St Mary’s Blackheath
Newsletter 25th December 2022
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
First Greetings and blessings on this Christmas day. I hope that you will have an enjoyable day with your families and friends.
Thanks to all who have helped with our celebrations in the Church – for the children who have presented the mystery plays – and those who have helped with music, serving, preparing the Church, reading and many other tasks.
Thank you also for your many generous presents for giving tree and for the foodbank. You can leave the gifts up to 8th January.
The magazine is published today and if you take a copy, please remember to put £1 in the box to cover printing costs.
The old crib has come to the end of its days – we did not use it for the last couple of years and due to Covid, there was a simpler crib in front of the altar. The mystery plays have returned this year, so we have arranged the crib figures in the St. Joseph chapel. They have a new home in the cupboard beyond the sacristy, which means that we can avoid the perilous operation of removing them from the sacristy loft.
This coming week the Masses will be at 8am each day.
Monday is the feast of St. Stephen, Tuesday St. John, Wednesday the Holy Innocents, Thursday St. Thomas of Canterbury, and Friday the Holy Family. (There is not a Sunday this year between Christmas and New Year to celebrate the Holy Family).
Next Sunday is the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God. The Masses will be at the usual times.
The feast of the Epiphany is kept on Friday 6th January, but we will have a special Epiphany Mass at 9.30 on Sunday 8th so that the children can perform the third part of the cycle of mystery plays. The other Masses on the 8th will be for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
This note is prepared in advance, but I hope to be able to spend the later part of Christmas day at my niece’s house with our family. It will be good to see all the children.
I had hoped to work on the steam railway on Tuesday but due to strikes and other problems, there are no trains to Alton on this day. It is too far to drive with a return on a wet and icy road late at night so I will not be able to attend this time.
The snows brought the pots of herbs to an end. There is some withered and brown parsley left but little else. I will have to start again in the spring.
No recipes this week but I am sure you have many of your own at this time.
And as Michael Caine might say ….”I’ve got an idea.”
Best wishes to you all,
Monsignor Nicholas Rothon