Month: October 2012

Prayers and liturgy

Paulinus, Missionary and Archbishop

Saint PaulinusThe collect for today, the Feast of St. Paulinus (c. 584-644), Monk, first Archbishop of York, Missionary (source):

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Paulinus, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of northern England. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

With the Epistle and Gospel for a Bishop or Archbishop, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):
The Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:37-43

The St. Paulinus stained glass was made by the firm of C.E. Kempe of London and installed in the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, St John’s, Newfoundland, in 1913. Photograph taken by admin, 7 September 2009.

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Denys, Bishop and Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Denys (d. c. 258), Bishop of Paris, Patron Saint of France, Martyr (source):

O GOD, who as on this day didst endow thy blessed Martyr and Bishop Saint Denys with strength to suffer stedfastly for thy sake, and didst join unto him Rusticus and Eleutherius for the preaching of thy glory to the Gentiles: grant us, we beseech thee, so to follow their good example; that for the love of thee we may despise all worldly prosperity, and be afraid of no manner of worldly adversity. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lesson: Acts 17:22-34
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:1-9

Bonnat, Martyrdom of St DenisArtwork: Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat, Martyrdom of St Denis, c. 1880. Panthéon, Paris.

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Prayers and liturgy

Robert Grosseteste, Bishop and Scholar

The collect for today, the commemoration of Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175-1253), Bishop of Lincoln, Scholar (source):

Robert GrossetesteO God our heavenly Father, who didst raise up thy faithful servant Robert Grosseteste to be a bishop and pastor in thy Church and to feed thy flock: Give to all pastors abundant gifts of thy Holy Spirit, that they may minister in thy household as true servants of Christ and stewards of thy divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Acts 20:28-32
The Gospel: St. Luke 16:10-15

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Prayers and liturgy

Harvest Thanksgiving

The collect for today, Harvest Thanksgiving Day, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who crownest the year with thy goodness, and hast given unto us the fruits of the earth in their season: Give us grateful hearts, that we may unfeignedly thank thee for all thy loving-kindness, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson Isaiah 55:1-12
The Gospel: St. John 6:27-35

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Sermons

Sermon for Harvest Thanksgiving

“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth…”

Harvest Thanksgiving is a sensual delight for all of our senses: sight, touch, smell, and taste. All our senses, it seems, except one. Hearing. Pumpkins don’t speak and zucchinis don’t sing! And yet, Isaiah’s wonderful words open us out to the logic of Harvest Thanksgiving without which all of its symbolic and spiritual significance is utterly lost.

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

A wonderful passage, it locates the celebrations of Harvest in God’s Word in creation. For post-moderns, the first thing to note is that there is creation or to put it in non-biblical language, there is nature; an ordered world where one thing is what it is distinct from other things. Creation and nature are not just human constructs; mere words bandied about to amuse ourselves but really only sound signifying nothing. Zucchini are zucchini and not on their way to becoming, becoming what? This is the great irony. If you can’t say what it is, neither does it make any sense to talk about what it is evolving into. Things have their own vital and dynamic principle of identity because of the dynamic of the Creator without whom nothing is what it is.

Harvest Thanksgiving is a celebration of two things. First, there is the celebration of the good order of Creation with the great and distinctive diversity of the things of the created or natural world; and secondly, there is the celebration of human labour working with the order of creation that brings forth a further kind of abundance both through cultivation and agriculture, a kind of civilizing of the natural world, we might say. The second depends upon the first. Bread and wine, symbolic of both our material needs and our sensual pleasures, are the result of human mind and human labour that effects a transformation of the created world; it becomes something more, though not less, than what it is when left untouched. Bread and wine are not found in fields and orchards! They are the products of the human spirit but only through working with the Divine Maker, the Creator of all that is that is.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 8 – 14 October

Tuesday, October 9th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
7:30pm Parish Council Meeting

Thursday, October 11th
6:30-7:30pm Brownies’ Mtg. – Parish Hall

Saturday, October 13th
3:00 Holy Matrimony: Athena McLellan & Daniel Poole

Sunday, October 14th, Trinity XIX
8:00am Holy Communion (followed by Men’s Club Breakfast)
10:30am Holy Communion
4:00pm Evening Prayer – Christ Church
4:30pm Holy Communion – KES

Upcoming Events:

Friday, October 19th
7:30pm Christ Church Concert Series: Organ Recital, Elizabeth Harwood

Sunday, November 11th, Remembrance Day
9:00am Holy Communion – Christ Church
10:00am Cenotaph Service – King’s-Edgehill School
11:00am Cenotaph Service – Windsor Cenotaph

Saturday, November 24th
4:30-6:30pm Annual Parish Ham Supper – Parish Hall

Sunday, December 2nd
Advent/Christmas Services of Carols and Lessons with King’s-Edgehill
4:30pm Christ Church (Gr. 7-11)
7:00pm KES Chapel (Gr. 12)

Friday, December 21st
7:00pm Christ Church Concert Series: Capella Regalis, Men and Boys Choir

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Prayers and liturgy

The Eighteenth Sunday After Trinity

The collect for today, the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:4-8
The Gospel: St. Mark 12:28-37

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Prayers and liturgy

William Tyndale, Translator and Martyr

The collect for today, the commemoration of William Tyndale (c. 1495-1536), Priest, Translator of the Scriptures, Reformation Martyr (source):

William TyndaleO Lord, grant to thy people
grace to hear and keep thy word
that, after the example of thy servant William Tyndale,
we may both profess thy gospel
and also be ready to suffer and die for it,
to the honour of thy name;
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: St. James 1:21-25
The Gospel: St. John 12:44-50

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Francis of Assisi

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor (source):

O God,
who ever delightest to reveal thyself
to the childlike and lowly of heart,
grant that, following the example of the blessed Francis,
we may count the wisdom of this world as foolishness
and know only Jesus Christ and him crucified,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: Galatians 6:14-18
The Gospel: St. Matthew 11:25-30

Master of the Bardi St Francis, Stigmata of St FrancisArtwork: Master of the Bardi Saint Francis, Stigmata of Saint Francis, c. 1350. Tempera on wood, Uffizi, Florence.

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Prayers and liturgy

Remigius, Bishop

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Remigius (c. 438-533), Bishop of Rheims, Apostle to the Franks (source):

O God, who by the teaching of thy faithful servant and bishop Remigius didst turn the nation of the Franks from vain idolatry to the worship of thee, the true and living God, in the fullness of the catholic faith; Grant that we who glory in the name of Christian may show forth our faith in worthy deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Master of St Gilles, St Remigius Baptises ClovisThe Epistle: 1 St. John 4:1-6
The Gospel: St. John 14:3-7

Remigius was consecrated bishop of Rheims at age 22. The pagan Clovis I, who had married the Christian princess Clothilde, began his reign as king of the Franks about 20 years later, in 481.

Before entering combat against German tribes at Tolbiac, Clovis prayed to “Clothilde’s God” for victory. His soldiers won the battle, and Clothilde asked Remigius to teach the king about Christianity. Clovis was amazed by the story of “this unarmed God who was not of the race of Thor or Odin”. In the words of Remigius, the king came “to adore what he had burnt and to burn what he had adored”.

In 496, Remigius baptised Clovis in a public ceremony at Rheims Cathedral. Three thousand Franks also became Christians. Under the king’s protection, Remigius was able to spread the gospel and build churches throughout Gaul.

Artwork: Master of St Gilles, Saint Remigius baptises Clovis I, c. 1500. Oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

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