You will not be surprised to learn that due to the pandemic, the Feast Day Mass at the Shrine on Saturday 12th December 2020 is going to look very different this year.
We had planned to ask our new Bishop, Rev David Oakley, to be our Principal Celebrant, but when it became clear that it would be a lower key event than usual and that we would not be able to offer him hospitality afterwards, we asked if we could defer his visit for a year, which he has kindly agreed to do.
We still wanted to mark the date as well as possible in the circumstances, and we will therefore celebrate this year’s Feast Day in the context of the normal Saturday morning Mass at 10.45 am. Canon Seamus Keenan, Rector of the Shrine, will be the celebrant, the Relic Image will have pride of place as always at the front of the church, and there will be the usual roses surrounding Our Lady! Sadly, it looks as if we will not be able to sing and we will not be able to meet together at the usual reception at nearby St Frances Cabrini church.
We envisage that it will be mostly people from within the Northampton Diocese who will attend and therefore we have not sent out our usual invitations nationally. To ensure we can meet the current regulations, Canon Seamus has set a limit of 100 people in the congregation, and all attendees need to book by contacting Guest Co-ordinator Barbara Kay on 01234 340759 or mbky3@outlook.com by 30 November.
Shrine of the Relic Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe 