Weekly Email – Candlemas
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Dear friends,
We celebrate this Sunday the feast of Candlemas and I urge you to make time to be present at the various beautiful liturgies which will characterise this weekend’s celebrations.
There will be a High Mass on Sunday morning which will include the traditional blessing of candles. The preacher will be Fr Alan Rimmer and the music will include: Missa Sanctae Margaretae by Jackson; and Tallis’ Videte miraculum.
On Sunday evening a new venture will take place which we have not tried before, namely a Candlemas Carol Service. This will be an opportunity to reflect at greater length on the rich theological themes of the feast in a candlelit service of music, readings, and carols, finishing with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The music will include: Maria wallt zum Heiligtum, Eccard; Long since in Egypt, Parry; Richte mich, Gott, Mendelssohn; Hail Gladdening Light, Wood; Hodie Beata Virgo, Philips; Tantum Ergo, Victoria.
The feast of Candlemas has many title and names. It is generally known now in the West as “The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple” but is also described in the Prayer Book by its alternative name, “The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Whatever you call the feast, it commemorates the occasion on which Mary and Jospeh brought their first-born child to the Temple in Jerusalem to make an offering prescribed in the Jewish Law, both dedicating the child to God and purifying its mother after childbirth.
It has long been the tradition of the church to celebrate this feast with a range of beautiful liturgical traditions and ceremonies. The most important of these involves the blessing of candles at the beginning of the feast day’s Mass. The Presentation, as recounted in Luke’s Gospel, includes Simeon describing Jesus as the “Light to enlighten the nations.” These words become our focus as we celebrate with a procession of candles Christ the Light of the Nations, illuminating a dark and needy world.
We know the keeping of this feast with a procession goes back to the liturgy of the Jerusalem church in at least the 4th Century. A nun called Egeria, who visited Jerusalem in the 380s, wrote down all the liturgical practices she observed.
She tells us: “But certainly the Feast of the Purification is celebrated here with the greatest honour. On this day there is a procession to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; all go in procession, and all things are done in order with great joy, just as at Easter. All the priests preach, and also the bishop, always treating of that passage of the Gospel where, on the fortieth day, Joseph and Mary brought the Lord into the Temple…And when all things have been celebrated in order as is customary, the sacrament is administered, and so the people are dismissed.”
The spread of the feast to the Latin West probably has something to do with the fact that the Romans kept a pagan festival called Lupercalia in February. This was a celebration of fertility, and involved the notion of purification and health along with the offering of a goat in the Lupercal cave on the Palatine Hill (where Romulus and Remus had allegedly been suckled by a she-wolf).
It appears Pope Gelasius may have wanted to stamp out the pagan festivity by superimposing a Christian feast, which celebrated similar themes of child birth, purification and offering. This is possibly why the feast then develops in the West a focus on the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Purification.
This Marian character to the feast day becomes more pronounced in Spain after the miraculous discovery of an image of Our Lady at her Purification took place in Tenerife in the 1390s. The feast of Our Lady of Candlemas (La Virgen de la Candelaria) then became the patronal feast of the island and was particularly associated with the Spanish conquest of the island by Alonso Fernandez de Lugo.
This feast offers many complex and rich theological themes for our mediation and prayer. I pray that the joy and light of this feast will be an encouragement to you this weekend. I encourage you to make time to celebrate its profound truths through the beauty of the church’s rites and liturgies. May Jesus, Light of the Nations, illumine our hearts and minds, and may his Virgin Mother Mary pray for us as we seek to follow her child, the Word Made Flesh.
Fr Peter
Blessing of throats of St Blaise’s Day
The day after Candlemas is traditionally marked in the Church’s calendar by the blessing of throats on St Blaise’s day, Monday 3rd February. He is known to have saved someone from choking on a fish bone and his prayers are, therefore, invoked for special protection against throat diseases. This beautiful blessing takes place with a pair of candles, a liturgical concatenation probably stemming from the proximity of St Blaise’s day to Candlemas and the superfluity of candles which characterises this week. St Blaise’s blessing will be available after all Low Masses on Monday 3rd February.
The annual commemoration of the saintly death of Charles I by the Society of King Charles the Martyr took place at All Saints’ on Thursday. A large congregation filled the church and the Society’s relics of the Royal Martyr were displayed on the High Altar.
Jack de Gruiter RIP
The funeral rites of Jack de Gruiter will take place on Tuesday 4th February at All Saints’ at 2.00 pm. This will consist of a Low Mass of Requiem with hymns, which all parishioners are welcome to attend. This will be followed by a private cremation. There will be drinks in church directly after the Funeral Mass and all who have attended the liturgy are invited to stay for this. Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him!
A group of parishioners from All Saints’ enjoyed a parish trip to the British Library on Tuesday to see its latest exhibition entitled, “Medieval Women: in their own words.” We are very grateful indeed to Rachel Foss for organising a short introduction to the exhibition, given to us by its curator, Julian Harrison.
Homeless Shelter
Our second evening staffing the winter homeless shelter at the American International Church on Tottenham Court Road will take place during the evening and night of Wednesday 5th February/Thursday 6th February 2025.
There is an array of different duties that need filling: we need volunteers to prepare and make beds; cook a meal; spend time with our homeless guests; sleep overnight; and then prepare breakfast in the morning.
Please be in touch with the parish office (office@asms.uk) if you would like to volunteer, letting us know what job you would like to do and how long you can volunteer for.
Parishioners enjoy a slap-up supper at Pizza Express after our visit to the British Library’s “Medieval Women” exhibition on Tuesday.
Zoom Theology: Medieval Women
Our next Zoom Theology seminar will take place on Tuesday 4th February at 7.00 pm. This online teaching opportunity will reflect on some of the themes which we learned about on our recent parish visit to the British Library’s exhibition entitled, “Medieval Women.” You do not have to have been on the trip, however, to attend the online seminar.
Our online seminar will be led by two significant academics in the realm of Medieval history and theology: we’ll be joined by Dr Mark Philpott, a medievalist and historiographer at Keble College, Oxford; and Dr Charlotte Gauthier, a historian of Church and State in the Medieval and Early Modern period (who also spoke earlier in the autumn at our in person formation session on the C14th Poem “Pearl”).
They will help us understand more about how theology, religious life, and Christian faith influenced the role of women in Medieval Europe. You can read more about our online Zoom Theology series and find the seminar Zoom link here.
Parishioners of All Saints’ enjoy the rare books and fascinating objects on display at the British Library’s exhibition, “Medieval Women.”
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Party
Fr Alan will be hosting a pancake party for our young adults after the 6.30 pm Mass on Shrove Tuesday. Please be in touch with him if you would like to attend.
Parishioners of All Saints’ enjoy the rare books and fascinating objects on display at the British Library’s exhibition, “Medieval Women.”
Flowers
The flowers this week are given by the Wright family and Pat Phillips in loving memory of Clive Wright, who died at Candlemas in 2020.
If you would like to sponsor an arrangement for the Altar of Repose on Maundy Thursday and for Easter, please contact Shawn directly or via the office. So far, one arrangement has been sponsored.
High Mass for Epiphany 3 last Sunday. The preacher was Fr Peter. The music included: Missa aeterna Christi munera, by Palestrina; and Prevent us, O Lord, by Byrd. You can watch the High Mass again here.
Attendance last Sunday
For your prayers
The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street:
2nd – Greg Round, Jamie Rundle, Mary Sherred, James Shrimpton
3rd – Ingrid Slaughter, Naomi Slippe, Vaughan Snook, Harvey Solomon-Brady
4th – Richard and Louise Stallwood, Iain Stewart, Madeleine Storer, Robert Stoltz, Ian and Veronica Summers, Colin Symes, Ann Tacchi
5th – Sebastian Taite-Ellis, Michael Taylor, Kitty Thompson, Charles Thomson, Dr James Thomson, Jeremy Thorp, Jane Turner, The Rev’d Roger Turner, Dr Christine Vaughn Lillie
6th – Christopher Walsh, Philip Wayne, Fr. Benjamin Weitzmann, Fr. Mats Wendt, Michael Westcott
7th – Matthew Whittaker, Tim Widdowfield, David Wilcox, T. Bradford Willis, Ian A. Wilson, Fr Michael Witcombe
8th – Martin Woods, The Rev’d John Wylam, William Yale, Michael Young
The sick:
Karan Bilimoria, Zara Bilimoria, David Craig, Tony Hawkins, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Michael Lamprell, Dorothea Liebe-Kreutzner, Elizabeth Lyon, James Rodger
The recently departed:
Joan Cooper, Fr Tony Coulson, Jack de Gruiter
The faithful departed:
2nd – Florence White, Pamela Powis, Alfred Buhagiar, Clive Wright
3rd – Sydney Barradell, Cecilia Gamble, Cyril William Mason
4th – Agnes Theobald, Vera Aspinall, Marjorie Hague
5th – Dorothy Collins, Philip Morrell, George Venn, Sarah Hudson, Iris Harrison, Norman Holden, Rond Pethers
6th – Donald Scott
7th – Beatrice Reed, Jane Twinch, Dorothy Dent, Grahame James
8th – Bernard Anslow, Armorel Griffiths, Robert Streit
Services this Week
Saturday 1st February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 2nd February – Candlemas
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass with blessing of candles
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Candlemas Carol Service
Monday 3rd February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass with blessing of throats for St Blaise’s Day
6.30 pm Low Mass with blessing of throats for St Blaise’s Day
Tuesday 4th February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
2.00 pm Funeral of Jack de Gruiter
6.30 pm Low Mass
Wednesday 5th February – St Agatha
12 noon Low Mass
5.30 pm Holy Hour
6.30 pm Low Mass
Thursday 6th February – St Paul Miki and Companions
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Friday 7th February – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Saturday 8th February – Walsingham Devotion
11.30 am Rosary
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 9th February – Fourth before Lent
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction