Mothering Sunday

The Gathering

Our worship begins at the sound of the bell. Please stand as the sacred ministers enter, during which the introit hymn is sung.

Sing we of the blessèd Mother
who received the angel’s word,
and obedient to his summons
bore in love the infant Lord;
sing we of the joys of Mary
at whose breast that child was fed,
who is Son of God eternal
and the everlasting Bread.

Sing we, too, of Mary’s sorrows,
of the sword that pierced her through,
when beneath the cross of Jesus
she his weight of suff’ring knew,
looked upon her Son and Saviour
reigning high on Calv’ry’s tree,
saw the price of our redemption
paid to set the sinner free.

Sing again the joys of Mary
when she saw the risen Lord,
and, in prayer with Christ’s apostles,
waited on his promised word:
from on high the blazing glory
of the Spirit’s presence came.
heav’nly breath of God’s own being,
manifest through wind and flame.

Sing the greatest joy of Mary
when on earth her work was done,
and the Lord of all creation
brought her to his heav’nly home:
virgin mother, Mary blessèd,
raised on high and crowned with grace,
may your Son, the world’s redeemer,
grant us all to see his face. 

Words: George Bourne Timms (1910-1997)
Music: Cyril Vincent Taylor (1907-1991)
Hymn Tune: ABBOT’S LEIGH

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

The Greeting

Grace, mercy and peace
from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you

and also with you.

Words of Welcome

Prayers of Penitence

Jesus, like a mother you gather your people to you;
you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride,
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement.

Anselm of Canterbury, 1033-1109

Silence is kept.

Come, let us return to the Lord and say:

Lord our God,
in our sin we have avoided your call.
Our love for you is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgement;
bind up our wounds and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A setting of the ‘Kyrie’ is sung.

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy,
Christ have mercy.

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

The president says:

May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Collect

The president introduces a period of silent prayer with the words ‘Let us pray’.

God of compassion,
whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary,
shared the life of a home in Nazareth,
and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself:
strengthen us in our daily living that in joy and in sorrow
we may know the power of your presence
to bind together and to heal;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

The Liturgy of the Word

Please sit.

A reading from the book of Exodus.

A man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’

Exodus 2.1-10

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Please stand as the gradual hymn is sung. During the hymn a procession will make its way to the centre of the nave from where the Gospel for the day is read. To symbolise our desire to turn to Christ in our daily lives, at the end of the hymn we remain standing and turn to face the place where the Gospel is proclaimed.

Hymn

For Mary, mother of our Lord,
God’s holy name be praised,
who first the Son of God adored,
as on her child she gazed.

The angel Gabriel brought the word
she should Christ’s mother be;
our Lady, handmaid of the Lord,
made answer willingly.

The heav’nly call she thus obeyed,
and so God’s will was done;
the second Eve love’s answer made
which our redemption won.

She gave her body for God’s shrine,
her heart to piercing pain,
and knew the cost of love divine
when Jesus Christ was slain.

Dear Mary, from your lowliness
and home in Galilee,
there comes a joy and holiness
to ev’ry family.

Hail, Mary, you are full of grace,
above all women blest;
and blest your Son, whom your embrace
in birth and death confessed.

Words: John Raphael Peacey (1896-1971)
Music: Gordon Slater (1896-1979)
Hymn Tune: SAINT BOTOLPH

Gospel Reading

An acclamation is said to herald the Gospel.

Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
The Lord is a great God,
O that today you would listen to his voice.
Harden not your hearts.

cf Psalm 95.3,8

Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

John 19.25b-27

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Please sit after the preacher leads us in prayer.

The Nicene Creed

Please stand with the president.

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

Prayers of Intercession

Following an invitation to pray from the intercessor we kneel or sit to pray.

The following response is used.

Lord, in your mercy.

Hear our prayer.

Then at the end.

Merciful Father,

Accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
Our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

The Liturgy of the Sacrament

Please stand with the president.

The Peace

Through the prophet Isaiah, God says,
 ‘As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.’

cf. Isaiah 66.13

The peace of the Lord be always with you

and also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

This is usually a handshake shared with those near you.

Preparation of the Table

The table is prepared and bread and wine are placed upon it.

A hymn is sung. During this hymn a collection, our financial offering in support of the work of the church both at St. Mary’s and across our diocese, is taken.

You can place cash or giving envelopes in the collection plates as they are passed around. If you would prefer, or if you miss the plate, you can also give by tapping your contactless card or device on the giving kiosk by the door as you leave, or on our donations page.

Hymn

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flow’r,
sun and moon and stars of light:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine,
to our race so freely giv’n,
graces human and divine,
flow’rs of earth and buds of heav’n:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

Words: Folliot Sandford Pierpoint (1835-1917)
Music: Geoffrey Shaw (1879-1943)
adapted from a folk song
Hymn Tune: ENGLAND’S LANE

Taking of the Bread and Wine

God of our journey,
as we walk with you on your path of obedience,
sustain us on our way and lead us to your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Eucharistic Prayer

Please kneel or sit.

The Lord is here.

His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, Lord God,
our light and our salvation;
to you be glory and praise for ever.
From the beginning you have created all things
and all your works echo the silent music of your praise.
In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
the crown of all creation.
You give us breath and speech, that with angels and archangels
and all the powers of heaven
we may find a voice to sing your praise:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of pow’r and might,
heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessèd is he, O blessèd is he 
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.  

How wonderful the work of your hands, O Lord.
As a mother tenderly gathers her children,
you embraced a people as your own.
When they turned away and rebelled
your love remained steadfast.
From them you raised up Jesus our Saviour, born of Mary,
to be the living bread,
in whom all our hungers are satisfied.
He offered his life for sinners,
and with a love stronger than death
he opened wide his arms on the cross.

On the night before he died,
he came to supper with his friends
and, taking bread, he gave you thanks.
He broke it and gave it to them, saying:
Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.

At the end of supper, taking the cup of wine,
he gave you thanks, and said:
Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

Christ is the bread of life:

When we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus,
until you come in glory, until you come in glory. 

Father, we plead with confidence
his sacrifice made once for all upon the cross;
we remember his dying and rising in glory,
and we rejoice that he intercedes for us at your right hand.

Pour out your Holy Spirit as we bring before you
these gifts of your creation;
may they be for us the body and blood of your dear Son.
As we eat and drink these holy things in your presence,
form us in the likeness of Christ,
and build us into a living temple to your glory.

Bring us at the last with the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints
to the vision of that eternal splendour
for which you have created us;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
by whom, with whom, and in whom,
with all who stand before you in earth and heaven,
we worship you, Father almighty, in songs of everlasting praise:

Blessing and honour and glory and power
be yours for ever and ever.
Amen.

Silence is kept.

The Lord’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, remember us in your kingdom
and teach us to pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Breaking of the Bread

The president breaks the consecrated bread.

Every time we eat this bread
and drink this cup
we proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes.

The Agnus Dei is sung as the bread is broken for distribution.

Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.

Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.

Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
grant us peace.

Invitation to Communion

Jesus is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
Blessed are those who are called to his supper.

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,
but only say the word, and I shall be healed.

The president and people receive communion. All baptised Christians are welcome to receive the sacrament. Please follow the guidance offered by the stewards.

If you are not baptised, or would prefer to not receive, then do still come forward for a blessing bringing this book with you so the president knows your intention.

The sacrament is available in both kinds, however if you wish to only receive the bread please do so and then return to your place. Receiving in one kind is still considered to be full communion by the Church of England. Please do not dip bread in the wine (sometimes called ‘intincting’).

To the words “The Body/Blood of Christ” the communicant replies “Amen”.

For those at home it might be helpful to use this prayer during the distribution.

God of love,
passionate and strong,
tender and careful:
watch over us and hold us
all the days of our life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Anthem

Sung by the Choir.

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum, Dominus tecum,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Jesus, Jesus.

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum, Dominus tecum,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Jesus, Jesus.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
Ora, ora pro nobis.

Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae,
ora pro nobis pecatoribus, ora, ora.
Amen.  

Words: St. Luke and anon. (medieval)
Music: Simon Geoffrey Lindley
(10 October 1948 – 25 February 2025)

English Translation:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, 
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, 
pray for us sinners, 
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

The following communion hymns may be sung during the distribution as time allows. Please remain seated.

Be still, for the presence of the Lord, 
the Holy One, is here;
come, bow before him now, 
with reverence and fear.
in him no sin is found, 
we stand on holy ground.
be still, for the presence of the Lord, 
the Holy One, is here.

Be still, for the glory of the Lord
is shining all around;
he burns with holy fire, 
with splendour he is crowned.
how awesome is the sight, 
our radiant King of Light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
is shining all around.

Be still, for the power of the Lord
is moving in this place,
he comes to cleanse and heal, 
to minister his grace.
No work too hard for him, 
in faith receive from him;
be still, for the power of the Lord 
is moving in this place.

Words & Music: David Evans (b. 1957)
Music arrangement: Norman Warren (1934-2019)

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heav’n, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.

Jesu, thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter ev’ry trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.

Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above;
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation,
perfectly restored in thee.

Changed from glory into glory,
till in heav’n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise!

Words: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Music: John Stainer (1840-1901)
Hymn Tune: LOVE DIVINE

The Post Communion Prayer

Please stand with the president who introduces a time of silent prayer with the words ‘Let us pray’.

Loving God,
as a mother feeds her children at the breast
you feed us in this sacrament
with the food and drink of eternal life:
help us who have tasted your goodness
to grow in grace within the household of faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Father of all,
we give you thanks and praise,
that when we were still far off
you met us in your Son and brought us home.
Dying and living, he declared your love,
gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory.
May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life;
we who drink his cup bring life to others;
we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world.
Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,
so we and all your children shall be free,
and the whole earth live to praise your name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen. 

Blessing of the Flowers

Daffodils, kindly supplied by Co-op Funeralcare and Wm. Dodgson & Son, are presented to the president for this prayer of blessing and are then distributed amongst the congregation.

Gracious God,
whose love surrounds us daily,
we pray you bless these flowers
that they might be tokens of your love
and symbols of hope
giving joy to those who give and receive,
we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Hymn

Now thank we all our God,
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mother’s arms
hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessèd peace to cheer us;
and keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son, and him who reigns
with them in highest heaven,
the One eternal God,
whom earth and heav’n adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

Words: Martin Rinkart (1586-1649)
translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)
Music: Johann Crüger (1598-1662)
Hymn Tune: NUN DANKET

The Dismissal

The Blessing

May God who gave birth to all creation, bless us;
may God, who became incarnate of a holy mother, bless us;
may God, who broods as a mother does over her children, bless us.
May almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. 

Amen.

Go in the peace of Christ.

Thanks be to God.