All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear friends,

Each summer we joyfully take to the streets of the West End in procession to proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ on two different occasions: the feast of Corpus Christi; and on the Sunday before or nearest to the Assumption.

It won’t be long at all before Corpus Christi is upon us on Thursday 30th May. I would like to ask all parishioners and friends of All Saints’ to make a note in their diary of the date and to do all they can to be with us for the High Mass and procession at 6.30 pm.

We also need your help in publicising the liturgy. Adverts and posts will start appearing soon on social media. Please share these as widely as you can, and let all your friends know about this important celebration.

I am very pleased indeed that Fr Steve Rice, Rector of St Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will preach at Corpus Christi this year. He is a good friend of our parish, and I know many will look forward to hearing him. It is such a joy to know he will be with us.

Our keeping of the feast of Corpus Christi takes the form of a procession of the Blessed Sacrament after the High Mass. We make our way through the crowds on Oxford Street in Jesus’ sacramental presence, with the host consecrated at the Mass exposed in a monstrance for all to see.

Our keeping of the feast of the Assumption is slightly different. The procession will take place on Sunday 11th August and takes the form of Solemn Evensong, Procession of Our Lady, and Benediction. On this occasion, our procession includes a beautiful image of Our Lady of Walsingham, which is carried aloft on a special litter. Mary presents her divine son to the world, and we proclaim our trust in the power of her love and intercession.

We look forward to welcoming the Vicar of St Mary’s Bourne Street, Fr Andrew Walker, as our preacher for the Assumption Procession on Sunday 11th August. He is a well known preacher, teacher and spiritual director, whose wisdom, I am sure, many can’t wait to hear from our pulpit.

Please make a note of the date of our Assumption procession on Sunday 11th August. There will, of course, also be a High Mass on the feast day itself a few days later, Thursday 15th August.

A public procession is an act of witness in which we lovingly reveal to the world our presence as the Body of Christ. It is a reminder to all those shopping or visiting the West End that our community of faith is alive and well in Margaret Street and that our yearning is for those who do not yet know Christ to enter into relationship with him. We pray that through us, those who watch and observe will see and experience Christ’s presence.

A procession is also, however, an allegory of the Christian vocation itself, a sign and reminder that we are all making our pilgrim way together through this life with Christ mystically in our midst until we reach our heavenly homeland and shall see him face to face.  It acts out, if you like, the way in which we ourselves seek to follow Christ and is, therefore, a moment in which our faith itself is strengthened and our zeal for the Gospel renewed.

Do put these dates in your diary and be sure to join us for these two special celebrations this year. Help us proclaim our faith in Jesus and our love for his mother Mary amidst the hustle and bustle of London life, and pray that many hearts will be drawn to Christ through our witness.

Fr Peter

Visit to Westminster Abbey

A parish trip to Westminster Abbey will take place on Saturday 11th May. The visit begins at 1.30 pm and includes admission to the Abbey’s new interactive exhibition on Notre Dame de Paris and the Abbey’s medieval Library. This is followed by tea and then Evensong at 5.30 pm. The trip is free of charge, but our group is limited to 15 people. To book your place, please email the parish office (office@asms.uk).

Online Zoom Coffee Hour

An online Zoom Coffee Hour is planned for Sunday 5th May at 12.45 pm and will be hosted by Fr Alan.

These coffee hours offer an opportunity for those who worship with us online, and those who are housebound to meet online for a time of chat, conversation and fellowship. At the end of the High Mass, just make yourself a cup of coffee and join us online. Do put these dates in your diary.

The Zoom link for Sunday 5th May is here.

Young Adults Rambling Group

An Eastertide walk will take place on Saturday, May 25th. We’ll meet at Victoria Station at 0930, ready for the 0946 Littlehampton train to Hassocks. A circular route of around 12 miles – involving some abrupt changes in relief; some fine Sussex churches; and a pub lunch will follow. All welcome! Be in touch with Fr Alan if you want to know more or come along.

Confessions

Fr Graeme Rowlands will be available to hear confessions at the following times over the coming weeks: Wednesday 1st May at 5.30 pm; Wednesday 8th May at 5.30 pm; Wednesday 22nd May at 5.30 pm.

