All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear friends,

A group from All Saints’ has just returned from the National Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. This annual event is always a wonderful opportunity to gather with others to give thanks for all the blessings we receive as a result of Our Lady’s prayers.

The day itself revolves around a large outdoor Mass in the grounds which contain the ruins of the original Abbey and Holy House. The celebrant this year was the Bishop of Oswestry and a very large number of people had made the pilgrimage to Walsingham for the day. After the Mass, there is the opportunity to have a picnic lunch in the grounds and to catch up with friends and acquaintances.

The afternoon begins with a brief devotion and a sermon. This year’s preacher was the Dean of Windsor, the Rt Revd Christopher Cocksworth. He spoke about  Mary’s role being crucial to the way in which the Church defined the mysteries of our salvation in the early councils of the church. Nicaea’s assertion of Christ’s undoubted divinity leads theologians to start referring to Mary as the Mother of God. In this way, what we say and believe about Mary is both influenced by and also undergirds what we want to proclaim about her divine son.

The sermon was followed by a wonderful procession from the Abbey grounds through the village finishing with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It was a joy to see Bishop Jonathan preside over the procession and Benediction.

There then follows an hour or so in which there is time to catch a quick pint of beer before our coach headed home. The Shrine puts on a special beer tent for the National Pilgrimage now. This year’s special beer was called, “Ale Mary”, and it tasted delicious!

As we look forward to the rest of the summer, don’t forget that our parish will be having a weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham from 25th-27th July 2025. There are still places available. This is an opportunity to visit Walsingham over a couple of days with slightly less hurly-burly than the National Pilgrimage.

We leave London on a Friday afternoon, and stay at accommodation offered by the Shrine. There are options either to return on Sunday evening or on the Monday.  A series of devotions and activities take place over the weekend which we undertake as a parish group, such as Stations of the Cross, visiting the Roman Catholic Shrine, and making our intercessions in the Holy House. There are also a number of liturgies which all pilgrims from other parishes who are present that weekend make together, such as the Saturday Pilgrimage Mass, and the evening devotions with processions around the Shrine garden. You can book a place via the Eventbrite link.

I warmly encourage anyone who is thinking about coming to Walsingham for the first time to take the plunge! This is a wonderful way of re-charging our spiritual batteries, and a terrific opportunity to take time out from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives to place ourselves in God’s presence, and grow closer to him.

Fr Peter

Congratulations Keith and Rosa!

We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Keith and Rosa Postance who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. They have kindly offered drinks after the High Mass in our courtyard on Sunday in celebration of this great milestone in their lives. We give thanks with them for God’s many blessings in their married life together and offer our congratulations and best wishes.

Trip to the National Gallery

A parish outing to the National Gallery will take place on Friday 6th June to see its highly praised exhibition focussed on Sienese painting in the 13th Century. There are 20 tickets which will be apportioned on a “first come, first served” basis. There will also be an option for dinner together after the exhibition in Chinatown, which will cost £35 per head.

You can sign up and pay via Eventbrite here.

Parish Walks

Some shifts in the Parish timetable mean that neither proposed date for the next walks are now possible. Apologies to those who have had these dates in your diaries! The next walk will be a nine mile walk from Amberley to Arundel on Saturday July 12th. We’ll get the 10.05 train from Victoria Station. Amberley is the stop before Arundel, so a return ticket will work. We will aim for the 17.14 train back at the latest, and so will be back in London before 7pm. Please email Fr Alan to sign up or for more details.

Fulham Festival

The Bishop of Fulham invites everyone to a day festival which will take place tomorrow (Sat 31st May) at Southwark Cathedral to celebrate the life of his parishes. There will be a Solemn Mass at 11.00 am, followed by the opportunity to have a picnic lunch with activities in the afternoon. The day finishes with Cathedral Evensong at 4.00 pm.

Next Zoom Theology

Our next online Zoom Theology seminar will take place on Tuesday 8th July at 7.00 pm. It will focus on a recently published book by biblical scholar Candida Moss entitled, God’s Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible.

This seminar, led by Fr Peter, will seek to delve deeper into the question of who wrote the New Testament.

We are used to thinking of the great names of the apostolic band as the authors of the gospels and epistles, but who actually put pen to paper, and in what sense can we say they “wrote” those texts?

This ground-breaking new work by Candida Moss explores the contribution of a range of enslaved secretaries, amanuenses and writers. It seeks to reveal the forgotten voices, and marginalised contributors without whose work the New Testament corpus would not exist.

It will be important for all participants to have read Candida Moss’s book in preparation for the seminar.

Flowers

Attendance last Sunday

For your prayers

The Friends of All Saints

1st – Carlos Remotti-Breton, Dr Steve Rice, John Rick, Fr Peter Roberts, Hilary Rodger
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, 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

The sick

Holly Brindley, Ann Brindley, 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 recent departed

Barbara Jones, Vernon Groves, Ina Long, Ronald Corp CBE, Pr, Roger Sainsbury, Bp

Anniversaries of death

1st – Mary Bonar, Edna Hutt, Annie Key, Donald Barnes Pr
2nd – Ronald Self
3rd – Gloria Flynn, Ada Tomlinson, Bob Terwilliger Pr, Vyvian Hall, Gwen Rice
4th – Joan Arnold
5th – Cyril Tomkinson Pr (Seventh Vicar of All Saints), Winifred Richards, Tony Pulleyn
6th – Margaret White-Cooper
7th – Doris Daw, James Binnie, Denise Gerard

Services this week

Saturday 31 May – Easter Feria of Our Lady
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 1 June – SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction

Monday 2 June – Monday after Ascension
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Tuesday 3 June – St Charles Lwanga
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Wednesday 4 June – Wednesday after Ascension
12 noon Low Mass
5.30 Holy Hour
6.30 pm Low Mass

Thursday 5 June – St Boniface, BM
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Friday 6 June – Friday after Ascension
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Saturday 7 June – Saturday after Ascension
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 8 June – PENTECOST
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Solemn Evensong and Benediction with Te Deum