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Worship, Liturgical Calendar
   

The Liturgical Calendar in use at Old Saint Martin’s

The rationale behind it:

A great deal of thought has gone into the Calendar in use in our church. This is not just a matter of doing the right thing, but of being faithful to both our Catholic tradition and our Anglican heritage. As both Catholics and Anglicans choices are open to us, choices that need to be made logically and sensibly. We could follow what many others do and use the Roman Calendar in its entirety. To do this would, however, mean that we would not celebrate quite a few local saints whose lives have impinged both on our community and our Church, and we would ignore completely those persons (largely post-Reformation) whom our Church deems worthy of commemoration. On reflection I also considered that the starting point for our calendar should be one produced by those with whom we are in Communion, rather than by those with whom we are not. Furthermore I thought that our Calendar should reflect not just our holy men and women but also something of the traditions of our local, catholic and national Church. For all these reasons I have based our Calendar on the Common Worship Calendar with its vision of 40 days of Christmas (including the extended season of Epiphany) and the custom of naming Sundays after Trinity (a peculiarly English usage which I for one am glad to continue).

Principal Feasts / Solemnities

To the Common Worship list of Principal Feasts (Solemnities) we also add or upgrade the following:

Saint Wulstan (Diocesan Patron), 19 January;
Saint Oswald (Diocesan Patron), 28 February;
Saint Joseph, 19 March;
Saint George (Benefice Patron), 23 April;
Saint Helen (Benefice Patron), 21 May;
Corpus Christi, 11 June 2009;
The Sacred Heart, 19 June 2009;
Saint Alban (Benefice Patron), 22 June;
The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, 24 June;
Saint Peter and Saint Paul (Benefice Patron), 29 June;
Saint Swithun (Benefice Patron), 15 July;
Saint Mary Magdalene (Benefice Patron), 22 July;
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August;
Saint Michael (Benefice Patron), 29 September;
All Souls, 2 November;
Saint Martin (Benefice Patron), 11 November;
Saint Andrew (Benefice Patron), 30 November;
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 8 December;
Saint Nicholas (Benefice Patron), 6 December.

Other Holy Days

We observe all Festivals (Festa), and for Lesser Festivals and Commemorations (Memorials and Optional Memorials) we make a choice using informed historical knowledge.

We also follow the traditional Catholic customs of a Monthly Requiem (usually on the first available day), Saturday Masses of Our Lady (whenever possible), a First Friday Mass of the Sacred Heart, the May Devotions to Our Lady, and the public recitation of the Rosary (usually on fourth Saturdays at 11.30am).

I realise that this lays me open to the accusation of being a ‘Little Englander’ but the end result is a broadly based Calendar located firmly in Anglicanism whilst at the same time respecting the integrity of our Catholic theology and usage.

Life here is never boring; may we all learn from the holy men and women of our Church what it means to be both Catholic and Anglican, and benefit from a share in their prayers.

Father Ian Pearson
August, 2008


July 2010  

Date Day Commemoration Services
24 Saturday Feria 11.30: Rosary
12.00: Mass (Our Lady on Saturday)
25 Sunday SAINT JAMES 09.15: Solemn Mass
16.00: Solemn Evensong & Benediction
27 Tuesday Saint Margaret of Antioch 12.00: Mass
28 Wednesday Feria 10.30: Mass
29 Thursday SS. Mary, Martha & Lazarus 08.30: Mass
30 Friday William Wilberforce 12.00: Mass
31 Saturday Saint Ignatius Loyola 12.00: Mass

August 2010  

Date Day Commemoration Services
1 Sunday THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 09.15: Solemn Mass
3 Tuesday Feria 12.00: Mass
4 Wednesday Saint Jean Marie Vianney 10.30: Mass
5 Thursday Saint Oswald the King 08.30: Mass
6 Friday THE TRANSFIGURATION 12.00: Mass
7 Saturday John Mason Neale 12.00: Mass
8 Sunday THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 09.15: Solemn Mass
9 Monday Mary Sumner 12.00: Mass (Ebbsfleet Fellowship)
10 Tuesday Saint Lawrence 12.00: Mass
11 Wednesday Saint Clare 10.30: Mass
12 Thursday Feria 08.30: Mass
13 Friday Jeremy Taylor 12.00: Mass
14 Saturday Saint Maximilian Kolbe 12.00: Mass
15 Sunday THE ASSUMPTION 09.15: Choral Mass
6.30pm Choral Evensong and Solemn Benediction
17 Tuesday Feria (Monthly Requiem) 12.00: Mass
18 Wednesday Feria 10.30: Mass
19 Thursday Feria 08.30: Mass
20 Friday Saint Bernard 12.00: Mass
21 Saturday Feria 12.00: Mass (of Our Lady on Saturday)
22 Sunday THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 09.15: Solemn Mass
24 Tuesday Saint Bartholomew 12.00: Mass
25 Wednesday Saint Louis 10.30: Mass
26 Thursday Feria 08.30: Mass
27 Friday Saint Monica 12.00: Mass
28 Saturday Saint Augustine of Hippo 11.30: Rosary
12.00: Mass (of Our Lady on Saturday)
29 Sunday THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 09.15: Solemn Mass
31 Tuesday Saint Aidan 12.00: Mass