Parish Events

The annual Chrism Mass of the diocese of Port Elizabeth will be at the Church of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Cambridge this Tuesday 31st March at 10am (Holy Tuesday). At this important annual Mass the priests of the diocese renew publicly their priestly promises; in this diocese deacons are also invited to make an […]

The Port Elizabeth Oratory Parish of St Bernadette presents MUSICAL ORATORY STATIONS OF THE CROSS A solemn musical journey Join us in St Bernadette’s parish church on Friday 27 March at 17:30 This annual service is a reflection on the Gospel accounts of the Passion and Death of Our Lord. Choral pieces from composers such

In the final part of our series on the traditional Lenten disciplines, we take a General Audience of Pope Francis from the Holy Year of 2016 on almsgiving. That year was the Jubilee of Mercy, and the Holy Father sets almsgiving in this context, inviting us to look beyond simply human or practical considerations to

This Wednesday’s feast day (25th March) celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation in which, at the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to the Holy Virgin, Mary gave her consent to receive into her womb the Saviour of the World. We recall this mystery each time we pray the Hail Mary, according to the announcement of

Thursday 19th March is the Solemnity of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin, and Patron of the Universal Church. The Entrance Antiphon for the Mass of the Solemnity, “Behold, a faithful and prudent steward, whom the Lord set over his household” (cf. Luke 12:42) speaks both of St Joseph’s vocation as head of the Holy

Continuing our series on recent teachings of the Popes on the three-fold Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, this week we take up an audience of St John Paul II from 1979, in which the Pope provides a reflection on fasting, one that may be prophetic of contemporary concerns about dependence on online media

The Universal Prayer (Oratio Universalis) is an historic expression of Catholic piety that has remained popular for centuries. Attributed to Pope Clement XI (1700-1721) it is especially associated with use in thanksgiving after holy communion. Pope St John XXIII highlighted the special value of the prayer: he enriched it with an indulgence, and mentioned it

We continue today a two-part series “Composer of the Week”, on two of the composers whose works will feature in the Musical Oratory in our church on Friday 27th March: Born in London in 1877, Henry Balfour Gardiner began playing the piano at the age of 5 and composing at the young age of 9.

We include this week a summary of the retreat addresses that Bishop Erik Varden, of Trondheim, Norway, preached last week in the Vatican in the presence of Pope Leo XIV and members of the Roman Curia. The full retreat address texts as published on Bishop Varden’s own website are individually linked below.  Bishop Erik Varden

We start today a two-part series “Composer of the Week”, on two of the composers whose works will feature in the Musical Oratory in our church on Friday 27th March: Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden village in Austria in 1824 and began organ lessons with his father, the schoolmaster at a young age. After