Welcome to Our Parish
We are a vibrant Catholic community in Great Dunmow, dedicated to living out the Gospel message through worship, service, and fellowship.
Join us for Mass and experience the love of Christ in our welcoming community.
Parish Priest: Rev. John Britto Michael
Mass Times:
Saturday Vigil Mass: 17:30
Sunday Masses: 11:00
Holy Day Masses: 09:00, 20:00
Sacrament of Reconciliation: 17:00 (Saturdays)

Today's Readings
Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr
First reading
Philippians 3:17-4:1+
Our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes Christ to transfigure us
My brothers, be united in following my rule of life. Take as your models everybody who is already doing this and study them as you used to study us. I have told you often, and I repeat it today with tears, there are many who are behaving as the enemies of the cross of Christ. They are destined to be lost. They make foods into their god and they are proudest of something they ought to think shameful; the things they think important are earthly things. For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe.
So then, my brothers and dear friends, do not give way but remain faithful in the Lord. I miss you very much, dear friends; you are my joy and my crown.
Psalm or canticle
Psalm 33(34):2-9
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
The angel of the Lord is encamped
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
Gospel
John 12:24-26
If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you, most solemnly,
unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies,
it remains only a single grain;
but if it dies,
it yields a rich harvest.
Anyone who loves his life loses it;
anyone who hates his life in this world
will keep it for the eternal life.
If a man serves me, he must follow me,
wherever I am, my servant will be there too.
If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.’
Our Parish History
Saint Anne Line (died 27 February 1601) was an English martyr who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I for harbouring a priest. Her date of birth is unknown, but she was the second daughter of Willam Heigham, Esq., of Essex, a strict Calvinist, and was, together with her brother William, disinherited for converting to Catholicism. Some time before 1586, she married Roger Line, a young Catholic who had been disinherited for the same reason. Roger Line and young William Heigham were arrested together while attending Mass, and were imprisoned, fined, and finally banished. Roger Line went to Flanders, where he received a small allowance from the King of Spain, part of which he sent regularly to his wife until his death around 1594.
Around that time, Fr. John Gerard opened a house of refuge for hiding priests, and put the newly-widowed Anne Line in charge of it, despite her ill health and frequent headaches. By 1597, this house had become insecure, so another was opened, and Anne Line was, again, placed in charge. On 2 February 1601, Fr. Francis Page was saying Mass in the house managed by Anne Line, when men arrived to arrest him. The priest managed to slip into a special hiding place, prepared by Anne, and afterwards to escape, but she was arrested, along with two other laypeople.
She was tried at the Old Bailey on 26 February, and was so weak that she was carried to the trial in a chair. She told the court that so far from regretting having concealed a priest, she only grieved that she "could not receive a thousand more." Sir John Popham, the judge, sentenced her to hang the next day at Tyburn.
Anne Line was hanged on 27 February 1601. She was executed immediately before two priests, Fr. Roger Filcock, and Fr. Mark Barkworth, though, as a woman, she was spared the disembowelling that they endured. At the scaffold she repeated what she had said at her trial, declaring loudly to the bystanders:
"I am sentenced to die for harbouring a Catholic priest, and so far I am from repenting for having so done, that I wish, with all my soul, that where I have entertained one, I could have entertained a thousand."
Fr. Barkworth kissed her hand, while her body was still hanging, saying,
"Oh blessed Mrs. Line, who has now happily received thy reward, thou art gone before us, but we shall quickly follow thee to bliss, if it please the Almighty."
Anne Line was beatified by Pope Pius XI on December 15, 1929. She was canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970, as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Her feast day, along with that of the other thirty-nine martyrs, is on 25 October. Her name is sometimes spelled as Ann Line.
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
Anne Line. (2007, February 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:57, February 25, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anne_Line&oldid=110824882
Parish Events Calendar
Contact Us
Visit Our Church
Our Lady and St. Anne Line
13a Mill Lane
Great Dunmow, Essex
CM6 1BG
Parish Office
01371 872550
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Parking Information
Limited parking is available in the church car park. Additional parking can be found at:
- Great Dunmow Co-Op (5 min walk)