Good day,

It’s going to be a hot one here in the Soo…

Happening Tomorrow!! Tuesday, June 25, 6pm – 8pm at the cathedral is the presentation of “The Bible: Hearing It Again For the First Time”.  We’ll enjoy a light supper and then get into some super interesting and inspiring stuff about our sacred text.  

A Liturgical Note For You: If you are having a worship service today, the liturgical colour would be white for the Holy Day of Saint John the Baptist. Today we celebrate his birth (now you know he’s important in our story of salvation because, most often, we mark a person’s death with our calendar observances). We use white just as we use white for Jesus’ birth. Why white? Well…

White is the symbol of the heavenly realm and God’s divine light. This is the color of cleanliness, holiness and simplicity. On icons and frescoes, saints and righteous people are usually depicted clothed in white as righteous ones – people who were good, honest, and lived by “the Truth.” In the same manner, white was used in the swaddling bands of babies, the shrouds of the dead and the robes of angels. Only righteous souls were depicted as wearing white. For these reasons, white is the colour used for baptismal robes. Among other significances, we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ at our baptism. White is also the colour used at funerals, connecting this to our baptism and the victory we gained in Christ through the baptismal mystery.

For Your Devotions:

Monday, June 24th is the Holy Day of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist. John was born to prepare the way for the Saviour of the world…the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke first introduces us to John’s parents – Elizabeth and Zechariah – and draws unmistakeable parallels between them and Abraham and Sarah.  Luke creates through John a bridge between the Old and New Testaments. For All the Saints says, “the birth of John the Baptist gathered up and embodied the whole truth of the Old Testament and made it ready for its own perfection in Christ Jesus.” To read more, check out p.204…  https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/ForAlltheSaints.pdf

Friday, June 28th is the memorial of Irenaeus, Bishop Lyons, Teacher of the Faith, died about 202. Irenaeus was one of the main opponents to Gnosticism (a heresy which threatened the early Church). Through his writings against Gnosticism, we have Irenaeus to thank in large part for our current creed, the canon of Scripture, and the authority of the episcopal office. He is thought to have been born around 120 A.D. and to have died about 202 or 203 A.D.  Irenaeus knew Polycarp who, reportedly, knew John the Apostle…I think that’s cool! For more info: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Irenaeus
 
 Saturday, June 29th is the Holy Day of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. If your church is named after one of these saints, you can transfer this day to Sunday. Have you ever wondered why the two greatest apostles of the early Church share a Holy Day? This is because they are believed to have been martyred during the same persecution of Christians by Nero in 64 A.D. (They are celebrated separately, Peter for his Confession and Paul for his Conversion, on our calendar as well). To read about these biblical greats, have a look at p.208… https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/ForAlltheSaints.pdf 

In the joy of Christ,

Susan