Little Saint Mary’s, Cambridge June 2015: No. 479

NEWSLETTER

This month we have an update on the Parish Choir’s activities andprogress towards their long-anticipated tour to Prague, and DavidChristophersen’s return with Beethoven and Schubert, plus the usualVicar’s letter, prayers, and intentions…

Highlights of June

Monday 1st JuneVisitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth (transferred)Low Mass 12:30pm, Sung Mass 7pm.

Wednesday 3rd JuneFirst Wednesday Fellowship GroupAfter the 10am Mass Hannah McManus speaks about her time as a Year4God volunteer at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Thursday 4th JuneCorpus ChristiLow Mass 7:45amHigh Mass 7pm at S. Bene’t’s, then Procession with Benediction at LSM

Wednesday 10th JuneMonthly Healing Mass10am with laying-on of hands & anointing with holy oil. It is preceded at 9:45 by silent prayer for those who are ill. All are welcome to this quiet but powerful service.

Thursday 11th JuneS. Barnabas, apostle7:45am Low Mass, 7pm Sung Mass.

Saturday 20th JuneSummer Festival & Gift DayFrom 11am there’ll be stalls, food, games, music, a play and Evensong & Benediction.Note that Low Mass is at 9am that day.

Wednesday 24th JuneBirth of S. John the BaptistLow Mass 10am, Sung Mass 7pm.

Monday 29th JuneSs Peter & Paul, ApostlesHigh Mass 7pm.12:30pm Low Mass that day will be of Requiem on the first anniversary of the death of Fr John Hughes.

From the Vicar

30th May 2015

Dear Brothers & Sisters

As well as being Vicar of LSM, I’m also a vocations advisor for theDiocese of Ely. This means that the diocese sends me men and womenwho think that God might be calling them to be a priest, and I help themthink about this and discern whether God is indeed calling them or not.

As well as being impressed by their enthusiasm and commitment, I amfrequently struck by the fact that few of those presenting themselves forordination have a clear sense of what a priest is. When asked, most willgive you a list of things that priests do (typing newsletters is never one ofthem!) The just-retired bishop of Oxford, in other ways a laudable man,managed to produce a book a few years ago which did just that, one madeworse by containing not one reference to the Eucharist... A mere list of jobsseems to be a fairly common error into which people fall, therefore, whenasked to ponder the life of a priest. Perhaps we need to go back to basics and start with the whole company ofthe baptized, the Church itself. Within the royal priesthood of the baptizedpeople of God, some are called to ministerial priesthood to be at the serviceof that body or people. As the Church of England’s ordination service putsit ‘To serve this royal priesthood, God has given particular ministries.’That same ordination service goes on:

Priests are ordained to lead God’s people in the offering of praiseand the proclamation of the Gospel … They are to set the exampleof the Good Shepherd always before them as the pattern of theircalling... ; they are to sustain the community of the faithful by theministry of word and sacrament.

Priests serve the Body of Christ by pastoral care and feeding it withscripture and sacrament. Ordination, therefore, is primarily about worship.What is a priest, therefore? Crudely, it is someone who leads God’s peoplein worship. There are certainly many other things clergy do, some ofwhich are entirely appropriate to their calling, but the centre of a priest’s

identity should be the celebration of sacrament and scripture. One of thereasons why LSM produces such a healthy number of priestly vocations,therefore, is perhaps that this is the centre of our life here: those whom Godis calling see priestly identity displayed before them Sunday by Sunday,day by day and so can recognise this calling within.

You can see in the central bit of this Newsletter those with LSMconnections who are being ordained this summer. June and July are thetraditional months when the Church ordains new deacons and priests, inwhat is called Petertide, the days surrounding the Feast of S. Peter (andPaul) on 29th June. The Feast Day of Peter, leader of the first Apostles, isan appropriate one on which to ordain new people to the apostolic ministry.Do please pray for our candidates that they may truly feed the Body ofChrist.

The Body of Christ is not just a body that worships, however, and theascended Christ gives many ministries to build up the life of His Body. Tothat end I’m very grateful indeed to Richard Morgan and Malcolm Munro,who have generously stepped forward to take on ministries previously doneso wonderfully by Sally Head. Richard is to be our new PCC Secretary andMalcolm is taking responsibility for the church garden. Please keep themboth in your prayers as they begin their work.

With my prayers for you and all love and good wishes, I am

Yours in the Lord,

Fr Robert.

PARISH INFORMATION

All the external Quinquennial Works are now complete and we are verygrateful to Iain Frearson of Freeland Rees Roberts and to the firm Lodge &Sons who have given us such excellent service. We have raised almost£30,000 for the Lady Chapel work which we hope will begin in the earlyautumn. Thank you for your generosity. The works will involve theremoval of the oatmeal carpet, the sanding and sealing of the wooden floor,the touching-up of the blue and gold paint on the altar and reredos andstatue of Our Lady and plinth, painting the ceiling blue with gold stars,purchase of a Persian rug for in front of the altar and the hanging of a lampby the statue of Our Lady.

I’m conscious that most people are not free on Wednesdays at 10am and soif they wanted to attend the monthly Healing Mass they couldn’t.Consequently, from July, the Healing Mass will alternate betweenWednesdays at 10am and Saturdays at 10am. The Healing Mass in July,therefore, will be on Saturday 11th July at 10am. I hope this means thatmore people will feel able to avail themselves of this gentle and beautifulministry.

Our annual Christian Giving Renewal appeal is now over and I will bewriting to all those of you who responded positively to that appeal – thankyou very much. As I have said before, money is the sacrament ofseriousness, and how we spend our money is a decision we shouldregularly bring before God in prayer. It’s worth reiterating that the Churchof England and Little S. Mary’s receive no government funding and themaintenance of our building, the payment of clergy and the support of thewider church falls entirely on our own shoulders; so thank you once againall those among you who give sacrificially to support the Body of Christ.

Continued study in the faith is something we are all to do as Christians. Anumber of those who have prepared for Confirmation in recent years areproposing meeting every two months for Discussion, Prayer and Study.If you are interested in joining this group please email the vicar or CliveBrown (clivebrown21@virginmedia.com). The next meeting is onSaturday 18th July at 4:45pm in the parish centre.

People for our Prayers

We are sad to be saying goodbye to various Ordinands who have worshipped with us over the past couple of years, not least Robert Kozak, Jeremy Taylor and Ross Gunderson (and their families). We pray for them as they are made Deacon. Do also keep those more closely-connectedOrdinands in your prayers too – there is a separate section of the newsletter for them. We are sad too to be saying goodbye to Ian Douglas who is leaving to become Librarian at Bedales School. Our loss is Clare’s gain – Ian’s partner who works at that school. He goes with our delight for him and good wishes.

Please continue to keep Laurence Fletcher and all the residents of the Hope Nursing Home on Brooklands Avenue in your prayers as they and their families fight the threat of closure which the home faces.

There seems to be a horribly large number of people suffering from cancer at the moment: we pray for Sally Head who has decided not to continue her cancer treatment and for Julia Norman as she continues with her – so far very successful – treatment; I’m sorry to have to ask for your prayers for Claire Brown too, who has also been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing treatment and for Hazel Pritchett Harris, who was a member of our congregation for a long time before moving home to Canada, who has been in contact to say that she too has this disease. We hold them all lovingly before the Lord.

I commend to your prayers Jeremy Bunting, priest, who died on 12th May and whose Funeral Mass took place here on 26th; also Catherine Beesley (like Hazel a long term former member of our congregation) who died on 17th May and whose funeral is in Canterbury on 1st June. The lunchtime Mass on Monday 13th July will be of Requiem for Catherine.

Summer Festival & FêteSaturday 20th June

9am Low Mass of the BVM (n.b. new time)

10:30am Stalls, refreshments and displaysCakes, home produce, books, tombola, vintage clothing, sideshows and traditional games; morning coffee served in the Parish Centre; display of vestments in the church; wild Churchyard Garden open for viewing.

12 noon Angelus and Prayers

12.05pm Choristers’ ConcertPerformances by our talented young people

12.30pm Lunches in the Parish Centre (to 2pm)

3pm Walsingham WayA new play telling the story of England’s NazarethAdmission £5 (under-16s £1)Also to be performed on Friday 19th June at 7:30pm

4pm Cream Teas in the Parish Centre (to 5pm)

6pm Choral Evensong & Benediction

We expect to be joined during the day by our newly-elected Member ofParliament,

Daniel Zeichner MP, and the new Mayor, Councillor Robert Dryden.

