Newsletter 6th April 2014
Today is the Fifth Sunday of Lent, also known as Passion Sunday. The statues in the Church are veiled now until Easter Sunday.
There will be Stations of the Cross today at 6.30 as a Lenten Devotion.
The Film Club meets at 5pm in The Angelus Room.
The Justice and Peace Group will meet next Sunday at 6.15pm. New members are always welcome.
Time now to give details of the Holy Week and Easter Services.
This year we will be reading St. Matthew’s Passion. Booklets for the readers are available today.
On Palm Sunday we will bless the palm branches in the garden at 9.30am. Please remember to arrive in good time. Blessed Palms will be available at the later Masses.
On Maundy Thursday there is no morning Mass. There is a special Mass for children at 4pm. The solemn Mass begins at 8pm. At the end of Mass the Blessed Sacrament is taken to the altar of repose and the Church will remain open until 10pm. During the Mass the Eucharistic Ministers will be asked to renew their dedication. After the gospel I will wash the feet of members of the parish.
On Good Friday we leave the Church 10.10am for the service on the Heath.
The solemn afternoon liturgy is at 3pm and there will be Stations of the Cross and veneration of the relic of the cross at 8pm.
Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence.
There is no morning Mass on Holy Saturday. The Easter Vigil begins at 9pm with the blessing of the fire and of the Pascal Candle in the garden and continues with the Easter Mass. The Vigil ends at about 11pm.
On Easter Sunday Masses will be at the normal times.
No Saints this week as our devotions are focussed on the Passion of the Lord.
Bravely, I have been putting my pot of Basil in the garden during the day, hoping that the snails will not discover it. I have added some pepper to the pot which I understand acts as a deterrent. Maybe if I added some parsley, garlic and butter the snails might take fright. Everything in the garden seems to be in bud, part from the plum tree which seems to have come to the end of its days. I think it will end up on the paschal fire.
An error in the newsletter a couple of weeks ago – Aldersgate station is now Barbican, not Farringdon. I should have spotted this. And which Underground stations contain all five vowels? I can think of two.
Now some Swinburne this week;
When the hounds of spring are on winter’s traces
The mother of months in meadow or plain
Fills the shadows and windy places
With lisp of leaves and ripple of rain.
This week a recipe from the school: cook some pasta: and some pieces of ham, some grated cheese, some sweet corn and some diced spring onions. Mix together and bake for a short time in a hot oven.
I like this medieval prayer:
Help this day, O Lord, to serve thee devoutly and the world busily. May we do our work wisely, give succour secretly, go to our meat appetitely, sit thereat discreetly arise temperately, please our friends duly, go to bed merrily and sleep surely: for the joy of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Already some questions as to when the pool will be put up: it is a bit too cold at present, but I am thinking about the beginning of May when I come back from Spain. There are promises of a long hot summer so it will be well used. I must order some more chemicals to help keep it clean and repair the special vacuum cleaner that I use to sweep the bottom of the pool. Also must remember to darn the elbows in your swim suite.
Best wishes to you all.
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon