What’s on in October?

SUN	2	DEDICATION FESTIVAL and FRIENDS SUNDAY
Mon	3	Magazine Panel meets at 35 Vanguard Way	10.00 am
Tue	4	Bible Discussion Group meets at 66 Ruskin Road	8.00 pm
Wed	5	St Mary’s Guild AGM	2.30 pm
Thu	6	MU&OG. Music & Poetry Evening. The Centre	8.00 pm
Fri	7	Social Committee meets at 2 Caraway Place	8.00 pm
SUN	9	TRINITY 20 Guides and Brownies at 9.30 Sung Eucharist Baptisms	11.30 pm
Wed	12	MU Corporate Eucharist at St Michael’s Church	10.30 am
Sat	15	“Transport of Delight”. A Concert of Words and Music	7.30 pm
SUN	16	TRINITY 21
Mon	17	Friends of the Parks Quiz Night	7.30 pm
Tue	18	Bible Discussion Group meets at 9 St Mary’s Court	8.00 pm
Thu	20	MU&OG. ‘Women and Peace - working across communities for positive change” - a talk by Rosemary Kempsell. The Centre	8.00 pm
SUN	23	LAST AFTER TRINITY
Sat/Sun 30/31 October Don't forget to put your clocks back one hour before you go to bed
SUN	30	ALL SAINTS
Mon	31	Bible Discussion Group meets at 47 North Way	8.00 pm

Readings for Sundays in October

Sunday 2 October

Dedication Festival

1 Kings 8: 22-30, Page 405

Hebrews 12: 18-24, Page 407

Matthew 21: 12-16, Page 408

Sunday 9 October

Trinity 20

Readings to be presented by the

Guides and Brownies

Sunday 16 October

Trinity 21

Isaiah 45: 1-7, Page 393

1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10, Page 395

Matthew 22: 15-22, Page 396

Sunday 23 October

Last after Trinity

Leviticus 19: 1-2, 15-18, Page 399

1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8, Page 400

Matthew 22: 34-46, Page 401

Sunday 30 October

All Saints

Revelation 7: 9-17, Page 416

1 John 3: 1-3, Page 417

Matthew 5: 1-12, Page 418

Thinking of you

Every Sunday we pray for people living and working in two or three roads in the parish.

The roads in October will be:

Sunday 2 October

Guy Road

Archway Close

Sunday 9 October

Church Paddock Court

Manatee Place

Sunday 16 October

Church Lane

Church Road

Sunday 23 October

Streeters Lane

Gisbourne Close

Sunday 30 October

The Brandries

Whelan Way

Saints and Commemorations in October

Tue 4 Francis of Assisi, friar, deacon, founder of Friars Minor, 1226

Thu 6 William Tyndale, translator of the scriptures, Reformation martyr, 1556

Thu 6 Faith, martyr, 3rd century

Mon 10 Paulinus, Bishop of York, missionary, 644

Tue 11 Ethelburga, Abbess of Barking, 675

Wed 12 Wilfrid of Ripon, bishop, missionary, 709

Thu 13 Edward the Confessor, King of England, 1066

Sat 15 Teresa of Avila, teacher, 1582

Mon 17 Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, martyr, c107

Mon 17 Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, 679

Tue 18 Luke the Evangelist

Wed 19 Henry Martyn, translator of the scriptures, missionary in India and Persia, 1812

Wed 19 Frideswide, Abbess of Oxford, 727

Wed 26 Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, scholar, 899

Fri 28 Simon & Jude, Apostles

Sat 29 James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, martyr in Uganda, 1885

