News & Events - Weekly Notices

St Matthew's Ladies Group

St Matthew's Ladies Group meetings are on Monday afternoons from 2.00pm till 4.00pm in the Parish Centre, on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. For more information on meetings coming up, visit our St Matthew's Ladies Group page.

Looking Ahead

A reminder to members of the Standing Committee that we meet on Wednesday 29 July at 4.00pm in the Parish Centre. Please come armed with both papers and diaries.

Finally, a note for your calendars: I shall be on annual leave from Monday 3 August until Sunday 23 August inclusive. During that time Fr Nicholas Gandy will kindly undertake the specifically priestly ministries of the parish. Details of weekday Masses will appear in the weekly notices and on the parish website.

Until next month, may God grant you rest when you are weary, courage when you are anxious, companions when you are lonely, and joy in the ordinary blessings of summer. 

Evening Prayer in August

As has long been our custom during August, Evening Prayer according to the Book of Common Prayer will be said each Sunday in Quire rather than Evensong. With holidays, family commitments and choirs enjoying a well-earned summer break, August has traditionally been a quieter month. Yet the daily offering of prayer continues, as it has done for centuries, and you would be very welcome to join us as we end the Lord’s Day in the beauty and simplicity of the Prayer Book.

A Time for Rest

Fr Nicholas

Please note that I will be taking annual leave from Monday 3 August until Sunday 23 August inclusive. Helen and I are looking forward to a little time away, an opportunity to recharge the batteries, catch our breath and perhaps even remember what it is like not to have a diary permanently attached to us! During this period Fr Nicholas Gandy will kindly preside and preach at our Sunday Parish Masses and will also celebrate certain weekday Masses at the usual times. These will be advertised in the weekly notices and on our website. As ever, I am extremely grateful to Fr Nicholas for his generosity in enabling me to take a proper break, and to all those who continue the many unseen tasks that keep the life of St Matthew’s flourishing while I am away. A parish is never the work of one person, and I remain deeply thankful for the wonderful team of people who serve so faithfully.

Fr Nicholas 

Our Monthly Healing Mass

Monday 3 August 2026 at 7:00pm

The Lady Chapel

Our Mass for Wholeness and Healing takes place on Monday 3 August at 7.00pm in the Lady Chapel. This is one of the gentlest and most prayerful services in our monthly pattern of worship. After Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed upon the altar and the liturgy gives way to an extended period of quiet intercession. We pray especially for those whose names have been placed on our parish prayer board, for those who are sick in body, mind or spirit, for the staff and patients of Northampton General Hospital, for local surgeries, the Cynthia Spencer Hospice and care homes, and for those former members of our congregation who are now unable to worship with us because of infirmity or illness.

Many of those we pray for tell us how much it means simply to know that they have not been forgotten. Prayer may be unseen, but it is never unnoticed. We warmly encourage anyone who has placed a name on the prayer board to come and join us if they are able. The service concludes with a simple form of Benediction. 

Weekday Masses - Looking Ahead

Fr Nicholas

Earlier this year we introduced an experimental pattern of weekday Masses, including the celebration of Mass at midday on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Although relatively few comments have been received, the attendance recorded in our service registers suggests a modest but encouraging increase in the number of worshippers over the past six months. On that basis, I intend to recommend to the PCC that these arrangements now become our permanent weekday pattern. Assuming that is agreed, our noticeboard on the Kettering Road will be updated to reflect the revised service times and other changes that have taken place over recent months.

Alongside the revised timetable, we have also gently refreshed the weekday liturgy itself. When Mass is celebrated at midday we now begin by praying the Angelus together before the statue of the Madonna and Child in the North Transept before moving into the Lady Chapel for the Eucharist. New service booklets have also been produced. The previous ones had served us faithfully for many years, but were beginning to look rather tired. Some had become well-thumbed; others were held together more by hope than by staples – and even the staples had begun to rust! The new booklets include a brief welcome and preparation before Mass, prayers of thanksgiving after Holy Communion, and a prayer before we leave the Lady Chapel and return to the demands of everyday life. My hope is that these small developments will help deepen our prayer and remind us that the grace we receive at the altar accompanies us into the whole of our daily living.

Fr Nicholas

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sunday 16 August 2026 at 10:15am

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This year the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on Sunday 16 August, when it will be celebrated at our 10.15 am Parish Mass. The Assumption is the principal feast of Our Lady. It celebrates God’s final vindication of the one who first said “yes” to his saving purpose and points us towards the destiny prepared for all God’s faithful people.

Mary’s Assumption is not simply about Mary’s glory; it is also about our hope. In her we see the promise of what Christ intends for his whole Church – that where she has gone, we may one day follow.

Monthly Requiem

Monday 17 August 2026 at 7.00pm

Our Monthly Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Monday 17 August at 7.00pm. Everyone is welcome, but we particularly encourage those remembering the anniversary of a loved one’s death during August to join us. Most of us know what it is to grieve someone we love. At the altar we commend them afresh into God’s everlasting mercy and remember also former members of our congregation, together with all whose earthly remains rest in our churchyard. Love never ends, and neither does the Church’s prayer.

Walsingham Cell

Saturday 12 September 2026 at 9:30am

Please note that there will be no Walsingham Cell Mass and meeting during August. We gather again on Saturday 12 September at 9.30 am in the Lady Chapel. New members are always most welcome.

Looking Ahead - Our Next All Age Mass

Sunday 13 September 2026 at 10.15am

All Age Masses

Our next All Age Parish Mass will take place on Sunday 13 September at 10.15am. The theme is forgiveness, based on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18 v21–35. Peter asks how often he should forgive someone who has wronged him, probably expecting to be congratulated for suggesting seven times. Jesus, characteristically, raises the bar rather higher!

Forgiveness is not always easy. Children discover that very quickly – and, if we are honest, so do adults. We all like receiving forgiveness; offering it can be rather more demanding. Yet every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us. It is a searching reminder that mercy received and mercy given belong together.

As always, there will be lively worship, participation, and refreshments afterwards. Whether you are eight or eighty-eight, we look forward to welcoming you.

House Group

Wednesday 16 September 2026 at 2.00pm

Our next House Group gathering will be on Wednesday 16 September at 2.00pm at the vicarage. We usually reflect on a recent homily as a starting point for open and enriching conversation. Those who attend have found these sessions deeply nourishing. Why not come and see for yourself? You would be most welcome.

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