Weekly Email – The First Sunday in Lent
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Dear friends,
As we begin Lent and prepare our hearts to celebrate the Paschal Mystery at Easter, there are many opportunities for prayer, renewal, and repentance on offer at All Saints’ to assist us to return to the Lord.
In the liturgical life of our parish, Stations of the Cross are available on Friday evenings all through Lent at 7.00 pm. This wonderful devotion involves us tracing the last few hours in Our Lord’s life and entering into the mystery of his Passion through the mind’s eye of our imagination and emotions. We move around the church, stopping at each Station to ponder an event in the Lord’s road to Calvary. The liturgy takes around half an hour and follows the Friday evening Mass.
I would also draw your attention to the pattern of daily Masses which we have at All Saints’, with celebrations of the Eucharist every day at 12 noon and 6.30 pm. I would urge you to consider coming to an extra Mass during the week and making that part of your Lenten rule of life, so that you can encounter the Lord in Word and Sacrament.
Many opportunities for study and theological learning are available so that we can deepen our understanding of the Christian Faith. There will be an online Zoom Theology seminar centred on the rites of Holy Week on Tuesday 14th March at 7.00 pm. This will be led by Fr Jeremy Haselock and further details can be found here. In addition, our Lent Lecture will take place on Thursday 23rd March at 7.30 pm. Dr Ayla Lepine will speak about the online exhibition she has curated entitled, “Fruits of the Spirit: art from the heart.” You can read more about this fascinating evening here.
We will also be organising a “Laetare Sunday Treat” visit to the Royal Academy on Sunday 19th March at 3.00 pm to see their latest exhibition entitled, “Spain and the Hispanic World.” The exhibition contains the treasures of the Hispanic Society of America’s Museum on loan to the Royal Academy and includes a host of religious images, statues, vestments, and devotional objects. Seeing this remarkable collection, and exploring the creativity of Christian art in so many different Spanish-speaking contexts will be a fascinating and rewarding experience, I am sure.
As we look forward to Holy Week, I urge you all to put the dates and times of the liturgies of that holy time in your diaries (listed below). We are particularly pleased that Bishop Jonathan has agreed to be our Holy Week preacher this year. He will celebrate and preach at all the main liturgies from Palm Sunday to Easter Day and I look forward to hearing his teaching and homiletic reflection.
As we enter Lent, it is also important to think about almsgiving. Our parish Lent Appeal 2023 will be shared between three charitable causes: the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal through Christian Aid; the Soup Kitchen at the American Church on the Tottenham Court Road (contributing to the cost of the Soup Kitchen’s mental health worker); and the Bishop of London’s Lent Appeal, helping to provide trauma counsellors in Mozambique. You can contribute to our Lent Appeal here.
You may also want to make pondering how you support the ministry of All Saints’ through your giving a focus of your Lenten prayer and reflection. More details are laid out later in this email about the stewardship campaign that will be taking place this Lent. Lent is a great time to review how you give, what you contribute, and ways in which we can reflect God’s generosity to us in our support of the Church. All members of the electoral roll will be asked if they can make a prayerful and generous response to this campaign by Easter Day. More details below.
I encourage you to take advantage of these many opportunities to deepen your faith and serve your neighbour as we make our Lenten pilgrimage to Easter. I wish you all a holy and blessed time of preparation, and pray we will know the Lord’s presence among us as we celebrate the mystery of his Passion and Resurrection.
Fr Peter
Congratulations to Fr Alan Rimmer, our new assistant priest, upon celebrating the Parish Mass for the first time last Sunday. How beautifully he presided over the liturgy, and what an excellent homily he preached. You can watch again here.
Stewardship Campaign 2023
In the early weeks of Lent, every member of our electoral roll will be sent a letter and an email encouraging them to think about two specific things: the first is how they give of their resources to support the ministry of the Church; and the second is how they give of their time to the same end.
Our campaign will be launched this Sunday and the first of these questions will be the subject of this Sunday’s homily, so we can explore theologically why generosity lies at the heart of Christian discipleship.
The challenge the PCC has set for our parish is this: can every member of the electoral roll make some sort of prayerful response to our campaign by Easter?
The first of the two questions we want to ask is simply this. If you do not already contribute to the life and work of All Saints’ by a regular monthly contribution through the Parish Giving Scheme, could you please consider doing so. You can do this here, by clicking on the “set up regular payment” option.
