Subject: News from the University Church

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 Fat Tuesday

This coming Tuesday sees the culmination of the carnival season: Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday. In the UK, our efforts are generally rather staid – a couple of pancakes, perhaps with chocolate if you’re really adventurous. Trying to flip the things without getting them stuck to the ceiling, or in a mangled mess on the floor, is about the extent of frivolity.

Thankfully, not everyone is British. In the Belgian city of Binche, hundreds of men dressed as ‘Gilles’ dance through the city from morning to dusk, while traditional songs play. At the Aalst Carnival, men dress as their wives or mothers, and parade around with as much obnoxious obscenity as possible (or as the town authorities will allow). There are the traditionally colourful and vibrant displays of dance, glamour and energy in Brazil and New Orleans (and at the latter, a very well-established vogue for exposure). We might also think of the Venetian masquerade, and the dark sense of play that masks evoke.

Mardi Gras is about the joy of indulgence. Moderation and mediocrity can’t always be good for us – the fullest life (which surely God brings) sometimes involves kicking off your heels and having a blast. Yet there is also a strong tradition that takes this lack of reserve further. Raucous costumes and masks, and the frivolity that hopefully comes with them, offer us a chance to stop being ourselves, to try on something new. We can stop taking ourselves so seriously, and give room to the little parts of our character that reach for expression, amplify our quirks, or perhaps give us a chance to be precisely what we are not, and to find something freeing in the assumption of an alter-ego, or even one’s own nemesis.

This Tuesday, join us for the annual Mardi Gras Party at the Vaults and Garden Café, 7.30-9.00pm (doors open 7.15pm) with performances of poetry and music, and hopefully plenty of frivolity (and pancakes!).

The Revd James Crockford
Associate Vicar
The Week Ahead 

Next Sunday

Sunday 3 March The Sunday Next before Lent
10.30 Choral Eucharist - Nave
Preacher: The Revd Alan Ramsey
15.30 German Lutheran Service - Chancel
18.00 Choral Evensong - Corpus Christ College
Preacher: Prof Kenneth Parker

Next Week

Monday
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
18.15 Choral Evensong - New College

Tuesday 
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
19.30 Mardi Gras Party - The Vaults Cafe

Wednesday Ash Wednesday
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist with Ashes - Chancel
20.00 Choral Eucharist with Ashes - Nave
Preacher: Mr Andrew Bennison (Ripon College Cuddesdon)

Thursday Perpetua and Felicity, 203
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
12.45 Lunchtime Bible Study - Old Library
18.15 Choral Evensong - Merton College

Friday Edward King, 1910
09.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
18.30 Tenebrae - Exeter College

Saturday 
18.00 Choral Evensong - Magdalen College

For full listings of weekly evening services across the University, see our website. 

Next Sunday

Sunday 10 March The First Sunday of Lent
10.00 Come and Learn to Sing 'St Anne's Mass' with Robert Howarth
10.30 Sung Eucharist - Nave (Sung to 'St Anne's Mass', James MacMillan)
Preacher: The Revd James Crockford
15.30 Evening Prayer (said)  - Chancel

ST ANNE’S MASS – MUSIC PRACTICE
Throughout Lent and Advent we will be using a new congregational music setting: St Anne’s Mass by James MacMillan. Next Sunday, there will be the chance to learn to sing the new setting at 10.00am, with Robert Howarth. If you are able, please do come a little earlier for this.
Hilary Termcard

Click here to see our new termcard for Hilary 2019. It provides information about services and forthcoming events at St Mary's. 
BRING AND SING: STAINER’S CRUCIFIXION

On Saturday 6th April, we mark the start of Passiontide with a ‘Bring and
sing’ performance of The Crucifixion by John Stainer (Organist at the
University Church, 1861-1871), directed by Robert Howarth, with soloists
Giles Underwood and Felix Leach. The rehearsal will run 2-5pm, with a
performance at 6pm in aid of the Littlemore Church Building Project. Book to sing (£5) through the website or email universitychurch@ox.ac.uk.

Audience tickets (£5) available on Eventbrite or on the door.
St Mary's Church, High Street, OX1 4BJ, Oxford, United Kingdom
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