St Mary’s Blackheath
Newsletter 11th February 2024
Sunday Masses: Saturday 6.30pm first Mass of Sunday
Sunday 9.30 and 11am and 5pm.
Monday to Friday: Mass at 8am.
Saturday 10am and 6.30pm
Confessions: Saturday 12 to 1
Today is the sixth Sunday of the Church’s year – otherwise known as Quinquagesima Sunday, the Sunday before Lent. It is the last Sunday on which we use the green vestments until after the Easter season has been completed.
Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Many people like to come to Mass on this day, and there will be Masses at 8 and 10am and 6.30pm. Instead of the normal penitential rite, after the gospel the ashes will be blessed, and you will be marked with them – Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.
Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence.
On weekdays, generally Masses will be for the Lenten season.
Lent is a period of prayer and penance as we prepare for the celebration of Easter. I leave you to decide the form that this will take. On Sundays there will be Stations of the Cross at 4.15pm.
The Parish Council meets in the house at 8pm on Tuesday evening. I have left out packs of agenda papers for the members.
The funeral Mass for Alyn Roberts will take place at 11.30 on 27th February.
As things stand at present, I have no further information to give you on the future of the parish or of my own personal circumstances, but I will keep you informed.
Various works undertaken in recent weeks. Repairs were required to the roof of the Church following the winter storms and new lights have been installed in the garden. I hope that these are an improvement. The old lamp posts were not very good as the underground cable had rotted and they would cut out.
My mixture for pancake batter requires 8oz of plain flour. Mix in three beaten eggs and a tablespoon of oil. Add about ¾ of a pint of milk and leave to cool for about an hour. If necessary, add a little more milk before cooking. Use a very hot pan with some oil to cook the mixture. If you are careful, you will be able to toss the pancake after the mixture has set.
Charles Lamb is in a melancholy mood:
Ghost-like I paced round the haunts of my childhood,
Earth seemed a desert I was bound to traverse,
Seeking to find the old familiar faces.
A prayer for Lent: Almighty God, grant that by this holy fast of Lent, in prayer and good works, we may listen more ardently to your Word in our hearts and grow in obedience to you and in love of our neighbour. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
News from the steam railway: the bar car (RMB no 1851) is out of service with a defective floor. I hope it will be repaired in time for my next turn of duty on the Easter Bank holiday.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon