EASTER SUNDAY – Resurrection of our Lord

/in /by

 Resurrection of Jesus – The belief that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead by God on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, exalting him to the near presence of God in eternal glory. The resurrection of Jesus is at the heart of Christianity (Acts 2:22-36). Christian faith would be meaningless without the resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor 15:14). The reality of Jesus’ resurrection was experienced by chosen witnesses and proclaimed by the early Christian community. Easter is the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus is understood to have been raised on the Sunday following the Friday of his crucifixion. The resurrection is to be distinguished both from resuscitation (restoration to the prior mode of human existence) and the immortality of the soul. Jesus’ resurrection began the transformation and glorification of the whole cosmos, including the redeemed Christian community. Christ was raised as the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20). By Christ’s resurrection, this same new mode of existence is made available to all. The Catechism notes that “By his resurrection, Jesus overcame death and opened for us the way of eternal life” (BCP, p. 850). Jesus’ resurrection is celebrated by Christians at all times, especially at Easter and throughout the Great Fifty Days of the Easter season, and on Sunday, which is the Lord’s Day and the day of resurrection.

 Easter – The feast of Christ’s resurrection. According to Bede, the word derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Christians in England applied the word to the principal festival of the church year, both day and season. 1) Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the pascha or Christian Passover, and the eighth day of cosmic creation. Faith in Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday or third day following his crucifixion is at the heart of Christian belief. Easter sets the experience of springtime next to the ancient stories of deliverance and the proclamation of the risen Christ. In the west, Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Easter always falls between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25 inclusive. Following Jewish custom, the feast begins at sunset on Easter Eve with the Great Vigil of Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on the first Sunday after the Jewish pesach or Passover (which follows the spring full moon). Although the two dates sometimes coincide, the eastern date is often one or more weeks later. 2) Easter Season. See Great Fifty Days.

https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/resurrection-jesus

VIGIL of EASTER

/in /by

Holy Saturday – The Saturday after Good Friday, which recalls the day when the crucified Christ visited among the dead while his body lay in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. In the Episcopal Church there is no eucharist on Holy Saturday. The BCP provides a simple liturgy of the word with collect and readings for the Holy Saturday service. The funeral anthem “In the midst of life” (BCP, pp. 484 or 492) is used instead of the prayers of the people (BCP, p. 283). In the ancient church, those preparing for baptism and perhaps others continued the fast they began on Good Friday. Holy Saturday ends at sunset. Fasting and other preparations end at sunset or with the Easter Vigil, which begins the celebration of Easter. See Triduum; see Easter Vigil.

Easter Eve – The Saturday before Easter. In the early church it was a day of fasting and preparation for the Easter Vigil. There is no celebration of the eucharist on this day, in accordance with church tradition. The term “Easter Even” was used by the 1549 Prayer Book. The 1979 BCP uses the title “Holy Saturday” for the Saturday before Easter (p. 283). The title distinguishes this day and its proper liturgy from the Easter Vigil. See Holy Saturday.

Easter Vigil – The liturgy intended as the first (and arguably, the primary) celebration of Easter in the BCP (pp. 284-95). It is also known as the Great Vigil. The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter, and consists of four parts: The Service of Light (kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, the Exsultet); The Service of Lessons (readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers); Christian Initiation (Holy Baptism) or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows; and the Eucharist. Through this liturgy, the BCP recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist. Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church to the practical exclusion of all others. This practice linked the meanings of Christ’s dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.

Vigil – 1) A service at night prior to a major feast or other important observance. The vigil anticipates and begins the commemoration of the following day. It may allow the participants an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the next day’s service. Scripture texts that will be used at the service on the following day may be introduced at a vigil. Christian vigils have been observed since the early years of the church. The Easter Vigil dates from at least the second century, and it is described in Hippolytus’s Apostolic Tradition. The candidates for baptism spent the night in vigil, where they listened to readings and instructions. At cockcrow, the baptismal water was blessed and the candidates were baptized. The pilgrim Egeria mentions a vigil at the tomb in Jerusalem on Good Friday in the fourth century. Ancient sacramentaries provide evidence of a Pentecost vigil. The 1662 BCP lists sixteen feasts that were preceded by a vigil. Although the Easter Vigil was not retained as a vigil by the 1549 Prayer Book, the 1979 BCP includes a rite for the Great Vigil of Easter (pp. 285-295). The 1979 BCP also provides for a Vigil of Pentecost (BCP, p. 227), which resembles the Easter Vigil in a simplified form. The BCP also includes prayers for a vigil prior to burial of the dead (BCP, pp. 465-466). Psalms, lessons, and collects from the burial service may be used at this vigil. The Litany at the Time of Death may also be used. The BOS provides vigils for Christmas Eve, the Eve of the Baptism of our Lord, and the Eve of All Saints’ Day or the Sunday after All Saints’ Day. The BOS also includes a Vigil on the Eve of Baptism and a vigil Service for New Year’s Eve (Eve of Holy Name). 2) The term may also indicate a watch in the presence of the body of a deceased person prior to burial. See Wake.

