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This week 10am we had a Parish Eucharist as our main service. The Children are with us for the first Hymn then go into the rooms for their o...
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A fine sunny spring morning for the first Sunday in March. We held an all age Eucharist at 10am. Father Chris preached about the cleansing o...
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Numbers 21:4-9 A reading from the book of Numbers. The Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but t...
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Jeremiah 31:13-34 A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah. The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covena...
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The third Sunday in February and we once again had a choice of services. In the Church Hall Father Chris held a Crafty Communion with the yo...
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On an unseasonably wet and cool day we met at 10 am for the Eucharist of Pentecost. The Celebrant was Father Roger, and the Covid Choir sang...
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‘THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK’ FROM THE REVEREND STEPHEN GUISE, PRIEST IN CHARGE – SUNDAY, 28 MARCH, PALM SUNDAY Greek Orthodox Icon: ‘The Entry of ...
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To mark the beginning of Lent there were 2 services one in the morning and one at 7pm in the evening. We move into the period of reflection ...
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This was the fifth Sunday of the month, so the main service was a Parish Eucharist. Once again Father Roger was the celebrant while Father S...
Let us wait together for the Arrival
(Latin =’Adventus’) of our King on Christmas Day, Praying for God’s Grace and
remembering those who, at this time of anticipation of Joy, have so much less
than ourselves.
The tradition of having an Advent Wreath
comes from Germany, but is now common in all branches of the Western Christian
Church. There are three Dark Blue
Candles and one Pink candle. The Dark Blue colour is the Liturgical Colour of
Advent, purple has been used because it was an expensive dye in ancient times
only used by Kings and Emperors and so it reminds us that we are waiting for
the coming of the King at Christmas. At St Marys we are using a dark blue for
Advent, and now keep Purple for Lent. The pink candle is lit on the 3rd
Sunday in Advent known as Gaudate Sunday from the psalm Rejoice in the Lord
used on that day.
The symbolism of the Wreath
The wreath is a circle of evergreen
foliage symbolising everlasting life. It can be made of all types of evergreen
leaves including furs, laurel, yew, holly and even camellia or magnolia leaves.
In advent it should have minimum other decorations, but of course you can add
Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve if you want to!
The symbolism of the Candles
There are a number of traditions about
this, but the best known one is probably as follows
1.
The first dark blue
candle is for God’s People a symbol of Hope
2.
The second dark blue
candle Is for the Old Testament Prophets, the candle of Peace
3.
The third Candle, the
pink one is for John the Baptist the candle of Love
4.
The last dark blue
candle is for Mary the Mother of Christ the candle of Joy
The White Candle
On Christmas Eve you can add in the
center of your Wreath, a White Candle to signify the Light coming into the
world with the birth of Jesus.
Making an Advent wreath
You will need a circle of Oasis
in a plastic base. This has to be pre soaked in water, you can wrap the oasis in
Cling film to help retain water but this is not essential if you can water the
oasis regularly.
You also need 4 candle spikes and your candles.
Place the candle spikes evenly round the Oasis. Then select the
evergreen material you want to put in your wreath from the pile on the table.
Stick the twig ends into the oasis to form a complete covering. You can add
other things such as pine cones, ribbons (dark blue for advent but change to green red or gold at
Christmas) berries (care with small children!) etc, but it should be fairly
plain, to reflect the somberness of Advent.
Taking Care of your Advent Wreath
To make the wreath last the 4 weeks of
Advent, you will need to water it regularly. Put it on your sink drainer and
pour a jug of water over it at least once a week.
Put the wreath on a tray before putting
it on furniture to avoid watermarks.
Remember all the greenery is capable of
catching fire, so NEVER leave the lit candles unattended and have a Jug of
water nearby at all times in case of an accident. You can buy fire retardant
spray at some Florists to spray your wreath with.
Do not let children light the candles
without the assistance of an Adult.
When should I light my Advent Wreath
Candles?
Light one today, next Sunday light 2 and
so on until Christmas. It is a nice moment, perhaps on Sunday evening to gather
as a family and light the candle and say a short prayer together. Do not burn
the candles for too long or the first one will be gone before the end of
Advent!! If possible snuff the candles rather than blowing them out to avoid
blowing hot wax all over the wreath and your dining room table!!!
Some pictures of our wreath making afternoons pre Covid!
.
Zephaniah 1:7 and 12-end
Lesley Bromley has been working on a project to find the stories about the people listed on the Sidlesham war memorial who died in World War II. The results of her project can now be seen on the websites 'Our History Page'.
On Sunday afternoon (8 November 2020), the children from 2 families who are in the same school and Sunday School bubbles laid the wreath for St Mary’s Choir (Junior Chorister, Maggie Turner) and Harry, Charlie and Jack Lawson together with Bertie and Dorothy Turner laid the wreaths for Sidlesham C.P.School and for St Mary’s Sunday School.
In these times of Covid 19 many of St Mary's regular givers have not been attending church, either because they are shielding or due to government restrictions. Events such as the Summer Fete and Christmas Fete have been cancelled. Unfortunately although these sources of funding have been severely curtailed our costs are still the same.
One solution that you may wish to consider, if you are not part of it already, is the Parish Giving Scheme(PGS) that St Mary's is affiliated to. Using PGS means that the church gets your contribution whether you attend or not.
The PGS organisation reports that they have experienced a significant level of growth over the summer, despite the enormous challenges under which parishes and Dioceses are currently operating.
In August, it reached a milestone of 3,000 churches/parishes actively receiving funds through PGS. In September, they processed just over 52,000 regular gifts, with a total value of £4,874m (including Gift Aid) remitted to parishes – an increase of 8% since March 2020.
If you wish to consider contributing by using PGS please contact one of the church wardens who can give you more information and provide the application forms. Thankyou.
The Sunday School have been working at home here is their work on saints |
Service Times
10:00am Family Service
Second Sunday in the Month
10:00am Parish Eucharist
Third Sunday in the Month
08:00am Holy Communion
08:00am Holy Communion
Useful links
Here are some links to resources you may find helpful:
- St Mary's Facebook page
- Chichester Cathedral will be live streaming services. For the Eucharist and order of service Click here before 10:00am Sunday and follow the instructions.
- The BBC Daily Service is available here.
- Prayer for today.
- The C of E youtube channel.
- 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.
- COVID-19 advice from the Diocese of Chichester here.