We are blessed to have nine beautiful cribs in each of the Churches in the Pastoral Area.
Jointly, the Parish Pastoral Councils invite parishioners to gather each day from the 27th December to the 4th January, at 3.00pm to offer three prayers for peace in the world, to mark the beginning of the Jubilee Year, and to simply appreciate the beauty of each crib scene.
The three prayers to be offered are;
The Hail Holy Queen
The Divine Mercy Chaplet
The Prayer before a Crib
The nine days of prayer can also be considered as a representation of the nine months of Jesus in the womb of Mary. Like Jesus our Head, we His Body are also to be born of Mary and the Holy Spirit. The nine days of prayer were gestation prior to the birth of the Church on Pentecost. Since then, each novena can be considered as a time of gestation before a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Novenas should be considered persistent prayer. Jesus exhorted us to continually ask, seek, and knock for what we need (Lk 11:10), and he gave us strong examples of the value of persistence in prayer — like the widow who kept pleading with the judge (Lk 18:1-8) and the man who woke his neighbor in the middle of the night to give him bread (Lk 11:5-9). Novenas also can help us to focus our intentions so that we can more effectively give thanks for God’s response to our needs — whatever they are — placing ever greater trust in the Lord Jesus.
You are welcome to join Fr. Paddy at the 3pm time or make the Novena in your own time.
The Prayers will be available at each Crib. Please be advised that some Churches are not always open during the day.
Blessings to you and your family this Christmas.
Togher Parish 