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Clothed in love, 

St. Martin of Tours.

When I was small I loved the story of St. Martin. A man who when he met a beggar without clothes in the middle of winter used his sword to cut his own cloak in half to clothe this poor man – an act of instinctive love.

He was a Roman soldier and became a Christian at a young age. He left the military in the years before 361AD and joined the church. He became Bishop of Tours in 371AD and was known for his opposition to the violent oppression of those who disagreed with the State.

But, it’s the story of the cloak that continues to grab the attention. After he had cut his cloak he went to bed that night and experienced a vision – Jesus came to him in his dream dressed in the cloak that he had given to the beggar and said “Martin, who is still but a catechumen, clothed me with this robe”. He woke to find that his robe had been restored to its full and complete length. 

This vision profoundly affected St. Martin (who wouldn’t be!?) and he was baptised at 18. 

An interesting historical side note is the impact this cloak had on our language. Priests who cared for the relic of the actual cloak that St. Martin wore were called ‘cappellanu’ and subsequently all Priests who served in the army were called ‘cappellani’ or in French – ‘chapelains’ which is where our word for ‘chaplain’ comes from. 

Also, the little churches that were set up to care for the ‘little cloak’ when it was on tour were called ‘capella’. Ultimately those small churches lost their association with the cloak – and became ‘chapels’. 

All this from a cloak cut in half to care for the poorest. All this from an act of instinctive love. 

Inspiring stuff.

Fr. Matthew

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A huge thanks to Fr. Angus for covering mass last Sunday, and thank you all for making him so welcome.

If you enjoyed the choir, then come and join! Rehearsals for the Advent Carols starts on the 14th November straight after Parish Mass.

If you could stay after mass on the 14th November and help clean I’d really appreciate it, we want the church looking wonderful for the Christmas Lights turn on.

17th November is the Hayes Christmas Lights turn on – hosted here at St. Anselm! The schools choir will sing for us at 4pm and the mayor will turn on the town lights at 4:30pm

I’d really appreciate any volunteers for the 17th to help serve mince pies, tea & coffee and mulled wine. Please let Fr. Matthew know if you can help.

All souls, 

why do we pray for the dead?

Some will tell you that praying for the dead is simply an exercise in futility. The person you are praying for is already dead, they’ve lived their life and presumably made their own decisions about that life, their actions and most importantly – their faith in Jesus Christ. What more can we do now they are gone?

The simple truth is that we know God is merciful. In multiple parts of scripture we have seen how His heart has been turned towards mercy by the intercession of those who love Him. Who have called out to Him and asked him to be merciful. 

We know that God does not work on our timetable. The fact that someone we know and love is dead and gone in this world, doesn’t mean they are dead and gone in the life of eternity. Our prayers reach God and He can easily put a new thought or direction in front of the person we are praying about.

Finally, our prayers comfort us here in this life. Praying for my Grandmother brings me peace and comfort – I know my prayers are heard and I pray that my Grandmother is now amongst the company of heaven – surrounded by all the saints and angels – and in turn I know that she will pray for me. 

When we are at the altar we are surrounded by the whole company of heaven – angels and saints unite around us as we receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

If you could see that whole company of heaven surrounding the altar, if you could feel their presence, if you could hear their prayers – oh what a wonder it would be!

Pray for the dead, pray for your loved ones. Be at peace.

Fr. Matthew

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There is a sheet at the back of church where you can leave your departed loved-one’s name for inclusion in the prayers on All Souls (2nd November, 7pm).  You can also email a name to Fr. Matthew directly. 

Thank you very much to Fr. Angus for looking after us on this special solemnity of All Saints. He is a loving friend of the parish and I know you’ll give him your usual warm welcome.

Please note mass on Thursday is in the evening, rather than the morning and that our All Souls mass is at 7pm on Tuesday. 

Confessions will be heard on Thursday evening at 5:30pm this week. 

If you enjoyed the choir last week, rehearsals for the Advent Carols starts on the 11th November straight after Parish Mass.

Holy Rest, 

why is it so important? 

It is often said that Priests, when they preach, do so primarily to themselves. This may well be an example of me writing an article I need to read!

We have a packed Autumn Term planned, there is something happening almost every week – and in many weeks more than just one thing. 

As we come to the mid-point of the term and the end of our Rosary Mission now is a good time to take a breath and take a rest. 

This isn’t being lazy, it isn’t running away – it is vital if we are to be in the best shape possible to welcome the people of Hayes as they discover us through the mission and evangelism work we are doing this term. 

What good will we be if, when children arrive for the various Christmas events, we are so worn down and grumpy that the welcome they receive is anything less than loving and enthusiastic? 

What good will we be if, when those people who have seen us open during the Rosary Mission come into church and discover it lacking enthusiasm and love because we are all burned out?

God gave us the sabbath – our day of rest – as a model of His being, of His love. 

To love Him, is to accept His rest… to be like the disciple that Jesus loved and to recline our heads in His lap.

Thank you for all you have done this half-term. Rest now. Come back re-energised and full of Love for Him.

Fr. Matthew

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This week our amazing new choir (formed for this one event) will be performing their first Communion Anthem – Just As I Am – after The Sacrament has been distributed. Please do come and support them as they sing together in public for the first time. (Choir members – don’t forget, 9:45am on Sunday for one last rehearsal!)

An enormous thank you to all who helped so diligently over the last two weeks for our Rosary Mission. We had lots of people come into church because it was open, people walking by and seeing we were open, and people commenting how lovely the front is looking again. We have away hundreds of rosaries and leaflets and we gently introduced people to Jesus and his home here in Hayes – St. Anselm! Thank you!

Fr. Matthew is away as it is half term week – he, Catherine and Edmund are heading to Rome (their first time!) do pray for them as they take a breath – and pray for all families as they take some space and time to recoup a little after a hard first term back in school, college and university. You should also pray for the teachers and support staff who will definitely need a break!

Look out for a lot of changes to the mid-week schedule – please do come and support Susan as she leads Morning Prayer on Thursday at 10am. 

St. Wilfrid, 

disagreeing well?

St. Wilfrid led a rather amazing life. He was born in Northumbria in 634 and was educated at the monastery of Lindisfarne. As he grew he travelled to Rome with Benet Biscop and spent a long time at Lyons.  During these journeys he discovered he rather liked the way the Roman church did things and when he returned to Briton he discovered he liked them far better than the Celtic traditions that had started to arrive via the Irish missionaries from Iona (and Wales).

Interestingly he appears to have become Abbot of Ripon sometime before he was ordained and as the issues of Celtic traditions Vs. Roman traditions escalated he found himself at the heart of the debate. 

During his time as Abbot, and then Bishop of various diocese in Briton and Europe he was engaged in bitter debates on church order and the organisation of diocese and resources.

He fought his cases in Roman courts, in person, and often with great passion – which was not always appreciated. 

Indeed, this passion to do the right thing – as he saw it – led to his imprisonment by the King of Northumbria. 

He escaped to Sussex where he led a mission to the South Saxons and then  to the people of Friesland (starting a great English mission to the Germanic people). 

Ultimately he tried to return to Northumbria (and made more appeals to Rome to do so) but had to accept a compromise which led to him becoming Bishop of Hexam and keeping his monastery in Ripon. 

His passion for his faith led him to disagree with others, but it also led to great missions and conversion. Disagreement isn’t always a bad thing… disagreement can be a force for good and for God!

Fr. Matthew 

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Thank you all for bringing such wonderful gifts for the bring-and-share lunch last week. It was a delightful afternoon of friendship and fellowship. 

Choir practice continues every Sunday 2pm – 4pm until they perform on October 24th. Don’t worry if you missed the first rehearsal, come along and give it a go – it’s a very easy tune.

Today (Sunday) we kick off two weeks of the Rosary Mission. David Camp (our St. Mellitus placement student) is preaching for us today, and tomorrow (Monday) we’ll be meeting after mass to plan out the week – where we’re going, how long we keep the church open etc. If you can help in any way please sign up on the sheet at the back of church or speak to Fr. Matthew. Just an hour in church could be so helpful in keeping it open during the mission. 