 

https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/holy-saturday

 

GOOD FRIDAY

/in /by

The Friday before Easter Day, on which the church commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a day of fasting and special acts of discipline and self-denial. In the early church candidates for baptism, joined by others, fasted for a day or two before the Paschal feast. In the west the first of those days eventually acquired the character of historical reenactment of the passion and death of Christ. The liturgy of the day includes John’s account of the Passion gospel, a solemn form of intercession known as the solemn collects (dating from ancient Rome), and optional devotions before the cross (commonly known as the veneration of the cross). The eucharist is not celebrated in the Episcopal Church on Good Friday, but Holy Communion may be administered from the reserved sacrament at the Good Friday service. The BCP appoints readings for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer on Good Friday. See Altar of Repose; see Bidding Prayer; see Cross.

https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/good-friday

Please view the videos for Stations of the Cross.

MAUNDY THURSDAY

/in /by

 

The Thursday in Holy Week. It is part of the Triduum, or three holy days before Easter. It comes from the Latin mandatum novum, “new commandment,” from Jn 13:34. The ceremony of washing feet was also referred to as “the Maundy.” Maundy Thursday celebrations also commemorate the institution of the eucharist by Jesus “on the night he was betrayed.” Egeria, a fourth-century pilgrim to Jerusalem, describes elaborate celebrations and observances in that city on Maundy Thursday. Special celebration of the institution of the eucharist on Maundy Thursday is attested by the Council of Hippo in 381. The Prayer Book liturgy for Maundy Thursday provides for celebration of the eucharist and a ceremony of the washing of feet which follows the gospel and homily. There is also provision for the consecration of the bread and wine for administering Holy Communion from the reserved sacrament on Good Friday. Following this, the altar is stripped and all decorative furnishings are removed from the church. (https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/maundy-thursday).  An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church is a wealth of  valuable information.

Now for more tidbits from https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/maundy-thursday below.

The day is also known as Passion Thursday, Paschal Thursday or Sheer (or Shere) Thursday. It is the day before Good Friday and occurs during Holy Week.

Many Catholic and Anglican churches continue traditional Maundy Thursday rites that may include handing out special coins known as “Maundy money” to the aged and poor. Churches may also have the blessing of holy oil and feet washing as part of their Maundy Thursday service. Some churches have a tradition that involves priests washing the feet of 12 people to symbolize Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.

Many Maundy Thursday church services take place in the evening. Maundy Thursday is known as “Green Thursday” (Gründonnerstag) in Germany, where green vegetables and salad, including spinach salad, are served as part of the tradition. Maundy Thursday is known as skjærtorsdag in Norway and is a day off for workers and students. It is known as skärtorsdagen in Sweden and is linked to a folktale about a witches’ day.

Maundy Thursday occurs during Holy Week and remembers when Jesus Christ instituted the Eucharist during the Last Supper, an event that is told in the Christian bible. It also commemorates the practice of ceremonial foot-washing to imitate Jesus, who washed his disciples’ feet before the Last Supper as a sign and example of humility and love. Holy Thursday also commemorates the events that took place on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion.

A special Eucharist commemoration on the Thursday of Holy Week was first mentioned in the North African Council of Hippo’s documents around 393 CE. There have been many references to Maundy Thursday observances after that date. Maundy Thursday was also known as Shear, Char, Shrift, and Sharp Thursday. These names are believed to have derived from cutting or trimming hair or beards before Easter during the 14th century. This particular custom signified spiritual preparation for Easter.

Roman nobility practiced washing other people’s feet during the mid-19th century. This practice is no longer common in some Protestant churches but many Catholic and Anglican churches still celebrate this Maundy Thursday rite.

