Parish Contact telephone No. 01453 762442.

Web Master.  Des 01453764491.

(Des would welcome your comments and any difficulties you may have going through the pages)

       The list on the left will take you to the pages of interest on our site.

Depending on the speed of your computer and your internet connection some  picture pages may be slow to load, please be patient.

The Church of The Immaculate Conception, serving the Catholic Community of the Stroud Valleys in Gloucestershire England.

St Francis' Prayer, before the Crucifix.' Most High glorious God,enlighten the darkness of my heart.  Give me right faith, sure hope and perfect charity.  Fill me with understanding and knowledge that I may fulfill your command.  Amen. '

   In 2007 we celebrated our 150th Anniversary.

Stroud, a small town of some 18,000 population but covering many small hamlets in the surrounding area.

We have one Parish priest, The Rev Father David Ryan, and one Deacon, the Rev Steve Bentley, to carry out the many obligations of the practice of our faith.

Our Church was built  in 1854, just as the Dogma  of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed.

We have many small Chapels, and Churches in the area together with  a Monastery ( Prinknash Abbey)

The Convent of the Sisters of Grace and Compassion,  More Hall for the care of the elderly.

Convent of the Poor Clares at Woodchester

Monastery of Our Lady & St Bernard. at Brownshill

We offer a warm welcome to all our visitors to the Parish, to join us in welcoming the glory of Jesus Christ in worship.

                      Deacon Steve and Father David

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         Father David Ryan our Parish Priest.

We wish all our visitors the happiness and peace that the Resurection of Jesus Christ gives to all mankind.

Chapel of The Poor Clares Woodchester.                                                                                  

This website now registers, not only the number of visitors, but also identifies the geographical source of the visitor.  As of Oct. 24th 2008 the number of visitors was  4421

The geographical location of overseas visitors are listed as follows, Australia, India, Mexico, Canada, Slovack Republic, Brazil, U.S.A, Norway, with 27 results which could not be evaluated, ie their ISP prefix was not recognised by our international system.

                         Pauline Year Indulgence. *

Cardinal Stafford (Head of the Vatican Tribunal  that deals with Indulgences and other matters relating to the Sacrament of Penance) said 'conditions for the special Pauline year indulgence include the normal reqirement set by the Church for all plenary indulgences : that the person goes to Confession, receives the Eucharist and prays for the intentions of the Pope '.  The Catholic faithful in any local Church can obtain the indulgence by participating with devotion in a liturgy or other public event dedicated to Saint Paul. 

 *An indulgence is a remission of temporal punishment a person is due for sins that have been forgiven.  

       Snippets from the Vatican and the Catholic press. 

The long awaited new English translation of the Missal has taken a further step forward with approval of the Vatican.  It is reported that the translation of the 'penitential rite, Gloria,Creed,Eucharistic prayers,and other prayers and responses used in daily Mass have been agreed. An example is given when the Priest says  "The Lord be with you" (Dominus vobiscum)  the congregation will respond with "And with your spirit", (Et cum spiritu tuo) the opening of the Nicene Creed changes from "We believe....to "I believe.... other changes have also been made.  The Sanctus will start "Holy,Holy,Holy,Lord God of hosts".   There is still some way to go before everyone makes up their minds, but at least we can start saving up to buy the 'new'Missal.  An optimistic Bishop is reported as saying  'at least two more years' to give musicians time to prepare and the necessary catchesis time to explain  the reasons for the revisions to be explained to parishioners.

A year ago this week, the Apostolic Letter 'Summorum Pontificum' ( Motu Proprio). In the life of the Church a year is indeed a very short time, but it is seen by many to have had a very significant effect upon the life of the Church.  The liberation of the traditional Mass (Latin)  has been welcomed  and is celebrated in many English Parishes.  ( Priests are no longer required to have the permission of the Bishop to celebrate the traditinal Mass)

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