LATEST NEWSLETTER

Welcome to

Our Lady and St Michael's Church

Abergavenny

Welcome to our Parish!


A very warm welcome to our new Parish website. Whether you have recently moved into the Parish or have been a parishioner for many years, we hope that you will find our website useful and interesting.

The Parish has been served, since 1978, by Benedictines from the Monastery of Saint Michael and All Angels at Belmont, near Hereford. The parishioners maintain close links with the monastery by welcoming priests from the community to Abergavenny for the celebration of Mass as well as other liturgical occasions as well as parishioners visiting Belmont for weekend retreats and days of recollection.

We hope that you will find this website informs you about our Parish life and encourages you to become involved in our community in Abergavenny.
A very warm welcome to our new Parish website. Whether you have recently moved into the Parish or have been a parishioner for many years, we hope that you will find our website useful and interesting.

The Parish has been served, since 1978, by Benedictines from the Monastery of Saint Michael and All Angels at Belmont, near Hereford. The parishioners maintain close links with the monastery by welcoming priests from the community to Abergavenny for the celebration of Mass as well as other liturgical occasions as well as parishioners visiting Belmont for weekend retreats and days of recollection.
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The Parish of Our Lady and St. Michael is  part of  the   Belmont Abbey Mission Charitable Incorporated Trust (CIO), Charity  Number 1191221 
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HOLY YEAR - YEA R OF JUBILEE 2025.
"Pilgrims  o f Hope."

SUNDAY MASSES IN OLSM

8am, 10am & 6pm.
Llanarth, (NP15 2YD), Saturday Vigil Mass 5pm.

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ANNE WATKINS RIP
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Anne Watkins, formerly of this
parish who died last Sunday.
May she rest in peace.
Funeral - Wednesday 29th October 10.00am

ALAN OCKENDEN RIP.
Please pray for the repose of Alan Ockenden who
died on Tuesday 14th October.
May he rest in peace.
Funeral details TBA.

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FR. MATTHEW AWAY 
– From Thursday 16th October returning Friday 24th October. 
Fr. Jonathon will be supplying in the parish, available on 01432 374737.
(Fr. Matthew still available on 07402 979597.)

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1st HOLY COMMUNION COURSE – 

Applications invited for children in Year 3 and above, letters and application forms available in Church and from the school office and on this parish website. 

Please apply by 6th November.

Application form available in Parish news section.

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Safeguarding Audit – Have Your Say - 
The Archdiocese of Cardiff and the Diocese of Menevia will soon be taking part in a safeguarding audit carried out by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA). This is part of our ongoing work to make sure that our safeguarding practices are the best they can be. The CSSA would like to hear directly from anyone who has experience of our safeguarding service — whether positive or negative.
Your feedback will help us listen, learn, and continue improving the way we care for and protect everyone in our communities. If you would like to share your views confidentially, please use this link:
🔗 CSSA Safeguarding Feedback Form
Thank you for helping us build a Church that is safe, welcoming, and caring for all.




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 LIVE STREAMING

SEE VIDEO  SCREEN BELOW.



DAILY SERVICES.





Week beginning 13th October.

Friday No mass.
Saturday Rosary 9.30am
No morning mass.

Week beginning 20th October.

Monday - No service.
Tuesday 10am.
Wednesday 10.30am Llanarth.
Thursday 12noon.
Friday - No Service.
Saturday 10am.


PRAYING FOR OUR PARISH.
Prayers offered for our parish, Saturdays from
10.45am - 11.30am, with exposition and benediction,
 every Saturday.

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PARISH COUNCIL.

Next meeting on Sunday 7th December in St. Michaels Centre
at 11.30am. 
Chair - James Mulcahy.
Secretary - Monica Chidgey.
To contact either of the above please
e-mail from this website.
There is a box at the back of Church where written suggestions
can be placed for the attention of the PAC.
Minutes of the PAC meeting in July available below, and 
posted on Church noticeboard.

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ONLINE BANK PAYMENTS.
To make online Bank payments please use.
Our bank details are: NatWest - 
Belmont Abbey Mission CIO - Account no. 60708778 Bank Sort Code: 53-50-41. 

