Year: 2015

Prayers and liturgy

Paulinus, Missionary and Archbishop

Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Saint Paulinus windowThe 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

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

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

Notre Dame de Paris, St. DenisArtwork: Saint Denis holding his head in his hand flanked by two angels, Notre-Dame de Paris.

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Prayers and liturgy

William Tyndale, Translator and Martyr

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

O 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

Artwork: Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, William Tyndale statue, 1884, Victoria Embankment Gardens, London. Photograph taken by admin, 30 September 2015.

Inscription on bronze plaque:
William Tyndale
First translator of the New Testament into English from the Greek.
Born A.D. 1484, died a martyr at Vilvorde in Belgium, A.D. 1536.
“Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” – “the entrance of thy words giveth light.” Psalm CXIX. 105.130.
“And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his son.” I. John V.II.
The last words of William Tyndale were “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes”. Within a year afterwards, a bible was placed in every parish church by the King’s command.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God”

“There was war in heaven,” we heard on The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels just past. It is a daunting prospect to hear about war in heaven. Surely the endless parade of wars on earth is more than enough to disturb us, let alone the thought of war in heaven. For however we conceive of heaven, war would not seem to be part of the picture. And yet, the idea of war in heaven connects wonderfully to the readings of this day. We are being taught about love in the face of all of the enmities and divisions, all of the wars of our world and day, and, above all, love in the face of the wars in our own hearts.

The Collect for today echoes the demands of the baptismal service wherein we “renounce the devil and all his works,” “the vain pomp and glory of the world,” and “the sinful desires of the flesh,” reminding us of the necessity of God’s grace for us in the living out of our lives in order “to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil.” These are the very things that have been renounced as the precondition for professing Christ and being baptised in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Baptism is about the triumph of God’s love over and above the limits of all our human loves. That, in a way, is the point, a point which is easily overlooked and forgotten. We forget that our loves are incomplete. We forget about the easy animosities in our own hearts and souls, the wars within each of us. We forget about sin and evil.

Baptism is a strong reminder to all of us of our Christian identity and vocation. It is about the triumph of God’s love and goodness over all that stands against the truth of God, absolutely all, past, present and future in the whole of human history and experience. The ultimate expression of that principle of opposition to God is the devil, Satan, Lucifer, that ancient serpent, who embodies the contradiction of all and every sin. Think about it for just a moment. Lucifer means light-bearer. That is the meaning of his very creation and the very vocation of his being. But what happens when he denies his creatureliness and his calling? He becomes the prince of darkness and the prince of lies, a study in absolute contradiction. He exists in his own denial of his very being and the purpose of his being. Such is darkness rather than light. And such is the darkness in us and in our world, a world that abounds in no end of evil and sorrow and suffering.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 5 – 11 October

Monday, October 5th
6:00-7:00pm Brownies/Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, October 6th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place

Thursday, October 8th
6:30-7:30pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Saturday, October 10th
9:00-11:00am Men’s Club – Church Decorating for Harvest Thanksgiving

Sunday, October 11th, Trinity XIX/Harvest Thanksgiving
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
4:00pm Evening Prayer – Christ Church

Upcoming Events:

Sunday, October 18th
5:00pm Capella Regalis Concert, St. Andrew’s, Hantsport – 125th Anniversary Celebration

Tuesday, October 20th
7:00pm Christ Church Book Club – Parish Hall
Nicholas Carr’s The Glass Cage: Automation and Us (2014) & Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt (2014)

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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):

Master of Reichenau School, Christ Speaks to his DisciplesLORD, 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

Artwork: Master of the Reichenau School, Christ Speaks to the Disciples (from The Pericopes of Henry II), c. 1010. Illuminated Manuscript, The Bavarian State Library, Munich.

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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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Sermons

Meditation for Michaelmas


“Michael and his angels fought against the dragon”

“There was war in heaven,” John tells us in the lesson from The Book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine. While it might seem to be at the opposite end of the biblical spectrum this reading from the very last book of the Bible complements the opening chapters of the very first book of the Bible, The Book of Genesis. Angels are very much a feature of creation.

Angels cannot be seen. They can only be thought. In a way, that is the whole point. They are pure, intellectual and spiritual beings. Creation is not just about the visible world; it includes things unseen and invisible. Light is distinguished from the dark before there is even a sun and a moon. There is the whole idea of the invisible reasons for the visible things of the world. Angels are an important part of the theological reflection upon Genesis.

They are an inescapable feature of the biblical landscape for Jews, Christians and Muslims. For Muslims belief in Angels is a fundamental part of the Islamic faith. For Jews and Christians, they are associated with the invisible things of creation.

Angels help us to think about our humanity and our place in the world. They are an important reminder to us of our being as spiritual creatures, creatures who think and love, activities which are invisible yet real. In the theological tradition, angels are pure intellectual and spiritual beings; like us except they are incorporeal. They are, we might suggest in ways that connect to Plato and Aristotle and their successors, the thoughts of God in creation. So they remind us of an aspect of our being as spiritual beings.

They remind us that we are not alone. We are at once attracted to and fearful of the idea that we are cosmic orphans adrift in an indifferent universe. The angels remind us of a great and innumerable company of spiritual and intellectual beings of which we are a part.

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Prayers and liturgy

Jerome, Doctor and Priest

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Jerome (c. 342-420), Priest, Monk, Translator of the Scriptures, Doctor of the Church (source):

O Lord, thou God of truth, whose Word is a lantern to our feet and a light upon our path: We give thee thanks for thy servant Jerome, and those who, following in his steps, have labored to render the Holy Scriptures in the language of the people; and we beseech thee that thy Holy Spirit may overshadow us as we read the written Word, and that Christ, the living Word, may transform us according to thy righteous will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
The Gospel: St. Luke 24:44-48

Manetti, St. Jerome Supported by Two AngelsOne of the most scholarly and learned early church fathers, St. Jerome devoted much of his life to accurately translating the Holy Bible from the original languages of Hebrew and Greek into Latin.

Born near Aquileia, northeast Italy, of Christian parents, Jerome travelled widely. He received a classical education at Rome and travelled to Gaul where he became a monk. He later moved to Palestine, spending five years as an ascetic in the Syrian desert. In 374, he was ordained a priest in Antioch. He then pursued biblical studies at Constantinople under Gregory Nazianzus and translated works by Eusebius, Origen, and others.

Travelling to Rome in 382, Jerome became secretary to the aged Pope Damasus. By the time the pope died three years later, Jerome had become involved in theological controversies in which he antagonised many church leaders and theologians. He left Rome under a cloud, returning to Palestine where he lived as a monk in Bethlehem for the rest of his life.

Over several decades, Jerome wrote biblical commentaries and works promoting monasticism and asceticism. Most importantly, he produced fresh Latin translations of most of the Old and New Testaments, based on the original biblical languages. This work formed the basis of the Vulgate, which remained the standard Scriptural text of the western church for over a millennium.

Artwork: Rutilio Manetti, Saint Jerome Supported by Two Angels, 1628. Oil on canvas, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi, Siena.

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