St. Patrick's, Greenock, Scotland
Parish Priest: Very Rev G.J.Gallagher
NEW LECTIONARY AT MASS
Beginning today, the 1st. Sunday of Advent, as we begin Year C of the Church’s three year Liturgical Cycle, the Year of Luke. Our readings at Mass now come from the English Standard Version translation of the Bible. We have a leaflet at Mass with the readings on it to help us to get used to the new translation. Please return these leaflets to the doors of the Church after Mass.
RCIC P4 COMMITMENT MASS
Next Sunday at 11.00am Mass, our boys and girls from P4 in St. Patrick’s P.S., accompanied by their parents, sponsors and teachers, will commit themselves to preparing for the celebration of the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance & Reconciliation and First Holy Communion in Lent-Easter 2025. Please keep the candidates and their families and teachers in your prayers.
TEAS & COFFEES
In the Hall after 11:00am Mass every Sunday.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK MASS
Thanks to all who came along to the Education Week Mass in St. Mary’s on Thursday evening despite the weather. Thanks also to St. Mary’s for hosting the Mass so beautifully and to all who were involved in its organisation.
COFFEE MORNING
Thank you to everyone who supported yesterday’s Coffee Morning in the Hall and to all who helped to organise it, especially Elizabeth whose initiative it was and who worked so hard to make it a success. Proceeds are going to the Parish & to St. Patrick’s P.S. We will have the total raised for next week’s Bulletin.
CHILDREN’S LITURGY OF THE WORD
On Sunday at 11.00am Mass. The children are invited to leave the church at the beginning of Mass to go to the house to celebrate the Word of God in a way which is more accessible to them.
SUNDAY MASS READERS Please collect from the sacristy a pack with the new translation of the Advent Sunday Mass readings. If you have Universalis or a similar app you will be able to find the new texts there, if you go to the date of the Sunday you are reading.
THANK YOU
For last week’s Offertory Collection which raised £1,006.89.
PARISH STALL
Christmas cards, Advent calendars, 2025 Church Art Calendars, Diaries and other seasonal gifts, with a selection of cards for other occasions, are available in the Parish Stall after 11.00am Mass on Sunday and 10.00am Mass on Thursday.
THE INNOCENTS
Pregnancy testing and counselling done in confidence, Mondays and Thursdays 7.00-9.00pm. Tel. 743809
QUIZ NIGHT
Thank you to everyone who supported last Sunday’s Quiz Night in the Hall in which eight teams participated. A grand total of £204 was raised to be split equally between ourselves and St. Joseph’s.
INVERCLYDE ROYAL HOSPITAL
In addition to our 24/7 emergency chaplain cover at IRH, we also have a catholic chaplaincy team who are happy to visit patients in the hospital for non-emergency visits. Please just let Fr. Gerry know that you or your relative would like a visit from a catholic chaplain and he will organise it. This change in how visits are arranged is due to the data protection and privacy laws now in operation.
PARISH PRAYERS
We pray for all who are ill or housebound: in particular, we remember:
Brian McGarry, George Bennett,
Michael Fitzharris, Gina Robb,
Isobel Diorio, Anne Faller,
Nan Scullion, Lexi Kerr (baby),
Amy Hunter, Linda Scott,
Maureen Hanvey, Emma Sinclair,
Maureen Houston, Anne Kane,
Jessica Glover, Caroline McNeil,
Joanne King.
We pray for all who have died recently, R.I.P.
John Kennedy, Janette Farrell
We remember those whose anniversaries are at this time, R.I.P., especially:
​Rt. Rev. John Cunningham
7th. Bishop of Galloway (2004-2014)
Parish Priest here 1992-2004,
Margaret McVicar, Tony Connolly,
Hugh Begley, Mattie Gregory,
Baby Scott Walker.
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.
COFFEE MORNING
Thank you to everyone who supported yesterday’s Coffee Morning in the Hall and to all who helped to organise it, especially Elizabeth whose initiative it was and who worked so hard to make it a success. Proceeds are going to the Parish & to St. Patrick’s P.S. We will have the total raised for next week’s Bulletin.
After 11.0am Mass today (Sunday) along with teas and coffees there is still some home baking available along with loads of recently loved toys which can be obtained for a donation (no prices—just a donation!). All welcome.
Synod 2024
The most recent document the Instrumentum laboris (= “Working Document” can be found on the Vatican website at vatican.va. This will form the basis of discussion at the next synodal assembly in Rome from 2nd. to 27th. October 2024, at which Bishop Brian of Argyll & The Isles will represent Scotland. Please continue to pray for the success of the synodal process.
QUESTIONS ABOUT ADMISSION TO HOLY COMMUNION
1. There still seems to be some confusion around about the question of divorce and admission to Holy Communion. If you are divorced but have not re-married and you are not “living with someone”, then you are not barred from participating at Mass or Holy Communion. Indeed, the conditions for you to receive Holy Communion are the same as for everyone else; you must be in a state of grace and you must fast for one hour before receiving Holy Communion. People were told in the past that if they got divorced, they were “excommunicated” - this “information” was not correct.
​
If you have divorced and then remarried “outside the Church”, or if you are “living with someone”, then you are still very welcome to come to Mass but that may change your situation about admission to Holy Communion.
​
2. If at one time you “married outside the church” and your situation has since changed, (e.g. if your spouse, sadly, has died, or if that marriage has ended) and you have not re-married “outside the church” or started “living with someone” then you can be re-admitted to Holy Communion. The conditions for you to receive Communion are the same as for everyone else; you must be in a state of grace and you must fast for one hour before receiving Holy Communion.
​
3. If you are in any of these situations (or other marriage situations) and are not sure about how to proceed, please talk to one of our priests or deacons about it and they will be happy to help.
Protecting your Privacy
The privacy notice contained on our website is that of the Diocese of Paisley, St. Patrick’s is a Catholic parish of the Universal Church in the Diocese of Paisley, which is led by Bishop John Keenan, in communion with our Holy Father Pope Francis, in Greenock.
We want you to know that Diocese of Paisley respects the information we hold on you and that we take the security of your information very seriously.
New data protection rules, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), come into effect on May 2018. These regulation will give people greater control over how companies and organisations use their personal information.
We have updated our Privacy Notice in line with GDPR, which sets out information on how we hold and handle your data. It includes:
-
what kind of information we collect
-
how we use it
-
when we may need to share it
Many thanks for your understanding. You can read our full Privacy Notice at by clicking here or a hard copy can be requested from the Parish.