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 services in the current month at S. Mary’s, Hay; S. John’s Chapel, Hay; S. Eigon’s, Llanigon; ‘Little’ S. Mary’s, Capel-y-Ffin; S. Michael and all Angels’, Clyro and Bettwys Chapel, Clyro please see the Calendar of Services below.
Calendar of Services for August 2026
1st August – S. Alphonsus di Ligouri – An Italian Priest and founder of the Redemptorist order. He was approached to be Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Gota and tried to use his age and ill-health to decline the appointment. It took thirteen years for his infirmities to develop to a stage where he could no longer continue in post. Those who aspire to the Episcopate could do worse than spend some time reading his ascetical works and his writings on Marian devotion.
SUNDAY 2nd AUGUST
9th Sunday after Trinity/ 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time and 18th Week
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 3rd AUGUST
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
4th August – S. John Mary Vianney – Referred to as the patron Saint for Priests, a Frenchman who two years after ordination was appointed to the remote parish of Ars-en-Dombes. He became known for healing, which he attributed to S. Philomena’s intercession, and for ministry in the confessional. He did not welcome the crowds or adulation and remained in the parish of Ars-en-Dombes for the rest of his life. We shall keep his feast as a vigil, on Monday at the 6pm Mass, keeping as our intention all living Priests who have celebrated the Mass or preached in our Churches.
WEDNESDAY 5th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 6th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
The Transfiguration of Our Lord – We keep this feast on the coming Sunday. It is one of the milestones in Our Lord’s life at which S. Peter said, ‘tis good Lord to be here.’ It is at this moment that the temporal met with the eternal at which Our Lord became the bridge, the connecting point between Heaven and Earth.
7th August – John Mason Neale – whilst a student at Cambridge he was influenced by the developing Tractarian movement in the Church of England, returning the Church to proper and universal norms. Ordained Priest in 1842, he spent most of his Priesthood as Chaplain to the alms house community of Sackville College, East Grinstead. The Bishop disapproved of his proper practice and so barred him for sixteen years from officiating anywhere other than at the alms houses. He translated a good number of ancient hymns including ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ and ‘Jerusalem the Golden.’
SUNDAY 9th AUGUST
The Transfiguration (trans.)/10th Sunday after Trinity/19th Sunday in Ordinary Time and 19th Week
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
11.00 am Morning Praise at S. Michael and All Angels, Clyro
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
MONDAY 10th AUGUST
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
S. Laurence – One of the seven Deacons of Rome under the short-lived Papacy of Sixtus II. The Church at the time suffered from severe persecution and S. Laurence was martyred just days after the Pope. He was ordered to present and handover the wealth of the Church to Emperor Valerian. Gold and silver he did not present, rather the destitute, disabled and disowned of Rome.
11th August – S. Clare of Assisi – aged 18, S. Clare heard S. Francis of Assisi preach and decided that she was called to the religious life. Her family disapproved and went to great lengths to stop her. In time, under the guidance of S. Francis, she founded the order known as the Poor Clares. There is a community of Poor Clares in Herefordshire, and likewise there was one near to my childhood home in Warwickshire. I felt an incredible aura of holiness when in the presence of one of the sisters then resident at Baddesley Clinton.
WEDNESDAY 12th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 13th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
Jeremy Taylor – One of the Caroline Divines, a group of Godly servants of the Church during the reigns of Charles I and II. During the dark days of Cromwell’s rule, he was allowed to live in obscurity in Carmarthenshire, before going to the Parish of Ballinderry in Ireland. When common sense returned following the Restoration, he was appointed to the difficult post of Bishop of Down & Connor, and later also Bishop of Dromore. He wrote much and the influence of a deeply spiritual prayer life can be found in his works. He is one of many of our forebears whose example shows that prayer is not contingent on happiness or ease of life.
SATURDAY 15th AUGUST
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay followed by a procession through town to the Wye (see details below)
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – The principal feast of Our Lady, patroness of the Church here in Hay. This feast marks her fully assuming her place in Heaven and taking the special ‘place’ from which she intercedes for us as her children.
SUNDAY 16th AUGUST
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (trans.)/ 11th Sunday after Trinity/20th Sunday in Ordinary Time and 20th Week
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
11.00 am Patronal Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm Evensong at Little S. Mary’s, Capel-y-Ffin
MONDAY 17th AUGUST
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 19th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
S. John Eudes – It is not uncommon to come across people named John-Paul in connection to S. John Paul II. I recall a fellow resident at my undergraduate halls named Jean-Eudes. A 17th century Priest in France, he initially joined the Oratorian Order before founding his own, the Congregation of Jesus & Mary, in 1643. He provided much care to those stricken by plague in Paris in 1627 & 1631. He wrote these beautiful words, ‘You must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary.’
THURSDAY 20th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
22nd August – Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary – The Queenship of Our Lady is kept following the feast of her Assumption. As her Divine Son is King of Heaven, so she is Queen, Pope Pius XII wrote the following for this feast: ‘We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?’ Pertinent words for our time.
SUNDAY 23rd AUGUST
12th Sunday after Trinity/21st Sunday in Ordinary Time and 21st Week
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Michael and All Angels, Clyro
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
MONDAY 24th AUGUST
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
S. Bartholomew the Apostle – S. Bartholomew was one of the twelve Apostles. Following Pentecost, he is thought to have evangelised in Arabia, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
WEDNESDAY 26th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 27th AUGUST
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
S. Monica – The loving and long-suffering mother of S. Augustine whose feast follows tomorrow. In his Confessions he wrote of the following incident: ‘as she vehemently held on to me calling me back or saying she would come with me, I deceived her. I pretended I had a friend I did not want to leave until the wind was right for him to sail. I lied to my mother – to such a mother – and I gave her the slip.’ She did not give up on him and followed him from Carthage to Italy. In time she saw him return to the Christian Faith and this gave her great joy. Amongst other things she has patronage of disappointing children, the lapsed, and Santa Monica in California.
28th August – S. Augustine of Hippo – Unkind son and lover, yet Bishop and declared as Doctor of the Church. Gives hope to the rest of us struggling poor souls.
29th August – The Passion of S. John the Baptist – S. John the Baptist met an unfortunate end with his head presented on a platter to Salome. The last of the prophets and the first of the martyrs, he was the forerunner of Christ and one who assisted with the work of Our Lord. His martyrdom has resulted in several relics, some of the same body part, being in situ in Cathedrals and elsewhere. This should not detract from devotion toward him as a Saint and martyr.
SUNDAY 30th AUGUST
13th Sunday after Trinity/22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time and 22nd Week
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm Compline at the Chapel of The Holy Trinity, Bettws
31st August – S. Aidan of Lindisfarne – A monk of the community on Iona. A brother had been sent to Northumbria to evangelise the people there and had returned unsuccessful, finding them to be obstinate. S. Aidan told him that he should have followed the example of the Apostles, gradually nourishing them with the ‘milk of simple teaching’. Those present decided that S. Aidan ought to practise that which he was preaching and so he was dispatched to Northumbria. He chose the island of Lindisfarne as his base and had a much more fruitful apostolic ministry than the monk he had criticised. Don’t be afraid to practise what you preach!
Evening prayer at 6 pm daily in St Mary’s, Hay, except for Mondays when there is a Mass.
For the diary
Our Lady’s pilgrimage on the Wye, 15th – 19th August
Once again we are marking the Principal feast of Our Lady, The Assumption on Saturday 15th August, with Mass in S. Mary’s, a procession of Her statue through town, and the launching on canoes near Hay Bridge for her voyage along the Wye. The pilgrimage ends on Wednesday 19th August at Hoarwithy with Evensong at St Catherine’s, Hoarwithy, at 6.30pm sung by Ross Parish Church Choir. For full details of Our Lady’s 2026 journey, and all the stops along the way, see the Pilgrimage page.
May Our Lady intercede for us and guide us to care better for the gift of God’s creation.
Ignatius Memorial Pilgrimage, Saturday 5th September
The annual pilgrimage, starting at Llanthony Abbey, stopping at Little S. Mary’s, Capel-y-Ffin, and concluding at the ruined monastery church at Capel-y-Ffin. For more details 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
