Our Lady of Mercy

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.

Philippians 1:3-5

The first responsibility for each parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy is to pray for the parish, for their fellow parishioners and for the City of Sunderland. Everything we do as individuals and as a parish needs to begin with prayer, be sustained by prayer and brought to completion with prayer.

In prayer we raise our hearts and minds to God and place before him the wellbeing of our parish, all that we are and all that we do. Every ministry our parish engages in is built upon a foundation of prayer and we all share in the obligation to build that foundation.

Prayer for our parish takes two main forms: private and public prayer. In our daily, private prayers we are encouraged to bring before God the parish and its needs. We might offer a decade of the rosary, pray a psalm or read a passage of scripture and offer it up for Our Lady of Mercy Parish. The Mercy Chapel is open daily for everyone to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament and to light a candle.
​​​​​​​
Public prayer is offered when we attend Mass and celebrate the sacraments. The Eucharist is the source and the summit of our parish life and our weekly participation in it builds up our parish and makes us grow as the Body of Christ. We also share in the Church’s public prayer when we attend Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, Stations of the Cross or other public devotions.