Weekly Email – Advent 3
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Dear friends,
I have just returned from Walsingham with a group from All Saints’ who spent last weekend in silence as part of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham’s Advent retreat.
It was a wonderful opportunity to take time out from the crazy business of London life in the run up to Christmas, and to make space for silence, contemplation and reflection in the beautiful surroundings of the Shrine.
Nearly every religious tradition and category of spirituality has some sort of injunction upon its followers regularly to make a retreat. Indeed, we see that our Lord did such a thing himself, when it is recounted to us in Mark’s Gospel that he told his disciples, “‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” This tradition has characterised the life of the church from the earliest times to today.
A retreat is an opportunity to lay aside the clamouring demands of the world, our responsibilities at work or in our families, and our usual patterns of worship and prayer, in order to enter a time of quiet and silence. It is a time of rest and rejuvenation, as we seek to renew our relationship with the Lord by taking ourselves to a place that allows us to hear his voice afresh.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham offers just such an opportunity each year in early Advent. The retreatants arrive on Friday afternoon, and after supper the whole group enters a period of silence that will last until after the Solemn Mass on Sunday morning. Everyone present agrees to use the minimum verbal communication necessary. This stripping away of chatter allows our hearts to settle and for us to seek to hear God’s voice in a way that is different from how we usually do in our daily lives.
The silence is punctuated by a series of spiritual addresses. These were given this year by Bishop Peter Wheatley, the former Bishop of Edmonton. They were really excellent reflections of a series of different ways of praying. The aim and theological theme of the retreat this year was to renew and enliven each retreatant’s life of prayer in a way that was appropriate for them. Bishop Peter drew on some of the great meditative and contemplative traditions of the church, such as those expounded by St Francis de Sales and St Ignatius of Loyola.
In addition to the retreat addresses there were also opportunities to take part in some of the usual devotional practices which accompany a visit to Walsingham. We had a liturgy on Saturday night, for example, that included a short procession, followed by a time in which the healing and reconciling ministries of the church were available after Benediction. It was so heartening to see many seek the sacraments of anointing and confession.
I came back from this wonderful experience thoroughly refreshed and bucked up. Our time away had given me much to ponder as I reflected on the retreat addresses. I hope we will be able to take a group to the Advent retreat again next year – watch this space for details, which I am sure will emerge in the New Year. If you have always wanted to make a retreat but have never known how to, this is a really easy way to have a go, and to do it in the company of friends. I warmly commend it to you all!
Fr Peter
Changes to service times this week
Please note that there will be no evening Masses next week on the following evenings because of carol services taking place: 17th & 19th Dec. There will still be a 12 noon Mass each day. In addition there will also be no Holy Hour on Wednesday 18th Dec.
We were very pleased to welcome the choir of Somerville College, Oxford, for their alumni carol service on Tuesday.
Music sponsorship
The music at High Mass and Evensong this week is sponsored by Simon Rainey KC. We are very grateful for his donation. A champagne reception will follow Mass, also given by Simon. If you would like to sponsor music at one of our liturgies, please be in touch with Julian in the Parish Office.
Confessions
Priests will be available to hear confessions at the following times over the next week in preparation for Christmas:
Monday 16th December 5-6 pm:
Fr Graeme Rowlands & Fr Alan Rimmer
Wednesday 18th December 5-6 pm:
Fr Graeme Rowlands & Fr Peter Anthony
Friday 20th December 5-6 pm:
Fr David Houlding & Fr Peter Anthony
Saturday 21st December 5-6 pm:
Fr Peter Anthony & Fr Alan Rimmer
The parish clergy of All Saints’ are always available to hear confessions at other times by appointment, before or after any Low Mass, and on Saturdays at 6.00 pm each week.
We were very pleased to welcome the choir of Rugby School for their school’s London carol service on Wednesday 4th December.
Volunteers for Parish Carol Service
We still need a few more volunteers to help with welcome and refreshments for our parish Carol Service on Sunday 22nd December. Please be in touch with Kate Hodgetts via the parish office (office@asms.uk) if you can help.
We were pleased to welcome the students, staff and alumni of Queens’ College, Cambridge, to All Saints’ for their college’s London carol service on 11th December.
Christmas Services 2024
Sunday 22nd December 2024
8.30 am Low Mass for Advent 4
11.00 am High Mass for Advent 4
5.15 pm Low Mass for Advent 4
6.00 pm Christmas Carol Service: Service of 9 Lessons and Carols
Tuesday 24th December 2024
6.30 pm First High Mass of Christmas
11.00 pm Midnight High Mass
Wednesday 25th December 2024
8.30 am Low Mass
11.00 am High Mass
Sunday 29th December 2024
11.00 am High Mass
N.B. No evening Mass or Evensong on 29th December
Sunday 5th January 2025
8.30 am Vigil Mass
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Epiphany Carol Service
Our group of pilgrim-retreatants makes its way to Walsingham from Kings Cross.
British Library: Medieval Women
A parish trip will take place in the New Year on Tuesday 28th January 2025 at 6.00 pm to the British Library to see a new exhibition called, “Medieval Women: in their own words.” The exhibition seeks to help us discover more about “the rich and complex lives of women in the Middle Ages, with over 140 extraordinary items that reveal their artistry, resourcefulness, courage and struggles.”
Our visit to “Medieval Women” will then be followed by supper together at Pizza Express on the Euston Road, opposite the Library. The exhibition costs £15 and the two course dinner at Pizza Express is £30. You can book your tickets and places for the dinner via Eventbrite here.
A week after our visit to the exhibition, there will be the opportunity to discuss, analyse and debate what we saw further through one of our Zoom Theology seminars on Tuesday 4th February at 7.00 pm.
Bishop Peter Wheatley gives one of the retreat addresses at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham’s Advent retreat.
British Museum: Silk Roads
There will be a parish trip on 7th February 2025, to see the splendid new exhibition at the British Museum entitled, “Silk Roads.” The exhibition examines the network of trade, travel and intellectual connections that linked East and West through the first Millennium.
I am particularly grateful that we have been able to obtain from the British Museum 15 free tickets for this exhibition. They will be apportioned on a “first come; first served” basis. We will meet at the British Museum at 6.00 pm and you can book your place on this trip here on our Eventbrite account. Our visit to the British Museum will finish with the option of dinner at Le Beaujolais restaurant in Soho. The 3 course dinner at Le Beaujolais is £55 per head with parishioners paying for their own drinks.
Our group of pilgrim-retreatants arrives at Walsingham and prepares to enter silence for two days.
Attendance last Sunday
We were pleased to welcome the staff, students and alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford, for their London carol service last night. Here, their choir prepare to enter at the beginning of the liturgy.
Flowers
The flowers are given by Caroline Sibbald In loving memory of her brother, Fr David Paton, whose anniversary falls on Thursday 14 December.
If you would like to have flowers put in church to mark a special occasion or if you would like to make a contribution to the flowers for Christmas, please contact Shawn directly or via the parish office (office@asms.uk).
We are so grateful to all those who have helped over the past two weeks with refreshments and welcome for the many carol services which we have hosted. We have already got through GALLONS of mulled wine and HUNDREDS of mince pies! Special thanks go to Kate Hodgetts, Janet Drake and Christ Self for coordinating everything so well.
For your prayers
The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street:
15th – Kirill Dashkovskiy, Christopher Davies, Peter Dennis, Laura Denton, Joshua Dolphin
16th – Linda Edwards, Pamela Edwards, Dr Terrence Ellsworth, Carolyn Farrar
17th – Sue Feakin, Adrian Felaar, Elizabeth Ferguson, Daniel Fielden, Janice Fielden, Nigel Fisher, Mark Fleming
18th – Stuart Fletcher, Christopher Forman, Antony Fox, Dr Ralph Donald Fram, Dr Jason Frost, Derrick French, Charlotte Gauthier, Dr Rebecca Gibbs, Margaret Goddard, Paul Golding, John Goldsmith
19th – Genevieve Gomi, Jack de Gruiter, Canon Michael Gudgeon, Sheelagh Gudgeon, Ginger and Del Hall, Monica Joan Hall
20th – Canon Richard Hanford, Paul Hannah, Jillian Hargreaves, Christopher Harlow-Jennings, Patrick Hartley, The Rev’d Canon Jeremy Haselock
21st – Eoghan Healy, Rebecca Hirst, Fr. David Hobden, James and Gwendoline Holdcroft, The Rev’d Canon Graham Holcombe, Rosy Holt, Bishop David Hope
The sick:
Bishop Christopher Chessun, David Craig, Tony Hawkins, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Arthur Johnson, Michael Lamprell, Elizabeth Lyon, James Rodger, Fr James Rosenthal, Jan Smith.
The faithful departed:
Alvin Emery, Graham Norman, David Wellr, Elizabeth Rankin, Pauline Ellis, Michael Parslew, Lee Nyuk Chin.
Those whose anniversaries of death fall at this time:
15th – James Forsyth, Doris King, Leonard Beeken
18th – Edwin Forsyth, Joan Gower, Philip Prain, Richard Vick
19th – Ena Knight
20th – Lily King, Jack Monk, Elaine Bullock
21st – Charles Hillier, Adam Reddington, Harry Nuttall
22nd – Elizabeth Ross, Anthony Greek, Richard Routledge, Helen Turner
Service times this week
Friday 13th December– St Lucy
12 noon Mass
6.00 pm Carol Service – St Peter’s College, Oxford.
Saturday 14th December – Walsingham Devotion
11.30 pm Rosary
12 noon Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 15th December – ADVENT III
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
Monday 16th December – Advent feria
12 noon Mass
5.00 pm Confessions: Fr Graeme Rowlands & Fr Alan Rimmer
6.30 pm Mass
Tuesday 17th December – O Sapientia
12 noon Mass
6.00 pm Carol Service – Keble College, Oxford.
Wednesday 18th December – O Adonai
12 noon Mass
5.00 pm Confessions: Fr Graeme Rowlands & Fr Peter Anthony
6.30 pm Mass
Thursday 19th December – O Radix
12 noon Mass
6.00 pm Carol Service – Freud’s Communications
Friday 20th December – O Clavis
12 noon Mass
5.00 pm Confessions: Fr David Houlding & Fr Peter Anthony
6.30 pm Mass
Saturday 21st December – O Oriens
12 noon Mass
5.00 pm Confessions: Fr Peter Anthony & Fr Alan Rimmer
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 22nd December – ADVENT IV
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Christmas Carol Service