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2020 Parishioner Advent Reflection Day 3

December 1, 2020 by St Mary Anne Admin

As a child, I had the advantage of growing up in a church community with long-standing Christmas traditions. Long before the Halloween decorations came down and the last piece of Thanksgiving pies were joyfully eaten, plans were underway for decorating the Sanctuary, gathering Christmas Carolers to visit homes, making costumes for the Christmas pageant and deciding who would have the best roles (a sheep or an angel)! All this excitement made up the Advent Season and successfully competed with any of the Santa Claus helper sightings at the local mall.

One special year it was decided the Children’s Choir could sit and sing with the Adult Choir at the Christmas Eve Service. I was chosen to sing the first verse of “Oh Holy Night.”

The church was decorated with fresh greens and roping. Candles glowed in the windows making beautiful shadows on the baby Jesus tucked in the crib. Narcissus, with their petite white flowers and delicate scent, and bright poinsettias surrounded the altar. I could hear the shuffle of parishioners getting comfortable in their seats. My parents’ and grandparents’ faces were anxious and proud hoping I would not forget the words. I had been practicing every day for weeks but, as often happens, that morning I woke with a scratchy throat. Finally just as the lights dimmed, leaving only a gentle light shining on the baby Jesus, the organist began playing the introduction to “Oh Holy Night”. It was magical! As members of the Children’s Choir in Angel costumes surrounded the baby Jesus, my voice began the beautiful lyrics as only a child’s voice can … “Oh Holy night! The Stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear Savior’s birth”.

I hope this Advent season you are filled with child-like anticipation of God’s renewed promise of that Most Holy Night.

Mary G. Park Neureither

2020 Parishioner Advent Reflection Day 2

November 30, 2020 by St Mary Anne Admin

Each October and November, I get in the mood to do “fall cleaning”. As a kid, I helped my mom wash walls and windows, and ready our home for harsh Connecticut winters. We packed away summer bedspreads and curtains and replaced them with heavier bedding and window coverings. After a few days of housework, we stood back to admire our spruced-up home with the familiar warm comforts of the previous winter.

Many years later, I continue some of the same habits and find contentment in “being prepared” for the next season. I suspect our Altar Guild members find a similar comfort when they prepare and switch our seasonal church hangings to decorate the altar. The weather outside our church windows does not influence the hangings—rather the church liturgical cycle divides the year into a series of seasons. Each one has its own mood, theological emphases, prayers and scripture readings, and seasonal colors.

We are now in Advent—a four-week church season in which to prepare for the “coming” of Christ with devotion and joyful expectation. The Altar Guild switched the hangings from green to blue. The Flower Committee decorated the Advent Wreath; and for the next four weeks, we light its candles to special prayers. All these church traditions remind us of the One who taught hope, peace, faith and love.

Each year, I prepare for the “coming” of Christ with comforting cultural traditions at home. I deck the halls with boughs of holly, bake, shop and wrap, and find some temporary joy in the process. I admit, though, any lasting joyful expectation of hope and peace derives from a different type of preparation—a year-round effort to understand the scriptural reassurances that Christ will come again in Glory.

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke 21:27

Karen Schaeffer

2020 Parishioner Advent Reflection Day 1

November 30, 2020 by St Mary Anne Admin

COME LORD JESUS by Bob Doyle
(A SHORT HISTORY OF ADVENT)

It is ironic that the early Church struggled with establishing the season of Advent. Once the Church settled on a calendar, Lent was kind of a no-brainer. The Crucifixion and Resurrection tell a story that makes perfect sense for a period of penance and redemptive acts in, what Christians believe to be, the given path to salvation. Forty days shows up everywhere in the Old Testament so Lent was inevitable in preparation for Easter. But what about Christmas?

The Incarnation had its own message that needed time to be understood and accepted. The early Church Fathers understood this but first they had to clarify what exactly that message was. Again fixing on one calendar played a role. In the 4th and 5th centuries 40 days were set aside in the Church calendar to prepare for the Epiphany. This had become the time for new initiates to prepare for baptism. It wasn’t until the 6th century that the Roman Church established Advent not as a preparation for Christ’s birth but rather as a time to prepare for his second coming or the End of Days. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the Church began using the Advent Season to celebrate Christ’s birth. But this newer sense of the Lord’s Advent did not supplant preparation for the Second Coming.

So what is the true purpose of Advent? First it is about learning how to wait not only for Christmas Day but for Christ’s second coming. Then it is the mystery of the Incarnation and what this means for humankind’s ultimate salvation. It is about the Redemption that God has gifted us with the arrival of His Son. And finally it is preparation for the Gift of the Incarnation itself.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory of a father’s only son full of Grace and truth. John 1:14

Holy Week

April 3, 2020 by St Mary Anne Admin

A Palm Sunday Rite II Service will be celebrated by Fr. John. It will be posted on our new YouTube Channel* by 10AM Sunday morning. Joel Alarcon will play the violin during the worship service. We will send out a bulletin link that morning so you can follow along.
Monday Evening Prayer with Fr. John posted by 7PM
Wednesday Vespers with Carol Weisel and Linda Gibeck posted by 7PM.
Good Friday Service with Fr. John posted by Noon. Joel will participate.
On Good Friday, we will have Drive thru Stations of the Cross! Walk or Drive through our churchyard and pray at the 14 Stations. We will send out prayers during the week to help with your meditation.
Easter Sunday, Rite II Service celebrated by Fr. John and posted by 10:00AM Easter Sunday. Joel will participate.