All Saints Margaret Street.

Dear friends,

Now we have celebrated Pentecost and the season of Easter has formally come to a close, our minds turn to one of the great feasts in the Christian calendar that takes place next week: Corpus Christi, or the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. This falls on Thursday 16th June this year.

The foremost celebration of the institution of the Eucharist is, of course, Maundy Thursday. The liturgy of that evening, however, has always been tinged with an increasing sense of sadness as we approach the betrayal and death of Christ.

In the thirteenth century, therefore, it was proposed by, amongst others, St Thomas Aquinas that a second feast commemorating the gift of the Mass should be celebrated which allowed a fuller sense of celebration and rejoicing.

This came to be fixed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, and was frequently accompanied not by a sombre procession to an altar of repose, but rather by a joyful procession of the Blessed Sacrament in full celebration with the people of God participating en fête .

The procession we will make down Oxford Street after the High Mass on Corpus Christi is one of the most well-known moments in our annual liturgical life at All Saints’. It is a wonderful way of celebrating and proclaiming our faith in Jesus Christ at the heart of one of the busiest shopping streets in Europe.

So much of our worshipping life naturally takes place inside our church buildings. An outdoor procession, however, offers a joyful occasion for us to free our faith from the confines of a church building. We present the Gospel to the world as a living thing, believed and lived out by those who participate in the procession.

Deep down, there is something about a procession of people that acts as a liturgical metaphor for the whole of Christian life. We believe that from our baptism onwards, we become part of God’s pilgrim people, making our way to the City of God in the company of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ isn’t an individual matter of what we alone believe or think. Rather, it is about our sacramental participation in the Body of Christ.

This metaphor for the Christian life becomes particularly evident on Corpus Christi. The procession that takes place with the Blessed Sacrament in our midst displays to the world through liturgical action and sacramental sign what it means to be a Christian. We make our way along Oxford Street with Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament at the heart of our celebration and movement. Just as Christ’s presence in the host is a blessing to all who see and watch, the Church, too, is called to be a means by which Christ blesses the world and reconciles it to the Father.

I urge you to make sure you come on Thursday 16th June at 6.15 pm, and to bring as many friends as you can. It will be a wonderful celebration. I pray we will reveal to those who see us the love of God made present in Jesus Christ, and perpetuated through the miracle and mystery of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.

Fr Peter

What fun we had last Sunday celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen with a parish lunch in the courtyard.

Online Zoom Theology

Once every two months, we organise a theology seminar by Zoom to discuss a particular idea, theme or text. We aim to make discussion as approachable as possible, and to give people the space they need to express their thoughts and questions.

Our next online Zoom Theology session will take place on Tuesday 12th July 2022 at 7.00 pm. We will look at the recently published novel, Cathedral, by Ben Hopkins

This theology session will be led by Fr Peter Anthony and will explore novels about the building of cathedrals. We will compare Hopkins’ Cathedral with other similar works such as Golding’s The Spire, Huysmans’ La Cathédrale, and Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth.

What is it about great buildings that seem to speak beyond themselves about the divine and the power of human creativity? How do churches operate as sacraments of God’s presence and why do they feel so necessary for the offering of Christian worship?

It is suggested that participants read at least part of Hopkins’ Cathedral before the seminar.

Zoom link here.

A huge thank you to all who helped serve and prepare our Jubilee lunch on Sunday!

Corpus Christi 2022

Join us on Thursday 16th June at 6.15 pm for High Mass with Procession of the Blessed Sacrament down Oxford St for Corpus Christi.

Music: Mozart, Missa Brevis in G & Ave Verum; Croce, O sacrum convivium; Henschel, Tantum Ergo.

Preacher: The Revd Max Bayliss, Chaplain, Queens’ College, Cambridge.

Walsingham Cell

Our Society of Our Lady of Walsingham cell meets this Saturday 11th June for its usual monthly devotion of recitation of the rosary before the 12 noon Mass.

