BASILICAN
Good Friday 29th March
March 2013
30p
The Church in Wales - Diocese of Monmouth
Rectorial Benefice of Bassaleg
Sunday Worship
St Basil, Bassaleg
Holy Eucharist
Holy Eucharist with Junior Church
Evening Prayer (1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays)
8.30am
10am
6.30pm
St John the Baptist, Rogerstone
10.45am Holy Eucharist with Junior Church
6.30pm
Evening Prayer (4th Sunday)
9.30am
11.30am
St Anne, High Cross
Holy Eucharist
‘Time for God’
Rivermead Centre, Afon Village
Informal Worship (2nd Sunday)
3pm
Weekday Worship
Monday
9am
7.30pm
Morning Prayer
Holy Eucharist
St Basil
St Basil
(Third Monday with Healing Ministry)
Tuesday
9am
10am
Morning Prayer
Holy Eucharist
St John
St John
(Second Tuesday with Healing Ministry)
Wednesday
9am
10am
Morning Prayer
Holy Eucharist
St Basil
St Basil
Thursday
9am
10am
Morning Prayer
Holy Eucharist
St Anne
St Anne
(First Thursday with Healing Ministry)
Friday
8am
9am
Holy Eucharist
Morning Prayer
St Basil
St Basil
DIARY NIGHT
Arrangement of Baptisms, Weddings, Banns of Marriage
and any non-urgent matters can be made at St Basil’s Church
on most Mondays from 6.30pm to 7pm.
WHO’S WHO IN THE BENEFICE
Team
Vicar
Revd Christopher Stone
Tel. 893357
The Vicarage,1 Church View, Bassaleg NP108ND
Assistant
Curate
Revd Heidi-Maria de Gruchy
Tel. 895441
St Anne’s House, 2 High Cross Drive, Rogerstone,
NP10 9AB
Assistant
Curate
Revd Richard Mulcahy
Tel. 894641
9 High Cross Drive, Rogerstone, NP10 9AB
Licensed
Reader
Mrs Hilary Prest
Tel. 412803
Benefice
Wardens
Mrs Carole Loftus
Mrs Gail Peacock
Tel. 662973
Tel. 893168
SubWardens
Mr Gary Probert
Mrs Sarah Mulcahy
Mr Geoff Nicholls
Mr Ashley Rogers
Tel.
Tel.
Tel.
Tel.
679218
894641
894579
894904
Magazine Editor Mr Geoff Nicholls,
93 Ruskin Avenue, Rogerstone, Newport, NP10 0BD.
Tel: 894579; Email: gpnicholls@talktalk.net
Parish Website : www.bassalegbenefice.org
High Cross Drive
Rogerstone
Newport
March 2013
Dear friends,
Every year it seems that I’m taken by surprise by the arrival of
spring. Winter seems to stick around for a long time, and it never
seems to be getting any warmer. All the same, the signs are there –
the days slowly get longer, a few early flowers appear from below
the soil, the sun can actually feel warm as long as there isn’t a
piercing wind blowing. But one day, I can step outside and it is
definitely Spring. It’s a mix of different things and there is no
single reason why one particular day feels more spring-like. It’s
just that everything suddenly fits together to make the beginning of
Spring, and it is always at least a bit unexpected.
Writing this at the beginning of Lent, it can be hard to see all the
way ahead to Easter. This year we quickly went from the
Christmas season to Lent, with only ten days between Candlemas
and Ash Wednesday. So it still feels a long way from the
celebrations of Easter, with the focus still on preparation and little
to show us what is to come.
But the signs are there if we look for them. We reach Mothering
Sunday, with its flowers and cards, a day for our own mothers and
those who mother us and others. That tells us we’re halfway
through Lent. Then the vestments change to red, followed by Palm
Sunday with its processions and the Passion Gospel, and then we’re
into Holy Week. The readings we hear in church bring us from the
temptation in the desert to the brink of Jesus’ arrest.
