Hover the mouse over the numbers below and a little pop-up box will tell you what it is. If you click on the number then a box will slide in at the bottom of the page to give you some more information and a picture - unless you click on number 1, the Sanctuary, which will open a new page. If you click on one of the pictures, a larger version will appear on the screen. Just click on the number again to make the box disappear.
On the walls of most Catholic Churches there are fourteen images depicting Jesus's journey, from his presence before Pilate to his death and burial in the tomb. We have a picture gallery of the Stations of the Cross at St Joseph's.
The FontThe Font is where people are invited during Baptism, for the pouring of Water. Water is poured three times, over the head, while the minister says:
"I baptise you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
The lit Paschal Candle is a sign of the Light of Christ, and its light shines for the first time at the Easter Vigil, then during the fifty days of the Easter season, and during baptisms and funerals. During a baptism, another candle is lit from it and given to the newly baptised person or their God-parent, as the minister says: "Receive the Light of Christ".
Overlooking the font is a statue of St John the Baptist. John was the son of the Virgin Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, and her husband Zechariah, a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. Before the coming of Jesus, John the Baptist spent time living in the desert, and baptising those who came to him to confess their sins. John also baptised Jesus in the River Jordan, although he was reluctant to do so, arguing that it should be Jesus baptising him. John was born six months before Jesus, and so his feast day is celebrated on Jun 24th.
St Pius X is said to have written in his will I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I want to die poor.
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The second son of an Italian shoemaker and a postman, Giuseppe Sarto entered the seminary at Padua in 1850, and was ordained in 1858. He was elected Pope in 1903, when he took the name Pius X. As pope, he would give a simple address on the day's gospel passage every Sunday, in one of the Vatican courtyards.
Two of the most important events during his pontificate were the separation of the Church and state in France, and his sweeping decrees against what was called 'Modernism' in theology.
There were calls for his canonization immediately upon his death, sixteen days after the outbreak of World War I. The Solemnity of St Pius X is on August 21st.
St Joseph is the Husband of Mary, Guardian of Jesus, Head of the Holy Family, Patron and Protector of the Universal Church, Patron Saint of all who work, of Fathers, Husbands, of Youth, and of the dying. He is also known as the Model of all virtues, the Guardian of Chastity, and the Guide of all who seek God.
Early Christians and Fathers of the Church were quick to appreciate St Joseph's sanctity and, by the end of the 3rd Century, there was a liturgical feast of St Joseph the Carpenter.
In 1989 Pope John Paul II wrote his Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer) to encourage renewed devotion to St Joseph.
The Solemnity of St Joseph is on March 19th, and the memoria of St Joseph the Worker on May 1st. After Our Lady he is the saint most frequently depicted on Christian art.
Read about St Joseph in the Bible:
The Shrine of St Thérèse of LisieuxBaptised Marie-Françoise-Thérèse, she was one of four sisters to become a Carmelite nun at the same convent. She entered the convent at the early age of 15, and by 22 had become assistant to the novice mistress. Although she had wanted to do some missionary work in Hanoi (now Vietnam), she contracted Tuberculosis and died before she was able to go.
Her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, which was written on the orders of her superiors, was published soon after her death and became an immediate success, and although she lived a fairly uneventful life, a number of miracles were attributed to her, and she was canonised in 1925.
St Thérèse, patron saint of the mission, is traditionally portrayed holding a bunch of roses because she wrote of a shower of roses
that would fall after her death. Her feast day is celebrated on October 1st.
The Shrine of St John FisherJohn Fisher was ordained Bishop of Rochester in 1504. He was a devout Catholic, and a professor at and chancellor of Cambridge University.
He refused to accept that Henry VIII was the head of the church in England, and unlike other English Bishops, refused to take the oath accompanying the Act of Succession, because it refused to acknowledge the pope. He wrote:
"Not that I condemn any other men's conscience, their conscience may save them, and mine must save me."
He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534, and whilst he was there Pope Paul III named him a cardinal. He was immediately brought to trial, found guilty and sentenced to death.
The feast of St John Fisher is celebrated with that of St Thomas More, whose statue stands on the opposite side of the church, on June 22nd.
The Lady ChapelA great many churches will have a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and in St Joseph's case, this is just to the East of the Sanctuary.
The Lady Chapel at St Joseph's was completed in June 1923, although the two aisles connecting this to the rest of the church were not completed for another eight years.
The Shrine of St Thomas MoreThomas More, Lord Chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532, was a good friend of John Fisher. During his life he built up a reputation as a prominent theologian, and wrote against Lutheranism and the protestant reformation.
