Sun 29th Oct. 10.45am, All Saints’ Sunday, Fr C, Rev Alison. Victoria, O quam gloriosum.

Thu 2nd Nov, 7.30pm. Fauré Requiem, Sung Mass for All Souls’ Day.

Sun 5th Nov, Advent-4, Trinity XXI, 10.45am Sung Mass. Palestrina.

Sun 5th Nov, 6pm Choral Evensong & Benediction. Dyson in F. Gibbons.

Wed 8th Nov, 7.30pm, Song Recital by Thomas Hobbs with Andrew Millington. £15/£5.

Sun 12th Nov, Remembrance Sunday, 10.45am. Wood in Phrygian mode. For the Fallen, Keitch.

Sun 19th Nov, Advent-2, Trinity XXIII, 10.45am Mass. Nicholson in C. Rejoice in the Lord alway.

Wed 22nd Nov, 7.30pm, John Hughes Memorial Lecture by Dr Ed Skidelsky.

Thu 23rd Nov, 6pm. CBS Mass – St Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr (c.100)

Sun 26th Nov, Christ the King, 10.45am Mass. Byrd 4. Mendelssohn.

Sun 3rd Dec, Advent Sunday. 10.45am Sung Mass. 6pm Choral Evensong & Benediction.

Fri 8th Dec, 6.30pm at St David’s Church. Community Christmas Concert. £5.

Sun 10th Dec, 6pm, Advent Procession & Carols.

Other Regular Events:-
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6pm Plainsong Vespers & Meditation.
Tuesdays, 7-8.30pm Choir Practice.
Wednesdays, 9.30am BCP Morning Prayer, 10am Low Mass.

St Michael’s Lecture
Wednesday 22 November, 7.30pm, we welcome Dr Ed Skidelsky from Exeter University’s Sociology & Philosophy Dept to talk on “How can believers talk to unbelievers about God?”, a topic relevant to our recent Deanery Synod study on Discipleship. This is in memory of John Hughes, our Curate 2005-9, who tragically died in 2014 in a car accident while Dean of Jesus College, Cambridge. All welcome.

Choir Music
The main event for the Choir is a liturgical performance of Gabriel Fauré’s beautiful Requiem, in the context of a Requiem Mass for All Souls’ Day on Thursday 2nd November at 7.30pm. Please support this important midweek service. We will also sing Justorum Animae (The souls of the righteous…) by Stanford and the Russian Contakion of the Departed.

Please come to Choral Evensong & Benediction at 6pm on the 5th. Each setting of the Magnificat has its own character and, for me, Dyson in F, with its floating Soprano solo, ATB backing group, laid-back organ accompaniment, plus an incense-laden quire, evokes a sacred jazz club, so relax and enjoy the gently atmospheric music.

With an interim Director of Music and Organist rota, the Choir will keep singing and carry on providing music appropriate to the liturgy.

Review of October’s Concerts

At a couple of weeks’ notice, electro-acoustic musician GRICE and friends moved their Concert from the Chapter House to St Michael’s. Thanks to Jane Bellamy for all the liaison involved. Using all our candle-stands and bringing in uplighting & amplification, St Mike’s was transformed to an atmospheric venue for the 5-piece art-rock band. A very different and enjoyable evening of music.

A fortnight later, Tony Pugh brought Exeter Police & Community Male Voice Choir, with MD David Williams and guest soloist John Burgoyne, to St Michael’s with a toe-tapping programme of songs and arrangements from Frank Sinatra and ‘My Fair Lady’ to John Denver and Les Mis.

Thank you all.

Richard Barnes, 27 Oct 2017.

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Reading Group, in lieu of St Michael’s Lecture this month.
For 3 Wednesdays in October, 11, 18 & 25, Oliver Nicholson will lead a Reading Goup at St Michael’s at 7.30pm. We will discuss the Pilgrimage of Egeria to the Holy Land in the 4th century – one of the earliest descriptions of the holy places and practices of the Church. Please join us.

Diary
Sun 1st Oct, 10.45am, Dedication Sunday, Fr Christopher. Byrd 5, Bruckner. Bountiful Table.
Sun 1st Oct, 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction. Rev Alison & Fr C. Tallis, Stanford.
New – Fri 6th Oct, 7pm, Concert by GRICE and friends – electro-acoustic folk-rock-jazz. £10.
Sun 8th Oct, 10.45am, Trinity XVII, Fr Nigel Mason. Reformation Hymns, Hassler, Bach.
Tue 10th Oct, 6pm, CBS Plainsong Mass – St Paulinus, Bishop of York (644).
Wed 11th Oct, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Reading Group – Egeria, week 1.
Sun 15th Oct, 10.45am, Harvest, Fr Nigel Mason. Harris, Greene.
Mon 16th Oct, 7.30pm, Vocations 18-30 Event at The Imperial.
Tue 17th Oct, 7 for 7.30pm, at St Leonard’s Church, Topsham Road, Deanery Synod Meeting
Wed 18th Oct, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Reading Group – Egeria, week 2.
Thu 19th Oct, 7.30pm, Concert by Exeter Police & Community Male Voice Choir.
Sun 22nd Oct, 10.45am, Trinity XIX, Ven David Gunn-Johnson. Casciolini, Rachmaninov.
Wed 25th Oct, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Reading Group – Egeria, week 3.
Sun 29th Oct. 10.45am, All Saints’ Sunday, Fr C, Rev Alison. Victoria, O quam gloriosum.
Thu 2nd Nov, 7.30pm, Sung Requiem Mass. Fauré, Stanford.

