Good day…Happy Victoria Day!

This Saturday, May 25, 11am – 3pm at the Trinity Centre (across the parking lot from Holy Trinity on Northern Ave.): Spring Fling! “New to You” table, bake table, cinnamon buns, barbecue, and more. Come check it out.

Thursday, June 13, 7pm at St. Luke’s Cathedral: the installation of The Very Rev. Dr. Jay Koyle as the dean of the diocese and incumbent of the cathedral parish. 

Mark Your Calendars!! Tuesday, June 25, 6 – 8pm at St. Luke’s Cathedral: A presentation and discussion of the Bible.  Reading or hearing the contents of the Bible forms us as Christians. Our thinking on those contents also strongly influences our lives: Is the Bible history? Is the Bible “infallible and inerrant”? Is the Bible sexist? and so on. A shockingly low number of Christians read the Bible for themselves, relying instead on mainstream culture to tell them what’s in there: Three wisemen? Paul telling women to cover their heads and keep their mouths shut in church? Everlasting torment and torture in a place called hell? The Rev. Susan and The Very Rev. Dr. Jay Koyle will guide you in exploring viewpoints and understandings of this book crucial in forming us as Christians.  Please join us for an evening of food, learning, discussion, and fellowship. Note: For those who can’t make it in person, we will try to arrange a worthwhile way for people to join in electronically somehow. Stay tuned on that part of things….

A Liturgical Note For You:

Pentecost Ember Days: The English title for these days, “Ember,” is derived from their Latin name: Quatuor Temporum, meaning the “Four Times” or “Four Seasons.” How this came about is actually not certain – in the early church there were only three Ember seasons. Today, these four “times” are set apart for special prayer and fasting and for the ordination of clergy. These days (always the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) can also be useful in engaging the whole Church in deep, intentional prayer for its entire ministry. Here is the Ember Day Collect:

Almighty God, by your grace alone we are accepted and called to your service. Strengthen us by your Holy Spirit and make us worthy of our calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

A Colour Note For You: If you have a church calendar – or if you’re worshiping in church throughout the week, you’ll notice that the days of the week often have a different colour of altar hangings from what you saw on Sunday. We are now in Ordinary Time, which is green, but Pentecost Ember days (Wed., Fri., Sat.) are red. Well, you may notice then, that the Saturday (May 25) is white on the church calendar. Why is that? It could be green if you are marking the commemoration of Bede or it could be red if you are having an Ember Day worship service. It is white on the calendar though because the Eve of Trinity Sunday takes precedence over those other calendar observances from Evening Prayer onwards. All important days of the Christian calendar have an “Eve” which begins with the Evening Prayer the day before. 

Speaking of Trinity Sunday: Next Sunday, June 26, is another Principal Feast in our Church. Here is what Britannica had to say…  Feast of the Holy Trinity, also called Trinity Sunday, feast in honour of the Trinity. It is celebrated in the Christian churches on the Sunday following Pentecost (the 50th day after Easter). It is known that the feast was celebrated on this day from as early as the 10th century. Celebration of the feast gradually spread in the churches of northern Europe, and in 1334 Pope John XXII approved it for the entire church. Do you know the one New Testament story in which the Trinity is present? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are in the same scene just once – at Jesus’ baptism. 

For Your Devotions:

Monday, May 20 is Victoria Day – the monarch’s official birthday 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.   https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/important-commemorative-days/victoria-day.html

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. 

Saturday, 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. 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 

In the hope of Christ,

Susan