How much you chose to give is very much a decision for you. However, you might find it useful to know that our current average monthly donation is £92. That figure may not be possible for everyone. Some may be able to contribute more, and others less. Nonetheless, it does give some idea of what many give. Even if you are not in a position to offer much at the moment financially, just making a modest regular payment is of huge help to us.
The second challenge we will be making is to encourage people to think about whether they could volunteer more of their time in the service of All Saints’ church. Time can be the most precious “commodity” we have. Giving of time to the life of All Saints’ is a hugely important thing. So many of our parish ministries depend on volunteers to uphold the outreach and activities of our church.
Nearly every rota we have is in need of more volunteers. In addition, there are some areas of our parish’s life where an increase in volunteers will mean we spend less for services that are currently undertaken by paid professionals. We need extra help in a wide range of areas: church welcoming; coffee and refreshments rotas; sacristy work and laundering; cleaning and upkeep of the church; opening and closing the building; and staffing our parish bar. If you wish to volunteer for any of these areas of our parish’s life, please email our parish office.
We hope that every person on our electoral roll will be able to make some sort of prayerful response to our campaign, outlining how they want to contribute to the life of our parish. I invite you to keep this project as a special Lenten prayer intention, asking God to bless our efforts and to prompt our parishioners to respond generously and creatively.
Fr Peter
Fr Peter hosted a special luncheon at All Saints’ Vicarage last Friday to thank the clergy who have helped out covering Masses over the last few months at All Saints’, whilst we have had no assistant priest. We are hugely grateful to all the priests who offer Mass at All Saints’ and thank them for their generosity and kindness.
New edition of the Parish Paper
The new Lent/Easter 2023 edition of the All Saints’ Parish Paper has just come out hot off the press! The Parish Paper is the journal of the Friends of All Saints’, Margaret Street, and is posted directly to all members of the Friends. If you would like to receive a copy, join the Friends of All Saints’ here.
This latest edition of the Parish Paper includes: the Bishop of Fulham’s sermon from All Saints’ Day; an introduction to Fr Alan Rimmer, our new assistant priest; news from the Music Department; reports of parish pilgrimages and retreats; reflection on the death of Her Majesty the Queen; how Friends can contribute to our Stewardship Campaign; opportunities for study and formation over the coming months; and reports of parish outings.
Holy Week 2023
Please note that it is our custom during Holy Week to have only one celebration of the Mass each day on Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, at 6.30 pm with a homily.
Palm Sunday 2nd April 2023
11.00 am High Mass with sermon by Bishop Jonathan.
N.B. Meet at 11.00 am in Oxford Market for the procession of palms.
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction
Holy Monday 3rd April 2023
5.30 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Low Mass with homily: Bishop Jonathan
Holy Tuesday 4th April 2023
11.00 am Bishop of Fulham’s Chrism Mass at St Andrew’s, Holborn.
5.30 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Low Mass with homily: Fr Peter
Holy Wednesday 5th April 2023
5.30 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Low Mass with homily: Bishop Jonathan
7.30 pm Tenebrae
Maundy Thursday 6th April 2023
6.30 pm High Mass with sermon by Bishop Jonathan, followed by watch at altar of repose until midnight
Good Friday 7th April 2023
3.00 pm Solemn Liturgy with sermon by Bishop Jonathan
7.30 pm Stations of the Cross (Maria Desolata)
Holy Saturday 8th April 2023
9.00 pm Easter Vigil with baptisms, confirmations and sermon by Bishop Jonathan.
Easter Day 9th April 2023
11.00 am High Mass with sermon by Bishop
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 pm Evensong, Te Deum, and Benediction
In Sunday’s sermon at the High Mass, Fr Alan Rimmer explored Matthew’s Transfiguration. He distilled the narrative down to its essentials: “Look up and listen up.” Christ calls us to grow in relationship with God, our neighbour and with ourselves by being attentive to God’s presence and listening to his voice. You can watch the homily again here.
Baptism and Confirmation
Please be in touch with Fr Peter if you would like to be baptised and/or confirmed this Easter. Confirmation classes begin this week for those wishing to receive the sacraments of initiation, but there is still time to include anyone who would like to join them even at this late stage. The confirmation will take place on Saturday 8th April at 9.00 pm at the Easter Vigil, which Bishop Jonathan will celebrate.
