Hello,
Lay Presiders’ Workshop! Coming quickly…And it’ll be well worth joining us. Saturday, Sept.20, 10am to 2pm at the cathedral. See you there…
Before that…
Prayer Study: 4-5pm, Sept.4th in the Trinity Centre. Continuing our exploration of contemplative prayer.
Guild of St. Joseph Breakfast: 9:3am on Sat., Sept.13 in the Trinity Centre.
Before we Celebrate the Beheading of John the Baptist: Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Anglican Church calendar does not contain a whole lot of “saints”. The Roman Catholic Church has over 10 000 saints that could be observed (clearly, the various congregations and individuals need to pick and choose who they observe each year).
The Anglican Church, however, does not have a process for canonising people as “saints” like the Roman Catholic Church does. Since the Reformation, our Synods do have discussions about various individuals, adding them to our calendar of observances although they do not name them as saints. In fact, the Anglican Church does not make any claims about the heavenly status of such individuals nor do we want to imply any sort of hierarchy (some being more saintly than others) so our calendar does not use the term saint even for those people who were made “saints” by the Church before the split with Rome. For example, on our calendar this week, we have Augustine of Hippo. He is named a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and other denominations but you will not see that label if you check out the Anglican calendar of observances.
Of course, there are exceptions. Our calendar uses the term saint to refer to the apostles (including Stephen) and gospel writers, Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, and Saint Michael (as in Saint Michael and All Angels).
One last tidbit…I’ve mentioned quite a few times that there are extremely few observances, of people other than Jesus himself, that bump our usual Sunday feast of our Lord Jesus Christ. The exceptions are John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Michael & All Angels. Even these people bump the usual Sunday feast only if their day actually falls on the Sunday (unless your church is named after the person).
So, now, since we’re about to celebrate another major feast of John the Baptist, I’m going to mention another “rule” of observance. The people I listed above each have just one feast that, if it falls on the Sunday, will take precedence over our usual Sunday worship. We observe multiple days for Mary, Peter, Paul, and John but only those days considered to be significant events in Jesus’ life – our story of salvation – will be celebrated on a Sunday (again, only if the day falls on a Sunday or your church bears their name). For example, the beheading of John the Baptist is August 29 but this is not John’s most important feast day – his birth is the feast that is the significant event in our story of salvation and so that is the only event of John’s life that we would celebrate on a Sunday (if it falls on the Sunday).
For Your Devotions:
Wednesday, August 27th is the commemoration of Monnica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo. Monnica was born to Christian parents in North Africa and became increasingly devout as she aged. She was thrilled when Augustine converted to Christianity and was baptized in 387 at the age of 32. It was on her way home from this joyous occasion that Monnica fell ill and died. For more information: http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/153.html
Thursday, August 28th is the memorial of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher of the Faith. Augustine was born in 354 in North Africa. He took a very round-about way to Christianity but was extremely influential once he got there. Many of his writings and sermons have survived and offer up his sometimes controversial theological perspectives. He was the Bishop of Hippo from 396 until his death in 430. If you’d like to read more, check this out: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Augustine
Friday, August 29th is the Holy Day of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. If you’d like to refresh your memory on the details of this event and learn some interesting, non-scriptural legends, check out the website that follows. For example, after Herod had ordered John’s beheading, the prophet even in death was unrelenting in voicing his condemnation of Herod’s wrong-doing. Far from being whimsical or superstitious, these legends offer commentary on the vital roles of the people in this Gospel story. https://oca.org/saints/lives/2007/08/29/102419-the-beheading-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptis
Saturday, August 30th is the commemoration of Robert McDonald, Priest in the Western Arctic. Robert was born in 1829, the second of 10 children, in a place which later became known as Winnipeg. For over 40 years, he worked as a missionary among the Gwich’in people in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Alaska – baptizing, establishing schools, and translating the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer and many hymns using the alphabet he had created for the Gwich’in language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McDonald_(missionary)
In the joy of Christ,
Susan
Deanery of Algoma 