S. Mary’s stands firmly in the Catholic Tradition of the Anglican Church. Worship is central, and everyone is welcome to our services.
Mass
Sunday 11.00 am Solemn Mass – a sung Mass (traditional language 1984 Church in Wales Prayer Book) with incense, choir, occasional sung propers, motets/anthems.
Monday 6.00 pm Mass
Wednesday 10.00 am Mass
Evensong
Evensong daily at 6.00 pm (said in chancel) except for days when there is a Mass.
For the month’s services at S. Mary’s, and for those at S. Eigon’s, Llanigon; S. John’s Chapel, Hay; S. Michael and all Angels’, Clyro, ‘Little’ S. Mary’s, Capel-y-Ffin and Bettwys Chapel, please see the calendar below.
Services February 2026
SUNDAY 1st FEBRUARY
Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple (Candelmas) (trans) & 4th week in Ordinary Time
On this most special feast we mark the presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, at which gifts were offered, to give thanks for His birth. S. Simeon recites that song, said daily at Evensong and often at funerals, known as the Nunc Dimittis. ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace…’
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm Parish Mass at Little S. Mary’s, Capel-y-Ffin
MONDAY 2nd FEBRUARY
This is the actual feast-day of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, but we have transferred it to the nearest Sunday. The Church allows for principal feasts, such as this one, to be transferred so that it will kept by more of the faithful.
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 4th FEBRUARY
S.Gilbert of Sempringham – S. Gilbert, following studies in France, returned to England and built a house next to the Church he served at Sempringham for young women who were seeking to devote themselves to the religious life. In time the order of male and female religious became known as the Gilbertines.
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 5th FEBRUARY
S. Agatha – S. Agatha was widely venerated as one of early martyrs and widely mentioned as she is one of the Saints listed in the Roman Canon, an ancient Eucharistic Prayer. She went to her martyrdom in Sicily.
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
SUNDAY 8th FEBRUARY
Sexagesima, otherwise known as the Second Sunday before Lent & 5th Week in Ordinary Time – Guest Preacher: Dcn. Ewan Gillings.
Ewan is in his Diaconate year and will, God-willing, be ordained to the Priesthood in July. He is serving as Curate in the Ariconium Parishes which are adjacent to Ross-on-Wye. He is one of the youngest clerics in the Church of England.
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
11.00 am Mattins at S. Michael and All Angels, Clyro
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
MONDAY 9th FEBRUARY
S. Miguel Febres Cordero – Born in 1854, died in 1910, and canonised Saint in 1984, making him a fairly recent addition to the calendar. He was born in Ecuador with severe disability in both of his legs. Educated by the LaSalle Brothers, he joined at a young age and lived a life of service and sacrifice. He wrote educational books, some of which became standard textbooks in his native Ecuador. The first Ecuadoran to be canonised, he is Patron Saint of Ecuador, alongside having patronage of schools and teachers.
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 11th FEBRUARY
Our Lady of Lourdes – The feast marks the first of the eighteen apparitions of Our Lady that occurred in Lourdes. A very popular place for pilgrimage known for providing solace, hope and some healing for the sick.
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 12th FEBRUARY
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
13th February – S. Ermengild. The daughter of the King of Kent, she married King Wulfhere of Mercia, whom she converted to Christianity. The Faith spread widely on these shores during his reign. Following his death, Ermengild spent her widowhood in a convent on the Isle of Sheppey.
14th February – Ss. Cyril & Methodius – Two brothers who translated the Holy Scriptures & the Mass into the Slavonic tongue.
SUNDAY 15th FEBRUARY
Quinquagesima, otherwise known as the Sunday before Lent & 6th Week in Ordinary Time
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm Evensong at Little S. Mary’s, Capel-y-Ffin
MONDAY 16th FEBRUARY
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
17th February – The Seven Founders of the Order of Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary – These men, born into wealth, were members of the Confraternity of Our Lady who withdrew to lead an austere life of prayer and mortification. The Servite order came out of these seven men and members should, if faithful to their charism, meditate much on Our Lord’s Passion and the sorrows of Our Lady (such as the seven sorrows or the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary). Lent starts on Wednesday; perhaps the Rosary could be a Lenten devotion
WEDNESDAY 18th FEBRUARY
The start of Lent
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm Solemn Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 19th FEBRUARY
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
SUNDAY 22nd FEBRUARY
Quadragesima or the 1st Sunday of Lent
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Michael and All Angels, Clyro
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
MONDAY 23rd FEBRUARY
S. Polycarp – A disciple of S. John the Evangelist, he serves as a link between the Apostles and the early Fathers of the Church. He was Bishop of Smyrna, an ancient Greek city which is now known as Izmir within modern day Turkey. A gentle man who was martyred for the faith. During a period of Christian persecution, he was found on a farm outside the city. He offered his persecutors a meal and said grace. The governor of Smyrna tried to persuade him to renounce his Faith which Polycarp would not. A mob demanded that he be burned alive but, probably to their frustration, he was put to death via the sword.
Holding fast to that which is true is not always easy.
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 25th FEBRUARY
Ember Day & S. Nestor – An Ember Day is one of prayer and fasting. The Roman Catholic Church ceased observance of these following liturgical reforms in 1966. It is Lent so prayer and/or fasting, depending on your observance, is still a good idea. S. Nestor was Bishop of Pamphylia, and like S. Polycarp, stood firm to the Faith in the face of pressure from the Roman Empire and was martyred during a period of persecution. Fitting to keep his feast on an Ember day.
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 26th FEBRUARY
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
27th February – George Herbert – George Herbert took up Holy Orders aged 36 and served a rural parish in Wiltshire. Noted for his writing, but not his good health, he died just over three years after Ordination. His poem Love III refers to the Blessed Sacrament. The opening lines are as follows, the closing sentence echoing the well-known Psalm 23:
Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lacked any thing.
NOTICES
Annual Parish Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Friday 10th – Monday 13th April 2026. For details, please see the Pilgrimage page.
The Angelus bell rings out twice a day at S. Mary’s, 12.00 noon and 6.00 pm before evening prayer. This devotion reminds people that they are being prayed for and blessed. The Angelus is a very ancient devotion – and I hope that when people hear the bell ringing (3×3, then 9) they will pause and join with the prayer being offered in the church as it rings. Fr. David
