WELCOME TO THE PARISH CHURCH
OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, SWANLEY
01322 662201
All Souls Day: Thursday 2nd November 2023
St Mary's places great importance on remembering those we have loved and lost. A central part of this ministry is our Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, All Souls Day, which falls on 2nd November.
We celebrate a said Mass at 10am when we remember all who are on our anniversaries of death list.
At 7.30pm, we shall have a sung Mass at which we shall remember all whose funerals we have done in the last year and anyone for whom we have done memorial services or burials of ashes. We provide some refreshments after the evening Mass.
You are welcome to ask us to remember a relative who has died and you are very welcome to join us at any of our services.
We also make available 7-day candles which are lit for the evening service and remain in church for the following week. If you would like more information about buying a candle, please download the form here, print it out and return it to us with your payment.
BANNS OF MARRIAGE & WEDDINGS
We recommend that those seeking marriage make enquiries at an early stage:
we marry those who live in the parish, are on the church's electoral roll
or have a long-standing link with St Mary's.
Where either or both parties have been married before,
with a former partner still living,
we offer a service of prayer after a civil wedding
and full details can be obtained from the vicar.
St Mary's follows the traditional teachings regarding marriage:
it is a relationship of one man and one woman, for life.
There are churches locally which will offer services of blessing for same-sex couples, using material recently authorized by the Church of England: we will happily provide details of them.
We deal with all enquiries on a Sunday morning after the 10am Mass,
so to book the calling of your banns, for all questions and for more information,
you'll need to come along then.
You can, however, download a form, using the button below, and fill it in and bring it along with you.
Banns are called on the first three Sundays of the month preceding the wedding and we accept bookings for Banns up to three months before the date of the wedding.