Weekly Email – Trinity 1 | All Saints Margaret Street All Saints Margaret Street | Weekly Email – Trinity 1

Weekly Email – Trinity 1

Friday 9 June 2023 at 13:45

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Dear friends,

We owe the feast of Corpus Christi to a little-known 13th century nun called Juliana of Mont-Cornillon, and the city of Liège.

St Juliana was a Norbertine canoness. She and her sister had been orphaned at an early age and were taken in by a convent of nuns in Mont-Cornillon. It was there that Juliana’s love of the Blessed Sacrament grew and flourished after she eventually entered the order.

At the age of 16 Juliana had her first miraculous vision. The image revealed to her in that experience was of the moon shining in splendour, but with a dark stripe spread across it. It was revealed to Juliana that the shining moon represented the life of the church, and the dark stripe represented the absence of a feast specifically devoted to the Blessed Sacrament.

She kept this vision to herself until she was elected Abbess of her community several years later. When she finally confided the vision to her confessor, he went about asking the advice of many significant theologians in the town on her behalf, including the Archdeacon of Liege, as to what should be done about this strange occurrence. Their unanimous opinion was that there was nothing inimical to the Catholic faith communicated in the vision, so it must be acted upon.

From this point, Juliana devoted her life to campaigning for the institution of a feast of the Eucharist, prompting devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and renewal in the life of the church. She had some limited success in persuading a number of bishops and orders to keep such a feast in Flanders.

Her zeal for justice and holiness led to much local jealousy and politicking, however. She ended up being exiled from her convent on a number of occasions by a local crook and rabble-rouser called Roger, who conspired against her out of envy. She eventually died in exile at the Cistercian Abbey of Fosse-la-Ville in 1258.

All seemed to be lost in her campaign to establish a universal feast of the Eucharist, when three years later, a man called Jacques Pantaléon was elected pope and took the name Urban IV. This was none other than the man who had been Archdeacon of Liege when her visions were first revealed and discussed!! It was he who brought Juliana’a work to fruition and established Corpus Christi as a universal feast for the whole Western church, inviting St Thomas Aquinas to compose many beautiful texts to adorn the feast day.

What a joy it was, therefore, to celebrate yesterday this great feast in which we give thanks for Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. I want to say a huge thank you to all who contributed in any way to yesterday’s liturgy and procession, and especially to thank Fr Philip Warner for his splendid sermon, which you can watch again here.

Fr Philip pondered the reason for building beautiful churches such as All Saints’. They are there, he taught us, for no other reason than to house an altar and the assembly of the people of God who worship at it. He challenged us to live out the mystery we celebrate each day in the Eucharist, and to be confident when we processed through the West End that with God in our midst, we will touch the hearts of those who see us.

I pray that last night’s liturgy was an evangelistic opportunity for us all in which Christ was able to touch and change us: for those who took part in the liturgy, an opportunity to witness joyfully to those around us as we made our way down Oxford Street; for those worshipping online with us, a joy to join their prayer with ours in a deep communion made firm in the Spirit; for those who visited us for the first time the chance to experience something of our parish’s life and to feel welcomed in Christ’s name; and for those who saw us and witnessed our procession, an occasion in which, with the eye of their heart, they might sense Christ present in our midst, and be drawn in faith to him.

Fr Peter

 

Our procession of the Blessed Sacrament returns to All Saints’ church last night.

 

Thanks

I would like to thank all those who contributed in any way to the success of our celebrations of Corpus Christi last night. So many people contributed immense amounts of time, energy and effort.

We owe a great word of thanks to our choir and servers. Many people have already commented to me on the impressive music, and the seamlessly well-organised serving. We are so grateful for all their efforts in the service of the worship of the people of God. We salute Stevie Farr on a wonderful Spatzenmesse, and on keeping us all together, in time, and in tune during the procession – which must be one of the trickiest undertakings of the year!

Particular thanks should go to Fr Alan for carrying our new enormous Coronation Monstrance all the way down Oxford Street, to Fr Stephen Miller, who so beautifully deaconed the Mass, and to Quentin Williams for directing the liturgy so expertly as MC.

We owe all those who had any hand in the live-streaming of the liturgy an enormous debt of thanks. It was an incredibly complicated logistical challenge which they carried off with aplomb. Thank you to Huw Pryce for masterminding the live-stream, and to Richard Everton for operating the mobile camera during the broadcast outside. I wish to thank Richard especially for producing the video of last year’s procession, which formed such a crucial part of our advertising for this year’s feast. The impressive turn out is a sign of how effective that video was in raising people’s awareness of our celebration. Thank you so much, Richard, for all you did in preparation for Corpus Christi and on the night!

We also thank those who helped welcome a huge crowd of people to our parish party after the liturgy. It was a mammoth undertaking and we are especially grateful to Kate Hodgetts and Chris Self for organising refreshments, and to those who served them, including Stuart Voy. We finally locked the church gates around midnight, so it was a splendid party!!

A very significant expression of our gratitude should go to those who helped steward the procession. It felt wonderfully well organised, clearly directed and we got everyone back to church safe and sound. We are indebted to Chris Swift and Nick Gralka for organising the stewards and risk assessments, and to all those who volunteered in this crucial role.

What a joy and a privilege it was to celebrate our Lord’ eucharistic love for us and for the whole human family, and to have been able to witness to that love through our procession, with Christ himself in our midst.

 

It was so good to welcome many guests, friends and parishioners to our parish party after the High Mass and procession last night.

 

Join the Friends of All Saints’

Our celebration of the Friends of All Saints’ on Pentecost Sunday offers an opportunity for us to encourage supporters of All Saints’ who may live outside London or who are not able to worship with us regularly to join the Friends.

Joining the Friends of All Saints’ is also particularly appropriate for our online worshippers and those who live abroad. You can find further details and the link for subscribing to the scheme here.

Our Friends scheme was rebooted and renewed last year. It continues to grow and the total number of members now stands at 183. Of those,100 are “Friends” contributing £25 a year, 79 are “Benefactors” donating at least £120 a year, and 4 are “Patrons” giving £1000 a year.

This means the Friends of All Saints’ currently contribute just under £16,000 a year to our parish’s finances. We are hugely grateful for the generosity this represents. The Friends have had a huge difference to our parish finances – many thanks indeed!

 

We were so pleased last Sunday to be able to wish Sheelagh Gudgeon a very happy birthday and are grateful to her for providing drinks after the Mass in our courtyard. Everyone was very excited to learn Sheelagh had made 200 of her famous cheese biscuits for the occasion. If you haven’t tried one, you simply haven’t lived – they are delicious! Many happy returns, Sheelagh, and thank you for the splendid party!

 

Guest preacher this Sunday

We welcome as our preacher at the High Mass this Sunday Fr Matthew Olver, Professor of Liturgics at Nashotah House, Wisconsin, USA. Fr Olver will be spending some time in the UK this summer during a research sabbatical, and I am so pleased he has agreed to preach for us at All Saints’.

The Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University has named Fr Olver its prestigious Alan Richardson Fellow for 2022-23, and he has been in residence there for part of its Easter term. His research focus is the history of the Roman Canon and especially its use of scripture. Fr Olver is also working on an introduction to the English and American Prayer Books, co-authored with a colleague.

Fr Olver teaches at Nashotah House, a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the Midwest of America. It was founded in the late 1840s at around the same time that All Saints’ was. From its foundation it has always stood in the Anglo-Catholic theological and liturgical tradition and was one of the main means by which the spirit of the Oxford Movement spread through the American Episcopal Church.

We look forward to deepening bonds of support, prayer and friendship between All Saints’ and Nashotah House, look forward to welcoming Fr Olver, and wish him well with his sabbatical studies.

 

Our preacher this Sunday: Fr Matthew Olver, Associate Professor of Liturgics and Pastoral Theology, Nashotah House.

 

Weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham

Do not forget to sign up for our weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham which takes place in a couple of months’ time from Friday 21st July to Monday 24th July 2023.

Cost: £270 Friday to Monday; or £190 Friday to Sunday evening (including full board plus mini-coach from Kings Lynn – pilgrims need to book their own train ticket to Kings Lynn).

Our weekend pilgrimage away involves a range of activities and liturgies spread over a Saturday and Sunday: Pilgrimage Mass at the Shrine Church; evening processions; sacraments of healing; sprinkling at the holy well and finishing with procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.

We are aware that including Monday in the time we are away might not be convenient for those who work. We have decided, therefore, to offer two deals: one for those who wish to come home on Sunday night and one for those who want to come back on Monday.

Please be in touch with our parish office to book your place.

 

Parishioners of All Saints’ enjoy dinner at Le Beaujolais restaurant after our recent visit to the Francis exhibition at the National Gallery. We were so pleased to be joined by our preacher for Pentecost, Fr Steve Rice, who was visiting from North Carolina.

 

Next Zoom Theology Seminar cancelled

We regret to inform you that our next online Zoom Theology seminar has had to be cancelled as our speaker is, for a number of reasons, no longer able to be with us on that day. We apologise for the disappointment this will cause those who regularly participate.

We are in the process of assembling our Zoom Theology programme for the next “academic” year and will re-commence in the early autumn.

 

In the sermon at last Sunday’s High Mass for Trinity Sunday, Fr Peter explored how human understandings of community stem from the trinitarian life of God. Before ever the giving and receiving of love was a human activity, it was a divine one. We see this dynamic in the Mass and are caught up into the life of God every time we celebrate the Eucharist together. You can watch the sermon here.

 

Congratulations, Fr Houlding!

It was such a joy for a number of All Saints’ Parishioners to join Fr David Houlding, Vicar of All Hallows’, Gospel Oak, last Saturday to give thanks for his rich and fruitful ministry as vicar of that parish over 38 years.

Fr David will be retiring in a few weeks’ time and we wish him well as he explores new ministries and fresh opportunities. The celebration of that ministry which took place on Saturday saw a packed church and no fewer than 7 bishops present!

I am delighted to announce that Fr David Houlding has kindly agreed to be our Holy Week preacher next Easter (2024). He will be with us from Palm Sunday to Easter Day and we look forward to hearing him open God’s word and to celebrating the Paschal Mystery with him through the liturgies of the church. He is an excellent preacher and I am grateful that he has kindly accepted our invitation.

 

Fr Peter with Fr David Houlding last Saturday as many friends and parishioners celebrated Fr David’s 38 years as Vicar of All Hallows’, and wished him well as he retires.

 

Forthcoming Guest preachers

Sunday 11th June – Trinity 1
High Mass | 11.00 am
The Revd Dr Matthew Olver,
Associate Professor of Liturgics and Pastoral Theology,
Nashotah House, Wisconsin, USA.

Sunday 13th August 2023 – Assumptiontide Procession
Evensong, Procession of Our Lady and Benediction | 6.00 pm
The Rt Revd Glyn Webster.

Sunday 10th September – 14th Sunday after Trinity
High Mass | 11.00 am
The Revd Dr Michael Bowie,
Vicar, St Peter’s, Eastern Hill, Melbourne, Australia.

Sunday 1st October – 17th Sunday after Trinity
High Mass | 11.00 am
The Revd Katy Hacker Hughes,
Priest Pastor, St Marylebone Parish Church.

Wednesday 1st November 2023 – All Saints’ Day
High Mass | 6.30 pm
The Revd Richard Bastable,
Vicar, St Luke’s Uxbridge Road, and St Matthew’s, Kensington Olympia.

Tuesday 2nd November 2023 – All Souls’ Day
High Mass of Requiem | 6.30 pm
The Revd Dr Barry Orford.