The Vicar will be at the church door to receive donations to the church fortwo half-hour periods at 11.15am and 2.15pm; Gift Aid envelopes will be

available for tax-free giving, and your contributions will be gratefullyreceived.

Please support the day generouslyAt LSM we are committed not only to meeting our own costs – including having a full-time priest, maintaining our lovely mediaeval building (open all day, every day) and toregular giving to home and overseas missions and charities – but also to making a majorcontribution to the rest of the Body of Christ, supporting poorer churches in other parts ofthe Diocese.

All hands on deck for the Summer Festival…

• Calling all cake-makers! Contributions for the cake stall and Parish Centrerefreshments will be very welcome – as many as possible, please. Bring themalong on the Friday (drop them off in the Parish Centre) or Saturday morningfrom 8am.

• We will also welcome bottles for the Friends’ tombola (give them to PaulHuskinson), books for the bookstall and home produce (preserves etc.)Donations for the stalls can be left (clearly marked) in the Parish Centre duringthe week, or bring them on Sundays.

• We will be assembling gazebos and erecting stalls from 8: 15am on Saturdaymorning (note the slightly earlier start). Please come lend a hand: this is a jobthat really does rely on plenty of support.

• Publicity is crucial to the success of the day: there are posters on the table at theback of the church – could you take one away with you and get it displayed in ashop, business, café, pub etc? The take-up for this is not normally veryencouraging and it would be good to see more posters on display around townthis year.

• Please also remember to invite your friends to come with you! The Festival isnot just a fund-raising exercise but also an excellent opportunity to showcase alittle of who and what LSM is – so we want plenty of visitors.

• Note that this year the Low Mass is at the new time of 9am: this is by no meansthe least important part of the day, when we commend all our labours to God andthe prayers of Our Lady.

This year’s Summer Festival play is

Walsingham WayA new play telling the story of England’s Nazareth

Friday 19th June, 7:30pm (followed by a glass of wine)Saturday 20th June, 3pm (followed by cream teas)

Admission £5 (under-16s £1)

Calendar and Intentions

for

June 2015

The list of Thanksgivings and Intercessions offers a focusfor our daily prayer, both at the Offices and Mass,

and in our personal times of prayer.

The Vicar would be glad of suggestions oradditions to the list of daily intention

Calendar for June LM-Low Mass, SM-Sung Mass, HM-High Mass

Mon 1st Visitation of B.V.M. to Elizabeth LM 12.30pm, SM 7pmTue 2nd Wed 3rd Martyrs of UgandaThu 4th CORPUS CHRISTI HM 7pm (starting at S. Bene’t’s)Fri 5th S. Boniface of CreditonSat 6th Ini Kopuria, religious

SUN 7th FIRST SUNDAY after TRINITYMon 8th Thomas Ken, bishopTue 9th S. Columba, abbotWed 10th Thu 11th S. Barnabas, apostle LM 7:45am, SM 7pmFri 12th Sacred Heart of Jesus LM (with hymns) 12:30pmSat 13th

SUN 14th SECOND SUNDAY after TRINITYMon 15th Tue 16th Richard of Chichester, bishopWed 17th Samuel & Henrietta Barnett, social reformersThu 18th Bernard Mizeki, martyrFri 19th

Sat 20th

SUN 21st THIRD SUNDAY after TRINITYMon 22nd S. Alban, martyrTue 23rd S. Ethedreda, abbess & Patron of the Diocese of ElyWed 24th Birth of S. John the Baptist LM 10am, SM 7pmThu 25th

Fri 26th Ember DaySat 27th S. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop & doctor

SUN 28th FOURTH SUNDAY after TRINITYMon 29th Ss PETER & PAUL, apostles LM 12:30pm, HM 7pmTue 30th