Please note changes to services times this week – especially Wednesday evening (5pm for EP & Rosary).

Raise your voice! 

Praise His name!

Over the last few months we have been blessed beyond measure to have been joined by our new Director of Music – Anthony Wang. 

He has shown us how music can lift our hearts – echoing the lines of the liturgy – ‘lift your hearts to the Lord’. 

It’s somehow easier to do this when you’re singing alongside your friends and family here in church and it’s so clear that – now we’re allowed to sing again – how much it was missed during the recent lockdowns and how vital it is to our worship. 

The best news of course is that we’ve started rehearsals of our choir for a special performance of ‘Just as I Am’ on the 24th October at Mass. 

This is a simple piece of music and doesn’t require great musical experience to sing. 

If you feel moved to be part of the choir, or just to come along and see how it all works then please come each Sunday between now and the 24th October between 2pm and 4pm.

Anthony is a gentle teacher and you’ll be amongst friends. None of us are professional musicians, but between us I have no doubt we can make a beautiful noise for God.

It’s also a wonderful opportunity to bring people to church who may not have considered coming before. An opportunity to invite friends and say ‘why not come to choir practice with me?’

You may open a door for them that they didn’t even realise was there.

Music lifts our hearts, it lifts our souls and with that we can climb closer to God with each note.

Fr. Matthew

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Bring and share lunch is this Sunday! (3rd October) Please bring something to share and bring a friend. It’s a great opportunity to introduce someone to our amazing family.
(if you can offer to help get the tables ready on Saturday please let me know).

Thank you everyone who helped with the bric-a-brac sale last Saturday – much needed funds were added to the bank account – everything helps keep the doors open and welcoming. 

Choir practice continues every Sunday 2pm – 4pm until they perform on October 24th. Don’t worry if you missed the first rehearsal, come along and give it a go. 

I’m still looking for volunteers to help with the Rosary Mission (keeping the church open, providing tea & coffee etc) 10th – 24th October and to help run the Sunday School – we can’t start a Sunday School until I have some volunteers.

Bring… 

…and share.

The Bring and Share lunch seems to be a uniquely Anglican experience. It’s not something I’d ever come across before coming to England and joining the Church of England.

It makes a great deal of practical sense… we want to share lunch on a given day, but we don’t really want to dictate what people must bring or what people must do – very Anglican indeed!

So, we mirror the Eucharist in each bringing something to the table – our offering – we give thanks for the offerings that have been brought and then we dig in.

A little of this, a lot of that. A sprinkle of this and a dollop of that. We pick and choose as we head down the buffet table. 

This is great for lunches, but less good for our faith.

We each bring our own faith to church each Sunday. It’s made up of a little of this, a lot of that – a sprinkle of this and a dollop of that. We pick and choose depending on what we like and what we don’t like.

This is not a great way to live our life of faith.

We must not pick and choose from scripture those things that we like, or bend scripture to our will or our own desire. 

This is why we come to church, this is why we have a lectionary (the order and list of what scripture we read on any given day), this is why we listen to sermons and teaching and this is why we receive Christ in the Sacrament.

Though these things we are given a rich diet of a bit of everything, even the bits we don’t like. 

We are strengthened through the Sacrament to discern what is of the world and what is of God. 

This gives us a strong faith. This is a good diet.

Fr. Matthew

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First Choir Practice – next Sunday (3rd October) we meet for the first time at 2pm for choir practice. We’ll be practising a simple Anthem to sing at mass on the 24th October. Everyone welcome to come and sing, no experience required!

We welcome our dear friend and Priest Fr. David Povall to cover mass this Sunday (26th September). Please give him the usual wonderful welcome.  

Whilst Fr. Matthew is working in Rome this week do pay careful attention to the calendar. No midweek services, although parent and toddler group and foodbank are still happening. Sunday 3rd October as usual.

I’m still looking for volunteers to help with the Rosary Mission (keeping the church open, providing tea & coffee etc) 10th – 24th October and to help run the Sunday School – we can’t start a Sunday School until I have some volunteers. Nobody has yet been in touch to offer to help. 

Our Lady of Walsingham 

Healing and hope.

Walsingham holds a very special and very dear place in my heart. I head off to North Norfolk several times a year – sometimes just for the day – oftentimes for a few. 

It is a ‘thin place’. What do I mean by that? Well, it’s a place that has been prayed in for such a long time that the veil that separates us from the saints has worn rather thin.

It somehow feels as if you can sense the company of saints around you as you reach out in prayer, as you walk around the gardens, as you attend mass or go to confession, they are more viscerally there with you – holding your hand on this great race of life!

It is a place of great healing and hope.

In medieval Europe it was one of the very few premier pilgrimage sites – serving thousands of pilgrims every month. One record tells us that there were 60 hostelries in this small Norfolk village!

Our kings and queens were regular visitors and Henry the VIII’s father (and even Henry himself early in his reign) were significant benefactors to the shrine. 

But alas, destruction came with the dissolution and the destruction was very complete for such a large and famous shrine. 

But pilgrims returned in 1922 as Fr. Hope Patten, Anglican vicar of Walsingham, restored the shrine and once again welcomed visitors to pray and visit this thin place. 

Next year we will have our own pilgrimage to Walsingham and you will have the opportunity to pray in this thin place.

Fr. Matthew

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Do look closely at the calendar for this week as there are some big changes as I am away on mandatory training Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

I am in desperate need for a volunteer to help with the new parent and toddler group for the coming month as I need to cover masses elsewhere. Cynthia can open up etc, but I really need someone who can make tea & coffee and help set up / take down with the children. Thank you very much to those who came to help last Monday.

I’m still looking for volunteers to help with the Rosary Mission (keeping the church open, providing tea & coffee etc) 10th – 24th October and to help run the Sunday School – we can’t start a Sunday School until I have some volunteers. Nobody has yet been in touch to offer to help. 

Exaltation of the Cross 

Why? 

In many ways it is an odd thing for Christians to exalt an instrument of torture. The very instrument that was responsible for the death of Our Saviour.

An instrument that has killed so so many people and continues to be used as a way to kill Christians around the world today.

The first reason we rejoice in the Cross is because it was transformed from an instrument of torture and death into the path of redemption for the whole human race.

The second reason is because it is so viscerally an image of the reality that our faith is not an abstract one – not somewhere ‘out there’ – but a real and physical faith that has consequences in ours – and others – lives.

It symbolises God’s real intervention in the world – a real historical event with real people in the real world with a real execution on a real cross. 

We can sit and read books about it, we can sit in adoration before it, we can theorise about it, we can discuss it, we can meditate on it… but ultimately none of these things impact on the reality of the history in which it is built. 

The Cross is the most real symbol of our faith. It should drag us back to our faith when we waiver, it should bring us up short when we start to spend too much time in our head thinking about our faith. It should drag us down in to the mud of our real faith. 

The consequences of that understanding may take a lifetime to understand.

Fr. Matthew

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You’ll notice some changes to daily mass and evening prayer on Monday and Tuesday. For the next few weeks I have agreed to cover the mass at St. Martin’s in Ruislip as they continue in vacancy. So daily mass here will shift to the evening and there’ll be no public morning prayer. Next Tuesday is the Exaltation of the Cross – no Evening Prayer here but there is a concelebrated mass at St. Thomas in Kensal Town which you are warmly invited to attend. Mass as usual here that morning. 

I am in desperate need for a volunteer to help with the new parent and toddler group for the coming month as I need to cover masses elsewhere. Cynthia can open up etc, but I really need someone who can make tea & coffee and help set up / take down with the children.

I’m still looking for volunteers to help with the Rosary Mission (keeping the church open, providing tea & coffee etc) 10th – 24th October and to help run the Sunday School – we can’t start a Sunday School until I have some volunteers. Please be in touch.