We are a Church of England parish with a strong tradition of music in worship, where all are very welcome. As an ancient Church in the centre of Durham, St Oswald's is a reservoir of peace for all who enter it.

The Sunday Eucharist is at 11:00am, and we have a play and books corner by the font for any younger worshipper who feels a parent or carer would enjoy it there. Evensong is at 6:00pm on Sundays, either in the chancel, or roughly every other week during term time when the usual hymns expand to a full choral setting, in the body of the church. Midweek Holy Communion is at 10:00am on Wednesdays, and the church is usually open from 9:30am till round about 5:00pm (or dusk, if earlier) on weekdays.

Monday, 1st June 2026 - Ordinary Time: The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Festival]

Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.

Alleluia.

Gospel Acclamation for the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke 1:45)

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

Luke 1:39-45, New Revised Standard Version - Anglicized Edition

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, by whose grace Elizabeth rejoiced with Mary and greeted her as the mother of the Lord: look with favour, we beseech thee, on thy lowly servants, that, with Mary, we may magnify thy holy name and rejoice to acclaim her Son our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Common Worship 

The Post Communion:

O gracious God, who gavest to Elizabeth and Mary joy in recognizing the signs of redemption at work within them: grant us, who have shared in the joy of this communion, knowledge of the Lord deep within us, and of his love shining forth in our lives, that the world may rejoice in thy salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Common Worship

A Sonnet for the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

The Visitation

Here is a meeting made of hidden joys

Of lightenings cloistered in a narrow place

From quiet hearts the sudden flame of praise

And in the womb the quickening kick of grace.

Two women on the very edge of things

Unnoticed and unknown to men of power

But in their flesh the hidden Spirit sings

And in their lives the buds of blessing flower.

And Mary stands with all we call ‘too young’,

Elizabeth with all called ‘past their prime’

They sing today for all the great unsung

Women who turned eternity to time

Favoured of heaven, outcast on the earth

Prophets who bring the best in us to birth.

The Reverend Dr A Malcolm Guite 

A Prayer for all who are Affected by the Current Outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):

God of miraculous healing, whose Son displayed your power over sickness and death, we pray for all those who are sick or have died amid outbreaks of infectious disease, including Ebola, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and East Africa. As violence and displacement deepen suffering, help medical workers and public health systems to stem the outbreak and prevent further sickness and death. Protect all the vulnerable in Congo and the surrounding countries. May those who are fearful amid the pain of sickness and death look with hope toward restoration and release. Help us advocate for investment in global health systems that seek to prevent and coordinate response to health emergencies, especially the World Health Organization and other emergency response systems. Come, Lord Jesus, and bring an end to all suffering, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Amen.

Public Witness Weekly Prayers, The Episcopal Church

A Prayer in Celebration of Diversity:

Almighty God, through your Holy Spirit you created unity in the midst of diversity;
We acknowledge that human diversity is an expression of your manifold love for your creation;
We confess that in our brokenness as human beings we turn diversity into a source of alienation, injustice, oppression, and wounding.
Empower us to recognize and celebrate differences as your great gift to the human family.
Enable us to be the architects of understanding, of respect and love;
Through the Lord, the ground of all unity, we pray.

Amen.

Author Unknown 

Durham Diocesan Prayer Cycle Deanery Intention for the Month:

June 2026 - Jarrow Deanery

A Prayer of St Oswald of Northumbria:

Let us together implore the living and true and almighty God in his mercy to defend us against the pride and fierceness of our enemy; for that God knows our cause is just, and that we fight for the salvation of our nation.

Amen. 

Prayed by King Oswald with his Army on the Battlefield on the Eve of the Battle of Heavenfield, AD634