Dear friends,
This week’s mailing arrives a little later in the day than usual, but with a bumper crop of news on which to feast: please therefore read the following notices carefully.
Thank you very much for your generous donations last month in support of the charity Mind, totalling £605 (+Gift Aid): this month’s chosen charity is Caritas Bakhita House, whom we have supported previously. Bakhita House is a safe house for women who have been trafficked, enslaved or exploited, operated as an apostolate of mercy by the Archdiocese of Westminster. Over the past ten years, 205 women aged 15-70, from over 50 countries, have stayed as guests at Bakhita House, where 16 babies have also been born Further details of this vital work are available in church, as are Gift Aid donations envelopes – to be placed into the basket at the back, NOT to be returned independently.
There will be a fundraising dinner for another one of the charities which we have supported this year, Tariro UK – Hope for Youth in Zimbabwe, on Thursday, 5 February 2026, at The Travellers Club in central London, at which the guest speaker will be the Zimbabwe-raised actor Lucian Msamati, who has appeared most recently in the film Conclave. Tickets are £150pp, from nstebbing@mirfield.org.uk
Our contactless donations system has been further upgraded today, which should ensure the opportunity consistently and reliably to donate to our own parish’s work and witness via this means: God bless you for your generosity.
At the back of church is a sign-up sheet for a parish lunch and conversation after Mass a week on Sunday, 14 September (the Feast of the Holy Cross), when our guest preacher – Fr Stephen Gallagher, Missioner to the See of Fulham – will lead us in a discussion about our parish’s future direction and priorities. This Sunday is the final opportunity to sign up to take part, and all are welcome – including and especially our younger and newer members. The buffet lunch will be provided free of charge – but we do need to know numbers and dietary requirements this weekend. (The lunch and conversation will likely not last longer than two hours.)
Please likewise this weekend speak to Pat to confirm your contribution of (sweet or savoury) finger food to a bring-and-share parish lunch after Mass on Sunday, 21 September, as we celebrate our Patronal Festival, in honour of Our Lady of Walsingham.
Volunteers are required, to help set up the Hall for these two parish lunches, on Saturdays 13 and 20 September respectively, from 7pm.
On Sunday, 5 October we will celebrate our Harvest Festival, and receive your kind donations of food, toiletries and household goods, for distribution by Harrow Food Bank. Please refer to the attached list, outlining the goods required.
Our parish outing on Sunday, 12 October (not Sunday 5, as previously advertised – in error!) will depart from Harrow-on-the-Hill station at 3.15pm, and take in afternoon tea (approx. £6.50pp) at St Martin-in-the-Fields’ Cafe in the Crypt, before joining in Choral Evensong at 5pm: we will return to Harrow-on-the-Hill around 6.30pm – please sign up in church.
The following prayer, for use in troubled times, is displayed in St Martin’s:
God of compassion and mercy, justice and truth,
visit your children in the midst of fear, horror, starvation and grief.
Take from the hearts of those bent on violence
the fury that stops at nothing and the rage that obscures all empathy.
Open paths to reason, patience, restraint and hope.
Give those who live with constant anxiety a purpose for living.
Transform the anger that propels enemies
to lose their humanity in depriving others of their dignity.
From this deep cistern of suffering and cruelty
bring living waters to cleanse and heal.
And raise up agents of reconciliation that can bring a future
out of the ruins of this unbearable storm of death.
In Christ who knew agony that we might find eternal safety. Amen.
Advance notice that, on Sunday, 8 February 2026, Bishop Jonathan will be visiting us to celebrate the 10.30am Mass. He will also be pleased to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on willing candidates: if you would like to be prepared for Confirmation, please speak to me. I hope that our Confirmation course this year (to begin in Advent) will also be an opportunity for those who have already been confirmed to refresh and explore their faith further: all welcome!
This Sunday at 3pm, HM Government will be testing an emergency alert system on all compatible mobile ‘phones and tablets: your device will make a loud, siren-like noise and vibrate, but you do not need to take any action in response to what is, on this occasion, only a test of the technology. For individuals who have may hidden ‘phones for safety reasons, official guidance on how to opt out of receiving alerts may be found here.
I will also be beginning, on Sunday afternoon, my own personal annual retreat – until Wednesday evening. During this time, I will be largely out of contact: please refer to Fr Mike in case of pastoral necessity, and to the churchwardens for any other urgent matters concerning St Mary’s. Please note that there will be no public Morning Prayer on Tuesday next week, 9 September.
On Saturday, 11 October St Peter, West Harrow will be hosting the one-day national CONVERGE 25 conference, exploring intercultural ministry across the UK. The theme of the day will be “Disciples of All Nations”, focussing on discipleship across cultures, and hearing from experienced voices, exploring fresh perspectives and connecting face-to-face with others who are passionate about intercultural church. Tickets (£20.21 – £27.80) – to include refreshments, and a hot lunch – are available here: if you would like to attend, please speak to me after reserving your place, to reclaim the price of your ticket from St Mary’s.
On Sunday, 19 October we are invited to St Andrew, Kingsbury for Fr Jason’s final Sunday: there will be refreshments in church from 12pm, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 3pm. Fr Jason’s Induction to St Augustine, Kilburn will take place on Friday, 21 November at 7pm.
Please also find attached invitations to the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina Festival Mass and lunch at St Magnus-the-Martyr, London Bridge; a Walsingham Festival at St Silas, Kentish Town; the Patronal Festival celebrations at St Luke, Kingston; an InterFaith Week event at Victoria Hall in November, and also an invitation to take part in London Resilience’s (online) heat preparedness interviews, for which participants will receive a £20 e-voucher.
This Sunday’s first reading at Mass urges us to seek God’s gift of wisdom, in the Holy Spirit – for wisdom not only helps us plot a path securely through this world, but leads us closer to Jesus, and so to our eternalsalvation.
With the Holy Father, this month the Universal Church is called to pray with special intention for our relationship with all of Creation. Pope Leo XIV writes, ‘inspired by Saint Francis, [may] we… experience our interdependence with all creatures who are loved by God and worthy of love and respect… [so that] we may feel and know ourselves to be responsible for this common home where [God invites] us to care for, respect, and protect life.‘
And, looking ahead to Our Lady’s birthday on Monday, we pray –
Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace, that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin may bring deeper peace to those for whom the birth of her Son was the dawning of salvation,
Fr Richard