Today Fr Jim felt very much at home when we welcomed a group of Pilgrims from all over London! (to a sunny and warm welcome) The group are on a 3 day trip to Cyprus and were accompanied by Fr. Ari, they also visited the Holy land prior to arriving with us. As is our custom we told them about the site and our work with the Hospice and were astonished when €380 was collected to go towards “opening the doors”
Our thanks returns home with the group.
St.Catherine’s Catholic Church, LimassolWe would like to inform you all that the first venture of the vocational team was a success. First and foremost we raised our hearts to God for His wonderful blessings to all of us and we prayed to Him to bless us always. We thank Fr. Andrew Verdote for organizing the retreat with the collaboration of parents and with the participation of sisters. Well done Fr. Andrew!
The Theme of the retreat was “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” We had participants and priests from all the Parishes to strengthen our unity, that was something beautiful and enriching to all..
We thank the Franciscan sisters in Limassol for giving us the School at our disposal.
We started the retreat at 10.00 am with the Registration, 10.30 am with a warm welcome and an inspirational prayer by Fr. Andrew Verdote . Then the children and parents were led to the theater where they had to find the hidden theme of the day it was great fun to see the movements of all even though still they could not find one…
Rev. Fr. Vito continued with his inspirational message to parents and children & Mr.Benito Mandavani spoke to the Greek speaking participants.
Then the children were divided into groups according to their age, 3 to 5 were given to Lavina D’sa and Jaida Gustaham, 6 to 9 with Sr.Antonia and Alan D’sa. 10 to 13 with Sr. Roly, 14 to 16 with Fr. Miguel. The parents were guided by Fr. Vito, Fr. Zaccheus and Fr. Andrew Verdote
The children did coloring and the older ones were asked to explain the pictures and to personalize the theme. We could see that the children were very happy and were encouraged to participate .The time passed so fast, that they had to stop and had some time to play.
The parents’ skill and knowledge of the Bible were tested with a Bible quiz. It was fun and a learning experience for them. Then came lunchtime, it was a great pleasure to see the bond of love and the joy of sharing.
The children were led to the yard for a game of Pyniada. Then we all went to the theater to watch the movie about the prophet Jeremiah, the parents enjoyed watching it but the children found it a bit difficult to understand.
Later we had a short break and then all were taken to the Chapel to have a half hour of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Center of our lives. The children with the priests and Sr. Roly of the different parishes came forward to offer their prayers before the Blessed Sacrament and parents had their prayers too. We concluded the Family and children’s retreat at 4pm.
We would like to say that it was a great occasion for the different communities to bring them together as one family. God bless each and everyone for their generous help for making this day meaningful to all the parents and children.
Sr. Roly – Limassol 10/11/2012
Today, the Church continued it’s tour of Europe (without having to leave Paphos) we welcomed a group of Pilgrims from all over Poland. Mass was delivered by Fr. Zbigniew Swed OFM conc. from the Franciscan house of Warsaw.
Fr Zbigniew presented Fr, Jim with €50 prior to mass from the Group. however following a talk on our work in the Parish the parishioners insisted on adding to the collection and the sum of €123 was presented for the Hospice. It is acts of generosity like this that brings us closer to our goal! Thankyou.
Today, on a rather wet and stormy day in Paphos, we welcomed two pilgrim groups, the first from Bavaria (Franken and Neuremburg) were accompanied by Fr. Goller, the second from Ulm accompanied by Fr. George. The inclement weather did not hamper the Group’s enthusiasm for our Hospice project and they kindly donated €322 to go towards our opening.
This month we will raise over €1,000 from Pilgrims such as these. Whilst every donation is valued, no matter how small, it is really meaningful that visitors to our Island, who are with us for just a few days, not only support us financially, but we will be remembered in their prayers when they return home!
Today we welcomed Fr Klinger and parishioners from Offenburg, Germany (near the French border) who following mass and a presentation on the Hospice, donated €207 for the opening of the Facility.
The picture was hurredly taken as the group were on a very tight schedule, we wish them an enjoyable stany in Cyprus and leave with our grateful thanks.