The name “Maundy” most likely stems from the Latin word mandatum (or mandatum novum) which relates to the English words “commandment” or “a new mandate”. It refers to Jesus’ words after he washed his disciple’s feet. He instructed them with a new commandment – to love one another as he loved them.

SPECIAL WEEKDAY MESSAGE –  March 22nd  – Fr. Thomas

/in /by

Only three more days left in Lent.  For those of us quarantined in our homes, time “doesn’t fly,” to paraphrase the familiar quote. But in reality, what is time really?  During Holy Week, we are not simply recalling some historic events which happened a long time ago in Jerusalem.  Nor, under normal circumstances, do we re-enact a pageant with no meaning.  The liturgical ceremonies which we would normally observe this week make us more aware of another world, an eternal kingdom of heaven, an unseen world of mystery where all things are being made new, and where we might be even more at home than we are in this world.

If Holy Week teaches us anything, it’s that we have little or no control over events, both inwardly and outwardly, which affect us in the most serious ways. Well, hopefully, we’ve learned that by now over the past three weeks.  However, the Good News is that we have a God who through the person of Jesus, was also subjected to the same constraints and forces beyond His control, and who has shown us how to live in the midst of them.  Easter begins this Sunday.  Even though we can’t worship together in person, we can make our “spiritual communion” by watching the mass provided on our website and Facebook page.

  • View – Good Friday service & Easter Sunday mass – a video will be posted on the church’s website, Facebook via our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe free so that we will in the future be able to retain our site.
  • Urgent Message – Please continue to pray for an end to the COVID-19 virus and its victims and thank you for your continued financial support (check, automated bank transfers or electronic donations via myeoffering.com )to the life and witness our congregation in this community.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Physician of the body and soul, You restored sight to the blind, healed the lame and cured those with leprosy. Grant, we beseech You, the necessary knowledge and perseverance to all who are working on a vaccine to quickly end the spread of COVID-19. Have mercy on those who have died, and grant comfort to all who are affected in any way and those who are living in apprehension. Give us the grace each day to trust in You and Your loving mercy. We ask this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

https://www.saintdavidsinthepines.org/

https://www.facebook.com/SaintDavidsInThePines/

 

Good Friday 4/10/20

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Psalm 22

Hebrews 10:16-25

John 18:1-19:42

 

The Veneration of the Cross

In the seventh century, the Church in Rome adopted the practice of Adoration of the Cross from the Church in Jerusalem, where a fragment of wood believed to be the Lord’s cross had been venerated every year on Good Friday since the fourth century.  According to tradition, a part of the Holy Cross was discovered by the mother of the emperor Constantine, Saint Helen, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326.  A fifth century account describes this service in Jerusalem.  A coffer of gold-plated silver containing the wood of the cross was brought forward.  The bishop place the relic on the table in the chapel of the Crucifixion and the faithful approached it, as the priest said, “Behold, the Wood of the Cross.”  Adoration of an image of Christ’s cross does not mean that we are actually adoring the material image, but what it represents.  In kneeling before the crucifix we are paying the highest honor to our Lord’s cross as the instrument of our salvation.  In reverencing His Cross we are, in effect, adoring Christ.  Thus we affirm:  “We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee because of Thy Holy Cross Thou has Redeemed the World.”

 

The Reproaches

The Reproaches are often chanted by a priest during the Good Friday service as the people are venerating the Cross.  In this haunting and poignant poem-like chant of very ancient origin, Christ himself “reproaches” us, making us more deeply aware of how our sinfulness and hardness of heart caused such agony for our sinless and loving Savior.  The text comes from the Lamentation of Jeremiah, written at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

 

The Stations of the Cross visiting its sacred sites, the faithful made a custom of making simple replicas of those sacred sites in during the late Middle Ages, when the Turkish occupation of the Holy Land prevented pilgrims from Europe, where they could come to pray.  Medieval Christians sought more details about the Passion of the Lord, beyond what was provided by the succinct stories of the gospels.  They turned to the writings of the mystics and the apocryphal gospels for more information about the last hours of Jesus.  From these sources came the meeting of Jesus and his Mother, the story of Veronica, and the various falls of Jesus, which became part of the Stations of the Cross.  One of the most popular of these “pilgrimages at home” was to pray the Stations of the Cross, which were erected in imitation of the stations (or stopping places of prayer) on the street in Jerusalem that led from the judgment hall of Pilate to Calvary.  By the end of the sixteenth century the present fourteen stations became the standard for this devotion.

