The Episcopalian is a series of articles written by Deacon John for our newspaper "VISIONS". They are instructive and interesting and I hope to keep adding to them. They are on several pages and are in no particular order.
| Found on this page, page 1 _ 12/6/99 |
Saint Mary the Virgin, Mother of Our Lord JESUS Christ
"The feast of the Dedication of a Church, and the feast of its patron or title, may be observed on, or be transferred to, a Sunday, except in the seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter."
B.C.P. pp 16
In the Episcopal Church, the feast of Saint Mary the Virgin, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, is celebrated on August 15th. August 15th also happens to be a Sunday this year and we will celebrate the feast of our patron on that date. Instead of the usual readings and collects for 12 Pentecost, we will use the Propers for the feast of St. Mary. The liturgical green of the season of Pentecost will be replaced by white.
The feast of St. Mary is new to the American Book of Common Prayer, first appearing in the 1979 revision. The collect for the day (shown below) comes to us in a slightly revised form from the South African Prayer Book for the day titled "The Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
B.C.P. pp 243
Interestingly enough, the date of August 15th is the Roman Catholic feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1950 the Roman Catholic Church formally defined the doctrine of the assumption of Mary (the belief that Mary, having completed her earthly life, was in body and soul assumed into heavenly glory).
In our Anglican tradition, the Sarum collect (dating to 1099 or 1237, depending on your point of view) reads as follows:
We beseech you, Lord, let us be continually aided by the sacred feast of this day on which the holy mother of God, who brought forth incarnate from herself your son our Lord, underwent temporal death yet could not be held in the bonds of death.
Commentary on the American Prayer Book pp 204
Lots to think about when it comes to Mary. Your view is probably strongly influenced depending on whether you were raised in a Protestant or a Roman Catholic/Orthodox traditional.
Deacon John 8/99
When is Easter, and why is not celebrated on the same day by all Christians? The Gospels agree that the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus took place at the Jewish feast of the Passover. There is some confusion among the Gospels as to whether or not the "Last Supper" was the Passover meal - but I digress. So, it would seem appropriate that we would celebrate Easter on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover. But here the confusion begins.
The Passover is based on the Hebrew calendar. In its present form, the Hebrew calendar was not fixed until the 4th century (CE). The Hebrew calendar relies on both the sun and the moon. The sun determines the agricultural year. The moon, waxing and waning determine the months. It is necessary to establish the beginning of any month in order to determine when to celebrate feasts, since they are set by Scripture as "the fifteen day of the first month" or the "tenth day of the seventh month," etc. The Hebrew calendar is complicated by religious requirements which dictate that certain events must not occur on specific days. For example, the New Years must not fall on a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday; the Day of Atonement must not fall on a Friday or Sunday – and so on. The Jewish Passover starts on the 15th day of the month of Nissan. This year (Gregorian 1999 and Hebrew year 5760) Passover and Easter work out correctly (which is to say, Passover is April 1st) .
The algorithm for determining the date for the celebration of Easter was established by the Christian Church at the Council of Nicaea (as in Nicene Creed) in 325 AD. This formula, based on the Julian calendar, defines the spring equinox as March 21st. All went well in Christendom until 1582 when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the west. At that time the Western Church decided that Easter would fall on the first Sunday following the first full moon which occurred after March 21 using the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox Church still follows the algorithm that was established at Nicaea using the Julian calendar.
So, not only are the algorithms for determining the Passover, the Western Easter, and the Orthodox Easter different, but the Hebrew, Julian and Gregorian years are slipping relative to one another. Since the Western and Orthodox Easters fall on the same date in 2001, there is some movement towards trying to come up with a new scheme which both the Western and Orthodox churches can agree on thereafter.
Deacon John 4/99
On the 4th of July we celebrate a national holiday, Independence Day. Although we normally tend to separate church and state, Independence Day is a Major Feast in the Episcopal Church ranking up there with the feasts of the Apostles, Saint Stephen (the first deacon), our patron, Saint Mary, and a few others. Although proper Psalms, lessons and prayers were first published for the 4th of July in the proposed Prayer Book of 1789, they were not formally adopted until the 1928 revision of the Prayer Book.
The collect for Independence Day reads as follows:
Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
7/99
"Faith in Action" is a volunteer caregiver program that was formed recently in the Napa Valley. St. Mary’s played a part in obtaining the grant funds needed by the Queen of the Valley and Hospice of Napa Valley to get the program off the ground. The motto of the organization is "Neighbors Helping Neighbors." Volunteers receive a 10-hour training program designed to help them provide the practical and emotional support for those who are chronically ill, homebound or living with disabilities. For those of you who have been around St. Mary’s for a while, this probably sounds like our Shepherd’s program. It is my hope that we can re-institute or re-energize the ministry of the Shepherds program by being an active participant in Faith in Action. Our initial focus will be our own parish family, but the community base of the program lends itself to a broader outreach when we are ready for that.
We have a parishioner who is on the board of Faith in Action, Cherie Shown, and another parishioner who has completed the training program and has volunteered to be our liaison – Jennifer McCulloch. David Anderson (Jr), as one of your Vestry members responsible for Lay Ministry, has also volunteered to help us get this program underway. You will be hearing more about Faith in Action in the coming weeks and months. If this sounds like a ministry that you would be interested in, talk to me or one of those I’ve indicated above.
The next formal class for Faith in Action volunteers will be sometime during the first two weeks in July. You can reserve a spot by contacting Mr. Len Powers at 255-8178.
Deacon John 7/99