Our Church at Easter

A few photos of the sanctuary taken this morning before Mass.

Homily for this year's Easter Vigil

Here's the homily I have at the Easter Vigil. At the other Masses, it was adapted but with the same basic message.
Fr John's Easter Vigil Homily

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Easter Vigil Baptism

At our Easter Vigil little Titus Msoka Jnr was baptised. Congratulations to his parents Soter and Lola Titus. Soter Titus is one of our organist, and in fact was playing the organ during the Easter Vigil. Rufina and Emeka Ebenebe stood in as proxies for the Godparents Colman Titus Msoka and Aida Blanka Msoka who live in Tanzania.

Parish Newsletter Sunday 12th April 2009

Parish Newsletter Sunday 12th April 2009

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Blessing of Easter Food

Our church was packed to capacity this morning for the annual ceremony of the blessing of Easter food. The custom is to bless lamb (or other meat), eggs and bread.

As well as signifying the end of the Lenten fast with the blessing of the food which is to be eaten at Easter, there is a rich symbolism to this tradition: the lambs sacrificed at the Passover and the blood placed on the lintels of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt brought about their liberation through the Exodus, and Christ is the true lamb whose sacrifice freed us from our sins; the eggs are a sign of new life through the Resurrection; the bread reminds us of the Bread of Angels, the manna with which God sustained His people through their sojourn in the desert and Christ is the Bread of Life in the Eucharist.

It is not, of course, an exclusively Polish affair although all the families who came this morning were Polish. To emphasise the fact that it is a tradition of the Church, I used the Latin blessings given in the 1925 Rituale Romanum.

Our altar rails came in very handy! And the food baskets formed a very lovely decoration of same.


I daresay the use of holy water on Holy Saturday morning is contrary to current liturgical law although the 1925 ritual specifies sprinkling after each blessing and the Polish people would certainly have felt short changed if I hadn't used it. So pastoral considerations prevailed.

Day with Mary Easter Saturday 29th March 2008

Congratulations to our neophytes

Emma, Sandra and Tracy are pictured here together with their sponsors Irene, Lola and Susan after the Easter Vigil Mass in which they were baptised, confirmed and received the Eucharist for the first time. They are each wearing a stole made by one of our parishioners for the occasion to signify their new clothing in Christ. It is modelled on those worn by the newly baptised at the Easter Vigil in St Peter's.

Blessing of Easter Food

Our church was packed on Holy Saturday morning for the traditional blessing of Easter foods. See here for further information.

The Easter Triduum - a parishioner reflects...

How wonderfully the Church helps us to journey through and experience some of the fullness of the redemption in the Easter Triduum.

Holy Thursday
The silence of the altar of repose as you pray with Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemani, waiting for His passion, whilst the disciples slept; night prayers whilst this part of the world sleeps; what a good time to be praying. No wonder the monastic orders have used this time for centuries.

Good Friday
The ageless chant of morning prayer; the shock of the stations of the cross, and the horrors we subjected Jesus to, whilst all the time He never complained; the Celebrant prostrating himself at the altar steps at the hour of Our Lord's death; the reading of the Passion; the congregation queuing to kiss the Crucifix; the silent retirement from Church when the liturgy is over, leaving the crucifix standing alone in the middle of the altar, the sign of the greatest act of love ever; to be loved in return and adored in silence.

Holy Saturday
Silence permeates the whole day; the ageless chant of morning prayer and the ancient Holy Saturday readings; the cross standing silently in the middle of the altar, Christ's love present to us all, to be genuflected to and adored in silence.

The Easter Vigil
The new fire, the Christ candle illuminating our procession back to the church, the Old Testament readings - a prefigurement of what was to come; the bells at the Gloria, the white vestments, the flowers, the controlled joy in the church and outside after the vigil service is over.

The Mass at Dawn
The packed church, the gentle hum of anticipation, the freshness of the day, the sheer joy of the liturgy, the people quietly queuing for the Eucharist,

Easter Monday
The flower decked church, the candle lit altar, the brilliant white vestments, the reading from the Acts, the joy at being in Easter week, and of 50 days of celebration.

Christ is risen. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!