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.
Liturgy (services): Benediction
Benediction is the worship of Christ in his Blessed Sacrament.
We spend time in prayer before the Lord and then we receive his blessing. It is a time of contemplation and reflection and a reminder of Christ's presence in a very special way.
We unite ourselves with the Lord and concentrate for a few moments on the mystery that Christ is present with us now as He is also present in the Kingdom of God. this is a hard thing to get our head around! So we need a time of calm, of peace and of meditation.
When Christ was born we were told He was Emmanuel, a name which means "God-is-with-us." In Benediction the Church recalls this understanding that God is not far off, not looking down on us and detached from humanity but in a real way present with us, suffering with us and celebrating with us.
At St Mary's we offer Benediction on key celebrations across the year: these are published in the monthly Newsletter and Weekly Mass Book and all are welcome. If you've never been before, don't panic! Everything you need is provided, just come along and experience the wonderful sense of Our Lord being truly with us.