In 1534, two years after he had resigned as Lord Chancellor, he refused to take the same oath as John Fisher had refused - that accompanying the Act of Supremacy, making Henry the head of the Church in England and refusing to acknowledge the Pope. Nine days after the death of John Fisher, Thomas More was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.
He is the patron saint of Lawyers, and his feast day is celebrated with that of John Fisher, whose statue stands on the opposite side of the church, on June 22nd.
The Shrine of St Antony of PaduaAntony was a charismatic preacher, to whom great crowds would come just to hear him - he could be understood by the learned and the simple at the same time. His talent for preaching was discovered when, whilst living as a hermit on Sicily, some Franciscans arrived for an act of worship without someone to preach, and so Antony stepped up.
It is said that once, a novice borrowed his psalter without permission, but had an apparition and had to return it, hence why Antony of Padua is known as the Patron Saint of lost things. His feast day is celebrated on June 13th.
Stephen was the first Christian martyr, a Greek-speaking Jew chosen by the apostles to look after the widows, those people often overlooked in the daily distribution of charity. He had great power as a preacher, and so his enemies accused him of planning to destroy the Jewish Temple. When defending himself, he tried to show how people in the past had always turned against God, which resulted in him being thrown out of the city and stoned him to death.
As the crowds were stoning him, he prayed: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit
, and as he died, he said: Lord, do not hold this sin against them.
As a deacon himself, St Stephen is the patron saint of Deacons and Altar Servers, and his feast day is celebrated on December 26th.
The Sacristy is where all of the vestments and other church furnishings are kept, and where the Priests and servers meet to prepare before Mass.
The Sacristy in a Church is not consecrated with the rest of the Church, although it enjoys the same privileges. At St Joseph's, the head of the Sacristy Team is Rowena Wittenbaker.
Before the Organ Gallery was redecorated, there was very little room up there for people (more than half of the space was taken by the organ!).
The Music Alcove, which is the North transept of the building (once the Sacred Heart Chapel), has for many years been kitted out for the 9.30am and 5.30pm Music Groups. It has a large mixing desk which is connected to microphones, and two large speakers to ampliflying the sound towards the congregation.
The picture shows some members of the 9.30am Music Group in the Music Group Alcove.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is representative of the divine love for humanity, stressing the Christian concept of loving and adoring Jesus. In keeping with Christian art depicting the Sacred Heart, the statue at St Joseph's shows Jesus's wounded hand pointing at his heart, surrounded by a crown of thorns and a cross placed over the top.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is especially associated with the visions granted to St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647 - 1671). The feast of the Sacred Heart has been observed since the 17th CEntury, and was introduced into the Universal Calendar in 1856. It is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost, on the Friday of the third week.
The Organ GalleryThe Organ Gallery, also known as the Choir Loft, is where our 11.30am Choir and Parish Choir sing from, and is where the organ console is (the speakers are high up behind the brown 'pipes' on either side of the back wall of the Church).
Newly decorated in 2008, it is very well suited to their needs - the sound from here carries very well down the Nave of the building (although the organ has been known to get a little carried away!), and there is ample room for all the members of the choirs huddle together to sing (we now have rather good heating) and to 'spread out' a bit during the Sermons!
St Joseph's is very lucky to have a large and modern Pastoral Centre, for all of the social occasions in the Parish. Work started on the New Pastoral Centre in September 2005, and it was officially blessed and opened by Bishop Paul Hendricks on September 15th 2006.
As well as the bookshop, the main hall and the kitchen downstairs, upstairs has a Parish Lounge (PC1), a sound-proofed 'interview room' (PC2, where Deacon John holds his Deacon's Drop-in from 10.30am on a Saturday morning), and two meeting rooms (PC3 and PC4). The picture above shows some of our parishoners in the hall, just before one of our monthly Parish Lunches.
Our Pastoral Centre Manager is Oliver Patton, who can be contacted through the Parish Office.
St Joseph's street-front bookshop is a flagship for Catholic Faith and culture - a visible presence for evangelisation in the local community, and for Catholics in this part of South London and Surrey.
The bookshop, staffed by volunteers, is managed by Maureen Sampson (our Deacon's wife), ably assisted by Geraldine Bennett and Bernadette Tolley.
The bookshop is open at the following times:
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1 Montem Road, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 3QW | tel: 020 8942 2602 | Email: stjoseph.newmalden@btinternet.com