Other Regular Events:-
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6pm Plainsong Vespers & Meditation.
Tuesdays, 7-8.30pm Choir Practice.
Wednesdays, 9.30am BCP Morning Prayer, 10am Low Mass.

Choir Music

Dr Nigel Browne

Any students from University or College wishing to gain experience singing music in its liturgical context are most welcome to join us. One or two scholarships may be available.

For Dedication Sunday (of our building and of ourselves) we have the Motet ‘Locus Iste’ by Bruckner (1824-96) – This place is made by God, a priceless mystery, without reproof – and strong hymn tunes by Purcell, Gibbons & SSWesley.

Please support our Choral Evensong & Benediction at 6pm on the 1st. Music altered to include accompanied pieces by Charles Villiers Stanford as we welcome Michael Graham as guest Organist.

On 8th October, anticipating the 500th Anniversary of Luther’s 95 Theses on 31st Oct 1517, we have hymn tunes of German origin and a motet by JSBach. The Missa ‘super Dixit Maria’ may seem a strange choice, but Protestant Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) from Nuremberg studied with Gabrieli in Venice and, as the foremost organist and German composer of his age, wrote Masses for the Catholic Church and Psalm tunes for the Lutheran Church, as well as much ‘secular’ vocal & instrumental music.

Harvest is celebrated on 15th Oct – if you can, please bring some non-perishable items to be added to our collection for the Exeter FoodBank. The motet is ‘Thou visitest the Earth’ by Maurice Greene (1696-1755).

Please support the Concert on Thu 18th Oct by Exeter Police & Community Male Voice Choir with an eclectic programme from Sacred to Songs from the Shows.

On 22nd October, we hope to have enough voices to sing ‘Bogoroditse Dyevo’ from Rachmaninov’s Russian Orthodox All-Night Vigil of 1915. The text is subtly different from the Latin ‘Ave Maria’.
Rejoice, O Virgin Mother of God, Mary full of grace, The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the Saviour of our souls.

October ends with All Saints’ Sunday on the 29th, singing Victoria’s ‘O quam gloriosum’. The motet written c.1572 was used as the model for his later Missa.

All Souls’ Day, Thursday 2nd November at 7.30pm, we sing Requiem by Gabriel Fauré liturgically, with the Reading of Names of the Departed.

Richard Barnes.

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Sung Vespers & Meditation on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 6pm.

Choir Practices continue on Tuesdays at 7pm.

Matins & Low Mass are said at 9.30/10am on Wednesdays.

Communion is also celebrated at St David’s Church at 10.30am on Thursdays.

All are welcome to services and events at St Michael’s.

Sat 2 Sept at 2pm at Exeter & Devon Crematorium – a Service of Remembrance (phone 01392 496333 to request a name to be remembered aloud).

Sunday 3 September, Trinity XII, 10.45am Sung Mass. We welcome Ven David Gunn-Johnson, as our celebrant & preacher. Hymns: 390 (T493): 449: 366. Setting: Mass for Three Voices – Byrd. Motet: Ego sum panis vivus – Byrd.
Bountiful Table this morning – please continue to support our successful Bring&Buy produce stall.

Sun 3 Sept, 6pm, Evensong and Benediction. Led by Fr Christopher Durrant. Responses: Byrd. Psalm: 105 vv 1-15. Office Hymn: 248(ii). Canticles: Tallis Dorian Service. Anthem: Purge me, O Lord – Tallis. O salutaris: 269. Tantum Ergo: 268.

Saturday 9th September, Heritage Open Day 9am-6pm, and Devon Historic Churches Trust Ride & Stride. Guided Tour of Mount Dinham & Church at 2.30pm with Richard Parker.

Sunday 10 September, Trinity XIII, 10.45am Mass. With Ven David Gunn-Johnson. Hymns: 338 : 439(i) : 79. Setting: Missa Brevis, Lotti. Motet: O Sacrum Convivium, Croce.
Also Heritage Open Day 10am-5pm, with Cream Teas for fund-raising from 3-5pm.

Thu 14 Sept at 6pm. CBS Mass for Holy Cross Day with Fr David Hastings.

Thu 14 Sept from 6.30pm starting in Northernhay Gardens, Richard Parker leads a 2 hour architectural history walk around central Exeter. Cost £7.