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Facebook Live - Evening Prayer at 5pm every day, see below on left or  View Here

LIVESTREAM

With Fr Matthew
Please view the daily programme opposite
Virtual Church Tour Here
Partake in our Parish Spiritual Communion daily
Today's Mass Readings - View Here
WELCOME TO OUR PARISH LIVESTREAM
CHURCH OPEN 
 Sunday masses  at 8am, 10am and 6pm on Sunday. Also Vigil 5pm Saturday mass at Llanarth Church.

DIAL-A-MASS

A new feature for those who are unable to access the internet - Dial a number and hear a weekly Sunday Mass at Our Lady and St Michael's parish
  • Monday Programme

    Facebook

    Normally Public, livestreamed  Mass  at 10am .



  • Tuesday Programme

    LIVE STREAMED 

    Normally Live streamed  Mass at  10am

    Fcebook  Evening Prayer at 5:00pm 



  • Thursday Programme

    LIVE STREAMED.

    Mass normally at 12noon, with

    exposition from 11am.

    Evening Prayer at 5.00pm on Facebook

  • Friday Programme

    Stations 12noon

     Mass normally at 10am.

    Evening Prayer on Facebook at 5pm.

  • Saturday Programme

    Public Mass  normally OLSM Church at 10am.

    Confessions 10.45am

    .


  • Sunday Programme


    Public Mass  Livstreaned from  OLSM Church at 8 am &10am.

    Evening Prayer on Facebook 5pm.



  • Bible Study Zoom Meetings

    Zoom Bible reflection meeting, Wednesday  at 5.30pm. Invite on Bulletin.


  • Wednesday Programme

    Mass at 10.30am in the Chapel in Llanarth.



Aid to the Church in Need - JULY

Gaza's only Catholic church - housing 600 displaced people - was hit during military operations yesterday (Thursday) morning with three people killed and 10 more injured.



Father Gabriel Romanelli, Parish Priest of the Holy Family Church, Gaza City, was among those hurt amid reports that a tank shell struck the building, damaging the roof and smashing windows.



Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, was among those who entered Gaza this morning (Friday) as part of a Christian delegation aimed at expressing solidarity with the Churches of the Holy Land and concern for the community of Gaza.



The Church leaders called for an immediate ceasefire, echoing calls from Pope Leo XIV who sent a message to say to he was "deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack" on the Holy Family Church.



In a week which also saw attacks on Taybeh, described as the only entirely Christian town in the West Bank, ACN is renewing its appeal for prayers for the people of the Holy Land and an end to the violence.



Read the full report here>>

ACN PRAYER

PRAYER FOR PEACE

In light of the recent shelling as well as the on-going devastation in the Holy Land we ask that at some point this weekend, you take a moment to pray for peace. Together, let’s ask God to help those who are affected by this war and guide those in positions of power to ensure that this conflict comes to an end.

Bible Discussion Group - Wednesday 15th October 2025

The group meets next on Wednesday 15th October at 5.30pm on Zoom.
Email Fr. Matthew for an invite.

POPES PRAYER NETWORK - JULY

The Right Way
Whether or not we’ve ever been scouts, we often feel like lost explorers in the forest of life: we know a path exists, but finding it isn’t always easy. That’s the message of The Pope’s Video for July: a girl walks through a forest, becomes lost, and needs to find her direction. She looks around, pauses, and begins walking again, this time guided by a compass and a map. She stops once more, opens the Gospel, and arrives at a cave with a statue of Our Lady. It is in prayer, in silence and attentive listening, that she discovers the right way forward.

In his prayer intention for this month, Pope Leo XIV invites us to pray for this very grace: “Let us pray that we may learn more and more to discern, to know how to choose the paths of life and to reject everything that distances us from Christ and the Gospel.” To discern is to recognize what to hold onto in our lives and what to release, what pulls us away from our journey toward Christ. Discernment means examining our thoughts and hearts, identifying what aligns with God’s plan and what stems from ourselves or the world. It calls for effort, self-awareness, and most of all, a relationship with the Lord through prayer, reflection, and openness to the Holy Spirit.

