Worship & Liturgy

Welcome to Worship at St Michael and All Angels, Mount Dinham ~

The central Calendar of Feast Days traditionally observed at St  Michael’s, can be found in the Usage of St Michael’s and downloaded as a PDF here. Other Saints and Martyrs Days may be marked, e.g. St Theresa of Avila or Sankta Lucia (either within a CBS Mass or at Vespers or by a special service or recital). These services are listed in full on our Feast Days and Special Services page.

Short descriptions of our regular services of Matins, Sung Mass, Evensong & Benediction and Vespers are found beneath the image below.

The style of worship at St Michael’s is Anglo-Catholic, as formalised in the 1920′s and conforms to Common Worship, Order I, Traditional Language, using the Revised Common Lectionary. Insights into some of the history of Catholic and Anglican worship which informs our services can be found through these links ~

The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office
A Guide to the Mass
The Use of Vestments
Glossary

Quotations like the one below were written by Oliver Nicholson for our annual Summer Exhibition, in association with the national Heritage Open Days.

“Worship at St Michael’s follows formal patterns.
This formality frees the private prayer of individuals so that it may be offered in a communal context.
It helps to form intimate habits of devotion – and much of life is, after all, lived by habit…”

“…And it connects us to the worship of past generations of Christians, so freeing us from the illusion that Christianity was invented yesterday – by us. And we enjoy it.”

We hope this gives you a sense of the quality, mystery and good humour for which St Michael’s has become known.

Service Times

Sunday

  • 11:00 •

    Solemn Sung Mass

  • •

  • 18:00 •

    Evensong & Benediction (First Sunday)

Tuesday

  • 18:00 •

    The Angelus, Sung

  • 18:10 •

    Plainsong Vespers, followed by Meditation

  • •

    The Angelus and Vespers are also livestreamed from the Facebook Group, "Friends of St Michael's"

Wednesday

  • 09:30 •

    Angelus and Matins, BCP - in the Lady Chapel

  • 10:30 •

    Low Mass, Said - in the Lady Chapel (suspended until further notice)

Thursday

  • 18:00 •

    The Angelus, Sung

  • 18:10 •

    Plainsong Vespers, followed by Meditation

  • •

    The Angelus and Vespers are also livestreamed from the Facebook Group, "Friends of St Michael's"

Click here for Feast Days and Special Services

Regular Services

Matins

Morning Prayer, or Lauds, is offered at 10:00 on Wednesdays. Also for Ascension Day at 07:30. The character of Morning Prayer is that of praise.

Read more…

Low Mass

Low Mass is a said service which takes place at 10:30 on Wednesdays. Usually it is for a Feast or Saint’s day, but occasionally this service is a Requiem Mass to commemorate the dead.

Sung Mass

The Mass lies at the centre of worship at St Michael’s and takes place at 11:00 on Sundays. Led by the choir, this service is enhanced through the music of plainsong, polyphony and harmony singing, the use of incense, the ringing of bells and the sprinkling of holy water, or asperges.

Our Guide to Mass at St Michael’s is linked at the top of this page.

The Angelus is sund at the hour of 12:00 noon on Sundays immediately following Mass.

Read more…

Choral Evensong & Benediction

The service of Choral Evensong with Benediction takes place either at 17:00 or 18:00 on the first Sunday of the month. It is led by the choir and includes sung Psalms of the day, readings from scripture, Canticles (the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis), one or more anthems and other prayers.

Read more…

The Angelus

This service takes place at the hour of 12:00 noon on Sundays immediately following Mass. It is also sung at 18:00 before Evensong and Vespers. The Angelus (Latin for “angel”) is a said or sung Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. It is practised by reciting as versicle and response three Biblical verses describing the mystery; alternating with the salutation  “Hail Mary”.

Read more…

Plainsong Vespers

The ancient service of Vespers is held by candlelight directly following the Angelus at 18:00. This service is the Evening Office and its character is one of thanksgiving. Psalms, canticles, hymns and other prayers are sung to plainsong by members of the choir. The service includes a twenty-minute period of silent meditation and prayer.

Read more…

Please feel free to download, print and share our Vespers poster.

Mission Statement

“ We seek to know God’s presence in the world through worship, prayer and meditation.
We rejoice in the richness of the Christian heritage in word, music and ritual.
We are called to be an outgoing, welcoming and friendly community of faith and service.”