Sat 16 Sept at 11am. Nuptial Mass and Wedding of Terence Beverton & Analyn Castro-Perez.

Sun 17 Sept, Trinity XIV, 10.45am Mass. Fr Christopher. Hymns: 477 : 295 : 431. Setting: Missa L’hora Passa, Viadana. Motet: Exsultate Justi, Viadana.

Tue 19 – Sat 23 Sep. Exhibition at St Stephen’s on the High Street, from 11-4, 6pm on Thurs. Stories of Exeter’s War Hospitals 1914-19. https://www.exeterlocalhistorysociety.co.uk/world-war-1-hospitals-exhibition/

Sun 24 Sept, Trinity XV, 10.45am Mass. Fr Christopher with Bill Pattinson preaching. Hymns: 335 : 74 : 443. Setting: Mass in Phrygian mode, Wood. Motet: Jesu Dulcis Memoria, Wood.

Wed 27 Sept, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. We welcome Dr Felix Flicker, a Research Fellow in Physics at New College Oxford. His intriguing title is “Paradoxes: Jokes, Riddles, Zen Buddhist Kohns, and some Questions in Theoretical Physics.” Come & be enlightened!

Friday 29th September is Michaelmas and we have our Festival Sung Mass at 7.30pm. All are most welcome to this service, which is followed by a Bring & Share Party – please join us. Our guest preacher is Fr Peter March. Hymns: 191 (T238) : 190(ii) : 193. Setting: Missa Aeterna Christi Munera, Palestrina. Motet: Exsultate Justi, Viadana. Owing to the sad departure of our Director of Music and our Organist having a family commitment, the Music this year will be less flamboyant than usual. But we are hugely grateful that John Draisey has kindly agreed to play for the Service and conduct us.

Sun 1 October, Trinity XVI,10.45am Sung Mass & Bountiful Table. Fr Christopher.

Sun 1 Oct, 6pm, Choral Evensong and Benediction.

Advanced Notice. For 3 Wednesdays in October (11th, 18th & 25th) Oliver Nicholson will lead a Reading Group at St Michael’s Church exploring of the writings of Egeria, an Early Christian Pilgrim. Egeria was a religious lady who spent the years 381 to 384 AD in the Holy Land and visiting the Desert Fathers of Egypt. She wrote an extensive account of her travels to ‘her dear sisters’ back home in what is now the south of France; her pilgrimage has been described as ‘biblical commentary written with the feet’. The group will meet at 7.15pm on three Wednesday evenings in October (11th, 18th & 25th) to talk about her travels. Copies of the excellent translation by Canon John Wilkinson will be available for purchase on the first evening (October 11th), when Oliver will introduce the topic of Egeria and early Christian pilgrimage in general. Folk who are going on the Holy Land pilgrimage in April 2018 might find this of particular interest.
Feast Day or ordinary, you’re always welcome at St Michael’s.

Richard Barnes

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As we reach the end of the University year, we say thanks to Ouseley Scholar Miranda, Scholar Saffron, Michael who goes to SOAS and Lina moving to Bristol, for all they have given to us, and wish them well.

Erika will be auditioning for new Choral Scholars in September; both University students and 16-18 year olds who want experience before applying for University Scholarships are welcome. If you know someone who may be interested, contact Erika.

Sunday, 2nd July, Trinity III. Also Disability Sunday. 10.45am Sung Mass. Setting: Mass in C&F: Motet: Beati quorum via, both by CVStanford. Blessed, whose way is integrity.
Also please remember and support the Bountiful Table Produce Stall after Mass.

Sun 2 July, 6pm Evensong and Benediction. Responses: Keitch. Psalm 50. Office Hymn 244. Canticles: Sumsion in G. Anthem: Abendlied by Rheinberger. Luke 24:29 Abide with us: for it is toward evening.

Sun 9 July, Trinity IV. 10.45am. Mass in E, by Harold Darke. Lead Me Lord, by SSWesley.

Tue 11 July at 6pm. CBS Mass. St Benedict, Abbot of Monte Cassino, Father of Western Monasticism (c.550).

Thu 13, Fri 14 July at 5.30pm. N.B. 5.30pm (not 6.30 as I mistyped in the Parish Magazine). The Hillwood Singers with members of St Mike’s Choir are singing Evensong in Exeter Cathedral.
Also Sat 15 & Sun 16 July at 4pm.

Sun 16 July, Trinity V. 10.45am. Plainsong Setting & Hymns. Most of the Choir are singing the Services at Exeter Cathedral today.

Wed 19 July at 7.30pm. St Michael’s Lecture. Revd Glen Graham, Minister of Cullompton Baptist Church on attitudes to disability & blindness. “Building the body Beautiful, a vision of a perfectly imperfect Church.”

Thu 20 July at 7.30pm. Concert by the Choir of St James the Greater, Leicester. Free with retiring collection. Please support.

