Hello,

First, a heads up that, for the next two upcoming Mondays, I will be in England – at Canterbury Cathedral – and I will try, but cannot guarantee, to put out the usual Monday information blog. 

Now, information coming out of the Deanery Council this past Saturday:

Feb. 2 – Celebration of New Ministry for The Rev. Brad Mittleholtz at Christ Church, 2:30pm. Clergy and Lay Readers are asked to be there at 2pm to robe and get the necessary liturgical instructions.

Lenten Lunches begin on Wednesday, March 12. A location is still being finalized.

Diocesan Synod begins with the opening liturgy at the cathedral on Wednesday, May 7. The synod will gather at the Water Tower Inn on Thursday morning and will adjourn Saturday at about noon. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Roberta Bondar. 

The representatives from Church of the Redeemer in Thessalon brought news of a refugee family currently residing in Turkey – originally intending to travel to the U.S. but now choosing Canada instead – have been sponsored by St. Brice’s in North Bay. This is an expensive undertaking and, although $26 000 has already been raised, St. Brice’s is reaching out for help to raise an additional $19 000 – $20 000 in order to get this family to Canada. The total funds must be in place by September or the family will miss this opportunity for a new life. If you can help, here is the information to send a cheque:

St. Brice’s Anglican Church

1225 Cassells Street

North Bay, ON

P1B 4B8

*write “for refugee family” in the memo line, please.

If the financial requirement is not met, the government will return donations to the donors.

Happening Next Month:

Valentine’s Day Dinner for just $12! Pork loin, potatoes, vegetables, dessert, coffee, tea…Friday, Feb.14 at Holy Trinity, SSM. Tickets on sale soon.

Valentine’s Bake Sale and Tea on Saturday, Feb.15 at Emmaus, 1-3pm. For more information call 705-759-2545 or Deborah at 705-942-8259.

Coming in March:

Lenten Retreat: Saturday, March 1, 9:30am – noon at Holy Trinity, SSM

Zoom Lenten Bible Studies: Mondays, 7-8pm. In addition to looking at the Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday, Dr. Jay is going to unpack with us our baptismal renunciations and affirmations (2 per session). I’m really looking forward to that.

A Liturgical Note For You:

February 2nd is The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple.  This is a Holy Day and if, like this year, it falls on a Sunday, then it takes precedence of the usual Sunday worship. It is, however, never moved to a Sunday. Its day is Feb.2 and “that’s that”, as the saying goes. Even if you really like lighting candles and processing into the church, you don’t move the observance. You can certainly have a service on the actual day, when it doesn’t fall on a Sunday, to acknowledge this holy day. So, why am I mentioning candles? It’s because the older name for this day of observance is Candlemas. Why? Read on to find out…

Candlemas (February 2):
This day is The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple – the day when Mary went to the Temple for her purification rite, 40 days after giving birth to Jesus. Simeon takes Jesus into his arms and names him “the light to enlighten the Gentiles” and so, fittingly, this day eventually also became the day when the candles, to be used in the church throughout the coming year, were dedicated to God’s use.  Since this is a Holy Day marking one of the major events in the life of Christ, the liturgical colour for today is white.

 I was very distressed to learn that our insurance company forbids the lighting of individual congregational candles. It’s pretty difficult to have meaningful rites in the church – using our symbols effectively and abundantly – when we are limited by outside organizations. Anyway…

On Candlemas night, many people place lighted candles in their windows at home.  Like some other Christian festivals, Candlemas draws some of its elements from Paganism: In pre-Christian times, it was the festival of light. This ancient festival marked the mid point of winter, half way between the winter solstice (shortest day) and the spring equinox. There are a couple of superstitions to go along with Candlemas: Some people lit candles to scare away evil spirits on the dark winter nights. Our modern “Groundhog Day” has its roots in Candlemas as well. People believed that the weather on Candlemas predicted the weather for the rest of the winter. “If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, Winter will have another fight. If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, Winter won’t come again.”

Other superstitions include: if a candle drips on one side when carried in church on Candlemas, this denotes a death of a family member during the year. If someone brings snowdrops into the house on Candlemas day it symbolises a parting or death. (According to these superstitions, death seems inevitable, doesn’t it?)

Apparently, any Christmas decorations not taken down at Epiphany should be left up until Candlemas Day and then taken down. This is when the folks at Buckingham Palace and at the Vatican take theirs down.

A Candlemas Prayer

Glorious God, Simeon names Jesus “a light to enlighten the Gentiles.” So may we be reminded by the light of the candle that Jesus is the light of salvation for the whole world, shining into the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.  Guide us to bring his light into the world, inspire us by your Holy Spirit to recognize him who is the glory of Israel and the light for all nations, your Son Jesus Christ who reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God before all time, in our time, and always. Amen.

Bless this (these) candle(s) to our use, O Lord. May they be your light in the darkness, hope for the weary, and a sign of your reconciling love in the world. Amen.

The propers (sentence, readings, prayers) for this day are found on p.401 of the BAS if you are preparing a worship service.

For Your Devotions:

Monday, January 27th is the memorial of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher of the Faith, died in 407.  John’s energetic and easily understood preaching earned him the nickname, “golden-mouthed”. The people loved him – they felt he was one of them – but his lack of political savvy resulted in a stormy time with bishops and social elite. He spoke out against the frivolity and abuses of the wealthy and did not entertain lavishly as other bishops did. His guests believed he was holding out on them because the meals were so plain but, actually, John had damaged his stomach through too much fasting and poor eating habits as a result of overly strict spiritual practices. One wealthy woman plotted with a rival bishop to charge John with all sorts of frivolous things. John tried to appeal to the pope but, when your enemies are the rich and powerful you’ve insulted, appeals don’t get very far. To make a long story short, John ended up dying in exile. To learn more:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-Chrysostom

Tuesday, January 28th is the memorial of Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Friar, Teacher of the Faith, died in 1274. Thomas is thought to be one of the greatest thinkers of our faith – a little too radical for some (he incorporated a lot of Aristotle’s thinking into his religious works). Thomas was born into an aristocratic family and was placed in a monastery by his family because they hoped he would eventually become the abbot. Before you start feeling too kindly toward his family…this was purely a political and social move on their part.  When Thomas decided to pursue a spiritual career (by joining the Dominicans), his family had him abducted. Thomas out-stubborned his family and, after a year of captivity, they relented. For more info:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Thomas-Aquinas

Thursday, January 30th is the commemoration of Charles Stuart, King of England and Scotland, beheaded in 1649. Charles believed in the divine right of kings and, from the start, butted heads with parliament (in fact, he dissolved parliament and made his own decisions quite regularly). We all know this could never end well (and having top advisors who persecuted Puritans certainly didn’t help)…The end result was civil war. Oliver Cromwell captured Charles and tried to force him to sign a law abolishing bishops. Charles refused and for this and other accusations of “high treason”, Charles was beheaded. Throughout it all, Charles remained a staunch supporter of the Church of England. To read more:  http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/92.html

In the joy of Christ,

Susan