After many many years of dedicated service to the Parish, Maggie is stepping back from her work at Our Lady Star of the Sea. We will all miss her friendly caring nature, her smile...we will miss her being there for everybody
Archbishop Mark O'Toole lead our Mass on 6th November - a joyous occasion
Year 6 from St David's at a beautiful Leavers Mass 20th July 2022
The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has appointed Bishop Mark O'Toole as Archbishop-elect of Cardiff and Bishop-elect of Menevia. Bishop O'Toole will become the 8th Archbishop of Cardiff and the 4th Bishop of Menevia ‘in persona Episcopi’. This provision has been made by the Holy See maintaining the identity, juridical reality, history and pastoral life of each diocese.
Bishop Mark O'Toole has been Bishop of Plymouth. Born in London on 22 June 1963, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Westminster on 9 June 1990. He was ordained bishop in Plymouth Cathedral on 28 January 2014.
Our Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are writing to let you know that in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have now suspended public acts of worship in our churches. This will begin from Friday evening, 20 March 2020, until further notice. This means that Masses, services, meetings or any form of gathering of people will no longer take place in our parish and parishes all over England and Wales. While churches will remain open, there will be no public act of worship or gathering of people. We have been advised that priests (parish priest and assistant priests) who hold parochial office should continue to celebrate Mass, Sunday by Sunday and day by day, in a church within their parish without a public congregation. As long as this suspension lasts, the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday and Holy days is removed.
We want to assure you that this will not be a suspension of all spiritual support from us, your priests, to you our beloved parishioners. As servants of Christ, called to serve you, we will do all we can, following advice, to provide pastoral care in the present circumstance. With advice from the Bishops' Conference, the following are measures we will take to ensure that pastoral support is available to parishioners.
SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION
We will be available for individual confession. To avoid people gathering, confession will be on request only and the required social distancing will be observed. Any parishioner wishing to go to confession should contact us (phone or email) to arrange confession.
SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK
The sacrament of the anointing of the sick will be available on request. We will observe with great care the practices of hygiene and the guidance on social distancing. When anointing the sick, the priest will wear surgical hand gloves and the Holy Oil of the Sick will be applied using a cotton bud.
FUNERAL
Funeral services will not be held in the church. A short funeral service with family only can take place at the graveside or at a crematorium, subject to the conditions laid down by the cemetery or crematorium authorities. Arrangements will be made for a Mass to be celebrated in memoriam when parishioners are allowed to gather.
LIVE-STREAMING OF MASSES
The Bishops' Conference advice says information about the live-streaming of the celebration of Mass will be made widely available in our dioceses so that the faithful can participate in the prayers of the priest at Mass at home. An example of live-streaming of Mass is from the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham which is already available to all via the Internet:
PARISH HOME SERVICE SHEET
Every weekend, we will prepare and send a service sheet to you the parishioners (in the form of an email attachment) so you can participate in the liturgical life of the Church at home. The service sheet will contain the prayers, readings, a homiletic reflection, and a prayer for spiritual communion. This sheet which can be used by an individual or a family may help parishioners connect spiritually to the Mass that will be celebrated in the parish without their attendance. Parishioners will have the choice between following a live-streamed Mass or using the service sheet. Limited printed copies of the service sheet will be delivered (through letterbox) to parishioners who may not have access to email.
The service sheet will also be available on this website
PARISH NEWSLETTER
We will have a modified mini-newsletter which will accompany the service sheet we send out via email every weekend. This will also be available on the website.
MASS INTENTIONS
As Fathers Michael and Victor will continue to celebrate Mass on their own, we assure you that all Mass intentions will be celebrated, although you may not be able to come to the Mass. The details of Mass intentions will be published in the mini-newsletter. If you need to book a Mass, please contact us (phone or email).
We will end this letter with the words of our Bishops: "During these disturbing and threatening times, the rhythm of the prayer of the Church will continue. Please play your part in it. The effort of daily kindness and mutual support for all will continue and increase. Please play your part in this too. For your commitment to this, we thank you."
May the Lord bless and keep you all!
Yours in Christ,
Fr Michael Akpoghiran, OP
Fr Victor Ogundipe, OP
ON THIS DAY...…. 20th June
In 1807, over arm bowling was introduced to English cricket
In 1840, Morse patented his telegraph
In 1837, London's first railway station opened, Euston Grove
In 1919, explorer Sir Edmund Hillary was born
In 1938, actress Diana Rigg was born
In 1939, actress Natalie Wood was born
In 1969, Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon
In 1975,the film Jaws was released
In 1976, Viking I landed on Mars
And......in 1919 our Church was opened and used for worship for the first time!
The 200 Club prize winners for February 2020 are:
£40 - K Hughes
£20 - B Matthews
£10 - J Stafford
Bishop Tom addressed a meeting of parishioners this afternoon (30th Dec 2018) where he announced that our next Parish Priest will be Rev Michael Akpoghiran 
Happy birthday to Maureen Davies who is 97 today! (12th September 2018) 
Father Mansel and Ann Lane recorded voiceovers for EWTNs new radio station for Britain and Ireland - listen out for them! [AFG_gallery id='41']
Brian and Diane celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary this week. Father Mansel was delighted to congratulate them at Passion Sunday's Mass.
