Both! St Mary’s church is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Other Mary’s also have churches dedicated to them, such as Mary Magdalene.
In the SEC church calendar, Mary is celebrated on 15th August, and this is the day back in the 19th century that St Mary’s was originally dedicated. However, the first Rector was not instituted until 8th September, which celebrates Mary’s birthday.
We will be celebrating the birthday of both Mary and our church building on Sunday 6th September this year, and all are welcome to join us on this occasion.
There are other celebrations associated with Mary in different parts of the worldwide Christian Church, and not all are accepted by everyone. However, Mary was the mother of Jesus and her ‘yes’ to the angel Gabriel allowed Jesus to be born on earth and grow into a man who knew humanity through being one of us.
Mary is known to the Greek church as the Theotokos, meaning the God-bearer, in recognition of her role. The title Blessed Virgin comes directly from her song in the Bible where she says “all generations will call me blessed” and she exclaimed to the angel Gabriel “‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’” on hearing the news: she knew herself to be a virgin.
An example of a festival service held in 1878
