At the end of May we celebrated our Dedication Festival, the anniversary of the consecration of the church, as usual.  Since St Mary's was consecrated on 22 May 1850, this is our 175th anniversary.

We were pleased to welcome Fr Philip Kennedy of The Ascension Lavender Hill to delivery the address.  Fr Philip is an old friend of St Mary's having spent some time with us as a curate.

We also prepared a display of the history of St Mary's.  The picture in this article is the oldest known image of St Mary's from 1868.  The display also covered some lesser known aspects of St Mary's history such as our appearance in a 1968 thriller, A Dandy in Aspic , starring amongst others, Laurence Harvey and Mia Farrow.

All attendees at the service were given a prayer card:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,

that never was it known that anyone

who fled to thy protection,

implored thy help, or sought they intercession

was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence

I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother:

To thee do I come: before thee I stand,

sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

despise not my petitions,

but in they mercy, hear and answer me.

Amen.