All posts filed under: Anglican

The 22nd Sunday After Trinity

Published by

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

Published by

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

Published by

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

Published by

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

Published by

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 …

The 18th Week After Trinity

Published by

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 …

The 16th Week After Trinity

Published by

Collect: “O Lord, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Saints and Feasts of the Week: September 17 (Monday, transferred from the 16th): St. Ninian St. Ninian of Galloway, the missionary to Scotland, lived from around 350-432, almost at the same time as St. Augustine. He was the son of a chieftain who had become a Christian. His father allowed him to make a pilgramage to Rome as a young man and he walked the 1500 miles in 6 months. He spent several years in Rome in a monastic community, meeting St. Ambrose and St. Jerome and then was sent as a missionary back to the Scottish wilderness. On his way home, he encountered the monastery of Martin of Tours– which essentially was a wooden cell with others clustered around it. The simplicity and austerity of this life seemed to have impressed him. When he returned, he …

Advent Plans

Published by

This year, our family is going to take advantage of our Homely Hours preparation and posts from the last two years. Here is how that will look: Jesus Tree Ornament.  Bley designed these beautiful ornaments (pictured above) several years ago.  I printed them out last year in card stock, hole punched the top and added red yarn to hang on our Christmas tree. We’ll do this as part of our family’s little evening prayer time. Additionally, we’ll use our church’s Advent Wreath prayers at dinner time. St. Nicholas Day We may use Bley’s adorable St. Nicholas Day Treat Bags. We’ll see if I can get that together. But I do plan to buy my girls Christmas shoes and fill them with the traditional gifts: gold chocolate coins I snagged at Trader Joe’s, a candy cane, and a clementine. I’ll probably buy The Baker’s Dozen to read and, I’ll definitely print out Michelle’s Advent Saints Coloring Pages. St. Lucy In addition to those coloring pages, last year I printed out two copies of the St. Lucy Crown Printable. …

How to Survive Your Sunday Shrieker

Published by

 You sit in your pew as the priest begins, “Let us confess our sins unto Almighty God.” And behind you, a shriek, a “barbaric yawp” (as one parishioner described it) rips through the sanctuary. You say to yourself, “Lord, help us and deliver us.. And may I never have a Sunday Shrieker.” But they come to all parents, at the fullness of time, when the moment is  ripe for sanctification and shame. So, we’ve put together a guide on how to survive your Sunday Shrieker, giving you the essentials for how to identify and then react, when you encounter a Shrieker in the wild (i.e. in your own family). The Parrot No worries here — this is the imitation shriek. This is the baby’s drone as they seek to join the congregation chanting the Gloria. Everyone thinks it’s cute, so you can stay put, cheerfully (and pray that it doesn’t go downhill). The Bat This is a friendly and happy kind of shriek. Yes, it’s very high-pitched and may cause hearing loss if too close. …

Imagining Musical Culture

Published by

Music was a primary reason that we became Anglican. Lately, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on music for a series by Humane Pursuits. In this series, we’re addressing the ways that music shapes the soul and community and teaches us about the order of the world, as well as giving practical ways to build musical culture in the home, church, and wider community. Most of my thoughts on musical culture spring out of the influence of Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio. My husband and I were his interns in the summer of 2012 and we are always aware of the debt of gratitude we owe to him. He is a major reason that we became Anglican (and don’t dread church every week). The first two posts have been just published. Imagining a Musical Culture In Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder remembers her Pa playing his fiddle as she waited to fall asleep. She “was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were …