Prayers and liturgy

Etheldreda, Queen and Abbess

Walpole St. Peter, St. EtheldredaThe collect for today, the Feast of St. Etheldreda (d. 679), Queen, Foundress and Abbess of Ely (source):

O eternal God,
who didst bestow such grace on thy servant Etheldreda
that she gave herself wholly to the life of prayer
and to the service of thy true religion:
grant that we may in like manner
seek thy kingdom in our earthly lives,
that by thy guidance
we may be united in the glorious fellowship 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 Epistle: Philippians 3:7-14
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:29-34

Artwork: St. Etheldreda, stained glass. St. Peter’s Church, Walpole St. Peter, Norfolk, England. Photograph taken by admin, 3 October 2014.

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Prayers and liturgy

Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, Bishops and Martyrs

The collect for today, the commemoration of Hugh Latimer (1485-1555), Bishop of Worcester, and Nicholas Ridley (c. 1500-1555), Bishop of London, Reformation Martyrs (source):

Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like thy servants Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, we may live in thy fear, die in thy favor, and rest in thy peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:9-14
The Gospel: St. John 15:20-16:1

Burning of Ridley and Latimer

Two leaders of the English Reformation were burned at the stake in Oxford on this day in 1555. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, were removed from their positions and imprisoned after Queen Mary ascended the throne in 1553. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533, was deposed and taken to Oxford with Latimer and Ridley.

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Sermons

Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

“See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time”

These are strong words which complement wonderfully the strong and disturbing words of the Gospel. On the one hand, there is an invitation to a royal wedding – what’s not to like about that? – and yet, on the other hand, after the refusal, the denial even to the point of violence about that invitation, someone who is gathered in from the high-ways is cast out for not having a wedding-garment! The parables of the Gospel are not always easy to understand! They always challenge our assumptions. That is the point. They do so by opening us out to a larger and more comprehensive understanding.

In a way, it is has everything to do with “redeeming the time,” a concept which is about more than just making the best of things. It is, instead, about seeing the good and acting accordingly. We see, as Paul and Aristotle and others have observed, but “in a glass darkly.” It is an important insight about the limits of our knowing, on the one hand, and the realization of a deeper darkness in the heart of our humanity, on the other hand.

Walking circumspectly. What does that mean? Walking carefully, paying attention to where you are and what is happening, walking while looking around you; in short, walking thinkingly or thoughtfully. The word in Greek relates to the term used for Aristotle’s school of philosophy, the Peripatetics, thinking while walking. It gives a whole new and deeper meaning to thinking on one’s feet!

Walking circumspectly is a feature of this very building and its spiritual purpose. Just above the main doorway in the narthex leading into the Church is a curious phrase from Ecclesiastes. “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God.” I have often wondered why no-one has ever asked me about what that means. I can only surmise that perhaps they have been looking down at their feet literally and so are completely unaware of what was over their heads.

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 15 – 21 October

Monday, October 15th
4:45-5:15pm World Religions/Inquirers Class – KES, Room # 206
6:30-7:30pm Sparks in Parish Hall

Tuesday, October 16th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Girl Guides – Parish Hall
7:00pm Christ Church Book Club – Coronation Room: The Temptation of Forgiveness, by Donna Leon, and Forgiveness: A Gift from My Grandparents, by Mark Sakamoto

Wednesday, October 17th
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Thursday, October 18th, St. Luke
3:15pm Service – Windsor Elms
7:00pm Holy Communion

Friday, October 19th
6:00-7:30pm Pathfinders & Rangers – Parish Hall

Sunday, October 21st, Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
7:00pm Holy Communion – KES Chapel

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, November 17th
4:30-6:00pm Annual Ham Supper

Sunday, December 2nd
4:00pm Advent Lessons & Carols with KES

Tuesday, December 18th
7:30pm Capella Regalis Concert

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Prayers and liturgy

The Twentieth Sunday After Trinity

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

O ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that thou wouldest have done; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-21
The Gospel: St. Matthew 22:1-14

Brunswick Monogrammist, Invitation to the Great Banquet (Warsaw)Artwork: Brunswick Monogrammist, Invitation to the Great Banquet, 1525. Oil on panel, National Museum, Warsaw.

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Prayers and liturgy

King Edward the Confessor

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Edward the Confessor (c. 1003-1066), King of England (source):

Cartmel Priory, Saint Edward, King and ConfessorO Sovereign God,
who didst set thy servant Edward upon the throne of an earthly kingdom
and didst inspire him with zeal for the kingdom of heaven:
grant that we may so confess the faith of Christ by word and deed,
that we may, with all thy saints, inherit thine eternal glory;
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: Ecclesiasticus 31:8-11
The Gospel: St. Luke 12:35-40

Artwork: Saint Edward, King and Confessor, 19th-century stained glass, from the East window, North transept, Cartmel Priory, England. The saint is shown inspecting a model of Westminster Abbey, which was built during his reign.

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KES Chapel Weekly Reflections

KES Chapel Reflection, Week of 10 October

Why did it yield wild grapes?

Isaiah 5. 1-7 is a wonderful love-song and a lament. It serves as a commentary on the creation stories of Genesis 1 & 2 and the story of the Fall in Genesis 3. “Let me sing for my beloved a love song concerning his vineyard,” it begins. The poet is singing a song for God, the beloved, concerning his vineyard; the triple reflexives are poignant and moving. A most powerful passage, it reveals to us in an affective manner the contradictions of our humanity.

The imagery is remarkable. Creation is imaged as a vineyard; even more, as the poem unfolds, our humanity, viewed in terms of “Jerusalem,” “the men of Judah” and “the house of Israel,” is described as a vineyard. “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel.” The agricultural imagery takes us back to the themes of thanksgiving for the harvest which can only happen when we work in concert with the goodness of the created order. What this poem also reminds us is that we only too often make a mess of the created order.

Here that is imaged in terms of a divine lament. “My beloved had a vineyard”– us. God looks to his vineyard to bring forth grapes but, instead, “it yielded wild grapes.” The story of the Fall has cosmic repercussions. We turn the goodness of the vineyard of creation into a wilderness. This is part of the human condition that is beautifully but convincingly set before us. The failure lies not with God and his vineyard but with our humanity. How? By denying the will and purpose of God for our humanity and our world.

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Prayers and liturgy

St. Philip of Caesarea, Apostolic Man

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Philip of Caesarea, Deacon, Apostolic Man (source):

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank thee for thy servant Philip the Deacon, whom thou didst call to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Samaria and Ethiopia. Raise up, we beseech thee, in this and every land heralds and evangelists of thy kingdom, that thy Church may make known the immeasurable riches of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

The Lesson: Acts 8:26-40
The Gospel: St. Matthew 28:18-20

Abraham Bloemaert, The Baptism of the ChamberlainArtwork: Abraham Bloemaert, The Baptism of the Chamberlain, 1620-25. Oil on canvas, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands.

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Prayers and liturgy

Paulinus, Missionary and Archbishop

Cathedral of St John the Baptist, 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 thee for thy servant Paulinus, whom thou didst call to preach the Gospel to the people of northern England. Raise up, we beseech thee, in this and every land evangelists and heralds of thy kingdom, that thy Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee 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):

Corrado Giaquinto, Martyrdom of St. DenisO 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

Artwork: Corrado Giaquinto, Martyrdom of St. Denis, c. 1759. Oil on canvas, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Crotone, Italy.

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