All posts filed under: church year and seasons

A “Homely” Artist: Marianne Stokes

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Marianne Stokes was an Austrian painter in the late 1800’s who married the well-known English artist, Adrian Stokes.  Together they travelled Europe, he painting landscapes and villages, and Marianne painting portraits of the local peoples and their customs.  I particularly love this portrait of a woman praying on Candlemas Day.  Her Madonna and Child (below) is one of the most beautiful I have seen, with the patterned gold silhouettes of flowering blooms and thorns, probably referring to the Christ child’s future death. There are also some beautiful “homely” pieces that she painted.  This young girl in the sunny meadow wearing traditional Eastern European clothing is charming, as is the mother teaching her daughter a lesson in their rustic home (lower right). This portrait of a Hungarian bride is rich with detail of their historical garments, and apparently her work was a valuable contribution to the documentation of this culture. I hope you enjoyed seeing the work of a historical artist, and how she depicted the liturgical lives of various peoples.  To see more of her …

A Candlemas Celebration

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“As we see in the gospel today, the Word, which spoke the world into existence, comes to the Temple. And how is he brought? Carried on a throne of gold? With all the nations gathered around to honor him? No, but in the throne of the Virgin’s arms. . . And what glory did await at the temple? Did Caesar himself stand up for the True King as he entered? Did the powerful people of all the nations come to honor him, and declare him the True Lord of Lords? No, he is greeted by a man who is only said to be a righteous and devout man. And by a woman, who is said to be a prophet, and who seems to have been a widow who spent her time in prayer in the temple.” “There were no kings and queens of the world greeting the Christ as he came to the Temple. What we see here, is a secret: that the kings and queens are the poor of heart. They are those awaiting salvation. …

The Meaning of Candlemas

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Candlemas articulates the necessary future of this beautiful Light coming into the world. Our celebrations so far have dwelt on the joyful implications of the Son of God’s arrival, our redemption, salvation, and deliverance. Candlemas reiterates in a pointed way that the coming of the Lord includes difficult things – the persecutions of Jesus in His ministry and the call of the Christ to suffer the Cross. Candlemas rounds our our thoughts regarding the significance of the Word become flesh, and moves us forward to Lent

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— …

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. …

The Cultivation of Christmas Trees

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I came across this beautiful poem by T.S. Eliot– “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees” a few years ago. I think it is the perfect reminder of what we are aiming for in all of our Advent preparations and attempt to fully celebrate Christmastide. This is what we want for our children and for ourselves– that the “accumulated memories of annual emotion” might be “concentrated into a great joy, which shall be also a great fear.” The Cultivation of Christmas Trees There are several attitudes towards Christmas, Some of which we may disregard: The social, the torpid, the patently commercial, The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight), And the childish — which is not that of the child For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree Is not only a decoration, but an angel. The child wonders at the Christmas Tree: Let him continue in the spirit of wonder At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext; So that the …