All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear friends,

Finding time and space for silence can be very difficult. The world in which we live prioritises activity, noise, speed, and haste over stillness and recollection. Our city is an exciting and energising place, but it is also one in which shrill voices via for our attention; loud commercial interests tempt us to spend and consume; and media of varying forms contest truth, reality, and what it means to be socially connected.

Amidst these competing siren voices, sources of distraction, and causes of exhaustion, I hope All Saints’ offers the world a point of stillness in which we are able to find calm, hear the voice of the Lord, and reconnect with our own inner world.

This is one of the reasons why the ministry of our weekday church welcomers is so important. Each afternoon, a group of parishioners staff the church, offering a ministry of welcome to all those who pass by and visit our church. I want to publicly thank them for the crucial work they do in allowing us to keep our church open in a way that is safe and welcoming to all.

The number of visitors who find our church by chance and come in to spend a few moments in prayer, to spiritually catch their breath, or light a candle, is astounding. I pray that the beauty of our building and the peace to be found here is something that speaks to visitors of God’s presence and of his love for them.

Many of our parishioners also find that attending one of our daily Masses offers a time for recollection and quiet. The Low Mass offered each day at 12 noon and at 6.30 pm is an opportunity to reconnect with the Lord present in Word and Sacrament. It is a good way of punctuating our busy days with a moment of peace and calm as we seek to refocus and reorientate our lives to what is really important.

There are also other occasions during the week when time is intentionally made for silent prayer and contemplation. One such is the Holy Hour which take place each Wednesday from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm, before the evening Mass. We have found this to be very popular since it was begun about a year ago.

Through August, the Holy Hour will move from taking place at the Lady Altar to being at the High Altar. We hope this will give a better visual focus for our prayer and to make it easier for people to see that the Blessed Sacrament is exposed when they enter the building. My prayer is that this will lead to more people making time to be present for this wonderful period of silent contemplation and adoration.

Through the month of August the Wednesday night Holy Hour will be followed by a series of Bible Study evenings run by Fr Alan. Further details are to be found below, along with the link via which you can sign up for the study evenings.

I hope this contributes to Wednesday evenings being a time of renewal and encounter with the Lord over the next few weeks, as we place our trust in him and ask him to draw us closer to himself, so that we might understand and experience his love for us more deeply.

Fr Peter

August Bible Study

Our August Bible study will focus on St Luke’s Gospel this year. Sessions will take place on 13, 20 and 27 August after the evening Mass. You can sign up for all the sessions, or just those you are able to make, here. 

Assumptiontide celebrations 2025

Friday 15th August 2025
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm High Mass
Preacher: Fr Peter Anthony

Sunday 17th August 2025
6.00 pm Assumptiontide Evensong and Benediction with Procession of Our Lady down Oxford Street.
Preacher: The Revd Philip Corbett, Vicar of St Silas and Holy Trinity, Kentish Town.

Courtyard Dinner

There will be a dinner for our younger adults on Thursday, 21st August after the 6.30pm Mass. Weather-permitting we’ll be in the courtyard. Please contact Fr Alan to sign up.

Attendance last Sunday

For your prayers

The Friends of All Saints’ Margaret Street

27th – Christopher Naylor, Brian Newman, Barry Newsome, Elaine Norman, Richard North, Fr Paul Ockford
28th – Fr Peter & Anna Oesterby-Joergensen, Amanda Oldman, Daniel Oliver, Fr Barry Orford, Nicholas Page, Samantha Parker, Malcolm Parr, Bhaven Patel, Philip Payne, Alma Pearson, Gladys Pearson
29th – Pat Philips, Dr Colin Podmore, Nick & Cecilia Powell, Susan Prain, Vasileios Psomas, Simon Rainey, Heikki Repo
30th – The All Saints Sisters of the Poor
31st – Friends of All Saints’ in need
1st – Carlos Remotti-Breton, Fr Steve Rice, Fr John Rick, Fr Peter Roberts, Hilary Rodger 2nd – Greg Round, Jamie Rundle, Mary Sherred, James Shrimpton

The sick

Biddy Baxter, Jean Castledine, David Craig, Fr Michael Gudgeon, Sheelagh Gudgeon, Elizabeth Lyon, Fr Harry Hodgetts, Lionel Persey, Fr Peter Roberts, James Rodger, Fr Jim Rosenthal, Ingrid Slaughter, Juliet Windham

The recently departed

Lynn Persey, Damien Martin, Vera Silberberg

Anniversaries of death

27th – Roy Ellis
29th – Edward Hobson, Herbert Palmer Pr, Helen Clark, George Maynard, Patricia Self, Molly Voy
30th – George Maryon-Wilson
31st – John Gardner, Francis Woodlock, Margery Duce
1st – Winifred Cratherne
2nd – Patrick Watmore, Sara Stevens, Eva Spencer

Services this Week

Saturday 26th July – Ss. Joachim and Anne
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 27th  July – TRINITY VI
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Solemn Evensong and Benediction

Monday 28th July – Feria
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Tuesday 29th July – Ss. Martha, Mary and Lazarus
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Wednesday 30th July – S. Peter Chrysologus
12 noon Low Mass
5.30 Holy Hour
6.30 pm Low Mass

Thursday 31st July – S. Ignatius Loyola
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Friday 1st August – S. Alphonsus Liguori
12 noon Low Mass
6.30 pm Low Mass

Saturday 2nd August – Feria
12pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Confessions
6.30 pm Vigil Mass of Sunday

Sunday 3rd August – TRINITY VII
8.30 am Low Mass
11 am High Mass
5.15 pm Low Mass
6.00 pm Solemn Evensong and Benediction