Daily prayer topics in September

Sat 1 The healing ministry of the Church

Sun 2 Give thanks for St Mary’s Church and the Friends of St Mary’s

Mon 3 The Deanery Synod meeting tonight

Tue 4 All who work and worship at St Mary’s

Wed 5 Our choir, organist and choirmaster

Thu 6 Our Sunday School, teachers, children and helpers

Fri 7 Our Young Families and Happy Hands Group

Sat 8 Our Guides, Brownies and Rainbows

Sun 9 Children being baptised at St Mary’s today and their families

Mon 10 Sutton Welcare and the families they help

Tue 11 Trustees and residents of St Mary’s Court

Wed 12 St Mary’s Guild

Thu 13 The Leprosy Mission

Fri 14 St Helier Hospital, chaplains, doctors, nurses and patients

Sat 15 Peace in Northern Ireland, the Middle East and Iraq

Sun 16 That we may6 see the needs of others

Mon 17 International Day for the eradication of poverty

Tue 18 The MU retreat at Wychcroft

Wed 19 The Anglican Communion worldwide

Thu 20 Our local schools, teachers and pupils

Fri 21 All who are deprived of education

Sat 22 Our local magistrates’ court and police

Sun 23 One World Week begins - pray for unity

Mon 24 The United Nations

Tue 25 Children who are carers with heavy responsibilities

Wed 26 The Barnabas Fund caring for persecuted Christians

Thu 27 The work of the USPG

Fri 28 That we may show respect for the earth and all peoples

Sat 29 For the leaders of the nations

Sun 30 Give thanks for all who through faith have built up the church

Mon 31 Our link diocese in Zimbabwe

Ladies of October

For October, we are considering four lady saints whose names are not commonly seen as church dedications. The gentlemen will get their turn another month.

St Faith - October 6

Not a lot is known about St Faith. She was a Christian child living in Agen in Aquitaine at the time of the Diocletion persecution. Gaius Diocletanius became Emperor of Rome in 284 and, influenced by his henchman, Galerius, began a persecution of all Christians. Christian books were burned and anyone who refused to sacrifice to the gods, was killed.

When Faith was about 13 or 14 years old, she was summoned before a judge. She was sentenced to death for affirming her Christian faith and refusing to sacrifice to the false gods. She was martyred by being roasted on a bedstead over a fire.

Churches dedicated to her include Havant in Hampshire, Overbury, Worcester and Gaywood in Norfolk.

There is a chapel in Westminster Abbey dedicated to St Faith which is open for private prayer throughout the day. A wall-painting depicts StFaith wearing a crown and holding the symbol of her martyrdom - a gridiron. There is also a chapel to St Faith under the Quire in St Paul’s Cathedral. It, too, is open daily for private prayer.

St Ethelburga - October 12

Ethelburga was the first Abbess of Barking. She was the sister of Erconwald, Bishop of London. He founded two monasteries, one at Chertsey for himself and one in Barking for her. Ethelburga’s monastery was so successful that Barking became celebrated. Recent excavations unearthed a Saxon workshop on the site. Ethelburga died in 675.

The most famous church dedicated to her is in Bishopsgate. It was the smallest City church, at just 56ft long and 30ft wide. The parish covered three acres (the Bank of England covers four acres!) and the church had survived since 1390, having been outside the area of the Great Fire.

However, St Ethelburga’s was completely destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1993. It was restored using as many of the original materials as possible and using medieval building techniques. It is a centre for peace and reconciliation.

St Ethelburga shares a dedication with St Mary at the church in Lyminge, Kent.

St Etheldreda - October 17

Etheldreda was born in Exning, near Newmarket about 630. She was the daughter of King Onna of East Anglia, who was a Christian. He did much for the conversion of his kingdom and for that of Wessex. Having been brought up in a religious atmosphere, Etheldreda had decided early on that she wanted to become a nun.

When she was very young, her father gave her in marriage to a prince called Tonbert. Although they never lived as man and wife, he gave her a tract of land known locally as the Isle of Ely. His early death left her to foster her vocation to religion.

Her father then arranged a politically convenient marriage to the King of Northumbria. She fled the marriage and returned to the Isle of Ely, where she founded what is today, Ely Cathedral. She died there in 679.

St Etheldreda’s church, Ely Place, Holborn Circus, built in 1251, is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Britain and was the first pre-reformation church to be restored to Roman Catholicism. There is also a church dedicated to her in Guilsborough, Northamptonshire.

St Frideswide - October 19

St Frideswide is the patron Saint of Oxford. She was born around 650, the daughter of King Didan and his wife Safrida. Brought up on her father’s estate at Didcot (named after him), she was greatly influenced by a holy woman called Elgitha. From an early age she was inclined towards a spiritual life. She persuaded her father to give her some land to build a church and a convent in Oxford. She “took the veil “there, together with some friends.

Frideswide was both rich and beautiful. Algar, Earl of Leicester, asked for her hand in marriage. She turned him down and fled, with her companions, to Thornbury Wood. There they converted a small pigsty into an oratory. Her oratory and shrine in Oxford became places of pilgrimage after miracles she had performed, including the healing of a road-side leper, became known.

She died in 735 and was buried at her nunnery in Oxford. Her abbey was originally dedicated to her but later became Christ Church Cathedral.

The church of New Osney in Oxford is dedicated to St Frideswide, as is the church at Frilsham in Berkshire.

