Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
Darlington Mission
15 March 2026 – Fourth Sunday in Lent, Lætare
Group Pastor – Fr. Thomas Mason – thomas.mason@ordinariate.org.uk – 01833 631457 – 07876 308657
Assistant Priest – Fr. Ian Westby Deacon – the Rev’d Carl Watson
Web: https://www.ordinariate-darlington.co.uk
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/OrdDarlFacebook
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OrdDarlington
Services this week:
Monday 16, 6.15pm, Barnard Castle (Latin) – Lenten feria
Tuesday 17, 10am, Gainford – S. Patrick
Thursday 19, 10am, Barnard Castle – S. JOSEPH
Friday 20, 12noon, Gainford (Ordinariate) – S. Cuthbert (preceded by Sext at 11.45am)
Friday 20, 5.30pm, Barnard Castle – Stations of the Cross
Friday 20, 6-7pm, Barnard Castle – Holy Hour
Confessions (at Barnard Castle): Monday 5.30-6pm, Thursday 5.30-6pm Saturday 10-11am
Prayer List:
Of your charity please pray for all the sick, especially: Morag, Ethel, George Gwilliam, Andrew Gwilliam, Fay Jackson, Dennis Walburn, Elaine Robertson, Barbara Ugoletti, Andrea Matthews, Bridget Wright, Graham Pegley, Calvert Hardy, James Hardy, Keith McAllister, Elizabeth Rawling, Charlie Camilleri, Pauline McAllister, Paul Laughlin, Garth Redvers Harris, Geraldine Dobson, Dcn. Stephen O’Connor, Pat MacGregor
As also for all the faithful departed, particularly the recently departed, including John Bowman, as well as those whose years-mind falls at this time, including Margaret Snowdon, Keith Brook, Gwendoline Cooper, Phoebe Fay. Requiescant in pace.
Chrism Mass – the Ordinariate Chrism Mass takes places on Thursday 26 March, beginning at 11.30 at Warwick Street.
Stations of the Cross – as in previous years, there will be the Stations of the Cross following Mass on the 5th Sunday in Lent.
The Road to Emmaus Lenten Catechesis will take place following Friday Mass during Lent – this will recall the journey to Emmaus where Christ unwraps various prophecies which he fulfils.
Pilgrimage to Walsingham – the Ordinariate’s annual pilgrimage to Walsingham will take place on Thursday 28 May, additionally on 26 & 27 there will be other activities mostly based at the pontifical shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in King’s Lynn.
Assyrian Christianity
It is with great sadness that our minds are taken, yet again, to a war in the Middle East. We are used to thinking of this as a complex area with various tribal groups and affinities; but for the most part we think of it as a place of Islamic culture and religion, while this is the clear majority there are also ancient Christian communities there, though sadly they sit under great strain and stress with many having fled the region to find calmer environments. One of these is the Assyrian Church whose homelands spread across modern-day Iraq Iran, but which was also the source of missionary efforts which spread as far as India, China, and even Mongolia.
The Assyrian Church, or the Church of the East, traces its foundation back to some of the earliest evangelists the Church sent out. According to tradition, S. Thomas preached the Gospel in modern-day Iraq (before continuing to India); additionally S. Addai of Edessa is believed to have been one of the seventy disciples of Christ and along with his disciple S. Mari of Edessa are venerated as the Apostles of Persia.
Those parts of the Church which were outside of the Roman Empire were inevitably somewhat distinct after Constantine (which led to a close working relationship between the Church and Empire). When the Christological debates began, these eastern parts of the Church were sympathetic to the position of Nestorius and when this was repudiated by the First Council of Ephesus in 431 they split away. This separation actually helped the Church of the East, the Sasanian (Persian) Empire recognised that they were not agents of the Romans and gave them greater freedom. This also led them to face towards the East when it came to missionary work.
When the Islamic Conquest replaced the Sasanian Empire the Church was given ‘dhimmi’ status – this involved fewer rights than for Muslims, but not outright persecution. They were prohibited from seeking to evangelise Muslims, but were left free to work among non-Muslims in India and China.
In the sixteenth centuries some groups within the Church of the East were reconciled to the Catholic Church, being recognised as Pope Julius III in 1550; eventually these groups became the Chaldean Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches and today the largest Christian community in Iraq. Some of the Indian parts of the Church were also united to the Catholic Church, becoming the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Among those who stayed separated from the Catholic Church, there were a number of internal splits which greatly weakened it; however, it continues to operate in its traditional homeland of Iran, Iraq, and Syria; as well as in diaspora communities mostly in the West. The term ‘Assyrian’ encompasses both this strand of Christianity, as well as an ethnic identity based in that homeland.
Unlike other apostolic parts of Christianity, the Church of the East does not use icons; however, there is historical evidence that this is a more recent development under pressure from Islam. It uses ritual life known as the ‘East Syrian Rite’, one of its most striking elements is the ‘anaphora of Addai and Mari’ which does not include the description of the last supper which we recognise as consecrating the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
In more recent times, the Church has grown close to the Catholic Church. The debates over Christology have been continued, and a Common Christological Declaration was issued by the Church of the East and the Catholic Church in 1994; there are circumstances when the faithful of each are allowed to receive the Sacraments in the other body.
The Church of the East has a long and rich history, in its homeland it form an embattled minority; we pray that its members are aware of the presence and closeness of God, and that their faithfulness is rewarded by peace and safety. – Fr. Thomas.