Darkness into Light – the Beginning of Advent

The parish celebrated the first Sunday of Advent in a number of ways over the weekend of 29th/30th November 2025.

At the 5.30pm Vigil Mass on Saturday, singing was led jointly by the OLSD choir and the ecumenical Mosaic Arts choir (members from many Christian churches in Cove including OLSD) with the theme ‘Darkness into Light’.  The Mass started in near darkness and was a beautiful  beginning to Advent. A big thank you to Mosaic Arts for singing with us and making our first Mass of Advent so special. 

Saturday also saw the start of our Novena to the Immaculate Conception (29th November to 7th December).  A novena is a traditional Catholic devotion consisting of non consecutive days of prayer, often for a specific intention or in preparation for a feast.  It reflects the early Church practice of praying for nine days, inspired by the Apostles and Mary who prayed together for nine days between the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost (Acts 1:14). 

All weekend Masses included the lighting of the first candle on our Advent wreath.  The children also brought their own Advent wreath to the altar after Children’s Liturgy on Sunday morning.  

During the 10.30am Sunday Mass we were privileged to witness a public commitment to faith during the Rite of Welcome for our two catechumens (Keely and Owen) and six candidates (Dan, Carla, Luca, Elliot, Mathew and Michael).  This is the first important step in their journey of faith and is part of the RCIA process.