| Welcome to the Website for the Parish and Pilgrimage Church
of St Magnus the Martyr in the City of London. Our church is built where all
people crossing the old London Bridge used to enter the City, and standing
on the cross roads, it has seen many important events in its 1000 year
history. The object for which the church was originally built has not
changed; now as then, prayers are offered daily to God, and He is worshipped
in the beauty of holiness. Now as then, people who work in the City, or who
come from further afield set aside their daily concerns and spend a time of
peace and prayer, asking for and receiving God's peace in their hearts. We
welcome visitors from around the world, who come to marvel at the beautiful
interior and to see our world-famous 4 meter long model of the old Bridge.
Please take some time to explore this web-site, to enjoy the virtual tour
and relish the history of this place. Better still, if you are in London,
visit us during our opening times, which are Sunday morning, and Tuesday -
Friday, 10 am until 4 pm. You can find the times of our services also on
this site. |
|
||||||||||||
|
God bless you, and all good wishes Fr Philip |
|
||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RECENT EVENTS | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
Celebrating
the 25th anniversary of Fr Philip's Ordination to the Priesthood. 1st July 2009 This special occasion was celebrated with a High Mass. The altar party is photographed here after the service. |
||||||||||||||||||||
| PUBLIC WORSHIP & PRIVATE PRAYER | |
| When a Bishop appoints a man to be
a parish priest, as part of the ceremony of installation, he asks that
priest to be faithful in 'public worship and private prayer.' These are two
sides of the same coin when it comes to the relationship which every
Christian ought to have with God, but they are particularly important when
it comes to one who will lead the parish in one, and teach by example in the
other. At St Magnus the Martyr, 'public worship' means the Mass (also known as the Eucharist & Holy Communion), which is celebrated every Sunday as well as regularly during the week. Sometimes this great act of worship is called 'The Liturgy', which comes from the Greek meaning 'work of the people'. This means that although within the ceremony of the Mass there are parts when the priest alone says prayers and performs actions, and parts when individuals read from scripture, and parts when the choir alone sing, everyone present, old and young, have a vital part to play. In singing hymns and responses, in joining heart and mind in prayer, in their standing and their sitting, and especially in saying 'Amen' to the 'great prayer', they complete the offering of the altar. On Sundays, it being the Lord's Day, the Mass is offered at 11.00 a.m. with greater solemnity than during the week. The organist will lead us, together with the choir, in our musical offering. Servers will assist the priest at the altar, and will accompany him in procession with candles, and incense will be burnt to symbolise our prayers ascending to the throne of God. (the photograph shows the priest being censed at the High Mass for St Magnus Day). At a High Mass, the priest (also called the celebrant) is assisted at the altar by two other ministers; a 'deacon', (who has to have been ordained) and a sub-deacon (who may be a layman). The deacon's main task is to proclaim the Holy Gospel and to administer the chalice at Holy Communion, while the sub-deacon may read the epistle. In the Catholic Church (of which the Church of England claims to be but a part) there are three 'orders'. These are the two just mentioned, priest and deacon, and the most important one being the Bishop. He is the Father-in-God of a 'diocese', which in the Bishop of London's case is all of Greater London north of the River Thames. He has the right to celebrate the Mass in any church in his diocese, but because he cannot be everywhere at once, he delegates that privilege to his priests. On weekdays the Mass is celebrated on Tuesdays & Thursday s at 12.30 pm
and on Friday at 12.30. Unless a major feast day, this takes the form of a
Low Mass, where the priest is assisted by one server only, and the side
altar is used. The prayers are said rather than sung, and there is less
ceremonial. |
|
![]() |
On this altar stands the 'tabernacle', which is where the consecrated Body of Christ is kept in order that people may receive Holy Communion in their homes if prevented by illness from attending church, or in hospital. It also serves as a focus for prayer, and during the day many people take time away from their busy lives to come to St Magnus and to pause in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. To show them that It is present, a white light burns nearby. |