Month: October 2018

Following the Saints Throughout the Year

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When I started writing our Homely Hours weekly post, I didn’t realize that figuring out what saint to write about would be complicated. So, I’ve been very thankful to be able to use the Anglican Ordo Calendar from Whithorn Press. An Ordo Calendar – for those of us new to a liturgical tradition – is a calendar that shows the “order” of the year, with all the saints days included. Because I’ve been receiving questions about what calendar we are using, I thought I would feature it through an interview with its creator, Fr. Brian Foos. And, it seemed appropriate, as we celebrate All Saints’, to also think about how we can be following the saints throughout the year.   Fr. Brian is vicar of St. Andrew’s Church and headmaster at St. Andrew’s Academy in Lake Almanor, California, a small mountain town. He is married to Katy (who, by the way, cooks through the liturgical year – we’re hoping that she will share some of her recipes with us) and the father of 3 teenagers who …

The 22nd Sunday After Trinity

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Collect: Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Saints and Feast Days Sunday, October 28: St.Simon and St Jude, Apostles We know little about these two apostles; St. Simon is included in each list of the twelve in the Synoptic Gospels; St. Jude (or Judas) is included in Luke and and Acts, but is named as “Thaddeus” in Matthew and Mark — they were probably the same person.  Here is what we do know: St. Luke calls St. Simon “the Zealot.” The Zealots believed that the Messiah would come as a military leader bringing vindication to the Jews through force. St. Jude (or Judas, or Thaddeus) is traditionally the author of the book of Jude (though some consider this unlikely since the author of Jude refers to the apostles in the past tense and doesn’t seem to consider …

Preparing for All Saints’ Day

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I’ve been working on an explanation of All Saints’ Day that my children can understand. We’re going to start reading it tomorrow (Thursday) and read a section each day as part of our family morning prayer time. Here are the sections: What is a saint? (on holiness and wholeness) Lots of Different Saints (on the variety among God’s saints) How to Be a Saint (on The Communion of the Saints and the Beatitudes) Welcoming the Saints (on the question, why do so many saints die for Jesus?) Death and the Saints (on why sometimes it’s not easy to want to be a saint) Dealing with Scary Things and Halloween (self-explanatory) Today is the Day! (on doing small things with great love) Here is an excerpt: “You may think that to be a saint, you have to be big and do big things for God. This is not true. You need to do the same things that all of us followers of Christ are trying to do – whether we are old or young, big or …

The 21st Week After Trinity

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Collect: Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Saints Days: Tuesday, October 23: St. James, Brother of our Lord During the ministry of Jesus, his brothers seemed to have been resistant to Him and His claims. But something must have happened to make His brother James change his mind very early on. Perhaps it was during Jesus’s life or, it was when He appeared to James after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7). He was the first bishop of Jerusalem. It’s said that he looked so much like Jesus in terms of his physical features that people would go to see him so that they could see what Jesus looked like. The early church historian Hegessippus described James: He used to be found kneeling upon his knees, begging forgiveness for the people — so that the skin of his knees became hard like that of a camel’s, because …

The 20th Sunday After Trinity

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Collect: “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 which thou commandest; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” Saints Days: Sunday, October 14: Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky Born a Lithuanian Jew in 1831, Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky began his education studying to be a rabbi. While at Rabbinical college, he came across a Christian New Testament translated into Hebrew, which made him begin questioning whether Jesus could be the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures. While studying in Germany, he visited a cathedral and saw the crucifix shining with light and glory. Six months later, he immigrated to the United States and professed Christ. He was baptized by Baptists and then, went to Presbyterian Seminary. But since he could not accept the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, he was ordained in the Episcopal Church. He then accepted a call for missionaries in China and reluctantly was appointed the bishop of …

The 19th Week After Trinity

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Collect: “O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” Saints Days: Wednesday, October 10: Saint Paulinus Most likely born in Italy at the end of the 6th century, Paulinus was among the group of missionaries sent to England by Pope Gregory in order to help Augustine of Canterbury. When Ethelburga was to marry the king Edwin, Paulinus went with the bride’s party in order to persuade King Edwin to convert to Christianity. The Venerable Bede writes, “Although Paulinus found it difficult to bring the king’s proud mind to accept the humility of the way of salvation or to accept the mystery of the life-giving cross, he nevertheless continued, by words of exhortation addressed to the people, and by words of supplication addressed to the divine compassion, to strive for the conversion of the king and his nation.” After much inner turmoil, King Edwin decided to take the Christian faith, along …

Everything Tells Us About God

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Back in February,  I received a gift copy of the book Everything Tells Us about God by Katherine Bolger Hyde, from Ancient Faith Publishing. I was so excited  to get it in the mail and open it with my little ones. And then, I was excited to review this children’s book, but several huge events (both good and bad) put a hold on all Homely Hours posts. But now that we are back, here, finally, is our review! Everything Tells Us About God opens with “the world is like a giant puzzle God made to tell us about Himself  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Every piece whispers one of His secrets — all we need to do is listen.” The rest of the book moves through the “puzzle pieces” of creation, from sun to wind to water to bread to rocks and on and on through schools and games and families, to finally  “YOU. You have hands to serve God, a heart to love Him, lips to praise Him. . . God is talking to …

The 18th Week After Trinity

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Collect: 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. Saints and Feast Days: Monday, October 1: St. Remigius  Born around 438 to a noble family in Gaul, Saint Remigius was the first and greatest of the French bishops. While very young, he sought the Lord and desired to live like a hermit. For example, he found a secret apartment in his father’s castle where he would retreat whenever possible (by the 9th century, though the castle had crumbled, the apartment was still intact and venerated by pilgrim Christians). He became known and admired for his piety. When he was only twenty-two, despite his protests, he was consecrated bishop! Meanwhile, Clovis was the king of the Franks– a remarkable military leader, unifying his people when only fifteen years old. He was a pagan, married to a Christian woman name Clothilda who tried to convince her husband to believe …