Sat 22 July, Parish Quiet Day, 10am-4pm. Led by Bishop Martin Shaw. Details/sign up elsewhere and in churches. (list now closed?)

Sun 23 July, Trinity VI. 10.45am. Mass in the Dorian Mode, by Thomas Tallis. View Me Lord a work of Thine, Lloyd.

Thu 27 July at 12 noon. Parish Lunch Club at the Farmer’s Union, Queens Terrace, this month. Please sign up in our Churches.

Sun 30 July, Trinity VII. 10.45am. Mass for 5 voices, by Byrd. Jesu the very thought of Thee, by Bairstow.

Sun 6 August, Feast of the Transfiguration. 10.45am. Missa Brevissima, by Casciolini. O Nata Lux de Lumine, by Tallis.
And please remember the Bountiful Table Produce Stall after Mass.

Sun 6 Aug, 6pm Choral Evensong and Benediction. Responses: Smith or Keitch. Psalm 80. Office Hymn 248. Canticles: Gibbons Short Service. Anthem: Lux Aurumque, by Whitacre.

Sun 13 Aug, Feast of the Assumption. 10.45am. Missa Ave Maris Stella, by Victoria. Ave Maria, by Parsons.

Sun 20 Aug, Trinity X. 10.45am. Missa Aeterna Christi Munera, by Palestrina. O Lord increase our Faith, by Loosemore.

Sun 27 Aug, Trinity XI. 10.45am. Mass in F, and Holy is the True Light, both by William Harris.

Richard Barnes.

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Wed 1 March, Ash Wednesday. Services Morning & Evening.
9.30am Matins, 10am Said Low Mass with Ashes. Fr Christopher.
7.30pm Solemn Sung Mass with Imposition of Ashes. Mass in the Dorian Mode – Tallis; Remember not Lord our offences – Purcell. Preacher Ven David Gunn-Johnson.

Sun 5 Mar, Lent I. 10.45am Sung Mass. Cranmer’s Litany of 1544 in Procession. Missa de Angelis; Purge me, O Lord – Purcell. Fr C.

Sun 5 Mar at 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction. Byrd Responses. Ps 50 vv 1-15. Short Service – Weelkes. Wash me throughly from my wickedness – SSWesley. Fr C.

Tue 7 Mar at 6pm, CBS Plainsong Mass, Saints Perpetua & Felicity, Martyrs at Carthage (203). Fr David Hastings.

Each Wednesday in Lent, 8,15,22,29 Mar & 5 Apr there is both Stations of the Cross at 6pm with a prayerful 40min walk around St Michael’s Church led by a different person each week, and the Lent Reading Group at 7pm for an hour or so exploring the life and thoughts of St Augustine through his famous autobiography, the Confessions, led by Oliver Nicholson.

Sun 12 Mar, Lent II 10.45am Sung Mass. Sarum Plainsong. God so loved the world – Goss. Ven David Gunn-Johnson. Fr Christopher and Preb Alastair Wheeler will be in church afterwards to talk about a Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in April 2018.

Fri 17 Mar at 7.30pm, Exeter College Choral Society Concert – Poulenc Gloria and Mozart Solemn Vespers. Admission £10 adults, £5 students.

Sun 19 Mar, Lent III 10.45am Sung Mass. Merbecke. Sicut Cervus – Palestrina. Fr C.
Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus. Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so longeth my soul after thee, O God.

Sun 26 Mar, Lent IV, 10.45am. N.B. start of BST. Laetare, Mothering Sunday and Annunciation (transferred). Missa Aeterna Christi Munera – Palestrina. The Lord bless you & keep you – Rutter. Fr C.

Sun 2 Apr, Lent V, Passion Sunday, Crosses & Statues are veiled, 10.45am Sung Mass. Dorian mode – Tallis. Song of Christ’s Glory – Grayston Ives. Ven David Gunn-Johnson.

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For the -gesima Sundays, 12th, 19th, 26th Feb, the choir sings all 3 of William Byrd’s Masses, composed c.1592-4, while in his 50s and a Roman Catholic, tolerated by Queen Elizabeth I. Byrd for 4 voices is probably best known, Byrd 3 more sparse & austere, and Byrd 5 the most complex & developed. We contrast these with more modern Motets; Philip Stopford’s 21st century take on “If ye love me”, Edward Elgar’s 1902 setting of “Ave verum corpus”, and “O Lord thou art my God” by 19th century Exeter composer Kellow Pye.

From Thurs 2 – Sun 5 February, Bishop Sarah is visiting our citywide Deanery as part of the Diocese’s “Bishops in Mission” initiative. Look out for events, and pray. We hope she will take part in St David’s School Assembly in St Mike’s and the 10.30am Thursday Eucharist at St David’s.

Thurs 2 February at 7.30pm, 40 days after Christmas, the Nativity narrative concludes with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Candlemas. Mass in C by John Ireland, and the “Nunc Dimittis” by Gustav Holst. Fr Christopher Durrant, with guest preacher Revd Matt Rowland, curate at St Leonard’s.

Sun 5 Feb, Epiphany V, 10.45am. Mass in F – Rheinberger. Motet: Our conversation is in Heaven – Gilbert. Fr Christopher.
Sun 5 Feb at 6pm, marking the Eve of 65th Anniversary of the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II. Choral Evensong & Benediction. Responses: Clucas. Psalms 1,3,4. Canticles: Purcell in G minor. Anthem: We wait for Thy loving kindness – McKie. Hymns 252, 269, 268. Fr C.

Wed 8 Feb at 1.30pm – Funeral Service for Joy Mitchell, taken by Fr David Hastings. May she rest in peace and rise in glory. Also the 10am Low Mass will be a Requiem said by Fr David.

Sun 12 Feb, Septuagesima, Epiphany VI. 10.45am. Mass for 4 voices – Byrd. If ye love me – Stopford. Fr C.

Sun 19 Feb, Sexagesima, Epiphany VII. 10.45am. Byrd 3. Ave verum corpus – Elgar. Archdeacon Christopher Futcher.

Wed 22 Feb at 7.30pm – St Michael’s Lecture. Penelope Cowell-Doe will reflect on the Report of the Bishops’ Reflection Group on Sexuality to General Synod. All welcome. Free with voluntary donations.

Thurs 23 Feb at 12noon – Lunch Club at Exeter College’s @34 Restaurant; sign up lists in both our churches.
Thurs 23 Feb at 6pm. CBS Plainsong Mass. St Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr (c.155)

Sun 26 Feb, Quinquagesima, Transfiguration Sunday. 10.45am. Byrd 5. O Lord Thou art my God – Pye. Preacher Bill Pattinson.

Shrove Tuesday, 28 Feb at 8.20pm. Pancakes after Choir Practice.

Wed 1 March, Ash Wednesday. Services Morning & Evening.
9.30am Matins, 10am Said Low Mass with Ashes. Fr C.
7.30pm Solemn Sung Mass with Imposition of Ashes. Mass in the Dorian Mode – Tallis; Remember not Lord our offences – Purcell. Preacher Ven David Gunn-Johnson.
Sun 5 Mar, Lent I. 10.45am Sung Mass. Cranmer’s Litany of 1544 in Procession. Fr C.
Sun 5 Mar at 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction.

Then, if you want to discover St Augustine, the man behind the myths, please diary our Lent Reading Group at St Michael’s, Wednesday evenings in Lent (8,15,22,29 March, 5 April) at 7.00 – 8.15pm.

Finally, a topic guaranteed to make me unpopular. At Christmas we sang “What shall I give him, poor as I am?” Financial giving to St Michael’s is still inadequate to cover our basic costs (heating, insurance, music, etc., not to mention the Common Fund to the Diocese to pay for Clergy). Please consider again where your Church ranks amongst the things you spend your money on. Our “Giving” page has more details and a link to St Michael’s anonymous online donation page. Many thanks.
Richard Barnes.

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“You wait little year on an empty stage, for fate to turn the light on;
your life little year is an empty page that we will have to write on – Twenty-sixteen going on seventeen!”
New Year’s Day Mass at 10.45am is Fr Tom Honey’s final Service at St Mike’s – please support this as we wish him well for the future.
And pray for our Parish of St David’s & St Michael’s as we enter the Interregnum/Vacancy of 2017; a busy time for Church & Chapel Wardens, our Curate Fr Christopher and the rota of visiting priests at both churches.

Sunday 1st January 2017, Holy Name of Jesus, 10.45am. Mass in F by Sir William Harris. Carol: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, trad. arr. Willcocks. This is Fr Tom Honey’s final service at St Michael’s; we wish him well for his new ministry as Hospice Chaplain in Basingstoke.
N.B. No Evensong today, but please come to…

Tues 3rd Jan and each Tuesday. 6pm Plainsong Vespers & Silent Meditation. 7pm Choir Practice.
Wed 4th Jan and each Wednesday. 9.30am Prayer Book Matins, 10am Low Mass (Monthly Requiem).
Thurs 5th Jan and each Thursday. 6pm Plainsong Vespers & Silent Meditation.

Friday 6th January, Epiphany, 7.30pm. Mass in F by Sumsion; O God who by the leading of a star, by Attwood. Please support this first weekday Feast of 2017. Celebrant & Preacher Fr Christopher Durrant.

Sunday 8th Jan, Baptism of Christ, 10.45am. Missa Aeterna Christi Munera (the eternal gifts of Christ), by Palestrina; Listen Sweet Dove, by Grayston Ives.

Sunday 15th Jan, Epiphany II, 10.45am Sung Mass. A little post-Christmas austerity with Kenneth Leighton’s Mass in D and John Tavener’s “The Lamb”. Celebrant & Preacher Ven David Gunn-Johnson.

Tuesday 17th January at 6pm. CBS Plainsong Mass. St Antony of Egypt, Hermit, Abbot (356). Celebrant Fr David Hastings.

18-25 January – Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Sunday 22nd Jan, Epiphany III, 10.45am . Mass in C & F and Beati quorum via, both by Stanford. Preacher Rev M Diffey (URC).

Wednesday 25th Jan, Conversion of St Paul, Years’ Mind of Canon John Thurmer. 9.30am BCP Matins, 10am Low Mass.

Thursday 26th Jan, Parish Lunch Club at 12noon in Exeter College’s @34 Restaurant – please sign up in church.

Saturday 28th Jan, Men’s Breakfast at 9am at the Farmers’ Union – please sign up in church.

Sunday 29th Jan, Epiphany IV, 10.45am. Missa L’Hora Passa by Viadana; Ubi caritas, by Duruflé. Ven David Gunn-Johnson.

We complete the Nativity narrative with the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Candlemas, on Thursday 2nd February at 7.30pm. Mass in C by John Ireland; Nunc Dimittis by Gustav Holst. Celebrant & Preacher Fr Christopher.

Richard Barnes.

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This is Incarnation, the messy humanity of it all, for Mary & Joseph, the Shepherds and their families, ruthless Herod and his clever advisers, the Magi with their expectations; explored in our words & music, as we ponder the selfishness, sadness and sinfulness of 2016.

There is a strange symmetry in the life of Jesus, sometimes picked up in poems or paintings – stable cave and rock-hewn tomb, the wood of crib and cross, swaddling-bands and grave-clothes, the spices of the Wise men and the Women, Angel’s words to the Shepherds and the Women, the cruel pragmatism of politicians and zealots.

We hope our worship & fellowship at St Michael’s and St David’s will help us all to delight in the Season of Incarnation, Jesus Son of God, born in humility, Joy to the World.

Sunday 4th December, Advent II, 10.45am Sung Mass. Missa Brevis by Lotti; Motet “Canite Tuba” by Guerrero. …Veni, Domine, et noli tardare. Sound the trumpet …Come, Lord, and do not delay.

Our beautiful candlelit Advent Procession at St Michael’s is on Sunday 4th December at 6pm. Prayers, Readings, Hymns and Carols illuminate the 7 Great O Antiphons of the Advent Hymn “O come, O come Emmanuel”. The choir will sing the Pergolesi/Durante setting of the Magnificat. The service is followed by mulled wine and mince pies.

Thursday 8th Dec at 6pm. Vespers for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. All are welcome.

Sunday 11th Dec, Advent III, Gaudete Sunday with Rose Red Vestments. 10.45am. Mass in A minor by Casciolini; E’en so Lord Jesus, by Manz.

Sunday 11th Dec at 2pm, the Choir will sing Carols in the Chapel at Killerton House. National Trust admission applies. Please come and support us.

Sunday 11th Dec at 4.30pm, Exeter Chorale, conducted by Dr Nigel Browne, presents a Tea-time Concert with a “watery” theme. Music includes Stanford “The Blue Bird”, Tippett “Deep River”, a couple of stormy Baroque Motets, plus Drunken Sailors and a Mermaid! Admission £8 (children free) including refreshments.

Tuesday 13th Dec at 6pm, this month’s CBS Plainsong Mass celebrated by Fr David Hastings on St Lucy’s Day. All welcome.

Saturday 17th Dec at 5pm – Carol Concert with St Michael’s Choir in aid of the charity Refugee Support Devon.

Sunday 18th Dec, Advent IV, 10.45am. Mass in Phrygian Mode, by Wood. The Motet is “Anna mater Matris Christi” by John Plummer, a 15th century piece on the worthiness of St Anne to be the grandmother of Jesus.

Sunday 18th Dec, at St David’s Church at 6pm – Carol Service and Farewell to Canon Tom Honey & Jeanie at 7pm.

Saturday 24th December Christmas Eve, 11pm Carols from the West Gallery, 11.30pm, Midnight Mass. A “Victoria” Christmas, Missa “O Quam Gloriosum” & Motet “O Magnum Mysterium”.

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. “Now they are all on their knees,” An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease.
We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then.
So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet, I feel, If someone said on Christmas Eve, “Come; see the oxen kneel,
“In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know,” I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so.
“The Oxen” by Thomas Hardy, was published in The Times on Christmas Eve 1915. On the face of it, a pastoral idyll of worshipping animals and simple country folk, but below the surface are Hardy’s growing doubts and the irony of such a myth ‘in these years’ of war raging in the mud of the trenches. Yet still hope lingers for peace on earth, upon the midnight clear.

Sunday 25th Dec, Christmas Day, 10.45am Mass in F & In the Bleak Midwinter, both by Harold Darke.

Holy Communion/Low Mass will be said at 10am at St Michael’s Church by Canon Tom Honey on the 3 Feast Days following Christmas.
Monday 26th Dec, St Stephen, Deacon & First Martyr, 10am.
Tuesday 27th Dec, St John, Apostle &Evangelist, 10am.
Wednesday 28th Dec, Holy Innocents Day, Childermas, 10am.

Sunday 1st January 2017, Holy Name of Jesus, 10.45am. This will be Fr Tom Honey’s final service at St Michael’s before moving. Mass in F by Sir William Harris. Carol: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, trad. arr. Willcocks. N.B. No Evensong today, but please come to…

Friday 6th January, Epiphany, 7.30pm. Mass in F by Sumsion; O God who by the leading of a star, by Attwood. Celebrant & Preacher Fr Christopher Durrant. Please support the first Feast of 2017.
Richard Barnes.

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Wed 2nd Nov, 7.30pm, All Souls’ Day, Sung Requiem Mass. Victoria, Stanford.
Sun 6th Nov, 10.45am, Trinity XXIV, Advent-3. Viadana, Gibbons.
Sun 6th Nov, 6pm, Choral Evensong & Benediction. Stanford, Bainton, Rossini, Fauré.
Wed 9th Nov, 7.30pm, Exeter College Concert. Cello & Piano.
Sun 13th Nov, 10.45am, Remembrance Sunday. Sumsion, Noble.
Sat 19th Nov, 3pm at St David’s Church – Holy Land Pilgrimage Preliminary Meeting.
Sun 20th Nov, 10.45am, Christ the King, Stir-Up, Confirmation. Casciolini, Parker.
Tue 22nd Nov, 6pm. CBS Plainsong Mass – St Cecilia (c.230), Patroness of Musicians.
Sat 26th Nov, 11am – 3pm. An Unusually Good Book Sale.
Sun 27th Nov, 10.45am, Advent Sunday. Wood x2.
Sun 27th Nov, 1pm, at Digger’s Rest, Woodbury Salterton. Advent Lunch.
Wed 30th Nov, 7.30pm, St Michael’s Lecture. Theology & Vegetarianism – Dr Matthew Barton.

Advance Notice:-
Sun 4th Dec. 6pm, Advent Procession – Readings, Candles, Carols, Hymns.
Sun 11th Dec, 4pm, Exeter Chorale Tea-time Concert. “Aqua Musicale”
Sat 17th Dec, late afternoon, Charity Carol Concert given by St Michael’s Choir.

Other Regular Services:-
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6pm Plainsong Vespers & Meditation.
Wednesdays, 9.30am Morning Prayer, 10am Low Mass.
See the Website & Twitter for Music List & Service details.

Book Sale, Advent Lunch, Lecture & Concert
BOOK_SALE_poster
Please support the “Unusually Good Book Sale” on Sat 26th Nov from 11am-3pm organised with St David’s Creates. As well as books & other media, there will be Piano music from Matthew Wright, Organ demonstration by Nigel Browne, and a guided tour of the Church given by Richard Parker. All-in-all, a day not to miss.

Please contact Chris & Lis Heaven in Church or via Facebook to sign up (by 20th at latest,please) for the St Mike’s Advent Lunch at the Digger’s Rest, Woodbury Salterton, EX5 1PQ. Cost £17.50 or £21.00.

On Wed 30th Nov we conclude our Autumn “isms” lectures with Dr Matthew Barton considering religious and theological aspects of Vegetarianism. Free & all welcome.

We are pleased to host a Concert on Wed 9th Nov in support of the Exeter College Chris Wilson Music Award; Jan Skrdlik, Cello & Petra Besa, Piano, play Saint-Saens, Kodaly, Dvorak. £15.

Please Note also:- Fr Christopher has asked his father-in-law Preb. Alistair Wheeler to organise a parish pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the month after Easter 2018! Alistair is a retired priest from Bath & Wells Diocese, who has led Holy Land pilgrimages over many decades. He will be making a short informal presentation about the Holy Land at St. David’s Church at 3pm on Saturday 19th November.

Choir Music

Our traditional All Souls’ Day Requiem, Wed 2nd Nov at 7.30pm, uses the Missa Pro Defunctis a 4, by Victoria, with Stanford’s motet “Justorum animae”, the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. All are welcome to this moving Service when the list of names of the Faithful Departed is prayed.

On Sun 6th Nov at 6pm, our Evensong Anthem “And I saw a new heaven” by Edgar Bainton continues the Remembrance-tide theme. The Benediction hymns are Romantic settings by Rossini & Fauré, as Jesus, lifted up, draws us to himself.

For Remembrance Sunday on the 13th the music is the Communion Service in F by Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995), who was at Gloucester Cathedral, Chorister and Organist, for 60 years. From 1917 to 1919 Sumsion served in the Queen’s Westminster Rifles and spent time in the trenches in Flanders. The Motet by Tertius Noble uses a versified form of Wisdom 3.

“Souls of the righteous in the hand of God,
Nor hurt nor torment cometh them anigh;
O holy hope of immortality.
Souls of the righteous in the hand of God,
to eyes of men unwise, they seem to die;
They are at peace, O fairest liberty.
On earth as children chasten’d by Love’s rod,
As gold in furnace tried, so now on high
they shine like stars, a golden galaxy:
Souls of the righteous in the hand of God.”

Please support a special service on 20th Nov – as well as being Stir-up Sunday and Christ the King, we will welcome Bishop Martin Shaw to our Sung Mass to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation on Amy Down. We will sing “Te Deum laudamus”, the great 4th century credal hymn in a setting by the American composer Horatio Parker, learned on our summer visit to Winchester.

On Sun 27th Nov we joyously celebrate the traditional start of the New Liturgical Year, Advent Sunday, with music by Charles Wood, his Mass in F and “O Thou the central Orb”.

“Let Thy bright beams disperse the gloom of sin, Our nature all shall feel eternal day
In fellowship with thee, transforming clay To souls erewhile unclean; now pure within.”

Richard Barnes

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Please see other Website links & Twitter posts for full Music List & Service details.

Concerts & Lecture
Please support the ExeVox Concert on Sun 2nd Oct, directed by Peter Adcock. They will give a half-hour mini-Concert at St Michael’s, followed by Refreshments. It’s one of three mini-concerts of classical and lighter pieces in an afternoon of music-making in aid of Hospiscare; starting at 2.00pm in St Stephen’s Church on the High Street, continuing at 2.45pm in St Pancras’ Church in the Guildhall Centre and coming to St Michael’s for 3.40pm. Each is free, with voluntary collections for Hospiscare. You may like to stay or return to St Michael’s for our monthly Evensong at 6pm.

Sat 8th Oct at Exeter Cathedral at 4pm sees a rather special Evensong with Exeter Symphony Orchestra and the Cathedral & University Chapel Choirs combining to offer the original orchestral versions of Brahms Psalm 84 “How lovely are thy dwellings”, the Canticles in A by Stanford, and the Anthem “I was glad” by Parry.

Please also support a joint Concert with St David’s Neighbourhood Partnership at 7.30pm on Fri 14th Oct featuring internationally known local flautist, Candice Hamel, with Mariko Asakawa-North, piano, and St Michael’s Choir.
Unfortunately, the Tudor Dance Display on Sat 15th Oct has been CANCELLED owing to circumstances beyond “ARTSfest”‘s control.

On Wed 28th Oct St Michael’s Lectures welcome back to Exeter Fr John Underhill, now a curate in Eastbourne, to talk on the subject of Deliverance Ministry & Exorcism.

Choir Music
On 2nd Oct, Dedication Sunday, we have a romantic 19th century Mass setting by Rheinberger (1839-1901). The Motet “Locus Iste” by Bruckner (1824-96) translates – This place was made by God, a priceless (inaestimabile) mystery; it is without reproof (irreprehensibilis).

Our Evensong music is mainly “mellow” for Autumn, Dyson in F Mag & Nunc, and Elgar & Fauré Benediction Hymns, and Harris’s Anthem “Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men” is suited to the Sunday & the Service.

Missa Lauda Sion is a lesser known Palestrina Mass now in our repertoire, and the French dramatist Jean Racine (1639-99) provides the words for the much loved “Cantique” by Fauré (1845-1924) on 9th Oct. This beautiful Hymn to Christ translates thus:-
O Word, equal to the Most High, Our sole hope, eternal day of the earth and heavens,
We break the silence of the peaceful night. Divine Saviour, cast Thine eyes upon us!
Shed the fire of Thy mighty grace upon us. Let all Hell flee at the sound of Thy voice.
Dispel the slumber of a languishing soul That leads it to forget Thy laws!
O Christ, be favourable to your faithful people Now gathered to bless Thee.
Receive the hymns we offer to Thine immortal glory, And may we return laden with Thy gifts.

Harvest is celebrated on Sun 16th Oct – we are asked to collect non-consumable items (shower gel, toothpaste/brush, washing-up liquid etc.) throughout October, rather than ‘food’ at this time, to be sent to the Exeter FoodBank. The Mass setting is new to us, John Ireland (1879-1962) in C, and the Motet is ”O Lord increase our Faith” with music by Henry Loosemore (1600-70) .

Trinity XXII sees us back in the 16th century with William Byrd’s Mass for 5 voices (SATTB) written around 1594, and “Lord for Thy tender mercies sake” by Richard Farrant (c.1525-80)

October ends with All Saints’ Sunday, singing Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Missa “O quam gloriosum”, published in 1583, and Sir William Harris’s “Holy is the True Light” from 1947.

Please note for your Diaries:- All Souls’ Day Requiem, Wed 2nd Nov at 7.30pm, with the Missa Pro Defunctis a 4, also by Victoria, and Motet “Justorum Animae” by Stanford.

Richard Barnes

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