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.
Calendar of Services for December 2025
MONDAY 1st DECEMBER
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 3rd DECEMBER
S. Francis Xavier: A missionary who went to the Lord in 1552. He travelled extensively, including India and Japan. Places which were mission fields are now places which send missionaries in reverse.
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 4th DECEMBER
S. John of Damascus: A Doctor of the Church and passionate writer against the Iconoclasts. As a wise Bishop reminded those of us he was talking to recently, something is not right in the Anglican Church when Churches are built without Altars, or Altars are removed and replaced by stages for ‘worship bands.’ The puritans in the contemporary Anglican Church ought to spend time reading his work.
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
SUNDAY 7th DECEMBER
Second Sunday of Advent and Second Week
9.30 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm Christmas Carol Service at Holy Trinity, Bettws
MONDAY 8th DECEMBER
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: This feast keeps the dogma of Our Lady’s state of life free from sin as finally defined in 1854.
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 10th DECEMBER
S. John Roberts: A Benedictine and native of Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd. One of the Tyburn martyrs.
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 11th DECEMBER
Ember Day
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
12th December – Our Lady of Guadalupe: I invoked Our Lady under her title of Guadalupe whilst an undergraduate and very behind on end of year essays. Considering how rushed these were, the marks received were not bad.
13th December – S. Lucy: The Three Tuns in town was run by a lady called Lucy Powell for many years. Richard Booth as King of Hay, in his idiosyncratic way, held a canonisation ceremony for her in Hay Castle. This S. Lucy, as marked by the Church Catholic, was an early martyr who resisted the unwanted advances of a man. She is not the Patron Saint of publicans or innkeepers.
SUNDAY 14th DECEMBER
Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete) and Third 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 St Mary’s, Hay
MONDAY 15th DECEMBER
S. Mary de Rosa: Founder of an order called Ancelle della Carita (Handmaids of Charity). The sisters devote themselves principally to the care of the sick, but also to those cast aside by society, such as, in the early days of the order, women who were mute and deaf. We might have an NHS and some form of welfare net, but I would exercise caution to the claim that we now treat brothers and sisters with differences with more compassion. We are all people in equal need of the grace of God, no matter how ‘normal’ we appear to be.
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 17th DECEMBER
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
From this day the Church has a tradition of keeping the Advent antiphons in the Gospel and Magnificat acclamations. Today is O Sapienta (O Wisdom)
18th – O Adonai (O Lord Most High)
19th – O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
20th – O Clavis David (O Key of David)
21st – O Oriens (O Dayspring)
22nd –O Rex Gentium (O King of Nations)
23rd – O Emmanuel (O God with us)
THURSDAY 18th DECEMBER
10.00 am Mass at the Chapel of S. John, Lion Street
SUNDAY 21st DECEMBER
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm Christmas Carol Service at S. Eigon, Llanigon
MONDAY 22nd DECEMBER
4.00 pm Christmas Carol Service at S. Michael and All Angels, Clyro
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 24th DECEMBER
Christmas Eve
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
6.00 pm First Mass of Christmas, S. Mary’s Capel-y-Ffin
11.00 pm Midnight Mass, S. Mary’s, Hay
THURSDAY 25th DECEMBER
The Nativity of the Lord
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord (S. Luke. 2.11)
9.30 am Parish Mass, S. Michael and All Angels, Clyro
10.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Eigon, Llanigon
26th December – S. Stephen: Name checked in the Christmas carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’. S. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. So early was his martyrdom that S. Paul, prior to his damascene conversion, participated in his execution.
27th December – S. John the Apostle: Writer of the fourth Gospel which has one of the most beautiful sections of Holy Scripture always read as the Gospel at Christmas. ‘In the Beginning was the word..’
SUNDAY 28th DECEMBER
Holy Innocents. This feast marks the killing of babies and young children by the tyrant Herod following the birth of Our Lord. The slaughter of innocents happens to this very day, with or without the cloak of ‘religion’. O Lord deliver us!
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Michael and All Angels, Clyro
11.00 am Parish Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
MONDAY 29th DECEMBER
S. Thomas a Becket: Entering the employment of the Archbishop of Canterbury aged 24, he was highly favoured as well as highly competent. He was Chancellor to the King for six years prior to appointment to the role of Archbishop of Canterbury. He warned the King that, if appointed, his loyalty to God would override his allegiance to the monarch. This proved to be true and his martyrdom at the hands of four knights on the orders of Henry II in Canterbury Cathedral occurred in 1170. Horror was expressed across Christian Europe and Canterbury became a major place of pilgrimage. Questions over the Church and her submitting to secular diktat remains an issue in some parts of the world.
6.00 pm Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
WEDNESDAY 31st DECEMBER
10.00 am Mass at S. Mary’s, Hay
NOTICES
Evensong on Thursdays 4th, 11th and 18th December will be at S. John’s Chapel rather than S. Mary’s and will be followed by an Advent Group led by Fr. Richard Walker. Using material from the York Course for Advent, we shall explore identity, meaning, and contemporary developments, all in the light of the Faith.
Annual Parish Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Friday 10th – Monday 13th April 2026.
Please speak with Fr. David if you are interested in joining us.
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
