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Summer Edition 2025
International Catholic Chaplaincy, Bonn
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Pilgrimage from all churches in Bad Godesberg to the city of Trier
on Saturday 24 May 2025 from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm.
Thursday, 29th May – Ascension Day – Mass at 7:00 pm in the church
Sunday, 8th June – Pentecost Sunday – Mass at 9:30 am followed by parish picnic on the church grounds
Thursday – 19th June – Corpus Christi – no Mass in our Church (Heilig Kreuz)
CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION – open air mass at Panorama Platz – followed by RHEINVIERTELFEST at Sankt Evergislus church
Sunday, 29th June – First Communion Mass in our church
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ON PENTECOST SUNDAY, June 8th – annual PARISH PICNIC
after Sunday Mass –
Set up starts from 8:30 am on Sunday morning
Set up of the tents and tables on Saturday evening from 6pm
Pentecost celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, ushering in the beginning of the Church. On the day of Pentecost, a flame rested upon the heads of the apostles and by the power of the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in tongues.
Again this year, we plan to celebrate this feast at STM by asking Parishioners to read in their mother tongue, the first and second readings, the psalm of the day and prayers of the faithful. The English translation will be in the bulletin for all to read
If you are interested in volunteering, could you please contact Dariusz Kucz, who will be coordinating this activity. He can be contacted after Mass.
A picture says more than a thousand words: In addition to celebrating the international aspect of our community with readings in various languages, we invite you to wear your national dress (if you have one) to the Pentecost Mass, or perhaps you can dress in the colours of your country’s flag.
After Mass we want to continue the celebration with food and fellowship.
We therefore invite you all to join us for our annual parish picnic after our Pentecost Mass.
We invite everyone to contribute to the food table with some typical finger food from their home countries: e.g. spring rolls, samosas, muffins or cookies, puff puff, desserts, meat, noodle or rice-dishes, cakes, salads, breads, whatever you would like to share with all of us will be great.
Everything is appreciated
Drinks, as always, will be provided by the parish.
It would be nice to have a wide variety of different snacks.
We hope that many of our parishioners can join us for this special Mass in the Spirit of Pentecost and also make time to stay for the community celebration afterwards.
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Message from the German Rheinviertel Community:
CORPUS CHRISTI – OPEN AIR MASS AT PANORAMA PLATZ – RHEINVIERTELFEST
Let us all come together to celebrate at this year’s Rheinviertelfest!
On the 19th of June 2025, being Thursday, the church will celebrate the solemnity of Corpus Christi. This is a demonstration of our belief in the presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist. The consecrated host referred to as the Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession after Mass along the Rhine in a monstrance.
It is a spectacular act of devotion for all Catholics.
May we invite all the members of your community to be part of this pious ceremony here in Bonn at Panoramaplatz an der Bastei (Dollendorfer Fähre, Rheinallee) at 10.00 am where Holy Mass will be celebrated.
After Mass we all will process to St. Evergislus Church, where again this year there will be a church fête. This means that in addition to the usual food there will be music and activities.
We will have drinks and food such as chips and fried sausages as well as a cake buffet and popcorn. Also, there will be a bouncy castle, games, and a fun children’s programme!
The food and drinks will be provided by the parish, but anyone who would like to bring a contribution for the cake table is warmly invited to do so.
This is a wonderful opportunity to come together, make new friends, and get to know each other a little better.
We hope that many of you will be able to find the time to join in this celebration.
With kind regards, Gemeindeausschuss Rheinviertel
If you want to make a contribution for the cake buffet or are willing to help out at the cafeteria during the church fête, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thank You
A truly heartfelt THANK YOU for your generous donations.
The Frauenhaus Maria Königin set out to gather about 100 individual gift boxes for the homeless women of Bonn this Christmas.
We are delighted to share that our community at St Thomas More has contributed significantly to this, with a total of 35 boxes donated this week.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to everyone who generously gave to this charitable call.
Wishing you all a very happy third Advent.
“We would like to thank all donors for their great commitment to women and children in emergency situations. Wishing you all a happy advent and Christmas. ”
Frauenhaus Maria Königin
Women’s Shelter (Frauenhaus) Bonn
Christmas at Haus Maria Königin:
At Haus Maria Königin in Bonn, 120 women, some with their children, are currently receiving socio-educational care in different care concepts with the aim of resuming an independent living situation and participation in social life without outside help.
In addition to full inpatient care for 60 women and children in accordance with § 67-69 SGB XII, 50 women and children receive outpatient care in their own homes.
All sorts of women come to us from all different backgrounds: refugees, ex-prisoners, pregnant women, mothers with children, mentally ill women, women with addiction problems,…
All those affected have one thing in common: they have no place to live.
Until a few years ago, they were people without work or perspective.
These days more and more women who are employed are coming to us who can no longer find a home and are reaching their existential limits.
Unfortunately, the places available in the house have long since ceased to be able to offer all the help that is needed.
