Good day,

Below is a notice for a special upcoming event organized by the cathedral:

The people of St. Luke’s Cathedral invite you to celebrate at our
Coronation Tea with traditional English tea, piano serenade, display of
royal history and memorabilia plus a silent auction.

Saturday June 10, 2023 12:30 pm at The Algoma Conservatory
of Music in The Loft at 75 Huron Street.

Doors Open at 12:00 noon for Silent Auction and 12:20 for The Loft.
Tickets are $40.00 and limited to 56.

Tickets available prior to the event at St. Luke’s Office, 160 Brock Street,
9 am – 1 pm, or by contacting stlukesalgoma@gmail.com.

Another tea for you…“Summer Fun Tea”

on Saturday, June 17th, 11am – 2pm at St. George in Echo Bay. For just $15 you can enjoy bubble tea, lemonade, tea, coffee, soup, sandwich, and dessert!

A Liturgical Note About Pentecost: This coming Sunday is the Principal Feast of The Day of Pentecost (see below). The Paschal Alleluias that we have been saying during our liturgies throughout the Easter season can be doubled at the dismissal for the Pentecost liturgy. The Paschal Season comes to an end after the day’s final liturgy – whether it be Evening Prayer or Compline. This means that the Paschal candle is extinguished at the end of the day’s services and is not lit again except for baptisms and funerals. The Paschal candle is moved from the prominent position where it has been throughout the Paschal Season and is placed back in its customary place – usually near the font.  The liturgical colour for the Day of Pentecost is red since red is associated with the image of the Holy Spirit as fire.  (There are other associations with the colour red which is why we wear red on other days of the church calendar as well).

 Just to reinforce…because it’s so important that we get it right:  The Day of Pentecost is a part of the Easter season. The Easter season ends after the final liturgy on the Day of Pentecost.  This means that Pentecost is not a season of the church…Pentecost is part of the Easter Season. There is no “season of Pentecost.”  When Pentecost is over, we enter into Ordinary Time and we count Sundays as Sundays after Pentecost – not in Pentecost and not of Pentecost. Liturgically and theologically speaking, if there were a season of Pentecost, we would be wearing red the whole time. But we are not wearing red, we are wearing green because it is Ordinary Time in the season after Pentecost.

For Your Devotions:

Monday, May 22: Victoria Day – the monarch’s official birthday celebration in Canada. It may seem strange but, since the reign of Queen Victoria, Canada has (mostly) been celebrating the monarch’s birthday on this day instead of on their actual birthday. May 24 really was Queen Victoria’s birthday and, since she had a special relationship with Canada, we celebrated it and kept that date for the other monarchs too. Now it’s King Charles III’s turn to be celebrated on this day although his actual birthday is November 14.  

Here is the prayer for the King (BAS p.677): Almighty God, fountain of all goodness, bless our Sovereign, King Charles III, and all who are in authority under him; that they may order all things in wisdom and equity, righteousness and peace, to the honour of your name, and the good of your Church and people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

For more info: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/important-commemorative-days/victoria-day.html  

Thursday, May 25th is the commemoration of Bede, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, Historian and Educator, died 735.  He is also called The Venerable Bede and is known as the Father of English History. He wrote or translated about 40 books on practically every subject you can think of. His most famous work is The Ecclesiastical History of the English People which provides crucial information on the history of conversion to Christianity of the Anglo-Saxon tribes. (Bede was required reading for my English degree).  In addition, Bede was an ordained priest, studied scripture extensively, lived according to monastic disciplines, and sung the daily offices without fail. Surprisingly, for such a well-known scholar, it appears that Bede never left the small geographical area around the two monasteries where he grew up (other than a very occasional visit to Lindisfarne and York). For more info:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Bede-the-Venerable

Friday, May 26 is the memorial of Augustine of Canterbury, 1st Archbishop of Canterbury, died 604 (transferred from Sunday). Augustine is thought to have been born in Rome. He was the prior of the Benedictine monastery in that city until 596 when Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine with 40 monks into the mostly pagan land of England. This was a very dangerous situation and Augustine turned back. Bolstered by Gregory’s letters of support, Augustine landed in England in the spring of 597 – his presence and work established Canterbury as the point of union for the eventual world-wide Anglican Communion and he is now known as the Apostle to England. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Augustine-of-CanterburySaturday, May 27th is the commemoration of John Charles Roper, Archbishop of Ottawa, died 1940. The Archbishop was not only a great scholar but was also able to put his ideas into action. He was highly influential in the Anglican Church during the Prayer Book reform of 1918, the depression of the 1930’s, and at the Lausanne Conference on Faith and Order in 1927 (which was a step towards the foundation of the World Council of Churches). He was deeply devoted to prayer and provided an amazing example as he readily shared his spiritual gifts. For more info…  https://friardavidop.blogspot.com/2010/05/john-charles-roper.html

Sunday, May 28: The Principal Feast of the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost comes from Greek and means the fiftieth day. We celebrate it, therefore, on the 50^th day following Easter. It is the day when, in Luke’s account, the disciples were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Many people were then inspired by Peter’s speech, explaining this strange experience, to be baptized and follow the way of Jesus Christ. This is why Pentecost is designated as a day especially appropriate for baptisms. If nobody is being baptized, we renew our baptismal vows as part of the Sunday worship. In Jewish history, Pentecost (Shavuot) was primarily celebrated as a day of thanksgiving for the first fruits of the harvest and so Christianity’s use of the same festival name indicates the view that, for Christians, the giving of the Holy Spirit is the first fruits  of a new dispensation that fulfilled the Law.

With Easter hope and joy,

Susan