THE
P RTAL
December 2016
Page 3
Portal Comment
Advent Matters
As the Church begins a new year, Will Burton
has been looking at special activities being
organised by some Ordinariate Missions
M
ost church groups have special events for
Advent and Christmas. In this, the Ordinariate
of Our Lady of Walsingham, is no exception. If you
look up your local Ordinariate Mission, you will find
the special Advent and Christmas events that are near
you. The details of many are to be found elsewhere
in this edition of The Portal, and they are all on the
Ordinariate web site www.ordinariate.org.uk under
the ‘Where to find us’ tab.
Here are a few of those events.
Down in Kent, at St Anselm, Pembury there is
a Service of Nine Lessons and Carols on Sunday 9th
December, starting at 6.30pm. On Christmas Eve, St
Anselm’s have a Crib Service at 3pm which is suitable
for Primary aged children and their families. This is
followed at 5pm by the Christmas Vigil Mass. Like
most churches, their Midnight Mass is at 11.30pm.
On Christmas Day itself, Mass is at 8am and 10am.
The Southend Ordinariate Mission has a
rather special Service of Nine Lessons and Carols
at 6pm on Sunday 18th December 2016. It is in aid
of Havens Hospice, and will be sung by ‘The Festive
Carol Singers’ who have been seen on TV! This is
at Saint Peter’s Catholic Church, 59 Eastwood Road
North, Eastwood, Leigh on Sea SS9 4BX, and is
followed by seasonal refreshments.
Up in Scotland, the Highland Ordinariate
Group has on Tuesday 27th December, Mass at
11.30am in the Oratory of St Joseph followed by a
Christmas buffet lunch with Fr Len and Ruth in their
home in Inverness and a ‘Carol Along’ with the Choir
of Westminster Cathedral and 20 other Cathedral
Choirs! How can you miss it? On Christmas Day
Solemn Mass is in the Royal Northern Infirmary
Chapel, Ness Walk, Inverness IV3 5SF at 11.30am.
Members of the Edinburgh and Stirling
Groups will celebrate Christmas with their local
Catholic parishes and the first Ordinariate Mass of
2017 will be on Sunday 15th January in St Columba’s
Edinburgh at 11.30am and St Mary’s Stirling at 4pm.
Full details at www.ordinariate.scot
When the time comes to post
Christmas Cards to friends and
family, ask your Post Office
for Christian Christmas
stamps. The Post Office is proposing a 1st Class
Robin and a 2nd Class Snowman to celebrate
Christmas this year. However, if you want to send a
CHRISTIAN message when you send your cards, the
beautiful stamps shown here are STILL AVAILABLE,
So please ASK at your Post Office, they should have
them. Insist that they get them if they haven’t got
them. DO NOT BE PUT OFF!
There are many 2017 Events for the Ordinariate.
Here are a few.
Lay Retreat
In 2017 from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th March,
the Ordinariate Lay Retreat is at the Dowry
House Retreat Centre, opposite the Priory (or as
frequently but incorrectly called Abbey) gates’,
High Street, Walsingham. Cost £150 per person –
Full Board. The Retreat Conductor is The Revd Dr
Stephen Morgan. To book, send your name and
address to: Ordinariate Lay Retreat, 56 Woodlands
Farm Road, Pype Hayes, Birmingham, B24 0PG. A
£20 non-refundable deposit should accompany this.
(Cheques to be made out to Ordinariate of Our Lady
of Walsingham or please use Bank Transfer to Sort
Code 40 04 09 Account Number 42204916). The
balance to be paid by 1st March 2917.
Monday 10th April 2017 – Chrism Mass at Our
Lady and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London W1B
5LZ at 11.30am.
Saturday 24th June 2017 – Ordinariate
Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Walsingham.
Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2017 –
Ordinariate Festival.
Saturday 30th September to Thursday 5th October
2017 – Ordinariate Pilgrimage to St Thérèse at
Lisieux, Normandy, France.