Weekly Exposition & Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The 1000 Hours initiative may have come to an end but did you know that there is an ongoing weekly Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the Chapel?

Some of our parishioners have already been faithfully visiting the Exposed Blessed Sacrament every Monday morning and evening for the past month. The Exposition on Mondays is the first step taken towards our goal of having Perpetual Exposition in our Parish.

As there should be at least one person present in the Chapel when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, we encourage more parishioners to visit and commit their time in the Chapel.

We look forward to have more hours of Exposition in the Chapel as more adorers come and pray at different hours of the day and at different days of the week.

For now, the Exposition and Adoration is scheduled for 7am-10am and 7pm-10pm every Monday. Additional hours will be announced in the bulletin.

The Spirituality Committee on behalf of the parish greatly encourages your frequent visits to the Chapel. God bless.

Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Dear Brothers in Sisters in Christ,

As stated in the presentation screened before this weekend's masses and in the bulletin, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be celebrated on June 11. For the nine days prior to that, you are encouraged to pray the Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

You may pray it at any time of the day, wherever you are.

If you wish to have this prayer in .PDF format so that you may print it out, drop an email request to davinarul@gmail.com and we will do our best to respond within a day of receiving your mail. Thank you and God Bless.

Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Lord Jesus,
The needs of your people open your heart in love to each of us.
You care for us when we are lost,
sympathise with us in loneliness and comfort us in mourning;
You are closest to us when we are at our weakest.
You love us most when we love ourselves least;
You forgive us most when we forgive ourselves least;
You call us to spread Your love in whatever way we can.

Lord Jesus,
Your heart is moved with compassion when we are suffering,
when we need Your help and when we pray for each other.
I ask You to listen to my prayer during this novena,
and grant what I ask… (make your request silently).
If what I ask is not for my own good or the good of others grant me always what is best,
that I may build up Your Kingdom of love in our world.

Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

1,000th Hour reached!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The 1,000th Hour in our Silent Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament project arrived at 10am today, May 6th 2010, and the Santa Maria della Strada Chapel was packed with parishioners to commemorate the culmination of this significant undertaking.

Parish Priest Father Simon Yong, Assistant Parish Priest Father Albert Tan (pictured) and members of the Golden Jubilee team were among those who gathered in the chapel for the 1,000th hour.

Later, Father Simon told the congregation that the Church of St Francis Xavier was moving towards a more permanent and perpetual format of Silent Adoration, now that this "project-based" initiative had been well received.

(The 1,000 Hours project was held in conjunction with the Year For Priests as initiated last year by Pope Benedict XVI.)

Suggestions have also been received from parishioners over the past two weeks on how they feel the church could continue to hold silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. These will be reviewed and considered in our effort to reach the "critical mass" - as Father Simon put it - necessary to have the perpetual adoration.

Once again, the Spirituality Sub-Committee would like to thank everyone, especially those who pledged their respective hour for adoration, and those who contributed towards the organising of the project.

God Bless.

All signed up!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We've done it! All the 1,000 Hours of Silent Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament have been fully pledged and the historic 1,000th hour will be marked by an hour of worship by the Golden Jubilee Committee.

That hour will be on Thursday, May 6, 2010, from 10am-11am.

We would like to thank all those who have contributed in one way or another to making this initiative a success.

For those who would like Silent Adoration to be a regular practice in our parish, a suggestion book has been opened outside the chapel. Kindly give us your suggestions and feedback on how we should continue.

God Bless,

The Spirituality Sub-Comittee

Into the home stretch

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We have less than a month to go before the 1,000 Hours of Silent Adoration exercise comes to a close, in early May 2010.

But there are still hours available for you to sign up and pledge YOUR time before the Lord. You may sign up at the notice board near the Santa Maria della Strada Chapel, or outside church after all weekend masses.

If you have not signed up yet, now's the time to do so.

The Spirituality Sub-Committee would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to the 1,000 Hours initiative in one way or another, with their prayers, support, helping to spread the word, and of course, in the "recruitment" drive.

God Bless.

No Silent Adoration during Holy Week

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Just a reminder, in case you have not signed up for the 1000 Hours but still want to go to the Chapel: there will not be any Silent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from Monday March 29 up to and including Easter Monday, April 5, because of Holy Week.

Normal hours for Silent Adoration will resume at 7am on Tuesday, April 6.

Thank you and God Bless,

The Spirituality Sub-Committee

Praying before the Blessed Sacrament - powerful testimony

“When the Sisters are exhausted, up to their eyes in work; when all seems to go awry, they spend an hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. This practice has never failed to bear fruit: they experience peace and strength....”

In a recent Parish bulletin, we read the above testimony given by our beloved Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta on the strengthening power of the Blessed Sacrament.

This grace could also manifest in your life today. Come and sit; kneel and pray; spend time with the Lord and pray for our Priests before the Blessed Sacrament. Do this and be renewed.

Sign up to pledge an hour before the Blessed Sacrament as part of our 1,000 Hours initiative. Each parishioner is encouraged to sign up for one hour only as we would like 1,000 different parishioners to be involved.

You may sign up on the form outside the chapel on weekdays, or outside the church after all weekend masses.