DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: “According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3).

SAINT OF THE WEEK: ST. BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS (1844-1879), 16th APRIL

— A photograph of Bernadette dated 1861/2.

She was born in 1844 to a destitute family in Lourdes, in France. On 11 February 1858 she went down to the river Gave with her sister and a friend, to look for firewood and bones. There she received the first of a series of visions of the Mother of God which led to Lourdes becoming a place of pilgrimage and healing. In 1866 she became a nun at Nevers, where she died on 16 April 1879.

It is a rule of the Church that saints are to be celebrated for what they are and what they do – to serve as examples of heroic virtue for us all – and not merely for what happens to them. There is no way that we can all go off and have visions of Our Lady, and the world would be a madhouse if we tried. So what of Bernadette? What heroic virtue has she that we should imitate? There are two: suffering, and humility.

Bernadette was seriously ill with asthma all her life and she died young; but she never let illness be an excuse for anything – how many times do we, feeling a little unwell, use that as an excuse for being bad-tempered or simply not doing what we ought?

To move away from Bernadette for a moment: imagine that you are a poor working-class boy with little education who happens to be good at kicking a ball about. Within a few years you find yourself earning more, annually, than your father earned in his entire lifetime. You receive attention, adulation, status – all that you could possibly desire. People emulate you. They hang on your every word. How would you feel? How would you act?

Next, imagine that you are a poor girl – not even working-class, because your father hardly ever has any work – poor in a way that we can hardly conceive of – unintelligent and uneducated, and suddenly something happens to you. Overnight you are famous. People come in crowds to see you (sometimes the police have to control them). Everyone treats you with respect and admiration. They hang on your every word and ask you, over and over, questions about even the tiniest detail of your experience. They press coins into your family’s hands. You shut yourself up in a convent far from home, but even there you are constantly visited by bishops and other eminent persons who just want a quick look at you.

Wouldn’t that turn your head? Just a little? Wouldn’t you think that there must be something about you that made you worth seeing? However tiny that something was?

Here is Bernadette’s response, in conversation with one of the nuns:

“What do you do with a broom?”

“Why, sweep with it, of course.”

“And then?”

“Put it back in its place.”

“Yes. And so for me. Our Lady used me. They have put me in my corner. I am happy there, and stay there.”

Saint Bernadette Soubirous is patron saint of the sick, and rightly so. But if there is to be a patron saint of celebrities and footballers, Bernadette would be a wise choice for that task too.

(Note: St Bernadette’s feast is celebrated on 16 April by most of the world but on 18 February in France. Some people called “Bernadette” celebrate their name-day on 11 February, which is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the date of the first vision).

from Universalis

UPDATE ON PARISH SHRINE TO SS. CARLO, FRANCIS & CLARE: With the help of an architect in the parish, we have now settled on the exact size of the three icons for the triptych which will form the central feature of the shrine. This will enable the iconographer to begin work once the wood required has been supplied from the source he uses in Serbia. We are now working on determining the accessories that will be needed for the shrine, e.g. specialised glass coverings for the icons (non-reflective, UV-proof, etc.), lighting, the display for the first class relic of St. Carlo, kneelers, etc..). A list of these, together with an overall description of the project as well as some initial attempt at costing, has been submitted to the Diocese for approval. This is required for two reasons: first, any expenditure over £10k must receive diocesan approval; second, Bishop Frank has taken a personal interest in this project and so is pleased to be updated on its progress. With St. Carlo’s help, then, things are now beginning to take shape, but again it will be next Spring before we see the work completed and the shrine dedicated and blessed by the Bishop.

Mgr. Peter Magee, PP, 21st March 2026.

BISHOPS OF SCOTLAND OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND EVANGELISATION: Our Bishops have recently launched this new office to support our common efforts in proclaiming the Gospel and witnessing to the life of the Church in our nation. It is one of the most encouraging initiatives to date coming from the Bishops’ Conference. As part of this mission, Being Catholic TV will now serve as the official digital platform of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland. It will provide video content, livestreamed events, features from around the country, and faith formation resources to assist our parish communities in their work of evangelisation and outreach. To access these resources, visit beingcatholic.org or sign-up to the BCTV social channels.

