Good day,

Advent Scripture Study tonight (December 11) and next Monday (Dec. 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:

Christmas Eve morning? Christmas Eve day? This is the mainstream culture’s way of referring to December 24th.  In the world of Christian liturgy – and hopefully, in the lives of Christians – this nomenclature does not exist. We follow the ancient biblical thinking of days – the new day begins at sunset, the eve. Whereas the dominant culture says a day runs from 12am until 11:59pm, the original thinking was that a day encompassed one sunset to the next sunset. This means that the new day is acknowledged as of the Evening Prayer liturgy. If you have a church calendar, you will notice that December 24 is blue because it is not yet Christmas Eve – this year, it is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. In brackets you will see that the colour for the Eve changes to white or gold. This is because it is only in the evening that the day changes to Christmas Eve. 

And now, a few reminders…This coming Sunday (the Third Sunday of Advent) is often 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.”)  [Gaudete – pronounced “go-day-tay.]  This is the Sunday we light the pink candle – if you have a pink candle (some wreaths have 4 purple or 4 blue candles).  The pink colour was the Roman Catholic Church’s way of providing a break from the penitential aspect of the season.  Speaking of the wreath, let us together promote the shift back to using the Advent wreath in our homes throughout this season – encouraging the connection between life inside and outside of our liturgical spaces.  In the church, the candles on the wreath are lit before the liturgy begins (without too much “hoopla”).   Oh yes…decorating our churches: Our churches should not yet look like it’s Christmas – Christmas does not begin until the eve of December 24.  It would be appropriate to add Christmas decorations to your church as of December 17 – the octave before Christmas. Some churches, also very appropriately, will choose to wait until the Christmas season officially begins on the eve of December 24.  

December 17, by the way, is the day we begin using the ancient “O Antiphons” during Evening Prayer.  It is these antiphons that constitute our Advent intercessions (BAS p.119) They proclaim the saving acts of God throughout history and the longing for the full arrival of God’s kingdom on earth with the anticipated return of Jesus Christ.  

For Your Devotions:

Friday, December 15^th is the commemoration of Simon Gibbons, First Priest from the Inuit, 1896. Simon was left an orphan at the tender age of six and spent the rest of his youth being cared for in an Anglican orphanage in Newfoundland. There he was educated and encouraged to seek ordination. He spent his first years as an Anglican presbyter as a missionary – regularly making the arduous 100 mile circuit – even during the frozen depths of winter – to hold services in isolated communities. Despite exhaustion and personal danger, Simon was always joyful in his service to the Lord.  These physically strenuous years took their toll on his health and he died at just 46 years of age.  To read more about this amazing individual, check out p.374 here: http://c2892002f453b41e8581-48246336d122ce2b0bccb7a98e224e96.r74.cf2.rackcdn.com/ForAlltheSaints.pdf

In the hope of Christ,

Susan