Year: 2016

Prayers and liturgy

Saint John Chrysostom

The collect for today, the Feast of St. John Chrysostom (347-407), Preacher, Doctor of the Church, Archbishop of Constantinople (source):

O God of truth and love,
who gavest to thy servant John Chrysostom
eloquence to declare thy righteousness in the great congregation
and courage to bear reproach for the honour of thy name:
mercifully grant to the ministers of thy word
such excellence in preaching
that all people may share with them
in the glory that shall be revealed;
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: Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Gospel: St Luke 21:12-15

Saint John ChrysostomArtwork: Saint John Chrysostom, c. 9th century. Mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey.

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Prayers and liturgy

Polycarp, Bishop, Apostolic Man, Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Apostolic Man, Martyr (source):

Almighty God,
who gavest to thy servant Polycarp
boldness to confess the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ
before the rulers of this world
and courage to suffer death for his faith:
grant that we too may be ready
to give an answer for the faith that is in us
and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Revelation 2:8-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 20:20-23

Church tradition holds that Polycarp was born c. AD 69 of Christian parents and was a disciple of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, who ordained him Bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp was arrested during a pagan festival in Smyrna (present-day Izmir, Turkey) and brought before the Roman pro-consul.

[W]hen the magistrate pressed him hard and said, “Swear the oath, and I will release you; revile the Christ,” Polycarp said, “Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”

But on his persisting again and saying, “Swear by the genius of Caesar,” he answered, “If you suppose vainly that I will swear by the genius of Caesar, as you say, and feign that you are ignorant of who I am, hear you plainly: I am a Christian. But if you would learn the doctrine of Christianity, assign a day and give me a hearing.”

He was burned at the stake for refusing to renounce Christ.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp was written down by the church of Smyrna and sent as a letter to the church at Philomelium. It is the first Christian martyrology. Several translations of the text can be accessed via this page.

Martyrdom of St Polycarp, Church of St Polycarp, Izmir

Artwork: Martyrdom of St Polycarp, Church of St. Polycarp, Izmir (ancient Smyrna), Turkey.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

“He spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue”

Paul’s conversion is momentous in the story of Christianity. He is sometimes called the second founder of Christianity for with Paul the Christian Faith goes global at least historically. His travels along Roman roads and in Roman captivity contributes to the spread of the Christian Faith. His story, especially his ‘conversion’, marks the beginnings of Christianity as distinct from Judaism and from the surrounding Hellenistic culture under the dominance of the Roman Empire. Yet his conversion is entirely within the context of Judaism and within the syncretic nature of what will come to be called the first century AD, anno domini, in some sense because of St. Paul as he, too, will come to be called.

Told to us three times in The Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s conversion is more about the beginnings of a process of discovery and understanding than simply a one-off event. Certainly there is a dramatic quality to the way Paul tells his story about what happened on the Damascus road. Certainly, it seems, something happened. But his conversion is not from one religion to another because Christianity does not yet really exist as a distinct entity. His conversion is really his insight into a new understanding about the nature of the Messiah which has yet to be fully developed.

He is, he says, a Jew from Cilicia, from Tarsus, “a citizen of no mean city”, and crucially too, he will lay claim to being both a Pharisee and to being a Roman citizen. Both are equally important in terms of the significance of Paul and what will be his teachings for the development of Christianity.

The lesson is Paul’s speech to the people about his experience and its meaning. The context is more powerful than we might realize and more complex in ways that challenge Christians with respect to other religions and cultures. The context is one of extreme hostility and violence. The preceding verses of this chapter are altogether remarkable. Paul has gone into the Temple in Jerusalem with the intention to teach about Jesus. Before he can say anything he becomes an object of derision and hate. He is, first, accused of “teaching men everywhere against the people and the law and his place.” Secondly, he is accused of bringing a gentile, a Greek from Ephesus named Trophimus, into the temple which is regarded as a defilement of “this holy place.” He does not seem to have been responsible for this but in another way it belongs to the interplay between Jew and Gentile.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Conversion of Saint Paul

The collect for today, the Feast of The Conversion of Saint Paul, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O GOD, who, through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint Paul, hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine which he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 21:40-22:16
The Gospel: St. Luke 21:10-19

Paolo Veronese, Conversion of SaulArtwork: Paolo Veronese, Conversion of Saul, c. 1570. Oil on canvas, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

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Sermons

Sermon for Septuagesima, 2:00pm service of Atlantic Ministry of the Deaf

“Speak the Word only”

The grandeur of God meets the misery of man in the bleak mid-winter of all our discontents. Such is Epiphany. The season of teaching is also the season of miracles. The miracle stories of the Scriptures make manifest something about the nature of God and about our humanity. The miracles make known what God seeks for our humanity, namely, our healing and our wholeness. Here we have the story of the healing of the leper and the healing of the Centurion’s servant, a story which complements it seems to me the familiar Epiphany story of the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee where Jesus turns the water into wine, the very best wine.

That story in John’s Gospel was the “beginning of signs” which Jesus did “and manifested forth his glory”. That is an Epiphany but within that story there were some other epiphanies captured especially in the exchange between Jesus and Mary. “They have no wine”, she says to Jesus and, then, she says to the disciples (and us) “Do whatever he tells you”. In between those two statements is Jesus’s seemingly strange and disconcerting remark. “O woman what is that to me and you. Mine hour has not yet come.”

“They have no wine” is an epiphany, a making known of the human predicament. More than just a factual statement about the wine running out – party gone bust, as it were – it is a symbolic statement about human emptiness and futility. We lack in ourselves what we need for our ultimate good and happiness. We lack the wine of divinity that gladdens the heart of man and that brings joy to our lives. How shall we achieve that which we desire but cannot get on our own because of the disorders and disarray of our lives? Only through his “hour”. What is his “hour”? The passion and crucifixion of Christ which belongs to the purpose of God’s engagement with our humanity in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. “This beginning of signs” is connected to the central event in the story of Christ, his sacrifice for us.

Do what he tells you is our response to what God seeks for us. What is asked of us is our response to his word and will.

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Sermons

Sermon for Septuagesima

“He sent them into his vineyard”

January, the forgotten poet of Stanley, Nova Scotia, Alden Nowlan, remarks, signals a truth about Maritime winters, “a truth that all men share but almost never utter. This is a country where a man can die simply from being caught outside.” He was speaking about this kind of week and day here. Charles G.D. Roberts, a celebrated Canadian poet from New Brunswick and a professor at King’s College when the University was located here in Windsor, captures the winter scene as well in a poem entitled The Winter Fields written for the Centenary of Shelley in 1890.

Winds here, and sleet, and frost that bites like steel.
The low bleak hill rounds under the low sky.
Naked of flock and fold the fallows lie,
Thin streaked with meagre drift. The gusts reveal
By fits the dim grey snakes of fence, that steal
Through the white dusk. The hill-foot poplars sigh,
While storm and death with winter trample by,
And the iron fields ring sharp, and blind lights reel.

“Winds here,” he says. I like to think that “here” means the winter fields of the environs of Windsor. But while the octet – the first eight lines of the sonnet – evokes the harsh realities of winter, the sestet, which completes the sonnet, opens us out to another reflection. Hid “in the lonely ridges, wrenched with pain” of the bleak mid-winter landscape is “the germ of ecstasy – the sum/ of Life that waits on summer, till the rain/ Whisper in April and the crocus come.” Lurking beneath the snow and ice of the cold death of winter lies the hope of spring – “the sum of Life that waits on summer”.

These poetic reflections complement the Scriptural readings for this Sunday, a day designated and adorned with what might seem to be a rather antiquated and awkward term, not a little mysterious and strange, Septuagesima. It signals a shift in emphasis. The contemplations of divinity that are so much a strong feature of the Epiphany season with its concentration upon the essential divinity of Jesus Christ give place to the ground of creation, to the vineyard of human labour and work.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 25 – 31 January

Monday, January 25th, Conversion of St. Paul
4:45-5:15pm Confirmation Class – Rm. 206, KES
6:00-7:00pm Brownies/Sparks – Parish Hall
7:00 Holy Communion

Tuesday, January 26th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-7:30pm Brownies/Guides – Parish Hall

Thursday, January 28th
6:30-7:30pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall

Friday, January 29th
11:00am Holy Communion – Dykeland Lodge
3:30pm Holy Communion – Gladys Manning Home

Sunday, January 31st, Sexagesima
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
5:00pm Choral Evensong – St. George’s, Halifax
Sponsored by the PBSC NS PEI, Fr. Curry preaching

Upcoming Events:

Sunday, February 7th
Pot-Luck Luncheon & Annual Parish Meeting following the 10:30am service

Tuesday, February 9th
4:30-6:00pm Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

Wednesday, February 10th
Ash Wednesday

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Prayers and liturgy

Septuagesima

The collect for today, Septuagesima (or the Third Sunday Before Lent) from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

Millais, Labourers in the VineyardO LORD, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
The Gospel: St. Matthew 20:1-16

Artwork: John Everett Millais, The Labourers in the Vineyard, from Illustrations to `The Parables of Our Lord’, 1864. Wood engraving on paper, Tate Collections, London.

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Prayers and liturgy

Vincent, Deacon and Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Vincent of Saragossa (d. 304), Deacon and Martyr (source):

Almighty God, whose deacon Vincent, upheld by thee, was not terrified by threats nor overcome by torments: Strengthen us, we beseech thee, to endure all adversity with invincible and steadfast faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Lesson: Revelation 7:13-17
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:4-12

Martorell, Altarpiece of St. VincentVincent is the proto-Martyr (first known martyr) of Spain and the patron saint of Lisbon. He was deacon of Saragossa, Aragon, under Bishop Valerius. Both were arrested during the persecution instigated by edicts of Diocletian and Maximian. Because Valerius had a speech impediment, Vincent testified to their faith in Christ, boldly and without fear.

Dacian, Roman governor of Spain, subjected Vincent to horrible tortures. The saint was thrown into prison and weakened by semi-starvation. After refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods, he was racked, burned, and kept in stocks. He died as a result of his sufferings.

St. Augustine of Hippo preached a sermon on Vincent’s martyrdom. Here is an excerpt:

“To you has been granted in Christ’s behalf not only that you should believe in him but also that you should suffer for him.” Vincent had received both these gifts and held them as his own. For how could he have them if he had not received them? And he displayed his faith in what he said, his endurance in what he suffered. No one ought to be confident in his own strength when he undergoes temptation. For whenever we endure evils courageously, our long-suffering comes from him Christ. He once said to his disciples: “In this world you will suffer persecution,” and then, to allay their fears, he added, “but rest assured, I have conquered the world.” There is no need to wonder then, my dearly beloved brothers, that Vincent conquered in him who conquered the world. It offers temptation to lead us astray; it strikes terror into us to break out spirit. Hence if our personal pleasures do not hold us captive, and if we are not frightened by brutality, then the world is overcome. At both of these approaches Christ rushes to our aid, and the Christian is not conquered.

Artwork: Bernat Martorell, Altarpiece of Saint Vincent, c. 1438-40. Tempera and gold leaf on wood, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona.

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Prayers and liturgy

Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Agnes (c. 291-304), Virgin, Martyr at Rome (source):

Eternal God, Shepherd of thy sheep,
by whose grace thy child Agnes was strengthened to bear witness,
in her life and in her death,
to the true love of her redeemer:
grant us the power to understand, with all thy saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth
and to know the love that passeth all knowledge,
even 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: Song of Solomon 2:10-13
The Gospel: St. Matthew 18:1-6

Master of San Hermenegildo, St. AgnesOne of the most celebrated of the early Roman martyrs, Agnes was only twelve or thirteen when she was executed in the Piazza Navona for refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods. Several early Christian leaders praised her courage and exemplary faith, including Ambrose, Pope Damasus, Jerome, and Prudentius. Although her story was embellished during the Middle Ages, it is certain that Agnes was very young and died as a Christian virgin.

St. Ambrose extolled her in his De Virginibus, written in 377:

[St. Agnes’ death was] A new kind of martyrdom! Not yet of fit age for punishment but already ripe for victory, difficult to contend with but easy to be crowned, she filled the office of teaching valour while having the disadvantage of youth. She would not as a bride so hasten to the couch, as being a virgin she joyfully went to the place of punishment with hurrying step, her head not adorned with plaited hair, but with Christ.

Because her name resembles agnus (‘lamb’), she is generally depicted in art with a lamb in her arms or by her feet. On her feast at Rome, the wool of two lambs is blessed and then woven into pallia (stoles of white wool) for the pope and archbishops.

Two notable Roman churches have been erected at locations associated with St. Agnes. The church of Sant’Agnese in Agone now stands in the Piazza Navona, the place of her martyrdom. The Basilica of Sant’Agnesi fuori le Mura (St. Agnes Outside the Walls) was built at her tomb in a family burial plot along the Via Nomentana, about two miles outside Rome.

Saint Agnes is the patron saint of young girls.

Artwork: Master of San Hermenegildo (Follower of Zurbarán), Saint Agnes, c. 1630-40. Oil on canvas, Private collection.

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