Government Guidance for Places of Worship  

Communal worship and life events - You should follow the guidance on the safe use of places of worship and must not mingle with anyone outside of your household or support bubble when attending a place of worship.  Weddings, funerals and religious, belief-based or commemorative events linked to someone’s death are all subject to limits on the numbers that can attend.

• We ask that you do not enter the church if you have cold or flu-like symptoms.
• Social distancing should be maintained at all times, both inside and outside the church building.
• Face coverings must be worn in the church at all times by people over the age of 10, unless they have a medical exemption.
• Please sit in designated seating, and as guided by our church stewards.
• All surfaces have to be cleaned and sanitised when the church is closed.  Please try to avoid touching things in church unnecessarily.
• Track & Trace details are being recorded.  Please bring with you your name and contact details written on a piece of paper and leave it in the basket provided in the church.
• Your co-operation is greatly appreciated.

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

LIFTING THE LOCKDOWN  17th May to 19th July:

We may now have congregations, with one metre distancing inside the church, with all the usual things in place e.g. wearing of face masks, good ventilation, hand sanitising, etc.

The number of people allowed in the church at any service (including funerals) is:

St. Thomas's, Woodbridge – maximum 70 people,

and St. Clare's, Framlingham – maximum 50 people.

Stand-alone Baptisms (that is a Baptism ceremony outside of the Mass): a maximum congregation of 30 people is permitted.

Holy Communion is to be received under one kind only. It is now permitted for the priest to announce “The Body of Christ” to each individual communicant before they receive the Blessed Sacrament.

Holy Communion may be received on the tongue but those who wish to do so are asked to wait until the end of the Communion procession and to receive the Blessed Sacrament after the people who have received the Sacrament in their hand.

The Prayer of the Faithful can be reintroduced.

The Sign of Peace remains suspended.

Singing by the congregation during Mass remains suspended.

Votive tea-lights may be lit.

Holy Water stoups are to remain dry.

Church Services from Saturday 19th June:

Sat 19th       6.00 p.m.       Wood       For the appointment of a new bishop

SUN 20th    9.00 a.m.       Fram        Peter O'Keeffe, †   (Patsy & Reg Sears)

SUN 20th   11.00 a.m.      Wood       For the people of the Parish

                  No services:  Monday 21st June to Friday 25th June

Sat 26th       6.00 p.m.       Wood       For the people of the Parish 

SUN 27th   9.00 a.m.        Fram        For the appointment of a new bishop 

SUN 27th   11.00 a.m.      Wood       - 

Mon 28th     9.30 a.m.        Wood       -

Tue 29th    9.30 a.m.       Wood      Gwen Cosgrove, †   (Angie Punaks)

Tue 29th    12.00 p.m.     Fram       For the people of the Parish

JULY

Thu 1st       9.30 a.m.         Wood       -

Fri 2nd        9.30 a.m.         Wood      Private intention    (EJE)

Sat 3rd        6.00 p.m.        Wood       Joan O'Brien, †     (Gerald O'Brien)

SUN 4th     9.00 a.m.        Fram        For the people of the Parish

SUN 4th     11.00 a.m.      Wood       For Fr. Edmund     (Jean & Sue Wallace)

SUN 4th                            Wood       Baptism:  John Patrick Egan

Wood = Service in Saint Thomas's Church, Woodbridge

Fram = Service in Saint Clare's Church, Framlingham

The Liturgical Calendar for June 2021 is at the bottom of this page.

June is the

Month of The Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

Sweet Heart of Jesus, thee we adore. 

O, let us love thee, more and more.

SECOND COLLECTIONS will be taken on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th June for the Life charities designated by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

PETER’S PENCE.  The annual collections for Peter’s Pence will be taken on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th June.

No weekday public Masses:  Monday 21st June to Friday 25th June.

The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul will be celebrated on Tuesday 29th June.  0930 hrs. Mass at Woodbridge and 1200 hrs. Mass at Framlingham.  This year the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is not a Holy Day of Obligation.

