Month: January 2026

Prayers and liturgy

Charles Stuart, King and Martyr

The collect for today, the commemoration of Charles I (1600-1649), King of England, Martyr (source):

King of kings and Lord of lords,
whose faithful servant Charles
prayed for his persecutors
and died in the living hope of thine eternal kingdom:
grant us, by thy grace, so to follow his example
that we may love and bless our enemies,
through the intercession of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

with the Epistle and Gospel for a Martyr:
The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 4:12-19
The Gospel: St. Matthew 16:24-27

Jan Weesop (attrib.), The Execution of Charles IArtwork: Jan Weesop (attrib.), The Execution of Charles I, 1649. Oil on canvas, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.

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Prayers and liturgy

John Chrysostom, Doctor and Bishop

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

Church of the Advent Boston, St. John ChrysostomO 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

Artwork: St. John Chrysostom, stained glass, Church of the Advent, Boston.

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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):

St. PolycarpAlmighty 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.

Artwork: St. Polycarp, stained glass, Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Photograph taken by admin, 18 August 2004.

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Prayers and liturgy

Audio file of Matins & Ante-Communion, Conversion of St. Paul / Third Sunday after Epiphany

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the service of Matins & Ante-Communion for the Conversion of St. Paul / Third Sunday after Epiphany.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Conversion of St Paul / Third Sunday after Epiphany

“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”

I know. You have heard this text already this year, perhaps more than once. Yet it befits, I think, The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul which almost always falls within the Epiphany season as it does today, The 3rd Sunday after Epiphany. Paul’s words from Romans read on The 1st Sunday after Epiphany express an essential feature of Epiphany and of Christian life. This text highlights the radical meaning of Epiphany not just as teaching, not just as education, not just as healing (as signaled in the Gospel for Epiphany 3 – “speak the word only and my servant shall be healed”), but epiphany as conversion.

About the idea of conversion there is no end of difficulties. We have, perhaps, a rather skeptical if not negative view of conversion, particularly as a religious term, as conveying a sense of certainty and self-righteousness: ‘I saw the light’, unlike everyone else, I suppose. Paradoxically, it seems to play into our polarized world of ideologies and advocacy agendas with their competing claims to dominance and power.

We assume that conversion means a radical break from one position to another and thus retains a sense of opposition and conflict of opinions. There is, I think, another and more compelling way to think about conversion that Paul’s story suggests. It involves two moments: first, repudiation, and second, recapitulation. In other words, the apparent dramatic change from one position to another lead to a reappraisal and a recapitulation of the former position, a way of transcending opposed viewpoints but without simply negating them. This is especially the case in the conflict of partial goods each claiming exclusive and total control as if they were absolute.

The story of the Conversion of St. Paul, the so-called ‘Damascus road experience’, is told by Paul three times in The Book of the Acts of the Apostles. In one sense, the story is personal, in another sense, universal. It belongs, I think, to the idea of epiphany as conversion in the sense of the break-through of the understanding. It is about coming to see things in a new and deeper way but that does not happen without a struggle, the struggle of the soul to grasp and understand. In other words, conversion is not a passive event, not something which happens to us arbitrarily, inadvertently, or externally. It happens because of an intense struggle in the soul or mind about how to think what is good and right; an ethical struggle. Hence, conversion is an on-going affair. Conversion in this sense is education, the constant transformation through “the renewing of our minds”, to use Paul’s powerful and insightful phrase.

(more…)

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Events, Month at a Glance

Month at a Glance, February 2026

Sunday, February 1st, Candlemas / Septuagesima
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Tuesday, February 3rd
7:00pm Discussion Group: ‘Classical Anglicanism & The Consensus Fidelium’

Sunday, February 8th, Sexagesima
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Sunday, February 15th, Quinquagesima
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion (followed by Pot-luck Luncheon & Annual Parish Meeting)

Wednesday, February 18th, Ash Wednesday
12noon Ashes & Communion
7:00pm Ashes & Communion

Sunday, February 22nd, Lent I
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Tuesday, February 24th, St. Matthias / Eve of Ember Wednesday
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme I: ’Reading Augustine’

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Administrative

Services cancelled today

A message from Fr. Curry:

We have no heat in the Hall owing to power outages, it seems, and breakdowns in the connections between the thermostat and the heat-pumps. I discovered the problem just before 4pm today [Saturday]. The technicians have been in and have not been able to reset the system but have put in place some space heaters to prevent pipes from freezing, we hope.

We won’t be able to have services in the Hall, too cold. The repairs will happen in the first of the week, we hope.

Blessings and keep warm,

David+

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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

Ippolito Scarsella, The Conversion of Saint PaulArtwork: Ippolito Scarsella (Lo Scarsellino), The Conversion of Saint Paul, c. 1590-95. Oil on panel, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Third Sunday After The Epiphany

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

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy right hand to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 12:16b-21
The Gospel: St. Matthew 8:1-13

Paris Bordone, Christ and the CenturionArtwork: Paris Bordone, Christ and the Centurion, c. 1555. Oil on canvas, Private collection.

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Timothy and St. Titus, Apostolic Men

The collect for today, The Feast of St. Timothy and St. Titus, Apostolic men, Companions of St. Paul (source):

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Saint TimothyHeavenly Father,
who didst send thine apostle Paul to preach the gospel,
and gavest him Timothy and Titus to be his companions in the faith:
grant that our fellowship in the Holy Spirit
may bear witness to the name of Jesus,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Epistle: 2 Timothy 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5
The Gospel: St. John 10:1-10

Artwork: Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Saint Timothy, late 19th century. Stained glass, Christ Church Cathedral, University of Oxford, England.

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