We offer welcome, respect, support and the love of God to everyone, wherever we are on our spiritual journey. So don’t give up for Lent; keep on loving God and your neighbour and yourself. It’s time to seek the deeper meanings of the life of Jesus, pondering these things in our hearts, as we walk together through Lent.
Tuesday 2 February at 7.30pm, 40 days after Christmas, we complete the Nativity narrative with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Candlemas, singing the Missa Brevis “Laetatus Sum” by Dr Nigel Browne, based on Parry’s “I was Glad”, and the contemporary Motet “Lux Aurumque” by Eric Whitacre.
Sunday 7 February, Quiquagesima, 10.45am Sung Mass. Setting: Mass in F – Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995), Motet: O Nata Lux – Thomas Tallis (1505-85); music by two of our longest-lived composers.
Sunday 7 February at 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction. Canticles: Collegium Regale, Anthem: Like as the Hart desireth the waterbrooks; both by Herbert Howells (1892-1983). Alternatively: Sing Joyfully, by William Byrd (c.1540-1623).
Monday 8 February, Chinese New Year occurs just before the start of Lent this year.
Tuesday 9 February, Shrove Tuesday, 7pm Choir Practice, followed at 8.30pm by Pancakes.
Wednesday 10 February, Ash Wednesday, with services both Morning & Evening.
9.30am Matins, 10am Said Low Mass with Ashes.
7.30pm Solemn Sung Mass with Imposition of Ashes led by Fr Nigel Mason, Hospiscare Chaplain. Setting: Mass in A Minor – Casciolini. Motet: Hide Not Thou Thy Face – Farrant.
As is our custom, Lenten Masses use simpler Plainsong settings.
Sunday 14 February, Lent I, 10.45am Sung Mass with Litany in Procession. Missa de Angelis. Motet: O Lord Look Down from Heaven – Battishill.
Wednesday 17 February at 6pm and every Wednesday in Lent, the Stations of the Cross are prayed. A reminder that Plainsong Vespers followed by silent Meditation takes place every Tuesday and Thursday in Church at 6pm.
Thursday 18 February at 7.30pm at St David’s Church Heritage Lecture by Professor Jeremy Black of Exeter University on The Battle of Waterloo. Admission free; please support.
Sunday 21 February, Lent II, 10.45am Sung Mass. Sarum Plainsong. Motet: The Call – Lloyd. Words by George Herbert, Welsh-born Anglican poet & priest (1593-1633).
Wednesday 24 February at 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. Br. Michael Jerome, ‘Christianity, Christ and Mental Illness: Confronting Saneism in Society with a Crown of Thorns’ – please note, some aspects of this lecture may be distressing.
Click here for Lecture Series Poster=>Lecture_Series_2016
Sunday 28 February, Lent III, 10.45am Sung Mass. Praier Booke Noted – Merbecke. Motet: Panis Angelicus – arr. Nigel Browne.
Sunday 28 February at 6pm in Exeter Cathedral there is a liturgical performance of Cantata 41. Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, by Exeter Bach Society.
Tuesday 1 March at 6pm, CBS Mass at St Michael’s, with plainsong & hymns, for David, Patron Saint of Wales and our Parish church.
Sunday 6 March, Mothering Sunday, Laetare with Rose Vestments, 10.45am Sung Mass.
Sunday 6 March at 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction.
Times of change are unsettling but inevitable, even in a church as apparently traditional as St Michael’s. Please continue to pray for and support St Michael’s; we have a full rota of mainly visiting priests to welcome to our regular services between now and Easter, and much to look forward to together.
Finally, a topic guaranteed to make one unpopular. Financial giving to St Michael’s, while improving a little, is still inadequate to cover basic costs, so if, like me, you have not yet joined the Parish Giving Scheme, please talk to the Treasurer or take an information pack from the back of the church and give it some serious consideration, or donate online.
The bottom line, as they say, is that it costs about £850 per week to keep St Michael’s functioning and serving its community; rather like the Council Tax, the Diocese charges us £450 per week to help fund clergy and services for the Church of England across Devon; and our own utility bills for heat, light, building maintenance, insurance, music, candles, incense, service sheets, … total the other £400.
Many thanks, Richard Barnes.