November has arrived, the month when we particularly remember our deceased loved ones.  The names already handed in will be placed on the altar at every Mass celebrated in November, and one Mass will be offered each day for those named.  There is still time to add more, so please don’t be shy.

 

In this country, when a HolyDay of Obligation falls on a Saturday or a Monday it is generally transferred to the Sunday.  All Saints is a HolyDay of Obligation, but as 1 November this year is a Saturday, the feast is celebrated on Sunday 2 November instead.  All Souls will therefore follow on Monday 3 November.  Celebrations according to the 1962 Missal are planned for 1 and 3 November at 11am.  The Choir is to sing at the 6pm Mass on 3 November.  

 

It is beginning to get rather cold, and parishioners would be well advised to bring warm coats to church during November, because there will be times when the heating cannot be switched on because of the work being carried out on the boilers.  Once December comes, though, the heating should be working well, so we hope for a warm glow as Christmas approaches.  At some point in December we hope too that our refurbished organ will reappear in church, although a versatile electronic instrument is already available, to tide us over in case the return of the organ is delayed.  

 

It has taken a great deal of time and money to reach this point and we are most grateful to all who have supported the Parish Appeal in order to help us defray the spiralling costs of these two major projects.  Donors who supported the “Growing in Faith” initiative about ten years ago are likely to be asked soon if they consent to their gifts being re-allocated to the heating project instead of the earlier proposal.

 

Projects of this kind help focus the mind on health and safety requirements, and in order to comply fully with these, we will need at some point to designate “fire wardens”.  Should it ever become necessary to evacuate the church at short notice, announcements will need to be made about which exit routes to take. During Mass, the priest celebrant is likely to make these announcements, unless he is a visitor, in which case we are advised to have lay fire wardens primed to address the congregation.  So don’t be surprised if you receive an invitation in the coming weeks to assume this role.

 

Saint John Henry Newman was declared a Doctor of the Church on Saturday 1 November, which in Rome is the feast of All Saints.  At the same ceremony, coming as it did towards the conclusion of the Jubilee for Education,  he was named a co-patron of education alongside Saint Thomas Aquinas.   We are proud of the international recognition accorded to our local saint and we pray that his writings and his teachings will inspire many with a great love for the Lord and his Church.

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Friday of this coming week, 7 November, is a first Friday, and we plan to arrange Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament between the lunchtime and evening Masses.  Do please consider signing your name against one of the timed slots on the list at the back of the church if you are able to make a commitment to be present, as we need to ensure that the Sacrament is never left unattended.  Please note that it will not be possible to arrange Exposition on the first Friday in December as the Orion Orchestra will be rehearsing in the church for that evening’s performance of Handel’s Messiah.  Those who would have wished to attend Exposition on that day will have an opportunity earlier in the week, as the Young Adults group is planning a period of Exposition after the evening Mass on Wednesday 3 December.

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On Saturday 8 November at 7.30pm, there is to be a concert in St James’s Church, to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.  The Nicene Creed will be recited by all participants, and choirs from different Christian traditions will sing various parts of the Creed.  Do come if you can.

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A further concert is planned, not in St James’s Church itself, but in the Wigmore Hall, on Sunday 23 November at 3pm, featuring our own musicians.  This concert will mark the official conclusion of the year-long Appeal, which ran from Christ the King 2024 until Christ the King 2025, and it will be a celebration of the return of the church’s refurbished organ, probably in anticipation of that happy moment.

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Many poppies have been in evidence in recent days, and our worshippers will be aware that next Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, when the 10.30am Mass will be a Requiem for the fallen.  Most other Masses next Sunday, though, will be celebrations of the Feast of Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, a feast that is celebrated on 9 November, even if that date falls on a Sunday.  As some of our parishioners visited the Lateran Basilica on the recent pilgrimage to Rome, passing through its Holy Door, the feast will have an added significance for them.  

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Finally, I have been asked to draw the attention of our worshippers to a series of events planned by the Catholic Medical Association.  Further details can be found at http://www.catholicmedicalassociation.org.uk/EVENTS   Catholic doctors are often presented with delicate ethical challenges and it is important that we all support them with our prayers.