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.
The Sign of the Cross
The central symbol of the Christian faith is the Cross. It contains within it the sign of victory over death, the sign of love defeating hate, the sign of God defeating sin.
It also recalls Jesus' suffering and death and reminds us that our salvation was not achieved without cost, it was not an easy victory.
When we make the sign of the Cross, we are uniting ourselves with the great sign of our faith and we are offering with our body a prayer of thanksgiving.
We start the sign of the cross with our right, at our forehead.
We come down to just below our heart.
Then across to our LEFT shoulder
and finish at our RIGHT shoulder.
We do not need to say anything whilst making the sign of the Cross.
