This afternoon at 3pm. Please do come and join us to help start Christmas with this happy service. Refreshments are available after in our hall, and don’t forget the very popular ‘BAGS’, prize every time, £2 Adults, £1 Children.
Author: Jacky
St Wilfrid’s Christmas Lunch
This Wed 17th Dec, 1pm at the Kings Head – Horsebridge. £25 pp, which will include everything. Last chance to join us. Please see Sally or Judy for menu choice.
Mince Pies
Donations of mince pies would be greatly appreciated for the Carol Service on 14th December at St Wilfrid’s. Thank you very much for your continued support.
Christmas Trees
The trees are now beautifully decorated thanks to our usual volunteers. We really do need willing volunteers to come forward to help for any future events. Please do ask if you would like to help in the future.
Christmas Flowers
We will be having a collection at both churches this weekend to help with the cost of the flowers in the church over the Christmas period, any donations are gratefully received. Thank you.
James Leslie Westcar
James Leslie Westcar 18th Anniversary RIP on 13th Dec 2025.
Christmas Collection
As I am sure many of you are aware, Catholic Priests do not receive a salary and rely on your generosity at Christmas and Easter as a thank you for all they do for us. It is also possible to claim gift aid on your donation if you are a UK taxpayer and that extra 25% will go directly to Father Rory. If you aren’t part of a planned giving scheme then please use the “one off” gift aid envelopes located in the porch. You can also contribute via the digital collection plate at St Wilfrid’s or via the QR code or donations website link
(https://donate.mydona.com/st-wilfrids-churchhailsham) using the “Christmas Collections” tab.
14th December 2025
The colour of the Advent candle we light this Sunday is rose – not pink. Rose signifies rejoicing, and signals a spirit of joyful hope during Lent and Advent. It breaks the more sombre tone of these penitential times of the year. This comes from Brother Hyacinth Cordell, a Dominican, who wrote about all this online several years ago. Br. Cordell noted that nature’s cycle is comprised of two things: life and light. The seasons revolve around that—the rejuvenation of spring and summer, the desolation of fall and winter. Our liturgical seasons follow a similar pattern. “The dark colour of violet in Advent,” he wrote, “harmonises well with the diminishing sunlight late in the year.” It also points to royalty, and Christ as our King. “Rose,” he wrote, “is a softening of violet. It is violet approaching white. In this sense, it anticipates the pure white of the Birth and Resurrection of Christ.”
St George’s Quarterly Community Meeting:
We will not have this in Dec, as there is a lot going on already. Also, to help align the meetings to allow feedback from the monthly Parish Hub Meetings we have decided to hold them on the second Sunday of the month instead of the first. 2026 meetings will therefore be after mass on Sunday: January 11th; April 12th; July 12th; and October 11th.
Bambinelli Sunday:
Bambinelli Sunday – 14th Dec, St G’s 9am & St W’s 10.30am:
Everyone invited, especially children, to bring their baby Jesus crib figure to either of our parish masses on the Third Sunday of Advent. A traditional blessing of the Bambinelli (baby Jesus) will be given. Then they go home to be wrapped up and placed under the tree. The blessed Bambinelli are then unwrapped by you as the first present on Christmas morning.