| 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.
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