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12 August 2018
Today we celebrate the feast of the Assumption, the start of St Mary's reign as the Queen of Heaven. As St Mary is our Patron Saint it is one of our patronal festivals. We were delighted to welcome Fr David Twinley as our guest preacher at our 10 am parish Eucharist. Father David is the acting Archdeacon as well as being the vicar of Arundel, and we are very pleased to have heard him preach this morning.
The Gospel for our special day was from St Luke, the glorious song of Mary, the Magnificat. In his sermon Father David explained to us how St Mary is called in the original Greek the Theotokos or bearer of God. He drew a comparison between the Old Testament theme of God  being present in the Ark of the Covenant, constructed by Moses and placed in the Temple by Solomon. Ezekiel had the vision of God leaving the temple, but He returned as his Son through the vehicle of the Theotokos, Mary the mother of God. Her openness to God's grace, to being filled with God is an example to us, we must look to God and open our hearts to be filled with the light of Christ and thus guided through our lives to join Mary and the Saints with God at the end.

Father Stephen read the Banns for 3 couples, two of whom, are to be married at St Mary's in the coming weeks, we wish them well in their new lives together. Father Stephen was the Celebrant.

James Roriston was with us again today, and he played Bach's Fugue in G minor as the Voluntary as we left for our coffee in the new rooms, under overcast skies and the beginning of much needed rain.






Service Times

First Sunday in the Month:
08:00am Holy Communion
10:00am Family Service

Second Sunday in the Month
08:00am Holy Communion
10:00am Parish Eucharist

Third Sunday in the Month
08:00am Holy Communion
10:00am Sung Matins

Fourth Sunday in the Month
08:00am Holy Communion
10:00am Parish Eucharist

Variations can be found in the Parish Magazine or the Calendar at the bottom of this page.

Useful links


Here are some links to resources you may find helpful:


  1. St Mary's Facebook page
  2. Chichester Cathedral will be live streaming services. For the Eucharist and order of service Click here before 10:00am Sunday and follow the instructions.
  3. The BBC Daily Service is available here.
  4. Prayer for today.
  5. The C of E youtube channel.
  6. Hearing You is a new phone help line launched by the Diocese of Chichester in partnership with Together in Sussex in response to the impact that Covid 19 has had on Just about the whole community. It aims to provide pastoral support and a listening ear to the recently bereaved and people directly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
  7. COVID-19 advice from the Diocese of Chichester here.

Please note that St Mary's are not responsible for the contents of external links

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