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Sea SundaySupport for Seafarers
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LESSON FROM THE PANDEMIC?
If the pandemic has taught us anything it is the meaning of Pope Francis’ concept of our “connectedness” and our mutual dependence – themes which reverberate throughout Laudato Sì and Fratelli Tutti and elsewhere. Part of that lesson has been the revelation of the heroism of those medical workers involved on the front line of caring for the sick and combating the relentless advance of the disease throughout our society. Although not proclaimed with as much vigour, the vital work of many others to keep essential services operational – women and men working in our shops and transport systems – has not escaped our attention.
But one group of people who have continued to provide their traditional service in more than customary hazardous and difficult conditions are the seafarers. We are an island people and are largely dependent on mariners to sustain our way of life. It is a “connectedness” with individuals who hail from many countries that has lasted for centuries. In the modern era it remains as important as ever. We are invited to show our gratitude to and support for the seafaring community. How can we do this?
But one group of people who have continued to provide their traditional service in more than customary hazardous and difficult conditions are the seafarers. We are an island people and are largely dependent on mariners to sustain our way of life. It is a “connectedness” with individuals who hail from many countries that has lasted for centuries. In the modern era it remains as important as ever. We are invited to show our gratitude to and support for the seafaring community. How can we do this?
SEA SUNDAY
Each year the Church designates a Sunday as SEA SUNDAY - this year it was on 11th July. On that weekend in CPG we focused on giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy and, in particular, most recently the addition to our dedicated Clergy Team of Deacons Ian Hunt and Sean Evans.
So we have deferred SEA SUNDAY to 5th September. You can find here a message from the Vatican for Sea Sunday 2021.
Our Lady Star of the Sea (“Stella Maris”) is a title of the Virgin Mary that has been used for centuries. It has recently been adopted as the new name for the Apostleship of the Sea, the Catholic Church’s maritime charity, which recently celebrated the centenary of its foundation.
So we have deferred SEA SUNDAY to 5th September. You can find here a message from the Vatican for Sea Sunday 2021.
Our Lady Star of the Sea (“Stella Maris”) is a title of the Virgin Mary that has been used for centuries. It has recently been adopted as the new name for the Apostleship of the Sea, the Catholic Church’s maritime charity, which recently celebrated the centenary of its foundation.
THE WORK OF SEAFARERS
Seafarers are, of course, vital to this country. It is estimated that around 90% of goods that come here arrive by ship. That is much of our food, the equipment and materials used in businesses, schools and hospitals, our phones, domestic appliances, cars, petrol, just about everything. Even certain travel and holiday opportunities, such as ferries and cruises, rely on the dedication of mariners.
The arrival of the pandemic has, of course, created many difficulties and additional dangers for seafarers. Crews of ships often comprise a host of nationalities. In many cases vaccination to protect against covid-19 will be hard or impossible to obtain. Working conditions in ships are difficult to adapt to covid safe practices.
Seafarers work long shifts, seven days a week, often for nine months at a time. In these times of pandemic, many have not been home for over a year. They are far away from their families and friends, always at sea or a stranger in a foreign land.
And what happens when something goes wrong? When they are exploited or abused? When they are abandoned by their employer or their wages remain unpaid?
The experience of Jimaster
Jimaster is a 22 year-old seafarer who got stranded in Uruguay during the pandemic. He had joined a fishing vessel when his father died, so that he could provide for his family. But his wages had never been paid and he was confined to his ship, with only a small amount of rice to eat and limited water. The temperature dropped and he had no winter clothing. Two of the crew came down with a fever and he thought he would die.
How did Stella Maris help?
Stella Maris was able to help because a chaplain went to the ship with food, clothes, phone cards and medical supplies. The chaplain worked with the port authorities and ship owners and eventually managed to get Jimaster home to his family in the Philippines. He believes that, without Stella Maris, he would most likely be dead.
The arrival of the pandemic has, of course, created many difficulties and additional dangers for seafarers. Crews of ships often comprise a host of nationalities. In many cases vaccination to protect against covid-19 will be hard or impossible to obtain. Working conditions in ships are difficult to adapt to covid safe practices.