On Sunday 25th February we were joined by Gemma Salter and Therese Warwick from CAFOD for our Soup and Roll lunch as well as hearing a presentation about the work of CAFOD.
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Following a beautiful Family mass this morning (17.12.17) the children enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree.
Ann and Tony Lane celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
Stanley and Dora Clarke celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary recently at Newton Court.
Pictures include Aunty Dora with her nephew, Adrian; Aunty Dora with her very good friend, Joan, who's offering a gift of beautifully perfumed roses from her garden; receiving a card and message from The Queen and Prince Philip; their 70th Anniversary cake which was made by Margaret, one of the chefs at Newton Court.
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A group from the Church visited Vallodolid in Spain during May 2017 there was much time for reflection and prayer as well as an opportunity to visit the historic buildings in the area.
This picture was taken by the statue of Saint Teresa in Avila
This picture was taken in the Seminary at St Alban Chapel.
New links added to EWTN and Shalom World - see Useful Links page
Father Mansel welcomed Matthew Roach-Saunders to the Parish this weekend.
200 CLUB PREVIOUS WINNERS
January 2020 - R Cooze, S Jefferies, K Holley
December - W O'Donoghue, N McNeff, A McGuinness
October - P Kieft, A Blades, G Clee
September - D Davies, M Davies, R Clancy
August - R Biagioni, B Hunter, J Waters
July - P Howard, M Williams, G Isaac
June - S Collier, T Aldridge, A Blades
May - Fr Michael, K Healings, M Hughes
April - B Regan, D Horton, B Davies
March - A Lloyd, Fr Mansel, N McNeff
February - A Collier, J Purnell, B Hunter
January 2019 - D Bennett, J Stafford, L Lyons
December - C Clancy, G Clee, R Power
November - A Lane, J Hyden, F Jordan
October - B Regan, R Power, J Purnell
September - J Morgan, A Lehane, F Falvey
August - E Davies, S Jefferies, D Horton
July - B Matthews, E Davies, Fr Mansel
June - T Law, E Waters, A Blades
May - K Holley, E Davies, A Bennett
April - C.McNeff, S.Collier, M.Byrne
March - Jackie Rees, Ann Blades, Corinne Spridgeon
February - T.O'Donoghue, M.Hughes, G.Clee
January 2018 - Claire Clancy, Eileen Parry, Sally Kneath
December - Geraldine Fane, Fran Jordan, Kate Healings
November - Ioan Kneath, Jeanette Thomas, Gaye Clee
October - Grace Collier, Maria Grant, Caroline Soloman
September - Colin Milford, Breda Regan, Ann Blades
August - Ioan Kneath, Tony Lane, Elizabeth Berry
July - James Hyden, Sylvia Cottle, Janice Jones
June - Gina O'Brien, Ann Richards, John Ryan
May - C.McNeff, K.Ohara, A.Riley
April - Mr A McGuiness, Mr T Aldridge, Mrs W O'Donoghue
March - Mrs Garry, Mrs Graham, Mrs Kieft
February - Mrs Garry, Mrs Clee, Mrs Howard
January 2017 - Maria Davies, Tina Law, Tony Morgan
December - Mrs Healings, John Hunt, Barbara Mainwaring.
November - M. Ryan, E. Thomas, A. Lane
October - M. Davies, G. O`Brien, M. Richardson
September - T.O'Donoghue, B.Gregory and E.Thomas
August - Maria Grant, Maria Richardson and Norman Thomas
July - W. O'Donoghue, A Richards and E. Thomas
June - M.Morris, M.Diddhams and S.Garry
May 2016 - Joan Morgan, Ann Lane and Kevin Holley
Happy Birthday Gerry!
Father Mansel presents Gerry with a bouquet on her 80th birthday!(December 2016)
The annual Parish event was a great success.
Ladies Guild enjoyed a Christmas lunch at the Plough and Harrow in Murton this week....
After many years of dedicated serving on the alter here at Our Lady Star of the Sea, Ffion Byrne's successful A Level results mean she is soon off to begin her studies at Bristol University. We wish her every success and she will be missed.
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On 1st June, the Ladies Guild arranged for Ray Foulston from Swansea Trading Standards to come and talk about the latest scams which could affect all of us. It was a really interesting evening and, whilst some scams can be scary, Ray explained how to deal with postal scams, telephone scams, email scams and told us some real stories about locals who had been caught out.
The SVP held a fun Auction on 25th May 2016, which was attended by around 40 people, all eager to view and bid on the lots. Lots included a signed Swansea football, some beautiful original paintings, and the evening has (at time of writing) raised just under £1000. A fantastic result!
Some photos from the event can be found in the Photo Album.
Eileen, Andrea and Tess along with Patricia took a trip to Rome in May 2016. While they were there they visited the English College, and went on a Vatican tour which took in the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's.
Christian Aid Week is 15th - 21st May. Please give your support to this year's appeal which is to help with flood prevention in Bangladesh. Further details can be found on the notice board and also on the Christian Aid website caweek.org
At a packed meeting held in the Church on Monday 9th May, Father Mansel outlined his proposals for changes to the building and its infrastructure. There was good discussion from all present, and unanimous consensus that the proposals were good to take forward to the next stage.
The Crowning of Our Lady took place on 1st May - pictures in Photo Album
Following the Synod on the Family, the Pope released a document, which you can read via the button on the right...