And yet, there is still a surprise at reaching Easter. Each year, it is
new and unexpected, but still familiar and normal. You celebrate
Easter and it’s like the world has changed. The Easter story is such
a victory of love over hate, of light over darkness, that we cannot
fail to feel that a new world has begun, a new life has dawned for
everyone.
We still have to wait for that day. But we look out for the signs,
we enjoy the changes, and we know that our Lord will come to us.
In the meantime, enjoy your Lent – if that’s the right way to
describe it!
With Christian love
Richard Mulcahy
From the Benefice Registers
HOLY BAPTISM
February
24
Joshua Satherley
HOLY MATRIMONY
February 18 Bernard Terence Hopgood and
Wendy Kathryn Thacker
CHRISTIAN FUNERAL
January
February
28
28
6
7
12
15
Colin Potter
Fiona Hawkins
Doreen Hackman
Iris Hill
Virgina Meredith
Rosemary Richardson
St John w St Anne Branch Report
12th February 2013
The annual general meeting of the branch was held on the
12th February at 2.00pm in the Church Hall.
There were 12 members present with apologies received
from The Revd Chris Stone and 9 members. Margaret the
Branch Leader opened the meeting with worship.
The meeting continued with the minutes from the last AGM
being read, approved and signed.
The Treasurer gave her report which showed that after
expenses the branch had £67.82 in the bank and £26.83 in
cash at the end of the year. After discussion it was agreed
that £40 would be given to the church towards heating and
lighting in the hall, members would pay a branch sub of £20
a year to cover this and support the work of the Mothers’
Union both locally and overseas.
Elections: - After discussion it was agreed that the current
officers, Margaret Hayes, Leader, Jenny Barton, Secretary,
and Maureen Ray Treasurer, being willing, were elected ‘en
bloc’ for the next Triennium. Thanks were given by Mary for
the work undertaken by the officers during the year.
The meeting continued with the giving out of Branch
Programmes, information and patterns to enable members to
knit ‘Hats for Heroes’, details of an outing to be held in July,
and The Women’s World Day of Prayer, which takes place in
March. It was decided to hold a Bring and Buy for our Away
From it All holidays at out June meeting.
The next meeting will be on 12th March, in church, when the
Revd Chris Stone will lead a Lenten Meditation.
For our meeting on 9th April we will welcome Carol Jackson
who will tell us about ‘The Girls’ Friendly Society’.
You are welcome to join us for any of our meetings.
For further information please contact me on 01633 891193
Jenny Barton
Branch Secretary
Dates for your Diaries
April 9th
Induction of Rev. Chris Stone as Rector
and Rev. Rob Lindsay as Team Vicar.
April 28th
Annual Vestry Meeting.
St. John’s Church Hall 7.15pm
Pre-Vestry meetings:St. Anne’s
21st April 10.30am
St. Basil’s
22nd April 8 pm
St. John’s
25th April 7.30pm
St Basil’s Mothers’ Union
The branch AGM took place at the end of January and all officers will
remain the same for the coming year. Bev Knight secretary, Wendy
Gibbs treasurer and Kay Rogers as branch leader.
The New Year meal was held at the Parc Golf Club and proved a great
success once again.
Prayer is very much part of Mothers’ Union life and all meetings begin
with prayers often taken from a booklet titled “United in Prayer and
Worship”. We are also encouraged to pray for leaders and their branches
throughout the world, many in very remote and impoverished areas
where they work tirelessly to improve life for all. At Mary Sumner
House, the headquarters of the Mothers’ Union, prayers are said daily at
mid-day so that all can join in spending time praying for those less
fortunate than ourselves, for the sick and bereaved, and for the work of
the Mothers’ Union worldwide.
In Bassaleg branch we pray that the work of the Mothers’ union will
continue and grow, and that the four million members worldwide will be
continually joined by new fresh faces.
Jenny Barton, St John’s branch, wrote in last month’s magazine of the
Mothers’ Day Campaign, the booklets with gift ideas for this project are
available at the back of St Basil’s church. Please take one to browse
through and consider using this gift idea this year.
Everyone is welcome to join us at our meetings which are as follows:Tuesday March 12th 2.30pm
Tuesday March 26th 7.30pm
The Girls’ Friendly Society
Carole Jacobs.
Holy Week Service
St Anne’s church
Members wish everyone a blessed Easter, which seems to be approaching
very quickly.
Kay Rogers
Easter Craft on Good Friday at St
Anne's Church Hall
On Good Friday a children's craft event is held at
St Anne's Church Hall for an hour before the
"Time for God on Good Friday" service. We aim
to have around 8 tables, each having an Easter
themed craft and are looking for volunteers to run
a table. Materials will be provided as will the
activity, but if you have any ideas about what you
would like to do, they would be most welcome.
If you think you can help, or for more information
please contact
Carole Loftus - 662973
or Claire Cowper - 895222.
.
The arms of the past two Popes – John Paul II (left) and Benedict
XVI (right)
I was as surprised as everyone else (except, it seems, Rowan
Williams) when Pope Benedict announced his resignation in
February. I had been brought up to believe that Popes never
resigned – who was to think that the laws allowing it had been put
in place 700 years ago?
The Pope holds a very central position in the Catholic Church and
in the hearts of the Catholic laity. It can’t be compared to the role
of the Archbishop of Canterbury: perhaps it’s more like the place
of the Queen, the person on whom the system rests and who
attracts great affection. The loss of a Pope is a time of mourning
and of emptiness. So having a Pope resign is more like an
abdication – a shock to the system, even a challenge to it.
As a Catholic child, I was used to seeing the pope as a remote
figure, treated with great ceremonial and the very heart of the
Catholic Church. I remember clearly my parents telling us of the
death of Pope Paul VI, and then the shock of John Paul I dying
after only a few weeks in office. The election of a Polish Pope –
the first non-Italian for over 450 years – meant a huge change to
the face of the papacy, and I remember crowding into Pontcanna
Fields in Cardiff when John Paul II visited Wales.
By the time his successor was chosen, I was an Anglican, and, like
many, was concerned that Joseph Ratzinger, the strictest of John
Paul’s lieutenants, was elected as Pope. As Cardinal, he was the
author of the encyclical which described Anglican and other
Protestant groups as ‘ecclesial communities’, not churches, and his
reputation for orthodoxy suggested a very strict papacy.
But Pope Benedict did not live up (or down) to these expectations.
He made moves towards the traditionalists, reinstating the old Latin
Mass and reviving some of the papacy’s more unusual vestments.
Nothing has changed on the role of women or clerical marriage.
Yet he has been open to discussion with other faith leaders,
developing a good relationship with Rowan Williams for example,
and he has not closed down debate in most cases within the
Catholic church (there are, as always, exceptions). His own visit to
Britain drew both crowds and positive reaction, even in this
increasingly secular and suspicious country. Many in the church
who disagreed with his approach still held him in affection.
The last time a Pope resigned, he was one of three claimants to the
throne of Peter. This time, Benedict leaves a church able to choose
a successor from a pool of cardinals mostly in his (and John Paul’s)
image. The lasting change may be in the way that he left the
papacy, more than how he acted as Pope: it need no longer be a
post for life, and others may follow Benedict’s example in the
future.
The next Pope will lead a Catholic Church which still faces the
same problems that afflicted Benedict, and will face an everchanging world with the unchanging message of life in Christ.
Whoever he is, we will wish him well.