Daily Intentions and Anniversaries of death for June

That we may magnify the Lord in our lives Robert Loinsworth 1st

Examination candidates Elizabeth Roskill 2nd

Persecuted Christians 3rd A greater devotion to the Eucharist 4th

The Church in Germany 5th

Vocations to the religious life John Coales, Martyn Price Thomas 6th

Our parish and people Molly Wiles 7th

Bishops 8th

Missionaries 9th

Unemployed Stephen Branch, Johan Procopé 10th Encouragement 11th

Greater love for Jesus Geoffrey Styler, pr. 12th

Priests Dorothy May Otley 13th

Our parish and people 14th

Spiritual directors Maurice Latey 15th

Increased prayer 16th

Social Responsibility Committee 17th

Prisoners of conscience 18th Sufferers from dementia 19th

Summer Festival 20th

Our parish and people Phillip Betts, James Duffy, pr. 21st

Christian witness in England Hilda Rayner 22nd

Diocese of Ely 23rd

Prophetic witness today 24th

Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary Caroline Latham 25th

Candidates for ordination Leonard Bones, Bernard Challis 26th

Theologians Margaret Shaw, Rumina Djelebova 27th

Our parish and people 28th

Christian Unity Edward Roberts, bp., John Hughes, pr. 29th

Refugees Theresa Taylor, Elizabeth Wylie 30th

ORDINATIONS

As I wrote in my letter, we delight in the priestly vocations nurtured by LSM Please pray for our brothers and sisters being ordained on or around the Feast of S. Peter & Paul 2015:

Tanya Hockley – former Pastoral AssistantTanya is to be ordained Priest on 4th June at 7:30pm at All Saints', Hove. She will celebrate Mass for the first time the next day 5th June at 7:30pm at S. Luke’s, Stone Cross. We will keep her especially in our prayers as we celebrate Corpus Christi at LSM. Tanya would be delightedto see LSM people at her first Mass. Let her knowif you intend to come: tanyahockley1989@hotmail.co.uk

Keyvan Cyrus – ordinand on attachment 2012-14Keyvan is to be made Deacon on Sunday 28th June at 10am at Lichfield Cathedral.He is going to be Assistant Curate of the Parish of S. Michael the Archangel, Tividale, in the Diocese of Lichfield. All are welcome to attend.

Nicole Kinrade – ordinand on placement during Lent Term 2015Nicole is to be made Deacon on Saturday 27th June at 4pm at Chichester Cathedral. She is going to be Assistant Curate of the Parishes of Ditchling, Streat & Westmeston, in the Chichester Diocese. All are welcome to attend.

Richard Stanton – member of our congregationRichard is to be made Deacon on Saturday 4th July at 10:30am at Norwich Cathedral. All are welcome and a group will be travelling by train from LSM catching the 08:12am from Cambridge. Richard has some tickets for seats near the front so let him know if you’re coming: richard_stanton@btinternet.com

Kyle McNeil – former Pastoral AssistantKyle is being ordained Priest at 7pm on Tuesday 7th July at S. Mary the Virgin, Cockerton. The first Mass at which he will preside will be at 7pm, the day after, on Wednesday 8th July also at S. Mary the Virgin Cockerton.

Is the Lord calling you to be a priest?

Baking Our Way to Prague!

Sunday, 21st June, Bake Sales after Mass

The Choir of LSM would like to give thanks for all the support andgenerosity the congregation has shown over the past nine months. Withoutyour kind donations and thoughtful prayers, they would be unable to go on

tour this July.

If you would like to learn more about the choir’s plans, or if you wish tomake a donation to the tour fund, please talk to Simon Jackson or Tricia

Davies directly, email: directorofmusic@lsm.org.uk

ON SALE NOW! £10, sold after every Sunday Mass and choral service

Contact: Patricia Davies, pedavies@tesco.net 01223 234791Director of Music, directorofmusic@lsm.org.uk or any choir member.

BUY ONLINE! www.lsm.org.uk/worship/music/cds.html

Choir Newsfrom Simon Jackson, Director of Music

In the aftermath of theausterity of Lent,Eastertide always ushers ina series of feasts andfestivals that keep thechoir busy as the Springturns to Summer. Inaddition to our regularduties, we were delightedto welcome the DalbyKammarkör from Swedenwith their Director AnitaAndresson to help lead our

worship on S. Matthias’ day. The occasion provided the choristers withanother opportunity to work with vocal coach Hilary Llysten Jones, whoworked with the choir before their recording last year. We have anothermasterclass lined up later on in term, when we will be joined by DrChristopher Robinson (former Director of Music at St John’s College) – anexciting chance to work with one of the leading choral conductors of ourday.