Seafarers work long shifts, seven days a week, often for nine months at a time. In these times of pandemic, many have not been home for over a year. They are far away from their families and friends, always at sea or a stranger in a foreign land.
And what happens when something goes wrong? When they are exploited or abused? When they are abandoned by their employer or their wages remain unpaid?
The experience of Jimaster
Jimaster is a 22 year-old seafarer who got stranded in Uruguay during the pandemic. He had joined a fishing vessel when his father died, so that he could provide for his family. But his wages had never been paid and he was confined to his ship, with only a small amount of rice to eat and limited water. The temperature dropped and he had no winter clothing. Two of the crew came down with a fever and he thought he would die.
How did Stella Maris help?
Stella Maris was able to help because a chaplain went to the ship with food, clothes, phone cards and medical supplies. The chaplain worked with the port authorities and ship owners and eventually managed to get Jimaster home to his family in the Philippines. He believes that, without Stella Maris, he would most likely be dead.
THE WORK OF STELLA MARIS
For hundreds of seafarers like Jimaster, a ship visit from Stella Maris provides critical support. Stella Maris chaplains and volunteers are working in ports up and down this country and across the world. This weekend they will be out visiting seafarers as usual.
They welcome the stranger, in line with Jesus’s instruction in St Matthew chapter 25 verses 35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me.”
In the good times, they provide seafarers with faith resources, warm clothing, SIM cards so they can talk to their families back home and help them to get to confession or Mass, or to the local shops. And in the bad times, as in Jimaster’s case, they do so much more.
In 2020 Stella Maris directly ministered to 17,300 seafarers and fishers in the UK – further information can be found here.
The support accomplished by Stella Maris and other like organisations devoted to the welfare of seafarers is quite amazing. Please take a moment to have a look at the Stella Maris website to appreciate just how extensive and effective is this truly pastoral work.
It is a cardinal principle of Stella Maris to support mariners of all faiths and none and in carrying out its mission Stella Maris works in partnership with other faith based groups.
They welcome the stranger, in line with Jesus’s instruction in St Matthew chapter 25 verses 35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me.”
In the good times, they provide seafarers with faith resources, warm clothing, SIM cards so they can talk to their families back home and help them to get to confession or Mass, or to the local shops. And in the bad times, as in Jimaster’s case, they do so much more.
In 2020 Stella Maris directly ministered to 17,300 seafarers and fishers in the UK – further information can be found here.
The support accomplished by Stella Maris and other like organisations devoted to the welfare of seafarers is quite amazing. Please take a moment to have a look at the Stella Maris website to appreciate just how extensive and effective is this truly pastoral work.
It is a cardinal principle of Stella Maris to support mariners of all faiths and none and in carrying out its mission Stella Maris works in partnership with other faith based groups.
SUPPORT NEEDED BY STELLA MARIS
Stella Maris cannot do its work without your support. Your prayers and generous donations ensure that Stella Maris can continue to welcome the stranger in ports here and around the world and be there for seafarers like Jimaster when they need assistance.
Prayer
Please remember seafarers and fishers in your prayers. Thank God for them and the vital role they play in our lives, often working in difficult, hazardous conditions and harsh weather, away from home for long periods, often with very limited contact with family and friends.
In the week leading to Sea Sunday. please include this prayer in your prayers or another of your choosing:
Prayer
Please remember seafarers and fishers in your prayers. Thank God for them and the vital role they play in our lives, often working in difficult, hazardous conditions and harsh weather, away from home for long periods, often with very limited contact with family and friends.
In the week leading to Sea Sunday. please include this prayer in your prayers or another of your choosing:
Our Lady, Star of the Sea,
Protect all seafarers and fishers.
Keep them safe from all harm and danger.
Let those who need support and sustenance
find a warm welcome wherever they arrive.
Sustain the port chaplains and others who
provide for their welfare and wellbeing.
Inspire enduring gratitude in all of us
who continue to benefit from the
dedicated service of mariners.
Amen
Financial support
Each year our diocese expects us to hold a special collection to support the work of Stella Maris. So please could you kindly make a donation in the forthcoming CPG Stella Maris Special Collection? Your gift will help Stella Maris chaplains welcome seafarers who may be stranded and who may not have seen their families for months. Your support will be a generous expression of God’s love, giving help to these key workers and hospitality to strangers.
