Leigh Hatts – Page 14 – Advent to Easter

Covent Garden’s Corpus Christi

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has declared Corpus Christi Church in Covent Garden to be the Westminster Diocesan Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament. When the delightful little Corpus Christi church in Maiden Lane was opened in 1874 it was only the second church in England to have the dedication. St Juliana of Liege, who in the 13th […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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Corpus Christi: Juliana’s message from Liege

Today Thursday 31 May is Corpus Christi when we give thanks for the gift of Holy Communion. We do this because from about 1208 St Juliana of Liege received messages from God suggesting that we should do so. She had a long struggle to convince all the male clergy that this was God’s wish. The […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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Trinity Sunday: A new start

This weekend we reach Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is the name for God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. three in one and one in three. Since the end of November we have lived through the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Trinity Sunday is the beginning of the second half of the year when […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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Whit Friday: Walks and brass

Church congregations in Saddleworth will be out this morning taking part in Whit Walks. Whit Friday remains a local holiday in parts of Lancashshire. The Friday tradition was building up in the 1880s and today there is an ecumenical feel to the occasion: being together rather than rivalry. At 10am today in Top Mossley in […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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Whitsun is Pentecost

Sixty years ago we would have said that Harry and Meghan had a Whitsun wedding. Philip Larkin wrote a poem called The Whitsun Weddings. Pentecost used to be a big holiday weekend in England as it still is in France. It was in 1965 that the Whit Monday Bank Holiday was rebranded Spring Bank Holiday […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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St Matthias: an appropriate date this year

Today is the Sunday between The Ascension last Thursday and Pentecost next Sunday. The first followers of Christ, about 120 people, spent the ten days in between in Jerusalem waiting for the Holy Spirit. They used the time to choose a replacement for Judas, the group’s treasurer, who had betrayed Jesus and triggered his arrest […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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All Hallows-by-the-Tower beating the bounds

The annual Ascension Day beating the bounds took place today in bright sunshine at All Hallows-by-the-Tower parish on the edge of the City of London. The boundary runs up against the Tower of London and along the middle of the Thames. Custom House is in the parish as is the charming garden ruin of St […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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Ascension tower top singing

Thursday 10 May is Ascension Day when we recall Christ ascending to heaven forty days after his resurrection. This is the climax of Easter marked in many places by tower-top singing. Choirs ascend their church tower to mark the day. It will happen at St Davids Cathedral at 5.30am; Southwark Cathedral at 7.30am, Lichfield Cathedral […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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Rogation Days

Tomorrow is the Sixth Sunday of Easter but it is often known as Rogation Sunday because we are about to have several Rogation days in the lead up to Ascension Day on Thursday. We are coming to the climax of Easter when Jesus, having risen on Easter Day, now ascends to heaven thus ending his […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023

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May Day starts Month of Mary

This morning many people were up early to welcome the month of May. Morris dancers were performing on Runnymede at 5am. Choirboys sang at 6am from the top of Magdalen College Oxford. We shall see more of this on Ascension Day next week. It was also the hour for the ‘Obby ‘Oss to appear at […]

Leigh Hatts 7 years agoOctober 29, 2023