Day With Mary In Dartford...

I happened to be shopping in Dartford on Monday afternoon. Despite Dartford being only 5 miles away, to my shame I hadn't managed to get to see Fr. Stephen Boyle since his appointment as Parish Priest to St. Anselm's last September, so I stopped off for a coffee and a chat. Fr. Stephen doesn't have a blog, but he does like appearing on them. The parish website, however, is run on a Wordpress template - technically that is a blog, but I suspect that someone else maintains it!

I was interested to see a certificate in the presbytery commemorating all the Rectors and Parish Priests of Dartford...

Unfortunately the lighting meant I couldn't get a clearly focused photo on my phone (I will try again the next time I'm there), but the names go all the way back to the 12th century (with a gap for the Reformation period when it states that there may have been priests living clandestinely in the area). Sadly there hasn't been room for the last two parish priests... maybe Fr. Stephen will start up a new inscription.

I also had the chance to admire the new lighting which has just been installed in the church.

Fr. Stephen told me that the Day With Mary team will be visiting his parish on Saturday 29th June. To my great disappointment, I missed the one in Blackfen back in March, so I want to try to get to part of this one.

The Day With Mary apostolate is a wonderful thing, with days of prayer organised in different parishes, usually on Saturdays. A couple of processions (one with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, one with the Blessed Sacrament), the Rosary (all of the mysteries except the Sorrowful ones - they are replaced by meditations of the Stations of the Cross), Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction, enrolment in the Brown Scapular, a couple of sermons on Our Lady, the opportunity for Confessions and, of course Mass. It's not so much a boost to one's spiritual life as a full-blown explosion...

For those of you who can't make it to any of these days, the Day With Mary team now put the talks online on their website - if you click on a video near the bottom you need to scroll back up to watch it as it won't open as a pop-up (I was clicking on several videos for ages before I twigged... a real blonde moment!) However, these short talks don't convey the atmosphere and impact of the days themselves (though a previous post of mine might give you a glimpse), so, if you hear of one happening near you, I really do recommend that you go along!