The December issue of the church magazine is now available on the web site, or in printed form from the church. As is usual at this time of year this is a combined issue covering December of this year and January 2021.
I will start this post by wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Advent Sunday is the start of the Church’s year; for those of us using Common Worship, we move into Year B today.
And we also have some good news. This will be our last Sunday worshiping from home. Places of Worship are able to open again next week; there will be the usual 12:15 PM Mass at St. Edmund’s next Wednesday (2nd December 2020), and Mass at 11 AM next Sunday (6th December 2020). Dudley will be placed in Tier 3 once the lock-down has ended, this is the most up-to-date information I have as to how attendance at church should be conducted:
The Following on-line services are available today:
0900 – Live Mass
1100: Benefice Zoom Service (Holy Communion)
Starting today, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet will be submitting weekly reflections to run alongside our weekly sermons at church. You can either watch this week’s talk here:
or you can download the talk here:
I shall leave you with Bishop Jonathan’s prayer for us:
May Christ the Morning Star, who when the night of this world is past gives to His saints the promise of the light of life, and opens to them everlasting day, bless, guide you and keep you safe.
As we approach the holy season of Advent, and as we look forward to the return of public worship in time for the Second Sunday of Advent, the Church Union and The Society, which is supported by Forward in Faith, are delighted to inform you of our written and video resources for Advent, ‘O Radiant Dawn’. In the written booklet – available here – you will find a reflection for use each day during Advent and under a different weekly theme: Patriarchs, Prophets, St John the Baptist & Our Lady.
In the videos – which will be available on this page (https://www.sswsh.com/) on four successive Saturdays at 5.30pm, starting on 28 November – Bishop Will Hazlewood will lead us in a reflection, a priest of The Society will speak on that week’s theme and the choir of St Stephen’s, Gloucester Road will provide seasonal music. We commend not only these resources to you but also the excellent Advent resources produced by our friends at the Anglican Shrine in Walsingham as we pray for our nation in these difficult times and as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Saviour.
We would like to thank Fr Philip Barnes for all his hard work in bringing this inspiring and high quality resource together.
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet is also asking us to pray with him every day at 12 PM through Advent. The prayers for week 1 can be found here:
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet has published his pastoral letter for Advent. The letters are written in the light of our churches being able to open again next Wednesday (2nd December). The structure of the letter is in fact four separate weekly letters – the front and back of an A4 sheet. Bishop Jonathan has broken them into separate weeks so it is more manageable and approachable for daily use. They each include the same message and ‘series meditation’ for the front, and for the back a set of daily Bible verses (or the Gospel for the Mass of the day) to be read every day with a prayer from a contemporary author. And Bishop Jonathan is inviting everyone to say them with him as bishop – though he recognises that not everyone will be able to do it at 12.00 noon, when he shall.
You can download the full copy of the letter here. I can attach them as a weekly prayer sheet when I’m posting the Society Advent videos if people prefer. But please take time to read through the whole letter below:
Services today:
9AM – Live Streamed Mass:
11AM – Benefice Zoom Service
St. Edmund’s will be open between 11AM and 12PM on Wednesday for private prayer.
The Society and the Church Union have produced a Praying for the Dead video. If you haven’t watched it yet, you can watch it here:
Have a blessed Sunday and stay safe.
There will be no Patronal Festival at St. Edmund’s today due to Covid-19. St. Edmundsbury Cathedral is live streaming vespers at 1730 today:
St. Edmund, pray for us.
Mass live at 9AM:
Benefice Zoom Service
11AM – To gain access, please contact Rev Hugh Burton (rectoro…@gmail.com)
Novena (Friday 20 November to Saturday 28 November)
The Religious Life is at the very centre of our Catholic heritage within The Church of England. Those living the Religious Life represent a beating heart of prayer within our tradition and the wisdom of the cloister has had much to teach us during this time of pandemic. Bishop Tony Robinson is inviting you to join us in a novena of prayer for an increase in vocations to the Religious Life, this novena of prayer is supported by Religious of Orthodox Tradition (RooT), The Church Union and The Society, which is supported by Forward in Faith. The novena will be prayed in the period between the feast of St Hilda, which is marked in some calendars on 17 November (the day she died) and by the Church of England on 19 November, and the holy season of Advent, which begins on 29 November this year.The novena will therefore be prayed from Friday 20 November to Saturday 28 November. Please do join in with this time of prayer and ask God to call more people to serve Him in this way of life.You can download the resources here: https://www.sswsh.com/RooT/fullposts.php?id=211
Advent
We are delighted to announce a new resource for Advent called O Radiant Dawn. In the booklet you will find a reflection for use each day during Advent. Each week will look at a different Advent theme: Patriarchs, Prophets, St John the Baptist & Our Lady.To accompany the booklet, each Saturday in Advent starting on 28th November at 5:30pm we will be releasing a video that will be a reflection on that week’s theme. Each video will include a reflection by Bishop Will Hazlewood, a talk by a priest of The Society on that week’s theme and include music from the choir at St Stephen’s Gloucester Road. More details on those films over the coming weeks.https://www.churchunion.co.uk/…/O_Radiant_Dawn_final…This resource is brought to you by The Society, which is supported by Forward in Faith, and The Church Union
Bishop Philip North
Bishop Philip North has released a video titled: It’s the hope that kills you. Please watch it here:
Society Video
During the Pandemic The Society has been working with The Church Union to make a number of devotional videos. This short video explains how we did it. It is just one from a series which reviews the work of Forward in Faith this year. See the others here: https://www.forwardinfaith.com/fullposts.php?id=285
Forward in Faith Video
In presenting its annual review for 2020, Forward in Faith thanks all its supporters for their steadfastness during a very difficult year. The videos which form the review include a wide range of material and of particular note is the emphasis placed by the Bishops of Wakefield and of Fulham on the importance of our renewed sacramental life together following two periods of national lockdown. We look forward to gathering together physically once more in 2021 to share our faith and enjoy Christian fellowship.http://www.forwardinfaith.com/fullposts.php?id=285
Have a blessed Sunday and stay safe. I shall see you all once our churches are open for public worship again. St. Edmund’s will be open this Wednesday between 11AM and 12PM however for private prayer.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (Anglican) lives streams the Mass every Sunday at 9 AM. I shall be posting these services on this website every Sunday so they can be watched here. You can either watch live, or watch later. Today prayers are offered at the Shrine today for all who have died in warfare and for the peace of the world. May Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows and Queen of Peace, pray for us. #LestWeForget #RemembranceSunday
The Benefice Zoom Service will take place at 10:50 AM today so the Act of Remembrance can take place at 11 AM. To gain access please e-mail: rectorofdudley@gmail.com
St. Edmund’s will be open for private prayer this Wednesday at 11 AM
The Society, which is supported by Forward in Faith, and The Church Union join with the leaders of The Church of England and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (England and Wales) in urging you to observe a month of Prayer for the Nation during this second national lockdown. As many of us as possible should unite at 6pm each day to say the Angelus and offer intercessions for the vulnerable and those charged with their care. We hope that this short prayer booklet helps you do that. You can download the resources for this initiative here: https://www.churchunion.co.uk/…/Praying_for_the_Nation…During this period when we are not able to gather for public worship, a reminder of the Praying at Home resource that was produced earlier in the year, which we hope will be useful in sustaining and deepening our prayer lives during this time. You can download this resource here:https://www.churchunion.co.uk/…/files/Resources_FINAL.pdf#PrayerForTheNation
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The November issue of the church magazine is now available on the web site – please click on the cover picture above or HERE to see it.
As announced by HM Government yesterday, as part of the new lock-down, places of worship will close for public worship from Thursday 5th November 2020. All Sunday services will cease until further notice. St. Edmund’s will be open for private prayer however every Wednesday between 11 AM and 12 PM. Please feel free to come in and pray, whether you just want to pop in for five minutes, or stay the whole hour! The Church Union has published a resource to assist with private prayer in church, you can download a copy here: https://www.churchunion.co.uk/uploads/Praying_in_Church_FINAL.pdf
This Wednesday, 4th November 2020, it will be Mass as usual at St. Edmund’s. This will be the last public Mass before the new lock-down. During this service there will be an act of remembrance.
St. Francis, Friar Park, a Society parish, will be live streaming Mass every Sunday from 9:30 AM. I will put the link onto this website every Sunday so the Mass can be watched here. If you cannot see the link, please keep refreshing your browser and it will appear. If 9:30 AM is too early for you, can still watch the service later in the day. In order to receive a Spiritual Communion, you may wish to download this Church Union resource: https://www.churchunion.co.uk/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/imagemanager/files/Resources_FINAL.pdf
All being well, we will be able to return to church on Sunday 6th December 2020. But please keep tuned into this website for further updates.
God bless everyone, and stay safe.
St Edmund's Church, Dudley 