St. Mary’s,
Blackheath
Newsletter: 24th June 2018
Mass times: Saturday: 6.30pm (first Mass of Sunday)
Sunday: 9.30 and 11am and 7.30pm
Monday, Wednesday: 10am
Tuesday, 7.30am
Eucharistic Service: Tuesday 10am
Confessions: Saturday 12 to 1pm
Welcome to the June edition of the Parish magazine.
Today instead of the normal Sunday Mass we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist – the famous declaration of his father Zachary – his name is John.
Otherwise during the week, it is the Twelfth week in ordinary time.
Friday of this week is the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul. It is a holy day of obligation. Masses in the Church are at 7.30 and 10am and at 6.30pm.
There is a Cake sale in the Angelus Room after the morning Masses today.
A couple of projects in hand at present. The boiler in the Church is now more than 30 years old. It is still working quite well but it is coming to the end of its life – and also seems to consume a great deal of gas. Therefore – with the help of a generous donation – I am arranging for it to be replaced during the summer with a more modern boiler. Also the lavatories in the big hall are far from satisfactory and I am arranging from them to be renovated. One side at a time so that there will always be a set available. It should be much easier to keep them clean.
The Blackheath Society are coming to the hall on Tuesday evening for their AGM.
Year 4 from St. Matthew Academy will be coming for a special Mass in the Church on Thursday at 10am. Although this is primarily for the children, you will be welcome to attend if you wish.
Something about the windows in the Church. The window on the far right of the high altar has puzzled us for some time. Recently a visit from an art expert suggested that it must be Judith as she is boldly holding a sword and possibly the head of Holophernes. The most amazing picture of Judith is the Caravaggio in the Barbarini Museum in Rome. The windows in the Church seem to be a random selection of Saints and Old Testament figures but the names are related to the original founders of the Church.
In the next couple of weeks, I will be putting out the application forms for the 2019 First Holy Communion classes. Please return them promptly as I need the numbers to order the books and the other things that we need.
Dare one mention it but there was a serious error in the recent television play about Jeremy Thorpe. At the end, one of the characters boarded a long Routemaster (RML) on route 23 on the day of the court hearing. This was a weekday. The longer buses, from Upton Park garage, only operated on this route on a Saturday – during the week the shorter version, the RM provided the service.
Something quite simple for the recipe corner this time: of late I have mashing some garlic mayonnaise with some flowery mashed potatoes. This goes very well with some fish.
And at the beginning of prayer:
O Lord take away all coldness, all wanderings of the thoughts, and fix our minds upon thee and thy love, O merciful Lord and Saviour, in this our time of prayer.
Do you know Andrew Marvell’s “Upon Appleton House”? The house was once an Abbey and the poet describes the past:
When we have prayed all our Beads,
Someone the holy Legend reads;
While all the rest with Needles paint
The Face and Graces of the Saint.
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon