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Welcome to St Mary's the Virgin
A Message from Fr. Neil
It was the feast of our patron saint last month. It was also the ninetieth anniversary of the parish. Church looked and sounded splendid and our thanks goes out to all and everyone who contributed to making it so.
What was marvellous to behold was the huge amount of creativity: there were flower displays expressing each of the last nine decades; the organ thundered gloriously and chimed laughingly; cakes were created; scones spread with cream and jam; words, pictures and photographs brought and displayed to make and refresh memories.
It was a weekend that made for a great story: what it all provided along with this though, was a background for the myriad stories that have made St Mary’s what it is and has been for so many people. It is always great to see friends reunited and of course, when we see old friends we inevitably touch on the tales of long ago as well as the more recent news of each other.
“My soul doth magnify the Lord,” opens the song of Mary, and from there she goes on to tell us her story, which we, many generations later are still part of. Just as we are linked with all those who have worshipped at St Mary’s for the last decades, so are we linked through our Church and shared faith with those who have worshipped Mary’s son for the last many centuries. Mary, like all the saints encourages us to sit down with him and talk as we would to a friend. Will we reply with the stock “Fine,” when he asks how we have been? Hopefully not; he would want to hear your story.
Fr Neil.
