Category: Announcements

 Dear St. Mary’s Family,

Last Sunday morning a congregation of 21 people were present for the Holy Communion at St. Mary’s, and another 11 were present for Evening Prayer that evening. Seven  people gathered on Tuesday evening to celebrate with me and receive a teaching on  The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I was glad to be joined by someone most days last week for Morning Prayer. 

This is often the way it is in the Church, where two or three are gathered… But in fact, where two or three are gathered,  the whole Church is there, as we acknowledge in the Te Deum:

To thee all Angels cry aloud, the Heavens and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee;
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee;
The noble army of Martyrs praise thee;
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,
The Father, of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true, and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

There are two words that came to mind this week in the midst of these uncertain and anxious times. The one was “stability” and the other was “sobriety.”  We need to maintain our stability, according to the words of St. Paul, “Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” ( 2 Corinthians 15. 58). And we also need to maintain our sobriety, as in “and grant O most merciful Father for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life.” ( The General Confession). The reference to sobriety here has to do not so much with not getting drunk on alcohol, as it does not being overwhelmed and overcome by our afflictive emotions, as in  anger, worry, fear, anxiety, etc.  A colleague said to me this weak, “I am so tired of angry and critical people!”

So what does it mean for us abound in the work of the Lord, and maintain our stability and sobriety? Our historic and traditional practice has been to pray the Morning and Evening Prayer.

Starting this week, Morning Prayer will be offered daily at 8.30 a.m. and Evening Prayer at 5.30 p.m. Those whose schedules allow it, are invited and encouraged to come. 

There are three special occasions in our calendar this week. On Monday we will celebrate Holy Cross Day with Holy Communion following a shortened Evening Prayer, and on Wednesday and Friday this week we will observe the “Autumn Ember Days” with a focus on praying for the Bishops , Priests, and Deacons of the Church on Wednesday, and praying for the Agriculture and Industries of our land on Friday.  

This Sunday we are having a short Family Service at 10.30 a.m. and weather permitting, we will walk down to the park and the end of Montague Street to visit, and if so desired to eat  bag lunch.

Starting next Sunday I will be offering a class following Evening Prayer, designed especially for our candidates preparing for Baptism, but which will be open to one and all. Then topic of our first class class: Who is Jesus Christ?

Blessings to you all for your Lord’s Day worship!

Claude

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WORSHIP THIS WEEK AT ST MARY’S

Sunday	10:30 AM Family Service 7:00 PM Evening Prayer
Monday to Friday	8:30 AM Morning Prayer 5:30 PM Evening Prayer
Monday	5:45 PM Holy Communion for Holy Cross Day

Dear St. Mary’s Family,

Tomorrow (Sunday, September 6, 2020)  at 10.30 I will be celebrating the Holy Communion at St. Mary’s for the first time in six months, very much mindful of those who are unable to come. My sermon tomorrow will focus on the precious gift that is our Christian fellowship, and the responsibility that we all share in safeguarding that gift: Matthew 18. 15-20.

Sunday mornings are going to look, sound, and feel very different. Every other pew has been roped off to conform to the social distancing guidelines. Family groups may sit together. We are allowed to have as many as 60 people present in the service. Masks are encouraged but not mandatory, except when there is congregational singing. I will be standing at the chancel steps wearing a mask to administer the Holy Communion in one kind only (bread). We will not be sharing any food and drink following the service. For all these changes to the look, sound, and feel of things, the heart of the matter remains the same: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2.2)  We need to take to heart that our fellowship and union with Christ and one another is fundamentally a spiritual, and not a human or psychological reality. Our various urges, feelings, wants, desires and experiences are not what bind us together, but rather the Word and Spirit of Jesus Christ that shows and proves itself in orderly, humble service to one another. As St. Paul wrote, and as we will hear tomorrow,  “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”           ( Romans 13. 8)

A service of Morning Prayer with hymns and sermon is still available for those unable to come on Sunday mornings.

Blessings on your Lord’s Day worship!

Claude +

WORSHIP  THIS  WEEK AT ST. MARY’S

Sunday	10:00AM 10:30AM 7:00PM	Morning Prayer Holy Communion Evening Prayer
Tuesday – Friday	8:30AM	Morning Prayer
Tuesday	5:30PM	Evening Prayer for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

PARISH LIFE NOTES

St. Mary’s Children’s Program . “Kingdom. Grace and Judgment” – The  Parables of Jesus at 2820 Wascana St. from 10.30 until Noon.  Today’s Lesson:  Parable of the Great Banquet (Let there be Art. The children and you will  create two invitations. Leader: Kate B.

Updated “In Person Worship Guidelines” are available on St. Mary’s web-site.

Faithquest and Worship Centre will begin September 20^th. Parents are asked to take their children to these programs before church and go and get them after church.  Children who attend Faith Quest and Worship Center are to stay in the area of their program and are not to come upstairs into the sanctuary.

The Nursery will not be open at this time.    

One of the ancient spiritual writers of the Church, St. Dionysius, wrote about the three liturgies that take place. The first is the liturgy that takes place before the altar  in heaven, as described for us in Chapters 4, 5. 7 and 8 of the Book of Revelation. The second is the liturgy is that which takes place on earth, which we celebrate before the altar St. Mary’s. (see photo above).  And third liturgy is the one that takes place in altar of our heart. 

