Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 4-10 October

Tuesday, October 5th
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Brownies’ Mtg. – Parish Hall
7:30pm Christ Church Book Club – Coronation Room
“The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains” by Nicholas Carr
and “The Case for Books” by Robert Darnton

Wednesday, October 6th
1:30pm Atlantic School of Theology – Fr. Curry giving a talk to the Anglican Formation Class at AST on ‘Aspects of the History of the Diocese’
6:30-7:30pm Sparks’ Mtg. – Parish Hall

Thursday, October 7th
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-in
7:30pm West Hants Historical Society Monthly Meeting

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

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

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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

Saint Remigius

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

StRemigiusO 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.

The Epistle: 1 St John 4:1-6
The Gospel: St John 14:3-7

Read more about Saint Remigius here.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Jerome

The collect for today, the Feast of St 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

Read more about Saint Jerome here.

Polinori, San GirolamoArtwork: Giulio Antonio Polinori, Saint Jerome, c. 1610. Oil on canvas, Chiesa di San Giovenale, Orvieto. Photo taken by admin, 31 May 2010.

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Sermons

Meditation on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels

“Michael and his angels fought against the dragon;
and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not.”

Angels. What are they? Angels are messengers. A good messenger is an evangelist –angel is in the word. Evangelist is the Greek word for the Gospel – the good news, the good message. There is, then, an inescapable connection between Angels and the Gospel.

Angels are a feature of many religions. They are certainly a big part of the biblical landscape. They are a feature of the spiritual landscape of the Jewish or Hebrew Scriptures, what Christians know as the Old Testament, as well as being an integral part of the spiritual landscape of the Christian New Testament. They are also an important feature of the Islamic Qu’ran.

Whether or not one believes in Angels exactly, they are undeniably part of the religious world of Jews, Christians and Muslims. While not a matter of creedal doctrine for Christians, belief in angels is a defining feature of Islam. More importantly, though, is the role and place of angels intellectually or theologically speaking in the three monotheistic faiths. To put it simply, angels belong to the thought-world of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; in short, to the thinking that belongs to these revealed religions. There is a branch of theology that is devoted to angels – angelology. To put it in another way, angels are about our thinking God’s thoughts, the thoughts which come to us from God and our Godward thoughts which are carried on angels’ wings to God.

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Prayers and liturgy

Saint Michael and All Angels

B. Mazzuoli, St. Michael the ArchangelThe collect for today, the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O EVERLASTING God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant, that as thy holy Angels alway do thee service in heaven, so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Revelation 12:7-11
The Gospel: St Matthew 18:1-10

Read more about Saint Michael here.

Artwork: Bartolomeo Mazzuoli, Saint Michael the Archangel, early 18th century. Chiesa del Gesù (Church of Jesus), Montepulciano. Photo taken by admin, 25 May 2010. (Click on photo for larger view.)

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Sermons

Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity

“Friend, go up higher”

There was a healing done on the Sabbath before hostile eyes. There was a parable spoken in the face of resentful silence; a parable told to counter our presumption and hypocrisy. Jesus speaks and acts. He teaches. At issue is whether we will be teachable. Only so can we ever hope to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith [we] are called.”

For make no mistake, we are called. There is our common vocation. We are called out of ourselves and called to God. We are called to the service of God in our life together with one another in the body of Christ. It is really the purpose of our being here today, a purpose which extends into every aspect of our lives.

St. Paul reminds us of the qualities of that vocation, about how we should seek to be and about how we should act: “with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” These qualities arise from the doctrine – the teaching – which has been given to us and without which these qualities cannot live in us. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in you all.”

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Events, Month at a Glance

Week at a Glance, 27 September – 3 October

Tuesday, September 28th, Eve of St Michael & All Angels
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-7:30 Brownies’ Mtg. – Parish Hall
7:00pm Holy Communion

Thursday, September 30th
1:30-3:00pm Seniors’ Drop-In

Saturday, October 2nd
7:00-9:00pm Newfoundland & Country Evening of Musical Entertainment – Parish Hall

Sunday, October 3rd, Trinity XVIII
8:00am Holy Communion (followed by Men’s Club Breakfast)
9:30am Holy Communion at KES
10:30am Holy Communion
4:30pm Evening Prayer at Christ Church

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, October 5th
7:30pm Christ Church Book Club – Coronation Room, Parish Hall
“The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains” by Nicholas Carr
and
“The Case For Books: Past, Present, & Future” by Robert Darnton

Thursday, October 21st
Christ Church “Cinema Paradiso” Movie Night – Parish Hall
“The Merchant of Venice”, directed by Michael Radford and starring Al Pacino as Shylock and Jeremy Irons as Antonio.

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Statements and other writings

“Iconoclasm or Idolatry? Neither!”

To mark Christ Church’s designation as a Nova Scotia Historic Place, Fr. David Curry has produced a pamphlet entitled “Iconoclasm or Idolatry? Neither!” The written text is accompanied by photographs and architectural drawings of Christ Church, as produced by Peter Coffman for his “Anglicana Tales” exhibit at Dalhousie Art Gallery last spring.

The pamphlet will be available beginning today at Christ Church.  Donations would be appreciated to help defray printing expenses.  An electronic copy can be downloaded by clicking on this link.

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Prayers and liturgy

The Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity

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

LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6
The Gospel: St Luke 14:1-11

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