#533 Sing we of the blessed Mother
Fr Sam writes
As I return to the parish after my summer holiday, I have noticed that I have now been living in Wokingham a full year. It very much feels like home – and we have finally finished painting the Rectory!
On my holiday I went to a church in Devon for their early service on a Sunday. I was expecting something fairly standard, but walked in the door to find the congregation midway through an hour of the morning liturgy in Aramaic (a liturgical language close to the language Jesus himself spoke). I have to say I was a little confused, but it was rather interesting and the parish priest told me afterwards that it is their fastest-growing service.
I’m not planning to incorporate sung Aramaic at 7am on a Sunday into the life of the parish, but it is perhaps a reminder that our churches flourish when they have a strong flavour!
Photograph: Massive progress on the fencing works around the Parish Rooms garden
This Sunday: the holy Mother of God
This Sunday is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating her as foremost among Christians and foreshadowing our own life in Heaven.
Our first reading this Sunday is from the prophecy of Isaiah, where the prophet speaks about rejoicing in God (Isaiah 61.10-end).
Our Gospel reading takes up that theme: it is the words of Mary herself on her visit to her cousin Elizabeth: the Magnificat (Luke 1.46-55).
Image: The Virgin in Prayer by Sassoferrato
Services this Sunday
| 8am | St Paul’s | BCP Mass | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
| 9.30am | St Paul’s | Parish Mass | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
| Organ prelude: Plain Jeu et Fugue à 4 sur Ave Maris Stella – Nicolas de Grigny Communion music: Antienne (from Mariales) – Naji Hakim & Ave Maria – Camille Saint-Saëns Voluntary: Regina Coeli, laetare Alleluja! (from Cavalleria Rusticana) – Pierre Mascagni | |||
| 10am | Woosehill Church | Morning Worship | Revd Cara Smart |
| 11am | St Nicholas’ | Community Eucharist | Fr Sam Tanna-Korn |
August Organ Recital
This Sunday 16 August our organist, Christopher Cipkin, will be giving an organ recital at St Paul’s. The recital will cover 300 years of music from England and North America by Burney, SS Wesley, WT Best, Darke, Carter, Bédard, and Groom te Velde.
Retiring collection for the organ fund. Refreshments will be served at the end of the concert.
Rochester Cathedral
Saturday, 26 September 2026 – Choir singing Evensong at Rochester Cathedral – 3.15pm.
As ever, the choir would really appreciate members of the congregation joining us and a coach is being organised. It will leave Wokingham at 9.15am arriving in Rochester at approx. 11.15am and leave Rochester at 5.30pm arriving back in Wokingham at 7.30pm approx.
The cost will be somewhere between £22 and £30 for adults, £10 for Children.
There will be a sign-up sheet at the back of church or you can email Rhoda at rhoda297@gmail.com.
Cake and more
An enormous “thank you” to everyone who helped with the Art Exhibition refreshments, either by baking, serving or consuming & donating. A brilliant total of £1324 was raised towards church funds!
Ride & Stride
It’s not long now before this year’s Ride & Stride Day to raise money for Berkshire Historic Churches Trust. This year it will take place on Saturday 12 September.
The Berkshire Historic Churches Trust raises money to help maintain the structure and fabric of churches across Berkshire, through the provision of grants towards repairs and renovations. Ride & Stride is the annual fundraising event for all of the Historic Churches Trusts across the UK.
We need:
PARTICIPANTS – Could you walk, ride or cycle between some churches in Wokingham, Reading or anywhere else in our county? You can do as few or as many as you like. It is a great opportunity to visit some of the churches in and beyond our area.
WELCOMERS – Anyone who has participated knows that it is nice to be greeted when you arrive at a church and to have someone to speak to there. Could you help by spending an hour in St Paul’s on the day to welcome any visitors to our church?
SPONSORS – If you cannot participate, please sponsor the people Riding & Striding for St Paul’s. As well as raising money for the Berkshire Historic Churches Trust, half of the money raised is returned to St Paul’s.
It would be really good to have some new cyclists taking part from St Paul’s. So, if you have a bike, please think about being a participant. A number of other churches organise groups of walkers who visit churches together, rather than taking part as individuals, and a few have a cycle group as well.
If you can take part as a Rider or Strider (either on your own or as part of a group), or be in the church as a Welcomer, please speak to or contact, Andrew Harte (email: rideandstride@spauls.org.uk)
This week’s calendar: a hero priest
On 14 August the Church celebrates St Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Roman Catholic priest. Kolbe was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary throughout his ministry.
After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Kolbe was part of the Polish resistance movement, publishing anti-Nazi materials and sheltering Jewish refugees. He was arrested and imprisoned in Auschwitz.
Following an escape, the camp commander decided to kill ten men by starvation as a reprisal. After one of them cried out “My wife! My children!” Kolbe volunteered to take his place.
He died on 14 August, the eve of the Assumption of Mary and is an astonishing example of holiness, courage, and charity.