One of our parish clergy is also regularly available in one of the confessionals in church on Saturday evenings each week at 6.00 pm to hear confessions.

Join the Friends of All Saints’

The latest edition of the Parish Paper, the journal of the Friends of All Saints’, Margaret Street, is fresh off the press and out now! To receive a copy, join the Friends of All Saints’ here. The Friends receive a copy of the Parish Paper by post twice a year, and are remembered by name at the daily Mass at 12 noon.

Zoom Theology

Our next Zoom Theology Seminar will take place on Tuesday, May 14th, 2024. It will be entitled, “The Scapegoat: James Alison, René Girard and Scapegoating.”

Thomas Miles will lead us in a study of Fr James Alison, a Catholic priest and theologian influenced by the ideas of René Girard (1923-2015). Details will follow nearer the time, but we’ll be thinking about how Jesus’ death calls into judgement the human tendency to create social cohesion through scapegoating, and how, conversely, the resurrection invites Christians to courageously seek truth in unity.

More details of our Zoom Theology programme can be found here.

Confirmation 2024

Please note that Bishop Jonathan will be with us for the Feast of Pentecost on  Sunday 19th May to baptize and confirm at the 11.00 am High Mass. There will be a parish lunch after the High Mass to celebrate with those who have been confirmed and received into the Church of England. Do put this occasion in your diaries and pray for those preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation.

SOM May Devotion

The Society of Mary May Devotion will take place at S. Silas’, Kentish Town, on Saturday 4th May at 12 noon. The principal celebrant at the Mass will be the Bishop of Fulham, and the preacher at the afternoon devotion will be the Bishop of Oswestry.

Parishioners of All Saints’ at the Society of Mary May Devotion in Kentish Town last May.

Attendance last Sunday

Flowers

The flowers this Sunday have been given by Charlotte Black in memory of her mother, Priscilla Black.

If anyone would like to make a donation for flowers, please contact Shawn or the office.

Prayer List

The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street:

April 21st – Eoghan Healy, Rebecca Hirst, Fr. David Hobden, James and Gwendoline Holdcroft, Edwin Holmes, The Rev’d Canon Graham Holcombe, Bishop David Hope
22nd – Richard Hoskinson, David Hutt, Alfred Imhoff, David James, Andrew Jervis, Arthur Johnson, Stephen Jury, Malcolm Kemp
23rd – Alan Kimbrough, Brenda Koupis, The Very Rev’d Harry Krauss, Deirdre Laing, Graham Last, Christopher Laws
24th – Cornelius Logue, Frau Dr Christiane Loidl-Rainey, Nigel Lynn, Henry Macey, Bishop Michael Marshall, Robert Mason, Graham Mather
25th – Judith Mather, The Ven Fr Stephen McClatchie, The Rev’d Peter McGeary, Nigel McNeill, John McWhinney, Anne Merritt
26th – Thomas Moller, Barry Moore, Dr John Morrell, Fr Stephen Morris, Inger Mosbery, Carol Mundell
27th – Christopher Naylor, Brian Newman, Elaine Norman, Graham Norman, Richard North, Fr Paul Ockford

The sick:

Javier Barbetta, Martin Berka, David Craig, Roger Dilks, Fr. Harry Hodgetts, Lesley Lee, Wendy Leech, Elizabeth Lyon, Frank Ottwell, James Roger, Bruce Ross-Smith

The faithful departed:

James Forde

Those whose anniversaries of death fall at this time:

April 21st – Constance Briscoe, David Mason Pr
22nd – Charles Messenger, Elenor Stanton, Arthur Sandeman Pr
23rd – Hannah Ebbs, John Burton-White
24th – Beatrice Atkins, Ada Brookes, Letitia Nettey, Ambrose Weekes Bp
26th – Sarah Edmonds, Sister Elizabeth Noel, Leslie Clutterham, Dorothy Coles, Ze Renato, Denzil Freeth, Marcelina Breton
27th – Richard Dibley
28th – Isabel Sturges-Jones, Lilian Raven, John Birch

Tuesday 23rd April – St George, M, Patron of England
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Wednesday 24th April – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Thursday 25th April – St Mark the Evangelist
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Friday 26th April – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Saturday 27th April – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass