I think, or at least I hope, that the remarks I made in the last issue have been heeded. I’m glad to say that fewer copies were returned unwanted or marked ‘moved away’ this time and a number of interesting articles and kind donations have been received. So my thanks to all who have written to me and I hope we will be able to continue to produce a Newsletter which is interesting to and wanted by all servers. As the Newsletter is distributed to all Branches who wish to receive it, free of charge, only one copy per Branch/address is normally sent. A number of requests for multiple copies have been received but it has been necessary to turn these requests down. However I’m sure that we will have no objection to individual recipients who wish to photocopy part or all of their copies and distribute locally to their own servers.

Articles and/or donations should be addressed to:
Mr C. E. A. Merritt,
8 Venetia Road,
South Ealing,
London
W5 4JD.

Please use this address only for the Newsletter. All other Guild matters, including orders for Guild goods, are dealt with by:

The Hon. Secretary
Archconfraternity of St Stephen
c/o St Joseph's,
High Road,
Wembley,
Middx.
HA9 6AG.

NOTE: Our address at Wembley is for correspondence only.

There is no one there from the Guild to deal with telephone messages or personal callers.

This year’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 2nd December 2002 at St Vincent’s Convent, Carlisle Place, Westminster London SW1. The official notice of this meeting is printed elsewhere in this Newsletter. The meeting will be preceded by the annual Mass for deceased members of the Guild which will be celebrated in the meeting room at 6.15pm. The meeting will follow the Mass at 7.30pm allowing time for members to meet one another and chat before the meeting. Light refreshments will be provided and Guild Goods will be available for sale.

The annual elections to the Central Council will take place during the A.G.M. and enclosed with this Newsletter are full details of these elections and a form for nominating persons for election to the Council. Please study these and consider whether or not you are in a position to assist with work of the Council. You are permitted to nominate yourself!

Guild Goods

The cost of Bronze medals has risen so we must increase our selling price to £3.20 for a Medal with cord. However this increase will not be implemented until 1st January 2003. Until then we will maintain the existing price of £3.00.
The run up to Christmas and the Feast of Stephen is always our busiest time of the year for Goods orders. Please check now to see whether you will need to order more supplies, and, if so, mail your order as soon as possible. You should allow AT LEAST three weeks, and longer before Christmas.
A Price List for Goods is on the back page of this Newsletter.

Cardinal's Mass for Altar Servers

Westminster Cathedral has been booked for next year’s Annual Mass for Altar Servers, which will be on Saturday 8th February 2003. Make a note in your diary now!

Annual Guild Dinner 2003

Although our Dinner in May this year was generally regarded as one of the best for many years we were very disappointed by the numbers attending. It has been suggested that early May is not a good time for teenagers as it coincides with school exams. Next year’s Dinner will be held instead on Wednesday 2nd July, 2003.

The Dinner will again be at the Parish Centre at Holy Trinity, Brook Green, London W6 (just a few minutes’ walk from Olympia,  Hammersmith Broadway or from Shepherds Bush in West London. Tickets will probably be £12.50. Please note the date – we hope to see many new faces there.

Mark Brophy
Entertainments Committee

National Altar Servers' Walsingham Pilgramage in 2003

Many of you will remember the very successful National Altar Servers’ Pilgrimage to Walsingham in May 1998. Over 400 servers came from dioceses all over the country, together with their families and friends and thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful day.

That visit was organised by the Archconfraternity in conjunction with the Walsingham Pilgrim Bureau as part of the year of celebrations marking the Centenary of the Restoration of the Shrine.

Walsingham is the National Shrine of Our Lady and is also known as England's Nazareth. It is one of the world’s most ancient shrines, having been established in 1061. Throughout the Middle Ages pilgrims from all over Europe visited this holy place.
Until the Reformation, Walsingham ranked second only to Canterbury as a place of pilgrimage in England, and over the years many Kings and Queens visited it. Henry VIII once made a pilgrimage there in his bare feet. Sadly, later in his reign he instigated the destruction and dissolution of Churches, Religious Houses, Priories and Monasteries. Walsingham Priory was unable to escape this persecution, and was itself destroyed in 1538.

Sometime later the Priory site was sold and a private residence "Walsingham Abbey" built on it. This incorporates part of the Prior’s lodgings. Apart from this the only visible remains of the Priory today are the perpendicular gateway, a part of the east end of the Church, part of the Refectory, and several fragments of ruins. It is hoped that we may be able to view these during our visit.

As our 1998 pilgrimage was so popular we are organising another visit to the Shrine next Year.
It will be on SATURDAY 28th JUNE, 2003 – so put that date in your diary NOW!
The programme will be similar to that in l998, although the timing of the day’s itinerary is still to be formalised. Fuller details will appear in the next Newsletter.

However, don't wait till next year, start planning now! Now that you know the date why not start trying to arrange your own parish coach or share one with a neighbouring parish? Another suggestion might be to organise a coach through your own Deanery. Parents, brothers and sisters, friends, Priests and Chaplains, are all most welcome to join in this most worthwhile and happy day out.

If I can be of any help please write to me using the Archconfraternity’s address at Wembley marking your envelope clearly for Michael Chute, Walsingham Pilgrimage.

IMPORTANT Please note that the Central Council of the Archconfraternity of St Stephen will not itself be hiring  coaches. Such arrangements must be made by each group/groups wishing to.attend.

Michael Chute
for the Central Council

Serving in Lourdes

In the last week of July, I had the brilliant opportunity of travelling to Lourdes with a small group of sixth formers from my school, St Joan of Arc RC Secondary School in Rickmansworth. We went to take part in the Westminster Diocese Pilgrimage and to help out the 'Malades' as ‘Redcaps'. The school has participated in the pilgrimage for a number of years and I remember hearing previous sixth formers talking about how rewarding the trip is; I had always looked forward to my turn.

Our group arrived a few days earlier than the rest of the pilgrimage, in order to take a tour around the town. We were with a teacher who had been to Lourdes many times so he knew his way around very well. We were all immediately struck by how different the atmosphere in Lourdes is compared with any place we had been before. Although the town was always bustling, it was calm and peaceful.

After we had got to know the town we began to prepare for the arrival of the pilgrimage by allocating the wheelchairs to the correct hotels. While we were busy doing this, a man named Michael came to our group asking if any of us had experience at altar serving. Six of us had, and four of us were asked to serve at a welcome Mass in the Church of St. Bernadette the following day.

When we arrived at the church, we were asked to go in to see Michael, who went briefly through what we would be expected to do; we then went to be fitted with albs. We also met Maurice, who we would be serving with; he had been serving for more than 40 years.

The church was not full but we were serving in front of a lot of people We didn't have to do much because there were a lot of priests as well as servers, and therefore we did a little each. However, serving in St. Bernadette's church was a great experience, one that few people have. At the end of the Mass, we were asked to serve again the next day at the Cathedral of the Trees and we were told that we were now “the official serving team"!

The Cathedral of the Trees is a large outdoor area at the top of a hill, set amongst the trees. After having pushed Malades up the hill in their wheelchairs, it was time for us to prepare for Mass. Once again we were fitted with albs. It was a very hot day and we were worried about wearing the heavy material in such heat but luckily the trees provided shade for us.

As we led the procession to the altar, it was amazing to see the amount of Redcaps and Malades seated all the way up the steep hill. There were about thirty priests on the sanctuary with us and Bishop James O'Brien and Bishop George Stack led the Mass. We were not asked to help in any way at this Mass, as there were so many priests so we just took part in the Mass, but sitting with the priests instead of the congregation.

After the Mass at the Cathedral of the Trees, we were not asked to serve again until the very end of the week. In the Masses and liturgies where servers were not needed, we were usually asked to hand out water to anyone who needed it because the weather was so hot. During the week, we experienced a lot, for example, leading the torchlight procession, which I particularly enjoyed. It was a very satisfying feeling to know that we were able to help the Malades to the extent we did and see them
enjoying their week in Lourdes.

The final Mass we served at was in the huge Underground Basilica, which can hold up to 30,000 people. It was the closing Mass of the pilgrimage and we served Bishop James O'Brien and Bishop George Stack once again. Although there were many priests, they didn't serve the Bishops and therefore we were asked to help more. It was an excellent experience to serve in such a huge church, though our diocese, Westminster, only filled a small part!

Michael was very grateful for our help on the sanctuary throughout the week and before leaving he gave us each a prayer card as a token of his thanks. We were all very grateful for such a brilliant experience and all plan to return next year with the hope that we will be able to serve again.

Ellen Lundberg
St. Gregory The Great
South Ruislip, Middlesex.

The following two accounts of serving at the special Mass in April at the Church of Our Lady & St Benedict, Birchington, Kent, in the Archdiocese of Southwark, are so well written that they have both merited treatment as feature articles rather than just ‘news from the Branches’.

The Altar's Big Day
On Monday 15th April 2002 a practice for the altar servers was held for the consecration of the new altar and blessing of the new ambo. We all met His Grace, the Archbishop's MC at 7:00pm to sort out which part each person would play, and when the run-through had finished everyone went home feeling happy about their part in the ceremony.

On Wednesday 17th April 2002 all the servers were at church by 7:00pm. After putting on my alb and lighting the church's consecration candles, I went with Martin Brennan (Book Bearer) and Eleanor Coverdale (Mitre Bearer) to the presbytery to meet the Archbishop and get ready.

The other servers arrived at the Presbytery: Charles Tarreli (Cross), Charles Mara (thurifer), Ashling Kealy (Boat), Oliver Egan and James Osborn (Acolytes), Alexander Osborn (Water), Louis Clarke (Finger Bowl) and Stan Brennan (Finger Towel) and we all processed in with the priests, deacons and the Archbishop to the hymn "Christ is Made the Sure Foundation".

After greeting the people, the Archbishop blessed some water and sprinkled the altar, the servers and the people whilst we all sang "Spirit of the Living God".

Next he blessed the ambo. The readings were read by Mrs. Bernie Coverdale and Mrs. Monica Moulsdale and then six cantors sang the Responsorial Psalm. The Creed was sung in Latin. Afterwards the Invocation of the Saints in which twenty eight saints’ names were read out as we asked them to pray for us. The list included Saint Florentius and Saint Urbicius. Then it was the Invocation of Christ and then Supplication for Various Needs.

Then came the important part. The relics of Saint Florentius and Saint Urbicius were cemented into the altar. The Archbishop placed the box, which had been sealed with a wax stamp, containing the relics, the saints' names and the date on which the ceremony was performed, into the altar. We sang the very appropriate hymn, "For All the Saints" whilst the stonemason, who had helped carve the altar, sealed the hole. Most of the priests and deacons were trying to get a good view, even wanting to help! The stonemason finished just as the last verse was coming to its end - perfect timing!