Jean Kimber

Celebrants in October

Sunday 2 October 8.00 am Rev Hugh Naunton

Dedication Festival 9.30 am Rev Hugh Naunton

Sunday 9 October 8.00 am Ven Dennis Ede

Trinity 20 9.30 am Ven Dennis Ede

11.30 am Ven Dennis Ede (Baptisms)

Sunday 16 October 8.00 am Ven Dennis Ede

Trinity 21 9.30 am Ven Dennis Ede

Sunday 23 October 8.00 am Rev Canon Andrew Wilson

Last After Trinity 9.30 am Rev Canon Martin Goodladd

Sunday 30 October 8.00 am Rev Canon Andrew Wilson

All Saints 9.30 am Rev Robin Osbourne

The Friends of Beddington and The Grange Parks

The Friends held their first meeting of the Autumn Season on 12 September. Amongst the business items discussed:

1. They were pleased to report their appreciation for the improved visibility in policing.

2. Pedestrians as well as cyclists were enjoying the cycle path from Croydon Road, particularly as it is ideal for pushchairs.

3. Three new seats will soon be in place, including one overlooking the water.

Dave and Judy Smith gave an interesting talk on a visit by six people from Sutton Christian Centre to a Community School and Hostel in India, which the Centre supports with regular donations. They had also visited an outreach centre in Sri Lanka where the minister has increased his own family by 17 (yes, 17!) adopted children who have been rescued from appalling poverty.

The Friends of the Parks are holding their annual Quiz Night in aid of their funds on Monday, 17 October at 7.30 pm at The Grange, Beddington Park.

For details and to book a table, phone Dee Hyatt on 8647 1014

A-mazing Labyrinths

From childhood I have been fascinated by mazes and puzzles. I have often enjoyed the challenge of finding my way round various mazes, including those of Legoland Windsor, Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight, Hampton Court and Hever Castle, which in addition to its traditional hedge maze has a very enjoyable water maze.

Although I have read about labyrinths and seen pictures of the famous one in Chartres Cathedral, until last month I had never had the opportunity to walk one. Our Parish Quiet Day to St Mary’s Abbey, West Malling offered members of our group not only the peace and beauty of a very special place, but also the opportunity to experience the spirituality of walking a very cleverly mown labyrinth, based on that at Chartres, which had been laid out on the lawn in the Abbey orchard.

One of the most famous mazes is the setting of the legend of the Minotaur, the monster half man half bull that dwelt in the heart of a labyrinth on the island of Crete. Theseus was able to get to the centre of the labyrinth, slay the Minotaur and find his way out again by following the thread trailed behind him on the way in. This story has caused confusion down the ages as it is believed that the Minotaur’s lair was in fact a maze that people had obviously been lost in, whereas a labyrinth, however confusing it looks, has only one twisting path that weaves its way to the centre and back out again. There is only one entrance and exit, no dead ends, and no crossing of paths offering choices of which way to turn.

Labyrinths are a potent symbol in many cultures and have been for thousands of years. One traditional story tells that the labyrinth evolved from observations of the position in the night sky of the planet Mercury and the way it seemed to recursively swing. In one solar year, Mercury seems to swing backwards three times and forwards four. From these observations it is thought that the classical seven circuit labyrinth came into being.

Seven circuit labyrinths like this one have been discovered within the ruins of cities of ancient Turkey dating back to 5000BC, others have been found in classical Rome, Greece, Western Europe, New Zealand, North America and South East Asia. The earliest versions are found in pictographs, drawings on stones. In Native American culture the labyrinth has been called ‘The Medicine Wheel’ and ‘The Man in the Maze’. The Celts described it as ‘The Never Ending Circle’, and it is called ‘Kabala’ in mystical Judaism. Roman mosaics often depicted labyrinths as fortified cities and symbols of the square shaped labyrinth were placed above Roman doorways for protection.

It is thought that the labyrinth was first used in the Christian church as early as 350AD. By the early medieval era Christian artists and thinkers had developed the Roman pattern into a new a beautiful form, which was used as a feature in many medieval cathedrals. In France they were called ‘labyrinths de pave’ and were laid out on the floor of cathedrals, in coloured stone or tiles, usually between 10 and 40ft in diameter.

A range of designs were explored but the pattern shown here which was laid out in Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220AD and still survives, is the archetype and perfection of all the medieval labyrinths and is the pattern for most modern labyrinths. A person following the various windings and turns of the Chartres Labyrinth would walk 800ft before arriving at the centre, although the circumference does not exceed 13 yards.

Next month we’ll look at the use of labyrinths as a Christian spiritual tool.

