CHURCH FITTINGS



St. Vincent de Paul RC Church Norden, Rochdale OL12 7QL Parish Priest : Father James Manock. nordencatholic@outlook.com *01706 645361*

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	Sunday 22nd December 2024 4th Sunday of Advent and Beginning of Christmas Octave Year C

Fittings in our Church
We include a simplified guide to the various items you will see in our Church. Just roll the mouse over individual items in the main picture to see the name of the item and then right-click for further information. Apologies as this is not working on iPads etc. at the moment. Just scroll down.
Below the picture we have added further information on items in other areas of our Church.


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TODAY’S MASS Click HERE for Readings and the Order of Mass

SAFEGUARDING Click HERE for contacts and further information and HERE for the Guidance Procedure

HARD OF HEARING If you wear a hearing aid, set it to T for the Induction Loop System

GOING ON HOLIDAYS? Need local Mass Location and Times in England & Wales? Need a Mass Leaflet in English? Speak to Fr. James. Click HERE for a worldwide directory of Catholic Churches

Does any of the following apply to you? Are you New to the Parish? Do you know someone, who is sick or in Hospital? Would you like a visit? Do you think the Parish may be able to help you? Do you think you may be able to help the Parish? If so, please speak to Fr. James Alternatively, try our Parish Groups page for information.

The Entrance Vestibule or Narthex

Holy Water Stoup It is here that we enter from the noisy business of the world and recollect the presence of God before we enter into that Presence in the church proper. The vestibule or porch reminds us that we are stepping out of a noisy world and stepping into a quiet place of retreat with God.
Immediately inside the main entrance you will find little bowls (or 'stoups') contain Holy Water and we dip our fingers in them, and make the 'sign of the cross' to renew our baptismal promises, to prepare ourselves on entering the church, and then on leaving it to recall that we are going out to do God's work.

There is a stall, where religious items - cards, rosary beads and religious objects may be purchased (usually after weekend Masses)

You may also have noticed a collection box for food items, which are collected by our SVP Group on behalf of the Rochdale Foodbank.

Stations of the Cross

Around the Church are little plaques illustrating different events from the Passion of Our Lord and are called "The Stations of the Cross".
These 14 plaques remind us of the last hours of Jesus from His arrest, trial, scourging, carrying his cross and to His crucifixion. We have a number of traditional prayers, which we recite as we meditate on the individual events of His 'Passion'.

Why do we have statues with small candles in front of them?

Catholics have statues of Saints, just as you might have family photographs, to remind them of their spiritual family; since we believe that God gives us immortal life, even though the saints may be dead to us, they are alive in God. Therefore we are free to ask them to pray to God for us, just as we might ask a friend to pray for us in our need. We may light candles, which symbolically present our needs before the saint and before God.
We do not worship the statue. However we reverence it because it is the image of the saint whom we honour and love.

On the right in an alcove is a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, who we believe prays for us, and so we present our needs to her.

StVincentStatueDSCF3538e_InPixio

On the left side of the altar is a statue of St Vincent de Paul, who is the patron saint of our church and who had a particular calling to serve the poor.
He had a most extraordinary life becoming a priest in 1601 from very poor beginnings, was sold into slavery for 2 years by Barbary pirates, escaped back to France, founded 2 religious orders, was a pioneer of clerical training and was instrumental in establishing seminaries. He died aged 79 in 1660.
St Vincent is the patron saint of the St. Vincent de Paul charity (the SVP - we have a group in our Parish - see Groups Page), which is an international Catholic voluntary organisation, which Blessed Frederick Ozanam founded in 1833 and is dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage irrespective of creed or race.

The Font
Baptismal Font

The font is the place where people are baptised, which is the formal reception of people into membership of the church. It is to the left of the altar and contains blessed ('holy') water which is poured on the person's (baby's) head as the priest says "I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" to make us children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus.


	The Confessional The door of the Confessional is on the left of the Altar with the priest's name on it. This is a small room where people confess their sins to God in the presence of the priest, and receive assurance of God's forgiveness. There is a screen between the person and the priest so that anonymity may be preserved. The confessional is built upon the principle that the penitent and priest must hear each other but not necessarily see each other.

	The Book of Remembrance This is kept in the window recess on the far left left of the altar. We recall those members of our congregation, who have died, and keep them in mind on the anniversaries of their death; this book contains their names for all to see.

	Altar The altar is a marble table covered by a long cloth upon which are placed the bread and wine for the Sacrifice of the Mass. Upon this table the bread and wine are changed into the living Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and offered to God the Father, by Christ Himself, by the priest, and by the faithful. The altar represents both 1) a 'sacrificial altar' because we really do celebrate Jesus' death for us to make us worthy to come before God 2) a communion table where we share in Jesus' last meal with His disciples - the 'Last Supper' You will also notice the prominent Chi-Rho symbol on the front of the altar. This is formed by superimposing the first 2 letters (Chi and Rho – XP) of the Greek for Christ and it invokes the Crucifixion as well as reminding us of Christ. There are many examples of this Christogram from as early as the first Christians in the catacombs in Rome. On the right we have one English example - the centrepiece of the mosaic from the 4th century Roman villa in Hinton St. Mary in Dorset and now on view in the British Museum. TOP OF PAGE

	Tabernacle Behind the altar is a small 'box' (called the 'Tabernacle') that contains the unconsumed consecrated Hosts, the Body and Blood of Jesus Himself. You may notice Catholics bowing and 'genuflecting' (kneeling) before Him as they come into and leave the church. The red light, known as the “Sanctuary Lamp”, on the right of the tabernacle indicates to visitors that Jesus is present in this form in the church. TOP OF PAGE

	Crucifix The large figure of Christ above the altar reminds us of His Passion and Death on the cross carrying our burden of wrong-doing. TOP OF PAGE

	There are four candles fixed to the wall around the church When our church was built, we borrowed money to construct it. Only when the debt was paid off could the church building be dedicated to God, then the candles (and crosses below them) were fixed to show this. TOP OF PAGE

	Easter Candle The Easter candle (also known as the 'Paschal Candle') is lit to remind us that Jesus is the Light of the World' and that each Christian carries that light with them as the representative of Jesus Christ. The Chi-Rho symbol of Christ crucified is repeated here as well as the Ichthus. In the early Christian Church, the Ichthus was often used as a symbol of Christ by Christians to identify each other in times of persecution. Ichthus is a 5 letter Greek word (meaning fish) in which the 5 letters stand for individual Greek words, which translate as "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour". It is an early example of a mnemonic. The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha and omega) are also included to remind us of Jesus who refers to himself: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Revelation 22:13). TOP OF PAGE