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THE COLLECT FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Sunday, 1st December – THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Monday, 2nd December – Feria
Tuesday, 3rd December – Francis Xavier, Missionary, Apostle of the Indies, 1552
Wednesday, 4th December – John of Damascus, Monk, Teacher, c.749; Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637
Thursday, 5th December – Feria
Friday, 6th December – Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c. 326
Saturday, 7th December – Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Teacher, 397
Sunday, 8th December – THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Monday, 9th December – Feria
Tuesday, 10th December – Feria
Wednesday, 11th December – Ember Day
Thursday, 12th December – Feria
Friday, 13th December – Lucy, Martyr at Syracuse, 304 Ember Day
Saturday, 14th December – John of the Cross, Poet, Teacher, 1591 Ember Day
Sunday, 15th December – THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Monday, 16th December – Feria
Tuesday, 17th December – O Sapientia Eglantine Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of “Save the Children”, 1928
Wednesday, 18th December – Feria
Thursday, 19th December – Feria
Friday, 20th December – Feria
Saturday, 21st December – Feria
Sunday, 22nd December – THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Monday, 23rd December – Feria
Tuesday, 24th December – CHRISTMAS EVE
Wednesday, 25th December – CHRISTMAS DAY
Thursday, 26th December – STEPHEN, DEACON, FIRST MARTYR
Friday, 27th December – JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST
Saturday, 28th December – THE HOLY INNOCENTS
Sunday, 29th December – THE FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS
Monday, 30th December – Feria
Tuesday, 31st December – John Wyclif, Reformer, 1384
www.excitingholiness.org/first-edition is an excellent online resource containing short biographies of the saints, as well as prayers and readings for their day.
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Holy Communion for the The First Sunday of Advent, 2020, celebrated at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton
Prayers of Intercession for Advent
… and some favourite hymns for this day …
Awake, awake: fling off the night
Come, thou long-expected Jesus
Hark! A herald voice is calling
Lo, he comes with clouds descending
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Welcome to our website !
Our services for the month of December are as follows:Sunday, 1st December, THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 11 am Christingle Service, St Thomas’ Southwick. 11 am Holy Communion (Common Worship, Order One – modern language), with sermon, at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton. Sunday, 8th November, THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT 9.15 am Holy Communion (Common Worship, Order One – modern language), with sermon, at St Nicholas’, North Bradley. 10.30 am Family Service, at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton. Sunday, 15th December, THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT 11 am Holy Communion (Common Worship, Order One – modern language), with sermon, at St Thomas’, Southwick. 11 am Morning Worship, at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton. Sunday, 22nd December, THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 8 am Holy Communion (Common Worship, Order Two – “BCP”), with sermon, at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton. 10 am Crib Service, at St Nicholas’, North Bradley 6.30 pm Carol Service, at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton. Tuesday, 24th December, CHRISTMAS EVE 10 am Crib Service, at St Thomas’, Southwick 10 pm Christmas Holy Communion (Common Worship, Order One – modern language), with sermon, at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton. Wednesday, 25th December, CHRISTMAS DAY 10 am Christmas Holy Communion (Common Worship, Order One – modern language), with sermon, at St Nicholas’, North Bradley. Sunday, 29th December, THE FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS 11 am Benefice Holy Communion (Common Worship, Order One – modern language), with sermon, at St Thomas’, Southwick. 6.30 pm Holy Communion with sermon, at St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) The wearing of face coverings in church by all who attend worship and, in general, by all those who attend church when there may be others present is recommended, though no longer mandatory. Individual Prayer in our churches: St Nicholas’, North Bradley and St Thomas’, Southwick are open by prior arrangement only. St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton, is open during daylight hours throughout the week. |
Morning Prayer is said at St Nicholas’, North Bradley at 10 am every Thursday.If you have a smartphone do consider downloading and using the free Daily Prayer App (Aimer), where you can now also find a recording of each of the three daily offices – Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer. |
| “We lift up in prayer the people of our Benefice each morning; please let us know if you would like us to include in our prayers any particular person or cause.” |
| Worship at home An excellent range of resources can be found at: www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/church-online |
| From our own Diocese, you can find at www.salisburycathedral.org.uk daily reflections and much streamed material, including, on Sundays, a Service of Words and Music (often on the Cathedral YouTube channel). |
| Daily HOPE The Church of England has launched a free national phone line as a simple new way to bring worship and prayer into people’s homes while our church buildings are closed. … |
| Dial in to listen to daily services of prayers and reflections. The service is available 24 hours a day. |
