St Mary’s Blackheath
Newsletter 3rd December 2023
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 First Sunday of Advent – a season in which we prepare – with prayer and maybe a little penance – for the Celebration of Christmas.
The purple vestments appear once again and we do not recite the Gloria at the Sunday Mass.
It is the First Sunday in the Church’s year and we begin a new cycle of readings for the Sunday Mass – cycle B. During ordinary time the gospel readings will be taken from Mark.
A reminder of our carol service next Sunday at 5pm. This means that for one week, the Sunday evening Mass will be at 6.30pm rather than 5pm.
There will be a Eucharistic Service and prayers at 10am on Wednesday.
The lists for parts in the Christmas plays have been put up on the notice boards in the Angelus Room. Please add your names for the parts, but make sure that you will be available on these days.
Friday is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. There will be the normal morning Mass at 8am but also an evening Mass at 6.30pm at the Convent on Belmont Hill.
An Advent recipe: sweat a pack of watercress and a chopped cucumber in a little butter for a few minutes. Add a large sliced potato. Also add three quarters of a pint of vegetable stock and the same amount of milk. Season lightly and simmer gently for about twenty minutes. Allow to cool and liquidise. You will have gently flavoured soup.
The St Mary’s Christmas Giving Tree Appeal is launched on Advent Sunday and provides an opportunity to buy a Christmas present for a homeless person or refugee. Details of how to take part are on the Justice and Peace notceboard beside the Christmas tree at the back of the church. Presents can be donated any time until 12.00 noon on Sunday 7 January. Anything you give will be greatly appreciated.
The Greenwich Foodbank Collection point has temporarily moved to the other side of the church. Food donations are still much needed and will continue to be collected on a weekly basis. Thank you for your ongoing food donations.
There is a parish card-signing event in the Angelus Room after the Masses this weekend to send greetings cards to prisoners of conscience, those suffering torture, or who have been condemned to death. Further information and cards will be available in the Angelus Room.”
A big Thank You to those who were able to donate items of men’s clothing for the homeless / rough sleepers at The Passage , Westminster.
The response was amazing .
We were able to fill the empty clothes boxes .
This will make a valuable contribution during the tough winter months ahead .
Best wishes to you all
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon