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The Brighton Oratory is an Orthodox Catholic faith community of ordinary people diverse in age, background, experience and talents who are committed to deepening their spirituality in, through and with the love of God expressed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ modelled on the experience of the Apostles and the Early Church described in Acts 2:42-47. As a community we seek to welcome everyone, especially the poor and disenfranchised, whether in spirit or in love. We are simply a faith community seeking to encourage, support and develop individually and together our spirituality and understanding of the Divine, that we may experience both in this life and the next, the Kingdom of God in us.
Today is the feast of St Gregory the Great also called “Dialogus” who sent St Augustine to convert the Angles. Commemorated today is “Reminiscere” Sunday, the second Sunday during the holy season of Lent. Like on other Sundays of Lent, it is customary to dispense from the fast as Sundays are not counted among the forty days of Lent.
“Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking together with Him” (Gospel). Last Sunday we beheld Jesus as Man, suffering and conquering the three temptations. Today a faint glimpse of Jesus as God is a further Lenten incentive against discouragement or failure. We behold Moses, the lawgiver, pointing to the code of the Ten Commandments; Elias, the prophet, pointing to the creed of Divine Truth. “This is the will of God. . .walking” in the way of His Commandments (Epistle, applying your mind to Divine Truth, so that “you (may) learn how to possess (your) vessel in holiness.” “Your sanctification (Epistle) is an interior obligation in your own private life; also exterior (Prayer), to the extent of helping your neighbor, for “the Lord is the avenger” of deception in everyday business (Epistle).
MASS TIMES THIS WEEK
| DATE | DAY | TIME | OFFICE | MASS INTENTION | NOTES |
| 12 MAR | SUN | NO MASS | ST GREGORY THE GREAT
Com. Dominica II in Quadragesima |
Pro Populo Rex Jameson RIP |
Of obligation |
| 13 MAR | MON | NO MASS | Feria II | Jim & Joyce Babcock John Border RIP |
|
| 14 MAR | TUES | NO MASS | Feria III | Patrick Hannibal George Thomas RIP |
|
| 15 MAR | WED | NO MASS | Feria IV | Sarah Hannington Martin Culverhouse RIP |
Of devotion |
| 16 MAR | THUR | NO MASS | Feria V | Albi Reed Edith Houston RIP |
|
| 17 MAR | FRI | NO MASS | Feria VI | Joy Gale Marilyn Brown RIP |
|
| 18 MAR | SAT | NO MASS | Sabbato | Ross Smith Edwin Ryland RIP |
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| 19 MAR | SUN | NO MASS | DOMINICA III in QUADRAGESIMA | Pro Populo Sam Wheeler RIP |
Of obligation |
NOTICES
MASS please note the new times of daily Masses this week. Due to the Provost being away there will be NO MASSES in Brighton from 7-21 March inclusive, daily Masses will resume on Wednesday 22 March.
BULLETIN please check back on this online version for each day any additions/amendments will be made here. If you have any notices or would like the names of loved ones for prayer included, please email
FATHER GEORGE von Abel is looking to move to Brighton & Hove to begin assisting in our Mission’s ministry. To do this, Father needs a new job and a new home! Please keep your eyes peeled for management or supervisor roles in hotels or restaurants locally. Please forward details of any potentially suitable positions via email here. Remember that our priests are bi-vocational and generally need financially to support themselves.
VACATION please note that Fr Jerome will be away from March 7 to 21 on pilgrimage to Ephesus where St Timothy was bishop, St John and the Blessed Virgin Mary resided and he’ll be revisiting the tomb of the Apostle Philip at Hierapolis. There will be no public Masses during this period.
TENTMAKING SERIES in preparation for our missionary endeavour later this year, the Provost is publishing a series of articles about mission. Please do read them and continue to pray and think about how we can spread the Good News to our friends and family in Brighton & Hove! These reflections are also the basis for our Lenten discussions on Thursdays (see below).
LENTEN OBSERVANCE The focus of this Season is the Cross and penance, penance, penance as we imitate Christ’s forty days of fasting, like Moses and Elias before Him, and await the triumph of Easter. We fast (see below), abstain, mortify the flesh, give alms, and think more of charitable works. Awakening each morning with the thought, “How might I make amends for my sins? How can I serve God in a reparative way? How can I serve others today?” is the attitude to have. Because of the focus on penance and reparation, it is traditional to make sure we go to Confession at least once during this Season to fulfill the precept of the Church that we go to Confession at least once a year, and receive the Eucharist at least once a year during Eastertide. In addition to mortification and charity, seeing and living Lent as a forty day spiritual retreat is a good thing to do. Spiritual reading should be engaged in (over and above one’s regular Lectio Divina i.e. Bible study) e.g. reading the biography of one’s Confirmation namesake or the patron saint of one’s profession, or books on spirituality and the spiritual life.
FASTING & ABSTINENCE traditional Orthodox Catholics follow this pattern of fasting and abstinence during this time (faithful under the age of 14, or suffering ill-health, or over the age of 60 are not obligated to observe, but may do so from choice):
Ash Wednesday, all Fridays, and all Saturdays: fasting and total abstinence. This means 3 meatless meals – with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day – and no snacking.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (except Ash Wednesday), and Thursdays: fasting and partial abstinence from meat. This means three meals – with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day – and no snacking, but meat can be eaten at the principal meal.
On days of fasting and abstinence, meatless soup is traditional. As to special Lenten foods, vegetables, seafoods, salads, pastas, and beans mark the Season, in addition to the meatless soups. The fasting of this time once even precluded the eating of eggs and fats hence Shrove Tuesday when all such products were used up.
LITURGICAL NOTES
Sun March 12 Pope St Gregory the Great: (c. 540 – 12 March 604), was Patriarch of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death in 604. St Gregory is famous for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome to convert a pagan people to Christianity, including the sending of St Augustine to the “Angles” (English). Gregory is also well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope. He is also known as the Great Visionary of Modern Educational System, for his writings and contribution to the school system of education instead of apprenticeships based learning. The epithet Saint Gregory the Dialogist has been attached to him in Eastern Christianity because of his Dialogues. For this reason, English translations of Eastern texts will sometimes list him as Gregory “Dialogos” or the Latinized equivalent “Dialogus”. Throughout the Middle Ages he was known as “the Father of Christian Worship” because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day which is the Divine Liturgy used by Western Orthodox Catholics to this day. His contributions to the development of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, still in use in the Byzantine Rite by Eastern Orthodox, were so significant that he is generally recognized as its de facto author. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the Latin Fathers.
FERIA the term feria is used in Latin to denote days of the week other than Sunday and Saturday. The Church Christianized a Jewish practice. The Jews frequently counted the days from their Sabbath, and so we find in the Gospels such expressions as una Sabbati and prima Sabbati, the first from the Sabbath. The early Christians reckoned the days after Easter in this fashion, but, since all the days of Easter week were holy days, they called Easter Monday, not the first day after Easter, but the second feria or feast day; and since every Sunday is the dies Dominica, a lesser Easter day, the custom prevailed to call each Monday a feria secunda, and so on for the rest of the week. The only modern language that fully preserves this Latin ecclesiastical style of naming weekdays is Portuguese, which uses the terms segunda-feira, etc. Greek uses very similar terms, but without the Latin-derived feira.
A day on which no saint is celebrated is called a feria (and the celebration is referred to as ferial, the adjectival form of feria). Ferias are divided into major and minor. The major ferias, which require at least a commemoration even on the highest feast days, are the ferias of Advent and Lent, the Ember days, and the Monday of Rogation week; all others are called minor.
EVENTS THIS WEEK…
NEW Cafe and Charity Shop Please consider supporting this new venture in the Annexe building once generously loaned to us for worship by our friends in the Salvation Army.
THREE SCORE DANCE South East Dance is supporting weekly contemporary dance classes for older people (60+) across Brighton & Hove who are interested in having fun and improving their health along the way. It meets on a Monday afternoon, 2 pm to 3.30 pm at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church. Led by Three Score Dance Company’s Rehearsal Director, Jason Keenan Smith, the class will include contemporary dance technique and explore creativity. No prior dance experience is needed. Suitable for: all abilities (aged 60+). Places are strictly limited. For enquiries/bookings please contact Jacqueline Hadlow 01273 696844.
LUNCHTIME RECITALS Every Tuesday Lunchtime at the Chapel Royal, North Street 1.10 to 1.55 28 Clelia Iruzon & Yoko Ono (Piano Duo) Mozart Debussy Brahms All seats £3.00 at the door. Click here to see this season’s Programme
LUNCHTIME RECITALS Every Wednesday at St Nicholas’ Church, Dyke Road 12:30pm lasting for half an hour. A minimum donation of £3.00 towards recital expenses is appreciated. The recitals provide a perfect break for you to have your lunch and relax before heading back to work. Please bring your own sandwiches. Tea and Coffee is available for a donation.
SING & SIGN encourages speech and language development in babies through the use of action songs and gestures. They meet at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church on Wednesday mornings. For information about the group please visit their website: www.singandsign.com
WINE TASTING Matthew Jukes Best 100 Australian Wines 2016/17 Hosted by Butlers Wine Cellar – Saturday, 18 March, 7 pm – £20 Cassie and Henry from Butlers Wine Cellar return to St Mary’s with the very affable (and knowledgeable!) wine writer and tasting judge Matthew Jukes. They’ll be showcasing fifty of Matthew’s ‘100 Best’ selection of Australian wines for 2016/17. There will be a broad selection of fizz, whites, reds and sweets available to order at a discount on the evening. Tickets at £20 a head are available direct from Butlers. These tastings are great fun and often sell out in advance.
BIKE FOR LIFE – Bicycle Maintenance Course Saturdays, 18 and 25 March, 5 April, 12 noon – 6 pm Bruce, Brighton’s star bike man, is back in St Mary’s church hall, Upper St James Street (Kemptown) on Saturday, 18th March to run the first of Bike for Life’s next, three-part bicycle maintenance course. Each session runs for six hours on a Saturday, from 12 noon, and provides intensive, hands-on tuition. With the odd tea break thrown in for good measure. If you can’t make this course, Bruce will be running another three-parter beginning in May, with courses also in July, September and November 2017. For details and to book, please see Bike for Life’s website or email Bruce or Ronnie via this link.
UPCOMING EVENTS…
HOLY HOUR resumes on Thursday 23 March, open to our ecumenical friends in Churches Together, a meditative service from 5-6pm in the Chapel at Brighton Congress Hall. This will be a reflective service by candlelight affording the opportunity to “sit and be still” in the presence of The Lord.
LENT DISCUSSION “Caritas” the NEXT ecumenical discussion group will be held from 7.30pm, on Thursday March 30th in the Prayer Room. An opportunity once again to meet other Christians and share and discuss thoughts and life stories around the study of Biblical themes concerning discipleship. Please feel free to invite anyone you know may be interested in either or both of these events and don’t forget to put them in your diary!
CAMEO LUNCH for senior citizens Thursday 30 March at The Mad Hatter Inn, Rock Street (Kemptown) our monthly lunch supporting the work of our apostolate “Cherubs Kitchen“. A very reasonable “prix fixe” set menu of homemade traditional dishes with the opportunity to meet other people of a similar age! “We had a most beautiful lunch laid for us in the Snug, a red tablecloth, beside a log fire. I wish I could describe the homemade fish pie, freshly made & cooked by our chef, Fr Jerome. It was absolutely delicious. We all had two helpings each! So wish I’d taken a picture, but I had the honour of being “mum” and forgot.” Contact Shirley to reserve a place on 07773 991670.
KEMPTOWN COMMUNITY MARKET Saturdays 8 and 22 April 10.30 am – 4 pm An exciting and tasty initiative in St Mary’s church hall, Upper St James Street, Kemptown welcoming local food producers and suppliers offering a fabulous range of breads, raw milk, cheese, pies, charcuterie, gluten-free cakes, chocolate, chutneys, jams and pickles, alongside an eclectic mix of art, jewellery, soaps, cards, and collectables and bric-a-brac from local creatives. Plus there are the lovely folk from the Sussex Beacon who take care of the teas and coffees. Do drop into the beautiful church while visiting the area, open till 4 pm on Saturday too, and always happy to welcome people (and friendly dogs).
