Lent, Holy Week and Easter
at Great St Mary's
Worship & Discipleship during Lent
Everyone is welcome to come to services at Great St Mary's., and we warmly encourage you also to join small groups and other activities to support faith and spiritual life.
Preparing for baptism and confirmation
We are offering preparation sessions for baptism and confirmation during Lent and Eastertide, for people of all ages. Please email clergy@gsm.cam.ac.uk to find out more.
Regular services in Lent
Monday-Friday
9.00am Morning Prayer
Mondays
12.30pm Christian Meditation
Hervey de Stanton Chapel, Michaelhouse
Tuesdays
10.30am The Ark Holy Communion for babies, toddlers amd their grownups, in Michaelhouse
5.45pm Choral Evening Prayer
Wednesdays
12.30pm Holy Communion
Thursdays
6.00pm Choral Evensong
Sundays
8.00am BCP Communion
10.00am Choral Eucharist
4.00pm Choral Evensong
Special services in Lent
Ash Wednesday - 18 February
12.30pm Holy Communion
with imposition of ashes
1.30pm Ashes to go
outside the west door / in the Marketplace
7.30pm Choral Eucharist
with imposition of ashes
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Mothering Sunday - 15 March
10.00am All Together (all age) Eucharist
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Festival Evensong - 22 March
4.00pm Choral Evensong
Preacher: Brother Samuel SSF
Followed by refreshments
5.30pm Panel discussion
hope in the face of environmental crisis
Lent Talks 2026
Food for mind, soul and body in Michaelhouse:
1-2pm on Wednesdays
25th February, 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th March
on the theme of 'Hope plus...'
With a simple soup and bread lunch.
All are welcome, no need to book.
25th February - Hope and Creation
4th March - Hope in the Churchyard
Juliet Jackson (Churchyard team)
11th March - Hope and Grace
Revd Liam Beadle (St Edmundsbury Diocese)
18th March - Hope and Encounter
Dr Lucy Peacock (Woolf Institute)
25th March - Hope and Peace
Ruby Quantson Davis (Peace Direct)
Lent Group 2026
A six week creative journey into Christian discipleship
Mondays, 5.30-7pm
23 February - 30 March
at Michaelhouse
Each week we will explore a different aspect of Christian discipleship through gentle, creative practices and shared reflection. Open to all adults, at any stage of their Christian journey. If you'd like to join the group please email clergy@gsm.cam.ac.uk
Books for Lent
Dancing to the heartbeat of God is the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book for 2026
A collaboration by sustainable engineering expert Professor Julian Allwood, and Revd Canon Andrew Davison, Regius Professor of Divinity in Oxford.
Good Friday Activity Morning
Good Friday Activity Morning for children and their parents/carers 10:00-11:30 Michaelhouse Come and make a miniature Easter Garden to take home with you. There will be other craft activities too, and a time to mark the day in story and song. We'll have tea, coffee, and hot-cross buns a plenty. All are welcome! (The activity morning will be most suitable for children aged 3 and above, but younger children are very welcome to come too. All children must be accompanied by an adult. The activity morning is free of charge, and there is no need to book a place.)
Worship and Music
during Holy Week
Palm Sunday
29 March at 10am
A traditional Palm Sunday procession through the market square at 10am is followed by a reading of the Passion and a service of sung Holy Communion inside the church. Everyone is welcome to this service, which will also be livestreamed
Maundy Thursday
2 April at 7pm
A beautiful choral service at which Revd Dr Isabelle Hamley will preach, with the washing of feet, the remembrance of the Last Supper, and Holy Communion. Followed by a vigil with the Sacrament in St Andrew's Chapel
Good Friday
3 April
11.30am
Ecumenical Act of Witness
in the market place
12.00-12.30pm
Silence is kept
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12.30 - 1.25pm
Good Friday meditations:
by the Revd Dr Isabelle Hamley
​
1.30 - 3pm Liturgy of Good Friday
with veneration of the cross and Communion from the Reserved Sacrament. ​
Easter Day
5 April
A joyful celebration of the great Day of Resurrection! Come and join us as we remember God's good news with song, story, and sacrament.
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5.45am Dawn Vigil and
First Eucharist of Easter
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8am BCP Holy Communion
10am Choral Eucharist
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11.45am Choral Mattins