As a provider of assistance for the homeless we now rent external accommodation to give at least some women and children a bit of normality again.
Every day, despite all our best efforts, we receive new calls for help from women with children who we cannot accommodate due to lack of space.
The number of requests has increased significantly since the coronavirus era.
This year, we will continue to need donations and try to make Christmas a wonderful time for all those in our care and especially for the children.
Your parcels make a significant contribution.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your solidarity with homeless women and children in Bonn and we are already looking forward to handing over the lovingly wrapped parcels.
Bonn, 3.12.2024
E. Bergmann
Einrichtungsleitung Haus Maria Königin
Choir / Music
Children’s Advent Mass on 22nd December
This special Mass will be our first children’s Mass at St Thomas More. We are delighted that so many of the children and young adults of our community will be here and have signed up to participate.
The children will lead the readings, prayers of the faithful, gifts and collection. They will also treat us to some beautiful songs! Practice with the children will continue after Mass today and next Sunday, 15th December.
We hope that you can join us for this special celebration. You are also invited to the rectory for some snacks after Mass on the 22nd December.
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Unlike other ways of getting involved in the community, this is a ministry that requires specific skills in order to be able to take part. Since the group is small, each individual singer needs to be able to hold a tune while singing in parts. In order to keep up with the pace of 3-4 “new” songs most weeks and because of the way the choir works, you do need to have a basic understanding of music theory and be able to read sheet music.
Time commitment
Choir practice is every Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. plus a short run-through before Mass (which usually means 9.00 a.m. on Sunday).
However, there are many choir members who are not in Bonn every week/weekend, so that what the commitment boils down to is attending the Friday practice if you are going to sing at the following Mass on Sunday.
It is not necessary to be available to sing at every Mass in order to join the choir.
If you are interested in joining the choir – either as a singer or as a musician – please contact either our choir leader Markus or our parish secretary Martina.
Social Team
For a long time now, STM has not had a permanent social team, although we are fortunate to have two individuals who we can call on to prepare social events and we usually manage to find helpers to clear up afterwards. We would, however, like to establish a permanent social team again if possible.
The main events that we have each year are:
Easter agape, 1st Communion, summer picnic, welcome back reception, advent party.
Time commitment:
The time commitment is fairly flexible, but it is more practical for someone who lives nearby or at least in Bonn to help out with these tasks.
Coffee after Mass:
In addition to the “big” events throughout the year, on most Sundays we also invite people to stay after Mass for coffee etc. in the parish meeting room. This is a self-service activity and we ask everyone taking part to contribute to the preparations and to clearing up afterwards and making sure that the room is ready for weekday Mass.
Please contact Martina, our parish secretary, if you would like to become part of the social team.
Lectors
To serve as a regular lector you must be a practising Catholic who meets certain requirements (please ask for further information). The coordinator for this ministry is Eugénie. Training sessions are organised at intervals. Lectors should aim to arrive at church at least 15 minutes before Mass starts in order to have time to prepare: make sure the lector’s book and prayers of the faithful are in place and that the microphone is switched on and working. Right now we have quite a large group of lectors made of 15 people, therefore, each lector gets scheduled to read about twice every quarter
Ushers
This ministry is open to everyone, whether individuals or family groups. It is a very good way to take the first steps in serving your community. Currently there is no formal coordination – perhaps someone would like to take on this task (organising the schedule, showing new ushers the ropes, making sure that everything is prepared and cleared away).
Time commitment – arrive early / stay for a while after Mass
The church is open 30 minutes before the service starts, at the latest (9.00 a.m. on Sundays, usually 6.30 p.m. on Holy Days of Obligation).
Duties
Before people start arriving the ushers make sure that everything is in place: trolleys with Gather books as well as the box with children’s books on both sides at the back of the church, welcome sign and holy water in the entrance. As people arrive they greet them and hand out the books and bulletins; if someone is new, they should show them where to find the prayers and readings in the Gather book and our bulletin, offer a registration form and answer any questions the newcomers might have. During the service they stay by the trolleys to help latecomers; the Ushers pass the collection baskets and take the collection to the front; they coordinate the procession of people to the altar for Communion. Before the offertory Mass participants are to be counted, including priest and altar servers. The total is to be filled in on the participation sheet in the blue folder on the trolley and then put into the collection basket. After the service the ushers collect all books (Gather books and children’s books) put away the trolleys, welcome sign, check for cushions in the church etc.
Please contact Martina, our parish secretary, if you would like to volunteer for this service
Altar Server
This ministry is open to all children and youth who have made their First Communion. Training is provided by our priests, Father Gregory and Father Stephen. There is no schedule; everyone who is part of this ministry is invited to serve. It is important to arrive at least 15 minutes before Mass starts (or earlier in the case of special services) in order to get ready and receive any instructions that may be necessary. Parents can help by making sure that their children find the right size gown – touching the ground without the cord – and the right color cinture: the priest’s vestments are a helpful indicator if anyone is unsure!”