Richard Mulcahy
Holy Week and Easter 24th-31st March 2013
Palm Sunday
8.30am Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist at St. Basil’s
9.30am Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist at St. Anne’s
10.00am Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist at St. Basil’s
10.45am Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist at John’s
6.30pm Evening Worship at St. John’s
Monday in Holy Week
7.30pm Holy Eucharist and Address at St. John’s
Tuesday in Holy Week
11am Chrism Eucharist at St. Woolos Cathedral
7.30pm Holy Eucharist and Address at St. Anne’s
Wednesday in Holy Week
7.30pm Holy Eucharist and Address at St. John’s
Maundy Thursday
7.30pm Celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Stripping of the
Altar and Watch until 9am at St. Basil’s
Good Friday
10.30am Craft Party at St. Anne’s Hall
11.30am Time for God at St. Anne’s
2.00pm Celebration of the Cross at St. Basil’s
7.30pm Evening Prayer at St. John’s
Holy Saturday
8.00pm The Easter Vigil
Easter Day –
The Day of Resurrection
8.30am Holy Eucharist at St. Basil’s
9.30am Holy Eucharist at St. Anne’s
10am Holy Eucharist at St. Basil’s
10.45am Holy Eucharist at St. John’s
11.30am Time for God at St. Anne’s
Christian Aid
You will be delighted to know that I am already
making plans for Christian Aid Week!! This year it runs
from Sunday, 12th May to Saturday, 18th May inclusive.
Please do not plan to be away during this important time!
Lat year, nationwide, Christian Aid Week raised
£12,500,000, of which £9,000,000 was a direct result of the
door-to-door collection, so it is a major part of Christian Aid’s
fundraising. A lot of the money donated via the door-to-door
collection will be from people who otherwise may well not
have given, had they not had an envelope through the door,
and a smiling person knocking on the door a couple of days
later to collect it. It really is important to give everyone the
opportunity to give, if they so wish, and to make it easy for
them to do so. I’m sure a lot of you, like me, have, at some
time or other, intended to give to an appeal, and then never
quite got around to doing so, so you can appreciate why I am
passionate about trying to cover as many roads as possible.
Last year we raised £3,429.74, a really worthwhile sum, and I
am hoping that we can do even better this year.
Please, I urge you, do think about volunteering to be a
collector; if you have not done it before, talk to someone who
has, or have a word with me; it really isn’t as daunting as
you might imagine, and I will give you all the support you
need. You will find that the majority of households will give
something, and for those that don’t, it is quite liberating to be
able to still smile, say “Thankyou”, and walk away. Perhaps
as a start you would like to do it with a friend, then you can
encourage one another. We have swathes of the Benefice
that do not get covered, and almost all of Afon Village is up
for grabs! Lists will appear in all three churches in April, but
start thinking about it now, so that when the lists go up you
are ready to sign up. Don’t leave it too late if you have set
your heart on a particular road, in case somebody else gets
there first!
There are copies of the last issue of Christian News in
all three churches; do take one, and read it, to see how
Christian Aid is helping to transform lives by working with
local Partners who know and understand the particular
problems the people of that area have. It really is humbling
when you compare our lifestyles with those of some of our
brothers and sisters in undeveloped countries. Christian Aid
is also trying to tackle the root causes of poverty, by
campaigning for fairer trade laws, and lobbying governments
about Climate Change.
Pat Nicholls
01633 894579
WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN
This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen and is so true:
I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We
walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel
guide stopped in front of the first section and said, ' This is the Receiving
Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.'
I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels
sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from
people all over the world.
Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second
section.
The angel then said to me, ' This is the Packaging and Delivery Section.
Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and
delivered to the living persons who asked for them.' I noticed again how
busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station,
since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for
delivery to Earth.
Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a
very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there,
idly doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section' my angel
friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed ' How is it that
there is no work going on here? ' I asked.
'So sad, ' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they
asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.'
'How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked...
'Simple' the angel answered. Just say, ' Thank you, Lord.'
'What blessings should they acknowledge? ' I asked.
'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof
overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If
you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish,
you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. '
'And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the
world who has that opportunity. '
'If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... You are
more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. '
'If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... You are
ahead of 700 million people in the world. '
'If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture
or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in
the world. '
'If your parents are still alive and still married ..you are very rare.'
'If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're
unique to all those in doubt and despair'
Ok, what now? How can I start?
If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that
someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed
than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you care to, pass this along
to remind everyone else how blessed we all are
ATTN: Acknowledge Dept.
'Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for
giving me so many wonderful people with whom to share it. '
If you have read this far, and are thankful for all that you have been
blessed with, how can you not send it on? I thank God for everything,
especially all my family and friends!!
St. John’s Church Hall
The hall is available for hire at a cost of £7.50 per hour.
The large hall is suitable for
Meetings
Birthday parties,
Dancing etc.
Kitchen facilities are included with the cost.
For bookings please contact Rose Pugh – 01633 897962
who is always willing to talk through the availability of
the Hall for hire.
SIGHTSAVERS INTERNATIONAL
This report would have been in last month’s magazine, had I not
been snowed up in the ‘Wilds of Hampshire’ whilst staying with
my daughter. Country lanes do not get cleared of snow and ice,
therefore, I missed Geoff’s dead line.
In December I sent off a cheque for £150 making a total of £650
for the year plus an anonymous donation of £100.
I really am most grateful to all who continue to save coppers and
small change, also the generous people who from time to time give
me donations of £10 or £20. Keep those coppers rolling. Every
penny really does count in helping to combat so many eye
problems in the Third World.
Best Wishes
Joy Tredwin
COFFEE MORNING and CAKE STALL
St. John’s Church Hall
Saturday 9th March
10.30am to 11.45 am
In aid of Church Hall funds
St. John’s Church Hall
MODERN SEQUENCE DANCING
Friday Nights 8.00 pm to 10.00pm
£2.00
Editor’s note
Many thanks to all who have contributed towards this
month’s magazine. Strangely enough I have received two
contributions this month concerning windows in two of our
churches. The first, from Muriel Percival, describes the East
Window in St. John’s, and the second, extracted from a
web site drawn to my notice by Hugh Clatworthy, relates to
a memorial window in St. Basil’s.
Could you please ensure that all contributions for the
April edition of Basilican reach me by 24th March.
Thank you
Geoff Nicholls
We have a lovely stained glass window situated just behind the
altar in St. John’s Church. It depicts the resurrection of the Risen
Lord, The Redeemer.
Kneeling at the foot of Jesus is Mary Magdalene, clad in a red
garment. On her left side is a border of lilies, long considered to be
symbols of purity.
Sitting near Jesus are two angels in reflective repose. There seems
to be such an air of calm on their faces.
For quite a long time I was unable to see everything clearly, but
after medical treatment, was able to see the window in a new light.
There are more beautiful windows in the church, but this particular
one has something special for the onlooker.
Deo gracias.
Muriel Percival
Lt Col Charles Joseph Wilkie
There is a memorial window in St Basil's Church dedicated to
the memory of the Officers and men of the 17th battalion of The
Welsh Regiment who died during the First World War.
Ray Westlake's book; First World War Graves and
Memorials in Gwent; Vol 1; describes in detail, St Basil's
Church memorials. They are dedicated to the fallen of both
world wars but, in particular, to the fallen of the 17th (Service)
Battalion The Welsh Regiment, The First Glamorgan Bantams.
All of the fallen of the 17th Welsh are listed, on brass tablets,
adjacent to the stained glass window dedicated to Lt Col Charles
Joseph Wilkie, their Commanding Officer, who lived in
Rogerstone prior to the War.
Lieutenant Colonel Wilkie was in command of the 17th Battalion
The Welsh Regiment when it departed for France on 2nd June
1916 until his untimely death on 18th October 1916, at the age
of 47 years.
Unfortunately, Lt Col Wilkie's Service Record appears to have
either disappeared from or be unavailable at the Public Records
Office, Kew.
Charles Wilkie was born in Melbourne, Australia on 8th January
1869. He was the only son of Capt Joseph Wilkie, The Victoria
Mounted Rifles, of Melbourne. His mother was Frances
Elizabeth, widow of Capt Joseph Wilkie and later widow of
George B. Robathan MRCS of Risca, Monmouthshire and of
Radyr.
He married Dora, only child of the late Lewis George, of Derwallt, Rogerstone
Charles Wilkie was educated in Brighton and at Owen's College.
He was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant, The Oxfordshire and
Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, from the Militia, on 9th April
1892 and was promoted to Lieutenant on 18th July 1893. He
became Captain on 23rd Oct 1899.
During 1897/98 the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and
Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was stationed at Tirah on the
North West Frontier of India and Lieut Wilkie served with the
Tirah Expeditionary Force. He received a medal with two clasps.
At various times he was Commandant, of a Convalescent Depot,
and of a Discharge Depot, also Station Staff Officer and acting
Quartermaster of his battalion for two years; he was
subsequently offered an appointment as A.D.C. by General
Fitzgerald, on the Chitral Campaign, but his own Commanding
Officer would not permit him to accept it, as he desired all his
own officers to be with the battalion.
He was specially commended by the Commander-in-Chief for
work in connection with N.C.O. instruction; he was specially
selected by his Commanding Officer for command of A
Company, which was considered to be in an unsatisfactory
condition of efficiency. This was over the heads of all the senior
subalterns, and the following year 'A' company took first place
in musketry.
In 1899 he was invalided with malaria and dysentery. As a
consequence he was unable to pass the medical board on the
mobilization of the 1st Battn., and was not allowed to go to
South Africa. He was sent to Ireland in command of details,
Limerick and Buttevant and placed in command of mixed troops
at Buttevant in 1900 and was in command of the station for
eight months. He organized the 6th Provisional Battn.
(Regulars) at Fermoy in 1901; he was appointed Battn.
Adjutant with a staff of three assistant adjutants and 30 orderly
clerks and assistants.
During the period 1899-1902 he personally trained over 5,000
young officers and recruits, despatching them as drafts directly
to the front in South Africa. He was Brigade Major in the Cork
district for the manoeuvres in 1901. The following year he was
appointed Adjutant to the South Middlesex Volunteer Battn and
to the 26th Middlesex (Cyclist) Battn. London.
He retired from the Army 8th May,1907 and joined the Reserve
of Officers. He was appointed Brigade-Major The South Wales
Infantry Brigade in 1908, and in 1909 took over the secretarial
duties of the Glamorgan Territorial Force Association, during
which time he represented Wales on most committees
connected with the organization of the T.F. and National
Reserves, including those of the W.O. and T.F. Council of
Associations. He was also deputy for Wales on Lord Esher's
Territorial Tournament Committee; he took part in carrying out
the mobilization in Aug. and Sept. 1914; he was appointed
Major 9th Battn. The Welsh Regt. 8th October 1914 and
promoted Lieut.-Col. Commanding 17th Battn. on 26th Nov. He
then served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders
from May and was killed in action 18th Oct.1916.
An officer who served under him wrote;
"Colonel Wilkie was a man amongst men and a soldier amongst
soldiers. His attributes as a man were only equalled by his
exceptional and far-reaching capabilities as a soldier. In the
field he was a leader with a knowledge and personality which
created absolute faith and trustfulness, and in the orderly room
his administration was just exemplary. I had the honour and
privilege of serving under him as an officer from Dec. 1914,
until June 1916. During the time I learned his character as a
man and his qualities as a soldier. Both were the finest I have
known, and during that period I heard no word of complaint or
reproach against him from any rank. The officers, noncommissioned officers and men of the Welsh Regiment knew
him first as a soldier, and secondly as a gentleman, and as such
they loved him as only soldiers know how to love. They would
have followed him through anything, and would have rejoiced to
have had the chance to do so. They knew that no injustice
would be done to them provided Colonel Wilkie had a say in the
matter. His loss will be felt amongst all ranks so deeply and so
terribly that it is impossible for mere words to describe it."