The choir’s tour to Prague in Julyis fast approaching – and fund-raising activities continue apace.The ‘Sing-a-long Sound ofMusic’ event in May was a hugesuccess: there was a wonderfulfamily atmosphere in the ParishCentre. My thanks to MelissaGuiliano, Charlotte Perry and allwho helped to make the event soenjoyable. We are extremelygrateful to all who have donatedtowards the work of the choirover the year, and made this tourpossible.

The choir is already working on the repertoire they will sing while in theCzech Republic – and before we head to Prague, we will be performing ourconcert programme in Little Saint Mary’s. Do come and enjoy theirSummer Concert on Saturday 11th July at 2pm – the concert will last anhour, and will be followed by strawberries and cream in the garden. Tickets £5/Concessions £3, available on the door.

Have something to say in next month’s newsletter?Contact, melissaguiliano@gmail.com before Monday 22nd June.

…Cover Art: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness’, graphite (2014),commissioned for ‘Preaching and the Theological Imagination,’ ed. by ZacharyGuiliano and Cameron E. Partridge (New York, London and Berlin, 2015)

David Christophersenplays Beethoven and Schubert

from Jane Phillips

The third in David Christophersen’s spring series oflunchtime piano recitals takes place at LSM onSaturday 13th June at 1:15pm. Tickets £8standard/£4 concessions.

Beethoven’s Variations in C minor, WoO 80, flowfrom an almost operatic theme, whose theatricalgestures give ample scope for massive contrasts ofmood, pianistic colour and virtuosity. The work isextensive, never flags, and builds up to animpressive finale.

Schubert’s penultimate sonata in A major, D959,was composed together with its two equallyextraordinary companion sonatas in B flat and C ^ Franz Schubertminor, in the final month of the composer’s life. He died in 1828 at the age of 31.

Together these works represent a massive end-of-life creative outpouring (some120 pages of the current Henle edition). Poised between life and death, the Amajor sonata conjures up every imaginable beauty, but in one terrible moment thecomposer’s composure is shattered as the end of life is raged at and no consolationis offered. The work’s four movements remain some of his greatest music.

The Vicar writes: We’re immensely grateful to David for showing off our newpiano in all its musical glory and to Jane for organizing and publicising these

recitals.

< Ludwig van Beethoven

About the Cover Artfrom Melissa Guiliano

June is a month for preaching. It often marks the beginning of the long series ofSundays after Trinity, in which the lectionary allows for the continuousexplanation of a single set of books of the Bible. But June also contains twogigantic feasts, important for the Church’s life and proclamation: the Nativity ofSaint John the Baptist (24 June) and the feast of Saints Peter & Paul (29 June).On the one hand, we have John, the forerunner, preparing the way of the Lordthrough his ‘preaching a baptism of repentance’ in the Judaean wilderness; on theother, Peter and Paul, the two most eminent preachers among the Apostles,building up the Church from Jerusalem to Rome.

Not to mention the other great preachers and teachers celebrated in June: Justin,Boniface, Columba, Barnabas and Irenaeus, among others. They all heralded thearrival of the Word made flesh, unveiled the mysteries of His Incarnation, orcarried His teaching to new nations. And, in this way, it is also fitting that wecelebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi in June, commemorating the sacrament thatis the pinnacle of all the mysteries and figures of the Old Testament. Ourcelebration will be even more public this year. ‘Lo, the full, the final sacrifice/Onwhich all Figures fix’t their Eyes’, as Crashaw put it. We also fix our eyes; wealso see Christ, as He is proclaimed to us in Word and Sacrament; and we alsoproclaim Him on the streets of Cambridge in a few days.

So we have a full and rich month ahead. But among all these celebrations, thefeast of John the Baptist sticks out the most to me, and he is perhaps the primaryinspiration for my image on the cover of this month’s newsletter. He is an ever-present figure in Western art, depicted as often as the Virgin Mary (if not more)and almost as often as Jesus. His preaching and witness appears at the beginningof each of the four Gospels. He seems quite familiar to us.

But he is, in some ways, still an enigmatic figure: clad in camel's hair, eating abizarre diet, denouncing left, right and centre. His life is cut short by his boldness,the cowardly character of Herod and the scheming of Herodias and her daughter, afact so dramatically and ‘sublimely’ portrayed in Strauss’s opera Salome. I hope Ihave caught something of the drama of his appearing: the stark sunlight of thedesert, the urgency of his gesture, vesture and speech.

‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make His paths straight!’