Today more than ever, we face endless options that can leave us feeling frozen, anxious, and stuck. Decisions seem daunting because choosing something means letting go of something else, and that can be stressful. Yet we must not fear making choices. It is precisely in deciding that we exercise the freedom God has given us, and it is only through that freedom that we move forward in life.

St. Augustine reminds us that the interior journey begins with self-knowledge, recognizing our weaknesses, and leads to knowing God and asking for His healing. St. Ignatius of Loyola also teaches that discernment involves noticing the inner movements of the heart: peace and joy when we are on the right path, confusion and sadness when we are not.

So let us go forward without fear. Let us ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to choose with freedom, trusting that every step toward Christ is a step toward true peace.

Andrea Sarubbi
Coordinator – The Pope’s Video

New - For Parish Council enquiries - click here

Please complete the Parish Survey - More Here


VIEW OUR NEW

VIRTUAL CHURCH TOUR


SVP CONFERANCE - OCTOBER

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY - We tackle poverty in all its forms by providing assistance to people in need. We are going to run our ‘Cash for Coins’ campaign during October and November: Donations of foreign and UK currency: coins and banknotes both current and obsolete can be left in labelled jar in the porch. Your continued help is always gratefully received. New members always welcome to join us. For further information on SVP visit: https://www.svp.org.uk contact: presidentg050512@svp.org.uk, or Fr Matthew.

ABORTION RECOVERY CARE & HELPLINE

Struggling after Abortion, you are not alone, give ius a call- ARCH, Abortion Recovery Care and Helpline.
0345 603 8501.
info@archtrust.org.uk

GUNTHER HOUSE - OCTOBER NEWS.

Now we've bought the land, we need to do something with it!

During the next two weeks, the site will be secured, the Japanese Knotweed will be treated, the greenery will be cut back and the fly tipping removed.

What then?!

We want your help to design a long-term plan for the garden.

There will be a meeting on Thursday 23 October at 18.00 at the Methodist Church Hall for anyone interested in getting involved in the gardening project where our landscape architects, Element Urbanism, will talk through the constraints of the land and the possibilities open to us. The meeting is for anyone who wants to find out a bit more with no obligation.

You might want to be hands-on with the gardening or just give some input into the design. You don't need to have volunteered with us before and you don't even need lots of gardening experience. Just bring lots of enthusiasm.

If you would like to come to the meeting and/or get involved in the garden project, please get in touch at info@plasguntermansion.org.uk. You will have the chance to work with professional landscape architects and help design our new outdoor space.

(Heads up - the office is going to be closed for a couple of weeks but let us know you're interested and we'll be in touch in due course.)




Thanks
Thanks to the funders which have made this project possible:
Local Places for Nature Programme which is funded by Welsh Government and managed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund
Abergavenny Town Council
Abergavenny Civic Society
Individual supporters

FRIENDS OF THE HOLY LAND - JULY UPDATE.

Last Thursday morning after ‘Giving Hope’ had gone to press, the Holy Family Church in Gaza was struck by the IDF, three of the parishioners were killed and 4 seriously wounded. The next day HB Cardinal Pizzaballa and HB Theophilos III made a pastoral visit to the communities in Gaza sheltering in the churches and brought with them three truckloads of aid, desperately needed as the last aid shipment had been 8th March. There has been much news around this incident and their visit which you can read here.



We remain steadfast in our commitment to the Christian community in Gaza, we ask you to pray for the safety of all and for an immediate halt to the barbarism of the war and for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.



I last visited Jerusalem and the West Bank in the first week of April. It was a deeply moving journey, witnessing not only the scale of suffering but also the quiet strength and resilience of the Christian communities we serve.



In my conversations with church leaders and our partner charities it was emphasised to me that the presence of Christians to moderate and help bring communities together is more important than ever, however, their institutions face great struggles as USAID and other international government funding is cut and multi-year projects cancelled.



Our mission is to secure a resilient and enduring Christian community in the Holy Land, a mission that is becoming increasingly more difficult. In the West Bank, economic devastation is now the norm.



But hope is not lost. Because of your great love and generosity we have been able to develop and expand our work over the last year to reach out directly to our brothers and sisters and help them through the challenges of daily life.



