Hi everyone,
I apologize for being a day late with this – I had a super busy day yesterday but, on the plus side, it was also a fabulous day…monthly breakfast at St. George’s with guest speaker Ana Rawn (yoga instructor), productive meetings, and topped off with an awesome bible study last night.
Anyway, here are some happenings…
Exciting Webinar 6pm, Thursday, Dec.7: “Making Room for Our Grieving God: Personal Prayer Practice in the Time of Climate Crisis”. This is a free webinar offered by APLM (Associated Parishes For Liturgy and Mission). Register in advance for this meeting to get the meeting link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMocu2pqDgvH9BDaMx0t8RaeJhtlxwJ5f_s
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
At Zion Lutheran (corner of Upton and Wellington in the Soo): Bake Sale on Saturday, Dec.9, 10am-2pm – pulla, cookies, and cinnamon buns. Also, apparently Pastor Brad has a large collection of nativity scenes for you to see.
Also at Zion Lutheran: Wednesday, Dec.13, 7pm is an Evening Prayer for Advent using Holden Evening Prayer.
Advent Scripture Study Monday, December 11 and 18, via Zoom, 7pm. Most people have already received the link but, if I have missed someone who would like to join in, please let me know.
At St. Luke’s Cathedral: Let all mortal flesh keep silence, A Christmas Walk, Wednesday, December 20th, 2023, we still have spaces available at 5:30 pm. 6:15 pm. 7:45 pm. (this is a link you can follow to get more info. Here it is with the url in case the one above doesn’t work for you: https://files.constantcontact.com/e2b1c2f5601/f49a2689-5ae3-41d6-92a0-f4dba46477b7.pdf?rdr=true)
A Liturgical Note For You: Continuing on with more Advent tidbits…
Why is one of the Advent Wreath candles pink? As I mentioned in a previous email, we love to assign meaning to things and so we have come to associate pink with the Virgin Mary (pink for girls?) 🙂 The pink candle, though, was simply the Roman Catholic Church’s way of giving people and clergy a break from the strain of the penitential season (they do this one Sunday in Lent as well). The Third Sunday of Advent, when we light the pink candle, is called “Gaudete Sunday” (it means “Rejoice”) and comes from the fact that the first word of the Introit for that Sunday is Gaudete (Gaudete in Domino semper, or “rejoice in the Lord always.”) By the way, the word “Gaudete” is pronounced “go-day-tay”.
Prayers of the People in Advent: The Advent Litany for the Prayers of the People in our BAS (p.119) are a lot different than the other litanies. They are the ancient “O Antiphons” in use since the 700’s. They are called “O Antiphons” since they all begin with “O” ( O Wisdom, O Key of David, etc.). They are the refrains that were sung at the beginning and ending of the Magnificat during Evening Prayer and they are drenched in Scripture – especially the names and saving actions of our God. For this reason, they are integral to our understanding of Advent and, therefore, to our ongoing transformation into the likeness of Christ. How would you best use them during the liturgy? Since most of us pray the various cycles of prayer during our Prayers of the People, these cycles would be best inserted at the very beginning like the biddings in the BCP. For example:
Let us pray for the Church of God throughout the world especially…
Let us pray for the members of the Body of Christ in our diocese and in our parish family, holding before God…
And let us pray in joyful expectation to our Saviour and Redeemer saying…(from here you would continue the litany as written in the BAS).
Decorating Your Church for Christmas: Since the Advent season is very important in our ongoing transformation as Christians, how can we be true to this liturgical season – that is, how can we not look like we’ve skipped from “The Reign of Christ” to “Christmas” in our worship spaces? When should we be going all out with the Christmas decorations? There is actually an answer to this: December 17. Okay, so why December 17? This is the octave before Christmas Eve – the final thematic phase of Advent when we turn our hearts and minds toward the anticipation of the nativity of our Lord. Beginning on Dec.17, the ancient “O Antiphons” are used during Evening Prayer services as I mentioned above. Practically speaking, the date of December 17 means that we should decorate our worship spaces with “Christmas” stuff no earlier than after our worship services on the 2nd Sunday of Advent. This does not mean we can’t put out any decorations at all but anything specifically Christmas themed – especially the Nativity Scene – really should not make an appearance until closer to Christmas. Let us dwell, throughout Advent, in the eager and joyful anticipation of Christ’s coming again in “power and great glory”.
For Your Devotions:
Tuesday, December 5th is the commemoration of Clement of Alexandria, died about 210. Clement was born to pagan parents but became the well-known Christian intellectual leader of Alexandrian. He combatted Gnostic heresy in his writings but used Greek ideas that caused others to question his orthodoxy. His “Christian Gnostic” sounded a little too close to actual Gnosticism for some but his ideas actually set the stage for the blossoming of monasticism in the Egyptian desert not long after his death. For more info: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Clement-of-Alexandria
Wednesday, December 6th is the commemoration of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, died about 342. Hey, it’s Santa! Well, sort of… Nicholas was born into wealth and was well-known for his generosity. He was also known for his defence of orthodox Christianity against Arianism (the denial that Jesus was God incarnate. Arians believed Jesus was simply another creature created by God.) For more info, check this out: https://orthodoxwiki.org/Nicholas_of_Myra
Thursday, December 7th is the memorial of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who died in 397. He was born into a powerful Roman family and was well into a great career in politics when life abruptly changed – the people wanted him to be their next bishop and he wasn’t even baptized yet! Ambrose was an influential figure in the Church during a time of rampant political finagling and intrigue. Fascinating to read about! It is thanks to Ambrose that the Church gained Augustine of Hippo among its ranks. Because of his amazing work as bishop, we celebrate Ambrose today – on the anniversary of his ordination – rather than on the day he died. This is a highly unusual move in terms of calendar observances. For more info: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/pastorsandpreachers/ambrose-of-milan.html
Friday, December 8th is the memorial of The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day we acknowledge the conception of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Why do we place so much importance on her conception? Here is what the Roman Catholic diocese of Wichita writes on their website: “We do not believe that Mary is a goddess, or even super-human. The Blessed Virgin Mary is simply human. She is what each human person is called to be: “holy and blameless in God’s sight, full of love.” That’s how St. Gabriel salutes Mary in the Gospel: “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” God’s grace is a share in His divine love.” This day is very important to us because it is a day on which God chose to act with humanity to further God’s purpose of salvation for all. If you want to read more about what Anglicans think about Mary, you can go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Marian_theology
Saturday, December 9th is the memorial of the Prophets of the Old Testament. These men and women were called by God and filled with the Holy Spirit to speak the message of God to the people. Many were persecuted and killed because that message wasn’t always welcome. Jeremiah, for example, was kept as a prisoner at the bottom of a well. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews provides more detail (speaking of the heroes and prophets of Israel): “…who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground” (Heb.11:33-38). For us, Christ is the final and complete Word of God…”In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2a). If you’d like to read more about the prophets, check this out… https://catholicexchange.com/crazy-prophets-old-testament
In the hope of Christ,
Susan
Deanery of Algoma 