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Rector’s Blog2020-05-04T12:19:23+00:00

Clergy’s Blog

THE LITURGICAL MOVEMENT I: Dom Odo Casel, Monk of Mystery

In the fifth century, Pope Leo the Great observed in a sermon about Christ’s Ascension (and later famously cited by the Benedictine monk Dom Odo Casel): “What is visible in our Redeemer has now passed over into the mysteries.” In a sense, the Liturgical Movement, which began in the 19th-century, is like one of those cultural phenomena which go on around us, but unless we are of a certain generation, or have a particular interest

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EASTERTIDE: The Christian Season

Our liturgical celebration of Christ’s resurrection beginning with the Easter Vigil and also on Easter Sunday inaugurates the start of Eastertide, a unique 50 day season of the church calendar ending with Pentecost. It is a festive continuation and observance of Christ’s victory over sin, darkness, and death through his resurrection. It is true, of course, we celebrate Christ’s resurrection each weekend throughout the year at St. Mary’s with the Liturgy of the Eucharist, but

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THE EASTER VIGIL: “He is Risen! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!”

Our Lenten journey has reached its destination, the Easter Vigil; the most significant celebration of our liturgical year. It is the third part of the Paschal Mystery we observe as part of the Holy Triduum wherein we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, his victory over death, and our salvation. Beginning in darkness, the liturgy is initiated with the lighting of the New Fire and the Paschal Candle, symbolizing Christ as the Light of the World. This part

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GOOD FRIDAY: “Behold the Wood of The Cross”

Good Friday, the second liturgy of the Holy Triduum wherein through the Liturgy of the Word we hear from the Gospel according to St. John of Christ’s betrayal, arrest, denial, trial, scourging, mocking, condemnation, crucifixion, death, and burial; thereby moving mournfully onto the second of our Paschal Mysteries, the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross for atonement of our sins and our salvation. The liturgy of for this day also includes the Solemn Collects,

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MAUNDY THURSDAY: The Beginning of the Sacred Triduum

The word triduum comes from Latin and translates as three days. In essence, then, the Sacred or Holy Triduum is a three-day liturgical commemoration encompassing Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil; the combination of which comprise the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. To quote from the introduction to Maundy Thursday liturgy: “This is the day that Christ the Lamb of God gave himself into the hands of those who would

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HOLY WEEK: The Paschal Mystery Made Known

There are several doctrines of our faith as Christians we hold to be fundamental; among which are the Incarnation, the Trinity, and the Paschal Mystery. It is during Holy Week that we experience and celebrate the Paschal Mystery; that is, Christ’s Passion, Christ’s Death, Christ’s Resurrection. The remaining act of the Paschal Mystery is Christ’s glorification in his Ascension. It is important, indeed essential, to realize that such doctrines are accepted as truths to us

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PALM SUNDAY: “Let Us Rejoice In It”

Palm Sunday is one of the most complicated worship services of the liturgical year, for it combines Jesus’ Triumphal entry into Jerusalem with his Passion on the Cross. Indeed, the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (p. 270) presents the full title for the day as The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday. One might quite naturally ask: “Why would both of these events be merged into a single service?” The most direct answer is simply

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ST. PATRICK: The Conflation of Myth and Faith

The feast day for St. Patrick occurs this week, March 17th, and it is noteworthy for the way it is exuberantly celebrated in our secular society, with parades, parties, wearing green garments, drinking green beer, etc. So, who was St. Patrick and why all the hoopla! And in terms of one’s faith and spirituality does the mythology that grows up around a particular figure from Church history actually enhance and enrich or, perhaps, cause doubt.

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It’s the Law!

Are you doing well on your wilderness journey?  Perhaps you’ve missed a couple days of your Lenten Rule.  Join the group.  Join endless numbers who sincerely embrace God’s covenant relationship and immediately break away through sin.  Each time God makes covenant with His people we see God’s grace expand. We recall God’s first covenant with Noah and family of eight.  God will no longer obliterate man and animal no matter how much they sin against

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CHARISMS OF THE SPIRIT AND THE SUPERNATURAL

The power of the Holy Spirit is in fact inexhaustible and manifests itself in numerous ways. The word charisma from the Greek translates as gift of grace; and in a spiritual sense it refers to the divine gifts that enable us to accomplish our vocation within the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. Further we are to be “good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10) in terms of our ministry in

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