This issue of Giving Hope talks about some of our projects and the ways we are making a difference to the lives of individual Christians. Hear from some of the people we have helped and what Friends of the Holy Land support means to them.

Parish Latest Information - View More News Here

Latest Parish News

By fr.matthew April 3, 2025
Archbishops letter
By fr.matthew March 6, 2025
Reporst to be presented at the AGM ON 9th March 2025
By fr.matthew December 23, 2024
ARCHBISHOPS DECEMBER NEWSLETTER
By fr.matthew September 3, 2024
iNSPECTION REPORT FOR OUR LADY AND ST. MICHAEL'S School
By fr.matthew December 21, 2023
Letter from Archbishop Mark
By fr.matthew December 21, 2023
Documents on Blessing.
By fr.matthew August 4, 2023
FIRE MARSHALL HANDOUT
By fr.matthew June 8, 2023
Abergavenny Church History.
By fr.matthew April 29, 2023
Final Document of Synod's European Assembly
By Webmaster October 8, 2021
View a wonderful virtual tour of the Church here at Our Lady and St Michael
Show More
By fr.matthew April 3, 2025
Archbishops letter
By fr.matthew March 6, 2025
Reporst to be presented at the AGM ON 9th March 2025
By fr.matthew December 23, 2024
ARCHBISHOPS DECEMBER NEWSLETTER
By fr.matthew September 3, 2024
iNSPECTION REPORT FOR OUR LADY AND ST. MICHAEL'S School
By fr.matthew December 21, 2023
Letter from Archbishop Mark
By fr.matthew December 21, 2023
Documents on Blessing.
By fr.matthew August 4, 2023
FIRE MARSHALL HANDOUT
By fr.matthew June 8, 2023
Abergavenny Church History.
By fr.matthew April 29, 2023
Final Document of Synod's European Assembly
By Webmaster October 8, 2021
View a wonderful virtual tour of the Church here at Our Lady and St Michael
Show More

PARISH OFFICE & ADMINISTRATION

By fr.matthew August 4, 2023
FIRE MARSHALL HANDOUT
By Webmaster May 1, 2020
A big thank you to everyone who has completed a DBS application recently., and a reminder for those who are yet to complete one. The Parish really appreciates the time and effort this involves. Adults who volunteer with our children (e.g. children’s liturgy, catechesis) need a DBS certificate and there should always be two adults present with the children. There is no charge for registering and the certificate is transferrable fo other roles.

PARISH RESOURCE

By fr.matthew March 6, 2025
Reporst to be presented at the AGM ON 9th March 2025

UPCOMING PARISH EVENTS

By Webmaster May 13, 2020
EVENING PRAYER– Fr. Matthew is leading evening prayer every day at 5pm, using the Magnificat publication, which is now available for for free at www.magnificat.com/english broadcast on Facebook live at https://www.facebook.com/OurLadyandStMichaelChurch/
By Webmaster May 1, 2020
SVP – If any parishioners are in need of help, such as with lifts for hospital visits, shopping, coming to mass or more material needs, please contact Aidan on 01291 690148 or, alternatively, Robyn on 856414. Next meeting by Zoom Friday 8th May at 11am on Zoom. Invitation details - on Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89122652076?pwd=T3Q2NVJKbmFNa1VGdXdYY1VzUW0yZz09

All are welcome at our Parish

Please do make yourself know to the Parish Priest if you are new to the parish or just visiting
About Our Parish
Focus on Faith
By fr.matthew October 13, 2025
1st Holy Communion Form
By fr.matthew July 23, 2025
WALKING PILGRIMAGE - SATURDAY 30th AUGUST.
Show More

Vocations - Catholic Church

Are you feeling increasingly compelled to spend time with Jesus? Do you find that your time is spent seeking Him and all things connected with Him?

If you have questions and you need some help with the answers; then firstly pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to understand what it is Jesus wants from you. Then, if you would like to talk, contact our vocations department; we can give you some guidance on how to further discern God's calling.
More about Vocations

Vocations to the Priesthood

Read more here.

"Dare to dream big dreams..."

Pope Francis teaches us that the youth of today must not live in fear, but must strive to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship should be a foundation for our younger generation to "dare to dream big dreams" with confidence and without fear.