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 (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:

Mighty God, by whose grace Elizabeth rejoiced with Mary and greeted her as the mother of the Lord: look with favour on your lowly servants that, with Mary, we may magnify your holy name and rejoice to acclaim her Son our Saviour, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

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 for all who are Living in Poverty or under Oppression:

Heavenly Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ came to bring good news to the poor,
to heal the broken-hearted, and to set free those who are oppressed:
give grace to the leaders of all the nations,
that, being so hungry for justice for your poorest people,
and fired with passion for their raising up,
they may be renewed in their determination to fulfil the promises they have made to them;
that the chains of hunger, disease and inequality may be broken;
and that all humanity may know life in all its fullness;
through him who came that we might have the same, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Anglican Communion 

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