Palm Sunday Mass – 4/05/20 (VIDEO)

/in /by

Enjoy this video of our Holy Eucharist celebration and Scriptures for the Day.

WEEKLY RECTOR’S MESSAGE – April 5th – Fr. Thomas

/in /by
I’ve never lived in an enemy occupied territory.  There are people still alive today who might have lived in Nazi occupied Europe, or in politically suppressed parts of Africa or Asia.  In a spiritual sense, we currently live in enemy occupied territory, like the residents in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles, that mythical place of talking animals and dwarfs, waiting for the return of Aslan, the great lion.  Sounds something like The French resistance:  a loosely organized coalition of farmers and shopkeepers working to subvert the Nazi Occupation through military outposts during WWII operating behind enemy lines in Western Europe.  Maybe we feel like we’re living in a Post-Christian world, outnumbered, like the “old Narnians” who lived in exile among the woods, under the Witch’s spell, where it was “Always winter, but never Christmas.”
What if the atheists and the hate mongers get the upper hand? What if the Church is ridiculed and marginalized? Would Jesus be caught off guard? He’d probably say, “Business as usual. Now get back to work!”  Maybe these current times under the oppression of COVID 19 makes us feel like an oppressed people, without any geographical or age boundaries.  The prophet Isaiah writes, “You, O Israel will be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return.”  What a wonderful vision of the Church on earth; an unlikely fellowship of heroes who overcome their enemy – not as a conquering army of the elect, but a few stubborn survivors straggling back to claim their rightful inheritance.  An inheritance granted by our baptism and won for us by the blood of the Lamb.
How many of you have ever experienced a lot of pain to get what you want? How many of you ever had a baby?  How many of you have ever had a baby without an epidural? Passed a kidney stone?  Been immobilized by back pain?  Now multiply that pain by ten and you’ll begin to get an idea of what Jesus suffered on the way to his death.  Or maybe the worst pain you’ve ever had was emotional pain.  I suspect that Jesus went through that on Good Friday as well.  Jesus, the “Ultimate Blood Donor” – His pain was our gain.
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week when we recall those final days of Jesus’ earthly life, beginning with his trial before Pilate and culminating in his death and burial. He was accused of accepting claims about being a King.  He wasn’t simply “King of the Jews;” but King of the Romans, Greeks, and everyone else who has ever lived.  So is Christ king of our life? Who’s our King?  If our King is Lord of the world, the flesh, and the devil, maybe we should be spending more time each day reading the Bible and worshiping Jesus. Are we building a life on a solid foundation; not one of sand which easily erodes when the storms of life overtake us?
They say that history is written by the victors. It’s curious that the Gospel writers and editors don’t omit the gory details of Jesus’ last hours on earth.  Why would they leave in the unflattering events of his last days?  Precisely because God wants us to know that in a world of pain and sorrow, he suffered too!  Jesus told his disciples to take up their Cross daily, not once, or only occasionally, but daily.  You see, we are fighting a spiritual battle, but a battle that involves flesh and blood.  Do we allow others to help us carry our cross?  Most of the disciples hid in secret, but the beloved disciple St. John, and the Blessed Mother stood by at the end.  “Keep, O keep us, Savior dear, ever constant by thy side; that with thee we may appear at the eternal Eastertide.”  (Hymn 150, vs 5)

NOTICES for this week

  • Palms – blessed palms will be available for you on Saturday, April 4that 5:00 p.m. as a drive-by in the church parking lot until 5:30 p.m. Thereafter a receptacle of palms will be available for you. Limit one per household please.
  • View Palm Sunday Mass – a video will be posted on the church’s website, Facebook via our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe free so that we will in the future be able to retain our site.
  • Urgent Message – Please continue to pray for an end to the COVID-19 virus and its victims and thank you for your continued financial support (check, automated bank transfers or electronic donations via comor Facebook donate button or PayPal) to the life and witness our congregation in this community.
  • In case of a pastoral emergency, you can leave a message on our voice mail, and we will respond as quickly as possible. Please continue to pray for an end to the COVID-19 virus, for its victims, and for those who are working on preventative measures.

