own Barbara Sheppard ( Parish Reader, Westport) brought a beautiful rendition of Don Oiche Úd i mBeitheal  accompanied by Chris O’Malley and Westport Traditional Irish Musicians.  See also: https://www.facebook.com/AughavalParishes/posts/pfbid0uBUerDk8UFFPpYqPnxXaS92wpBMErM5hKzXDAhLVeU8KMh...

  This is Steffi and Paul, a.k.a. Mary and Joseph (see Crib Service, 22nd December, below), who last weekend celebrated the first anniversary of their wedding which took place in southern India. Steffi and Paul lead the Sunday Club children’s ministry in Holy Trinity Westport, and we are blessed to have them! Let's pray for them in their lives and ministry. 

Christmas Services of Holy Communion (The Eucharist)  in the Aughaval Parishes: - Sunday 22 December, 3pm in St Thomas’s Dugort, Achill - Christmas Eve, 24 December, 7pm in Turlough -  Christmas Eve, 24 December,  ‘Midnight Christmas Communion’, 11pm in Holy Trinity, Westport - Christmas Day, 25 December, 9.30am in Christ Church, Castlebar and 11am in Holy Trinity Westport All are welcome to come and celebrate the Nativity and God's great gift to us all.

On Friday 20th December, in Holy Trinity Church, Westport, we gave thanks for the life of Frank Martin, Clogher. May he rest in peace and rise in glory, and may his beloved family know the comfort and strength of Christ the Good Shepherd.