Requiem Mass for Fr Gerald Reddington

A High Mass of Requiem will take place for Fr Gerald Reddington on Saturday 25th June at 12 noon. Because Fr Gerald died during the COVID pandemic, this is the first opportunity we have had to organise a Solemn Mass for him. We will be joined by his family and friends. All are welcome to attend to give thanks for this life and pray for his soul.

The enormous Platinum Pudding trifle we served last Sunday was the talk of the town and a splendid way of celebrating the Jubilee!

Parish visit to the Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery

A parish visit to this summer’s extraordinary Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, followed by dinner at Le Beaujolais restaurant, is planned for Friday 1st July.

We have booked 30 tickets for a visit to the exhibition at 5.30 pm, and dinner at Le Beaujolais will follow at 7.30 pm (also maximum capacity 30). The cost of a standard adult ticket for the exhibition is £26, and dinner at Le Beaujolais (including service charge but not wine) is £45.

To book, please email Jonathan, our new administrator, via the parish office (office@ASMS.uk) to signal how many tickets you want to reserve and whether you want to come to the dinner. Please also say if you have a reduction or membership card for the National Gallery. Reservations will be apportioned on a “first come, first served” basis. Once you secure a reservation, Jonathan will contact you shortly to arrange payment.

In last Sunday’s homily at our High Mass, Fr Julian described the Holy Spirit as “God’s imagination” leading us into the new possibilities that life lived in the Spirit holds. It is Her Majesty the Queen’s life of faith lived in the Spirit for which we give thanks in the Platinum Jubilee, praying for the grace to make of our country’s common life a Jerusalem blessed by the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. Watch Fr Julian’s homily again here.

A generous benefaction

Parishioners of All Saints’ will rejoice to hear the news that through the gift of a gracious benefactor, our parish is now in possession of a relic of the True Cross, and of the Apostle Peter. These precious objects will be available for public veneration on St Peter’s Day and Holy Cross Day later on this summer. We thank the gracious benefactor from the bottom of our hearts!

Parish theatre trip: The Southbury Child

A parish trip to the Bridge Theatre to see The Southbury Child starring Alex Jennings has been organised for Thursday 11th August at 7.30 pm. Find out more about the production here.

We have bought 15 tickets at £39.50 each. To reserve a place, please email Jonathan, our new administrator, via the parish office (office@ASMS.uk). Reservations will be apportioned on a “first come, first served” basis. Jonathan will then contact you to finalise your booking by arranging payment.

London Churches Refugee Fund

The London Churches Refugee Fund’s Annual Speaker event will take place at St Martin in the Fields on 20 June at 6.30 for 7.00pm. This year it is being given by Dr Sam Wells under the title “A Home for Everyone, Responding to the Displacement of Populations”.

On Tuesday 12th July, our Zoom theology seminar will discuss Ben Hopkins’ latest novel, “Cathedral.” It doesn’t matter whether you loved it or loathed it – bring your thoughts and reflections to the discussion!

Links for Sunday

The link for the Propers for Trinity Sunday is at the end of this email. And click here for the YouTube live stream.

Evensong and Benediction is at 6pm on Sunday. The music includes Gray in F minor, Stainer I saw the Lord, and Sumsion Benediction hymns.

Flowers

We are looking for volunteers to help with the flowers in church. If you have a particular talent for flower arranging and would like to help from time to time or on a regular basis, please contact Shawn on 07988 287 663 or shawnwilbe@outlook.com.

If you would like to make a donation for flowers, please contact Shawn or speak to Chris Self.

Prayer list

The sick

Fr Harry Hodgetts, Elizabeth Lyon, James Shrimpton, David Robin, Martin Berka, Gloria Fleming, Jim Robinson, David Craig, Jim Strickland, Amanda Barrett, Tim Marland, Sebastian Taite-Ellis, Michael Lamprill

Those known to us recently departed

Ted Luscombe Bp, Sister Benedicta SLG, Michael Philip Learoyd, Brian Parker, Leslie Routledge, Philip Sanders

Anniversaries of death

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
18th – Susanne Coles, Eric Griffin, Jim Peschek