Each year our diocese expects us to hold a special collection to support the work of Stella Maris. So please could you kindly make a donation in the forthcoming CPG Stella Maris Special Collection? Your gift will help Stella Maris chaplains welcome seafarers who may be stranded and who may not have seen their families for months. Your support will be a generous expression of God’s love, giving help to these key workers and hospitality to strangers.
WHEN IS THE CPG SPECIAL COLLECTION?
This year the CPG Stella Maris Special Collection will take place over the weekend 4th and 5th September. Envelopes for this collection are available to be taken from our churches. It would be appreciated if donations could be made as soon as is practicable in any of the ways described below.
WAYS TO DONATE
You can donate in several ways and you can choose the method that best suits your circumstances and preferences. For example, in covid-19 circumstances you may not be regularly attending a church and would rather not collect and deliver an envelope. It is hoped that one of the options below will facilitate your making a donation.
Online donations
You can make a donation online
Text SEA to 70460 to donate £5 – if you would prefer not to receive marketing information text SEANOINFO to 70460. If you wish to give a larger amount you can text more than once.
Making a card payment by phone
To make a card payment by phone please telephone Stella Maris on 0207 901 1931 during office hours.
Providing a cheque or delivering cash
The simplest way to make a donation is in the time honoured fashion of using the giving envelopes that are available in our churches. Please take an envelope and return it to a CPG church with the cheque or cash and, if appropriate, the Gift Aid Declaration duly completed. GRAY collection baskets are available as you leave church for returning envelopes. If you prefer not to attend at a church to deliver the envelope, please put the envelope in the letter box at the Presbytery in Eastgate Gardens. Please retain the prayer card for future use.
Alternatively you could post a cheque (but not cash) to Stella Maris 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX. In this case please note on the back of the cheque the CPG identification code 2654 so that your donation is included in the CPG total.
Cheques should be made payable to Stella Maris.
Gift Aid
If you are a taxpayer, to increase your donation by 25%, please complete the Gift Aid declaration which accompanies the envelope or the option on the Stella Maris website for online donations.
If you have any questions about the work of Stella Maris or how to donate in this Sea Sunday collection, please contact Michael Combes at [email protected] or on 07768 144439.
If you wish to make a donation to Stella Maris at any time after the CPG Special Collection has closed you can, of course, do so by sending a cheque to Stella Maris at 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX or by text or by phone or by making a payment online here.
Thank you very much for supporting the
CPG STELLA MARIS SPECIAL COLLECTION.
Online donations
You can make a donation online
- Direct to Stella Maris via its website here, if appropriate applying Gift Aid;
Text SEA to 70460 to donate £5 – if you would prefer not to receive marketing information text SEANOINFO to 70460. If you wish to give a larger amount you can text more than once.
Making a card payment by phone
To make a card payment by phone please telephone Stella Maris on 0207 901 1931 during office hours.
Providing a cheque or delivering cash
The simplest way to make a donation is in the time honoured fashion of using the giving envelopes that are available in our churches. Please take an envelope and return it to a CPG church with the cheque or cash and, if appropriate, the Gift Aid Declaration duly completed. GRAY collection baskets are available as you leave church for returning envelopes. If you prefer not to attend at a church to deliver the envelope, please put the envelope in the letter box at the Presbytery in Eastgate Gardens. Please retain the prayer card for future use.
Alternatively you could post a cheque (but not cash) to Stella Maris 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX. In this case please note on the back of the cheque the CPG identification code 2654 so that your donation is included in the CPG total.
Cheques should be made payable to Stella Maris.
Gift Aid
If you are a taxpayer, to increase your donation by 25%, please complete the Gift Aid declaration which accompanies the envelope or the option on the Stella Maris website for online donations.
If you have any questions about the work of Stella Maris or how to donate in this Sea Sunday collection, please contact Michael Combes at [email protected] or on 07768 144439.
If you wish to make a donation to Stella Maris at any time after the CPG Special Collection has closed you can, of course, do so by sending a cheque to Stella Maris at 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX or by text or by phone or by making a payment online here.
Thank you very much for supporting the
CPG STELLA MARIS SPECIAL COLLECTION.