HOLY WEEK 2017 please make a note in your diaries NOW ref the Divine Liturgies and sacred ceremonies of the Sacrum Triduum
09 Apr 0830 Palm Sunday: Blessing of Palms & Mass
12 Apr 1700 Tenebrae
13 Apr 0830 Maundy Thursday: Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Stripping of the Altar, Watch at the Altar of Repose
1700 Tenebrae
14 Apr 0830 Good Friday: Veneration of the Cross & Mass of the Presanctified
1500 Stations of the Cross
1700 Tenebrae
15 Apr 0830 Holy Saturday: New Fire, Praeconium Paschale, Vigil and First Mass of Pascha
1700 Paschal Mattins
16 Apr 0830 Easter Sunday: Solemn Mass of Pascha
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
THE HUB HOMELESS DROP-IN We’ve created a welcoming environment for our guests and serve them with dignity and respect and so we are seeking volunteers willing to serve at table and help us create a welcoming café like environment every Wednesday. We also need help in the kitchen too for, as the suburban proverb says, “many hands make light work” and we’d like to lighten the load of existing volunteers by having enough people to have a roster! That way everyone can enjoy giving of their time and not feel overly burdened or committed! We need volunteers anytime between 0830 and 1400 for all or a couple of hours, we’d be grateful for any time you can give! If you’d like to join our existing team of faithful volunteers and help us serve the most needy and often deserving of humanity struggling to get by without the security that most of us enjoy with a roof over our heads… please text/phone Fr Jerome on 07423 074517 or just turn up on a Wednesday!
TIME TO TALK BEFRIENDING Volunteering as a befriender provides much needed friendship for older people who might otherwise be alone and feel cut off from society. Befriending is a mutually rewarding experience which is life giving – so if you have a heart for older people, live in Brighton and Hove, Adur or Worthing, and would like to make a difference to help reduce feelings of loneliness among the older population then please don’t hesitate to contact us today! Tel: 01273 737710 or email info@timetotalkbefriending.org.uk
COFFEE SHOP & CHARITY SHOP in The Annexe, Salvation Army opens on Monday 6 March for which volunteers are needed to help serve customers, sort and rotate stock, etc. Phone: 01273 607095
COMMUNITY LUNCH on the Fifth Sunday of the month at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, a drop-in and hot meal from 2pm-4pm. The meal is aimed at those who are homeless, vulnerably housed or those who feel excluded or on the periphery of society. We currently have an average of about 60 people coming each quarter. As well as providing a good quality hot meal (cooked by a team of volunteer cooks on site) we give people a chance to relax – we provide hot drinks and people have a chance, to chat to read the papers or just to be quiet. We have a great team of volunteers – Some prefer to stay in the kitchen and others help set out the hall, serve our guests and wash up. This is a joint project in partnership with Sleepsafe. To volunteer telephone 01273 503348
INTERCESSIONS
Of your charity please pray for the following for whom prayers have been asked…
General intentions: Janie Thomas, Karen Knight, Debbie Gaston, Nik Wooller, Connor, Remi, Sarah Daniel,
Thanksgiving: Neveah born 01:03 on 22/02/2017 (parents, Libby & Freedom) John & Jean Marchant (62nd Wedding Anniversary year) Joyce & Jim Babcock (65th Wedding Anniversary year), Fr Jerome (various)
Health & well-being: Stefan Bell, Patrick Hannibal, Jessie Wise, Jesse, Margaret, Frazer & Albert McCue, Sarah Hannington, Maureen, Marge, Kerry Potter, Joy Gale, John Marchant, Ida Liffey Gordon
Discernment: Matt Timmis, Darren, Paul Schofield, Lou Regan, Kamal Abdallah, Simon Gangloff
Vocations: Tom Gierke, Jamie Alaniz, Fr George, Fr Emilio
CHANTRY THIS WEEK…
Of your charity please pray for the souls of…
RECENTLY DEPARTED
Sam d.02/02/2017 funeral 03/03/2017
Kerry
Betty Spicer d.13/02/2017
Marilyn Belvin Brown d.21/02/2017
Stanley Horsey d.27/02/2017
YEAR’S MIND THIS MONTH
05/03 JAMESON Rex
08/03 BOSTWICK James Edward (archbishop)
19/03 RYLAND Edwin
25/03 WARDLEY Stanley
26/03 DUARTE-COSTA Carlos (bishop)
26/03 GILBEY Alfred Newman (priest/monsignor)
27/03 CLEMENT Robertson
30/03 PRICE William John
The Brighton Oratory 
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