We are invited to share our parish good news stories by sending them to media@bcos.org.uk We are also invited to consider how digital media can further our own local evangelisation efforts. Parishioners are encouraged to engage with Being Catholic TV and the resources it provides.

PASTORAL LETTER OF BISHOP FRANK DOUGAN ON THE UNSUSTAINABILITY OF PARISH STRUCTURES IN THE DIOCESE OF GALLOWAY: PASTORAL LETTER FEBRUARY 2026

RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS (RCIA) FOR ST. MARY’S, LARGS, AND OUR LADY’S, MILLPORT:

Information page for the 2026-2027 program: https://www.rclargsandmillport.com/rite-of-christian-initiation-of-adults/

Form if you want to sign up for the RCIA course and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church: SIGN UP FORM

Form if you want to volunteer to assist in the RCIA programme for 2026-2027: VOLUNTEERS FORM

RELIC OF SAINT CARLO ACUTIS: For information and photos, please click on this link: https://www.rclargsandmillport.com/2024/08/21/relic-of-blessed-carlo-acutis/

PHOTO GALLERY, ST MARY’S PARISH FESTIVAL 2024: St Mary’s Festival Photos

PHOTO GALLERY, ST MARY’S GARDEN 2024: St Mary’s Flower Garden

PHOTO GALLERY, ASSISI PILGRIMAGE OF FEBRUARY 2024: Assisi Pilgrimage 2024

OUR LADY’S PARISH CENSUS: If you are a Catholic who lives within the boundaries of Our Lady’s Parish (Millport), please consider filling out a Census form. Hard copies of the form are available in Our Lady’s church porch. Alternatively, you can fill in one on line by using the following link: https://forms.gle

ST. MARY’S PARISH CENSUS: If you are a Catholic who lives within the boundaries of St. Mary’s Parish (Largs, Fairlie and Skelmorlie), please consider filling out a Census form. Hard copies of the form are available in St. Mary’s church porch. Alternatively, you can fill in one on line by using the following link: https://forms.gle/bViFEJBgCRVjuYnE8

SCOTTISH CATHOLIC SAFEGUARDING STANDARDS AGENCY (SCSSA): The official website of the new Agency can be found at: https://www.scsafeguarding.org.uk/SCSSA

“IN GOD’S IMAGE”, version 2: The Safeguarding Instruction of the Bishops of Scotland. https://www.rclargsandmillport.com/2021/08/28/in-gods-image-version-2-safeguarding-instruction-of-the-bishops-of-scotland/

DIOCESAN WEB-PAGE & FACEBOOK PAGE ON THE SYNOD: https://gallowaydiocese.org.uk/synod https://fb.me/gallowaysynod

VATICAN NEWS: Keep up to date with all news from the Vatican in English at: https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html

LITURGY

– SUNDAYS:

LARGS (live-streamed): Saturday Vigil, 6pm & Sunday 10am; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (with exception of 2nd Thursdays) and Friday: Mass at 10am. Wednesday: Mass at 8am.

MILLPORT (live-streamed): 12.15pm, Sunday; 10am on 2nd Thursdays.

LIVESTREAM LINKS:

– HOLIDAYS OF OBLIGATION:

LARGS: Vigil Mass at 7pm; 10am Mass on the Day

MILLPORT: 12.15pm Mass on the Day

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RC Largs and Millport @rclargsmillport ·

15 Apr

In this is judgment, that although the Light has come into the world, men have shown that they prefer the darkness because their deeds are evil. All who do the truth come into the Light so that it may be seen that what they do is done in God.

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RC Largs and Millport @rclargsmillport ·

14 Apr

Through Baptism, God places us into the whole Christ in His threefold exaltation: the Cross, the Resurrection and the Ascension. Our entire lives are immersed in Him and, through Him, in one another, in the Trinity and in the cosmos.

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Bishop Robert Barron @bishopbarron ·

13 Apr

The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful. They don’t contribute at all to a constructive conversation. It is the Pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the

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RC Largs and Millport @rclargsmillport ·

13 Apr

On the first day of his African trip, Pope Leo said it loud and clear: “The true struggle for liberation will be definitively won only when peace in our hearts has finally been achieved.” The driving power of world peace, then, is the Sacrament of Reconciliation!

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DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: “According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3).

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