St Ninian's & St Clement's, Catholic Churches Together
Saturday 15th June was a very special day for 12 boys and girls from St Ninian’s Primary School who received their First Communion in St Ninian’s Church, Menzieshill. The lovely Mass was celebrated by Fr. Johney and families and staff joined them for their happy holy day. Prayers and best wishes to them all.
Below, is a video of the children singing and signing their special hymn, ‘Come to the Table of Mercy’.
On Wednesday 7th December, we were joined by parishioners from Auchterhouse, Fowlis, Liff, Lundie and Muirhead Churches and St John’s Cross Church, Dundee for a beautiful ecumenical Advent Service, organised and devised by Maureen Ruddy.
Fr Johney was supported in this prayerful service by Rev. Donna Hays and Rev. Grant MacLaughlin. The service comprised of prayers, readings, reflections, hymns and a candle lit procession which was particularly lovely.
We send a heartfelt thanks to Maureen for making this special event happen and thank you also to Angela, our organist and Colette, our Cantor for the wonderful music.
As one of the parishioners commented, “It was a beautiful uplifting service -so lovely to have the involvement of the other churches.”
View the slideshow below, to get a flavour of the evening…..
After the service? A chance to chat and make new acquaintances over a cuppa and mincemeat pie.
This past weekend, as part of the Season of Creation, an “International Harvest Festival” was held during both Masses at St Ninian’s .
Parishioners were encouraged to come dressed in their traditional attire or in bright clothing and many did! They were also asked to bring gifts of fruit and their response was amazing! Both Masses were a real celebration of the fruits of the harvest.
After the Offertory procession and handing over the gifts of fruit to Fr Johney, the children sang their own harvest song.
The fruits of parishioners’ labours were gratefully received by four groups in our community. Their generous gifts of all kinds of fruits were distributed to our local primary schools, St Ninian’s and Tayview. Both schools expressed their appreciation and said the children would enjoy the healthy snacks of apples, oranges and bananas.
The elderly residents of Menzieshill house also appreciated the produce, with staff commenting it was a real treat to get healthy food donated.
The final recipients of their generosity were clients of the Salvation Army hostel in Ward Road. The chef there was delighted to get the plethora of pears and other vegetables and fruits, which he planned to turn into tasty dishes for the residents.
So, well done St Ninian’s parishioners, you are definitely the pick of the bunch!
It’s hard to tell whether summer is on its way out or on its way back in! We must be grateful for this lovely sunshine at the beginning of September. The Mary Garden is definitely changing, less prolific flowering but nevertheless plenty to see. This week we saw the return of “Jim Ruddy’s Asters” which were one of the first perennials we planted – now blooming for the third year.
The Cosmos (always a joy) are keeping the bees happy and the brambles (which give us such a job because their roots are so invasive in every spare space!) can definitely be forgiven as they are now providing food for the birds – and a few happy gardeners 😉
It’s been some time since we’ve shared news about what’s happening at CC’s and in the garden. There’s always something going on every Thursday! Here’s a flavour……
The Garden
This Thursday was a beautiful Autumn day which was ideal for bulb and wild seed planting. Once again, Allison, the Community Champion from Tesco Riverside came up trumps with bulbs for us! She is a real champion! Liz and Louise didn’t waste any time in getting them in the ground.
Meanwhile, Jim and the 2 Brians worked at tidying the area at the side of the house where Storm Arwin had reeked havoc and felled a tree. This area next Spring will hopefully be full of wild flowers and a haven for bees, butterflies and other pollinators as a result of their hard work.
CC’s (our Community Cafe)
Our lunchtime customers were offered the choice of Leek and Potato or Courgette and Minted Pea soup. For ‘seconds’, a toastie or a cheese scone? Decisions, decisions….
After the food and a chat, there was an unexpected bonus when John, a new visitor to the cafe demonstrated an enjoyable gentle form of exercise.
