Weekly Email – Easter 3
Documents
Dear friends,
I am delighted to announce a parish visit to the National Gallery’s new exhibition on the artistic accomplishments of artists in 14th Century Siena on Friday 6th June. This will be followed by dinner in Chinatown after our visit to the exhibition.
The exhibition itself explores the extraordinary contribution the city of Siena makes to Western painting in the first half of the C14th. It reveals the way in which the city’s artistic traditions influence later painters and foreshadow some of the developments we see emerge in the Renaissance as artists seek to communicate emotion, movement, depth and perspective. You can read more about the exhibition on the National Gallery’s website here.
The works which have been assembled are a magnificent testimony to the way in which art and faith interact and inspire each other. Nearly all of the images displayed were used either for private devotion, or for the decoration of churches during the public celebration of the liturgy. They communicate with intense immediacy the emotion, mystery and splendour of the key narratives that lie at the heart of the Gospel.
The exhibition focusses on a small group of influential artists whose workshops are responsible for a remarkable flourishing of creativity. They spread the influence of Sienese painting to neighbouring regions through peripatetic careers as they become more famous and in demand.
Duccio is the key figure dominating the early part of this period. The exhibition re-assembles substantial parts of the predella from the remarkable Maesta (a sort of reredos) he created for Siena Cathedral, by exhibiting images from several important museums and collections. Other figures explored include Pietro and Lorenzo Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini with an array of scintillating works created by them.
The exhibition does not just focus on painting in an abstract or purely self-contained way. Much thought is also given to the material and political culture that accompanies this flourishing of artistic excellence. The relationship between this Sienese painterly aesthetic and the artistic creativity which produces the reliquaries, ecclesiastical silver, silks and other church ornaments that are often depicted in them, or used beside them, forms part of a more holistic account of the artistic excellence that characterised these golden years of the C14th in Siena.
Foregrounded throughout this exhibition is not just the virtuoso quality of what the painters of this period produce, but also, and possibly more importantly, the emotional relationship between the art they produce and the viewer who sees it. In a world enchanted by faith and enlivened by the knowledge of God’s presence, the power of images like these to sacramentally communicate the presence of God, and to drawer the viewer into the mysteries they depict is immense. Each image becomes a window into the divine world, and the starting point for a pilgrimage of faith-filled discovery as the viewer contemplates and embraces the extraordinary narratives each image recounts.
The exhibition is a remarkable achievement and an extraordinary triumph. It offers immense possibilities in terms of reflection on our Christian faith. It explores the development of Christian religious art and the role played by visual images in the way in which Medieval Christians experienced, inhabited and lived out their faith. There is much to ponder and learn from this remarkable assembly of imagery.
The exhibition itself costs £20, and dinner afterwards is an extra £35. Dinner will be at Jinli restaurant in Chinatown, and includes drinks. You can book your place here.
Fr Peter
Our parish walking group had a splendid ramble last Saturday: a circular route from Amersham in the Chilterns, including a visit to see the medieval wall paintings at Little Missenden.
Confirmation & Parish lunch
Our confirmation on Sunday 18th May at 11.00 am will be followed by a bring-and-share parish lunch in our parish courtyard. We need parishioners to volunteer to bring food. Please be in touch with Kate Hodgetts to indicate if you are able to contribute something.
Our parish walking group’s day trip ramble around Amersham last Saturday.
Parish Walks
Our parish rambling group will be going on two day trip walks over the coming months: Saturday 7th June; and Saturday 5th July. All are welcome to join the group! Precise details will follow, but for now the dates are published so you can make a note in your diaries. If you have questions or suggestions about future walks, please be in touch with Fr Alan.
We are hugely grateful to Fr Jeremy Haselock for preaching at all our Holy Week liturgies. You can listen to them again on our parish YouTube channel here.
Zoom Theology
Our next online Zoom Theology seminar will take place on Tuesday, 13th May, 2025 at 7pm, and is entitled, “Nicaea 325 – what’s it all about?” Our speaker will be the Regius Professor of Theology at the University of Oxford, the Revd Dr Andrew Davison.
2024 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. What was the Council all about? Why was it important? What difference does it make to our faith today, and why is it still so debated and discussed? Our speaker, Fr Andrew Davison, will help us explore the key ideas at the heart of the Nicaean debate, and explain why this Council is such an important milestone in our understanding of the mystery of the godhead.
The Zoom link and further information about our Zoom Theology Programme can be found here.
Parishioners enjoy drinks in our courtyard after the High Mass on Easter Day. Christ is risen!
Walsingham National Pilgrimage
A double decker coach will depart from All Saints’, Margaret Street, on Monday 24th May 2025 at 7.30 am sharp, to take pilgrims to the National Pilgrimage at Walsingham. The coach will return to the West End by the evening of the same day.
The cost is £30 per person, and you sign up and pay online via the Eventbrite link here.
We are so grateful to our Director of Music, Associate Director of Music, choir and organ scholar for the splendid music they have produced over Holy Week. Many thanks indeed to them all for all their remarkable hard work!
Attendance last Sunday
Fr Pip Bevan and Fr Michael Gudgeon enjoy a glass of Easter bubbles in our courtyard on Easter Day. You may like to know that Fr Michael was interviewed by the BBC on the Today Programme on Thursday about his memories of the War, the V2 bombardment of Britain, and VE Day. You can listen to his fascinating interview here at around the 2hrs 39 mins point.
Services this week
Saturday 3rd May – Easter Feria of Our Lady
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 4th May – THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
Monday 5th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
Tuesday 6th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm High Mass
Wednesday 7th April – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
5.30 Holy Hour
6.30 pm Low Mass
Thursday 8th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Friday 9th May – Easter Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Saturday 10th May – Easter Feria of Our Lady
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 11th May – FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
For your prayers
The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street
4th – Richard and Louise Stallwood, Iain Stewart, Robert Stoltz, Madeleine Storer, 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 – Sandra Wheen, Matthew Whittaker, Tim Widdowfield, David Wilcox, Samuel Wildy, T. Bradford Willis, Ian A. Wilson, Fr Michael Witcombe
8th – Martin Woods, The Rev’d John Wylam, William Yale, Michael Young
9th – Mark Allan, Martin Amherst-Lock, Robert Austen, Richard Ayling, James Babington Smith, Ruth Baker
10th – Stephen Baldwin, Stephen Barber, Nigel Beanland, Jonathan Beck, Dr William Benefield, William Bonnell, Charlotte Black
The sick
Graeme Butler, Dame Averil Cameron, David Craig, Fr Michael Gudgeon, Tony Hawkins, Margaret Hill, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Elizabeth Lyon, Philip Payne, James Rodger, Ingrid Slaughter
The recently departed
Fr John Gayford, Melanie Tucker, Barbara Jones
Anniversaries of death
4th – Cecil Meyer, Phyllis Matthews, Catherine Towers, Douglas Brough, Margaret Spencer
5th – Alfred Adams, Paul Curno
6th – Kathleen Wolfenden, Melinda Powell, John Norman, Jack Symes
7th – Odo Flunt, Norman Sandwith, William Faithfull, Phyllis MacKenow, Dorothy Faithfull
8th – Florence Hope, Richard Masheder Pr, Fred Bramma, Charles Cunnington, John Mather
9th – Marygdd Snowden, Martin Cooper
10th – Gertrude Thorpe