At the High Mass for Ash Wednesday, ashes were imposed on the heads of the faithful as a sign of repentance and our return to the Lord. The music included: Missa Emendemus in melius – Palestrina; Nolo mortem peccatoris – Morley; Emendemus in melius – Byrd. You can watch the liturgy again here.
Walsingham National Pilgrimage
The National Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham will take place on Monday 29th May 2023. As usual, we will be organising a coach for the day to take pilgrims to Walsingham and back. It will depart from Margaret Street at 7.30 am, and return to London, setting off around tea time, and arriving back in London by the late evening. The cost is £20 per head. In order to book a place on the coach, please contact the parish office and make a payment to our office administrator, Jonathan.
Huge thanks to Richard and Daniel for organising the live-stream of our High Mass on Ash Wednesday, whilst Huw Pryce was away. We owe all those who support our online and live-stream ministry, especially Huw, so much for all you do to enable our online worshippers to connect with us.
Attendance Last Sunday
In his sermon for Ash Wednesday, Fr Alan explored Bruegel’s painting, “The Fight between Carnival and Lent.” On the left, Bruegel satirises indulgence and partying, and on the right, he parodies religious austerity and Lenten discipline. That image exemplifies the contrasts – but also the surprising overlaps, parallels and similarities – between these two impulses in the human experience. Lent is not about rejecting fun or pleasure in favour of piety, but rather about ensuring our creaturely human experience leads us to God. You can watch his homily again here to learn more about how we might use Wednesday’s readings to approach Lent with fresh eyes this year.
Links for Sunday
The links for the livestream and service sheet for this Sunday’s High Mass are at the end of this email.
Evensong and Benediction takes place at 6pm this Sunday. Music will include Morley’s Short Service and Purcell’s Remember not, Lord, our offences.
Prayer list
The sick
Fr. Harry Hodgetts, Amanda Barrett, Greg Loveday, Theresa Moses, Don McWhinney, Martin Berka, Pete Turner, James Rodger, Andrew Rodger, David Craig, Charles Thompson, Elizabeth Lyon
The faithful departed
Guy Rochette, Ron Capon
Anniversaries of death
February 26th – Ian Searle
27th – Lionel Ryan, Catherine Thomas
28th – Alexander Finnis, (29th) Martin Mogridge
March 1st – Dennis Gill, William Batey, Gertrude Bennett, Charles Bewick Pr., Frances Lightfoot, Beatrice Ansah
3rd – Catherine Packer, Ernest Gittins, Walter Freeth, Bridget Wright, Marion Badger
4th – Kenneth Edwards, Alfred Gorse
The Friends of All Saints’
February 26th – Ian & Veronica Summers, Ann Tacchi, Sebastian Taite-Ellis, Michael Taylor, Andrew Thompson, Pat Thompson
27th – Charles Thomson, James Thomson, Jeremy Thorp, Daniel Turner, Christine Vaughn Lillie, Sam Walsh
28th – Christopher Walsh, Christopher Waterhouse, Philip Wayne, Fr. Benjamin Weitzmann, Michael Westcott, James White, Dr. Roger White, Matthew Whittaker, Tim Widdowfield, David Wilcox, Ian Wilson, Juliet Windham, Philip Wood, Martin Woods, Martin Wooley, David Wright, Fr. John Wylam
March 1st – Mark Allan, Martin Amherst-Lock, Bryan Anderson, Mary Attenborough, Richard Ayling, James Babington Smith
2nd – Ruth Baker, Stephen Barber, Fr. Roger Beck, Dr. William Benefield, Charlotte Black, Joy Blacklock, Graeme Bloom
3rd – David Blunden, Colin Bodkin, Fr. Michael Bowie, Eric Broglé, Fr. Julian Browning, Margaret Burgess
4th – Kate Burling, Graham Burns, Maureen Cambrey, Adrian Carlton-Oatley, Kate Charles
Service times this week
Saturday 25th February – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 26th February – The First Sunday in Lent
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 Evensong and Benediction
Monday 27th February – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Tuesday 28th February – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Wednesday 1st March – St. David
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Thursday 2nd March – St. Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass
Friday 3rd March – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Mass
7.00 pm Stations of the Cross
Saturday 4th March – Feria
12.00 noon Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 5th March – The Second Sunday in Lent
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 Evensong and Benediction