On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

It should be our principal business to conquer ourselves and, from day to day, to go on increasing in strength and perfection - St Francis De Sales It's fair to say that most people use today to reflect on the year just gone; the things that we've been successful with and the things that didn't go too...

On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

Amen, amen, I say to thee, When thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And...

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

All the glory of the king's daughter is within golden borders, Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee. Today is the feast of the Holy Family and this presents us with the opportunity to recognise that our family stretches...

On the Third Day of Christmas...

But the counsel of the Lord standeth for ever: the thoughts of his heart to all generations. To deliver their souls from death: and feed them in famine. Today is the feast of the Holy Innocents which looks at how King Herod ordered all boys under the age of 2 to be killed. He knew that a new King had...

On the Second Day of Christmas...

The reason why sometimes you have asked and not received, is because you have asked amiss, either inconsistently, or lightly, or because you have asked for what was not good for you, or because you have ceased asking. Following on from our blog yesterday looking at the origins of the Nativity...

On the First Day of Christmas...

God is more anxious to bestow His blessings on us than we are to receive them. For it is not God's way that great blessings should descend without the sacrifice first of great sufferings - St Augustine In March 2013 the papal conclave elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio as our new Pope. He took the...

Happy Christmas Everyone!

A light shall shine upon us this day: for the Lord is born to us: and He shall be called Wonderful, God, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the world to come: of whose reign there shall be no end. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was...

6th Form Retreat continued...

This afternoon we have been talking about the pressures that distract us in life, the things from our past that hold us back and the things in our future that worry us. We have been looking at how we need to live in the present moment and take the opportunities that are offered to us to give us peace in among...

EMS 6th Form Retreat 2013

Here we are at the Youth Village with 35 fantastic students on retreat at the Youth Village. This time away is so beneficial for the students that choose to come. They've spent a morning getting to know each other better and if I told you they've been screaming like goats you wouldn't believe me right? The...

Ampleforth Dance Off

The review videos from our retreat will be coming over the next few days but in the mean time here is something to enjoy from Miss Malcolmson's Big Night In! ...

Good Friday Walk of Witness 2013

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Walk of Witness Starting Times

As in previous years, we are holding a Walk of Witness on Good Friday, 29th March. Starting from their parish church, groups of people will walk to the War Memorial in the centre of town for 11.15 a.m. carrying a large wooden cross. At the War Memorial, the story of Jesus’ suffering and death will be read and...

Y10 Retreat Day 3

Here we are on our final day. Last night was amazing! We prayed that we would really know the love of God and to be assured that he will never ever leave us on our own. Kat from YMT led us in prayer this morning which followed in from last night, sharing the story of John McMillan with us. Google him and...

Year 10 Retreat - More from Day 2

A moment of reflection before lunch, in small groups. We have all been outside to collect items of nature that we can share something about our faith with. Lots of moments for us to stop and reflect on our faith and to pray this weekend. It is going so great and we are having so much fun. This afternoon we...

Year 10 Retreat - Preparing for Palm Sunday

Philip has just led a session on who Jesus is and we are really starting to go deeper in to looking at the love of God and just how much he loves us. This is perfect preparation for our Mass which we will be celebrating later this evening as it is Palm Sunday. It seems the perfect beginning of Holy Week for our...

Year 10 Retreat - Day 2

Good Morning everyone from an even more snowy Youth Village! This morning we have sang our hearts out in preparation for our Mass later on today. We are all belting out our Hosannas! Cody is leading us all in these new songs and obviously our favourite, Our God is Greater! Watch this space for more updates...

Year 10 Retreat 2013

Here we are at the Youth Village with YMT. We have 30 students on retreat and the theme for the weekend is "Landslides." This is taken from a quote from Lord Alton, that when small stones move, landslides happen. This will challenge us to try and make a difference in the world and the way in which we perceive...

Lenten Garden in St Cuthbert's Primary School

St. Cuthbert's Primary School have been building a Lenten Garden in church over the last 6 weeks. It's not really a garden with plants, though. Instead, it's full of symbols that help us to think about the gospels of each Sunday during the Season. Just in case you've forgotten, here's a reminder: 1st Sunday -...

Youth Consultation

Last night Fr. Adrian came to listen to some of our young people as they got to grips with the future of the church in Hartlepool. This is an important question at a time when we are losing money, priests and possibly churches so it's important that young people make their voices heard as it will be you who will...

Stations of the Cross with Friday Night Fun

The children at Friday Night Fun (our youth group at St. Teresa's and St. Patrick's) took a slightly different approach to Stations of the Cross last week, making their own with the help of lots of glue! It helped us all to reflect on Jesus' suffering and death and how that opened the way for us to be free of...

Level 2 Award for our Leaders

Last night five of our Hartlepool Youth Ministry people received an award for obtaining a Level 2 in Youth Work Practice. This is a nationally recognised youth work qualification helping us to improve the quality of what we do. Pictured from the left are Colin, Natalie, Marie and Jeremy. Unfortunately, Tracey,...

EMS at St John Vianney Lunch Club

A group of English Martyrs students visited the St. John Vianney Lunch Club today for the second time to help out serving the food and generally making sure everyone was happy. This is part of our school-parish link programme aimed at getting young people more involved in their parishes. Described as the 'bonus...

Sponsored Walk to Rievaulx Abbey

Blimey that wind was cold but it didn't stop us enjoying a little stroll through the North York Moors, between Ampleforth and Rievaulx Abbeys, to raise some much-needed funds for Hartlepool Youth Ministry. We all arrived safely, if a little frozen, just before the snow really set in. Deo gratias and also to Jane,...