TUESDAY - S Stephen, Protomartyr     Mass 1000

WEDNESDAY - S John, Apostle and Evangelist     Mass 1000

THURSDAY - Holy Innocents     Mass 1000

FRIDAY - S Thomas Beckett     Mass 1900

SATURDAY - 6th Day in Octave     Mass 1000

The Twenty-fifth Day of December,
when ages beyond number had run their course
from the creation of the world,
when God in the beginning created heaven and earth,
and formed man in his own likeness;
when century upon century had passed
since the Almighty set his bow in the clouds after the Great Flood,
as a sign of covenant and peace;
in the twenty-first century since Abraham, our father in faith,
came out of Ur of the Chaldees;
in the thirteenth century since the People of Israel were led by Moses
in the Exodus from Egypt;
around the thousandth year since David was anointed King;
in the sixty-fifth week of the prophecy of Daniel;
in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
in the year seven hundred and fifty-two
since the foundation of the City of Rome;
in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus,
the whole world being at peace,
JESUS CHRIST,
eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
desiring to consecrate the world by his most loving presence,
was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and when nine months had passed since his conception,
was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judah,
and was made man:
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

1830     1ST  VESPERS OF CHRISTMAS
2200     MASS DURING THE NIGHT

Here we enter a new stage of Advent: having spent so much time on the Second Coming, now we look back, to remember the details of the Lord'’s First Coming. Today we focus on the character of Mary, and hear of the angel Gabriel being sent to her, to invite her to take her part in the mystery of the Incarnation, “the revelation of the mystery kept secret for endless ages”. This mystery springs from the House of David, and so we lead into the Gospel by hearing of the establishing of that house. An interesting idea is that the first reading talks of David wishing to build a house for the Lord; through the prophet he is told not of the house that he would build, but the House which is his line: eventually, in Mary (betrothed to Joseph) the House of David does itself become the house of the Lord, the womb wherein he has a dwelling place.

0900     Morning Prayer
1000     LOW MASS

0900     Morning Prayer

1000      PARISH MASS
1600     CAROL SERVICE
with live Nativity

0900  Morning Prayer
1000     PARISH MASS

0900     Morning Prayer
1000     PARISH MASS
1800     EVENING PRAYER & BENEDICTION