Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
Darlington Mission
8 February 2026 – Sexagesima
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 9, 6.15pm, Barnard Castle (Latin) – Votive
Tuesday 10, 10am, Gainford – S. Scholastica
Thursday 12, 10am, Barnard Castle – Votive
Friday 13, 12noon, Gainford (Ordinariate) – Votive (preceded by Sext at 11.45am)
Friday 13, 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.
As also for all the faithful departed, particularly the recently departed, including Veronica Teanby, as well as those whose years-mind falls at this time, including Dorothy Cranson, Patrick Byrne, James Lavetly. Requiescant in pace.
Ash Wednesday – falls on Wednesday 18 February. There will be an Ordinariate Mass with imposition of ashes at 7pm.
Disabled parking spots – a gentle reminder that the spaces at the top of the drive are marked for disabled parking, this is to ensure that those less able to walk distances are easily able to get into church.
Chrism Mass – the Ordinariate Chrism Mass takes places on Thursday 26 March, beginning at 11.30 at Warwick Street.
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.
This week it was announced that S. John Henry Newman has been added to the general calendar, this follows from his designation as a doctor of the Church and is an added recognition of his importance to the Church. However, there is also a sense in which it doesn’t make a difference to us in England because we were already celebrating him as a Feast. This suggests that a brief reflection on how we celebrate the Saints in the liturgy and especially at Mass could be useful. Although it’s a slightly technical matter, we need to remind ourselves that at the heart of it are people who were called by God, responded to his call, have now ended up in heaven, and are seeking to help us make the same journey as they did.
The starting point is that we have no idea how many Saints there are, God is the one who makes people into Saints and there are many thousands of them up in heaven who are entirely forgotten down here – we may not know their names, but each year at All Saints’ Day we gather them together in our thoughts and celebrations. Then there are the canonised Saints, these are the people that the Church has investigated and determined that they are in heaven. Even here there are far too many for us to celebrate them all, there is a book called the Martyrology which is the nearest thing we have to an exhaustive list; for each day of the year it lists the various Saints celebrated then. To give an example of scale, my copy is about two inches thick; each day typically has between 10 and 20 entries.
At the very other end of the scale, there are the top ranking Saints. Our highest rank of celebration (known as a Solemnity) is observed even if it falls on a Sunday of Ordinary Time; along with Our Lady, S. John the Baptist and S. Joseph have their own solemnities, and Ss. Peter and Paul share one. In the middle are the Feasts, these include the other Apostles, S. Mary Magdalene, and the three Archangels (Ss. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael). Then there are the Memorials, who have a particular significance, this includes founders of major orders, such as S. Francis and S. Dominic, some of the great theologians such as S. Augustine and S. Leo the Great, reformers in the Church such as S. Teresa of Avila and S. Charles Borromeo. Most of the observed Saints are ranked as Optional Memorials, whilst it’s good to celebrate them other observances can take precedence – it’s in this last group that S. John Henry Newman now sits.
But this has just been looking world-wide. The General Roman Calendar applies across the world, and the Saints in it either have a world-wide reputation, or they help to draw our attention to particular parts of the Church (for example the Ugandan Martyrs). But it’s important that we also have our own local celebrations, and so regions and dioceses have their own local calendars as well. Here we have the English national calendar; this includes a Solemnity for S. George as our patron, and a higher rank for our neighbours’ patrons (S. David and S. Patrick, as an Apostle S. Andrew already ranks highly), and the many holy women and men who have formed and served the Church here, including S. John Henry.
There is also an even more local calendar for the Ordinariate; this adds a solemnity for Our Lady of Walsingham, as well as various Saints with a deep cultural resonance in our patrimony like S. Swithun. Finally each parish has its own celebrations, S. Osmund’s Day and the anniversary of the church’s Consecration (27 May).
The Church seeks to combine reaching to every corner of the world, but also being local in every single parish. The many Saints whom God has raised up form a wonderful witness to His work, and they are all part of our family; by learning about them we can be encouraged in our own journeys with the Lord, by celebrating them we invite their prayers to help us grow. May all of the Saints, both world famous, and more local, assist us in that path which they have trod. – Fr. Thomas.