General Notices for Visitors
The rubrics of the Extraordinary Form of Mass require that Holy Communion be given on the tongue and kneeling. Those who cannot kneel because of illness, frailty or old-age are not obliged to kneel and are welcome to stand when receiving Holy Communion (though still on the tongue).
Parking – Do not park in the under-cover parking bay on the immediate left of Charles O’Neill Way. Parking is available further down, or on West St.
Please do not park in yellow-striped bay which is reserved for the St Vincent de Paul Night Patrol vans.
Please leave closer parking bays available for elderly and less mobile Mass-goers.
Holy Communion
In the traditional Latin Mass, the rubrics prescribes that Holy Communion is received on the tongue and kneeling. Due to age and illness, one is not obliged to kneel but Holy Communion is received on the tongue in this rite. Thank you for your understanding.
Updates
Please be advised that the parking space in between MHM and St Thomas Church have been cordoned off for re-development. For Sunday Masses at St Thomas of Canterbury/Beckett, we can still park on campus, but we would have to walk around the campus to get to St Thomas. For easier access, you could park on Thomas Street or in the carpark outside the hall area (left of St Thomas) or on the extreme right of the Church, there is a path large enough for a car to get into the school car park, facing Lewisham train station.
Please be advised that Fr Sypher is away for 2 weeks for his schedule break.
The work on the Church is going as planned and much progress has been made.
Eve of the Epiphany, Saturday 5th January 2109
1st Saturday, Mass of Our Lady
Benediction and Great Epiphany Water Blessing (No novena)
If you wish to have water blessed, please bring only one large container with a wide opening, or better still, fill your empty container from the large reservoir after the blessing is finished.
Please take care not to spill water in the church. Our liturgy must finish in time for the First Saturday devotions held by St. Dominic’s parish.
Epiphany is one of the most primitive feast days of the Church. The Great Blessing of Water takes place on the Eve of Epiphany. This blessing is Eastern in origin but there were parts of Europe that also blessed Epiphany Water. In 1890, the Roman Rite of the Blessing of the Water was included in the Ritual for universal use. The Ritual Prayer includes a Solemn Exorcism.
On Epiphany Day, chalk, gold, incense and myrrh are blessed. The chalk is used to inscribe the name of the 3 Magi (Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior) on the lintels of homes. For the blessing of homes, Epiphany water, chalk, incense and myrrh are used as sacramentals. With the blessed chalk is inscribed:
20 + C + M + B + 19
CBM is also an abbreviation of Christus Mansionem Bendicat, “May Christ bless the house”
New Year’s Day and Feast of the Holy Name
New Year’s Day, Tuesday 1st January 2019
Octave of the Nativity (9am Mass – Nursing Home)
Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions with recitation of “Veni Creator”
Wednesday 2nd January 2019
Feast of the Holy Name (7am Mass – Nursing Home)
Partial Indulgence with recitation of Litany of the Holy Name
New Year’s Eve
Monday 31st December, 2018, New Year’s Eve (7am Mass – Nursing Home)
(7th Day in the Octave of the Nativity)
Plenary Indulgence under the usual circumstances with recitation of the “Te Deum”
Merry Christmas!
A Novena of Masses will be offered for all the parishioners of the Maternal Heart of Mary and all those whom you have enrolled and those intentions within your hearts. The novena commences on the 24th of December.
On behalf of the priests and seminarians of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, we would like to wish all the parishioners of the Maternal Heart of Mary Church community a blessed and a grace-filled New Year. Thank you for all your cards and kindnesses.
2018 Christmas Mass times
9pm, 24th December
“Midnight” Mass, St.Thomas of Canterbury Church, Lewisham
(This is out of necessity because of the schedule liturgies in other nearby Churches)
5am, 25th December
Dawn Mass, St.Thomas of Canterbury Church, Lewisham
9.30am, 25th December
Christmas Day Mass, St.Patrick’s Church, Summer Hill
(Please arrive 9.05am onwards as there is a Mass before ours)
Renovation Progress
Dear faithful in Christ,
It is with great joy that we can share a few photos of the progress on the renovations to Maternal Heart of Mary Church (Lewisham).
After some initial delays, work began last month. The electricians were first to start, with the stripping of the old electrical wiring and lighting. Most of the new wiring was then run, before the painters came in to begin their part.
In the attached photos, you can see that the ceiling and walls are currently being repainted (acrylic paint). When the initial scope of works was put together, we expected the painting of the walls to be cost prohibitive until a much later date. However, because our tradesmen are working at near cost-price, we are very blessed and grateful to be able to do all of the painting at one and the same time. This will not only save us money in the long run, it will also avoid the unnecessary headache of vacating our beloved church again!
I attach a computer-generated photo showing the colour scheme. We have tried to respect the historical design while at the same time bringing out the architecture with a two-tone contrast.
New lighting will be installed early next year and some of the windows and broken stained-glass will also be repaired.
As you can see, this is a very large project, so the work may continue into March. The total cost will be approximately $450,000, which is far below the commercial value of the work, thanks to the generosity of our tradesmen. The scope of works was approved by the Society of St Vincent de Paul as well as by the FSSP superiors overseas. The builder and costs were approved by the archdiocese.
The addition of the walls to the scope of works added $100,000 to the final cost. Therefore, in order to make up this extra expense, we ask for your financial support.
Donations can be made using the bank details at the bottom of this email (EFT/netbanking only), or by credit card here.
There is also the possibility of tax-deductible corporate sponsorship for businesses. Please contact us via email.
This project has long been placed under the maternal guidance of Our Lady & also under the protection of St Joseph. May they both intercede for us and bring the work to a timely & favourable conclusion!
May God grant you a blessed Christmas and a peaceful new year.
Fr Wong and Fr Sypher.