Please Pray – For the sick: Sandy, Kim, Joe, Steve, Bob, Linda, Francine, Timone, Donna, Ashlyn, Robin. For birthday celebrations: Walter Dzubiak, Mara Walter, Emma Erickson, Martha L’Abbe. For those celebrating a wedding anniversary: Charles & Margie Sandell, Maria & Matthew Hogan. For the faithful departed, and for our expectant mothers: Dani and Andrea. For the faithful departed: George Pinnock, Jr.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Physician of the body and soul, You restored sight to the blind, healed the lame and cured those with leprosy. Grant, we beseech You, the necessary knowledge and perseverance to all who are working on a vaccine to quickly end the spread of COVID-19. Have mercy on those who have died, and grant comfort to all who are affected in any way and those who are living in apprehension. Give us the grace each day to trust in You and Your living mercy. We ask this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

https://www.facebook.com/SaintDavidsInThePines/

Palm Sunday – The Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – 3/05/20

Isaiah 50:4-9a     This is the second of four “servant poems” in Isaiah. The writer may have been thinking of an individual or of the nation as a whole or of the coming Messiah, but N.T. writers saw in his words a description of the passion of our Lord.

Psalm 31:9-16     This is the prayer of lamentation and thanksgiving of one who has suffered from illness (v 10), persecution (v. 4), and being shunned by friends (v. 11). He finds in God his refuge and strength (vss. 1999-22) and counsels others that the way of faith is the source of one’s strength in adversity (vss. 23-24).

Philippians 2:5-11     Here in a nutshell is Paul’s belief about Jesus Christ. He who humbled himself to become a man and to die on the cross is the Lord of all.

Matthew 27:1-54     This is the account of the passion and death of Jesus Christ. In its entirety it begins in the garden of Gethsemane, where he was arrested, and includes his arraignment before the Sanhedrin, his trial by Pilate, crucifixion, death, and burial. The shorter version comprises the trail by the Roman governor, crucifixion, and death.

Challenge Questions

  1. As you read the Gospel Lesson for the Liturgy of the Palms in Matthew 21:1-11, try to imagine the scene as Jesus centers Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week. What kinds of persons today receive similar “red carpet” treatment? What do these choices tell us about the values of our culture?
  2. As you listen to the Passion story, choose one of the characters in this drama and imagine the event through his or her eyes. What added insights do you have about what happened?
  3. Pay particular attention to the words and actions of Jesus himself (26;64; 27:11; 27:4-50). What picture of Jesus emerges for you?
  4. In 27:54, why do you think the centurion and his cohorts declare that Jesus was truly the Son of God?
  5. Read the Epistle for today in Philippians 2:5-11. How is the meaning of the life of Jesus expressed in this hymn?

SPECIAL WEEKDAY MESSAGE –  March 22nd  – Fr. Thomas

/in /by
Special Weekday Message –  April 1st  – Fr. Thomas
  • Palms– blessed palms will be available for our church members on Saturday, April 4that 5:00 p.m. as a drive-by in the church parking lot until 5:30 p.m. Thereafter a receptacle of palms will be available for you. Limit one per household please.
  • View Palm Sunday Mass – a video will be posted on the church’s website, Facebook via our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe free so that we will in the future be able to retain our site.
  • Urgent Message – Please continue to pray for an end to the COVID-19 virus and its victims and thank you for your continued financial support (check, automated bank transfer, or electronic donations via www.myeoffering.com or Facebook donate button or PayPal) to the life and witness our congregation in this community.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Physician of the body and soul, You restored sight to the blind, healed the lame and cured those with leprosy. Grant, we beseech You, the necessary knowledge and perseverance to all who are working on a vaccine to quickly end the spread of COVID-19. Have mercy on those who have died, and grant comfort to all who are affected in any way and those who are living in apprehension. Give us the grace each day to trust in You and Your living mercy. We ask this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

https://www.facebook.com/SaintDavidsInThePines/

Sunday Mass – 5th Sunday of Lent – 3/29/20 (VIDEO)

/in /by

Enjoy this video of our Holy Eucharist celebration and Scriptures for the Day.

Part 2 – Stations of the Cross – 3/27/20 (VIDEO)

/in /by

3/27/20 Stations of the Cross (part 2) devotional here for you. Please view the updates on Facebook and St. David’s website. We pray wellness and blessings for you and your family, during this crisis due to the COVID 19. All public assemblies cancelled through April 15th. (To retain our YouTube page, please subscribe free; easily done when at the video view, by hovering over the Church logo at the upper left, click on red subscribe button, follow prompts to put in your applicable information.)