Bangor Parish

the Roman Catholic Parish of Bangor, (including Ballyholme and Donaghadee), in the Diocese of Down and Connor, Northern Ireland

Spiritual Communion Prayer by Pope Francis

“At your feet, O my Jesus, I bow down and offer you the repentance of my contrite heart that abysses itself in its nothingness and in Your holy presence. I adore you in the sacrament of your love, I wish to receive you in the poor dwelling that my heart offers you. Waiting for the happiness of sacramental communion, I want to possess you in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, that I come to you. May your love inflame my whole being for life and death. I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you. So be it.”

The prayer in honour of Saint Comgall to be found in the Bangor Antiphonary concludes with the following which I suggest as a motto for this Parish of Bangor.“Through the merits and prayers of St Comgall our Abbott, keep all of us O Lord, in your peace.”  Saint Comgall lived in the sixth century and archaeologists tell us that Ireland was afflicted with a devastating plague at that time and they link this fact with the remarkable growth of monasteries in a country which was in the process of being Christianised.  Saint Comgall therefore would have understood our worries and concerns as we prepare to face the coronavirus pandemic. Our only response can be that of prayer:

Prayer for the sick.

Prayer for those who care for them.

Prayer for those who are researching antidotes and vaccines.

Prayer for those in positions of authority who are doing their best to navigate unchartered waters.

Prayer for the fearful.

We remember that the most repeated phrase in the scriptures is ‘do not be afraid.’  We ponder this and see in it God’s profound understanding of our fragility. Elsewhere God invites to himself all of us who ‘labour and are heavy burdened and He will give us rest.’  We remember also Christ’s statement that ‘in this world you will have trouble but do not be afraid I have overcome the world.’ We are asked to trust in the mercy of our God of whom Saint Therese says ‘the only thing that God can do is love.’  Trust in God is by definition reliance on Him without our knowing or sometimes even being capable of imagining the outcome.  As we look forward to the Passion of Christ in Holy Week we are reminded in a particularly poignant way of His trust in the Father when he prayed, ‘into your hands I commend my spirit’. Let us pray for one another so that we can be open to seeing the needs of others and be ready to endure sacrifices and limitations assumed for the common good.  May the prayers of the four saints of Bangor, Comgall, Columbanus, Gall and Malachy protect us all.

Fr J Gunn

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17th March – Novena in Preparation for the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord

from 17th March (Evening) to 25th March 2020. 

Click link below…

Novena in Preparation for the Feast of the Annunciation

Saint Columban

Jonas comments on Columban. ‘As the sun adds splendour to the dawn, so the Church receives added lustre with each new saint.’

A Prayer attributed to Saint Columban.

‘Lord God, cut down and root out whatever the Adversary plants in me. With my sins cleared away may you sow good sense in my mind, and goodness in my heart, so that I can seek you and serve you completely in word and deed, and understand how to carry out Christ’s will. Grant thoughtfulness, grant love, grant purity, grant faith; give me all that you know will help my soul. Lord, work good in me and provide me with what you know I need. Amen.’

St Columban, Sermon IX

Let us live for Christ, who while dying restored our life. Let us die to ourselves and live to Christ. Let us not be proud, haughty, or undisciplined, but humble, kindly, and courteous, so that Christ may reign in our hearts.

Let us be Christ’s, and not our own, for we are not our own, for we were bought at a great price, a very great price, when the Lord was given for a slave, a King for a servant, and God for humankind.

Let us fight against our faults, that we may be crowned elsewhere, disdain passing things, and seek what is to come, seek life without end, and so exchange blessing for misery, joy for sorrows, heaven for earth.

May Christ our Lord deign to grant us this who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

CHAPTER ONE – MAN’S CAPACITY FOR GOD
  1. The Desire for God (in part) click link:   Catechism of the Catholic Church