• SACRAMENT  OF  RECONCILIATION.

Confession times:  Saturdays at 5.30 p.m. at Woodbridge and - on request - after weekday Masses.

• THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED.   

Anniversaries of deaths which are recorded in the parish's Register of Death (from 1997 to present) can be found on the calendar page of this website:  HERE

• SPUC’s White Flower Appeal.

SPUC is dedicated to protecting unborn children and promoting the right to life in society. The donations we receive allows SPUC to continue our tireless work to build a culture of life. We work to educate youth, lobby politicians, mobilise pro-life activities in the community, provide support to students facing crisis pregnancies and much more.  This year’s appeal postcards allow supporters to join the fightback campaign against the current threats in Parliament to expand abortion and to allow assisted suicide.  Your support means everything to us.  Please be as generous as you can to help SPUC at this critical time for our country.  www.spuc.org.uk   Second collections to support the work of SPUC will be taken after parish Masses, weekend of 7th and 8th February.

• BRASS CLEANING.

If your are able to help with the brass cleaning at Saint Thomas’s Church please join us after the morning Mass on Friday, 13th February, writes Jean Wallace.

Framlingham Churches Together  invites you to a Soup and Pud lunch on Saturday, 14th February, from 12 to 2 p.m. at the United Free Church Hall in Framlingham.  There will be a Fairtrade stall and raffle, and all donations will go to Christian Aid,   writes Claire Robinson.

• Saint Thomas' Ladies’ Group.

We shall be holding a Mardi Gras lunch at “The Cherry Tree” public house, Woodbridge, on Tuesday, 17th February, at 12.30 p.m.  Should anyone wish to join us, please leave a message, addressed to Jean Taylor, with your name and telephone number in the letter-rack at the church by 10th February, or see me at church.  Coffee and chat as usual on Tuesday, February 10th, from 10.15 a.m. onwards at Saint Thomas’s Church.  All are welcome, writes Jean Taylor.

• ASH WEDNESDAY.    Fasting & Abstinence.

Wednesday, 18th February.  Masses: 09.30 a.m. at Woodbridge;  12.00 p.m. at Framlingham.

• LENT is the Church’s traditional season of renewal and repentance in Christ. 
• Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting and abstinence. 

Fasting means that the amount of food we eat on these days is considerably reduced.  Abstinence means that we give up a particular kind of food or drink or amusement on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday.  

Catholics over the age of eighteen are bound by the Church’s law of fasting until the beginning of their sixtieth year, while all members of the Church over the age of fourteen are bound by the law of abstinence.  Priests and parents are urged to foster the spirit and practice of penance among those too young to be the subjects of the Church’s laws of fasting and abstinence.

• THE  eucharistic  fast. 

Since November 1964 the Eucharistic fast has been reduced to one hour.  This means that food and drink may always be taken up to one hour before the time of receiving Holy Communion.  Water does not break the fast and so may be taken at any time before receiving Holy Communion. 

The Canon Law of the Catholic Church  indicates that no period of fasting, before receiving Holy Communion, is required for those who are sick (Canon 919.3).  Members of the Church who are looking after the sick, and wishing to receive Holy Communion with them, whenever they are unable to observe the fast without incon-venience may receive Holy Communion.

• AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED.

Lenten Alms will be collected – throughout Lent – for Aid to the Church in Need’s Lebanon and Syria appeal.    

LINK:  ACNUK

• CAFOD's  Lent  Fast  Day.   Friday, 27th February.

This Lent, live the Gospel call to love your neighbour. By fasting and giving what you save, you can help another family put food on the table. Your donation to CAFOD can help families around the world grow food in challenging conditions.  Collect a CAFOD envelope or donate online at cafod.org.uk/envelope or call 0303 303 3030. Text CAFODLENT to 70085 to donate £10  writes Jane Crone.

Vivienne Taylor writes: A World Day of Prayer service prepared by the women of Nigeria will be held at Saint Michael’s Anglican Church, Framlingham, on Friday 6th March at 11.00 a.m.  The service will be followed by a Lent Lunch in aid of CAFOD and Christian Aid, at The Castle Community Rooms, next to the church. Please join us.  All are welcome.

• PILGRIM  CROSS  2026.  Claire Robinson writes:

On Monday, 30th March, Framlingham will again host a group of around twenty-five pilgrims, of mixed Christian affiliations, carrying a heavy wooden cross on their 120-mile Holy Week pilgrimage from Colchester to Walsingham. Kind hosts are sought to meet them at the United Free Church in central Framlingham on arrival (usually around 5 p.m.), take them home for dinner and a bath or shower, and return them to the United Free Church where they will sleep on the floor!  Could this be you?  If anyone is able to offer to look after more than one pilgrim this also works well.  We are also looking for helpers to cook and serve a hearty breakfast on Tuesday, 31st March, (7 to 9 a.m.) at the United Free Church before joining the pilgrims in a short service and then seeing them on their way.  Hosts and helpers are always very welcome to join in the worship (prayers, readings, singing) that forms part of the pilgrims’ visit. If you are able to help, please contact Claire Robinson:  ip13claire@gmail.com

Please pray for the sick and those in need; for all the residents in senior-living facilities within the parish and those who care for them; for the happy repose of the souls of the Faithful Departed; for those who have died recently and for those whose anniversaries fall at this time;  for peace in the world; and for vocations to the priesthood, to the diaconate, and to the religious orders of the Church.