 

Dinner at Le Beaujolais restaurant after our visit to the National Gallery’s St Francis exhibition last week.

 

Attendance last Sunday

 

We were so pleased that our friends from the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina at St Magnus the Martyr were able to join us for our celebration of Corpus Christi, and carried the canopy over the Blessed Sacrament wearing their blue collars of office. The Fraternity is an ancient medieval devotional society, founded in 1343, that existed at St Magnus the Martyr before the Reformation, and which was re-founded by Fr Fynes-Clinton in 1922. Its members wear an special blue collar when acting liturgically and meeting together, as a sign of their devotion to Our Lady and their fellowship within the Fraternity. We are grateful to them for carrying the Blessed Sacrament canopy last night!

 

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 Noble’s Evening Service in B minor and Bairstow’s Jesu, grant me this, I pray.

 

A huge thank you to all who helped organise our Corpus Christi parish party after the High Mass, and to all our friends, parishioners and visitors, who came and celebrated with us!

 

Prayer list

The sick

Fr. Harry Hodgetts, Amanda Barrett, Greg Loveday, Don McWhinney, Martin Berka, Pete Turner, James Rodger, Andrew Rodger, David Craig, Elizabeth Lyon, Ray Oram, Mary Fourlong, Fr. Tim Peskett, Fr. Peter Strange, Réal Guérin, Bp. Michael Curry, Carol Lyman-Pryce, Mary Rowe

The faithful departed

Gloria Fleming

Anniversaries of death

June 11th – Olwen Hajdu, Daphne Marsh, Norah Sweeney, Dee Prior
12th – Wilfred Jennings Pr., Percy Rees, Philip Sparrow, Alison Hack Pr., Naomi Shaw, Michael Keelan, Iris Podmore
13th – Karl Bekker, Philip Harland
14th – Roy Foster Pr., Eric Johnson, Miriam Yates, John Gadney
15th – Eric Stedman, Roualeyn Cuming-Bruce, Clare Prince
16th – William Upton Richards Pr. (first vicar of All Saints’), Ida Jones, Geoffrey Roundtree, Eric Davidson
17th – Gerald Reddington Pr.

The Friends of All Saints’

June 11th – Margaret Goddard, Paul Golding, John Goldsmith, Genevieve Gomi, The Ven. Thomas Greene, Canon Michael Gudgeon
12th – Sheelagh Gudgeon, Ginger and Del Hall, Roger Hancock, Canon Richard Handford, Jill Hargreaves, Christopher Harrison
13th – Patrick Hartley, Canon Jeremy Haselock, Eoghan Healy, Fr. David Hobden, Canon Graham Holcombe, James and Gwendoline Holdcroft
14th – Edwin Holmes, Bp. David Hope, Richard Hoskinson, Fr. David Hutt, Andrew Jervis, Arthur Johnson, Malcolm Kemp
15th – Alan Kimbrough, Brenda Koupis, The Very Rev’d Harry Krauss, Deirdre Laing, Graham Last, Christopher Laws
16th – Cornelius Logue, Nigel Lynn, Henry Macey, Bp. Michael Marshall, Robert Mason, Judith Mather
17th – Fr. Stephen McClatchie, Fr. Peter McGeary, Nigel McNeill, John McWhinney, Colin Menzies, Anne Merritt, Thomas Moller

 

Service times this week

Saturday 10th June – Feria
11.30 am Rosary
12.00 pm Mass of Our Lady of Walsingham
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 11th June – Trinity 1
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction

Monday 12th June – St. Barnabas
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Tuesday 13th June – St. Antony of Padua
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Wednesday 14th June – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Thursday 15th June – Feria
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Friday 16th June – St. Richard
12.00 pm Mass
6.30 pm Mass

Saturday 17th June – Feria
12.00 pm Mass of Requiem
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 18th June – Trinity 2
11.00 am High Mass
5.15 pm Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction