Weekly Email – Assumption of Our Lady
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Dear friends,
We celebrate this weekend the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and I look forward to sharing the liturgies of this great feast with you all.
Sunday will be kept as the feast day itself. The High Mass on Sunday morning at 11.00 am will be a magnificent feast of music, with Rheinberger’s Cantus Missae and Elgar’s Ave Maria. We will be able to sing our hearts out to much-loved marian hymns including, Sing we of the Blessed Mother, Mother all beautiful, and In splendour arrayed. I will be the preacher at the 11.00 am High Mass.
In the evening there will be a procession of Our Lady down Oxford Street after Evensong. We will return to church for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The office will be sung to Dyson’s setting in D, the anthem will be Palestrina’s Assumpta est Maria, and we will also hear Henschel’s great Tantum Ergo at Benediction. Fr Alan will preach for us at this evening liturgy.
After the Procession there will be a parish party to celebrate the feast in our courtyard. Do come along and bring as many friends with you as you can.
We still need volunteers for a number of jobs, particularly stewarding at the procession. This is a crucial role that helps bring off the procession safely and in an orderly way. Please be in touch with Fr Alan or the parish office (office@asms.uk) if you are able to help.
We recall in this great feast of the Assumption that at the end of her earthly life, Mary, Jesus’ mother, was taken up into heaven to be with her son. Early traditions of the church speak about the Apostles gathering at Mary’s grave only to find it empty and covered with flowers – her body having been taken into heaven.
The reason Christians have always believed in Mary’s Assumption is quite simple. Christians believe Mary to be unique and special. Only she was chosen to carry and give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. And because she was kept from all stain of sin, and because her vocation was so extraordinary, God did not let her experience death, but rather took her to heaven before her body could know earthly decay.
As well as being a opportunity to celebrate Our Lady’s vocation, it is also a time to give thanks for our own baptismal identity as members of the Body of Christ.
Baptism points to the thing Mary experienced at the end of her earthly life – the life of heaven. When we were baptized, our destiny became like that of Our Lady – to live for ever with God.
Mary experiences now the life of heaven. She is in a place where her earthly life is fulfilled and completed – and that is something all Christians hope for.
So when we celebrate and take to the streets on Sunday evening, it is important to know what we are proclaiming to the world – the joyful news that through putting our trust in Jesus Christ, being baptized into him, and by living according to the Gospel’s values and not the world’s, we are given the promise of eternal life.
Fr Peter
Parish Walk
Our next parish walk will take place on Saturday 22nd August 2026 on the Kent Downs. Our rambling group will take the 10.34 Ramsgate train to Wye from Charing Cross Station. The walk will be around nine miles with some ascents. All are welcome. Please be in touch with Fr Alan to sign up or for more information.
Young adults dinner
There will be a dinner in our parish courtyard for our young adults group on Thursday 20th August 2026. If you would like to attend, please be in touch with Fr Alan.
Filming this Sunday
Please note that some filming will take place this Sunday during our liturgies as part of a documentary being made about Gen Z interest in, and return to, Christian faith. The film makers are interested in examining the perspectives of young parishioners at All Saints’. It has been agreed their filming will be carefully regulated and discrete in character.
Walsingham Pilgrimages
Two more pilgrimages to Walsingham will take place this year. Places are free on both trips, but only a few days are left to book for the weekend pilgrimage:
Annual parish weekend pilgrimage
Friday 18th – 21st September 2026
Our weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham involves staying in Shrine accommodation and spending the weekend there. This pilgrimage involves: a Pilgrimage Mass on the Saturday at the Shrine Church; evening processions; sacraments of healing; sprinkling at the holy well and finishing with procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.
The cost is £240 Friday pm to Sunday evening – including full board plus mini-coach from Kings Lynn. Please note that we travel up to Kings Lynn by train and pilgrims need to book their own train ticket.
Please book your place and pay via Eventbrite here.
Walsingham Advent Retreat
Friday 4th – Sunday 6th December 2026
This pilgrimage is more reflective in character and takes the form of a silent retreat. All those who take part go into silence on Friday evening after supper. Silence is then kept in the Shrine grounds through the whole of Saturday until after the Solemn Mass on Sunday morning which takes place at St Mary’s parish church. This year’s retreat leader will be Bishop Peter Eagles.
The cost is £240 – including full board plus mini-coach from Kings Lynn. Please note that we travel up to Kings Lynn by train and pilgrims need to book their own train ticket. We will set off around midday on Friday 4th December and return to Kings Cross on Sunday evening around 7.00 pm.
Please book your place and pay via Eventbrite here.
Assumption flowers
The flowers in front of Our Lady are given by Charlotte Black, in memory of her father, Donald Black, whose anniversary falls at this time.
The flowers on Our Lady’s processional litter are given in loving memory of Biddy Baxter, from Annie and Pat.
If you would like to make a donation for flowers or the courtyard garden, please contact Shawn directly or via the office.
Attendance last Sunday
For your prayers
The sick
Jean Castledine, David Craig, Fr Luke Demetri, Paul Faithful, Winifred Haws, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Danny Mather, Ingrid Slaughter, Juliet Windham, Martin Woods
The recently departed
Jim Carson, Nicholas Clark, Philip Shuker
Anniversaries of Death
16th – Veronica Lee, Alexander Lee
17th – Dorothy Lane
18th –
19th – David Russell
20th – William Cargill Pr, Harry Allan
21st – George Jeynes, Leroy Lawes
22nd – Marion Ginger
Services this week
Saturday 15th August – Feria
12 pm Low Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 16th August – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Solemn Evensong, Procession, and Benediction
Monday 17th August – Feria
12 pm Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Tuesday 18th August – Feria
12 pm Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Wednesday 19th August – Feria
12 pm Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Thursday 20th August – St Bernard
12 pm Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Friday 21st August – Feria
12 pm Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass
Saturday 22nd August – Queenship of the BVM
12 pm Low Mass
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday
Sunday 23rd August – Trinity 12
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Evensong and Benediction