ReGULAR Services
Thes are the regular service times, but please see the Calendar or call as actual service times can vary.
THE HOLY MASS
The Holy Mass is celebrated on most days at St Mary's as we believe that it is central to all that we are and desire to be.
On SUNDAYS Mass is usually celebrated at the following times:
8am said Mass (using traditional language)
10am SUNG MASS with SERMON (Junior Church and Crèche)
The church bells are rung from about 9.30 to 9.45
on some Sunday's of the month
and Mass on weekdays is usually said at:
MONDAY 10am
TUESDAY 8am
WEDNESDAY 6.30pm
THURSDAY 10am *
FRIDAY 9.30am
* On Thursday Mass often follows a Holy Hour of Exposition and Benediction which begins at 9am.
On Solemnities and Feasts (major festivals) Mass may be said or sung at different times, please check HERE, or call for further details.
THE DIVINE OFFICE
Monday 9.30am
Tuesday 8.30am
Wednesday 6pm
Thursday and Friday 9am
Sunday 9am and 6.30pm *
* Evensong according to the Book of Common Prayer, except on the 5th Sunday. On the 1st and 3rd Sunday there follows Solemn Benediction. On the 5th Sunday there is an Ecumenical Service at an Ilford town centre church. See Calendar for further details. No Sunday Evensong during August.
At St Mary’s the Divine Office (prayers) are said in the parish every morning and evening. Daily Prayer in the catholic tradition owes much to the monastic practice of reciting psalms and reading scripture in a meditative way. There are variations proper to the seasons of the Church's year or to the saint if it is a feast or commemoration, but for the most part the Office consists in the regular recitation of nearly all of the Psalter and most of the rest of the Bible.
The 'given-ness' of the psalms and the readings reminds us that in prayer, as in all things, God is the initiator: God moves towards us and we respond with thankfulness. The words of the Office enable this movement from God to us and back again. We do not 'choose' the psalms and readings, and that helps us avoid being immersed solely in our own concerns.
The repetitive nature of the recitation of the psalms enables the participant to allow the words to enfold him or her in the deeper meaning of the text so that the soul is free and open to the movement of the Spirit of God.
The systematic reading of scripture helps us to be more aware of the depth and width of God's involvement in, and love for, the world in which we live.
Morning and Evening Prayer are 'official' and corporate. They are complementary to the equally important prayer we do alone and in private, or in small groups. The one kind of prayer informs and revitalises the other.
The Mass readings for the weekday can usually be found here, though on Feasts and Solemnities proper to the Church of England, readings may differ.
Contact
The Parish Office
26 South Park Road
ILFORD
IG1 1SS
020 8478 0546