Good day,

July is pretty quiet in terms of events. But there are two interesting mission campaigns in August…

Stuff-a-Stocking is back!  We’ll be having “Christmas in August”- Sunday, August 25 – to support the Christmas gift ministry of Algoma Angels. If you can hang or place a stocking (or some other festive container) in your fellowship space or at the back of your worship space in order to collect donations in support of this cause, that would be much appreciated. All of the money collected goes toward buying Christmas gifts for families in our area who struggle financially. Your donations will be collected by one of the “Angels” after Sunday, August 25. Many thanks in advance! (If you need a Christmas stocking, let me know…I have some to hand out). 

Also in August…The Bread of Life sermon series. How about we put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. As we hear about Jesus being the bread of life, let’s help struggling community members to slather something delicious and healthy on their bread.   This initiative is spearheaded by Zion Lutheran and, hopefully, joined by many other churches in our area. If you’re interested, the schedule suggested is: Sunday, Aug.4: Jam, Sunday, Aug.11:

Peanut Butter, Sunday, Aug.18: margarine/butter and Sunday, Aug.25: canned meat (tuna, ham, chicken, etc.).  Again, many thanks in advance!

A Liturgical Note For You:

Since we are hearing about Benedict today – the person responsible for transforming monasticism into what we are most familiar with – I thought you might enjoy some information about a couple of the prayer hours. 

Benedict formalized eight prayer “hours”: In the “Rule” of Benedict of Nursia, we read of Matins or Vigils (not the same as what we now call Morning Prayer), Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. These are the “Divine Offices” and generally consist of psalms, scripture reading, prayers, and perhaps a hymn or two. Matins or Vigils is the “night office” so it may be best to refer to this office as Vigils since the word matins actually means morning and could cause confusion. This office is always sung (or said) before the sunrise – not at sunrise, before sunrise when it is very dark. There is no set time for Vigils but it is often prayed at about 3am.  Lauds (meaning “praise”, associated with the resurrection of Christ) is the morning office, sung at daybreak. Next come Prime, Terce, Sext, and None – the “little hours”. The Office of Prime is prayed at about 7am and was actually added – according to John Cassian – in order to prevent the monks at Bethlehem from going back to bed in between Lauds and Terce. Some communities pray the Office of Prime and some do not. Terce, Sext, and None are Latin terms that mean “third”, “sixth”, and “ninth”, respectively. So, Terce is at the third hour (9am), Sext is at the sixth hour (noon), and None is at the ninth hour (3pm).  Vespers means “shadows” and so it is the office sung at sunset. Clearly the time of this office will vary according to what season you are in.  This office is strongly aligned with our Evening Prayer and predates monasticism since it has its roots in the sunset sacrifices of the Jerusalem Temple. Compline is the closing office of the day and is prayed when it is fully night, i.e. completely dark. There is no set time for this prayer office although it would typically come before midnight and is considered the church’s “bedtime prayer”.

For Your Devotions:

Thursday, July 11th is the memorial of Benedict of Nursia. Perhaps you recognize Benedict as the father of Western monasticism as we know it.  Benedict was born in Italy in the late 5th century and began his spiritual career as a hermit. News of his sanctity spread and he was encouraged to become the abbot of a monastery. True to form, the lives of these early church heroes are never easy…Someone did not take kindly to Benedict’s zealous reforms (aimed at adding structure and spirituality to these sometimes questionable institutions), and tried to poison him. Benedict returned to his life as a hermit but, thankfully, returned to monastic life to develop his now famous “Rule” providing the structure of prayer, work, and study for a monk’s day. For more info:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Benedict-of-Nursia

Saturday, July 13th is the commemoration of Henry, Missionary Bishop in Finland during the 12th century. Despite being venerated as a saint, the life and martyr’s death of Henry, an English bishop, is actually quite mysterious. Among other interesting ‘facts’, his murderer is said to have lost his scalp when he put on the dead bishop’s mitre. For more info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_(bishop_of_Finland)

In the joy of Christ,

Susan