The purpose of the liturgy that takes place on the earth is to unite the liturgy in heaven with our heart.  And so it is that in the Holy Communion we pray, 

Lift up your hearts!” “We lift them up unto the Lord!
Let us give thanks to the Lord! “It is meet and right so to do!
Therefore with angels and  archangels an all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name, evermore praising thee and saying, 
Holy, Holy, Holy…

Our purpose in the liturgy at the altar at St. Mary’s on Sunday morning, is that that we should “at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father,  Almighty, Everlasting God, Creator and Preserver of all things”( BCP p. 78) in a ceaseless offering of our lives in thanksgiving and praise to God.

But what are we to do in this time when our liturgy before the altar at St. Mary’s has been silenced?

This is where we need to undertake the difficult work of entering more deeply within our own hearts, to find and serve at the altar of our hearts, and to  find the Lord there. 

Now that Holy Week is upon us, “ Let us dust off the altar of our heart, place the Gospel back in the centre, take what is given to us in this life( both good and bad) and offer it to God in thanksgiving ( Eucharist). When we do so, we will find that we will receive Christ Himself in return, and every encounter with Christ is  Pascha, a passing over from death to life.” ( Abbot Sergius Bowyer)

In support of this collective spiritual effort of ours at St. Mary’s this week, I am attaching a table of lessons and psalms for Holy Week from The Book of Common Prayer, which will serve as our spiritual  guide. 

I have also attached an Evening Service for Light and Peace for parents to celebrate with their children, in conjunction with the video of the service which was taped at St. Mary’s yesterday afternoon, and can be found here:  https://youtu.be/jLIp8gK9xwA 

In addition you can also expect to receive by e-mail the following Holy Week services for you to celebrate in the safety of your home, and in spiritual communion with your family at St. Mary’s:

• Palm Sunday: Liturgy of the Palms and Morning prayer with Hymns and Sermon ( Beth Christianson preaching)
• Maundy Thursday: Evening Prayer with Hymns and sermon ( Gene Packwood preaching)
• Good Friday: Celebration of the Lord’s Passion with Hymns and sermon ( Nathaniel Deng Mayen preaching)
• Easter Sunday: Morning Prayer with Hymns and Sermon (Claude Schroeder preaching)   

These services will also be posted on our web-site.

Families will also receive “Stations of the Cross” Service which may be used at home, or as part of a prayer walk on Good Friday.

Finally, sanitized palm crosses are available for you to pick up at 15 th Avenue entrance of St. Mary’s  today and tomorrow  as you make your way home perhaps from a trip to the grocery store.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in

Who is the King of Glory? It is the Lord strong and mighty, even the Lord mighty in battle. 

Psalm 24. 7,8

With every prayer for a rich and blessed Holy Week,

Yours faithfully,

Claude +

Small groups will meet weekly to study the Gospel Lesson for the upcoming Sunday.  This year’s Lenten Gospel Lessons come from the Gospels of John and Matthew.  The readings from John’s Gospel (Lent 2-5) are all stories of an individual person having a life-changing encounter with Jesus.  How can we encounter Jesus in Regina in the 21st century?  How would an encounter with Jesus alter our lives?

                                                     Schedule:

Mondays @ 7:00 pm	Leader: Carol M Host: Lorna C
Wednesdays @ 9:00 am	Leader: Claude S Host: At St. Mary’s
Wednesdays @ 7:00 pm	Leader: Henry F Hosts: Alan and Jacky S
Saturdays @ 7:00 pm	Leader: Katherine G Host: Ginny L
Sundays @ 7:00 pm	Leader and Host: Beth C

For families who are unable to make these dates and times work in your schedule, you are invited to sign up to be paired with another family to pray and study together at a time that is convenient for you.  Speak to Heidi D or Karen J to be added to this list and receive the materials.

A group is being organized for our older youth which will meet at St. Mary’s on Friday evenings.  Speak to Nathaniel for details.

The next meeting of the St. Mary’s Book Club will be on Wednesday, February 19th starting at 7:00 pm.  Location is Beth C’s home.  This month we will be reading The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection by Robert Farrar Capon. 

Book description:

 “From a passionate and talented chef who also happens to be an Episcopalian priest comes this surprising and thought-provoking treatise on everything from prayer to poetry to puff pastry. In The Supper of the Lamb, Capon talks about festal and ferial cooking, emerging as an inspirational voice extolling the benefits and wonders of old-fashioned home cooking in a world of fast food and prepackaged cuisine.”

Saturday, January 25^th.  Family Dinner and a Movie.  Next Saturday, starting at 5:00 pm, we will be having a salads pot luck and showing the film “Summer in the Forest,” the story of Jean Vanier and the L’Arche community in France.  Salad greens and breads will be provided; bring salad toppings to share.  Be creative!  Ideas we are exploring: How do we use food to foster human community?  How should Christians invite society’s outsiders into the community we are building (a.k.a. The Church)?  All are welcome!

The theme chosen for the Book Club’s next gathering is “Sources of Delight.”  Readers are encouraged to share a book that brings them joy and laughter.  We will be meeting at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, January 15^th in the lounge at the church.  All are welcome!