Month: January 2016

Folk Artist Heather Sleightholm

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We are grateful here at The Homely Hours, to have “met” and collaborated with folk artist Heather Sleightholm on this Candlemas coloring printable for you.  Heather’s art under the name Audrey Eclectic explores themes of faith and family, and you can view and purchase prints of her lovely work in her Etsy shop.  This is what Heather says about her work: “As I have grown as an artist, it has become my passion to explore themes of faith, family, love and tradition within my paintings. As I myself have deepened in my faith and come to cherish my Anglican roots, I have wanted to share the elements of my faith that are most dear to me through art. It is my hope that when people view my paintings, they feel a personal connection, peace and comfort. I am always so touched when I hear that one of my paintings reminds someone of a cherished childhood moment, time with family, or their intimate connection with God. I am very blessed to have been given this ability …

Candlemas Printables

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We are excited today to bring you some Candlemas printables to aid your celebration of this Festival of Light.  Folk artist Heather Sleightholm of Audrey Eclectic kindly agreed to create a special piece of art just for us!  Her lovely drawing of the presentation of Christ in the temple, the ultimate Light coming into the world, is available to you as a coloring page, or a sticker to decorate your family’s vigil candle for the year. At our parish, Christ the King, we will be creating vigil candles for each family during Sunday School on January 31, and then our priest will do the Blessing of the Candles during our service.  My family is excited to have this special candle in our home this year to remind us that we can bring all our cares to Christ. There are two different artwork designs, a black and white design by Heather that can be colored and a full color piece by me.  They are formatted two to a page to fit onto a standard vigil candle, …

A Letter to My Daughter on the Conversion of St. Paul

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Today, we celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul. I grew up believing that his dramatic Damascus Road experience was normative for Christians. I remember how many times I heard other young people share their testimony “I grew up in a Christian family” as though it were an apology. I hope that you never feel apologetic for not having a dramatic testimony and that you never feel like you need to create one either. But at the same time, I hope that your father and I do not overreact to our background, full of so much good. Instead of only emphasizing our corporate experience within the church, I pray that we can foster in you that story-telling spirit that glories in telling about God’s grace to individual sinners, “of whom I am the worst.”

Conversion of St. Paul Coloring Page

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The Church celebrates the conversion of St. Paul on January 25th, which falls on Monday this year. Michelle Abernathy, artist and regular contributor to the Homely Hours, created a Conversion of Saint Paul Coloring Page for you to print and use for your church or home. The Conversion of St. Paul celebrates the dramatic transformation of Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of Christians, into St. Paul the Apostle, bondservant of Christ. His story is recorded in Acts 9 and in Acts 22. We love this coloring page because it does not just emphasize St. Paul himself, but also the beauty of the light of Christ– appropriate for one who so frequently insisted “by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10a). Click on the image below to access the pdf of the printable. Collect for the Conversion of St. Paul 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 …

The Beauty of Ordinary Time

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Michelle Abernathy, artist and regular contributor to the Homely Hours, wrote a reflection upon Ordinary Time and the rhythm of our liturgical seasons. “Ordinary Time” refers to the days between Epiphany and Lent and then between Trinity and Advent.  Last week, we took down our Christmas lights and garlands. We put away ornaments filled with past years’ memories. We packaged our manger scenes safely away. We boxed and swept and tidied and mopped. In a few short hours, we had put away what we’d spent the previous seven weeks intentionally setting out.  We packed away all that had reminded us of the darkness and waiting of Advent, drawn our hearts towards the joy and mystery of Christmas, and finally led us to celebrate and rejoice in the presentation of our King to all the world in Epiphany. And now I’m left, looking at a pile of Canaan Fir needles cast off from the tree dumped by the roadside, whose very wood reminds me of what is to come. The darkest and most brilliant time of the Christian year is ahead— …

Family Prayer Printable

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We are thankful to Dcn. Isaac Chavez for answering our questions on Family Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. Here are the links to his posts: Family Prayer in the BCP, Part 1   Family Prayer in the BCP, Part 2 To aid your family’s endeavors to incorporate Family Prayer into your daily life, we created a printable with the “most convenient” (i.e. shortest) form of Family Prayer. It can be printed (and perhaps laminated), so that it can be easily picked up in the morning and evening.   Family Prayer Printable We would also love to know your thoughts on how to build regular prayer into the daily life of your family. Please comment below!

Family Prayer in the BCP, Part 2

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Dcn. Isaac Chavez, of Christ the King Anglican Church, graciously answered our questions for a two part series on Family Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer (found after the Catechism, on page 593 of the REC Prayer Book). Dcn. Isaac is married to Sarah and has four children. He was ordained as deacon in the Reformed Episcopal Church in June, 2015.  Read Part 1 of this series.  –How should families approach using the Book of Common Prayer for our daily prayers? Most families will not be able to observe both Morning and Evening prayers on a consistent basis. This is why there is even a provision in the Prayer Book which makes it clear that the Family Prayers are for times when it is convenient for the family to gather together for prayer. The English Church has more often than naught had a pastoral impulse at its heart, and the Church has consistently tried to leave freedom for family and lay persons to seek God in their lives outside of the Church. The Church is …

Family Prayer and the BCP, Part 1

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Dcn. Isaac Chavez, of Christ the King Anglican Church, graciously answered our questions for a two part series on Family Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer (found after the Catechism, on page 593 of the REC Prayer Book). Dcn. Isaac is married to Sarah and has four children. He was ordained as deacon in the Reformed Episcopal Church in June, 2015 When Cranmer wrote the Book of Common Prayer, how do you think he envisioned families using it in daily life?  Cranmer, and many of the other English Reformers, believed that one of the problems that had occurred during the High Middle Ages was that the spiritual life of the Church had been cut off from the common lay person. They believed this had manifested itself in many ways, but one way that the English Reformers uniquely singled out, was the actual prayer life of the Church. Cranmer basically asked this question: “Why should the Daily Hours and the rich prayer life of the monasteries be kept only within the walls of the monasteries?” …

Epiphany Chalking of the Doors

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Fr. Wayne McNamara, priest of Christ the King Anglican Church,  wrote the following introduction to the “Chalking of the Doors” tradition. A booklet along with blessed chalk is handed out to the members of our congregation every year before Epiphany. The chalking of the Door is typically done on January 6th on the Feast of the Epiphany and celebrates the revealing of Christ to the world in three events: The visit of the Magi when Jesus is revealed  to the Gentles, the baptism of Christ by John, and the changing of water to wine at the Cana wedding. God revealed Himself to us and dwells with us and we desire the life in our homes to reveal Christ to others. This short liturgy is a way of yearly marking our homes, usually at the front or main entrance, with sacred signs and symbols to intentionally set our homes apart as places of Christian hospitality, as safe and peaceful outposts of the Kingdom of God in the world, as habitations of healing and rest. We again invite …

Epiphanytide: Three Kings Crowns

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The Epiphany, or The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, is celebrated on January 6, with the season of Epiphanytide running through Shrove Tuesday.  There are several events in the life of Christ that we celebrate during this time, where He revealed Himself as the Saviour to both Jews and Gentiles.  The first is the visit of the Magi to see the newborn Christ. To mark this day in our family, we usually wear crowns, and dress up as kings and queens, to remember the visit of the Magi.  Some years, we have saved a special present for our children from Christmas, and given it to them on Epiphany.  I created these crowns in case you would like an easy way to remember and talk about the visit of the Magi with your own children. KingsCrown – There are three crowns in different color ways included in the file for you to print at will. We share these resources and ideas with the understanding that celebrations do not always have to be elaborate to be meaningful. …