On Thursday 1st July, a Votive Mass of the Most Precious Blood of O.L.J.C. will be celebrated in Woodbridge at 0930 hrs.  Mass will not be celebrated in Framlingham on Thursday 1st July.

CHURCHES TOGETHER.   We need a parishioner to represent St. Thomas’s Church community at the meetings of Churches Together in Woodbridge & Melton.  During lock-down the meetings have been held on Zoom, but the C.T.W.M. committee hope to be able to meet in person at their next meeting which is scheduled for Monday 6th September in St. John’s Old Vicarage.  Usually there are four meetings a year.  If you would like to assist the parish in this ecumenical work, please speak to Fr. Edmund.   Link:  Churches Together in Woodbridge & Melton

Our bishops encourage Catholics to place Sunday Mass at the heart of their post-pandemic lives.  Reflection: The Day of the Lord.

VOCATIONS.  Please pray for Deacon Michael Smith as he prepares for his ordination to the Sacred Priesthood on Saturday 3rd July.  Also, please pray for our diocesan seminarians: Anthony Asomugha, Biencarlo Manuntag, Mark Ashwood, Benjamin Barnett, Peter Ho, Anthony Reilly, and Dominic Nyathi.  Our three diocesan students for the Permanent Diaconate are: Gian Lucca Savini, Paul Raynes and Derek Williams.  We ask the Lord of the Harvest to send more labourers to his harvest in the Diocese of East Anglia.

Dowry House Retreat. “I went to Walsingham towards the end of May and stayed at the Dowry House Retreat with the sisters. It is a lovely place to make a retreat or just have a quiet time in such a prayerful place” writes Jenny Hinchey.  More information is on their website: www.dowryhouse.org.uk and on their facebook and instagram pages.

“Thank you to everyone who donated to Will's run on 30th May in aid of the SVP’s homeless project for East Anglia.  We raised 750 Pounds which will help towards financing this” - writes Wendy Hardinge, SVP.

We pray for all in our parish who are unwell at the present time, whether suffering from short-term or long-term illnesses.  We pray too for the sick and the housebound members of our parish and for those who have no one to pray for them.  May the Lord grant them comfort from their suffering.  Amen.

PARISH  ANNIVERSARIES.  The parish calendar page of this website shows parishioners' anniversaries of death, taken from the parish's "Death Register".  Please click here  PARISH CALENDAR  to view the parish anniversaries for this month.

The Parish Office at Woodbridge is closed.  E-mail correspondence sent to the Parish Office will not be checked daily.  If you wish to contact Father Edmund Eggleston, parish priest, please telephone The Presbytery, Woodbridge, on (01394) 388828.   Please note, Father Edmund takes Wednesday as his day off each week.

ASYLUM SEEKERS – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED.  Churches Together in Woodbridge & Melton was recently represented by Barbara Stear (of St. Mary’s Anglican Church) at a meeting of Woodbridge Town Council, to find out more about a new initiative led by Suffolk Refugee Support.  There are up to fourteen families seeking asylum (42 individuals) soon to move into Coppers Yard, Grundisburgh Road, Woodbridge.  The families have been at a holding camp in Kent, so probably arrived in England by boat.  The families are provided with furnished housing and a small amount of money to buy essentials.  The children can attend school and the parents can volunteer, but are not permitted to do paid work while they are waiting for a decision on their application for British citizenship.  They are free to roam, and, hopefully, will be made welcome in Woodbridge.  Until the families arrive, their needs and requirement will not be known.  Volunteers will be needed to help the families.  All potential volunteers need to complete an S.R.S. application form, which requires two referees, and must be prepared to undergo a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check as well as completing on-line Safeguarding training (1-2 hours).  If you can help, please contact Suffolk Refugee Support.    Link:  Suffolk Refugee Support

AN INVITATION FROM CHURCHES TOGETHER IN WOODBRIDGE & MELTON: