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part of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We affirm the faith of the Church as revealed in Scripture and Tradition. We proclaim our Faith through the Creeds, the Sacraments and the apostolic ministry of bishops and priests of the Universal Church. We seek a guaranteed ecclesial structure in which we can pass the Faith on to our children and grandchildren. We have a vision for unity and truth and we are going FORWARD IN FAITH |
St. Matthew's has for many years maintained the Catholic tradition of the Church of England against a general background in the Isle of Man of "Low Church" and nonconformist practice.
| This means that we try to maintain the highest standards possible in our worship at the Altar with the Mass celebrated daily throughout the week and with the High Mass as the principal service on Sundays and Holy days of obligation when they fall in the week. The mass is set in the regular framework of the daily offices of the Church and the occasional offices, Holy baptism, Matrimony and Christian Burial which still serve a somewhat scattered community since the waves of redevelopment of the town moved generations of people away from the town centre and the Quayside. |  |
Our Faith and practice takes seriously the claim of the Church of England to be a full and proper part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. We try to remain faithful to Him and His gospel as the unique self-revelation of God in human flesh.
The world and our lives are consecrated to God through Jesus Christ and we all are taken up into his self-offering especially when we celebrate the Mass.
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The Mass or Eucharist, which means "thanksgiving", is our daily celebration in obedience to the command of Jesus - "Do this in Remembrance of Me". The Bread and Wine are offered, broken and shared as Christ commanded so that he can be with us in the way he intended. We gather upour whole lives "ourselves, our souls and bodies" to be a living, rational and holy offering in thanks to God our Creator. This thanksgiving is expressing our thanks through the one perfect and eternal sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. St. Paul tells us that as often as we perform the eucharistic action we "show forth the Lord's death till he comes". So we understand what we are doing as our most central and important act of witness to our Faith for the society in which we live. |
| The worship is traditional in its ceremonial and the music is mostly fully congregational settings of the mass though on certain special occasions other choirs will come in to perform more elaborate masses and motets . |  |
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The Blessed Sacrament is reserved perpetually in the Lady Chapel in order that those who cannot attend church through age or infirmity may still receive Holy Communion. Its presence means that our Church is never an empty shell but a house for the real presence of God amongst us where we may kneel and know He is near us to hear our cries, our troubles and our joys. |
| The shrine of Our lady of Walsingham was set up in St. Matthew's by the group of Island pilgrims to Walsingham and dedicated by the Lord Bishop. A cell of Walsigham pilgrims exists with one mass each month offered for the work of the Shrine. |  |
Several of the images on this page are taken from the video of the High Mass for the Centenary of Consecration of the Nave, 10th July 2001, when the celebrant was the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, Rt. Rev. Noël Debroy Jones.
This video was filmed and produced by Thurstan Denne and Paul Davenport. Copies are available for purchase. All proceeds to church funds. For further information please e-mail Stmatthewsiom@aol.com
St. John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood
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A Forward in Faith Parish |
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St. Matthew's Church Douglas Isle of Man