Year: 2011

Prayers and liturgy

Catherine, Virgin and Martyr

School of Spinello, St. CatherineThe collect for a virgin or matron, on the Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria (4th century?), Virgin and Martyr, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD Most High, the creator of all mankind, we bless thy holy Name for the virtue and grace which thou hast given unto holy women in all ages, especially thy servant Catherine; and we pray that the example of her faith and purity, and courage unto death, may inspire many souls in this generation to look unto thee, and to follow thy blessed Son Jesus Christ our Saviour; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 9:36-42
The Gospel: St Luke 10:38-42

Click here to read more about Saint Catherine.

Artwork: School of Spinello Aretino, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 14th-century fresco, Basilica di San Domenico, Arezzo. Photograph taken by admin, 27 May 2010.

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Prayers and liturgy

Clement, Bishop of Rome

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Clement (c. 30-c. 100), Bishop of Rome, Martyr (source):

Milan Cathedral, St. ClementEternal Father, creator of all,
whose martyr Clement bore witness with his blood
to the love that he proclaimed and the gospel that he preached:
give us thankful hearts as we celebrate thy faithfulness,
revealed to us in the lives of thy saints,
and strengthen us in our pilgrimage as we follow thy Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 2 Timothy 2:1-7
The Gospel: St. Luke 6:37-45

Click here to read more about Saint Clement.

Artwork: Pope St. Clement, stained glass, 1567, Milan Cathedral.

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Prayers and liturgy

Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Cecilia (3rd century), Virgin, Martyr (source):

O GOD, which makest us glad with the yearly festival of blessed Cecilia thy Virgin and Martyr: grant, we beseech thee; that as we do venerate her in our outward office, so we may follow the example of her godly conversation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Lesson: Ecclesiasticus 51:9-12
The Gospel: St. Matthew 25:1-13

Domenichino, St. Cecilia with an Angel Holding MusicArtwork: Domenichino, Saint Cecilia with an Angel Holding Music, c. 1620. Oil on canvas, Louvre.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Sunday Next Before Advent

“Then Jesus turned”

The Sunday Next Before Advent – proxima ante. What a lovely conjunction of prepositions, those little words that give direction and position to words and ideas in  their relation to one another! With the word ‘next’, we have a sense of continuity, as in a series where one thing follows upon another, next being what follows in sequence. With the word ‘before’, we are alerted to the beginnings of something new; in this case, the season of Advent. This Sunday, with its double prepositions of next and before, signals a transition. It is a time of endings and beginnings; a time, too, of renewal.

The endings and beginnings all turn upon one thing: our life in Christ. “Come and see,” Jesus says here in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, as part of the dialogue of question and answer with two of the disciples of John the Baptist who, as it turns out, are about to make a transition and become the disciples of Jesus. “What do you seek?” Jesus has asked them, having turned to them as they were following him after hearing John the Baptist’s remarkable pronouncement about Jesus as “the Lamb of God.” They had replied, oddly it may seem with another question, “Rabbi – Master, where dwellest thou?”

Jesus’ question and statement are the first forms of direct speech by Jesus in John’s Gospel. “What seek ye?” “Come and see.” The first question; the first command. There is something profound and wonderful in these words. They speak at once to the whole pageant of our lives in faith – seeking ultimately what God wants for us which is to be found in our coming and seeing but also in our abiding with Jesus. This has been, we might say, the nature and purpose of the Trinity season. Yet, there is the Advent theme, too, signalled here, at once by John the Baptist, who points out Jesus to us, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” and in the simple but profound moment of Jesus turning to the disciples of John to ask them, “what seek ye?” Advent is about our turning back to the center of our lives but only because the center has turned to us. “Then Jesus turned.”

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Statements and other writings

Christ Church Chronicles, Advent 2011

The Advent 2011 issue of the parish newsletter, Christ Church Chronicles, can be downloaded as a pdf document via this link. Previous issues can be downloaded via this page.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 21 – 27 November

Monday, November 21st
4:45-5:15pm World Religions/Inquirer’s Class — Room 204, King’s-Edgehill School

Tuesday, November 22nd
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
7:30pm Christ Church Book Club: Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul, by David Adams Richards

Thursday, November 24th
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-In
3:00pm Service at Windsor Elms
6:30-7:30pm Brownies’ Mtg. – Parish Hall

Friday, November 25th
11:00am Holy Communion at Dykeland Lodge
3:30pm Holy Communion at Gladys Manning Home

Sunday, November 27th, First Sunday in Advent
8:00am Holy Communion
9:30am Holy Communion at KES
10:30am Holy Baptism & Communion
2:00pm AMD Service of the Deaf
4:00pm Choral Evensong at Christ Church

Upcoming Events:

The Advent/Christmas Services of Carols and Lessons with King’s-Edgehill will be on Sunday, December 4th, the Second Sunday in Advent, at 4:30pm, here at Christ Church (Gr. 7-11) and at 7:00pm at the Chapel (Gr. 12). On Sunday, December 18th at 7:30pm there will be a special Christmas Concert featuring Paula Rockwell and others. Come and join us!

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Prayers and liturgy

The Sunday Next Before Advent

The collect for today, the Sunday Next before Advent, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Jeremiah 23:5-8
The Gospel: St. John 1:35-45

Christ Borne by Angels, Santa Praxedes

Artwork: Christ Borne by Angels, 9th-century mosaic, Vault of Chapel of San Zeno, Basilica of Saint Praxades, Rome.  Photograph taken by admin, 25 April 2010.

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Prayers and liturgy

Hilda, Abbess

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Hilda (614-680), Abbess of Whitby (source):

O eternal God,
who madest the abbess Hilda to shine as a jewel in England
and through her holiness and leadership
didst bless thy Church with newness of life and unity:
so assist us by thy grace
that we, like her, may yearn for the gospel of Christ
and bring reconciliation to those who are divided;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6
The Gospel: St. Matthew 19:27-29
St. Hilda

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Prayers and liturgy

Margaret, Queen

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Margaret (1046-1093), Queen of Scotland, Philanthropist, Reformer of the Church (source):

Shaw, Queen Margaret of ScotlandO God, the ruler of all,
who didst call thy servant Margaret to an earthly throne
and gavest to her both zeal for thy Church and love for thy people,
that she might advance thy heavenly kingdom:
mercifully grant that we who commemorate her example
may be fruitful in good works
and attain to the glorious crown of thy saints;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Proverbs 31:10-11, 20, 26, 28
The Gospel: St. Matthew 13:44-52

Click here to read more about St. Margaret.

Artwork: Henry Shaw, Queen Margaret of Scotland (after a painting by Hugo van der Goes of about 1483 at Hampton Court Palace), 19th century, Private collection.

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Prayers and liturgy

Hugh, Bishop

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Hugh (1135-1200), Bishop of Lincoln (source):

Connor, St. HughO God,
who didst endow thy servant Hugh
with a wise and cheerful boldness
and didst teach him to commend to earthly rulers
the discipline of a holy life:
give us grace like him to be bold in the service of the gospel,
putting our confidence in Christ alone,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: Titus 2:7-8,11-14
The Gospel: St. Matthew 24:42-47

Artwork: Kathleen Connor, St. Hugh, mid-20th century processional banner, Lincoln Cathedral.

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