Linda Wood

Confirmation

On 11 September, my fellow candidates and I were confirmed in a beautiful service conducted by Bishop Nick. Pre-Confirmation classes had begun on 5 June and they dealt in a formal way with valuable and challenging concepts such as those of prayer and forgiveness. Two of the early classes took place in the vacant Rectory, which put me in mind of a couplet of poetry:

“Where is now the courtly troupe that once went riding by?

I miss the curls of Canteloupe, the laugh of Lady Di.”

(Does anyone know who wrote this? I don’t!)

I was very pleased to get to know my fellow candidates - Katie and Christopher Seymour, Charlotte Love, Esi Adams and Kevin Winstone (whose hospitality we enjoyed for some of the later classes). It was a great pleasure for me to sing on the 11th beside Kevin - so much better than the odd squeaks that emit from my accustomed pew on other Sundays.

Came the day and I was “as nervous as a cat” as my mother used to say. But everybody did absolutely everything to make it a special occasion and it assuredly was. The church was packed - thank you all. Delight of delights was a personal message to each of us from Cassie and Selwyn (the “courtly troupe” mentioned above). Bishop Nick was marvellous; early in his sermon he said, “During the first hour of my sermon …..” We all laughed nervously.

After the service we repaired to the Centre and I’ve never seen so much food. People’s congratulations were eye-prickingly warm.

It is rarely that we are able to re-visit our lost youth, but I recalled my earlier Confirmation as a Presbyterian in 1958. Then I sang, “O Jesus I Have Promised” as if I meant it, and I did. On the llth, my cup ran over with the final hymn, “Be Though My Vision”, my favourite. It is set to a beautiful Irish melody and of all the gifts for which we can plead from a Deity, and which He can grant us, surely Vision is the greatest.

Allan Palmer

Purge me with Hyssop

‘The Bishop will sprinkle the candidates with water’

- to remind them, as he said, of their baptism.

People standing near the Font at this point in the Confirmation Service may have noticed that Bishop Nick was using sprigs of an aromatic herb with deep blue flowers as he sprinkled the candidates - and anyone else within range. This herb was Hyssop - a member of the same plant family as the sages and the mints. Their relationship is easily detected when you feel their stems, which are square rather than round.

Hyssop’s useful properties have been known since ancient times. Remember Psalm 51 …..

‘Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean:

Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow …..’

Hyssop was used as an antiseptic and as a body lotion (lepers were often bathed in it) and it was found to be most effective for soothing bruises and burns.

Herb expert Jekka McVicar says it is one of the many aromatic herbs which grow well in a sunny situation in the garden. You can use it as an edging plant, put it in the cabbage patch to ward off cabbage whiteflies, or just grow it in a container near the house, where you can enjoy its scent and watch the bees and the butterflies which it will attract in abundance.

Pat Kingsbury

Top of the Document

The best things about Ghana

In this ‘Year of Africa’ we thought we would ask young James and Felix to let us have their impressions of Ghana. They write …..

“When we go to Ghana for our holidays, we stay in Odorkor which is part of Accra. We live with Auntie Monica, Uncle Kwame and our cousins, Akosua, Ewurabena and Nana Kwame, who is 7 years old and the only boy. We play lots of games, like Superheroes and Play Station and TV games. We eat banku with okro stew, which is our favourite, kenkey and fish, and fried plantain with kontomire, which is a spinach stew, with rice. We eat a lot of Fan Ice ice-cream.

When we go out, we drive to Tesano Sports Club and have tennis and swimming lessons there. You can eat chicken and chips with ketchup there, or jollof (fried) rice with vegetables.

It is very, very hot in Ghana and there are a lot of mosquitoes. You can catch malaria if you don’t take your malaria tablets.

When we were in Saltpond with our grandad, we went to a festival called Odambea. We saw people dressed up in costumes and we saw all the local chiefs wearing their gold ornaments. We went to the beach after the parade and there were very big waves. Saltpond is where our grandad comes from and we went to see the house where he was born.

What we like best about going to Ghana is being with our cousins. We also like the swimming pool and going to the beach.”

James and Felix Asare

Great Truths That Little Children Have Learned

No matter how hard you try, you can't baptise cats.

When your Mum is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.

If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.

Never ask your three-year old brother to hold a tomato.

You can't trust dogs to watch your food.

Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

Never hold a hamster and a cat at the same time.

You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

The best place to be when you're sad is Grand-dad's lap.

Great Truths That Adults Have Learned

Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.

Wrinkles don't hurt.

Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.

Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fibre, not the toy.

Great Truths About Growing Old

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

Forget the health food. You need all the preservatives you can get.

When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.

You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.

It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.

Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.

Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.